Published in the Nov. 26 – Dec. 9, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Mike Monroe
Mike Monroe
The holidays are a wonderful time of year. The seasons have changed, the landscape has begun to rest and recover, the love of family and friends draws near and we are grateful for all our blessings. It is a time of good feelings and thoughtfulness, of sharing and caring and enjoying the beauty of our homes and our surroundings.
We have been given many gifts over the years. And some we have become so accustomed to that we may take them for granted. I am thinking especially of our parklands. In 1953, Sada Coe Robinson donated 12,230 acres of the Pine Ridge Ranch to the people of Santa Clara County as an everlasting gift. She had three short provisions for the donation. First, the property was to be used as a park for the people of California; second, there was to be a suitable memorial to her father, Henry W. Coe, Jr.; and third, any income derived from the use of the property was to be re-invested in order to preserve the park.
Talk about a gift that keeps on giving. Coe Park is spectacular! My favorite time of year to visit is after the weather cools and after the first rains have settled the dust and cleansed the air. Standing quietly among the pines, absorbing the scene of rolling ridges with majestic oaks and open grasslands is always a renewing experience for me. Sada knew this and her generosity was meant for all of us — for our spirits and for our future.
Sada would have turned 104 years old Dec. 7. So why not have a visit in her honor and remember her gift — your presence is all she would hope for. Sada left us with even more though than her father’s ranch. She gave us a part of herself through her poetry:
Silence, and
The deep sky above
Where stars and the big yellow moon,
Or the pale clear light of an early dawn,
And the hushed murmuring of eventide
Bring the peace and calmness of weightier things,
While the small turmoils of life pass away
And are as nothing.
The road to Pine Ridge ends at the ranch house which was built in 1905. That was the year Henry W. Coe, Jr. married Rhoda Sutcliffe. Henry, Jr. and his brother were in the ranching business following in their father’s footsteps. The family owned property in the San Felipe Valley which was their home ranch. From the floor of the Santa Clara Valley a winding dirt road climbed Pine Ridge stopping at the entrance, according to Teddy Goodrich, a Coe Park historian. It was a day-long trip by wagon. The house is still there, but it was really more of a cabin with three rooms, single-walled construction, without plumbing and no telephone or electricity.
Sada remembered the cattle drives to their San Felipe ranch and onward to the Coyote stockyards to await the train for shipment. Monterey Road had to be closed as the cattle crossed to their holding pens. There are so many great stories of Coe Park and Pine Ridge. We will talk with Carolyn Straub, a volunteer docent for the Pine Ridge Association and the editor of an anthology of Sada Coe Robinson. If you cannot make her birthday gathering, I’m sure she would be delighted with your company anytime — just so you can enjoy the tidings of these quiet hills.
Mike Monroe is a business owner and naturalist. He is a docent for Santa Clara County Parks.
