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Bears, Cougars, and Wild Animals of Pacific Valley
Winter in Pacific Valley meant bears in the stock pens and cougars in the hills.
Today’s featured story
From Mabel’s pen
San Simeon Rancho Story Is Told by Mabel Plaskett
Cabrillo's 'Bay of Sardines,' a whaling captain's store, the Hearst boys at play — four centuries of San Simeon in one telling. Sebastian's Store was 102 years old when she wrote it.
Family spotlight
Dr. Edward Jones 1936–
Rocket scientist, fireworks designer, gemologist, gold miner, pilot, and world-traveling Sufi. Native son of the Golden West (born in California). Known as "the original Big Sur Hobbit." Education: New Mexico State University Career: Director Emeritus, Rocket Science Institute (1999-present) In Ju…
From the album
More to explore
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Alice Eastwood and Reezy Plaskett: The Plants of the Plaskett Coast
In five months of collecting, a self-taught Big Sur carpenter sent Alice Eastwood six plants new to science — and she named two of them for him.
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Hunter Liggett Military Reservation
The Army took the Jolon country in 1941 — but the church the Plasketts built still holds services for soldiers.
gold mines
The Los Burros Mining District and the Lost Town of Manchester
Organized 1876, transformed by Willey Cruikshank's Last Chance strike in 1887 — and gone by 1897, burned and grown over. The rise and fall of the coast's gold district, and the lost town of Manchester.
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The Soapstone Fireplace Still Visible
Where William Lucas built his first cabin in 1869, campers now pitch tents — and his soapstone hearth is still there.
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The Mabel Plaskett Columnist
How a coast pioneer's wife became the beloved historian of the Big Sur country in the pages of The Land.
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Fifty Children Grew Up Happy and Healthy
Fifty children grew up in the isolated valley — every one of them, the family said, happy and healthy.
230 stories · 1767 family members & friends · 674 places — and the home page changes every few days. Come back soon.