named for the ponderosa and gray pine trees that blanketed the hills.
Sada was born in 1910 in San Jose. Her parents sent her to Castilleja boarding school in Palo Alto, hoping that a good education in a more refined atmosphere might capture Sada’ s imagination for life’ s possibilities beyond the hardscrabble reality of ranching. Even so, Sada frequently wrote to her brother, Henry( Hank) Coe, of her longing to
Teenage Sada, circa 1928 return to Pine Ridge. The siblings remained close, and thankfully, Hank saved Sada’ s letters, which give insight into her passion for Pine Ridge.
By 1929, Sada had completed her education and was back on the ranch. Having gentled and trained her own horse, Sada eagerly participated in ranch work, including cattle drives for Pine Ridge and other ranches. Sada earned the respect of crusty ranch hands who confessed she could ride as well as any cowboy.
In 1931, Sada participated in the last big cattle drive – performed in the traditional way by riders on horseback – from the Eastern Diablo foothills across Highway 101 to the railroad at Madrone Station, south of San Jose. It was during a cattle roundup that she met Charles Robinson, a neighboring rancher, and they married a year later. For a time, they managed Pine Ridge for Sada’ s father and had 300 acres of their own in the foothills above Gilroy. Sada called it Knob Hill. money to buy it back. She spent a number of years living at Pine Ridge, managing a small herd of cattle with a few hired ranch hands.
Sada’ s final years at Pine Ridge were often spent in solitude. The winters were harsh and ranch amenities were few. She wrote poetry and prose to express her passion for Pine Ridge, and worked hard to get it published in the early 1960s.
Sada was known to outride the most seasoned cowboys
The Pine Ridge Association was formed in 1975 as a nonprofit chartered by the State of California to support education and interpretive programs at Henry W. Coe State Park. Today, the Association continues to publish some of Sada’ s literary work with permission from her daughters.
Sada and Charles had two daughters, Carmen( 1933) and Irene( 1942). However, the family was shaken when the couple separated in the late 1940s. Sada moved temporarily to the Los Altos-San Mateo area where she did some ranching and made some real estate investments.
Pine Ridge Ranch, circa 1932
Sada and George relax at Pine Ridge, now part of Henry Coe Park
When Sada gifted nearly 13,000 acres of her Pine Ridge Ranch in 1953, she named it Henry W. Coe Park, and she told Santa Clara County representatives,“ This vast wilderness should live forever as a park in memory of her people.”
Learn more about Henry W. Coe State Park and the Pine Ridge Association by visiting https:// coepark. net
In 1943, both of Sada’ s parents died. Her father bequeathed Sada’ s beloved Pine Ridge lands to her brother Hank. Perhaps the Coe family men believed cattle ranching was not a fitting inheritance for a woman, despite Sada’ s passion and capabilities, but she was not deterred. In 1949, she learned that Hank had sold Pine Ridge to the Beach Land and Cattle Company, and she used her own
" May these quiet hills bring peace to the souls of those who are seeking "
— Sada Coe Robinson
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