The skies turned oceanic, or seemed that way. Dams and reservoirs filled beyond capacity and burst. Flash floods barraged every canyon and arroyo. They carried off barns and houses, some rolling head over heels on the rapids.
June 26, 2003
History
San Diego's five worst floods
San Diego veterans of World War II's Bataan Death March sue Mitsui, Mitsubishi
"I live a perfect life,” Lester Tenney told me. “I’ve been a very fortunate man.” We were sitting in the sunshine on his patio on Mount Soledad. Betty, his wife of over 40 years, had …
March 13, 2003
The True Marchers
By poring over the account book and analyzing the entries in it, Crosby eventually deduced the identities of all 36 of the soldiers in the first and second expeditions. (Previously, only 8 had been conclusively identified.)
October 31, 2002
Our Saintly Namesake
Diego turned the convent into a hospital. During the plague, he was”caught kissing the sores of those affected with a contagious disease, he replied that it was the best way to treat this kind of illness.”
August 8, 2002
San Diego remembers the deluge
Travelers from San Diego to Los Angeles had to drive west around Mt. Soledad, through Pacific Beach and La Jolla. On December 13, 1930, the Rose Canyon Highway opened: a five-mile shortcut on the east slope of Soledad.
August 1, 2002
Life Along the San Diego River
“There were two different swimming holes. The girls would have one and the boys would sneak up there, and the girls would be swimming nude and we would try to swipe their clothes.
July 25, 2002
Return of the Native
In memory, I, a toddler, am seated on old George Marston’s lap. On another evening, Laurence Klauber tells me all about snakes, while in a corner, Colonel Fletcher booms on about the virtues of real estate.
November 21, 2001
Immigrant secrets
Ah Quin pawned some jewelry. When he suffered general financial instability toward the end of his life, he also had to sell some of the dozen businesses in San Diego in which he was involved.
November 1, 2001
Cortés Looks for Amazons
“Nearly a decade before Jiminez discovered Baja California, Cortés had heard accounts of an island rich in pearls and gold and, ‘inhabited only by women without any men.’ Jiminez, then, may have known what to look for.”
September 13, 2001
Guests Ate Well in Presidio
What struck visitors to the region was how freely families shared their plenty. “Housewives felt that food should not be sold to neighbors or those in need and gave of their abundances anyone who was hungry."
August 2, 2001
Crude camp on non-Christian land
When Monterey’s presidio was established, the importance of San Diego’s fortification was diminished. San Diego’s harbor and climate were exceptional, but the surrounding country was not as fertile, so it became more of a way station.
July 19, 2001