Raven Jake Dawes

Fiesta at the San Gabriel Mission

Happy 246th Birthday, Mission San Gabriel! We came down to represent the Friends of the Michael White Adobe at the Old Spanish Trail Association booth. Alex King's going to be here all weekend, so if you're around, make sure you drop in, say "hi" and learn a bit about the trail. We also ran into our old friends Helen and Christina Salazar, which was a special treat. The mission will be holding the fiesta all weekend, including food, rides, music and a car show, so c'mon down, if you can stand the heat. 

Kizh/Gabrielino Band of Mission Indians at the San Marino Parade

Folks, at the same time I was participating in the Sierra Madre July 4th Parade, theKizh/Gabrielino Band of Mission Indians were marching in San Marino's Independance Day Parade. Andy Teutimez Salas and his tribe were celebrating their heritage,  bringing awareness about the Michael White Adobe, and even more importantly, honoring the mixed heritage decendents of Eulalia Perez. We sat near them at the L.A. Heritage Fair, so we've met the Kizh before, but it was a shame to miss the parade. Andy provided us with pictures and filled us in on what happened:

We'd like to thank  the city of San Marino, "Sheshiikuanungna," for having us. This was another great day in our Native Land. In regards to the Banner of the Michael White family, the great-grand children of Michael White and his wife [Maria del Rosario], daughter of Eulila Perez, were the were the ones riding in the old 1938 car behind us. They have been members of our family for decades and are members of our Tribe. In the car was Anita White and Steve White, who are great-grand children. They still live in San Gabriel today and have lots of historic photos of their family members going back to the 1800's to share. On a related note, my father Ernie P. Teutimez Salas, Chief of our Tribe, has strong family connections to both the Native Kizh/Gabrieleno and Benjamin D. Wilson "Mt. Wilson" and the Patton Family.

 

LA Heritage Day April 29

Just a reminder y'all - come out to LA Heritage Day on Olvera Street on April 29.  I'll be there with the Friends of the Michael White Adobe and with the Old Spanish Trail Association.

Over here at the left, I'm surveying the wreckage from the San Francisquito Dam disaster, and if you don't know what that was, you'd better come to Heritage Day and see if one of the 200 member organizations can help you out.

http://laheritage.blogspot.com/

Blessing of the Animals Sat April 7

Folks, I was strollin' down Olvera Street just the other day when I saw a banner announcing that the annual Blessing of the Animals is coming up. Right before Easter. So if the critter in your life is a devout Catholic, or just plain bad, you might want to take the opportunity to launch a pre-emptive strike.

Over at the left, you can see that this Wookie is up to something. Now I'm not sure if a Wookie is technically an "animal" or more like another race of hominid, or if space aliens count as animals as far as blessings are concerned, but I do know this: You can't be too careful when it comes to Wookies. Or Bigfeet. Or Bears. Or rattlesnakes. Git 'em all blessed and let God sort 'em out.

Upcoming Events

Folks, I'm off to visit Tecopa Tom for a couple o' days while attending the Sierra Club conference and the Old Spanish Trail Rendezvous. Here are the Facebook event pages: http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/187301418036211/

http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/330052833706236/

Should be a pretty great weekend, since everything in Tecopa / Shoshone is pretty great. (As you can see I'm waiting for Jane to finish her business, as usual. Time makes a man patient.) So if y'all are in Death Valley, come see me at the potluck on Saturday night. If you want to make a weekend of it, drive to Baker, get yourself some alien jerky, then go up that alley behind the Mad Greek for about an hour or so and you'll be in Shoshone.

Next up -  LA Heritage Day 2012 is on Sunday, April 29th from 10am to 4pm.

This year's event will take place at El Pueblo Historic Monument along
the historic Plaza in partnership with them. This is great because it
is near Olvera Street and Union Station, so it has many public transit
& parking options. It also allows for a number of museums & LAHA
members  to see increased patronage and exposure. (See the site here:
http://elpueblo.lacity.org)

I don't know if we'll be representing the Old Spanish Trail Association or the Michael White Adobe or both, but the LA Heritage Alliance has about 250 member organization from folks who are preserving buildings, to the culinary historians and the citrus industry historians to different museums, so there really is something for everyone. 

Old Spanish Trail Meeting on Saturday

Folks I'm a great believer in alternative energy, but I'm not a believer in giving huge tracts of pristine desert to power companies so they can ruin public land for a profit. This is becoming a huge problem all over the California desert and we're going to have to band together to do something about it.

Now some of the land that's supposed to get windmills and solar panels all over it is part of the Old Spanish Trail, specifically the Tecopa part of the trail, so I'm going to be at this meeting, and if you're going too, please RSVP with Paul McClure.

Here's the forwarded message:

Please join us on Saturday, January 21, 2012, for a very important meeting!

An OSTA Alert

Old Spanish Trail Faces New Threats in the Mojave. What Can OSTA Do? Help Us Find the Answers… Proposed solar energy and wind farm projects endanger the Old Spanish Trail corridor in some of the most sensitive and unspoiled areas of the Mojave. The Hidden Hills solar plant and the Silurian Valley wind farm would both require massive grading and erect huge structures (twin 750-foot high towers at Hidden Hills; more than 120 windmills from 250-400 feet high along Highway 127 in the scenic Silurian Valley near Death Valley). Both projects would impinge on the Trail and destroy unspoiled desert vistas.

Join with Tecopa chapter leaders and OSTA members from California and Nevada on January 21, 2012, to plan an effective response that makes sure the Trail is protected now that the U.S. is locating renewable energy in the desert. The Tecopa chapter is established with regulatory agencies as an “Intervener” and is actively engaged on these two projects, as well as ongoing research on the Trail. This is your chance to become involved. 

When: Sat., Jan. 21, 12:00 noon to 3:00 PM

Where: Gallery auditorium of the Workman-Temple Homestead Museum 
15415 East Don Julian RoadCity of Industry, California 91745 
Phone: (626) 968-8492 
Web: www.homesteadmuseum.org
Who: All OSTA members in CA and NV

Refreshments: 
Sandwiches and drinks will be available
Cost: Free to OSTA members and guests with advance registration 

The Program

OSTA’s Jan. 21 Strategy and Action Planning session will:

Review proposed projects and evaluate possible mitigation measures 

Consider proposing efficient alternatives, such as placing power generation where the population is. This can be achieved by installing rooftop on industrial and large government buildings, warehouses, and parking lots in our cities. 

Plan and organize OSTA monitoring and participation in the regulatory and environmental proceedings for each project, contacting elected officials, and coordinating with other historical and environmental organizations 

Offer you the chance to get involved with ongoing OSTA projects, including: 

Field location and recording of the 1829-1848 mule trace being conducted by the Tecopa chapter 

Archival research to document the OST in CA and NV 
Preparation of OSTA field and archival data for Geographical Information Systems (GIS) presentations. 

Register for this free event by return e-mail to Paul McClure (espabloaqui@verizon.net) or by telephone at 909-305-0505. Please include names of all in your party who plan to attend. This is so that we can prepare an attendance list and order the right amount of food and drinks.

Michael White Adobe in the Titan Shield

Shout out to Camille Wang, student editor-in-chief of the Titan Shield (San Marino High) for her coverage of the Michael White Adobe open house:

Michael White Adobe Open House

Last night, we held the second annual Michael White Adobe Open House at the adobe on the grounds of San Marino High School during their homecoming game against Monrovia.

Over to the right is Jane, cleverly disguised as Maria de Rosario Guillen de Blanco. No family members turned up this time around, but we did have a bunch of folks from the community come by and take a gander, and we also had a PTA chair, a school board member, and reps from the Old Spanish Trail Association, the Genealogical Society of Hispanic America, the San Marino Historical Society and the Ramona Museum.

We also screened a 14-minute movie that I produced with Abby Shamray. She wrote and directed the piece for her Girl Scout Gold Award, I shot some and edited, and I've gotta say, she did a terrific job of telling the story of the adobe and ways to integrate it into the school curriculum. So way to go, Abby! More on that later when we iron out a couple of sound issues and get it posted to Youtube.

Don't forget to keep checking the official Michael White Adobe website, as more things develop.

Michael White Adobe on the cover of Spanish Traces

Michael White Adobe on the cover of Spanish Traces, the Old Spanish Trail Association newsletter,  Fall 2011!

Find out more at http://www.oldspanishtrail.org/

Michael White Adobe Open House Oct. 28

Hey Y'all - Just like last year, the Michael White Adobe will be open before and during the homecoming game against Monrovia at 7 p.m. on Oct 28. Jane and I will be dressed as Maria del Rosario and Michael White. All are invited to tour the historic home of San Marino pioneer Michael White and see the plans for its restoration. And there's a lot goin' on too - the Friends of the Michael White Adobe have shored up the most damaged wall (thanks to NewHaven Builders and Roy Tolles) and Abby Shamray will be unveiling her girl scout gold project - a video about the adobe's history.   Over to the left is me filming while Martin of NewHaven Builders bores a hole through a 2-foot-thick adobe wall.