A Day at Wesleys Spring
A day's ride up a steep mountain trail with two companions, to lie beneath the willows at Wesley's spring — a place that appears on no map. We found the ground: Wesley Plaskett's section in the Oat Hills, inland from Jolon.
A Day at Wesleys Spring
A Day at Wesley’s Spring
On the ground beneath the willows,
By a mountain Spring we lay
I and my two fair companions,
We had ridden far that day.
Early had we left the highway,
Reigned our horses toward the west
Climbed a steep and narrow trail
Leading to the mountain’s crest.
Here we stopped to look about us;
Far below the river rolls,
And the scene spread out before us
Thrills us to our very souls.
On the ledge beneath the summit
We explore the famous caves
Marvel at the Indian writing,
Legends of the ancient brave.
Farther westward Santa Lucia
Rises in her majesty,
Queen of all the Coast Range mountains;
Fills our hearts with ecstasy.
When the sun grew high at noontide
To this fairy spring we came,
Ate our lunch and at our leisure,
Breathed the beauty of the scene.
Late we turn our faces homeward;
Hear the wind sing in the pine;
Silently we ride together
Kindred Spirits, comrades mine.
Brown eyes Marion, brave and charming,
Hazel, to your ideals true,
I, with all my heart’s best wishes,
Pen those faltering lines to you.
Mabel E. Plaskett
Finding Wesley's Spring — the coast road to the Oat Hills
Mabel's poem names a place that appears on no map. The USGS gazetteer records no Wesley Spring anywhere in California, and the 1949 topographic sheet that covers the ground leaves it unlabelled — the name survives in this one poem and nowhere else. But the land records find it. "Wesley" is Wesley Barnes Plaskett (1894-1959), the youngest of Byron Gianavil Plaskett's eleven children and the brother of Mabel's husband Edward. In 1914 Edward and Wesley bought the Westlake Ranch inland from Jolon — 641.09 acres in Township 21 South — and Mabel's own name went on the 1917 mortgage; after the 1922 Hearst sale on the coast, she lived there with her family until 1925. In 1924 Wesley bought the adjoining homestead from Anthony "Than" Dani, Section 17, which climbs to the 3,060-foot crest of the Oat Hills. Every line of the poem checks out against that ground: the crest, the river far below, the Salinan painted caves on the ledge, and — the line that settles it — Santa Lucia rising "farther westward," which is Junipero Serra Peak, then still called Santa Lucia Peak, bearing 286 degrees at 10.8 miles. The route below is the road the family actually travelled, from the coast home place over Nacimiento-Fergusson to Jolon and up the San Antonio to Westlake, then the last climb to the spring. Read stops 1 through 7 as a drive you can still make. Stops 8, 9 and 10 you cannot: that ground straddles the northern boundary of Fort Hunter Liggett and runs on into private range, and the country around it holds protected Salinan rock art. Those last three are on the map so the poem can be read against real country — not as an invitation.
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1 Plaskett Creek & Pacific Valley — the coast home place
"The coast ranchers sold out to Hearst in 1922 and the once closely knit families scattered." — Plasketts Among Early Coast Settlers
Today: Where the family started. William Lucas Plaskett homesteaded here in 1867; Plaskett Creek Campground and Sand Dollar Beach are the public ground now. The 1922 sale is what sent Edward and Mabel over the mountain to Westlake — so this is where the road to Wesley's Spring begins.
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2 Kirk Creek — turn inland on Nacimiento-Fergusson
"The sign says King City 49 miles." — Few Drives as Scenic as Coast's Cabrillo Highway, 1959
Today: The only paved crossing of the Santa Lucias. Kirk Creek Campground sits on the bluff opposite the junction. Check conditions before you commit — this road still closes.
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3 Nacimiento Summit — the Plaskett Ridge junction
"At the summit a road leads off on the left to Plaskett Ridge and the coast. This is not a smooth road and not recommended for good cars." — Nacimiento Homesteaders Picked Real Beauty Spot
Today: From here you can see the ocean behind you. Cone Peak Road turns off to the north and remains closed to vehicles. Mabel's warning about Plaskett Ridge still stands — treat it as history, not a drive.
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4 The old McKern place, on the Nacimiento
"You reach the Nacimiento 12 miles west of Jolon, at the old McKern Place. In the early 1890's Lawson McKern homesteaded 160 acres and built a cabin on the bank of the river." — Nacimiento Homesteaders
Today: Approximate position along the river road. Reil Dani later held this ranch, then Ed Sans — Mabel's father — and finally Hearst; it is inside Fort Hunter Liggett now. The Dani family runs right through this story: it was Anthony Dani who sold Wesley his section in 1924.
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5 Jolon & St. Luke's Episcopal Church
"In 1879 St. Luke's Episcopal church was built in Jolon. Reason and Robert Plaskett came out from Pacific Valley on the coast side to build it." — Jolon Remembered as Thriving Community on Camino Real
Today: The town the family called home base inland. "They were living at the Westlake Place in Jolon and the summers were hot," the family chronology says of Mabel's early married years. Charles Henry Plaskett is buried in the Jolon cemetery beside the church.
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6 Mission San Antonio de Padua
"In July 1771 three padres came from Monterey to establish the third mission, San Antonio de Padua. These were Father Serra, Father Sitjar and Father Pieras." — Jolon Remembered
Today: The last public stop, and the reference point that locates everything above it: the painted caves of the poem are described in the record as lying east of the San Antonio River about five miles north of this mission, at 3,000 feet. That is the country in stops 8 through 10. Restored and open; you cross Fort Hunter Liggett to reach it, so check the visitor rules first.
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7 The Westlake Place — Township 21 South, Section 19
"Salinas City Bank sold to Edward A. Plaskett et al & Wesley B. Plaskett ... lots in section 19, Township 21 South of Range 7, containing 641.09 acres ... and known as the Westlake Ranch." — family chronology, deed transcript
Today: Mabel's home from 1922 to 1925, and the ground the poem rode out from. Named for the previous owner, Frank Westlake. Her stillborn son Dean was born here on 4 December 1920; her name is on the 1917 mortgage alongside Edward's and Wesley's. The house was torn down when the Army took the land. Not accessible — the coordinate is the section centroid from the federal survey, not a driveway.
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8 The ranch road, up past BM 2175
"Early had we left the highway, / Reined our horses toward the west / Climbed a steep and narrow trail / Leading to the mountain's crest."
Today: CLOSED GROUND. The 1949 topographic sheet still shows the ranch road climbing northeast out of the Westlake canyon at 1,600 feet, over this bench at 2,175, and on toward the crest. It is the only way up that a horse would have taken.
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9 The Oat Hills crest — 3,060 feet
"Here we stopped to look about us; / Far below the river rolls ... Farther westward Santa Lucia / Rises in her majesty, / Queen of all the Coast Range mountains."
Today: CLOSED GROUND. From this summit the Salinas River runs 2,500 feet below to the east, and Junipero Serra Peak — the Santa Lucia Peak of Mabel's day, and the highest thing in the range — stands up due west at 10.8 miles. Her bearing is exact. The painted caves she describes are in this block; their location is protected and is not published here.
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10 Wesley's Spring
"When the sun grew high at noontide / To this fairy spring we came, / Ate our lunch and at our leisure, / Breathed the beauty of the scene."
Today: CLOSED GROUND, and a research estimate rather than a surveyed point — the head of the only mapped watercourse inside Wesley Plaskett's section, read off the 1949 quadrangle to within about 150 metres. No map has ever carried the name. Section 17 straddles the Fort Hunter Liggett boundary and runs on into private range; there is no public access from either side. Full working: docs/place-research/wesleys-spring.md.