Most of us could never tire of looking at the fantastic displays
of wildflowers that paint the hills around our valley this spring.
But even when the flowers dry up, the hills that surround us will
retain their colorful history. A complex tapestry that is rich in
detail, interlaced with many surprising and interesting threads,
and dyed with colorful characters has been woven through these
hills across the centuries. One of the more recent threads concerns
two local gentlemen, Henry W. Coe, Jr. (Harry) and Preston
Thomas.
Most of us could never tire of looking at the fantastic displays of wildflowers that paint the hills around our valley this spring. But even when the flowers dry up, the hills that surround us will retain their colorful history.
A complex tapestry that is rich in detail, interlaced with many surprising and interesting threads, and dyed with colorful characters has been woven through these hills across the centuries.
One of the more recent threads concerns two local gentlemen, Henry W. Coe, Jr. (Harry) and Preston Thomas.
Harry and Preston were good friends, working their herds in close proximity – Coe at Pine Ridge Ranch and Thomas at Oak Flat just west of there. But Coe was also a keen businessman, and controlled the land around his ranch by commanding all of the springs from Pine Ridge east to Bollinger Ridge.
Around 1918, Preston discovered a fine spring just north of Cold Flat, (Henry Coe Sr.’s original homestead) and homesteaded it. Harry was fit to be tied. Not only was Cold Flat his family’s original stomping grounds, it was at the northern end of Bollinger Ridge and therefore well within the area Coe had planned to claim for himself.
Upon hearing of this insult, Coe jumped on his horse and took off at full gallop for the Thomas Ranch headquarters at Oak Flat. He rode right up to the ranch house and brought his white horse to a sliding stop, throwing rocks up against the door.
At that, Thomas stepped out onto the porch and his eyes met and held Coe’s. The men stared fiercely at each other for a long while.
Finally Harry wheeled about and galloped back up the hill to Pine Ridge, not having uttered a word, and never to utter a word again to his friend Preston.
As retribution for the Cold Flat intrusion, Coe sold his holdings there to a hunting group for use as a gun club, knowing this would cause constant headaches for Thomas.
And indeed it did. But it also caused problems for Harry (and later for his daughter Sada who bequeathed the Pine Ridge to the county in 1953) since poachers did not discriminate between his land and Thomas’.
It remains to this day the private Laurel Springs Gun Club, a collection of buildings strung alongside the banks of Booze Lake just outside park boundaries.
Thomas’ Cold Flat property expanded over the years, and the state purchased the property in 1980. The Thomas cabin can be found there still, along with a large concrete collector for the waters from the spring. It is a beautiful area and has not changed since those times.
If you look at a map, the Thomas is the strange appendage on the northwest side of the park connected only by a corner.
As a crow flies it is about 3-4 miles north and slightly east of the visitor center. Because the Thomas shares no border with the rest of the park, there is no public access at this time.
Another timely thread relates to the recent dedication of Coyote Lake-Harvey Bear Ranch County Park in Gilroy.
Originally home to the Unajaima Ohlone for 4,000 years before European settlement, the land was later a part of the Rancho Ojo del Agua de la Coche (Eyeful of Water) established under Alta California governor Figueroa in 1830.
The property was purchased by Martin Murphy, Sr. in 1846. Murphy’s sons John and Daniel struck gold in the Sierras and became wealthy selling dry goods to other prospectors. They established a town in the Sierra foothills on the way to Bear Valley – the town of Murphy’s.
John’s son Martin Jr. later went on to establish the city of Sunnyvale, and Murphy Avenue is named for his grandfather. (Incidentally, Diana Avenue is named for Diana Murphy Hill, wife of Hiram Morgan Hill and daughter of Daniel Murphy.)
Daniel took over operation of the ranch in 1854 and went on to own vast amounts of land.
The rancho was later subdivided, and the portion that is now the park was owned and operated by Harvey Bear and his family from 1960 until it was sold to the county in 1997.
I heard a member of the Bear family speak at the dedication, and based on that short speech I would say we all owe it to them and the memory of their father to learn about the land and its rich history, and to be good stewards of it.
Though the county record will show it as a real estate transaction, it is truly a gift.
You don’t have to read fiction or watch soaps to find interesting stories and colorful characters. This valley and the surrounding hills are as full of stories as they are flowers.
Jeff Winkler is a Henry Coe Park volunteer.
