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Mendocino County 1880 History (Reprint 1967) page 747

	Nathaniel Smith. A beloved and trusted Southern Negro, commonly
called "Nigger Nat," first came to Mendocino, as a cabin boy, on Captain
Fletcher's whaling ship. He built a cabin near "Portugee Frank's," (see page
697) which early seamen, finding a Negro living there, called the place
Cuffey's Cove. "Cuffey" was commonly used to designate a Negro during that
era, as much as "Pat" for an Irishman. Another version of the name "Cuffey"
comes from Captain Fletcher, who named it, having seen a bear cuffing
its cub. He hunted with Frank, for the logging camps, and, later, built a 
home on the south side of Big River, and hauled supplies out to the camps
on Big River. He, also, built a cabin on what is still called "Nigger Nat's
Opening." He was everyone's friend, doing favors for the sick, and was a
popular assistant at the crabbing parties on Mendocino beach. He died, at
his home, March 24, 1908, after a short illness and is buried in the "Old
Cemetery" in Mendocino.