Joshua Cowell — the man who was called “The Father of Manteca” by his peers — would likely be amazed if he were to stand on his one-time front porch on Yosemite Avenue at 2:40 p.m. on a school day and surveyed what was in front of him.
His front porch would have been in the Bank of America lobby in the 100 block of East Yosemite Avenue. The timing is minutes after the final bell rings at Manteca High. And the amazing thing would be the number of people who don’t walk.
It’s not that every student at Manteca High — or any other modern-day school for that matter — doesn’t walk home to and from campus. A lot do.
Rather it’s the fact a lot of us whether we’re 60 years old or a teen can’t seem to bring ourselves to walk a mile or two without considering it exercise. A mile in Manteca can be measured by the distance from Yosemite Avenue to Louise Avenue or Main Street to Union Road. And to walk that mile in 100 degree heat or in the rain would be considered downright crazy.
Now consider this: In late 1862 after living there two years, Cowell departed the Carson Valley in Nevada that is due east of Lake Tahoe and headed to Manteca.
Based on today’s roadways it is a distance of 160 miles. Google says in decent traffic and pleasant weather conditions you can make the trip in 3 hours and 22 minutes.
It took Cowell slightly longer. Back in January 1863 there was no paved road over Carson Pass. The first car was 22 years away from being invented. Cowell didn’t have a horse. He walked the entire distance.
Rest assured Cowell bought a horse or two shortly after making his first purchase in what is now Manteca. That first purchase that was done immediately upon arriving was to buy a ranch that constituted all of what today is central Manteca. Cowell by no means had Luddite tendencies. When mass-produced automobiles reached early day showrooms in the San Joaquin Valley such as blacksmith shops and general mercantile stores, Cowell bought an automobile.
It’s highly unlikely that Cowell would have used his car to go from his home that has been replaced by the Bank of America branch to the 7-Eleven at Powers Avenue. First, if he needed something he could walk two blocks away to Lauriston’s General Merchandise on the corner of Yosemite and Lincoln avenues where he could also fuel up his Model T. Secondly Powers Avenue was out in the country. Manteca High back in 1920 was on the edge of town.
That said, rest assured walking less than a mile wouldn’t have killed him.
Today if most of us walked a mile — let alone two miles — besides just for exercise family or friends would think there must be something wrong with our car.
But here’s something to think about. People back in 1920 and beyond in Manteca and elsewhere walked most places. Granted there was a lot less of Manteca back then. But even when people had a Model T, they didn’t replace all walking with it.
Now back to 2:40 p.m. on a school day. This is not meant to be an indictment about teens or any student for that matter, but Manteca High serves as a prime example of how we’ve made our reliance on the car a crutch more so than a convenience.
There are over 1,600 students at Manteca High. Some live in the country. Others may have a job or a doctor’s appointment after school. Most don’t.
Louise Avenue at Pestana Avenue is about 2.5 miles away. The vast majority of students live within 2.5 miles of the campus.
This is not to imply they are lazy for getting rides. It does, however, underscore how all us view 2.5 miles as too far to walk under almost any circumstance. Experts in such things say a typical young person can cover 3.37 miles in an hour and those who are older can average 2.95 miles per hour. Brisk walks shorten the time and increase the heart rate.
There was a reason why Cowell — who died at age 83 — was considered spry. His days of toiling in the fields and various enterprises helped but he also walked a lot.
We don’t have time for exercise because we’re too busy paying for the modern conveniences and our modern lifestyle.
But in the end we pay for modern convenience and our modern lifestyle twice via health issues.
I’m not too sure exactly what Cowell would think if he were looking from his front porch today at 2:40 p.m. But I’m sure he’d notice the Manteca High students walking along Yosemite Avenue were moving faster than the traffic and they look a whole lot happier than the drivers that are sitting in their cars waiting for things to move.
Walking 160 miles to reach Manteca didn’t kill Cowell.
However if more and more of us can’t walk a mile or so it may kill the “people feel” of Manteca that a lot of us say we love.

This column is the opinion of executive editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Bulletin or Morris Newspaper Corp. of CA.  He can be contacted at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com or 209.249.3519.