The San Juan Eagle & the Alert No.1 - San Juan Bautista, CA - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

The sign accompanies the first named vehicle and informs us:

"THE SAN JUAN EAGLE

This hand-pulled hookand ladder was built in 1869
and was used for 40 years by the volunteer fire department.
It was operated by a 16-man crew. Ten men wearing special
shoulder straps pulled on the long cloth harness while the
others pushed or pulled when needed to act as brakes. When
not fighting fires the crew entered wagon races against other
fire departments. The local boys won first prize at Santa
Cruz in 1882, then won the 'World Championship' at
Monterey in 1884. The proud Eagle was retired in 1909."

'The Alert No.1'

The City of San Juan Bautista acquired the 'Alert No.1'
in 1909 when the new water main and fire hydrants were
installed, allowing the use of hoses. This cart, too, was
used in competition. The team called the 'Dobs' consisted
of ten men.
It took great skill to keep the wagon on course. During a
1913 training session the cart went out of control, hitting a
team member and the trainer. Undaunted, the 'Dobs'
competed anyway and brought home a prize of fifty dollars."

Group that erected the marker: San Juan Bautista State Historic Park. Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: San Juan Bautista State Historic Park. San Juan Bautista, CA USA URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Take a picture of the marker, preferably including yourself or your GPSr in the photo. A very detailed description of your visit may be substituted for a photo. In any case please provide a description of your visit. A description of only "Visited" or "Saw it while on vacation" by anyone other than the person creating the waymark may be deleted by the waymark owner or the category officers.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   11/10/2014 Metro2 visited it