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Scotts Valley Area Curiosities
By Marion Dale Pokriots
Remains of a Prehistoric Sea
When ocean waters receded many eons ago, some interesting features were left exposed in the Santa Cruz Mountains,
one of which is a ridge of high grade sand on the western edge of Scotts Valley. In the same vicinity, thousands of tiny
shark's teeth have been found and collected by school children, as well as scientists. According to naturalist Frank Perry,
about 19 species of sharks are represented.
A mile or so beyond "shark's teeth hill", an unusual outcropping of low pillars march up another incline in two almost
parallel lines. These hollow sandstone columns are cemented together by extinct sand dollars. Although they were
thought to be the ruins of an ancient civilization by early settlers, scientists have concluded that they were formed by a
natural geological process.
At the Olympia sand quarry, the fossil remains of an extinct sea
cow were discovered in 1963. This 2,000 pound "Dusisiren
jordani" lived about 10-12 million years ago in shallow nearshore waters. The fossil bones are at the University of California,
Berkeley. Cast replicas of this ancient sea cow are now exhibited
in a Japanese museum and at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural
History.
Sand Dollar Hill near Weston Road is another interesting leftover from from a former age. This mound has a sixty meter crust
composed of "Astrodapsis spatiosus" (extinct sand dollars).
At the north end of the valley the skeleton of a whale was
unearthed on property now owned by Borland International.
Photo courtesy of Frank Perry
Unusual Plant Life
Scotts Village, the Valley Gardens Golf Course and Spring Lakes Mobile Home Park are built on an ancient lake bed,
which in more recent time was a marsh dotted with wild azaleas and swamp grass.
At one time, classes from U. C. Berkeley come to Scotts Valley to study its strange flora and fauna. Parts of the valley
were like a slice off the Sierra Nevada Range. Ponderosa pines thrived, and kangaroo rats nested on the sandy west side.
These unusual groves of ponderosa pines were noted by the botanist Hartweg in 1846. Ecologist Randall Morgan stated
in a newspaper article that there are over 90 different plant species, uncommon or absent elsewhere, living in the
valley's sand hills.
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�Artifacts of Early Inhabitants
According to archeologist Dr. Robert Cartier, Scotts Valley has been inhabited by humans for more than 10,000 years.
During one dig, 11,505 artifactual materials were uncovered. Now displayed at Scotts Valley City Hall is an "eccentric
crescent" (a well-known scientific treasure), as well aa other objects, such as hammerstones, utilized flakes, microliths,
milling equipment, unfinished bifaces, and core tools.
The largest amount of cultural material which has been excavated to date [1995] is associated with early- to midHolocene (4500-9500 B.P.) levels.
Tree Circus
Twentieth century humans have added their own creative curiosities to this unique area. Axel Erlandson had his grafted
living trees, shaped like ladders, chairs, knots, hearts, and spiral staircases, transferred to Scotts Valley in the 1940s.
Later, giant fiberglass dinosaurs were placed among the trees and the Tree Circus was renamed Lost World.
The Only Russian to Receive a Land Grant
Scotts Valley's first landowner was Jose Antonio Bolcoff, a young Russian translator who was favored by Spanish
Governor Pablo Vicente de Sola. He was the only Russian to settle permanently in Alta California and the only Russian to
receive a Mexican land grant. Jose Antonio Bolcoff and his family lived on the Rancho San Agustin (Scotts Valley) during
the 1830s.
The Crown
One Scotts Valley mystery, waiting for a super sleuth to solve,
involves the discovery of a small crown buried under many inches of
dirt and humus. The sand cast brass or bronze crown, which once
topped a small Catholic statue, was unearthed by homeowner Aldo
Bussi while he was digging a drainage ditch after a storm. According
to historian Norman Neuerburg, it could be a mission period piece
which topped the figure of the Christ Child.
What is its story? At this point we can only speculate. The location
of its discovery was not on any established trail nor was it near the
Bolcoffs’ adobe. Bolcoff's wife and her two sisters, who resided with
her, were devout Catholics. Was the crown taken from the home
chapel of the Bolcoffs? Or did the little headpiece fall off when
Santa Cruz Mission treasures were being carted to the Santa Clara
Mission at the time of pirate Bouchard's raid on Monterey in 1818? Photo of the crown, which is about 6" across at the widest
point. Photo courtesy of the author.
The crown remains in private hands until more is known about it
and an appropriate place can be found to display it.
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�Sources
Copyright 1995 Marion Dale Pokriots. This article is printed by permission of Marion Dale Pokriots.
Photographs courtesy of Marion Dale Pokriots and Frank Perry Museum Services.
The content of this article is the responsibility of the individual author. It is the Library's intent to provide accurate local history
information. However, it is not possible for the Library to completely verify the accuracy of individual articles obtained from a
variety of sources. If you believe that factual statements in a local history article are incorrect and can provide documentation,
please contact the Webmaster.
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Scotts Valley Area Curiosities
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Pokriots, Marion Dale
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Photographs courtesy of Marion Dale Pokriots and Frank Perry Museum Services.
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Santa Cruz Public Libraries
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1995-
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Copyright 1995 Marion Dale Pokriots. This article is printed by permission of Marion Dale Pokriots.
Subject
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Tree Circus
Archaeology
Bolcoff, Jose Antonio
Coverage
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Scotts Valley
Nature
Tourist Attractions