Elusive Eden: A New History of California, fourth edition

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: BEGINNINGS OF MODERN CALIFORNIA

POPULATION• California's population growth rate slowed

post-gold rush--1800 = 865,000 --1900 = 1.5 million • transcontinental rr ended Cal's isolation from

rest of US• No Cal pop, economy grew fastest• So Cal primitive, lawless image persisted

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA • Pop grew slowly--1862 SF pop 56,000--all of So Cal pop less than 30,000• 1846 LA pop 1200--Mormon farmers settled San Bernardino 1840s--American entrepreneurs invested in LA--Elias J. ("Lucky") Baldwin came in gold rush,

bought land

--future governor John G. Downey, Phineas

Banning built San Pedro port, town

•Californio rancheros in decline--1850s did well: beef prices high--1860s disastrous: newcomers from Southwest moved in --droughts killed herds--sheep ranchers competed for pasture

• Los Angeles population grew --1850 = 1,600 --1860 = 4,400--1870 = 5,700

• San Diego population grew --1870 = 2,300

• 1870 only 20,000 in all of Los Angeles, San Diego counties

--Majority Hispanic--Americans dominated positions of political, social,

economic power

• 1850s towns competed for railroad• rrs key to population growth, economic

development--Los Angeles, San Diego main competitors for

Central, Southern Pacific Railroad routes--residents believed port central to rr decision-

making

• LA couldn't compete with San Diego's natural harbor

--rr-harbor link crucial to Asian, Pacific rim trade• Phineas Banning built rr link from LA to coast--built market town of Wilmington--improved harbor

• 1850s Congress debating southern transcontinental route

--San Diegans lobbied for New Orleans-San Diego route

--formed rr company to build• Civil War, Pacific RR Act delayed construction--San Diego's hopes for southern rr route

revived mid-1860s

--leader Union general William S. Rosecrans--support from Congress, John C. Frémont,

Pennsylvania Central RR, and Central Pacific RR

• 1865 San Diego group, San Francisco syndicate formed Southern Pacific Railway Company

--incorporation papers required coastal route San Francisco to San Diego

--1868 Central Pacific took over company

--taking advantage of federal public land grants--planned to build south across Coast Range,

through San Joaquin Valley to southern California, then east to Colorado River to connect with southern transcontinental route

--mountains stopped construction at Tres Piños, south of Hollister

• 1871, Rosecrans, San Diego group organized California Southern Coast Railway Company

--also intended to link SF, San Diego--rival rr if CP built north-south route--if CP didn't, Rosecrans would control coastal

traffic and build to San Joaquin Valley, link San Diego to CP's transcontinental route

• 1870s Los Angeles leaders promoted rail connection

--courted Central Pacific --courted Texas Pacific--moot point: CP controlled construction--CP anxious to consolidate transportation into,

in California

--abandoned coast route --built towards San Joaquin River Valley --building towards entry points at Needles, Yuma • 1876 Los Angelenos resumed negotiations with

CP--promised CP $610,000 subsidy--gave rights to P. Banning's LA-San Pedro RR--gave land for depot in LA• 1884 CP reorganized as Southern Pacific

Railroad Company

• CP built 50-mi trunk line to LA--Left San Diego out

POPULATION: THE "ONE GREAT DESIDERATUM"• 1876 LA rail connection completed • 1870 - 1880 population doubled• economic base shifted• ranchers shifted to feed lots • California Cotton Growers and Manufacturers

Association planted 10,000 acres cotton near Bakersfield

--imported black southerners

•Citrus growers expanded

•Department of Agriculture introduced Brazil's Bahia naval ("Washington" navel) --1873 two Bahia trees near Riverside--by 1890 more than 1 million •Central Valley wheat production expanded--1890 2nd largest wheat grower after Minnesota

• San Francisco expanded manufacturing, commerce

• CP/SP launched media campaign--thousands of acres to sell--published books, pamphlets about So Cal--1874 Charles Nordhoff, “California for Health,

Pleasure and Residence”--1883 B.C. Truman, “Homes and Happiness in

the Golden State of California”

• CP/SP ran "emigrant cars" from Midwest--financed travelers' aid offices --hired interpreters for foreign-born settlers• statewide associations promoted immigration--California Migrant Union --Pacific Land Bureau --Los Angeles Board of Trade founded Southern

California Immigration Association

• advertised better health in Cal --results disappointing--Cal too far, too expensive--other states had same campaigns• Cal agriculture depended on irrigation

THE "BOOM OF THE '80S"• RR competition boosted population• 1880s Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe built into

California--1883 reached Needles--1885 San Bernardino --1887 Los Angeles--bought intra-state lines--prompted rate war with CP

--before 1887 CP fare KC to LA $125 --after 1887 cut in half, then half again• skeptics lured west for visit--some returned home--many stayed• developers, land speculators promoted So Cal--purchased land--subdivided tracts, laid out towns--publicity, picnics, barbecues lured buyers--rampant fraud

• Now So Cal pop grew quickly--60 new towns --80,000 acres developed--1890 LA pop +50,000 --1900 " " 100,000--1910 " " 300,000

• speculative boom collapsed 1889--many paper fortunes lost• So Cal economy recovered after brief

recession--established banks, businesses survived• So Cal culturally different from northern

California --No Cal shaped by global gold rush

• Fewer foreign-born residents in So Cal--1890 Europeans 15 percent of total pop--" Asians 2 percent " " --" Mexicans less than 1 percent " " --black Americans, Californios, Indians each about

2 percent of total LA pop• Age, gender distribution closer to national

norm--1890 109 men for every 100 women--1900 97 men " "

• many newcomers from Midest--politically conservative--many Protestant, Republican

THE FIRST OIL BOOM• 1870s-1880s So Cal narrow economic base --agriculture--real estate speculation--service industries--retail trade

• LA entrepreneurs tried to lure manufacturers to city

--organized Home Industry Protection League --Society for the Promotion of Manufactures --far behind SF in manufacturing, investment,

employment--industrial development related to agriculture,

cattle raising--food processing, canning--meat packing

• 1880s, 1890s oil discoveries transformed So Cal economy

--eventually more valuable than gold• earlier settlers used petroleum --Indians waterproofed boats, baskets --Spaniards, Mexicans sealed roofs--used for lamp oil

• 1859 E. L. Drake perfected mass-extraction technology

--drilled first well in western Pennsylvania • 1860s, 1870s Californians searched for oil--R. S. Baker explored near Los Angeles--Phineas Banning, Pioneer Oil Company " " "

• 1857 George S. Gilbert opened Ventura County oil refinery

--moderately successful--attracted Thomas A. Scott of Pennsylvania

Railroad--purchased Rancho Ojai --organized as California Petroleum Company --eventually held over 250,000 acres

• 1865 San Francisco capitalists organized Union Mattole Oil Company

--sunk Cal's first oil well --Petrolia, Humboldt County• oil drilling expensive, unprofitable--eastern companies drove down prices--Cal crude poor quality--by 1870 70 companies invested $1M in 60 wells--produced 5,000 barrels worth $10,000

BLACK GOLD• Wildcatters like gold prospectors --hard to abandon chase• 1883 Pennsylvanians Lyman Stewart, Wallace

L. Hardison drilled at Newhall--explored 3 years--began refining--brought in Thomas R. Bard for $$

• 1886 Bard, Stewart, Hardison founded Sespe Oil Company

--1887 produced 50,000 barrels of oil--15 percent of state total --1890 organized Union Oil Company of

California --produced ¼ of state output

• Union Oil expanded 1890-1900 --established refineries at San Pedro, Oleum

(Carquinez Strait)--built own tankers, pipelines --vertical integration: avoided railroad rates--developed oil fields San Luis Obispo, Santa

Barbara, Kern, LA county--by 1900 largest, most successful petroleum

company in California

• Pacific Coast Oil Company grew through 1890s--centered in Bay Area• 1892 Edward L. Doheny triggered "backyard"

oil boom --hand-dug producing well near La Brea Tar Pits• 1900, John D. Rockefeller (Standard Oil)

acquired Pacific Coast Oil --1906 renamed it Standard Oil of California--building horizontal, vertical monopoly

• Southern Pacific, Santa Fe railway companies invested in petroleum production

--additional profits from landholdings--after 1900, Southern Pacific switched from

coal-burning to oil-burning engines

• corporations quickly replaced individual wildcatters

--small operators couldn't compete with Rockefeller's Standard Oil

--flooded local markets with cheap oil--drove competitors out of business--forced to sell to Rockefeller

• Cal crude unique--asphaltum-based product--Pennsylvania's paraffin-based --Cal crude required more processing--Cal crude ideal as paving material --gasoline byproduct of oil refining --originally thrown away --automobiles made gasoline most profitable

petroleum product

FIGHTING AGAINST MONOPOLY• California politics mirrored national trends• growth of corporate power, economic

monopolies troubling• size, regional nature of corporations put beyond

local control• "Granger cases" tested limits of state power

over corporations--1877 Munn v. Illinois (1877) affirmed principle--later U.S. Supreme Court cases limited regulation

• 1887 Congress created Interstate Commerce Commission

--intended to regulate businesses that crossed state lines (e.g., rrs)

• 1890 Congressed passed Sherman Antitrust Act

--authorized government to break up monopolies

--measure too weak to be effective

• Farmers organized against rrs--freight rates robbed of profits--shippers paid more in West than East • Californians focused on Southern Pacific

monopoly --land speculation (Mussel Slough)--tax evasion--efforts to control political process

• 1879 constitution created Railroad Commission

--authority to set uniform freight rates--valued property for taxation--Southern Pacific infiltrated commission• Southern Pacific shaped California politics--most Republicans opposed corporate

regulation--small faction led anti-RR wing of party

--e.g., anti-RR Republican Thomas R. Bard successfully ran for US Senate

--former Republican senator Cornelius Cole led anti-rr faction

• Most Democrats favored regulation--small faction sided with rr--e.g., John P. Irish, editor of Oakland Times, San

Francisco Alta California

--U.S. Supreme Court justice Stephen J. Field• majority of Californians supported rr

regulation --LA leaders Reginaldo Del Valle, Stephen

Mallory White --No Cal leaders Barclay Henley, George Hearst,

Chris Buckley--SF consistently anti-rr

• 1880s fight centered on taxation--CP sued to avoid assessments under 1879

Constitution --CP sued San Mateo, Santa Clara, other

counties to avoid taxes

• 1882, 1883 tax cases reached federal courts --Justice Stephen J. Field sided with rr--case precedent setting: defined corporation as

legal "person" --invested corporations with rights under

Fourteenth Amendment --RR allowed to set its own tax rates

• 1884 Governor George Stoneman took action--called special legislative session--supposed to find means of collecting unpaid

taxes--Republicans, pro-railroad Democrats defeated

each measure

• 1884 California Democrats held state convention

--wrote anti-monopoly platform--nominated only anti-monopoly candidates--drummed pro-rr candidates out of party--refused to support Field nomination for

president

• split state Democrats--elected Democratic governor, Washington

Bartlett --lost control of state legislature to Republicans--1885 Republican legislature elected Leland

Stanford to US Senate

POLITICAL CHANGE IN THE 1890S• RRs only part of the problem• Californians swept up in national political

arguments• Cal voted against tariff-lowering Democrat

Grover Cleveland--Many Cal business leaders favored higher

protective tariffs--feared cheaper foreign importers

• Many Californians favored inflationary military policies, free silver

• Arrival of Santa Fe broke Southern Pacific monopoly

--blunted business leaders' enthusiasm for corporate regulation

--brought in "tenderfoot vote" : Midwestern evangelical Republicans

--congregated in So Cal--reshaped Cal politics

• Californians secured several important reforms

--1891 state legislature approved Australian secret-ballot law

--1893 legislature sent Democrat Stephen M. White to U S Senate

--replaced Republican Leland Stanford--1893 passed Purity of Elections Law--required candidates to submit detailed

financial reports

• crafted systems to regulate municipal franchises

• Californians also won rr battles--1893 Railroad Reassessment Act compelled

Southern Pacific to pay $2.2 million in overdue taxes

--secured publicly controlled port at Los Angeles --defeated Southern Pacific "Funding Bill"

THE FREE HARBOR FIGHT AND FUNDING BILL• LA businessmen developed harbor at San

Pedro--Phineas Banning built facilities, town at

Wilmington--1870-1890 secured Congressional funds for

harbor improvements --inadequate for ocean-going vessels--breakwater key to LA's economic future--local financial resources not enough

• construction required federal aid• 1890 U S Army Corps of Engineers studied

potential LA harbor sites --chose San Pedro for breakwater--rejected Santa Monica site--recommended $4 million federal appropriation• Collis P. Huntington owned most of Santa

Monica waterfront--purchased for Southern Pacific RR--rail + port powerful monopoly

• 1892 Collis P. Huntington pressured Congress for second survey

--second survey also chose San Pedro--final 1896 legislation appropriated a $2.9

million for Santa Monica breakwater• Harrison Gray Otis, other Angelenos organized

Los Angeles Free Harbor League--Senator Stephen M. White lobbied against

1896 bill

• third study selected San Pedro--Congress amended bill--1899 construction began• LA became key port--handles 2/3 of state's shipping

• Funding Bill even more important to Southern Pacific

• owed fed $28 million for transcontinental rr--funds due 1899• 1878 CP required to bank portion of revenues

from lines built with fed funds for repayment--CP refused--cooked books--argued loans were gifts--said repayment would bankrupt company

• 1896 Huntington friends introduced Funding Bill

--extended term of loan 100 years--reduced interest rate from 6% to 1%• Californians outraged--SF's Populist mayor Adolph Sutro lobbied

against Bill--William Randolph Hearst produced 200,000

signature petition--bankruptcy ideal: US would nationalize rr

• January 1897 Congress voted down Funding Bill

• company didn't collapse--repaid debt in full--major defeat for Hungtington

AGRARIAN REVOLT• 1890s, anti-corporate feeling widespread

nationally• Wage earners organized against corporate

power--Noble Order of the Knights of Labor--American Federation of Labor

• farmers dissatisfied --over production --high rr freight rates --low commodities prices• federal government little help--tariffs protected manufacturers, hurt farmers--no protection for farm prices--deflationary monetary policies hurt borrowers

• 1867 Midwestern farmers organized Patrons of Husbandry

--pressured state legislatures to regulate rrs--federal courts struck down• Midwestern Farmers' Alliances entered

national politics• farmers, wage earners agreed on fundamental

reforms--nationalization of rrs, telephone, telegraph,

utilities

--inflationary monetary policies--direct democracy measures• 1892 Populists held first national convention --unlimited coinage of silver--woman suffrage--eight-hour work day--public ownership of utilities--national banking and sub-treasury systems

• captured several state governments, elected representatives to Congress

• 1896 Populists campaigned for White House• nominated James B. Weaver--positions too similar to Democratic candidate

William Jennings Bryan --Populists joined Bryan campaign--lost to Republican William McKinley --destroyed Populist party--goals later adopted by "progressives"

POPULISM IN CALIFORNIA• Agrarian revolt shaped California politics--winter of 1889–1890 destroyed crops--1890 + 25,000 unemployed just in San

Francisco • Southern Pacific defeated regulatory

legislation• failure of parties to defeat monopoly fostered

third party organization

• 1888 Edward Bellamy novel Looking Backward sparked Nationalist movement

--advocated nationalization of transportation, communications, utilities

--solution to gap between rich and poor • Nationalist clubs formed around country--esp. popular in Cal--1889 club in Oakland first

• 1890 62 clubs in Cal--4000 members--appealed to men, women, wage earners,

businessmen, socialists--Cal had third of all US clubs

• most Nationalists eventually switched to Farmers' Alliance

--Santa Barbara group organized late 1890--also attractive to Grangers, anti-monopolists,

currency reformers, disaffected Republicans--former Republican U.S. Senator Cornelius Cole

joined

• 1890 Farmers' Alliance held first state convention at San Jose

--organized as California Farmers' Alliance and Industrial Union

--elected Ventura County rancher, Democrat Marion Cannon president

--criticized monopoly, Wall Street, corrupt politicians

--by 1891 30,000 members in 34 counties--representatives met at Los Angeles

• decided to mount candidates for office--renamed People's Party of California--especially popular among Republicans• 1892 People's Party of California attended

national convention--voted for Weaver, Omaha platform--helped reelect Democrat Grover Cleveland

• state elections Populists took majority of legislature

--sent Populist (Marion Cannon) to Congress• 1893 Cal Populists, Democrats successful

coalition --passed political reforms --elected Stephen M. White to US Senate

• 1894 high point for Cal Populists--rallied northern, Central Valley agricultural

districts--elected anti-monopolist Democrat James H.

Budd governor--elected Adolph Sutro SF mayor • Populists disintegrated after 1896--William Jennings Bryan defeated--Pullman Strike stirred mistrust of reformers

• by 1898 Populists absorbed by socialists, Democrats, Republicans

• despite victories, Populists, Alliances had little effect on Southern Pacific

--William F. Herrin of SoPac Political Bureau secured elections of friendly legislatures

--helped elect one pro-rr governor after another: Henry T. Gage (1898); George C. Pardee (1902): James N. Gillett (1906)

• But Populists effective in engaging nation on the need for political reform

• Populist ideas that were radical in 1870s were commonsense by 1900

THE URBAN SCENE: PRELUDE TO PROGRESSIVISM

• changes in cities inspired reform schemes • midcentury "walking cities" overwhelmed by

immigration, industrialization• San Francisco perfect example--walking city of 35,000 in 1856--transformed by streetcars in 1870s

--municipal functions still those of walking city--political bosses filled void• SF charter campaigns efforts to fix city

problems --1873 Mayor William Alvord city charter

campaign failed--next four re-charter campaigns failed

• campaigns identified "good government" essentials

--home rule (minimal interference from Sacramento)

--strong mayor, weak board of supervisors--public ownership of utilities--guidelines for municipal contracts, franchises

• 1893 SF businessmen organized Merchants' Association

--1895 drafted new, unpopular city charter --attacked by local Labor Council, teachers, small

businessmen --Catholic Church criticized Protestant influence

in public schools--party insiders criticized elimination of voting

by wards

• SF voters rejected 1896 Merchants Association charter

--1896 businessman, recharter advocate James Duval Phelan elected mayor

• Phelan appointed new committee--drafted new city charter--overcame opposition through special elections

on charter issues--illegally closed polls early

• 1898 SF voters narrowly approved new charter

• Equally contentious good government campaign in Los Angeles

--RRs still dominated local politics--1898 John Randolph Haynes organized Direct

Legislation League --campaigned for new charter --voters rejected in 1900

• 1901 reorganized as Good Government League

--Haynes led second campaign--direct democracy advocate--built coalition of businessmen, labor leaders,

socialists, Bellamyites--drafted city charter based on National

Municipal League model--Times publisher Harrison Gray Otis labeled

League members "goo-goos"

• 1903 LA voters approved new city charter--shared with SF charter emphasis on efficiency,

expertise, and corporate management• first US city to institute Populist reforms:

initiative, referendum, recall--1904 Angelenos recalled pro-rr city councilman --LA Express publisher Edwin T. Earl published

exposé of rr influence in government

• 1906 Dickson, goo-goos formed Non-Partisan Committee of 100

--nominated slate of candidates for city office--all won except mayor candidate--1909 launched recall of winner--mayor Arthur C. Harper resigned first--almost first US mayor to be recalled from

office

PRE-PROGRESSIVE WOMEN• gender imbalance of 1850s, 1860s evened out

in 1880s• jobs attracted young working women to SF, LA--faced gender barriers in work, school, politics• Feb. 18, 1868 Laura deForce Gordon gave

state's first woman suffrage speech in public hall

--co-founded California State Woman Suffrage Society

• 1869 San Joaquin Independent Party nominated Gordon for state legislature

--used campaign to discuss women's rights• Clara Shortridge Foltz approached from

different direction--divorced mother of 5 looking for work --decided to study law--pointless if could not practice

• 1876 Foltz submitted amendment to state civil code

--"Any citizen or person resident of this state who has bona fide declared his or her intention to become a citizen in the manner required by law, of the age of twenty-one years, of good moral character, and who possesses the necessary qualifications of learning and ability, is entitled to admission as attorney and counselor in all the Courts of this state."

--friendly senator agreed to propose to legislature

• Senate Bill 66, "Woman Lawyer's Bill," passed by narrow margin

--governor signed it last hour of last day as governor

--statute granted California women access to professions equal to men's

• September 1878 Foltz admitted to California state bar

• 1879 Foltz, Laura deForce Gordon sued Hastings College of Law

--college denied admission to female students--Foltz argued and won suit• ##s of women in professions grew slowly--1890s women owned fewer than 5 percent of

LA, SF businesses

• women confined to historically "feminine" occupations

--e.g., dressmakers, milliners, innkeepers--few female lawyers • Medicine slightly more receptive--seemed to fit women's caregiver role--1873 University of California Medical School

accepted Lucy Wanzer--1888 University of Southern California School

of Medicine graduated first woman doctor

• By 1890 women 10% of Los Angeles doctors, 10% of SF Cooper Medical College students

• nursing evolving as female profession--1873 Dr. Charlotte Amanda Brown, SF women

organized Pacific Dispensary for Women and Children

--evolved into San Francisco Hospital for Children and Training School for Nurses

• By 1900 women staffed almost all elementary classes in SF, LA

--salaries ½ of male teachers--1874 SF Irish immigrant Kate Kennedy

campaigned for "equal pay for equal work" • legislature mandated compensation based on

qualifications, performance--less education, training meant women

teachers still paid less than men

• 1900 new white-collar occupations for women--clerks, stenographers, librarians--jobs abandoned by men• Women's wages lower in Los Angeles than San

Francisco --women's labor orgs strong in SF--1885 SF workers organized Ladies Assembly of the

Knights of Labor --1890s Co-operative Shirtmakers of the Pacific

Coast, Steam Laundry Workers, Glove Makers, Bottle Caners

--Like working men, women workers, unions consistently anti-Chinese

• Elite urban women organized for political, moral reform

--temperance, social purity• 1880s LA women Friday Morning Club--started as literary club--evolved into political pressure group

• Clubwomen projects often focused on women and children

--kindergartens--juvenile justice systems--affordable housing for working women• 1900 California Federation of Women's Clubs

founded--connected California clubwomen to national

federation --state's largest women's association

--elected state officers, committees--staged annual conventions--published books, newsletters• 1890 journalists, writers, and publishers

founded Pacific Coast Women's Press Association

• for some women, reform, community service a kind of career

--Phoebe Apperson Hearst mainstay of SF women's organizations

--funded kindergartens, teacher training programs, university scholarships

• 1878 Kate Douglas Wiggin established Cal's first free kindergarten

• 1890s Donaldina Cameron ran mission for Chinese prostitutes

• 1894 elite Jewish women organized SF's Emanu-El Sisterhood for Personal Service

--settlement house for Russian Jewish immigrants

• 1895 UC Berkeley faculty organized South Park settlement

• LA's Mary Julia Workman organized Roman Catholic women in social welfare work

• Women of color organized for community service, personal improvement

• 1884 Mary Tape sued SF over school segregation

--won suit, but SF opened separate Chinese school

--After Page Act, Chinese Exclusion Act, Chinese women used courts to gain entry, fight deportation

• Cal Native women organized for self-protection

--1871–1872 Kashaya Pomo, Wappo, Coast and Lake Miwok tribes adopted Bole Maru (dream dance) cult

--similar to Ghost Dancers of Great Plains

• 1912-1943 Annie Jarvis head Dreamer for Kashaya Pomo

--stressed Indian nationalism, isolationism, outlawed intermarriage with non-Indians, forbade gambling and drinking, halted removal of Indian children to government boarding schools

• African American women organized for community, self-improvement

--1899 founded Oakland's Fanny Jackson Coppin Club

--offered social, educational events--built, operated Home for Aged and Infirm

Colored People

• Black clubwomen demanded equality with white clubwomen

--National Federation of Women's Clubs held 1902 convention in LA

--refused to include black groups--black clubwomen founded separate

federation: California Association of Colored Women's Clubs

• women's 19th, 20th c experiences as workers, activists informed 20th c suffrage campaigns

Coronado Hotel and Balboa Park, San DiegoSan Diego ultimately placed second in its rivalry with Los Angeles during the 1870s and 1880s, but it, too, became an important southern California city. Resorts such as the luxurious Coronado Hotel (top), built in 1887, introduced a thriving tourist industry. Economic and cultural development continued, and by the early 1900s the city was ready to build beautiful Balboa Park (below) to challenge San Francisco for the right to host the Panama-Pacific Exposition of 1915. Bancroft Library.

Downtown Los Angeles, circa 1905Although the “Boom of the ’80s” was brief, it began the process that made Los Angeles a bustling city by the turn of the century. The Hollenbeck Building stands at a busy intersection, surrounded by pedestrians and trolleys, which transported residents to Hollywood, Griffith Park, and other regions of the already-sprawling metropolis. Henry E. Huntington Library.

Early Oil WellIn 1877, Carleton E. Watkins photographed one of California’s earliest oil-drilling rigs, Pico No. 4, near Newhall. The petroleum industry was then in its infancy and still something of a curiosity. Henry E. Huntington Library.

William Randolph HearstCourtesy of the Bancroft Library.

ANNA MORRISON REED: "THE CALIFORNIA GIRL"Anna Morrison Reed went to wine regions to demonstrate support for the growers’ fight against prohibitionists’ Proposition 2. Collection of John E. Keller.