Museum provides ‘pictorial narrative’ of Merced County, helps educators with remote learning

The opening of the 2020-21 school year in Merced County has been quiet and uneventful as most schools are opting for “distance learning” due to the coronavirus pandemic.

While we, at the Courthouse Museum, miss seeing children’s happy faces and nurturing their inquisitive minds during the school tours, we have found a way to assist teachers to remotely introduce them to our local history.

The Merced County Historical Society and Courthouse Museum in 2012 published a DVD titled “Landscape and History of Merced County” to supplement the third-grade social studies curriculum. The DVD, written by local educator Rhonda Sancibrian, is a pictorial narrative of the sites and stories that have shaped Merced County’s historical and cultural landscape.

Consisting of 15 chapters, it covers the period from the Native American settlement to First Lady Michelle Obama’s commencement speech at the University of California, Merced in 2009.

In the introduction (Chapter 1), the author presents an overview about Merced County’s landscape in terms of geography, demographics, culture, and economy before ending it with this thought: “In this program you’ll learn about the history of Merced County: the story of how it came to be. Along the way you may also discover some important landmarks that can still be seen today.”

The history timeline begins with the story of the Yokuts Indians (Chapter 2), the first people to live in the San Joaquin Valley centuries ago. Their peaceful life was disrupted by the Spanish explorers, led by Gabriel Moraga (Chapter 3), who came to the Valley in search of a suitable site for a new mission in the summer of 1806.

After Moraga and his men left, it took another 40 years before the Valley was settled. Chapter 4, “Early Settlers,” describes the uncertain westward journeys many took and the harsh new life they endured in the desolate and dusty Valley. Although free land played an important part in the settlement during this period, it was the discovery of gold (Chapter 5) in 1848 that brought thousands of people from all over the country and world to California. After the Gold Rush, many miners turned into farmers and ranchers and made the San Joaquin Valley their permanent home.

Chapter 6, “A County is Born,” is a tribute to the pioneer settlers who laid the foundation for a new county government. Carved out of Mariposa County in 1855, Merced County chose Snelling as the county seat. Located on the Merced River bottom, Snelling was also a thriving business hub as the Merced River provided power to run mills and water to irrigate fields and feed cattle.

For the next 15 years, Merced County was a quiet rural community whose chief economy was first cattle ranching and then wheat farming. It was not until the arrival of the Central Pacific Railroad in the early 1870s that eastern Merced County was rapidly developed. In addition to the new railroad towns, Chapter 7 (“The Railroad”) also discusses the role Chinese immigrants played in the construction of the railroad and the election that led to choosing the new town of Merced as the new county seat.

As the political center, Merced erected a courthouse in 1875 which is still standing today. Chapter 8, “New County Seat and Courthouse,” describes the building’s architectural history and the symbolism of the statues atop the courthouse before ending with its current use as a history museum.

Merced’s founder Charles Huffman was more than a railroad agent, but also the “king of wheat” in Merced County. Chapter 9, “Irrigation,” credited Huffman for developing the county’s first extensive irrigation system, including the Lake Yosemite reservoir, that brought water from the Merced River to the farmers on the plains.

No longer dependent on Mother Nature for their crop development, now farmers could plant a variety of crops other than wheat. Chapter 10, “Agriculture,” discusses why Merced County is ideal for agriculture, what some of the main agricultural products are, and how agriculture is all around us.

Into the 20th century, another milestone in transportation history was the invention of the automobile and the building of the highway system (Chapter 11). In Merced County, highways were credited for uniting the county in the 1920s because the county was divided into east side and west side by the San Joaquin River which had both political and economic implications. The new highways, of course, further sped up the settlement of Merced County.

Another form of settlement is military infrastructure which brings us to Chapter 12, “Castle Air Force Base.” Starting out as an army flying school in 1941, the base was the home not only to many military aircrafts but also to thousands of Air Force personnel and their families from all over the country.

President John F. Kennedy visited the Castle Air Force Base in August 1962 when he attended the groundbreaking ceremony for San Luis Reservoir. Part of President Kennedy’s dedication speech about the Reservoir is included in Chapter 13. Like Huffman’s Lake Yosemite did for Eastside farmers and ranchers, San Luis Reservoir provides water for Merced County’s Westside agriculture.

As the history timeline ends with the University of California, Merced (Chapter 14) leading us into a technologically more advanced future, this presentation closes with an invitation to our young scholars to explore our past at the Courthouse Museum (Chapter 15).

To obtain a free DVD and Teacher’s Guide, please contact the Courthouse Museum at (209) 723-2401. The Courthouse Museum is closed, but the office is open by appointment.

This story was originally published September 6, 2020 at 5:00 AM.