In Part II, you’ll see the famous spray painted name, “Burney,” on one of the mammals we found on the beach at Ano Nuevo. This is pre-state reserve video.
The actual video is longer than Parts I and II, so I’m going to do a new longer edit.
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/1155810[/vimeo]
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.”
Story & photo by John Vonderlin
Email John ([email protected])
At the end of yesterday’s coastal adventure, first visiting the new 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
If I were lost on the South Coast, I would want to be with John Vonderlin!
The Missing Tunnel
By John Vonderlin
Email John ([email protected])
Hi June,
Some time ago I posted about my search for a mysterious 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…
Thanks to Mike Merritt, Butano State Park Seasonal Interpreter, for emailing the breathtaking park’s early history.
Email Mike ([email protected])
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
Story by Mike Merritt, Butano State Park Seasonal Interpreter
Email Mike ([email protected])
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 ([email protected])
Want to know more about Jim Denevan’s new cookbook? Visit Outstandinginthefield.com or click here
I wonder whose local farm this is.
Story & Photos by John Vonderlin
email John ([email protected])
Hi June,
Yesterday Meg and I went to the brand new Interpretive Center’s Grand Opening at Ano Nuevo State Park. This over 3- million dollar addition to the state park was constructed in the old buildings of “The Steele Dairy,” on Point Ano Nuevo.
The old cow barn holds the Marine Education Center.
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
