"Earl Schmidt (was) a 4th generation Californian. His great grandparents arrived in the San Francisco Bay area and settled in the lumber "port" of Mezesville (now Redwood City) in 1852. Earl served for 20 years in the professional service of the Boy Scouts of America as a national staff member and local council executive, followed by 20 years in the corporate world as a food and packaging executive. A lifelong devotee of California history, Earl joined ECV by way of YB#1 in 1957, became a Noble Grand Humbug (in 1969), and ultimately Sublime Noble Grand Humbug (being the last to serve 2 years; in 1979 and 80); he was also one of the five corporate TRASH founders. He served 10 years (1973-1983) as a trustee and treasurer of the California State Historical Society and was honored as a "Fellow of the Society" in 1989. He spent a great deal of time researching the Wilkes expedition and the first American families to enter California overland, both the subject of his contribution to this book."

As for me personally, I, along with many other Clampers, will remember his absolutely infectious laugh, especially if the joke was on him. He was a truly dedicated Clamper and one of the most knowledgeable people of California history. He was also the inspiration for the "Eastgate Businessman's Breakfast Club", in which the participants dress in suits, most of them horribly loud and outdated, and gather for Breakfast on the Sunday morning of TRASH. His talk at the TREK in Mariposa in 1984, on the Clampers of old, and their penchant for being dressed in "business suits" while attending E Clampus Vitus meetings, led many TRASH men to outfit themselves with said ridiculous apparel for the next year's TREK, in Eastgate, Nevada. Earl nearly suffered a fatal attack of laughter when the "Businessmen" appeared for breakfast in the horse pasture we used for a campsite that last night.
Earl's TREK, in 1982, was the Henness Pass/Zumwalt Pass Route.

Earl also owned one of the oldest residences in Murphys, the Comprere house, and it was graciously given over to the Proctors for their annual meetings for many years. He also maintained a residence in Palo Alto.