Saratoga News Trees have made Saratoga history for years Willys Peck No two ways about it, trees are very big in Saratoga, as exemplified by Editor Dale Bryant's Page 1 essay a couple of weeks ago on "1998--Year of the Tree." By the time this appears, a public forum will have been held at Saratoga School concerning the eucalyptus trees targeted for removal in connection with the school's expansion program and, it is to be hoped, more light will have been shed to supplement the heat generated by this issue. In this context, it seems relevant to look back 48 years at some comments made by Maunsell Van Rensselaer, director of the Saratoga Experimental Gardens on Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, where the focus was on developing shade trees for Pacific Coast communities. As former director of the famed Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Van Rensselaer knew whereof he spoke; he was not barking up the wrong tree. In his talk before the Saratoga Lions Club in March 1951, he made special mention of the "magnificent example of Italian stone pine" in the plaza. "Nowhere else in the United States, one might almost say, could such a variety of tree be grown as in Saratoga," he said. (1999 update: Eight such trees have been taken out in the Argonaut Shopping Center remodeling. To their credit, though, the developers are putting in 23 oak trees to replace them.) Van Rensselaer also touched on palm trees. "One thing I would like to suggest, however, is that no more palm trees be planted," he said. "Saratoga is unique in this part of the state for its New England atmosphere, and palms don't fit in to that development." As to the current Topic A, eucalyptus, Van Rensselaer did include "eucalyptus sideroxylon 'Rosea' and other eucalypts," along with ginkgo, Chinese elm, Modesto ash and others, in a list of recommended streetside trees for Saratoga. No mention of falling limbs or tripping on seed pods. Stephens Creek Even Stephen or, as some might have it, Ephen Steven: In a recent Stereopticon column, I mentioned the concern of Cupertino-based historian Mary Lou Lyon over the mislabeling of Stevens Creek Boulevard, park, reservoir, etc. It should be Stephens Creek, she argues with irrefutable logic, pointing out that that's how Capt. Elisha Stephens (1801-1884), a man who presumably should know, wrote his own name. Capt. Stephens was a leader in the Townsend-Stephens-Murphy party, the first to bring wagons through the Sierra Nevada. That was in 1844, and he ultimately settled in the present Monta Vista area, thereby establishing a name for the region. Now throughout U.S. history there have been Stephenses and Stevenses, and ne'er the twain did meet, especially in the case of Alexander Hamilton Stephens, who was vice president of the Confederate States of America, and Thaddeus Stevens, a fiery radical Republican who wanted to punish the South and who led the movement to impeach President Andrew Johnson. No confusion in name spelling there. Just how and when such confusion arose with Capt. Elisha Stephens is not known, according to historian Lyon. And, when one considers the hundreds, nay, thousands, of instances where changes would have to be made in addresses, maps, computer programs and all the rest, such a move seems impossible. Not that she hasn't tried. As a member of the Santa Clara County Heritage Commission, Mary Lou has gone to the city councils of Cupertino and Santa Clara, the civic entities involved, and been turned down flat. One possible approach, though, is to play the prestige card. Changing the spelling of an address shouldn't upset any mail delivery. It would be distinctive and have the added cachet of being historically accurate. Soon others, aspiring to inclusion in the "in" crowd, would follow suit and, before too many years had passed, voilà! Stephens Creek Boulevard. Rand McNally and all you other map-makers, eat your collective heart out. [ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Saratoga News, January 13, 1999. ©1999 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.