- Jul 16, 2001
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When Europeans first arrived in California in the 1700s, a huge stand of redwoods extended across the spine of the Oakland hills and back several miles into what is now Moraga and Lafayette, Schwartz said.
The most famous were the Navigation Trees, so named after Capt. Frederick Beechey of the British Royal Navy wrote in 1826 that a ship trying to land in San Francisco's port could locate Blossom Rock, which was only visible during low tides, by lining up the northern tip of Yerba Buena Island with the two trees that were "too conspicuous to be overlooked" on top of the East Bay hills. Blossom Rock has since been destroyed.
When Europeans first arrived in California in the 1700s, a huge stand of redwoods extended across the spine of the Oakland hills and back several miles into what is now Moraga and Lafayette, Schwartz said.
The most famous were the Navigation Trees, so named after Capt. Frederick Beechey of the British Royal Navy wrote in 1826 that a ship trying to land in San Francisco's port could locate Blossom Rock, which was only visible during low tides, by lining up the northern tip of Yerba Buena Island with the two trees that were "too conspicuous to be overlooked" on top of the East Bay hills. Blossom Rock has since been destroyed.