The Presidio: more than a pretty face The Presidio is considered by many to be the most beautiful military post in the country. But beauty alone doesn't merit inclusion in a National Park. What is it about the Presidio that accords such a distinction? The answer is that, by any measure, the Presidio is extraordinary. Its historic importance, its architectural magnificance, its exquisite open space environment, and its outstanding recreational and sightseeing opportunities, fully merit National Park status. The Wild Side The Presidio is a dynamic ecological island bound by the ocean, the Bay, and a cosmopolitan urban area. From the rugged coastline above Baker Beach, to the dunes of the western slope, to the gentle, riparian woodlands of Mountain Lake and Lobos Creek - the Presidio's natural history is rich and varied. Rare, Native Habitat The open landscape of today's Presidio is mostly the result of human intervention, but areas of native plants and unusual species survive. The Presidio's traditional native habitats have resulted from gentle sandy slopes and terrific winds - cooled and moistened by the summer fog, natural springs, and marshes. Sixty to sixty-five acres of native vegetation remain in the Presidio, and California Native Plant Society botanists estimate that as many as 240 native plant species reside within its borders. In 1776, the Spanish priest, Father Font, recorded the beauty his expedition found upon reaching the Presidio, R. . . here and near the lake there are yerba buena and so many lilies that I had them almost inside my tent.S The bucolic coastal prairie that Font describes was one of six plant communities native to the Presidio. The others were coastal scrub, coastal strand, riparian woodlands (mainly willows), mixed evergreen forests (toyon, buckeye, madrone, bay, and coast live oak), and chaparral. It is rare and astonishing that examples of these environments still exist so close to a developed, urban area. The most extensive sample of the Rnative PresidioS is the coastal scrub habitat of Bridge and Baker Beach. Endangered Species So unique is the Presidio habitat that eleven Presidio plants, many found on serpentine soils, have either been accorded special state or federal protection, or are candidates for protection. The Raven's Manzanita, an endangered species, is so rare that only a single plant still grows here in the wild. And of course, the Presidio is home to animals, as well. About a quarter of the 160 species of birds that visit also breed within the Presidio. One candidate species for federal protection - the San Francisco Tree Lupine Moth - resides near Baker Beach. The value of the natural areas of the Presidio, along with the rest of GGNRA, was recognized recently by the United Nations by inclusion within a new International Biosphere Reserve, one of just 270 in the world. Two Survivors: A Stream, A Lake The Presidio's water resources are almost as interesting as its terrain - they include the last free-flowing stream in San Francisco, Lobos Creek, and the native riparian woodlands-lined Mountain Lake. Lobos Creek springs from a huge, unknown aquifer lying somewhere beneath the city. It supplies two million gallons of water daily, supports native live oaks on its banks, and might once again sustain salmon runs from the sea. Historical Highlights Long before Europeans first laid eyes on the Golden Gate, native cultures roamed the lands of the Presidio. They left behind significant archeological resources, with many undoubtedly yet to be discovered. Thick fogs and treacherous coastline made early mariners miss San Francisco Bay's narrow entrance; overland exploreres actually discovered the Bay. But no military man since has overlooked the land where the Presidio stands today. Spanish and Mexican Legacy In the late 1760s, Spain launched expeditions northward from Mexico to protect their territory from Russian and English traders. They established the Presidio as their northernmost base - where Father Font, traveling with soldier-explorer Juan Bautista de Anza in 1776, "entered upon a mesa that was very green and flower-covered, with an abundance of wild violets." The Spanish built an adobe quadrangle and a ten-gun battery at the Presidio (Presidio was the Spanish word for RgarrisonS), but otherwise made little use of California. When Mexico won independence in 1822, it took possession of the small, adobe garrison at the mouth of San Francisco Bay, which served as Mexico's main northern California outpost until the garrison moved to Sonoma in 1835. By 1846, when the United States acquired California as part of the treaty ending the Mexican War, Mexico had abandoned the Presidio. The only physical remains of the Hispanic period are part of an old adobe wall, carefully preserved inside the present day Officers' Club. Early American Heritage The main business of the Presidio, from the beginning of the American period until the Civil War, was protecting the tens of thousands of eager gold-seekers (who came by land and crowded aboard sailing ships) from the native Indians in Northern California and the San Joaquin Valley. Its present boundaries were approved by President Millard Fillmore in 1851. It was not until 1854 that the Army extended a new system of harbor defense beyond the Presidio itself to Fort Point and Alcatraz, and later to Fort Mason, Fort Baker, and Angel Island. Civil War Years Although the War Between The States was never fought in California, the U.S. Army fortified the Presidio's Golden Gate defenses, and brought the troops to a state of readiness within the Presidio walls. The Presidio Army Museum occupies a structure completed in 1864 as a post hospital. Following the Civil War, troops from all over the nation were funneled through the Presidio to defend the nation's western frontiers during the Indian Wars of the 1870s and 1880s. Structures dating from this period exist around the main parade ground, and are highlighted by a row of officers' quarters at the eastern edge. Taking A Familiar Shape In 1857, the Presidio was reported to be a rather gloomy place: ROn the Pacific side of the San Francisco peninsula there is an extensive sand-beach.... A wide area is thus covered by loose, dry, sea-sand, and it has the aspect and character of a desert.S Soldiers described the post as Ra barren, bleak, windswept place.S According to a recent study, Rthe most widespread change in the vegetation during the Spanish period (through 1846) was a decrease in grass and a probable increase in brush - the result of years of heavy grazing by livestock ... reducing the lush meadows to rocky, barren sand patches, and sand dunes.S It was Major W.A. Jones, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who in 1883 prepared a Presidio landscape plan to Rmake the contrast from the city seem as great as possible...S Jones wanted to Rcrown the ridges, border the boundary fences, and cover the areas of sand and marsh waste with a forest...S The over 400,000 pine, cypress, eucalyptus and acacia trees (and 5,000 redwood, spruce, and madrone), planted as a result of Major Jones' 19th-century RPlan for the Cultivation of Trees Upon the Presidio Reservation,S gave the Presidio's landscape its present character. A Power in the Pacific The War with Spain in 1898 signaled the beginning of a significant American presence in the Pacific. From 1890 to 1910 (when Fort Mason took on the role), the Presidio was the main point of embarkation for troops and supplies, and Letterman Hospital was the first permanent Army General Hospital. The Army modernized its seacoast fortifications during this period, and began a major building program. The brick barracks on the western edge of the main parade ground, and the string of massive concrete gun batteries on the bluffs overlooking the Golden Gate are good examples of this era. Shape of Things to Come? Ironically, from 1880 to 1914 (prior to the establishment of the National Park Service in 1916), it was the Presidio that conducted activities in many Western national parks. Cavalry troops stationed at the Presidio saddled up every spring to patrol Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. The cavalry's brick stables still stand directly south of Doyle Drive, near the west end of Crissy Field. Flying Machines In 1915, the sloughs and marshlands behind the beach at Crissy Field were filled to accommodate a racetrack for the Panama Pacific International Exposition. After the Exposition, this reclaimed land provided the site of one of the nation's first Army airfields. Crissy Field served as the western terminus for transcontinental endurance tests in 1919, and in 1920 became the home of the 91st Aero Squadron. The first U.S. Air Mail flight originated at Crissy Field, and the first Rdawn-to-duskS transcontinental flight terminated there in 1924. Now - A Grand Park With all its history, scenery, and natural features, it's no wonder that the Presidio is part of a national park. This tapestry of resources should inspire future uses that embrace the Bay Area, the nation and the world. ****