Trailing MacArthur Boulevard: Spanish Explorers in the Hood

by Nina Egert, Ph.D.

Imagine Oakland a vast savannah of spring-green grass and wildflowers. Through these grasslands, trout-filled creeks tumble from oak-forested canyons in the hills to marshlands by the Bay. Wild geese and eagles soar through the sky; grizzly bears and mountain lions lumber through the trees.

The Yrgin triblet of Ohlone Indians lived in such a setting the day, in late March 1772, when Capt. Don Pedro Fages led a small party of Spanish explorers north along the Oakland foothills. The soldiers were engaged in charting San Francisco's contra costa (opposite shore) for Spain.

The explorers kept copious notes in their journals, including details about the Indians they encountered. Interestingly, Father Juan Crespi, the party's chaplain, mentioned meeting no Indians in the Oakland area.

One can only imagine how strange fully clothed Europeans riding on horseback appeared to the Yrgin, who lived along the East Bay creeks. Native men wore little, save the occasional rabbit-skin cape to keep out the cold; they had never seen a horse. Most likely, Yrgin, witnessing Fages' approach along what is now MacArthur Blvd., hid in terror. Then again, perhaps the natives were simply too busy with the spring salmon run to greet the strangers.

Four years later the Anza Party explored a similar route along the foothills. They documented meeting several groups of Indians in the area. Some natives hid; some fainted. Some welcomed the horsemen. The Spanish traded glass beads in exchange for native gifts of soaproot and dried geese.

Gentle reciprocity between Europeans and Yrgin did not last. When the Spanish returned to the East Bay two decades later, they built Mission San JosŽ, then transported Ohlone from all over the region to work there as neophyte converts. Other natives were forced to labor on the cattle ranches granted to the Spanish explorers. In 1829 Gen. Vallejo's troops massacred any resistive Ohlone.

In the 1830s and '40s, Antonio Peralta, a descendant of the Anza Expedition, presided over a rancho in East Oakland from a hacienda along Peralta Creek (the brook that runs through the Laurel and Fruitvale Districts). Yankee settlers began squatting on portions of the Peralta property, and in 1850, California became a state. The hacienda of the once powerful Peralta dynasty is now a small city park.

Most traces of Yrgin culture were lost. What little knowledge remains of Oakland's native heritage was passed down through word of mouth, then documented by anthropologists at the Alisal Reserve in Pleasanton in the 1920s and '30s. Some surviving Ohlone descendants are currently reconstructing portions of their historical identity.

On Saturday, March 31, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., as part of the week long Native/Spanish Contact Commemorative Event, the Peralta Hacienda Historical Park, 2465 34th Ave., will host a dialogue between native and Spanish descendants. Historical foods will be served.

On Sunday, April 1, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., Bev Ortiz will guide a walk through Leona Canyon Regional Open Space Reserve (behind Merritt College) to learn about native plant uses.

For a full list of all events, go to www.vinapafoundation.org.