Hawthorns Ranch
Contextualizing local history is important to what we are doing, the above picture was taken from the website of the MidPen who manages the land and has asked us to start this archaeological investigation. Here is the history of the area provided by the town of Portola Valley, CA.
You can find out more from the website of Midpeninsula Open Space Plants for Hawthorns Ranch
Map from MidPen showing where Hawthorns is located.
Nestled among the foothills of the Santa Cruz mountain range, Hawthorns Ranch consists of 72 acres of terrain in Portola Valley, CA, centered on a hill just north of Portola Valley Ranch properties between Alpine Road and Los Trancos Road. The property contains rolling grasslands and stands of valley oaks among abandoned olive groves that still blanket the eastern hillslopes of the property. On the southeastern portion of the ranch lies the floodplain of Los Trancos Creek. The creek flows from south to north along the eastern border of the property, passing under Los Trancos Road at the old entrance to the property, which is now one of two back gates.
The Spanish land grant in 1834 for Rancho Corte Madera (Wood Cutting Ranch) - Must've been filled with lots of huge trees to be harvested. This would have been a boon to the local economy - probably not a coincidence Palo Alto (Tall Tree) was so-named.
We are interested in routes of transport and trade between the Pacific Coast and the baylands. The Los Trancos Creek must have been an important route. Check out these images from Google Earth we put together that show it is the shortest and most direct route.
Below is a figure one looking down the Los Trancos Creek (yellow line). The original path people walked might have gone along the ridge to the right of the creek, following along Page Mill from the top until just before it drops down to Foothills Nature Preserve. This is also the county-line between San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. Indigenous people would have likely followed the ridge top down until pretty much right at the Hawthorns Site, and then began treking along flat land to the bay.
Below is another image looking up the creek, interestingly the Hawthorns Site is located at the juncture of two creeks and at base of the ridge which likely was used to walk up to the mountains. The path likely hit Page Mill Road eventually, before connecting with Los Trancos Open Space Preserve and Monte Bello Preserve. Maybe one survey day we can walk up the trail to Page Mill Road and the Los Trancos Open Space Preserve.
