ISLAIS CREEK
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Islais Creek they say bears it name from a berry that used to grow on the banks of the Creek. Islais Creek is well documented by many historians and once was full of herring and other fish. Much of that which once flourished is now no more!
On the out skirts of the Presidio of San Francisco you have Lobos Creek. These two creeks have fascinated me because along their banks many a great person spent some precious moments. Many of them have not been recorded and that is good - because the best that is should not be recorded to be defiled by methods that are finite. Once all around Islais Creek were miles of wet lands and marshlands. All sorts of grass, thousand kinds of insects and worms, hundreds of different birds, many species of fish, animals like the deer, hare, bear, and even the Mountain Lion abounded - now have all vanished. From the Twin Peaks, passing through Glen Park and onwards by Mission Dolores - passing by Army Street and Industrial Street - all along to what we now call Islais Creek - but this so called Creek went beyond where today one can look for it - but all you see is concrete. Creeks, rivers, lakes, oceans should be clean and not be polluted. Our children and youth understand this but adults do not - again and again greed and unethical methods - pollute that which should be pure. Islais Creek and Lobos Creek are symbols of what was once free flowing and good. Today, these two creeks - just two many that once ran free in San Francisco - tell another story. These creeks cry to heaven to be released and freed from anything that chokes them. This article will have a photograph of a flower - when you look at it - you will see in it the beauty that was bestowed on it - when you look at it - you should visualize the purity of the flower. You can go beyond and thank nature for creating so many dimensions that uplift the human spirit. You can see the waters by Islais Creek and it is not pure. Water has always fascinated me all over the world. From the waters be it in the Oceans, the Lakes, the Rivers, and the Creeks - life in all its form originated. It is on the banks of many Lakes, rivers, and creeks that many a civilization began. In San Francisco thousands quenched their thirst from the waters of Lobos Creek. And near by Mountain Lake. The creek that we call Islais Creek as it journey from Twin Peaks to its current destination - quenched the thirst of many an animal and man - life. Today, Islais Creek is polluted. Of all the pollutants that man could have thought of - raw sewage and secondary effluents often are pumped into Islais Creek. This is a shame and tells the world how we treat what should have been very precious. Disrespect for Mother Earth. I say this because once man is power hungry, greedy, and absorbed by expanding without proper planning - man loses sense of what life is all about. Man thinks twice before poisoning himself but he will not think twice before polluting the Oceans, Lakes, Rivers and Creeks. At one time millions of herring flourished right where now stands Islais Creek. In fact there were huge buildings that cured herring and other fish for sale to the public. No more. Seals, herons, ducks, some fish, other forms of depleted life come to Islais Creek in and out of season. They see, they look, and they do not find what has been ingrained in their genes. Much like many of the old timers who see what is around them by Islais Creek and do not say a word. We can pollute our rivers and creeks and so much - when will we learn to stop, pause and heal. Lobos Creek and Islais Creek are symbols of what once were and now are no more. Once they were pure, embraced all life and gave life. The first people lived along the shores and banks of many of the water channels that abounded all over the Bay Area and San Francisco. Shellfish, herring, many kinds of berries and fruit, and other kinds of edible vegetation were in plenty. No more. |
"Native American Head" - by David Erickson (made from contour map of the immediate area).
