SGV Week: The Militant Is On A Mission

The Militant wanted to start off San Gabriel Valley Week with a post on the eastern glen's namesake and cradle of civili...er...Western civilization - Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, located in its eponymous city.

It was founded on September 8, 1771 - a full decade before the City of Los Angeles was founded.

But what most people aren't aware of, is that the stately mission, which has withstood centuries of earthquakes, and has flown under the flags of four nations, isn't even the original San Gabriel Mission.

The mission is actually the San Gabriel Mission 2.0.

History is a sticky thing. Though the founding of the 21 missions of  Alta California were credited to one Fr. Junipero Serra, the actual on-site founders of the San Gabriel Mission were padres Padro Cambon and Angel Somera. And it wasn't even planned to be in the San Gabriel Valley -- the original location was along the Rio de los Temblores, now known as the Santa Ana River. Yes folks, the SGV could have been located in the OC...

But they founded the O.G. San Gabriel Mission some 20 miles northwest along another river - the Rio Hondo, which, at least in that location, still flows  in its natural state.

The new transplants moved into the neighborhood next to the native Tongva villages of Shevaangna and Isanthcogna (you do know your Na's by now, right?), where they reaped the benefits of the riparian environment and grew crops. Newly-founded missions didn't yet comprise of a large stone church and neighboring adobe buildings -- they resembled forts with temporary wooden structures.

In 1776, a large flash flood oveflowed the banks of the Rio Hondo and flooded their compound. So the padres packed up and moved five miles to the northwest, a good distance from another river - the San Gabriel River - yet close enough to access it. The mission building that we see today wasn't built until the early 1790s.

The O.G. mission site, known as "Mission Vieja" (no, not Mission Viejo) is long gone, but a little-known monument stands on its site -- on a mini-park on the corner of San Gabriel Boulevard and Lincoln Avenue, right at the edge of Montebello. It's a simple landscaped corner with a familiar El Camino Real bell and a stone marker which reads:

Take note of some of the names, especially "Walter P. Temple." We'll get to that name later in San Gabriel Valley Week!

 The marker was dedicated in 1921 to mark the sesquicentennial of the founding of the mission. Pictured right is a photo of the dedication ceremony. The site is also a California Historical Landmark (#158). It's easy to miss, and it's nearly impossible to park there, though there's a dirt clearing  just past the Montebello City Limit sign on Lincoln Avenue that could fit a car. Of course, the Whittier Narrows Recreation Area is full of awesome bike trails, and you can ride all over the place, and visit the nearby Bosque del Rio Hondo park just across San Gabriel Blvd, or ride on the Whittier Narrows Dam about a mile to the south along the Class 1 bike path. Score one for bikes in the SGV!

The San Gabriel Valley, built on history, seems to celebrate it, as well as the vast natural expanse of the Whittier Narrows area. There may or may not be more of this...stay tuned!

Vlogstyle Episode 09: The Militant Votes For 'Pedro!

It's been a while since The Militant brought you a Vlogstyle adventure! This time, he spent last Saturday exploring the unique sights of San Pedro! Enjoy the sights of the port community, set to a very San Pedro soundtrack from The Minutemen, Ambrosia, Skwish Kricket and Art Pepper.

A Monumental Ode To The Beach Boys in Hawthorne

The Militant was in the Hawthorne area one day, not very far from the Crenshaw (M) Green Line station, when he saw a sign along 120th Street pointing to a "Beach Boys Monument."

But it was there, sandwiched in a little residential block between the 105 Freeway and Hawthorne Municipal Airport, that a curious red brick mantel-like landmark (dedicated in 2005) on the corner of Kornblum Avenue and 119th Street bears homage to its most famous native musical sons.

The inscription describes that on Labor Day weekend of 1961 (that's 50 years ago this weekend!) the brothers Carl, Dennis and Brian (no, not that one, stupid Giants fan) Wilson, along with their cousin, Mike Love and friend Al Jardine, got together on this site - the location of what was once the Wilson family home - to record a demo tape of their debut song "Surfin," giving birth to  a group called The Pendletones, who eventually renamed themselves The Beach Boys.

  The Wilson family household at 3701 W. 119th Street no longer stands there -- it was razed in the 1980s to build the Century Freeway (You could literally create another city if you put together all the homes, businesses and institutions that were cleared away to make the freeways...Militant sigh).

The group, as you all know, went on to make 36 Top 40 hits and get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. The Beach Boys are our Beatles, they defined a sound and style that was uniquely Los Angeles, uniquely Southern California. And they did so much more beyond the surfing boy imagery (Apparently the late Dennis Wilson was the only member of the band who actually rode the waves...).

Here's The Militant's favorite Beach Boys song of all time...Appropo? O_o


So on this Labor Day weekend, don't just do the same old same old late-summer ritual like you do every year, recognize the half century of our boys from Hawthorne -- do like Randy Newman says and crank up the Beach Boys, don't let the music stop. And if you're in the area, stop by The Beach Boys monument in Hawthorne...you can even take the (M) Green Line there.

Oh hey, remember this one? East Coast meets West Coast!!!

Uncommon Valor in Historic Filipinotown

With today being Veterans Day, the Militant wanted to find a monument in the City (aside from a Veteran Avenue street sign - speaking of which, ever notice that the Veterans Administration Hopsital is by Federal while the Federal Building is by Veteran?) that honored veterans somehow.

Back in August of '07, the Militant showed you this World War I memorial on Adams and La Brea in Mid-City, but this being a day to honor primarily the living veterans, rather than the dead ones (who have their own holiday), the Militant had to look elsewhere.

But he didn't have to bike that far. Working on operative tips, he discovered a relatively new veterans memorial, just west of Downtown, in a relatively hidden place called Lake Street Park, just north of Beverly Blvd in Historic Filipinotown (and around the corner from Brooklyn Bagel), that honors not just the courage of a certain group of veterans, but their unique battle, both during - and long after - the war.

Dedicated in 2006 and designed by public artist Cheri Gaulke, also known for her station art at the (M) Gold Line Lincoln Heights/Cypress Park stop, the Filipino World War II Veterans Memorial tells their story through five granite panels, which describe America's colonial relationship with the southeast Asian country, the role of Filipino soldiers during the war, particularly through Japanese occupation and such enduring events as the Bataan Death March.

But even after victory in 1945, the battle wasn't exactly over for the Filipino war veterans, who, through the Rescission Act of 1946, were ultimately denied the benefits promised to them during the war.

Since then, over time, the Filipino veterans received part of their benefits piecemeal - including some of the few surviving who received checks just this year, but not until they, their advocates in the Filipino community and their allies fought for it over the course of several decades.

Just then, right after the Militant took his pictures, as if on cue, a swarm of four helicopters from a Veterans Day ceremony flew almost nearly overhead.

It became a very appropriate VetsDay moment for the Militant.

Stay Militant, Veterans.

Givin' Props To The Firefighters on 9/11

The Militant will keep this post short on words.

Many people have their various feelings and opinions on September 11, 2001, from the jingoistic, to the mournful, to the shameful, to the conspiratorial. Everyone has a right to their own feelings.

Today, the Militant visited Los Angeles' World Trade Center Memorial at the Los Angeles Fire Department's Frank Hotchkin Memorial Training Center, just outside of Dodgertown in Elysian Park. The memorial includes an actual piece of the South Tower's second-floor steel column, which was damaged, yet still standing after the tower's collapse.

On the rear of the monument, pieces of the concrete floor can still be seen at the top edge (pictured below).
A plaque at the base of the memorial (pictured below) dedicates the structure to the FDNY firefighters who perished in the line of duty eight years ago today,
The facility itself has a similarly-themed story. It is located on what was formerly the Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Center. Nearly 29 years ago this month, a fire broke out in the main building and Frank Hotchkin, an LAFD firefighter, was killed while fighting the blaze, which was blamed on an electrical problem. In 1995, the military sold the facility to the LAFD, which turned it into a training center and, most appropriately, dedicated it memory of Hotchkin.

A ceremony today, dedicated to the 9/11 firefighters, as well as the first responders of last year's Metrolink disaster took place at the facility today.

A banner in memory of LACFD's Ted Hall and Arnie Quinones was put up just outside the Sunset gate of Dodger Stadium, where the public memorial for both firefighters will be held Saturday morning:
One of the Militant's operatives applied for a job at the LAFD, though he's yet to land the position, the Militant learned that it's not just a job where you just get up and commute to/from the office. You live your job. Your commute is a 3-story slide down a pole. Your office is your firefighter's suit. Whether you're responding to a false alarm or battling a hellish wildfire, the Militant gives massive props to firefighters everywhere.