Great Basin National Park's Often-Overlooked Osceola Ditch Trail

 

   Few visitors to Nevada’s Great Basin National Park notice the sign indicating the trailhead for the Osceola Ditch Interpretive Trail—which is a shame because there’s a fascinating story behind the ditch as well as the town to which it once provided water.

   The interpretive trail can be found about 4.6 miles from the start of the Wheeler Peak Scenic Road. A sign notes the trail location, with parking on the right side of the highway.

   While today little remains of the actual ditch, in the late 19th century it was an engineering achievement. Gold was discovered in about 1872 in what would become known as the Osceola Mining District (which is located three miles west of Great Basin National Park; accessible by dirt road from U.S. 50 at the Sacramento Pass Recreation/Rest Area).

   Prospectors James Matteson and Frank Heck made the initial gold ore discovery and within a short time other miners poured into the area seeking to make their fortunes. Within two years, Osceola had 250 residents and by 1882 a town of about 1,500 people had sprouted on the northwest side of Mount Wheeler.

   Since there weren’t any major sources of water near the mining district, which was located in a deep ravine, the miners decided to construct a 16-mile ditch to drain water off the western slope of the South Snake Range.

   This ditch, completed in 1885, cost more than $80,000 to build and employed more than 175 workers. The water from the ditch (called the West Ditch) allowed a limited hydraulic mining (essentially blasting the ravine with pressurized water to free up any gold) and inspired the miners to build a second ditch to bring even more water to the area.

   This second canal, which was 18 miles long, was designed to carry water from streams located to the southeast, including Lehman Creek. This water system, built between 1889-1890, cost more than $108,000 and involved some 300 workers, many of whom were Chinese or local Native Americans.

   The second (or East) ditch (part of which is today’s Osceola Ditch Trail) required constructing miles of wooden flumes as well as blasting a 600-foot tunnel through rock outcroppings.

   Adding the second canal ultimately didn’t substantially improve the haul from Osceola’s mines. Additionally, several dry winters in a row meant very little water was available to divert to either of the ditches.

   By 1900, the whole ditch project was abandoned. Today, the Ditch Trail retraces the path of the old flume and passes a tunnel that had to be blasted in the rock at one spot.

   Despite the ditch’s apparent lack of success, Osceola was a fairly productive (generating about $2 million) and relatively long-lived mining camp. In 1877, one of the world’s largest gold nuggets was discovered at the Osceola site, a chunk of ore weighing 24 pounds.

   Little remains of the former town of Osceola, which once boasted two stores, a hotel, a Chinese restaurant, livery stable, post office and several saloons. Visitors can still find the stone walls of the former general store, a handful of wooden structures and, on the roadside hill west of the town site, a fairly impressive cemetery.

   Much of the site is on private property—mining has been done sporadically over the years—so be courteous and respectful of the property owners.

   For more information, go to the National Park Service web site, www.nps.gov/grba/historyculture/the-osceola-ditch.htm, or to the Exploring Great Basin website, https://www.exploringgreatbasin.net/?q=content/3-osceola-ditch-interpretive-trail.

Santa Rosa's Burbank Gardens Offer Tranquility and History

  Tucked into a half-acre lot in the heart of the Northern California city of Santa Rosa is a picturesque city park that celebrates the life and works of renowned botanist and horticulturalist Luther Burbank, who is credited with introducing more than 250 new varieties of fruit.

  Known officially as the Luther Burbank Home and Gardens, the park at the corner of Santa Rosa and Sonoma Avenues, commemorates the life of a man largely forgotten today, but, during his lifetime, was often referred to as “the Plant Wizard” because of his efforts to create new and better varieties of fruits.

  Burbank was born in Lancaster, Massachusetts in 1849 and from an early age showed a fascination with plants. In 1867, following his father’s death, Burbank used his inheritance to purchase a 17-acre farm, where he developed what became known as the Burbank potato, a variety that was more resistant to the blight that had wiped out potato harvests all over the world.

  He sold the rights to the Burbank potato and used the proceeds to relocate to Santa Rosa, California, where he purchased a four-acre lot and built a greenhouse, nursery and experimental crop fields, where he could work on developing new varieties of plants using crossbreeding.

  To market his discoveries, Burbank published regular plant catalogs, including his famous 1893 “New Creations in Fruits and Flowers,” and marketed his new species.

  That same year, Clarence McDowell Starks, co-owner of one of the nation’s largest orchard companies, agreed to pay Burbank $9,000 in return for the rights to three of his new fruit varieties. Burbank said the arrangement finally helped make his life’s work profitable.

  As Burbank’s fame grew, so did his access to grant funding, including from the Carnegie Corporation. Over the years, he became friends with many of the era’s most acclaimed inventors and businessmen, including Henry Ford and Thomas Edison.

  Burbank died in 1926 of heart failure. He was buried beneath a large Cedar of Lebanon tree in his gardens.

  Following Burbank’s death, his wife, Elizabeth, lived in the cottage on the garden property (until her death in 1977) and, over time, disposed of his assets and patents. In the 1970s, the property was acquired by the City of Santa Rosa and converted into a public park.

  Visitors to the site today will find a peaceful, picturesque setting with rows, plots and hedges of various fruits, vegetables, and other plants. Among the unique plants found on the site are a “multi-grafted apple tree,” which Burbank used in his grafting experiments. The tree has more than 50 separate cultivars grafted onto it, including fresh-eating and cider apples.

  Additionally, there is a garden devoted to medicinal herbs, which Burbank experimented with and improved upon, a giant cactus plant, various prune and apple trees, flowers, shrubs and a host of other plant species.

  The property also has the cottage that Burbank lived in for many years (and, later, was the home of his wife) as well a brick-and-glass greenhouse, a large barn and other smaller storage buildings.

  A virtual tour of the cottage can be found on the park’s website or on Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh3x9sbimHc&feature=emb_logo.

  At the entrance to the park is a brick walkway leading to a scenic fountain and wooden trellis covered with plants, while to the north end, past the barn, is a beautiful rose and flower garden with white, wooden arches.

  Entry into the park, open to the public on Sunday, Monday, and Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to dusk, and Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays from 1 p.m. to dusk, is free. Tours, the small museum and gift shop are available Tuesday through Sunday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

  For more information, go to: http://www.lutherburbank.org/.

The Founding of Reno's Rancho San Rafael Park

  Any study of the effort to create Reno’s Rancho San Rafael Park must begin with Clark Santini.

  The brother of former Nevada Congressman Jim Santini and nephew of famed Nevada writer Walter Van Tilburg Clark, Clark Santini had previously worked on the successful effort to create a state park at Tule Springs in Southern Nevada.

  According to Nevada historian Elmer Rusco, who authored a 1998 study on the effort to create the park, “The Benchmarks of . . . Character and Way of Life: The Acquisition of Rancho San Rafael Regional Park,” Santini’s involvement began in 1976 when he and several friends met to discuss somehow converting the ranch, one of the last large parcels of open land in the city, into a public park.

  “Santini brought up the information that the ranch was for sale and broached the idea . . . of attempting to interest all three local government entities—Washoe County, Reno and Sparks—into jointly purchasing it as a regional park,” Rusco wrote.

  He added that after the group, which included Virginia and Bob Kersey, Rabbi Abraham Feinberg and Patricia Blanchard, agreed to push ahead with the idea, Santini, who passed away in 1996, was designated the main spokesman for the effort and was later even called “father of Rancho San Rafael.”

  During the next three years, Santini’s group succeeded in getting legal authorization from the Nevada state legislature for a bond election to pay for acquiring the property. Additionally, with the support of former Sparks Assemblyman Don Mello, park supporters worked with Nevada’s Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) to purchase the ranch as an investment, and then sell it to Washoe County, once the bond passed.

  In the event that the bond failed, PERS would be free to sell the land to private investors, thereby recouping its investment.

  According to Rusco, in January 1979 PERS bought the 408-acre ranch for $7.5 million and agreed to sell it to the county at that cost, plus 15 percent for each year required for the transfer. The county had five years to complete the deal.

  On June 5, 1979, the bond was approved overwhelmingly, gaining nearly 62 percent of the total votes cast on the question.

  Since it was created, Rancho San Rafael Park has been expanded twice. In 1993, a land donation from the late Reno businessman William Thornton and his wife, Dr. Barbara Thornton, a longtime professor at the University of Nevada Reno, enlarged the park by another 120 acres. Five years later, the park gained another 42 acres located in nearby Keystone Canyon as a result of a land exchange.

  Interestingly, there had been several previous attempts to turn the ranch into a park. Rusco noted that in the 1940s, University of Nevada Reno President John O. Moseley attempted to persuade the ranch’s owner, Dr. Raphael Herman, to donate the property to the university.

  Additionally, the University of Nevada, Reno Land Foundation made overtures to purchase the site in the late 1960s but the efforts were unsuccessful.

  Rancho San Rafael traces its beginnings to the early 20th century, when members of the Pincolini family purchased the property in northwest Reno. The Pincolinis apparently used the land for cattle and raised potatoes.

  In 1919, the Pincolini family sold the acreage to Martin Pradere. Shortly after, much of the property was sold to Russell Jensen, who raised sheep on the land. In the mid-1930s, Norman B. and Mariana Herman, along with Dr. Raphael Herman, acquired the land, using it primarily to raise cattle.

  Many of the ranch buildings still standing in the park, including the main ranch house (now used for meetings and conferences), were constructed during the period the Hermans owned the property. The Hermans also enlarged the ranch’s size, purchasing more than 150 adjacent acres during the next few years.

  In the 1960s, Mariana Herman became the sole owner of the property following the death of her husband and his brother, and, later, agreed to sell it to PERS.

  Today, the park totals some 577 acres and is home to the Wilbur D. May Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, the Wilbur D. May Center and museum (a collection of rare and exotic artifacts) and acres of hiking trails, picnic areas, playgrounds, ball fields and lots of open space.

  Additionally, the park hosts several major annual special events including the Great Reno Balloon Race, held each September.

  Rancho San Rafael Park is located at 1595 North Sierra Street in Reno. For more information go to http://www.washoecounty.us/parks/rsrp.htm.

  And if you visit, make sure to take a moment to thank Clark Santini.