The few clusters of Americans scattered in the bureaucratically named “Department of California” felt threatened on the brink of the U.S. “war” with Mexico in 1846.
The settlers smelled invasion in the air.
But from whom? They weren’t certain. They feared the Indians who could set fire to their homes and crops; they feared the Mexicans who could take away their livelihood…but for a time these isolated Americans whipped themselves into a frenzy against their old enemy, England.
And why not fear England?
At that very moment Admiral Seymour of the British Fleet were rumored to be sailing for the Pacific Coast. The settlers wondered if his orders were to take California. The editors of English publications gleefully took pen in hand to support the efforts of any country (except the U.S.) in a takeover of California. The nerves of Americans weren’t soothed by the fact that until 1846 England and the U.S. jointly held Oregon. That rainy territory was just too close for comfort…so it was understandable that the thought of the old Union Jack fluttering in the wind gave settlers the jitters.
The jitters were unnecessary. The English either decided California was not a plum worth fighting over or the British agents weren’t on the ball when the time came to strike. After all, it was the U.S. that went to “war” with Mexico and won handily in 1848.
Josiah Parker Ames was an Englishman who did not alarm the settlers when he appeared in Half Moon Bay about 1858.
planned to build a pyramid water tank on top of a little hill near Stage Road. I’m talking about the 1970s. Palm trees would be planted next to the tank. One palm tree was planted but the pyramid water tank did not appear. Here are the plans that I now see have faded with age– well, use your imagination, you know what a pyramid looks like!
I interviewed John Koep in 1980 for the documentary, “Mystery of Half Moon Bay”–here’s some of what he told me then.
John’s father came to the Coastside in the early 1940s. “Came for the shark business. There was a big boom during the war.” The government “wanted shark livers for the Vitamin A. Big boom. Made good money.”
He said that the fish was caught in front of the harbor. “Those days were the good ones.”
Also good was the albacore until it dropped in price. Salmon remained “consistent and the sardine business was good int he 1940s. The town of Princeton was bigger with two canneries, three piers. Everybody worked at the canneries. There was a small cannery row. Nerli’s restaurant, Patroni’s, rooms upstairs. You get anything you wanted in Princeton.”‘
…more to come..
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I’m having old 8m film transferred on dvds and putting snips of it here:
Looks like I can only do one little snip of movie at a time so this will be a changing site. What’s the content? It will vary from late 1960s footage of friends enjoying being young–but I’ve viewed some war protests in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, too. Some of it will show the Coastside in the 1970s.
I have already uploaded two film snips to youtube and they are the first ones at my new site. The rest will be brand new–but remember this is old, faded stuff.
Did you watch the Academy Awards last night? That was the best Oscars show I’ve seen in a very long time. Wasn’t Ellen great? She’s so cool; I wonder if she’s like that in “real life.”
There were so many great things to see and hear in the show–the lithe dancers behind the screen, their silhouettes creating physical representations of the nominated films. How did they manage the bullet shooting out of the gun for “The Departed?” Was it a person? What was it? Huh?
The glorious volume of the voices of Hudson & Beyonce–and the sublime control of Celine Dion.
My favorite part of the Oscars: When Alan Arkin won best supporting actor for “Little Miss Sunshine.” If you’ve been reading “me”, you know that “Sunshine” was the movie I was rooting for, all the way. But you also know (see below) that I’m very happy “The Departed” won the top prize. Classy picture. Great script, direction, dialogue. Knowing all the actors made it all more enjoyable. Good to see an East Coast director win.
Did you notice that the “wins” were distributed all around. Not just clustered in the hands of one or two or three. The Germans, the Chinese, the Mexicans, East Coast, West Coast, environmentalists, on and on….a United Nations Oscar show, you think?
Some critics say that the Oscars was too long, painfully long…but we are high tech people, don’t they know that? We multi-task while watching; we don’t just sit and stare at the screen. For me the Oscars were just a backdrop. Looked at what I wanted to see while reading the news and writing stories on my laptop. The tv screen is just one of my multi-dimensional life.
In Reno, in a brand-new movie theater overlooking the beautiful Truckee River, we saw âThe Departedâ?–starring âJackâ? Nicholson-Matt Damon-Leonardo DicaprioâMark Wahlberg & Alec Baldwin.
All juicy rolesâand very, very–even ridiculously funny.
I canât spoil the terrific script by revealing anythingâyou must see it. âJackâsâ? interpretation of Frank Costello, a Massachusetts mafia chieftain, who specializes in political connections to protect his crime interests- -well,the scene with blood on his hands, is worth the price of the ticket…
At times, the fast-moving dialogue made me think of the brilliant Aaron Sorkinâs witty work (of West Wing fame, now Studio 60)– gone utterly mad and off the map.
And speaking of âWest Wingâ?, Martin Sheen, who played the president in that riveting series, also appears in âThe Departedâ? as the head of an undercover law enforcement office. He’s a civil, soft spoken avuncular type–but I couldn’t help thinking his alter ego was portrayed by actor Mark Wahlberg who stood at Sheen’s left side spewing gutter language.
(This movie’s not for the kiddies).
Is innovative director Martin Scorsese telling us that, these days, in real life, no one is loyal, no one is committed to real ideals and “everybody’s a rat”?
Produced by Brad Pitt and Brad Grey, a fascinating combination of Hollywood & HBO talent.
I did get the British-born comedic actor J. Pat O’Malley’s address and I wrote him. But it was just another dead end. I had confused J. Pat O’Malley with Pat O’Malley…
Here’s Mr. O’Malley’s response (from San Juan Capistrano):
Now my efforts turned toward finding the actors who starred in “Let Women Alone.” In 1977 I wrote a letter to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills asking for the whereabouts of actor Pat O’Malley.
