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Horsemen and women are coming to Clayton from all over California, parts of the United States and as far away as Mexico to pay tribute to George Cardinet and his 65 years of dedicated work on trails preservation and protecting the west's favorite animal, the horse. We invite every equestrian who is interested in the future of horses to join us in this event.
Background
Born on April 8, 1909 George comes from a long history of Pioneers including his grandfather, Emil Cardinet, who arrived in San Francisco in 1848 from France, found gold in the hills and returned to San Francisco to start up the Farmer's Market. In 1950 he form the Citizen's Vigilance committee (Vigilantes) to clean up the town.
Cardinet, a retired candy maker started his career with horses as a high school student where his family lived in Oakland and vacationed in Pine Crest, Tuolumne County in the Sierra Nevada. He hung out at the stables and learned to be a packer, guiding visitors on packing trips through the mountains.
His fondness for horses grew from that time on. In 1939, he bought a ranch in Concord, which backed up to Mt. Diablo and began forging trails through sagebrush in what is now our state park. All the single-track trails on the eastern slope of Mt. Diablo State Park were hand hewn by George and his fellow horsemen.
There are more than 200 miles of trails throughout the East Bay that Cardinet helped build. He initiated the establishment of the Juan Bautista De Anza National Historic Trail which became law in 1990. He has worked on the management plan and is now chairman of the board on the newly formed Amigos De Anza support group for the trail. Horses are an important historic entity on this trail and with George taking the lead, horses will stay!
George's efforts to build trails are only matched by his doggedness to preserve them, right up to the steps of Washington DC.
He was one of the leaders of the California State Trails Plan and a key advocate in 1968 to establish the National Trails Act, and was invited to the signing by President Lyndon Johnson. He insisted on the inclusion of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail into the National Trails Act as a sister trail to the Appalachian Trail in the east.
He was honored at the American Trails Conference I November of 1998 by John Horsly, Deputy Director of the Department of Transportation for his initiative in putting on an international relay on horseback to highlight the Anza Trail.
We have asked George Cardinet, the Chairman of the Board to tell a few true tales of
His experience with the Anza Trail.
Cultures along the Anza Trail
What fostered my interest in Anza?
Being intensely interested in history, I read extensively. With a family background of French and Irish, I heard nothing pro-British.
Instead, I listened to the stories of great grandpa Lefebvre who spent five years on a British prison ship only mentioned "les Anglais" with a virtual hiss. Also, I heard the tales of another ancestor who was killed by the British in the War of 1812.
I became an admirer of the Spanish in their centuries old adventures starting with "El Cid". Their dash and aplomb in expanding their Empire made for a gallant and thrilling adventure scenario.
I was inspired by the Explorer Cortez in particular coming ashore on the East Coast of Mexico with his men. Tortured by doubts and still believing the earth was flat with this crazy leader leading them to a further uncharted and unknown destiny, they were on the verge of mutiny. Cortez solved the situation in a hurry. He burnt his ships. What class!
The men were left with no alternative but to follow him and his conquests or starve on the beach.
Anza's family were Basques, a race native to a Spanish province in the Pyrenees.
They manifested aplomb and characteristic class by refusing allegiance to the Spanish crown until all Basques were granted nobility. Hence the (de) in Juan Bautista de Anza.
Many things have fascinated me when you cast this in the perspective of time and the scarcity of resources available with each step of the way diminishing them. With no opportunity to replenish until they reached their destination and created a community.
The distances traversed related to present day and their mode of travel was akin to taking our families to the moon. Anza's remarkable leadership skills pace him without parallel among the World's great military leaders. Just think of your only means of transport being stolen as his were just a few days before departure as his were when the Apaches stole his assembled herd of 500 horses. They were replaced and the expedition got underway. Think of organization created and managed whereby some 150 pack animals plus the riding animals were turned out to graze each night and then gathered up each morning repacked and saddled and put on the trail the first thing. The skills and abilities of his colonists were another source of amazement when you consider turning those 240 people, children and all, loose on 500 strange and untested horses. It is incredible! There is no record of injuries. In fact the only casualty was on the first night when a lady died in childbirth. Everyone else was to arrive safe and sound with several new babies born on the way.
This latter attests to the hardiness of these people. Standard practice was to lay over a day upon a birth and then the next day mother and baby would mount up and the expedition would resume.
Some pretty tough ladies and babies!
The history of Anza, his exploits and their place and impact n world history and our own here in California are so significant, so impelling and so incredibly hidden that every effort should be expended to bring him to the fore.
As significant and glorious his trek was, it was kept hidden because Mexican policy up to recently was to downplay the Spanish era. Everything pertaining to Spain was relegated to silence in deference to Mexican Independence being accorded primary recognition and accolades, as it should be. Nothing was to be placed before that fact. I am told that even education ignored the prior Spanish presence.
Also, as for us, the East Coast and Britain have dominated our histories. Everything Spanish was downplayed or ignored. Here in California, the presence of Missions mitigated this to some extent. However, historically Mexicans were often demeaned and denigrated.
The old culture has been largely perpetuated but enhanced and modified into being totally representative of the great Nation of peoples that is now Mexico.
There is a saying that to the English a good Indian was a dead Indian and to the Spanish, a good Indian was a converted Indian.
The Spanish largely ignored ethnic and racial differences. One of their prominent military explorers was Estaban, a black, and an Irish refugee who rose to high estate in the military. A few mulatto families were on the Anza Expedition, their colonization policy was to educate and bring the Indians into full Spanish citizenship using the Mission system for indoctrination.
When we look at the Missions and especially San Xavier del Bac, they developed latent cultural and aesthetic traits and abilities nothing less than sublime.
On the same score what could be more profoundly sublime than the Ohlone Costanoan contribution to Anza than the Spiritual Walk. Every step is a prayer for those that went before and those that will come after. This was in accord with Anza who treated the Indians on a one-to-one basis and with respect.