The Rest of Our Historical Weekend

 After our trip through a Civil War encampment, we continued to take advantage of the History Fest events.

We joined a walking tour through the downtown area of Monterey.  This is the town where a lot of historical government events occurred as this was once the state capitol.  Our tour was mainly about some of the historical structures in the area.

We started by learning how the native culture of the area (Rumsen Ohlone) were not sedentary because of their lifestyle as hunter-gathers.  Their structures were usually made to move or be left behind.  They lived a simple and peaceful life.

In 1602, the first Spaniards entered the bay area; however, it would be another 167 years before they would try to settle the area.  The native Rumsen were recruited to become Spanish citizens and learn the ways of this new culture.  This included the adobe structures of the Spaniards.  Our guide showed us the basic technique of adobe and how the Spaniards layered this adobe with a smooth covering to ensure the structures would be water proof (mainly with the use mixture of limestone, shells, and aloe vera oils).  The other difference of the time was the second story structures.  Most adobe were only single story.  This also led to the veranda around the upper floor.

Our guide also showed us the many trade items of this era.  This would include items from the east coast, Europe and China.  We were especially interested in learning about the hides that were a form of currency...as these hides would be sold for $1-3 and were exported in the thousands which were then sold for as much as $10-20 each!  WOW!!! That is some kind of profit!

I suppose with all this profit it would not take long before better structures were desired.  So, the tour continued with a walk to the first brick building in Monterey (and California) built in 1847.  This would be considered the American Gold Rush era.  Although Monterey was never a part of the Gold Rush boom of the day, it was a place to hold collected gold.  So our tour took us to the Casa del Oro (House of Gold...now a little shop for historical goods).

On the way to these structures, we came to a special sidewalk...it was made of whale bone!  These sidewalks were built by Portuguese whalers in the late 1800s.  Hard to believe that these sidewalks were made over 100 years ago and still used...and these were the sidewalks throughout the wharf area until recent years.

After this walking tour, we tried for one more to end the day.  We had learned a little about Edward Ricketts thanks to a geocache a few weeks ago.  So, when we found out there was a tour in his lab, we thought it would be interesting to learn a little more about this man.  Unfortunately, our little princess had other ideas, so I took for a walk while the boys made the tour.  This is what they had to say about the tour:

Even though, Ricketts did not have a degree in medicine, he is often called Dr. Ricketts.  In actuality, he only allowed the children of the town call him by this title.  He had the children come to his lab because he had found a cure for infantigo...a childhood skin disease.

He spent most of the time in his lab studying marine biology, ecology, and philosophy.  Along with his contribution to science, he was also an inspiration for John Steinbeck.  In 1940 Ricketts and Steinbeck journeyed to the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California) in a chartered fishing boat to collect invertebrates for the scientific catalog in their book, Sea of Cortez.

Later, Steinbeck would use Ricketts as a model for his character "Doc" in several of his novels, including Cannery Row, Burning Bright, and  The Grapes of Wrath.  Ricketts was not impressed with these characters showing up in his likeness, however, he knew that Steinbeck did not do "write with malice."

So...true to our style...we did not get enough history in our little neck of the woods.  We headed out to San Francisco on Sunday!  Off to our favorite church...Star of the Sea and then on to the San Francisco Presidio.

We had been to this park a couple of months ago.  We spent most of our time driving through the area and stopping in the national cemetery.  Today we were able to enter the visitor center and learn about some of the historical people associated with the park.

Hopi Indians: They refused to integrate their children into the American culture.  When they resisted many of the elders were taken to jail at Alcatraz for almost a year.

Dora Thompson:  Led the Army Nurse Corp and was especially important during the 1906 earthquake.
Juan Briones de Miranda:  Mexican-American businesswoman who was also a gifted healer.  She lived on the Presdio and was given special permission to retain her land rights after California statehood.

Colonel Charles Young:  The third commissioned black officer graduating from West POint Academy.

General Albert Sidney Johnston:  Interesting man...who was a Union officer before the Civil War but left his position to follow his Southern heritage.  He did not leave for the war until the Union arsenal was secure and the Fort Point (used to fortify San Francisco during the war from Southern attacks) was completed.

We picked a great day to visit because it was the only day of the month a special exhibit was open to the public.

This is from the NPS website:

"The army built Battery Chamberlin on Baker Beach in 1904 to protect the harbor’s minefields. In 1977, the Golden Gate National Parks acquired a 97,000-pound cannon of the type originally emplaced here, and visitors today can still see this “disappearing” gun that can be cranked in and out of its hidden emplacement."

We arrived at the site to find a lone volunteer docent eager to teach us about the equipment.  To our surprise, we also were able to activate the mechanism to "fire" the gun!  The boys loved this and talked me into helping as we needed a 13-man crew.  Some of us were able to double up and get the job done!  And then...BOOM!!!! (Thanks to our loud crew we made quite an "explosion")

These guns were used back before the computer technology of the day...so glad to have my children hear the importance of those math skills we are learning...Pythagorean Theorem and such...with just the use of pencil and paper!  The accuracy of the weapon depended on these skills and knowing the distance of the landmarks as ships entered the harbor!

The recoil of firing a shell pushed the barrel back behind the parapet -- enemies would have seen a flash and a puff of smoke, but wouldn't have been able to eyeball what, exactly, was firing at them.  This would then prepare the firing crew for the next shot.  We were told a effective crew could shoot two rounds in less than a minute.

This site is the last working gun in existence although there are several set up around the country fixed in a stationary position.  It was a lot of fun to be a part of the adventure since I am usually the one snapping pictures.

Not much for the day...we had a quick lunch and headed home.  A great historical weekend!