By TRILBY BERESFORD | Reporter
On Tuesday, Sept. 4, 66 students from Canyon Charter Elementary School participated in the Rancho Boca de Santa Monica field trip to the Pascual Marquez Family Cemetery and La Senora Research Institute in Santa Monica Canyon.
The children learned how sections of Pacific Palisades and Santa Monica originated from a 6,656-acre Mexican land grant given to Francisco Marquez in 1839, and were able to meet Pascual’s son Ernie, his son Ernesto and cousin Sharon Kilbride.
Eric Dugdale, president of the Pacific Palisades Historical Society, spoke about how the original headstones in the cemetery were washed away by floods in the 1930s and a groundbreaking radar device was used, in addition to forensic canines, to locate wandering corpses.
Horticultural expert Ernesto hosted a tour of the native plant garden, enlightening the children about the different species and their significance.
To give some variety to the day, LAPD officers Rusty Redican and Jimmy Soliman gave a “walk to school” safety talk, during which plenty of questions were raised from the young and inquisitive audience members.
“The students all enjoyed the field trip and learned the history of the families that settled the land in which they live today,” Kilbride explained in email correspondence with the Palisadian-Post.
To complement the essential education that was generously passed down from one generation to another, the children each received the gift of a Rancho hat.
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