March 24, 2010 9 The Julian News
We have our own private parking
lot behind the office...
entrance off "C' Street
ORNER
www.j u
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TREET
les.com
P.O. Box 1000
Julian, CA 92036
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IMMACULATE CUSTOM HOME on one acre JULIAN ESTATES- Gated community of high end SINGLE LEVEL HOME on wooded acre in Pine
with views to Palomar. Gourmet kitchen, top grade 2 DWELLINGS ON 1 PARCEL, consisting of 2.5 homes. This 4.7 acres has incredible views, private Hills. 2 bedroom, 2 bath, family room, granite
appliances, Many custom features. 3 BR, 2.5 BA, Acres. 3+BD/2+BA Home, w/1BD/1BA Apartment cul-de-sac drive, and well already drilled. Don't
1798 sq. ft. with floor to ceiling windows and wrap- above 2 Car Garage, w/separate SDG&E meters, miss this opportunity to own in one of the nicest counter tops, cathedral ceilings in living room,
communities in the mountains, attached garage. Private spa off-master bedi:oom.
around deck .$575,000 $359,000 Reduced to $275,000. $398,000
A VERY SPECIAL PROPER IIIT~l Acres - Nice
LOVELY SPACIOUS HOME - on 9.24 Acres. UNUSUAL AND REMOTE MOUNTAIN PROPERTY.II[ CHOICE SITE IN PINE HILLS. 1.28 Acres with[I13-bedroom home with a~rock fireplace,
Great Floor plan - 4 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths, Gourmet Ill 20 Acres, Complete with dry cabin for secluded get-llI easy access, mature trees. Service by water company, large wrap-around do,~L~-~Cat views, several
hundred a~pple tre~'~o'om for more) and a
Kitchen, Formal Dining Room, 2 Fireplaces, Central Ill away weekends. Oak, Fir and Spruce trees. Views. Ill
has approved septic layout. I
Air and Heat, Deck, Garage. II
large pond, d~'. " hed garage + outbuildings.
I
$649,000 $240,000 $188,000 $485,000
Rose Steadman, Broker/Owner
Juli Zerbe, Broker Associate Melo-de Savage, Realtor Associate Kirby Winn, Realtor Associate
email: julinjoe@gmail.com email: melo-de@sbcglobal.net email: kirbylwinn@gmail.com
The 1850 first county tax roll hit
our local ranchero pretty hard on
his "carretas."
Both were valued at 50 pesos
each, much more than ox carts
at other ranchos. They must
have been good, sturdy ox carts,
with rancho-style solid wheels
and extra features like quick-
disconnect yoke hitches.
In those days, rancheros and
their Indian vaqueros built their
own ox carts, which were used
for everything from hauling grain
to wedding parties to bringing
rancho Iovelies down to Old
Town dances, called fandangos.
The Gastelum family from
Ensenada took a trip in one
from home to Sonoma on the
Camino Real and back. It took
them two years and they stayed
at nearly every rancho, mission,
and presidio along the way.
Rancheros were hospitable
folk and they enjoyed hearing
all the news from visitors. The
Gastelums, too, enjoyed the
friendly visits.
One thing Rancho Volcan had
in abundance was good timber
for the massive solid wheels.
Usually two or three thick pieces
made up each wheel. Also,
our Cockney Bill was a good
carpenter, in demand as a stage
carpenter at the mission theater.
Wooden pegs and rawhide held
things together.
Spanish carts, in contrast, had
world-class spoked wheels, too
delicate for our California ox cart
roads. There are many variants
around the world, derived from
Egyptian and Mesopotamian
designs. Turkish carts, oddly,
have wheels and an axle which
rotate as a unit. These are
not good on turns, but great
on the straightaway. This is a
good feature, because oxen
annoyingly lunge to the side to
snatch roadside grass, but that
rigid wheel assembly keeps them
on the straight and narrow.
A peculiarity of early California
and the rest of New Spain is
that the rancheros did not put a
contoured yoke across the necks
of the oxen. Instead, the straight
yoke was tied with rawhide to
the horns of the oxen. This is a
California solution to the irksome
snatching-at-grass problem.
The first ox cart I ever saw was
at the Mayan ruins of Iximche in
the Guatemala highlands. It was
a rumbling, lumbering apparition
with gigantic oxen, very high
wobbling wheels, and a rawhide
bucket swaying te and fro, filled
with boiled animal fat for the
occasional lube job. Animal fat
is not as tenacious as Pep Boys'
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The Ox Cart
grease, but it does permeate
the wooden bearings like the
sintered bushings in your car. To
lube the bearings, you just pull
the wooden pin out and wobble
the wheel outward and slather
the fat onto the axle shafL
You can still see ox carts at
San Miguel Mission and Santa
Barbara Presidio. One of the
best is in San Diego's Old
Town at the Seeley Stable. It
is reported to have been found
under a haystack at Sutter's Fort,
where the California Gold Rush
began. This is a high-mileage,
no-frills , 1806 vintage vehicle
with severely worn-down lumpy
wheels.
These wheels are among the
oldest surviving in California,
sturdily built by mission Indians
at San Jose. Conchita Ramirez,
fleeing wild-eyed forty-niners,
rode this cart to San Diego in
1849, taking 3 months to do it
with lots of visits along the way.
Each wheel is a 5-inch slice of a
big tree. Six-by-six timbers form
the frame with fine mortise-and-
tenon joints, now professionally
restored. The wheels had wide
treads to reduce wear. It was an
ancient craft to build serviceable
vehicles with only wood and
rawhide, both renewable
resources, and little or no iron.
With oxen, the 100% organic
tailpipe emissions were minimal,
except for greenhouse gas
generated by the cud-chewing
illustration by Bonnie Gendron
power source. Still, emissions
were way better than an SUV like
the Ford Extinction.
Cockney Bill Williams had
ox carts at both his ranchos -
Volcan de Santa Ysabel (Julian)
and Valle de las Viejas (Alpine).
We know more about his Viejas
carts because Viejas was the
major supplier of grain to the army
and because a very trusted civic
leader remembered Bill's grain
transport. This is how Ephraim
Morse described the diorama
of his memories to downtown
colleagues at the chamber of
commerce, as reported in the
San Diego Union of 6/1/1900.
"The Mexican ox cart was very
much in evidence in those early
years. With an ox hide for the
bottom and plenty of straw in
place of springs, and an Indian
driver for the oxen who walked
in front as a guide for the oxen
to follow, the whole family would
pile in. As time was no object
with them, the gait of the oxen
by Albert Simonson
was quite satisfactory.
"In 1853 more grain, principally
barley, was raised in the little
valley of Viejas than in all the rest
of the county. It was hauled in
to Old Town, over a wild, broken
country without roads for more
than half the distance. Only
Mexican carts, which by the way
were built on the ranch, with their
solid block wheels, drawn by
oxen, their yokes lashed to their
horns, could be used on such a
trip. Long stretches of road, then
first opened by those primitive
trains, are now traveled daily on
mail coaches. The grain brought
3 cents per pound."
Volunteer Expo
This Weekend
The Julian Merchants
Association would like to invite
your organization to take part in
the first Julian Volunteer Expo.
The idea is to bring all the groups
and organizations together
with their diverse volunteer
opportunities and then invite the
general publicto come and learn
about how they can get more
involved in things going on in
Julian.
Why Volunteer?: Volunteering
provides anopportunity
for meaningfulservice and
volunteers canhelp improve
the quality ofprograms and
events offered to the community.
Julian has a rich history and
volunteering for special events
or programs helps preserve our
heritage by bringing Julian's
culture to life, recreating its vital
and exciting character.
Julian attracts thousands of
visitors from around the world
every year. Volunteers act as the
town's ambassadors by providing
memorable experiences in a
quaint and exciting atmosphere.
Who Can Participate: Every
Organization, Club, or Group
looking for volunteers throughout
the year is welcome to set up
continued on page ]l
7th Graders Check Out High Tech
by Lauren VandewaUe
Wednesday, March 10th, Julian Junior High's seventh grade
traveled to the 10th annual High Tech Fair, sponsored by the San
Diego Science Alliance. We took a bus to Wyland Hall at the Del
Mar fairgrounds, and it was amazing! More than fifty exhibitors had
set up booths, and a huge Cal Fire engine was parked in the middle
of the building. We were broken into groups and each group learned
about two different topics, including Biotech, Clean Technology,
Conservation, Aerospace, Healthcare, High Tech, and Robotics.
Everyone walked around observing and keeping in the back of our
minds that someday these could be our careers.
Returning back with a brain full of information, bags stuffed with
freebies and the knowledge of sciences we'd never known of before,
Julian Jr. High's seventh graders felt inspired. For the next few days
our groups put together posters and presentations to share with the
class. The most enjoyed topics included Qualcomm, a cell phone
company that measures heart rate by phone, Cal fire, and Aerospace
companies. All the posters and presentations taught about the
different stations that not all got to visit, and taught us great things.
The High Tech Fair experience opened our eyes to what options
we have in the future.
This was more than a field trip, it was a life changing experience
that made us all excited for science and today's modern technology.
Ten years from now, maybe we'll be exhibiting at the High Tech Fair.
