John Vonderlin: 1860s: The Frustration of the Gazos

Story from John Vonderlin

Email John ([email protected])

Hi June,

Here’s a little more info on the beach traverse that was necessary at Waddell Beach for so long. This excerpt from the January 20th, 1865 issue of the Pajaro Times, a Santa Cruz newspaper, refers to the problems it caused:

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

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