Book Review: Place-Names of California's North San Joaquin Valley

Place Names of California's North San Joaquin Valley: Includes San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Merced Counties, by David L Durham, Word Dancer Press, Clovis, California, 2000.

It is fascinating how many place names there are.  There are rives and sloughs and channels and islands surrounded by rivers.  That is what you get with a delta.  Of course this is not room to hit on every place name, so let me offer some high lights.  The San Joaquin River shapes much of the area, with its many channels. 

Charles Weber laid out Stockton and French Camp.  This was after he received a land grant Campo de los Franceses.  The are was called this based on some French fur trappers who had camped in the area.  Stockton is the County Seat, and most prominent city of San Joaquin County.  Weber laid out the town of Stockton in 1847 on his land grant.  Other names were suggested, but in the end Stockton took the name of Commodore Robert F. Stockton, who was commander of military forces in California at the time and largely responsible for conducting of the Mexican American War in California and the annexation of Alta California into the United States.  In Stockton there is Mormon Slough, but no idea why it took this name.

Manteca, which means butter or lard, took its name from the local creamery.  The rail way station was first called Cowell in honor of Joshua Cowell who had granted the rail company right-of-way. 

New Hope, the Mormon community is mentioned in the section on the Sanislaus River.  This community was near the mouth of the Stanislaus River, and lasted only about a year.  This was later known as Staislaus City and there was a ferry in the area.  Ripon developed nearby.  There is another New Hope in the county in the Lodi area.  Lodi is north of Stockton.  It was originally named Mokelumne.  Lodi Lake is located near Lodi (originally Smith Lake.)

Banta is near Tracy where Kasson and Grant Line roads meet.  There was a prominent Inn there.  Lathrop is along the San Joaquin River.   Tracy took the name of Lathrop tracy, an official of the rail road.  The alternate is Judge F.P. Tracy, a contemporary of Leland Stanford. 

Also south of Tracy in the Diablo Range is Corral Hollow.  I had heard of the name being the result of a corral made to catch wild horses.  This book gives and alternative.  It may have been named for Edward Corral.  The canyon and creek were also known by the Mexicans as Buenos Ayres Creek.

San Joaquin City was a river town with the Dunham Ferry close by.  From here originally oak, and later wheat was shipped.  Sturgeon Bend in the San Joaquin River is close to this spot. 

Knights Ferry fascinates me.  The name-sake of the town was actually killed in a gun battle.  There is a geologic feature near here known as Lover's Leap or The Jumping Off Place.

There of course is much more in this book available at the Manteca Library.  I have focused mostly on San Joaquin County. 

Book Review: Historic Monuments of America

Historic Monuments of America by Donald Young, Portland House, New York, 1990.

This is a very good look  at National Monuments.  It is pictures with narration.  This includes some natural wonder, but also many significant places in history.  It mostly talks about places managed by the National Park Service.  It does center around the North East.  It has a fascinating look at Civil War Battlefields and Revolutionary War Battlefields.  Also all of the monuments in Washington, D.C. and the surrounding area.  A few of them I have visited, including grant's Tomb in New York, past the Statue of Liberty, The Capitol Mall is such a wonder, along with the Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, WWII Memorial, Washington Monument, and much more.   Independence Hall along with the Liberty Bell are also fascinating.  Fort McHenry is another place I have visited.  The fort withstood the assault, and thus the British had to abandon their plans of going up the peninsula to Washington. 
The pictures of Gettysburg also fascinate me.  This is a battlefield I hope to visit.  Of course there are other significant battles, but this one includes a two-page mural of the battle.  The Chickamauga section is also very interesting. The Battle of Vicksburg was another significant Civil War battle.   Speaking of the Civil War For Sumter where the war started, and Appomattox where the war ended are both monuments. 
As we head west there are less monuments, but still some very significant ones.  This includes Lincoln's birth and burial places, many Native American mounds which are fascinate me.  And then the St. Louis Arch and Mount Rushmore and incomparable monuments.
Battle of the Little Big Horn site is remembered as a monument.  Also many missions in the southwest,   and the Anasazi left the four corners area dotted with monuments one can hardly fathom.  Also many old barns have been memorialized, including a beautiful structure at the base to the Tetons.  Fort Laramie, and a few other old forts are monuments.  Fort Point sits below the Golden Gate Bridge.  Scotty's Castle in Death Valley is marvelous.  Then of course in Hawaii is the monument to the attack on Pearl Harbor, including the Arizona.
This is a great coffee table book, because these pictures bring history to life. 

Old Train Car at Santa Clara Station

My attempts to take a picture of the interior failed and I just got reflection of station, but the exterior pictures worked well.  The interior is set up more like a living quarters, than a rail car with seats; like it was someone's personal car.

Sea Turtles: National Geographic Kids

Sea Turtles by Laura Marsh, National Geographic Kids, Washington, D.C., 2011.
Many things in this little book about Sea Turtles of which I  was not aware.  For example, there are six different types of sea turtles.  Five types have shells, but one type, the largest type of sea turtle, does not have a shell.  This is the leatherback.  Instead of a shell it has rubbery skin with bones underneath.  The Kemp Ridley is the smallest sea turtle.  It is also the most endangered.  The Olive Ridley has an olive color.  The flat back has the flattest body.  The green turtle is the only sea turtle which likes to warm itself in the sand on the beach.  The hawksbill usually stays closer to the surface.  Turtles are reptiles.  The breath like we do.  They must stay close to the surface, but some can dive  very far down.  However they must resurface to take another breath.  Some things we can do to help turtles, pick up trash on the beach and don't let trash get in the ocean.  Flying balloons by the ocean can be especially bad.  Help pick up trash.  Turn of unnecessary lights by the ocean as lights can confuse the turtles.  Follow warning signs about turtle hatching  areas.  Stay away.  You can accidentally step on a nest.  Tell others about turtles and how to keep them safe.

Bobette and Charlie Giles

The Giles Memorial Park, the park outside where the Boys and Girl's Club is located in Manteca is named for Charlie and Bobette Giles.   This bench in Woodward Park is dedicated to Charlie Giles.  Who are Charlie and Bobette Giles and how are they important to Manteca?
Charlie Leo Giles, with his wife, built Mountain Valley Express trucking Company.  He founded the company in 1976 with just one truck and built the company to 400 vehicles and 250 employees.  The  company was known for its safety record.  However he is honored not only for his business successes, although that is part of the equation.  He and his wife Bobette were always big supporters of the Manteca Boys & Girls Club.  They are among those who made the club possible, supported it though out their lives, and even made donations to the club in their wills.  Charlie Giles also supported the Manteca Morning Rotary.  Bobette ran a restaurant, and would take the left overs at the en of the day to a programs feeding the homeless.  Mr. Giles passed away in 2003.  His family continues to run the business which now has terminals throughout the Western United States.

Santa Clara Tower: Dedicated to Safety

At the Santa Clara Station is a tower, which is an unusual feature for a train station.  It is the building most noticed at the station for those on the train.  I can understand a tower at an airport.  This tower was once a very important hub for train transportation as from this tower many tracks were monitored and regulated, and red lights displayed to avoid accident.  It has now been replaced by a modern looking pole of lights.  I don't know from where the train lines are monitored now, but there must be a central place with someone monitoring the trains.