Petrov "Petro" Zailenko, a.k.a. Pitro Zalenko, known as the "Hendy Hermit" or the "Boonville Hermit," lived in Hendy Woods State Park

Hendy Woods State Park

Hendy Woods State Park is a state park located in Mendocino County, California. The park contains two groves of old growth Coast Redwood: Big Hendy and Little Hendy . The Navarro River runs through the length of the park....

 for more than a 18 years during the 1960s and '70s in huts of his own construction consisting of redwood plank lean-to

Lean-to

A lean-to is a term used to describe a roof with a single slope. The term also applies to a variety of structures that are built using a lean-to roof....

s, one of which was located on a hollowed-out tree stump.

He subsisted on small game such as chipmunk

Chipmunk

Chipmunks are small striped squirrels native to North America and Asia. They are usually classed either as a single genus with three subgenera, or as three genera.-Etymology and taxonomy:...

 and produce from nearby farms and obtained clothing discarded by others.
He was born in Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, fought in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, and was wounded during the war, then entered the U.S. on a Russian trawler without authorization. He was believed to be a Ukrainian

Ukrainians

Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...

Jew.

Petro's date and precise place of birth is unknown. He died on August 31, 1981 and his ashes were scattered in Hendy Woods.