Dozens of dirt ranch roads traverse the gulches and ridges of the area. 

 Most ridges from the valley floor to ridge tops have or had ranch roads running 

 up their spines; some of these, such as on the Randall and McCurdy ranches, 

 are used by hikers today. Many of the gulches have graded roads leading into 

 the upper portions of the canyons, primarily used for wood gathering, but most 

 of these are abandoned. 



b. Schooners 



The most efficient transport to be had in the 19th century was by sea in 

 small, shallow draft schooners. While the coast of California had seen a great 

 deal of maritime commerce before the Gold Rush, wherein goods from China 

 and other areas were traded for hides and tallow. Fur hunters, seeking the 

 coveted sea otter pelts, were also active on the nearby coast, as well as the 

 everpresent smugglers. The Gold Rush brought the world's attention to San 

 Francsico as the major port of the west coast, and the goods that could be 

 obtained from the regions north and south were soon providing food, lumber 

 and other building materials. 83 



Beginning in 1849 schooners regularly called on Bolinas, where lumber 

 would be transported on small barges (lighters) to waiting schooners near the 

 mouth of the lagoon. All of the ranches from the Five Brooks area south used 

 Bolinas as their primariy shipping port; schooners calling at Bolinas included 

 Esperanza, Fourth of July and H. C. Almy. Another landing site was at Samuel 

 P. Taylor's warehouse on Lagunitas (Paper Mill) Creek near the site of today's 

 Point Reyes Station. Here again, lighters carried products to and from a 

 schooner waiting in deeper water. 84 



83 James P. Delgado and Stephen A. Haller, Submerged Cultural Resource Assessment 

 Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and 

 Point Reyes National Seashore (San Francisco: United States Department of Commerce, National 

 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, and 

 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Golden Gate National Recreation 

 Area, 1989), pp. 7-9. 



M Munro-Fraser, Marin County, p. 269; Mason, Earthquake Bay, p. 27; "Abstract . . . 

 Nelson Hotel." 



47 



