Event Highlights Ranching Heritage At Castro Adobe State Historic Park Opening
The special event will be 1–4 p.m. Saturday, May 6 at Castro Adobe State Historic Park, 184 Old Adobe Road. Tickets are $25.
At Vaqueros on the Rancho two traditional vaquero-style horsemen during a demonstration at 2 p.m. will share aspects of early vaqueros along with how and why the culture is maintained today. Jeffery Mundell and Victor “Buddy” Montes will show their horses and gear along with the art of using a 60-70 foot rawhide riata for “big loops.” Attendees will have the opportunity to learn how the traditional vaquero’s knowledge of land comes into play today with grassland conservation programs.
Vaqueros on the Rancho also will include light refreshments, tours of the Castro Adobe as well as artisan and craftsmen wares on display and for sale, including: spurs, bits, silver and leather items and braided rawhide.
Friends is leading a multi-year restoration effort to preserve and interpret the Castro Adobe as the region’s next State Historic Park and the first non-beach State Park in south Santa Cruz County. All proceeds from Vaqueros on the Rancho will be dedicated to this effort.
“The history, horsemanship, equipment, knowledge of land use and lifestyle of vaqueros are revered traditions with deep ties to the Castro Adobe,” said Bonny Hawley, executive director of Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks.
From the first Spanish expedition into Alta California in 1769, the vaquero played a significant role in California’s heritage. Vaqueros, or horse-mounted livestock herders, of the Americas came from Spanish Mexico to California, and their “culture” developed into a fine art through the Mission and Rancho eras, and continued into the early 1900s. At the Rancho San Andrés Castro Adobe, herds of cattle and livestock grazed the land under the mounted vaquero’s watchful eye.
Tickets ($25 each) are available on Eventbrite (https://vaquerosontherancho.eventbrite.com) or by calling 831-429-1840. Advance ticket sales only. All donations and ticket sales will be matched 1:1 toward the opening of the park, up to $317,920 by the James & Carol Toney Fund.
Western dress is encouraged. Parking is extremely limited; please carpool. The event is co-sponsored by Vaquero Heritage Times Journal (www.vaqueroheritagetimes.com/)
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About the Vaqueros
Jeffrey Mundell: Ranch Manager, Rancho Cienega del Gabilan, part of an original Mexican land grant of 1834, remains an 11,000-acre working cattle ranch in the Gabilan hills of San Juan Bautista.
Victor “Buddy” Montes: Raised on California’s historic Tejon Ranch in Kern County, one of four Mexican land grants acquired in1874 to form Rancho El Tejon, which totaled over 300,000 acres. He is a
5th generation Native vaquero and a member of the Tejon Indian Tribe. Buddy continues his family vaquero traditions that began on El Tejon prior to 1874. He is manager [cowboss] of Booth Ranches based in the San Joaquin Valley.
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Castro Adobe State Historic Park is located in Larkin Valley, near Watsonville. The two-story Castro Adobe, built between 1848-49, is one of the finest examples of a rancho hacienda in the Monterey Bay area. Friends is leading a multi-year restoration effort to preserve and interpret the new State Historic Park in partnership with California State Parks. It is Santa Cruz County’s second state historic park and the first non-beach state park in the Pajaro Valley.
To follow progress on the restoration effort, visit www.thatsmypark.org/castro-blog. The Castro Adobe, located at 184 Old Adobe Road, is open on a limited basis for special events, such as Open House Days. Admission is free; donations are gratefully accepted.
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Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, established in 1976, is a nonprofit sustaining the legacy of our state parks and beaches. Friends also operates six ParkStores, offering nature- and history-themed merchandise for sale to benefit local parks and beaches. ParkStore locations include Natural Bridges, New Brighton, Santa Cruz Mission, Seacliff, Wilder Ranch and Online.
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Learn more at ThatsMyPark.org or via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest.