State Park and Recreation Commission Approves General Plan, Certifies EIR and Names New State Park

At the January 27, 2012 public meeting, the California State Park and Recreation Commission approved the General Plan and certified the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the park property formerly known as Cowell Ranch/John Marsh State Historic Park.

In a separate action, the Commission named the new park Marsh Creek State Park

Article on East Contra Costa Historical Society from their website – the SchoolBell.

From the Letters of John and Abby Marsh.

The archives of Bancroft Library hold many documents and letters of the Marsh family. In a joint project with the John Marsh Historic Trust, the Bancroft Library microfilmed several boxes of Marsh primary source material. The following excerpts are part of this important collection.

Doctor John Marsh was the first American born pioneer to settle permanently in Contra Costa County. He carved out a huge cattle empire on the wildest part of the raw northern frontier of Mexican California. John Marsh was also one of the few college-educated adventurers in the far West and secretly worked to bring California peacefully into the Union.

Once violent death was commonplace in Contra Costa.  From the 1820s through the 1870s eastern Contra Costa was a wild frontier.  By necessity most males were armed and were responsible for defending their families.  The Law was remote and far away. Rustling and horse theft occurred on a vast scale. Famous East Bay lawmen like George Swain and Harry Morse fought duels to the death with hard bitten outlaws who sought sanctuary in the wild, unsettled wilderness of Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

Much has been written about John Marsh, early California pioneer and adventurer.  Most of what has been published is derived from two sources, the primary biography of Marsh, published in 1930 by George D. Lyman, and the various dictated autobiographies of John Bidwell.    Historians and journalists anxious to meet deadlines have too often used these sources without questioning or affirming their accuracy.  In this and subsequent articles we hope to correct some of this misinformation and reveal John Marsh’s true contributions to California.

Although we now may be closer than ever to saving the John Marsh house we’re still not close enough. The end of last year saw the completion of the long awaited Historic Structure Report (HSR) for the stone house. An HSR is used as a guide and basis for a property’s preservation, the fundamental first step. The report was prepared by the highly respected Architectural Resources Group of San Francisco and was paid for by California State Department of Parks and Recreation. The HSR calls for the complete restoration of the house exterior to a near original 1850’s appearance. To include rebuilding the collapsed walls, replacement of the tower with a version closer in appearance to the 1855 original and reproduction of the two story veranda that originally ran along three sides of the house. Because the interior restoration will require further research, it is planned as the last phase of the project. The work is estimated to cost approximately 7.5 million dollars. Voter approved proposition 40 funds have been allocated and the project remains, for now, in the governor’s budget. Assuming it isn’t eliminated in the next round of budget cuts and the funds make it through the appropriation process it will still take a minimum of 4-6 months until any repair work can actually begin. The house simply may not have that long.

On September 23, 2007 the Native Daughters of the Golden West rededicated the John and Abby Marsh Monument near the Great Stone House on Marsh Creek Road, Brentwood. The Native Daughters of the Golden West, Donner Parlor #193 had originally dedicated the monument in 1932.