Bay area

While the park we are staying is not chockfull of amenities, it has the most important one – location. There is so many attractions nearby that we have never visited so we plan to hit them all.

Our first stop is Muir Woods National Monument. In the late 1800’s the land where the Monument sits was under consideration to be a supply of water to San Francisco by damming up Redwood Creek and filling Sequoia Canyon with water. The Canyon has an impressive grove of redwoods that caught the attention of William Kent and his wife Elizabeth. In 1905 they purchased the land in an attempt to preserve the grove. In a fortunate turn of events 1906 sees Congress passing the Antiquities Act, allowing sitting presidents the right to declare National Monuments by Presidential Proclamation.

I say fortunate because in 1907 a water company serving San Francisco takes the Kent’s to court attempting to get the land condemned under public domain statutes. The Kent’s proposed a deal with President Theodore Roosevelt and gifts the 295 acres to the federal government. In return, the President proclaims Muir Woods a National Monument, effectively stopping the water company’s condemnation efforts. The name was requested by the Kent’s and John Muir was humbled by the Monument being named for him.

Despite heavy rain on our drive to the Monument the intensity eased up as we arrived. Because the groves are so dense, we don’t really know if the rain fully eased up or if the dense foliage kept us mostly dry. Regardless of the reason, we truly enjoyed the break. The rain kept the visitor count down, but we were still able to hike all the main trails through the grove. As Muir would have said, it was glorious!

We also visited the John Muir National Historic Site. This home that he lived in with his wife Louie and daughters (Wanda and Helen) is really a contrast from what one might expect. Muir is best known for living for 4 years in Yosemite Valley in a cabin or other similar ventures. This mansion is actually an ultra-modern and opulent 10,000 square foot structure. It turns out that Muir actually inherited the estate from the parents of Louisa Strentzel, and loved working the 2,600 acre fruit orchard that surrounds it.

His office is where he mused and also where he wrote most of his published works. The actual desk at which he wrote, fondly called by Muir himself as his “scribble desk” is one of the many original pieces of furniture in the mansion. Despite no schooling after the age of 11 due to a strict father’s intolerance Muir became an amazingly eloquent author.

When Muir first began managing the orchard at his father in-law’s estate, he planted a cherished Sequoia seedling. 130 years later across from the mansions original carriage house stands the majestic tree that Muir planted himself and nurtured. I can’t imagine a more fitting tribute to this naturalist.

In nearby Richmond we visited the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historic Park. When all able men in the country were called to serve in the armed forces, the shipyards in Richmond were still expected to manufacture the ships needed to defeat the forces of Japan. With not near enough men to build the ships, the call went out from the government asking women to fill the rolls of the missing men. At first the unions that accredited welders and boiler makers and such refused to accept women. But as the US government persisted, those organizations eventually admitted the “fairer sex”.

Henry Kaiser’s shipyard in Richmond built 747 ships for the war effort during WWII, a rate that has never been equaled. In a competition among shipyards in the area, the Richmond yard built the Liberty Ship SS Robert E Peary in 4 days, 15 hours. Because of the female welders and boiler makers, the yard generally needed no more than two weeks to produce a fully functioning Liberty Ship.

We got so lucky. The day we were there, 4 of the Rosie’s were at the park, actual welders and boiler makers who had worked at the Kaiser Richmond yards during WWII. The youngest at 88 and the oldest at 96, the 4 Rosie’s each told their story. They talked about their families, why they came to Richmond, and their experiences in the shipyard. To us, this was the best part of the experience.

Before we left we headed to the dock. One of the Liberty Ships, the Red Oak, was still docked in the Richmond shipyards. It turns out that on a percentage basis, more men from Red Oak Iowa were killed in WWII than any other community in the US. Because of this the Kaiser shipyard christened one of their many Liberty ships the Red Oak. We concede if this monster was built in a week, that is an amazing accomplishment.

We were able to score a reservation for the tour of Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial. Second only to Great Basin National Park, it is the least visited destination in the National Park Service managed facilities. That may be because of the little known story behind it.

In WWII the only focus was on getting men and war material into the Pacific. Richmond was doing its part with the Liberty Ship production. After the Liberty Ships left Richmond, they went to Port Chicago before heading to conflict in the Pacific. At Port Chicago they were loaded with all sort of ammunition, shells and other ordinance. At that time, the Navy did not allow black enlisted men to fight on the lines. So, Port Chicago was primarily a black facility – all the men loading ships were black, all the officers were white.

Despite warnings by the Coast Guard and others, the main objective at Port Chicago was to get the Liberty Ships loaded with armaments as quickly as possible so they could assist the war effort. On July 17, 1944 the two ships being loaded exploded, instantly killing 320 men, mostly black enlisted men, and injuring 390 others. Comrades of the killed men collected boots still holding parts of their feet, as they were searching for any sign of survivors. After extensive searching only enough remains to medically identify 7 of the 320 men were found. Those parts of the 7 men are buried in the National Cemetery in the Presidio in San Francisco.

The Navy readied another pier and within weeks ordered men of the base back to loading the Liberty Ships using the same methods as a week or so earlier. Some 250 enlisted men refused to return to loading the ships unless safety measures were strengthened. After dishonorable conduct citations were given those men, some 200 of them returned to the docks, but with this black mark on their military record. 50 of the men still refused and were jailed. The Navy eventually charged the 50 with mutiny and a Naval military court convicted them, giving each 8-15 years in prison. Being convicted of mutiny and dishonorably discharged the men lost all their military benefits for themselves and their heirs, all for asking for strengthened safety measures after the explosion turned out to be the largest domestic loss of life in WWII.

No explanation for the explosion was ever found as there were literally no remains. The largest piece of anything left after the explosion was a hamper sized piece of one of the two Liberty Ships’ inches thick solid steel hull. The pier, the ships, the men, everything simply disintegrated due to the intensity of the blast. It turns out that the Liberty Ship the Red Oak that we saw at the Richmond shipyards was one of the hundreds of ships that went from Richmond to Port Chicago to be loaded and sent to the forces in the Pacific.

The Navy did implement one safety measure after the blast. The town of Port Chicago abutted the base to the south. The Navy forced evacuation of the town and absorbed it into the boundaries of the base fearing that another explosion could occur and cause substantial civilian loss of life. The Navy bulldozed down all the homes and buildings in the town that previously supported a population estimated around a thousand. On our way out of the Memorial we drove Main Street Port Chicago. Eerily you can still see all the streets, where the shop, church and home lots likely were, the landscaped trees still standing where they likely flanked a porch or chapel entrance.

What a great day!

Talk to you soon!