In the late '60s, during our first visits to Markleeville, my husband and I would stop at the general store to boost our modest supply of back-packing vittles. On one such occasion my husband asked the owner if she could recommend a particular wine to which she replied: "I dunno. I ain't no common sewer." Later that day we discovered that the salami we'd bought was two years past its "use by" date. We had the general impression that our custom was not being courted. However, according to life-long resident, Gary Coyan, the owners at that time, Gus Egger, from Germany, and his wife, Lilly, ran a very efficient store from 1947, when electricity first came to Markleeville, to 1975, taking pains to stock according to the needs of his customers. Gary worked in the store shortly before the Eggers took over when it was owned by Dave and Vera Wood. In those days the store sold gas. Gary used to pump the gas by hand into a 10-gallon glass bowl above his head from where it was gravity fed through a pump into the customer's gas tank. Then he'd have to run inside to serve sundaes at the soda fountain (which was in the far right hand corner as you walk in) then dash off to help customers buying groceries; in spare moments he'd stack the shelves. He recalls washing his hands endlessly between the various tasks.
Gary remembers the Spit and Argue Club (known to some as the Sit and Spit Club) on the store's front porch. Roy Price would tip his chair back and tap a rhythm with his foot all day long. Then there was member Matt Konig who for all his 80-odd years had nary a grey hair on his head.
Records indicate that a butcher's shop existed on the site of today's store pre-1879. However that shop burned down along with most of Markleeville in the fire of 1885. The Alpine Argus of Sept. 19, 1805, announces that Rask's New Market Building "is rapidly nearing completion...and will be a fine ornament to the town. The building is one and a half stories high and contains two rooms below. The front room will be used as a shop and is 16 feet square by 12 feet high...Overhead there will be four rooms, which Mr. Rask intends to fit up for lodging purposes."
The entire original structure was wooden with a tongue-in-groove siding. Gus Egger added the cinder block building to the south side where, down the step, the groceries are now kept. Gus also dug a cellar with his brother who hauled off the dirt with a wheelbarrow and dumped it in the creek. The townsfolk predicted that the building would collapse with so much undermining, but the result was a fine cellar used to this day.
Recently I sat in the Markleeville General Store's secret garden sipping white wine from the store. Bob says that he and his wife, Dee, don't claim to be connoisseurs but they stock the store mostly with the wine they enjoy; it appears that their tastes are shared by plenty of others. This charming garden, one of the Ruddens' contributions to the general store compound, has a pond with fish and a turtle, trees grown tall now, and a splendid spray of petunias spilling over a broken bird bath. Another major Rudden contribution, appreciated by locals and tourists alike, is the public restroom, always open, no key required. Bob and Dee have discovered that if they keep the restroom clean most others will follow suit.
One morning in January 1986, while making bombs at Lockheed, Cupertino, a sudden thought occurred to Bob: "This is stupid." That day he and Dee decided to buy the Markleeville General Store. Dee loves the natural beauty of the area. Bob has been deeply touched by the willingness of the townspeople to help each other out. Fifteen years ago Bob became ill one snowy night. The crisis brought neighbors running through the snow to help. Wayne Thompson, snow equipment operator, heard the emergency call and ploughed the snow at 55 miles per hour to the state line in front of the ambulance.
Last Christmas came upon me much more quickly than expected. With no time to search further afield I hastened to the general store and was delighted at the variety of gifts available in the many tiny departments: Dee's antique alcove, camping supplies, clothes (I bought myself a bathing suit here!) hand-crafted jewelry, a bin of topographical maps, another of umbrellas... Good use is made of that "16 feet square." I ask you: Where can you buy four oak dining chairs and a six-pack of imported ale? Markleeville General Store, of course.
Information on the history of the Markleeville General Store provided by Alpine County Museum and Gary Coyan.
