Successful Boom Cities

One of the most successful Boom towns was Monrovia in the San Gabriel Valley.  Monrovia was named after its founder, a railroad construction engineer who had laid out 60 acres in 1886.  In May of 1887 auctions sold inside town lots, 50 feet by 160 feet. for $100.  Corner lots went for $150.  By November of that year the population of the town was already 500, the town was incorporated and two hotels were built out of necessity.  By the year end, corner lots were selling for $800.  Within a year the town had to hire a garbage collector for $5 and in two years the population was doubled.

Advertising made up for what the actual land lacked.  For example, a group of businessmen bought 4,000 acres of an old ranch in December of 1886.  They plotted the town and began selling lots.  The good land was sold as agricultural farms, the town site was on sand, gravel and boulders.  The promoter was questioned as to why the town was built on the poor land to which he answered, "If it is not good for a town, it isn't good for anything."

This town proved to be better than the promoter ever imagined.  Advertising campaigns attracted buyers to stand in line all night awaiting the opening of the sale the next morning.  Nearly half of the town lots were sold in the first three days for from $500-$1000 each lot.  At the end of two months, the promoter made a profit of $1,775,000!

Pasadena was another successful boom town. It was founded by a group from Indiana in 1874 and was still just a village six years later.  When the Santa Fe Railroad come through in 1885, the first hotel, the Raymond Hotel was completed and brought more than 35,000 guests in its first two years.  Two more hotels were needed to be built.  The town had 53 real estate agencies just 12 years after its beginning.  The population was now 6,000 people and a $100,000 opera house was in the works.  Pasadena was a growing boom town metropolis.

Next boom universities...
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Today in Pioneer History:  "On September 5, 1836, Sam Houston was elected as president of the Republic of Texas, which earned its independence from Mexico after a successful military rebellion which he took a major part in.

Early California - the Quest Begins

Even before Texas became a part of the United States, Americans were moving westward toward the Pacific to the rich, empty regions of Oregon Territory and California.  They believed it was their destiny to claim and settle this land.  Trappers and traders came first, followed by missionaries, as we have seen, finally farmers and their families by the thousands, traveling the continent by packhorses and wagon trains came west.  By mid-1800s the conquest was complete.  But we are a bit ahead of ourselves...

Before the white man came in great numbers, California was home to more the 100,000 Native Americans.  These Indians had broad, tanned and heavy faces, and spoke a great number of dialects. Basically peace-loving, they lived in semi-permanent villages along the coast where they gathered and hunted, subsisting on plants, fish, some game and grubs.  The mild climate gave them little reason for many clothes, and they seldom went hungry.  They enjoyed elaborate ceremonies, and the Pomo Indians wove some of the finest baskets in all of America out of redbud bark, bulrushes, and strips of sledge.  These California tribes lived in dome-roofed dugouts (see Pomo dwelling photo).  Acorns were a staple for food as well as dye.  As was the case in all North America, original ownership belonged to them.

As wagon trains pushed to the West in the early 1840s, several countries had already contended for ownership of the territory...we've seen Texas and Mexico in the Rio Grande, but Britain and the United States were jointly occupying the Pacific Northwest, and more and more Americans wanted Mexican California.

By the 1840s about 200 Americans (not including the Native Americans) lived in California, many prominent residents.  Some had married into distinguished Mexican families and adopted both the Roman Catholic faith and Mexican citizenship.  Still, annexation of California was never far from their conversations...

Next time...Yankee Mischief
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This Day in Pioneer History:  On November 17,  1856, US establishes Fort Buchanan. Named for recently elected President James Buchanan, Fort Buchanan was located on the Sonoita River in present-day southern Arizona.