Women’s Relief Corps Evergreen Home

May 23, 2016Artwork, Historical Researchcadwallader, civil war, downtown evergreen, evergreen, evergreen people, family, generations, hassler, street name, woman, women, women's relief corpsevergreen

This this project, I have met some amazing, exemplary women from the Evergreen Community. In fact, they have been the silent hands that guide this artwork and this narrative. Colleen Cortese inspires this work with her series of articles “Evergreen Pathways” published by the Evergreen Times, her curation of the Heritage Room at Evergreen Valley College, her historical work with St. Francis Asis Catholic Church on San Felipe Road and with her own kindness and time. Jennifer DiNapoli helped me find contemporary exemplary Evergreen individuals. Winnifred Coe Verbica is an awesome lady who had one foot in the city and one in the countryside. DeEtte Richmond Sipos is helping us look into Women in the workforce and one of the first Childcare services in regards to her great Grandfather’s business. Evergreen Elementary School District’s Superintendent, Kathy Gomez, is one of this projects and this narrative’s strongest allies. Denise Belilse runs a well-known Evergreen business in Evergreen Village Square, the Evergreen Coffee Company. Our Vice Mayor and councilwoman, Rose Herrera, continues a legacy of women leading the way in Evergreen. Women have been making Evergreen amazing, whether these ladies let me sing their praises or not.

There is a Woman’s organization whose been apart of Evergreen’s identity through the years which is undeniably a symbol of Evergreen, though it has long been forgotten. The Women’s Relief Corps Home in Evergreen can be found in publications and books published on landmarks of the Santa Clara Valley as far back at the 1890’s. This historical home on Cadwallader Avenue, then downtown Evergreen, was burnt now so it is an easily overlooked piece of Evergreen’s narrative. That having been said, the WRC is where women really show their leadership in early Evergreen.

Mr. Nirum Hart Cadwallader donated the 5 acres land for the Evergreen schoolhouse on San Felipe Road and Evergreen Road as early as 1860. Cadwallader aslo donated over 5 acres of land for the Women’s Relief Corps, which was funded by the Grand Army of the Republic following the Civil War. The GAR was made up of Civil War Veterans of the Army and Naval forces beginning in 1866. Women’s Relief Corps, recognized in 1883, were established across the United States of America to house veterans, widows and orphans of the Civil War. As time passed, they became hospitals for the chronically ill.

Evergreen’s Women’s Relief Corps Home was opened in 1889 off of Cadwallader Avenue near present day Thompson Creek and Keaton Loop. It was the only hospital of its kind in Santa Clara County. Though Mr. Nirum Cadwallader originally from Ohio continues to be a mystery, his contributions made to township of Evergreen, then a farming community, made it a more connected, hospitable, praiseworthy place. Mrs. Bayington was once of its earliest Matrons. Evergreen’s WRC would take on patients from around the country, seeking sanctuary from the devastation and injuries of the American Civil War.

Another place where the Women’s Relief Corps Home reoccurred in my research was looking into well-known Evergreen families.

Mineola Wheeler Hassler (1874-1958), pictured here to the left was the Home’s manager in 1899. Miss Mineola Wheeler married German immigrant and Evergreen land owner John Hassler in 1902 at her parents home. The Hasslers, after buying up land from Rancho Yerba Buena with the Kettmanns following land disputes, would come to own the ranch which is now known as “The Ranch Country Club” and Hassler Parkway area. The Hassler family’s bright red barn was very notable and even a point of tourism in the 1920’s.

Mineola would be employed with the Evergreen Home in 1896 and then become Matron of the Women’s Relief Corps in 1899 until 1902 when she married Mr. Hassler. She would raise her family where the now vacant fire station stands on Aborn Road.

The Women’s Relief Corps home would burn down in 1920 flames being seen as far as Norwood Avenue. It’s suspected that an ill patient lit the fire that seized the home. With California’s famed Golden Girl, Mrs. Geraldine Frisbie, the Evergreen patients were then transferred to Osborne Hall in 1921 in the township of Santa Clara. Santa Clara’s Osborne Hall, established by Dr. and Mrs. E. A. Osborne, would later develop into Angew Hospital. It would be one of the first hospitals for the feeble-minded, as Dr. Osborne pioneered the field from the 1870’s forward. With the GAR dissolving in the 1950’s, as Civl War veterans, widows and orphans were passing away, it repurposed the valuable sanctuary/hospital hall.

The artwork, in kind, for this piece of Women’s History in Evergreen, has done some developing as the leads get followed and the story becomes clearer. Here are the pieces we’ve worked up for the WRC with the last being the latest.

John J. Montgomery – Aviating Pioneer

May 9, 2016Artwork, Historical Researchairport, aviation, business, california, evergreen, evergreen people, flight, flying, glider, hillsides, invention, inventor, modern, monoplane, montgomery, plane, Santa Clara Universityevergreen

The town of Evergreen, still not apart of San Jose, was known for many things at the turn of the 20th century. One of the things, besides its plentiful fruit and famed wines, that put the Village of Evergreen and City of San Jose on the national map was the invention of modern flight. The inventor, engineer, and dare-devil John J. Montgomery would flight Man’s first controlled flight in 1883 and take flights from the Evergreen hillsides and in downtown San Jose in the early 1900’s. Montgomery and fellow aviator, Daniel Maloney, would give their lives for their passion and invention of flight.

John J. Montgomery, the son of a prominent lawyer brought out West by the Gold Rush, was born in 1858 in Yuba City/Marysville. As a boy, John Montgomery would observe flight through birds in the sky and use that as inspiration throughout his work. Montgomery would also be inspired by another early aviator’s demonstration during his boyhood. The Montgomery family would move into Oakland in 1864, where his father held a successful law practice. In Millbrae in 1869, a young John Montgomery would witness the flight of an airship, closer to a zeppelin or blimp, called the Avitor Hermes, Jr. Young Montgomery would go home to Oakland and build a model for himself. Only a hand full of people had ever been in flight. Back then, ships would be lifted by balloons of helium or hydrogen, and were only in air for a very limited amount of flight time, a matter of seconds, before descent.

People have been fascinated with flight but baffled by its execution. In a Greek Myth, Icarus would try to fly with wings of feathers and wax that melted as he approached the Sun. This creates the message that flight is beyond our grasp. There were totally kites going back in history. Leonardo Da Vinci would dream of inventing planes and helicopters in the 15th-16th century. Hot air balloons and the like would be used in the later half of the 18th century. Before John Montgomery’s time, balloons would be the only way to make flight possible, pioneered by Jacques Charles and the Robert brothers. The obstacle with preceding inventions for flight would fall short because they were too heavy to launch from the ground. The planes would simply fall.

John Montgomery attended St. Ignatius College in San Francisco, graduating in 1879 and obtaining his Masters in 1880. James Lick Observatory would begin construction in 1879 and John would’ve become aware of Santa Clara County’s elevations. Montgomery would start designing his flying machines in San Diego County in 1881 when his family moved there after college. After his hours working on the farm, he would pour the left over energy into his theories. John Montgomery would build models in the barn’s attic. These first designs, Montgomery would work with a flapping wing like Leonardo Da Vinci’s sketch. The flapping wing wouldn’t be as effective as a fixed one.

In 1882-84, Montgomery would experiment with flight outside of San Diego along the Mexican border with “gliders”, a monoplane closer to a hang-glider than Leonardo’s flapping flying machine. Gliders would require perfect conditions to get and keep in flight or the aforementioned balloon would raise the machine hundreds of feet. This is a scene from Montgomery’s San Diego area workshop. This machine was inspired on the wings of seagulls. John J. Montgomery’s flights in the 1880’s would be the first heavier-than-air flight, the event observed by friends and family members but not widely publicized. This glider would’ve been a gull shaped, single winged flying machine, or a monoplane. The glider would ignore the “Yaw” or center of mass, the gravitational force towards that would swing from the heaviest point, the pilot. During this time, Octave Chanute, a contemporary critic, would have harsh words for Montgomery, but Montgomery’s pursuit of flight would continue.

John J. Montgomery would continue experimenting and flying throughout California, in San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Santa Clara Counties. To fund his inventions, John Montgomery would pursue other endeavors within physics and engineering. In 1884, Montgomery would be granted a patent for the process of vulcanizing and devulcanizing rubber.

In 1885, Montgomery would start also experimenting with how air flowed over different shaped surfaces, adding considerably to the field of aerodynamics. Montgomery, still in San Diego County, would be so secretive about his experiments, no one knew what he was up to at the time but close family members. The fruit of this labor would later be written in trade publications and heard during groundbreaking Aviation Navigation discussions in the early 20th century. Inspired by the articulating wings of turkey vultures and eagles, he would being to tie the fixed wing to a guiding mechanism to keep the plane even or balanced. Montgomery’s research would prove a slightly curved surface best for his gliders. Montgomery would also start programming direction and counter-controls for gusts of wind and easy turning through a series of spring loaded mechanisms.

John J. Montgomery was finally hearing through the newspapers and his brother, in New York, about other early aviators. This news and competition would inspire Montgomery to act upon his research, and be a part of the conversation in the new field of science.

In 1893, Montgomery attended the Chicago Columbian Exhibition to listen to Nikola Tesla speak about electricity. Once there, John would introduce himself to the aviation and physics professors, inventors and theorists. His networking paid off, and Montgomery would be invited to speak at the conference himself and gain through his experiments. Montgomery, gaining fame for his accomplishments, would begin lecturing at colleges across the country, demonstrating flights and investigating the physics behind flight. The flow of air over the wing would affect the next design of flying machines.

In 1895, John J. Montgomery would own a patent for a better petroleum burning furnace. John Montgomery would be invited to take a teaching position with Santa Clara University in 1897. He would teach physics and other sciences. At the University in 1901, Montgomery would begin experimenting with Father Richard Bell on wireless telecommunications or radio, transmitting messages as far as San Francisco. In later years, he would demonstrate flight for hundreds of spectators at Santa Clara.

In 1903, John J. Montgomery would begin to develop this gliders again while teaching at Santa Clara University. He would also coin the word “aeroplane”, which later became “airplane”, and gain the patent in 1905 for the improvements of the technology. Inspired by the collaboration of a colleague, Montgomery would design a tandem winged glider with a propeller. The collaborator would take Montgomery’s propeller design and win first place at the World Fair in St. Louis, Missouri.

Sometimes, competition is the healthiest thing for invention and innovation. John J. Montgomery wouldn’t be discouraged by the professional betrayal. Montgomery would lead several successful high elevation flights launched from balloons and maintaining flight for several minutes until gliding to a gradual stop. The Wright Brothers would also be taking flight around this time. What separated Montgomery’s work from other early aviators, besides beating them to flight by 20 years, was the duration of flight and the controlled figure eight patterns demonstrated. Montgomery’s machines wouldn’t have a motor at this point, but that wasn’t Montgomery’s priority. Safety and control were paramount to him.

In July of 1905, Montgomery’s friend, colleague and test pilot, Daniel Maloney, would die testing on of his gliders on a balloon elevated flight. The Santa Clara, this version of the aeroplane, was flown hundreds times. The machine was damaged on a previous flight but hadn’t broken completely until that point. Maloney and Montgomery would’ve tested their gliders in the hills of Evergreen, as well as other places, before demonstrations in the City of San Jose and the University. This event and the big Earthquake of 1906 would cause Montgomery to take a little break from flying.

Montgomery would always be inventing and contributing to a wide range of industries. In 1909, perhaps inspired by hearing Nikola Tesla speak in 1893, John J. Montgomery would patent an alternating current rectifier. This would’ve improved radios and electrical vacuums at the time. The semi-conductor would replace this technology later on. Current Alternating Current Rectifiers are still used in DC (Direct Current) and high-voltage situations today. Most power sources around your house are grounded (GFC), not direct.

Despite popular belief, John J. Montgomery didn’t actually live in the Village of Evergreen. Montgomery lived closer to Santa Clara University where he worked and the Pueblo of San Jose that built up around the Mission of Santa Clara. John Montgomery would come to get permissions from Evergreen’s Ramonda Family to fly on their ranch with the optimal hillsides to take flight from without the assistance of a balloon.

John Montgomery would fly again in 1910, after finding his love. Montgomery fixed, immobilized, the tail of the airplane and incorporated the guiding features into the warping of the wing pattern. From there, John J. Montgomery was to add an engine and patent the design as the first plane. This design was titled “the Evergreen”.

Unfortunately, during this series of flights and trials, John J. Montgomery would pass away after a landing he couldn’t walk away from. On October 31, 1911, Montgomery would fly through Evergreen for the last time. Without his contributions to the field and his competition that drove other inventors, we would be flying hundreds of miles an hour in metal tubes over a hundred years later. Beyond that, Montgomery was constantly improving upon technology and his work is around us everywhere, from our car tires to our electrical outlets.

The experiments and public demonstrations in Santa Clara County brought another claim to fame for the Valley of Heart’s Delight. If you didn’t know Evergreen’s famous fruit or famous wines, you would’ve heard about that guy who died flying there. The park and monument are here in Evergreen at Montgomery Hill Park along Yerba Buena Road and San Felipe Road, near where he passed. Another monument stands today at the Santa Clara University campus. Another airplane wing stands at the site of his San Diego County flights. You can also view his work at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C or the much closer Hiller Museum in Redwood City. His great grandnephew has written a book and has agreed to our interview on the subject of John J. Montgomery and flight in general, at he follows in John’s footsteps as a professor of physics at UC Santa Cruz.

My experience and my knowledge of John J. Montgomery began with painting for the Evergreen School District at the school named in his honor. Otherwise, I would’ve remained unaware of the inventor. There, one of the ball walls specifically discusses the History of Aviation and where John J. Montgomery fits within that narrative. Gliders were incorporated into all the murals on campus.

Other longtime Evergreen residents, like Jerry Kettmann, would’ve had an intimate relationship with aviation, cultivated at the nearby Hillview Airport. Harriet Quimby would’ve been directly inspired by Montgomery’s flights. Here’s the artwork we have planned for John J. Montgomery who helped put Evergreen on the map.

Pioneering Squatter’s Rights

May 7, 2016Artwork, Historical Researchcalifornia, Chaboya, evergreen, evergreen people, family, generations, homesteads, kettmann, legal case, Rancho Yerba Buena, settlers, Squatters, statehood, street name, territoryevergreen

California would be fast tracked as a State and the Village of Evergreen would become a town where immigrants could find the American dream coming true. The same could be said of Willow Glen, Saratoga, Berryessa, Santa Clara, Alviso and other towns surrounding the Pueblo of San Jose during the 1850’s being turned into highly profitable orchards and vineyards. Many would find new homes in early Evergreen from back East, the Midwest and even Europe. This did, however, create stiff tensions between newcomers and the Mexican Rancho owners across Santa Clara Valley. These tensions would come to a head in Evergreen with a “Settlers’ War”, culminating in a fight over Squatters’ and Homesteaders’ Rights. Rancho Yerba Buena Socraye is the boundary of Evergreen, so its stories are our stories.

Marcos Chaboya and his family, as Californios, would come to the Santa Clara Valley in the 1820’s to settle the area with vast herds of cattle. I have varying sources as to whom sponsored Chaboya’s trip, the Spanish or the Mexican Governments. Antonio Chaboya would be granted over 24,000 acres of Rancho Yerba Buena in 1833 by the Governer of Alta California when California was a new Mexican territory. The boundaries of his rancho create the modern boundaries of the Evergreen Community. Antonio’s brothers would also be granted land nearby in Santa Clara County.

24,000 acres is really hard to survey and keep an eye on on horseback. The Chaboya family and their ranch hands wouldn’t be able to ward off all of the Ohlone Natives, American settlers and European newcomers who would make a home at Rancho Yerba Buena. Don Pedro Chaboya would lead the charge to run off returning indigenous people from the ranchos in the 1820’s. Antonio Chaboya’s brothers, owning ranchos nearby, would suffer a similar fate. California was recently accepted into the Union as a full fledged State, and these events were some of those growing pains.

So, what’s the United States Government to do about a Mexican land grant it upheld in court in the new State of California and the American Dream it promised to new Californians?

John Aborn would immigrate from England to California through San Francisco as early as 1833. Aborn, for which Aborn Road is named for, would be a veteran of the Mexican American War and the Civil War. He would also be named as a defendant by the Chaboya family for illegally homesteading on his property, or “squatting”. People liked this defendant so much, they named a road in Evergreen after him! He married a Donner Party survivor. The word on the street, rather the plaque, is that he held a popular rodeo back in the day off Neiman Boulevard and Capitol Expressway. How are you gonna deny this man his rights after fighting for your liberties?

Let’s back up. What brought on the hostilities in Evergreen?Antonio Chaboya would first appear in court in front of Justice McKee to evict farmer John Tully, an Irish immigrant, from Rancho Yerba Buena in 1856. This decision was a compromise. Chaboya would have to sell his land for a fair price. John Tully wouldn’t be evicted and paid $900.00 for the fine in 1858. In 1861, John Tully would come up with $4,400.00 for the real estate having gone through proper channels. After this point, Homestead Laws would dictate that a farmer would need to live and work on the property for 5 years and that only 160 acres could be obtain through this avenue. Judging by this map in 1866, this was probably the John Tully property being fought over.

Chaboya’s land grant was patented by the US Government and upheld in 1858. Did John Tully’s case create a poor precedent for Chaboya’s grant or did it provide opportunity to pursue monetary damages?

In 1858, Rancho Yerba Buena would be defended again from newcomers. These named defendants were Chauncey C. Barbour, Truman Andrews, William Raymond, Thomas J. Baxter, Benjamin Kenny, John Aborn, Andrew Gheringer, Thomas Farnsworth, George Osteck, Jacob Newhouse, Patterson Barnard, William McClay and James M. Bottsford. Antonio Chaboya would name these thirteen families even though approximately 500 people occupied Rancho Yerba Buena illegally. These Evergreen residents would have just be looking for their space in a growing country, finding their way to one of the prettiest, most inspiring places. I would try to hold on to my home, too.

In 1860, Antonio Chaboya would be successful in court and be granted his eviction of the homesteaders, but there were riots as Sheriff John Murphy tried to enforce the law.

The Sheriff of San Jose made several attempts to evict the new farmers from Evergreen. Here’s the thing. It’s hard not to empathize with the newcomers. Antonio Chaboya had one of the largest ranchos in all of California then upheld by the United States. Other ranch owners were loosing their court battles and their ranchos, including Antonio Chaboya’s brothers. Chaboya couldn’t even have it surveyed often enough to keep people from setting up shop long term.

In 1861, Evergreen residents would have the support of the rest of Santa Clara County. Sherriff’s officers didn’t want to arm themselves and serve the eviction notices and force farmers to quit their property. Of 600 Officers, none wanted to perform the duties asked of them so Sheriff Murphy excused them for their duty. Evergreen residents would march the 8 miles into downtown San Jose to St. James Park and the footsteps of the court to contest the eviction. During another attempt, the towns of Saratoga, Berryessa and Santa Clara sent over 2000 troops in support of the new residents. Saratoga even brought a cannon to hold off the eviction papers. People in and around the City of San Jose would come to Evergreen’s aid and empathize with their struggles. The Sheriff Murphy must have supported Evergreen farmers in some way, because he later married the daughter of John Aborn, Miss Maddie.

Rancho Yerba Buena and Antonio Chaboya was now saddled with a ton of debt mounting from his legal cases against squatters. The Chaboya family was land rich but cash poor. He couldn’t also continue to pursue this eviction and hold on to his property. Antonio Chaboya pursued the peaceful solution which would change Evergreen forever. First, Antonio and his family settled debts to his team of attorneys by parting away the asset he had in abundance, land. Lawyers J.B. Hart, Hiatt R. Hepburn, Henry Wilkins and William Matthews would be the first legal residents, along with John Tully, of the Evergreen are. The lawyers would be compensated for their legal fees in the sale of these large properties. After portions of Hart’s property and Matthews’s property were sold to farmers like the Smith Family, James McCarley and the Stevens Family, the Village of Evergreen was born, with an epicenter of Evergreen Road and San Felipe and White Roads.

Antonio Chaboya’s family would finally profit off of the sale of their own real estate in 1875 with the sale of John Hassler and George Kettmann acquisition off of then Evergreen Road. From this transaction, life long friendships would be made between the Kettmann and Chaboya clans. The Chaboyas would come to grips with the changing times and downsize their lands considerably. The Chaboya family would continue to own farms up and down Quimby Road for another 50+ years.

In Evergreen, this was huge news at the time. It would soon be an event everyone wanted to forget quickly. Evergreen farmers like John Aborn, Thomas Baxter, Thomas Farnsworth, George Osterk and William McClay would stay in town and raise their families in Evergreen even after the court cases and eviction situation. Though not a non-violent protest, luckily this was settled without bloodshed. It must have been so hard to part with the big, beautiful Rancho Yerba Buena, but what the Chaboyas made room for was for new neighbors and a developing California. Soon after, Evergreen would be planted with orchards, vineyards and hayfields. Here’s some of the artwork that incorporates these players, even if we omit the event for the most part.

Redundant Theme – Evergreen’s Vineyards

May 6, 2016Artwork, Concept, Historical Researchagriculture, business, california, evergreen, evergreen people, family, fruit, generations, grape, kettmann, pellier, township, Valley of heart's Delight, vineyards, winemakingevergreen

There are some motifs which reoccur throughout the Evergreen Mural Walk artwork. Let’s be transparent about what they are because these themes will eventually amount to be the identity of the Evergreen Community in different stages of its history. A common denominator which reoccurs several times within the artwork is Evergreen’s agricultural prides. One of those were our vineyards and its grapes.

California would have its own wild grape before immigrants began colonizing. The California Missions would grow grapes by the Spanish, but not fancy ones. The Pellier family from Evergreen would bring European grape varietals over from their Native France in the 1850’s and ignite the California Wine Industry.

Evergreen was a town that began alongside the California Wine Industry. One of the first businesses in Evergreen would be opened by town founder, Francis J. Smith. The Smith Winery off of San Felipe Road at the epicenter of Evergreen. openeing next door to the family’s general store. I will do some further research whether or not this is the same structure the beauty salon opened in at the same location today.

The Kettmann clan would boast about their hundreds of acres vineyards, even keeping them planted even through Prohibition when many farmers abandoned them. The Kettmann family profited off of the sales made for illegal winemaking operations.

William Wehner, a German painter coming to California by way of Chicago, would who come to Evergreen and build the Wehner Mansion or Villa Lomas Azules in 1891 by an influential skyscraper architect. From the Mansion built for winemaking, Wehner would grow award winning white varieties of wine. The Villa Lomas Azules, or Blue Hills Estate, would house winery operations for almost 75 years in Evergreen.

Dr. C. C. Babb, Mayor John A. Quinby (Quimby), and farmer John Avena would also be noted as having vineyards in the Village of Evergreen in the early 1900’s. I am fairly certain smaller vineyards would have existed throughout Evergreen for personal use. Homesteads had to be self-sufficient as possible in those days. These were what was found in Business Directories until 1902.

The Pellier brothers plants would live on, but their French winemaking tradition would be passed down as well. Henrietta Pellier, daughter of Pierre, would marry Mr. Mirassou and the couple began the Mirassou Winemaking Family still being cultivated in Evergreen today. After Mirassou’s passing, her new husband would also continue to make wine in Evergreen.

The East-side Fruit Growers Association would assist East San Jose and Evergreen farmers negotiate with Packing Companies. Nearby Barron-Gray would need grapes for their first-to-market Fruit Cocktail. Large winemaking operations would outsource certain varieties which they themselves couldn’t grow. Grapes are fickle fruit. They liked the climate and hillsides of Evergreen. This East-side trade association would eventually be goggled up by the California Prune and Apricot Growers Association, which would become SunKist Fruit.

An Italian immigrant, Benjamino Cribari, would come to own the famed Wehner Mansion in 1933, then known as the Cribari Mansion, and plant vineyards up the steps of the Evergreen foothills and extended the winery’s property in 1940. The Cribari’s family specialty would be table and altar wines. Benjamino’s children and grandchildren would grow to cultivate the Evergreen vineyards into the 1970’s. Silver Creek Winery is still operated by the Cribari family today.

Later generations of the Mirassou family vintners would lease the basement of the Cribari Mansion for wine storage. The Wehner/Azul Lomas Villa/Cribari Mansion is now located inside the Villages Retirement Community nestled into Evergreen hills. Today, the mansion is a historic landmark but needs a little love.

The Mirassou Wine Family would be the oldest winemaking family in California. Mirassou Winery today continues to be a landmark on Aborn Road. The fourth generation would take over the wine operations in 1966. The wine operations would move, due to suburban development and depletion of soil nutrients. That having been said, this is an ungoing love affair for the Mirassou family who continue to make wine and call Evergreen home.

Vineyards in Evergreen may be scarce today, but we owe credit to the grapevines of Evergreen’s glory days. Here’s the artwork conceived with our Evergreen vineyards in mind.

Through the grapevine – Pellier Contributions

May 5, 2016Artwork, Historical Researchagriculture, business, california, evergreen, family, fruit, generations, grapes, mexican, missions, orchards, pellier, period, prunes, settlers, Valley of heart's Delight, vineyards, wine, winemakingevergreen

My grandmother used to own a home off Norwood Avenue and have volunteer grapevines charging up through her hillside backyard. Little did she know, my grandmother’s house was a part of the Pellier estate, one of the largest in early Evergreen.

The Pellier Brothers would eventually come to call Evergreen home in the late 1850’s. Before that, the Pelliers would live in the Pueblo of San Jose as California became a State and as San Jose became its Capitol in the early 1850’s. Luis Pellier would get creative with his brother Pierre while gold panning in 1848, changing San Jose and California forever once again.

By bringing over their cions , seeds, clippings and plantings from their Native Country of France, Luis, Pierre and Jean Pellier would set fire to the huge California Fruit Industry. Basically, there was no industry before that, as Mission lands and their predictable orchards were left unattended and were being reclaimed by wilderness. The California Missions were secularized by Mexico in 1833. By the time the Pelliers came to California, the Missions weren’t even holding Catholic Mass.

In fact, Evergreen before the Pellier journeys would’ve been cattle grazing land. After the Pellier journeys, Santa Clara Valley would become known as the Valley of Heart’s Delights.

What was grown in the Spanish Period at the Franciscan Missions in California from 1769-1821? I’m so glad you asked. The indigenous native peoples, priests and monks grew “mission grapes”, apples, lemons and oranges, beans, veggies and olives for the most part. Olive Oil would be a source of pride for the Missions. The “Mission Grape” of the Spanish colonists was a Vitus vinifera, a Spanish variety that was black and blue in color. The clippings would’ve been brought over sea with Cortez’s colonization of Mexico or New Spain. Only problem was less than 1000 acres of vineyards would be cultivated in California until the 1850’s. These plants were a dying off as people left the Missions. The Mission Grape would have been made into wine for Sacraments. The Spanish may have brought apricots as well, originating in Turkey. There was an indigenous plum tree present in California. A wild grape, too, would be indigenous. Mission San Jose would be one of the biggest producers, but would’ve been closed for several years by the time the Pelliers set sail.

What did the Pellier brothers from France with help from the Delmas brothers bring to the Port of Alviso and to Santa Clara County? Luis and Pierre Pellier would pull into port and sell peach, pear, plum, cherry, apple and prune cions off their boat in Alviso in the 1850’s. Certainly his most famous contribution was the Angen ‘D Petit Prune, but the Valley of Heart Delight would begin with these trips to France and these cions. With the driving force of the Pelliers’ new varietals, the Fruit Industry would soon provide thousands of jobs, would drive people to come to the Santa Clara Valley and would bring spark the Fruit Canning business. We, in California, still feel the benefit of their actions today.

The French Prune brought to California in 1854 was considered perfect for drying and dipping. After it was grafted on to a California plum tree, it became an instant success. Pellier raised orchards of prunes and a nursery famed in downtown San Jose. The Angen ‘D Petit Prune was immediately adopted by other Santa Clara Valley’s orchardists. This would become Santa Clara County’s identity to the rest of the United States through the 1950’s when Silicon Valley bumped it. The prune’s attributes, complimentary for drying and dipping, would make them a popular commercial export.

The Prune Orchards would quickly spread all over Santa Clara County, the Valley of Heart’s Delight, and then all over California. The French Prune ignited the whole California Fruit Industry, as only dried fruits could be exported. The Mexican Government had a hard time settling California. California through the Mexican Period (1821-1848) wouldn’t be well-known for its awesome agriculture, despite the rich soil noted by the Spanish Missionaries. Evergreen was a grazing land. The Missions closing meant the crops became scarce. Pellier’s strategy was inspired by the high price of fruit.

A dollar gets you much less today, so you will naturally need more dollars to obtain the same product over 100 years ago. Here’s an exception to that rule. Before Luis and Pierre Pellier’s travels, an apple would cost over a dollar. Today, $2.00 would get you a pound or several apples. The demand was so high for apples and produce, most people couldn’t afford them. You could forget about apple pie. That would’ve cost you over $20.00 in apples alone in 1850’s California. If you were in California in the 1850’s, you were a pioneer, gold panning and roughing it. Their business idea was brilliant. I wonder if they knew about the Manifest Destiny campaign that would send thousands of newcomers to California in a few short years.

Luis Pellier would open “City Gardens” and sell his cions and young trees to the rest of Santa Clara County’s farmers in 1850. This was the epicenter of the Valley of Heart’s Delight, creating a path to the American Dream for farmers coming to California. The Pellier brothers would leave their popular nursery and orchards in downtown San Jose, where Pellier Park is today, and move to Evergreen to plant acres of vineyards in later 1850’s.

In 1858, Luis Pellier, now Evergreen resident, would present nine varieties of foreign grapes at the national trade show, being described as “unequalled to any other of the same variety”. Luis Pellier’s introduction of new grapes would almost single handedly create the California Wine Industry as well. Grafted on to Mission vines and indigenous vines, these grapes is really well in Evergreen. When wine was made and the word spread, the Pelliers struck gold again.

The Pellier brothers are originally from the Bordeaux region of France, well-known for its Wine Industry. The Pellier boys would’ve grown up cultivating their parents’ vineyards and orchards in France. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec would’ve been easily found in that region of France. Folle Blanche, the ultimate brandy making grape, has been contributed to Luis Pellier. A Black Burgundy grape, another brandy grape, would also be brought to California by Pellier. A Mourvedre vine, similar to a Mission Grape but a French strain, has also been drawn back to Pellier. These would become popular in Zinfandel vineyards. Chasselas Fontainebleau, French Colombar and Madelaine are green grapes for white wines that have also been contributed to the Pellier brothers trips to France.

Even though the Pellier brothers would become famous for their perfect prune trees, descendants of the Pelliers would be boastful of its Pinot Noir grapes and wines. These certainly would’ve been brought back from France in the 1850’s by their forefathers. Pellier descendants, the Mirassou family, have called Evergreen home for over 150 years. Mirassou Winery operated off of Aborn Road for 100 years and continues to be a landmark in Evergreen. Today, the Mirassou Winemaking Family continues to be the oldest Wine Family in California and continue to call Evergreen home.

Before this point, varieties of wine could only be found in Europe, mainly in France and Spain, and imported into the United States. California wasn’t well settled, but that would change fairly rapidly. Again, Missions harvested Mission Grapes for altar wines and brandy, but there wasn’t much more out there. What was out there was going away with the Missions closing. With the Gold Rush and Manifest Destiny in full affect, the Pelliers would be at the right place at the right time to make something amazing happen. California is the second capitol of wine today. It would difficult to envision Napa Valley today without its vineyards. 80% of these vines can be traced back to that Alviso Port. California’s Fruit Industry was initiated by Pellier’s cions. Luis Pellier is acknowledged as one of the founding fathers of San Jose. Here’s the artwork specific to the Pellier Family past and its present.

Generations of the Kettmann Clan

May 5, 2016Artwork, Historical Researchagriculture, apricots, business, civil service, downtown evergreen, evergreen, evergreen people, family, fruit, generations, invention, kettmann, orchards, street name, township, Valley of heart's Delight, vineyardsevergreen

Along the research for this Evergreen project, I have met the most fantastic people. If this guy needed a new best friend, I would be first in line. I discussed with Honorable Judge Gerhard J. Kettmann (Jerry) the four generations of his family who blossomed in Evergreen and continue to call Evergreen home today. He’s the ultimate expert, having written a book and working on another about their family history. What is extraordinary about the Kettmann family, making it a crucial piece of our mural series, is their witness to almost 150 years of Evergreen’s development. We will start by discussing how the Kettmann’s came to America. The United States is a country of immigrants. We would all come here from somewhere else. I think that’s the first thing that bonds all of us Evergreen residents together.

Johan Hermann Gerhard Kettmann (George) was the youngest of 8 siblings, born in 1827 in Kettenkamp, Germany. His someday wife would be another German immigrant growing up only 8 miles away in Germany. Gerhard Kettmann would leave his Native Country of Germany at the age of 22 and arrive in the Port of New Orleans in 1849. Gerhard Kettmann would travel from Louisiana through Panama to come to Sutter County, California in 1853 and pan for gold. With a little luck along the Yuba River and Feather River, George would come to purchase 160 acres of land in Sutter County.

George Kettmann would marry Bernadina Torbrecke in Marysville, California, but there’s a very cute folkloric story to this pairing. Dina was first cousin of the Krehe Family, who would also come to live in Evergreen. Henry and Bernard Krehe would invite their unmarried family members from Germany to come to the United States. George Kettmann, being close friends with the Krehes, got to make his pick first and chose Bernadina.

Whether that story was true or not, the German couple was married in Marysville, California in January of 1858. George and Bernadina Kettmann would have eleven children. The Kettmann clan would begin grow in Sutter County on the acreage along the Feather River, operating a general store known as “Five Mile House”. In addition to the store along the highway, George also would raise a herd of sheep and cattle on his 160 acres before moving the whole herd, family and all, to the Santa Clara County.

George Kettmann showed interest in Santa Clara County in the 1850’s, after traveling their with a family member. With the new variety of fruit being introduced to the agricultural field stimulated by Luis and Pierre Pellier, Kettmann made his move to Evergreen, then a tiny farming town. George Kettmann would purchased a portion of Rancho Yerba Buena in 1867 near downtown Evergreen along Evergreen Road. In fact, this first Evergreen parcel purchased by the Kettmanns belonged to the Chaboya Family’s attorney, William Matthews, and had been paid land in order to settle those legal fees.

This initial parcel was a perfect 150 acre rectangle with the exception of the land that had been donated to the Evergreen Elementary School. Evergreen’s schoolhouse would be where the shopping center with the Valero and Wells Fargo is today. The Evergreen Elementary School would be located here until 1892, when it moved a little down San Felipe Road. Kettmann Road at Aborn Road is very near this school site, but it would’ve been on the other side of Thompson Creek, then Dry Creek. Let it be known though that even the attorney didn’t donate this land. That carried over on the Title from the previous owner, Mr. Cadwallader.

The Kettmann family didn’t stop with that first purchase of 147.7 acres in downtown Evergreen. Through an interesting purchase and exchange of land with fellow German immigrants, the Hassler family, the Kettmanns obtained another 103.10 acres in 1875. The Hasslers and Kettmanns separated the properties along the Touchard Line, which falls on part of present day Neiman Boulevard. Modern day Kettmann Road, where the Evergreen Library Branch is located on Aborn Road, runs between these two land purchases. As Evergreen folklore would have it, this acquisition was the only purchase Antonio Chaboya’s family actually profited off of after their debts were settled trying to evict their new neighbors. In 1881, one of George Kettmann’s sons would become an Evergreen landowner as well.

The eldest of eleven siblings, Clemens Andrew Kettmann was born on the Marysville ranch in 1858, less than a year after the couple wed. Clemens would’ve made the journey with his father, George, the large sheep herd and fellow cowboys to Evergreen in 1868. Clemens Kettmann was the only son to make the journey at 9 years old. Young Clem only had sisters at that point. The trek from Marysville with the herd must’ve taken over a month on horseback. The rest of the family would come in 1869, after Dina gave birth to another sister. From the Evergreen homestead, the clan would continue to raise livestock but also incorporate fruit, vegetables and grain into their business strategy.

Homestead Laws would allow families to obtain a certain portion of land from the government after cultivating it for 5 years. The Kettmann Family as a group diversified this ranching strategy in the heart of Evergreen and accentuated their grazing potential with homestead purchases along the back side of Mt. Hamilton Ranch. These adjoining Mt. Hamilton homesteads weren’t fantastic for farming, but it could and would be done with altered harvesting equipment. The Kettman clan had so many acres in the Mt. Diablo Mountain Range, this area would become known as “Kettmann Range”. Lamb and sheep would be a rarity in Evergreen and San Jose at this time. Cattle ranching would’ve been totally ordinary and generally what had been grazing throughout Evergreen for some 50 years beforehand. The Kettmann clan held on to their German heritage by passing on this tradition.

Clemens Kettmann would come to purchase the adjacent parcel to his father’s in 1881, then 23 years old, from Louis Kampfen, another German farmer, who obtained his portion after the Hasslers from the previous Hassler/Kettmann deal. This was 80.18 acres large, literally being the family’s “80 acres”. Kettmann’s friends and cousins, the Krehe Family, would also move in nearby. There was quite the hotspot of German American culture in early Evergreen, with the Smith’s and Stephens Families nearby.

Clemens A. Kettmann would marry a German-American lady, Mary Vollmer, in 1890 at St. Joseph’s Basilica in downtown San Jose. Mary wore an apricot colored dress, how fitting. Clem Kettmann and Mary Vollmer would have seven kids on their Evergreen homestead. This labor force, along with his younger brothers at his father’s homestead next door, would help Clem Kettmann cultivate the land.

Having a big family in the 19th century was a big deal. You needed help working on the farm. In fact, having eleven children wouldn’t be enough to operate ranches as large as these. The Kettmanns would employ help in the house and on the farm. The children would start picking fruit between school breaks and into adulthood would sew sacks and become a part of the traveling crew harvesting crops all over Evergreen. Harvests were true team efforts. A barter system would be reached for labor and harvesting. Horses were in high demand for plowing and the like. Labor was generally $2.00 a day for a horse and a man. This was a typical scene from the Fowler Threshing Syndicate, harvesting grain. Evergreen was a teambuilding utopia back in the day. Strength in numbers seemed to be a focus.

Generations of the Kettmann clan would grow up in Evergreen alongside the Industrial Revolution. George Kettmann would’ve farmed just like he had learned to in his Native Germany, very much by hand. The Farming Industry during this time would transition from horse and plow, pitchforks, sickle and scythe to tractors, threshing machines and haypresses. George’s youngest son, Andrew Kettmann, would develop tools for apricot harvesting. Clem’s children, too, would’ve hand first on experience transitioning from horse pulled threshing crews to tractor or truck pulled rig. The Kettmann clan would continuously learn to adapt their farming techniques as the technology improved. In the 1920’s, Clem’s son, Julius, would open a garage to help fix machines in downtown San Jose after adapting and fixing machinery on the family homestead. This legacy can be seen as descendants now operate the Kettmann Machining, Inc. in San Jose.

George and Clem would both plant orchards on their properties. Clemens Kettmann would plant several acres of apricots with their commercial stock going way up. Mixing his varieties of apricot, Clem created a sweet apricot which was also large and ripened evenly. Clem’s sloped property presented irrigation problems for portions of his orchards. He found the unirrigated crop was sweeter but smaller than the other harvest. These were his apricots. He would find the same to be true of his corn crops. Those that were naturally watered were naturally sweeter.

The Kettmann families would plant several acres of prunes and cherry orchards along with their apricots. The clan also had several acres of vineyards also at their Evergreen property. Threshing crews would cultivate over a hundred acres of grain, oats and alfalfa from the Kettmann farms. I never thought about it before, but horses take a lot to feed. If you have horses for plowing, you need acres just to settle your own horses. The Kettmann family would continue to grow and branch out in Evergreen. Into the 1900’s their children would take over the roles running the farms and ranches after their education. Prohibition cause a lot of vintners to pull up their grapevines and retire their wine businesses. The Kettmanns did not however and made a small fortune continuing to sell grapes for underground wine operations. Between these ranches and the Kettmann Range, the Evergreen family was sitting pretty.

The German American Inventor and all around funny guy, Andrew Kettmann would grow up sewing sacks for grain and maintaining the family farm. George’s son and Clem’s youngest brother, Andy Kettmann would open downtown Evergreen’s second Saloon along San Felipe Road. Andrew Kettmann’s Saloon became increasingly popular amongst quicksilver miners through World War I. This spot would be a hub of culture until 1920 when Prohibition was enforced. Until then, many tipsy tales were told out of Andy’s Saloon.

After George’s passing in 1912, his property would be equally divided amongst his eleven children. The Kettmann Family Ranch would continue to modernize with Clem’s son’s, Louis. Louis Kettmann would take Clem’s horse powered ranch into the present with the purchase of a tractor built from tank parts. Large mechanical farming equipment would need to be leased or the old machinery would need to be updated. The rural Village of Evergreen was rapidly changing through the early 1900’s. Cars were a blessed invention and roads would be paved, but open space began to dwindle. That free path to the Kettmann Range through Downtown Evergreen would close up. Clem would pass in 1943. The Kettmann family continued to expand, but some would start breaking away from the family business to pursue their own goals. Farming in Evergreen would become more scarce as more residents starting moving in. Managing the wasn’t easy business as my interviewee would realize firsthand.

In the summer of 1947, Judge Jerry Kettmann, then just known as Jerry, would lease hay land from Grandma Mary (Vollmer) Kettmann. It was Jerry’s idea to make it rich that summer and buy a convertible to take out coeds from San Jose State. This same model T, pictured here with Jerry taken over that summer, pooped out in the middle of the road off San Fernando and 4th Street near the University. Jerry called his cousin to help push the car out of the roadway and into the gas station it pooped out yards away from. Jerry Kettmann would sell off a nearly paid-off tractor to cover his losses and pay his grandmother back that summer.

George’s great grandson and Clem’s grandson, Judge Gerhard J. Kettmann, was born in 1926 in Los Gatos but would soon relocate to his father’s Evergreen homestead. As a boy, Jerry would attend Evergreen Elementary School, then Roosevelt Middle School and San Jose High School. Kettmann recalls family get togethers with the Chaboya family as a child. Jerry would throw apricots like snowballs, run through vacant mine shafts and sleep in homemade treehouses in Evergreen. Judge Kettmann is a huge fan of flying, a fondness he developed on an aircraft carrier in World War II. Kettmann’s father and grandfather could’ve told him tales of Montgomery’s pioneer flights from their own experience.

After serving in the Navy in World War II, Jerry Kettmann later worked in the railroad as a fireman, at the Baron-Gray Packing Company packing fruit and then at the Post Office downtown before attending SJSU for Aviation Engineering then Business and Economics. Sadly, young Jerry’s 1947 dream of striking it rich quick would never be realized.

The Honorable Judge Jerry Kettmann was accepted to Stanford Law in 1953 but instead attended UC Berkeley, where he graduated in the upper third of his class. Judge Kettmann began working as a Trust Attorney for Wells Fargo, but left to pursue trial law with the District Attorney’s Office. Though Judge Kettmann is partial to Civil Law, he told me about 85% of the cases he saw on the bench were criminal cases. Judge Kettmann would oversee cases at the height of the Civil Rights movement, even appearing in front of an Angela Davis case. Rioters would shout things and try to frustrate Judges. It wouldn’t work on Judge Kettmann, though. He removed their signs and have them properly tagged by court officials as the defending attorney tried including them as evidence. Judge Kettmann would find himself arbitrating through the later part of his career.

Judge Gerhard J. Kettmann would retire from the Law and write from his Evergreen home. The Kettmann family historian carries a tradition that began about 150 years ago in Evergreen. Judge Kettmann, though groomed on the farm, managed to keep up with the quickly changing times. This area of Evergreen, between Kettmann Road and Neiman Boulevard was developed beginning in the 1960’s. At 89 years young, Judge Kettmann’s enthusiasm is contagious. Really, I am so proud of my Evergreen people. It makes my job so easy when they are great and have great stories to tell! Here’s the artwork we have worked up for the Kettmann Family.

Evergreen of the Mexican Period

April 28, 2016Artwork, Historical Researchcivil war, colonization, indians, mexican, mexico, missions, natives, nature, new Spain, Ohlone, rancho, Rancho Yerba Buena, settlers, Spanish Empire, territory, wildernessevergreen

Evergreen was home to Ohlone Natives before Franciscan Missions would disassociate them from their lands. This vacuum created room for new residents without hesitation.

The first explorers of Northern California, or Alta California, were the Spanish. In 1542, less than a year after Columbus’s voyage, exploration of California would begin. Spanish would explore and conquer Mexico and an explorer and conquistador would pass the “Baja Point” into uncharted waters. Cortes sent Francisco de Ulloa to explored the coastline in 1539. In 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo would do some more extensive investigation and like Monterey for a naval base and well-suited to sustain itself.

Spanish and English vessels would reach the Coast of California but only the Spanish would begin colonization from a Mexican base. It was believed that Baja California was an island. California was named after a mythical Amazonian island.

In 1602, Spain would begin developing naval forts at Monterey and San Diego. Serious colonization would begin as missionaries and soldiers explored California over land. This route would become the El Camino Real, Monterey Road and the Alameda through modern San Jose, marked with Mission Bells. Missions would begin to appear in Modern Day Mexico in 1519, however the threat of Russian settlements would hasten the efforts to colonize New Spain. The Spanish Empire would control the coastline for over 300 years.

New Spain would be separated into two parts, Alta California, modern day California, and Baja, modern day Mexico. Gaspar de Portola, in 1768, would lead settlers of New Spain with a land and naval campaign, looking for Monterey but establishing Southern California Missions.

Juan Bautista DeAnza would lead two expeditions into California. New Spain and the Spanish Empire expanded into New Mexico and Arizona, naturally. DeAnza left Tucson on this first journey and encountered agitated native populations. This made for a short trip to LA and home. Another expedition into Alta California in 1768 established the port at San Francisco and would introduce the Spanish intimately with the Santa Clara Valley as the route to San Francisco from Monterey over land. The chain of Missions would lengthen through the 19th century but not in order. It would not extend in the a numerical, chronological order. Santa Clara de Asis would be the 8th Mission opened and the Pueblo of San Jose would be founded in 1777. Mission de San Jose wouldn’t open until 1797 and the latest Mission would open in the Mexican Period.

Mexican Independence would be won in 1819, and include all territories of New Spain. A couple of things brought on the revolt. Napoleon would conquer France and invade Spain. The Spanish Empire didn’t want to be ruled by another monarchy. New Spain had Old Rome’s, the Roman Catholic Church, approval to break away from the Spain crown. The War for Mexican Independence would end with the signing of the Treaty of Hidalgo in 1821. Mexico would set up its own monarchy, but opt for a republic constitution less than 2 years later. With 3,200 settlers at the time California, Alta and Baja, would need settlement to create growth.

It’s this California that Antonio Chaboya would move to in 1821. Native Americans coming to Missions would make up a lot of the economy in the Spanish Period of California’s History. Mexico would inherit these struggles. Mexico had a lot of problems in the upcoming years stabilizing the government and economy. Alta California wasn’t well settled and had no tax revenue coming in. Mexico was able to step up trade out of California by 25%, doing business with Russian on the West Coast for the most part. Monterey was the only port at the time and the capital of the Alta California Territoy. The Mexican Government applied at 100% tariff to pay for the Territory’s expenses. What does that look like? One for trade and one for the government. Tariffs like these made up approximately 90% of government income at the time, no matter where you lived. In 1827, the Mexican Government would dismiss their Spanish born residents. The Government would change formats too many time to really stabilize the area.

So California, as we know it today, was expensive to operate without the strength in numbers to hold it steady. 87,000 indigenous people would be baptized by the Missions in 1800. Outbreak of disease in 1805-6 would decimate Native populations across California’s Missions. The Native American coverts would be treated like free labor, though they were promised land after a certain amount of service. Soldiers would retrieve people who fled the Missions. Those who hadn’t died due to new diseases were difficult to contain. In 1826, the Governor of Alta California would release the indigenous people of their commitment to the Missions, working the land for food and shelter. The Mexican Government would find lessening Native populations also making the Missions a burden also now that they had to provide them land like other citizens and no one stayed to operate the Mission farmlands. The indigenous people would leave and assimilate to their new surroundings. The emancipation would make California a sympathizer and welcome member of the Union Army during the Civil War, 1861-1865. In 1833, the Missions would be secularized by the Government. In 1832, less than 18,000 survived. Mexico couldn’t afford to fund the churches. Acres of Mission lands would be sold off and granted to others.

There were thirty preexisting ranchos granted by the Crown of Spain to friends and families of Government leaders, but none in Santa Clara County by Mexico’s Independence. Land Regulations would open up in 1824, allowing Mexican citizens to petition for land pretty easily and inviting Catholic immigrants to create new homesteads. In 1827, Spanish born citizens, including priests, would have to leave the Mexican Territory. This is when Mexican born Antonio Chaboya would’ve begun making his way to the Santa Clara Valley and eyeing the land.

In order to obtain your land grant in California of the 1820’s-30’s, you would need to work your land for 5 years so you had a claim to it. The grants were often untracked with conflicting boundaries. The disorganized manner in which grants were issued is the reason why this land grant to the right has a rectangular shape like the paper and no outlines. The land was cheap and there was practically no tax or dues on the property. Ranch owners would enjoy a barony type status, providing work and limited land to rand workers. Without the Missions farming the land, Ranch owners would step in, fill in that gap and reap the profits. Through the Mexican Period, forty-one grants would be made in Santa Clara County alone.

In 1831, the Missions would record over 24,000 inhabitants of California- native, immigrant and Mexican. Rancho Yerba Buena would be granted to Chaboya in 1833. Santa Clara County’s first Ranchos would be granted in present day Gilroy, closer to Monterey. Chaboya’s would be the first recorded in present day San Jose.

Neighboring Rancho Santa Teresa would be granted to the Bernal Family in 1834. The Higuera Family would be granted Rancho Pala in 1835, selling it shortly afterwards to Englishman, Mr. Charles White. Rancho Milpitas would be sold to the Alviso Family. The Berryessa Family would be granted land in East San Jose in 1842. Are we recognizing any of these names?

Antonio Chaboya would’ve heard about cinnabar in the hills, but probably didn’t mine even after hearing about nearby Almaden quicksilver mines. The Chaboyas enjoyed vast grazing lands on Rancho Yerba Buena. The largest of Santa Clara Ranchos, Rancho Yerba Buena was over 24,000 acres. The Mexican Period was an awesome time to be Mexican landowner in Santa Clara Valley.

The beginning of the end of the Mexican Period was a land grant made to a Catholic American immigrant, John Sutter, in 1839. Colonization is what Alta California needed and asked for. However, American immigrants to California would begin making their dissatisfaction with the Mexican Government known by 1840, staging various incidents. By 1844, Californios, native born Mexican citizens, would also revolt against disorganized Mexican Rule. By 1846, California as we know it has approximately 12,000 inhabitants.

California’s Statehood would get underway a little before that discovery of gold, but the Gold Rush allowed California to become a State from a Territory very quickly. Before Gold, Texas broke away from Mexico in 1836 and didn’t want to be a part of the United States until 1846. War between Mexico and the United States would ensue over these territories with Americans, Catholics invited by the Roman Church, living in them. That same year, California would rise under the Bear Republic, neutralizing Mexican garrisons without violence or bloodshed. Less than a month later with the capture of Mexican Presidios, Alta California would succumb to US governance. John Sutter’s grant near present day Sacramento would discover gold in 1848.

The end of the Mexican American War in 1848 would see the United States paying $15,000,000.00 for the territories of Alta California – present day California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. This would essentially wipe out the Mexican Government’s debts with the colonization costs. The Compromise of 1850 would see California to Statehood. The Pueblo of San Jose, New Spain’s first non-secular settlement, would become the first State Capital with the help of some Evergreen players. Other Evergreen notables like the Pellier Family and Coe Family would move into Evergreen shortly thereafter. By 1850, there would be over 100,000 people living in California. That’s quite a boom. Here’s our artwork discussing this period of time.

Before the Rancho

April 25, 2016Artwork, Historical Researchagriculture, antonio, california, californios, Chaboya, indians, mexican, mexico, missions, natives, Ohlone, orchards, pedro, period, rancho, Rancho Yerba Buena, statehood, vineyardsevergreen

Our fair Evergreen certainly has seen so many changes since Europeans first came. Our City, or Pueblo, of San Jose was founded the year after the Revolutionary War, 1777. Pueblo de San Jose was the first city in “New Spain” and the first non-religious settlement. Back then, it was Spanish Territory. In 1822, Mexico would win their independence and Alta California would become Mexican Territory. Evergreen was Rancho Yerba Buena through the Mexican Period. In 1848, the Bear Republic would revolt, and Statehood was inevitable in 1850 after Gold was found. Evergreen would be flooded with European newcomers, looking for the American Dream. All that having been said, and having been written down, Evergreen was around before the written record.

California was estimated to have had 13,000-15,000 natives before Spanish colonization. Modern Day Evergreen would be home to Native American several tribes. Hundreds of campsites would be evident in Silver Creek Valley Country Club alone before its construction in the early 1990’s. Artifacts would be found over by the Villages and what would’ve been the Blauer Ranch in the 1960’s. Arrowheads and mortars would be found all over Evergreen.

I have been told to be delicate in how I label the Evergreen Native people. For sure, Ohlone is an appropriate title, but that’s most Natives in Santa Clara Valley. The larger umbrella is Costanoan, all over the South Bay Area to Monterey. As this narrows, the labels become less sure without first person confirmation. An anthropologist might lump them in with the larger Muwekma Ohlone group. Let’s peek under the smaller umbrella.

Tamien or Tamyen were Muwekma and refers to the Native Americans near the Guadalupe River and the Pueblo of San Jose. They would’ve come to Mission de Santa Clara first. That’s not our indigenous Evergreen bunch. Pala or Palenos refers to the Native Americans in and around nearby Rancho Canada dela Pala and Rancho Pala, both being named after a famed Ohlone leader to the. The Werwersen tribe is nearer to Halls Valley and Mt. Hamilton to the Northeast. Native people along Coyote Creek, the western boundary of Rancho Yerba Buena, were called the Aulintac tribe. These are opposite corners of the 25000+ acres of Rancho Yerba Buena and present day Evergreen. Who was in the middle? Who was there at Silver Creek Valley Country Club from 350 years ago? These people had a name and I would hate to misquote. I will get the official tribe name from the people themselves. I want to find our Evergreen Natives, especially since we have so much evidence of them.

From all accounts, our Evergreen indigenous people lived a hunter gatherer lifestyle and a nomadic one at that. Tribes wouldn’t stick around in one place for long and live off the abundant land. Berries, roots, seeds, acorns, and natural grains would take up a large part of their diets. The Ohlone would hunt from a rich, diverse wildlife. A nomadic way of life kept the environment healthy. Ritual dances would be a huge part of their Kuksu Religion. Dance would be incorporated into rain, fertility, hunting, harvest and other sorts of ceremonies. I think Evergreen is gorgeous today. Could you imagine how stunning it was back then? Alum Rock Park is a great resource to get in touch with our Ohlone Natives. Alum Rock Park also has springs similar to Evergreen, along with artifacts and guides to engage with. It’s a popular field trip destination.

In the 19th century, where did they all go?

The Spanish would enter California in the 1760’s. The DeAnza Expedition and Spanish colonization would eventually wipe out the indigenous people across Santa Clara Valley. The Pueblo de San Jose would be established by the Spanish in 1777 and the Mission de Santa Clara de Asis would open right alongside it.

Mission de San Jose opened in June 11, 1797 by Father Fermiin Francisco de Lasuén. It’s located in present day Fremont, on Fremont Boulevard. The Native Americans baptized at Mission de Santa Clara de Asis, near present day Downtown San Jose, would go back home to their land miles away until Mission de San Jose opened nearby. Early days of Mission de Santa Clara and the adjoining Pueblo would see Winter flooding of Guadalupe River, so you couldn’t blame anyone for not wanting to stick around.

The Franciscan Missions along the El Camino Real would be hubs of agriculture at the time. Naval Bases at both San Francisco and Monterey would rely on the Santa Clara Valley to feed themselves. Olive orchards, mission grapes and livestock would be handled by a workforce made up of the Native American converts. After ten years of service, a worker would own a plot of land with a couple of location restrictions.

The Mission of San Jose would open up its doors to 33 people in 1797. Small pox and disease introduced by the Spanish would decimate populations at the Mission around 1805. An earthquake brought down the bell tower in 1808. Nonetheless, the population of Native Americans at the Mission de San Jose would grow steadily through the 1810’s-1820’s. A permanent church was constructed in 1809, only to be struck by an earthquake in 1868. A reconstruction stands there today on Fremont Boulevard. The indigenous people from the San Joaquin Valley at Mission San Jose would revolt in 1928-29. Even still, in 1831, the Mission housed over 1800 Native Americans from across the Bay Area and Central Valley.

After a decade of civil war, Mexican Independence from Spain would be realized in 1822. The Territory of New Spain, or present day Mexico and California, would rule itself with the Roman Catholic Church’s protection. A few years later in 1834, the Franciscan Missions would be secularized by the Mexican Government and the Native Peoples would leave the Missions. By the 1840’s, the Native peoples were clumped together in Communities around the Silicon Valley, finding work on ranches where they could. It must’ve been hard to be an indigenous person letting go of your way of life then be turned out of your new home at Mission. Native Americans would return to their land which was granted to Mexican ranchers, like Antonio Chaboya, in the meantime, therefore have no place to return to. They would’ve been understandably upset. This is where we again encounter our Native Evergreen people.

The Chaboyas would also defended their lands from returning indigenous peoples. The Evening News in 1916 would record an event before it faded in time and memory. Don Pedro Chaboya, brother of Evergreen’s Antonio and alcade or mayor of Pueblo de San Jose, held off a Native revolt in the 1840’s with a band of ranchers and defending the Mexican Rancheros. The returning indigenous people, 300 members strong, would steal over 600 horses and squat on various ranchos. The Ohlone Natives were nomadic originally. The indigenous peoples would lived off the land, leaving little trace. They had the carbon footprint we all want. The Ranchers probably wouldn’t have fought at all unless the theft of horses and cattle happened.

In Antonio Chaboya’s Rancho Yerba Buena, who couldn’t possibly oversee every acre at all time, they were difficult to locate. Rancho Yerba Buena found homesteaders setting up shop after years on Rancho Yerba Buena.

Ranch hands and Ranchers alike, Californios, would come together to defend their way of life. Several of Pedro’s brothers, Jose Berryessa, Sebastian Peralta, Augustine and Jose Bernal, Balentin Higuerra and Augustine Narvaez were just a couple notably ranchers in Pedro’s militia. The Mexican Band of Ranchers would run the Natives off as far as Pacheco Pass, lead by Pedro Chaboya. The Californios would overpower the Ohlones while they took refuge at Lake Tachi.

The Franciscan Missions would become Catholic Churches again in 1868 but the Ohlone Natives would not return in full force. By 1935, the Evergreen Native people were almost extinct. Of course they married into other families and assimilated to their new surroundings. Tracking them down has been really hard, but I have some leads to follow with the Missions themselves. The Ohlone peoples of Santa Clara County and beyond still haven’t been recognized by the Federal Government due to lack of knowledge about them. Their peaceful way of life should be praised, as everyone else who came to Evergreen enjoyed the bounty of the land too. Again, I like to wonder what the Evergreen area looked like before the Spanish colonialists came. Here’s the artwork that features our indigenous Evergreen populations.

Redundant Theme – Mining for Evergreen

April 22, 2016Artwork, Concept, Historical Researchcinnabar, creeks, mercury, mining, quicksilver, silver creek, silver creek mines, townshipevergreen

Miners who would strike it rich in the Gold Rush would make Evergreen their home in the later half of the 1800’s. The discovery of gold would hasten California’s Statehood and spur immigration to the Golden State. Evergreen had a huge hand in bringing California to Statehood. Businessman, Orchardist, winemaker and French immigrant, Luis Pellier, would become the father of California’s Fruit Industry when noting the high price of fruit while he was panning for gold. With a little success gold panning and a little luck being a farmer from France, he managed to create his own gold. Henry W. Coe, for whom the park is named after, struck it rich importing mining equipment through the Gold Rush, enabling him to invest in such a large Evergreen property after pulling stakes up from Willow Glen.

A little known fact is that the Town of Evergreen would be that it is built up around active, productive mines. Tracking down these mines would be a little bit of a dig, but mining was a big deal for two distinct periods of time in Evergreen’s history. Mercury and Quicksilver are in the foundation of San Jose’s History, so much so that newspaper is called the Mercury News.

One of the first businesses ever opened in Evergreen was the Kettmann Saloon. Andrew Kettmann’s establishment was located on San Felipe Road in Downtown Evergreen, just North of the historic Smith family homes and businesses. The turn of the 20th century watering hole was frequented by miners up until Prohibition. The inebriated patrons would stumble off to kiss under the bridges of creek crossings nearby Cadwallader neighborhood by Keaton Loop. Prohibition brought the business under and San Felipe Road would be rerouted.

H. R. Bradford would eventually come to own the mining prospect and property in the 1890’s. Mr. Hector R. Bradford came from a mining family and one with political interests. Father, F. W. Farnsworth and once Governor of Massachusetts and descendants of Mayflower passangers, would move the family out West to California in 1884. Eldest son H. R. was only nine years old and sweeping around mine shafts as child. As an adult, H. R. Bradford would accumulate mining interests across California, but especially adored his Evergreen holding. He and partner J. Treadwell would own and operate the Silver Creek Mining Company. His business acumen was something to be admired.

In 1895, a close examination of the flooding and mines was made and Silver Creek mines began delivering pay ore. Silver Creek mines was producers of quicksilver, mercury and cinnabar.

Mr. H. R. Bradford must have heard about furnaces like this at the mining prospect before making his decision about the Silver Creek acquisition. Quicksilver Mining would require lots of timber to fuel the furnaces. Evergreen had plenty of orchards pulling trees and natural oak trees. Bradford’s property in Evergreen was huge.

Silver Creek Mines and the Mining Company would be named after Silver Creek, a spring and creek which lay nearby the site of the mines. In fact, this mine is located directly Southeast from Silver Creek Valley Country Club, and you know you’re wicked close when you’re along the backside of the Country Club and get to the Creek. The mine now sits with the Espinosa family for some years now.

These mines in Evergreen, however, were preexisting. Bradford purchased historic cinnabar mines that were dormant and flooded for 25 years. These mines would be 5 miles North of the Almaden Mines. Their original name were the North Almaden Mines when it was owned by A. J. Piercy. Heir E. M. Piercy would sell to Bradford. Before the North Almaden Mining Company extracted cinnabar ore, it was known as the Adams Mine. The Comstock Panic would bring the mines to a halt in the 1860’s. The Comstock Panic brought to light poor money management and stock dealings in the mining industries in 1865. True interests and dividends were not being distributed properly. New Almaden would halt due to wage negotiations in the 1860’s. World War I & II would bring the mines back to popularity in the production of ammunitions.

Was Silver Creek named for the quicksilver found near by? Contamination could’ve been the reason for the name. It could also be named after its sparkling beauty. This is really a chicken-egg debate that only the Native Ohlone can answer.

The Native Americans here in Evergreen would take note of the red soil and water contamination. They knew about the cinnabar before the Spanish came to colonize California.

New Almaden Mines would date back to 1824. It’s name came from a combination of Arabic words “Al”, from, and “Maden”, the mine. Quicksilver would be cultivated at New Almaden then North Almaden in Evergreen. The largest producer would be Spain’s Alamden mines, or Old Almaden Mines. Quicksilver would be used in medicine and in the amalgamation of gold and silver ores as far back as the 16th century through furnaces and distillation.

Only faint traces of the mines and mining culture can be found in Evergreen today. Here shown to the left is historian Richard Neiman, showing of some 100 year old mining equipment found at Blauer Ranch in the 1960’s. One half of Blauer Ranch would become the front portion of the Villages. The other would become the Silver Creek Valley Country Club.

Mining creates a redundant theme in our Evergreen Mural Walk artwork. Here’s some of the Artwork with Mining overtones.

Downtown Developer developed in Evergreen

April 21, 2016Artwork, Historical Researchbusiness, downtown, evergreen people, family, generations, san joseevergreen

At the beginning of this project, I discussed with a few people: What is Evergreen? What’s the feeling? Who gives you the feeling? And what was it like to grow up in Evergreen? I’m looking to communicate that authentic emotion with these murals. Who better to discuss it with than people with Evergreen roots who watched it grew up.

This project has connected me with some of the most gracious people. I think kindness is a natural byproduct of farming, ranching and growing up in Evergreen. My interviewee was beyond kind and frankly caught me off guard with how generous he was with his time. I was enjoying talking to him so much that I forgot I was taking notes and conducting an interview. I admire this gentleman for a number of reasons. If I thought my application would get responded to, I would’ve applied to work for his awesome company when I worked in construction. His company is one built on family roots and a vision of the future. It is hard to find creativity within construction, however Barry Swenson manages to innovate in both building techniques and aesthetic of his creations.

Evergreen Native, Barry Swenson, came from a long line of builders. Barry has passed the family business on to son, Case.

Mr. Swenson’s grandfather, Carl N. Swenson, was born in Sweden in 1885. He came to the United States when he was seventeen with ten dollars in his pocket. Carl Swenson would come to Chicago to his aunt’s house, where his aunt threatened to take his ten dollars in exchange for her hospitality. Carl would start working on railroads and then start building his way West from 1902-1911. He would also marry wife, Anna Mathilda Olson, also a Swedish immigrant. From a Turlock base, Swenson would take on projects all over the Central Valley and even the Bay Area. Carl would build the Medico-Dental Building across the street from City Hall in 1928. It must have been quite an introduction to the Valley of Heart’s Delight because in 1929, the Swensons would move to San Jose.

Here, Carl N. Swenson Construction would start building modern marvels of technology and begin having a huge hand in shaping the Silicon Valley. Luckily, he worked with an amazing architect, William H. Weeks. The Art Deco architectural wonder Hotel DeAnza, built by Carl Swenson in 1931, is one of the most popular San Jose landmarks this way. The Hotel Palomar, built in 1929, would withstand the 1989 earthquake with reinforced \concrete. The Swenson craftsmanship and quality would create a reputation strong enough to pass on to the next generation.

Carl Swenson would move his family on to a 26 acre farm in Evergreen, purchased from the Hassler Family, in 1943. Barry Swenson went to Andrew Hill High School before Silver Creek was built. Carl N. Swenson purchased his ranch off Silver Creek Road for a mere $6,000.00. In 2005, Barry put an estimated valuation of $16,000,000.00 on the real estate. What a great investment! Barry Swenson says if his grandfather’s property had remained in the family, he would still live in Evergreen today.

Carl’s son, Clifford, born in 1916, was a waterboy on the DeAnza Hotel project. Cliff would’ve been the same age his father was when he came to America and began working on railroads. Clifford would grow up on a ranch and surrounded by his father’s business. He studied Engineering and Economics at San Jose University. Clifford W. Swenson would rise through the ranks at Carl N. Construction Company.

It’s been said that Clifford had the vision to create things from scratch and the ability to follow carry them out. Cliff’s imagination would continue to propel Carl N. Swenson Construction forward through challenging projects. He was no doubt an asset on projects like that at Moffett Field in 1948. The Swensons would build NASA’s wind tunnel that we’ve all seen on school field trips. Cliff would become president of the Carl N Construction Company in 1956. In 1958, they would be contracted to build San Jose’s City Hill, now a part of the Civic Center complex on Hedding Street.

Cliff would write in a company brochure far as back as 1962: “Construction and development is a people-oriented business requiring a diversity of talent. Our company’s greatest asset is its people. The continued growth and success we have enjoyed over the years has been as a director result of teamwork: our professionals working with each other and directly with clients.” The quality of people hired by Carl N. Swenson speaks for itself. Beyond utilizing family members in their fields of study and strength, Cliff would hire some of today’s most successful developers. He mentored Chuck Toeniskoetter and Dan Breeding. In fact, Mr. Breeding would find his wife filing at Swenson’s. Philip Mirenda would serve as VP and General Superintendent of Carl N. Swenson Construction for over 35 years. Clifford Swenson even hired professional baseball vet Hap Smith. He would also learn how to make way for the next generation. Clifford could see talent in people, whether or not they had the experience. Cliff Swenson would retire from the family business in 1983.

Carl N. Swenson Construction Company buildings are some of the most recognizable in the Silicon Valley because they have personality and dynamism. To list all their projects would take a long time. Dominican Hospital, San Jose Mercury New Headquarters, Milpitas Ford Plant, IBM, and Lockheed Martin Facilities are just a few. The Santa Cruz Sentinel described projects like Dominican Hospital and San Lorenzo Park Plaza as “the realization of the dreams of men to build a better world” in 1967.

It is this sincerest hope of a better world that I feel coming from Mr. Barry Swenson. This legacy of innovation and building is nothing more than a family tradition to the Swensons. In 1961, the Green Valley Landscaping Company would become an offshoot of the Carl N. Swenson Construction Company, headed by newly graduated Clifford Barron “Barry” Swenson. In 1977, Barry Swenson Builders would be established and pick up the family business. Two years later, BSB would be the dominant entity in the Swenson Group.

Barry Swenson Builders had a professional homecoming in renovating the Hotel DeAnza for 2000% the cost of his grandfather’s original construction in 1931. Historical landmarks renovated by Barry Swenson Builders are all over Downtown San Jose. BSB is able to make old architecture feel like a new building from the inside. Beyond Victorian homes and office building, New Century, Hayes Mansion and Santa Cruz’s Del Mar Theater are just a couple.

Barry left Carl N. Swenson Construction and pursued his own direction because he found that practices were not innovating and keeping up with the building trends. The Swenson quality and dependability were a given. A young Barry Swenson was able to envision a new way of doing things and bring their family tradition into the future. San Pedro Market is a Barry Swenson creation which looks so similar to the Carl N. Swenson façade. Centurra, Vendrome and the Lofts on Alameda are just some of his new residential projects with a hint of old flavor. That Swenson personality carries over even into this day. Today, BSB focuses on a sustainable, innovative downtown experience. If you’ve never seen their signs, you have. You just weren’t paying attention.

The Landmaker project is just one way in which Barry Swenson Builders is building “a better world”. This creative design approach to concrete construction is a patented system designed to be safer, stronger, taller, greener and more cost-effective to other mid to high rise constructions.

Again, if we’re going to discuss BSB long list of accomplishments and creations, we’re going to be here a while. FedEx Facilities in Santa Clara, Oakland and San Jose, GE-Hitachi Plant, Good Samaritan Medical Plaza, the San Jose City College Technology Center, City Heights, Levare Apartments at Santana Row, Century Towers, Milpitas Towers, Oakland’s Jack London Square and the DMV on Senter Road are just a couple.

This torch has been passed on to Case Swenson. The young Mr. Swenson ran his own construction under the family umbrella for over 20 years. Case joined Barry Swenson Builders’ leadership in 2013 and became president in 2014. He, like his grandfather and undoubtedly his father, grew up doing chores on the jobsite. The Swenson tradition of farming is still a fruitful on today. A strong work ethic on the job and on the ranch is something the Swensons are very proud of. It’s a tradition passed down for over 100 years that continues to create Silicon Valley as we know it.

The Swensons have been incredibly philanthropic. A personal fave of mine is the gift of land made to Garden to Table Taylor St. Farm, www.garden2table.org. Barry Swenson Builders follows a tradition of donating to SJSU like his father. Barry Swenson Builders is recognized as one of the most generous organizations in the Silicon Valley. They don’t just put their money where it counts. Barry Swenson Builders also participates through construction projects, providing real improvements to the Community. Sacred Heart, City Team, History of San Jose and Good Karma Bikes are just a few causes they’ve swung a hammer for.

Tremendously accomplished yet tremendously kind people- the Swensons from Evergreen have a lot to be proud of. They have had a huge hand creating the Silicon Valley skyline, building up downtown, and continue that tradition of positive impact. Barry Swenson Builders’ mission is in its logo and matra: Tradition, Innovation, Integrity. It’s that simple. Maybe that’s the recipe to success. Mr. Swenson’s kindness and philanthropy are a bonus. I can’t believe this innovator, preservationist, philanthropist, difference-maker came from Evergreen. Barry Swenson grew up cultivated the 26 acres homestead near Silver Creek Road and now cultivates better buildings in a better San Jose. Now that I’m so familiar with him, I see his signs and plaques of recognition everywhere. Buildings for lease, Buildings being built, signage, everywhere. He popped up at Eastside Union High School District’s Hall of Fame, having graduated in 1957. Barry Swenson is well-known, well-respected, well-liked man and I totally understand why. He has followed his passion and his traditions professionally and personally. Here’s the artwork we’ve designed for generations of innovative builders.