The Great White Fleet

The largest crowd to date packed onto the Monterey Peninsula in 1908 to welcome the "Great White Fleet," an armada of 16 monstrous battleships President Theodore Roosevelt sent around the world to show the U.S. had become a naval power. The steamships were painted white and lighted at nights, creating a fairyland presence that excited every port of call. Residents of Big Sur burned an entire chord of wood in a large bonfire that saluted the ships as they passed one April night, sailing from Santa Barbara to Monterey. Thousands lined the beaches of Carmel and Monterey at daybreak to watch the floating parade. Monterey was cleaned, whitewashed and decked in bunting and American flags to welcome the sailors. The first day the ships were opened to visitors, 10,000 ferried out to the mobile fortresses to see the massive armor and heavy guns. The battleships stayed for four days, then sailed on to Santa Cruz, San Francisco and the rest of the Pacific.

Image: "U.S. Atlantic Fleet Battleships, steaming out of Hampton Roads, VA. , in December 1907, to begin their cruise around the World. Leading two ships are: Kansas (BB-21) and Vermont (BB-22). NH 92091" from the Navy Department Library)

Passing Giants

(Photo: Grey whale tail by corradodebari, all rights reserved.)

The start of each year is about time for the peak of the gray whale migration to pass along our coastline, as the giant mammals head south for the breeding areas in Mexican lagoons. They are so bunched up in mid to late January, passing at rates up to 20 an hour, it’s usually easy to see them from the higher points – Cypress Point, Carmel Point, Point Lobos or any of the Highway 1 turnouts through Big Sur. The 35-ton whales will tend to reproduction matters, then head back to the Arctic to feed until it’s time to repeat the 12,000-mile migration next year. They are more scattered and spread out on the northern return, usually passing here in March, April and May. There are 18,000 to 20,000 gray whales today, after a slow recovery from the 19th century when whalers hunted them to near extinction. Some whales show stress and malnourishment as global warming changes habitats and food supply, but most grays seem to be adapting, according to marine biologists who study them.

(Below is a video of a whale watching trip in Monterey Bay, courtesy of absmin, all rights reserved.)

Local Stanford University Influence

Stanford University connects deeply to the Monterey Peninsula. The most significant link is Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove, a world-renowned site for marine biology research and instruction, founded by the university in 1892. Another Stanford/Peninsula connection is "Professors' Row" in Carmel, inaugurated by David Starr Jordan, the school's first president, who built a summer home here in the early 1900s. (One good source says he arrived in 1905; Jordan's memoir, not always reliable about dates, says 1909.) He and his wife Jessie built their cottage at Camino Real and Seventh – an "exquisite spot," he said, where the family spent "many delightful days." A number of Stanford faculty families followed Jordan to the village.

(Photo: Aerial shot of the Hopkins Marine Station.)
( Credit: Linda A. Cicero / Stanford News Service.)

Ranchero Lifestyle

(Photo: Mountain man reenactor wearing Buckskins. Licensed under Creative Commons.)

As America expanded westward in the 1830s, mountain men (fur trappers) often served as advance scouts for the government. A group of mountain men visited Monterey Peninsula in 1833, ordered by Washington D.C. to study this Mexican-owned land. The mountain men loved it here – the pleasant climate, huge cattle ranches, beautiful señoritas, sweet guitar music, continuous fiestas, abundant beefsteak, and excellent mission-grown wine. When the mountain men decided to head back east (a harrowing journey), several of the company deserted, and made new lives for themselves in the golden land. Perhaps their descendants are still here.The ranchero lifestyle of Central California, circa 1833, was "one of the most delightful ways of life the world has ever known," writes historian Bernard DeVoto.