6/15/20: Sacramento's Capitol & Spectacular Murals!

Steven and I had arrived in California's state capital, Sacramento, the evening before, after spending the day in Carson City and Lake Tahoe. In 1839, Swiss emigrant Capt. John Sutter, the beneficiary of a 50,000-acre land grant from the Mexican government, settled at the confluence of the Sacramento and American rivers. The city of Sacramento was platted on Sutter's property in 1848, the same year the California Gold Rush began after gold was discovered near the American River. The city soon became a critical supplier to the gold miners and was chosen as the state's capital in 1854. 

Because of our interest in seeing state capitol buildings, we made a beeline for the State Capitol, which was built between 1860 and 1874 to resemble the US Capitol. We were very disappointed that, due to COVID-19, visitors were not allowed to enter the building or even walk the grounds.

The California State Capitol Museum was unlike any other. Rather than a building extolling the state's virtues, it encompassed the state legislature and also gardens, monuments, and statues in the adjacent Capitol Park. Part of it included the California Peace Officers' Memorial which was dedicated in 1988 "to those brave peace officers of this great state who have laid down their lives in the line of duty."

I remember so well how the landscaper kindly volunteered to move out of the way while I took this photo of the court buildings!

Nearby was the Leland Stanford Mansion, built in 1856 and where three governors and their families lived during the 1860s. As president of the Central Pacific Railroad, Stanford negotiated deals to assist in the completion of the transcontinental railroad. The home was expanded in 1872, and after he died in 1893, it became an orphanage and residence for girls from the beginning of the 20th century until 1986. Stanford's mansion is now used for state receptions and meetings. As you may have guessed, Stanford founded the university that bears his name, located in Silicon Valley.

We were bummed, but not surprised, that we couldn't tour the museum either. I was only able to take these photos through a fence!

The California State Library had an impressive granite exterior. We would have liked to enter and see the 100-foot mural by a California artist, but, of course, that was not to be. 

It was wonderful to be back in California and see the majestic palm trees. These bordered Capitol Park.

Just the day before, we'd seen a copy of the Liberty Bell by the Nevada state capitol in Carson City. Here was California's copy!

In the park's Civil War Grove of trees, saplings transplanted from southern battlefields were dedicated in 1897 to the memory of Union veterans. 

San Franciscan Thomas Starr King was a minister, a fierce defender of the Union during the Civil  War, an advocate of racial justice, an admired educator, and a pioneering nature writer. King was credited with keeping California from seceding at the beginning of the Civil War. As a measure of his importance, the King monument was the first in the park.

The statue of Father Junipero Sierra was in honor of the first Franciscan missionary "who brought civilization to California," and, because of his character, he "deserves a foremost place in the history of the State."

I hope you will be as moved as I by these images of the Vietnam Memorial 1959-1975 in the park. Some of the most eloquent words for me was the phrase: All Gave Some, Some Gave All. 

Look at the ages of the men who gave their lives for the country - how tragically young they were.

Near the memorial in the park was the World Peace Rose Garden, where there was a strong presence from the Hmong Freedom Fighter Veterans who "fought for the American values of democracy and peace in Laos. Many emigrated to the US and became American citizens." In this divided nation, it was impossible to disagree with the Hmong wish that "May we all live in peace, harmony, and appreciation of one another."

The beauty of the roses was enhanced by the heartwarming, often profound words students had penned about peace.

The Capitol from another view in the park:

The Firefighters' Memorial in Capitol Park:

It was like we were back in Sevilla, Spain, again when we saw a massive number of Seville Orange trees. Sadly, it appeared that many oranges had been left to rot on the ground rather than being picked and given to those in need. A sign forbade people from either climbing the trees or picking their fruit. 

On our walk to see some murals that Sacramento is rightly famous for, we happened to pass the charming Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. Like so much in the city then, the church was also closed. 

A few blocks away from the Capitol, many buildings were boarded up to prevent looting, as we were in Sacramento, not long after George Floyd was killed at the hands of police in Minneapolis. 

As I don't know anything about the origins of the murals in Sacramento's Midtown District and their artists, I will let these pictures I took speak for themselves. 

It was so sad seeing the devastation wrought by some people protesting police brutality. 

"Murals" of another type: 

A sign by some photos on the AT&T building described "a complete telephone man" from 1911 as being "mobile, mechanized, and well-equipped." He carried phones on his back and chest, and on his bike, as well as tools around his waist.

Our walk took us to the Governor's Mansion State Historic Park, which was occupied by 13 California governors and their families from 1903 to 1967. The mansion was built in the Second Empire Italianate style in 1877 for a hardware merchant. Some of the flowers, shrubs, and trees on the grounds were planted the year the mansion was completed!

I don't know whether the chain-link fence was put up because of concerns that the site could be a target for protesters or because of work at the Governor's Mansion. Whatever the reason, the fence looked cheap and tacky to me. 

Pretty colorful mural by the Avis car rental lot, don't you think?!

Even lowly utility boxes were attractive in Sacramento!

After wondering who Lady Bird is or was to have a mural made in her honor, I did the obvious thing and googled it. There was a film of the same name released in 2018, primarily filmed in Sacramento, and the mural was also a credit to the director's roots in the city. 

Improv Alley was one of the most colorful and artistic alleys I could imagine! It was like being in an outdoor art museum without any of the stuffiness one often associates with art museums or galleries!

These may not have been the murals we or anyone else usually associate with Sacramento's spectacular murals, but they certainly spoke of this moment in time. 

The legendary Johnny Cash was on one of the largest murals we saw in the city. If we're ever in the city again, I would love to see more of its murals, especially with someone who knows something about the muralists and their various subject matter. 

We walked back through Capitol Park to return to our car. We had to pause, though, to take in the immense and grand Italian Stone Pine tree.

The park was so large that we hadn't seen the Purple Heart Memorial on our first go-through. I hadn't known before this that the Purple Heart was the country's oldest military decoration. 

Before leaving the state capital, we took some time to walk around Old Sacramento, a four-block section of the city that had been the city's downtown during the Gold Rush era. Strolling along the cobblestone streets and wooden sidewalks was like taking a walk through a time gone by. 

We didn't need a sign to tell us this statue in Old Sacramento honored a rider of the Pony Express, as we'd seen one very similar in Carson City just the morning before! The 1,966-mile journey started here in Sacramento and ended in Hamilton, Missouri. Only one pouch of 3,500 pieces of mail was lost by the 121 riders and 800 horses during the Express's 18-month existence. The riders helped to end California's isolation from the rest of the Union.

The almost school-bus-yellow Tower Bridge was located in Old Sacramento.  I couldn't have planned it any better, having this car from a bygone era pass us as we left Old Sacramento!

Next post: Wandering through The University of California at Davis Arboretum, i.e., wasting time before we could meet our first grandchild in San Francisco later that afternoon!

Posted on August 26th, 2020, from Montgomery, Alabama, our last night on the road for a while, as we hope to stay ensconced at a cabin at a state park in Florida's Panhandle for the next two weeks, that is, if we don't have to evacuate because of a hurricane! Our best to each of you during these troubling times.