Los Angeles River to Mission San Buenaventura

This is a continuation of my retracing George Q. Cannon’s 1849 journey.

On Thursday, January 17, 1850, the combined Rich and Hunt companies were camped near the Los Angeles River outside Pueblo de Los Angeles. Henry Bigler noted, that as they “had all been buying and living together”, a “general settlement was made” among themselves. They got moving at 9:00 a.m. and traveled nine miles and camped again on the Los Angeles River, near “a deserted ranch.” Bigler noted that this was the same spot he’d camped the “first night after” he “was discharged from service” in the Mormon Battalion, “with Captain Everett and Company.”

The next morning, Friday, January 18th, a cow was purchased from a “Spaniard” for $10.00 and it was “dressed and divided” among the “camp.” Charles Rich, Jefferson Hunt and 10 to 15 other men who had mules, prepared “to pack and go ahead of the wagons. The brethren were called together who were to remain with the wagons,” which included George Q. Cannon, and elected Howard Egan “captain by a unanimous vote of the company.” They traveled 10 to 12 miles “and stopped near a spring” where “a family” of “Spaniards or Indians” lived.

Saturday morning, January 19th, Rich, Hunt and the others on mules left to go ahead. However, by the end of the day, after traveling 12 miles, the company headed by Howard Egan caught up and camped with them “near a warm spring” in “the timber”.

Sunday morning, January 20, 1850, Rich and Hunt's pack company and Egan’s wagon company “set off together[,] but the pack company will go ahead and see Amasa [Lyman] and learn where the best [gold] diggings” are. The pack company will get there more quickly by shaving off “2 or 300 miles”. Egan’s company traveled 12 miles and “camped under some live oak trees.” It was “beautiful camping.”

Monday morning, January 21st, “Some of the cattle [were] missing” and everyone “except the cooks turned out to hunt for them[.]” The cattle were “soon found[.]” The Egan company traveled 20 miles on a good road “except for one hill which was very steep” to ascend. On top they had a “full view of the ocean.” They camped “near where a Spaniard” lived, “in the timber” near a river which emptied into the ocean. They heard the “rustling of the sea…all night.”

It rained during the night. In the morning, Tuesday, January 22nd, Addison “Pratt’s old ox” was missing. The entire company searched for the ox for awhile, then James Brown and a few others remained to look for the ox while the rest of the company moved on. The ox was found and sold “to a Spaniard for $10”. The Egan company traveled six or eight miles to Mission San Buenaventura and “called a halt” until Brown and the others arrived. Below, the Mission is at appeared in about 1900.

A picture I took when we visited last year.

The Egan company then traveled another two miles and camped on a beach near the sea.

The Mission San Buenaventura is located at 211 East Main Street in Ventura, California. In 1845, 11 years after the missions were secularized, the Mission San Buenaventura was rented to Don Jose Arnaz and Narciso Botello. This is how it was when the Egan company arrived. It was later illegally sold to Arnaz. The Mission was returned to the Catholic Church by the U.S. government in 1862.

The Egan company is now following El Camino Real, the "King's Highway." 21 missions, from San Diego de Alcala to San Francisco de Solano, two pueblos, including El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles, and four presidios were established about a days travel apart.

Baked Pheasant

I previously made baked quail that I loved. I cooked four quail weighing about 4.5 ounces each. They were moist and wonderful. I followed that up with baked chukar partridge that I really didn't like. I followed the same basic recipe, but the chukars, about 1 pound each, were substantially dryer and we didn't even eat them all. After the chukar, I decided if I used the similar recipe on a larger game bird, I would need to add more soup and use more bacon.

I had some frozen pheasant that I decided to pull out and cook while Andrew was at home. I was worried about it as I've not had very good experiences with pheasant. It has always seemed to me very dry and pretty tasteless. I assumed that my quail/chuckar recipe, without substantial variation, would be a larger and dryer version of the not-very-tasty chukar. The pheasant was 2 pounds, 3 ounces, more than double the weight of the chukars.

The pheasant out of the package.


I didn't initially look at the recipe, but just started in from memoery. I cut the pheasant in half.

I took several tbs. of Emeril's Essence Creole Seasoning which I made for a frog legs recipe on Saturday and mixed it into some flour, then coated both sides of the pheasant. I recently read that American's love bacon. If you want a good recipe, then put in bacon. The more the better. Given my concern about dry pheasant, I decided to completely wrap the pheasant halves in bacon and then cooked a few extra pieces as well. I didn't fry the coated and bacon-wrapped pheasant halves in oil, but they didn't need it. The bacon provided sufficient grease.

I put both pheasant halves in a casserole dish and then layed the extra bacon on top of them.

I'd used golden mushroom soup for the quail and cream of mushroom soup for the chukar, which was not as good. So I used a can of golden mushroom soup. For additional flavor, I added in about 4 tbs. of apricot jam and that much or more Ramayani Chicken-Rib Sauce to give it some sweetness.

Then on top of it, I put a package of frozen beans and carrots.

I didn't have access to the recipe. So I put it in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and pulled it out. It was not anywhere near cooked and it was midnight, so I put it in the refrigerator for the evening and went to bed.

In the morning, I looked up my entries for quail and chukar and decided I needed to add more soup and cook it another half hour. I added bean and bacon soup, thinking the bacon flavor would go well with all the bacon already in the casserole dish. After half an hour of additional baking, and another 10 minutes with the lid off, I tested it and it still was not sufficiently cooked. So I put it in the oven for another 30 minutes and that did the trick.

It turned out substantially better than I'd hoped. The bacon, jam and sweet rib sauce spiced it up dramatically. The pheasant was still moist, or as moist as pheasant gets. It was very good. I kind of liken it to corn-on-the-cob where you enjoy it for the butter, salt and pepper that you heap on it.

When Andrew got up, I had him try it and I enjoyed his reaction. He thought it was very good. He really liked the blend of spices.

So, I think I've found the way to cook the larger and dryer game birds. Lots of soup, bacon and added sweetener. I'm actually looking forward to the left-over pheasant.

Canyon Treefrog

The canyon treefrog has a completely different distribution than the Pacific treefrog or California treefrog. It is found in all, but Western Arizona, in Southern Utah, Western New Mexico and mainland Mexico. It is brown, cream or olive-gray and and does not have an eyestripe. It may be blotched or spotted, but often has no pattern. It more closely resembles the California treefrog than the Pacific treefrog, but because their ranges do not overlap, identifying them is not a problem. All of the photos below were taken near Havasupai in Northern Arizona.

The voice is quite a bit different than the Pacific or California treefrogs. Here is a mating call. Here is a regular call.

The following photos are poor, particularly with the flash reflected in the glass. But they do give an example of the underside, webbing and toe pads of the canyon treefrog.

California Treefrog

The California treefrog is similar to the Pacific treefrog, but it has a much smaller distribution. It is found in the coastal half of Southern California and down into Baja California and its distribution is very spotty. It is usually gray or brown with dark blotches and usually has no eyestripe (which characterizes the Pacific treefrog). The California treefrog has more webbing on the hindfeet and larger toe pads than the Pacific treefrog. The ranges of the California treefrog and Pacific treefrog overlap, but they are rarely found in the same locality. The California treefrog, below, was found near the East Fork of Mission Creek in the San Bernardino Mountains. It was in the foothills and deserty area. It has some sand clinging to its body.

This California treefrog was found in Millcreek Canyon, also in the San Bernardino Mountains. It was in a more mountainous and less deserty area. It is on a piece of cloth.

The remaining California treefrogs were photographed in Borrego Palm Canyon in Anza Borrego Desert State Park. This area was all desert with a small stream, not the kind of spot you would normally expect to find frogs.

Note the lack of eyestripe.

This frog was a darker color, but still lacks the eyestripe of the Pacific treefrog.

Unfortunately, I don't have a good picture of the webbing on the hind legs.

Pacific Treefrog

The Pacific Treefrog is a small frog (3/4 to 2 inches long) found along the coast from Baja California to lower British Columbia and inland into Nevada, Idaho and Montana. The most distinctive characteristic is a dark eyestripe. The color on the back can vary greatly, from plain green or tan to brown. Some have dark splotches and they often have a triangular dark spot on the head. The one below was found at Live Oak Canyon Tree Farm in Yucaipa and is more of a tan, green. It is photographed on a white wall to help it stand out.

This photo of the same frog gives a better view of the eyestripe.


And this photo gives a different view of the eyestripe and a good view of the toe pads.

This Pacific treefrog was photographed in July 2009 near Thousand Island Lake in the Ansel Adams Wilderness in the Sierras. It is also a tan/green, but has more splotches on the back.

This Pacific treefrog was photographed near San Simeon Creek and is a dark brown with more elongated splotches. It also has the triangular spot on its head.

This Pacific treefrog was also found near San Simeon Creek, but is not as dark and the splotches are less pronounced.

Despite their small size, these frogs can belt out a chorus that travels great distances. This croaking frog was photographed at Live Oak Canyon Tree Farm in a water trough.

The sounds of various Pacific treefrogs can be heard at this site. They vary quite amazingly.

Frog Legs: Sauteed with Tomato Garlic Butter

We've had two packages of frog legs in the freezer waiting for a special occasion. Dave and Bonnie Kenison were staying with us and Andrew came home for the weekend, so it was a perfect time to do them. The recipe is from Emeril Lagasse. The two packages were a combined 1.8 pounds. The recipe called for one pound, so I doubled it. Below, the packaged frog legs.

First, I made Emeril's Essence Creole Seasoning. It was 2 1/2 tbs. of paprika, 2 tbs. salt, 2 tbs. garlic powder, 1 tbs. black pepper, 1 tbs. onion powder (which we didn't have, so I used shallot salt), 1 tbs. cayenne pepper, 1 tbs. dried oregano and 1 tbs. dried thyme (we only had ground thyme, so I used 1/4 tbs. instead). Once this was made, we used 1 tbs. (doubled to 2 tbs. for our doubled batch).

I've never dealt with frog legs before, so I wasn't quite sure what it mean't when the directions said to cut the frog legs in half. However, as you can see, Andrew is holding a pair of frog legs and the legs are still connected.

Here is the full 1.8 pounds of connected frog legs.

Then I cut them at the joint so that each leg was separate.

I combined most of the 2 tbs. Essence Creole Seasoning into 2 cups of flower and coated the frog legs with it, also putting a little of the seasoning directly on the frog legs. I put a 1/2 cup of butter (1 cube) into a frying pan on medium heat and started to cook the coated frog legs.

After 2 to 3 minutes, we turned them over and cooked them another 2 or 3 minutes on the other side.

Then we added 1/2 cup of cut up leeks (it was supposed to be shallots) and 2 tbs. of minced garlic.

After about 1 minute, we added a cup of chopped fresh tomatoes and cooked it for a minute.

Then we added a cup of white grape juice (substituting it for dry white wine) and simmered it for about 2 minutes and then served it. It looked really outstanding. However, the taste was a bit of a disappointment. The frog legs were not as flavorful as we expected, given all of the ingredients. They were still a little bland. It was good, but not great, but very fun as a conversation piece and activity.

We ate it all. The frog legs are easy to debone. They are large enough to handle and the meat came easily off the bone.

I've had frog legs before at Lambert's in Missouri, at a private catered party and at least one other place I don't recall. I've liked them better at those places. However, I'll try them again some time and hope to improve upon my first attempt.

Mountain Yellow-Legged Frog

The stars seem all aligned for a blog on frogs this morning. We have Dave and Bonnie Kenison staying with us, in Redlands for the wedding reception of their daughter. In their honor, as well as in honor of Andrew coming home for the weekend, we are going to have frog legs for lunch. They are thawing on the counter. Then I opened The Press-Enterprise this morning and on the front page is an article, "Clinging To Survival," all about the captive breeding of mountain yellow-legged frogs, a highly endangered species in our Southern California mountains.

Several years ago, there were believed to be only 122 mountain yellow-legged frogs left in their Southern California habitat in the San Gabriel, San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains. A number of frogs were caught, in addition to tadpoles, and are being raised by the San Diego Zoo in hopes to be able to reintroduce them into the mountains again someday. Then, just recently, several of the wild frogs were seen in the San Jacinto Mountains, the first ones seen there in 50 years.

This article reminded me of my first trip to the Sierras in 1993. We were on the backside of Mount Whitney, above Guitar Lake, at a small stream at about 11,550 feet in elevation. We were getting water for our final ascent of Mount Whitney. See Kirk Thompson, Matt Cannon and Brian Lenhof below, near the stream on the flank of Mount Whitney.

There Peter Walker caught a mountain yellow-legged frog, the only one I've ever seen.

It was a reddish-brown above, with dark spots.


The underside of its legs and belly were yellow.

The mountain yellow-legged frog is the only frog in the high Sierras of California. The only other place it is found is in the three above-named mountain ranges in Southern California. I'm not sure how it is doing in the Sierras, but I assume they are struggling as are most frog species world-wide. I feel privileged to have seen one and hope to have that privilege again sometime in our local mountains.