SAUSAL CREEK

The

A Cultural and Natural History

WATERSHED

Prepared by

the Aquatic Outreach Institute

and the Friends of Sausal Creek

Written byLisa Owens-Viani

Illustrated byTiffany Manchip

The Sausal Creek Watershed: A Cultural and Natural History

Illustrations © 1998 by Tiffany ManchipText and illustrations may not be reproduced without written permission.

Also offered by the Friends of Sausal Creek:The Gardener’s Guide to the Sausal Creek Watershed

To obtain copies, contact the Aquatic Outreach Institute.

Aquatic Outreach Institute1327 South 46th Street

155 Richmond Field StationRichmond, CA 94804

(510) 231-5655

This booklet is one component of the Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation DistrictWatershed Awareness Program, a public involvement program sponsored by the District. The Water District,as part of the Alameda Countywide Clean Water Program, is fulfilling its goal to educate and encourage the

public to adopt a less polluting and more environmentally beneficial behavior; increase awareness of localwatersheds; and solicit volunteers to help solve creek-specific problems. For more information about the

Watershed Awareness Program, write or call Sharon Gosselin at Alameda County Flood Control and WaterConservation District, 951 Turner Court, Room 300, Hayward, CA, 94545, (510) 670-6547.

This booklet was also made possible by the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails, and ConservationAssistance Program, which assists communities in enhancing their local rivers, trails, open spaces, and

culturally significant resources. Staff provide planning and technical assistance to support community-basedconservation action. NPS–RTCA can be reached at 600 Harrison Street, Suite 600, San Francisco, CA, 94107,

(415) 427-1446 or www.nps.gov/pwro/rtca.

PREFACEAnyone who visits the Sausal Creek Watershed is likely to see glimpses of the past, whether looking atthe buildings along Dimond Avenue or at the redwoods growing in Dimond Canyon. The Sausal CreekWatershed: A Cultural and Natural History was written to promote a greater understanding of the role thewatershed has played in the history of Oakland. This booklet is one component of the Sausal CreekWatershed Awareness Program, which is sponsored by the Alameda County Flood Control and WaterConservation District, the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program,the City of Oakland, the Coastal Conservancy, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s San Francisco BayProgram. The program is coordinated by the Aquatic Outreach Institute.

The passage of time has brought many changes to the Sausal Creek watershed, and thesechanges have altered the way it functions. Rainwater, instead of filtering slowly through vegetation andsoil, races over blacktop before emptying into Sausal Creek. On its way, water picks up oil from roads,pesticides and other toxic chemicals from lawns and gardens, as well as litter from streets before itreaches the creek. These contaminants disturb the creek’s ecosystem, making the creek uninhabitable forsome plants and animals, and less enjoyable for people as well. Creeks are excellent indicators of thehealth of a watershed. If a watershed is kept clean and healthy, the creek will be clean and healthy too.The Sausal Creek Watershed Awareness Program encourages people to take action to protect theirwatershed, thereby making Sausal Creek a healthy aquatic habitat.

The goals of the Watershed Awareness Program are to:• educate, inform, and inspire people to act on behalf of their community to protect and enhance

water resources;• create a sense of personal and community stewardship for water resources;• educate residents about sources of pollution, how land use relates to water quality, and ways

to address the types of problems encountered; and to• provide the knowledge, resources, and support participants need to effectively understand

and address water quality problems.As a result of the program, the Friends of Sausal Creek were formed in 1996. The Friends consist

of concerned community members who are interested in exchanging information and ideas about theirwatershed and participating in protecting their creek at a grassroots level. Encouraging citizen participa-tion, from decision-makers to residents, teachers, and students, is critical for building long-term commit-ments to protect a community’s natural resources.

The Friends of Sausal Creek are currently setting goals for the enhancement and long-termmanagement of the creek. The Friends’ mission is to “promote awareness and appreciation of the SausalCreek Watershed; to inspire action to restore and protect the creek and its watershed; and to obtainrecognition for the creek as an important natural and community resource. The Friends have identifiedfive broad goals. These are to:• be an educational resource on the creek and watershed• build membership and make the Friends an effective, self-sustaining organization• increase opportunities for experiencing and enjoying the creek• be a legal and regulatory advocate for the creek• assess the natural resources and restore the native flora and fauna of the creek.

The Friends meet monthly to discuss watershed issues, plan upcoming events, and draft actionplans which will allow them to accomplish their goals. Meetings are held on the third Wednesday of themonth from 7:00 to 9:00 P.M. at the Dimond Branch Library in Oakland. Community creek workdays areheld on the Saturday following the monthly meeting at Dimond Park from 9:00 A.M. to noon. Workdayshave been spent restoring 35,000 square feet of the park by creating a Native Plant DemonstrationGarden and revegetating the creek corridor with native plants. The Friends are also actively involved inmonitoring the water quality of the creek, inventorying bird populations, and sampling for aquaticinsects. The Friends of Sausal Creek are protecting and improving water quality as they create programsthat bridge generations, cross political boundaries, link the economy and ecology, and give everyone inthe community a stake in taking personal action to protect their watershed.

If you would like to join the Friends in their efforts or receive a copy of their monthly newsletter,please contact the Aquatic Outreach Institute at (510) 231-5655.

CONTENTS

Opening 1The Creek’s Path 2Early Inhabitants of the Watershed (1700–1850) 2The Spanish and the Arroyo del Bosque: “Stream of Woods” (1770–1850) 3Dramatic Transformations in the Watershed (1840–1850) 4Farms and Orchards Surround Sausal Creek (1850s and ’60s) 5The Creek Flows Through a Rural Paradise (1866–1879) 6The Creek Flows Through Fruitvale’s Center: More Estates and Gardens (1879–1900) 7Altered Flows and Changing Attitudes (1895–1920) 9Taming the Creek (1930s and ’40s) 10Urbanization Continues (1950s and ’60s) 11More Construction and Culverts (1970s and ’80s) 11The Sausal Creek Watershed Today 12Text Notes 14Bibliography 14What You Can Do at Home to Help Protect the Sausal Creek Watershed 15Other Residents of the Sausal Creek Watershed 16About the Friends of Sausal Creek 18About the Aquatic Outreach Institute 18A Special Thanks 18Map of the Sausal Creek Watershed 19

“Only big things get easily noticed. If we value just

what is worthy of mention in newspapers and on

television it is easy to believe that nothing much

matters unless it is large enough to shake the earth.

But standing in that gully crowded with growth and

dampness, I was reminded that great things often

come from humble beginnings. In many ways it is the

creek that makes the river. ”

it empties into the channel near theFruitvale Bridge, between Oakland andAlameda. The creek has been culvertedin many other sections too. But, whetherin the open or beneath the ground, whether

viewed as a nuisance ora neighborhood ame-

nity, Sausal Creekhas continued toflow through thegeographic cen-ter of Oakland.It also flowsthrough thecenter of thisstory, as a wit-

ness to thechanges, destruc-

tion, and renewalthat have takenplace around it.

––– from The Bird in the Waterfall: A Natural History of Oceans, Rivers, and Lakes, by Jerry Dennis, 1996, HarperCollins Publishers (used with permission)

through the steep canyons of the OaklandHills, meandering across fertile flatlands,and, until the early 1900s, diffusing intothickets of willows as it reached San Fran-cisco Bay. As land use in the watershedbecame more urbanized, the creek itselfwas physically altered (throughculverting, channelization, andsedimentation), and theway people de-scribed the creekchanged from a be-loved babbling brookto a raging, unrulytorrent. The willowthickets at the mouthof the creek are gonenow, and the creekfinishes its journey tothe Bay in a culvert (alarge undergroundpipe), from which

Willow Thicket

During the past century, the Sausal Creek Watershed, the landthat surrounds and drains into Sausal Creek, has under-gone many changes. Despite the physical changes occur-

ring around it, the creek has continued carving its path, flowing

Early Inhabitants of the WatershedEarly Inhabitants of the WatershedEarly Inhabitants of the WatershedEarly Inhabitants of the WatershedEarly Inhabitants of the Watershed1

(1700∂1850)(1700∂1850)(1700∂1850)(1700∂1850)(1700∂1850)

The human population of the Sausal Creekwatershed in 1700 was the result of over12,000 years of migration into California.

The Spanish called these first California Indi-ans Costanoans , a f ter the Spanish word“Costenos” (meaning people of the coast) ;today’s descendants of those people prefer thename Ohlone. The Ohlones of the Oakland areaprobably belonged to the Huchiun or Yrgintribelets. Since each tribelet usually occupied asmall strip of land running from the hills to theBay, the East Bay’s numerous creeks may verywell have served as territorial dividers.

In the early days of human habitation,much of what is now downtown Oakland wascovered with groves of enormous live oaks,while alders, willows, and big-leaf maples grewin riparian strips alongside the many creeks.Coast redwoods flourished on the East Bay hills,many of the largest on the highest peaks. In thecanyons, interspersed amid California wax-myrtle, manzanita, currant, and snowberrybushes, were California buckeyes, bays, hazel-nuts, and wild plum trees. Many of these plantscan still be found in the Sausal Creek watershedtoday, in Dimond, Joaquin Miller, and RedwoodRegional Parks.

The California Indians lived harmoni-ously with and depended on the creek, drink-ing from it, fishing and hunting along its banks,and using its water to leach tannins from thenuts of the California buckeye and acorns (amain staple of the Ohlone diet). Branches fromthe abundant willows growing along the creekwere used to weave the many baskets crucial toNative Californian life, from cradles and carry-ing baskets to traps and nets for catching fishand small game. Even their homes utilized bas-ketry materials and techniques. Huts were wo-

ven from willow branches and tules( large bulrushes) found in themarshes. To create color patterns intheir baskets, the California Indianswove the dark red branches of thewestern redbud and the black rhi-zomes of bracken ferns into thelighter-colored willow branches orcattail stems. Many plants growingnear the creeks were used for food:f iddleheads, ( the tender, youngfronds of bracken fern), and theleaves and stems of miner ’s lettuce

The Creekªs PathThe Creekªs PathThe Creekªs PathThe Creekªs PathThe Creekªs Path

Sausal Creek originates about 1,300 feet abovesea level, in four branches: the Palo Secoand Cinderella branches in Joaquin Miller

Park, the Shepherd branch in the hills aboveShepherd Canyon Park, and the Scout Roadbranch, which flows into the Shepherd branchbefore continuing downhill. Just east of theMontclair Golf Course parking lot, the Palo Seco-Cinderella branch and the Shepherd-Scout Roadbranch combine to form one watercourse. Sau-sal Creek then flows downhill beneath the golfcourse (underground, in a culvert), throughDimond Canyon and Dimond Park (for the mostpart above ground), and continues westward to-ward the Bay, through lower Fruitvale (bothabove and beneath ground). At InternationalBoulevard (formerly known as 14th Street) it en-ters the culvert in which it finishes its journeyto the tidal canal. Early hand-drawn Spanishmaps show the creek ending in willow thicketsbefore reaching the Bay. Most likely, the creekwas named for these willows, since “sausal”means willow grove in Spanish. The Palo Secobranch was named for a “dry tree.” Although noone knows exactly which tree “Palo Seco” de-scribes, the early Spanish explorers may havebeen referring to any one of the diverse chapar-ral-type shrubs or trees growing in the canyonsthrough which Palo Seco flows. The Cinderellaand Scout Road branches were probably namedin the early 1900s after the many Girl Scouts andBoy Scouts who have camped along these bankssince the turn of the century.

Grizzly Bear

2

The Spanish and the Arroyo del Bosque:The Spanish and the Arroyo del Bosque:The Spanish and the Arroyo del Bosque:The Spanish and the Arroyo del Bosque:The Spanish and the Arroyo del Bosque:

∏Stream of the Woodsπ (1770∂1850)∏Stream of the Woodsπ (1770∂1850)∏Stream of the Woodsπ (1770∂1850)∏Stream of the Woodsπ (1770∂1850)∏Stream of the Woodsπ (1770∂1850)

In the late 1700s, the Spanish made a number ofexpeditions to the Bay Area, where they estab-lished missions and attempted to convert the

Ohlones to Christianity. In the fall of 1770, and againin the spring of 1772, exploratory expeditions underthe command of Lieutenant Pedro Fages decided totry to reach Point Reyes by land from the South Bay.In March, 1772, Fages, traveling through the East Bay,and accompanied by a dozen soldiers, a servant, andFather Juan Crespi, crossed five “arroyos” (streams)with running water, eventually reaching SausalCreek. Fages’ party made note of the Alameda pen-insula, and the encinal, or grove of live oaks that laybetween the hills and the peninsula. In his account ofthe journey, Crespi, impressed by the redwood for-ests on the hills, described the Sausal Creek water-shed as an excellent site for settlement. He namedthe creek “Arroyo del Bosque,” or “Stream of theWoods.”

In March of 1776 another team led by Cap-tain Juan Bautista de Anza and Lieutenant JoseMoraga, and accompanied by Father Pedro Font,passed through the Sausal watershed on their wayto explore the waters of the Carquinez Strait. Theytoo made note of the Arroyo del Bosque, and Fontcommented on the small pools of water in variousparts of the creek.

were steamed or boiled; theleaves and s tems ofmonkeyflower, columbine, andpaintbrush were cooked oreaten raw. Soups made fromnuts were stewed in large, wa-ter-tight baskets, and the nativepeople also made use of theplentiful berries growing in thecanyons and along the banks ofSausal Creek: huckleberries,b lackberr ies , s t rawberr ies ,thimble berries, gooseberries,and Christmas berries (toyon).Native songbirds—grosbeaks,towhees, and white-crownedsparrows—also relished the ber-ries. Elk and antelope roamedgrassy hills colored with lu-pines, California poppies, andbaby blue eyes; the melodiousvoice of meadowlarks could beheard in every field. Even preda-tors like grizzly bears, coyotes,foxes, and mountain lions co-existed with theearly human residents of the watershed. Water-fowl plentiful enough to darken the skies attimes landed in the marshes and wetlands wherethey found abundant invertebrates and smallfish, and the creeks were full of salmon andfrogs.

The Ohlones did not leave the land un-touched, but their impact was minor comparedto that of later inhabitants. The Ohlones prunedshrubs in a way that encouraged the growth ofbranches (for use in baskets), and they weededout the plants that competed with those theyneeded for food. They set fires to improve ac-cess to certain areas, to attract and improve for-age for wildlife (which they then hunted), andto prevent chaparral from out-competing the na-tive grasses, from which they harvested a greatvariety of seeds. Many parts of plants were used:roots, tubers, seeds, and greens were eaten, andmany kinds of stems and branches were used tomake tools or weaving materials. Although theOhlones were hunter-gatherers, they were care-ful to take no more than they needed to survive,and they wasted nothing. The plants and ani-mals they found upon arriving in the SausalCreek watershed would have continued to existlong after the Ohlones themselves were drivenfrom the land had later human inhabitants usedthose resources as carefully and respectfully asthe Ohlone used them.

Mountain Lion

3

In 1820, Sergeant Luis Maria Peralta, who hadserved in the Spanish military for 40 years, askedPablo Vicente de Sola (the Spanish governor of Cali-fornia), to award him the land between CerritosCreek, which flowed to the foot of a “redondo” (littleround hill) in El Cerrito to the north, to San LeandroCreek to the south. On August 3, 1820, after complet-ing an investigation into Peralta’s character, Gover-nor Sola granted Peralta’s request, awarding him anenormous parcel of land that includes what is nowAlbany, Berkeley, Emeryville, Piedmont, Oakland,Alameda, and part of San Leandro. Don Luis namedhis land Rancho San Antonio. In 1821 the Peralta fam-ily built an adobe at what is now 34th Avenue andPaxton Streets in Oakland, on the north bank ofPeralta Creek, three blocks from Sausal Creek. DonLuis then moved to San Jose and divided Rancho SanAntonio among his four sons, using creeks andother natural features of the land as boundarymarkers. Antonio Maria received the adobehome and the whole area that makes upthe Sausal Creek watershed: upperand lower Fruitvale, the DimondDistrict, Dimond and JoaquinMiller Parks, parts of RedwoodRegional Park, and Alameda.

The early Spanish, likethe Ohlones, valued the EastBay streams. On their maps,creeks were featured asprominent landmarks andterritorial markers, andtheir homesites were usu-ally established nearcreeks. These early ran-cheros relied on the creeksfor their own drinkingand household needs, and forwatering their herds of cattle. These activities, how-ever, had a far greater impact on the land than theearlier Ohlone residents. Spanish cattle muddied theclear streams. Fast-growing plants and grasses fromSpain—like the wild oats we see thriving on the hillsand in the fields of the East Bay today—began tooutcompete the native plants. By 1850, cattle, sheep,and horses had almost completely replacedCalifornia’s native elk and antelope. The ecosystemson which the Ohlones relied were greatly altered ordestroyed. With natural resources depleted and theirtribes rounded up and put into missions, the Ohloneway of life began to disappear. By the time the Span-ish missions were secularized by the new Republicof Mexico in 1834, many Ohlones had died of Euro-pean diseases to which they had no immunity. Theremaining few banded together in small villages butwere treated as outlaws, persecuted by both the Span-ish and other newly-arrived European settlers.

Dramatic Transformations in theDramatic Transformations in theDramatic Transformations in theDramatic Transformations in theDramatic Transformations in the

Watershed (1840∂1850)Watershed (1840∂1850)Watershed (1840∂1850)Watershed (1840∂1850)Watershed (1840∂1850)

By 1841, the first Anglos had arrived in theSausal Creek watershed. They were drawnto Antonio Peralta’s portion of Rancho San

Antonio, with its giant redwoods in the hills andthe fertile soils of the flatlands deposited overmillennia by the creek. In 1841, two French Ca-nadian lumbermen cut and sold some of the gi-ant redwoods on Antonio’s land, along the PaloSeco branch of the creek (in what is now JoaquinMiller Park). Those trees were used to help buildYerba Buena, today’s San Francisco. Then in1847, the Smith brothers and some of theirfriends began whipsawing lumber and hauling

it down through Dimond Canyonto the San AntonioEmbarcadero at the foot of14th Avenue. Although afew had formal lease ar-rangements with him,most of these early log-gers were trespassingon Peralta’s land. In1848, large numbersof redwoods fromthe San AntonioForest (now Red-wood Regional andJoaquin MillerParks and DimondCanyon) were cutdown and sent tobuild Benicia. Beforethey were cut down,

however, some of thehuge redwoods on the hills

of the Sausal watershed were used as navigationalaids by ships entering the bay. One particular treewith a trunk diameter of 33.5 feet and a height of over300 feet was named Blossom Rock Tree since sailorsrelied on it to avoid ramming that treacherous boul-der beneath the bay. (In 1997, legislation to shear offthe top of Blossom Rock was introduced, since therock could easily damage the hull of an oil tanker andcause an environmental catastrophe.)

In 1849, the first steam sawmill was builton the Palo Seco branch, and another followed soonafter. By 1850 at least 10 sawmills were operatingin the upper Sausal Creek watershed, with up to400 men working in them. No sooner were they cutdown, than the redwoods of the San Antonio For-est were hauled downhill in wagons pulled byoxen, or sometimes even skidded down the creekitself to the wharf built in 1851 by James Buskirk

Coast Live Oak

4

Farms and Orchards Surround SausalFarms and Orchards Surround SausalFarms and Orchards Surround SausalFarms and Orchards Surround SausalFarms and Orchards Surround Sausal

Creek (1850s and ª60s)Creek (1850s and ª60s)Creek (1850s and ª60s)Creek (1850s and ª60s)Creek (1850s and ª60s)

Between 1850 and 1859, Antonio Peralta sold offmuch of his remaining land, and the ranchosoon became farmland. The soils that had been

deposited over time as Sausal Creek meanderedback and forth in its floodplain proved to be quiteproductive. In 1856 Henderson Luelling, a Quakernurseryman, brought 700 cherry trees from Oregonand planted them in 400 acres he had purchasedalong Sausal Creek, christening the area “FruitVale.” Later he added apple and pear trees, andFruit Vale’s orchards became well known. (One ofthese apple trees is still alive and can be seen to-day at 2125 Woodbine Avenue in Oakland.) Then,in 1859, Frederick Rhoda arrived, one of the first ofmany Germans to settle in what is now the DimondDistrict. On the 217 acres he purchased next toSausal Creek, Rhoda grew Royal Ann cherries and,in 1869 when the Transcontinental Railroad cameto Oakland, shipped them to the East Coast– thefirst California-grown fruit sold in the East. Theresident told of hiking along a narrow road thatwound up the hill, following the path of SausalCreek. Near today’s Leimert Avenue bridge, hik-ers had to stop and pay a five-cent toll to continueup the hills!

Larue at the mouth of Sausal Creek. By 1856, all us-able lumber had been cut from the Palo Seco andother parts of the watershed. Before this loggingfrenzy, redwoods could be found in much of the wa-tershed, from the hills to as far south as East 27thStreet, not too far from where MacArthur Boulevardcrosses Fruitvale Avenue today.

In 1893, a medical doctor and naturalist, Wil-liam Gibbons, described what remained of these red-woods.2 He noted that what was left of the grove wasabout five miles square in size and was located justopposite the Golden Gate. Gibbons believed the grovehad become isolated (by about 25 miles to the northand south) from the other redwoods of the CoastRanges, possibly from clear-cut logging.

Gibbons commented with regret that as soonas new shoots would begin to sprout from the stumps,local residents would immediately cut them down

5

for fuel. But he also noted that enough smaller treeshad survived the earlier logging frenzy to begin to“rehabilitate the devastated slopes.” Those second-growth trees may be some of the redwoods we seetoday in upper Dimond Canyon and Joaquin Millerand Redwood Regional Parks.

The Creek Flows Through a RuralThe Creek Flows Through a RuralThe Creek Flows Through a RuralThe Creek Flows Through a RuralThe Creek Flows Through a Rural

Paradise (1866∂1879)Paradise (1866∂1879)Paradise (1866∂1879)Paradise (1866∂1879)Paradise (1866∂1879)

By 1866, many large estates had been built alongthe banks of Sausal Creek. Ironically, many ofthese same wealthy landowners who built next

to the creek in order to enjoy its charms had earliermade their fortunes logging the upper reaches of thewatershed, causing sediments to erode into the creekwhile removing most of the native redwoods. Someof these estates backed onto the creek and includedgardens so diverse and elaborate they were describedas arboretums. The creek seems to have been an inte-gral part of these lavish gardens and was described atthe time as one of the few streams in the area thatflowed year-round. In the back of the John Spring es-tate at East 27th Street and Fruitvale Avenue, a hugeCalifornia pepper tree and enormous camphor andbread-fruit trees grew next to the creek, along with astand of native redwoods.

In 1868, insurance magnate Caspar Hopkinsbought six acres on the southwest corner of HopkinsStreet (now MacArthur Boulevard ) and Fruitvale Av-enue, on which he built his grand estate. Hopkinschristened the estate “Alderwood,” after the many al-ders growing along Sausal Creek, which ranthrough his property. A writer in the 1878Oakland Daily Times described the estatethis way:

“The grounds are laid out in exquis-ite order. Cool, shady walks underinterlacing cedars or acacias, grassylawns, rustic bridges, rustic stepsleading beside the clear pools of the creekswarming with the recent hatch of thetrout family . . .”

Hopkins also bought four acres on the opposite sideof the creek where he planted hundreds of mulberrytrees, in a scheme to raise silkworms (and lots ofmoney). When this plan was thwarted by “Mrs.Grundy,” a disgruntled neighbor, Hopkins con-verted the lot to a cow pasture. In his memoirs,Hopkins describes how Sausal Creek “meanderedthrough [the] lot... like the letter ‘S’... lined withhuge oaks, laurel, alder and buckeye trees.”4 Hegoes on to describe with disappointment how, someyears after he sold the estate, the path of the creekwas “straightened and ruined.”

In 1870, the enterprising Hopkins decidedto capitalize on Sausal Creek’s powerful flow.Hopkins created the Sausal Water Company, (withhimself as President), to supply the residents ofFruitvale and Brooklyn (East Oakland) with water.Hopkins built a stone dam in upper Dimond Can-

Sausal Creek

“. . . meandered

through the lot

like the letter S,

lined with huge

oaks, laurel,

alder and buck-

eye trees.”

yon to create a reservoir. At its elevation of 325 feet,the dam backed up a million gallons of water. Neigh-bors chipped in a total of $20,000 to pay for the water-works, and along with the Temescal reservoir system,the Sausal reservoir supplied East Oakland with wa-ter until the summer of 1872. The Sausal Water Com-pany then ran out ofmoney and was ac-quired by AnthonyChabot’s Contra CostaWater Company.

Near Hopkins’estate, Captain LeviStevens’ prestigious es-tate also backed ontoSausal Creek. Stevenswas a New Englanderwho had piloted the shipSouthern Cross to SanFrancisco , where he es-tablished a shipping andcommerce company.The Captain was a con-noisseur of exoticshrubs, planting them along the creek’s banks and di-

verting water from the creek to encourage theplants to grow even more lushly. An

anonymous Oakland Daily Timeswriter described the Captain’s ex-otic gardens as “the most unique

creation. . . to be seen in a l i fetime,” clearly believing them far su-

perior to the more naturally-occurringvegetation: “Fruit Vale

Creek runs throughthis . . . the banks ofwhich are some 15 or 20

feet high, and usuallycovered with wild briars

and obnoxious weeds. Herethese have given place to

palms, pines, magnolias, rose-bushes, fuscias,and all that kind of shrubbery so carefully culti-vated in our yards.” The same writer goes on todescribe clear, gravel-bottomed pools in thecreek, “swarming with small trout.”5

Estate owners were not the only peoplewho enjoyed Sausal Creek’s charms. Horse-drawn streetcars, common in the Fruitvale areaby 1875, brought people up to Dimond Canyon andother areas in the hills for Sunday outings and pic-nics alongside the creek, where picnickers relishedthe delicious berries growing next to the creek. Onone occasion, a streetcar on the old Highland Parkand Fruit Vale Railroad tipped over the ravine inDimond Canyon and rolled down the hill into thecreek. Officials attributed the accident to a very

6

Bay Laurel

large woman who had been sitting on the side nextto the ravine. Amazingly, no one was injured inthe incident.

In 1877, Hugh Dimond, an Irish gold pros-pector who had been successful in the liquor busi-ness in San Francisco, moved into his home on the267 acres he had purchased ten years earlier alongSausal Creek, just above Fruitvale Avenue andMacArthur, at the foot of the canyon. Dimond’shome (the site of the former Luelling estate) was awhite, two-story, wooden structure surroundedby a verandah, and was situated just beyondthe grove of redwoods in today’s DimondPark. The Dimond family dammed Sau-sal Creek to create a swimming hole 30feet wide by 100 feet long. Althoughthe swimming hole is long gone,children today swim near the siteof the hole, in the Lions’ Clubswimming pool, built after theCity acquired the Dimondproperty in 1917. TheDimonds used an iron pipeto divert water from SausalCreek for their householduse and built a fishing lodgedownstream where theycaught trout. (The fishinglodge is now a private homeon Woodbine Avenue.) What isbelieved to be one of the oldest oaktrees in the United States stands today inDimond Park beside the little clubhouse. The oakbecame well-known locally as the “ChampagneOak,” after one of Dimond’s son Dennis’ friends re-layed its story. Dennis and his friends used to sneakbottles of champagne from Hugh Dimond’s wine cel-lar and take them down to the banks of Sausal Creekto drink. On one occasion, when they spotted theirhousekeeper looking for them, the boys stashed thechampagne in a hollow in the old oak. Years later,in the 1940s, the adult Dennis, who had moved toLos Angeles, asked one of his friends to look forthe bottles, since as far as he knew, no one had everremoved them. There the story ends, but perhapsthe old oak still harbors some bubbly secrets. Nextto the “champagne oak,” the Dimonds built a club-house using some of the adobe bricks from theoriginal Peralta hacienda. Although the originalclubhouse burned in the 1950s, some of the Peraltabricks were salvaged and used to build the club-house that stands on the site today. Dimond Park,Dimond Canyon, Dimond Avenue, and theDimond District were all named after HughDimond, who was sometimes called the “WesternPrince” by local residents because of his lavish hos-pitality and generous donations to charities.

7

Common Alder

The Creek Flows Through Fruitvaleªs Cen-The Creek Flows Through Fruitvaleªs Cen-The Creek Flows Through Fruitvaleªs Cen-The Creek Flows Through Fruitvaleªs Cen-The Creek Flows Through Fruitvaleªs Cen-

ter: More Estates and Gardens (1879∂1900)ter: More Estates and Gardens (1879∂1900)ter: More Estates and Gardens (1879∂1900)ter: More Estates and Gardens (1879∂1900)ter: More Estates and Gardens (1879∂1900)

A lthough upper Fruitvale in the 1870s consisted largely of orchards, cow pastures, beer gar-

dens, and muddy roads, palatial estates linedFruitvale Avenue itself. Long rows of eucalyptus grewalong the street, and palm, magnolia, lemon and or-ange trees grew upon estate grounds as well as in the

yards of the many cottages built near the creekduring this time. Sausal Creek is always men-

tioned in newspaper accounts from the timeas running through Fruitvale’s center and

having created the rich soils upon whichthe lush gardens flourished. Many foot-

bridges were built across the creek,connecting the gardens of one estate

to another; the creek was a placewhere one went to enjoy “solitude

and shade to the heart’s content.”6

During these last decades of the1800s, the creek was viewed asan amenity that enhanced thebeauty of the elaborate gardensalong its banks.

In 1879, horticulturist JohnSanborn purchased some land

near East 17th Street and FruitvaleAvenue. The following year he built

his estate next to the creek, which ranthrough the grounds. Before Sanborn

bought the land, it had been a farm worked byChinese laborers which may have been irrigated withwater from the creek. The Chinese had been broughtinto the area (after building the Transcontinental Rail-road) to build Chabot’s Temescal reservoir. Althoughrecords of the Chinese presence in the Fruitvale areaduring those years are scarce, some newspaper ac-counts at the time refer to a Chinese “wash house,”located not too far from the Sanborn estate, whichmay have been one of the first laundries in the area.

Sanborn planted over 130 species of trees andshrubs on his grounds, some of which were believedto be the first of their kind planted in the United States.Although the gardens were private, university stu-dents were permitted to visit Sanborn’s treasure trove.Sanborn died in 1889, and in 1925 his widow Elisabethsold the property, (which by this time was so full oftrees it was known as Sanborn Woods), to the City ofOakland, which turned it into Sanborn Park. Some ofthe trees in the park today were probably planted bySanborn: a giant Sequoia, a magnolia, and several fruittrees.

In 1882, newly-electrified, plushly-cushioned,double-decked Sessions streetcars began to runthroughout the Fruitvale District, encouraging even

more people to settle in the Sausal watershed. Liketheir earlier horse-drawn counterparts, these street-cars continued to take residents and weekend visi-tors from San Francisco into Dimond Canyon to en-joy serene creekside picnics.

In 1884, to celebrate his oldest daughterEmma’s marriage to Alfred Cohen, grain merchantWatson A. Bray built the couple a mansion on 29thAvenue, on a lot which backed onto Sausal Creek.The mansion sat across from Watson’s own estate,part of the 160-acre Oak Tree Farm heestablished in 1859. The Cohen-Bray House stands today, hav-ing been named as an officialOakland landmark in 1974and later added to theNational Registry of His-toric Places. The creekthat once graced itsgrounds was culvertedin the 1980s, promptingEmelita Cohen (Emma’sdaughter) to complain,in a letter to the PublicWorks Department, thatthe culverting of SausalCreek ”removed from our imme-diate environment a little bit of wilderness whichwas enjoyed by the residents of the locale, attractedbirds and other wildlife to the watercourse and tothe surrounding natural cover, and imparted asense of serenity to the area..”

She lamented the loss of the open creek asa much needed buffer zone, a tranquil refuge in anarea suffering from urban blight. Ken Gilliland,Emma’s grandson, who still lives in the house, re-members playing in Sausal Creek as a child in the1920s and catching tadpoles in it at HawthorneSchool. He later installed a pump in the creek, to helpirrigate the family’s vegetable garden. He remembersa very large bay tree that once grew near the creek,which (according to family legend) General Fremontcamped beneath.

In 1886 the famous poet Joaquin Miller builthis abbey high in the hills, along the Palo Seco branchof the creek. Miller hoped the abbey would becomea retreat for writers, poets, and artists from all overthe world. He planted the hillsides near his homewith 75,000 trees, including eucalyptus, acacia,cypress, olive, and Monterey pine. The bewhiskered,white-haired poet often walked along the creek,descending the hills accompanied by his Japanesevalet and an old donkey, to buy supplies in thecommercial district that was rapidly developing nearFruitvale and MacArthur. In describing the Sausal Creekwatershed as he looked down upon it from his estate,he wrote: “I have traveled over most of the world and

I find no spot more beautiful than lies at my feet.”The City acquired Miller’s property in 1919 and laternamed it after him. Some of the trees Miller plantedstill stand today among the native manzanita,madrone, huckleberry, bay laurel, Pacific ninebark,and Coast live oak trees. Native wildflowers such asDouglas iris, California poppy, sticky monkeyflower,silver bush lupine, mariposa lily, cream cups, andgolden yarrow still grow throughout Joaquin Miller

Park. Today, the upper Sausal watershedcontains the only redwood forest

thriving in an urban area: thesecond and third-growth trees

William Gibbons saw juststarting to “rehabilitate the

devastated slopes” in 1893.These redwoods weresaved from developersby concerned citizens in1928 and made part ofJoaquin Miller Parkwhen Oakland purchasedthem in the 1940s.

In the 1890s, upperFruitvale, (from just

south of MacArthur Bou-levard north through the

hills and stretching a fewblocks to the east and west of

Dimond Canyon), looked like asmall German town. However, the

population of the area was becomingmore diverse: in addition to the Chinese who werebrought into the area as workers, a number of Scan-dinavians established themselves in the Sausal Creekwatershed. Many started dairies and feed businesses:the area was so rural that, while sitting in classes,school children looked out upon dairy cattle grazingin surrounding pastures. Like the Spanish cattle ear-lier, these dairy cows quenched their thirst in SausalCreek’s cool waters. A rancher named Thomas Bridge,who owned 15 acres alongside the creek, was said tohave brought his best cattle to the creek to drink and tofeed on acorns from the still-plentiful oaks near itsbanks.

In the late 1890s, one of the original Germansettlers of Fruitvale, Jacob Bold, built a three-bedroomwood-frame home on Minnesota Street. His brother,John Bold, was the proprietor of The Villa, a hoteland saloon at Fruitvale Avenue and East 10th Street.The Bolds played an important role in establishingSt. Elizabeth’s, one of the first German Catholicchurches in Fruitvale. Another German immigrant,Charlie Tepper, opened a creekside hotel and beer gar-den on the land he bought from Hugh Dimond, atMacArthur between Dimond and Canon Avenues. (Thehotel building still stands behind the shops at 2030

CaliforniaBuckeye

8

MacArthur Boulevard.) Many residents enjoyed picnicsand leisurely afternoons beneath the trees of Tepper’sGardens, next to the creek. On the corner oppositeTepper’s stood the infamous Hermitage House, whichfeatured “French dancing girls.” At the rear ofthe hotel was a garden with two cottages andfive gazebos, in which some questionableacts allegedly took place. Neighbors andchurch groups eventually pressuredofficials into closing the “pleasure pal-ace,” and it was quickly replaced byshops. Nearby, other beer gardens, likethe Neckhaus, nestled on Sausal Creek’sbanks, and Bauerhofer’s (where a post officesits today), featured German bands and songsand an occasional brawl among patrons. Ahome for elderly German people, theAltenheim, was built nearby in 1893. The homestanding on the site today, however, was built after theoriginal building burned down in 1908. The home’s resi-dents today are of many ethnicities.

By the end of the the 1800s, all kinds of busi-nesses had sprung up in Fruit Vale: a meat market, gro-cery store, dry goods store, post office, boot and shoerepair shop, a wood and coal yard, livery stable, and ablacksmith, drugstore, and barber shop. At Fruit ValeStation (near the site of today’s BART station), a heavywagon bridge was built across the creek so that wagonscould load rock (mined from quarries in the hills) ontotrains. Fruit Vale Station was also known as “WillowStation” at the time, probably after the nearby willowgroves into which the creek meandered (and for whichSausal Creek was named). With the Southern Pacific,the local Fruit Vale and Highland Park, and CaliforniaRailroad lines running through Fruit Vale Station, FruitVale was becoming an even more desirable, accessibleplace to live.

Altered Flows and ChangingAltered Flows and ChangingAltered Flows and ChangingAltered Flows and ChangingAltered Flows and Changing

Attitudes (1895∂1920)Attitudes (1895∂1920)Attitudes (1895∂1920)Attitudes (1895∂1920)Attitudes (1895∂1920)

One of a creek’s natural functions is to movesediment, and Sausal Creek is no exception.For years, Sausal Creek had been depositing

sand and gravel into San Leandro Bay. In fact, theAlameda County Public Works Department used thecreek as a gravel quarry, digging it out each year nearFruitvale Avenue and what is now InternationalBoulevard to a depth of about 25 feet, until the nextwinter’s floods filled it up with gravel again. Thisproject was the catalyst for many discussions onculverting and diverting the “unruly raging torrent”of Sausal Creek. After the creek was culverted and achannel created from the former slough, Alamedabecame an island, and the flow of Sausal Creek waterinto the tidal marshlands of Alameda was cut off. For

many years, Emilie Gibbons Cohen, of the Cohen-Brayfamily mentioned earlier, used Sausal Creek on herAlameda estate (Fernside) as a supplier of rich graveland silt (that she used and sold) and fresh water (thatshe used in natural irrigation to produce green feedfor her livestock) When the creek was culverted, shesued the United States for cutting off her supply of

gravel and water. However, she lost the case whenthe Supreme Court ruled that it was the natural

processes and characteristics of the creek,and not the implementation of the

culvert, that resulted in thechange of her gravel and watersupply.

After Antonio Peralta died in1878, his heirs sold hisremaining 18 acres to adeveloper, and the rancho that

had become farmland was then subdivided for homesand businesses. And in 1900, when the streetcar lineswere upgraded in Fruit Vale, which created betterconnections with downtown Oakland, more peoplesettled in the Sausal Creek watershed. By 1905, FruitVale’s population numbered about 16,000. Thepopulation increased when the 1906 earthquakebrought many refugees from San Francisco to the area.In addition to the influx of earthquake refugees, manyof whom were German immigrants, other EuropeanAmericans settled in Fruit Vale in the early 1900s.Italian Andrew Giambroni, known as the “little mayorof Dimond,” ran the Dimond Grocery Store withCaesar Sobrero. Later, Giambroni joined JamesAnderson, a Danish immigrant, in running a coal yardnear Fruit Vale and MacArthur. During this time, FruitVale provided fruit, vegetables, bricks, lumber, hay,grain and poultry products to Oakland and SanFrancisco. The orchards that still existed grew anamazing variety of fruit, but some of the owners nowguarded their fruit trees with shotguns on Sundaysand holidays when the ever-increasing numbers ofresidents went on their outings. In addition to apples,pears, peaches, apricots, prunes, plums, and cherries,the rich Sausal Creek soils were now producingpomegranates, loquats, persimmons, nectarines, crabapples, quince, figs, grapes, currants, olives, almonds,walnuts, and chestnuts.

Meanwhile, lower Fruit Vale was becomingmore industrial, with a cannery, an oil refinery right atthe foot of Sausal Creek, and a number of planing andfinishing mills that supplied the lumber for the increas-ing number of homes and businesses being built. Therural atmosphere of upper “Fruit Vale” ended in 1909,when the City of Oakland annexed the area, paved itsdusty roads, and ordered the dairies closed down.

During the early 1900s, many of the old estatesand gardens were subdivided into lots for new homes,with real estate agents touting the Fruit Vale area as “one

Steller’s Jay

9

of the most charming residential districts in AlamedaCounty,” a “semi-tropical paradise with the mosthealthful climate in the world, with flowers and fruitin abundance.” Newspaper ads frequently boastedabout the soil, a “rich, fertile, alluvial loam well-adapted for growing fruits and vegetables,” but, otherthan the word “alluvial,” they no longer credited itssource—Sausal Creek. And, as more commercial en-terprises developed and residents began to rely onother sources for their water, people forgot about thestream running through their midst.

When World War I broke out, GermanAmericans were treated as second-class citizens andsometimes prevented from speaking German inpublic. Not surprisingly, many of the beer gardensclosed down. During this same time, more Irish andPortuguese immigrants settled in the area. By 1921,the population of Fruit Vale had grown to almost50,000, the fastest-growing section of Oakland. In1925, it was Oakland’s most populous workingclass neighborhood: factory workers, firemen, po-lice officers, and street car workers made theirhomes in the area. Frantic construction of homescontinued throughout the 1920s, until most of theremaining huge oaks and redwoods in the lower hillsand flatlands disappeared. The new Central Bankbuilt in 1923 replaced the grove of huge cypress, eu-calyptus, and redwood trees near 27th and Fruitvale,on the former grounds of John Spring’s elegant es-tate. The Realty Syndicate Company purchased mostof the hayfields east of MacArthur and subdividedthem into lots for homes. Newspaper ads lured pro-spective buyers by telling them the land could be usedto grow vegetables and berries, raise poultry, pigeons,and rabbits, and “still have room for children!” Thearea was developed in such a frenzy that the land and“bungalows” consisting of one room were sold as acheap package deal to get as many people settled inthe area as quickly as possible: homeowners were toldthey could add on to the one-room structures later.As development continued at a rapid pace, the wa-ters of the creek that once provided a place to fish orto enjoy solitude began to change. And as the auto-mobile age began to permanently alter the landscape,replacing the more benign electric trolleys and addingthousands of cars to the watershed’s streets, urban run-off consisting of grease and oil from the streets and siltfrom the land being graded for homes found its wayinto the creek. The children who still played in the creekno longer found fish in it, as its waters were now toomuddy. In 1923, the East Bay Municipal Utility Districtwas formed, and with East Bay cities relying on far-awaysources for their water, residents lost their sense of con-nection with the local creeks. As more creeks and por-tions of creeks were culverted and put underground,the meaning of “watershed” seemed to disappear. Likemany other East Bay creeks, Sausal Creek was gradu-ally losing its identity as a key part of the landscape.

Taming the Creek (1930s and ª40s)Taming the Creek (1930s and ª40s)Taming the Creek (1930s and ª40s)Taming the Creek (1930s and ª40s)Taming the Creek (1930s and ª40s)

But in the 1930s and ’40s, Sausal Creek demandedattention. Throughout these decades, new com-mercial development (many banks, and drug

and grocery stores) and residential developmentcontinued on a large scale. Unfortunately, manybuilders underestimated both the creek’s power andits need to meander, and built homes right on theedge of its banks. As the creek flowed downthrough the hills, widening and eroding its banks,residents of these homes began to view the creekas their enemy, rather than the “friendly brook” ofearlier years.And with morepavement androoftops (and lessnatural vegetationand soil to ab-sorb water), thecreek began to runhigher and fasterduring periods ofheavy rain.

In 1934,a massive land-slide on McKillopRoad was blamedon Sausal Creek.The Army Corpsof Engineers at-tempted to sub-due the creek with concrete, and throughout the ’30sand ’40s, many more attempts were made to“control” the creek. The Works Progress Admin-istration tried to contain the creek with cement“walls” and poured concrete in its bed in an at-tempt to slow its flow. The dates of these projects(1939-1940) were stamped into the cement andcan be seen today at various spots along the creekin Dimond Canyon. Railroad tracks were usedto create blockades in the creek, as people wereat tempting to dr ive up the newly-pavedcreekbed. (Today these railroad track “block-ades” act as dams for trash, which collects be-hind them.) And the concrete that was supposedto slow the creek did not: over the years, thecreek has swept around and underneath the con-crete structures, leaving gaps between them andthe flowing water of the creek. At mid-Dimondcanyon, a concrete “flume” was poured into theside of one of the hills, probably in an effort tocontrol erosion from a rivulet (the rivulet hassince found a new path down the hill to thecreek). Not everyone agreed with these effortsto control the creek. Residents complained vo-

Not everyone

agreed with these

efforts to control

the creek. Resi-

dents complained

vociferously in the

local papers,

accusing the WPA

of ruining the once

beautiful, natural

stream bed.

10

ciferously in the local papers, accusing the WPAof ruining the once beautiful, natural stream bed.A sewer pipe was installed next to and some-times under the creek; today its contents leachat times into the creek’s waters.

Despite all of the concrete and structuralefforts to “control” it, the creek overflowed itsbanks in the heavy rains of 1995, f loodingDimond Park. In fact, the concrete channels, bedand “check dams” keep the creek fromdeveloping its natural floodplain and actuallycontribute to faster flows, backups and flooding.

In the 1940s , the Ci ty of Oaklandacquired more of the land that we enjoy todayas public open space, including propertiesconnecting Dimond Park with Joaquin Millerand Redwood Regional Parks.These acquisitions createda continuous greenbeltfrom the center ofFruitvale into over2,000 acres ofredwood forest. Thisgreenbelt was what famedurban planner Frederick LawOlmsted urged the City ofOakland to create in all of itswatersheds, by preserving creeksand riparian zones and connecting them tosurrounding parklands on the hi l l s .Unfortunately, his advice was not heeded inmost of the other watersheds, making thepreservation of the Sausal Creek greenbelt quitean amazing feat. Yet even this environmentalforesight did not stop a plan from being concoctedin 1946 to dam Sausal Creek in upper DimondCanyon at the intersection of the Palo Seco andShepherd branches. The lake created by the damwas to be twice the size of Lake Temescal (whichwas formed by damming Temescal Creek) andwould offer recreational opportunities such asboating, fishing, and swimming, as well asprovide “ irr igat ion” for Dimond Park (asomewhat incongruous idea s ince plantsgrowing near creeks usually thrive withoutsupplemental water). “Inspiration Lake” was tobe backed by a concrete dam 80 feet high and350 feet long, and built at a cost of $300,000.Fortunately, that “inspiration” never became areality. Instead, in 1950, the Montclair GolfCourse was built, and Sausal Creek was buriedbeneath the driving range. The creek, (flowingunderground in its culvert), is evidenced by adepression in the lawn the length of the range.Plans to culvert Sausal Creek in Dimond Park(near the swimming pool) to make more roomfor recreation were also made at this time.

More Construction and CulvertsMore Construction and CulvertsMore Construction and CulvertsMore Construction and CulvertsMore Construction and Culverts

(1970s and ª80s)(1970s and ª80s)(1970s and ª80s)(1970s and ª80s)(1970s and ª80s)

In 1977, under a government program to promotejobs, a 90-foot redwood suspension bridge wasbuilt across Sausal Creek near Monterey Boulevard.

The bridge was an “amazing” structure, according toone park ranger, but it quickly became a bit toopopular with local teenagers, who jumped up anddown on the walkway, causing it to swayprecariously and earning it the nickname “HellBridge.” Although the bridge was only 15 feetabove the creek, it was evidently not well-designed, and the City decided the bridge had togo. A concrete pad that anchored the bridge canstill be seen in the creekbed.

In the 1980s, some of the few remaining opensections of Sausal Creek west of MacArthurBoulevard were put underground, including the opensection behind the Cohen-Bray mansion. In 1980,the section of creek near 17th and Fruitvale that onceflowed through farmland, later the grand Sanborngardens, and eventually Sanborn Park, was putunderground: “steep banks” and safety concernscited as the reasons. In the heavy rains of the early

11

Yellow Warbler

Urbanization ContinuesUrbanization ContinuesUrbanization ContinuesUrbanization ContinuesUrbanization Continues

(1950s and ª60s)(1950s and ª60s)(1950s and ª60s)(1950s and ª60s)(1950s and ª60s)

After World War II, more homes and apart-ment buildings were built in the SausalCreek watershed. More paved roads and

more rooftops meant more impermeable surfacesadding runoff to the creek’s waters. And withmore people and buildings and problems fromthose buildings being built too close to the creek,came more cries to control the creek. By 1956,most of McKillop Road had slid down the hill-side into the creek, and more than a dozen homeswere relocated. While some residents blamed thecreek, others believed the cause of the slide to

be then e a r b y

East BayM u n i c i p a l

Utility District reser-voir, which may have satu-

rated the clay soil beneath it,causing unstable earth to slip

down the hill into the creek. En-gineers advocated culverting the

creek as the solution, but it was leftalone, probably because many of

the affected residents had alreadymoved from McKillop Road.

The Sausal Creek Watershed TodayThe Sausal Creek Watershed TodayThe Sausal Creek Watershed TodayThe Sausal Creek Watershed TodayThe Sausal Creek Watershed Today

Today, rock doves from France (pigeons) and Eu-ropean starlings live in the watershed along-side native scrub jays and western flycatchers.

On the hillsides, non-native Himalayan blackberryintertwines itself with California blackberry, andGerman ivy competes with native manroot. Euro-pean white birches grow alongside native alders,and fox squirrels compete with native western graysquirrels. While the watershed is far from pristine,the natural areas that still exist offer its residents,both human and animal, sanctuary from thestresses of urban life. Despite its many culvertedsections, the creek still flows above ground forabout half of its length. While following the trailalongside the creek in Joaquin Miller Park andDimond Canyon, it can be easy to forget you arein the middle of ur-ban Oakland. Thewhispers of bush-tits are every-where; if youwatch carefully,you may evencatch a glimpse ofthese secretive tinybrown birds flittingthrough the wild li-lac on the canyonsides chasing insects. Higher up in Dimond Can-yon, and on into Joaquin Miller Park, underneaththe towering redwoods, in air that is hushed andcool, you feel calmed. The delicious smells of theforest floor, of mosses and decaying leaves, per-vade the air. Enormous bay trees bow out over thecreek in wide arches, echoing the lines of theLeimert Avenue Bridge. Black phoebes call to eachother and fly low over the water, catching insects.Down in the water, backswimmers make tinyripples in the water. Damselflies glint bright bluein the filtered sunlight, and cliff swallows playfullycircle and swoop above the creek, even in urban-ized Dimond Park. Brown towhees hop through

’80s, the battle with Sausal Creek continued alongother parts of the creek. Residents of homes built tooclose to the creek worried as the stream erodedretaining walls and foundations. Although thoseresidents wanted the creek culverted, other neighbors,concerned about how culverts would impact thecreek’s ecology, prevented several culverting projects.As a compromise, the Soil Conservation Service placedtiered cement bags in several places along the creekwhere homes stood right on the edge of its banks.

the leaf litter, just as they have done since beforethe first humans lived here.

In 1939, a writer in the Oakland Tribune an-grily accused the Works Progress Administrationof ruining Dimond Canyon with its park and creek“improvement projects” by cutting down the oaksand denuding the hillsides. Yet, walking throughthe canyon today, one can see that native trees arespringing up and the hills have begun to heal. Thecreek will eventually do the same, but it could useyour help.

Today, there is new interest in preservingSausal Creek, the verdant ribbon that for the pastcentury has tied together so many of Fruitvale’sparks and neighborhoods, and survived all of thechanges around it. The Friends of Sausal Creek, acitizens’ group of creek supporters, meets monthlyto discuss plans to preserve and restore the creek.The Friends remove ivy and clear trash out of thecreek on a regular basis, and many people areinterested in bringing the creek above ground inadditional areas where possible. If the creek isrestored, native amphibians like the Pacific tree frogcould be reintroduced into various sections of thecreek, along with the native three-spined stickleback,a fish that thrives in other East Bay streams. Studentsin nearby elementary schools are studying the creekand writing about it. On a recent tour of thewatershed, local residents excitedly described thebaby ducklings they observed in the creek this past

spring.Today, the Sausal

Creek Watershed ishome to approximately80,000 residents of di-verse cultures: AfricanAmericans, AsianAmericans, Cauca-sians, Latinos, PacificIslanders, and Ameri-can Indians. SausalCreek provides a way

for these residents to connect to a piece of some-thing more wild than the grocery stores, drugstores,banks, and other commercial structures surround-ing them. That need of residents—to connect tosomething wild and natural—may help explainwhy Sausal Creek still flows openly in as manysections as it does (“unruliness” aside).

Recent biological surveys indicate that,especially if preserved and restored, the creek couldsupport more diversity—of birds, amphibians,mammals, plants, and insects. Riparian habitats areendangered in California; only five percent of ouroriginal streamside habitat remains. PreservingSausal Creek would provide habitat for a number

. . . underneath the toweringredwoods, in air that ishushed and cool, you feelcalmed. The delicious smellsof the forest floor, of mosses anddecaying leaves, pervade the air.

Redwood

12

Cooper’s Hawk

13

1 Although this author found no specific referencesto the Native Californians living along SausalCreek, the information in this section derives fromwhat is generally known about Native Californiansin the East Bay.

2 From “The Redwoods in the Oakland Hills,” byWilliam P. Gibbons, M.D., Erythea 1:161-66, August1893, as reprinted in the Oakland Miscellany, Vol.1,Oakland History Room, Oakland Public Library

3 History of Rural Alameda County, Hinkel, EdgerJ. and McCann, William E., eds. (1937) OaklandWorks Progress Administration: Alameda CountyLibrary

4 The California Recollections of Caspar T.Hopkins, as reprinted in the Fall 1986 OaklandHeritage Alliance News, from the California His-torical Society Quarterly 27:71-73 (1948).

5 Oakland Daily Times, August 15, 1878

6 Oakland Daily Times, August 15, 1878

Text NotesText NotesText NotesText NotesText Notes

of creatures in trouble, like the Cooper’s hawk orthe migratory songbirds that rely on riparian areasto survive the seasons they spend here.

Like its watershed, Sausal Creek has beentransformed and altered. But, whether welcomedas a “babbling brook” or feared and fought as a“raging, unruly torrent,” the creek continues tocarve its path into the land and into history. With alittle help from its human neighbors and groupslike the Friends of Sausal Creek, it will do so forcenturies to come.

The Story of Rancho San Antonio, DaisyWilliamson, 1924

Historic Spots in California, Hoover, Rensch,and Rensch, Stanford: Stanford UniversityPress, 1962

On the redwoods of the Sausal Creek watershedand early logging in the hills:

Oakland, The Story of a City, Beth Bagwell, OaklandHeritage Alliance, 1994

Oakland Miscellany, Vol. 1, “The Redwoods in theOakland Hills,” by William P. Gibbons, M.D., 1893,Oakland History Room

The Forgotten Redwoods of the East Bay, SherwoodBurgess

The Water King: Anthony Chabot, His Life and Times,Sherwood Burgess, Davis: Panorama West, 1992

On the Dimond District and Dimond Park:

The Early Years of the Dimond District, Douglas S.Brookes, June 1980, Oakland Public Library,Oakland History Room

For details on how to walk Sausal Creek andinformation on other East Bay Creeks:

Guide to East Bay Creeks, Christopher M. Richard,Ed., Oakland Museum, 1993

For additional information about early Europeansettlement of the Sausal Creek watershed andAlameda County in general, plus maps:

History of Rural Alameda County, Hinkel, Edger J.and McCann, William E., eds. Oakland, WorksProgress Administration: Alameda County Library,1937

Historical Atlas of Alameda County, Thompson andWest, Oakland, Thompson & West, 1879

CaliforniaRed-Legged

Frog

A Selected BibliographyA Selected BibliographyA Selected BibliographyA Selected BibliographyA Selected Bibliography

Much of the historical information in this booklet,including descriptions of the Dimond District, DimondPark, Joaquin Miller Park, Sanborn Park, and Fruitvale,and various short quotations that are not footnoted,were compiled from newspaper articles in the clippingsfiles of the Oakland History Room (Oakland PublicLibrary) as well as from microfiche articles from the1870s through the present. Many of these articles areindexed in the Oakland History Room and can be foundon microfilm in the Newspaper Room at the OaklandPublic Library. Copies of most of these articles are alsoon file with the Aquatic Outreach Institute, in the SausalCreek Master File. Notes from talks given in thesummer of 1996 by Steven LaVoie, Oakland TribuneHistorian, at Friends of Sausal Creek and DimondImprovement Association meetings were also used.

For additional information on the early inhabitantsand natural history of the watershed:

“Biography of an Urban Creek.” John Dury, Terrain,Ecology Center, October 1995 and “Creeks Speak,”East Bay Citizens for Creek Restoration newsletter,Winter, 1995

The Ohlone Way: Indian Life in the San Francisco-Monterey Bay Area. Malcolm Margolin, Berkeley:Heyday Books, 1978

California’s Changing Landscapes. M. Barbour, B.Pavlik, F. Drysdale, S. Lindstrom, Sacramento:California Native Plant Society, 1993

Early Uses of California Plants. Edward K. Balls,Berkeley: University of California Press, 1962

Guide to East Bay Creeks. Christopher M. Richard, Ed.Oakland Museum, 1993

Native Shrubs of the San Francisco Bay Region. RoxanaS. Ferris, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968

Native Trees of the San Francisco Bay Region.Woodbridge Metcalf, Berkeley: University ofCalifornia Press, 1959

“A Report on the Palo Seco Trail.” Tamra C. Hege,Oakland Museum Natural Science DepartmentDocent Training Program, 1972-73 (on file with theAquatic Outreach Institute)

On the Peralta family and early Spanish expeditions:

Oakland Miscellany , Vol. 1, Research of J.N.Professor Bowman, U.C. Extension, 1933, OaklandHistory Room

14

15

Everyday activities can harm local waterways. It isespecially important to be careful if you live near a creek.Remember, only rain down the storm drain.

Automotive• Recycling your oil is easy and healthy for the

environment! Call the City of Oakland for a freecurbside oil recycling kit.

• Wash your car on the lawn so that runoff will notgo into storm drains or better yet, use acommercial car wash.

• Keep your car in tune and fix any leaks.

Household• Switch to less toxic cleaning products, and use

alternative, inexpensive cleansers such as borax,baking soda, or vinegar mixed with lemon andwater.

• Dispose of your trash wisely. For yourrecyclables use Oakland’s curbside recyclingprogram.

Lawn and Garden• Sweep leaves away from the creek. Compost or

use the green yard trimmings cart forcurbside recycling.

• Divert rain spouts and garden hosesfrom paved surfaces onto grass so thewater can filter through the soil.

• Dispose of animal wastes in thegarbage.

• If you must use pesticides,herbicides and fertilizers, usethem carefully and sparingly. Donot over water or apply if rain isforecast.

Landscape with Native Plants• No fertilizers or pesticides are necessary.• Native plants provide food, habitat and

shelter for native insects, birds andmammals.

• Less water is required for native plants tothrive.

• Fewer herbicides are needed to controlgrowth because natives are less invasivethan introduced plants.

Reporting Spills and Dumping• Immediate hazard ..........................................911• Pollution or debris in creek..................238-7630

Storm Drain Stenciling• To volunteer............................................238-6600

City of Oakland Sewer Maintenance• Sewer spills and storm drain flooding.........................................615-5566

Oakland Recycles• Free oil recycling kit, yard trimmings & recycling information.....................238-SAVE

Household Hazardous Waste• Disposal........................................1-800-606-6606

Clean Creeks Campaign• Adopt-A-Creek• Community cleanups & greening.......238-7630

Graffiti Abatement....238-4703

Alameda CountyFlood Control and WaterConservation District....670-5500

What You Can Do at Home to HelpWhat You Can Do at Home to HelpWhat You Can Do at Home to HelpWhat You Can Do at Home to HelpWhat You Can Do at Home to Help

Protect the Sausal Creek WatershedProtect the Sausal Creek WatershedProtect the Sausal Creek WatershedProtect the Sausal Creek WatershedProtect the Sausal Creek Watershed

Tule Elk

Important Phone NumbersImportant Phone NumbersImportant Phone NumbersImportant Phone NumbersImportant Phone Numbers

Bald Eagle

Other Residents of the Sausal Creek WatershedOther Residents of the Sausal Creek WatershedOther Residents of the Sausal Creek WatershedOther Residents of the Sausal Creek WatershedOther Residents of the Sausal Creek Watershed

Birds*

Common Name Scientific NameCooper’s hawk Accipiter cooperired-shouldered hawk Buteo lineatusturkey vulture Cathartes auramourning dove Zenaida macrocourarock dove Columba liviaAllen’s hummingbird Selasphorus sasinAnna’s hummingbird Calypte annarufous hummingbird Selasphorus rufusdowny woodpecker Picoides pubescensred-shafted flicker Colaptes auratusblack phoebe Sayornis nigricanscliff swallow Hirundo pyrrhonotaviolet-green swallow Tachycineta thalissinacommon raven Corvus coraxscrub jay Aphelocoma coerulescensStellar’s jay Cyanocitta stellerichestnut-backed chickadee Parus rufescensplain titmouse Parus inornatusbushtit Psaltriparus minimusred-breasted nuthatch Sitta canadensisbrown creeper Certhia americanaBewick’s wren Thyromanes bewickiihouse wren Troglodytes aedinwrentit Chamaea fasciataruby-crowned kinglet Regulus calendulanorthern mockingbird Mimus polyglottosAmerican robin Turdus migratoriuscedar waxwing Bombycilla cedrorumsolitary vireo Vireo solitariusTownsend’s warbler Dendroica townsendiWilson’s warbler Wilsonia pusillaBrewer’s blackbird Euphagus cyanocephalusfox sparrow Passerella iliacagolden-crowned sparrow Zonotrichia atricapillahouse sparrow Passer domesticussong sparrow Melospiza melodiawhite-crowned sparrow Zontrichia leucophrysbrown towhee Pipilo crissalisspotted towhee Pipilo maculatusdark-eyed junco Junco hyemalisblack-headed grosbeak Pheuticus melanocephalushouse finch Carpodacus mexicanusAmerican goldfinch Carduelis tristis

*Birds are listed in the order they appear inPeterson’s A Field Guide to Western Birds.

Aquatic Insects

Common Name Orderaquatic worm Oligochaetecaddisfly Trichopteradamselfly Suborder Zygopteradragonfly Suborder Anisopteramayfly Ephemeropteramosquito Dipteramite Arachnidariffle beetle Coleopterasowbug Isopodastonefly Plecopteratrue fly Diptera

Insect list from the Friends of Sausal Creekvolunteer monitoring surveys.

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Native Plants

ANNUALSmilk maids Cardamine californicaminer’s lettuce Claytonia parviflora

FERNSpolypody Polypodium calirhizabracken fern Pteridium aquilinumCa. maidenhair Adiantum jordaniicoastal wood fern Dryopteris argutacoffee fern Pellaea andromedifoliafive-finger fern Adiantum aleuticumgoldback fern Pentagramma triangulariswestern lady fern Athyrium filix-feminawestern sword fern Polystichum munitum

PERENNIALSCa. figwort Scrophularia californicaCa. fuchsia Epilobium canumCa. man-root Marah fabaceusCa. poppy Eschscholzia californicaCaterpillar flower Phacelia sp.climbing bedstraw Galium porrigenscoast man-root Marah oreganuscow parsnip Heracleum lanatumelk-clover Aralia californicafairy bells Disporum hookerifalse Solomon’s seal Smilacina racemosagiant trillium Trillium chloropetalumhedge nettle Stachys ajugoideshorsetail Equisteum sp.hound’s tongue Cynoglossum grandemugwort Artemisia douglasianaPacific pea Lathyrus vestituspurple needlegrass Nassella pulchraredwood sorrel Oxalis oreganarush Juncus patenssedge Carex sp.soap plant Chlorogalum pomeridianumstar flower Trientalis latifoliathimbleberry Rubus parviflorusvetch Vicia sp.violet Viola ssp.watercress Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticumwhite trillium Trillium ovatumwild ginger Asarum caudatumwood cicely Osmorhiza chilensiswood strawberry Fragaria vescayarrow Achillea millefoliumyerba buena Satureja douglasiizigadene Zigadenus fremontii

SHRUBSarroyo willow Salix lasiolepisblue elderberry Sambucus mexicanablue witch Solanum umbelliferumbush lupine Lupinus albifronsbush monkeyflower Mimulus aurantiacusCa. barberry Berberis pinnataCa. hazelnut Corylus cornutaCa. huckleberry Vaccinium ovatumCa. lilac Ceanothus sp.Ca. sagebrush Artemisia californicacanyon gooseberry Ribes menziesiichamise Adenostema fasciculatumcoast silk-tassle Garrya ellipticacotoneaster Cotoneaster pannosacoyote brush Baccharis pilulariscreeping snowberry Symphoricarpos mollisdogwood Cornus sp.hillside gooseberry Ribes californicumninebark Physocarpus capitatusocean spray Holodiscus discoloroso berry Oemleria cerasiformispallid manzanita Arctostaphylos pallidapoison oak Toxicodendron diversilobumred-flowering currant Ribes sanguineumsnowberry Symphoricarpos albuswestern leatherwood Dirca occidentalis

TREESbig-leaf maple Acer macrophyllumCa. bay Umbellularia californicaCa. buckeye Aesculus californicacoast live oak Quercus agrifoliacoast redwood Sequoia sempervirensinterior live oak Quercus wislizeniiPacific madrone Arbutus menziesiired willow Salix laevigatascrub oak Quercus berberidifoliatoyon Heteromeles arbutifoliawhite alder Alnus rhombifolia

VINESCa. blackberry Rubus ursinusCa. honeysuckle Lonicera hispidula

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Coast Live Oak

About the Friends of Sausal Creek

The Friends of Sausal Creek are grateful to LisaOwens-Viani, who donated her time to research andwrite this booklet. Lisa spent countless hoursreading newspapers on microfiche at the libraryand interviewing longtime residents of the SausalCreek watershed in order to make this booklet anaccurate account of the past. Many thanks also toTiffany Manchip who, after reading an early draftof the booklet, kindly donated the illustrationswhich complement the text so wonderfully. Aspecial thanks to AOI interns Janet Javar and LaurieGold, who helped Program Coordinator BrendaChatfield with the layout and design of the booklet.Thanks to all of the reviewers, including KathyKramer and Anne Hayes of the Aquatic OutreachInstitute, who read drafts of the booklet and helpedensure it was accurate and enjoyable for all readers.A very special thanks to the Alameda County FloodControl and Water Conservation District and theNational Park Service’s Rivers, Trails, andConservation Assistance Program; both havesupported Watershed Awareness Programs on SanLeandro and Sausal Creeks, and to the City ofOakland, which has supported the Friends ofSausal Creek in all of their efforts. Without theassistance of these agencies, the Friends would notbe able to achieve their goals.

Formed in 1996, the Friends of Sausal Creek are a groupof community members protecting Sausal Creek at agrassroots level. The Friends recognize that citizen par-ticipation, from residents to decision-makers, teachers,and students, is critical for building long-term commit-ment to protect a community’s natural resources.

The Friends’ mission is to “promote aware-ness and appreciation of the Sausal Creek Watershed;to inspire action to restore and protect the creek andits watershed; and to obtain recognition for the creekas an important natural and community resource.”

The Friends have identified five broad goals:• be an educational resource about the creek• build membership and make the Friends an ef-

fective, self-sustaining organization• increase opportunities for experiencing and en-

joying the creek• be a legal and regulatory advocate for the creek• assess the natural resources and restore the na-

tive flora and fauna of the creek.The Friends meet every month (except July)

to share information and plan activities. Meetings areheld on the third Wednesday of the month from 7:00to 9:00 P.M. at the Dimond Branch Library in Oakland.Community creek workdays are held on the Satur-day following the monthly meetings, at Dimond Park,from 9:00 A.M. to noon. Workdays have been spent re-storing 35,000 square feet of the park by creating aNative Plant Demonstration Garden and revegetat-ing the creek corridor with native plants. The Friendsare also actively involved in monitoring the waterquality of the creek, inventorying bird populations,and sampling for aquatic insects.

A Special Thanks

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Swallow

About the Aquatic Outreach Institute

The Aquatic Outreach Institute creates and carries outinvolvement and outreach programs on creeks, wet-lands, and watersheds for the general public as wellas creating programs specifically targeted for educa-tors in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Aquatic Out-reach Institute’s mission is to increase public understand-ing of the effects of human impacts upon the estuary, topromote and encourage understanding and appreciation ofour aquatic resources, and to foster an awareness of the needfor responsible stewardship of these resources.

AOI serves local government and the generalpublic primarily through several WatershedAwareness Programs, in which strong communitygroups that advocate for and take direct action in thestewardship of local natural resources are developed.AOI also works with kindergarten through twelfthgrade teachers, college professors, museum staff,

docents, and other facilitators involved inenvironmental education, providing them withtraining and materials that can be used to increase theirown and their students’ understanding of the use,protection, and management of aquatic resources. Bysharing information on creeks, watersheds, and thebay and delta, and by providing a means tocommunicate this information, AOI empowers presentand future stewards of the San Francisco Estuary withan enlightened environmental ethic and theconfidence and skills to actively participate indecisions affecting the protection and use of naturalresources.

Dimond Park

Warren Freeway

MacArthurFreeway

Nimitz Freeway

CentralReservoir William Wood

Park

Sanborn Park

SausalCreek

Peralta Creek

Indian GulchCreek

Fruitvale Ave.

Foothill Blvd.

Park Blvd.

The Sausal CreekWatershed

Coolidge Ave.

Skyline Blvd.

ShepherdBranch

Palo SecoBranch