Page 5 - outland_oldshoebox

IT w As ONLY A SHOE BOX gathering dust in the attic of the famous
old adobe ranch house. Once its glossy texture had shone from
the shelf of some store - A. Hamburger & Sons, perhaps - the
contents wrapped in delicate tissue awaiting the feet its leather
would protect. Hopefully, the fit would be perfect when the but-
tonhook had drawn the bright new buttons through the loops.
Now it was discarded, useless, dulled with age and soiled where
an inconsiderate raindrop had discovered an entryway through
the roof. Why had this humble shoe box been saved at a rancho
that fairly reeked with the genesis of California history?
The Indians had given the place its name, Camulos. The Sacred
Expedition under Portola had tramped its soil and camped nearby.
Antonio del Valle, a soldier of old Mexico, had admired the setting
on travels between Missions and obtained possession through the
San Francisco Land Grant. John Charles Fremont and his band
of ragamuffin "soldiers" had passed this way en route to Los An-
geles and the Treaty of Cahuenga.

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