Three locals develop curriculum for Anza Trail
The nondescript entrance to the local leg of the Juan Bautista
de Anza National Historic Trail is easy to miss. A brown metal
fence and a small sign mark the trailhead, beyond which the
gravelly Old Stagecoach Road slowly climbs by 1,000 feet into the
oak-studded hills west of San Juan Bautista.
Three locals develop curriculum for Anza Trail
The nondescript entrance to the local leg of the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail is easy to miss. A brown metal fence and a small sign mark the trailhead, beyond which the gravelly Old Stagecoach Road slowly climbs by 1,000 feet into the oak-studded hills west of San Juan Bautista.
It could easily pass for the ranch roads found throughout San Benito County. But it is much more than that. This simple trail was traversed by a nearly 300-person expedition led by Juan Bautista de Anza in 1776, just months before the Declaration of Independence was signed.
Their goal was to help colonize Northern California and establish a presidio and mission near San Francisco Bay. The entire Anza Trail spans some 1,200 miles from the Arizona-Mexico border to San Francisco – roughly along the path of Hwy. 101.
This somewhat hidden historic gem – so important to California’s history and the eventual establishment of the mission chain, including San Juan’s – will soon become a more integral part of elementary and high school lesson plans thanks to a collaboration between the San Juan Bautista State Historic Park and the National Park Service.
Over the summer, Cerra Vista School fourth-grade teacher Diane Barr and San Benito High School social science teacher Frank Perez teamed with local park ranger Michelle Armijo to develop and update curriculum that ties the history of the Anza Trail to the history of the Mission City.
Dubbed “The Teacher-Ranger-Teacher Program,” the effort was designed to have the teachers not only develop curriculum for the classroom, but to be essentially deputized as park rangers who could offer students an interpretive learning experience through walking tours of the trail, the nearby state historic park and Pinnacles National Monument.
Armijo, who has worked for the park service for more than 15 years, called the Anza Trail a “hidden treasure in San Benito County.”
“We developed curriculum for the trail so that teachers can do a two-mile interpretive hike that will allow students to learn about the flora, fauna, and cultural significance of the trail and how it ties to local history,” she said. “After the hike, they can go through the San Juan Bautista State Park to learn more.”
The plan is to place curriculum online for teachers to download and use in the classroom. They will also be able to make reservations online and receive a code that will allow them to access a lock box at the trailhead that will include laminated curricular materials and props.
“We’re targeting communities with diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds as well as families that may not normally have the opportunity to do many outdoor activities on their own,” Armijo said. “We’re really excited about the program. It’s a great opportunity to let local students learn about how local history was affected by the expedition.”
Perez, a native of San Juan and graduate of San Benito High School and Santa Clara University, said he appreciated the opportunity to work locally while contributing to a better understanding of local history.
“I approached it from a personal point of view,” said Perez, who teaches world geography, world history, and Chicano history at SBHS. While addressing a group of students who visited the state park this summer, he dressed up as a soldado de cuera – or a soldier who wore a leather vest of armor that could stop an arrow but not a bullet.
“A lot of people just don’t know about the trail,” Perez said. “Now, they can understand how it ties into Mission history throughout California. I was surprised about how much it impacted local history.”
The interpretive hike will allow teachers to take something tangible – such as an acorn lying on the trail – to an abstract idea. For example, Perez said, a teacher could relate to students that the acorn was a life-source for the Native Americans that de Anza encountered.
Perez’s curriculum research focused on the second of de Anza’s two expeditions, “which brought Spanish settlers into the area to colonize, settle and protect it from European powers,” he said.
Barr, who has escorted her classes to San Juan for more than 30 years, got involved with the project to help update and improve the learning possibilities for her students.
“Fourth-graders, like many people, often find it difficult to care about history,” Barr said. “It’s just a bunch of names and dates in a book. When we can connect an actual place – such as a trail, buildings, or even caves to our past – history often comes to life.”
It is hoped that teachers will bring their students to the trail and to the state park to make first-hand connections to history, Barr said, but those who can’t make the trip will be able to do a computer activity that brings the trail to life.
Barr said another goal is to help students and adults gain “an ownership of history.”
“Through the site hikes and activities, classes, teachers and their chaperones will find the value of learning about the past and its influence on the present, such as place names, family names and local architecture,” she said.
San Benito County officials made an agreement with the stewards of the Anza Trail when Old Stagecoach Road was closed that either party would maintain the trail, “when feasible,” Barr said. “In these tight economic times thank goodness Jim Sleznick (former superintendent of Pinnacles National Monument), Graniterock, San Juan Bautista’s Rotary, Boy Scouts and others have seized the opportunity to contribute to the trail.”
Armijo, who is in the final stages of compiling the curricular work done by herself, Barr and Perez, said the local portion of the Anza Trail is technically still a county road, but officials allow the National Park Service to let it be used as a recreational trail for hiking, biking or horseback riding.
Barr, who was surprised to learn through her research that she is a sixth-generation descendant of one of the families that traversed the trail on its way to San Francisco, said that locals “have been given another historic tourist attraction that we should take care to embrace, promote, enjoy and maintain.
“As citizens of San Benito County the Anza Trail is an object of both pride and duty,” she said. “We must remember that other people were already here – namely Mutsun Indians (part of the larger Ohlone tribe). The trail activity pack includes aspects of native life in the area. The influence of Native Americans all along the Anza Trail directly influenced the expedition’s success.”
For more information on the Anza Trail, go to www.nps.gov/juba/. Teachers who want more information about the Anza Trail curriculum compiled in the Teacher-Ranger-Teacher program may call 623-4881 for information or reservations.
