Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Gilroy
    Gilroy
    Gilroy
    Ebook196 pages58 minutes

    Gilroy

    By Claudia Salewske

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Located along the El Camino Real at the crossroads of the Pacheco and Hecker Pass highways, Gilroy is surrounded by the rich farmland of southern Santa Clara County. The region boasts a mineral hot springs, prime grazing land in the eastern foothills, and redwood forests to the west. In addition to successful lumbering enterprises, vast cattle ranches, and thriving resorts, Gilroy claims to be "The Garlic Capital of the World." From the early settlements of the Ohlone, through the vibrant Rancho era and post "gold-fever" boom, to the present-day world-famous Garlic Festival, this book illustrates the unique history of this town at the southern end of Silicon Valley. Drawn from the archives of the Gilroy Museum and the albums of pioneer families are more than 200 vintage images of the businesses, dwellings, pastimes, hopes, and high-jinks of the individuals who made Gilroy what it is today.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateNov 12, 2003
    ISBN9781439614174
    Gilroy
    Author

    Claudia Salewske

    Author Claudia Salewske is a member of the Gilroy Historical Society and a professor at San Jose State University. She is the author of Pieces of the Past: A Story of Gilroy and has recently completed her first young-adult novel. She is a frequent volunteer at the Garlic Festival.

    Related to Gilroy

    Related ebooks

    Photography For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      2019 Rose Parade Has 40 Floats, 21 Marching Bands And A Proud Jewish, LGBTQ Queen

      Jan 1, 2019

      LOS ANGELES – The 2019 Rose Parade rolled out Tuesday morning in familiar, comforting and decorative style, along with a twist of newness. Among the fresh touches were a grand marshal, Chaka Khan, who sang in the new year as the parade opened, and 10

      5 min read

    • Article

      American Interior

      Dec 5, 2018

      American Interior
      7 min read

    • Article

      Eat Your Way Around The USA

      May 25, 2023

      Eat Your Way Around The USA
      21 min read

    • Article

      Native Americans Use Clout to Reclaim Artifacts

      Nov 24, 2017

      SANTA CATALINA ISLAND, Calif. - Nearly a century ago, an amateur archaeologist and showman named Ralph Glidden dug up Native American burial sites on Catalina and other Channel Islands off Southern California's coast. To him, the human remains and re

      5 min read

    • Article

      Ancient Winds

      Apr 25, 2023

      Ancient Winds
      7 min read

    • Article

      A Walk Among The Ancients

      Mar 2, 2021

      A Walk Among The Ancients
      6 min read

    • Article

      Wild Things

      Jun 3, 2018

      The ground was spongy and green, the accents Irish, the light atmospheric and ‘soft’ (in other words, it was raining); the scene was set for a storytelling session about epic battles and strange worlds, good versus evil. Especially as we were standin

      3 min read

    • Article

      Books With The Most Impact

      Mar 15, 2022

      Books With The Most Impact
      8 min read

    • Article

      Your LETTERS

      Mar 10, 2020

      Your LETTERS
      8 min read

    • Article

      Sydney’s Songlines

      Dec 1, 2018

      Sydney’s Songlines
      9 min read

    • Article

      American Soundscape

      Sep 14, 2020

      American Soundscape
      8 min read

    • Article

      Appalachia

      Aug 6, 2019

      Appalachia
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Southern Agenda

      Sep 18, 2023

      The Southern Agenda
      10 min read

    • Article

      Hunting for History Books

      Sep 3, 2019

      Hunting for History Books
      11 min read

    • Article

      Letter From The Director

      Mar 1, 2018

      A 1,500-mile dash through the Algerian desert; the “hard-luck Cazenovia and Southern Railroad”; Daniel Bastian Nelson’s amateur photographs from the Eau Claire area; the ambitious and sometimes overreaching drive of one of my predecessors, Clifford L

      1 min read

    • Article

      Kânîsostîkwâw

      Sep 15, 2023

      Kânîsostîkwâw
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Mound Builders

      Aug 9, 2022

      The Mound Builders
      4 min read

    • Article

      Cultural Wonders

      Sep 12, 2023

      Cultural Wonders
      4 min read

    • Article

      African dna

      Sep 11, 2020

      African dna
      6 min read

    • Article

      Bookshelf

      Mar 15, 2021

      You can actually feel and smell all of Newfoundland in Catherine Bush’s nail-biter novel Blaze Island. Though the isle in her book is fictional, it’s wholly inspired by the partridge berries, roasting eider and rotting kelp of The Rock. Grab a scratc

      5 min read

    • Article

      Books With The Most Impact

      Mar 15, 2023

      Books With The Most Impact
      9 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Gilroy

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Gilroy - Claudia Salewske

      life.

      INTRODUCTION

      Ever heard of Gilroy?

      "Gilroy? Oh—that place. About half way between Carmel and San Francisco, right? Can be hotter than a pistol in the summer and reeks of garlic. Sure, I know Gilroy."

      How about you?

      "Gilroy? Of course I know where it is—it’s awesome. I’ve seen it on TV and in all sorts of magazines. Tons of cool factory outlets—and people come from all over the world when have this fabulous Garlic Festival thing every July. Who doesn’t know about Gilroy?"

      There’s some truth in all of the above comments, but the essence of Gilroy is far deeper than either response suggests. The Gilroy Garlic Festival celebrated its Silver Jubilee in 2003, and, without a doubt, the global media attention this event showers on the city has enhanced Gilroy’s ’s image. Further, native son Jeff Garcia is often in the national limelight as an NFL quarterback. All of this could make us too big for our britches, but that’s really not the case. Celebrity status hasn’t altered Jeff ’s values. He adheres to principles that prevail in this community as well: work hard, take pride in what you have to offer, remember there’s always room for improvement, and give back to those who made it possible for you to move forward.

      Gilroy has a rich and diversified past that is as exciting and worthy of exploration as its present claims to fame. Dating back thousands of years, the Ohlone culture was a tranquil yet highly inventive one. The era of the Spanish and Mexican jurisdictions created deep and lasting Latino influences, which continue to enrich the community. The disillusionment that awaited so many newcomers in the mining camps was frequently dispelled when these individuals found their way to this valley and discovered the wealth of a different nature that it has to offer. They brought with them their languages, their recipes, their sacred traditions, their farming expertise, their knowledge of making music, wine, cheese, beer, and of raising prime livestock. Above all, they exhibited their willingness to share these skills with their neighbors—to create a new life from the old.

      Spend some time exploring the kaleidoscopic elements that have been shaping Gilroy in colorful, distinctive ways from its beginnings. Catch our spirit and consider how vital it is for any community to study its past and to maintain a degree of pioneer spirit that welcomes challenges and new ways of expression. Rather than rest on our laurels, may we commit ourselves to bettering life in and around the place that we call home.

      —Claudia Salewske-

      In sharp contrast to its present-day, bustling state highway status, this vintage postcard depicts the tranquil thoroughfare the Pacheco Pass Road once was. It meandered through the village of San Ysidro and intersected with the El Camino Real—the King’s Highway—some three miles west of this point. The town of Pleasant Valley, which developed near that intersection, incorporated many decades later as Gilroy, California. (Courtesy Jack and Dorothy Sturla.)

      One

      THE FIRST PEOPLE AND THE RANCHO ERA

      It was the Native Americans who formed the first trail between this valley and the vast San Joaquin Valley to the east. Anthropologists estimate the Ohlone, who were given their name meaning people to the west by central valley tribes, located here at least 5,000 years ago. Ohlone villages stretched from north of San Francisco to Salinas. With no written language, we depend upon the journals and letters of the Spanish explorers and missionaries for specifics. The men prepared for a hunt in a temescal, or sweat house, where the chants sung and stories told summoned the spiritual power for success with their weapons. They donned deer-head masks, which allowed them to move within close range of their quarry. Boats created from tule rushes facilitated navigation of the inland marshlands and ponds. They fished with spears, used clever decoys to lure game birds, and caught small animals in artful snares. (Artwork by Carol Peters.)

      Recent research suggests the Ohlone had an organized system of growing, harvesting, and storing food. Villages averaged 250–1,000 inhabitants. Cooking was a communal activity for the women. Acorns and grains were ground with a rough-hewn mortal and pestle, and the flour was rinsed to purge it of its bitterness. Hot rocks were placed in watertight baskets and a kind of soup was made with this flour and additional water. Meats and fish were roasted in underground pit ovens. Scant clothing was common for either sex. The men pierced their noses and ears and wore ornamental shells or bones in those piercings, whereas the women chose to tattoo their chins, and fashion necklaces from abalone and clamshells. The shells were practical as well: as the women gathered food in the tall grasslands the clatter and reflection of the shells scared off rattlesnakes. (Artwork by Carol Peters.)

      Records indicate the Ohlone set bones by fabricating casts of bark or appropriately shaped baskets secured with leather straps. Bleeding was controlled with animal-hair compresses, and common ailments such as stomach upsets and colds were treated with roots and herbs. But if severe aches and pains persisted, the Shamans were consulted, and most worked in male-female teams. The man danced and chanted around the victim until he had a vision of the precise location of the ailment. Then, the woman (who was most often a widow), after making a small incision, inserted a bone tube and literally sucked the malignancy from the patient. The ritual was a precise one. This

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1