Short History of the Canyon

History of Mills Canyon
(Adapted from Provisional History Synopsis for Mills Canyon - Rev. 8/9/97
by Bill Freedman)

Geography: Mills Canyon is comprised of 28 acres in the hills of Burlingame between Hillside and Adeline Drives on the south, and Arguello and Martinez Drives on the north (see map).
Mills Creek (formally known as Blackhawk Creek) transepts the length of the canyon from west to east.
A circular trail of about 2 miles in length was created by Ed Taylor and is maintained by the City of Burlingame and a volunteer group, The Friends of Mills Canyon.

Prehistory: Mills Canyon is a result of downcutting by Mills Creek into the Buri Buri ridge, the elongate hill presently being gradually pushed up along the northeast side of the San Andreas fault.
The north side of the canyon, the Franciscan formation, represents the Buri Buri ridge. It began to rise from the ocean bed about 3.5 million years ago. Polished beach pebbles and sand deposits accumulated here 2 to 3 million years ago, which is called the Merced formation. This land formation lies on top of the others.
The rocks we find here are varied, representing marine volcanic activity, sedimentation, chert, serpentine and greenstone. The latter two rocks were the product of strong compression and heat and are toxic to many plants, which may explain why the canyon supports so few different kinds of plants and trees.

Indigenous Peoples: The Salshon triblet of the Castonoan people lived here 200 years ago.
They ate seafood from the bay and ocean, seeds, birds, nuts and small animals such as rabbits, deer, snakes and rodents.
Tule was used for baskets, huts and canoes when they visited the bay.
Indian mounds (middens) 4-6 feet high extending over an acre have been found along Mills, Easton, Sanchez and Burlingame creeks. These mounds consisted of debris from shellfish, bones, discarded chips from tool making, mortars and pestles.

Hispanic History: Father Pedro Font, in his diary of Don Juan Bautista de Anza (whose exploration founded the mission in San Francisco) was the first to mention the area now know as Burlingame.
From 1786 to 1791 most of the indigenous people of this area were rounded up and sent to the Dolores Mission for servitude to the Spanish. The Catholic Church’s San Francisco project failed, partly to the decimation of the indigenous people, poor weather and an epidemic in the San Pedro Mission (now Pacifica).
An outpost was set up at San Mateo Creek for the purpose of growing grain and raising livestock. One of the two satellite settlements was set up on Mills Creek near Adeline Drive.
In 1822 Mexico won liberation from Spain. The missions were secularized and land grants issued. The remaining indigenous people were released, but due to illness and the loss of their lands and way of life they did not survive beyond the early 1900’s.

Early U.S. History: In 1827, Don Jose Antonio Sanchez was granted the 14,639 acre Rancho Buri Buri, which extended from South San Francisco to Sanchez Avenue.
From 1846 to 1848, the United States and Mexico were engaged in war. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ceded Alta California to the United States in 1848.
In 1850, California became a state of the union.
W.D. Howard was the first American to own land in the Burlingame area. In 1856, James Wilson bought the 1500 acres between Mills Creek (Adeline Drive) and Millbrae Avenue. He sold this parcel in 1859 to millionaire banker Darius Ogden Mills. Mill’s brother-in-law, Ansel Ives Easton bought 1500 acres between Mils Creek and Sanchez Avenue. Our creek represents the border between Mill’s and Easton’s estates. Mill’s sister was named Adeline, hence the romance in the name given for the boundary street of his estate.

Contemporary History: In 1952, plans were begun to set aside this steep portion of the Mills Estate when subdevelopment was being planned. It was intended that the area remain as an open space preserve to be named Mills Canyon Park, as a part of the Open Space Component of the City General Plan.
From 1977 to 1982 Ed Taylor built the trail in Mills Canyon with the help of his friends.
In 1983, the Burlingame Parks Department dedicated the trail to the late Ed Taylor.
In 1986, The Friends of Mills Canyon was formed by Marjorie Taylor (Ed’s wife), Greg Holquist, Ken Bower, Anita Say and Bill Freedman. This group is active today, working to preserve Mills Canyon and the Ed Taylor Trail.