Schmap Napa Valley Historical Background

Napa Valley - Historical Background
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The Wappo Indians, original residents of this fertile valley, called it Napa: "Land of Plenty." While from today's perspective, thinking of the acres and acres of robust grapes, that seems a perfect name for it, the Wappos were really referring to the salmon, elk, and waterfowl on the Napa River. Small grapes grew wild even then, which the Wappos simply enjoyed as a readily available snack.

With the arrival of the Spanish, the Napa Valley became the Napa Rancho, a virtually unpopulated tract in the vast ranchland of Alta California. The Wappo way of life was quickly subsumed and rendered extinct by mission culture. Mexico, eager to sell off Spanish holdings in Alta California after the 1821 revolution, deeded part of the valley, Caymus Rancho, to American homesteader George Yount in 1836.

The First Americans

Yount was a pioneer in many ways. The first American to be sold an Alta California land grant, he was also the first American settler, the first resident of what would become (you guessed it) Yountville, and the first man to cultivate grapes in Napa Valley.

Yount was quickly followed by other homesteaders. The valley's soil was fertile, its wide hills perfect for ranching, and the river made it easy to ship cargo to San Francisco. When the Gold Rush opened the floodgates to California and ended Spanish rule, the city of Napa became an important port and a commercial center. Cattle, lumber, wheat, and quicksilver, mined, grown, and raised in Napa County, were floated down the river into San Francisco Bay to feed a growing state. Viable communities sprouted, as well, in Yountville, St. Helena, and Calistoga.

The "Saratoga of California"

Sam Brannan established a resort community in Calistoga in 1860. The man who almost single-handedly sparked the Gold Rush, by brandishing a bottle of American River gold dust in San Francisco's Portsmouth Square, tried to share his vision of an enlightened, health-centered community upon breaking ground for the project. The excited Brannan tried to invoke a respected Adirondack resort by mentioning the "Saratoga of California." His resulting slip of the tongue became the town's name.

Birth of the Wine Industry

Other settlers followed Yount's example by planting wine. Charles Krug established the first commercial winery in Napa Valley in 1861, and by 1889 there were 140 wineries in the area. The quick growth of the new wine industry was its undoing, however. In the 1890s, a surplus sank prices, and phylloxera arrived on American shores. This root louse, from which, ironically, Napa vines had saved the French wine industry some years before, now struck at Napa vineyards.

Prohibition

So it was hardly cheering, then, when in 1920 the National Prohibition Act became law. The vineyards lay fallow. Though a few wines could be made for sacrament, growers and vineyard workers had, by and large, to find other work. Throughout the Roaring Twenties, Napa was in the doldrums.

A New Boom

It took the Depression to get it out. The 21st Amendment, which passed in 1932, overturned Prohibition and was for the Wine Country a message heaven-sent. Though the economic revival it sparked has had fits and starts, and a tourism learning curve, signs are that the Napa's wine boom is not going to be over with soon.

A Robust Economy

Balancing Napa's economy, so dependent on wine and tourism, are steel production, leather goods, insurance, Napa State University, and Napa State Hospital. Napa State Hospital (for those who did not grow up with the threat of being sent there) is one of the state's main mental hospitals. It has a wing for the criminally insane.

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Calistoga

Calistoga is famous for its. . .mud. Mud baths, along with mineral baths, saunas, hot steam treatments, whirlpools, and herbal body wraps, have all been an attraction of the area ever since San Francisco entrepreneur Sam Brannan first promoted the benefits of the area's hot springs in the mid-19th century. To get a feeling for the thermal springs without getting in one catch Old Faithful geyser. It spouts boiling water 60 feet into the air every half-hour or so.

Review © 2007, Wcities

Photo: nmlind

Photo: chicagomike90

Photo: Anita Hart

Photo: Ryan DiFrancesco

Charles Krug Winery

Napa Valley's first winery 2800 Main Street
St. Helena, CA 94574
+1 707 967 2200 / +1 800 682 5784
http://www.charleskrug.com/ For a feel of winemaking history, visit Napa Valley's oldest winery. Founded in 1861, it has 800 acres of prime vineyards spread out across several Napa Valley appellations and produces more than ten varieties of wine. A registered historical landmark, the facility includes the original wine cellar and contains one of the Valley's largest collections of rare and aged vintages of Cabernet Sauvignon. Other notable wines include Generations, an award-winning Bordeaux blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot grapes, and the Vintage Selection Cabernet Sauvignon, the winery's flagship wine.

Review © 2007, Wcities

Photo: Matt MacGillivray

Napa

The city of Napa is largest in the county, yet it's possibly the community least connected to the refined, vinicultural image the world has of the Napa Valley. While there are quite a few mansions and large estates back against the hill, Napa tends to be a down-to-earth, blue-collar city. It's a city of average Joes in pickups, and hardworking Mexican immigrants living in bungalow homes on Tejas and Trabajo streets. That said, however, the Carneros area on Napa's south side is prized by aficionados for its pinot noirs and chardonnays. Artesa is a noted Carneros winemaker. Napa is the area's mercantile center. While its town center, filled with stolid, granite banks and three-floor office buildings, is rekindling a downtown renaissance interrupted by the 2000 earthquake (whose epicenter was nearby), most of the retail traffic flows through the Napa Outlet Stores on Highway 29.

Review © 2007, Wcities

Photo: Stormy
Photo: J. & C. Estilo

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