Assignment #4 "The Devil Mountain"

This week I am focusing on my favorite park in the local area and probably the most evil and satanic place in Northern California (other than Stockton) - Mount Diablo.

The origin of Mount Diablo's name comes from a poor translation from Spanish to English. Sometime between 1803 and 1806, when Spain still maintained control over Alta California, a small contingent of Spanish soldiers came into the Diablo Valley in search of escaped mission indians. The Spanish soldiers came to a large swampy willow thicket where present day Buchanan Air Field is in Concord. The members of the Chupcan tribe who were living there managed to hide out in the willow thicket safely because the Spanish were unable to enter with out their beloved horses. Spanish military doctrine was very focused on the use of cavalry so they refused to enter and face the Chupcans in hand to hand combat. With the area surrounded by the Spanish soldiers the Chupcans made an escape late at night, safely crossing the Carquinez Straights. The Spanish soldiers, greatly embarrassed by the Chupcan's bold escape, blamed the entire affair on the Devil, which would have been a typical superstition of the Spanish Catholics of this time period. They named this place "Monte del Diablo" which translates to "Thicket of the Devil", in reference to the willow thickets that the indians had hid in. Later on when Anglo settlers began to arrive in California they mistook "monte" as the Spanish word "montana"(mountain) and fixed the name to the most obvious landmark in the area. And thus the sinister mountain received its name, Mount Diablo.

Now that we know why this place is called what it is (which is always important in any history) I want to skip ahead a few hundred years to the formation of Mount Diablo as a state park. According to the Mount Diablo Interpretive Association, in 1921 state senator William Sharkey of Martinez sponsored a bill that declared 630 acres at the summit of Mount Diablo as a State Park and game refuge. There was no money attached to the bill and only a small area at the summit of the mountain was protected while the rest of the area was still open to mining and quarry work. Six years later in 1927 Frederick Law Olmsted, a landscape designer who had developed and designed New York City's Central Park, prepared a California Park Survey for the State Park Commission. He recommended that the park be expanded and acquire 5,000 to 6,000 acres to build on the small park located only at the summit. Between 1931 and 1937 more properties were acquired to add onto the state park at the summit and along the North Gate Road.

It was in 1930, when Californians passed a $6 million bond measure, that money was finally set aside for the formation of the state park. On April 26, 1931 the park was officially dedicated and opened to the public (I just missed its 79th birthday). It was during the 1930's that the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built most to the roads, trails, buildings, campgrounds, and picnic facilities. I had absolutely no idea that it was the CCC who initially built all of these! But it makes perfect sense now that I think about it. And this sparked a whole new question and trail of thought for me to follow. What role did the CCC play in all of the local parks here and what can I find out to attribute to them? Can I find records of there work on the Mountain or any other park? Who was in charge and who worked building these trails and facilities? Back to the library with more questions.

The park continued to grow over the years, adding more acres here and there. In 1971 the non profit organization Save Mount Diablo was founded. They played a crucial role in the acquisition of all new land added to the park since they 1970's. In 1988 California passed another bond measure which provided the state park on Mount Diablo with $4 million to buy new land. During the 1980's Contra Costa County was in the middle of a population boom and as more residence came in more and more open space decreased. Today the park consists of over 90,000 acres of protected land with over 520 miles of trails.

I need to get in touch with the Save Mount Diablo foundation as well as find out more of how the New Deal affected the formation of Mount Diablo and other parks and open spaces here in the East Bay.