Take a Self-Guided Walking Tour of Los Gatos

Odd Sighting: Oil in Los Gatos

Driving through the Central Valley or Central Coast areas of California, you see lots of oil pumps working busily. Oftentimes they are painted green, and sometimes they're even decorated with springy antennae so that they look like mechanical grasshoppers.  They are so goofy looking that you just have to smile.

They're a part of the rural landscape in other parts of California.

But you really do not expect to find these things in Los Gatos.

Oil was first discovered in the Santa Cruz Mountains at Moody Gulch  in 1861 (the California Highway Patrol has named the bend in the road near there "Big Moody Curve").  It ended up not being a moneymaker, and drilling there stopped in 1912.  Closer in to town, there were 12 functioning oil wells in Los Gatos between 1891 and 1929. 

The one pictured here was apparently pumping oil into the 1950s, though, and supposedly was giving out 8 barrels a day in 1953. But it was just not enough to justify the effort.

So this tethered pump, surrounded by a small chain link fence, now sits in the middle of a paved parking lot, shaded by a very large redwood tree. It really looks out of place next to the giant SUVs and luxury vehicles and tiny Mini Coopers parked there. The pump is a little rusty looking.  The paint is peeling. It looks, well, forgotten.

With gas rapidly approaching $4 a gallon, I am wondering if maybe this pump without a purpose shouldn't be revisited to see if it has something more to give. Maybe our technology would make it feasible to use again. Do you think?

In any case, it's a glimmer of the past.  If it can't be used, perhaps it can be respected.

I vote for a coat of green paint and some springing, bobbing antennae.

Just for old time's sake.

Main Street Bridge in Los Gatos

The Los Gatos Creek plays a key role in the history of the town, and so too does the Main Street bridge that traverses it.

In 1839, two brothers-in law, Jose Hernandez and Jaun Peralta, were looking for the right location to stake their claim to a Mexican land grant when they heard mountain lions fighting. Realizing that if the huge cats lived nearby, water must be nearby too.  (The land grant was named La Rinconada de Los Gatos, or Cat's Corner.  And eventually the town was given the name Los Gatos as well.)

Peralta and Hernandez  found the water they sought, a creek snaking down from the coastal mountains and stretching for the bay, and set up their first home at what is now Vasona Park.  The partners received 6631 acres of land with the only requirement being that they had to occupy it.  Over time, people moved to the area.  Mills began at the water's edge.  Stagecoach travel to Santa Cruz commenced. And eventually, the town of Los Gatos incorporated in 1887 over 1 square mile (100 acres) on both sides of the Los Gatos Creek. The population was 1645 then.  (Today, the town encompasses 12 square miles. For a detailed historical time line of the town, click here.)

Naturally, a bridge would be important to get from one side of Los Gatos to the other.  A wooden bridge was constructed.  It came to be known as "the hanging bridge" as this was where a lynching took place in 1883. 

Fires were a terrible threat, and more than once, buildings burned to the ground as the bucket brigade battled the flames unsuccessfully. A particularly bad blaze ravaged East Main Street in 1891, culminating at a hardware store in which dynamite was sold.  Other fires struck in 1890, 1898 and 1901 too. It became clear that a wooden bridge was not an ideal situation.

A stone and concrete bridge replaced the wooden one in 1905 (see photo). It was dedicated in early 1906, not long before the devastating San Francisco earthquake (about 60 miles north).  And a newer bridge was put up in 1956.

Today the bridge remains central to downtown Los Gatos.  It spans across not just the creek, and the businesses on both sides of the creek, but a busy freeway that connects Silicon Valley with the coastal communities, most notably the beach at Santa Cruz.  The bridge is frequented by motorists, cyclists, and folks on foot or rollerblade.  From the bridge there's access to the much-loved, 9.7 mile Los Gatos Creek Trail.  Tourists and residents alike can be seen on or near the bridge with cameras in hand as the spot is quite scenic.  And the first Saturday in December, the bridge carries the holiday parade through town as well.  The town has plans to improve the bridge between now and 2009 by beautifying it, paving it, and adding a water fountain at the head of the trail.

Under the bridge, in addition to the wonderful trail, there's a beautiful mural to honor the Ohlone people who lived here before European settlers moved in.  Painted by 60 volunteers, the mural is 76 feel long and 22 feet high and was completed in 2006.  With so much of history riding across the bridge above, it is good to remember that the history of the area didn't really begin in 1839 at all, but much, much earlier.

Fighting Fire With ... Wine

About three and a half years ago, I joined Intero Real Estate Services in Los Gatos. My manager, Brian Crane, knew that in life before real estate, I was a teacher (secondary religious education, to be precise). Figuring that I wasn't afraid of public speaking, and knowing that I live in town and am a Santa Clara Valley native, Brian asked me to occassionally share a little "local history" at office meetings.  So I did some research, collected some stories, and began doing short talks on the history of the area from time to time. 

One of my favorite stories, or series of stories, was of mountain vintners who fought fire with wine.

That's right. The as the fires raged, water ran out, so they used the wine to fight the fires.

That might seem shocking initially  - after all, it's the loss of a year's work. But if the vines were consumed by fire, it could take 20 years to get them back to their previous level of productivity.

And can you imagine how the townsfolk felt when the Los Gatos Creek ran red from Cabernet or Merlot or Claret? They probably thought it was the end of the world!

I think it is in line with the entrepenurial spirit of our valley that even in fighting fires, these folks were truly thinking outside the box.  They were willing to try something offbeat to protect the future. 

Last Sunday was Earth Day.  And it got me to thinking about what we can do. . . .

I know that we in Los Gatos can help create innovative solutions to ecological problems.  Sometimes the answer is right in front of us and we only have to be thinking differently to recognize it.  The townsfolk care about solar energy and other conservation approaches.  "Fighting fire with wine" was a great concept that worked - twice.   I think it's time for the creativity of Los Gatos to emerge to help solve the problems of the land in a new era.  What are the solutions to today's environmental crises that are at our fingertips but we're just not recognizing yet? 

Almost 107 and Going Strong

For 150 years, Spring has meant "yardwork" in the lush Santa Clara Valley, as agriculture was - and still is - important.

But the garden has some natural enemies.  Roses can get rust.  Trees can get infections and weep sap. And below ground, gophers can terrorize a garden.

My grandparents, Michael and Eleanor Buckley, lived just over "the hill" in Pasatiempo near Santa Cruz in their retirement years, where my grandfather presided over a half-acre brimming with lawn, shrubs, roses and fruit trees. He composted (and they recycled) back in the 60's, before it was fashionable, and the yard was the richer for the effort. Love for the garden was only just behind faith, family, country,  duty, and education.  And I remember granddad's language turning a little ugly when his yard became a habitat for gophers. He became a warrior against the burrows.

The Almond Grove District of Los Gatos was once an almond orchard, and it, too, was threatened by gophers from time to time.   In fact, the cute critters (have you ever seen them? they are, actually, quite adorable - even as they eradicate your prized plants like something out of a bad slapstick cartoon) nearly destroyed the Almond Grove orchards more than once.

With "necessity being the mother of invention" in all times, Zephyr Albert Macabee invented and patented an effective gopher trap in October of 1900 and built it at his home at 110 Loma Alta Avenue, Los Gatos.  The Z.A. Macabee Gopher Trap Company was enormously successful, producing as many as 4,000 traps a week.

What is amazing, with all the developments of technology since then, is that the same trap is still being manufactured and sold today.  And the descendents of Zeph Macabee are involved with it.  And even more, that very same trap is still being manufactured today at the same address.  Just like in 1900.

was written just before the company's 100th anniversary (with photos).  And if you'd like to order the trap, contact Ron Fink at (408) 354-4158.

At our house, we do have fruit trees and we have rose bushes.  So far, we haven't needed to order the gopher trap, thanks to our black lab, Bella. Each time she sees a squirrel or bird in the yard, she nearly crashes through the glass.  So I think that for now, the gophers know better.  And if that changes, I know where I can go to get some help....

Los Gatos History Walk May 5th

Holiday Gifts About Los Gatos