an American pioneer, built his home in Pescadero Valley in 1853. The rich, fertile soil of the valley had attracted other settlers, and in the 1860s Pescadero was a prosperous town surrounded by farms and lumber mills. According to a guidebook published by the California Coastal Commission, the residents of Pescadero recovered a large quantity of white paint from the 1853 wreck of the clipper ship Carrier Pigeon at Pigeon Point. The paint was "used liberally on all the town's buildings", and residents have since maintained the tradition of painting their houses white. However, other sources credit the 1896 wreck of the steamer Columbia as the source of the white paint. An article in the Wells Fargo Messenger states that a stagecoach salvaged from the Carrier Pigeon was laboriously hoisted up the cliffs onto the road, and put into service within a week. The coach, built in Concord, New Hampshire, carried passengers and freight on the Pescadero road for the Wells Fargo Company for forty years, and, in 1914, was listed among the company's prized possessions. Another tale relates that an Irishman named John Daly, who was employed driving pigs from Santa Cruz to Alexander Moore's Pescadero ranch, discovered some lumps of coal from the steamer Sea Bird'''s cargo on the beach at Ano Nuevo. Mr. Daly endeavored to parley his discovery into money which he might spend on whiskey. Since coal deposits had been rumored to exist in the area, Mr. Daly proceeded with his lumps of coal to Santa Cruz, announcing to Captain Brannan and three others that he had discovered a coal mine at Gazos Creek. After collecting his monetary reward, he led the four men up Gazos Creek in search of the alleged coal outcropping, with the intention of escaping and leaving his benefactors behind empty-handed. However, Captain Brannan, who was armed, managed to capture Daly and extracted a confession. Daly was administered a whipping on the spot and later fled the area. Notable people Steve Blank (born 1953), entrepreneur and academician Jessica Dubroff (1988–1996), 7-year-old pilot trainee who was killed in a plane crash Gordon Moore (born 1929), cofounder and chairman emeritus of Intel Corporation, and the author of Moore's law, grew up in Pescadero and resided there until he was about 10 years of age. His childhood home still stands as does the barn he played in (Pescadero Creekside Barn). Heinz von Foerster (1911–2002),