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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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.
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.
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.
With the sun shining through it you can see the arch from a distance, though it looks quite small from this northern approach.
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.
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.
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
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In the 1970s I received this short bio of Ralph E. Wall from daughter Laura Wall Taylor
“Ralph E. Wall
“He started to work for the Ocean Shore R.R. in April of 1912. As he, my mother, and oldest sister, rode the train down to Tunitas Glen, they were pleased with the Depots, as they were going to live in the one at Tunitas. When they got there, they found it was a two-room tar-paper shack. My mother was pregnant with my sister, Katherine, who was born there on April 30, 1912. The Dr. drove by horse from Pescadero because they couldn’t reach Dr. Brooke in Half Moon Bay. Tunitas was the end of the tracks and from there one went by stagecoach or a Stanley Steamer, to Swanton, to pick up the train tracks again to finish the trip to Santa Cruz. The Ocean Shore never finished building the track line thru to Santa Cruz. My oldest sister, Louise, reached school age (6) in 1914 and they moved to the Depot in Moss Beach so she could go to school.
In 1915, my father left the R.R. and came to San Francisco to drive a jitney during the World’s Fair. After the Fair, there was little work, and he returned to the Ocean Shore R.R.
In August 1916, they moved to Half Moon Bay, and my next sister, Ella, was born Nov 4, 1916, in the Depot. I surprised them and was born Dec. 20, 1917, also in the Depot. In 1918, my father hurt his back, and perhaps seeing the decline of the R.R. went to work for Standard Oil driving a truck. In July, 1919, we left Half Moon Bay and moved to San Francisco, where my father continued to work for Standard Oil, only now it was in a service station.
The Depot was located on the east side of the tracks. When my sister, Katherine, was born, the Asst. Gen. Mgr. of the Ocean Shore, a Mr. Randall, sent my folks a telegram of congratulations, and asked, seeing as how she would probably be called Katie or KT, that her middle name be Tunitas. She was given the name. She is no longer living but my other sisters still are here.
Laura Wall Taylor
San Francisco
[Note: I communicated with Laura and her sisters in the late 1970s or early 1980s. Laura gave me a beautifully designed place setting for a party that the Tunitas Creek sculptress Sybil Easterday and her mom, Flora, were hosting at their home. I donated the art to the San Mateo County History Museum, along with some photos of the railroad at Tunitas.]
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
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
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[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.”
[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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For more information, please email Russell’s brother, Richard L. Towle at [email protected]
[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. ”
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.
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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%;
“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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Commentary by John Vonderlin
[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.
[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?
[Image: One of the big cedars in Four Horse Fat along the Big Granite Trail.]
