Pescadero Memories http://pescaderomemories.com Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:31:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en 1.0 http://pescaderomemories.com http://pescaderomemories.com mountain-mike-merritt the-loop a-la-california-sketches-of-life-in-the-golden-state abbiorca-com acid-beach alexander-moore am-parker amb-beach angelo-misthos ano-nuevo ano-nuevo-island ano-nuevo-lighthouse arches ashaleigh-parker atlantis-rising bathhouse-rock beach-art beach-clean-up bean-hollow beat-museum bideawee bob-dougherty bobbi-ballard-pimentel buoys burney-j-le-boeuf burt-blumert california-coastal-records-project california-newspaper-project california-state-auto-association carrier-pigeon-point cascade-dairy-building cascade-ranch-dairy charles-clark charles-f-humphrey charles-jones charles-swanton chickens-roost clusters coast-survey-maps coastside-advocate coastside-arches coastside-beaches coastside-bicycling coastside-caves coastside-clean-up-day coastside-secret-beaches coastside-waterfalls coburn-mystery coburn-troley-co colombia colonel-albert-s-evans colonel-zig-zag connie-morgan cowell-trail coya-british-bark dan-mosier daniel-boone daniel-durigan dave-cline dave-holleman davenport david-gremard-romero don-martinich downey-harvey dr-alan-brown dr-carl-djerassi dr-isaac-goodspeed dr-ol-gordon dr-w-j-marsh duartes-tavern eadweard-muybridge edward-mullen eli-d-moore erich-von-neff ezra-pound fireman-collins forget-me-not-barkentine fourth-of-july franklin-point fremont-older friends-of-the-calamari galen-wolf gary-gates-friends gazos-creek geocaching ghost-net giant-limpets gooseneck-barnacles gordons-chute guadalupe-fur-seal harvey-mowry hellespoint-shipwreck hen-frigates henry-blomquist henry-cowell historic-bottles hole-in-the-wall holes-in-pescadero hulda-hoover-mclean ida-j-steele invisible-beach isaac-graham j-w-seaver jan-the-beeman-snyder jane-schlager janet-creelman jerry-cimino jim-denevan jo-lysowsky joan-druett joann-semones joaquin-miller joel-bratman john-mccormick john-morrall john-schamle john-vonderlin jon-boxerman josiah-p-ames judge-horace-templeton judge-james-t-okeefe june-morrall kathy-duarte ken-fisher ken-kesey kings-mountain kristina-schmale la-honda lake-lucerne larry larry-fitterer larry-witham laura-wall-taylor leah-lubin lemuel-coburn levy-brothers linda-wyatt-iacono lizzie-mccormick lobitos loma-mar loren-coburn lou-denny-wayne mammoth-rocks manuel-chorro mark-quigley marty-mccormick mary-florey merrill-bickford message-in-a-bottle michael-bowen michael-head mike-merritt minot-judson molly-ramolla monty-parker myrtle-garavanta mystic-cowboy neal-cassady neptunes-vomitorium new-leaf-communithy-market notrocks nunziati-dam ocean-shore-railroad oil omar-n-steele orril-fluharty orrin-brown outstandinginthefield pacific-citycoyote-point pacific-mail-carrier-peru palmer-gulch-trestle pebble-beach-hotel pebble-beach-poetry pescadero pescadero-architecture pescadero-dentists pescadero-hgh-school pescadero-historical-society pescadero-oral-history-project pescadero-trivia pescaderos-pebble-beach-hotel pigeon-point pigeon-point-lighthouse place-names-of-san-mateo-county pomponio pomponio-creek princeton-by-the-sea prohibition purisima-falls purple-people-eaters pyramids ralph-e-wall redwood-trees rennesselear-steele richard-ledford rob-tillitz robin-caldwell ron-duarte russ-nancy-wright russell-towle samuel-bean san-francisco-call san-gregorio san-juan san-mateo-county-history-museum sarah-coburn sarah-swanton sawmills sea-monster sea-serpents shawn-mann sheri-martinelli sir-john-franklin smugglers-cove snails south-coast-beaches south-coast-brick south-coast-tunnels spaulding-corner ss-fremont stacy-trevenon steele-family storm-1998 susan-friedman swanton-house tafoni tarballs terry-adams tess-black the-butano the-contender the-gazos the-notch the-pollocks the-quest the-seven-sisters the-wrack thomas-butwell tires tom-butwell torquay trefiret-beach tunitas-creek uncategorized upenuf-road vanishing-beaches vulcans-donut wadell-beach-bypass warm-water-lagoon whale-fall whale-watching whaling william-steele willowside-dairy wj-savage worm-farm wwii-coastside 1 1880s-ano-nuevo a-separate-place abbiorca-com add-new-tag angelo-mithos ano-nuevo ano-nuevo-interpretive-center atlantis-rising bark-j-w-seaver beach-trash bideawee bowels-of-the-earth bucheon-gallery buoys butano-state-park california-state-auto-assn carrier-pigeon-point coast-survey-maps coburn-trolley-mfg-co dan-mosier daniel-boone dave-holleman davenport david-gremard-romero duartes-tavern edward-mullen eli-d-moore gazos hen-frigates hg-wells highway-1-sign holy-well isaac-graham jane-schlager joan-druett joaquin-miller joel-bratman john-kristina-schmale john-schmale john-vonderin john-vonderlin josiah-p-ames judge-james-t-o judge-james-t-okeefe june-morrall ken-kesey la-honda-oil larry-fitterer lemuel-coburn levy-brothers limpets lobitos marine-debris mark-quigley merrill-bickford mike-merritt minot-judson monty-parker neptunes-vomitorium ocean-shore-railorad ocean-shore-railroad oil omar-n-steele orril-fluharty orrin-brown pacific-mail-carrier-peru palmer-gulch-trestle paper-railroads pebble-beach-pescadero pescadero pescadero-history-club pescadero-oil pescadero-toothaches pigeon-point pomponio-creek purisima-falls rennesselear-steele rescued-tires riussell-towle rob-tilitz russ-nancy-wright russel-towle russell-towle samuel-bean san-gregorio san-gregorio-earthworm-farm san-mateo-county-history-museum sarah-swanton save-the-redwoods sea-serpents shawn-mann sheri-martinelli snails south-coast south-coast-beach-art south-coast-beaches south-coast-tunnels steele-family susan-friedman swanton-house tess-black the-butano the-butano-hikes tom-butwell torquay tour-of-california tunitas tunitas-creek union-iron-works upenuf-road vanishing-beaches waddell-bluffs whale-fall whale-watching whaling willowside-dairy y John Vonderlin calls this book a "treasure trove." http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=774 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=774 774 2008-05-23 22:55:24 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1211597763 _edit_last 1 Cave Questions http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=788 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=788 Yes, the cave that I remember most is the one above the parking lot...It has brush and weeds growing so thickly around it that for several years, it looked unaccessible. Since I was so young when Dad took me to these places, I really can't judge length, but a guesstimate would be 40'...the brush on the ocean side kept the tunnel out of view. It was rumored that Japanese subs were traveling the coast. There were guns and ammunition stored there as well as dyna Cavmite. (My Dad worked on the road department during the war, worked for the Federal Government (as a maintenence man) and somehow did some other work for them...he used explosives on a regular basis. He went into farming for a few years and in the early '50's worked for the County of San Mateo where he was using explosives again...).

There is a Sandy Point Guard Station, apparently a historical site, up Gazos Creek Rd. Could that be one of the ridgetop Observation Posts for W.W.II you mentioned? I've hiked there, but have never heard much of its story. I don't know what that was...I do know that Don and I (husband) were taking a Sunday drive (gas was cheaper then) with our infant daughter, Donna and turned onto a dirt road that was well used...just to turn around....several soldiers had machine guns and rifles pointed at us within seconds..we had not seen anything and don't know where they came from..I had just told Don that I felt like we were being watched. It scared the hell out of us. When we got home, I asked my Dad about it and he said there was also a landing strip up there above where we were. He told us not to ever go back . We didn't. (That was in 1964).
From my research, I know Pearl Harbor triggered a frenzy of coastal protection activity. All around the Golden Gate channel, at Davenport, and Pillar Point, and possibly even at the end of Pescadero Rd, there were gun emplacements, That last I heard second hand, with Ron Duarte being the speaker if my memory is right. Does that sound familiar? Ronnie would know a lot because of his age....I think he is about 77 years old (he and my brother were best friends and he is slightly older than Norm). There were a lot of rumors that there was radio transmitting from the coast to the Japanese subs. True or not? Who knows.
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http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=796 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=796 796 2008-05-30 23:08:34 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1214102109 _edit_last 1 "Secret Beaches" : John Vonderlin Shows Us The Beaches Few Have Seen..... http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=544 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=544 544 2009-03-28 22:56:48 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 ....On Arches... http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=354 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=354 ]]> 354 2009-03-28 22:56:48 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 Church in Pescadero....... http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=623 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=623 ]]> 623 2008-04-07 01:16:17 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1208068632 _edit_last 1 The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 46 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=891 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=891 891 2008-06-27 23:09:11 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1214622552 _edit_last 1 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=639 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=639 639 2008-04-13 02:18:35 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1208068705 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin looks for Coburn's Folly http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=901 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=901 901 2008-07-10 14:09:35 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1215713796 _edit_last 1 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Main Street http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=650 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=650

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Pescadero during Prohibition (3) http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=399 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=399 399 2008-02-06 22:14:54 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=680 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=680 680 2008-04-26 20:26:15 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1209256024 _edit_last 1 South Coast Beaches: The Seven Sisters http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=681 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=681 681 2008-04-26 20:35:02 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1209256503 _edit_last 1 Chapter 17: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=172 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=172 172 2009-03-28 22:56:48 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 Summer 1929: Tragedy near Pigeon Point, Conclusion http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=446 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=446 446 2009-03-28 22:56:48 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 What You Didn't Know About The Hello June. Some of your readers interested in the Ocean Shore R.R. may not know that efforts to resurrect it began almost as soon as it was abandoned. Jack Wagner's THE LAST WHISTLE is the best reference. I recall several San Francisco newspaper articles during the 1930s; and as a teenager I got up the nerve to go to the company's office in downtown S.F. to inquire of its progress, and met the President, George Middleton. The office was shared with a mining company--either Alaska-Juneau Gold Mining or Bunker Hill. I can't remember and don't know if any relationship with the new OSRR. Mr. Middleton said the line would re-enter San Francisco by the old, seldom-used Southern Pa http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=704 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=704 704 2008-04-30 11:03:02 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1210479821 _edit_last 1 The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 38 (original manuscript) http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=734 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=734 734 2008-05-14 01:24:42 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1210742846 _edit_last 1 The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 41 (from original ms.) http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=745 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=745 745 2008-05-18 00:25:35 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1211084735 _edit_last 1 The Story of Pigeon Point: Sir John Franklin http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=247 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=247 247 2007-12-21 22:19:39 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 From Michael Powers: A Super Dooper Screen Cleaner http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=506 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=506 here To visit Michael Power's Ocean Studios, click here]]> 506 2008-02-29 21:49:43 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4104 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4104 http://www.history.noaa.gov/cgs_bioindex1.html Besides the dangers of hostile natives and one's own foolhardiness, the work in itself was inherently dangerous. Small boat surf landings on an open rockbound coast, sounding the many bays and river entrances up and down the coast in all conditions, and packing into the mountains for the triangulation schemes had the potential for serious accidents. (Then a list of all the people who died, including one of Alexander Brache's brothers)   Concurrent with this dangerous work, he chose the sites for many of today's west coasts lighthouses and wrote "Directory for the Pacific Coast of the United States," and published it in 1858. This publication evolved into the Coast Pilot series for all of the United States. His 1889 edition of the "Coast Pilot of California, Oregon, and Washington" became the authoritative list of sailing directions for the west coast mariner, traced the origin of many of the names of features on our west coast, delineated the tracks of early explorers and navigators, and contained over 400 sketches of pristine coastal views prior to the encroachment of civilization. This document is considered one of the great historic works detailing the geography and early exploration of our Pacific margin.   George Davidson led an extraordinarily active professional life. He was associated with the University of California from 1870, until his death in 1911. He served as Honorary Professor of Astronomy and Geodesy, a Regent of the University from 1877 to 1885, Professor of Geography from 1898 to 1905, Professor Emeritus until his death, and received an honorary degree of LLD from the University in 1910. He was elected President of the California Academy of Sciences in 1871, and served in that capacity for 16 years. In 1867 he headed the party making a geographical reconnaissance of Alaska and his report helped sway the United States Government to purchase "Russian America." In 1872 he was appointed one of three Commissioners of Irrigation of California and became recognized as a world authority on irrigation problems. He was instrumental in helping establish the Lick Observatory. He survived the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, and became the first president of the Pacific Seismological Society founded in August 1906."]]> 4104 2009-06-24 19:12:02 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245895922 _edit_last 1 The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 48 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1298 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1298 1298 2008-08-15 15:25:16 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1218837656 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin & Angelo Mithos: Tunnel Vision? http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3611 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3611 Hi June,
   Here's Angelo's next to last email. I actually now believe he was right that the former Pescadero tunnel by the parking lot, seemingly going nowhere useful was by the OSR. I'm going to cover that and my reasons why in an email to him. Enjoy. John
Hi, John.  Thanks for the article. Couple of things I note:  Harvey's estimate to complete the line was considerably higher than the Chief Engineer's estimate of approximately the same time. (Wonder if Harvey ever talked to his Chief Engineer, Rogers!)  I recall an S.F. Call article at one point talking about a half million dollar tunnel at Waddell; a tunnel of such cost would indicate an intent to tunnel behind the entire bluff at Waddell. This plan was later changed to  building the County road between the railroad and the mountainside to protect the railtoad--never accomplished.  Also, supporting this change in planning: on the list of trestles 200'  were planned for Waddell. (The list  of trestles, built and planned, was in the Bondholders Report, which Mr. Wagner used in his Ocean Shore book.)  I have read that the trestle lumber was brought in by barge in some cases in advance of the railroad building. The Bondholders Report also mentioned "1796 feet of tunnels," but gave no locations. My Pescadero beach bore may have been included, but I have no idea where other tunneling would have been required. A bit off topic, but I'd read somewhere in  praise of the Ocean Shore's builders how they wisely had started building at both ends to complete the line.  My own view, in hindsight, is that it would have been better to build from S.F. toward Santa Cruz. And so the fifteen miles of track building on the Southern Division could have been added to the 38+ miles from S.F. to Tunitas--before the OS ran  out of money--thus gaining considerable business from the San Gregorio and Pescadero areas and  bringing the line just past Gazos Creek and withi! n reach of the vast redwood area the OS coveted--no "green" philosophy existed in those days.  And,  after all, on the southern end the OS gained only the log-hauling for the San Vicente Lumber Co. from Swanton to the S.V.'s mill on Delaware Ave. in Santa Cruz. The Southern Pacific with its parallell route got all the Davenport cement  plant's outputas well as nearly all the passenger and remaining freight business.  P.S. please excuse the different type sizes in this email--no idea what I did wrong.  Angelo
 
Hi Angelo,
   This is part of an article from the April 12, 1910 issue of "The Call" about Harvey's receivership testimony. He mentions a need for $83,000+ dollars for a tunnel in the Tunitas to Scott Creek gap. That might  be a cheap version of the Waddell Bluff tunnel you mentioned or something else. Such an accurate number indicates extensive planning to me, but this is the OSR we're dealing with, and it might have all been dreams or a smoke and mirrors sales pitch. Does the $54K figure seem right for the San Gregorio, Pomponio, and Pescadero trestles, plus any of the smaller ones south down to and including Scott Creek?   Enjoy. John
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1876: The Swantons Expand http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4395 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4395 San Mateo County Gazette, June 1876 "C.W. Swanton has leased the Sulphur Springs Hotel at Pescadero, and placed his son, Frank, in charge." [Note from Richard Schellen: In August 1874 a medicinal sulphur spring was found on the James Reed ranch; in November of that year some San Francisco capitalists, as they were called, started erecting a hotel, stable and outbuildings at these springs, located about one mile up the creek from Pescadero. This hotel is not to be confused with the one going for a while]]> 4395 2009-08-06 19:07:35 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1249610856 _edit_last 1 Chapter 1 of "Bootlegger's Cove," A "Real-Life Thriller" by Rob Lillitz http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2617 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2617 2617 2009-01-13 22:54:16 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1231901717 _edit_last 1 1928: Eli D. Moore Passes http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3695 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3695 3695 2009-05-17 20:32:57 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1242617577 _edit_last 1 test http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3955 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3955 3955 2009-06-17 15:01:24 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245276125 _edit_last 1 The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 61 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2686 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2686 2686 2009-01-07 00:11:24 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 _edit_last 1 _edit_lock 1231301484 Cleanup Day http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1665 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1665
Hi June,
This Saturday from 9 A.M. until 12 is the annual California Coastal Cleanup Day. I'd urge anyone who has some free time to participate. Not only will you be able to repay Mother Nature for the pleasure of providing such a beautiful coastline for us to enjoy, you'll almost surely meet some interesting people. You can check out this website for further information about where a local cleanup is scheduled for Saturday as well as other related events for individuals and families planned in the next few weeks. http://www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/ccd/ccd.html or websearch "California Coastal Cleanup Day."
While my caregiving duties preclude me from participating on Saturday, rest assured I'll be doing my regular marine debris collecting this Friday. For those that think picking up litter off a beach is a dull and boring enterprise, I'd like to share last Friday's "treasures," and what I've discovered about them.
Neptune's Vomitorium, the odd, if not fantastical, source of most of my "World's Largest Collection of Non-Buoyant Marine Debris," after a month long pause, has begun to disgorge its indigestible load once again onto Invisible Beach. Along with a near record 49 cable wraps, more then a dozen socks, many overgrown with seaweed from their lengthy habitation on the ocean bottom, a few underwear bands and the usual roundup of fishing line balls, lures, etc. it also provided several mysterious corpses and new oddities to fascinate me. (Picture #35 Debris collection))
This bird was immediately identified by Meg as a Tubenose, because of its unusual beak. (Pictures #23 & 40) This group of birds (Procellariiformes... Wikipedia) includes various species of petrels, shearwaters, and albatrosses. After some research, Meg with her Audubon books, me with my Internet, we haven't come to agreement of which species it is.  I believe it is a Northern Fulmar, a type of petrel, of the dark morph variety. She thinks it's a Pink-footed Shearwater. Both of these fascinating pelagic birds are rarely seen on our coast as they spend most of their life at sea, returning to offshore islands only to breed. Besides being able to drink saltwater and excrete salt from a gland in their beak they are also able to vomit up a noxious oily substance from their stomach when attacked as a defensive mechanism.
The picture of the fish seems to be an Ocean Sunfish of the species Mola Mola. (Picture  #17)
These can grow to be 3,000 pounds, making them the largest bony fish in the ocean. My identification is tentative, but I found a website (sunfish.org) that tracks them all over the world. The website, asks you to notify them of any encounter, so I'm sending an email and picture, hoping for confirmation. At the website click on "About Tierney Thys" to learn more about the woman, a PhD, who runs the site and has had a very interesting career.
The picture of the breastbone and wishbone is probably from a pelican. (Picture #25) The odd thing about it is that, though I've seen numerous breastbones from many different birds washed ashore, I've never seen one with the wishbone still attached. Having fought with my siblings many times for the chance to win good luck from a Thanksgiving turkey's wishbone, I know this was from a huge bird.
For those not familiar with the good luck superstition connected with wishbones, here's an excerpt from the "LuckyMojo.com' website that explains all:: .
"The wishbone is the third member of the great Euro-American lucky charm triumvirate -- the other two being the horseshoe and the four leaf clover. Sometimes called the "merrythought" in the British Isles, the wishbone is a bone overlying the breastbone of fowl, but most especially the chicken and the turkey. It is the custom to save this bone intact when carving the bird at dinner and to dry it over the stove or by the fire (or, sometimes, to dry it for three days in the air, three being a fortuitous magical number) until it is brittle.
Once the merrythought is dry, it is given to two people (usually children), who pull it apart until it cracks and breaks, each one making a wish while doing so. The person who gets the "long half" of the wishbone will have his or her wish "come true.""
Finding the dentures in the picture was a first for me. (Picture #19) I hope whoever lost them did so while experiencing a jaw-dropping event, like landing a giant fish or having a whale spy hop nearby. I should add, while finding this object was unique, Neptune's Vomitorium has ejected weirder personal items then this and just leave it at that.
Lastly and leastly is a picture of a "Timberwolf Just for Dogs Ball." While, as you can imagine, I have a large collection of recovered Marine Debris pet toys of every variety, this is my first TiberWolf. This "handcrafted" ball from the TimberWolf Pet Company in Pueblo, Colorado probably deserves another dog to fulfill its destiny, so I'll see if I can't find a good home for it.
Well that was the crux of the biscuit of last Friday's haul. This Friday will have to go a long way to top it, but I'm hopeful. If you're not doing anything important on Saturday morning, I'd urge you to get some fresh air, meet some like-minded people, help the environment, and discover your own "Treasure Trove," by joining the California Coastal Cleanup crowd. Enjoy. John
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Test http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=906 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=906 906 2008-07-10 23:56:40 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1215749016 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: The Chutist: Part I http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2193 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2193 Our attempt during the extreme low tide (minus 1.4) a few days ago to probe northward from the former site of Gordon's Chute into "The Forbidding Zone," was a failure. We had hoped the combo of the low tide, nicely placed in the late afternoon, along with the presence of all the sand, not yet drawn into deeper waters by the winter's waves, might provide us a virtual Camino Real northward below the cliffs, perhaps, right up to Martin's Beach.
Realistically, I was just planning to use my little wooden ladder, a throwaway from some child's bunk bed, to climb back onto Gordon's Chute's base rock after sliding down from it for a quick foray into the next cove, with its giant sea cave. Unfortunately,.the moderately large surf, spawned by a Pacific storm, that though driven far north by the developing High Pressure Center presently warming us, was still able to send its killjoy missionaries to squash my hopes, as I saw at first glance. Still, failure can breed success and having to halt, and go no further, on the base rock of Gordon's Chute, made me give my newest Chicken's Roost, a thrice over. A Chute shoot developed.
But before I can photographically bolster my rationale for allowing reticence to decide whether I should take a chance in the name of exploration, let's get there first.
These first five photos are of the creek trail to Tunitas Beach. With the onset of substantial rain, it will washout, leaving only the slippery, steep trail straight down from the Highway 1 pulloff available.
After parking on Tunitas Creek Road just east of Highway 1, you head south along a dark, shady trail, beside and in a small concrete drainage ditch. The path gets steeper downhill, then cuts westward under the bridge. There you will be confronted by the angry guardian of Tunitas,
(Picture of graffitti skull.)
If you are brave enough to continue, you'll soon have to pass the first test, The Log Walk. Though only slightly longer then ten feet, the log walk is particularly treacherous because of the thinness of the log, the sliminess of the nearby mud that will be coating the bottom of your shoes, and the green scum that failure will coat you with. (Picture of log walk) The added trap of the seemingly substantial log parallel, alongside the main trunk, apparently available in case you should start to lose your balance, actually offers a long-to-be-recounted-with much-laughter, even if not photographically-captured, humiliation event.
From there it's the Inca Trail, a narrow, muddy, slippery  hand-dug trail, that offers its own opportunities to put a damper on your beach visit memories, if you're not paying attention.(Picture of Inca Trail above creek) Passing through that, you wind your way through almost a tropical forest. (Picture of  trail) During the winter some ambitious souls will hack a path leading up the hill above the flooded "Log Walk" and the washout of the "Inca Trail, allowing beach access.  Abandoned in late Spring, it is almost invisible, completely overgrown by Fall.
Continuing to hike through the riparian corridor as it emerges into the ever-widening canyon mouth, you finally see the goal ahead, Gordon's Chute, the wave-washed end of the looming, sheer Tunitas cliffs. Next, Part 2 of "The Chutist," or "Oh. Shoot! and the Chute Shoot." Enjoy. John
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John Vonderlin: The Chutist, Part I http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2195 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2195 Our attempt during the extreme low tide (minus 1.4) a few days ago to probe northward from the former site of Gordon's Chute into "The Forbidding Zone," was a failure. We had hoped the combo of the low tide, nicely placed in the late afternoon, along with the presence of all the sand, not yet drawn into deeper waters by the winter's waves, might provide us a virtual Camino Real northward below the cliffs, perhaps, right up to Martin's Beach.
Realistically, I was just planning to use my little wooden ladder, a throwaway from some child's bunk bed, to climb back onto Gordon's Chute's base rock after sliding down from it for a quick foray into the next cove, with its giant sea cave. Unfortunately,.the moderately large surf, spawned by a Pacific storm, that though driven far north by the developing High Pressure Center presently warming us, was still able to send its killjoy missionaries to squash my hopes, as I saw at first glance. Still, failure can breed success and having to halt, and go no further, on the base rock of Gordon's Chute, made me give my newest Chicken's Roost, a thrice over. A Chute shoot developed.
But before I can photographically bolster my rationale for allowing reticence to decide whether I should take a chance in the name of exploration, let's get there first.
These first five photos are of the creek trail to Tunitas Beach. With the onset of substantial rain, it will washout, leaving only the slippery, steep trail straight down from the Highway 1 pulloff available.
After parking on Tunitas Creek Road just east of Highway 1, you head south along a dark, shady trail, beside and in a small concrete drainage ditch. The path gets steeper downhill, then cuts westward under the bridge. There you will be confronted by the angry guardian of Tunitas, (Picture of graffitti skull.) If you are brave enough to continue, you'll soon have to pass the first test, The Log Walk. Though only slightly longer then ten feet, the log walk is particularly treacherous because of the thinness of the log, the sliminess of the nearby mud that will be coating the bottom of your shoes, and the green scum that failure will coat you with. (Picture of log walk) The added trap of the seemingly substantial log parallel, alongside the main trunk, apparently available in case you should start to lose your balance, actually offers a long-to-be-recounted-with much-laughter, even if not photographically-captured, humiliation event.
From there it's the Inca Trail, a narrow, muddy, slippery  hand-dug trail, that offers its own opportunities to put a damper on your beach visit memories, if you're not paying attention.(Picture of Inca Trail above creek) Passing through that, you wind your way through almost a tropical forest. (Picture of  trail) During the winter some ambitious souls will hack a path leading up the hill above the flooded "Log Walk" and the washout of the "Inca Trail, allowing beach access.  Abandoned in late Spring, it is almost invisible, completely overgrown by Fall.
Continuing to hike through the riparian corridor as it emerges into the ever-widening canyon mouth, you finally see the goal ahead, Gordon's Chute, the wave-washed end of the looming, sheer Tunitas cliffs. Next, Part 2 of "The Chutist," or "Oh. Shoot! and the Chute Shoot." Enjoy. John
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More Pescadero Trivia http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4263 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4263 4263 2009-07-12 08:55:27 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1247414127 _edit_last 1 Henry Cowell File, 1895: "Maria's back," says John Vonderlin. "She's been lied to, threatened! http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3248 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3248 he's been deathly ill, and she is 'Mad As Hell' and isn't going to take it anymore. The article below is from the April 7th, 1895 edition of the "San Francisco Call." Enjoy, John. Email John Vonderlin (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) <div><em><strong>LOST   IN   THE   DENSE   FOG The   Experience   Which   Caused Mrs.   Maria   Majors   to   Dis - appear. EXPOSURE   CAUSED   SICKNESS. She   Says   She   Will   Fight   to   the   Bitter End   Her   Case   Against   Henry Cowell. "No, I am   not   dead   and   I   have   not   been abducted,   but   for   many   weeks   I   have   been near   death   from   la   grippe   and   pneumonia, and   were   it   not   for   the   kindness   of   strang - errs   I   should   have   perished   from   hunger and   neglect." So   said   Mrs.   Maria   Antonia   Majors    at the   Grand   Hotel.   Mrs.   Majors   does   not reside   permanently   at   the   Grand.   Neither is she   known   by   the   name   of   Majors,   for she   does   not   seek   notoriety,   but   all   the same   she   is   very   much   alive,   as   the   ac - companying   cut,   taken   last   Wednesday, will   show. "I   have   taken   an   assumed   name   and </strong></em></div> <div><em><strong>my   place   of     residence   a   secret," resumed   Mrs.   Majors,   "to   save   being driven   insane   by   such   men   as   Pattison, who;   no   doubt,   are   in   the   employ   of   the Cowells.   This   man   Pattison   came   with his   wife,   my   cousin,   to   Santa   Cruz   and persuaded   me   to   mortgage   my   place   there and   accompany   them   to   San   Francisco. He   took   my   money   and   never   did   anything Mrs.   Maria   Antonia   Majors. [Drawn   from   a   photograph.]</strong></em></div> <em><strong>to   help   me   with   my   case.   The   day we   reached   San   Francisco   he   left   me   at the   Rosedale   House   and   the   same   night mv   baby   came   near   choking   to   death.   I ran   downstairs   to   the   office   with   him   and the   clerk   sent   me   across   to   the   drugstore with   the   baby   in   my   arms.'" She   then   went   on   to   say   that   she   lost   her way   in   the   fog   while   "returning   to   the hotel,   and   for   several   hours   wandered about   the   streets   with   only   a   thin    shawl   to keep   herself   and   the   child   warm.   Toward morning   some   men   met   her   and   showed her   the   way   back:   but   she   says   that neither   she   nor   the   child   has   ever   recov - ered   from   the   exposure.   Soon   after   that Majors   was   told   that   men   were   mak - ing   inquiries   at   all   the   orphan   asylums   in the   city   for   the   child,   and   that   if   "she   was not   careful   he   would   be   stolen.   She therefore   took   him   out   of   the   city   and   left him   with    friends. Little   Harry   Cowell   is   a   bright   child, nearly   2   years   of   age,   and   is   the   only known   grandchild   of   the   wealthy   lime king,   Henry   Cowell   of   211   and   213   l»rumm street. "I   was   compelled   to   leave   the   Rosedale House,"   continued   Mrs.   Majors,   "as   men were   calling   at   all   hours   of   the   day   and night   to   see   me.   They   wrote   letters   in English   and   Spanish   asking   me   to   walk and   drive   and   have   dinner   with   them.   A tall   man   with   a    light   beard   offered   Fred Williams   and   another   clerk   at   the   house one   thousand   apiece   to   swear   that   I   was   a woman   of   bad   character.   These   men could   have   no   object   in   so   annoying   me unless   they   were   being   paid   for   it.   Mr. Williams   is   an   honest   young   man   and   did what   he   could   to   befriend   me.   He   will   be One   of   my   main   witnesses   in   this   suit,   I worked   for   two   months   in   a   respectable family   on   Geary   street,   but   my   cold   was    so severe   and   became   so   annoying   that   I   was compelled   to   give   up   my   place   and   go   to friends.   Since   then   I   have   been   near death   with   pneumonia,   and   it   is   only during   the   past   week   that   I   have   been   able to   be   out. "At   the   beginning   of   the   case   L.   F. Smith,   one   of   my   attorneys,   wrote   a   letter to   Harry   Cowell for   me   telling   him   that   I would   compromise   the   case   for   $5000.   In his   answer   to   me   he   said:   'I   will   give    you $1000,   but   no   more.   I   would   have   married you,   but   was   afraid   father   would   leave   me a   poor   man.' "This   letter   was   left   in   the   care   of   my attorneys,   Senator   Bart   Burke   And   L.   F. Smith,   and   they   both   declared   it   was   a good   case.   Before   leaving   Santa   Cruz   I asked   them   for   the   letters,   but   they   said they   had   been   destroyed   in   the   Santa   Cruz fire,   and   that   they   had   entirely   forgotten their   contents.   This   is   why   I   know   they were    bought   off.   Mrs.   Arnires,   the   wife   of a   Santa   Cruz   fisherman,   told   me   in   the presence   of   Mr.   Christofoneena   that Ernest   Cowell,   a   brother   of   Harry's,   had offered   her   $5000   to   swear   that   she   knew   I was   a   woman   of   bad   character. "When   the   case   comes   up   I   will   win   it,   I know,   but   if   I   should   fail   why   then   I   will put   a   bullet   through   his   heart.   I   have   told him   many   times   that   I   would   so   if   he fooled   me*   and   he   knows    that   I   will   keep my   word." It   is   only   a   few   years   since   Robert   Majors and   his   wife,   Maria.   Antonia.   with   their .family   of   children,   lived   on   their   fine   prop - erty   adjoining   that   of   Henry   Cowell, about   two   miles   northwest   of   Santa   Cruz. The   two   families   had   been   friends   for   years, but   it   was   not   until   after   the   death   of Robert   Majors   that   the   intimacy   occurred between   Henry   Cowell   and   Mrs.   Majors. More   than   a   year   ago   Mrs.   Majors   sued Harry    Cowell   for $50,000 damages   for   breach of   promise.   The   case   has   been   allowed   to drag,   but   will,   she   now   declares,   be   brought to   a   speedy   finish. (One way or the other. Enjoy. John)</strong></em> ]]> 3248 2009-03-22 20:35:15 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1237770265 _edit_last 1 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3516 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3516 ]]> 3516 2009-05-04 10:04:43 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1241670866 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: They Saw It First http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4309 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4309

Hi June,

These are descriptions of our coast by the earliest Europeans to see the Coastside. This is from the Coast Dairies document. Sebastian Cermeno and Francisco del Bolanos in a makeshift canoe? Now that sounds like an interesting story. I'll see if I can find it. Enjoy. John

1.2.1 THE VIEW FROM THE SEA

Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, November 1542

Cabrillo’s account includes a brief mention of the North Coast including the fact that they saw

neither Native Americans nor smokes(Wagner, 1929). Cabrillo’s emphasis that trees came

right down to the water at other locations (Point Reyes, Point Pinos) suggests that the coastal

terrace near present-day Año Nuevo had few if any trees.

Sebastian Cermeño, December 1595

In December 1595, Spanish explorer Sebastian Cermeño sailed southward along the coastline in a

makeshift canoe. He was much more definite about the appearance of the land: “

In going along

very close to land, frequently only a musket-shot from it, all that may be seen is bare land near

the sea and pine and oak timber in the high country. No smokes or fires appeared

.” (Wagner,

1929)

Francisco de Bolaños, 1603

Spanish pilot Francisco de Bolaños was with Cermeño and returned with Captain Sebastian

Vizcaíno in the 1603 passage that was the occasion to name Año Nuevo. Bolaños wrote the

description that would be the guide for all Spanish ship captains for the next 150 years. His

description of the coastline south of Point Reyes: “

From the Punta de los Reyes about fourteen

leagues

southeast a quarter south there is a point
[probably Pigeon Point]. Before reaching it

the country consists in places of sierra, bare to the sea and of medium height with some cliffs, but

soon the country inside

[inland] becomes massive and wooded until you reach a point of low land

in 37 ½ degrees named the ‘Punta de Año Neuvo.”

To emphasis the distinctiveness of Point

Pinos on the south side of Monterey Bay, Bolaños noted that the forests there covered the land

down to the sea itself.” (Wagner, 1929)

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John Vonderlin: Coastside Maps & Their Mysteries http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4321 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4321 Part 1 The Widow Wood Mystery Hi June, This posting is about my observations of the second of the old maps of the Coastside from the Coast Survey website. This map, compiled in 1863, published for the price of 30 cents in 1864, is of the Half Moon Bay area. Note that this document has both the modern name and spelling for HMB. To have easy, online access to such an old, but meticulously prepared map of the Coastside is a real treat for me.  Although, it has created a number of questions and a couple of mysteries in my mind. I'd like to share some of those. Complete Map and Legend ScreenShots As I magnified the map to examine it, my eyes were immediately drawn to and along the diagonal  black slash in the offshore waters. "Widow Wood's House and Bald Pate in Range" is what it reads along the dot-and-dashed line. Following  it to the northeast as it goes ashore, you see Widow Wood's home is marked and the line ends at the top of a small hill, probably the "Bald Pate." The questions for me were then: Who was she? Where exactly, if it existed today, would Widow Wood's house be? Is it still there in some form or name?  Lastly, why was her dwelling selected to be immortalized in a Coast Survey Map nearly one hundred fifty years ago? Diagonal Line and Close-up of Widow Wood's The last one I assume has to do with the triangulation they were doing. Some point of reckoning lined up with the Widow's house and the top of the hill. I'm not sure of the significance, but it should be easy to find out. By comparing Google Earth and the Survey Map I've pinpointed the house's location in Miramar, just south of Medio Creek.  As you can see in this overlaid ScreenShot it looks like the house was about in the middle of where Highway 1 is these days. Right where Google Earth has their Miramar marker. Overlay of Google Earth and Coast Survey Map When at the Coast Survey website if you use "Half Moon Bay" as a Search term thirteen maps come up for viewing or downloading. They range from this 1863 map to one from 1990. The nice thing is they are all of the same area, so you can compare them easily. Here's a ScreenShot from the 1947 version. Excerpt from 1947 Map
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Rolling Renaissance Catalog. What is it? Sandy Castle/Jim Maggio. Who is he? http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1514 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1514 1514 2008-09-05 00:41:43 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1220589714 _edit_last 1 Breaking News: http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2026 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2026 2026 2008-11-04 14:11:16 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1225822276 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2283 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2283
Story/Photos by John Vonderlin
Emai: (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
I would like to think my telling this next story will not pose a danger to me. That is perhaps, a silly consideration, given the usual subject of my postings about the adventures on the Coastside I experience. Yet, I have this feeling of foreboding, not based on knowledge or fact, but something deeper, more hardwired, perhaps instinctual, about speaking of what I think I may have experienced. Ohh. I'm sorry. I'm speaking in clouds darkened by fear. Let me tell you the story as it happened and you can decide.
It was late in the afternoon, and I was nearing the turnback point of a long, tiring hike along an isolated, rarely frequented part of our coast. Thinking about the cold one waiting in a cooler in my car, I decided to take an unfamiliar shortcut through a beach-side canyon I was unfamiliar with. But one that would obviate the need to return all the way down the beach on the route I had come.
Unfortunately, the faint path I chose quickly faded away, leaving me picking my way uphill through thin spots in the more than head-high thicket of coastal shrub, which was heavily-laced with poison oak. I considered turning back, but the thought of that soon-to-be-had "icy cold" slipping from my imagination's hands, pulled me forward.
Then I heard it, or more accurately, sensed "it." It pierced my awareness like a high-pitched keening wail, yet I could feel it washing over my whole body as if I was standing in front of a "Wall of Sound," a bank of invisible speakers for a bass guitar.  It was  omnidirectional, with  the sound being here, there, then everywhere, yet nowhere. Looking down, I could see my armhairs were standing at attention, in goosebump alert, as if they needed to aid my inner ear's tiny hairs in divining the source of this unprecedented, very disturbing sound. A sound that seemed to grow in strength and demand as I concentrated on its source.
While doing so, I felt myself turning, and my feet began shuffling forward. While my brain was unsure of the sound's directionality, my feet seemed not to be.  Slowly at first, then more confidentaly, as if my ten toes had gained purpose, having set their course, they moved me forward. Setting me on a course, I was instantly aware that there would be no detour, no turning back, when, suddenly a huge patch of poison oak rose up defiantly in front of me. By grasping and clawing anything that wasn't going to give me the dreaded itchy red rash, I pulled myself through the toxic leaves into the next clearing. The sound now seemed so loud, so omnipresent; I could hardly think, yet I could easily hear the poison oak's fragile branches and twigs cracking and breaking as I elbowed my way through them. Once again a big poison oak bush blocked my way, but I quickly conquered it with a well practiced kamikaze move. I was on a mission: I had to know where the sound was coming from. I had to find out what it wanted.
Things get a little hazy after that. I vaguely remember that, at some point, my battle to move forward was thwarted. I struggled mightily, if mindlessly, but it seemed like I was stuck in a powerful hold. Meanwhile the sound swelled to a demanding shriek, as did my need to heed it. I thrashed about in this painful state of imprisonment and frustration for several long minutes, then a grayness descended over me. I blacked out and lost total awareness.
When I woke up, I was lying face down in the bushes. I was  dazed, confused and my head hurt. I was suffering from a splitting, two-sided headache. When I tried to stand up, I realized my leg was painfully trapped in some way. Looking down, I was surprised to see my leg securely entangled in loops of a strand of treacherous barb wire, still fastened to an old post nearby. I gingerly, oh so carefully, tugged one of its sharp barbs from the seam of the pantleg of my jeans, slipped its meancing loops over my shoe, groaning as it tore across the lacerated flesh of my ankle.Then I sat up. It was then, through the bushes just before me, that I noticed a metal structure in a small clearing.  I carefully got to my feet, feeling wobbly and favoring my tenderized leg, whose muscles felt as offended as its serrated skin and gouged flesh did.
Pushing my way into the clearing, I approached the structure, a large, round metal cage, its bars sturdy pipes set in concrete, surrounding a dark, circular, corrugated-sided hole, descending into the ground. On one side of the circle of metal pipes there was a sturdy, swinging metal gate, suitably-sized for a man to pass through. But it had a large, unfamiliar type of lock holding it closed, from the inside.
How odd I thought.
I moved my head into the tight space between the bars as far as it would go, peering into the darkness below as best I could. I could see a metal ladder, attached to the hole's side, dropping into the darkness. But I couldn't tell how deep the hole was. It was inky black down there, and my view was further obscured by a small tree growing from a crack in the side of the tunnel, about ten feet down. As I continued to try to see what was down there, I was distracted-- or, perhaps, it was my imagination-- because I heard the rhythmic sound of a large, slow-moving machine working somewhere far below. A growing breeze, puffing across the opening, rustled the tree's leaves and my sense of the disconcerting sound was gone. How very odd, I thought again.
That's when recent memories of that same machine-like sound, the one that had drawn me, here, to this odd structure flooded into my present awareness. I was scared. What happened to me? I turned from the hole and quickly looked around, expecting danger. Seeing none, I began surveying my surroundings more methodically. That's when I noticed them, lines of  three-toed, cloven-hoofed tracks, leading across the soft, sandy soil of the clearing to the locked gate in the cage. My panic swelled. Wide-eyed, I pivoted jerkily, trying to see everywhere around me at once. Then I fled. I won't say mindlessly. But I will admit, that with more forethought, I could have run around some of the poison oak patches I bulldozed through.
A few minutes of intense heart-pounding retreat, with seat-of-the-pants route-choosing, complicated by continual over-the-shoulder gazing as I plowed my way through the thicket and I reached the road, where, at one point I could finally see my car. I soon got my cold one, but the strain of my escape left my hand shaking so hard that I caused it to foam over the top vigorously,  before I  downed it in a few short, nerve-settling glugs.
Since then I'd thought a lot about what happened to me that day without coming to a rational explanation. I tried to explain them away as a synergism amongst the fatigue, dehydration, and highly unusual headache I suffered that day. But that explanation left me unsettled.
Some weeks later I tried to find the structure again. Perhaps, my confusion during the event (as I now call it) hindered my search efforts or possibly the fact I had just recovered from the worst case of dermatitis I'd ever had in my life, and wasn't that eager to try to top it, was an obstacle, but for whatever reason, I was unsuccessful.
It remained a troublesome mystery and visited my thoughts irritatingly often, until one night while channel-surfing, the answer slapped me in the face. I was watching a chunk of the original movie based on H.G. Wells book, "The Time Machine," and I heard the exact same noise that had summoned me to the structure. It was the Morlocks' siren, used to summon the Eloi to willingly, or at least passively, enter the "wells" into their underground world for slaughter, whenever their larders were depleted. The realization punched me in the stomach, as it shriveled my untested fortitude. Only the luck of entanglement in barb wire had kept me from being Bar-BQ.
I can imagine the groans coming from those of you who have kept an open mind thus far as they slowly formed their opinion about my veracity in relating my tale of this bizarre episode. I understand, being a lifelong skeptic. In fact, I'd join you in your sad surmisal, despite its reflection on my character, perhaps even my sanity, if it wasn't for the fact, that I, in the best tradition of war correspondents taking fire, somehow in my dazed, then frightened state, had kept on clicking away with my camera. Here are just a few photos of this experience I'd like to share. I'd share the rest, but I'm thinking "The BigFoot Museum" might want to open a "Morlock" wing and I'm hoping to sign an exclusive agreement. I just hope Morlocks don't have Internet and read this, because I'd have to change my name to  Entree. Enjoy. John
Wikipedia Morlocks entry:
Morlocks are a fictional species created by H. G. Wells for his 1895 novel, The Time Machine. They dwell underground in the English countryside of A.D. 802,701 in a troglodyte civilization, maintaining ancient machines that they may or may not remember how to build. Their only access to the surface world is through a series of well structures that dot the countryside of future England.
Morlocks are humanoid creatures, said to have descended from humans, but by the 8,028th century have evolved into a completely different species, said to be better suited to their subterranean habitat. They are described as "almost antlike", because they slink about silently during the night to catch their prey.
Morlocks wear no clothing but are covered with fur. As a result of living underground, they have little or no melanin to protect their skin, and so have become extremely sensitive to light.
The Morlocks' main source of food is the Eloi, another race descended from humans that lives above ground. The Morlocks treat the Eloi as cattle, and the Eloi do not resist being captured.
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Don Martinich: Cyclists at Pomponio (Redux) http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4952 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4952 ]]> 4952 2009-10-18 10:53:34 0000-00-00 00:00:00 closed closed draft 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1255881214 _edit_last 1 Pescadero History http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/03/hello-world-2/ Wed, 03 Oct 2007 15:37:14 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1 Hello, I'm June Morrall and I'm crazy about the Coastside. If you don't believe me, this will be my third blog about the place where I live. In 1992 I wrote a book about Pescadero called "The Coburn Mystery." That was a longterm project because I couldn't tear myself away from the ups and downs, ins and outs, unexpected connections and so on. I read old newspapers and one thing kept leading to another. I couldn't resist looking up more and more and more. For me, the remarkable Pescadero story had so many twists and turns that I wondered if it was all made up. Why? Because Pescadero is a very small town and you'd never think that so much could happen there. I was very pleased to later meet and interview locals who remembered the incidents and confirmed what I had read. If only I had met more of the major characters..... The "Coburn Mystery," the published version, is different from what I will present here-- and that will be the first draft, with all its flaws, of the Coburn book which consisted of everything I had learned ( and which had to be pared down to a minimum in the book). Email: june@halfmoonbaymemories.com]]> 3249 2007-10-03 11:37:14 2007-10-03 15:37:14 open open hello-world-2 publish 0 0 post 0 Pescadero Photos http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/06/pescadero-photos/ Sat, 06 Oct 2007 23:27:03 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4 4 2007-10-06 19:27:03 2007-10-06 23:27:03 open open pescadero-photos publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter One: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/06/chapter-one-the-coburn-mystery-first-draft/ Sat, 06 Oct 2007 23:37:20 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=5 5 2007-10-06 19:37:20 2007-10-06 23:37:20 open open chapter-one-the-coburn-mystery-first-draft publish 0 0 post 0 2 375865986@gmail.com http://driverseducationsite.info/parenttaughtdriverseducation/ 24.61.211.239 2008-12-29 01:10:36 2008-12-29 05:10:36 parent taught drivers education Nice Site.]]> 0 0 0 Chapter One: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/06/chapter-one-the-coburn-mystery-first-draft-2/ Sat, 06 Oct 2007 23:49:32 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=6 6 2007-10-06 19:49:32 2007-10-06 23:49:32 open open chapter-one-the-coburn-mystery-first-draft-2 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter One: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/06/chapter-one-the-coburn-mystery-first-draft-3/ Sun, 07 Oct 2007 00:12:04 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=7 7 2007-10-06 20:12:04 2007-10-07 00:12:04 open open chapter-one-the-coburn-mystery-first-draft-3 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter One: The Coburn Mystery (Original Draft) http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/06/chapter-one-the-coburn-mystery-first-draft-4/ Sun, 07 Oct 2007 01:13:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=8 testy." ...more...]]> 8 2007-10-06 21:13:00 2007-10-07 01:13:00 open open chapter-one-the-coburn-mystery-first-draft-4 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter One "The Coburn Mystery" Original Draft [1988] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/06/chapter-one-the-coburn-mystery-first-draft-1988/ Sun, 07 Oct 2007 01:33:16 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=9 9 2007-10-06 21:33:16 2007-10-07 01:33:16 open open chapter-one-the-coburn-mystery-first-draft-1988 publish 0 0 post 0 This is a very long story..... http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/06/this-is-a-very-long-story/ Sun, 07 Oct 2007 01:36:12 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=10 10 2007-10-06 21:36:12 2007-10-07 01:36:12 open open this-is-a-very-long-story publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter One "The Coburn Mystery" Original Draft [1988] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/06/chapter-one-the-coburn-mystery-first-draft-1988-2/ Sun, 07 Oct 2007 01:42:37 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=11 11 2007-10-06 21:42:37 2007-10-07 01:42:37 open open chapter-one-the-coburn-mystery-first-draft-1988-2 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter One "The Coburn Mystery" Original Draft [1988] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/06/chapter-one-the-coburn-mystery-first-draft-1988-3/ Sun, 07 Oct 2007 02:01:49 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=12 12 2007-10-06 22:01:49 2007-10-07 02:01:49 open open chapter-one-the-coburn-mystery-first-draft-1988-3 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter One "The Coburn Mystery" Original Draft [1988] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/06/chapter-one-the-coburn-mystery-first-draft-1988-4/ Sun, 07 Oct 2007 02:21:47 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=13 13 2007-10-06 22:21:47 2007-10-07 02:21:47 open open chapter-one-the-coburn-mystery-first-draft-1988-4 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter One "The Coburn Mystery" Original Draft [1988] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/07/chapter-one-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988/ Sun, 07 Oct 2007 16:11:16 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=14 14 2007-10-07 12:11:16 2007-10-07 16:11:16 closed closed chapter-one-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Two:"The Coburn Mystery" Original Draft [1988] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/07/chapter-twothe-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988/ Mon, 08 Oct 2007 00:30:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=15 15 2007-10-07 20:30:00 2007-10-08 00:30:00 closed closed chapter-twothe-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Two:"The Coburn Mystery" Original Draft [1988] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/07/chapter-twothe-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-2/ Mon, 08 Oct 2007 00:49:19 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=16 16 2007-10-07 20:49:19 2007-10-08 00:49:19 closed closed chapter-twothe-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-2 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Two:"The Coburn Mystery" Original Draft [1988] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/08/chapter-twothe-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-3/ Mon, 08 Oct 2007 16:21:42 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=17 17 2007-10-08 12:21:42 2007-10-08 16:21:42 closed closed chapter-twothe-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-3 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Two:"The Coburn Mystery" Original Draft [1988] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/08/chapter-twothe-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-4/ Mon, 08 Oct 2007 23:09:25 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=18 18 2007-10-08 19:09:25 2007-10-08 23:09:25 closed closed chapter-twothe-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-4 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Two: "The Coburn Mystery" Original Draft [1988] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/08/chapter-two-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988/ Tue, 09 Oct 2007 01:49:51 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=19 19 2007-10-08 21:49:51 2007-10-09 01:49:51 closed closed chapter-two-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Two: "The Coburn Mystery" Original Draft [1988] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/08/chapter-two-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-2/ Tue, 09 Oct 2007 02:20:09 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=20 20 2007-10-08 22:20:09 2007-10-09 02:20:09 closed closed chapter-two-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-2 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Two: "The Coburn Mystery" Original Draft [1988] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/08/chapter-two-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-3/ Tue, 09 Oct 2007 02:30:12 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=21 21 2007-10-08 22:30:12 2007-10-09 02:30:12 closed closed chapter-two-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-3 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Two: "The Coburn Mystery" Original Draft [1988] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/08/chapter-two-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-4/ Tue, 09 Oct 2007 02:49:21 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=22 22 2007-10-08 22:49:21 2007-10-09 02:49:21 closed closed chapter-two-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-4 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Two: "The Coburn Mystery" Original Draft [1988] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/08/chapter-two-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-5/ Tue, 09 Oct 2007 03:13:34 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=23 23 2007-10-08 23:13:34 2007-10-09 03:13:34 closed closed chapter-two-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-5 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Two: "The Coburn Mystery" Original Draft [1988] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/09/chapter-two-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-6/ Tue, 09 Oct 2007 15:33:46 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=24 24 2007-10-09 11:33:46 2007-10-09 15:33:46 closed closed chapter-two-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-6 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Two: "The Coburn Mystery" Original Draft [1988] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/09/chapter-two-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-7/ Tue, 09 Oct 2007 23:49:29 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=25 25 2007-10-09 19:49:29 2007-10-09 23:49:29 closed closed chapter-two-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-7 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Three: The Coburn Mystery, Original Draft (1988) http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/09/chapter-three-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988/ Wed, 10 Oct 2007 01:52:41 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/09/chapter-three-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988/ 26 2007-10-09 21:52:41 2007-10-10 01:52:41 closed closed chapter-three-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Three: The Coburn Mystery, Original Draft (1988) http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/16/chapter-three-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-2/ Tue, 16 Oct 2007 19:14:25 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/16/chapter-three-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-2/ alienist --today we'd call him a psychiatrist--and he said Wally Coburn suffered from dementia, adding that "he has a mental age of three to four years. A paranoiac, afflicted with delusions of persecution might have committed murder in a fit of rage. But Wallace Coburn, with the mind of a child, could not have done so."] Suddenly Wally dropped to his knees close to his stepmother's bed--looking as if he were going to pray. But instead he shook Sarah's lifeless body roughly as if he were trying to wake her, then he hugged her, mumbling something that Andy Stirling claimed sounded like "Poor George Washington is dead." ...more...]]> 27 2007-10-16 15:14:25 2007-10-16 19:14:25 closed closed chapter-three-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-2 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Three: The Coburn Mystery, Original Draft (1988) http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/16/chapter-three-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-3/ Tue, 16 Oct 2007 19:29:08 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/16/chapter-three-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-3/ 28 2007-10-16 15:29:08 2007-10-16 19:29:08 closed closed chapter-three-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-3 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Three: The Coburn Mystery, Original Draft (1988) http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/16/chapter-three-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-4/ Tue, 16 Oct 2007 19:55:26 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/16/chapter-three-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-4/ 29 2007-10-16 15:55:26 2007-10-16 19:55:26 closed closed chapter-three-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-4 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Three: The Coburn Mystery, Original Draft (1988) http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/17/chapter-three-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-5/ Wed, 17 Oct 2007 23:20:55 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/17/chapter-three-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-5/ 30 2007-10-17 19:20:55 2007-10-17 23:20:55 closed closed chapter-three-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-1988-5 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Four: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/17/chapter-four-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ Wed, 17 Oct 2007 23:37:34 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/17/chapter-four-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ 31 2007-10-17 19:37:34 2007-10-17 23:37:34 closed closed chapter-four-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Four: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/17/chapter-four-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-2/ Wed, 17 Oct 2007 23:59:17 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/17/chapter-four-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-2/ 32 2007-10-17 19:59:17 2007-10-17 23:59:17 closed closed chapter-four-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-2 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Five: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/17/chapter-five-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ Thu, 18 Oct 2007 02:26:33 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/17/chapter-five-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ 33 2007-10-17 22:26:33 2007-10-18 02:26:33 closed closed chapter-five-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Five: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/17/chapter-five-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-2/ Thu, 18 Oct 2007 02:49:16 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/17/chapter-five-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-2/ 34 2007-10-17 22:49:16 2007-10-18 02:49:16 closed closed chapter-five-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-2 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Five: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/18/chapter-five-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-3/ Thu, 18 Oct 2007 04:23:46 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/18/chapter-five-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-3/ 35 2007-10-18 00:23:46 2007-10-18 04:23:46 closed closed chapter-five-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-3 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Five: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/18/chapter-five-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-4/ Thu, 18 Oct 2007 04:27:20 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/18/chapter-five-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-4/ 36 2007-10-18 00:27:20 2007-10-18 04:27:20 closed closed chapter-five-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-4 publish 0 0 post 0 Intermission: Did Gort Visit Pescadero? by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/18/intermission-did-gort-visit-pescadero-by-john-vonderlin/ Thu, 18 Oct 2007 15:50:03 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/18/intermission-did-gort-visit-pescadero-by-john-vonderlin/

Remember Gort? Here's his image, courtesy of John Vonderlin. Hi June, Being a student of all things odd, it's my opinion that there is hardly a more self-deluded group of distortionists and self-promoters then the "researchers" of Atlantis. Particularly, those who insist there is substantial evidence that it was in the Caribbean. Christopher Dunn, the publisher of "Atlantis Rising Online," while a believer in previous highly advanced civilizations, now disappeared, was the researcher who helped me identify the source of the star-shaped or petal-shaped holes in rocks I had found near Pescadero and a few other places. Here's a quote about an email he received from Richard Wingate, an Atlantean "researcher" of the former kind. "In support of his premise that these are the stones of Atlantis, Wingate described petal-shaped holes drilled through 12 feet of granite,a feat that he says would require sonic drills". As I alluded to in a previous email, Mr. Dunn, investigated this himself and traced the blocks of stone with star-shaped holes back to a project that transported blocks of quarried limestone on barges, which occassionally sunk, from the Moselle Shoals to build the Miami jetty in the 1920s. The mysteriously shaped holes, some spiralling through the blocks, were the product of concussive rock drilling machines with star-shaped bits that had jammed. I'm revisting this subject because I wanted to show you the amazing rock I found just feet from a cluster of the mysterious holes near Pescadero. (super bowl yard 008 photo) While I know what it is, I suspect it would have been used as powerful proof of alien visitation, Atlantean Super Science, or some such fantasy by Mr. Wingate and his ilk in their next pulp "fiction" paperbacks. Even knowing that it is of concretionary origin, I am amazed by the shape it took. It reminded me of the head of Gort, the large robot, in the classic 1951 Science Fiction film, "The Day the Earth Stood Still." (Gort bmp photo) I've collected several other cases where concretions are asserted as being products of former high civilizations, one of the reasons I love these oddities. (Endako1 photo) Strangely, Creationists are also highly interested in them, with several of the objects on their O.O.P.Arts (Out of Place Artifacts) list being of concretionary origin. They feel the discovery of these objects in ancient rock layers is proof that Geologists and the rest of the pointy-headed intellectuals trying to convince us of Evolution or an extremely old Earth are wrong. But, that's another story. For a while I had a large assemblage on my studio floor entitled "She Spawns," that included this rock and a number of my other concretions. (she 006 and 026 photos) Enjoy. John Vonderlin

Want to read more of John Vonderlin? Click here]]>
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Chapter Six: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/19/chapter-six-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:17:23 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/19/chapter-six-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ 43 2007-10-19 12:17:23 2007-10-19 16:17:23 closed closed chapter-six-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Six: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/19/chapter-six-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-2/ Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:50:45 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/19/chapter-six-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-2/ 44 2007-10-19 12:50:45 2007-10-19 16:50:45 closed closed chapter-six-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-2 publish 0 0 post 0 How am I doing? http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/19/how-am-i-doing/ Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:53:29 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/19/how-am-i-doing/ 45 2007-10-19 12:53:29 2007-10-19 16:53:29 closed closed how-am-i-doing publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Six: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/19/chapter-six-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-3/ Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:59:59 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/19/chapter-six-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-3/ 46 2007-10-19 12:59:59 2007-10-19 16:59:59 closed closed chapter-six-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-3 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Six: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/20/chapter-six-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-4/ Sun, 21 Oct 2007 00:03:25 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/20/chapter-six-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-4/ 48 2007-10-20 20:03:25 2007-10-21 00:03:25 closed closed chapter-six-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-4 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Six: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/20/chapter-six-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-5/ Sun, 21 Oct 2007 00:06:32 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/20/chapter-six-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-5/ 47 2007-10-20 20:06:32 2007-10-21 00:06:32 closed closed chapter-six-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-5 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Six: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/20/chapter-six-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-6/ Sun, 21 Oct 2007 00:07:50 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/20/chapter-six-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-6/ 49 2007-10-20 20:07:50 2007-10-21 00:07:50 closed closed chapter-six-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-6 publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Six: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/21/chapter-six/ Sun, 21 Oct 2007 16:20:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/21/chapter-six/ 50 2007-10-21 12:20:00 2007-10-21 16:20:00 closed closed chapter-six publish 0 0 post 0 The Poem of Pescadero (1) http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/21/the-poem-of-pescadero-1/ Sun, 21 Oct 2007 20:36:46 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/21/the-poem-of-pescadero-1/ 51 2007-10-21 16:36:46 2007-10-21 20:36:46 closed closed the-poem-of-pescadero-1 publish 0 0 post 0 Well Worth Memorizing (2) The "Poem of Pescadero" by Mrs. H.L. Good (circa 1850) http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/21/the-poem-of-pescadero-by-mrs-hl-good-circa-1850/ Sun, 21 Oct 2007 20:41:30 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/21/the-poem-of-pescadero-by-mrs-hl-good-circa-1850/ 52 2007-10-21 16:41:30 2007-10-21 20:41:30 closed closed the-poem-of-pescadero-by-mrs-hl-good-circa-1850 publish 0 0 post 0 The Fame of 'Invisible Beach' #1/Rocks by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/21/the-fame-of-invisible-beach-by-john-vonderlin/ Mon, 22 Oct 2007 02:13:47 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/21/the-fame-of-invisible-beach-by-john-vonderlin/

Part I Hi June, I've asserted that Invisible Beach is the most amazing, unusual, interesting, etc. place on the San Mateo Coast, if not the California or Pacific Coast. So far, I've only nibbled around the edges of the buffet of its wonders. This assertion is based on three basic claims. One...it is the best rock collecting spot I know of on the West Coast. Two...it is the best small driftwood collecting spot I know of on our coast. Three..it is the best non-buoyant marine debris collecting spot I know of on the West Coast. I realize that because my travels are limited, I can't be sure. But thanks to my research on the Internet, various books, newsletters by collectors, and postings on various forums, I'm pretty confident I'm right. Let's see if I can convince anybody else. Earlier, I sent you a picture of the many varieties of the quartz family that can be found there. While their monetary value is minimal, their existence as the last significant remnant of the offshore quartz ridge that also created Pebble Beach, gives them some historical cachet. Pebble Beach was Pescadero's claim to fame in the last half of the 19th Century. It brought thousands of wealthy tourists and acclaim to sleepy Pescadero, in its Golden Age. to gather those pebbles. The protracted beach access legal battle between Loren Coburn and the townsfolk of Pescadero, with its mob violence threats and his wife Sarah's subsequent murder as detailed in your book, "The Coburn Mystery," added an aura of sadness, mystery and legal significance to their existence, carried on to this day by the pebbles found on Invisible Beach. Not even, Big Sur, Jade Cove, or Cambria's, Moonstone Beach, further south, have such an interesting pedigree or range of attractive stones. While almost all the pebbles, despite their colorfulness, are too common to quicken the heart rate of a serious collector, there is one variety that I have never seen elsewhere. Nor have any of my postings of pictures on Rockhound forums produced either an explanation of the details of their origin or any information about the existence of ones like them from elsewhere. I refer to hollowed out triangular quartz rocks as pictured in the attached photo. Lastly, beside the pebbles, a few Donut NotRocks (collected and strung with shells in necklaces by the Ohlone natives of this area) and the extensive Tafoni structures on the rocks that bound the beach on its northern end, there is an unusual pareidolic rock, shaped like a whale head, that sits in the throat of Neptune's Vomitorium, the channel that regurgitates the various oddities onto Invisible Beach. I've attached a photo of it. Have I made my case?

To read more of John Vonderlin (and 'Invisible Beach') click here]]>
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1951: "Ma Frey": Bartendress & Hotel owner's daughter http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/22/1951-ma-frey-bartender-hotel-owners-daughter/ Mon, 22 Oct 2007 18:50:58 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/22/1951-ma-frey-bartender-hotel-owners-daughter/ 56 2007-10-22 14:50:58 2007-10-22 18:50:58 closed closed 1951-ma-frey-bartender-hotel-owners-daughter publish 0 0 post 0 1951: "Ma Frey": Bartendress & Hotel owner's daughter (2) http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/22/1951-ma-frey-bartender-hotel-owners-daughter-2/ Mon, 22 Oct 2007 18:57:25 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/22/1951-ma-frey-bartender-hotel-owners-daughter-2/ 57 2007-10-22 14:57:25 2007-10-22 18:57:25 closed closed 1951-ma-frey-bartender-hotel-owners-daughter-2 publish 0 0 post 0 1951: "Ma Frey": Bartendress & Hotel owner's daughter (3) http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/22/1951-ma-frey-bartender-hotel-owners-daughter-3/ Mon, 22 Oct 2007 19:15:16 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/22/1951-ma-frey-bartender-hotel-owners-daughter-3/ 58 2007-10-22 15:15:16 2007-10-22 19:15:16 closed closed 1951-ma-frey-bartender-hotel-owners-daughter-3 publish 0 0 post 0 Looking Toward The Famous Flagpole: Pescadero, circa 1980 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/22/pescadero-circa-1980/ Mon, 22 Oct 2007 19:46:37 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/22/pescadero-circa-1980/

Photo by Jerry Koontz, jerrysphotos.com]]>
60 2007-10-22 15:46:37 2007-10-22 19:46:37 closed closed pescadero-circa-1980 publish 0 0 post 0
1951: "Ma Frey": Bartendress & Hotel owner's daughter (4) http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/22/1951-ma-frey-bartender-hotel-owners-daughter-4/ Mon, 22 Oct 2007 21:55:03 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/22/1951-ma-frey-bartender-hotel-owners-daughter-4/ Colombia' ran aground and broke-up near Pescadero. The villagers rallied and rushed to the scene where they liberated its cargo of white paint. For many years afterward Pescadero was known as "The Spotless Town" because all the houses in town had a fresh coat of the same color paint. Which brought Ma Frey back to the topic of her vegetable garden and some practical advice. "The moles have been bad," she said. "You have to take the corn and dip it in coal oil--that'll keep the moles away. And you put mothballs where their runs are. "There's nearly an acre," she went on. "Jim, the deputy sheriff, plowed it. You can't get horses anymore. You either have to spade it or use machinery." There were other things on her mind. "I've answered a puzzle," she said, "and I'm gonna get rich. There's a contest and it doesn't close 'til the 31st of May--that's my wedding anniversary. They sent me a form to fill out and I got it all perfect. "I'll get $50,000 for the first prize, I think. When I get it, I'm going to do good. I have lots of friends that need operations." And that was just like Ma Frey to care about her friends and neighbors in Pescadero. -------------------- *Lobitos: "The farming district hereabouts was so named from the creek around 1870 (in the '60s the name had been Bald Knob...) The Lobitos Station of the stagecoach line was established in 1878, and within a year or so turned into the present hamlet. (The 1941 Army map very mistakenly calls the place Tunitas, and the USGS, against the advice of its field engineer, has repeated the blunder.)--From "Place Names of San Mateo County" by Dr. Alan K. Brown **Lobitos Creek: Land grant records of the late 1830s call this the 'arroyo de los Lobitos' (Seals creek). Deeds of the early 1850s have an alternate Spanish form: 'arroyo Lobos Pintos' (spotted seals; the two terms mean the same thing, seals as distinguished from the large unspotted sea lions). According to Pablo Vasquez, the name comes from the fact that there were large seal rookeries on the shore here. This would be hard to disagree with. A small branch going off the creek a mile and a quarter below Bald Knob has long been regarded as the South fork.--Place Names of San Mateo County, Dr. Alan K. Brown ***Bald Knob: (West of and above Tunitas Creek road 2.4 W of Skyline...) The name has been in use since the late 18550s. There is now a growth of young pines on the summit which before was conspicuously bare. 'Knob' is not a regular word for a kind of hill in this part of California, so the effect is semi-metaphorical; Bald mountain has always been an alternate form. In the 1860s Bald Knob was also used as the name of the ranching district down to the west. Wheeler's San Francisco County map of 1855 has the name Zaremba mountain, for totally unknown reasons.--Place Names of San Mateo County, Dr. Alan K. Brown]]> 61 2007-10-22 17:55:03 2007-10-22 21:55:03 closed closed 1951-ma-frey-bartender-hotel-owners-daughter-4 publish 0 0 post 0 Invisible Beach's 3 Claims To Fame/#2 Driftwood http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/22/invisible-beachs-3-claims-to-fame2-driftwood-1/ Tue, 23 Oct 2007 01:53:43 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/22/invisible-beachs-3-claims-to-fame2-driftwood-1/

I also began to theorize why they were there and what was causing them to be so rounded. They were quite different from the usual piles of small driftwood you might see elsewhere. I began to call this part of the beach, Nature's Grand Tumbler. My theory was that the two rock promontories on either end of Invisible Beach, tended to restrict the normal flow of beach-stranded driftwood further southward. ...more...]]>
62 2007-10-22 21:53:43 2007-10-23 01:53:43 closed closed invisible-beachs-3-claims-to-fame2-driftwood-1 publish 0 0 post 0
Invisible Beach's 3 Claims To Fame/#2 Driftwood (2) http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/23/invisible-beachs-3-claims-to-fame2-driftwood-2/ Tue, 23 Oct 2007 19:12:38 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/23/invisible-beachs-3-claims-to-fame2-driftwood-2/ here

Flotsam in the nearshore takes that path in our area because it is driven by the longshore current (littoral drift)--which in turn is driven by the prevailing northwest winds. I believed once they floated in, they were trapped and were subsequently rounded off by rubbing against the rough grit of the sand, just as in a rock tumbler. I believed this effect, which should exist in almost any promontory-bounded cove, was strengthened by the topographical features of the shallow, flat reef that extended almost continuously along the length of the beach out to about fifty yards. The reef's rocks were composed of numerous sedimentary layers turned on edge with the differential erosion of the layers of varying hardness causing a series of parallel grooves and ridges. The ridges and grooves because of their southwest to northwest orientation would tend to guide any flotsam retreating from the beach directly into the prevailing northwestly winds, sending them backwards toward the beach. I began to photograph easy- to- identify pieces of driftwood and noted they did indeed hang around for months. I also noted that occasionally in high surf conditions small quantities of driftwood were escaping past the southern promontory, to be temporarily spread thinly over the beaches to the south; then disappear. I began to call the small embayment where they were usually concentrated Roach Motel Embayment, after the commercial about the baited box in the commercial that brags, "They check in, but they don't check out." Still, so many of the pieces I was finding were different from the normal driftwood I was used to finding, I knew I wasn't seeing the full picture. Plus I was perplexed that in all my trips there, I'd never actually seen any pieces float in. One day while collecting some more pebbles I learned..."The Rest of the Story." I hadn't ever seen them floating in because they weren't. The pieces weren't floating in because at some point in the oceanic phase of their existence they had become waterlogged and sunk.

As they bumped along the nearshore bottom on their southward trip, from who knows where, they were being ejected onto the beach by a feature I came to call Neptune's Vomitorium. This feature apparently also provided the path for the ejection of the pebbles and other objects onto the beach. In a short aside, if you websearch "sinkers lumber," you'll find there is a number of thriving businesses that specialize in producing lumber from recovered waterlogged trees, many harvested from virgin forests hundreds of years ago before they sank to the bottom of lakes or rivers. I further believe that after being ejected on the beach at Neptune's Vomitorium, they would be moved southward by the waves a short distance down the beach to the Roach Motel Embayment. At that point the factors I mentioned earlier came into play, more or less restricting them to this stretch of the beach.This also provided the explanation of why these piles of driftwood contained so many unusual shapes and types. Just as with rocks, where the harder a rock is, the better it tends to take a polish, the harder and denser pieces of wood; that is, knot holes, the underside support of branches, forks, heartwood, etc. were durable enough to last long enough to be rounded into attractive shapes. They weren't doing it on the beach to any degree though. They were doing it during their silent procession along the ocean's bottom in the nearshore. With more research I discovered, Neptune's Vomitorium, was at the site of a paleocreek. During the Ice Age, the ocean level was hundreds of feet lower because of all the water locked in glaciers. Consequently, the coast at that time was far offshore from its present position. I've read that ten thousand years ago that was almost out to the Farallones. The creeks that ran off our local hills and mountains eroded canyons and valleys that have since been submerged by the rising waters that resulted from the melting of the glaciers. The ones that haven't filled entirely with sediment are called paleocreeks. For some reason, at Neptune's Vomitorium, there is an interaction between the longshore current, the paleocreek, and other subsurface topography to episodically, but regularly, regurgitate large amounts of non-buoyant objects onto the beach like no other place I know. Those objects include the pebbles from the offshore quartz ridge, waterlogged wood, and enormous quantities of non-buoyant marine debris from the fishing and crabbing industry, your lost beach items, and whatever lost or discarded trash that bounces along the bottom of the streams that drain the local watersheds. In the last three years I've collected about ten trash cans full of these little treasure.

I sort them by size and shape for various planned artistic endeavors. Initially, I would drill them and string them by the hundred into what I called "Ocean Garlands," a beachcombing version of the strings of popcorn we make for decorating our Christmas trees.

Lately, I've been using some of the more unusual ones I find in some of my thematic art exhibits. Check out the oval-shaped piece of wood.

Do you recognize what it once was?*** I've combined this mysterious piece of driftwood with a golf ball core, the regurgitated remnant left after a poor shot's long and degrading journey of nearly twenty miles to Invisible Beach, from one of the Ritz Carlton's, world class golf courses, and a Hole-in-the-Heart Valentine Rockomorph. It is part of the several hundred pieces of art I have assembled for my "The Silent Procession from The Sunken Cathedral to Neptune's Vomitorium." At this time, I want to move on to my next claim: Invisible Beach is the best marine-debris-collection spot on this coast. Enjoy. John Vonderlin *****For the answer to what the driftwood was....see below Hi June, Neither I, or my beachcombing friend who found it, figured out what it was. However, several people recognized it when I showed it to them. It's the head of a push-broom. The two slanted holes allow you to change the angle of the handle, keeping the bristles from getting too slanted in one direction, limiting it's effectiveness. Enjoy. John Vonderlin.]]>
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Patterns.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/24/patterns/ Thu, 25 Oct 2007 00:04:45 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/24/patterns/ ]]> 72 2007-10-24 20:04:45 2007-10-25 00:04:45 closed closed patterns publish 0 0 post 0 Notrocks....from Invisible Beach http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/26/notrocksfrom-invisible-beach/ Fri, 26 Oct 2007 17:02:38 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/26/notrocksfrom-invisible-beach/

(Photo by John Vonderlin) To reach more of John and to catch up with his definitions and the names he has given the South Coast beaches, click here]]>
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1957: Mushroom Plant To Hire 100 Employees http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/26/1957-mushroom-plant-to-hire-100-employees/ Fri, 26 Oct 2007 17:46:53 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/26/1957-mushroom-plant-to-hire-100-employees/ 76 2007-10-26 13:46:53 2007-10-26 17:46:53 closed closed 1957-mushroom-plant-to-hire-100-employees publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Seven: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] Back in time... http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/26/chapter-seven-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-back-in-time/ Sat, 27 Oct 2007 00:24:05 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/26/chapter-seven-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-back-in-time/ 70 2007-10-26 20:24:05 2007-10-27 00:24:05 closed closed chapter-seven-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft-back-in-time publish 0 0 post 0 "Invisible Beach's" Claim to Fame: #3 Non-Buoyant Marine Debris http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/31/invisible-beachs-claim-to-fame-3-non-buoyant-marine-debris/ Wed, 31 Oct 2007 23:59:55 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/31/invisible-beachs-claim-to-fame-3-non-buoyant-marine-debris/ 77 2007-10-31 19:59:55 2007-10-31 23:59:55 closed closed invisible-beachs-claim-to-fame-3-non-buoyant-marine-debris publish 0 0 post 0 "Invisible Beach": Where We Meet 'The Contender' http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/31/invisible-beach-where-we-meet-the-contender/ Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:04:59 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/31/invisible-beach-where-we-meet-the-contender/

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(Image: John Vonderlin's collection of tags found at 'Invisible Beach.') Having been a Natural Wonder collector, photographer and admirer for years, it seemed logical to create dissonant art by combining objects from my collection with some of the disturbing and odd things I was finding. But that came later. Here's what I consider the start. My love affair with the non-buoyant debris of Invisible Beach, actually had its roots in the day I encountered some unusual flotsam there. Flotsam is floating debris from a shipwreck, the more common sibling of jetsam, which is material thrown overboard to lighten the load of a boat in distress. Viewing the flotsam, a plastic wrapped bundle of fish tags from a boat named, "The Contender," as nothing more then odd beach litter, I picked it up and put it in my litter bag. As I proceeded northward towards the pebbles and driftwood I was seeking, I found many more of the loose, business-card-sized, plastic-like fish tags with a variety of different numbers on them. I remember entertaining momentarily the idea of trying to contact the boat's owner and complain about their carelessness. Instead I threw them all in a trash can before I drove away. ....more]]>
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"Invisible Beach:" Where We Meet 'The Contender' http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/31/invisible-beach-where-we-meet-the-contender-2/ Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:09:47 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/31/invisible-beach-where-we-meet-the-contender-2/ 79 2007-10-31 20:09:47 2007-11-01 00:09:47 closed closed invisible-beach-where-we-meet-the-contender-2 publish 0 0 post 0 The Story of 'The Contender' by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/31/the-story-of-the-contender-by-john-vonderlin/ Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:16:43 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/31/the-story-of-the-contender-by-john-vonderlin/ 80 2007-10-31 20:16:43 2007-11-01 00:16:43 closed closed the-story-of-the-contender-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 Invisible Beach: The Mystery of The Tags Is Solved http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/31/invisible-beach-the-mystery-of-the-tags-is-solved/ Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:20:25 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/31/invisible-beach-the-mystery-of-the-tags-is-solved/ 81 2007-10-31 20:20:25 2007-11-01 00:20:25 closed closed invisible-beach-the-mystery-of-the-tags-is-solved publish 0 0 post 0 Invisible Beach: A New Mystery by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/31/invisible-beach-a-new-mystery-by-john-vonderlin/ Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:24:31 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/10/31/invisible-beach-a-new-mystery-by-john-vonderlin/ debris1.jpegdebris2.jpegdebris3.jpeg (Image: John Vonderlin's collection of debris found at 'Invisible Beach.') It was not long after the mystery of the tags was solved, while on another pebble and driftwood gathering trip--that we encountered a new mystery to consider. There were a sizable number of marine debris objects spread along the beach from the colored pebble gravel bank south for about fifty yards and higher up the beach mixed with a thin layer of wrack. There were a number of black strips and rings of what seemed to be parts of inner tubes. There were numerous balls of fishing line of many sizes interlaced with small twigs. There were golf balls and their remnants, tie wraps, aluminum can remnants, the top portions of plastic bottles, plastic caps, a handful of shoe soles, particularly kayak footwear, a few heels, halves of naked tennis balls, fishing lures, fishing line spools, socks and rags overgrown with seaweed, Frisbee aero rings, sunglasses, lighters, strips of tire treads, bits of colored plastic from both recognizable and unrecognizable sources, and a number of miscellaneous bits of litter. To see such a concentrated collection of litter on the normally clean beaches of San Mateo, was both disturbing and fascinating. For it to be composed primarily of objects I had rarely if ever seen before on the local beaches was a real head-scratcher. With these new mysteries presenting themselves, how could I do anything but begin collecting this cornucopia of weirdness? So I did. Why this all showed up here, seemingly at once, and where it had come from turned out to be more difficult and more interesting mysteries to solve then that posed by "The Contender." tags. The last three photos are of most of the debris recovered in one trip and represents a typical "good" haul. End Part 1 Enjoy. John Vonderlin]]> 82 2007-10-31 20:24:31 2007-11-01 00:24:31 closed closed invisible-beach-a-new-mystery-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 Pescadero, circa 1980 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/01/pescadero-circa-1980-2/ Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:14:30 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/01/pescadero-circa-1980-2/

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Chapter Eight: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/02/chapter-eight-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ Fri, 02 Nov 2007 22:06:21 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/02/chapter-eight-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ "After the shooting Johnson staggered toward his assailant about fifteen yards. Then he turned back. One of his friends said to him, 'Charlie, I guess you're pretty badly hurt, ain't you?' 'Oh, no,' he answered, 'I'm not hurt,' and as the word passed his lips he fell heavily to the ground dead. Meantime Haskins had galloped out of the town. Sheriff Knowles started in pursuit and captured him at Hayward's Mills, about three miles from Pesadero. He acknowledged killing Johnson, but says that the latter attacked him first. In this story he is contradicted by two witnesses, who confirm the account given above. He was taken to Redwood City, San Mateo County, yesterday morning, and safely lodged in jail. He takes the matter very cooly..."]]> 90 2007-11-02 18:06:21 2007-11-02 22:06:21 closed closed chapter-eight-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Nine: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/02/chapter-nine-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ Sat, 03 Nov 2007 00:10:04 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/02/chapter-nine-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ 91 2007-11-02 20:10:04 2007-11-03 00:10:04 closed closed chapter-nine-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter Ten: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/02/chapter-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ Sat, 03 Nov 2007 00:19:57 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/02/chapter-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ On the second of July at Pigeon Point, six miles from Pescadero, Alexander Rae, the wharffinger was killed. L. Coburn and four men with whom he was on intimate terms were at or near the chute on the second, that three of these men were there from San Francisco in his employ, that the fourth had been in some way associated with him, that in Rae's absence, a young man, Kelly, a telegraphic operator, had charge of the wharf that a man entered and requested him to forward a telegram, that while doing so two other men entered the office and ordered him out, and not obeying as fast as they wished they took hold of his shoulders and pushed him, that once out he ran and notified Rae of what he'd seen. Rae ran around to the barn and took a navy six shooter, that he ran onto the chute, carrying in his right hand, and partly hid behind his person, the pistol that he wished for one of three men at the lower end of the wharf, that assaulter and the assaulted were in full view of six persons, the telegraph operator and five Italians, that the operator and Mr. Fairchild and daughter testified a number of shots fired simultaneously; that Italians testify the three on end of wharf behind a low gate across from wharf; as Scotty approached them, Wolf the central one, spoke and held up his open right hand; that Scotty advanced to the fence, tried to push it down, failed, stepped back, shot twice at Wolf, who bowed more respectfully in recognition of each discharge, then several shots fired. Scotty fell. 4th man on familiar terms with three who did killing, Coburn not far fronm land end of chute at time shooting. Men jailed.]]> 92 2007-11-02 20:19:57 2007-11-03 00:19:57 closed closed chapter-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft publish 0 0 post 0 Clusters On South Coast Beaches by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/02/clusters-on-south-coast-beaches-by-john-vonderlin/ Sat, 03 Nov 2007 01:07:34 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/02/clusters-on-south-coast-beaches-by-john-vonderlin/

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Hi June, As I began regularly collecting the marine debris that was spit out by Neptune's Vomitorium, onto Invisible Beach, I couldn't help but note that often there would be clusters of certain types of debris. Knowing that moving water frequently does that because of the interactions of the water flow and the object's density, surface area, and shape, I wasn't too amazed at first. After all, the clustering of objects on beaches is perfectly normal. The typical clustering effect that's visible on the average beach is characterized by the size of the sediment composing different parts of the beach; fine sand here, a gravel bank of similar-sized pebbles there, or a bed of larger cobbles over there; making you aware of its noisy presence every time a sizeable wave recedes. Another less common, and slightly more mysterious clustering effect of beach sediment, that you can see occasionally where the waves reach a cliff, a bluff or a dune, manifests itself as black chevrons pointing seaward. These chevrons are usually composed of fine, but heavy particles of magnetite, moved into their characteristic shape by the myriad of forces working in the swash zone. They are called heavy mineral laminae and have been researched quite extensively.

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Invisible Beach displays all of those rock related clusters as well as the gravel bed at Neptune's Vomitorium that contains all the varieties of quartz I have mentioned previously.. But, it also frequently displays clusters of expired critters whose pictures I put into a folder I call, "I See Dead Things." The most common dead-things-cluster at Invisible Beach is one most beach walkers are probably familiar with, a great number of mollusk shells of the same type dog-piling together as pictured in the photo at the top of this story. It also occasionally displays the more tragically poignant clusters of freshly dead sea stars, seemingly saying good-bye to each other as pictured below.

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Shifting sand inundating their rocky habitat seems to precipitate this die-off. In an often futile attempt to avoid the encroaching sand, they'll form long lines just above it on the rocks, actually touching each other. Unfortunately, this exposes them to the full power of the surf, with a fatal result. Another notable, but normal, cluster that shows up at Invisible Beach, is that of the By-The-Wind Sailors, velella velella.

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c5.jpeg These beautiful, translucent blue hydroids, driven from their open ocean home by persistent westerly winds are stranded there by the hundreds of thousands most years. All of these clusters, as well as the wrack, the waterlogged small driftwood rafts, and the large quantities of marine debris litter being regurgitated by Neptune's Vomitorium all seemed to have reasonable causes. Those being the rocky promontories, a flat reef bordering the beach with northwest/southeast-facing groove-and-ridge eroded sedimentary rock, a paleocreek, the longshore current, wind patterns, wave surge, etc. But, there were other clusters not so easily explained. What was the explanation for part of one day's booty pictured in the photo below?(more then fourty socks)

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Had the Sock Monster's Lair been hit by an accidentally dropped depth charge? Surely, socks of different size, different materials, different levels of seaweed or sand infiltration, some knotted and remnants of different size and material couldn't be "birds of a feather." all flocking together. Even weirder, look at this photo

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showing two of the lost souls of "My Posse," just as I found them. I've only found twenty or so different examples of these little critters in three years. What are the odds that two of them would be found right next to each other? The next week I found the more heavily-armed clone of the smaller, darker green alien further down the beach to further mystify me. Seemingly just as odd was finding the two handicapped lovers I used in one of my early pieces of Litterarty.

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They were about a foot apart on the beach when I picked them up. Unfortunately, that was early in my experience with the oddities of Invisible Beach, and I didn't photograph them where they lay. Strangely, I had an epiphany about a year later that explained to me satisfactorily why they were so close. Before, I had my revelation I had assembled a piece of art and called it "Love Conquers All." The story in my mind was that their love had conquered everything from missing limbs, abandonment to the sea; even the pounding surf on a rocky coast could not separate these lovers. The little heart with arms raised in triumphant recognition of their victorious love, the Hole-in-the-Heart Rockomorph signifying the wounds lasting love must endure, and the "Birth of Venus" aspect suggested by the fossil shell base all reinforced this portrayal of their powerful unbreakable bond, love-enduring. Alas, the actual explanation my epiphany revealed that I'll detail in a following email is much more mundane. While Invisible Beach, has produced many other hard to explain Marine Debris clusters, I wanted to include a picture of another strange cluster from another beach.

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It shows four of the seven Aerobie Rings that showed up one day within fifty feet of each other and have continued to show up episodically at the smaller, less consistent, and less diverse vomitorium at Pescadero Beach. For some reason this particular vomitorium (I know of three) specializes in tires and tire parts, Aerobie Rings, shoe soles and swim goggles and not much else. It is located down the stairs to the right from the parking lot directly across Highway 1 from Pescadero Rd. Lastly, to demonstrate the ejective power of Neptune's Vomitorium, I've included an example of the buildup of wrack that happens at its mouth. Enjoy. John Vonderlin]]>
93 2007-11-02 21:07:34 2007-11-03 01:07:34 closed closed clusters-on-south-coast-beaches-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0
South Coast Beaches: "Wrack" Build-Up At Mouth of Neptune's Vomitorium... http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/02/beautiful-south-coast-beach/ Sat, 03 Nov 2007 01:09:01 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/02/beautiful-south-coast-beach/

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(Image courtesy John Vonderlin) Definition of wrack To catch-up on John's names and places, you can click here]]>
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On Gooseneck Barnacles & More Clusters at South Coast beaches.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/04/on-gooseneck-barnacles-more-clusters-at-south-coast-beaches/ Sun, 04 Nov 2007 17:59:51 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/04/on-gooseneck-barnacles-more-clusters-at-south-coast-beaches/

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(Photo: gooseneck barnacles, courtesy John Vonderlin.) Hi June, There was one unusual "I See Dead Things" cluster at Invisible Beach that only appeared once, but has left me hoping for its return. Though, instead of being a cluster of a number of the same things, it was a cluster of different things I had never or rarely seen before. Some of the things I have never been able to discover what they were, others I now know what they are and have seen minor clusters of them at Invisible Beach since then. Why they all showed up that day is still a mystery I'd like to solve. The photo above shows a group of Gooseneck Barnacles. Thank you Wikipedia for the following: "In the days before it was realised that birds migrate, it was thought that Barnacle Geese, Branta leucopsis, developed from this crustacean, since they were never seen to nest in temperate Europe, hence the scientific and English names. The confusion was prompted by the similarities in colour and shape. Because they were often found on driftwood, it was assumed that the barnacles were attached to branches before they fell in the water. The Welsh monk Giraldus Cambrensis claimed to have seen goose barnacles in the process of turning into barnacle geese in the twelfth century." This photo shows two mysterious blobs clusters12.jpeg but I'm not sure what they are. Some kind of algae. I think I've seen small portions of the red one a few times since. The third photo

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is of a common rock crab with an uncommon number of barnacles, a dark kelp crab that shows up dead on the beach once in a while in small numbers, and some kind of weird crab I've never seen before or since. Here's a little filler about fiddler crabs that demonstrates that there is a lot more going on at the beach then you'd think: " A "hoodie" increases your chances of having sex if you're a male fiddler crab living in a neighbourhood plagued by predatory birds, say researchers. The researchers attracted predatory birds to a sand flat. They found that the female crabs showed an even greater preference for hooded burrows when they were at greater risk of being eaten. The more the crabs felt they were at risk, the more the females chose to visit burrows that had hoods over, than those that did not. (The researchers determined how "at risk" the crabs felt by counting the number of times they retreated into their burrows to hide from the birds.) Until now, females across species have been believed to select males with genetic traits that will give their offspring a better chance of survival, or males that will increase their reproductive success for instance by providing her with more, or better, food. Tae Won Kim says that their discovery that females choose their mate based on signals that benefit them directly is "a fundamentally new and perhaps widely applicable idea". Then there is this little nugget about our local fiddler crabs: California fiddler crabs may be among the world’s pickiest animal when it comes to selecting a mate. A study conducted by a biologist at the University of California, San Diego that appears in the August issue of the journal Animal Behaviour found that females of the species Uca crenulata may check out 100 or more male fiddler crabs and their burrows before finally deciding on a mate. “As far as I know, no other species has been observed sampling nearly as many candidates as the California fiddler crab,” said Catherine deRivera. "Most animals sample just a few mates, presumably because search costs override the benefits of lengthy searches,” she said in her paper. But female California fiddler crabs are much pickier, she discovered in her study, checking out male suitors and their bachelor pads an average of 23 times before making a final selection. One particularly choosy crab visited 106 male burrows, fully entering 15 of them, during her one hour and six minute search." Wow. Now that is what I call Speed Dating. Enjoy. John Vonderlin]]>
106 2007-11-04 13:59:51 2007-11-04 17:59:51 closed closed on-gooseneck-barnacles-more-clusters-at-south-coast-beaches publish 0 0 post 0
Chapter 11: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/06/chapter-11-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ Tue, 06 Nov 2007 17:36:39 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/06/chapter-11-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ alienist," (about 1909) As told by attorney Crittendon Thornton who knew Loren Coburn in 1860. When Loren was 12-years-old he lived in Massachusetts. After his parents' death, his brothers kicked him out of the house for good. Even his own kin couldn't stand to spend another moment under the same roof with him. Thornton's story concludes that this demeaning experience fueled Loren's lifetime quest to accumulate great wealth so that nobody could push him around again. His opportunity came during California's great Gold Rush. There aren't many tales of Loren Coburn's youth leading up to his decision to leave the East Coast for California. As an adult, Coburn had a secretive nature. The tall, slender, "exceedingly spare man" wasn't easy approached either--he was a very private man. San Francisco attorney Crittendon Thornton, one of Coburn's many lawyers remembered: "...on his numerous trips from San Mateo County to San Francisco, no one ver knew where [Coburn] roomed, or resided in the City...Suffice it to say that during several years during which I was his legal advisor...I never knew where he could be found...When pressed for an answer he would say, 'When you desire to see me I will call to see you. You will have no occasion to call upon me.'" Jubal Early Craig, another Coburn attorney, said: Loren "was secretive about matters he doesn't think are your business." He was, for example, reluctant to discuss his son Wally's exact condition. His second wife, Sarah, who may have had more access to Loren than anyone else once said: "I never had much conversation with him...on any subject whatever." Some handwritten notes: One of his attorneys-- Thornton or Craig--  said their client was not a total miser. "Once he invited me to lunch. We started  up the street and he took me straight to Marchands and there we had a feast fit for the Gods, washed down with the choicest of wines..I have never been able to fathom his unaccustomed relapse in this case from his usual frugality..."]]> 109 2007-11-06 13:36:39 2007-11-06 17:36:39 closed closed chapter-11-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft publish 0 0 post 0 Stuck in the Pescadero Mudflats...by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/07/stuck-in-the-pescadero-mudflatsby-john-vonderlin/ Wed, 07 Nov 2007 05:12:43 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/07/stuck-in-the-pescadero-mudflatsby-john-vonderlin/

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Hi June, Stuck! At least it sure seemed like my feet were. Every time I tried to pull one of them out of the sticky, seemingly bottomless mud of the Pescadero Preserve's mudflats, the other one sank deeper. Fearful thoughts of a personal replay of the long, suspense-filled quicksand scenes, so popular in the Western movies I loved to watch as a child, oozed into my mind and sank to the pit of my stomach. Quickly those turbid thoughts were piggybacked by equally unpleasant considerations of the possibility of a helicopter having to be dispatched from Half Moon Bay to ingloriously pluck me from my muddy cocoon, sans shoes and pants; with complete uncoverage on the evening news. For months every time I had driven by the Pescadero Marsh on Highway 1, the abandoned tires had taunted me: A pair of them, that even at 65MPH, irresistibly drew my gaze like melanomic moles on the face of a supermodel. I hated them, but I wanted them bad. I needed them for my "101 Tires" art project. I was only up to the low forties and although I had a stash of tires on the beach at Tunitas, I wasn't looking forward to humping them up that hellish hill with its two- steps-forward-one-step-back loose dirt path. Besides, with the general modus operandi of the project being to photograph them wherever I found them, with beautiful scenery in the background, then remove them, I didn't want too many repetitious shots. I had considered kayaking out to them, fastening a long rope to them, and pulling them in hand over hand. But, the draft of my kayak would have forced me to pole my way to them. Something I knew from my childhood homemade rafting experiences might leave me hanging on my stuck pole as my kayak floated away. Besides, hauling in hundreds of feet of mud-encased rope was not a task I ( or my car) was looking forward to. So I watched and waited as the lagoon's waters dropped through the summer. Finally, it looked possible and I began my expedition. Which is why I found myself stuck almost up to my knees in the muck, slowly sinking, with no obvious solution to my problem. The answer was contained in that old aphorism, "Two (blanks) are better then one." I don't mean somebody else as stupid as I came to try to rescue me. That would fall under a different saying, "Misery loves company," But, rather two sets of appendages stuck in the mud is better then one. By pressing both palms into the mud I was able to free one leg, find a slightly firmer spot for it and repeat the process until I had moved back to firmer ground. I've attached a couple of photos a friend took of my adventure. Fortunately, they were not familiar enough with my camera to work the telephoto zoom giving me the chance to deny that the fool in the mud was me if asked. Alas, humbled by my experience, I continued my dithering instead of getting to the slithering and some enterprising poachers, I mean do-gooders, swiped my intendeds a few weeks later by using boards and a roll of some kind of material. Enjoy. John Vonderlin]]>
110 2007-11-07 01:12:43 2007-11-07 05:12:43 closed closed stuck-in-the-pescadero-mudflatsby-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0
Chapter 12: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/07/chapter-12-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ Thu, 08 Nov 2007 01:31:40 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/07/chapter-12-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ Crittendon Thornton, whose father, John, was Coburn's attorney from 1869-80, said that his client "was exceedingly fond of litigation; almost always the defendant." And Loren Coburn usually prevailed in court. Coburn met Thornton on another case in which Thornton represented the other side. After that Coburn made sure to retain John Thornton next time. Loren Coburn gave few interviews. The official story of his life, which was repeated with few changes, went like this: "...the active years of Mr. Coburn's life have been spent in the mining regions of California and the growing cities of Oakland and San Francisco. Loren Coburn was born in Berlin, Orange County, Vermont, January 11, 1826, with New England blood, a promise of future success. "When ten years of age, his home was changed to Massachusetts, where he remained until he started for California in 1851. He shipped from New York on the steamer Falcon, bound for Cuba. After passing over the Isthmus of Panama, he took passage on the ship Panama, arriving in San Francisco on June 1, 1851. "From there he went to the northern mines, by way of Sacramento, Greenwood valleys, and remained four months at the placers, on the middle fork of the American River. On returning to San Francisco, laden with the fruits of his successful mining experience, he was inducted to enter a business life. "He engaged in the livery business in Oakland where he remained four years, after which he disposed of his stable and bought another in San Francisco, continuing in active business for twelve years. "While still in the city, Mr. Coburn purchased the Punta del Ano Nuevo Rancho, a Spanish Grant of four leagues. "After the sale of his San Francisco business he leased his ranch to the Steele Brothers, and in 1866 took his long deferred trip back to the land of his birth...."]]> 112 2007-11-07 21:31:40 2007-11-08 01:31:40 closed closed chapter-12-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft publish 0 0 post 0 Brush Up On Your Arborsculpture....By John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/07/115/ Thu, 08 Nov 2007 02:06:56 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/07/115/ circustree.jpegct2.jpeg

Hi June, Being an admirer of people who have odd obsessions with nature and follow that obsession to a level few if any others ever attain, let me relate some of the story of Axel Erlandson, his Circus Trees and the piece of artwork I created to salute him. The following is from the Bonfante Gardens website which also has photos of several of the trees. "An amazing example of man's patience and imagination once known as the Tree Circus has been rescued from a forgotten plot in the Santa Cruz mountains and transported to a new home in Gilroy, California where they are now the centerpiece for a horticulturally based theme park called Bonfante Gardens Family Theme Park. "The collection of unusual trees appeared often during the 1940's and 50's in Ripley's "Believe-It-or-Not," "Life" magazine as well as other publications in the United States and other parts of the world. These trees represent one of the most visible demonstrations of the love of nature by man - first to create and nourish, then to maintain, and finally to preserve and cherish these stunning creatures.

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"(The tree shown above is the "Basket Tree". This tree is actually six Sycamores grafted together in 42 different connections to give it its basket shape.) "This botanical adventure began in Hilmar, California in the 1920's when Axel Erlandson, a farmer by trade, observed the natural grafting of two Sycamores. His first major project consisted of fusing four Sycamore saplings into a cupola that he named the "Four-Legged Giant." Using intricate grafting techniques, Erlandson wove his wonders with threads of living wood. Straight tree trunks became complex and compound designs in shapes like hearts, lightning bolts, basket weaves and rings. "Erlandson claimed to be divinely inspired and spent over 40 years of his life shaping and grafting the bodies and arms of these full-sized trees. He could control the rate of growth, slowing it down or speeding it up to blend his designs to perfection. In 1945, Erlandson dug and moved a dozen or so of his trees to Scotts Valley, California where he continued to create more natural wonders. "When this son of the land died in 1964, he left a legacy of 74 spectacular trees, but with no one to care for them, they languished and began to die. In the mid-1970's, a Santa Cruz architect named Mark Primack led a valiant effort to save the trees, even risking arrest for trespassing in order to water and feed the trees. Keeping as many alive as he could, Primack's efforts finally took root when they attracted the attention of tree lover Michael Bonfante who bought the trees for a theme park he was building in Gilroy." When I became aware of the trees, the man behind them, and the techniques he employed to create them, I was fascinated and researched him and his wonders extensively. One day, while trimming an overgrown bush at my mother's house, I discovered a skinny oak tree that somehow had survived the shade under the bush, and surrepitiously grew up through it, to have its day in the sun. Rather then cut it down, I trimmed its few tiny lower branches, bent it over in an arch, and hung thin, flat rounded rocks from it. I called it "My Tribute to Axel." I've attached pictures I took of the tribute and a few pictures of the trees that I grabbed off the Internet. Websearching the term "arborsculptors" reveals there are now a handful of people worldwide who practice this very patient artform. Arborsmith.com and orlyd.com are a good place to start. The latter website is by Richard Reames who has written a book called, "Arborsculpture Solutions for a Small Planet," and has a more complete biography of Axel. Enjoy. John Vonderlin a1.jpega2.jpeg]]>
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Pescadero: A Memory Album by Tess Black http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/08/pescadero-a-memory-album-by-tess-black/ Thu, 08 Nov 2007 17:18:21 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/08/pescadero-a-memory-album-by-tess-black/

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(available at Duarte's Tavern in Pescadero)]]>
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Chapter 13: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/08/chapter-13-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ Fri, 09 Nov 2007 02:46:26 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/08/chapter-13-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ Chagres    --the Atlantic terminus for the Panama railroad (and a 50-day voyage to San Francisco.) Two years had elapsed since news of the great Gold Rush reached the East Coast but dreams of striking it rich had not died in Loren Coburn's heart. Loren rode a mule through the dense, hot jungle and boarded the steamer Panama, arriving in San Francisco on June 1, 1851. He traveled to the mines and then back to Oakland where he bought a livery stable business. But it was hard to make money and Coburn sold the business four years later, about 1855. Coburn critics says this is when Loren began his unethical business practices. According to one story in the San Mateo County History archives,  Loren announced a "free day" at the Oakland stable, welcoming all to get a free ride or rent a horse for the day. The stable had never been busier and was quickly sold at a good price to an unsuspecting buyer that wasn't told nobody was paying that day. With money in hand, Loren bought another stable, the Horse Bazaar at 144 Sansome Street, between Washington & Jackson Streets, across the bay in San Francisco. The Horse Bazaar was a step up from the Oakland stable. It bore "the sign of the lady on horseback" and the place boarded horses and carriages. Coburn also conducted daily auctions. Years later he told a reporter he purchased the stable "when most of San Francisco was a sandhill and I could have had most of the town for $5000." According to Duncan McPherson a reporter for the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Loren Coburn set up the first steam laundry of the metropolis and prospered from the start. McPherson wrote that Coburn learned that Lloyd Tevis of the Hibernia Bank purchased at a sheriff's sale the property of Captain Graham--land that included the Ano Nuevo and Butano ranches--10,500 acres for $24,000. Coburn called on Tevis and asked if the ranches were for sale. Tevis quoted $24,000, roughly $2.00 per acre. Because Loren couldn't afford to buy the property himself he contacted San Francisco attorney Jeremiah Clark and asked him if he'd pay for half. Clark agreed and within two hours the land extending from Pescadero to Pigeon Point belonged to Clark and Coburn. McPherson made it sound as if Coburn sold a portion of the ranches to the Steele and Brown families. It was about 1900 when Duncan McPherson wrote about Loren Coburn's life. At that time, McPherson said, the land was worth $500,000.]]> 122 2007-11-08 22:46:26 2007-11-09 02:46:26 closed closed chapter-13-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter 14: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/08/chapter-14-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ Fri, 09 Nov 2007 03:45:02 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/08/chapter-14-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ North Reading, Mass. Mary's younger sister, Laura, was married to Obadiah Taylor and the couple lived in San Francisco. The Upton's father, Amos, was a sailor, who went to Russia, and after the surrender of Napoleon I in 1815, claimed to have met and talked with the French ruler at his headquarters. Loren's wife, Mary, had two other younger sisters, Sarah Satira and Anna Celestia, and a brother, Marraton. Later all three would live in Pescadero with their sister and brother-in-law. About 1855 Mary Antoinette had a son she called Wallace Loren. According to the Coburns, Wallace grew up to be a bright young boy and attended San Mateo Hall, a Redwood City school, operated by Dr. Brewer. Before they settled on the South Coast, the Coburns moved to different addresses in San Francisco, 1218 Jackson, 2660 Jackson and they lived in a simple clapboard house at Capp & 24th Streets. An 1868-69 directory lists an L. Coburn engaged in real estate at 418 Montgomery, with a residence at 1218 Jackson. An 1862 directory lists an L. Coburn, livery stable, 610 Sansome; another as Loren Coburn, farmer, 2660 Jackson. Loren's San Francisco stable business took off and he built a larger stable, a  three-story brick building  on the east side of Stockton Street near Washington. His new clientele was rich and they put more cash in his pockets. But critics charged that he accumulated the money dishonestly. One story alleged that he stole from the "Spanish Dons" who boarded their fine horses wearing good leather saddles featuring expensive gold and silver work. Supposedly Coburn sold the saddles, replacing them with cheap imitations--and when accused of doing it, Loren refused any responsibility--a hard-to-believe story but it hints at how powerless the Spanish were and how much Coburn was generally disliked.]]> 123 2007-11-08 23:45:02 2007-11-09 03:45:02 closed closed chapter-14-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft publish 0 0 post 0 Pescadero's Greatest Claim to Fame? By John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/09/pescaderos-greatest-claim-to-fame-by-john-vonderlin/ Fri, 09 Nov 2007 05:00:16 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/09/pescaderos-greatest-claim-to-fame-by-john-vonderlin/ monster45.jpg Hi June, If I was asked, "What is Pescadero's greatest claim to fame?," I believe it would be easy to decide. I think I've been building a good case with my photo essays that Invisible Beach, with its odd Neptune's Vomitorium, is its most amazing spot. But since only a handful of people know where it is, that is eliminated. And while Pebble Beach, as detailed in your book, had both its run of touristic glory two centuries ago for its colorful pebbles and its precedent-setting legal significance as a critical beach access court battle, its fame has subsequently diminished just as the number of pebbles have. No, I think it would have to be a Sea Monster that Pescadero is most famous for. Before you think I've been reading too many Calvin and Hobbes comic strips let me explain. If you look at a map of the San Mateo Coast you'll note that Pescadero Point sticks further out into the ocean then anything south of the promontory that forms and protects Half Moon Bay. Because of this it tends to be a spot where floating objects become stranded. This is born out by the fact that the heaviest concentration of rocks coated with old tarballs on our local coast occurs there. In one place they are so concentrated it almost looks like somebody had made an asphalt road over the reef and into the sea. More relevantly, it is the spot that Monsters from the Sea are most likely to run aground after death. And so it was when Ms. Blue, as she was dubbed, washed ashore at Fiddler's Cove, just north of Pescadero Point, on September 6, 1989. Ms. Blue, was an 87 foot long female blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus). I've been told that because of repeated strandings of whales on Pescadero Point through the years that some locals call it Whale Point. While science and knowledge have removed most of the mystery and terror historically associated with sightings of giant squids, octopuses, manatees, whales and other "Monsters of the Deep," they have not removed our fascination. Witness the crowds that inevitably brave steep cliffs, the horrendous smell and even the danger posed by an exploding carcass to get a closeup view of these creatures in death and you'll know this is true. So it was with Ms. Blue. I've attached pictures of Ms. Blue's skeleton and the photographic plaque of its stranding and skull removal, that I photographed at the Long Marine Lab / Seymour Marine Discovery Center in Santa Cruz, where she is displayed. I'll return to the danger of exploding whales later. For now here is an excerpt from the Discovery Center's website dealing with the whalenapping of Pescadero's greatest claim to fame. "For reasons still unknown, a dead blue whale washed ashore at Fiddlers Cove near Pescadero on September 6, 1979. After several days of jurisdictional uncertainty, biologists and students from UC Santa Cruz began the long and fragrant task of “flensing,” removing the blubber and flesh from the whale. The process took nearly a month. Transported by helicopter and truck to the marine lab, the skeleton lay in Whalea grassy field just downwind of lab buildings for over a year before being buried. Burying allowed nature’s decomposers to clean away the remaining tissue and oil that saturated the bones. In the summer of 1985, the bones were unearthed and reconstruction began. Frank Perry, a local geologist and museum specialist, was hired to clean the bones and mount them for display. Working with lab staff and specialists from the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and the California Academy of Science, they constructed a steel framework to support the bones and recreate the proper arch of the spine. The job was completed in late 1986." In the last few months there have been an unusual number of dead humpback whale strandings on Bay Area beaches that inevitably draw crowds of the curious. I offer the followed information as a cautionary tale. Beware of exploding Marine Mammal carcasses. I don't mean the kind of exploding caused by the foolish use of dynamite at the famous Florence, Oregon mishap that rained chunks of flesh and blubber on cars a quarter of a mile away. The video and details of this oft written about lunacy is easily encountered by a websearch of "exploding whale." I'm referring to the kind of explosion caused by the buildup of internal pressure caused by decomposition. The most famous case of this kind of explosion occured just a few years ago when a 55 foot whale was being removed on a truck through downtown Tainin City, Taiwan. It exploded from internal pressure, showering people, vehicles, and storefronts with gore and intestines. Looking at the pictures available on the web of this incident, my guess is only good fortune prevented serious injury or death for the hundreds of gawkers gathered to watch its passing. Whales aren't the only source of danger. Though I can't confirm it, I still remember reading as a young teenager in San Diego about a jogger on the beach being killed by an exploding sea lion carcass on a hot day. If that seems far-fetched consider this quote, "surprisingly, exploding marine mammal carcasses are relatively common." This statement was made by Tom Pritchford of the Florida Marine Research Institute. He went on to describe a firsthand experience during a necropsy of a manatee in his lab. "The animal exploded and its heart flew up, hit the ceiling and then fell to the floor." Although, I suspect our cooler beach temperatures protect us from such nightmares, I recommend you skirt any carcass by a wide berth lest you become Pescadero's greatest claim to fame. Invisible Beach, thanks to its own accumulating features and Neptune's Vomitorium's non-buoyant regurgative features has captured and displayed some truly odd creatures at one time or another. None weirder then the day we found the Sea Monster. It was eight feet long, its snakelike body tapering to a pointy end with no sign of a caudal fin. It did seem to have a dorsal fin from what seemed to be its head down to its tip. It was hard to tell though as it was decomposed and roughed up by its journey onto the beach. I took some pictures of this mystery creature after placing a swim fin next to it for size comparison. Not being in the habit of collecting stinky, rotting corpses, I merely picked up some litter to grab it with, without soiling my hand, and dragged it up the beach above where I estimated the high tide would reach. Check out the two pictures of it I've attached. Does it look familiar? Later that day I got on the Internet and began to research what it might be. My guess was some sort of eel or deep sea fish rarely seen. After hours of searching I headed over to my local library and checked out all the books on sea creature identification I could find and got to reading. Still no success, so it was back to the Internet. Eventually, I very tentatively identified it as an Oarfish, a deep sea creature rarely seen alive at the surface. But the body shape wasn't quite right. Here's a Wikipedia entry about this oddity. "Oarfish are large, greatly elongated, pelagic Lampriform fish comprising the small family Regalecidae.[1] Found in all temperate to tropical oceans yet rarely seen, the oarfish family contains four species in two genera. One of these, the king of herrings (Regalecus glesne), is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest bony fish alive, at up to 11 metres in length.[citation needed] "The common name oarfish is presumably in reference to either their highly compressed and elongated bodies or the shape and use of their pelvic fins. The family name Regalecidae is derived from the Latin regalis, meaning "royal". The occasional beachings of oarfish after storms, and their habit of lingering at the surface when sick or dying, have given oarfish a place in maritime folklore as the probable source of many sea serpent tales." Sea Serpent tales?!, I'm thinking this deserves more investigation. So I head back to Invisible Beach with rubber gloves and a big plastic bag and collected my treasure. Taking it to my friend's house, we laid it out and began an autopsy. What the heck? What seemed to be a mouth visible in the closeup picture of the bigger end wasn't. In fact, what seemed to be the head had no features I would expect to encounter even if the head had been removed. Curious, I took out a big serrated knife and cut a foot of "head" end off. What??? No bones, no cartilage, no large internal features at all. Just pinkish-red muscle tissue. It was obvious that this was not an entire creature, but just a fleshy eight foot chunk of something. But, what? That night I returned to the Internet and my books and found what I believe is the answer. I had the top caudal fin of a thresher shark, a very big thresher shark. Here's part of the entry from Wikipedia for Thresher sharks. "Named for and easily recognised by their exceptionally long, thresher-like tail or caudal fins (which account for 1/3 (33%) of their total body length), thresher sharks are active predators; the tail is actually used as a weapon to stun prey. By far the largest of the three species is the Common thresher, Alopias vulpinus, which may reach a length of 20 ft and a weight of 400 Kgs." Other experts say they can be 25 feet long, which would seem to be the necessary size of the shark that our chunk of tail would have come from. I hope you enjoyed my tale of a whale and a whale of a tail. John Vonderlin Email John: benloudman@sbcglobal.net pesky-santa-cruz-054.jpgpesky-santa-cruz-059.jpgmonster-023.jpgmonster-024.jpg]]> 124 2007-11-09 01:00:16 2007-11-09 05:00:16 closed closed pescaderos-greatest-claim-to-fame-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 Swiss Cheese Not Rocks by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/10/swiss-cheese-not-rocks-by-john-vonderlin/ Sat, 10 Nov 2007 18:37:48 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/10/swiss-cheese-not-rocks-by-john-vonderlin/ here

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(Image courtesy John Vonderlin) Email John: benloudman@sbcglobal.net]]>
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Harmless Hobby? Collecting "Manmade Not- Rocks" http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/10/is-my-manmade-not-rocks-a-harmless-hobby/ Sat, 10 Nov 2007 20:42:22 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/10/is-my-manmade-not-rocks-a-harmless-hobby/ People For The Ethical Treatment of Rocks (PETR). "Oh, I'm no wild rock hugger, but I do talk the talk. You know...you've seen the bumperstickers...I'm My Rock's Guardian. Rocks Are For Loving, Not Hurting. I'm My Rock's Dad. Just Say No to Rock Abuse, etc. But, walking the walk has proved much more difficult. Manmade NotRocks were my fall from grace. Here is my story. It was late October and we were in Yosemite Valley, hobnobbing with the highrollers at that historic rock palace, the Ahwahnee Hotel. Over a pricey lunch, while gazing through the windows at the sheer, stunning cliffs of the Valley, we decided to drive east, over Tioga Pass, to Death Valley. No sooner had we started then it began to snow. As we began the long ascent to the pass the flurries thickened, then became continuous, first sticking to the road, then building up in an ever thicker blanket. As we went higher the snowfall intensified, the sky darkened further, the road grew ever slicker and other traffic disappeared, leaving us alone in a virtual whiteout condition. I was wishing I had worn my brown pants. After what seemed an eternity, more then a few spent praying to the patron saint of four-wheeling fools, Eddie Bauer, I saw the snow-encrusted Tioga Pass sign and knew deliverance was at hand. Flooded with a sense of relief we headed down the eastern slope of the mighty Sierra. Later we were to learn that the road had been closed for its six month winter hiatus just minutes after we squeaked through. Soon, needing relief from the white-knuckled death grip I had maintained on my steering wheel and the two cups of coffee I had for lunch, we pulled over. It was then I saw it...a large, sharp-edged piece of primeval granite, punctured with a perfectly drilled, two inch round hole in it. Wanting to confirm my suspicions, I pulled out my Swiss Army Knife, the Rockhound model, equipped with a spectrarockalyzer and did a quick field test. Bingo! I was looking at an awesome specimen of Explosivite, a not extremely rare, but virtually never transportable Manmade NotRock. Without fully appreciating the consequences, I grabbed ahold of it, gave a gruntacular heave, and staggered back to my car with it. It was only later when I had descended to the oxygen rich air below that I realized the bind I had placed myself in. I was transporting damaged goods, a beautiful rock, treated very unethically. Drilled, defaced and scarred, so that explosives could be packed into it, to hurt even more rocks. The kind of rocks we P.E.T.R.s put pictures of on our signs when we're protesting outside some cabers and slabbers convention. Not something that belonged in my collections. Maybe it was the effects of the high altitude. Maybe it was the lingering effects of a fear-driven adrenaline overdose. Maybe it was just that baby looked good sitting in Eddie Bauer's lap. Whatever, the reason I made that fateful decision. I found it. I like it. I want it. It's mine.

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That was the first Manmade NotRock ethical banana peel I slipped on. There have been others. Afraid my P.E.T.R. colleagues might see them, I keep this branch of my collection in my garage under a tarp. I consider it a harmless arm of the main body of my collections, but know if I'm found out it will become my not so secret shame. Please help me find my way out of this rocky dilemma." Enjoy. John Vonderlin Email John: benloudman@sbcglobal.net]]>
137 2007-11-10 16:42:22 2007-11-10 20:42:22 closed closed is-my-manmade-not-rocks-a-harmless-hobby publish 0 0 post 0
Chapter 15: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/10/chapter-15-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ Sat, 10 Nov 2007 22:51:30 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/10/chapter-15-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ Quarrels over boundary lines became commonplace and talk of them filled Loren Coburn's stable. One dispute 45 miles south of San Francisco near Pescadero drew Coburn's interest. The parties were quarreling over the boundary lines of two significant Mexican land grants: the Punta del Ano Nuevo (New Years Point) which included Pigeon Point, home to Portuguese whalers and light shipping--and-- the Butano Ranch (the "gathering place for friendly visits", which included Pebble Beach, Pescadero's famous tourist attraction. After learning of the dispute, Loren decided he was going to buy the ranchos. Note: Such boundary disputes were commonplace. Mexico had carried forward the Spanish tradition of rewarding retiring soldiers and civil servants with grants of land. But by the 1830s the land policy had become corrupt and almost anybody could apply for one of these grants. All you needed was a sketch of the property you wanted, and instead of acres, the amount you desired had to be totaled in square leagues. Ideally, the sketch should have been cross-checked with prior officially recorded claims. But--all of that tedious work became tiring for those who had to do it and the grant process fell apart and boundary lines overlapped. Mexican Governor Micheltorena granted four square leagues (17,776 acres) of the Rancho del Ano Nuevo to Simeon Castro--inconveniently, Castro's land overlapped by a single league or 4,444 acres the Ranch Butano belonging to someone else.]]> 139 2007-11-10 18:51:30 2007-11-10 22:51:30 closed closed chapter-15-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft publish 0 0 post 0 Lessons Learned from Skree! & Scree by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/12/scree-naturoolsjohn-vonderlin-story-coming-soon/ Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:19:54 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/12/scree-naturoolsjohn-vonderlin-story-coming-soon/

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[Email John: benloudman@sbcglobal.net] Hi June In an earlier email I mentioned to you that I collected Naturools. Here's the story behind my inspiration to begin collecting them. Skree! The piercing, heart-stopping, blood-curdling cry of the hovering predator-- promising impalement on its powerful talons--and the tearing of flesh by the razor sharp edges of its beak. It is no coincidence that in the world of rocks, there is a Rogue Rock, called scree, that is an evil fraternal twin of the rapacious raptor. The dictionary defines scree as loose rock at the foot of a cliff or steep slope. I call them Fallen Angels, intent on malice to all. Scree-- like so many other Rogue Rocks-- have strayed from the "Path of Rest." Unused to mobility, their impetuous dives from their cliff homes have shattered their bodies and the normal rocks' placid psyches, leaving them unstable and aggressive, ready to rip the flesh of any organic who trespasses in their domain. Clustered together at the foot of the cliff, with their lynch mob mentality, they wait silently, ready to strike out bloodily. I suffered just such a vicious attack by these miscreants a few years ago and only barely escaped with my life. I had been picking my way cautiously across a scree slope looking for collectible rocks when my attention was drawn skyward by the screeching cry of a hawk. It was then that the Rogue Rocks attacked. Several of them tripped me, knocking my feet out from beneath me. While I struggled to regain control, I suffered a cowardly attack to the back of my leg. The ringleader, using one of his sharp edges, opened me up from knee to cheek, as neatly as if a surgeon had used a scalpel. Shocked and bleeding, I fled for my life. Reaching my truck without further attack, I dug out my trusty roll of duct tape, pulled the gaping wound closed and barber-poled my leg with it. Calming my nerves with a can of liquid bread, I drove for help. Three hours of driving to the Emergency Ward, 15 stitches and 17 staples, along with a half hour of a Physician's Assistant's time, and I was on the Road to Recovery, the proud owner of a nearly $2,000 bill. It was an expensive, painful, yet illuminating lesson. Illuminating, because I realized that many hundreds of thousands of years ago some proto-human had learned a similar lesson when the evil scree attacked them. Applying the knowledge learned from the School of Hard Rocks, this early hominid changed the prospects of its species. The concept of sharpness was born. Until Kanzi, the famous flintknapping Bonobo Chimpanzee, displayed this awareness recently, no other species but ours or our closest relatives had ever done so. This first discoverer, grasping the concept, could select and pick up naturally sharp rocks, created when they fell from the cliff above and smashed into each other, and duplicate in others the damage it had suffered. My “discoverer” of the sharp rock also had a tool that would allow him to cut big chunks of meat from a temporarily unguarded predator's kill and scurry off to eat it in safety. This new tool augmented the power of his teeth in battle or defense. Forget that ape waving a thigh bone in the famous opening scenes of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Meeting that bully at the waterhole, all “my discoverer” needed to do was duck under the ape’s clumsy swing, close in and rip that sucker from stem to stern. There is reason to believe that long before the first stone tool was manufactured, early hominids gathered and used a wide variety of naturally occurring tools or Naturools as I call them. Naturools pointed the way towards technology for those early primates. Their usage demonstrated the power of sharp rocks--and when demand outstripped supply, necessity proved to be the "Mother Of Invention" and toolmaking began. Naturools, provided the templates for the first manufactured stone tools, those of the Olduwan Tradition. Unfortunately, this unholy marriage between crazed Rogue Rocks and bloodthirsty proto-humans unleashed a flood of violence that quickly led to their dominance over all the other species in the world. You might say, "It was only Naturools." If you've never heard of Naturools before, embarrassment might be the reason. In the 19th century such stones were asserted to be the product of human tool-making and were called Eoliths or Dawnstones. They were later used as part of the proof in perhaps the most spectacular and long-lasting archaeological hoax ever: the infamous "Piltdown Man." (Eonthropus dawsoni.) This part modern human--part orangatun fossil was "found" in 1912 by Charles Dawson, "The Wizard of Sussex," and wasn't conclusively revealed as a hoax until 1953. Clarence Darrow even used its existence as part of his defense in the Scopes Monkey Trial. Oops. To this day at "The Calico Early Man Archaeological Site," 15 miles east of Barstow in the Mojave Desert researchers use the nearly 60,000 Eoliths they claim to have found to try to prove man's existence in the New World nearly 200,000 years ago. In the spirit of these cutting-edge Seekers of Truth, I'd like to share some pictures of a Naturool artifact I found. I believe this is possibly the earliest example ever found of a bow- and- arrow probably made by a now extinct tribe that might have lived in the Shmoo Rift Valley. For the life of me I can't figure out why such a technologically advanced group is extinct, but evolution works in mysterious ways. giant-squid-006.jpgnaturools-008.jpghmb-075.jpg Lastly, for those who can't place where they have seen the word "Skree," before, I'd remind them that it was probably in a comic book they had read. It is the customary word for the sound raptors or raptor-like characters use. If you Wikipedia, "speech bubbles or balloons" you'll get a good rundown on the history of the conventions employed by cartoonists of which "Skree or Skreeee!" is one, along with its more famous fraternal triplet cousins, BIF!! BAM! and POW!. Better yet, Wikipedia The Lexicon of Comicana" and amaze your friends by explaining what the terms grawlixes(%@&#!), plewds, briffits, squeans, agitrons and many more mean. You'll be amazed how much you already know about this subject without realizing it. Enjoy. John Vonderlin]]>
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Chapter 16: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/18/chapter-16-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ Sun, 18 Nov 2007 22:54:55 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/18/chapter-16-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ We can't be sure how it all worked out. Remember Coburn and Clark did not yet own the Punta del Ano Nuevo Rancho--but they certainly wanted it and were prepared to do whatever was necessary to get it.]]> 143 2007-11-18 18:54:55 2007-11-18 22:54:55 closed closed chapter-16-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft publish 0 0 post 0 An Arch Like No Other... http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/22/an-arch-like-no-other/ Thu, 22 Nov 2007 20:01:42 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/22/an-arch-like-no-other/

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Email John: benloudman@sbcglobal.net]]>
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A "Surfing" Memory & "Acid Beach" http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/23/a-surfing-memory-acid-beach/ Sat, 24 Nov 2007 00:39:06 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/23/a-surfing-memory-acid-beach/ 153 2007-11-23 20:39:06 2007-11-24 00:39:06 closed closed a-surfing-memory-acid-beach publish 0 0 post 0 You Can Learn A Lot About This Man From His Grave Stone... http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/25/you-can-learn-a-lot-about-a-man-from-his-cemetery-marker/ Sun, 25 Nov 2007 16:47:19 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/25/you-can-learn-a-lot-about-a-man-from-his-cemetery-marker/

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Hi June, This is my favorite epitaph in the Mt. Hope Cemetery in Pescadero. I'd love to know something about this man. Was he a mystic? A humanist? Or like me a believer in the Oneness of AlI, where the Creator and Creation are the same? Or is he still alive and celebrated his 148th birthday this spring? I websearched him and only found that somebody else had put his epitaph online. It Reads: I AM THE PEER OF MY BEING THERE BEING BUT ONE SUBSTANCE. THAT MY MAKER IS ME THAT MY MAKER AND I ARE ONE THAT'S LIFE BLENDING WITH ETERNAL NOW. I AM ALL THAT IS, THAT WAS, AND THAT WILL BE. THAT I AM. WHO AM OTHERWISE BEING COULD NOT BE. ENOS B. RALSTON BORN APRIL 27, 1859 There is one piece of punctuation I left out, that being a period centered and halfway from the top and the bottom of the letters between AM and OTHERWISE in the last line of the epitaph. I'm not sure what that means grammatically. Does anyone know? I sure like it. Enjoy. John Vonderlin Email John: benloudman@sbcglobal.net]]>
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Curious Traveler's Guide to Pescadero & How To Make Almost-Papyrus http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/25/curious-travlers-guide-to-pescadero-how-to-make-almost-papyrus/ Sun, 25 Nov 2007 20:36:57 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/25/curious-travlers-guide-to-pescadero-how-to-make-almost-papyrus/

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(At right: Image of "The Curious Guide..." by Molly Ramolla***, 1982.) Long ago, a friend gave me a Xeroxed article about Pescadero artist Molly Ramolla and her technique for making "almost" papyrus. I think it came from Sunset magazine but there is no date or other evidence of its origin. Molly's studio was then located in the "Old Barn" on Stage Road. She has since moved to Arizona, where, last I heard, she owned an art gallery, featuring her work--but she may have moved on from there. I own several of Molly's paintings, one of a rainstorm over the Pacific near Pescadero... the other was created on the handmade papyrus that I will describe below, and pictures a quiet farm scene in San Gregorio. A third Molly Ramolla piece--this one a favorite--a (close-up) painting of an old window, the kind with multiple, small panes--you're inside and you're looking out of this window and it's raining outside. An emotional tugger, one that, if you're in a mood, pulls the tears out of you.

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(Photo: Molly Ramolla.) "Almost-Egyptian papyrus you make from reeds soaked, pounded, dried" "Ancient Egyptians were among the first to devise a method of writing and something to write on--papyrus. You can still make a close duplicate of this ancient paper, as Molly Ramolla demonstrates in her studio in Pescadero, California. "Although the original technique of making papyrus is still unknown, Ms. Ramolla has come up with a method that produces a durable facsimile. "All you need are the tough-fibered stems of sedges, rushes, or bulrushes. (Ms. Ramolla recommends sedges--they make a paper similar to that of the 'Cyperus paprus' originally used.) "You'll find these plants growing wild in freshwater marshes, wet meadows, tidal flats, wet banks and muddy edges of creeks and streams, and many other wet spots. Look for tall reeds with a triangular cross section. If the location is in public parkland, check with the ranger for legalities; if private, ask the owner for permission to cut. "Gather 10 to 12 reeds for one large or several small pieces of papyrus, and slice the outer green fiber from the inner white fiber. Cut up both fibers and soak them separately in soft water, covered, for three to four months, changing the water when it starts to smell. Then rinse the fibers until clean and squeeze out excess water. "Pound the coarse outer fibers on a lightly oiled wooden board using a hammer, mallet, or smooth stone. (A piece of clear plastic over the fibers will prevent splashing.) Continue pounding at the same time adding the fine inner fibers until the desired size and thickness of paper is reached. If you like, add sediment that has collected during soaking and pound it in to produce a smoother, whiter surface. "Dry the beaten fibers in the sun on the wooden board for 30 to 60 minutes. Then spray them lightly with water an press between layers of paper towels and newspaper under a heavy weight for two to three days. (Check to see if paper towels need to be changed to prevent mildew.) "Finally, polish the papyrus with a firm, smooth object to seal the surface and give the paper a finer finish. Now you're ready to try watercolors, ink, or tempera on your homemade paper--perhaps your favorite poem...." ***According to a short bio: Molly Ramolla was born in Berlin, Germany in 1942, attended school thre after World War II, and studied at the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts fro 1960 to 1965....Accomplished in a wide range of artistic media, she has produced oils, watercolors, lithographs, and unique paintings on papyrus (which she prepares herself) and has exhibited in Berlin, Mexico City and various cities in California....]]>
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Our Beaches: The Good....Bad....&....The Ugly....Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/26/the-goodbadthe-uglystory-by-john-vonderlin/ Tue, 27 Nov 2007 01:12:08 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/26/the-goodbadthe-uglystory-by-john-vonderlin/

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Hi June, Here is one of my favorite Beach art works. Its remains are still visible at the stairway leading down from the Pescadero Beach parking lot, across the road from where Pescadero Road ends at Highway 1. I've attached a picture I took of the natural feature before it was converted to the artwork and several pictures of the artwork when it was freshly made. Kudos to the artist and his vision.

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The next picture is of the remnants of an illegal fire that was built a few weeks later just a few feet away from the artwork.

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The last photo is of just part of the nails and broken glass I finally gathered from this site more then two months later with the aid of my magnet and garden fork. After first seeing it, I had intended to clean it up the next time I came by, but that's not often and I kept forgetting to bring the necessary tools. Later I became curious how long an eyesore and safety hazard like this would be left right next to the path leading to one of the most popular vistas along Highway 1. I'm sorry to know the answer Enjoy. John Vonderlin tarballs-214.jpg All photos courtesy John Vonderlin Email John: benloudman@sbcglobal.net]]>
161 2007-11-26 21:12:08 2007-11-27 01:12:08 closed closed the-goodbadthe-uglystory-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0
Chapter 17: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/27/chapter-17-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ Wed, 28 Nov 2007 01:32:36 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/27/chapter-17-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ Here's one: Knowing that meat was scarce and valuable in late 19th century San Francisco, Loren and a few hired men with guns sailed to Baja California where they loaded their boat with hogs and cattle. Loren and his men haggled over prices with the locals until they fell asleep...and then Coburn sailed off, having not paid for anything. Another story: San Francisco attorney & Coburn's partner Jeremiah Clark loaned money to the cash hungry rancheros. According to this version, Loren put the mortgages in his own name and when the rancheros couldn't pay the money back, he ended up with all the land. Coburn may have personally negotiated with the rancheros. His technique, some said, was to get the owners drunk, and when their minds were muddled, he got them to move the boundary markers. Silly stories, all of them. By 1862 Coburn and Clark owned the two ranchos, amounting to more than 20,000 acres. After that Coburn must have bought his attorney-partner out. Meanwhile Loren leased for ten years, part of the Rancho Ano Nuevo, to the Steele brothers, a dairy farming family from Marin County. When the Steeles moved to the South Coast, they planned to raise stock and grow grain and vegetables. [The two big ranchos were split up into smaller ones with new names: Pocket Ranch, Bean Hollow Ranch, Coast Ranch, Home Ranch and Cloverdale Ranch.] Supposedly, the Steeles made a deal with Coburn prohibiting them from using Pigeon Point and limiting them to cultivating 400 acres--any more and they had to pay Coburn extra in gold. Coburn retained the right-of-way for his horses, cattle and employees over any path or road crossing the Butano creek. Loren Coburn may have pushed around people but he couldn't push the Steeles around.]]> 171 2007-11-27 21:32:36 2007-11-28 01:32:36 closed closed chapter-17-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft publish 0 0 post 0 Pescadero's Mt. Hope.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/28/mt-hope/ Wed, 28 Nov 2007 04:01:08 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/28/mt-hope/

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(Photo courtesy John Vonderlin) email John: benloudman@sbcglobal.net]]>
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Heads Up for Ken Kesey Fans... http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/30/ken-kesey-fans-listen-to-this/ Fri, 30 Nov 2007 22:43:13 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/30/ken-kesey-fans-listen-to-this/ k2_2.jpg Variety.com - Van Sant in the 'Kool-Aid' mix: "Nearly 40 years after its original publication, Tom Wolfe's hallucinogenic tome “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” is headed for the bigscreen. Gus Van Sant is attached to direct, and Lance Black (“Big Love”) will write the script. FilmColony's Richard Gladstein is producing, and he's in the process of setting the project with a financier...." John Vonderlin Email John: benloudman@sbcglobal.net (Photo: Ken Kesey, author of "One Flew Over The Cukoo's Nest and the main character in Tom Wolfe's "Electric Kool Aid Acid Test." Kesey and his "Merry Pranksters" lived in La Honda.)]]> 176 2007-11-30 18:43:13 2007-11-30 22:43:13 closed closed ken-kesey-fans-listen-to-this publish 0 0 post 0 1980: Architectural Style in Pescadero http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/30/1980-architectural-style-in-pescadero/ Sat, 01 Dec 2007 02:09:39 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/11/30/1980-architectural-style-in-pescadero/

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(Photo of Saint Anthony's by John Vonderlin) "The village of Pescadero is one of the most historic areas in the County and has the most distinctive character of any community on the Coastside. "Along its streets can still be seen a variety of 19th century architectural forms and styles which developed during a time of prosperity between the forms and styles which developed during a time of prosperity between the 1860s and 1890s when the town served as a major produce and lumber center and summer resort for San Francisco. "The spires of St. Anthony's and the Congregational Church rising above a cluster of houses and commercial structures give Pescadero a resemblance to a trim New England village. Although this image has lessened in recent years, as a result of fires, new construction and alterations which are not in character with the town, Pescadero still retains essentially the village it must have been in 1890. "Since Pescadero's early days, people have noted an architectural unity in the community which set it off from other villages. This unity is still in evidence today. There are several possible explanations for this architectural unity. An unusual number of the original settlers came from Maine. They no doubt brought with them fairly strong ideas about the proper appearance of a village. Also, the relative isolation of the village may have kept their ideas from being diluted by innovations from the outside. The unity of style may also have resulted from the effect on newcomers of a few particularly pleasing houses already in the community. "Alexander Moore, son of a pioneer family in the area, built one of the first houses in Pescadero in 1853. His home, which burned in 1975, was constructed along vaguely classical lines in Greek Revival style. This house may well have been the model by which subsequent buildings were judged. In any case, its Greek Revival character appears throughout Pescadero with numerous variations, giving the village a style which is still dominant. "An outstanding example of this character can be seen along the east side of Stage Road on the block immediately south of Pescadero Road. The wooden structures that remain there are residential, civic and religious examples of indigenous Coastside architecture. The sparing but effective use of ornamentation such as pierced columns, scroll and fan brackets, cresting, shingling, assorted fenestration and balustrades indicates a clear understanding of the styles of the time and creative application of those styles to local needs. Although alterned somewhat in appearance and usage, these buildings accurately reflect a village landscape of a significant period in the history of San Mateo County."]]>
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History of Four Pescadero Families....By Tess Black http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/01/history-of-pescaderoby-tess-black/ Sun, 02 Dec 2007 03:51:11 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/01/history-of-pescaderoby-tess-black/

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Our Intrepid John Vonderlin Searches For the Merry Prankster's "Acid Beach" http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/01/our-intrepid-john-vonderlin-searches-for-acid-beach/ Sun, 02 Dec 2007 03:54:09 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/01/our-intrepid-john-vonderlin-searches-for-acid-beach/

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Email John: benloudman@sbcglobal.net]]>
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August 1966: "Three Navy Flyers Rescued Near Pescadero Beach" http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/03/august-1966-three-navy-flyers-rescued-near-pescadero-beach/ Mon, 03 Dec 2007 23:49:07 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/03/august-1966-three-navy-flyers-rescued-near-pescadero-beach/ Half Moon Bay Review," August 1966 "Three crewmen aboard a navy trainer were saved by helicopters Friday after ditching their flaming plane in the ocean off Pebble Beach. "Witnesses, seeing the plane skim along the water and then sink, called the sheriff's office. At first there was no indication whether the occupants had survived. "But later a flare ignited by the victims was spotted on the water. It was learned that the crew had inflated a life raft just before the S-2 training plane sank into the ocean. "A Coast Guard plane flew over the life raft and spotted the survivors, who fired off more flares. Then, two helicopters arrived. "One helicopter used  a rope ladder to rescue one of three men, according to sheriff's deputy Lyle Arnold. The other helicopter landed on the water and picked up the other two victims. "They were flown back to Monterey. The plane had come from a naval auxiliary field there, and was on a test flight. "Rescued were the pilot, Lt. B.R. McClosky, Lt. D.B. Darnauer, student pilot, and M.R. Walsh, jet mechanic. "Rosemary Conway, a teacher living in Cupertino, and two brothers from Chicago, Edward Curtin, 15, and Timothy Curtin, 12, said they saw the red-and-white craft coming from a northwest direction with smoke pouring from its right side or tail. "It glided on the water 'as if on a runway' for several hundred feet, and then stopped and sank 'within 15 seconds'."]]> 183 2007-12-03 19:49:07 2007-12-03 23:49:07 closed closed august-1966-three-navy-flyers-rescued-near-pescadero-beach publish 0 0 post 0 1943: Kingfisher Crash at San Gregorio Beach http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/05/1943-kingfisher-crash-at-san-gregorio-beach/ Wed, 05 Dec 2007 04:10:43 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/05/1943-kingfisher-crash-at-san-gregorio-beach/ here]]> 187 2007-12-05 00:10:43 2007-12-05 04:10:43 closed closed 1943-kingfisher-crash-at-san-gregorio-beach publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter 18: The Coburn Mystery [Original Draft] http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/06/chapter-18-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ Fri, 07 Dec 2007 02:13:38 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/06/chapter-18-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ 188 2007-12-06 22:13:38 2007-12-07 02:13:38 closed closed chapter-18-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft publish 0 0 post 0 Ada Parsley Visits Hope Cemetery http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/07/ada-parsley-visits-hope-cemetery/ Fri, 07 Dec 2007 18:06:05 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/07/ada-parsley-visits-hope-cemetery/

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Story by John Vonderlin email John: benloudman@sbcglobal.net Hi June, I thought you might be interested in hearing about my one and only trip to the Mt. Hope Cemetery in Pescadero. I did that as a part of the Pescadero Walking History Tour a few years ago. While it's true I didn't think the guide's recountings would bring the subjects alive, I did find myself whistling as we passed through the cemetery's entrance gate. For 15 minutes I absorbed some begats… perished froms..and other familial genealogical revelations before moving off to satisfy my interest in gravestones. That's when I photographed Mr. Ralston's unusual, and to me, appealing epitaph, that I sent to you earlier, as well as a number of other tombstones and grave markers. They ranged from a pathetically funky, paint-blistered, foot tall wooden plank cross with a broken brick at it's base to a corroded metal sheet with a keloid scar-looking lettered epitaph for a young baby burned into it with a welding torch to more conventional and vastly more expensive stone monuments. Besides taking pictures of gravestones, I had a mission that originated with a newspaper column I had read a few weeks before in the San Jose Mercury. The columnist, Mike Cassady, had written a story about a woman, Ada Parsley, from San Jose, who, while visiting the Mt. Hope Cemetery on a whim, had noticed the extremely humble grave marker of a teenage girl.

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Not knowing the dead teenager, or how she had died, Ada Parsley decided to be a Good Samaritan, and pay for a more substantial headstone. Which she did. Unfortunately, the girl's name was misspelled in the epitaph. It seemed a sad case of "If it wasn't for bad luck, she wouldn't have no luck at all." But, the story further related that a craftsman, an engraver of gravestones, was willing to donate his skills to correct the error. I just had to see this headstone, knowing that viewing it would peel off at least a few layers of the cynicism I've built up to protect myself from this world of harsh realities we live in. A few minutes searching and I found the young woman's grave with the headstone Ada had bought for her. The engraver hadn’t yet corrected her misspelled name, nevertheless it stood as a thoughtful reminder of a life departed and a stranger's caring. As I read the epitaph, trying to divine Ada's philosophy of life from the words etched there, my proofreading habit kicked in, and I thought the word "planning" had been misspelled. Or perhaps, "planning" hadn't been meant, but rather "planing" as it was engraved. Contextually, the former certainly made more sense, but epitaphs sometimes refer to planes of existence, although not usually so obscurely-- so I wasn't sure. Later that day I emailed Mr. Cassady and asked him. I was most gratified to hear from him that it was an error and that it, along with the misspelled name, would be corrected. I hope it was done, but don't think I'll return to find out. Because since then, with great sadness and anger, I have learned the story of that murdered young girl and her killer and want to hold onto the glimmer of hope that the story of Ada Parsley's caring provided me. Enjoy. John Vonderlin

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Greek Revival in Pescadero...... http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/07/greek-revival-in-pescadero/ Sat, 08 Dec 2007 03:32:15 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/07/greek-revival-in-pescadero/

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(Image: Pescadero Community Church, Stage Road) "Built in 1867, this is the oldest Protestant [Congregational] Church in the county. It was originally a simple building with a square, louvered bell tower above the entry. The 40-foot single covered Victorian Gothic spire was added in 1889. The church expresses in wood temple forms of Greek Revival with cornice returns and quoins. The bell tower has a pseudo-rose window in the shape of a Maltese cross and the walls are scored to simulate stone." From: Coastside Cultural Resources of San Mateo County, 1980 Greek Revival: (180s-1860s) "Greek Revival style was one of the most popular styles in the United States. Buildings of this style are very straight forward statements, with clean, simple lines and precise detailing. Facades are usually devoid of extraneous ornamentation, save perhaps decorated porch posts. "In its early California stages, Greek Revival is noted for its sharp, severe lines. Building volumes appear as a simple block, or a juxtaposition of simple blocks. Roof slopes are steep, and different building volumes are positioned perpendicularly. Doors and windows are positioned at very regular intervals, often in a symmetrical relationship. Doors have the same proportions as windows, both being long and narrow. Windows are composed of many small panes with simple architraves at the top. Molding around windows and doors and at building edges is very precise. The more articulated examples of Greek Revival have gable returns, i.e., roof plane framing that returns at the building edges."]]>
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Chapter 19: The Coburn Mystery (Original Draft) http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/08/chapter-19-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ Sat, 08 Dec 2007 04:25:30 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/08/chapter-19-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft/ Settler who had to do business in Redwood City, on the other side of the Sierra Morena Mountains, lobbied to join Pescadero with San Mateo County. Twenty long miles from Pescadero, Redwood City could be reached by daily stagecoach service. The Southern Pacific Railroad laid track between San Francisco and San Jose and there was a station in San Mateo--but the only way for Pescaderans to get to San Mateo was by stage, private carriage or via horseback. The County of San Mateo voiced no objections to adding 90,000 acres and more taxpayers to its sagging coffers...and in 1868 the elite in Pescadero mobilized to become part of San Mateo County. The lack of adequate roads to Santa Cruz had brought them together. Messrs. Chandler, Goodspeed and Swanton, a wealthy farmer, country doctor and avuncular hotel-keeper, respectively led the movement. In the January "Daily Alta California," the men made their point: "...And never can there be a good road to the Santa Cruz County seat as the mountain range runs to the Pacific Ocean and completely divides us from the county sea...." Critics of the new "Boundary Bill," charged that San Mateo County was scheming to rob Santa Cruz County of their land, taxes and political clout. Most tireless among Chandler-Goodspeed-Swanton was Dr. Isaac Goodspeed. He said the most important contribution he made to the community was: "...helping to keep Pescadero peaceful by driving out the unruly element..." A native of Maine, Dr. Goodspeed first mined for gold in Nevada. Unrewarded by his efforts, he turned to medicine, hanging up his shingle on Kearney Street in San Francisco in 1858. Two years later the good doctor and his wife moved to Pescadero where they remained for a decade, long enough to be elected justice of the peace and coroner--and to see the "Boundary Bill" passed by the state legislature. To pass, it would take the signatures of taxpayers, landowners and "bona fide residents" on three petitions until, in 1868, the California State Legislature voted to united Pescadero with San Mateo County. Pescadero was now called the Fifth Township.]]> 196 2007-12-08 00:25:30 2007-12-08 04:25:30 closed closed chapter-19-the-coburn-mystery-original-draft publish 0 0 post 0 The Ezra Pound-Tunitas Creek Connection http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/08/the-ezra-pound-tunitas-creek-connection/ Sat, 08 Dec 2007 05:08:08 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/08/the-ezra-pound-tunitas-creek-connection/ Bryant Wollman invited me for dinner when he lived with his companion, Gene Fleet, in one of the funky cabins that used to overlook the Pacific at Tunitas Creek-- one of the most breathtaking places on the Coastside. This is near the enigmatic place where Supervisor Alexander Gordon built his amazing shipping chute in the 1870s. This is where the Ocean Shore Railroad's iron road stopped. This is where Sybil Easterday, the eccentric sculptress lived until she moved to El Granada where she died in the 1960s. I remember Bryant telling me about a woman, an artist who lived near his cabin. She'd been the famous but controversial poet Ezra Pound's mistress, he told me. I heard the story more than once, each time a little more embellished. At one point I even thought Pound might have visited Tunitas but that was impossible since he was sitting in a mental ward. I can't tell you why I didn't follow it up. Maybe I was too shy to pound on this woman's door and ask her to reveal her private stories to me....maybe I was skeptical....maybe I was plain old afraid. When I mentioned the mystery artist to John Vonderlin, he did some research and said: "Hi June, I suspect Ezra Pound's connection to Tunitas is through Sheri Martinelli. She lived in one of the cabins at Tunitas Beach for twenty years and had many famous visitors. There is an outstanding article by Steven Moore in Gargoyle Magazine that covers her amazingly creative career. I wonder if Sybil Easterday was the draw to this place for her? You can reach the article by websearching "Sheri Martinelli: A Modernistic Muse" I read the thoroughly impressive article by Steven Moore (and I hope you will, too) about this remarkable woman and artist who lived on the Coastside and realized how much I had missed by not having the courage to pound on her door.]]> 197 2007-12-08 01:08:08 2007-12-08 05:08:08 closed closed the-ezra-pound-tunitas-creek-connection publish 0 0 post 0 The Princeton-by-the-Sea... In My Mind.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/09/princeton-by-the-sea-in-my-mind/ Sun, 09 Dec 2007 06:08:02 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/09/princeton-by-the-sea-in-my-mind/ junemorrall.jpg For many Coastsiders--- Princeton-by-the-Sea--- lives on in a special cove in the mind—a space carefully protected from invasions of the ordinary. In today’s world where new American cities and towns are designed in advance, all identical, with no surprises, no serendipity, Princeton-by-the-Sea has been the antithesis of suburbia and that’s why we love it. Ordinary has never applied to Princeton-by-the-Sea. There were times when Princeton reminded me of my disorganized closet or messy garage--I’m referring to the streets named for famous Ivy League universities, lined with endearing homemade architecture-- interspersed with hundreds of crab traps and decaying fishing boats. When I crossed Highway 1 (from suburbia on the east side), I happily walked westward into another dimension—it was a great place for a kid to grow up, the oldtimers told me. Example: In the 1940s if you needed a stick of furniture, Mr. Patroni, the owner of a local hotel, said, “You can borrow a chest of drawers from my roadhouse.” “Princeton-by-the-Sea” is a place, unlike most places, that has been known by many other colorful names: Whalers Cove, Patroni's, Small Cannery Row, Ida’s, Hazel’s, the Drag Strip, the Abalone Factory, the Point Beyond, and more recently, Mavericks and the Golf Ball. Oh, yes and a name that didn’t stick was “the Polynesian Village.” Some of the Half Moon Bay kids raced their cars up the hill to Pillar Point before the radar station appeared, laughing as their tires kicked up clods of dirt, feeling a rush of adrenaline up there, high above the Pacific. Every so often, the owner of Pillar Point would drive down from San Francisco to check on his property [yes, there was an owner, reportedly a descendant of a ranchero]-- and upon spotting the juvenile trespassers, wagged his finger and chased them away. A couple of generations later, the Coastside’s teenagers ventured out to what they called “Beyond the Point,” where, during the winter months, they stood, mesmerized by the crazy surf and the wall of 60 foot waves….. Treasured snapshots and the "Princeton-by-the-Sea" in my mind. I have derived immeasurable pleasure from funky Princeton-by-the-Sea, and now it's payback time--and the only way I know how....my book: "Princeton-by-the-Sea, published by Arcadia, will be available in the bookstores for Christmas (also a booksigning at Bay Book on Friday, December 14 at 7 p.m.) I hope you will enjoy the new book.]]> 198 2007-12-09 02:08:02 2007-12-09 06:08:02 closed closed princeton-by-the-sea-in-my-mind publish 0 0 post 0 Part I: The Quest by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/11/part-i-the-quest-by-john-vonderlin/ Tue, 11 Dec 2007 06:12:17 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/11/part-i-the-quest-by-john-vonderlin/ jv1.jpeg Hi June, I've got a new Quest. No, I haven't given up on reaching "Acid Beach," the reputed Merry Prankster's Ultimate Beach Party place. But, now after two attempts to reach it, I realize it is inaccessible by dry land even during the lowest of tides and that the alleged spot to rappel down a crumbly cliff of sharp rocks looks more like the access to the Emergency Room then to a picturesque beach and the stunning, nearby Warm Water Lagoon with its giant arch. So while I wait for my lateral epicondylitis (sounds more excusey then Tennis Elbow, doesn't it?) to heal, so I can kayak along the isolated, rocky, wave battered coast a couple of miles to reach it, I've switched goals. This happened while I was trying to verify the truth about "Acid Beach." After all, the only place I'd ever seen it mentioned is as a caption below pictures on the California Coastal Records Project website. And even that's squirrelly, as Picture #6419 in 2002 has it in a different spot then Picture #200506751 in 2005. Was I just being led on a snipe hunt by somebody's pipe dream of the non-metaphorical type? It didn't help my confidence that Picture #6418, captioned "The Notch," Picture #6420, captioned Warm Water Lagoon, Picture #6421, captioned Amb's Beach and Picture # 6429, captioned Trefiret Beach all were previously unknown to me and apparently everyone else, as I found when I tried websearching them. No such places. No such names. Finally, while breezing through a number of the websites created by Merry Prankster's or their fans I came on this website: click here It recounted a wild story about the origin of the Merry Prankster's name as related by George Walker, one of their members. I'll let you check out the site, but basically he relates that on the day the Alaskan Good Friday Quake hit (March 27, 1964) they heard a tsunami was generated and coming towards California. Like any good leader of a thrill-seeking group, Ken Kesey, led the band out to San Gregorio Beach to a cave that had been used as an observation post during World War II to watch for the thought to be imminent attack on our coast by the Japanese. While in the cave, probably “tripping”, the sea began to recede for hundreds of feet only to soon return with a vengeance, trapping them, flashlightless and bewildered. At some point, Ken Babbs, or Cap'n Skypilot, as he is known, yelled, "Have no fear, The Intrepid Traveler and his Band of Merry Pranksters will find a way to get us out of here." The rest is psychedelic history. Being familiar with the caves of San Gregorio, I decided I'd go out there, get some photographs of them and write a story about the origin of the Prankster's name, apparently a little known bit of trivia. I've attached some photos of the two caves. jv10.jpegjv11.jpeg Living in San Diego in 1964 and remembering the tsunami warning on TV, but not much else I did some research before writing the story. Oh. Oh. The tsunami, that came in four major waves and destroyed a good chunk of Crescent City, while killing 11 people, was still 7 to 10 feet high when it reached Half Moon Bay early in the morning on the 28th. If the Pranksters had been in either of the caves I knew of, the Psychedelic Revolution would have floated out to sea with most of its most famous founding members. High tide with high surf can fill that cave, let alone a tsunami of that size. Was I being pranked again? An imaginary event to go along with the imaginary names? Clinging to the hope that one of the smaller sized tsunami's waves was the one in the story, I sent Cap'n Ken an email. Here's his reply: (part of my email he excerpted) ..."based on my research of the timing of the various waves involved in the tsunami and the fact it was a full moon that night, it seems believable. Tom Wolfe, without actually saying so, seems to indicate in "Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test," that it grew out of a group chant."... (his response) "yes, but the group was much bigger and more far reaching than us and the chant was transferring on waves that go way beyond the human voice." After reading this I'm thinking, stuck in character and keeping the prank alive. Oh well. I sent him an email that simply said: I agree. Some times facts just reduce the power of myths and legends. Thank you. Then a few days later I get an email from George Walker. It said: "John- “Ken Babbs forwarded your email re: San Gregorio Beach to me; I found it interesting. “It's been a long time, but I believe the "cave" (actually a man-made tunnel) in question is overlooking a beach south of San Gregorio Beach, with a different name. Pomponio is the name that creeps out of my fog-shrouded memory. Just a technicality, I know, but why shun accuracy? “It has been decades since I, or anyone I know of, has visited the site. The cave, a World War II lookout post, where our brave troops scanned the ocean looking for "Jap" invaders, should be visible from the beach below. “You state in your email to Babbs that you want to copy the paragraph from my piece (in Spit in the Ocean VII; All About Kesey) that refers to the cave, and the coining of the name "Merry Pranksters". You have my permission to copy it, provided you give me credit. “I am working, occasionally and sporadically, on a book-length version of my memories of our travels on "Further / Furthur" (the Bus). If I live long enough to finish it, I hope to see publication. Time permitting, I will look up your work on the indicated website. -geo" Why "Thank You" George. You've given me a new Quest. End Part 1 Enjoy. John jv12jpeg.jpegjv13.jpeg]]> 201 2007-12-11 02:12:17 2007-12-11 06:12:17 closed closed part-i-the-quest-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1214628568 _edit_last 1 Michael Bowen's "Hot Day In France"......... http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/11/michael-bowens-hot-day-in-france/ Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:53:33 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/11/michael-bowens-hot-day-in-france/

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Hot Day In France” by internationally renowned painter Michael Bowen, who, in the late 1950s lived at Tunitas Creek and the Abalone Factory at Princeton-by-the-Sea. Michael’s in my new book, “Princeton-by-the-Sea,” published by Arcadia.]]>
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Part II: The Quest by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/11/part-ii-the-quest-by-john-vonderlin/ Tue, 11 Dec 2007 21:44:05 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/11/part-ii-the-quest-by-john-vonderlin/ jv1.jpeg Hi June, With my new Quest inspiring me, I began my search to find the site of Ken Kesey's band of Intrepid Travelers encounter with the Great American Tsunami that was spawned by the Good Friday Alaska Earthquake and their subsequent transmutation to the Merry Pranksters, a ragtag band of apostles who inspired their own culturequake and tsunami. A culturequake that launched a media tsunami of psychedelicism that swept over the public's imagination and altered the mental landscape of a generation. I started by using the California Coastal Records Project website to virtually fly down the part of the coast where George Walker's, vague memories indicated the sacred site might be found, examining the cliffs for any tunnel openings. Just south of Pomponio Beach, in Picture #6242, I was sure I'd found it. In this picture of a stretch of beach I'd only walked on once in my countless expeditions to gather Marine Debris, I could see there was an opening, halfway up the cliff, its interior in deep shadow, its top a perfect arch. It had to be what I sought. I was excited. With a good low tide of minus .6 feet coming up in the late afternoon in just a few days, I was almost there. Sure, I'd have to carry my 20- foot extension ladder on my back a half- mile down the beach from the Pomponio Beach parking lot under the bemused stares of a gauntlet of tourists, or the hostile gaze of khaki-uniformed authorities, but who cares? My journey of seeking was laid bare before me. While I waited for my day of reckoning to arrive, I looked at my folders of photos from my previous beachcombing adventures in the general area. I was hoping to have unknowingly captured the opening in one of my many cliff shots. While doing so, I looked at pictures of a small, beach-level cave I only vaguely remembered. I suddenly noticed that one photo pictured initials scratched into the soft rock of the cave's side. The foot tall letters seemed to be Z.E.K. Hallelujah. Could they be Zane Kesey's, Ken Kesey's son? Z.K. is a pretty rare set of initials. Curious, I looked in the White Pages in the "K" section of my phone book to see how rare. By looking for the most common "K" last names, then scanning to the bottom of the first names listed below them, I was able to eliminate them 50 to a 100 at a time. After ten minutes and more then a thousand names I finally found one, Zhilde. I had figured Zeke, Zachary, or Zane, not remembering the changes that have occurred in the Santa Clara Valley lately, but felt I had proved my belief that Z.K. was highly unusual anyway. I just might be on to something. Getting on the Internet, I returned to Zane Kesey's, website, Key-Z.com, a very colorfully psychedelic and creative website and sent him an email. I related the details of my Quest and the initials in the cave and he replied: “Hi John That is a mysterious magical place for my and my childhood...glad it still exists! I hope to visit it someday and take my kid, would love complete directions, as my kid memories are always different from reality! thanx ZCK” I was happy to hear from him, but disappointed to see his initials were ZCK. Knowing his father had been banished into the “Wilderness of Oregon” over 40 years ago by the secular authorities, I clung to the hope his extreme youth or somebody helping him to scratch his initials into the cave wall might have caused a mistake to be made. I know, a faint hope, but I clung to my faith in statistical probability. The next day while using the "Time Comparison" feature on the CCRP website, I got an even greater jolt to my faith in my conclusions. While the tunnel seemed very obvious in the 2002, 2004, and 2005 pictures, all shot by Ken Adelman, from his helicopter in virtually the same spot with the aid of GPS, it wasn't really visible in the poorer quality, 1972, 1979, and 1987, shots from an airplane from various vantage points. Had it collapsed in the Sixties, then eroded open in later years? Was I seeing an artifact of the sun's angle? I was feeling a lot less sure about my quest's possible success. More positively, I also noticed on Picture #6243, captioned Long Gulch, that I could avoid the long hike with a 20-foot ladder on my back and the derision I might face from gawkers. By parking along Highway 1 and hiking down through Long Gulch, to the beach, I could avoid paying as well as embarrassing inquiries. In fact, it looked close enough that I could reconnoiter the tunnel area and go back for the ladder if needed. At this point I was more excited about "The Quest," then I was about this upcoming Christmas. End Part 2. Enjoy. John Vonderlin. P.S. Here are all the picture numbers from the tunnel's putative site. Do you believe? 1972 #7218052 1979 #7928100 1987 #8713139 2002 #6242 2004 #20040091 2005 #200506488]]> 213 2007-12-11 17:44:05 2007-12-11 21:44:05 closed closed part-ii-the-quest-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 Steele Brothers Dairies http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/11/steele-brothers-dairies/ Tue, 11 Dec 2007 23:48:58 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/11/steele-brothers-dairies/ 214 2007-12-11 19:48:58 2007-12-11 23:48:58 closed closed steele-brothers-dairies publish 0 0 post 0 Pigeon Point Lighthouse http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/11/pigeon-point-lighthouse/ Tue, 11 Dec 2007 23:52:59 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/11/pigeon-point-lighthouse/

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From: Cultural Resources of San Mateo County, 1980 Pigeon Point Lighthouse: Coast Highway, Pigeon Point "First illuminated on November 15, 1872, this lighthouse was named for the clipper ship, Carrier Pigeon, that hit the rocks here on May 6, 1853. The tower, 115 feet in height and 28 feet in diameter, is constructed of bricks shipped around Cape Horn from Norfolk, Virginia. The light's 9-foot diameter fresnel lens was built by Henri Le Paute of Paris in the 1850s.

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"Illumination for the light first came from whale oil. Kerosene was later substituted, and then electricity to run the light, which is magnified to 800,000 candlepower in a beam seen 18 miles at sea. In 1974, an automatic beacon was set up on a platform outside the lighthouse, replacing the historic lens. The lighthouse is a State Historical Landmark, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and the Historic American Building Survey." Images: Dorothy Regnery]]>
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Part III: The Quest by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/12/part-iii-the-quest-by-john-vonderlin/ Thu, 13 Dec 2007 01:47:05 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/12/part-iii-the-quest-by-john-vonderlin/

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Hi June, The next day, full of anticipation, but tinged with doubt, we headed for the beach. Parking along Highway 1, above Long Gulch, I decided a little cliff-top exploration would be wise, as the tide wouldn't ebb to its lowest point for several hours.

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Besides, if there was a tunnel in the cliff-side that the military had used as an observation post, they certainly hadn't required the observers to rappel up and down the cliff for entrance and egress to their post. Stumbling through the pathless, waist-deep scrub that covered the cliff-top, I was able to approach the edge of the cliff, above where I judged the hole I had seen on the CCRP photo should be. I saw no evidence of an overgrown entrance or anything else for that matter. There certainly was no sign any Intrepid Traveler had ever come this way. A ten- foot drop to a sloping, very unstable-looking ledge below prevented me from peering over to see if the tunnel opening was in the sheer cliff face just beneath me.

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Actually, it was the fact I didn't want to make my only sight of the tunnel opening a brief one-- as I hurtled by it on the way to the beach, nearly 100 feet below --that made me decide to try another path for my first view of it. Returning to the highway, we found the little used path through Long Gulch, to the beach below. It was a gentle descent for most of the way and only got steep the last 40 feet. Even there the support pipes for the giant plastic drainage pipe that transported rainwater from the eastern side of Highway 1 to the beach provided excellent handholds.

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The flat-bottomed, sand-filled canyon below it was quite nice. Protected by the canyon's walls from all but westerly winds, and hidden from the highway above, it would be a nice clothes-free sunbathing-hideaway for those so inclined. Coming out of the canyon mouth, we turned north and hiked along the narrow strip of sand the waves weren't playing on, the towering cliffs with their loose rock looming above. Oh No! A 100 yards ahead a small rockfall, visible on the 2005 picture, had grown immensely and was projecting far into the surf and blocking our way. Approaching the huge pile, it was obvious that it was quite recent by the amount of soil still mixed with its giant rocks, many of which looked ready to start rolling the rest of the way into the surf. Hopefully not with us embedded in them. Meg offered to be the Official 911 Notifier/Eulogizer, and I clambered over this last obstacle, eager for my first sight of...a sheer cliff. No tunnel, no hole, no story. There wasn't even a deep indentation. I had been fooled by a shadow. I was feeling fool was the operative word about then. I took a panoramic sequence of photos of the cliff face for later analysis; clambered to the top of the rockfall and took a few more shots; then climbed down with the bad news. I delivered that with a joking reference to Geraldo Rivera's infamous hour long special on the "Mystery of Al Capone's Vault." But, at least he opened an empty vault; I had found nothing, except disappointment. I then suggested we pick up our consolation prize and try to get some photos of the cave with the possible Zane Kesey's initials. That's better then nothing or even an empty vault, if it's not another will o'wisp. So off we went. We weren't sure exactly where it was, but knew its photos were near the end of a long sequence that had started at San Gregorio Beach and continued as we had headed south. Being close to Pomponio Beach, which is about two miles south of San Gregorio Beach, we figured we ought to start there and save some walking and maybe some face too. End Part 3. Enjoy. John Vonderlin]]>
218 2007-12-12 21:47:05 2007-12-13 01:47:05 closed closed part-iii-the-quest-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0
1995: "La Honda is a slingshot at the sky," says Ken Kesey http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/13/la-honda-is-a-slingshot-at-the-sky-says-ken-kesey/ Thu, 13 Dec 2007 04:49:53 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/13/la-honda-is-a-slingshot-at-the-sky-says-ken-kesey/

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In August, 1995 I mailed a letter to Ken Kesey--the famous novelist, counterculture hero and former controversial La Honda resident--asking him to contribute a story, even "a fragment," to an issue of "La Peninsula," the San Mateo County History Museum's journal. I was a member of the museum's board of directors and I knew an article by Mr. Kesey would shake things up in the sometimes staid publication. Hey, I didn't really expect a response from the author of the highly acclaimed "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1962)--yet, what's the harm in keeping my fingers crossed? Turned out fingers crossed helped because a few months later my original, letter typed on a white sheet of paper was returned to me, forever altered. Ken Kesey, the real life central character in Tom Wolfe's, "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" (1968), responded with a double blast of psychedelic energy. Kesey, who led his band of Merry Pranksters on a continuing adventure "tripping out" in the redwoods of La Honda, couldn't resist the opportunity to play a prank. What he did was magically turn an ordinary sheet of white typing paper into an extraordinary work of art. At least I think so. You be the judge. With Kesey's creative contribution (in lieu of a story) I still needed one, a story, I mean. I searched the Internet in quest of "Keseyana," downloading articles by then San Jose Mercury News columnist Lee Quarnstrom. I tracked him down and we talked: Lee had been a "Merry Prankster." [I think once you've been a "MP," you're one forever.] In 1964, Lee, then a San Mateo Times reporter, interviewed Ken Kesey, whose latest book, "Sometimes A Great Notion" had been published. Kesey was already nationally renown for "Cuckoo's Nest," a smash Broadway play destined to become an Academy Award-winning film starring the irrepressible Jack Nicholson in 1975. "Cukoo's Nest" was based on Kesey's personal experiences while working in a Menlo Park psychiatric ward--where experimental drugs were administered to the patients. Reporter Lee Quarnstrom was a great admirer of Kesey whom he interviewed in the author's neck of the La Honda redwoods. Some years later, Tom Wolfe, the great observer of contemporary culture, made the same trek, resulting in "Kool-Aid Acid Test." Wolfe described Kesey's home as a log cabin surrounded on three sides by Sam McDonald Park, with a creek flowing nearby, all as photogenic as a Merry Christmas card. Highway 84 slinked by in front of the cabin, reached by crossing a wooden bridge. Kesey had the perfect location with no neighbors. "In those days," Quarnstrom remembered, "half of the homes in La Honda were summer cabins. A lot of people were anti-social types. They lived up there because they didn't want to rub elbows with anyone else." Though drawn to the mountains and the solitude of the fresh-scented redwoods, Ken Kesey was not anti-social, quite the opposite, but it was the right backdrop for this counter-culture hero. "When he wants to," Quarnstrom told me, "Kesey has a commanding presence and people flock to him. I was taken with Kesey and the Merry Pranksters." The vibes were so good that Lee quite his newspaper job and moved to La Honda to be near Kesey and the counter-culture scene that was then evolving in San Mateo County. "We goofed off, smoked pot and listened to lots of rock 'n roll," said. Quarnstrom. They also took LSD, popularly called "acid," legal at the time--and the live rock 'n roll music was provided by a band later to become world famous, the Grateful Dead. "Kesey became a counter-culture hero," Lee Quarnstrom told me, "because he was ahead of the curve of counter-culture that developed in the 1960s." He was on the cutting edge of "acid tests," long hair, and Eastern mysticism. Soon Kesey bought a 1939 International Harvester school bus equipped with bunks, benches and a fridge installed by the former owner for his children. The old bus was christened with the famous destination sign that read, "Fuurther." Yes, I spelled it corrected. Two u's. Fuurther. At the wheel of the bus was the unstoppable Neal Cassady, the real-life hero of Jack Kerouac's beat generation novel, "On the Road" (1957). Kesey's first project for the Merry Pranksters was to paint the bus with yellow, blue, orange and red Day-Glo Paint. When they were finished, it was a yellow, blue, orange and red bus. "We painted the bus constantly," said Lee Quarnstrom. "It was a never-ending process. Some would call it psychedelic, garish or intricate." When the vividly painted bus was revved up for a journey to FUURTHER, Kesey's entourage jumped on board, serendipity taking them from the redwoods to the Big Apple. They immortalized their travels by shooting 40 hours of film for a film called : "Intrepid Traveller and His Merry Band of Pranksters Look For A Cool Place." Somewhere in the pounds of Kesey material I downloaded from the Internet, there was a report that the Day-Glo painted bus may have been donated to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Well, was it, or wasn't it? I called David Shayt, whose official title was: Smithsonian Collections Manager, Division of Cultural History. Shayt said he had visited the Oregon farm where Kesey had moved from La Honda with intentions of acquiring the famed psychedelic school bus for the Smithsonian's 20th century collection. He found the bus parked in a jungle of weeds--but David Shayt's plans went awry when "we found a family of foxes occupying the rear seat. We said: 'Why disturb them?'" All was not lost, however. While searching for memorabilia in the barn, he discovered a six-foot tall multi-material, multi-media billboard, probably created in La Honda. Shayt said psychedelic colors covered both sides of the sign as well as fingerprints, drug paraphernalia and cartoons. He decided he had to have the sign for the Smithsonian. "It's a surreal montage," Shayt told me. "Whenever Kesey and the Pranksters stopped at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, they propped it up against the bus to welcome people. I show it off all the time." While Kesey and the Pranksters were "freaking out" in La Honda, the locals were getting paranoid about the new residents--and there were more serious problems. Although a novelist of great stature, "the authorities viewed Kesey as a menace to society," said Lee Quarnstrom. And in April 1965 San Mateo County sheriffs raided the log cabin house, arresting some 14 people on marijuana charges, including Quarnstrom and Ken Kesey. While charges were dropped against most of the Pranksters, Kesey was sentenced to six months at the county farm, coincidentally located in La Honda. The La Hondans had never felt warm toward Kesey; they were openly suspicious of this counter-culture hero. What was he doing in their redwoods? Perhaps they had reason to be wary when Kesey invited the Hells Angels to La Honda for a party. Never guilty of being subtle, Kesey openly publicized the event by posting a sign on his gate: "Welcome Hell's Angels." The local merchants saw that sign and got their guns out. They watched the swarm of swarthy-looking Hells Angels in black leather roar across Kesey's wooden bridge on motorcycles. Quarnstrom said the Angel's first task was to collect money for beer. Accompanying a Hells Angel to the local store, Quarnstrom recalled: "When the owner saw us coming, he reached for his shotgun. The Hells Angel said, 'Give us $600 worth of beer'." After being paid, the owner smiled and said, "Now you boys come back anytime.' That might have helped smooth relations with the La Hondans but soon after Kesey and the Pranksters left the log cabin and moved to a place they called "the Spread" on the outskirts of Santa Cruz. That was in 1965. A year later, Kesey and his wife, Faye, moved to the farm in Oregon, where the author lived until his death following an operation for liver cancer in 2001. The typed letter I wrote, transformed into a work of art, gives us insight in Ken Kesey. "His whole life was art" says Quarnstrom, "and we were the players." Ken Kesey, an American original, must have been a calamity to the La Hondans. Now, decades later, the genius of the man can be more fully realized. La Honda is richer for the brief time Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters played in the beautiful redwoods. ----------------------- The San Mateo County History Museum is one of my favorite charities. Please visit the History Museum at the historic Redwood City Courthouse.]]>
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"The Quest," Part 4 by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/16/the-quest-part-4-by-john-vonderlin/ Sun, 16 Dec 2007 17:08:46 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/16/the-quest-part-4-by-john-vonderlin/ bs1.jpegbs2.jpegbs3.jpegbs4.jpegScotty Crab Diner Nesting Bait Jar," to add to my collection. Reaching it, I saw it was a nice one too, festooned with young barnacles, indicating its escape from servitude had occurred some time ago. I love these little Judas goats. Not because they proffer irresistible delights to hundreds of thousands of crabs that are lured into entrapment, soon followed by the gruesome death of being boiled alive for our gustatory delight. And not because their commonness in my marine debris collection allows me to incorporate them in various art pieces, like the tentacles of the monumental, "Squidy Litter." No. It's the name embossed on their top: “Scotty Crab Diner Nesting Bait Jar,” that incites my devotion. After much practice I can make the mellifluous mantric moniker roll flawlessly, fluidly, even hypnotically off my tongue: “Scotty Crab Diner Nesting Bait Jar” “Scotty Crab Diner Nesting Bait Jar.” It's so mysterious. A “Diner” that only allows you to smell the food, that has no place to Nest on and isn't a jar. But, I digress into unneeded detail--only because just after I had reached this arthropodal death trap lure, bent over, picked it up, then straightened up while examining it, my eyes strayed to the cliff ahead of us and I saw it: THE TUNNEL OPENING Or, more accurately-- the cemented-up tunnel opening. Its concrete plug, 40- feet up the sheer cliff, was stained by minerals to the dun color of the background, with only the small piece of plywood left from its casting form having attracted my attention. Looking more intently, I could see short lengths of rebar sticking out of the corners of the arched slab that projected less then a foot out from the cliff. After coming up empty at the Long Gulch site, this bit of serendipity had me both thrilled at its discovery and disappointed by its look-but-can't-touch window shopping reality. Not feeling like going back to my truck to get my jackhammer, dynamite and climbing gear, I opted for a handful of photos of this real, but out of reach bit of wartime and psychedelic history. As I was photographing the non-opening's litigation-inspired stopper, I realized that the cave with the initials must be close. So close, that the chance of the Z.E.K. initials being related to the Merry Pranksters became a fact in my mind. Unfortunately, the waves were still surging up the beach to the base of the projecting cliff just ahead, blocking Meg’s and my way. A try at timing my run around the wave-lapped projection only left me stranded part of the way, cowering on a low, wet ledge for several minutes while I waited for a slack period in the waves to backtrack--all the while hoping a sleeper wave wouldn't make its appearance and put a damper on my day. Finally, I scampered for dry land, laughing as I outran the oncoming surf. Life is good. Let's head north to San Gregorio; we're on a roll. If you want to fix the tunnel's location, go to the California Coastal Records Project website, fill in the box above the Quick Search button with #7218047, then click Quick Search. When the photo comes up click on that to access the larger photo of the same area. Look about 40% up the cliff, about 40% from the left; above and slightly to the right of a large boulder sitting on the beach at the surf/beach boundary. There it is or was at least in 1972. To see how hard it is to find nowadays, do another search for Picture #6235 (2002) (Note the caption: Hideaway's Beach and put it on your list to visit) Click on that photo to access the huge 15 Meg file photo. Even knowing where it was it is very difficult to see the plug. By pressing the Time Comparison button above the mid-sized picture you can view all the pictures of this area from different years. Enjoy. John Vonderlin]]> 225 2007-12-16 13:08:46 2007-12-16 17:08:46 closed closed the-quest-part-4-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 "The Quest," Part 5 by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/16/the-quest-part-5-by-john-vonderlin/ Mon, 17 Dec 2007 02:19:36 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/16/the-quest-part-5-by-john-vonderlin/ th.jpegth2.jpegth3.jpeg Hi June, Driving a few miles north from Pomponio Beach and the Merry Prankster's tsunami tunnel, we arrive at San Gregorio Beach, and its California Landmark 26 plaque, commemorating Portola's expedition's three days of rest here. Our stay in "The Valley of Curses," as it is called Miguel Costanso’s diary, the Engineer for Portola's expedition, will hopefully be more pleasant than theirs was. Before I start this entry in the Quest's story, here are a few excerpts from almost 250 years ago, telling about Portola’s visit to this place. “October 24 The village stood within a valley surrounded by high hills, and the ocean could be seen through an entrance to the west-northwest. There was in the valley a stream of running water, and the land, though burned in the vicinity of the village, was not without pasture on the hillsides. “October 25 Many of the pack-mules were exhausted by the preceding day's march, and they were given a rest to-day that they might recover their strength. The scouts were sent out to examine the country with guides from among these Indians. They returned in the evening without any news of importance; they had gone about four leagues to the north-northwest along the coast. “October 26 As the captain of the company of the Californias, Don Fernando de Rivera y Moncada, was ill of the common sickness — the scurvy — and, because of a diarrhea which attacked many of us, we were forced to delay the march. “October 27 “We left the valley, which the soldiers called "Valle de los Cursos," heading north." But, we leave the valley heading south along the beach for reasons having nothing to do with the "Curses, soiled again," aspect of Portola's expedition. Rather our goal, the "Grafitti Grotto," lies in this direction. If you follow, you may have to ford the wandering San Gregorio Creek, and if the rainy season has broken open the lagoon, but at least no wave dodging is required in this direction. Rather, in this stretch, the cliffs run unusually straight for more then a mile with a nice buildup of sand at their foot, only inundated by the highest of tides or the strongest of storms. Twenty minutes later we're at our destination, a small cave at the base of the cliff where it juts out in a small promontory. Seconds later the truth is obvious. The initials just inside the mouth of the cave are not Z.E.K. They are Z.C.K., Zane Kesey's. The scratch I had assumed was the middle bar in the "E" isn't. It's not connected as the other lines in the initials are, nor is it as deep. I photograph it while I'm thinking the kid in the man is going to love to relive this time when I send him this photo. While Dad was holding court, the little prince was exploring his kingdom. Entering the small space we see his initials are not alone. There are etchings everywhere. There are young love's plus-signed pairings. There are peace signs and valentines and other less familiar symbols. And perhaps most importantly, there are dates. I see a ‘97 there, here a ‘90, and even an ‘86. Unfortunately, like the Pranksters during the tsunami, I am flashlightless, unable to explore the deepest, darkest cracks for the more subtle grabs at immortality. Oddly, a small crack at the back of the cave mysteriously allows a bit of light to enter, but it helps little. Curious how the cave can be allowing light through its rear, I exit and walk south a little further. Ah, I see. The cliff is cut back deeply and in one of the promontory's eroded channels is a small dark hole that leads into the cave's rear. Close by there is a large rockfall/dirt landslide with pieces of wood visible on its top. Climbing the pile, I can see that a long time ago, somebody flattened it's weed-covered top and used the now-rotted boards to restrain the dirt. A Prankster camping spot? Maybe; I'll try to find out. Still curious how close the cave is to the tunnel, we continued south about a 1000 feet until our way was blocked by a sweeping, curved projection of the cliff, extended into the swash zone. Waiting for the waves to momentarily recede, I dashed seaward and looked around the promontory. There, just beyond, was a beautiful hundred foot long half moon shaped beach nestled beneath the cliff, whose far point I recognized as just beyond where I had been trapped, while trying to continue north after finding the tunnel. I was looking at the appropriately named Hideaway's Beach. The tunnel and the cave were separated by only about one thousand feet. Add one microgram per foot to this magical little stretch of the San Mateo coast, and it's no wonder the Pranksters helped launch a wildly colorful and creative tsunami of imagination from here. When I got home I sent Zane Kesey an email with pictures of his initials and the tunnel's plug. He replied: “far out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hey...i was thinking this might be the spot where the "merry pranksters" were created and named?? George would know? or Babbs? Z” I'll let you know what they think soon. I'll also let you know what I find in the darkest corners when I return with a good flashlight. If anyone does likewise, they might see my initials-- or did Juan Valdez pass this way with the Portola Expedition? Enjoy John Vonderlin P.S.The cave can be seen in Picture #6232 on the California Coastal Records Project. It is a small dark shadow at the cliff's base where the two streams that have heavily eroded the cliffs above meet.]]> 231 2007-12-16 22:19:36 2007-12-17 02:19:36 closed closed the-quest-part-5-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1214628770 _edit_last 1 New to Me....Davenport & WWII.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/19/new-to-medavenport-wwii/ Thu, 20 Dec 2007 02:35:41 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/19/new-to-medavenport-wwii/ here “The Davenport cement plant (it became Pacific Cement and Aggregates in 1956, Lonestar Cement Corporation in 1965 and RMC Pacific Materials in 1988), brought immediate military attention to the North Coast following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Believing that Japan might attack the U.S. mainland, the military quickly posted guards and lookouts around Davenport and imposed stringent blackout requirements on its residents. “Later in December, when the ship Agiworld was attacked by a Japanese submarine off Cypress Point south of Monterey, security along the coast was heightened. A Japanese submarine was also sighted off the coast a few miles north of Davenport, resulting in a brief skirmish between the submarine and a single plane from the Army Air Corps. “Eventually a segment of the all-black 54th Coast Artillery was stationed at Davenport and regular night canine patrols were instituted at all the area beaches. In addition, four shore mounted guns were placed strategically around the Cement Plant. Two 75mm guns were mounted overlooking the pier and two 155mm Howitzers were mounted just to the east of Newtown. Many of the young people living in the area at the time became airplane spotters, spending long hours in the lookout stations posted along the coastal hills. “Perhaps the most disruptive part of the early months of the war was the removal of many Italians from the coast, along with all persons of Japanese ancestry. “Beginning in February of 1942, all Italian aliens living inland from Highway 1 south of Laguna Creek were required to move inland from the highway, and since many of the Italian families living on the North Coast had elderly unnaturalized parents and grandparents, the military orders brought extreme hardships to the farmers between Laguna Creek and the city limits of Santa Cruz. For the few families of Japanese present since the 1920s, the removal from the North Coast to a concentration camp in Arizona was devastating. Very few of the Japanese returned to the North Coast after the war.”]]> 235 2007-12-19 22:35:41 2007-12-20 02:35:41 closed closed new-to-medavenport-wwii publish 0 0 post 0 ...Friends of the Calamari...Just Wear Them... http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/21/friends-of-the-calamarijust-wear-it/ Fri, 21 Dec 2007 05:55:55 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/21/friends-of-the-calamarijust-wear-it/

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1970s Friends of the Calamari (Photo: Paul Schraub)]]>
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1873: A Trip to Pigeon Point With "Novice"... http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/21/1873-a-trip-to-pigeon-point/ Sat, 22 Dec 2007 00:26:03 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/21/1873-a-trip-to-pigeon-point/ lighthousekeeper1.jpg [Photo: The Keeper of the Lighthouse and his family and an assistant resided in this comfortable home at Pigeon Point light station built before the turn of the century. The sum of $12,000 was appropriated for the structure.] "Novice" was the pen name of a restless South Coastside woman who joked in 1873 that "she would rather spend a whole week driving and sightseeing than in the wash-tub." (By driving, she meant via horse and carriage.) When heavy winter storms kept the San Gregorio writer housebound, she couldn't wait to get back on the road. And the moment there was a break in the weather, "Novice" was ready for an adventure on the South Coast--an adventure that would end up as a story she would mail for publication in the San Mateo County newspaper. I'm ready, she said, looking at the gloomy gray sky "to drink any amount of salt air and stray bits of scenery." She invited friends to accompany her on the bumpy carriage ride, and the party arrived in Pescadero at 9 a.m.--but they didn't remain long in the popular seaside resort. After a "vote," she and her friends decided "to do" the Pigeon Point Lighthouse. A month earlier the new lighthouse had celebrated its first anniversary. Surely when Novice and her pals arrived at the new landmark, they knew the back story; they had heard the gossip about the nasty legal battle over the nearby busy wharf (the only wharf for miles.) Here are the juicy details: For a decade, Loren Coburn, the controversial landowner and world-class litigant, had leased the wharf to several ex-San Mateo County officials. They then modernized the primitive facilities making it possible for small steamers to load and unload local produce and supplies in a few hours instead of the usual two days. Well, the lease had expired and now that the former county officials had made the improvements, they didn't want to give up the property. They refused to honor the contract and the legal dispute landed in the courts. In the meantime, there had been unfriendly confrontations and threats of violence. (For more details, read my "Coburn Mystery." But things were quite when "Novice" toured the grounds surrounding the slender white finger in the sky, the Pigeon Point Lighthouse. Her head was turned by the presence of a photographer whom she called "a special artist." She said he was using every "standpoint" to shoot photographs. "If I had not been under the impression," she noted, "that I was looking worse for the trip, I would have stationed myself in range of that laugh-inspiring machine." There is a photograph of the lighthouse keeper's dwelling in Frank A. Perry's "The History of Pigeon Point Lighthouse." Two bearded men stand talking in the foreground. In the background several women wearing long dresses are sitting on the porch. The photo is credited to Eadweard Muybridge, the famous San Francisco photographer who pushed the limits of his craft. While working for the U.S. Lighthouse Service in the early 1870s, Muybridge took spectacular photos of lighthouses and dramatic ocean scenes in Northern California. He shot the first panoramic views of San Francisco and has left behind breathtaking landscapes of Yosemite. In 1873, the year I am writing about, Leland Stanford--the founder, along with wife, Jane, of Stanford University--called on Muybridge to take a picture of Occident, his beautiful horse, while trotting at full speed at his Palo Alto stock farm. At the time no photographer had accomplished the feat of photographing an animal in motion, like a Thoroughbred trotting. But Eadweard Muybridge did it and Stanford, who also enjoyed pushing the envelope, financed further experimentation. This led to the use of an "electrically activated slide shutter" and Muybridge's revolutionary images of "The Horse in Motion" and "Animals in Motion." The Muybridge-Stanford collaboration is credited with giving birth to the "motion picture." I believe it was Eadweard Muybridge that the South Coast writer "Novice" encountered on that day in 1873 at Pigeon Point lighthouse. Unfortunately, Novice could not tell her readers who it was because she discovered, to her embarrassment, that she had left behind pen and paper--and would have to rely on "head notes" to write her story. She didn't have time to dwell on her mistake as a knowledgeable U.S. Lighthouse Service guide whisked her away on a tour of the 100-foot tall edifice, "a gigantic tower that was big at the bottom, little at the top, and something in the middle goes whippety whop..." The oil fuel for the giant lamp was manufactured from lard, Novice said, and there were four immense wicks. As she ascended the serpentine height, Novice learned that the light was composed of 24 lenses which emitted a flash every ten seconds. Although the Pigeon Point Lighthouse was only 12 months old, the transplanted beacon had played a role in the devastating Civil War fought a decade earlier. "The beacon was captured," noted the South Coast writer, " by the Confederate soldiers at Cape Hatteras during the Rebellion and afterwards recaptured by the 'Boys in Blue'." From her vantage point at the top of the tower, Novice enjoyed "a perfect panoramic view of the ocean, with the white-capped breakers dashing against the rocky shore, and all the busy workings of the toilers of the sea." She found it all terribly romantic. The tour ended and Novice and friends headed north to Pescadero's celebrated Pebble Beach. Arriving about noon, the party crunched the soles of their shoes on the shiny pebbles and spread out a delicious homemade lunch on the beach blanket. A steaming pot of tea hung over the campfire. Afterwards they "hurried off to fill our stachels with diamonds and all sorts of precious stones that we expected to find." The pickings were slim and Novice admitted that "like the rolling stone that gathers no moss, we had neither moss nor pebbles." ----------------------- South Coast photographer/filmmaker Susan Friedman has published Equus...Horses at Rest and in Motion, a nod to the work of Eadweard Muybridge.]]> 238 2007-12-21 20:26:03 2007-12-22 00:26:03 closed closed 1873-a-trip-to-pigeon-point publish 0 0 post 0 Pigeon Point: Shipwrecks, Scalawags and Scavengers http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/21/pigeon-point-shipwrecks-scalawags-and-scavengers/ Sat, 22 Dec 2007 01:43:48 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/21/pigeon-point-shipwrecks-scalawags-and-scavengers/ here to choose your local bookstore.

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...The Story of Pigeon Point: The Carrier Pigeon http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/21/the-story-of-pigeon-point/ Sat, 22 Dec 2007 02:15:43 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/21/the-story-of-pigeon-point/ The American pioneers who recently settled at nearby Pescadero couldn't erase the memory of those who drowned from their minds. So when the first shipload of Pescadero-grown potatoes reached San Francisco, someone reported that the cargo arrived from Carrier Pigeon Point. Before long, the name was shortened to Pigeon Point--the place where locals lobbied for a lighthouse on the deceptively beautiful, semi-circular bay.]]> 246 2007-12-21 22:15:43 2007-12-22 02:15:43 closed closed the-story-of-pigeon-point publish 0 0 post 0 ...More Story of Pigeon Point...Sir John Franklin http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/22/more-story-of-pigeon-pointsir-john-franklin/ Sat, 22 Dec 2007 18:17:48 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/22/more-story-of-pigeon-pointsir-john-franklin/ sirjohnfranklin55.jpg [Note: I wrote this in 1977.] While searching for San Francisco in 1865, the American clipper, Sir John Franklin, lost her way in a dense fog and mountainous sea. When the weather cleared some 24 hours later, the captain viewed the breakers ahead with great alarm....but it was already too late. The Sir John Franklin screeched loudly as she struck the dark reefs. A crew member shouted "Abandon ship!" when he discovered the huge hole in the hull. The cargo, including pianos and dry goods and liquor, followed them, swept away by the powerful current. The captain, first mate and 11 others struggled to swim in the heavy surf but the die was cast as all met a watery death on that fateful day. Witnesses, local residents who witnessed the horrific shipwreck, called it the most disastrous to date. In memory of those who lost their lives in the insurmountable seas, the place where the Sir John Franklin struck (midway between Ano Nuevo and Pigeon Point) was christened Franklin Point. Photo: San Mateo County History Museum. Please visit the museum at the historic Redwood City Courthouse. The History Museum is my favorite charity.]]> 249 2007-12-22 14:17:48 2007-12-22 18:17:48 closed closed more-story-of-pigeon-pointsir-john-franklin publish 0 0 post 0 More Story of Pigeon Point: The Coya, The Forget-Me-Not... http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/23/more-story-of-pigeon-point-the-coya-the-forget-me-not/ Sun, 23 Dec 2007 16:06:31 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/23/more-story-of-pigeon-point-the-coya-the-forget-me-not/ Newcastle rammed a reef near Franklin Point. The Coya, whose 27 passengers included three women, turned over and sank. As W. I. Carpenter observed the Prussian barkentine, Forget-Me-Not, fire her signal guns off Pigeon Point, he rode all night to inform port authorities in San Francisco of the vessel's distress. On this occasion, the tugs Rescue and Goliah arrived in time to assist the ailing ship into port. Besides praise for his heroic deed, Mr. Carpenter received a handsome reward.]]> 250 2007-12-23 12:06:31 2007-12-23 16:06:31 closed closed more-story-of-pigeon-point-the-coya-the-forget-me-not publish 0 0 post 0 Galen Wolf Watercolor of the Pebble Beach Hotel....aka "Coburn's Folly" http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/23/galen-wolf-watercolor-of-the-pebble-beach-hotel/ Sun, 23 Dec 2007 17:38:42 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/23/galen-wolf-watercolor-of-the-pebble-beach-hotel/

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(Galen Wolf watercolor of Loren Coburn's Folly, also known as the Pebble Beach Hotel, south of Pescadero.)]]>
253 2007-12-23 13:38:42 2007-12-23 17:38:42 closed closed galen-wolf-watercolor-of-the-pebble-beach-hotel publish 0 0 post 0
More Pigeon Point:...The Hellespont Horror http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/23/more-pigeon-pointthe-hellespoint-horror/ Sun, 23 Dec 2007 19:34:09 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/23/more-pigeon-pointthe-hellespoint-horror/ Wear ship"--meaning to change the course away from the wind. Yet instead of tacking out to sea, the Hellespont easily glided in among the ruthless breakers. The first time she struck heavily, crashing against the black reefs. The second time the waves swung the Hellespont around wildly, striking her broadside. Captain Soule emerged from the cabin holding an axe and ordered the crew to cut away the masts which they did. As the masts fell overboard, they smashed the lifeboats to pieces. Without warning, a huge breaker struck, this time splitting the Hellespont in half. The tremendous impact ripped apart the main deck and carried it away to sea. And just as George Thomas, a crew member, crawled to join the others who were desperately clinging to the floating cabin....another violent breaker struck, severing the cabin from the ship, thrusting the men with it 50 or 60 yards towards shore. As if the moment was not horrifying enough, Captain Soule pointed to a deep wound in his neck and calmly told one of the mates that he was bleeding to death. Another breaker struck hard, upsetting the cabin, burying everyone beneath the swirling sea. One survivor, George Thomas, swam until he cleared the cabin and could surface for air...and take in the great masses of floating debris. From time to time the jagged pieces of littered wreckage struck Thomas as he struggled to reach shore. Life had not yet been drained from Captain Soule as he floundered at the mercy of the sea--but his pained look revealed total exhaustion. At one point the captain and George Thomas latched onto the same piece of wreckage. But when another huge breaker jarred their senses, Captain Soule finally let go, in soul and spirit. Thomas never saw him again. In the background George Thomas couldn't drown out his shipmate's desperate cries for help. The tough currents thrust Thomas deep under water and sent him soaring back up again. After the sea tossed him about (and he thought he should have drowned by now), a friendly wave gently pushed him to within yards of the beach. But just as the shore appeared so close, a heavy spar struck him in the face, followed by another blow severely bruising his arm. George Thomas knew he was no stronger than the other men but he had directed his thoughts toward reaching shore safely and survived. He must have wondered if he was the only one spared. His arm rendered useless, his face cut and bleeding, he still managed to anchor himself in the sand until another powerful wave drove him further onto shore. When, at last he escaped from the clutches of the sea, George Thomas collapsed face down on the cold, sandy beach. Seconds later two men ran towards him and helped the poor sailor to his feet. The rugged pair identified themselves as Portuguese whalers who lived on the cliffs above. They took him ton one of their huts where Thomas was reunited with the other lucky seven survivors of the sea disaster. Here they rested until a horse and wagon arrived to bring them to Pescadero. At the end of that horrible day in November 1868, 11 men, including Captain Soule, all of them courageous, drowned at Pigeon Point. All along the people of Pescadero had said, build us a lighthouse and shipwrecks and drownings will stop.]]> 251 2007-12-23 15:34:09 2007-12-23 19:34:09 closed closed more-pigeon-pointthe-hellespoint-horror publish 0 0 post 0 ....Pigeon Point Lighthouse.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/23/pigeon-point-lighthouse-2/ Sun, 23 Dec 2007 20:56:33 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/23/pigeon-point-lighthouse-2/ 257 2007-12-23 16:56:33 2007-12-23 20:56:33 closed closed pigeon-point-lighthouse-2 publish 0 0 post 0 The Cemetery in the San Dunes... http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/23/the-cemetery-in-the-san-dunes/ Sun, 23 Dec 2007 21:05:46 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/23/the-cemetery-in-the-san-dunes/

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The Cemetery in the Sand Dunes In the summer of 2001 something white in the sand caught the eye of a hiker as he walked among the wind-eroded dunes near Point Ano Nuevo. There was something about it that made him start digging. He quickly uncovered a shocking discovery that made him think violence had happened here: Murder. For there, only inches beneath the sand in front of him, he later told the San Mateo County Sheriff's Department, there was a skull. Actually, the sheriff's investigation would find there were many skulls there and many leg and arm and back and rib bones. Dozens of them. Enough to fill a cemetery. And indeed, that's what the hiker had found, a cemetery lost for decades among the shifting sand dunes. While wrong about this being a murder scene, the hiker was right in surmising that these unfortunates had died violently and the clue was in the roaring of the surf that pounded the nearby beaches. The sound of the surf is probably the last thing these poor souls heard and is precisely why most of them died. These dead people had once strode the decks of sailing ships such as the "Sir John Franklin", the "Coya" and the "Hellespont". All perished in the 1860s when their ships, blinded by the heavy fog, struck reefs between Pigeon Point and Ano Nuevo and sunk wuth heavy losses of life. The dead were buried side-by-side in a dunes area originally fenced off and marked with headstones. The remains of ship's officials were generally not found at these sites as relatives often claimed them for burial in family plots. Overtime the strong winds disturbed the sand dune environment, exposing the cemetery site. the shipwreck victims had been buried in redwood coffins--but even this superior wood could not withstand the effect of the sometimes brutal weather and the coffins are now the consistency of wet cardboard. When I last worked on this story, park rangers were working to stabilize this historical shipwreck gravesite so not to disturb the human remains. A pedestrian boardwalk was to be built with interpretive signs enabling the visitor to learn about the cemetery (and at the same time they will be advised of the laws against disturbing archaeological remains). (Photo: Raymond Watson)]]>
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Our Coastside Beaches: 57 Tires & Other Meanings Behind That Magic # http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/23/our-coastside-beaches-57-tires-other-meanings-behind-the-magic/ Sun, 23 Dec 2007 22:04:47 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/23/our-coastside-beaches-57-tires-other-meanings-behind-the-magic/

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Hi June, Part I: I’m Tired Yesterday's expedition was quite amazing. The first important event occurred at Pescadero Beach when I added pictures of six more tires coughed up from the ocean to my "101 Tires" artplay project, or: "I'm So Tired," as I sometimes refer to it. While I'm sure the poor sanitation worker who has to load them onto his truck will be irritated-- along with his private contractor boss, whose profit margin is wounded by the $7 a tire dump fee he must pay-- I was quite excited by reaching another significant number. Last time it was 5 tires bringing the total to 51, just edging past the halfway mark, in any endeavor a memorable point. This time, in one fell swoop. I reached 57, a much more powerful number.

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Part II: Meanings Behind The Number 57 By the way, if you've ever wondered where the expression, “one fell swoop,” originated, it's apparently one of the myriad things ole Bill Shakespeare contributed to our language. Shakespeare is first recorded as using it, in Macbeth. When Macduff hears that his family has been murdered, he says in disbelief: All my pretty ones? Did you say all? O hell-kite! All? What, all my pretty chickens and their dam At one fell swoop? The collective image that Shakespeare’s audience would have brought to mind was a falcon plummeting out of the sky to snatch its prey (a kite was a bird of prey before it became a paper and wooden toy.) ...more coming...]]>
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Modern Shipwrecks: The Lou Denny Wayne by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/26/modern-shipwrecks-the-lou-denny-wayne-by-john-vonderlin/ Wed, 26 Dec 2007 04:43:05 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/26/modern-shipwrecks-the-lou-denny-wayne-by-john-vonderlin/

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Hi June, As you detailed in your book Half Moon Bay Memories, Pigeon Point's history has been punctuated by a series of disastrous shipwrecks. The grounding, the night of November 28th, and subsequent destruction a few days later of the classic wooden boat, the “Lou Denny Wayne,is just the latest addition to that long list of tragedies. As I related in an earlier email, while collecting marine debris north of Ano Nuevo point early in December, I found a pair of expensive, sand-clogged Henri Lloyd bibs. When the owner of the Lou Denny Wayne, identified them as his, I promised to drop them off the next time I swung through Santa Cruz. Between that oddity and having read the newspaper accounts of the mysterious accident two miles offhore that hulled the boat, resulting in the desperate decision to try to run it aground on the nearby rocky coast, my curiosity was piqued: Where had it gone aground and what was left? The newspaper described it as one mile south of Pigeon Point Lighthouse, and even had a good picture of the boat taken from the cliff above. But, extrapolating from the rocks pictured in the online newspaper photo to the series of California Coastal Records Project (CCRP) photos of that part of the coast proved difficult. The shore is so rocky there that even a small variation of tide can change the exposed rocks' appearance or submerge them entirely. However, I did tentatively identify a spot I thought was probably the site. It just so happens this two mile stretch of beach, from Pigeon Point south to Gazos Creek, is one of my favorite float-collecting areas. It's isolated, lined with difficult to climb cliffs, whose tops are covered by no-tresspassing farm fields. Much of it is virtually inaccessible except during a very low tide, and it has numerous promontories splitting the coast into a series of hidden pocket coves. All of those factors conspire to limit my competition and keep whatever floats ashore there for me to collect. Though even, I, “the Intrepid Traveler,” had never made it the full length. To the south from Gazos Creek, a steep cliff, holed by the pass-through sea cave that has the best sea life

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in it of any one I know of on this coast, had always stopped me. And from the north another steep-faced promontory, ending in deep water, had always left about three quarters of a mile unexplored in the middle stretch. Well, I decided to introduce my curiosity to the extremely low tide on Saturday and go on a adventure. Parking at the last place legally accessible south of Pigeon Point, we hiked through the brush in a small canyon, then climbed down the hidden ladder

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somebody put there a few years ago and headed south. We weren't expecting to find many floats, as the North Pacific SubTropical gyre has not been disturbed for almost two years by the consistent Westerlies necessary to bring its treasures ashore, And even the buoys from local crabbers have been greatly reduced in number, thanks to the late season start caused by the oil spill. Hmm. I wonder if I could file a claim too? We weren't expecting to find the great number of abalone shells that had been driven ashore by the same giant waves that destroyed the Lou Denny Wayne, killed two crabbers out of HMB, and a veteran big wave surfer at Ghost Trees. Unfortunately, I've given up collecting shells, feeling they're too common and not useful for my art. After about an hour of walking along short pocket beaches, then clambering around the promontories defining them, on wet, algae-slicked rocks, we reached the spot where I thought the Lou Denny Wayne had gone aground. Absolutely nothing was left. Sigh. Except, to turn around and retrace our hazardous route. But, it was too easy to imagine the possibility of a broken ankle or wrist from a fall given our tiredness taking that route. Besides this was virgin territory and maybe I had been wrong about its watery grave's location. The possibility of finding somewhere to climb the cliff and dash across the farmer's field seemed reasonable, so we continued south. Soon we were totally surprised to come upon this beautiful arch. Surprised, because I'd looked at every one of the large file pictures for this area on CCRP and hadn't seen any arches at all, let alone this beauty.

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The promontory, whose gap the arch spanned, projected into deep water, necessitating passing under it to go any further south. Fortunately, the rocks above the pool under the arch provided good footing and it was easily accomplished. But, it just put us at another pocket beach with un-climbable cliffs. The rocks seaward from the promontory bounding this beach to the south were the worst yet. Big, jagged and heavily covered with slick ribbons of seaweed. Scouting ahead, putting every limb to use, I four-wheeled through the jumble. When I rounded the promontory, and took a rest from my exertions and intense concentration on the questionable footing, I was amazed and delighted to see people ahead. Usually, I'm fearing competitors or disliking interference with the solitude, but not this time. They were as welcome as an oasis in the desert.

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Retracing my path, I assured Meg that safety was around the corner, adding, based on the way they were dressed, we should have no trouble making it all the way to Gazos, the direction I assumed they had come from. Rounding the promontory, we noticed there was a long white ribbon stretched on the reef from the beach out to the surf. Figuring it was one of those grid studies that biologists do to keep track of changes of the flora and fauna on the reef through time, I asked him if that was so. "Duh," was my thought when he told us, “No, this is the spot where the Lou Denny Wayne, had run aground and broken up.” Because I was focussed on my footing, I hadn't noticed the large rudder, crab pot, broken glass, giant batteries, and miscellaneous boat parts scattered about or wedged between the rocks. With his long tape measure laid out, the man investigating the boat accident was photographing everything, carefully noting details on his clipboard. While talking with him, we found out he worked for the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary (MBMS). When we asked where the rest of the boat was, he told us most of it had been lifted off the reef by a large helicopter. He also mentioned that that had cost $40,000, for which the owner was responsible. I'm thinking somebody is kicking a man while he is down, but he explained it had been dispatched from Oregon as there were none locally that could handle. Though, the MBNS employee didn't mention it, I assume his gathering of info would be used in a civil suit. No wonder there is a tradition of the captain going down with the ship. I unraveled a piece of rope from the crab pot for use on my "Battering Ram" project, then we continued south around the next promontory to find ourselves at the sea cave pass- through I mentioned earlier. Ironically, the boat's grave was right between the two coolest spots on this part of the coast, the arch and this sea cave. As we completed the easy last leg of the Pigeon Point- Gazos Creek, trek, I took photos of sizeable chunks of the boat washed into the small inlets. A very sad sight. A tragedy with no loss of life thanks to the captain's and Coast Guard's quick actions. But, it was an economic tragedy, and the end of a classic wooden boat's life. The Lou Denny Wayne was more than 50 years old. Even a lighthouse couldn't have prevented this tragedy. It's a dangerous place, this ocean we live near, especially for those who make their living from it, apparently even when you reach the shore. Enjoy. John Vonderlin

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South Coast: Abandoned WII Observation Post? http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/26/south-coast-abandoned-wii-observation-post/ Wed, 26 Dec 2007 18:20:22 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/26/south-coast-abandoned-wii-observation-post/

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1897: High School Class in Pescadero http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/26/1897-high-school-class-in-pescadero/ Thu, 27 Dec 2007 03:03:15 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/26/1897-high-school-class-in-pescadero/

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Warning: "X" Marks the Spot Story By John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/27/x-marks-the-spot-a-warningby-john-vonderlin/ Fri, 28 Dec 2007 00:14:30 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/27/x-marks-the-spot-a-warningby-john-vonderlin/ California Coastal Records Project (CCRP), that cover the Lou Denny Wayne shipwreck area. The promontory with the pass-through sea cave with the unusual sealife inside it, is shown at the extreme lower left in Picture #6331. You can see the difficulty of passing by this area without a very low tide. The next picture to the northwest #6330, with a large wave crashing on the promontory that the semi-submerged cave cuts through, illustrates the caution necessary and danger posed to anyone that tries to go this way. In the lower left hand corner of that same picture is the site of the Lou Denny Wayne's grounding. With the only way off that beach being to climb the cliffs in the dark of night, my hat comes off to the captain's son who accomplished that. Finally, if you look carefully at the large file of Picture #6327 , you can see the top of the arch I mentioned. It's part of the promontory about 2/3 of the way from the left of the picture. The arch is just to the left of the fountain of spray from the wave crashing into the promontory. Picture #200401039, which is of the same area, just two years later, shows the arch a little more clearly in the large file. A WARNING: I urge anyone attempting to follow our path to be extremely careful. You might find yourself between a rock and a hard place and nobody is going to hear your scream for help. Enjoy. John]]> 276 2007-12-27 20:14:30 2007-12-28 00:14:30 closed closed x-marks-the-spot-a-warningby-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1229133619 _edit_last 1 Tunnel Trip on Hold, says John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/28/tunnel-trip-on-hold-says-john-vonderlin/ Sat, 29 Dec 2007 03:28:16 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/28/tunnel-trip-on-hold-says-john-vonderlin/ t1.jpegt2.jpegt3.jpegt4.jpegt5.jpeg]]> 279 2007-12-28 23:28:16 2007-12-29 03:28:16 closed closed tunnel-trip-on-hold-says-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 The 1868 Boundary Bill: Pescadero Joins San Mateo County... http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/29/the-boundary-bill-pescadero-joins-san-mateo-county/ Sun, 30 Dec 2007 00:07:05 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2007/12/29/the-boundary-bill-pescadero-joins-san-mateo-county/ 283 2007-12-29 20:07:05 2007-12-30 00:07:05 closed closed the-boundary-bill-pescadero-joins-san-mateo-county publish 0 0 post 0 South Coast: Back to the Mysterious Tunnel with the Amazing John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/02/south-coast-back-to-the-mysterious-tunnel-with-john-vonderlin/ Thu, 03 Jan 2008 00:46:48 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/02/south-coast-back-to-the-mysterious-tunnel-with-john-vonderlin/ Pearl Harbor. I'm hoping to get confirmation of this soon from local authorities.

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Parking off Highway 1, in the tunnel’s vicinity, I decided to retrace the path I had used before, on my first visit, as it had been a much easier trek then the horrendous cross-country, bushwhacking trip to it. Unfortunately, while heading in this direction, I saw the front of the sign I hadn't read when I exhaustedly passed it while escaping out of the canyon that first time. It forcefully urged me to STAY BACK. UNSTABLE CLIFFS.

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The well-trodden path to the cliff's edge let me know that a number of scofflaws had not taken this sign seriously. I assume there is no law violation involved, but I'd urge other adventurers not to follow this path, as the cliffs are very unstable here, especially with the winter's rain. Having been startled more then once while walking local beaches as large chunks of cliffside crashed onto the sand beside me for no apparent reason, I did take the warning seriously. Moving parallel to the sign, I found a small animal trail that eventually joined the faint trail descending into the canyon further on, but a safe distance from the cliff's edge. The faint trail peters out at the edge of the steepest slope near the bottom of the canyon, but if you're determined and confident, it is not too hard to find a fairly safe path to the gully's floor. Following the gully seaward, I arrived at the sheer 40- foot cliff that drops to the rocks on the beach below.

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From there I could see the tunnel opening, above me, on the north side of the cliff as it turns eastward into the gully. I had to be extremely careful; it’s very muddy and slick there. As I tried to climb towards the opening, I recalled slipping and sliding on my first trip, ending up soaked thigh high, sunken up to my knees in slimy mud. I had to find another way to enter the tunnel and a ladder was not going to help. There was only an eight- foot drop from the tunnel opening's floor, but it led to a narrow, water-filled pool with unclimbable walls, left and right. There was no place to rest a ladder at the face of the cliff. Even the mud at my side of the pool's depression was so squishy that my shoe almost vanished into the ooze without my putting any weight on my foot. I was stumped. It was then I remembered something I had seen while channel surfing the night before. I stayed online long enough to watch a show called “Ninja Warrior,” where contestants competed in a series of timed Challenges involving the navigation of obstacle courses. One difficult “challenge” involved inching along between a pair of four-foot-apart parallel Plexiglas walls for about 40 feet, keeping themselves from falling into the cold water below. The contestants accomplished this by exerting outward pressure on the Plexiglas with their hands and toes. But the slippery walls, coupled with physical exhaustion, tossed several challengers into the drink. I thought I might apply a similar technique, and come up with a better result. Climbing to a spot on a sloped ledge to the left of the tunnel opening, I slowly inched towards it until the slope was too steep to risk any further movement. Then, gathering all my courage, with arms extended, I toppled over, heading for the cliff on the other side of the pool. The extreme physical moves sent a shock through my shoulders, but it worked. At least it worked for the moment.

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But there was no going back now; I could only press onward or fall downward into the pool. Nearly horizontal, with hands and feet pressing firmly against the opposite sides of the narrow slot canyon, I was suspended seven feet above the pool. Moving my hands and feet alternately, I began a clumsy sideways shuffle towards the opening. Fortunately, my friend Meg didn’t want to approach the slick muddy parapet below the opening, just above the 40- foot drop to the beach, so she couldn’t photograph the fear rippling across my face. I didn't think I'd be seriously hurt, but my camera and pride might not have survived a fall into the quagmire below and I'm certain it showed. Reaching the tunnel's opening, I was able to rest on the sloped remnants of the rock floor that hadn’t been eroded by the water flowing through it. Holding my small LED flashlight in my mouth, I continued to move deeper into the cave's darkness until I could finally drop to a solid-looking part of the muddy stream bottom, worn six feet down from the tunnel's original floor. Walking further in, I came to a sheer, seven- foot cliff that someone had cut shallow handholds into. Using my flashlight I could see there was a short side tunnel above me that may or may not have had another branch off it. But, around the corner to the right, I didn't need my flashlight to see the light at the end of the tunnel. There was a second opening, partially covered with brush, about a 100-feet ahead.

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I tried to scale the cliff using the handholds, but was unsuccessful. Likewise, the branch leading to the opening was unclimbable. Satisfied, I shot a few pictures and headed back towards sunlight. I was able to retrace my steps successfully, and soon was blinking in the bright sunlight with a big grin on my face. Having related to Meg what I found, we decided to check out the other end of the tunnel to see what we could find. Heading upstream, we quickly realized as we stood in the wet, spongy, heavily overgrown bottom of the gully, that it was going to be very difficult. Instead, we climbed back up to the road and headed north on Highway 1. Unable to see the tunnel's opening in the tangle of growth below us, we each took our guess at the best route and started battling downward. I made a bad choice and was soon in over my head, caught in a thick tangle of spiny vines and heavy underbrush that looked suspiciously like poison oak without its leaves. Turning tail, I struggled back to the road, from where I could just see the top of Meg's head in the brush below. I decided that since I knew about how long the tunnel was, it might be easier to go across the northern rim of the canyon to the approximate spot above where I thought the opening was and then head straight down. That worked fairly well, except that when I reached the gully’s bottom, the opening was nowhere in sight. Heading upstream, bulldozing the thickets of small rotted trees that blocked my way, I headed towards the direction of Meg's voice. Shortly, I stumbled on the topsy- turvy sign shouting KEEP OUT! STRUCTURES AND GROUNDS UNSAFE. I felt sure I was close, and that my surmisal that this tunnel had been an observation post was correct. Thirty feet away, down a steep bank I was able to shout: "I see it!," just as Meg burst free from the thicket of bushes above me. I entered the cave and gingerly straddled the eroded gap in the floor to just above where I had turned back when I entered it from the other end. Mission accomplished. Returning to the upper opening, I noticed there was part of a concrete footing that probably had supported a door to seal it way back when it had been used. After all, they wouldn't have wanted "frogmen teams" to sneak up on them and slit their throats before they could sound the alarm. My belief is that some time after WWII, just as with the "tsunami Prankster cave," I've written about, this cave was considered a public nuisance. Officials posted a sign warning people to stay out, and forgot about it. Because of its virtual invisibility, they probably felt plugging it wasn't necessary. I saw absolutely no sign that anyone had visited this spot in many years. In fact, I can't imagine there are many people that would bother. Nevertheless, I'm very happy I did. The entire expedition helped me to visualize what those frightening times after Pearl Harbor must have been like. America, reeling from the blow, was frightened it would happen again and reacted with both vigor and panic. The string of coastal defenses and the brave people who manned them, were an important feature of that critical time. Peering endlessly at the mighty Pacific from a small tunnel's opening in a difficult-to-get-to Cliffside, US soldiers hoped to see, yet prayed they wouldn't, waves of Japanese bombers headed for the Bay Area, enduring this lonely, isolated spot, miles from civilization, believing they were making the public feel safer. They are probably all dead now, but I thank those sturdy men of the "Greatest Generation," who gave up so much. Enjoy. John Vonderlin t6.jpegt7.jpeg]]>
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The Coburn Mystery: Meet Two of the Main Characters http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/03/the-coburn-mystery-meet-two-of-the-main-characters/ Fri, 04 Jan 2008 01:13:45 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/03/the-coburn-mystery-meet-two-of-the-main-characters/

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(Pescadero's litigious Loren Coburn testifying in court.)

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(Sarah Coburn, Loren's second wife and the sister of his first wife. Sarah was murdered in Pescadero in 1919.)]]>
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New Theory: Where Did The Pebbles From Pescadero's Pebble Beach Come From? http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/05/new-theory-where-did-the-pebbles-from-pescaderos-pebble-beach-come-from/ Sun, 06 Jan 2008 01:19:20 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/05/new-theory-where-did-the-pebbles-from-pescaderos-pebble-beach-come-from/ pp.jpeg

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Hi June, After visiting the observation tunnel, then collecting my 58th tire off the beach at Pescadero, I visited Invisible Beach, to see if Neptune's Vomitorium, was regurgitating any non-buoyant marine debris yet. It wasn't. But enough sand had moved offshore that there were a few small patches featuring the same smooth colorful pebbles that created nearby Pebble Beach, famous in the mid-to late-1800s. I'm expectantly awaiting, perhaps perversely anticipating, the arrival of the fierce storm with its accompanying 25- foot- plus waves that is supposed to hit tomorrow (Friday.) This storm should complete the stripping of the sand covering the hidden gravel beds. Most importantly, it should clear the throat of the channel through which the non-buoyant marine debris travels up onto the beach, allowing me to begin collecting it again. For me, it’s kind of like Christmas all over again. In your book, "The Coburn Mystery," you recreated the trial between Loren Coburn, the wealthy landowner, who claimed Pebble Beach and all its treasure, and the hundreds of citizens of Pescadero and t surrounding Coastside, who demanded the continuation of their traditional access to this very special place. The main area of dispute focused on the origin of the colorful pebbles. Coburn maintained the pebbles washed down from his land, settling on the beach and therefore they were his. He owned them. Others maintained that they had been cast up by the sea. As I've stated before, I'm quite sure that’s correct. I firmly believe an offshore quartz ridge is the source for the semi-precious pebbles at Pebble Beach, Invisible Beach and all the little pocket coves over a several mile stretch in that region. You can find small quantities of red and yellow jasper, clear quartz nodules, agates, moonstone agates, aventurine, and many other members of the quartz family sprinkled on the beach almost anywhere in the area. But, this story is about jasper sprinkled somewhere else. Jasper found where it shouldn't be found. Jasper that probably got there by a mechanism I was unfamiliar with. Oddly, it's a mechanism similar to the one at Neptune's Vomitorium, but even stranger. I came upon this tidbit while reading an old book I got from the library called, "Geologic Guidebook of the San Francisco Bay Counties," printed in 1951 by the Division of Mines, when Earl Warren was Governor. There was a fascinating chapter on the Farallon Islands. In one section, the book details the harvesting of millions of sea bird eggs for the coastal markets. Fortunately that was ended in the early 1900's. But what really caught my attention was the author's mention of encountering erratics everywhere on the island. In geology, the term erratics means something different than when applied to my friends. Most often it is part of the term "glacial erratics." These are rocks that are transported long distances by glaciers from where they originated and deposited in areas where they just shouldn't be found. They provided the evidence that Ice Ages had repeatedly encased the Northern Hemisphere, including the United States with a thick sheet of ice. The erratics found all over the South Farallon Island (a granitic mass, from the highest point to the waterline) “are pebbles of jasper, in all respects similar to those found on any beach or in any stream in California where the adjacent rocks are the so-called Franciscan chert. These pebbles are well-rounded, and range in size from half an inch to two inches in diameter; many of them slightly polished. There is no definite explanation for their occurrence, but three possibilities may be suggested." The author of the “Geological Guidebook of the San Francisco Bay Counties” quickly discounts the first two possibilities and continues: "A third possibility is that the pebbles were swallowed by marine mammals--fur seals and sea lions--as is their habit, and then disgorged when they came on land. When South Farallon was occupied by more then 200,000 of these animals they must have ranged over most of the area. The fur seals especially are excellent rockclimbers and land travelers--on Alaskan islands early drives (?) as far as 12 miles were commonplace. This may seem a far-fetched theory, but is within the realm of possibility." I'd never before heard that marine mammals swallowed rocks. But they do. Websearching the terms "gastrolith and marine mammals" brings up lots of websites that verify it is a well known and researched fact. One site stated: "It's not unusual for seals to ingest stones, perhaps as ‘weight belts’ or to aid in digestion. The stones could eventually be deposited far from the source. Recognizing them as gastroliths might be possible by investigation of microscopic toolmarks and polish." Another source: "The New Zealand sea lions feed on octopus, small fish, crabs, mussels, and penguins. They swallow pebbles (gastroliths) to aid in digestion. Their intestines may contain numerous gastroliths of irregular shapes. They vomit these gastroliths, as many as 20 at a time, along with squid tentacles and small fish." Possibly the weirdest website described the operation on a captive seal called ‘Missy’ containing in her stomach: two pounds of rocks, an AA battery and 97 cents change. I wonder how this information might have been used at the Pebble Beach trial, Loren Coburn Vs. The Good Citizens of San Mateo County? Better yet, was Pebble Beach the source of at least some of those pebbles found on the island? Or-- did the marine mammals get them from the now-submerged quartz ridge when glaciers had locked up so much water that the coastline stretched all the way out to the Farallones? Whatever the true origin of the pretty pebbles, my odd hobby of collecting marine debris, regurgitated by Neptune's Vomitorium, is even more fascinating now. Enjoy. John Vonderlin]]>
304 2008-01-05 21:19:20 2008-01-06 01:19:20 closed closed new-theory-where-did-the-pebbles-from-pescaderos-pebble-beach-come-from publish 0 0 post 0
Mammoth Rocks: It just gets more fascinating.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/07/mammoth-rocks-it-just-gets-more-fascinating/ Mon, 07 Jan 2008 04:16:51 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/07/mammoth-rocks-it-just-gets-more-fascinating/ From John Vonderlin (email john: benloudman@sbcglobal.net)

 

Hi June,

I came on this while researching where the jasper on South Farallon Island might have come from locally. I thought you might want to see it. I'm going to keep my eyes open from now on when I'm looking at coastside rocks. I might just find a local "Rubbing Rock." I could write about. I used CCRP to scan the ten miles or so of the Sonoma State Beach Park unit and believe I found them. It's close to Goat Rock, something I've climbed on, near the Russian River mouth. Pictures #12455-12458. Their local name is Sunset Boulders or Sunset Rocks. It's a popular bouldering site.

I'm anticipating dropping "The Rancholabrean Hypothesis," in conversation someday. Enjoy. John

 

Mammoth Rocks

Mammoth RocksRubbing Rocks, Vernal Pools, and the First Californians: Pursuing the Rancholabrean Hypothesis E. Breck Parkman Senior State Archaeologist California State Parks Introduction In 2001, I discovered what I believe to be Rancholabrean rubbing rocks on California’s North Coast (Parkman 2002a, 2002b, 2002c). (1) These are features that I believe were used for grooming by now-extinct Ice Age megafauna such as Mammuthus columbi and Bison antiquus. The rocks are located on the coast of Sonoma County about 75 km north of San Francisco, within Sonoma Coast State Beach, a unit of the California State Park System. To date, I have located six sites consisting of one or more rubbing rocks, all within an area about 4 km in diameter. The two main sites are referred to as Mammoth Rocks and Jasper Rock. The Mammoth Rocks site consists of four loci of rubbing rocks, separated by about 300 m (Fig. 1). Two of the loci consist of very large blueschist seastacks (20 and 30 m tall). The other two loci are smaller blueschist boulders (4 and 5 m tall). The four loci surround an enigmatic wetland that I believe may represent a relic animal wallow. Jasper Rock is located 3 km south of Mammoth Rocks. This site consists of a single jasper (red chert) boulder which stands about 2.5 m tall. A shellmidden (CA-SON-365/H) is located 100 m south of the boulder.

 

Over the past two years, I have developed what I term, “The Rancholabrean Hypothesis.” Simply put, the hypothesis proposes that elements of the Rancholabrean landscape (e.g., megamamal rubbing rocks and wallows) still survive and can be detected on the contemporary landscape. Furthermore, by identifying these Pleistocene features, it may be possible to map the archaeological presence of the area’s first people. Since the initial discovery of the Sonoma Coast rubbing rocks, a loose-knit team of researchers (including archaeologists, geologists, paleontologists, geomorphologists, pedologists, physicists, chemists, zoologists, botanists, and molecular biologists) have been working with me to confirm or deny the Rancholabrean Hypothesis. (2) The following is an update on some of the progress that we have made to date as well as our plans for future research.

Panoramic View of the Mammoth Rocks Site and the Eroding Coastal Bluff. Photo by Breck Parkman, 2004.

 

Also, check this out this story from Berkeley Science Review, Spring 2006, click here

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....Pescadero Folk.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/07/pescadero-folk/ Tue, 08 Jan 2008 02:28:45 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/07/pescadero-folk/

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The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 20 (original draft) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/08/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-20-original-draft/ Tue, 08 Jan 2008 04:05:34 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/08/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-20-original-draft/

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While the Pacific Ocean crashed at Pescadero's sandy feet, this extraordinarily beautiful place remained deeply isolated. And perhaps, the residents watched with some envy as small coastal vessels, part of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company's fleet, sailed by carrying letters and supplies from San Francisco to Santa Cruz. Both of those places boasted natural harbors but the little steamers didn't stop at Pescadero because along this breathtaking--but windy and inhospitable stretch of coast--there were no natural harbors. The only plausible spot for a landing was at Pigeon Point, a six mile horseback ride over the rolling countryside. At Pigeon Point there was a little semi-circular bay, partially sheltered from northern winds. It was the only place deep enough for small vessels to pick up local produce and lumber, and to drop off supplies. But Pigeon Point was also an imperfect bay where, hidden beneath the water, long rocky reefs waited like fingers ready to grasp whatever came their way. One writer described the scene: "...black reefs that reared their ugly fangs like wild beats watching for their prey..." Some 200 yard from shore a tall rock monument rose to a level equal with the steep rock bluff which partially enclosed the bay. ("Prisoner Rock," I believe it is called.)

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It was expensive to lug lumber overland, with the back-breaking labor performed by men and their mules. In an isolated place without a railroad, a wharf at Pigeon Point was the next best solution for a secluded village that needed a connection to the outside world. But Pigeon Point, named for the shipwreck of the Carrier Pigeon in 1853, remained a dangerous place for steamers to land. No lives were lost in the wreck of the Carrier Pigeon--but over the next two decades, at least 24 men drowned. ((In 1853 the Carrier Pigeon, a fully rigged ship with a finely carbed pigeon on the bow, struck the invisible rocks, six miles south of Pescadero. Some 15 minutes later seven feet of water gushed into the hold; 30 minutes later the lower deck was flooded. The wounded ship lay 500-feet from the beach, pierced by the ledge of rocks that broke the ship's back. The ship was a total loss, but the men survived. The ship's commander, Captain Doane, had sailed from Boston with a cargo bound for San Francisco. He sent three Spanish-speaking witnesses who were at the scene on horseback to San Francisco to report the accident to the consignee.) In the archives of the San Mateo County History Museum, there is another story telling how Pigeon Point got its name. Santa Cruz pioneer Eli Moore, the son of Alexander, when, hearing that the Carrier Pigeon had been shipwrecked, recalled seeing the big clipper a few days earlier. She was anchored in Santa Cruz bay. It was unusual to see such a big clipper and he thought it must have gotten there by error. As the story goes, Captain Jacks, a crusty schooner master, shouted to the crew of the Carrier Pigeon: "Where are you headed?" To which a sailor responded: "To San Francisco." "Then what are you doing here?" Captain Jacks supposedly snapped back. Two days later, lost in a thick wall of fog the Carrier Pigeon drifted ashore six miles south of Pescadero near a point without a name (remember, it wasn't called Pigeon Point yet.) Shipwrecks drew all the locals, for there was often work to be done, and Eli Moore rode his horse north from Santa Cruz to see what was what. There was plenty to see and collect, including waterlogged merchandise, food, paint, even an intact stagecoach. The insurance men had arrived at the scene, too, authorized to sell the damaged cargo at bargain rates. Unbroken packages were claimed by the underwriters--but broken packages could be claimed by anyone. One unique item was the 18-passenger "Charlie McLean" stagecoach. Built in Concord, Massachusetts for Wells Fargo, the six-horse stagecoach could carry one ton of mail. It was rescued and later set a "stage record" for the fastest time between Reno and another town in Nevada, 20 miles in 94 minutes. Half a century later--when travel by stage was slowly being replaced by the lifestyle changing automobile--the aging McLean returned to the South Coastside where she was put to work on the San Mateo-Pescadero run. At Eli Moore's camp on a bluff near the wreck, there was plenty to eat and drink. Long handled shovels, salvaged from the Carrier Pigeon, made excellent frying pans on which bacon, ham and fresh eggs--preserved in lime water for the voyage around the Horn--crackled and sizzled. There were beans, sweet cakes, preserves and coffee, all courtesy of the wreck. One of Eli Moore's relatives--we don't know his name--was also at the camp. He asked one of the insurance men what the name of the place was. The insurance man said, "There is no name." That's when Moore's relative suggested naming it after the wreck. "You mean Carrier Pigeon Point?" "No, that's too long. The word "Carrier" should be dropped." And that's another version of how Pigeon Point got its name.]]>
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William Steele Moves His Cows: Story by Coastside Artist Galen Wolf http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/09/william-steele-moves-his-cows-story-by-coastside-artist-galen-wolf/ Wed, 09 Jan 2008 05:22:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/09/william-steele-moves-his-cows-story-by-coastside-artist-galen-wolf/ galeninhisprime.jpg Long before daybreak, the cows of William Steele were milked that memorable morning, at Steele's barn on the shore of Tomales Bay, by milkers under weak lantern light. This was the day that William Steele's option on thousands of acres of land, running from the Gazos Creek to Santa Cruz County line, took effect and he was to move his herd south to his new land. He intended to move his dairy, and he chose the daring route of the area. The milking that afternoon was to be done before the sun set, a hundred sea miles from where he had milked the cows that morning. This late milking had to be done because you can't shut down a cow just because of a move. That morning, Wiliam Steele had a large barge tied to the short wharf at Millerton on Tomales Bay. He had engaged a wheezy steam tug to pull it. The route would follow the narrow bay, pass through the far narrower channel and then into the open sea. Even today, modern boats avoid the dangerous channel. Once in the open ocean, his tow faced the grim Point Reyes, the windiest promontory in America. Beyond the peril lay Duxburg Reef, noted for shipwrecks, and then the turbulent Potato Patch at the mouth of the Golden Gate. Steele had set up high and heavy railings and stanchions for anchoring the animals on the barge, to keep them from being rolled into the unsteady waves. A few flocks of awakening bay ducks were scattered by the tumult of shouting men and bawling cows as the loading began. Cows are hardly cooperative and this occasion was no exception as the loud voices of men and animals rang out in a great hullabaloo to distrub the dawn. Cowhandling, however, was the forte of the Steele hands. The trip began with the first light, which saw the tug wheezing into the channel with the tow obediently swinging astern. Meanwhile, on the faraway ranch, plans had been completed to house to new seaborne guests. Barns had been built, pad-stalls and stanchions stood ready, milk houses waited and great stacks of hay perfumed the air. But now Steele's problems began to unfold. A few days before the move, the Tomales workers informed him that they would not leave their beloved Maria. They agreed to load the cows for Steele and then....no more. Milkers were hard to come by. The nearby townspeople had cows of their own and they could not help. Finally, in desperation, in the grey dawn of that day, a foreman came in from San Francisco with a gang of Chinese men. Few of them had ever seen a cow, let alone milked one. In haste, they had their schooling. They secured a few nearby animals and milking was demonstrated to a ring of serious nodding heads. They picked up the idea quickly. Smiling, nodding, "Plenty savee. Can do." Tomales Bay was now behind the barge and the bar made its challenge. It was full tide now and serenly the convoy swept out to open sea. It was a fair day, but ocean is ocean and the cattle stood in seasick misery as the sun glinted whitely on the windswept waves of Point Reyes. Hours passed with the whistling wind and spray on the wet decks. The old tug had been honestly built. The barge followed closely behind the tug. As they passed Duxburg, all were reminded of the fatal wrecks on that notorious reef, as they watched the breaking reef. Then came the plunge and tumult of the Potato Patch's cross seas, and finally the even rollers of the coast south of the Gate. Soon Pigeon Point appeared. The sun was low. They were ready for landing the distressed cargo at last. Chalky patches on Rattlesnake Mountain marked the Gazos Creek as they neared the shore. The cove below Norman Steele's home had been reconnoitered. Since there were no rocks, it was a fairly safe landing cove. The little tug crept in towards the shore. It had caught up the barge in brackets and pushed it hard toward the sandy cove. The deeply laden barge grounded a hundred feet from shore, but its heavy load could not be taken any closer to the beach. The cows were wildly excited as little rollers sloshed along the barge's sides. A gangway was lowered and the first cows were forced down it. The water was back-deep for the animals and splashed along their sides. The men on board were just as excited with success so near. The rush and crash of the small surf, the smell of land and hay, and the return of miling time all had the cows in a state of wild confusion. The cows began leaping from the low barge amid the screams of the gulls, shouts of the men and barking of dogs. They streamed ashore, wild-eyed and shaking seawater from their faces. The Steele boys were born to handle cattle. It must have felt like home to the cows, as they buried their muzzles in their feeding boxes. As they were being milked on new land, even the fingers of Chinese recruits did not seem too strange. And thus William Steele came to San Mateo County. Other neighbors arrived as dramatically and in many different ways. These years were of high enterprise and a man's worth was measurable.]]> 313 2008-01-09 01:22:00 2008-01-09 05:22:00 closed closed william-steele-moves-his-cows-story-by-coastside-artist-galen-wolf publish 0 0 post 0 ....Gazos Creek.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/09/gazos-creek/ Wed, 09 Jan 2008 20:48:36 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/09/gazos-creek/ 314 2008-01-09 16:48:36 2008-01-09 20:48:36 closed closed gazos-creek publish 0 0 post 0 Chapter 21: The Coburn Mystery http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/09/chapter-21-the-coburn-mystery/ Wed, 09 Jan 2008 21:20:35 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/09/chapter-21-the-coburn-mystery/ The number of wrecks and preventable deaths gave lighthouse proponents the statistics needed to support their argument for a lighthouse--but by 1870 construction had not begun. ***Ano Nuevo, seven miles south of Pigeon Point, was the first promontory sighted by the Spanish explorer Sebastian Vizcaino on January 3, 1603. He named it "Ano Nuevo," which means Point New Year. From "Place Names of San Mateo County," By Dr. Alan K. Brown (1975) New Year's Point "punta de Ano Nuevo," the original form of the name, is first found in the coast pilot of Geronimo Martin Palacios, a member of the Vizcaino expedition: "at ten leagues [from Monterey] you will raise the punta del ano nuevo which is low and clear of rocks and the land full of trees, it is in thirty-seven and a half degrees' latitude." Vizcaino gave the name "on January 3, 1603, because it was the first promontory sighted in the new yar. It is one of the few names applied by early navigators which have lasted throughout the centuries for the same point" (Gudde). The Vizcaino expedition was responsible for the idea that the point was the north limit of Monterey bay (it does look that way from Monterey). Camacho y Brenes' chart of 1785 therefore transferred the name to what is now Santa Cruz point, and called the original and Franklin points pt. Falsa de Ano nuevo (False New Years' point)...Yet local usage was already too strongly in favor of the original point... Between the 1790s and 1850s the name was usually shortened to la Punta in Santa Cruz, since the point was the nearest large one to the town. The form punta del Ano Nuevo (New Year point) is often mentioned nowadays, but itis merely a Land Commission clerk's error. The present form of the name, the translation, was in use by 1853. The nautical charts, and after them most maps, have of course retained Ano Nuevo point: the name was on English charts in that form before American times, and the point is an important landfall.]]> 315 2008-01-09 17:20:35 2008-01-09 21:20:35 closed closed chapter-21-the-coburn-mystery publish 0 0 post 0 Good Tunnel Conversation at Duartes Tavern http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/10/good-tunnel-conversation-at-duartes-tavern/ Thu, 10 Jan 2008 04:10:06 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/10/good-tunnel-conversation-at-duartes-tavern/ Duartes’ in Pescadero last night, and it gave her a chance to talk with some of the oldtimers about the tunnels we've been exploring. The "Pranksters" tunnel was familiar to several folks. As we had suspected, access was from an opening on the top that has now been filled in. One interesting comment was that the tunnel had a sharp turn just before you reached the now plugged opening in the cliff. Thinking about its intended purpose, that is, to serve as a WWII observation post for spotting possible Japanese planes and submarines on the prowl, I now realized it was a good spot for observers to also protect themselves from sudden strafing or shelling. There wasn't a clear consensus about the other tunnel just north of Pescadero Beach. That was the tunnel I climbed through, the one with the “topsy- turvy” sign warning of danger, that I wrote about. One person placed it in the next canyon north from where I was. The others were unaware of it. I’m planning to talk with the older rangers, some of whom were possibly working around there when the warning sign was posted. Meg and I will also try searching the canyon to the north leading to Keldabeach. I've examined the 2002 Picture of that area (#6245) on the California Coastal Records Project (CCRP) and seen nothing. However, if you examine the 1972 Picture (#7218055) in the same spot, there is a large parking lot with more then a dozen cars in it beside Highway 1, just above the canyon. There are also trails on the north side of the canyon that don't seem to lead anywhere, as well as roads all over the tops of the cliffs. It doesn't seem to take nature long to erase the signs of man around here, as that’s all hidden now. Finally, we're hoping to get the part-time caretaker of the Pescadero Cemetery (Mt. Hope) to show us another tunnel just north of Pescadero Beach. It’s a different tunnel, not the one I visited. He remembers seeing it as a youth almost seventy years ago. He thought it was a tunnel constructed as part of the Ocean Shore Railroad, but the oldtimers at Duartes believed it was a tunnel for storing explosives used in the construction of roads. I've attached a photo of a strange little sunken building I photographed some years ago that turned out to be just that, a place for storing road construction materials. Hopefully, I'll have some answers by tomorrow night. Enjoy. John Vonderlin (Photos, L-R: Depression left where tunnel entrance was filled in; Dynamite storage building; Dynamite Storage Building.) d1.jpegd2.jpegd3.jpeg]]> 316 2008-01-10 00:10:06 2008-01-10 04:10:06 closed closed good-tunnel-conversation-at-duartes-tavern publish 0 0 post 0 ....The town..... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/12/the-town/ Sat, 12 Jan 2008 04:28:48 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/12/the-town/

pes.jpeg Hard to believe this is Pescadero. The pole is the famous flagpole, once used to measure distances from one place to another. Photo courtesy Tony Pera.]]> 322 2008-01-12 00:28:48 2008-01-12 04:28:48 closed closed the-town publish 0 0 post 0 The Ohlone: John Vonderlin Begs To Disagree http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/13/the-ohlone-john-vonderlin-begs-to-disagree-i/ Sun, 13 Jan 2008 20:25:48 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/13/the-ohlone-john-vonderlin-begs-to-disagree-i/

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Hi June, The email I recently sent you about the rocks that were probably polished by the mud-soaked flanks of mammoths and bison rubbing against them, reminded me of another rump-rounded rock a lot closer to home that I stumbled on a few years ago. I had recently bought my first digital camera, a high dollar “prosumer” Minolta model that was a “steal,” thanks to a clerk mis-marking a floor model being cleared out. Without any particular talent or much experience, but having a high-tech camera with an awesome lens, I embarked on a mission of photographing everything I could find of interest. I was working my way through the various open space preserves in San Mateo County, when I visited the Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve. While wandering near Alpine Pond, photographing everything in sight, I stumbled upon a rock with grinding holes in it, made by the Ohlone Indians. There was nothing secret about this rock. It was visible from the path and a small sign requests respect for the Native American site, forbidding alterations of any sort.

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Looking for a good shot (and feeling that I was helping to preserve, rather then alter anything), I cleaned out the holes, which were clogged with debris and took a few pictures. Later, I learned from a newspaper article about docent walks in the area, that this rock is called “Gossip Rock," though I find no mention of it on the Internet. Thinking that where there is one such special rock, there are usually more, so I scouted the nearby woods and photographed other rocks, also marked with grinding holes. But, it was when I started checking out the huge boulder looming above Gossip Rock, just across the trail, that I made an intriguing series of discoveries. First, climbing up the hill on the west side of the boulder, I found, at waist level, a protuberance rising from the rock, topped by a chalice-shaped manmade feature. One edge of the “bowl” was missing but it appeared to have been so perfect at one time that I assumed it had to be manmade. Above it I noticed the rock was much smoother then the surrounding rock. Fascinated, I clambered to the top where I found a hollow in the rock that was the size of a small bath tub. It was also filled with debris, but looked like it might have held a decent amount of water at some time, especially after I cleaned it out. From the top of the rock, I could see Gossip Rock some 50 feet away. Looking down, I saw another smoothed, chute-like area that descended to the ground. I remember thinking this was either an Ohlone ceremonial site or their version of a children's play area. Knowing that the year ‘round, ridge-top springs, now submerged by the dammed Alpine Pond, must have made this a very attractive area, particular in the summer, I assumed this must have been a permanent settlement. High above the heat of the valley on one side, balanced by the damp coolness of the fog on the other, it must have been an idyllic place to prepare the winter's larder of acorns. It’s not surprising that in the 1930s California Governor James (Sunny Jim) Rolph christened a nearby beautiful knoll his "Summer Capital," building a home adorned with a gold-painted, paper- mache dome. My guess is the spacious pond, created when the dam was built, has submerged whatever Indian village or camp that was there.

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A few months later, I attended a fascinating lecture in San Jose about the Ohlone Indians. I gave the photos of my find to the state parks scientist delivering the talk. He said he assumed the "offering bowl" was a concretion. Being a collector of concretions, and quite knowledgeable about them, I demurred. Later, I contacted another state employee connected with Ohlone research. He said there was no tradition of rock carving by the Ohlone and identified the "bathtub" as an artifact of the acid in oak leaves that had, over time, eroded it. Neither expert explained to me why these features existed on a rock near a Native American site, something I have never seen before. No matter what they said, my imagination told me otherwise and I continued to contemplate other possibilities for this unusual rock. I filed it away until last year, when, my friend, Meg, showed me an article about a docent who leads nature walks in that area. The docent identified “Gossip Rock” by name and opined that the rock across the path indeed had been smoothed by endless sliding journeys down it—as children might slide down a plastic slide in a playground. I felt vindicated to some degree, but have been unable to attend one of the infrequent nature walks led by the docent to hear his explanations firsthand. Unlike the "Mammoth Rocks," whose revelation the experts were conflicted about because of damage rock collectors were causing, I see no likelihood of any damage occurring here, and would be interested in other people's opinions about what they think was going on here. Enjoy. John Vonderlin P.S. The last picture, that of the Interpretive sign

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mentions the bitterness of acorns and the need to leach the flour to remove the tannic acid. I have this vague memory, perhaps mentioned by one of my Native American friends long ago, that the term "Three(?) wash woman" was a complimentary term for a wife who went the extra step to make her husband less bitter acorn meal. I've never been able to confirm that on the Internet, but hope one of your readers might have heard of this.]]>
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A "P.S." From John Vonderlin is NEVER Ordinary.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/15/a-ps-from-john-vonderlin-is-never-ordinary/ Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:18:04 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/15/a-ps-from-john-vonderlin-is-never-ordinary/ tires.jpeg for future carrying up the hill when the ground dries up. I've got 12 of them poised at the bottom of the path. With those, in one fell swoop, I'll be able to skip the Sixties, since I'm at 58 now. (For some reason I found that amusing.) There was also a young woman doing some beach art I thought was poignant. She was using pretty seashells to create "True Love" in the sand. Alas, when the tide came in it will suffer the same fate its namesake usually does.

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I talked with an oldtimer who was stuck on top of the hill, unable to find the easy route down that he remembered from 25 years ago. He told me there used to be an arch at the southern end of the beach. (Where the concretions and sea cave I wrote about are.) I looked on the 1972 photo from CCRP and he was right. Oddly, Meg had gone to a bookstore in Santa Cruz today and bought a book she'd been talking about filled with historic photos of the Santa Cruz area. It featured Natural Arches Beach and all the arches that have collapsed through the years. She wondered if new ones are being created to replace the lost ones. Or are they gone forever I'm not sure, but I assume there must be new arches growing somewhere. But where?]]>
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"La Honda is a slingshot at the sky"....Ken Kesey http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/16/la-honda-is-a-slingshot-at-the-skyken-kesey/ Thu, 17 Jan 2008 00:22:12 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/16/la-honda-is-a-slingshot-at-the-skyken-kesey/ shapeimage_3.jpg When I was writing a historical column for the San Mateo County Times in 1997, “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” author Ken Kesey put a “for sale” sign in front of his famous log cabin nestled in the redwoods of La Honda. I never met Kesey but, like many others my age, he made a big change in my life by writing “Cuckoo’s Nest.” Of course, it was a great book that fit in with the theme of the times, a great and ageless message: that it was okay to be you. I never met Kesey but I wrote about him and even to him, receiving a wonderfully creative response in return.let.jpeg I also drove past Kesey’s cabin many times on my way to Loma Mar or to the more secluded Coastside beaches. The home had it’s own “sense of place,” with a small, funky wooden bridge that allowed the person on foot easier access across the, what? The big gully? I can’t remember. In his “Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test,” book, Tom Wolfe described the scene as worthy of a Christmas card and when I think of Kesey’s house, that’s what I see. In May, 1997, the San Mateo County Times’ Carolyn Jones broke the news: “The rustic log cabin that served as the lively epicenter for a generation of hippies, beatniks, Hell’s Angels and artists is being sold.” Kesey’s home, where the colorful Merry Pranksters hung out (and who were not afraid of being themselves) was going for $239,000. Rumor was Kesey didn’t want to leave but he might have been encouraged due to an unfortunate accident involving a county sheriff who fell and injured himself on the property. I haven’t met the Terry Adams family, the new owners , but they understood they were purchasing a precious piece of 20th century San Mateo County History. What greater homage to Ken Kesey, than this beautiful website, including "Prankster House, Hippie Empire, Psychedelic Mecca, Dragons, Wynchwood"...and more... click here. (Note: Photo of Kesey's house courtesy of Terry Adams.)]]> 333 2008-01-16 20:22:12 2008-01-17 00:22:12 closed closed la-honda-is-a-slingshot-at-the-skyken-kesey publish 0 0 post 0 1891: The Battle Over Pretty Pebbles At Pescadero.... (1) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/17/the-battle-over-pretty-pebbles-at-pescadero-1/ Fri, 18 Jan 2008 01:34:29 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/17/the-battle-over-pretty-pebbles-at-pescadero-1/ Local residents suspected Coburn's motives behind erecting the fence and gate at Pebble Beach. They had seen him courting West Shore Railway officials. In return for construction of a train station at Pebble Beach, it was rumored, Coburn promised the railroad a right-of-way over his land. Coburn had ambitions to build a hotel overlooking Pebble Beach and an adjacent townsite to be called "Coburnville." Residents feared Coburn planned to move the center of the region's economy from Pescadero to his own property. Accustomed to living and working among his enemies in Pescadero, Coburn quickly heard that the Pebble Beach gate had been torn down, and his effigy burned. He was certain that the Board of Supervisors had a hand in the gate smashing. He blamed Supervisor Adair for starting the trouble. But Adair denied county interference at the gate. His presence, he insisted, was that of a concerned, private citizen. And, he added, Loren Coburn's effigy had not been burned but remained in pristine condition. The next day, Coburn ordered his men to re-barricade the gate and repair holes in the fence. The roadmaster Charles Pinkham immediately appeared, this time in his official capacity, to remove all obstacles. On Monday morning Coburn rode his buggy to Redwood City's government center where he had an arrest warrant issued for Joe Levy, charging the popular businessman with a misdemeanor.]]> 335 2008-01-17 21:34:29 2008-01-18 01:34:29 closed closed the-battle-over-pretty-pebbles-at-pescadero-1 publish 0 0 post 0 1891: The Battle Over Pretty Pebbles At Pescadero.... (2) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/17/1891-the-battle-over-pretty-pebbles-at-pescadero-2/ Fri, 18 Jan 2008 01:58:36 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/17/1891-the-battle-over-pretty-pebbles-at-pescadero-2/

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Loren Coburn and Joe Levy had been feuding for a decade. During the 1880s, Levy and his brothrs, Armand and Fernand, had opened a general store in the old, two-story McCormick building, near the Swanton House, once a quaint hotel where Pebble Beach-bound guests often stayed overnight. Not only did the Levy Brothers sell soft goods and hardware at the Pescadero location but there was a drug store, a Wells Fargo station, Western Union agency and a U.S. Post Office under the one roof. In 1885 Joe Levy was appointed the postmaster. The warrant for Levy's arrest was telegraphed to his Pescadero store. Before pleading, he was released on his own recognizance. Joe Levy's defense at the jury trial centered on the fact that people had traveled over the Pebble Beach's cow trail for 20 years., conferring upon it the legal status of a public road. By locking the gate, Loren Coburn had obstructed and denied the public's right to use the road. Levy contended that unlocking the gate amounted to appropriate legal action. Following a tense trial, the jury agreed. The local press reported that Pescadero residents traveled across the squiggly cow trail to Pebble beach where they held "mammoth picnics and seaside banquets" to celebrate Levy's victory. The verdict intensified competition between the millionaire landowner and the popular businessman. When Coburn launched the People's Stage Lind, a new stagecoach business covering the San Mateo-Half Moon Bay-Pescadero route, Levy countered with a rival line, setting off a cutthroat fare war. In Half Moon Bay, Coburn was at a distinct disadvantage. The popularity of Levy and his brothers assured them of good contacts in the horse stable business; fresh horses, water and feed were always readily available for them. Coburn became more stubborn and willful, barricading the Pebble Beach again. Charles Pinkham was equally committed to keeping the gate open. Widely publicized, the locking and unlocking of the gate led to a severe drop in tourists bound for Pescadero and its famous Pebble Beach. In a change of strategy Coburn laid otu a new, level road leading across his land to Pebble Beach--a road markedly superior to the bumpy old cow trail. Some locals wondered if the landowner had a change of heart; others knew Coburn better. At the same time, the battleground switched to the floor of the state legislature. To protect their interests, Pescaderans asked Assemblyman John T. O'Keefe to introduce a bill dedicating Pebble Beach as a San Mateo County public park. O'Keefe did so, touting Pebble Beach as a great tourist resort, essential to Pescadero's economic prosperity. While the 1893 legislation passed both houses of the legislature, it failed to provide for a public road across Coburn's land. To compensate, Pescaderans demanded that San Mateo County officials condemn a strip of Coburn's land as a public road. Despite the official dedication of Pebble Beach Park, Coburn hired carpenters to build his hotel and a horse stable overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Ignoring the legislation, he tacked up a sign proclaiming his new road to be private and locked the gate one more time. While officials dealt with the murky legalities, Coburn made it clear he had no plans to dedicate his road to the county. Responding to voters' complaints, the board of supervisors assigned County Surveyor Davenport Bromfield to survey the road situation at Pebble Beach in the fall of 1894. Before Bromfield began the survey, Coburn's sign and the locked gate led to one final bitter confrontation. To stymie travel to Pebble Beach, Coburn had his men dig a three-foot wide, three-foot deep trench on the other side of the gate. These were emotional times for Loren Coburn: While warring with his neighbors, his wife, Mary Antoinette was dying of cancer in their ramshackle Pescadero home on San Gregorio Street. Word leaked to Coburn that the Pescaderans were on their way. Confidently waiting at the gate, he blocked the entrance with his single-horse-drawn buggy. Joe Levy arrived in his buggy. Harsh words were exchanged, according to documents in the San Mateo County History Museum's archives. It was a standoff until Supervisor Henry Adair, accompanied by Roadmaster Charles Pinkham and 20 men, as well as Adair's rifle-toting teenage son, drove up in a large horse-drawn county wagon, equipped with a plow and a scraper. Besides reopening the gate, Adair planned to fill the trench with dirt. In later court testimony, Coburn accused Adair of influencing people against him, also claiming that Adair swore to keep the gate open as long as he lived, whether in office or not. The bitter struggle over Pebble Beach di not disappear. Coburn sued San Mateo County for damages, claiming his cattle had strayed as far south as Santa Cruz when the gate was opened. Restraining orders were issued, then reversed, with Coburn continuing to harass Pebble Beach's visitors. Rather than a dramatic bloody finale, the struggle over access to Pebble Beach sputtered out. Today beach-goers can enjoy its wonders without worrying about a locked gate. ------------------------------------------- Charles McCormick owned a commercial  business on San Gregorio Street, today known as Stage Road. The McCormick building is featured in the photo on the front page of the pescaderomemories.com blog. The following biography is from John  Vonderlin James McCormack. (McCormick?) Mr. McCormack was born in Ireland in 1841, and  when seven years of age came to the United States with his parents, who settled  at Carthage, Jefferson county, New York, and afterwards at Rutland. He left  280 HISTORY OF SAN MATEO COUNTY.  New York City in December, 1863, for San Francisco, where he arrived Janu-  ary 15, 1864. He located at Santa Cruz, where he lived until October of that  year, when he came to Pescadero, where he has since resided, engaged princi-  pally in the business of farming and dairying. In 1873, in company with P.  G. Stryker, he bought the store of John Garretson, the business of which they  conducted until 1877, when they re-sold to Garretson. While in partnership  with Mr. Stryker he did not give the business his personal attention, being at  that time deputy assessor and road overseer, and one of the agents of the Fast  Freight Line from Pescadero to San Francisco. He married Julia S. Shaffrey  January 12, 1866, their children being Alice A., Frances, Ella M., Florence A.,  James, Lilian E. and Julia. ]]>
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How do we know there aren't Sea Monsters out their? John Vonderlin has an opinion http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/18/how-do-we-know-if-there-arent-sea-monsters-out-there-john-vonderlin-has-an-opinion/ Fri, 18 Jan 2008 23:59:56 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/18/how-do-we-know-if-there-arent-sea-monsters-out-there-john-vonderlin-has-an-opinion/ Tunitas Sea Monster. You see, there really was a day in 1925 that a Sea Monster washed ashore north of Santa Cruz. A Giant Sea Monster that scientists, journalists, and laymen were unable to convincingly identify as a known form of sea life. A Sea Monster that was tentatively identified at various times, as an extinct-for-many-millions-of-years Plesiosaurus, or a far astray Beaked Whale, or various other cryptozooitic animals, unknown to Mankind. A Sea Monster whose descendants may still lurk in the Monterey Submarine Canyon, just off our coast. An abyss which offers the deepest, most mysterious depths on this side of the mighty Pacific Ocean. Depths that despite our developing technology are only slowly and begrudgingly revealing their otherworldly inhabitants to us. This came to my attention because I borrowed from Meg, a new book, "Then and Now: Santa Cruz Coast." It's primarily about the numerous and famous sea arches of Santa Cruz, and their demise through the years. Since reading it, I've been researching where the arches on the San Mateo Coast are or were, what causes them to form, what destroys them, etc. [Photos below are of arches once found around the Moss Beach area. If you know of more arches, please contact John, see email above.] arch1.jpgarch2.jpg That's when I came upon a Cryptozoology site (Think Yeti, Sasquatch and Nessie) that had the story about the Sea Monster on Moore's Beach. Whether this beach's namesake Charles Moore, is a member of the Alexander Moore family, who first settled Pescadero, I don't know. Nor do I know if he is related to Charles Moore, the wealthy scion, who created the Algalita Foundation, an environmental organization dedicated to informing the public of the dangers of the ever growing amounts of plastics in our oceans, one of my favorite causes. But I do know, as an inveterate, perhaps obsessive beachcomber, that I have often fantasized about making the kind of find Mr. Moore made that day. Just as powerfully, I have feared finding the beached body of those lost at sea or swept from the shoreline's rocks by Neptune's wrath. I was reminded of that recently when my last two trips to Tunitas Beach have turned up "The Contender's" numbered Fish Tags, the last remnants of a fatal sinking several years ago. But, back to Sea Monsters. Though Moore's Beach has since been renamed Natural Bridges State Beach, (hence the Sea Arch connection) Moore’s name still lives on with the named-for-him Moore Creek, located nearby. Before I link to the website that has pictures of the Sea Monster, local newspapers' accounts of people who viewed it, and analyses by scientists who studied it, I wanted to insert, a perhaps, hard-to-believe account by Mr. E.J. Lear, whose story occurred several days before the Sea Monster washed ashore, but was related several days later to a reporter from, "The Santa Cruz Sentinel." Whether there is a connection I don't know. "I was driving a team toward Capitola, when suddenly I was attracted by some young sea lions not far out. They were lined up and several large lions were swimming back and forth in front of them. Much farther out I saw the water being churned to foam and thrown high up in the air. It was shiny and I took it for a big fish. A dozen or more lions were battling it, and every once in a while all would rise out of the water. It looked to me as though all the sea lions were attacking it beneath as the monster came out of the water several times. In telling of the battle of that night I estimated its length at 30 feet. "The battle continued as long as I could see it from the road. I was driving toward Capitola with a load of sand. I have not seen the monster on the beach, but it may have been that which I saw." The full story and pictures of the Sea Monster can be found here Though I am a hardcore skeptic, particularly concerning cryptozoological stories, I realize that the ocean is the last great frontier on our planet, and that there are still many mysteries it has not yet divulged. I'd urge you also to keep an open mind and wish you a Happy Beachcombing New Year. The truth is out there and it might just wash ashore. Enjoy. John Vonderlin]]> 337 2008-01-18 19:59:56 2008-01-18 23:59:56 closed closed how-do-we-know-if-there-arent-sea-monsters-out-there-john-vonderlin-has-an-opinion publish 0 0 post 0 Santa Cruz Coast: Now and Then... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/18/san-mateo-coast-now-and-then/ Sat, 19 Jan 2008 02:57:03 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/18/san-mateo-coast-now-and-then/ Arcadia" book. They publish the most interesting books these days....Here's a book about arches that John Vonderlin wrote about in an earlier post. Here's the press release from UC Santa Cruz about the new book, San Mateo Coast: Now and Then by authors Gary Griggs and Deepikta Shrestha Ross. September 19, 2006 Contact: Tim Stephens (831) 459-2495; stephens@ucsc.edu

New book looks at Santa Cruz coast 'then and now'

A new book by Gary Griggs, professor of Earth and planetary sciences at UC Santa Cruz, and local architect Deepika Shrestha Ross offers a unique look at the Santa Cruz coastline. The book juxtaposes historic photographs with photographs taken from the same locations today, showing how the coastline has evolved and changed, sometimes dramatically, over the past century.
 
The book, Then and Now: Santa Cruz Coast (Arcadia Publishing, 2006), offers a pictorial history of the Santa Cruz coast, featuring many local landmarks and notable landforms along the coast. The authors worked with historians and curators of various collections of historical photographs to gather old images of the coast. The book includes photos from private collections as well as from local museums and libraries. The next step was to try to locate where the older photographs were taken from so that the authors could take current photographs from the same location. "As much as possible we tried to reoccupy the site where the photographer had stood to take the earlier photograph. This was sometimes challenging, but it was also fun," Griggs said. The striking images and accompanying text provide a fascinating perspective on the history of the Santa Cruz area. And the changes documented in the book provide clear evidence of ongoing erosion of the coastline and the hazards of coastal construction. "If history tells us anything about the coast, it is that anything built on the shoreline should be seen as temporary," Griggs said. Griggs has lived on the central California coast for 38 years. An expert on coastal geology and geologic hazards, he directs the Institute of Marine Sciences at UCSC. Coauthor Deepika Shrestha Ross is an architect who currently lives in Santa Cruz. Born in Katmandu, Nepal, she earned a degree in architecture from Cornell University and has worked in Washington, D.C., London, New York, and San Francisco. ______ Note to reporters: You may contact Griggs at (831) 459-5006 or griggs@ucsc.edu.]]>
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South Coast: Peculiar Rock Formations... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/18/south-coast-peculiar-rock-formations/ Sat, 19 Jan 2008 03:34:39 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/18/south-coast-peculiar-rock-formations/ p1.jpgp2.jpg]]> 345 2008-01-18 23:34:39 2008-01-19 03:34:39 closed closed south-coast-peculiar-rock-formations publish 0 0 post 0 Leah Lubin Says: Let's Get This Party Started.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/20/lets-get-this-party-started/ Mon, 21 Jan 2008 00:58:17 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/20/lets-get-this-party-started/ here , Jerry Cimino, in San Francisco, where my photo collage of Ken Kesey's 1999 visit to La Honda has lived since April, 2007. Happily, I can tell you that he is open, knowledgeable, and interested in the two DVDs filmed at the Menlo Park Library events celebrating Ken Kesey and Jerry Garcia in 2005 and 2006. I am working on an idea for an event at the Beat Museum called "Celebrating Ken Kesey and Jerry Garcia". It would include a screening of the DVDs, and hopefully an encore performance of the spoken word and music of our local literary talent (Terry Adams) and musicians (Gary Gates & Friends, Mystic Cowboy), that performed at the library event. I'm hoping that the event could be scheduled in the Spring, but of course this would need to be approved by Jerry Cimino before plans can be firmed up. I think that it will bring out the fans, and it will rock the big city. Best wishes, Leah PS: The Beat Museum is having a party to celebrate Neal Cassady's birthday on February 9 & 10, from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM. I plan to be there. All are welcome to attend.]]> 346 2008-01-20 20:58:17 2008-01-21 00:58:17 closed closed lets-get-this-party-started publish 0 0 post 0 Beautiful but Cruel Sea................Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/20/beautiful-but-cruel-beachesstory-by-john-vonderlin/ Mon, 21 Jan 2008 02:23:02 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/20/beautiful-but-cruel-beachesstory-by-john-vonderlin/ California Coastal Records Project website. I thought I could see six or seven arches stretching north from the one I had photographed out to where the Elephant Seal rookeries begin on Ano Nuevo Point. So I decided to start there. With a nice minus .8 tide, I thought I'd be able to get around a couple of the promontories and get some nice sea level shots. Parking along Highway 1, a half mile south of the Park Entrance, I used the "Johnny Don't Pay," route along the old road, over the bridge and down the moderately steep path to the beach. You can see this perfectly legal access route in Picture #200506697 on the CCRP website. Turning north on the beach, I saw right away there was going to be problems. There were a handful of Elephant Seals

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sprawled on the beach. Because they were high up the beach, I was forced to walk along the surfline, trying to keep my distance. I've seen the video of these two- ton males blobbing along the sand, faster then most people can run and had no desire to provide a sequel to the Tiger incident recently in the news. Noticing that several of them were mature, heavily scarred behemoths, I assumed they were probably losers in the fight for harems that’s going on in the rookeries now, and not in a good mood. With these thoughts beginning to deflate my arch-documenting ambitions, I continued north until I approached the point where I was going to have to pass through a gauntlet of Elephant Seals, with one lying at the edge of the surf and another higher up on the beach. That's when I decided I should turn around and explore south of the Park along Bradley Beach. This way, too, is dangerous. Except at low tide, the first half- mile of the beach is hemmed in by unclimbable cliffs

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against which powerful waves challenge the supremacy of our continent. And for more then a half mile after that, there’s no legal escape up the cliffs until you reach Alligator Rock at the foot of Waddell Bluffs, just beyond the border of San Mateo County.

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In this "No Man's Land," I found the Monster: this Frankensteinian blasphemy, lay on the beach entangled in Bull Kelp, waiting for the next high tide to restore its Freddy Kreuger-like skills, so that it could once again torture, maim and kill the unwary. Pardon my melodrama, but let me introduce you to my most recent addition to one of my more relevant marine debris collections, “The Ghost Net of Bradley Beach.” Here's Wikipedia's almost perfunctory description of what a Ghost Net is: "Ghost nets are fishing nets that have been lost by fishermen. These nets are left to drift the oceans of Earth entangling sea life and causing varying degrees of damage throughout Earth's oceanic ecosystem. A vast array of sealife is harmed by these lost nets, harming both vertebrates and invertebrates, including many different species of marine mammals. "Many commercial fishing nets operate as 'gillnets'. These are deployed as a 'wall', creating a vertical plane, often up to half a kilometre across, through which any fish within a certain size bracket will become caught and die. Normally, after a certain period, these nets will be collected by fisherman and the catch removed. However if this is not done (the nets become lost to storms, forgotten, etc.) the net will continue to catch fish until the total weight of the catch becomes larger than the buoyancy of the floats. The net will thus sink, and the fish devoured by bottom-dwelling crustaceans and other fish. Soon, with the weight on the net reduced, the floats will pull the net up again. This repeats itself until the net is destroyed or entangled on the sea floor. Given the high-quality synthetics that are used by commercial fishing operations throughout the modern world, such destruction can take decades." They say a picture is worth a thousand words so let me show you the effect these nets can have. This photo is of a Guadalupe Fur Seal pup I found on Invisible Beach,

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a few years ago. It had probably been cavorting in the kelp forest with the joyful exuberance I've often seen in underwater photography when it became entangled in a piece of netting. Based on when I found it and the season its species are born in, it must have slowly starved to death over a period of months as the relentless piece of net tightened its grip. This pup may have been the first born of its species in this area. The Guadalupe Fur Seal was hunted to assumed extinction only to recover from a hidden population on its home island off the Mexican coast. Protected from exploitation, its numbers have since recovered and its range has expanded, first to the Channel Islands and recently to the Farallones. The famous Ray Bandar came to collect the corpse, performed the autopsy and made the identification. I was watching a DVD about him and his unparalleled collection of marine mammal skulls this evening. At one point he was discussing a sub-collection of his skulls of marine mammals, those killed by humans. I was almost nauseated when he discussed several that had strange gashes in them. He had originally thought they were caused by the propellers of boats, but forensic investigation revealed that the line of nets the marine mammals had become entangled in, had slowly sawed through fur, and skin and finally bone, to leave the gashes in their skulls. The one where the skull had partially regrown to seal the line inside the skull of the still-living animal particularly assaulted my imagination. The last picture is of the net resting on my lawn after cleaning, its terror spree finally stopped.

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That is until my neighbor's young cat, attracted by my untangling efforts, got its head stuck in the web and totally freaked. Life without fingers can be a harrowing existence. Those of us that have them must be careful how we use them, lest we loose Monsters on the innocents. John Vonderlin]]>
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Contact June http://pescaderomemories.com/contact-june/ Wed, 23 Jan 2008 04:42:36 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/contact-june/ [contactform]]]> 355 2008-01-23 00:42:36 2008-01-23 04:42:36 closed closed contact-june publish 0 0 page 0 ....Cool Arch Pix..... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/23/cool-arch-pix/ Thu, 24 Jan 2008 02:09:49 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/23/cool-arch-pix/ a1.jpega2.jpega3.jpega4.jpeg]]> 356 2008-01-23 22:09:49 2008-01-24 02:09:49 closed closed cool-arch-pix publish 0 0 post 0 The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 22 (Original Draft) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/24/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-22-original-draft/ Thu, 24 Jan 2008 18:39:06 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/24/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-22-original-draft/ try.jpg By June Morrall The wharf and a small port community grew up at Pigeon Point Landing before construction of the lighthouse. A warehouse, cheese factory and a post office were built. On one of the bluffs, Portuguese whalers, and their families, who had migrated from the drought ridden Azore Islands, lived in a dozen rustic cottages on one of the bluffs During the whaling season, looking through binoculars at the sea was a full time job. When one whale or a school of whales was spotted near Pigeon Point, the whalers got into two small sailing vessels to chase their prey. If they were lucky, they shot the whale dead with four to six "bombs," a harpoon filled with poison. The dead whale was towed to shore, the carcss stripped of its fat. Then the blubber was processed into a valuable oil in try pots which sat in simple furnaces made of rocks and clay. The Pigeon Point whalers didn't waste a thing, cleaning and selling the bones as well. Barrels of whale oil were loaded onto the steamers that stopped at Pigeon Point. In the end, the business of whaling was not profitable and the whalers abandoned Pigeon Point. The high expense of getting the oil to market, the low wholesale prices--but most of all the fact that the whales were being harpooned into extinction brought the curtain down. From time to time, whaling was revived but utimately the market brought it down. Some of the Portuguese whalers relocated to Pescadero where they were absorbed into other occupations. The primitive loading arrangement at Pigeon Point took two and a half days to complete. Perishable items waited hours to be loaded. A small vessel rounded the reef and dropped anchor in the sem-sheltered cove. A heavy wire cable was stretched from the top of the bluff to the large rock monument some 200 yards from shore, and under the hawser, rising to a level with the steep rock bluff which half enclosed the bay. Slings running down in the hawser were rigged and the cargo was lifted from the vessel's deck, a tedious task, load by load, and run up into the air 50 to 100 feet-- hauled to shore and landed on top of the bluff. The process reversed itself when lumber, bales of hay, fruit, potatoes, vegetables and dairy products on the bluff were strung up on the cable and the shipment slid across the wire onto an awaiting schooner. All went well unless a southwest wind kicked up. Then the vessel slipped her anchor and ran out to sea until the wind blew itself out. [Hope I got that right."] ***The Portuguese whalers practiced the ancient form of whaling, chasing humpback and gray whales in long boats, shooting at them with homemade poison filled harpoons, towing the carcasses back to the beach where they processed the blubber into oil. The whalers held equal shares in the business and in the early years the work was profitable--but as time passed, whaling didn't yield a steady income. Ideally, they needed calm weather and a good supply of whales; they had neither at Pigeon Point. The unpredictable weather, fewer whales and the high cost of shipping the oil to market turned it into a very risky business. ]]> 361 2008-01-24 14:39:06 2008-01-24 18:39:06 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter-22-original-draft publish 0 0 post 0 The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 23 (Original Draft) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/25/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-23-original-draft/ Fri, 25 Jan 2008 23:22:34 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/25/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-23-original-draft/ evansbook.jpg By June Morrall When San Francisco experienced growing pains, Pigeon Point felt the pressure and nearby Pescadero's rich bottom lands turned into a thickly planted potato patch. The potatoes were popularly called "Irish oranges." Author/adventurer Colonel Albert S. Evans wrote in 1872 that he observed Indians and Chinese working side-by-side in the fields, digging up potatoes, filling 100 to 125 bags per acre, each weighing more than 100 pounds. Barley, red oats, onions, early peas, lettuce, cauliflower, sweet corn, string beans, horse beans and Brussels sprouts were easily cultivated on the lowlands and sidehills; the sweetest strawberries thrived near the Pacific Ocean. The artichoke, "the dainty aristocrat among vegetables," was a latecomer to South Coast agriculture but the choke developed a flavor in the Pescadero soil attained no where else. Irish oranges (potatoes) and alll the other vegetables were shipped from Pigeon Point to San Francisco. The coastal climate featured mild winters and boasted a phenomenon known as a "Second Spring," when crops could be planted in the fall during what East Coast folks called an "Indian Summer." Dairies dotted the coastal slopes. Producers of cheese and butter, the Cloverdale Dairy was spread over 1700 acres. The Steele family numbered among the most successful dairymen. They were a large family, seven brothes and two sisters, who moved from Ohio to California about 1855. The Steeles projected the image of the sturdy American farmer.]]> 363 2008-01-25 19:22:34 2008-01-25 23:22:34 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter-23-original-draft publish 0 0 post 0 South Coast Beaches: Neptune's Body Farm...Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/26/south-coast-beaches-the-body-farmstory-by-john-vonderlin/ Sat, 26 Jan 2008 21:56:21 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/26/south-coast-beaches-the-body-farmstory-by-john-vonderlin/ I've combined many of those remnants with various natural oddities that I consider Natural Wonders to illustrate the dissonance created by the littering that is occurring in some of the most beautiful natural settings I've ever encountered, that is along the San Mateo Coast.....John Vonderlin Neptune's Body Farm Story by John Vonderlin (email John: benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June, People who are interested in Forensics are usually familiar with "The Body Farm," a formerly clandestine plot of land at the University of Tennessee, where the decomposition of bodies is studied. Hundreds of people have volunteered their bodies after death to aid in this study, hoping the knowledge gained can be used in crime-solving, or for other benefits to society. Popular TV shows, like CSI, frequently mention facts garnered from this, and similar areas of study, in the fictional cases their episodes revolve about. This research is an outgrowth of a branch of study called taphonomy. (taphos...burial, nomos..law) The science of taphonomy's original interest concerned the forces that lead to and control fossilization. From its introduction to paleontology in 1940, taphonomy has spread its concepts through various other disciplines. I'm happy to say that includes the science (?) of identifying marine debris remnants, of which I'm one of the few students. As I mentioned earlier, I have a collection of hundreds of golf ball remnants that have been incorporated into "The Silent Procession from the Sunken Cathedral to Neptune's Vomitorium." I've combined many of those remnants with various natural oddities that I consider Natural Wonders to illustrate the dissonance created by the littering that is occurring in some of the most beautiful natural settings I've ever encountered, that is along the San Mateo Coast. This appraisal is generated not by homerism, as I live in Santa Clara, but rather by my frequent haunting of the incredibly varied, lightly touched, returning-to-wilderness South Coast that exists south of Half Moon Bay. Neptune's Body Farm principles usually work like this. Because I have found so many golf balls in various states of degradation, I’ve been able to identify remnants that look less-- and less-- like anything normally recognizable as a real golf ball. Because of the broad spectrum of remnants in my collection, the vaguest hint of dimples in a scrunched piece of white plastic, or a small rubber band tip emerging from a twisted bit of shriveled plastic, or just the faint imprint the rubber band winding leaves on the inside of the plastic makes it easy for me to identify what it is I've found.

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But, it can also work another way. By finding the missing link between the unknown source objects and the unidentified objects in my collection, I can better understand the sequence of decay and identify the connection between both of them. Here's the story of my favorite solution to a longstanding mystery in my collection. I have the "World's Largest Fishing Line Ball," (WLFLB), made up of some 3,000 pieces of fishing line knotted together, as well as three more full trash cans of line, still to be cleaned and tied to the WLFLB.

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All of those are monofilament line in clear, or shades of light green and blue. I also have a box of monofilament line in a rainbow of colors that I'll eventually use in some other “artplay.” Finally, there is the box of miscellaneous balls of line. Some of the balls are twine or cord. Some are kite string. Some are fly fishing line. The majority of them are made of some strong synthetic fiber: Nylon? Rayon? Polyester? Or? I'd never been able to figure out what their point source was. It had to be something common, probably from the fishing or crabbing industry, but what?

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Well one day I found the “Missing Link” and everything became clear.

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Eureka! All those balls of line were from the body plies in tires that had been degraded. After time and tide have ripped the tires to shreds, the virtually immortal synthetic fiber wraps itself in a ball and travels along the near-shore bottom until it is spit out by Neptune's Vomitorium. I just wonder if my "101 Tires," project, which involves photographing, then disposing of tires that are making the same journey, is going to make these no longer mysterious balls of fiber no longer show up. If so, I've got the market cornered. Enjoy. John Thank you Wikipedia: [Body Ply The body ply is a calendered sheet consisting of one layer of rubber, one layer of reinforcing fabric, and a second layer of rubber. The earliest textile used was cotton; later materials include rayon, nylon, polyester, and Kevlar™. Passenger tires typically have one or two body plies. Body plies give the tire structure strength. Truck tires, off-road tires, and aircraft tires have progressively more plies. The fabric cords are highly flexible but relatively inelastic.]]>
364 2008-01-26 17:56:21 2008-01-26 21:56:21 closed closed south-coast-beaches-the-body-farmstory-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0
....Celebration in Pescadero.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/26/celebration-in-pescadero/ Sun, 27 Jan 2008 01:06:58 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/26/celebration-in-pescadero/

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(Photo: Courtesy Tony Pera.)]]>
372 2008-01-26 21:06:58 2008-01-27 01:06:58 closed closed celebration-in-pescadero publish 0 0 post 0
Terry & La Honda on TV http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/27/terry-la-honda-on-tv/ Sun, 27 Jan 2008 16:39:26 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/27/terry-la-honda-on-tv/ Bob Dougherty, and other Local Folks - Channel 5, Eye On The Bay, on 1/22. You can view the clip on the WEB, here: http://cbs5.com/video/?cid=6 Once you get to that site, choose the program titled "Point A to B #4". - about the 4th show down the list, on the left. The show is a tour beginning in Cupertino, ending in San Gregorio. Once they get into the hills, they stop at Alices, the Pioneer Market, and Applejacks, then stop at our house for a brief visit. They get here about half way through the show, which is about 20 minutes long. Love Ya, Terry Thank you John Vonderlin for sending this to pescaderomemories.com.]]> 373 2008-01-27 12:39:26 2008-01-27 16:39:26 closed closed terry-la-honda-on-tv publish 0 0 post 0 .....Flowing...... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/27/flowing/ Sun, 27 Jan 2008 16:56:56 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/27/flowing/

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(Photo courtesy John Vonderlin)]]>
376 2008-01-27 12:56:56 2008-01-27 16:56:56 closed closed flowing publish 0 0 post 0
Coburn Mystery: Chapter 24 (Original Draft) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/31/coburn-mystery-chapter-24-original-draft/ Thu, 31 Jan 2008 22:47:58 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/01/31/coburn-mystery-chapter-24-original-draft/ Ano Nuevo and at the famous Cascade Dairy. During the Civil War, Edgar produced a gargantuan cheese weighing one ton and donated it to the U.S. Sanitary Commission, forerunner of the Red Cross. The Steeles had a personal reason for producing the giant dairy product: General Frederick Steele, who fought in the Civil War, was a close relative. Edgar Steele also distinguished himself by demonstrating at county fairs new production techniques designed to yield higher quantities and qualities of cheese. ------------------- From: Coastside Cultural Resources of San Mateo County, California (1980) Steele Brothers Dairies: In 1862, Rensselaer Steele and his three cousins established a chain of dairies between Gazos Creek and Ano Nuevo known as the Steele Brothers Dairies which became famous throughout the Bay Area for their products. A number of houses and barns still stand which were constructed by the family. The dairies are listed as a California State Landmark. Cascade Ranch House: Built in the mid-1860s for Rensselaer and Clara Steele, the building is constructed in a classical form with a symmetrical placement of windows and doors, and is the most elegant of the buildings. A wide veranda with a balcony on the second floor runs along the front and both sides of the house. Alterations made to the house over the years have not destroyed its distinctive coastal character. Cascade Ranch Dairy: This three-story redwood structure was the first erected by the Steeles after their location on the Coastside in 1862. The building was designed for function rather than style, which may explain the irregular placement of its windows. A wide band, or fascia, just under the eaves was the builder's only architectural embellishment.

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In Pescadero: Orange-Red http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/01/in-pescadero-orange-red/ Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:38:50 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/01/in-pescadero-orange-red/

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(Photo: John Vonderlin)]]>
384 2008-02-01 12:38:50 2008-02-01 16:38:50 closed closed in-pescadero-orange-red publish 0 0 post 0
Oh, the Joy of Finding Tarballs.....Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/02/on-the-joy-of-finding-tarballsstory-by-john-vonderlin/ Sun, 03 Feb 2008 02:08:35 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/02/on-the-joy-of-finding-tarballsstory-by-john-vonderlin/

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Hi June, I was delighted earlier this week when I found a few tar balls on the beaches from Pescadero to the Santa Cruz county line. Delighted, not because I like seeing these sticky bits of goo fouling the beach, but rather because I needed a fresh supply to use in updating one of my artplay projects: "Beach 2100." To refresh your memory, "Beach 2100" is comprised of an oil drip pan laden with hundreds of tar balls all melted together. I have gathered these in three other tar ball incidents that have occurred on the San Mateo Coast in the last four years. Into this little mini-La Brea Tar Pit, I have stuck hundreds of small children's toy-related items that have been coughed up by Neptune's Vomitorium, or washed ashore on other of our beaches. I've amused myself by creating thematic areas, secret messages, or symbolic juxtapositioning of the objects.)

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The "Beach 2100" title is meant to convey the possibility that if we don't gain control of the enormous amounts of litter finding its way into our oceans, in a hundred years our nation's children may encounter something as noxious as this piece portrays. With time the volatile elements of the tar balls I had previously gathered evaporated, leaving a hard substance (asphaltum) that makes it difficult to stick my newest finds in the always growing collage. Which is why I was happy to find these fresh gooey newbies. As I was driving home I heard on the radio, that there were tar balls washing ashore on Pacifica beaches, alarming beachgoers and authorities alike. The radio announcer theorized they were from the Cosco Busan, last year's Boogie Man. Having made the mistake of picking up a plastic bottle that became coated with the noxious remnants of the bunker fuel that leaked from the Cosco Busan, I knew that this was a disservice to these friendly little patties that were coming to visit our shores once again, probably from their Monterey Submarine Canyon home. I Next day it got even nuttier when beaches were closed for public safety while a cleanup was conducted. When I heard that even volunteers who had undergone the needless training for Cosco Busan, weren't being allowed to pick up the tar balls unless they had a new training session for this "spill" I was bemused. My mind conjured up visions of people speeding along Highway 1, cigarette in hand, talking on their handheld cell phones, as they commiserated on the deadly danger of these toxic monstrosities, and the necessity of preventing the foolish public from hurting themselves. My guess is more toxic and varied poisons were spewed from the tail pipes or dripped from the engines of the cars people used to drive to the training sessions then washed ashore. Still, if there is a properly trained bureaucrat somewhere who has spare time they can climb down the extremely slick and steep hill above Tunitas Beach and carry up the twenty-five pounds of tar balls I gathered yesterday off the beach. I didn't need that much so I left most of them in plastic bags at the bottom. While they're there, they can also carry up the tires, also composed of many toxic chemicals, that I gathered from the beach and stacked there. There are now 14 by the tar and 17 more I've placed up the bank at various places along the beach. Having grumped enough about bureaucratic overkill, I'd now like to relate the interesting history of these little Natural Wonders and their important place in California history. Much of the following information comes from a thin book entitled, "California Indians, Artisans of OIl," put out by the State of California, Conservation Division. Pedro Fages, one of Portola's companions when his expedition made the European discovery of the Bay Area, gives us one of our first written mentions of oil seeps in California. He writes, "at a distance of two leagues from this Mission (San Luis Obispo) there are as many as eight springs of bitumen or thick black resin that the natives call chapopotle; it is used chiefly by them for caulking their small watercraft and tarring the vases and pitchers the women make for holding water." Actually, the Indians used oil from natural seeps for a wide variety of utilitarian, symbolic, and decorative purposes. Its value was so great that they traded the liquid oil and hand-formed (gasp!) cakes of asphaltum (dried, hard oil) to those living further away. Besides its multiple-waterproofing uses, its adhesive qualities were valued. One of the most interesting ones mentioned was that Indian women would use it to fasten woven cones, sometimes worn out baskets with their bottoms removed, to the top of their mortars or grinding holes to keep the ground up acorns or seeds from escaping. The tar, particularly in its asphaltum state, assisted in adhering stone tools from arrowheads to axes to their shafts. It protected the joints from water or other liquids that might loosen the sinews that fastened them, as well as provided added strength. One exception was in making war arrows, they would use a still-pliable tar, so that the projectile point would be more likely to be loosened by blood and body heat, tearing free from the shaft when someone attempted to remove it, leaving the point still embedded. Another bit of less malignant cleverness was the method of waterproofing the inside of water containers. The Indians put pieces of asphaltum and hot round pebbles in the basket or vase. Holding it in the heat above a low fire they would swirl it around. The heat melted the asphaltum and the whirling pebbles would press the goo between the fibers. The asphalt-coated pebbles are sometimes found in middens (refuse mounds) near village sites. The tar's adhesive properties were also frequently used to cement seashells or other objects to various items for decoration. It was also used to facially mark those in the yearlong mourning state that was common to the tribes. Even a form of ritualistic embalming using gooey tar was sometimes practiced. Filling half of black walnut shells with asphaltum, then embedding various numbers of small abalone chips was a handy way to create the dice used in some Indian games. Lastly as mentioned by Pedro Fages, the asphaltum, allowed the Indians to make planks scavenged from driftwood into very serviceable watercraft, including boats that were sturdy enough to paddle to the Channel Islands, far offshore, for trading or fishing. I wonder what these people would have thought about closing a beach and requiring expensive auxiliary training for gathering them when a few tar balls washed ashore? The underwater seep, probably located in the Monterey Bay Submarine Canyon, that ejected the tar balls that washed up on our beaches is just one of several thousand off the California Coast. And not a particularly big one when compared to the intensely studied seepage area that lies off Coal Oil Point, in Santa Barbara County.

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Releases from these seeps vary from an estimated 11 to 160 barrels (450 to 6,700 gallons) of oil per day, along with a large volume of natural gas. At Mobil’s innovative Coal Oil Point sea floor containment project (a large concrete structure placed over a large seep on the seafloor), over 1 million cubic feet of natural gas is collected each day. If you are interested in learning more about these seeps and the sealife communities that have adapted to and in some cases depend on them checkout this website, click here If you want to visit a coastal oil or tar seep there is one near Duxbury Point in Marin County. There is also the historically famous one at the Tar Pits Park at Carpinteria State Beach in Santa Barbara. You can see that at California Coastal Records Project Picture #7999, or #7231120 amongst others. Or visit this website, click here Enjoy. John Vonderlin]]>
385 2008-02-02 22:08:35 2008-02-03 02:08:35 closed closed on-the-joy-of-finding-tarballsstory-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0
.....Pescadero during Prohibition.....(1) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/04/pescadero-during-prohibition1/ Tue, 05 Feb 2008 02:28:15 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/04/pescadero-during-prohibition1/ Prohibition. It was the "father" of our country, George Washington's birthday, and as fumes filled the county jail in Redwood City, the unhappy inmates, stuck behind bars, called the sheriff's actions "un-American"....adding that Washington would have disapproved of such extreme measures. Their humorous analysis didn't move the sheriff as two convicted bootleggers were ordered to pick up the shards of glass and haul them off the garbage heap. Strict Prohibition laws kept federal agents on their toes, with one eye on the goings on at secluded Pescadero, a favorite drop-off spot for rumrunners. In the early 1920s Chief Field Agent W.R. Paget led his armed forces in a raid on Ano Nuevo Island, south of Pescadero. By then Paget and his men, interested in self-preservation, preferred to carry sawed-off shotguns on all Coastside missions. At Ano Nuevo*** as the unsuspecting smugglers unloaded their valuable cargo of whiskey from a small boat, Paget's men cautiously closed in on another rumrunning operation near Pescadero. According to plan, the feds, with guns drawn, completely surprised the smugglers. When the agents shouted "Give Up," the heavily armed rumrunners instinctively dove behind the boxes of Scotch whiskey (which then sold for about $90 a case in San Francisco.) The smugglers, accustomed to danger, swore to risk everything, including the booze, before giving up to the authorities. Bullets riddled the booze boxes, permeating the air with the strong smell of whiskey. The smugglers fired back, and there was a lot of noise, but on this occasion they were outnumbered and it was easy to figure out who was going to win. The final act was anti-climactic, a real frowner, as the rumrunners ran out of ammunition, dropped their weapons and emerged from their makeshift barricade. Reportedly, Paget arrested several men and seized more than 240 cases of whiskey. Paget labeled one of the nameless men as the "man," or "the mastermind," behind three major liquor operations that routinely smuggled contraband whiskey from Canada to California. Other reports described the same nameless man as the president of a Canadian rumrunner's organization. ....Look for Part 2.....]]> 389 2008-02-04 22:28:15 2008-02-05 02:28:15 closed closed pescadero-during-prohibition1 publish 0 0 post 0 ....On Ano Nuevo... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/04/on-ano-nuevo/ Tue, 05 Feb 2008 02:36:45 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/04/on-ano-nuevo/ Point Ano Nuevo: A number of features combine to make Point Ano Nuevo the most remarkable and spectacular area on the entire Coastside. Punta del Ano Nuevo was one of the first landforms in California to receive a Spanish name. From his ship in January 1603, Captain Sebastian Viscaino saw the point and its island while exploring for Spain. The first contact between Europeans and the natives of this land, the Ramaytush or San Francisco Costanoan Indians,

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occurred here in 1769 when the Portola expedition entered what is today San Mateo County one mile to the south. A Spanish engineering officer returned later to survey the area and an outpost of Mission Santa Cruz was established after 1798. The first American settlers came int he decade after the Gold Rush, building a wooden railroad for lumbering and introducing large scale dairy farming. The area is rich in fauna, particularly in the marine area where, due to submarine stacks and shoals which prevent commercial fishing, there is a prolific population of fish, crustaceans, and other invertebrates. Tidepools are found in the bedrock outcrops. Sea birds nest on the shoreline cliffs, and recently the northern elephant seal has extended its breeding area from Ano Nuevo Island to the mainland beaches. Ano Nuevo Island: This small island, once the tip of a peninsula, is one of the most important pinniped breeding grounds in Northern California, including the elephant seal. This animal has returned to the island in the past decade after virtual extinction around the turn of the century. The island has been the site of a light station since 1890, when a light was added to the warning of the foghorn installed in 1872. The light station was abandoned in 1948 and today is occupied by seals and sea lions. ---------------------]]>
390 2008-02-04 22:36:45 2008-02-05 02:36:45 closed closed on-ano-nuevo publish 0 0 post 0
Arches: Pescadero's Pride and Joy....Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/05/arches-pescaderos-pride-and-joystory-by-john-vonderlin/ Tue, 05 Feb 2008 05:14:15 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/05/arches-pescaderos-pride-and-joystory-by-john-vonderlin/

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Hi June, I think of all the Sea Arches on the San Mateo Coastside, and the one just south of Pescadero Creek, is the most well-known and one of the most photogenic. It’s visible from the Highway 1 bridge that crosses the creek and easily accessible by pulling into the most northerly parking lot of Pescadero Beach. And it’s not that difficult to climb down and walk through it, provided the creek isn’t raging and there is a reasonably low tide. If you are not handy jumping from rock to rock you should be ready to get your feet wet. Looking at the 1972 pictures of this arch on CCRP, my guess is that unlike many other sea arches on our coast, it will be there a long time. Picture #6257 on CCRP gives a nice overview of this area, helping put the pictures I've attached in better perspective. Please note that that Picture #6257 was taken in September before the winter rains which open the creek to the ocean and remove much of the visible sand. Enjoy. John arch2.jpegarch3.jpegarch4.jpegarch5.jpeg [Note: But is the arch manmade? Stay tuned....] ]]>
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Pescadero during Prohibition (2) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/05/pescadero-during-prohibition-2/ Wed, 06 Feb 2008 00:44:07 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/05/pescadero-during-prohibition-2/ SS Fremont crashed into the rocks near Ano Nuevo Island--arousing the curiosity of the alcohol police, as well as the locals, of course. Just like the table talk at Duarte's Tavern today, the Pescaderans debated the stranded boat's destination. There were many opinions. Some folks blamed it on the heavy seas that accounted for both the missing crew and their liquid cargo. Rumors circulated that this was not the first rumrunning disaster in the exact location. There had been a string of "disasters" in the exact same treacherous part of the South Coast. An intensive search for the SS Fremont's owners turned up the captain who was anxious to talk about his experience. The Fremont was a rumrunning vessel, he said, and it struck the invisible reefs when he mistook the light on "Mile Rock" [which signaled the westward turn into the Golden Gate.] The boat's captain also revealed that everybody on board got away by swimming to shore-- except for one crew member who drowned in the surf.]]> 398 2008-02-05 20:44:07 2008-02-06 00:44:07 closed closed pescadero-during-prohibition-2 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1218750945 _edit_last 1 Pescadero during Prohibition (3) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/06/pescadero-during-prohibition-3/ Thu, 07 Feb 2008 02:28:01 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/06/pescadero-during-prohibition-3/ 400 2008-02-06 22:28:01 2008-02-07 02:28:01 closed closed pescadero-during-prohibition-3 publish 0 0 post 0 Intermission for Your Head: Other Minds.... Music Festival http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/06/intermission-for-your-head-other-minds-music-festival/ Thu, 07 Feb 2008 02:38:20 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/06/intermission-for-your-head-other-minds-music-festival/ here From the OM pamphlet: "Now in its 13th year, the annual of New Music brings nine of the most innovative artists from around the world to the San Francisco Bay Area for a four-day residency at the Djerassi Resident Artists Program in Woodside, California, and three days of concerts, panel discussions, and symposia in San Francisco. Known for featuring illustrious guest performers, world premiers, and productions that incorporate new technologies and multidisciplinary collaborations, this Festival features composers who represent all points of the musical spectrum and push the creative possibilities of their respective disciplines."]]> 401 2008-02-06 22:38:20 2008-02-07 02:38:20 closed closed intermission-for-your-head-other-minds-music-festival publish 0 0 post 0 Amazing People: Founder of Djerassi Resident Artist Program: Dr. Carl Djerassi http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/07/founder-of-djerassi-resident-artist-program-dr-carl-djerassi/ Thu, 07 Feb 2008 04:16:37 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/07/founder-of-djerassi-resident-artist-program-dr-carl-djerassi/ drdjerassi.jpg Stanford chemistry Professor Dr. Carl Djerassi is often called the "father of the birth control pill." In 1951, the brilliant young organic chemist made history by synthesizing the first steroid effective as an oral contraceptive at Syntex's Mexico City lab. This breakthrough led to the development of the birth control pill, which ranks near the top on the list of 20th century scientific achievements. The glow of worldwide recognition might have enough for some, but not for the prolific Djerassi. He exchanged his white lab coat for highly successful careers in academia and as an industrial executive in Palo Alto. He founded the Djerassi Resident Artist Program: by 1999 more than 1000 musicians, painters and writers have used its studios near rustic Woodside. Most recently, Djerassi has plunged into the literary world as the engaging author of what he calls "science-in-fiction" novels and as a playwright whose latest work, "The Immaculate Misconception," was performed at the Eureka Theater in San Francisco. Djerassi was born in Vienna in 1923, the only child of Jewish parents, both physicians. The relationship with his parents was complex. In Djerassi's 1992 scientific autobiography, "The Pill, Pygmy Chimps, and Degas' Horse, he confesses that he did not know until he was 13 that his mother and father divorced when he six. On the brink of World War II, in 1939, Djerassi and his mother fled Europe for the United States. First residing on the East Coast, the highly driven young man, almost penniless, went after and got a formal education in record time. He was only 18 when he received a chemistry degree from Kenyon College in Ohio in 1942. Djerassi gained industrial experience working for a year at CIBA Pharmaceuticals in New Jersey, participating in the discovery of one of the first anti-histamines for allergy sufferers--an experience exposing him to the heady stuff of scientific research. Djerassi earned his doctorate at the University of Wisconsin in 1945, where two young professors were researching the total synthesis of steroids, such as cortisone, then believed to be a wonder drug containing anti-arthritic properties. Djerassi's interest in steroids was most likely further stimulated here. Returning to CIBA, Djerassi felt restless and needed a new challenge. The opportunity appeared in the late 1940s as he considering heading a research team at tiny Syntex in Mexico City. He had never heard of Syntex, and friends warned him that Mexico City was a scientific backwater. Viewing Syntex as the longed-for challenge, he accepted the post, requiring only that he be free to publish his discoveries promptly in scientific journals. It was a good decision. The unknown firm entered into a fierce competition with the big pharmaceutical houses racing to inexpensively synthesize cortisone. Syntex defeated the Goliaths with a readily available plant, the mundane Djerassi and his team moved onto a greater project. On October 1, 1951, the first steroid oral contraceptive was synthesized. Following animal testing and human clinical trials, it was immortalized as "the pill." Djerassi did not spend much time celebrating: a year later, he accepted a teaching position at Wayne University in Michigan. Again, friends advised him it was wrong, the position not prestigious enough. Always single-minded, Djerassi wanted to taste academic life and accepted the offer while retaining his relationship with Syntex. In the late 1950s, Frederick Terman, Stanford's provost, legendary for creating Stanford Industrial Park, decided to develop a world-class chemistry department at the university. Djerassi was on the list. He described the meeting with Terman in his autobiography. Some critics considered Djerassi a "bigamist" for his split loyalties to the university and the corporate world. Not Terman. He was delighted with Djerassi's Syntex affiliation. Djerassi was one of seven pre-eminent professors hired, some of them Nobel Prize winners. Shortly thereafter, Djerassi, who eventually became president of Syntex, persuaded the company to move its headquarters to Palo Alto. In the 1970s Djerassi headed Zoecon, an offshoot of Syntex, a tiny Palo Alto company that sought to produce superior insecticides from a growth-regulating hormone naturally present in insects. When the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) permitted Zoecon to begin limited marketing of ALTOSID, it was the first time a regulatory agency allowed the sale of a product that interfered with an insect's own physiology. Once again Djerassi was at the forefront of a scientific breakthrough. Juggling professorial duties with that of an industrial executive, Carl Djerassi was the only chemistry professor to hold classes at 8 a.m. He spent the noon hours at Zoecon, eating lunch prepared by the company's chef in his office to save time. When the Swiss firm, Sandoz, acquired Zoecon in the 1980s, the headquarters wasz moved away from Palo Alto. Djerassi's wife, Diane Wood Middlebrook, passed away in 2007. She was a poet and Stanford English professor, the author of a highly acclaimed biography about Anne Sexton, the famous American "confessional" poet. Thus it was inevitable that Carl Djerassi would try his hand in the world of literature. He began writing poetry and expanded into prose with what he calls "science-in-fiction" novels, including "Cantor's Dilemma," Menachem's Seed" and NO." In 1999 Djerassi wans spending 60 to 80 hours per week writing, fashioning his work for the stage, including a new play called "Oxygen." Djerassi's son, Dale, is an accomplished filmmaker and the two were collaborating on a project.]]> 402 2008-02-07 00:16:37 2008-02-07 04:16:37 closed closed founder-of-djerassi-resident-artist-program-dr-carl-djerassi publish 0 0 post 0 ........Wet......... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/07/wet/ Fri, 08 Feb 2008 02:23:58 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/07/wet/

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Amazing People: The Steeles, the 2-ton cheese & other legends e & Other Tales http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/08/amazing-people-the-steeles-the-2-ton-cheese-other-tales/ Fri, 08 Feb 2008 04:43:30 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/08/amazing-people-the-steeles-the-2-ton-cheese-other-tales/ evansbook.jpg When Colonel Albert S. Evans learned that the Steele Brothers Dair at Ano Nuevo had produced a huge two-ton cheese in the 1860s, the author insisted on meeting Rensselaer Steele, owner of the famous Cascade Dairy Ranch. The Colonel, who worked for the New York Tribune, often galloped atop his trusty old steed Don Benito to the scene of a news story. He was a rugged, experienced outdoorsman, avid fisherman and hunter, who, for protection against critters--wild or human--carried a Smith and Wesson revolver. In 1869 it was Colonel Evans' goal to collect anecdotes for a book that he hoped would illuminate the unique character of the rapidly vanishing "early Californian." The book would be published as "A La California: Sketches of Life in the Golden State." Colonel Evans' writing adventure began in San Francisco. From there he turned his attention southward to the San Mateo County Coastside--where he visited Pescadero, population 300. Pescadero's local economy depended on the success of the nearby sawmills, dairies, grain and potato ranches. The lumber, butter, cheese and vegetables were sold at the bustling farmer's market in San Francisco. With popular little Pebble Beach a stone's throw from Pescadero, there was also a growing summer tourist trade. Around and about Pescadero, no newcomer was ever spared the horrific tales of injuries inflicted by the local grizzly bears and Colonel Evans got his earful. Evans also became fascinated with the saga of two stubborn local men, each claiming that he was the title of Pescadero's first settler. Don Salvador Mosquito, reportedly a former member of the Indian outlaw Pomponio's gang, insisted he came first. His competitor, the Spaniard Senor Felipe Armas, argued that he came first. While the contentious pair could never resolve their disagreement, Colonel Evans turned out to be the winner--because he walked away with the unique anecdote for his book. Like all the tourists, Evans boarded at the famous Swanton House. His host was a talkative character called Thompson who had an encyclopedia knowledge of the local shipwrecks, including the Carrier Pigeon, Coya, Hellespont and the Sir John Franklin. More great details for the Colonel's book. Thompson was anxious to serve the Colonel as a guide, and he offered to accompany the writer to the Steele's beautiful Cascade Dairy ranch, named for the stunning 30-foot waterfall on the land. The day was sunny when Evans and Thompson began the short journey from Pescadero south to Ano Nuevo. Along the way they stopped at renown Pebble Beach, where tourists passed the da rummaging through handfuls of smooth colored stones, seeking the one beautiful enough to be set in gold. Other tourists were sea bathing. When Evans and Thompson paused at the beautiful beach, they saw a woman who appeared to be playing in the waves a few feet from shore. They also saw a big Newfoundland dog that was breathlessly running back and forth along the shoreline. To the observer, it appeared the dog could be worrying about the woman's safety. Thompson knew the dog's name. "Cona" had already attained local fame for rescuing a little girl in danger of being sucked into the surf by undertow. Cona became a hero, and everybody spoiled him, until one day the glory faded, and the Newfoundland found himself leading an ordinary dog's life again. According to local lore, Cona was determined to win back the lost affection. To achieve that, the dog appointed himself Pebble Beach's unofficial lifeguard, patrolling the shoreline, looking for someone to save--often a bather who wasn't drowning and sought no help. Some considered the dog's behavior a public nuisance, and Colonel Evans was witness to the incident where the big dog dragged the unwilling woman bather back to shore. The "dog hero" story may have been Evans' best anecdote of all. On the road between Pescadero and Ano Nuevo, Colonel Evans was delighted to see an abundance of dairies. Thompson advised that the dairies were either owned by the enterprising Steele family or leased from them. The Steeles were famous throughout the Bay Area, their cheese and butter sold in the City--but the milk was too perishable to survive the trip. Colonel Evans was impressed. He looked forward to meeting Rensselaer (RE) Steele at the Cascade Ranch at Point Ano Nuevo near the San Mateo-Santa Cruz County line. [Some wondered how it came to be called Ano Nuevo. Punta del Ano Nuevo was named in honor of New Year's day, 1603, when Sebastian Vizcaino sailed by and his expedition's diarist and chaplain, Father Antonio de la Ascension, wrote the name on his map.] By the time Colonel Evans' horse and carriage trotted up to the entrance of the Cascade Ranch, R.E. Steele had spotted his distinguished guest and walked across the path to greet him warml. In his book, Evans noted that there were "two fine two-story frame houses on the ranch, a quarter mile apart, which, unlike the majority of homes on this part of the coast, are elegantly furnished, surrounded with shade trees and gardens, and provided with all the comforts of life." [R.E. Steele's cousin, Isaac, lived nearby in a house at the Green Oaks Dairy.] At the Cascade Ranch, Evans noted the vibrant flowers, the fruit trees, the giant vegetables--all protected from the harsh ocean winds by a solid hedge of cypress trees. In the midst of this sheltered paradise, apple, pear, fig, plum, peach and almond trees dazzled the eye. R.E. pointed to a prized, sweet smelling apple tree and confirmed that the second year after it wasz planted, he picked two bushels of the finest apples. A wide variet of vegetables flourished as well. Big-leafed vines crawling along the ground produced plump orange pumpkins, squash and melons. There was even a bed of peanuts that survived the often harsh coastal climate. Everything seemed to flourish here. That was true, acknowledged R.E. Steele, but it wasn't always that way. When he arrived with his cousins in 1862, the locals ridiculed the plan to set up a dairy near desolate Point Ano Nuevo, a place where earlier farmers found little success. The locals openly discouraged the Steeles from working the land--it was unproductive, they said, predicting the Steeles would be unlucky. The land wasn't suitable for raising cattle, they warned. Not even rabbits would make their home there. At that, R.E. laughed heartily, gesturing towards the 1500 healthy cows peacefully grazing and thriving on the native wild oats. Fortunately R.E. and his cousins, E.W. and Isaac, weren't discouraged by pessimism. When they came from New York state to open a dairy operation at Point Reyes in Marin County, they heard the same dire predictions from neighbors. The wouldn't have left Point Reyes, but the property they rented was sold and they moved to Ano Nuevo to start all over again. The cheese and butter end of the Cascade Dairy business became so profitable that the Steeles planned to expand by opening another dairy at San Luis Obispo. As Evans and R.E. Steele walked about the farm, they took a tour of the modern three-story redwood dairy building. R.E. pointed to the numerous pantries that held countless vessels filled with milk waiting for the cream to rise. Indeed, thought Colonel Evans, the Steeles were an extraordinary family. Finally it was time for Evans to ask about the famous two-ton cheese produced during the Civil War, a decade earlier. "Oh," R.E. said, "it weighed nearly 4,000 pounds. We auctioned the cheese at the Mechanics Fair in San Francisco and donated the proceeds to the Sanitary Commission for the Union Troops." President Lincoln himself received a wedge of the mammoth-sized cheese. It was no surprise that the Steeles were so generous. Not only were they patriots but relative General Frederick Steele had served in the Union Army. Evans and Steeles left the dairy building and sat on a wooden bench where they discussed the hazards of life on this rugged part of the South Coast. Just as the Pescaderans had warned the Colonel about grizzlies earlier, R.E. said the wild animals still prowled the nearby redwoods--and from time to time they attacked stock at his ranch. "The grizzly fears neither man nor beast," Steele said. "Sometimes hunger or even a bad mood causes one to strike unexpectedly. If a hunter knows anything about surviving a grizzly encounter, he aims his weapon at the bear's heart, vertebrae or brain. Then he pras that his well-aimed bullet produces the desired result. But nine times out of ten, the first shot merely enrages and further infuriates the grizzly bear." The Cascade Dairy was surely one of the highlights of Colonel Evan's adventures, near the top of the list. And, fortunately, he was spared the confrontation with a grizzly. Sadly, Colonel Evans did not live to finish the writing of "A La California: Sketches of Life in the Golden State." He met his final fate when the steamship Missouri burned at sea on its voyage from New York to Havana in 1872. But the friends of Colonel Albert S. Evans made certain that the book was published, completing whatever writing was needed to shore it up. What once was the location of the Steele's Cascade Ranch is now part of the spectacular Ano Nuevo Reserve. There is no finer home to marine animals, birds and plants on the entire Coastside.]]> 407 2008-02-08 00:43:30 2008-02-08 04:43:30 closed closed amazing-people-the-steeles-the-2-ton-cheese-other-tales publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1241458949 _edit_last 1 Lost and Found......Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/08/lost-and-foundstory-by-john-vonderlin/ Sat, 09 Feb 2008 01:44:12 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/08/lost-and-foundstory-by-john-vonderlin/

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The stickerreads: Constructed NOVEMBER1998 Capacity: 150 gallons Materials: 1/8th Inch 5052 ALUMINUM Custumer No.: FARALLON BOATS Serial No.: 132745 COASTLINE EQUIPMENT INC. Bellingham, Washington Last week when I was cleaning up tar balls at Tunitas Beach, I found a huge 150- gallon aluminum gas tank that had washed up onto the beach. I'll attach a picture of the sticker I pulled off it. I talked to Leo Morelli ,of the Lou Denny Wayne, and he said it wasn't his. I wonder if it was from "The Good Guys," the boat that belonged to those poor guys who died from Pillar Point? You have any idea how I could find out? I'm not sure if the authorities or family are interested, but thought I should make an effort. Enjoy. John]]>
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Remembering the Vicious, Unforgiving Storm of 1998 By John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/09/remembering-the-vicious-unforgiving-storm-of-1998-by-john-vonderlin/ Sat, 09 Feb 2008 19:21:23 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/09/remembering-the-vicious-unforgiving-storm-of-1998-by-john-vonderlin/ here. When I decided to write about the landslides, I borrowed Meg's "El Nino/landslide disaster folder," for background information. As I was reading, I came upon an email posted to “coastside.net” by Terry Adams, owner of the Ken Kesey house, about a week after the floods and mudslides started. The family perservered and with the support of the community reached a brighter day. Meg tells me the same spirit infused her neighborhood throughout the disaster's aftermath. Today you'd be hard pressed to find any sign of what happened that scary night a decade ago. But, it is obvious in talking to locals that strength truly is fired in the crucible of adversity. I sent this email***(see below)

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to Terry Adams after reading his posting: Hi Terry, As you are aware we just passed the ten- year anniversary of the devastating floods, landslides etc. of 1998. Meg and her neighbors, who were almost wiped out by a landslide, had a party celebrating their survival and recovery. I thought I should write a short story about that time, particularly since it is something she recalls fearfully every time she gets prolonged and heavy rains. I've been researching for the story and she lent me her El Nino, flood, landslide folder to help. One of the documents I found was a printout of an email you posted on Feb.11th. It was about the scumbags that robbed and pillaged your home after it was nearly destroyed. I'm sorry you had to go through that, but am glad you have recovered so well. If you would like a copy of that email, let me know and I'll scan it and send it along. I guess it's true that anything that doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Congratulations on making it to a brighter day. Enjoy. John Vonderlin Thanks John, Sure, I would love to have a copy of that email. Every year, on February 2nd, we go out and pour some schnapps into the creek, to pacify it symbolically. About two weeks after the flood, with the help of a bunch of friends, we strung a rope across the creek and pully-ed across all our rescuable stuff, including a TV - I wish I had photos of that! It was fun - we ended up using the pulley system to ride across the creek ourselves. Terry ----------------------------- ***Terry Adam's Email Subject: Be On The Lookout Date: Thurs, Feb. 19, 1998 From: Doug C. Woods To: Subscribers Southcoast.net The Storms of 98 really showed what our communities are made of. The spirit of community and co-operation in the face of devastating losses and damages brought out the best in us. We all gave, and continue to give, in our own way. So before the Storms of 98 Part II arrive this weekend let's see if we can't find the people who would rather TAKE then give. Doug Woods Thank you Jack for circulating good info - it gave me a good idea. Our house (the Kesey house HWY 84 near the old Boots and Saddle) - is probably a total loss. Well, we were ripped off, also & I would like to spread the word as far as possible to local folks to keep out an eye for their own homes as well as our stolen goods. Please pass this on. Someone broke in and stole everything we might have saved from the flood...all my power tools, two guns, two computers, monitors, VCR, stereo, etc., Minolta camera, my CR500 dirt bike - over $10,000 of stuff. And on top of that they went through every drawer and shelf in the house and dumped everything in the mud - clean clothes. irreplaceable momentoes, documents and photos - everything. The sheriff has a complete report of course. Given how hard it is to get to the place without a bridge, I'd guess it is someone who lives nearby and knows the area and how to ride a dirt bike. I'd like to see them caught. No hung! Terry Adams. (coming later...)]]>
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Pilmigrage to the Palmer Gulch Trestle by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/10/pilmigrage-to-the-palmer-gulch-trestle-by-john-vonderlin/ Sun, 10 Feb 2008 19:56:03 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/10/pilmigrage-to-the-palmer-gulch-trestle-by-john-vonderlin/

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Take the trail to the beach and keep heading north. If that's closed, just wait for a low tide, park at the San Gregorio Beach parking lot and head north. This way is more interesting with its sculpted cliffs, spectacular caves,

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beach debris, and unusual sand dunes at the foot of the cliffs. It’s free too, if you park at the corner of Highway 84 and Highway 1, and take the slightly longer, more interesting walk. Since the remnants are not easily noticed I'd recommend you familiarize yourself first by examining the California Coastal Records Project photos of this area. Picture #6216 has a caption of Trestle Gap and shows both the gulch and some of the remains if you view the large file. The southern portion of the Ocean Shore right-of-way is the horizontal swath of green at the lower right hand side of the picture, just above the bare part of the cliff rising from the sands of the beach. The roght-of-way ledge looks like this if you make the risky climb up the slope.

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The disintegrating remains of the trestle you can see on the slope look like this up close. rr38.jpgrr40.jpg The northern part of the right-of-way, where the trestle's end rested, has not survived so well. It has been totally obscured by a landslide of loose soil.

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You can see the cliffs of Tunitas where the rails stopped in the background. If you examine the nearby CCRP pictures carefully, you can follow the narrow ledge of the right-of-way all the way back to those cliffs. Or at least where it hasn't been totally wiped out by landslides or severe erosion. Heading further north along the beach you can see a good example of the changes the landslides and severe erosion have wrought to this landscape in the last 100 years. You'll also see one of the tallest coastal waterfalls in this area. Picture # 6215 on CCRP shows the gully the waterfall occurs in. It's on the left side just north of the sinuous road snaking down the steep hill. This must not have existed in early 1900 because no trestle was needed in this area. Having experienced the loose soil and dirt-clod-like rocks in the streambed it is easy to believe this has happened since then. The harder rock at the top has kept the stream's rapid erosion from retreating further inland, destroying the waterfall.

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rr54.jpgrr55.jpg While such rapid erosion found in this new canyon is usually considered bad, especially if you're trying to maintain a coastal railroad line, it’s probably no coincidence that the nearby beaches are luxuriant with sand when compared to many other places along our coast. Enjoy. John Vonderlin]]>
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....Pescadero during Prohibition....(4) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/12/pescadero-during-prohibition4/ Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:08:23 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/12/pescadero-during-prohibition4/ 426 2008-02-12 13:08:23 2008-02-12 17:08:23 closed closed pescadero-during-prohibition4 publish 0 0 post 0 ...Pescadero during Prohibition (5) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/12/pescadero-during-prohibition-5/ Wed, 13 Feb 2008 01:59:26 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/12/pescadero-during-prohibition-5/ 427 2008-02-12 21:59:26 2008-02-13 01:59:26 closed closed pescadero-during-prohibition-5 publish 0 0 post 0 This is How John Vonderlin Has Fun at the Beach.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/13/this-is-how-john-vonderlin-has-fun-at-the-beach/ Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:04:13 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/13/this-is-how-john-vonderlin-has-fun-at-the-beach/

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I started out by sawing through a large "telephone pole" beached at Pescadero Beach. I really wanted the pole for my "Battering Ram" display.

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While I usually like poles that are oozing lots of creosote, it was hard to resist this one, because of the giant Frankenstein-like nut and bolt protruding from it, near one end. Creosote is important because it confers extreme long life to these brutes, allowing them to pound the vulnerable life clinging to the reef and shore rocks millions of times before they splinter into harmless pieces, as well as leaving a daub of their toxic load every time they do. After hand-sawing through it, I discovered the five- foot- long piece weighed nearly 200 pounds. While I was sure I could have lugged it across the rocks and up the stairs with "Rubber tree/ant" persistence, I would have been fit for nothing but a hot tub the rest of the day. Wanting to visit the Palmer Gulch Trestle, a fair challenge in its own right, I settled with oomphing it up the rocks to the cliff's base, where it should be safe for a while.

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I also collected tire #59 for my “101 Tire” project. A fine whitewall, captured just before it split in half and became uncountable. Yes, even whacky projects need rules that must be adhered to. After that I headed for San Gregorio Beach and the Palmer Gulch trestle described in an earlier post. Besides what I mentioned in that post, there are a few other things I’d like to tell you about now. (1) Anyone who’s looking for some firewood might check out the stretch north of the parking lot at San Gregorio Beach. For a half mile a huge raft of wood, much of it evidencing chain saw work, was spread along the beach. (2) There were also eight tires, all of which will probably eventually end up at a more accessible beach to the south. At least they will have to if they want to become part of my “artplay.” I collected one small, almost brand new, smooth, fine-line incised tread, ten- inch tire, with a fancy rim and bearing mount. Though it was too small to join its full-grown, recovered brethren, as part of "101 Tires," I was curious as to what it was used on. After quite a bit of Internet searching, I discovered it was from a “GoPed,” those irksome, noisy motorized scooters teenagers buzz around my neighborhood on occasionally. How something like that ended up in the middle of nowhere, in such perfect shape, escapes me. (But, there have been enough disturbed afternoons in my hood to cause an irritating-noise fueled vision of a lemming-like swan dive off the San Gregorio cliffs to flit through my mind as a momentary hope. However, that seems unlikely, as well as curmudgeonly.) Having started the day at 1 p.m. it was getting late by the time we got back to the parking lot. One of the new Game Wardens was there and he came over to chat with us. I had told him about your blogs during my first encounter with him a few weeks ago and he wanted to know where the W.W.II observation tunnel was. He followed us to the parking spot closest to the path near it, and vowed he was going to visit it on his day off. Perhaps, he can find out something about its history. With just a little time left before dark, we decided to take a quick jaunt to Invisible Beach. It has been non-productive for months, but the return of the wrack and the marine debris are unpredictable and mysterious, so we have to keep looking. It's not like a sunset walk down a beautiful beach is a great sacrifice. In this case it was... Jackpot! Neptune's Vomitorium was covered with a thick layer of seaweed and a moderate amount of debris. It will take a few high tides to drive it all up the beach in a huge pile, but it's returned!

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Golf balls, toys, kayak shoes, fishing line balls, and a slew of other things were interspersed in the wrack. I've attached a picture of the more interesting (to me) items we quickly collected. It was a sweet, thick layer of frosting on a truly delicious day. I hope to return with large bags on Monday, a day predicted to be wonderfully sun and mild-temped, and haul all the booty away. Does it get any better then this? Enjoy. John]]>
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...When the forest wouldn't come to Burt, he went to the forest... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/13/when-the-redwoods-wouldnt-come-to-burt-he-went-to-them/ Thu, 14 Feb 2008 03:17:17 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/13/when-the-redwoods-wouldnt-come-to-burt-he-went-to-them/

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....Pescadero during Prohibition....(6) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/16/pescadero-during-prohibition6/ Sat, 16 Feb 2008 20:59:56 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/16/pescadero-during-prohibition6/ 436 2008-02-16 16:59:56 2008-02-16 20:59:56 closed closed pescadero-during-prohibition6 publish 0 0 post 0 Unwritten Fairy Tale of the Redwoods... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/17/unwritten-fairy-tale-of-the-redwoods/ Sun, 17 Feb 2008 20:13:05 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/17/unwritten-fairy-tale-of-the-redwoods/ 437 2008-02-17 16:13:05 2008-02-17 20:13:05 closed closed unwritten-fairy-tale-of-the-redwoods publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1232045809 _edit_last 1 RIP: Mary Florey, Founder of Florey's Books in Pacifica & Special Friend to Authors http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/18/rip-mary-florey-founder-of-floreys-books-in-pacifica-special-friend-to-authors/ Mon, 18 Feb 2008 20:46:02 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/18/rip-mary-florey-founder-of-floreys-books-in-pacifica-special-friend-to-authors/

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Mary Florey, Founder of Florey’s Book Co. On Valentines Day Pacifica lost a sympathetic ear and a big heart. Mary Florey died after a prolonged illness at 81 years old. Mary, who founded Florey’s Book Co. over thirty years ago, will be remembered by many of Pacifica’s readers because she would always take the time to listen to everyone. Sometimes she’d offer advice but mostly she just listened to people expressing all of life’s joys and sorrows as they looked for the right book. She might sell them a book or send them to the library. Mary is survived by her lifetime partner, George Carpenter. She was the loving mother of Barbara Schlieve as well as James, Jon and Roy Florey and aunt to John and Mona Dean as well as Ralph Raymond Black and the late Lee Black. She is also survived by her brother Matt Black and his wife Nancy and their children Nancy, Caroline, and Janet. Her grandchildren include Aaron Schlieve who continues as the proprietor of Florey’s. Other grandchildren are Juliet Schlieve as well as Jessica, Michelle, Robert, Glen, Owen and David Florey. She was proud of each one. She was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1926 and moved to San Francisco just before WWII started. She worked all her life, first as a waitress, bank teller, and sales clerk before deciding to open her own business and moving to Pacifica in 1977. Mary always supported local writers and her store was used for many, many lectures, events and meetings over the years. A memorial service will be held at Holy Cross Lutheran Church at 1165 Seville Drive in Pacifica on Thursday, February 21st at 6 PM followed by a reception. Those who wish to bring food to the reception are invited to do so. People who loved Mary can also make a contribution to Florey’s Book Co. at 2120 Palmetto Avenue, Pacifica, CA 94044]]>
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Summer 1929: Tragedy at Sea Near Pigeon Point Lighthouse, Part I http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/18/summer-1929-tragedy-at-sea-near-pigeon-point-lighthouse-part-i/ Tue, 19 Feb 2008 02:43:03 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/18/summer-1929-tragedy-at-sea-near-pigeon-point-lighthouse-part-i/

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(Above: Emma Granstedt, center; at right, Mrs. Olsen. Courtesy Patrick Moore, click here 4.jpeg (At right: Theodore Granstedt. Courtesy Patrick Moore.) Emma Granstedt felt a premonition of danger as she boarded the popular “commuter steamer” San Juan at San Francisco on Thursday, August 29, 1929. 2.jpg The middle-aged Mountain View woman tried to explain the feelings she couldn’t shake to her husband, Theodore: She was worried about an accident at sea, she told him. Theodore assured his uneasy wife that there was nothing to worry about. The venerable 47-year-old iron steamer made routine runs between the City and Los Angeles—and he reminded her about the attractively inexpensive fare, ranging from $8 to $10 per passenger. He may have pointed to the San Juan’s advertisement in the local newspaper: “A delightful way to travel,” promised the ad. “One fare includes comfortable berth, excellent meals, open-air dancing, promenade decks, radio music—all the luxury of ocean travel. A trip to be remembered! The economic way that entails no sacrifice!” Premonition or not, it was too late for the Granstedts to change their mind. It would mean canceling the plans they had made with the Palo Alto friends they were traveling with, John and Anna Olsen and the couple’s 28-year-old daughter, Helen. The Granstedts and Olsens were traveling to Southern California to attend a wedding anniversary celebration—and the trip also gave them good reason to visit the Granstedt’s daughter, Irene, who was pursuing an acting career in Hollywood. Emma may have been consoled to learn that only a few days earlier the San Juan had been in dry dock at which time a new rudder and propeller were installed. The vessel was cleaned, painted and the sea valves overhauled. The steamer’s radio was in tiptop shape, and life-saving equipment included six lifeboats and 110 life preservers for adults and 17 children. Steamboat officials, who inspected the San Juan, pronounced her safe and in fine condition. Daylight faded and the sky darkened as the sailing hour neared on Thursday, August 29. It was customary for the purser, Jack Cleveland, to sell tickets to impulsive travelers who made a last-minute decision to sail from San Francisco to L.A. One such last-minute ticket-buyer may have been 24-year-old Stanford graduate student Paul Wagner, who was on his way to visit his family in Southern California. On board the busy steamer there was no hint of anything out of the ordinary—but one significant change had been made: 65-year-old retired Captain Adolph F. Asplund replaced the regular commander who had taken time off for his summer vacation. The experienced Captain Asplund knew every inch of the San Juan, as he had been her captain many years before. When the San Juan left port, there were 110 men, women and children on board, 65 passengers and 45 members of the crew. All were settling in and a few hours later the steamer approached the beautiful Pigeon Point lighthouse, south of the village of Pescadero. By now many of the sleepy passengers, including the Granstedts and the Olsens, headed for their staterooms below deck to rest on their first night at sea. ...more coming..]]>
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Summer 1929: Tragedy at Sea Near Pigeon Point Lighthouse, Part II http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/18/summer-1929-tragedy-at-sea-near-pigeon-point-lighthouse-part-ii/ Tue, 19 Feb 2008 02:51:38 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/18/summer-1929-tragedy-at-sea-near-pigeon-point-lighthouse-part-ii/ 444 2008-02-18 22:51:38 2008-02-19 02:51:38 closed closed summer-1929-tragedy-at-sea-near-pigeon-point-lighthouse-part-ii publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245593489 _edit_last 1 Summer 1929: Tragedy at Sea Near Pigeon Point Lighthouse, Part III http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/18/summer-1929-tragedy-at-sea-near-pigeon-point-lighthouse-part-iii/ Tue, 19 Feb 2008 02:53:32 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/18/summer-1929-tragedy-at-sea-near-pigeon-point-lighthouse-part-iii/ 445 2008-02-18 22:53:32 2008-02-19 02:53:32 closed closed summer-1929-tragedy-at-sea-near-pigeon-point-lighthouse-part-iii publish 0 0 post 0 ....Postcard from the South Coast....Hmmmm Natural Hot Tub... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/19/postcard-from-the-south-coast/ Tue, 19 Feb 2008 04:08:08 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/19/postcard-from-the-south-coast/

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Letter from a passenger aboard the ship Colombia in 1922 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/19/letter-from-a-child-passenger-aboard-the-colombia-in-1922/ Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:17:42 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/19/letter-from-a-child-passenger-aboard-the-colombia-in-1922/ Colombia met its fate near Pigeon Point. But soon a new Colombia took its place on the international waters, commuting between Central America and San Francisco. In the year 2000, I received a letter below from a passenger who was aboard the new Colombia. letter.jpg The letter writer had read my historic piece about the Colombia and praised my work. Then he explained: "I have enclosed a passenger list of the Colombia on its 22nd voyage on Jan 18th 1922. "Down among the San Francisco passengers you can find my name 'Master M. Chorro'...I was all of seven years old at the time. My grandparents in El Salvador shipped me in the care of the AUGSBERGS*** to SF where my bio mother met me. I was too young then, so I don't recall any facts about my journey to the United States. The passenger list indicates that the new Colombia was sailing 26 years later. Sincerely, Manuel R. Chorro San Bruno ----------------------- I don't know what "Augsbergs" means.]]> 450 2008-02-19 16:17:42 2008-02-19 20:17:42 closed closed letter-from-a-child-passenger-aboard-the-colombia-in-1922 publish 0 0 post 0 John Vonderlin Ponders Pescadero's "Greatest Claim" to Fame.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/19/john-vonderlin-ponders-pescaderos-claim-to-fame/ Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:29:43 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/19/john-vonderlin-ponders-pescaderos-claim-to-fame/ The Coburn Mystery," detailed its most brilliant moments in the limelight during the 19th Century. Loren Coburn and the citizens of Pescadero's battle for control of beach access to Pebble Beach, the most attractive rock collecting spot on the West Coast, as well as the mysterious murder of his wife placed it in the minds and on the lips of many in the Bay Area and even the state. But, as the century faded so did its notoriety. A while ago, while rereading the "The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test" by Tom Wolfe, I came upon a single reference to Pescadero, and wondered if any other book or other medium had produced as many "eyeball" moments for Pescadero, as that one? This extremely popular book was published nearly forty years ago and has been reprinted repeatedly, including a leather-bound three volume edition as recent as 2003 that also includes "The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby" and Radical Chic and Mau Mauing the Flak Catcher." The reference, which I thought might be Pescadero's brightest lightning bolt of fame, is on Page 27 at the end of the first paragraph, at least in my paperback copy. This is the end of the graph where Tom Wolfe, is discussing with Ken Kesey, what was going on in his head when he returned to the United States, after hiding out in Mexico, to avoid a drug bust prosecution. Kesey, explaining what had happened there includes: "-and I went outside and there was an electrical storm, and there was lightning everywhere and I pointed to the sky and lightning flashed and all of a sudden I had a second skin, of lightning, electricity, a suit of electricity, and I knew it was in us to be superheroes and that we could become superheroes or nothing." He lowers his eyes, " I couldn't tell this to the newspapers. How could I? I wouldn't be put me back in jail, I'd be put in Pescadero." When I read this, I laughed and thought, while Kesey may have seemed a little confused, perhaps it was a La Honda resident's inside joke/neighboring town putdown. After all, it’s hard to believe the guy that wrote, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," which was set in a mental hospital, would confuse Atascadero State Hospital, with Pescadero. Whatever the cause, I think the old adage, "Say what you want about me, just spell my name right," should apply. I wondered if there were any contenders to this odd moment of glory for bucolic Pescadero? Well, last night while watching the end of a movie I had seen a long time ago, I came upon a contender to the most viewed reference to the town of Pescadero, that completely blows away Kesey's Freudian(?) slip. It’a in a film that grossed $519,843,345 worldwide. A film that created a number of phrases that have entered our culture and endured for more then a decade. A sequel film that featured a character in the Top 100 (#48) heroes of film (American Film Institute) that had also been in the Top 100 (#22) villians of film (American Film Institute AFI) in the original, an unprecedented circumstance. A character, played by an actor, who, after an unprecedented recall election, became the governor of California. That actor being Arnold Schwarzenegger. The film: Terminator 2, Judgment Day. Oddly, it is once again the mutation of Atascadero State Hospital into Pescadero State Mental Hospital that creates this reference heard round-the-world. Here's a summary excerpt from Wikipedia, about Terminator 2, Judgment Day, or T2 as it has popularly become known that explains the reference: "Sarah's experiences have significantly changed who she is, making her tougher and more vigilant, but also more desperate to warn humanity about the threat of the future human versus machine war — revelations that lead authorities to commit her to a mental institution, Pescadero State Hospital." My guess is, thanks to VHS tapes, DVDs, and worldwide distribution, more then half a billion people have heard this reference to the quiet, humble town of Pescadero. I suspect the recent beginning of a television series entitled, "The Sarah Connor Chronicles," is probably why the Terminator series is getting so many replays lately. I can just hear Arnie chuckling as he cashes his residuals checks saying so rightly, Hasta la Vista, baby. Enjoy. John Vonderlin]]> 452 2008-02-19 20:29:43 2008-02-20 00:29:43 closed closed john-vonderlin-ponders-pescaderos-claim-to-fame publish 0 0 post 0 My Return to Tunitas Beach by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/20/my-return-to-tunitas-beach-by-john-vonderlin/ Thu, 21 Feb 2008 03:35:24 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/20/my-return-to-tunitas-beach-by-john-vonderlin/ Tunitas Beach to do my version of a Nautilus workout, rescuing tires from the surf and lugging them around.

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I added six to my pile at the bottom of the hill, making a total of twenty there, and upped my caches north of the creek to 17. As I was resting, sitting on the pile, a gentleman walked up carrying a tire that I had bypassed, that he'd somehow freed from its sandy prison near the surf-line to add to my pile, making the total 21, that most fortuitous of numbers. We struck up a conversation during which he revealed he'd been cleaning up this beach for over twenty-five years. It seems that Tunitas Beach's tires are a long- term phenomena. One that had previously been cleared up regularly by a nearby resident who would use a front loader to accomplish what I've been doing with sweat, persistence and clackety knees. Unfortunately, the loader broke down, as I probably will do one of these days. He also dropped some interesting names of visitors to Tunitas at one time or another; the name Baba Ram Dass sticks in my memory. He also gave me leads to local oldtimer's names that might have some interesting tales to tell about this most interesting of beaches. The gentleman is a very interesting oldtimer himself. George Cattermole is the longtime owner of the San Gregorio store, an avid environmentalist, and a prolific explorer of the beaches and hinterlands of the south coastside. We've exchanged emails and I'm eager to drop by some Saturday when there’s usually music at his eclectic store/bar and share a beer and some stories. Hopefully more on that soon. There were other items of note on this trip: I collected more tar balls to add to the crate I left by the tire pile. The previous ones, heated up by the warm temperatures of the last week, had melted and were trying to escape through the grating of the crate, but I thwarted them. At the southern end of the beach, near Mussel Rock, the waves have removed more sand than I can remember, revealing a new group of concretions.

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While not as attractive as the others I've photographed, and written about, they still were interesting and add one more facet to the buffet of oddity that very strange locale offers. The 150- gallon gas tank I mentioned in an earlier post, possibly from the sunken "Good Guys," was still there, so I photographed that too. As well as a massive tangle of ropes that was so heavy with wet sand I could only, with great effort, roll the ropes over and over, up the beach, beyond the waves for later recovery.

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I'll attach some photos. Enjoy. John P.S. While this was a pleasant trip to the beach, more interesting then many, I'm impatient to hurry through my description of it so I can start describing yesterday's adventure, one of the most enjoyable, exciting, trying, and productive trips I've ever made to the coast: My wild trip to Acid Beach. That's coming next.

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Funny name...What does Tunitas mean?...... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/21/more-tunitas/ Thu, 21 Feb 2008 04:40:44 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/21/more-tunitas/ sketchingthumbnail4.jpg (Photo: Coastside artist Galen Wolf's students sketching the scenes along Tunitas Creek Road. To the left, you'll see the old, one-room Tunis School) The East fork of the Tunitas (unlike most of the so-called forks on the maps has been so called for a hundred years. The upper portion was sometimes Harry's gulch, for Henry Trebilcock, an Englishman who had an orchard there for forty years from the middle 1870's. The Tunitas creek road was until recently still officially the Froment road: the Froment Mill interests built most of it in 1875, but ran out of funds in Smith Downing's barnyard. The county opened the last half through to the coast in the early 1890s. more to come]]> 460 2008-02-21 00:40:44 2008-02-21 04:40:44 closed closed more-tunitas publish 0 0 post 0 1960s: Historical Assn. Backs Preservation of Tiny Tunis School http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/22/1960s-historical-assn-backs-preservation-of-tiny-tunis-school/ Fri, 22 Feb 2008 19:21:23 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/22/1960s-historical-assn-backs-preservation-of-tiny-tunis-school/ Half Moon Bay Review "Mrs. Nita Spangler, president of the S.M. County Historical Association, said that 'she personally favored the preservation' of the old Tunis School. "'It is my personal feeling that the Old Tunis School should be preserved because of the historical interest. The association has visited the place, and articles and pictures of it have been published. It is the only one-room schoolhouse in operation in San Mateo County,' said Mrs. Spangler. "It was pointed out that the 'economics of preserving it are a matter of concern to the coastside'. "An organization has been formed for the preservation of the old Tunis School. It consists of a group of people who"....[rest of the article is missing, doesn't it bug you?] To see a photo of the Tunis School, scan down to the post below.]]> 462 2008-02-22 15:21:23 2008-02-22 19:21:23 closed closed 1960s-historical-assn-backs-preservation-of-tiny-tunis-school publish 0 0 post 0 "Third Time's The Charm: Back to Acid Beach" Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/24/third-times-the-charm-back-to-acid-beach-story-by-john-vonderlin/ Sun, 24 Feb 2008 04:36:37 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/24/third-times-the-charm-back-to-acid-beach-story-by-john-vonderlin/

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(Photo: John's spectacular goal, Warm Water Lagoon.) Hi June, I'm not sure if "Failure is a Necessity" or "Failure is not an Option," better describes the philosophical underpinnings of my third attempt to reach Acid Beach, and its surrounding wonders. But, I do know "The Third Time is the Charm" aptly describes the effort. It was exciting, trying, scary at times, frequently beautiful, peppered with odd moments, and great discoveries. Interestingly, after reaching my goal, the return trip was the most physically demanding. That was because I ended up caught in the dilemma featured in many stories and films, where the protagonist, having found the weighty treasure they had so fervently sought, often gold or heavy jewelry, must abandon it, in order to survive the ordeal of returning to civilization. Only I wasn't about to give up my hard earned treasure. Here's the story: Last week I noticed that on the upcoming Presidents Day, there was going to be a nice 1.1 minus tide at about 3 in the afternoon. Perfect for my third serious effort to reach Acid Beach and Warm Water Lagoon. Parking at Scott Creek Beach, with the horde of other folks enjoying both the day off and the unusually mild February beach weather, we waded across the creek and headed north. Right away, thanks to the winter rains, we were treated to a series of picturesque ribbon-like waterfalls descending

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the towering cliffs. For the first mile it was just a holiday stroll, until we got to the inlet that reaches into the foot of the cliff. On our last outing, Meg decided not to get wet, and waited on the south side of the inlet as the potential 911 caller. When she saw that the winter waves had sucked two feet of sand out of the inlet, making it even deeper then before, she once again chose the sensible option. I, on the other hand, tried to repeat my risky climb along the cliff-side, above the inlet.

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But I'm afraid I was too sensitive about crunching the barnacles and mussel colonies underfoot, as I slowly retraced my previous path. Placing one foot in an open, but very slimy spot, I slipped and rather than be keelhauled by the mollusks as I slid down the cliff's face, I launched myself into the mid-thigh-deep water, holding my camera high. Moving fast before another wave surged into the channel, I pulled myself atop a rock that was only partially submerged, waited until the wave's surge retreated, and quickly waded to where I could pull myself out of the water. Great!, my swimming trunks and the wetsuit booties I'd brought to use while wading around “Chicken's Roost”*** were still safe and dry in my pack, but my clothes and boots were soaked.

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Looking back, I saw Meg, wide-eyed from watching my lemminglike leap and flashed her a chagrin-laced grin, acknowledging my drowned rat appearance. Yelling, "I'll be back in an hour," I set off on my adventure Ten minutes later, I watched as a sizeable group of sunning Harbor Seals, seeing me approach, began galumphing into the water from their sandy resting spot below a waterfall.

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All except one that remained motionless on his back. I remember thinking, well, this is one dead marine mammal not even Ray Bandar, "the bone collector," is going to be able to collect a skull from. Walking up to the seal that wasn’t moving, I shot a picture, then noticed his little flippers waggling slightly. Believing the seal to be unwell, and not wanting to add any more misery in its final moments, I took one more photo and trudged on. Fifty yards further, I happened to glance back to see it steaming towards the water. The little feller must have been in a deep sleep, probably dreaming of somersaulting through the sun-streaked kelp beds, chasing some yummy fish, as I had approached and his buddies had fled without waking him. I guess they don't get many visitors at this end of the beach. Another five minutes, and I was at Chicken's Roost, my own previous turnaround spot. Already soaked, I left my trunks and booties in my pack, stuffed my camera in, too, and began to wade around the face of the Roost. Trouble greeted me immediately. The footing was uneven and large seaweed fronds obscured my vision of the bottom and made every move a slick and risky proposition. Two steps, and I almost went down, forcing me to grab the pockmarked cliff face. Unfortunately, the pockmarks were created by sea urchins, and more then a few were still home and apparently resented my visit.

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Excusing myself with a curse, I edged along the cliff, looking for uninhabited pits to stick my fingers into. With my back to the surf, I didn't see a big wave that smacked me into the cliff, its rebounding spray needling me in the face. Before my courage sank and drowned, I made it as far as a rock jutting slightly above the water, at the mouth of the slotted inlet just past Chicken's Roost. This was the same slot I became familiar with on my first trip, I had been afraid I was going to fall in from the Roost's top, ruining my camera, and maybe drowning after hitting my head. But not this time. Having reached a secure spot, I took a moment to survey my situation and didn't like what I saw. There, bobbing in the water in the slot, five feet in front of me, was a dead Harbor Seal. To my left, ‘round the next rock where I had planned on going, I could see the water was much deeper, the bottom invisible even in the relatively quiet times between waves. It looked like I was going to have to traverse the slot, push the corpse out of my way, and climb up a narrow, mussel-choked crack in the cliff. Oh joy. But. I'd come too far to turn back now. I waited for a calm moment between waves and lowered myself back into the water. When my tiptoes still hadn't touched bottom with my belt well under water, I knew I was beaten. I was at the edge of the wader's equivalent of a sucker hole, guarded by a dead, floating portend. I pulled myself back up on the rock, and retreated the way I came. Defeated again!? Reaching terra firma, I stood looking up at Chicken's Roost, feeling checked if not checkmated. I took a deep breath and started to climb it. Reaching the top, I crossed it and looked down at the steep scree slope that had sapped my courage on my first trip. It didn't look inviting, but after what I'd already been through on this trip, the slope didn't seem that fearsome. I was sure I could get down it, getting back up would have to be dealt with later. In desperation, I supposed I could always throw my pack with the camera up from the beach below, then, swim around. At this point even this shaky plan was enough when faced with the "Failure is not an Option" thoughts that were jabbing my ego in some of its most vulnerable areas. I started lowering myself carefully down the treacherous slope. Seconds later I was standing triumphantly on solid ground, even though it felt like I was floating on air. There was nothing that could stop me now. And nothing did. Except for the clusters of buoys I started encountering. The first cluster was below the rappelling spot where the Pranksters are reputed to have lowered themselves down to enjoy the inviolate privacy of this isolated beach (Acid Beach?) for their Bacchanalian psychedelic happenings. A nice mix of about a dozen floats, all within twenty feet of each other, were mine for the taking. I gathered them in a pile, promised I'd be back to collect them, and headed north. Soon I saw Warm Water Lagoon, its waters almost completely drained by the low tide, except for a large pool at the arches' double-barreled opening into the lagoon and the narrow surge channel from the south. Beneath the cliffs, on a ledge at the opening to the lagoon

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was another cluster of floats and buoys. I stuffed my pack full, left it there and walked into this amazing feature: Warm Water Lagoon. On the right, and curving around in front of me, were sheer hundred foot cliffs. Seaward, on the left, a spine of sandy rock descended from the northern cliffs, reaching sea level where the surge channel at the south enters the lagoon's mouth. The spine is only broken by two sea level tunnels through it that form an impressive double arch with a huge pillar of rock separating the two tunnels. Waves were surging through the tunnels, spreading out in a beautifully symmetrical fan across the waters of the lagoon. To the best of my knowledge, there’s no more awe-inspiring scenery and no more beautiful arch, on the entire San Mateo Coastside—and it’s virtually unknown and less visited then the North Pole. Yet on the beach, to the right of the arches, just exposed by the fully-ebbed tide was a seemingly new, ten- foot pole with a line-loaded reel, looking as if it just fallen from the rack in a sporting goods store. I picked it up and started my return. Having left my pack at the opening, I soon stuffed my pullover's pouch full with the smallest floats I found along the lagoon's beach.

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When my arms could no longer manage both the rod and reel and the larger floats I was also collecting, I started to thread them over the end of the pole. I marched southward carrying it like a banner pole for my expedition of one. Reaching my backpack, I pulled out a huge bag I had brought and stuffed everything I was carrying into it and headed south. As I marched along, I noticed a roomy ledge above me at the foot of one of the waterfalls. Curious, I stopped and climbed up to find another dozen floats, several varieties I hadn't seen in many years. My pouch and hands full, I carefully climbed down and stuffed them into my bag, and resumed walking. By the time I reached the rappel spot, I picked up another half-dozen floats that I missed earlier because I was intently focusing on my goal. Both my backpack and big bag were now bursting and I still had a dozen more in a pile on the ground before me that I had promised to rescue. A delightful dilemma for a float collector. Searching around I found a length of seaweed, stripped it of its branches, and threaded five of the largest buoys in the bag on it. Stuffing the rest in the room created in the bag by removing the five, I was ready to move on. In one hand I carried the rod and reel and my buoy/seaweed necklace. My backpack was stuffed full of smaller floats, some shells and a handful of startlingly beautiful pieces of shimmering abalone

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that I just couldn't pass up, even though I don't normally collect them. Over my shoulder, held in place by my other hand, was a gigantic bag stuffed with dozens of buoys and floats. The only thing ruining my ecstatic state was worrying about whether I would make it through the upcoming obstacle course, especially up the Chicken's Roost slope with my hands otherwise occupied, I wasn’t sure I could manage it all. I was carrying more floats and buoys that I’d ever collected from one place before. I didn’t want to leave anything behind, but what if I was forced to abandon my treasures, as so many others had in those books and films I'd mentioned? Nooooo! By the time I'd reached the Chicken's Roost slope, I was once again brimming with confidence. I'd simply strip some line off the reel, tie it to the buoys, climb to the top and drag them up one at a time, if necessary. But, nothing so time-consuming was necessary. The first climb up I took the fishing pole in one hand, and used the other free hand to feel around for solid projections jutting from the scree. The rod and reel actually helped, as I wasn't worried about damaging it. By jamming the rod and reel into the slope, it assisted me from slipping and sliding. Triumphantly reaching the top, I deposited my load, celebrated for a few seconds, and headed back down for the next two trips. The big bag was the most difficult because of its bulk and weight, but nothing was going to stop me now. The remaining part of the return trip was a struggle that left me sore for a couple of days. But, even soaked, scratched, scraped and aching, I was not miserable. I was on a natural high. When I reached the inlet where I received my first dunking, now surging with the returning tide, I just jumped in and waded across with my camera held high, the fishing pole in my other hand. One more trip and I had the bag and seaweed necklace securely on the victorious side. The last mile was a rest-punctuated trip, made easier by Meg's assistance and the glow of accomplishment that buoyed my spirits. It doesn't get better then this. That is until I return again for a much better photo shoot. And figure out a way to reach the other more isolated beach also captioned Acid Beach on California Coastal Records Project and the nearby sea arches-bookended oddity known as "The Notch." (pictures #6418 and #6419 CCRP) Until then I'll just savor my treasures, shown laid out on my front lawn in this picture.

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Or some of the jewelry quality pieces of abalone I collected. Enjoy. John Vonderlin ------------ ***I asked John, "What's Chicken Roost?" John: Hi June, Chicken's Roost (my name for a nameless rock) is the spot I turned around at on my first attempt to reach Acid Beach in December. I think you published a picture of it in the story of that trip.]]>
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....Between Storms....Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/27/between-stormsstory-by-john-vonderlin/ Wed, 27 Feb 2008 23:47:20 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/27/between-stormsstory-by-john-vonderlin/ sweep1.jpg Between Storms: Visit to Pescadero Beach Story & photos by John Vonderlin email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June After last Thursday's moderate storm, and with a much bigger one predicted for Saturday, I used the narrow window between the wind and the rain to do a “sweep” of the usually heavily visited beaches from Pescadero north to San Gregorio. The iffy weather minimized the usual number of beachgoers, and the high waters in the creeks splitting these beaches, left some areas isolated from the average flotsam-and-jetsam enthusiast. Which is why, this time, I chose to visit three, too-popular-for-one-like-me spots. At Pescadero Beach I visited the minor, but highly specialized “Vomitorium” that occurs at the foot of the stairs leading to the beach from the parking lot directly across Highway 1 where Pescadero Rd. dead-ends. This Vomitorium is noted for its production of tires and tire parts, Aerobie rings, shoe soles, snorkeling gear and fishing line balls. It didn't disappoint as you can see from this picture.

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Note that the tire chunk on the right is the major missing part of the handmade Ford Model T tire by Star Rubber Company, which I've written about recently.

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After three months “Neptune” has finally spit out the last major piece. Hopefully, the nice spoked wheel it was on will materialize next. Not too likely though, because while rubber submerged in the ocean is almost eternal, all metals are rapidly corroded. A wooden steering wheel, riddled with wormholes, from an old Rumrunner's jalopy, that the tire might have been part of, would be too much to ask for, I suppose. But, one can hope. Enjoy. John]]>
477 2008-02-27 19:47:20 2008-02-27 23:47:20 closed closed between-stormsstory-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0
.....Between Storms......Story & Photos by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/27/between-stormsstory-photos-by-john-vonderlin/ Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:17:24 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/27/between-stormsstory-photos-by-john-vonderlin/ bushwhacking or wading. p.jpgp2.jpeg If you're allergic to poison oak or hate to get your feet wet it's a handy, if slightly derring-do, method to reach the best flotsam-collecting area. p3.jpgp4.jpg This particular day a crab pot buoy with its attached 150- foot rope heavily entangled in kelp was the only prize I found. The rope was the most tar-fouled one I've ever seen. The tar was substantially different from the tar balls that came ashore a few weeks ago. It was stickier and smelled different. I suspect it was the remnants of the heavy fuel oil from the Cosco Busan. That's fine with me though, as that gives it more cachet when I use it in my still-growing "Battering Ram" artplay project. That's the one composed of battered, oozing creosote, telephone or power poles, that I wrap in coils of the rope I recover and untangle. Enjoy. John]]> 483 2008-02-27 20:17:24 2008-02-28 00:17:24 closed closed between-stormsstory-photos-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 ....Between Storms....Story & Photos by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/27/between-stormsstory-photos-by-john-vonderlin-2/ Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:58:01 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/27/between-stormsstory-photos-by-john-vonderlin-2/ sg.jpg Arriving at San Gregorio Beach Park, I could see getting across the creek was going to present a challenge. A large lagoon had formed and it was draining vigorously. The water, running into the ocean, a turbid, brown color from its sediment load, was forming standing waves a foot tall just above the area where it made its racing entrance into the ocean. Using the slightly shallower water, where the creek had fanned out to its widest, readying itself to joust with the incoming waves, I was able to cross by facing the current and crab-walking sideways with short but rapid steps.

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The speed with which the powerful current washed sand from beneath my feet messed with my balance, causing me to move quickly to avoid being knocked over. Still, the current pushed water up against my leg, topping and instantly filling my knee- high boots. A shaky but successful trip was accomplished in moments, and I was in virgin territory, but with my Seven League Boots reduced to anchors. Having struggled to semi-successfully cross, I found the rewards were not as I had hoped for, let alone risked for. I did get pictures of the peculiar and unprepossessing arch that is in the cliff at the far south end of the beach.. A yawner, but a necessary addition to my Sea Arches of San Mateo County Coast list, as it is a young arch with rapid growth potential because of its orientation to the waves. Better yet was the fact that I got some nice pictures of the San Gregorio bridge, its image crisply mirrored in the lagoon. I was mildly irritated that my shots and this site were marred by a bold, but obnoxious graffiti moniker that emblazoned one support column, screaming for attention. sg3.jpgsg4.jpg Wading back to the north side of the creek I collected three tires, all still mounted on their wheels, just lazying about on the beach. That added #60, #61, and #62 to my "101 Tires" project. The picture of Number 61, was shot from where I found the tire in front of one of the driftwood beach sculptures dotting the beach, It's an interesting contrast of two extremely different manmade objects, the tire and the teepee.

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With that it was time to head home and batten down the hatches before the predicted monster storm arrived on Saturday. Enjoy. John P.S. Apparently, the graffiti received some attention this weekend, though not what the artist-vandal hoped for. When I stopped by on Monday to check if the disappointing so-called Monster Storm (that didn’t live up to its name) had brought anything new to the beach. I discovered the "Guerilla Graffiti" folks have started covering up this artistic lesion on the public's viewscape. I like the way they try to blend the paint-over into the background. Kudos to them. Enjoy. John]]>
488 2008-02-27 20:58:01 2008-02-28 00:58:01 closed closed between-stormsstory-photos-by-john-vonderlin-2 publish 0 0 post 0
Coburn Mystery: Chapter 25 (Original Draft) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/28/coburn-mystery-chapter-25-original-draft/ Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:13:28 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/28/coburn-mystery-chapter-25-original-draft/ flume did an outstanding business. During less than 5 hours, 25,000-feet of lumber floated through the flume.] Lumber operators set up deep inside the forests, felled the trees, and processed them into shingles and railroad ties. Logging was an extremely dangerous profession, naturally attracting fearless men who loved danger. For the investor, it was an expensive proposition, due to the added cost of physical labor and mules moving the heavy logs and finished wood through the roadless redwoods to isolated Pigeon Point. [In other cases, "flumes," were used to float the wood from one place to another.] The dream was to build a small railroad that would ferry the wood and shingles between the wharf and the sawmills. Better yet move the sawmills next door to Pigeon Point. On the other hand, the difficulty that the logistics presented left many of the trees untouched--including a large stand of redwoods along Pescadero Creek (said to be the largest such stand south of Mendocino.) Millions of board feet of lumber were also left along the Butano and Gazo creeks, untouched well in the 1900s. Clarence Hayward was a big name in the lumber business. Hayward's lumber, shingle and grist mills were located three miles east of the flag pole on San Gregorio Street in Pescadero. Clarence, who lived in an old house with beautiful gardens near the mill, sold pine and redwood and sometimes bartered for grain. William Waddell was a pioneer sawmill owner who came to the South Coast from Kentucky in 1851. A good storyteller, Waddell said the abundant timber lining the banks of Pescadero creek was "unknown to the woodman's axe" when he arrived. William Waddell became the stuff of legend when a grizzly bear killed him in 1875. As a tribute to the sawmill owner [whose operations stood on both sides of the San Mateo-Santa Cruz County boundary line Waddell creek was named in William Waddell's honor.]]> 494 2008-02-28 20:13:28 2008-02-29 00:13:28 closed closed coburn-mystery-chapter-25-original-draft publish 0 0 post 0 Coburn Mystery: Chapter 26 (Original Draft) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/29/coburn-mystery-chapter-26-original-draft/ Fri, 29 Feb 2008 04:27:46 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/29/coburn-mystery-chapter-26-original-draft/ A La California: Sketches of Life in the Golden State, reported on a very, very interesting dispute between an Indian and a Spaniard in Pescadero.evansbook.jpg At the root of the never-ending argument: Who arrived first in Pescadero? Don Felipe Armas.....or......Don Salvador Mosquito. Which one? As with any disagreement, there are two sides, two versions--two people who may not like each other--and each one is highly convinced that the other one is wrong, wrong, wrong. Don Felipe Armas' Story: I am a native Californian of Spanish parentage. I remember when King Kamehameha I put a call out for vaqueros to come to the Hawaiian Islands and kill off the wild cattle that were wreaking havoc. I was 35 years old when the King himself selected me. Don Salvador Mosquitos' Story: I am a surviving Mission Indian and I remember when the padres tried to convert the natives to Christianity. I rebelled and became a member of the great renegrade Indian Pomponio's tribe. There were only 50 of us left when Pomponio set up headquarters in the redwoods east of Pescadero. From our secret mountain perch, Pomponio led us on raids of well stocked ranches nearby, and as far away as Santa Clara and San Jose. The fathers at Mission Santa Clara were furious because we stole food as well as their fine horses. They made a plan to destroy Pomponio. They captured all the female Indians, forcing Pomponio to risk his life by riding with his men into the mission to free the women. We all got away but were followed by the mission's army into the mountains where there was a bloody fight that escalated into a slaughter leaving only me alive because I was too young to be killed. Further complicating the matter between Armas and Mosquito's claim, said Colonel Albert Evans, was the testimony of pioneer Alexander Moore. In the 1890s, he boasted: "I was the first settler in Pescadero and the only one left." Alexander Moore built the first frame house in Pescadero in 1853. Six years earlier, Moore, who was then 27, and his pregnant bride, crossed the plains from Missouri to California in a wagon pulled by oxen. When the six month journey ended in 1847, the Moores first settled in Santa Cruz and became the parents of sons Eli and Bill. Not yet convinced that he had found the perfect spot to settle, Alexander Moore often scouted the unfenced coastline north of Santa Cruz on a mule. He was looking for possible shipping points and news of shipwrecks; salvaging both the ship and its cargo was an excellent source of income in those days. Two years later, about 1849, the Moores had found Pescadero to their liking, building the house with lumber hauled by oxen from Santa Cruz. He also helped build Pescadero's first schoolhouse, hiring a teacher with his own money. By the 1890s Moore knew he had made the right decisions: he had been a county supervisor and was the owner of 700 acres. When in San Francisco, Alexander Moore boarded his horse at future Pescadero landowner Loren Coburn's stable. Considered an oldtimer in Pescadero he was often asked: "How many people lived in Pescadero when you got here?" Alexander Moore: Well, I will approximate it. Maybe there was a dozen."]]> 495 2008-02-29 00:27:46 2008-02-29 04:27:46 closed closed coburn-mystery-chapter-26-original-draft publish 0 0 post 0 Coburn Mystery: Chapter 27 (Original Draft) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/29/coburn-mystery-chapter-27-original-draft/ Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:41:32 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/29/coburn-mystery-chapter-27-original-draft/ 496 2008-02-29 12:41:32 2008-02-29 16:41:32 closed closed coburn-mystery-chapter-27-original-draft publish 0 0 post 0 .....Tubes of Mystery....Story & Photos by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/29/tubes-of-mysterystory-photos-by-john-vonderlin/ Fri, 29 Feb 2008 19:53:42 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/29/tubes-of-mysterystory-photos-by-john-vonderlin/ Honolulu Advertiser. The author of the article sought answers: What was their use, where did they come from and how did they end up in the ocean? The newspaper’s readers responded with posts; one person suggested that aliens must be involved. While that could prove to be true, in a limited way, here in California, I believe that the ways of nature had more to do with the tubes ending up in the water than the possibility U.F.O.s might be sprinkling them all over the Pacific Ocean. Fortunately, many of the Advertiser's readers and posters were more knowledgeable than the one UFO proponent, and informed the Hawaii newspaper that the “mysterious tubes” were oyster rack spacers. Oyster rack spacers are strung on a wire, alternating with drilled shells to keep them apart, then hung from a frame in shallow water. Clumps of oysters are grown on the shells, properly spaced for the best health and production of the bed. In Hawaii, it was the longer, thinner, sometimes colored tubes used in Japanese oyster farms that were found. The typhoons set the tubes free. The North Pacific Sub-Tropical Gyre then delivered them to the islands. While I also find a number of those tubes, the majority of the ones I find are from good ole' American and Bay Area oyster farms. They’re usually of shorter length, cut from half inch black poly-pipe. Here’s my theory: I suspect that the powerful storm that blasted us on Jan. 4th did lots of damage to the oyster farms in Tomales Bay, Drake's Estero and other nearby waters, setting free the bonanza of "The Tubes of Mystery." This picture of the debris

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I collected on Monday from Tunitas Creek Beach demonstrates that the tubes weren't the only things caught up in our recent storms. I set a one- day record of a dozen sand toys; shovels, a rake, a sifter, and a nice assortment of sand molds, including one for forming parapets on my next sand castle. md1.jpgmd2.jpg There was also a record number of plastic bottle caps and balloon remnants, many still tethered by colorful ribbons, only wrapped up in strands of kelp rather then the hands of excited children.

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Oddly, I found five more fish tags from "The Contender," a boat that sank years ago and whose fish tags figured in the solution to the mystery of Neptune's Vomitorium Lastly, I found a very rare "Shrunken Head Buoy." I believe boat fires are the cause of these shriveled floats. Unfortunately, I can't read the whole name on this one or I might be able to check its provenance. I think it starts with L.I.G., but can't be sure. Anybody, have any ideas? Enjoy. John Vonderlin]]>
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1880s: We would have all booked a room at the Swanton House http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/29/505/ Fri, 29 Feb 2008 21:44:59 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/02/29/505/ San Mateo Times & Gazette raved in 1896. Sarah and husband Charles Swanton ran the Swanton House Hotel for three decades, between the 1860s and 1890s, earning many return guests who appreciated the "courteous and accommodating way" they were always treated. The Pescadero community loved the Swantons because their well-run business brought cash into the village's economy, the general store, the restaurant, the stables, and so on. In fact, she kept a stable business next door to the Swanton Hotel and she hired R.K. Farley to run it, ferrying hotel guests to Pebble Beach,where entire days were spent sifting through the pebbles for a colorful one that might make a perfect pendant. Owning the stable next door also put Sarah into direct competition with Loren Coburn, Pescadero's least favorite citizen. Coburn also owned a stable and both Sarah and Loren depended on the tourist trade for profits. As I've posted many times, most visitors came to Pescadero to visit Pebble Beach, the well known hunting ground for beautiful "gems." Horse-and-wagons had to be rented to get to the popular beach a couple miles from town-- Loren also owned the delicious strawberry fields that bordered Pebble Beach-and when Coburn planted a fence around the fields and built a gate with a sturdy lock, he, in effect, declared war on both the locals and the tourists. Sarah's horse-and-wagons couldn't go to Pebble Beach, and she couldn't stop talking about it; she'd have to shut down the stable--and her loud and bitter complaints reached Loren Coburn. Now that Coburn had a monopoly on the stable business in Pescadero, he said Sarah was unhappy because "She couldn't go all over the country and do as she pleases." Sarah Swanton may have had little control over the livery stable market, but no one questioned her right to do as she pleased in her own hotel. She ruled over the billiard room and the parlor, but most of all she was the culinary expert. Her breakfast menu included: Mutton Chops Beef Steak Mountain Chickens Strong Coffee with sweet milk The Swanton House was "a plain country hotel with a good table" that once stood near the corner of what was called San Gregorio Street (now Stage Road.) Out in the street, in front of the hotel, stood the town's revered flagpole--the stars hand sewn by the village's matrons. The flagpole also served as a significant marker to measure distance from the town to a neighbor's house or a farm or a sawmill. Known throughout California, the Swanton House was the place to stay, especially in the 1860s for those addicted to pebble hunting. It was a delightful hotel with an intimate setting. Name plates above the rooms called out herbs such as Fern, Myrtle, Rose, Elm, Ivy and Woodbine. Sarah was born in Maine in 1825. She married Charles Swanton in the 1840s and the couple made their first home in Augusta, Maine where Sarah tapped her business acumen by operating a profitable millinery business until 1854. The hat business taught her how to please the fickle public. She gave birth to two children, Eva and Frank. Husband Charles, an employee of the Lighthouse Board, predecessor of the Coast Guard, was sent to the West Coast, ending up in Pescadero (where some 10 years later a lighthouse was built at Pigeon Point.) Sarah and the kids joined Charles in 1863, and together they opened the Swanton House. It was an overnight success, nurtured by the burgeoning popularity of that natural curiosity called Pebble Beach. And for San Franciscans, a new "get out of Dodge" place, no farther than a dusty seven hour stagecoach trip. "...After a sound night's sleep," penned Howard Glyndon, the pseudonym for Santa Cruz writer, Mrs. Searling, "the calm stillness of the morning is only broken by the singing of the birds, the echoes of the gurgling waters in the creek, or the roar of the surf on the beach." Assisting Sarah was her lovely daughter, Eva, described by one male guest, "as a very agreeable aide." At the peak of its popularity, the Swanton House accommodated 150 guests, hosting weddings as well. Sarah's jaunty husband, Charles, was a one-man chamber of commerce who loved showing off the the natural curiosities of Pescadero. He particularly enjoyed escorting hotel guests on a private tour of the Pigeon Point lighthouse. Charles Swanton's Guided Tour: 500,000 bricks were used in the construction of the cone-shaped white tower. On a clear day the white flashes are visible from the deck of a vessel 15 feet above the sea at a distance of 18 1/2 nautical miles. The Swanton's children did well in Pescadero. Eva wed local businessman Peter Stryker, and the couple later moved to San Francisco. In 1877 Sarah orchestrated son Frank's wedding at the hotel. But, as in everybody's life, tragedy eventually struck. Son Frank was 30 years old when he died of a heart attack. In the 1880s Charles showed signs of anxiety and mental distress; he was committed to the sanitarium at Napa, where he soon passed away. As a widow and grandmother, the hotel became the focus of Sarah's life. Then, in March, 1896, Sarah, who suffered from Bright's (kidney) Disease, died in her beloved hotel. Obits: "The death of Mrs. Swanton removes one of the oldest and most highly respected and estimable members of the community." --a San Francisco newspaper "...Although for the comfort and encouragement of the traveling public we must say her mantle has fallen on worthy shoulders of her only daughter, Mrs. Stryker takes charge."--San Mateo newspaper With Sarah Swanton's passing, the Swanton House lost its magic spark and the hotel was sold. After that, innkeepers came and went. As the years passed, the neglected Swanton House failed to age with dignity. The plain country hotel with a good table burned in the 1920s, in what could have been a case of arson, but no one was prosecuted. The famous Pescadero hotel turned to ashes but Sarah Swanton's legacy remains that of a willful, proud and productive woman. ---------------- Charles Swanton was Sarah's husband. Here is a bio of Charles Swanton from John Vonderlin  Charles W. Swanton. Was born in Bath, Maine, August 22, 1823, and  when he was about six or seven years of age, his parents moved to Bangor, in  the same State, where they resided five or six years, afterwards settling at  Augusta. They lived here three years and then moved to Portland. Mr.  Swan ton came to California in 1858 via Panama, landing in San Francisco in  August of that year. He went to Mariposa county and took charge of a quartz  mill for General J. C. Fremont, remaining there four months, when he located  for a time in Bear valley, in the same county, afterwards returning to San  Francisco. He came to Pescadero in 1861, and purchased the hotel now  known as the Swanton House, of which he is still the proprietor. He is mar-  ried,- and has two children. ]]> 505 2008-02-29 17:44:59 2008-02-29 21:44:59 closed closed 505 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1244746956 _edit_last 1 1880-81 Business Directory: Pescadero http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/01/1880-81-business-directory-pescadero/ Sat, 01 Mar 2008 23:12:10 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/01/1880-81-business-directory-pescadero/ here Email john (benloudman@sbcglobal.net Pescadero This pleasant agricultural town and summer resort is situated just south of Half Moon Bay, 38 miles from San Francisco, by coastline, and 38 miles from Santa Cruz. It is approached on either side by stages which connect with the several railroad systems at Santa Cruz, and with the S. P. R. R. at San Mateo. Through fare from Santa Cruz to San Francisco, the old Pescadero and Half Moon Bay, $5. The delightful situation of Pescadero and its equable climate makes the place popular, and those who go there to spend a few days seldom go away again as soon as they originally intended. The Swanton House, suggestive of the finest Eastern resorts in its splendid accommodations, ranks with them in all particulars. The house stands in the center of the little town, and is surrounded by tastefully-arranged grounds and detached cottages, intended for the accommodation of families. The main building contains well-aired and lighted rooms, parlors, closets and every convenience that a consideration of the comfort of guests can suggest. Abraham G. A., tinner Beatty B. F., physician CEREGHINO & DEBENEDETTI, general merchandise, branch of Half Moon Bay Cumins M, constable Fish J. B. Rev., pastor Methodist Church GARRETSON JOHN, dealer in general merchandise and liquors, postmaster, agent W. U. Tel. Co. and W., F. & Co., and proprietor San Francisco, San Mateo and Pescadero Stage Line George Joseph, barber Goulson John, blacksmith and wagonmaker Hamilton James A & Co., freight line HUGHES J. H., general merchandise KOSTER FREDERICK, blacksmith, wagonmaker and horseshoer MARSTON E. W., livery stable PESCADERO STABLES, E. W. Marston proprietor Roe & Raynor, butchers Stanbaugh S. S., physician Strong J. H. Rev., pastor Congregational Church Stryker P. G., Pescadero House SWANTON G. W., proprietor Swanton House and Livery Stable THOMPSON A. P., general merchandise, Main and San Gregorio Thompson W. J., justice of the peace Tufly John, flouring mill Wonfor James, bootmaker]]> 507 2008-03-01 19:12:10 2008-03-01 23:12:10 closed closed 1880-81-business-directory-pescadero publish 0 0 post 0 1870s: Colonel Zig Zag Covered All the News in San Gregorio... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/02/1870s-colonel-zig-zag-covered-all-the-news-in-san-gregorio/ Mon, 03 Mar 2008 03:28:32 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/02/1870s-colonel-zig-zag-covered-all-the-news-in-san-gregorio/ Mr. Savage purchased the San Gregorio House from George "W.T." Carter, the original owner-builder. The bearded Carter, who built because he believed in the coming of a railroad, actively promoted San Gregorio as a wonderful seaside resort. In 1866, he described his new hotel as "...situated in one of the most beautiful coast valleys, near to the ocean, with a salubrious climate, no summer winds, and of easy access." (Except during the winter rains.) George "WT" Carter's nom de plume was "Colonel Zig Zag," San Gregorio's faithful newspaper correspondent, mailing his stories to the San Mateo Times & Gazette. How did the out-of-town guests get to the San Gregorio House? The Half Moon Bay-Pescadero stages drove passengers to the hotel after picking them up in the morning at the San Mateo train station. You bet it was a rocky, dusty ride--the kind that made the driver want to stop for a strong drink or two midway through. As "Colonel Zig Zag," "WT" Carter bragged about the San Gregorio House. It was his place, after all, "offering superior attractions as a summer resort for the citizens of San Francisco. Hunting, fishing, boating and bathing in the immediate vicinity." Seven years later, Colonel Zig Zag sold the hotel to Savage, but Carter didn't leave San Gregorio; he remained a landowner with an active interest in his tiny farming community. In his role as columnist, penning the "San Gregorio Letter," Colonel Zig Zag collected admirers who crowned him the "Mark Twain of San Gregorio." In 1873--the year the winter rains drenched the land--potatoes were the big crop, and Alexander Gordon, who owned one thousand acres, was one of San Gregorio's leading citizens. Mr. Gordon, who became a county supervisor, came up with a wild plan to build a shipping chute at Tunitas Creek. Take my word for it, this was an engineering feat-- maybe even an act of desperation--because, other than the wharf at Pigeon Point, there was nothing closer that could accommodate both the farmers and the deeper water vessels. When "Gordon's Chute" was working as it was meant to work, freight regularly arrived from Purissima and Pescadero. One steamer made 23 trips in 49 consecutive days. "Not bad, for an outside landing where Goodall and Nelson can't run it," was Colonel Zig Zag's assessment. Who were Goodall and Nelson? They were the competition, operating landings at Pigeon Point and Amesport, in present day Miramar. San Gregorio was not all storms and commerce. There was a community, and of great interest to the ladies was the new "Secor" sewing machine--welcomed as an improvement over the old Singer model. The "Secor" was marketed by a quiet lady called Mrs. Roberson. For a saleslady, she said so little that one local quipped: "...the machine speaks for itself, which is quite an item, as the lady agent is not much of a talker herself." Although life was austere for the San Gregorians, there were plenty of chuckles. One time "an immense wild-cat skin" tacked to James Buchard's door brought wide grins. And the story accompanying it made the rounds. The 40-pound animal had been a nuisance, roaming up and down San Gregorio Creek, terrifying the city folk who came for a restful week of fishing, only to be told there was a "dangerous California lion" on the loose. "When they saw it," laughed those in the know, "their hair rose like the quills in a porcupine." The locals liked to tease the city folk. The San Gregorio community Colonel Zig Zag knew was warm and intimate. And the number of residents remained stable until the hoped-for railroad did not appear and then the town's population dwindled. "This has become one of the most shifting communities on record," Colonel Zig Zag wrote. "No sooner has the harvest been completed than a general stampede commences on all sides. Everybody is on the move to find a more comfortable layout." With heavy heart, he recorded a few of the changes "as a sample of how this burg is conducting itself." Eben Kinnear, who had grown from "a raw Scotch lad to a responsible member of society, was now an American citizen, married and moving to San Mateo. "He will carry with him the best wishes of many friends," promised Zig Zag. A tenant farmer called John Miller "was pulling up his corrals" and going into the stock business in San Francisco. Alexander Gordon and his family were expected to leave soon for San Mateo. "And so," complained Zig Zag, "I might go on Ad nauseam, and also tell you how H.C. Hart (the general store owner) wants to sell out and leave us. Rumor says he has found a purchaser in that quiet spoken old pioneer of S.G., John Sears." The price of taking stage back and forth, across the mountains factored into some of the relocations. It cost a whopping 85 cents to ride Taft and Woolley's stage to the Southern Pacific Railroad Station at San Mateo. "It is astonishing," the Colonel lamented, "what an amount of such punishment the public can stand." Clearly, it was heartbreaking for Colonel Zig Zag to keep track of folks leaving town--but there were plenty of other distractions to amuse him.  Most interesting, for example, among the "curiosities vegetile" was a muskmelon three- feet long.  And a local called  Culver "has a new patent quail trap; he caught 394 quail in 33 minutes." In an especially upbeat mood, Zig Zag wrote: "The newly appointed ministers for this benighted region are slow coming to the front (we always consider this place the front). We have been anxiously looking for them to put in an appearance and give us a sermon." What heated up Colonel Zig Zag's pencil was the controversial proposal, to be decided by vote, of whether or not to move the county seat from Redwood City to San Mateo. Zig Zag favored keeping the county seat where it was. To the north, the residents of Half Moon Bay disagreed. "The opening of new roads to Redwood City," Colonel Zig Zag opined, "has a debilitating effect upon your charming village, and you are justified in getting your back up about it, and you will try your best to move the county seat...We will go in for our own interests in this election, and may the best man (or place) win." The county seat remained in Redwood City. When closing one of his "Letters from San Gregorio," Colonel Zig Zag, no longer a young fellow, philosophized: "Like our youthful legend, we went to the end of the rainbow where the traditional bag of gold was to be found. We may have passed it on our journey, and now retrace our steps to seek it. It may have been at the other end of the bow..." By the way, the San Gregorio House still stands---and nobody has found the gold at the end of the rainbow.]]> 508 2008-03-02 23:28:32 2008-03-03 03:28:32 closed closed 1870s-colonel-zig-zag-covered-all-the-news-in-san-gregorio publish 0 0 post 0 1899 & an Unknown Year.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/03/1899-an-unknown-year/ Tue, 04 Mar 2008 03:31:11 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/03/1899-an-unknown-year/ Call Bulletin: Santa Cruz: Stage Topples Into the Sea Wave carries Disaster to the Pescadero Coach "20 miles up the coast the stage travels along the beach which at high tide is often covered by water. Yesterday the ocean was higher than at any time in 35 years. "When driver James Harvey reached this point a monster wave dashed against the stage and upturned it. "For 2 hours the horses, Harvey and the single passenger, William Steele, floundered in the cold waters of the Pacific. Both men are good swimmers. The horses were cut loose and found their way to dry land. Rigs arrived and after several hours the stage was turned over. The iron rim around the hub struck the rocks with such terrific force that it was bent like tin."]]> 509 2008-03-03 23:31:11 2008-03-04 03:31:11 closed closed 1899-an-unknown-year publish 0 0 post 0 What the heck is a "Vulcan Donut?" Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/05/what-the-heck-is-a-vulcan-donut-story-by-john-vonderlin/ Wed, 05 Mar 2008 04:41:47 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/05/what-the-heck-is-a-vulcan-donut-story-by-john-vonderlin/ vd.jpeg Because of the tread on one side, it was obvious they had been cut from tires. I also assumed the cheapness of the raw material, and its toughness, were crucial in whatever industry they were used in. But, the great variety of sizes they come in added a strong dose of mystery as to their purpose. or should I say purposes? While "Vulcan's Donuts" are non-buoyant themselves, needing wave action to kick them ashore from their resting spots on the ocean bottom, one day at the beach it all became clear when one floated in still at work. Here's a couple of pictures from my collection and some of the individual "Donuts." Are they familiar to you?

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As you'd expect, they are used in the fishing industry which explains the cheapness and toughness aspects. If you've walked the docks at Pillar Point Harbor, and looked carefully at the boats, and their equipment, you've most certainly seen these little non-buoyant rings at work.

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Vulcan's Donuts are used on the bottom of crab pot buoys to keep the knot in the rope from pulling into or through the buoy Enjoy John P.S. I retrieved the piece of the Model T tirevd3.jpeg that I had given to Meg in December. With a little flipping and flopping I fitted it all together and "Voila," it was complete. The fact that the three pieces just sat off Pescadero Beach's "vomitorium" until they were spit up tells me something about the dynamics of the whole process. I'm just not sure what. I've attached a picture of the tire.]]>
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Not the most exciting place: John Vonderlin Visits "The Gravel Quarry" http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/11/john-vonderlin-visits-the-gravel-quarry/ Tue, 11 Mar 2008 23:38:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/11/john-vonderlin-visits-the-gravel-quarry/ gq.jpg I’ve known about this area for some time, but had been “creeped-out” by the circumstance surrounding the access to this unusual, perhaps unique chunk of our coast. Most of the areas I visit are isolated, lonely spots where you see no one and no one sees you. But here you park in front of somebody's house, walk through a hole in a privacy fence, and stroll alongside their driveway and house until you reach a picturesque point. When I first made a serious attempt to visit here a few months ago, I found several new four- by- four posts, with their signs removed, where I had been told the access was. I didn't like the vibes, let alone the creepiness of seemingly trespassing on somebody's property.gq1.jpg Unsure, I contacted Linda Locklin, the California Coastal Commission Public Access Officer, about the reputed access, and what I thought might have been vandalism of the sign posts by nearby property owners, perhaps unhappy at the public visiting their gorgeous bit of coastline. I was in the right place but was wrong about the missing signs. It seems that CalTrans had put up the wrong signs as specified in the agreement reached by the government and the landowners and then had to remove them. They are on interminable back order and should be reposted eventually. Armed with the knowledge that the law was on my side, and familiarized by an article written by Lennie Roberts of the "Committee for Green Foothills," all about this place, (found at: greenfoothills.org/news , I finally decided to check it out. I'm glad I did, although it’s not one of the top places I've visited on my San Mateo coastside visits but it does have its own charm. gq2.jpg While looking at Picture #6291 on the California Coastal Records Project, I was mystified why it was called "The Gravel Quarry,” but a visit quickly cleared that up. The rock at this point is composed of an unusual conglomerate of millions of rounded river rocks cemented together. It looks like people long ago could drive right down to the shore and load up, using picks and shovels or a front-loader. The historic use of this resource, and the longtime popularity of fishing from the nearby rocky points, allowed the California Coastal Commission the right to demand access from the people who bought the property and built a house. Besides the view, and a couple of nice sea caves below the bluff, and the right to walk south for a hundred yards, there was only one other thing of note. While I was standing on the cliff, I repeatedly observed “a rainbow spume effect.” gq4.jpg The waves entering some feature in the cliff below me were rebounded in a cloud of fine spray in which the afternoon sun was producing a persistent rainbow. As always, my photographs didn't capture things as well as my eyes, but I'll attach a photo anyway.gq3.jpg While we all have the right to visit this spot, I would urge everyone that, if you do, please be sensitive to the privacy and property rights of the nearby landowners. It's not only the right thing to do, but pragmatically strengthens the Coastal Commission's ability to restore the public's right to access our beaches elsewhere without the angry, litigious, and potentially violent confrontations, that June recounted in her book, "The Coburn Mystery." Enjoy. John Vonderlin]]> 517 2008-03-11 19:38:00 2008-03-11 23:38:00 closed closed john-vonderlin-visits-the-gravel-quarry publish 0 0 post 0 The Legacy of Daniel Durigan...Story & Photos by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/12/the-legacy-of-daniel-duriganstory-photos-by-john-vonderlin/ Thu, 13 Mar 2008 02:35:41 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/12/the-legacy-of-daniel-duriganstory-photos-by-john-vonderlin/ headstone in the Mt. Hope Cemetery in Pescadero: the one for Enos Ralston. dd2.jpg He related to me that he and a friend were looking through some photos he’d taken twenty years ago and came upon one he had taken of the grave marker. His friend opined that the epitaph, (the reason it's my favorite), must have been composed by somebody famous. After online research he found no evidence of that and thought not. He did come upon my essay and asked if I wanted to look at his picture. Of course, I wanted to see it, and moreover it reminded me that I had wanted to return to the cemetery to check out a new marker I had recently read about. So I did. The grave marker I wanted to see is for Daniel Durigan, dd.jpg the owner for 38 years of Durigano's Nursery on Highway 1, south of Pescadero. Durigan was an avid rock collector and lapidarist. After his death, it was his wish to give his extensive lapidary tool collection to the Pescadero High School. Several students have begun exploring careers in lapidary because of Durigan’s generosity. I consider that one of the finest and possibly longest-lasting legacies one can leave. The positive effects of Daniel Durigan’s gift were manifested when one high school student used his tools to create a grave marker for Durigan, using an unusual type of local marble from Durigan’s collection and an inset of jade found off our shores, especially at Jade Cove, in the Big Sur area. While I was at the cemetery photographing Daniel Durigan’s grave marker, I noticed how spiffed up the entire cemetery was, compared to when I was last there. I suspect that is the work of Ed Weeks, the great, great, grandson of Brandon Weeks, one of Pescadero's founders. Five generations of Weeks' family are laid to rest at the Mt. Hope Cemetery, including Ed’s grandmother, Annie Weeks, and his first wife. In the Weeks’ family plot was a new headstone commemorating William Dewlaney,dd3.jpg who died last year. His epitaph is the sort I might want if I didn't favor cremation and oceanic dispersal, William Dewlaney 1938-2007 A COLORFUL CHARACTER. Enjoy. John Vonderlin]]> 523 2008-03-12 22:35:41 2008-03-13 02:35:41 closed closed the-legacy-of-daniel-duriganstory-photos-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 If you want to buy a copy of my "Coburn Mystery" book, it's http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/13/if-you-want-to-buy-a-copy-of-my-coburn-mystery-book-its/ Thu, 13 Mar 2008 18:48:34 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/13/if-you-want-to-buy-a-copy-of-my-coburn-mystery-book-its/ San Mateo County History Museum in Redwood City. There's ten copies at the museum and I am running out of the book. coburncover.jpg]]> 528 2008-03-13 14:48:34 2008-03-13 18:48:34 closed closed if-you-want-to-buy-a-copy-of-my-coburn-mystery-book-its publish 0 0 post 0 Coburn Mystery: Chapter 28 (Original Draft) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/13/coburn-mystery-chapter-28-original-draft/ Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:27:29 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/13/coburn-mystery-chapter-28-original-draft/ Coastside Advocate often wrote of Pebble Beach and its charming little pebbles. "Many are valuable gems," Jackson wrote, "such as carnelians, opals, cats eyes, agates, moonstones and water crystals making it a profitable as well as a pleasant pasttime to search the pebble banks." All this was hyperbole, making Pebble Beach sound like a big beach teeming with priceless jewels, similar to the Great Diamond Hoax (1872) where the pricey, glittering stones were said to be growing on the ground and in trees. Pebble Beach was only a quarter mile in width and several hundred yards long. "The first that I knew of it being called Pebble Beach was in 1864," Alexander Moore said. "I heard them talk about the pebbles....A lady by the name of Hale, an old lady that used to come down from a boarding house and a fellow by the name of Bill Carr...Ever since that time Pebble Beach has been a place of public resort." ...more coming..]]> 529 2008-03-13 19:27:29 2008-03-13 23:27:29 closed closed coburn-mystery-chapter-28-original-draft publish 0 0 post 0 A Rare Double Arch, A Boring Arch...& More...Story & Photos by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/14/a-rare-double-arch-a-boring-arch-morestory-photos-by-john-vonderlin/ Sat, 15 Mar 2008 03:15:07 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/14/a-rare-double-arch-a-boring-arch-morestory-photos-by-john-vonderlin/ he Gravel Quarry," we headed down to Ano Nuevo for a hike. My main purpose was to photograph the most southerly sea arch in San Mateo County. It's located at the northern limit of Cove Beach, a popular surfing spot at the south end of the park. You can access the cove by paying $6 to park at the State Park parking lot and taking a fairly boring hike along with all the other tourist families, or you can park for free about a half- mile south of the Park alongside Highway 1, and hike along the old access road, over the old bridge, and down the New Year's Creek path to the beach and head north. (CCRP Picture # 200506697) With breeding season over, most of the adult male Elephant Seals have left. But, there was one lone male sunning himself a.jpga2.jpgon the beach as I headed towards the arch. He looked so relaxed, I approached to within the legal distance of 25 feet, a bit closer then I recommend, and got some good photos. Unfortunately the tide was in, so I didn't get the close-up photo of San Mateo's most southerly arch that I was aiming for. But it's not that impressive anyway. ddjpg.jpg It is, however, the only arch of a series of arches that you can walk through, and that are hidden in this south- facing- part of Ano Nuevo Point. When the seals are gone I'll kayak along this stretch, and inventory, and photograph all of them. Though I can't be sure just how many there are despite studying the California Coastal Records Project (CCRP) pictures. Heading south, I photographed another large neta6.jpg embedded in the sand. It seemed to be a part of the net I recovered on my last trip to this area. This time, without the tools to cut the net up, I just had to leave it for another time. I also photographed the nearby “Elliot Falls,”a4.jpg the second most southerly, and perhaps the most picturesque of all the oceanfront waterfalls in San Mateo County. (CCRP # 200506703) Then it was into the Park, to take that boring walk I mentioned. At the Ranger Assembly area, where the guided tours to the Elephant Seal rookeries begin, there is a side path to a viewpoint on the bluff-top, I knew a small sea arch was visible from there, having studied the CCRP pictures. It turned out to be a fairly rare double arch, perhaps the only one in San Mateo County. orindaryarch.jpg Unfortunately, the picture doesn't really show the double arch. I could only be sure it was a double arch, because, when the waves moved through the arch-opening, they also surged out of its nearly submerged smaller companion. (CCRP # 200506688) With the sky clouding up, and the seemingly perpetual cold wind that blows out on the point gaining force, we called it a day. Another small slice of the amazing San Mateo Coast caught in both my camera's SD card and my wetware memory bank. Enjoy. John]]> 530 2008-03-14 23:15:07 2008-03-15 03:15:07 closed closed a-rare-double-arch-a-boring-arch-morestory-photos-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 Coming Soon: "Secret Beach," By John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/19/coming-soon-secret-beach-by-john-vonderlin/ Wed, 19 Mar 2008 22:40:54 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/19/coming-soon-secret-beach-by-john-vonderlin/ sb.jpg

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Secret Beaches: John Vonderlin Shows Us Coastside Beaches Few Have Seen... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/20/secret-beaches-john-vonderlin-shows-us-coastside-beaches-few-have-seen/ Thu, 20 Mar 2008 05:12:49 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/20/secret-beaches-john-vonderlin-shows-us-coastside-beaches-few-have-seen/

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barring any beach-goers travel southward. To the south a broad sand beach disappears from view behind a promontory of the sheer cliffs.

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Offshore to the south on the reef, composed of large, flat, low-lying rocks, broken by numerous channels, are scattered groups of Harbor Seals, lounging in the sun, safe from predators and bothersome humans.

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This area is a Protected Area closed to the Public. Please give them a wide berth as you paddle by, as they are much more skittish then other groups more used to seeing passing humans.

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Paddling to the south of the Protected Area there are more open stretches of the beach with fewer rocks where you can make a relatively stress free landing, provided you've used commonsense in regard to swell size and wind speed. Once ashore, if you've chosen a low tide period, you can traverse the next mile-and -a- half south with only a few seaweed slickened, risky passages. You can identify those areas by studying the large file photos of this area on California Coastal Records Project CCRP. Start at Photo #6147 which shows the Cowell Access Viewpoint, and begin your virtual cyber tour which ends at what I believe is Poppy Point, Picture #6167. Poppy Point is the end of the line for southward beach travel.

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The sheer cliffs from there to just north of Martins Beach have no beach at their wave-battered bases. They do, however, have the greatest number of sea caves of any stretch of the San Mateo Coast, and possibly any stretch of the California coast, at least that I am aware of. There are way more then fifty in the mile- and- a- half south to Shark Fin Rock, including several very large ones shown in Picture #6169. This summer, with any luck, I'll be posting a picture of what some of these caves look like from inside looking out. Enjoy. John ...More Coming..... .]]>
545 2008-03-20 01:12:49 2008-03-20 05:12:49 closed closed secret-beaches-john-vonderlin-shows-us-coastside-beaches-few-have-seen publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1212030171 _edit_last 1
Secret Beaches: What John Vonderlin Saw At Purisima Falls.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/20/secret-beaches-what-john-vonderlin-saw/ Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:54:45 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/20/secret-beaches-what-john-vonderlin-saw/ Coastal Trail Project) Half Moon Bay Review.com (/articles/2007/10/19/news/local_news/story06.txt) You can see the falls in Picture #6159, shot from a helicopter from a long distance on the California Coastal Records Project website, or enjoy it up close in the following pictures. I hope some day everyone gets to experience this unique area up close as I did. It truly is one of the crown jewels of the San Mateo Coast. A hidden gem so unknown you won't even find out about it by websearching. That seems a selfish crime. Enjoy. John Vonderlin

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Where the Sand Goes....John Vonderlin Shows Us..... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/20/where-the-sand-north-of-hmb-goesjohn-vonderlin-tells-us/ Fri, 21 Mar 2008 03:38:35 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/20/where-the-sand-north-of-hmb-goesjohn-vonderlin-tells-us/

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Coburn Mystery: Chapter 29 (Original Draft) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/21/coburn-mystery-chapter-29-original-draft/ Fri, 21 Mar 2008 04:17:11 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/21/coburn-mystery-chapter-29-original-draft/

The shoreline of Pebble Beach was rocky, and the pebbles, or stones, that been rolled and tumbled by the tides until they were polished smooth were ankle deep. The bright pebbles ranged in size from "a shot to a marble;" there seemed to be an endless variety of colors and shapes. There was a magnetic quality about them--and the place was enchanting. "The wind blows there like the blazes sometimes," said pioneer Alexander Moore. But the strong winds didn't affect the beach's reputation as a special place to visit, especially by the nearby community of Pescadero. In these early years, Pebble Beach was the glue that brought the villagers together, for picnics and celebrations of all kinds--the pebbles and the sand on which they lay became sacred ground. When Moore, a farmer, was nearing 70, he said it wasn't the pebbles that he was interested in, but, "What took me there mostly was to get something good to eat..." He'd never picked up more than a dozen pebbles off the beach. "Well, usually when I went there, I went to take ladies and children," said the dairyman Issac Steele, "to go pick pebbles and play on the beach and picnic...." Steele said he first rode horseback over the well worn trail to Pebble Beach in 1863. He suspected that were it not for the fascination of the pebbles, fewer people would visit Pescadero. Moore agreed with his neighbor. "...The people find Pebble Beach a nice place to go and lie down and wallow around in the pebbles...." The highly respected businessman J.C. Williamson, who settled in Pescadero in 1869, visited Pebble Beach "quite often...I have averaged 10 or 12 trips each year." In 1895 he recalled seeing two or three hundred picnickers there at one time. He had something to say about the road to the beach as well, noting that the people had created the road with their horses and carriages. The road was well worn with chuck holes filled by the local stablemen who brought visitors to the beach. Henry B. Adair, the roadmaster, who moved to Pescadero in 1875, noted: "...the first time I ever was at Pebble Beach was, I guess, not more than a week after I arrived in Pescadero." "If a fellow wanted to take his girl," said I.C. Steele, "he took her on horseback, either behind him or in front of him...." He remembered "wagon-loads, lumber wagons, there was scarcely anything else in the county there at the time,"--the time being the decade from 1862 to 1872, the years that the Steeles leased the southern portion of the Rancho Ano Nuevo from Loren Coburn. The pebbles were the big draw at Pebble Beach, but fishing from the rocks was a popular pasttime, too. Alexander Moore observed that "..there is hardly a day that passes without some people driving by my house with a fishing pole tied to their buggy."]]>
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Secret Beaches: What John Vonderlin Saw........ http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/21/secret-beaches-what-john-vonderlin-saw-2/ Sat, 22 Mar 2008 01:57:46 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/21/secret-beaches-what-john-vonderlin-saw-2/ c1.jpg 1) This remnant of a wooden boat had letters attached to it at one time that seem to spell Coos Bay, a harbor in Oregon. I'm going to try to find out if any boats from there were abandoned or sunk recently. It looks pretty fresh. c2.jpg 2) This is a typical fossilized clam found along our coast. I saw hundreds in the rocks during the walk. 3) This is a fossilized/agatized clam that we found in one small area. These are much rarer and older then the typical fossil clams found in this area. c3.jpg c4.jpg 4) This is the largest sea anemone I've seen on our coast. Its size when opened up would be impressive. 5) The sea anemone and friendsc5.jpg]]> 566 2008-03-21 21:57:46 2008-03-22 01:57:46 closed closed secret-beaches-what-john-vonderlin-saw-2 publish 0 0 post 0 ...On the way to "Secret Beach...What John Vonderlin Saw..... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/21/on-the-way-to-secret-beachwhat-john-vonderlin-saw/ Sat, 22 Mar 2008 02:09:37 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/21/on-the-way-to-secret-beachwhat-john-vonderlin-saw/ c11.jpg c21.jpg2) This cute little fellow had made this odd trail down the beach some time after high tide a few hours before. It didn't seem to be aware of our approach, so I went close enough to observe if there was a problem I could help with, like fishing line entanglement. It's eyes were open, but unresponsive. While I was walking back a few hours later I wondered if I should move it closer to the water or call the Marine Mammal Center for a rescue. Two vultures told me that wouldn't be necessary. 3) Nature can seem horrific, if it's not a food source we utilize. I've been told the high protein eyes are usually the first to go on fresh marine mammal carcasses.c31.jpg c41.jpg4) The short inlets eroded into the cliffs by seasonal streams had a lot of floats in them. As many float collectors as there are, that tells me few people come this way. 5) Limpet Town. I occasionally see shallow depressions in rocks filled to their edges by a limpet colony. Two together is highly unusual.c51.jpg]]> 571 2008-03-21 22:09:37 2008-03-22 02:09:37 closed closed on-the-way-to-secret-beachwhat-john-vonderlin-saw publish 0 0 post 0 Coburn Mystery: Chapter 29 (Original Draft) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/27/coburn-mystery-chapter-29-original-draft-2/ Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:03:08 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/27/coburn-mystery-chapter-29-original-draft-2/

After church on Sunday afternoons, the Fourth of July--or, for no special reason--the Pescadero folk announced a picnic at Pebble Beach. Picking the pebbles became a pretense, sharing the experience of being together replaced the village Town Hall. Pebble Beach became the fabric that held the close-knit community together. Simultaneously, the pebbles attracted visitors from as far away as Maine, outsiders who needed a comfortable place to stay. Mrs. Sarah Swanton offered them rooms in a row of charming white cottages, smothered with blood red roses and trailing green ivy. (An alleyway separated the six cottages called Fern, Myrtle, Rose, Ivy, Elm and Woodbine. All of the cottages opened onto a common garden filled with blooming flowers and shrubs. Beyond the garden was a wide promenade. Owners Charles and Sarah Swanton lived in the main house with their two children, Frank and Eva. The Swanton House, owned by Sarah and Charles Swanton, stood at the corner of San Gregorio Street and Bean Hollow Road, names that have changed over the decades. Travel writers described the bed and breakfast as a "plain country hotel with a good table," which meant Sarah was a pretty good cook. Old fashioned hospitality kept families returning to Pescadero but it was especially popular with women. The flagpole--a significant marker by which everyone marked distances--stood in front of the hotel. It was a part of everyday life, always mentioned when giving directions to strangers. And there was a story behind the flag made of store-bought blue flannel with the stars sewn on in the 1850s by the town's leading ladies. To the south stood a landmark ridge that the locals called Lincoln Hill, named for the famous president, giving away the town's Civil War sympathies. [I mention this because many & briefly, in San Francisco, were pro-Confederacy.] Union Army General Frederick Steele was a close relative of the Steele family, prominent dairymen at Ano Nuevo, south of town. Wooley & Taft's stagecoach picked up passengers daily at the San Mateo train station on the opposite side of the tree-covered mountain. The stage drivers, with reputations as hard drinkers and daredevils, careened over the hills.]]>
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The Coastside's Southern Entrance: Story & Photos by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/27/the-coastsides-southern-entrance-story-photos-by-john-vonderlin/ Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:55:06 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/27/the-coastsides-southern-entrance-story-photos-by-john-vonderlin/ Portola expedition, ranging ahead of the main expedition, which reached and made camp at the mouth of Waddell Creek on that day. Below you'll see excerpts from Miguel Costanso's diary that describes that time and place. Costanso's Diary: Friday, October 20. As we set out from the camp a very long slope presented itself; this we had to ascend after crossing the stream which flowed at the foot of the hill to the north. It was necessary to open the way with the crowbar, and in this work we were employed the whole morning. We afterwards travelled a long distance along the backbone of a chain of broken hills, which sloped down to the sea. We halted on the same beach at the mouth of a very deep stream that flowed out from between very high hills of the mountain chain. This place, which was named the Arroyo or Cañada de la Salud, is one league, or a little more, from the Alto del Jamón. The coast, in this locality, runs northwest by north. The canyon was open towards the north-northeast, and extended inland for about a league in that direction. From the beach a tongue of land could be seen at a short distance, west by north. It was low, and had rocks which were only a little above the surface of the water. To the Cañada de la Salud, 1 league. From San Diego, 177 leagues. (Picture #6402 at California Coastal Records Project [CCRP] showing the bluffs and the valley behind them shows why the weary explorers would have picked this wonderful spot to rest. The tongue of land he was referring to is Ano Nuevo Point) Saturday, October 21. We rested in this canyon while the scouts employed the day in examining the country. Observed with the English octant, facing the sun, the meridian altitude of the lower limb of the sun was found to be ... 41°41'30" Astronomical refraction to be subtracted ... 1' Inclination of the visual [horizon] in consequence of the observer's eye being three to four feet above sealevel, subtract ... 2' Semidiameter of the sun to be added ... 16' 13' Altitude of the center of the sun ... 41°54'30" Zenith-distance ... 48°5'30" Its declination at that hour was ... 11°2'3" Latitude of the place ... 37°3' During the afternoon and night heavy showers fell, driven by a very strong south wind which caused a storm on the sea. (You'll note in Picture #6402 of Waddell Creek in the CCRP pictures that the latitude of this spot is actually 37 degrees 5.69 minutes. Still, to be so accurate with such primitive instruments is a testimonial to the skill of these explorers) Sunday, October 22. The day dawned overcast and gloomy; the men were wet and wearied from want of sleep, as they had no tents, and it was necessary to let them rest to-day. What excited our wonder on this occasion was that all the sick, for whom we greatly feared lest the wetting might prove exceedingly harmful, suddenly found their pains very much relieved. This was the reason for giving the canyon the name of La Salud. (It is interesting to note in Father Crespi's, Portola Expedition diary that he mentions this place was initially named the "Valley of San Luis Beltran," and only after many of the sick recovered so quickly, despite a sleepless night in the cold rain of that late October day, was it renamed "Valley of Good Health." (Saint Beltran had been an early Dominican missionary in Colombia noted for his defense of the Indians against the more greedy and violent colonialists) Here's a picture of what that first scout, probing the beach to the north for the best path, would have seen.

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The rock projecting into the ocean in the foreground is known as “Alligator Rock”. In the background we see Ano Nuevo Point and San Mateo County. On the right are the Waddell Bluffs. “Alligator Rock,” so named because when the tide is in, it looks like a partly submerged alligator lurking watchfully for any unwary prey. Waddell Bluffs is named for William Waddell, an early settler and lumberman from the nearby coastal mountains. He built a sawmill up Waddell Creek, in what is now Big Basin State Park. The cut timber was hauled in mule-drawn carts on wooden rails through the canyon to the coast for shipping. His plans for a wharf at the mouth of Waddell Creek were foiled by bedrock that made it impossible to drive piles for a wharf, so he extended a tiny rail line north to Cove Beach on Point Ano Nuevo.

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From there he built a 700- foot long pier into deep water.

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A swinging chute at the end loaded lumber onto awaiting schooners. Built in 1864, Waddell’s wharf was moving two million board feet of timber three years later. After successfully conquering all the dangers of logging the mighty redwoods and shipping them off to market in rickety boats, Mr. Waddell was tragically mauled by a grizzly bear while deer hunting, soon after dying of complications in 1875. The Bluffs themselves have left a longer lasting legacy. They, and their continual landslides, served as a natural barrier to transportation to the north, turning the routes that fostered major development inland to the Santa Clara Valley, leaving much of the Coastside undeveloped. Even today, Highway 1 remains gripped in a perpetual battle with the ever-eroding talus slope of the Waddell Bluffs. Every year between 17,000 and 26,000 cubic yards of sliding material is removed, and then dumped onto the western side of the highway, keeping the road clear, and preventing it from falling into the sea, as the soil, and rock below it, are carried away by waves. At the turn of the 20th century, road-builders were not so successful. Stagecoaches, carriages and wagons had to time their arrival to this stretch of beach at low tide. For about three quarters of a mile north of Waddell Creek, they would have to proceed over the recently wave-swept beach. At the halfway point of this risky traversal, they reached what was known locally as "Cape Horn." (Named after the tip of South America because of the extremely difficult, dangerous trip rounding the continent in the icy storm infested waters.) This was a continually sliding area just above Alligator Rock. There they had to temporarily leave the beach and climb a steep, rutted path across the landslide rubble from the Bluffs to get around a promontory. Fresh landslides stopped traffic north and south until the rubble was cleared. In this century, to put your foot on the most southerly stretch of San Mateo County's beaches you must climb down the large riprap boulders where "Cape Horn" was, just feet south of Alligator Rock. You can see it and the nearby parking spot in Picture #6397 on the CCRP website. Reaching the beach, head north, and after about two hundred yards, you'll reach the Promised Land of Saint Matthew, for whom San Mateo County is named. Continuing north you'll soon come upon Wilson Falls, the most southerly waterfall in San Mateo County.

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Not much further is the more picturesque Elliot Falls

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As you are walking along, you might want to look around for the rocks that I call “eyeballs.” They are black chert nodules with layers of white material. Differential erosion often leaves them looking like eyeballs.

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The local Ohlone Indians gathered the large, solid pieces of black, glassy chert, and used them for tool manufacturing, or for trading items with inland tribes. Several times while walking this stretch, I've met geologists who told me this area is a good source of “agatized whale bone.” Not having the tools, time or desire to convert the dull rocks they showed me into polished specimens, they remain a mere curiosity. As we head further north we come to a place where the beach narrows considerably, disappearing entirely at high tide.

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Look up at the Cliffside, and you'll notice a number of concretions, many spherical, a few dumbbell-shaped, partially eroded from the soft rock.

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If the tide is favorable you can continue northward, and in a few hundred yards you'll view Finney Falls, the only waterfall I know besides Pfeiffer Falls in Big Sur, that drops right into the surf at times.

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Because it’s partly fed by irrigation on the coastal terrace above, Finney Falls can be flowing during anytime of the year, though winter is best. Watch for concretions, layers of fossils

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or scattered individual ones in many places in the cliff. Be aware though that this whole stretch is very unstable, and it’s common to find a new cliff collapse whenever I visit. Continuing northward you’ll reach New Year's Creek. At this point climb the path that will take you across the old bridge and back to the free parking spot on Highway 1, or continue to the end of the beach where the most southerly arch in San Mateo County is located.

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This is also near where the pictures of Waddell’s wharf and railroad were shot. Waddell’s warehouse and lumberyard stood Just above you on the blufftop. Nearby there’s a path that heads up to the trail on the bluffs that heads northwest to the Elephant Seal rookeries on Ano Nuevo Point. Usually, after the 31st of March, the trail is open without the need for a docent guide. Or you can head back to the main parking lot and Ranger station. Enjoy. John Vonderlin]]>
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...Dear Mr. Vonderlin...... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/27/dear-mr-vonderlin/ Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:18:10 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/27/dear-mr-vonderlin/

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Mr. Vonderlin, I've enjoyed reading Half Moon Bay Memories and El Granada Observer as well as your Pescadero Memories, particularly references to the OSRR, which I became acquainted with in the late 1920s. My uncle took my brother and me on a hike along the right-of-way from Thornton to Mussel Rock. Though the rails had been torn up, still it was obvious a railroad had been there. In 1939 I made several bike trips down the coast from San Francisco, once climbing to the top of the collapsed tunnel at Pedro Point to view the grade south to Devil's Slide. And I also drove to Santa Cruz in a friend's Model A Ford, borrowed from his brother, always looking for OSRR remnants. At Pescadero beach it looked like grading of the dunes had been done south of the "mysterious tunnel" bluff you described. On a much later visit I found the tunnel portal, and since the grading I'd seen earlier would have led to the tunnel site, I surmised that the OSRR had built the tunnel either as a pilot bore, or to use it to blow down the hillside for easier grading. Your north portal pictures puzzle me as they don't appear to coincide with this surmise. I've never seen anything about this in the OSRR literature. Re the Palmer Gulch Trestle: I have a photo of it given to me in 1939 that shows the trestle had already started to sag in the middle. About 1960 a friend and I hiked down to it; by then it was sagging noticeably. On the north side was a large, weathered (tool?) box, about 12'x4'x4' roughly. It had an old padlock on it which we left as is. We walked across the trestle, and my friend took pictures, of which I have a couple. Unfortunately, they are now badly faded (Polaroid camera?). but the rotted ties are still evident. I don't believe it burned down because I saw an internet picture of it taken a few years after our crossing, and it was in nearly collapsed condition, and the text said it totally collapsed shortly after. Regrettably I didn't add it to my OSRR "favorites," and have never found it on the Web again. Thanks again for your interesting memories of the San Mateo coastside. Angelo Misthos, Sebastopol CA. -------------------------------------- John Vonderlin says (email John: benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June, I received this interesting email today. It reminded me the tunnel (s) story is not a mystery solved. I'll get back to it. The gentleman from the cemetery has said he'll show us it, so maybe it exists. I sent Angelo a picture of a burnt timber, though that might have happened after collapse. I loved that he lives in Sebastopol. I used to have a wonderful ranch/family orchard in the hills west of town during the Seventies. George Lichty, the cartoonist of "Grin and Bear It," fame lived across the street. The Thomases who owned the American Opinion Bookstore (John Birch Society--remember them?) were at one corner, two gay interior designers from S.F. on another and a schoolteacher couple who were Sufis on another. A great time in my life to recall. Where has my youth gone? Larry Fitterer and I are going to be lowering ourselves down the cliffs into "The Notch" and Acid Beach on April 9th or 10th. Yee-Haw. Hopefully, I won't break my typing fingers or anything else. Enjoy. John]]>
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....Another One Bites the Surf....Story by John Vonderlin.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/28/another-one-bites-the-surfstory-by-john-vonderlin/ Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:58:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/28/another-one-bites-the-surfstory-by-john-vonderlin/
I was reading the presentation by "Save Our Shores," entitled, "A Geologic Train Ride Down The San Mateo County Coast," when I came upon an interesting photo. It's of a very attractive Sea Arch just south of Martins Beach. This stretch of coast from Martins Beach to the site of Gordon's Chute at the northern limit of Tunitas Beach is inaccessible except by watercraft. Which is probably why the photo was taken from an aircraft. The caption says the arch collapsed due to the Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1989. I thought that gave it some special cachet, and the Sea Arch deserves mentioning even though it's gone.

If you'd like to see the before and after you can do so on the California Coastal Records Project website.


The arch appears in the 1972 (#7218025), 1979 (#7928064). and 1987 (#8713158) photos and is gone in the 2002 (#6190) photo.

Well, not entirely gone. When you click on the 2002 photo, to access the large file photo, you can see the missing pieces lying in the shallow water, the surf busting over them. An inglorious, but inevitable end considering the forces of Nature this feature faced. I wonder how many other of the disappearing arches of our coast suffered the same fate from the frequent (geologically speaking) earthquakes that shake our coast?


When I kayak down this part of the coast this summer, I'll be sure to get a picture of this spot. I wanted to investigate the huge sea cave just to the right of the former arch's spot on the 2002 picture (#6190) anyway.

By the way the dark spots above the white areas on the cliffside are birds. You can see them perching on tiny ledges all along here in the pictures. I'm not sure what species. Enjoy. John

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......Cave...............................Coastside Cave...........................Coastside............ http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/28/coastside-cave/ Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:29:52 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/28/coastside-cave/ cave.jpgcave.jpg]]> 597 2008-03-28 20:29:52 2008-03-29 00:29:52 closed closed coastside-cave publish 0 0 post 0 Hi John. Larry Fitterer here. I was FLOORED to read your http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/29/hi-john-larry-fitterer-here-i-was-floored-to-read-your/ Sat, 29 Mar 2008 16:25:40 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/29/hi-john-larry-fitterer-here-i-was-floored-to-read-your/ 598 2008-03-29 12:25:40 2008-03-29 16:25:40 closed closed hi-john-larry-fitterer-here-i-was-floored-to-read-your publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1207152923 _edit_last 1 ..........Pebble Beach with Hotel............ http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/29/pebble-beach-with-hotel/ Sat, 29 Mar 2008 16:48:35 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/03/29/pebble-beach-with-hotel/

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Coburn Mystery: Chapter 30 (Original Draft) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/02/coburn-mystery-chapter-30-original-draft/ Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:01:03 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=604 604 2008-04-02 12:01:03 2008-04-02 16:01:03 closed closed coburn-mystery-chapter-30-original-draft publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1207152063 _edit_last 1 What Happened to the Palmer Gulch Trestle? John Vonderlin Tells Us... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/02/what-happened-to-the-palmer-gulch-trestle-john-vonderlin-tell-us/ Thu, 03 Apr 2008 00:21:55 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=605

(Photo: trestle at Tunitas Creek) Hi June, Angelo's email about the fate of the Palmer Gulch Trestle stimulated me to do a little research. I had stated in my story about our pilgrimage to the trestle, that a fire caused its collapse. Angelo’s sources said that it had collapsed by itself. My belief was based on being told that it had been set on fire, coupled with the paucity of remaining timbers, and the fact that most of those were fire-scarred. Nonetheless, he was right. I now believe the trestle collapsed over a period of more than a decade, and was severely scavenged after it collapsed. Then its remains were set on fire. Here's why: If you go to the California Coastal Records Project (CCRP) website, and look at the 1979 Picture #7928080, you can clearly see the trestle has collapsed. The right side of the canyon has a long intact stretch of the roadbed (or whatever you call the top where the rails would have been laid) slumped into the canyon, but still mainly intact. The left side of the canyon has an impressive “Pickup Stick” pile of timbers littered across the slope below the right-of-way. The 1972 Pictures #7218035 (&6) show the left side of the trestle to be collapsed, but with some of the superstructure still standing. The roadbed on the right side is also collapsed, but can't be seen as clearly as in the 1979 picture because of the quality of the photo. Meg tells me that after our trip to the trestle, she attended a meeting where she met a gentleman who related how he had scavenged heavy timbers from the trestle to support his waterbed. (The modern waterbed was first created by Charles Hall, San Francisco State University student in 1968, after trying unsuccessfully first with cornstarch, then Jell-O. ) I suspect, with vehicle access to the beach from several roads, both the north and south, he was just one of many who valued the timbers for their functionality and/or provenance. Though I've heard second-hand that the remains were set on fire, I don't know when or if it was deliberate. It must have been done in wet weather as there is no sign of a burnt landscape in the 1987, 2002, 2004. or 2005 pictures. Maybe somebody out there knows the details. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, Angelo. Enjoy. John Vonderlin]]>
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Ocean Shore Railroad Pamphlets.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/03/ocean-shore-railroad-pamphlets/ Thu, 03 Apr 2008 06:36:24 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=607

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John Vonderlin Says: I think I found the "Mystery Tunnel!"... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/04/john-vonderlin-says-i-think-i-found-the-mystery-tunnel/ Sat, 05 Apr 2008 03:01:02 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=610 Mystery Tunnel Story & Photos by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June, Angelo's email confirmation that there used to be a tunnel, possibly associated with the Ocean Shore Railroad, just north of the most northerly Pescadero Beach parking lot was reason enough for me to try again to find the tunnel, or at least locate where it had been. Various people have described the tunnel as an initial “bore tunnel” for the O.S.R.R. as well as an explosives storage site for construction of Highway 1, which, I believe, was built on the O.S.R.R. right-of-way in this area. During the past few weeks, I’ve stomped all over the area, and found no sign of it, but I was LOOKING FOR A TUNNEL. This time I was basically looking for SIGNS OF WHERE A TUNNEL HAD BEEN. Lowered expectations can often lead to success. And, I believe I've found where it was. I suspect, just as with the Prankster's tunnel, and the nearby W.W. II observation tunnel, that the authorities have eliminated what they considered to be a public nuisance. Having explored many mine tunnels, shafts, etc. in the Mojave Desert, I can understand why they've done so, but it's sad that history was also obliterated along with the danger. Here's a picture of the hillside just north of the parking lot.

I've marked where I believe the tunnel was. I believe this is so because it’s the only anomaly on a generally smooth hill and there seems to be the remnant of a road that runs up the hill and passes just below it disappearing slightly further on. Here's a close-up shot of where I believe the opening was.

On the California Coastal Records Project (CCRP). website, if you look at 7218061, you’ll see what the area where the tunnel was looked like in 1972. Unfortunately, the angle and clarity of the image doesn’t allow me to see exactly what was there besides a couple of paths. Lastly, I've attached a photo shot from slightly above and slightly to the west of the tunnel.

I assume the footprint of Highway 1 is pretty much the O.S.S.R. right-of-way. In author Jack Wagner’s excellent book, "The Last Whistle," he inserted a chart showing the size of the completed and proposed trestles for the railroad. The Pescadero trestle, never built, was to be only 36 feet high, but 375 feet long. That would neatly carry it from the bedrock near where the present bridge is anchored on the south end, over the Pescadero Creek riparian corridor, to the slightly higher and more solid ground of the low ridge that separates the Pescadero Marsh from the dunes. Looking at the 1972 CCRP pictures,(#7218063 to 7218065) you can see this ridge has changed very little over the last 35 years, while a considerable amount of sand on the beach has disappeared. Given these facts, I suspect it’s likely that the tunnel stored explosives for construction of the railroad and/or the highway. Perhaps, somebody out there has a picture or knows for sure. Enjoy. John Vonderlin. . M]]>
610 2008-04-04 23:01:02 2008-04-05 03:01:02 closed closed john-vonderlin-says-i-think-i-found-the-mystery-tunnel publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1208996249 _edit_last 1
"Two-fer": Arch & Tunnel...Story by the South Coast's Great Adventurer John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/05/two-fer-arch-tunnelstory-by-the-south-coasts-great-adventurer-john-vonderlin/ Sun, 06 Apr 2008 03:39:06 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=614 Should you want to visit this “twofer,” the arch and the W.W. II Observation Tunnel, you can locate them on Picture #6248 at the C.C.R.P. website. Unfortunately, because of the angle the photograph was taken from the helicopter, you can't see either of them. The tunnel mouth is in the canyon right in the middle of the picture. It is just above and to the left of where the seasonal waterfall drops off the cliff to several large rocks on the beach, but hidden by a small ridge. The arch is just about a hundred feet south of the waterfall in the promontory projecting out from the lower part of the cliff. Enjoy. John]]> 614 2008-04-05 23:39:06 2008-04-06 03:39:06 closed closed two-fer-arch-tunnelstory-by-the-south-coasts-great-adventurer-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1207709914 _edit_last 1 ...Then & Now....Once the Centerpiece: Purissima Falls.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/08/then-nowpurissima-falls/ Wed, 09 Apr 2008 03:12:09 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=625 (Photo: Purissima Falls. L-R, Courtesy San Mateo County History Museum. John Vonderlin.) You can read more about Purissima, the town that could have been Half Moon Bay. Click here You can email John Vonderlin; he's been to Purissima Falls: (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)]]> 625 2008-04-08 23:12:09 2008-04-09 03:12:09 closed closed then-nowpurissima-falls publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1212030320 _edit_last 1 1922: Pigeon Point Schoolhouse Burns...... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/09/1922-pigeon-point-schoolhouse-burns/ Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:07:34 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=631 From the Coastside Comet, published in Montara, December 1922 The grammar school of the Pigeon Point district was burned to the ground at six o'clock on Tuesday morning, by a fire of unknown origin. Following a report received by his office, Superintendent of Schools Roy W. Cloud went to Pigeon Point yesterday and made an investigation. It was found that abalone hunters passing the schoolhouse at 2 o'clock in the morning had seen a light, and upon looking in the windows had seen several people, apparently campers, asleep on the floor. The abalone hunters went on their way without disturbing the sleepers. At 6 o'clock residents of the vicinity saw the building suddenly break into flames, and before anything could be done the entire building and contents were destroyed. The school, which would have closed for the Christmas vacation on December 10, was forced to close immediately on account of no other building being available. Arrangements are now being made for the securing of the Wiedemann dance hall, which was across the road from the school. When these arrangements are completed, the dance hall will be put in shape for use as a school room, and it is thought will be ready for occupancy following the Christmas vacation. "The burning of this little school was very unfortunate," said Superintendent Cloud in speaking of the fire yesterday. "The campers who were seen sleeping on the floor are and thought to have left some fire in this building when leaving. However, we have no means of knowing definitely who they were or which way they went when leaving the school..." (Photo: Friends & Staff fooling around in front of the Coastside Comet's office in Montara.)]]> 631 2008-04-09 20:07:34 2008-04-10 00:07:34 closed closed 1922-pigeon-point-schoolhouse-burns publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1207810409 _edit_last 1 1914: Pescadero's Lafayette Chandler passes.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/09/1914-pescaderos-lafayette-chandler-passes/ Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:53:39 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=635 635 2008-04-09 20:53:39 2008-04-10 00:53:39 closed closed 1914-pescaderos-lafayette-chandler-passes publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1207788819 _edit_last 1 June 1980: Pescadero's Flagpole Makes A Comeback http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/10/june-1980-pescaderos-flagpole-makes-a-comeback/ Fri, 11 Apr 2008 01:12:03 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=637 637 2008-04-10 21:12:03 2008-04-11 01:12:03 closed closed june-1980-pescaderos-flagpole-makes-a-comeback publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1207876323 _edit_last 1 2 Dangerous Trips to Acid Beach and a Y-Shaped Double Arch http://pescaderomemories.com/2-dangerous-trips-to-acid-beach-and-a-y-shaped-double-arch/ Sat, 12 Apr 2008 06:05:56 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?page_id=638 638 2008-04-12 02:05:56 2008-04-12 06:05:56 closed closed 2-dangerous-trips-to-acid-beach-and-a-y-shaped-double-arch publish 0 0 page 0 _edit_lock 1207980357 _edit_last 1 Acid Beach and Beyond http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/13/acid-beach-and-beyond/ Sun, 13 Apr 2008 06:47:28 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=640

It had fallen over and was hidden in the underbrush, but still bristling with mystery. I'd love to know who Monty Parker was, what killed somebody so young, who must have been extremely physically fit to rappel down the cliff to reach "his" beach, and why and who went to the effort to memorialize him in such a touching way? It turns out the spot I thought was the rappel spot, what I considered a sure trip to the Emergency Ward, was not the actual rappel spot. The actual spot was about a 100 feet north and had three different pipes and a chain sunk into a subterranean concrete block that had been used as anchors to secure a rope at various times. While the cliff was not as fractured as where I thought the site had been and there was no stream to slicken the footing, if the Pranksters used this spot to access the beach below, somebody must have had some serious technical climbing skills. Much more on this soon. Enjoy. John P.S. Check out this Y-shaped double arch, or is it a triple, on the south end of the tiny cove between Warm Water Lagoon and Acid Beach.

Hands down, this is the best arch on our coast. Next trip I'll have pictures from inside it. On the north side of this fifty foot wide cove is this other sea arch/tunnel leading to Acid Beach.

If you don't mind getting your feet wet or if there is a minus tide of more then one foot, you can walk all the way through this. I can think of no fifty foot stretch of the California Coast that rivals this tiny, unnamed and almost unreachable cove.]]>
640 2008-04-13 02:47:28 2008-04-13 06:47:28 closed closed acid-beach-and-beyond publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1208996056 _edit_last 1
Warning: I Hate To Spoil The Fun...But Adventures Can Be Dangerous To Your Health http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/16/warning-i-hate-to-spoil-the-funbut-my-adventures-can-be-dangerous-to-your-health/ Wed, 16 Apr 2008 23:35:59 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=651 The icy cold ocean, with its surging surf, waits below to deliver the coup de grace if you should somehow survive the fall. Your screams for help are not likely to be heard by the very few people I've ever seen that stop at the nondescript pull- off above the cove, and bushwack their way through the poison oak to the edge to look down.. There's no cell phone reception, no nearby public telephone, and any medical care or emergency aid is going to take an eternity to come to your aid. If that doesn't dissuade you, please, please, please do not do this alone, as I did my first time last week. Do it with a partner, or like we did my second time, with a "911 duty station officer" (a friend who doesn't like heights that deserves the lofty title for sitting on the bluff-top and watching your progress below). Bring a rope too, as the few meager handholds I used to climb back up the first time have fractured further, and look ready to break free, sending you and an unknown quantity of rock falling together in a scene worthy of a Coyote and Roadrunner cartoon, with results nowhere near as funny. Lastly I've attached a picture looking up at the cliff from the beach as a reminder that things falling down and hitting you (including your exploring partners, or rocks they might loosen) pose a danger as relevant as you slipping and falling. Even with all this in mind, I can still hardly wait until my schedule and the low tides that make exploration of this area easier, coincide, so I can return. I hope when I return to my keyboard for the next part of this story, I can find the words, and select the pictures, that will do justice to this stunning stretch of coast and its natural wonders. Enjoy. John]]> 651 2008-04-16 19:35:59 2008-04-16 23:35:59 closed closed warning-i-hate-to-spoil-the-funbut-my-adventures-can-be-dangerous-to-your-health publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1208389111 _edit_last 1 The Secret of the South Coast Tunnels: Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/17/the-secret-of-the-south-coast-tunnels-story-by-john-vonderlin/ Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:11:39 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=655 railroad. The person was surprised that there were railroad tunnels still existing in the southern portion. So was I, as I couldn't remember reading about them before. I did some online research and didn't find much except when I websearched "Davenport Tunnels" and a photo sharing page by Jef, at acme.com came up. There were a number of photos of the Liddell Creek tunnel and the San Vicente Creek Tunnel he had taken. There was also a link there by clicking on "hundred year old tunnels" that takes you to another website that explains things very well and has some great pictures of the ramparts built for the railroad. As it turned out, when I found time to read the whole Wikipedia article there is an “External Link” to this same website. It is in the External Links list and is entitled "Secret History: Information about the railroad ramparts and the creek tunnels." I've added it to my list of places to visit and photograph. It's just a quick trip from the Acid Beach area, so maybe I'll be wading through the tunnels soon. By the way the main website, "Secret History" by Sandy Lydon, the History Dude, has a collection of other subjects about the Santa Cruz area that are equally fascinating. Enjoy. John]]> 655 2008-04-17 12:11:39 2008-04-17 16:11:39 closed closed the-secret-of-the-south-coast-tunnels-story-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1208996594 _edit_last 1 Coburn Mystery: Chapter 32 (Original Draft) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/18/coburn-mystery-chapter-32-original-draft/ Fri, 18 Apr 2008 21:18:05 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=656 656 2008-04-18 17:18:05 2008-04-18 21:18:05 closed closed coburn-mystery-chapter-32-original-draft publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1208553485 _edit_last 1 Coburn Mystery: Chapter 33 (Original Draft) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/20/coburn-mystery-chapter-33-original-draft/ Sun, 20 Apr 2008 19:32:32 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=657 To see a pendant from Pebble Beach, click here In 1872 H.A. Schofield, the San Mateo County Gazette editor, stayed overnight at the Swanton House and his report gives us a glimpse of how Sarah Swanton ran the bed and breakfast business. When he arrived the hotel was buzzing with mostly women and children talking about going to nearby Pebble Beach. They were discussing travel arrangements: they could take the hotel's wagon or wait for the stage or contact the former Santa Cruz sheriff who rented teams of horses at any time of the day. (Silas Swanton, brother of Charles, left Massachusetts for Pescadero where he bought a half-interest in the Pescadero Livery Stable. Silas lived in the house, later bought by Loren Coburn.} The Swanton House was also a popular wedding spot. The Swanton's son, Frank, was married there in 1877. (Sadly, when only 30, he died of a heart attack.) Ask anybody in town and they would tell you that Sarah Swanton ran the hotel. It wasn't a good idea to cross her. Her official domain included the kitchen, parlor and billiard room. Assisting her was pretty daughter, Eva, who later wed Pescadero businessman Peter Stryker. Not to be missed in the dining room was the magnificent collection of pebbles and a cabinet filled with marine and geological curiosities, all said to be from Pebble Beach. Where are the Swanton House pebbles and curiosities today?]]> 657 2008-04-20 15:32:32 2008-04-20 19:32:32 closed closed coburn-mystery-chapter-33-original-draft publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1208720957 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin says "I recaptured the errant battering ram" http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/20/john-vonderlin-says-i-recaptured-the-errant-battering-ram/ Sun, 20 Apr 2008 20:47:31 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=663 Hi June, A few months ago I told you about sawing off a chunk of a huge telephone (?) pole at Pescadero Beach. I wanted to use it in my "Battering Ram" artplay piece. With a huge bolt through it, kept in place with two giant nuts, the pole was too heavy at the time to get up the cliff and stairs to the parking lot. I managed to wrestle it up the rocks and leaned it against the ice plant dangling down to the foot of the cliff, thinking it was safe from the tide and waves, until I could figure out how to rescue it.

Then we had the series of giant waves that coincided with some extremely high tides, reaching places I haven't seen inundated in the four years I've been haunting this coast. And my treasure disappeared. About two months ago I spotted it, lodged in the rocks less then a hundred feet from where I had left it. Best of all, it was now on solid rock, instead of a minefield of ankle-busting, shifty, rounded boulders, as it had been. Above it there was a choppy, but relatively gradual slope to the top of the promontory, about twenty some feet higher. Well, today, equipped with a couple of lariats, and a few cans of liquid courage, I went to round up my errant art supply. I'm happy to say it is now resting in my driveway, awaiting its incorporation into the family of escaped rogues the larger artplay piece represents. For those not familiar with this piece, let me describe it and its meaning. Battering Rams are creosote-soaked telephone or power poles that somehow end up in the ocean. Virtually immortal because of their resistance to decay, they smash the already struggling flora and fauna on the reefs or oceanside rocks millions of times before they are reduced to splinters. Each time they are blasted into their vulnerable or immobile victims they deposit smudges of their toxic and carcinogenic oil tars, an oceanic version of rubbing salt into the wounds they cause to this ecosystem. I round these miscreants up, wrapping them in tight coils of hundreds of feet of recovered crab pot rope in the cliche-ish manner of the landscaping arrangements found in front of many seafood restaurants. I haven't decided yet if I should add a Marine Debris version of the obligatory pelican one expects to find perched on these symbolic arrangements. If I do something like that I want it to be on a ten- foot centerpiece pole, a backbreaking "piece de resistance." I'm not sure how many tourists photographed me in my Sysiphustic struggles, but a handful of the more curious approached me with questions. Needless to say, I found reason to stop and graciously answer their every question, hoping they had more. Later when I was describing my efforts to get this Prodigal Pole, with its two giant nuts attached, up the hill, my brother couldn't resist noting there were actually three nuts attached to it. I could only sigh and quote Shamu, the French Orca Philosopher, "The struggle itself...is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy."  Enjoy. John]]>
663 2008-04-20 16:47:31 2008-04-20 20:47:31 closed closed john-vonderlin-says-i-recaptured-the-errant-battering-ram publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1208724451 _edit_last 1
The Wrack is Back by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/20/the-wrack-is-back-by-john-vonderlin/ Sun, 20 Apr 2008 21:07:25 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=669

To read "The Wrack is Back" by John Vonderlin, click here]]>
669 2008-04-20 17:07:25 2008-04-20 21:07:25 closed closed the-wrack-is-back-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1208996410 _edit_last 1
Chapter 34: Coburn Mystery (Original Manuscript) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/22/chapter-34-coburn-mystery-original-manuscript/ Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:12:17 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=671 671 2008-04-22 21:12:17 2008-04-23 01:12:17 closed closed chapter-34-coburn-mystery-original-manuscript publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1208913557 _edit_last 1 Chapter 35: Coburn Mystery (Original Manuscript) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/22/chapter-35-coburn-mystery-original-manuscript/ Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:27:38 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=672 672 2008-04-22 21:27:38 2008-04-23 01:27:38 closed closed chapter-35-coburn-mystery-original-manuscript publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1208914058 _edit_last 1 A Pebble Beach "Gem" That Became A Pendant http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/22/a-pebble-beach-gem-that-became-a-pendant/ Wed, 23 Apr 2008 02:47:26 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=674 (Photo: This pendant belonged to Mrs. Caroline Dias of Pescadero.)]]> 674 2008-04-22 22:47:26 2008-04-23 02:47:26 closed closed a-pebble-beach-gem-that-became-a-pendant publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1208918847 _edit_last 1 Good Stuff Coming from South Coast Explorer John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/23/good-stuff-coming-from-south-coast-explorer-john-vonderlin/ Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:17:28 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=675 675 2008-04-23 11:17:28 2008-04-23 15:17:28 closed closed good-stuff-coming-from-south-coast-explorer-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1209069677 _edit_last 1 Officially A Mystery: Who Was Monty Parker? Larry Fitterer and John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/24/officially-a-mystery-who-was-monty-parker-larry-fitterer-and-john-vonderlin/ Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:51:29 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=676

Hi June, After our expedition down to Acid Beach

Larry suggested we drive south to the Prankster rappel spot where he remembered there being a mysterious sign dedicated to "Monty" Parker. I hadn't seen it on my first exploratory trip there and he was curious if it was still there. It was. I hadn't noticed it because it had fallen over into thick bushes sometime in the last 15 years. That and the fact that the Prankster Rappel spot was about a hundred feet north of where I had assumed it had been. Who was Monty Parker? What killed him so young? And who is AMB's Beach, his favorite spot in the world, named after? My theory/ guess is A.M. Parker may be Catholic and have assumed some confirmation name like Barry. No evidence of that, but the odds of his two first initials being the same as the first two letters of AMB Beach is about 625 to one. I always like to bet on those kind of odds. It looks like early May will be our next trip to Acid Beach, and this time we plan to swim from Acid Beach to The Notch. It was too deep and the surf was too big to wade through on our last trip. Boogie boards and better protection for my camera are being planned for. Might bring a ladder to get up to the ledge leading to the ocean-side of Warm Water Lagoon. We might even be able to make it over the double arch. Enjoy John Email John Vonderlin (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) --------- Meanwhile Larry Fitterer, also curious about the provenance of AMB Beach told John he was on to something. He had found an “AM Parker,” who lived in New Mexico. The birth and death dates matched those found on the monument at the beach. Said Larry: I've wondered whether "Amb" is an abbreviation. Guessing that it might be short for "Amber," I queried zabasearch.com and found an Amber Parker living in Santa Cruz. Perhaps she is Monty's daughter. ------------ John to Larry: Hi Larry, Just wanted to thank you for joining us on our expedition. I'm heading to Stockton early tomorrow to see my granddaughter play a game of baseball, my last bit of "vacation" while Larry, my brother is here…I hope you'll join us on our return trip. Enjoy. John ---------- Hi John, I am glad you and Meg were able to ascertain the northern "route" into Acid Beach. Next time we go out together, perhaps we can make the journey halfway down (without ropes), though I would probably be reluctant to venture must farther even with safety ropes. Still, the halfway point does provide a pretty spectacular view of the cove and surrounding area. I spent some more time the other day thinking about "AMBS" I wondered if perhaps Ambs is a surname… As it turns out, Ambs is indeed a surname; German, in fact. There was only one hit for that name in the Bay Area, an Ambs, who by my reckoning, had moved to Maryland. I wrote to him last week and queried him about the sign. He responded promptly as follows: ‘Dear Larry, thanks for your email. I actually visited this part of California several times in the 90s and lived for a brief period in California but the sign is not my product. It’s most likely not related to me. Thus, I cannot help you with the history of that sign. Ambs is actually a German name and originated in the southwest part of Germany’. The mystery continues...]]>
676 2008-04-24 16:51:29 2008-04-24 20:51:29 closed closed officially-a-mystery-who-was-monty-parker-larry-fitterer-and-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1209256256 _edit_last 1
South Coast Beaches: The Seven Sisters http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/26/south-coast-beaches-the-seven-sisters/ Sun, 27 Apr 2008 03:30:41 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=682 Neptune's Vomitorium. Keeping this in mind, I've decided to call the Acid Beach area "The Seven Sisters," because of its seven wonderful sea arches. If you Wikipedia this name you'll find it has a venerable and diverse tradition. There are "Seven Sisters" in everything from mythology, women's colleges, mountain ranges, mainline Protestant sects, Baja California surf spots, oil companies, caves on Mars and many many more. In this case I feel the "Seven Sisters" is a Freudianly appropriate designation for a collection of the seven best arches on the California coast. All within two hundred yards of each other, the arches define and highlight this amazing sheer-cliff-faced stretch of practically unknown and unvisited coast. Several of them, the double arch of Warm Water Lagoon (WWL) and the two that form a Y-shaped double arch in the cove between Acid Beach and W.W.L., are unique as far as I know. To fully appreciate this concentration of natural wonders, it's best to see them up close. But, that's not always possible, or safe. In a previous posting I shared a photo of the most northerly arch and described how you can reach it, by accessing it from Greyhound Beach, at extremely low tides, and climbing across an obstacle course of slimy rocks. If the tide isn't very low, or you don't like long hikes, you can view it from the bluff top, just off Highway 1. The promontory this photo was shot from is highly unusual itself. Screened completely from Highway 1 by pine trees, access to it is limited by bushes and a ridiculous growth of poison oak, but this has got to be the best coastal outlaw camping spot I've seen. In fact, there were several sheltered "nests" under the sprawling pine trees, fifty yards from the highway that had been previously used. One even had seven five- gallon bottles of water stored there. Best of all, ocean-ward from the trees, the promontory turns into a kind of front lawn, a large flat area with grass and scattered flowers, instead of bushes. I can't think why this is so, nor of any other spot on our coast quite like this. But, if I ever become homeless, you'll know where to find me. This would be my waking view of Greyhound Rock with Ano Nuevo in the distance. Enjoy. John]]> 682 2008-04-26 23:30:41 2008-04-27 03:30:41 closed closed south-coast-beaches-the-seven-sisters publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1209317227 _edit_last 1 Orril Fluharty, RIP http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/27/orril-fluharty-passed/ Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:04:51 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=688 --------------- Flag at half-mast in Pescadero for Reverend Fluharty (Thank you, John Vonderlin, for the image.)]]> 688 2008-04-27 20:04:51 2008-04-28 00:04:51 closed closed orril-fluharty-passed publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1209401425 _edit_last 1 To The Friends of Orril Fluharty http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/28/to-the-friends-of-orril-fluharty/ Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:19:57 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=693 Dear Friends of Orril Fluharty Pescadero Community Church and the Family of Orril Fluharty invite you to join us in a Memorial Celebration of the life of Orril Fluharty, 2-July-1912 to 25-April-2008. The Memorial Service will be held: May 18, 2008 beginning at 11:00AM at Pescadero Community Church 363 Stage Road Pescadero, California 94060 650 879 0408 The Memorial Service will be held from 11AM to 12:15PM in the sanctuary. Following the service there will be a break for the sharing of food followed by a time to celebrate Orril’s life in sharing, stories and music. · Please feel free to forward this message to anyone wishing to receive it. · Please respond with email addresses of others who would like to receive additional information as it becomes available or to be removed from the list · Contributions of food, flowers, stories, poetry, music, art, assistance with logistics and other resources for the celebration are welcome For inquiries please contact Rev. Detlef Matthies at detlef@pescaderochurch.org and I will forward your request. In gratitude, celebrating the joy of Orril’s life and spirit Detlef Matthies Pastor Pescadero Community Church, United Church of Christ]]> 693 2008-04-28 12:19:57 2008-04-28 16:19:57 closed closed to-the-friends-of-orril-fluharty publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1211067841 _edit_last 1 South Coast Beaches: The Seven Sisters (cont'd) With "Wowie" Photos by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/29/south-coast-beaches-the-seven-sisters-contd-story-photos-by-john-vonderlin/ Tue, 29 Apr 2008 04:06:57 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=696 Acid Beach Arch. I've shared a few photos of this previously, both cliff-top and beach level shots, but here's one of Larry Fitterer

who accompanied me down the cliff, standing inside it. What amazed me most was, as Larry related in his email that you posted, was that his "ordinary" route down the cliff in the mid-90s, the northern route, included climbing down the cliff and across the top of the arch. Looking at this picture of the route along the descending ridge, that seems pretty crazy.

But if you go to the California Coastal Records Project (CCRP), and look at the 1972 picture, (#7219065) you can see a faint path to the head of the chute that people used to descend to reach the ridge above the arch. When Larry was climbing down in the 1990s, it must have been hairy, as the path was steeper and the arch’s roof narrower than in the 1970's. Today I'd rate it impossible or semi-suicidal. If you're braver, or crazier then me, start by examining picture #6419 (Acid Beach captioned) to get a good idea of what you’ll face. Then just be sure you straddle the knife-edge of the ridge as you descend and be prepared for a vertical jump down of more then twenty feet onto the roof of the arch. After you tightrope- walk across that, continue along the ridge on the other side of the arch and you should be able to find somewhere to safely slide down. Oh, and plan on climbing out a different route, as I wasn't even able to climb the highly fractured rock up to the top of the arch from Acid Beach to get a "conquering" photo. The southern route we used is much "safer." It starts with a steep scree-littered chute at the southern curve of Acid Beach Cove. But the chute has several zigzags, allowing you to slow yourself down before you fly off the cliff, should you start sliding.

About one- third of the way down, the chute ends, and the crumbly cliff drops about ten feet down to a moderately steep scree slope that descends all the way to the rock shelf just above the ocean. By easing yourself on your butt a few feet down the ten- foot drop, then jumping to the south (left) where the scree slope is a few feet higher, it's not too hard getting down safely. As I mentioned previously, during my first climb back up, I loosened a lot of the crumbly hand and footholds, making climbing back up this way again very risky. Which is why you should bring a rope and attach it to the two poles someone drove into the rock at the bottom of the zigzag chute. Throw the rope over the cliff to the north, and you should be able to easily climb up and down a narrow trail that hugs the cliff. Unfortunately take this route, and just one mistake sends you hurtling all the way to the rocks 75- feet below on the beach; something you'll be very aware of as you climb down.

Once you reach the scree slope, climb down it and walk along the spine of the promontory to its end.

An easy climb down gets you to a ledge from which you can access Acid Beach and the arch to the north if the tide is low.

Or you can head south to reach the small cove between Acid Beach and Warm Water Lagoon. To do the latter, you climb over the arch leading into the cove and follow a small ledge to its end. Conveniently at the end, someone has recently tied a small ladder to a pipe where there had only previously been a rope. Undo that, lower it, climb down and you are in the coolest little cove I've ever seen.

On the north side you’ll see a tunnel that forms the arch you just climbed over, and on the south side is the unique double Y-shaped Arch. There is also, or at least was, a small waterfall that pitter-patters down the sheer cliff to gently spatter on the wet sand exposed by the low tide. A very special place with a lot going on in the space of fifty feet. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did. Much more to tell. Enjoy. John .]]>
696 2008-04-29 00:06:57 2008-04-29 04:06:57 closed closed south-coast-beaches-the-seven-sisters-contd-story-photos-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1209846732 _edit_last 1
Is the Anderson Bridge Still Standing? http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/30/is-the-anderson-bridge-still-standing/ Wed, 30 Apr 2008 21:18:29 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=706 (Photo: Courtesy Tony Pera.) I asked John Vonderlin: Is this a photo of Anderson Bridge? Is it still standing? John said: I believe the attached photos are of it. The photo you sent was of the bridge in its early years. I believe it was rebuilt in 1937 along with the other bridge slightly to the west. Then the railing was replaced a few years ago in a manner similar to its reconstructed style. I believe it is the bridge right in front of the former "Flamingo House." Unfortunately, I couldn't find the Caltrans's Bridge 40 designation on it. There was the plaque

from 1937 though. I'll include articles about the Flamingo House, plastic flamingos, the bridge railing project and a few pictures. The pictures are of the plaque, the bridge, the former Flamingo House driveway, and the bridge from the creek. Enjoy. John

To read the article about the Flamingo House in Loma Mar, written by Joe Oesterie, click here]]> 706 2008-04-30 17:18:29 2008-04-30 21:18:29 closed closed is-the-anderson-bridge-still-standing publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1209596473 _edit_last 1 What You Didn't Know About The Ocean Shore RR & The Butano http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/30/what-you-didnt-know-about-the-ocean-shore-rr-the-butano/ Thu, 01 May 2008 03:04:56 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=705

Hello June. Some of your readers interested in the Ocean Shore R.R. may not know that efforts to resurrect it began almost as soon as it was abandoned. Jack Wagner's THE LAST WHISTLE is the best reference.

I recall several San Francisco newspaper articles during the 1930s; and as a teenager I got up the nerve to go to the company's office in downtown S.F. to inquire of its progress, and met the President, George Middleton. The office was shared with a mining company--either Alaska-Juneau Gold Mining or Bunker Hill. I can't remember and don't know of any relationship with the new OSRR. Mr. Middleton said the line would re-enter San Francisco by the old, seldom-used Southern Pacific's Ocean View line. That track was now in the heavily built-up Mission District where people in homes could practically shake hands with the engine crew if a train ever went by. I remember being skeptical that the City would permit it. Apropos of that time, I have a copy of the December, 1935, issue of "Railroad Stories" magazine and the article "The Ocean Shore Comes Back" by G. H. Kneiss, which told of the expected rebuilding mainly to exploit the timber resources of the Butano Forest

close to the original route, but never reached. There are a number of court cases involving the OSRR from that time on the Internet, mainly dealing with the railroad's suits for incursions on its former right-of-way, some becoming precedents for other cases. One of the more interesting is a 1941 appeal re an earlier decision about the injury from falling rocks in June, 1936, to a power shovel operator engaged by the railroad to clear the blocked north portal of the Pedro Point tunnel. A few months earlier the shovel had been "almost completely buried" by a slide at the south portal. I find it almost incredible how the shovel made it to the south portal. This was before Hwy. 1 had been re-routed closer to the coast, and so the shovel had to have taken the long route past Green Canyon and over Devil's Slide on a roadbed neglected for over fifteen years. What problems the operator encountered can only be imagined. Mr. Wagner's book chronicled how all these efforts came to naught. Regards to John Vonderlin. Angelo]]>
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Ocean Shore RR near Davenport http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/04/30/ocean-shore-rr-near-davenport/ Thu, 01 May 2008 03:07:03 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=716

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Eureka! at Nepune's Vomitorium: John Vonderlin Finds More Yucky Golf Balls, Soggy Socks http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/01/eureka-at-nepunes-vomitorium-john-vonderlin-finds-more-yucky-golf-balls-soggy-socks/ Thu, 01 May 2008 23:56:32 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=718 Hi June, With Neptune's Vomitorium becoming active once again, after a six month quiescence, I've been making twice weekly trips to Invisible Beach to gather its bounty. I was rewarded this past week, when, instead of continuing its decline in quantity and quality from its first appearance a few weeks ago, a Superwrack was coughed up. Included in the nearly hundred pounds of wet, stinky mass of marine debris I gathered were more then three hundred fishing line balls and a wide array of socks, tie wraps, goggles, golf balls, fishing gear and many more of the other "usual suspects." My previous record for collecting fishing line balls at one time was barely half that. Whether I can find the time to tie all of them, along with the several thousand others I've got stored, to the World's Largest Fishing Line Ball, remains to be seen. In a follow-up visit yesterday, I found what I call a "smoking gun," or in this case a flapping flag. I’m referring to my golf ball remnant collection's source. In my previous stories about Invisible Beach and its unnatural oddity, Neptune's Vomitorium, I detailed my tracing the origin of the golf balls and remnants I was finding there, back to the Ritz Carlton, particularly the 18th hole of "The Old Course." I think these pictures offer strong evidence that I was right. The next time I'm up that way, I'll drop in and find out where the flag was before it began "The Silent Procession from the Sunken Cathedral to Neptune's Vomitorium." Enjoy. John ]]> 718 2008-05-01 19:56:32 2008-05-01 23:56:32 closed closed eureka-at-nepunes-vomitorium-john-vonderlin-finds-more-yucky-golf-balls-soggy-socks publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1209686192 _edit_last 1 Coburn Mystery : Chapter 36 (original ms.) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/02/coburn-mystery-chapter-36-original-ms/ Fri, 02 May 2008 20:21:36 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=724 (Photo: Charlie Lund at Pigeon Point) By June Morrall In th 1870s when Colonel S. Evans, author of “A La California” rode horseback into the remote village of Pescadero, he saw a village optimistic about the future. Behind all that confidence was the lighthouse recently built at Pigeon Point by the U.S. government. The light had been illuminated for the first time on November 15, 1872. That “slim finger” against the sky became a source of pride for the Pescaderans. Charles Swanton regularly escorted hotel guests on scenic tours into the lighthouse where Captain J.W. Patterson*, “an old salt,” was in charge. A steam whistle had also been installed and during foggy weather the whistle sounded at intervals, with the blasts lasting four seconds.** [Approximately $95,000 was appropriated for the Pigeon Point Lighthouse: $83,000 for the lighthouse and other buildings, $12,000 for the keeper's residence.] Soon a very small community surrounded the lighthouse: a store, school, post office***, and the blacksmith was building a new house. One of the Steeles was appointed postmaster. Today it's so serene at the lighthouse that it's hard to imagine a bustling community there. But behind the lighthouse stood Pigeon Point Landing--a new wharf and chute, estimated to cost between $12 and $30,000. The men who financed the ambitious project rented the land from Loren Coburn. At the time Coburn was still residing with his family in San Francisco. The investors modernized the previous primitive cable-rock arrangement, extending the wharf 100-feet into the ocean, dramatically improving the business of shipping. For the first time a vessel could land alongside the wharf, reducing loading time from four to six hours, instead of a couple of days. The "Arcata," a three-masted schooner, one of the largest ships to stop there, once stayed for more than a week. To further expedite the the shipping of local lumber and produce, the investors planned to build a "canal" and a six-mile long, three-foot gauge railroad track from Gazos Creek to Pigeon Point Landing. Those familiar with the old cable-rock arrangement, wondered why Loren Coburn hadn't upgraded the wharf himself. -------- *Captain J.W. Patterson was the commander of the shipwrecked "Shubrick." He lived in a two-story white wood dwelling with a red roof. Capt. Patterson told visitors he came to the coast in 1823 aboard the "Mentor," then sailed to Alaska where he traded furs with the Indians. In 1833 he sailed back to California. Sometime in the late 1870s Patterson was abruptly replaced by a new lighthouse keeper, Capt. Fairchild. "...it seems hard that a gray headed old man who has spent his life in going down in ships and is unprovided for should be removed from a small office to subserve no other ends than those of politics." [no attribution.] **In 1872 he Pigeon Point Lighthouse was officially inspected by the government "lampist," Thomas Winship. There was also a steam fog whistle at Ano Nuevo Island, south of Pigeon Point. It sounded blasts of 15 secodns at intervals of 45-seconds. There was concern that the Ano Nuevo fog signal would be confused with the fog signal at Pigeon Point. ***Before the post office was built at Pigeon Point, folks who lived there rode horseback, six miles north to Pescadero to pick up the mail.]]> 724 2008-05-02 16:21:36 2008-05-02 20:21:36 closed closed coburn-mystery-chapter-36-original-ms publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1212028966 _edit_last 1 The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 37 (original ms.) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/09/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-37-original-ms/ Fri, 09 May 2008 04:36:26 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=726 Angelo Mithos's enlightening post below ("What You Didn't Know About the Ocean Shore & The Butano), you'll see that the city of San Francisco, post Gold Rush, was developing rapidly and hungry for wood to quickly build more houses. "The Butano' forest, thick with redwood trees, was so close, yet so far because there weren't any good roads.* Talk of building an iron road along the Coastside raised many new possibilities. The people behind the new railroad held community meetings in Pescadero to discuss the project, but they were in town mainly to raise the funds to build it. Meanwhile the locals got to work, drawing up plans for new buildings. The two-story, $31,000 McCormick building was under construction, said to be a big "attraction on the road." On the first floor there was a warehouse; on the second floor a public hall with a suspended platform where musicians performed. On San Gregorio Street (Stage Rd) there were two blacksmith shops; Goulson repaired wagons and Koster specialized in shoeing. There was a market, a harness shop, barber, two livery stables, an express, telegraph and post office. There were three saloons in the village with a population of 300. Teetotalers were free to join the Temperance Society headquartered in the Methodist Church. In 1874 instead of being a town built on two sides of a creek as it had been, Pescadero now presented a four-cornered front. That year Library Association members celebrated their 8th anniversary, proclaiming that theirs was the oldest library on the entire Coastside. [Remember, there was always a humorous rivalry with Spanishtown [Half Moon Bay], the bossy town to the north.] Education remained high on the list of priorities with a brand new two-story, four-room schoolhouse ready to go from the drafting table to reality. There was also a private school, with a waiting list, operated by a Mrs. Hollingsead. Six miles east of the village, shingle mills, destroyed by a series of destructive fires, were being rebuilt. Robert Doherty, "the prince of landlords," pulled his money out of Purisima where he owned a hotel, and moved a few miles south to Pescadero looking for another financial opportunity. There was a place called the Lincoln Hotel up for sale. Doherty, and his wife, "the queen of cuisine," bought it for $6000, redecorated, and renamed it the Pescadero House, going into fierce competition with Charles and Sarah of the immensely popular Swanton House. But there was yet more competition--the Sulphur Springs Hotel, owned by San Francisco businessmen, stood a couple of miles east of the town's famous flag pole on the site of a medicinal spring. The Pescadero and Swanton House and the Sulphur Springs Hotel awaited the steady flow of guests they felt certain would come if the railroad was built. Green grass covered the hills and fields of potatoes surrounded the busy village. There were rumors that big landowner Loren Coburn was going to build a boom at the mouth of Pescadero Creek to catch the stray logs from the nearby redwood forests. You couldn't live in Pescadero without hearing Coburn's name. A man named Wilson rented 1600 acres from Loren. The 1700-acre Cloverdale Dairy, where 100 cows were milked for cheese and butter, was also rented from Coburn. Up until this time few people had ever actually seen Loren Coburn. ---------------- *There were many other "wood" forests much closer than The Butano. I am referring to the forests just south of Half Moon Bay, where in the 1870s, sawmills had been set up. The fast-growing city of San Francisco also needed fresh produce from the Coastside, including the popular potato, a basic food.]]> 726 2008-05-09 00:36:26 2008-05-09 04:36:26 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter-37-original-ms publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1210347593 _edit_last 1 Orril Fluharty: My Last Conversation With Him http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/09/orril-fluharty-my-last-conversation-with-the-wonderful-man/ Fri, 09 May 2008 04:58:37 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=727 727 2008-05-09 00:58:37 2008-05-09 04:58:37 closed closed orril-fluharty-my-last-conversation-with-the-wonderful-man publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1211213631 _edit_last 1 Did You Go To The "Maker Faire"? Not To Worry: John Vonderlin Reports http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/11/did-you-go-to-the-maker-faire-not-to-worry-john-vonderlin-reports/ Sun, 11 May 2008 19:30:16 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=728 Tsunami Ranger story. The video was a nice touch. Glad you enjoyed yourselves there. I would have liked to have attended, but.... so many miles and so little free time. I was able to go to the Maker-Faire for a few hours though, at the San Mateo County Fairgrounds. So were about 25 thousand other people. It was a very interesting mix of people, especially the exhibitors. From Burning Man type artists/inventors/exhibitionists to Crafters, Geeks and Gyro Gearloose wannabees. Tim the Toolman types hawking computer controlled mills and lathes and R2-D2 rolling around emitting an impressively irritating set of squeals. Motorized Muffins were competing with a mobile, talking Electric Giraffe, and a pedal-powered trolley car for room-to-move-through in the dense, but placid crowd. I'll attach a few pictures from it. Their website is Makerfaire.com. They'll be back next year I'm sure.

Also, very cool, check out this "related" site called the steam punk workshop; to visit, click here The New York Times online has a great article with photos.]]>
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The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 38 (original ms.) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/14/735/ Wed, 14 May 2008 14:49:51 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/14/735/ 735 2008-05-14 10:49:51 2008-05-14 14:49:51 closed closed 735 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1210776626 _edit_last 1 1957: "Beaches, Butano Action Lagging" http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/14/1957-beaches-butano-action-lagging/ Thu, 15 May 2008 01:08:58 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=154 Half Moon Bay Review," 1957 "The county board of supervisors in a resolution will seek more State action in developing and maintaining South Coastside beaches. "Supervisor Tom Callan pointed out that because the state beaches have been taken off the tax rolls, they are just 'sitting there'. Alvin S. Hatch objected because the county has been forced to patrol and maintain beaches turned over to the state. "The protest centers on, mainly, two rest rooms at the San Gregorio and Bean Hollow beaches, which were turned over by the county to the state. Although the beaches are crowded on weekends, the county manager said the rest rooms are locked because the state has not installed water tanks and lines, which would cost $4100. Stallings said the state appears to be concentrating on acquiring new areas and is lagging on the maintenance and protection programs. "Stallings also said negotiations for the purchase of Butano forest for a state park is also lagging. More than a year has passed since money was appropriated for the purchase, he said, but so far the state has acquired only 400 acres by purchased and a small additional area by patent from the federal government. "However Stallings plans to confer this week with state officials on the problem."]]> 154 2008-05-14 21:08:58 2008-05-15 01:08:58 closed closed 1957-beaches-butano-action-lagging publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1210813738 _edit_last 1 The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 39 (from the original ms.) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/16/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-39-from-the-original-ms/ Fri, 16 May 2008 06:32:44 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=736 By June Morrall As Mary Antoinette's health began to fail, she worried about the future of her son Wally. Who would care for him should something happen to her? If you've forgotten, Mary Antoinette was Loren Coburn's wife. She had a younger sister, Sarah, who promised her Mary she would care for Wally. There would be nothing to worry about. Wally was, as they say today, "mentally challenged." But back in the early 20th century, he was thought to be mentally retarded, and no matter how many birthdays he celebrated on his way to becoming a man, outsiders always referred to him as "the boy." Many years later, Loren said he was a caring father who took his son to doctor after doctor for consultations and cures. They gave him no hope for Wally's recovery. Loren swore that he loved Wally so much he would have given up most of his wealth in return for a mentally healthy son. Although he could have boarded his son in a first class institution, he decided against the option, explaining: "There is only one place for him [Wally] and that is home. He is my son and he shall stay here and have everything he wants so long as he lives." The personal tragedy tested Loren's already famous testy disposition. He became embittered, lashing out at others, gaining nothing but the hatred of many in Pescadero. He didn't win friends by refusing to pay a special tax for a new schoolhouse in the village. To avoid the tax, he filed an official protest, winning on a technicality. In the 1870s the Coburns left San Francisco and moved onto their ranch near Pigeon Point. They could have remained in the City, explained Loren, but "Wally would be the object of public gaze in San Francisco or San Jose. Wally is happy and content where he is. If we stayed in San Francisco, people wouldn't understand it like the people in Pescadero, and he wouldn't be happy." In Pescadero the Coburn's hired a Chinese servant called "Ah Gee," to watch Wally. One of Ah Gee's duties was to feed poor Wally, who was no longer a child, at the dinner table. "Ah Gee is kind to Wally," said Sarah. "When Wally goes to take a nap, Gee will go and look at him, put his fingers on his temples, feel his pulse, and feel his heart, and see that everything is alright." Many years later, in 1909, at a court hearing, Sarah said that Wally has the freedom of the house and is not confined in any way." By this time Loren's wife, Mary Antoinette had passed away, and Loren married her sister, Sarah. They also had moved from the Pigeon Point ranch to a house in the village of Pescadero. Wally "eats at the table with members of the family," Sarah added in 1909. "He didn't go for rides in a carriage; he is better off in a room." As you can imagine, from the descriptions of Wally that I have given, he was far from "normal" and because of that he actually frightened people. To be blunt, poor Wally gave people the creeps. But back in the 1870s the Coburns were living near Pigeon Point. This gave Loren the opportunity to keep a close watch over activities at the profitable landing--remember he had leased the wharf for ten years to a small group of businessmen who began improving the property in 1862. Now it was 1872 and the lease was set to expire. And now rumor had it that suspicious things were going on at Pigeon Point. Who were the businessmen running the wharf? Judge Horace Templeton, Josiah P. Ames and Charles Goodall, all former San Mateo County officials. Judge Templeton also had invested in the Yazor and Gazos Mills as well as the Pacific Lumber Company. Josiah Ames was a former county supervisor who built Amesport Landing north of Half Moon Bay. Some described Ames, a pipe-smoker, as a "bold, bad man," who was reportedly later named in a 1883 corruption case. According to attorney Crittenden Thornton, who had known Loren Coburn since 1860, "Pigeon Point attracted the attention of an unscrupulous ring of speculators, composed of officials and ex-officials of San Mateo County. They determined to get hold of the property by hook or by crook and to use it for their own purposes. Loren Coburn did not want to renew the lease and when it expired, Templeton, Ames and Goodall refused to give up the wharf. Using their political connections, the men petitioned the Board of Supervisors for a wharf franchise, asking for permission to use the landing for two more decades. As part of their proposal, they promised to continue modernizing the facilities. This was a very smart move, because, if approved, the power of the supervisors could possibly trump that of Coburn. But the supervisors didn't sign off on the wharf franchise. Instead it became clear that if Templeton, Ames and Goodall re-worked their petition, and asked the Board of Supervisors to condemn the wharf, and the surrounding five acres for the public good, they would get their new 20-year lease. ....more coming...]]> 736 2008-05-16 02:32:44 2008-05-16 06:32:44 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter-39-from-the-original-ms publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1211000973 _edit_last 1 The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 40 (original ms.) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/17/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-40-original-ms/ Sat, 17 May 2008 05:47:39 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=738 [Image of Pigeon Point illustrating the primitive shipping arrangement--prior to the arrival of Messrs. Templeton, Ames and Goodall.] By June Morrall Loren Coburn wanted nothing more than for Templeton, Ames and Goodall to leave Pigeon Point Landing. Their ten year lease had expired and he wanted them gone. But these hardened men wouldn't go easily. Their political instincts convinced them the County Board of Supervisors would step in and save the day. There was the lease, a legal contract, that Coburn rightly counted on. Templeton,** Ames and Goodall apparently didn't think much of contracts or the law. They had put money into modernizing the wharf; they, alone, had increased business. Pigeon Point Landing was now profitable; they were making money. In their minds, the wharf belonged to them. If they weren't going to honor the contract, Loren's next move was to evict the tenants. Now things would turn ugly. (Some Coburn observers believed this event triggered what would turn into a lifetime of litigation.} The nearby village of Pescadero had not warmed up to Loren Coburn, their new resident. The villagers sympathized with the men who had fixed up the wharf. It wasn't Coburn who had made the much needed improvements. And after all, the local economy benefited, with farmers loading their fresh produce at the well organized landing. [Remember, before the modernization, there was a very primitive arrangement of loading and unloading goods, mail and vegetables.] What was worse for Coburn--he didn't pay the special school tax for a new school building--plus he complained about it to the county fathers. The villagers hated this newcomer who dressed in black swallow-tail coats, talked too fast and drove his horse and carriage recklessly. From the moment Loren Coburn set foot in town, there was an unstoppable torrent of gossip about how he got all the land he owned on the South Coast. None of it good. To everyone he was a ruthless landlord. Right on cue, the Board of Supervisors condemned the wharf at Pigeon Point landing--and the battle began. Two months later Loren got the State District Court in San Francisco to reverse the condemnation. The court ruled that the lands were not correctly identified, adding that the road leading there was a private road. The only public property, according to the court, was the land accessible at high tide. This was interpreted as great news by Templeton, et. al. because much of the wharf extended out into the high tide. Now their problem became how to get to the wharf from the roads the court had defined as private. That was soon solved. Templeton, Ames and Goodall built a gate "across the wharf, at the point where it extended 100-feet out into the high tide." In a dramatic way, the gate disconnected the wharf from Loren's property. At the very edge of the wharf there was an office, where John Kelly, the telegraph operator worked along with the wharfinger Alexander "Scotty" Rae. Scotty Rae's main job was to guard the gate. ---------------------- **In July 1871 the Pigeon Point Railroad Company was established with Horace Templeton, Josiah Ames and George Hearst, the mining millionaire.]]> 738 2008-05-17 01:47:39 2008-05-17 05:47:39 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter-40-original-ms publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1211340425 _edit_last 1 Kayaking 101: Getting Ready For the Big Trip Down the South Coast http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/17/kayaking-101-getting-ready-for-the-big-trip-down-the-south-coast/ Sat, 17 May 2008 06:16:38 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=739 John Vonderlin email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)

Hi June, Meg, ever the safety-oriented, cautious adventurer, suggested we refurbish our kayaking skills before we begin this summer's planned visits to some of the San Mateo coast's most isolated and infrequently visited spots. Though I think of kayak skills as being in the bike-riding, never-gonna-forget category, I agreed that with my long-lasting "tennis elbow" problem, a good workout, where White Sharks, pounding surf, and jagged rocks weren't relevant, would be a good idea after almost a year's layoff. We settled on Bair Island, in the Redwood City baylands, as our destination. Using the spacious free parking lot and the boat launching dock (also free), we were soon waterborne.

It was what I consider a pedestrian paddle, though no walking on water was involved. The highlights on the trip were the various birds, Great Gray Herons, egrets, and a Peking-Mallard mixed race couple, along with the unusual, very valuable boats, docked along the sloughs. I had my camera jammed in my kayak's watertight compartment, but was never willing to risk taking it out for any particular shot. I joked about that during the paddle, only to change my mind in the last hundred yards before docking. An old oil? pumping facility? lining the slough, had a row of wooden pilings that were highly effected by their long-term stint in the salt water environment. They'd been replaced by newer concrete pilings but not removed. They were wonderfully eroded (one of my strong interests, as you know), and I couldn't resist taking my camera out of its safety spot and shooting a bunch of pictures.

Perseverance in the face of natural forces is something I find interesting and always admirable. I've attached a few pictures of the trip and the pilings.

The whole process, carrying a camera in my kayak, has given me more courage about exposing my moderately expensive camera to potentially career-ending environments. I was so bummed by a rainstorm killing my awesome Minolta, I've been too cautious since then, I think. The fact that, thanks to the Digital Revolution, I can now buy the same features on a camera half the price, hopefully, will fuel my audacity, as I'm riding a wave into some of the giant Sea Caves north and south of Martins Beach in the next few months.. Enjoy. John]]>
739 2008-05-17 02:16:38 2008-05-17 06:16:38 closed closed kayaking-101-getting-ready-for-the-big-trip-down-the-south-coast publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1211213102 _edit_last 1
To the Friends of Orril Fluharty http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/17/to-the-friends-of-orril-fluharty-2/ Sat, 17 May 2008 23:42:57 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=744 Dear Friends of Orril Fluharty Pescadero Community Church and the Family of Orril Fluharty invite you to join us in a Memorial Celebration of the life of Orril Fluharty, 2-July-1912 to 25-April-2008. The Memorial Service will be held: May 18, 2008 beginning at 11:00AM at Pescadero Community Church 363 Stage Road Pescadero, California 94060 650 879 0408 The Memorial Service will be held from 11AM to 12:15PM in the sanctuary. Following the service there will be a break for the sharing of food followed by a time to celebrate Orril’s life in sharing, stories and music. · Please feel free to forward this message to anyone wishing to receive it. · Please respond with email addresses of others who would like to receive additional information as it becomes available or to be removed from the list · Contributions of food, flowers, stories, poetry, music, art, assistance with logistics and other resources for the celebration are welcome For inquiries please contact Rev. Detlef Matthies at detlef@pescaderochurch.org and I will forward your request. In gratitude, celebrating the joy of Orril’s life and spirit Detlef Matthies Pastor Pescadero Community Church, United Church of ChristTo]]> 744 2008-05-17 19:42:57 2008-05-17 23:42:57 closed closed to-the-friends-of-orril-fluharty-2 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1211067833 _edit_last 1 The Unknown Steele: Omar N. Steele of Santa Cruz http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/18/new-insight-into-the-santa-cruz-branch-of-the-prominent-steele-family/ Mon, 19 May 2008 00:28:06 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=746 (Photo: The tall gentleman in the center is Omar Noah Steele, next to his wife Harriet. The gentleman at the far right is Omar’s brother Samuel Bliss Steele next to his wife Elenora. Harriet and Eleanora were 1st cousins.) In 1870 Omar was listed as the owner of the Steele Saw Mill in Santa Cruz and they had about 18 people living with them in the Steele Sawmill Boardinghouse. We understand that Omar may have lost some fingers in a sawmill accident, and I suspect Harriet was homesick for her family in Ohio. Before 1874, they retraced their route back to Cleveland Ohio. Omar’s second daughter, my grandmother, Mary Amanda Steele was born May 31, 1874 in Amherst, Ohio. Omar was a 33rd Degree Mason and the lodge was named the O.N. Steele Masonic Lodge. He joined Globe Iron Works which eventually became the American Shipbuilding Company where he was General Superintendent of the Lorain shipyard and he was Chief Engineer on the first iron hulled ore ship on the Great Lakes, the “Onoko”. He died August 17, 1911 in Lakewood, Ohio, and is buried in Lakeside Cemetery in Cleveland. Here is the cemetery website listing for Omar. OMAR N. STEELE 1843-1911 (Photo: The "Onoko", the first ore carrier on the Great Lakes made of iron instead of the traditional wood hull, built in Cleveland and piloted by Omar N. Steele) He was an Engineer for 20 years on the Great Lakes. In 1882, he piloted the first iron ore carrier that was built of iron, called "Onoko". He was Superintendent of American Shipbuilding at his death. He was known among local Masons as the namesake of O.N. Steele Lodge (now John W. Barkley Lodge). He was very prominent in Masonic circles. He is buried in Riverside Cemetery in Section 22. ------------ Robin Caldwell This may be more information than you were interested in but I love the family history. My husband and I live in North Carolina. We just came home from a dream trip to the California Coast. We followed Hwy 1 from Santa Cruz to Ft. Bragg, trying to hit all the spots the Steeles lived. I have learned even more since I got home. I am collecting everything I can find. Thank you for writing me. I hope sometime you may come across some additional information for me. I have always been frustrated that I can’t find any information on Samuel Horace Steele or Omar in California. I just love exchanging info. Let me know if you or anyone you know has interest in the Ohio part of the family. Most people didn’t even know we existed. Email Robin Caldwell ( rcaldwell@aloftcomm.com)]]> 746 2008-05-18 20:28:06 2008-05-19 00:28:06 closed closed new-insight-into-the-santa-cruz-branch-of-the-prominent-steele-family publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1211868052 _edit_last 1 Remembering Orril Fluharty http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/18/remembering-orril-fluharty/ Mon, 19 May 2008 02:12:23 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=750 (Photo: Orril Fluharty with his grandkids.) Kevin D. says: Hi June, Saw that you had posted a picture of Orril on his passing. Not sure whether you were in Pescadero today for the service … but I hope so. I actually didn’t know the man well and met him only once, but his son and grandson built my house so had heard all about him. It was very apparent from all the wonderful stories today and the lives he’d touched that he was a special man. A man that embodied joie de vivre, un bon vivant, en un absolument charmante et geniale. So many funny and touching stories! I hope you’ll write one or two of them up! And if you weren’t there - I believe they have them on tape. Think it would be wonderful to include some of these memories of him in your memories. ----------------------- I [June] have my own special memory of Orril Fluharty but it 's not easy to describe or explain. My encounter with him was not the kind that can be told in words; it can't be captured on a page. When I tell you my little story, it will sound ordinary when it was magical. In the late 1960s my boyfriend worked summers at Memorial Park, picking up trash, cleaning the bathrooms, repairing things. We often brought our sleeping bags and camping equipment and slept under the scented redwood trees. During the day I explored the trails and swam in the swimming hole; it was unforgettable. Sometimes Memorial Park was full--there was no place to pitch our tent, build our campfire. Who took us in? Orril Fluharty. He lived nearby and welcomed us warmly. We slept safely and happily on his property. What I remember, and this is what my simple words cannot capture, I remember his height, his stature; he seemed so tall against the sky, against the day. I have never forgotten that image, that feeling that comes from somewhere else. ---------------------]]> 750 2008-05-18 22:12:23 2008-05-19 02:12:23 closed closed remembering-orril-fluharty publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1211165880 _edit_last 1 Myrtle Garavanta was the Davenport Postmistress http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/19/myrtle-garavanta-was-the-davenport-postmistress/ Mon, 19 May 2008 19:19:11 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=754 Robin Caldwell says: Myrtle was the daughter of Norman Edward and the granddaughter of Charles Edward Steele. She was the postmistress in Davenport for about 25 yrs. She had all of the genealogy and many old family photos. She was the only connection our family ever had with the California Steeles. She shared many pictures and letters from the Ohio families with us after my father met her in about 1974. Myrtle didn’t have children so I don’t know what became of her collection, but it was a treasure.]]> 754 2008-05-19 15:19:11 2008-05-19 19:19:11 closed closed myrtle-garavanta-was-the-davenport-postmistress publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1211224904 _edit_last 1 "Mountain Mike" Says: "Yes, this photo is of Pigeon Point & I'm Updating the Butano Park's History" http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/19/mountain-mike-says-yes-this-photo-is-pigeon-point-hes-writing-a-new-history-of-the-butano/ Tue, 20 May 2008 03:58:47 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=755 [Image: Charlie Lund at Pigeon Point.] I've had the photo above for quite some time. When I first got it, I thought, it's Pigeon Point, then I thought I've never heard of the Beadle Bros: It couldn't be Pigeon Point! Then I received the following emails from "Mountain" Mike Merritt, Butano State Park Seasonal Interpreter, and he says: I just saw the picture of the Beadle Brothers on your website. If you were wondering if it is at Pigeon Point I can tell you that it is. The Beadle Brothers ran a sawmill in the Gazos canyon from 1916 to 1920. They shipped their lumber from Pigeon Point. More info on the subject can be found in Harvey Mowry's book, Echoes From Gazos Creek. Enjoy, Mountain Mike, Butano State Park Seasonal Interpreter In a follow-up email, where I thanked Mike for solving the mystery of the photo, Mike Merritt told me about updating the history of Butano State Park. Here's what he wrote: Glad I could help. I will send along a little write up from Mowry's book about the Beadle Mill. A few pictures can be found in his book. One is at the Beadle Mill in 1916 with Albert Beadle and the Littlefield's, whom they were friends with. Another photo is of George Beadle and Mary and Charles Littlefield. There are also some machinery pictures used at the mill. The picture you have is most likely one of the Beadle brothers, George or Albert. I will bet it is George since Albert died in 1916 at the start of their business venture in the Gazos canyon. You can find the book at most libraries or buy it at the San Mateo County History Museum. I was excited to see the photo because I am doing research on the Butano State Park history. I work as a seasonal interpreter, and last summer took on the project of updating the park's history files. Not worked on since the 1970's, i have managed to organize and add to the info already collected. This year I'm continuing the project and am looking for new material. I have enjoyed your books and amazing local history knowledge. If you have any more photos and/or information on the Little Butano and Gazos canyons I would love to see it. The two canyons within the park, the Little Butano and Gazos, have some great history and are different from each other. I will be working at the park all summer so feel free to contact me. I would also be interested in obtaining a copy of the Beadle Brothers picture for our records. Let me know. -------------------- Do you have history of The Butano that you'd like to share with "Mountain" Mike Merritt, who is the Butano State Park's Seasonal Interpreter? Email Mike: ( butano@lycos.com)]]> 755 2008-05-19 23:58:47 2008-05-20 03:58:47 closed closed mountain-mike-says-yes-this-photo-is-pigeon-point-hes-writing-a-new-history-of-the-butano publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1212707117 _edit_last 1 Double Happiness: New leads for Robin Caldwell & Mike Merritt http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/20/double-happiness-new-leads-for-robin-caldwell-mike-merritt/ Tue, 20 May 2008 05:22:26 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=756 756 2008-05-20 01:22:26 2008-05-20 05:22:26 closed closed double-happiness-new-leads-for-robin-caldwell-mike-merritt publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1212707126 _edit_last 1 More Good Stuff on Omar Steele From John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/more-good-stuff-on-omar-steele-from-john-vonderlin/ Wed, 21 May 2008 01:11:11 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?page_id=757 757 2008-05-20 21:11:11 2008-05-21 01:11:11 closed closed more-good-stuff-on-omar-steele-from-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 page 0 _edit_lock 1212627134 _edit_last 1 More Good Stuff on Omar Steele from John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/20/more-good-stuff-on-omar-steele-from-john-vonderlin/ Wed, 21 May 2008 01:14:23 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=758 758 2008-05-20 21:14:23 2008-05-21 01:14:23 closed closed more-good-stuff-on-omar-steele-from-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1212627045 _edit_last 1 Photo of Charles Steele Farm http://pescaderomemories.com/photo-of-charles-steele-farm/ Wed, 21 May 2008 01:25:33 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?page_id=759 Robin Caldwell Email Robin (rcaldwell@aloftcomm.com Have you seen this photo? It is one that Myrtle Garavanta shared with me. I am told that this was the Charles Steele ranch and Charles is one of the men in the photo. I’m sorry but I don’t know the exact location of the ranch, but I’m sure it was in San Mateo County.]]> 759 2008-05-20 21:25:33 2008-05-21 01:25:33 closed closed photo-of-charles-steele-farm publish 0 0 page 0 _edit_lock 1211333133 _edit_last 1 1872: The Town of Pescadero http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/20/1872-the-town-of-pescadero/ Wed, 21 May 2008 03:22:58 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=762

(Image from "The Illustrated History of San Mateo County," Moore & DePue, originally published in 1872.]]>
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New Plant in the Garden Blooms http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/21/new-plant-in-the-garden-blooms/ Thu, 22 May 2008 03:23:03 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=765

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765 2008-05-21 23:23:03 2008-05-22 03:23:03 closed closed new-plant-in-the-garden-blooms publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1211426583 _edit_last 1
The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 41 (original ms.) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/22/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-41-original-ms/ Thu, 22 May 2008 05:11:34 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=767 In 1872 the ten-year lease at PIgeon Point had expired and three years later landowner Loren Coburn still couldn't evict the men or get the property back. Coburn's San Francisco attorney, William Craig, advised his client to pursue peaceful means; the law was on his side. The advice made plenty of sense but the men who had leased Pigeon Point didn't care about the law even though one of them, Horace Templeton, had been a judge. That left Loren with one choice: the lawless way of the Wild West. Early on the morning of July 2, 1875 Coburn and four hired guns from San Francisco waited for Scotty Rae to leave his guard post at the gate. It was known that Scotty left for breakfast at 8 a.m. and as soon as he did Coburn's man, Wolfe took up the position at the gate. You may recall that there was a shack on the other side of the gate. Inside was John Kelly, the telegraph operator. Wolfe and the others dragged Kelly out of the little building but he got away and ran to warn Scotty Rae. Scotty was armed and he rushed back toward the wharf but Coburn's thugs barred the way. Raising his "Navy six-shooter," Scotty warned the men to get off the wharf. Similarly, Wolfe warned Scotty Rae to stay put. Watching the scene unfold were several Portuguese whalers and somebody's young daughter; nobody interfered. The argument heated up. Scotty didn't have a chance as shots rang out and the popular wharffinger slumped to the ground, mortally wounded, with one bullet lodged in his heart. The news spread to Pescadero fast and you can bet the feeling in the village was intense. They liked Scotty Rae. Filled with outrage, a lynching party was organized but when they got to Pigeon Point, Loren, having heard about what was coming, escaped. Soon after he and his gunslingers were arrested, charged with murder and brought to the jail in Redwood City. (Image: County jail in Redwood City, from the Illustrated History of San Mateo County, Moore & DePue, publishers, 1872. This is a pretty nice looking jail, don't you think?) In town, Dr. Goodspeed, the county coroner, impaneled a jury of Pescaderans for the inquest. John Kelly, the telegraph operator testified that a number of shots had been fired, perhaps seven or eight. Five bullets were found in Scotty Rae's lifeless body. Loren Coburn was within earshot the entire time.]]> 767 2008-05-22 01:11:34 2008-05-22 05:11:34 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter-41-original-ms publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1211776813 _edit_last 1 Born & Raised in Pescadero: Bobbi Ballard Pimentel Talks About the Tunnels & "Trivia" http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/22/born-raised-in-pescadero-bobbi-ballard-pimentel-talks-about-the-tunnels-trivia/ Thu, 22 May 2008 21:22:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=769 (Image: The Willowside Farm) J --------------]]> 769 2008-05-22 17:22:00 2008-05-22 21:22:00 closed closed born-raised-in-pescadero-bobbi-ballard-pimentel-talks-about-the-tunnels-trivia publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1211779151 _edit_last 1 Woodside Author/Publisher Gilbert Richards Brought Back http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/23/woodside-authorpublisher-gilbert-richards-brought-back/ Fri, 23 May 2008 04:21:53 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=773

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773 2008-05-23 00:21:53 2008-05-23 04:21:53 closed closed woodside-authorpublisher-gilbert-richards-brought-back publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1211516513 _edit_last 1
McDonald's! John Vonderlin Wants to know: Is This Your Balloon? http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/23/mcdonalds-john-vonderlin-wants-to-know-is-this-yours/ Sat, 24 May 2008 03:07:16 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=777 Hi June, This was one of my finds yesterday. Before I start calling around to find its owner or former owner, as the case may be, I was wondering if the McDonald's in Half Moon Bay is missing their's? Getting this monster flat enough to get into my car must have amused passing motorists on Highway one, as I had to throw myself on it, disappearing into it. I'm not sure if I'm willing to drive to HMB to return it, but maybe some local franchise will take it and ship it back. Enjoy. John ------------------- Hi June, Well, it took a few calls, particularly because the McDonalds managers cut me off every time they put me on hold to go check if their balloon was missing, but I was finally able to trace the origin of the giant purple balloon. It escaped from the Pacifica McDonalds. Or at least they said they were missing their's. When I mentioned that it might take a while before I was willing to return it, as it would require $20 worth of gas and two hours of my time roundtrip to drive from Santa Clara to Pacifica , they said don't bother, we have another one. I laughed and said, "Great, I'll keep it as a trophy." Thinking about it, I've decided to use it as the Queen Bee of my , "The Party's Over," piece of Marine Debris artplay. That consists of large glass spheres packed with my collection of the remnants of thousands of balloons of every type and their ribbons, etc. that were carelessly released into the environment to foolishly celebrate various events and subsequently washed ashore. Though this thoughtless kind of littering disturbs me only slightly, it is interesting to note that it looks like there will soon be a law outlawing the release of helium-filled mylar balloons into the Wild Blue Yonder. Apparently, their metallic nature causes several hundred short circuits of power lines in California every year. An inconsequential matter I'm sure unless you happen to be watching the finals of "American Idol," or the Super Bowl. Enjoy. John]]> 777 2008-05-23 23:07:16 2008-05-24 03:07:16 closed closed mcdonalds-john-vonderlin-wants-to-know-is-this-yours publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1211762212 _edit_last 1 I'm not sure I like "Sea Foam" Anymore http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/25/im-not-sure-i-like-sea-foam-anymore/ Mon, 26 May 2008 00:43:37 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=780 Hi June, I almost felt guilty during last week’s trip to the coastside. While the fierce northerly winds were creating an all-consuming firestorm in the mountains south of my home, I was enjoying the soon-to-be only version of Dodge Ball allowed in our "World Gone Mild." Only, instead of dodging the hypersonic cannonballs fired by the overgrown, sadistic lummox that every sixth grade class has, I was romping, frolicking, and cavorting as I avoided Neptune's version of Rover, the giant balloon that corralled escapees in, "The Prisoner." I'm talking about Sea Foam. For some reason I find it highly entertaining to get downwind of a large concentration of sea foam and play tag with whatever escapes and "transitorily" bounces and rolls across the sand. For those not familiar with the phenomena, sea foam is the ephemeral product of the interaction of fierce wind and the decayed organic matter suspended in the ocean. Rotted seaweed, fish feces, and plankton are but a few of the unpleasant ingredients of this stinky, lighter then cotton candy oceanic confection. But as always, a picture is worth a thousand words. Occasionally, Mother Nature, whips up an extra specially huge batch of this oddity and the media takes note. Here's a sample of what, under the right conditions, impurities (salts, dead plants & fish) in the ocean, can whip up-- from Australia, read this incredible story called "The Cappuccino Coast" by Richard Shears. The amazing photos of the sea filled with a gigantic wad of sea foam will shock you! For the story, click here Enjoy John]]> 780 2008-05-25 20:43:37 2008-05-26 00:43:37 closed closed im-not-sure-i-like-sea-foam-anymore publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1212206310 _edit_last 1 The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 42 (original manuscript) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/26/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-42-original-manuscript/ Mon, 26 May 2008 05:17:31 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=786 786 2008-05-26 01:17:31 2008-05-26 05:17:31 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter-42-original-manuscript publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1211848354 _edit_last 1 The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 43 (original ms.) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/26/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-43-original-ms/ Mon, 26 May 2008 05:31:46 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=787 787 2008-05-26 01:31:46 2008-05-26 05:31:46 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter-43-original-ms publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1212120622 _edit_last 1 WWII on the Coastside http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/28/789/ Thu, 29 May 2008 02:54:09 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=789 halfmoonbaymemories.com Because of the nature of posting, the last story in the "series" appears first and you have to read backwards. Here's the last story, the one that appears first: --------- "In the first part of 1942, 'G-men came to our home in Moss Beach:" Elaine Martini Teixeira (Elaine Martini Teixeira at far right with her sister, Loretta.} Elaine Martini Teixeira says: Sometime in the first part of 1942, before my brother left for service in the US Army in October, government men came to our home in Moss Beach. My brother, Raymond Martini, recalls they showed some official papers, but said they were not given to the family to read, and we do not know if they were FBI or what was then called G-Men. My Dad was not a citizen; he was born in Brazil, though of Italian heritage. He came to America from Italy; the family returned to Italy after a few years in Brazil, where they had gone to find work. My dad and one brother were born in San Paolo, Brazil. I do not know what these men said exactly, but the family was told that my Dad had spoken well of Mussolini. When my Dad came to America at 16, sometime in 1913, he probably did have a good opinion of him. it was much later that Mussolini became more of a controversial, political figure. When my husband & I toured Italy in the mid-eighties, people said Mussolini had done well for the country when he first came to power; he did similar things as our president had done; he built up the roadways, trains, etc., had tunnels constructed through the mountains and opened up Italy to travel and transportation to France and Switzerland. Additionally, this gave work to the men who were unemployed. My Dad never returned to Italy after he came to America. I can say, he never spoke to us about the Italian government, or said anything particularly favorable about it. He neither wrote or read in either Italian or English; he probably did not know a lot about the situation in Europe. My father was certainly not a political type of person. He was just a hardworking man raising his family. I remember being in my bedroom and my Mom came and said we needed to get into the living room as these men had arrived. There were at least 2 or 3 of them, and they wanted us all in one room. They proceeded to search the house. We did not see a search warrant, or anything else, to indicate they had official status to be there there. Maybe, during the war, it was not necessary, and I am sure my parents did not ask about it. We were all rather afraid of what was going to occur. Additionally, they might have been looking for a shortwave radio. Mainly, they found some rifles that belonged to by brother, as he was an avid hunter. One rifle might have been my Dad's; he was a farmer, and they were allowed to shoot rabbits that ate the crops. My brother took responsibility for the rifles so they would not cause any additional problems for my father. Mostly, my older sister, myself and my younger sister were sitting in the living room, and what transpired was related to me, later, by my Mother. She felt that someone who may have been upset with my father over something, probably had reported him to the authorities. Finally, after quite some time, my brother, who was visibly upset, reminded the 'G-Men' that he had enlisted in the service and would be leaving for the army air force. He asked: Did they feel my dad would send messages to the enemy so they could sink a ship that would be taking his own son to Europe to fight? The government men had no answer for my brother's question. They left and we never heard from them again. ------------------ To read more stories about Coastside WWII, click on http://www.halfmoonbaymemories.com/ and scroll down.]]> 789 2008-05-28 22:54:09 2008-05-29 02:54:09 closed closed 789 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1212118591 _edit_last 1 The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 44 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/30/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-44/ Fri, 30 May 2008 04:42:54 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=791 791 2008-05-30 00:42:54 2008-05-30 04:42:54 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter-44 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1212343476 _edit_last 1 Still Unsolved: Mystery of AMBS Beach & Who Is Monty Parker? http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/30/still-unsolved-mystery-of-ambs-beach-who-is-monty-parker/ Fri, 30 May 2008 16:57:36 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=792 If you know, please email John Vonderlin (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)]]> 792 2008-05-30 12:57:36 2008-05-30 16:57:36 closed closed still-unsolved-mystery-of-ambs-beach-who-is-monty-parker publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1212166656 _edit_last 1 1870s: Ranch/Residence of John Mc Cormick, Pomponia Creek http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/30/1870s-ranchresidence-of-john-mc-cormick-pomponia-creek/ Sat, 31 May 2008 02:58:21 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=795

From "The Illustrated History of San Mateo County," Moore & DePue, 1878, reprinted in 1974 by Gilbert Richards, Woodside]]>
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Is the Butano Dairy the Cloverdale Dairy? http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/30/is-the-butano-dairy-the-cloverdale-dairy/ Sat, 31 May 2008 03:27:10 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=797 Image: Cloverdale Gulch View Image: Front of a Cloverdale Dairy Building]]> 797 2008-05-30 23:27:10 2008-05-31 03:27:10 closed closed is-the-butano-dairy-the-cloverdale-dairy publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1212958870 _edit_last 1 1870s: Pescadero Feed Mill, John Tufly, Prop. http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/30/pescadero-feed-mill-john-tufly-prop/ Sat, 31 May 2008 03:50:21 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=800

From "The Illustrated History of San Mateo County," Moore & DePue, 1878, reprinted in 1974 by Gilbert Richards, Woodside

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"Oldest" Tree in California? http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/05/31/oldest-tree-in-california/ Sat, 31 May 2008 18:51:34 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=802

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The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 45 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/01/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-45/ Sun, 01 Jun 2008 18:35:56 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=804 804 2008-06-01 14:35:56 2008-06-01 18:35:56 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter-45 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1213151608 _edit_last 1 Duarte's Sweet & Yummy Berry Pies http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/03/duartes-sweet-berry-pies/ Tue, 03 Jun 2008 04:24:32 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=805

Photo: Ron Duarte and his daughter, Kathy, who is in charge of everything and does it perfectly.]]>
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Fabulous Gordon's Chute at Tunitas Creek http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/03/fabulous-gordons-chute-at-tunitas-creek/ Tue, 03 Jun 2008 04:32:39 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=807

Image from “The Illustrated History of San Mateo County,” Moore & DePue, 1878, reprinted in 1974 by Gilbert Richards, Woodside]]>
807 2008-06-03 00:32:39 2008-06-03 04:32:39 closed closed fabulous-gordons-chute-at-tunitas-creek publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1212627350 _edit_last 1
Attention Nature Geeks! Mike Merritt here... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/03/attention-nature-geeks-mike-merritt-here/ Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:50:39 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=809 Hi, Mike Merritt here. I thought, with all the talk about tunnels and such, I would throw in a few things I’ve come across in my history "digging". Last summer I talked with Gregg Timms of the Pescadero Historical Society, and he asked me if I had found any caves up near Butano State Park where I work. I replied no. Up till then I had never heard of any rumors of caves in the mountains, certainly not ones that you could climb into. I have read about the renegade Native American, Pomponio, hiding out in a "cave" in what is now called Pomponio creek. Then, yesterday at the Redwood City Library, I came across this in the 1887 issue of the San Mateo Times & Gazette: "Perhaps there are only a few inhabitants of this place who know of the existence of a cave on the upper Butano Creek. Such is the fact, however. It has been explored to the depth of a hundred feet or more, and stalactite formation of various odd shapes, makes it worth a while to pay a visit..." Wow, how cool is it that there’s a deep cave right in our backyard? I know of caves up at Castle Rock but not this close to the coast. Obviously we don’t want to be combing the forest for the cave, as the upper Butano is private property, not to mention very large. However, if anyone has information about this geologic gem us nature geeks would love to know hear about it. Most likely it has been forgotten and is safely hidden deep within the redwood forest. And the fun doesn't stop there. Another article brings us to Bean Hollow. On May 23, 1891, the reporter for the San Mateo Times and Gazette wrote this: "J. C. Williamson, on Monday last shipped for C. Sweet the first installment of gold from the Bean Hollow Mine. The amount was five and a half ounces worth sexteen dollers per ounce, obtained from amalgram by retort [not sure what this means?]. Mr. Sweet has constructed a windmill by which he is enabled to use this limited supply of water continually, pumping it thereby back to the reservoir. The mine is black sand and the supply abundant.” Could it be true we had our own gold mine here in Pescadero? I do not know much about C. Sweet, and this is the first I have heard of a mine of any sorts in the area. Who knows more? Well that’s all for now. I am getting ready to post some profiles of the early homesteaders of the Little Butano Canyon. They date back to the early 1860's with each family bringing a wealth of colorful local history. May the Forest Be With You Mike Merritt Butano State Park Seasonal Interpreter Email Mike (butano@lycos.com)]]> 809 2008-06-03 15:50:39 2008-06-03 19:50:39 closed closed attention-nature-geeks-mike-merritt-here publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1212706942 _edit_last 1 Seeking Editors of The Steeles of Point Ano Nuevo/Family Genealogy/History 1591-2000 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/03/seeking-editors-of-the-steeles-of-point-ano-nuevofamily-genealogyhistory-1591-2000/ Wed, 04 Jun 2008 03:44:46 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=811 here1

Robin Caldwell writes: June, I can’t tell you how much fun I have had since first contacting your blog on May 18. I was searching for information on my great grandfather, Omar Noah Steele. John Vonderlin contacted me with several items that appeared in the book, “Echoes of Gazos Creek” by Harvey Mowry. I purchased the book and was excited to see more information on Omar’s life in California, including a never before seen photo. Now I know when Omar arrived in California, when he returned to Ohio for good, and the reasons for his return. John put me in touch with Mr. Mowry, to whom I was able to express my gratitude for all of the research he has put into the book. I was contacted by Susan Hawes whose great grandfather was Charles Steele, Omar’s brother. Thank you for your blog and the wonderful people who read it and are eager to help. My current project is to try and contact the people who edit the updates for the book “The Steeles of Point Ano Nuevo; A Family Genealogy and History From 1591 – 2000”. On page 97, there appears a page of sheet music titled “Captain O.N. Steele’s March”. The book says it was written in honor of Osman N. Steele who was killed in the NY Anti Rent War of 1845. This information is incorrect. The march was written in honor of Omar N. Steele. He was Captain General of the Forest City Ohio Commandry of Knights Templar. A 33rd degree Mason. I know this is true, because I have the original copy of the sheet music with his photo. (see image at top of the blog.) Just for fun, I have included an attachment of a computer generated recording of the music that my brother Jonathan Wallace put together for me.. To hear & enjoy "Captain Omar N. Steele's March, click here Does anyone have contact information for the update editors of the book? Email Robin ( rcaldwell@aloftcomm.com
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"Armadillo" Left His Mahogany Pyramid at the "Worm Farm" in the 1970s http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/04/armadillo-left-his-mahogany-pyramid-at-the-worm-farm-in-the-1970s/ Wed, 04 Jun 2008 22:42:44 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=817 halfmoonbaymemories.com Thanks for putting such meticulous devotion into making something both beautiful and freely shared! I e-mail you now to ask whether you know, or know of anyone who does know, anything about an 8-foot square hollow mahogany pyramid appearing at the Worm Farm in San Gregorio around spring of 1975? This exact proportional replica of the Great Pyramid was carefully built by me and left with the people living at the worm farm at that time. I am interested in learning what use this pyramid served, and what was its fate over the intervening years. If you, or someone to whom you can forward this message, could send me any information available on this subject, I would greatly appreciate the effort. -All the best, thanks. ----------- HI Richard: I was happy to read such an upbeat email message first thing in the morning., I have a number of posts about the great magician Channing Pollock, owner of the unforgettable Worm Farm. Did you draw the plans for the pyramid water tank? Because I have some architectural plans for it. Here is the link, click here POST (peninsula open space trust) bought the Worm Ranch from the heirs of Channing and Corri Pollock, who originally purchased the land from Stanford. Here is the link to POST, click here George Cattermole and his wife own the Store in San Gregorio and they are certainly up-to-date on what is going on in their "front yard." The water tank pyramid, if that is what you are referring to, stood just up the road from their store. Here's the link to the San Gregorio Store, click here Was this helpful? -------------- Hi June, Good to hear from you so soon. I have just one PIC of the pyramid from my days at the last avacado ranch in Yorba Linda, where I crafted it. As soon as I can scan it, I will send it to you. The name Channing Pollock rings a bell. It was likely by his magic I was drawn to leaving my pyramid at the worm farm - for no particular or clear reason of having any prior relationship with anyone there -as if he pulled me straight there through the aether, straight to San Gregorio bearing my gift of a precision wooden pyramid. I did not draw the plans for the water tank pyramid, but I did hear something of this project somehow. Perhaps at the Saturday morning Alan Chadwick organic gardening sessions held at UCSC back then. This may be why I considered the worm farm a good place to leave my pyramid as I left for Chicago. I had previously been living on Skyline Blvd. as the caretaker of the property know as Rancho Diablo, while it was still run by the Portola Institute (Whole Earth Catalog) to hold 20-25 people, 2&3-day educational seminars in the big mansion. Richard Ledford (Armadillo)]]> 817 2008-06-04 18:42:44 2008-06-04 22:42:44 closed closed armadillo-left-his-mahogany-pyramid-at-the-worm-farm-in-the-1970s publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1212958671 _edit_last 1 Photo of the missing pyramid....Do you know where it is now? http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/04/photo-of-the-missing-pyramiddo-you-know-where-it-is-now/ Wed, 04 Jun 2008 22:46:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=818 Richard Ledford aka Armadillo writes: Hello again June, Here is the 33-year old picture of the mahogany pyramid taken in Yorba Linda, CA. Assembled over an 8-foot square plywood base, the triangular faces were all precision beveled to make clean invisible joints, as you can see. Front face tilted out on brass hinges mounted at the base. All other assembly hardware was custom made from 100% brass & copper, as I did not want any magnetic effects from steel or other ferromagnetic metals to be present. It was meant to be a meditation space, and for doing experiments with Pyramid energy. I had hoped that tests would be done to see how worms placed inside would be affected. Lost touch before doing any follow- ups on those questions. Richard Ledford (aka Armadillo)]]> 818 2008-06-04 18:46:00 2008-06-04 22:46:00 closed closed photo-of-the-missing-pyramiddo-you-know-where-it-is-now publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1212958607 _edit_last 1 Did a rough & tumble lumberman sip from this historic bottle? http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/04/did-a-rough-tumble-lumberman-sip-from-this-historic-bottle/ Thu, 05 Jun 2008 02:51:14 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=821 Gazos Creek watershed yesterday was this old bottle.

Because of its location I assume somebody had found it while bushwhacking and abandoned it because it was broken. Being more interested in cleaning up litter then collecting antique bottles, I packed it out. Doing a little Internet research, I discovered it was a pre-Prohibition beer bottle made by the William Franzen and Son bottling company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its cachet for me is that it was possibly drunk in the heyday of logging in the Gazos Country in the early 1900s by one of the characters in Edward Conant's or Harvey Mowry's, books that I've mentioned previously. The following article was first published in its entirety in February,1997 as part of the book: "The Milwaukee Antique Bottle & Advertising Club: The Cream City Courier - A Special 25th Anniversary Issue" compiled & edited by Michael R. Reilly, then, Editor of The Cream City Courier. The book was privately published by Mr. Reilly. Here's an excerpt from Mr. Reilly's book about the W.F. & S Bottling Co.: "In 1900 Franzen became owner, reincorporated, and placed his own mark on the bottles. Things were at a low ebb when Franzen took over but by 1898 the capital stock had risen in value from $10,000 to $100,000 and by 1900, thanks to the use of a tank furnace and semi-automatic machines, to $300,000. Use of a higher percentage of cullet in the batch aided in partial reduction of operating costs. Bottle quality was good, and the factory's most important customers, the Milwaukee brewers, had reentered the fold. "Prohibition brought about its downfall, but for awhile the reversals suffered were met with bottles for makers of "near beer" and soft drinks. Noyes states that the corporation was dissolved on December 24, 1921 by a vote of six hundred shares of stock in favor and none against, but the City Directory reports it active under O.E. Koehler in 1923 and idle in 1926, never to reopen." Enjoy. John]]>
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John & Meg Visit the Brand New Ano Nuevo Interpretive Center http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/05/john-meg-visit-the-brand-new-ano-nuevo-interpretive-center/ Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:36:27 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=823

The horse barn

holds a theatre and classroom and the two- story creamery has been converted into the headquarters for the hundreds of volunteers and the park office. There is a Gift Shop where you can buy books (including one of yours, "The Coburn Mystery,"

souvenirs, posters, etc. There are interpretive displays inside and picnic tables outside with a to-kill-for view of Ano Nuevo Island from this historic point. Best of all (in my mind) there is a warm, sheltered spot to gather in this often windy and cold spot, while you wait for your docent-guided tour to see the Elephant Seal's rookery further out the point.

When you're poking around in the barns note the giant weathered timbers used to construct them. A sign mentions they were salvaged from a storm-wrecked local wharf.

I assume that is none other then the Waddell Wharf I've written about before. I recommend you check out this valuable addition to our understanding of the historic south coast of San Mateo County. Enjoy. John ]]>
823 2008-06-05 11:36:27 2008-06-05 15:36:27 closed closed john-meg-visit-the-brand-new-ano-nuevo-interpretive-center publish 0 0 post 0
"Our" Jim Denevan's New Farm to Table Cookbook http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/05/our-jim-denevans-new-farm-to-table-cookbook/ Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:33:14 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=830 Jim Denevan's new cookbook? Visit Outstandinginthefield.com or click here I wonder whose local farm this is. ]]> 830 2008-06-05 12:33:14 2008-06-05 16:33:14 closed closed our-jim-denevans-new-farm-to-table-cookbook publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1212957605 _edit_last 1 Mike Merritt: The History of the Butano, Part I http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/05/mike-merritt-the-history-of-the-butano-part-i/ Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:54:56 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=832 Butano Overview History Peninsula Farms Several parcels of land north of Gazos Creek, including Little Butano Flats, were developed into a farming cooperative known as Peninsula Farms in 1923. The property was subdivided into 41 parcels, many of which were further subdivided in later years. A manager of the cooperative built what is now the lower park residence (Residence #1), as well as the flume on Little Butano Creek. In the 1920’s, the Goat Hill property was purchased by Peter Olmo. Olmo operated a dog kennel, as well as a small turkey farm on the property. At roughly the same period, Joe Bacciocco purchased the Jackson property, along with the house built by Peninsula Farms. Bacciocco, a wealthy San Franciscan meat wholesaler, did not live at the house, but instead used it as a weekend retreat. Bacciocco hosted parties that became infamous during the period of Prohibition. He hired local resident, Hans Carlson, to serve as a caretaker for the property from 1936 to 1952. Land speculators initiated the purchase of much of the Bacciocco property, surveying 40 home sites. Many of these home sites were in the location of what would later become the present campground. The drastic decline of the stock market in 1929 sealed the fate of the land speculator, and no development occurred in the Butano area. Bacciocco retained ownership of the land. As described above, this region soon became a rich lumber resource. Several lumber companies acquired vast tracts of land in what is now Butano SP. Land encompassing the watershed of the Little Butano Creek was owned by those individuals described above, as well as extensive holdings by the Pacific Lumber Company. Early Preservation Efforts Conservation groups had been lobbying to preserve California’s coastal redwoods beginning in the 1880’s. This movement had its earliest and brightest victory in the creation of Big Basin State Park in 1902. By 1921, the preservation group Sempervirens Club set their sight upon land along Big Butano Creek, containing some of the best remaining stands of old growth redwoods in the state. In 1928, a statewide park survey called for the addition of 12,000 acres to Big Basin State Park (encompassing Big Butano Creek). Though timber prices declined over the next few years (and thereby the value of the land), funds were not available for the purchase. As they had in the past, timber prices skyrocketed, and logging activity was renewed in the early 1930’s. In 1932, the Save-the-Redwoods League commissioned a study for the potential for a park in the Little Butano Creek area though no land purchases were made. By World War II, the Pacific Lumber Company had purchased a great deal of the property in the area surrounding the valley of Little Butano Creek. Meanwhile, in 1941, San Mateo County planned to purchase 160 acres in what was referred to as the Butano tract (along Big Butano Creek). The county planned to develop the area for recreation with the assistance of the Civilian Conservation Corps, CCC. This plan did not come to pass, likely as a result of the war. Post World War II Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead, Jr.,

under contract with the state, surveyed the Little Butano area in 1946, recommending that a park not be considered for this region. Olmsted instead urged the acquisition of land in the Big Butano area. This area was favored by most conservationists, while the Little Butano was not. Conservationists had, by this time, placed emphasis not only on saving the old growth redwoods, but also providing easy access to them from the large metropolitan areas of the San Francisco Bay area. Conservation efforts, however, were helped by the fact that Butano remained a rugged and relatively inaccessible area, making development difficult. The decline of lumber prices following the end of the war also assisted in the conservation efforts.(DPR 1974: 8) Efforts were again made to purchase the Butano beginning in the late 1940’s. Many private groups (perhaps foremost among them the Loma Prieta Chapter of the Sierra Club) sought the establishment of a state park in the area. The State Park Commission was apparently convinced, and planned to acquire 4,500 acres encompassing Big and Little Butano valleys. The commission set aside funds to purchase sections of the land on a matching basis. San Mateo County agreed to donate their tract of land in the area known as the San Mateo County Memorial Park (Zimmerman 1948). In 1954, the state appraised 1,040 acres in the Big Butano area at $800,000. The owner (presumably the Pacific Lumber Company), however, would not sell for less than $1,600,000. The State Park Commission prepared to initiate condemnation proceedings. Lacking the support of local counties (San Mateo, San Francisco, and Santa Clara), the commission began looking at alternate areas, including the Little Butano area. (Sierra Club Bulletin 1955 January: 19). The Butano Forest Associates was formed to assist the state in acquiring and preserving 5,000 acres of the Big and Little Butano watersheds. In 1951, the organization agreed to donate $5,000 in exchange for having a 40-acre redwood grove named for their organization. Apparently, the Division of Beaches and Parks agreed, and accepted the money. The first acquisition was made in 1956, consisting of 320 acres of government land. Soon thereafter it was designated “The Butano.” Olmo’s property, including the family residence, was deeded to the state on March 31, 1958. By 1959, the state had acquired a total of 1,900 acres. Much of the land had already been logged extensively, and those trees remaining were primarily second growth. The park was not open to the public until many years later, when facilities were completed. In 1961, Benjamin Reis, Park Supervisor of the newly formed Butano SP was killed in an accident at the park. Soon thereafter, the campground was named in his honor. A request for $336,489 was made in the 1962/63 budget for the first phase in the development of a 90-unit campsite in the new park. The first campground included only 40 units, however, together with a graded dirt road, water system and a single comfort station. Plans were made for many more campgrounds, along with improved roads, trails, comfort stations, combination buildings, and electricity. The road through the park to the campground was completed in 1964 (with a bridge over the creek constructed that year). Over head power lines were finally installed in 1967. By 1980, the park contained 2,186 acres. Email Mike Merritt (butano@lycos.com)]]>
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South Coast State Parks: The Early History Of The Butano http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/05/south-coast-state-parks-the-early-history-of-the-butano/ Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:51:47 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=834 Butano Area History

Early Pioneer Settlement Following the Gold Rush, large numbers of Americans began arriving in California. In 1850, California became a state, and thousands of acres of rancho property began to be turned over to American citizens. As a result there was in the coming years a wholesale turnover of rancho lands to American interests, including the ranchos of the coast. Many of the large ranchos were purchased by wealthy European Americans. In 1851, Isaac Graham of Santa Cruz acquired the Rancho Punta de Ano Nuevo from the Castro heirs, encompassing all of what would become Butano SP. Graham had been an American trapper on the frontier, and was a prominent pioneer. For a time, he had been imprisoned in Mexico for alleged acts of insurrection. His release included an indemnity, with which he purchased the Rancho.(Steele, Catharine B. The Steeles of Point Ano Nuevo,). Although he did not live on the rancho, he leased much of the land out for cattle ranching. Because of financial troubles, Graham was unable to hold onto the property, and it was sold at public auction in 1862 to John H. Baird, for $20,000. Baird quickly sold the property to Loren Coburn for $30,000. Coburn purchased both the Rancho Butano and Rancho Punta de Ano with his brother-in-law Jeremiah Clark. After buying out Clark, Coburn leased much of the land to a northern California family dairy enterprise by the name of Steele. Dairies The Steeles had arrived in California from Ohio beginning in the mid-1850’s, operating several dairies in Sonoma County. They soon began to make cheese, which was eagerly awaited in San Francisco. By 1857, George, Isaac, Edgar, and Rensselaer Steele leased land in Marin County. Demand for their cheese caused the Steeles to expand their herd and seek out new country. Beginning in 1862, the Steeles leased 17,763 acres of the Ano Nuevo rancho from Coburn. The lease was for $6,000 per year for ten years plus all taxes on the rancho. A stipulation allowed for the Steeles to buy 7,000 acres of the ranch south of Gazos Creek when the lease expired, at $6 per acre. The Steeles exercised the option to buy the 7,000 acres, while Coburn retained the northern portion of the rancho (Steele 1948:10). Edgar Steele built the Cloverdale Dairy, which used to stand along present day Cloverdale Rd. Lumbering Meanwhile, lumbering had also become a prominent economic activity in this region. As settlements south of San Francisco grew, the redwood trees prevalent in the Santa Cruz Mountains were exploited for their commercial use. While the eastern slopes up to the summit were harvested beginning in the 1850’s, the coast side areas were further from shipping points, markets, and transportation facilities, making logging operations difficult. By the 1870’s, the accessible timber on the eastern slope had been largely harvested. Logging then focused on the coast side watersheds of the Purissima, Tunitas, San Gregorio, Pescadero, and Gazos creeks. Most local creeks dried up in the summer, requiring steam powered-mills for effective logging operations. Small shingle mills were often set up in small, remote canyons where oxen teams could not reach. Transporting the lumber to market proved extremely difficult, and expensive. With no deep water port on the nearby coast, shipping the lumber from the few small wharfs (Waddell’s Gordon’s Chute at Tunitas, Pigeon Point) was generally not cost effective. Prices of lumber also varied widely, based upon changing demand as the result of fires or other disasters. These price fluctuations frequently put small operations out of business (Hynding 1982). Nevertheless, several mills were established on the coast side of the mountains beginning in 1867, and some businesses thrived for a time. The focus of most early lumbering in the area appears to have been along Gazos Creek. The Birch and Steen shingle mill was located approximately ½ mile west of the confluence of Bear Creek and Gazos Creek, and about five miles from the ocean. It was eventually sold to Horace Templeton who moved the mill upstream, began milling lumber, and organized the Pacific Lumber and Mill Company. Lumber was floated down a flume to the intersection of Cloverdale Road and Gazos Creek Road where it was hauled to Pigeon Point for shipping. Despite a promising beginning, the mill closed following the death of Templeton in 1873. The nationwide Panic of 1873 put several other mills in the Santa Cruz Mountains out of business. It would be several years before business would begin to pick up again. In 1882, James McKinley (brother of the future president) reactivated the Pacific Lumber mill, and soon was supplying the increasingly powerful and expanding Southern Pacific Railroad. The mill was renamed the “McKinley Mill” (Stanger 1967). Business continued to ebb and flow based upon the larger national, regional, and local economies. During this period, the lands that would make up Butano SP were owned by logging companies, and were extensively logged. Several mills were built on Gazos Creek, as well as other locations (such as on Big Butano and Little Butano creeks). Pescadero By the early 1860’s, the small town of Pescadero had emerged along this portion of the San Mateo Coast, and was soon served by several stage lines. Aside from Half Moon Bay, Pescadero was the only other town of any size during this period. By 1868, in fact, Pescadero had become the fourth largest town in the county (having just been annexed by San Mateo County that year). The town thrived as a result of it being a transportation hub for adjacent farms and lumber mills. Stages ran from Redwood City over the mountains via Searsville and La Honda to Pescadero. During periods of bad weather, mail and passenger stages were routed through Boulder Creek, passing through what is now Butano SP. The route followed those used by Native Americans, along the ridgelines along Little Butano and Gazos. These routes were used until the 1880’s and still retain roads today, largely following the ridgelines through park property. Homesteads Though most of the Santa Cruz Mountains were too rugged to be suitable for homesteading, the canyon of Little Butano Creek was one notable exception. There are several areas of flat open spades that allowed for limited farming and ranching. The most pronounced of these consist of Little Butano Flats (at the entrance to the current park), Jackson Flats immediately below the north ridge, and Goat Hill on the south ridge. One of the first to arrive was William Jackson and his wife Isabella, who filed on three separate 160 acre parcels of land in 1861. Jackson built a small house in the heart of his property, on the north side of the canyon. The area in which they settle became known as Jackson Flats. Jackson eventually acquired a total of 400 acres and had four children, Mary, William, Fannie, and Thomas. E.P. Mullen homesteaded on the south side of little Butano canyon in the early 1860s. Mullen established a goat ranch on the property, giving the name to Goat Hill. Mullen’s daughter continued to live on the ranch with her husband, William M. Taylor. The Taylors remained until the late 1800’s. In 1873, Taylor built a shingle mill on the south bank of Little Butano Creek. Partnering with William Jackson, the two operated the mill for almost 10 years. By the 1880’s, Sheldon “Purdy” Pharis had purchased property in the upper Little Butano basin. Known as the “shingle king”, Pharis built one of the first shingle mills in the Santa Cruz Mountains in 1863, and apparently operated as many as 7 mills. Pharis purchased the Taylor mill, along with many others in the area. In 1885, however, Pharis committed suicide, and the mill ceased operation.]]>
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Remember the "French Intensive" Method? http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/06/remember-the-french-intensive-method/ Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:24:30 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=836

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836 2008-06-06 11:24:30 2008-06-06 15:24:30 closed closed remember-the-french-intensive-method publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1212765870 _edit_last 1
The South Coast's "Indiana Jones" Solves A Tunnel Mystery http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/06/the-south-coasts-indiana-jones-solves-a-tunnel-mystery/ Fri, 06 Jun 2008 20:34:37 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=839 tunnel just up the hill from the north parking lot at Pescadero Beach. Several oldtimers talked of visiting it in their youth and related its possible function. Despite clear directions I had been unable to find it. Then by examining the 1972 pictures on California Coastal Records Project (CCR), I was able to see a path to an area that corresponding to the alleged location. Walking around the area, I found a now barely visible, slanted, ledge-like feature up the slope to a slight anomaly in the hillside that I assumed had been a graded dirt road leading to where the mystery tunnel had been. When one of your readers, Bobbi Pimentel, read that posting, she contacted me, and in an email, validated my theory and provided other interesting information. Bobbi, a member of one of Pescadero's oldest families, remembered visiting the tunnel as a child with her father after WWII. She helped me solve the mystery of the tunnel. Now maybe someone will come forward with a photo of it before it was filled, and/or provide firsthand information on the other two cliffside tunnels just north of there. Then my curiosity about the tunnels will be fully satisfied. Here’s an excerpt from my email to Mrs. Pimentel and her reply. The only thing better then mysteries is solving them. Thanks to both of you for helping me in finding the answers to this one. Enjoy. John John Vonderlin (JV): Were you in the tunnel just up the hill from what is now the parking lot of north Pescadero Beach? Was it where I thought? Do remember how deep it was? The longest serving ranger in the area (about 25 years) knew nothing of it. He was familiar with the next one north. That's the one I climbed in, the one in a cliff face above the ocean. The other cliff face observation tunnel I've written about, the one the Pranksters were in, just north of Pomponio, was well visited until the 1970s when it was plugged and filled for safety reasons apparently. Bobbi Pimentel (BP): Yes, the cave that I remember most is the one above the parking lot...It has brush and weeds growing so thickly around it that for several years, it looked unaccessible. Since I was so young when Dad took me to these places, I really can't judge length, but a guesstimate would be 40'...the brush on the ocean side kept the tunnel out of view. It was rumored that Japanese subs were traveling the coast. There were guns and ammunition stored there as well as dynamite. (My Dad worked on the road department during the war, worked for the Federal Government (as a maintenance man) and did some other work for them...he used explosives on a regular basis. He went into farming for a few years and in the early '50's worked for the County of San Mateo where he was using explosives again...]]> 839 2008-06-06 16:34:37 2008-06-06 20:34:37 closed closed the-south-coasts-indiana-jones-solves-a-tunnel-mystery publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1212957448 _edit_last 1 You've got to catch ephemeral art before it gets away http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/09/youve-got-to-catch-ephermeral-art-before-it-gets-away/ Mon, 09 Jun 2008 06:17:57 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=843 Interpretive Center at Ano Nuevo, then using Mr. Mowry's book

to look for old lumber mill sites in the Gazos Creek watershed, we hiked down Invisible Beach to Neptune's Vomitorium, to collect more non-buoyant Marine Debris. It was foggy to the point of drizzling, so I left my camera in the car. When I saw this unusual piece of Ephemeral Beach Art

I decided I had to capture it before it disappeared. So, when we returned to the car, despite being dog tired, I grabbed my camera and jogged back to get a few shots. I'm not sure if the two driftwood sticks, formed into a cross, indicate Grammy is no longer with us, but I salute the love these anonymous grandchildren must have for her. It's a nice variance from the typical heart in the sand that celebrates a young couple's misty love. Young love may fade as fast as the tide changes, but Grammy love is something you'll carry with you forever. Enjoy. John]]>
843 2008-06-09 02:17:57 2008-06-09 06:17:57 closed closed youve-got-to-catch-ephermeral-art-before-it-gets-away publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1213037505 _edit_last 1
Chapter 46: The Coburn Mystery http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/10/chapter-46-the-coburn-mystery/ Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:23:11 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=846 By June Morrall The Coburns had spent two years back East and Loren's success in San Francisco became well known to his less fortunate relatives. They thought he was rich and that maybe he would share his wealth with them. It was worth the visit to the village of Pescadero. Sarah Upton was the most welcome in what turned into a steady stream of Coburn's less affluent family members. Sarah was the sister of Coburn's first wife Mary Antoinette, who was still alive at this time. But her health and emotional state were fragile as she had just been diagnosed with terminal cancer. At the opposite end of the welcome scale, was the Upton sister's brother, Marraton, a widower with a long white beard stained a yucky brown from spitting tobacco juice. The local kids called him "Whiskers," and tossed rotten eggs at the old fashioned- frock coat covered figure shuffling from one saloon to the next. Marraton was a drunk, a pretty harmless character, who, when inebriated, which was most of the time, talked too much, most of it gibberish. "Whiskers" was an embarrassment to Loren who didn't drink or smoke. Loren was all business. He would have paid someone to spirit his brother-in-law away but he didn't want to upset his beloved wife, instead he found work for him at the newly opened Eureka Stable. (I don't want to believe this, but as the story goes, Marraton did some of the accounting.) Marraton was close to Coburn, possibly privy to decisions, and it is said that the boys in town wanted him to drink more than he should because, as Coburn's stable bookkeeper, he would forgive or forget all debts. Marraton had been married twice, once in 1854 to a Susan who bore him two children; both died and Susan passed away eight years later. He married again, this time a widow, also called Susan. When she died, Marraton wandered west and worked as a merchant in the Carson Valley, Nevada. He couldn't make ends meet and headed back home to Fitchburg, Massachusetts before joining up with the Coburns in Pescadero. He, along with Ah Gee, who worked as a servant in the Coburn household, looked after Wally. Marie Antoinette, Sarah and Marraton Upton now lived together with Loren in the Pescadero house. Next to arrive, and move in, was the Upton's sickly sister Anna Celestia. She was in her 50s, ill most of the time, and she hated Loren Coburn. She was a bit odd and enjoyed taunting Loren by saying she was going to send him to Agnews, then a well known "insane asylum" near Santa Clara. The Uptons and the Loren Coburns sat down for meals together in the small dreary dining room reportedly dominated by a very big safe rumored to hold lots of cash and stacks of gold coins. Now that all the Uptons were in town and Loren's brother, J.C., wife, Lucy, and adopted son Carl lived across the street, Lemmuel Coburn showed up. Lemmuel was Loren's successful brother, a well respected businessman from Holyoke, Massachusetts. He was in the sliding door business, manufacturing door hangers. "The hangers are far ahead of any yet seen here and will be used on outside doors," commented the San Mateo newspaper. Lemmuel brought along his son, Arzo, who had played with Wally when they were youngsters. And then came another one of Loren's brothers, Alonzo Coburn, who was a widower, suffering from a serious illness. Thankfully, Alonzo moved in with the J.C. Coburn's across the way from Loren because, by this time, life for Loren Coburn had become, as he himself said, "a perfect hell."]]> 846 2008-06-10 23:23:11 2008-06-11 03:23:11 closed closed chapter-46-the-coburn-mystery publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1213200444 _edit_last 1 1970s: A Visit to Ano Nuevo, Part I http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/11/1970s-a-visit-to-ano-nuevo-part-i/ Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:13:59 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=847 ]]> 847 2008-06-11 16:13:59 2008-06-11 20:13:59 closed closed 1970s-a-visit-to-ano-nuevo-part-i publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1213222156 _edit_last 1 _oembed_f6c944b5d6cafce91d5c674cd8447581 1970s: A Visit to Ano Nuevo, Part II http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/11/1970s-a-visit-to-ano-nuevo-part-ii/ Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:16:21 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=848 848 2008-06-11 16:16:21 2008-06-11 20:16:21 closed closed 1970s-a-visit-to-ano-nuevo-part-ii publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1213333721 _edit_last 1 The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 47 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/12/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-47/ Thu, 12 Jun 2008 05:10:31 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=849 A La California , observed Chinese working with Indians digging up potatoes in the fields surrounding Pescadero. Many Chinese found their niche in the laundry business, and the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act aimed its poison arrow at their success. They didn't deliver folded, clean clothes by horse and carriage. Instead laundry baskets were suspended on a pole that was balanced on their shoulders. Lawmakers came up with a most unusual, new licensing tax that punished the Chinese for their delivery method. It became a misdemeanor to carry baskets as I described. This led to more Chinese seeking safety in Pescadero. When an angry anti-Chinese organizer from San Jose came to the village to try to rally the locals, he was sent away disillusioned. Some 20 Pescaderans listened to what the man had to say at the Union Hall, but nobody acted on his words. The new Chinese residents opened laundries, with the hotels their biggest customers. No one had the patience to learn the foreign language so they gave the businesses phonetic names like "Gee Chong Sing Wash House" and "Ah Yick's Wash House." The "Tuck Lung and Co." was located behind the Swanton House. Their work was so appreciated that when the laundries closed for a day or a week, the locals complained bitterly. The laundry owners wanted to please their clients in Pescadero. On one occasion when the locals returned from celebrating the Fourth of July at Pebble Beach in the 1880s, they were treated to an encore by the employees of the Gee Chong Sing Wash House. South of town some 150 Chinese workers did grading work for the Gazos Creek "railroad." They were on scene when two bulky prairie schooner wagons drawn by 16 mules (brought in from a Nevada quartz mine) arrived to haul lumber and railroad ties from the mill to Pigeon Point. The big wagons were too clumsy for the narrow coastal mountain trails and finally rolled away, out of control, down a steep hill. Most of the names given the Chinese tell you how well they were regarded. The boss at the Gazos Mill, at one point empowered to hire 600 men, was called "Goo Luck." The Gazos Gulch was actually a stopover, a stage stop on the Pescadero-Santa Cruz route. There was a post office, store and "whiskey mill." The mill was producing pickets and railroad ties for the Southern Pacific--as well as 55,000 feet of shingles, all of it to be shipped from Pigeon Point to San Francisco. In the end the old-fashioned chute at Pigeon Point couldn't handle the volume and the mill lost a lot of money on the deal, at the same time striking a blow at Pescadero's fragile economy. Then, in 1885 a terrific southeast gale destroyed the chute and warehouse belonging to Loren Coburn. Life was not getting easier for the South Coast Chinese. A year before bad weather swept away the Pigeon Point chute, the Chinese laundry behind the Swanton House burned to the ground. The village didn't have an organized fire department and the three fire extinguishers were not much help. It was said that all that remained of the Tuck Lung laundry was a statute of Buddha, "and it was ruthlessly torn from his perch by young ruffians." As fast as the Chinese had come to Pescadero, they were gone again, all except Ah Gee, the servant who worked for Loren Coburn.]]> 849 2008-06-12 01:10:31 2008-06-12 05:10:31 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter-47 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1213505085 _edit_last 1 Burney Says: "We Used a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and Lady Clariol Ultra Blue...." http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/13/burney-says-we-used-a-mixture-of-hydrogen-peroxide-and-lady-clariol-ultra-blue/ Fri, 13 Jun 2008 19:32:20 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=850
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Burney J. Le Boeuf Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Research Professor of Biology 29 Clark Kerr Hall University of California Santa Cruz, CA 95064]]>
850 2008-06-13 15:32:20 2008-06-13 19:32:20 closed closed burney-says-we-used-a-mixture-of-hydrogen-peroxide-and-lady-clariol-ultra-blue publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1213761440 _edit_last 1
Beauty Heals http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/14/beauty-heals/ Sat, 14 Jun 2008 05:09:41 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=852

Email John Vonderlin (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)]]>
852 2008-06-14 01:09:41 2008-06-14 05:09:41 closed closed beauty-heals publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1213420181 _edit_last 1
The Coburn House in the Village of Pescadero http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/14/the-coburn-house-in-the-village-of-pescadero/ Sun, 15 Jun 2008 02:47:05 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=853 ]]> 853 2008-06-14 22:47:05 2008-06-15 02:47:05 closed closed the-coburn-house-in-the-village-of-pescadero publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1213498025 _edit_last 1 Coburn Mystery: Chapter 48 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/15/855/ Sun, 15 Jun 2008 05:00:45 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=855 J.W. Seavey went ashore and her shipwrecked sailors passed through Pescadero on their way to San Francisco.]]> 855 2008-06-15 01:00:45 2008-06-15 05:00:45 closed closed 855 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1213850372 _edit_last 1 1977, Orril Fluharty: Blueprint for Living http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/15/orril-fluharty-blueprint-for-living/ Sun, 15 Jun 2008 18:11:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=856 Transitions: Montara to Pescadero, an oral history, a project edited by Canada teacher Aida Hinajosa. Photo of Orril Fluharty by Mary Barbour Schumacher, the author of the article. "I am responsible and you are responsible for what happens in the world: nobody else is. I think that right now the world is on the verge of one of the greatest revivals that ever was. There's no time in the world I'd rather live than right now. Look at the accumulative knowledge we have to work with. Look at communications the world over that has never been known before. This means that we've got to learn to get along together or annihilate ourselves!" Orril Fluharty talked as he scrambled a meal of sheepherder's stew over the campstove at the millsite on Lemon Hill where he and his crew were clearing away a parcel of land and milling logs into rough, cut boards. Besides logging and the operating of his own portable sawmill, a trade that he learned as a boy, Orril is also a part-time minister at the Congregational Church in Pescadero. He was born July 2, 1912 on a homestead and timber claim in Eureka, Montana, which is five miles from the Canadian border in the heart of the Rockies. "Early life was an experience of primitive existence," he reflected. "Kerosene lamps and lanterns were our night lights, wood stoves were the only source of heat and household water was carried in buckets from a spring about 200 yards from the house. Swamp land prevented us from hauling our water in barrels by team. Wild game was plentiful and was a primary source of our food supply. This was supplemented by a large 'dry land' garden. Our transportation was either by horse-drawn vehicles, by horseback or by walking which meant that our world was limited to approximately fifteen miles in radius." The aroma from the campfire and the cooking stew was diverting our attention from the interview. We were invited to share the pastoral feast with his logging crew of three. Spoons and plates were fashioned for us, by one of his crew, out of whittled wood and big logs served as our chairs. "Was this mean cooked especially for us?" we asked. "Oh, no, we do this every day. A hot meal is important for a logging crew," Orril replied with a grin. Orril Fluharty's father made a living sawing and hauling wood with a team of horses. "The only way we had to make a living was to live off the land. Dad would go out and hack railroad ties with a broad ax. "Yeah," he continued, "we cleared a lot of land. That was quite a tough job in those days, only way to get the stumps out was with a horse, dynamite or dig around 'em. There's a fella came in there (I was a pretty young lad), this fella brought in a horse stump[puller. All it was was a wench. Horse and a wench. The horse would walk around and tighten this cable up around the stump and just pull the stump out. I remember I thought it was an amazing thing." He then peered over this glasses and tipped his head to the side and said, "That stump-puller wouldn't pull out these Redwood stumps, though. Redwoods have taproots. Any tree that you look at, they say, there is just as much under the ground as above the ground. "I have strong feels of a kinship with nature. I worked in the woods before World War II. Worked as a timber bucker--sawed logs with an old handsaw. Worked in Montana, Idaho and Washington. I never worked in the big timber in Washington, though, only in the small timber in the eastern part of the state. Rock Mountain timber is smaller. The big trees there are about five feet in diameter; most of the timber there runs an average of about two-and-a-half to three feet in diameter. By now the meal was ready and we all sat down to eat. A brisk breeze commenced to blow so we all moved to the leeward side of the fire, occasionally changing our positions as the breeze was shifting. "We've had this particular mill about two years," Orril continued. "One of my reasons for getting this mill--I saw one about twenty years ago--was because I think that it is a waste to do this kind of work with a big operation. A big operation would come in here and cut up through there," he gestured widely as he spoke. "They wouldn't be careful about fallin' the trees in between the other trees and they'd just leave a big mess with big piles of brush all over the countryside. That hillside over there will be all cleaned off when we get through. You won't even be able to tell that we were here. This is my reason for having the mill, and besides," he chuckled, "I like it, it's interesting work and I keep my body in shape physically." Orril Fluharty calls himself a happy-go-lucky guy in his earlier years, he just let things go as they go until he finally took up the calling of the ministry after many people kept telling him over the years, "You've got to preach, Orril." We asked him when he finally realized he would become a minister. "I was out in the woods working with my friend. I was working way back up on the job, over a little knoll, and my friend was working back near the camp. As I worked my way up to the top of the knoll, the sun was shining, this beautiful sun and the sunset. I felt so near to the spirit. I felt God's voice in the heavens. I just took off my hat and kneeled down and prayed to the sunset. I even preached a sermon later about God's voice in the heavens and the feeling of closeness to the spirit." He related to us that his mother was a very strong spiritual influence on his early life. She was the daughter of a Baptist minister from West Virginia and she took time from her busy daily schedule to read to her family from any available material that she could find both secular and religious. "I wish that smoke would blow in another direction," he referred to the smoke from our bucket fire. By this time in our conversation, the air was becoming quite chilly, the sun was moving behind Lemon Hill and the breeze had increased into a pretty strong wind. We were all clinging to the fire as closely as possible, moving about to keep free of the smoke and rubbing our hands together for warmth. Reverend Fluharty continued, "I was always concerned about this one incident, the one about the sunset. I knew I was going to preach. I thought I was going to receive a letter in the mail telling me what I was supposed to do with my life," he chuckled and shook his head. "So when I was working out in the woods near Loon Lake, Washington, I went to church services down there. One day while I was visiting in the minister's home, his wife--she didn't know anything about this other thing you know (his revelation experience) and we talked a little bit. Of course, these people were fundamentalist people, praying. She said, 'You know, you're called to preach.' "Well, I just kind a took this as the answer to the impression I was gonna get an answer from that sunset situation. So that's where it started." Shortly after that, Orril went into the service, married his lovely wife, Clara, and was stationed at Fort Reno, Oklahoma. Reverend Grant of the First Methodist Church in El Reno approached him and invited him to preach in his church. "I started in the Methodist Church in El Reno, Oklahoma. I got my first local preacher's license and I started preaching on a local preacher's license in 1943." After Reverend Fluharty was released from the service, he became a timber bucker again. "My wife was from Spokane, Washington, so I moved with three other guys to the town of Farmington to work the timber. Farmington is about 40 miles south of Spokane. So, the four of us moved down there in the woods just batchin' and started sawin' logs. "Woody Anderson, the guy I was workin' with, a little short-legged guy, he was always mouthin' off--talking out-of-turn anyway, so he went down to this little store in town. Somebody said something about needing a preacher in the church, so Shorty says, 'Oh, we got a preacher up in the woods.' "So I went down to the store in Farmington. I wore my hair short and I had about three weeks growth of whiskers on my face. I'd been running a chain saw and I was just one big blob of sawdust. "I went into the store and started talking with this lady and said to her, 'My partner up there in the woods tells me you folks need a preacher down here.' "Yes, he said he knew of somebody up there, do you know him? "Yes, I know him. He's a kinda character. I guess he's all right!" (soft laughter). "I went on about 15 or 20 minutes like that, describing this guy," (more laughter, "then I says. 'I'm him.' She was a very sophisticated person, and that just about got through her shell." Then he said as an afterthought, "She must have thought, 'That dirty looking thing, he couldn't be a preacher.'" By this time in his tale, Reverend Fluharty was really enjoying his joke and so were we. So we all shared together in his hearty laugh. He proceeded in a more serious tone. "So, I went to work in the Methodist Church in Farmington. I worked there with a local preacher's license for three years." "You've been preaching ten to fifteen years?" "I have an accumulation of twenty years as a licensed minister and I feel that my strongest asset as a preacher is in counseling. I feel I have been 100 percent successful with the people I've worked with. "I think you yourself know the best way to counsel is to just be a sounding board, just to reflect back into them. I listen carefully with an interested mind. Not listening and thinking about something else, but listening to what they are really saying, and then, if I see a place or an opening where I think I might help them, I might make a suggestion. "I don't say, 'You do this; you do that.' No (emphatically) No, that won't work! God, the Christian Religion has done this all right, but it's a mistake to say that God is sittin' up on a cloud with a big stick and he's going to pound you on the head. It doesn't work that way. "And here is my main transcendence from fundamentalism to liberal view. "I came out of the Northwest up there, very closed so far as knowledge and meeting of people was concerned. I'd just gone to high school when I went into the service. I met people everywhere in the service.One of the most amazing things to me was when I talked to a German soldier and found (because I thought Germans were animals) that they thought and felt exactly as I did. They did and didn't like the same things as I. "We are all created alike. We are a little part of God, not all god. Anytime I say, 'You're wrong, you're going to hell,' then I'm being God. You see, you can turn. And I've got a lot of 'boiling out' to do yet as far as looking at a person. "Everybody wants to be a big wheel all the time. What's there in being a big wheel? You see, you don't amount to anything. You know, the little peas in the pod that you and I are. Collectively, we are the pods. "I don't have all the answers. Neither does anybody else. We'd be quite egotistical if we say we've got a corner on God. But I'm a democrat from the word 'go' as far as growth is concerned. I think that all of our ideas put together and hashed back and forth and talked over will result in the ultimate truth. "I can't rule out any philosophy--anything. I believe that--Why would I be afraid of any philosophy? why wold i be afraid to talk with anyone? I feel that a change in society comes through evolution, not revolution. I don't believe in revolution myseslf." In a very positive tone of voice he continued, "Changes will come about consciously and continuously. I think this is the way it's going to come about. I don't think there are going to be big revivals and flamboyant meetings. I think that through conversations and through knowledge and education there will be an evolution of these different ideas coming together. "I don't know much about prophecy in the Bible; I can't make any statements about it that I think are correct. In the Bible it says that the end of the world is coming. 'End of the world," what does that mean? End of the world could mean seven trillion years from now or however long. "What I'm interested in is what's happening right now!" he said with strong emphasis. "Now is the time of salvation. We can't go to the future and live in the future or live in the past. We must live right now! I think we are right on the bridge. It'sw going to change," he nods hi head in a positive manner, " where we'll all be living in peace with one another. "My purpose isn't to be a big wheel. It is to enjoy living and enjoy people and to help us all find peace--it's right here within us. It's the only place you can find it. There is no other place to look." Story by Maqry Barbour Schumacher]]> 856 2008-06-15 14:11:00 2008-06-15 18:11:00 closed closed orril-fluharty-blueprint-for-living publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1214113300 _edit_last 1 All "Yellow Brick Roads" Lead Here -- "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/17/all-yellow-brick-roads-lead-here-or-ob-la-di-ob-la-da/ Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:16:35 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=858 858 2008-06-17 13:16:35 2008-06-17 17:16:35 closed closed all-yellow-brick-roads-lead-here-or-ob-la-di-ob-la-da publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1213760953 _edit_last 1 1970s: Boy with red sock hat at Ano Nuevo http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/17/1970s-boy-with-red-sock-hat-at-ano-nuevo/ Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:52:41 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=859 dead sea elephants. [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/1184165[/vimeo] ]]> 859 2008-06-17 23:52:41 2008-06-18 03:52:41 closed closed 1970s-boy-with-red-sock-hat-at-ano-nuevo publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1213761543 _edit_last 1 Amnesty Fee for Tires: June 21st at Pescadero Landfill http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/19/amnesty-fee-for-tires-june-21st-at-pescadero-landfill/ Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:59:01 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=860

P.S. I don't have a proprietary interest in the tires left at Tunitas, so if anyone wants to raid my stash, feel free. Especially, that 100-pound truck tire.]]>
860 2008-06-19 12:59:01 2008-06-19 16:59:01 closed closed amnesty-fee-for-tires-june-21st-at-pescadero-landfill publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1213933892 _edit_last 1
Pomponio Email Turns Into An Astoundingly Beautiful Painting by David Gremard Romero http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/20/an-email-about-pomponio-turns-into-an-astoundingly-beautiful-painting-by-david-gremard-romero/ Fri, 20 Jun 2008 04:28:36 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=862 Pomponio and was very sad that it didn't have an end - or rather, it ended "to be continued," but that was in 1996. I was wondering where you found his story, and if there is a book you can recommend where I can pick up where you left off? I would very much appreciate it. I am an artist, and my work lately is dealing more and more with local and California based history (I live in San Francisco). ----------- Of course, I pointed him in the right direction--and then, when, recently I asked him if he had completed his work, and, if so, could I post it---I received the most fascinating email and photos of his work to be shown, beginning with an opening on Friday, July 27, 7-10PM, at Bucheon Gallery, 389 Grove Street, San Francisco (415.863.2891; email: dgremard@earthlink.net) ----------------- June, I am getting my show together – it opens next week, and I have been super busy. I did finish the painting.

("La Caida," 2008. Pastel and Gold Leaf on Paper. 56x38 inches) I would like to do more on the Pomponio theme, though. He is a background figure, so I am sending you a picture of the whole painting and also a detail of just the Pomponio figure. It’s a large pastel. The figures are almost life size. It is called “La Caida.’ It is a self-portrait. I am the figure in the middle, bending over with the red cape. I am wearing the mask of St. Thomas Moor Killer, or Matamoros, who was believed to help the Spanish when they fought the Indians, and on my leg is painted Father Junipero Serra carrying Carmel Mission in his arms, with the rest of the missions scattered as Tattoos across my body. I mean to suggest that I am embodying the idea or spirit of both Junipero Serra, a man I believe tried genuinely to do good but who had an ambivalent effect on California history to say the least, and the malign idea of a Saint who kills Indians, both of which were brought to California and are integral to our history. The man on the floor is a figure who appears in many of my paintings. It is unclear if he has been knocked out by the Serra/St Thomas figure, while also being aided by him. The woman is the Aztec goddess of Mercy, Tlazolteotl. Her symbol was her black mouth. Her name literally means “Filth Eater.” In Aztec culture, you had one opportunity to confess your sins in your life, and when you did so, Tlazolteotl ate them and released you from their burden. I was thinking of her as being sort of the referee. And in the background, to the far right, you see Pomponio, another ambivalent figure, but one whom I prefer to think of as a resistance fighter. I read in another source that at the end of his life, Pomponio was brought in chains to the Presidio, and at night he cut off his heels to escape his shackles. They caught him by following the trail of his blood. I have also read that this is probably a later myth, but it is a powerful image, and since in much of my work I think of history as being a sort of myth, it applies well; on his shorts you can see him squatting down and cutting off his heels. From the wound spring both blood and water, symbols of life, death, and also renewal. His boots are crocodiles--in Mesoamerican myth, the crocodile was thought to be the base of the world. This thus transforms him into an axis mundi, the world tree and the center of existence, which he is, as our ancestor (whether, in some genetic sense, if one were Native American, or Spiritually, as a forebear in this same land we now inhabit).

In the middle, on his legs, is painted a skull from which Pomponio emerges again, and again cutting his heel. From the mouth also emerges a world tree, which is also a path marked by his bloody footprints, leading to Chicomizoc, the Aztec place of birth and beginnings, and which is often thought to have been a place somewhere in the United States. I often equate the bloody acts of our ancestors as a sort of sacrifice, however unwilling on the part of the victims, from which sprang the world we now inhabit, and which would have been impossible without that initial bloody scene. Along the path are scenes of conquistadors and massacre. The last figure is Tezcatlipoca, the Aztec god of Change through Violent Conflict. The whole piece has been inspired by Mexican Lucha Libre. In my paintings contemporary individuals wear wrestlers costumes inspired by Pre-Colombian Gods, and by the historical figures so important to Mexican and California history, and they wrestle and act out these struggles which still have ramifications in our own day. Anyway, those are some of my thoughts on the painting. I hope you like it, and I would love to hear your thoughts. David Gremard Romero]]>
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The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 42 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/21/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-42/ Sun, 22 Jun 2008 03:46:05 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=867 San Mateo Times & Gazette. The Levy Brothers wanted to have their fingers in every pie. You couldn't begin a sentence without the name of a Levy in it, usually doing something new. They introduced a new "electric light" in their store to replace coal oil. They built a new stable and planned to introduce a rival transportation line running between San Mateo and Pescadero. [Remember, Loren Coburn was also in the stable business.] They bought a timber tract on Butano Creek and said they were going in the mill business. Joe, Armand and Ferdinand met Loren Coburn, the South Coast's big landowner, when they rented land for a new 600-cow dairy operation near Pigeon Point. There they installed the latest steam-powered cheese making equipment. Of the three Levys, Joe was the one most likely to have a volatile run-in with Loren, the man everyone in town took to calling, "Moneybags," and later "the judge," because he always settled his legal troubles, easily, and out-of-court.]]> 867 2008-06-21 23:46:05 2008-06-22 03:46:05 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter-42 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1214632728 _edit_last 1 Coburn Mystery: Chapter 43 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/22/coburn-mystery-chapter-43/ Sun, 22 Jun 2008 04:10:11 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=868 868 2008-06-22 00:10:11 2008-06-22 04:10:11 closed closed coburn-mystery-chapter-43 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1214632682 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin is, well, he's tired http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/22/john-vonderlin-is-well-hes-tired/ Sun, 22 Jun 2008 05:28:58 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=869 869 2008-06-22 01:28:58 2008-06-22 05:28:58 closed closed john-vonderlin-is-well-hes-tired publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1214112911 _edit_last 1 See John Get Tired: Two steps Forward....One Step Back...It Goes like this http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/22/get-tired-two-steps-forwardone-step-backit-goes-like-this/ Sun, 22 Jun 2008 05:32:13 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=870 ]]> 870 2008-06-22 01:32:13 2008-06-22 05:32:13 closed closed get-tired-two-steps-forwardone-step-backit-goes-like-this publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1214238941 _edit_last 1 Cowgirl Desk http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/23/cowgirl-desk/ Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:35:01 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=877

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Is it a Tunnel? Only its Makers Know for Sure! http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/23/is-it-a-tunnel-or-isnt-it-a-tunnel-only-its-makers-know-for-sure/ Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:52:43 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=879 Story & photos by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June, Some time ago I posted a story*** about what I consider the most viewed Sea Arch on the San Mateo coast. I maintained that this arch was the one on the promontory that forms the southern bank of Pescadero Creek where it flows into the ocean. There was some mention by someone that the arch was actually “a hand dug tunnel.” Curious, I went to look for myself, checked it out, took a lot of photographs and opined that it wasn't regular enough to be manmade. Besides why would somebody go to the trouble of digging a seemingly pointless tunnel? Well, last week I was showing my neighbor the California Coastal Records Project (CCRP) website. I was demonstrating the Time Comparison feature when he commented that he and his high school buddies used to party at the beach pictured on the screen. They knew it as “Hole in the Wall Beach.” That Hole in the Wall is none other then the sea arch opening? tunnel? at Pescadero Beach. Only my neighbor informed me that he was sure it was a tunnel because in the Seventies the sides were much more regular, demonstrating its manmade origin. While I'm not one to question the hazy, thirty five- year- old memories of a drunken youth, I was still having trouble wrapping my mind around the idea of somebody going to the trouble of digging a tunnel in that spot. A few days ago while reading the transcript of a  “Pescadero Oral History Project” interview with Ron Duarte, the owner of historic Duarte's in Pescadero,  I got my answer. Sort of. "A bunch of old timers made that tunnel,” said Ron. “ It is not natural. Everybody thinks it is natural but it is not. They thought that was going to keep the mouth of the creek open. Maybe it did and maybe it didn’t. But, most of the time I don’t think it did much good. That was man-made, that tunnel." In another interview, also on the Pescadero Oral History CD, Marty McCormick was asked the same question. Interviewer: Do you remember the tunnel at the mouth of the creek? Marty McCormick: Out by the beach. Oh, yeah. It is still there. We used to crawl through there. There were some years where it was totally filled in with rock and then there were other years when you could go through there without having to do a belly crawl. I have pictures of my kids inside when they were pretty young—twenty-five, thirty years ago. They've convinced me.  It's a tunnel. The battering surf has naturalized the opening over the decades.  And while, to me, it seems obvious that a tunnel is as likely to sand up as the creek mouth itself, somebody, a long time ago, thought excavating one was a good enough idea to invest a lot of hard work. At least they've left us a durable monument to the futility of trying to make Mother Nature do our bidding. I guess it's also Sea Arches Minus 1, Beach Tunnels Plus One and Oldtimers 1, Young Whippersnapper 0. Enjoy. John

***

Hi June,
This was the main posting I did about what I thought was a Sea Arch at Pescadero Beach. I'm going to revisit it and see if there is any sign still left of its manmade origin. Enjoy. John Re: Pescadero's Pride & Joy
Hi June,
I think of all the Sea Arches on the San Mateo coast, the one just south of Pescadero Creek, is the most well-known and one of the most photogenic. It is visible from the Highway 1 bridge that crosses the creek and easily accessible by pulling into the most northerly parking lot of Pescadero Beach. It is not that difficult to climb down and walk through it, provided the creek is not raging and there is a reasonably low tide. If you are not handy jumping from rock to rock you should be ready to get your feet wet. Looking at the 1972 pictures of this arch on California Coastal Records Project (CCRP),  my guess is that unlike many other sea arches on our coast, it will be there a long time. Picture #6257 on CCRP gives a nice overview of this area,  helping put the pictures I've attached in better perspective. Please note that that Picture #6257 was taken in September before the winter rains which open the creek to the ocean and remove much of the visible sand. Enjoy. John
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1930s: Pigeon Point from the perspective of the rocks http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/24/1930s-pigeon-point-from-the-perspective-of-the-rocks/ Tue, 24 Jun 2008 05:10:17 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=885

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July 4, 1924: Memorial Park http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/24/july-4-1924-memorial-park/ Wed, 25 Jun 2008 02:22:59 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=888 "Memorial Park. July 4, 1924, dedicated in honor of those who gave their lives in the defense of freedom and liberty." It was school's Superintendent Roy Cloud's mandate to visit all the county's classrooms, even those in areas so remote that only the people who lived there knew they existed. La Honda, Loma Mar and the entire South Coast fell into this category. Cloud was a highly visible superintendent who called on every school, no matter how far away. In 1923 he visited Wurr School, deep in the redwoods, near Loma Mar. Actually, much of the timber had been cut by various lumbermen but a 310-acre virgin stand of coast redwoods remained near the school constructed by a German named Henry Wurr years earlier. Arriving on the South Coast in the 1850s, Wurr established a successful shingle mill business, setting up a household with his Swedish bride, a member of the prolific Blomquist clan. The couple accumulated land and had five children. Even a road was named after Wurr and they had the place practically to themselves. Henry Wurr had long been dead when Roy Cloud appeared at Wurr School, attended mostly by descendants of the Blomquists and Wurrs. It was a lovely spring day, through Cloud, looking up at the towering coast redwoods as he treaded across the thick mat of needles and bark, called "duff." The azaleas were in full bloom, spikey ferns poked out from beneath the trees and he saw a banana slug or two. The air smelled of spice and as his senses took in the scene. Cloud was overwhelmed with the beauty of it all. But Cloud was devastated when he learned this magnificent grove was in jeopardy. Mill owner Edwin T. Peterson had purchased the 310 acres for $40,000 and he was planning to begin logging any day. Cloud, the celebrated author of county history books, keenly felt the significance of the moment and his place in it. The cutting had to be stopped. Spurred on by urgency, Cloud attended the next county Board of Supervisors meeting held in Redwood City. He recounted his near-religious experience in the virgin redwoods, believing the "scene would be a revelation to the people of the county. If only they see and enjoy it as he had, "according to Frank Stanger's Sawmills in the Redwoods. Cloud closed his plea before the supervisors by advising them of Peterson's intention to fell the trees. Immediate action was required, stressed Cloud. His recommendation was that the tract be purchased for a public park. The Board of Supervisors was receptive as it listened attentively to its superintendent of schools. The supervisors included C.V. Thompson, a Pescadero physician, and Thomas Hickey, a South San Francisco resident, credited with establishing the county's first welfare commission. Other board members were Half Moon Bay businessman Manuel Francis, Menlo Park's John McBain, who had survived a scandal more than a decade earloier, and the board's only female member, Rosalie Brown. The supervisors responded by appointing a blue ribbon public panel to study Cloud's recommendation that the redwood grove be set aside as a public park. Among the appointees was Timothy Hopkins, the adopted son of Mark Hopkins, one of the Big Four, founders of the Central Pacific Railroad. Timothy Hopkins joined the Menlo Park community when he purchased Senator Milton Latham's mansion, abandoning it following severe damage caused by the 1906 earthquake. Afterward, Hopkins and his wife moved to a home in the same neighborhood. Another member of the committee was W.J. Martin, a real estate promoter, who helped developed the residential section of South San Francisco. Martin's own residence achieved a "Point of Interest" designation from the state of California. Fred Lorton was a Burlingame realtor who once owned half of Burlingame Avenue; he and a partner gave land to the federal government for the town's post office and a street in Burlingame bears his name. Also serving were J.C. Williamson, well known Pescadero general store owner and Alvin Hatch, whose father, Rufus, had operated a sawmill south of Half Moon Bay. As longtime Coastsiders, Hatch and Williamson knew the redwoods well. They were steeped in the history of the area surrounding this last stand of virgin redwoods that made up Roy Cloud's proposed park. Milling had been big business in the vicinity of Pescadero Creek and its many tributaries. The coast redwood, Sequoia sempervirens, was an excellent commercial tree, and lumber products, especially shingles, were used locally and exported by ship from Pigeon Point. In 1869 the Swedish brothers, Sam and Andrew Anderson built a shingle mill near a branch of Pescadero Creek. Four years later Henry Wurr purchased the mill, but it was destroyed by fire. Wurr established another mill on Butano Creek, but he soon returned to Pescadero Creek. Wurr's last mill stood near his home and the school he had donated land for in 1889, a few years before his death. The Blomquist family milled in the same general area. August Blomquist established his shingle mill on McCormick's Creek and by 1893 he had earned enough money to return to Sweden and retire. That same year, Henry Wurr died. As shingle prices had dipped, his Blomquist relatives operated the sawmill only when they could see a profit. By the early 1900s, Frank Blomquist built a sawmill on his Wurr Road property. He logged the steep hillsides reaching up to Butano Ridge, and from there he pulled out a huge log that became Pescadero's 90-foot flagpole. Blomquist sold the mill, and eventually it came into the hands of Edwin T. Peterson. Just when Peterson finished logging the same hillside, fire engulfed the mill. (There's more to this story but I have been unable to locate it! My apologies.)]]> 888 2008-06-24 22:22:59 2008-06-25 02:22:59 closed closed july-4-1924-memorial-park publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1214511527 _edit_last 1 The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 44 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/26/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-45-2/ Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:17:55 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=889 889 2008-06-26 20:17:55 2008-06-27 00:17:55 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter-45-2 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1217876204 _edit_last 1 Coastside Writers! Print Your Own Book in Minutes.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/27/coastside-writers-print-your-own-book-in-minutes/ Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:19:40 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=890 Click here ]]> 890 2008-06-27 13:19:40 2008-06-27 17:19:40 closed closed coastside-writers-print-your-own-book-in-minutes publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1214587317 _edit_last 1 1920s: Coastside Oil Operations & Notes from the 1880s http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/28/1920s-coastside-oil-operations/ Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:41:26 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=892

Notes from 1884-88 (San Mateo Times & Gazette?)

May 1884: Purissima Oil Co. (with offices on Montgomery St. in San Francisco) started "sinking" for oil on George Shoults' land.

Purissima Oil bought the necessary machinery from the Bald Mountain Co., which had been exploring for crude oil since 1881.

July 1884: "Strike" in the oil well caused a great deal of excitement in Purissima and San Francisco. Mr. Gutmann, the company manager, brought new investors to take a look. Several small springs near the "mining belt" gave good indications that oil was near. If the well on the George Shoults' ranch proves successful, there will be an oil boom.

March 1885: Purissima Oil Co. erected an immense tank for the storage of oil. The wells present a busy  appearance and the oil is said to be of the finest quality. George Shoults' place is yielding 20 barrels daily.

March 1885: Purissima Oil Co. is boring for coal on Henry Dobbel's land near the beach within a few hundred feet of where the Alice Buck was wrecked in 1882. The oilmen struck a fine flow of oil at 70 feet.

May 1885: The Tunitas Petroleum Co. sold out their lease and all machinery to a San Francisco man. The terms were private.

Just completed--a well at a depth of 500 feet. They are erecting a derrick about 500 feet east of the present well.

August 1885: The Tunitas Petroleum Co. hauled 19 iron tanks of crude oil to Redwood City from wells near the Saunders Bros. Mill. The tanks weigh 900 pounds each and contain 105 gallons. The former shipments from these wells contained 65% of fine petroleum. They will be taken to San Francisco on the schooner Cornelius.

July 1886: Purissima, the center of the oil region, this being 8 or 10 wells in the vicinity, two of which are very promising. Oil has already been shipped to San Francisco, pronounced to be of good quality.

January 1888: Our oil wells are now producing 5 or 6 barrels a day each.

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Garden Pot of Extraordinary Cacti http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/29/garden-pot-of-cacti/ Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:28:36 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=895

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Meet the Produce Guys from New Leaf Market in HMB http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/29/meet-the-produce-guy-from-new-leaf-market-in-hmb/ Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:39:47 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=898 898 2008-06-29 20:39:47 2008-06-30 00:39:47 closed closed meet-the-produce-guy-from-new-leaf-market-in-hmb publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1214786406 _edit_last 1 _oembed_18074c5e1aa967a9262f1334c3fa3f9a Did Pomponio leave behind buried treasure? Local legend thinks so. http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/06/30/did-pomponio-leave-behind-buried-treasure-local-legend-thinks-so/ Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:44:09 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=899 899 2008-06-30 22:44:09 2008-07-01 02:44:09 closed closed did-pomponio-leave-behind-buried-treasure-local-legend-thinks-so publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_last 1 _edit_lock 1215012202 The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 45 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/08/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-45-3/ Tue, 08 Jul 2008 05:56:44 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=900 the People v Levy, also known as that Pescadero case, was heard in court. Joe Levy defended his actions by stating that he traveled all over the road, which had been used by the public for two decades, a road Coburn obstructed with his fence and gate. Levy was acquitted. Loren's confrontation with Joe led to more confrontations. In the spring of 1892 Loren jumped into the stage business and bought two big Mt. Hamilton coaches, each with an 11-passenger capacity. The route he chose for his People's Stage Co. covered San Mateo-Half Moon Bay-Pescadero and would put him head-to-head with the Levys who owned the competitor stageline. The Levy's owned a general store in Half Moon Bay----and there was no surprise when Loren's new stage company lost time there. Things just weren't done on schedule when the coaches roared into town. Coburn didn't let it bother him. This was a war between the stages. He planned on running three stages on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. They may have called it a "stage war," but in the end Coburn and the Levy's played an expensive fare war. In May 1892, Loren charged $1.50 from Pescadero to San Mateo. A month later passengers payed $.95. The stage wars ended when Loren Coburn's People Stage lines hiked their prices back up to the old rates.]]> 900 2008-07-08 01:56:44 2008-07-08 05:56:44 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter-45-3 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1218941395 _edit_last 1 Squid- Art: Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/10/squid-ey-art-story-by-john-vonderlin/ Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:14:24 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=902 Story & Photos by John Vonderlin Email John: benloudman@sbcglobal.net Hi June, Thanks for the Squid story link. I had seen a short video with people gah-gahing at the gooey mess of tentacles, but didn't know all the details. I recently found a great specimen of what I call an assemblage. While washing and cleaning it I decided to rename it and its ugly brethren, "squids."  A "squid" is a mass of entangled fishing line, rope, netting, and anything else Neptune chooses to entangle in his ugly creation. Check the attached pictures and you can see why I renamed them. I'm sure the serious assemblage artists are thankful for that. ]]> 902 2008-07-10 14:14:24 2008-07-10 18:14:24 closed closed squid-ey-art-story-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1215803762 _edit_last 1 1970s: Russell Towle Remembers Ano Nuevo (1) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/10/1970s-russell-towle-remembers-ano-nuevo-1/ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:16:31 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=903 Russell Towle [Russell Towle is the author of The Dutch Flat Chronicles; Artifacts from the Dutch Flat Forum 1875 and 1878 and The Seven Ages of Dutch Flat, 1849-1924 To read Russell Towle's blog, click here

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1970s: Remembering Ano Nuevo by Russell Towle (2) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/11/1970s-remembering-ano-nuevo-by-russell-towle-2/ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:16:28 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=908 Russell Towle To live for two and a half years in that tiny cabin ... shivering through every summer under that constant northwest wind, whipping wetly out of the fog bank, just offshore ... quite memorable. The Steele family, I see, enters some of your blog posts. I knew some of them, and even lived for a time at the Steele Ranch at Green Oaks Creek, years after my time down in the dunes. They had burned down one of their old barns, and it had not all burned, but in the wreckage were a number of hand-hewn redwood 12X12's, dating, I'd guess, from the 1880s or thereabouts. I rescued a few of these, and one of them is scarcely six feet from where I write this. So, Año Nuevo stays with me. The Steeles had a collection of amazing obsidian spearheads, probably ceremonial and ritual in provenance, which they had gleaned from the dunes of Año Nuevo, back in the 19th century. Several of these spearheads were six inches long. Perfectly made. Yes, in my little hexagonal cabin in the Sierra, three of the six interior walls are paneled with tiny little redwood laths, liberated from a property line which marched across the dunes, now all part of the State Park. The laths are intricately colored by lichen and iron stains (they were laced together with wire, originally). I carried these laths in giant backpack loads across the dunes, back in 1975. They had long since served their original purpose, to shelter a line of Monterey Pines and Monterey Cypresses from the eternally howling winds. Yes, Año Nuevo. My first time there, in 1966, maybe 1967, several friends of mine and I dropped acid in Los Altos and drove across the mountains on Page Mill and Alpine and La Honda roads, turned south on Highway 1, and parked at the south side of Año Nuevo Point. It so happened, it was the very day that the Beatles' single, "Strawberry Fields Forever," was released, and the radio station was playing it over and over and over as we made the long drive over the Santa Cruz mountains. We wandered into the dunes, and for the first time in my life I saw Indian mounds, which are everywhere out there, littered with thousands of flakes of chert derived from the Miocene-age Monterey Shale Formation. Chert, and shells, and bones. And this wilderness of sand dunes and Indian mounds was slathered, all over, with wild strawberries. Which we ate. While listening to the new Beatles' song. In our minds. We wandered far to the north. Ah those beaches which face the island. Stinking with masses of rotten seaweed, stinking with sea lion feces, swarming with flies. I had never seen the like. Eventually we reached the North Beach, where years later I would live. The sun set into a mass of fog and the howling northwest wind ushered us away. In the dim light after sunset, all of us lost, except me, being gifted with a fine sense of direction, all of us stoned out of our minds, just as I pointed the way back into the dunes which would lead us back south to where we'd parked, a mile away still, my friend Milton Taulbee spotted a monster on the beach. "Look," he screamed, "a sea lion ... hurt, injured in a storm perhaps... look at its mouth! Look at its head! Oh, the poor thing! We must help it back into the ocean, where it can die in peace!" That was Milton. He was like some knight from the Middle Ages. He had the kind of courage which insists upon what is right, no matter what the consequences. Milton was a warrior. Tall, thin, and platinum blonde. But it was not an "injured sea lion." It was, in fact, a sea elephant bull, taking a quiet nap on the beach. It did not need any kind of rescue. We gathered around it in the deepening gloom and it took the combined efforts of four young men to convince Milton it did not need to be, somehow, rolled back into the waves. Failing to convince him, I led our party into one of those infinite valleys, leading south into the dunes, with Milton standing staunchly there on the beach, a patriot of patriots, a hero of heroes, until finally he too followed. Such was my introduction to Año Nuevo. Russell Towle]]> 908 2008-07-11 10:16:28 2008-07-11 14:16:28 closed closed 1970s-remembering-ano-nuevo-by-russell-towle-2 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1216090564 _edit_last 1 1970s Ano Nuveo: Kesey Was A Sea Elephant http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/12/1970s-ano-nuveo-kesey-was-a-sea-elephant/ Sat, 12 Jul 2008 18:16:45 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=911 And there was Kesey: Kesey the sea elephant. Story by Russell Towle June, there is yet another Ken Kesey/Año Nuevo Point connection. I will abbreviate Año Nuevo to AN. I had the privilege of spending time on AN island in 1970 and 1971 with researchers from U.C. Santa Cruz studying the elephant seals. This project was headed up by one Bernie Le Boeuf. I would meet the scientists on the tip of AN POINT, and we'd climb into a Zodiac rubber raft with an outboard motor, and make the often perilous, wave-tossed crossing to the island. At that time they were focusing on mating behavior and male rivalries. Certain "alpha" bulls controlled all of the females. The other bulls lurked around outside the harems, looking for any opportunity to sneak in and mate. We had blinds set up on all the breeding beaches, and would sit in those blinds for hours, recording which one bull backed down for which other bull, which bull successfully mated, etc. etc. And how did we tell them apart? Each bull had a name spray-painted on its back. Some of the names were somewhat humorous. There was Nixon, for instance: Nixon the sea elephant. And there was Kesey: Kesey the sea elephant. The island was a wonderful place to explore, with its 19th-century lighthouse installation. The lighthouse itself had been vandalized by abalone divers, and all the fine curved diamond-shaped glass broken out. The iron frame of the tower had rusted to mere threads of iron in places, and most people wouldn't dare climb it. I went up there quite a bit. Two windows, of the thirty or so, were partially intact. I obtained permission to salvage those windows, and incorporated the larger, pentagonal piece into a multi-paned window I made back in 1972. I still have that window, it is leaning up against the back wall of my hexagonal cabin. It was quite a trick fitting the curved glass into straight pieces of wood. The two-story, rather simple, Victorian-era house of the lighthouse keeper was a place of great horror. All the windows were broken out. The doors, gone. It was utterly infested with CA sea lions, upstairs, downstairs, everywhere. Hence the floors were literally a foot deep in sea lion excrement, with humps, here, there, everywhere: humps. These humps were dead sea lions. So the house was not much of a pleasant place to visit. But on the far side of the island were other buildings, all clear heart redwood, in great shape. And the water system of the island: a large underground cistern, made of concrete, with a concrete dish funneling rainwater into it, above ground. This dish was something like thirty feet across. It was carefully constructed to keep rats and such out, but the screens had rusted away, and down in the gloomy depths, floating in the water, were dead rats. I made a wood stove from an old oil drum for the scientists. They would stay out there for days at a time, without any heat, without electricity, without running water. And those cold foggy winds never stop. Almost never. So I made a stove, and brought out some stove pipe, and set it all up for them. Between scraps of wood from the various buildings, and driftwood from the beaches, we were able to have a cheery fire out there, at night. Those scientists had a rather casual attitude towards the sea elephants. When bored, they'd find a "weaner," a baby sea elephant fully weaned, hence much like a golden, furry, bloated sausage, and at that age, there is little to do but sleep all day and sleep all night. The scientists would spy one out, sleeping on top of a sand dune, sneak up, and roll them down the dune with a single push. The baby seal would wake up briefly, turning its large liquid eyes upon its tormentors, sneeze heartily, with mucus flying around, and then promptly return to sleep. It was common, during fights between bulls, for baby seals, still with their mothers in the harems, to be crushed to death. We would then have to pick our way into the harem to retrieve the bodies, so they could be weighed and measured. This was highly dangerous. The scientists taught me to "look tall" for the benefit of the bulls, to raise my arms above my head and not back down. It worked surprisingly well, but there were always times when one had to just turn tail and run for it. It was wonderful to savor the aura of a true California island, offering as it did a unique view of the mainland. The high bluffs of the Monterey Shale between AN and Waddell Creek are *not* from a roadcut, they are a scarp of the San Gregorio Fault, which has only in recent decades been traced all the way from Big Sur, hence, it is much longer than originally thought, and capable of generating a powerful earthquake. From AN looking to the mainland, these white bluffs are very conspicuous. They were landmarks for the earliest Spanish explorers of the CA coast, those bluffs, and by carefully reading the diary of a priest on one of those early expeditions along the coast, I was able to deduce the location of a certain Indian village just north of AN Point. I drove as close as I could, and then hiked inland to a certain hidden valley. It was rich with artifacts, both from the Indians, and from white settlers of the 19th century. In that hidden valley I found my first-ever Badger burrow, and my first-ever Redtail Hawk nest. The bird life of AN Point is rich and varied to an extreme. Along Green Oaks Creek is a small reservoir. This is ringed with willows and tules and cattails. It is full of every kind of marsh bird. I used to canoe ever so slowly up that long narrow lake, binoculars in hand, paddling strong and quiet for an instant, and then drifting slowly into one of the many little bays. I saw so many marsh birds: Bitterns, Black-Crowned Night Herons, Long-billed Marsh Wrens, Soras, Virginia Rails, Great Blue Herons, etc. etc. I knew where the Marsh Hawks nested, right on the ground, on AN Point. Ah, so many birds. A wonderful place for birds. To this day I am struck by the resemblance of the male Marsh Hawk to the White-tailed Kite of either sex. The Marsh Hawks will sometimes mimic the classic kite behavior, fluttering over a single spot on the ground. Well, that's all for now. Russell Towle

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1970s Ano Nuevo: Russell Towle Colors In The Man Called Merrill Bickford http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/13/1970s-ano-nuevo-russell-towle-colors-in-merrill-bickford/ Mon, 14 Jul 2008 02:16:28 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=920 HalfMoonBayMemories (HMBM): I remember a huge piece of driftwood; maybe it looked like a fist, but it was very big, and it had been planted in the sands near Ano Nuevo. I always thought of the driftwood as an address and I think a sculptor made the piece of art.

Russell Towle (RT): Well I can't say for sure but that sculptor sounds like my old friend Merrill Bickford. If so, I was his caretaker. That was my official role while living in that tiny driftwood cabin. And I helped Merrill
build his fine adobe and redwood-bridge-timber house, now a ranger residence. Merrill was amazing. His wife at the time, Janet Creelman, was a mentor of mine, and I named my daughter, Janet, for her.

Merrill once had the pseudonym, or alternate name, Stuart Harwood. It was supposed to be more artistic. His sculptures were displayed at some of the most prestigious museums back East, in the 1950s. In the
1960s he landed at good old Peninsula School in Menlo Park, which is where I met him. The Duvenecks of Los Altos founded the school in the 1920s, classic CA Bohemians.

Merrill was a wild man of many marriages and somehow the alternating names helped him keep clear of past wives. We built a raft sixty feet long and thirty feet wide on the little lake on their Año Nuevo property, the frame was of discarded 6-inch iron irrigation pipes fromthe Rossi's adjacent artichoke and brussel sprouts fields. Merrill had a huge crew of hippies working for him at that time. I was the welder, he taught me how to do it. We'd take a length of pipe, sledge-hammer each end flat, and then weld it shut. As it turned out these pipes ended up leaking an taking on water, but we stuffed all kinds of rigid foam and so on under the thing and it floated well enough, with a wooden frame atop the iron pipes, and plywood deck.

Upon that deck we erected a 40- by 20-foot greenhouse, installed a wood stove, and there Janet and Merrill lived for two or three years while we finished the Big House, which was not so big. But impressive,
with its ancient redwood timbers, adobe walls, tile roof and tile floors, and sculptural driftwood cabinets and finishing touches.

But the greenhouse was quite magical. The eternal northwest wind kept it rocking and bumping about gently, on its raft, and we could hear the waves thundering on the beach, more than a quarter mile away. It
was at one end of my bird-watching reservoir. Canoes tied up to one end of the raft. We had a little floating sauna I built at one end, made from eleven ancient redwood doors from Coastways Ranch. Willows and tall tules and cattails almost surrounded the greenhouse. It was amazing. No running water, no electricity. A wood stove for cooking. Merrill was a great raconteur and I heard many stories of his fabled life in that greenhouse. In WWII in the Pacific, he was a SeaBee, bulldozing out landing fields for aircraft on remote tropical island paradises. Returning to California after the war, he became a building contractor in the San Diego area, and managed to cut off one of his fingers with his power saw, late one afternoon, in an exhausted hurry.]]>
920 2008-07-13 22:16:28 2008-07-14 02:16:28 closed closed 1970s-ano-nuevo-russell-towle-colors-in-merrill-bickford publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1216090446 _edit_last 1
1970 Ano Nuevo: Russell Towle Finds A Shocking "Treasure" http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/14/1970-ano-nuevo-russell-towle-finds-a-shocking-treasure/ Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:55:34 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=921 Russell Towle email Russell (russelltowle@gmail.com June, here's another story from my years at Año Nuevo Point. I had lived quite a wild life for a time in the 1960s, a life which among so many other things included riding freight trains all over the West, and doing light shows for a living, at times at the Old Fillmore, at Avalon Ballroom, and other notable venues, and also, taking all too many drugs. LSD in particular was, on the one hand, reputed, as in Timothy Leary et. al., to lead to religious or spiritual experiences and awakenings; one would finally hear the sound of one hand clapping; with a little luck one would levitate; and yet, on the other hand, it was quite a powerful drug and, for me, not conducive to social interaction. Yet I was often in social settings. I decided to lay off the LSD, and in 1968 and 1969 took it only once, as I recall. Then came 1970, and the little driftwood cabin. The quasi-wilderness of Año Nuevo. Someone gave me a hit of acid, and one evening I took it. I would consult my Muse. I would commune with my new home. Alone. Alone with the fog, the wind, the waves, the agatized whale ribs and vertebrae, the dunes and Indian mounds, the birds, the perpetual uproar of sea lions on the Island, all alone with my mile of beach and its always-renewed palette of flotsam and jetsam. I was a nature mystic, and would "call" treasures to me. If ever I found a sea lion tooth, near some lonely little pillar of rock jutting from the sand, thenceforth every time I approached that pillar I would "call" for another tooth, for another treasure. And, totally tangential to the story, while calling for another tooth at that very pillar, once upon a time, I was amply rewarded by a killer whale tooth. Oh, was Hank Bradley, of Coastways Ranch, jealous. He borrowed the tooth, and mailed it off to eminent marine biologists, to obtain a precise identification. So I had my little acid trip in my little cabin and all went well enough, except, I did not levitate for the umpteenth time, and all I heard was sea lions bellowing into the night, and waves thundering up and down the lonely beach. I called it a success. As dawn's first light changed the depths of night into merely deep gloom, the beach seemed the place to be. It was, after all, only eight feet away. I bounded lithely down to the sandy expanse, and started south. Immediately, a small heap caught my eye, a couple hundred yards away. "Something new," I reflected, and, trusting to my inimitable, nature-mystic luck, I figured some new treasure would soon be mine. All mine! As I drew closer I knew several things the heap could not be: it could not be mere seaweed; it could not be a sea lion, there was something blue; it could not be ... . Oh. What it could be, and what it was, became all too visible. A dead man. Weeks in the sea he'd been, just the right number of weeks, so that all flesh was stripped from head and arms and feet, but ligaments and tendons still held them attached. A skull of white bone, two hands, two arms, of white bone, two feet of white bone, blue jeans hiding the legs, and yet a torso almost intact, a little battered, a little ripped, but basically intact. This was yet another incredible find, yet another stroke of astounding luck. And horror. I was not really so alone in my sand dunes. A couple hundred yards away was a driftwood tower, rising fifty feet into the air, built by the very remarkable young man named Pete Moss, a protégé as it were of Merrill Bickford. Pete Moss had attended Peninsula School while Merrill was teaching there. He was an only child from a broken home, raised by his mother, and he rebelled; he ran away; and here was Pete Moss, maybe seventeen years old, living in a kind of sorcerer's tower he had constructed from driftwood. It had multiple "floors" inside, at various levels. If it had a forty-foot-long tie-died flag flying from its summit mast, as it did while Kesey and the Pranksters were filming their movie there, it could be seen from a long ways north on Highway One. Well. A few miles, at any rate. Two at least. So. There was really only one thing to do, having found my horrible corpse. I must run and wake up Pete Moss and bring him down to see my lucky find. I scampered up into the dunes, following a certain serpentine path, and soon arrived at the Tower. Pete was still sleeping but I shouted him awake, not yet revealing my important secret. He stumbled down a ladder from one of the upper levels, stark naked, as was not uncommon, at that remote time in history, and began eating a banana. I gave him about twenty seconds before I launching into my coy "Guess what I found on the beach this morning" routine. "A DEAD MAN!!!!!" he screamed, and tore out of the Tower like a bat out of hell. I followed at an only slightly slower pace. After all, I was now an old hand at this business of finding bodies on the beach. We stood and examined the body for a time. We agreed: someone would have to walk over to Cascade Ranch, the nearest telephone, and call the San Mateo County Sheriff. I ended up with that job. It was a good hour's walk to the ranch. I made the call. In another hour or so, it being a long drive "over the hill" from Redwood City or wherever, the deputy arrived. I was barefoot, dressed in some kind of sturdy Army surplus pants, some kind of rough old coat to ward off the bitter, eternal, piercing wind, and of course, I had my long curly hair, and my long curly beard. The deputy was nice enough, though. After a brief recapitulation of my discovery, we drove down to the beach. The road was fairly rough, and only got worse as it neared the beach, but the deputy was brave, and we wallowed through deep sand to the little turn-around where one could park. Just so soon as we left the car, we heard the wailing of a saxophone. The deputy was filled with suspicion; he rounded upon me, he hurled questions. I explained that my friend Pete Moss played the saxophone. This seemed to calm things down. But matters only grew worse when we reached the beach, where Pete Moss, still stark naked, stood over the corpse, playing a funereal dirge in the dead man's honor. I should say that Pete Moss was, even then, a very gifted musician, and played several instruments, including classical guitar; I learned a lot about the guitar from Pete Moss. He would teach me the chords to some piece by Bach, so I could accompany him while he practiced the fingering of the melody. And this all happened in our driftwood cabins, a million miles from anywhere, as it seemed. The deputy was, rightly, I suppose, astounded, and rightly, I suppose, suspicious. Things sorted themselves out rather quickly once we had a chance to converse. The Coroner's van was summoned. More hours went by. The van arrived. Pete Moss had left the corpse for a time, and now he returned, and began wailing on his sax while the body was rolled into a black bag, which in turn was lifted onto a gurney, which was, perhaps, not the best idea, considering the long distance, over soft sand, back to the van itself. So the coroner's men were struggling along, Pete Moss was wailing on his saxophone, the Sheriff's deputy was, himself, now an old hand not only at finding bodies on the beach, but at listening to strange young hippies play the saxophone, and I was just, well, observing, when the sound of drums, and yet another saxophone, wafted over the dunes. It was some of our friends from Pacific High School, come to visit, and for some reason, they were dressed in black robes, long black robes, like medieval monks. They carried their conga drums and other instruments right down onto the beach, just as the corpse was being wheeled, if you could call it that, away. So there was a kind of Greek chorus of black-robed men, and Pete Moss, playing a Death March for the coroner's men, and the deputy, and for the Spirit of the Departed. Such was an exciting day at Año Nuevo Point, in early 1970. If I recall, the man had crashed his airplane into the ocean while doing stunts, some weeks before. Russell Towle]]> 921 2008-07-14 12:55:34 2008-07-14 16:55:34 closed closed 1970-ano-nuevo-russell-towle-finds-a-shocking-treasure publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1216138872 _edit_last 1 Remembering the goodness of Pacific High School. Story by Russell Towle http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/14/remembering-the-goodness-of-pacific-high-school-story-by-russell-towle/ Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:45:48 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=922 Russell Towle Email Russell (russelltowle@gmail.com) I never had the good fortune to attend Peninsula School, but I did attend Pacific High School, which began as the continuation, through high school, of K-8 Peninsula School. For me it was a great education to meet so many Peninsula School families, families which tended to be more liberal and even outright Bohemian, than the families I knew from going to public schools in Palo Alto. It struck a chord, it tickled my interest, and when that happens I at least try to delve deeply. Some very remarkable people were involved in Peninsula School and Pacific High School. I think of Alan Strain, a Quaker who had been a Conscientious Objector during WWII; of David Werner, riding his bicycle, in 1960, from Germany to the Himalayas, under a sentence of slow wasting death pronounced by his doctors, and so, living life to the fullest in those last, precious few years (but the doctors were wrong, he is alive to this day)--David, the man who wrote "Donde No Hay Doctor," at Pacific. Of the Duvenecks, who I had the intense gratification to meet and talk with on a couple of occasions, at their ranch above Los Altos. But really it was the families, some of which had seen generations of students attend Peninsula School. ]]> 922 2008-07-14 20:45:48 2008-07-15 00:45:48 closed closed remembering-the-goodness-of-pacific-high-school-story-by-russell-towle publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_last 1 _edit_lock 1216090620 I have questions for Russell Towle....[Some of the material might be considered controversial.] http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/15/i-have-questions-for-russell-towlesome-of-the-material-might-be-considered-controversial/ Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:46:09 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=923 "The First Third;" I remember buying it at Keplers which was near the street where you hung out in Palo Alto. Did Neal Cassady visit AN? I've heard about the Kesey movie...were you there when they were filming? Russell Towle (RT): Well. On Channing Way, in Palo Alto, in the early summer of 1966, Neal Cassady sometimes resided at the house I lived at. I was doing light shows. This house was a kind of commune with an old carriage house or some such thing in the back yard where half a dozen more people could live. It happened that several of the Pranksters would stay in that backyard house. I didn't interact at all with Cassady, being content to view him from a safe distance. He was given to carrying this little sledge hammer around with him, and was a regular expert at flipping it up and catching it again. Like the other Pranksters he was always stoned. So was I, but those guys were into methedrine, heavy into methedrine. If Neal Cassady spoke it seemed always to be in a flurry of words, from which one, with luck, might extract certain images or even feelings. I remember hanging around him at what passed for an acid test in Palo Alto, some weird auditorium full of echoes, some music, too loud, and several young men and I encircled Cassady, enraptured with his bizarre monologue. He had abandoned his sledge hammer for one solitary orange. It was expertly flipped and spun and tossed while the words poured out. Then Cassady would take a break and dance with some hot chick, by far the most erotic dance one would ever see outside a strip club, I should imagine, having no experience with strip clubs beyond what I might see on TV or in a movie. It was as close to having sex on the dance floor as would be possible. No, I really don't have many memories of Cassady. Being a Jack Kerouac fan I was somewhat adulatory; but I do not recall any kind of direct interaction with him. At that Channing Way house lived other people I found quite interesting: Gale Curtis and Paul Mittig, who headed up the light show, and Dave Nelson and Peter Solspock (spelling probably wrong) and Dave Torbert and Susan Klein (my girlfriend). The two Daves went on to form the New Riders of the Purple Sage. At that time, with John Tomasi, they were in a band called the New Delhi River Band. The light show and the band were a kind of package deal. All that summer we worked down at San Jose at a dance hall where, if I recall, Van Morrison and Them were also performing nightly. It is too complicated to tell but for various reasons I idolized the Pranksters. Of course, because of Kesey. Cuckoo's Nest had been a powerful read, several times over. But there was egotism, too, in that my own experimentation with psychedelic drugs had begun several years earlier. In 1966, everyone was on the drug bandwagon. I felt myself to be "like Kesey," an early drug user. In retrospect it seems so idiotically silly. At the time it made sense, but Neal Cassady made sense, to himself, anyway. So, having formed a friendship with one of the Pranksters, whose name I quite forget, who spent a lot of time at Channing Way, and who injected himself every day with methedrine, I thought it would be very cool to inject myself with methedrine. Of course, the Pranksters didn't stop at intravenous injection of methedrine. Inravenous injection of LSD was very fashionable, in that set. So I began doing that, too. It meshed rather nicely with doing light shows. Whatever other truths can be gleaned from those days, I know now that methedrine is a regular recipe for psychosis. My life was soon in ruins. Oh yes, the movie. Kesey's Año Nuevo movie. Yes, of course I was there, I was in the movie, as was my driftwood cabin, which became the Princess's house. The Princess was this gorgeous blonde, maybe nineteen years old, who went by the name of Summer. Kesey and the Pranksters were dragging her off into the dunes at every opportunity. Summer was a very free spirit. There were a lot of people running around with no clothes except maybe a tie-dyed headdress or some such thing. I was one of them. So was Summer. So tan, so pretty. Pete Moss's Tower was in the movie, and perhaps even Bigfoot's remote driftwood cabin, in a deep hollow nestled within the very highest dunes, on State Park land. Summer and Bigfoot became an item. Neal Cassady had already died, at that point, I believe. It must have been June of 1970? Bigfoot and Pete Moss and I were the only ones who actually lived there in the dunes during those years. We had so many jam sessions; Bigfoot had a couple of conga drums, Pete Moss his sax, and I played guitar, or sometimes a conga. Bigfoot tended to wear only leather pants, thick leather pants roughly made, with little bones and seashells and magical items tied on with little leather thongs, here and there. He made beautiful little sculptures from soapstone. He wore his hair in an Afro and was a very nice young Italian American man, from San Mateo, who had magically become an African American shaman, or so it seemed. He also had bones and shells tied into his Afro. Since wrens are my totem bird, and at Año Nuevo there are Long-billed Marsh Wrens, Bigfoot carved me a fine little bas relief of a marsh wren

with a geometrical figure on the obverse, since geometry was a passion even then. I still have that carving. Somewhere.

Yes. To find things. Guided by my wrens, or whatever, I do find things. It was a matter of some pride. Others would find the beautifulshards of chert in the dunes, I would find the arrowheads. Etc. etc. Later, in 1973, or 1974, I returned from Grass Valley, in the Sierra, to visit Año Nuevo and Janet and Merrill, and also stopped in Santa Cruz to visit Bigfoot. He was living in an old Victorian house which was up on jacks, so a contractor could put a cement foundation under the thing. Piles of dirt lay near the front door. We stood there and conversed. I launched into the story of a magical finding: I had been digging a foundation trench in the Grass Valley area, and right beside me a fellow worker suddenly exclaimed, "What is this?" He held up a little white sphere. I was so jealous. It was an antique marble! And not only that, it was a marble marble, and had been used so much it had got out of round! Just as I sang out the phrase, "marble marble," Bigfoot reached down to the dirt at our feet, and picked up, bizarrely, a marble marble. So you see there were strange forces at work. PM:  I am certain I met one or more of the characters living at AN. I don't think  it was you. In my mind, I see a large, healthy man, maybe shirtless. He had something to do with the driftwood sculpture along Highway 1. We, John and I, walked around AN often during a short period of time. We surfed there--which, in retrospect, I find horrifying. It was even my idea!! There was something on the beach, on the sand, living quarters built out of wood; that's what I'm remembering in my mind. RT: Ah, that rings a distant bell. A large shirtless man. But I can't recall who he was. That would have been later, I was there 1970-72, and then again in late 1976 and 1977. Janet and Merrill attracted quite a flock of artistic visionary types to their Año Nuevo home. I disapproved of most of them. Some were great. Joe and Wendy Lysowski were very nice, but it could hardly be said to count for much that, say, Ken Kesey had complimented my guitar playing, or that I had met Jerry Garcia before even the Warlocks existed, and Pigpen, too, for that matter--how could this count for anything, when Joe and Wendy had been at the Maharishi's ashram in Rishikesh during the whole time the Beatles and the Beachboys had been there, and knew them all personally! They could trot out stories about John and Paul and George like nobody's business! Ah, so nice, though, Joe and Wendy, living in their garishly painted van. They gave me sculptor Ron Boise's old Honda Dream motorcycle, bored out from 300cc to 350cc, and they gave me some ancient windows from a Santa Cruz Victorian, curved at the top, which even to this day live on in my hexagonal cabin. But I lost touch with them long long ago.]]>
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I Met Nurse Ratched Near Pescadero Creek. Story by Russell Towle http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/15/nurse-ratched-lived-on-pescadero-creek-story-by-russell-towle/ Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:16:52 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=934

Meeting Nurse Ratched Near Pescadero Creek Story by Russell Towle Email Russell (russelltowle@gmail.com) So far as Pescadero, I lived miles on up the creek for about a year, in, I think, 1977-78. I would go down to town once in a while but can't say I ever became a local. I remember the little roadhouse thing at Gazos. I love the old stage road running along inland through all that area. The widely-spaced old ranches. I have some stories, there was a man in one of those old ranches, thin as a rail and ninety years old, who used to be a State mountain lon trapper/hunter. He had some great stories. Then it so happened that, where I was on Pescadero Creek, well, right across the creek lived a couple, and the woman was a nurse at the psychiatric ward of the Veteran's Hospital in Palo Alto, and she had been there a long time, and she remembered Kesey, and long story short, she was Big Nurse! One day in 1977 we had a party she attended, she had a glass or three of wine, and totally bent my ear with stories about Kesey at the hospital. She would raise her voice into a kind of shriek to better illustrate how she talked to young Kesey, young Kesey with his little notebook, jotting thingsdown: "Mr. Kesey!!! You may think you are some kind of writer, Mr. Kesey!!! You may think you are some kind of artist, Mr. Kesey!!! But you are an orderly in a psychiatric ward, Mr. Kesey! There is work to do, Mr. Kesey!! Do you see that old man, over there, carrying his laundry? Do you? Help him, Mr. Kesey!! Help him!!" And more of that ilk.]]>
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1970s Ano Nuevo: A Mortar & Pestle in Every Garden...Story by Russell Towle http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/16/1970s-a-mortar-pestle-in-every-gardenstory-by-russell-towle/ Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:44:40 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=943

A Mortar & Pestle in Every Garden Story by Russell Towle Email Russell (russelltowle@gmail.com) June, as I had said, at one of those old ranches along the Old Stage Road, between Pescadero and San Gregorio, lived a tall thin man of great age, who had made a living hunting mountain lions. I believe his first name was Bob. By the way, at that time, around 1972, I regarded myself as something of a budding connoisseur of old California ranches, and they loomed large in my mind. The subject developed slowly, until I moved to Año Nuevo, and visited all the old ranches in the area, and discussed the local history in detail with their residents. I noticed that all the old ranches had collections of Indian artifacts. Of course, I am supposed to write, Native American, or Native Californian, but I resist change. The most visible artifacts were mortars and pestles. It seemed every ranch must have a mortar and pestle in the flower garden nearest the front door. Perhaps several mortars, and no pestles; for the pestles go missing, being smaller, and more often than not it is just the mortars. Rounded boulders perhaps a foot or so in diameter, with a smooth deep hollow where the acorns and other seeds were ground. The California Indians were balanophages, acorn-eaters, just as our ancestors in the Europe of ten thousand years past were balanophages. Such a mortar may represent the work of a millennium or more. The grinding of acorns for generation upon generation of people. In subsequent years I visited old ranches in the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada foothills, and always, almost always, there were the mortars. One could guess that they were an item of pride amongst the old ranchers. By the 1890s, with the Indian population worse than decimated, there arose a golden glow of nostalgia, and boxes of peaches bore beautiful labels showing a beguiling dark-skinned lass with flowers in her hair: "Kaweah Maiden," and ranchers discovered they must have a mortar near their front door. One of the more fascinating Bohemians of those days was Jaime de Angulo, author of several books on the natives, such as "Indians in Overalls" and "Indian Tales." He was a linguist, and learned quite a number of the California languages. His wife, Cary, was the woman who translated Richard Wilhelm's German translation of the "I Ching" into English,

hence we know it as the "Wilhelm-Baynes" translation. She had had an affair with F. Scott Fitzgerald, or D.H. Lawrence, or some such nob, in Taos, New Mexico, while married to de Angulo, and they divorced, and she, I believe, married a man named Baynes. At any rate, Jaime de Angulo

was of the Spanish nobility, but had a lust for adventure which led him to California instead of to college, and he made a kind of living with horses in northeastern California, where he befriended the Pit River Indians. Then, having anticipated Henry Miller by a number of decades, around 1905 or so Jaime bought a ranch in Big Sur. He determined to drive a herd of horses down the length of the state, from the Pit River to Big Sur, and hired on an Indian to help. They duly drove the horses south and arrived at the ranch in Big Sur. Now, it had not escaped the notice of Jaime de Angulo that all the real ranchers in California had mortars in their gardens. He managed to locate a nice mortar, and placed it artfully to one side of his fireplace, on the hearth. He was proud of his mortar, as any California rancher was proud of his or her mortar or mortars. But his Indian drover was terrified, and insisted Jaime carry it outside the house, for it was, he said, an object of great magic, very powerful, and possibly angry at having been  moved to the ranch from its rightful location. For me the lure of the old ranches was akin to the lure of natural history and geology; these things had to do with bona fide reality, whereas the world most people lived in was a bizarre fiction of freeways and suburbs and fashions and politics. The "real" world was, then, in some way, accessible, via the old ranches. And could say, all the more so, via the old Indian sites. I became an expert at recognizing these archeological sites. Here in the Sierra, for instance, if there is, say, an old apple orchard which is anywhere near a spring, well, it's about 100% certain it is an old village site. I would talk and talk and talk with the old-timers, opening my window upon reality. I learned at Año Nuevo about how the vegetation has changed so much, from too much logging, and from suppressing wildfires. I heard almost exactly the same eyewitness testimony from an old woman in Grass Valley, an avid equestrian, as I had heard from an old woman at Año Nuevo, also an equestrian, viz., that "when I was a girl I could get on my horse and ride anywhere, any direction, but now the brush and small trees are too thick." I always listened to those old-timers with intense interest. Which brings me back to Bob, of the Such-and-Such Ranch, along Old Stage Road either north, or possibly south, of Pescadero. One fine day I was doodling slowly along on my Honda Dream, taking in every detail, every row of trees, every field, every outbuilding, and a tall thin old man in boots, blue jeans, and a plaid shirt looked my way. I stopped to chat. I ended up meeting with Bob several times, to listen to his stories of The Way Things Were. One of those stories was a real classic. He had grown up in southern Oregon, where his parents were homesteaders, and they had located upon 160 acres, where they ran a few head of cattle, and grew some crops. His father was an avid hunter, and had Bob learning to use rifle and pistol almost so soon as he could walk. Every fall they would go off into the wilderness to camp and hunt. Finally, Bob turned ten, and was deemed old enough to kill his first bear. Long long since had the deer and the grouse fallen, to his sharp young eyes and his steady aim. It was time for bear. He and his father had just the two saddle horses and the two pack horses with them, as they weren't going very far, nor for very long. But they went sufficiently far, and set up camp in a meadow nestled in the deep Oregon woods, at that time untouched by the logger, and the logger's bulldozer. They had lunch, and then his father felt like a nap. He hung his pistol upon the central tent-pole, and laid his 30.06 rifle beside his camp bed, and went right to sleep. This left Bob alone and bored. He wandered into the woods with his rifle, and saw a bear. He aimed, he fired, he killed his first bear, and all by himself, too! The bear's body was far too heavy to drag back to camp, but he must show off his kill to his father immediately, nothing else would do, so, young Bob unsheathed his Bowie knife and cut the head off that bear. The head alone was almost too much to carry, but he staggered back into camp, hollering about killing a bear, eagerly imagining his father bursting from the tent, so amazed, so proud, probably whooping and hollering and dancing around and everything! But his father did not appear. Bob put the bear head down and crept up to the tent and looked inside. His father was sound asleep. An idea formed, and to think was to act: Bob crept inside, emptied the pistol of all six bullets, picked up his father's rifle, and eased himself back outside. Then it only remained to loosen a tent peg or two, and shove the bear's head underneath the edge of the canvas, and make really loud growling and roaring sounds, while shaking the head from side to side. He heard his father awake; reach for his rifle; curse; reach for his pistol; and then ... Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! And then ... BANG, GODDAMN IT!!!! At which point Bob began to laugh and his father began to roar. Such was a story I gleaned from good old Pescadero. ----------------------------- Pescaderomemories.com: Mentioning the I Ching brought back memories. I have the version you speak of. I also have the coins I used to toss for the readings. I've been looking for them; I know they're around here someplace. Russell Towle: Ah the good old I Ching. I have quite a story about that. You may recall that while coins may be used to fet to a hexagram, the older method is to use yarrow stalks, something like fifty-one or fifty-two of them, of which three are set aside at the outset, and with the rest a certain sorting process is followed, and eventually one settles upon a certain hexagram. Well, my old friend Greg Troll and I had harvested yarrow stalks

for the I Ching and were drying them in the sun beside a dirt road high in the Santa Cruz mountains, near the 2800-foot contour as I recall,  where friends had rented a couple of dilapidated old cabins. We had a regular hippie commune going on there. Anyway. It so happened a San Mateo County deputy sheriff was on a Sierra Club hike, and they walked right past our remote cabins, and he saw hippies, and he saw herbs drying beside the road, and the next day there was a major bust, and, we, those of us they caught, were whisked off to jail for growing marijuana. Oddly, we really were growing marijuana, but not where it could be seen from the road. So later, in court, many people had all charges dropped, I among them. My judge actually got up form the bench and pulled out a blackboard from the wall and drew a marijuana plant and then a yarrow plant and personally questioned the deputy about his observation. Then he dismissed charges against me. Others were not so lucky. This was in, what, 1968? R]]>
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Who is this Ano Nuevo Man? http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/17/who-is-this-man-he-lived-around-ano-nuevo/ Thu, 17 Jul 2008 05:03:04 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=954

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"Hot" Q & A: John Vonderlin Asks Russell Towle About Mysterious Ano Nuevo... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/19/hot-q-a-john-vonderlin-asks-russell-towle-about-mysterious-ano-nuevo/ Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:35:03 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=967 John Vonderlin (JV): Last year while searching for the WWII observation tunnel the Pranksters were "trapped" in during the Good Friday Earthquake's tsunami in 1964, I found the Graffitti Grotto, a sea cave, where Zane had carved his initials decades ago and informed him of its location. He gave me a dozen exclamation points, excited to be able to share a nearly forgotten part of his youth with his son someday. I bet he knows what became of the film.

Russell Towle (RT): Zane Kesey sounds like maybe the best bet. I haven't contacted him directly, not at all.

JV:   Are you aware of the details of the "acquisition" of the land for the park by eminent domain? Was Stuart's homebuilt house really destroyed after acquisition? Did the floating "island" sink in the lake or was it
disassembled? Do you know the last chapter of your driftwod home?

RT: It was not acquired by eminent domain; Janet and Merrill merely got tired of living so very remotely, tired of the eternal wind. They sold to the State Park. The floating greenhouse, well, I personally disassembled it and hauled it piece by piece up to Janet and Merrill's new place on Pescadero Road, in 1977, I think. I think we let the old iron pipes sink into the reservoir, but everything else came out.

The driftwood cabin was clearly going to be swept out to sea, so, with Janet and Merrill's permission, I decided to relocate it farther back in the dunes. I got about twelve people together and we were able to lift it up and carry it uphill, about twenty yards back in the dunes, where I had prepared a new spot for it. Then I decided to make it much nicer. I would attach an octagonal room to one end. I would put in curved rafters. This and that. It was already up on a pole foundation I had made, from tree trunks which had washed up on the beach. So I put a lot of work into a too-ambitious project and lived during that time in the Big House, then under construction. During the winter of 1971-72 some Boy Scouts who were camped on Cascade Ranch land, nearly a mile north, walked down and completely destroyed the cabin, and threw my tools all over the dunes, and stole my tools. I was able totrack them right back to their camp, where the adults took a haughty attitude, "Well, your residence is illegal, anyway." True enough. There was no putting Humpty Dumpty together again.

JV:  There is a new $3 million Interpretive Center that just opened at Ano Nuevo in the old Steele dairy buildings. One of the buildings has rough hewn monster timbers that a placard says were recovered from a defunct local wharf. I'm assuming that was the Waddell Wharf that had carried lumber to waiting ships in the late 1800s.  Do you think your timber was also from that source? Do you have pictures of it?

RT: But how were these timbers stored, after removal from the wharf? I don't remember a wharf at Waddell. There was one at Davenport. My timbers are mostly short, six or eight feet, they were just what was left after bulldozing and burning a barn. They are redwood and still show adze and broad-axe marks. One had an interesting carving of a human head in profile, but it has weathered away.


JV:   Meg, has been doing the Beach Watch survey from south of New Year's Creek to the county line for several years, so I have become relatively familiar with some of the areas you referred to. I think your driftwood house was in what we call "The Forbidden Zone."  While I need a good reason to ignore the signs, I have hiked along that beach a few times to "clean" it of  buoys, ropes, nets,  tires or any other flotsam treasure I might care to carry the long way out to Highway 1. I've got numerous pictures of the area I'll email if you want to take a walk down Memory Lane.

RT: Isn't the county line right there near the south side of Año Nuevo? I was way around the point to the north. Janet and Merrill's Big House is now a ranger residence. I stopped in for a visit last year. They do
not allow public access into the park from that end of things.

JV:   I'm assuming with a couple of years "on the frontline" you were able to observe Neptune's rhythms intimately as far as flotsam is concerned. Your "calling" of beach treasures made me chuckle. After four years of collecting, photographing, cleaning, and sorting tens of thousands of pieces of marine debris I have come to believe through my observations that there are funny things going on in the offshore area that manifest themselves in almost magical ways on the beach. To look for a killer whale tooth in the same place you found one previously is not that illogical. Lightning often strikes in the same spot for reasons we often can only guess at.  For instance, about a mile north of the Point is a minor vomitorium that occasionally kicks up non-buoyant marine debris en masse. Socks, sometimes as many as 40 at a time, show up there episodically, associated with the piling of wrack on the beach.  Do you remember anything odd like that in that general area in the 70s?  Did Stuart have favorite places to collect the debris he used in many of his pieces?

RT: This vomitorium would be in the little rock outcrop at the north end of our beach. Just north, yards north, of that little outcrop, is where I found my whale tooth. In those rocks were exposed whale bone
fossils, but of a lesser quality and lesser degree of fossilization than the agatized pieces we would find loose on the beach. There were other places on the Point where the soft Pliocene siltstones carried whale fossils.

You have no doubt observed that in winter, the sand gets stripped off that beach, Janet and Merrill's beach, and the soft clays of the uplifted marine terrace are exposed, along with large masses of rounded boulders. We were conneisseurs of flotsam and jetsam, and Merrill was King so far as finding the oddest rarest things. Every day he would walk the beach slowly. He found many, many agatized whale rib fragments and vertebrae. He found quite a few Japanese fishing floats. In my years there I only found one glass float.

The patterns are definitely interesting, by which such debris is washed up.

You will know that the North Pacific Whorl or whatever it is called, from more or less permanent high pressure over the Pacific north of ~latitude 30 degrees N, causes clockwise rotation which sends things
from Japan to California via Alaska, more or less.

Was it Alexander Von Humboldt who observed Chinese junks stuck in the mud at the mouth of the Columbia River? At any rate, they were there courtesy of the Whorl.

That is, currents sweep the California coast from north to south, or northwest to southeast, to be precise.

They are driven by, and accompanied by, the almost constant northwest winds.

OK. Those winds actually sweep off warmer surface water and allow colder bottom water to well up to the surface. Hence, in part, the fog. The air is chilled below the dew point by the cold upwelling waters.

So, knowing that so far as winds and currents go, we can label every promontory with a windward side, and a lee side, what should we expect?

It is not an easy question to resolve, sin ce the calmer waters on the lee, south sides of promontories, might well trap things.

For instance, the gold miners in the Sierra quickly found out, back in 1848 and 1849, that they should look on the *inside* of river bends, not the outside. The inside is where slightly calmer and slower waters
allow gold and all manner of sediments to drop, to stop. The inside of bends is where the "bars' of the 49ers are found.

So after a fashion we might identify the lee sides of promontories with the insides of river bends. It is a little bit of a forced analogy but to me it makes some sense. Certainly at Año Nueov in partocular the north side, the windward side, is eroding under wave attack much much, much faster than the south side. Similarly, in our Sierra rivers, in their deep canyons, the outsides of the bends, where the water flows fast and furious, are activiely "degrading" or being eroded, while the insides of these same bends are "aggrading," that is, more stuff added, than stuff taken away.

But in support of the idea that the northern, windward, current-ward sides of points and promontories actually collect more debris, I have heard that that huge hook of land jutting far west into the Pacific, from north-central Baja California, right by Scammon's Lagoon, is the best driftwood, flotsam and jetsam, and old shipwreck beach on the entire Pacific coast of North America.

I have heard, but not seen for myself.

JV:   I was just looking at some 1972 aerial pictures of that area and I saw about a hundred artifacts in the blurry pictures that could have been your cabin or Bigfoot's or Pete's. Can you help me locate where they were? Are you familiar with the California Coastal Records Project? If you go to their website  http://www.californiacoastline.org/ and search for image #6376 you'll get a 2002 photo of Point Ano Nuevo. By hitting the "NorthWest 1" button you'll move up the coast. When you find the photo that captures about where your cabin was, you can hit the Time Comparison button. That gives you all the photos from different time series of that same area. The photos are from 72, 79, 87, 2002, 4, and 5. By double clicking the photos you get the largest file for that shot. Unfortunately, the 72 and 79 photos are not of the quality of the later ones, especially the ones from 2002 and later, taken by the Adelmans. Can you see any of the homebuilt structures in the pictures?

RT: I do not have broadband. I can put dots on the map. I'll see what I can come up with.


JV:   I've got many more questions about some of the things you mentioned, but I'm running down here at the end of a hard day so I'll close. Hope to hear from you. Thanks for sharing. And congratulations on the impressive online presence you've created with your blog, photos, etc. Enjoy. John Vonderlin

RT: Thanks John. It sounds as though you have developed quite an intimate acquaintance with that area. More than mere acquaintance. I'd suppose very few people know it as well. It is a very special place.

Russell Towle
Email John: (benloudman@sbcglobal. net) Email Russell (russelltowle@gmail.com)]]>
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Memories of Ano Nuevo: A Timber, Glass Float...and a window from the lighthouse http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/19/memories-of-ano-nuevo-a-timber-glass-floatand-a-window-from-the-lighthouse/ Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:57:14 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=973 John, June, an example of one of my hewn timbers from Green Oaks Creek (one end still has its tenon); a picture of my Año Nuevo Lighthouse window, made in 1971 for a little cabin I lived in in Grass Valley, now just leaning against my back wall and gathering dust; and a picture of my one "Japanese" glass fishing float, near a chunk of fossiliferous Pliocene siltstone from south of the Point on the old Coastways Ranch beach, where one can see lenses of shells in the brown siltstone of the cliffs. Hank Bradley always used to joke that those lenses of shell fragments must surely be in the way of being coprolites, masses of whale shit as it were. R]]> 973 2008-07-19 21:57:14 2008-07-20 01:57:14 closed closed memories-of-ano-nuevo-a-timber-glass-floatand-a-window-from-the-lighthouse publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1216519670 _edit_last 1 Vonderlin-Towle Q & A.....Ano Nuevo's Forbidden Zone http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/20/vonderlin-towle-q-aano-nuevos-forbidden-zone/ Sun, 20 Jul 2008 17:36:31 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=987 John Vonderlin-Russell Towle Q&A email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) email Russell (russelltowle@gmail.com) John Vonderlin (JV):   Thanks, Russell, for the answers to my questions. As I thought, your cabin was in the heart of the "Forbidden Zone."  When I look at the 1972 pictures of the ranch I can't help but think of a wondrous Hippy Heaven. Of course the pictures don't show the thorn in Paradise, the unrelenting wind and frequent foggy cold weather. I couldn't help but notice how big the body of water on the ranch was in 1972 when compared with the 2005 picture (#200506666) Was there a small impoundment on the creek? Is that White House Creek? (the caption says White Horse Creek on ...6665. I assume that's wrong.)

Russell Towle (RT): Green Oaks Creek. The road in to J&M's climbs over the dam. In one or more of the pictures you can see the deep steely blue the lake takes on with its waters ruffled by that pesky NW wind.


JV:  The CCRP picture you sent with numbers really helped me recall the area. It was probably not far from where your cabin had been that I found the most unusual float in my collection (about 500) It was a semi-waterlogged two foot in diameter macramed rope bag containing buoyant material. It had a beautiful colony of 4 inch long Gooseneck Barnacles. It truly was a denizen of the Gyre, (North Pacific Sub-tropical Gyre) blown eastward from its travels by weeks long westerlies. Well worth carrying the more then a mile
out the Cascade Creek trail to Highway 1 even though its water-soaked weight was close to a hundred pounds and it was moderately slimy and stinky.  Unfortunately, it has been several years since the Gyre has
delivered the quantities of wonders that it did that year.

RT: You are quite the collector!

JV:  Did you look at the 1972 picture (7219022) just north of the one you put the numbers on? It shows the just inshore dune area from a different angle. It may be wishful thinking but I swear I see building or at least a roof line at the spot you indicated. The other cabin just south of yours seems clearer too. On the CCRP website they explain the origin of the 1972 and

RT: No, I did not look at the more northerly photo. If anything shows it would be the *second* location of my cabin. The first location was on a little bluff of marine terrace seds stained red, showing that they had been uplifted above sea level fairly long ago, and had been near the land surface for a goodly time. That degree and color of iron oxidation is significant.

The little red bluff was maybe ten feet above mean sea level. In December 1969 I went there to clean it out before moving in (it had been built the previous summer by some artist friend of Merrill's if I recall). There had been a major winter storm raging for a week. I was rather amazed to see the ocean essentially at the level of the cabin, with waves crashing against the seaward side, and sweeping all the way around on the landward side, and pouring in the door. I was going to live there? It took a while before I realized it was that unique combination of a sustained powerful storm *and* the annual highest tides, which occur around New Year. Perihelion combined with a full moon or a new moon, if I recall. But add an unusually powerful storm
and you have an ocean which will effect incredible erosion.

JV: 1979 photos. The original slides were lost, but somebody found copies in storage a few years ago. There is a tab on the CCRP Home page that explains how they restored them, and integrated them into the newer collections, but little more. It is possible they weren't even shot in 1972. Is there anything in the pictures that would help you date them.

RT: Well. Maybe there is. You see, in the supposedly 1972 photo you can see a camp trailer thing parked by J&M's house. That would be Merrill's brother's trailer. But I can't remember when he left. Then there is the pickup truck with its camper shell. That could be Ken's truck. He was an older hippie who camped here there and everywhere. He may have arrived in 1972 but I can't recall. The Tower is gone and I think it came down in 1971. And I think we do see Pete Moss's Second Cabin, such a work of art, built in 1971. Hmm. There is a funny rectangular thing down by where J&M's road finally hit the beach. You couldn't drive the last bit, at least, we never did. I think that rectangular thing is the roof of a beach sauna. We used to heat up rocks in a big bonfire and carry them inside in wire baskets. Heck back in 1969 we had several raku open-air firings of pottery right on that beach, pottery made form the very beds of clay exposed in the winter.

Everything in the photo seems OK for 1972 to me.


JV: In regards to your timber. The placard at the Interpretive Center says the barns were built in the 1880s using timbers salvaged from a local wharf. The "local"est definitely would have been Waddell's Wharf. I think your timber has an interesting history you might want to know. Here's a little excerpt I grabbed from the Internet from a hiking blog about the wharf and the southern "cheapskate" entrance.
" Last week we hiked to Waddell's Mill in Big Basin State Park. I mentioned that Waddell's cut timber had to be hauled on mule-drawn carts over wooden rails through the canyon to the coast for shipping. Waddell's plans for a wharf at the mouth of Waddell Creek were foiled by bedrock that made it impossible to drive piles for the wharf. His solution was to extend the rail line north to a wide cove on Point Ano Nuevo, from which he built a long pier to deep water. "This week's hike takes us to that cove from the south--or informal—entrance to Ano Nuevo State Reserve. The trailhead is located one-half mile south of the reserve entrance road. Watch on the west side of Highway 1 for a brown painted gate that stops vehicle traffic. Just beyond is an off-road dirt parking area for a dozen or more cars. Pass around the gate and walk on the old asphalt road, which is the old Highway 1. Take care to stay away from the poison oak that lines both sides of the road. In a block or so the path turns north, and you can see the large cove and expanse of Point Ano Nuevo ahead. The path crosses an old concrete bridge that spans Ano Nuevo Creek deep below. The width of this bridge indicates that it is for one-way traffic only or that vehicles using it were very, very narrow.
"Cross over the bridge to a trail junction. Straight ahead and up will bring you to the Visitors Center, but turn left down to the wide beach. Along the water's edge, you will sense that this sheltered area behind the bluff was probably the ideal place for Waddell to build his wharf. Old photos show the wharf placed around the area where a clump of trees lines the bluff. From there, the wharf extended 700 feet over the beach to deep water. At the end was a swinging chute that lowered lumber to a schooner below. The wharf was completed in 1864, and according to Stanger, was handling two million feet of lumber a year by 1867. Other mills along the coast also shipped from the wharf."
This is the last we hear about William Waddell. In 1875 he was mauled by a grizzly bear while hunting deer with his friend John Bradley and died of complications soon after.

I'm attaching  old photos of the Wharf  and the railroad the blogger above mentioned . They are parts of Muybridge stereographs. I think I have a picture I took of the rough-hewn appearance of the beams in the barn. I'll reduce it and send it if you want to compare them. How small a file do you need? Are the ones I attached too cumbersome?
Past midnight, gotta get ready for tomorrow's struggles. Enjoy. John.

RT: Hmmm. I don't think I ever heard of the Waddell Wharf. Interesting. The "broad beach" is part of the Coastways Ranch mile of beach which Hank Bradley used to patrol daily in his jeep. If he saw anybody on the beach *above* the mean high tide line he would stop and have them sign a form explicitly stating that they used the beach with permission from Coastways. This would protect the value of the beach when the Park would eventually buy it, or so Hank thought.

My sense of the barn timbers I have is that they were hewn from local sources. I would be amazed if they had been salvaged from the wharf. If the wharf was for a lumbering operation, then why use hand-hewn
timbers in it at all? More sense to saw your 12X12's at the mill and run them down to the wharf site on your railroad. Senseless to hew timbers of you have a mill. And my timbers are hand-hewn all the way.

We have a lot of old logging railroad roadbeds around here from the 1870s to the 1920s. The older ones will sometimes still have a few ties lying about. These were all narrow-gauge railroads. And what few old ties I have seen were hand-split, not even hewn to speak of, just split, Incense Cedar. So I should not argue that just because a logging railroad goes to such-and-such a place, only sawn tiber would ever be used, because I have seen for myself that hand-split cedar ties were used.

Very interesting stuff, John. I love history.


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See Virtual Ano Nuevo http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/20/see-virtual-ano-nuevo/ Sun, 20 Jul 2008 18:11:14 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=993 Virtual Ano Nuevo, Virtual Parks
Story by John Vonderlin
email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Panorama of Ano Nuevo's Middle Beach, click here
Hi Russell,
I don't know what kind of speed connection this site whose URL is below needs, but if you can access it I think you'll be amazed. The site has a map of Ano Nuevo Park showing where various panoramic series were shot. Each panorama consists of twelve shots over 360 degrees. By using your mouse as directed you can spin  the displayed view completely around in a circle, zooming in or out using the Shift or Control key. The one near where Cascade Creek goes into the ocean has a great long shot of the "Forbidden Zone," down the beach. And the Preserve Boundary shows it up close. This is the next best thing to actual being there. And considering how cold, wet and windy I've seen it there, it might be better then sometimes. Enjoy. John
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993 2008-07-20 14:11:14 2008-07-20 18:11:14 closed closed see-virtual-ano-nuevo publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1216577475 _edit_last 1
Of Winds and Whales: Story by Russell Towle http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/21/of-winds-and-whales-story-by-russell-towle/ Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:09:47 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=995 Russell Towle]]> 995 2008-07-21 13:09:47 2008-07-21 17:09:47 closed closed of-winds-and-whales-story-by-russell-towle publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1216678336 _edit_last 1 The AN Lighthouse Window: John Vonderlin asks Russell Towle http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/21/the-an-lighthouse-window-john-vonderlin-asks-russell-towle/ Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:40:47 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1001 The beam was cool,
but the window is even better.
Hi Russell,
You've got a wonderful piece of history, that you can proud that you went to the trouble to save. Just getting back from the Island without breaking it must have been a challenge.
Can you help me understand where it was. The Ano Nuevo Light Station State State Parks website at  http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=23852 has extensive documentation about the Island. Below the first paragraph is a link "to view the entire 12 Megs of documentation." Clicking that opens up access to an impressive amount of historical info about Ano Nuevo and other lighthouses. There is a story about and pictures of nearly every building on the Island. The whole presentation is so thorough I was expecting to see mention of the driftwood structures in the dunes up the beach on the mainland in the early 70s. I think it would be great if you can find a photo that shows your window and mark its position for us. Now that's an unusual provenance.
Page 32 is a photo of the fog whistle, the first safety device built there in the 1800s. It's a concrete-lined, circular depression in the ground with a sphere with a hole in its top sitting in the middle. Was that the structure you were talking about that had rats in it?
Anything else you see in the photos that reminds you of something from your Island experiences I'd love to hear about. The Island nowadays, unfortunately, is a true Forbidden Zone that I'll never have a chance to visit. If that disappoints me too much, I guess I can recall your description of the house with the foot thick layer of sea lions heading back to primordial ooze topped with a generous topping of their feces. That should do it without ever experiencing the smell, the cacophony of their endless barking, and the cold wind that whips across the Island interminably. Thanks. Enjoy. John
Hi John,
From the web page you directed me to: "Other improvements to the island consisted of a water catchment basin, together with a cistern and a tank." OK, I am sane after all. The buildings more to the seaward side of the Island would have been the fog whistle buildings. Apparently there were three different fog horns or whistles installed over the years. You know, John, interesting historical resources include, around 1880, various official California country histories, often published by Thompson & West. I believe there is a T & W History of San Mateo County which I used to consult in the early 1970s. Then there are the General Land Office maps, made over a period of decades. Around here these begin around 1866. Each map showed a "township" of thirty-six sections. That is, a township is six miles on a side. Ideally. These "cadastral" surveys form the basis for all legal property descriptions in CA. First they laid in the township boundaries, then the section lines. And the surveyors took notes. So you can not only consult various generations of the maps but for each map are the survey notes. So you might read something like, "Beginning at the SW corner of the township I go north five chains thirteen links, cross Farmer Jones' fence, fifteen chains three links find blazed fir witness corner to SE corner of Rancho Cañada Grande, ... ." And so on. All in longhand. The Bureau of Land Management is the official custodian of these maps and notes. Most people call them "GLO" maps. -------------- June: Moore & Depue published The Illustrated History of San Mateo County in the 1870s; the book was reproduced 100 years later, and is filled with clean illustrations of ranches and public buildings and includes the town of Pescadero (but not Half Moon Bay) and one of the Steele's homes.
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1001 2008-07-21 18:40:47 2008-07-21 22:40:47 closed closed the-an-lighthouse-window-john-vonderlin-asks-russell-towle publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1217258492 _edit_last 1
A few of the things I love http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/22/a-few-of-the-things-i-love/ Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:21:13 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1008 R email Russell Towle (russelltowle@gmail.com)

The Cabin at Ano Nuevo

Bigfoot***

Cabin Seaward

***Bigfoot

June: Is there a story behind Bigfoot's moniker?

Russell: Yes, he was somewhat tall, around 6'3", and had spectacularly big feet. He and I both went barefoot all the time so our feet were always out there. Our feet were so damn tough after a year of no shoes ...]]>
1008 2008-07-22 20:21:13 2008-07-23 00:21:13 closed closed a-few-of-the-things-i-love publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1217001895 _edit_last 1
Forbidden AN...And more of the things I love http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/22/forbidden-anand-more-of-the-things-i-love/ Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:50:55 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1013 Captions/Photos by Russell Towle

email Russell (russelltowle@gmail.com)

The picture "cabin north" is just inside my tiny cabin looking north.

My kitchen had a Corona hand mill I had bought via the Whole Earth Catalog. I ground up my own cream of rice from brown rice, things like that.

The Big House, now a ranger residence, was framed from huge old redwood bridge timbers. Then we filled in with adobe bricks to make the walls. You can see the palettes of big adobe bricks.

Janet Creelman, I always thought of her, although at this time she was married to Merrill Bickford aka Stuart Harwood. An amazing person.

Merrill Bickford. The building contractor cum sculptor who won a Fulbright scholarship to study bronze casting in Italy back in the 1950s. Quite an unusual man, very gifted. Prone to rants about Art.

R]]>
1013 2008-07-22 20:50:55 2008-07-23 00:50:55 closed closed forbidden-anand-more-of-the-things-i-love publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1217001844 _edit_last 1
Who is this genius, Merrill Bickford? http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/22/who-is-this-genius-merrill-bickford/ Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:07:31 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1027

June says: Russell, I remember meeting Merrill. He's the man I met at AN, near the big sculpture with his address on it. There were numbers carved in it. Russell Towle says: Cool. So you met Merrill! He was amazing. He had an old Willys 4WD station wagon. When it came time to lift the 6X12 rafters and 12X12 ridgepoles into place, just a month or two before those photos were taken, Merrill contrived a bizarre thing out of driftwood and weird old stuff he'd bought at junkyards. Let's see. A funky trailer made from an old pickup truck bed. To that attach a 5-horsepower gasoline engine. To that attach a winch with a hundred feet of cable. To the funky trailer attach long beams spliced together by overlapping them and bolting them together, to make a boom. Attach an old pulley to the top of the boom, and run the cable through it. Then winch the heavy 6X12's into the air. However, the boom canted so far aft of the trailer that at the slightest provocation the weight would overbalance, and first the trailer itself with engine, winch, and all would lift into the air, and then the back of the Willys would lift into the air. What was required was to drive the thing in low range, first gear, and never ever turn at all sharply. We'd hoist those big beams up just a few feet, the rafters, and then drive them around to the side of the house they belonged to. Then, temporarily brace the boom, and winch them higher. Higher. Nerve-wracking. Each one weighed hundreds of pounds. Plus each 6X12 rafter had a very precise "birdsmouth" cut (Merrill called it) to fit around the 12X12 ridgepole, which was on a 45-degree angle like a diamond. So the rafters were cut to fit around that corner of the 12X12. Once in place, a few spikes would secure them long enough for me to climb up on top of the ridge and drill long holes with a 3/4-inch augur bit eighteen inches long, through both 6X12 rafter and 12X12 ridgepole. Then I would run a long bolt through, galvanized, which Merrill had picked up at some junkyard, used PG&E bolts I believe, and add a big washer and nut and tighten it all up. So the framing of the Big House was quite an adventure. R ]]>
1027 2008-07-22 21:07:31 2008-07-23 01:07:31 closed closed who-is-this-genius-merrill-bickford publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1217005165 _edit_last 1
There were TWO fog whistles...with one at Ano Nuevo http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/24/there-were-two-fog-whistleswith-one-at-ano-nuevo/ Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:15:17 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1036 John Vonderlin (JV):   Here are some pages from Harvey Mowry's book that concern the Fog Whistle. He gave me permission to use his book for educational purposes when I called him a month or so ago to track down a copy of his book for Robin Caldwell. The San Mateo Historical Society had four, apparently the last four left at that time. Meg just bought herself another copy, so I could dogear this one I borrowed from her. And now there are only two left. I wish my responsibilities didn't prevent me from driving up to Pioneer to sit down and talk with him about his books and his memories of the Gazos area early in the last century. Enjoy.

Russell Towle (RT): I  gather the crossing to the Island was hazardous even back then.

The pier on the Island is exactly where we used to beach the Zodiac raft.

I believe the one photo misidentifies the fog whistle building as
being behind the residence. As the first photo correctly states, the
fog whistle building was on the northwest corner of the island. In the
incorrectly-labeled photo, the fog whistle would have been on the
southwest corner. I can't rule it out, but the two captions are
inconsistent, either one is wrong, or the other.

To me that fog-whistle building must be the same one which was in such
great shape even in 1970. It was on the northwest end of things, as
seen in your Google aerial photo. I don't recall any trace of the
small steam engine. The picture shows it before those cement walls
were built, with their extensive slabs.

Those cement slabs near what I think is the true fog-whistle building
were not favored by the sea lions; they and the sea elephants stayed
off them. Hence not covered with feces. But they loved the house.

R June: When the Pigeon Point lighthouse was built in 1872, it was not the first fog whistle on the South Coast. There was already one at Ano Nuevo, and the locals grumbled that the ships passing by could get confused--because the whistles were timed differently. Email John Vonderlin (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Email Russell Towle (russelltowle@gmail.com) Email June (june@halfmoonbaymemories.com)]]>
1036 2008-07-24 14:15:17 2008-07-24 18:15:17 closed closed there-were-two-fog-whistleswith-one-at-ano-nuevo publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1217001830 _edit_last 1
Forbidden Ano Nuevo: The Ins and Outs http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/26/forbidden-ano-nuevo-the-ins-and-outs/ Sat, 26 Jul 2008 16:47:11 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1053 John Vonderlin (JV) The attached file is a Google Earth photo of Ano Nuevo Island showing the water cachment next to the Fog Whistle building. I assume the sloped larger light area surrounding the circular depression was part of the catchment. Russell Towle (RT) Wow, great image. Yes that's the catchment and the cistern is below ground. They might have used a wind pump for all I know. You can even see seals on the beaches. I had forgotten all about the cement walls surrounding the area, like breakwaters as it were. One could lean on the walls and look out to sea. They show up clearly in the photo. I wonder to what extent the Indians hunted the seals of all types. The roughness of the coastal terrain militates against heavy human populations, yet, one wonders. There could have been seasonal visits to such areas, rich in seals, by tribes, clans, across the mountains in the Santa Clara Valley. Here the Maidu would wander up into the high Sierra in the summer, where they shared the high country with the similarly-wandering Washoe from east of the crest. Taking my best guess I can imagine small year-around villages along that part of the coast, and seasonal visits by interior tribes which might swell hunting camps as at Año Nuevo to a transient population of a hundred or two hundred. Here in this part of the Sierra there is cryptic evidence of an older, pre-historic, pre-Maidu population, some 1500 to 4000 years ago, who used atlatls, spear-throwers, and made elaborate petroglyphs. Pre-bow-and-arrow Indians. Their spear points would be mistaken for arrowheads by most people. An atlatl ought to work well on a seal, even an elephant seal. Probably the main difficulty is that a mortally-wounded seal would tend to escape into the ocean while dying. Of course farther north the CA Indians went out to sea after whales in huge dugout canoes. Unfortunately our records of the Costanoans are if anything sparser than most. You will know that during the last major ice advance, ending 12,000 years ago, sea level was much much lower than now. Hence much in the wya of the oldest artifacts are out there beneath the waves and beyond. I do recall that some abalone divers found a pair of matched stone pestles in the reefs between the Point and the Island, back around 1970. But here we may be talking more in the way of rapid retreat of the coastline than rising sea level. The rise to present levels was complete by 8,000 years ago at the least. One should think of the unstable and rapidly-eroding coast as being still in a phase of adjustment to the higher sea levels, that is, still in a yet-more-rapidly-eroding phase. All this of course complicated by the various motions along the faults in the area, which are not just right-lateral or lateral displacements, but always show some component of vertical displacement as well. The many "fossil" marine terraces standing well above seal level all along the coast are not relics of a previous higher sea level, they are artifacts of tectonic uplift, wildly unequal and lacking uniformity. All Año Nuevo Point is one such uplifted marine terrace. The terraces are wave-cut, were formed below sea level. The terrace at Davenport is likewise a marine terrace uplifted by tectonic forces. You could hardly find a more complicated geology, than is presented by the Santa Cruz Mountains. There are Indian caves in a cliff-walled canyon down towards Santa Cruz, south of Davenport; I used to explore them; they had been dug at least cursorily by UC Santa Cruz archeologists, I believe. They are interesting because they demonstrate just how marginal a cave (so far as size, ease of access, and other factors of convenience and comfort) can be, and still have been put to use. R]]> 1053 2008-07-26 12:47:11 2008-07-26 16:47:11 closed closed forbidden-ano-nuevo-the-ins-and-outs publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1217091061 _edit_last 1 1930s: Memorial Park http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/27/1930s-memorial-park/ Sun, 27 Jul 2008 23:25:10 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1059

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1059 2008-07-27 19:25:10 2008-07-27 23:25:10 closed closed 1930s-memorial-park publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1217201110 _edit_last 1
Here's the Pix: Where's the Fog Whistle? Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/28/heres-the-pix-wheres-the-fog-whistle-story-photos-by-john-vonderlin/ Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:33:11 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1064 California Coastal Records Project (CCRP). Email John Vonderlin (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Email Russell Towle (russelltowle@gmail.com) Hi Russell,
Yes. I see the trouble in the positioning of the reputed Fog Whistle building in the photo. It seems like it should be to the right of the residence based on the relationship of the boathouse and the water storage tank. I'll send some of the photos I've gathered. Maybe you can figure it out. Enjoy. John
Russell Towle (RT) Cool. BTW did you know of the old stone dam above Cascade Ranch? On, what, Cascade Creek?]]>
1064 2008-07-28 12:33:11 2008-07-28 16:33:11 closed closed heres-the-pix-wheres-the-fog-whistle-story-photos-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1217348293 _edit_last 1
Historians & Nature Lovers: Hike the Beautiful Butano With An Expert....Mike Merritt http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/28/historians-nature-lovers-hike-the-beautiful-butano-with-an-expertmike-merritt/ Mon, 28 Jul 2008 20:09:06 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1075 Story by Mike Merritt, Butano State Park Seasonal Interpreter Hi June, In August I am putting on some special interest hikes at Butano State Park. On Sunday Aug. 10 at 1:00, I am leading a two hour hike on the Goat Hill Trail. Along with the ever interesting plant and animal life of the area, Goat Hill was also a major homesteading area for many years, and we will be visiting historical sites along the way and discussing their importance. I hope to have photos and artifacts handy as well. The hike is roughly two to three miles with sections of uphill. Water, snacks, and good hiking shoes are recommended. Meet at the intersection of the Olmo Fire Road and the Park Road. The other hike I am leading is in the Gazos Canyon from 1:00 to 3:00. A sanctuary for animal life including the Steel-Head Trout and the Marbled Murrelet, the canyon also holds a rich history of logging mills. While enjoying the pristine creek, with its second-growth redwoods, we will explore the remains of the logging days of the Gazos. A moderate hike, roughly two miles. Wear good shoes and bring water and snacks. Meet at the intersection of Gazos Creek and Cloverdale Roads.]]> 1075 2008-07-28 16:09:06 2008-07-28 20:09:06 closed closed historians-nature-lovers-hike-the-beautiful-butano-with-an-expertmike-merritt publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1217286440 _edit_last 1 South Coast: Alligator Rock http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/28/south-coast-alligator-rock/ Mon, 28 Jul 2008 23:12:43 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1082 John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi Russell,
A few emails ago I mentioned where the San Mateo/Santa Cruz county line was on the coast. It's located below the Waddell Bluffs, where Highway 1 descends toward Waddell Creek, about a hundred and fifty yards or so north of Alligator Rock.

Nowadays because of the steepness of the cliffs below Highway 1, and the private ownership of the coastal land, Alligator Rock is the only place (and accessible only by climbing down over large boulders) that the public can reach the beach, and from there to Ano Nuevo State Park. That makes this route the easiest way to touch the sands of San Mateo County's most southerly beach.  It's also the site of  "Cape Horn," as it was dubbed, whose unstable, prone-to-continual-landslide soil, combined with the crashing waves, often threatened safe passage for those traveling the coast at the turn of the 19th Century.

I've attached a photo of Alligator Rock from close to sea level that shows Ano Nuevo Island in the background.
From Highway 1, particularly during high tides, the curved rock jutting into the ocean looks remarkably similar to a partly submerged alligator when viewed from the bluff above. A state worker, dumping the landslide material from the east side of Highway 1 over the cliff on the west side of the road, told me that was its name, but I can't find online or other confirmation.

Is this name familiar to you? Did Hank Bradley patrol this far south? Did he have a name for this beach?

In Harvey Mowry's book there are two pictures of what this area looked like at the turn of the century. I've attached a scan of one of them.
As you can see not much has changed as far as the location of the shore, especially when compared to the spectacular erosion of the shoreline north of Ano Nuevo you mentioned. I suspect until all of the Waddell Bluffs erodes into the ocean the shoreline will remain just about where it is at this southerly entrance to San Mateo County.

Here's an excerpt from Harvey's book about this area.
"During the early 1900s the high, bald-faced cliffs of Waddell Canyon's north wall terminated abruptly at sea edge and effectively barred north and south traffic except at low tide. The barrier could only be by-passed over about a three-quarter mile stretch of risky beach travel. Teamsters had dubbed one particularly hazardous rocky spit as "Cape Horn," no doubt suggesting passage at that point likened to surmounting the dangers of Caape Horn.
"That obstacle was encountered about halfway between entering and leaving the beach route. Teamsters had to frequently pick and shovel through the rubble deposited by the unstable cliffs."....
"Teamsters and light buggy travelers alike wisely timed their arrival at either end of Waddell Beach to coincide with low tide. First arrivals pioneered a route over a freshly sea swept beach along the slide prone cliffs. During stormy weather or on the incoming tide, boiling surf often inundated the roadway; for those hardy souls who dared passage at that time a silent prayer was certainly in order."

Quite a Welcome to San Mateo County. Enjoy. John
--------
Hi June,
The California Coastal Records Project  (CCRP) website has some great pictures of the Alligator Rock area. Picture #6397 is particularly good. Along with a good view of the rock and the path down to it, and the cliffs north and south, it also shows numerous piles of soil stockpiled in the flat area west of Highway 1, waiting to be bulldozed into the sea. It's amazing how little difference there is from the 1900s picture considering the instability of the area. Enjoy. John
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1082 2008-07-28 19:12:43 2008-07-28 23:12:43 closed closed south-coast-alligator-rock publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1217348076 _edit_last 1
The Remote South Coast: "People Found a Way...." Story by Russell Towle http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/28/the-remote-south-coast-people-found-a-way-story-by-russell-towle/ Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:24:35 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1093 Story & Photo by Russell Towle Email Russell (russelltowle@gmail.com) Interesting to see the old photo. A good indication of how remote that part of the coast was, way back when.

I never heard that rock called "Alligator Rock," nor "Cape Horn."

"Cape Horn" would seem to have been a favorite name for a rocky prominence around which some tortuous path must be followed; we have a Cape Horn here in Placer County, which was turned by the Central Pacific Railroad in 1865, at great cost. Prior to then it was simply avoided by travelers, teamsters, whatever. But the railroad had to maintain an easy grade. And that easy grade led right across the cliffs of Cape Horn.

The flat-lying strata exposed in Alligator Rock look suspiciously like the Monterey Shale Formation (MSfm) which also composes the Waddell Bluffs. The trace of the San Gregorio Fault is quite near, but here, at least, it may not bring two disparate formations into faulted contact; but I do not have my good old geological map of the area at hand.

The old photo reveals that Alligator Rock is the base of a prominent spur projecting from the Bluffs. It is always somewhat humbling to me to find that geological formations are not uniform. I like exact solutions, such as, the diagonal of a unit square is the square root of two. Hence I want geological formations to be uniform and homogeneous. Here we see that for some reason, very locally, the Monterey Shale Formation was more resistant to erosion, than were other seemingly identical parts nearby. I wonder why. I remember Hank Bradley telling me once that the light-colored shales of the MS fm. were thought by some to be related to the extensive rhyolite ash deposits here in the Sierra, also Miocene, or earlier Oligocene, in age. The model proposed was that as these widespread, voluminous, light-colored, siliceous ash deposits were eroded from the Sierra into the Pacific, they accumulated at depth to become the MS fm.

This is fairly plausible; it has its problems; but I wonder if the idea has gained or lost currency since 1970. Howsoever, the MS fm. is a light-colored shale of a siliceous nature. Do I recall that it is diatomaceous? If so, then the shale may be largely composed of siliceous skeletons of diatoms, and the Sierra's rhyolie ash was proposed as the thing which made so much silica available to those diatoms.

Here in the Sierra we have huge areas of metasedimentary rocks, often slates, broadly speaking, which also vary within formations. For instance, five hundred feet thickness of slate can give way to fifty feet of chert, and then another five hundred feet of slate. In such a case the chert will resist erosion more than the slates, and (since all the strata are tipped up to nearly vertical), if exposed on a canyon wall, this bed of chert may become a spur ridge, the slate areas flanking it, broad ravines.

So with the Bluffs and the Alligator Spur perhaps we should wonder whether chert could be involved.

In the Pliocene siltstone cliffs north of Alligator Rock and verging into the south side of ANP, there are lenses of shell fragments, and also very interesting local variations in the siltstone, which seem to have to do not so much with hardness, but with cohesiveness. For a harder rock may be fairly friable and easily dissected by erosion, but a softer rock with greater cohesion may more stoutly resist erosion. From those brown siltstone cliffs erode very curiously curved nodules of siltstone, which are like so many Beniamino Bufano sculptures. I still have one of these pretty nodules; a photo is attached.




Hank told me the chert of the Indian Mounds at Año Nuevo was from the Monterey Shale, but in years of hiking up in the Chalks I never once found an exposure of chert. That chert is so distinctive, it may well have come from a single quarry. I wonder if that quarry is known. I have found Indian chert quarries here in the Sierra.

My recollection is that the beach at the base of Waddell Bluffs runs right up to the south side of Año Nuevo Point. We used to drop right down to that beach from the low cliffs at the north end, right by where the side road for ANP ended in a little parking area. Back in the 1960s and early 1970s. Hank had his own little jeep trail from Highway 1 down to that beach. I couldn't swear to it, but my guess would be that Coastways Ranch land extended down to the county line. Hank used to say they had a "mile" of beach. He assumed it would be purchased by the State Park. I guess it still hasn't been so purchased. He patrolled that beach pretty much every day in his jeep, handing out his permission slips to anyone he found, thus safeguarding the beach's value when it came time for the State to buy it. His reasoning was that the State would not be able to say,"That one mile of beach is not worth so much, because it is already in free use by the public."

Hank Bradley was a tall angular man, quite friendly and gracious, he and his wife Betty often made me welcome at their house, and I loved to listen to his stories. He gave me the free run of Coastways, which property, as you will know, contains the very northernmost natural grove of Monterey Pines in existence. If you follow the ridge containing that grove up into the Chalks, you will soon encounter a closely-related species, another member of the "closed-cone pine" sub-genus of the genus Pinus, the fire-adapted Knobcone Pine. The two species hybridize right there above Coastways Ranch, where the one meets the other. Higher up that same ridge, I used to gather native blueberries and huckleberries. I was up on pretty much all those main ridges behind Año Nuevo Point. It was often pretty rough going, but sometimes not. Once fully up in the Chalks and above the humid coastal belt, one got clear of most of the Ceanothus, and entered an elfin forest of chaparral, manzanita, hucklberries, and remarkable stunted Douglas Fir and Coast Redwood, sometimes only a few feet tall. In that elfin forest there were many areas of bare shale. This made travel possible.

Yes, the old photo is interesting. People found a way. One can be pretty sure that the teamsters never dared to let a loaded wagon onto the sand beach itself; from the photo, one sees that the track was cut into the base of the Bluffs. That is workable for a loaded wagon. Teamsters faced many such challenges here in the mountains, in the Sierra, where an endless number of mining camps needed supplies, many inaccessible by road.

So one might have to skid some tons of equipment, a stamp mill, say, for crushing ore, right down the canyon wall to the mine. This might require the services of some mules. But it was a terrible nuisance, so a good teamster, who could get that stamp mill as near as possible, by hook or by crook, before the dreary bone-crushing business of skidding masses of iron began, well, a teamster like that was pure gold. Perhaps a tree must be cut, here; to allow the wagon to pass; perhaps a boulder must be pried out of the ground, there; and over here, a bunch of bulders must be piled up purely ad hoc, just to allow the wagon wheels to crawl up and over a larger, immovable boulder. The teamsters were experts at all this. And those wagons, whatever else were there problems, had great ground clearance on those large wheels.

In the winter, if need be, giant sled-runners were bolted on, and the loaded wagon would be drawn over snow twenty feet deep. Steam sawmills were moved over 7,000-foot passes in the dead of winter in this way. One of the first parts of such a job was breaking a trail in the softsnow for the teams pulling the loads. It was anything but trivial.

But the worst enemy of all was soft ground. To see your noble four-foot-diameter wagon wheel axle deep in red clay, your mighty oxen standing patiently, straining against the yoke when asked, but to no effect, to no effect. Hours of digging were required. Perhaps the wagon would need off-loaded for there to be any chance. You could pull your wagon, with its standard eight-thousand-pound load, out of one mudhole, only to see it sink in another, ten feet away.

Knowing this I suspect the teamsters avoided the sand, at least, when loaded. An empty wagon would be a different story.

I once got a ride all over the area in a small plane which landed on my beach at low tide, picked me up, and landed me there again half an hour later. And I know Hank Bradley's jeep preferred the wet sand exposed at low tide to the dry sand higher on the beach.

R

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1093 2008-07-28 20:24:35 2008-07-29 00:24:35 closed closed the-remote-south-coast-people-found-a-way-story-by-russell-towle publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1217348062 _edit_last 1
South Coast & Hank Bradley's Beach Kingdom http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/30/south-coast-hank-bradleys-beach-kingdom/ Wed, 30 Jul 2008 04:00:59 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1102 John Vonderlin (JV) Yes, the jeep road Hank Bradley would access his beach kingdom from still exists. It suffered some damage from the spectacularly high tide/big wave event we had this Spring, but it looks easily repairable. I suspect the old jeep one of his family member uses to this day to patrol the beach is the same one you were talking about. I also believe that jeep road you mentioned he would drive down to access the beach is the same one used by the "Cape Horn/Alligator Rock" travelers to get off the beach, back on top of the bluff, over a century ago.
I think this is so, not only because there is no sign of there ever having been any other road to the beach in this stretch of cliff south to the county line, but it fits the historical evidence. The jeep road is about the same distance from Alligator Rock as Waddell Creek is from Alligator Rock, just as Harvey Mowry's book description states. (Cape Horn midway in the beach transit stretch) Secondly, the photo on the back of his book, that I've attached, shows some of the the Steeles in a buggy crossing the Finney Creek Bridge headed towards the Green Oaks Ranch in 1895. It is Finney Creek, just a few hundred yards north of the jeep road, that is the only waterfall, besides Julia Pfeiffer Falls, that I know of, that drops right into the ocean. (attached photo) Was that so in the 70s? Did Hank ever mention the jeep road's history?
A pillar of the local community once told me Hank had rescued him from the top of Wilson Falls, just south of the jeep road, when he got stranded there while high on LSD back in the 70s. Did Hank ever tell that story?  Enjoy. John
Russell Towle (RT) Yes, that makes sense. That little road has the look of an old road. But for a loaded wagon to traverse that beach ... I don't know ...maybe if a horse-drawn scraper went over a route at the base of the cliffs and got rid of some of the sand ... they wouldn't have had the benefit of the constant shedding of rock debris from the cliffs above, as they had farther south ... those rocks make a viable surface ... It actually begs the question, when the ranchers of Año Nuevo needed tonnage of supplies or farm equipment, how did they get it? Via the ocean? Or via a road or roads? I don't recall the LSD story. Maybe it was after my time. I still have a kayak Hank pulled off his beach back then, in 1971 I think. It just washed up empty, with a couple of its wooden ribs broken. We used to idly speculate on who abandoned it, where, under what circumstances. I used to take that kayak into the ocean, but it was scary.]]>
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On Kelphorns & Knots: Story/Pix by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/30/kelphorns-knots-things-storypix-by-john-vonderlin/ Thu, 31 Jul 2008 02:54:44 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1112 Email John Vonderlin (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi Russell,
I was just looking at some of your geometric creations on various websites. Pretty amazing. I'm afraid my lack of knowledge of your specialty makes the jargon seem like a foreign language though. I thought it interesting that two of your main interests revolve around different definitions of topolgy. Number 1 and 3?
  1. Topographic study of a given place, especially the history of a region as indicated by its topography.
  2. Medicine The anatomical structure of a specific area or part of the body.
  3. Mathematics The study of the properties of geometric figures or solids that are not changed by homeomorphisms, such as stretching or bending. Donuts and picture frames are topologically equivalent, for example.
  4. Computer Science The arrangement in which the nodes of a LAN are connected to each other.
About the only place I venture into such esoteric territory involves my natural(?) knot collection.
Though many of the best specimens in my driftwood collection involve knots, in this case I'm referring to the kinds of knots rope, fishing line, etc, form. While gathering my huge non-buoyant marine debris collection I noticed that ropes, exposed to enough wear bumping along the bottom, were reduced to their most durable parts, just like waterlogged wood, and plastic bottles, etc. That most durable part was a knot in a rope's case..
At some point I wondered if the properties that give rope knots durability were similar to the forces that might have allowed inorganic compounds to persist long enough to increase their complexity as they slowly "evolved" towards what we now call organic compounds and life?
While knots seem to be getting more scientific study these days, they've mystified me since I was taught to tie my shoes. Something, I apparently didn't learn very well given how many times I usually need to retie my round, nylon shoelaces during one of my bushwhacking adventures.
When you wrote about the Kelphorns you used to make, I was reminded of the only part I ever collect from Bull Kelp, that being knotted pieces of their stipe. I've attached a photo of one I just gathered last week. Below is an interesting website detailing the uses the coastal Indians put Bull Kelp to. Though rattles, along with many other things, were made out of them, there is no mention of Kelphorns. You might want to get a patent. Enjoy. John
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1112 2008-07-30 22:54:44 2008-07-31 02:54:44 closed closed kelphorns-knots-things-storypix-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1217989915 _edit_last 1
Still Searching for Monty Parker: Amazing "Cruise the Coast" Trip with John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/07/31/remember-monty-parker-storypix-by-john-vonderlin/ Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:58:56 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1119 Who is Monty Parker? Story & Photos by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June,
A few days ago Meg and I decided to reconnoiter the Acid Beach area, while out on a "Cruise the Coast" expedition, with the idea of looking for a path through the heavy growth of poison oak that we could use to reach the cliff's edge above "The Notch." If you remember, "The Notch," is the only cove that I haven't visited in "The Seven Sisters" Sea Arch stretch. Larry Fitterer and I attempted to reach there during our "Acid Beach" extreme-low-tide foray, but turned back because of the unexpectedly deep water and large waves that I felt threatened to breach the flimsy Tupperware watertight container I had my camera in.

We thought if we could get to the cliff edge above the cove during the next try to reach "The Notch," Meg could lower the camera down to me when I reach there by swimming and pull it back up after I'd documented this extremely difficult -to- reach- stretch of the coast. With two free hands, swimming the turbulent route out through the Acid Beach Arch, then north along the rocky, wave-battered cliff to the cove would be a lot safer for me too.
After unsuccessfully trying several different routes to the bluff above the cove, risking a very itchy week, while carefully negotiating vague paths through dense growths of poison oak, we gave up and drove a little south, so I could look for evidence near where the fallen "Monty Parker" sign was.

I thought there might be artifacts covered by the thick underbrush that could help us discover who this man of mystery was
.


Lo! and Behold! Somebody still likes Monty, whoever he is. The sign is now held upright in a concrete-filled 15 gallon black bucket, steadied by sticks. Unlike whoever carried a hundred pounds of concrete to the site, I was too lazy to climb the steep hill to get a pen and paper, but next trip I'll leave a note in a bottle asking Monty's mysterious admirer to contact me, even if anonymously.


While looking for clues about "Monty Parker's favorite place in the world," as the sign says, I also checked the California Coastal Records Project CCRP website's archived pictures of this area through the years. I was surprised to see how busy this place was decades ago. In the 1972 picture (#7219067) there was a big parking lot beside Highway 1, and no less then four good-sized paths, leading down to the "Rappel Spot," where people would lower themselves down the cliff to the beach. The 1979, 1987, 2002, 2004, and 2005 photos progressively show less and less evidence that people visit here.

A berm built along Highway 1, sometime in the last few years, essentially keeping cars off the bluff, has accelerated this process since the 2005 photo.

It was the 2005 photo (#200506752),  with its caption about the Merry Pranksters Rappel Spot and LSD, that led me to explore this area initially. Without that "X Marks the Spot" clue, I don't think I would have been drawn to this area. But now that I've explored it somewhat, I wish the cliffs could tell me their stories about the Pranksters, Monty Parker and the other characters who were drawn to this isolated, dangerous, and stunningly beautiful stretch of our coast. The truth is out there and I want to find it.


I've attached photos of the road sign just across Highway 1 from the gulch that the Rappel  Spot and Monty's sign are at the bottom of. I've also attached photos of the recent sign construction and the north and south coastal views Monty's spirit resides over. It would be hard to find a more eternally pleasing view spot in this world.
Enjoy. John


P.S. The southern view shows the easy last part of "The Gauntlet," as Larry Fitterer dubbed it, with Chicken's Roost being the rock projecting into the ocean at the point where the coast disappears in the photo. The northern view includes part of Warm Water Lagoon in the center and Greyhound Rock and Ano Nuevo Island in the background..

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Respect for the Pioneers...Story/Photos by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/01/respect-for-the-pioneersstoryphotos-by-john-vonderlin/ Sat, 02 Aug 2008 02:02:51 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1161 Taking the Cape Horn Exit From the Coast Highway Story by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi Russell,
I'm having a few second thoughts about whether Hank Bradley's jeep road was the road that was used to get to and from the bluffs to the beach transit around Cape Horn a hundred years ago.

In a quick aside you are right that there seems to be many "Cape Horns," just as there are many treacherous stretches of road dubbed "Blood Alley." Harvey Mowry mentions another one in the Gazos Creek area on Page 70 of his book.

"Gazos Canyon had its own "Cape Horn." In his later journals Irvin Bloom refers to it as a sharp bend along the rough trace upstream from the Glenwood Mill and below McKinley's old mill site.  Apparently a troublesome spot, especially in wet weather when unstable earth gave way to slides damming the creek..."

I've attached a scan of a photo on Page 75 of Mr. Mowry's book
that is captioned, "The Coast Highway, 1900. Two buggies southbound for Santa Cruz, start down the long grade to a potentially dangerous stretch of "road" along the beach. At the far end is "Cape Horn," often a trouble spot for travelers"

Unfortunately you can't see the road past the buggy because it disappears around the corner, and the resolution of the photo is too poor to show tracks on the beach or a road cut in the cliffs further south. You can see a stream flowing into the ocean. I believe that's Elliot Creek. Picture #6392 on California Coastal Records Project (CCRP) shows the relative position of the jeep road and the creek.

None of these things are inconsistent with the jeep road being one of the transit stretch's access/exit point. However, when I was examining the 1972 photos I discovered a road further south starting at Highway 1 and angling towards the beach before it ends at a house by a large gully. That's photo # 7219051 By the 2005 picture, # 200506707 there is no sign of the house or road. Today even the gully is gone with a large square concrete culvert delivering the water to the beach. Which is why even though I've walked nearby many times I've not noticed any of this. I hope to change that tomorrow with a little blufftop bushwhacking. Do you know anything about this?

I think it is just south of the southern boundary of Coastways Ranch, based on the position of a sign they put up on the reef, way below the mean high tide line, claiming permission was needed to walk along the beach. I had a confrontation ending in mutual disagreement with the driver of the jeep patrolling the beach one time about my rights and the illegality of the sign. Eventually somebody, not me, must have complained because the sign was removed.

The reason I'm having some second thoughts about the jeep road is I assume the transiters would want to get off the beach as soon as possible, and as you can see in the picture # 7219051 the  bluffs begin moving further away from the beach at this spot and are more stable based on their vegetative covering. Because during the construction of Highway 1 they dumped spoils down the oceanside of the road it, is possible that the rest of the old road was covered up. I'll ask Harvey Mowry in a letter what he remembers.

As to the viability of moving heavy loads over the sand, it was certainly possible. I believe the wave swept nature of the beach here, just as between the mainland and Ano Nuevo Island is key to providing a stable enough surface to cross. In Harvey Mowry's book he writes, "Some sawmill equipment destined for use at Gazos could have arrived by ship at Pigeon Point. However the majority, bought used from sawmills in Santa Cruz, or new in San Francisco, Oakland or beyond, had to be freighted by horse team and wagon from Santa Cruz."

The most interesting account of such freighting in the book was from Mr. Irvin Bloom's journal when he describes moving a donkey, a steam-powered, self-propelled, skid-mounted winching unit
in 1907 from the Little Basin Mill to a rail car in Boulder Creek. From there it went by rail to Santa Cruz. Next morning Bloom met the company wagons in Santa Cruz where they: "Loaded the teams (wagons) and started them for Davenport at 3 o'clock (P.M.)" "Two days later both wagons were at the Gazos Mill."  It had taken 5 days to to move the donkey 45 miles.

There is another passage describing the "Cape Horn" section where Bloom writes, "Drivers often had to urge their reluctant teams up, over the short rough stretch, and down the far side onto a sandy beach. It could be a difficult traverse for a heavily laden wagon."

I suspect patience, determination and necessity allowed them to do what we now consider nearly impossible. When I consider whole families crossing the country in Conestoga Wagons, through hostile territory without roads, juxtaposed against the snit I experience when the TSA (Transportation Security Admin) workers ask me to remove my shoes and surrender my tweezers after standing in line for an hour, I can't experience anything but respect and amazement for these formidable pioneers.. Enjoy. John.
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The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 45 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/04/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-45-4/ Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:21:02 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1170 The Pebble Beach War, 1891 "In question is the farm famed locally from Shasta to Tia Juana as a producer of precious stones; it lies on the ocean edge and is off the highway. The access to it has of old been by way of a gate opening with a pasture field then down a wagon track to a camping spot."  [from a newspaper article.] "This matter was got up by a few speculators picking pebbles to sell them..." Loren Coburn "...Sunday is the day for mobs...." Sarah S. Upton Coburn In the eyes of the locals the crooked cow trail that led from the village to Pebble Beach was a public road.  They called it the Pebble Beach Road. It had been a custom, a gesture between good neighbors harking back to the ranchero days, of allowing travelers to pass over privately owned land without exacting a toll. Loren Coburn cut the heart out of the neighborly feeling when he crisscrossed his land with fences laced with barbed wire. He nailed up Keep Out signs. Trespassers had good reason to fear Coburn:  his hired men had murdered popular Scotty Rae during a struggle over Pigeon Point Landing. Pebble Beach was located on Loren Coburn's 150-acre Pocket Ranch, part of the much larger Butano Rancho, home to a dairy farm where hay and other grains were grown. He was running cattle on the ranch and there were cattle trails everywhere. But besides "growing pebbles" at Pebble Beach, this was "great strawberry country," some 1,000 acres of luscious berries, red and black. They grew in a sandy soil easily sifted away by the sea winds. "You go through a gate and you go right along to Pebble Beach," explained Alexander Moore, who had been there in 1851 before [almost) anybody else. "If you want to go down to the dairy houses you have to go to the right, but you keep to the left if you go to Pebble Beach." Despite the fences, nobody seriously believed that Loren Coburn would lock the Pescaderans out of Pebble Beach. Yet, in September 1891, he did exactly that.]]> 1170 2008-08-04 15:21:02 2008-08-04 19:21:02 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter-45-4 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1220548549 _edit_last 1 The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 46 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/04/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-46/ Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:28:12 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1173

[This is mostly unedited material from the original manuscript. Even though it's repetitive at times, I feel there are worthwhile historical details.] By June Morrall "L. Coburn locked the gate leading to Pebble Beach and positively forbids anyone from trespassing upon his grounds," according to the San Mateo newspaper on September 12, 1891. "He claims Pebble Beach and all its pebbles. The people are a unit in expressing their indignation at this move on the part of Mr. Coburn; even the schoolchildren are in open rebellion at the usurpation of what their considr their lawful...playground..." Pescadero is "disgusted, indignant and angry, for one of its greatest attractions...Pebble Beach...has been formally closed against all," wrote another newspaper. "L. Coburn, who owns the land lying between the county road and the ocean, has locked the gate on the road leading to the beach which has been open to the public for 30 years, and emphatically forbids trespassing on his property. As there is no other access to the beach, the action appears a piece of spiteful officiousness. What Mr. Coburn's motive is we cannot conceive, as the road through his land does not injure it in any way, and as he is one of the largest land owners in this section it seems that he would be vitally interested in the progress and popularity of Pescadero, instead of depriving it of its chief attraction..."]]>
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John Vonderlin Visits Waddell Bluffs http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/05/john-vonderlin-visits-waddell-bluffsstory-coming/ Tue, 05 Aug 2008 06:09:31 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1176 Story & Photos by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June, On Friday I drove over a hundred miles to visit San Mateo's most southerly coast. I wanted to investigate whether the beach access/exit of a hundred years ago for the old route around the Waddell Bluffs used Hank Bradley's jeep road as I had opined previously, or an old road remnant further south. Using the info from the 1972 picture from the California Coastal Records Project (CCRP) (#7219051) as a guide, I attempted to reach the road, where indicated, just north of the Santa Cruz/San Mateo County border. Yow. No wonder I’d never investigated this area. It’s covered by the most luxuriant growth of poison oak I've ever seen on the coast! Bounded by a hundred foot cliff on the west, I had to attempt to reach where I believed the road to be from the north, south, and east, with no luck. Finally, I noticed that the poison oak patch thinned out under a Monterey pine tree perched on top of the twenty foot berm to the west of Highway 1. So I crawled on my hands and knees beneath the tree until I reached a heavily brush- covered slope on the west side of the berm. And I promptly fell down it when the branch I was steadying myself on snapped and broke. Only slightly cut and scraped (though it's amazing how much blood flows out of even small cuts when your heart rate is way up) I picked myself up. There I was, standing on the road remnant. While the unpaved road was overgrown with brush, the poison oak was thin enough there to allow me to make my way downhill towards where I thought a house had been. Before I got there, the poison oak rallied, blocking my way again. Daunted, I surrendered, and went back up the unpaved remnant until approaching the top I encountered asphalt remnants of the road perched on the cliff edge.

If there was a house here decades ago they enjoyed one of the most spectacular views in San Mateo. But, based on its position, so close to the Waddell Bluffs, I'm quite sure the road was just a driveway and not a remnant from the oldtimer's bypass. Satisfied, I headed to the beach to meet Meg and her Beach Watch partner, whom I could see as little dots far to the north from the cliff. My first act upon reaching the beach was to use handfuls of wet sand to scrub off the sticky sap, loaded with urushiol oil, picked up by brushing by or tumbling through the poison oak. I'm happy to report that, as the experts say, if you can remove the oil within 15 minutes, or so, you shouldn't suffer an allergic reaction. I'm also happy to say that my beach hike rewarded me with a couple more unusual sightings and one unique one. I picked up a few of the odd rocks that litter this stretch, the ones that I call, "eyeballs."

I love to use them in my Marine Debris artplay pieces. I also collected a few of the green, mossy algae balls I occasionally find.

I used to know what the name of these were , but I can’t recall right now. Perhaps, one of your readers can help me with this, as they did when they previously identified the clump of clear, sausage like things I found at Invisible Beach as “squid egg cases.” Lastly, and most unusual for me, Meg and her friend identified the large, dead marine mammal I'd seen from the clifftop, not as an immature Elephant Seal, but rather an immature, male “Steller Sea Lion.”

They are often called Stellar Sea Lions, probably because of the word stellar, but were actually named after naturalist Georg Steller, who first observed them in 1741. These endangered pinnipeds southern range ends at Ano Nuevo these days because of the mysterious, but possibly catastrophic decline in their numbers in the last few decades, making finding their carcasses on our beaches a rare thing. That's probably why this is the first photo of one I have in my "ISeeDeadThings" file.

I've attached a photo of Hank Bradley's Jeep road I took from the beach. As you can see by the large trees on its edge it has the look of a road that has been there a long time. Finally, although I originally named this place "Eyeball Beach", for obvious reasons, I now call it Bradley Beach because the Ano Nuevo rangers and “Beach Watch” folks use that moniker but I noticed somebody added "Boot Rock Beach" to the CCRP captions recently. Apparently there are lots of names for this place. Complicating matters further is Patricia Page’s book, “Shadows on a Nameless Beach,”

a description of the author’s experiences in this area. Coupling that with the names (“Acid Beach,” the third one I know of on the South Coast and “Tim’s Beach,” named after one of the many owners of Coastways Ranch) author Patricia Page used in her book about her experiences in this area, "Shadows on a Nameless Beach.” The beach may not be name-less at all, but a beach with the MOST names on the remote South Coast. Perhaps, that's a fitting circumstance for this rugged gateway to San Mateo's spectacular coastline to the north. Enjoy. John.]]>
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Hi Zane, this is about the Kesey-Prankster movie http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/05/hi-zane-this-is-about-the-kesey-prankster-movie/ Tue, 05 Aug 2008 06:15:45 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1179 Email John Vonderlin (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi Zane, I exchanged emails with you, George Walker, and Cap'n Skypilot last year about the W.W. II Observation Post tunnel in a cliffside that the Pranksters were allegedly trapped in by the tsunami from the 1964 Good Friday Quake and the "Graffitti Grotto," where you scratched your initials into the side of a sea cave on an isolated beach decades ago.
This email was prompted by author Russell Towle contacting PescaderoMemories.com, one of the blogs about the San Mateo coast and its history that author June Morrall maintains. Russell had lived in a driftwood structure on the beach in front of artist Merrill Pickford's ( aka Stuart Harwood) commune at Ano Nuevo. Russell was looking for a copy of a movie your father made at the commune and surrounding dunes. Russell, his friends and their driftwood structure were in the movie. Are you familiar with the film? Are there copies for sale? Anything you can tell us to point us in the right direction to help solve this mystery would be appreciated. Enjoy. John Vonderlin
P.S. I read in the newspaper about your successful efforts to raise money for the wrestling team with the new "Further," Congratulations. Your Dad would have been proud of you.
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Hi John The movie was called Atlantis Rising, never was edited. I just gave the film to the UCLA archives...they should give me high def video someday...that I might be able to edit....maybe? someday? z
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Russell Towle Asks: Is Kesey Ancient History? http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/05/russell-towle-asks-is-kesey-ancient-history/ Wed, 06 Aug 2008 02:19:52 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1201 Email Russell Towle (russelltowle@gmail.com) This body of material forms, as it were, the film companion to "Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test." It is quite an important aspect of our history. I find I am only echoing Tom Wolfe himself, who wrote in EKAT [Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test] in the first paragraph of Chapter Four, "... Kesey stands in the gloom of the Control Central, over to the side amid the tapes, and cans of movie film marked with adhesive strips, and notebooks and microphones and wires and coils, speakers, amplifiers. The Prankster Archives ... ." I dug out EKAT for my seventeen-year-old son, Greg. Surely Greg should know of his own father's youth. Where better to learn than EKAT? Alas, Greg has a new video game on his PlayStation (PS) portable gaming thingamajig. He can't be bothered with ancient history. R]]> 1201 2008-08-05 22:19:52 2008-08-06 02:19:52 closed closed russell-towle-asks-is-kesey-ancient-history publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1217989253 _edit_last 1 The Kesey Movie: John Vonderlin finds Cryptozoology http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/05/the-kesey-movie-john-vonderlin-finds-cryptozoology/ Wed, 06 Aug 2008 02:36:28 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1214 Email John Vonderlin (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
Here is the full email from Jon- Erik Beckjord* off of Ken Babbs website. Though I'm a skeptic Cryptozoology has been one of my interests for decades. I don't see any reply to his email, but I'm going to contact him. I find myself chuckling when I think of the cast of characters that assembled for the making of the movie. I'm a little mystified how it could be a children's movie though.
I wonder if he had anything to do with Russell's friend, Bigfoot? Enjoy. John
SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2007
Subject: Suggested reunion of Pranksters and Skypilots on camping trip in Sierras.
My name is Erik Beckjord, and I was a cameraman on Keseys' filming of a movie, "Atlantis Rising" in the 70s at Davenport Beach, CA near Santa Cruz. KK dubbed me an honorary prankster.for my work and other stuff. ;-) (I do seek to buy some photos of that event, if any one has any).
I'm interested in seeing more reunions of Pranksters and Skypilots, and I am inviting them to attend a camping trip in the High Sierras in a semi-wilderness setting where there is swimming in a pond, campfire rings, and privacy. Sept 6-10 come for all or part...
There is also Bigfoot, which has been heard and photographed there and seen by people in my research group, the International Cryptozoological Society
There is no fee, and it is bring yer own food and camping gear. Located near Kit Carson, on route 88,CA between Stockton and Tahoe. You can park 1/2 mile from site, or take a 4x4 in. Easy. Your kids may get Bigfoot in their throwaway camera... it does happen.
Pranksters, etc, visiting this area can also crash as my place in Lafayette, which has a pool.
--------- Sadly, Mr. Jon-Erik Beckjord passed away in June 2008.
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Found: Kesey Film "Atlantis Rising" [Who & What's in it?] http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/06/atlantisrisingatlantisrisingatlantisrisingatlantisrisingatlantisrising/ Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:13:47 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1224 John Vonderlin tracks down Ken Kesey's "missing film"  Atlantis Rising, shot at Ano Nuevo, featuring Russell Towle's remote cabin. Email John Vonderlin (benloudman@sbcglobal. net) Email Russell Towle (russelltowle@gmail.com) John Vonderlin (JV):   I was surprised to read that "Atlantis Rising" was from a children's play Jo Lysowsky, a friend of Kesey, wrote.  He wrote an article at gatelessgate.newsvine.com about the play and his other life experiences.I've posted an email to him on Newsvine and hope to find out a little more. Haven't located the film at the UCLA Archives yet, as the site is new to me and a little confusing.. Enjoy. John

Russell Towle (RT): Of course this is the same Joe Lysowski I knew at Año Nuevo, who gave me Ron Boise's old Honda Dream motorcycle, bored out from 300cc to 350cc, with fenders chopped, and who gave me two old round-topped windows from a house in Santa Cruz, windows which are in my hexagonal cabin right now. And whose son's penciled childhood scribblings are on the weathered boards which make my ceiling as I sit here at my computer. For those boards came from Big Creek Lumber Company, via Año Nuevo.

Joe was quite interesting, knew the Beatles and so on, as I have written for June, and only now do I recall that, yes, the film made at Año Nuevo was titled "Atlantis Rising," and that it derived from Joe
Lysowski's play of that title, produced with the help of the Beatles in London a few years earlier.

I am quite excited that you have succeeded in tracking down the film! UCLA!

So now all is needed is a ton of money, to convert to HD video. Hmmm. I have some background in video editing and film conversion.There are easy cheap methods and harder more costly methods. For instance, one could scan each frame of the film, and export directly to QuickTime, as an uncompressed "image sequence," of, say, 1600X1200 resolution, or even higher, and from there export to any video file type, any type of HD, for instance.

Or one could screen the film and record to video camera.

Wow. Amazing. You found it!

R]]>
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Ano Nuevo: What the "County Cultural Resource Folks" said http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/07/ano-nuevo-what-the-county-cultural-resource-folks-said/ Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:29:30 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1232 From the Coastside Cultural Resources, 1980 Point Ano Nuevo "A number of features combine to make Point Ano Nuevo the most remarkable and spectacular area on the entire Coastside. Punta del Ano Nuevo was one of the first landforms in California to receive a Spanish name. From his ship in January 1603, Captain Sebastian Viscaino saw the point and its island while exploring for Spain. "The first contact between Europeans and the natives of this land, the Ramaytush or San Francisco Costanoan Indians occurred here in 1769 when the Portola expedition entered what is today San Mateo County one mile to the south. "A Spanish engineering officer returned later to survey the area and an outpost of Mission Santa Cruz was established after 1798. The first American settlers came in the decade after the Gold Rush, building a wooden railroad for lumbering and introducing large scale dairy farming." ------ Ano Nuevo Island "This small island, once the tip of a peninsula, is one of the most important pinniped breeding grounds in  Northern California, including the elephant seal. This animal has returned to the island in the past decade after virtual extinction around the turn of the century. "The island has been the site of a light station since 1890, when a light was added to the warning of the foghorn installed in 1872. The light station was abandoned in 1848 and today is occuped by seals and sea lions."]]> 1232 2008-08-07 18:29:30 2008-08-07 22:29:30 closed closed ano-nuevo-what-the-county-cultural-resource-folks-said publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1218148170 _edit_last 1 RIP Russell Towle http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/08/rip-russell-towle/ Fri, 08 Aug 2008 20:04:38 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1235

Hello everyone. Let me start by saying that this is NOT Russell Towle writing you this message. This is his son, Greg Towle. I'm writing to you all because, last night, my father died in a car accident. This message is being sent out to all of my father's contacts. Some of you may not know him very well, but I ask you all to remember my father as the great man he was. Hiker extraordinaire. Mathematician. Historian. Linguist. If you know anyone else that this message might not have gotten to, please pass the word on. Thank you for reading this, and again, please remember my father. If you want to reach me, my email is, silversteel7@gmail.com. I'll be happy to reply with answers to any questions you might have. There will be a memorial service, but we don't know when, so please excuse us. Greg Towle It was a very bad car accident, he had pulled over to the side of the road to check something on the car he was driving, and was hit. He died of too many internal injuries, but he lasted longer than just about anyone else ever has with that kind of collision. He was a tough man. Greg Towle Russell Towle had an outstanding blog: click here]]>
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Supervisor Rich Gordon to wed Dr. Dennis McShane at the Oceano Hotel, Princeton-by-the-Sea http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/10/supervisor-rich-gordon-to-wed-dr-dennis-mcshane-at-the-oceano-hotel-princeton-by-the-sea/ Mon, 11 Aug 2008 01:05:45 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1240 1240 2008-08-10 21:05:45 2008-08-11 01:05:45 closed closed supervisor-rich-gordon-to-wed-dr-dennis-mcshane-at-the-oceano-hotel-princeton-by-the-sea publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1218416745 _edit_last 1 The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 47 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/11/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-47-2/ Mon, 11 Aug 2008 04:46:38 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1242 "...Mr Coburn is perfectly willing that anybody who will be careful not to injure any of his property should go to the beach and all they have to do is to ask for the key and they will get it. How does that statement correspond with the following facts: Mr. Coburn was called upon by Mr. Alex Moore, the pioneer settler of Pescadero, and Supervisor Henry B. Adair, to define his position. He states emphatically that strangers coming here would be carried to the beach [from his stable, of course, to avoid the question of toll] for 75 cents per head. Mr. Moore asked, 'What in regard to our women and children?' to which Mr. Coburn replied that 'they had no business there...'"]]> 1242 2008-08-11 00:46:38 2008-08-11 04:46:38 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter-47-2 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1220548440 _edit_last 1 Russell Towle: We hardly knew you http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/11/russell-towle-we-hardly-knew-you/ Tue, 12 Aug 2008 01:20:43 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1251 June: I was so shocked at the hard reality of Russell Towle's sudden death by horrific car accident. Knowing a little of Ano Nuevo in the 1970s, having visited there often as a college student before the state took over,  it was thrilling to learn that Russell had actually lived there. Built a rustic cabin in a remote place few dared to set foot on because of the harsh weather. That he knew all these fascinating characters, some of them artists, who lived on the beach, a story that grew stronger with the appearance of the scientists from UC Santa Cruz, there to study the huge, clumsy mammals, the sea elephants, that look like they came from another time. Russell Towle's brief, bold stay at Ano Nuevo overlapped that of novelist Ken Kesey and his Prankster friends, whose headquarters was a rustic cabin in the redwoods of La Honda. The flip side of Ano Nuevo, which, in comparison, could be the moon. But the remoteness of the beach at that time was irresistible. Not too far from La Honda and what a fun place to make a movie, which Kesey & the Pranksters did. Russell remembered the "movie" and believed his cabin was in it, something he looked forward to seeing again because those years were magical for him. As they were for many of us, all around the same age. The South Coast beaches were an aphrodisiac, so raw, so very real. And nobody was around. We were the lucky ones. ----------------------- Words by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Based on my viewings  of Russell's various webpages (blogs, photos, videos, geometry) I think his flurry of emails were in character but more intense then anything online. I attribute that to his finding a receptive, interesting and responsive audience at your blogsite. We really wanted to hear what he had to say and that made him enthusiastic to share. Recapturing an important, colorful time in his life obviously gave him great pleasure. I'd like to think the excitement of locating his film, and all the threads that were going to open up were echoing through his mind in his last days. Perhaps, he was planning another book about his adventures of that time, as I would have suggested to him shortly. Part of my sadness at his untimely end was I'll never get to meet him, or absorb any of his extensive knowledge of the rugged wilderness that he regularly hiked and wrote about in his blog. I think we might have become good friends when my circumstances allowed. I had so many questions about things he mentioned in his early rapidfire emails that I was waiting to get to. I had wanted to methodically move through them, covering the Ano Nuevo area thoroughly before moving on. Now they're lost. I had thought he would be a good person to interview Harvey Mowry, and was going to suggest so, based on his email to you about visiting the old ranches and talking up oldtimers just for the enjoyment of it. The world has lost a good man. I have this feeling that a Monty Parker style memorial may sprout near where Russell's driftwood cabin was in the dunes of "The Forbidden Zone." If I ever should happen to be hiking there I'm sure I'll take some pictures.]]> 1251 2008-08-11 21:20:43 2008-08-12 01:20:43 closed closed russell-towle-we-hardly-knew-you publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1218859621 _edit_last 1 South Coast Beach Art: Story & Photos by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/11/south-coast-beach-art-story-photos-by-john-vonderlin/ Tue, 12 Aug 2008 01:29:54 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1254 ]]> 1254 2008-08-11 21:29:54 2008-08-12 01:29:54 closed closed south-coast-beach-art-story-photos-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1218505102 _edit_last 1 Remembering Russell Towle http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/12/remembering-russell-towle/ Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:26:21 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1267 Please visit Remembering Russell Towle, click here]]> 1267 2008-08-12 13:26:21 2008-08-12 17:26:21 closed closed remembering-russell-towle publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1218601585 _edit_last 1 1923: Man Dies When Big Trawler Strikes Reef" http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/13/1923-man-dies-when-big-trawler-strikes-reef/ Wed, 13 Aug 2008 04:31:38 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1274 Redwood City Tribune, October 15, 1923 "When the Iolande, a fishing trawler owned by the A. Baladini Company, ground her keel on the rocks of Pescadero Beach early yesterday morning nine stalwart eamen and fishers plunged overboard and swam for shore. Richard Bird, the engineer, delayed to take a last look at his machinery. Several hours after the others had dragged themselves to safety the body of Bird was washed ashore. "The Iolande, with smooth seas and calm weather, made a long cruise on Saturday; she was returning with a big catch after draggi ng her net in waters tht are little fished, when she ran into the fog that rolled up rapidly as the wind changed Captain Peter Anderson was in command, and had nine men, including the engineer. He aimed to put in at Half Moon Bay and wait for the weather to clear. As the trawler was feeling her way timidly through the thick blanket of fog there was a sudden jar which threw the crew flat on the decks. Then she careened under a roll of the sea, and realizing they had but little chance on so mall a boat the men threw off their heavy clothing and plunged into the surf... "The Iolande was a large trawler, 75 feet long and of 53 tons displacement. She was built in San Francisco in 1905. Late yesterday it was said she was breaking up on the rocks."]]> 1274 2008-08-13 00:31:38 2008-08-13 04:31:38 closed closed 1923-man-dies-when-big-trawler-strikes-reef publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1218601898 _edit_last 1 Photographer Joel Bratman Takes Us On A SlideShow of The South Coast: San Gregorio-Pigeon Point http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/13/photographer-joel-bratmans-show-us-the-south-coast-san-gregorio-pigeon-point/ Thu, 14 Aug 2008 03:13:21 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1276 The beautiful South Coast from the eyes of photographer Joel Bratman: click here Joel says: I've always wondered, what is the story of the skeletal statue with the rifle in front of that house on Stage Road. Email Joel:  jbratman@earthlink.net]]> 1276 2008-08-13 23:13:21 2008-08-14 03:13:21 closed closed photographer-joel-bratmans-show-us-the-south-coast-san-gregorio-pigeon-point publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1218751010 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin asks: Is Pebble Beach Another Ozymandia? http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/14/john-vonderlin-asks-is-pebble-beachs-fate-the-same-as-that-of-ozymandia/ Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:13:47 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1280 Coburn's Follyseries
Over a hundred years of uncontrolled pebble gathering had reduced the resource to the point that I've had loads of river gravel delivered  for my driveway that were more interesting--John Vonderlin

Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)




Hi June,

Recently during one of my coastal expeditions, I decided to carefully check out the former site of the Pescadero Hotel
at Pebble Beach, more colorfully known as "Coburn's Folly."
I first became aware of the previous existence of this once grand coastside hotel (probably comparable in its time to the present day Ritz Carlton) a couple of years ago when I was reading your book, "The Coburn Mystery."

I had been directed to your book because of my excitement when I was shown Invisible Beach's tiny, but amazingly rich with colorful pebbles, gravel bar. This small gravel bar, apparently fed by the same offshore quartz ridge as Pebble Beach, is, in my experience, the best "rockspotting" area on the West Coast.

With much anticipation I visited Pebble Beach State Park, the seeming Motherlode of what I was seeing some distance away at Invisible Beach. Hoping to view what had become of this once famous site, I was disappointed to see "The Curse of the Commons," had essentially destroyed this once unparalleled resource. While the public, after several trials in the late 1800s, had won one of the first beach-access-over-private-property battles on the West Coast, it had been a Pyrrhic victory. Over a hundred years of uncontrolled pebble gathering had reduced the resource to the point that I've had loads of river gravel delivered  for my driveway that were more interesting.

In fact, if you're not wearing a Ranger's uniform you can still see the depletion process continuing as numerous tourists ignore the sign prohibiting collection, and gather up the remaining tiny remnants.         That was one of the reasons I subsequently made up the name Invisible Beach, for the gravel bar's location. Privacy for the nearby landowners was another reason. And of course my own selfishness, in wanting to keep for myself the non-buoyant marine debris episodically regurgitated along with the pebbles at the gravel bar's location in a phenomena I call Neptune's Vomitorium, was of paramount importance.

After viewing the disappointment of the depleted beach that once drew people from around the country (from Shasta to Tia Juana as you quoted) to gather the pretty pebbles, I walked north to where the picture in your book seemed to indicate where Coburn's Folly had been. To say what I found would never inspire an "Ozymandias," is a gross understatement.

There seemed to be nothing. There was no there, there.

Knowing that over 150,000 board feet of lumber, probably the clear heart old growth redwood that present day environmentally insensitive builders lust for, was salvaged from the hotel, and the remnants later burned in a fire, I hadn't expected much. But, with Highway 1 blasted through the promontory the hotel had sat upon, I couldn't even find a chunk of concrete or stone that might have been part of the foundation.

Oh well, with the thought there's a lot of other San Mateo history to investigate, I put it out of my mind and moved on to other things.

Recently I returned  to investigate the site again. Armed with a little more information, a lot more curiosity, a smidgen more derring-do, and hoping to find something to write about, I did some more serious looking around. Before I move on to the results of my search, I'd like to quote from Wikipedia to give relevance to the "Ozymandias" reference. The poem, "Ozymandias", was written by the great poet Percey Shelley and reads:

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.[1]
" Without directly stating it, Shelley shows that all works of humankind - including power structures and governments - eventually must pass into history, no matter how permanent they may seem at the apex of their influence. Ozymandias' short-sighted pride seems amusing at first - until the reader realizes that the lessons conveyed are equally applicable today."
Even Loren Coburn, the contentious, widely-hated millionaire landowner and businessman, when a million wasn't the price of a ramshackle fixer on a poorly situated lot in El Granada, seems to have gotten some part of Shelley's message late in his life, if I read your book correctly. Unfortunately, by then his competency, memory, and relationships with the community were beyond salvaging. Of course in a final bit of irony, the "Spanish Lady," the microscopic, helpless without a host, pandemic Influenza virus of 1918, taught him a related and final lesson of life, as it ended his. But, while I come neither to bury nor praise Loren Coburn, I do want to peck a few lines about my experiences at the site of this essentially lost, (except for your book) but important icon of the San Mateo coast. Enjoy. John
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1924: Pescadero During Prohibition http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/14/1924-pescadero-during-prohibition/ Fri, 15 Aug 2008 03:09:36 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1292 Redwood City Tribune. " Pescadero, January 10, 1924: Finding of a small trawler, pounding itself to pieces on the rocks near "Anna Nuevo" Island, off the Pescadero coast, today led to expressions of grave fear for the safety of the crew of the boat. The trawler apparently struck the rocks some time during the past week, and by today had been battered into splinters. "So far no identification or ownership has been made by those investigating. No trace whatever of the crew of the trawler has been obtained. Conflicting rumors concerning the finding of the boat have spread here, principally involving a supposed fatal trip of rumrunners along the coast, with the probable washing aboard of the crew and cargo, if such things did take place, by the treacherous seas along the coast here. There have been humerous incidents of late, it is stated, revealing that rum runners unfamiliar with the handling of boats have been meeting with diaster in the heavy seas." "Pescadero, January 11, 1924. Pescadero's mystery ship, which has been pounding itself to pieces on the rocks off 'Anna Nueva' Island, was today identified as the SS Fremont, rum running vessel which struck the rocks January 4; it was stated this morning. The wreck of the Fremont occurred, it is said, when the pilot of the craft mistook the light on 'Anna Nueva' Island for the light on Mile Rock, which is the signal to turn east for entry into the Golden Gate. One life was lost."]]> 1292 2008-08-14 23:09:36 2008-08-15 03:09:36 closed closed 1924-pescadero-during-prohibition publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1218769776 _edit_last 1 The Levy Brothers Built a Small Empire of General Stores on the Coastside (1) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/16/the-levy-brothers-built-a-small-empire-of-general-stores-on-the-coastside-1/ Sun, 17 Aug 2008 01:41:32 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1301 I wrote this in 1977. Before help arrived to extinguish the blaze, a mass of flames engulfed Kelly and Mattingly's General Store in Half Moon Bay. As the fire spread to include M.E. Joyce's nearby saloon, eyewitnesses predicted certain doom for the town's leading mercantile. Volunteers formed bucket brigades and when the fire finally burned itself out, the owners faced the charred remains of a once thriving enterprise. That day, Charles E. Kelly [described by some as a 'power' in local politics] and Richard L. Matingly chose to rebuild an even more impressive structure. But within a year the pair revealed plans to sell out. Through friends, Ferdinand and Joseph Levy, two young brothers who recently sailed to California from France, learned that the store was for sale. The Levy brothers, anxious to start business in a small town, traveled to Half Moon Bay in 1872. After thoroughly inspecting the premises, they bought Kelly and Mattingly's business, including their stock of merchandise and a lease on the lower level of the 25-foot-wide building. The newly rebuilt store also housed Wells Fargo Express, the post office and telegraph services [lately installed from San Mateo to Half Moon Bay to Pescadero.] At the corner of Purissima and Kelly, the popular Levy brothers launched the first of many business ventures on the Coastside. (Next: Part 2)]]> 1301 2008-08-16 21:41:32 2008-08-17 01:41:32 closed closed the-levy-brothers-built-a-small-empire-of-general-stores-on-the-coastside-1 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1218941768 _edit_last 1 Levy Brothers Built a Small Empire of General Stores (2) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/17/levy-brothers-built-a-small-empire-of-general-stores-2/ Sun, 17 Aug 2008 04:46:34 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1310 1310 2008-08-17 00:46:34 2008-08-17 04:46:34 closed closed levy-brothers-built-a-small-empire-of-general-stores-2 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1219008721 _edit_last 1 Rock Stacking on the South Coast http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/17/rock-stacking-on-the-south-coast/ Sun, 17 Aug 2008 19:02:04 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1312 Photo by John Vonderlin

Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)

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Levy Brothers Built a Small Empire of General Stores (3) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/17/levy-brothers-built-a-small-empire-of-general-stores-3/ Sun, 17 Aug 2008 21:35:05 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1315 1315 2008-08-17 17:35:05 2008-08-17 21:35:05 closed closed levy-brothers-built-a-small-empire-of-general-stores-3 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1219034125 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin and the PurplePeople Talk GeoCache http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/17/john-vonderlin-and-the-purplepeople-talk-geocache/ Sun, 17 Aug 2008 21:37:46 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1317 Below: John Vonderlin's message to the PurplePeople PurplePeople, While doing some onsite exploring and photographing for a story I am writing about Coburn's Folly, I noticed an odd colored(for that area)rock and discovered the geocache you created. A websearch easily located your geocache and you, so I joined this site to contact you. Reviewing some of your other caches I see you like to do interesting and educational postings about unusual places. Very enjoyable. While I'm not a geocacher, I follow a very similar m.o. in my postings about little known places on the San Mateo Coast. I post on several of June Morrall's eclectic blogs, especially the PescaderoMemories.com one, as the south coast is my favorite haunt. June wrote, "The Coburn Mystery" and several other books about the San Mateo coast. We'd like you to post some of your stories. If you are interested in exploring and creating geocaches in some very interesting and/or very difficult to reach spots along the coast you might want to read my stories. Or join us on our expeditions. If there is no issue of trespass or sensitivity to privacy or resource protection my stories give good directions to the spots we explore, often using the pictures at the California Coastal Records Project website. The PescaderoMemories.com website has grown rather large this last year, so it might be hard to find the stories about the most interesting places in the Archives, but I'd be glad to help if you're interested. June has an older, larger, blog, HalfMoonBayMemories, that covers the northern San Mateo Coast, that you might also be interested in because of your location. Hope to hear from you. John Vonderlin benloudman@sbcglobal.net --------------------- The PurplePeople message to John Vonderlin John - good to hear from you.  I have indeed been aware of June's HMB site, it was part of the inspiration for my Ocean Shore Railroad series of geocaches.  I say my, but 'PurplePeople' is really two of us:  myself, Tim Oren (just google) and my wife Pat.  I do the cache design and placement, and we both hunt them.  We currently live in Emerald Hills near Edgewood Park, but lived in HMB for four years, hence our enthusiasm for the Coastside.  We're both hiking enthusiasts and amateur naturalists, which led us to geocaching.  I've also been part of a small group that volunteers to do trail surveying and layout for parks in the area, which is part of what started me into digging through old maps and records. You're correct that almost all my caches have a historic or natural history theme, except for a few 'neighborhood caches' that are meant to point out obscure local parks and the like to visitors to Emerald Hills.  Nothing against others' styles of hides, but I like to do something that really distinguishes a spot, rather than being yet another ammo can under a bush. I didn't know about June's Pescadero website, so thanks for that.  (I did know about the Coburn book.)  If nothing else, you've answered the question I've had for some time about what happened to the Palmer Gulch trestle.  It might a little too far out of the way for a hide, but I'll make the trek someday and check it out - it would be the perfect culmination for the Ocean Shore cache series.  I'll go through the website and see if anything else suggests itself.  Beyond private property lines and environmental concerns, another constraint on cache placement is the presence of pre-existing hides; there's a restriction of at least 1/10 mile between caches.  (One personal limitation that will hopefully end at some time:  I'm still in rehab for a badly broken leg suffered in January, so I'm somewhat limited in exploring uneven terrain until I'm through that process.) ]]> 1317 2008-08-17 17:37:46 2008-08-17 21:37:46 closed closed john-vonderlin-and-the-purplepeople-talk-geocache publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1219119804 _edit_last 1 Levy Brothers Built a Small Empire of General Stores (4) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/18/levy-brothers-built-a-small-empire-of-general-stores-4/ Mon, 18 Aug 2008 04:41:46 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1319 Chinatown] and those who observed temperance attended meetings at Kineer's Hall. [Next: Part 5] ]]> 1319 2008-08-18 00:41:46 2008-08-18 04:41:46 closed closed levy-brothers-built-a-small-empire-of-general-stores-4 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1219079536 _edit_last 1 Levy Brothers Built a Small Empire of General Stores (5) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/18/levy-brothers-built-a-small-empire-of-general-stores-5/ Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:20:18 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1323 1323 2008-08-18 13:20:18 2008-08-18 17:20:18 closed closed levy-brothers-built-a-small-empire-of-general-stores-5 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1219080018 _edit_last 1 Levy Brothers Built a Small Empire of General Stores (6) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/19/levy-brothers-built-a-small-empire-of-general-stores-6/ Tue, 19 Aug 2008 04:01:02 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1326 1326 2008-08-19 00:01:02 2008-08-19 04:01:02 closed closed levy-brothers-built-a-small-empire-of-general-stores-6 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1219118720 _edit_last 1 Levy Brothers Built a Small Empire of General Stores (7) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/19/new-adventure-with-john-vonderlin/ Tue, 19 Aug 2008 04:33:37 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1336 1336 2008-08-19 00:33:37 2008-08-19 04:33:37 closed closed new-adventure-with-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1219808977 _edit_last 1 Go on a new adventure with John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/19/go-on-a-new-adventure-with-john-vonderlin/ Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:45:41 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1342

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1342 2008-08-19 15:45:41 2008-08-19 19:45:41 closed closed go-on-a-new-adventure-with-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1219175141 _edit_last 1
'The Notch' Gets to Know John Vonderlin & Friends http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/19/john-vonderlin-gets-to-know-the-notch/ Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:22:54 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1344
A couple of days ago I agreed to meet Larry and Meg at the rappel site on the blufftop above Acid Beach Cove, hoping to continue our exploration of this incredible area. 

Having already photographed from sea level all of "The Seven Sisters," as I've dubbed the cluster of Sea Arches here, we had another goal in mind this time, reaching "The Notch." This small cove, entirely cut off from land access by sheer 150 foot cliffs and arch-punctuated  promontories on either end, is the last stretch of untrodden beach, by us, at least, in this section. Having previously discovered that even at the lowest of tides, and with a willingness to wade (hiking in was impossible), we needed a better plan. We thought we had one this time, that being, after climbing down, wetsuiting up, and donning lifevests, we would  boogieboard around the Acid Beach Arch north to the cove.

While waiting for my friends to arrive, I had done some bushwhacking, finally locating a way to get through the poison oak to a point above "The Notch," from where I could take some pictures. I wouldn't call it a trail, but if you carefully head down hill from the 34.28 road marker, you should get these views.
However, it's a lot safer to just look at Picture # 6418 on the California Coastal Records Project.

Our descent, now a practiced routine, was uneventful through its most dangerous stretch.  I had relaxed and was chatting as we negotiated the last part, a rock spine just above the waves, when it happened. I stepped on a loose rock, my feet shot out from under me, and with arms flailing, I gracelessly and painfully sat down hard on the only part of my body that's stayed as scrawny as when I was young. Worse, my desperately-searching-for-something-to-grab hand smacked a sharp rock. With my  heart rate and adrenaline level sky high, the blood began to flow freely from a small cut. As I'm massaging my insulted glute, I'm thinking, Great!? I've just become shark bait.

Fortunately, with a short, calming rest, followed by the time when we were suiting up, my excellent clotting skill had prevailed, and we were set to go. But, Neptune was ready for us. He sent a set of the biggest waves I had seen that morning crashing into the cove, lining it, rocky- shoulder- to- rocky- shoulder, with an unbroken wall of whitewater. While we were waiting for the set to pass, Larry noted that the water spilling through the Acid Beach Arch was nowhere near as turbulent as the main cove. He suggested we try that. Oooh, while swimming in a narrow, rocky tunnel while waves are crashing through it, is a little too reminiscent (for me) of being in a railroad tunnel when a train comes zipping through. Larry's observation was correct, and the lure of a little manageable danger, while truly experiencing the arch, decided the issue.

Gingerly picking our way along the shore's slippery rocks, bracing ourselves every time a wave slapped at our knees, we closed in on the arch and entered the water.

Everything was proceeding nicely as we "boogied" into the arch. The risk, the sea level view of the arch cavity's interior, the symphony of the surge, its echoed slap as it bounced off the rocky walls, and knowing we were one of the very few people ever to experience this phenomena made me giddy.

My reverie was broken, however, by a roar when a large wave broke at the ocean end of the arch's opening and filled the tunnel with a wall of whitewater. Larry, leading the way ten feet ahead of me was propelled backwards, ending up five feet behind me when it had passed. Suddenly, realizing this wasn't a place to hang out at, we started to kick frantically oceanward. Seconds later another large wave came in and took back any progress I had made. Then another. What the hell was going on? I wasn't making any progress. It was then I realized what was going on. I was caught up in a riptide kind of situation. The waves were entering the arch, but the water they brought was flowing into the cove and exiting through the main channel. I was essentially trying to swim upstream.

Realizing a really big wave might come at anytime and keelhaul us along the tunnel's encrusted walls, I redoubled my ineffectual efforts, and after what seemed like way too long a time, I followed Larry into the open air. With a mutual Wow!, we turned and headed north.

But, my problems were not over.

While Larry pressed forward smoothly, I just seemed to wallow like a rudderless ship in troubled waters. I'd like to think, the fact that my boogieboard was indeed rudderless (thanks to the mysterious disappearance last year of its skegs) was the main problem, but I think there was another more important factor. The "water baby" part of my psyche, born and nurtured during my youth as I surfed and swam in the waters of San Diego and Hawaii, had grown old and decrepit, just a pleasantly delusional bit of nostalgic pride I still held to, or so it seemed.

Nevertheless, after experimenting with my hold, and positioning on the board, as well as kicking styles, and eventually adding my left arm's strokes to the struggle forward, I eventually joined Larry, already on "The Notch's" beach. And was immediately, greeted by the powerful stench from the guano, left by the storm of birds that had gone aborne as we approached; its deposits whitewashing every rock in sight. Still a grinning high five was exchanged, and we began to reconnoiter our newly claimed land. Not much to see, even in the way of marine debris, and even the sand was covered with a coating of bird frosting.

We searched the one small cave in the cliff face, its opening festooned with hanging plants kept alive in this hostile environment by the fresh water leaking from cracks above it. We didn't find any buried treasure, at least that we'll admit. Satisfied, we climbed out on the promontory that shelters the cove to the northwest, checked out the arch to the north and jumped off into deep water. Knowing that the Longshore current would be working with us on our return swim south I started to relax. Especially, when I saw a harbor seal curiously following us a little further offshore. It was probably the same one that had grudgingly slipped into the waters of Acid Beach, and watched us for several minutes when we had first arrived. I'm thinking, while my fish-out-of-water floundering  makes me easy pickings, an extremely well-marbled seal tartare, encased in a thick wrapping of blubber, should be more appealing to all but the most incompetent of hungry sharks.

As we kicked south, I was just starting to calculate which side of the cove's main opening to use in my approach to Acid Beach, when Larry surprised me by stopping in front of the Acid Beach Arch. challenging me with the suggestion of, "Just for giggles, let's go back through the arch." With some hesitation I agreed and turned and headed in to where he was,  Before Mr. Pokey, that's me, could get there and before he could enter the opening, a large wave lifted me, passed by, and crashed into the tunnel, bounced off a projection in the wall and sent a three foot wave foaming across to the other wall. Wide-eyed Larry turned and made what I considered an eminently intelligent suggestion, of, "Maybe we should go around?

Things went smoothly, if still remarkably slowly for me, from that point.  Larry was already standing on the beach by the time I got into the break zone at the cove's main opening and got to watch my unsuccessful efforts to catch a wave on the way in. When I finally got to the beach, dragged myself up the rocks and tiredly dropped on my sore rear-end, I unknowingly let out a sigh so loud, Meg told me later, she'd heard it from the clifftop, even above the noise of the surf.

They say mistakes are better teachers then successes, so I'll reflect on mine for a while. But, rest assured, when we return to get to know this area better, and take video of our passages through all seven arches, I won't be wearing my kayaking life vest, won't be using a boogieboard, but I will be wearing my fins and mask. But, most importantly, I'll face up to the fact the "water baby" is long gone, leaving an out-of-shape water geezer, who needs to be more careful lest he become crab bait.   Enjoy. John.]]>
1344 2008-08-19 19:22:54 2008-08-19 23:22:54 closed closed john-vonderlin-gets-to-know-the-notch publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1219188511 _edit_last 1
What's in a South Coast Name? John Vonderlin Dissects 'The Notch' http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/21/whats-in-a-name-john-vonderlin-dissects-the-notch/ Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:35:01 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1355 Story by John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,

It took a while for me  to warm up to "The Notch's," name. It didn't seem to measure up to its neighbor's monikers. To the south there was the rebellious, psychedlic Acid Beach; the seemingly misnamed, but relativistically correct oddity, Warm Water Lagoon; the mysterious Monty Parker's Amb Beach, and the "annagrammic", French-love-triangle-sounding Triferet Beach. To the north, the more mainstream Greyhound Rock and Pelican Rock.

"The Notch,"  was seemingly named by Joel, Larry's exploring partner (after the notch evident in Picture # 6418 (California Coastal Records Project)  at the top of the cliff) BUT when viewed from high altitude, the entire cove is nothing more then a tiny notch in the line of cliffs along much of this stretch of  Santa Cruz and San Mateo Counties.

My exciting and slightly dangerous trip to The Notch has made me respect the name more than I had. Now I think it's a great name but I didn't always. Chalk it up to the connotations that introduced me to 'notch,' the word.  As a youth, viewing endless Westerns on the newfangled idiot box, I became aware of the "tradition" of Bad Ass gunslingers, usually stone cold killers, who would enhance their fearsome reputations by carving a notch in their gun handle for every person they killed, either in the mythic fast-draw duel,  facing each other at noon in front of the saloon, or the more longevity-promoting sneak attack with a double-barreled shot gun blast in the back from behind a tumbleweed as their drunken victim left town.

Oddly, when I took up archery as a youth, I discovered the ersatz celluloid Indians I was viewing in those same shows were notching their arrows, that is engaging the notch at the feathered end of the arrow with the string of the bow, planning to fire an arrow into the heroic Good Guy cowboys, otherwise known as the fork-tongued white locust devils, hoping to cause their death.

Of course there's the word "topnotch," meaning first rate or excellent. While its origin is hazy, there can be no doubt there is some etiologic relationship indicated by the fact that he, who is not topnotch. has been taken down a peg.

Nowadays, with street gunfighting being frowned upon, you need to merely notch victories in athletics instead of deaths.

And of course, if you decide to climb over a mountain range, you'd be safer to cross at the Pass then trying to climb through the more dangerous Notch, a V-shaped rawer passage.

Lastly, yet oddly still in tune with all the other connotations of the word notch, as well as  with my reflections on my experience visiting "The Notch," in a psychedelically hebephrenic sort of way, is the explanation for the Notch protein discovered in 1917 by Thomas Morgan. Thank you Wikipedia.
The Notch protein sits like a trigger spanning the cell membrane, with part of it inside and part outside. Ligand proteins binding to the extracellular domain induce proteolytic cleavage and release of the intracellular domain, which enters the cell nucleus tore alter gene expression.[6]
Great Name! Enjoy, John.
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1355 2008-08-21 11:35:01 2008-08-21 15:35:01 closed closed whats-in-a-name-john-vonderlin-dissects-the-notch publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1219428796 _edit_last 1
John Vonderlin & Larry Fitterer Left a Message In a Bottle & They Are Getting Closer To The Truth About Monty Parker... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/22/john-vonderlin-larry-fitterer-have-left-a-message-in-a-bottle-they-are-getting-closer-to-the-truth-about-monty-parker/ Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:42:35 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1370 Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,

After our little adventure visiting "The Notch," Meg and I drove the short distance south to where the Monty Parker Memorial stands, perched on a blufftop at the rappel site the Merry Pranksters reputedly used to access the beach below for "Acid Tests." in the Sixties.

I had a jar I wanted to leave at the base of the sign that declares the spot to be: "AMBS BEACH, Monty Parker's Favorite Spot in the World."

Inside the jar was a slip of paper with Larry's contact information on it and several sheets of paper and a pen. On one I wrote my name, the date of our visit and MONTY LIVES.

Imagine our surprise when we found a brand new one- inch rope tethered to one of the poles driven into the ground beside the sign, and leading over the cliff to the beach below. We couldn't see anybody on the beaches visible to the north, or south, so possibly the rope is a permanent fixture.

Later, when I communicated this turn of events to Larry, he excitedly suggested next trip that we rappel down the rope and swim through the Warm Water Lagoon Double Arch to access the Acid Beach Cove area. The thought of climbing a sheer forty foot cliff hand over hand after a long tiring swim has me hesitant. So does the skeleton in one of the pathways leading back to Highway 1. I'm not superstitious, but it never hurts to remember there is no quick emergency help in this isolated area. I just hope my upper body strength hasn't deteriorated as much as my swimming skills. Enjoy. John
The second photo is of the rappel spot and the new rope, looking straight down to the rocky ledge beach. The other photo is the skeleton in the path I mentioned. The odd thing is, every other deer skeleton I've seen was dismembered by scavengers. This one probably was picked clean by the vultures we see occasionally cruising the coastal cliffs. It was kind of eerie because of its intactness. ]]>
1370 2008-08-22 15:42:35 2008-08-22 19:42:35 closed closed john-vonderlin-larry-fitterer-have-left-a-message-in-a-bottle-they-are-getting-closer-to-the-truth-about-monty-parker publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_last 1 _edit_lock 1219541652
Tags for Living Creature....GPS Tracking for Humans...Story/Photo by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/tags-for-living-creaturegps-tracking-for-humansstoryphoto-by-john-vonderlin/ Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:59:45 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?page_id=1385 Tags for Living Creatures; GPS for Humans Story/Photo by John Vonderlin

Hi June, I've attached a photo of a collection of plastic tags, mainly coughed up by Neptune's Vomitorium. The most recent addition is the yellow one with #N703 on it. I found that one on Bradley Beach, south of Ano Nuevo, during my search for the access to the historic Waddell Bluff Bypass beach road a couple of weeks ago. Once again thanks to the Internet I was able to trace it. In this case back to the Dalton Marketing Group, a company that makes a wide variety of tags suitable for all sorts of domesticated and wild animals. This particular tag is identified as a coffin-shaped Superflextag. Below is the company's explanation of the product. Wider Gap for Thicker Fins Regular tags are designed for ears but there are many circumstances where the gap between the two parts is not wide enough for fins which grow thicker as the creature ages. Especially designed for Marine applications such as Turtles, Elephant Seals, Walrus and Certain Sharks. The Superflexitag uses a sold nylon pin with no needle in the applicator. Being Nylon with no hollow shaft the durability of this tag is unequalled. Available hot foil double deep embossed or laser printed as required. Based on this info and its location, it's probably safe to hypothesize it was once on an Elephant Seal. However, while researching the matter I discovered the website below that encourages researchers worldwide to submit the relevant information about tagging for their Sea Turtle research. Out of the hundreds listed, none fit the tag's number and description. But, being voluntary it may not be a comprehensive list. Sea Turtle Tag Inventory ... for Sea Turtle Research (ACCSTR) is maintaining the Sea Turtle Tag Inventory. ... tag series issued by the Cooperative Marine Turtle Tagging Program (CMTTP) ... accstr.ufl.edu/taginv.html You'd think researchers would be interested in knowing where the tags are eventually found after the death and disintegration of the tagged animal, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Only the pink ones have a contact request on them, PRBO in those cases. PRBO stands for the Point Reyes Bird Observatory, which is a large conservation and research organization. Unfortunately, when contacted they seemed to lack the "organized," part as they seemed unaware of whom to contact and never got back to us. The orange one has N.O.A.A. N.M.F.S. and a Long Beach address on it. That's the National Marine Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. Since they didn't ask us to contact them on the tag we didn't bother. We've seen a few other color tags, but didn't collect them, as they were still pinned to dead pinniped's fins. After all I might collect marine debris, but I'm not a ghoul. In that case Meg calls the famous bone collector Ray Bandar and he drives down from San Francisco and cuts their head off to add to his world's largest research collection of marine mammal skulls. Kind of makes me feel normal knowing folks like Ray are out there. Besides, though some of the stuff I drag home reeks of decay, thanks to hitchhiking flora and fauna, I don't have to keep a seperate car just for specimen recovery like Ray does. Enjoy. John]]>
1385 2008-08-26 12:59:45 2008-08-26 16:59:45 closed closed tags-for-living-creaturegps-tracking-for-humansstoryphoto-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 page 0 _edit_lock 1219769985 _edit_last 1
Tags for Living Creatures...GPS for Humans...Story/Photo by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/26/tags-for-living-creaturesgps-for-humansstoryphoto-by-john-vonderlin/ Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:14:18 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1391
Tags for Living Creatures...GPS for Humans
Story/Photo by John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,

I've attached a photo of a collection of plastic tags, mainly coughed up by Neptune's Vomitorium. The most recent addition is the yellow one with #N703 on it. I found that one on Bradley Beach, south of Ano Nuevo, during my search for the access to the historic Waddell Bluff Bypass beach road a couple of weeks ago. Once again thanks to the Internet I was able to trace it. In this case back to the Dalton Marketing Group, a company that makes a wide variety of tags suitable for all sorts of domesticated and wild animals.
This particular tag is identified as a coffin-shaped Superflexitag. Below is the company's explanation of the product.
Wider Gap for Thicker Fins
Regular tags are designed for ears but there are many circumstances where the gap between the two parts is not wide enough for fins which grow thicker as the creature ages.

Especially designed for Marine applications such as Turtles, Elephant Seals, Walrus and Certain Sharks. The Superflexitag uses a sold nylon pin with no needle in the applicator. Being Nylon with no hollow shaft the durability of this tag is unequalled. Available hot foil double deep embossed or laser printed as required.
Based on this info and its location, it's probably safe to hypothesize it was once on an Elephant Seal. However, while researching the matter I discovered the website below that encourages researchers worldwide to submit the relevant information about tagging for their Sea Turtle research. Out of the hundreds listed, none fit the tag's number and description. But, being voluntary it may not be a comprehensive list.
... for Sea Turtle Research (ACCSTR) is maintaining the Sea Turtle Tag Inventory. ... tag series issued by the Cooperative Marine Turtle Tagging Program (CMTTP) ...
accstr.ufl.edu/taginv.html
You'd think researchers would be interested in knowing where the tags are eventually found after the death and disintegration of the tagged animal, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Only the pink ones have a contact request on them, PRBO in those cases. PRBO stands for the Point Reyes Bird Observatory, which is a large conservation and research organization. Unfortunately, when contacted they seemed to lack the "organized," part as they seemed unaware of whom to contact and never got back to us.

The orange one has N.O.A.A. N.M.F.S. and a Long Beach address on it. That's the National Marine Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Since they didn't ask us to contact them on the tag we didn't bother.

We've seen a few other color tags, but didn't collect them, as they were still pinned to dead pinniped's flippers. After all I might collect marine debris, but I'm not a ghoul. In that case Meg calls the famous bone collector Ray Bandar and he drives down from San Francisco and cuts their head off to add to his world's largest research collection of  marine mammal skulls. Kind of makes me feel normal knowing folks like Ray are out there. Besides, though some of the stuff I drag home reeks of decay, thanks to hitchhiking flora and fauna, I don't have to keep a seperate car just for specimen recovery like Ray does. Enjoy. John

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1391 2008-08-26 13:14:18 2008-08-26 17:14:18 closed closed tags-for-living-creaturesgps-for-humansstoryphoto-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1219890841 _edit_last 1
1924: Comings and Goings http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/26/1924-comings-and-goings/ Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:42:32 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1400 Yellow Moon Tearoom in Half Moon Bay, with a view of locating his practice in the coastside town to the north. Dr. Miller came to Pescadero from Lathrop a year ago. Since that time he has been identified with the Pescadero community, the Boy Scouts and the Odd Fellows. Mrs. Miller has purchased the books of the circulated library in HMB conducted by Mrs. Johnson." Jan. 25, 1924: Phillip Hoffman, recently discharged from the United States army, has established himself here as a cabinetmaker and general mechanic....Claude Scott was in town from the Gazos mills Tuesday. He reports great progress being made to get the lumbering operation under way. Jan. 11, 1924: Paul Smith editor of the High School Carnelian has returned from a Christmas stay with his mother in Oakland...H. Phillips, proprietor of the New Pescadero Inn, made a surprise business trip to the city Tuesday...A. E. Rease, proprietor of the Emporium , the Mainn street garage here, is suffering from a serous attack of lumbago... more coming]]> 1400 2008-08-26 15:42:32 2008-08-26 19:42:32 closed closed 1924-comings-and-goings publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1219807795 _edit_last 1 Levy Brothers Built a Small Empire of General Stores (8) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/26/levy-brothers-built-a-small-empire-of-general-stores-8/ Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:49:24 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1404 All work for this story was done at the San Mateo County History Museum in Redwood City. Levy Brothers Built a Small Empire of General Stores: Part 8, Finis Adrien's leanings toward real estate probably prompted the brothers to accumulate 3,000 acres near Pomponio Creek in the early 1900s. In the meantime, they also attempted to revive whaling south of Pescadero at Pigeon Point--plus a crew of two dozen men worked at their sawmill on Butano Creek. As a mechanical cream separator revolutionized the dairy industry, the Levys invested in creameries and cheese factories. One factory, with 600 cows, stood at Pigeon Point [this sounds like it was part of the ranch that belonged to Loren Coburn]; another was located north of the old Peterson and Alsford Store in San Gregorio [which now belongs to the Cattermoles.] The third stood on the site once used by a water-powered grist mill on Pilarcitos Creek in Half Moon Bay. About the same time, the Levys signed the lease for a much larger store--as big as three buildings-- on Purissima Street in Half Moon Bay. Although the Levys loved the small town atmosphere of the Coastside, they actively explored outside investments. By the early 1900s, most businessmen looked to the peninsula. Plans for the extension of an electric trolley car service from San Francisco to San Mateo tantalized potential investors. As homes filled newly subdivided land, the population rapidly increased. The Levy brothers concluded that a move to the bay side held greater promise for their future. By 1902, when the brothers had already opened their mercantile in San Mateo, newspapers continued to run ads for their chains of stores at Half Moon Bay, San Gregorio and Pescadero. ----------- AfterNote: The Levy brothers opened stores on the peninsula and moved there as well. All the stores on the Coastside were closed; the land at Pomponio Creek sold. After decades of success on the peninsula, the store's owners looked to fresh opportunites in Half Moon Bay, returning there in 1972. But things didn't work out as expected; the store was closed in the 1980s or 90s.]]> 1404 2008-08-26 23:49:24 2008-08-27 03:49:24 closed closed levy-brothers-built-a-small-empire-of-general-stores-8 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1219808964 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin Says: Hulda Hoover McLean was an amazing woman. http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/27/john-vonderlin-says-hulda-was-an-amazing-woman/ Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:24:39 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1410
Hi June,
I've attached a scan of the newsletter from a 2003 Rancho Del Oso Interpretive Center. Hulda was an amazing woman. I know she has passed on, but am not sure if she made 100. Her correspondence (5 linear feet) is at Stanford and is on my list to check out after I can read again easily. I'm sure she has the full story on the Waddell Beach Bypass. Just the 1905 picture alone tells me there is no way the poison-oak-protected road I explored was the old road, as it is about straight up the cliff from the horse and carriage. Her story is fascinating: www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/1997/janfeb/articles/hulda.html
Enjoy. John
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1410 2008-08-27 20:24:39 2008-08-28 00:24:39 closed closed john-vonderlin-says-hulda-was-an-amazing-woman publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_last 1 _edit_lock 1220022166
The Finest Earthworms for Composting Were Raised in San Gregorio http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/27/the-finest-earthworms-for-composting-were-raised-in-san-gregorio/ Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:18:16 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1419 "A practical inquiry into soil-building, soil conditioning, and plant nutrition through the action of earthworms, with instructions for intensive propagation and use of Domesticated Earthworms in biological soil-building."

Ever wonder what an earthworm is made of? For a larger image, click on the photo! ]]> 1419 2008-08-27 22:18:16 2008-08-28 02:18:16 closed closed the-finest-earthworms-for-composting-were-raised-in-san-gregorio publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1220717957 _edit_last 1 "Mountain" Mike Merritt Leaves No Dairy Farm Unturned http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/27/mountain-mike-merritt-leaves-no-dairy-farm-unturned/ Thu, 28 Aug 2008 03:25:40 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1435 Story by Mountain Mike Merritt, Butano Park Seasonal Interpreter Email Mike (wanderingmike@lycos.com)

Hi June,

I wanted to highlight the history of the valleys (Cloverdale Valley and Butano Valley) surrounding Butano State Park along Cloverdale Road. Leading south from Pescadero, the road winds through the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, past our local farms and into the protected POST and California State Park lands. This posting will focus on Cloverdale Valley.


Our European history began in 1768 when Don Gaspar de Portola, the man himself, strolled right through the Cloverdale and Butano valley on his way to discovering the San Francisco Bay. Because of their remote locations, the Spanish missions influence was slow in reaching the area.


During Mexico’s control of California, the valleys were part of several ranchos,  including Ricon de la Ballena (between Bean hallow and Gazos Creek), Rancho Butano to the north, and Rancho Punta de Ano Nuevo, a combination of lands from ranchos that left a legal mess.  Simeon Castro’s Rancho Punta de Ano Nuevo consisted of over 17,000 acres, including much of what is now Ano Nuevo SP and SR, as well as Butano SP. It was later to become the exclusive property of Loren Coburn


Enjoy and please feel free to respond to any information I have offered.

“Mountain” Mike Merritt

Butano SP Interpreter

Cloverdale Valley

Known to be the area along Cloverdale road between Gazos Road and the saddle near the Blue House Farm.

*Some may extent the name of the valley all the way along Butano Creek to Pescadero. This larger area I refer to as the Butano Valley, not to be confused with the Butano Canyon area. The Butano Valley runs from Pescadero south to the Blue House Farm.

Edgar Steele & The Cloverdale Dairy

Edgar Steele was born in 1830 in New York. In 1863 Edgar Steele built the Cloverdale Dairy in the area between the Butano and Gazos Creeks known as the Cloverdale Valley. Edgar worked 16-hour days for eight years, milking 20 cows himself, handling general business matters at the dairy, and keeping the books for The Steele Brothers firm. Thoroughly drained, in 1864 he leased his dairies for a comfortable yearly income of over $5,000 and went back East for a long rest. He toured the Southern States for couple of years after the Civil War, and married a Tennessee general’s daughter, Julia P. Stanley.


When the Point Reyes lease expired his vacation ended and Edgar returned to California to look for new land for the Steele milk cows. He would find cheap land near San Luis Obispo and moved with his wife to begin a dairy there. (Tess Black)

Horace Gushee took over the Cloverdale operation sometime prior to 1867 with 125 cows. Gushee made cheese.


The next to lease the land from Coburn and Clark was C. S. Walker in 1882. “Next is the Cloverdale Dairy, C. S. Walker proprietor, on shares for the Steele Bros. Clark & Coburn ranch, lease to run for two years, 100 cows milked, made cheese and butter, the butter being packed, and at present worth 30 cents per pound. Four men are employed at a monthly price of $35 each.”


A goat ranch was located in the Cloverdale Gulch, (a small ravine in the middle of the valley) in the 1930’s. It was operated by Joe Abbotti, who previously lived on Goat Hill, an area in the Little Butano Canyon.

The Cloverdale Valley fell into other ownership including the Peninsula Farm Company in the 1920’s, Shoreland Property and the Snows in the 1950’s.


Lawrence Silva was the last to work the land by running cattle. During the Silva lease the property was owned by Joseph Crummer.

On May 27, 1969 the Hoover House on Cloverdale Road midway between the park and Gazos Creek Rd burned to ground. The exact location is currently not known as well as the history of the house. *Looking for photos.


Cloverdale Road was paved in 1972 from Pescadero to the park entrance.  San Mateo County undertook the project primarily to improve access to Butano SP.

On August 2, 1973  a Cow Barn in Cloverdale Gulch was bulldozed by Lawrence Silva. The history of the barn is unknown but it may have dated as far back as to the 1860’s when Edgar Steele built his dairy in the valley. *More info and photo’s are needed.

This is the last surviving evidence of the dairy and ranching days in Cloverdale Valley. Its origins and use are unknown. Currently it is located on state park property. Please refrain from visiting as it is fragile and has yet to be studied. I will post more pictures upon request on it to satisfy you explorers.

----------------------------- Want to read a book about Pescadero? Check out Tess Black's History of Four Pescadero Families]]>
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Looking for the Baptist Family http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/28/looking-for-the-baptist-family/ Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:44:35 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1438
I.
Dear June, I fell upon your website today.  Under "soccer" I found a photo which I believe may include my late father, Ed Blomquist.soccer'
This was the Pescadero soccer team in the 1920's and one of the donors was M. Baptist.  This is a relative of my grandmother who was on the Portuguese side of my dad's family.  I have no history on my grandmother other than my dad's birth certificate from 1907 .
I am wondering if you have any information on the Baptist family of Pescadero.
Thank you so much.
Janice Blomquist Bronson
Email Janice:
II
Hi June, thank you so much for your response.  M. Baptist was, I believe, Manuel Baptist, who was my grandmother's brother.  I know a lot about the Blomquists, thank goodness, but nothing about my Portuguese side.
Yes, my Dad Edward was Henry's cousin.  There were actually sets of 'double cousins'.  My grandmother, Christanza Baptist Blomquist, had a sister named Mariana.  Each one of those sisters married a Blomquist.  Can you believe it?
My father Edward was born in Loma Mar in 1907, the first of four children.  My grandmother died after childbirth on the last one in 1912.   I would very much like to know about her.  I will contact Ron Duarte.   I think he would know of my dad and my mom also who's family had strong ties in Half Moon Bay.  On my mom's side her sister, Pet, was married to Ern Digges.  My mom's brother was Bud Sowle of Montara.
-------------------
If you want to read about La Honda, click here
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John Vonderlin Says: I Hope You See The Falls of Purisima http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/08/30/john-vonderlin-says-i-hope-you-see-the-falls-of-purisima/ Sun, 31 Aug 2008 03:45:22 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1453

Story & Photos by John Vonderlin Email john (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,

We made a trip to Invisible Beach a couple of days, ago and found the colorful pebbles covered by a thick layer of sand and virtually no marine debris. However, there were a number of strands of Feather Boa Kelp strung along the beach. Why so many chunks of this particular variety of kelp should show up at this time is just another mystery of this strange beach. For those not familiar with this appropriately named kelp you can familiarize yourself by visiting this website. www.marine.gov/egregia.htm or check this picture out. (sod #019)

While I didn't find any non-buoyant marine debris to collect, I did see a large piece of driftwood, with a beautiful sinuous form, washed up on the beach. When I commented to Meg how good it would look in her garden, she concurred, but ventured that it was too heavy to carry the half mile back to the car. Did I sense a challenge? After my shaky, doubt-filled expeditionary visit to "The Notch," I've been wanting to recover my mental toughness and confidence. This seemed like a good opportunity. Kneeling down under one of its curves and struggling to my feet, I was amazed how comfortable its smoothness felt on my back and shoulders and how well it balanced itself. It wanted to go home with us.

It took me five portages, but when I finally slid it into my car, where it fit like it belonged, I knew it was meant to be. Here's a few pictures of my struggles.

More exciting to me is when Meg told me there was a dirt road being constructed across the road from Bob's produce stand, about five miles south of Half Moon Bay. Knowing that a few days ago the local newspaper had an article saying that work had begun on the Pillar Point and the Cowell/Purisima sections of the Coastal Trail, her interest was piqued. She stopped for some veggies at the stand and inquired. Yes!! The dirt road is part of the construction. Apparently it will lead to the planned parking lot near the impressive coastside Purisima Falls, I wrote about from our trip to "The Secret Beach."


I am excited that soon anyone will be able to view this previously almost unreachable stretch of our beautiful coast. I'd urge everyone to watch for its opening. A visit to the California Coastal Records Project website to view Pictures 6147-6167 will whet your interest in this soon to be easily viewable stretch. While a part of me regrets its loss of solitude, there are plenty of other stretches I don't think the Coastal Trail will open up to the general public in my lifetime. Especially, if I keep carrying around big chunks of driftwood. Enjoy. John

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1453 2008-08-30 23:45:22 2008-08-31 03:45:22 closed closed john-vonderlin-says-i-hope-you-see-the-falls-of-purisima publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1220415828 _edit_last 1
Two Thumbs Up for Mountain Mike Merritt's Gazos Mill Tour: Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/09/01/two-thumbs-up-for-mountain-mike-merritts-gazos-mill-tour-story-by-john-vonderlin/ Tue, 02 Sep 2008 01:54:05 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1480 Story by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June, Last weekend Meg, I, and a handful of other people met Mike Merritt

the Interpretive Ranger for Butano State Park, at the corner of Cloverdale Road and Gazos Creek Road for a tour he was offering of the historic sites of Gazos Canyon. After chatting for a while to gather any latecomers, we proceeded up Gazos Road into the canyon. Our first stop was the former site of the historic Gazos Lumber Mill. Here Mike introduced us to a subject he obviously knows really well, the history of the Gazos Canyon. He had a portfolio of large historic photos that showed the site a hundred years ago. While this was the area in which I'd found the pre-Prohibition beer bottle I'd mentioned in a previous posting, I was amazed at what I'd not seen. He'd hold up a photograph shot from where we stood, demonstrating what it looked like a hundred years ago, and at first blush it was unrecognizable. Only as he would point out various long-lasting landmarks could I make the connection. I must say the last hundred years have been kind to the canyon, allowing it to recover from the clearcutting get-it-while-you-can lumber practices practiced way back when. My fellow tourists were an interesting, intelligent and curious group. Several of them had just come from a tour of the Pie Ranch property, sponsored by the Pescadero History Association (just across the road from where Russell Towle, Stuart Harwood and the rest of that colorful group of folks used to exit their Ano Nuevo artist commune onto Highway 1.) When Mike asked us if we knew what Gazos meant, I think I was the only one who didn't know it was Spanish for Heron. They were also fans of Harvey Mowry. I know that because when Mike mentioned him and his book, "Echoes of the Gazos Creek Country," not only was there a chorus of recognition, but one person pulled out a photocopy of the funky, but serviceable, hand-drawn maps of mill sites Harvey sprinkles throughout his book. Various members, obviously amateur naturalists, chimed in with plant and butterfly identifications as we hiked along. As Mike filled in the details about this site, I splashed through the creek to take some photos of the mill pond dam. This wooden dam, composed of large trees laid atop each other across the creek, is still essentially intact a hundred years later. Rangers have cut through part of it to improve stream flow for fish and to minimize the chance of a logjam forming, but it still looks almost serviceable. From there we moved up the creek, with Mike pointing out the subtle remnants of what used to be here and there. Things I'd have never noticed without a lot of searching. There was the short stretch of shallow ditch alongside the creek that was probably the remnant of the wooden flume built in 1870-1871 to float the cut lumber down the canyon. The cut tree roots along its side were strong evidence it was not a natural feature. Harvey's book describes the flume as half a square, turned on edge with the top 40 inches wide. It had a slant of an inch and a half every sixteen feet and was five -and -a- half miles long. From there it was shipped by rail or wagon to Pigeon Point where it was loaded by aerial cable onto awaiting ships. At one point he pointed out five feet of tiny rail that stuck out of the gravel in the creek. This is apparently the only remnant of the tramway that was built atop the mill's deck. Two hundred and fifty feet long it allowed the cut lumber to be easily moved about to the various stacks it was put in before shipping or floating downstream. I'm eager to see that piece of history, about 130 years old, be rescued and preserved for future visitors. Nearby, in a spot the creek had scoured the sand and gravel away from the bedrock, were four large, deep, strangely round holes. Their shape and positioning shouted a manmade origin. Mike's theory, is they were acorn soaking holes. During the summer or fall when the creek's flow was gentle, net bags full of acorns could be suspended in them. This would have allowed some of the tannic acid they contain to be removed before they were ground into the flour that was an important part of the local tribe's diet. So it went. Just as Harvey mentions in his book when he describes his 1972 return visit to his childhood haunts, most everything is gone or covered by a thick layer of forest duff. But Mike, a student of the history of the area was able to point out things like springboard cuts in various giant stumps. (018) By jamming springboards into the cuts, loggers were able to stand atop them and make cuts higher up the trees where the wood was softer and had a straighter grain. Or the grooves in other stumps that were used to guide the cables as the donkey engine snaked giant logs downhill towards the mill. Or tiny flat spots on the steep slopes above the creek where housing for the workers or their families had been perched. While the forest has regrown and once again shade and quiet reign supreme in this deep dark canyon, for a few hours the noise, danger, and industry of these pioneers as they wrested a living from the giant trees that grew here a hundred years ago came alive in our imaginations. I give the tour two thumbs up and recommend you keep an eye open for the next time Mike gives it. When towards the end of our hike we re-entered the creekbed, I photographed this brick remnant sticking out of the gravel. Since then I've located the website for the "International Brick Collectors Association." Five hundred of these enthusiasts recently met in San Francisco to trade, sell, or just share their passion about all things brick. The website encourages questions, so I'm hoping with a reply to my email to soon know the answer to where the "? BALL" brick company was. The website lists dozens of antique brick producers from throughout California, but none seem to apply. Just before we left the creek and headed back to our cars, I wandered around a corner from the group. and scared up a Great Gray Heron from its pursuit of small fish in the deep pools. A fitting bit of symbolism of nature's resiliency and a reassuring token of this area's totem returning to its rightful domain. Enjoy. John P.S. The discussion about the brick elicited Meg's memory from a decade ago of entering Apple Jack's one day with her husband and being approached by a man who asked them if they had any bricks. It turns out this was the famous Hubert "Limey" Kay, another of La Honda's seemingly endless group of colorful characters. I did a websearch of "La Honda and bricks" and up popped his obituary. You can read about this unusual man and his colorful life in a Half Moon Bay Review article here: www.hmbreview.com/articles/2008/07/30/news/doc4890cf2ab86eb690731841.txt or go on an online photo tour of his house, which is now available for rent. For more info, please click here: Enjoy. John]]>
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The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 48 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/09/04/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-48/ Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:46:14 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1509 Grand Picnic was announced at Pebble Beach , and as many as 50 disgruntled Pescaderans rode in a caravan of private coaches and wagons, their sole intention TO STORM THE GATE. An effigy of Loren Coburn had been placed on the roof of a Concord Coach pulled by four horses. It was kept in steadily in place by the man sitting in the rear seat. Following the Concord there were five two-horse buggies, five singles and several one horse wagons, all navigating around the deep ruts in the crooked cow trail---the Pebble Beach Road, And who was leading the charge? And who was following? Joe Levy was there. So was Supervisor Henry B. Adair, Roadmaster Charles R. Pinkham* Constable Good and J.C. Williamson. [Note about Roadmaster Charles Pinkham: In 1885 he worked for a "fast freight" company, the Pescadero & San Mateo Express, making regular trips between San Francisco and Pescadero.] While Joe Levy and the others moved ever closer to the gate, 61-year-old Sarah Upton, with unkempt brother Marraton beside her, ran into the caravan of coaches. [Note: Sarah later married Loren Coburn.] In a courtroom she later described what she saw, "...There was a mob....," she said. She saw the effigy of her then-brother-in-law on top of the big Concord coach but pretended not to see the resemblance between it and Loren Coburn. Sarah turned to her brother and said, "They are going to break down that gate. I had hardly got the words out of my mouth when they did."]]> 1509 2008-09-04 13:46:14 2008-09-04 17:46:14 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter-48 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1221087683 _edit_last 1 Rolling Renaissance Catalog. What is it? Sandy Castle/Jim Maggio. Who is he? http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/09/05/rolling-renaissance-catalog-what-is-it-sandy-castlejim-maggio-who-is-he/ Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:45:17 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1515 1515 2008-09-05 00:45:17 2008-09-05 04:45:17 closed closed rolling-renaissance-catalog-what-is-it-sandy-castlejim-maggio-who-is-he publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1220589917 _edit_last 1 Strange Co-incidence...Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/09/05/strange-co-incidencestory-by-john-vonderlin/ Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:02:28 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1518
Story/Photo by John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,

I haven't heard back from the brick collector's website, but I've discovered a strange coincidence while researching the possible origin of the brick I photographed in the gravel of Gazos Creek. The first part of the coincidence occurred when I was reading the link I included in the story about Hulda Hoover McLlean and the Rancho Del Oso.

The link's story recounted how two orphans from Oregon, when they first viewed the Waddell Valley, dreamed of owning a piece of this special place. The older young man, Theodore Hoover, Hulda's father, eventually became the first Dean of Engineering at Stanford and bought 3,000 acres of the Waddell Valley. His younger brother, Herbert, became the 31st President of the United States.

The second part of the coincidence came to light when while reading Harvey Mowry's book, "Echoes of the Gazos Creek Country," hoping to find a possible source for the brick I had photographed, I came across this quote from a letter by Carol Edwards, the oldest daughter of Charles Littlefield. "My brother Reid, I, and our cousin, Bill Grover, dismantled all the firebricks in and around the boiler at the McKinley Mill and hauled them down to Dad's for the boiler at his mill."

Then on Page 67, in an aside to a quote by Charles E. Steele, (born in 1891 on the Gazos Ranch) Harvey says, " The McKinley Mill, whom Charles Jr. refers to, was actually the Templeton-Moore Mill or Pacific Lumber and Mill Company sawmill, built around 1871. Local residents usually called it the McKinley Mill after James McKinley, an older brother of William McKinley. James reopened the old mill in 1882, calling it simply the Gazos Mill."

William McKinley was our 31st President, first elected in 1896, then re-elected in 1900, only to be assassinated by an anarchist, Leon Czolgosz, and succeeded coincidentally by another Theodore, the first Roosevelt President.

If I've got this right, two small, isolated, very sparsely populated coastal valleys, the Waddell Creek and the Gazos Creek watersheds, which touch each other in their higher reaches, have intimate connections to two older brothers of historic families that produced two of America's Presidential families. Figure the odds on that. Or let me know if I'm wrong.

To add a bit more brick weirdness to go along with Hubert "Limey" Kay and this strange coincidence, I've attached a photo of another of my Synthetikites (the eroded, rounded chunk of bricks and mortar) and several very strange bricks I found on an abandoned homestead on a piece of land my friend was renting in the hills above Anderson, southeast of Redding. I have no explanation for their condition, but thought these wonderful "Ugly Ducklings" should be preserved. Enjoy. John
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Welcome to Geocaching.com.... new mysterious game http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/09/05/welcome-to-geocachingcom-a-brand-new-mysterious-game/ Fri, 05 Sep 2008 22:33:29 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1522 Story by John Vonderlin
Emai John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
geocaching.com
Those not familiar with this relatively new and explosively popular game? hobby? excuse to go on a mystery solving adventure?, should websearch Wikipedia "Geocache" to familiarize themselves with its many variations.

This geocache's creators, Purple People, start their Coburn's Folly site description with the following sentence, then go on to compactly and accurately describe the site and its relevant history.

"Little shows that this was once the site of a resort that might have rivaled the more famous Pebble Beach to the South. A few drilled or shaped chunks of sandstone, some long-decayed asphalt, and escaped calla lilies and periwinkle run wild."

I had to join the Geocache organization to communicate with PurplePeople, but you can check out most of the other sites they've created at the URL above without doing so. They typically have composed an interesting historical summary about each site to go along with directions to find its location. Here are just a few of the titles I found particularly intriguing: The Lost Village of Lobitos, Toy Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Ghost Railway of Palo Alto, The Old Bay Bridge, Doughboys of Menlo Park, The Explosion of the Jenny Lind, The Lost Village of Searsville, and Moving Monument.

Finally, being old enough to remember the Purple People reference, which comes from a song performed by Sheb Wooley in 1958, I Wikipedia-ed it and learned that the decades old question of whether it refers to a purple monster who eats people or a monster who eats purple people has not been fully settled.
Coincidentally, the One-eyed, One-horned Flying Purple People Eater, was the inspiration for Lord LitterAll, my still-being-added--to Marine Debris artplay piece.  Enjoy. John
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On Purple People Eaters http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/09/06/on-purple-people-eaters/ Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:11:14 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1531 By June Morrall Email June (june@halfmoonbaymemories.com) There was a rock 'n roll radio show in San Francisco that I listened to, and kids would call in with requests to play their favorite songs. The best part was when the host told the audience who had asked for the song. The only name that has remained with me all these years is The Purple People Eater. I didn't know what a "Purple People Eater" was---but I loved the name. It was the best name I had ever heard. I didn't even think of making up my own name.  I was a little kid: Much too shy to call into any radio show, though. I was just a listener. Until one day when a burst of boldness woke me up. Guess what I did? I called in and requested a song for the Purple People Eater. The man who took my call had a radio announcer's voice, mine was small. If he doubted I was the real Purple People Eater, he didn't let on. And a few minutes later I heard him say the next song was for me? The Purple People Eater.]]> 1531 2008-09-06 12:11:14 2008-09-06 16:11:14 closed closed on-purple-people-eaters publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1220718094 _edit_last 1 No "There" There...Poison Oak-ey Return to Coburn's Folly: Story/Photos by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/09/06/poison-oak-ey-return-to-coburns-folly-storyphotos-by-john-vonderlin/ Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:45:27 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1539 Coburn's Folly series Story/Photos by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) (Watercolor of Pebble Beach Hotel believed to be by Coastside artist Galen Wolf.) Hi June, It has been a while, but I'd like to return to detailing the results of my search of the site of where "Coburn's Folly," Loren Coburn's, never-opened three story hotel, used to be, perched on a promontory above the famous Pebble Beach of Pescadero. As I related in Part 1, there was "no there", there, as far as finding remnants of the hotel's existence. I did find one sliver of brick, but it was obviously too modern to have been from a century ago.. Amongst the numerous chunks of broken glass I collected from beneath bushes or under boulder's shoulders, most were from modern pint bottles of hard liquor. But, my interest was piqued when I found this remnant of a brown Clorox bottle.

Remembering them from my childhood, I websearched and found out this kind of bottle was discontinued in the early 1960s. While there are collectors who might have identified the bottle's age more accurately if the bottle had been whole, such was not the case. Curious of what the few guests Loren ever allowed to stay at the hotel might have viewed from the veranda I climbed up the rocky promontory just west of Highway 1. As I scrambled up the last part of a steep gully and launched myself on to the top, I realized I had stumbled into a solid patch of poison oak. Like I'd stepped over a log and heard the angry warning of a disturbed rattler, I made a panicky retreat, leaving one of my shoes behind.

Gingerly reclaiming it, I made a tactical withdrawal and hiked south to where a vague path with much less poison oak led up to the ridgetop. Here is what a visitor would have seen a hundred years ago as they looked out on the ocean from the veranda of Coburn's "White Elephant," as some Pescaderans called it. Satisfied there really wasn't much more to see, I was headed back to my car when I saw an unusual colored rock, at least for that area, under the overhang of a boulder.

Picking it up I was surprised to find it was a "faux" rock, apparently made of fiberglass. Inside its hollow shell was a small bottle inserted into a small ring cast into the "rock."

I realized it was a geocache and curiously opened the bottle. It contained a few little mementos, and a rolled up set of papers with over one hundred names on it of the people who had located the geocache and when they had done so.

How cool. Though I've had two GPS devices I rarely have need to use them and am not a geocacher. However, with a little websearching, using "Coburn's Folly and geocache" as the search term, I quickly found the specific geocache site this was. The URL is: geocaching.com. Enjoy. John.]]>
1539 2008-09-06 12:45:27 2008-09-06 16:45:27 closed closed poison-oak-ey-return-to-coburns-folly-storyphotos-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1220915559 _edit_last 1
John Vonderlin Returns to Coburn's Folly http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/09/07/john-vonderlin-returns-to-coburns-folly/ Mon, 08 Sep 2008 02:37:07 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1567 (Yes, this photo is blurry.) Return to Coburn's Folly Part 3 Story by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June,

"If you look closely at the photo you can see Lake Lucerne above and behind the carriage on the bridge. You can also see the low dam, equipped with floodgates, that was built by Loren Coburn to create the lake."

As I noted in the first two parts in this posting about Coburn's Folly, seemingly all signs of the previous existence of a grand hotel that had been perched above the once nationally famous Pebble Beach, are now gone. But, while the hotel and livery are entirely gone, there still remains a huge memorial to Loren Coburn's dream to create a seaside resort that would rival the famous Del Monte Hotel at the other Pebble Beach in Monterey. I discovered that while reading your book, "The Coburn Mystery."

On Page 97, The Pebble Beach Hotel chapter begins:

"Coburn's "modern caravansary", the Pebble Beach Hotel, had not opened its doors. Out of spite, Loren vowed he would not open the hotel until the "foolish" Pescaderans came to their senses. Estimated to cost one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, the empty three-story, hotel, with a wide veranda stretching around it, was dubbed, "The White Elephant" and "Coburn's Folly". The villagers sneered that nobody could live in Coburn's hotel, even if it were opened in the grandest style.

A San Francisco reporter wrote an unflattering portrait of the empty hotel as a home of rats, a place nobody would visit. In the daytime it was eery to walk through the echoing chambers and corridors. Outside the wind howled and the waves crashed. The wind sailing through the top floor sounded ghostly, especially when mixed with the sounds of the bats and owls that lived there.

Numerous windows on the ocean side had been broken by birds flying through them. Some windows had been boarded, but still the wind swept through the hallways stirring up tiny tornadoes of dust.

Loren feared the villagers might seek revenge by destroying the hotel, and he hired a watchman named Patrick Regan to protect the building from being set on fire. Regan who roomed in the stables, patrolled the building at night.

The bad press cast a dark shadow over the big empty hotel. Another story said the hotel was the only building for over a mile, and the beach nearby was bleak; barren rocks lined the shore. The hills to the east were described as wild and desolate. There was nothing inviting about the Pebble Beach Hotel that would compare with the Del Monte.

On the contrary, soothsayers predicted a "sure death" for those brave enough to wade in the ocean in front of the hotel. If not death by drowning, then serious injuries could be sustained from the jagged rocks and the untamed surf that crashed on the sandy shore.

But Loren was resilient. He was proud of the gleaming white Pebble Beach Hotel. The rooms were well-lit and good-sized; there was hot and cold running water. He continued was his plans for a resort. A race track was laid out. A large pavilion was planned. He built a dam across a creek a mile from the hotel so his future guests would have the advantage of sea bathing. When the tide flowed in the floodgates would close, forming beautiful little Lake Lucerne."

Well how about that? Little Lake Lucerne, a body of water I've driven by many times, wishing I could kayak on it, but not willing to violate the "No Trespassing" signs, is apparently the only lasting  memorial to Loren Coburn's dreams. While the "Spanish Lady" as some called the Influenza Epidemic of 1918 and 19, ended his life, and the building of Highway 1 removed the last vestiges of his grand hotel, the little lake remains much as it was over a century ago.

While I was waiting for some free time to go out and look at and photograph the area with the "new eyes" this knowledge afforded me, I came across an historical photo that showed a carriage passing over the "Bean Hollow Bridge," sometime in the 1890s or early 1900s.  The photograph is apparently from the Ruth Louise Steele Collection which is archived with the Pescadero Historical Society. I'll try to see if I can get a clear copy of it rather then this thrice removed version. But to me the new knowledge that it had existed gave me an exciting epiphany, that must be what that odd lot of stumps in the water and marshland between Bean Hollow Road and Highway 1 are.

In Part 4 of this posting I'd like to relate my little adventure and share some pictures I took of these historical remnants. Enjoy. John

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John Vonderlin Returns to Coburn's Folly http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/09/08/john-vonderlin-returns-to-coburns-folly-2/ Mon, 08 Sep 2008 22:48:05 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1573 Story & Photos by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June, Before venturing out to photograph Lake Lucerne, and the remnants of the Bean Hollow Bridge, I checked them out on the California Coastal Records Project website. Picture 6283 shows the area very well. You can see the beach, the creek's outlet onto the beach, Highway 1, the marsh the bridge used to span, Bean Hollow Rd, and Lake Lucerne in the background. By doubleclicking on the photo you can access the large photo file and see, if just barely, some of the remnants of the old bridge's pilings in the marsh. Unfortunately, when you hit the "Time Comparison" button and get access to the photos from 1972, 79 and 87, they are of insufficient resolution to follow the decay of the pilings through the last few decades. Still, the aerial photos gave me a good idea where the historic photo had been shot from. My plan was to reshoot it from that same angle, hoping to show the changes wrought on the area by more then a century's passing. It turned out to be not so easy. Our first stop was along Bean Hollow Rd, at a pulloff by the spillway. Nowadays, Coburn's dam has been replaced by the rampart that the road sits on. The rampart has been clad with a concrete-facing on the lake's side as this picture shows.

The floodgates are gone and the spillway is nothing more then a small bridge over Frijoles Creek's concretized exit towards the sea. Looking across the marsh towards Highway 1, you can see the remnants of three rows of pilings, just as the historic photo shows the bridge had.

If you care to stomp through the pickleweed and other marsh plants you can see the northern concrete footings of the old bridge.

I must say it amazes me that the stumps of the piers still exist after considerably more then a hundred years of sitting in the water or mud of the marsh. I wonder what kind of preservative they must have been soaked in. Undoubtedly not anything the E.P.A. approves of these day. Some have been eroded into attractive stumps.

From there it was time to see if I could get that shot from above Highway 1 from the same place the historic photo was shot. The bane of so many of my exploratory trips, poison oak, thwarted me repeatedly. It was everywhere on top of the hill west of the highway where I judged the shot had been taken from. By sneaking under a large pine tree I got to what I judged to be the right height, but the tree blocked my view and the poison oak kept me from moving into the clear. Giving up, I walked along the east side of the Highway I and got a few nice shots of the pilings from the south.

Heading north I got this one, probably the closest to the old bridge shot.

That's a Great Gray Heron, we spooked, in the middle of the photo. Finally, not wanting to give up, I lined myself up with the pilings and risked bushwacking downhill from Highway 1, to where I could get a clear shot of them from above. Fortunately, the poison oak was only scattered through the bushes at this point and by holding my hands above my head and letting my boots stomp things down to make a path, I was able to move into position to get this shot of the pilings (#035

)and this picture of Loren's legacy, Lake Lucerne.

Happy with my moral victory, we immediately headed to the beach for a good wet sand scrub of any possibly-toxin-exposed skin area. I'm even happier to report this quick action prevented any unpleasant itchy aftereffects. The saltwater's stinging in the handful of scratches I'd gotten seemed a small price to pay for an interesting view of another bit of forgotten history of this wonderful coast. I suspect the grumpy curmudgeon, Loren Coburn, would have had some solace that at least the picturesque Lake Lucerne remains as a memorial to his unfulfilled dreams, and probably would have chortled at the fact that with P.O.S.T. now owning most of the land around the lake, it is still off limits to the people of Pescadero. Enjoy. John]]>
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The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 49 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/09/10/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-49/ Thu, 11 Sep 2008 02:02:33 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1597 A more orderly, quiet or harmonious assemblage never met on the beach. This case of a  united people without a dissenting voice pitted against a grasping, miserly, avaricious money-bags, stands without parallel. No one on either side knew who actually opened the gate. Not Sarah. Not J.C. Williamson. Sarah described  it as a quiet gate-bursting party. "...They hollered and swore," she said. She heard them say unkind things about Loren, swinging the effigy about at the same time. Some people said the effigy was burned but others said it remained "in prime condition."

Sa

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The Swiss have a beautiful Lake Lucerne...and, uh...So do the Pescaderans... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/09/11/the-swiss-have-a-beautiful-lake-lucerneandso-do-the-pescaderans/ Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:22:08 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1608
Story by John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
While attempting to learn more online about Loren Coburn's only lasting legacy, Lake Lucerne, I encountered some interesting things. One of them is not who came up with the name for this picturesque coastside reservoir. I suspect Loren Coburn, obsessed with competing with the fancy Del Monte Hotel in Monterey, may have used the name of one of the most beautiful lakes in Europe, if not the world, as part of his plan. However, I can find no source for that belief.
I was also unable to find any source for the name Frijoles either. My memory was that the creek that feeds the lake is called Frijoles, Los Frijoles or Bean Hollow Creek. I had thought that the name was first applied by somebody in the Portola Expedition of 1769-1770. Furthermore, I  thought the name had to do with some local plant (perhaps the Pacific Coast Lupine) that has bean-shaped seeds on them. They certainly would have been noticed, and perhaps consumed, as the expedition passed through the area in mid-Fall. Some varieties of Lupine seed have been used as food or forage for thousands of years. Others are toxic, teratogenic and cause birth defects like "Crooked calf disease." As of yet I have been unable to confirm that Portola's expedition is responsible for the name, as I can only find the diary of Miguel Costanso, the expedition's engineer, online, and he doesn't mention it. There are a number of other diaries from expedition members, so perhaps one of them was my source.
I did find that the beach the creek flows onto is called Los Frijoles Beach, not Bean Hollow Beach, which is to the north of the parking lot in the Bean Hollow State Park. I also found that further up the watershed there are apparently two lakes, called the Bean Hollow Lakes or the Arroyo de Frijoles Reservoirs interchangeably. Apparently P.O.S.T. owns these too and doesn't allow access.
While I couldn't find the origin of the use of  the name Frijoles, I did run across some information on the driving force behind the origin of some of the other names along our coast. That occurred when I was websearching variations of search terms along with "Frijoles." One of the websites that popped up was"Postcards From Pescadero." This was an online article by Pete Holloran, a naturalist and botanist, well-versed in our coast's natural history. It uses an engaging concept to present a number of interesting facts about the San Mateo coast's natural and human history over the last 12,000 years. While his use of the word "Frijoles," which is what brought it up on my screen, referred to the Frijole Fault, part of the San Gregorio Fault Zone, which is part of the San Andreas fracture zone, it was his tidbit about beachcombing history that gave it relevance in my search for the origin of local names. This is the URL of the online article from Bay Nature Magazine:
baynature.org/articles/jul-sep-2002/postcards-from-pescadero
Beachcombing along our coast became very popular, and economically important, because of the longlasting avocation of creating "Cabinets of Curiosities." If you check Wikipedia for the term "Cabinet of Curiosities" you'll find an extensive article on the origin of the idea, its significance in the natural sciences, its flowering in Europe and Great Britain and its eventual import to Victorian Age America. Collecting natural oddities became a raging fad in the late 1800s along our coast. Seaside resorts would name nearby features to highlight the curiosities that might be found there, hoping to increase their desirability as a destination.  Pescadero and other San Mateo seaside resorts covered all the bases with a Pebble Beach, a Shell Beach, and a Moss Beach. The moss in this case was sea moss or algae. It was very popular with collectors who would dutifully gather, dry and press specimens much as leaf, plant or flower collectors do nowadays. Please note that at this time the lagoon between Pescadero and the ocean was much larger and it was a common past-time to row to the beach from the "downtown" Pescadero's Swanton Hotel or other lodging, making Pescadero a seaside resort even though it was a mile inland.
Meg jokingly said that my whole property is a "House of Curiosities," which might be true. Unfortunately, I'm not open to the public. However, San Mateo has a private museum with many "Cabinets of Curiosities," called "The Zymoglyphic Museum.". Unfortunately, it is open only once a year during the Silicon Valley Open Studio artist program. However, you can check it out online at Zymoglyphic.org anytime.  The curator and creator is a very interesting individual whose vision is both whimsical, educational and wildly creative. Enjoy. John
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The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 50 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/09/12/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-50/ Fri, 12 Sep 2008 16:23:39 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1613 September 12, 1891 and shortly afterward Nobody was willing to disagree that the barricaded gate to Pebble Beach had been deliberately ripped open and tossed aside. Not the men who tore it down; not the non-participating witnesses; not the man whose men put the barricaded fence/gate up. J.C. Williamson, who was soon to leave Levy Brothers and open his own popular, long-lived general store called Williamson's in Pescadero, testified that the deed had been done. "Certainly...," he told a jury. "That is the only way we had to get through there." Straightforward, bold, self-assured. Echoes of the "wild west." The oldtimers didn't like the unfriendly fences, the gates. Loren Coburn reportedly owned some 10,000- acres and the "keep out" signs seemed to multiply. The Pescaderans were horse-riding folk and  Pebble Beach was part of the town. The county newspaper added: This case of a united people without a dissenting voice, pitted against a grasping, miserly, avaricious money-bags stands without parallel. That pretty much summed it up. ----------- (Remember, in Loren's earlier "life" as the 1850s owner of a horse stable in San Francisco's financial district, he often encountered American lawyers and was privy to conversatons about "controversial" ownership of the old Coastside ranchos, including the land Coburn wanted. In fact, Loren had a head's up on acquiiring the beautiful South Coast property. He heard about it from one of his clients an attorney.] ------------ You fence tearing down and building up was very serious business. The day after the gate had been ripped apart at Pebble Beach, Loren Coburn sent his men to rebuild it. Charles Pinkham, in his official role as county roadmaster, personally removed the obstructions. According to witnesses when Coburn told Pinkham to stop, the roadmaster replied that he was only doing his duty.]]> 1613 2008-09-12 12:23:39 2008-09-12 16:23:39 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter-50 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1221754782 _edit_last 1 Mystery of the Mossy Green Algae Ball Solved http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/09/13/mystery-of-the-mossy-green-algae-ball-solved/ Sat, 13 Sep 2008 16:25:02 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1632 Story by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June,
Do you remember that picture of a mossy green algae ball I sent you and you posted, hoping somebody could identify it? Well Meg came up with the answer. It is called the Pincushion of the Sea, or Astroturf of the Ocean, or Tuft Algae. It is Cladophora Columbiana. Despite being relatively common in the low to mid-intertidal zone its classification is a taxonomic battleground. Apparently the size of the balls that wash ashore are a good indication of the health of the intertidal zone.
Here's a little excerpt from a page on the Monterey Marine Sanctuary page called Cladophora Balls on the Brain:  The URL is below.
Possible Uses for Cladophora Balls ... Cladophora Main Page Life History ... 1996 by Angie Nakano, who gives anyone permission to use anything on this page, ...
www.mbari.org/staff/conn/botany/greens/angie/CULTURE.HTM - Cached

In Japan, Aegagropila enjoy somewhat of a "cult" following. A certain lake in Hokkaido is known to form especially perfect Cladophora balls, which the local "Aidic" people involve in their summer festival. A folktale accompanies the dense green spheres, in which the hearts of a young couple who drown in the lake turn into Cladophora balls. Aegagropila's popularity in Japan has even spread to more urban areas. Tokyo has a bar named "Marimba," the Japanese word for the balls, which sells plastic souvenirs in the the shape of the popular alga. In recent years, aegagropilous Cladophora has even become a protected species in Japan, and a Cladophora ball postage stamp has been issued.

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Through the redwoods and down to Duartes for berry pie http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/09/14/through-the-redwoods-and-down-to-duartes-for-berry-pie/ Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:38:59 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1630 The past couple of days we've had guests from back east. Burt's cousins. (Burt is my partner.) The cousins had visited Muir Woods on their own, and I told them I would show them our lovely redwoods. Which are much better. Well, of course. Back east folks are more familiar with Marin County than San Mateo County, so the nice cousins were astounded when I drove them down the most beautiful redwood-lined road in the world: Tunitas Creek Rd. The plan was to go from Half Moon Bay east  to Skyline, south to Tunitas Creek, west along the redwood & sword fern bordered road to Hwy 1 south to  our yummy final destination: Duarte's Tavern. Best plan we ever made. We had sensational crab cioppini and fresh fish and berry pie a la mode. I had some chocolate sauce, too, not a good mix with fresh berries, though.

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1630 2008-09-14 20:38:59 2008-09-15 00:38:59 closed closed through-the-redwoods-and-down-to-duartes-for-berry-pie publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1222278910 _edit_last 1
"Hot" Souvenirs from Past Coastside Clean-Up Days. From John Vonderlin's Special Collection http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/09/16/hot-souvinors-from-past-coastside-clean-up-days-from-john-vonderlins-special-collection/ Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:41:03 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1653 John Vonderlin reminds: Coastside Clean-Up Day This Saturday Photos by john Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) June: What are you seeing: A pair of dentures; a close-up of a Tubenose bird; a close-up of the bird's beak; a sunfish; breastbone-wishbone combo, and a TimberWolf ball . There is also an image of John's collection of marine debris on his car's black plastic inserts. Amazing what you can find at the seashore! Maybe we could have a ocean-sale, like a garage sale, but this one takes place at the edge of the sea.]]> 1653 2008-09-16 12:41:03 2008-09-16 16:41:03 closed closed hot-souvinors-from-past-coastside-clean-up-days-from-john-vonderlins-special-collection publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1221749182 _edit_last 1 The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 51 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/09/18/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-51/ Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:26:03 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1672 Why am I posting chapters from the Coburn Mystery? While researching this never-ending, generous tale, I realized that there was a tremendous amount of extraneous historical information-- that "the Coburn Mystery"  paints a much larger picture  of life on the Coastside. ----------- When I first moved to El Granada, there was a house in the "Highlands," that the owners affectionately called Adairs Lair. The name plate is gone now but I have always wondered if these Adairs were related to Supervisor Henry Adair. Supervisor Adair knew all about the gate and fence at Pebble Beach. He later offered this description to a jury in the 1890s:" These planks had been pried open and nailed, pried open and nailed, pried open and nailed, until, in fact, there was nothing of the gate left. In place of nailing it with ordinary nails, it was nailed with 8-inch iron spikes through a 2-inch gate...You can imagine that in breaking the gate open a few times how much would be left of the board." But the trial hadn't taken place yet, and first thing Monday morning, an angry Loren Coburn rode to the county seat at Redwood City where he met attorney Crittenden Thornton who got a warrant issued for the arrest of the Pescadero businessman Joe Levy. Levy was charged with gate-bashing, a misdemeanor. The Western Union office was located in the Levy Brother's general store so Joe quickly learned about the warrant. He went to Redwood City, met with Justice Welch, and was released on his own recognizance. Everybody knew what he would say in court. Joe Levy had traveled the road to Pebble Beach, a road used by the general public for more than two decades. Loren Coburn tried to stop him from using the road so he reacted by removing all obstructions. The jury for the People v Levy, also known as That Pescadero Case, was selected on October 17, 1891, and the case was heard in court. Said the county newspaper: "...that curious something called 'the people' have put the boot on the other leg and tried the case 'The People versus Coburn' and won "their" case." Then followed a harsh assessment of the media. It is not the business of the press to try cases. Let the press attend to business as collector of the news. What is right will arrive and it becomes good citizens to exercise a little patience at least; let the law takes its course. The less said is soonest mended. Cool heads make good jurors." The case was settled. On October 24, 1891 Pebble Beach was open to all and mammoth picnics were scheduled. "A party from Santa Cruz visited Pebble Beach, refusing to pay Coburn his six bit royalty," reported the paper. Pebble Beach visitors came and went. Even Loren Coburn's gatekeepers refused to back the boss.]]> 1672 2008-09-18 13:26:03 2008-09-18 17:26:03 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter-51 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1222992186 _edit_last 1 1970s: Shawn Mann "did the loop" http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/09/24/1970s-shawn-mann-did-the-loop/ Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:40:30 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1679 From 1977 to 1979 I delivered the Times Tribune ( Redwood City Tribune Newspapers ) driving the 84 and 92 in a loop.
I dropped bundles of papers to kids and filled single copy sales kiosk, dropped a few copies to stores and restaurants.
Prior to this, every Sunday from 1964 to 1974 we travelled to the beach as children with my dad, who always stopped in La Honda for a few refreshments.
I have hundreds of pictures of the various beaches, and a million memories. a million memories.
Our neighbor Larry Rogers was the football coach at HMB HS. He so wanted me to drive everyday with him and play ball in the pumpkin patch.
Like I said your website is fantastic....
I will be leaving Vancouver Island in October and will surely drive through HMB and run the 84 one more time.
I knew every turn and loop.
Thanks
Shawn
My dad owned Henry's Delicatessen in Redwood city and the 3rd Street Liquors in San Mateo off B Street.
When Ampex closed we closed the deli.
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1679 2008-09-24 13:40:30 2008-09-24 17:40:30 closed closed 1970s-shawn-mann-did-the-loop publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1222789199 _edit_last 1
John Vonderlin: Was it really a sunfish? http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/09/24/john-vonderlin-yes-it-was-a-sunfish/ Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:58:51 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1686 ocean sunfish. Like everything else, they are more beautiful in life.

To confirm what he found, John emailed Tierney Thys, who maintains oceansunfish.org. John to Tierney: I believe the attached photo is of a dead ocean sunfish that washed ashore just south of Pescadero Beach on Sept. 18th. Please confirm if it is, as I've blogged about it on a website that other beachcombers read. I included a link to your website , so hopefully they'll contact you about any other possible sightings. Washing the sand off the carcass for the photo, I noticed it was unusually heavy. Are they usually non-buoyant after death? Enjoy. John Vonderlin -------- Tierney to John: Yes indeed you have an ocean sunfish. They are the world's heaviest bony fish and slightly negatively buoyant when in the water. Thanks heaps for passing along my website information. Much appreciated. Best wishes, Tierney Thys ---------]]>
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New Book: "Kings Mountain" by HMB Review Reporter Stacy Trevenon http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/09/26/new-book-kings-mountain-by-hmb-review-reporter-stacy-trevenon/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 23:29:16 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1695

For more info, click here]]>
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Early 1900s: Pescadero Geology 010 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/09/26/early-1900s-pescadero-geology/ Sat, 27 Sep 2008 01:03:44 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1698

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John Vonderlin Looks Forward to the Golf Tournament...But his reason will surprise you... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/09/27/critic-john-vonderlin-doesnt-think-the-golf-tournament-is-such-a-bad-thing-but-johns-reason-will-surprise-you/ Sat, 27 Sep 2008 20:20:31 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1702 Samsung World Championship women's golf tournament will be played at the Ritz Carlton's two world famous courses on October 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th. Your little town is about to have 5-10,000 people descend upon it, clogging your roads, hotels, restaurants, shops, and just about everything else.  I'm sure your reactions will vary from the unbridled joy many retailers, golf aficionados or "putting-us-on-the-map" Chamber of Commerce folks will experience, to the irritated exasperation of those who value the often unhurried, quiet lifestyle, and nearly empty beaches, living on the coastside usually provides. I must confess, despite living on the wrong side of "over the hill," yet valuing highly the solitude I can usually find when I come to visit your beautiful coastside, I am thrilled about the tournament. But, for the oddest reason. You see, lately, Neptune's Vomitorium has become active again, spitting out a few golf balls and remnants. For the last year, or so, despite coughing up many thousands of items of non-buoyant Marine Debris, golf balls & golf ball remnants have  greatly decreased in number amongst that bonanza. I attribute that to Meg and I having collected more then four hundred "fresh" golf balls from the reef below the 18th hole of the "Old Course," at the Ritz Carlton, during exceptionally low tides last year. With a diminished supply getting caught up in the Longshore Current, and swept 15 miles south before being regurgitated by Neptune's Vomitorium, onto Invisible Beach, I fear that my collecting efforts there have been harmed. At Neptune’s Vomitorium, it's a lessened, "Garbage In/ Garbage Out" situation. My "101 Tires" art project also seems to have been affected. By dragging nearly 80 tires off the beach at Tunitas Creek, many of which are still stockpiled there, I have interfered with the "natural" flow of tires southward. I haven't seen a single tire in more then six months at Pescadero Point. While I suppose it's better not to have a highly visited tourist spot scarred with old tires, the carry- up- the- hill is a heck of a lot easier at Pescadero Point than at Tunitas.  I've hoisted myself by my own petard as they say. I don't think you'll see me braving the crowds during the tournament, but rest assured I'll be prowling the reef below the Sunken Cathedral in the days after, hoping to add a few of the professional's customized, personalized "lost souls" to my large collection. And, if they should slip away from me there, I'll keep my hope alive that they will successfully make the "Silent Procession" to Neptune's Vomitorium. Attached are pictures of the 13 specimens I've found at Invisible Beach in the last two weeks. They’re an excellent cross-section of the “regular” and “driving range balls”, skins, cores and a "shrunken head" that I found.

Check out the close-up of the  "shrunken head," the kind of eroded golf ball I value so much and like to use in my large collection of golf ball/natural wonder art.

--------------- For those curious about the tournament’s history, as well as the origins of golf’s more obscure jargon, here’s what I learned. The Samsung World Championship is an annual golf tournament, originating in 1980, for professional female golfers which takes place every October on the LPGA Tour. It is a limited player event, open by invitation only. The tournament was founded in 1980 by Mark McCormack, founder of the sports management firm IMG, originally with the world’s top-12 LPGA players. The field was increased to 16 players in 1996 and to 20 in 1999. Electronics manufacturer Samsung became the title sponsor in 1995. Tournament names through the years: * 1980-1984: Chevrolet World Championship of Women's Golf * 1985-1989: Nestle World Championship * 1990: Trophee Urban-World Championship of Women's Golf * 1991: Daikyo World Championship of Women's Golf * 1992: no tournament * 1993-1994: World Championship of Women's Golf * 1995-1999: Samsung World Championship of Women's Golf * 2000-present: Samsung World Championship "Fore!" is shouted as a warning during a golf game when it appears possible that a golf ball may hit other players or spectators. The mention of the term in an 1881 British Golf Museum indicates that the term was in use at least as early as that period. [1] The term means "look ahead", and it is believed to come from the military "beware before", which was shouted when a battery fired behind friendly troops.[2][3][4] Other possible origins include the term being derived from the term "fore-caddy", a caddy waiting down range from the golfer to find where the ball lands. These caddies were often warned about oncoming golf balls by a shout "fore!".[5][6] The Colonel Bogey March is based on the descending minor third which the original Colonel Bogey whistled instead of yelling Fore around 1914.[7] It may have also may have a contraction of the Gaelic cry Faugh a Ballach! (i.e. Clear the way!) which is still associated with the sport of road bowling which has features reminiscent of golf. Bogey One-over-par (+1). "Going round in Bogey" originally meant an overall par score, starting at the Great Yarmouth Golf Club in 1890, and based on a popular music hall song "Here Comes the Bogey Man". Nationally players competed against "Colonel Bogey" and this in turn gave the title to a 1914 marching tune Birdie One-under-par (-1). The term is believed to have originated during a game at the Atlantic City Country Club in Northfield, New Jersey in 1903.[1][2] It seems that one day in 1899, three golfers - William Poultney Smith, founding member of Pine Valley, his brother Ab Smith, and George Crump (who later built Pine Valley, about 45 miles away) – were playing together when Crump hit his second shot only inches from the cup on a par-four hole after his first shot had struck a bird in flight. Simultaneously, the Smith brothers exclaimed that Crump's shot was "a bird." Crump's short putt left him one under par for the hole, and from that day the three of them referred to such a score as a "birdie." In short order, the entire membership of the club began using the term and, since as a resort the Atlantic City Country Club had a lot of out-of-town visitors, the expression spread and caught the fancy of all American golfers Albatross Three-under-par (-3); also called a double eagle (even though it's technically an eagle-and-a-half). These are extremely rare, and occur on par-fives with a strong drive and a holed approach shot. Holes-in-one on par-four holes (generally short ones) are also albatrosses. The most famous albatross was made by Gene Sarazen in 1935, which propelled him into a tie for first at The Masters Tournament. He won the playoff the next day. The sportswriters of the day termed it "the shot heard 'round the world". Between 1970 and 2003, 84 such shots (an average of less than three per year) were recorded on the PGA Tour.[4] ]]>
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The Forest http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/09/27/the-forest/ Sun, 28 Sep 2008 02:56:56 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1712

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The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 52 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/10/02/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-52/ Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:51:54 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1722 Chapter 52 The rift between businessman Joe Levy and landowner Loren Coburn grew as wide as the Pacific Ocean to the west of the quaint village of Pescadero. They went from building and tearing down the fence that kept people out of Pebble Beach to directly competing for passengers in the transportation business. Mr. Levy was already running stages from San Mateo to Half Moon Bay to Pescadero. In March 1892, Mr. Coburn leaped into the stage business, too. He purchased two big Mt. Hamilton coaches, with a ten-twelve passenger capacity. Three daily stages: Mon. Wed. Fri. He announced that his fares would be low, lower than that of Mr. Levy.  He called his company the "People's Stage Line." Right away there were problems for Coburn's new stage line. Why didn't Loren expect a glitch at Half Moon Bay? That's where the Levy Brothers had their flagship general store. What happened is that the People's Stage Line couldn't get out of town as fast as Joe Levy's stagecoaches. Something about no one to water and feed the exhausted horses. Then came the price war. In May 1892 Coburn charged $1.10 for the trip over the hill. In response, Levy dropped his prices. Feeling optimistic, Loren Coburn bought more coaches and extended the itinerary to include San Francisco, 95 cents, one way. After both sides dropped prices, they raised them again during the summer---but Loren never could overcome the delay at Half Moon Bay and eventually quit the stagecoach business. .]]> 1722 2008-10-02 20:51:54 2008-10-03 00:51:54 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter-52 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1225204822 _edit_last 1 Memorial Park in Black & White http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/10/03/memorial-park/ Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:24:51 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1726

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The Silent Procession: New Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/10/03/the-silent-procession-new-story-by-john-vonderlin/ Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:28:26 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1730 It had been a while since I'd been to the latter, and I wanted to clean the reef of golf balls before the big Samsung Golf Tournament that started yesterday. There were only a few more visitors then normal, but the place was a beehive of activity. Big tents raised along the hotel's southern side, Samsung signs everywhere, huge light pole trucks waiting to be positioned, workers buzzing around everywhere on electric carts, talking earnestly on their cell phones. Things are really coming together for their moment in the sun, or at least the Golf Channel. The nearly unique-in-golf-tournament-history twenty-six minute fog delay the competitors experienced yesterday, certainly put a Northern California coastal imprint on that moment in the sun.Wearing my kayak booties I was able to splash around the rock promontory that isolates the beach below the Ritz except at low tide and had the Sunken Cathedral Beach to myself. The Sunken Cathedral's ruins seemed a little more eroded from its cliffside grave then the last time I saw it, but still looks like it has a few more good years in it. I took some obligatory pictures of it with my camera, trying a few different angles from those previously tried. I was hoping to luck out and capture the somber, brooding aspect of this monument to some developer's cleverness. I also shot a little video of it with my new, cool Flip Video, which I'll send in a subsequent email. I obviously need some more practice with it, but so do the golfers whose errant balls I began to collect as I started northward. I ended up gathering 59 balls.

But, probably got only part of those that were there, as there was a lot of seaweed filling the holes in the reef where they often gather. I tried to locate them in their hiding places, but feeling around with my feet in the slippery mess for hidden balls seemed like a prescription for a broken ankle or a concussion. Note from the pictures I attached that the balls are social sea creatures. They love to congregate. While five in one place was the maximum this time, if I remember rightly, I found as many as 46 in one hole last year. It was of interest that of the 59 I gathered, only one was not complete and that most were fairly new, hardly smoothed by their time in the surf. This is very unlike those that are regurgitated by Neptune's Vomitorium, 15 miles south and perhaps many months or years into their travels. The last two pictures are of an odd congregation of marine debris I spotted south of the Sunken Cathedral as we were leaving. On first sight I thought I was looking at Cinderella's glass slipper, three complete golf balls and the pink core of another. When I picked up the small, round, spongy, pink thing and examined it carefully

I realized that it was the severed "head" of a personal item. While I was glad to add it to my collection of adult-themed marine debris items, it made me doubt that Cinderella had anything to do with the "glass slipper." Or maybe Walt Disney left that part of the story out. My trip to Invisible Beach that day produced a bonanza of oddities or superlatives I'd like to share in my next posting. Enjoy. John]]>
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1978: Oil in La Honda? http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/10/06/1978-oil-in-la-honda/ Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:49:33 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1747

Rick Sullivan wrote this in 1978. Wes Dognetti surveys the gentle coastal hills west of La Honda and gazes serenely at the Pacific below. “I’m told that close to a million barrels have been taken from these fields since oil was discovered here (in the mid 1800s) . And there’s probably a lot more down there.” Dognetti should know. For the past 20 years he’s worked as La Honda superintendent for a variety of firms, including the ZIA Petroleum Corp, the newest in a line of independent companies that hope enough oil remains in the overworked fields for them to cash in on the skyrocketing price of oil. ZIA’s president, William Weaver, Jr. of Long Beach, is among a number of south state entrepreneurs traveling north to seek their fortunes in the precious black crude. While the so-called "majors" of the petroleum industry are reviewing potentially rich deposits off the Northern California shoreline, smaller oil firms such as ZIA are taking a closer look at abandoned wells in the coastal hills of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. So far, ZIA likes what it sees. The independent company, in limited partnership with Union Oil, last year successfully rejuvenated 12 "stripper wells" in the upper and lower La Honda Fields. The company is now pumping an average of 100 barrels of crude daily. In the next few years, ZIA hopes to have 21 additional wells in operation, pumping a total of 2,000 barrels per day. At the current price of almost $12 a barrel, ZIA is happily staring at a potential yearly gross of $8.6 million. Oil production in San Mateo County could indeed become big business. Weaver got a taste of good fortune in his new enterprise earlier this month. The 44-year-old ZIA president contacted the San Mateo County Planning Department on a recent Thursday to inquire about oil exploration permits near the South Coast. He was advised permits would run $200 per well, but on the following Monday would increase to $2,000--the hefty hike a direct result of the property tax restrictions imposed by Proposition 13. Weaver hastily boarded a plane on Friday morning to fly north. He issued the planning office a check for $4,200 plus another $350 in other environmental fees for 21 oil drilling applications. Had Weaver waited one more day to make his inquiry, he would have been required to pay the county a total of $45,550 for the same number of applications. Weaver can only hope that the almost miraculous paper savings of more than $40,000 is a signal of the financial prosperity that awaits his three-year-old enterprise. The county has never earned the distinction of contributing mightily to the national petroleum reserve. In fact, it seems safe to assume few are aware oil is pumped from the ground of this predominantly suburban region. But according to Weaver, a professional engineer and businessman who says he has researched the oil drilling history of Northern California, the coastal hills of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties were among the first areas of the state to be tapped for commercial oil production. It was in the year 1865, says Weaver, that a San Francisco druggist Charles Morrell, was tipped by the rugged timbermen of the era that crude oil was actually bubbling from the ground on the grassy slopes near La Honda and Half Moon Bay and south into Santa Clara. Weaver relates that the intrepid druggist laid claim to this land, ladled the crude from man-made sumps and marketed the liquid as illuminates for lamps. Later, more sophisticated light, steam engines were employed to pump the crude oil. Petroleum giants such as Exxon, Texaco and Union purchased mineral rights to the land in the mid 1950s and established more modern, gas-operated commercial pumps on land that is now part of the Cowell Ranch south of Purisima, the Amburst and Savage land, and the Peter Folger property off San Gregorio Road, about 2 1/2 miles west of La Honda. What attracted the majors to the area, according to Weaver, was the relatively shallow depths of the deposits, and the "low gravity" content of the oil, which eased refining the crude into gasoline. In some sections the sticky crude was found within 15 feet of ground level, but in most areas oil was hit after drilling 1,600 feet to 2,400 feet. These depths are considered by oilmen to be extremely shallow. By comparison, most Texas wells are sunk 10,000 feet and more. But the shallow wells, however convenient, didn't produce what was hoped for by the majors. The wells yielded far less than newly discovered deposits in the southern states and overseas. In the late 1950s, according to Weaver, oil was selling for about $1.85 per barrel. "The majors just couldn't show a reasonable profit with their La Honda wells at the price," he notes. Most of the large companies quit-claimed their leases and they passed uneventfully to the Neaves Petroleum Co., then to the South Western Apache Petroleum Co., then back to Neaves. Weaver's ZIA Corp purchased Neaves mineral rights to the scenic coastal slopes in 1975. With these rights was an agreement that that the owners of the land that contained the oil would be guaranteed a percentage of the gross production. Twelve gas-operated iron pumps, unseen from the La Honda Road, and nestled in the hills among patches of wild thistle, operate 24 hours a day. In what is locally referred to as the Lower La Honda Field just north of the roadway, a barb-wire fenced compound contains a cluster of storage tanks and machinery. There water and gas is separated from the oil pumped from the ground and stored. The gas is used to operate the pumps, water is injected back into the earth and the oil is transported from the field tanks to a large tank closer to the road. ZIA Oil is sold to Union, which in turn sells it to the Shell Oil Refinery in Martinez. "What we've done (in purchasing these leases)," comments Weaver, is to turn heretofore marginally profitable wells into ones that are quite profitable. "One has to remember that we (oilmen) are now getting five times as much for oil than was given six or seven years ago," adds Weaver, who reminds how the Arab oil embargo dramatically boosted the price of a barrel of crude. Weaver further advises that the market now for crude oil is far greater in Northern California than in the south--the major transfer point for Alaskan tankers. ZIA has attempted to keep a low profile, skirting any publicty for fear of hassles from environmentalists and vandals. Weverr employs Dognetti--an old time oilman--schooled not in high finance, but in the muck, the ditches and the heat of the Casmalia oil fields near Vandenburg--to guard and maintain the facilities. But Weaver claims his operation is ecologically sound, and reminds that in the long run his business can add much needed revenue to local government coffers. He must pay a mineral tax based on production.]]>
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A Gumboot, a Pectoral Girdle & Snotsicles....New Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/10/06/a-gumboot-a-pectoral-girdle-snotsiclesnew-story-by-john-vonderlin/ Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:51:31 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1749 A Gumboot, a Pectoral Girdle and Snotsicles Story/Photos by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June, My last trip to Invisible Beach didn't fail to amaze, mystify and amuse me with oddities and superlatives as usual. The first treasure spotted was the largest and freshest Gumboot Chiton I've ever seen washed ashore.

This lovely brute, the largest of the numerous chiton species, measured nearly twelve inches end- to- end, close to the listed max of 13 or 14, you'll find in books. What made it particularly special was that it still had its gills, those brown tentacle-like things arranged in curves on either side of the large central foot. I'd never seen these in such good shape before, in the hundreds of chitons I've seen washed ashore through the years. In this enlarged picture of its mouth you can clearly see its radula, the mouth-part it uses to scrape its food, various algaes, off the reef.

Here's an excerpt from "Gumboot Chiton Wikipedia" that explains the origins of this strange creature's names. By the way, "Gumby" or should it be "Gumbo?," is presently immersed in a sloppy mix of water and soil in a bucket, so that I can eventually remove the giant butterfly-shaped valves or plates, for artistic use, after it decomposes.

The name, "gumboot chiton," seems to derive from a resemblance to part of a rubber Wellington boot or "gum rubber" boot. These boots were previously known as gumboots. However, support for this apparent etymology is scanty; the Giant Pacific Gumboot Chiton Homepage states "it has reminded others of the sole of a gum rubber boot", and an Alaskan seashore field guide says it is named "from the animal's resemblance to the rubber, or gum, boots worn by Alaska's coastal residents."

Neptune's Vomitorium, had coughed up the next beach oddity, this strange piece of cartilage.

I'd seen smaller, partial versions of similar-shaped chunks previously, one still connected to the recognizable parts of a ray, so I was pretty sure I knew what it came from. After a little websearching I discovered it is called a pectoral girdle. Rays, sharks, fish, even people have them, though the fish's and ours are composed of bones not cartilage. It provides a strong, stable foundation to anchor fins and arms onto, so they can do their vital work. My belief is this must be from a quite large ray.

There were also several unusual types of algae in the wrack that had washed up at Invisible Beach, and despite hours of research, I'm still trying to identify them.

I was, however, able to find the answer to what that strange hole was in the Sea Star photo I sent you last time. I found the Sea Star under a foot of water right next to a golf ball. There was a perfectly round hole in it, perhaps as much as a half an inch wide. .It turns out that this hole, that I think I've seen before, but can't clearly remember when, is something that all Sea Stars have. It’s called a "madreporite." (Mother of all holes?) It’s tightly closed in Sea Stars washed up on the beach, or clinging to the rocks when the tide recedes, so it’s not often seen. Wikipedia explains it as:  "The madreporite is an opening used to filter water into the water vascular system of echinoderms. It is visible as a small red or yellow button-like structure, looking like a small wart, on the aboral surface of the central disk of a starfish." On the same day, at a nearby beach, I saw several other oddities I'd like to share. There had been a mass stranding of almost fifty large Moon Jellyfish. They were in really good shape.

You can tell the two in the picture are both male by the fact that the horseshoe-shaped gonads visible through their translucent flesh are purplish. Females' are white or yellowish. The strange coincidence of them being side by side on a spacious beach is due to the fact that Moon Jellyfish, or Aurelia aurita, as they are officially known, are unique amongst the large medusa species because they don’t capture prey with their tentacles. Instead they trap zooplankton in the mucus coating the outer surface of their bell and their oral arms. That old song lyric by Mary Wells, "I'm stuck like glue to my guy," might be relevant in this case. Nearby another oddity lay exposed in a sandy cliff above the normal reach of the waves. A number of iron-oxide-stained, stalactite-like features hung down from the eroded cliffside.

After an examination I believe I know what they are. They are the early stage of concretions that form around roots or twigs. While they were still buried, iron-containing materials had accreted around them. If the roots had stayed buried and calcium-rich water had percolated through the sand, I believe the cementation process that creates concretions would have happened.

Not far away, flowing over a low seaside cliff into the sand, was a another oddity that doesn't have a name that I can be sure of. Upon seeing the photo, my brother insisted it was either a snotsicle or snottite. He'd watched a show on spelunking recently and both snotsicle and snottite were mentioned. Unfortunately, the word snotsicle is also commonly used to denote the frozen result of a runny nose. On the other hand snottite only occurs in caves, so neither name is quite right. A Wikipedia article, besides pictures, had this excerpt about snottite: "Snottites are colonies of single-celled extremophilic bacteria. They hang from the walls and ceilings of caves and are similar to small stalactites, but have the consistency of 'snot', or mucus. "The bacteria derive their energy from chemosynthesis of volcanic sulfur compounds and warm-water solution dripping down from above. Because of this, they are highly acidic, some with the corrosive properties of battery acid." Yow! Where's my teflon kleenex? As I said in the beginning of this posting, a trip to the San Mateo coast almost always provides me with a sense of awe, mystery and amusement at what Neptune and Mother Nature have to offer. I wonder what this week will manifest? Enjoy. John

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The Sunken Cathedral in Three Acts http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/10/07/the-sunken-cathedral-in-three-acts/ Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:58:18 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1795 To view The Sunken Cathedral, Act I, click here To view the Sunken Cathedral, Act II, click here To view The Sunken Cathedral, Act III, click here]]> 1795 2008-10-07 12:58:18 2008-10-07 16:58:18 closed closed the-sunken-cathedral-in-three-acts publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1223399971 _edit_last 1 Russell Towle Tribute Weekend http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/10/08/russell-towle-tribute-weekend/ Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:03:49 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1804 RUSSELL TOWLE TRIBUTE WEEKEND October 11-12 • Dutch Flat, California Please join us for any or all of these events. Children are welcome. ***** SATURDAY, October 11, 2008 ***** 9:00 am, Dutch Flat Community Center: TAKE A HIKE! Honor and remember Russ with a hike to one of his favorite places. Destinations will depend on the weather, the number of people, and hiking ability levels. Bring lunch. We'll return to Dutch Flat in time for the Quesadilla Dinner. 12:00 Noon to 4:00, Dutch Flat, ongoing: • Golden Dri* museum open, and featuring Russ's local history publications, with Sally Towle. • Art show (Russ's art and art he inspired) at the Community Center. • NFARA (North Fork American River Alliance) exhibit and membership drive • Story recording room -- Record "Russell stories" and memories for his family, and for posterity. • Russell-inspired crafting, with Shellie Towle. (The "Russell Towle Coloring Book"/Geometric model building/Make a "God's eye" / Make a dreamcatcher...) 4:00 to 6:00, Dutch Flat Community Center: QUESADILLA DINNER. Open to all. 6:30, Dutch Flat Community Center: MULTIMEDIA PROGRAM Featuring Russ's geometrical imaging work, computer animation, music, artwork, and his fascination with the North Fork American River Canyon. Also, short presentations by family and friends. ***** SUNDAY October 12, 2008 ***** 9:00 a.m. to 11:30: VISIT RUSS'S FAMILY AT HIS HOME ON MOODY RIDGE Come prepared to walk a bit If you are able—wear trail shoes/clothes, and enjoy the paths and viewspots Russ has been grooming on this 25 acres of magical canyon rim woodland for the 33 years he lived here. It is unfailingly beautiful here in October. Take the Alta exit from I-80 (17 miles E of Colfax) and follow signs. 12:00 Noon to 4:00, Dutch Flat Community Center SHARING CIRCLE, followed by a POTLUCK (vegetarian food please!) Camping will be available Friday to Monday in Russell's meadow; and a few Dutch Flat Hotel beds will be available Friday and Saturday night. We can also arrange beds with local friends who have spare rooms. Questions? Ideas for the Saturday evening program? Email rememberingrussell@mindspring.com. Donations to assist Russell's family may be made be made in care of the family's attorney. Write "For the Russell Towle Family" on your check, and make payable to: Gerhard Stoll, Attorney / 425 California St. #1900 / San Francisco, CA 94104]]> 1804 2008-10-08 20:03:49 2008-10-09 00:03:49 closed closed russell-towle-tribute-weekend publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_last 1 _edit_lock 1223510630 How Bean Hollow Lagoon Got Its Name Change....New Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/10/13/how-bean-hollow-lagoon-got-its-name-changenew-story-by-john-vonderlin/ Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:15:09 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1807 1807 2008-10-13 19:15:09 2008-10-13 23:15:09 closed closed how-bean-hollow-lagoon-got-its-name-changenew-story-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1223939710 _edit_last 1 Lost & Found...1984 Story by Charles Jones http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/10/14/lost-found1984-story-by-charles-jones/ Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:40:45 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1810 1810 2008-10-14 15:40:45 2008-10-14 19:40:45 closed closed lost-found1984-story-by-charles-jones publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1224952027 _edit_last 1 John: Do You See The Man in the Woods? June: I see it! I see it! http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/10/16/john-do-you-see-the-man-in-the-woods-june-i-see-it-i-see-it/ Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:40:25 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1823 In an earlier post, I put up a still photo called "The Forest," an image originally taken from a flip video. Here it is: A few weeks ago my longtime partner Burt's cousins were here from the East Coast and Colorado. I wanted to show them my beautiful Coastside---especially after they had visited Muir Woods in Marin County. I told them we had our own forest and it was unlike any other they had ever seen. I took them down Tunitas Creek Road. At one point we got out of the car and I played with the flip, shot some moving pictures. And then I sent "The Forest" image to John.....and he mystified then frustrated me by commenting that he saw a little man's head in the pix. I could not see it. I couldn't see it for the longest time because I was looking for Burt's head, or a head belonging to one of the cousins..... ------ John:
Hi June,
Could you send the Flip photo of the woods I saw the man's head in to me and I'll frame, accentuate etc. it  for you? It was just a small bit of pareidolia, something I see a lot of because of my collecting habits. When I first started showing Meg some of my pareidolic stuff she soon found the rock I've attached a picture of
and gifted it to me. It's a simple profile, but reminds me of the little Tiki Gods that were popular in Hawaii when I was a kid. The "head" in the photo was a similar profile. When we were kids we could lay on our backs and see pictures in the clouds. Or monsters created by hanging clothes in our closets in a darkened room. Thank God pulling the covers over our head protected me from the latter. We tend to lose that "skill" as the world's adult worries gather on our ever more stooping shoulders. I suppose my fascination with pareidolia may be an attempt to "recapture the inner child" as the book promoted some time ago. However, the ability to see the predator hiding in the woods or bushes from limited stimuli is probably a hardwired survival trait. Once we became a weaponized species our fellow man was probably the most common of the dangerous predators hiding in wait. This, and our narcissism, may explain the majority of pareidolic topographical features being related to humans. While writing a story on the evolutionary significance of pareidolia I came on a scientific paper that theorized the young infant's ability to recognize its mother or other parental figures' facial features very early on, and respond favorably, was important in creating the bond necessary for a species that has such a long period of vulnerability. Whatever the truth it gives me one more form of amusement and another group of things to look for. Enjoy. John ------- Email John Vonderlin (benloudman@sbcgobal.net)]]>
1823 2008-10-16 11:40:25 2008-10-16 15:40:25 closed closed john-do-you-see-the-man-in-the-woods-june-i-see-it-i-see-it publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1224354419 _edit_last 1
Meet Me At Bathhouse Rock....Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/10/18/come-to-my-bathhouse-rockstory-by-john-vonderlin/ Sun, 19 Oct 2008 00:24:29 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1832 John Vonderlin sets out to find "Bathhouse Rock" Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
I mentioned, a few postings back, that after having had the chance to read Dr. Alan K. Brown's (circa 1960s) book, "Place Names of San Mateo County," gave me a passel of new (yet very old) places to research, hunt for, explore, photograph and write about. Now I've found a place name I think you'll find particularly interesting, given you wrote the definitive book on Loren Coburn. Dr. Brown's book is available for purchase at the San Mateo County History Museum in Redwood City.
You'll recall, in a series of my postings about trying to find any remains of Loren "Coburn's Folly", I lifted a few 19th century quotes about the expensive "white elephant" hotel from your book, "The Coburn Mystery."  One San Francisco reporter guaranteed visitors foolish enough to enter the treacherous waters near Pebble Beach almost certain death, or at least serious injury, from being battered on the sharp, pointy rocks near Loren's unpopular hotel. For me, Dr. Brown's magic word was "Bathhouse Rock," and simply stated it is: "The large rock just off Pescadero Point, Coast Highway, 1.4 miles south of the Pescadero Junction. Evidently one of the Pebble Beach Hotel bathhouses was here in the 1890s."  Well,  the name and description of "Bathhouse Rock" may have been one short entry in Dr. Brown's book but it got me to return to Pescadero Point, one of my favorite places on the South Coast. I wanted to try to envision what had actually been going on there over a hundred years ago.
I first thought that there weren't any rocks offshore of Pescadero Point, at least, not one that I would have perched a bathhouse on. The possibility of being swept away by a rogue wave while lounging in a bathtub, no matter how spectacular a view you were enjoying, would have justified the negative review by the 19th century San Francisco reporter But my recent return visit to the area leads me to believe Dr. Brown got it right. That means the reporter was probably doing nothing more then relaying the distortions Pescaderans were telling him because of their abiding anger at Loren Coburn and the lengthy "Pebble Beach War." My visit also offered a bit of support to Mr. Coburn's dream of building a resort that could compete with the luxurious Del Monte Hotel in Monterey County.
I've written about Pescadero Point many times. It was the spot where a large blue whale carcass washed ashore on September 6, 1979. The 86 foot female's skeleton was recovered and is now displayed at the Long Marine Lab (Seymour Marine Discovery Center)in Santa Cruz.
It is said to be the largest on display in the world. I also wrote about and shared some photographs of the numerous "tafoni" and scattering of concretions found on Pescadero Point..

Once I arrived on the South Coast, I photographed the only large rock just offshore of the Point that I remembered and immediately dismissed it as the former site of the bathhouse.. Perching a bathhouse on this rock, one that is inaccessible at high tide, and often overwashed by large waves, was not something the clever, but irascible Mr. Coburn would have countenanced.

Scrambling over the rocky Point I had a sudden epiphany. The rock Dr. Brown referred to in his place names book was the whole Point, which is separated in large part by a long, shallow, water-filled depression connected to the ocean only at high tide. Surveying the scene I came to believe that this was the site of one of Coburn's bathhouses. And an impressive site it was. Not only is the Point composed and covered with all sorts of geologic oddities; it protects the large, shallow, wading pool behind it from the surf.  Above the pool there's a spacious, flat shelf, that is relatively well-protected from the wind. It would have been a perfect place for Loren Coburn's Pebble Beach hotel guests to set up a sun umbrella and enjoy a picnic lunch, while keeping a close eye on the kids as they splashed or swam in the natural pool or checked out the nearby tidepools. Furthermore, when scrambling over the Point's rocks to the north you come upon Fiddler's Cove, a long, sandy stretch of beach, protected from rogue waves by a wide, flat reef barely under water except at low tide. It's here that I like to launch my kayak. Not only is the bottom sandy right next to the Point, but by staying in the wave-shadow of the large offshore rock, I can shorten the distance I'm exposed to large waves as I make a mad dash-paddle to the calmer waters further offshore.
As you climb over the Point's rock, you'll find several fairly deep, large bathtub-sized holes in the rock, holes that are usually filled with water from the high tide's surf.

Warmed by the sun they provide a comfortable soak, with a spectacular view, if you're willing to share your bath with a small crab or two.
If you want to visit this area, and judge for yourself whether "Coburn's Folly" got a fair shake from some city slicker hack a hundred years ago, I'd recommend you check the California Coastal Records Project website and look at the Pescadero Point picture (click here and those surrounding it. You'll find there are few spots as easily accessible along the San Mateo Coast, that have as many unusual, interesting, and enjoyable things to see in such close proximity,  as this relatively, infrequently visited stretch of the coast. Enjoy. John
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Early Early Pioneers: Getting to know Dr. Goodspeed better http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/10/21/getting-to-know-dr-goodspeed-better/ Wed, 22 Oct 2008 00:54:45 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1871 You mention Peninsula Farms Company as the buyer of Loren Coburn's land after his death. You also mention it went bankrupt in 1928. I can find no connection with Mr. Hearst. Peninsula Farms did register a number of Parcels in 1923 as they divided up the land. Many of those are mentioned in Peninsula Open Space Trust's  (P.O.S.T.'s) acquisitions. I suspect Mr. F.L. Lathrop just moved on to another employer, in this case Mr. Hearst, when the company folded. Eventually, I'll be able to check Mr. Hearst's papers at Berkeley to see what I can find.
I did find out that Lathrop, California was named after Charles Gardner Lathrop(though others say Ariel Lathrop, another of Jane's brothers) Stanford set up the town as part of his railroad efforts, hoping to compete with Stockton.
I also ran into the following excerpt, about one of Pescadero's leading citizens in Alexander's book. I've got to get up to the Archives to see this. It has the picture of Lobitos Cave and of nearby geologic oddities I wanted to see. Enjoy. John

Source: History of San Mateo County by Philip W. Alexander & Charles P. Hamm page 174-176. Press of Burlingame Publishing Co., Burlingame, CA. 1916.

Dr. Isaac R. Goodspeed FOR fifty-six years—more than half a century, Dr. Isaac R. Goodspeed has been one of the foremost citizens of San Mateo County; coming here when a young doctor with the ink on his diploma hardly dry, he remained in the county ever since. During this time he has been identified with many successful business enterprises and has faithfully filled the various offices he has held for both San Mateo City and County. Dr. Goodspeed was born in China, Maine, on May 30, 1831. In 1854 he graduated from Bowdoin Medical College, one of a class of nineteen. Today he is the only living member of that class. He began the practice of medicine at Milwaukee, and in 1854 he was married to Miss Elizabeth P. Woodcock at Gardiner, Maine. A short time after his graduation he went west to Chicago, and in 1858 came to California. He tried mining in Nevada for a while, but with indifferent success; and soon came to San Francisco and opened an office on Kearny street, where he remained until 1860. In the Spring of this year he decided to try his luck down the peninsula. He liked the climate of Pescadero so well that he settled in this town and remained there for the next ten years. For two years he taught school and practiced medicine. Then he went into the merchandise business and later on tried ranching,—all the time keeping up the practice of medicine. His other activities while at Pescadero were, serving as Justice of the Peace, ex-officio Coroner, and Associate County Judge with one of the justices of the Santa Cruz Bar. In those days Pescadero was in Santa Cruz County, and did not until 1868 become a part of San Mateo County. It was through Dr. Goodspeed's ceasless activity, in conjunction with Judge Templeton's legislative work, that this addition was made to San Mateo County, amounting to about 140 square miles of new territory. While at Pescadero, although there were many hard characters to deal with, Dr. Goodspeed was instrumental in keeping this place as peaceable as a New England town by driving out the unruly element. In 1870 he came to San Mateo and began to practice. His career at Pescadero had been most successful: everything that he touched seemed to turn to gold. The corner where the cigar store stands, opposite the S. P. Station was purchased by him when he came to San Mateo, and is still owned by him. Dr. Goodspeed was soon elected Coroner. He served as postmaster from 1875-82. In 1882 he received the Republican nomination for the state senate but like all other candidates of that party, he suffered defeat, although he ran 5000 ahead of his ticket and received 400 majority in his own county. He was chairman of the Republican Central Committee for sixteen years. He held the position of Surgeon of the Sat Mateo County Hospital for thirty-five years, and was the Division Surgeon for the Southern Pacific Company from San Francisco to Monterey from 1895-97. In 1882 he was appointed Surgeon of the Steamship, City of Sidney; and on his return to San Mateo found that his property had been destroyed by fire, which wiped out a whole block, with a loss of $5,000 to him. Dr. Goodspeed has served several years as school trustee, and filled an appointment about fifteen years ago, from former Governor Pardee, as State Examiner for Insanity. In addition to his local activities, Dr. Goodspeed has found time to make five trips to the east. January 23, 1916 was the sixtieth anniversary of Dr. Goodspeed's marriage. Both Dr. and Mrs. Goodspeed are hale and hearty. There are a son and daughter: Edward Goodspeed, freight agent at San Mateo; and Mrs. R. J. Pye of Santa Rosa.]]>
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Dr. Alan K. Brown's Book of Place Names for San Mateo County http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/10/23/dr-alan-k-browns-book-of-place-names-for-san-mateo-county/ Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:00:08 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1877 San Mateo County History Museum in Redwood City. The museum is located in the historic courthouse, an adventure in itself.]
Hi June,
While reading Dr. Brown's book, "Place Names of San Mateo County," I came across a listing for Bean Hollow. In the "Coburn's Folly"/Bean Hollow thread you posted recently, I had hypothesized that Bean Hollow or it's Spanish equivalent, "Canada del Frijol," might be from as early as the Portola Expedition, (though I had only my sketchy memory and not any proof.) I had thought that it might have been named after the bean-shaped seeds of the coastal Lupine, some species of which have a long history of being used as a food source, though others are poisonous. Considering what Portola's expedition were eating by that time in the expedition, it didn't seem out of the question
Here's Dr. Brown's thoughts on the matter:  "This is a precise translation of the Spanish "Canada del Frijol,"  a name which seems to have been applied in the 1840s. Perhaps, some ex-Mission Indian had a bean patch there. The present English translation was in use by 1861. "Arroyo de los Frijoles," "Frijoles Creek," and so forth, which are found on most maps, stem from an error on the Coast Survey maps of 1854, and are emphatically rejected locally. The creek running through the hollow is called Bean Hollow Creek and was called in Spanish time the "arroyo de la canada de frijol."
The Ballena Ranch sketch of 1838 calls it "Canada de la Laguna" (Lake Hollow) and Gonzales' sketch map of Ano Nuevo Ranch, about 1844, calls it "Canada Sienegosa" (marshy hollow.) "
While Dr. Brown doesn't have the definitive answer to its origin, I think it's safe to say it has nothing to do with the Portola Expedition. He's written several books about the early European explorers to the Bay Area, including Portola, and he'd know if there was a connection if anybody did.
In another matter related to Coburn and Dr. Brown, I had theorized in my posting that the F.L. Lathrop that Mr. Brown had said was the source of the renaming of Bean Hollow Lagoon to Lucerne Lake in 1923 might be related to Jane Lathrop Stanford, the co-founder of Stanford University and the wife of California Governor, Leland Stanford.
I'm not much of a genealogist, but I have been able to confirm that Jane had four brothers. One of them was Charles Gardner Lathrop,   Mrs. Stanford retained him as a member of the Stanford board of trustees, and in 1892 made him treasurer and business manager of the University. During his stewardship of Stanford which lasted until until 1914, Mr. Lathrop had an almost twenty year working relationship with Frederick Law Olmstead. Mr. Olmstead, is the "American Father of Landscape Architecture".
New York's Central Park, The Cal Berkeley Campus and Stanford University are just three of the hundreds of famous projects he planned in his career. (Great Wikipedia article "Frederick Law Olmsted)
When he retired in 1898 because of dementia, his apprentice son, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. and another stepson continued his legacy for over fifty years. They were instrumental in starting the National Park system. Many of the Parks' designs (including Yosemite, where there is an Olmsted Point) are of their creation. (another good Wikipedia article "Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.")
I know that Charles Lathrop named his son Leland Stanford Lathrop and his grandson was named Leland Stanford Lathrop Jr., but there were three other Lathrop brothers. Perhaps, they wanted just as illustrious names for their sons.
The land company that you mention in "Coburn's Mystery," that bought Coburn's land after his death and that employed the mysterious F.L. Lathrop of Lucerne Lake fame, may have been owned by the Hearst Corporation. He certainly loved coastal ranches. More when I find out. Enjoy. John

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1877 2008-10-23 12:00:08 2008-10-23 16:00:08 closed closed dr-alan-k-browns-book-of-place-names-for-san-mateo-county publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1224952308 _edit_last 1
Save the Redwoods Timeline http://pescaderomemories.com/save-the-redwoods-timeline/ Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:10:35 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?page_id=1880 Save the Redwoods Timeline Story by john Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
It turns out there is still an Olmsted and Bros. Map Co. in Berkeley, specializing in trail maps apparently. I believe it all springs from the following excerpts. Note that it is Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. as Sr. died in 1903. John Charles Olmsted, Jr.'s stepbrother was surely involved too. They must have visited, surveyed, etc. all our local state parks or places the Redwood League hoped would become State Parks, Butano included.  Enjoy. John
1927 California Governor C.C. Young signed legislation creating the California State Parks Commission and funding a state park survey by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.
1928 California voters approved funds to establish a state park system and allocated $6 million in state park bond funds for acquisition of park lands. Save the Redwoods League led the campaign to win public approval of these bonds.
Olmsted's report of his state park survey was published. It served for many years as the blueprint for state park acquisitions and development.
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1880 2008-10-24 12:10:35 2008-10-24 16:10:35 closed closed save-the-redwoods-timeline publish 0 0 page 0 _edit_lock 1224864635 _edit_last 1
Save the Redwoods Timeline http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/10/24/save-the-redwoods-timeline/ Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:12:03 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1882 Save the Redwoods Timeline Story by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
It turns out there is still an Olmsted and Bros. Map Co. in Berkeley, specializing in trail maps apparently. I believe it all springs from the following excerpts. Note that it is Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. as Sr. died in 1903. John Charles Olmsted, Jr.'s stepbrother was surely involved too. They must have visited, surveyed, etc. all our local state parks or places the Redwood League hoped would become State Parks, Butano included.  Enjoy. John
1927 California Governor C.C. Young signed legislation creating the California State Parks Commission and funding a state park survey by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.
1928 California voters approved funds to establish a state park system and allocated $6 million in state park bond funds for acquisition of park lands. Save the Redwoods League led the campaign to win public approval of these bonds.
Olmsted's report of his state park survey was published. It served for many years as the blueprint for state park acquisitions and development
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1882 2008-10-24 12:12:03 2008-10-24 16:12:03 closed closed save-the-redwoods-timeline publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1224952246 _edit_last 1
W.J. Savage & The Giant Trees of the South Coast http://pescaderomemories.com/wj-savage-the-giant-trees-of-the-south-coast/ Fri, 24 Oct 2008 19:30:01 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?page_id=1884 1884 2008-10-24 15:30:01 2008-10-24 19:30:01 closed closed wj-savage-the-giant-trees-of-the-south-coast publish 0 0 page 0 _edit_lock 1224879449 _edit_last 1 W.J. Savage & the Giant Trees of the South Coast http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/10/24/wj-savage-the-giant-trees-of-the-south-coast/ Fri, 24 Oct 2008 20:19:36 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1904

(Image: Mr. Dunn, the editor of the Coastside Comet poses beside a felled tree.] Woodman, spare that tree! Touch not a single bough! In youth it sheltered me, And I'll protect it now. --George Pope Morris (1830) Idealistic and poetic, W. J. Savage, the son of a former San Gregorio hotel proprietor, found his polar opposite in the ambitious Palo Alto lumberman John Dudfield. In 1913, the differences between the two men centered on a small grove of giant redwood trees located in the Coastside's remote Lynch's Gulch in Lobitos Canyon, south of Half Moon Bay. Growing up, Savage watched trees felled in the more easily accessible Coastside canyons. Lynch's Gulch could only be reached on foot, and Savage was convinced those redwoods would remain untouched by the logger's saw. But he was wrong. Savage soon learned the trees were threatened and that John Dudfield's lumber company had begun the largest logging effort ever in order to clear Lobitos Canyon. When Savage was a small boy in the early 1870s, his father often brought him to visit the redwoods in Lynch's Gulch, which was named for an Irishman Paddy Lynch, and his kindly wife who resided among the redwoods between Purissima and Tunitas canyons. W.J. Savage's father, according to my research, was probably R.W. Savage, owner of the San Gregorio House in 1872. The elder Savage described his San Gregorio House, a first-class site for trout fishermen as "one of the most homelike and and beautiful places in California." The hotel stood on the San Mateo County Coastside, 44 1/2 miles south of San Francisco via the San Mateo and Pescadero stage. Mr. Savage always kept a team of horses at the ready to take guests to "bathe" in the salty ocean half a miles away. But San Gregorio was simply a tiny farming community that could not compete as a resort with, for example, Mrs. Swanton's well known Pescadero hotel, not far from the famous pebble covered beach that drew tourists from near and far. On the frequent trips to Lynch's Gulch, R.W. Savage brought young W.J. along. He watched while his father purchased stakes, posts and pickets from "One-Eyed Sam" and "Big Bill." These woodsmen--colorful alumni of the Coatside's early logging days--shared a picturesque cabin in the redwoods, and they exposed the impressionable lad to the magical lore of the forest. The little boy came to believe in the existence of "Wild Rose Ann," a nuturing, protective spirit whose mythological powers extended deep into the shade of the big trees. W.J. Savage recalled that the land embracing Lynch's Gulch had been owned by Major McCoy, who in an attempt to preserve the trees--some more than 10 feet in diameter--sold pieces of the forest to many individual owners. McCoy believed that by diluting the decision process, the redwoods would remain undisturbed. "One Eyed Sam" and "Big Bill" also spun stories of the energetic German, Henry Dobbel, dubbed "the prince of Purissima" --a once-thriving farming community and rival of nearby Half Moon Bay. Dobbel was the driving force behind Purissima, a promising hamlet at the crossroads which boasted a schoolhouse, general store, post office and stage stop until a potato blight turned Purissima into a ghost town. Savage was about the same age as Redwood City's Tacoma Mill Company executive, John Dudfield, who wed Lillian Jury in 1897. Shortly after the wedding, Dudfield established his own lumber company, headquartered in Palo Alto. Forecasting a great demand for lumber following the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake & Fire, Dudfield searched for dependabe sources of wood, according to author Frank Stanger's "Sawmills in the Redwoods," available at the San Mateo County History Museum in Redwood City. [The book was out-of-print when, some years ago, South Coastsider Ken Fisher generously funded publication of a "new" edition.] He found his timber in the Lower Pescadero Creek area and signed a stumpage contract with the Levy Brothers, well known for their string of Coastside general stores. Dudfield logged the land west of Memorial Park, setting up his mill in present-day Loma Mar. With the invention of the steam donkey engine in 1881, Dudfield witnessed the transition from skid roads and oxen to yarding by cable. The old-fashioned methods of logging that some found charming were gone; the oxen were put out to pasture, and their drivers were replaced by cables winding on a spindle. The handsome lumberman found he could pull logs out of remote places with the use of cables and a small donkey engine. Prices were good enough to warrant the three-day trip in a wagon drawn by six horses to carry 4,000 feet of lumber from the mill in Loma Mar to Dudfield's Palo Alto lumberyard. While the steam donkey engine changed the face of logging, the crew members remained an unusual touch. James Foster, a millman who worked in Purissima Canyon and a decorated sergeant who displayed bravery in South Africa's Boer War (1899), murdered San Gregorio bartender Claude Packard for no known reason, before turning the weapon on himself. To all observers, the murder was inexplicable. Perhaps the men who chose logging were hard-drinking, hard-living and unpredictable. Some six years after John Dudfield began logging in the Lower Pescadero Creek, the timber was exhausted, and the mill was closed. Dudfield next eyed Lynch's Gulch in the upper Lobitos Creek, where he planned to mill shingles in 1913. W.J. Savage's precious grove of redwood trees was in jeopardy. Lobitos Creek, between the Purissima and the Tunitas, --and shorter than both of them --also had the smallest grove of redwood trees. It was always believed that there were too few trees to warrant a larger lumbering project, and that it was too inaccessible for a small one. Perhaps that very inacessibility made it a challenge for John Dudfield to provide a source of shingles for his Palo Alto lumberyard. He planned to launch the largest attempt ever to log the roadless Lobitos Canyon. Dufield's shingle mill was dragged into the canyon and set up among the trees at the bottom of Lynch's Gulch, long after the death of Paddy Lynch and his wife. Above it, a tramway was built to take the shingles to a higher yet level, according to "Sawmills in the Redwoods." Wagons were loaded at the tramway landing and made their way over a road from "Irish Ridge," "Bald Knob," to Tunitas Canyon Road at "Grabtown," a shantytown, with Palo Alto as the final destination. It was a frigid day in January 1913 when W.J. Savage, accompanied by a boy carrying a rifle on his shoulder, hiked into the isolated Lobitos Canyon. Even the sun felt cold. An icy north wind blew as the pair followed the rugged pathway through fields and thickets on the pilgrimage to the site of the doomed redwood trees. No trees had been felled there since 1882, and W. J. marveled at how a three-decade reprieve had returned Lynch's Gulch to the primitive, wild grandeur he remembered as a child. This would be his final visit to the grove he loved. When Dudfield's Mill came into view, Savage's first thoughts were: "This is where the bodies of the big trees will be cut and slashed without a pang..." Under a profusion of lacy ferns, Savage recognized the old sled road used by the old-time loggers. A donkey engine, two big boilers, cable drums, piles of iron rails, journals and boxes lay on the ground. He noted grading for the railroad by the railroad had commenced. But on this bitter cold day, none of Dudfield's crew could be seen. Nostalgia must have overwhelmed Savage when he saw "One-Eyed Sam" and "Big Bill's" cabin, now "frail and covered with moss," standing near three, new, but less picturesque cabins built by John Dudfield. He wondered where "Wild Rose Ann" was." Savage walked past the woodsmen's old cabin, and further up the trickling streamlet, the source of Lobitos Creek, where there never had been any sled roads and no trees had been felled. It was there that he admired a 10-foot-wide redwood tree pointing skyward. A great sadness overwhelmed W.J. Savage as he recalled his youth and the magical forest he had known. As soon as he returned home, he penned a long letter to the "Redwood City Democrat." Under the headline, "Plea for the Last of the County's Giant Trees," W.J. poured out his heart with these words: "Wheels will turn by the force of wheels, saws will rings, men will laugh and joke, a few dollars will change hands, millions of shingles will be made, but, alas, upon that spot the last of San Mateo's redwoods will disappear." But John Didfield did not completely log out the canyon. He shut down the mill and reopened it in 1920. This time, with the use of trucks, he was able to haul shingles to Palo Alto. In the mid-1920's, Dudfield suffered a stroke and the business was liquidated. Later fire destroyed the mill and tramway. Some small-scale logging occured periodically but some virgin trees, up to 7-feet in diameter, may still grow in the lonely gulch. "The dreamer sees and knows what should be done," wrote W.J. Savage in 1913. "Where is the man with a few thousands to spare who will save this grove of redwood and secure for himself a living monument more enduring than the most costly mausoleum ever chiseled from marble?" W.J. Savage's gentle nature poetic skill and great love for the giant redwood trees was not enough to save them all. But his words stand as his own monument.]]>
1904 2008-10-24 16:19:36 2008-10-24 20:19:36 closed closed wj-savage-the-giant-trees-of-the-south-coast publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1225041539 _edit_last 1
Vanishing Beaches: Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/10/24/vanishing-beaches-story-by-john-vonderlin/ Fri, 24 Oct 2008 23:41:02 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1907
Story by John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
While researching my next posting about "The Stage Hole," I came across a forum that had old articles (1970) about the planned dams in Pescadero's watershed. Somebody mentioned the effect of coastal dams on our beaches and somebody else wondered where they got such nonsense. Since I've commented on the connection of coastal watershed dams and other factors to our disappearing beaches, I thought you might want to see the following quote:
"Dams along coastal streams that effectively impound water also trap the sand destined for the coastal beaches. Thus, the benefits of flood control or increased water supply and recreation have been countered by the gradual reduction of sand input to the coastline. Dams reduce sediment supply to beaches in two ways: by trapping sediment behind the dams and by reducing the peak river flows or floods that, under natural conditions, would have transported sand downstream to the shoreline. More than 1,400 dams over 25 feet high or impounding more than 50 acre-feet of water have been constructed across California, with 539 of these dams located in the coastal watersheds that drain directly into the Pacific Ocean . . . The combined effect of these coastal dams has been to reduce the average annual sediment supply by more than 25 percent to California's 20 major littoral cells."

by Gary Griggs, Kiki Patsch, and Lauret Savoy, University of California Press. Enjoy, John.]]>
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1850s-1870s: Portuguese Whalers at Pigeon Point http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/10/26/1860s-whaling-at-pigeon-point/ Mon, 27 Oct 2008 02:41:29 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1933

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The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 53 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/10/28/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-53/ Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:24:23 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1936 By June Morrall Whenever times got rough, the villagers of Pescadero got together at Pebble Beach as they did on a Saturday in May of 1892. It was just like old times: Early in the morning a caravan of coaches "bearing all kinds of humanity....to indulge in the pleasure of picnicking..." rolled over the hill from Pescadero to the seashore. Once there "...they stretched out on the clean pebbles and chatted for an hour while turning the pebbles over and searching for beautiful carnelians and other rare stones. When they tired of this quiet enjoyment, they tossed pebbles at one another. In the background the ocean murmured." This was the Pebble Beach the oldtimers loved. Serene as the South Coast scene was, there were visions of  "Coburnville" in the Pebble Beach-goer's heads. One of millionaire landowner Loren Coburn's men had already constructed a very visible hitching RACK----for use by the future hotel and its beach-bathing guests. The rumors grew as loud as the roar of the Pescadero waves on a stormy January morning: The railroad was coming. Coburn talked officials into building a station at Pebble Beach where he was building his new hotel, and, according, to the scariest story, "would kill the town back in the hills," (and that would be Pescadero.) The reality of Coburn's hotel was what the locals were talking about at Pebble Beach on a pretty Saturday in 1892. Now more details were available: It was 50-room hotel: The lumber was being shipped from San Francisco to Pigeon Point. Coburn's Pebble Beach Hotel was to be a two-story establishment with porches and porticoes at the mouth of Bean Hollow. And it was set to rival the most famous California hotels of the day: the Coronado and the Del Monte. ------------- Are you interested in knowing more about architectural styles, including a porticoe mentioned in the Coburn chapter above. I have found the little book (below), "How to Read Buildings" fun and helpful, although it refers more to buildings you'd see in cities.

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The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 54 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/10/28/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-54/ Wed, 29 Oct 2008 03:14:52 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1944 1944 2008-10-28 23:14:52 2008-10-29 03:14:52 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter-54 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1225250093 _edit_last 1 The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 55 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/10/28/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-55/ Wed, 29 Oct 2008 03:24:12 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1948 But soon after the new road was built, Loren Coburn locked the gate to Pebble Beach. Again. It was quickly reopened. "...Loren Coburn claims the beach itself and tells people who take pebbles from it they are committing grand larceny. As the beach is covered every day with ocean tides, his claims are preposterious. The popular road to Pebble Beach has been used for over 35 years, but Loren Coburn objects to it. He has provided another road, but has not dedicated it to the public, and the people will not use it since they think it is a subterfuge to get them to abandon the old road, whereupon they would lose both. The state should buy or condemn a roadway to this beach and keep it open to the public. Then, when the public has unrestricted access someone under proper restriction should be allowed to build a casino on the shore, and in one summer Pebble Beach would rise in popularity as a resort second to none on the coast. People in Pescadero would be glad to do things to make the resort attractive if they were assured by the legislature that the public would be protected in its rights."]]> 1948 2008-10-28 23:24:12 2008-10-29 03:24:12 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter-55 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1225250824 _edit_last 1 The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 56 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/10/28/did-honest-abe-visit-pescadero-story-by-john-vonderlin-coming-soon/ Wed, 29 Oct 2008 03:31:19 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1954 1954 2008-10-28 23:31:19 2008-10-29 03:31:19 closed closed did-honest-abe-visit-pescadero-story-by-john-vonderlin-coming-soon publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1227403430 _edit_last 1 Abe Lincoln in Pescadero?.?.?..Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/10/29/abe-lincoln-in-pescaderostory-by-john-vonderlin/ Thu, 30 Oct 2008 01:42:13 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1965 Story by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June,
President Abraham Lincoln in Pescadero?
Not quite, but I did find a connection between Honest Abe and Pescadero recently. I was reading Dr. Alan Brown's  book, "Place Names of San Mateo County," when I found this entry under the heading of Lincoln Hill:
"Due South of the center of Pescadero.  A year ago or two ago, a gentleman from San Francisco proposed to have a flagstaff on this noble looking mount on condition that it should be named "Lincoln Mount," all of which was done. The last winter's storms and winds, however, carried away the staff, but the spot is still cherished and will always bear the memorable name of Abraham Lincoln, of course. (S.F. Alta 3/27/1867)" Dr. Brown then commented,  "The adoption of the more natural present name was doubtless made almost immediately." Oh, those fickle Pescaderans.
I must confess I'd never heard this name, but I drove through Pescadero yesterday on one of my forays to the coast and took these pictures
of the "noble mount" that presides over Pescadero. I searched around its base in the downtown area and found no obvious trails to its top, but I'll investigate a little more in the future. Unless my memory is faultier then I think, there are a number of historical photos of downtown Pescadero that were obviously shot from the commanding view the top of this hill must provide.
What was more interesting to me was the source of this little historical tidbit, the "S.F. Alta." A quick check of Wikipedia brought up this: "In the second half of the nineteenth century, there was a San Francisco-based newspaper called The Daily Alta California (or The Alta Californian). Mark Twain's first widely successful book, The Innocents Abroad, was an edited collection of letters written for this publication."
Using "The Daily Alta California" as a search term I brought up the following Wikipedia entry.
"The Daily Alta California was a San Francisco newspaper descended from the first newspaper published in the city, Samuel Brannan's California Star which debuted on January 9, 1847. Brannan, who had earlier assisted in publishing several Mormon newspapers in New York, had brought a small press with him when he immigrated to California as part of a group of Mormon settlers in 1846.
With Dr. E.B. Jones as editor, the California Star was the city's only newspaper until an older publication, the Monterey Californian, moved to Yerba Buena, as San Francisco was then called, from Monterey in mid-1847, becoming simply The Californian. The city was about to undergo rapid changes as the California gold rush got underway. The California Star appeared weekly until June 14, 1848, when it was forced to shut down because its entire staff had departed for the gold fields. Its rival newspaper had suspended publication for the same reason on May 29.Later that year, Sam Brannan sold his interest in the moribund California Star to Edward Cleveland Kemble, who also acquired The Californian. Kemble resumed publication of the combined papers under the name Star and Californian on November 18, 1848. By 1849, the paper had come under the control of Robert Semple, who changed its name to the Alta California. On January 22, the paper began daily publication, becoming the first daily newspaper in California. On July 4, 1849, Semple began printing the Daily Alta California on a new steam press, the first such press in the west. Other names commonly referring to the paper include the Daily Alta Californian, the Alta California, and the Alta Californian."
With Abe Lincoln and Mark Twain being a couple of my childhood heroes I'm looking forward to checking out the ongoing nationwide 20 year long online project part of which is detailed below. Perhaps I can find the full article about that "gentleman from San Francisco" and find out why he paid to memorialize Abe in Pescadero. Enjoy. John
Under the NDNP and LSTA grants, the Center has digitized over 150,000 pages of California newspapers spanning the years 1849-1911. They include the Alta California (1849-1889); the San Francisco Call (1900-1910); the Amador Ledger (1900-1911); the Imperial Valley Press (1901-1911); and the Los Angeles Herald (1905-1907).
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Holes in Pescadero, Part 1: Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/02/holes-in-pescadero-part-1-story-by-john-vonderlin/ Mon, 03 Nov 2008 03:36:46 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1974 Story by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Holes in Pescadero, Part I Hi June,
Just as with many of my previous postings, the next two will deal with holes in Pescadero. One hole had a minor historical significance and still exists. The other was never created, and if created would have been filled as fast as possible anyway. Oddly, the longterm utility of the first may have led to the never-realized dream of creating the second one.
The first hole was brought to my attention, once again, by Dr. Alan Brown's 1960 book, "Place Names in San Mateo County," [published by, and available at the San Mateo County History Museum in Redwood City.]
While reading through Place Names, I discovered a couple of entries that piqued my interest.
The first was for "The Stage Hole," and simply said:
"The Stage Hole (The pond at Nunziati's dam in Pescadero beyond the end of Water Lane). At some distant date a stagecoach upset into the water here (Alec Moore) The wagon and stage road ran past here in the middle and late 1850's"
That was followed by another entry for "The Stage Road," that stated in part: "...it has been so called in Pescadero ever since it was built in 1859, by the leading citizens of that place, for the Pescadero-Spanishtown Stage Company."
I'd only been down Water Lane once, to visit the eastern edge of the Pescadero Marsh Preserve, so it seemed like a return visit was in order. I'd been checking out possible kayaking routes deeper into the Preserve than our forays up Pescadero Creek from the oceanside lagoon had permitted. The highlights of that first trip were the views from the top of Round Hill and the minor mystery of a large circular enclosure made of plywood at its base. Having done some bushwhacking to get to it, we were initially mystified why somebody would build such an expensive fence in the middle of nowhere.
Plywood Fence below Round Hill
One Way Wire Cone
View from Round Hill
View of Round Hill
As we made our way around its perimeter, the small holes cut in the plywood at regular intervals, with wire cones in them, strongly hinted at what we were seeing. But, the full details and purpose of this project were only revealed by an Internet search that brought up this government website:
Round Hill Levee Removal IS/MND. Pescadero State Beach ... levee near Round Hill separates Pescadero Creek from its floodplain, thus preventing ...
parks.ca.gov/pages/980/files/6228 draft is-mnd round hill levee removal pescadero...
The purpose of the enclosure was to keep San Francisco Garter Snakes or Red-Legged Frogs from entering the enclosed area and allow any in there a one way method of egress, before the levee removal project was attempted. I hope those critters, assuming there were actually any there, appreciate the trouble somebody went to in order to protect them.
But back to my trip to "The Stage Hole," in Pescadero. Water Lane runs north off of Pescadero Road about a half mile east of  downtown Pescadero. Near its end you'll pass this sign and deadend at the Ranger Station.
Preserve Sign

Park there and head up the dirt road to the right. With a gentle slope and a hairpin turn it brings you to the top of a hummock behind the Ranger Station. On top of the hummock the road takes a hard right.
.. To your left is "The Stage Hole,"  separated from the canyon that slopes steeply away to the right by the previously-mentioned  road-topped Nunziati earthen dam, over which the stage road must have run.  It is quite possible that on this turn, a hundred and fifty years ago, a stage pulled by a  fresh team of horses, just harnessed up in Pescadero, urged up their first hill by the explosive crack of a whip, overshot, and tumbled into the water. "The Stage Hole," is dry now, but it must be seasonally full, as there is a healthy clump of cattails covering much of its dry bottom.
The Stage Hole
The Stage Hole
Hiking around a bit, it became obvious that there had been a series of interconnected ponds here at one time, My guess is they provided gravity fed water to some of the crops that were grown in the rich soil of the marsh's flatlands just to the west.. On the edge and descending into one of the ponds there is a series of stones arranged like steps. Given the pipe rising a few inches from out of the ground  between the large, cemented-in-place boulders at the top of this "stairway," the  purpose apparently was to prevent erosion as the water was pumped in.
Stone Fountain
Possibly there are the remnants of a hundred and fifty year old windmill somewhere in the marsh below. It would have harvested the frequent Westerlies coming off the ocean to fill  their system. Remnants of power poles indicate an electric pump accomplished the same purpose at a later time. In its time it was a near perfect system to wrestle a decent life out of the natural resources of the coastside.  I think this pleasant little place may have been the inspiration for a proposal to build an extremely large hole elsewhere nearly 40 years ago. But, that's for Part 2 of " Holes in Pescadero?" Enjoy. John
P.S. I've attached an excerpt from an old U.S.G.S. topo map with a blue square about where I believe "The Stage Hole," is located. Note the dark lines, denoting old dirt roads, that proceed across Pescadero Creek, heading both for the coast and back towards town. One of these was quite possibly the route northward for the stage until it was changed to the Stage Road  route in 1859. Maybe somebody local knows.
I've also attached a part of a California Coastal Records Project picture from 1987 showing the area, with "Round Hill" and "The Stage Hole" marked. You can see the outline of some of the fields that were abandoned by then.
U.S.G.S. Map of area
California Coastal Records Project Map #8713113 (1987)
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Connie Morgan, On a Whim, Discovers an Ancestor.. http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/03/connie-morgan-on-a-whim-discovers-an-ancestor/ Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:35:19 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=1998 Dear June,
I just wanted to let you know how great it has been to "discover" my ancestor, Loren Coburn, while reading your book, "The Coburn Mystery."  I happened to pick up the book while at the San Mateo County Historical Museum in Redwood City last week on a whim, knowing that Coburn is a family name on my mother's side.  I checked out the stats in my Coburn genealogy book and sure, enough, there it was! Loren Coburn born in Vermont, living in Pescadero! This published genealogy book was the treasured book that my grandmother had researched and finally had published during her lifetime.  I have always been interested in family history so, of course, I was loved reading about Loren, Wallace, Loren's wives and their connections to the many places I have loved to visit while living here on the San Mateo Peninsula.  In fact, today, my husband and I went to Pigeon Point Lighthouse and enjoyed reading the historical information there, which included the famous gunfight.  Then we traveled to Pescadero, of which I have been to many times, and matched your book up to Coburn building sites, etc.  It was a lot of fun.
Thanks again!
Sincerely,
Connie Morgan
------
Hi Connie,
"...I am so glad you are enjoying the book and I am positive that the Pigeon Point lighthouse folks were excited and delighted to meet you. I have been using an old, original manuscript of the Coburn story in my Pescadero  blog---that means I am detailing the story even more. In my view, the story of Loren Coburn is a huge part of Pescadero's history.  It is certainly a unique story. The Coburn's home once stood across the street from Duarte's Tavern in Pescadro. There have been fires but, inn a way, Pescadero hasn't changed that much! Please stay in touch. Best Wishes, June
-------------
Hi June,
"... Thanks again for the opportunity to learn more about my ancestors.  I have learned so much over the years.  I have been able to research the Coburn (Colburn) histories while visiting the North Eastern part of the United States several times.  During these visits I have been able to visit old archival records of the families and have been able to locate significant grave sites. I even saw what was left of the original Edward Coburn Garrison House in Massachusetts (circa 1670's).   Our line has been traced back to Edward Coburn (Colburn) who came to America from England in 1635 on the ship, "Defence."  He was 17 at the time.  It's been quite an education and your book now completes a chapter on the Western side of the United States.
It's been really interesting, to say the least!  Keep on writing!
Thanks again!
Connie Morgan
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Dr. Alan K. Brown's "Place Names of San Mateo County" http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/03/dr-alan-k-browns-place-names-of-san-mateo-county/ Mon, 03 Nov 2008 23:49:53 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2010

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Kite Surfer....a moving picture by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/03/kite-surfera-moving-picture-by-john-vonderlin/ Tue, 04 Nov 2008 01:08:23 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2016 Hi June,
Here's a little kite surfing Flip video I did that day. The Flip handled shooting directly into the sun pretty well. I should have used the telephoto at some point, but I'm learning. I'm going to start doing more 360 shots of places I visit. I usually do a few photos to remind me where a string of photos are from, but a bit of video tells a much more detailed story.  Enjoy. John
To view, please click here
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100 years ago: Horace Templeton had a strong link to Pigeon Point http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/03/100-years-ago-horace-templeton-has-a-strong-link-to-pigeon-point/ Tue, 04 Nov 2008 02:45:21 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2022 2022 2008-11-03 22:45:21 2008-11-04 02:45:21 closed closed 100-years-ago-horace-templeton-has-a-strong-link-to-pigeon-point publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1225859965 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin On "The Hole in the Wall" http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/04/john-vonderlin-on-the-hole-in-the-wall/ Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:19:04 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2027
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
Here's an update about one of the "Holes in Pescadero."  Some time ago I posted a story called, "The Hole in the Wall." That's the hole in the rocky promontory that bounds Pescadero Creek, at the point it enters the ocean. I had originally thought it was "Pescadero's Pride and Joy,"  the most viewed Sea Arch on the coast. Then a friend told me, while looking at a picture of it on the California Coastal Records Project  (CCRP) site, that he and his partying buddies had called it  the "Hole in the Wall Beach," back  in the Seventies. And that it had been more obviously hand dug at that time.
Later, in a transcript from a Pescadero Oral History Project, several oldtimers made the same assertion. Giving up on it being a genuine Sea Arch, I  was still dubious that somebody thought it was a good idea to dig a hole through a cliff, hoping thereby to control the timing of the opening of the lagoon. In the attached picture ( Hole in the Wall) from the newly posted  2008 pictures from the CCRP website, (just shot in October)
the futility of man's effort is poignantly captured. As you can see, the small finger of the lagoon patiently waits for Mother Nature to accomplish things in her own way, just on the other side of the sand-choked tunnel. (marked by bars)
Here'is a photo of the Pescadero Creek bridge from inside the tunnel, shot when it is open,
as it is for a good part of the year. Its manmade nature isn't real obvious after years of crashing surf. However, earlier this year, while visiting Four Mile Beach, in Santa Cruz County, I photographed this obviously manmade, rectangular hole, in a promontory at the opening of  the creek.
This is the hole, both looking from the oceanside and the lagoonside. By looking at Picture # 6415 on CCRP you can see that this hole was also an attempt to relieve the lagoon behind it. I've attached a screen grab of the large file in which I've marked the location of the hole with a black bar.
That's a surfboard leaning against the cliff next to it. If this technique was used in at least two different watersheds, it must have had some success or the word would have spread. Nobody likes to be laughed at, and especially about something that would take so much work to dig and would last for decades as a reminder of your folly.
As I investigate the early history of the Pescadero Marsh, I hope I can answer the question of its utility, along with a few others. But, first I wanted to post about how researching "The Stage Hole," led me to find out about the largest hole that never was in Pescadero. That's Part 2 of "Holes in Pescadero." Enjoy. John
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Linda (Wyatt) Iacono & John Vonderlin...Remembering Bootleggers Cove, Russell Towle & Gazos Creek Gas Station http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/05/linda-wyatt-iaconos-dad-ran-the-gas-station-at-gazos-creek/ Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:12:05 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2044 2044 2008-11-05 18:12:05 2008-11-05 22:12:05 closed closed linda-wyatt-iaconos-dad-ran-the-gas-station-at-gazos-creek publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1233528141 _edit_last 1 Bootleggers Cove Found.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/08/bootleggers-cove-found/ Sun, 09 Nov 2008 02:05:17 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2065 7219014 on the California Coastal Records Project (CCRP).. The more current photos may be at high tide since you don’t see the beach. You can see where there could have been a cave at one time. Linda Iacono]]> 2065 2008-11-08 22:05:17 2008-11-09 02:05:17 closed closed bootleggers-cove-found publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1230865558 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: Smuggler's Cove & The Magnificent "Fist" http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/10/bootleggers-cove/ Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:49:38 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2072 Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
I'm looking for my photos of this area. But, check out these screengrabs from CCRP of the Cove's entrance and a magnified view of a rock and its whitewater, right in the middle of that channel. You can almost see ghosts in the foam.  It would have taken a lot of liquid courage out on the mothership before I'd be ready to attempt a nighttime landing there, even in a calm sea, with that monster waiting for me, =============================
The screengrabs show what boldness or desperation must have driven  the smugglers to attempt a landing in Smuggler's Cove. I've been thinking about the level of Customs enforcement that would have made this an attractive place. I'll have to research that era better. For now here are a few of the pictures of Franklin Point and Smuggler's Cove that I could find easily.
The first is, "The Fist,"
for which the beach north of Franklin Point gets its name. At first, when I read the name of this beach in an old newspaper article about relatively unknown beaches, I didn't relate it to the large piece of driftwood pictured. I'd never named it, but thought of it as the beach with the upside down tree, missing its obvious likeness to the upraised fist immortalized at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. How, who, and when, somebody went to all the work of creating this bit of whimsical and pareidolic art-play is a mystery to me. Whether they are the person who then named their creation and the beach to the west, "The Fist," I also don't know.
If you look at Picture #200810136 (large file) on the CCRP website you can see a great picture of Franklin Point, the paths leading to it through the re-vegetating dunes, and way at the top is the pull-off on Highway 1, with  two cars and the mighty raised "Fist" just visible.
The second, third and fourth photos
I've attached were all shot a few years ago from the promontory on the southside of Smuggler's Cove, that Linda referred us to in Picture #7219014.
As you can see, thanks to the missing sand, the Cove is even more unfriendly now than it was decades ago. Compare the appearance of the Point's dune field in the 1972 and the 2008 photos, and you can see why there isn't much sand on the beaches south of Franklin Point these days. The Ranger's re-vegetation efforts have been quite successful, but had the consequence of reducing the source of sand for the beaches locally. I guess you can't have it all.
The last picture
is from one of the coves south of Franklin Point and might be Smuggler's Cove. I don't know why I don't have a closeup.  Next time I visit, I'll shoot up a lot of Megapixels of the area and look for polished whiskey bottle remnants. Enjoy. John
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John Vonderlin: Why Quarry Beach? http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/11/john-vonderlin-why-quarry-beach/ Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:24:06 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2100 Story & Photos by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June, As you know my avocation is to explore every legally accessible inch of the San Mateo coastline. I just added a short, but interesting, stretch yesterday that the locals used to call "The Gravel Quarry." I've known about this area for some time, but was "creeped out" by the circumstances surrounding access to this unusual, perhaps unique chunk of our coast. Most of the areas I visit are isolated, lonely spots where you see no one and no one sees you. But here you park in front of somebody's house, walk through a hole in a privacy fence and stroll alongside their driveway and house until you reach a picturesque point. When I first made a serious attempt to visit here a few months ago, I found several new four- by- four posts, with their signs removed, where I had been told the access was. I didn't like the vibes, let alone the creepiness of seemingly trespassing on somebody's property. Unsure I contacted Linda Locklin, the California Coastal Commission Public Access Officer, about the reputed access and what I thought might have been vandalism of the sign posts by nearby property owners, perhaps unhappy about the public visiting their gorgeous bit of coastline. I was in the right place but was wrong about the missing signs. It seems that CalTrans had put up the wrong signs as specified in the agreement reached by the government and the landowners and then had to remove them. They are on interminable back order and should be re-posted eventually. Armed with the knowledge that the law was on my side and familiarized by an article by Lennie Roberts of the "Committee for Green Foothills," all about this place, (found at: http://www.greenfoothills.org/news/2003/03-2003_CoastAccess.html ) I finally decided to check it out. I'm glad I did. Though it isn't one of the top places I've visited on my San Mateo coast visits, it does have its own charm. While looking at Picture #6291 on the California Coastal Records Project, I was mystified as to why it called "The Gravel Quarry." My visit quickly cleared that up. The rock here is composed of an unusual conglomerate of millions of rounded river rocks cemented together. It looks like people long ago could drive right down to the shore and load up, using picks and shovels or a frontloader. It was the historic use of this resource and the longtime popularity of fishing from the nearby rocky points that gave the California Coastal Commission the right to demand access from the people who bought the property and built a house. Besides the view and a couple of nice sea caves below the bluff, you have the right to walk along to the south for a hundred yards. Here's something else noteworthy: While standing on the cliff, I observed repeatedly a rainbow spume effect. The waves entering some feature in the cliff below me were being rebounded in a cloud of fine spray in which the afternoon sun was producing a persistent rainbow. As always, my photographs didn't capture things as well as my eyes, but I'll attach some photos anyway.

While we all have the right to visit this spot, I would urge everyone to be sensitive to the privacy and property rights of the nearby landowners when you do. It's not only the right thing to do, but pragmatically strengthens the Coastal Commission's ability to restore the public's right to access our beaches elsewhere without the angry, litigious, and potentially violent confrontations, that you wrote about in your book, "The Coburn Mystery." Enjoy. John Vonderlin

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When Lime was King: Getting to Know Henry Cowell http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/11/getting-to-know-henry-cowell/ Tue, 11 Nov 2008 21:42:17 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2109 San Francisco Call" is one of my favorite old newspapers. Fremont Older was the paper's famous crusading editor, the newsman whose personal story was as riveting as the Call's bold headlines. From the "San Francisco Call," June 22, 1899 "Thousands of acres transferred" "The largest transfer of property ever recorded in this county was filed today. It is from Henry Cowell to the Henry Cowell Lime and Cement Company. The property includes thousands of acres of land, much of which is covered by extensive improvements, including lime kilns." Same day, same, page, 1899 "Oil Strike Near Santa Cruz" "Oil has been discovered on the San Vicente road, fourteen miles from this city. The discovery was made on a ranch owned by the Santa Cruz Lime Company, which formerly had kilns there. The ranch contains 8000 acres. A wharf will be built at Davenport and five miles of pipe laid from the ranch to the wharf." ----------- From the "San Francisco Call," November 17, 1900 "Cowell Is Now Reputed Master of Lime Trade" "Buys Cienega Plant and Also Arranges for Deal With Holmes" "Higher Price for Product is Expected to Follow a Rumored Combination of Local Business Interests" "It was a report last night that Henry Cowell and Co. had bought out the plant of the Cienega Lime Company, which is near Tres Pinos, in San Benito County. Coupled with this was also a story that a combination of interests was practically effected yesterday at a conference that took place in this city at which H.T. Holmes of the H.T. Holmes Lime Company, William Jones, William Russell, and H.T. Hawkins were present, the purpose being to control all the lime trade north of Tehachapi. William Jones is associated with Henry Cowell & Co. Hawkins is the secretary and Russell superintendent of the H.T. Lime Company. "At the office of Henry Cowell & Co. the sale of the Cienega Company was denied. An admission was made that there was an important conference, but it was denied that any result could be looked for until next week. "The story of the Cienega sale was accompanied with so much detail, however, that it is probably correct. The purchase by Cowell & Co. would place all the lime kilns north of Tehachapi in the hands of Cowell and Holmes. The last named had a plant at Tehachapi and also half a dozen or so lime deposits in Santa Cruz County. With the exception of the Holmes holdings, Cowell has previously acquired all the lime properties of the upper end of the State. He fought the Roche Harbor Lime Company of Washington to a finish in a war of rates and ended by securing $35,000 of its stock out of a total of $100,000. Since then he has competed with Holmes. The Washington product and that of the southern part of the State of California has been kept out of this market. "Prices north and south have been much higher than they have in this city. Lime has been selling in Los Angeles at the rate of $1.75 per 220 pounds or barrel. The rate in San Francisco has ranged from $1.00 to $1.25 per barrel, and two years ago, when the fight was on with the Roche Harbor Company, went as low as 80 cents per barrel. "The purpose of the combine of the Cowell and Holmes interests is supposed to be an increase of prices. The Southern California market is controlled by the Union Lime Company of Los Angeles and that company handles the lime from the Holmes plant at Tehachapi. There were two versions of the bargain that Cowell & Co. has made. The Cienega property was reported to have been sold for $10,000 by the First National Bank of San Jose, which secured it on a mortgage of $90,000, which, with accumulated interest, etc., amounted to $120,000. "Cowell is also supposed to have taken in the IXL lime plant in Santa Cruz County, upon which there were two mortgages, the first of which was held by Leopold I. Cahn of this city. "However the details may differ, the probabilities are for a deal by which competition will be done away with and that Cowell will gain absolute control of the market. Then the entire Pacific Coast territory of the United States will be in three lime deposits, two of which will be controlled directly by Cowell. He has been striving for years to accomplish this and has probably succeeded." ---------- From the "San Francisco Call," December 3, 1901 "Cowell Refuses To Reduce Fee" "Capitalist Says Acting as Lucas' Guardian is Business" "Henry Cowell, the man who made a fortune in lime and plaster on Drumm street in San Francisco, was a witness in Judge Ogden's court this morning whither he had gone in response to a summons to tell about the management of the estate of John W. Lucas, an incompetent, who owns some interests in the Cowell corporation. "When Cowell was asked how much he thought his fee ought to be for acting in the capacity of guardian for Lucas, he said $500 was about right. Judge Ogden asked Mrs. Lucas, who was present, if the amount was satisfactory to her. Evidently it wasn't, for while she agreed that $500 was reasonable compensation, she didn't want it paid until Cowell had settled with her husband for $500 back salary she claimed was due him. ""It's a cold business proposition with me," exclaimed Millionaire Cowell when asked about this salary matter, and he signified that he was in no mood to take less for his services or call it square because money was alleged to be owing. "Judge Ogden told Mrs. Lucas that he could not consider the matter of non-payment of salary in a matter of this kind and that it was for the other members of the Cowell firm to see whether they would pay. "One of the partners will not consent," said Cowell, and Mrs. Lucas, who understood that the witness meant himself, did not insist any further. "During a colloquy that followed this discussion of the salary it was discovered that Mrs. Lucas would not take less than $45,000 for her husband's interest in the cement business. Cowell intimated that he would ask for a dissolution of the business that has existed since 1850. Mrs. Lucas was appointed guardian of her husband's estate after Cowell had resigned." From the "San Francisco Call," August 27, 1902 "Warrant for Arrest of Millionaire Cowell" "Charged With Delaying Mails in Santa Cruz County by Felling Big Trees" "A warrant was issued yesterday for the arrest of Henry Cowell on a charge of delaying the passage of United States mails. The complaint was sworn to by H.P. Thrall, superintendent of the railway mail service. "Mr. Thrall says that he proposes to prosecute vigorously the case against Cowell. In a letter to United States Attorney Marshall B. Woodworth. Mr. Thrall states that on July 14 of this year the mails were delayed nearly four hours near the Big Trees station, between Felton and Santa Cruz, and that in response to a note Mr. Cowell called on him and explained that he had an agreement with the Southern Pacific Company that he would not be liable for any damage to the railroad company in connection with the removal of trees adjacent to the right of way. Mr. Thrall explained that the United States was the party directly concerned, and that Cowell was liable to the Government for any delay to the United States mails by the felling of trees across the railroad track. Cowell went away promising to consult his attorney , and a few days later the mails were again obstructed by fallen trees on Cowell's land." ------- From the "San Francisco Call," September 3, 1902 "Henry Cowell Justified in Cutting Big Trees" "Case Brought Against Him by Post-office Officials Decided to Be Without Basis" "Henry Cowell, the well known millionaire of Santa Cruz County, was before United States Court Commissioner Heacock yesterday morning for examination on a charge of obstructing the United States mails by causing or permitting his employees to fell large redwood trees across the narrow-gauge railway track at the Big Trees Station, between Felton and Santa Cruz. One one occasion, it was alleged by Superintendent Thrall, the United States mails had been delayed four and a half hours by a big tree that had been cut down by Mr. Cowell's workmen. "The prosecution, conducted by Assistant United States Attorney Banning, proved that the mails had been delayed in the manner stated. The defense, conducted by E.S. Pillsbury, proved that the bank adjoining the railroad track at the point of obstruction was so steep that it was impossible for the most experienced workmen to prevent the cut trees from rolling down on the railroad track. It was conceded that Mr. Cowell had a right to cut trees on his own land, so long as there was no intention on his part to obstruct the railroad trains or the mails. Judge Heacock thereupon dismissed the case and discharged the defendant." (More articles coming.)]]> 2109 2008-11-11 17:42:17 2008-11-11 21:42:17 closed closed getting-to-know-henry-cowell publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1227384356 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: Incredible In-Edibles: A Colorful Last Meal http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/12/john-vonderlin-a-colorful-last-meal/ Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:40:42 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2115

"Incredible Inedibles: A Colorful Last Meal" Story & Photos by John Vonderlin & Dawn Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June, Here's the second part to the Mushroom posting I sent you earlier. While my first posting was about local "Incredible Edibles," this posting is about an "Inedible Incredible," found in our coastal forests, "Amanita Muscaria." I've attached a photo of me in my "Amanita Hat," photographing

some unidentified local mushrooms. I've also attached a few pictures my brother's wife, Dawn, sent me, of some "Amanita Muscaria," that popped up in their cranberry bog.

To me, amongst the local-deadly-mushroom cabal, they are a relatively harmless member. Like so many other things that are toxic, they look like they are, making them less deadly. Like the fear-inspiring, but deadly-interaction-preventing rattlesnake rattle.

It is hard for me to visualize somebody going, "Yum, that fiery-red, blister-covered mushroom sure looks scrumptious." I suspect the "Moth-to-the-Flame Syndrome," might be involved in most poisonings associated with this loudly-announcing, "I Want To Be Left Alone," fungi. This Wikipedia article explains the facts about this fungal hand grenade, Enjoy. John Amanita muscaria, commonly known as the fly agaric or fly Amanita is a poisonous and psychoactive basidiomycete fungus, one of many in the genus Amanita. Native throughout the temperate and boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere, Amanita muscaria has been unintentionally conveyed to many countries in the Southern Hemisphere, generally as a symbiont with pine plantations, and is now a true cosmopolitan species. It associates with various deciduous and coniferous trees. The quintessential toadstool, it is a large imposing white-gilled, white-spotted, usually deep red mushroom, one of the most recognizable and widely encountered in popular culture. Though generally considered poisonous, Amanita muscaria is otherwise famed for its hallucinogenic properties with its main psychoactive constituent being the compound muscimol. Used as an intoxicant by the Koryaks of the Kamchatka Krai of eastern Siberia, the mushroom has had a religious significance in Siberian culture and possibly also in ancient Scandinavian culture. The American banker and amateur ethnomycologist R. Gordon Wasson proposed the fly agaric was in fact the Soma talked about in the ancient Rig Veda texts of India; although this theory has been refuted by anthropologists, it gained common credence when first published in 1968. The common name in English is thought to have been derived from its European use as an insecticide, sprinkled in milk.[1] The fly-killing agent is now known to be ibotenic acid.[2] Another compound isolated from the fungus is 1,3-diolein which is an insect attractor.[3][4] An alternative derivation proposes that the term fly- refers not to insects as such but rather the delirium resulting from consumption of the fungus. This is based on the medieval belief that flies could enter a person's head and cause mental illness.[5] ]]>
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John Vonderlin On Mushrooms: Incredible Edibles http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/12/john-vonderlin-on-mushrooms-incredible-edibles/ Thu, 13 Nov 2008 01:14:02 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2135 Story & Photos by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June, Sometimes as winter approaches I feel an amost perverse excitement about the impending onset of foul weather. Landslides, flooding, dangerous wet roads, and long, wet, cold, and windy stretches of dreary weather are dismissed by me as insignificant. For the soaking storms, with their strong winds and the large waves they generate, not only bring ashore large amounts of both flotsam and non-buoyant marine debris for me to gather, they also initiate the best part of the local mushroom season. Sometimes overnight, but always within a few days of the first good soaking rain, the "early bird" species begin to poke through the forest duff. Here in coastal San Mateo we are blessed with a wide range of ecosystems, many with their own complement of unusual fungi, of which many are edible. I'm relatively new at mushroom gathering and not an expert mycologist so I tend to confine myself to eating only the more common varieties of easily recognized fungi. I'd like to share some photos of my favorites with excerpts from Wikipedia about them. Oyster Mushrooms

"The Oyster mushroom, or Pleurotus ostreatus, is a common mushroom prized for its edibility. Long cultivated in Asia, it is now cultivated around the world for food. It is related to the similarly cultivated "king oyster mushroom". Oyster mushrooms can also be used industrially for mycoremediation purposes. Oyster mushrooms are a natural source of statin drugs. Studies have shown that they typically contain 0.4% to 2.7% statins on a dry weight basis. Z. Naturforsch Study. A number of studies on lab animals have shown that adding Pleurotus to the diet can reduce cholesterol under some conditions. The oyster mushroom is also one of the few known carnivorous mushrooms. Its mycelia can kill and digest nematodes. This is believed to be a way to obtain nitrogen. Oyster mushrooms contain a small amount of arabitol which can cause gastrointestinal distress in some people. Arabitol is a sugar alcohol similar to xylitol, manitol and sorbitol; these sugar alcohols are widely used food additives and can also have laxative effectives in susceptible individuals." Chantarelle Mushroom

My favorite of the local edible mushrooms is the Golden Chanterelle. Because they come up year after year in the same location, we tend to guard against "loose lips" when talking to fellow "mush-heads" about our sites, fearing they might try to "steal" "our" mushrooms. Tramping through the woods to your sites, with golden dreams of savory mushrooms tickling your imagination's palate, only to find the sad crumbled remnants left by someone who beat you to the prize is one of life's greatest gustatory disappointments. Once that happens only the sad refrain of fans of lousy sports teams, "Wait until next year" gives you any solace. "Chantarelle or Golden chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius) is probably the best known species of the genus Cantharellus. It is orange or yellow, meaty and funnel-shaped. On the lower surface, underneath the smooth cap, it has gill-like ridges that run almost all the way down its stipe, which tapers down seamlessly from the cap. It has a fruity smell reminiscent of apricots and a mildly peppery taste, and is considered an excellent food mushroom. Scientific research has suggested that the golden chanterelle may have potent insecticidal properties that are harmless against humans and yet protects the mushroom body against insects and other potentially harmful organisms[1]" . Puffballs

"While most puffballs are not poisonous, some often look similar to young agarics, especially the deadly Amanitas, such as the Death Cap mushroom. It is for this reason that all puffballs gathered in mushroom hunting should be cut in half lengthwise. Young puffballs in the edible stage have undifferentiated white flesh within; the gills of immature Amanita mushrooms can be seen if they are closely examined. The giant puffball, Calvatia gigantea (earlier classified as Lycoperdon giganteum), reaches a foot (30 cm) or more in diameter, and is difficult to mistake for any other fungus. It has been estimated that a large specimen of this fungus when mature will produce around 7 × 10¹² spores. If collected before spores have formed, while the flesh is still white, it may be cooked as slices fried in butter, with a strong earthy, mushroom flavor. It can often be used in recipes that would ordinarily call for eggplant." Orange Peel Fungus

"The Orange Peel Fungus (Aleuria aurantia) is a widespread ascomycete fungus in the order Pezizales. The brilliant orange, cup-shaped ascocarps often resemble orange peels strewn on the ground, giving this species its common name. The North American Audubon Mushroom Field Guide lists orange peel fungi as edible, though not necessarily choice, with no particularly notable continental lookalikes." Witch's Butter

"Tremella mesenterica (common names include yellow brain fungus, golden jelly fungus and Witch's butter) is a jelly fungus that is commonly found on rotting wood, especially gorse, as a parasite of crust fungi of the genus Peniophora[1]. It is not considered edible, though it can be cooked in soups, or used as a substitute for Jelly Ear fungus." While using this in cooking, tastewise, might be the equivalent of adding celery to a rich vegetable soup, it's pretty cool when you can drop the name "yellow brain fungus" when you're offering to serve your guests. It almost always guarantees more for yourself. Enjoy. John]]>
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"The Fist" Great Book Cover? South Coast Painting? http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/13/the-fist-great-book-cover-south-coast-painting/ Thu, 13 Nov 2008 20:51:49 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2147

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Linda: Is this the cave your dad talked about? http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/13/linda-is-this-the-cave-your-dad-talked-about/ Thu, 13 Nov 2008 21:10:26 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2154 here Photo by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)

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1907: Frederick N. Steele; 1955: Ida J. Steele, 90-year-old Pioneer Passes http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/15/1955-ida-j-steele-90-year-old-pioneer-passes/ Sat, 15 Nov 2008 20:48:26 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2165 2165 2008-11-15 16:48:26 2008-11-15 20:48:26 closed closed 1955-ida-j-steele-90-year-old-pioneer-passes publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1226943023 _edit_last 1 Winter 1976: Raw Material http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/15/winter-1976-raw-material/ Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:04:56 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2168 2168 2008-11-15 20:04:56 2008-11-16 00:04:56 closed closed winter-1976-raw-material publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1226947176 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: What happened at Spaulding Corner? http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/16/john-vonderlin-what-happened-at-spaulding-corner/ Sun, 16 Nov 2008 20:40:10 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2175 Spaulding Corner is a shady grove of redwoods at a wide, flat, pulloff  along Pescadero Creek, about seven-tenths of a mile west of Loma Mar. There is  easy access to the creek, on paths that seem to be on an old graded road. A hundred feet down the path leads you to a sandy swimming/wading hole, below a large water-polished boulder.
On that boulder are a number of etched initials, some dates, places of origin, affection, a peace sign, and a smiley face. Most have been smoothed to near undetectability because of Nature's sand blasting, high water laden with sediment. A few higher up the boulder are still easily read, if cryptic.
Dr. Brown, in his book
calls it Spaulding Camp, and mentions that there apparently was a resort here in the 1870's of that name. His language is a little unclear to me, but it seems he also says that by 1886 it was known as the place where Spaulding Camp "was," not "is."  My guess would be that a fire was involved in its demise, as usual.
I asked about it at a meeting of the Pescadero History Society that Meg invited me to after our Tunitas Cliff adventure. While some knew of the spot, nobody I talked to knew much about it. One ventured it had something to do with the WPA, which was active extensively in the area. I'll keep asking.
Whatever its history, it has a pleasant legacy of providing a cool, scenic respite on a hot day, to locals and tourists for generations, through the decades and centuries. Enjoy. John
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There's this "Hole in the Wall" Photos by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/17/hole-in-the-wall-photos-by-john-vonderlin/ Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:31:54 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2181 "hole in the wall" photos in his earlier post of the same name--because there were red x's there instead of beautiful images--you should be able to see them here now. My apologies to John and to my readers.] All photos by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June, These are the original files of the Hole in the Wall at Four Mile Beach. One is looking seaward, one landward. Hope they come through. Enjoy. John ]]> 2181 2008-11-17 14:31:54 2008-11-17 18:31:54 closed closed hole-in-the-wall-photos-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1227032789 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: "Holes in Pescadero" (Part 2A) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/18/john-vonderlin-pulling-a-worley-a-part-of-the-holes-in-pescadero-series/ Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:07:31 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2200 Story & Photos by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) I believe the Worley of Worley Flats  fame (almost) was William L. Worley. In "San Mateo's 1870 Federal Census, Page 410B, Sixth Township, Post Office Pescadero" there is only one listing for a Worley. He was 47 at the time. He listed his occupation as a farmer and his birthplace as Tennessee. That fits with Dr. Brown's book's decription of Worley Flats' name's origin timewise. Hi June,
Since I learned about Pescadero's, "Biggest Hole That Never Was,"  a few weeks ago, my mind has been traveling down some odd, speculative paths.  My discovery of the almostness of this proposed behemoth's existence,  followed by a visit to the site where it might have been, and some subsequent contemplation of the possible present state of my favorite playground, The Coastside, had this dream come to fruition, has me thinking about forks in the road not taken.
It was while reading about "The Stage Hole," in Dr. Alan Brown's 1960 book, "Place Names of San Mateo County," that it started. Dr. Brown mentioned in his brief notation about ,"The Stage Hole," that  the old stage road had run across what he knew in the present time (1960) as Nunziati's dam. That was before the old road was abandoned in 1859 to be replaced by the appropriately and still-to-this day-named Stage Road.
While websearching, using "Nunziati and Pescadero" as a search phrase, I found a posting on a forum that included  three old local newspaper articles from 1970, about  the Army Corps of Engineers, holding public meetings on seven different proposed dam construction sites in the coastside watersheds near Pescadero.
Their favorite possible site was the so called Worley Flat option. They were proposing to build a 233- foot- high earthen dam, on Pescadero Creek, at Worley Flats, about 1 mile east of Memorial Park, roughly eight miles inland.
When a series of public hearings were held to discuss the options, a Mr. Nunziati, spoke strongly of the benefits that would proceed from a Worley Flats Dam. Those might have included a better-then-Hetch Hetchy quality, reliable, water source for everybody in the watershed below the dam and far beyond, up and down the Coastside, a lake-based, tourist magnet, with a wide spectrum of possible associated recreational opportunities, and the nearby jobs they would create, and of course the peace-of-mind-security, upper watershed flood control dams gift the population they overlook, in those tense "The Storm Door is Open," periods, that can last weeks, in the mountains along our coast, during wet winters. From his position on the Water Committee, his voice was well heard in the public hearings about the proposed dams.
If this is the same Mr. Nunziati, who used the small storage ponds, of which, "The Stage Hole," is one, to grow crops around Round Hill, it is easy to see why he believed strongly that a dam was the answer to his and many other local farmers' water problems, and that it would have been a boon to  this area.
Since we all know there is not a "Richard Milhous Nixon Dam" on Pescadero Creek, I won't bother  relating the few details I know of the public's reaction, almost forty years ago, to what they considered a  seven-headed Hydra, come to kill their way of life.
However, I woud like to relate the details of a trip we recently took to the site of the proposed Worley Flats Dam. (I made up the part about Nixon, but he was a popular President at the time the project would have been named, and we would have been stuck with the name thereafter.)
Here are a couple of screengrabs of a U.S.G.S. map of the Worley Flats area.
On the second one, I've used a "black bar" to approximately where the dam would have been. The reservoir would have been bifurcated, with one arm going up Jones Gulch and the other going up the canyon that Pescadero Creek flows through. I've also attached a photo of the Park's kiosk map.

I should mention that my friend Meg's house sits on a cliff sixty feet above Pescadero Creek, about a mile downstream from the proposed dam site. We've speculated about the type of dam failure that would sweep her home away. I bet on a spectacularly rainy stretch in late-winter, the creek running high, roaring over the dam's spillway when, an 8.7  earthquake along the San Gregorio fault, triggers a general collapse of the dam's face, unleashing 50 billion gallons of water in a matter of minutes.
Reading a bit about the thousands, yes I said thousands of failures of earthen dams in the United States throughout history, particulary the details of the Johnstown Flood, our worst dam disaster, I came to realize it wouldn't need a rare set of circumstances.
This excerpt from Wikipedia about the Johnstown Flood explains why
"On its way downstream towards Johnstown, the crest picked up debris, such as trees, houses, and animals. At the Conemaugh Viaduct, a 78-foot (24 m) high railroad bridge, the flood temporarily was stopped when debris jammed against the stone bridge's arch. But after around seven minutes, the viaduct collapsed, allowing the flood to resume its course. Because of this, the force of the surge would gain strength periodically, resulting in a stronger force hitting Johnstown than otherwise would be expected."
I suspect all the giant redwoods still left in the Pescadero watershed might cause the same effect; forming a series of logjams, with  temporary lakes a hundred feet deep, flooding the canyon behind them, only to have them break, unleashing a wall of water laden with its crushing debris.
For the tens of thousands of people seven miles downstream, who might have lived in the "Nixonville Flats,"-- the suburb that might have grown up around "Old Pescadero"-- in the nearby, drained and filled marsh areas, there would be scant warning. Only the occupants of the upper floors of the large condo towers in town would be unscathed.
Still, while the fate of submersion seemed a remote possibility for Meg's house, with a failure of the Worley Flat Dam, it was actually part of the plan in another of the proposed dam sites. The Five Mile site, so called because that's how far inland from the coast it was to be built, would have left Memorial Park and Meg's house somewhere at the bottom of the lake. But, that will be addressed in a future story about "The Holes of Pescadero."
The Worley Flats Dam Project was probably the Worleys' big chance for immortality. While they're already way ahead of me, what with a flat named after the family, this ws their chance to make the "Big Time."The thought of generations of knowledge-thirsty school-age children, by the endless busload, visiting the dam and asking: "Who were the Worleys?"...and having their teachers respond with well-prepared answers about the Worleys, lives would have cemented their place in history. That is, unless, the schoolchildren were there to visit the memorial at the sundered remains of the dam, whose failure had wiped out all the good citizens of Nixonville/OldPescadero, thereby learning a valuable lesson about misjudging the power of Mother Nature. Or "Pulling a Worley" as such errors might have subsequently become known locally.
Under the heading of "The Worley Field" he states: "A clearing on the N bank of Pescadero Creek about 3/4 above Memorial Park; Worley is said to be the first settler here in the 1860's or 70s."
Next a visit to where it ain't, but might have been. if a different fork in the road had been taken. Enjoy. John
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Aug 1928: Eli D. Moore Passes http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/18/aug-1928-eli-d-moore-passes/ Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:12:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2213 2213 2008-11-18 15:12:00 2008-11-18 19:12:00 closed closed aug-1928-eli-d-moore-passes publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1227035586 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: New Coastal Trail at Cowell Beach A Beauty http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/19/john-vonderlin-new-coastal-trail-at-cowell-beach-a-beauty/ Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:27:15 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2217
Story by John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
A while ago I sent a posting to you about an adventure Meg and I had exploring "Secret Beach, a ways south of the Ritz Carlton."  The highlight of that trip was clambering over and photographing Purisima Falls, where it drops into the Pacific. Not long after that I related that there were big plans for a blufftop trail from Cowell Beach to south of the Falls. Well, yesterday we drove by and found that the project is close to being done.
At the north end of this soon-to-be-opened stretch of the Coastal Trail, there is a path, though "road" might be a more accurate description, winding along the blufftops, south from the Cowell Beach access viewpoint.
At the southern end of the trail, across from the Bob's produce building on Highway 1, there is a new parking lot, a new bathroom, and a path/road leading straight west to an overlook on the blufftop, just south of Purisima Falls.
Workers were still busy with various details along the path, so we decided not to get a "Sneak Preview," but I did photograph the stunning Cowell Beach area. While I'm a little sad that such a hard-to-reach, and stunning stretch of our coast, which we considered "our little secret," will now become accessible to hordes of people, I'm also delighted that it's happening. I predict this new stretch will vault to near the top of list of places you'll want to recommend to your friends who come to visit from out of town.
After surveying the ongoing work we walked down the newly-repaired stairs from the Viewpoint to Cowell Beach.
There I photographed these two odd chunks of metal, seemingly deliberately placed there as "works" of art.
I suspect there is an interesting story behind these mysterious relics ending up close together at the bottom of the stairs. Heavyweight artistic statement? Last remnants of a shipwreck, pulled from the sand or surf?
One appears to be a gearbox that was hooked up to a large motor. The other reminds me of the fixture on boats that allows multiple lines to be fastened to it. Maybe some kind of giant "cleat?" or "bollard?" As the son of a sailor, I probably should be embarrassed at my lack of the right term, but I'll research it. Just a couple bits of oddness on a spectacular, quarter-moon-shaped, soft-sand beach, bounded by steep cliffs, and the cold, moody Pacific, with no other sign of civilization visible, but the stairs you climb. down.
I'm sure there will be a big opening ceremony fairly soon after the trail has been completed. I'll be looking forward to using the path, thereafter. It should be interesting to see what kinds of photographs of the Falls start showing up online.  Enjoy. John
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Photographer Joel Bratman: Acid Beach & The Notch http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/21/joel-bratmans-photos-of-acid-beach-the-notch/ Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:20:30 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2224 here Email Joel: jbratman@earthlinnk.net June to Joel: Where did you shoot these pix from? Joel to June: Hi June, I stopped at a couple of turnouts about half a mile south of Greyhound rock and pushed my way through thick shrub to get to the edge of the protruding bluff to take these photos. Look for the portion of green shrub that extends out the furthest.  http://www.californiacoastline.org/cgi-bin/image.cgi?image=6419&mode=sequential&flags=0&year=2002 That's where I took most of these from. - Joel ]]> 2224 2008-11-21 11:20:30 2008-11-21 15:20:30 closed closed joel-bratmans-photos-of-acid-beach-the-notch publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1227284952 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: The Chutist (1) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/21/john-vonderlin-the-chutist-parts-1-2/ Fri, 21 Nov 2008 22:22:10 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2229 Our attempt during the extreme low tide (minus 1.4) a few days ago to probe northward from the former site of Gordon's Chute into "The Forbidding Zone," was a failure. We had hoped the combo of the low tide, nicely placed in the late afternoon, along with the presence of all the sand, not yet drawn into deeper waters by the winter's waves, might provide us a virtual Camino Real northward below the cliffs, perhaps, right up to Martin's Beach.
Realistically, I was just planning to use my little wooden ladder, a throwaway from some child's bunk bed, to climb back onto Gordon's Chute's base rock after sliding down from it for a quick foray into the next cove, with its giant sea cave. Unfortunately,.the moderately large surf, spawned by a Pacific storm, that though driven far north by the developing High Pressure Center presently warming us, was still able to send its killjoy missionaries to squash my hopes, as I saw at first glance. Still, failure can breed success and having to halt, and go no further, on the base rock of Gordon's Chute, made me give my newest Chicken's Roost, a thrice over. A "Chute shoot" developed.
But before I can photographically bolster my rationale for allowing reticence to decide whether I should take a chance in the name of exploration, let's get there first.
These first five photos are of the creek trail to Tunitas Beach. With the onset of substantial rain, it will washout, leaving only the slippery, steep trail straight down from the Highway 1 pulloff available.
After parking on Tunitas Creek Road just east of Highway 1, you head south along a dark, shady trail, beside and in a small concrete drainage ditch. The path gets steeper downhill, then cuts westward under the bridge. There you will be confronted by the angry guardian of Tunitas,

If you are brave enough to continue, you'll soon have to pass the first test:: "The Log Walk." Though only slightly longer then ten feet, the log walk is particularly treacherous because of the thinness of the log, the sliminess of the nearby mud that will be coating the bottom of your shoes, and the green scum that failure will coat you with.

The added trap of the seemingly substantial log parallel, alongside the main trunk, apparently available in case you should start to lose your balance, actually offers a long-to-be-recounted-with much-laughter, even if not photographically-captured, humiliation event.
From there it's the Inca Trail, a narrow, muddy, slippery  hand-dug trail, that offers its own opportunities to put a damper on your beach visit memories, if you're not paying attention.

Passing through that, you wind your way through almost a tropical forest.

During the winter some ambitious souls will hack a path leading up the hill above the flooded "Log Walk" and the washout of the "Inca Trail, allowing beach access.  Abandoned in late Spring, it is almost invisible, completely overgrown by Fall.

Continuing to hike through the riparian corridor as it emerges into the ever-widening canyon mouth, you finally see the goal ahead, Gordon's Chute

the wave-washed end of the looming, sheer Tunitas cliffs. Next, Part 2 of "The Chutist," or "Oh. Shoot! and the Chute Shoot." Enjoy. John
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John Vonderlin: The Chutist (Two) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/23/john-vonderlin-the-chutist-two/ Mon, 24 Nov 2008 01:08:48 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2241 In Part 1, I was in such a hurrry to push my account to the point of reaching the location of Gordon's Chute, that I left out a couple of "points of interest" that you will see along the way. As I previously wrote , after you've wound your way to where the beach comes into view, after having passed the ominous "Skull Graffitti," scurried over the "Slime Pit" on the wobbly log,  inched along the slippery, precipitous "Inca Trail," and finally struggled through the dense underbrush of the riparian corrider, into the open, you'll see something I forgot to mention: A series of huge, parallel concrete blocks. They are the last remnants of the Tunitas Gulch Trestle, the figurative, and perhaps someday, the metaphorical "end-of-the-line" of the famous, but ill-fated, Ocean Shore Railroad. The blocks used to be heavily covered by bright blue and fluorescent,Tagger-type painted graffitti, but somebody, mercifully, covered those with a camouflage-style coating that seems to be getting less obtrusive as time passes. Might be me, though.

If you want to head towards the southern end of the beach, close to the trestle remnants, there's a log that spans the creek, and with a little  balancing act, you can do it, no problem. If you can't do that, perhaps the green coating of shoe- slime you picked up earlier on the "Log Walk," will look tasty with an ample topping of white sea foam (a thick layer of the fluffy stuff huddles on the waters surrounding the good-sized tree you'll be traversing)

But this time we're going to head north. After reaching the sand where the creek, which had been hugging the base of the hill, veers westward toward the ocean, Meg and I discovered this wonderful bit of Ephemeral Beach Art.

Knowing that this area was a camping site for Portola during the famous 1769 Expedition, probably because of the Ohlone village that was once here, I couldn't help but wonder if there is an Ohlone, or other  Native-American connection to this structure. It has wonderful lines,  seems to be easy to build, and when  thatched, would provide sufficient shelter under all kinds of skies. It's fun to visualize how it might have been 500 years ago, on an overnight shellfish-gathering expedition from a nearby village to this special site, under the magical cliffs of Tunitas. Now, 240 years after the Portola Expedition, I found myself walking and standing and thinking where the explorers may have done the same. I am not surprised by this feeling of "continuity," if you will.  I am sure they enjoyed the same incredible views of the Pacific, the spacious sands, looming cliffs, and the ever-changing rhythm of the surf that is found here.
As we headed further north across the sand, a distance away from the sheer cliffs for safety's sake, we encountered a tire, one of Tunitas Beach's most common non-buoyant Marine Debris "aggravations." I've observed tires being coughed up more frequently by "Neptune's Vomitorium" at the north end of the beach, more than anywhere else on the Coastside. Then they slowly migrate south down the beach. Sometimes it takes months for a nubile tire to make the voyage; then it will vanish into the offshore Longshore Current (once again.)

The particular stretch of sand this tire was marring, was, and is, the province of Jim Denevan's, aka, The Sand Man. I might have stepped onto his favorite practice area where he creates his world famous sand etchings. Alas, he seems to have stopped coming. Perhaps, this winter, when most sane folks are barred from access by the difficult terrain, I'll spot his bare footprints leading away from his latest wonderful piece of art.
One hundred yards further, and we are standing at the gateway to Alexander Gordon's Chute site. Only passable in a good minus tide, this "gauntlet-style" passage is coated with a healthy layer of many types of slimy algae, turning walking into a "pay-attention business."

But we thought by hugging the cliff base, in the narrow band above the slime, and doing a timed-dash across the one, always wave-washed area, then clambering up a slick wall onto the terrace of the base rock for Gordon's Chute, that we would be ready to launch our expedition into new, unexplored territory, the Tunitas sea cliffs, stretching north to Martin's Beach. What I now call "The Forbidding Zone." Home to many large sea caves, where some have tall-taled, suggested or perhaps revealed, sea monsters or other strange creatures might live. Certainly, it is one of the least explored, least written about and apparently never photographed stretches of our coast. I wanted to change that.
Up to this point, I had been feeling pretty confident about our plan and the planned route.  But, if you look carefully in the far distance of the gateway picture, above the base rock of Gordon's Chute, you can see a huge spray of  whitewater. This is right at the low spot I was hoping to lower myself from the top of the base rock to the sand below next cove, and then use my little ladder to climb back up after probing north. Seeing this made me worried, and that was from a distance.  Next Part 3 The Base Rock, Chicken's Roost Redux? Enjoy. John
Below is a page from the California Historical Landmark about the #375 Marker at Tunitas Creek;Tunitas Beach, Indian Village Site on Portola Route

Site Information

Approximate Location of the Indian Village Site
site photo
Landmark Number: 375
Location: Mouth of Tunitas Creek at Tunitas Beach, 1,000 ft west of Hwy 1, 6.8 miles south of Half Moon Bay, San Mateo County
Marker Plaque: none
Coordinates: 37.35664 N 122.3961 W
Coordinates based on NAD27 datum

Description

The Portola Expedition of 1769 discovered this Indian Village on Tunitas Creek in the southwest corner of Rancho Canada de Verde y Arroyo de las Purisima; the Rancho was granted to Jose Maria Alviso in 1838
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The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 57 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/24/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-57/ Mon, 24 Nov 2008 04:18:40 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2236 1893, the year of a "financial panic," centered in the big cities. In January, respected Pescadero pioneer Alexander Moore traveled to the state capitol in Sacramento to lend his last minute support for passage of the controversial Pebble Beach legislation, Assembly Bill 103. His presence was worth the trip; the so-called "Pebble Beach bill" passed the legislature unanimously, adding it to the county park system. Loren Coburn had claimed the beach, and all of its shiny pebbles, but he was not in Sacramento to fight for it. Why was that? Apparently, an incomplete piece of legislation had been passed. Yes, the beach was now officially a public park---but the road, Coburn's road, leading to the beach WAS NOT. There was no provision for a road or path or trail for people to use to get to the beach. That problem would be dealt with later. In Pescadero there was much rejoicing. A "Grand Picnic" was planned for April, including San Mateo and Santa Cruz Assemblymen James O'Keefe and Bart Burke. The festivities closed with a "Grand Hop" at the Union Hall. Everyone had so much fun, there was another big picnic scheduled for May, a "seashore banquet," if you will,. Assemblymen O'Keefe and Burke were guests of honor. When the time came,  Pescadero's Dr. McCracken rose to speak: "Ladies and Gentlemen," he said, "today in Chicago the greatest fair and exhibit in the history of the world has been dedicated to the people....we are here to celebrate an important event to the people of this county, the dedication to the people of beautiful Pebble Beach. For over a year the people have been battling for their rights, and it had come to the time when they were to be protected in them. We have with us two gentlemen to whom, for this, we owe much., and will now take pleasure in presenting each with a charm made from a pebble from the beach as a slight token of the regard the people of Pescadero hold of their friends. As we love Pebble Beach so we hold in remembrance those who so valiantly assisted in the passage of Assembly Bill 103." --------- (Image at the top of the story: 1893 minted in San Francisco Morgan Silver Dollar. Only 100,000 were struck, making this coin the rarest Morgan Silver Dollar.)]]> 2236 2008-11-24 00:18:40 2008-11-24 04:18:40 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter-57 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1227500321 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: The Black Bar Shows The Possible Site of the Worley Dam Site http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/25/john-vonderlin-the-black-bar-shows-the-possible-site-of-the-worley-dam-site/ Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:48:01 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2265 here Email John Vonderlin (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)

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John Vonderlin: This Brick's No Ordinary Brick http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/26/john-vonderlin-all-about-a-brick/ Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:19:46 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2268

[Image: The partial brick John found. How did it get to the South Coast?] Story/Photo by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June, Do you remember my posting that included a photo of a partial brick I had photographed in the gravel of Gazos Creek the day of Mike Merritt's guided history walk in late August? Only little more then half a brick, with an imprint including a partial letter followed by the letters B A L L. Hoping to find out something about it, I emailed a brick collector's website that encouraged questions. Unfortunately, the email I sent was from a master account on my computer, and I forgot to check that account for replies. So I missed the reply from Dan Mosier, an avid brick collector, and the helpful author of the excellent brick-oriented website. http://calbricks.netfirms.com/index.html Wander around this site for a few minutes and I'll guarantee you'll know more about bricks then anyone in your neighborhood. What Marine Debris is to me, bricks are to Dan. Fortunately, Dan re-sent his missive recently. And I now know the partial brick is an antique archway firebrick, made in Derwenthaugh, Durham County, England, and probably shipped to California in the mid- to- late 1800s, as ballast in a ship that sailed the perilous 16,000 mile route around Cape Horn. Price upon delivery? Possibly free! Probably 10 cents. Certainly so cheap, that the Mid-Western brickmakers could not compete, when saddled with the prohibitive cost of overland transportation for just one-tenth that distance. Even with all the facts I've learned about the remnant since Dan identified its manufacturer, it is still quite possible that it could have been used in the McKinley Mill in the 1870s, and then reused at the Gazos Mill in the early 1900s, as I had theorized in the "Strange Coincidence" posting. Mr. Mosier was quite sure it was a SNOWBALL brick, made by the Snowball brother's Derwenthaugh Fire Brick Works. When I looked at this photo on his website, so was I. http://calbricks.netfirms.com/brick.snowball.html An exact match. Mr. Robert Piwarzyk, also an avid brick collector, whom Dan quotes on his website, has written a manuscript entitled, "The Laguna Limekilns: Bonny Doon." An excerpt of that at http://www.santacruzpl.org/history/work/limefire.shtml explains the history of firebricks in California, particularly on our coast. And this helps to explain the possible usage dynamics that might have led to the SNOWBALL firebrick remnant being in the Gazos Creek. While his timeline and facts seem to support my multiple firebox use theory for the brick, he warns of the difficulty of interpretation of sites that have bricks. Then reiterates that with this quote , ".....Or, as more aptly stated in "Brick Bats for Archaeologists: Values of Pressed Brick Brands," by Roger and Marsha Kelly: ".... Reuse of bricks is an important capability which may lead to ambiguous interpretations of chronology." " Still, I've made up my story and I'm sticking with it. Enjoy. John P.S. Mr. Mosier, also wrote an interesting email to me about the bricks used in the Pigeon Point Lighthouse, a subject that has had mystery and some controversy associated with it. He also suggested likely brickmakers for both the distorted bricks I posted a picture of a while ago and the bricks used in "Limey Kay's" house. More on this soon. Real soon. This is an excerpt about SNOWBALL firebricks by Mr. Piwarzyk in his manuscript. "Comments: Several letter sizes and styles are known. Also comes in arch and wedge shapes. Noted in Kelly's Directories Ltd. 1935. Have been found at five limekiln sites in Santa Cruz. Two fragments of this brick having a backward "b" (i.e. rotated) were found at the Laguna limekilns." Hmmm. Dyslexic or drunk brickmakers? Or bored, rebellious workers? Good thing I didn't work there. Though I'm sure future brick collectors would prize my clandestine efforts. By the way I was able to find some of the Vital Statistics about the Snowball brothers. They were both listed as coalminers when they got married. I wonder if their wives had anything to do with their career change. Women and coal dust are not immiscible, but form a very unstable compound. Bricks? They are forever.]]>
2268 2008-11-26 01:19:46 2008-11-26 05:19:46 closed closed john-vonderlin-all-about-a-brick publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1227677006 _edit_last 1
The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 58 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/27/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-58/ Thu, 27 Nov 2008 17:55:44 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2277
After Pescadero's Dr. McCracken, a future county supervisor, called the "seashore banquet" to order, he said to the gathered crowd: Ladies and Gentlemen, today in Chicago the greatest fair and exhibit in the history of the world has been dedicated to the people...we are here to celebrate an important event to the people of this country, the dedication to the people of beautiful Pebble Beach. For over a year the people have been battling for their rights, and it has come to the time when they were to be protected in them. We have with us two gentlemen to whom, for this, we owe much, and will now take pleasure in presenting each with a charm made from a pebble from the beach as a slight token of the regard the people of Pescadero hold of their friends. As we love Pebble Beach so we hold in remembrance those who so valiantly assisted in the passage of Asembly Bill 103. Both politicians graciously received the "charms" fashioned from very special white agates found at Pebble Beach. In size, the agates measured 1/8 x 5/8 inches. They were mounted in a gold setting with this inscription: Presented to Senator Bart Burke/Jas. O'Keefe by the People of Pescadero, 1893. I have no record of Assemblyman O'Keefe's comments but Senator Burke had an upbeat message for the folks: "...looking into the faces of the good people present," said Senator Burke,  "and feeling as I now do the motives which have actuated you to battle for the freedom of these grounds, and, above all, beingeye witness to the happiness and pleasure it gives the entire community to feel secure in its possession, more than compensate me for any effort I put to that end." The official ceremony and "Mammoth Picnic" closed with a poem read by local pioneer John Goulson. As soon as it grew dark the Pescaderans squeezed into the standing room only social hall where they danced to the music of a San Francisco orchestra.]]> 2277 2008-11-27 13:55:44 2008-11-27 17:55:44 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter-58 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1227808545 _edit_last 1 The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 59 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/29/the-coburn-mystery-chapter-59/ Sun, 30 Nov 2008 01:47:15 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2280 September 1893 Pebble Beach was “set free” by a vote of the California legislature, recognizing the beach as “Pescadero’s inheritance,” a welcome addition to the county park system. Certainly the villagers hoped this would snuff out the landowner Loren Coburn’s plans for a big hotel overlooking famous little Pebble Beach. He was going to charge an entrance fee, wasn’t he? And without doubt, this was a frustrating time for the unpopular Coburn, who had believed he owned Pebble Beach, but nothing stopped him from choosing the furniture for the new hotel he was building. Construction of the Pebble Beach Hotel drew on local resources. The William Hughes Mill produced 173,000 feet of lumber for the  hotel that measured 140 x 50 feet. A covered veranda, ten feet in width, surrounded the building. Soon after the villagers celebrated the official recognition of Pebble Beach Park  with a “Mammoth Picnic” on the pebbles, teams of horses were seen hauling heavy timbers to the hotel site at the north end of the beach. Loren had hired his favorite nephew, Carl, to put on a carpenter’s apron, but when it came to working with a hammer and nails, Carl was not the most reliable. Like many construction projects, Loren Coburn’s fell behind schedule. First completed was the 100- foot long stable, with accommodations for guests who arrived in their own horse-drawn carriages. Lovers of Pebble Beach could still ride the stage there. A round-trip cost $.25….I think from San Mateo to Pescadero but I’m not sure. In Pescadero the gossip was about a possible race track at Pebble Beach. It looked as if a crude track had been laid out for exercising horses. Thousands of sheltering cypress trees were arriving soon, to help hold back the area’s heavy winds and fog. Most everyone was captivated by a story about Bean Hollow Lagoon. Loren Coburn was talking about transforming Bean Hollow Lagoon into a fresh water lake.]]> 2280 2008-11-29 21:47:15 2008-11-30 01:47:15 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter-59 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1228009636 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: Holes in Pescadero (3) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/30/john-vonderlin-holes-in-pescadero-3-morlocks-or-a-time-machine/ Sun, 30 Nov 2008 16:40:10 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2289
Story/Photos by John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Holes in Pescadero, Part 3
Hi June,
I would like to think my telling this next story will not pose a danger to me. That is perhaps, a silly consideration, given the usual subject of my postings about the adventures on the Coastside I experience. Yet, I have this feeling of foreboding, not based on knowledge or fact, but something deeper, more hardwired, perhaps instinctual, about speaking of what I think I may have experienced. Ohh. I'm sorry. I'm speaking in clouds darkened by fear. Let me tell you the story as it happened and you can decide.
It was late in the afternoon, and I was nearing the turnback point of a long, tiring hike along an isolated, rarely frequented part of our coast. Thinking about the cold one waiting in a cooler in my car, I decided to take an unfamiliar shortcut through a beach-side canyon I was unfamiliar with. But one that would obviate the need to return all the way down the beach on the route I had come.
Unfortunately, the faint path I chose quickly faded away, leaving me picking my way uphill through thin spots in the more than head-high thicket of coastal shrub, which was heavily-laced with poison oak. I considered turning back, but the thought of that soon-to-be-had "icy cold" slipping from my imagination's hands, pulled me forward.
Then I heard it, or more accurately, sensed "it." It pierced my awareness like a high-pitched keening wail, yet I could feel it washing over my whole body as if I was standing in front of a "Wall of Sound," a bank of invisible speakers for a bass guitar.  It was  omnidirectional, with  the sound being here, there, then everywhere, yet nowhere. Looking down, I could see my armhairs were standing at attention, in goosebump alert, as if they needed to aid my inner ear's tiny hairs in divining the source of this unprecedented, very disturbing sound. A sound that seemed to grow in strength and demand as I concentrated on its source.
While doing so, I felt myself turning, and my feet began shuffling forward. While my brain was unsure of the sound's directionality, my feet seemed not to be.  Slowly at first, then more confidentaly, as if my ten toes had gained purpose, having set their course, they moved me forward. Setting me on a course, I was instantly aware that there would be no detour, no turning back, when, suddenly a huge patch of poison oak rose up defiantly in front of me. By grasping and clawing anything that wasn't going to give me the dreaded itchy red rash, I pulled myself through the toxic leaves into the next clearing. The sound now seemed so loud, so omnipresent; I could hardly think, yet I could easily hear the poison oak's fragile branches and twigs cracking and breaking as I elbowed my way through them. Once again a big poison oak bush blocked my way, but I quickly conquered it with a well practiced kamikaze move. I was on a mission: I had to know where the sound was coming from. I had to find out what it wanted.
Things get a little hazy after that. I vaguely remember that, at some point, my battle to move forward was thwarted. I struggled mightily, if mindlessly, but it seemed like I was stuck in a powerful hold. Meanwhile the sound swelled to a demanding shriek, as did my need to heed it. I thrashed about in this painful state of imprisonment and frustration for several long minutes, then a grayness descended over me. I blacked out and lost total awareness.
When I woke up, I was lying face down in the bushes. I was  dazed, confused and my head hurt. I was suffering from a splitting, two-sided headache. When I tried to stand up, I realized my leg was painfully trapped in some way. Looking down, I was surprised to see my leg securely entangled in loops of a strand of treacherous barb wire, still fastened to an old post nearby. I gingerly, oh so carefully, tugged one of its sharp barbs from the seam of the pantleg of my jeans, slipped its meancing loops over my shoe, groaning as it tore across the lacerated flesh of my ankle.Then I sat up. It was then, through the bushes just before me, that I noticed a metal structure in a small clearing.  I carefully got to my feet, feeling wobbly and favoring my tenderized leg, whose muscles felt as offended as its serrated skin and gouged flesh did.
Pushing my way into the clearing, I approached the structure, a large, round metal cage, its bars sturdy pipes set in concrete, surrounding a dark, circular, corrugated-sided hole, descending into the ground. On one side of the circle of metal pipes there was a sturdy, swinging metal gate, suitably-sized for a man to pass through. But it had a large, unfamiliar type of lock holding it closed, from the inside. How odd I thought.
I moved my head into the tight space between the bars as far as it would go, peering into the darkness below as best I could. I could see a metal ladder, attached to the hole's side, dropping into the darkness. But I couldn't tell how deep the hole was. It was inky black down there, and my view was further obscured by a small tree growing from a crack in the side of the tunnel, about ten feet down. As I continued to try to see what was down there, I was distracted-- or, perhaps, it was my imagination-- because I heard the rhythmic sound of a large, slow-moving machine working somewhere far below. A growing breeze, puffing across the opening, rustled the tree's leaves and my sense of the disconcerting sound was gone. How very odd, I thought again.
That's when recent memories of that same machine-like sound, the one that had drawn me, here, to this odd structure flooded into my present awareness. I was scared. What happened to me? I turned from the hole and quickly looked around, expecting danger. Seeing none, I began surveying my surroundings more methodically. That's when I noticed them, lines of  three-toed, cloven-hoofed tracks, leading across the soft, sandy soil of the clearing to the locked gate in the cage. My panic swelled. Wide-eyed, I pivoted jerkily, trying to see everywhere around me at once. Then I fled. I won't say mindlessly. But I will admit, that with more forethought, I could have run around some of the poison oak patches I bulldozed through.
A few minutes of intense heart-pounding retreat, with seat-of-the-pants route-choosing, complicated by continual over-the-shoulder gazing as I plowed my way through the thicket and I reached the road, where, at one point I could finally see my car. I soon got my cold one, but the strain of my escape left my hand shaking so hard that I caused it to foam over the top vigorously,  before I  downed it in a few short, nerve-settling glugs.
Since then I'd thought a lot about what happened to me that day without coming to a rational explanation. I tried to explain them away as a synergism amongst the fatigue, dehydration, and highly unusual headache I suffered that day. But that explanation left me unsettled.
Some weeks later I tried to find the structure again. Perhaps, my confusion during the event (as I now call it) hindered my search efforts or possibly the fact I had just recovered from the worst case of dermatitis I'd ever had in my life, and wasn't that eager to try to top it, was an obstacle, but for whatever reason, I was unsuccessful.
It remained a troublesome mystery and visited my thoughts irritatingly often, until one night while channel-surfing, the answer slapped me in the face. I was watching a chunk of the original movie based on H.G. Wells book, "The Time Machine," and I heard the exact same noise that had summoned me to the structure. It was the Morlocks' siren, used to summon the Eloi to willingly, or at least passively, enter the "wells" into their underground world for slaughter, whenever their larders were depleted. The realization punched me in the stomach, as it shriveled my untested fortitude. Only the luck of entanglement in barb wire had kept me from being Bar-BQ.
I can imagine the groans coming from those of you who have kept an open mind thus far as they slowly formed their opinion about my veracity in relating my tale of this bizarre episode. I understand, being a lifelong skeptic. In fact, I'd join you in your sad surmisal, despite its reflection on my character, perhaps even my sanity, if it wasn't for the fact, that I, in the best tradition of war correspondents taking fire, somehow in my dazed, then frightened state, had kept on clicking away with my camera. Here are just a few photos of this experience I'd like to share. I'd share the rest, but I'm thinking "The BigFoot Museum" might want to open a "Morlock" wing and I'm hoping to sign an exclusive agreement. I just hope Morlocks don't have Internet and read this, because I'd have to change my name to  Entree. Enjoy. John
Wikipedia Morlocks entry:
Morlocks are a fictional species created by H. G. Wells for his 1895 novel, The Time Machine. They dwell underground in the English countryside of A.D. 802,701 in a troglodyte civilization, maintaining ancient machines that they may or may not remember how to build. Their only access to the surface world is through a series of well structures that dot the countryside of future England.
Morlocks are humanoid creatures, said to have descended from humans, but by the 8,028th century have evolved into a completely different species, said to be better suited to their subterranean habitat. They are described as "almost antlike", because they slink about silently during the night to catch their prey.
Morlocks wear no clothing but are covered with fur. As a result of living underground, they have little or no melanin to protect their skin, and so have become extremely sensitive to light.
The Morlocks' main source of food is the Eloi, another race descended from humans that lives above ground. The Morlocks treat the Eloi as cattle, and the Eloi do not resist being captured.
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2289 2008-11-30 12:40:10 2008-11-30 16:40:10 closed closed john-vonderlin-holes-in-pescadero-3-morlocks-or-a-time-machine publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1228073153 _edit_last 1
Burt Blumert Comments on John Vonderlin's "Holes in Pescadero" (3) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/11/30/burt-blumert-comments-on-john-vonderlins-holes-in-pescadero-3/ Sun, 30 Nov 2008 18:19:21 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2295 Comment by Burt Blumert Email Burt: (burtblumert@comcast.net) Hi June, How fascinating a fellow John Vonderlin is. I have followed his trekking up and down the South Coast, snooping into caves and scaling dangerous cliffs, but I was stunned by his latest post. He tricked me. I was 3/4 through his piece when I realized this is fiction. At that point I scurried to Google. I wanted to know more about these "Morlocks." It's clear that the futurist HG Wells had some impact on Mr. Vonderlin at an earlier time. He explains that, in reality, the "cage" is part of a "well,"

an emergency overflow pipe that goes under Highway 1 into Long Gulch. Not only has John Vonderlin inspired this reader to follow his footsteps along the mysterious South Coast, and its caves, but now he has me involved with H.G. Wells and his science fiction. I've also learned more about you, John. Burt Blumert]]>
2295 2008-11-30 14:19:21 2008-11-30 18:19:21 closed closed burt-blumert-comments-on-john-vonderlins-holes-in-pescadero-3 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1228145788 _edit_last 1
California Newspaper Project http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/12/01/california-newspaper-project/ Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:50:09 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2319 here Larry Witham Email Larry (larry_excite.com)]]> 2319 2008-12-01 12:50:09 2008-12-01 16:50:09 closed closed california-newspaper-project publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_last 1 _edit_lock 1229959748 1891: Advertising Side By Side http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/12/01/1891side-by-side1891/ Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:57:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2321 levybros

  From the pages of the 1891 Coast Advocate, both Levy Bros & Williamson advertise their general stores, side-by-side. At the time Levy Bros. was breaking new ground, opening "chain" stores in San Gregorio and Half Moon Bay. Mr. J.C. Williamson, who had worked for Levy Bros. in Pescadero, opened his own store on Stage Road (originally called San Gregorio Street.)  

 

 

 

 

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2321 2008-12-01 15:57:00 2008-12-01 19:57:00 closed closed 1891side-by-side1891 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1244689988 _edit_last 1
John Vonderlin Goes to the Big Waves http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/12/03/john-vonderlin-goes-to-the-big-waves/ Wed, 03 Dec 2008 04:02:19 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2336 Bathhouse Rock" story about, which is about a mile south. But, rather the small rocky promontory jutting out from the coast, just west of  the "T" intersection of Pescadero Road and Highway 1. Picture #200809978 at the California Coastal Records Project (CCRP) shows the Point and the surrounding well.
The reason I like this spot for wave watching is that the promontory of the point is narrow, which gives a feeling of being surrounded on three sides by raging whitewater when you climb out towards its end. Yet, you are high enough almost all of the way out to be reasonably safe, even in the heaviest surf.
Most people tend to stop when they come to the first bluff after descending the stairs. It takes just a fairly easy climb down to water level and then back up the next rock further out to bring you to a spot that puts you much more up-close and personal with Neptune's wrath. At the same time, whatever geologic aspect that has kept this promontory from being eroded, has left large, usually submerged blocks of rock at its end that protect you by fending off  the fury of his assault. I should caution that this works best when the swell is coming in parallel to the shore or slightly from the south. Still, under many different conditions,  I've only seen the rock topped a few times, and that was at high tide with huge waves. Even in that case, if you were out there, there are cracks and protuberances you could jam yourself into and hold onto for dear life with a high probability of not being swept into the turbulent and icy waters. Please contact me if this theory is correct. I'd love to see the video.
This first picture is what the promontory looked like on another day at lowtide. As

you can see this promontory is an interesting intrusion into the ocean with a series of potential photographic perches that have an escalating scale of danger as you head seaward.  And here's what it looked like that day looking landward from the spot I was shooting.
And finally here are a few pictures of what it was like that day looking

around from that spot. Next time I expect I'll have to get soaked to get better pictures. Actually, I did get better pictures this time, but with the Flip video, and I have to edit the footage I took of a big set that rolled through so it is a small enough file to email. Soon. Enjoy. John

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2336 2008-12-03 00:02:19 2008-12-03 04:02:19 closed closed john-vonderlin-goes-to-the-big-waves publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_last 1 _edit_lock 1228278676
The Coburn Mystery: Chapter 60 http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/12/04/the-coburn-mystery-chapter/ Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:12:03 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2349 1893-94 Loren Coburn was overseeing construction of his hotel overlooking Pebble Beach. As with any big construction project, there were many after thoughts, and despite Loren's reputation for frugality, he opened his wallet wide for the Pebble Beach Hotel. The pace was demanding, and  locals wondered out loud how the 67-year-old millionaire could keep it up. "A younger man," the critics said, "would be more successful." Others admitted that the  hotel would translate into a new "drawing card" for tiny Pescadero. [Note: I have misplaced the next 3 pages of the original ms. so I'm suddenly jumping forward.] You may recall that while Pebble Beach was added to the San Mateo County Park system, there was no public road leading to it. Coburn had built his own private road which he wasn't willing to share. Without a resolution to the road problem, the struggle to get to Pebble Beach dragged on, with more tearing down and repairing of the fence and gate. Relations were especially tense between Loren Coburn and County Supervisor Henry Adair. "...Adair said he should keep that fence open just as long as he lived, whether he was in office or not" said Sarah Upton, the sister-in-law, and soon to be the wife of Loren Coburn. "Mr. Adair said that we should keep that fence down and open..." Supervisor Adair corrected: "I told Mr. Coburn that I would keep that gate open as long as I was supervisor, and then I would go as a citizen." He knew that the board of supervisors had ordered that a road survey be made by Davenport Bromfield, the county's well known surveyor. Maybe the future "road survey" was what had emboldened another skirmish at the gate to Pebble Beach, this one nasty and ego bruising. It began when Sarah Upton and Loren Coburn, both on horseback, headed for Pebble Beach. Sarah saw a gnarled ball of barbed wire inside the gate and warned: "Your horse will get into that." At that moment Joe Levy rode up. According to Sarah, Levy said: "Coburn, get out of the road. I am going to the beach." "I am not in the road," Coburn said sharply. "If you don't get out of the road, I will drive over you." "You are not going through my 'enclosure' here to go to the beach." And so it went, a heated tussle of words, until the roadmaster Charles Pinkham, with Supervisor Adair seated at his side, drove up in a large wagon pulled by four horses. There were 20 men with them. Sarah continued to describe the scene as she recalled events: "...Adair got down from the wagon, and he took a saw, a hand saw, and went to sawing the fence. Loren Coburn was standing between the buggy and the fence."]]> 2349 2008-12-04 14:12:03 2008-12-04 18:12:03 closed closed the-coburn-mystery-chapter publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1231296459 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin Tastes the Golden Apple of La Honda http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/12/04/john-vonderlin-tastes-the-golden-apple-of-la-honda/ Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:45:10 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2354

If you look carefully you can see the original trunk is leaning over heavily and has decayed to a half-pipe-looking trough.

As I was shooting photos of it, we talked about the amazing struggle this tree had put up to stay alive. Apparently, after the main trunk had rotted, the tree had fallen over. A lower branch apparently then rooted, and with the help of the still living cambium layer and roots of the half pipe of trunk remaining, was able to nourish a few upper branches. One of which became the main trunk, standing straight and tall. It was fortitude incarnate..
As we walked away, Meg said she saw an apple in the tree. I was surprised, having seen none, but looked where she was pointing and sure enough, a beautiful golden apple hung there just above my head. The last

of its kind surely, hanging on as resolutely as its parent had hung on to life; it beckoned me. I walked over, reached up and plucked it. Rotating it in my hand I saw it was perfect. Golden, firm, no sign of an insect's assault scarred its protective skin. I wiped it clean, then holding it up and twirling it to reveal its perfection, I joked, "Eve, would you care for the first bite?"
When it was my turn, I was amazed by both its texture and taste. It was the best apple I've had this year. It's ripening on the tree had produced a richness of taste impossible to find in store bought apples because of the need to breed them and pick them with long term storage and transportation in mind. Impossible even to find at U-Pick orchards, because this late in the season all the picking ladders have been put away and the roadside stand is closed.

Having had a family apple orchard in Sebastopol for years I know it is only these late season, tree-ripened until ready to drop by themselves apples, that can taste like this. And then only from the old varieties whose DNA hasn't been buffeted and transformed by market forces.
The incredibly tenacious lifeforce of the tree, the exquisite taste of the very last fruit that remained, a fruit that somehow had avoided falling to the ground, or being attacked by insects for so long, seemingly waiting for us to come, suggested a course of action. It had recruited me. More on this in the Spring when my long dormant Johnny Appleseed credentials are renewed or when I've found out something about this orchard's history. Enjoy. John
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2354 2008-12-04 18:45:10 2008-12-04 22:45:10 closed closed john-vonderlin-tastes-the-golden-apple-of-la-honda publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1228431548 _edit_last 1
Push & Shove: The Life of a Giant Limpet: Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/12/05/push-shove-the-life-of-a-giant-limpet-story-by-john-vonderlin/ Fri, 05 Dec 2008 05:22:07 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2370
Story/Photos by John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Push & Shove: The Life of a Giant Limpet
Hi June,
I was in the middle of selecting photos for the posting I am writing about our trip to the proposed Worley Flats dam site, when I came across something I'd forgotten. That day we also visited Invisible Beach, and thanks partly to a good low tide, but mainly because of the unusually high level of sand that was present, we were able to walk further out then ever before, around the large rocky promontory that bounds it to the north.
I was photographing a usually submerged rock that had an unusually diverse  group of mussels, limpets, and several types of barnacles all growing together on it, labelling it mentally, the "We Can Just Get Along," photos when Meg called for me to look at a giant limpet.  She was right, it was a giant, the biggest I'd ever seen. It was nestled in an alcove in the lee side of a mat of mussels, apparently enjoying their company or at least the partial.shield from the surf they provided. It was so big that it had other limpets attached to its ancient, battered shell.

Moving on I was amazed to see an even bigger brute, half again the first one's size.
)

This one appeared a little more standoffish from his Mussel rockmates and was in a clear spot on the rock, unprotected from the waves, just barely touching his mussel neighbors. It too had friends along for the ride on its weathered shell.
Well I did some research on limpets and discovered I was interpreting the scene I was looking at very wrongly. Limpets, at least of this species, are  bullies. The are also territorial farmers who watch their fields of algae carefully where they grow in a clearing on the rock, defending them from others of their own species, as well as other interlopers.  They graze the algae growing on their own farm/clearing in a sustainable fashion, that ensures long term productivity. But if they should stray into a neighbor's field, they reveal their darker side and will eat everything in sight (or smell) until driven off. They accomplish this with trespassers, ramming the target with the edge of their shell followed by non-stop "shoving."
As the tide recedes they return from their field, probably guided by pheromones contained in the slime trail they left, to their "home scar." The combination of the contour of this "home scar," eroded into the rock, and the limpet's shell growing to fit its contour, helps the limpet make a better seal. When the waves return, or predators attack, this probably helps the limpet suvive until it can return to tend its field again.
Part of the field's tending involves pushing the various molluscs that are growing at the clearing's edge back, so they won't shrink its size. In fact, my guess is, as the limpets grow larger, they need more food and hence spend a lot of time expanding their "empire," pushing "trespassers and squatters" off the new farmland needed.
You might say there is a perpetual  "Range War" going on right beneath our noses, but its skirmishes are fought not at High Noon, but at High Tide. Enjoy. John

Some species of limpets return to the same spot on the rock known as a "home scar" just before the tide recedes (BBC). In such species, the shape of their shell often grows to precisely match the contours of the rock surrounding the scar. This behavior presumably allows them to form a better seal to the rock and may help protect from either predation or desiccation.
It is still unclear how limpets find their way back to the same spot each time, but it is thought that they follow pheromones in the mucus left as they move. Other species, notably Lottia gigantea, seem to "garden" a patch of algae around their home scar (Shanks 2002).
Lottia gigantea also are one of the few invertebrates to exhibit territoriality and will aggressively push other organisms out of this patch by ramming with their shell, thereby allowing their patch of algae to grow for their own grazing. Also, where the limpets eat the algae off bare rocks, it creates places where other organisms can grow and thrive.
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2370 2008-12-05 01:22:07 2008-12-05 05:22:07 closed closed push-shove-the-life-of-a-giant-limpet-story-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1228454628 _edit_last 1
Santa Claus Came Early to Smuggler's Cove: Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/12/08/santa-claus-came-early-to-smugglers-cove-story-by-john-vonderlin/ Mon, 08 Dec 2008 22:29:15 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2381 Treasures from the Sea
Story by John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
Our recent trip to Franklin Point and Smuggler's Cove produced a Santa Claus-sized bag of sensory presents; thundering big wave surf, the tang of fresh, salt-laden air, and sweeping, eye-popping vistas from an isolated rocky point overlooking the vast Pacific, all on a mild, sunny, nearly windless, December day. It was pure frosting-on-the-cake that the day's trip also provided a  gaggle of ejecta oddities, freshly thrown from the deeps into the shallows for me to marvel at.
This first one is some type of egg mass. I've photographed other similar masses, some weighing several pounds. But, they were all colorlesss and the eggs were much larger and opaque. Whatever creature produced these obviously has a good sense of style and color, as this is a thing of beauty, even though its presence on the beach was fatal to its crew.
I am a collector of soles. I have hundreds in storage, patiently waiting till the promised "Sole Man" piece of artplay comes to life and they are reincarnated. But none can compare in commensal hoariness with this one I found in Smuggler's Cove. My guess is that it was wedged somewhere, immobile for a long time, giving the constancy of environment necessary for the barnacles to grow. Only when the leather top rotted was the sole released to be borne  into the upper world and into my hands.
While out at the end of Franklin Point Meg noticed this little Mini-Me sea arch. I wanted to add it

to my catalogue of Coastside sea arches, so I climbed down to photograph it and was given a little surprise, with a foam topping.

The different kinds of tafoni at this spot are spectacular. Here's a few pictures of what is called honeycomb tafoni. I found a new website, "tafoni.com" that explains some of the mysteries about this unusual phenomena as well as cataloging its types.
The last oddity of the day was this unusual rock I found on our way home. Fossilized donut?

Bagel? Product of molluscs? It is almost surely natural and yet the central hole is so circular and straight-sided that it would seem to rule out a piddock clam as the creator.
Whatever its source it was a nice finish to an interesting buffet of nature's oddities that day.  Enjoy. John
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2381 2008-12-08 18:29:15 2008-12-08 22:29:15 closed closed santa-claus-came-early-to-smugglers-cove-story-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1228775356 _edit_last 1
1900: What happened to the "Pet Cannon?" http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/12/09/1900-what-happened-to-the-pet-cannon/ Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:21:52 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2394 Hi June,
This is an article from "The San Francisco Call," from January 11, 1900. I had never previously heard mention about this cannon, but will start asking around.
From John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
PESCADERO'S PET CANNON STOLEN
January 11, 1900  The San Francisco Call
A Special Dispatch to the Call
REDWOOD CITY, Jan. 10  The citizens of Pescadero were greatly surprised last Thursday morning when they learned the brass cannon which has been one of the chief ornaments of the city for the last thirty years, had mysteriously disappeared in the night. Constables of nearby towns were notified and watched the roads carefully.
Constable Wagner, of San Mateo, on receiving notice of the theft, set out for Spanishtown. He had not proceeded far before he found two young men who had the captured gun carefully concealed in a wagon. They gave their names as Fred Lummis  and John Rose, and their residence as Haywards. (sic) They said they had seen the gun beside the road and thinking it had no owner placed it in the wagon.
The young men are of respectable appearance and had considerable money in their possession. They have retained a lawyer to defend them and the citizens of the little town are rejoicing at the recovery of their noisy toy.
The gun was purchased thirty years ago for $250 and its voice has been heard at every celebration in the little town since that date. -----------------
While the correspondent seemed to be unsure whether the cannon was a noisy toy, a cannon or a gun and couldn't decide if Pescadero was a liitle town or a city, I was glad to know the defendants were of respectable appearance. But, that might be because my brother is watching a documentary on the "Dapper Don," or the "Teflon Don," John Gotti, near enough for me to be distracted.
I'm going to ask some of the history buffs of Pescadero, if they've ever heard of this or the custom of shooting the cannon off during celebrations. So far, I can find no other mention in the Newspaper Archives of what obviously wasn't the "Trial of The Century, (even though it was in January of 1900) but will keep looking." Enjoy. John
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2394 2008-12-09 16:21:52 2008-12-09 20:21:52 closed closed 1900-what-happened-to-the-pet-cannon publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1231273679 _edit_last 1
1900: Were Two Huge "Kablooies" Connected?....Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/12/10/1900-were-two-huge-explosions-connectedstory-by-john-vonderlin/ Thu, 11 Dec 2008 01:14:42 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2396 Newspaper Archives, I came across a couple of articles about two long ago events, that while seemingly wildly unrelated, have a strong connection to me in several ways. They both tell the story of what could be the two largest "Kablooies" to have occurred in historic times on the Coastside. Likewise, they both occurred at sites whose exact locations are now lost, turning them two minor mysteries right side-by-side on my must-find-and-visit site list. Perhaps, one of your readers can help?
The first article is from the January 7, 1909 issue of "The San Francisco Call."
SET OFF 16,000 POUNDS OF EXPLOSIVE IN BLAST
Charge Successfully Displaces 65,000 Yards of Material
Jan.6  One of the most difficult tasks of the Ocan Shore Railroad was carried to a successful conclusion near San Gregorio, when 16,000 pounds of explosive was set off in one blast. successfully displacing 65,000 cubic yards of material. The grading between Long Bridge and San Gregorio is nearly completed.
------------------------------
The second article is from "The San Francisco Call,"  January 14, 1900
TWO ACRES OF LAND SUDDENLY ELEVATED
Remarkable Phenomenon at Pescadero Probably Caused by Explosion of Subterranean Gases  Santa Cruz January 13
A remarkable phenomenon occurred on Pescadero Creek at 11 o'clock last night, when nearly two acres of land thickly covered with redwoods and including a section of the creek was raised up bodily ten to fifteen feet above the surrounding land. The upheaval was accompanied by a heavy rumbling sound and is supposed to be an earthquake. A long section of the wagon road was elevated and destroyed. The elevation of a portion of the creek bottom changed the course of the stream, which had cut a wide new channel around the upraised ground. Much of the timber had been prostrated, while all that is still standing leans heavily towards the higher ground. Many dead fish were found. As there are oil indications in the vicinty the upheaval may have been caused by a gas explosion in the depths below. --------------------------------------
Of the two mysteries the location of the site of the enormous manmade explosion should be the easiest to solve. By studying the planned route of the Ocean Shore Railroad north of San Gregorio, I should be able to locate the site of the largest roadbed cut, which is probably also the site of the titanic explosion. Sixty five thousand yards of material are difficult to hide, even a hundred years later. Such a huge explosion deserves a story, even if its force was wasted on a route that was never finished or used. Sound and fury, yes, but much ado about nothing.
The two -acre uplift site may be more difficult to find. The reference to oil indications helps a bit, as I'll detail in a later posting. The most interesting thing about it is, whether caused by earthquake or subterranean gas explosion, its proximity to the proposed Worley Flats Dam site might have greatly magnified its significance had it come to light during the public hearing part of the dam's planning process. Whether a repeat of this phenomena would have produced a tidal wave of disturbed water over the dam, or caused a complete failure of the dam would have been a matter of much concern for the dam's more catastrophically-minded opponents. That is, assuming they had ever read a small filler article in a seventy year old newspaper from a distant city. Enjoy. John
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2396 2008-12-10 21:14:42 2008-12-11 01:14:42 closed closed 1900-were-two-huge-explosions-connectedstory-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1231273698 _edit_last 1
Minus Tide: What Happened to My Best Arch (MBA)? Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/12/12/fallen-arch-story-by-john-vonderlin/ Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:53:17 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2406
More photos coming soon
The Fallen Arch
Story/Photos by John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
Today's trip to the Coastside was perfect, in concert with its delightful low 60s temperatures, its sunny blue sky, its almost windless and tourist-less vistas, and the revitalization one feels when viewing the coastal hills greening up from the earlier rains. Even my camera sensed it, as it took some of the clearest shots I've ever taken of Pigeon Point Lighthouse.
But, that might be my enthusiasm talking about the locations the shots were taken from.
Alas, amid this paradisical ecstasy, "Agony" awaited. For while fresh air and beautiful scenery were the foundation of our trip, we had goals. Our No. 1 goal was to capture images of us standing on top of  the sea arch I had written about in the Lou Denny Wayne (LDW) story. Between Pigeon Point and Gazos Creek, the stretch of coast where the sea arch is located, includes a series of small coves, isolated from one another, and from beachcombers, by rocky promontories extending into deeper water. But when we get the excellent minus tides that we are having this week, very conveniently at their lowest in the mid -to- late afternoon, access is possible.
When we first discovered this sea arch last year, we didn't take time to document it well, as we were intent on pressing south, hoping to find the site where the Lou Denny Wayne had gone aground. I shot a few photos, and then we continued southward. After we had found the LDW wreck site and some wreckage, shot a few photos, and talked with the Marine Sanctuary scientist assessing the wrecksite,  we moved on towards Gazos, instead of backtracking, fearing the now rising tide on the long return along the path we had followed.

While we made the right choice that day, we wanted a lot more photos of a moderately picturesque sea arch. One that very people have ever seen. Picture # 200506615 on the California Coastal Records Project site (CCRP) shows the arch. And the black bar

on this screengrab from that picture shows where the arch is.
Alas, more accurately, the bar indicates where the arch was. Because when we arrived at  the promontory that it had pierced, the arch was no more. Its rocks, still un-colonized by the ocean's opportunists, lay in ruins below where the once proud span had reached for the sky. We were bummed. A photo opportunity lost, yes, but also lost was a structure of natural beauty, one that when I last saw it seened solid, and more importantly, a permanent feature of the beach--rather than its geologic ephemerality now exposed to us, reclaimed by its creator, the waves, sadly, before we could really know it. Picture #200810101 on CCRP, taken on October 1st of this year, show that the arch was gone by then. This screengrab from the large file of this picture shows  the missing arch's site clearly for those without Highspeed Internet. Here's the way it used to look on our first trip and how it looks now The last photo is a shot from above the arch showing Meg standing on its remnants.

While the arch is gone, it will not be forgotten, at least not by me. For I've named it. Using the W, L, and D from the Lou Denny Wayne that drew us there, the A for the arch it is, and an O for the shape it spanned, I'll at least always know where  WALDO, the Sea Arch was. Enjoy.
P.S. Fortunately, the second goal of the trip, using the low tide to explore the coast south of Bean Hollow Beach, produced an astounding find. A natural wonder that produced as much joy as "Waldo's" demise produced sadness. I'd like to share this discovery and its amazing neighbors in my next posting.
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2406 2008-12-12 15:53:17 2008-12-12 19:53:17 closed closed fallen-arch-story-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1230865857 _edit_last 1
Tafoni.com for Everyone! Story/Photos by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/tafoni-for-everyone-storyphotos-by-john-vonderlin/ Sat, 13 Dec 2008 03:38:15 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?page_id=2437
Tafoni: Miniature Natural Wonders
Story/Photos by John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
In a recent posting I referred to the new website, Tafoni.com, which is dedicated to the minor natural wonders, tafoni, for which the Coastside is ground zero. Although, tafoni are found all over the world, from the Alps to the Sahara Desert, we have the greatest concentration, and in my opinion the most interesting types right here along our Coastside.
While exploring the site, I noticed a type of tafoni new to me, and so odd that I felt I had to investigate and find some to photograph myself. This new-to-me type is called "boxed tafoni" or "tafoni with boxworks." On the "Enter" page of Tafoni.com you can see an example if you look in the middle, towards the top of the largest picture. You'll see what looks like rectangular, nested boxes seen from the top. If you check out the Northern California section in the Gallery at the site, you'll see three examples of these oddities.
After the disappointment of finding the crumbled remnants of WALDO, the Sea Arch, we drove to Bean Hollow Beach parking lot and headed south along the Arroyo de Frijoles Beach. There is a small, lightly used trail up the steep hill and into the forest of tafoni festooning the ocean side of the cove's southern promontory.
With a new appreciation of these little oddities fine-tuning my perception, I started seeing all sorts of wonderful variations of them. I was clicking my camera almost every few feet, when I was startled to see two wonderful examples of "boxed tafon"i right in front of me. Here's what they look like in close-up. I'll salute anyone who can clearly explain the mysterious forces that produce such an illogical, unnatural-appearing erosional feature.
If you'd like to see these tafonis, and their amazing neighbors, check out the surrounding area at Picture #200810017 on CCRP. The best concentration of the tafonis are just above the surf, directly down the page from where Highway 1 disappears behind a hill. Enjoy. John
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2437 2008-12-12 23:38:15 2008-12-13 03:38:15 closed closed tafoni-for-everyone-storyphotos-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 page 0 _edit_lock 1229139879 _edit_last 1
Tafoni.com for Everyone!!! Story/Photos by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/12/12/tafonicom-for-everyone-storyphotos-by-john-vonderlin/ Sat, 13 Dec 2008 03:41:01 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2446
Tafoni: Miniature Natural Wonders
Story/Photos by John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
In a recent posting I referred to the new website, Tafoni.com, which is dedicated to the minor natural wonders, tafoni, for which the Coastside is ground zero. Although, tafoni are found all over the world, from the Alps to the Sahara Desert, we have the greatest concentration, and in my opinion the most interesting types right here along our Coastside.
While exploring the site, I noticed a type of tafoni new to me, and so odd that I felt I had to investigate and find some to photograph myself. This new-to-me type is called "boxed tafoni" or "tafoni with boxworks." On the "Enter" page of Tafoni.com you can see an example if you look in the middle, towards the top of the largest picture. You'll see what looks like rectangular, nested boxes seen from the top. If you check out the Northern California section in the Gallery at the site, you'll see three examples of these oddities.
After the disappointment of finding the crumbled remnants of WALDO, the Sea Arch, we drove to Bean Hollow Beach parking lot and headed south along the Arroyo de Frijoles Beach. There is a small, lightly used trail up the steep hill and into the forest of tafoni festooning the ocean side of the cove's southern promontory.
With a new appreciation of these little oddities fine-tuning my perception, I started seeing all sorts of wonderful variations of them. I was clicking my camera almost every few feet, when I was startled to see two wonderful examples of "boxed tafon"i right in front of me. Here's what they look like in close-up. I'll salute anyone who can clearly explain the mysterious forces that produce such an illogical, unnatural-appearing erosional feature.
If you'd like to see these tafonis, and their amazing neighbors, check out the surrounding area at Picture #200810017 on CCRP. The best concentration of the tafonis are just above the surf, directly down the page from where Highway 1 disappears behind a hill. Enjoy. John
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2446 2008-12-12 23:41:01 2008-12-13 03:41:01 closed closed tafonicom-for-everyone-storyphotos-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1229139932 _edit_last 1
Blink + you'll miss "Gordon's Chute" Shoot http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/12/15/blink-or-youll-miss-gordons-chute/ Mon, 15 Dec 2008 05:01:21 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2451 Hi June,

While picking my way through the slimy, lowtide-revealed path to the Gordon's Chute site, the frequent explosion of whitewater, above the base rock that once served as its wave-washed foundation, warned me of the problems we would face.

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Once we had climbed onto the base rock, and I had a chance to view the circumstances present at the lowspot I had planned to climb down at, I knew I'd reached another Chicken's Roost in my coastal explorations. I could look at the virgin territory to the north below the sheer Tunitas cliffs, but I was loathe to risk my life by actually penetrating, "The Forbidding Zone."

22

As you can see, my hope that I could ease myself down through the slippery lowspot between waves and splash my way at least to the sea cave was not to be. At least not that day. Instead I did a photo shoot from various points on the base rock, trying to capture what it must have been like for the hardy seamen a couple of centuries ago who anchored their boats offshore and loaded them with products from local farmers by means of Gordon's amazing structure. Here's an excerpt I found in the Newspaper Archives (cbsr.tabbec.com) as to what those products might have been.

The sole reference I could find to this short-lived, but ingenious structure was in the September 14th, 1876 issue of "The Daily Alta." In it's regular "Importations" column, was listed "GORDON'S CHUTE - Per Continental ( where it was coming from and the ship that was bringing it to S.F.) 745 sks barley, 342 do oats, 172 do beans, 1552 do potatoes. (sks is sacks I suppose, "do" I'm not sure about, surely a volume or weight measurement.)

This amounts to almost 3,000 units of produce that had to be "slid" down the one- hundred- foot- high chute to the cargo loaders waiting below, on a ship. that because of the waves. is rising and falling, rocking back and forth, as well as rhythmically surging against its anchors. Something that apparently was fairly dangerous and susceptible to mishaps.

This picture from the end of the base rock with exploding surf topping it conveys some of the ocean's danger. Though the speed and weight of the various "sks" or "dos" coming down the chute was a constant danger, irrespective of the ocean's conditions.

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349336 taken from the very end taken between big sets that demonstrates what the sailors would have been looking at landward, minus the Chute of course. I imagine when a strong storm eventually wrecked the chute, there were more then a few sailors that rejoiced at its demise, had a strong drink or two and recounted to their wide-eyed mates what it was like during some of their wilder runs to Gordon's Chute. Enjoy. John]]>
2451 2008-12-15 01:01:21 2008-12-15 05:01:21 closed closed blink-or-youll-miss-gordons-chute publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1229447376 _edit_last 1
John VonderlIn: Huge New Clues in the "Mystery of Monty Parker/Message in a Bottle" Story http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/12/15/john-vonderlin-huge-new-clues-in-the-mystery-of-monty-parker/ Tue, 16 Dec 2008 02:24:42 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2462 John Vonderlin's earlier posts about Monty Parker, please click here Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Read the emails between South Coast explorers Larry Fitterer and John Vonderlin mp1 Hi John, I took my twins to the coast yesterday afternoon.  We hiked down to Greyhound Rock and explored the surrounding tide pools.  On the way back, I noticed a truck in the small turnout directly above the Monty Parker sign.  We hiked down to the sign and found two ropes going over the edge.  Off in the distance, toward Warm Water Lagoon, we saw two men and a dog building a fire. I remembered the jar you left at the base of the sign and checked it.  Someone left a note!  I did not take the note, since the spot feels like a shrine, and I don't have the contents committed to memory. Here's what I recall.  Monty Parker was a long time resident of the area, an avid explorer, and abalone diver who drowned just off that spot while diving for abalone.  He was a high school sports coach, and there is a sports field (Parker Field) named after him.  The school name was abbreviated, and I don't recall the initials. I was sure the gentlemen down below were acquainted with Monty Parker, and I wanted to wait for them to ascend the rope.  However, it was getting late and the kids were getting antsy.  Instead, I left my business card on the windshield of the truck and invited them to call me to discuss Monty. Several hours later, I received a call on my mobile phone.  No message, but I'm pretty sure it was one of the climbers.  I called back and left a message.  I will let you know if/when I connect with them.  Hopefully, they can unravel the Monty Parker mystery.  Also, I would love to know how they got their dog down the cliff! Hope all is well, and my best to Meg, Larry ---------------- mp1
Hi Larry,
Great to hear from you. I think you are more then halfway to solving the mystery. Monty having drowned at that beautiful spot is sad, but he was doing what he loved at his favorite place in the world. I should be so lucky(in a couple of decades). It certainly explains how somebody in good enough shape to rappel down the cliff would die so young. I've been websearching various combinations of terms from the info you provided, but no hits yet.
It's great your kids are already accompanying you on some of your adventures. They're only seven, right? With any luck in ten years they'll be teasing you about keeping up.
Like you, we also used the tremendous lowtide to check out some of the coast on Friday. We were able to climb out on the far end of Pillar Point from the northside, out to just landward from the Maverick's surf spot. I haven't found any Internet mention of anybody else doing it yet, but it seems so much tamer then our previous trips to Acid Beach or The Notch, I'm sure somebody must have. It does take a great low tide though. In a nice bit of synchronicity we discovered a very photogenic walk-through arch that is invisible on all the CCRP photos and also is not mentioned anywhere on the web.. Takes the sting out of knowing where WALDO isn't.  I'm writing a story about it that's almost done.
Pillar Point was actually my second choice, but the fairly large-sized waves on that day made a second try at probing north from Gordon's Chute a bit wild. June just posted the story about our first try. Why don't you check it out and see if it's something you might want to try someday. Apparently, it would take a combination of the lowest tide and calmest waves to make it possible to walk and wade through part of it. But, using a boogie board and fins it seems quite possible. It is a spectacular stretch of coast with an amazing number of sea caves.
Next trip to Amb's, I'll photograph the note and leave another one thanking whoever left it.
Thanks again for following through. Meg and I wish you and your family the happiest of Holidays and hope to see soon. Enjoy. John]]>
2462 2008-12-15 22:24:42 2008-12-16 02:24:42 closed closed john-vonderlin-huge-new-clues-in-the-mystery-of-monty-parker publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1229448233 _edit_last 1
Explorer John Vonderlin tracks the route of the Ocean Shore RR http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/12/18/explorer-john-vonderlin-tracks-the-route-of-the-ocean-shore-rr/ Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:14:08 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2488 111

Ocean Shore Route
Story/Photos by John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
Ever since I ran into that article in the Newspaper Archive about the 16,000 pounds of explosives being set off north of San Gregorio to aid in the creation of the Ocean Shore Railroad's route, I've been thinking more and more about the railroad's proposed route. I haven't yet tried to find the 65,000 cubic yard displacement that the mighty blast caused, but I did run into an interesting document that is related: It concerns the  railroad's projected route, at least at some point in time, across Pescadero Creek.
I had theorized about this part of the railroad's route in a posting concerning the tunnel (quite possibly originally built to store explosives) that used to exist in the side of the hill just above the northernmost parking lot of Pescadero State Beach Park. Based on the length of the planned trestle for Pescadero Creek which I found in a document in Jack Wagner's out-of-print book, "The Last Whistle,"  a6d9a2c008a0ab126f083010_aa240_l as well as the knowledge that Highway 1 now follows much of the railroad's planned route, I assumed the Ocean Shore would have taken a straight shot down the hill, across the dunes, and over the creek bed to the solidity of the promontory to the south.
My theory was bolstered by examining the 1972 photos on the California Coastal Records Project website (CCRP). They show the dune-covered peninsula "the gunbarrel-straight route" would have followed, significantly wider even as recent as then, thanks to the much more generous amount of sand that existed to the west. Straight as a rail is almost always best in the transportation business world.
Well, it looks like I might be wrong. It's not a certainty, as the "dotted line"
routes of  railroad-building dreamers were very flexible even before they met the realities of construction.  But, based on the aforementioned 1960's document, it would seem the railroad's late 19th/early 20th century planners tried to avoid as much of the sandy stretch as possible by bowing to the east, following the lower contour of the hill and then a promontory jutting out from it, until returning to the dune area, where a raised trestle started and continued until it had crossed the creek. I'm guessing with well-driven pilings, the problem of blowing sand drifting on the rail-bed, as well as flooding from the creek, either during storms or when a sandbar across the creek's mouth created a large lagoon,  all would have been dealt with nicely.
I've attached a shot of the railroad's document showing the bow in the line with

95

added black boxes to help see the route. I've also attached a Screengrab from a recent CCRP picture (Picture #200809967) that focuses on the area at the point

102

the route returns to the dunes, crossing over one short swampy stretch.
One of these days I'll try hiking around "North Pond," as the area encompassed by the route's bow is called, to see if there are any signs of the railroad's rail-bed left, other then the faint ledge, that up to now I had thought was only big enough for a jeep or possibly a long ago stage road.
My last visit there was the nearly disastrous, and ultimately unsuccessful attempt, I made to attempt to remove two car tires that had irritatingly been scarring the limited beauty of the North Pond's mudflats for more then a year. This time I'll try to verify whether this "new" route was ever graded and hopefully not start the New Year as a stick-in-the-mud theorist. Enjoy. John
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2488 2008-12-18 15:14:08 2008-12-18 19:14:08 closed closed explorer-john-vonderlin-tracks-the-route-of-the-ocean-shore-rr publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1229627736 _edit_last 1
100 Years Ago Pescadero Stage Calls it Quits: Replaced by Motor-driven Vehicle http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/12/19/100-years-ago-pescadero-stage-calls-it-quits-replaced-by-motor-driven-vehicle/ Sat, 20 Dec 2008 00:01:39 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2500 24

HE SAN FRANCISCO CALL

October 12, 1909
THE INSIDER
Tells of the Passing of the Historic Stage Line Between San Mateo and Pescadero, Which Was Made Unprofitable by Railroad Competition After Less Then Fifty Years Operation
Motor Cars Replace Six Horse Coaches
Scant notice, if any, was given by the San Francisco press of the passing of one of the historic stage lines in this state. A few weeks ago all the coaches and livestock of the stage line plying between San Mateo and Pescadero, via Halfmoon bay (sic), Purisima, and San Gregoria, (sic) were sold at auction. For a little less then a half a century the line had been in existence, but the advent of the Ocean Shore railway introduced a competition that could not be met, and so, like the other stage lines, it passed into history.
Before Del Monte was thought of, and Santa Cruz was dreaming of its future, Pescadero, with its famous pebble beach, was one of the most popular seaside resorts in the state. Every morning in the summer the big Concord coach with its six well groomed horses left San Mateo for Pescadero, loaded to capacity. Often there were two or three coaches. The route was through the Crystal Springs Canyon, across the Canada de la Raymunda, up the mountain and down to Halfmoon bay, (sic) and thence along the coast to Pescadero. A more beautiful ride can not be found in the state.
The elder Swanton, whose son Fred is now the big gun at Santa Cruz, ran the hotel at Pescadero and his fame as a caterer was established by the bon vivants of the San Francisco clubs.
Not a few of the drivers who piloted the big coaches had seen service on the great overland stage lines and when the locomotives put them out of business they drifted to the coast line, where the war whoop of the redskin was never heard and the road agent made no profit.
The rumble of the road coach is stilled, and in its place is heard the whirr and whiz of the motor driven vehicle.
----------------
I wonder what would have been the response of the newly unemployed stage drivers if I could have nursed a few beers with them at the Swanton and told them of the things to come and go along the Coastside in the next hundred years? Enjoy. John

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2500 2008-12-19 20:01:39 2008-12-20 00:01:39 closed closed 100-years-ago-pescadero-stage-calls-it-quits-replaced-by-motor-driven-vehicle publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1229731640 _edit_last 1
Near Pescadero, closer to The Butano http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/12/19/near-pescadero/ Sat, 20 Dec 2008 02:22:43 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2505 ]]> 2505 2008-12-19 22:22:43 2008-12-20 02:22:43 closed closed near-pescadero publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1231295825 _edit_last 1 You mean to say that Bean Hollow was named after a Mister Bean? http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/12/22/bean-hollow-was-named-after-a-bean-mr-sam-bean/ Tue, 23 Dec 2008 01:18:14 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2508
Hi June,
I believe this is the answer to the origin of the name of Bean Hollow, not as I or Dr. Brown had theorized. Only about one in 6,000 people have Bean as a surname these days. The coincidence of the proprieter of the first hotel in Pescadero and the nearby Bean Hollow having the same name is hard to ignore. Enjoy. John
Bean is the 713th most popular last name (surname) in the United States; frequency is 0.017%;
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"Samuel Bean had the honor of being the first to keep a hotel at Pescadero. The building was erected by Besse, Radar & Weeks in the fall of 1856 for a store. Rader, however, occupied it as a dwelling house until 1859 when Bean took a lease of it for hotel purposes. In 1861, Loren Coburn became its proprietor, and he was succeeded by C.W. Swanton, who purchased the property and keeps a hotel there."
June to John: I did not know that Coburn owned the Swanton House before the Swantons owned it. I'm assuming that's what the article is referring to. Good new information.
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2508 2008-12-22 21:18:14 2008-12-23 01:18:14 closed closed bean-hollow-was-named-after-a-bean-mr-sam-bean publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1230001279 _edit_last 1
Celebrating the Creative Explorer Russell Towle http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/12/22/celebrating-the-creative-explorer-russell-towle/ Tue, 23 Dec 2008 02:36:49 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2513 [Image: One of the big cedars in Four Horse Fat along the Big Granite Trail.] "From the DVD: Russell Towle was an avid hiker in the river canyons of the Sierra Nevada, and a tireless advocate for the preservation and development of public access to historic trails in the Sierras. Russell was also a brilliant and innovative mathematician, entranced by higher-dimensional forms. He was a computer animator. He was an extremely doting father who enjoyed every single moment of life with his kids. He was a lover of classical Latin literature and Shakespeare, of Tintin comics and Terry Pratchett novels. He was a historian and a writer; a geologist; a linguist; an artist; a builder; a musician with a special love of Brazilian music; a nature lover and photographer. He was a tireless trailblazer, who habitually carried loppers on his hikes, to trim the way and ease the passage of others who would follow. Russell was self-taught, formal education processes were far too slow for his quick, deep, wide mind. " russelltowle2 Disc One: Canyon Creek Trail Raw footage of Russell filmed just before Thanksgiving 2006 for a future documentary. Includes visits to and musings about Dutch Flat and the Gold Run Diggings in addition to extensive discussions along the Canyon Creek Trail. Disc Two: YouTube Videos An archive of the varied videos Russell created and posted to YouTube.]]> 2513 2008-12-22 22:36:49 2008-12-23 02:36:49 closed closed celebrating-the-creative-explorer-russell-towle publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1229999965 _edit_last 1 The city of "Torquay will not have streets running recklessly contrary to nature.." http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/12/23/the-city-of-torquay-will-not-have-streets-running-recklessly-contrary-to-nature/ Wed, 24 Dec 2008 00:34:45 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2525 [Image: "Ano Nuevo is land and government signal station. The island is a little south of Torquay and about one half mile from mainland."] Circa 1900. The image above is from the pamphlet extolling the beauties of Torquay. A promotional pamphlet. A Place Called Torquay "Architect's Statement "Choice lots in Torquay are on sale by the Cascade Improvement Company. They are in the most desirable portion of the tract and are already selling with great rapidity. "Cascade Park, a beautiful reservation with natural waterfalls, is located in the heart of the town and will be held permanently for public use. This will form an attraction of which no other city on this continent can boast. "That one may gain a fair knowledge of the attractive way in which Torquay was laid out, particular attention is called to the plan of this beautiful City by the Sea. "Especial care was taken in laying out the map, a preliminary survey of the ground first having been made. It was found that Cascade Creek, a running stream of water formed a series of natural lagoons at the base of the town-site. After considerable study it was decided to take advantage of this fact. Therefore Torquay must remain unique among all cities as possessing a series of [missing words] These lagoons are enclosed on each side by gently rising boulevards to the level of the cliff overlooking the ocean. The roads and streets are all made to conform as nearly as possible to the contours of the ground as found by the survey. It is seldom that any town-site has ever been laid out where such close consideration has been paid to the natural conditions of the site. "Torquay will not have streets running recklessly contrary to nature and regardless of the steepness of the hills. The plan for this city was made by D.H. Burnham & Co."

torquay3[Image: I don't know if you can SEE  the IMAGE of the men and a huge Redwood tree. It is from a souvenir pamphlet. The caption reads: "'The Chieftain' which stands 215 feet high with a large burnt shell for a top. Still 8 feet across. This tree is 15 feet in diameter at its base. 100 feet above the ground it is 8 feet." And, "the Chieftain" lived in the area where the town of Torquay was planned, near Ano Nuevo. I am wondering, does this remarkable tree still stand?

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2525 2008-12-23 20:34:45 2008-12-24 00:34:45 closed closed the-city-of-torquay-will-not-have-streets-running-recklessly-contrary-to-nature publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1244556412 _edit_last 1
Torquay, the poem? http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/12/25/torquay-the-poem/ Thu, 25 Dec 2008 04:13:10 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2534 What a fragrance in the air From the aroma of the trees. Redwood trees. And the soul thrilling music Of the roaring of the seas--restless sea, Here ones heart overflows with gladness When one dwells 'neath the trees by the sea. Joaquin Miller (?) ]]> 2534 2008-12-25 00:13:10 2008-12-25 04:13:10 closed closed torquay-the-poem publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1244556339 _edit_last 1 1883: Gazos Creek and sandy beaches superb for growing chunky black coal http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/12/25/1883-gazos-creek-and-sandy-beaches-superb-for-growing-chunky-black-coal/ Thu, 25 Dec 2008 22:39:13 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2539 Commentary by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June, The 1883 book, "San Mateo County, California, Geography, Topography, Geology, Climatography, and Description," has only a few short sections about the Coastside. Strangely, the most extensive part about the Coastside deals with Pescadero and most of that deals with local crimes and the punishments dealt out for their commission. Here's an interesting example of how crime was dealt with in the earliest days in this region, where there were no police to arrest someone and no jail to put them in even. A little "Frontier Justice" was in order. In 1853 Alexander Moore came to Pescadero, arriving here March 15th. John Tuffy drove a yoke of cattle into the county for Moore, but did not permanently reside there until several years later. In the same year (1853) Lafayette Chandler came to Pescadero, and is still a resident of the place. With Alexander Moore also came a man named John Daly, an Irishman, whom he employed to drive swine from Santa Cruz to the ranch. Daly remained here until early in the year 1855. The bent of his genius is revealed in the following circumstance, which also explains the cause of him afterwards seeking a more congenial neighborhood. In 1855 the sloop Sea Bird, was at Pigeon Point with a party engaged in recovering what was to be got from the wreck of the "Carrier Pigeon," previously lost at the Point. The Sea Bird sprung a leak and was beached at the south side of New Year's Point. Some of the coal she had on board was washed ashore. Before this, the indications of the existence of coal in this vicinity had created considerable excitement. Daly found on the beach some lumps from the Sea Bird's cargo, and a brilliant project struck him. To him money was valuable mainly as a medium in obtaining whiskey. To secure his grog was the grand ultimatum of every enterprise. Here was coal, coal was cash, and cash was convertible at any bar. Collecting a few lumps, he proceeded to Santa Cruz, where he exhibited it to Bill Butler, Eli Moore, Sam. Drannan, and Captain Drannan, representing to them that he had discovered a coal mine on Gazos Creek, and that these were specimens of the coal. He proposed to sell his lucky strike to them, provided they would advance a small amount of money to him on the spot. This they agreed to, and the coin was duly paid over to Daly, with the understanding that he was to conduct them to the place and point out the mine to them at once. Daly took them to the creek, and arriving at a point on the banks, told Drannan, Moore, and Butler to remain there while he and Captain Brannan followed the bed of the creek a little further up, to find the place the coal had cropped out. Brannan was a fleshy man, and Daly counted on his ability to get away from him as soon as they were out of sight of the rest of the party. He made the essay, endeavoring by some ruse to beguile the Captain entirely away from a suspicion of his design, and at the same time to place such a distance between them as would give him a start that would ensure his escape. Captain Brannan had just enough confidence in Daly to forbid him trusting him even one inch, so he kept close to the Irishman's heels, and at length being fully satisfied that his guide was trying to get away from him, brought him to a halt, and made him confess the whole trick. Brannan was armed--Daly was not. This gave the Captain an advantage in the argument, which his antagonist recognized the force of, and the latter obediently marched back to the place the oother men had been left to wait: a brief council was held--a sort of drum-head court martial-- and it was decided Daly should be summarily punished for his rascality. The sentence was that he should be tied, face down, to four stakes driven in the ground, and he should be whipped on the bare back. Captain Brannan was appointed executioner, and Daly having been secured in position, according to the sentence, the lash was laid on with an earnestness that left no room in his mind that he had made a grievous mistake. Upon being released Daly skulked away and left the country. --------------------------------- I have some thoughts of why the author included this story in his book, but will save those for the end of this series about  "Crimes in Pescadero." Enjoy. John]]> 2539 2008-12-25 18:39:13 2008-12-25 22:39:13 closed closed 1883-gazos-creek-and-sandy-beaches-superb-for-growing-chunky-black-coal publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1230246743 _edit_last 1 So, explain it to me, again, John. If someone's from Pescadero, they are called a "Fishermonger" or "Fishmongerite"? http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/12/28/so-explain-it-again-to-me-john-if-youre-from-pescadero-i-should-call-you-a-fishmonger-rather-than-a-pescaderan/ Sun, 28 Dec 2008 05:32:11 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2546 Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June, I've always been mildly curious about the origin of the town of Pescadero's name ever since I first became aware of the town a few years ago. If you look up the word in a Spanish dictionary you'll find it means "fishmonger," a seller of fish. Its components are "pescado" (the root noun), or fish in English (more specifically a fish that has been caught for food, as "pez" is the word for a free-roaming fish) and the "ero" suffix, which is used for someone who deals with the root noun. Hence a pescadero is a person who deals in caught fish or a fish monger. Just as a vaquero (cowboy) is one who deals with cows (vaca). In the old newspaper articles I see that citizens of Pescadero were referred to as Pescaderoites, instead of the currently used Pescaderans. Since when translated, neither a Fishmongerite or a Fishmongeran seems like a very good moniker for the citizens of the town, I'm glad there is another more pleasant connotation for the town's name. Dr. Alan K. Brown in his 1960 book, "Place Names of San Mateo County," relates this: Pescadero... In 1833  "El Pescadero" (The Fishing Place) was the name of the valley place (sic) around the present town. By the middle 1850's the Spanish village here was called "the Pescadero." In the late '50's American settlers took over the place, which they were inclined to call "Piscadero." : this pronunciation can still be heard. The present form of the word was standard by the '60's. The land grant record of 1833 states that the place had "previously been called San Antonio's: this may be the the same name as the Indian village San Antonio mentioned in the Santa Cruz Mission register between 1795 and 1802. In the 1883 book, "History of San Mateo County," an unknown author expands this further when he writes: Pescadero--The name suggests, not only to the inhabitants of San Mateo county but the thousands of tourists who have sought out the romantic and picturesque scenery of the Pacific coast-a spot where nature seems loth (sic) to expose her charms, and slyly hide Pescadero among the mountains. Here a recess in the coast hills widens to a perfectly level plain of several hundred acres, into which two perennial streams drop down from their weird sources in the dark forest of redwood, and rush out of the narrow gateway into the sea. Of civilized men, this little valley first attracted the the attention of one (sic) Gonzales, a Spaniard, who obtained a grant of it from the Mexican government, called the Rancho de San Antonio or Pescadero. Perhaps the hundreds of anglers who have decoyed the speckled trout from the Butano and Pescadero creeks have never reflected that the great abundance with which these streams were filled gave rise to the name of the grant and the town. Gonzales came upon the grant with the intention of erecting a permanent residence, but soon after died. I found one last source of information about the historic names of Pescadero in a Berkeley undergraduate's geography paper that was prefaced, apparently by his professor, with this rather deflating introduction, but contained the most extensive coverage of this matter I've been able to find. Please note that Dr. Brown's information about "one Gonzales" actually refers to Juan Jose Gonzales, and it would seem that he accomplished much more than dying "soon after." This is a paper that was written by a very =) fallible undergraduate student at the University of California at Berkeley. It was written for an Islands and Oceans Geography course, as a "California Beach" research project. geography.berkeley.edu/PersonalPages/R_Levinson/Pa...   (dogpile.com... websearch Pructaca to find) "The Pescadero area was once inhabited by the Ohlone, a small group of Indians that was a part of a larger tribe known as the Coastanoans. There are several known shell medden mounds in the area, but their location is not disclosed to the public due to fear of vandalism. According to Jean Ferreira, in a personal interview with Rena Obernolte, the mounds were discovered in the 1970s, but have not been excavated (1996: 7). Frank S. Viollis, in discussing the area with Steven Dietz on May 2, 1979 discovered that Mission records show that a village called Pructaca was located near modern day Pescadero (1979: 10). Spanish-Mexican (1769-1840s): In 1769, Pescadero was first entered into recorded history by Portola, as he passed through the area in search of Monterey Bay. The Pescadero Marsh is located on two former Spanish land grants: the Butano Grant and old San Antonio of Pescadero Grant. The region was being used by the Mission Santa Cruz for pasture when Juan Jose Gonzales petitioned to receive a grant in 1833. He received a grant for the land, totalling 3,282 acres, extending from the Pomponio Creek in the north, to the Butano Creek in the south when the Mission was secularized. He was very successful, and went from a herd of 700 in 1834 to 4,000 cattle and 500 horses in 1840 (Violli 1979: 14). He sold 800 acres of his land to Eli Moore, and passed on the remainder to his siblings. The Butano Grant to the south, which encompassed a small portion of the Pescadero Marsh was officially passed on to Romone Sanchez in 1844." The  bit of info about the Indian village called Prutaca being near where Pescadero is now, is bolstered by the register of rancherias and villages from which neophytes were drawn for Mission Dolores, which can be found at the following website. The inhumane treatment and shameful death rate of the hapless "converts" is also detailed at this website. http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/mission/dolores_mission.htm Lastly, whether it was called Pructaca, el Pescadero, The Fishing Place, the Pescadero, Piscadero, or Pescadero, I think Mr. Shakespeare illuminated the essential truth when he said, "That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, so Romeo would, were he not Romeo called." Enjoy. John]]> 2546 2008-12-28 01:32:11 2008-12-28 05:32:11 closed closed so-explain-it-again-to-me-john-if-youre-from-pescadero-i-should-call-you-a-fishmonger-rather-than-a-pescaderan publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1230442461 _edit_last 1 _oembed_dba0f5893904d0292ebe1a952a34a621 {{unknown}} My father was Ralph E. Wall (1877-1956) http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/12/28/my-father-was-ralph-e-wall-1877-1956/ Mon, 29 Dec 2008 01:56:05 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2552 2552 2008-12-28 21:56:05 2008-12-29 01:56:05 closed closed my-father-was-ralph-e-wall-1877-1956 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1230609757 _edit_last 1 "The Cracks" How to get to a vanishing beach - Story/Photos by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/12/29/the-cracks-storyphotos-by-john-vonderlin/ Tue, 30 Dec 2008 03:50:07 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2555 1

I had a chance to return to "The Cracks" a few days ago to shoot some better pictures of a very nice Sea Arch, that like so many others along our coast, is virtually unknown. This one, a relatively small and delicate arch, can be accessed by hiking at low tide north along the beach from the northernmost Pescadero Beach parking lot. I prefer to get to it by a more picturesque, if slightly more dangerous route: "The Cracks."

This route, and the beach you arrive at by taking it, is also known as Horseshoe Cove, the Gulch, and on the California Coastal Records Project (CCRP ) is captioned  "Keldabeach." At one time it was quite popular, but by closing the parking lot above it along Highway 1,  "Keldabeach"  has faded into obscurity. I was able to find only one article from a 2002 Sunset Magazine, "A Beach of One's Own," that vaguely described it. And this despite San Mateo County's website and numerous surf websites listing "The Gulch" as a beach between Pomponio Beach and Pescadero Beach. 1738 If you go to the CCRP website and look at the 1972 picture, (#7218053) when the parking lot was open, you'll see no less then 13 cars parked in it and an obviously heavily-used trail to the beach. Today, you have to park in a narrow strip alongside Highway 1, walk down a long slope and then traverse an "Inca Trail-style path" that terminates in a twenty foot climb down a steep-to-sheer cliff that has hand and footholds carved into the sandstone. A bit exciting, but well worth it. Just before you reach that narrow cliff-side trail and the carved-in-stone ladder, the origin of the moniker, "The Cracks," becomes obvious, as you need to first jump across a deep water-eroded crack in the sandstone, then walk across a board stretching across another deep but narrow crack.

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Having reached the beach, and assuming the tide is low,  you can head south about 300 yards to reach the arch. About two -thirds of the way there, just above a seasonal waterfall that plunges down the sheer cliff, you will see the opening of the World War II observation tunnel I've written about previously. 4953 With the sun shining through it you can see the arch from a distance, though it looks quite small from this northern approach.

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Going to its south side, I was able to climb on top of the promontory and got these pictures that show it off more impressively.

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I almost wasn't able to do so, not because the steep climb up was too hard, but rather I had to sneak by a large, battle-scarred Elephant Seal sleeping nearby. I can't remember ever seeing a live one this far north from the beaches of Ano Nuevo, but perhaps as their numbers continue to increase this will become a  more common sight.

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One last aspect of this interesting visit to a infrequently-visited stretch of our coast was the fact that there were large amounts of very clean, white foam being pushed around gently by the waves. Occasionally, pieces as big as watermelons would be broken off from the billows by the gentle winds, and they would slowly and majestically roll along the beach maintaining their shape for a surprising distance, a final delight of the visual buffet the Coastside rarely fails to offer the guests who come to enjoy its wonders. Enjoy. John 16

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2555 2008-12-29 23:50:07 2008-12-30 03:50:07 closed closed the-cracks-storyphotos-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1230674368 _edit_last 1
Honor Local Adventurer Monty Parker http://pescaderomemories.com/2008/12/30/honor-local-adventurer-monty-parker/ Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:44:24 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2584
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For earlier conversations about Monty Parker, please click here
Story by John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
I was able to visit the Monty Parker Memorial at the reputed Merry Prankster rappel site yesterday and photograph the note Larry Fitterer had mentioned finding there in a recent posting. I'll attach a picture of it. The note says:
"Monty Parker was 30 year resident of Santa Cruz Mts. A local adventurer who loved everything about the sea. Monty died here hunting for abalone. After traveling the entire earth, this was one of his favorite spots. Honor the beach and his memory.
Monty was an SLV softball coach for many years. SLV junior high softball field is named Parker Field in his memory."
A bit of research and I discovered SLV is San Lorenzo Valley High School. It is located in Felton in the Santa Cruz mountains. When the kids return to school from the Christmas break I'll give the school a call and see if I can find out more about him and the mystery of AMB'S Beach. I left my own message assuring the note writer that I honored him and the beach. It would be hard not to, given the effort someone who knew him made to make the memorial and transport it to such a difficult to reach spot. The beach, the cliffs, the ocean, and the view from this special spot make me feel honored that I have been able to share them with Monty these many years later. Enjoy. John
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2584 2008-12-30 19:44:24 2008-12-30 23:44:24 closed closed honor-local-adventurer-monty-parker publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1230680665 _edit_last 1
Who is this "madman" Rob Tillitz? http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/01/who-is-this-madman-rob-tillitz/ Thu, 01 Jan 2009 16:06:03 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2587 here

robalone_with_albacore

Rob says he has written the South Coastside book everybody has been waiting for! And he's going to deliver.]]>
2587 2009-01-01 12:06:03 2009-01-01 16:06:03 closed closed who-is-this-madman-rob-tillitz publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1230938388 _edit_last 1
Bootlegger Cove: Linda Iacono & John Vonderlin don their Smuggler's Caps http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/02/bootlegger-cove-linda-iacono-john-vonderlin-don-their-smugglers-caps/ Fri, 02 Jan 2009 04:37:07 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2594 4

Hi John, I visited with my dad on Thanksgiving and got some more details about Bootleggers Cove and other interesting stories from WWII that I will share at another time. The cave was pretty big and deep, enough for a grown man to carry and store crates in.  The man Benzanni (not sure of the spelling) that used the cave boarded  with my dad’s family at the White House Ranch and worked for the Humphreys. Benzanni was big and gruff and apparently lost all his money in the depression.  Money made by bootlegging, I suppose. The cave collapsed before the 1960's because my brother said there was no cave when he went to the cove.  My dad says the coastline has changed so much over the years that it probably would not look like he remembered it.  I didn't show him the pictures you sent, but I will next chance I get. I thank you for taking the time with me on this.  My dad has really enjoyed talking about his childhood.  He remembers more all the time. His family moved to Pescadero in the early 1930'sm and his step mom’s family, the McCrearys, lived there at least since the early 1900's.  I don't know much about that just yet. Thanks, Linda

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Hi Linda, Thank you for sharing your Dad's past. I'd love to hear any stories he might remember. The coastal defenses during W.W. II are something I'm especially interested in. Or the remnants of the Ocean Shore Railroad. Or Pescadero in the 1940s? Or Gazos in the 70s? We went out to Franklin Point and Smuggler's Cove recently to take some photos from a smuggler's point of view.  We used to call the cove, Abalone Cove. Reason why: The first time we went there it was a hazardous climb down to the beach, and we noted that a lot of beachcombers must have been turned back because there were so many pretty, collectible abalone shells lying about. We were actually drawn to this spectacular stretch of beach because we were searching for buoys. Isolated, hard to access coves, the kind smugglers might have favored, are also the best places to find errant buoys. Remembering the trip as I email you, I can visualize the weak light and our route out of the cove. Does your Dad recall how the cove was accessed? Or more importantly, how was smuggled stuff pulled out of the cove? I'm especially curious, because, having made the hazardous climb down the cliff, and not wanting to retrace our path carrying our treasures, we decided to leave by a different exit: the intimate canyon that breaks the cove's cliffs at its southeast curve. Initially, there’s a small animal trail, but that quickly fades away as the brush grows heavier, concealing veins of dreaded poison oak. My brilliant idea of using the shortcut turned into a bona fide nightmare as we shoved through the poison stuff for a hundred yards, holding our buoys high, all the while trying to shield our bare skin from making contact with the painful rash-giving plant. Say it was the 1920s or 30s, I still think if you were lugging crates of hooch, this would have been the most likely trail out. You know, there might even be an old rotting crate,  holding bottles of  really well-aged booze, that was hidden in the brush, forgotten, and waiting to be re-discovered. A couple of the pictures I've attached show the cove from Franklin Point. The "trail" we took out of the cove is just above the logs on the beach. I'll attach a few other pictures of the cove's dangerous mouth that the smuggler's boat would have had to pass through. But, not on a day like the pictures show, unless they were crazy. Thanks again for sharing. And for giving us another reason to visit what Meg calls “the most ruggedly beautiful place along this coast.” She might be right. Enjoy. John Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Photos by John Vonderlin

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Hi John, Apparently the beach at Bootleggers Cove was much different in the 30's and 40's.  The beach was sandy and large enough for family cookouts. The cave was pretty much right in the center of the cove, with the beach on one side and cliffs on the other.  It was hard for my dad to describe to me how they got to the cove since I haven't been able to show him the pictures.  Unfortunately he's in the hospital awaiting hip surgery so we are only able to have short conversations at a time. I did ask him what he remembers of the railroad, and it's not much.  Just that they started building the lines and when they stopped, people in the area would take apart the trestles for the wood.  He went to the trestle area at San Gregorio Creek with Pat Bell at one point, and they were surprised when they climbed down to the beach to see that it was being used by nudists. As for WWII, there was a Coast Guard Shack on White House Creek beach where they kept a dog that my dad remembers bringing food to.  Also along Rossi Road there was an Army Camp.  The ranchers and farmers in the area were called to service.  My dad’s dad used to go to Cascade Ranch once a week and take his turn at watching for Japanese planes. Along Pescadero Creek Road, to the right after leaving the highway, was an area that was owned or leased by Japanese but they were sent away, my dad said, to somewhere in the desert.  Anyway, after they left, they found radios apparently used to contact Japanese ships or planes.  Maybe this was written about in the newspaper and can be confirmed. Hope you find some of this as interesting as it has been for me, Linda]]>
2594 2009-01-02 00:37:07 2009-01-02 04:37:07 closed closed bootlegger-cove-linda-iacono-john-vonderlin-don-their-smugglers-caps publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1230917935 _edit_last 1
Read the Prologue to "Bootlegger's Cove" NEW True-Life Thriller by Rob Tillitz http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/02/bootleggers-cove-a-mystery-thriller-by-rob-tillitz/ Fri, 02 Jan 2009 23:22:31 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2607 robalone_with_albacore1 Bootlegger's Cove, a True-Life Thriller by fisherman/writer Rob Tillitz To visit Rob Tillitz's website, please click here PROLOGUE SPRING, 1992. ** KARACHI, PAKISTAN ** “SO YOUR NAVY will bring the hash out to my boat?” Bubba asked Mohammed Shamir Jang, somewhat incredulously. He’d heard that the Pakistani Navy participated in the loading of hashish, but was nonetheless surprised when Mohammed told him that this was how it would go. “Yes, Mr. Lee. We are a poor nation. The beautiful green and white uniforms you see our sailors wear cost more than we pay them for their first year of wages. So we allow them to supplement their incomes. Actually, we encourage it. It will cost one thousand U.S. dollars for them to bring the load out to your boat. They will also stand by your ship until your skipper is safely underway; an added bonus in an area infamous for pirates.” The Mr. Lee he referred to was actually Lee Rothman, more commonly known as Bubba. Bubba was buying a load of hashish for shipment to the United States. He had other associates, stateside, who would have the load picked up when it reached the other end. His long-time friend and confederate, Jay, would take care of all that. That wasn’t his job. His job was to send the drugs safely on their way from the port of Karachi. Bubba’s ocean-going tug was anchored in Sonmiani Bay, but would motor nearer to the area of the Karachi wharfs when it was time to load up. The Aussie skipper of the Strident was a punctilious man, anxious to get underway. “Very good, my old friend, I will give Captain Alistair the fee and instruct him to give it to the Captain of your Navy boat as soon as the cargo is transferred. Or half, then half, if that is preferred,” Bubba said. “Half, then half, sounds too fair for anyone to argue.” Mohammed smiled. They agreed on the timing, made further arrangements as to how and when Bubba would pay Mohammed for the load, shook hands, and parted feeling confident each had made a clean deal. Bubba, however, was already having thoughts of the next part of this endeavor—moving the hashish halfway across the world. He’d let Jay worry about getting it into the United States. That was something else entirely. The important part was that this was Operation Rehash, and it was time to roll. The fix was in. And he was now working both sides of the street. ** THE STRIDENT  HAD been underway for a week when it approached the Strait of Malacca between Sumatra and Malaysia. As they left the Indian Ocean, passing through the Great Channel into the Andaman Sea, Captain Alistair had all hands armed and ready on deck. The Malacca Strait is 400 miles long and fraught with pirates. At the speed they were making, it would take about twenty hours to clear the strait. Half of that time would be in the dark. Al had timed it so that they would traverse the first half of this dangerous passage at night. He felt his odds were better at night, where the Strait was not so narrow. That way, as they approached the narrow southwest end of the Strait, he would have daylight on his side. Al hollered at his first mate, a burly Australian named Chapman. “Keep a sharp eye. I can see small blips on the radar. They show just a mile or so ahead. It’s likely to be fishing boats, but keep sharp.” “Aye, aye, Cap’n.” As time passed, tension seeped further into the already jittery nervous systems of the crew. All of these men knew how dangerous these waters were. They’d been on edge preceding this leg of their journey. Once they hit the Great Channel entrance to the pirate zone, though, the danger was magnified exponentially. They all knew this. There was no coast guard to turn to when you were hauling drugs. “Cap’n,” Chapman spoke loud and clear, so everyone could hear him. "I see one boat now. It’s a fishing boat. I can see the guys working nets in the deck lights.” “Okay, Chap. Rest easier, but don’t get too comfortable. We’ve got a long night ahead of us.” ** THE STRIDENT MADE it completely through the Malacca Strait without incident. It was only after they’d left the Singapore Strait, setting a course that would thread them through the Kepulaua Islands, that the trouble they had so assiduously avoided finally found them. All hands were focused ahead on the South China Sea, and the Luzon Strait beyond that, and no one noticed the pirates speeding up on their stern. Indeed, the pirates must have known this would be so. The small craft of the pirates blended in with other commercial vessels in the dark of night, and were upon the tug before anyone was the wiser. The smugglers were too busy watching the busy hand of the magician, and did not notice the deft hand. It wasn’t until a grappling hook clinked over the stern rail that someone noticed them. And by then it was almost too late. The Filipino crew were all bedded down except their foreman, Fernando, who was the only one able to communicate with the two white men. It was Fernando who spotted the three-pronged hook as it took its bite into the inside of the stern bulwark. “We got ‘um some company!” Fernando got very excited, very quickly. This was the reason Alistair was picked for this job. He was fast and aggressive. His large, athletic frame moved like a panther. He grabbed the AK-47 and was out the back door of the wheelhouse as the first pirate came over the stern. “Tat, tat, tat, tat!” The pirate was blasted backwards and into the tug’s foaming wake. This man’s appearance was a ruse and a diversion, and it almost worked. For two other pirates had come up over the bow bulwark as Alistair and Chapman were concentrating on the stern. The Malaysians were on Alistair’s back with knives before he was aware they had boarded. Fernando was on them in an instant. His flashing knives, Chinese butterfly knives, slashed and pierced them before they could do any damage to Alistair. A pristine deck was instantly awash with blood. Chapman wasted no time tossing the corpses of the intruders over the rail. ** As suddenly as it had begun, it was over. By the time the Filipino crew boiled up from the lower decks and the fo’c’sle and stood bristling with arms, there was nothing under the deck lights except a smeared pool of blood and the steady low throbbing of the engines. The pirates had come with only two boats, and two men per boat. The boat in the stern could be seen motoring away with a single, frantic man handling the outboard tiller. The other boat was adrift. “Better walk the rails with flashlights and AK’s,” Alistair instructed. “Aye, eye, eye, Captain,” Fernando said, and the others started to laugh. Fernando’s English wasn’t as good as it could have been. ** BUT ALL OF this was in the future. All of this was yet to come. The timelessness of life on the sea eventually made every sailor upon it wonder about the difference between what had already happened and what was yet to come. But this was yet to come. --------------------------- NEXT: Chapter One, The Fisherman]]> 2607 2009-01-02 19:22:31 2009-01-02 23:22:31 closed closed bootleggers-cove-a-mystery-thriller-by-rob-tillitz publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1230946671 _edit_last 1 "The Fisherman" Chapter 1 of Rob Tillitz's Long-Awaited Real-Life Thriller http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/03/the-fisherman-chapter-1-of-rob-tillitzs-long-awaited-real-life-thriller/ Sun, 04 Jan 2009 00:25:14 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2619 Rob Tillitz To visit, Rob Tillitz's website, please click here THE FISHERMAN Chapter I May 1, 1980. ** 26 MILES OFF the coast of San Francisco. 12 years earlier. ** "NET! COME HERE and get the f------ net ready.” Gar, the fishboat captain was energized. The diesel engine pounded slowly at trolling speed. The yell was to the other man on the boat, Jeff. Gar was hunched over the stern rail about as far as one could go outside of the trolling pit without falling into the ocean. It was a glorious spring day, the ocean was flat and that cloudy-green color that salmon love. Seabirds chattered and shrieked at one another, and the smell of coffee and bacon drifted out of the wheelhouse. It was sixty-one degrees in the early morning air. The gurdy was still winding up as Gar reached over, unsnapping linesnaps from the trolling wire then straightening to coil the monofilament leaders into the leader box. He carefully inspected the split-tailed herring baits, changing the bad ones. He had watched the fish hit and seen the porcelain insulator, out of the corner of one eye, on the first big jump. It was certainly a splitter, and likely a giant one. Gar’s experienced eye guessed the unseen fish to be over thirty pounds as it struggled on the hundred-pound-test leader. Gar yelled, “hurry up” just as Jeff burst out on deck, excited when he saw the fish running in different directions. Jeff ran back to the stern and jumped into the pit while reaching for the net in the same notion. He laid the hoop net across the stern rail, with the scoop end hanging out over the water. “Are we in ‘em, Garaloney?” Jeff rippled with energy. Gar had been given the handle “Garaloney” some years earlier, by his skipper at the time; it was because of his expertise at abalone diving. “You know it, Jeffer.” Then, to the uncaught fish: “Pump, you mother-f-----! Pump your heart out,” he hollered at the trolling wire that was being wrenched hard. Now bent all the way over the stern rail again, Gar had the auspicious linesnap, which was jerking madly, in sight. But he did not want to bring it up too high while the fish was thrashing its head from side to side. Not yet. He would not take a chance of losing this beauty. “Are there any boats coming on your side?” Gar’s stomach was flooded with bile, as if a swarm of butterflies were circling inside. He took a moment for caution, knowing the Chinook would require his full attention for the next ten minutes, which was plenty of time for another boat in the small fleet to get close enough to lock outriggers with them. “Clear into the middle of next week,” Jeff sang out in his exhilaration. There was nothing like a hundred-dollar fish to spike the adrenaline. ** IT WAS OPENING morning, and they had come out of the anchorage at the Southeast Farallon Island at daylight, snooping their way down toward the rest of the Half Moon Bay, California, boats, looking for a spot to fish. They set their gear into the water about nine miles south of the Farallon anchorage at Pa’s Canyon, named after Carl Burlesque. Carl, or Pa, had caught tons upon tons of rock cod dragging Old Pa Rock, located deep, and on one side of the canyon. But there were more than rock cod here. There were salmon, and it was opening day of the season. Gar and his crewman  Jeff were trailing their gear across this canyon head in near-perfect salmon fishing conditions. There were spring murres squabbling raucously all around the boat. The Murre is a streamlined bird, gregarious and social, noted for agile swimming ability, and their presence on the surface of the ocean is usually a sign of fish. Baitfish are driven to the surface by feeding salmon from below. And the murres feed  on them when they come up to escape from the salmon. So fishermen watch for these birds. The whiteness of the famous Pete Seeger song’s, “Little Boxes on the Hillside” at Daly City, and on up into the Sunset District of San Francisco, were just visible from 22 miles off Pedro Point. Perfect opening-weather presented itself with just an occasional lazy swell rolling through. Clear blue sky with some wispy white clouds, and a hardly noticeable six to eight mile per hour breeze, just sufficient to keep the kelp flies at bay. Beyond the normal smells of an older wooden boat—deck caulk, fir, bilge water, and always diesel—the ocean offered its salty aroma. It smelled this morning as shrimp taste. Just exactly like shrimp taste, Gar observed, while scrutinizing the salmon’s latest run, along with the smells of different paints lingering in the air. The topside smelled of lacquer, while the bottom paint reminded him of early school days. It was a smell like crayons or clay, with an underlying reek of tar. ** GAR HELD THE kill cord high and over the back of his hand, pinching the line tight to his palm with his right thumb.  The linesnap was just six or eight feet away. The fish had mellowed, swimming just behind and slightly away from the boat. The game now was to ease the fish closer, inch by inch. Gar pulled long and slow on the line, surfacing the silvery prize sufficiently to inspect both its size as well as the position of the hook. The fish was a monster for this time of year. Normally the fish are smaller in the spring, but this one was by no means small. “I’m bettin’ thirty eight,” Gar guessed, meaning what the fish would weigh at the dock, which would be after it was dressed, because salmon must be cleaned and gilled as soon after being caught as possible. “I’m taking overs,” Jeff countered. “He’s hooked good,” Gar said, breathing out. A suck in, then exhaling, “Come on, baby. Come to papa.” Another in and out: “Atta boy, don’t be shy, just get….” Now holding his breath, “Oh, no, don’t do that!” The fish was starting to sit on its tail while head thrashing again. The thing fought with an admirable frenzy, tearing up the water and becoming a blur of manic activity. Water splashed into the air for thirty feet around. But it couldn’t last. No fish could sustain such mortal activity. When the fish was again within reach, Jeff had the net ready. The fish’s head was within swinging range, accordingly Gar grabbed his gaff, but instead of gaffing it Gar turned the gaff’s hook out away from the fish and clubbed the giant perfectly on the soft spot between and above the eyes, knocking the beast into fish incoherency. “Good Morning!” he breathed reverently. All over but the hallelujahs now, Gar let the fish drop back in the current to just astern of their positions while Jeff simultaneously slipped the dip net behind the fish. Jeff levered the net up over the rail of the stern. It took Gar’s help, grabbing low on the handle, then on the far side of the net, to lift the fish over the rail. They flopped it onto the deck where another couple of whacks to the noodle were delivered to insure its capture. Elated, the two fishermen let go with a jubilant, beginning-of-the-season-scream, then turned back to their work. The fish would go thirty-eight pounds, easy. Gar increased the speed of the boat a little bit, kicked off the autopilot, and spun the wheel thirty degrees for a slow turn. He did this almost automatically, and spoke to Jeff. “I’ll turn your way so you can run your bow line. I better run us back up through that spot before we get too far away. We’re in ‘em. I can feel it. I love this canyon. It never lets me down. And we found it all by our lonesomes.” Gar loved finding his own fish. It was an integral element of his independent nature. Jeff was busy on his side, and then he called for the net. Gar already running his bow line back out, paused the gurdy for fifteen seconds to net Jeff’s fish then set the net back in its position hanging slightly out over the stern. Jeff’s fish was a keeper, but would only go about eight pounds dressed. It was a nice medium, and he told Jeff that. Jeff took two more keepers off that wire, and shook two shorts, laughing all the while. This was good fishing, and if it stayed just like this they would break the hundred-for-the-day mark. And with a decent grade of fish to boot. That was always the goal. A hundred fish or better for the day. ** WHEN THE BOAT was pointed straight back on their reverse tack, north toward the island, Gar took a moment to run up to the pilothouse and check their position on the Loran and make a mark on the chart. He left Jeff to tend the lines. They fished eight leaders on six lines, for a total of 48 hooks in the water. Gar wanted to insure they were going to pass back over the canyon head again, right at its tip. It was a simple collection of spring colors out the window of the cabin: green ocean, blue sky, nothing elaborate, a chill in the air, and a sunny glare sparkling on the smooth sea. Gar watched the other boats rising and falling on the green swells, a busy pair of men in every stern, the outriggers rocking as if a pair of knitting needles, giant knitting needles, had been poked into the amidships of each of the shiny-white trollers. Every boat had their pair of men working the stern, the bows plunged meanwhile slowly forward, all in identical directions, no one at the helms. Trails of burnt diesel smudged the otherwise perfect sky. Chatter spilled from Gar’s array of radios. He did not hear good fish reports from those boats that were not on this spot. ** THAT DONE, HE ran back and jumped into the pit. The float line that he had idling in was just up into position and without slowing the gurdy, Gar pulled the handle on the float board and set the float well out of the way behind the gurdy and wire. He had witnessed floats laid in the deck bin kicked over the side by lively fish not yet knocked out. And this was unacceptable. The two fishermen ran through the rest of the gear, joking back and forth, thinking life wasn’t too bad. And when finished they had thirteen keepers on deck with a solid eight-pound average weight. These were decent-sized fish for spring fishing. With the big splitter, the average was likely over ten pounds for the moment, but that average would be reduced as they continued to catch school fish of the seven-to-eight-pound variety. This is how the fishing went. The gear was run, and the fish were cleaned. All of this with seagulls circling, diving, and screaming harshly behind the stern. The oily smell of the herring baits, and the fresher smell of salmon blood filled the air. Gar ran up to the pilot house, telling Jeff over his shoulder, “I better check in with the boys, real quick.” ** IN THE WHEEL house, he first tried the radio called the Mouse, also known as the Mickey Mouse. This is fisherman-speak for the C.B. radio. Switching to the Half Moon Bay fleet’s “secret” channel nine, Gar whistled a “Phweee-phwuuu” (that was a sort of secret whistle.) Michael, Gar’s hero, mentor and role model (and, some would say, the best salmon fisherman ever) came back smartly. “Is that you, Lips?” Gar, in addition to being called “Garaloney”, had inherited the handle “Lips” because years before when he had deckhanded with a very serious fisherman named Nardo, he was never allowed to come in out of the summer sun. His lips were burned raw for several seasons straight. “Wall-to-wall, and tree-top tall. How they bitin’ for you? Come back? “ Gar replied. “We’re just out front of home, moving steadily up and out. And we have three little rags for the morning. Not much doing.” Michael responded. A Rag  is a barely-legal sized salmon. “Oh boy, doesn’t sound too awfully shiny. We’re on that favorite canyon of mine and Pa’s, and we’ve got an unlucky number, with one monster for the morning, over.” Gar tried to downplay his excitement. “You got green or brown water?” Mike asked. “Well, it was all green—the good green—but now I see an occasional puddle of brown. I don’t know yet if it’s the good brown or the bad brown. We’ll see. But I have lines going, and things look plenty fishy. I gotta go. Lotta rips, too,” he added as he threw down the mike and ran out the door. “Keep gettin’ ‘em Lipaloney. We’ll see you soon.” Mike clicked off, in a hurry to get to his gear. Mike was grateful to Gar for the report, and wanted to get to Gar’s location as quickly as possible. Although he was the mentor and role model to an entire generation of Half Moon Bay salmon fishermen, Michael McHenry was not too proud to listen to good advice when he found it. Fishing is an utterly pragmatic endeavor. You go where the fish are if you want to catch them. ------------]]> 2619 2009-01-03 20:25:14 2009-01-04 00:25:14 closed closed the-fisherman-chapter-1-of-rob-tillitzs-long-awaited-real-life-thriller publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1231900243 _edit_last 1 The Ocean Shore did not always take the most direct route... http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/04/the-ocean-shore-did-not-always-take-the-most-direct-route/ Sun, 04 Jan 2009 04:41:50 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2625 Angelo Misthos to John Vonderlin: Hi, John. Thanks for your interesting article and the introduction to a new source (UCR/CBSR). Haven't yet looked up the clip about the 16,000 #s of explosives set off north of San Gregorio, but wonder if this could be "the some nine tons of black powder" set off to create Saddle Cut, just south of Devil's Slide described in THE LAST WHISTLE, bottom of page 39 (12/74 printing), Chapter 4, "Reaches the Beaches."

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Re: the possible less- than- direct route for the Pescadero area, I must admit I'm skeptical as (I may have indicated this previously). On one of my 1939 trips, I found what looked like a pilot bore at the coastal cliff north of the dune area, lining up with its portal, and leading south into the dunes. It was definitely a grade before it was lost in the dunes. Granted, the Ocean Shore did not always take the most direct route  (lack of finances, I'm sure) as can be seen by the route chosen around  Rockaway Point , just for one example.  Angelo Misthos ----------------- Hi Angelo, …Meg and I are going to try to find out whether there is the remnant of graded roadbed that  should be there if it was anything more then a "paper route."   I was pretty skeptical at first, but now I'm thinking it might have been so, based on the planned trestle's length, the problems that might have been caused by the flooded lagoon that results from the sand bar, etc. I'll have a posting soon incorporating that, along with an 1873 story of sea lion hunting at the mouth of Pescadero Creek and the huge park planned in the 1960's for that part of the marsh. Enjoy. John Email John Vonderlin (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) ------------------- Hello, again John.  If you should contact  Ms. P----  again, ask if she recalls whether her Dad had said the Hwy. crew found the Pescadero tunnel, then used it for storage, and what year  he was there.  I can't recall whether I'd found it using the old highway (further inland--see inset map next to Pescadero pictures), 1939 was a long time ago.  The bore  was open then, but I only had nerve enough to walk in a short way.  On a much later trip I found the entrance boarded up. Re CCPR image 6216 titled Trestle Gap, this is the site of the Palmer Gulch trestle I walked across.  If you enlarge the picture you can see trestle timbers clinging to the gulch and down below.  The enlarged 7928080 image (1979) shows more trestle wreckage.  Re the San Gregorio beach area,  see 6224.  If you look west of the north edge of the parking lot you'll see what is an elongated bowl shaped hollow, foreshortened by the angle of the picture,  which was done by the OS using hydraulic sluicing as they used to use in the gold-mining days. 1979 image  7928086 may show it better (the dark area); it's still clearly visible (I believe) driving headed North. It  would have hooked up with grading to be done at the bluffs immediately north. You can see some remnants of grading south of Tunitas and somehat beyond Palmer Gulch, but apparently grading had not yet reached the sluiced out section. I don't recall where I read about the sluiced out hollow; don't find it in the Wagner book.  May have been in the Bondholders Report of Ocean Shore Railway to Bondholders (1911, when the OS was reorganized). The S.F. Main Library still has a  copy in the reference section; I looked at it more than once when my interest in the OS was at its greatest and I was looking forward to its revival.  Angelo]]>
2625 2009-01-04 00:41:50 2009-01-04 04:41:50 closed closed the-ocean-shore-did-not-always-take-the-most-direct-route publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1231099564 _edit_last 1
"Go West, young man": Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/05/go-west-young-man-story-by-john-vonderlin/ Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:57:37 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2636 A La California (1872), was a close friend of  New York Herald publisher Horace Greeley, famous for his "Go West, young man" declaration.  What was Colonel Evans doing, exploring California, to the north and south? Was A La California a kind of 19th century "Guide to the Golden State?" --June] Story/Photos by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June, I mentioned that the sand bar blocking Pescadero Creek's flow into the ocean was recently breached in my posting about our investigation of the alleged proposed loop route of the Ocean Shore Railroad. I was amused to learn yesterday that a couple, apparently hoping to watch the event unfold, had been stranded on a rock at the creek's mouth, when the rapidity of the process once it began caught them by surprise. An expensive and embarrassing helicopter rescue was effected, with no loss of life. The following story, extracted from "A La California," an 1873 book by Albert S. Evans, deals perhaps with those same rocks, but is not as bloodlesss for all concerned. There are enough politically incorrect aspects in this story to offend a great number of people, but I would urge you to judge the author as a man of his times, not today. As a former fisherman, I can't help but wish I could have experienced those times and their amazing abundance, even while I know the careless, even callous, behavior of sportsmen of the time is what helped produce today's degraded situation. ***** "Pescadero" is the Spanish for "fishery," and the name is indicative. The creeks that come down from the mountains all along this coast swarm with the spotted trout of California, and afford fine sport in the early part of the season. In places along their banks, the honeysuckle bushes and other shrubs and vines form a chaparral that you must wade through for miles to whip the stream; but one hundred, two hundred, even three hundred trout are often basketed in a single day's fishing by one individual. It does not rain here from April to the last day of November or December; but as the days grow shorter, and the sun's rays less powerful, the evaporation that causes the streams to dwindle to mere strings of detached ponds decreases, and all over the State, especially in the Coast Range, the streams begin to rise. Thompson, an hospitable landlord, took me down to the mouth of the Pescadero for a little sport. We sent a Mexican after worms for bait. the Mexican sent a negro, and we sent a Chinaman after the negro, and got them all back at last. The row down the creek was short. We saw hundreds of mallards and teals, which we could not shoot for the law forbids it--very properly--until the fifteenth of the month, and large flocks of long-billed curlew and other birds, such as crows, buzzards, gulls, etc. etc., that we did not want to kill. There is a bar at the mouth of the creek and we chained our boat to a high rock inside it and walked down to the ocean. The shores were lined with drift, great trunks of pine and redwood trees, timbers of wrecked ships, etc., etc., and the scene was wildly romantic. We passed the festering carcasses of half a dozen great sea -lions, which had been killed by a fishing party with Henry rifles some weeks before. The fish come in the creek with the tide, and bite best before the tides commences. If the sea lions who cover the rocks just outside, follow them in the creek, the fish all run out--and there is no more sport that day. So the fisherman shoot some of the sea-lions and the rest leave. Before we reached the mouth we saw two wolves on the opposite shore near the breakers playing like dogs. One ran off when he saw us and the other raised his nose and voice, and treated us to the most vivid illustration imaginable of: "The lone wolf's howl on the Onalaska shore," and then followed his companion. As we rounded the bluffs we saw some rocks covered with sea-lions. It was low tide and we could run out to within fifty yards of them. I had a large-sized Smith and Wesson, a capital weapon for such use. I sent a bullet into the side of a big fellow who was lying high up and presented a good mark. The ball struck him with a dull thud, and as he rolled into the waves the whole herd went splashing after him. Half a dozen of them swam down in a line twenty or thirty yards of us, and looked at us with their great lustrous brown eyes, whether with anger or sorrow we could not tell, until I hit one on the head, and as the bullet glanced off, he disappeared with a grunt and a porpoise-like dive. Thompson took the pistol, and when one rose again he fired and hit it squarely in the mouth. He shook his head from side to side, as if blind with pain, then went down, leaving great dark spots in the water. They all started then off southward, and I was not sorry. Inveterate sportsman that I have been from my youth up, I cannot get over the feeling that killing defenseless creatures like these, and allowing their bodies to rot on the beach, is something akin to murder. “The rocks we stood on, and which are covered at high tide, were incrusted with mussels of immense size. Some of them measure twelve inches in length, and Thompson tells me he has seen them fifteen inches long. They are fat and luscious, and some epicures come down to the coast every season to indulge in clam-bakes and mussel-roasts; but this species of shell-fish is so common, and consequently cheap, that not one in ten of the people of the State of California have eaten them. In holes in the rocks, filled with pure sea-water, we saw curious things like sunflowers, with bright green petals. These we could not detach from the rocks, and at one touch they curled up into a slippery ball with all the petals inside. “We went back to our boat as the tide came booming in, and prepared to fish for salmon-trout as they are called; really they are yearling and two year old salmon. They will bite at a worm, spoon, or fly, but best at worms. I had hardly put in my hook when a noble fellow made the line fairly hiss through the water for a few minutes. Then we drew him in, panting and exhausted with his struggles, alongside the rocks, and then with a landing net got him in the boat. He was twenty inches in length and the handsomest fish I've ever caught. Eight and ten pounders are common, and they are the most delicious fish for frying and broiling which ever swam the sea. Great crabs came in with the tide and we dipped several of them out with our net. In two hours we corralled fourteen of the salmon-trout, losing several more because of broken hooks, and then, the slack-water coming on, and the fish ceasing to bite with avidity, hoisted sail and went gliding swiftly upstream to the hotel. It was, all in all, the best morning's sport I've ever enjoyed in my life. and I have shot and fished from the Red River in the north to the Rio Grande, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific." I've attached before and after stream breach photos of the creek's mouth and the lagoon behind the bridge. I believe the rock shown at the mouth of the stream in the after pictures is the one the couple was standing on. 12 Check that same rock, just barely sticking above the sand, in the before photo. It must have been a harrowing time for the couple until the helicopter arrived. 3241 A cheap and instructive lesson for others would are incautious in their desire to observe the power of Nature up close. Enjoy. John 51]]> 2636 2009-01-05 13:57:37 2009-01-05 17:57:37 closed closed go-west-young-man-story-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1231284809 _edit_last 1 Mini-Interview with Writer Rob Tillitz http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/05/writer-rob-lillitz-lived-on-the-coastside/ Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:32:44 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2650 I was born, actually, in Oakland. We moved to Pescadero when I was in the third grade. Had Mrs. Strom as my first teacher. Moved to Half Moon Bay area, Montara, in my Sophomore year.
2. Pescadero must have been very isolated then. What was it like? RT: We were especially isolated living up in Native Sons Park, a bumpy trail, rutted and rife with chukholes, muddy about half the school year. There was a wooden car bridge that washed out every fall, and didn't get replaced until early summer. We didn't have a jeep on the other side like neighbors did: Meant packing groceries a mile or so up the dirt track. Looking back, I think years sometimes went by that I did not leave the Pescadero Creek watershed. No reason to. For many it was that way. Grow your vegetables, buy what you need at Williamson's Country Store or Norm's Market, and that was that. The Grammer school showed movies on Friday nights....old ones! There was an occasional dance for adolesents, but the big thing was Chamarita. We lived for the Chamarita's; the parade and auction, free beef, and giggling all the way down the hill-slide. Kids still do that, I believe. 3. Did you often play at Pigeon Point? RT: We did most of our playing in Pescadero Creek. But summers would go to the beach, or rock fishing various places between Horseshoe Rock and Pigeon Point. Times we went fishing around Pigeon Point, but getting right down underneath it was either not easy, or there was not a decent spot to fish there. I remember someone, a diver, talking about a ledge dropoff right in front of the light that is rich with abalones, but did not ever get to fish (nor play) there. Do remember hearing the fog horn some days. Though it was not a great distance, about 6 miles. Sound carries very well in the fog. Also remember finding a CB radio at the dump. It only recevied, and I hooked it up and was able to listen to the fishermen anchored at Pigeon and Ano Nuevo talking. 4. How did you first find out about Bootlegger's Cove? Did locals say illegal booze was unloaded there during Prohibition? It was common but whispered knowledge that many of the old-timers, mainly farmers, were able to make it through tough times because of Bootlegger's Cove, and smuggling booze. There was one old guy, Al Adino, that everyone joked had to go dig up another coffee can when he ran out of hundred-dollar bills. Read my book... 5. What do you know of Ken Kesey? RT: When I lived in Pescadero, Ken Kesey was up at the Cuckoo's Nest. Did you know the place he lived was called that before he moved there? My parents looked at it before Kesey did, and that's what the previous owners called it. But for awhile he took a green pup tent and mounted it on a wood platform, stuck a light with a long cord inside, and hoisted it high in one of the redwoods. It was eerie in the dark and ghostly trees, supernatural like a UFO or a specter. -------- [Note: Remember that Ken Kesey & the Pranksters made an as- of today-unseen movie at Ano Nuevo in the 1970s. Here's the latest update, 12/10.2008 from Kelly Grami: "The Kesey collection here at UCLA is now protected in a state-of-the-art facility.   We’ve also been fortunate to secure a grant to help preserve some of the material.  This endeavor is currently in the planning stage and we expect it to be a long-term project due to the scope and condition of the collection."] ]]> 2650 2009-01-05 14:32:44 2009-01-05 18:32:44 closed closed writer-rob-lillitz-lived-on-the-coastside publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1231200562 _edit_last 1 More Mini-Interview with fisherman-writer Rob Tillitz http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/05/more-mini-interview-with-fisherman-writer-rob-tillitz/ Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:21:15 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2661 Mini-interview with fisherman-writer Rob Tillitz
To visit Rob Tillitz's website, please click here
June:  Last year while working on the Princeton "book," I met a former Coastsider who said he had been "one of the bad boys." Were you one of the bad boys, and what did that mean?
Rob Tillitz (RT): I don't know of any particular group, or surreptitious meaning, other than the obvious, to the term bad boys. I assume he said it in such a way that made you think otherwise. I can't add anymore to that than what you can already figure.
June:  Did you spend a lot of time in and around the ocean?
RT: My childhood in Pescadero was centered around the creek. But as soon as we moved to Montara, to a house with an ocean view, I started prowling the rocky seashore there. Looking for abalones, eels, mussels, rock fish. We later moved to El Granada and had an ocean view there too--a harbor-entrance view. Then I started hanging out in Princeton and went fishing. From the time I first saw the Farallon Islands on a clear day from our Montara front window, I was hooked. I spent all my time either on the ocean, or talking about it, or dreaming about it. Now I write about it, moreover call my friends that still fish and listen to what the have to say. Long answer: Yes, I spent most of my life concerned with the ocean. Once it gets you, she doesn't let go.
June: Most people think that real fishermen spend hours alone, that fishermen are a "type" representing an individuality that is rapidly disappearing. Is any of my statement true? How does it relate to you?
RT: Fishing is most certainly a lonely and reclusive profession. You have to be a person who likes solitude if you're going to enjoy longevity in the business. And the business has always been a haven for characters and individuals. In time past, maybe as recent as the 70s-80s, it was almost lawless. We governed ourselves, and policed ourselves. It was only when the 200-mile limit came about in the late 70s, that the government began to get involved. So, yes, all of your statement is true. Because of many reasons, mainly economically based factors, very few youngsters are getting involved these days, and the old-timers are calling it a season--for the last time--one by one. But, there is still a living to be made, and always will be, thus it is not a dying profession. As long as people eat fish, there will be fishermen to catch it. And those fishermen will be of a character, you can bet on that!
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More of the mini-interview with Rob Tilliz, please click here
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2661 2009-01-05 22:21:15 2009-01-06 02:21:15 closed closed more-mini-interview-with-fisherman-writer-rob-tillitz publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1231273844 _edit_last 1
John & Angelo Discuss the mysterious "Kablooies" of 1900 http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/06/john-angelo-discuss-the-mysterious-kablooies-of-1900/ Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:39:42 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2664 here Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Angelo is Angelo Misthos. You can read his posts by clicking here ------ Angelo to John Thanks, John, for your reply and attachments. You're right that the big bang was not the Saddle Rock cut in view of the time.  Since the big blast was undoubtedly at a point between Palmer Gulch and near San Gregorio beach--the grading from Tunitas to Palmer Gulch seemed already to have been done--I'm making an alternative guess that since the enormous quantity of 65,000 yards of material was moved, the OS (Ocean Shore RR) might have brought down a wide section of bluff, casting it outward toward the beach and allowing a roadbed to be built on it. The hydraulically sluiced start of a cut north of the S.G. parking lot lines up with a continuation of the ledge cut along the bluffs south of Palmer Gulch, but not yet done immediately north of S.G. beach.  My guess is the sluicing was a trial by the OS that lent itself to that specific terrain. I can't see what other function the sluiced cut would have. Someday, hopefully I'll get to the San Francisco Library reference desk and check out the 1911 OS Bondholders Report to see if that's where I learned of it. Re the 12/17/03 article connecting San Mateo and the coast, I don't know what to make of it, especially since it indicates materials were at hand and work was starting. Maybe since a Southern Pacific crossing was mentioned this was some kind of "feeler" the "Octopus" (read Southern Pacific) put out. Interesting.  Angelo ----------------------- John to Angelo . Thanks for the info on the "sluice" channel. I hadn't noticed that it seems too big for the limited runoff the hill would contribute. I'll check it out soon and include parts of your letter in a future story about it after some research if it is alright? I've got several Newspaper Archive articles about other railroads that were planned for the coast, up Pescadero Creek and to Big Basin, one of which might explain the 10 mile shorter route mention you made. Not one from the 1800's mentions a tunnel between Pomponio and Pescadero. I'll attach them to this letter and write stories about them soon. Lotta dreams for this area that never materialized. -----]]> 2664 2009-01-06 16:39:42 2009-01-06 20:39:42 closed closed john-angelo-discuss-the-mysterious-kablooies-of-1900 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1231274433 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: More railroad lines were planned for the South Coast http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/06/john-vonderlin-more-railroad-lines-were-planned-for-the-south-coast/ Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:27:20 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2671 transcontinental railroad (Omaha/Nebraska/Council Bluffs, Iowa to Sacramento) in 1869.  This led to over-building of iron roads and a crash in the world of railroad building,  a major factor that added to the long financial disaster called the Panic of 1873.]
And John's tracking them down.
Story by John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.ne)
Hi June,
Here are two articles about railroads from Pescadero. Neither is the one I was looking for. The first one is the same railroad I was referring to, the Bowie and Clark, planned from San Mateo to Pescadero, but it doesn't contain the fact it was to follow Pescadero Creek for eight miles. The second is about a road to Big Basin from Pescadero that was to later be an electrified railroad. It does mention the eight miles shorter. I'll keep looking. Enjoy. John.
1121
-------- The Daily Alta July 15, 1875 The San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Cruz Railroad A meeting of the Board of Directors of the San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Cruz Railroad Company was held yesterday to review the report of their Engineer. Mr. L.H. Shortt reported that he had made a preliminary survey from Spanish Town to the Santa Cruz County line; that he had been able to get a very favorable line, both as to grade and alignment, and recommended a tunnel through the Tom Moore Hill between Pompinin (sic) Creek and Pescadero. He also reported the results of his reconnaisance of the country between Spanish Town and San Francisco, but requested time for further examination of this portion of the line. After discussion it was resolved to adopt the line as reccommended, and the Engineer was directed to proceed at once to locate the line from Spanish Town within the Santa Cruz county boundary.]]>
2671 2009-01-06 17:27:20 2009-01-06 21:27:20 closed closed john-vonderlin-more-railroad-lines-were-planned-for-the-south-coast publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1231364408 _edit_last 1
Frontier-Justice/Pescadero-Style: Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/07/frontier-justicepescadero-style-story-by-john-vonderlin/ Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:04:44 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2689 [Image: South Coast character, identity unknown. Courtesy of the Steele family,] The Crimes of Pescadero, Part II Story by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June, As long as my recent postings have revolved about  Pescadero Creek, perhaps it is time to return to the Crimes of Pescadero series I wanted to relate. This is taken from the 1883 book, "History of San Mateo." Once again I'd ask the reader to judge these events in the context of their times, just shortly after Americans began to settle in the Pescadero watershed. In 1862 a Mexican named Soto and an Indian were living together in a shanty on Brad. Weeks land, below the present residence of Chandler. Another character, know as "English Tom," lived nearby, and they were all employed digging potatoes for Mr. Weeks. One night Soto enticed Tom to his cabin, and there with the assistance of the Indian, killed Tom with an axe. The body was stripped of its clothing and thrown into Pescadero Creek, the murderers doubtlessly supposing that as the water was backed up to a high stage by the tide, it would be carried out by the ebb to the ocean, and all chances of it appearing as a mute witness against them gone. But here again was an exemplification of the true-ism "murder will out."  On the following day Mr. Turpin found the body nearly at the mouth of the creek. The sudden disappearance also, of the Mexican, turned suspicion towards him as the murderer. The sum of ninety dollars was raised and Henry Dougherty and H.R. Smith, two veterans of the Mexican War, were sent out in search of the fugitive. They tracked him across the fields toward Redwood City, and going to that place, they found upon inquiry, that he had not been there; they then turned back again towards the mountains and met him at the Davis's ranch at the summit. On the third day after the murder, the suspect was brought back to Pescadero, tried by a committee of citizens, and swung up from a beam in L. Chandler's barn. The body was secretly buried where or by whom was never known outside of those who were parties in the affair; all that has escaped the pale of secrecy in regards to this part of it is, that the person who acted as undertaker received ten dollars for his services. The Indian who was Soto's accomplice saw in this swift and terrible retribution a foreshadowing of his own fate, so in order to avoid an unpleasantness of the sort, he bought a bottle of whiskey at Striker's store, and drank it to the dregs in one draught. He then crawled into Brad. Weeks barn, below the Swanton Hotel and died. The body was found when it was barely yet cold, and arrangements were made, putting it out of sight without much ceremony. A rough box was knocked together, but on putting the dead Indian in it, was found to be too short by several inches. This difficulty was got over by simply cutting off the head of the corpse and packing it along with the body as best could be done and the lid of the crude coffin pressed down and nailed it was taken across the creek and buried." I'll leave it up to the reader to decide if this is a tale of Frontier Justice applied swiftly and properly given the exigent circumstances or a nightmare story of a possibly racist lynching without proper safeguards of constitutional rights and an appropriate defense. If I had been there with the committee of Pescadero citizens who pronounced and carried out the judgement, perhaps I could more clearly say what my opinion was and what I would have wanted to inhabit my memories for the rest of my life. Enjoy. John]]> 2689 2009-01-07 12:04:44 2009-01-07 16:04:44 closed closed frontier-justicepescadero-style-story-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1231345065 _edit_last 1 190?: Did the Pescaderans want their own railroad? http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/07/190-did-the-pescaderans-want-their-own-railroad/ Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:39:50 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2696 Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) The San Francisco Call April 3, 190? ROAD WILL SHORTEN TRIP BETWEEN SAN FRANCISCO AND SANTA CRUZ BY TEN MILES Special Dispatch to The Call Pescadero April 3- Several of the owners and promoters of the Ocean Shore Railroad have taken a step that has set railroad gossips agog and and given a new impetus to the plans and hopes of timbermen in the Pescadero Valley. The Pescadero Railroad and Improvement Company has quietly been incorporated and measures have been taken to tap one of the richest redwood belts in the state. The capital stock of the new railroad, which is palpably an offshoot of the Ocean Shore Railroad and a feeder to it, has been fixed at $600,000. The incorporators are John B. Rogers, chief Engineer of the Ocean Shore Railroad, Walter L. Dean, Lewis H. Sage, Robert J. Graham, J.H. Goldman, L.R. Notbham, and George Leungh. The new railroad will start near the town of Pescadero and will parallel Pescadero Creek for eight miles. It will tap the rich timber belt and carry its products to San Francisco. Not only will this be done, but the Ocean Shore people, may utilize the route into this valley as part of the route from San Francisco to Santa Cruz. If this should be done it will shorten the route between these two cities by at least ten miles. It is expected the Southern Pacific company, which has spent many thousands of dollars in surveys of the Pescadero Valley will meet the rivalry of its competitor by building a road of its own. [emphasis added.] ]]> 2696 2009-01-07 17:39:50 2009-01-07 21:39:50 closed closed 190-did-the-pescaderans-want-their-own-railroad publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1231367104 _edit_last 1 1903: Over-the-Hill VIPs announce their railroad from Half Moon Bay to Pescadero http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/07/1903-over-the-hill-vips-announce-their-railroad-from-half-moon-bay-to-pescadero/ Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:38:08 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2701 and a second feeder to their big amusement center called "Pacific City" at Coyote Point. coyote2

[Image above: Pacific City at Coyote Point was actually built. Here's the entrance. perhaps on "opening day." There were rides for the kids and a carnival atmosphere. Was this what railroad promoters had in mind for the Half Moon Bay area?]

[Image below: The fishing pier at Coyote Point, also known as "Pacific City."

coyote

When passengers got off at the Southern Pacific railroad station in San Mateo, they would have had the choice of visiting  Coyote Point or Half Moon Bay. [Image below: You may have to turn this map on its side but it represents an early Ocean Shore Railroad route. Circa 1880s. Note that Half Moon Bay is called "Spanishtown, indicating that the locals were still calling the town by that name.] osrr12 Story from John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) The San Francisco Call December 17, 1903 BEGIN WORK AT RAILROAD ENTERPRISE Ground is Broken by the New Projectors of the Bowie and Clark Road Which is to Connect San Mateo With Coast Towns FORCE OF LABORERS COMMENCE WORK Large Quantities of Steel Rails, Ties, and Other Material Arrive and Are Being Distributed Along the Route Special Dispatch to The Call San Mateo-Dec. 16  Ground was broken yesterday for the new Bowie and Clark railroad, which is to connect the coast towns of Halfmoon  Bay and Pescadero, on the west point, and Coyote Point on the bay. Large quantities of steel rails, crossties, and other materials have been arriving for several days, and all are now being distributed along the route. Engineer E.F. Haas of San Francisco, who has charge of the construction, put a force of laborers to work on H Street yesterday, and the work of grading and laying the rail will be pushed forward vigorously. The route will be from the intersection of Third avenue and Railroad street, at the Southern Pacific crossing, down Third avenue to H street, through H to Poplar avenue, thence through that thoroughfare to Coyote Point. The franchise for this railroad was granted at recent meetings of the County Supervisors and City Trustees to Henry P. Bowie and Charles W. Clark. Under its term the road must be completed in the city limits within two years and in the county within five years. Just how much of it will be built now is not known. Clark is still in the East and Bowie is reticent about their plans. Coyote Point is owned by the Bowie Estate, and the rumor is persistent that their present plans contemplate the extension of the road from Third avenue and Railroad street, to the point where a recreation resort, including baths, a hotel and other attractions will be erected to accommodate the large crowds of visitors that flock here during the summers. It is given out unofficially that all of this is to be accomplished for the coming summer season. It is said as soon as Senator Clark recovers from his illness he will look into this enterprise with a view to taking an active and financial interest in it. In this event a more extensive line then is now contemplated may be expected to materialize. The tracks now being laid are for an electric road. ================================= [Image below: A more accurate map of the route the Ocean Shore Railroad planned to take. "Planned to take" because the iron road deadended at Tunitas Creek, south of Half Moon Bay. Complicated engineering issues, the 1906 earthquake/fire, and, finally, bankruptcy drove the Ocean Shore out of business. According to the excellent book, "The Last Whistle," by Jack Wagner (reprint! reprint!) the Ocean Shore wanted to turn the Coastside into a "Coney Island West," as happened at Coyote Point."

osrr1

 

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The Bowie name is mentioned in the article above. Here is an article about Henry Pike Bowie. Although it does not focus on the railroad and Pacific City, it does give you a flavor of the man.

Henry Pike Bowie

By June Morrall

[I wrote this in 1999]

In October, 1920, Henry Pike Bowie, a special emissary for the U.S. State Department, returned to his Hillsborough estate from Japan, the county he loved and honored.

The widower’s health was failing, and two months later the extraordinary 72-year-old recognized authority in all things Japanese, died in San Mateo County. Upon Henry P. Bowie’s death, family members and close associates in California were startled to learn that the man they thought they knew so well had led a secret life encompassing the final decades of his life. Born in the 1840s, Bowie relocated to the West Coast from Maryland with his physician father and siblings. As a young man, Bowie vigorously pursued a legal career in San Francisco, studying law with a prominent attorney, Hall McAllister. Another strong influence on Bowie was General G.H. L. Barnes. As senior counsel, General Barnes represented William Sharon in a scandalous case that rocked San Francisco and the Peninsula in 1884. In the crowded courtroom the contest pitted ex-U.S. Senator Sharon against a former mistress. The matter dragged on for many years, taking twists and turns, before finally being resolved after Sharon’s death. Bowie entered the world of jurisprudence when he played a significant role in the fascinating “Pious Fund of California” litigation. This historic case dated back to the late 17th century when devout Spanish Catholics contributed $1 million for extending their religion through the missions they established in early California. As California passed from Spanish rule into Mexican hands, the “Pious Fund” –little of which was used by the frugal Franciscans—disappeared about the time of the war with the U.S. In the 1870s, more than two decades after California had been admitted into the union, San Francisco’s archbishop filed a claim seeking restitution of “Pious Fund” assets at the “Claims Convention” in Mexico. The archbishop prevailed, winning a substantial judgment, but it was difficult to collect, and there was follow-up litigation. The case, argued by U.S. and Mexican attorneys in 1902, was the first heard by the International Court of Arbitration in The Hague in the Netherlands. The final judgment was rendered in favor of the U.S., and Mexico was ordered to pay about $1.5 million, in their legal currency, to the Catholic Church of California. Although we do not know precisely what role Henry P. Bowie played in the “Pious Fund” litigation, his name was forever linked with the famous case. Along the way, Bowie wed the twice-widowed Agnes Poett Howard in 1879. Bowie retired as an attorney, and the couple resided in Hillsborough, probably at her historic country estate, “El Cerrito,”  the first of the great houses to dominate the Peninsula. When Agnes died in 1893, Henry P. Bowie was said to have inherited the El Cerrito estate, and another property, including Coyote Point, two miles north of present day San Mateo, then isolated from the community by a long strip of marshland. While the death of Agnes Poett Howard marked the end of a tender marriage, it was but the beginning of the last third of Henry P. Bowie’s iremarkable and secretive life. In 1893, Bowie embarked on the first of six pilgrimages to Japan, where he resided with the Hirano family in Yokohama, near Tokyo. The Hirano family –members of a closed society that did not easily embrace foreigners—made an unusual exception in Henry P. Bowie’s instance. This American fractured the barriers with his commitment to excel as a student in all things Japanese, and was thereby allowed to fully explore Japan’s art, literature, culture and religion. Fluent in several European languages, Bowie learned Japanese, meeting and conversing with influential artists, who also became his intimate friends. Bowie studied painting with Kuoboto Beisen, “the Michelangelo of Japan.” After perfecting the style, Bowie won awards for his pictures at public exhibitions, and the Japanese emperor reportedly acquired two of his paintings. Bowie also satisfied his curiosity about “Shinto,” the indigenous Japanese religious tradition. He displayed a remarkable understanding of the fabled splendors of the sun goddess, “Amaterasu, the center of Shinto. As part of Bowie’s education, he toured the countryside, admiring Japanese gardens and the simple gates marking the entrance to Shinto temples. But what struck him most was the beauty of an eight-pillared “Daimyo” gate, used chiefly by Japanese nobility at their country estates. In the early 1900s, Bowie returned to San Mateo County from one of his many visits to Japan, and wrote a book called: “On the Laws of Japanese Painting.” And in the heart of “El Cerrito,” he created a “miniature Japan,” around his villa, “Severn Lodge,” which was in the old mission style with a red tile roof.

The landscaping merged the lawns, flowers and fountains he had seen in Versailles, France, with an avenue of Japanese cherry trees, gates, fences, ponds and bridges he had admired in the Land of the Rising Sun.

It was understandable that while Bowie resided at his HIllsborough estate, he often said his spirit remained in Japan.

An interesting aside reveals that at the same time Bowie was glorifying the people and the culture of Japan, Japanese suffered discrimination, separating them from Caucasians in schools, limiting citzenship and ownership of property. It was a predjudice not unlike that exhibited by the Japanese toward foreigners in their island homeland.

When anyone pressed Bowie for details on the events of his extraordinary new life, he changed the subject. It was easier to engage him in conversation in which he championed the Japanese cause on the eve of the Russo-Japanese war in 1904, a bitter struggle over which nation's influence would prevail in Korea.

Japan would win the war, and to commemorate the victory, Bowie had his own eight-pillared  Daimyo gate constructed by Japanese artisans at the entrance to his Hillsborough villa.

The gate took at least nine months to complete, beginning with a sketch by the eminent Japanese artist Shimada Sekko. This drawing was turned over to  Suikichi Yagi, a young Japanese architect then residing in San Francisco, who translated it into a working plan.

Skillful carpenters, led by T. Hossoi, sailed from Osaka to Hillsborough where they prepared materials for construction of the memorial gate. The framework and pillars, made of eucalyptus wood, were treated to prevent them from splitting.

The roof, 35 feet in length, featured handmade redwood bark shingles, and the swinging doors, fashioned of eastern beechwood, weighed a ton each. The joinery work was dowled throughout throughout with no nails used.

When the gate was completed, the great Japanese writer of Chinese characters, Iwaya Ichi Roka, inscribed a heavy bronze plaque with words selected by Bowie: To The Glory And Grandeur of Japan.

As homage to the gardens of Japan, Bowie planted a double row of Japanese cherry trees on his property. Several Shinto gates, marking the entrance to Shinto temples in Japan, had already ben erected as well as Gengi fences, their panels etched with kami, divine beings represented by landscapes, birds, animals and fish.

Henry P. Bowie helped found the Japan Society of America, recruting Stanford University President David Starr Jordan as vice president of the cultural organization in 1907.

Two years later, Baron Shibusawa and other members of a distinguished commercial delegation lunched at the Burlingame Country Club before visiting Bowie's villa. In a setting among the cherry trees, the special guests were served tea by Bowie's Japanese servants. Much was discussed, but the highlight of the day was the official dedication of the Daimyo gate.

In October 1918 as World War I was ending. Bowie sailed to Japan for the sixth and final time as a special emissary of the U.S. Department of State.

During this official trip, the Japanese honored Bowie as a King of the Rising Sun, but in October, 1920 he felt ill, and with misgivings, returned to Severn Lodge in Hillsborough.

Two months later, the 72-year-old Henry Pike Bowie lay dead, and his secret life unraveled with the filing of his testament at the Redwood City courthouse.

It was a secret life most found impossible to believe.

Relatives were shocked to learn that one-half of the former scholar, linguist, painter, collector, and bon vivant's estate, exclusive of specific bequests, was left to three Japanese friends who had never visited the United States: Komaka Hirano, and her two sons, Imao and Taweo.

Then came a second bombshell: Documents revealed that Komaka Hirano was the wife of Henry P. Bowie, and Imao and Taweo their sons.

This second blow stunned Bowie's friends and especially his stepson, San Francisco architect George Henry Howard. But in Japan it was well known that Bowie was the head of a Japanese household in Yokohama. Notice of his death appeared prominently on the front page of Japanese newspapers.

Alleging that the Hiranos "exerted a baneful influence over Bowie," George H. Howard contested the will in 1922. He contended Komaka Hirano was not his stepfather's wife in the "accepted American meaning of the term"-- but in a dramactic turn of events depositions signed by diplomats supported the marriage as authentic.

Howard also argued that "All my stepfather's property was derived from my mother, who inheirted it from the Howard family--all hard-earned American dollars by California law, provided in our state code, it should revert to the descendants of the original possessors. It is a question of birthright, pure and simple.

But George H. Howard did not prevail as he neglected to serve a summons on the Japanese heirs and this technical failure led Redwood City Superior Judge George Buck to decline to set aside the will.

Henry P. Bowie, who treasured the peaceful flow of existence that Japan represented, left a maelstrom of discord in his own life.

When Henry P. Bowie was near death, he said he would have preferred being buried in the Land of the Rising Sun, but while his body was to be interred on American soil, his spirit would surely return to Japan.

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[Note: Others have written about Henry P. Bowie. If you are interested, I encourage you to discover the stories by historians such as the popular professor/author Michael Svanevik.]

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Charles Clark Had a Private Racetrack What stunned first time visitors to Charles Walter Clark's luxurious San Mateo estate El Palomar was "Clark's Track," a manicured private race track and polo field that graced the outstanding piece of property. Charles Walter Clark was one of an unusual group of men who lived like European princes on the Peninsula one hundred years ago. Residing in spectacular country mansions, they surrounded themselves with paintings by the masters, priceless antiques and rare artifacts. Millionaire San Mateo sportsman "Charley" Clark may have owned his share of important paintings, but his reputation but his reputation was not built on works of art. While Clark's affluent neighbors invited friends to view their museum-quality galleries, Charley Clark arranged a day of horse racing for an intimate circle of rich friends. They preferred the thrill of thoroughbreds competing in a sumptuous setting. Charles Clark was not a self-made man. His father, a U.S. senator from Montana, and a multi-millionaire copper mine owner, had everything to do with creating the image as well as the reality of his eldest son's wealth. In public, at every opportunity, the old senator bragged that his son had plenty of money. The younger Clark was described as the manager of his father's United Verde Copper Company in Jerome, Arizona--an enterprise that earned the senator a reported $1 million per month. Charles Clark was also said to be a partner with his father in a bank in Northern California. It was widely believed that from this joint venture the younger Clark drew $25,000 a month spending money. And, if there was ever a need for extra cash, for any reason, at any time, Senator Clark was always there. Charles Clark was was in his early 30s in 1904, a year that brought him unexpected sorrow. He was at the Arizona copper mine bad news arrived.. His wife, who resided at the family home in New York City, had fallen seriously ill and was clinging to life. The young man felt compelled to get to New York City, as soon as possible. As the privileged son of a U.S. senator, Clark pulled every string imaginable, arranging for a special chartered train to whisk him from the Southwest to New York. The train sped eastward, chewing up the miles of track in record time, but Clark waas too late. The newspapers of the day reported that his beloved wife passed away before the train arrived at its New York destination. Clark's heroic efort to reach his dying wife struck a sympathetic chord with the general public, and his desperate railroad race became part of popular legend. Now a widower, his bad luck continued and thorny problems began to plague the politician's son. Senator Clark always wanted folks to believe that his eldest son, Charles, was rich and successful. There was little reason to doubt this was true. So, there was great surprise when Clark became mired in negotations with the Rosario Mining Company in Mexico and was subsequently accused of breach of contract. He was expected to take possession of the mine and begin exploration but he did neither. The angry officials at Rosario filed a lawsuit, and at one point the case seemed to have been on the verge of dismissal. Still, observers were surprised and concerned about Clark's actions in the matter. Another puzzling incident occurred about the same time. At an extravagant dinner at Rector's in New York City, Clark ordered vintage wines and lobsters for the assembled guests, then walked out, leaving the bill unpaid. Sued by the restaurant owner, the matter was actually settled two years later. It was still 1904 when Clark acquired El Palomar in San Mateo, an estate formerly owned by a well known polo player. What he did with El Palomar enhanced Clark's reputation and brought notoriety to San Mateo. Widower Clark, who had many friends, spent a lot of time in San Francisco. It was "in the City" that he met and fell in love with society leader Cecila Tobin***, a fine and proper lady whose distinguished family had founded the Hibernia Bank. Celia Tobin's varied talents and interests were very appealing to Charles Clark. A gifted musician, the sportswoman was more widely admired for her expert horsemanship. This shared love of horses bonded the who planned a simple but elegant wedding in the house where Celia was born. This shared love of horses bonded the pair, and they planned a simple but elegant wedding in the house where Ceiia was born.

From all accounts the wedding was perfect. The bridal party gathered in a rose-decorated parlor before the famous copy of Murillo's masterpiece: the Madonna from the Prado Gallery in Madrid.

Carrying a stunning bouquet of orchids, Ceilia wore an elaborately trimmed robe-dress, a gift from her mother. A sparkling diamond-and-turquoise ring from her sister, Agnes, the maid of honor, adorned the bride's finger. Other gifts from the Tobin family included a spectacular diamond crescent and diamond cross.

Archbishop Montgomery presided over the ceremony that united Charles Clark and Celia Tobin.

Lending a special excitement to the event was the appearance of legendary stage actress Ethel Barrymore, who had been visiting one of Ceilia's relatives.

After the traditional wedding breakfast, the newlyweds left San Francisco in a special train bound for San Mateo. But when the couple arrived at El Palomar, they were shocked to see a legal document the County sheriff had tacked to the front door.

On the previous day the Bank of California had filed an attachment suit against Charles Clark, who, it seemed, had not repaid two loans for $25,000 each. Further complicating the matter was the unexpected revelation that it was the sportsman's father, not Charles, who held title to El Palomar. This led to great embarassment, and Clark immediately issued a statement assuring bank officials he would sort out the matter at once--and he did.

With that "misunderstanding" out of the way, the Clarks enjoyed the early years of their marriage. They frequently traveled to the Rocky Mountains where it was said Celia shot grizzly bears, elk and mountain lions. On these occasions Clark chartered a private railway car fo rhis wife's use.

When they weren't traveling, they invited society figures to the private racetrack at El Palomar. But on occasion the Clarks opened the gates to the public.

For example, in 1907, the Irish-American Athletic Club sponsored track-and-field events at El Palomar consisting of a mile run, 300=yard race, 220 hurdles, shot and discus throw. Celia Clark presented the winners with impressive trophies specially designed for the games.

To outsiders the Clark's life appeared idyllic until the "Rosario Mining"  court case, at first a pleasant distraction, turned into an argument-starter every time they tried to do something together. 

The Rosario officials wanted compensation for the breach of contract committed before Clark's marriage to Celia. In 1907 their legal strategy consisted of charging Clark with insolvency so that the court would order United Verde Copper Company's books opened to determine whether Clark was indeed the general manager and the owner of controlling stock in the operation.

Eventually the irritating Rosario case was settled in which the court ordered Clark to compensate the Mexican mining company.

All the while Clark had been plagued with the Rosario matter, he never allowed it to interfere with his generosity and extravagant lifestyle. During the 1907 Christmas holiday , the Clarks hosted a fabulous dinner for Burlingame friends at San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel 

Reporting on the event, the press indicated that a rare 1889 champagne was served to guests who dined on solid gold dinner plates requiring the presence of private detectives in the beautiful room.

By 1912, Clark, the president of the Golden Gate Thoroughbred Breeders Association, had earned a reputation as one of the most active patrons of "the sport of kings" in California.

Racing under his own popular colors, the El Palomar stable consisted of well known champions of the time such as Rose Marion, Pleasureville, Birdie, Gun Powder, and, of course, the aptly named El Palomar.

Clark's horses were superbly trained, sleek and fast, winning stakes and honors at race venues all over the country.

Although it was well known to those close to him that Charles W. Clark didn't handle business matters well, when it came to his polo interests, he was indefatigable.

In 1913, a San Mateo polo team, the Slashers, was scheduled to play a cavalry team from Hawaii at "Clark's Track." The Peninsula team featured skilled players including W. B. Devereux, a pioneer mining engineer. But the team was short one polo pony. Charley Clark immediately purchased "Big Jim," a crack polo pony, for $2000., and had the animal shipped by a specially chartered train to El Palomar. With "Big Jim," the San Mateo team won the game.

It was about this time that horse racing had been banned in California, and Clark favored its revival under the pari-mutuel betting system.

In a letter to officials, he urged formation of a state racing commission and was prophetic in describing the future for thoroughbred racing in California and the entire nation.

"Racing has been revived recently at several places in the East under the pari-mutuel system of wagering," Clark wrote. "As you know, this is the French system of betting, and in France the government had charge of the meetings and clean sport was witnessed. The machine betting does away with the bookmakers and eliminates the chance for crookedness."

Although there was no longer racing at El Palomar, it became a noted stock farm for California-bred horses.

As the years passed, relations between Ceiia and Charles first became distant and then strained. They quietly separated, divorced, and he remarried.

At the time of Charles W. Clark's death during the Great Depression, in 1933, he was the president of the United Verde Copper Company.

Two years earlier Ceilia Tobin Clark commissioned architect David Adler to build for her the famous 36-room mansion--called the "House on the Hill"--in an oak-studded setting not far from El Palomar.

Until her death in 1965, art patron and philanthropist Celia Tobin Clark remained a powerful figure in the social and cultural life of the San Francisco Bay Area.

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***Celia Tobin Clark commissioned the architect David Adler to build her beautiful home in Hillsborough after she divorced Charles Clark. Ms. Tobin's family had founded the Hibernia Bank in San Francisco. Construction began during the Depression and care was taken to hire many local workers.  Photos and drawings of her home can be seen in a book of David Adler's work called "David Adler, Architect: The Elements of Style."

 

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Where is Saint's Rest? http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/09/where-is-saints-rest/ Fri, 09 Jan 2009 19:26:39 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2722 saintsrest

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La Peninsula: JoAnne Semones writes about Pigeon Point http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/09/la-peninsula-joanne-semones-writes-about-pigeon-point/ Fri, 09 Jan 2009 20:18:49 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2726 lapeninsula

Review by John Vonderlin

Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)

Hi June, I was just reading the Winter issue of "La Peninsula," the Journal of the San Mateo Historical Association. The cover and first twelve pages are devoted to an excellent article about Maverick's by Bruce Jenkins, a Montara resident. Bruce, the advisor to the History Museum's interactive Maverick's exhibit and author of several big wave surfing books, knows his subject really well and so do we after reading the article. He's got good inside stuff, covers the history well, and also delves into the spirit of the unusual group of surfers who risk their lives challenging the monsters that can build, collapse and explode at our local, world famous surf spot. With sponsorship secured, invitees picked, all we need now is for Mother Nature to co-operate, and we'll once again be exposed to one of the most daring sporting events anywhere. With the great low tides over the next few days, if I can arrange it, I might try to make a circum-Pillar trip and get some pictures of Maverick's, Mushroom Rock, etc. from the foot of the Point, something impossible during the event. The other article completing the issue is "The Storied Waters of Pigeon Point," by JoAnne Semones." JoAnne, the author of "Shipwrecks, Scalawags, and Scavengers,"  an excellent chronicling of a century of the tragedy-filled Maritime history of the treacherous waters the Pigeon Point Lighthouse was built to neuter, has added new material from rare oral histories and personal interviews with the keepers' families and local residents. She has included historic smuggler stories that should be great background for some of the tales I'm hoping Rob Tillitz will share about his experiences in these waters. Enjoy. John

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2726 2009-01-09 16:18:49 2009-01-09 20:18:49 closed closed la-peninsula-joanne-semones-writes-about-pigeon-point publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1231532364 _edit_last 1
1886: Pigeon Point lighthouse was in defalcation: Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/09/1886-pigeon-point-lighthouse-was-in-defalcation-story-by-john-vonderlin/ Fri, 09 Jan 2009 23:10:20 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2734 "Pigeon Point Thread" Story by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June, After reading JoAnne Semone’s article in "La Peninsula," coupled with my Rob Tillitz correspondence, regarding photographs of the Pigeon Point area (to help him promote his book, "Smuggler's Cove"), I think it’s time to add my two cents. I found the following article in the Newspaper Archives: LIGHTHOUSE EMPLOYEES The Daily Alta May 17, 1886 "The House of Representatives in Washington, in Committee of the Whole, has agreed to report favorably to pay certain lighthouse employees on this coast, who were sufferers by the defalcations of John T. Best, Clerk to the Engineer of this district. The bill was reported from the Committee of Claims by Representative McKenna and was recommended by Representative Felton. The following amounts are appropriated: For employees of Point Conception $3,934.70; Miguel Ortega $478.14; Charles Ashton $270; For Pigeon Point Station $980.99; sundry bills $120.95; M & T. B. Murphy $105; O.B. Shaw $1,748.87." I had to look up defalcate as I wasn't familiar with the word, although the context is clear. It means to embezzle or misuse. In Medeival Latin it meant "to mow" from its root of "falc" meaning a sickle. And of course defalcatio means to lop off as every limerick fan probably knows. Representative McKenna, mentioned in the article, is Joseph McKenna, considered the embodiment of the Horatio Alger stories, being the son of poverty-stricken Irish Immigrants fleeing the horrors of the Potato Famine. Here's an excerpt from his Wikipedia article. Joseph McKenna (August 10, 1843 – November 21, 1926) was an American politician who served in all three branches of the U.S. federal government, as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, as U.S. Attorney General and as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Irish immigrants, he attended St. Joseph's College and the Collegiate Institute at Benicia, California. After being admitted to the California bar in 1865, he became District Attorney for Solano County and then served in the California State Assembly for two years (1875-1877). Representative Felton was almost surely one of the children of John Brooks Felton, for whom the town of Felton was named. John Felton (1827-77) was a Harvard-educated lawyer and judge, as well as mayor of Oakland, a UC Regent and twice unsuccessful candidate for US Senate. While Representative Felton and his father left a positive mark in the Bay Area's history, it was his sister, Katharine Conway Felton who changed the world. This article from Wikipedia tells why: Katharine Conway "Kitty" Felton (1873 - 1940) is a name that became synonymous with social work for her innovative reforms over the 40 years of her tenure as head of Associated Charities in San Francisco beginning at the turn of the 19th century. Katharine Conway Felton was born in Oakland, California, on July 7, 1873, the daughter of a prominent San Francisco Bay Area family. Her father John Brooks Felton, was a judge and mayor of Oakland and has the Santa Cruz County town of Felton, California named for him. She was called "the conscience of the city" because of her dedication to social work. In 1901, at the age of 28, Felton was appointed director of Associated Charities (now Family Service Agency of San Francisco). In the crucible of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, she became the head of the social service efforts to restore the life of the people of the city and developed innovative solutions that are common practice today. She created the first employment agency in the United States, developed mental health counseling to deal with the traumatized, became an advocate for foster care, and by combining private and public funds made it possible for widowed and single mothers to remain at home with their children. She also was responsible for emptying the refugee camps and finding placements for the dispossessed, all of which she accomplished within one year. These innovations became known as the "San Francisco Model" by 1907 and swept the nation as the primary mode of social service throughout the country by 1909. For those interested in learning more about this amazing woman there is a biography by Jean Burton that details her accomplishments. Enjoy. John]]> 2734 2009-01-09 19:10:20 2009-01-09 23:10:20 closed closed 1886-pigeon-point-lighthouse-was-in-defalcation-story-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1231548294 _edit_last 1 Stanford's Bailey Willis hunted "shakes" all over the world http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/10/stanfords-bailey-willis-hunted-shakes-all-over-the-world/ Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:45:14 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2740 (Image: World renowned geologist Bailey Willis, at right, with topographer R. Harvey Sargent ready to embark on their historic China trip in 1903.) Professor Bailey Willis hunted earthquakes By June Morrall When the fearless 72-year-old Stanford geologist Bailey Willis went on an African safari in 1929, he wasn’t interested in wild animals. He was hunting earthquakes. For years, the internationally known quake expert had studied traces of temblors all over the world, and in San Mateo County, he carefully tracked the San Andreas Fault from Mussel Rock southeast to Crystal Springs Reservoir and Searsville Lake. No wonder he was called “Earthquake Willis” – although the eminent structural geologist, seismologist, explorer, world traveler, author, painter and lecturer would have preferred to shake off the nickname. At age 65 in 1922, Willis retired from Stanford’s faculty, but he wasn’t the retiring kind. As professor emeritus, he remained as active as one of those smoldering volcanoes that fascinated him. When he became president of the American Seismological Association, he helped produce an “Earthquake Map of California,” pinpointing the location “of the faults which traverse the rocky foundations of California, and may be the origin of earthquake shocks.” More importantly, the published map “was designed to show the lines on which earthquakes may occur and which, therefore, should be avoided by structures liable to damage by earthquakes.” Willis cared a great deal about preventing the loss of life and property due to nature’s frightening disruption. Always self-assured and opinionated, he believed the devastating fires accompanying the 1906 San Francisco earthquake could have been prevented if the water mains had been properly protected from bursting. “The fact that fire consumes cities after an earthquake is an indictment,” he once charged, “not an excuse.” Many of California’s early building codes evolved from experiments Willis conducted on an “earthquake table” in a Stanford laboratory. The geologist simulated natural shocks while observing their effect on model building structures, composed of different materials. He experimented with novel ideas at his home on the campus, quake-proofing it with “pendulum and roller arrangements,” theorizing that in the event of a sharp jolt the building would roll or swing and not break. On the lecture circuit, Willis shocked audiences when he discussed experimental methods of safeguarding buildings against earthquakes, including the radical concept of freeing structures from their foundations, putting them on ball bearings and equipping them with springs and shock absorbers. One day, he hoped, earthquakes could be scientifically predicted. According to legend, Willis warned a Santa Barbara audience in the summer of 1925 that their city was in imminent danger of suffering a significant quake, when, lo and behold, his words became prophetic and the earth began to move. The 6.3 magnitude quake caused the deaths of 14 people and $6.5 million in damages. From that moment on,  Willis was burdened with the nickname: “Earthquake Willis.” Willis often said there was only one grain of truth in the story. He was in Santa Barbara during the quake jotting down observations while the bricks were still falling—but that was the extent of his involvement. He concluded that earthquakes could not destroy a well-constructed building in California. Damage occurred only in the case of faulty design, a poor choice of building materials, or an ensuing fire. Bailey Willis was born in Idlewild-on-Hudson, New York, in 1857, the son of Nathaniel Parker Willis, a poet and co-founder of “Town and Country,” the nation’s second-oldest magazine. Willis earned a mining and civil engineering degree at Columbia University and a Ph.D. from Germany’s University of Berlin. In 1880 when he was in his early 20s, Willis was hired by the Northern Pacific Railway to search for coal deposits north of Mount Rainier in Washington state. The young geologist would never forget the magnificent wilderness territory. As Willis and his crew cut a swath through the dense cedar forest in the upper Carbon River, he encountered stunning wildflower meadows today known as Spray Park. Nearby loomed Rainier’s “immense cavitated [???] face,” later named “Willis Wall” in his honor. Mount Rainier’s majesty as a geological wonder had made its impact on Willis. After he joined the U.S. Geological Survey, he proposed to fellow geologists that they band together and work to have Mount Rainier preserved as a national park. From this tiny group of geologists the movement swelled, gathering support from other scientists and environmental groups including the Sierra Club in San Francisco. In 1900 to the joy of all, President McKinley officially declared Mount Rainier a national park. Widowed after 14 years of marriage, 41-year-old Willis wed Margaret (Margery) Delight Baker in 1898. The couple settled down to life in Washington, D.C., where their dining table attracted an interesting cast, a lively place dominated by intellectual conversation. One special guest was R. Harvey Sargent, Margery’s cousin from Maine. Bailey liked the young man immediately, and helped Harvey connect with the USGS, kicking off his distinguished career as a topographer. The two men would collaborate on an important mission in the years to come. Well known at the USGS for his structural analysis of the Appalachian Mountains, Willis’s career took a new direction in 1903. That year, the Carnegie Institution sent him and geologist Eliot Blackwelder on a geological-geographical expedition of the remote interior of China—a 2,000-mile, nine-month adventure on foot. China’s winters were cold and the political climate edgy at the time. The Boxer Rebellion, marked by strong anti-foreign feeling, had barely ended and a war between Japan and Russia threatened. Margery Willis, who accompanied her husband on many future trips, was discouraged on this occasion. All agreed this one was too dangerous. The historic expedition required an intrepid team willing to endure hardship and the dangers of an uncertain political atmosphere. “To accomplish his mission properly, Bailey Willis needed to have a very good topographer, a mapmaker on his team, and he asked my grandfather to join him,” said Bob Sargent,  grandson of R. Harvey Sargent. While Willis traveled via Europe and across Siberia to Peking, China, he asked Harvey Sargent to be on “standby” for the call. “My grandfather was in the fields in Utah working for the USGS when Bailey Willis’s call came,” said Bob Sargent, a former Foreign Service official with the Department of State, residing in Maine when I contacted him. “He traveled by train from Utah to Maine for a 24-hour visit with his family, then back across the country by train, and on to China by steamship.” Willis and Sargent rendezvoused in Peking in December 1903, their meeting recorded in a photograph showing the famous geologist and the young topographer attired in leather winter jackets and fur mittens. Some have wondered if Willis’s mission had political underpinnings. “Competition among European countries, and the United States for influence in China during this period gives rise to speculation,” reflected Bob Sargent. “And certainly the Chinese were wary. But I have seen no evidence that economic, political or military intelligence may have been the objective of Bailey Willis’s mission.” The team launched its expedition with great expectations, all fulfilled. The excellent, accurate maps produced by Harvey Sargent were the first of their kind, winning the expedition a gold medal from the Geographical Society of France. Both Willis and Sargent carried camera equipment, and Bob Sargent inherited the collection of 150 images snapped by his mapmaker grandfather on the expedition. He also suggested that glass negatives taken by Willis exist somewhere and hopes that someday they will turn up. Inspired by his grandfather’s photos, Bob Sargent organized a traveling exhibit called: China: Exploring the Interior (1903-4), providing a glimpse of rural China two years after the Boxer Rebellion. The exhibit (to visit, click chinaexhibit.org) also includes his grandfather’s journal, and a map of the exhibition as well as the published findings. The show has traveled to colleges, libraries and historical societies back East, but in 2000, when I wrote this story, Bob Sargent wanted to see the images out west in “Bailey Willis country.” willis2 (Image: In 1903, in China, a curious crowd watches Bailey Willis take a photograph of a "spirit screen," erected to ward off evil spirits.) A detailed, scientific report of the China trip appeared in the early 1900s, but Stanford University Press later published Willis’s more intimate account, “Friendly China,” including letters and drawings by the author. In the book, Willis dispelled apprehensions some had at the time about the team’s safety. These fears were groundless. He was confident the Chinese people would be friendly and they were. Willis joined the Stanford faculty in 1915, becoming known as an international earthquake expert, traveling to wherever “shakes” were frequent. With son, Robin, an oil geologist, he explored the California coastline from San Luis Obispo to Santa Rosa. He visited Japan, the East Indies, the Mediterranean, India and South America where he worked as a consulting geologist in Argentina. But controversy was always around the corner. In 1934, Willis questioned the stability of the foundation material upon which the south pier of the Golden Gate Bridge was being constructed. Voicing grave concerns, he advised that a committee, composed of “independent and unbiased specialists,” meet to investigate possible geological problems. This program didn’t sit well with Willis’s nemesis, Andrew Lawson, the UC Berkeley structural geologist, the renowned authority who had compiled the official report after the 1906 earthquake and fire. Lawson’s prestige was staggering. He had named the San Andreas Fault, and believed the south pier of the Golden Gate Bridge was just fine. Professor Lawson was livid when he responded to Willis’s concerns as “a fine example of a boogy-boo dragged in by the ears from the recesses of a vivid imagination to scare people. The astonishing thing about his present attack upon the stability of the Golden Gate Bridge is that he should have restrained himself so long.” Lawson prevailed in this confrontation between giants. The Golden Gate Bridge was completed and remains safe – so far. Bailey Willis lived a long, full life. After wife, Margaret died in 1941, white-whiskered Willis continued to reside on the Stanford campus where generations of students knew him as “Earthquake Willis.” He could be seen riding his bicycle and exercising with the kids until he was 90. He suffered a nasty spill on his bike, curtailing his activities, and Bailey Willis died at age 91 in 1949.]]> 2740 2009-01-10 20:45:14 2009-01-11 00:45:14 closed closed stanfords-bailey-willis-hunted-shakes-all-over-the-world publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1232235139 _edit_last 1 Manuel M. Bettencourt of San Gregorio http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/12/manuel-m-bettencourt-of-san-gregorio/ Mon, 12 Jan 2009 04:27:11 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2745 From History of San Mateo County by Frank Stanger, Narrative and Biographical, 1938 For many years Manuel M. Bettencourt has been identified with transportation activities, owing his advancement to proven worth and ability, and in civic affairs of San Mateo he plays a leading part. He was born March 25, 1886, in San Gregorio, San Mateo county, and is a son of Manuel Bettencourt de Avilla, a native of the Azores, and Mary (Mesquite) Bettencourt. His father is one of the pioneers of San Mateo county and for a number of years operated a ranch near San Gregorio. In 1891 he brought his family to San Mateo and is now living retired. Manuel M. Bettencourt attended the public schools of San Mateo until he had completed the curriculum of the tenth grade and this constituted the extent of his educational advantages. At an early age he went to work for E. A. Husing, with whom he remained for a considerable period, and then secured a position in the San Francisco office of the ticket auditor of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. Mr. Bettencourt spent eighteen and a half years with that corporation, acquiring a practical knowledge of the intricate details of the railroad business, and in 1919 became connected with the Western Pacific system in the capacity of chief rate clerk in the passenger accounting department. He is efficient, trusthworthy and conscientious and since March 15, 1926 has been chief rate clerk in the general passenger's office, office which is situated in the Mills building of San Francisco. In 1911, Mr. Bettencourt was united in marriage to Miss Katherine Jung, who was born in San Jose, California, and they have become the parents of two children: Eleanor Bernice, a junior in the San Mateo Union High School and Robert Joseph, who is attending grammar school. Mr. Bettencourt is a member of the Decimo Club and secretary of the San Mateo Planning Commission. He is working systematically and effectively for the good of his community and has won and retained the esteen of all with whom he has been associated in the varied relations of life. --------- ]]> 2745 2009-01-12 00:27:11 2009-01-12 04:27:11 closed closed manuel-m-bettencourt-of-san-gregorio publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1233801376 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin Says: San Gregorio Metal Thieves...Beware! http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/13/john-vonderlin-says-san-gregorio-metal-thievesbeware/ Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:45:03 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2748 Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June, A change of schedule forced us to cancel the trip to the San Mateo History Museum last week, but we were able to use the fabulous weather to cruise the Coastside. One of our destinations was San Gregorio Beach, to resolve the issue of the Ocean Shore Railroad's proposed path between where its trace disappears just north of the nude beach parking lot to the San Gregorio Highway 1 bridge, which must have been the site of the proposed railroad trestle too. I need to organize that discussion, but wanted to relate a couple of unrelated things we encountered. The first is that the San Gregorio Historical Plaque #26, commemorating Portola's Expedition stopping there in 1769, has been stolen by metal thieves. I've attached a picture of what it used to look like and what it looks like now. screenshot469

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I've been noticing lately, undoubtedly due to the, until recently, sky-high metal prices, that even the commemorative plaques on seaside benches, dedicated to the loved ones of the donor are being stolen. While we can't watch these, often isolated “rememberances” all the time, I would urge folks to keep an eye out for people carrying unusual tools, like crowbars, and to urge their politicians to pass more restrictive laws on scrap and recycling dealers. Oregon has done so, with limited effect. Perhaps, sting operations to separate the legitimate businessman, who perform a valuable service, from the "fences" that facilitate the crimes of these "scum of the earth" thieves would help. I call the photos I've attached of the largest mushrooms 8I've ever seen on the Coastside or anywhere else, "Pick Your Poison." I was looking for an item to give scale to how large these are and found an old, but still unopened Budweiser beer can, partially buried in duff, nearby.

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While I've been known to quaff a few, I didn't think several years of aging would have improved its flavor. But we all know what size they are. The mushrooms are Amanita Muscaria, a very poisonous variety, I've written about previously. Enjoy. John P.S. The plaque says, oops!, said: PORTOLA CAMP Captain Gaspar de Portola and his party of Spanish Explorers, journeying overland from San Diego in a fruitless search for Monterey Bay, camped here by San Gregorio Creek for a three day rest and treatment of their sick. October 24- 27, 1769. Having missed Monterey, they later discovered San Francisco Bay instead. REGISTERED LANDMARK NO. 26 Plaque placed by the California Cenntennial Commision, in co-operation with the County Board of Supervisors, and the San Mateo County Historical Association October 16, 1949.]]>
2748 2009-01-13 14:45:03 2009-01-13 18:45:03 closed closed john-vonderlin-says-san-gregorio-metal-thievesbeware publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1232146312 _edit_last 1
Spring 1924: "We merely wanted to show that real liquor was being smuggled into this country." http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/16/spring-1924-prohis-raid-new-years-point/ Sat, 17 Jan 2009 02:31:02 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2762 Paul Rubio Payne, alias Pane, Thomas Murphy, Percy Allen, alias Allender, Charles Munsun and Sidney Heild, allged professional bootleggers, and said to be operating a fleet of rum-running vessels between Vancouver and Pacific Coast points, were indicted by the Federal Grand Jury yesterday on conspiracy charges to violet the Volstead Act. Allen, Munsun and Held were captured shortly after midnight, April 25, near New Year's Point, a they were landing 241 cases of Canadian Club whiskey into automobiles. Four automobiles and the liquor were seized by Prohibition Director Rutter and four of his deputies, W.R. Paget, David W. Rinckel, Henry Toft and I.H. Cory. Payne and Murphy are said to have fled from the scene and since have been declared by the Government to be fugitives from justice. The liquor, said to be of excellent quality, was landed at the Jay F. Steele, Steele being a member of one of the oldest and wealthiest land-owning families south of Pescadero...." --------------- October 6, 1926 Coast is Mute Evidence in U.S. Liquor Landing Trial Ranch Owner at New Year's Point Also Links Payne to Smuggling A plain business coat said to have been made by Joseph Parente, former tailor, constituted the most damaging evidence presented against Paul Rubio Payne, alleged liquor smuggler, at his trial in the Federal Court here yesterday on charges of conspiracy to violate the national prohibition and internal revenue laws. The coat was introduced as evidence said to have been left by Payne following the landing of 240 cases of illicit liquor at the A.S. Steele ranch, near New Year's Point, on the night of April 25, 1924.on Steele is owner of the ranch and a willing Government witness. He said he has been farming his place for the last twenty-five years, and during the winter of 1923-24 Payne and Thomas Murphy came to see him and made arrangements for landing contraband liquor at $1 a case. Steele assisted in the unloading of several cargoes of liquor, he told Assistant United States Attorney Eugene D. Bennett, and each time Payne or Murphy was there to superintend the landing of the liquor. Others there at the time, said Steele, were Percy Allender, on trial with Payne and Murphy; Sidney Held and Al Schultz, the two latter of whom were killed in a hijacker's battle in Los Angeles recently. Steele, who proved an alert witness for the Government, on cross-examination by Attorneys Kenneth C. Gillis, Edwin McKenzie and Joseph Taaffe, said that he knew he was violating the law in allowing the landing of liquor at his ranch. "To save my hide," Steele admitted, "I made a statement to former Prohibition Director Rutter that my place was used as a landing port for ilicit liquor." Outside of the embarrassment of being arrested and later released on his own recognizance, nothing further was done toward Steele by the Government, the witness testified. Steele knew he would not be prosecuted for violating the dry law, he told McKenzie, after making his statement. It was always his impression that Payne and Murphy were partners in liquor smuggling, Steele testified, because Payne and Murphy both told him "we are partners in the business." The business suit coat hurriedly left behind on the night of April 25, 1924, had been worn by Paul Rubio Payne, former Prohibition agents David W. Rinckel, Gordon Lee and Isaac Henry Gory testified. All three were on the raid at the time, they said, and after confiscating some 240 cases of Canadian whiskey and arresting Allender, Held and Schultz, they picked up the coat and found the name of "Payne" stitched on an inside pocket, they said. R.S. Love, a Government chemist, tenderly cared for two bottles of whiskey. They were samples that had been given him at the time of the Steele ranch raid. In alcohol content, Love testified, the whiskey had a potency of more than 100 proof. Defense attorneys asked Judge Kerrigan to rule out the introduction of the liquor, but the court refused. "Such evidence does not assume part of this so-called conspiracy," said Attorney Gillis. "We shall show," said Assistant US Attorney Bennett for the Government, "that the two bottles offered in evidence is only a mite of the entire lot confiscated at the Steele ranch. We merely wanted to show that real liquor was being smuggled into this country." ------]]> 2762 2009-01-16 22:31:02 2009-01-17 02:31:02 closed closed spring-1924-prohis-raid-new-years-point publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1232420041 _edit_last 1 Ashaleigh Parker: "I am here to crack the mystery of Monty Parker..." http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/21/ashaleigh-parker-i-am-here-to-crack-the-mystery-of-monty-parker/ Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:29:18 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2787 mp11 Email John Vonderlin (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) To read earlier "Monty Parker" posts, please click here and here Hi June, johnv2I was caught by surprise last week when out of the blue the following email arrived. To say it provided a heartwarming answer to a minor mystery that has been bugging me and others for quite a while would be an understatement. Enjoy. John. ********** Hi John, halfmoonbaymemories-3comI am here to crack the mystery of Monty Parker, although I must admit it brings me a lot of sadness to be putting an end to his newly created cyber life. Monty Parker was born in New Mexico under the name Alton Monty Parker.  The AM Parker that you found in New Mexico with the same birth date is most likely the mystery man you were looking for, but, the AM in the AMBS Beach sign does not stand for Alton Monty. All the effort put into deciphering the meaning of AMBS beach was thoroughly amusing and I enjoyed all the effort and creativity that was put into your speculations.  I never thought of our sign as a mystery and its great to see my childhood memories of my father grow into a coveted story. I am one of two of Monty’s children and the rappel site used by the Merry Pranksters is the entrance to our “secret beach”.  When I was about 6 and my brother was about 10, my dad took my brother and I to the “secret beach” for the first time.  He carried a thick and heavy rope down the poison oak filled path from Hwy 1 while my brother and I followed with our Golden Retriever Chelsea.  Then he attached the rope to the same stakes that are still there to this day and tossed it over the edge.  I don’t remember being scared or nervous about climbing down the cliff but I think that is because my father never showed us fear and was constantly taking my brother and I on extreme adventures.   Then he lowered the dog down in a duffle bag and we all climbed down the rope one by one.  When we got to the bottom we started our exploration of every nook and cranny and this is when our passion for our “secret beach” began.  After that day no other beach would ever suffice. We had about 6 years of adventures at the secret beach with my dad, but he didn’t always take us with him.  On June 3, 1995, my dad and a few of his friends went abalone diving at our “secret beach”.  Monty was an avid diver and had been Navy Seal trained so he was a very capable swimmer.  After their day had ended and his friends headed back up to the car, Monty went on “one more dive” by himself.  His friends reached the car and my dad never returned. After waiting for some time they went to find him which proved unsuccessful. Hours later a surfer discovered his body up the coast. The autopsy showed he drowned although the cause of his drowning was unknown, and to this day, still unknown.  Only speculations have been made about what could have caused Monty Parker, a very capable and experienced diver, to drown. I am not exactly sure, through all the chaos of my father’s death, who put up the sign, but I think it was my father’s friends that were with him that day. The sign was put there shortly after my father passed and over the years began to be overgrown.  I hadn’t been back to our “secret beach” for over two years now and I was overjoyed to see that it had been moved to a more accessible spot and that it had been cemented.  Thank you, from my entire family, to whoever put the time and effort into preserving my father’s memory. And for the meaning of the sign… AMBS beach is an acronym for my immediate family names: Ashaleigh (me), Monty (my father and the “mystery man”), Brandon (my brother), and Sherry (my mother). There is a lot to the “mystery man”, his life, and his death.  He set off on numerous adventures over his 48 years and made thousands of friends.  I only know a small portion of his tales and am amazed by every one.  Its nice to know that I could fill in the blanks of at least one of his adventures though the adventure of our “secret beach” seems so plain compared to the escapades he faced before I was born. In conclusion, your mystery man was an adventurer that never turned down a challenge and always kept people on their toes.  There was no whining allowed and no time for sitting around. He constantly pondered the purpose of life and was always trying to learn more by doing. I find it incredibly touching that my father’s life survives in your thoughts and imagination and want to personally thank you for creating a new and happy memory for me.]]> 2787 2009-01-21 22:29:18 2009-01-22 02:29:18 closed closed ashaleigh-parker-i-am-here-to-crack-the-mystery-of-monty-parker publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1232592289 _edit_last 1 Near Monty Parker's Favorite Beach http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/21/near-monty-parkers-favorite-beach/ Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:58:05 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2804 (Image: Larry Fitterer)]]> 2804 2009-01-21 22:58:05 2009-01-22 02:58:05 closed closed near-monty-parkers-favorite-beach publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1232593144 _edit_last 1 Monty Parker Mystery: Adventurer Larry Fitterer Best Beach Hiker EVER http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/22/the-adventures-of-fitterer-vonderlin/ Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:46:54 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2807

july-2008-028

 

Email John Vonderlin (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)

Photos by Larry Fitterer

Hi John

 The picture captioned “Main Notch Cove” actually refers to the cove immediately accessible from above. I was unable to make it into the cove immediately to the north that is bounded by the Notch wall on the north end.

 I ascended the Scree Slope to exit WW Lagoon. I would not descend that slope without a rope. I think it would be great to sink a spike in the ridge and leave a rope dangling down the Scree Slope.

 Actually I never used Ashaleigh’s rope. Instead, I exited at the north end using the rope you left behind. I then walked back to my car at Scott Creek, stopping at the cliff aboe AMBS Beach to check on Ashaleigh. My timing was good as they were just beginning to climb out.

 Thanks for encouraging naming conventions. Here area  few suggestions and requests for assistance:

 The Gauntlet – The entire section of coast from Scott Creek north to the Notch

gauntlet

 Obstacle 1 – The Moat

 Obstacle 2 – Trefiret’s Traverse (apologies)

 Obstacle 3 – The Wall

 Obstacle 4 – Chicken’s Roost

Obstacle 5 – The Scree Slope (or perhaps “The Slippery Slope)

 Obstacle 6 --  The Plunge

 Your name for the series of arches from WW Lagoon to the Notch – The Seven Sisters?

 Please suggest better names for the following three coves:

 North Cove (bounded by the Notch wall on the north end

 Central Cove (the one with the largest arch and your rope)

 South Cove (smallest cove with view of the exquisite arches—part of the Seven Sisters)

 Have you heard back from Asahleigh?

 Take care,

Larry

----------------

 

 Hi Larry,

   Great photos. I can see why you feel it was a superb adventure. That was one fine low tide. Were you able to walk into the Notch or just close enough to take the picture? Looks pretty treacherous with all the slimies. That climb over the Scree slope doesn't look too bad. I'll have to try it sometime myself. How did you climb back up it? It would be nice to have an anchored coiled rope there, though. You must have used the rope at the rappel spot to get back on the cliff based on the last shot, of Ashaleigh. How was that?

  What do you think of naming the first obstacle "The Moat?" I like the "Channel," The Scree Slope," "Chicken's Roost," and "The Gauntlet."

 Got any suggestions for the driftwood aided sheer cliff or the traverse spot or any of the other sections? I find it amusing to name them, plus it's easy shorthand when trying to refer to them. I'll forward Ashaleigh's reply and hope we can combine a few of your added observations in a posting. Keep on Climbing. John

july-2008-066

To view Larry Fitterer's beach hike photos, please click here

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*The 'GREAT' Monty Parker Mystery* http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/23/the-monty-parker-mystery/ Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:55:58 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2809   Hi John, I made the sign........He was a great friend....write back and I will fill you in. Ron Carson ---------------

Hi John,

 

I just read your website, especially the page on the Great Monty Parker

Mystery. As you may have heard from Ashliegh, my friend and I were the folks

responsible for the sign. If it is still an issue for you, let me know and I can

clear things up for you. Sorry it took so long.

 

Ray



 
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2809 2009-01-23 12:55:58 2009-01-23 16:55:58 closed closed the-monty-parker-mystery publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1232751583 _edit_last 1
Larry Fitterer: The Scott Creek Gauntlet - Postscript http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/26/larry-fitterer-the-scott-creek-gauntlet-postscript/ Mon, 26 Jan 2009 13:52:36 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2829 Hi John, I just got caught up at Pescadero Memories.  I'm especially enjoying the correspondence around Monty Parker.  Thanks as always for your gracious words. I think I neglected to mention that I took a nasty fall during my hike on while getting in position to take a picture of Obstacle 3, The Wall.  The good news is that I managed to hang on to my iPhone (as a younger man, it might have been a beer!).  The bad news is that I landed hard on my right forearm and shin.  The impact was jarring but I shook it off, continued on my way, and pretty much forgot about it. Several days later, however, the pain in my shin and ankle increased beyond the point of distraction.  I made a trip to Urgent Care and discovered that I have a hairline fracture of my right fibula and a sprained right ankle.  The doctor advised me to take Motrin for the pain and take it easy.  So I will rest up a bit, but I look forward to more coastal adventures.  I would love to explore the Seven Sisters with you and perhaps anchor a rope to the top of the Scree Slope.  Something to look forward to. I hope all is well with you and Meg, and I look forward to seeing you soon. Take care, Larry]]> 2829 2009-01-26 09:52:36 2009-01-26 13:52:36 closed closed larry-fitterer-the-scott-creek-gauntlet-postscript publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1233017161 _edit_last 1 Pigeon Point: We like different....Images by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/26/pigeon-point-we-like-differentimage-by-john-vonderlin/ Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:48:16 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2833 halfmoonbaymemories-4com1 And the more traditional view: halfmoonbaymemories-2com1halfmoonbaymemories-4com2

halfmoonbaymemories-5com

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2833 2009-01-26 20:48:16 2009-01-27 00:48:16 closed closed pigeon-point-we-like-differentimage-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1233549914 _edit_last 1
The Tafoni Starts Here http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/01/28/the-tafoni-stops-here/ Thu, 29 Jan 2009 01:41:40 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2837 John Vonderlin explains the natural wonder called:   tafoni. Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) I. Hi June, As I mentioned previously, one of the most common of Natural Wonders on the San Mateo Coast, are the rock features called Tafoni. When I first started researching what was causing the unusual formations, I was amazed to find out they were not restricted to the immediate coast, but could be found in the desert or on mountaintops. While the science of their creation in different environments, in different rock types, is still a bit mysterious, here's the text from a sign that attempts to explain Tafoni. "The fascinating structures that cover the sandstone are called tafoni, which is Italian for cavern. Geologists first used the word tafoni to describe sandstone formations found on the island of Corsica, and the term "alveolar weathering" to describe the process that created these formations. This complex weathering process that creates the caves, columns and sandy surfaces that are smooth in some areas and covered with labyrinths of knobs and ridges in others, takes place over thousands of years. This is how it works: During the rainy season, water soaks deep into the sandstone and mixes with the calcium that is there. As the water evaporates from the stone during the dry summer season, some of the dissolved calcium is drawn out to the surface of the stone where it forms a hard outer layer called the duricrust. This evaporation process causes any calcium remaining in the interior of the stone to be distributed unevenly so that there are some soft, low-calcium areas and some hard, high-calcium areas. If the outer surface of the sandstone is cracked or broken, the softer parts of the interior erode away more quickly than the harder areas, forming caves, caverns and tafoni formations." I'll attach some miscellaneous photos from my extensive collection. The first photo is from Pebble Beach. one

There are a number of better photos online of this type as the combination of Tafoni and the colorful pebbles is irresistible to photographers. The second two

is a variation on that same theme, but on a larger scale. I assumed the pictured rock was somebody's beach art at first until I looked closely. It is just an example of Nature, abhorring a vacuum or finding a hole and filling it. The third photothree is a cannonball concretion with associated tafoni. The last are examples of the myriad of possibilities that tafoni displays along our coast. Enjoy. John Vonderlin --------------------- II. John happens upon Jon Boxerman's fantastic oddrock site: tafoni.com  ---------------------- III.   Meet Jon Boxerman boxermanjonathan07 Biography: The Loma Prieta earthquake in October of 1989 was a defining moment in my life. After those 15 frightening but exhilarating seconds, I wanted to better understand the Earth. Shortly thereafter, I enrolled in a year-long earth sciences elective, taught by Mr. Peterson at Gunn High School in Palo Alto, California. tafoni_jon_boxerman
Tafoni, a class of cavernous weathering landforms.
 
 
Bean Hollow State Beach, in Pescadero, California is about 3 meters across.
Note the exquiste boxwork weathering in the center of this sandstone outcrop.  Photograph by Jon Boxerman.
I attended UC San Diego where I studied Earth Science at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. I received degrees in earth science and fine art (photography), working to understand the aesthetics and wonders of art and science. After graduation I worked for several years as a field geologist for an environmental engineering firm. I left private industry and went on to receive a MS in geoscience from San Francisco State University. The focus of my masters project centered on tafoni, a mysterious rock weathering phenomenon. While working toward my masters degree I co-taught sixth grade earth science for a couple of years at a San Francisco Unified School District middle school and was funded by a National Science Foundation partnership program called GK-12. Currently, I am studying Learning Sciences at Northwestern University and funded through the Center for Curriculum Materials in Science, a National Science Foundation funded Center for Learning and Teaching. I also am helping build a middle school earth science curriculum as part of the IQWST project (http://hice.org/iqwst/).Thefocus of my research is on how people understand earth systems science and changes to the earth over extreme spans of time and space.
-----------------
IV
Thank you kindly for the compliment on the website. I have put a lot of time into creating something accessible for the general public, so it's always good to get feedback every once in a while. What did you like most/least about the website?  I spent many many hours and days in Pescadero, as it was the primary study site for a pretty intense geology masters thesis project. I know those outcrops well and think about them often. Please send me a handful of photographs that you think are really great. There are already a ton posted from places in Northern California, so if you can try to find ones that don't look quite like what's already posted, then I'll throw them up there with you name on them. I'm really happy June Morrall has linked to tafoni.com. I don't advertise this site or really do much to spread the word, so whenever I hear of people linking to tafoni.com it brings a smile to my face.  With regards to the "boxed" tafoni, I don't really think all kinds of boxwork is tafoni (if this is indeed what you describe, or is it the screenshot you sent that you are referring to?), although there are little tafoni between some of the concentric rectangular bands and in the center (possible concretion in the center?). Next time you are out there look in the solid bedrock (not weathered by tafoni) for concentric banding, sometimes a purplish or brown/red color. This concentric banding form is called liesegang banding and occurs when super heated groundwater flows through the rocks when they are buried up to mile below the surface. In the subsequent million year time scales since deposition and diagenesis (e.g., mineral rich groundwater flow when this part of California's coast was being subducted), the rocks have since been uplifted. Some of the bands are enriched in iron and magnesium cements while the spaces between them are depleted. When it begins to erode and weather, the harder more resistant forms are revealed. If you look at the rocks you might notice a cross cutting fracture pattern, these forms are related to this pattern too, but the concentric nature is likely a kind of liesegang banding.  Finally a favor to ask. The tafoni at Bean Hollow (south of the parking lot) are pretty sacred to me. I have been studying them for quite some time and this beach is one of the most equisite examples of tafoniworldwide, but many of them are quite delicate. If you do share this space with others, please tread lightly. They take lifetimes to form.  Warm regards, Jon
      more coming ----------------------]]>
2837 2009-01-28 21:41:40 2009-01-29 01:41:40 closed closed the-tafoni-stops-here publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1233678802 _edit_last 1
Can't make it to Big Sur? No problem! Image Catcher Joel Bratman was there for you http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/01/cant-make-it-to-big-sur-no-problem-joel-bratman-was-there-for-you/ Sun, 01 Feb 2009 22:42:51 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2865 108760117n9aer6eb1 Enjoy Joel Bratman's spectacular photos  of Pfeiffer Beach at Big Sur.  Makes me think of the famous Esalen Institute.  I've always thought of "Devil's Slide" as a mini-Big Sur. Doesn't Joel's photo remind you of the gateway to the "Slide" from Montara?    For Big Sur images, please click here Joel's GREAT  San Mateo County photos are here]]> 2865 2009-02-01 18:42:51 2009-02-01 22:42:51 closed closed cant-make-it-to-big-sur-no-problem-joel-bratman-was-there-for-you publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1233719279 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin Eagerly Awaits "Goodies" From the Sea... http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/03/john-vonderlin-awaits-goodies-from-the-sea/ Tue, 03 Feb 2009 04:14:47 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2880

Neptune's Stirring/Haunted Tunnel?

Story & Photos by John Vonderlin

Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)

Hi June,

 There is something stirring in the waters off the Coastside. Like Will o' Wisps flickering in the swamp at night, vague signs of the upcoming non-buoyant marine debris season are appearing here and there. The oddball minor “Vomitorium” at Pescadero Point at Pescadero Beach, coughed up a heaping helping of its specialty: Aerobee Rings, swim goggles, fishing line balls and tire parts.

 This always occurs in about a fifty- foot stretch of the rocky cove, right at the foot of the stairway leading down to the beach. Rangers confirm it has been doing this for a long time. Why these non-buoyant items, and very few others, should consistently be regurgitated here is a tantalizing mystery. It must have something to do with specific gravity, but I can't fathom the details of the sorting process. I do know that out of my collection of hundreds of Frisbees, a majority come from this one spot, my Motherlode.

halfmoonbaymemories-1com

 halfmoonbaymemories-6com

 

After stalling at 72 tires for a long time, the past two weeks have seen me bring that up to 74, just 27 short of the art project's title, "101 tires."

 These two “new” tires were ejected by local vomitoriums, and give notice, the way a rumbling volcano does, that something is getting ready to blow. At those times, I feel like a seagull at the dump, one who senses the pile is going to have a landslide, and during the process, who knows what delicious morsels might be exposed. Caw. Caw.

halfmoonbaymemoriescom

  

The huge hawser on Pescadero Beach was another positive sign of things to come. That completely waterlogged thing was a beast.

 Getting it across the rocks, then up Pescadero Point's cliff was a real challenge. It was great to get it home, unknotted, and cleaned up. A true museum- quality- piece- of- marine- debris. I'm trading Meg some buoys and driftwood for her salvage rights, as she saw it first, a critical fact in the world of beachcombing.

 halfmoonbaymemoriescom1halfmoonbaymemories-1com3

 

 While I consider these "signs” of things to come interesting, (with the Aerobee and goggle vomitorium mysterious as well) none have the supernatural aspect some might see in this next matter.

 Angelo wrote me after I mentioned the tunnel just north of the Pescadero Beach's northerly parking lot. I had commented on it possibly being used for explosives storage during WW II or during the construction of Highway 1. Having visited it before the War, Angelo felt it was from an earlier time, possibly related to the Ocean Shore Railroad grading. a bore tunnel or? Well, he might be right.

  I reviewed Bobbi Pimentel's letter, which I mentioned along with several other Pescaderan's memories about the tunnel, and see that when I read it with just one eye (my excuse) I didn't get the full picture. Bobbi wrote:

   "My Dad, Robert (Bob) Ballard was born in Pescadero along with 11 other brothers and sisters....he took me to the tunnels on several occasions and told me that they were used to store guns and ammunition during the war.  He helped 'build' them.  I do not recall where the others were although I do remember that they were mostly on the coast."

  Bobbi Pimentel may not have been talking about the parking lot tunnel as I had initially assumed, but about the two others I've also written about (Prankster's tunnel and the W.W.II observation tunnel south of "The Cracks.") I'm going to email her and see if she remembers anything further.

  My curiosity about this minor mystery was further fired up by a document on the “PowerPoint Presentation for the Pescadero Marsh.” I noted on a General Plan map document from the 1960's that two tunnels were marked. The first is the "Hole in The Wall" in the promontory that serves as the south bank at the opening of Pescadero Creek, constructed, probably in the last hundred years, to regulate the opening of the creek. The second is this tunnel. Even more interesting to me, was that the apparently hand drawn symbol for the tunnel has a parenthesis style squiggle, indicating an opening, on both ends.

 halfmoonbaymemoriescom2

 

Well, we went out there, stomped all around, and I'm real sure there was no opening on the north end. Where the map indicates it should be, there’s a sheer hundred- foot cliff and there’s no sign of anything. Plugging a tunnel leaves evidence. For now I believe it was a cave. Why and when it was constructed, and by whom, remains a mystery.

  But, while investigating it online, I came upon a bit of pareidolia, that if I were supernaturally inclined, might have me weaving a wild tale about the “Haunted Tunnel” that was closed after the “Tragedy” and never spoken of again. While reviewing all the pictures on the California Coastal Records Project, I noticed this oddity on Picture #198640287.

 

halfmoonbaymemoriescom3

 

Blow it up, and it looks like this: You can still see the human face very clearly. It reminds me of a face in the background found in many classic paintings. But, who is it? And what forces created it?

 

halfmoonbaymemoriescom4halfmoonbaymemories-1com4

 

 This anomaly is just above the site of the former tunnel. Is it related to the tunnel?

 It looks like there was a path from the parking lot to the site of this anomaly. Was it a memorial? Could there have been a murder? a tragedy? associated with the tunnel that has left it haunted?  Or covered up and "forgotten" by the local populace? Probably not, but I wouldn't mind knowing the full story of this former "Hole in Pescadero." I'll keep looking. Enjoy. John.

 P.S. If you look at the 1986 straight down aerial picture of this area on CCRP (#198640286)you can see the face beginning to form.

 

 

 

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Monty Parker Memorial http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/03/monty-parker-memorial/ Tue, 03 Feb 2009 22:53:51 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2906 halfmoonbaymemories-2comhalfmoonbaymemories-3com
Story & Images by John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
The Monty Parker Memorial is in place. I've attached three photos of its new look.  In the long distance shot it is extremely hard to see the memorial even using the magnifier. But, in that picture, looking north all the way to Ano Nuevo Point, you can see why Monty loved this place.
I'll check the bottle by the memorial every once in a while to see if anybody of general interest comes by. When Larry's fracture heals I hope we'll have a chance to further explore and document this area. Enjoy.
John
halfmoonbaymemories-4com
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2906 2009-02-03 18:53:51 2009-02-03 22:53:51 closed closed monty-parker-memorial publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1233801736 _edit_last 1
1927: David E. Moore, Pioneer Passes http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/04/1927-david-e-moore-pioneer/ Wed, 04 Feb 2009 23:38:11 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2917 David Eugene Moore, trusted employee at the county court house and member of one of the oldest pioneer families of the coastside, passed away at his home, 157 Jackson Street...Mr. Moore was born in Pescadero 69 years ago, his parents being among the earliest settlers on the coastside, where they followed farming and ranching for many years. Mrs. Mary S. Moore, the widow, was also a member of a pioneer family of Pescadero, her name before her marriage being Miss Mary Hayward. She is a sister of Mrs. Walter Ray of this city and the late Clarence D. Hayward of this city. Two children survive. They are Harry E. Moore and Mrs. Maude Witherley. Mr. Moore also leaves three brothers, Eli and William Moore of Pescadero and Joseph Moore of Soquel, and one sister, Mrs. Charles Steele of Pescadero. The family moved to Redwood City a number of years ago and Mr. Moore was connected for some time with the Fox-McNulty Lumber Co. on Washington Street, before being employed at the court house. Internment at Pescadero.... ]]> 2917 2009-02-04 19:38:11 2009-02-04 23:38:11 closed closed 1927-david-e-moore-pioneer publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1233790715 _edit_last 1 1895: Silver Thorn wrecked at "New Year Island" http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/06/1895-silver-thorn-wrecked-at-new-year-island/ Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:13:03 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2925 The sloop that was reported wrecked on New Year Island early on Tuesday morning by the lighthouse inspector was the Silver Thorn that was recently launched by Gray & Muller. She was chartered by E. W. Littlejohn, who started with her and a crew of two men on an otter-hunting cruise along the southern coast of California.  The vessel was lying hove to off Pigeon Point, when she sprung a leak about midnight on Monday. The three men had all they could do to keep her afloat, and they ran for New Year Island to put her on the beach. It was low tide when they ran her upon the shore and not long afterward a heavy swell set in. She began pounding on the bottom, and before she could be pulled off again she was a wreck. By daylight she was in pieces and nothing was saved from her. The shipwrecked men were given shelter by the crew of the foghorn station at New Year point. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^]]> 2925 2009-02-06 11:13:03 2009-02-06 15:13:03 closed closed 1895-silver-thorn-wrecked-at-new-year-island publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1233933428 _edit_last 1 AHOY....And she wasn't even stranded on Ano Nuevo Island.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/06/ahoyand-she-wasnt-even-stranded-on-ano-nuevo-island/ Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:30:56 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2929 John Vonderlin discovers that a company makes cute messages in a bottle. All you have to do is fill in the form.] messagemessage Story by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
  We found this message in a bottle just a bit south of where it was thrown in the ocean. I emailed the woman and was going to "scold" her about throwing trash in the ocean. But, she was so excited for her two young daughters, who had participated in throwing it in, I didn't have the heart. The strangest thing is that some company makes these tags, profiting from people using the ocean as a trash can.  Where's the Ocean Conservancy when you need them?  If pressed, I'd admit they are a welcome change from the ordinary trash I mostly find. But, you didn't hear that from me. Enjoy. John
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message2
Hi June, I came across this picture of the bottle with its message still in it. As you can see it's not the kind of bottle that should be thrown in the ocean. It leaked a bit, too. Enjoy. John ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: halfmoonbaymemoriescom5 June 26, 1908, San Francisco Call Bottle Thrown in Sea Arrives 5 Years Later Redwood City A note has just been received in this city which has been 5 years in reaching its destination and which shows the strange set of currents of the Pacific ocean. The note was found enclosed in a bottle at Pebble beach near Pescadero by an Italian and through his [words missing] was forwarded to this city. Crumpled and stained by the action of water, it reads as follows: January 3, 1903. This was thrown off the steamer Helen Boyd, San Francisco, off the coast of Chile, near Calais, 500 miles from Coloca. If found please notify the owner of the steamer Helen Boyd, Redwood City, Cal. USA and receive reward. J.F. DATE The steamer in queston is known here but is not owned by any one residing in this city, so the traveling note that has been five years on the journey has not yet reached the destination for which it was intended. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ]]>
2929 2009-02-06 11:30:56 2009-02-06 15:30:56 closed closed ahoyand-she-wasnt-even-stranded-on-ano-nuevo-island publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1233936384 _edit_last 1
I'm Hungry Now: "Crab Cioppino" Feed Coming on TAX DAY http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/06/crab-cioppino-feed-coming-soon-to-the-la-honda-fire-brigade/ Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:47:07 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2935 accessories, courtesy of the once fluorishing local crab industry. The sea anemone in the other picture cioppinofeed2 obviously plans on being there, probably first in line. Enjoy. John]]> 2935 2009-02-06 11:47:07 2009-02-06 15:47:07 closed closed crab-cioppino-feed-coming-soon-to-the-la-honda-fire-brigade publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1233945616 _edit_last 1 1905: Have you seen the "Brute?" http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/06/1905-have-you-seen-the-brute/ Fri, 06 Feb 2009 21:01:10 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2949 Hi June,
  I'm not sure if it's relevant anymore, but just in case they never caught this beast, I thought I'd issue a warning to Pescaderoites. The alert I'm passing along comes from an article in the November 12th, 1905, issue of the Los Angeles Herald. It warns:
 
POSSE AFTER BRUTE
Officers Searching For Ranch Hand Who Attacked Young Woman by Asociated Press
Santa Cruz November 11 -- The search for David Post jr., a ranch hand who is accused of commiting an attack on a young woman of Swanton, fifteen miles up the coast, on Thursday, is still on, the sheriff's posse having been hunting him with dogs, day and night. Immediately after the attack he made for the woods, and a shot was heard by the young woman, but this is believed to have been a ruse. The father of the girl has offered a reward of $100 for his capture. It is thought he will be starved out eventually. All trains and county roads are being watched so he will not escape. He is now believed to be heading over the mountains to Pescadero. 
 
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2949 2009-02-06 17:01:10 2009-02-06 21:01:10 closed closed 1905-have-you-seen-the-brute publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1234147340 _edit_last 1
1872: Who was Orrin Brown? http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/06/1872-who-was-orrin-brown/ Fri, 06 Feb 2009 23:26:16 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2952 July 1872 "Loren Coburn and Orrin Brown are preparing to construct a boom at the mouth of Pescadero Creek. The object of this boom is to catch logs during high water, they previously having been cut and hauled into the stream above. The expense in lumbering is land freighting, a labor generally performed in this State by man and beast. Rafting and floating logs at high water is extensively and profitably resorted to in the Eastern States. The timber along the banks of Pescadero Creek and its tributaries is of vast extent, and almost unknown to the ravages of the woodman's axe. It makes its manufacture into lumber profitable, reduced expense of transportation is demanded. This it is believed can be secured by the plan to be adopted by Messrs. Brown and Coburn...They propose to erect a large sawmill near the boom, and a railroad from the mill to Pigeon Point, five miles down the coast, the nearest point of shipment....." --------- ]]> 2952 2009-02-06 19:26:16 2009-02-06 23:26:16 closed closed 1872-who-was-orrin-brown publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1233962778 _edit_last 1 Which way did the railroad go? Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/07/which-way-did-the-railroad-go-story-by-john-vonderlin/ Sat, 07 Feb 2009 04:47:09 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2954 Story by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) [ Angelo Misthos & John Vonderlin want to find original surveys showing the route of the Ocean Shore Railroad.] Angelo to John Hello, John and thanks for your email.  I found the attachments interesting, especially the ones showing the tunnel at Pescadero beach,,  Seems in the location I'd found it years ago.  I never could see light at the other end so figured the bore never went completely through. Never found OS literature on it.  We went to see son and family in So. Cal. last weekend, and I'd intended to detour via the Pescadero and San Gregorio beaches, but it was late and never made it. As for grading route maps that might resolve the matter, I believe the (former) California Railroad Commission required route surveys for every railroad that planned a route in California. Whether the OS's still exists or whether it would be specific enough to settle these issues, I don't know.  I am going to write the Public Utilities Commission (successor to the R.R. Commission) to ask about this and if the record still exists, whether publicly accessible. Wiill advise what I learn.  Incidentally, is the Coastsider a print newspaper  or online newspaper or both?   Angelo ------- John to Angelo
Hi Angelo,
I think the Coastsider is just an online entity. Those are some good ideas you have about finding out about OSR surveys, plans, etc. I hope they pan out. I've attached a ScreenShot from a document in "The Last Whistle," that concerns the stretch we've been talking about. I would really like to know where they had planned on building the line from Tunitas to Scott Creek Junction. The fact the chart has hundredths of a mile makes me think it was from survey data. Note that from Palmer Gulch to the San Gregorio trestle was 1.02 miles. Maybe that will be useful in figuring out the route between those two points. This is going to be a great mystery to unravel. Thanks for your help. Enjoy. John
P.S. I gave the wrong number for the California Coastal Records Project picture that shows the "little face." The right  number is #198640287 not #7218039 as I wrote. Sorry. They are both of the same area, but only the straight down shot shows the anomaly.
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Hi June,
This short article halfmoonbaymemoriescom6
from the August 10th, 1904, issue of "The San Francisco Call," doesn't help much with solving the mystery of where the Ocean Shore Railroad's proposed route through the southern Coastside was going to be, but it does provide a small piece of the puzzle and a name that might be useful. Surveys were made, routes were planned, papers were drawn up, but where are they? and what do they say? Enjoy. John
August 10, 1904 The San Francisco Call
Southern Pacific Makes Survey
Another railroad survey is being made from the upper Lorenzo to the Pescadero Creek section at the northern end of the county. The work is in charge of Engineer McLeod of the Southern Pacific Company.
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halfmoonbaymemories-2com1
Hi Angelo,
Here's an article from August 25th 1908 about the OSR's progress. In reading about the new steam shovel they had, I wonder if that was the purpose of the sluicing at San Gregorio? I know virtually nothing about 1900 grading and roadbuilding methods. I've got a few other articles that relate to this time I'll send soon. Enjoy the rain. John
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2954 2009-02-07 00:47:09 2009-02-07 04:47:09 closed closed which-way-did-the-railroad-go-story-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1234405292 _edit_last 1
1916: Meet Your Supervisor: Dr. Clarence Victor Thompson http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/07/1916-meet-your-supervisor-dr-clarence-victor-thompson/ Sat, 07 Feb 2009 21:47:32 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2959 History of San Mateo County by Philip Alexander & Charles Hamm The subject of this sketch was born in Eureka, Humboldt County, California, October 27, 1881. He received his education in the grammar and high schools; and attended business college until he decided to study medicine. He entered the Cooper Medical College, and after he graduated, immediately entered the City and County Hospital at San Francisco as house physician. He then removed to Eureka and became acting assistant surgeon and officer in command of the station. After two years he left for Alaska, practicing there for two years before locating in Pescadero, where he has been more than successful. Two years ago [1914], Dr. Thomas entered the political field and was elected supervisor from his district, which term he is now serving. Dr. Thompson is a member of the Masonic and Elk Lodges. --------------------------------]]> 2959 2009-02-07 17:47:32 2009-02-07 21:47:32 closed closed 1916-meet-your-supervisor-dr-clarence-victor-thompson publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1234390341 _edit_last 1 1871: The Pescadero Letter http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/07/1871-the-pescadero-letter/ Sat, 07 Feb 2009 22:04:47 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2961 San Mateo Times & Gazette 1871: Pescadero Letter We have had some little excitement during the last week. The steam signal, at Pigeon Point, was put up for the purpose of warning vessels during the heavy fogs, to keep off shore. The (?) in charge get steam up to ninety pounds; then whistle six times; water then gives out; then a rest of four hours for a supply of water to generate steam to blow again takes place. The noise is like a stuck hog, or at a distance, like a cow in distress.  Mr. Pinkham, first night he heard it, three miles off the Point, mistook it for the (?) of a cow, and being certain that a grizzly was preying upon his stock, he quickly repaired to a field where the cattle were, with a party of five or six armed men to do battle service.  The next day revealed the fact that a fog signal was located at Pigeon Point--a failure. The work is proceeding under the control of (?) Marston. The brick work for the tower is under the able management of Mr. Wallace who is bound to have a substantial light house. done in a workmanlike manner. They have established a good shipping here.... ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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2961 2009-02-07 18:04:47 2009-02-07 22:04:47 closed closed 1871-the-pescadero-letter publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1234045651 _edit_last 1
Adventurers Larry Fitterer & John Vonderlin Talk South Coast http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/08/adventurers-larry-fitterer-john-vonderlin-talk-south-coast/ Mon, 09 Feb 2009 02:58:32 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2972 wwl2 Email John Vonderlin (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) John Vonderlin to Larry Fitterer
Hi Larry,
Your great photos of "The Gauntlet," inspired me to begin "mapping" the area. I've attached a photo of Warm Water Lagoon wwl3wwl4 as an example of what I'd like to do. Is the ??? spot where a rope should be to climb down "The Scree?" Is the ?? spot where you climb up from the lagoon? Is it easy? I'd really like to get some photos from the ? spot. You ever just sit there like you did on the cliff above? I'm going to try to label all my relevant pictures and Screen Shots from CCRP until I've got a coherent route map the metaphorical "wagon trains" can follow.
I hope your fracture heals soon. Spring's good weather and low tides will soon be upon us. Enjoy. John.
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Larry Fitterer to John Vonderlin
Hi John,
I think that's a great idea.  Attached are two edited shots of WWL.  [see images at top of this post.]
The first is your image.  The "X's" mark the path from the back of the cove to the base of the Scree Slope.  Accessible only at a reasonably low tide, it's pretty easy to ascend the 8 feet or so to the ledge and then contour around the base of the Scree Slope to the point of ascent.  "Y's" mark the Scree Slope itself with the topmost Y marking the spot where we should anchor a rope.  "Z" marks a good spot for resting and pictures.
The second image is also of WWL, borrowed from California Coastal Records, and cropped to focus on the main WWL promontory from the western view.  Again, "Y" is the top of the Scree Slope.  "Z" is the rest/photo spot.  Asterisks mark the path down, one way to the end of the promontory and the other, north, to the smallest Notch cove.  "1" marks the hole, or window, straight down 20 or so feet to the water enterin the arches.
My leg is feeling great.  The ankle seems to be completely healed.  My fibula is better as well.  I have no pain or limitations in walking but I'm not quite ready to subject it to the rigours of running or extreme hiking.
Great tides this weekend.  I may take the twins to Pillar Point to explore the tidepools tomorrow.
Take care,
Larry
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2972 2009-02-08 22:58:32 2009-02-09 02:58:32 closed closed adventurers-larry-fitterer-john-vonderlin-talk-south-coast publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1234390263 _edit_last 1
John Vonderlin ponders the "Crimes of Pescadero" in the 19th century http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/10/john-vonderlin-ponders-the-crimes-of-pescadero-part-5/ Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:13:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2983 "In the Spring of 1861 a man named Myers came to Pescadero and announced himself as a horse doctor. Pescadero horses were distressingly, however, healthy--or else horse doctor Myers failed to draw confidence; in some way, at all events, to keep the spiritual and material being harnessed together, he found it expedient to do odd jobs of any sort of work, when he could find any to do. His true inwardness was eventually disclosed by an enterprise that made him for a while more sought after then he had been. It appears while ostensibly engaged in the pursuit of an honest livelihood, he was quietly observing the ins and outs of the Besse and Garretson's Store, one evening while the proprieters were at supper, having left the store to take care of itself for a brief moment, he pried open a window with a chisel, took fifteen hundred dollars from an old shoe, which was used as the safe for the establishment, and retired in good order without being discovered. With his illgotten booty Meyers crossed Pescadero Creek where he dropped his chisel, and buried the money somewhere in the neighborhood. He was arrested on suspicion, the chisel was found, and Alexander Moore discovered on the prisoner's boots a peculier mark that corresponded exactly with certain peculiarities of the tracks underneath the store's window and elsewhere. He was examined before the justice, who held him to a charge of grand larceny, and commited him to the jail in Santa Cruz for safe keeping. He, however, broke jail, passed through Pescadero, where he secured the buried treasure, then went to San Francisco. He kept himself so completely disguised, that when T.W. Moore and I.R. Goodspeed were sent to the city to find him, they were completely baffled. Mr. Moore employed a Spaniard to assist in the still hunt, and the latter later recognized his man in a low dance house. He was arrested and taken back to Santa Cruz, where he was tried, convicted, and sent to San Quentin for several years. The stolen money, which he had deposited in a bank in San Francisco was recovered and restored to its rightful owners." The Mr. Goodspeed mentioned above was Pescadero's school teacher at the time. He was also the local justice of peace and physician and coroner. He soon added running a Pescadero mercantile business to his accomplishments. In reading the short bio of Mr. Goodspeed you have in his file it would seem that Bounty Hunting may have been his only failure. Enjoy. John]]> 2983 2009-02-10 17:13:00 2009-02-10 21:13:00 closed closed john-vonderlin-ponders-the-crimes-of-pescadero-part-5 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1234390204 _edit_last 1 Whirling Dervish Rocks http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/11/whirling-dervish-rocks/ Wed, 11 Feb 2009 05:18:49 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2988 funnyrock

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John Vonderlin's Fantastic Find: Conquest of the Peninsula http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/11/john-vonderlin-conquest-of-the-peninsula/ Wed, 11 Feb 2009 22:08:19 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=2991 Story by John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi Angelo (Mithos),
  Thanks for your email. I'm investigating several of the things you mentioned. Your mentioning of the constant promotional efforts by the backers of the Ocean Shore Railroad reminded me of an article I grabbed from the California Newspaper Archive atcbsr.tabbec.com a while ago. It's a classic. I'll attach it in six Screengrabs to this email, but you might want to read it at the site. Typing "Conquest of the Peninsula" brings it up at the top of the list. If you want to use the Title Search website, as it is faster sometimes, the article is from "The San Francisco Call," January 7th, 1906, issue. Unfortunately, this issue is 56 pages long and I was too impatient to find the actual article. So, this is the computer-recognition "Text Highlight" version, which can be quite mysterious in places.
  Besides all the marketing hot air, there are a lot of names of people in here. I'm heading over to get "The Last Whistle," from my library and am going to start a 'Who's Who," list. I want to start a timeline too. What happened shortly after the Big Explosion that halted the up-to-that-point rapid progress? Why did Pescadero and San Francisco not receive all the wonders this "reporter" promised? Enjoy. John
[Image: "Conquest of the Peninsula" appeared in the 1906 San Francisco Call.]   conquest ]]>
2991 2009-02-11 18:08:19 2009-02-11 22:08:19 closed closed john-vonderlin-conquest-of-the-peninsula publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1234464412 _edit_last 1
1900s: Downey Harvey: President of the Ocean Shore Railway http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/12/downey-harvey-president-of-the-ocean-shore-railway/ Thu, 12 Feb 2009 18:47:47 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3003

By June Morrall

junewrainbowEmail June (june@halfmoonbaymemories.com)

In 1906, the rolling hills of San Mateo seemed an unlikely site for an English fox hunt, replete with traditional riding regalia, fine horses and a full complement of hounds. All that was missing was the fox. This did not deter the resourceful Peninsula aristocrats. If local foxes were scarce, coyotes weren’t.

From a distance, the men and women astride galloping horses looked like specks of red and black, impressionistic figures on the San Mateo landscape. Attired in red hunting jackets, white breeches and black caps, they were members of the San Mateo County Hunt Club.

As “master of the San Mateo Hounds,” John Downey Harvey, the 46-year-old president of the Ocean Shore Railway, gathered around him the “regulars.” Thesemembers included Harvey’s daughters, Anita and Genevive, his friend, attorney Francis Carolan, banker Richard Tobin and polo players Captain Seymour and Walter Hobart. The Burlingame Country Club was the meeting place for the “drag hunt,” which resembled a fox hunt, except the hounds were trained to follow an artificial scent.

As the riders and their hounds nervously awaited the start of the meet covering 15 miles, none of them dreamed that a month later, the San Francisco earthquake and fire would change many of their lives. The Peninsula’s great water mains would collapse as San Mateo County sustained wide quake damage.

On the Coastside, boulders would tumble over Devil’s Slide into the foaming surf, followed by the twisted remains of the Ocean Shore Railroad’s freshly laid track and expensive rolling stock.

As owner of 13,000 shares of the railway, Downey Harvey was the driving force behind the first railroad to promote a 5 ½ - hour trip as a moving picture ride down the San Mateo County Coastside, featuring views of cliffs, bluffs, beaches, rocks, redwoods and marine scenery.

While the San Mateo County Hunt Club met, Downey Harvey didn’t have earthquakes or any dark thoughts on his mind as his horse “Fawn” jumped the five-foot fences. On the contrary, the railway president felt a burst of energy as the small pack of hounds led the hunters at a galloping speed across familiar terrain: fields bordering banker W.H. Crocker’s home called “New Place;” millionaire executive and future Hillsborough mayor Robert Hooker’s estate; the gate of Francis and Harriet Carolan’s Crossways Farm; the back of the Tevis place, later Jennie Crocker’s home; the golf links of the Burlingame Country Club and the shade trees of “Howard’s Woods.”

Born in Los Angeles on April 17, 1860, J. Downey Harvey was the son of Colonel Walter and Eleanor Harvey. His uncle, John G. Downey, was the seventh governor of California, later a business partner of Alvinza Hayward, whose mansion once stood near Ninth Avenue in San Mateo.

When Downey was 10-years-old, his father, Harvey, died. With his mother, Eleanor, who had married banker Edward Martin, Downey moved to San Francisco. Dubbed "Queen" Eleanor, Downey's mom became the undisputed leader of San Francisco society for decades, and her home was known as a "fortress of respectability."

As a youngster, Downey Harvey displayed a "genius" for acquiring friends. In school, he befriended the son of Pio Pico, the last governor of Alta California, who, with his family chose to reside in Los Angeles. Harvey also knew John C. Fremont, a popular, nationally known figure, and a promoter of railroad projects in the West.

In 1883, 23-year-old Downey Harvey married Sophie Cutter; the couple raised two daughters, Anita and Genevive. Sophie Harvey loved music and a full social calendar, yet she managed to run her large household with efficiency.

Along the way, Downey collected all types of friends. from artists and entertainers to business and military men. His aspiration was to become a "clubman."

By 1895, Downey, an avid sportsman, reportedly laid out Northern California's first golf course for the San Francisco Golf and Country Club. When he learned that San Mateo County, because of its "undulating pasture without pebbles," was the best terrain for the hunt, he focused his efforts on helping develop the San Mateo County Hunt Club.

Polo player Walter Hobart had a place in the hunt club's lore. In 1897, he purchased 38 foxhounds, shipping them from New York to San Mateo for the first "authentic" chase. The San Mateo County Hunt Club members pursued Hobart's hounds across the fields in a "drag hunt," the animals chasing a sack of anise seed, a flavoring used in alcoholic drinks called "cordials." The hunt ended when the hounds surrounded the aromatic sack. Disappointed that their quarry was not alive, the hounds had to be rewarded with stewed beef.  As for the hunt club members, they rode back to the Burlingame Country Club for cocktails and dinner, followed by a big party.

Their aristocratic English fox-hunting cousins would have found many deficiencies in the San Mateo club's version of the hunt. One one occasion the "clever huntsman"  Jerry Keating unleashed a large pack of hounds, so many that they were in every field, in every direction.

Making matters worse (or perhaps more exciting),  so-called "unauthorized horsemen" (folks who "just" enjoyed riding) put themselves between the hunters and the dogs. Foiling the scent with their steaming horses, they tested the patience of the master of the hunt, ruining the chase.

Ocean Shore Railway President J. Downey Harvey learned from Jerry Keating's mistakes, and he never brought along too many hounds.

Harvey also did not like to be called by his official title, "master of the San Mateo Hounds."

"His democratic ideas," explained a friend, "coupled with his modesty and his kindliness will not allow him to bear the honorable title which means so much to European sportsmen."

Harvey had always displayed an interest in horses, as did his close friend San Francisco attorney Francis Carolan. Married to Harriet Pullman, heiress to the railroad car fortune, Carolan loved his equine friends, but it was more than just a hobby. Offered top dollar for Vidette, one of the best jumpers in the country, the attorney repeatedly refused to sell his favorite hunting horse at any price.

Upon completion of the Carolan's Crossways Farm, a Burlingame residence with stables and a private polo field, the couple celebrated with a spectacular party held inside the stables. Flower-draped chartered Pullman cars carried guests--the men attired in red hunting jackets--from San Francisco to the Burlingame farm. Thousands of Japanese lanterns (perhaps to show support for Japan, then at war with Russia) and electric lights lit up the grounds, and a multi-colored chandelier had been installed in the stables, according to the archives of the San Mateo County History Museum. To get a powerful boost of illumination, including a string of lights outlining the house, wires were strung all the way from Burlingame to Redwood City.

Cocktails and supper were served at tables placed near the brightly lit stables; entertainment included a Japanese ballet and Spanish dancers.

The Carolans became famous for the renowned French chateau they built in Hillsborough in 1915 -- abandoned by them seven seven months later -- when the rattling windows and other annoyances undermined their shaky marriage, causing them to abruptly leave the Carolans and each other.

As a major shareholder of Ocean Shore Railroad stock, it was natural that Downey Harvey would think about the railroad's difficult construction near Devil's Slide, north of Montara on the Coastside. Building a railroad along the coast route from San Francisco to Santa Cruz had been strewn with obstacles.

Forty years earlier in 1865, the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad Company surveyed the possibility of a Coastside railroad, creating an air of excitement in Pescadero and Half Moon Bay. Thousands of workers were slated to fell trees, excavate cuts, string bridges and bore tunnels. Suddenly land prices doubled....but the bubble burst, and the railroad was not built.

Millionaire miner Alvinza Hayward, who built a mansion [later turned into a hotel] in San Mateo, spent $17,000 surveying a railroad, doing some grading and securing rights-of-way. His plans suddenly were dropped because of bad investments.

Other planned railroads failed as well. In 1905 the San Mateo Times, fearing interference from the Western Pacific Railroad, called for their choice, the Southern Pacific Railroad  (SP) to take action.

The San Mateo Times implored the SP to spend money encouraging a Coastside railroad from Santa Cruz to San Francisco. If they did this, the San Mateo Times held, the SP would shut out "dangerous competition and forever make the counties of Santa Cruz, San Mateo and San Francisco the exclusive territory for the construction of the Southern Pacific railroads."

The SP'[s engineering department responded that a surveying party had begun, and the company was acquiring the rights-of-way. The SP's efforts came too late, for Downey Harvey and his independent group of Ocean Shore Railway investors had outmaneuvered the competition.

Inviting guests to his new home, San Francisco Mayor Eugene Schmitz  [Image: San Francisco Mayor Eugene Schmitz]schmitz

proudly showed visitors a $1,250 Persian rug--a lavish gift reportedly from Downey Harvey, thus greasing the skids for the Ocean Shore Railway being awarded the coveted San Francisco franchise.

In 1906, a month before the earthquake struck, the San Mateo Hunt Club members, hot on the trail of the hounds disappeared into the tree-lined Howard Woods where a "coyote was liberated and killed by the pack." The hounds backtracked over the same course while Downey Harvey and the other hunters rode to the Burlingame clubhouse where they enjoyed luncheon on the verandah. The day of sport had not ended for polo players Captain Seymour and Walter Hobart; these men galloped off for a polo match at Francis Carolan's nearby private polo field.

A month later, on April 18, the San Francisco earthquake struck.

(Image from a book called: "Complete Story of the San Francisco Horror," Memorial Edition. 1906)

sfhorror

As president of the Ocean Shore Railway, Downey Harvey convinced San Francisco's mayor to form a Committee of Fifty to provide relief for the homeless, but his own losses were beyond calculation.

Author Gertrude Atherton wrote that her friend Downey Harvey had invested the greater part of his fortune in the Coastside's scenic railway--but after the earthquake there was little interest in scenic railroads and new resorts. The Ocean Shore limped for4ward but the Harveys had lost so much money in the railroad they were forced to live in a sort of retirement for awhile. For the Downey Harveys, such a retirement meant living at Del Monte, the exclusive resort built by the Southern Pacific Railroad at Monterey. Upon his return to San Francisco, Downey Harvey faced lawsuits resulting from the tragic death of an Ocean Shore train conductor. The OSRR finally closed down about 1922. J. Downey Harvey, whose affiliations included the Bohemian, Pacific Union, Olympic and San Francisco Golf Clubs, was "the most human of human beings," said a friend after his death in 1947. "He had the wisdom of a fox and honesty of a sunrise." ----------  ]]>
3003 2009-02-12 14:47:47 2009-02-12 18:47:47 closed closed downey-harvey-president-of-the-ocean-shore-railway publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1237339714 _edit_last 1
Smooth, Shiny, colorful http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/13/smooth-shiny-colorful/ Fri, 13 Feb 2009 06:05:45 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3011 pp]]> 3011 2009-02-13 02:05:45 2009-02-13 06:05:45 closed closed smooth-shiny-colorful publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1234505206 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: Dyn-O-Mite!!! http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/14/john-vonderlin-dyn-o-mite/ Sat, 14 Feb 2009 04:57:49 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3015 Story by John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
[In past posts, John has been wondering whether the tunnels he's been discovering on the South Coast are natural or man-made, and whether the 1906 railroad, WWII military or 1950s highway builders kept their supplies, including dynamite inside the beach enclosures. Angelo Misthos, who is very knowledgeable on the history of the  Ocean Shore Railroad, has brought a lot of new information to the conversation.]
Hi June,
Hope things are going well. Batten down the hatches. It is gonna rain buckets. The article I appended below covers some of the same matters I saw in the video pieces about the dynamite that I mentioned. I think it was about this time, 2006, the 100th anniversary of The Quake, that I remember tons of these background stories being produced.
I spent the morning going through 1,000 hits on tabbec.com for Ocean Shore Railroad(only 88K to go, though I got most of the relevant ones) and gathered about 150 articles for my timeline. Their Search feature is an odd one that is made worse by the computer recognition system. The same word in different headlines' titles, depending on the clarity of the scan, can be "read" as having different letters or worse(numbers, punctuation). That changes the order the search feature posts the articles. This really happens badly with the old faded newspapers, which were only minimally involved with the OSR search. Enjoy. John
---------
Here's the link to the great article John found:

The Great Quake: 1906-2006

The dynamite disaster

Carl Nolte, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, April 13, 2006 To read Carl Nolte's article, please click here =============== [I have an "odd" book about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake & fire provocatively titled: "Complete Story of the San Francisco Horror." The author is Bishop Fallow, and he writes about other natural disasters, including the volcano Vesuvius. There are a few interesting photos, but frankly the captions are more interesting. Here's one about the earthquake & dynamite. The photo--I know it's very tiny--doesn't really match the caption. dynamite1dynamite1dynamite1
Caption: "Automobiles carrying dynamite. The military authorities requisitioned motor cars and in fact all vehicles that were available, in order to transport dynamite quickly to points where it was most needed. Building on the left is ruins of Masonic Temple." --June =======================
Hi June,
Following is an excerpt from Wikipedia about Bishop Fallow. He wrote the Foreward to the San Francisco book. It is available free online to read at Google.books and several other sites. (Gutenberg project website URL is below) I've also attached a ScreenShot of the google.book page for the prospectus of this manuscript.
Samuel Fallows (December 13, 1835 – September 5, 1922) was an American clergyman. Fallows was born in England and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1859. During the American Civil War, he fought in the Union Army. He was a Methodist pastor following the war, though in 1875 he joined the Reformed Episcopal Church, where he became a bishop in 1876. He was a public figure notable for his efforts in public education, prison reform, and the temperance movement.[1][2]
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26380
The Project Gutenberg EBook of Complete Story of the San Francisco Horror, by Richard Linthicum and Trumbull White and Samuel Fallows This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: Complete Story of the San Francisco Horror Author: Richard Linthicum Trumbull White Samuel Fallows Release Date: August 21, 2008 [EBook #26380] ]]>
3015 2009-02-14 00:57:49 2009-02-14 04:57:49 closed closed john-vonderlin-dyn-o-mite publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_last 1 _edit_lock 1235444123
"It's going to rain buckets" John Vonderlin, South Coast Explorer/Adventurer http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/16/its-going-to-rain-buckets-john-vonderlin-south-coast-exploreradventurer/ Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:05:40 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3025 3025 2009-02-16 12:05:40 2009-02-16 16:05:40 closed closed its-going-to-rain-buckets-john-vonderlin-south-coast-exploreradventurer publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1234800706 _edit_last 1 1903: Surveys made for new railroad.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/16/1903-surveys-made-for-new-railroad/ Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:59:13 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3028
osrr
Hi June,
Here's some more info on the Bowie and Clark railroad that was proposed to Spanishtown. It is from the July 8th, 1903 issue of "The San Ferancisco Call." Enjoy. John
bcrrbcbc6
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3028 2009-02-16 12:59:13 2009-02-16 16:59:13 closed closed 1903-surveys-made-for-new-railroad publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1234847298 _edit_last 1
John Vonderlin: The Mystery of the Ocean Shore RR http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/17/john-vonderlin-the-mystery-of-the-ocean-shore-rr/ Wed, 18 Feb 2009 03:53:21 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3039 ten1 Hi June, I'm attacking the mystery of the OSR's planned route through several avenues. One of those paths of research is the roads of the Coastside. So far the trail has led me to this book, "California Highways: A Descriptive Record of Road Development by the State and by Such Counties That Have Paved Roads." nine It was printed in 1920 and can be found at Archive.org. My hope is to find a later version of this type of book that talks about the development of the Cabrillo Highway along the Coastside and perhaps, the former tunnel at Pescadero. Notice the old Stage Line route was the County Highway in 1920 in the Pescadero/San Gregorio area, though there was a coastal road. I'll attach the full article, which while boring, has some interesting photos. It starts on Page 228 in the book. The Pescadero Road one is particularly interesting as I can't place it. It looks like Alligator Rock in the background, which is a long way from Pescadero, but the amount of sand and some of the other features don't match up with other old photos I've seen of that area.Enjoy. John eleventhirteenfourteen

fifteen

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3039 2009-02-17 23:53:21 2009-02-18 03:53:21 closed closed john-vonderlin-the-mystery-of-the-ocean-shore-rr publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_last 1 _edit_lock 1236485739
1934: Sardine Fishing Boat aground at Pigeon Point http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/18/1934-fishing-boat-aground-at-pigeon-point/ Thu, 19 Feb 2009 00:17:46 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3049 San Mateo Times & Gazette: September 21, 1934 Twelve members of the crew of the fishing boat OHIO NO. 5 reached shore safely after their craft went aground on the treacherous rocks off Pigeon Point on the San Mateo County coastside. Several of the crew were forced to swim the 200 yards to shore, according to reports from the Pigeon Point lighthouse. Later the vessel was washed to within a few yards of shore, where it was reported in danger of breaking up under the pounding of the waves. A small boat was put off from the OHIO after she struck. The coast guard cutter Smith dispatched from Oakland to stand by ready to assist the smaller vessel. The OHIO was an 80-ton sardine boat out of Monterey.]]> 3049 2009-02-18 20:17:46 2009-02-19 00:17:46 closed closed 1934-fishing-boat-aground-at-pigeon-point publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1235002723 _edit_last 1 1908: Creek Stocked with Thousands of Rainbow Trout http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/19/1908-creek-stocked-with-thousands-of-rainbow-trout/ Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:33:39 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3052 rainbowtroutrainbowtrout Story by  John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
I came across this article on the California Newspaper Archive website(cbsr.tabbec.com).
This is from the June 28th, 1908, issue of "The San Francisco Call."
Through the efforts of H.W. Hagen of this city [San Mateo], a confirmed disciple of Izaak Walton, the Pescadero creek and its tributaries is to be stocked with 40,000 rainbow trout, which should bring those streams back to their old time reputation for fishing in a few years. Hagen is bearing the expense and made his application to the fish and game commission through Deputy Game Warden J.S. Hunter, who perfected the necessary arrangements. ------- There were several items in this short story that interested me. The first was the mention of Izaak Walton, who's famous treatise, "The Compleat Angler," I had skimmed through some years ago. This 350 year old book still resonates with people. Below is an excerpt from the Wikipedia article about him.
About Mr. Hagen I only know he was the town of San Mateo's Treasurer for several years after the turn of the century.  Mr. Hunter married into a pioneer Coastside family.
What really piqued my interest was the subject of the article. A plant of 40,000 fish over a hundred years ago in Pescadero Creek? I was curious about where the fish that were used came from. So, I did some research on the historical stocking of local streams. I must say I'm quite surprised by what I've found out given all the environmental literature about this area I've read in the last few years. I'll detail that in a future posting.
I had to chuckle inwardly at the fact a Deputy Game Warden was able to make the arrangements a hundred years ago and nowadays the same process might take a decade with 46 different agencies adding their input. Ahhhh. Progress. Enjoy. John
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3052 2009-02-19 16:33:39 2009-02-19 20:33:39 closed closed 1908-creek-stocked-with-thousands-of-rainbow-trout publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1235075959 _edit_last 1
I see invisible things: Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/20/i-see-invisible-things-story-by-john-vonderlin/ Sat, 21 Feb 2009 00:48:36 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3059 johnv1Story by John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
halfmoonbaymemories-1com5
Hi June,
   Formerly "Invisible" things always attract my attention. Here's an example of formerly invisible-to-me things in the "If It Had Been A Snake, It Would Have Bitten Me," category.
 . I used to collect abalone shells or their nicely polished pieces when I was beachcombing along the Coastside. I eventually gathered a few boxes full, tried to use them in my art, but didn't like some of the negative connotations they carry with them, along with their much-admired form and exquisite nacre. (Wikipedia) 
  So, I started giving them away to Meg to pass on to a Coastside artist, who uses them in making inlayed counters and jewelry. At some point he pointed out to her a feature on a few shells that she'd never noticed before. Some had tiny, natural blister pearls formed on the inside of their shell. He related that from them a fairly rare type of jewelry, Mabe' Pearls, can be carefully fashioned.
  When she showed me a specimen later I was fascinated and did some research on them. Below is a page from flyrodjewelry.com a website  maintained by fine goldsmith, J. Marcus, who prepares, sells and makes jewelry from these wonderful oddities. It's as if one of Nature's wonderful little jewels suddenly dropped its cloak of invisibility and revealed itself to me. And now knowing their secrets, maybe I can find another one. If not, at least from now on, every abalone shell I find on a beach or wedged in the rocks will be appraised with hope, rather then the boredom familiarity can cause. For others that want to search for these min-wonders or are curious what they look like while still part of the shell I've attached a close-up of  one. Enjoy. John
abmab-grp-4c
Mabe's made from Natural Abalone Blister Pearls: Offered here is the culmination of a search spanning more than 15 years. During this time I have sought a rare and beautiful jewel that has very seldom found it's way into the jewelry market. These years of effort have been successful. I have been so fortunate as to obtain a sufficient, though limited, number of natural, Abalone, Blister Pearls to offer for sale. Along the way, I learned the techniques to transform them into beautiful, often-exquisite jewels by processing them into Mabe' Pearls. I believe that these jewels speak for themselves. The size, color, luster and form of these gems spans a wide range. I have a few that are of size and quality that can only be judged as truly exceptional. These generally take and merit quite a bit more time and effort to process and will be posted and offered on this site as they are finished. You will find that these Abalone Mabe's from the wild differ substantially from the Abalone Mabe's made from cultured (artificially nucleated and grown in farmed Abalone) blister pearls. Cultured blister pearls are grown by gluing synthetic or shell hemispheres onto the inside of the mollusk's shell. The creature then covers it with alternating layers of conchiolin, a binding protein, and nacre, the beautiful material that makes up pearls and mother of pearl shells. These are cultured in a limited number of predictable shapes. The Mabe's from wild Abalone Blister Pearls offered here were grown in the sea by free-living, wild abalone's with no human intervention whatsoever. They were formed by the mollusk's self defense processes that cover and protect it from naturally occurring parasites or other irritants. The forms taken by the wild Abalones vary greatly in shape, size and character and most are quite unique and very beautiful. The mabe's offered here are from the Pacific shores of North America and generally feature more delicate shades of aqua, rose, pink, green and sometimes golden yellow. The Black Abalone of which I have a very few blister pearls have the most delicate coloring of all and the Green Abalone, of which I also have a few, tend more to darker blues, greens, deeper rose and even some black. Like natural pearls or natural pearl products of any kind, these are some of the rarest gem materials to be found today. Over-harvest and pollution have taken their toll and the pearl-producing mollusks that form natural pearls are now extremely scarce. The once plentiful native abalones that grow along the pacific coastline have become so scarce and, in some cases, rare and endangered, that there is very little harvest allowed, none of it commercial. The abalone blister pearls that I offer are from collections and other select sources that were harvested back when it was legal to do so and they were not thought to be in danger. Mabe pearls, whether they are created from natural or cultured blister pearls are a constructed jewel. Like all natural blister-pearls, those of the abalone must be processed into mabe' pearls to make them robust for wearing in jewelry. To do this, the shell behind the pearls must be ground off, then whatever is to be found inside must be removed and replaced with a polymer compound. This gives it the necessary support to be worn without concern that it will be damaged in ordinary, everyday use. The back of the shell is then replaced with mother of pearl or other gem material. In some cases, when the pearl warrants it, the back may be constructed of semi-precious-gem intarsia. Finally, the sides and back are polished to a high luster like the front of the pearl. They are then ready to be set in jewelry.]]>
3059 2009-02-20 20:48:36 2009-02-21 00:48:36 closed closed i-see-invisible-things-story-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1235193760 _edit_last 1
Oct 1922: The Bank Opens http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/21/oct-1922-the-bank-opens/ Sat, 21 Feb 2009 18:28:09 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3070 Redwood City Standard Oct. 1922; According to an announcement made last week, Pescadero, the thriving little town on the coastside of the county in the Fifth District, will soon have a national  prominent residents and businessmen of the community.... Nov. 1922: The First National Bank of Pescadero opened its doors for business Monday morning, with James A. Purdy, an expert from the Bank of Italy in San Francisco as manager. Postmaster George Ginola will serve as assitant cashier of the new bank in connection with his present position as postmaster. The bank is located in what is known as the James McCormick building. ]]> 3070 2009-02-21 14:28:09 2009-02-21 18:28:09 closed closed oct-1922-the-bank-opens publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1235240891 _edit_last 1 1906: Did Pescadero skip earthquake damage? http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/23/1906-sounds-like-pescadero-skipped-damage-from-the-shakes/ Tue, 24 Feb 2009 03:45:42 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3073 Pescadero and vicinity was fortunate in having no very serious damage done by the earthquake. Williamson's store and stock were damaged about $300; McCormick & Winkle's store suffered about the same amount; the Catholic Church is off its foundation and pretty badily wrecked; the school will need extensive repairs, possibly $2,000 or more, before it is safe again. The pupils are now being accommodated in the M E Church and OddFellows Hall. The Methodist Church had most of its plaster shaken off. ... --------------------------- June, I found this copyrighted book in Archive.org (ScreenShot) that is the transcript of interviews with a gentleman about his experiences in the Bay Area waters from 1901-1971. Very little is about the Coastside, except the the extensive parts about the Farallones, where he lived at times. I've attached a ScreenShot of a short excerpt from his story about being a kid out there when the 06 Quake and fire hit. Check out the headings in the part of the Table of Contents I included. Enjoy. John 121413 ]]> 3073 2009-02-23 23:45:42 2009-02-24 03:45:42 closed closed 1906-sounds-like-pescadero-skipped-damage-from-the-shakes publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1235701738 _edit_last 1 From AbbiOrca.Com: Poster Material: "Tour of California"; Cyclists Ride By Scenic Pomponio Beach, named after the famous Coastside Indian http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/26/tour-of-californiacyclists-ride-by-pomponio-beach-named-after-the-famous-coastside-indian/ Thu, 26 Feb 2009 21:25:16 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3086 [Image by AbbiOrca.com One of the beautiful beaches, Pomponio, [with good history, please click here - cyclists passed during the recent "Tour of California."]

cyclistspomponio

Don Martinich is the editor of the Davis Bike Club Newsletter, and, even more exciting, he is starting up a cycling website. It sounds like a bike site with a warm historical touch. ----------------------- Please visit Don's photography site: click here Email Don: dmartinich@att.net]]>
3086 2009-02-26 17:25:16 2009-02-26 21:25:16 closed closed tour-of-californiacyclists-ride-by-pomponio-beach-named-after-the-famous-coastside-indian publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1255918856 _edit_last 1
Coastside Water Falls: Story by John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/02/28/coastside-water-falls-story-by-john-vonderlin/ Sat, 28 Feb 2009 15:32:52 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3100 wf2a Waterfalls of the Coast Story/Photos by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June, I had the chance recently to hike up to a waterfall on a creek that feeds into Pescadero Creek. I'd been there years ago, but the water's flowrate then was so puny it was not easy to capture it on photographs. With the winter rains we've had lately it was a different story this time. Besides the setting, the thing I was most impressed by was the fact it was a plunge waterfall. It's plunge was about 50 feet, which is probably the highest I've seen on the Coastside. But, I'm a frequent visitor to the ocean, not the mountains, and know little about the hinterlands, except what I can easily access from the roads I use to go to the beach. I suspect this waterfall, on private property, doesn't have a name, but I'll check the free topo maps at my library to make sure.
The hike got me to thinking about the different types of waterfalls I've seen through the years. If you've ever wondered how they are categorized, here is an excerpt from Wikipedia about waterfalls. Purisima Falls for instance has "Cascade" features combined with "Fan" features.
Block: Water descends from a relatively wide stream or river. Cascade: Water descends a series of rock steps. Cataract: A large, powerful waterfall. Fan: Water spreads horizontally as it descends while remaining in contact with bedrock. Horsetail: Descending water maintains some contact with bedrock. Plunge: Water descends vertically, losing contact with the bedrock surface. Punchbowl: Water descends in a constricted form and then spreads out in a wider pool. Segmented: Distinctly separate flows of water form as it descends. Tiered: Water drops in a series of distinct steps or falls. Multi-step: A series of waterfalls one after another of roughly the same size each with its own sunken plunge pool.
I'll attach a few photos of the falls and their very scenic setting. Enjoy. John
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3100 2009-02-28 11:32:52 2009-02-28 15:32:52 closed closed coastside-water-falls-story-by-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1235837186 _edit_last 1
1910: Crimes of Pescadero (5) Justice of the Peace Jailed! http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/03/02/1910-crimes-of-pescadero-5-justice-of-the-peace-jailed/ Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:22:09 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3118 halfmoonbaymemories-1com
Story by John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
   I'm not sure why, but all the cbsr.tabbec.com sites have been down for more then a week. It's frustrating me, as many of the articles I previously gathered from their Newspaper Archives are in the computer text recognition format and include mysterious words, where the computer just guessed what it was scanning. Let me do a little guessing myself and try to relate another in the Crimes of Pescadero series I've been posting, about the town's frontier history of crime and punishment. Here's Part 5:
 
JUSTICE OF PEACE JAILED AND FINED
The San Francisco Call
July 22, 1910
Arthur McCormick of Pescadero Convicted of Having Doe in His Possession (Special Dispatch to the Call) REDWOOD CITY October 21  Pescadero is without a Justice of the Peace tonight. The only judicial pebble on the famous beach is snug behind the (..?..) bars in Redwood City, under a sentence of (..?..) days and a fine of $150 for having in his possession the remains of a lady deer. Justice of the Peace Arthur McCormick was convicted by his judicial neighbor, John Pitcher, of Halfmoon Bay. With McCormick was convicted Alexander Moore, but he had his penalty whittled down by half for he pleaded guilty to the charge. Those two men, with Herman Fry, candidate for constable in the Fifth Township, were found by Assistant Chief Deputy Fish and Game Commissioner J.S. Hunter and Assistant Commissioner Frank H. Smith, skinning the carcass of a lady deer. Mr. Fry was merely a spectator of the operation and was not brought to trial. The deer slaying jurist of Pescadero essayed to defend himself of the charge brought against him, scorning an attorney. But, he could not get away with it.  Moore, upon seeing what the judiciary of Pescadero received, split the difference with the Halfmoon Bay justice." 
 
  I believe the Alexander Moore mentioned here is actually William Alexander Moore, the son of Alexander Moore, one of Pescadero's earliest settlers. But, it might be his grandson, James Alexander Moore. Our wayward Justice of the Peace, Arthur McCormick, was probably related to James McCormick, who in 1873 started a mercantile business in Pescadero, which became the leading store in his district. According to Philip Alexander's 1916 book, "History of San Mateo," "The business interests of the little town of Pescadero are largely represented by the interests of James McCormick, and though not a native Californian, he has thrown himself heartily into the upbuilding of his adopted land, which owes much to his earnest efforts." 
   The Fish and Game Commissioner, Mr. Hunter, while a "Law and Order" man, even when it involved the well-connected, was not very enlightened in other areas, judging from this quote from a Cougar Restoration website: "In a report on bounty hunting published by the California Fish and Game Department in 1921, J. S. Hunter wrote, "The one predatory animal for which practically no good can be said is the mountain lion.""  Of course we know now, that their presence  is important in keeping the local ecosystem healthy and these days they are more protected then even the lady deer.  Enjoy. John
 
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3118 2009-03-02 20:22:09 2009-03-03 00:22:09 closed closed 1910-crimes-of-pescadero-5-justice-of-the-peace-jailed publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1236040792 _edit_last 1
John Vonderlin: Everything You Ever Wanted to know About Ano Nuevo Island http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/03/04/john-vonderlin-everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-ano-nuevo-island/ Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:46:08 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3123 Story from John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
This ScreenShot of a page from "The Call," has an excellent article on Ano Nuevo. 1
I'll return to this in the future. Below is the OCR text version of the article. Enjoy. John
THE   SAN   FRANCTSCO   CALL,   SUNDAY,   JULY   4,   1897.
ANO   NUEVO   ISLAND AND   THE   GOVERNMENT   FOG   SIGNAL   STATION About   four   miles   balow   Pigeon   Point   on the   sea   coast   of   San   Mateo   County   there projects   into   the   Pacific   Ocean   a   point   of land   known   to   geographers   and   a   small portion   of   the   general   public   as   Point   Ano Nuevo.   On   the   map   it   presents   much   the appearance   of   a   cape,   but   in   reality   the western   end   of   the   point   is   an   island which   has   been   christened   Ano   Nuevo Inland.   Whether   the   point   or   the   island first   received   the   name   is   not   a   matter   of record.   Certain   it   is   tbat   the   name   of   one had   something   to   do   with   the   name   of   the other;   but   that   need   not   be   considered   at the   present   time. Around   the   island   mentioned   is   a   group of   rocks   that   are   about   as   interesting   to the   scientist   and   the   naturalist   as   any   part of   California,   and   about   as   Utile   known   to the   average   citizen   as   tbe   Dry   Tortugas. Nor   have   scientists   ever   made   any   study of   the   island,   as   the   records   of   the   Govern - ment   fog   signal   located   at   that   point   will show.   No   matter   how   considered   Ano Nuevo   Island   and   the   closely   adjacent country   are   full   of   interest,   and   the   more it   is   examined   the   mora   unusual   features will   come   to   light. To   write   a   history   of   Point   Ano   Nuevo it   would   be   necessary   to   go   back   to   the time   when   the   world   was   young.   When continents   were   being   formed   from   sedi - mentary   deposits   and   the   ocean   roiled over   what   are   now   mountain   tops,   erup - tion   after   eruption   shook   the   world   and there   was   a   general   upheaval.   What   was low   became   high   and   what   was   high   in many   instances   sank   from   sight   What had   been   the   ocean's   bottom   became   the top   of   lofty   mountains.   Then   other   erup - tions   came   and   the   mountain   sunk   and what   had   been   a   lofty   peak   became   only   a point   of   land   projecting   into   a-   tempestu - ous   body   of   water. In   the   present   instance   this   was   what   is now   known   as   Point   Ano   Nuevo.   Just how   the   spot   looked   at   the   time   is,   of course,   only   a   matter   of   conjecture;   but the   supposition   is   that   there   was   no   chan - nel   between   »?hat   is   now   the   island   and the   mainland.   Rocks   and   sand   washed by   the   waves   were   all   that   could   be   seen. Cherished   Treasures   of   Those   Who   Go   Before. A   woman   came'in—a   withered   body with   a   face   which"   I   think   has   always   been kept   in   the   shadows   of   the   deepest   dark - ness   of   God's   world/   And   she   bent   close to   the   body   on   the   stone   slab—for   her   eyes were   half   bereft   of   their   seeing   and MIT   IS   NOT   SO   VERY   MUCH   AFTER   ALL,"   HE   SAID. In   other   respects   the   conditions   were much   the   same   as   exist   at   the   present day. The   first   human   beings   to   walk   over   the •■and   and   rocks   of   A.no   Nuevo   Island   were undoubtedly   the   original   nomadic   tribes of   the   Pacific   Coast   that   have   since   been called   Indians   by   students   of   American archaeology.   That   this   is   a   correct   infer - ence   is   shown   by   the   number   of   Indian relics   that   have   been   found   in   the vicinity. In   the   sandhills   just   to   the   east   of   Ano Nuevo   Island   numbers   of   Indian   skulls have   been   found   within   the   last   twenty years.   By   care-work   one   ambitious   stu - dent   succeeded   in   finding   all   the   parts   of a   human   skeleton,   though   of   course   few of   the   parts   belonged   to   the   same   indi - vidual.   No   perfect   bodies   have   been found,   so   it   is   impossible   to   state   with any   degree   of   accuracy   whether   or   not   the started   back   as   recognition   and   the   chill of   the   dead   came   to   her.- I   watched   her   furtively.   It   was   my first   introduction   to   this   chapter   in   the life   of   a   great   city.   A   curious   desire   to witness   tbe   final   act   in   the   drama   of   those Indians   who   once   lived   near   Ano   Nuevo were   of   the   same   tribe   that   once   inhab - ited   the   islands   of   the   Santa   Barbara Channel. As   has   already   been   stated   no   promi - nent   scientist   has   ever   visited   the   region about   Ano   Nuevo,   but   such   explorations as   have   been   made   by   interested   relic - hunters   tend   to   show   that   the   Indians   did not   really   have   thor.r   homes   near   Ano Nutvo,   but   simply   time   there   to   hunt and   fish.   The   unfav   >rable   climate   that exists   at   this   point   th   ■   greater   part   of   the year   would   in   itself   >c   almost   enough   to convince   of   this,   but   in   addition   the relic-   that   have   bee   i   found   are   mostly instruments   of   the   kind   that   would   be used   for   hunting   and   ishing.   Few   jars   or cooking   utensils   hav<   ever   been   discov - ered,   but   arrow   and   _\   ear   beads   have   been found   by   the   dozen.   Fish-hooks   made   of bone   have   also   bee   1   found   as   well   as knives   made   of   store   and   clubs   of   raw - hide   loaded   with   piec   is   of   flint. On   Ano   Nuevo   [si   md   itself   there   has on   been   one   find   of   my   importance.   It was   that   of   a   skull   a   id   a   portion   of   the thorax   of   a   human   be   ng.   This   portion   of anatomy   was   buried   i   1   a   few   feet   of   sand and   the   position   of   th*   bones   was,such   as to   indicate   that   the/"   had   been   moved - since   they   were   buri<   d.   It   is   not   likely that   they   were   ever   n   oved   by   the   people who   buried   them,   but   there   is   good   reason to   believe   that   they   were   exhumed   by wild   beasts   after   the   ]   ndians   had   leit   the vicinity,   and   then   ben   the   Indians   re - turned   the   following   rear   the   bones   were buried   again. Another   indication   that   the   Indians came   to   the   vicinity   to   hunt   and   fish   is the   fact   that   game   is   so   plentiful   there. ,   The   sweep   of   the   Jar   an   current   keeps   the waters   full   of   the   bes   .   of   fish,   and   the   an - nual   visit   of   the   seals   to   the   point   wero   in themselves   enough   t   :>   attract   the   Indians to   the   vicinity   whenever   the   weather   per - mitted.   v   Consider   the   fact   that   the   moun - tains   just   to   the   east   are   full   of   deer,   and there   is   all   the   reason   necessary   to   show that   the   Indians   cane   to   Ano   Nuevo   to hunt   and   fish. Some   of   the   arrowl   cads   that   have   been found   close   to   this   in   cresting   part   of   the world   are   .of   the   f   nest   workmanship. Each   is   carefully   chipped   and   compares favorably   with   the   v*ork   of   those   tribes that   have   become   famous   for   this   sort   of weapon.   At   least   .'OO   of   these   arrow - heads   have   been   found   on   Point   Ano Nuevo. The   first   record   o:   the   visit   of   white men   to   Point   Ano   Nuevo   dates   from   the days   of   tho   missionary   fathers.   The   story goes   that   a   party   of   priests   under   the   di-; rection   of   Father   Junipero   Serra   set   out on   a   voyage   of   discovery   a   few   weeks, before   Christmas   about   1776,   but   did   not j   meet   with   much   success.   In   endeavoring :   who   play   out   their   lives   and   end   them   in their   own   way   had   le   1   me   wonderingiy   to this   farewell   stage   of   the   unidenti - fied   dead—to   this   last   halting-place   this side   of   tbe   suicide's   grave. The   woman   pulled)   back   the   covering and   took   up   the   hand   of   the   silent   form lying   beneath   it.   There   was   a   seal   ring on   one   of   the   fingers.   She   tried   to   take it   off. ,A   man   pushed   her   to   one   side. "You   cannot   have   it   now,"   he   said. "We   will   see   you   later."   And   he   covered up   the   body   again.   ■ She   looked   at   the   man   and   her   lips moved,   but   she   did   not   speak.   If   she   had spoken—if   she   had   shrieked—it   would have   been   a   relief. As   she   moved   toward   the   door   the   man spoke   to   her   again.   •-   . •'How   can   I   get   it?".   she   asked,   trem - blingly—"the   ring,   it   is   mine." "He   hasn't   been   identified   yet,   madam," the   man   reminded   her.   sj?«.?--".-, "Of   course   hot,"   she   said   feverishly— "of   course."   -.."'' And   then   there   was   a   commotion   on   the other   side   of   the   room. "He   b'longs,   to   some   ,   un,"   whispered   a ragged   individual   next   to   me. And   in   the   shuffling   and   amid   the   nerv - ousness   and   the   suppressed   whisperings the   woman   disappeared. «***•**-•.   -   ■   • The   Coroner   was   very   busy.   He   solved all   sorts   of   things   with   that   business-like air   of   solemnity   which   belongs   to   Ibis office.   And   he   bad   that"   peculiar   frown which   is   the   most   important   requisite   for the   successful   manager   of   final   departures.l - -"How   do   you   dispose   of   valuables   found on   the   person   of   the   dead?"   I   ventured   .to ask.   r   i   _ ;.'-He   paused;"   to   :   eye   me   sharply   and   \to I   announce,   somewhat   fearfully,   that   "the Public   Administrator   gets   them." "There   isn't   so   much,   after   all,"   he   ex - -1   plained   ;   "usually   a   watch,   or   a   ring,   or   'a to   return   they   were   caught   in   a   fog   and could   only   steer   by   the   compass. Of   course,   that   was   not   a   satisfactory manner   of   navigation   in   those   days   any more   than   it   is   at   the   present   time,   so   the good   padres   aid   not   attempt   to   do   much sailing.   They   simply   tried   to   keep   as near   one   spot   as   possible,   intending   to land   at   a   point   near   where   Santa   Cruz now   stands   as   soon   as   the   fog   lifted. But   alas   for   human   calculations,   when the   padres   did   at   last   see   land   it   turned out   to   be   another   place   than   what   they were   looking   for.   But   there   was   no   help for   it.   They   must   land   and   at   least   try   to get   food   of   some   kind.   The   vessel   was about   empty   of   stores   and   the   men   were hungry.   The   spot   looked   barren   to   say the   least,   but   the   padres   made   a   landing and   very   likely   secured   in   some   way   a supply   of   something   to   eat,   for   history records   that   they   offered   up   blessings   and considered   that   their   landing   on   the   isl - and   had   been   providential,   for   they   must soon   have   perished   bad   they   not   had   the opportunity   to   land. History   or   tradition   says   that   before   the padres   left   Ano   Nuevo   Island   they   de - cided   to   name   it   in   honor   of   the   day   on which   they   landed   there.   As   this   hap - pened   to   be   the   first   day   of   the   year   they called   it   "Ano   Nuevo,"   or   New   Year's Island.   And   so   it   is   called   to   this   day. A   few   efforts   have   been   made   todo   away with   the   pretty   Spanish   cognom-n   and substitute   entirely   that   of   New   Year's Island,   but   all   have   resulted   in   failure. "The   Spanish   name   does   not   mean   any - thing,'.'   some   people   say,   so   why   not   use one   that   people   will   understand?   But   the Llnited   Slates   Government   has   seen   fit   to preserve   the   old   name   in   referring   to   the fog   station   there   and   all   of   the   charts   U3ed by   seamen   are   labeled   with   the   original name,   so   it   is   likely   that   that   is   what   the island   will   be   called   for   all   time. The   first   time   that   Ano   Nuevo   Island figured   on   the   records   of   the   country   was in   1872,   the   year   in   which   tne   Government built   the   fog   station   on   the   island.   As   is well   known,   all   islands   are   supposed   to belong   to   the   Government,   and   the   engi - neers,   when   it   was   decided   to   erect   a   sta - tion   at   that   point,   went   at   their   work with   the   idea   that   the   point   of   rocks   and sand   was   an   island.   But   it   seems   that a   man   named   Coburn,   who   bad   bought   a portion   of   land   along   the   coast   in   with some   old   Spanish   grant,   laid   claim   to   the point   on   the   ground   tbat   it   was   not   an island.   He   brought   up   witnesses   to   swear that   they   had   walked   irom   the   mainland to   the   point   of   rocks,   and   that   therefore it   was   not   an   inland,   ln   the   end   the Government   lost   the   suit   and   had   to   pay $5000   for   the   rock,   which   was   not   really worth   25   cents   for   any   other   purpose   ex - cept   some   sort   of   a   station. Point   Ano   Nuevo   has   long   been   con - wortnless   pin.   He   can   tell   you.   what   be - comes   of   the   things.   I   oniy   know   t_ey are   bundled   up   and   sent   away   from   here.' So   I   hurried   away,   still   determined,   out into   the   street   and   past   the   crowds   of   liv - ing,   scurrying   mortals;   away   from   the presence   of   the   end   of   life.   And   .I   got into   a   car   and   sat   opposite   a   young   woman and   watched   her   as   she   fondled   the   little one   in   her   lap.' Out   from   the   flatness   of   death   into   the fullness   of   li>e.   It   is   a   strange,   strange scheme,   indeed. "•*'*'   ******   - There   were   a   few   people   goipg   my   way, some   with   mourning   faces,   and   some   with the   mourning   only   in   their   clothes.   As we   stepped   out   of   the   elevator   two   men were   examining   a   watch. "Pretty   good;   watch   for   a   quarter,   eh?" one   of   them   said,   laughingly.   "No   name on   it,   eitherl   call   that   luck."   ;   . .   The   other   one   shrugged   bis   shoulders. "I   wouldn't   carry   it,"   he   declared.   "I'd be   wondering,   who   had   .it   before.   I wouldn't   have   anything   bought   at   sui - cides'   auction."   '   * The   other   ;:   laughed   again.   "You're superstitious*,   like   a   woman,   he   replied scornfully. I   am   quite   positive   that   I   shared   the superstition,   and   on   looking   at   the   pack - ages   of   unreclaimed   articles   which   the worthy   Administrator   had   in   his   posses - sion,   I   felt   it   becoming   stronger. "The   law   prescribes   a   certain   length   of time   that   we   must   keep   these   things," said   he   as   he   opened   the   smallest   package. "This   is   a   ring'taken   from   a   poor   fellow who   shot;himself.V   No   one   ever   came   to claim   it,   and   no.   one   wan   to   buy   it   be - cause—"...   and   he   held   it   up   to   the   light   so that   I   could   see   plainly   the   engraving   on the   inside—"From   Mother,   June,   1888."   I "Now,,   you   see,   that's   of   no   value   and we   never   ■   could   dispose   of   it   in   any   way.' So   it'll   lie   around   here   probably   until   it gets   lost.";':   ;;;.   ./[ "Why   couldn't   you   ■■.   bury   such   things with-'the   owners?"   I;suggested.   "After all,   tbey   really   belong   to   them." "Nothing   belongs   to   a   dead   man.   When ceded   to   be   the   roughest   point   on   the Pacific   Coast.   Its   peculiar   location   and the   direction   of   the   ocean's   currents   keep the   water   in   the   vicinity   in   a   constant boil.   Fogs   are   also   plentiful   and   many are   the   ships   that   have   been   lost   in   the near   vicinity. To   reach   the   island   at   the   present   time it   is   necessary   to   cross   a   channel   at   least half   a   mile   wide,   which   is   at   all   hours a   dangerous   undertaking.   The   breakers roll   in   on   both   sides,   and   if   the   water   is   at all   rough   the   passage   can   only   be   made   at great   risk   of   life.   Eight   of   the   fog-signal keepers   have   been   drowned   while   crossing this   bit   of   treacherous   water.   At   the   big low   tide   the   shallowest   place   is   about   six - teen   feet   deep   and   about   200   feet   wide. To   wade   across   is   an   impossibility. The   location   of   the   island   allows   the seas   to   sweep   in   from   both   sides   and   the breakers   meet   in   the   center.   In   calm he   cnooses   death—or   death   chooses   him— he   has   to   give,   up   his   possessions   in   this world   to   those   more   able   to   enjoy   them than   be   is.   Beside*,"   he   said   in   a   busi - ness-like   way,   "he'd   have   an   awful   time keeping   the   poor   fellows   in   their   graves. Fiends   would   rob   them.". "But   you   auction   things   off,   don't you   I   asked,   anxious   to   get   his   thoughts away   from   fanciful   notions   least   1   should have   to   admit   that   I   had   a   few   about some   things   myself. "Well,   not   exactly   a   public   auction - just   a   sale   of   a   few   things,   you   know.   The place   would   become   unpleasantly   full   of dead   men's   relics   if   we   didn't   dispose   of them.   Then   we   might   be   liable   to   be - come   ■   haunted—have   the   different   spirits hunting   for,   their   former   possessions   and prowling   about   at   unreasonable   hours." He   looked   at   roe   quizzically.   :•;;,- ""So   we   just   have   a   little   sale—a   few   fel - lows   come   up   here   and   I   just   sell   for   al - most   nothing   a   few,   things   that   will   never be   called   for.   .That   keeps   the   spirits quiet.   They   don't   mind   if   people   are   hav - ing   good   use   out   of   things."   *,= *****»♦* "Anything   more   lean   do   for   you?"   he asked   as   I   rose   to   go. - --'   There   was   nothing   else—nothing   in   the whole   worldbut   I   wanted   to   get   out   into the   sunshine   where   there   was   life.,: -   -   ■';.   Muriel   Bailt.   I Hawaiian:   Intelligence. '"'■Jl   pleasing   example   of   Hawaiian   intel - ligence   was   noted   by   T.   Daniel   Fraw - ley   and   his   theatrical   company   on   ■   their tour   of   ;   the   islands   ■■   a   year   '   ago.   r   The writer   chanced   to   dine.   with   several   mem - bers   of   the   troupe   Va'   few   days   ;.'after.,   tbeir return   and   the   impression   .   which   he gleaned   from   their   most   enthusiastic   de - scriptions   of   the   natives'   appreciation   of the   drama   has   left   him   ever   since   with most   favorable   opinions   concerning   ?   Ha - waiian   .Island   *   culture.   'V   Mr.   V   Frawley   ex - hibited   not   merely   the   enthusiasm   of   the successful   theatrical   manager   in   speaking of   an   audience's   cordial   response   to   his weather   there   is   a   smooth   strip   of   water about   fifty   feet   wide,   through   which   the boat   can   be   rowed,   but   at   any   moment this   is   likely   to   De   turned   into   a   whirlpool so   whoever   crosses   takes   his   life   in   his hands.   In   bad   weather   to   cross   this   chan - nel   is   impossible.   The   breakers   are   a whirl   of   foam   and   the   stanchest   boat would   soon   be   swamped.   \   On   certain   occa - sions   the   keepers   of-the   fog-signal   have had   to   remain   on   the   island   for   weeks   at   a time.   The   lighthouse   tender   Madrona, which   makes   periodical   trips   along   the coast,   often   finds   it   impossible   to   make   a landing   and   has   to   leave   without   deposit - ing   the   usual   supplies. The   fog-signal   station   on   Ano   Nuevo Island   is   one   of   the   most   important   of   the Government   stations   on   the   Pacific   Coast. It   is   right   in   the   path   of   the   heaviest   ship - ping   and   a   moment's   neglect   of   the   signal might   result   in   the   loss   of   a   ship. efforts,   but   spoke   with   the   keen   admira - tion   of   a   student   of   human   nature   who had   witnessed   a   particularly   bright   dis - play   of   intelligence.   At   such   plays   as   "The Senator,"   "The   Great   Unknown"   and SCENE   FROM   "THE   -TWO   ESCUTCHEONS." v   One   of   the   delicate   society   skits   which   the   natives   of   Hawaii   appreciated   as   keen - ly   as   did   their   American   companions,   a   circumstance   which   is   urged   as   evidence   of Hawaiian;   refinement!   and   fitness   to   become   citizens   of   civilized   America.   Before this   and   other   finely   poised   satires,   which   the   Frawley   Company   presented   in Honolulu   last   year,   the   natives   displayed   the   keenest   appreciation   and   the   alertest comprehension.   uffiMBHHBHBHh Since   the   signal   was   erected   in   1372   there have   scarcely   been   any   changes   in   its manner   of   working   or   in   the   buildings.* The   signal-house   is   on   the   western   tip   of the   island   and   contains   a   double   set   of engines   and   boilers   so   as   to   be   able   to guard   against   accidents.   The   signal   is   a whistle   that   gives   a   blast   of   fifteen   seconds every   minute.   It   can   be   heard   for   two miles   at   sea   with   the   greatest   distinctness and   a   much   greater   distance   with   audi - bility   enough   to   let   any   skipper   know where   he   is   going. In   addition   to   the   fog-signal   there   is   a light   of   the   fourth   order   on   the   island, which,   however,   -is   not   intended   to   be used   as   a   range   light   of   any   kind.   The idea   in   putting   it   there   is   to   let   a   skipper know   where   he   is   in   case   he   should   get   in too   close   on   a   dare   night.   This   light, however,   can   be   seen   for   at   least   ten   miles at   sea. Everything   about   .Ano   Nuevo   Island is   in   the   best   of   working   order   and   as clean   as   care   and   work   can   make   it. There   are   a   number   of   difficulties   to   bo contended   with   that   are   unknown   at other   stations.   The   keeper's   residence   is a   large   roomy   house   fitted   for   two   fam - ilies   and   about   as   comfortable   as   such   a house   in   such   a   location   could   be. Thomas   H.   Butwell   is   the   keeper   at present   in   charge   of   the   station,   and   he has   every   reason   to   be   proud   of   the   wort he   has   done.   He   has   only   one   assistant, and   together   they   do   all   tbe   work,   on many   occasions   keep   the   fog   whistle   going day   and   night.   The   world   little   knows what   is   gone   through   with   by   the   men who   keep   the   signals   going   for   mariners that   ships   may   go   safely   over   the   sea.   It is   long   hours   and   hard   work   and   very   lit - tle   possibility   of   a   vacation.   It   is   seldom tbat   they   get   more   than   a   mile   or   two away   from   the   station   more   than   once   a year—when   they   report   to   the   main   office in   this   City. There   is   no   danger   of   abalones   ever   be - coming   extinct   on   the   Pacific   Coast   if those   on   Ano   Nuevo   Island   are   taken care   of.   There   are   hundreds   of   thousands of   them   there,   and   many   of   them   are   as large   as   the   largest   that   have   ever   teen caught.   Just   below   low-water   mark   on the   western   shore   of   the   island   they   can be   seen   in   all   their   glory   clinging   to   rocks. Some   of   them   are   as   large   a*   the   top   of   a water-bucket.   These   are   the   large   red ones   that   have   been   declared   to   be   al - most   extinct.   Nobody   his   ever   been   per - mitted   to   take   any   of   them   since   Mr.   But - well   has   been   in   charge   of   the   island. "The   Two   Escutcheons,"   the   natives   in the   audience   exhibited   even   more   ap - preciation   of   the   exquisi'e   flashes   of   rep artec   and   persiflage   than   did   the   English - or   Americans   who   sat   beside   them. 19 ]]>
3123 2009-03-04 12:46:08 2009-03-04 16:46:08 closed closed john-vonderlin-everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-ano-nuevo-island publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1236202209 _edit_last 1
John Vonderlin: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Seals http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/03/04/john-vonderlin-everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-the-seals/ Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:39:31 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3128 Hi June,
This article appeared shortly before the Fog Signal article about Ano Nuevo. It has stuff about the seals of Ano Nuevo I've never seen published or even hinted at. The passages about the lightkeeper killing the bulls that were killing the pups is poignant and quite mysterious. Enjoy. John
The   seals   of   Ano Nuevo Island are   prac - tically   unknown   to   both   scientists   and   the public,   notwithstanding   the   fact   that   the herds   there   are   the   largest   on   the   Pacific Coast   and   the   habits   ot"   the   species   are the   most   distinctive. In   many   ways   their   habits   are   •omewhat similar   to   those   of   sea   birds.   Once   a   year the   rock-,   or   rookeries,   are   covered   witn seals.   Young   are   born   and   raised   there, and   then   a   general   migration   takes   place of   all   hut   the   old   females.   For   mcn'hs the   rookeries   are   comparatively   deserted. The   seals   come   and   go   at   regular   intervals. If   you   will   look   at   a   man   of   California, and   closely   examine   the   southwestern portion   of   the   coast   of   Bkn   Maieo   County, you   will   find   Ano Nuevo Island.   Although only   about   thirty-five   miles   from   San Francisco,   in   a   direct   line,   it   is   a   most difficult   place   to   get   at.   If   every   Using goes   well   it   can   be   reached   in   about   twelve hours,   but   should   there   be   a   detention   of any   kind   the   journey   may   consume   two days.   The   nearest   town   is   Pescadeio, fourteen   miles   to   the   north. Ano Nuevo Island is   cut   off   from   the mainland   by   a   channel   about   a   nule   wide, and   the   only   way   to   cross   is   in   the   boat   of the   keepers   of   the   Government   foe   signal. The   seal   rocks   are   scattered   to   the   north - ward   of   the   island,   the   closest   beinj:   only about   500   feet   away. It   was   for   the   purpose   of   ascertaining something   about   the   habits   of   these   seals and   obtaining   pictures   of   them   that   a Call   representative   visited   Ano Nuevo Island last   week,   just   in   the   height   of   the breeding   season.   Keeper   Bntweil   of   the fog   signal,   whose   opportunities   for   study - ing   seals   have   undoubtedly   been   most favorable,   gladly   Jurnished   all   informa - tion   and   acted   as   guide   to   the   seal   ro   ks. Rome   -of   the   facts   that   be   has   gathered   in regard   to   the   habits   of   seals   and   the causes   of   their   extermination   are   surpris - ing   and   valuable.   He   has   watched   the herds   con-tantly   at   all   seasons   for   a per.od   of   eight   years,   and   the   location   or the   rocks,   lying   as   they   do   so   close   to   the island,   makes   the   seals'   actions   as   easily observable   as   if   they   were   on   the   stage   of a   theater. "Years   ago,"   said   Mr.   Butwell,   "there used   to   be   tens   of   thousands   of   seals   on these   rocks,   and   the   killing   of   them   was   a profitable   industry.   The   hides   were   used lor   belting   and   sold   for   a   good   price. ''In   ihoie   days   the   rocks   were   leased   to hunters,   and   the   killing   went   on   at   a rapid   rate.   Of   course   the   seals   rapidly diminished   in   numbers,   as   males,   lemaies aiid   pups   were   killed   indiscriminately. When   I   came   bere   eight   years   ago   all   this had   stopped.   No   hunters   were   allowed   on the   rocks,   and   it   would   seem   as   if   the herds   should   have   again   multiplied;   but they   didn't.   For   (our   years   they   kept   ret - ting   fewer,   until   there   were   hardly   500 left. "About   this   time   I   began   to   study   the cause   of   the   decrease.   From   this   point here   on   the   island I   can   lock   across   to   the rocks,   and   by   taking   a   glass   can   bring the   seals   up   very   close.   I   had   previously noticed   that   some   of   the   bulis   had   a   habit of   killing   the   young,   but   had   no   idea   the evil   was   so   general   as   I   found   it   to   be   on investigation.   One   morning   I   saw   a   cer - tain   bull   climb   on   the   rocks   and   kill about   half   a   dozen   pups.   Others   did   the same,   so   it   was   soon   apparent   to   me   that the   bulls   were   largely   responsible   for   the decrease   of   the   herds. "After   becoming   convinced   that   a   num - ber   of   vicious   bull*   did   all   the   mischief   I began   a   systematic   killing   of   them.   1 used   to   go   over   on   the   rocks   and   lie   in wait.   Whenever   I   caught   an   old   fellow in   the   act   of   killing   a   pup   I   put   a   bullet through   his   head.   The   lirst   season   I killed   about   fifty   and   saved   many   hun - dred   pups,   so   that   the   second   year   the herds   began   to   increase   and   this   year   are larger   than   they   have   been   since   I   com - menced   my   extermination   of   the   vicious bulls. "The   habits   of   these   seals   are   most peculiar   an   l   mysterious.   After   the   pups are   born   on   the   rocks   the   cows   spend   two or   three   months   teaching   them   to   swim, and   then   when   the   time   comes   take   them to   sea   somewhere   and   leave   them.   The young   seals   do   not   return   to   the   place   of tljeir   birth   until   they   are   two   years   old, but   where   they   spend   the   interval   is   a mystery.   So   you   see   it   took   two   years   to tell   whether   the   killine   of   the   vicious THE   SEAL   ROOKERIES   OFF   THE   COAST OF   SAN   MATEO   COVNTY. bulls   did   any   good   or   not.   But   lam   sat - isfied   that   it   did.   At   any   rate   tne   seals are   increasing   at   a   fair   rate,   and   in   a   lew years,   with   proper   nursing,   I   think   they will   be   as   numerous   as   ever. "But   really   when   we   look   at   it   in   the right   way   there   is   no   reason   why   the   seals should   be   preserved.   11   is   purely   a   mat - ter   of   sentiment.   One   fall-grown   seal   wll destroy   enough   fish   in   a   week   to   feed   a pood-sized   town   for   a   month,   and   the damage   done   by   the   herd   'a   beyond   con - ception.   Seals   are   really   the   coyotes   of the   sea,   and   if   we   look   after   our   own   in - teresta   we   w   ou!d   be   making   efforts   to   de - stroy   them   instead   of   preserving   them. However,   it   is   not   likely   they   will   be   de - stroyed,   as   they   have   ceased   to   be   worth anything   coramerc   ally. "Tiie   largest   bull   on   tfee   rocks   would   not yield   enough   hide,   whiskers,   etc.,   to   sell for   $1   50.   When   seal   hides   were   used   tor belting   they   were   worth   about   .s.">   each, but   since   rubber   I.aa   been   used   for   this purpose   they   are   no   longer   wanted.   Seal hide   is   only   used   nbw   for   making   buffing wheels,   and   of   course   the   demand   is   very light.   Really   the   seals   are   not   worth   kill - ing   should   one   be   so   inclined,   and   any   at - tempt   to   do   so   as   a   matter   of   business would   surely   result   in   loss." Every   statement   made   by   Mr.   Butwell was   borne   out   by   observation.   Standing on   the   northern   edge   of   Ano Nuevo Inland   the   seals'   methods   of   destroying fish   could   be   readily   seen.   The   tide sweeps   rather   swiftly   through   the   chan - nel   between   the   two   points,   and   naturally a   school   of   lisli   would   be   carried   alone wilh   it.   The   rookeries   will   be   thickly covered   w"h   s<als,   but   the   instant   a   cer - tain   foamy   streak   appeared   on   the   surface of   the   water   there   will   be   an   almost   in - stantaneous   plunge   into   the   sea.   Then the   slaughter   commences. The   surface   of   the   water   is   churned   into foam   and   the   frightened   fish   dart   in   ail (Mrections   only   to   run   into   more   seals. The   amphibians   bump   into   one   another, roar   and   r   lunge   after   their   jr^y.   All   is tumult,   commotion   and   death   to   ihe   fi-h. For   a   few   minutes   the   seals   undoubtedly sa   ivfy   th'ir   appetites   by   eating   all   the fish   they   catch,   but   after   that   they   simply kill   for   fun.   When   a   seal   is   hungry   he will   swallow   a   iish   whole   and   be   chasinc another   while   his   victim   is   still   in   h;s throat.   Bnt   when   his   hunger   grows   less w   Jj   &   IsSßilr   ii- SAN   FRANCISCO,   SUNDAY   MORNING,   JUNE   27,   1897. ravenous   he   simply   bites   out   the   back   and throws   the   rest   away.   When   he   has   had all   he   wants   the   sea!   playfully   rolls   over the   surface   of   the   waves,   catches   a   rish and   gives   it   a   crunch.   Of   course   deatn   is instantaneous   and   the   body   of   the   tish   is allowed   to   drop   into   the   >ea.   Providing the   air   bladders   of   the   fish   have   not   been broken   the   body   will   rloat,   and   often   the surface   of   the   water   will   be   literally   cov - ered   with   lar^e   saimon,   sea   bass   and trout—enough   to   feed   a   town.   Ot   course many   more   fish   sink   from   sight,   so   that the   destruction   is   Mm   ply   appalling. The   fact   that   the   bulls   kill   the   youne seals   would   appear   to   be   simply   another demoQ;-tration   of   a   certain   admitted   fact of   natural   history.   How   such   things come   about   is   of   course   a   mystery,   but there   are   numerous   instances   ot   the   same kind.   It   would   seem   as   if   nature   bad   con - cluded   that   it   was   tune   for   a   certain species   to   become   extinct   and   took   this means   of   accomplishing   her   end.   That s>be   would   always   succeed   goes   without saving—except   where   civilization   ateps   in and   puts   a   slop   to   it. The   most   common   demonstration   of this   is   the   case   of   the   ordinary   barnyard fowl.   It   is   a   weli-k'nown   fact   that   where tuere   are   as   many   cocks   as   hens   chicks cannot   be   raised.   The   cocks   kill   them, and   if   they   were   unmolested   the   species would   soon   become   extinct.   But   civiliza - tion   steps   in   and   destroys   certain   of   the cocks.   Ad   a   consequence   we   have   all   the chit-Kens   we   want. Regardless   of   the   destructive   propensi - ties   of   the   s-eat   and   a   number   of   bis   objec - tionable   traits,   he   is   the   most   picturesque creature   that   lives   in   tie   sea,   and,   it might   be   added,   the   most   picturesque   that lives   on   land.   Like   every   other   living creature,   the   seal   has   good   traits   as   well as   bad   traits,   and   is   most   interesting   to watch.   While   it   is   a   most   difficult   matter to   reach   the   seal   jookeries   the   experience is   well   worth   the   trip.   It   is   replete   with incident,   although   not   what   would   be called   dangerous. At   low   tide   it   is   possible   to   walk   from Ano Nuevo Island to   the   seal   rocks.   But not   "with   a   dry   loot,"   as   the   sailord   are wont   to   say. Just   at   present   the   rookeries   are   in   their glory.   The   pups   have   all   been   born   and some   of   them   are   over   a   month   old.   At the   time   of   The   Call   representative's visit   to   the   rocks   Mr.   Butwell   had   just mads   up   his   mind   to   dispose   of   a   few vicious   bulls   he   bad   seen   killing   'the young,   and   h«   led   the   way   from   the   island to   the   rookeries. Climbing   down   the   northern   diff   of   the island the   way   lay   over   moss-   cove   red rocks   laid   bare   by   the   low   tide.   Walking is   difficult   work,   as   the   ruo3s,   beautiful   as it   looks,   affords   a   poor   foothold.   In   fact it   affords   no   foothold   at   all,   and   it   is   only by   the   greatest   care   that   slipping   is   pre - vented.   Between   the   rocks   arc   pools   of clear   water,   several   inches   de<?D,   that must   be   waded   through   and   care   exercised to   prevent   being   tangled   in   the   lone,   |   air,   and   falling   on   the   rocks   were   crushed slimy   tendrils   of   seaweed.   to   death.   Others   were   thrown   into   the Just   before   the   seal   rock   is   reached   sea   and   drowned,   wl>lie   a   few   were   thrown there   is   a   channel   about   two   feet   deep   and   with   only   enough   force   10   braak   their   rib-, twenty   feet   wide   that   must   be   waded,   so   they   would   wallow   around   helplessly The   seals   show   little   signs   of   fear.   A   to   eventually   die   in   agony, few   have   plunged   from   the   cliff,   but   the   At   mis   stage   of   the   game   Mr.   Butwell others   look   at   the   intruders   with   curiosity   raised   his   ride   and   put   a   bullet   behind   the a   few   moments   and   then   seem   to   forget.   brute's   ear.   With   a   thud,   it   leli   to   the Seen   from   across   the   narrow   channel,   rock,   but   although   a   45-caliber   bullet   with the   h«>rd   of   seals   lining   the   edge   of   the   ninety   prams   of   powder   behind   it   had cliffs   w;is   a*   grand   n   xißht   ns   the   world   been   tired   inlo   its   head,   the   bull   was   not affords.   There   wer6   thousands   and   thou-   dead.   It   quivered   and   flopped,   and   then sands   of   the   enormous   creatures,   closely   a   number   of   cows   rushed   up   and   attacked packed   in   together   like   a   flock   ot   birds,   it   fiercely.   These   were   chased   off   with In   fact,   the   general   effect   of   the   herd   was   stones. that   of   penguins.   All   the   seals   roar   vio - lently,   ?o   that   it   is   impossible   to   bear   the human   voice.   What   monsters   they   are, and   what   power   they   possess   of   which they   arc   unconscious. Just   before   wading   the   channel   Mr. Butwell   discharged   his   rifle.   It   was   the rirst   time   the   seals   bad   heard   the   sound this   year,   and   in   an   instant   tbere   was consternation.   Hundreds   of   tons   of   flVsh dropped   into   the   sea   in   a   moment,   ati>i the   waves   rose   to   tbe   top   of   the   cliff,   while the   spray   dashed   taiph   into   the   air.   It was   several   moments   before   the   water became   quiet   again,   and   t>   en   the   herd was   seen   swimming   in   a   bunch,   undecided what   to   do,   and   roaring   with   all   their might.   Although   the   sea   was   fairly   black with   seal;1,   hundreds   remained   on   the   top of   the   cliffs.   These   were   the   old   cows, who   in   some   way   seemed   to   realize   that they   were   in   no   danger. On   the   opposite   side   of   the   channel, which   was   waded   with   difficulty   and   at the   expense   of   getting   wet   to   the   waist, there   was   a   large   number   of   puns   floun - dering   helplessly   over   the   moss-covered rocks.   Nurnbersof   them   were   ha   f-uidden in   tiny   caves   at   the   base   of   the   cliff,   but came   out   intending   to   make   friends. They   did   not   show   the   slightest   fear,   but on   the   contrary   seemed   to   want   to   be potted.   Ttiey   allowed   themselves   to   be patted   on   their   backs,   and   in   other   ways showed   pleasure   at   receiving   attention. A   youns   seal   is   one   of   the   moat   pathet - ic-lookinj;   creatures   that   live.   Its   ex - pression   is   mucn   like   that   of   a   lamo,   and it   will   look   at   you   out   of   its   large   gray eyes   as   if   it   really   has   leeting.   The   little fellows   will   follow   one   around   the   rock utterin.-   bleats   like   a   goat.   In   color   these pups   are   a   light   jrray,   with   black   on   the ends   of   the   fLppers. The   seals   of   Ano Nuevo Island,   while belonging   to   the   same   g--nus   as   those   on the   Farallones   and   at   the   Cliff,   are   a   dis - tinct   srecies.   They   are   very   light   in color.   Some   of   the   cows   aro   the   color   of manilla   wrapping-paper   and   the   darkest of   the   bulls   are   a   sort   of   ocher.   They   are almost   the   size   of   a   walrus,   a   few   of   them being   caprble   of   raising   tbeir   heads   about six   ieet   nb;v3   the   rock,   while   still   keep - ing   their   flippers   on   it.   Many   oi   them will   measure   eleven   feet   in   length,   when stretched   out,   and   weigh   at   least   a   ton and   a   half.   It   is   all   that   four   men   can   do to   roll   a   dead   bull   over   a   level   and   smooth place.   To   roll   it   up   hill   for   even   a   few feet   is   out   of   the   question. The   cliffs   around   the   seal   roofceries   are about   twenty   feet   high   at   low   tide   and somewhat   diiiicult   of   ascent.   The   rocks are   greasy,   from   the   seals   climbing   over them,   and   afford   a   poor   footholi,   as   well as   being   almost   perpendicular.   The   top, however,   is   in   the   form   of   a   s-eries   of   ter - races   or   steps.   Each   of   these   is   about two   feet   high,   and   the   spnee   between them   is   absolutely   Hat   at   the   eastern   wall, although   the   whole   rock   tips   to   the   west. As   soon   as   the   top   of   the   rocK   became visible   the   work   of   the   bull   seals   was   only too   apparent.   Dead   pops   were   scattered on   all   sides   and   lcme   ones   were   strug - gling   around,   crying   piteousiy.   The   old cows   paid   little   attention   and   showed   no siens   of   fear.   Their   purs   crawled   close   to them,   but   the   old   ones   seeraod   to   know that   they   were   absolutely   safe   and   made not   the   least   move   to   protect   them. After   waiting   quietly   behind   a   project - ing   ledge   of   rock   and   allowing   most   of the   seal   3to   crawl   baci   on   to   the   top   of the   cliff   an   old   bull   was   seen   at   the   south aide   of   the   island,   bellowing   fiercely. "That's   one   of   the   fellows   I   am   after," said   Mr.   Butwsll.   "Now   watch   him. I   have   seen   him   kill   a   dozen   young   ones and   disable   several   of   the   young   females." Watching   his   chance,   the   monster floated   on   the   top   of   a   wave,   and   then made   a   leap   that   landed   him   on   the rock,   which   be   struck   so   hard   as   to   shake it.   Rushing   at   a   rroup   of   cows,   ha pushed   them   over   the   cliff   into   the   water. Then   he   made   a   charge   into   a   number   of pups   that   were   sleeping   peacefully   in   the sunshine.   He   simply   dropped   on   two or   three   of   the   delpless   creatures   and crushed   the   lives   out   of   them.'   Then   he seized   those   within   his   reach   and   becan tossing   them   in   all   directions.   Some were   thrown   at   least   twenty   feet   luto   the It   is   remarkable   the   amount   of   vitality there   is   in   a   seal.   Five   bullets   had   to   be tired   into   the   head   of   the   one   mentioned before   it   finally   lay   still.   Of   course   if   a single   bullet   had   really   reached   to   the brain,   it   would   have   died   instantly,   but this   is   an   almost   impossible   thing   to   do, as   the   bullets,   in   some   instances,   simply fracture   the   skull   instead   of   going through   it. When   the   bull   was   dead   at   last,   the   cows on   the   rock,   although   only   eight   or   ten feet   away,   allowed   it   to   be   examined   with - out   show   ins,-   any   si^ns   of   disturbance.   If anything,   the   death   of   tile   bull   caused them   pleasure. The   mother   seals,   however,   are   not always   mild.   If   they   in   any   way   come   to think   that   their   younc   are   in   danger   they wiil   fight   fiercely,   and   if   it   becomes   ne - cessary   to   wound   one   of   them   she   will   not leave   the   cliff   uniess   her   pup   is   where   she can   reach   it.   The   cows   are   the   best   of mothers,   and   when   their   pups   are   very young   will   not   leave   them   for   a   moment. Generally   it   is   possible   to   drive   off   a cow   seal   by   throwing   stones   at   her. Should   one   be   struck   in   the   face   she   will show   signs   of   fear   and   in   most   instances retreat.   Should   she   refuse   to   do   this   it   is necessary   to   get   out   of   her   way;   but   even this   course   Is   dangerous,   as   the   rocks   are slippery,   and   should   a   man   fall   and   the seal   spring   ou   him   his   life   would   be crushed   out   instantly. It   is   a   remarkable   fact   that   no   scientific men   have   ever   made   a   study   of   the   seals of   Ano Nuevo Island.   The   fog   signal   loc - book   shows   that   none   have   ever   been there,   and   the   only   reason   that   can   be given   is   that   it   is   not   generally   known that   any   seals   ever   come   to   the   island.
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3128 2009-03-04 17:39:31 2009-03-04 21:39:31 closed closed john-vonderlin-everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-the-seals publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1236203352 _edit_last 1
1872: This is Pescadero http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/03/05/1872-this-is-pescadero/ Thu, 05 Mar 2009 23:55:08 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3133 "....Pescadero has undergone considerable change within twelve months. A new bridge has been erected over the Pescadero Creek, a handsome and substantial structure; streets arranged in ship shape style, new buildings erected, and the town generally changed . The Garretson & Co. side, as usually distinguished from the opposite side of the creek, has thrown up the sponge and gone over to the Swanton [House] side, save a store, saloon, blacksmith shop and market; and at least two of these are about to follow. "The old Pescadero Exchange Hotel, formerly the property of Mr. Cumins, is now the property of Garretson & Stryker, and the material is being delivered to erect on the adjoining lot a two story building, 35 x 80 feet on the ground, the lower story to be occupied by the proprietors as a mercantile store, the upper as a public hall; and the first story of the Exchange by the post office, express office and telegraph office, all of which they are agents for...The hotels are the feature of the town at present, there being two of them, the Swanton and Lincoln**....livery stables: Coburn & Marston's, Wm Pinkham's..." ---------------------- About the Lincoln Hotel: "1870, Charles Kinsey, proprietor. Rates reduced. I am now prepared to accommodate the public, with perfect satisfaction. I am now prepared to accommodate the public, with perfect satisfaction. My house and furniture are all new., is 50 miles south of San Francisco and may be reached daily from San Mateo in Troy coaches, that run in connection with the morning train for San Jose , leaving San Jose immediately on the arrival of the cars, and reach this place in four or five hours, via Crystal Springs and Spanishtown. Guests at this taken to the celebrated Pebble Beach*** and back free. Pot and cold baths free. Also, children taught riding, free..." From: Daily Evening Bulletin, San Francisco, August 9, 1870 _________________________ About Pebble Beach, 1895
Hi June,
I suspect this Geologist testified at one of Coburn's trials. Do you know? The only problem is, I believe he has many of his facts wrong. It is my belief the pebbles come out of the sea from an offshore quartz ridge. Mr. Hanks was at a great disadvantage not knowing of things like Tectonic plates, uplifting, and vomitoriums. Or was he truth-challenged by being employed as an "expert witness?" I'll return to this subject with my thoughts and modern geological theories when Invisible Beach's sand covering is removed by storms, once again exposing its treasure of colorful pebbles. That could be this month. Enjoy. John
THE   SAN   FRANCISCO   CALL,   SUNDAY,   MAY   26,   1895. PEBBLES   AT   PESCADERO. Geologist   Hanks   Tells   by   What Process   They   Came There. THE   ACTION   OF   THE   WAVES. It   Makes   the   Pieces   of   Decompos - ing   Granite   Round   and Smooth. In   response   to   the   question,   "Do   the pebbles   on   Pescadero   Beach   come   from   the land,   or   are   they   cast   up   by   the   sea?"   pro - pounded   by   L.   Coburn   of   San   Mateo,   Geol - ogist   Henry   G.   Hanks   has   written   the   fol - lowing   opinion   : San   Francisco,   March   25,   1895. I   made   a   thorough   examination   of   Pesca - dero   beach,   and   published   the   results   officially in   the   year   1884   in   the   Fourth   Annual   Report ol   the   State   Mineralogist   of   California,   folio 336,   as   follows: "The   beach   at   Pescadero,   San   Mateo   County, has   a   wide   celebrity   for   the   beautiful   pebbles found   there.   These   are   nearly   all   quartz, agates,   carnellans,   jasper   and   chalcedony,   of many   beautiful   varieties.   On   the   shore,   under a   low   bluff   nearly   at   the   sea   level,   a   stratitied sandstone   dips   from   65   to   72   degrees   from   the horizontal   to   the   southwest.   The   strike   is northwest   to   southeast,   magnetic.   Under   this, uucomformably,   lies   a   sedimentary   formation, more   recent,   in   horizontal   strata,   consisting   of sand,   water-worn   bowlders   and   pebbles.   This formation   constitutes   the   blurt",   and   the   peb - bles   on   the   beach   result   from   its   disintegra - tion.   The   upper   sedimentary   seems   to   be formed   from   disintegration   of   the   lower,   which extends   inland   for   an   unknown   distance.   In the   lower   formations   the   sandstones   are   of different   degrees   ot   fineness,   from   the   finest silt   to   very   coarse   conglomerate;   in   the   con - glomerate   may   be   seen   small   bowlders   of chalcedony,   jasper,   agate   and   porphyry,   which are   the   same   as   those   found   on   the   beach;   but the   latter   are   concentrated   by   long-continued action   of   the   waves,   which   have   washed   away the   sand,   disintegrated   the   sandstone   bowlders and   gathered   the   harder   pebbles   together   on the   beach.   Some   of   the   sandstones   are   ce - mented   by   oxide   of   iron,   and   all   the   loose sands   are   highly   ferruginous.   On   the   way from   Pescadero   to   the   beach   the   road   is   cut through   a   formation   not   stratified,   but   in which   the   bowlders   are   imbedded.   This   gen - eral   formation   seems   to   be   the   same   as   is   ob - served   in   the   oil   regions   of   San   Mateo,   San   la Clara   and   Los   Angeles   counties." Although   at   that   time   I   fully   made   up   my mind,   I   thought   best   to   again   visit   the   locality. which   I   did   on   March   22. I   examined   the   beaches   for   a   considerable distance   north   of   "Pebble   Beach,"   and   the bluff   or   bank   and   rocka,   as   well   as   the   surface of   the   ground   for   a   considerable   distance   from the   sea;   and   gathered   and   examined   pebbles which   had   not   been   on   the   beaches,   but   were taken   from   the   banks   hundreds   of   feet   inland. Some   of   these   pebbles   1   present   with   this   re - port.   I   find   them   to   be   mineralogically   identi - cal   with   those   on   "Pebble   Beach/ I   also   obtained   specimens   of   the   underlying bedrock   and   find   it   to   be   the   sedimentary variety   named   "arkose,"   formed   apparently from   decomposed   granite.   I   noticed   at   several places   in   the   bluffs   along   the   beaches   I   exam - ined   outcropping   strata   of   washed   pebbles,   a portion   of   which   had   fallen   on   the   rocks   be - low.   These   examinations   fully   confirm   the opinion   I   formed   eleven   years   ago. The   sea   along   the   coast   of   California,   between San   Francisco   and   Pigeon   Point,   is   encroach - ing   upon   the   land.   The   effect   may   be   seen along   the   Pescadero   beaches   and   at   the   high sedimentary   bluffs   between   Lobetus   and   Half - moon   Bay.   The   waves,   which   are   resisted   by the   hard   underlying   rocks,   erode   easily   the softer   superimposed   sediments   which   are   con - tinually   falling   from   the   banks.   The   breakers then   dashing   the   detrital   matter   against   the I   harder   rocks,   wholly   disintegrate   it,   the   re - flux   sweeps   away   the   lighter   particles   in   the I   condition   of   sand,   spreads   them   out   on   the benches   and   finally   washes   them   beyond   the surf.   Tbe   heavier   portions,   including   the   peb - i   bles,   are   able   in   a   measure   to   resist   by   their |   gravity   the   action   of   the   waves,   and   remain   for a   time   exposed   and   concentrated;   but   they   in turn   are   also   swept   out   to   sea,   and   a   new   crop from   the   caving   banJc   take   their   places. This   operation   has   continued   for   a   long period   and   probably   will   for   many   centuries   to come.   The   same   kind   of   pebbles   exist   in   the banks   above   other   beaches,   but   in   less   quan - tity,   and   owing   to   the   form   of   the   little   bays, or   other   causes,   the   conditions   differ,   and   the pebbles   are   sooner   carried   out   to   sea   or   are   at once   covered   out   of   sight   by   the   t,and. At   several   other   localities   on   the   Califor - nia   coast   there   are   pebble   beaches   similar to   those   of   Pescadero,   the   most   noted   of which   are   those   near   Crescent   City,   in   Del Norte   County,   and   at   Lake   Tahoe,]]>
3133 2009-03-05 19:55:08 2009-03-05 23:55:08 closed closed 1872-this-is-pescadero publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1236488229 _edit_last 1
Most public land is located in the West http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/03/06/most-public-land-is-located-in-the-west/ Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:02:21 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3135 here It's a Wikipedia description of the Bureau of Land Mangement (BLM); to go directly to the California BLM, please click here]]> 3135 2009-03-06 12:02:21 2009-03-06 16:02:21 closed closed most-public-land-is-located-in-the-west publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1236355601 _edit_last 1 1896 Pescadero: STORY OF THE BIG WHALE------ http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/03/06/1896-big-pescadero-whaleon-exhibition/ Fri, 06 Mar 2009 17:49:47 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3140 From John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) 2
Hi June,
Here's a story about the largest whale ever killed off our coast, supposedly. I was glad to see it was not without cost for the killers, though I bear them no grudge. Enjoy. John

21

Largest   Specimen   Ever   Killed   on   the Coast   Taken   Near   Pesca - dero. Word   was   received   in   this   City   yester - day   that   one   of   the   whaling   crews   which have   been   searching   in   the   vicinity   of Pigeon   Point   since   the   2nd   of   August   had caught   a   whale.   Two   whaling   crews   were taken   to   the   vicinity   by   the   excursion steamer   Queen.   The   excursionists   re - mained   in   the   vicinity   only   one   day,   but the   whalers   stayed   in   their   small   boats, coming   ashore   each   night.   According   to the   dispatch   the   whale   was   captured   by John   Gavin's   crew,   and   in   tbe   struggle   a boat   was   smashed   and   one   man   was   dan - gerously   wounded.   The   whale   is   reported to   be   eighty   feet   long   and   fourteen   feet wide,   the   largest   ever   caught   off   the   coast. A   tug   was   sent   to   'he   scene   of   the   cap - ture   last   night   and   the   whale   will   proba - bly   reach   here   this   afternoon.   The   excur - sion   managers   say   that   if   they   can   pro - cure   the   shears   of   tbe   Union   Iron   Works to   lift   the   carcass   on   a   barge   it   will   be   on exhibition   Sunday. 2223 ------------------------ Hi June, Here's an interesting, if politically incorrect, story about an unusual fundraising effort. Enjoy. John P.S. Cbsr.tabbec.com is having hardware problems, but the Library of Congress has a lot of California newspapers too. This is from there. 2567]]>
3140 2009-03-06 13:49:47 2009-03-06 17:49:47 closed closed 1896-big-pescadero-whaleon-exhibition publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1236460513 _edit_last 1
1895: Bicylists Stranded in Pescadero http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/03/09/1895-bicylists-stranded-in-pescadero/ Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:05:16 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3163 11111
Hi June,
Here's a little bicycle gossip excerpt from the August 17, 1895 issue of "The San Francisco Call." Enjoy. John
Harry F. Terrill and Captain Theo C. Dodge, the two Bay City wheelmen who started last Tuesday for a wheeling trip along the coast, have met with seveal setbacks, according to a letter the writer received from Terrill yesterday. He says: We had a fine ride until we struck the Alpine road, when my sprocket broke. Dodge pushed me from there clear into Pescadero, and just as we reached here we had a collision and wrecked my wheel and also did some damage to Theo's. Will wait here--Pescadero--for two days to get some parts from the City, but as Pescadero has four pretty girls to one homely fellow--and as Theo and I are both handsome fellows--well, you can guess the rest. We met Will Searles, an old-time Bay City, who works in the Bank of Califonria, about ten miles from here fishing in the Pescadero Creek. Regards to all the boys.]]>
3163 2009-03-09 13:05:16 2009-03-09 17:05:16 closed closed 1895-bicylists-stranded-in-pescadero publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1236618337 _edit_last 1
Erich von Neff: Cycling Stories http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/03/09/erich-von-neff-cycling-stories/ Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:14:41 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3169 Fatty Arbuckle’s Nephew Gains a Lap on the Old San Jose Velodrome and the Los Angeles Six erich-242x300By Erich von Neff Vince Gatto Slammed up against the Goodyear Tire sign stapled to the fencing encircling the track. Part of the sign peeled off. Vince’s back wheel rose momentarily from the track, and he was still pedaling. The cardboard sign became enmeshed between his chain and front sprocket, and Vince was flailing the pedals, shredding up the sign. He hung there for a split second, then he began tumbling down the banking. The sign was still caught in his chainwheel, and I heard the sign tearing as he came down. All this seemed to take place in slow motion, but really it took one or two seconds at most. Fortunately by now the field was heading toward the opposite banking and the relief riders were safely strung out away from the spill. Even before Vince hit the bottom warm up of the track his trainers were rushing toward the banking. They pulled him out of the way of the oncoming field, because at full jam the field could swing around the 10 lap to the mile Velodrome in 10 seconds. Harry Guidi looked at me. He didn’t say anything. But I knew Vince was finished not only for the race, but for a hell of a long while. I sat there with Harry’s army blanket draped over my shoulders. I had my racing tights and jersey on, but my partner, former six day biker, Oscar Juner, had gotten the flu, so there I was watching the race. I heard an ambulance siren in the distance. Suddenly Harry grabbed the blanket off me. In the infield I could see Gus Gatto’s trainers refitting my Durkopp track bike with a pair of Vince’s extra track wheels, which he had mounted with Continental Holzbahn tyres. Harry gave me a push and I started down the grandstands towards my bike which was now upright and waiting on the warm up side of the track. Gus’s trainers looked and talked like trigger men in “The Godfather.” They were both about 5’9” and barrel chested with matty hair protruding over, around the neck of their sweat-stained T-shirts. As soon as I reached my machine they lifted me onto it like a rag doll. Then they pulled off my jersey and put on one of Vince’s jerseys. It was blue and said “U.S.I.” --- which stood for “Unione Sportiva Italiana.” Then they pushed me into the fray. At the same time they shouted, “Kid, you gotta help Gussie out.” I started climbing up the outer lip of the track to the top of the 55’ banking. As I said I had been given an extra pair of Vince’s track wheels. Vince always filled his tires with helium. They were “bombed to 140-150 psi and sometimes when they overheated during a race, they would burst like a cannon. Filling your tires like that is called dynamiting them. And as I rode up to the top of the banking I had the feeling I was riding something strangely alive and highly dangerous. And that’s how they made me feel. I swung past the torn Goodyear Tire sign and was looking over my shoulder for the oncoming field. Jim Arbuckle, Fatty Arbuckle’s nephew, was leading the field; we used to rib him about his uncle and he was sensitive about Fatty Arbuckle’s affair with Virginia Rapp. I saw Gus neatly tucked in the middle of the pack. Now a board track constructed in the old six day style has a tendency to give and sway slightly. As the pack approached I could feel a rippled through the boards preceding the pack, and it was exciting to my muscles and at the same time frightening. I spotted where Gus was in the pack and dove down the banking to intercept him. Jim Arbuckle shot by followed by the Lauracella brothers, and the field, then finally my partner Gus. He grabbed me by my jamming tool tucked in my racing tights (basically a rolled piece of cloth your partner can grab hold of), and shouted, “Set me up for the next sprint.” I felt like I was being pushed by an express train when he shoved me into the field. ****** This was a team race with twelve two-man teams. In a team race one man rides the field, the other rides relief, circling slowly above the relief line halfway up the track. Riding slowly on a 55’ banking can be a bit of an art and damn hairy. Classically the teams exchange each time the field rider intercepts the relief rider. This may be occurring every 20 seconds* on a 10 lap to the mile track, and with 12 teams, 24 men exchanging, you’d better be a damn good bike handler. Especially in those days when foul rules were almost non-existent. There was plenty of elbowing and cutting in and out. But in spite of this there were very few spills, for, by tacit agreement, riders often helped each other out to prevent the field from spilling. In a way Vince had been lucky. At least the whole damn field hadn’t run over him. He had been the unfortunate victim of crowding. When occasionally the field and relief riders bunch together on the banking crowding the highest man on the banking into the railing, simply because there is no more room. Usually you can see this coming or lean down on the next man. But sometimes it’s unavoidable. ****** The race became a blur of flashing cranks, sparks when pedals collided, jerseys darting in and out, oaths shouted when exchanges were missed, accompanied by the background cheers of the crowd and the bell whenever there was a sprint. It was a pleasure to set Gus up for the springs. (He was the sprinter and I was the jammer.) He could come through any sort of pocket and could nip the field on the line. My friend Henry McWhirter who’d raced against Major Taylor, the black World spring champion (1899), told me that Gus raced like Major Taylor did. And I know that was a hell of a compliment coming from Henry, as he had beaten World Champion Frank L. Kramer in his prime at the Sacramento Velodrome, but was always left in the dust by the “Black Whirlwind.” So far the field was on even laps. But I could tell Jim Arbuckle wanted to go for a lap on the field. I tried to stick to Jim’s wheel like glue, but it was like trying to stay behind a motorcycle. Finally Arbuckle’s partner, von Angel, the Marine, shot around Gus just after the spring. Gus and the field started trailing behind. I tore down the banking and Gus gave me a hell of a hand sling and I tucked onto Arbuckle’s wheel just as he and von Angel had made their exchange. We were clear of the field. Jim was going so fast I could not even trade pace with him. But he didn’t seem to give a damn. He thundered around the track. After eight laps of blistering pace, with exchanges, we gained three-quarters of a lap. Gus and I were ahead on points so I thought we had the race in the bag. I could hear the crowd roar. The announcer kept calling out the prize money being collected from the crowd for the first team to gain a lap. It was now up to $200, and as I heard the bell for the spring I thought: Just 10 more minutes and our win will be history. Suddenly I heard what sounded like one of the 105 Howitzers I had fired in the Marines. Then my front wheel collapsed. Disintegrated is more like it. Vince not only bombed his tyres, he used 28 hole rims instead of 36, and they were laced tight. The spokes sounded like a harp as they spun through the air. Before I could regain my senses Gus’s goons had a new wheel on my machine, and had me mounted on the bike and strapped in. I looked up to see Jim Arbuckle sprint into the back of the pack, he had gained his lap. Gus’s handlers shoved me just ahead of the oncoming field and shouted their chorus, “Come on, kid, you gotta help Gussie out.” But I’d had it. It was all I could do to stay with the field the rest of the race. The gun went off and Arbuckle and von Angel were circling the track waving to the cheering crowd. They’d deserved their win. I couldn’t complain. We’d taken second place, and won good money in the sprints. I looked up at Arbuckle, smiling. He’d gotten back at us for the ribbing we’d given him about his uncle, Fatty Arbuckle. *Because the relief rider is also circling slowly on the track. But he cannot ride too slowly on the 55 degree banking, otherwise he will fall. Author Erich Von Neff is a San Francisco Longshoreman. ---------------------------------- Hi June, I just finished the cycling web page I mentioned earlier.  It took place near San Gregorio in 1964 and there are photos of Erich and Steve Lubin.  It's at: http://www.velovecchio.com/sangregtt/sgtt.html Best wishes, Don Martinich ]]> 3169 2009-03-09 14:14:41 2009-03-09 18:14:41 closed closed erich-von-neff-cycling-stories publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1236623098 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: Proposed Tunnel (Ocean Shore RR) http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/03/10/john-vonderlin-proposed-tunnel-ocean-shore-rr/ Tue, 10 Mar 2009 22:38:27 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3175 Story from John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
I've attached the ScreenShot of a newspaper article from the Newspaper Archives that probably explains the proposed Ocean Shore Railroad tunnel that Angelo mentioned having read something about.  As Angelo mentioned, there was a lot of promoting, marketing, and outright hot air associated with their pronouncements, plans and press releases. This is probably a good example of that. Angelo thought the $500K tunnel was to solve the Waddell Bluffs landslide problem and although this article doesn't mention the tunnel's location, I think he is right. Enjoy. John
OCEAN SHORE IN GOOD SHAPE SAYS RECEIVER
The San Francisco Call
December 10th, 1909
Eastern Capitalists Seek to Purchase Road...Receiver F.S. Stratton of the Ocean Shore Railway Company received a report of the physical condition of the road yesterday which, "in his opinion, considerably lightens the company's financial problems."  There are 54 miles of track completed and only 30 miles yet to be laid, of which fifteen miles have been graded and made ready for rails. The main expense will be in a tunnel, which will cost at least $500,000. "Everything is going well," said Stratton, "and there is every prospect of the road pulling througfh successfully. For this reason it is better I disclose none of the details of its finances out of court."
The selection of an attorney for the receiver is yet to be announced, although it is believed Stratton's law partner, Walter Kaufman, will get the place. Besides the transcontinental, a syndicate of Eastern capitalists is known to have made overtures for the purchase of the road.
61
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3175 2009-03-10 18:38:27 2009-03-10 22:38:27 closed closed john-vonderlin-proposed-tunnel-ocean-shore-rr publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1236724709 _edit_last 1
Photographer Joel Bratman Invites You to View His Images from Around the Globe http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/03/10/photographer-joel-bratman-invites-you-to-view-his-images-from-around-the-globe/ Wed, 11 Mar 2009 03:57:04 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3178 110053336b4bjphxz110053370x7ycej3u To enjoy Joel Bratman's photos, please click here or check out these links Folks, I've made a few updates to my PBase photo gallery. Graffiti of Point Bonita http://www.pbase.com/trut_maluglist/graffiti_of_point_bonita Franklin Point http://www.pbase.com/trut_maluglist/fp Montreal http://www.pbase.com/trut_maluglist/montreal San Felipe, Mexico http://www.pbase.com/trut_maluglist/san_felipe San Jose Giants vs. Rancho Cucamonga Quakes http://www.pbase.com/trut_maluglist/sjgiantsrcquakes To see a list of all galleries: http://www.pbase.com/trut_maluglist/root&view=tree - Joel ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Joel Bratman PO Box 7171 San Jose, CA  95150 408-242-4055 jdb329@earthlink.net http://www.pbase.com/trut_maluglist ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~]]> 3178 2009-03-10 23:57:04 2009-03-11 03:57:04 closed closed photographer-joel-bratman-invites-you-to-view-his-images-from-around-the-globe publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1236744188 _edit_last 1 100 Years Ago: Golden Rumors http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/03/14/100-years-ago-golden-rumors/ Sun, 15 Mar 2009 02:43:25 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3185 Gold is the seductress that weaves a spell over those who become obsessed with finding her.
Pulses raced when the official 1888 “Report of the State Mineralogist” listed the discovery of a ledge of quartz, said to contain silver and gold on Ote Durham’s Tunitas Creek ranch. Speculators were also panning for gold on the glittering black sands of the Denniston Ranch, located about one mile north of Amesport Landing in Miramar. Prospector interest in this beach was maintained for two years when W.R. Welch announced his plans to use a new invention that tested the gold richness of sand. Evidently the gold detector was  worth the investment: Welch supposedly found enough of the precioius metal “to yield a good margin of profit.” A later edition of the “State Mineralogist” tells us that the source of “the fine gold that trickled down Denniston Creek could probably be traced to the quart veins found in “Montara granite rock.” In the early 1950s three ounces of gold, one ounce of silver and a small quanity of platinum were said “to have been produced fro placers in the vicinity of Pescadero Beach by small-scale methods.” In 1913, inquiries swamped the San Mateo County Clerk’s office regarding an alleged cache of gold, said to be worth $300,000, that had been buried somewhere on the old Herling ranch in Half Moon Bay. The Herlings were described as a wealthy, distinguished family from Austria who left their country “under mysterious circumstances.” The Herlings gold (if it ever actually existed) was never found.]]> 3185 2009-03-14 22:43:25 2009-03-15 02:43:25 closed closed 100-years-ago-golden-rumors publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1237085010 _edit_last 1 WAS BLACK GOLD FOUND AT BEAN HOLLOW? .....Story from John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/03/14/was-black-gold-found-at-bean-hollow-story-from-john-vonderlin/ Sun, 15 Mar 2009 02:52:58 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3188 Story from John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June,
I'm going to build one of these contraption (per description) as a piece of Marine Debris artplay. My belief is that there is virtually no gold on Bean Hollow Beach and that this was a scam. But, I'll check. Enjoy. John
SAN   MATEO   GOLD. The   Black   Sand   Said   to   Yield   In   Paylng Quantities. That   San   Mateo   County   should   come   for - ward   at   this   late   day   as   an   exporter   of   gold is   something   astonishing,   yet   that   is   what has   now   come   to   pass     Calvin   Sweet   seems to   be   solving   the   problem   of   how   to   get   a fortune   out   of   black   sand,   which,   in   this   red - wood   and   cheese   country,   is   astonishing. That black sand  should   be   found   here   in   such quantities   is   somewhat   surprising;   that   a process   for   its   successful   treatment,   which his   eluded   the   vigilance   of   the   best   experts of   the   mining   camps   lor   years,   should   be inaugurated   among   us   Is   equally   so;   that   a man   who   has   spent   nearly   the   whole   of   a long   life   in   the   carpentry   business   should prove   the   lucky   inventor   of   a   successful process   is   more   so.   The   black   sand   re - ferred   to   is   found   at   the   mouth   of   Bean Hollow,   three   miles   from   the   Swanton House,   Pescadero,   and   within   a   stone's throw   of   the   surf.   Yon   can   dig   it   up   by   the shovelful.   Not   a   hundred   yards   away   Mr. Sweet's   little   girl   was   picking   wild   straw - berries   from   among   the   daisies   as   the   Times- Gazette   man   quizzed   the   boys   working   the machine   and   watched   their   father   retort   a clean-up   showing   pretty   gold   worth   $18   the ounce. A   canvas   hose   from   a   reservoir   of   pure spring   water   delivers   a   gentle   stream   into   a trough,   Into   which   the   sand   is   shoveled,   and which   empties   it   onto   a   series   of   board   sur - faces,   one   foot   by   two,   set   out   from   a   center post   as   the   threads   of   a   screw,   aud   inclined inwardly   a   very   little.   Below   them   is   a round   table   constructed   about   the   central post,   six   feet   in   diameter   and   beveled   a   little outwardly.   These   surfaces   are   covered   with Brussels   carpet.   The   post   is   four   feet   high, six   inches   square,   and   is   mounted   on   two metal   wheels   free   to   move,   as   the   casters of   a   bedpost.   A   pin   in   the   center   of the   post   is   inserted   in   the   middle   of   a   steel plate,   whose   surface   is   corrugated.   On   this surface   the   wheels   travel   and   the   corruga - tions   give   a   gentle   vertical   oscillation   to   the post   and   its   attached   platforms   wben   in motion.   Motion   is   by   hand-power   and   av - erages   thirty   revolutions   per   minute,   the boy   who   runs   it   being   six   feet   away.   The centrifugal   force   of   the   revolving   post throws   most   of   the   black   sand   off   the   edge of   tbe   circular   platform.   What   remains caught   in   the   carpet   surface   is   washed   out The   gold   is   then   separated   in   the   usual   min - ing   method   oy   means   of   a   miner's   horn, it   is   then   amalgamated,   retorted   aud   cleanedolO with   acetic   acid.—Times-Gazette. 1415 ]]>
3188 2009-03-14 22:52:58 2009-03-15 02:52:58 closed closed was-black-gold-found-at-bean-hollow-story-from-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1237137055 _edit_last 1
Henry Cowell File: Surprise Wedding (Story from John Vonderlin) http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/03/15/henry-cowell-file-surprise-wedding-story-from-john-vonderlin/ Sun, 15 Mar 2009 17:18:41 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3195 Story from John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June, While this brings to a close, at least as far as I can find in the old San Francisco newspapers, this sad dispute, there is the untold story of the Cowells',  Majors',  Coons' and   the "love child's" lives after this time.  I'll relate some of that in my next posting on this matter. Enjoy. John MARRIED   TO   A   DRUGGIST Mrs.   Majors   Abandons   Her   Big Suit   Against   Harry CowelL. The   Groom   Owns   Real   Estate   and Was   Once   Chief   Clerk   in the   Postofflce. A   most   sensational   breach-of-promise suit,   and   one   that   has   occupied   the   courts and   the   newspapers   for   the   past   year   and a   half,   was   brought   to   a   sudden   and   unex - pected   close   by   the   marriage   of   Mrs.   Rob - ert   Majors   of   Santa   Cruz,   plaintiff   in   the $50,000   damage   suit   against   Harry   Cowell, whose   father,   Henry   Cowell,   is   the   well - known   San   Francisco   lime   king,   to   George M.   Coon,   a   prominent   druggist   of   this City. The   marriage,   which   will   prove   a   great surprise   to   the   many   friends   of   both   par - ties,   took   place   on   the   27th   of   April   last   in the   city   of   Oakland,   and   was   conducted   in the   quietest   manner   possible   by   the groom,   who   is   of   a   modest,   retiring   dispo - sition   and   feared   the   newspaper   comments likely   to   follow   the   announcement   of   his marriage   to   Mrs.   Majors,   whose   big breach-of-promise   suit   has   gained   for   her much   unenviable   notoriety—a   fact   due,   no doubt,   to   both   parties   being   so   well   known throughout   the   State. Mrs.   Majors   is   a   granddaughter   of   old Rafael   Castro,   who   left   thousands   of   cattle and   rich   Spanish   grants   to   his   descend - ants. Mrs.   Majors   was   first   married   to   her cousin,   Robert   Majors,   who   was   also   a Castro   and   a   wealthy   land-owner   in   Santa Cruz.   Some   years   after   their   marriage   he was   drinking   in   the   saloon   of   Jack   Merrill in   Santa   Cruz,   when   some   words   passed between   himself   and   his   friend   "Johnny" Harris.   "Bob"   Majors   had   no   idea   of fear   and   was   ever   ready   with   his   gun. When   the   dispute   was   settled   Harris   had six   bullet-holes   through   his   heart   and Majors   had   three   or   four   scattered   about through   his   body,   from   the   effects   of which   he   died   one   year   after. Before   and   after   the   death   of   Majors young   Cowell   was   a   visitor   to   the   Majors' home,   their   land   adjoining   that   of   his father.   These   visits   resulted   in   the   bring - ing   of   the   $50,000   damage   suit   some   time after   Majors'   death.   Since   then   Mrs. Majors   has   been   almost   constantly   before the   public.   At   one   time   it   was   reported and   believed   by   many   of   her   friends   that she   had   been   abducted   or   in   some   manner made   away   with   by   the   Cowells,   and   the newspapers   teemed   with   her   portraits   and startling   theories   of   the   abduction.   Mean - while   she   was   in   this   city   lying   at   the point   of   death   from   pneumonia,   and   being tenderly   nursed   and   looked   after   by   the gentleman   who   is   now   her   husband."   Mr. Coon   was   for   sir   years   chief   mailing   clerk in   the   San   Francisco   Postoffioe. He   is   also   a   wealthy   land-owner,   having much   valuable   property   in   this   City.   He will   soon   begin   the   building   of   a   splendid City   home   on   his   property   near   the   new French   Hospital.   His   wife's   property   in Santa   Cruz,   he   says,   will   be   fitted   up   as   a summer   residence,   where   their   many friends   will   be   royally   entertained   by   them. In   regard   to   the   suit   against   Harry Cowell,   Mr.   Coon   declares   that   the   public will   hear   no   more   about   it   from   either   him - self   or   his   wife,   and   that   they   will   do   all they   can   to   banish   from   their   memory an   incident   in   life   that   had   brought   only sorrow   and   mortifying   publicity   to   his wife.

17 ]]> 3195 2009-03-15 13:18:41 2009-03-15 17:18:41 closed closed henry-cowell-file-surprise-wedding-story-from-john-vonderlin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1237137896 _edit_last 1 Henry Cowell File: The Cowells and the Castros, A true California story.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/03/16/henry-cowell-file-his-fickle-love/ Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:20:45 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3201 171162172 Story from John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)

Hi June,
With the Cowell/Purisima Coastal Trail set to open this Spring this juicy little story about one of the heirs of the Cowell Family seems timely. I have at least one sequel to this sad, but common story,**but am still looking for the end of the story. Will the cad Harry be forced to stand up to his responsibilities? Was Harry's heart cut out and his body dragged through the streets of Santa Cruz? Whatever happened to the innocent love child? This is from the April 1, 1894 issue of "The Morning Call."  Enjoy. John
HIS   FICKLE   LOVE. Harry   Cowell   Sued   for Thousands. MRS.   MAJORS   HEAVY   CLAIM. Breach   of   Promise   and   Heir-ship   of   Her   Child. ON   THE   CIRCUIT   COURT   DOCKET. The   Plaintiff   Is   of   the   Old   Castro Family,   and   the   Defendant   Is Heir   to   Millions. One   of   the   most   sensational   breach   of promise   cases   ever   brought   to   trial   in   this city   was   placed   on   the   calendar   of   the United   States   Circuit   Court   yesterday.   It will   be   tried   about   the   middle   of   May. The   defendant   in   the   case,   Harry  S. Cowell,   is   the   second   son   of   Henry:   C. Cowell,   the   millionaire   lime-king of   Santa Cruz.   Tbe   Cowells   are   in  the   lime   and cement   business,   at   211   and   213   Drumm street,   in   this   city,   and   reside 'at   413   Hyde street.  The   plaintiff:   is   Mary   Antonia   Castro Majors,   and   she   is   a   granddaughter   of   the old   Alcalde,   Rafael   Castro,   who   came   to Santa   Cruz   with   the   Spanish,   priests;   a. hundred   years   ago.   She   has   money   and friends   and   a   strong   determination   and
will   fight   the   case   to   the   finish.   Her   law - yers   are   confident   of   success   and   have letters   written   by   Harry   Cuwell   that   will cause   a   tremendous   sensation   when   pro - duced   in   court. The   woman   sues   to   recover   $50,000   for breach   of   promise   and   will   contest   for   a large   share   of   his   wealth,   which   she   de - clares   belongs   to   their   child   and   his   heir. Tbe   suit   was   originally   commenced   in the   Superior   Court   of   Santa   Cruz. The   woman   tells   a   strong   story   of   her love   for   Cowell   and   of   his   desertion.   In an   interview   yesterday   she   said   he would   pay   dearly   for   the   humiliation   he had   brought   upon   her,   "or,"   she   added, "I   will   cut   his   heart   out   of   his   false   body and   drag   it   through   the   streets   of   Santa Cruz." And   the   slender   bands   clutched   until the   shapely   nails   cut   deep   into   the   brown flesh.   Tbe   color   came and   went   in   the Spanish   face,   while   the   flashing   black eyes   boded   no   good   for   the   future   welfare of   tbe   truant   Harry   Cowell. It   is   almost   a   century   since   the   old   Al - calde,   Rafael   Castro,   grandfather   of   Mary Antonia   Castro   Majors,   came   to   the   city of   Santa   Cruz   and   builded   him   a   home and   reared   his   children   in   the   old   adobe known   as   the   Cattro   mansion.   All   of   the woodwork   and   heavy   timbers   in   the   man - sion   were   brought   around   Cape   Horn,   and are   to-day   in   a   perfect   state   of   preserva - tion,   though   the   sparkling   eyed   senoritas and   the   caballeros   are   long   since   dead,   and their   descendants,   a   mere   handful, crowded   to   the   farther   corners,   where   they occupy   little   tramped-up   garden   spots   or crevices   in   the   bills   with   just   enough   soil to   live   upon. Yet,   time   was,   when   the   Castro   brothers, Rafael,   Joaquin,   and   Jose   Ignacio,   owned thousands   upon   thousands   of   acres   of   the finest   land   in   the   State   of   California.   But the   greedy,   grasping   American   came,   and the   story   was   soon   told   and   time's   mantle of   oblivion   clings   as   closely   about   the early   history   of   the   Castro   family   as   does the   old   English   ivy   around   the   crumbling walls   of   the   Castro mansion. It   was   here   that   Antonio   Castro,   father of   Henry   Antonia   Castro   Majors,   was   born. When   quite   a   young   man   he   went   to   San Luis   Obispo.   where   he   married   Mary   Jack - son,   an   English   heiress   of   good   family. He   owned   a   large   dairy   and   other   valuable property   in   San   Luis   Obispo. After   the   birth   of   his   daughter,   Mary Antonia,   he   returned   to   Santa   Cruz,   where in   due   course   of   time   she   married   her cousin,   Robert   Majors.   His   mother   was Maria   de   Los   Auceles   Castro,   a   daughter of   the   old   Alcalde   Rafael   Castro,   she   hav - ing  married  Joseph   Majors,   a   brainy   En - glishman who   for   some   price   long   since forgotten;   bought of   the   old lndian   Chief Cinote  a portion   of the   land   now   covered by   the city of  Santa   Cruz,   Mission   Hill, Logan Hills, Limekilns   and   the   bitumen mines. On a slight bluff of  land   a   mile   west   of town  Mr. Majors   built   him   a   home costing $40,000   Years   after   his   death   the house with  all   it   contained   was   burned   to the   ground. Some fifty feet below  the   house,   on   a beautiful   stream   of   water   known   as 'Majors Creek, Joseph   Majors   built   a   grist - vmill   costing $30,000. This   mill   ground   the first   flour in the valley. To-day   the   old   mill,   with   its   broken wheel   and weather-beaten  boards,   stands a grim monument to the sleeping past.
Just  in the shadow of  the   mill   is   a   little old   whitewashed   shanty:   at   the   door   a peach-tree   in   full bloom;   across   its   per - fumed  limbs  are   a   half   dozen   strips   of *'jerky"   drying   .in.   ilie'   sun.   Tied   to   the eaves   of   the low-roofed house   is   a   string   of crimson   peppers   reaching   nearly   to   the ground.   Inside   is   Maria   de   Los   Angeles Castro   Majors   her   only.   companions   are her   aged relatives,  poverty,   a.   broken guitar   and   memories  of   earlier   and   happier days;
At   the   death   of   Joseph   Majors,   Robert his   son,   inherited   much   of:   his   father's valuable   property.   He   was   part   owner and   manager   of   the   bitumen  mines,   and lived   with   his   family   on   a   farm   adjoining the   lime-kiln   property   of   the   millionaire Cowell.
Some   four   years   ago   Bob   Majors,   as   he was   familiarly   called   by   his   friends, strolled   into   Jock   Merrill's   saloon.   Here he   met   several   friends,   among   them Jimmy   Harris.   Some   sharp   words   passed between   Majors   and   Harris,   who   had always   been   the   best   of   friends.   Harris, without   taking   his   pistol   from   his   pocket, shot   Majors   three   times,   one   shot   passing nearly   through   his   body, another   through tbe   flesh   of   the   right   leg,   and   a   third lodged   in   tbe   hipbone   of   the   left   leg.   This shot   caused   his   death   eleven   mouths   there - after. Majors,   who   was   known   to   be   the   best shot   and   one   of   the   bravest   men   in   tbe State,   turned   coolly   upon   Harris   and quicker   than   a   flash   sent   six   bullets through   his   heart. Majors   was   taken   home,   and   during   his long   illness   and   pathetic   death   his   brother Odd   fellows   were   in   constant   attendance, doing   all   in   their   power   to   alleviate   his
suffering   and   comfort   his   afflicted   family.; At   bis   death   they   assumed   guardianship over   the   widow   and   the   seven   orphaned children. During   Bob   Majors'   long   illness   Henry C.   Cowell   and   his   two   sons,   Ernest   and Harry,   called   several   times   each   week   to ask   about   his   welfare. When   the   funeral   was   over   Harry Cowell   still   contiuued   his   visits   to   the widow—and   here   was   the   beginning   of   the end. With   his   superior   business   judgment, being   a   money-making   man   of   the   world, he   advised   her   as   to   many   things,   sucb   as the   building   of   fences,   roads   and   bridges, and   various   ways   of   improving   the   rancho, thereby   winning   her   confidence   and   friend - ship,   and,   long   before   she   knew   it,   her heart's   affection   as   well. Then   began   his   love-making   and   prom - ises   of   marriage;   and   as   'he   never   made any   secret   of   bis   preference   for  her   she did   not   dream   of   doubting   bis   sincerity. Together   they   walked   arm   in   arm   along the   lane   leading   from   the   senior   Cowell's home   to   that   owned   by   Mrs,   Majors. Together   they   drove   into   town   several times   a   week;   In   fact,   they   were   seen   con - tinually   in   each   others'   company,   and   the public   had   grown   so   accustomed   to   seeing them   thus   that   comments   were   seldom passed   upon   the   subject.   She   says   he   had said   to   her   many   times,   "I   love   you   and will   make   you   my   wife   any   time   that   you may   name,"   and   she,   happy   and   content in   her   love   and   confidence   in   him,   waited from   month   to   month   for   a   more   oppor - tune   time.   Several   times   he   had   said: "We   must   be   married   soon,   for   I   cannot permit   people   to   say   unkind   things   of   the moiher of   my   child.   l am   pleased   that   a child   of   mine   should   be   the   first   heir   to   in - herit   the   Cowell   millions,"   are   words   she alleges   he   uttered. He   even   insisted,   so   the   woman   declares, on   bringing   a   minister   to   the   house   to   per - form   the   marriage   ceremony. But   a   young   son   of   Mrs.   Majors   had   been brought home   a   short   time   before   with   a badly   crushed   knee.   The   bouse   was   all   con - fusion   and   disorder,   and   she   proposed   go - ing   to   town   to   be   married. Then   a   happy   thought   occurred   to   him. He   had   received   a   letter   from   his   mother and   sisters,   wbo   reside   in   an   elegant   home at   413   Hyde   street,   in   this   city,   inviting him   to   take   dinner   with   them. The   fateful   to-morrow   being   Wednes - day   he   said   he   would   go   to   the   city   and   re - main   over   Thursday,   aud   on   Friday   morn - ing's   early   train   he   would   go   to   San   Jose, where   she   should   meet   him   in   the   depot. They   would   then   go   to   a   minister   and   be married. From   there   they   would   go   to   Salinas   on a   wedding   tour,   and   rpturn   to   Santa   Cruz whenever   it   should   best   suit   them.   This arrangement   being   perfectly   satisfactory he   slipped   the   plain   gold   ring   from   her finger   that   her   dead   husband   had   given her   for   a   wedding   ring,   saying   he   would take   it   as   a   measure   for   a   diamond   ring which   be   would   put   on   her   fiuger   at   San Jose. Then   after   repeatedly   cautioning   her not   to   disappoint   him,   but   to   be   sure   and meet   him   in   the   station   at   San   Jose   Fri - day   morning,   he   took   his   departure,   and from   that   day   to   this   Mary   Antonia   Castro Majors   has   never   set   eyes   on   Harry   Cowell or   the   plain   gold   ring. Thanksgiving   morning   Mrs.   Majors   came to   town   and   saw   Senator   Burk   and   L.   F. Smith,   as   well   as   many   other   friends,   and told   them   she   was   on   her   way   to   San   Jose, where   she   would   be   married   to   Harry Cowell   on   the   following   day.   They   all congratulated   her   upon   her   apparent   good fortune. Being   short   of   money   she   went   to   Char - lie   Clark,   the   jeweler,   and   got   £30,   telling him   for   what   purpose   she   wanted   the money.   All   of   these   witnesses   hare   been subpenaed   to   testify   at   the   trial. In   San   Jose   she   remained   over   night   at the   St.   Charles   Hotel.   In   the   morning   she went   to   the   station,   and   there,   in   the   cold cheerless   waiting-room,   she   sat   all   day, eagerly   scanning   the   face   of   each   new - comer,   searching   in   vain   for   the   bride - groom   that   never   came. When   the   last   train   of   cars   in   the   even - ing   pulled   out   for   Santa   Cruz   she   came in   me,   cold,   lonely   nnd   deserted,   with heart   and   brain   filled   with   strange   fore - bodings   of   evil,   yet   never   for   a   moment doubting   him.   She   kept   saying   over   and over   to   herself,   "There   has   been   some   mis - take,   something   dreadful   has   happened   to him." On   reaching   Santa   Cruz   she   drove   out   to the   senior   Cowell's   place,   feeling   sure   that some   massage   was   awaiting   her   there. The   house   was   dark   and   the   sleepy   ser - vants   declared   that   none   of   the   family was   at   borne   and   that   there   was   no   mes - saee   for   her. Then,   for   the   first   time.   It   slowly   dawned ucon   her   that   she   had   been   duped   and   de - ceived   and   made   the   shame   and   laughing - stock   of   the   community   in   which   she lived,   and   her   fury   had   no   bounds,   and well   it   was   for   faithless   Harry   Cowell   that he   was   not   within   reach   of   those   slender cruel   hands   that   night. When   sufficiently   recovered   from   the first   shock   of   mortification   and   disappoint - ment   Mrs.   Majors   came   to   town   and   by ber   attorney.   Senator   Bart   Burk,   filed   a complaint   in   the   Superior   Court   of   the county   of   Santa   Cruz,   charging   Harry Cowell   with   breach   of   promise   of   mar - riaee   and   asking   for   $50,000   damages. •   After   having   resided   in   the   State   of Washington   for   two   years   Cowell   returned to   Santa   Cruz.   The   papers   in   the   case were   immediately   served   upon   him,   and lie   by   his   attorney,   £.   S.   Pillsbury,   filed an   order   transferring   the   cause   from   the Superior   Court   of   the   county   of   Santa Cruz   to   the   Circuit   Court   In   this   city,   after which   be   returned   to   the   State   of   Wash - ington. Miss   Cowell,   a   sister   of   the   defendant, was   seen   at   the   family   residence   at   413 Hyde   street,   yesterday,   but   refused   to   dis. cuss   the   case.   She   was   the   only   member of   the   family   at   home   except   her   invalid mother,   tier   father   and   brother,   she   said, were   both   out   of   the   city. "I   know   nothing   of   my   brother's   affairs, and   the   case   of   which   you   speak   has   never been   mentioned   to   me."   she   said.   "Mv father   will   probably   return   In   a   few   days." When   asked   when   her   brother   would return.   Miss   Cowell   said: "I   don't   know,   but   we   expeot   them   both very   soon." Mr.   Pillsbury,   who   represents   young Cowell,   Is   also   out   of   town. ------------------- **Please read the sequel below.]]>
3201 2009-03-16 11:20:45 2009-03-16 15:20:45 closed closed henry-cowell-file-his-fickle-love publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1237218256 _edit_last 1
Alligator Rock Opens the Door to the South Coast http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/03/16/alligator-rock-opens-the-door-to-the-south-coast/ Tue, 17 Mar 2009 03:37:48 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3216 19 Story/Photos by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June, Here's a story from the March 2nd, 1902 issue of "The San Francisco Call," that deals with the treacherous passage around "Cape Horn," as the spot at Alligator Rock, San Mateo's southerly coastside entrance, was called. Enjoy. John P.S. I've attached a picture looking down at Alligator Rock and showing about where the stage road would have been. There's also a picture looking east from the end of the rock showing the remnant of the bluffs they had to get around. Also a picture looking north from the rock showing the view visitors to San Mateo would have first seen. Lastly a photo from the end of the rock catching some spray that almost got us. 18 SANTA CRUZ, March 1.—The Pescadero stage had a narrow escape from a disas - ter yesterday, and that no lives were lost is remarkable. Twenty miles up the coast the stage travels along the beach, which, at high tide, is often covered by water. Yesterday the ocean was higher than at any time ln thirty-five years. In the center of the beach it is very rocky and rough, with water on either side. When Driver James Harvey reached this point a monster wave dashed against the stage and upturned it. For two hours the horses, Harvey and the single passenger, William Steele, floundered in the cold waters of the Pa - cific. Fortunately both men were good swimmers. The horses were cut loose and found their way to dry land. Help arrived and after several hours work the stage was turned over. It was badly demolished. The vehicle weighed 1600 pounds and was hard to handle. The top nad been broken off-by the wave, the iron on the tongue snapped and the dou - ble-tree 'broken. The iron rim around the hub struck the rocks with such terrlflc force that it was bent as though of tin. ;• Special Dispatch to The Call. Wave .Carries Disaster to the Pescadero Coach.

bradleybeach-024 ]]> 3216 2009-03-16 23:37:48 2009-03-17 03:37:48 closed closed alligator-rock-opens-the-door-to-the-south-coast publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1237261069 _edit_last 1 1894: Henry Cowell Files// "Maria Major Vanishes. With the baby. Was it foul play?" asks John Vonderlin http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/03/21/henry-cowell-file-1903-the-lime-kings-will-is-incomplete/ Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:08:24 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3236 A STRANGE CASE. Mysterious Disappearance of Mrs. Majors. LEFT HOME A MONTH AGO. And Nothing Has Been Heard of Her Since. SHE TOOK HER CHILD WITH HER Her Relatives Believe She Has Been Abducted or Foully Dealt With. Santa Cruz. Dec. 22.—Relatives of Mrs. Robert Majors believe she has been abducted, for she has not been heard from by them for over a month. She is the plaintiff in a suit brought about a month ago for $50.000 for breach of promise against Harry Cowell, son| of the late Henry Cowell, a millionaire of San Fran - cisco. The suit was originally brought in this county and subsequently transferred to the United States Circuit Court, as the de - fendant is now a resident of Washington, having left here soon after suit was com - menced. It was a long time before papers could be served on him, as plaintiff's at - torneys did not know his whereabouts. One day he paid a flying visit to this city and then the summons was served. Mrs. Majors, who is the mother of seven children, resides near where are Cowell's kilns, of which defendant was superin - tendent. She alleges that defendant had intimate relations with her on a promise to marry, and that a child was the result. Recently Mrs. Majors, who has been re - siding with relatives here, was visited by a man named Patterson, who claimed to be a San Francisco private detective. He was accompanied by a woman and the next day after their appearance Mrs. Majors said he came to look after her pri - vate affairs. He was not known to any of her relatives, it is said that she mort - gaged her place for $5OO and gave the de - tective $40. When she left with the de - tective and tbe woman she said that she was going to San Francisco to prose - cute her case against Cowell and place the child in an orphan asylum. She also promised to write to her rela - tives, but not a word have they received, nor have they found any one who has seen her since she left. They believe that she has either been abducted or met with foul play. Mrs. Majors is a woman wbo weighs probably 200 pounds, of dark com - plexion and about 35 or 40 years old]]> 3236 2009-03-21 16:08:24 2009-03-21 20:08:24 closed closed henry-cowell-file-1903-the-lime-kings-will-is-incomplete publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1237860556 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin Sheds New Light on Gordon's Chute http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/03/23/what-john-vonderlins-been-up-to-youre-going-to-know-a-lot-more-about-gordons-chute/ Tue, 24 Mar 2009 02:01:55 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3249 Gordon's Chute" then I have seen anywhere else. It also reveals some differences from the generally known history of "The Chute." Did you read the HMB Review article about a young man who found "alien" scrawlings on the beach at Tunitas? Apparently, Jim*** is back. Enjoy. John A PICTURESQUE RUIN ALL THAT IS LEFT OF ALEXANDER GORDON'S GRAIN CHUTE One of the first enterprises of any magnitude, outside of mining, ever undertaken in California was the construction of Alexander Gordon's grain chute on the coast a few miles from Purissima, in San Mateo County. It was done way back in 1860, just after it was demonstrated that the best wheat in the world could be raised on the vast fields of the Santa Clara Valley. It was easy enough to grow the grain, but the trouble was to get it to market. Hauling it by teams to San Francisco was slow and expensive, so Alexander Gordon hit on the idea of his chute, and was not long in getting plenty of backing. It took several years to build the chute, and it is said to have cost over half a million dollars. When it was finished it was possible for a vessel to lie out in deep water, an eighth of a mile from land, and have the grain poured into her hold from a pipe or come to the deck in sacks as fast as they could be counted. This was accomplished by building a pier of piles out into the ocean the desired distance, and from the end of an inclined plane, carrying a smooth tube chute which reached to the top of the cliff, 150 feet high, on the shore. The wagons full of grain simply drove to the shore end of the chute and dumped their loads into it. Gravity carried the wheat to the vessel over a quarter of a mile away. To provide for occasions when there was no vessel to receive the grain, extensive warehouses were constructed on top of the cliff, in which it was store until wanted. There was a little city at the end of the chute and at least 100 men were employed in the different departments and in keeping it in order. The venture proved a failure on account of the dangerous locality in which it was located. Winds, fogs and treacherous currents sent several vessels that were being loaded ashore. Several men who operated [missing words] the water and were drownded. Loss of life was great and after two seasons the grain chute was abandoned. No attempt was made to remove any part of it until a few months ago, and it stood there thirty years at the mercy of wind and waves. Not much of the old pier is left standing now, but such as is is most picturesque. The old piles rise grimly from the water and the apron at the end creaks and growns dismally. The actions of the waves has washed out a large portion of the center of the pier so that it would be almost impossible to reach the end now even if one desired to. The work of removing the old warehouses and other buildings was completed a few weeks ago. All the iron work in the pier that could be reached was taken out. This has, of course, weakened the structure so that it can't be very long before the waves wash it out of existence. ========== ***Jim Denevan ]]> 3252 2009-03-23 22:01:55 2009-03-24 02:01:55 closed closed what-john-vonderlins-been-up-to-youre-going-to-know-a-lot-more-about-gordons-chute publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1237861962 _edit_last 1 1896: John Vonderlin's grateful "Colombia Cove" didn't stick http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/03/24/1896-john-vonderlins-glad-colombia-cove-didnt-stick/ Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:15:58 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3268 163 Story by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)

Hi June,
You might want to add this story from the July 19th, 1896  issue of the San Francisco Call to your Colombia shipwreck info collection. I've got a few others I'll send along about the scavenging, sightseeing boat excursions, etc. I'm glad the name Colombia Cove didn't stick. Enjoy. John.
COLOMBIA   COVE'S   WRECK The   Undoing   of   a   Stranded Liner   Viewed   by   Crowds of   Sightseers. Souvenir-Hunters   Besiege   the   Vessel in   Search   of   Relics   of   the Disaster. ON   BOARD   STEAMSHIP   COLOMBIA, ashore   off   Pigeon   Point   Light   (via   Pesca - dero,   Cal.),   July   18.―The   wrecking   of   the steamer   goes   on,   though   tbe   bay   (they call   it   Colombia   Cove   now)   is   calm   and the   breakers   stilled.   The   ship's   people know   that   at   any   time   the   waves   from   a local   blow,   or   a   mountainous   swell   boating in   from   some   far   off   gale   will   drive   tbe crew   ashore   and   finish   the   work   of   the reef. Everything   that   can   be   moved   and   re - moved   to   the   schooners   alongside   is wrenched   and   torn   from   its   fastenings   and hoisted   over   tbe   rail   with   the   still   useful donkey-engine. That   donkey-machine   has   immortalized itself.   While   the   great   main   engines   of the   ship   lie   dead   and   corroding   under water,   the   donkey-boiler,   perched   above the   sea,   is   in   action,   and   Fireman   Collins is   the   sooty   Casablanca   who   stays   by   the furnace. When   the   tide   registers   high   on   the liter-marks   on   the   bulkhead   and   his   fire sizzles   out   he   drops   his   shovel,   washes   his face   in   the   flood   that   chases   him   from   his post   and   goes   up   the   ladder.   Though   Col - lins   is   a   king   in   a   small   way.   he   can   stay the   sea   no   more   than   did   Canute   ages   ago; but   he   gets   a   good   head   of   steam   on   before the   water   laps   over   the   gratebars   and   the faithful   "donkey"   runs   until   the   tide   falls. Then   Collins   again   starts   his   fire   and   lor a   season   defies   the   waves. One   of   the   foremost   laborers   in   the   work of   stripping   the   steamer   is   Ship-Carpenter Wheaton.   He   assisted   in   building   the Colombia   and   is   now   engaged   in   undoing his   work.   With   chisel   and   crowbar   he ruthlessly   wrenches   mirrors,   desks,   wash - stands,   racks   and   lamps   from   their   places and   tosses   them   out   onto   the   deck   to   be hoisted   aboard   the   awaiting   schooners. He   removed   the   piano   from   the   saloon yesterday,   but   with   more   care   than   he   be - stows   on   his   other   plunder.   There   are three   other   pianos   down   in   the   flooded hold. The   only   idle   person   aboard   the   Colom - bia   is   Customs   Inspector   O'Leary,   who   is here   to   see   that   nothing   dutiable   washes out   through   the   holes   in   tie   hulk   without his   chalkmarks   thereon.   As   he   has   no diving   suit   he   is   unable   to   get   down   into the   hold   and   prevent   the   landing   of   the cargo,   and   consequently   he   is   in   a   quan - dary.   He   trusts   that   Deputy   Collector Bam   Rudell   will   understand   the   situation. The   only   foreign   importations   that   have escaped   him   thus   far   are   about   40,000,000 limes   that   have   gone   bobbing   merrily   one by   one   through   the   breakers   to   the   beach without   permission   lrom   the   Treasury Department.   Inspector   O'Leary   has   missed several   cases   of   men's   trousers   from   the ship,   which   have   gone   out   through   the shattered   bottom   and   have   disappeared. The   souvenir   fiend   has   come   down   upon the   helpless   ship.   Every   article   worthless for   practical   uses   has   been   picked   up, whether   floating   or   beached,   and   borne away   to   be   exhibited   in   after   years   as   a memento   of   Colombia   Cove's   last   victim. One   woman   tourist   from   Boston   found   on the   beach   a   sardine   can   which   Joe   Levy   of Pescadeo   had   thrown   away   after   eating   its contents   on   the   bluff   the   day   before. An   old   gentleman   hailing   from   Belve - dere   secured   a   driftinc   beer-bottle   and carried   it   away   in   triumph,   nor   recogniz - ing   it   as   having   accompanied   him   to   the locality   that   morning.   A   sweet   Stanford co-ed   risked   her   life   snatching   from   the salt   sea   waves   a   pocket-comb   which   her escort,   a   football   savage,   had   lost.   He had   been   combing   his   long,   Samsonian tresses   behind   a   rock   a   la   mermaid   and had   dropped   it   overboard. The   country   swarms   with   midsummer campers   and   the   shipwreck   is   an   addi - tional   attraction   for   them.   They   come down   tbe   beach,   sit   on   the   rocks   and   take in   the   marine   drama,   with   the   poor   Colom - bia   occupying   the   center   of   the   stage.   A bright   sun   lights   the   scene,   and   the   or - chestral   breakers   play   an   eternal   mono - chord.   Other   ships   pass   and   repass   tbe little   bay.   gliding   smoothly   over   the   quiet sea,   and   their   freedom   makes   the   condi - tion   of   their   luckless   sister,   bound   as   she in   to   a   rock,   all   the   more   pitiable. "I   was   listening   to   the   Ano   Nuevo   fog signal   sounding   off   the   starboard   quarter, and   had   not   the   slightest   idea   ol   danger," said   Captain   Clark   to-day,   in   discussing the   recent   disaster.   "I   was   sure   that   it was   the   Pigeon   Point   warning,   and   as   it sounded   so   indistinct   in   the   thick   fog   I believed   it   was   miles   astern,   and   so   kept on,   with   this   result.   What   was   my   sensa - tions   when   I   felt   the   reef? "Well,   it   was   as   if   a   knife   was   going through   me.   I   did   not   know   where   I   was, and   the   shock   of   finding   myself   on   the rocks,   when   I   thought   myself   well   at   sea, bewildered   me   for   a   few   seconds.   Then   I thought   of   the   passengers   and   crew;   of myself   I   had   no   thought,   except   that   I desired   to   go   down   on   those   rocks   and   be ground   to   fragments   with   my   ship. "I   have   sailed   probably   six   times   a   year for   six   years   out   yonder,   going   up   and down   this   coast.   I   knew   that   this   was   a spot   to   shun,   and   that   it   was   the   burial place   of   several   vessels   that   had   wandered in   too   near   the   reefs.   Can   you   not   im - agine   how   anxious   I   was   when   the   fog came   down   upon   me,   and   a   danger   signal horn   on   shore   was   sounding?   I   never THE   SAN   FRANCISCO   CALL,   SUNDAY,   JULY   19,   1896. heard   the   Pigeon   Point   signal,   though   it was   so   near.   If   I   had   caught   a   note   of that   whistle,   how   quickly   I   would   have steered   for   the   open   ocean,   and   have   pre - vented   this,"   and   the   captain   motioned toward   the   hull   that   reeled   uneasily beneath   our   feet. "This   is   my   first   mishap   and   no   one   can know   how   it   takes   me,"   he   continued. "My   wife   and   my   daughter,   the   latter   of whom   has   just   graduated   from   the   uni - versity,   are   in   Massachusetts.   They   will immediately   return;   their   pleasant   visit - ing   is   quickly   brought   to   an   end. But   I   have   one   consolation,   and   that is   that   no   lives   were   lost.   There   is   no   sad - ness   in   any   home   but   my   own.   I   wish this   vessel   could   be   saved.   She   is   too good   a   ship   to   be   lost.   She   was   so   perfect in   every   way   that   every   one   who   sailed   in her   became   attached   to   her. "Even   now   the   Colombia   could   be   saved if   the   proper   appliances   were   at   hand. The   water   is   deep   around   the   narrow   ledge of   rocks   on   which   she   lies   so   easily.   Ves - sels,   lighters,   pontoons   of   any   draught could   be   moored   alongside   of   her   and   her hull   lifted   clear.   If   she   had   gone   ashore within   forty   miles   of   New   York   or   any large   Atlantic   seaport   she   would   not   have been   abandoned   to   become   a   scrap-iron heap   on   the   beach.   When   somebody   pro - vides   a   modern   and   effective   wrecking outfit   the   Pacific   coast   will   cease   to   be   a graveyard   for   ships."

colombia1 ]]> 3268 2009-03-24 16:15:58 2009-03-24 20:15:58 closed closed 1896-john-vonderlins-glad-colombia-cove-didnt-stick publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1237926468 _edit_last 1 Jane Schlager: My Great-Great Grandfather, Samuel Bean, built the Presbyterian Church http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/03/27/jane-schlager-great-great-grandfather-samuel-bean-built-the-presbyterian-church/ Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:26:05 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3281 Dear June, I was wondering if you have any information on the builder, Samuel Bean.  I was told that my family “sailed around the horn”, settling in the Redwood City area in 1849.  I was told he built the Presbyterian Church in Pescadero which is now a historical landmark and that Bean Hollow was named form.  I still have some of his building records from that time. Thank you, Jane E. Schlager, Burlingame, CA Hello June, Samuel Bean is my great great grandfather. He married Celia White Hankerson (from Maine, 1861)) July 6, 1861 in San Francisco by Starr King. She was a sponsor of San Mateo County and was a dress maker in Redwood City. (published in the illustrated history of San Mateo County) I have a copy of a book where he keeps a record of building materials and wages (1873-74). I also have a copy of his funeral service that was a printed booklet. My aunt has more information.  I was just curious and was “surfing the web” the other evening. Blessings, Jane]]> 3281 2009-03-27 12:26:05 2009-03-27 16:26:05 closed closed jane-schlager-great-great-grandfather-samuel-bean-built-the-presbyterian-church publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1238171209 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: Where in the world is Bellevale? http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/03/28/john-vonderlin-where-in-the-world-is-bellvale/ Sun, 29 Mar 2009 00:53:49 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3285

bellevale
[Image: The Bellevale Post Office. Photo by Moss Beach Postmaster R. Guy Smith]
Story by John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
While looking through old newspapers online I came on an ad that mentioned the stage stopping at La Honda, Hayward's, Wurr's, Bellvale and Pigeon Point. Curious about the town of Bellvale, as I had never heard of it before, I did some research. Wikipedia has this short article on it. I've attached a ScreenShot of a Q & A column from the October 16th, 1908 issue of the Call] that asks and answers where Bellvale is and a ScreenShot of a bit of Federal Government news about the Post Office from 1904..

131

141

151

 

I wonder if Mrs. Bell was the last of the Postmasters for Bellvale, holding the post until it closed in 1922?  Do you have any idea about where Hayward's was? Enjoy. John
Bellvale, California is a populated place in San Mateo County, located at latitude 371843N, longitude 1221912W (decimal degrees: latitude 37.31194, longitude -122.32). The small community is on Highway 84 (La Honda Road) between San Gregorio and La Honda. Bellvale has an elevation of 240 feet above sea level.[1] Although Bellvale once had a post office, the community is now only sparsely settled with homes and farms.[2] The Bellvale post office, located 2.25 miles west of La Honda, opened in 1897 and was discontinued in 1922.[3] U.S. Geological Survey maps show oil wells in the area, tapping a relatively small pool of petroleum that was first identified in the nineteenth century.[4]
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3285 2009-03-28 20:53:49 2009-03-29 00:53:49 closed closed john-vonderlin-where-in-the-world-is-bellvale publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1250720335 _edit_last 1
John Vonderlin: Mystery Redwood Log Bridge http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/03/29/john-vonderlin-mystery-redwood-bridge/ Mon, 30 Mar 2009 05:48:03 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3289 Hi June, You ever hear of Cerritos Creek Bridge? Enjoy. John Remarkable Bridge It Crosses Cerritos Creek Not Far From San Gregorio One of the most remarkable wooden bridges ever built in California, if not in the United States. Is still standing in a fair state of preservation. It crosses Cerritos Creek on the stage road between San Mateo and Pescadero, a few miles north of San Gregorio. The most striking thing about the appearance of this bridge is its enormous height. The center span crosses the creek ninety feet above the water. It is not known who the engineers were that built the bridge, not just what facilities they had for doing the work. The structure was put up about 1858 and has remained in constant use ever since. It is true the stages do not cross it now, but foot passengers and smaller vehicles use it regularly. The only effect of its long years of service is a slight swag at the northern end. The bridge is really built of the trunks of redwood trees that were hauled from the forests about fifteen miles away. How they were placed in position is something past finding out, as there is nobody living in the locality that remembers when the bridge was put up. And, indeed, it looks as if the job would puzzle an engineer of today, even though he were given the use of all modern appliances, which the others did not have. In all there are seventy upright supports in the bridge and they must have been stood on end entirely by the use of ropes, pulleys and muscle. Those in the center of the bridge are the highest and the others get shorter and shorter as they climb the bank on either side. Very few braces are used, so that the bridge presents the appearance of a series of straight poles reaching across the ravine. The country in this vicinity is picturesque and wild and the bridge does not look the least bit out of place. In fact it rather blends into the landscape. It does not present a very beautiful appearance nor does it look grotesque. ]]> 3289 2009-03-29 22:48:03 2009-03-30 05:48:03 closed closed john-vonderlin-mystery-redwood-bridge publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1238392611 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: A Visit to Pescadero Valley on May 15, 1867 http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/01/john-vonderlin-a-visit-to-pescadero-valley-on-may-15-1867/ Thu, 02 Apr 2009 05:23:19 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3296
Story from John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
may15may15
Hi June,
   The OCR version of this story is poor quality, but if you want to post this series (I think I sent you ScreenShots of the other parts) let me know and I'll do the corrections necessary. Finding this article was not easy as its title was not the same as the latter parts and the Search system leaves a lot to be desired. I just lucked out. I had delusions for a while that Sigma was Mark Twain, but don't believe so now. Still, I like the guy's writing style and there is virtually nothing like this from so early in Coastside history. . Enjoy. John--- 
A VISIT TO PESCADERO VALLEY
 
SAN FRANCISCO: Wednesday, May 15, '67. (From An Occasional Correspondent). NO. 1.  Pescadero May 11, 1867   Editors Alta: Rainy winter, balmy and beautiful spring, have passed, and the dry, disagreeable winds of summer, with their clouds of dust, sweep through the streets of San Francisco. For some months to come the worst season of the year has to be endured by those who are compelled perforce to remain in town; while those who think of going away for the summer months naturally ask themselves: Where shall I go? Now, to my mind, the question is easily answered, as it depends entirely upon the feelings and habits, or custom. To those who know the ropes, as the saying is, I need say little, for there are plenty of resorts in our State for the tourist, naturalist or botanist, the invalid or pleasure-seeker, the quiet or the gay, the lover of fashion, those who desire to live a feather-bed life and loaf luxuriously, or those who crave comfort and recreation in tbe good old-fashioned way. Each has his individual tastes, and it requires no advice what direction to take when so many avenues lie open. From the flower-carpeted hills around San Francisco, the shady nooks ard ravines of Contra Costa, the regions of Napa County and the charms of Calistoga. the magical and life-prolonging waters of the Warm Springs, the rolling surf and seas are luxuries of Santa Cruz, the medicinal waters and fashionable life at Saratoga, the wonders of Nature and magnificent scenery at the Yosemite, or the big trees of Mariposa— [l must not forget Newport, whose fame has already reached the Atlantic shores] — to the quiet country, and some retired spot near the sea shore, where the charms of Nature may be enjoyed by day, and the roar of old ocean, heard, as a lullaby, at night; in short, to where rest and recreation may be enjoyed to their full extent—where we may inhale the pure air from the mountains, drink in the fresh ocean breezes, and enjoy Nature in her most agreeable form; to see, think, study, rest and benefit health, and live free and unshackled from the killing restraints of the society of fashionable watering places. Hearing casually of the great charms and attractive resorts of tbe Pescadero Valley, and it being a region yet unvisited by me. besides possessing many inducements to the tourist, I determined to make the trip and satisfy myself by actual observation. At this part of Santa Cruz County has. been but imperfectly known to the travelling public, and  many may desire to know of its many charms, perhaps I may favor your readers with some of my experience, should I deem it of sufficient interest, after a rumble I intend to make through the valley, examining its various resorts and places of interest, dairy farms, agricultural improvements, and look into matters generally, as I am told there is much to see, and seeing will be believing.
How to get there? 
   This is not only a matter of some importance, but will serve of convenience to all who wish to enjoy magnificent scenery, and a day's ride from the city to the sea shore: those - " Who love to steal awhile away From every mortal care," etc. Take the early morning train from the San Jose depot, and a pleasant hour's ride lands you at San Mateo, where you will find stages in waiting for Half Moon Bay and Pescadero, which latter place you will reach about 8 o'clock P. M., after a pleasant, though, perhaps, to some, a fatiguing journey of four to five hours. The stages are driven by careful and experienced drivers, among whom there is some rivalry, I learn, as there generally is in most all branches of trade. But havng no particular choice at the time, except to get an outside seat by the driver (on purpose to ask questions) I took tbe first which presented itself, which, as I afterwardi learned, belonged to the San Mateo Stage Company, the reins being handled by the veteran driver. John O. Moore. This line carries the Express of Kennedy & Co., connecting with WeIls, Fargo & Co. Express of San Mateo: and without any intimation to partiality whatever, I must say that it was the mosl expert and careful driving I have seen for many a day, which, from the wild and peculiar character of the mountain roads, requires those requisites to make tbe trip not only pleasant but safe.
Scenery, Etc.
    Leaving San Mateo, a drive of five miles, over a pleasant and romantic road, brings the traveller to Crystal Springs. The road is lined on either side, and even extending far back towards the foothills, with dense shrubbery, and varieties of beautiful native trees, sucb at the laurel, oak, sycamore, bay, and groves of tbe beautiful ceanothus, witb its delicate blue flowers; the green turf is covered with patches of wild flowers of every hue and variety, their sweet odor filling tbe air, while tbe warbling of feathered songsters makes, sweet music to tbe ear. Boats. A word or two in regard to the road. It is, like all mountain roads from the city to the sea shore— l may say, like life, it has its ups and downs. Many there are who grumble unceasingly in travelling, because they cannot have all they wish. Such people are "born with a pewter spoon in their mouth;" they want to see the country, but can't stand a little rough riding, and curse tbeir luck because they are not provided with splendid city equipage, with velvetcushioned seats, on patent springs, ready to glide along smoothly, as if over a macadamized turnpike. Such people, generally, are fools, and they had better stay at home. The ride from San Mateo is a delightful one for over one-half the distance, the only annoyance a little dust, etc.. in some places. Good, comfortable four and six-ho-se Concord coaches and wagons, and the most careful and experienced drivers in the State. If you are only half as good-natured »nd agreeable as they are, who have all the risk, care and fatigue of such a life, you will get along very well, for with a little patience half the trouble ends, and when at your journey's end, feel doubly repaid at the magnificent scenery you have enjoyed, the cool breezes from the Pacific on the mountain heights, a view of the smiling valley, and the general scenery which meets the eye at every turn ; and last, but not least, know that you are in comfortable quarters at Swanton's Hotel, with a good home table, plenty to eat, and a desire for a good night's rest, which you can enjoy all the better if you have an easy conscience." And here I must close for the present, until I can take a look around the Valley, visiting the different points of interest, for I am told there is much to see, and as I intend to see all I can, I may in my next tell you something about it, but for the present I will take a little rest. I noticed that the Alta, has quite a large circulation all along the road, as well as in this neighborhood, it being the only San Francisco paper I have seen. The driver told me that it was considered by the residents along the road and through the country as quite a home institution. I should think so from the big package distributed. The weather is cool and delightful. Plenty of enjoyment in prospective. The people generally are very pleasant and sociable. Yours truly, Sigma.
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3296 2009-04-01 22:23:19 2009-04-02 05:23:19 closed closed john-vonderlin-a-visit-to-pescadero-valley-on-may-15-1867 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1238650015 _edit_last 1
John Vonderlin Asks: Want to know more about the eccentric Cowells? http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/05/john-vonderlin-asks-want-to-know-more-about-the-eccentric-cowells/ Mon, 06 Apr 2009 00:55:16 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3302 www.santacruzpl.org/history/people/cowella.shtml   Irrespective of the "love child" incident, they seemed to have been a very private family with strong philanthropic instincts. Enjoy. John]]> 3302 2009-04-05 17:55:16 2009-04-06 00:55:16 closed closed john-vonderlin-asks-want-to-know-more-about-the-eccentric-cowells publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1238979583 _edit_last 1 At last. Why "the mount" is called Lincoln http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/05/at-last-why-the-mount-is-called-lincoln/ Mon, 06 Apr 2009 01:08:40 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3307 Story from John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
This is Part 3A of Sigma's 4 part travelogue about Pescadero that appeared in "The Daily Alta," of San Francisco. It's quite long, so I split it at the beginning of his description of his trip to Pebble Beach. Enjoy. John
 
SAN FRANCISCO: Thursday, May 25, 1867. Number Three (FROM AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT) Pescadero May 31th. 1867. Editors Alta: The country around here presents as great a variety of attractions for the tourist and pleasure-seeker as any part of the coast, and for hunting or fishing no better field can be found for these favorite amusements.  The hills around abound in game or all kinds— rabbits, quail, doves, plover, pigeons; and deer are often seen in the hills. If one feels like engaging in a scientific bear hunt, an opportunity for that kind of sport can be had by a. little travel up the mountains. The hunting ground for the smaller game extends from the hills around the valley to the wooded peaks of the Coast Range -- up hill, down dale and in the ravines; as far as the eye can reach, almost the hunting ground may be seen, in which the sportsman can indulge to his own liking. As there is, however, a law against shooting the poor harmless quail at this season, one must be content to fall back on other game. For the trout-fisher and angler there is also a wide field of sport in the streams or creeks around the valley — the Pescadero, Butano, Gatos, etc. Those who have returned from such excursions pronounce the two latter preferable; while some parties have explored Scott's Creek with considerable success, and returned from  a camping-out with baskets of delicious trout, and in line spirits from their healthy recreation. There are pleasant drives up-valley and over the flower-carpeted hills, which is another source of amusement, as well as means of health — the roads leading in various directions, to the beach, dairy ranches, through deep gorges and wooded delta, where plenty of spring water can be found; around the hillsides and  rocks in search of wild strawberries, or gathering beautiful and fragrant garlands of wild flowers; or up the mountains, where one may spend a day in the.deep, wild woods and stately forests, among the mammoth trees which rear their giant tops, towards Heaven almost, and whose widespreading branches afford a grateful shelter.
MOUNT LINCOLN, Just in front of the hotel, affords a splendid view to those who desire to make the trip. A year or two ago, a gentleman from San Francisco paid to have a flagstaff erected on this noble looking mount, and offered to present an American flag, on condition that it should be named  "Mount Lincoln," all of which was done. and it wasn't long after the Stars and Stripes could be seen on the eminence, unfurled to the breeze. The last winter's storms and winds, however, carried away the staff, but the spot is still cherished and will always bear the memorable name. The view from this point is truly grand, and the scenery varied. The peaceful valley below the feet, with its neat white buildings and pleasant gardens, the smooth fields ready for the harvest, and again, fields of waving grain; the long line of hills — " Like Alps on Alps arise," with their bold outlines, heights, and depths, surround the valley, rich in their green verdure, producing a splendid effect on the mist just rising from their tops, from the rays of the morning sun; the roar of the surf on the ocean beach fills the ear with a strange noise, while the mind is absorbed in contemplations of the scene around. Under the feet and all around, in every direction, are myraids of wild flowers of every color and hue, the sweeetness of their perfume filling the air. WILD FLOWERS  Upon the hillsides and valleys great and mysterious truths are written by flowers, for they are truly called the "alphabet of the angels.'' It is a beautiful thought, and well confirmed by Fanny Forrester, who said that alone in the depth of the forests the scent of the wild flowers made her feel safe. for flowers always betray the presence of angels. And here, on Mount Lincoln, one, indeed, may see them  in all their glory; aye, the mountain sides, down the hills, in the ravines, across the plains, even to the sandhills, and near the ocean beach is an inviting spectacle of emerald splendor — a luxuriance of flowers, or carpets of the greenest verdure, I -ruling a perfect landscape of Nature's loveliness. The botanist could spend a pleasant time roaming through these regions in search of the Flora, many of which are very peculiar. Flowers, here, there, everywhere, seeming like fond hopes, gilded with glorious tints of happiness and joy: but soon the sweetness of their perfume will fade, their beautiful leaves will be withered and scattered, and like many noble hearts we have met in the journey of life, near and dear to us, they will be gone from our gaze forever, and nothing left as their requiem but the winds, to make wild music over their graves. The weather has been somewhat changeable of late in thePescadero Valley. The fog shrouds the hills early in the morning, and hangs over the valley, almost hiding the rays of the sun for hours; but nature has ordered wisely, for they are the magic wand that gives life to the hills and clothes them in green, affording rich nutriment for the dairy stock. The fogs are indeed the life of the country here, rendering everything green and vernal from the valleys to the hills, and even to the noble oaks and forest trees of the mountain sides, whose drapery of mosses and beautiful parasites are fostered by their reviving influence The days are pleasant, and the rays of the sun comfortable and of a genial warmth. Some of the evenings have been quite cool, and one has been fain to creep into the family circle at nightfall, around a cheerful and blazing wool fire, and chat the evening away. Such is a brief retrospect of life in the valley; and leaving the subject for the present, we will now take a few pleasure trips to those resorts spoken of in my last, commencing with: PEBBLE BEACH
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3307 2009-04-05 18:08:40 2009-04-06 01:08:40 closed closed at-last-why-the-mount-is-called-lincoln publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1238980251 _edit_last 1
At last. Ron Tillitz's "Bootleggers Cove" Published http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/07/at-last-bootleggers-cove-published/ Tue, 07 Apr 2009 21:34:31 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3311 rontStory from Rob Tillitz
Email Rob (robalone.lipps@gmail.com
Hi June. My book is for sale on Amazon. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/Bootleggers-Cove-Rob-Tillitz/dp/1439224552/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239053130&sr=1-1
 
I have it on my web site for $33 which includes shipping, they (Amazon) for $28 before shipping. I will autograph the ones I send out. It doesn't matter to me where they are bought, I'm not pushing mine over theirs. My link is:http://shop.robtillitz.com/main.sc
 
Hope all is going well with you.....Rob Tillitz
 
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3311 2009-04-07 14:34:31 2009-04-07 21:34:31 closed closed at-last-bootleggers-cove-published publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1239140499 _edit_last 1
John Vonderlin: Pigeon Point Tafoni http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/07/john-vonderlin-pigeon-point-tafoni/ Wed, 08 Apr 2009 03:58:07 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3319 tafoni1tafoni2
From John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi Jon,
    I thought you might want these pictures for your collection.  This first set of attached photos is of a spot just north of Pigeon Point Lighthouse, from about the spot the photo I've attached was shot from.  I can't remember previously seeing any tafoni that had sea creatures using it as a refuge, as portrayed in the photos.  The vastly increased erosional rate once a piece of tafoni collapses into the surf zone probably makes this a short-lived phenomena, I would guess.  Next email is about a wonderful pareidolic, geologic feature, set amongst a great collection of tafoni in the Pebble Beach to Bean Hollow area that you may be familiar with. Enjoy. John
P.S. The rocks in the arrangement I call "She Spawns," (only partly shown in the photo I sent you previously) are not tafoni, but concretions with mollusk holes. I don't have any specimens of tafoni in my collection at this point.
tafoni3
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3319 2009-04-07 20:58:07 2009-04-08 03:58:07 closed closed john-vonderlin-pigeon-point-tafoni publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1239163088 _edit_last 1
Civil War Years: The Big Cheese Came From Ano Nuevo http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/08/civil-war-years-the-big-cheese-came-from-ano-nuevo/ Thu, 09 Apr 2009 02:00:22 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3324 Hi June,
  I know you have a story about this cheese already, but I thought you'd want to see an article about its exhibition before it was eaten. This appeared in "The Alta California" of August 30, 1864.
alta
 
 The Great Sanitary Cheese— The great Sanitary cheese, weighing 3,800 lbs. nett, manufactured by Steele & Bro., of Pescadero, is being enclosed in the centre of the floral temple, in the centre of the basin of the great fountain, under the dome of the Industrial Fair Pavilion; and during the Fair will be exhibited to visitors at a trifling extra charge, for the benefit of the National Sanitary Fund. A bridge, with a neat railing, crosses the basin on each side, to the structure in which the cheese is placed for exhibition, and the admission fees will be collected at either side, by soldiers who have been maimed in fighting the battles of the Union.
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3324 2009-04-08 19:00:22 2009-04-09 02:00:22 closed closed civil-war-years-the-big-cheese-came-from-ano-nuevo publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1239242623 _edit_last 1
Pescaderans: We need to send a new BIG CHEESE to the Red Cross http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/09/pescaderans-we-need-to-send-a-new-big-cheese-to-the-red-cross/ Thu, 09 Apr 2009 15:57:49 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3329 The True Fate of the Biggest Cheese in the World  (good try, though!) Story from John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
   Here's the follow-up article on "The Great Sanitary Cheese's" fate. This is from the Nov. 13th, 1864 issue of "The Daily Alta." I've included a Wikipedia excerpt about the Sanitary Commission. Note our "old friend," F.L. Olmstead, figures prominently. Enjoy. John
 
The great Sanitary cheese, made by Strong (Sic) & Brother, Pescadero, which was to have been sent East and cut up, to be distributed among the soldiers of the Army of the Potomac, was net sent, on account of its liability to be injured in passing through the Tropics.  It is now on exhibition at the stall of Messrs. Balch & French, Nos. 7 and 8 Washington Market, where it will be cut up during the coming week, and retailed at 50 cents per pound, for the benefit of the Sanitary Fund. What man, woman or child, in San Francisco, will be willing to forego the pleasure of contributing another fifty cents to the noble Sanitary Commission, and eating a bit of the largest cheese ever made in the world?
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To learn more about the United States Sanitary Commission, forerunner of today's Red Cross, please click here
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3329 2009-04-09 08:57:49 2009-04-09 15:57:49 closed closed pescaderans-we-need-to-send-a-new-big-cheese-to-the-red-cross publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1239293242 _edit_last 1
1874: The Seal Rookeries.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/10/1874-the-seal-rookeries/ Fri, 10 Apr 2009 14:38:24 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3335 i June,
   This is from the June 27th, 1897 issue of "The Call."  While I've never previously heard of the pup-killing behavior  being displayed by some of the bulls, as described by the author of this article, it reminds me of a documentary about elephants I once saw. Because of ivory poachers all the large bull elephants had been killed in the area the documentary was about. Young male elephants were engaging in gang "wilding" assaults, attacking and injuring or killing other elephants and endangered rhinos. The problem was solved by importing adult bull elephants, who quickly settled things down. I wonder if the hidehunters he mentions concentrated on the largest bulls too? I wonder what Bernie LeBoeuf, the Ano Nuevo Marine Mammal expert, would say about this article? Amphibians? Enjoy. John
 
Note: I'll post the story later today.
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3335 2009-04-10 07:38:24 2009-04-10 14:38:24 closed closed 1874-the-seal-rookeries publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1239374306 _edit_last 1
1890: It sounded like a great idea: San Francisco to Santa Cruz http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/11/1890-it-sounded-like-a-great-idea-san-francisco-to-santa-cruz/ Sun, 12 Apr 2009 03:14:27 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3337
This appeared in the August 31st, 1890, issue of "The Morning Call."  Enjoy. John
 
SUNDAY   EDITION. SAN   FRANCISCO TO   SANTA   CRUZ.
The   Beauty   of   the   Natural   Scen -  ery   Along   the   Coast Line. LOOKING   FOR   GEMS   ON   THE   BEACH
Sea   Lions   That   Disport   in   the   Waters Near   Halfmoon   Bay—A   Town Properly   Named—Ruins   of   the Old   Landing   at   "   Gordon   Chute." The   Redwood   Forests   in   the Santa   Cruz   Mountains.
Written   for   The  Morning Call  
    There   are   few,   if   any,   great   cities   of  the  
world   surrounded   by   more   strik -  ing   natural   scenery   than   San   Fran -  cisco   enjoys.   You   may   take   a   boat,   or   a train,   or   a   stage,   or   your   own   horse   and buggy,   and   start   out   toward   any   point   of the   compass,   and   you   cannot   fail   to   be   sur -  prised   and   pleased   with   what   you   see. Within   this   last   two   years   I   have   dutifully trudged   over   the   hills   and   plains   around New   York,   Washington,   Chicago,   Omaha, St. Louis,   Los   Angeles   and   several conisiderable   towns   of   smaller   size   and less   note.   Books   of   travel   are   stupid   in -  deed,   compared   with   what   an   idle   rambler sees   on   such   excursions.   If   he   has   good eyes   aud   reasonably   good   legs,   he   can   walk around   the   suburbs   and   back   into   town, and   tell   the   natives   more   about   the   city   in five   minutes   than   they   had   learned   in   all their   lives.   I   had   a   nurse   in   New   York who   had   been   in   the   business   in   that   city for   thirty   years,   going   from   house   to   house and   nursingj   the   sick,   and   yet   I   had to   tell   her   the   course   of  the Harlem   River.   But this   leads   me   to   remark   that   San   Francis -  cans   are   not   so   green.   They   know   more about   their   environs   than   do   the   denizens of   any   city   I   have   been   over,   except   Los Angeles.   And   yet   I   venture   to   say   that after   four   months   of   sojourn   in   the   vicinity I   could   show   the   great   majority   of   them, within   thirty   unit's   of   town,   scenes   of beauty   and   grandeur   which   would   be   new and   amazing   to   them.   When   Robert   Louis Stevenson   was   here,   bent   on   an   errand similar   to   mine,   "thin-legged,   thin-chested, slight   unspeakably,   near-footed   and   weak -  fingered,"   as   the   poet   has   described   him,   he went   north   a   hundred   miles   to   hide   and rest,   and   then   came   out   aud   published   his "Silverado   .Squatters."   Indeed,   it   is   a nice   trip   to   the   Sonoma   County   Geysers, but   my   favorite   haunts   are   in   another   direc -  tion. The   whole   coast   is   pretty,   from   the   Cliff House   at   San   Francisco   to   the   Cliff   Drive at   Santa   Cruz.   Considering   its   beauties   it is   too   little   known—less   perhaps   than   any pleasure   ground   adjacent   to   the   city.   Some are   familiar   with   it,   or   it   could   not   properly be   called   a   pleasure   ground.   Its  Halfmoon Bay,  
its   Pebble  Beach,   its   Mossy   Beacb,   its Pescadero,   its   Pigeon   Point   Lighthouse and   its   big   basin   of   gigantic   trees   have   all been   heard   of,   but   no   railroad   leads   there, and   only   those   are   familiar   with   them   who have   the   courage   to   stage   it   or   the   means
 TO   GO   CAMPING
Taking   the   train   at   the   corner   of   Third and   Townsend   streets,   you   go   to   San   Ma -  teo.   I   took   the   morning   train   at   8:30. This   connects   with   the   stage   at   San   Mateo, and   from   there   you   have   a   drive   across   the mountains   to   Spanishtown,   passing   on your   way   the   immense   reservoir   of   the Spring   Valley   Water   Company,   which looks   like   a   mountain   lake   and   supplies   a large   part   ol   the   city's   water. At   Spanishtown   you   are   on   the   coast The   stage   stops   for   dinner   and   gives   you ample   time.   Perhaps   you   will   be   told,   as I   was,   that   the   place   was   so   named   from the   fact   that   it   really   was   a   Spanish   town originally.  Inasmuch (sic)   as   the   same   name might,   for the   same   reason,   have   been   ap -  plied to any   other   old   town   in   the   State, you  make   a   note   here   at   the   threshold   of your   journey.   The   chances   are   that   after looking   it   over   you   will   say   that   of   all   the Spanish   towns   you   have   seen   in   the   State this   quaint   and   curious   hamlet   best   befits the   name.   At   any   rate   you   will   say   that no   Spaniard   need   be   ashamed   of   it. From   Spanishtown   southward   along   the coast   you   will   find   all   you   want   of   the weird   and   wonderful.   To   your   left   will   be the   mountains,   with   cottages   aud   groves   of giant   redwoods,   criss-crossed   with   fences. On   your   right   is   the ocean,   with   a   shore line   of   wondrous   beauty.   Across   your   path -  way,   from   the   mountains   to   the   sea,   runs every   mile   or   two   a   trout   stream   of   roman -  tic   outline   and   drowsy   murmur.   Follow   it up   and   you   are   soon   lost   In   a   grove   of   red -  woods,   compared   with   which   any   tree   east of   the   Rocky   Mountains   is   a   scrub.   Trees 250   leet   high,   ten  or  a   dozen   feet   through, are   as   thick   as   hoop-poles   an   stand as   near   to   San   Francisco   as   one end   of   Chicago   is   to   the   other. I   have   had   no   greater   surprise   in   Cali -  fornia   than   these   two,   that   the   big   trees stand   so   thick   on   the   ground   and   so   close   to San   Francisco.   You   might   see   bigger sequoias   in   Calaveras,   Mariposa   or   Tulare County.   But   a   tree   one   rod   in   diameter and   twenty   rods   in   height   is   big   enough   for either   the   lumberman   or   the   ordinary   sight -  seer.   Aud   you   can   find   bigger   trees   than that   between   Sutro   Heights   and   Santa Cruz. The   shore   itself   is   hilly   most   of   the   way. As   you   drive   over   the   hills   you   get   views of   indescribable   grandeur.   Such   beaches, such   :   cliffs,   such   rocks,   such   caverns,   such miles   ol   surf,   yon   may   have   seen,   but   I haven't.   At   the   Doble   ranch,   below  Halfmoon  
Bay,   you   may   leave   the   road,   drive through   the   barnyard   gate   and   across   a pasture,   and   there   you   will   see   sea   lion rocks   which   beat   those   at   the   Cliff   House two   to   one.   There   are   ten   times   as   many sea   lions   and   they   are   more   easily   seen.   I never   tire   of   watching   them.   Many   a   one has   been   cuuaht   here   for   the   menageries. A   SUMMER.   STROLL On   the   beach   will   give   you   a   young   sea   lion for   a   pet,   and   if   you   like,   you   may   proceed at   once   to   pet   him.   He   will   bark   at   you, but   he   won't   bite.   His   parents   might,   if they   saw   you   near   him.   They   weigh,   per -  haps,   a   ton   apiece.   By   the   way,   attention should   be   called   to   a   bad   practice   of   natives or   tourists   at   this   point.   They   shoot   the sea   lions.   Anybody   could   shoot   one   who could   shoot   the   side   of   a   barn   if   he   was inside   and   had   the  door   closed,   so   there   is no   sport   in   it.   The   monstrous   carcasses float   ashore   and   fill   the   air   with   stench.   Is there   no   law   to   prevent   such   wantonness? or   is   the   trouble   in   the   enforcement   of   the law?   The   last   time   I   was   there   the   fine beach   at   tho   mouth   of   Tumitas   Creek   was strewn   with   half   a   dozen   carcasses   of   all sizes   in   all   stages   of   decomposition. Tunitas   Creek   is   said   to   be   named   after   a plant   which   abounds   at   its   mouth,   and which   has   a   long,   thick,   fleshy   leaf   and   an aster-like   flower.   The   stage   road   crosses   '  
the   creek   on   a   bridge   appropriately   called the   Long  Bridge.   Near   by   is   the   Gordon Chute,   one   ot   the   wrecks   of   old   landings   so familiar   to   the   people   down   that   coast. Tlie   great   warehouse   is   still   there,   and   the deserted   cottages   of   the   superintendent   and employes.   The   old   pier,   disconnected   from the   shore   and   inaccessible,   is   as   weird   a skeleton   as   ever   stretched   its   arms   across   a Western   ocean   sky   at   sunset. Follow   the   windings   of   the   cliff   at   this point   and   you   will   see   some   two   dozen caves,   from   one   to   six   rods   deep,   which   you may   penetrate   at   low   tide,   but   into   which the   water   rolls   and   churns   and   thunders   at high   tide.   You   may   hear   the   story   of   the three   sea-lion   catchers   whom   the   tide caught   in   one   of   the   deepest   of   these   caves and   held   there   all   night.   From   these   cliffs I   had   a   fine   view   of   several   whales   quite near   to   shore,   and   have   generally   been,   for -  tunate   enough   to   sight   one   or   two. All   that   country   is   a   fine   hunting   grounid. As   for   fish,   you   can   get   all   the   trout   you want   and   also   surf   fish   and   other   sea   fish. Clams   aud   mussels   abound. A   county   road   has   been   surveyed   through, which,   when   completed,   will   give   a   short line   from   the   great   Stanford   University   to as   pretty   a   spot   as   there   is   on   the   coast.   It follows   down   Tunitas   Creek   to   the   Long Bridge   at   the   old   Potter   ranch,   where   stands the   ideal   "cottage   by   the   sea." Pescadero   is   too   well   known   to   require description,   but   its   Pebble   Beach   ought   to be   seen.   There   is   something   wild   and   awe- inspiring   in   the   peculiar   formation   of   the great   rocks   over   which   the   water   dashes. One   would   not   suppose   that   so   flat   a   shore could   be   so   grand.   There   was NO   SAND   ON   THE   BEACH
When   I   was   there—nothing   but   clean   peb -  bles.   It   was   like   walking   on   a   bin   of beans.   They   are   several   feet   deep,   you will   see   the   tourist   lady   or   gentleman stretched   at   full   length   and   pawing   the beach   over   for   gems.   Patience   aud   skill are   pretty   sure   to   win   a   fine   collection. Within   a   few   miles   of   Pescadero   you   may bury   yourself   in   a   virgin   forest   of   red -  vioods   untouched   by   the   ax.   I   have   seen train-loads   of   tourists   go   wild   over   a clump   of   saplings. .   Go   with   me   from   San   Francisco   to   Santa Cruz   in  a one-horse   buggy   and   I   will   show you   grove   after   grove   of   monsters   so   tall that   you   could   not   see   a   squirrel   at   their tops   and   so   thick   on   the   ground   that   you would   be   lucky   to   shoot   a   deer   within   easy range.   I   spent   a   counle   of   weeks   in   the haunts   of   Rip   Van   Winkle.   The   scene of   that   slory   was   happily   laid   and   I am   as   familiar   with   the   waterfall   and   the dense   grove   where   he.   slept   for   twenty years   as   with   the   Jolly   face   of   Joe   Jefferson and   tho  long   beard,   ragged   clothes   and broken   gun   which   appear   on   the   stage.   I haven't   seen   a   wilder,   sleepier   spot   on   this coast,   but   within   much   less   than   a   day's drive   of   San   Francisco   I   will   show   you Rip's   long   resting   place,   with   all   its dreamy seclusion,   with   its   trees   and   its   hill   and   its Kaaterskill   and   its   old   saw-mill   grown   a hundred-fold   in   size   and   grandeur.   You shall   have   the   mountain   lake   and   all,   except the  260 foot waterfall. We   should   want   to   linger   a   whole   sum -  mer   long  from   Halfmoon Bay to Pescadero, bul   if   we   do   go   on   here   is   Mossy   Beach,   as famed   tor   its   mosses   as   Pebble   Beach   for its   pebbles,   and   here   is   P'igeon   Point,   where you   may   climb   the   light-house   tower   above 100   feet   and   see   one   of   the   most   modern   of flash-lanterns.   They   won't   let   you   inside the   lantern   now.   but   half   a   dozen   people could   find   room   in   there.   I   had   the   oppor -  tunity   of   hearing   the   fog-horn   at   night   at Pescadero,   six   miles   away. A   little   further   down   you   follow   the stage   road   where   it   leaves   terra   firma   and takes   the   beach   for   two   or   three   miles. Keep   close   to   the   water's   edge   for   a  good
hard   road,   and   let   the   brine   lave   your buggy-wheels.   We   had   company   along this   part   of   our   Journey.   It   was   a   live coyote.   The   bank   was   steep   and   he   had   no escape,   so   he   trotted   along   by   our   side, looking   anxiously   for   a   hole   in   the   bank, and   all   the   time   within   easy   shot.   His   dis -  appearance   was   complete   and   sudden,   and left   us   wondering   whither   he   had   gone. We   leave   the   beach   at   the   mouth   of   Wad -  dell   Creek,   where   we   hear   the   story   of   .Mr. Waddell   who   was KILLED   BY   A   BEAR.
In   the camping   season   the   banks   of   the creek   are   white   with   tents.   Passing   on -  ward   down   the   coast   the   rest   of   the   drive   to Santa   Cruz   is   pretty   and   interesting,   and   of course   the   last   two   or   three   miles—famed for   beaches,   cliffs,   natural   bridges   and   live drives—need   not   be   described. About   nine   miles   north   of   Sauta   Cruz   we met   a   large   party   of   railroad   surveyors   run-  ning   a   line   for   the   Southern   Pacific,   said   to be   for   the   purpose   of   tapping   the   immense deposits   of   bituminous   rock   in   that   region. Will   they   push   it   through?   Will   a   railroad ever   be   built   up   that   coast?   It   will   be   ex -  pensive,   perhaps,   but   it   would   open   up timber   lands   and   pass   through   soil   not   ex -  celled   in   the   State  for   raising   hogs, cattle,   horses,   poultry,   potatoes   and   all bulky   vegetables,   apples   and   pears   and   the small   fruits,   here   is   the   best   of   land,   a little   rough,   but   cheaper   than   land   not   half as   good   can   be   found   as   near   to   any   other American   city.   Shut   out   from   the   rest   of the   world   by   a   high   range   of   mountains   on one   side   and   a   wide   ocean   on   tbe   other,   it is   now   devoted   to   pasturage.   A   rail -  road   would   divert   it   to   the   uses   which make   business   for   railroads—the   production of   bulky   products.   It   is   a   well-watered country and   would   make   thousands   of homes   for   the   busy,   energetic,   thriving classes   to   whom    it   is   suited.   Coming   from the   rolling   States   of   the   East   they   would feel   more   at   home   here   than   in   any   part   of California   that   I   have   seen.   This   feeling would   be   increased   by   the   greater   simi -  larity   of   the   products   and   methods   ol farming   to   those   of   the   East.   Variety and   grandeur   ol   scenery,   proximity   to   a great   city,   abundance   of   wood   and   water, evenness   of   temperature,   all   would be  there, and   half   the   energy   which   has   been   wasted on   that   many   square   miles   at   the   other   end of   the   State   would   give   this   region   a   boom
too   big   to   be   healthy.   Let   me   express   the hope   that   it   will   rather   have   a   steady growth,   but   let   it   soon   get   the   .start   that   has been   so   long   in   coming. Half   the   profit   of   a   ramble   through strange,   scenes   is   gained   or   lost   by   the   kind of   traveling   companion   you   have.   In   this I   have   been   fortunate   in   all   my   journeyings about   San   Francisco.   Perry   Morrison,   who has   kindly   taken   me   on   these   delightful trips,   is   a   forty-niner   of   the   best   type,   who has   recently   extended   his   domains   on   the coast   from   sheer   enthusiasm   and   faith   in   it. His   seaside   home   is   at   Potter   ranch,   by   the Long   Bridge,   near   the   famous   ranch   of   Creed Haymond,   and   just   at   tbe   point   where   the shortest   road  from   tbe   Stanford   University will   strike   the.   seashore.   The   road   is   now impassable   from   washouts,   but   when   fin -  ished   is   destined   to   be   one   of   the   finest drives   in   the   United   States.   Of   Mr.   Hay -  mond's   ranch,   and   the   work   he   is   doing   to make   it   both   profitable   and   beautiful,   too much   cannot   be   said.   It   is   high   up   on   the mountains   and   it   looks   down   on   the   bound -  less   ocean.   It   is   whispered   that   Mrs.   Stan -  ford   will   yet   have   a   cottage   there.    Henry Philpott
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3337 2009-04-11 20:14:27 2009-04-12 03:14:27 closed closed 1890-it-sounded-like-a-great-idea-san-francisco-to-santa-cruz publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1239506068 _edit_last 1
May 1867: What Pescadero Looked Like http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/13/may-1867-what-pescadero-looked-like/ Tue, 14 Apr 2009 04:25:58 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3339 From John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
    This is Part 4 of Sigma's travelogue series about his visit to Pescadero in 1867 as printed in "The Daily Alta." Enjoy. John
 
SAN FRANCISCO: Thursday, May 30, 1867. SCENERY. _ Pescadero, May 25th, 1867. Daily Alta. All along the sea coast the scenery is very grand and beautiful, and the climate healthy and salubrious. Long lines of undulating hills and narrow gorges, some covered with green and rich foliage, and others composed of huge banks of drifted wind, while at intervals may be seen deep gulches, which open to the sea; some leading to high ledges of rocks, over which the spray dashes in wild splendor; others to pleasant and attractive sand beaches, along which the excursionist may wander for far miles, gathering pebbles at one point. beautiful algae or moss from another, shells and marine curiosities from others; while at a point known as Seal Rock, one can not only hear but have a view of those monsters, sea lions. The peculiar formation of the coast is observable. A range of table lands extends for miles, compiled of species of clay or sand, and covered with running vines, baring beautiful and fragrant flowers. As the banks slope to the sea, different stratas of c!ay and sand-stone are conspicuous, presenting fantastic forms, arches, pyramids, bridges, etc.. having been shaped or hollowed out by the action of the waves and storms for ages. Far back from the sea are a succession of rolling hills, in clusters, in picture«que groups and fantastic forms, and covered with a rich coat of green, affording splendid food for the dairy stock; and, beyond all these, a belt of mountains, rugged and grand, containing dense forests of timber, where the sound of the woodman's axe has never yet been heard. The changing forms of the hills, with their varied hues of foliage and rich vegetation; the rugged mountains and splendid forests, extending back as far the eye can reach, with their various marked peculiarities, form an effective aad pleasing picture for the eye, and afford a wide scope for the imagination — but here we will leave the subject for the present, as we pass on our way to PIGEON POINT, So named from the loss of the Carrier Pigeon, which was wrecked on this point some yeas since. It is occupied mostly by Portuguese who are employed in whaling. " The whale, the brave old whale,' And lord of the boundless sea,"
   The distance from Pescadero is about five miles; a very pleasant drive, and well worthy a visit, tbe rocks and beach abounding in moss, shells and abalone, the latter of which afford a branch of business to Chinamen at certain seasons of the year. There are two large storehouses for produce and merchandise, it being quite a shipping point for potatoes and dairy produce, as well as shingles, lumber, etc. The swell prevents the possibility of wharf conveniences, consequently all freight has to be conveyed from the bluffs by means of sliding: ropes and pullers, which extend from the shore to high rocks in the bay, into surf- boats below, and from, thence to the schooners, which lie in a place of safety ouside the reef or beach. The process of loading is a peculiar and exciting spectacle to those who have never witnessed the operation. Mr Thos. Alden has charge of the shipping point. 
GAZOS CREEK Is next crossed; a very romantic and favorite spot for the trout-fisher, and where parties from the hotel may find a good day's sport with ordinary patience. FRANKLIN POINT. This noted spot is about three miles from Pigeon Point, and is memorable as being the place where the "Sir John Franklin" was wrecked some two years ago. Portions of the wreck strew the shore nearly up to the road, which is all that remains to tell the fearful tale. On the point, the bodies that were found lie buried, a simple board marking the graves of the unknown ones, and which last humble tribute was paid by the inhabitants of Pescadero. On the road towards the creek may be noticed a kind of fence composed of peculiar looking wood, some at it of fine quality, made from the wreck of the "Franklin" : and now and then one can discern portions of the cabin furniture. The ship's name, which once graced her front, as she came sailing to her haven in pride, now adorns tbe front of a.small shop inPescadero; while portions of the moulding may also be seen in various localities in the town. The "Coya" was also wrecked at this point last fall, the memory of which sad disaster it still fresh in the minds of all. Fourteen bodies lie buried in the sand, their monument, like those of the "Franklin," being a simple board. Sad fate, indeed, for the noble ship and happy souls on board. Tbe morning sun lighted upon the group on deck, their hearts beating with hope and joy at the expectation of home and friends so near at hand: at night their bodies lay beneath the ocean wave, or washed upon the fatal beach, while tbe winds sang a mournful requiem for the departed souls who had gone thus suddenly to meet their God. An appropriation has been at last made, I believe, by Government for a lighthouse near this point, which is one of the most dangerous for vessels on this part of the coast.
   A short ride further brings you to the White House Creek, also a trout stream. Near this Creek is tbe famous WHITE HOUSE, So called from being in its day one of the most expensive in the whole district. It was built in 1851 by Van Houton, of San Francisco, under a lease, at a cost of thousands; dollars, lumber and materials being high at the time. Major Graham, I am told, bought the ranch of the heirs of Simon Castro, in 1852, and subsequently leased it to Van Houtun, who erected the present dwelling. The title afterwards passed from Graham to Clark & Coburn of San Francisco, who subsequently leased it, together with a large tract additional to Messrs. Steele Bros., now the largest dairymen on this coast.
    NEW YEAR'S POINT  This is the next place of importance, after a further ride of three miles, and from Pescadero about twelve miles. This is the main shipping point for the Shingle mills, and the most convenient and accessible, as schooners can come directly to the wharf and load.  The wharf is about 700 feet long, on spiles (sic) and high above the force of the surf at highest tide. By means of a slide, the vessels are loaded rapidly, and dispatched to San Francisco. Schooners also load here for San Pedro and San Luis, as a market may offer. About two million feet of lumber are also shipped from this point yearly.
   A wooden railroad has been constructed from Waddell's Mill, some five miles distant, to the wharf, and the shingles and lumber are thus transported by four-horse cars, with quickness and despatch (sic). The place is well worthy a visit, and those who desire can enjoy a ride on the train up from the wharf to the mills, an exciting and novel trip, with an opportunity to view grand scenery.    
REDWOOD GLEN is located on White Hou»e Creek, formerly called Spaulding's Gulch, about ten miles from Pescadero. About one mile from the entrance you come to the Long Bridge. Here the scenery is enticing and the view grandly beautiful. Grand, stately trees rear their heads in air, of most extraordinary height, and straight as an arrow. These trees are of the redwood species, and from one hundred to two hundred and fifty feet in height, free from limbs for seventy-five to one hundred feet.     Around is a perfect wilderness of vines, interlaced undergrowth, beautiful wild flowers and blooming shrubs, delicate and beautiful ferns: and the Creek, running through the whole, over rolling stones adown(sic) banks, and tumbling in fits of foam and spray into the dense ravine some fifty feet below. But we will, for the present, leave all poetry out of the question and come to the GLEN MILLS  Owned and carried on by Messrs. Harrington & Co., (Harrington & Chandler, of Pescadero, and Hawley, of San Francisco. The works are carried on by machinery, and have been established nearly one year. They own a woodland tract of 500 acres, principally redwood, with some oak and pine. Oak bark also abounds in this locality, very valuable for tanning purposes, and at the present time a scarce article in the market, having been sold, I learn, at Redwood City, for $25 per cord. The capacity of the mill at present is about 45,000 shirngles per day, using three machines, and it is their intention to increase it to 60.000 per day. About fourteen men are employed at the mill and in the woods. Messrs. Swanton & Harris are contractors for hauling the shingles to the wharf, and employ several teams for the purpose, who make three trips per day from the mill to New Year's Point. This is an important branch of business, and is under the management of enterprising men, Mr Chandler superintending at the mill. At the left of the mill may be seen a large stump, some twenty feet in d'ameler, from which tree were made over 400,000 shingles, as well as the covering for all the buildings, flooring, etc., at the mill. The tree was originally about 200 feet high, and evidently the "King' of Redwood Glen. The Company calculate to ship about twelve million shingles a year. The capacity of the schooners is about 1,300,000 a trip--San Francisco being the principal market, and Messrs. Ackerson & Russ agents for the Glen Mills. The scene in the Redwood Glen is perfectly grand. Nothing could be more so, and those who have visited the spot say that in beauty and savage grandeur nothing can exceed it, and when fully recognized, as it will be in time, will become one of the most attractive and popular resorts for a day's ride, or picnic, that can be found in the whole district of Pesacadero.  Sigma 
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3339 2009-04-13 21:25:58 2009-04-14 04:25:58 closed closed may-1867-what-pescadero-looked-like publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1239683198 _edit_last 1
1897: The Road to Pescadero (Pssst You had to ride in the stagecoach) http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/14/1897-the-road-to-pescadero/ Tue, 14 Apr 2009 15:29:36 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3342 From John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
   This is from the July 4th, 1897 issue of "The San Francisco Call." 
    
 A   Picturesque   Road.
One   of   the   most   beautiful   and   pictur -  esque   roads   in   all   California   is   the   one that   leads   from   San   Mateo   to   Pescadero. In   all   it   is   about   twenty-eight   miles   long, but   it   contains   in   that   length   many   differ -  ent   varieties   of   scenery.   It   is   all   interest -  ing,   and   after   a   person   has   been   over   the road   once,   there   is   sure   to   be   a   desire   to   go again.  
The   road   in   question   leaves   San   Mateo by   passing   tbe   beautiful   grounds   of   the   big hotel,   and   from   there   winds  slowly   up -  ward   and   westward.      One   of   the   first points   of   interest   to   be   seen   is   a   balanced rock.   This   natural   curio   stands   by   the wayside   about   three   miles   out   of   San Mateo,   and   close   to   the   left-hand   side   of the   road.   It   rises   about   a   hundred   feet into   the   air,   and   like   all   other   freaks   of the   same   kind   makes   one   wonder   why   it does   not   fall.   This   freak   is   not   mentioned in   any   guidebook,   but   it   is   well   worth   go -  ing   a   few   miles   to   look   at. For   a   time   the   road   winds   upward along   the   sides   of   a   creek   that   is   tumbling on   its   way   to   the   sea,   then   makes   a   sud -  den   sweep   around   a   bluff     and   commences a   climb   that   does   not   cease   until   one   of the   highest   points   of   the   Coast   Range   is reached. To   tell   all   about   this   road   would   be   a long   story.   It   is   enough   to   say   that   it   is picturesque   and   beautiful,   and   that   in   a journey   over   it   one   passes   some   of   as bright   bits   of   nature   as   can   be   seen   on   the face   of   the   earth.   The   ride   down   the   val -  ley   just   before   Half   moon.   Bay   is   reached is   particularly   beautiful   and   pleasing. After   leaving   Halfmoon   Bay   the roads passes     through     Purissima,     San     Gregono and   other   pretty   hamlets.  On   the   route there   may   be   seen   the   ruins   of   Alexander Gordon's   old   grain   chute,   which   must      be conceded   to   have   been   one   of   the   greatest feats   of   engineering   ever   attempted   in California.   Near   the   same   place   is   all that   is   left   of   the    famous   wood   tree bridge.   In   nearly   all   seasons   of   the   year the   trip   over   this   road   in   the   stage   is   most enjoyable.   There   is   something   to   interest on   every   foot   of   it   from   the   time   you   pass from   beneath   the   oaks   at   San   Mateo   until the   salt   air    strikes   your   nostrils   at   Pes -  cadero.
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3342 2009-04-14 08:29:36 2009-04-14 15:29:36 closed closed 1897-the-road-to-pescadero publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1239723181 _edit_last 1
1900: Arizona Companies Drilled for Oil at Tunitas http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/14/1900-arizona-companies-drilled-for-oil-at-tunitas/ Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:04:47 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3346 Bella Vista Oil Syndicate. This company was organized under the laws of the state of Arizona, like so many others operating in San Mateo County. "The lease was for ten years. The president of the company was a Dr. A.E. Neumeister of Jackson county, Missouri, and Charles F. O'Brien is listed as secretary of the outfit, also from the same place."]]> 3346 2009-04-14 21:04:47 2009-04-15 04:04:47 closed closed 1900-arizona-companies-drilled-for-oil-at-tunitas publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1240020554 _edit_last 1 1857: Big City Writer Checks Out His Back Yard http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/15/1857-big-city-writer-checks-out-his-back-yard/ Thu, 16 Apr 2009 02:07:07 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3348 From John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
Hi June,
    This is another travelogue by a San Franciscan visiting the boondocks of the Coastside. This one, from 1857, is the earliest I've found so far. Unlike some of the later-dated ones I've sent you, this guy is no friend of sea lions. However, it is  wise to remember that this is pre-Civil War writing.  Slavery still existed and "Manifest Destiny,"  had already gained a strong hold on the thinking of those settling the West. I'm going to check out some of the names mentioned herein and see if I can find out who they are. Enjoy. John
 
Headline: Daily Alta California  
Newspaper:    Daily alta California
Date: July 7, 1857
Content Type:    Article
   
Daily Alta California
A Trip To The Coast--The Road— Crystal Springs — Crossing The Coast Range-- Half Moon Bay — Spanishtown — Agricultural Prospects— The Beach— The Sea Lion Fishery — Incidents of Travel.
   Many persons have lived for years in San Francisco without making themselves acquainted with any of the many pleasant and interesting localities which abound in the vicinity of our city. Many persons, who complain of the wine and dust, and noise and bustle of the city, neglect to take advantage of any opportunity to get out of it for a day or two, which everybody might do once or twice a year, and which, if they would do it, would give them an agreeable recreation and relaxation from business, as well as make them familiar with the country about us. Fully aware of our own delinquencies in this respect, on the morning of the Fourth of July, undetermined (sic) to get away from the din and hubbub which we had every reason to believe, from the premonitory symptoms which developed themselves during the night, would reign over the city on the glorious anniversary, when a great deal of patriotism is expended in smoke, and to take a trip into a section of country, which, although very near us and well worth visiting, is but little known to our citizens. Having received some days previously an invitation from a friend, who resides on the coast, about thirty-five miles from here, beyond Half- Moon Bay, to pay him a visit, we took a horse and buggy and wended our way in that direction. The road from here toward Half-Moon Bay, for the first eighteen miles, is over the travelled stage route to San Jose, with which most of our readers are familiar. At the end of this distance, we passed through a gate on the righthand side of the road, and turned our horse's head toward the coast. The road, we learned, was a public one, but that the owner of the land on either side had taken the convenient means of putting up a gate in order to avoid the necessity of fencing. About five miles beyond the gate, the road descends into a beautiful little valley, after traveling up which a short distance we reached the  "Crystal Springs," a quiet little place, embosomed among the shady foliage of the brilliantly green live oak trees, and where an excellent hotel is kept by Edward Wehler, one of the pioneers, who came to California with Col. Stevenson, and who settled on this place about three years ago. Afterwards finding the land belonged to the estate of the late Wm. D. M. Howard, Mr. Wehlex purchased a hundred acres, a good portion of which he has improved, and if calm, quiet, natural beauty of locality, pleasant drives and rambles in the vicinity, hunting and fishing, and an excellent hotel, are any inducements " Crystal Springs" will, ere long, become a place of considerable resort. After resting the animal, " stabulating" him, and donating to him a certain quantity of a cereal known as the oat, and also furnishing our inner man with some fried eggs, with bread and fresh butter, to which our morning ride enabled us to do ample justice, we started on our continued journey to the coast. For a mile or so beyond the Springs, the road reminded us more of one of the old New England home roads in the still summer time, than any we have seen before in California. It it level and gravelly, shaded with willows and with oaks, which arch above it, pawing at times through clear, purling brooks, and then over bridges, with birds flitting among the branches, and grasshoppers humming in the fields at the roadside. About a mile beyond the springs, however, we left this road, and leaving on our right the beautiful place of Mr. Harazthy, we struck up the hillside. Now, we had heard there were hills to be climbed, and some " pretty steep" places to go up, and some quite as steep to go down, and we had a very good general idea that between us and the Pacific stretched the Coast Range of mountains which it would be necessary for us to cross before we reached the ocean, but our travelling had been so limited of late that we had almost forgotten the height, and ruggedness. and perpendicularity of California hills, and so we rode on a couple of miles, all unconscious of the climbing up and climbing down which was in store for us, But at the end of this distance, we found ourselves at the foot, of the genuine Coast Range of mountains, the mother of all the little hills we had come over, and commenced the ascent. Horses seem to have a natural inborn objection to going up hill when they can avoid it, and their indisposition to ascend, seems to be decidedly augmented by the fact of having buggies attached to them, and particularly when these buggies contain bipeds who are capable, as the horse doubtless knows of walking. We found that our horse was not an exception to the general, well known rule, and after a futile attempt to enforce our at first modestly uttered request to him to " get up," we concluded it better to walk, which we did, leading the animal and his appendages up to the top of the mountain. For one unaccustomed to climbing, the ascent was a long and tedious one, although by no means dangerous and considered as nothing by those who are in the habit of doing it. The view however from the summit, is one which fully compensates for the labor required to reach it. From here, both the bay and the ocean are visible, the one lying still and placid in the summer sunshine, the other lashing itself and foaming up against our rugged coast From here the view extends on either side, a great distance. Far off in the blue ocean it reaches until the vision is closed upon the meeting of the sea and the sky, and on the other side, over the valley and the bay, to the grand mountains which rise up away in the distance. We stopped and gazed awhile upon the one side, and the other, and then commenced our descent. In addition to discovering the remarkable fact that horses are constitutionally opposed to going up hill, we ascertained, without much trouble, that they  prefer, of the two, going down, and we found while ours had taken the matter slowly and philosophically on the way up, he was slightly inclined to go down in a hurry. So we got out and held him back a little, and managed to walk him along quite peaceably and respectably until we thought we had nearly reached the base of the mountain. Here, while resting on a table land in the road, we were met by an individual coming up on horseback, who had been apparently getting up a little extra patriotic ardor on the "Glorious Fourth." In answer to our question as to the distance to Spanishtown, he informed us it was only about three miles; but "boys," said he, "ye never'll get down that way."  "Why not?  "Well," said our friend, "I've travelled a good deal first and last, and up and down a good many hills but, there's a place yer a little further down that for steepness jest knocks the centre out of any buggy road I ever did see. Ye never can get down unless ye lock your wheels. Ye'll have the buggy pitchin right over the horse's head. Some o' the way it's straight up and down like a yard o' pumpwater."  "Well," said we. "What shall we do, we haven't anything to lock our wheels with, and I think we better go back to the Springs and give up a trip to the coast for the present." "O no boys," said our friend, " don't go back; it's a lovely spot when you get to it, and yer can go down easy enough if you just lock your wheels."   "But," we reiterearted again, " we have nothing to lock with."   "Well, boys," he said, holding up a piece of rope about ten feet long, "yer's a piece of rope I can let you have, come, what'll yer give me for it?"   "Well," we said, "what's it worth?"   " It cost me four bits and I think I ought to make two bits on it, so it's yours for six bits."
   Glad to get in our possession the means of "locking the wheels," we completed the purchase and although we were by this time a little suspicious that the steepness of the descent had been somewhat exaggerated by our friend, for the purpose of effecting the sale of his rope, we fastened the two hind wheels with it to the axletree, and started on. We soon found, however, there had been no exaggeration at all, and that for about fifty yards just previous to reaching the valley there was a little nearest to "straight up and down" buggy road it had ever been our fortune to travel. But our wheels were locked and below us lay, the valley green and smiling, inviting us down,  and down we went , without really much trouble.
   About two miles from the foot of the mountain is "Spanishtown," a collection of a couple of dozen adobe houses, in the principal one of which the natives had gathered to spend the Fourth of July. The appearance of things about here reminded us more of California in its ante-golden days than anything we have seen before in this vicinity. The gente had gathered from the neighboring ranches, and were lolling listlessly across their saddles, smoking cigaritos, " talking horse," and swearing, looking as happy, and as careless, and as sleepy as we have often seen them in the early times, before this Anglo-Saxon race broke in upon  them, and woke them from their lazy slumbers. We learned there had been two or three horse races during the day, and that there was to be a " fandango " at night. But we were to push up the valley to stay the night, and about dark we reached the house of Mr. Selleck, some three miles from Spanishtown, where we found our friend Martin, who received us kindly, and whom we were certainly glad to meet after our day's eventful, yet pleasant journey. After a good supper, and seeing the beast well cared for, we went to bed and soon fell asleep, while listening to the mournful, requiem-like monody (sic) of the surf as it broke with violence against the rugged coast. Agriculturally considered, this is one of the finest sections of country in California. It is level, with a very rich soil, naturally moist, and easy of tillage. For a distance of about three miles, down the coast from Spanishtown, the land was originally embraced in the Miramontez grant, from which most of those now living there, and who originally " settled " on the land, have purchased. There are about thirty American families living on the tract, and from a waste, as it was a few years ago, it has been made a perfect garden. The crops of wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, and onions, are very superior, and the farmers attribute this, in part, to the fact that the growing crops are kept moist by the coast fogs. A great many onions are raised here, Mr. Selleck, at whose house we remained over night, having about twenty acres in, and promising to turn out finely. The produce is shipped to San Francisco, from Half-Moon Bay. After on excellent night's rest and a good breakfast, in company with some other "citizens," who had strayed away from San Francisco, we took a walk down to the beach, distant about half a mile, to see " the lions " — literally to see "the lions" — to see the " sea lions " — which congregate in that vicinity, in great numbers, and whose howls and barks, mingled with the, beating of the surges, make a singular musical compound at night. Arrived on the bluff bank, ahove the beach, we saw the lions — at least a thousand of them — basking in the sunshine, on a huge rock, at a distance of fifty yards from the shore. Some of them, with their young, were lying on the beach and sporting, in their clumsy playfulness, with the waves as they came in. Some of these fellows are monsters — some as large as an ox, and we were informed that one had been killed, during this season, which weighed two thousand pounds. On the bluff a crane has been erected and some " try-works" put up, for the purpose of hoisting up and " trying out " the blubber of these lions, which are first shot and then easily taken. These works, however, have, from some cause, been abandoned, and it is surprising that, in a country so full of enterprise as this is, this fishery is not prosecuted with greater vigor. From April to September, the " lions " gather about these rocks in immense numbers, and each one will turn out from five to twenty gallons of oil, which is said, for burning purposes, to be fully equal to the best whale oil. Here in a chance for those who are " out of business," to go into the " lion " fishery. After taking a walk upon the beach, and rousing up a few young lions, and capturing a seal, we returned to Mr. Selleck's; and, after taking dinner, harnessed up, and after ascending and descending once more the Coast Range, reached Crystal Springs, where we spent the night, and drove in freshly to San Francisco the next morning, well pleased, and feeling much better for our trip. A stage formerly ran to Spanishtown, but now only goes as far as Crystal Springs, the driver not meeting sufficient encouragement to keep his line on the whole distance. With a little improvement in the roads over the mountains, the trip would be a delightful one ; and, as it is, is pleasant to those who love a little adventure, something out of the hum-drum routine of every-day life. On horseback, there is no difficulty in going up and down, and the residents there travel with buggies and wagons, without considering the task a severe one. We can safely recommend the trip as an agreeable one, and would simply suggest to those who go in buggies, to profit by our experience, and carry something by which to "lock their wheels."

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3348 2009-04-15 19:07:07 2009-04-16 02:07:07 closed closed 1857-big-city-writer-checks-out-his-back-yard publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1240790856 _edit_last 1
John Vonderlin: Oil, Tunitas Edibles & Neptune's Vomitorium Isn't Producing http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/17/john-vonderlin-oil-tunitas-edibles-neptunes-vomitorium-isnt-producing/ Sat, 18 Apr 2009 02:11:38 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3351 johnvStory by John Vonderlin
Email John: (benloudman@sbcglobal.net"
Your posting about Tunitas oil drilling gave me the term "Bella Vista Oil Syndicate" to search. It's Tunitas' most famous citizen, Creed Haymond, who was the former owner of the ranch. I'll follow this thread out as I have other articles about the Tunitas oil wells, the refining in  Half Moon Bay, shipping on the OSRR, etc.
  
In an unrelated matter, in one of the Tunitas / Gordon's Chute articles I sent you, the writer mentions the "Tunitas," plant from which "Don't Eat Us Beach," gets its name. He describes the plant, something I had not seen before. Do you have any idea of what plant it could be? I'm going look around and collect a few specimens the next time I'm there.
  
Lastly, Neptune's Vomitorium, has remained choked by sand because of the lack of big storms/waves to move the sand offshore. As Maverick's goes, so goes the non-buoyant Marine Debris collecting I guess. However, after Burt's Memorial, we were running a little late, almost didn't, but did make a quick hike there, to find it is stirring. It produced a thin line-up of "the usual suspects," but not from the main "throat," but rather from smaller breaks in the reef  that occasionally produce something. With the large waves that we had Tuesday night, I'm going to try to check it out in the next few days if everything is stable here. Enjoy. John
  
oil1
  
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3351 2009-04-17 19:11:38 2009-04-18 02:11:38 closed closed john-vonderlin-oil-tunitas-edibles-neptunes-vomitorium-isnt-producing publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1240790881 _edit_last 1
19th Century: Gotta A Tooth Ache? http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/17/19th-century-tooth-ache/ Sat, 18 Apr 2009 02:59:35 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3358 3358 2009-04-17 19:59:35 2009-04-18 02:59:35 closed closed 19th-century-tooth-ache publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1240790668 _edit_last 1 1917--Minot Judson's Poem about Pebble Beach http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/18/1917-minot-judsons-poem-about-pebble-beach/ Sun, 19 Apr 2009 03:39:43 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3372 thumb-jewel3From John Vonderlin
Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
(Image: polished stone found at Pebble Beach, Pescadero) 
Hi June,
   This is a poem by Minot Judson Savage, from his "America t
o England" book of poetry published in 1917. It is viewable at Archive.org. I've attached an excerpt from Wikipedia about Mr. Savage, that explains how an East Coast minister happened to publish a book with a poem about Pescadero. He might very well have been talking about Invisible Beach in his last few lines.
     
    The Pescadero Pebbles     WHERE slopes the beach to the setting  sun,  On the Pescadero shore,  Forever and ever the restless surf  Rolls up with its sullen roar.  And grasping the pebbles in white hands,  And chafing them together,  And grinding them against the cliffs  • In stormy and sunny weather,  It gives them never any rest :  All day, all night, the pain  Of their long agony sobs on.  Sinks and then swells again.  And tourists come from every clime  To search with eager care  For those whose rest has been the least ;  For such have grown most fair.  But yonder, round a point of rock.  In a quiet, sheltered cove.  Where storm ne'er breaks and sea ne'er comes,  The tourists never rove. 
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    3372 2009-04-18 20:39:43 2009-04-19 03:39:43 closed closed 1917-minot-judsons-poem-about-pebble-beach publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1240790162 _edit_last 1
    Where's UPENUF RD? Was there a Mr or Mrs Upenuf? Tell us. http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/19/wheres-upenuf-rd-was-there-a-mr-or-mrs-upenuf-tell-us/ Sun, 19 Apr 2009 15:29:07 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3385
    Only John knows where UPENUF Rd is!
    From John Vondderlin
    Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
    Hi June,
      I thought the name Upenuf was koolenuf to check out. Still exists. I've attached a picture of the sign. Enjoy. John.
    halfmoonbaymemories-6com]]>
    3385 2009-04-19 08:29:07 2009-04-19 15:29:07 closed closed wheres-upenuf-rd-was-there-a-mr-or-mrs-upenuf-tell-us publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1240790318 _edit_last 1
    In 1910: The Oily Dreams Died at Tunitas http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/21/in-1910-the-oily-dreams-died-at-tunitas/ Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:05:23 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3389
    Hi June,
       I was initially thwarted in my research into finding some sort of resolution of the accusations of flimflammery-scammery involving the High Gravity United oil company's "oil field" at Tunitas in 1910. The main problem was just that, the present digitization of newspapers on the Library of Congress site is only from 1880 to 1910. A search of the San Francisco newspapers revealed no more stories about these accusations. By luck, as usual, I stumbled on an Imperial Valley Press (El Centro) issue from July 1910, that had good coverage of the matter. Probably because oil was becoming big business in the Southland as one rich strike after another was made.
       Tunitas, the End of the Line, for Dreams, Careers, and Grand Enterprises Enjoy. John
     
    FAKE   OIL   OPERATORS State   Mining   Bureau   Commences   War On   Promoteers   of   Swindles.
    The   investigation   which   was   com- menced   a   short   time   ago   by   the   Cali- fornia   State   Mining   Bureau   in   regard 'to   fake   oil   companies   operating   in this   state   has   been   partly   concluded, and   the   evidence   of   the   illegitimate nature   of   their   operations   has   been placed   in   the   hands   of   State   Mineral -  ogist   Lewis   E.   Aubury   by   special   Field Assistant   appointed   by   him. *In   order   to   protect   the   public   from these   sharks,   the   Mining   Bureau   will from   time   to   time   furnish   a   plain .statement   of   facts   which   have   been -collected   regarding   their   operations. State   Mineralogist   Aubury.has   taken a   firm   stand   regarding   this   class   of operators,   and   is   receiving   the   united support   of   the legitimate   oil   opera -  tors.   Concerning   this   matter,   he   says, "We   are   determined   that   Investors   in California   mines   and   oil   wells   shall    "be   protected   from   the   parasites   which attach   themselves   to   the   Industry. With   this   end   in   view,   we   propose   to give   the   "fakers"   all   the   publicity possible,   and   to   co-operate   with   per -  sons   who   have   purchased   stock   in these   companies,   and   to   punish   the offenders."   Mr.   Aubury   wishes   to   remind   the purchaser   of   stock   in   these   fake   corn- panies   that   he   will   not   permit   the 'State   'Mining   Bureau   to   be   made   a collection   agency—after   they   become aware   that   they   have   been   "fleeced." The   average,   person   who   has   been duped   is   interested   In   only   one   phase of   the   question—the   return   of   his money—not   in   criminal   prosecution   of the   faker. "There   Is   not   one   chance   in   a   mil -  lion,"   said   Aubury,  "of   recovering   a cent   from   these   fakers,   and   there   Is only   the   satisfaction   of   placing   them behind   the   bars,   but   this   course   re -  main's   for;   the   person   who   has   been swindled,   and   is   one   which   Is   hardly ever   adopted." Among   the   first   of   these   operators to   whom   attention   is   called   by   the Mining   Bureau   Is   J.   E.   Kerr,   of   the Monadonock   Building,   San   Francisco. Kerr   has   associated   with   him   H.   H. Davis,   an   attorney.   Among   other   as -  sociates   are   M.   M.   Davis,   H.   M.   Davis, T.   C.   Trldel   and   A.   M.   Trldel. The   first   of   the   Kerr   promotions were   the   Illinois   Oil   Bond   Co.,   Chica -  go,   capital   two   millions,   the   Paxton Gold   Bond   Oil   Co.,   Paxton,   Illinois, capital   half   a   million,   and   the   Wiscon -  sin   Gold   Bond   Oil   Co.,   capital   one   mil -  lion.   These   were   Arizona   corpora -  tions,   and   advertised   as   non-assessa -  ble,   though   It   Is   well   known   that   in California   any   corporation,   foreign   or domestic,   may   be   assessed,   and   as   a matter   of   fact   those,   as   well   as   the later   corporations,   were   assessed out   of   existence.   The   Gold   Bond part   of   the   name   refers   to   3   per   cent, thirty   year   guarantee   bonds   which were   offered   to   stockholders,   but wheteher   any   of   these   bonds   were called   for,   and   if   so   what   has   become of   them,   cannot   be   determined.   One of   the   companies   supposed   to   issue these   bonds   cannot   now   be   located, the   other   refuses   any   information. In   addition   to   the   oil   companies, Kerr   has   at   various   times   floated   sev -  eral   mining   companies,   operating   in Oregon,   Nevada   and   California,   as well   as   a   couple   of   colonization schemes.   He   is   now   actively   promo -  ting   the   High   Gravity   United   Oil   Co., with   a   capital   of   two   millions,   and   a lease   of   600   acres   in   San   Mateo County,   not   far   from   the   site   of   the old   operations.   The   old   lease   has been   stripped   and   the portable   prop -  erty   of   the   old   companies   taken   over to   the   new   lease,   where   a   hole   has been   sunk   almost   400   feet   in   the   last eight   months.   This   new   company   is advertising   royalties   from   four   pro -  ducing   wells,   which   the   mining   bureau has   found   to   be   humbugs.   Full   in -  formation   of   Kerr's   operations   may   be obtained   from   the   bureau.   .
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    3389 2009-04-21 08:05:23 2009-04-21 15:05:23 closed closed in-1910-the-oily-dreams-died-at-tunitas publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1240790004 _edit_last 1
    1980s: Party at San Gregorio Earthworm Farms http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/21/1980s-party-at-san-gregorio-earthworm-farms/ Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:50:40 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3393 sgparty

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    3393 2009-04-21 10:50:40 2009-04-21 17:50:40 closed closed 1980s-party-at-san-gregorio-earthworm-farms publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1240789912 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: Buoys will be Buoys http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/23/john-vonderlin-everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-wcoast-buoys/ Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:20:34 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3396 buy21 From (Dr.) John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) The Year was 1892  
    Hi June,
        This is from the July 21st, 1892 issue of "The Morning Call." This story about the types and maintenance of shipping buoys along the West Coast is just one of a number of stories the Madrono appears in through the years. Our rugged coast and not so pacific ocean saw to that. Enjoy. John
     
    OFF   WITH   THE   BUOYS.
    The   Tender   Madrono   Starts   on Her   Southward   Trip To   Visit   All   the   Stations   and   Replace   Buoys Between   San   Francisco   and   San   Diego.
     
    An   Outline   of   the   Steamer's   Work
    The   steam   lighthouse-tender   Madrono left   Broadway   wharf   yesterday   morning for   the   southern   station   of   the   local   buoy and   lighthouse   district,   to   be   absent   three weeks.   During   this   time   the   tender   will take   up,   examine   and   replace   all   the   buoys between   San  Francisco   and   San   Diego. The   operations   will   be   directed   by   Com -  mander   Thomas   Perry,   U.   S.   N.,   and   the steamer   will   also   take   down   enough   sup -  plies   to   certain   lighthouse   stations   to   last for   one   year. The   work   of   changing   and   repairing   the buoys   is   quite   important,   for   these   aids   to navigation   are   often   struck   by   passing steamers,   broken,   penetrated   or   drifted   out of   position   by   passing   steamer   in   the   night time.   In   such   cases   either   the   line   of   flota -  tion   of   the   buoy   is   altered   and   is   seen   with difficulty,   or.   being   removed   from   its   true position,   it   becomes   a   source   of   danger   and a   false   guide   instead   of   an   element   of safety. The   Madrono's   deck   when   she   left   looked as   if   an   assortment   of   gigantic   pumpkins had   been   dumped   on   it.   She   carries   all   the different   classes   of   buoys,   namely, "whistlers,"   bell,   nun,   can   and   spar   buoys, each   of   which   has   a   utility   of   its   own. Where   a   buoy   is   found   to   be   simply   foul and   rusty   it   is   taken   up,   scraped,   repainted and   put   down   at   some   other   point   on   the trip,   being   replaced   by   one   of   the   new buoys,   If   the   buoy   is   damaged,   it   is   brought back   to   Goat   Island   station   for   repairs   and a   new   one   put   down. The   first   stopping   place   of   the   Madrono on   this   trip   will   be   Point   Montara,   in   Half -  moon   Bay.   Next   she   will   stop   successively at   Pigeon  Point,   Ano   Nuevo,   Santa   Cruz, Point   Pinos   and   Point   Sur   in   Monterey Bay;   Piedras   Blancas.   San   Luis   Obispo. Point   Harford,   Point   Conception.   Santa Barbara,   Point   Hueneme.   Point   Fermin and   all   the   stations   in   San   Diego   Bay. The   Madrono   is   a   sister   ship   to   the   Man -  zanita,   which   is   the   buoy   and   lighthouse tender   for   the   Oregon   and   Washington   dis -  trict.   A   quarterly   round   trip   is   supposed   to be   made   in   each   district.   The   Madrono will   be   remembered   as   the   craft   which took   out   the   body   of   King   Kalakaua   to   the Charleston   when   the   latter   went   to   Hono -  lulu. The   different   kinds   of   buoys   which   the Madrono   carries   are   all   represented   in   San
    Francisco   harbor.   The   whistling   buoy   is on   the   bar,   six   miles   out.   It   consists   of   an iron   pear-shaped   bulb,   12   feet   across   at   the widest   part.   floating   12   feet   out   of   the water.   Inside   the   bulb   is   a   tube   33   inches across,   extending   from   the   top   through   the bottom   to   a   depth   of   32   feet   into   water,   free from   wave   motion.   The   great   bulb   which buoys   up   the   whole   mass   rises   and   falls with   the   motion   of   the   wave,   so   that   as   the buoy   falls   with   the   wave   the   air   in   the tube   is   compressed   and   forced   with   great violence   through   a   whistle   at   the   top.   The sound   produced   can   be   heard   miles   away and   is   of   an   inexpressibly   mournful   charac -  ter. The   bell   buoy   is   usually   put   down   within harbors   or   in   shallow   water   or   in   rivers where   the   sound   range   is   shorter   and smoother   water   prevails.   It   has   the   ad -  vantage,   like   the   whistling   buoy,   of   acting in   fogs,   which   render   all   other   buoys   use -  less,   since   they   cannot   be   seen, The   spar   buoy   is   simply   a   long   conical log,   painted   with   colored   horizontal   stripes, so   as   to   make   them   conspicuous.   They   have the   disadvantage   of   being   exposed   to   injury from   the   propellers   of   passing   steamers, but   are   otherwise   cheap   and   serviceable. The   nun   buoy   is   almost   conical   in   form; the   can   buoy   is  "" in shape   the   frustum** of   a cone   nearly   approaching   the   cylinder.""(sic)   It is   laid  
    down   according   to   a   fixed   rule,   well known   to   navigators,   and   channels   opening from   the   sea   have   red   buoys   with   even numbers   on   the   right   and   black   with   odd numbers,   on   the   left   side.
     
    **Frustum, frusta, or frustrum is a portion of a solid--usually a cone or pyramid--which lies between two parallel planes cutting the solid. Try Wikipedia if you need a diagram of one, I did. Enjoy. John
         
    4
    ]]>
    3396 2009-04-23 06:20:34 2009-04-23 13:20:34 closed closed john-vonderlin-everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-wcoast-buoys publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1240789769 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin Updates us on Neptune's Vomitoriums http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/25/john-vonderlin-updates-us-on-neptunes-vomitoriums/ Sat, 25 Apr 2009 21:52:58 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3407
    Hi June,
       Though  Neptune's Vomitorium at Invisible Beach is starting to clear of sand slowly, (Only the top of the head of the "fish rock" that guards its mouth had been above the sand until now) its production of non-buoyant debris is still minimal. There have been a few interesting things I've envountered over the sparse months though that I'd like to share.
       The vomitorium that's located at the point your car might land if you get airborne while drunk and speeding west on Pescadero Rd. on a foggy night  and don't see the STOP sign on Highway 1, was active last month. It gifted me with a record number of eight Aerobie Rings in one visit and a few goggles, swim fins, tire parts, and fishing line balls, but has been quiet lately.
       Speaking of fishing line balls here is a picture of the seven trash cans of them I eventually have to tie onto the "World's Largest Fishing Line Ball." Can't imagine why I don't get to it.
    megreturns-006
       The thing  I'm holding  in the attached picture that looks like a hairy valentine heart raxakumin-052
    is probably from the gills of something, but maybe it is a part of some filter feeder's straining system. I don't know,  as I've never seen one before and I'm not sure who might know what it is. I'll work on it eventually. Parts seem to be a lot harder to identify then species. Kind of like Fast Food. Enjoy. John
    postmbday-036
    ]]>
    3407 2009-04-25 14:52:58 2009-04-25 21:52:58 closed closed john-vonderlin-updates-us-on-neptunes-vomitoriums publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1241458555 _edit_last 1
    1872: ORANGE GROVES IN SAN GREGORIO? http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/26/1872-orange-groves-in-san-gregorio/ Sun, 26 Apr 2009 23:37:31 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3415 dailyalta

    Story from John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
    Hi June,
        San Gregorio rarely gets described in the travelogues in the old newspapers, but here's an exception. This excerpt about the San Gregorio region appeared in an article in the July 1st, 1872 issue of "The Daily Alta." The title of the piece was called, "The Industrial Condition of the State."
       While I agree with much of what the guy wrote,, his real estate advice is a little out of date, and I am a little curious where all the orange groves on the Coastside are hiding? Enjoy. John
     
      The editor of the "California Agriculturist," who has lately visited the San Gregorio region  in the nothwestern corner of San Mateo County, after praising the new wagon road now being made over the Gabilan ridge back of Searsville says:
       I know of no better place for purchasing desirable homes, or where such can be had on better terms than this San Gregorio region. Water and timber are abundant, the soil is excellent, and the road will make transportation ready. The climate, in many respects, is remarkably favorable for health and or vegetable production. The pastures are almost always green. The moisture from the ocean condenses in the cool soil and on the leaves of the growing plants as soon as the sun disappears ****
       There is so little frost in this section that potatoes are planted and grown all winter. The early planted ones are ripe in May, While those planted in May ripen in October. Fruit trees to do well must be planted in the most sheltered places, and there are numerous nooks on every farm among the hills, where such sunny spots, protected from the winds by bluffs or timber, can be found. We advocated the policy of planting orange orchards throughout the Coast range. In Italy the coolest parts of the country produce the best oranges. While the coast is almost always cool--it is never so cold as to injure the orange. For small fruit, such as currants, gooseberries, raspberries, and blackberries, there can be found no better climate.****
        
    sgstory
    ]]>
    3415 2009-04-26 16:37:31 2009-04-26 23:37:31 closed closed 1872-orange-groves-in-san-gregorio publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1240789430 _edit_last 1
    1919: End of WWI: Motor Car Prices May Soar http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/27/1919-end-of-wwi-motor-car-prices-may-soar/ Mon, 27 Apr 2009 23:16:46 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3434 San Francisco Call "Motor Car Prices May Soar" "Scarcity of Raw Materials May Prevail after War"             motorars]]> 3434 2009-04-27 16:16:46 2009-04-27 23:16:46 closed closed 1919-end-of-wwi-motor-car-prices-may-soar publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1240875259 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: Take me to the"Holy Well?" http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/27/john-vonderlin-asks-wheres-the-holy-well/ Tue, 28 Apr 2009 01:22:18 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3438  

    Story from John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
    Hi June,
       This little description of one of the Pescadero region's
    least known oddities of the mystical variety, "The Holy Well,"
     is excerpted from  a very futuristic article that appeared in
    the April 12th, 1896 issue of "The San Francisco Call," The
    article was entitled "From The Bowels of The Earth," and was
    about well-boring, for geothermal power, for oil, for the "Center of
    the Earth," (280 years at standard rate). Mr. Hoagland, a
    Red Adair kind of figure in the of well-boring industry, is quoted
    extensively about his career. Amongst his stories was this one:
       
    "In   San   Mateo   County,"   said   Mr.   Hoag -  land,   "I   drilled   a   well   over   1000   feet   in depth,   and   struck   salt   water.   Now   this was   700   feet   above   sea-level   and   about eight   or   ten   miles   from   the   coast,   on   Tar Creek,   a   tributary   to   the   Pescadero.   We were   aiming   for   oil   at   the   time.   The   most curious   part   of   the   outcome   was   that   the salt   water   flowed   every   seventh   day. Somebody   styled   it   the   Holy   Well,   as there   was   no   accounting   for   the   phe -  nomenon."
     
       Visiting Tar Creek has been on my list for a while,
    but as friends say you usually can't see the seepages
    it derives its name from, it hasn't risen close enough
    to the top for me to make the hike. I'm thinking a picture of
    the capped  "Holy Well," just might make it worth it.
    Enjoy. John
    Caption for the image below reads: Leakage from the Seas Is Converted into Steam at the Root of the Volcano
    ]]>
    3438 2009-04-27 18:22:18 2009-04-28 01:22:18 closed closed john-vonderlin-asks-wheres-the-holy-well publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1241372865 _edit_last 1
    1863: John Vonderlin Asks: Really? Icky Cobbie-Webs Over San Gregorio http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/29/1863-john-vonderlin-asks-really-cobwebs-over-san-gregorio/ Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:33:27 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3448

    Hi June,

       When I ran across this short article in the California Newspapers Archive, I was reminded of my first encounters with this subtle phenomena and the trouble I had convincing others I wasn't imagining it. This report from the October 4th, 1863,  issue of "The Daily Alta," concerns a mysterious event that was reported near San Gregorio.   "A Shower of Cobwebs. — Mr. J. Shumway writes to us from  Mountain View, under date of the 1st inst, (sic) that on the previous day; a shower of snbstance resembling cobwebs, fell on the San Gregorio Rancho. In some pieces there were strings 30 feet long; in others there was a little tangled mass. The sky was clear; the wind was blowing from  the southeast, and the shower lasted for an hour.      Being a fan and student of the odd and exotic, I was fascinated as a youth by the writings of Charles Fort. He collected a great number of reports of anomalous events such as this and along with Robert Ripley fed my developing view of the state of reality at Nature's fringe. His reports of the raining of various animals from the sky through the years and across the continent were amusing if seemingly dubious, even to a wide-eyed youth, who assumed most anything written in a book must be true. As it turns out "Raining Animals" (Wikipedia) is a generally accepted weather phenomena, though its mechanisms are still debated. On the other hand, this particular phenomena of  "A Shower of Cobwebs" is a well-studied and well-understood subject, being called spider ballooning or kiting.   When I first observed them, gobs of cobs that is,  flying in front of me as I was speeding down Highway 5, north of Bakersfield, I couldn't get anybody to believe me I wasn't seeing things. When after unsuccessful efforts to point them out to others I pulled over and began searching for these invisible things they assumed I'd gone off the tracks as well as the road. Just as I, in triumph, held up a small tangle of webs, pulled from a tumbleweed, to show them, another mass flew through the space between us and the truth was obvious to all. Of course, I used this event for comic effect in tall tale telling for the rest of the trip. You do know of the large vampire bats in the Sierra that rangers will not tell you about because they are an Endangered Species don't you? Enjoy. John    Here's a short Wikipedia excerpt about Mr. Fort's philosophy. No wonder I liked his stuff.  
    Charles Hoy Fort (August 6, 1874 – May 3, 1932) was an American writer and researcher into anomalous phenomena.
    Jerome Clark writes that Fort was "essentially a satirist hugely skeptical of human beings – especially scientists – claims to ultimate knowledge".[1] Clark describes Fort's writing style as a "distinctive blend of mocking humor, penetrating insight, and calculated outrageousness".[2]
    Writer Colin Wilson describes Fort as "a patron of cranks"[3] and also argues that running through Fort's work is "the feeling that no matter how honest scientists thinkthey are, they are still influenced by various unconscious assumptions that prevent them from attaining true objectivity. Expressed in a sentence, Fort's principle goes something like this: People with a psychological need to believe in marvels are no more prejudiced and gullible than people with a psychological need not to believe in marvels."[4]
       

    Ballooning (spider)

    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Jump to: navigationsearch
    Ballooning is a term used for the mechanical kiting[1][2][3] that many spiders, as well as certain mites and some caterpillars use to disperse through the air. Never is an actual lighter-than-air balloon formed; the silk has form enough to react with the wind to give lift and drag enough to mechanically kite the spider; researchers prominently applied the term ballooning for such dynamic kiting where the animal's body is the dragging anchor to the silken kite. Biologists also applied the term "balloon silk" to the threads that mechanically form the lifting and dragging system. Distinguish the mechanics from the biological literature term.
    Many small spiders use silk threads for ballooning. They extrude several threads into the air and let themselves become carried away with winds—both updrafts and windward. Tiptoeing behavior occurs as a prelude to ballooning: the spider stands on raised legs with the abdomen pointed upwards. Although most rides will end a few meters later, it seems to be a common way for spiders to invade islands. Many sailors have reported that spiders have been caught in their ship's sails, even when far from land (Heimer 1988).
    It is generally thought that most spiders heavier than 1 mg are not likely to use ballooning (Suter 1999). Also, because many individuals die during ballooning, it is more unlikely that adults will do it than spiderlings. However, adult females of several social Stegodyphus species (S. dumicola and S. mimosarum), weighing more than 100 mg and with a body size of up to 14 mm, have been observed ballooning using rising thermals on hot days without wind. These spiders used tens to hundreds of silk strands, which formed a triangular sheet with a length and width of about one meter (Schneider 2001).
                       
    ]]>
    3448 2009-04-29 06:33:27 2009-04-29 13:33:27 closed closed 1863-john-vonderlin-asks-really-cobwebs-over-san-gregorio publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1241458816 _edit_last 1
    1908: And the winner is....the guy who walked to Santa Cruz.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/29/1908-and-the-winner-isthe-guy-who-walked-to-santa-cruz/ Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:45:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3452 Story from John Vonderlin
    Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
    AND THE WINNING STORY IS: A WALK TO SANTA CRUZ
    Hi June,
      This might be my new favorite travelogue to the Coastside. It reminds me of some ill-fated trips into the wilderness I had when I was a young man.  This is only one of the numerous interesting vacation stories on the "Junior Call" page (#2) of the October 17, 1908 issue of the San Francisco Call. Six watches were awarded for the best stories. This one is about a young man and his brother's walking trip from San Mateo to Santa Cruz.
     
    THE WALK TO SANTA CRUZ
     
    ALFRED   MATSON, 502   Clayton   Street,   San   Francisco. Crocker   School,   B   Eighth   Grade. -.Age   14   Years-       It   was   early   Saturday   morning,   June 28,   that   my   brother   and   I   started   on the   long   walk   to   Santa   Cruz.   We   took the   car   to   San-Mateo,   from   where we started   on   our real walking   trip.  We reached;   Redwood:   by   noon.   Here  we had   our lunch   and   after   resting   we started   toward   the   mountains.   We walked   about   two   hours,   when   he   sud -  denly   came   to   the   conclusion   that  we were   lost,   for   there   were   hills   on   all sides   of   us.   But,   as   I   had   noticed   a cowpath   running      north  and   south,  I suggested following   it,   which  sugges -  tion   was   readily   accepted   by   my brother.    After   following   this   path   for about   half   an   hour   we   came   to   a   tiny creek,   which   we   both   thought   a   favor -  able   camping   ground.   Here   we   made our coffee   and   ate   our   supper.   I rolled Into   my   blanket,   but   my   brother   wrote in   his   diary.   I   soon   went  to   sleep   -   and awoke  at   dawn.  I awoke  my   brother and   then  
    made coffee   while   my   brother   explored  the surrounding   country.  He   came back and   told   that   there  was  a  road   to   the south   of   us.   After   breakfast   we   struck out   along   the    road     and   it   was   hard walking,   for   it   was   all   up  hill.   We ate   our.   lunch; at  a  place called   Upenuf. After   resting   a   while   we   started   again, but   it   was   easier   now,  as   it   was   down hill.   And   now we came   into the  red -  wood   district, where   our  enormous    big trees   rear    their   black,    green   heads   to blue   California   skies.    After  walking  until   dusk,   we   came   to   .the   little   town of   La   Honda,   where   we   decided   to camp   for   the   night.     We  found   a   good   camping   ground   un -  der   two   tall   redwoods.   My   brother  and I   went   to;   bed   early  for   we  wanted  to reach   Pescadero  the   next  night.
       At  1   o'clock   the   next   day;   we   were   at San   Gregorio.   Here   we   ate   our   lunch, but soon   were   on   our   way,   for   Pescadero was   a   good   ways   off.   After   a   dry   and hot  walk   we   reached  Pescadero   at nightfall.   By   good  luck,   we   found,   a favorable   camping ground   on   a  bank   of a   creek.   We   ate a  dry   supper;   for   I, for   one,   was     very  tired.    Next    morrn -  ing   I   found,   to   my  dismay,   that   my brother's   face   was   so  swollen  from poison   oak   that   he was   blind.   So  I led him   to   the   doctor,   who   asked   us   how he   got   it,   but   we   didn't   know,   but  he must   have   slept   in  it,  for   it   was  all over   his   body.   ~   He.   gave   us   a   prescription that   he   said   would   cure him  by   that night.   But   by   night  he  was  as   bad   as  ever,  
    so   I   packed    up  and   we  went   to the   hotel,   where.   we   got   a   room.  Next morning   we   took  the   stage   to   Redwood City, where   we   took  the   train   to   San Francisco.   -   So   ends   the   eventful   tale   of the   hike   to   Santa   Cruz;  
     
       This   contest   is   open   to   San   Fran -  cisco   and   California   juniors   between the   ages   of   10   and   16   years,   and   for the   six   best   stories   published   each week   The   Junior   Call   awards   as   prizes six   handsome   school   watches. For   the   younger   Juniors,   under   10 years   of   age,   another   contest   is   open, particulars   of   which   are   given   on   the fourth   page   today. The   watches   awarded   in   this   week's contest   will   be   mailed   in   a   few   days. If   you   are   a   winner   and   have   not   re -  ceived   yours   by   next   Saturday,   let   The Junior   Call   know   at   once.  .
    ]]>
    3452 2009-04-29 06:45:00 2009-04-29 13:45:00 closed closed 1908-and-the-winner-isthe-guy-who-walked-to-santa-cruz publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1241012703 _edit_last 1
    Old Town, Kinnear & Pat Avila...Ring any Seashells ? http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/29/old-town-kinnear-pat-avilaring-any-seashells/ Thu, 30 Apr 2009 06:16:10 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3454 Storty from John Vonderlin'
    Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net(SE
    i June,
      This page I've attached ScreenShots of popped up when I was researching
    Gordon's Chute (not a lot out there). It's a geocities webpage. I've not been able to find out
    much about the Kinnear who is mentioned here. He was Scottish, named Ebeneezer,
    came here in 1868, and his son(?) John was a Coastside businessman after him.
    I'd like to know what this page is from, as it has some great stuff. Are you
    familiar with Pat Avila? Was the blacksmith shop rebuilt? Enjoy. John
    2 attachments — Download all attachments   View all images  
    ScreenShot3541.jpg 298K   View   Download  
    ScreenShot3542.jpg 244K   View   Download  
    ]]>
    3454 2009-04-29 23:16:10 2009-04-30 06:16:10 closed closed old-town-kinnear-pat-avilaring-any-seashells publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1241072171 _edit_last 1
    1905: John Vonderlin: Whoever has the Road has the Power (Political, I mean) http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/30/john-vonderlin-whoever-has-the-road-has-the-power-political-i-mean/ Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:18:16 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3462 Hi June,
      Here's an interesting fork in the road
    in the history of Half Moon Bay's development.
    This story is from the May 11th, 1905 issue of
    the "San Francisco Call."  It sounds like San
    Gregorio's chance to be a thriving town was
    crushed by agitators in HalfMoon Bay intent
    on maintaining their coastal primacy. They're
    probably still thankful.
      Is this the eventual Highway 92? Enjoy. John
     
    MAY CONSTRUCT A WAGON ROAD
    Residents of HalfMoon Bay
    Discuss Advisability of
    Tapping La Honda District
     
    WOULD INCREASE TRADE
     
    Funds To Carry Out Work
    Could Be Easily Raised
    By Private Subscriptions
     
    HALFMOON.   BAY,   May.   10.—An   im -  portant   agitation   has   been   started here for   the   construction   of  a  wagon   road which   will   tap   the   rich   La   Honda district   and   divert  to   this   town   much of   the   valuable   traffic   and   trade   that is
    now   monopolized   by   Redwood   City   and Palo   Alto.   In   and   around   La   Honda   a very   profitable   trade   has   developed from   the   presence   of   many   hundreds of   summer  visitors   and   the   prospect of   a   coastwise   railroad   has   made   the
    possibilities   for   traffic   many   times greater.   It   is   to   take   advantage   of'  this traffic   that   the   construction   of   a   wagon road   is   being   urged.  
       A   wagon   road   constructed   from   Half -  moon   .Bay   five   miles   to   the   east,   to connect   with    the   county  road   would make   all   of   the   traffic   tributary  to  this town.   Such   a   road   was   surveyed  many years   ago   and   can   be   built   on   a   4.per cent   grade.   It   is   argued   that   if   the county   road   funds   be   not   sufficient   or available,   private   subscriptions   should be   raised   at   once   to   begin   the  highway. At   present   Redwood   City   and   Palo Alto   on   the   north   and   San   Gregorio   on the   south   have   good   roads   into   La Honda   and   reap   the   natural   fruits   of such   an   advantage.   When   the   railroad becomes   a   reality   it   is   feared   that   San Gregorio   will   not   only   obtain   its   share of   the   resulting   traffic,   but   will   absorb that   which   should   belong   to   Halfmoon Bay.   Such   an   event   would   be   a   very serious   one   for   Halfmoon   Bay,   as   at   a single   stroke   it   would   lose   its   primacy among   the   coast   towns   of   San  Mateo County.   A   wagon   road   such   as  that now   being   discussed   would   prevent   any change   of   existing   conditions.  
    ]]>
    3462 2009-04-30 04:18:16 2009-04-30 11:18:16 closed closed john-vonderlin-whoever-has-the-road-has-the-power-political-i-mean publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1241093058 _edit_last 1
    June 1919: Coburn Murder Still A Mystery http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/04/30/june-1919-coburn-murder-still-a-mystery/ Fri, 01 May 2009 02:11:04 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3467   From the Coastside Comet "Dr. W. A. Brook, as public administrator of San Mateo county, Monday, through Ross  & Ross, attorneys, filed a petition for special letters of administration in the state of Mrs. Sarah Satira Coburn, brutally slain at her Pescadero home last week. According to the petition, Mrs. Coburn left an estate valued in excess of $100,000, and a will in which in which some of her relatives are overlooked.  "Mrs. Coburn's will, disposing of her share of the Coburn estate, appraised at about $375,000 made bequests as follows: to the feeble-minded son, Wallace Loren, $50,000; to Mrs. Margaret Harrison, her companion for a year $2500; to Mrs. E.A. Eaton, friend, $2500; to Mrs. E.A. Eaton, friend $5000; so Attorney John McNab of San Francisco, $1,000a and the balance between Judge Bardin of Monterey and C. Widemann, lessee of the Coburn holdings. The reported mysterious disappearance of the club of wood with which Mrs. Coburn was murdered , and which is the most tangible clue the authorities have to work on, was cleared up Monday when it became known that Sheriff Michael Sheehan had possession of the death weapon. "All day Sunday auoists halted at Pescadero to view the little eight-room house in which the Coburns lived and died. Half a dozen private sleuths  continue their investigations and report in the best detective manner, that there is "nothing new for publication." "In the meantime speculation continues rift on who murdered the wealthy widow, with the majority vehement in their belief that Wallace Loren Coburn, the demented stepson, had nothing whatever to do with it. "For the first time in forty-five years, according to Sheriff Sheehan, Wallace Loren Coburn, the stepson, was given a haircut last Saturday at a barber shop.  Coburn fought against  being placed in the chair, but afterward seemed to enjoy the experience. He was also dressed in his first new suit of clothes in nearly half a century. He has had his hair cut by his stepmother or his mother, and has worn the castoff clothing of his late father, Loren Coburn [who died during  the 1919 Influenza Pandemic] "From the Gardiner Sanitarium at Belmont, where the mad man is being kept, come reports that during the past few days, Wallace has repeatedly mumbled threats against well known residents of the coastside."]]> 3467 2009-04-30 19:11:04 2009-05-01 02:11:04 closed closed june-1919-coburn-murder-still-a-mystery publish 0 0 post 0 Dominic asks: What is the odd cement bunker I saw? http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/02/dominic-asks-what-is-the-odd-cement-bunker-i-saw/ Sun, 03 May 2009 01:45:46 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3474 A number of years ago 10-15 with a few classmates we decided to fish a pond at top of Pomponio Creek we had found on map.We parked on side of Pescadero Rd. near the C0unty park. We hiked NE through overgrown canyon up to ridge.Half way to ridge we reached a building 12x20 concrete with open concrete door on exterior of one side in old paint "danger explosives magazine"if you can't shed light on past I will have to see if it's still there before anyone else stumbles on odd cement bunker. In advance Thank You
     
    Regards, Dominic Lelli
    P.S  Who can I contact to get more info on Spanish town Historical Group I left message on voice mail that was listed as phone contact never recvd. call back . Again Thanks for all your efforts I enjoy your site and books
    ----------
    June: I asked John Vonderlin to answer the first part of Dominic's question. I dealt with the second part.
    johnv1
    Story by John "vonderin']
    Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
    John Vonderlin to June and Dominic:
    Hi June,
       It's a pretty safe bet that it was an explosives storage building. I'll hunt down an article I have about a fire destroying several mills in the area. They would have all used dynamite.
       I've attached a Coastsider weblink to a story about POST buying development rights from the Arata family. I bet POST did a full resources analysis before they put up almost 5 million just to keep the two square mile ranch from being developed. In the web article they talk about the Arata brothers, both in their eighties. I bet they would know.
       Meg and I took the Pomponio trail towards Mt. Ellen a while ago. That may be the trail he took. I'm waiting for her input as she lives right across Pescadero Creek from where he started. Great question about a relatively unknown area of the Coastside that is slowly opening up as Mid-Pen and POST buy up the old farms. Enjoy. John
    ------------------------
     johnv1Hi June, and Dominic
       I've attached a couple of ScreenShots from Google Earth
    arataarata2
    of what I believe is Arata Pond. I'm assuming the larger body of water, just south of Arata Pond in the overview picture, is the Pomponio Reservoir. Perhaps, the emailer can verify that we are talking about the same place.
        I had no idea we were that close to the Pomponio watershed on the hike I mentioned. If the map shows the area where the building is/was perhaps he could describe its position in relationship to the pond and reservoir. I wouldn't mind taking some pictures if it has any historic circumstances. I'd be glad to put it on my list. Enjoy.
    enjoyday
    June to Dominic:
    Here are a few ideas that may lead to new ideas:
    the San Mateo County Museum has Spanishtown history, photos, documents. There is a local historian in HMB but I don't her name. She may work for the City of Half Moon Bay     
    Hard line for the big Redwood City county museum is 650-299-0104. The museum's archivist/librarians i Carol Peteson
    On my halfmoonbaymemories.com site there are many articles related to Spanishtown, the early name for Half Moon Bay;, it's just not organized because of the way I work.
    Also, there is a walking tour of HMB, an orange colored pamphlet that may still be available. You might find a copy a Bay Book in HMB.The bookstore is located in the Strawflower Shopping Center.
    And there's my HMB Memories book in the library (maybe) and another by Kathryn Guiltier (sp) and an Arcadia book that has not been highly praised. I would go with Kathryn's book and the tour book of HMB  and what  the museum has been offered.
    Dominic, let us know what happens!
     
    ]]>
    3474 2009-05-02 18:45:46 2009-05-03 01:45:46 closed closed dominic-asks-what-is-the-odd-cement-bunker-i-saw publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1241318272 _edit_last 1
    The Shame of the Red X's http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/03/the-shame-of-the-red-xs/ Sun, 03 May 2009 18:09:04 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3498 3498 2009-05-03 11:09:04 2009-05-03 18:09:04 closed closed the-shame-of-the-red-xs publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1241375889 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin asks: More Pomponio Stories? http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/03/john-vonderlin-asks-more-pomponio-stories/ Sun, 03 May 2009 18:52:05 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3501 3685
    Story by John Vonderlin
    Email John: benloudman@sbcglobal.net
     
    Hi June,
      While reviewing my Pomponio info for the "explosives" question, I ran into this story that I had grabbed a reminder of, but not followed through with a full set of ScreenShots, because it wasn't "coasty" enough beyond its Pomponio reference. I see you have a lot of good Pomponio stuff, is this story familiar? If not, I'll send the old guy's Pomponio stories if you'd like. Enjoy. John
    June to John: YES! More Pomponio stories, please. So strange that someone would name a " renegade: Indian, Pomponio, after a creek. One of those mix-ups, I guess? Personally, I love it.
    ]]>
    3501 2009-05-03 11:52:05 2009-05-03 18:52:05 closed closed john-vonderlin-asks-more-pomponio-stories publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1241377487 _edit_last 1
    Back then shipwrecks were fun because there was so much good stuff to take home! http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/03/back-then-shipwrecks-were-fun-because-there-was-so-much-good-stuff-to-take-home/ Sun, 03 May 2009 20:30:59 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3506 Story from John Vonderlin
    Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
    Hi June,
       I've attached the ScreenShots from an article entitled "Our Shipwrecks," that lists the  shipwrecks of the San Francisco Bay Area and local coast from 1849 to 1869, The article appeared in the January 20, 1870 issue of "The Daily Alta." I thought you might like this for your records. Enjoy. John
    ]]>
    3506 2009-05-03 13:30:59 2009-05-03 20:30:59 closed closed back-then-shipwrecks-were-fun-because-there-was-so-much-good-stuff-to-take-home publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1241388468 _edit_last 1
    1902: Faster....Faster....FastER began in the early 20th century http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/04/1902-fasterfaster/ Mon, 04 May 2009 14:21:45 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3510 Story from John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)  
    Hi June,
      Here's the ScreenShots for a colorful story from 1902 about the mail
    ship Peru doing a time test run along the coast from Pigeon point to Big Sur.
    Let me know if you want a Corrected Text version of this. Enjoy. John
       peru1 peru2

    The new steamer Peru of the Pacific Mall Company’s line to China and Japan was speeded over the Government course from Pigeon Point to Point Sur on Sunday afternoon. The course is 58 nautical miles, a little more or less,and to earn the Government subsidy the steamer had to show a speed of 14 knots, or to cover the distance in a few minutes over four hours. She actually covered it in five minutes under the four hours, showing an average speed of 14.96 knots during the test. Her best running, during the middle of the course, when the engines and firemen had  warmed  to their work, was 15 knots strong, and after that the result was never in doubt. The steamer held 15 knots for three consecutive hours.

    The Peru is the first large ocean-going commercial steamer ever built on this coast. The success of the Union Iron Works with the cruisers Charleston and San Francisco has been even exceeded in the case of the Peru, and puts the mechanical skill of the Pacific well up to that of the Atlantic. In point of fact the Peru on her Sunday trial beat her sister ship, the Columbia, built on the Atlantic, by a fifth of a knot. It was the general impression of the eperts on the Peru when she was being speeded that she can do 15 knots easily with natural draught, all the time; and the testimony is conclusive to the effect that she is remarkably steady and free from vibration, even when going 13 knots in a choppy sea.

    When a CALL representative was awakened from a brief, fitful slumber on the Peru at 8 o’clock on Sunday morning, he found himself taking a last look at the Mail dock, as the propeller throbbed beneath his feet. He had been patiently waiting since 10 o’clock of the previous night for the hour of parting, but it did not come for three good reasons. First, there was a small hitch with the crankpin, which became heated during the final test of the engines at the wharf. Secondly, there was a reasonable doubt about crossing the bar at night with a big steamer loaded down to full ordinary draught. Thirdly, the Peru drew only 17.4 inches forward and too much aft, specific as to a certain draught forward. Accordingly the stern wheeler Alvira from Stockton was brought alongside and many hundreds of bags of flour wre discharged into the forward hold, till the ship drew 18 feet forward and 20 feet aft. Her mean displacement on a 19-foot draught being 4450 tons, the alteration to a mean of 19 feet 3 inches increased this displacement to 4550 tons, so that the Peru when she started was ahead of the contract in this particular.

    Just as soon as the Peru had reached a point abrreast of Meiggs wharf a dense fog gathered ahead and the steam whittle was blows vigorously. It was quite a cold morning, and THE CALL representative, who was the only newspaper man on the vessel, felt chilly and lonely. It had been anticipated that a long list of applications would be filed for the trip, and the Union Iron Works had taken the proper precaution to guard against converting a serious trial of the first large commercial steamer built on the coast in to an idlers' holiday outing. With the exception of a few boy apprentices from the iron works shops, who were supposed to be out on a cruise of instructionns, the 209 persons on board were all out on a cold-blooded, serious businerss proposition. There was no popping of corks nor jingling of glasses, and when the Peru passed the heads at 8:30 o'clock, there was no pomp or pageant or firing of salutes; only the dull heavy thuds of the piston rods, gradually increasing in frequency, and the swash-swash of the waves at the bow. After passing buoy 2 the steamer took a southward course, still veiled in a fog which hid all objects beyond a cable's length distant.

    Captain Ward, happily recovered from his recent illness, was on the bridge, and with him was Captain Tremaine Smith, well known on the China line, and Pilot Miller. Among the little knot of officials interested in the Peru's trial were the following from the Union Iron Works: R. Forsythe, in charge of the engineer's department; G.W. Dickey, manager of the works; James Dickey, designer; W.R. Eckard, consulting engineer, and John Scott, the last-named having oversight of the trip on behalf of Irving M. Scott.

    Just as soon as the Peru had reached a point abreast of Meiggs wharf a dense fog gathered ahead and the steam whistle was blown vigorously. It was quite a cold morning, and THE CALL representative, who was the only newspaper man on the vessel, felt chilly and lonely. It had been anticipated that a long list of applications would be filed for the trip, and the Union Iron Works had taken the proper precautions to guard against converting a serious trial of the first large commercial steamer built on the coast into an idlers' holiday outing. With the exception of a few boy apprentices from the iron works shops, who were supposed to be out on a cruise of instruction, the 20 persons on board were all out on a cold-blooded, serious business proposition. There was no popping of corks nor jingling of glasses, and when the Peru passed the heads at 8:30 o'clock there was no pomp or pageant or firing of salutes; only the dull heavy thuds of the piston rods, gradually increasing in frequency, and the swash-swash of the waves at the bow. After passing buoy 2 the steamer took a southward course, still veiled in a fog which hid all objects beyond a cables' length distant.

    Captain Ward,happily recovered from his recent illness, was on the bridge, and with him was Captain Tremaine Smith, well known on the China line, and Pilot Miller. Among the little knot of officials interested in the Peru's trial were the following from the Union Iron Works: R. Forsythe, in charge of the engineer's department; G.W. Dickey, manager of the works; James Dickey, designer; W.R. Eckard, consulting engineer, and John Scott, the last-named having oversight of the trip on behalf of Irving M. Scott. 

    The steamer ran on a south-southwest course for nearly two hours, during which she sighted a bark under easy sail, outward bound, and a steam schooner bound south. At 10 o'clock the course was changed to a point nearly due east, in order to enable to pilot to make a landfall. The fog slowly lifted, and at last the long line of the hills of San Mateo County, between Point San Pedro and Pescadero, were faintly seen. By the time the Peru had got well in with the land, at a distance of a little over a mile, the fog lifted sufficiently from the base of the hills to enable the location to be ascertained, and the sand of Halfmoon Bay came out as a bright patch of orange in contrast with the gray. As the steamer closed in the engines were sslowed dow, and the vessel, having lost her way altogether, was allowed to roll on the waves for an hour or more while the lead was cast and her drift aascertained. It was found that this quantity, which would have had to be allowed for in the speed trial, was next to nothing, but the wind sent the vessel in-shore, and a small allowance was made for that.

    The Peru now steamed down the coast at gradually increasing speed till Pigeon Point was reached. The veil of fog had entirely lifted: the sun shone out bright and warm, and overcoats were doffed as hastily as they had been donned at the start. There was a brief adjournment for lunch, but all minds were occupied in the near approaching speed trial, as the throbs of the propelpropelier (?) increased in rapidity there was a proportionate eagerness to rush up on the deck. The lighthouse came out now, a strong white point and as the steamer, with her propelier (?) running 72 revolutions, came down abreast of it a stream of black smoke poured from her smokestack, indicating that the firemen below were awake to the situation and prepared to meet it.

    It was to be a four hours' battle between the ship and 58 miles of space. Every one wanted to see the ship win, and there were some on board who felt that momentous issues were at stake. It was not alone a question of the mail subsidy, but whether the Pacific Mail steamers of the future should be built on the Pacific or the Atlantic. The Union Iron Works of San Francisco was committed to a contest of speed and endurance with the Cramps of Philadelphia and other well-known Eastern firms. And as the Peru, momentarily gaining speed, fairly leaped over the waves, experts nodded their heads, went aft to look at the log and said that the Peru was "in it."

    That they were not mistaken was shown by several things. First, the rapid change of bearings in objects on shore, which began to shift like the scenes in a phantasmagoria. Secondly, by the wave that was heaped up at the bows and by the big "bone in her mouth." Third by the log---and, by the way, there were two of them, one on the starboard, one on the port of the ship's counter. Four hundred feet astern two miniature propellers were being towed by the ship, their revolutions being, of course, in exact proportion to the ship's speed, and faithfully registering themselves on two dials, with a large hand to denote the miles and a small hand to denote the fractions of a mile. Every few seconds there would be a long melancholy "caterwaul," resembling nothing so much as a moonlight sonate of disconsolate felines on the tiles, as one or the other of the logs was affected by a tension of the cord and the motion of the tiny screws. "Mee-ah-yow," that was the sound, and it recurred more and more frequently as the Peru jagged along, so as to become almost a continuous "mew." Experts and amateurs alike became interested in the logs, and everybody's pencil was at work on the first few miles. The Peru kept doing better and better, and held her steam bravely even when the engines were making 77 and 78 revolutions a minute.

    From 3 till 5 o'clock the interest was sustained. The ship wold win; that was settled. She had been doing 15 knots all the time from the fifteenth minute after the run was started. Some of the officials, ho had had an anxious night of it, and some of the "unofficials" who had been kept awake all night waiting for the Peru to start, took the opportunity of turning in for an hour's sleep.

    It argued well for the success of the venture that the officials most directly concerned were as cool as a cucumber all the time.  As between Captain Kempff, the Government expert, with whom lay the verdict, Captain Ward, the commander, Captain Tremaikne Smith, his fidus Achates Pilot Miller, whose eyes never left the coast line for a moment, the quartermaster whose steering might make or break the trail and the engineers and firemen below, it ws hard to say who could have carried off the palm for cool concentration of mind on the work to be done. To the mere onlookers the aspect of the coast line, momentarily varying; the play of light and shade on the mountains and cliffs; the glinting of the sun's rays on the blue waters that seemed to dance with the "gaudium certaminis": the sweeping of the tracery of stars and cordage across the blue vault, as the Peru now and again sank in the trough of the sea--all these things were but a part of the panorama of beauty which unveiled itself: the "sea change," which so many have read o, and so few have understood. Once in awhile the spouting of a whale would form an incident; then those familiar with landmarks would note how the ship was nearing the outer point of the bay of Monterey,the inner sweep; of which was lost in the atmospheric haze. To seaward there was nothing but the horizon Hue of the blue Pacific; above, a sky without a cloud.

    On, on went the Peru, and now far to the southward a low hummock was pointed out as the bourne of the pilgrimage. That little hummock, looking like an island, was Point Sur. If the Peru was abreast of it by 21 minutes after 6 she would fill the bill; and once more a trip was made aft to look at the logs. The result was reassuring, and as the end was so near the sleepers stole forth from their bunks, and those who had been over the "seventeen-mile drive" from Monterey pointed out the monument on the summit of a hill. Then came Point Sur, and just as the Peru's steam whistle gave a triumphant blast  half a dozen watches were noted and found to agree as watches rarely do. The run commenced at 2 h. 21 min. 20 sec.; it closed at 6 h. 16 min. 20 sec, so that the run had been made in 3 hr. 55 min, and the Peru had 6 minutes to spare. Her speed over the course was officially given as 15 96 knots; had she got in half a minute sooner it would have been 15 knots.

    "She is a daisy," said everybody when the general handshaking had finished. "Well," said Captain Ward, "let me have the Peru at 15 knots, which she can easily make, and even the China may have to look to her laurels. It's a good boat that can make 15 knots and hold her steam right along like the Peru has done." There was a whirl of white smoke from the steamer's pipe as he spoke, showing that she had made more steam than she wanted.

    Consulting Engineer Eckart, who watched the trial on behalf of the Union Iron Works, showed THE CALL reporter the cylinder-cards taken during the trip, from which the horse-power, etc. is calculated for his official report. This cards are made automatically and indicate precisely the pressure above and below the piston in the cylinder at any given moment. Mr. Eckart said that while he had had no time to work up the cards they were the finest he had ever taken and were superior to those of the Rio Janeiro on her speed up. They showed greater efficiency in every respect, and were better even than those of the Columbia, the sister ship built on the other side.

    Immediately after the trial the Peru was headed northward and homeward. The change of course occurred just as a number of the young apprentices and guests had settled down in the preliminary soup at the dinner tale. There was a fine menu ahead of them. There was a fine menu ahead of them, bt the young gentleman's countenances began to put on a play of colors from white to green and pale pink, like the hues of the dying dolphin, and they promptly discovered that dinner had no charms for them. They were even doubtful whether their breakfast and lunch had altogether agreed with them. [there may be words missing here so I will go on with what I have, sorry.]

    ...which the horse-power, etc. is calculated for his official report. These cards are made automatically and indicate precisely the pressure above and below the piston in the cylinder at any given moment. Mr. Eckard said that while he had had no time to work up the cards they were the finest he had ever taken and were superior to those of the Rio Janeiro on her speed up. They showed greater efficiency in every respect, and were better even than those of the Columbia, the sister ship built on the other side.

    Immediately after the trial the Peru was headed northward and homeward The change of course occurred just as a number of the young apprentices and guests had settled down to the preliminary soup at the dinner table. There was a fine menu ahead of them, but the young gentlemen's countenance began to put on a play of colors from white to green and pale pink, like the hues of a dying dolphin, and they promptly discovered that dinner had no charms for them. They were even doubtful whether their breakfast and lunch had altogether agreed with them....

    In a sea of doubts they rushed up the companion ladder, and confided their troubles to the gulls and fishes. There was a nasty choky head sea all the way back, and the Peru thrashed into it at the rte of 13 knots. By nightfall only the old stagers and those who had long ago found their sea legs remained on deck. They were in a minority decidedly. It was a trying night for any vessel, but sleep came to all in time.

    The Peru arrived off the heads at 2:55 a.m. and docked at 4 a.m. The trial was a satisfactory one in all respects, and especially in all respects, and especially in the total freedom from vibration. Only in a  few bunks directly over the propelier itself could its movements be felt. Amidships or forward only the motion of  surrounding  objects would inform a person on deck that the ship was moving. The Peru's tall smokestack proved no drawback. It made plenty of steam, and the rolling was as insignificant as the vibratory movement.

    One of the most interesting features on the Peru is her steam gear, which is of the Union Iron Works pattern, and worked admirably. It surprised the most sanguine expectations of the designers, and has the paramount advantage of being connected direct with the big wheel so that if anything happens to it the quatermaster is not under the necessity of going aft to steer the vessel. The small wheel is keyed into the larger and is operated by a three-cylinder engine, the apparatus being so nicely poised and adjusted that a child of 12 years of age could steer the big steamer with the finger.

    The Peru is 334 feet long, 45 feet beam; mean draft 19 feet; displacement =, 4450 tons; carrying capacity, 2539 tons.

    Captain William Ward, who will command the vessel on her first trip on Thursday, is the youngest commanding officer in the Pacific Mail Company's service, and is the only one of a number of apprentices taken on by the company to be trained for such positions who has made a success of his profession. He has already established a reputation as one of the most trustworthy captains in the company's employ.

    ------

     

    Finis

     

    -------DO YOU KNOW THE UNION IRON WORKS? ITS HISTORY? DID YOUR GRANDFATHER OR GREAT-GRANDFATHER WORK FOR THE UNION IRON WORKS? TELL US YOUR STORY.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    ]]>
    3510 2009-05-04 07:21:45 2009-05-04 14:21:45 closed closed 1902-fasterfaster publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245421166 _edit_last 1
    Nov. 27, 1886: R.E. Steele Passes http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/04/nov-27-1886-re-steele-passes/ Tue, 05 May 2009 02:54:33 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3525 From the Richard Schellen Collection: Rennesselear E. Steele, an old resident of this county, died Sunday the 14th inst., at his home near Point New Year. Mr. Steele has been in feeble health  during the past few years. ....Mr. Steele was born in Walton, Delaware County, New York, Nov. 6, 1808, and at the time of his death was 78 years old. At the age of ten years he moved with his parents to Ohio, where they lived until 1855, when he came to California, first locating in Sonoma Counry and engaging in the dairy business. In 1856 he moved to Point Reyes, still continung the same pursuit and remaining there until  October 1863, when he moved to Pescadero where he resided until his death...Mr. Sreele leaves to mourn his loss, a wife . daughter  (Mrs.R. H Brown),  and a son, Rensselear Steele, Jr, also a sister, I.C. Steele, and two brothers, Mr. Smith Steele of Ohio R. BrwmP, also a sister, I.C.Steele and two brothers, Mrs. Smith Steele of Ohio and Mr. Horace Steele of Pescadero."  r  Dyrr;r ;rbrd yp ,mpitm  *Mr. R.H. BrownO]]> 3525 2009-05-04 19:54:33 2009-05-05 02:54:33 closed closed nov-27-1886-re-steele-passes publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_last 1 _edit_lock 1244557069 John V. & Angelo M. mull the mysterious OSRR on the South Coast http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/06/john-v-angelos-m-talk-about-the-mysterious-route-of-the-osrr/ Wed, 06 May 2009 14:50:57 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3549
    Stories from John Vonderlin and Angelo Mithos
    Hi June,
       Here's Angelo's next to last email. I actually now believe he was right that the former Pescadero tunnel by the parking lot, seemingly going nowhere useful was by the OSR. I'm going to cover that and my reasons why in an email to him. Enjoy. John ------------
    Hi, John.  Thanks for the article. Couple of things I note:  Harvey's estimate to complete the line was considerably higher than the Chief Engineer's estimate of approximately the same time. (Wonder if Harvey ever talked to his Chief Engineer, Rogers!)  I recall an S.F. Call article at one point talking about a half million dollar tunnel at Waddell; a tunnel of such cost would indicate an intent to tunnel behind the entire bluff at Waddell. This plan was later changed to  building the County road between the railroad and the mountainside to protect the railtoad--never accomplished.  Also, supporting this change in planning: on the list of trestles 200'  were planned for Waddell. (The list  of trestles, built and planned, was in the Bondholders Report, which Mr. Wagner used in his Ocean Shore book.)  I have read that the trestle lumber was brought in by barge in some cases in advance of the railroad building. The Bondholders Report also mentioned "1796 feet of tunnels," but gave no locations. My Pescadero beach bore may have been included, but I have no idea where other tunneling would have been required. A bit off topic, but I'd read somewhere in  praise of the Ocean Shore's builders how they wisely had started building at both ends to complete the line.  My own view, in hindsight, is that it would have been better to build from S.F. toward Santa Cruz. And so the fifteen miles of track building on the Southern Division could have been added to the 38+ miles from S.F. to Tunitas--before the OS ran  out of money--thus gaining considerable business from the San Gregorio and Pescadero areas and  bringing the line just past Gazos Creek and withi! n reach of the vast redwood area the OS coveted--no "green" philosophy existed in those days.  And,  after all, on the southern end the OS gained only the log-hauling for the San Vicente Lumber Co. from Swanton to the S.V.'s mill on Delaware Ave. in Santa Cruz. The Southern Pacific with its paralell route got all the Davenport cement  plant's output as well as nearly all the passenger and remaining freight business.  P.S. please excuse the different type sizes in this email--no idea what I did wrong.  Angelo
     
    ---------
     
    Hi Angelo,
       This is part of an article from the April 12, 1910 issue of "The Call" about Harvey's receivership testimony. He mentions a need for $83,000+ dollars for a tunnel in the Tunitas to Scott Creek gap. That might  be a cheap version of the Waddell Bluff tunnel you mentioned or something else. Such an accurate number indicates extensive planning to me, but this is the OSR we're dealing with, and it might have all been dreams or a smoke and mirrors sales pitch. Does the $54K figure seem right for the San Gregorio, Pomponio, and Pescadero trestles, plus any of the smaller ones south down to and including Scott Creek?   Enjoy. John
     
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    3549 2009-05-06 07:50:57 2009-05-06 14:50:57 closed closed john-v-angelos-m-talk-about-the-mysterious-route-of-the-osrr publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_last 1 _edit_lock 1241660976
    John Vonderlin: The Fishy Adventures of Fireman Collins http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/07/john-vonderlin-mr-collins-adventures/ Fri, 08 May 2009 04:20:13 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3568 collinscaper
    Story from John Vonderlin
    Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
    Hi June,
        Do you remember Harry R. Truman's, brief moment on the world's stage? He was the  owner of the Mt. St. Helens Lodge at Spirit Lake, who refused to leave even though the volcano was displaying ominous signs. Well, the wreck of the Colombia in 1896 at Pigeon Point, produced another such character as Harry, a crusty, matter-of-fact, common man, that was set in his ways, felt he had to answer the call to duty, irrespective of the danger, and performed his job admirably under difficult circumstances, and because of that caught the public's imagination. Whether Mr. Collins, suffered Mr. Truman's, fate I don't know yet, but here's the story of "Collin's Capers."
       This article appeared in "The San Francisco Call," on July 18th, 1896. Enjoy. John
    DISMANTLING THE COLOMBIA
    All Hope of Saving the
    Steamer Has Been
    Abandoned
    STRIPPING THE WRECK
    Everything Moveable is Being
    Transferred to the Schooner
    Jewel
    ---------
    CAPERS OF FIREMAN COLLINS
    ---------
    Vexing Tribulations of the Ship's
    Baker, Whose Bird School Was
    Broken Up
    ----------
    ON BOARD P.M.S.S. COLOMBIA,
    wrecked off Pigeon Point (via Pescadero, Cal.), July 17.--To-night the ocean is calm, with a light wind coming in from the thin fogbank to the west. There is a long, graceful swell sweeping over the surface of the waters of the little cove, slightly rocking the stranded steamer and passing on to break and die away on the beach. High over the waves that are peaceful now and over the land, redolent with the bay and over the wounded thing prostrate on her bed of reef, the solemn white tower stands and sends its flame afar, afar to the ships at sea. The stranded vessel has settled down on the rocks and is awaiting the end, the furious incoming of the billows that will heave themselves against her strong frame and crush it with their irresistable power.
    Through the rents in her bottom the tides ebb and flow, and the water stains on the bulkheads mark their rise and fall. A glass gauge in the fireroom that once told the level of the water within the boiler now tells its height without. The flood is washing through the coal-bunkers, and the hulk seems filled with ink. It flows outside, and the vessel wallows in waves of Stygian blackness. There is about twenty-five feet of water in the forward compartments and somewhat less after when the tide is high. But there will be no more so long as the rocks are beneath her; they have done their worst and are holding her for the storm swell.
    It is a cruel, a fatal, but a secure resting-place the Colombia found in the fog that bewildered and misled her helmsman. While the sea is still and the wind asleep they are stripping the steamer, and two schooners moored alongside are receiving the plunder.
    The cabin and stateroom furnishings went long ago and now the heavy articles are being removed. Wenches, anchors, chains and all the machinery above the water are hoisted out and sent away. The splendid engines,which ran like a lady's watch, cannot be moved now and must probably share in the general destruction that will overtake the hull. At present they lie in twenty feet of black, oily water. The donkey engine is alive and is being used to strip the hulk. However, its time of labor is limited to low water, as the rising tide floods its furnaces and the fires quenched.
    The genius of this forlorn hope is Fireman Collins, and he is a hero. The iron floor of the apartment being submerged, he built a rude staging with a few planks. These are slung so that he can walk on them from the coal-bunkers to the furnace. There Collins stands and fights for his fire. He occasionally stumbles on his insecure perch and drops a shovel of coal into the water and sometimes he drops himself in, but Collins never minds a little thing like that. He watches flood marks on the bulkhead, and by this tide-gauge, when it gets so high, knows when his staging will be covered and the waves will lap over the grate-bars. Then he retreats to the deck above and waits for low water. The under part of the boiler is always submerged, but he keeps steam on with the upper part of the water in the boiler and with his fire roaring to overcome the cold of the fluid that washes around him.
    This is the way Collins explains it, and he insists that he knows all about donkey engines. The check valves and other parts of the machinery are out of sight, but this invincible fireman rolls up his sleeves and hunts around in the water until he finds them and all is well.
    Collins? Collins is worth a column, but he has other troubles and does not hesitate to tell them. He has only one pair of shoes. Firemen in the Pacific Mail are not gifted with many or expensive belongings and he wants to keep those shoes out of the sea water, so he pulls them off and goes barefoot when his tide gauge on the bulkhead marks the rising. Then, sohe says on his honor, the crabs clinging to the staging nibble at his toes and bother him in his work. Often he grows desperate and drops hot clinkers on the mischievous crustacians.
    Then he procured a boat hook and went sealing in his aquarium. He crawled carefully over the great engine's cylinder, and after splashing around for some time captured the prize. It was a pair of is own brown overalls, which he had lost from his locker when the ship went on the rock.
    Yesterday morning Collins thought he saw a big codfish moving around a submerged brass steam gauge, as though it was examining the shining thing, with a view of having one made like it. That fish, Collins though, would be a tooth-some addition to the rather slender fare of the fireman's table, where leathery salt beef is the piece de resistance. Collins doesn't think in such elegant language, but that is about the idea running through his ingenious and lively brain.
    He procured several lines and hooks and with bait calculated to lure things finny [word missing]
    Yesterday Collins thought he saw a seal swimming around in the compartment. Visions of a new $750 jacket for Mrs. Collins floated through his mind and he prepared to secure the visitor. He called Chief Stewart Rodell and wanted to know what kind of bait he could land the creature with. That person informed him that there was a revenue officer on the deck above, and an arrest for pelagic sealing might follow any attempt to capture one of the furry wards of the Treasury Department. Collins insisted that the seal was now a part of the freight of the Colombia , and that as it was of domestic manufacture it was not subject to duty and was out of the reach of the customs officers.
      
    Then he procured a boat hook and went sealing in his aquarium. He crawled carefully over the engine's great cylinder, and after splashing around for some time captured the prize. It was a pair of his own brown overalls, he had lost from his locker, when the ship went on the rock.
       Yesterday morn Collins thought he saw a big codfish, moving around a submerged brass steam guage, as though it was examining the shiny thing, with a view of having one made like it. That fish, Collins thought, wold be a toothsome addition to the slender fare of the fireman's table, where leathery salt beef is the piece de resistance. Collins, doesn't think in such elegant language, but that is about the language running through his lively and ingenious brain. 
       He procured several lines and hooks and with bait calculated to lure things finny from the vasty deep industriously fished all day. He could not attend his tackle and keep his almost flooded furnace hot, so he made fast his line to an electric-light wire and let them swing. No fish came to Collins' hooks that day and the lines hung limp while the fireman's mess discussed the strong old salt horse.
       The indomitable Collins says that when the vessel hit the reef he was in a port bunker with a lantern after coal and one of the sharp rocks pierced through close to him. He examined the projection and found it covered with shellfish, which he immediately began to pick off with his shovel. Collins is an easy narrator.   
     
     
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    3568 2009-05-07 21:20:13 2009-05-08 04:20:13 closed closed john-vonderlin-mr-collins-adventures publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1241796460 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: Getting to know Lighthouse Tom http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/08/john-vonderlin-getting-to-know-tom-at-the-an-lighthouse/ Fri, 08 May 2009 15:00:48 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3584 AN: Ano Nuevo
    Story from John Vonderlin
    Email John Ibenloudman@sbcglobal.net)
    tom
    Hi June,
       Thomas Butwell, the long ago lighthouse keeper at Ano Nuevo, has already appeared in several slightly hard to believe newspaper articles I've posted, but this tops them all. His amazing life-saving dog was one story and the odd pup-killing behavior of some of the male sea lions of Ano Nuevo Island that forced him to shoot them was another. This one is the story of his boat's anchor becoming entangled with a whale leading to a wild and terrifying ride. Enjoy. John
    John: Did I post the other Tom stories yet? You know how messy I am, spontaneous, that's being generous. Maybe the stories are waiting in the box? I love your work, thank  you very much.
    ]]>
    3584 2009-05-08 08:00:48 2009-05-08 15:00:48 closed closed john-vonderlin-getting-to-know-tom-at-the-an-lighthouse publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1241802887 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: Here's what was on the 1896 shipwrecked Colombia http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/08/john-vonderlin-heres-what-was-on-the-1896-shipwrecked-colombia/ Sat, 09 May 2009 03:06:39 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3601 Hi June,
       I found the cargo of the Colombia and who it was going to, an interesting source of info about business and consumption at the time of the wreck in 1896. Thought I'd send the ScreenShots along. Enjoy. John
    Here's the list that tells us what people used and needed in 1896:
    67 cs 40 bales sheeting, 31 cs flat paper, 10 bags lentils, 137 pkgs locks, 2 cs whips, 2 bxs lead pencils, 22 hinges, 26 cs screws, 41 bd is steel, 67 pkgs castings, 10 cs tablets, 110 cs mineral water, 21 cs books, 71 pkgs toys, 3 pkgs metal, 27 pkgs ink and mucilage, 4 ca brass tubes, 189 pkgs paper, 2 bdls cordage, 64 pkgs shirting, 154 bxs nails, 4 cs umbrellas, 7 crates stoves, 1 cs buttons, 16 cs bandiron, 11 cs tacks, 4 cs cardboard, 1 bbl pitch, 17 pkgs earthenware, 82 cs mushrooms, 10 cs sardines, 5 cs fish, 225 cs oil, 10 cs wood toothpicks, 2 cs buckles, 11 cs bolts, 5 crates shade rollers, 319 bbis and 7 hf bbls lub oil, 53 pkgs mucilage and paste, 4 bxs baby carriages, 11 bsx battery zincs, 2 cs sledges, 10 bxs bd hangers, 50 bales oakum, 112 pkgs merchandise, 4 bxd pianos, 4 bsx stoneware, 2 cs files, 1 cs soap, 1060 pkgs stamped ware, 1171 pkgs wire, 4 cs 5 bbls. 9 pkgs 4 bdls licorice, 17 cs dolls, 2 rolls jute matting, 4 cs tinware, 11 bdls packing, 200 ts soap, 162 pkgs provisions, 1 bag beans, 63 dry hides 2 cs leather goods, 1 bb witch hazel, 3 pkgs glas jars, 2 cs hosiery, 18 pkgs hardware, 85 pkgs sewing machines, 2 bxs marble, 17 cs solder, 8 pkgs handles, 40 bdls rims, 5 cs tinfoil, 11 cs 25 bales demins, 627 kegs 29 csks white lead, 10 bales blankets, 627 kegs 29 cake white lead, 10 bales blankets, 14 bxs scaes, 9 cs knit goods, 6 bbl crucibles, 3 cs lead pencils, 5 bales pressed moss, 4 bales drugs, 15 bbls saltpeter, 3 cs shirts, 8 bxs rubber goods, 2 pkgs grease, 
    ========
    e coils band iron, 16 pkgs machinery, 18 bdls, 8 anchors, 6 wheels, 20 cs l bale unbleached cotton, 2 ca blueing, 245 ca nuts and washers, 3 bsx rives, 5 cs hooks, 69 ca axes, 6 bxs violins, 1 bbl vinegar, 56 pkgs chain, 130 G I boilers, 19 pkgs snuff, 5 bbis liquor, 4 cs granite, 9 cs blacking, 57 bbls oil, 6 cs wringers, 1 cs 1 rolls, 1 cs musical instruments, 50 pkgs pain, 420 plates iron, 2 cs glassware, 3 bbls pumice stone, 5 bales drills, 11 pkgs electric supplies, 21 cs coffee-mills, 19 pkgs snuff, 12 pkgs W shades, 1150 bgs coffee, 2 pkgs gold dust, 11 bxs soles, 686 bsx limes, 9 ca mangoes.
    The consignees are:
    A. Vignier, Benj Curtaz & Son; Cunningham, Curtiss & Welch; Gaskell & Regan; H. Bohis & Co., Le Count Bros; M. Franklin & Brox; Mack & Co.; Payot; Upham  & Co.; Stevenson & Co; Weister & Co.; W.G. Richardson; Seattle Hardware Do; H. Davison & Son; M Phillip & Co; Federico Meeks; Otis McAllister & Co; L.F. Lastreto; US sfmr Alert; W Loalza & Co.; A C Baldemaur & Co; Baker & Hamilton; C.B. Kaufman; Cleveland Paint and Oil Co; E.C. Dailey; Geo. H. Tay & Co; H. Bradley; J.S. Cohen; Miller, Sloww & Scott; Michalltschke Bros & Co.; Pac Press Pub Co; Rear Admiral Wm. A Kirkland; Sadler  & Co.; W.W. Montague & Co: The Calvert Company; Dr. James C. Greatres & Son, James de Fremery; Baruch & Co.; Thannhauser & Co.; Sperry Flour Co.; Juan Urruela; L.G. Stresovich & Co; Goldtree Bros.; Mannier, Kittle & Co.; Valentine Goldsmith; Woodward, Clark & Co.; Union Fish Co; The George Lawrence Co; Sherman, Clay & Co.; Redington & Co; Painter, Cornell & Co.; Levi Strauss & Co.; M. Klein Electric Works; H. S. Crocker & Co; Hart & Co; Hawley Bros Hardware Co; Dayton Hardware Co; Bonestell & Co.; Armes & Dallam; Blake, Moffitt & Towne; California Notion and Toy Co; C.F. Marwedel; E.A. Balden; H. Pfeunneger & Co, Lowenberg & Co; New Home Sewing Machine Company; PF Collins; Stewart, Thompson & Co., Tacoma Leather and Belting Company; Vermont Marble Company; W.T. Garrett & Co; Pascal Dubedat; J Pinet & Co; ELG Steele & Co; Cabrera Roma & Co., Garcia & Maggini, Castle Bros; Stockton Milling Company; E.J. Robinson & Co.; Hulse Bradford & Co.; Herman Cohen; J.G. Allen; Lewis Myerstein & Co.; Parick Mastick & Co., S.B. Leavitt & Co; Thomas Day & Co.; W.H. Stanley; Wilcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company; Corbett Failing & Robertson; Bailey Bros., Wieland Bros., Hyan Bros; John T. Wright, Sutter & Co.; J. Ivancovich & Co.; Chinese Merchants....
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    3601 2009-05-08 20:06:39 2009-05-09 03:06:39 closed closed john-vonderlin-heres-what-was-on-the-1896-shipwrecked-colombia publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1241840725 _edit_last 1
    Outstanding in the Field: New Farm Dinner Events Ready to Roll http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/08/outstanding-in-the-field-new-farm-dinner-events-ready-to-roll/ Sat, 09 May 2009 04:32:12 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3615   Go to the yummy website, please click here]]> 3615 2009-05-08 21:32:12 2009-05-09 04:32:12 closed closed outstanding-in-the-field-new-farm-dinner-events-ready-to-roll publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1241843533 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin Loves Tom Butwell's Capers (1897) http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/09/john-vonderlin-loves-tom-butwells-capers-1897/ Sat, 09 May 2009 15:21:02 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3617
    Story from John Vonderllin
    Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
    Hi June,
       Here's Tom Butwell, again involved in another amazing story. His account of the murderous behavior of the bull seals is virtually lacking from today's record. I found one  gruesome account of infanticide and cannibalism by a New Zealand seal in a paper on Google  Scholar, but no other. And unfortunately, it was an article you had to buy to read the full details. I did though, see many articles on G.S. by Bernie LeBouef, the scientist you contacted about Elephant Seals using Lady Clairol at Ano Nuevo in the 70's when you and John visited. I bet he'd love to read this article. Enjoy. John
     
     Hi June,
       This is from the June 27th, 1897 issue of "The Call."  While I've never previously heard of the pup-killing behavior  being displayed by some of the bulls, as described by the author of this article, it reminds me of a documentary about elephants I once saw. Because of ivory poachers all the large bull elephants had been killed in the area the documentary was about. Young male elephants were engaging in gang "wilding" assaults, attacking and injuring or killing other elephants and endangered rhinos. The problem was solved by importing adult bull elephants, who quickly settled things down. I wonder if the hidehunters he mentions concentrated on the largest bulls too? I wonder what Bernie LeBoeuf, the Ano Nuevo Marine Mammal expert, would say about this article? Amphibians? Enjoy. John
     
    THE SEAL ROOKERIES OFF THE COAST OF SAN MATEO COUNTY
       The   seals   of   Ano   Nuevo   Island   are   prac -  tically   unknown   to   both   scientists   and   the public,   notwithstanding   the   fact   that   the herds   there   are   the   largest   on   the   Pacific Coast   and   the   habits   of   the   species   are the   most   distinctive. In   many   ways   their   habits   are   somewhat similar   to   those   of   sea   birds.   Once   a   year the   rocks,   or   rookeries,   are   covered   with seals.   Young   are   born   and   raised   there, and   then   a   general   migration   takes   place of   all   but   the   old   females.   For   months the   rookeries   are   comparatively   deserted. The   seals   come   and   go   at   regular   intervals. If   you   will   look   at   a   map   of   California, and   closely   examine   the   southwestern portion   of   the   coast   of   San   Mateo   County, you   will   find   Ano   Nuevo   Island.   Although only   about   thirty-five   miles   from   San Francisco,   in   a   direct   line,   it   is   a   most difficult   place   to   get   at.   If   everything goes   well   it   can   be   reached   in   about   twelve hours,   but   should   there   be   a   detention   of any   kind   the   journey   may   consume   two days.   The   nearest   town   is   Pescadeio, fourteen   miles   to   the   north. Ano   Nuevo   Island   is   cut   off   from   the mainland   by   a   channel   about   a   mile   wide, and   the   only   way   to   cross   is   in   the   boat   of the   keepers   of   the   Government   fog   signal. The   seal   rocks   are   scattered   to   the   north -  ward   of   the   island,   the   closest   being   only about   500   feet   away. It   was   for   the   purpose   of   ascertaining something   about   the   habits   of   these   seals and   obtaining   pictures   of   them   that   a Call   representative   visited   Ano   Nuevo Island   last   week,   just   in   the   height   of   the breeding   season.   Keeper   Butwell   of   the fog   signal,   whose   opportunities   for   study -  ing   seals   have   undoubtedly   been   most favorable,   gladly   furnished   all   informa -  tion   and   acted   as   guide   to   the   seal   rocks. Some   of   the   facts   that   be   has   gathered   in regard   to   the   habits   of   seals   and   the causes   of   their   extermination   are   surpris -  ing   and   valuable.   He   has   watched   the herds   constantly   at   all   seasons   for   a period   of   eight   years,   and   the   location   of the   rocks,   lying   as   they   do   so   close   to   the island,   makes   the   seals'   actions   as   easily observable   as   if   they   were   on   the   stage   of a   theater. "Years   ago,"   said   Mr.   Butwell,   "there used   to   be   tens   of   thousands   of   seals   on these   rocks,   and   the   killing   of   them   was   a profitable   industry.   The   hides   were   used lor   belting   and   sold   for   a   good   price. ''In   those   days   the   rocks   were   leased   to hunters,   and   the   killing   went   on   at   a rapid   rate.   Of   course   the   seals   rapidly diminished   in   numbers,   as   males,   females and   pups   were   killed   indiscriminately. When   I   came   bere   eight   years   ago   all   this had   stopped.   No   hunters   were   allowed   on the   rocks,   and   it   would   seem   as   if   the herds   should   have   again   multiplied;   but they   didn't.   For   four   years   they   kept   get -  ting   fewer,   until   there   were   hardly   500 left. "About   this   time   I   began   to   study   the cause   of   the   decrease.   From   this   point here   on   the   island   I   can   look   across   to   the rocks,   and   by   taking   a   glass   can   bring the   seals   up   very   close.   I   had   previously noticed   that   some   of   the   bulls   had   a   habit of   killing   the   young,   but   had   no   idea   the evil   was   so   general   as   I   found   it   to   be   on investigation.   One   morning   I   saw   a   cer -  tain   bull   climb   on   the   rocks   and   kill about   half   a   dozen   pups.   Others   did   the same,   so   it   was   soon   apparent   to   me   that the   bulls   were   largely   responsible   for   the decrease   of   the   herds. "After   becoming   convinced   that   a   num -  ber   of   vicious   bulls   did   all   the   mischief,   I began   a   systematic   killing   of   them.   I
    used   to   go   over   on   the   rocks   and   lie   in wait.   Whenever   I   caught   an   old   fellow in   the   act   of   killing   a   pup   I   put   a   bullet through   his   head.   The   first   season   I killed   about   fifty   and   saved   many   hun -  dred   pups,   so   that   the   second   year   the herds   began   to   increase   and   this   year   are larger   than   they   have   been   since   I   com -  menced   my   extermination   of   the   vicious bulls.   The   habits   of   these   seals   are   most peculiar   and   mysterious.   After   the   pups are   born   on   the   rocks   the   cows   spend   two or   three   months   teaching   them   to   swim, and   then   when   the   time   comes   take   them to   sea   somewhere   and   leave   them.   The young   seals   do   not   return   to   the   place   of their   birth   until   they   are   two   years   old, but   where   they   spend   the   interval   is   a mystery.   So   you   see   it   took   two   years   to tell   whether   the   killing   of   the   vicious bulls  
    did   any   good   or   not.   But   l am   sat -  isfied   that   it   did.   At   any   rate   the   seals are   increasing   at   a   fair   rate,   and   in   a   lew years,   with   proper   nursing,   I   think   they will   be   as   numerous   as   ever. "But   really   when   we   look   at   it   in   the right   way   there   is   no   reason   why   the   seals should   be   preserved.   It   is   purely   a   mat -  ter   of   sentiment.   One   full-grown   seal   will destroy   enough   fish   in   a   week   to   feed   a good-sized   town   for   a   month,   and   the damage   done   by   the   herd   is   beyond   con -  ception.   Seals   are   really   the   coyotes   of the   sea,   and   if   we   look   after   our   own   in -  terests   we   wou!d   be   making   efforts   to   de -  stroy   them   instead   of   preserving   them. However,   it   is   not   likely   they   will   be   de -  stroyed,   as   they   have   ceased   to   be   worth anything   comercially. "The   largest   bull   on   the   rocks   would   not yield   enough   hide,   whiskers,   etc.,   to   sell for   $1.50.   When   seal   hides   were   used   tor belting   they   were   worth   about  $5   each, but   since   rubber   has   been   used   for   this purpose   they   are   no   longer   wanted.   Seal hide   is   only   used   now   for   making   buffing wheels,   and   of   course   the   demand   is   very light.   Really   the   seals   are   not   worth   kill -  ing   should   one   be   so   inclined,   and   any   at -  tempt   to   do   so   as   a   matter   of   business would   surely   result   in   loss." Every   statement   made   by   Mr.   Butwell was   borne   out   by   observation.   Standing on   the   northern   edge   of   Ano   Nuevo Island   the   seals'   methods   of   destroying fish   could   be   readily   seen.   The   tide sweeps   rather   swiftly   through   the   chan -  nel   between   the   two   points,   and   naturally a   school   of   fish   would   be   carried   along
    with   it.   The   rookeries   will   be   thickly covered   with   seals,   but   the   instant   a   cer -  tain   foamy   streak   appeared   on   the   surface of   the   water   there   will   be   an   almost   in -  stantaneous   plunge   into   the   sea.   Then the   slaughter   commences. The   surface   of   the   water   is   churned   into foam   and   the   frightened   fish   dart   in   all directions   only   to   run   into   more   seals. The   amphibians   bump   into   one   another, roar   and   plunge   after   their   prey.   All   is tumult,   commotion   and   death   to   the   fish. For   a   few   minutes   the   seals   undoubtedly satisfy   their   appetites   by   eating   all   the fish   they   catch,   but   after   that   they   simply kill   for   fun.   When   a   seal   is   hungry   he will   swallow   a   fish   whole   and   be   chasing another   while   his   victim   is   still   in   his throat.   But   when   his   hunger   grows   less ravenous   he   simply   bites   out   the   back   and throws   the   rest   away.   When   he   has   had all   he   wants   the   sea!   playfully   rolls   over the   surface   of   the   waves,   catches   a   fish and   gives   it   a   crunch.   Of   course   death   is instantaneous   and   the   body   of   the   fish   is allowed   to   drop   into   the   sea.   Providing the   air   bladders   of   the   fish   have   not   been broken   the   body   will   float,   and   often   the surface   of   the   water   will   be   literally   cov -  ered   with   large   saimon,   sea   bass   and trout—enough   to   feed   a   town.   Ot   course many   more   fish   sink   from   sight,   so   that the   destruction   is  simply   appalling. The   fact   that   the   bulls   kill   the   young
    seals   would   appear   to   be   simply   another demonstration   of   a   certain   admitted   fact of   natural   history.   How   such   things come   about   is   of   course   a   mystery,   but there   are   numerous   instances   ot   the   same kind.   It   would   seem   as   if   nature   had   con -  cluded   that   it   was   time   for   a   certain species   to   become   extinct   and   took   this means   of   accomplishing   her   end.   That she   would   always   succeed   goes   without saving—except   where   civilization   ateps   in and   puts   a   slop   to   it. The   most   common   demonstration   of this   is   the   case   of   the   ordinary   barnyard fowl.   It   is   a   well-known   fact   that   where there   are   as   many   cocks   as   hens   chicks cannot   be   raised.   The   cocks   kill   them, and   if   they   were   unmolested   the   species would   soon   become   extinct.   But   civiliza -  tion   steps   in   and   destroys   certain   of   the cocks.   Ad   a   consequence   we   have   all   the chickens   we   want. Regardless   of   the   destructive   propensi -  ties   of   the   seals   and   a   number   of   bis   objec -  tionable   traits,   he   is   the   most   picturesque creature   that   lives   in   the   sea,   and,   it might   be   added,   the   most   picturesque   that lives   on   land.   Like   every   other   living creature,   the   seal   has   good   traits   as   well as   bad   traits,   and   is   most   interesting   to watch.   While   it   is   a   most   difficult   matter to   reach   the   seal   rookeries,   the   experience is   well   worth   the   trip.   It   is   replete   with incident,   although   not   what   would   be called   dangerous. At   low   tide   it   is   possible   to   walk   from Ano   Nuevo   Island   to   the   seal   rocks.   But not   "with   a   dry   foot,"   as   the   sailors   are wont   to   say. Just   at   present   the   rookeries   are   in   their glory.   The   pups   have   all   been   born   and some   of   them   are   over   a   month   old.   At the   time   of   The   Call   representative's visit   to   the   rocks   Mr.   Butwell   had   just mads   up   his   mind   to   dispose   of   a   few vicious   bulls   he   bad   seen   killing   'the young,   and   he   led   the   way   from   the   island to   the   rookeries. Climbing   down   the   northern   cliff   of   the island   the   way   lay   over   moss-covered rocks   laid   bare   by   the   low   tide.   Walking is   difficult   work,   as   the   rocks,   beautiful   as it   looks,   affords   a   poor   foothold.   In   fact it   affords   no   foothold   at   all,   and   it   is   only by   the   greatest   care   that   slipping   is   pre -  vented.   Between   the   rocks   are   pools   of clear   water,   several   inches   deep,   that must   be   waded   through   and   care   exercised to   prevent   being   tangled   in   the   long,  slimy
    tendrils   of   seaweed.   .  Just   before  
    the   seal   rock   is   reached   sea  there   is   a   channel
    about   two   feet   deep   and   twenty   feet   wide   that   must   be   waded. 
    The   seals   show   little   signs   of   fear,  a few   have  
    plunged   from   the   cliff,   but   others   look   at   the  
    intruders with   curiosity   a   few   moments   and   then  
    seem   to   forget.   Seen   from   across   the   narrow   channel,   the   herd   of  
    seals   lining   the   edge   of   the   cliffs   was   as   grand   
    a   sight   as   the   world   affords.   There   were   thousands  
    and   thousands  of   the   enormous   creatures,   packed  
    in   together   like   a   flock   of   birds. In   fact,   the   general   effect   of   the   herd   was   that   of   penguins.   All   the   seals   roar   vio -  lently,   so   that   it   is   impossible   to   hear   the human   voice.   What   monsters   they   are, and   what   power   they   possess   of   which they   are   unconscious. Just   before   wading   the   channel   Mr. Butwell,   discharged   his   rifle.   It   was   the first   time   the   seals   had   heard   the   sound this   year,   and   in   an   instant   there   was consternation.   Hundreds   of   tons   of   flesh dropped   into   the   sea   in   a   moment,   and
    the   waves   rose   to   the   top   of   the   cliff,   while the   spray   dashed   high   into   the   air.   It was   several   moments   before   the   water became   quiet   again,   and   then   the   herd was   seen   swimming   in   a   bunch,   undecided what   to   do,   and   roaring   with   all   their might.   Although   the   sea   was   fairly   black with   seals,   hundreds   remained   on   the   top of   the   cliffs.   These   were   the   old   cows, who   in   some   way   seemed   to   realize   that they   were   in   no   danger. On   the   opposite   side   of   the   channel, which   was   waded   with   difficulty   and   at the   expense   of   getting   wet   to   the   waist, there   was   a   large   number   of   pups   floun -  dering   helplessly   over   the   moss-covered rocks.   Nurnbers of   them   were   half-hidden in   tiny   caves   at   the   base   of   the   cliff,   but came   out   intending   to   make   friends. They   did   not   show   the   slightest   fear,   but on   the   contrary   seemed   to   want   to   be petted.   Ttiey   allowed   themselves   to   be patted   on   their   backs,   and   in   other   ways showed   pleasure   at   receiving   attention. A   young   seal   is   one   of   the   most   pathet -  ic-looking   creatures   that   live.   Its   ex -  pression   is   much   like   that   of   a   lamb,   and it   will   look   at   you   out   of   its   large   gray eyes   as   if   it   really   has   feeling.   The   little fellows   will   follow   one   around   the   rock uttering   bleats   like   a   goat.   In   color   these pups   are   a   light   gray,   with   black   on   the ends   of   the   flippers. The   seals   of   Ano   Nuevo   Island,   while belonging   to   the   same   genus   as   those   on the   Farallones   and   at   the   Cliff,   are   a   dis -  tinct   species.   They   are   very   light   in color.   Some   of   the   cows   are   the   color   of manilla   wrapping-paper   and   the   darkest of   the   bulls   are   a   sort   of   ocher.   They   are almost   the   size   of   a   walrus,   a   few   of   them being   caprble   of   raising   tbeir   heads   about six   feet   above   the   rock,   while   still   keep -  ing   their   flippers   on   it.   Many   of   them will   measure   eleven   feet   in   length,   when stretched   out,   and   weigh   at   least   a   ton and   a   half.   It   is   all   that   four   men   can   do to   roll   a   dead   bull   over   a   level   and   smooth place.   To   roll   it   up   hill   for   even   a   few feet   is   out   of   the   question. The   cliffs   around   the   seal   rookeries   are about   twenty   feet   high   at   low   tide   and somewhat   difficult   of   ascent.   The   rocks are   greasy,   from   the   seals   climbing   over them,   and   afford   a   poor   foothold,   as   well as   being   almost   perpendicular.   The   top, however,   is   in   the   form   of   a   series   of   ter -  races   or   steps.   Each   of   these   is   about two   feet   high,   and   the   space   between them   is   absolutely   flat   at   the   eastern   wall, although   the   whole   rock   tips   to   the   west.    As   soon   as   the   top   of   the   rock   became visible   the   work   of   the   bull   seals   was   only too   apparent.   Dead   pups   were   scattered on   all   sides   and   lame   ones   were   strug -  gling   around,   crying   piteously.   The   old cows   paid   little   attention   and   showed   no signs   of   fear.   Their   pups   crawled   close   to them,   but   the   old   ones   seemed   to   know that   they   were   absolutely   safe   and   made not   the   least   move   to   protect   them. After   waiting   quietly   behind   a   project -  ing   ledge   of   rock   and   allowing   most   of the   seals   to   crawl   back   on   to   the   top   of the   cliff   an   old   bull   was   seen   at   the   south side   of   the   island,   bellowing   fiercely. "That's   one   of   the   fellows   I   am   after," said   Mr.   Butwsll.   "Now   watch   him. I   have   seen   him   kill   a   dozen   young   ones and   disable   several   of   the   young   females." Watching   his   chance,   the   monster floated   on   the   top   of   a   wave,   and   then made   a   leap   that   landed   him   on   the rock,   which   be   struck   so   hard   as   to   shake it.   Rushing   at   a   group   of   cows,   he pushed  
    them   over   the   cliff   into   the   water. Then   he   made   a   charge   into   a   number   of pups   that   were   sleeping   peacefully   in   the sunshine.   He   simply   dropped   on   two or   three   of   the   helpless   creatures   and crushed   the   lives   out   of   them.'   Then   he seized   those   within   his   reach   and   began tossing   them   in   all   directions.   Some were   thrown   at   least   twenty   feet   into   the air, and falling on the rocks were crushed to death.
    Others were thrown into the sea and drowned, while
    a few were thrown with only enough force to break
    their ribs, so they would wallow around helplessly
    to eventually die in agony.
       At this stage of the game Mr. Butwell raised his rifle
     and put a bullet behind the brute's ear. With a thud it
    fell to the rock, but although a 45 caliber bullet with
    ninety grains of powder behind it had been fired into
    its head, the bull was not dead. It quivered and flopped,
    and then a number of cows rushed up and attacked it
    fiercely. They were chased off with stones.
       It   is   remarkable   the   amount   of   vitality there   is   in   a   seal.   Five   bullets   had   to   be fired   into   the   head   of   the   one   mentioned before   it   finally   lay   still.   Of   course   if   a single   bullet   had   really   reached   to   the brain,   it   would   have   died   instantly,   but this   is   an   almost   impossible   thing   to   do, as   the   bullets,   in   some   instances,   simply fracture   the   skull   instead   of   going through   it. When   the   bull   was   dead   at   last,   the   cows on   the   rock,   although   only   eight   or   ten feet   away,   allowed   it   to   be   examined   with -  out   showing   any   signs   of   disturbance.   If anything,   the   death   of   the   bull   caused them   pleasure. The   mother   seals,   however,   are   not always   mild.   If   they   in   any   way   come   to think   that   their   young   are   in   danger   they will   fight   fiercely,   and   if   it   becomes   ne -  cessary   to   wound   one   of   them   she   will   not leave   the   cliff   unless   her   pup   is   where   she can   reach   it.   The   cows   are   the   best   of mothers,   and   when   their   pups   are   very young   will   not   leave   them   for   a   moment. Generally   it   is   possible   to   drive   off   a cow   seal   by   throwing   stones   at   her. Should   one   be   struck   in   the   face   she   will show   signs   of   fear   and   in   most   instances retreat.   Should   she   refuse   to   do   this   it   is necessary   to   get   out   of   her   way;   but   even this   course   Is   dangerous,   as   the   rocks   are slippery,   and   should   a   man   fall   and   the seal   spring   on  him   his   life   would   be crushed   out   instantly. It   is   a   remarkable   fact   that   no   scientific men   have   ever   made   a   study   of   the   seals of   Ano   Nuevo   Island.   The   fog   signal   log -  book   shows   that   none   have   ever   been there,   and   the   only   reason   that   can   be given   is   that   it   is   not   generally   known that   any   seals   ever   come   to   the   island.  
    ]]>
    3617 2009-05-09 08:21:02 2009-05-09 15:21:02 closed closed john-vonderlin-loves-tom-butwells-capers-1897 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1243711967 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: Grand Illustrations Of Tom Butwell's Capers http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/09/john-vonderlin-visuals-of-tom-butwells-capers/ Sat, 09 May 2009 15:30:56 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3622 Photography was "invented" about 1839, so although this story takes place nearly 50 years later, the illustrator was still "king," Here are the pictures that go along with the  Mr. Butwell's (unfortunate name!) contributed by John Vonderlin below. sr1sr2 sr3sr4jpegsr7sr8sr9sr10sr11]]> 3622 2009-05-09 08:30:56 2009-05-09 15:30:56 closed closed john-vonderlin-visuals-of-tom-butwells-capers publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1241883672 _edit_last 1 Old Interesting Documents http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/09/old-interesting-documents/ Sun, 10 May 2009 01:20:48 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3638 3638 2009-05-09 18:20:48 2009-05-10 01:20:48 closed closed old-interesting-documents publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1241922245 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: George, Polly and the Jewel http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/11/john-vonderlin-george-polly-and-the-jewel/ Mon, 11 May 2009 13:04:09 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3641 Story from John Vonderlin
    Email John (Benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
    George, Polly, and the Jewel
    Hi June,
       This is the continuation of the "Dismantling The Colombia," story that was published July 18th, 1896 in "The San Francisco Call."  Those not familiar with Chimmie Fadden, which included me until I researched him, should know he was a comedic fictional character in a number of books written by author Edward Waterman Townsend. Chimmie was a Bowery hooligan whose heavy New York style accent makes for dialogue with a lot of apostrophes in it. The young Cecil B. Demille made two silent movies in 1915 of his adventures; "Chimmie Fadden" which was lost and "Chimmie Fadden Out West." The website Archive.org has several Chimmie books you can read on their website for free.  
        Also a lapsus linguae is what we now call a slip of the tongue. Enjoy. John
     
       Ship's Baker, George Borowsky says the crew of the schooner Jewel are pirates. On the night the men abandoned the schooner he carefully carried his five parrots away with him, and in the morning three had flown. He is sure the sailors on the Jewel had much to do with their flying. They were the most intelligent birds every hatched in a Central American tree, he says, and under his instruction were learning to express themselves quite fluently.
    One of the lost pollies, the first and most intelligent in his school, would recite a whole chapter of Chimmie Fadden without a lapsus linguae. So the indignant baker brought his other feathered phonographs, back to the steamer, and if they catch the language regarding the Jewel pirates, they will not be fit associates for nice birds or nice people.
       Borowsky was the baker on the Colima and missed sailing in her on her fatal trip. He went up on the dock for an errand, and the steamer pulled out before his return. He doesn't regret losing that job, as the man who took his place is somewhere under the Mexican seas. He says he lost the Colima by being stopped on the street by a reporter who wanted an interview, consequently he looks on a newspaper man as his mascot.  
     
     
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    3641 2009-05-11 06:04:09 2009-05-11 13:04:09 closed closed john-vonderlin-george-polly-and-the-jewel publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1242047051 _edit_last 1
    1877: Married at the Sulphur Springs Hotel http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/11/1877-married-at-the-sulphur-springs-hotel/ Mon, 11 May 2009 14:18:02 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3643 Times & Gazette Married at Sulphur Springs Hotel near Pescadero, January 27th by W.G. Thompson, J.P. W.H. Ward to Mrs. M.E. Ballard, both of Pescadero.]]> 3643 2009-05-11 07:18:02 2009-05-11 14:18:02 closed closed 1877-married-at-the-sulphur-springs-hotel publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1242051487 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: The Perils of Pescadero Point http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/12/john-vonderlin-the-perils-of-pescadero-point/ Tue, 12 May 2009 13:45:37 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3645 Story from John Vonderlin
    Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
    Hi June,
       Here's a bit of weirdness connected to the Coastside that reminds me of the "Final Destination," series of movies. Hopefully, you haven't wasted your time watching any of them, so I'll explain the reference. In each of the movies (3 so far,with a new 3D one being planned soon)  one of the main characters has a premonition of a horrible accident about to happen on the plane, the car or roller coaster they are on and freaks out causing them and a small group of friends to change plans at the last second. Of course the gruesome accidents do happen, but they survive. It seems most every large plane crash has a story like that, where somebody missed their flight for some reason and is a stunned survivor instead of another fatality. Only in the movies, the Devil, wants his due, and reclaims all the "lucky" survivors one by one in a series of bizarre accidents. Yawn. But, we had something like that happen on Pescadero Point.
       This came up when I was talking to Meg tonight about the New York's beaching. She broke out "Scalawags, Shipwrecks, etc" and started reading to me some of the names of the shipwrecks in the Pescadero area. Two of them, the Tamiahua and the West Mahwah had gone aground on Pescadero Point. These were big ships. The Tamiahua, which went aground in 1930, was the largest oil tanker of its time at 500 feet and 10,000+ tons. The West Mahwah, which was stranded in 1937, was 5,700 gross tons. Eventually both were dragged of the rocks, towed to San Francisco and repaired.
       While researching the wrecks for any interesting local angles, beyond what's in the book, I discovered this. The Tamiahua was sold to the Atlantic Refining  Company and renamed the W.D. Anderson. But, it could not escape its destiny of joining Davey Jones. It was sunk by a U-boat in Feb, 1942 off of Jupiter, Florida. Only one man survived, by jumping off the fantail into the water, that was soon covered with burning oil from its 133,000 barrel cargo.
       The West Mahwah, was sold to the Norwegian Merchant Fleet, and was renamed the Norse King. It was sunk by a U-boat off the coast of Europe, with the loss of all hands, in December, 1942. It had been hit by a torpedo on the 28th and all hands had abandoned ship. When it didn't sink, they reboarded and began limping towards the Azores. The next day another U-boat torpedoed and shelled it until it sank. None of its crew were every found.
       Given that over 2,700 boats were sunk by U-boats in W.W. II, that the two stranded on Pescadero Point should both be sunk doesn't seem such an odd coincidence. Until you read that the 2,700 ships sunk by U-boats represented only about 5% of the ships built in W.W. II., let alone the many like these two built decades before.
       It's an oft-repeated superstition of sailors that changing a boat's name brings bad luck. You  might remember this quote from one of my favorite books of childhood, Treasure Island": 
     
    1881 Stevenson, Treasure Island, He was hanged like a dog, and sun-dried like the rest, at Corso Castle. That was Roberts’ men, that was, and comed of changing names to their ships - Royal Fortune, and so on. Now what a ship was christened, so let her stay, I say.
     
        Apparently running aground at Pescadero Point and then changing your name pretty much seals the deal. Enjoy. John
    [Images below: the The Tamiahua (1930) and the West Mahwash (1937)
    ship1
    ship2
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    3645 2009-05-12 06:45:37 2009-05-12 13:45:37 closed closed john-vonderlin-the-perils-of-pescadero-point publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1242136233 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin's Gives Us a New Look at the shipwreck of the New York http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/12/john-vonderlins-gives-us-a-new-look-at-the-shipwreck-of-the-new-york/ Tue, 12 May 2009 22:56:44 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3652
    Hi June,
       I believe the answer to the mystery or at least some of them are exposed at the end of this article. This is presently an Uncorrected Text version, but is resonably readable. Enjoy John
     THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 1898
     
    WAS FATED TO PERISH IN THE SURF Erratic Course of the New York in Half moon Bay. Ugly Comments Made Upon the Cause of the Recent Wreck. Twice Did Captain Thomas Peabody Enter the Reef- Bound Cove. DANGER SIGNS AROUND. Landsmen and Mariner* Mystified Over the Master's Strange Maneuvers.
    The wrecking of the ship New York on the beach near Spanishtown, Halfmoon Bay. has caused no end of gossip among ten and Insurance agents, to say noth- ; ing of the remarks of the people living ' a here ti;e big ship went ashore. Not : a few are inclined to be uncharitable and i even ugly in their comments upon the j way Captain Thomas Peabody handled I his vessel during the thirty-six hours b«. fore she was piled up on the beach, a lOML The New York on Saturday "i>n, March 12, was off the Pigeon Point light, eighteen miles south from where she now lies. Although the wind was blowing strong the ship made only eighteen miles headway in twenty-four hours and the next eight hours put her j In the breakers, although according to j the statement of the master he supposed lie was close to the Karallones. Captain Peabody*s story of many of the incidents of the disaster is materially dif- ; ferent from the statements of many of the folks wl • were In the vicinity of the bay. He Bays that the weather was ' heavy and thick, while dozens of wit irt that the day and night were as clear as could be asked for. He states that at no time when on the inshore tach., I that led tk> the destruction of the ship,, did he see any lights on the shore or on the water, but the facts are that nearly ai hundred lights ■■■: various kinds glimmered \ over the within a radious of • three miles, !■> say nothing of the Pigeon Point ilght that was visible to those on the steamer Gipsy which lay at anchor Close under Pil!ar Point. More than one person has stated that he believed that the wrecking of the ' New York was intentional and not the
    result of a combination of adverse cir- j cumstances over which the master of the
    ship had no control. This belief was i upon the peculiar manner in which the vessel was handled, almost run upon  rocky r.x-f in the afternoon and again back over the same dangerous | • r destruction after the shades j of night had fallen. The insurance men j declare that while they cannot see how t hip couid have been wrecked acci- j dentally, they are unable to iind a motive for  destruction. Twice during the fateful day did Cap- ; Peabody run the ship almost upon 
    one of the most dangerous reefs on that ' ' ' . and why he should have ■ the second time is what the peo ple cannot understand. For two uays the New York was closely watched by A. ! Younker, the manager of the Amesport wharf, near the end of the bay, it the small, half-sheltered cove can be so called. In discussing the movements of ship Mr. Younker said: "I noticed the ship on Saturday the day she went 1 i recognised her by her short i tnp had been broken off. ! ■.-.,.- tacking in and out near or norm Ql thy Pigeon i^oint light, and it did not to me that she was very far from (bore. About 12 o'clok on the next day I saw her for the lirst time a con- : siderable distance inside of the reef near ' buoy No. 3. The sails were all up, but there were no sisris of distress and a number oi us wondered why the captain should take his ship Into such a danger- ; to hang up there ' I then turn and go south ! wind and next put out to sea I I think the ship must have gone out ' twenty miles, for at -sundown we could just make her out. As the Gipsy haa tune and anchored in the cove 1 g light out at the end of the ' warehouse, as 1 always dv when the htean er is in the cove or is due The :'-": '-" ' ' against the white-washed' • and can be seen for a j ut at sea. After a while '■■■■ d that the ship waa shore again, und coniine - :u as sin' could be steered : - Mr - ; l!1((1 attention to the fact ' tfithin a distance of a mile south of the wbarl there are over two dozen farm ' m. and said that at night there are s lights to be seen at the windows • re were the two riding lights on the steamer Gipsy. Manuel Simeon was another who witnessed the strange ma neuvers of the New York during the ' oon and evening, and these obser- ; were shared by Jesse Valadao i Frank Martin and Antone Vantura, all of. whom at times work around the wharf ' At the smith end of Spanishtown lives William Metzgar, opposite whose land the • ■ wreck' 'i vessel now lies. Ho was a close! ier of the movements of the shin 1 during the day and evening, and his nar- I rativ.- as to the strange conduct of the I r tallies with the stories told by those on the wharf and dozens who live In the town. The officers of the little coasting steam er Gipsy, that runs from this port to San ta Cruz, had a fine opportunity of noting the movements of the New York, but they are as badly mystified as any one. "It was Sunday afternoon about 2 o'clock when I first saw the New York," said Captain Iceland of the steamer Gipsy.  . l : " . between FliUx uad : -a -vs j "We had passed Pigeon Point and were making for the company's wharf. It was a clear day and we could see nearly twenty miles. When I sighted the New lork she was standing in toward the beach, and I said to the mate, 'What's that fellow doing in there? He'll run that ship ashore if he don't look out.' Th.3 Gipsy was about half a mile off shore and the Xew York was on the port tack abuut a mile and a half from the beach. Just then he hauled his main topsail back, but the ship hung fire. I watched him a few seconds, and then remarked to the mate, 'My God, he's on the reef.' She Wing there for about ten minutes, and tXen her topsails filled and the crew wore snip and stood off shore. "In the morning the mate knocked on my door and said 'Captain, that ship's ashore.' There she was, sure enough, piled up almost on the exact point for which she had been heading the day be fore. "I have just this much to say about that wreck: The man who ran her there must have been crazy, lie must have seen Pigeon Point light if he was keep ing any lookout. When the New York was tacked and stood off shore the cap tain must have known where he was. If he had used his eyes at all he could not but have seen the Pacific Coast Steam ship Company's wharf, the buoys mark ing the opening in the reef and the one marking the end of the reef below which his vessel went ashore. All these signs should have told h!m where he was, and therefore I say the man who ran the New York ashore must have been crazy. To G. S. Dent, the second mate of the steamer Gipsy, the movement of the New York on the Oay that she met her fate were decide-i.y a mystery. Accord ing to his statements the ship was nrst sighted about 2:30 o'clock in the after noon as the Gipsy was steaming into the cove of Halfmoon Bay. In speaking of the singular movements of the ship and his own impressions he said: "I was on the bridge and saw the ship coming straight in, as I thought, on her first in shore tack. I called Captain Leland and asked him what he thought of the way the snip was being handled, v c could not make out why she should be so close to the land. At the time we decided that her captain was somewhat off his course and wanted to know where he was or wanted to get a pilot. About that time we saw that he people on board were hauling back the main yard and the ship checked in her course. When she rounded to she was not more than a quarter of a mile south of the south reef, the buoy being to the north of her. This reef ex tends half a mile. The wind was blowing pretty fresh from the northwest, just Course of the New York Before Going on the Feach. such a breeze as a captain of a vessel like bis would like. "I was on deck most of the afternoon, and about 6:30 o'clock I noticed that the New York had again tacked and was standing Inshore. Captain Leland and tSrst mute, Mr. Peterson, watched her a lime, and we commented that if was lucky she would be able to pass point on that tack." t hat was the condition of the wind?" asked of Mr. Dent, to which he an cl: "It was blowing pretty stiff from northwest all of the afternoon, but so hard as to make the handling Of a ship at all difficult." "And the condition of the atmosphere, was it foggy or misty, so that the "captain could not see where he was going?" "Pshaw, nothing of the kind. The weather was as clear as a day could be," was the mate's reply. "The night was as cle:u" as the day. At 7 o'clock in the evening 1 plainly saw the Pigeon Point light, which is eighteen miles down the coast. If we could see that light so far down the coast I do not understand Rthe captain of the ship could not see two lights where we lay at anchor, had our riding Fights up fore and aft. des there was a big light on the end le wharf and back on the shore could seen dozens of lights in the town, Spanishtown. Still the captain of tha New York kept right on, lights and all, until he piled his ship up on the beach, where she now lies. I cannot see for the life of me how it was that he could have made such a mistake. It would have been inexcusable for him to have made such a mistake in the night time, with all the lights in full sight, but to do as he did after nearly going on the reef in the afternoon is more than I can com prehend. When he found, In the after noon, that he was in a locality in which he had no business It was his duty to have got out of there as fast as his sails would carry him. But he did not, and his ship is now on the beach." Captain Peabody of the New York la still at Spanishtown. He acknowledges that the loss of the ship Is as much ofl a mystery to him as to any one else. Yesterday he said that on the day pre ceding the wreck he was beating on and off the coast west of Pigeon Point light, and could not make any headway against the wind. It took him about twenty-four THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 1898. hours to get up opposite Halfmoon Bay, and the reason he gave for going in so close to the land was that the weather was hazy and he could not make out the shore well. When he found that he was in a dan gerous neighborhood he "wore" ship and headed for the deeper and safer west. "I stood off until 4:30 p. m.," said he, "and judged from the patent log that I was about twenty-two miles out. Then I tacked and headed for the Point Bonlta light, as I supposed. All of the time the wind was blowing very hard and the weather was thick and we could not see very far. I went aloft to try and find the light I was expecting to see, and off to the land side I saw a white line of break ers. I shouted to throw the helm over, but the ship would not answer, and we went broadside into the breakers. There was nothing for me to gain and every thing to lose by wrecking the ship. As it whs my wife and I lost everything we had. I did not own a cent interest in the Now York, and the owners, L. Lucken bach & Bros, of New York City, are the most responsible people in this line of business. Some of these ugly stories have been circulated by the sailors. No sooner had they got safe on shore than they got beastly drunk. Every one from the town brought a bottle of liquor and nearly every sailor got all .that his hide would hold. Even the second mate. Wilson, was dead drunk on the sand within eight feet of the water's edge when I got ashore in the morning after the ship went on." The New York was an iron ship, built in ISS3. Her cargo was valued at $125,000 and Insured in this city and Hongkong for Its full value. The vessel was valued at about $3S.O<X> and Insured in New York for about $30,000 in the Atlantic Mutual, Boston Marine and North American com panies. _____________
     
         
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    3652 2009-05-12 15:56:44 2009-05-12 22:56:44 closed closed john-vonderlins-gives-us-a-new-look-at-the-shipwreck-of-the-new-york publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1242169996 _edit_last 1
    http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/12/3656/ Wed, 13 May 2009 04:13:10 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3656
    Hi June,
       This is pretty clean, but is not a Corrected Text version yet. But it's generally readable. I've got the ScreenShots and will correct it soon. Reading this ship's history I can see why they might have felt it was cursed. Enjoy. John
    WRECK OF THE SHIP NEW YORK Continued from First Page. and 10 feet of water in her hold. Her plates are considerably sprung. She is lying in a bed of quicksand and may at any minute turn over. I do not think it possible for the tugs to get her off. The beach of Half-moon Bay will in all probability be her graveyard." The crew of the New York is being cared for at the hotel in Halfmoon Bay proper. Captain Peabody, his wife and child are staying in a private house. The captain says that he will not go to San Francisco until some dis position has been made of the ship and cargo. Several underwriters and in surance adjusters arrived at the scene of the wreck to-night to see if there is any possibility of either floating the vessel or having her hauled off the beach by tugs. A heavy sea was break in? over her at tho time and it became dark before they had an opportunity of getting a good view of the surround ings. Thoy will go down to the beach to morrow morning to make another sur vey of the situation. They fear that j a heavy northerly gale, such as was j experienced last week, will mean the ! total breaking-up of the vessel. NOTED FOR DISASTER, MUTINY AND MURDER. Thrilling and Unlucky Career of the Iron Ship That Is Ashore in Halfmoon Bay. "The New York is hard and fast on the beach at Halfmoon Bay," said Captain Gilbert Brokaw of the. tug Re liance last night. "As soon as I got there yesterday morning I saw there was no chance of saving the vessel. She ( ivas sunk eight feet in the sand, there : ■was nine feet of water in her hold and the sandbar is being formed outside the i vessel that will do away with any chance of ever getting her into deep water again. "When the Xew York went ashore Bhe was under a jib and foretopmast staysail, foresail, lower foretopsail, up per and lower jnain topsail and mizzen lower topsail. "When the Reliance got there the jib and foretopmast staysail had been run down, the mainsail was half set and the sheets and tacks of the foresail had broken and that sail was flying out to the wind. The vessel must have teen driven ashore bow on and then turned broadside to the shore by the force of the wind and the waves. Both the anchors were at the bow so there was either no time or probably no thought of dropping either of them. "The crew had run a line from the I ship to the beach when I got ashore, and they were working one of the ships boats between the wreck and the shore by means of it. It was calm between the ship and the beach, but the waves which swept around the bow and th«» stern made a very strong current which sometimes capsized the boat during its journey backward and forward. Dur ing one trip with Captain Peabody the boat capsized and the great bulk of the captain's effects, including his wife's Bewing machine, was dumped Into the water. The men that were in the boat were saved, but at one time it looked as if the boat would drift out to sea. One of the crew, a big Kanaka, took a rope, however, and swam out to the boat. He made the rope fast to it, and then getting astride the half-submerged craft was pulled ashore. All Spanish town took a holiday to view the wreck. The school children were marched down to the beach in a body, and after gazing on the scene for a couple of hours were marched back to school again. "Captain Peabody was very reticent as to the cause of the disaster, but the men say that Mate Kerr, who was on watch, called the captain half an hour before he showed up on deck. From what I cc-uld gather the ship had been on and off Halfmoon Bay for three days and once had been very close in shore. She stood off ten or twleve miles, but in spite of the northwest wind that was blowing she came right back to her old stamping ground and, much to the surprise of everybody, went ashore. Captain Peabody blames the strong currents. He says there should be a light on Pillar Point. "The British ship Clan Galbraith, from San Francisco for Cork with a cargo of wheat, had a narrow escape of laying her bones alongside the New York. She was within three miles of the beach and just when in the most danger she managed to head off on a starboard tack and just cleared Pigeon Point by a hair's breadth. For half an hour it was touch and go with her, and I delayed my departure for San Fran cisco, thinking that 'every minute it would require my assistance. Captain Hodgman of the Life-saving Station at Fort Point did every thing he possibly could for the crew of the New York. He took all kinds of chances in saving the men's kits and was time and again up to his waist in water while paving stuff from the wreck." The American ship New York, late the T. F. Oakes, has been one of the most unfortunate vessels that ever left the stocks. Misfortune followed her from ths day she was launched in Phil adelphia, until she laid her bones on the beach at HaTfmoon Bay. When she was
    loaded and ready to sail from Phil adelphia for Port Townsend on her maiden voyage old sailors said that she would have a terrible time of it round , ing the Horn. At that time she was | the loftiest sparred ship in the world I and the aid sailors' predictions came i true. She was dismasted on that voy j age and put into Valparaiso in dis- I tress. She was repaired and started | again for Puget Sound, but again the ! masts were blown out of her and she was towed back to Valparaiso for the ; second time. On her third attempt she got well up the Pacific coast, but was i caught in another gale off Columbia ! River and finally had to be tawed to i Port Townsend in distress. On her second voyage she was sent ! out to China and was caught in a ty i phoon and nearly wrecked. She was i thrown on her beam ends, and a ! steamer picked her up and towed her into Hongkong. The latter part of 1896 she started I from China for New York, and was 864 I days making the trip. She was so j long overdue that she was given up for lost, and 80 guineas per cent rein surance was paid on her. During that voyage some of the crew died from j scurvy, and nearly all the others were kslck from the disease that they Id not work the ship, and had to driven to their stations with ropes s and belaying pins. It is as a rd ship," therefore, that the New k is best known. She never made an American port without the captain or mate be\ng arrested for beating the men. As a- general rule they got off, but the trip from Hongkong set tled the captain and the mate, both of whom were punished by the Federal Court of New York. In May, 1893, Captain Reid and First Mate McKay of the Oakes (now the New York) were arrested on twenty eight charges in San Francisco. Six seamen gave evidence and showed the wounds inflicted by the officers, but both of them got off on a technicality. In February. 1895. Captain Reid and Second Mate Ross were arrested in San Francisco on a charge of extreme cruelty and murder. Frederick Owens, able seaman, was assaulted, dragged out of the forecastle and compelled to work during the very cold weather off Cape Horn, notwithstanding that he complained of sickness. Owens couldn't work, but was ordered to "walk the deck." He was given no medical aid, except a dose of salts and a mustard | plaster. Two days later he died. Later i"a simple minded Swede" named J. ; Johnson failed to address the second mate as "sir," and was knocked down and kicked in the eye by Captain Id. The second mate ran away to ape trial, and the captain was .in acquitted on a technicality, fter that the ship went to Na mo, B. C, to load coal for Santa Rosalia, and four crews deserted one after the other before she could get away. Then came the fearful voyage from China, and that sickened even the owners. The name of the ship was changed to New York, and an entire new crew, with Captain Peabody as master, was put aboard of her. He had been successful as master of the Tarn o' Shanter, and during one voyage left New York the same day as the Shenan doah, and they both came in through the Golden Gate together in the fast time of 111 days. Captain Peabody made one trip in the Sintram after leaving the Tarn o' Shanter and then he accepted command of the New York. But his advent did not relieve the "hoodoo." After leaving Hong kong she lost her foremast in a gale and had to put back for repairs. A second start was made, but misfortune again overtook her. In another gale she lost her foretopgallant mast and foretopsail yard, and altogether there were five serious accidents during the Captain Peabody had his hands full during the voyage. His crew became mutinous, and the belaying-pln had to be used occasionally in order to get any work out of the men. The New York and the Tillie E. Starbuck were sister ships, but there the resemblance ends, as the former has been a continuous failure while the Starbuck has been a success. The New York was an iron ship, built by the American Ship Building Company of Philadelphia in 1883. She was 255 feet long, 40 feet 6 inches broad and 23 feet 5 inches deep. She was 1897 tons burden and had aboard the following cargo consigned to Williams, Dimond 6 Co.: 100 boxes 50 bundles cassia, 550 half chests 10 packages tea, 1042 pack ages green tea, 60 bales gunnies, 2000 bundles hemp, 75 bags coffee, 730 bundles kopak, 20 packages camphor wood trunks, 170 bundles 743 bags 72 boxes tapioca, 68 bundles palmleaf fans, 46 packages rattan furniture, 22. 605 packages 21 bundles 300 bales 441 boxes 1807 bags merchandise, 700 rolls matting, 109 bags hemp seed, 40 pack ages trunks, 2320 quicksilver flasks, 107 bundles gambrla, 500 cases pineapples, 8243 mats rice, 61 bundles rattan, 40 cases Soy Lo, packages bamboo shoots, 20 baskets garlic, 5 cases salt vegeta bles, 3 cases joss sticks, 1 bundle strings, 1 jar sauce, 280 boxes peanuts, 75 boxes dry goods, 224 boxes sago flour, 1 package paper, 1550 boxes nut oil, 50 boxes tapioca flour, 98 packages flour, 100 boxes peanut oil, 140 boxes crackers, 14 boxes chinaware, 14 boxes woodenware, 30 boxes 10 packages to bacco, 96 bags pepper, 200 boxes oil, 200 packages green beans. Deputy Surveyor of Customs St. John yesterday sent Customs Inspector Henry Payne to the scene of the wreck for the purpose of taking pos session of the cargo until the duties thereon shall have been liquidated through the Custom-house. This morn ing three additional inspectors will leave by stage for Half-moon Bay for the purpose of guarding the wreck and the cargo. Each man will watch eight hours out of the twenty-four, so that a continuous watch day and night will
    be kept.
    ]]>
    3656 2009-05-12 21:13:10 2009-05-13 04:13:10 closed closed 3656 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1242187991 _edit_last 1
    Joel Bratman's New Photos of the Bay Area http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/13/joel-bratmans-new-photos-of-the-bay-area/ Wed, 13 May 2009 12:23:51 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3658 Folks, I've made some recent updates to my PBase photo gallery. From recent travels: Cayucos http://www.pbase.com/trut_maluglist/cayucos The Pinnacles http://www.pbase.com/trut_maluglist/pinnacles San Francisco Zoo http://www.pbase.com/trut_maluglist/sfzoo And old Kodak Gallery photo galleries which I recreated on PBase: Graffiti of the Haight http://www.pbase.com/trut_maluglist/graffiti_of_the_haight Backroads of Sonoma County http://www.pbase.com/trut_maluglist/sonoma_county  - Joel]]> 3658 2009-05-13 05:23:51 2009-05-13 12:23:51 closed closed joel-bratmans-new-photos-of-the-bay-area publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1242219135 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: Hen Frigates..What? Hen Frigates http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/13/john-vonderlin-hen-frigateswhat-hen-frigates/ Wed, 13 May 2009 22:40:32 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3661 ]]> 3661 2009-05-13 15:40:32 2009-05-13 22:40:32 closed closed john-vonderlin-hen-frigateswhat-hen-frigates publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1243712243 _edit_last 1 Joan Druett, author of "Hen Frigates" http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/13/joan-druett-author-of-hen-frigates/ Thu, 14 May 2009 03:21:45 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3664 3664 2009-05-13 20:21:45 2009-05-14 03:21:45 closed closed joan-druett-author-of-hen-frigates publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1243712042 _edit_last 1 Experts: Is this the Ocean Shore RR? What about the Paper Cities? http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/16/experts-is-this-the-ocean-shore-rr-what-about-the-paper-cities/ Sun, 17 May 2009 02:48:40 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3666 And here's something called "Paper Cities." paperciyies]]> 3666 2009-05-16 19:48:40 2009-05-17 02:48:40 closed closed experts-is-this-the-ocean-shore-rr-what-about-the-paper-cities publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1243711826 _edit_last 1 Which Way The Railroad? John Vonderlin Digs up New Info http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/16/which-way-the-railroad-john-vonderlin-digs-up-new-info/ Sun, 17 May 2009 04:29:07 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3670
    Story from John Vonderlin
    Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
    Hi June,
       Angelo and I are still nibbling away at the truth of planned OSR routes along the Coastside. I sent this email to him and can excerpt it for PM if you like. I'm attaching some info about Mr. Joost, as I thought you might be familiar with him, or be interested in his contribution to S.F. as a former resident.  He had a reasonably successful sixty year business career, but not as successful as another youth from his hometown, Mr. Spreckels. The picture is the Sunnyside district, his development, in 1905. Enjoy. John  --- On Fri, 5/15/09, john vonderlin <benloudman@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
    From: john vonderlin <benloudman@sbcglobal.net> Subject: Pre-OSR To: A1500thos@earthlink.net Date: Friday, May 15, 2009, 6:42 PM
    Hi Angelo,
       The Screenshots I attached are from a long article about the Vanderbilts buying out the West Shore Company's right-of-ways along the Coastside in 1899. I thought you might be interested in the mention of the Waddell Creek work already done and Mr. Behrend Joost, who  was an early organizer of a coastal route. Perhaps, his letters, documents have some of the early surveys of an S.F. to Santa Cruz route. I'll check. Enjoy. John P.S. On "Chronicling America," I used the "with the words" feature, changed it to within 10 words and used "way Santa Cruz and Fresno. Just two hits come up and the April 11th, 1899 issue of "The Call," is the right one.
    From: a1500thos@earthlink.net <a1500thos@earthlink.net> Subject: RE: Pre-OSR To: "John Vonderlin" <benloudman@sbcglobal.net> Date: Sunday, May 17, 2009, 12:52 AM 
    Hi, John. Thanks for the very interesting attachments. Would like more on this. Incidentally, I recently bought 2 USGS topographic maps from 1953 aerial photos with
    added  1955 field checks of the San Gregorio and (adjoining) Pescadero Quadrangles--cost $29 for both as they had to be photocopied from the repository in Virginia. None earlier is available.  Nowhere near as good as the western Marin and Sonoma counties USGS topo quadrangle maps I have from the 1960s; these show the narrow gauge to Cazadero with remarks like"dismantled railroad." The S.G. and P. Quadrangle maps have no indication of the OS, even in the section north of Tunitas where the grade shows up on GoogleEarth.  I did find the Pescadero tunnel bore; the same as one of the PowerPoint presentation maps of the Pescadero Marsh you found; obviously PowerPoint used this source.  I did find a building on the north side of Tunitas Creek, which very possibly is the Tunitas Station as the alignment looks right, though no mention of it as such. Surprisingly nothing about the Palmer Gulch Trestle, though it was still standing in 1953-55. The north portal of the Pescadero tunnel/bore is right at the coast, agreeing with Pgs.27-28 of the Bondholders Report: (From Tunitas) " for the next six (6) miles the road lies generally on the cliffs...." Using a ruler I found this six miles ends in the dune area just north of Pescadero Creek--maybe where the 375' trestle would start.  The stories about the tunnel being constructed for Hwy. Dept. explosives storage or by the military for a WWII observation post until better info. comes along remain, in my opinion, just stories. Possibly it was USED  in those ways.
    Anyway, John, I wonder what the promoters of the OS would have thought about all the interest in the old line over a hundred years later.  Having a good day and wish you the same.  Angelo
    --------------------------
    vanderbilts
    v2
    v3v31
    In the late 1880s San Franciscan Brhrend Joose signaed a contract to provide dredging services [more tomorrow] v4]]>
    3670 2009-05-16 21:29:07 2009-05-17 04:29:07 closed closed which-way-the-railroad-john-vonderlin-digs-up-new-info publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1243711739 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: Did you know you can read historic books online? http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/17/john-vonderlin-did-you-know-you-can-read-historic-books-online/ Sun, 17 May 2009 19:48:58 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3683 The March of Portola and the Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco From John Vonderlin Email John (benoudman@sbcglobal.net)  
    Hi June,
       The book by Zoeth S. Eldredge, "The March of Portola and the Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco," can be read for free at Archive.org. If you use "Portola" in the Search box you will find Mr. Eldredge's book, and two other books about the 1769 Portola Expedition. One is Miguel Costanso's diary and the other Vicente Vila's.  
     
    Here's the excerpt from when they were on the Coastside.
     
    On the 20th they were at Punta de Ano Nuevo, and camped at the entrance of the canon of Waddell creek. They recognized Point Ano Nuevo from the description given by Cabrera Bueno, and Crespi estimated that it was one league distant from the camp. With good water and fuel, the command rested here the 21st and 22d. Both Portola and Rivera were now added to the sick list. Meat and vegetables had given out and the rations were reduced to five tortillas of bran and flour per day. Crespi named the camp San Luis Beltran, while the soldiers called it La Canada de Salud. On the 23d, they again moved forward, passing Punta de Ano Nuevo and, traveling two leagues, camped probably on Gazos creek, where was a large Indian rancheria, whose inhabitants received them kindly. This camp, which was about opposite Pigeon Point, they named Casa Grande, also San Juan Nepomuceno[27]. The next jornada was a long one of four leagues, and their camp was on San Gregoria creek. It began to rain and the command was prostrated by an epidemic of diarrhoea which spared no one. They now thought they saw their end, but the contrary appeared to be the case. The diarrhoea seemed to relieve the scurvy, and the swollen limbs of the sufferers began to be less painful. They named the camp Vane de los Soldados de los Cursos, and Crespi applied the name of Santo Domingo to it. Unable to travel on the 25th and 26th, but resuming the march October 27th, they pressed forward. The next stop was Purisima creek, two short leagues distant, but the way was rough, and the pioneers had to make roads across three arroyos where the descents were steep and difficult for the transportation of the invalids. On the bank of the stream was an Indian rancheria, apparently deserted. The Spaniards took possession of the huts, but soon came running forth with cries of "las pulgas! las pulgas![28]" They preferred to camp in the open. The soldiers called the camp Rancheria de las Pulgas, while Crespi named it San Ibon. On the 28th they camped on Pilarcitos creek, site of Spanish town or Half Moon Bay. They named the camp El Llano de los Ansares - The Plain of the Wild Geese - and Crespi called it San Simon y San Judas. Every man in the command was ill; the medicines were nearly gone and the supply of food very short. They contemplated killing some of the mules. That night it rained heavily and Portola, who was very ill, decided to rest on the 29th. On Monday, October 30th, they moved forward. Half Moon Bay and Pillar Point were noted but no names given. Several deep arroyos were crossed, some of which required the building of bridges to get the animals over. They proceeded up the shore until a barrier of rock confronted them and disputed the passage. Here in a rincon (corner) formed by the sierra and. sheltered from the north wind they camped while Ortega and his men were sent out to find a passage over the Montara mountains. A little stream furnished them with water and they named the camp El Rincon de las Almejas, on account of the mussels and other shell fish they found on the rocks. Crespi calls it La Punta del Angel Custodia. The site of the camp is about a mile north of the Montara fog signal. By noon of the next day, October 31st, the pioneers had prepared a passage over the bold promontory of Point San Pedro, and at ten o'clock in the morning the company set out on the trail of the exploradores and made their painful way to the summit. Here a wondrous sight met their eyes and quickened their flagging spirits. Before them, bright and beautiful, was spread a great ensenada, its waters dancing in the sunlight. Far to the northwest a point reached out into the sea, rising abruptly before them, high above the ocean. Further to the left, west-northwest, were seen six or seven white Farallones and finally along the shore northward they discerned the white cliffs and what appeared to be the mouth of an inlet. There could be not mistake. The distant point was the Punta de los Reyes and before them lay the Bahia o Puerto de San Francisco. The saint had been good to them and with joy in their hearts they made the steep and difficult descent and camped in the San Pedro valley[29] at the foot of the Montara mountains.  Some of the company thought they had left the Port of Monterey behind but would not believe they had reached the Port of San Francisco. To settle the matter, the governor ordered Ortega and his men to examine the country as far as Point Reyes, giving them three days in which to report, while the command remained in camp in the Vallecito de la Punta de las Almejas del Angel de la Guarda, as Crespi calls it, combining the two names of the camp of October 30th and transferring them to the camp in San Pedro valley. The next day, Thursday, November 2nd, being All Souls day, after mass some of the soldiers asked permission to go and hunt for deer. They climbed the mountains east of the camp and returning after nightfall reported that they had seen from the top of the mountain an immense estero or arm of the sea, which thrust itself into the land as far as the eye could reach, stretching to the southeast; that they had seen some beautiful plains thickly covered with trees, while the many columns of smoke rising over them showed that they were well stocked with Indian villages. This story confirmed them in the belief that they were at the Port of San Francisco, and that the estero described was that spoken of by Cabrera Bueno, the mouth of which they imagined they had seen from the Montara mountains[30]. They were now satisfied that Ortega would be unable to reach Point Reyes, and that three days was not sufficient time to go around the head of such an estero. The exploring party returned in the night of November 3d, discharging their fire-arms as they approached. They reported that they found themselves obstructed by immense estuaries which ran extraordinarily far back into the land[31], but what caused their rejoicing was that they understood from the signs of the Indians that at two days journey from where they were there was a port in which a ship was anchored. On this announcement, some thought that they were at the port of Monterey, and that the supply ship San Jose or the San Carlos was waiting for them. Crespi says that if they were not in Monterey, they were certainly in San Francisco. On Saturday, November 4th, being the day of San Carlos Borromeo, in whose honor they had come to establish a royal presidio and mission in the Port of Monterey, and also the day of the king, Don Carlos III (que Dios guarde), the holy sacrifice of the mass was celebrated "in this little valley, beach of the Port (without the least doubt) of my father San Francisco." The men feasted liberally on the mussels which abounded on the nearby rocks, and which were pronounced large and good, and, in better spirits than they had been for some time, they took up their march at one o'clock in the afternoon. Proceeding a short distance up the beach, they turned into the mountains on their right, and from the summit beheld the immense estero o brazo del mar. Then descending into the Canada de San Andres, they turned to the south and southeast, and traveling two leagues camped in the canada at the foot of a hill, very green with low brush, and having a cluster of oaks at its base. The next two days they traveled down the canada, coasting the estero, which they could not see for the low hills (lomeria) on their left, noting the pleasant land with its groves of oak, redwood (palo colorado), and madrono. They saw the tracks of many deer and also of bears. The Indians met them with friendly offers of black tamales and atole, which were gladly received by the half-starved Spaniards. They begged the strangers to go to their rancherias, but the governor excused himself, saying that he must go forward, and dismissed them with presents of beads and trinkets. On the 6th, they reached the end of the canada, which suddenly turned to the east, and saw that the estero[32] was finished in a spacious valley. To the canada they gave the name of San Francisco[33]. Traveling a short distance towards the east, they camped on a deep arroyo, whose waters came down from the sierra and flowed precipitately into the estero. They were on the San Francisquito creek, near the site of Stanford University[34].
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    3683 2009-05-17 12:48:58 2009-05-17 19:48:58 closed closed john-vonderlin-did-you-know-you-can-read-historic-books-online publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1242589753 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: You can read historic books online... http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/17/3688/ Sun, 17 May 2009 20:18:51 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3688 marchportola
    Hi June,
       This is from the October 10th, 1909 issue of "The San Francisco Call." It is about the, at that time, upcoming 150 year celebration of Portola "discovering" the San Francisco Bay. I'm thinking the book by Zoeth S. Eldredge should be public domain and how about Una. H.H. Cool? Please note that the OCR software can not only misread letters, it can also put paragraphs in the wrong order, as well as other articles dispersed througout the one your reading. There is a ton of Portola stuff, some of it I haven't seen in books about or by his expedition members, that is in these old newspapers. If you want to post it, I'll Correct the Text. I've already removed the extraneous articles. Enjoy. John
     
    THE MARCH OF PORTOLA AND THE LOG OF THE SAN CARLOS UNA H. H. COOL HOW many of the 'thousands who will this month do honor to Don Gaspar de Portola really know just what he did? Most of us have been told that he discovered the bay of San Francisco, but how did he happen^ to, make the discovery and upon what mission wai he engaged at the time? The answers are found in a band* some and handy little volume Just published by the reception committee of the California Promotion committee entitl<>d "The March of Portola and the I*OK of the Ran Carlos." The history of the march 'of the ex plorer Is written hy Zoeth S. Eldredge In most entertaining style, and It is the fruit of exhaustive study of old' Hpanlsh manuscripts and other ancient authorities. It can not be doubted that It is the most complete and reliable history of its period yet produced. The log: of the San Carlos and some other Spanish manuscripts have been translated by E. J. Molera and- ap pended to the Eldredge history. The book is well illustrated by Walter Francis. The volume is rich in historic detail and makes some announcements for the first time that do violence to our long cherished ideas regarding the parly settlement of California. For y example, while all credit is given Father Junipero Serra and the devoted friars who preceded, accompanied and followed him it is clearly shown that It was not religious fervor that brought civilization to California, but stern jniHtary necessity. The friars were merely parts of the retinue of the soldiers, according to the customs of Catholic countries of past centurjes. As the <friars did most of the record- Ing and most of the writing of his tories, it is not strange that they gave their accounts a strong religious flavor. According to the new Fortola history; the expedition that resulted in the dis covery of San Francisco bay was the direct resuH of the inroads, ,real and threatened, of other European nations upon the Spanish claims in what was generally termed New Spain, which extended as far north as the forty second parallel of latitude. Although. Spain had- made claim to this vast Pa cific coast line for over two centuries, she had done little or nothing to make good the claim by settlement. On the other hand, Russia had crossed from Siberia and her repre sentatives were forcing their way far ther and farther south, through Alaska toward Alta California. England was preparing to make a descent upon' the Calif ornian coast to make good the"' technical claim of sovereignty,made by Sir Francis Drake In 1579. In view of these conditions. Don Carlos 111 of Spain saw that h« must be up and doing. At the came time he issued his famous decree expelling the Jesuits from the Spanish domin ions. It was here that Don Gaspar de Portola made his appearance. The Jesuits had established several missions In Lower California. Portola, who was a captain of dragoons in th« . regiment of Spain, was appointed rov^ _ y-r. or of both Lower and Upper Call- and sailed with 25 dragoons, 25 Infantrymen and 14 Franciscan friars to dispossess the Jesuits and turn over all the Californian missions to the Franciscans. "-. i-.'-^ - Portola was directed .to taka ener getic- measures to resist/ the advance of the Russians ,and to protect his province from all foreign Inroads. The problem before him was a difficult one. From Cape San Lucas on the south.to. the Rogue river on the- north the "civi lized portion of th« community did not number over 400. Including the'famlles of the soldiers in the garrison of Lo- • reto and those -of the miners In the , couth. The ports of San Diego and Monterey were open to easy , Invasion and could be readily fortified and held by any small force that might : seize them. Two expeditions were organized by Portola to act Jointly. One was to pro ceed by land, the other by sea. Por tola himself, although governor of the Callfornias, decided to take charge of . the undertaking himself, as commander in chief, taking Immediate > personal .leadership of the land expedition, of which Don Fernando de Rivera y Mbn cado was second In command. The forces consisted of 40 cavalrymen from the presidio of Loreto in Lower Call- , fornla, under Rivera; 25 Infantrymen of Catalonia, under .Lieutenant Don Pedro Fages. and 30 Christian Indians "•armed with bows and arrows. The ex pedition was also accompanied by Don Miguel Costanso, ensign of engineers; Don Pedro Prat, a physician, and the following Franciscan friars: . Junipero Serra, Juan Crespi, Fernando Parron, • Juan Viicalno and Francisco Gomez. \ \u25a0 The sea expedition was borne in two j small . vessels, the San Carlos and the^ San Antonio, the former commanded by Don Vicente Vila and the latter 'by Don Juan Perez. i \ . The land expedition was in two di visions. The 'first, under Rivera, left Velicata March 24, 1769. and the second, under Portola himself, on May. 15. With Rivera were Padre Crespi,' Pilotln Jose Canizares, 25 soldiers, three muleteers and 11 Christian Indians. With Portola ; were Padre Junipero Serra, 15 soldiers under Sergeant Jose Francisco de Or tega, two servants, some muleteers and Indians — 44 in all. The first stage of the march was - through 20(^miIes of barren country to San Diego. . From Junipera- . Serra's diary it appears that this was a dreary period, with few incidents of impor tance. . On June 20 they came in sight :Of the sea.-at Ensfenada de < Todos San tos, A week Jater San Diego was reached, where a' junction 'was made with Rivera's column." The sea expedition was less fortu nate. The two ships limped into port, their crews down' with scurvy.- The dead were buried " and the sick went: back in the San Antonio to San Bias. On July 14 Portola began . his long .march to Monterey, , which ,was to have such signal results. He organized his. expedition with care and started with Sergeant Ortega and 27 soldiers under Rivera, Fagos' and six Catalan volun teers,' Ensign Costanse, the priests Crespi and Gomez, 7 muleteers, 15 • Christian Indians and two . servants— 64 in all. .Testimony is borne to Portola's high ability as a leader by the fact that he made his march through a wild, un known country in the face of great difficulties, .dangers ..and hardships, without the loss of a man, an experl . ence In strong contrast wjth those of other early explorers In the new world. Some of the best known names In California history ar« -to be. found in . the roster of the little command. There was Portola himself, first governor - of, California; - j Rivera, comandante of; 'California from 1773 to 1777, killed in the .Yuriia revolt In 1781; Fages, cdm andante of California from \u25a0:. 1969 to, 1773" and' governor from 1782 to f 78<Tf Pedro Anmdor, who gave his name to Adamor <?ounty; Juau Bautista Alva-r rado, grandfather of -Governor | Alva rado, Jqse Raimundo Carlllo, founder \u0084: This 'newest % story of JCing    How :^ well'he;' carries "out- his ;Dromls«» ! of the great Carillo family ;_ Jose An tonio Torba, founder of the family, of that name and grantee of .the Rancho -Santiago Santa Ana, and others. . . To Sergeant Ortega is\ given; the credit of having .discovered the Golden gate and Carquiriez strait. This state ment, it Is expected, will arouse dis pute, but the author is .prepared to de fend it. Ortega certainly received high, honors later. He became lieutenant and brevet captain, comandante .of: the Presidio /of Monterey, founder- *of the Presidio of Santa Barbara and of the missions "of San Juan Caplstrano: and San Buenaventura.' - , The march was a difficult one, by reason of its being through an un known country, with danger from lurking hostile Indians. From twb ; to four Spanish leagues (5 to 10 stat-. ute miles) , were made a day. The ; road followed was V practically ; that : known afterward as El Camino 'real..' On August. 18 the site of Santa Bar-; bara was reached/ Thus far the \u0084ex- r pedition had been received . hospitably; by the Indians, .who , gave, them re freshment and every I facility of their; numerous rancherlas. Guadalupe lake, in the northwest corner or Santa Bar bara county, was ' reached on Septem ber 10, and herea Test'was taken, as many of the soldiers were suffering from sore feet and some were ill. >, Genuine troubles now began to come thick and fast. Confronted by the Sierra de Santa Lucia, they had to labor hard to pass through the rugged mountains. As they ascended the cold increased and 'all suffered exceedingly. In'spite of this and of the appearanoe. of scurvy,; they pressed bravely on, a.na*on September 26 emerged f rom the f,mountalns ". "an^ | camped atr the Salinas: river, rwhich \u25a0 they, afterward followed 'down* to 'the -sea.\: \u25a0' ;' .- -\:-- "": } : ' -\u25a0" :'; : ~* <\u25a0'>' i ; ;",. \u25a0:/\u25a0:'' \u25a0\u25a0-. , Upon, reaching the mouth of the Sali nas river, on," September '; 30,- they be lieved .that they were V close to Monte rey, which they had for? their goal.; E remains for the reader to .discover. had excursions" and\ park, concerts; - to : upset 'a; system in. no time. -But the xploring ; parties made reconnajsances both: north and south In search of the great port'v of Monterey, but . they j were baffled. Much perplexed,' Portola called a council/ of \u25a0 his officers : on i October 4, and laid the situation before them. Slx\ teen-men were, too sick to do duty, and the labor of the rest.was increased ac cordingly.' The season was getting late and further passage through the Sierra would be obstructed by the snow. Opin ions differed, and, after hearing all, Portola resolutely made- nls decision, i which was to s go f orward, # putting his trust in God. "If Monterey were found, . all well and good; - if : not, they should find another place for settlement. ... ah agreed and signed a document to this, effect. . On October 7 the march was resumed, Ortega and his scouts in advance, .to lay out a path. for therest of the col umn to follow.. Sixteen of. the men had now lost tbe'use of .their limbs. .Bach night the ailing ones were rubbed with oil, and In j the ' day »were /conveyed In hammocks .stretched between two mules, in , tandem. The Pajaro river was crossed on the Bth, and on the 17th they reached the 'site of the present Santa Cruz. ; .On . the 21st , and 22d, having good water and- fuel, the command rested ay the {'entrance of the canyon of Waddell creek, and here; both\ Portola and , Ri vera, worn out by their hard work r pri vations and-;anxiety, ' themselves -were I added to the sick list. -Food .ran: low, and' reduced.' rations were.s erved out. The daily allowance was five; tortillas •of bran and flour for each' man, < ,- y. . \u25a0 Relief was, found jon. the\23d- at an Indian; r'anch'eria," near- Pigeon ; point, \u25a0 and then they again' pressed on toward the'north.y; Diarrhea broke out, and all became much alarmed, until it was dis covered, that the ! new ailment relieved the scurvy.^ C-f }'-" : .%'- i -.* -v'>- : \u25a0'• - TOn'October 27 some abandoned Indian .huts \rere 'found, but they-were soon given up, on account of a ; pesf of fleas within. ; " .; r . - , els" . ; and from Baron Munchau sen, and "By noon of the next day," according to Mr. Eldredge's "narrative," "Jthe pio-. neers had prepared a passage over the bold promontory •' of Point San Pedro, and at 10 o'clock in the morning the. company set out on the trail of the ex pioradoros and made their painful way to the summit. Here a wondrous sight • met their eyes and quickened their flagging spirits. Before ' them, bright and beautiful, was spread a great ense nada, its waters dancing in the sun light. Far to the northwest a point reached out Into, the "sea, rising: ab ruptly before them, high above the ocean. \ Further to the left.'west-north west, were seen six or seven white Far allqnes, 'and finally, along the ; shore northward, they discerned the white cliffs and what 'appeared to be the ! mouth of the Inlet," ' Thus \u25a0'\u25a0 was the bay of San Francisco revealed to clvllzed-man. By infer ence it was Ortega, leader of the scouts, who first beheld it. Details of'the further exploration of the great bay are given. : It took Por tola some time to convince himself arid his followers, that it was not Mon terey," but another place altogether that they had found. Ortega, with his pio neers, was sent on a trip of discovery around the bay. He got as far north as Carqulnez strait, where he turned back,- reporting that to go around. the estero would involve too long a jour ney.' ' Hunger and the approach of winter forced the explorer to retrace his foot steps,, and on November 11 the little column started bacK to renew the search" for Monterey, c Their hardships were . redoubled: Food was nearly all gone. 'They had to kill their mulea for meat and even to eat acorns. Finding themselves in such straits they deter mined ;to return to San Diego, which they did, and reached that place after : 24. 1770. 'The fact is that Portola really did find the port of Monterey on his return trip from San Francisco bay, but he did not recognize it. He erected two crosses — one' upon Monterey bay, tho identity of the place being revealed to him in San Diego bay by Captain Vila of the ship San Carlos. Portola thereupon decided to. make another expedition to Monterey, which he did, this time with a better outfit. He sent the ship San Antonio by sea with Juniparo Serra. Costanso, Prat and a large cargo of stores, he himself -proceeding by land with Fages. 12 Ca talan volunteers, 7 soldiers, Crespi. 2 muleteers and 5 natives. He followed the same route ho had taken on his retreat from Monterey and arrived on May 24 near the cross he had planted on December 10 preceding. The San Antonio arrived a week later, and on June 3, 1770. Portola and his followers, \u25a0with appropriate ceremonies, took for mal possession -of the country, estab lished the Presidio of Monterey and the mission of San Carlos de Borromeo de Monterey, the second mission in California. ,• -" On July 0 Portola turned the new statlen and the district over to Lieu tenant Fages and sailed for San Bias. He never returned to California. .The translation of the log of the San Carlos, commanded by Don Juan Ma nuel de Ayala la a moat interesting, . document, as 13 the report of Ayala to Don Antonio Maria Bucareli, viceroy of New Spain, on his examination of the port of San Francisco in 1775. This report is accompanied by a singularly accurate chart of San Francisco bay. the original of which Is now Jn tha India office. Seville. Spain.- The little book gives succinct!* and in most attractive form tha explora tions of Portola, which San Franciscans are now about to celebrate with th* co operation of representatives of all civ ilized nations.
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    3688 2009-05-17 13:18:51 2009-05-17 20:18:51 closed closed 3688 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1243711619 _edit_last 1
    1928: Eli D. Moore passed http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/17/1928-eli-d-moore-passed/ Mon, 18 May 2009 03:34:56 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3696 3696 2009-05-17 20:34:56 2009-05-18 03:34:56 closed closed 1928-eli-d-moore-passed publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1243711534 _edit_last 1 June 1886: Here's what was going on at Ano Nuevo http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/21/june-1886-heres-what-was-going-on-at-ano-nuevo/ Thu, 21 May 2009 22:51:46 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3706  A force of men are at work at Point New Year on the Ano Nuevo fog signal. The action of the waves last winter undermined a portion of the ground where the signal house stnads, which necessitated the building of a breakwater. Some 300 barrels of cement will be used in constructing this wall.]]> 3706 2009-05-21 15:51:46 2009-05-21 22:51:46 closed closed june-1886-heres-what-was-going-on-at-ano-nuevo publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1243711461 _edit_last 1 BRAVO: John Vonderlin's "The Good, Bad and Just Plain Old Ugly" http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/22/john-vonderlins-the-good-bad-and-just-plain-old-ugly/ Fri, 22 May 2009 20:31:54 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3709 beach
    Hi June,
        Yesterday's visit to the Coastside was a case of the "The Bad, The Ugly, and The Good" that left me irritated, disappointed, but resignedly Pollyannish.  Neptune's Vomitorium was even more choked with sand than last week, and continued to be as unproductive as it has been lately. So we headed for Tunitas Beach.
       
    I had a bad feeling when I started to see painted scrawlings on the trees as we worked our way down the path under the bridge towards the beach. As I feared, we found the Tunitas trestle's foundation heavily vandalized by some cretins. I hope these losers, these" wannabe artists," took a good look at their efforts before skulking off, because I've already left a message to the "Graffitti Guerillas." 
    graffitti
    They will soon cover over this pathetic attempt at attention-seeking, that mars a beautiful riparian corridor to one of the Coastside's most beautiful beaches.
    June to John: You are so funny...."I hope these losers, these 'wannabe artists' took a good look at their efforts before skulking off, because I've already left a message to the 'Graffiti Guerillas.'"
      It got worse, though, when, after hiking  south, we found some foolish person had left a trash can at the foot of the hill
    garbage
    below the wide turnout on Highway 1. Trash cans left in out -of- the- way places don't help to keep things clean;  they just allow "lazy pigs" to assuage the miniscule guilt they feel at creating an eyesore, by dumping their refuse in, or near the can, thinking somebody else will take care of it. The picture I've attached shows just part of the trash, as much of it had been scattered down the beach by wind and animals.
      
    I carried one more tire to add to my "101 Tires" art project, and a bag of trash up the hill, but felt as futile as Sisyphus must have. The pulloff at the top was almost as trashed. This is an ugly eyesore that is easily visible to any passing authority, and considering the view of the Tunitas cliffs from the pulloff is one of the most popular tourist photo-op taking stops;  it's probably  a common memory of many visitors to our coast.  
    June to John: Your reference to Sisphus is hilarious. Please click here to see why.
        
    I hate to have to look hard to find something good when I'm visiting one of Nature's jewels, Tunitas Beach in this case, but I did, and found a few things that gladdened my heart. Some true artist, perhaps it was even Jim Denevan, given its location on his "traditional canvas," though I doubt it, someone had made a huge, 50- yard long, very precise HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMY in the sand. Kudos to that unknown person for creating a wonderful gift to Amy and a bit of Ephemeral Beach Art I could enjoy and add to my collection.
      
    Another pleasant sight revealed itself as we were getting ready to traverse the extremely narrow walkway across the bridge to get back to the car when I saw this combination of plants, heavily ladened with blooms, erupting from the asphalt, just behind the guard rail. I took solace from this incredibly colorful reminder that the works of man, constructive or destructive, will disappear in a geologic blink of the eye, and Nature will reclaim its domain.
      
    Continuing in this positive vein, I wanted to share a few of the odd things I've collected in the last few weeks at Invisible Beach. The little wooden donut in my hand
    ring1ring2
    is the scar tissue of a branch that was cut. When the cambium layer grows back over the end to seal the branch, it deposits a very dense layer of cells. It is common for this scar tissue to be the last thing left as a waterlogged branch, after sinking to the bottom, slowly is eroded by bumping along the bottom on its long journey down the coast, pushed along by the Longshore current. I have a collection of these oddities, some quite large.
       The group of things in my hand in the next picture are two Leprechaun Rings, the delicate remnants of worn down limpet shells, and the remnant of a knothole. Here again the very dense cells that surround a branch, particularly on the bottom, where they must battle gravity that is pulling the branch down, are the last thing left left after undergoing treatment in Mother Nature's tumbler.
      
    The next picture shows it as I found it, freshly revealed by the ebbing tide. Note the four small snails fastened on the inside of the ring. Imagine the ride they must have had as waves hundreds of feet high (relative to them) bounced them over the reef. Figuring it to be an unintended  "E Ride" in Neptune's Disneyland, I removed them and placed them in a sheltered spot with their own kind.
     
    Lastly, I've attached a picture of a twenty-five foot, homemade mast from a boat-- that it isn't hard to imagine came to a bad end. Though, I attached several things to alert other motorists, I knew it extended more then half of my wheelbase beyond my car's rearend, a legal "no-no." Naturally, when I stopped in Pescadero to get a refreshment, the Sheriff came along, saw it and stopped right beside my car. Faking, that I had no connection to my car, I waited until he decided there was a better use of his time, then leaped in my car and careened wildly(once again relatively speaking) to Loma Mar, where it will serve as a flagpole in Meg's parking lot. While that was about as scofflawish as I get these days, I did feel exhiliratingly crafty as I followed in the footsteps of yesteryear's Coastside smugglers. Enjoy. John
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    3709 2009-05-22 13:31:54 2009-05-22 20:31:54 closed closed john-vonderlins-the-good-bad-and-just-plain-old-ugly publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1243711405 _edit_last 1
    Do you know the way to Davenport, Pescadero, Bonny Doon, Felton? http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/22/do-you-know-the-way-to-davenport-pescadero-bonny-doon-felton/ Sat, 23 May 2009 05:37:01 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3742 bd

    ]]>
    3742 2009-05-22 22:37:01 2009-05-23 05:37:01 closed closed do-you-know-the-way-to-davenport-pescadero-bonny-doon-felton publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1243711335 _edit_last 1
    1870s: Who was Orrin Brown? http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/23/1870s-who-was-orrin-brown/ Sat, 23 May 2009 22:00:50 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3744 3744 2009-05-23 15:00:50 2009-05-23 22:00:50 closed closed 1870s-who-was-orrin-brown publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1247414160 _edit_last 1 Adventurer Vonderlin and Authors John & Kristina Schmale Talk about the OSRR's Plans at the Waddell Bluffs http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/24/adventurer-vonderlin-and-authors-john-kristina-schmale-talk-about-the-osrrs-plans-at-the-waddell-bluffs/ Sun, 24 May 2009 21:15:21 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3755 here waddelb12

    Hi June,

       These pictures of the Waddell beach bypass road from John Schmale are spectacular. I can hardly wait to see what else he has. I sent he and Angelo, each other's phone numbers. They both live in Bennett Valley in Sonoma. I also talked to Ed Weeks, (82) who remembers visiting the Pescadero OSR bore tunnel. He was telling me how the engineers for the construction of the Pescadero coast bridge and highway lived at his house(he had to sleep on the sofa) for three years during the construction. Meg and I are going to visit his home(he says you published a picture of it) as soon as possible. enjoy. John 

    -----------------------

    [Message below is from John & Kristina Schmale to John Vonderlin]

    Hi John,

    Thanks for the response to my email and the encouraging words concerning our book. 

     I would love to meet Angelo. My wife and I live in Bennett Valley as well. I could probably throw a rock and hit his house. Bennett Valley  area is only a few square miles. I am sorry that I did not get to talk with Angelo at our signing. The one in petaluma was somewhat disrupted by a pair of rabid railfans who would wanted more of our attention than we had time for. I am being kind by using mild language.   The woman who runs the bookstore says they show up for any railroad related event. 

     

     have enclosed scans of the Waddell Bluff area. The photos were taken by a civil engineering firm in 1909. I have the complete report produced by them. I will search my files for it. 
    Some of the line between Tunitas and Scott Junction is easy to find. Some was never graded and only by using old maps, a good eye, and a GPS, will we ever know. I do remember seeing, in the 1970s, a perfectly graded roadbed along the eastern shore of the lagoon at Pescadero Beach and seeing it on a map at San Mateo Hist Society when they were at CSM. The last time I drove by there I could not make out the roadbed. Wow, how quickly things revert to nature. 
    The photos may help. Two are of the Bluffs at Waddell Beach.  The third shows some grading work done below palmer Gulch.
    Have you seen any photos of the fish planting car on the Ocean Shore RR?
    I would like to show you what I know about the OSRR Route. There is still much to learn.
    Regards, John & Kristina Schmale
    wadde11
    [Message below is from John Vonderlin to John and Kristina Schmale]
    Hi John,
       I and many other people would love to see the OSR route material and photo you have of the Waddell bluff area. I'm sure Angelo Misthos, who has been exchanging emails (some of which are on June's PM website) with me, and is the source of most of my interest in the OSR, would love to talk to you. He lives in Bennett Valley. He made it to your Sonoma booksigning, but there was a line of people waiting to talk to you, so he just bought a book and went home. I'll send him an email about you contacting me and will make sure I can forward his phone number if you'd like to talk to him. 
       I'm excited about solving the mystery of where the OSR actually planned to go, and whether our  "educated" guesses were right. Thanks for contacting me, and congratulations on your book. Enjoy. John Vonderlin   P.S. I've scooped a large number of articles from the Newspaper Archives about the fishing and fish of the early Coastside that I need to organize, but would be glad to share. --- 
    ------------------------------------
    [Message below from John Schmale to John Vonderlin]
      

    wb10Hi John,

    I have read your posts on the San Mateo coast history on June Morrall's

    site and have related to what you have to say. You have been following the

    proposed route of the Ocean Shore Railway along the coast between Tunitas and

    Swanton. Please contact me as I did the same back in the 1970's and would be

    happy to compare notes. I have a completed manuscript covering the Ocean Shore

    Railroad and the events leading up to its incorporation. I would like to hear

    your views on the Ocean Shore Ry. and  coastside history including fishing etc..

    The ocean Shore Ry engineers built a rock filled cribbing fill along the bottom

    of the Waddell bluffs in 1905 to test the action of the waves. Part of their

    franchise required them to build the county road alongside of the Ocean Shore

    right of way. I have a photo of it taken in 1909. Tracks were never built on it,

    but  it was mostly still intact.

     Regards,

     John Schmale  

    Say Angelo Mithos: The last picture is the one with the man with rolled up papers under his arm and the boy with the pail in the background--pail visible by his right leg. That is the scene looking south toward the bluff on the other side of which is the sluice cut as stated in the Bondholders Report, where these pictures appear. That picture must be the last gasp of the OS as least as far as grading goes as they never went the short distance beyond to meet the sluice cut. Re your attachment depicting the electric car equipped with pantographs: as far as I know the OS never had such cars. I have a picture of such a car (drawing) at the Granada Station. I'll sent it as an attachment when my daughter comes up. The OS did have three electric locomotives used to haul trains between the 12th and Mission Station in San Francisco to the shops at Barnevald Ave. In S.F., and vice versa, in compliance withe the franchise prohibiting steam power in that portion of the line. I know of one occasion when the OS violated that rule, taking a steam powered passenger train all the way to the station, engendering a huge protest from residents along Potrero St. who wanted the City to revoke the OS's franchise--didn't happen. Believe an S.F. Call article had this too. When the OS finally gave up it sold one of the electric engines tto the Petaluma & Santa Rosa Railway and another to the California Wine Association. Don't know about the third. The electric motor trucks (wheel and axle assemblies) it planned to use on its electric coaches (if and when!) were sold at that time to the Sacramento Northern or one of its predecessors. The OS acquired two gas-powered rail cars in its last years of operation as an economy move; I don't know the dispositon of these. John, I don't remember if I referred you to this site befrore, but if not Google: calisphere university of california.edu. In the search block at right type in ocean shore railway. This will give you a set of photographs of damage to the double-tracked OS grading from the '06 earthquake, which effectively turned the OS into a single-track steam line. The rock in the far background is Mussel Rock. This is the area I hiked with my uncle and older brother in roughly 1927-28, only about a half dozen years after the rails were torn up, and started my interest in the OS. I've noted incorrect info. on the Web that the the earthquake threw track and equipment, even an engine into the surf at Devil's Slide. Pure fiction. The scenes in the Calishphere photos were about as far as the OS got when the earthquake came. Angelo     ]]>
    3755 2009-05-24 14:15:21 2009-05-24 21:15:21 closed closed adventurer-vonderlin-and-authors-john-kristina-schmale-talk-about-the-osrrs-plans-at-the-waddell-bluffs publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245039156 _edit_last 1
    1979: "Marathon Judge" James T. O'Keefe http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/26/1979-marathon-judge-james-t-okeefe/ Wed, 27 May 2009 01:06:37 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3759 pioneer Gilcrest family of Half Moon Bay and was born there when it was known as Spanish Town. "After serving for 26 years as Menlo Park attorney, Judge O'Keefe was elected to the bench in 1960. As a jurist, he was famous for his wit, his human touch and his vast amount of patience. For this latter quality he became known as 'the Marathon Judge.' "During his term on the bench he established a few records for long distance cases. One case for damages required 55 days before a jury, while a land dispute ran 70 days. He sat through 62 days of seemingly endless argument over who was to pay for shipments of tropical flowers from Hawaii to the mainland. "And some sort of record was set when Judge O'Keefe presided over a 25-day divorce trial. At stake was $6 million in community property. Long trials did not bother Judge O'Keefe, obviously, because, as he said: "In the interest of justice no unfair impediment solely in the interest of time should be interposed, because to do so may well distract and deny justice......"]]> 3759 2009-05-26 18:06:37 2009-05-27 01:06:37 closed closed 1979-marathon-judge-james-t-okeefe publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1243710729 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: What happened next....Sisyphus Has Some Allies.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/27/john-vonderlin-what-happened-nextsisyphus-has-some-allies/ Wed, 27 May 2009 13:10:44 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3768 Story by John Vonderlin
    Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
    First Read John's "The Good, The Bad, and the Just Plain Old Ugl
    Sisyphus Has Some Allies
    Hi June,
       I returned today to Tunitas Beach to see if I could do something about the recent trashing of this very special place, that I had observed on my last visit. What I saw made me feel happy.  The concrete structures that had served as the foundations for the Ocean Shore Railroad's Tunitas Creek Trestle,  had been visited by the "Graffitti Guerillas, a mysterious group of Coastside defenders.  The huge concrete blocks that had recently been  emblazoned with multi-colored, grotesque, discordant, graffitti and possible gang tags, had been repainted with a pleasant light brown earthtone. 
    tunitas-piggies-001
    Based on my observations of their previous efforts, I'm expecting they'll return and blend it in even better with the background of the beautiful riparian corridor the blocks sit in.
    tunitas-piggies-003
       Discovering their action was a pleasant surprise, as was what I found when I reached my goal, the huge pile of trash left by campers that Circe would not have needed her magic potions to transform. Somebody had plowed through the pile of debris and removed all the hundreds of aluminum cans. More altruistically, they or somebody else, had picked up all the trash the wind and animals had spread down the beach, brought it to the pile and covered it all up with pieces of tarp and plastic.
    tunitas-piggies-005
        In just a few unpleasant minutes I was able to separate the California Redemption containers into a pile, hoping the profit motive would make them disappear, and pick all the plastic, styrofoam, paper, and cardboard from amongst the rotting food and disposable diapers, and jam them into a large burlap bag I had brought for the task. While I may have tarnished my Karma seriously by momentarily hoping the children who had soiled the diapers would grow up to murder their parents in their sleep, I really wasn't serious, as a kneecapping would suffice.
    tunitas-piggies-007
       The trash can, filled with hundreds of bottles, many broken, I just covered with a sodden blanket, and the pieces of plastic and tarps, hoping to discourage further usage until I can figure out what to do with its heavy and dangerous-to-carry contents.
       As I climbed the steep hill with my sack of goodies, looking like a Bizarro Santa, I thought of my usage of the Sisyphus metaphor in my previous posting, describing how fruitless my efforts had felt during last week's similar climb. When I had later checked on the subtleties of the myth with a websearch, along with the Greek myth, a Wikipedia article about Camus' essay, "Myth of Sisyphus," had popped up.  "The essay concludes, "The struggle itself...is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy."  He had that right, especially when Sisyphus knows he has allies. Enjoy. John
      
    ]]>
    3768 2009-05-27 06:10:44 2009-05-27 13:10:44 closed closed john-vonderlin-what-happened-nextsisyphus-has-some-allies publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1243709937 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: The Oil Field in the Redwoods of La Honda http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/27/john-vonderlin-the-oil-field-in-the-redwoods-of-la-honda/ Thu, 28 May 2009 03:53:34 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3776 oil1
    Story by John Vonderlin
    Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
    Hi June,
       Meg was reading the thick and slick, years-in-the-making Draft Report from Mid-Pen about their decades long future development plans for the La Honda properties and noticed a paucity of information about the La Honda Oil Fields, which are on their properties.  She mentioned it to me and after reading a paragraph from the Draft online, (openspace.org) where they said there was anecdotal information about production from the wells I reviewed the info I had gathered.  Somebody didn't do their research, that's for sure, as there is an incredibly detailed report online by geologist Scott Hector all about the fields, their yearly production of oil, gas and water over a 25 year period, and much, much more The report on the Zamora and La Honda Oil Fields is #Tr30 at the following URL:
      www.consrv.ca.gov/dog/pubs_stats/Pages/technical_reports.aspx
       As long as I was examining that subject I grabbed a few related articles from the Newspaper Archive. This one from the February 6th, 1896 issue of "The Call," discusses the oil boom that was beginning on the Coastside, including Half Moon Bay. There are a number of names I'm looking at in this article that hopefully will lead to interesting threads. Enjoy. John
     
    SAN MATEO'S OIL AND GAS WELLS Thirteen Grants Recorded in Favor of the Cali fornia Company. TWO THOUSAND ACRES. Terms Upon Which the Drilling and Operating Contracts Are Drawn. THE COMPANY NOW SINKING. Prospects Favorable for Striking a Good Flow at Half moon Bay.
     
    REDWOOD CITY, Cal., Feb. 5.—Thir teen oil and gas grants have just been placed on record, which have been as signed to the California Natural Gas and Oil Company, and apply to 2082 acres of land on the coast side of San Mateo County. The contracts are drawn so that the party of the first part grants all the oil and gas in and under the described prem ises, together with the exclusive right of the second party to enter therein for the purpose of drilling or operating for oil, gas, water, etc., on the following terms: Should oil be found in paying quantities upon the premises the second party agrees to deliver to the first party, in the pipe line or at the wells, the one-sixteenth part of all the oil produced and saved from said premises. If gas only is found, second party agrees to pay $10 to $50 each a year for the prod uct of each well while the same is being used on the premises, and the first party shall have gas free of expense to light and heat the dwellings now on the premises. There is a clause which provides that if no well is completed within one year from date of agreement then the grant shall be come null and void unless the second party shall pay to the first party the sum of ($lO to $100 are the amounts named in the pre sent instance) for each year thereafter that such completion is delayed. . These grants were all issued about nine months ago in favor of E. J. Beane, his heirs or assigns, and they have been assigned by Beane to the California Gas, Oil and Land Company, a corporation, of which L. L. James, 419 California street, San Francisco, is secretary. The company is now sinking a well on the San Francisco Savings Union Tract at Halfmoon Bay. It is reported that they are down 700 feet and that there is a seepage of one and a half barrels of oil a day and a flow of gas. The prospects of striking a good flow of oil are considered very favorable.
    ]]>
    3776 2009-05-27 20:53:34 2009-05-28 03:53:34 closed closed john-vonderlin-the-oil-field-in-the-redwoods-of-la-honda publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1243709815 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: 1902: Black Gold Gusher.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/28/john-vonderlin-1902-not-an-oil-gusherbut-good-grade/ Thu, 28 May 2009 16:38:35 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3783 Story from John Vonderlin
    Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
    Hi June,
       Here's an article from the June 6th, 1902
    issue of "The Call," that undoubtedly
    helped drive the "Black Gold Fever," that
    gripped the local area and the nation at
    this time. Enjoy. John
     
    OIL IS STRUCK OF GOOD GRADE
    OWNER TELLS OF WELL IN SAN
    MATEO AT HALFMOON  (sic)
     
    Much interest will be attached during the next few weeks to the possible devel opment in the region of Half moon Bay, in San' Mateo County. Oil of 50 gravity and better has been struck there. There have been many conflicting stories con cerning the find. Parties who are inter ested in other properties than the one on which the oil has been discovered have inquired . earnestly about the read facts. One extravagant rumor has^ been given currency to the effect that the well, which is owned by Gulberson, Sallee and Hayne, started In as a gusher at the rate of 1000 barrels per day. The real fact appears to be, from the statement of an entirely re liable party, one of the owners, that the well started about ten days ago, with a high gas pressure and ran for one hour at the rate of twenty-five barrels for the hour. Then the flow was shut off. The owners do not attempt to forecast any thing concerning the future of their prop erty, but give out that they are satisfied that they have a good well. They have now sunk six wells in all. The producer is the sixth.
       If the new discoveries should determine that there is a new district in San Mateo County it will be of much significance and will generally encourage the northern ex plorers for oil, especially in the counties adjoining San Mateo County. Oil has not been produced in commercial quantities north of Summerland hitherto.
    ------------------------
    Here's a link to the big Lakeview Gusher
    ]]>
    3783 2009-05-28 09:38:35 2009-05-28 16:38:35 closed closed john-vonderlin-1902-not-an-oil-gusherbut-good-grade publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1243709722 _edit_last 1
    1896: Lobitas, Lobitos, Lobetus...Let's call the whole thing off... http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/28/1896-lobitas-lobitos-lobetuslets-call-the-whole-thing-off/ Thu, 28 May 2009 16:47:29 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3787 Hi June,
       This brief article from the March 3rd, 1896, issue of "The Call," is a small piece of the puzzle of the history of oil production on the Coastside. Besides providing a date and a few names to research (Langley and Richards and the Taylor ranch) its usage of "Lobetus" as the spelling of Lobitas or Lobitos, illustrates the difficulty in locating all the relevant articles about a specific subject. I suppose given the fact the Coastside was the difficult-to-access hinterlands for "The City" folks at this time, I shouldn't be surprised at the crude state of factchecking in the newspapers of that time. Enjoy. John
    Langley & Richards, Los Angeles oil men, recently secured a lease of the Taylor ranch, on Lobetus Creek, about five miles southeast from Halfmoon Bay, and will bore for petroleum as soon as the weather settles.
    ]]>
    3787 2009-05-28 09:47:29 2009-05-28 16:47:29 closed closed 1896-lobitas-lobitos-lobetuslets-call-the-whole-thing-off publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1243709643 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: Willowside Dairy: Yesterday and Today http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/29/john-vonderlin-willowside-dairy-yesterday-and-today/ Fri, 29 May 2009 14:45:24 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3790
    Hi June,
    This is an excerpt from the 1883 "History of San Mateo," book available for reading or downloading at Archive.org. There is a section in the book covering the dairies of San Mateo and this description of the still existing Willow Side Dairy is included in it.  These days, as they describe below, they raise herding dogs and offer stockherding lessons. They also seem to host a number of competitions and other community events. It is on Stage Road so I must have driven by it. I'll see if I can get some photos of the historic buildings the next time I drive by. Enjoy. John

    Located just outside rustic Pescadero, CA, on the coast between San Francisco and Santa Cruz, Willowside is a herding facility on the site of a restored historic 19th century dairy farm. Various sized enclosures, large open fields, and a wide range of sheep accomodate the needs of herding students from novice to advanced.

    Willow Side Dairy Farm. — North of Pescadero, and at the head of the val- ley of that name, is situated R. H. Brown's Willow Side dairy farm, em- bracing a tract of twelve hundred acres of fine arable and pasture land. The capacious barn — a two story structure, covering an area of sixty -four by one hundred and twenty feet, is built on an elevated piece of ground a few hundred yards from the main road from Pescadero to Spanishtown. The cattle are stanchioned in four rows of stalls. A system of water-tight gutters, skirting along the row of stalls, receives all the manure from them, both liquid and solid. The floor is traversed by four tramways, on which a box car travels, following along by the manure troughs, and collecting from them the offal. When the car is filled, it is run to the rear end of the building, where it goes on a platform car, which, running on a track. of its own, carries the loaded box car to the dumping place, to be utilized in enriching the soil of the farm. The barn has stalls for one hundred and twenty -eight head of cattle. The upper floor is the hay floor, having a capacity for storing twenty-two tons of hay. Here also are two feed cutters, one for cutting roots, and the other for hay. The latter is driven by horse power, and the hay, as it is cut, falls into a receptacle below, where it is mixed with grain, and in this shape fed to the stock. There is another barn close by, in which seventy-five head of cattle and young stock can be sheltered, and the hay and feed for them stored. A short distance down the hill from the first mentioned barn is the dairy house, three stories high, and twenty-four by forty feet square. It is built over an excavation in the hill-side, the face of the excavation fronting the rear wall of the first story; this first or basement story is divided into two com- partments, in one of which is kept the tubs and everything used for packing butter. The size of this room is sixteen by twenty-four feet; the other is the butter room, twenty-four feet square. Its walls, as well as the walls of the room directly above it, are packed with saw dust, by which means an even tempera- ture is preserved through all seasons of the year. The second floor is divided into rooms corresponding in size with those on the floor below. The smaller one contains a large iron boiler, always full of hot water, which is conducted by distributing pipes to every part of the building where its use is required. The larger apartment on this floor is the milk-room. In the center of it is an elevator for raising or lowering milk from one floor to the other. Outside of the building and close by the milk-room, is a one hundred and twenty -five- gallon tank, into which the pails of milk are emptied as it comes from the cow, and from which it passes through a pipe into the milk room. The top floor is used exclusively for making and curing cheese. Cleanliness is a cardinal fea- ture in the entire building. Evervthing has an air of freshness and neatness, nothing whatever of an offensive nature being allowed to accumulate; all the refuse is carried away through pipes to the hog-pens. (Bacon, anyone?)
    There is also on the premises a stable and barn for horses, complete in all its details. Mr. Brown has now one hundred and sixty-five head of cattle on the farm, but when the improvements already begun are completed, he will be able to maintain two hundred and fifty cows, and take care of their products. --------------------------- Biography of R.H. Brown R. H. Brown. This gentleman, who is one of the prominent dairymen of the coast, was born in Pointe Caupee Parish, Louisiana, November 25, 1839, and received a thorough education in his native state. In 1860 he left his southern home and came to California, via New York and the Isthmus of Panama. His first settlement was in Klamath county, where he mined until 1862, afterward migrating to Idaho, where he remained engaged in mining, sawmilling, etc., until 1872, when he returned to San Francisco. During a period of seven years Mr. Brown acted as secretary for various mining com- panies, finally removing in 1879 to this county, where he purchased an exten- sive dairy ranch, a full description of which is given in another portion of this work.
    --------------------------------]]>
    3790 2009-05-29 07:45:24 2009-05-29 14:45:24 closed closed john-vonderlin-willowside-dairy-yesterday-and-today publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1248746682 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: 1865 Article Raises Big Hopes for Oil in Pescadero http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/29/john-vonderlin-1865-article-raises-big-hopes-for-oil-in-pescadero/ Fri, 29 May 2009 18:34:57 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3793 Part I
    Story by John Vonderlin
    Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
    Hi June,
       This is an amazing article from the July 28th, 1865, issue of "The Daily Alta."  Having lived one summer in the wilds on the Mattole River, just north of the "Lost Coast," and west of the town of Petrolia, in Humboldt County, I had been aware that California's first oil well was drilled there. That was the same year this article was written. Why the information about Pescadero, this article contains is not well known, let alone trumpeted by civic boosters is quite peculiar. I know nothing about the sceptical and ever so wrong, Professor Brewer,  any of the land owners mentioned, or the reporter Mr. Harnett, but will investigate further.
       The tiny, blurred type of this nearly one hundred and fifty year old newspaper article made for a lot of OCR errors, but I'm excited about doing Part 2, which appeared some months later. Note that Pescadero was in Santa Cruz County at this time, as the boundary adjustment that produced the present counties' borders wasn't done until 1868.
    Enjoy. John  
     
     
    SANTA CLARA AND SANTA CRUZ OIL LANDS - NO. 1
     
    THE PETROLEUM QUESTION
        Editors Alta: Up to this period, with one slight exception, I have taken no part in the discussion of our State being, or not being, an oil producing country. To me it has ever appeared an insult to educated intelligence, as well as to practical .experience, to maintain the negative. Were the existence of petroleum a modern discovery, confined to the Atlantic States, or were our local indications of its existence less extensive, or less reliable than they are, there would be little rational argument against its existence in California as a question of science; but, having been used for a variety of purposes in the earliest ages of the world, and having been found in every quarter of the globe at the present day, there appeared to me to be none, and indeed there can be none. The problems worked out in the laboratory of nature are never wrong. Wherever she indicates reliably the existence of a mineral, labor, if directed and controlled by scientific principles, soon renders the presumption a reality. If surface evidences are reliable in gold, silver, and copper, for instance, why should they not be believed in oil? As a matter of science, or experience, would it not be preposterously absurd to maintain the negative of such a proposition, and ignore the principles by which our actions in both have been governed from time immemorial? If rock is auriferous, we seek and find gold; if argentiferous, we seek and find silver; if cupriferous, we seek and find copper; if oleaginous, who shall say we ought not to seek and find oil? Professor Brewer? Then that gentleman makes himself wiser than the world, a conclusion in which the people of California by no means concur now.
    INCREDULITY 
       It is difficult to understand the silly incredulity we have shown in this matter, because one man of reputation and position has chosen to say, ex cathedra, that asphalt is no evidence of oil. Without taking exception to this theory, which by the way is very questionable, our claims to having an oil-bearing country do not rest on that point. Tbe intelligent and practical observer, much less tbe professional explorer, will find in our coast range such evidence of petroleum outside the asphalt, that the most sceptical must be convinced. Within the limits of my own travels on the upper ranges of the coast, extending fifteen hundred miles north and south, and from fifty to seventy east and west, I everywhere found such natural indications on the surface, that it seemed to me simply ridiculous to doubt the existence of oil in quantity underneath. To-day, public opinion has changed from what it was a month ago. The recent developments at Humbodt, and elsewhere, though obtained at a very small expenditure of labor and capital, have swept the incredulity from our midst, and compelled the people to recognise the proven fact, that our State is as rich in oil, as in gold, silver, or copper.  I have waited with impatience, but not without confidence, for this change. because until then a man could do little good by writing upon our oil interests. No matter what he found, or how honestly speak, the public would not attach tbe same importance to his communications that they will now, and thus he would probably injure rather than benefit the districts he sought to serve. All would be regarded as vague, problematical, speculative, to be forgotten as soon as read, or perhaps not read at all.
       But now, as tbe public are prepared to receive facts as facts, and principles as principles, inevitable in their laws and relations, and to see a great commercial interest springing out of the oil business; I propose to give a series of letters on the "oileoligy" of these counties, whose claims to notice are second to none in the State, but which, so far, have been entirely overlooked. I shall commence with
    PESCADERO. 
       This little town, as it name implies is of Spanish origin, lying on the ocean, about  forty miles south of San Francisco. It is easy of access by three different routes-by steam in tha Salinas, by stage from San Mateo, or by Horseback or buggy from Santa Clara, the expense of either being only a few dollars. The most convenient route at present is from Santa Clara, where the traveller is advised to put himself under the care and direction of Mr. Cameron, of the hotel, who will supply all his wants in the most liberal and excellent style. From this town to the oilregion is about twenty-five miles, through as charming a country of valley and mountain as the world produces. On crossing the summit, the ocean opens to view on the west side, the bay and valley on the east, with Goat Island looming up distinctly in the distance, unfolding in an instant one of tho finest conceptions of the grandeur and immensity of distance the mind can contemplate. Thence to the oil ground you begin to descend the great sink to its ocean outlet, where the fluid has collected and wasted for centuries, with towering forests of redwood in front, and well cultivated ranches on the rolling slopes on every side. At the bottom of this ridge lies Tar Water Creek, where the Oilwas first found. 
        We hear great accounts, from Humboldt and the far south, of splendid discoveries, showing that with oil, like gold, "distance still lends enchantment to the view." These accounts I am satisfied are correct; but, for all that, we have quite as good springs at our own doors, and, moreover, possessing numberless advantages the others do not, of which I shall speak more fully hereafter? The Tomkins, Gurnsey  Co. location eight years ago discharged a volume six or eight inches of liquid asphalt continually, but is now covered by a slide. This liquid has been boiled for sixteen consecutive hours, becoming more limpid to the last. At times the escape of gas is so terrible as to shake the house like an earthquake. The formation is excellent: sandstone, with shale walls, lying horizontal from here to the Rowley claim, aome four hundred yards below, the oil seeps from the banks all the way on both sides of the creek, while the loose, fragmentary rock, lying in the water, is so saturated with oil, that it has become black, breaking like bread, and burning like dry wood. The Rowley claimis a fac simile (sic) of thaepreceding, with a large, open, deep well of liquid asphaltum still existing, from which it runs down the creek at times. besmearing everything it rolls over. I have heard the gas escape here so strongly that it sounded as if men were shooting off Colt's navy revolvers. Both these locations possess the finest advantages for boring with effect. One hundred and fifty feet depth will make a splendid development. From here to Pescadero Creek, perhaps two miles, are other locations of merit. On that stream the asphalt disappears altogether, and the indications become more naphthalic. The rock also is finer and whiter, exhibiting almost pure oil. The banks, in places, are so saturated that a handfull of sand will nearly all float down the stream, scarcely a third of it sinking. Can Humboldt or anywhere else beat that? I state these facts, marvellous as they may seem, on my personal responsibility. I do not recollect the names of the parties owning this location. All this land up and down the creek is preempted. At the junction of Jones Creek and Pescadero, Mr. Mars, late of the United States Branch Mint, made a very fine location, and beyond him on the main branch of Jones Creek, comes Mr. Smith, of San Francisco, with an equally good claim. These are all in this section of which I have personal knowledge. lam told, however, that claims equally good, though more difficult of access, have been preempted to the headwaters and down to the mouth of Pescadero Creek. Next to the vast amount of oil this land indicates in every direction, the grand advantage over all others is its proximity to the ocean and the commercial city of the State. Steam by water or rail will bring the oil to our stores in San Francisco, with the expenditure of $2,000 for roads either way, while the climate and produce cannot be surpassed. Who can predict tbe growth of Pescadero in five years' time, when this adjacent land, pours forth its hidden wealth? Already a a favorite resort in Summer, it will inevitably become the most extensive, fashionable, and wealthy town on the southern coast. Permit me in conclusion, through your columns, publicly to. acknowledge my gratitude to Dr. Tomkins. Mr. Cameron. Mr. Rowley, Mr. Jones and others, for attentions and hospitalities I cannot forget.  San Jose. July 25th.  LEON HARNETT
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    3793 2009-05-29 11:34:57 2009-05-29 18:34:57 closed closed john-vonderlin-1865-article-raises-big-hopes-for-oil-in-pescadero publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1243709427 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: Part 2: Pescadero's Oil Potential http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/29/john-vonderlin-part-2-pescaderos-oil-potential/ Fri, 29 May 2009 20:49:54 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3797 Hi June,
       This is Leon Harnett's second installment in his evaluation of the potential ol wealth of the Coastside. It was published in "The Daily Alta" on December 2nd, 1865. He sounds like a fascinating person, though his predictions of Pescadero being the largest city on the Coastside and the amount of oil available in the region was vastly overstated. I'm looking for the letter he mentions at the end of this one, that was going to detail the efforts that were planned or had commenced to harvest the expected bonanza of black gold. Enjoy. John
     
     SANTA CLARA AND SANTA CRUZ OIL LANDS. No. 2
     
     Editor Alta :— I have not hurried my account of the oil lands of these counties as much as many residents therein desired, for reasons which appeared to myself satisfactory. After an examination of this region, extending through eight months, I hold these lands, from their extent, richness, and proximity to this city, so important to tbe State, that I was naturally anxious to have my account supported, either by the evidence of further developments, or of disintererted parties, who, since my communication in July, have been out to examine for themselves. If, therefore, this letter, like the former, should be considered exagerrated, I am fortunate in having the testimony of your correspondent from San Gregorio, the northern extent of tbe region in question, the editor of the Santa Cruz Sentinel, and several men of wealth and character in San Francisco, who, at my instigation, after a personal examination, have recently made extensive locations on 
    PESCADERO CREEK. 
     I have, now. therefore, the advantage of writing under endorsement in every particular. It is true, I spoke of Pescadero Creek in high terms, because, apart from its marvellous indication of oil in abundance, it has advantages of a local nature no other section in the State possess; and, those advantages, even if its prospects were less flattering and reliable than those of more distant regions, would justify all I said of its claims upon the attention of capitalists. Tbe subject, taken in connection with tbe depressed state of our mining interests at the present time, is suggestive and it may be neither uninteresting nor unprofitable to pursue to the end. I live under a settled conviction, from a thorough knowledge of those counties, and some knowledge of petroleum, that if we have oil in this country, Pescadero will ultimately equal Oil Creek and Pithole, in the East. Two years ago, I was laughed at by the public as a visionary dreamer, for saying our supply of copper In 1866 would exceed tbat of Great Britain, with her foreign and colonial produce added, by 120,000 tons per annum, if our mines already developed, with those on the point of being developed, were worked with prudence to their utmost capacity of yield. At the close of 1865, tbe public find my prediction verified within a fraction, and now give me credit for its boldness. My calculations about oil are made from as safe a basis as those I made about copper, and I have equal confidence in their proving true eventually.
     The Localities of Pescadero, San Gregorio, Lexington, Etc..
     Possess advantages for economical operations which no others possess that I have seen in the entire distance from Del Norte to San Luis Obispo. In oil, in gold, copper, or any other branch of mining, while limply presumptive, or partially proved, I think the safest way (xxxx?)  our own lands, and the speediest way to attain outside capital is to open satisfactorily, the nearest and most accessible locations first, leaving the more distant and consequently more expensive, even if superior in other respects, to abide the results. By concentrating our energies and funds to develop thoroughly any given locality requiring but small expenditure, we prove to the world at once that we really possess the resources that we claim, avoid injuring the reputation of the State by long delays, and  escape expenses no people can sustain in legitimate undertakings. If successful near home, no dfficulty would be found in obtaining capital for distant regions.......................... .................................................................................................................................
    A New Era Dawning
       There can be no doubt a new era is opening upon us, the importance and benefits of whioh we cannot at present estimate, if welfare only true to ourselves. To-day a private letter was received from New Yo»k. by a friend of mine, in which it says that,  "we cannot estimate, even with California hyperbole, the amount of capital tbat will be ready to be poured into your oil regions next season,  nor will it be necessary, to secure this capital, tbat you have flowing wells-a good pumping well, or good, satisfactory indications will be sufficient." Let us, then, buildup the reputation ot tbe State legitimately, and rise individually with tbat reputation. We have had enough of stock-jobbing in mining, let us now, like  other nations, be satisfied with reasonable profits. Those profits tbe oil regions contiguous to San Francisco offer with a very small expenditure : and there is no reason that I see, why we should refuse to spend a few hundreds sensibly because we have squandered many thousands foolishly. Prudence in oil may redeem the losses of imprudence in gold, silver, and copper. Of tbe existence of oil. in abundance throughout tbe Coast Range, there is now no doubt. but we must not expect to get it at a lesser depth than other people. Had anyone, two years ago, told them England  would get oil by boring, the probability is the person would have been locked up immediately in a lunatic asylum; yet to-day they have good pumping wells there.
       For these reasons, and others I have yet to adduce, I maintain the preeminence of Pescadero amongst our California oil regions; eight months of continued exploration I think ought to render me capable of judging its merits. For a period of nearly tbree years I have endeavored to be a true exponent of tbe mineral wealth of this State. So far from indulging in exaggeration, I honestly believe my calculations of tbe importance cf our oil products, like those of our copper products, are rather under than over the reality. In the future, as in the past, I shall be careful not to be caugbt making a false statement of the facts coming professionally within my personal knowledge and observation. I do not intend, if possible to be deceived myself or to deceive others. When, therefore, men, who positively know nothing of the region in question, travel around town and state that the country from San Mateo to Santo Cruz, especially Pescadero, is not to be compared with the Humboldt, not that I abate one tittle of the intrinsic value of tbe latter, it would be more modest, certainly it would sound much better, if they added. " at Ieast such is our opinion." The public then, would know better wbat importance to attach to their  statememts.
       In my next letter I shall give an accurate account of all the operations commenced, and about to be commenced, with their prospects and results, in these counties during tbe past season, with other details and experiments, which, I think, will be interesting to those desiring of promoting tbe welfare of our State. Leon Harnett  San Francisco. November 25th, 1865.
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    3797 2009-05-29 13:49:54 2009-05-29 20:49:54 closed closed john-vonderlin-part-2-pescaderos-oil-potential publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1243709344 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: Meet Josiah P. Ames http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/29/john-vonderlin-meet-josiah-p-ames/ Sat, 30 May 2009 01:42:25 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3800 Story from John Vonderlin
    Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
    Hi June,
      Here's a biography of Josiah P. Ames, from "The History of San Mateo" book on Archives.org.
     
    Hon. J. P. Ames. The following narrative of the life of one of Califor-  nia's earliest pioneers will be found worthy of perusal, replete as it is with  incidents of a busy life. Mr. Ames was born in England, on January 23, 1829.  He came to the United States with his parents when but six months old, and  the family settled in New York City. They moved to Hartford, Connecticut,  and in Dutchess county, New York, the subject of our memoir received his  primary education at the common schools, and his academic learning at a  seminary in that county. After finishing his education, he went to New York  City, and was one of the men who came to this coast in the historic Stephen-  son's regiment in 1847. To give the reader a better knowledge of the move-  ments of Mr. Ames while with this regiment, we refer them to its history.  Suffice it to say, that he was honorably discharged at Monterey, in September  1848. We next find him in the mines at Mokelumne Hill, Calaveras county,  and in this place, and other mining regions of California, he remained until  185G, when he went to Half Moon Bay, San Mateo county. We believe of all  the men that we have had the privilege of writing about in California, those  who came in Stephenson's regiment possess the most interest. They were all  bold, resolute men, men who let no trifles hinder them from achievino- the  purposes and aims of life which they had mapped out. At the very ouset of  Mr. Ames' coming to Half Moon Bay, his public career commenced. He was  first elected supervisor, in 1860, and this office, with the exception of a few  years, he continuously held until 1881. In 1875 he was appointed by Gover-  nor Booth to settle the Yosemite claims, and so faithfully and well did he  perform this duty, that he was selected by the republican party and elected to  represent the people of his county in the legislature, in the winter of 187(5-7.  He was appointed warden of the State Prison at San Quentin by Governor  Perkins. We believe, therefore we say, that no man has ever had charge of  this institution that has' managed it with more economy, and we know no one  has made the improvements, which will result in so great a profit to the state,  as those made by Mr, Ames. The jute factory has in the past year saved to  the farmers of this state money enough to endow Judge Ames with a princely  fortune. In 1867 he erected a landing, the first on the coast in this county,  which for all time to come will bear his name. 
    -----------------------
    You can also email John Vonderlin here
    New: Hey come check out Ekaweeka - The Small Business Community. 
    Here is my profile  Thanks! John Vonderlin  -- Ekaweeka - The Small Business Community http://www.ekaweeka.com
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    3800 2009-05-29 18:42:25 2009-05-30 01:42:25 closed closed john-vonderlin-meet-josiah-p-ames publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1243709259 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: First Sawmill in San Mateo County http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/30/john-vonderlin-first-sawmill-in-san-mateo-county/ Sun, 31 May 2009 03:01:13 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3832 Story by John Vonderlin
    Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
    Hi June,
       The excerpts below aren't strictly Coastside related, but I find them  interesting for several reasons. One is it that they seem to contradict somewhat the info that is on the historical marker on Portola Rd concerning San Mateo County's  first sawmill. More interesting to me is what James Weeks mentioned. I'm looking at Tess Black's book, "Portraits of Pescadero," and see that four Weeks brothers arrived in San Francisco after a harrowing, six month, 15,000 mile around-the-Horn voyage in 1849. There is no mention of James in the family tree she diagrams, but I'm curious if his earlier arrival along with the Gold Rush that was initiated by the famous Sutter Mill in 1848 was the reason the brothers came to Cali-for-nigh-aaaa. He was literate, and it's not too unreasonable that he might have sent a glowing letter back home, particularly, as he spent a fair amount of time travelling to the various settlements of the time, and seemed to be enjoying his pioneer life in the redwoods. I'm going to forward this to Ed Weeks and see if he knows anything. 
       While surname frequency has changed somewhat in the United States since the mid 1800's, Weeks is the 711th most popular surname in the United States these days, with a frequency of .017% or only 17 out of 100,000. I like the odds of some relationship existing, based on those statistics, but can't say it's anything more then a coincidence at this point Enjoy. John
     
     Marker Text
    About three hundred feet south of this monument, on the banks of the Alambique Creek, stood San Mateo County's first saw mill, built by Charles Brown in 1847. About the same time, Dennis Martin was building a second mill on San Francisquito Creek. Both were run by water power and were similar in structure to the famous Sutter's Mill at Coloma.
     
    1893 History of Coast Counties ofCentral California
    It is a disputed question as to whom the honor of being the first to build a  mill in this county belongs. Some claim it for Dennis Martin, and others  award it to Charles Brown. Probably the honor should properly be divided  between them, for in the same year ― 1847 ― Brown put up a mill on the  Mountain Home Ranch, and Martin built one on San Francisquito Creek. The 
     
    1883 History of San Mateo 
    CHAPTER III.  THE REDWOOD F0RESTS.     One of the first things which attracted  the attention of Americans and other  foreigners on their arrival in central or  northern California, when the country was  under Mexican rule, was the redwood forests  of the coast counties; and there many of the  first comers to the province commenced their  California life.     This is especially true of San Mateo  county. It is believed that the first foreign  settler in the county (though Joseph Chap-  man, who came in 1818, was the first in the  county) was one William Smith, known at  the time as "Bill, the sawyer." The late  James Pease claimed to have deserted from  a Hudson Bay Company's ship, the Nereid,  in Yerba Buena, in 1823 or 1824, and that  ■ he wandered into the redwoods near Wood-  side, where he found Smith, who was married  at the time, and lived in a hut with his wife  and baby, near where John Coppinger after-  ward built his residence. He was the only  foreigner there, and had already dug a saw  pit, felled some trees, cut them into proper  lengths, and had sawed some lumber, with  much difficulty. He had to get his Indian  help from the missions. The arrival of Pease  was a fortunate event for "Bill, the sawyer,"  who at once engaged the newcomer as an  assistant. They cut timber for a number of  years with whipsaws, and supplied the Cali-  fornians with such timber as they needed in  the adobe houses, which were being built  then on the ranches of that region.     They worked at this business alone for  several years. One day, however, they were  joined by George Ferguson, who had de-  serted from a ship at Sausalito, and who, after  many adventures, arrived in the redwoods.  Ferguson took up a claim near Smith and  Pease, and was soon after joined by a fellow-  seaman named James Weeks. From that  time on others came, but did not remain per-  manently, until the arrival of John Coppin-  ger, a deserter from the British navy, in 1834  or 1835. He set about felling trees and  making lumber in a systematic manner, pro-  curing the aid of Californians, Indians, and  of foreigners, whenever they could be- found.  James Weeks was first employed by " Bill  the sawyer," and Ferguson, who was with  Smith when he came. He stayed there some  time, learning to whipsaw, and afterward  went with Ferguson to San Jose, and built  the first flourmill there. He then returned  to the redwoods, and with Smith built a saw-  pit, felled trees, and began to hew lumber for  sawing, sometimes sleeping in the pit, the  log cabin of Bill being some distance from  the work. Smith and Weeks parted when  Coppinger came, and Weeks joined the latter  in making shingles and sawing lumber.
    ARCADIAN LIFE.  He gives the following picture of his  Arcadian life in the San Mateo redwoods:      "I spent a happy life working in the Pul-  gas redwoods. Sometimes I would go to San  Jose, Yerba Buena, Santa Clara, Monterey  or Santa Cruz; was not overburdened with  constant hard labor. Our time was our own,  and we knew how to enjoy it. Except the  house of ' Bill, the sawyer,' and the residence  of the Soto family, there was not a building  in the township. The Indians who had not  been gathered into the fold of the missions,  had rancherias in the canons amid timber-clad  mountains. Hill and vale were alike thronged  with game, while the herds of the ranches  roamed literally upon a thousand hills.   " The marsh lands occupied a greater area  than they do to-day, while the cultivated or  occupied (pasture) lands were covered with  wild oats that grew 'shoulder high with a  horseman.'  " Thus the land lay for many quiet and  peaceful years. Immigration began in 1841,  and increased with each succeeding year,  compounding in numbers like interest on a  note of hand in the flush times of the gold  discovery.  " In 1844, Dennis Martin arrived in the  Sacramento valley, and in the following year  came into San Mateo redwoods, to the Corte  Madera rancho, then owned by John Cop-  pinger, James Pease, John Pepper and Charles  Brown was then there. Brown was occupy-  ing the Mountain Home ranch.  " The country was now on the eve of an  eventful change. It passed under the sov-  ereignty of the United States in 1846, but  nothing more than the rumor of the war with  Mexico reached the shades of the San Mateo  redwoods.  " It was not so with the discoveiy of gold,  which took place two years later. That event  came like an electric shock, and was felt in  every town, mission, ranch and camp, not  only in California, but throughout the civil-  ized world. Dennis Martin and others rushed  from the peaceful redwoods to the gold pla-  cers. Martin, contrary to the general rule,  was successful; and in 1850 he returned and  located near Searsville, and in the fall of that  year, he erected a water-power sawmill on  San Francisquito creek, about three-fourths  of a mile below Searsville. This was the first  sawmill ever built in the country. But it  was only run for a few weeks, when it was  carried away by a flood.  " The next mill was built by a man named  De' Hart, on the Mountain Home ranch, then  owned by Charley Brown. De Hart let a  contract to one Whipple to run the lumber  to the tail of the mill at $25 per 1,000.  Whipple soon made money enough to buy  the mill, selling a large quantity of lumber at  $75 a 1,000, for which he did not have to pay  for the hauling at the rate of $25 per 1,000.  He afterward moved the mill and broke up.   
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    3832 2009-05-30 20:01:13 2009-05-31 03:01:13 closed closed john-vonderlin-first-sawmill-in-san-mateo-county publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1243873067 _edit_last 1
    It's "Bio Week"at Pescaderomemories.com-- http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/05/31/its-bio-weekat-pescaderomemoriescom/ Sun, 31 May 2009 21:38:30 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3834
    Hi June,
      I thought this biographical sketch from the 1883 "History of San Mateo County," on Archive.org might be useful to accompany Sigma's latest correspondence that I just sent. I've attached a drawing of Mr. Garretson from both the 1883 and 1893 books on Archive.org, about San Mateo and the Coastal counties of Central California. Enjoy. John
     
    Hon. John Garretson. The subject of this sketch was among the argo-  nauts of this section of the State.. His portrait will be found in this volume.  He was born in Boundbrook, Somerset county, New Jersey, November  10, 1838, and reared on a farm until he became of age. Most of this time,  however, was spent at school. He left home and went to New Brunswick,  New Jersey, and was engaged as a clei'k in a dry goods store during a period  of four years, laying the foundation of a mercantile education, which has since  stood him in good stead. After the completion of his engagement in New  Brunswick he went to New York City, and followed the same occupation until  he came to this State, in 1859. He left New York City in the early spring,  crossed the isthmus, and arrived in San Francisco in May of that year. He  remained in that city but a few days, coming to Pescadero and assuming the  position of clerk in a general merchandising store, owned at that time by  Bidwell & Besse. At the end of nine months he purchased Bidwell's interest,  the firm name being changed to Besse & Garretson. In 1864 he sold his  interest to Besse, and took a trip to the Sandwich Islands to recuperate his  health. On his return he re-purchased an interest in Besse's stock, and this  partnership continued four or five years, when Mr. Stryker bought Besse's  interest, and the firm was changed to Garretson & Stryker. In January, 1873,  Mr. Garretson disposed of his interest to James McCormack, and took a trip  to the eastern states for his health. When he returned in 1877, he bought out  the entire business, and has since been the sole proprietor. Mr. Garretson's  business interests are not wholly confined to his store at Pescadero. He is  identified with the stage line from San Mateo to Santa Cruz, and owns an equal  interest with Andrew Taft, of the former place. To draw a comparison is at all  times an odious task, but to say that Mr. Garretson is one of the most highly  respected and distinguished citizens of Pescadero or of San Mateo county is  but to assert what is acknowledged on every hand. If further proof of this  assertion were necessary, it would be sufficient to point out the fact that in  1867, before this township became a part of San Mateo county, he was elec-  ted county recorder of Santa Cruz county, and that in 1871, he was  elected one of the supervisors of this county, being re-elected in 1873. The  people, not content with the honors they had already conferred upon him,  selected him to represent them in the state assembly of 1875-6. In 1881, he  was appointed a member of the board of supervisors, and November 7, 1882,  he was again elected to that office. Mr. Garretson married Ella Durand, June  29, 1866, and they have five children, Alice E., Aletta Marie, John Durand,  Ella C, and William Albert. 
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    3834 2009-05-31 14:38:30 2009-05-31 21:38:30 closed closed its-bio-weekat-pescaderomemoriescom publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1243805975 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: Meet Loren Coburn http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/02/john-vonderlin-meet-loren-coburn/ Wed, 03 Jun 2009 02:33:18 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3838 [Note from June]:  I'd like to mention that many of the folks who appear in 19th century bios paid for the pleasure of appearing on the pages of the book.]
    Hi June,
       This bio is from the 1883 San Mateo History book. Is the use of Coburil an OCR typo? I suppose so, but I'm too lazy to spend 10 minutes getting to the particular page scan. I'm interested, as a search of Coburil might turn up something I haven't seen in the Archives. Enjoy. John
     
    Loren Coburil. Brookfield, Orange county, Vermont, was the birthplace of  Mr. Coburn, the date being January 11, 1836. When eighteen years of age  he removed to Massachusetts where he remained until he started for California,  in 1851. Leaving New York on the steamer Falcon for Cuba, he crossed the  Isthmus, taking passage at Panama on the steamer Panama, arriving in San  Francisco June 1, 1851. Mr. Coburn at once proceeded to the northern mines,  via Sacramento and Greenwood valley, remaining four months at the placers of  the Middle Fork of the American river. Returning to San Francisco with the  intention of again visiting the eastern states, he was induced to embark in the  livery business at Oakland where he remained four years, finally disposing of  his business and purchasing another of similar character in San Francisco  which he conducted for about eleven years. In the meantime he had pur-  chased the Butano ranch, containing four thousand four hundred and forty-  four acres, and afterwards added the adjoining Punto del Ano Nuevo ranch, con-  taining four leagues, to his estate, by purchase. He then sold his business in  San Francisco, leased his ranch to the Steele brothers in 1862, and in 1866  went east, where he remained until 1868, when he returned to San Francisco.  In 1872 the lease of the Steele brothers having expired, he removed to Pigeon  Point and assumed charge of his property, and has resided there ever since.  When Mr. Coburn returned from his eastern trip, he bought ten thousand  acres of land on the Salinas river, in Monterey county, and has since pur-  chased large tracts of timber land near the home ranch at Pigeon Point. His  business at this place is dairying, stock raising and shipping. Mr. Coburn is  eminently a self made man. His entire career has displayed a force of char-  acter and indomitable energy, which, in the long run, never fails to land the  possessor of these qualities on the top round of the ladder. He has amassed  quite a fortune, but one would not observe that from his conduct, for he is a  plain, every-day man. He is married to an estimable woman, who has in the  past, and is now contributing her share towards leading a contented and  happy life. 
    [Image below: A young Loren Coburn]
    loren1
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    3838 2009-06-02 19:33:18 2009-06-03 02:33:18 closed closed john-vonderlin-meet-loren-coburn publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1244564566 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: The Ocean Shore Railroad Delivered Trout For Local Coastside Streams! http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/03/john-vonderlin-the-ocean-shore-railroad-delivered-trout/ Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:44:17 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3840 Fred Sarcander and Charles F. Brandenstein were on the San Gregorio creek in San Mateo county. Up to the end of last week Brandenstein had planted 260,000 trout fry in the streams of that county for the Ocean Shore railroad company. The fish were distributed as follows: Frenchman creek, 20,000; Pedro, 20,000; Dennison and Ward, 20,000; Purissima, 40,000; Lobitas, 75,000; Tunitas, 40,000; San Gregorio, 70,000. W.A. L. Miller, Frank M. Smith and George A. Wentworth recently planted 100,000 steelhead fry from the Ukiah hatchery Sonoma creek for the California anglers’ association   
    Hi John and Cristina,
       The attached ScreenShot about fish plants probably involved the OSR rail car you mentioned. I saw it by chance amongst the thousands I have and figured I'd send it along. Enjoy. John
    Wow, thanks John for the great article. It ties in with a story I am developing about the station agent at Tunitas depot grumbling about having to plant the fish in the creek. It was  from Ocean Shore Railroad engineer Adolph Seigel. Thanks very much.
    Regards, John Schmale
    (To see John and Kristina Schmale's latest book, please click here)
    schmale1
    ]]>
    3840 2009-06-03 18:44:17 2009-06-04 01:44:17 closed closed john-vonderlin-the-ocean-shore-railroad-delivered-trout publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1244173632 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: 1865: All Eyes on the "Oil Springs" http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/06/john-vonderlin-1865-all-eyes-on-the-oil-springs/ Sat, 06 Jun 2009 14:16:50 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3861

    Hi June,

      This article, from the February 2nd, 1865, issue of "The Daily Alta," preceded the two articles, "Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Oil Lands #1 and #2," and describes the excitement about black gold sweeping the nation. Enjoy. John 

     

    Petroleum Excitement in California

     

       A petroleum excitement is prevalent in California, although it is evidently far from its climax. At every corner of Montgomery street, between California and Washington streets, squads of men daily, during business hours, distill petroleum. Everybody has a friend interested in petroleum, who communicates to him confidentially the brilliant prospects of bis enterprise. Nearly every newspaper has an item about petroleum. From Humboldt to Saa Diego the motto of every pilgrim and the chorus of every song is "petroleum," and the word has a far sweeter sound, and suggests a far more successful fate than "excelsior."     

       True, tbe excitement is not confined to this State. The whole civilized world appears to be affected. The fortunes made bjr coal oil in Pennsylvania are enough to fix the attention of all speculators and to awaken the envy even of Californians. Neither the gold of the State nor the silver of Nevada has made so many millionaires. It is, indeed, doubtfnl whether in the history of the world, there is elsewhere any record of so many great fortunes being obtained so speedily, with so little labor, with investments of money so small, and without the spoliation of any one. It is said that the coal oil produced by Pennsylvania is now worth more annually than all the yield of its great iron and coal mines, which have to be worked at vast expense, whereas the coal oil flows out in a perennial stream from many wells, with little expense save barreling. In late numbers of the New York and Philadelphia papers we see a number of advertisements of petroleum companies, giving notice of dividends, varying from one to five percent, per month, on the nominal stock which, in many instances, is double the actual capital paid in; and though not a few of these companies bought their lands at high prices afi«r the wells had been bored by individuals who made fortunes by selling. No State in the Union has so many petroleum springs as California. Oil springs existed at many places in Pennsylvania and Virginia, but they couM not compare in number or abundance with those of this coast. Scarcely a county near the coast, from Oregon to Lower California, that is without them. In Eel Eiver Valley there are several of considerable size; near Pescadero, Santa Crnz, there are half a dozen; and south of Monterey Bay, thousands of acres are covered with the asphaltum formed by the drying up of the oil which has come to the surface mixed with dirt, and has lain under a burning sun for nine months in the year. The principal deposits of asphaltnm, including those from which large supplies for the roofs and sidewalks of San Francisco are obtained, are mentioned in the Pacific Railroad Reports, and in Hittell's  " Resources of California, and these are probably the largest deposits on this continent. It is to be presumed that when the oil can rise from its deep chambers in the earth, through a straight and clean pipe, the flow will be abundant aod of good quality. People are confident of success, and capitalists have invested their money. Not less than a quarter of a million in gold, if report be true, has been spent in buying petroleum lands along the southern coast, and men are now engaged in boring at half a dozen different points.

     

     [Note from June: One of the best books I have read on the history of oil is called: "The Prize, The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power" by Daniel Yergin, for more information, please click here

    theprize

     

    ]]>
    3861 2009-06-06 07:16:50 2009-06-06 14:16:50 closed closed john-vonderlin-1865-all-eyes-on-the-oil-springs publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1244298033 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: 1909: You could have too much moisture in your butter http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/07/john-vonderlin-1909-you-could-have-too-much-moisture-in-your-butter/ Sun, 07 Jun 2009 15:39:24 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3866

    BUTTER CONTAINS TOO MUCH MOISTURE

     A.B. Cavalli, Rancher, Violated Pure Food Law” MENLO PARK March 4. –For “his violations of the pure food laws A.B. Cavalli, a La Honda rancher, has run afoul of the government inspectors, with the result that he was fined $1,025 which was later reduced to $23. Cavalli has a large dairy at La Honda and for some time has been shipping 300 pounds of butter a week which has contained from 22 to 30 per cent moisture instead of the 15 per cent allowed by law. On please of ignorance and first offense Cavalli’s fine was reduced from the original set  

    ]]>
    3866 2009-06-07 08:39:24 2009-06-07 15:39:24 closed closed john-vonderlin-1909-you-could-have-too-much-moisture-in-your-butter publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1244389167 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: 1868 Earth Shakes & the Bubbling Gas http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/07/john-vonderlin-1868-earth-shakes-the-bubbling-gas/ Sun, 07 Jun 2009 16:47:59 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3868 Hi June,
      I've only seen a few casual references to  lit gas coming from the ground after the Loma Prieta Earthquake. I don't think the phenomena lasted more then a few days. It seems to be a recurrent phenomena based on the following excerpts.
       Here's a reference to the October 21, 1868 Earthquake. This quake, centered on the Hayward Fault was the "Great Quake," until the 1906 one came along. It was only about a 7.0, but was the greatest ever recorded on that fault. 
    A gentleman who was in the mountains near Pescadero, yesterday morning, during the earthquake shock, describes the scene as fearfully grand. Huge redwood trees swayed like fishing-rods, and immense dead limbs detached by the violence of the motion, fell to the earth. Large pieces of rock were wrestled from the mass of the mountain, and in some instances rendered the road impassable. The waters of Pescadero Creek became muddy in a moment, and the surface was covered with large bubbles. These, when a match was applied to them, burst with a slight report and a small flame, showing that they were filled with an inflammable gas, that must have come from the bowels of the earth.
     
       This site had these two excerpts about gas coming  from the ground in the 1906 Quake.
    http://www.sfgenealogy.com/sanmateo/history/sm1906.htm
    PESCADERO  Catholic church almost a total wreck  Methodist church injured slightly  School house unsafe, will have to be rebuilt.  New bridge over Pescadero creek, bulkhead cracked  Small buildings damaged more or less  William’s store more severely  Light house at Pigeon Point did not suffer much damage  In several places the ground opened and   ____ issued in large quantities.
    PESCADERO, May 9. - Pescadero and vicinity, was fortunate in having no very serious damage done by the earthquake.  Williamson's store and stock were damaged about $300.  McCormick & Winkie's suffered about the same amount. The Catholic church is off its foundation and pretty badly wrecked.  The school house will need extensive repairs, possibly $2,000 or more before it is safe again.  The pupils are now being accommodated in the M.E. church and Odd Fellows hall.  The Methodist church had most of its plaster shaken off.  The feedmill was wrecked in the rear by a large water tank and windmill falling on the roof.  Nearly all brick chimneys were down and several residences needed underpinning repaired.  Slides of earth and rock are noticed on places along the road, the most serious being on the Thos. Enos place.  The first one occurred about 24 hours after the quake, when the road sank near the Cunha house for a distance of about 75 yards, to a depth of fifteen feet.  Another slide a week later occurred before daylight, right beside Mr. Enos' house and caused the family to move to Pescadero at 4:30 a.m.  The slide smashed one of Mr. Enos' chicken houses, burying it completely and killing nearly all the chickens in it.  A large stream of water gushed out at both side of slide and threatened to do damage to the dwelling house and barn until it was diverted by spouts in another direction.  The Enos' family have since reoccupied their home.  One of the strangest and most interesting phenomena in consequence of the earthquake was the gas wells in D.S. Jackson's field, just across the road from his house.  Soon after the quake a bubbling was heard and on investigation, water was seen coming up in several places.  It was of cool temperature; but appeared to be boiling.  Willis Jackson applied a lighted match to several places and flames immediately shot up to a height of from four or five feet, producing an intense heat.  At present writing the gas seems to have about all disappeared.  What is the more remarkable about the case is that no trace of either oil or gas or anything like it had ever been seen here before.  This matter is worth investigating by some scientific expert.
    ]]>
    3868 2009-06-07 09:47:59 2009-06-07 16:47:59 closed closed john-vonderlin-1868-earth-shakes-the-bubbling-gas publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1244395626 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: 1855, 1857: Tiny mentions of Pescadero http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/08/john-vonderlin-1857-when-pescadero-was-part-of-santa-cruz-county/ Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:45:46 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3871
    Hi June,
    Of the 420 hits you'll get by using "Pescadero" as the Search term on the California Newspaper Archive website, as of now, this is the earliest. It is from "The Daily Alta," of October 15th, 1857. It is a news summary from the "Pacific Sentinel" newspaper in Santa Cruz. It announces the division of Santa Cruz County into four districts, of which Pescadero was one. I suspect the district mentioned without a school and hence getting no pro rata of public funds was Pescadero. Even though the first schoolhouse in the town was privately built in that same year by Alexander Moore in a corner of his orchard. Accounts mention him paying for it and the teacher out of his own pocket.
    The Pescadero district was removed from Santa Cruz County and added to San Mateo County in 1868. Did decisions like this, coming from the County seat, nearly in another world because of distance and difficulty of travel to it from Pescadero, have anything to do with that? Probably.
    Enjoy. John
    Santa Cruz Items. — The Pacific Sentinel has the following items : An ark of the ancient Order of Knighthood has been organized. A new wharf is soon to be built at Soquel. We were visited on Thursday by a slight shower of rain ; also by an organ grinder. The county has been divided into four districts, the boundary of each agreeing with the various townships, viz. : Pajaro, Soquel, Santa Cruz, and Pescadero, of which three only have sustained one school each, suitable to entitle them to a pro rata of the public fund. Since the completion of the new house, the school in Santa Cruz has been in successful operation for nearly three months, under the supervision of Mr. Gache, assisted by Mrs. Adams. In point of numbers it has outreached the hopes of every one, and is being conducted in a manner not only creditable to the teachers, but highly flattering to parents and guardians.
    -------------------------------------
    Hi June,
       This excerpt from the July 31st, 1855 issue of "The Daily Alta," is an even earlier mention of Pescadero then the one I sent yesterday. It eluded me because they spelled it Piscadero. It showed up in a search of early articles mentioning Santa Cruz. Enjoy. John
     
    LETTER FROM SANTA CRUZ Santa Cruz, July 27, 1853.  T. W. Wright (County Surveyor) and his party  have been out surveying the county lines, came in last evening, for a short respite. They commenced the north line of the county on the coast, some twelve miles north of the Piscadero, thence due east to the ridge of the Santa Cruz mountains forming the line between Santa Cruz and San Francisco counties, thence in a southeasterly direction on the ridge as far as " High Peak." They passed over some very fine "stock farms," as they worked their way down. They intend starting again next Monday, to finish the work which they have prosecuted thus far with ability and vigor.
    ]]>
    3871 2009-06-08 07:45:46 2009-06-08 14:45:46 closed closed john-vonderlin-1857-when-pescadero-was-part-of-santa-cruz-county publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1244730812 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin says the "real fish" went to the City in a wagon! http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/08/john-vonderlin-says-the-real-fish-went-to-the-city-in-a-wagon/ Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:31:08 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3873 Hi June,
    You've wondered what happened to the original fish of the Coastside? Here's another piece of the puzzle. The excerpt below is from a column in the May 13th, 1857 issue of "The Daily Alta."
    Think how many times something like this was done without ever being mentioned in the newspaper. The rapacious behavior, so enthusiastically described by the writer, that was displayed by these so-called "expert" fisherman, as they had two days of "sport,"
    made sure the original stocks of local fish were almost all gone by the turn of the Century. Note the writer uses the word captured instead of caught. My guess is these jokers were seine netting the lagoon. Otherwise with beer and lunch breaks, that's a fish a minute for each fisherman, all day, and that doesn't include time for cleaning them. Doesn't sound sporting to me at all. Enjoy. John
    The California angler can find on no spot above ground a fairer field for the display of his piscatory skill than the brooks flowing into Half Moon Bay, on the coast, some fifty miles below San Francisco. Parties of gentlemen from this city have recently met with extraordinary luck, and have brought back wagon loads of beautiful speckled trout. A week or two ago, four expert fishermen, after two days' sport, counted the number caught by the party, and found that they had captured two thousand of the finny inhabitants of these waters. This is the most favorable month for catching this delicious fish, and we adise all disciples of the venerable Walton, who wish to enjoy rare sport, to fit themselves out in corduroy, pack up an ample supply of provender and fluids, rig their tackle, hire a wagon, and drive down to the trout field. The roads are fine, the scenery magnificent, and the accommodations at the farm houses near the bay, excellent.
    ]]>
    3873 2009-06-08 09:31:08 2009-06-08 16:31:08 closed closed john-vonderlin-says-the-real-fish-went-to-the-city-in-a-wagon publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1244478866 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: Do you know the way to Torquay? http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/09/john-vonderlin-why-torquay-more-on-this-mysterious-city/ Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:18:53 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3878 Torquay? I'd never heard of the place and don't even remember who gave me the pamphlet which I am now digging about for. Well, John Vonderlin has new information that clears up the location of this mysterious "city" that never appeared. Also, here are some web definitions for Torquay, please click here.] johnv Says John Vonderin:    As long as I'm writing about dreams dashed by the '06 Quake, I should return to this small item. A while ago you posted the cover of a pamphlet for the planned city of Torquay, near Ano Nuevo. It was quite amazing, with Venice-like features; a hexagonal design, waterways, a lagoon, even a waterfall, all designed to accentuate the natural features of the area, rather then dominate them.  Unfortunately, other then your pamphlet posting and an online  mention of a post office of that name, I could find little else.
      Well, while looking through a copy of  author Tess Black's book, "Portraits of Pescadero,"
    tessblackbook
    that Meg gave me, I found this relevant quote from Ruth Steele:
       "I don't remember if it was pronounced Tor-KAY or Tor-KEE, It was on the Renssalear place, the Cascade Ranch. There's a place west of the road (Cabrillo Highway) where Renssalear [Steele] was going to establish this little town, but then when the earthquake hit in 1906, and the Ocean Shore went defunct, it just never materialized. My father remembered a post office that had already been built there, but I don't remember it."
       The Renssalear she refers to is Renssalear Steele, Jr. His investment in the town and the Ocean Shore Railroad ruined him financially, as he had mortgaged his ranch to get the project going, and had only sold a few lots, when it came to a screeching halt. 
       As I remember, Mr. Burnham's firm's architects, were the designers for this project. You can see that from the layout of the town in the brochure, as it is very similar to Granada's, with spoke-like streets radiating from a six-sided  town center. My guess is Willis Polk, his western office manager, was responsible for this never-to-be project.
       If you can find the brochure I'd like to overlay the architect's plan over a map of the historic Cascade Ranch and try to imagine what it would have been like. If not, I'll contact Tess Black and see if I can get a copy, as she used  a small picture of the layout from the brochure in her book.
       Coincidentally, Cotati, in Sonoma County, where I lived for decades, is one of the two hexagonal designed cities in the country. Torquay would have been another. Here's a website that will tell you about this rare city design through history.
    [Again, for more information on hexagonal-designed cities, please click here.
     
    ]]>
    3878 2009-06-09 07:18:53 2009-06-09 14:18:53 closed closed john-vonderlin-why-torquay-more-on-this-mysterious-city publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1244730324 _edit_last 1
    Ocean Shore RR Map, Circa Unknown http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/09/ocean-shore-rr-map-circa-unknown/ Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:41:42 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3896 map11

     

    If you cannot read the names of the towns/places, here they are, north to south along the coastline. A few names are new to me, and I note that Torquay is not mentioned. San Francisco Omondaga [Please read John's email below] Daly City Thornton Mussel Rock Edgemar Salada Brighton Vallemar Rockaway Tobin Green Canyon (see story below) Montara Farallone Moss Beach Marine Princeton North Granada GRANADA South Granada Miramar Half Moon Arleta Purisima Lobitos TUNITAS San Gregorio Pescadero Pebble Beach Pigeon Point New Years Pt, Waddell Beach Scott Scott (repeated again) Davenport Landing Blue Gum Davenport Lidell Yellowbank Lagos Enright SCARONI Parson’s Beach WilderR Rapett Then we're out of San Mateo County and into Santa Cruz, so I'm not going to mention anything there, not much anyway. Other moew familiar San Mateo County places named to the east of the Pacific Ocean include: San Bruno, San Mateo, ,Redwood, Palo Alto, La Honda, Bellevale, Big Basin, Swanton and Folger Very interesting, isn't it? ---------- From John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
    Hi June,
       Omondaga should be Onondaga. It was a street in San Francisco that must have been a stop on the OSR. Below is a line about it from the 1910 S.F. Street Guide. Maybe that was the first ocean shore stop on the Ocean Shore Railroad?
    I've got a picture of the depot, and a map of its route. I'll check it out. Enjoy. John
     
     Onondaga Avenue (West End Tract), from W s Mission nr Russia Av, N W to Ocean Av 
      Onondaga, New York was the capital and central area of what we  call "The Six Nations of the Iroquois." The Wikipedia article on "Iroqouis" helped me remember some of my Back East grammar school history and helped me understand somewhat why a street in San Francisco would be named in the 1800s for a Native American tribe.   
    -------------------------------------
    From JohnVonderlin
    Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)
    United States Geological Survey (USGS) map of Tobin, Pacifica
    tobin
    {Note: Working for the OSRR  Railroad Could Be Dangerous--and here is an excellent example.]
    From John Vonderlin
    Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.neet)
    i June,
      Here's another old newspaper story about Green Canyon. The ever-so-lucky Mr. Nggard, mentioned in the article, probably remembered this week for the rest of his life. After being beaten and robbed, and not killed only because he landed on an unseen ledge when thrown over a cliff, he left the Wild West of the OSR labor camps and headed back to the relatively safe and civilized Big City. Only to have the Great Quake and its devastating fires occur just a couple of days later. Was it a case of jumping from the frying pan into the fire? I hope not. Enjoy. John
     
    THROW WORKMAN OFF A CLIFF Thugs Kick  Railroad-Man Till Insensible, Rob Him and Then  Try To Do Murder SAVED BY LEDGE Victim Lands Upon Projec tion Twenty Feet From Top  and Escapes Awful Death SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO. April.  l3
    John  Nggard, a workman employed on the  Ocean Shore Railroad has  brought here news, of a most sensational incident
    in which  he figured  as the central figure,
    and in which, he almost  lost his life.
       A few days  ago he was paid a small  sum of money due him by the railroad  company. He repaired to a saloon  nearby and bought several drinks. On  leaving the  place he did not  notice three or four evil-looking fellows who were  loitering about the place,  Had he done so he would have escaped a thrilling experience.
      The saloon  is  in Green Canyon, where the cliffs descend .more than one hun-
    dred  feet. The footpads followed Nggard, kicked him into insensibility, robbed him, and threw  him over the bank. Fortunately, the man  fell upon a projecting ledge on the cliff, about twenty feet from  the top. How long he remained there no one knows, but he was discovered by some of his fellow workmen, and after much difficulty res- cued.
       Disreputable characters infest the en-
    tire  region on the route of the Ocean Shore Railroad and outrages of various kinds are of frequent occurrence.
    ]]>
    3896 2009-06-09 09:41:42 2009-06-09 16:41:42 closed closed ocean-shore-rr-map-circa-unknown publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1244909259 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: Butterfly Emerges From Its Pupae http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/09/3901/ Wed, 10 Jun 2009 02:59:09 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3901 butterfly2

    butteerfly3

    ]]>
    3901 2009-06-09 19:59:09 2009-06-10 02:59:09 closed closed 3901 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1244603122 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: 1868 Bison Skull Found Near Pilarcitos Reservoir http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/09/john-vonderlin-1868-bison-skull-found-near-pilarcitos-reservoir/ Wed, 10 Jun 2009 03:43:34 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3908 Hi June,
       This is an excerpt from an article entitled "The Earliest Residents of California," from the November 8th, 1868 issue of "The Daily Alta."
     
    Several years ago we mentioned the fact that Calvin Brown, Esq., while superintending, as engineer, the construction of the Pilarcitos reservoir of the Spring Valley Water Company, had found the skull of a very large animal of the bovine character. It was sent for examination and classification to Dr. Leidy of the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences, one of the first paleontologists of the age, and he, in acknowledging its receipt, says:  "It is a more perfect specimen than any I had previously seen of the skull of the great extinct American bison. which I had named "bison antiquarus," the contemporary of the mastodon, and the great extinct sloths, the megalonyx, and mylodon. The specimen in its present position is (certainly?) a favor (???) one for interest of all who are interested in paleontological sciences."
    Wikipedia has this article about this species of buffalo;
    Bison antiquus sometimes called the ancient bison, was the most common large herbivore of the North Americancontinent for over ten thousand years, and is a direct ancestor of the living American bison.
    During the Pleistocene Ice Agesteppe wisent (Bison priscus), migrated from Siberia into Alaska. This species then developed into the long-horned bison (Bison latifrons) which lived in North America for 3 million years. About 22 Tya, the long-horned bison slowly died out making way for Bison antiquusB. antiquus were abundant from 18 Tya until about 10Tya, when they became extinct, along with most of the Pleistocene megafaunaB. antiquus is the most commonly recovered herbivore from the La Brea tar pits.
    B. antiquus was taller, had larger bones and horns and was 15-25% larger overall than modern bison. From tip to tip, the horns of B. antiquus measured approximately 3 feet (nearly one meter).
      
    ]]>
    3908 2009-06-09 20:43:34 2009-06-10 03:43:34 closed closed john-vonderlin-1868-bison-skull-found-near-pilarcitos-reservoir publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1244605525 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin says in 1863 there was gold in them there hills!!! http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/09/john-vonderlin-says-in-1863-there-was-gold-in-them-there-hills/ Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:18:28 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3911
    Hi June,
      There's GOLD in them there hills!!! That's something I wasn't aware of. I got onto this search thread using "Pillarcitos and Pilarcitos" as search terms. I was surprised when the Pillarcitos Gold and Silver Mining Company came up. Up until then the only story I'd seen dealing with gold and the Coastside was the newspaper article I sent you about that whacky guy's Rube Goldberg invention, that he claimed, and was trying to demonstrate, that it could separate lots of gold from sand at Bean Hollow Beach.
      Following is a story that mentioned the Pillarcitos claim and quite possibly represents the high point of homegrown Gold Fever in San Mateo. It was in the August 30th, 1863 issue of "The Daily Alta," on the California Newspaper Archive website. Enjoy. John
     
    DISCOVERY OF GOLD NEAR HOME
    EXCITEMENT AMONG THE LOCATORS OF CLAIMS.
    — Within a week past some interesting discoveries of gold-bearing quartz have been made in the valley of the San Andres Creek, San Mateo county, in the coast range, about five miles back of "Thorp's." The first indications were found by a Frenchman, who found float rock in the bed of the stream showing free gold. Upon pushing his explorations further up the hill he traced out a ledge of rotten quartz, upon which he and his companions took up several hundred feet, locating in the names of some of the principal French merchants and brokers of this city, and recording their claims at the office of the County Recorder. The next day the news spread abroad, and the employed and workmen on the Spring Valley Water Works, in the Pillarcitos Valley, hearing of the strike, went over and located the five thousand feet along the ledge, which runs southeast and northwest.  Soon, others hastened to avail themselves of the discovery, and yesterday, parties were seen hurrying out of town in the direction of the new Eldorado, in quest of fortunes. On Friday night the people in the vicinity held a meeting, and organized a mining district, at which the customary regulations were framed : 
    At a meeting of persons interested in the gold and silver quartz lodes discovered in the San Andres Valley, San Mateo county, held at the Spring Valley Farm, Pillarcitos Creek, August 28th, 1863, the following rules and regulations wero unanimously adopted: Resolved, That this mining locality shall be named and known as the " San Mateo Mining District," the boundaries of which shall be: On the south, commencing at Spanish town on the Pacific; thence running along the County road, easterly, to the Crystal Springs and San Mateo Hotel, to the bay; on the east, along said bay in a northerly direction to the northern boundary of San Mateo county; on the north, along said northern boundary to the Pacific Ocean, and on the west, along the Pacific coast, to Spanish town, the place of beginning. Resolved, That each individual locator of ground shall be entitled to two hundred feet in length, by four hundred feet on each side of the ledge or vein, together with all the dips, spurs and angles of the same. Rexolved, That the discoverer of a vein or ledge, shall be entitled to two hundred feet additional to the above. Resolved, That to hold a claim of two hundred feet, it shall be necessary to do one day's work in every thirty days, by one man, upon every such claim; in default of which the claim shall be subject to re-location. Resolved. That the filing of a notice with the Recorder shall be considered as a bona fide record ; and the Recorder shall give a certificate of such filing, upon application, of the location. All locations of claims must be designated by written notices and stakes defining the boundaries and limits thereof; and notice must be filed within three days after the location. Resolved, That the sum of one dollar for each and every name shall be paid to the Recorder for his services. The office of the Recorder shall be at the Spring Valley Farm, Pillarcitos Creek. San Mateo county.
    A. W. Von Schmidt, Chairman.
    Wm. V. Wells, Secretary
       The original location was made by a Frenchman named Osslyn, after whom the ledge has been called. The vein, which outcrops freely, is about four feet in width, and is composed of crumbling quartz, easily worked. The next claim, northward, is that of the Pillarcitos Company, consisting of five thousand feet. Among the original locators are Messrs. Yon Schmidt, Eugene Sullivan, Mickle, Wells, .Farwefl, Carlton, Lies, Ecker, Woodworth and other well known San Franciscans. Assays of the rock have gone far into the hundreds per ton. The water power is close at hand for mills, and the locators are feeling quite self-satisfied over their new acquisitions, which are fortunately on public lands, being: just without the boundary of the Fales Kancho. Two tunnels are already commenced to strike the lead about one hundred feet below the outcreppings. Taken in connection with the late discoveries of gold near the Mission Dolores, there is reason to believe that this peninsula is destined yet to make its mark as a mining region.
    ------------------------------------------------------------------
    Hi June,
      This little article was the one that gave me Gold Fever, or at least the desire to know if the craziness of the Gold Rush had any homegrown history of interest, other then the commonly encountered story of some person or another, dropping whatever they were doing and heading to the gold fields.
      Oddly, this article, was written several days after the "San Mateo Mining District," formation meeting article, and captures nothing of the excitement described in that article. It appeared in the September 2nd, 1863 issue of "The Daily Alta."
      What the connection to Pillarcitos is I'm not sure, but will keep looking. Enjoy. John
     
    ASSAY OF HOME ORE
       The Ossilan Ledge of the Pillarcitos Gold and Silver Mining Company, San Andres Valley, San Mateo County, has yielded some surface "returns"  which are worth chronicling. An assay of top rock exhibits $24 a ton, with trace of silver, but of no material purpose. Extensive arrangements are in progress for working these claims on a large scale. 
    ]]>
    3911 2009-06-09 21:18:28 2009-06-10 04:18:28 closed closed john-vonderlin-says-in-1863-there-was-gold-in-them-there-hills publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1244647139 _edit_last 1
    The "Where Could This Be" Photo....? http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/10/the-where-could-this-be-photo/ Thu, 11 Jun 2009 02:41:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3915 where

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    3915 2009-06-10 19:41:00 2009-06-11 02:41:00 closed closed the-where-could-this-be-photo publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1244688062 _edit_last 1
    Book:The Five of Hearts http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/11/bookthe-five-of-hearts/ Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:43:04 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3926 "The Five of Hearts" by Patricia O'Toole tells the story of Henry Adams and his dearest friends, 1880-1918. The book was published in 1990, and the Henry Adams  friend I most enjoyed reading about was United States Geological Survey (USGS) pioneer Clarence King who had many adventures as he bcame an expert on the Far West.

    fivehearts

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    3926 2009-06-11 11:43:04 2009-06-11 18:43:04 closed closed bookthe-five-of-hearts publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1244746710 _edit_last 1
    1880s: Sarah Swanton was Pescadero's Primo Innkeeper http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/11/1880s-sarah-swanton-was-pescaderos-expert-innkeeper/ Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:08:53 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3932 swanton1a

    New-old story by June Morrall Pescadero innkeeper Sarah Swanton was 100 ahead of her time. Often praised as a woman of remarkable business ability, she was also blessed with an affable personality. "...an an entertainer, she has few equals and no superiors in hotel management,"raved the San Mateo Times & Gazette in 1896. But most of her success between the 1860e and 1890s was credited to the "courteous and accommodating way in which she treated her guests" at the famous Swanton House Hotel. As a major contributor to Pescadero's economy, Swanton was well respected. She also spoke out what that prosperity was threatened. Besides tending to the day-to-day operations at the Swanton House, she hired R.K. Farley to manage her thriving stable business next door. This put her into direct competition with the village's millionaire=miser, Loren Coburn, who also had a nearby stable. Both livery stables depended on the lucrative tourist trade. Most tourists came to Pescadero to visit irresistible Pebble Beach, the well known hunting ground for beautiful "gems" to fashion local jewelry from. The coveted beach lay a couple miles west of Pescadero, and to get their there, the tourists had to rent wagons and horses from the competing stables. Loren Coburn looked upon Pebble Beach as his; he had reasons, owning much of the surrounding, including what he thought was the special pebble covered beach. His wild strawberry fields bordered the beach , and when he fenced them in, and installed a sturdy lock, he "in effect," declared a personal war on all livery stable owners, including the feisty Sarah Swanton... Soon her loud and bitter complaints reached Coburn's ears. Believing he had a monopoly on the stable business, he dismissed Sarah's comments. To anyone would listen, Coburn said Sarah Swanton was angry because she couldn't whereever she wanted to go. It's true that Sarah Swanton may have had little control over the livery business, but she was queen of the Swanton House, her bed and breakfast near San Gregorio Street. With charm and grace, she ruled over the billiard room and the parlor, was her expertise was in the kitchen. She was the culinary whiz f a "plain country hotel with a good table." The breakfast menu included items we may not have heard of in this century: mutton chops, mountain checkens and the more familiar beef steak cooked to perfection.To this menu was added strong coffee and fresh sweet milk. In front of the famous Swanton House stood the town's revered handmade flag, the flagpole crafted by the locals. The flagpole also served as a distance marker---how many feet or miles from the pole to somewhere else. Known throughout California in some of the travel guides of the 19th century, the Swanton House was a recommended place for guests to book a room, with choices including the Fern, Myrtle, Rose, Elm, Ivy, or Woodbine room (all named after herbs.) Born in Abbot, Maine in 1825, Sarah wed Charles Swanton in the 1840s. The newlyweds made their first home in Augusta, Maine, where Sarah operated a hat business until 1854. That was how she learned to please the fickle public. Meanwhile she gave birth to children, Eva and Frank. Husband Charles, an employee of the Light House Board, predecessor to the modern Coast Guard, was sent to the West coast, ending up in Pescadero, while Sarah and the kids remained back in Maine. (Interestingly, a decade later a lighthouse was built at Pigeon Point.) In 1863 Sarah and the kids joined Charles in Pescadero and the Swanton House was born. The Swanton House was an overnight success, good timing, that coincided with great interest in the pebbles at Pebble Beach. By this time San Franciscans were craving for places to visit away from the city. Even though it could take seven hours by stagecoach to reach Pescadero, the amount of time didn't phase the tourists. "...After a sound night's sleep," write Howard Glyndon, a male pseudonym for Santa Cruz writer, Mrs. Searling, "the calm stillness of the morning is only broken by the singing of the birds, the echoes of the gurgling waters in the creek, or the roar of the surf on the beach." To accommodate her many guests, Sarah's lovely daughter Eva was a great help. At its peak the Swanton House hosted more than 150 guests at one time. It became a popular spot for weddings, as well. Charles Swanton, Sarah's husband, was a jaunty fellow, a kind of one-man chamber of commerce. He loved showing off the "natural curiosities" of Pescadero to the guests. He particularly enjoyed escorting visitors on a very special trip of the Pigeon Point lighthouse. He knew all the facts about the construction of the lighthouse: the 500,00 bricks used in the cone-shaped white tower--and that on a clear day white flashes were visible from the deck of a vessel 15 feet above the sea at a distance of 181/2 nautical miles. The Swantons were proud of their children who made good marriages. Eva wed Peter Stryker, a Pescadero businessman, and the couple eventually moved to San Francisco. Son Frank got married at the hotel in 1877. But after so many fruitful years, tragedy struck. At age 30 Frank Swanton, Sarah's son, died of a sudden heart attack. In the 1880s Sarah's husband, Charles, began to diminish, was judged insane, and committed to a sanitarium in Napa, where he passed away. Sarah handled all the sadness by focussing on the hotel. But in 1896, Sarah, fell ill and died in her beloved hotel. Said one San Francisco newspaper: "The death of Mrs. Swanton removes one of the oldest and most highly respected and estimable members of the community...Although for the comfort and encouragement of the traveling public we must say her mantle has fallen on worthy shoulders as her only daughter, Mrs. Stryker , takes charge." With Sarah's passing, the Swanton House lost the magic spark that once glowed within its walls. The hotels ws sold and new innkeepers came and went. As the years wore on, the Swanton House was neglected and failed to age with dignity.  In the 1920s "the plain country hotel with a good table" burned in what was an alleged case of arson---unsolved--so no one was ever prosecuted. Although the Swanton House turned into ashes, Sarah Swanton's legacy remains that of a willful, proud and productive woman. ====================== A ndw-old story by June Morraall -------------- johnv1Story from John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcgobal.net) All ads from John Vonderlin
    Hi June,
      I've attached a few Swanton House ads in case you want to add them to that great Swanton House story you posted. It seems like after Sarah, it fell on hard times, with numerous managers, including one advertised for just a few weeks and then she was back. I had looked her up because Meg informed me Ed Weeks was related to her and was interested in anything about her. I'll make sure he knows about the article.
      Below is a newspaper article with a ton of guests names from the Swanton House. Just threw it in with out correcting. Enjoy. John
     
    THE SWANTON HOUSE. Pescadero: From San Francisco— Mr. Shuenffclt, J. D. Wadsworth, Leslie H. Fentreta, N. ,E. Lloyd. Bert Gunzburjer, J. G. Walter, Mr. Haines, A. E. Tuppan, H. A. Gray, Gus Wolf, A. F. Blomqulst. J. J. Pettee. H. R. Stettin Jr.. E. J. Doran and wife, E. L. de Arman. M. W. Clark and son. F, Danger. A. \V. Ottenheimer, Wllr liam Laun. R. L. Cro Hothschild, .«-telle Carpenter. F. P. Parsons, Samuel Rosenhelm. S. D. Ivee, S. W. Heller and wife, W. S. Hobart, J. H. Small and wife A. I. Baer. Miss Alice Baer, Mibrf J! Baer. Miss S. Hochstein. Miss L. Brldgeman H. Robert Braden, L. E. Hillen. J. A. McCrystal, A. F. Brinham, Laura McCord, A.- F. Leavltt, U C. Swarta, Miss M. Tainier.. E. Talnler. E. J. Baldwin, J. IL Scott and wife. E. O. Scott and wife, L.. J. Phelps, E. Blumkin. E. J. Nixon. A. Rothschild and wife. J. M. Rothschild. Mrs. J. Brownstone. MUs Helen Anderson. H. E. Chandler, Carson; Mrs* Charles W. Farnham, Fruitvale; Helen Gardner, J. O. Miner. .Mrs. Charles E. Cotton, Miss Daisy ' Coolt. E. H. Gratvljean, Oakland.: C. M. Zttlei\ Reno; Dr. A. Kraenrer. San Diego: C. W. Perry Reno; P. C. Edwards, Stafford; Ed Squires, Hobart Mills; Miss Alice AVUliams, . New York; W. \V. Price. Alta; Mrs. H. A. Crawford. Napa; Mrs. A. L. Bryan and family, "Najja; A. C. Brown. Los Angelee; C; P. Campbell, A. Jackson, Reno; Mis* M. Stenson Reno; Miss Sten¦on. Knoxvllle HI.; R. C. Reynolds. Saylorburg. Pa. ; 6. \V. Gregor>% La Belle. Mo.; \V. E. Heglnman. Hazen, Nov.: Mra. W. D. Webb. Charlotte, N. C. ; G. H. Newell, wlfa end child. Sacramento; Mra. C. \V. Kayser, New York; Mrs. C. C. Hughes. Oakland; Miss A. Caldwi'U, 'Alameda; JE. t>. Bated, Verdi. and wife. From Sant* Cruz— Mrs. K. C. Cope, Mlfi; May Baldwin. From San Jose — Miss D. Ogly. Mrs. G. Ogly, F. A. Grifflng. J. A. Miner. Miss J'c rrin. Mi«a Maud Perrin, Arch Ptrrin. Kroin J^owerys — J. C. Hodxe. . From Watsonvillp — Mrs. J! G. Prastky; From Salinaa — Mrs. S. Iioroda, L«on V. Hughes. From Sac ramento— R. A. .V, Van Norden, H. Stlllman. Miss Marie Col* man. Miss Bell Morris, Mra. EUiel Sexton. From Alameda— C. E. PlttiB. From_>'ew York— Mrs. E Jones. Mr. and Mr«. Morgan. From Hollisler— Mrs. W. Higley. FYom Jeffersun City — E. B. - Ewing. From Stockton — William Anglis and wife. From New York — Frank Hearon. From Reno, N«v. — Mm. N. H. Hood. From Milwaukee — E. J. Jones and wife. From Benicia — L.. J. Powers. From Berkeley — Professor \V. J. Osterhaut and family. From Oakland — John A. Beckwlth, Dr. A. Fain. Mr. and Mrs. II. D. NMchols. Miss Mads^n. From Arizona — Miss F. Jones. SUMMER DAYS ARE LURING
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    3932 2009-06-11 13:08:53 2009-06-11 20:08:53 closed closed 1880s-sarah-swanton-was-pescaderos-expert-innkeeper publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1244818260 _edit_last 1
    With Neptune's Vomitorium clogged with sand, John's organizing last year's goodies http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/15/with-neptunes-vomitorium-clogged-with-sand-johns-organizing-last-years-goodies/ Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:52:35 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3944 nv4 Hi June, This was yesterday's big project. With sand still clogging Neptune's Vomitorium, I've given up on any big event happening there this year. So, I took all of this year's Neptune's Vomitorium's cleanings, such as they are, piled them up on a tarp outside, and sorted them into about twenty-five categories. It may look like a lot, and it did take all day, but it's about a third of last year's and lacks some of the types of non-buoyant debris I value the most. What I have will be added to my "Walloboxes" collection, lining my studio. Otherwise, I'll just have to continue to be patient and hope for the best. I heard a short radio blurb that the early signs of an El Nino are manifesting themselves in the Eastern Pacific, its birthplace. I won't wish for strong winter storms, but the drought gives me cover to say, I'll be happy if they do occur. Enjoy. John nv2nv3]]> 3944 2009-06-15 14:52:35 2009-06-15 21:52:35 closed closed with-neptunes-vomitorium-clogged-with-sand-johns-organizing-last-years-goodies publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245102940 _edit_last 1 1877: Biz Partners Call It Quits http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/15/1877-biz-partners-break-up/ Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:19:36 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3947 hithertofore run under the name of J. Garretson & Co. with J. Garretson as the survivor.]]> 3947 2009-06-15 17:19:36 2009-06-16 00:19:36 closed closed 1877-biz-partners-break-up publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245111601 _edit_last 1 Lynne S.: The Search for the Kalenborn Summer Cabin Has Been Found http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/16/lynne-schmitt-searching-for-the-kalenborn-summer-cabin/ Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:45:05 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3950 The Kalenborn Cabin has been found in Dearborn Park.  The following story was written BEFORE the summer home was found. Congraulations to Lynne Story by Lynne S. We are looking without success ....   In the 1920s my grandparents Mr. and Mrs. A. S. Kalenborn had a small summer cabin near Pescadero.  Their children were Margaret (Peggy),  Katherine (Kay), Fred, and Rudy.   We visited about 15 years ago.  I can remember turning close to some large green houses and driving on a flatish gravel road past some older rural houses .... finally getting to more forested area.    Does any of this make any sense to you ???   Any ideas ???  We were in the area on Sunday and found nothing that looked familiar.  It seems as if this area backed into the Butano.  We did go into the park.    It was interesting that a sign at the front of the visitor center at Butano Park showed my grandparents names A. S. Kalenborn as having contributed $100 - $500 ... probably a lot of money at the time.   We tried to check ownership of the land in Redwood City (San Mateo County records) but then we thought that maybe Pescadero records for the 1920s might be found somewhere else.   My brother and family are flying out on this Wednesday and want to view the old vacation area if we can find it.   ========= Lynnes grandmother's Emma Kalenborn (was very active in the Historical Society) .... her father was Clarence Hayward who lived in/near Pescadero.]]> 3950 2009-06-16 08:45:05 2009-06-16 15:45:05 closed closed lynne-schmitt-searching-for-the-kalenborn-summer-cabin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245439451 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: Sea Serpents, Now and Then http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/18/john-vonderlin-sea-serpents-now-and-then/ Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:24:03 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3957 serpentnow2 My weekly visit to Invisible Beach, was somewhat disheartening. Though any R & R from the pressure cooker demands of caregiving to the extremely vulnerable is welcomed, the continued inactivity at Neptune's Vomitorium isn't. The sand is actually higher then ever, completely blocking its throat, apparently preventing Neptune from presenting us with a technicolor yawn of non-buoyant debris.

    serpent3 Returning to the car we drove south and stopped a few hundred yards north of Pebble Beach, just south of Pescadero Point. I often see school buses stopped there, with hordes of kids experiencing the beach and the reef below the cliffs. It's a fair sea glass hunting spot, and after seeing no interesting flotsam on the beach, we started doing just that. That pursuit tired quickly, even though I found two blue pieces of glass, relative rarities. We decided to hike over the rocks, around a point, to Pebble Beach. As we approached them, I saw the Sea Serpent hidden behind a large boulder. It was huge. And dead. At least thirty feet long, with a head that seemed to be all mouth

    serpent4

    A huge mouth, though it was more like a Pterodactyl's beak, that could easily have swallowed a man. This creature, this thing, looked like nothing I'd ever seen washed up on any beach in the world. It creeped me out. Were those nuts running the Cryptozoology websites for Big Foot, Nessie, and the Bog Monster actually visionaries, revealing the truth to those willing to listen? Probably not, but there are mysteries unsolved about the abyssal depths of the ocean.

    serpent5 Having called the Marine Mammal Society and Ray Bandar, we should know whithin a few days whether or not this is a Sea Serpent or just a Sea Monster. I have a theory involving dragons, still surviving on an unknown island, but for now, I'm sticking with the conventional story: SEA SERPENT ASHORE AT PESCADERO POINT! And unlike all the gentlemen in the following story, or the CryptoZoology website creators, I've got clear pictures that prove it. Enjoy. John August 5, 1906 San Francisco Call AND NOW THE SCIENTISTS SEE THEM THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL =seethem VERILY, the perversity of mankind passeth all under- tandlng! And if there be any of you who would challenge the justice of this aphorism, first let him reflect for a moment on the fact, that we talk of the phoenix as if it were real and of the sea serpent as though it were a purely mythical beast! But the sea serpent is probably himself to blame for this, inasmuch as he is indiscrete enough to show himself from time to time to those who go down to the sea in ships. Hence, as with other distinguished mortals, everybody who has occasion to cross the ocean burns for an opportunity to boast to an acquaintance with this distinguished dweller in the deeps. A vast amount, has been written about the sea serpent, but at all the stories that have been told it is sad to reflect that those of the clergymen surpass in wildness of elab- oration even the yarns invented with intent to deceive. At least, so says Frank Bullen—and he ought to know, . One or two, of the more serious accounts are worth repeating. No longer ago than 1891 one Peter Nelson, a quartermaster, and therefore "an honorable man," saw from the deck of the Rotomahana, a beast with the head of an eel and fins ten feet long rise thirty feet out of the water. It was dark above and white below. He gave a long account of this strange beast, yet, so far, those. whom he intended to convert only reply that: It was "Very, likey a whale"— in short, that he saw nothing more than a whale ''breaching." Captain McQuhae of H. M. S. Daedalus and his officers in 1848 created a great sensation in England by a sea serpent story which at the time was discredited by the late Professor Sir Richard Owen. But, time brings its revenges, for it may turn out that the professor was wrong. Briefly, they reported having seen an enormous serpent with its head and shoulders some four feet out of the water and some sixty feet of its body on the surface: It passed rapidly so close to the ship that a man's features at the same distance, could easily have been distinguished. It had no fins, but something like seaweed washed about its back. Now, within the last few days, the honor of he and his officers, or rather, their credit as observers, has been vindicat- ed, for at the last meeting of the Zoological Society of London, E. B. Meade Waldo and M. J. Nicoll described a creature seen by them from the deck of the Earl of Crawford's yacht ^The Valhalla,' which bears a remarkable resemblance to that seen from the Daedalus. These two men accompanled Lord Crawford as naturalists, during his usual winter cruise. Both are well known naturalists, and one is a member of the Council at the Zoological Society. The story they unfolded to a breathlessly excited assembly of the fellows is briefly this: When off Para on December 7, 1905, at 10 a. m. they were standing on the deck of the yacht when their attention was caught by a curious sail-like object of about four feet long and two feet high waving from side to side in the water. No sooner had they turned their glasses on this strange object than there appeared a huge eel-like neck, some six feat long and as thick as a man's thigh, and this neck was surmounted, by a great turtle-Iike head with large eyes, now borne high, above the sea, which was quite calm. It was dark colored above and silvery white below. After a few moments, the head and neck were slowly lowered, and when level with the water were violently lashed from side to side, churning up the sea into a great sheet of foam, and then it vanished. This is noteworthy, because when Mr. Nicoll came on deck after breakfast,one of the officers came up and reported that during the night he saw a strange commotion in the water. At first he thought it was a rock "awash," but a more careful examination showed that it was a beast of some kind, traveling faster than the ship, which was then making only about eight and a half knots. The officer "hailed the deck" and the lookout man, and thus got witnesses to this weird phenomenon. Seriously, we can no longer regard the "sea serpent" as a myth. There can be no question that the ocean harbors some secret, which we have not yet penetrated. It seems unlikely that this evasive creature should be a descendant of the old Plesiosaurs which became extinct millions of years ago, though the resemblance to those monsters is striking. More probably it will prove to be some bizarre form of reptile. But the resemblance between the descriptions given by these gentlemen and. that given by the officers of the Daedalus agrees too closely to the passed by, and, furthermore, both agree with the description of a similar creature seen off Tonquin some four years since. It is possible that it may even prove to be a "serpent." For it is well known that the land snakes once possessed limbs, and some gigantic forms of sea snakes may well have preserved their limbs, though now transformed into paddles, like those of the turtle and whale.

    seeserpent

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    3957 2009-06-18 16:24:03 2009-06-18 23:24:03 closed closed john-vonderlin-sea-serpents-now-and-then publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245558521 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: The Sea Gilly and the Gazos http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/18/john-vonderlin-the-sea-gilly-and-the-gazos/ Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:26:23 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3952 origin of the name of Gazos Canyon. My previous understanding was based on the Gazos Canyon guided tour we went on. During which, a rhetorical question about the canyon's name's origin got a chorus of "herons" from some of the hike's participants. It was said that gazos was the Spanish word for "herons." While my Spanish vocabulary is pretty good, the section for types of birds doesn't go too far beyond pollo and pavo, and of course paloma, the bird which was, I read somewhere,  possibly the source of Pigeon Point's name, not the shipwreck of the Carrier Pigeon. So, I accepted it as fact, and posted it in my story. Well, I found the source of the alternate theory again, and it's Tess Black's book, "Portraits of Pescadero." In the "Steele Family Section," on Page 145, she's discussing Rensselaer Steele Sr. in 1879, and has this sentence: ""The property included "a narrow, spring-fed ravine" that ran along the coast about a half-mile south of where the Gazos Creek (named for the Clove Pink or Sea Gilly flower, that grew in the area) flows into the ocean."" This became the Gazos Ranch, that Harvey Mowry, documents so well in his book,"Echoes From Gazos Creek Country," I'd tell you what he might have to say about this, but his book starts in 1862, and doesn't seem to mention it. Well, I looked up Clove Pink and Sea Gilly and here's a little Wikipedia info that turned up a strange connection, that might or might not be related. Sea Gilly A name given by writers to the clove pink (Dianthus Caryophyllus) (Clove Pink) is a species of Dianthus. It is probably native to the Mediterranean region but its exact range is unknown due to extensive cultivation for the last 2,000 years. It is the wild ancestor of the garden Carnation It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 80 cm tall. The leaves are glaucous greyish green to blue-green, slender, up to 15 cm long. The flowers are produced singly or up to five together in a cyme; they are 3–5 cm diameter, and sweetly scented; the original natural flower colour is bright pinkish-purple. The name Dianthus is from the Greek words dios ("god") and anthos ("flower"), and was cited by the Greek botanist Theophrastus. The colour pink may be named after the flower. The origin of the flower name 'pink' may come from the frilled edge of the flowers: the verb "pink" dates from the 14th century and means "to decorate with a perforated or punched pattern" (maybe from German "pinken" = to peck). Source: Collins Dictionary. The verb sense is also used in the name of pinking shears The Sea Gilly connection was problematic for me. Though there was only one far-northern, species of Dianthus native to this continent, it;s possible there are look-a-likes, or that its worldwide cultivation suggests an early introduction by settlers to the coastside and its possible thriving, upon escape. But, I'm not sure of the connection between "Gilly" and "Gazos," as there is none mentioned. The trouble with the Spanish-heron version is that "garza" not "gazo," is the Spanish word, at least these days, for "Heron." Admittedly "Las Garzas," is difficult enough to pronouce that a change might be likely through the years. But, what happened to the "Los," as in Los Gazos Creek, and how did it become a masculino noun, changing its gender from "una garza"? Here's a third theory. White House Canyon, the one just south of Gazos Creek Canyon, got it's name from the two story, white-painted house Isaac Graham built on a flat above the little creek, in the 1850's. In Harvey's book, he says, Isaac (Steele) recalled hearing how Graham's house, sitting isolated and painted white, had been a landmark for early (1850's) northbound ships. And that might be relevant because the only language I could find that gazos means anything is Portuguese, where it means albinos. A fourth theory, which is similar, would be that the nearby white cliffs, or chalk ridges as they were known then, which had been mentioned as early as Portola's expedition, and were clearly visible from passing ships, might be the "albinos" instead. The odd coincidence I was reminded of, was that President William's McKinley's family, and President Herbert Hoover's family, had strong connections to this essentially empty, isolated-to-this-day remote area. Here's another odd fact I found in the Wikipedia Dianthus article:that might be connected. Could young William's's love of carnations been initiated by time spent on the Gazos Creek where his brother James had a sawmill? The state flower of Ohio is a scarlet carnation. The choice was made to honour William McKinley, Ohio Governor and U.S. President, who was assassinated in 1901, and regularly wore a scarlet carnation on his lapel.[6] Enjoy. John P.S. By the way there's a picture of an apple box label from Chalk Ridge Orchards, Torquay, California, Grown and Packed by I.C. Steele, in Tess's book. It's on Page 158. tessblackbook]]> 3952 2009-06-18 16:26:23 2009-06-18 23:26:23 closed closed john-vonderlin-the-sea-gilly-and-the-gazos publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245558722 _edit_last 1 Photographer/Filmmaker Susan Friedman Says Hello http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/18/photographer-susan-friedman-says-hello-to-us-all/ Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:52:28 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3971 Equus]

    eqqus

    Story by Susan Friedman Hi June, I just saw your article and I thank you.  I've been busy with my student's finals, grades and that awful flu.   I did go up to my show yesterday with several photo friends and they took some pictures of me and I think you wanted to know what I looked like.   Hope you are wel Kind regards, Susan Studio on the Mountain Susan Friedman http://www.susanfriedmanphoto.com/ P.S. From June: When I was taking a break from the heavy death of my life partne, I visited Napa for a much-needed break, and coincidentally Susan Friedman was opening a show nearby at the IWolk Gallery. I was lucky to pick up two of her works that I am so proud to have. I met Susan years ago when she was working in a funky barn south of Pescadero. For me, it was a special moment, the beginning of her successful career, and I will never forget it.]]>
    3971 2009-06-18 18:52:28 2009-06-19 01:52:28 closed closed photographer-susan-friedman-says-hello-to-us-all publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245558040 _edit_last 1
    June Question: Do you think "Faster" Defines the 20th Century? http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/19/june-question-do-you-think-faster-defines-the-20th-century/ Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:21:49 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3982 3982 2009-06-19 07:21:49 2009-06-19 14:21:49 closed closed june-question-do-you-think-faster-defines-the-20th-century publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245421313 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: Who Came Up with the Carrier Pigeon Point? I want to know... http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/19/john-vonderlin-the-carrier-pigeon-poing/ Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:31:35 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3986 3986 2009-06-19 07:31:35 2009-06-19 14:31:35 closed closed john-vonderlin-the-carrier-pigeon-poing publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245593448 _edit_last 1 Whale Watching at Pigeon Point http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/19/whale-watching-at-pigeon-point/ Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:24:53 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3992 A La California]

    whaling

    ]]>
    3992 2009-06-19 08:24:53 2009-06-19 15:24:53 closed closed whale-watching-at-pigeon-point publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245557942 _edit_last 1
    Did the Mysterious Mr. Mullen Become Pescadero's Richest Man? http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/19/was-the-enigmatic-melvin-howard-pescaderos-richest-man/ Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:28:46 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=3997 "Did Edward Mullen Become Pescadero's Richest Man?" Hi June,  Here's what seemed at first to be a non-interesting article about a resident of Pescadero who is never mentioned in the history books. It was only after I checked out the story of Mr. Blythe, that I realized what this was all about. Think of the case of Melvin Dummar and Howard Hughes, that was immortalized in film and endless reams of print, only a hundred years earlier, and you have a good idea of what is going on here. I'll give a summary of the case and Mr. Blythe's very interesting life, as well as the immense influence on the development of California that he had,in a following email. I'm still looking to see if Mr. Mullin ever returned to Pescadero as its richest man. This article appeared in the December 19, 1892 issue of "The Call." Enjoy. John HEIR TO MILLIONS. A Local Claimant to the Monroe Estate. Edward Mullin, a Pescadero Ranch man, Wants Recognition From the New Jersey Courts The Blythe case is only one of many which have sprung out of the influx of population into California during the days of the gold fever. Thomas H. Blythe, or Williams, (his real name) however, made his money here and heirs from abroad. In the case of Edward Mullen, the peculiarity seems to be that he left a prospective fortune behind him, and has just reached the conclusion that nearly forty years of life on a California ranch have not left him a millionaire. So, In the sixty-seventh year of his age, he is going to New Jersey to settle up a suit for hundreds of acres of most valuable property in the vicinity of Cape May. Mr. Mullin resides at the present time with bis family in an upper flat on Mission street, near Fifth. He has four married daughters living in this city, and he and his wife present the appearance of thoroughly respectable, intelligent people. Mr. Mullin left his ranch at Pescadero about a year ago. after living there thirty-four years, he still retains possession of the ranch, which he values at $6,000. "I came to California from Baltimore in 1851," said Mr. Mullin yesterday to a Call reporter. My people are among the oldest residents in New Jersey, and the property at Cape May, of which I am one of the heirs, has been In the family since 1702. "I was born at Medford, N. J., on Febru- ary 6, 1826. 1 have a sister, the only other surviving heir, who lives at 1310 North Chester Stree!, Baltimore, Md. Her name is Mrs. Mary A. Dulin. "Our claim to the property is through our grandfather, Edwin Mullin, whose name appears in this letter." Mr. Mullin here handed the reporter a letter from Smith and Jeffords, attorneys of 511 Eleventh street, N. W. Washington, attorneys of D. C. The letter contained a reference to Mr. Mullin's. claims through Edwin Mullin to the property at Long Beach, Cape May, commonly known as the Monroe estate, and stated that Charles Evan Merrit's attorney, of Mount Holly, N.J., had undertaken to push the case in the New Jersey courts. The attorneys frankly stated in this communication that the length of time which had elapsed since the estate was settled in Edwin Mullin's time would complicate the suit and delay the present settlement, but they were the same time hopeful of a favorable issue. "I have spent about $1000 so far in prosecuting my claim," said Mr. Mullen, "and in the beginning of the year I am going to Baltimore to see my sister, who is pushing her claim jointly with me. I have the ranch here, but I am what you call a poo man, for if I were to sell the ranch it would be at a great sacrifice. I have a number of letters, as you see, which make my identity quite clear, and which ought to get me justice at once, but law is a slow, expensive protest anywhere." "I began life in California in the shoe business, but the first regular situation I went into was with Hutton & Sequr, auctioneers, on the corner of Sansome and Jackson streets. After that I set up in the shoe business myself in a little store on Sansome street, and then went to Pescadero. After living there five years I moved to a place in the same neighborhood and took up some Government land. I have ten children, all of whom are married but one. My people in the East belong to one of the old Quaker families of New Jersey. "I don't know how much the Cape May property may be worth, but I have heard the figure stated at $5 or $6,000.000 If I should succeed in my suit I shall return to California. There is no country like it." Mr. Mullin is a hale old man and looks ten years younger than he really is. There is nothing of the visionary or enthusiast about him and his papers seems to fully substantiate his claim. ------- John's afterthought: In the headline it should ask if Mr. Mullen became the richest Pescaderan, as he was the one seeking the long dead Mr. Blythe's fortune.[ed. I got the headline wrong and just changed it.] Though, he never got them as far as I can tell. More likely he was being milked by pie-in-the sky lawyers who knew the letter was a forgery, but didn't care. There certainly is no indication in the papers that he succeeded. I haven't found the resolution of his specific case, but I've seen several others in short articles with headlines like"Thrown Out of Court..." This craziness went on for decades. The eventual winner grew up from a little girl to a widow before she finally won. I suppose all this name confusion is appropriate, as the famous Mr Blythe, an Englishman, who became a San Francisco financier and developer, had a different name when he served five years in Botany Bay before coming to America. More on that soon. --------------------------- Story from John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June, This is the background story of Mr. Blythe's millions that Edward Mullen, a Pescadero rancher, had hoped to get part of. This is from a San Diego history website and might be copyrighted, but I thought you might find his story interesting. Are you familiar with the real estate, the Blythe Block, that he made his first millions on?  What plant is hemp-like? The vision of hundreds of thousands of acres of hemp, grown with Colorado River water, filling the Southland, is quite mind-boggling. A lot of his story, before and after his death, seems so Howard Hughes-like, bigger and weirder then life, that I'm not surprised Melvin Dummar leaped to mind when I first read Edward Mullen's story. Enjoy. John  In the early 1870's, a San Diego resident by the name of O. P. Calloway became interested in the possibility of sufficiently controlling the waters of the Colorado River, through a system of levees and canals, to bring under cultivation a large flood plain lying some distance upstream from Yuma. This is the area now known as the Palo Verde Valley. Calloway made some preliminary surveys and apparently filed some claims on land. But, lacking sufficient funds to carry out his plan by himself, he managed to get interested in the project a wealthy San Franciscan by the name of Thomas Henry Blythe. Blythe had come to California in 1849 from England. In late 1850 and early 1851, through the purchase of two quit-claim deeds for the total price of slightly over $2,000, he had acquired a triangular-shaped, blocksized parcel of real estate located amid the sand dunes in the northeastern portion of the San Francisco peninsula. This area afterward became the heart of downtown San Francisco and this single piece of property, which came to be known as the Blythe Block and which was bounded by Market, Geary, and Grant (then Dupont) streets, made Blythe a millionaire. From this beginning, he went on to acquire interest in a number of mines in California, Nevada, and Arizona, as well as some timber land in Oregon. Rather eccentric and something of a recluse, he travelled to Europe several times, but otherwise spent most of his time living in a cabin in the Trinity Mountains, at least until the mid-1870's when he returned to San Francisco to reside. Soon after getting Blythe interested in his project, Calloway was killed by Indians along the river. Blythe's interest, however, not only continued but it grew. His first claim on land along the river, made under the state's swamp and overflow law, was for about 40,000 acres. He also filed a water claim on the river and may have been the first person in the state to do so. Shortly afterward, he, or rather numerous people acting for him, filed on over 35,000 acres of additional land in this area, this time under the Desert Land Act of 1877. He also made another filing on Colorado River water. A little later, he filed on nearly 100,000 acres of additional swamp and overflow land and made yet another filing on the river. While there may have been a certain degree of overlapping, altogether he seems to have claimed a total of about 175,000 acres of land in this area and his filings on the river to have totaled nearly 400,000 miners' inches of water. During the late 1870's and early 1880's, he reportedly spent almost $90,000 trying to bring these lands under cultivation. Although he was not successful, because of his early efforts, when the Palo Verde Valley finally was developed in the early twentieth century, its principal town came to bear Blythe's name. By that time, however, Riverside County had been formed and the area was no longer part of San Diego County. After two or three years, the hemp operation failed and most of the company's shareholders became disillusioned with the venture. But not so Andrade. And not so another shareholder who had later been brought into the company, Thomas H. Blythe. Andrade and Blythe now reached some kind of oral agreement. They not only proposed to keep the venture going but to greatly expand the scope of the whole enterprise. Blythe was to supply the capital. Andrade was to supply his time and effort, his Mexican citizenship, and his not inconsiderable influence with the Mexican government. As a start, Blythe bought up 90 per cent of the company's shares, thereby gaining control of the 340,000 acres of land it held. Next, Andrade secured a contract from the Mexican government to build two wagon roads, the money for which was furnished by Blythe. One of the roads ran between Yuma and their company's headquarters on the lower Colorado, a place called Cuidad Lerdo. The other road ran between the port of San Felipe, on the Gulf of California, and Real del Castillo, then the capital of northern Baja California and the center of gold mining activity. In return for building these roads, Andrade obtained title to approximately 575,000 acres of additional land on the Mexican portion of the delta. One key parcel of land, the Rancho de los Algodones, nearly 48,000 acres lying along the west bank of the Colorado just below the international boundary, was purchased by Blythe from its private owners. Altogether, the two men now held title to virtually the entire Mexican portion of the delta, an unbroken tract of land extending along both sides of the river and stretching from the international line to the Gulf of California. Next, Blythe and Andrade, along with two prominent Mexican political figures, one of whom, Manuel Romero Rubio, was President Diaz's father-in-law, formed a second company and acquired title to the islands of Tiburon, San Esteban, and Angel de la Guarda. They also acquired the lands surrounding practically all the feasible port sites in the northern half of the Gulf; obtained concessions for fishing, pearling, etc.; established a steamship line; and secured a franchise and subsidy to build a railroad from the head of the Gulf to connect with the United States. In all, they acquired about one and one-half million acres of land and almost complete control over the entire northern Gulf region. Blythe's estate, exclusive of the Mexican holdings, was worth between $2,000,000 and $3,000,000. Although Blythe's attorney, W. H. H. Hart, claimed that Blythe had made a will, and produced an office copy to prove it, no legally admissible will was ever found. For a man of such wealth to die without leaving a will was bound to bring about extensive litigation; yet no one could have foreseen the legal snarl that actually came to pass. Nearly two hundred aspirant heirs from various parts of the United States and the United Kingdom filed their claims with the San Francisco probate court. It was to take seven years before the court made a preliminary award of the estate; ten more years before that award was conclusively upheld; and an additional thirteen years before law suits emanating from the estate were ultimately settled. Both state and federal courts were used. Some thirty appeals were taken to the California Supreme Court and four appeals reached the U. S. Supreme Court. Blythe's illegitimate daughter, Florence, the eventual sole successful heir to his estate, spent an estimated one million dollars winning the case. The heiress was living in England and only ten years old when her father died. By the time she collected the inheritance, she had grown up, married, and become a widow. Fortunately, throughout the long hassle the Blythe Block continued to appreciate in value. There were a number of rather sordid aspects to the struggle for Blythe's estate. One of the claimants, Nellie Fermin, was an ex-mistress with whom Blythe had had a nasty legal battle, a few years before. Another claimant, Alice Edith Dickason, had been living with Blythe for several years prior to his death. She claimed half the inheritance should come to her as his common-law wife. Unfortunately for her, since she was much younger than Blythe, he had usually introduced her as his niece. Therefore, in the eyes of the law, he was her common-law uncle, not her husband. It also turned out from the various court proceedings that Blythe's name was actually not Blythe at all, but Thomas Henry Williams. ---------------------------------- Hi June,   Here are some headlines and drawings from the Blythe case. Note that in 1894 the final decision was made, only to have it re-opened 7 years later, eighteen years after Mr. Blythe's death. What a mess. Enjoy. John

     Blythe1

    Blythe2

    Blythe3

    Blythe4

    Blythe5

    Blythe6

    ]]>
    3997 2009-06-19 13:28:46 2009-06-19 20:28:46 closed closed was-the-enigmatic-melvin-howard-pescaderos-richest-man publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245893377 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: 1850s: Pigeons at Pigeon Point? Maybe...Maybe Not http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/20/john-vonderlin-1850s-pigeons-at-pigeon-point-maybe-maybe-not/ Sat, 20 Jun 2009 14:13:39 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4005 Hi June, I was able to find the source of the suggestion that Pigeon Point might have been named for pigeons, rather then the wreck of the Carrier Pigeon in 1853. It's in a lengthy article entitled "The Pigeon Point Lighthouse." It appeared in the May 24th 1896 issue of "San Francisco Call." The relevant excerpt says: "Pigeon point is the only cape of any importance on the coast of California with an English name, but when, why, and by whom it was christened is not a matter of record in the lighthouse annals. There is certainly nothing about the place to suggest such a cognomen, nor are pigeons generally seen in the immediate vicinity. Old residents of Pescadero say that it got its name from a carrier pigeon station that was on the point years ago. The birds were used to carry the names of ships to San Francisco as soon as they were sighted. Of this there is no record, but it is known the Merchant's Exchange had a semaphore station there in 1865. In weather when the semaphore could not be seen the dispatches were sent by horseback riders. If pigeons were ever used for the purpose, it must have been for a very short time, or many years previous." While I was glad to find the reference, it seems pretty shaky in reliability. I think the wreck of the Carrier Pigeon as the source is a lot more likely, given the newspaper reports I mentioned in the previous posting. Still, the carrier pigeon message systems were real on the coast, as I'll show with an article about pigeons, the Farallones and the arrival of a notorious serial killer. Check out the Headlines from the article that I've attached as a ScreenShot and imagine translating this if English was a second language for you. Enjoy. John pigeons [Image above says: NOVEL USE FOR HOMERS Speed of Birds Will be Pitted Against the Craft of a Monster. WILL FLY FROM FARALLON As Soon as the Swanhilda Is Sighted the News Will Be Winged to This City  ]]> 4005 2009-06-20 07:13:39 2009-06-20 14:13:39 closed closed john-vonderlin-1850s-pigeons-at-pigeon-point-maybe-maybe-not publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245598840 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: 1905: Automobile Beach Run at Bradley Beach http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/20/john-vonderlin-1905-automobile-beach-run-at-bradley-beach/ Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:59:03 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4011 Story from John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June, This June 4th, 1905 article from the San Francisco "Call," describes three main routes the members of the Auto- mobile Club of California can take to their event in Santa Cruz. I wonder which way I would have gone? Spirit of adventure and horse-assisted beach run or honk vigorously, drive slowly and watch for drivers coming the other way on curves? Cape Horn and Alligator Rock would have won hands down. Enjoy. John AUTOMOBILE CLUB PLANS OUTING TO SANTA CRUZ Three Routes, Each Offering Charms of Its Own; May Be Taken From Oakland The members of the Automobile Club of California will rendezvous next Saturday at Santa Cruz, the Sea Beach Hotel being their headquarters. C. C. Moore, captain of the run, and the ex- ecutive committee of the club have is- sued a circular to the members stat- ing that favorable rates have been se- cured from the hotels and arrange- ments made for an ample supply of gasoline and lubricating oil; as well as for garage accommodation. The members will reach Santa Cruz by any route they may prefer. Three roads are available. The first is by way of Los Gatos, the Hotel de Red- wood and Soquel, the distance by it from Oakland being about eighty miles. The road is one of the best, easiest and most beautiful mountain roads in the State, not having more than eight or nine miles of hill and being nowhere too steep for light-powered motor cars. It is in fine condition and is strongly recommended by the committee, as signboards, give plain directions. The time required from Oakland to Santa Cruz is not more than five or six hours. Members are cautioned to sound their horns vigorously and proceed slowly on curves to give any driver approach ing an opportunity to turn out The second route is by way of San Jose, Gilroy, San Juan and Watson- vllle. The only hills are some short ones near San Juan, the route passing through the canyon to the north of the San Juan grade and joining the Pajaro Valley near Watsonvllle. From Wasonville to Santa Cruz the road is in fair condition and comparatively level. Those who choose this route should allow eight or nine hours for the trip as the distance is about 130 miles and a stop must be made for luncheon. The thlrd route is by way of Halfmoon Bay and Pescadero. The road passes over a rolling country and is in excellent condition with a uniformly smooth surface. The only drawback is that about ione and a half miles of beach must be crossed at a point twelve miles below Pescndero. At low water, or even at half tide, any motor car can run along the beach. There will be a little trouble in pulling off the beach through dry sand to get on to the road again. To obviate this a team of horses will be stationed at the spot on Saturday, ready; to pull the machines over the sandy stretch. Members who are attracted by the spice of adventure on thls route can go by way of Colma to.the coast and San Mateo to Half moon Bay or by way of Redwood City. to Pescadero. Eight or nine hours should bwe allowed for this route.    ]]> 4011 2009-06-20 20:59:03 2009-06-21 03:59:03 closed closed john-vonderlin-1905-automobile-beach-run-at-bradley-beach publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245624032 _edit_last 1 Rob Tillitz: Book Signing Schedule http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/21/rob-tillitz-book-signing-schedule/ Sun, 21 Jun 2009 13:56:28 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4038 Bootlegger's Cove SIGNED By the Author Rob Tillitz On: THUR July 16th, SULLIVAN’S, La Honda, 5-8 PM * SAT July 18th, HARBOR VILLAGE BOOKS, Princeton, 12-3 PM * SUN July 19th PESCADERO COUNTRY STORE, 12-3 PM BUY THIS BOOK AT ONE OF THESE EVENTS AND GET IT SIGNED BY HOMETOWN AUTHOR ROB TILLITZ. HE WROTE THIS MOVIE-OPTIONED NOVEL DEPICTING COMMERCIAL FISHING AND SMUGGLING IN THIS AREA. BOOTLEGGER’S COVE IS LOCATED 3 MILES SOUTH OF PIGEON POINT.]]> 4038 2009-06-21 06:56:28 2009-06-21 13:56:28 closed closed rob-tillitz-book-signing-schedule publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_last 1 _edit_lock 1245597570 John Vonderlin: 1853: Wreck of the Carrier Pigeon: First Report http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/21/john-vonderlin-1853-wreck-of-the-carrier-pigeon-first-report/ Sun, 21 Jun 2009 15:48:58 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4045
    Hi June,
       The following short article that appeared in the "Daily Alta" on June 8th, 1853 was the first mention of the wreck of the Carrier Pigeon in the old newspapers. Note that they use the term "on the night of the 6th instant." That led me to the answer to your question about what "1st inst." meant in the "Oldest Inhabitant" posting. My guesses at that time were way off. But, knowing "instant" was involved, it was easy to find this definition below, that reveals it means "in the current month." One less mystery in this world.
       I'm assuming the term "Heads" in the article refers to the headlands on either side of the Golden Gate passage into the bay. I'm also assuming that the contradiction of "Intelligence was revealed" and the description of the source as an "ignorant Mexican," and the need for a reliable source, had to do with the year, 1853, when much bitterness still existed in California because of the U.S.-Mexican War, that had ended just five years before. Enjoy. John
      
    Definition #3 of Instant
    Abbr.  inst. The current month: your letter of the 15th instant.
      
    Wreck of the Carrier Pigeon--Probably a Total Loss
        Intelligence was revealed in this city last evening that the clipper ship, Carrier Pigeon, of Boston, had gone ashore on the night of the sixth instant, in a thick fog about thirty miles south of the Heads, where she now lies stern on. The ship has bilged, but it is hoped the cargo between decks can be saved. The news were (sic) received through an ignorant Mexican (sick) We look for further particulars from a reliable source to-day.
       Mr. Bacon, an agent of the underwriters at Boston has taken efficient measures to afford assistance immediately, and goes down to the wreck with steamers and men to render all assistance requisite.
      
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    4045 2009-06-21 08:48:58 2009-06-21 15:48:58 closed closed john-vonderlin-1853-wreck-of-the-carrier-pigeon-first-report publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245624215 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: 1853 Wreck of the Carrier Pigeon (2) http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/21/john-vonderlin-1853-wreck-of-the-carrier-pigeon-2/ Sun, 21 Jun 2009 22:56:14 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4052 Carrier Pigeon  The surveying steamer Active, under Lieut. Alden, sailed on the 8th inst. from port, and after stopping at the Farallones, proceeded to the wreck of the Carrier Pigeon, which lies about 7 miles north of Point Ano Nuevo, but on shore. Her bow lay about 500 feet from the beach, and the rear amidship on a ledge of rocks, which have broken the ship's back. The tide ebb and flow in her, and is up to her between decks. A portion if not all of her cargo between decks may be saved if the weather holds good, which is doubtful, as there was a heavy surf when the Active left. Her mizzenmast was cut away on the 8th at 3 P. M, and they intended to cut away the other masts to save the ship. We learn that if the parties interested had allowed the Active to go to work, without bartering and bantering on salvage, a considerable amount of property might have been saved for tbe uuderwriters. Too much praise cannot be awarded to the officers of tbe Active for their exertions to save the goods from the ship, until parties in charge began to talk about salvage, wages, and so forth. Lieut. Cuyler deserves great credit for boarding the ship, taking the captain ashore, and securing a line on shore so as to allow their boats to go back and forward. The insurance agents in California should have liberal views as regards wrecks on our coasts, more so than in the Atlantic States. Soon after the arrival of the Acttve, the Sea Bird arrived with Mr. Bacon on board, who took charge of the wreck.    ] ]]> 4052 2009-06-21 15:56:14 2009-06-21 22:56:14 closed closed john-vonderlin-1853-wreck-of-the-carrier-pigeon-2 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245625107 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: 1853: More Bad Luck at the Carrier Pigeon Wreck (3) http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/21/john-vonderlin-1853-more-bad-luck-at-the-carrier-pigeon-wreck-3/ Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:49:06 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4056 shallow waters, is considerable, even in the best of marine weather conditions. But, I'm sure maximum profit or even pure greed and the fear of competitors often didn't allow salvagers time to wait for favorable seas.  This story is from "The Daily Alta" issue of June 13th, 1853, just a week after the wreck of the Carrier Pigeon. Enjoy. John P.S. Try to follow who is captaining what boat and you'll see there is major confusion. Is Mr. Wright the Purser for the Goliah or the Captain of the Sea Bird? Is Mr. Waterman the Captain of the Carrier Pigeon or is Mr. Doane? Four Captains, three boats Hmmm. I've got a few more things to check on, before I throw in my two cents. Steamer Sea Bird Ashore— The Carrier Pigeon.   We have intelligence of the steamer Sea Bird having gone ashore, furnished by Purser Wright of the steamer Goliah, Capt. R. Haley, which arrived yesterday afternoon from the wreck of the Carrier Pigeon. That vessel  was lying head on shore, with the water ebbing and flowing in her.  The steamer Sea Bird, laying at anchor astern of the Carrier Pigeon, at 3 A. M. on Friday, parted her best bower chain; she immediately let go her second anchor which brought her up head to the sea. In a few minutes she parted her second chain, when the captain made sail on her, and veered her clear of a reef of rocks lying off her lee side. There being a heavy ground swell when the second anchor brought the steamer's head to the sea, the chain veered across the forefoot, which caused her to start the scurf at the bottom of the forefoot, and in a few minutes the steamer was reported to be filling. Capt. Wright immediately kept her off under steam, and succeeded in reaching the beach under Point Anno Nuevo, where he beached her, all hands being engaged in pumping and bailing in the meantime. Capt. Waterman and the crew of the Carrier Pigeon were on board at the time. The Goliah took out the cargo that the Sea Bird had received from the Carrier Pigeon, some 1,200 packages of merchandise.  When the Goliah left the Sea Bird, Capt Wright thought he would be able to get the steamer afloat the next high water. She was not leaking as bad as when she went ashore. The Goliah left the wreck of the Carrier Pigeon yesterday morning at 9 A. M.  
    Immediately after beaching the Sea Bird, Captain Wright sent an Express to San Francisco for the steamer Goliah to come to his relief. Capt. Waterman and a gang of men remained at the wreck of the Carrier Pigeon, and if the weather continues good, there will be more goods saved. Capt. Doane, officers and crew of the Carrier Pigeon were passengers in the Goliah. The Goliah returned to the wreck last evening.
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    4056 2009-06-21 20:49:06 2009-06-22 03:49:06 closed closed john-vonderlin-1853-more-bad-luck-at-the-carrier-pigeon-wreck-3 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245643284 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: 1853: The End of the Carrier Pigeon http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/21/john-vonderlin-1853-the-end-of-the-carrier-pigeon/ Mon, 22 Jun 2009 04:21:59 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4061
    Hi June,    It was the New York Times Archive that settled, at least in my mind, the Captains confusion, created by the "Sea Bird" article. I now believe that Azariah Doane, was the Captain of the "Carrier Pigeon" at the time of the shipwreck. Using the clunky N.Y.T. Archives I found a June 29th, 1853 notice of  "June 7---Clipper Ship Carrier Pigeon, Capt. DOANE, of Boston, (new) went ashore at the "Heads," 25 miles below San Francisco; passengers and crew saved. Loss $250,000; insured in Boston $195,000"
    It was actually a total of $195,283 for 15 insured parties, according to the July 12, 1853 article in the NYT that I've attached a ScreenShot of.    There was also another article that had Sherman Day of Santa Clara, reporting the cargo had been sold for $1,550.
    Oddly, in the extensive Doane Family Association Website, it details Azariah's father as being the son of Captain Joshua Doane and two of Azariah's brothers, Isaac Snow Doane and Seth Doane, as Captains, but not Azariah. Sadly, he's never mentioned again in the newspapers and he died the year after he was shamed. 
       Mr. Waterman, on the other hand, was active in all sorts of salvage operations in the ensuing years and had quite the reputation. Apparently the salvage company that owned the Sea Bird used him as a Captain in their rescue, salvage or charter business. He would also repair salvaged boats and resell them, something that got him some heat when one sank afterwards.
     And Mr. Wright is also shown as a Captain of the Sea Bird in other articles. Lastly Captain Haley, was the master of the Goliah at this time, but he was also Captain of the Sea Bird at one time. I hope I've cleared this all up. Enjoy. John 
    onetwothreefortyfive
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    4061 2009-06-21 21:21:59 2009-06-22 04:21:59 closed closed john-vonderlin-1853-the-end-of-the-carrier-pigeon publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245644520 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: 1868: We want a lighthouse! http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/22/john-vonderlin-1868-we-want-a-lighthouse/ Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:37:48 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4069 LET US HAVE LIGHT. The public of California have been waiting for eighteen years to have their Government provide one lighthouse for the ninety miles of coast lying south of the Golden Gate. The vessels which, during that time, have been dashed to pieces upon that ill fated shore, could hardly be connted upon one's fingers. The lives which have been lost amount to many scores, and all for want of a lighthouse. Last week the ship Hellespont went ashore between Pigeon Point and New Year's Point, eleven lives lost out of sixteen — total loss of ship and cargo. Two years ago the Coya went ashore between those two points— twenty- six lives lost — three saved— total loss of vessel and cargo. The year before, the ship Sir John Franklin, 1,000 tons register, went ashore at the same place— Captain and eleven seaman drowned — total loss of ship and cargo. A little earlier the Carrier Pigeon had been dashed to pieces against the same shore, leaving nothing behind but her name to designate the point where she terminated her career; and so on at the rate of about one wreck a year, as far back as we can remember. Now, this is not the case where sunken reefs, difficult to guard against, have caused the disaster. There are two bold headlands, as if made by nature for the express purpose of being sites for lighthouses. One of them, New Year's Point, projocts out into the ocean a mile or more beyond the general coast line, and all of solid rock, standing thirty feet above high water. Moreover, this being a conspicuous point, and about in the line of all vessels arriving at San Francisco from all ports of the Atlantic Ocean, from all Europe, all the United States except Oregon, all Australia and the Indian Ocean, every vessel expects and tries to make New Year's Point as its first land on the eastern shore of the Pacific and in clear weather it does this in perfect safety; but in foggy weather, or in the darkness of night, it dashes "stem on," and sinks in the yeasty waves. There has never been a light there, and from present appearances there never will be. The ship-owner who is about to send his vessel past this combined Scylla and Charybdis oannot afford it: the marine insurance companies cannot practically combine to share the expense, although they could afford to take risks from Europe or the Eastern States to San Francisco at one half the present rates if there were good lights on those two points; and so nothing is done, that is nothing that results in a light. There have been on the part of Government officials an abundance of talk, an abundance of observations, reports, recommendations, but no light. Sixteen years ago Professor Bache (Alexander Bache) made most elaborate and voluminous reports upon the fitness of these two points for light-house sites, all of which were nicely printed and illustrated and bound up and paid for, and then packed away in the Congressional Library. The volumes are covered with dust; the Professor himself has died and gone to join the shades of those wrecked mariners whose sad fate would have been avoided had his teachings been heeded; and still the light-house at New Year's Point is only a thing talked about. Will it be said that Senator Cole got a Congressional appropriation of $90,000 last spring, to build a light-house at New Year's Point? and will men suppose that therefore there is to be a light there? Nay, nay. There shall be more inquiries, more reports, more paper, more ink, more tape, but no more light. The Lighthouse Board will draw their salaries, as before; the Lighthouse Engineer will draw his, the District Attorney will touch his fee if there chances to be a reference to him for a legal opinion, but that will be all; and yet there has been time enough to build the lighthouse since the appropriation was made. If this had been a matter of private business instead of official red-tape, the house would have been built, and the Hellespont and her crew would have been saved; or if  the building of a permanent lighthouse must await the last possible scientific investigation touching all material of wood, of iron, of brick, of stone— touching wind currents and water currents, touching the decoupling effects of air and of water, of rain water and sea water, and the latter, as affected by the score of decomposed human bodies with which the annual wrecks gratuitously varies the experiment for the official or scientific inquirers- let us at least have a light of some sort and at once a light which can be seen by the sailor, although, perchance, it shall be of some unrecognised "order of Fresnel" give one ot the ' redwood men" of the vicinity $50 to cut down three trees, tall as the masts  of Millton's " High Admiral." Get a Pigeon point whaleman to make out of them a tripod, and erect the same upon New Year's Point, and upon its top to put crude beacon light of some sort. (the whale oil and sea lion oil of the place will furnish the material) Then hire one of those sailors to "shin up" one of the legs of this tripod and light this wide lantern of a dark and stormy night, and you will have done something practical; also, you shall have left 89 of the 90 thousand dollars appropriated, to be snarled and squabbled for, and still the scientific inquiries can go on, relieved, partially at least, of the unpleasant accompaniement of the death shrieksof drowning mariners. n 1843, on the death of Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler, Bache was appointed superintendent of the United States coast survey. He convinced the United States Congress of the value of this work and by means of the liberal aid it granted, he completed the mapping out of the whole coast by a skillful division of labor and the erection of numerous observing stations. In addition, magnetic and meteorological data was collected.  Besides being the second Superintendent of the Coast Survey, he was also President of the National Academy of Scviences. AlexanderDallasBache  
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    4069 2009-06-22 21:37:48 2009-06-23 04:37:48 closed closed john-vonderlin-1868-we-want-a-lighthouse publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245731931 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: 19th Century Coast Survey http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/23/john-vonderlin-19th-century-coast-survey/ Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:29:18 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4073 Hi June,     As was alluded to in the previously-posted, hard-hitting  1886 editorial, "Let Us Have Light," a survey of the local coast for good lighthouse sites  had been done many years before then, by a Professor Bache. That was Alexander Bache, the second Superintendent of the Office of the Coast Survey, the forerunner of the Geodetic Survey.     This is an excerpt from the Geodetic Survey website that I thought would serve as a good intro to a bunch of info I've gathered about the pioneers of the Coast Survey, that worked on the Pacific Coast, starting in 1848. The website has 21,000 accessible historic maps made by the Coast Survey, going back 200 years. I wanted to share some of those wonderful maps and drawings of our coast, in conjunction with a few mentions of the  people that made them. Enjoy. John   "... the big billowing- everlasting - ro-o-a-a-r-r-r-r -- onto-the-end-of-the-world of the ocean..."   In general the American people have been presented with an American West of wagon trains, trackless deserts, fierce Indian warriors riding painted steeds, mesas and mountains, and vast herds of buffalo rumbling across an endless prairie. This view has glorified the sodbusters, the cattle ranchers, the U.S. Cavalry, the noble savage, the railroaders, the miners, the peace keepers, and the gunslingers. But there was another frontier -- a frontier of uncharted waterways, bold and precipitous mountains doing perpetual battle with the on-rushing swells of the North Pacific, wild and tumultous storms that could drive the unwary sailor upon an iron-bound shore, relentless fogs blocking the path of all but the bold or foolish, desert shores to the south and rain forest to the north, majestic redwood and fir forests growing to the very edge of the sea, and sea -going Native Americans who were as fierce and brave as their storied counterparts of the plains and deserts. This was the Pacific frontier, the western-most frontier, that faced the first Coast Surveyors who made the arduous trip from the East Coast of the United States to the western margin of North America. More than any other organization, it was the Coast Survey that helped tame this frontier coast. A small group of dedicated surveyors helped make this coast as safe for commerce and travel as any in the world in the short space of a few years beginning in 1849.]]> 4073 2009-06-23 20:29:18 2009-06-24 03:29:18 closed closed john-vonderlin-19th-century-coast-survey publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245814159 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: Coast Survey Point Ano Nuevo to San Francisco http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/23/john-vonderlin-coast-survey-point-ano-nuevo-to-san-francisco/ Wed, 24 Jun 2009 04:13:26 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4075 4075 2009-06-23 21:13:26 2009-06-24 04:13:26 closed closed john-vonderlin-coast-survey-point-ano-nuevo-to-san-francisco publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245817290 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: 1911: J. Smeaton Chase Rode Horseback from Mexico to Calif. to Oregon, 2000 Miles and Tells Us What He Saw http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/23/john-vonderlin-1911-j-smeato-chase-rode-horseback-from-mexico-to-calif-to-oregon-2000-miles/ Wed, 24 Jun 2009 04:36:58 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4078 please click here Story from John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net)   Hi June,    The following is an excerpt from a book entitled "California Coast Trails, a Horseback Ride from Mexico to Oregon." It was authored by Joseph Smeaton Chase Smeato   and published in 1913. It is available to be read at Archive.org. I've attached a picture of Mr. Chase along with a short bio. Anton is his faithful steed. Enjoy John      "So we lounged along, a mile an hour. Anton was always curious about my note-book. Usually I did my scribbling in the saddle, but when I was leading him and stopped to write, he would watch me with his head a little cocked and a puzzled air that plainly asked, "What on earth are you always up to with that bit of stick?" After some miles we crossed the west fork of Waddell Creek at a lovely place of dim pools, mossed rocks, and waving ferns. Reaching the next crest, on a sudden we were among arid brush and digger-pines, with a blaze of sunlight reflected from a white, shaly soil . After the hours of greenness and "dim religious light" the change was startling. At the next rise I looked out upon the familiar sight of a deep seaward canon up which the fog was creeping. Its waves were just rosied by the evening sun, and timbered shoulders of mountain stood up, darkly purple, through the fleecy sea. Down this canon we pursued our way in thoughtful mood at- tuned to the gathering shadows, and came by dusk to a lonely ranch where I made application for our lodging. The good people made us welcome, and I en- joyed the unwonted luxury of a table piled with mag- azines beside the social hearth of a cultivated family.    A few miles of travel next day down the cafion of Whitehouse Creek brought me to the coast at Franklin Point. A thin mist overhung sea and shore, and through it I could dimly see in the south Point Ano Nuevo, with a lighthouse on the adjacent little island. The coast here, though not high, is pictur- esque with scattered rocks and a sea vexed into con- tinual turmoil.    Five miles to the north is the hamlet of Pigeon Point. A handsome lighthouse stands on the cliff. I like to pay my respects to these beneficent senti- nels, so I called there, and was courteously shown over the building by one of the officers, who explained to me the latest triumphs of invention in lighthouse equipment.    From Pigeon Point the road passed for mile on mile through a gray land, inordinately dusty, and palliated only by occasional boons in the shape of thickets of goldenrod or a sprinkling of lavender asters. A dull sea with an uneasy voice kept us close company, and about once an hour we met a team or passed a lichened farmhouse. After crossing a la- goon which lies at the mouth of the Arroyo de los Frijoles, — thus does the Spanish aggrandize even humble Bean Creek, — the road lay along the cliff beside Pebble Beach, locally famous for agates and moonstones. A hotel stood on the bluff, with no other house in sight and no appearance of having so much as a solitary guest to entertain. Its windy desolation was so discouraging that I could not bring myself to try their entertainment, though it was time to think of stopping. Before long I found a road leading inland, and turning into it came to a broad green cafion with a winding creek. A couple of miles away I saw the little town of Pescadero, standing prettily backed by wooded ridges, its white houses shining in the evening sun. In due course we marched into town, where I was just in time for supper at the comfortable inn.    The experience of Moss Landing was repeated. A party of bibulous sportsmen arrived during the evening and pervaded the place with noise and pro- fanity. When I learned that the noisiest, thirstiest, and most obscene of the group was a banker of San Francisco, I congratulated myself that no funds of mine were in his keeping, and hoped that warning visions might be vouchsafed to his clients in their dreams.   Dust and wild flowers — Half Moon Bay — "Gilt-edged" real- estate — The Montara Mountain coast — First view of San Francisco Bay —   In the last day's travel we had crossed from Santa Cruz into San Mateo County. Now ensued twenty miles of dreadful dust, but compensated by a grateful scarcity of automobiles, though we were now nearing San Francisco and were almost in the latitude of the southern end of the bay. The coast road is continuously hilly, and the great bulk of travel follows the level inland road by way of Palo Alto and San Jose. Brown, monotonous hills rolled along on the east, treeless but for occasional clumps of eucalyptus that marked the rare farmhouses. Now and then the road came out upon high whitish cliffs fringed with a broad band of surf, the growl of which was a matter of never-failing interest to Anton. Fog obscured the ocean at a mile or two from shore. The roadside bushes were drab with five months of drought, but a few asters and late wild roses still kept their cheerful smiles, and their petals were as pure and bright as though newly washed by the rains of spring, — a miracle which I never cease to admire in wild flowers in general, and those of our dry California summers especially.    At the village of San Gregorio I noted one reason for the small amount of travel on the road when I saw the collection of wagons that were drawn up awaiting their drivers, who were circulating indus- triously from saloon to saloon. Nearing Tunitas Creek, we were greeted by the screech of a loco- motive, and I found that we were at the temporary terminus of the Ocean Shore Railroad, which comes down the coast thus far from San Francisco.    Then we passed a straggling settlement named Purisima, the capital, so to speak, of a grant of land enjoying the lengthy title of Canada Verde y Arroyo de la Purisima; and soon arrived at the town of Half Moon Bay, lying a mile inland from the shore of the bay itself, which I could see curving round to the northwest, where it terminated in the promon- tory of Pillar Point. It was still fairly early, but I felt really unable to face any more dust for one day. So we sought our respective quarters, and I, for my part, subsided without delay into a bath.    Next day was the equinox, and the morning was dull, threatening (or, a better way of putting it, promising) rain. We were early on the road, which rounded the head of the bay, passing through a num- ber of new-born "cities" whose existence was to be known mainly by pitiful little cement sidewalks, already bulging and broken. Each place in succes- sion adjured me by stentorian sign-boards not to miss the wealth that awaited investors in its "gilt- edged" lots. It was a boon to exchange the songs of these financial sirens for the charms of a sea and sky alike of wistful gray, lighted ever and anon by gleams of gold that bore no hint of real estate.    The road came again to the shore at Montara Point, where there is a small lighthouse. A mile ahead a fine mountain came sharply to the sea, and I could trace a road graded steeply over It. I had not expected another taste of the mountains so near as I now was to San Francisco, and I rejoiced at the sight. We soon began the climb, which brought mag- nificent views of cllfif and sea, often several hundred feet almost sheer below.    The mist lay thickly over the water at a little dis- tance from shore, and I had to leave to the mind's eye the view I had anticipated, of the sails or smoke of many vessels making to the Golden Gate. From the summit of the grade I looked out to the north upon the green valley of San Pedro and the long line of cllfif shore that runs to the entrance of the great bay. Below, the fine headland of San Pedro Point stood out to the west, ending in a picturesque little Island pinnacled like an iceberg; and farther to the north I could just discern the outline of the high, bold coast of Marin.    A steep descent followed by a few miles of no- notonous road brought us to Laguna Salada, where I found an ambitious hotel and another array of empty streets and avenues. Then came a winding road, which at length turned inland and climbed a long ascent. At the top I turned in my saddle to take, as I thought, a backward view of the country I had been travelling. To my surprise I saw no- thing that I could recognize, but, instead, a coast- line entirely strange to me. After a puzzled moment it dawned upon me that I was looking down upon the Bay of San Francisco, and we took a few minutes rest while I digested the fact and congratulated myself on having reached this salient point of the expedition. --------------------------------- California Coast Trails: In 1911, Chase journeyed 2,000 miles on horseback from Mexico to Oregon and intimately recorded his experiences along the way. In his journals, Chase poetically provides a glimpse of California’s towns and wilderness as they appeared at the beginning of the 20th century.   J. Smeaton Chase (1864-1923) American Author. J. Smeaton Chase has become an integral part of California literature: revered for his poignant descriptions of California landscapes. An Englishman who toured the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountains in 1915 with his burro, Mesquit, Chase published poetic diary entries detailing his escapades through the Sierra Nevada mountains and California desert. Joseph Smeaton Chase was born in London in April 1864. He arrived in Southern California in 1890, although information surrounding his motive for doing so is sparse. It is known however, that he lived on a mountainside and managed to obtain a job tutoring a wealthy rancher’s children in the San Gabriel Valley. Chase was always drawn to the plants, animals, and Native Americans that resided along the California coast. Subsequently, in 1911 he took a trip with local painter Carl Eytel, traveling on horseback from Los Angeles to Laguna and then down to San Diego. Chase journeyed through the uncouth California land and detailed his escapades in his book California Desert Trails.[1] He was passionate that the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountains be preserved as a national park. Chase appeals to readers who appreciate the unspoiled west and California history.]]> 4078 2009-06-23 21:36:58 2009-06-24 04:36:58 closed closed john-vonderlin-1911-j-smeato-chase-rode-horseback-from-mexico-to-calif-to-oregon-2000-miles publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245818875 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: The First to Die http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/24/john-vonderlin-the-first-to-die/ Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:43:50 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4084 "The First to Die"

     

    ProfAlexanderBache

    Hi June, The editorial, "Let Us Have Light," led me to professor Alexander Bache, the head of the Office of the Coast Survey, one of the predecessors to N.O.A.A. Thanks to their generous sharing of their Archives online, I captured a treasure trove of old Survey maps and logs that include the Coastside. I also became familiar with more of the details of the amazing events going on at the beginning of the Survey of the West Coast, and how important their work was to those who stayed to develop California after the Gold Rush fever played out. Before sharing the maps of the old Surveys, I'd like to salute the efforts of the early West Coast surveyors and relate the incredible problems they faced. A good place to start is the "First Man to Die" in the effort, Lt. William McArthur. This excerpt is from a N.O.A.A. tribute website and summarizes Lt. McArthur's role in the beginning of this multi-year project. Though, his Surveys were few and barely touched the Coastside, his work sets the scene for George Davidson's arrival a few years later. Enjoy. John P.S. For the rest of this story check out http://www.moc.noaa.gov/mt/mcarthur.htm In July, 1848, the Coast Survey was directed to commence surveying the western coast. In October, McArthur received orders to make preparations for proceeding to San Francisco to take command of the hydrographic party of the EWING, a former revenue cutter that was transferred to the Survey. Lieutenant Washington H. Bartlett commanded the ship on its trip to the west coast via the Straits of Magellan. McArthur was to proceed to Panama and thence take whatever transportation was available to California. Unfortunately for McArthur, gold had just been discovered and the great migration of 49'ers had just begun. McArthur left the United States on March 17, 1849, and made it to Chagres on the Caribbean side of Panama in relative comfort; but from there to San Francisco, it was strictly improvisation. Upon arrival in Chagres, he found an overcrowded lawless town. Because he was a United States officer, he was made head of a vigilante committee and within 48 hours had restored order. He soon took a boat up the Chagres River and then went overland by mule train to the city of Panama. There was no transportation out and many of the travelers in the city were becoming sick with various tropical fevers. A delegation of gold seekers approached a local merchant who was using the Ship HUMBOLDT as a coal store ship. They bought the ship with funds from 400 passengers putting up $200 apiece and selected McArthur as commanding officer. The HUMBOLDT left Panama on May 21, 1849, and took 46 days to reach Acapulco where supplies were taken on board as all on board were nearly famished. Cooking was done in a communal fifty-gallon pot with one meal served per day and coffee served in the morning and tea at night. Bedding was where one could find a place to lie down. The ship arrived in San Francisco on August 31. The EWING in the meantime had left the east coast on January 10, 1849, and arrived in San Francisco on August 1. Because of the possibility of crew desertions for either much higher pay on commercial vessels or leaving for the goldfields, Bartlett took the ship to Tomales Bay, north of San Francisco, on August 26. September 6 he returned to San Francisco and McArthur was installed as captain. During September and October the EWING was engaged in surveys of San Francisco Bay, and it was by McArthur's recommendation that the Government secured Mare Island for a naval base and shipyard. That winter McArthur sailed for Hawaii in order "to run away from the incessant rains which are said to prevail with winter." When the ship returned to San Francisco, many crew enlistments had expired and it was not until April 3 that McArthur was able to sail for a reconnaissance of the northern coast. He was fairly discouraged by this time and wrote to a friend: "I have made up my mind to be disappointed with regard to the probability of our usefulness on this coast. Capt. Williams [Assistant J.S. Williams of the Coast Survey, who was in charge of the land party] has as yet done nothing and Heaven only knows when he may be able to proceed with his labors.... I feel confident that no work can go on at the present wages of the country as it would require the whole of the Coast Survey appropriation to keep a party together. Wages are still from five to twelve dollars per day, and if anything still rising as the mining season opens. I have written to the Professor [Alexander Dallas Bache] and laid my views before him." Like with most ships, once the EWING sailed, all the gloom and doom evaporated. On April 13, 1850, McArthur writes from Trinidad Bay,"I may safely say that the only happy days I have spent in the country have been spent since we started. I am at last at work and most usefully employed in making a reconnaissance of the Coast as we go up.... We have completed a very correct outline of the coast, its headlands, Bays, Rivers and indentations from San Francisco to this place, as well as carrying our soundings as we go...." Although not part of his crew, McArthur had the melancholy duty of retrieving the bodies of Lieutenants Richard Bache and Robert L. Browning who had volunteered to do a reconnaissance survey for the Navy in the vicinity of Point St. George, California. Richard Bache was a younger brother of Superintendent Bache. Four years earlier, Bache had another brother die in a hurricane while on Gulf Stream investigations for the Coast Survey. In June, McArthur describes the scenery in the vicinity of the Columbia River as "beautiful and some places and some points of view the grandest that the eye ever beheld." He had found time to speculate in real estate as he and two other officers had acquired homesteads in the Willamette Valley. He felt that if he could hold it for five years "it would be a fortune." In late June and early July he went up to the Puget Sound area on the steamer CAROLINA. He described the waters of the sound as "a strange and peculiar anomaly. The deep blue sea runs up inland passing between straits but half a mile wide with a depth of over an hundred fathoms. Bays, Harbours, Inlets and Roads startle you at every turning forming a perfect labyrinth." From the south end of Puget Sound, he traveled overland to the Cowlitz River and took a canoe to the mouth of the Columbia. By the end of August, the EWING was back in San Francisco. McArthur experienced remarkable weather, both at the entrance to the Columbia River and on his trip back down the coast. In his words,"... We have been successful in surveying the mouth of the Columbia River and up the same as far as Astoria.... the dangers of navigation of this truly magnificent river have been vastly exaggerated. We have crossed the bar sometimes as many as ten times a day for weeks together.... On our way from the Columbia River we were successful enough to make a good reconnaissance of the whole coast from Cape Disappointment to this place and the limits of error may be estimated at one mile in longitude and an 1/2 mile in latitude. This I consider quite a triumph." While in San Francisco, McArthur was engaged in preparing for the next reconnaissance which was to extend south to San Diego. On November 21, he received the welcome news that he was to proceed to the east coast and take command of a steamship for west coast survey duty. Thus, with the prospect of seeing his wife and family a year earlier than he had anticipated, he booked passage on the steamship OREGON bound for Panama. The ship departed December 1, and, shortly after leaving San Francisco, McArthur suffered an acute attack of dysentery. He never recovered and died December 23 as the OREGON was entering the port of Panama. William Pope McArthur was memorialized by a service at the Coast Survey office on February 8, 1851. At his service, Alexander Dallas Bache eulogized: " The work which he accomplished will live forever. Surrounded by circumstances the most difficult, perhaps, which ever tried the constancy, the judgment, the resources of any hydrographer, he vanquished circumstances. His reconnaissance of the western coast, from Monterey to Columbia river, and his preliminary survey there, were made in spite of desertion and even mutiny--in despite of the inadequacy of means to meet the truly extraordinary circumstances of the country...." [Image below: Map 1863] Map1863_2]]>
    4084 2009-06-24 15:43:50 2009-06-24 22:43:50 closed closed john-vonderlin-the-first-to-die publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245891879 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: Old Ano Nuevo Sketches http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/24/john-vonderlin-old-ano-nuevo-sketches/ Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:04:19 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4099 d2d3   ANO]]> 4099 2009-06-24 19:04:19 2009-06-25 02:04:19 closed closed john-vonderlin-old-ano-nuevo-sketches publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1245964397 _edit_last 1 Millionaire Loren Coburn's Relatives Owned the Coburn Trolley Co. http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/26/millionaire-loren-coburns-relatives-owned-the-coburn-trolley-co/ Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:29:33 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4110 One of Loren Coburn’s brothers owned the Trolley Track Mfg Co.  Note: Below is promotional material for Coburn Trolley Track Manufacturing Co., Holyoke, Massachusetts. Loren Coburn was visited in Pescadero by the relatives who had a financial interest in the business. [Image below: The Coburn Trolley Track Manufacturing Co.]

    trolly_2

     “Efficient management coupled with inventive genius have developed under the name of the Coburn Trolley Track Manufacturing Company, a permanent and successful business of no small magnitude.  “This Company was organized in February, 1888, with a capitol stock of $10,000, which was some years later increased to $150,000.  “The foundation of this business was the invention of a special form of enclosed track for sliding doors by Mr. Lemuel Coburn. The manufacturing of same began in the basement of the old Whitcomb building on the first level canal in a room about 50x30.  “The superiority of the special form of track over other tracks used for similar purposes was soon demonstrated, and through the foresight and inventive genius of Mr. Lemuel Coburn in constantly finding new uses for their product, the Company was soon compelled to seek additional capital and also larger quarters, and in December, 1891, moved into the quarters formerly occupied by the Deane Steam Pump Company on Bigelow Street.  “The development of the various lines here began in real earnest, and with the opening up of agencies in practically every city in the United States, together with branch offices in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Chicago, and also in Manchester, England, the business was given such an impetus that it became necessary to obtain still larger quarters, with the ultimate result of the erection of the Company’s own plant at Williamsett, directly opposite the river from Holyoke. This plant at the present time covers something over two acres of ground and is equipped with such machinery as is necessary to take care of the constantly increasing business.  “The Company moved into its present buildings in the fall of 1900, and with the increased facilities thus available was able still further to develop the scope and usefulness of its product, and extend the market for same to practically every civilized nation.  “At the present time the varied lines manufactured by them are such as to create a steadily increasing business each year, and no such thing as a dull season.  “It is an interesting fact of no small importance in illustrating the value of the original patent granted to Mr. Lemuel Coburn  that in spite of of many radical changes and improvements made in various ways to meet new conditions and also increasing competition, the same form of track has always been adhered to, although new sizes have been added from time to time, as was first made in the Company’s original quarters. It is also true that no form of track was ever so closely imitated. Now that the patents have expired, many firms in the country, England and also France, heretofore making imitations have discarded same for the Coburn form of track.  “One of the first departures made in finding new uses for the enclosed track was its applications to rolling ladders for the purpose of reaching or storing goods on high shelving. This meant to the storekeeper in many instances, then as now, increased space and better and more rapid handling of the goods, and although originally designed for stores new uses are constantly being found for them, not only in this country but others, shipments having found their way to Cape Town, Australia and the Orient.  “Sliding door hardware has, and probably always will, offer the greatest chance for variation. Under this heading is included all sort and kinds of doors, from a small closet door weighing a few pounds to doors weighing several tons. Also under this heading come Automatic fire resisting doors which require special and carefully constructed hardware, made to comply with the insurance laws. The Coburn Company now has an enviable reputation for quality of their output, and as an evidence of this the Mexican government has recently, through their agents, placed a large order with them for doors.  “Conveying materials of any kind have always been to a great extent left for “BULL STRENGTH” and the “GANG” of ordinary laborers, and it was early evident that here, too, was a field for “Coburn Products.” As soon as facilities permitted, they started the manufacturing of suitable track, of the same design, for use in foundries, machine shops and other manufacturing plants, and within a short time so demonstrated the usefulness of the idea that they received a contract for equipping one of the largest foundries in Massachusetts with their “SYSTEM.” This branch of the business has unlimited possibilities along the lines of modern business development and conservation of energy wherein the necessity for the moving of raw or unfinished material occurs, and the problems presented for solution require engineering ability and long experience to determine the proper method of procedure.  "The organization of the Company consists of Azro A. Coburn, president [and brother of Loren Coburn of Pescadero]; Willis D. Ballard, vice president and general manager and George D. Miller , treasurer.”]]>
    4110 2009-06-26 15:29:33 2009-06-26 22:29:33 closed closed millionaire-loren-coburns-relatives-owned-the-coburn-trolley-co publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1246758009 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: 1887: Shipwreck of the Bark J.W. Seaver at Point Ano Nuevo http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/26/john-vonderlin-1887-shipwreck-of-the-bark-j-w-seaver-at-point-ano-nuevo/ Sat, 27 Jun 2009 03:01:12 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4114 Seaver, which was wrecked on Point New Year, stated to an Alta reporter yesterday, that the value of the wreckage that may be recovered is about $700, and it will cost about half that sum to convey it to this port. Tbe officers and survivors of tbe wrecked bark desire to thank Ed. Dickerman and Osman. N. Steele, who were not only instrumental in saving several of the men, but who afterwards showed them every kindness in their distress." While I couldn't find out for sure who the 109 foot long, 230 ton vessel was named after, I did locate a Massachusetts, longtime political/maritime family, the Seavers, that seemed to be the source. There is a perfect fit timewise, James W., a ship captain, lawyer, and Representative for several terms, but he spells his name, Sever, as a few other family members did..  Perhaps, he changed his name's spelling for ancestral reasons some time in the 10 year period between when the boat was built and he died.    Lastly I've attached ScreenShots of a summary of vessels and people lost over the winter storm season of 1886-87, that was in the April 16th, 1887 Daily Alta. A lot of sea widows that nasty winter. Enjoy. John  Seaver1.Seaver2Seaver3]]> 4114 2009-06-26 20:01:12 2009-06-27 03:01:12 closed closed john-vonderlin-1887-shipwreck-of-the-bark-j-w-seaver-at-point-ano-nuevo publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1246757889 _edit_last 1 June 1920: Pescadero's Plans for the 4th of July http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/27/june-1920-pescaderos-plans-for-the-4th-of-july/ Sat, 27 Jun 2009 19:03:24 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4119 Pescadero to Celebrate Plans and preparations are being completed for a big Fourth of July celebration in Pescadero this year. The festivities will be held on Monday, July 5, commencing with a musical and literary program at 10 o'clock. At noon there will be the free barbecue and and races and games will be held in the afternoon. Dancing from 1:30 to 5 o'clock, a display of fireworks in the evening and a grand ball in I.D.E.S. hall to conclude the day's program. Edward J. Hevey will be the president of the day and H.W. Lampkin of Redwood City has been selected as orator. The committee of arrangements consists of Eli D. Moore, M. R. Mattei, James McCormick, Walter H. Moore, Oliver A. McCormick, Antone George, Hugh McCormick, Antone T. Enos and E.A. Shaw. The floor mangers for the afternoon and evening dances will be Walter Moore, Oliver McCormick and "Tony" George. On the reception committee will be William A. Moore, Hugh McCormick, J.A. Moore, Frank George and A.W. Woodhams. The committee handling the afternoon games and races will consist of J.E. Shaw, Charles Mattei, George Goularte, D.C. Adair and Arthur Teague. -------- ]]> 4119 2009-06-27 12:03:24 2009-06-27 19:03:24 closed closed june-1920-pescaderos-plans-for-the-4th-of-july publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1246757810 _edit_last 1 1945: Charles F. Humphrey Passes http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/28/1945-charles-f-humphrey-passes/ Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:23:07 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4124 Half Moon Bay Review, 1945   1945 Well known Citizen of Coastside Passes   “Charles Franklin Humphrey, well known attorney of San Francisco, on Friday, the 17th of August 1945. With his death ends a vibrant and colorful personality of old San Francisco.   “Life began for him when his pioneer mother held him in her arms above a Kansas river while Indians marauded the neighboring villages. His father, James C. Humphrey, established the first newspapers in Republic and Decatur Counties, Kansas.   “As a boy he worked as a printer’s devil on the widely quoted “Belleville Telescope” one of the first nine newspapers established, owned and edited in the state of Kansas by his father. He worked his way through college as a reporter on the “Kansas City Star,” and then the “Topeka Capitol,” and was graduated by the University of Kansas with the degree of L.L.B.   “After leaving college he practiced law for about a year in Portland, Oregon, under the late W.W. Cotton, brother of Judge Aylet R. Cotton of San Mateo County.   “In 1895 Mr. Humphrey moved to San Francisco, where, with thirty-five cents in his pocket after furnishing his office, he began his long and able career in the law. Never acknowledging defeat, all his cases were interesting to him and all the clients “innocent victims” for which he was a fiery partisan.   “In 1899 he married Miss Elizabeth Warren, a native of England. They lived on Washington Street where their two sons, James W. Humphrey and Jack C. Humphrey were born.   “About the time of the San Francisco fire, his interests took him to Europe where he was instrumental in consolidating many of the California oil properties of the Shell Oil Company.   “In 1919 he became interested in agricultural possibilities of San Mateo County and purchased a  large ranch which was a part of the Old Spanish Grant Punta del Ano Nuevo, near Pescadero. Here he had a beautiful home and being hospitably inclined, and a jovial host, entertained a constant stream of friends.   “For over fifty years Mr. Humphrey was a member of the Bohemian Club. He was a Life Member of the B.P.O.E. (?) , also a member of the Commonwealth Club, the California State Chamber of Commerce and a director of the Associated Farm-California.   “He was a member of the American Bar Association, State Bar of California, San Francisco State Bar Association, Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity, Trustee of the Kansas Pioneer Memorial Society, San Mateo County Historical Association and of E. Clampus Vitus.   “A 32 Mason, and a member of Knights Templar, Shrine and Past Patron of Golden Gate Chapter of Eastern Star, he was signally honored in 1944 when he was presented with the Masonic Gold Button by Excelsior Lodge No. 166, F & A M, and in the same year by Islam Temple, in recognition of his half century of membership in the Masonic Order, dating back to April 17, 1893, at Laurence Lodge F & AM No. 6...." -------------------------------- From John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June,   Mr. Humphrey bought the Cascade Ranch from Mr. Renssalear Steele after the Torquay fiasco. He'd mortgaged it for $60K to somebody and only sold a few lots before the 06 Quake  Mr. Humphrey  allowed him to live there until his death with a small annuity. He also bought the Green Oaks Ranch and let Renssalear's widowed sister live there until she died in 1919. Let me reread Tess Black's book and get this straight in my head. Enjoy. John]]> 4124 2009-06-28 19:23:07 2009-06-29 02:23:07 closed closed 1945-charles-f-humphrey-passes publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_last 1 _edit_lock 1246287707 John Vonderlin: El Pescadero Maps http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/28/john-vonderlin-el-pescadero-maps/ Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:31:01 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4126 EP2 EP3 EP4]]> 4126 2009-06-28 19:31:01 2009-06-29 02:31:01 closed closed john-vonderlin-el-pescadero-maps publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1246242662 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: "Coastsiders" Fight Back http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/06/29/john-vonderlin-coastsiders-fight-back/ Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:42:57 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4137 All files are in PDF format.   Front Cover through Chapter 1:Introduction (1.1 MB)       (Includes table of contents and executive summary) Chapter 2:Existing Conditions through Chapter 3:Issues (2.4 MB) Chapter 4:Park Plan (PDF, 1.5 MB) Chapter 5:Environmental Analysis through Plan Contributors (2.9 MB)     General Plan Maps (Document Figures):  Figure 1: Regional (1.3 MB) Figure 2: Location (1.3 MB) Figure 3: Existing Facilities (1.0 MB) Figure 4: Existing Roads and Trails (1.8 MB)    Roads and Trails Key (127 KB) Figure 5: Alquist-Priolo Fault Zones Figure 6: Watersheds(2.0 MB) Figure 7: Coastal Zone (656 KB) Figure 8: Vegetation Communities (2.3 MB) Figure 9: Wildlife Habitat (5.5 MB) Figure 10: Natural Resource Sensitivity (3.5 MB) Figure 11: Cultural Resources (484 KB) Figure 12: Planning Zones (1.1 MB) Figure 13: Año Nuevo SR Key Draft Proposals (735 KB) Figure 14: Año Nuevo SP Key Draft Proposals (477 KB) Figure 15: Proposed Preserves (1.1 MB)   Quiroste Attack on Mission Santa Cruz A little more than twenty years after greeting the Portola Expedition, the Quiroste again enter into the historical account. This time it is due to their aggressive behavior towards Mission Santa Cruz. By 1791 members of the Quiroste were entering into the missions for conversion, either voluntarily or not. One man, an elder tribal leader named Charquin, fled Mission San Francisco de Asis’s outpost of San Pedro, near present day Pacifica just days after his reported baptism. He led a small band of renegade Quiroste in the Santa Cruz Mountains. He was eventually captured and sent to the Presidio of Santa Barbara. Despite his capture, the Quiroste continued their resistance. Spanish soldiers, sent out by the missionaries, raided the Indians camp and returned the ones they have caught to the missions. The Quiroste quietly gathered their remaining forces and attacked Mission Santa Cruz on the evening of the 14th of December 1793. Padre Fermín Lasuén, Serra’s successor as president of the missions in Alta California, wrote of the assault: "I have found out for certain that on the night of the fourteenth of last December the pagan, Indian, and some Christian Indians, from rancherías to the northwest of that mission made an assault on the guard, wounded the corporal in the hand, and another soldier in the shoulder, and set fire to the roof of the corral for the lambs, and the old guard house. The corporal fired a few shots, and with that they withdrew without serious injury to either side." (Lasuén [1785-1803] 1965: 299). This was the only time one of the Franciscan missions was attacked in Northern California. The attackers are eventually caught and imprisoned. The Spanish exert their power and control of Alta California and its peoples. The Quiroste resistance was soundly defeated. Charquin died in the stockade of the Presidio in San Diego, and what was left of the once prominent Quiroste tribe was forced to work and die in the Mission system (Milliken, Randall Time of Little Choice: The Disintegration of Tribal Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area 1769-1810. Ch. 6; Ballena Press, Menlo Park;1995)]]> 4137 2009-06-29 17:42:57 2009-06-30 00:42:57 closed closed john-vonderlin-coastsiders-fight-back publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1246322642 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: Coast Survey Map/Ano Nuevo Harbor http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/01/john-vonderlin-coast-survey-mapano-nuevo-harbor/ Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:27:36 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4140 Story by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June,
    With your just having posted all those links to the Ano Nuevo General plan, this might be a good time to look at the Coast Survey map of the area from 1854. The Coast Survey, originally the "Survey of the Coast," started in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson, to map the coast of the United States, and eventually folded into the present day National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration  (N.O.A.A.),  has online Archives of their historic maps going back to the 1700's at this website:
    Coast Survey Partners. Chart Carriage Requirements. Report a Charting Discrepancy ...The Office of Coast Survey's Historical Map & Chart Collection contains over
    nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/csdl/ctp/ abstract.htm
     
     
       The map of the Ano Nuevo area I've attached ScreenShots from is one of the more then 20,000 at this website.  I wanted to share my examinations of this map, which is entitled the "Preliminary Surveys of Harbors on the Western Coast of the United States,"  and its collection number is "352-00-184." You can can access it by typing either of these in the Seach boxes..
        It was when I started looking at this map fully magnified, that I started to notice some interesting details. First, here's the progression of screenviews you'll see as you zero in on this wonderful hundred and fifty year old document.
    52215220
    5222
     
    [Images above: Full map, Map legend, Ano Nuevo Harbor section]
     
        These first two close-ups show San Mateo's southern coastal gateway, or perhaps gate would have the more accurate connotations given the part they played in Coastside development. This is the famous stretch of steep, unstable bluffs that forced buggies, stages and eventually even automobiles to dash along the beach at low tides to enter or leave the isolated southern Coastside. "The History Dude" of Santa Cruz gives a talk about the Waddell Bluffs, which span this magnified view, that is entitled:
    Waddell's Bluff: How a Big Lump of Santa Cruz Mudstone Changed the History of Our World
    52265226B
     
    [Images above:  Waddell to Alligator Captioned and Uncaptioned]
     
       On a more mundane level, if you look carefully, you can see the two parallel dotted lines on the beach that the artist/scientist uses to denote the "Coast Road."  While this dramatic part of the route has been referred to in many books and newspaper articles, they never mention at what point travelers would get on and off the beach from it. I think I now know where, and as usual I was wrong in my initial theorizing.
       The 1864 map doesn't show exactly where the sand to solid ground point was on the southern end of this often wild and wooly traverse, but it's easy to figure out. Although it only shows the dotted lines crossing Waddell Creek close to the ocean and then disappearing because of the edge of the map, by looking at the modern coast on California Coastal Records project
    (Pictures #6403, 6404) you can see there is a convenient slope to get off the beach about a hundred yards south of the creek. If that route isn't taken, the slope off the beach gets progressively steeper and higher and much less likely to have been the way. 
      Of course exactly where they would transition from the sand to solid ground must have varied with the stream's course. Picture #7219057 (1972 picture accessed by clicking Time Comparison Box for CCRP Picture #6404) shows what they might have faced when the stream hugged the hill to the south before flowing into the ocean.
       The ScreenShot of the magnified map also shows that Alligator Rock, the curving sweep of rock jutting offshore, up the coast from Waddell Creek, hasn't changed much in 150 years. The more expansive sand beach then, as compared to now, explains the viability of this route way back then. The Alligator Rock area was known as "Cape Horn," by the locals at that time because of its similarities to the difficulty in passage as the same-named tip of South America. It was also the site of the experimental grading by the Ocean Shore Railroad that John Schmale shared pictures of.
       The black bar to the north of Alligator Rock marks the San Mateo / Santa Cruz boundary, as designated in 1868, five years after the map was made.
       The next ScreenShot, reaching further up the beach to the north, answers several questions I've had. There is an old road on the Coastways property that I had thought might have been the ingress and egress point to and from the clifftop and the beach.  At least at the time of the map, the road passed the Coastways road site, and went along the beach all the way to Ano Nuevo Creek, where it started up the hill. Given today's conditions along this northerly stretch of the beach, this would have been a terrifying ride, with its sheer, unclimbable cliffs that are regularly pounded by waves during any sort of high tide or storm. Even though the map shows a much wider beach one hundred fifty years ago, this must have given travelers a thrill even in the best of conditions. It must have still been that way fifty years later, because during the automobile run to Santa Cruz, I sent you an article about, it mentioned a mile-and-a-half beach traverse was necessary. That fits the Ano Nuevo Creek to just south of Waddell Creek route shown on the map just perfectly.
    5227
     
    5248A
    [Images above: Captioned and uncaptioned north of Waddell]
     
      The next ScreenShot shows just up the hill and a bit north.from where the coast road comes off the beach. That black mark is the only building shown anywhere on the Ano Nuevo portion of the map.  What this building is remains a mystery. It is not mentioned  in any of the old accounts that I've seen.  Yet, sitting right beside the coast road and being the only building for many miles, it should be well known. I'll keep looking.
     
    5229
       House marker greatly magnified
     
      The next ScreenShot is of Ano Nuevo Point and Ano Nuevo Island. Note the sand spits that almost connects them. I've read about this so many times it is kind of cool to finally see a repreentation of it. The intro photo of the General Plan shows what it looks like now, a huge change. But, the island itself has hardly changed at all. 
    52315213
     
    [Images above: Sand Spit / Modern shot]
     
       Lastly, I've attached a view of Santa Cruz harbor and environs, the other half of the map. In the magnified views it is possible to see a thriving community was already established, unlike in the empty Ano Nuevo area. Enjoy. John
     
    ]]>
    4140 2009-07-01 18:27:36 2009-07-02 01:27:36 closed closed john-vonderlin-coast-survey-mapano-nuevo-harbor publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1246757741 _edit_last 1
    Pigeon Point: When Whaling Was "King" http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/02/pigeon-point-when-whaling-was-king/ Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:56:57 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4160 PP12

    New-old story by June Morrall "Shore Whaling at Pigeon Point" A spectacular red-orange glow accompanied the sunrise just as a school of humpback whales revealed their gleaming black backs on the horizon. Since heading north from their winter breeding grounds in warmer southern waters, the whales had covered a great distance. From time to time they leaped through the waves. And as they neared the whaling station at Pigeon Point in the summer of 1871, the humpbacks disappeared beneath the sea to feed on sardines. When the whales surfaced again to blow, two lookouts posted on the cliffs above Pigeon Point instantly recognized the humpback's short, thick body. The Portuguese whalers, who barely concealed their heavy accents, didn't hesitate to describe this season as the worst yet. Now, as they peered excitedly through their "sea glasses" at the humpbacks, the men blamed a steady and constant barrage of heavy winds for the less than ideal whaling conditions. Not only that, they confided, but over the years, the number of whales that traveled up and down the California coast actually had declined. Obviously, they had known better times. So far the men had captured a single whale this season, and that one taken a couple of weeks earlier, barely produced 25 barrels of oil. While a very large bull (or male) could yield up to 100 barrels, the average whale processed at Pigeon Point produced about 35. One of the whalers (who had recently arrived from his home in the Azores where he learned the art of whaling as a kid) now bragged to a reporter about a captured whale that gave up more than 90 barrels of oil. (Whale oil was used in place of the electric light which had not yet arrived on the Coastside. In fact, electricity did not come to Pescadero until the mid-1920s, much later than on the east side of the redwood covered mountains, near Stanford University.) The newcomer whaler quickly pointed out that size did not determine the amount of oil extracted. It was fat, he said, that made the big difference. As the whales traveled north from their tropical "vacation," the cows (or females), were skinny because they had recently given birth to calves Back home in the cooler Artic waters of the North Pole, they fattened up, and when they headed back south to the warmer seas, the whalers at Pigeon Point anxiously awaited their prey--for it was now that the fatty whales would yield the highest percentage of oil, and the reward was in the profits. Meanwhile, the humpbacks played in the waves several miles offshore, obviously unaware of what fate may have in store for them. In the background, two experienced Portuguese whalers crouched low on the cliffs and studied the movement of the humpbacks. They were the lookouts. Behind them stood a dozen neat cottages, home to 17 men and their families. At Pigeon Point, many of these whalers, who had earlier worked some 14 years at the Monterey Whaling Station, maybe two hours to the south, worked out a business relationship based on the rules of an equal partnership. On the sandy beach below, two crews consisting of six men each, suddenly shoved off from shore in two very long single masted boats, whaling boats. They hunted in pairs for safety reasons, an important habit learned through years of trial and error. An occupational habit always included the possibility of an enraged whale swamping a boat, drowning all those on board. The boats were equipped with one or more of Greener's harpoon guns, which when mounted moved 360 degrees and resembled a small swivel gun. They also had a bomb lance gun which fired an exploding projectile. On this day, with the reporter present, the whalers were sure they would return to the little bay at Pigeon Point with a whale in tow. But the truth was that whaling was on its way out. It had seen its day. Observers up and down the California coast didn't hide the fact that the number of whales were decreasing, less every year, they said. There were estimates that 20 years earlier, in the 1850s, thousands of whales headed south daily between Christmas and the first of February, the time they were easily caught. The success of "shore whaling," and the accompanying equipment, was said to have helped decimate the numbers of whales which would ultimately put the whalers out of business as well. A whale that escaped, and survived, seemed to learn from the bad experience, and avoided the shoreline, remaining ten miles or more from the long boats. That made capture trickier. The whalers complained about the difficulty; the only piece of equipment that made the work worthwhile was Greener's harpoon gun which could travel a great distance. But the writing was on the wall. The whalers also noticed the decline in the numbers of the California Gray whale. Humpbacks accounted for the largest number captured, and some believed the Gray whale was actually nearing extinction. History says that those whalers who discovered the California Gray's breeding grounds in the southern lagoons near Baja California rapidly exploited their find. Here in the delicious waters where the cows nursed their calves, hunters trapped them. Without their mothers, the calves rarely survived, and that is probably why they decreased in number. Meanwhile at Pigeon Point the intrepid whalers scanned the surrounding sea for a spout. Without warning, one of the hunters called out: "There she blows." That was the signal for the long boats to sail off in the direction of the whale. Carefully approaching the target, the whalers peaked their oars, propelling their boats with paddles to refrain from arousing the anger of an unsuspecting male. They worried about an injured whale turning on them. At the San Simeon Whaling Station, hunters were reputed to have shot 25 bomb lances and several harpoons in to a "right whale" (worth $4000 in oil and whale bone.) But this huge whale survived the multiple hits, smashing one of the boats to pieces, forcing the men to give up the chase. Often, even if a whale was killed, it sank and could not be retrieved. One year when the men at Pigeon Point cut up a dozen whales, 10 others slipped away from them. On this day, with the reporter present, the whalers swore success. To show their serious, four men waited on the shore at their station to extract oil from the heaps of blubber. On the opposite side of Pigeon Point, the "try pots" heated by crude furnaces, formed of rocks and clay, stood ready to boil the blubber into oil. Visitors found it difficult to believe that the foul smelling fluid, which very often dripped down the cliffs to the water's edge, actually produced soap and oil for lanterns. The whalers also cleaned and dried the whale bone which they said sold for $.07 per pound in San Francisco. They added that this barely paid for the labor and trouble of saving the bone. The Pigeon Point whalers said that low prices for oil barely covered their rising marketing and storage costs. In San Francisco whale oil was at that time selling for $.30 per gallon---while the "oil casks" alone cost $.06 per gallon. In more "normal" times, the price of whale oil varied between $.35 and $.50 per gallon, and when the price fell ten cents, the business wasn't even worth it. Profits at Pigeon Point were marginal. Worse yet, the Pigeon Point whalers claimed they had been swindled by a New York-based company. According to their story, they shipped 600 barrels of oil back East, after being promised the highest prices, which, in the end they did not get. They had been too trusting and the market turned on them. Now they were falling in debt. Meanwhile out at sea, the whalers were tracking the spot where the spout had been sighted. It was a humpback. When they were 40 years from their prey, one of the whalers aimed the harpoon gun, shooting him in a vulnerable spot. Down went the large whale, with the cord of the harpoon still attached, and while trying to avoid capture, smashed the waves about but the struggle for life was about to be lost. When the injured whale rose to breathe, a $4.00 bomb lance was fired into the mammal's head, ending its life. Fatally wounded, the whale rolled over to one side. Upon towing the dead whale to the shore station, the whalers congratulated themselves on a job well done---especially because this particular whale exhibited many scars from other attempts to capture him with a harpoon. Although most folks were still burning whale oil, since 1850 petroleum had been gaining prominence for illumination and lubrication. Obviously, the discovery of petroleum eventually led to the end of the whalers and the shore station at Pigeon Point.]]>
    4160 2009-07-02 18:56:57 2009-07-03 01:56:57 closed closed pigeon-point-when-whaling-was-king publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1246757652 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: Loma Mar---"Say What?" http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/02/john-vonderlin-loma-mar-say-what/ Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:07:19 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4164 4164 2009-07-02 19:07:19 2009-07-03 02:07:19 closed closed john-vonderlin-loma-mar-say-what publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1246757567 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: 1863: Colorful Character Isaac Graham knew Daniel Boone http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/03/john-vonderlin-1863-colorful-character-isaac-graham-knew-daniel-boone/ Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:32:52 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4166 1863 Daily Alta Obituary Death or an Old Resident.— Captain Isaac Graham, an old mountaineer, trapper and Indian fighter, and one of the earliest pioneers of this State, died last evening in this city at half-past eight o'clock, aged sixty-four years. The details of this man's life, if correctly told, would be of value to the historian, and of absorbing interest to the lovers of romantic and thrilling incident. He was born in Botetourt county, Va., from whence he removed, at an early age, to Kentucky, becoming schooled in the rough and dangerous scenes of border life in infancy for his subsequent years of activity and adventure among the savage tribes of New Mexico, the Kovky and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Capt. Graham was one of those links which connected the present generation with the past, he having been intimate with many of the veteran explorers of the West, among whom was the renowned Daniel Boone, at whose death he was present. He has been for over thirty years a resident of California, living for the most part in Santa Cruz county, whore he possessed valuable estates. He leaves several children and numerous friends; who will sincerely deplore his demise. Thus another of the great landmarks of the age has crumbled away. A hero and a warrior sleeps, unsung but not unwept. His friends can view his remains at the rooms of Nathaniel Gray until three o'clock P. M..to-day, when they will be conveyed to the steamer Salinas for removal to his home at Santa Cruz. Trivia: In the 1830s Isaac Graham established one of the first American communities west of the Rocky Mountains, Roaring Camp in the Santa Cruz mountains. He was a fur trapper and nephew to Daniel Boone. He was said to have created the first highway in the west; it is now known as Graham Hill Road! November 14, 1863, Santa Cruz Sentinel Capt. Graham: This old resident who for thirty years has been identified with the history of this vicinity, and especially with its earlier traditions, died in San Francisco the 8th inst.[sic] His remains were brought to Santa Cruz and buried in the cemetery[Evergreen]on Tuesday. Although only 64 years of age, at his death, his entire system both mental and physical, had been breaking up for a number of years. This early decay may be partly attributable to the vicissitudes of a frontier life full of adventure and excesses. He was born in Boutetourt county Virginia, but removed early in life to Kentucky, then the "dark and bloody ground" where he was conversant with the explorers and heroes of the border, among them Daniel Boone at whose death he was present. He afterwards went to Texas where he married, and Mexico; subsequently he roamed for years beyond the limits of civilization, through the immense Territory bounded by the Mississippi and Gila Rivers, the Pacific and British Possessions, and figured in many thrilling incidents, with the mountainers and trappers. About thirty years ago he came to Santa Cruz where he has since lived. Before his decay by age he was engaged as a lumberman, distiller and ranchero, and was at one time very wealthy, but through litigation and excesses, very little of his property remained to him at his death. He had a powerful frame, a persuasive address, an unerring eye with the rifle, and that daring which is always a concomitant of strength and power. He was of litigious spirit and in his prime had both friends and enemies, but his last years of child-like age had pacified all enmities and he left none but friends behind him. Late 1818 - 1820 Travels to Marthysville, Missouri, where he spends time with the famous trapper, explorer, and politician Daniel Boone. Daniel Boone died on Sept. 26, 1820, with Isaac Graham and others at his bedside. His wife buried him on a hilltop overlooking the Missouri River. Years later his body was taken back to Kentucky. Isaac Graham, a frontiersman, came from Hardin County, Kentucky, in 1833. Three years after his arrival he assisted Juan B. Alvarado in expelling Governor Guiterres with the understanding that the country should be free from Mexican domination. However, shortly after Alvarado came to power, Graham and his associates were arrested as dangerous foreigners and placed in confinement on a boat in Monterey Harbor. A few of the group were released before Dan Jose Castro sailed with the prisoners for Mexico and all were released by Mexican authorities after their arrival. It was reported Isaac Graham received $36,000 as indemnity for the outrage done to him. With this money Graham cast his eyes on the Zayante Tract. Graham, along with his friend Henry Neale, induced Joseph Majors who was a Mexican citizen, to apply for the grant. Majors was named as grantee of Zayante and the adjoining San Augustine Rancho of 4,436 acres.Majors actually procured the land for a syndicate of "foreigners" who declined to become Mexican citizens. Zayante Named after an Ohlone tribe, this canyon was the first settlement in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Isaac Graham, a colorful and somewhat infamous rogue, ran a huge and notorious logging and moonshine camp. Graham may be most famous for assisting the empire of Mexico to overthrow Monterey land barons in the 'Alta California' revolution.Graham and his 'riflemen' as they were known helped create one united state of California under Mexican rule in 1839. By 1850, with tremendous land grants, he was one of the county's richest men.  ]]> 4166 2009-07-03 19:32:52 2009-07-04 02:32:52 closed closed john-vonderlin-1863-colorful-character-isaac-graham-knew-daniel-boone publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1252114190 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: Whale Fall http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/04/john-vonderlin-whale-fall/ Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:44:53 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4175 WHALE FALL
    Hi June,       This is an odd and virtually unknown claim to fame for Ano Nuevo Island and the Coastside. Twenty years ago a fossilized whale was found, excavated and removed from Ano Nuevo Island. Not long ago, after being displayed at Long Marine Lab for years, it was donated to another organization. There it was recognized as a fossilized whale fall specimen. More research determined it was the youngest one found so far.    Don't know what a whale fall is? Me neither until a few years ago. They were only discovered about twenty years ago when a deep sea submersible ran into one. Randomly spread across the deep ocean floor every 25 kilometers or so, their study and subsequently our knowledge about them, remains rudimentary. Here's what Wikipedia has to say about them, and then there is a Press Release from Berkeley that describes Ano Nuevo's newest contribution to the Coastside's minor wonders.    By the way, I saw a show on this and the photography of this "corpse community," feeding off the marrow of the dead, is as weird as you would expect. Enjoy. John    To learn about Whale Fall, please click on the link below  Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia   =================================== PRESS RELEASE   BERKELEY – A fossilized whale skeleton excavated 20 years ago amid the stench and noise of a seabird and elephant seal rookery on California's Año Nuevo Island turns out to be the youngest example on the Pacific coast of a fossil whale fall and the first in California, according to University of California, Berkeley, paleontologists.
           Fossil mollusks found directly attached to the fossil baleen whale skeleton from Año Nuevo Island, Calif. (Nick Pyenson/UC Berkeley).  
    Whale falls, first recognized in the 1980s, are whale carcasses that fall to the deep-ocean floor where, like an oasis in the desert, they attract a specialized group of clams, crabs and worms that feed for up to decades on the oil-rich bones and tissues. Some scientists think these random, deep-ocean oases are stepping stones for organisms moving from one ocean floor environment to another - whether a hot vent, a cold seep or a whale carcass - in search of sustenance from energy-rich chemicals. "The fossil whale fall shows that these deep-sea communities didn't need especially large whales as a source of nutrients - in fact, the fossil whale from Año Nuevo Island was no longer than a VW bug," said Nick Pyenson, a graduate student in UC Berkeley's Department of Integrative Biology. Pyenson and museum scientist David M. Haasl, both of UC Berkeley's Museum of Paleontology, published their findings in this week's online edition of the journal Biology Letters. The Año Nuevo skeleton, discovered in 1987 by then-UC Santa Cruz graduate student Brian Fadely and excavated by Graham Worthy and local fossil expert Frank Perry, was considered a rather small and unremarkable fossil whale - at 11 feet, it was less than half the size of today's smallest baleen whales. The bones, including skull, spine and ribs, were displayed at Long Marine Laboratory in Santa Cruz until the lab donated the partially articulated skeleton to the Museum of Paleontology in 2005. As Pyenson prepared it for the museum's collection, however, he noticed small clams in the nooks and crannies of the skull. He found 21 clams in all, each less than a centimeter in length, or two-fifths of an inch, plus one snail. Most of these organisms were on the skull, but some were nestled in the vertebrae. Haasl, a mollusk expert, thought the clams might be similar to those that cluster around whale falls today and that are able to extract energy from chemicals in bones with the help of specialized symbiotic bacteria. At whale fall depths of more than 1,000 meters, there is no light for photosynthesis.
         A reconstruction of the fossil whale from Año Nuevo Island, with a scuba diver for scale. Below the silhouettes, the bones of the fossil whale skeleton are shown as they were found in 1987. Black arrows point to places where fossil deep-sea mollusks were discovered. (Nick Pyenson/UC Berkeley)  
    Based on the shape of the fossil clam shells attached to the whale skeleton, Pyenson and Haasl determined that they belong to the same group of mollusks whose living relatives are chemosynthetic, confirming their initial hypothesis that this was a whale fall. A visit by Pyenson and Haasl to Año Nuevo Island in January 2007 showed that the whale came from 15 million-year-old sediments, the Monterey Formation, making the Año Nuevo find much younger than most fossil whale falls discovered around the globe, the oldest of which date from 40 million years ago, Pyenson said. Whale falls were unknown to science until 1989, when the first example of a deep-sea community living on recently deceased whale carcasses was reported from southern California. "The ocean floor is pretty much a desert until you get a whole whale carcass sinking to the bottom," Pyenson said. "We don't know how these creatures know to colonize it. Are they ever-present on the sea floor waiting for an animal to fall? But when the whale carcass hits, it forms this island refuge of high nutrient levels that can sustain an undersea community, some scientists calculate, for decades." Over the past 18 years, more whale falls have been found around the world, and paleontologists have found examples in the fossil record as well. Most fossil examples, however, consist of isolated bones adjacent to deep-sea mollusks, Pyenson said. Little is known about the size or identity of the whale host. In contrast, the Año Nuevo skeleton was unusually complete and hosted multiple mollusks. It also was small, which suggested to Pyenson that these specialized deep-sea communities didn't need large whale carcasses to evolve. Previous researchers had hypothesized that whale-fall communities evolved with the origin of large baleen whales, such as blue whales, and oil-rich bones. Pyenson and Haasl proposed instead that the oil content of the whale's bones was the more crucial factor. "What we have are relatives of modern chemosynthetic clams associated directly with the skeleton of a tiny, tiny whale, smaller than any other known from modern whale falls," Pyenson said. "That tells us that you don't need very large whales to sustain a whale fall, but what you probably need is a really oily skeleton." Because they are more buoyant, oil-rich bones are likely one adaptation to allow deep diving, Pyenson said. The Año Nuevo whale fall find puts a lower limit of 11 million years on the origin of oily bones in whales, he added. Pyenson and Haasl are currently working with scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute who routinely study recent whale falls in Monterey Bay. They hope to do "side-by-side comparisons of the fossil and modern whale-fall clam shells" to better characterize those from the fossil whale fall. The work was supported by funds from the UC Museum of Paleontology and a fellowship to Pyenson from the National Science Foundation.
    ]]>
    4175 2009-07-04 16:44:53 2009-07-04 23:44:53 closed closed john-vonderlin-whale-fall publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1246757423 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: 1860s: The Frustration of the Gazos http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/05/john-vonderlin-1860s-the-frustration-of-the-gazos/ Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:34:12 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4198 great hardship and injustice to the people living at Pescadero and its vicinity. ”... “one of the most abominable roads this side of Kamchatka (Siberia)—a road, a portion of the distance must be traveled "along the beach which is encompassed by a high bluff upon one side and the foaming billows upon the other…" For those not familiar with this area, the evergrowing Virtualparks.org website has some great photos of this area, compiled as a 360 degree panorama, that you can rotate as if you were standing there taking it all in. If you want to get a good idea of what this area is like and what explorers, and travelers faced until the 1900s go to the website, type Waddell in the Search box, and choose the 3rd option: Virtual Reality of Waddell Beach by Highway 1 Overpass, a QuickTime panorama by erik goetze I've attached  ScreenShots looking north and south from this panorama to illustrate its contents. While you're at the website check out some of the others, of the thousands that they have of our area. They really give you a feel for what an area is like in the "picture is worth a thousand words," tradition. Enjoy. John Gazos1Gazos2]]> 4198 2009-07-05 16:34:12 2009-07-05 23:34:12 closed closed john-vonderlin-1860s-the-frustration-of-the-gazos publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1247415216 _edit_last 1 Joel Bratman: Travel Vicariously http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/05/joel-bratman-travel-vicariously/ Mon, 06 Jul 2009 03:04:29 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4203 http://www.pbase.com/trut_maluglist/cape_kiwanda Busch Stadium, St. Louis (home of the St. Louis Cardinals)  http://www.pbase.com/trut_maluglist/busch_stadium Signs of the Fillmore, San Francisco, CA  http://www.pbase.com/trut_maluglist/signs_of_the_fillmore Alameda County Fair http://www.pbase.com/trut_maluglist/alameda_county_fair http://www.pbase.com/trut_maluglist/alameda_county_fair_fireworks Virginia City, Nevada:  http://www.pbase.com/trut_maluglist/virginia_city Astoria, Oregon  http://www.pbase.com/trut_maluglist/astoria Willamette Valley, Oregon  http://www.pbase.com/trut_maluglist/willamette_valley Enjoy! - Joel]]> 4203 2009-07-05 20:04:29 2009-07-06 03:04:29 closed closed joel-bratman-travel-vicariously publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1247446030 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: Pioneer Sawmills...another first for San Mateo? http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/06/john-vonderlin-pioneer-sawmills-another-first-for-san-mateo/ Tue, 07 Jul 2009 01:42:36 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4205 sawmill

    JohnVStory by John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net\ Pioneer Sawmills Hi June, A while ago I posted some excerpts from the old history books that seemed to lean towards Dennis Martin constructing the first sawmill in San Mateo County, rather then Charles Brown, who is credited by many.  Both are credited as possibilities on the plaque on Portola Road, commemorating the first San Mateo sawmill. One account I shared even had somebody else building the first mill on Brown's property and leasing it from him. Well, here's an article from the "Call," that seems to add another possibility. Bill Pease (Peace?) is acknowledged in the other accounts as being the first sawyer, but only as a hands-on kind of guy, without a sawmill.  This article seems to state otherwise. It is from the March 1st, 1889, issue of the "Call." Enjoy. John P.S. You'll notice this came up on an "Isaac Graham" Search. He has a lot of connections to interesting people, and events, sometimes not so pleasant connections, but often colorful. PIONEER SAW-MILLS. Early Methods of Making  Timber of California Redwood. Pacific Coast Wood and Iron In the early history of California all the lumber required for the use of its inhabitants, not a great deal, was gotten out with the whip saw and tbe axe, the thinner boards being manufactured with the saw, while the planks, beams, etc., were first split out and afterward hewn into the desired shape. As most of the lumber then used was made from the redwood, the manufacture of the coarsest kinds was an easy matter, owing to the facility with which that timber rives. The first sawmill in the country was put up at Santa Cruz by Isaac Graham, in 1843. It was driven by water, and though of limited capacity, was able to meet all the requirements made upon it. Such a contrivance for cutting lumber greatly astonished the natives, who had never seen anything of the kind before. Though all talked about "la maquina" and wondered at its performance, it excited neither jealousy nor opposition, the. ease-loving Californians being only too glad to avoid the laborious task ol getting out lumber by the old methods. The extra wages paid lumbermen were not with them so much an object as a decent excuse for shirking hard work altogether. And so this pioneer sawmill proved a good thing all round: Isaac Graham made money out of it, while los wvaqueros, through its operations, were relieved from tbe irksome toil of making lumber with the whip-saw, the beetle and tbe axe. In the fall of 1845, Captain Stephen Smith, of Baltimore, put up a sawmill on Bodega Bay, this being the second one erected in California. Captain Smith had been on this Coast before, having arrived here first in the month of May, 1841, bringing his vessel around Cape Horn. Visiting Bodega Bay at that time, and noticing the fine timber growing in the vicinity, it occurred to him that a good opening offered there for cutting lumber for the use of the Russian settlement near by, for the settlers in Sonoma Valley, and for the San Francisco and other markets further south. Returning to Baltimore by the Isthmus of Panama, he brought out on his return trip machinery for a steam sawmill, as well as a steam flouring mill, both of which were set up on the shores of Bodega Bay, the latter being used for grinding the wheat raised at the Russian settlement at Fort Ross. In connection with this enterprise, Captain Smith obtained from the Mexican Government a grant for eight leagues of land lying adjacent to the bay, much of it well timbered with redwood. A little later in the same year. General Vallejo built a sawmill in the redwoods six miles above the town of Sonoma. A good deal of lumber was made here, the occupation of the country a year later by the Americans greatly increasing the demand for this article. The following year, James Peace (sp?) built a sawmill at a point about twenty miles south of San Francisco. It was located in the redwoods in the southern part of what is now San Mateo county. Then followed the Sutter-Marshall mill, erected in the fall of 1847, on the South Fork of the American river, where stands the town of Coloma, or rather, where it did stand, for it is now nearly all washed away.....]]>
    4205 2009-07-06 18:42:36 2009-07-07 01:42:36 closed closed john-vonderlin-pioneer-sawmills-another-first-for-san-mateo publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1247415145 _edit_last 1
    The Classic Story of the Levy Brothers (1) http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/09/the-classic-story-of-the-levy-brothers-1/ Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:33:25 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4216 Note: The San Mateo County History Museum located in the Old Courthouse in Redwood City has many vintage photos of the Levy Brothers as well as documentation. An old-new story by June Morrall The "Classic" Story of the Levy Brothers (Time: Late-ish 19th century) Before help arrived to squelch the hot flames, an out-of-control blaze had engulfed  Charles Kelly and Richard Mattingly's" General Store in Half Moon Bay. The fire spread to engulf nearby M.E. Joyce's Saloon, and eyewitnesses sadly predicted that they would lose one of the only places to shop for supplies. Without an official fire department, the town’s citizens formed bucket brigades, perhaps scooping up the cool water from Pilarcitos Creek where the famous concrete bridge built in 1900 welcomes visitors into town today. As the fire burned itself out, you can imagine how store owner Charles Kelly, described “as a power in local politics,” felt staring at the remains, a charred shape of black rip rap.  But on that terrible day both he and partner Richard Mattingly said they were going to rebuild an even bigger building, two stories, 25-feet wide, with the ground floor leased to Wells Fargo Express, the post office and recently installed telegraph services from San Mateo-Half Moon Bay and Pescadero---but then 12 months later the owners threw in the towel, and put the store up for sale. Through friends,  two young brothers, Fernand and Joe Levy, recently arrived from France, learned about the business for sale and snapped it up. I don’t know where they were living at the time but it was Fernand and Joe’s dream to own a store in a small town. They came to see Kelly  and Mattingly’s business in 1872, a year when there was lots of loose talk of railroads connecting the Coastside to the buzzing city of San Francisco. Had any of these plans come to fruition, Half Moon Bay would have been the economic winner, selling wood from local sawmills for the construction of  new homes in the growing city to the north. The Coastside’s vegetables, famous for their freshness and “enormous size” would have filled the marketplace. I’m sure that Joe and Fernand were highly aware of the possibility of a railroad, any railroad, and  like other ambitious businessmen, believed it was going to happen.  With little thought of the reverse, that is, no railroad, the Levys purchased Kelly and Mattingly’s business. Both Levys possessed pleasant personalities and were easy to be around. From the moment they opened the new doors, the brothers stocked a variety of merchandise and groceries, “intended to startle the natives,” according to a newspaper report. In front, on the street, there was a display of the latest plows and mowing “machines,” and inside the dry goods included clothing---a genuine general store, said to be one of the first of many business ventures launched on the Coastside. [Part II to follow] ]]> 4216 2009-07-09 10:33:25 2009-07-09 17:33:25 closed closed the-classic-story-of-the-levy-brothers-1 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1247415020 _edit_last 1 The Classic Story of the Levy Bros (2) http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/09/the-classic-story-of-the-levy-bros-2/ Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:13:03 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4220 4220 2009-07-09 13:13:03 2009-07-09 20:13:03 closed closed the-classic-story-of-the-levy-bros-2 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1247414904 _edit_last 1 The Classic Story of the Levy Bros (3) http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/10/the-classic-story-of-the-levy-bros-3/ Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:16:20 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4223 4223 2009-07-10 08:16:20 2009-07-10 15:16:20 closed closed the-classic-story-of-the-levy-bros-3 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1247414832 _edit_last 1 The Classic Story of the Levy Bros (4) http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/10/the-classic-story-of-the-levy-bros-4/ Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:22:54 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4226 4226 2009-07-10 09:22:54 2009-07-10 16:22:54 closed closed the-classic-story-of-the-levy-bros-4 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1247414724 _edit_last 1 The Classic Story of the Levy Bros (5) http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/10/the-classic-story-of-the-levy-bros-5/ Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:52:23 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4229 4229 2009-07-10 09:52:23 2009-07-10 16:52:23 closed closed the-classic-story-of-the-levy-bros-5 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1247414646 _edit_last 1 The Classic Story of the Levy Bros. (5) The Finale http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/10/the-classic-story-of-the-levy-bros-5-the-finale/ Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:01:30 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4232 th century and in the blink of an eye the store closed, leaving one open in San Mateo, which also closed in the late 20th century. ---------------------------------------]]> 4232 2009-07-10 16:01:30 2009-07-10 23:01:30 closed closed the-classic-story-of-the-levy-bros-5-the-finale publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1247414435 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: Sympathy for the poor snails on the Cowell Trail http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/11/john-vonderlin-sympathy-for-the-poor-snails-on-the-cowell-trail/ Sun, 12 Jul 2009 02:09:46 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4238 JV42 Hi June, Here's a bit of silliness about something I've never witnessed before. It's funny how a pod of beached whales, slowly dying in a hostile environment, will bring out hordes of volunteers attempting a rescue, many with tears in their eyes. Yet the same situation, multiplied many times over if it involves snails, is invisible to our hearts, or even worse, produces a darkly humorous view of the matter. Or is that just me? Still suffering from the trauma caused by these vicious predators when I was an avid gardener? Hi June, A while ago I posted about the Cowell-to-Purissima Bluff Trail that P.O.S.T. was having built on their property south of the Ritz Carlton.ritz I recently read that financial problems have stopped the project before completion. When the opportunity arose, I visited both ends of the project and was able to see that the parking lot, the wide, all-weather path, the southerly bluff overlook, and the fencing protecting the farm fields, all seemed to be ready. Apparently, though it's hard to tell from afar, the three bridges meant to span the small canyons along the path are not doing that. When this will change, I don't know. I also viewed another sad situation that day. It's a tragic tale of a massacre, precipitating a desperate diaspora of the traumatized or injured survivors. A headlong flight that left them in a hostile environment; without food or water, vulnerable to predators, broiling in the sun, and with nowhere to go for succor. Fortunately, these victims are just common garden snails, often objects of such contempt that they are stepped on just for the pleasing sound the pop of their shells produces. But, even I, who has been known to play a form of baseball with his siblings using snails as the projectiles, upon viewing their plight, was moved to compassion, in thought, if not deed, by what I saw. Though, I must admit the E word (escargot) might have been intemperately used in jest. The morbidly curious, or extremely insensitive, or just plain hungry, who are willing to walk out to the Cowell Beach Overlook path, can also view this odd event. It first came to our attention when I noticed a shiny substance on several plants' leaves alongside the path. Peering closely, I opined that it looked like snail slime, even though that was unlikely, as this is not real snail territory. It's dry, rocky soil, with unfriendly looking low weeds, most of which had rough, spiny leaves, bound to irritate the fleshy, softness of a snail's foot. Noticing the ubiquitousness of this strange substance on nearby low shrubs, I began to investigate. I started riffling the leaves of a small bush with some of the shiny substance on it and discovered a common garden snail. Ahhh. Mystery solved? To be sure, I started looking around and apparently the snails had decided we were harmless, because they dropped their cloak of invisibility. Suddenly, they were everywhere. I could see them, alone, hanging from the weed's lower branches, bunched in groups at the stalk's base, even clustered at the top of metal poles like dead, brown Brussels sprouts still on the stalk in an abandoned field. There were thousands of them. Check this picture of a small bush: When I shook it, fifty snails dropped to the ground. Such large numbers of snails, left to survive in such a hostile environment, made no sense. Even in the most snail friendly environment, I've never seen such numbers. Was this some ecological oddity? Or another harbinger of global warming? Was a tsunami wave of snail infestation heading toward the hapless gardens of Half Moon Bay? Probably not, (as you can see in some of the pictures I've attached)  the field in the background was being prepped for planting. I believe that was the cause of this diaspora. With their Fava Bean homeland destroyed, those not immediately killed in the massacre had fled for their lives to the much drier strip of vegetation on the side of the field. I saw a number of snails that, despite parts of their shells cracked, had  crawled to the relative safety of this sun-baked, barren strip. Checking across the path, I was able to find a few who, disturbed by the crowded conditions of their refugee camp, had ventured into the even drier, weedy wasteland nearby. That clinched my faith in my analysis of this strange scene. Whether the Endangered Species Act applies to this “rare species of snails,” endowed with the power of invisibility, I don't know.  But, if I could get a grant, I would be glad to go there and rescue several five- gallon buckets of them. I'd bring them home, get them back to good health with cornmeal, and spritz them regularly. Then I'd release them in a far, far better place then they've ever been before, a savory Land of Milk and Honey, sometimes called Garlic and ButterLand.   Enjoy. John]]> 4238 2009-07-11 19:09:46 2009-07-12 02:09:46 closed closed john-vonderlin-sympathy-for-the-poor-snails-on-the-cowell-trail publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_last 1 _edit_lock 1247414539 Pescadero Trivia....The dentist visits & a monster wave captures the stage http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/12/pescadero-trivia/ Sun, 12 Jul 2009 11:37:12 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4260 December 1899: Dr. Davis, the popular dentist, is at the Swanton House. Swanton House management will soon change and an Italian will be the new manager. ---------------------- March 1, no year. [This story appears to be written in haste....] From the Call Bulletin. Santa Cruz. Stage Topples Into the Sea Wave Carries Disaster to the Pescadero Coach 20 miles up the coast the stage roads along the beach, which at high tide is often covered by water. Yesterday the ocean was higher than at any time in 35 years. When driver James Harvey reached this point a monster wave dashed against the stage and captured it. For two hours the horses, Harvey, and his single passenger, William Steele, floundered in the cold water of the Pacific. Both men are good swimmers. The horses were cut loose and found their way to dry land. Help arrived and after several hours the stage was turned over. The iron rim around the hub struck the rocks with such a terrific force that it bent like tin..... ]]> 4260 2009-07-12 04:37:12 2009-07-12 11:37:12 closed closed pescadero-trivia publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1247583982 _edit_last 1 Italian Dinners at the Lobitos Station House http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/12/italian-dinners-at-the-lobitos-station-house/ Sun, 12 Jul 2009 16:05:51 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4215 ]]> 4215 2009-07-12 09:05:51 2009-07-12 16:05:51 closed closed italian-dinners-at-the-lobitos-station-house publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1247415073 _edit_last 1 A Little History of Hewlett-Packard/Plus Terman's IQ Test http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/12/a-little-history-of-hewlett-packard/ Mon, 13 Jul 2009 02:16:20 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4282 A History of Hewlett & Packard An old-new story by June Morrall In 1963 William R. Hewlett and David Packard made Fortune magazine’s list of America’s “Centimillionaires,” millionaires 100 times over. The enormous success of the former Stanford University electrical engineering students began in a modest one-car garage in Palo Alto in 1939---the birthplace of Hewlett-Packard Co. Born a year apart---Hewlett in 1913 and Packard in 1912—the pair met as classmates who tinkered with devices in the engineering department laboratories at Stanford. Playing varsity football sharpened their sense of competition and teamwork. After graduation, Hewlett entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Packard took a “safe” job with General Electric at its Schenectady, New York labs. Stanford engineering professor Frederick Terman acutely felt the loss of Hewlett and Packard as he had taken a special interest in the two young men. Terman, son of the developer of the famous Stanford-Binet Intelligence Quotient (IQ) test, tired of losing so many of his gifted engineering students to the East Coast, where employment was more readily available. Committed to stemming the “brain drain,” Terman obtained electrical engineering fellowships for Hewlett and Packard in 1938, successfully luring them back to Stanford. In an electrical engineering seminar led by Terman, Hewlett designed the circuitry for an audio oscillator, an electrical instrument that tested sound equipment. Although other oscillators existed, Hewlett’s model surpassed them all in every respect. For these reasons, the visionary Terman saw great commercial potential in the new oscillator, urging Hewlett and Packard to manufacture the devices in Palo Alto. As the course of their lives changed, Packard, who hailed from Colorado, met Lucile Salter on the campus and the couple soon wed. Hewlett, the son of the dean of the Medical School, married graduate student Flora Lamson. Encouraged by their mentor, Professor Terman, Hewlett and Packard started their business on a part-time basis in the one car garage behind the apartments they rented on Addison Avenue in Palo Alto in 1939. Lucile Packard pitched in as the company’s secretary. Terman had a surefire test on the progress of his students’ business enterprise. “If the car was in the garage,” Terman said in a 1973 interview, “there was no backlog. But if the car was in the driveway, business was good.” By 1940 the new firm expanded into part of a cabinet shop on El Camino in Palo Alto. At the outset, HP, as the company was called, focused on developing high-tech products sold mainly to other companies, rather than directly to the consumer. One of the engineering student’s first big was to Walt Disney Studios, which purchased eight audio oscillators for the soundtrack of the 1940 Academy Award-winning animated film, “Fantasia.” Terman, later vice president of Stanford, initiated the practice of exposing young scientists to the world of commerce, and promoted collaboration between the university and fledgling high-tech companies. In the 1950s  hundreds of acres of farmland owned by the university were leased to high-tech companies on very favorable terms. HP, manufacturing electronic test instruments sold worldwide, led the parade into the newly developed Stanford Research Park. Terman stopped the “brain drain,” demonstrating that the university’s most promising students could find work close to their homes on the beautiful Peninsula, free of sooty smokestacks and old factory buildings, symbolic of decaying East Coast industrial areas. William and Flora Hewlett chose to reside in Palo Alto with their five children. David and Lucile Packard , and their four children, lived on acreage in the Los Altos Hills, surrounded by luscious apricot orchards. An outdoorsman, Hewlett enjoyed skiing while Packard chugged around his orchards atop a trailer, or puttered in the vegetable garden. The Peninsula’s easy lifestyle carried over to HP’s workplace, contrasting with the East Coast’s rigid formalities. At HP, there was a sense of openness, office dress was casual and everybody was on a first name basis. Both Hewlett and Packard became trustees at Stanford University. But David Packard was singled out for government service when he accepted the nomination as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense in President Nixon’s first administration in 1969---a time when the Vietnam War bitterly divided the country. Before the Senate confirmed Packard, Tennessee Sen. Albert Gore challenged the appointment, charging that Packard’s $300 million worth of HP stock presented a conflict of interest, as the company did business with the Pentagon and defense contractors. Following precedent, Packard placed the stock into a charitable trust: the dividends benefited the Castilleja School Foundation in Palo Alto, Menlo College, the Stanford Children’s Convalescent Hospital and other worthwhile institutions. Packard’s tenure as deputy defense secretary during the Vietnam War was rocky, and he resigned three years later. Bill Hewlett was also a target of the anti-war movement. Then president of the electronics firm, Hewlett faced death threats in 1969; his Palo Alto home was firebombed two years later. While Packard gave speeches at local Republican political events in the 1970s, often heckled by anti-war protestors, HP was becoming an important manufacturer in the exploding area of mini-computers and calculators. In 1972 HP introduced a sophisticated handmade calculator with a $395 price tag; every young accountant and engineer yearned for one and the product had no serious competition for two years. What followed was a pattern the consumer has grown accustomed to: the price of calculators dropped to $20 or even less. Co-founder David Packard died in 1996; William Hewlett passed away 2001. ---------------------------------------- [In the story above I mention Dr. Frederick Terman. Terman's father was Dr. Lewis Madison Terman, credited with developing the IQ test. Below is his story.] Binet Before the work of Dr. Lewis Madison Terman the two letters IQ meant little to anyone. But by the time of the psychologist's death in 1956, the world-renowned intelligence test expert had so popularized the abbreviation of intelligence quotient that it was a household expression. As part of his legacy he launched a pathbreaking continuing long term study of 1,528 super-bright California school kids in the early 1920s. With the assistance of teams of researchers, Terman's project was the first of its kind. His ambitious goal was to track the ups and downs in the lives of precocious kids with IQs above 135, from age 10 through maturity and beyond. Terman's educational background prepared him well for what became his life's work. He was born in Indiana in 1877, attended Indiana University and received his doctorate from Clark University in Massachusetts in 1905, the only place in America where Sigmund Freud, the famous Viennese psychiatrist, visited and spoke. Clark University was in the forefront, staying abreast of the latest ideas in psychology, especially child psychology. This exciting atmosphere helped shape Terman's future academic career. It was there that he was most likely influenced to debunk the widely popular belief that brilliant children tended to be sickly and anti-social. Young Terman was deeply interested in the work of 19th century French psychologist, Albert Binet. The author of a book of 35 tests published in the early 1900s, Binet was credited as the founder of intelligence tests. But the two men approached intelligence testing from opposite directions. While Binet hoped his tests would ultimately be used to detect slower children needing special classes, Terman was setting his sights on the study of gifted kids, believing they needed accelerated programs. Before coming to Stanford in 1910, Terman taught at high schools in Indiana and Southern California. Four years later he was named an associate professor of education at Stanford and a professor of psychology in 1916. That year, Terman's book, "The Measurement of Intelligence," was published, quickly becoming the "bible" of child psychologists everywhere. "The Measurement of Intelligence" showcased 90 different tests whereby the child's performance could be judged against a mental age. For example, a 6-year-old who scored at an 8-year-old's mental level, graded high. Scores above 135 represent the top 1 percent of the population, often considered genius. Terman's book inspired the famous Stanford revision of the Binet Intelligence Test used throughout the country to determine a child's IQ. The important book brought Terman welcome recognition, and during WWI he served as a major with the surgeon general's staff, helping revise the Army's intelligence testing program. It has been said that Alfred Binet gave his own children the IQ tests he was developing, and years later when Terman had settled down to academic life at Stanford he had done the same with his offspring. Regarded by all as a good-natured fellow, Terman once joked that his own children were always a bit bored with the tests. "The would say, figuratively speaking, Terman recall in a 1937 interview, "Ho hum! Here comes Daddy with some more of those nutty questions! We'd better humor him, though." He quipped that he had better luck with his grandchildren who came running and begged for more tests." Certainly Terman's son, Frederick, who was born in 1900, was prototypical of the precocious lad who grew up in the privileged university campus environment. He knew the names of all the birds, a challenging feat for older boys, and by the time he was a teenager demonstrated a strong talent for science, especially radio, constructing his own set enabling him to communicate with ships at sea. (During WWII, he operated a radio lab at Harvard mandated to confuse enemy radar.) Terman was proud of his son, Frederick, who received degrees from  Stanford and  the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) before joining Stanford's electrical engineering faculty in 1925. Later, Frederick became chairman of the engineering department and provost of the university. He encouraged students like William R. Hewlett and David Packard to develop their innovative ideas. Considered the prime mover behind Northern California's place at the center of the electronics revolution, Terman helped students turn their scientific theories into real-world products --and to locate their facilities at Stanford Industrial Park, close to the university's classrooms and labs. By 1937 Lewis and Frederick Terman were one of the few father-son members of the National Academy of Science. Lewis Terman's study of gifted kids was first born at Clark University but later kindled at Stanford where the psychologist became known as 'the man who measures minds." The long term he started up in the early 1920s involving the 1,528 California schoolchildren with IQs above 135 closely monitored the lives of the "Termites," as they were sometimes called, and would evolve into a record-breaking project. The timing was right for Terman's study. In the 1920s Americans were mesmerized by everything scientific, and psychology, the youngest "science," seized their imaginations. A regimen of regular testing and personal interviews, conducted by researchers, followed the "Termites," eliciting information about their careers, health, marriage, social life and more. When the study began, no one could have anticipated that this group would live through both a Depression and WWII. Although the names of the test subjects were kept under lock and key, over the years there were rumors that among them numbered a famous movie star, a science fiction writer and an Academy Award -winning motion picture director. When Terman became professor emeritus in 1942, his experiment had set a record for a long-time study of schoolchildren. In a speech before members of the National Vocational Guidance Center in San Francisco, he divulged the following data collected about his "kids." 1. Basic intelligence has little to do with the ability to make money--some with the highest IQs had relatively little earning power. 2. The divorce rate of 11 percent is perhaps a little below the average of comparable age in California. 3. The unemployment record throughout the depression was low for this group. Those who could not find the kind of jobs they wanted nearly always managed to get something to tide them over. 4. Housewives and women who are in the job market differ little in intelligence scores, those doing office work rate no lower than those in professions. 5. After school days were behind them, the vast majority of women ceased to compete with men in intellectual pursuits. Women who accepted employment outside the home wanted cash more than a career. Five years following Terman's speech, "The Gifted Child Grows Up," the fourth book in a series, was published by Terman and Melita H. Oden. Terman concluded that gifted children had a much better chance of an effective life upon maturity, both socially and economically, but that there was little tendency for them to get rich or attain celebrity status. While 90 percent of the gifted group entered college and 70 percent graduated, their average income was not "spectacularly superior," according to newspaper accounts. As to the state of their health, they were healthier and had a lower death rate than average. In an interview, Terman said he had discovered no Newtons, Galileos or Darwins among the 20 or 30 young scientists in his group. "The group includes several authors of promise," he said, but no prospective Shakespeares, Goethes or Tolstoys. Nor were any future Rembrandts detected among the artists or an Lockes or Kants among the philosophers. As time passed, Terman's unshakeable belief in the special status of his gifted kids and the intelligence that defined them was often challenged. He sharply disagreed with Allison Davis, a professor of education at the University of Chicago, who insisted IQ tests were invalid, meaningless and no representative. Terman was working on the fifth volume in the series on his study when he fell ill and died at age 79 in Palo Alto in 1956. Since Terman's death, his monumental thesis continues to be monitored at Stanford. [As of 2000.] Lewis Terman was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Philosophical Society. He was an honorary member of the British Psychological Society and a fellow of the Educational Institute of Scotland. An article by Daniel Goleeman in the February 1980 "Psychology Today" magazine, and his later blockbuster book, "Emotional Intelligence," together bring focus and controversy to the subject of testing. IQ tests remain a hot button issue and continue to be widely criticized for being invalid in determining ability and future intellectual accomplishment. Some educators and psychologists have also contended that IQ tests create rivalries between race and the sexes. Today, there is a tendency to treat the subject of intelligence testing with extreme caution. However, these criticisms do not detract from Terman's work at Stanford, and the "granddaddy of all life-span research" may yet provide greater insights into intelligence when the last "Termite" dies and the final are written (unless they have already been written.] [more coming later] ]]> 4282 2009-07-12 19:16:20 2009-07-13 02:16:20 closed closed a-little-history-of-hewlett-packard publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1251512404 _edit_last 1 1960s: Writer Dave Holleman: I Knew Tunitas Creek Painter Sheri Martinelli http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/12/1960s-dave-holleman-i-knew-tunitas-creek-painter-sheri-martinelli/ Mon, 13 Jul 2009 02:37:19 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4284 Sheri Martinelli during the early sixties.  A couple of friend's of mine had been renting a cabin overlooking the ocean near Tunitas Creek.  For some reason or other they decided to give it up and asked me if I would be interested in renting it.  They arranged for me to meet the owner in a hotel on Mason right off Market.  His name was Clark and I agreed to rent the place for $20.00 per month. When you turned off the hi way you came down a slight incline and there were cabins to the right of the entrance road and cabins to the right.  The ones on the right were a bit more upscale than the ones on the left where my cabin was.  I believe there were six cabins on that side.  Mine was the second from the right and Sheri and Gilbert's was the last one.  However, time may have clouded my memory about this. Sheri and I visited together many times and I also became friends with Gilbert.  I am going to compress the recollections of our meetings into one narrative. These cabins were rustic to say the least as there was no power or water.  Sheri and Gilbert were the only full time residents of our little enclave.  I only went down to my place on the weekends as I was busy trying to keep myself together running a very small trucking company I owned.  One Saturday morning she and I almost literally bumped into each other on our way to the community toilet.  There was a side for men and one for women and both were blessed with power and water. Sheri was probably in her early forties.  She was wearing a very loose dress that went all the way down to her feet.  She had no makeup on and her hair was pulled back and held together somehow at the back of her head.  She was not unattractive at all and excluded a presence about her that was captivating to me.  I was in the bathroom facilities for a few minutes and when I came out she was there waiting for me.  She introduced herself (her name meant nothing at the time) and asked me my name.  Then she asked me if I would like to come down to her place for tea. My cabin consisted of only two small rooms, but hers was about twice the size.  Our cabins shared one thing in common though and that was the manner and style of the furnishings.  Early Salvation Army!  Sheri had a little two burner stove furled by propane and she soon had water boiling for our tea.  While the water was heating she gave me  a tour of her place and she was most proud of a huge montage hanging on the wall.  It must have been about 4'x4' and was a cork board with a cheap wooden frame around it to hold it together.  The montage consisted of at least two hundred various photos and cut outs from magazines and newspapers. After making tea she returned to the montage and began pointing to certain pictures and then relating a vignette about the person (s) in the photo.  There were pictures of Pound, of course, and many who were the cadre of the beat generation whose names I recognized.  She was extremely proud of her creation and told me that she continued to add to it from time to time. There was a small alcove where she kept a sort of duplicating machine which produced blue letters.  It was not a mimeograph as it didn't use ink but I cannot recall the name.  Anyway she occasionally printed a little newsletter which she mailed out to a lot of people.  She told me that she mailed her newsletter to people around the states including some in Mexico.  I believe she mentioned Bowen as he was a painter like her. We spent a lot of time in her back yard near the precipice of the cliff with the ocean a couple of hundred feet below.  She had many little items she had placed in the crooks of branches in some of the Cypress trees, such as little bronze Buddhas or miniature tea sets, and she had a story to tell about them all; just like the pictures in the montage.  Sometimes we would drink tea but usually it was wine.  I have read accounts of Sheri by a couple of people and they say she was a loud and obnoxious drunk, but I never say any of that and goodness knows we drank enough to get there.  If anything, it seemed to me, she would be a little melancholy, especially talking about her earlier life.  I think she was particularly proud of her kinship with Pound and told me several times that he called her "La Martinelli."  She showed me a passage from a biography of his where she was mentioned and it referred to his nickname for her. Many times, during our wine drinking, the subject of sex would arise. She was very free about discussing it on vivid terms. I was about 25 at the time and was attracted to her and I think she was attracted to me, but neither of us ever made a move, although I am sure it would have happened had one of us had initiated it. There was a lot of mutual respect and friendship between us and I think we both felt that clandestine sex would have spoiled it, and we were probably right Gilbert was working as a mechanic and commuted six days a week so I did not spend as much time with him as I did Sheri.  He was a handsome man and tended to be on the quiet side.  I never heard a cross word pass between them.  Sheri related a tale to me that is worth passing on about Gilbert and her painting.  I don't know how but she had been commissioned to do a painting of St. Xavier for Xavier University in Cincinnati and she used Gilbert as a model.  The university made a show about the unveiling having the painting hung behind a velvet curtain and Sheri was in attendance along with her mother.  When the curtain was pulled aside her mother exclaimed, "why, it's good old Gi..." but catching herself in time went on: "good old St. Xavier." She was an accomplished and talented painter, and I admired her work very much.  One day we were sitting in her back yard, drinking white wine when she told me she had a surprise for me.  She walked into the house and for a minute I thought she was going to come out sans her mu mu.  Instead she came back with one of her paintings and gave it to me.  It was about 3 1/2' by 3'.  It was beautiful, a picture of houses across a street as seen through a gauzy lace curtain, on a window, that was caught in a gentle breeze.  The houses were like those seen in Pacific Heights, and she told me that was the case.  She had painted it when they lived in S.F.  The picture was unframed with the canvas just tacked to the frame.  I loved it.  But like so many things in my checkered life I let it slip away. Soon after that I moved on to Alaska and many other places of the world trying to satisfy the wanderlust that I knew.  I never saw her again. Many years later I was living in Washington state and was driving down to Southern California to visit friends.  I made it a point to stop around noon time at the Cliff House to enjoy a great lunch, a bottle of white wine and the magnificent view.  I continued down the hiway and stopped at the entrance to the cabins near Tunitis Creek.  There was a huge barrier across the road and I could go no further than the side of the hiway.  I think the cabins were still there but I could not be sure as the Cypress trees had grown so much.  I felt a great wash of nostalgia and I thought of Sheri and all of the pleasant times we had spent together. June, I hope this has been of interest to you.  I enjoyed brushing away the cobwebs of my memory about Sheri.  She was, in may ways, quite remarkable. I was on the periphery of some things in S.F. of note.  I briefly managed a band called "Teddy and George and the Condors."  They played at the famous (infamous) Condor club in North Beach where Carol Doda exposed her boobs.  She and I knew each other for a brief interlude.  I also knew Marty Balin, and Ralph Mathis.  By the way Marty Balin, while a great musician, in my opinion, was a better artist. I am a wannabe writer.  I am working on a memoir and a novel.  I also write country songs and a few poems.  Haven't tried to get anything published and am sure I lack the talent to do that.  But it is fun anyway. My best to you.  I enjoy reading your work. Dave]]> 4284 2009-07-12 19:37:19 2009-07-13 02:37:19 closed closed 1960s-dave-holleman-i-knew-tunitas-creek-painter-sheri-martinelli publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1247453340 _edit_last 1 Adventurer John Vonderlin Discovers Peacock Rock and Ice Plant Arch http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/14/adventurer-john-vonderlin-discovers-peacock-rock-and-ice-plant-arch/ Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:30:55 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4292 PareidoliicSeal

    Just beyond Sandy, as you climb across the precarious cliffside, is Peacock Rock, a large spherical concretion, filligreed with a complex of tafoni holes in a peacock-tailspread imitation. Note in the picture from behind how the concretion is almost like a gem mounted in a setting. Note too, the strange ripples in the dark material that forms the base under the concretion. It reminds me of some confectionary event, that I can't quite recall. I believe the weight of the concretion as it formed in a saturated layer of sand created the squishy look of it, but I'm not sure why this feature is so rare. Peacock Rock PeacockRock Peacock Rock close-up CloseupPeacockRock Peacock Rock Rear View (below)rearviewpeacockrock and Close-up base of concretion closeupconcretion Just south of Peacock Rock are strange slabs of hard, brown rock that seem to be of volcanic origin, in contrast to the sandstone found everywhere else along this stretch. Just a few feet further along, a layer of this type of rock forms a type of arch I've never seen along our coast.  It is the hard capstone, lying atop the softer sandstone that has been eroded away beneath it, that forms the arch.  Note the ice plant dangling across the arch's opening. This is the only coastal sea arch I know of that has this feature. Because of that I'm naming it "Ice Plant Arch." plantarch underplantarch Along with all of these oddities in this stretch are numerous other tafoni structures and a few other concretionary features. Amongst those are deep, tafoni-in-tafoni specimens and a simple example of the rare boxwork type. All things considered, this certainly rates as one of the best fifty feet of coastal geology I know of, and the relative ease of access to it, makes this a two-thumbs-up destination. Enjoy. John Close-up Tafoni-in-Tafoni Tafonicloseup boxworkBoxwork]]>
    4292 2009-07-14 08:30:55 2009-07-14 15:30:55 closed closed adventurer-john-vonderlin-discovers-peacock-rock-and-ice-plant-arch publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1247585460 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: 1864: All About William Waddell http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/14/john-vonderlin-1864-all-about-william-waddell/ Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:31:29 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4305 Santa Cruz Sentinel (April 16, 1864) stated that: W. W. Waddell & Co. of Santa Cruz have been engaged, for more than two years last past, in extensive preparations for manufacturing lumber. Their situation is below New Years' Point on the Casa del Ursa, more familiarly known as Waddell's Creek. There are fine bodies of timber around the sources of all streams that flow into the Pacific between Santa Cruz and Pescadero, but the belt of timber upon Waddell's Creek is more extensive and compact than any other. This enterprising firm commenced by building a steam mill, about two and a half miles from the coast, and an expensive road between these two points. They also constructed a wharf, into the ocean, which they intended should be a thousand feet long. After this wharf was nearly completed but had not yet reached a depth of water sufficient to admit of loading vessels it was found that a ridge of rock prevented driving piles any farther out into the ocean, and the wharf was abandoned. They then built a road from this wharf along the coast two and a half miles, and from this point commenced the construction of another wharf about 700 feet long. In the construction of these wharves and roads they have used 100,000 feet of lumber, and have expended about $50,000. The lumber was sawed at their mill. The W. W. Waddell & Co. of Santa Cruz has the most extensive lumbering establishment south of San Francisco. To convey his lumber to the wharf, Waddell built a five mile horse tramway between the mouth of the creek and Punta del Año Nuevo (New Year's Point), designed in as straight a line as possible. This followed the course of the stream, with twelve bridges crossing its meandering channel. The mill was located on high ground between the confluence of the east and west forks of the creek, known from then until now as Waddell Creek. A large number of men were employed]]> 4305 2009-07-14 17:31:29 2009-07-15 00:31:29 closed closed john-vonderlin-1864-all-about-william-waddell publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1247617895 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: These Guys Saw It First.... http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/15/john-vonderlin-these-guys-saw-it-first/ Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:40:10 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4311 1.2.1 THE VIEW FROM THE SEA Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, November 1542 Cabrillo’s account includes a brief mention of the North Coast including the fact that they saw “neither Native Americans nor smokes” (Wagner, 1929). Cabrillo’s emphasis that trees came right down to the water at other locations (Point Reyes, Point Pinos) suggests that the coastal terrace near present-day Año Nuevo had few if any trees. Sebastian Cermeño, December 1595 In December 1595, Spanish explorer Sebastian Cermeño sailed southward along the coastline in a makeshift canoe. He was much more definite about the appearance of the land: “ In going along very close to land, frequently only a musket-shot from it, all that may be seen is bare land near the sea and pine and oak timber in the high country. No smokes or fires appeared .” (Wagner, 1929) Francisco de Bolaños, 1603 Spanish pilot Francisco de Bolaños was with Cermeño and returned with Captain Sebastian Vizcaíno in the 1603 passage that was the occasion to name Año Nuevo. Bolaños wrote the description that would be the guide for all Spanish ship captains for the next 150 years. His description of the coastline south of Point Reyes: “ From the Punta de los Reyes about fourteen leagues southeast a quarter south there is a point [probably Pigeon Point]. Before reaching it the country consists in places of sierra, bare to the sea and of medium height with some cliffs, but soon the country inside [inland] becomes massive and wooded until you reach a point of low land in 37 ½ degrees named the ‘Punta de Año Neuvo.” To emphasis the distinctiveness of Point Pinos on the south side of Monterey Bay, Bolaños noted that the forests there covered the land “ down to the sea itself.” (Wagner, 1929) ---------------------------------]]> 4311 2009-07-15 03:40:10 2009-07-15 10:40:10 closed closed john-vonderlin-these-guys-saw-it-first publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1247654532 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: Whaleman's Harbor http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/16/john-vonderlin-whalemans-harbor/ Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:43:04 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4322 JV2 JV45 Apparently, the deeper waters of the "harbor" are caused by the Whaleman's Harbor Anticline, just south of it. Those deeper waters allowed a boat towing a dead whale to approach close to the coast, from where the whale could be winched to the beach. While researching this activity, shore whaling, I came upon an amazing online document from 1923 called " A History of California Shore Whaling" by Edwin Stark  content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt7t1nb2f7 or use its title. Here's what it says about local whaling stations: Half Moon Bay Whaling Station "This station was started about 1860 or 1861, and in a couple of years moved to Pigeon Point, after which another company was organized here. Scammon lists it as existing in 1874, and it was abandoned some time in the eighties. The station was situated on the point known as Pillar Point. Pigeon Point The station at Halfmoon Bay moved to Pigeon Point about 1862. It was situated on the point near the lighthouse. Captain J. F. Bennett, landing from a whaling voyage, took command and retained it for many years. Goode's "Fishery Industries" supplies the information that Captain Anderson, upon leaving the Portuguese Bend station, came to Pigeon Point in 1877, but whether he brought his company with him or took over Captain Bennett's company is not stated. He only stayed two years, and then moved with the entire company to Cojo Viejo, near Point Conception. After this Captain Perry commanded a station here until about 1895 when it was abandoned. Col. A. S. Evans, in "Sketches of the Golden State," 1873, describes Pigeon Point station, giving the results of the current year and the one before. Mr. Noon, of Monterey, stated that the company that had its station at Macabees Beach, on Monterey Bay, later moved to Pigeon Point." But, what the document lacks in local details, it makes up for in very detailed descriptions of every facet of this incredibly hazardous occupation. And it has lots of pictures of the stations that ought to shake up any Marine Mammal lover. Having actually visited a whaling station on Hudson Bay, near Fort Churchill in 1968, and watched a small whale be dragged by a cable from a bloody cove into a open air shed where it was processed, I can empathize. The whale could only be converted into canned pet food because of the unsanitary conditions at the station and the smell, caked gore and huge bins of bloody parts, made that a good thing as far as I was concerned. Here are a few pictures: JV50JV51 JV52JV53 and an excerpt of a typical shore whaling expedition from the Shore Whaling paper: "A Monterey guide book of 1875 gives a very good picture of bay whaling at that time: "At the first streak of dawn the whalers man their boat, six to a boat, and proceed to the whaling ground near Point Pinos. Here they lay on their oars and carefully scan the water for a spout. Suddenly one sees the wished-for column of mist, and cries out, 'there she blows!' Then all is activity and the boat is headed for the whale and the guns are made ready to fire. When within a short distance of the animal the oars are peaked and the boat is propelled by paddles so as not to disturb the wary whale. Having arrived within shooting distance, which is about forty yards, the harpoon, connected with a long line, is fired into whatever part of the animal is visible. Down goes the whale, the line, with a turn around the loggerhead of the boat, being allowed to run out for several hundred yards, when it is held fast. The whale generally makes a direct course for the open ocean, dragging the boat with almost lightning rapidity. Soon, however, it becomes weary and comes to the surface to breathe; now is the golden opportunity; the boat approaches as near as possible and a bomb lance is fired. In case this enters a vital part, the animal dies instantly, but oftener it does not, and the same maneuvering as before is repeated until two or three bombs have been shot before the animal is killed. It is then towed to the try works, where the blubber is rendered into oil. Sometimes the whale will sink as soon as killed; should such be the case, a buoy is attached to the line, and the animal is left until the generation of gases in its body causes it to rise, which usually occurs in from three to nine days."  And to think the oil industry put an end to this nasty business. Enjoy. John]]> 4322 2009-07-16 14:43:04 2009-07-16 21:43:04 closed closed john-vonderlin-whalemans-harbor publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1247780655 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: Blocking Power of the Waddell Bluff http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/16/john-vonderlin-blocking-power-of-the-waddell-bluff/ Thu, 16 Jul 2009 23:39:25 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4333 “Two days of this expedition were the most difficult. The second day on the road one has to travel along the beach very close to the water and this can only be done when the tide is low. The day we passed the sea was quite choppy. Neither Arana nor I knew the road so when we went onto the beach we figured it was all right because when a very big wave came up, it only reached the horses’ hooves. So we rode on about 300 varas 10, experiencing two very bad spots because of some rocks, when the very rough sea began to wash over us up to the pommel of our saddles. We didn’t deliberate in making a decision—to go back was clearly dangerous because the rocks were now under water and we couldn’t see the openings between them so we resolved to continue forward to look for some pass where we could go up, for the waves had us pinned against a fairly high cliff. We went on walking for about 200 varas until we found a foot path to ascend and assoon as we were safe we undressed completely to put our clothes to dry because the waves had knocked us down three times, horses and all, so we had to dismount and pull them forcibly. We got out at ten in the morning and as soon as we finished stretching out our clothing and the saddles, we sat down naked on the grass to lunch on the supplies we brought which were now also soup.”]]> 4333 2009-07-16 16:39:25 2009-07-16 23:39:25 closed closed john-vonderlin-blocking-power-of-the-waddell-bluff publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1247787718 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: Ocean Shore RR Dreamin' http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/19/john-vonderlin-ocean-shore-rr-dreamin/ Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:19:45 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4336 [Image: "The Ocean Shore Railway is developing San Francisco and Santa Cruz  and the country between. It is an enterprise of merit and one which will make business in this section of the state for everybody, and it is entitled to the best consideration on the part of progressive people interested in the welfare of San Francisco. Ocean Shore Bonds are sold on installments--$100 bonds for $97 --$17 down and $10 a month, or $93 for cash." ] Hi June, This large Ocean Shore Railway ad from the January 4th, 1909 issue of "The Call," has a few interesting things in it. That is besides, the never-to-be hopes of the company's boosters captured in this drawing. First I noticed in their dreams, I could have stepped off the train at "Coburn's Hotel," at Pebble Beach for a pleasant stay. And surely, you could see the vast Purisima (sic) oil fields as you chugged by them. And you could stop at Ebalstone between Vallemar and Rockaway Beach. That's new to me. You are the only person on the Internet who has written about it. I see that was the Ebalstone and Ransome Quarry. Oddly, "Ebal" is Hebrew for stone. There is also a ton of well-reasoned text in this ad that lays out the state of the OSR and all the reasons why success is assured for their efforts. This is too nice a drawing to ruin, though. Any railroadman seeing this would know the Coastside was ripe for the Iron Horse's brand of development. One hundred years later, I can still see why and yet know why not. Enjoy. John O1O2O3]]> 4336 2009-07-19 06:19:45 2009-07-19 13:19:45 closed closed john-vonderlin-ocean-shore-rr-dreamin publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1248009752 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: Will he re-enter the "Fordbidden Zone?" http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/21/john-vonderlin-will-he-re-enter-the-fordbidden-zone/ Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:25:13 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4344 California Coastal Records Project website is an interesting view, ever so different from the water level photos I've sent you. That tiny gap, shown in Gordon's Chute's foundation rock, is the lowspot I've sent photos of, and hopefully a feasible route into the cove to the north during extreme low tides. Enjoy. John P.S. I thought you might enjoy seeing some stuff without feeling you need to do some work related to it, so I'm going to send a few things like this,  By the way, could that sinuous road be the old stage road?

    FZ

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    4344 2009-07-21 07:25:13 2009-07-21 14:25:13 closed closed john-vonderlin-will-he-re-enter-the-fordbidden-zone publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1248186851 _edit_last 1
    Joel Bratman: Travel Vicariously http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/22/joel-bratman-travel-vicariously-2/ Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:37:04 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4349 http://www.pbase.com/trut_maluglist/foxen_canyon_road Montana de Oro State Park, near Morro Bay: http://www.pbase.com/trut_maluglist/montana_de_oro Enjoy! - Joel]]> 4349 2009-07-22 16:37:04 2009-07-22 23:37:04 closed closed joel-bratman-travel-vicariously-2 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1248782981 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: Opinions on Beach Closures and He Meets Author Rob Tillitz http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/22/john-vonderlin-opinions-on-beach-closures-and-he-meets-author-rob-tillitz/ Thu, 23 Jul 2009 01:04:28 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4351 Hi June, Budget problems have caused there to be threats of closure of every level of Parks. Arnie threatened to close more then half of the State's.  San Mateo will be hurting too, and may close County Parks. For locals it may be a two-edged sword. While less people will come out to the beach parks if they are chained shut, more people will create there own routes to the beach, vandalism may increase at shuttered sites, problematic parking will increase, and with no trash service, littering will for sure. I'm sure business people are scared about the decline in visitors and the cash they bring. Whether this all happens is up in the air, but nothing should happen until the Fall. I went to Rob's booksigning at the Country Store in Pescadero. Town was jammed, something I usually try to avoid encountering. But, it was nice to sit and talk with him and his girlfriend (?) Barbara. He has deep local roots obviously, given some of the folks  that stopped, talked and got a signed copy of his book. Being an outsider, I only knew of most of them, but he'd worked with, for, or grew up with them all. I've attached a few pictures I took. As you can see I was battling the bright sun behind him. While he was enjoying himself, I couldn't help but think how flacking a book could get tiring real fast. After you've touched in with family, friends, associates, and their communities it's on to: serail strangers in serial strange places. The sameness would contrast poorly with the uniqueness of the creative actions to bring your work into existence. But money and success are powerful lures. Enjoy. John --
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    4351 2009-07-22 18:04:28 2009-07-23 01:04:28 closed closed john-vonderlin-opinions-on-beach-closures-and-he-meets-author-rob-tillitz publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1248311068 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin: Unhappy, Unpaid Ocean Shore Laborers http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/24/john-vonderlin-unhappy-unpaid-ocean-shore-laborers/ Sat, 25 Jul 2009 01:36:26 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4354 suedwages

    Story from John Vonderlin Email John (benloudman@sbcglobal.net) Hi June, Here's an article that has a little piece of the complex puzzle of why the Ocean Shore Railroad failed. I was  happy to see the employees of the Unemployed co-operative   league, my favorite union, getting involved in this, no matter the irony. My guess is this story is more complex then the plaintiff's lawyer asserts. With few banks, little literacy(signed with an X)  and a "Wild West" scene at the labor camps with saloons, gambling, extortion, prostitution, and violent crime,  having paychecks become legal tender is problematic. And how Mr. Genatto, the "humblest citizen," the man who did the hard work, is protected by Mr. Backus being able to cash his check, I'm not quite sure. He may may have accepted it for gambling losses, a night's drunken binge-ing or other misguided pleasureseeking. On the other hand, after working a long, hard day at a dangerous job, to have the company make me wait until I could go to San Francisco, (or HMB) to get that whole dollar I earned, burning a hole in my pocket, might irritate workers hankering to spend it on some of the fine entertainment I mentioned.. I will agree with the lawyer that earning $1 a day, for backbreaking dangerous work, makes one a member of the "humblest citizen" class. But, ironically, those humblest of citizens, at least got fully paid, unlike almost all of the investors and many of the contractors and suppliers of the Ocean Shore Railroad.  Enjoy. John OCEAN SHORE ROAD SUED FOR WAGES Test Case Will Be Made Against Time Check System by Co-operative League Attorney Denounces Railway Company and Threatens to Go the Limit in Court As a test case in the campaign against  the  time - check system, - suit was filed in the justice  court yesterday by Backus, a member of the Unemployed co-operative league against the Ocean Shore railway company for a claim of $29.50. The time check was .made payable to^ A. A Genatto,  a  laborer, and after passing through .various hands was as- signed finally to  Backus,  who declared in his complaint, that he was unable to collect.  The check, according  to the data on its face, was payable April 15, 1909, for 30 days' work, done, during the month of December 1908, at the rate of $1 a-day. Of the total amount 50 cents was deducted for hospital service. (What! no health care benefits?) Attorney G.B. Benham, representing the plaintiff, said that the case was a test one. "We are anxious to find out," he  said, "by what right these firms refuse to pay their  workmen,  and whether or not they have a legal ground for their  action. This is the first case and it will be followed  by scores: of others." Backus, was emphatic in his denun- ciation. "The present instance," he said, "is one of many, but it has been selected for prosecution because of its aggravated character.  We propose to go the limit in showing up this corporation, which has always received generous treatment from. San Francisco and which is guilty of such inhumanity to one of its humblest citizens."]]>
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    1907: Frederick M. Steele passes http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/26/1907-frederick-m-steele-passes/ Mon, 27 Jul 2009 00:05:53 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4362 4362 2009-07-26 17:05:53 2009-07-27 00:05:53 closed closed 1907-frederick-m-steele-passes publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1248654888 _edit_last 1 1862: "Narrow Escape from a Grizzly" http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/26/1862-narrow-escape-from-a-grizzly/ Mon, 27 Jul 2009 00:12:35 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4364 On Friday, the 11 inst., Thomas Dale, Rufus Morgan and others were in pursuit of a grizzly bear, which had been committing depredations on the San Gregorio and vicinity. Finding the bear, they succeeded in killing one of the cubs, and wounding the old bear in the neck, which retreated, as they supposed, down the hill to the creek. They had pursued but a few paces when they came upon, and so suddenly that she succeeded in catching Rufus Morgan and mutilating him in so severe a manner that all hopes of his recovery seemed impossible. Dr. Goodspeed was called and rendered immediate aid. Find the skull badly fractured, by the bear biting him so as to tear away the temporal bone, opening to the brain--also destroying one eye, which eye, luckily, he had lost the use of some years since--and shockingly  mangling his left arm and hand; the wounds were dressed by removing a portion of the superior 'maxilary' bone, which was displaced. Dr. Goodspeed has hopes of his recovery, if the wound should not be complicated with 'erysipelatous' inflammation." ]]> 4364 2009-07-26 17:12:35 2009-07-27 00:12:35 closed closed 1862-narrow-escape-from-a-grizzly publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1248653651 _edit_last 1 1966: Richfield Corp May Build on Pescadero Land http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/26/1966-richfield-corp-may-build-on-pescadero-land/ Mon, 27 Jul 2009 00:21:50 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4367 Half Moon Bay Review "Atlantic Richfield Corp. has been negotiating for an option to buy 5,700 acres south of Pescadero to develop a planned community of vacation and "second" homes, it was revealed recently. "Reportedly involved in the transaction would be the former Humphrey Ranch--about 5,000 acres---and 700 acres of the Frank Latta Ranch. "According to published reports, the rumored total purchase, price is $6 million. None of the principals would confirm the figure. [Image below: Frank Latta] franklatta "Latta confirmed that the big oil company was 'dickering for an option,' but added that he was not optimistic about a sale because their price was too low. "He pointed out Richfield was only one of the many firms interested in the property, and said that no further negotiation meetings were scheduled. "According to a report contained in a Bay area newspaper, Richfield has already obtained options on both parcels of land, and must decide whether to buy them within 60 days. "However, Latta said talks for an option on his property are still going on. "The Humphrey property is owned by a Honolulu group. A representative from Hawaii was reportedly due in the Bay area last week to discuss a possible sale. "Richfield spokesman Sherwood Chillingworth was quoted in Los Angeles as saying his company had retained two consulting firms to conduct engineering and economic studies of the land. "He was quoted as saying the company has no plans for oil exploration on the property. If the purchase goes through, he aid, a 'recreational type of community' would be developed made up of weekend and summer homes."]]> 4367 2009-07-26 17:21:50 2009-07-27 00:21:50 closed closed 1966-richfield-corp-may-build-on-pescadero-land publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1248791043 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: 1905: Ocean Shore Railroad Work Begins on the South Coast http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/28/john-vonderlin-1905-ocean-shore-railroad-work-begins-on-the-south-coast/ Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:43:45 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4374 We've discussed what went on at the southern coastal gateway to San Mateo through the years a number of times, including the Ocean Shore rail- road's minor construction efforts and major plans at that location.  This short little article from the June 3rd, 1905 issue of the San Francisco,"Call," probably is referring to the Alligator Rock  (Cape Horn) area of the Waddell Bluffs. This might represent the OSR's highpoint, as it would seem to have pulled one over on the Big Bully of the Block, as S.P. (Southern Pacific Railroad) was then considered by many. Though it turned out to be a meaningless victory in the end, my guess is the OSR pro- moters puffed their chests out and spoke with pride about this maneuver for the rest of 1905. Enjoy. John WORK ON ELECTRIC ROAD COMMENCED MARCH IS STOLEN ON SOUTHERN PACIFIC BY NEW LINE SANTA CRUZ. June 2. — The long looked-for commencement work, in the construction of the Ocean Shore Railway, the new electric line which is to be built between this city and San Francisco, be gan to-day. A gang of thirty-five men was put to work grading around a high point at Waddell Creek. There is room for only one railroad around this point and the one which comes last must tun- nel the hill. The Ocean Shore engineers stole a march on the Southern Pacific which has de- clared its intention to build a coast line. This leaves the Southern Pacific the al- ternative of running its line up Waddell Creek to Big Basin and around the hill to Pescadero.]]> 4374 2009-07-28 04:43:45 2009-07-28 11:43:45 closed closed john-vonderlin-1905-ocean-shore-railroad-work-begins-on-the-south-coast publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1248781455 _edit_last 1 Joel Bratman: Travel Vicariously http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/28/joel-bratman-travel-vicariously-3/ Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:06:13 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4378 http://www.pbase.com/trut_maluglist/kitefestival I've also added a couple pages to my "Scenes of the USA" gallery and made a new "Signs of the USA & Canada" gallery. http://www.pbase.com/trut_maluglist/north_america_travel http://www.pbase.com/trut_maluglist/signsoftheusa Enjoy! - Joel
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    4378 2009-07-28 05:06:13 2009-07-28 12:06:13 closed closed joel-bratman-travel-vicariously-3 publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1248782777 _edit_last 1
    1873: For Sale--Mr. Cleland's Ranch http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/29/1873-for-sale-mr-clelands-ranch/ Wed, 29 Jul 2009 23:27:15 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4387 4387 2009-07-29 16:27:15 2009-07-29 23:27:15 closed closed 1873-for-sale-mr-clelands-ranch publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1248910228 _edit_last 1 March 1923: Subdivided: 10,000 acres http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/07/30/march-1923-subdivided-10000-acres/ Fri, 31 Jul 2009 05:23:02 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4389 Half Moon Bay Review, March 1923 "Lyon and Hoag announces the placing on the market of the famous Peninsula Farms Ranch at Pescadero (formerly known as the Coburn LC10 ranch.) This ranch is the last large holding down the peninsula in San Mateo County, close to San Francisco and it is also recognized as the largest body of artichoke and vegetable land in California. "There are several hundred acres in full bearing artichokes, and the bottom land along the streams which is wonderfully fertile and adapted to the growth of early peas, sprouts, lettuce, cabbage, early potatoes and all other varieties of vegetables. "The owners have spent a large amount of money in developing an adequate irrigation system at a cost of approximately $100,000, making the largest body of irrigated vegetable land in San Mateo county. The attractive features of this project is the fact that the purchaser steps into a large income from the time he takes possession. Artichokes have been bringing this season from $12 to $18 per crate, and the average yield is about 50 crates per acre, so returns are almost unbelievable, and the growth of artichokes is one of the most renumerative of all farming industries. Owing to the fact that the available land for artichoke growing is very limited, and the industry is only in its infancy many people are being attracted to this particular line of agriiculture and it is the one branch of farming that cannot overdone, as there is not sufficient land with proper climatic conditions available. The Peninsula Farms Property is right in the center of the artichoke district and therefore is attractive on account of the fact that this class of farming in this locality is not experimental but an assured fact. "The Halfmoon Bay Coastside Artichoke Growers Association is spending a large amount of money throughout the United States at the present time in placing before the people the valuable qualities of artichokes. There are very few green vegetables to be had at the time that artichokes begin to come into the market therefore they demand a very high price and the outlet for this vegetable is unlimited, it being impossible to supply the demand. "Another very renumerative crop is early Irish potatoes and several cars have already been shipped from this ranch and sold at a fancy price realizing a handsome net return to the grower. "The bottom land is dark chocolate loam soil, very rich, and all the vegetables grown in and around San Francisco, will do exceptionally well on these lands. "The owners of this ranch have a rate of $6.00 by truck per ton from the field to the commission house to San Francisco or direct to cars. This is a big item and is cheaper than rail transportation. "Many locl people have been waiting for this ranch to be subdivided into small tracts and every indication is that it will be rapidly sold to people who know the value of property. "Since the announcement of the sale of this ranch sales of over $50,000 have been made with many inquiries and every indication for quick market for the whole property. "The ranch is only a couple hours ride from San Francisco by automobile, is reached via San Mateo/Half Moon Bay and thence to Pescadero."]]> 4389 2009-07-30 22:23:02 2009-07-31 05:23:02 closed closed march-1923-subdivided-10000-acres publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1249221194 _edit_last 1 1891: The Pebble Beach Road http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/08/04/1891-the-pebble-beach-road/ Wed, 05 Aug 2009 01:06:09 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4393 "The Pebble Beach Raod" "Pescadero is disgusted, indignant, and angry, and well it should be, for one of the greatest attractions and pleasantest features---Pebble Beach--has been formally closed against all. L. Coburn, who owns the land lying between the county road and the ocean, has locked the gate on the road leading to the beach which has been open to the public for thirty years, and emphatically forbids trespassing on his property. As there is no other access to the beach the action appears a piece of spiteful officousness. What Mr. Coburn's motive is we cannot conceive, as the road through his land does not injure it in any way, and as he is one of the largest land owners in this section it seems that he would be vitally interested in the progress and popularity of Pescadero, instead of depriving it of its chief attraction. Mr. Coburn doubtless has reasons for taking this selfish measure, but we seriously doubt if the reasons are justifiable, whatever they may be. A petition signed by almost every tax-payer in the community has gone to the Supervisors praying them to condemn a road through Mr. Coburn's property to the beach. As to the beach itself it is below high water mark and of course government tide land. And, as to the road, the law reads plainly that a road that has been used as a highway for five years or longer cannot be closed against the public without special aciton by the Supervisors. Mr. Coburn has made himself universally unpopular by this action and the people are now determined to carry the matter to a final issue and ascertain if Mr. Coburn can legally tyrannize over them as he is endeavoring to." -----------------------]]> 4393 2009-08-04 18:06:09 2009-08-05 01:06:09 closed closed 1891-the-pebble-beach-road publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1249434371 _edit_last 1 1924: Crew Missing as Boat Hits Island Rocks http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/08/07/1924-crew-missing-as-boat-hits-island-rocks/ Fri, 07 Aug 2009 23:35:13 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4397 From the Redwood City Tribune, 1924 "Finding of a small trawler, pounding itself to pieces on the rocks near Ano Nuevo Island, off the Pescadero coast, today, led to expressions of grave fears for the safety of the crew of the boat. The trawler apparently struck the rocks some time during the past week, and by today had been battered into splinters. So far no identification of ownership has been made by those investigating. No trace whatever of the crew of the trawler has been obtained. Conflicting rumors concerning the finding of the boat have spread here, principally involving a supposed fatal trip of rum runners along the coast, with the probable washing overboard of the crew and cargo., if such things did take place, by the treacherous seas along the coast here. There have been numerous incidents of late, it is stated, revealing that rum runners unfamiliar with the handling of boats have been meeting with disaster in the heavy seas." ----- "Pescadero's mystery ship which has been pounding itself to pieces on the rocks off Ano Nuevo Island, was today identified as the 'SS Fremont,' rum running vessel which struck the rocks January 4, it was stated this morning. The wreck of the 'Fremont' occurred, it is said, when the pilot of the craft mistook the light on Ano Nuevo Island for the light on 'Mile Rock,' which is the signal to turn east for entry into the Golden Gate. One life was lost."]]> 4399 2009-08-07 16:35:13 2009-08-07 23:35:13 closed closed 1924-crew-missing-as-boat-hits-island-rocks publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1249688115 _edit_last 1 From John Vonderlin's New Camera: "Golf Balls in Outer Space" http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/08/07/from-john-vonderlins-new-camera-golf-balls-in-outer-space/ Fri, 07 Aug 2009 23:44:26 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4399 Story/Images from John Vonderlin Hi June, I checked out a new book from my library entitled, "Hubble Imaging Space and Time." It's a great coffee table book with lots of excellent. awe-inspiring photos, and a comprehensive insider history of the Hubble Space Telescope project. When I was looking at various pictures of the now famous "Eagle Nebula," whose pictures were plastered all over the media in 1995, and revolutionized Space photography, I realized it would be a great background for close-ups of some of the golfball remnants I collected this year. Though Neptune's Vomitorium has been quite unproductive this year, every once in a while it spit out a golfball or two. Some of them quite old and fantastically eroded as this one.
    GB1GB2GB3GB4

    GB5

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    4400 2009-08-07 16:44:26 2009-08-07 23:44:26 closed closed from-john-vonderlins-new-camera-golf-balls-in-outer-space publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1249688669 _edit_last 1
    Willowside Farm: Where Dogs are the BEST & you can stay overnight in the most rustic, original place on the South Coast!!!! http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/08/09/willowside-farm-where-dogs-are-the-best-and-you-can-stay-overnight-in-the-most-rustic-original-place-on-the-south-coast/ Mon, 10 Aug 2009 00:19:45 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4407 I took my cousin, Gabriele, with me, and we had a fabulous tour of historic Willowside Farm, and I cannot rave enough about it! We were invited to a geese, duck and sheep-herding (national championship) event herdinggeese oh, so calming, so relaxing. The participants, mostly ladies, were just perfect hosts. I cannot remember when I had a more relaxing time. You should know that Wilowside is an historic dairy, originally owned in the 1860s (something like that, or earlier, even---and certainly, the land could have been occupied by adventurous settlers  before the Gold Rush in 1849) by Pescadero's pioneer Alexander Moore family. In brief, there were a series of owners but the bottom line is: Willowside was built, and demonstrates today, that it was constructed as a "big time" dairy and showplace. The buildings on the property, and there are many, have been brought up to code comply with the current, rigorous standards of the County of San Mateo. There's no choice about that kind of thing---I saw earthquake standards put in place in old structures--- I recognized them because I have them in my own home. Willowside Farm manager Michael Head, a former Marine, impressed me so much. He has been working on resurrecting the farm's original dignity for a dozen years---this is a man who is the best. My cousin and I could not believe that he had accomplished what he had. Fixing up the property was an immense project, more than any of us "mere mortals" could ever tackle. What a man! And, now, one of the big long barnslongbarn will be used for events and weddings, with the nupitals performed at a nearby lake, so dreamy lake Lake2 you will never want to leave. Right now there are rustic accommodations  (the former quarters for the cowboys, including circa 1950s handwritten "graffiti" on the bathroom door!) for overnight guests: I may not be accurate on the cost, but i think Michael said something like $60 bucks a night for a room in a place that has no equal on the Coastside. I mean, if you want ruggedness, if you want to experience the way it was, try one of the guest rooms. Very authentic. I understand that, in the near future, "Outstanding in its Field" is doing a wedding at the dairy. Wow. I look forward to hearing about one of their lunches or dinners there. I know, I know. The South Coast. The last frontier on the Coastisde---but this is worth it. The owner, and the managers, Michael Head and his wife, Julie Sittig have taken, perhaps one of the most special properties on the South Coast, and turned it into a treasure that will soon be known all over the world. (In fact, Michael told me that someone took a photo of the main blue and white trimmed house, and was selling it as a postcard of an authentic old place to stay overnight in France.)

    Michael pointed out a "Dawn" redwood dawn which is fringy-ier than the usual redwoods we are accustomed to seeing here on the Coastside. In the 1970s the "Dawn" redwood caused excitement when the same tree was found growing in China. Willowside Farm has used a flock of cats as enforcers to move out the rats and other undesirable critters. And there are peacocks everywhere;  the males display the full spectrum of color

    peacocks

    while nature has protected the females with a neutral look so as they protect their young on the ground. When we were visiting, we saw baby peacocks trailing behind the mom, the color of "invisible." I applaud you: Willowide Farms. (This was written off the cuff; I was excited by what I saw. Sad to hear that  "sticky fingers" took so much from the old Willowside, authentic relics, irreplaceable,  but so much history remains for all to enjoy along Stage Road.......) willowsidedairy [Image above, circa 1980. Me standing in front of Willowside Farms, photo by Suzanne Meek.] [[Note: Local  artist/photographer Susan Friedman produced a documentary on Alice Mattei  before she died and the property was sold. The doc gave an accurate picture of how the dairy worked, the work ethic of the Matteis, and how everyone in Pescadero attended the parties there.] Also, above photo of Hillary, a "guard dog", was shot with the new iPhone. It's amazing what the new iPhone photo can do close-up. Not bad, huh?" Oh, and that's my shoe in the picture!] -------------------------- *And don't forget* 3rd Annual Willowside Ranch PICNIC & BARN DANCE Saturday, 22nd August from noon - 8:00 pm 2400 Stage Rd. Pescadero EATING, DRINKING, MUSIC & DANCING with SAXYMAN & THE LADDS There will be hotdogs, hamburgers, vegiburgers & sodas. Bring you favorite side dish &/or something that you like to drink to share . Bring your friends, but LEAVE YOUR PETS AT HOME. Call Michael & Julie for info (650) 879 0768 or email willowsideranch@gmail.com]]>
    4407 2009-08-09 17:19:45 2009-08-10 00:19:45 closed closed willowside-farm-where-dogs-are-the-best-and-you-can-stay-overnight-in-the-most-rustic-original-place-on-the-south-coast publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1251469683 _edit_last 1
    Jordan Schwab Remembers San Gregorio's Worm Farm http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/08/11/jordan-schwab-remembers-san-gregorios-worm-farm/ Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:39:12 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4434 worms Story by Jordan Schwab Wow. I just inadvertently stumbled across your website and found the article on San Gregorio Farms. My name is Jordan Schwab (Son of Michael Schwab and Sandra Schwab) [Image below: Michael Schwab, Jordan's dad, sings with the "Full Faith & Credit Band" during an event at San Gregorio Farms.]

    Full Faith

    and I grew up in San Gregorio on the old worm farm and have intimate and first hand knowledge of the people involved there and the farm itself. I grew up with "uncle" Channing chan and would visit his house in Moss Beach regularly. I remember the General Store, the Greenpeace festivals put on by the Cattermole's, and all of the eccentric characters that would hang around the area. If you have any knowledge of the farm, you may know that it was less a farm and more of a "spiritual" haven i suppose. I wouldn't know where to start . . . it would fill a whole book.  If you are ever interested in knowing more, I would love to share with you the very unique and priviledged perpective I had growing up there. Cool website by the way, It hit me with such a wave of nostalgia that i'm still reeling,]]>
    4434 2009-08-11 10:39:12 2009-08-11 17:39:12 closed closed jordan-schwab-remembers-san-gregorios-worm-farm publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1250013222 _edit_last 1
    John Vonderlin Experiences Mood Altering Sights http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/08/12/john-vonderlin-experiences-mood-altering-sights/ Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:18:28 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4443 John1 I just happened to stop here to document an easier path to Peacock Rock and the new arch, Iceplant Arch, I wrote about previously. I can't think of a busier chunk of our coast as far as rocks, inlets, promontories, reef, etc, that is as easy to catch in one photograph as right here. Having absorbed its complexity for a minute, I'm feeling a glow from the post-card-eye-candy aspects of the view. As I walk a little further towards the ocean, looking for a path down into the rock garden of tafoni and concretions,  I see this: John2John2 Grrr. What kind of nut would bring a spray can to a beautiful place and paint both the sign warning of poison oak and this huge log? In the big picture it is pretty small stuff. Teenage angst at their powerlessness? An overexuberant budding artist? A cry for recognition? Probably. Still its jarring, ugly intrusion into my glow had bummed me out. Somebody needs a good horsewhipping, I'm thinking. But, since I'm not sure if you can even do that  to horses anymore, a hundred hours of community service as the "World's Dirtiest Jobs" guy's assistant is what I'm sure my Reptilian brain intended. I hear you have had one of those "stupid crooks" events where young vandals do crimes and then post them on YouTube. In this case, I think it was the Pillarcitos Bridge they painted and Facebook where they posted their handiwork. I'd be curious if any of my graffitti photos are their "styles?" I'd love to add to their misery. I expect the Graffitti guerillas will obscure the log's graffitti soon, as it is so public. Enjoy. John]]> 4443 2009-08-12 08:18:28 2009-08-12 15:18:28 closed closed john-vonderlin-experiences-mood-altering-sights publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1250122815 _edit_last 1 1897: F.B. Gardner: Bartender says to the boys: "What's a tin roof?" http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/08/12/1897-f-b-gardner-bartender-says-to-the-boys-whats-a-tin-roof/ Thu, 13 Aug 2009 02:10:26 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4452 4452 2009-08-12 19:10:26 2009-08-13 02:10:26 closed closed 1897-f-b-gardner-bartender-says-to-the-boys-whats-a-tin-roof publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1250168652 _edit_last 1 Shannon Crusse: The Steele's Family Mansion in Ohio... http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/08/13/shannon-crusse-the-steeles-family-mansion-in-ohio/ Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:08:04 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4461 ]]> 4461 2009-08-13 06:08:04 2009-08-13 13:08:04 closed closed shannon-crusse-the-steeles-family-mansion-in-ohio publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1250168894 _edit_last 1 John Vonderlin: Dontflotz and Belly Buttons http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/08/13/john-vonderlin-dontflotz-and-belly-buttons/ Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:30:51 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4463 Story by John Vonderlin Email John: benloudman@sbcglobal.net df1df2df3 Here's the story of a couple of  unusual, but related types, of Non-buoyant Marine Debris that I collect. The first collection is as aptly named as the objects that comprise it were in their former lives. In that former life, they had performed what their name demands, under the harshest of conditions, often for many years, until after having been set free, they are transformed on our rugged coast and abandon their useful lives, even consequently their good and industrious name.  I write of my Dontflotz collection. A Dontflotz is the tethering hole, or the "Mickey Mouse  Ears," remnant of a hollow plastic fisheries float, after it is shattered against our rocky coast. And as its name suggests, once the float is broken, its pieces do not float. Instead, they move along the bottom, down the coast in the Longshore current, bashing on rocks here and there, losing their more delicate features.  All the while, slowly being eroded, rounded, by the gentle brush of the "River of Sand," as they make their interminable, silent procession towards a submarine canyon. Or my greedy little hands, if Neptune's Vomitorium, will co-operate, and interrupt their march to obscurity, spitting them up at Invisible Beach. The plastic floats that provide the source of my collection are some of the tough guy characters of the marine debris world. They are brute-rugged. They have no "glass chin" and when they were young contenders, looking for fame, they quickly knocked out the ex-champions that did, glass floats. Once freed of the exploitation of their harsh jobs, they rarely submit again to the fisherman's dominance.  Instead, they are frequently widely-travelled, with gooseneck barnacles testifying to their many years at sea. df4df5 Floating like us, metaphoric corks in the Sea of Life, moved by shifting confluences of the winds, waves and currents that form the North Pacific Sub-tropical Gyre, they pay their dues, often for many years, in one of nature's harshest environment. They pass the days of their lives in the aptly named, Garbage Patch. And when their end time comes, the West wind will blow, with strength and persistence, and they will begin their procession towards land. The Vellela Vellela will rush ahead, grounding themselves by the millions, as they herald the floats impending visit. Needless to say, I will  be waiting for their and their Gyric retinue's arrival on our coast, hoping to save as many of these gems from destruction as possible. To treat exotic visitors from Neptune's kingdom otherwise, would be a serious breach of trust. But, if my hospitality efforts fall short, it's good to know, another possible Dontflotz has been added to the huge collection waiting on the sea bottom offshore. Waiting for a chance to join those that have gone before them and been transmogrified to a heavenly Dontflotz. (note: Dontflotz is both singular and plural) The second and related collection is even rarer thern Dontflotz. These odd objects, shown in the last attached photos, are the delicate remnants of the float world's ex-champions.  Those poor glass chin losers, pushed out of their noble fisheries professions by the hydrocarbon upstarts, are rarely seen on our coasts anymore. And our rocky shores are not friendly to their fragility, if they do show up. Thanks to Neptune's Vomitorium I've found a few of their identifiable remnants, objects we call "Belly Buttons." They are the thickest remnant of the gob of molten glass that the float was blown from, the spot the blow pipe is pulled from at the end of the blowing process, officially called the sealing button. They come as "Innies and Outies," but I've not seen one with a tether hole, as the floats were enclosed in netting, not tethered. My favorite "Belly Buttons," not shown here, are as wonderfully polished as ancient sea glass. If you're  interested in learning more about glass floats, Wikipedia has a nice article, with pictures of the sealing button, their origins in Norway in the 1800s, subsequent worldwide use and an explanation of the episodic visits of these odd creatures to our shore.   Enjoy. John df6df7df8]]> 4463 2009-08-13 06:30:51 2009-08-13 13:30:51 closed closed john-vonderlin-dontflotz-and-belly-buttons publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1250172081 _edit_last 1 pesc-wp.xml.txt http://pescaderomemories.com/?attachment_id=3 Fri, 14 Aug 2009 04:35:48 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/pesc-wp.xml.txt 3 2009-08-13 23:35:48 2009-08-14 04:35:48 closed closed pesc-wp-xml-txt inherit 0 0 attachment 0 http://pescaderomemories.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/pesc-wp.xml.txt _wp_attached_file 2009/08/pesc-wp.xml.txt pesc-wp.xml1.txt http://pescaderomemories.com/?attachment_id=4396 Fri, 14 Aug 2009 04:38:48 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/pesc-wp.xml1.txt 4396 2009-08-13 23:38:48 2009-08-14 04:38:48 closed closed pesc-wp-xml1-txt inherit 0 0 attachment 0 http://pescaderomemories.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/pesc-wp.xml1.txt _wp_attached_file 2009/08/pesc-wp.xml1.txt Longbarn http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/08/14/willowside-farms-when-you-look-out-this-old-barn-window/longbarn/ Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:11:20 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Longbarn.jpg 4465 2009-08-14 09:11:20 2009-08-14 14:11:20 closed closed longbarn inherit 4464 0 attachment 0 http://pescaderomemories.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Longbarn.jpg _wp_attached_file 2009/08/Longbarn.jpg _wp_attachment_metadata a:6:{s:5:"width";s:3:"320";s:6:"height";s:3:"240";s:14:"hwstring_small";s:23:"height='96' width='128'";s:4:"file";s:20:"2009/08/Longbarn.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:2:{s:9:"thumbnail";a:3:{s:4:"file";s:20:"Longbarn-150x150.jpg";s:5:"width";s:3:"150";s:6:"height";s:3:"150";}s:6:"medium";a:3:{s:4:"file";s:20:"Longbarn-300x225.jpg";s:5:"width";s:3:"300";s:6:"height";s:3:"225";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:10:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";}} Longbarn http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/08/14/willowside-farms-when-you-look-out-this-old-barn-window/longbarn-2/ Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:11:41 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Longbarn1.jpg 4466 2009-08-14 09:11:41 2009-08-14 14:11:41 closed closed longbarn-2 inherit 4464 0 attachment 0 http://pescaderomemories.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Longbarn1.jpg _wp_attached_file 2009/08/Longbarn1.jpg _wp_attachment_metadata a:6:{s:5:"width";s:3:"320";s:6:"height";s:3:"240";s:14:"hwstring_small";s:23:"height='96' width='128'";s:4:"file";s:21:"2009/08/Longbarn1.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:2:{s:9:"thumbnail";a:3:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Longbarn1-150x150.jpg";s:5:"width";s:3:"150";s:6:"height";s:3:"150";}s:6:"medium";a:3:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Longbarn1-300x225.jpg";s:5:"width";s:3:"300";s:6:"height";s:3:"225";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:10:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";}} Longbarn http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/08/14/willowside-farms-when-you-look-out-this-old-barn-window/longbarn-3/ Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:12:00 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Longbarn2.jpg 4467 2009-08-14 09:12:00 2009-08-14 14:12:00 closed closed longbarn-3 inherit 4464 0 attachment 0 http://pescaderomemories.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Longbarn2.jpg _wp_attached_file 2009/08/Longbarn2.jpg _wp_attachment_metadata a:6:{s:5:"width";s:3:"320";s:6:"height";s:3:"240";s:14:"hwstring_small";s:23:"height='96' width='128'";s:4:"file";s:21:"2009/08/Longbarn2.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:2:{s:9:"thumbnail";a:3:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Longbarn2-150x150.jpg";s:5:"width";s:3:"150";s:6:"height";s:3:"150";}s:6:"medium";a:3:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Longbarn2-300x225.jpg";s:5:"width";s:3:"300";s:6:"height";s:3:"225";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:10:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";}} Willowside Farms: When you look out this old barn window http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/08/14/willowside-farms-when-you-look-out-this-old-barn-window/ Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:12:11 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4464 www.jacobsfarm.com). You can book your wedding in this old long barn, stay overnight in the very authentic [&  former cowboy's quarters], tie the knot at the lake,  and look out the barn window and see the natural wonders for yourself. LongbarnLongbarnLongbarn [You can visit Willowside Farms for a picnic and barn dance on Saturday, August 22, noon to 8 p.m. Leave your pets at home.] ]]> 4464 2009-08-14 09:12:11 2009-08-14 14:12:11 closed closed willowside-farms-when-you-look-out-this-old-barn-window publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1250693450 _edit_last 1 dawn http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/08/09/willowside-farm-where-dogs-are-the-best-and-you-can-stay-overnight-in-the-most-rustic-original-place-on-the-south-coast/dawn/ Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:23:39 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/dawn.jpg 4472 2009-08-14 09:23:39 2009-08-14 14:23:39 closed closed dawn inherit 4407 0 attachment 0 http://pescaderomemories.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/dawn.jpg _wp_attached_file 2009/08/dawn.jpg _wp_attachment_metadata a:6:{s:5:"width";s:3:"240";s:6:"height";s:3:"320";s:14:"hwstring_small";s:22:"height='96' 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2009/08/peacocks.jpg _wp_attachment_metadata a:6:{s:5:"width";s:3:"256";s:6:"height";s:3:"240";s:14:"hwstring_small";s:23:"height='96' width='102'";s:4:"file";s:20:"2009/08/peacocks.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:1:{s:9:"thumbnail";a:3:{s:4:"file";s:20:"peacocks-150x150.jpg";s:5:"width";s:3:"150";s:6:"height";s:3:"150";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:10:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";}} John Vonderlin "Bide-a-wee-ed" in Pesky-by-the-Sea http://pescaderomemories.com/2009/08/14/john-vonderlin-bide-a-wee-ed-in-pesky/ Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:37:34 +0000 http://pescaderomemories.com/?p=4480 4480 2009-08-14 09:37:34 2009-08-14 14:37:34 closed closed john-vonderlin-bide-a-wee-ed-in-pesky publish 0 0 post 0 _edit_lock 1250282767 _edit_last 1 bideawee1 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