It was a picture to see the equestrian parade arrive, ride around the track and head in outside the fence facing the grand stand.
The parade of gaily dressed men, women, and children on horseback formed in front of the Salinas Library, and the excited gathering was a picture to be remembered. One saw the carefully planned detail of the costumes. There were horses of all types and descriptions, from the beautiful thoroughbred with its proud rider, to the old plow horse with its back loaded with excited youngsters.
At night the street was roped off and the dancing was mostly a community affair with everyone taking part.
Anne had moved into a “wild west” town, where she learned to enjoy the rich history and the beautiful natural surroundings of the county.
Monterey Peninsula
The Monterey Peninsula, surrounded by Monterey Bay and the Pacific Ocean, was the most populated area of Monterey County in 1913, as it is today. The city of Monterey was the first state capital of California in 1848. The area was rich in Mexican and Missionary heritage. After the 1906 earthquake centered in San Francisco, many artists and writers moved to the peninsula, when it started to become a major cultural center.
The three main towns on the Monterey Peninsula were Monterey, Pacific Grove, and Carmel, which all had their own city libraries when Anne started work in the County in 1913. Only Carmel joined the County Free Library system in the early days.
Santa Lucia Mountains
To the west of the Salinas Valley lies the Santa Lucia range of mountains roughly ten miles wide and one hundred miles long, stretching from Monterey south to San Luis Obispo County. There are several ridges up to 6,000 feet and many canyons stretching between the Salinas Valley and the ocean to the west. In 1913 there were only trails connecting the western part of the mountains with the valley. The area was sparsely populated in 1913 and remains so today.
Because access to the mountain settlements necessitated travel by horseback, early in her career Anne took horseback riding lessons in order to visit the rural library branches she wanted to establish.
“The Coast”
The last ridge of the Santa Lucia Mountains drops precipitously into the Pacific Ocean. The Big Sur coast runs for about eighty miles from south of the Monterey Peninsula towards San Luis Obispo County and San Simeon. It is nicknamed “The Coast.”
In the early 1900s, isolated pioneer families lived along this wild central coast of California, far beyond the reach of roads and railroads. They relied primarily on ships for large heavy supplies and on horse and stage coach for basic needs. Anne came to know many of these families. Through the years, she provided them with support, both of daily necessities and of cultural knowledge, through the libraries she established.
It is clear Anne enjoyed many adventures in her new home base as she settled into an environment that proved quite challenging for her as the new county librarian. She was determined to introduce culture to the residents and to stimulate an interest in learning. She spent the first few years setting up branches in nearby towns, after connecting with locals who were interested in becoming custodians of a local branch.
ANNE HADDEN in her own words:
MONTEREY COUNTY – DESCRIPTION
Monterey County has an area of 3,600 square miles and had a population at the last census of 24,146. Rugged and in places inaccessible mountains lie to the West, bordering the ocean, holding narrow fertile valleys and containing pockets of settlements. Mountains to the East also contained scattered settlements.
Between these mountain ranges lies the fertile Salinas Valley running from north to south the length of the County and extending into San Luis Obispo. The eccentric Salinas River flows through this valley, most of the year a shallow stream on the surface, but underneath, they say, one of the largest underground water courses in the country.
In winter, this river, fed from a large mountain area, breaks loose and storming through the land like a great dragon, carves out new courses, washing away hundreds of acres of fertile land, and carrying bridges and everything it meets away to the ocean.
In a year of heavy rains such as the present one has been [1913-1914], Monterey is a county of isolated settlements. Salinas itself was an island for several days. Monterey and Pacific Grove were isolated for a much longer time—Salinas being their nearest railroad station.
Other places are only now, after nearly four weeks regaining their touch with the outside world. Nearly all the bridges on all the water courses in Monterey County were carried away by the big storm in January, and it was a regret, owing to delays and difficulties at the outset, that only one of these cut-off communities had its County Library branch to fall back on during its period of isolation. That community was most appreciative.
We have five branches to go out into these districts as soon as the roads and river will permit. Some places in the mountains can still be reached only by horseback. Over the river baskets and pulleys are in some places being used for transportation of passengers and goods while the bridges are being repaired and rebuilt. Down at Soledad a big negro was the first to try this means of transportation, his weight was too much for the cable and he was precipitated into the flood. In other places a ferry is being used or a foot bridge spans the gap of broken bridge.
Many old Spanish grants are still intact in Monterey County and some of them are held by large corporations. This means that great tracts of land are sparsely settled. So much for geographical conditions.
Monterey is a County full of fascinating historical interest. There are three old missions within its limits and two others just over the boundary. Monterey was the center of the Spanish and Mexican life of the early days. Descendants of the old families are numerous and still hold in memory at least the old traditions.
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