Up until the 1850s, the East Bay was home to hundreds of grizzlies and some of the tallest redwoods in the history of the planet. Within about a decade of the Gold Rush, nearly all of the bears and the trees were wiped out. This episode looks back at the local environment before colonization—and explores how such a massive wave of devastation was able to change the landscape so quickly.

Today's show features interviews with Laura Cunningham, author of “State of Change: Forgotten Landscapes of California,” and Amelia Sue Marshall, author of “East Bay Hills: A Brief History.” For more information on these books, visit:

https://lcunningham-art.com/books

https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Products/9781467137256

About Long Lost Oakland:

The goal of Long Lost Oakland is not to evoke nostalgia or romanticize past eras. It’s to highlight the constantly shifting nature of Oakland in midst of a moment when we can look around and literally watch the landscape of our city change before our eyes.

This multimedia collaboration will consist of a podcast mini-series, several events, a walking tour and a hand-illustrated, poster-size map. The full-color map will include an array of geographic features ranging from buildings and infrastructure to plants and animals. The unifying theme of these objects is that they once existed in Oakland, but don’t anymore.

Long Lost Oakland will blend art and history in order to explore how our past connects to the world we live in today and the future we may be living in soon.

*Kickstarter to fund map printing coming soon!* To receive updates, follow East Bay Yesterday on social media and sign up for the newsletter:

https://eastbayyesterday.com/ https://tinyletter.com/EastBay_Yesterday