Richmond in Contra Costa County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)
Where the Deer and the Antelope Play
Anza Expedition of 1776
Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, March 1, 2020
1. Where the Deer and the Antelope Play Marker
Inscription.
Where the Deer and the Antelope Play. Anza Expedition of 1776. In 1775 and 1776, Lt. Colonel Juan Bautista de Anza, Father Pedro Font, along with 240 settlers, soldiers, and others traveled 1,800 miles from Sonora, Mexico to Monterey, California. Anza and Font, with a small group passed through by horseback close to this spot on March 31, 1776 on their way to explore what later became known as the San Frahcisco Delta. The animals and landscape they saw were vastly different from what you see today.
These hills in 1776 were covered with native bunchgrasses and streamside woodlands along canyon bottoms. In his diary, Font often recorded frequent sightings of tule elk and pronghorn antelope. He mentions the "large deer” (undoubtedly tule elk) whose swiftness allowed them to elude capture by the pursuing soldiers and their horses. Font also recorded sightings of grizzly bears and seeing "...Indians badly scarred by bites and scratches of these animals."
This panel funded in part by the National Park Service Challenge Cost Share Program in partnership with the East Bay Regional Park District.
Welcome to the homeland of the Huchiun, an Ohlone-speaking tribe
This panel funded in part by the National Park Service Challenge Cost Share Program in partnership with the East Bay Regional Park District.
Dates and stories taken from the diaries of Anza and Font, courtesy of the Center for Advanced Technology in Education, University of Oregon, www.anza.uoregon.edu. ,
In 1775 and 1776, Lt. Colonel Juan Bautista de Anza, Father
Pedro Font, along with 240 settlers, soldiers, and others traveled
1,800 miles from Sonora, Mexico to Monterey, California. Anza
and Font, with a small group passed through by horseback close
to this spot on March 31, 1776 on their way to explore what
later became known as the San Frahcisco Delta. The animals
and landscape they saw were vastly different from what you
see today.
These hills in 1776 were covered with native bunchgrasses and
streamside woodlands along canyon bottoms. In his diary, Font
often recorded frequent sightings of tule elk and pronghorn
antelope. He mentions the "large deer” (undoubtedly tule elk)
whose swiftness allowed them to elude capture by the pursuing
soldiers and their horses. Font also recorded sightings of grizzly
bears and seeing "...Indians badly scarred by bites and scratches
of these animals."
This panel funded in part by the National Park Service
Challenge Cost Share Program in partnership with the
East Bay Regional Park District.
Welcome to the homeland of the Huchiun, an Ohlone-speaking tribe
This panel funded in part by the National Park Service
Challenge Cost Share Program in partnership with the
East Bay Regional Park District.
Dates and stories taken from the diaries of Anza
Click or scan to see this page online
and Font, courtesy of the Center for Advanced Technology in Education, University of Oregon, www.anza.uoregon.edu.
Erected by East Bay Regional Park District, National Park Service.
Location. 37° 57.123′ N, 122° 19.119′ W. Marker is in Richmond, California, in Contra Costa County. Marker can be reached from Park Avenue. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 5845-5967 Park Avenue, Richmond CA 94805, United States of America. Touch for directions.
More about this marker. The marker is conveniently located outside the restroom at
Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, March 1, 2020
2. Where the Deer and the Antelope Play Marker - wide view
the Alvarado Staging Area section of Alvarado/Wildcat Canyon Park.
Credits. This page was last revised on September 10, 2020. It was originally submitted on March 1, 2020, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 160 times since then and 19 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on March 1, 2020, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.
