Tag Archives: History

Fight With a Condor: Experience of a Forest Ranger in Santa Barbara County (1902)

Although the forest ranger mentioned in the newspaper article below is Joseph Montgomery, I wonder if it may actually have been a brief about Josiah T. Montgomery, for whom Montgomery Potrero atop the Sierra Madre Mountains is named. I do … Continue reading

Posted in Santa Barbara County | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Chumash Indian Mortars and the Puzzle of the Midden

We had set out to go spearfishing, but a south wind and a west swell combined to ruin conditions. We drove up the mountain from the beach and hiked down into the canyon, the creek within which drains into the … Continue reading

Posted in Ventura County | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Alligator Pears First Successfully Introduced To USA In Santa Barbara

Morning dew on an avocado leaf in my small backyard orchard. “. . .the avocado became definitely established [in California] through the introduction of three trees from Mexico in 1871 by Judge R. B. Ord of Santa Barbara. Two of … Continue reading

Posted in Santa Barbara | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Eddy Fields’ Initials, Manzana Creek (Circa 1900)

Blue skies and golden grass along lower Manzana Creek Trail at the Pratt homestead site. “The Pratts homesteaded just below Cold Spring on Manzana Creek. They had a stepson by the name of Eddy Fields. At the site of the … Continue reading

Posted in Santa Barbara County | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Native American Rock Art (Kern County)

This rock art panel painted on granite sits in a shallow canyon along the foothills of a mountain range on the edge of California’s Mojave Desert. More art adorns the underside of a natural shelter formed by the boulders, but … Continue reading

Posted in Kern County | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment