The first economic and community development of the Mendocino Coast began with the arrival of the ship the Ontario in 1852 with its crew of 40 men. In order to better understand the whys and wherefores of this happening, let's go back a little further - about 20 billion years further.
That is the time generally accepted as the starting point of our universe. There was major astronomical occurrence or random slight condensation that caused the collapse of a vast cloud of the primitive matter of the universe.
Our solar system was born of this collapsing cloud of gas and cosmic dust about 4.6 billion years ago. Without getting too technical and too scientific, our earth was formed as some of these elements clumped together.
Jumping ahead to only about 150 million years ago, the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate on the Earth's surface bumped into one another. One (the Pacific Plate) plunged under the western edge of the Northern American Plate. For the next many million years, all this bumping and plunging created our Coastal Ranges. About 25 million years ago, our Coastal Range was geologically very well defined.
However, nothing in Nature remains constant. The land that formed was acted upon by wind, rain and ocean waves, i.e. it was eroded. The rains wore down the mountain ranges and streams and rivers carried their erosion products, soil, sand gravel and rock, on their way to the sea.
From about a million years ago to 10,000 years ago, there were times of huge glaciers. As the ice masses increased, the seas subsided. As the seas withdrew, they deposited these products of erosion on the shore. Then the climate warmed and the glaciers melted, flowed to the seas and raised the sea level. This cycle repeated about every 100,000 years.
All these events - the bumping and plunging, the erosion, the glaciers - resulted in terraces being created, each one above the other and each one about 10,000 years older than the previous one. All this complex interaction of nature has resulted in an area that is unique in the world, the Mendocino Coast.
The climate of Northern California is one of the most favorable in the world. There are only a few locations that have the moderate, stable temperatures we enjoy. The average yearly temperature is 50º; the average rainfall is 41"
And we also have fog. Fog is caused when cold water comes in contact with the warmer air. To have fog, we must have at least 5º C difference in temperature between the air and the water. We must also have moderate winds (at least 50 MPH), near 100% humidity and low air turbulence. Easy to see why our densest fogs are in the summer months.
This moderate climate and the unique land formations is unusual and unique in many ways. One is that it provides dramatic growing conditions for the redwoods - the star of our story!
These magnificent trees grow naturally only in a belt stretching between Monterey, CA and southern Oregon. In most cases this belt is only 20 miles wide. But in Mendocino County that belt stretches to 40 miles inland. These magnificent redwood trees grow to over 360 feet with a diameter of over 20 feet and can live over 1500 years.
Fog plays a significant role in the growth and distribution of the redwood trees. The winter rains of the North Coast provide the great quantities of water that is needed in the late fall, winder and early spring. But in order to survive the dry summer, the tree depends on the fog. The fog used by a redwood tree can equal up to 55 inches of rain per year. One more reason the Mendocino Coast is so perfect for the growth of this gigantic beauty.
Redwood as a building material is versatile and durable. The feature that gives this lumber its rich beautiful reddish-brown color also makes it insect and decay resistant. No wonder that the tree was, and is, considered to be one of the most valuable of lumber producing trees.
Now with all of these natural attributes of the area in place, we are ready for the coming of the great beneficiary, user, modifier and all too often - the destroyer of nature's bounty - humans.
The source of this information is "Mendocino - From the Beginning" by Wilma and Don Tucker, published by Mendocino Historical Research, Inc. in 1992, and available for purchase at the Kelley House Museum.