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After reading Where The Road Begins, I wonder why I’ve never seen on cars of Big Sur residents’, bumper stickers protesting, “To Hell With Ansel Adams!”
The author of Where The Road Begins, Peter Gray Scott, is a resident of the Oakland Hills, born and raised in Berkeley, and educated at Stanford. Mr. Scott is an architect who wrote this three-part book, Where the Road Begins: The Saga of Big Sur’s Pioneer Families, and Environmentalism in America.
The first part provides the history of American settlement in Big Sur, initiated by English-American William Brainard Post and his Ohlone-Rumsen wife, Maria Anselma Onesimo. The second part focuses on the building of the coast road through the Sur in the 1930s, and the effects once the world rushed in and “discovered” Big Sur. The third part, with only two short chapters, is about the new people in Big Sur, “. . . who were financially secure or whose income came from somewhere else. They may have come for the beauty of the place, but they had no essential dependence on the land.”
Mr. Scott details a “Golden Age” on the south coast of about 70 years, from the 1870s to the 1940s. This Golden Age grew out of an American idealism of individualism, self-reliance, and the pursuit of frontier and wilderness as one’s destiny. The early settlers considered land stewardship their obligation to community: “Protect the water supply, mitigate erosion, avoid uncontrolled fires, handle waste appropriately, tend the essential plantings, and ensure the livestock had enough to eat without destroying the pasture.”
The Golden Age was an insular time when few outsiders passed through, and those who came and went, were provided food and shelter at a ranch, so long as they worked for their supper and bed.
The highway creation itself was a State-managed project, with no environmental impact reports and no strategic planning. Promises were made to residents of culverts and bridges, and promises were broken. Rights of way weren’t paid to residents, yet the residents’ were paying the taxes that went to the road being dynamited through their land.
Once the highway was built, the Sur opened to the world. With the highway construction completed, the Big Sur economy changed from a dependence on the land, to a tourism economy, now comprised of serving meals and providing lodging for the many post-World War II automobile travelers. ”The highway that brought the tourists was also the breach in the fortress-like geography that had protected Big Sur for nearly a century. The dead-end residential road morphed into a link in the State’s transportation system.”
The obligations remain the same, though, ”Protect the water supply, mitigate erosion, avoid uncontrolled fires, handle waste appropriately, tend the essential plantings, and ensure the livestock had enough to eat without destroying the pasture.”
“Save Big Sur? From what? For whom?”
And then came Ansel Adams. Ansel was one of the directors of the Sierra Club in the mid-sixties when he moved to Carmel Highlands. Ansel was never a resident of Big Sur, nor did he ever ask the opinion of any of the 800 Big Sur residents, but Ansel decided that the Sur needed saving and proposed the “Big Sur National Scenic Area.” A National Park like Cape Cod, except that Cape Cod National Seashore, with its 40 miles of wide sandy beaches, eleven nature trails, and three acre residential lots, isn’t like Big Sur. Imagine a one acre parking structure, built ten stories high, in Big Sur, and, if truly emulating Cape Cod National Seashore, then include picnic areas, comfort stations, shuttle buses and additional parking lots. Also, carve out a municipal airport. All these amenities were to accomodate an anticipated twelve million annual visitors*.
How did the Sur escape such a fate? Buy Where The Road Begins: The Saga of Big Sur’s Pioneer Families, and Environmentalism in America.
Henry Miller Library
Nepenthe’s Phoenix Shop
Amazon
*Current estimate is about three million annual visitors.
I want to experience uncrowded beaches in California, when the only hazard might be a sloth of grizzlies feeding off a whale’s washed-up carcass. I’d like to regard old growth redwood forests, when they weren’t yet old, and certainly not pockmarked by logging. I’d like to see skies blackened by birdlife, including a condo of condors. I want to see 10 pound smelt and 60 pound salmon swimming our creeks and rivers.
If you too want to travel back in time, then A State of Change, Forgotten Landscapes of California by Laura Cunningham is the sweetest prehistoric treat you’ll ever find. Laura Cunningham presents a California from the good old days.
A State of Change looks like a textbook, and is heavy like a textbook, but it is a beautiful, artfully-informational book. A State of Change represents Laura Cunningham’s life work. She spent the past 30 years sleuthing, “Since 1980 I have traveled all over the state tracking the remaining vestiges and relictual pieces of semi-pristine landscapes in order to flesh out the narratives that I found. The clues to the past yet remain, if one is willing to patiently seek them in the field.”
Laura Cunningham is an illustrator and a paleontologist. She attended UC Berkeley (paleontology) and UC Santa Cruz (natural science illustration). California’s Historical Ecology is her thing, “The lack of animals that were once called abundant, the new weedy plants, even the lowered water tables all call attention to profound changes that mark a major discontinuity in the long flow of California’s ecology.”
A State of Change considers both the hedge nettle (described as a “very leafy sweet marjoram” in Fray Crespi’s diary from his overland exploration to 55° north with Pedro Fages in 1772) and both acorn and buckeye pestled by natives as a dietary staple.
A State of Change informs us of grizzlies too.
The earliest written documentation, provided by Spanish explorer Vizcaíno in 1602, Monterey, “…beached whales scavenged by grizzlies.” In 1769, Pedro Fages’ diary notes from a location a few miles west of San Luis Obispo, “In this canyon were seen whole troops of bears; they have the ground all plowed from digging in it to find their sustenance in the roots which the land produces.” William Brewer, botanist of the California Geological Survey in the 1860s, found at Monterey, “a whale…stranded on the beach, and the tracks of grizzlies were thick about it.” Laura tells us that “herds” of bears roamed the “coastal prairies of the San Francisco peninsula. A grizzly was found swimming to Angel Island in 1827. In the 1860s settler Jonathan Watson once saw three hundred grizzlies in a single valley in the Santa Cruz Mountains.”
“All of this abundance of food may also explain why grizzlies in California did not hibernate like their Rocky Mountain cousins,” writes Laura.
The grizzlies’ large population and perennial presence explains how the grizzly became extinct within only 50 years after the mass migration of the California Gold Rush, bringing seekers and settlers, overland and across the Isthmus from America, Europe, and Asia. The Spanish already had abused the privilege of living amongst the grizzly, “Soldiers and gentlemen lasso a grizzly up in Loma Prieta by the paws and neck, muzzle it, and drag it back to the bull pit (Corralitos or, “little corral”) to celebrate Easter or some special occasion, such as the inauguration of the governor. The bear’s leg would be tied to a pole, or to the leg of the bull, and a fight would erupt. Sometimes the long-horned bull would win, goring the bear. But another time, the bear would swing a mighty paw and knock the bull off its feet, killing it.”
“Many bears were poisoned with strychnine and trapped by stockmen. In the Santa Cruz Mountains, grizzlies held out into the 1880s, then were gone. By 1888 grizzly numbers had declined noticeably in the Santa Ana stronghold, and by 1898 bears were considered “shot out,” though isolated reports of grizzlies continued until 1913.”
I leave it to you readers to pursue locating Laura Cunningham’s book and examine its contents further. A State of Change covers a range of prehistoric and historic flora and fauna. Also check its sources: the Bibliography runs from page 319 to 343 in a dense 6 pt. font.
A State of Change is a Heyday book. A website dedicated to the book is located here. A preview of this beautifully illustrated work is found on Google books.
Whizzing along at 55 mph, another bronze plaque, a California Roadside Historical Marker, half-hidden behind azalea shrubs, is only noticed after passing the turn-out. One day you must remember to stop and read what took place there.
In the meantime, it’s cold, you’re busy, and getting out of the car to read some historic plaque isn’t going to happen during your drive-about.
Check out Marael Johnson’s “California Why Stop? A Guide to California Roadside Historical Markers.” Similar to Ruth Pittman’s Roadside History of California both books make for either good armchair reading to anyone encumbered by wanderlust, but unable to physically get out on the road, or, as planning tools for your next California cruise.
I won’t list every marker along the coast, only the Top 5, from south to north:
1. San Clemente: La Cristianita – The first Christian baptism in Alta California, performed by Padre Gomez, a member of the Portola Expedition in 1769. Placed by State Park Commission in cooperation with Orange County, 1957.
2. San Pedro: Casa de San Pedro, Hide House Site – The first known commercial structure on the shore of San Pedro was built here in 1823 by the trading firm of McCulloch and Hartnell to store cattle hides from the San Gabriel and San Fernando missions. Richard Henry Dana described this hide house in Two Years Before the Mast. Thus began the development of the Port of Los Angeles. Placed in cooperation with San Pedro Bay Historical Society, 1979.
3. San Luis Obispo: Site of Ah Louis Store – Here in 1874 was established Ah Louis Store. The first Chinese store in the county. It sold general merchandise and herbs, and served as a bank, counting house, and post office for the numerous Chinese coolies who dug the eight tunnels through the mountains of Cuesta for the Sounterhn Pacific Railroad, 1884-1894. Placed in Cooperation with San Luis Obispo Historical Society and Sons and Daughters of Ah Louis, 1965.
4. San Francisco: Entrance of the San Carlos – The first ship to enter San Francisco Bay, Aug. 5. 1775, the Spanish packet San Carlos, under the command of Lt. Juan Manuel de Ayala,became the first ship to enter San Francisco Bay. A month and a half was spent in surverying the bay from its southernmost reaches to the northern end of present-day Suisun Bay. The San Carlos departed Sept. 18, 1775. Placed in cooperation with San Francisco Twin Bicentennial, Inc., 1975.
5. Trinidad: Tsurai – Directly below was located the ancient Yurok village of Tsurai. A prehistoric, permanent Indian community, it was first located and described by captains Bodega and Heceta June 9 – 19, 1775. The houses were of hand-split redwood planks designed for defense and protection. The village was occupied until 1916. Placed in cooperation with Heritage Trinidad and Humboldt County Historical Society, 1970.
From benign settlements, during the time of Ortega’s Nuestra Señora del Refugio land grant, and throughout almost one hundred years of Hollister family ownership, the area now known as the Hollister Ranch remained a remote, Arcadian refuge on the California coast.
25 miles of sandstone canyons and coastal prairie comprise the Hollister Ranch, stretching between Gaviota and Jalama, towards Point Conception.
Prehistory inhabitants were the Chumash. Archaeological digs yield 10,000 years of existence of these local peoples. Reported by the three diarists: Portolá, Costansó and Crespí of the 1769 Alta California overland expedition, “the Chumash had a high population density here and had established a complex social organization in their villages.”
In 1791, the sergeant who rode ahead of the men on Portolá’s expedition, the man who would first communicate with the natives, who is titled as the first European-descendent to discover the Bay of San Francisco, the first non-native to navigate the Bay of San Francisco, and the man who founded Santa Barbara’s Presidio, Sergeant José Francisco Ortega received Alta California’s 4th Spanish land concession, Rancho Nuestra Señora del Refugio. Between 1858 and 1866, Ortega’s Rancho sold in various acreages from Ortega’s descendents to American settlers. 3 of the parcels were purchased by William Welles Hollister.
“W.W.,” as he is referred to in historical narratives, herded 4,000 sheep from Ohio to California in 1853. Sheep were a profitable product in those post-Gold Rush days, and with his earned monies, W.W. purchased half of Rancho San Justo, which is now the area around Hollister, California. He sold his share of San Justo in 1868 and then purchased the 3 parcels that made up his ranch in Santa Barbara County. In 1909, his son Jim took ownership of the Ranch with a determination to keep solvent his cattle concern that got him through 50 years of poor markets, family differences, and drought.
If you have a spare $40 bucks, spend it on Nancy Ward’s “The Hollister Ranch, Its History, Preservation and People.” The history of The Hollister Ranch is told through the stories of the Hollister family, paintings by plein-air artists, and by interspersed editorials called, Windows on the Ranch.
Michael Drury‘s “Artist’s View of the Ranch” tells us, “I remember these huge white beaches. I think it was Big Drakes because you could get down across the railroad track. There was a clubhouse that the surf guys had built – it’s now long gone, fallen off the cliff.”
Michael worked at the Ranch, starting in 1970, cleaning the place up, mending fences and taking care of piles of rubbish. ”Michael would get off work at 4:30 and go down to the beach at Rights and Lefts. ”We would surf these south summer swells by ourselves, and unless there were boats, there was nobody around. There were places that hadn’t even been explored in those days.”"
“Today the Ranch remains unchanged from what it was in the days of the Chumash and the Hollisters. This is due to the minimal development allowed under the Conditions, Covenants and Restrictions which impose strict legal restrictions on owners’ use of the land, and a philosophy of ownership that values the character of the natural environment.”
“The CC&R’s” which are a part of every parcel deed, begin with the following statement: ”All who become owners of property subject to this Declaration are motivated by the character of the natural environment in which it is located, and accept … the principle that the development and use of the property must preserve that character for present and future enjoyment of all the owners.”"
Each parcel was surveyed in 1971 and 1972 by horseback and aerial photography. Engineers and geologists, under the direction of the Ranch’s property manager, located water for each parcel, graded access roads by following some of the cattle trails, and established each 100 acre parcel boundary. 133 100-acre parcels present a variety of features and views across the 14,400 acre ranch. ”In 1973, each parcel on the Ranch was issued its own agricultural preserve contract. Each agricultural preserve contract is allowed one principal residence, and with restrictions, a guest house. No other residences are allowed. To qualify for the Agricultural Preserve Program, a parcel must either be in the cooperative livestock grazing program, or be in production agriculture.”
One blemish of industry appearing along the western edge of the ranch provides California history, “In the late nineteenth century there was an intense effort to complete the railroad line between northern and southern California. Because they needed to move their sheep and cattle to market, the Hollisters were strong advocates of the coastal rail line. When it was determined that the best route would be along the edge of the coast through the Ranch, the Hollisters eagerly negotiated a 60-foot-wide corridor for the railroad. This was not an easement, but a property transfer. In return, the Hollisters were to have two sidings for loading passengers and cattle: one at San Augustine, and one at Santa Anita. The were also to have lifetime free rail travel and the right to flag down the train at those two sidings.”
The Coast Road does not continue west through the ranch, and instead bypasses the entire western mass that leads to the point, as it turns north at Gaviota conjoined with 101 through the famous Gaviota Pass. This routing of CA State Route 1 allows for an ancient California history to presently remain westward from Gaviota, around Point Conception, and north to Pt. Sal.
Ivano Franco Comelli‘s La Nostra Costa (our coast) sticks an Italian flag in the coast north of Santa Cruz. Ivano Comelli is “un figlio della costa (son of the coast), born and raised on a brussel sprouts rancio.”
Ivano’s family lived on the Coast Road from 1937 to 1953 amongst other ranceri and amici della costa. “Italians who lived on or near the Coast Road would often say that they lived su per la costa, up the coast.” The family home was located on The Gulch Ranch, Il Golce.
“Our single-story batten and board-house had only about 1,200 square feet of actual living space and was separated from the Coast Road by a small patch of lawn, which in turn was surrounded by three sides by a hedge of tall juniper plants. These thick, woody plants shielded the house, somewhat, from the dusty wind, but did little to mitigate the constant noise that was generated by passing vehicles. There were far fewer vehicles on the road in those days; however, it still had a significant amount of traffic.”
Southbound cement trucks traveling the Coast Road to Santa Cruz from Davenport’s Portland Cement Plant would “descend into the gulch and climb a steep grade on the other side. Our house was located right at the top of the grade where the trucks completed their climb. Many times a truck going by was so noisy that our single wall house literally shook on its foundation. Mercifully, when the highway was rebuilt in the latter part of the 1950s, this particular portion of the gulch was mostly filled with rock and sand. The present roadway has a slight dip, but no longer does it have that steep descent.”
La Nostra Costa provides old photos and tells stories of daily life along the coast ranches and in old Davenport. Some things change, some things remain the same: access to beaches bordered by privately-owned land, nudism and sex on the beach while being spied upon from above by boys on the bluff, automobile accidents on the Coast Road, good food and Localism.
During World War II, being immigrants without U.S. Citizenship, these Italians were not allowed west of the Coast Road. “The entire coast from the Oregon border to just below Santa Barbara was declared off-limits to enemy aliens effective February 24, 1942.”
La Nostra Costa may be found at Bookshop Santa Cruz and via a few other venues. Ivano also maintains a blog.
Photo opportunity to campaign for good roads during a 1912 roadtrip by the Inyo County Road Club.
Happy 159th California!
Old Town, San Diego - Sketch by H.M.T. Powell
