Frank Latta, a historian and self-published author, who said he had interviewed 17,000 pioneers and collected 800 tons of memorabilia, including books, photos and other stuff, purchased the 725-acre Gazos Ranch, south of Pescadero in the 1950s. It was a beautiful ranch, formerly owned by the locally famous Steele family, the land stretching from the Pacific eastward toward the mountains.
Frank and wife Jean intended to retire there. They were in their 60s, and to make their dream possible, the Lattas intended to turn the ranch into a historical museum, adding a few touches of the more commercially-oriented Knotts Berry Farm in southern California.
In the late 1950s, after going through the official county procedures, Latta thought he was on his way, and even made a public announcement saying so—but then was stopped cold in his tracks.
Last week I walked into the spacious Quent Cordair Gallery in Burlingame and had a great time enjoying the paintings and posters, all of them fine examples of “romantic realism”–influenced by the brilliant Ayn Rand, the “Fountainhead” and “Atlas Shrugged” best-selling philosopher-author, the strong-willed, writer who in her work lifted man and woman to the skies of their abilities–her powerful characters becoming the builders of beautiful, strong bridges, of amazing architecture, never afraid, never daunted. And also becoming models for current day society.
Every painting, every sculpture and poster exemplify Ayn Rand’s philosophy–people at their very best.
Of local historical interest, there was a small painting of Pigeon Point Lighthouse and a lovely morning scene at Kings Mountain. There were many pieces I would love to own, but I was excited to learn that Quent Cordair has reproduction right to the 1915 poster, the “13th Labor of Hercules,” by San Francisco artist Perham Wilhelm Nahl.
“Adding to the ever expanding future of the South Coastside, Frank F. Latta’s plans for an expansive history museum at Pescadero have cleared a major hurdle. They have been approved by the county planning commission.
“The plans for the tourist attraction would rival that of say Knott’s Berry Farm in Southern California, according to Latta.
“Latta, a retired school teacher, author, history expert and collector is developing a vast recreation area on the old Steele ranch south of Pescadero near Gazos Creek. It will have many of the features of Knotts, according to Latta, ‘but without the commercial atmosphere’.
“The development of the 740-acre area will be a family project, Latta declared, with he, his wife, and their four children all working together on it.
“It would include: A 80-acre picnic and camping area stretching for a mile along the coast between Ano Nuevo Island and the famous Pigeon Point.
“Eleven miles of roads and trails for riding, driving and hiking.
“A realistic pioneer California village and Indian village.
“Deluxe accommodations for fishermen and tourists.
“The Latta collection of early California objects is one of the most complete in the state, among them dozens of transportation pieces, including a stage coach, surreys and five old cars, one electric.
“Latta, who has been collecting the items for 35 years, has been transporting them here from Bakersfield during the past year.
“The only thing holding up actual construction of the project is the realignment of the Ocean Shore Highway that will run through the ranch. Latta expects to have this clearance within a few weeks with the assistance of Supervisor A.S. Hatch, highway director. Latta will be required to build an underpass from the ranch to the ocean frontage.
“The property where the project will go is the old Steele Gulch ranch where a number of old buildings, constructed in 1865 are still standing. Latta says they will be restored in early California style to be developed as a pioneer village with livery stable, blacksmith shop, harness shop and a country store.
“Trails and roads will be developed from the sea to a mountain area where the early California transportation methods will be used, complete with horses.
“The history museum will be open on a limited basis to the general public within a matter of weeks.
“Long range plans, Latta declared, call for an airplane landing strip, to run parallel to the Coast highway.”
The rescue ships carried the injured, stunned and stricken survivors back to San Francisco where they were created at the emergency hospital.
Rumor had it that attorneys for the San Juan and the S.C.T. Dodd scurried among the shocked survivors, urging them to keep quiet and avoid reporterâs questions. Clearly the attorneys were less interested in the passengerâs welfare than the liability of the ship owners.
Despite painful abdominal and spinal injuries, Theodore Granstedt could not be dissuaded from talking, charging cowardice on the part of the San Juanâs crew.
âWhen the crash came, the entire crew deserted their posts and saved themselves. They made no effort to launch a boat or save a soul,â? Granstedt said before nurses on the scene convinced him that he was seriously injured and needed to calm down and rest.
Theodore Granstedt had survived what the San Mateo Times called âthe worst maritime tragedy the Pacific Coast had experienced in more than a quarter century.â?
The Times noted that 72 peopleâmost of them passengers, many women and childrenâmet watery deaths as the Standard Oil tanker S.C.T. Dodd rammed the San Juan 12 miles off the San Mateo County coast.
The following day Sheriff James J. McGrath and his deputies patrolled the coastline. Hundreds of curious county residents lined the shore as Coast Guard cutters continued a futile search for more bodies.
As the facts were gathered, the tragic story emerged.
According to survivors on deck at the time, the San Juan was sheared almost in half by thee heavy stern of the tanker Dodd and sank beneath the sea before most of the passengers in their staterooms, and the crewmembers in their bunks, had an opportunity to realize the vessel had been mortally struck.
There were indications that a terrific hole had been torn in the side of the San Juan by the impact and she started sinking at once. When the swirling waters reached the engine room, there was a hissing of steam and then the boilers explodedâshattering the ship from stem to stern.
Most of those fortunate survivors were on the deck or in the saloon at the time of the disaster. Those below in their berths or bunks were doomed.
âIt was not a matter of four or five minutes before the ship sank,â? Charles J. Tulee, the San Juanâs First Mate said. âIt was a matter of only a few seconds.â?
The second mate backed up Tuleeâs version, adding that the vessel sank as he attempted to help some women and children into one of the lifeboats. That lifeboat was the only one that might have been launchedâbut it was shattered in the boiler explosion, hurling the women into the air, injuring many seriously. Only a few survived.
Until the results of an official investigation there was the usual finger pointing. The owners of the San Juan blamed the tanker Todd, listing the heavy blanket of fog that covered the Pacific at the time as a contributing factor.
Just as insistent was the Doddâs Captain Bluemchen, who reported that in spite of the fog, the San Juanâs lights were visible, and that she suddenly changed her course, cutting across the Doddâs pathway.
As Captain Asplund had perished in the disaster, the authorities would never know his version of the events.
Some critics opined that the San Juan was too old to go to sea, but others commented that the steamerâs hull had been inspected by officials and pronounced seaworthy.
Captain Frank Turner, a federal steamship inspector, added that the Titantic was a new ship but she sank almost immediately upon receiving a blow comparable to the one suffered by the San Juan.
The bickering and accusations continued until the official inquiry, including a trial, was completed.
According to reports, the U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service Board found the San Juan inshore of the Dodd, tried to cross the oil tankerâs bow, was rammed and sank within a few minutes on August 29, 1929.
In other words, responsibility for the San Juan disaster was placed squarely on the shoulders of Captain Asplund. This decision did little to mitigate the suffering and loss of life.
The sinking of the San Juan remains one of the worst maritime tragedies that ever occurred off the San Mateo County coastline.
Photos:At left, the “Brother Buzz,” and at right, a motor launch believed to have been the “Buzz” before it was retrofitted. Both photos courtesy Fran Young.
June,
You may recall a decade or so ago we also found a Dog at sea, it made The Review Every Dog Has It’s Day…
I have included a picture of “BROTHER BUZZ” and a US NAVY photo of a 40′ motor launch that might be Buzz before “his” retrofitting, ( I know boats are usually referred to as “She” but my oldest Son Francis III once quizzed me, “Dad why do you call the boat her, when it’s name is “Brother Buzz?” I changed my behavior at least when referring to “The Buzz”
The boat has a substantial history,
——————–
“Brother Buzz” Built-1941 Mare Island Naval Ship Yard (40′ Motor Launch)
Served until decommission in 1951, Sold at auction Mare Island;
Names in Chronological Order:
“WHIRL-A-WAY” 1951-64, Party Boat Sausalito
“KW” 1964-65, Party Boat Sausalito
“CORINNE II” 1965, Party Boat Fishermen’s Warf
“PATTIE L” 1966-71, Party Boat Fishermen’s Warf
“QUEEN OF HEARTS” 1971-86, Party Boat Fishermen’s Warf / Halfmoon Bay
“BROTHER BUZZ” 1987-present, Party Boat, Private Fishing Boat Halfmoon Bay
Photo: Explosion aboard the “San Juan” in 1929 took the lives of many. The “San Juan”was a “commuter” ship that offered passengers good value as it sailed between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Courtesy San Mateo County History Museum.
Summer of 1929: Tragedy at Sea Near Pigeon Point by June Morrall, Part II
As the San Juan continued south past Pigeon Point, the Standard Oil tanker S.C.T. Dodd was plowing northward up the coast toward San Francisco, nearing the end of her voyage from Baltimore.
The vessels were 12-miles out, off the San Mateo-Santa Cruz coastline when minutes before midnight the sound of a piercing whistle broke the stillness of the night.
Without any further warning, the sickening shriek of metal tearing metal roared through the San Juan’s staterooms. The Granstedts were thrown from their berths. Hearts pounding, pulses racing, the panicked couple threw on clothes and fled to the deck.
The oil tanker Dodd had rammed the San Juan and the old steamer was sinking. Once on deck, the Granstedts encountered an eerie scene of terrified passengers and crew dashing about madly—and the smell of fear was pervasive. Theodore Granstedt saw no order, only chaos.
Some passengers jumped overboard, others were swept away by the powerful waves. Through the foggy mist, Captain Asplund could be seen trying to help women into a lifeboat.
There was no time to reflect, hardly time for prayer: It all happened so fast.
One second the Granstedts were standing beside their good friends, John and Anna Olsen, and their daughter, Helen. The next moment the San Juan was plunging stern first into the sea, creating a whirlpool that sucked them all in the abyss.
Then there was a great and very loud explosion.
Of the original group, only Theodore Granstedt survived. The next thing he knew he had surfaced from beneath the cold water. Searchlights illuminated the sea littered with wreckage—but he did not recognize the faces of people struggling in the nearby surf, clinging to toolboxes, screaming for help.
Miraculously, before the seriously injured Mountain View man lost consciousness, he grasped the piece of floating debris that saved his life.
By now lifeboats had been launched from other vessels in the vicinity: the oil tanker Dodd, the lumber carrier Munami and the motor-ship Frank Lynch. Theodore Granstedt was one of the 38 surviving passengers and crewmembers.
Wife, Emma, whose anxieties were sadly proven valid was one of 72 presumed dead…as were the Olsens and Stanford student Paul Wagner.
Summer of 1929: Tragedy at Sea Near Pigeon Point, Part II
Although many of the San Juan’s survivors were crew, Captain Asplund went down with his ship as did the purser, Jack Cleveland.
Posted reply [from Robert to Fran Young]”I’ll look for a pic of vessel. Location corresponds with ‘San Juan’, iron passenger vessel lost 1929. I’d like to get your gps#’s at your slip in HMB and I can proof against out gps(there is small differences in unit to unit) and hope you don’t mind but past the info onto buddy with NOAA and he’ll be trying to interest officials in making a submersible dive on it. Hopefully it’s early enough to be coal or IF switched to oil firied it’s not a sleeping environmental disaster like the ‘Jacob Luckenbach’ (we provided logistical etc. support to the oil recovery on her as we dove it the last 14? Years) in the Western Channel.-Again thanks for providing the info to the world and furthering our knowledge of a cultural resource. I’ll pass any info I dig up onto you. Bob (we’ve been diving wrecks here in California since 1968 and worked with Bill Anderson on his sub search out of HMB).”
Attached is a drawing of what I remember the image on my depth sounder to look like, length is of question because of speed of my vessel, bear in mind this is what the compiled image would have been, the total readout would have been approximately 3 screens at 11.5 MPH. I am going to the boat this afternoon and will give you my in dock position. As to whether I mind if you share the information, Putting it on Coastside was exactly what I was doing “Sharing the information” I’m excited to see if It is indeed the San Juan having sunk 78 years ago. You know I am from PA and I was born in Chester County Hospital not far from where the Keel was laid for the San Juan. The story was quite a tragedy, I wonder if Mr. Pifer is still alive? The namesake of the S.C.T. Dodd was from Titusville PA, not far from where my Dad was born. I’m glad you are a Coast Side Member, less this would have no doubt remained a novelty I would show others aboard while making tuna runs.
June,
Here’s some of the correspondence to this point, I came across the wreck site on Thursday 8/2 while making my way to a spot we fishermen call “601” it is aptly named because it is the only spot on the NOAA chart for our area that is 601 fathoms, Tuna fishing enthusiast refer to the area when talking about a seamount that is approximately 40 miles SW of Pillar Point. While headed in that direction on 8/2, I had spent quite some time staring at a flat 300+ foot bottom on my fish finder, then all of sudden a large sounding and outline of something obviously man made, a sharp square cornered shape a sloping side on the end followed by a second somewhat rectangular shape also clearly Man made and very large, I brought it to the attention of my friend standing next to me on my 1941 Mare Island Naval Shipyard manufactured WWII US Naval Launch (Brother Buzz) which I have kept in Pillar Point for 19 years as a Private Sport Fishing Vessel. OK, can you tell I love my old “Warship”?
Back to the shipwreck, Being a member of the locally founded Coastside Fishing Club, I posted on our forum the numbers (Lat / Long) that I had jotted down while passing over the site. Turns out one of our club members is an avid diver and had knowledge of the San Juan and is doing some foot work with NOAA, below is some of our e-mails…. Fran (Brother Buzz) Young
( The 13th Labor of Hercules by Perham Wilhelm Nahl, the poster that celebrated the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, held in San Francisco)
