Jay Haynes

Sept. 27, 1941: First Liberty Ship

Wired.

Liberty Ship Way still exists in Sausalito, where the Pacific ships were built.

Originally referred to as "emergency vessels," these cargo ships were among the first to be mass-produced. Numbers were critical as the Allies hustled to recover from the staggering losses wrought by German submarines during the Battle of the Atlantic. These vessels became known as Liberty ships after President Roosevelt, christening the Patrick Henry, quoted the ship's namesake: "Give me liberty, or give me death."

Sonoma tribe strives to save

Sonoma tribe strives to save sacred pieces of its fading past.

The tiny Indian reservation called Stewarts Point Rancheria is a place of delicate, remote beauty atop a hill in western Sonoma County covered with redwood and tan oak trees, 5 miles from the ocean, 40 miles from the nearest traffic signal. It is only 42 acres. Only a handful of people live there.

It is the center of a very small, very old California world, a symbol of a time older than the redwoods. It is a sacred place and an endangered one.

The centerpiece of the town is two buildings built of redwood. One is a Round House, a sacred place to the Kashia band of Pomo Indians. It is on the verge of collapse, more of a ruin than a building. Next to it is a small shed with a peaked roof.