Our first stop was the Buttonwillow Tree (CHL #492) in Buttonwillow.
The buttonwillow tree is actually a button bush, but it has a concrete planter and a historical marker, so it will forever be known as the "Buttonwillow Tree." Actually, the leading plant in Kern County is cotton, and it helps make California the #2 cotton-producing state in the US (Texas is #1).
Our next stop off I-5 was the Fages-Zalvidea Crossing (CHL #291). In 1772, Don Pedro Fages was the first European to record his travels through the south San Joaquin Valley. Father Jose Maria de Zalvidea also crossed this point in 1806 while searching for new mission sites. During his tenure, Fr. Zalvidea was the padre in charge of the San Fernando, San Gabriel, and San Juan Capistrano, and San Luis Rey missions.
Our third stop on today's adventure was a two-for-one! Sebastian Indian Reservation (CHL #133) and Rose Station (CHL #300).
This was an easy find--right off the freeway at the Grapevine exit, right at the intersection of Rose Station Rd and Grapevine Rd. The Sebastian Indian Reservation was established by General Edward Beale. General Beale is kind of a local celebrity in California history. I will go into his full story when we visit Beale's Cut, which is just a few miles from our home!
Rose Station was a stop on the Overland Mail routes of the 1800s. It was a small adobe structure, and served as stockmen's headquarters, post office, and polling place.
Our final stop of the day was the Top of Grapevine Pass, where Don Pedro Fages passed in 1772 (CHL #283) in Lebec. We were led to the marker by this misspelled sign:
I've been doing some research into this Fages character, and it turns out he was kind of a big deal in California history. He was a sailor (helped to found San Diego on an expedition from Spain), explorer, bear-hunter (his nickname was El Oso), oh, and in his spare time served as governor of Las Californias (back when both Baja California and Alta California were under Spanish rule).
Fages also apparently butted heads with another famous Spaniard in these parts: Father Junipero Serra. I haven't yet figured out what the dispute was, but they were both pretty powerful men in this region in the late 1700s, so a disagreement or two was likely.
It's funny. Many people complain that California has so little history when compared to Boston, Philadelphia, New York, and other East Coast cities. It's not that we don't have as much history. It's just that it's a little harder to find, which actually has been kind of fun so far as we continue Libi's California Adventure.
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