Destination San Anselmo

16 Destination San Anselmo 2015 | 16 Coast Miwok San Anselmo was once home to the Coast Miwok, whose origins in Marin County date back 3,600 years. Known for their fine basketry, feather work, and clamshell beads, they lived in small, extended-family villages during the summer and larger, ceremonial and political centers during the colder months. Hunters and gatherers, the Miwok survived on food that was fresh and in season. Steelhead and salmon were once plentiful in San Anselmo Creek and several oak species provided acorns that were ground for flour and mush. e Coast Miwok lived in Marin when the Spanish began building a network of missions and presidios throughout Alta California. Diseases introduced by the newcomers, along with relocations from their land, decimated the native population in Marin and elsewhere in the state. As of 2013, there are 1,300 Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo descendants who are members of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, a federally recognized tribe. e well-known legend of the Sleeping Lady of Mount Tamalpais is not an ancient Miwok myth, but the creation of playwright Dan Totheroh. Totheroh, raised in San Anselmo, wrote the story of the Indian princess asleep on Mount Tamalpais for the Mountain Play "Tamalpa" in 1921. Sources: Marin's Mountain Play – One Hundred Years of eatre on Mount Tamalpais, by Elisabeth Ptak; San Anselmo Historical Museum; Gratonrancheria.com Trains? In San Anselmo? Today it is hard to believe that the railroad played an important role in the development of the town. ere are a few clues that railroads once ran through town, in the neighborhood names – Yolanda Station and Lansdale Station – and the raised roadbed of Center Boulevard, but most of San Anselmo's train landmarks have long since disappeared. n e North Pacific Coast Railroad completed a narrow-gauge line in 1875 from Sausalito with tracks heading east to San Rafael and west to Point Reyes Station at San Anselmo. San Anselmo was then only sparsely populated with a few scattered homes. San Anselmo Past & Present 1839 Mexico grants Domingo Sais the Canada de Herrera, an area roughly from the Hub westward toward Fairfax and Sleepy Hollow. Sais builds first permanent home. 1840 Second land grant (Punta de Quintin Corte Madera, la Laguna y Canada de San Anselmo) awarded to Juan Cooper covering southern portion of town, including today's "Hub." 1853 Domingo Sais dies. The breakup of his lands begins. 1856 James Ross buys Cooper's land grant. James Ross's descendants still live and work on a portion of his land (Sunnyside Nursery). 1874 North Pacific Coast Railroad starts service between Sausalito and San Rafael via San Anselmo. 1875 Railroad extends line west from San Anselmo to Tomales. Town referred to on railroad maps as Junction! Gorgeous Mt. Tamalpais. Photo by Lawrence E. Frauens

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