“Our daughter Sara, her husband and children have moved to Yakima, Washington where Sahl is starting a new career as a firefighter. Their house is now on the market. You can see it at the Open House this weekend, if you would like.”
Backstory: The house was originally built, circa 1930, by California State Senator Harry Parkman. It is said that Senator Parkman hired a Swedish stonemason to build the gorgeous rock wall surrounding the home as well as the large fireplace inside.
Photo: Rancho Corral de Tierra, courtesy San Mateo County
The Coastside rancheros found San Francisco a dangerous place to live in the 1840s.
Political turmoil permeated the air–the United States was preparing for war with Mexico–and California was the ultimate prize. As part of the Mexican regime, the rancheros–Francisco Guerrero, Candelario Miramontes Tiburcio Vasquez–were vulnerble and feared for their lives. So they sought haven on the Coastside where enemies would be unable to find them. The Coastside was so remote tht only the mountain lions could track them.
California had already weathered a change of rule as the baton of power was passed from Spain to Mexico. Now, as Americans moved in, a more significant cultural and political change was on the way. This was the setting on the eve of the Gold Rush that brought hoards of Americans to the Golden State.
Guerrero, Miramontes and Vasquez knew one another–they had been stationed in San Francisco under Mexican rule. But most likely it was Vasquez who knew the secret route into isolated Half Moon Bay. He had been the supervisor of Mission Dolores’ livestock and ws familiar with the Corral de Tierra, a 7, 766-acre piece of breathtaking grazing land stretching from Montara to Half Moon Bay.
The Corral de Tierra was so named because the terrain formed a natural enclosure.
Guerrero, Miramontes and Vasquez shared much in common. They had witnessed the dismantling of the harsh
Spanish mission system under which so many Indians had perished. They benefited from the demise of this system as loyal military officers and other deserving individuals were rewarded with tracts of land known as ranchos.
Vasquez applied for and received the southern portion of the Corral de Tierra. Francisco Guerrero, who had held various political positions in San Francisco, also applied for and received the northern section of the Corral de Tierra.
Lynn: “[Bowling Ball Beach] is about two to three miles north of the town of Gualala [on the Sonoma County Coast]. It was taken during a +1 tide. Unfortunately we missed the minus tide”
I’ve known Lynn since we attended Jefferson Elementary School in San Francisco–Here’s 3rd Grade:
You can find Lynn in the second row,second from the right. I am in the second row, fourth from the right.
These are unaired excerpts from a 1980 interview I did with Bill Miramontes for the documentary “The Mystery of Half Moon Bay”
William Miramontes
Carmen Miramontes & Chico Gonzales celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary in Half Moon Bay.*
Bill: Carmen Miramontes was known as a midwife–or a doctor–in Half Moon Bay. When she married Chico Gonzales they went on horseback on a trail to Mission Dolores. They were married at Mission Dolores in San Francisco.
Bill: I used to haul peas and grain and hay to San Mateo. We’d leave at 4 in the morning and we’d get to San Mateo about 11 with a load. A whole day and all we could pull over the mountain…One ton per horse. You
had six horses, could only haul six tons. Which wasn’t very much as a paying proposition.
Bill: It’d take a whole day in the old days if you wanted to go to San Mateo. If you wanted to go to San Francisco, you’d have to figure on almost two days.
Bill: They’d drive their horse & buggy to San Mateo. Take the streetcar to San Francisco. When the car came that really helped this city.
Bill: I know what Half Moon Bay will become–it’ll be a residential district.
(The cover illustration is of Half Moon Bay)
Bill: I worked for Standard Oil [in Half Moon Bay] for 53 years. There was just enough oil in the ground to encourage people to drill for more. They’ve been drilling here since before I was born…We drilled a well on Shoults Flat. It flowed for three, four days over the top. A very light quality of oil, like distillate…just a little pocket of oil.
Photo: San Mateo County History Museum. Visit the Museum and the new exhibits at the historic, beautiful Redwood City Courthouse.
one of my pleasant tasks was to hire photographers–One of them was the incomparable San Francisco photographer Ed Kashi. Here is a pix of Andy Warhol that he gave me:
Ed Kashi also photographed an old friend, Olivia Stewart, the personality-plus woman I temporarily replaced at Time when she was pregnant in the mid 1980s.
“…It’s a small world, I’m in Oroville Ca. Been here over 4 years.
That’s an old photo of me, my hair is not as bushy any more and my
beard is white….”
“Winter Tree”-Photo by Jerry Koontz
“..Yes, I was lucky I’m the only house on my side of the block.
I’m in town, my neighbor is an old friend that I was in the navy with.
We have been good friends for over 40 years. Things are good up here.
It gets a little warm in the summer but thats OK . When I was a kid I
would spend my summers in hot country, so it’s not a problem.
I do come to HMB every now and then, Take care Jerry”
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hello to jerry koontz!!!
And in the late 19th century the local kids walked through the giant redwoods to attend school there.
The town’s gone now but here’s what the very rustic post office looked like:
During the warm summers the kids played in the old swimming hole–but I must admit the water can’t be that comfortable because it looks like at least one of the kids is freezing!