Ted Simon is originally from London, England. In the late 1973 Ted launched into the world aloft a mighty Triumph Tiger 100 motorcycle. For four years he travelled the world bringing Justice to dreams. Accounts from the Around the World Tour are detailed in his book Jupiter's Travels. While in Central America he met some friendly folks who invited him to visit them on a community farm in Northern California, just northeast of Round Valley. Ted arrived in Covelo and found his way to "None of The Above."This was his first visit to Round Valley.

At the end of his tour he had planned to settle back overseas with a woman he fell in love with on the ranch. The relationship ended in 1980 and Ted was beckoned back to fertile Round Valley, alone. Since that time he has become a local resident here. Interested in farming, in the valley, Ted was concerned about a proposal to build a dam at Dos Rios and create a lake over Covelo. The dam and reservoir were part of the San Francisco Water Departments plan to provide water for their growing population. His inquiries directed him to Richard Wilson, who shared his feelings of resistance to the dam and the details of his fight to stop it. Inspired by the heated debate, Ted wrote The River Stops Here. In the book Ted chronicles the battle for water throughout the west and especially in Northern California, culminating with the details about the proposed dam in Round Valley. Ted tells the story of Richard Wilson and where he came from. Why it was so important to him to save a valley whose inhabitants were ready to cash in their history for a new beginning somewhere else.

While writing and researching the book Ted built a community farm on East Lane and developed a delivery system for organic vegetables going out of the valley. Ted enjoys remembering when the Covelo Garden Project was in full swing, and when people were truly concerned with the health of the land and its water. Ted seems remorseful of the decline in ambition to build a community based on their own goods and services. He believes Covelo offers ideal circumstances to live sustainably and would like to see the community weave together its skills and services for the benefit of all.

The River Stops Here is an inspiring account of Richard Wilson, his background, visions, and actions to stop the dam and keep the Eel River wild and free. Richard Wilson was born into a wealthy powerful family in Southern California. His father "John Cree Wilson weilded remarkable influence. He had sat on many boards , including that of the city's biggest bank." Despite his social and political existence in Los Angeles, he made a routine of spending at least one month every summer in the country at a private ranch he called Henthorne. Eventually he built a house on Buck Mountain above Covelo. Richard enjoyed the wildness of the country and respected its serenity. He was very much enlightened by his summer trips to Covelo. In 1960 at 27 years old he made the move from L.A. to Buck Mountain with his new wife Susan. When engineers and planners came to Covelo proposing to dam the Eel at Dos Rios and inundate Round Valley, they reminded everyone of the tumultuous history of war, and starvation camps. They said "Too bad, it didn't work out...depressed Indians on welfare, heaps of junk cars...Do them a favor wash it all out and start over again." Richard did not agree, he saw values in the country of Round Valley, something he could relate to on a personal basis, " What does history mean to them? What do they know about the slow piecing together of lives and relationships, the tentative triumphs of human feeling over prejudice, the gradual intermingling of color and culture by marriage and friendship that may eventually bring this society through to a better solution? How many hundreds of years did it take those oaks to establish their roots and grow to maturity? Why should a human community grow any faster." His wife supported his battle, "It's wrong Rich," she said, "You have to fight it, no one else could do it so well." Thus began the arduous battle to stop the dam.

Interview and story by Kelly Gruey

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