Posted: December 3rd, 2005

Historic grave open to public

By Kimm Groshong Staff Writer
Pasadena Star-News

ALTADENA - A judge has confirmed the public’s right to visit the
historic grave site of Owen Brown, the abolitionist and son of John
Brown “the liberator.”

Pasadena Judge C. Edward Simpson this week ruled in favor of a trails
group known as Save the Altadena Trails in the case it brought against
Michael Cichy, owner of the knoll where Brown was buried in 1889. Since
he purchased the land in January 2002, Cichy has been cited for county
violations and allegedly yelled at hikers and posted “No Trespassing”
signs to discourage visitors from using the path across his land.
Cichy, who represented himself in court, could not be reached for
comment.

Paul Ayers, the trail advocate and attorney who represented the trails
group, brought 15 witnesses to the stand to help establish that the
trail leading to the grave site had been in continuous public use since
the 1880s. “What the court has done is it has said there has been a
dedication there since the 19th century,” Ayers said. Therefore, he
said, Cichy cannot prevent people from using the trail or visiting the
grave site once Ayers prepares the judgment and the judge signs it - a
process Ayers says should be complete within a week.

Judge Simpson has previously ruled in favor of Save the Altadena Trails.
Last year in a case about access to another portion of the same trail,
Simpson found that the public’s use was “substantial, diverse and
sufficient to convey to the owner notice that the public was using the
passage as if it had a right so to do.” Since then, the defendants have
appealed the ruling.

Shari Asplund, a member of Save the Altadena Trails, said the group was
thrilled by the judge’s latest decision. “The judge totally understood
the big picture,” she said. The Altadena Foothills Conservancy hopes to
someday have the opportunity to conserve the property as a historic
area. “Certainly one of the things we’d like to do now that we’ve won
this case is to restore the grave site,” said Asplund, also a member of
the conservancy’s board.

The judge’s ruling is welcome news to local hikers such as Chris
Brennen, a Caltech professor of mechanical engineering. He remembers
hiking to the grave site in 2001 for Martin Luther King Jr. Day before
the grave marker mysteriously disappeared in 2002. Brennen said he found
it the perfect place to visit to honor King’s memory because Owen Brown
“represents a struggle that we always face in human rights between
striving for what is right and yet trying to do so in a nonviolent way.”
He said John Brown and most of his sons were known for their violent
approaches to the abolitionist movement. But Brennen said Owen Brown was
known to favor a more peaceful way and did not participate in the raid
at Harper’s Ferry, W.Va.

Tim Gregory, the historical consultant who testified during the trial,
said Owen Brown and his brother, Jason, built a cabin and wagon road
just above the area known today as The Meadows in Altadena in the 1880s.
When Owen died in January 1889, the city of Pasadena gave him a large
funeral that was attended by hundreds. His body was carried by wagon to
his final resting place atop the knoll known as Little Round Top.
Gregory said the grave site is historically important not only because
of the John Brown association, but especially because of Altadena’s
diverse population. “It’s kind of a symbol of peace between different
kinds of people,” he said. “It’s really of interest to a lot of people
and has meaning to a lot of people.”

Ayers said he had so many people wanting to testify about their use of
the trail and visits to the grave site that he could have easily put
together several days of testimony. “The thing about the grave site,” he
said, is that “it really resonates with people.”