Mike Knozak of the ASC sits by El Polin Spring in the Presidio. Photo by Sandra Massy

The Presidio, site of the first Mexican settlement in San Francisco, will be transformed into an educational walking trail, according to Presidio Trust officials.

The announcement came during the Fourth Annual Redmond Kernan Lecture Series held on Nov. 17, 2010 at the Presidio Officers Club when four archaeologists disclosed their findings of a one-time valley known as El Polin.

Discovered a couple hundred feet east of the Presidio beneath four feet of landfill dating back hundreds of years, lies this one time valley, according to Presidio Trust archaeologists.

The El Polin Loop, as it is being called today, will be a classroom where students get to use the landscape to interpret some the artifacts found, said archaeologist Kari Jones.

“This is hot off the presses,” Jones said referring to the approval of the loop. “I’m so excited, this is wonderful. The great thing about Presidio archaeology is that we get to bring it to the public. Normally archaeologist dig up some artifacts, interpret them and then bury them again.”

El Polin is going to be restored back to its natural habit. The valley is a riparian area and the planting of indigenous plants and the removal of the fill is already underway. The restoration of the wetlands will be reminiscent of The Presidio’s Mexican era.

This era of “El Presidio” is often the most overlooked and misunderstood time at The Presidio.

The historic findings included a Spring Box that drew water from a spring to create a pool that helped to filter sediment, cool food items, and offer protection against animals.

They also found a brick clamp, a type of brick-making furnace that cooked from the inside out — an ancient technique dating back to Roman times.

A third discovery was a large waste pile — most likely the wasted clay tiles that inevitably occurs when making bricks in a brick clamp, according to Adrian Praetzellis, Sonoma State archaeologist.

“We can now assume that at least some of the brick in The Presidio came from here [El Polin brick clamp],” said Praetzellis.

This seems to be the first physical evidence of Mexican settlements outside The Presidio, Jones said.

The El Polin settlements were on the main trail that extended from El Presidio to Mission Dolores. These were the only established settlements at the time, which was around the 1810’s. Under Mexico rule El Presidio housed the Mexican governor of California.

“That’s why it so important,” Jones said. “At this time you were either a soldier or a missionary.”

Both were very structured societies and to live outside of those establishments was unheard of until then, Jones added.

The excavation along McArthur Avenue initiated by the proposed construction of a bus terminal and the “day lighting” of a creek, Jones said.

One reply on “Historic Mexican valley uncovered at the Presidio”

  1. This artical is trash. California was first settled by the Spanish, and by 1810 there was less than two thousand non indians living there. Mexicans didn’t want to go to California because it wasn’t safe and there were no markets to buy and sell from. Only a few soldiers could truely be called mexican. The mexicans hated the Spanish which is another reason they didn’t want to go there. After the revolution the California Spanish accepted a Mexican Governor because they were cut off from Spain. Then Mexico secularized the missions destroying all industry at the missions. There was no Mexican towns!

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