The hook
Two stone pillars ten paces apart in a Daly City park mark the last great American duel, where a sitting US senator was shot dead in 1859.
01Why it's worth it
Behind a golf course near Lake Merced, two low pillars labeled "Broderick" and "Terry" stand exactly ten paces apart on the spot where, in 1859, US Senator David Broderick and California's former chief justice David Terry settled a bitter feud over slavery with pistols. Terry killed Broderick, and the outrage helped turn California against slavery on the eve of the Civil War. It's remembered as the "last notable American duel," and standing between the two markers, pacing off the distance, is a small, strange, free brush with a violent, half-forgotten piece of California history.
02How to experience it
It's in a small park off Lake Merced Boulevard near the Daly City–SF line, behind the golf course; look for the signed pillars. A five-minute stop, easy to fold into a Lake Merced loop.