A strangely beautiful and forbidding place, Vasquez Rocks Park, off the 14 freeway that we take to Los Angeles, is in the National Register of Historic Places because of its importance as a prehistoric site for the Shoshone and Tataviam peoples.
I am fascinated by the rock formations you see from the freeway and I want to stop and explore this 900 plus acre park sometime soon. The rocks were formed from sediments deposited adjacent to active faults during rapid uplifts and erosion of regional mountains. The rock formations were also affected by the collision of the North American and Pacific Plates about 25 million years ago and more recently by activity along the San Andreas fault.
I'm no geological expert, of course, so suffice it say that our earth is neither stable nor constant and in some areas enormous shifts have taken place throughout time. Here in Southern and Central California, the San Andreas fault sort of rumbles through one's consciousness every now and then.
The park is named after a bandit of all things. Tiburcio Vasquez, born in Monterey in 1835, was one of many bandidos that flourished in California in the years during and after the gold rush. He spent most of his bandit days in northern California where he committed burglaries, highway robberies, and cattle theft. He spent five years in San Quentin prison; he was unsuccessful in going straight after he was released; and, after he was caught committing yet another burglary, he served three more years in prison.
Tiburcio was handsome, charming, a good dancer and guitar player, and quite the ladies man. He had many affairs with married women, one of whom later became his downfall. He was very popular and had friends all over the state of California. For a while, he hid in the southern and central parts of the state where he was less well known. He committed several burglaries throughout the San Joaquin Valley and also spent some time hiding in the Sierra Pelona Mountains among these rocks that later were named after him.
Vasquez was eventually caught and convicted of murder, a charge he denied. His popularity among women continued and many women gathered in his cell where he posed for photos and signed autographs, which he later sold out the cell window to help pay for his legal defense. After his appeal for clemency was denied, Tiburcio Vasquez was hanged in San Jose on March 19, 1875. He was 39 years old.
Vasquez Rocks Park is frequently used by the film industry. Films as diverse as Dracula, 1931, and A Single Man, 2009, as well as several Star Trek movies have used the dramatic scenery of the park for location shoots. Many, many TV shows have also been filmed here.
There are similar rocks here in the canyon. It took me a while, as I was used to greener scenery, to come to appreciate their special beauty.
I took these pictures out the window of our moving jeep, so they could have been better. I looked in Google Images for pictures that would do these rocks justice, but didn't find any.
Instead, I found these last two photos in Wikipedia and they will give you an idea, I think, of what can be found inside this very interesting and rather formidable place called Vasquez Rocks Park.
Instead, I found these last two photos in Wikipedia and they will give you an idea, I think, of what can be found inside this very interesting and rather formidable place called Vasquez Rocks Park.
Source: Wikipedia
