Tales of the San Francisco Peninsula
by
Theron G. Cady
A series of articles first published in 'Peninsula Life Magazine'
Published by C-T Publishers, San Carlos, California, 1948
Just a short block to
the east of El Camino Real (U.S. Highway 101) at the northern entrance
to the city of Palo Alto stands the ancient Palo Alto tall tree which gave
the lovely college town its name. This magnificent tree, which rears
its stately head above the live oak and eucalypti around it, was once regarded
by the Indians on the Peninsula as the dwelling place of the Great Spirit,
and they often held their council meetings beneath its spreading branches.
In 1769, when the Gaspar
de Portola expedition was exploring the Peninsula, this tall tree, because
of its great height, was chosen as a landmark, and the expedition camped
in the shade of its many branches from November 6 to 11.
Some five years later,
when the expedition led by Don Fernando de Rivera y Moncada was searching
for a mission site, a location near the tall tree was found suitable and
so marked with a cross by Fray Palou. In March, 1776, the Juan Batista
de Anza party, moving toward San Francisco, found the cross erected by
Fray Palou.
In those days the tall
tree was double-trunked, and it is believed that one of the trunks fell
across the San Francisquito Creek in the late 1890's. This date,
according to Mr. Guy C. Miller, Palo Alto historian, is in doubt, for existing
records fail to give the exact year the trunk fell.