by Paul R. Spitzzeri
The fourth part of this post on some of the history of L.J. Rose, the well-known proprietor of the Sunny Slope Ranch in the San Gabriel Valley, takes us to the end of the 1870s, an era in which “The Long Depression” which affected America since a panic in 1873, included an ongoing economic malaise in greater Los Angeles after an 1875 downturn, a major casualty of which was the failure of the Temple and Workman bank.
Despite the dire circumstances, Rose continued to grow his agricultural operations at Sunny Slope, centered mostly on wine and brandy making from grapes raised in his expanding vineyards, as well as citrus from groves that were mainly planted with orange trees. An enthusiastic breeder of race horses, Rose spent a considerable amount of his time devoted to that enterprise.
There were other occasional ventures during this era, including his investment in the Los Angeles Oil Company, which worked a well in the Sespe area near the town of Fillmore in Ventura County. Joining Rose in this venture were such prominent Angelenos as former District Attorney and future Mayor Cameron E. Thom, capitalist John E. Hollenbeck, Dr. John S. Griffin and Stephen H. Mott and the firm seemed to have some modest success at the time.
As for his horse-breeding activity, it seemed to be limited during 1879, with a sale held at the beginning of the year, as reported by the Los Angeles Herald of 4 January, which noted that “Mr. L.J. Rose has just consummated a sale of stock which shows that it is, after all, worth while, from a pecuniary standpoint, to breed fine horses.”
Francis Newlands, whose father-in-law was Comstock Lode mining magnate William Sharon, purchased two fillies, ages two and three years and sired from Rose’s famed stud, Moor, for $7,000 and the paper commented that,
[Rose] is being remunerated for the public spirit and untiring perseverance which have signalized him as a breeder of fine stock. The “Sunny Slope” colts are rivaling the “Sunny Slope” wines and brandies in the public favor.
On the last point, the paper noted separately that Rose was planting foreign wine grapes on a new section of 200 acres at the ranch. The Herald of 23 March, in a piece titled “California and European Wines,” wrote of “an interesting conversation” with the rancher, who told the paper that “the demand for Los Angeles wines and brandies is so great that very little is now left in the lower country.”
Rose purchased 15,000 gallons of wine from Anaheim and also bought a good deal from the San Bernardino area and his partner Charles Stern was paraphrased as observing that “the cheap wines made in this country and in every respect superior to the cheap wines of Europe.” It was added, though, that Golden State product was being sent to the “Old World” for “doctoring” as well as drinking directly. As were other California winemakers, Rose long raged against adulteration of product, which adversely affected the state’s reputation.
While the paper boasted that “an immense future is opening out before Los Angeles as a wine and brandy producer,” it added that “Mr. Rose somewhat astonished us by saying that, heavy orange grower as he is, he has made nine dollars out of his wines and brandies, to every dollar he has made out of oranges.”
After claiming that Los Angeles County had no superior when it came to wine production because the right grapes, that is, foreign ones, were being planted, the Herald concluded that phylloxera, which was a problem in Sonoma County at the time “and which is devastating the French vineyards,” in fact, California vines were taken to France to revive that country’s industry, “has never put in an appearance here” and “indeed, neither has any other pest.” This would not be the case within a decade, however.
In its 10 April edition, the paper was visited by Rose after his return from a meeting of the State Viticultural Society and he repeated that “the demand for Los Angeles wine and brandies is now brisk and increasing in force day by day.” He added, though, that he had some trouble in “getting any one to take hold of the product of his wine presses and stills,” though, “by energetic and unflagging personal canvassing,” the situation improved and “now his wines and brandies are competed for at prices fully one-third larger” than what he commanded two and three years prior.
The Los Angeles Express of 11 June recorded that Rose “is erecting new wine and brandy-making works at Sunny Slope” to the tune of some $20,000 and it was assumed this was taking place because a new vineyard of 1,000 acres was expected to have bearing vines within a trio of years. The Chicago Inter-Ocean of 15 July printed a letter from Los Angeles, in which it was stated that Rose planted 300 acres to grapes in the prior year, mostly with Blue Elbe, and was to expend another $20,000 on fencing.
The 9 August edition of the Herald, in a discussion about increased shipping facilities needed for greater Los Angeles, told its readers that Rose “hopes, in a short time, to have his own ships carry his wines and brandies around the ‘Horn’ [of South America] to New York.” The paper added that such initiative was needed so that ships coming into local ports with “no reference to San Francisco” as well as the badly desired southern transcontinental railroad route (which came later in the Eighties) would mean that “Los Angeles city and county will begin to grow in wealth.”
The paper, in its 13 November issue, reprinted a piece from the San Francisco Bulletin which discussed the ravages of phylloxera in France and the resulting opportunities for California’s wine industry. It opined that, because of the heat in greater Los Angeles, it was “too warm to make light wines,” but when it came to “potent wines, like those of Spain and Portugal” and including Angelica, brandy, port and sherry, “the Mission grape will make them all perhaps better than any other variety.”
Consequently, the unidentified writer argued, “for any one who finds the old Mission grape productive and reliable enough . . . I think that for real profit and durability there is no need to see any further” than that variety. It went on to observe that “Mr. L.J. Rose has some few varieties of foreign grapes that he probably prefers for special trade,” but still used the Mission grape for fortified wines like Angelica, brandy and sherry.
The Herald‘s 27 December edition contained a lengthy essay, penned by Rose on Christmas Eve, on “Grape Culture” and he began by waxing poetic about recent rains giving way to sunshine, while “the eagle soars over Sierra Madre Villa,” the hotel near his Sunny Slope Ranch. After observing that orange trees were laden with fruit, Rose acknowledged that “many of us may be hard pressed for money” and perhaps “have gone too fast” in the growth of their vineyards, but he insisted that the idea that “the future of our county is very bright is to me a certainty.”
Rose believed a new boom was at hand and that more railroad connections were imminent to expand continental markets, while shipping by sea would expose those in other countries, so that “we will be on the free highway of the world’s commerce.” Adding that “we will have all that a country can have,” Rose queried, as many others did,
With these advantages, with a fertile soil and a climate unsurpassed in the world, what is to prevent us from being the richest and the happiest people on the globe?
Rose went into some detail about the hallmarks of raising grapes, including sun exposure, suitable soil, no need of irrigation, proper monthly plowing to retain moisture after two seasons, and sedulously keeping vineyards free of weeds which take valuable water from the vines. In a summary, the paper highlighted the matter of not needing irrigation and the retention of water in the right soil were the crucial points, as well as the desirability of northern exposure if hillsides were used, but that flat land was preferable.
As for the orange crop, the 9 October issue of the paper predicted that prices would be double that of 1878 and, while small in quantity, it was to be “of unusually fine quality.” Rose and other growers were not “blessed by anything like the usual abundance of this delicious fruit,” but the counter to that was “quite a number of the younger orchards will surpass expectation.”
On a broader level regarding the future prospects of greater Los Angeles, the 12 June edition of the Herald featured another conversation with Rose, though a preamble observed that “starting with the failure of Temple & Workman’s bank, we have gone down steadily” from an economic standpoint, though it was averred the land prices in the Angel City and environs meant “the best investment in real estate on the American continent.”
The “very full and unrestrained” discussion with the Sunny Slope proprietor included another comment, from “Lucky” Baldwin that Rose “is destined to be the richest man hereabouts from his devotion to his vineyards and the steady and energetic extension of his vine-bearing lands.” Praising his “pomological [fruit growing science] enthusiasm,” the paper went on to record that,
He is of opinion that California is destined to be the richest state of the American Union from her almost illimitable ability to make wines and brandies of approved grades, and he is also equally of opinion that Los Angeles, as a wine and brandy making region, is the pick of California . . . and he believes, as the result of his observation, that the city of Los Angeles is the very best town on the coast, and that the county of Los Angeles is incomparably ahead of all competition.
The 11 October issue of the paper more concisely reiterated this point as Rose told the Herald that “we have the best country in the world,” while it countered that “his own remarkable success in building up a princely estate and fortune from a cactus patch gave emphasis to the remark.”
The 1880 wine-making season brought a report in the 16 June issue of the Express that Rose expected to produce 50,000 gallons of the Blue Elbe wine, but the 5 September edition of the Herald reported that “peculiar summer weather” because of very rare rains caused havoc to the Riesling portion of William H. Workman’s vineyard, which was on the east bank of the Los Angeles River.
Rose, however, hastened to assure the paper that, contrary to other reports, “the vine never looked better in his experience than now” and that this was the case throughout the San Gabriel Valley. Cold conditions, however, meant a delay in harvesting into December and, if early season rains came at that time, “great damage would of course accrue.”
Nine days later, the paper noted that Rose “was under engagement” for 100,000 gallons of brandy above double what 40 regionally distilleries made last year. To achieve “this prodigious feat,” he would have to “tax” the Sunny Slope and the recently acquired Tarbox distillery, located north Macy Street (now César A. Chávez Avenue) and west of Mission Road, on the east bank of the river near today’s massive Union Pacific railyard—and this was beyond the production of Angelica, Hock (Reisling) and port.
The 11 November issue of the Herald reported that, in 1879, Rose paid $40,000 in federal imposts on the manufacture of wine and brandy, but it was expected that he would pay out some $100,000. While it was regretted that so much money was remitted to the feds, this was at least seen as an indication of “such unmistakable vitality” and the paper expected “unprecedented wealth to Los Angeles County” in a decade because of the growth of viticulture.
The paper’s edition of 19 December noted that the demand for California wines in the eastern states was such that “Messrs. Stern & Rose are absolutely sold out” and a half-dozen representatives unsuccessfully scoured the state for more product. Particularly notable was the more than doubling of prices for brandy, especially “the genuine article,” not adulterated versions with oil of cognac added. The Herald felt that the wine industry could outstrip mining and wheat farming for the top spot in revenue generation in the Golden State.
A major change for Rose’s statewide position in the industry was the establishment, per the 1879 state constitution (still in effect nearly 150 years later), of a state viticulture commission, on which he was appointed. He issued a lengthy report at the end of 1880, noting better quality and quantity of crop yields and abundant rain during the season, adding that he had 800,000 cuttings at Sunny Slope. He noted that light wines were still problematic locally because the Mission grape needed “a higher and more perfect maturity,” though, counter to what was stated above, foreign varieties fared well, including Blue Elbe, Berger, Zinfandel and Charbonneau.
The commissioner then asserted that Los Angeles and nearby areas in the southern part of the state were misunderstood. This was true, he went on, with respect to weather, as he claimed it was not as hot in summer and it was cooler at night with a more even distribution of degrees, as well as a longer growing season. As to success with citrus, Rose contended that this was due to warmer winters, not hotter summers than elsewhere in California.
Rose went into some detail about local growing, including in Riverside, San Bernardino and Cucamonga and the region had above 5,700 acres planted to grapes by 300 owners and, at an assumed rate of 10,000 pounds an acre, the yield was to be north of 57 million. Another formula of 15 pounds of grapes per gallon of wine meant production on the order of some 3.8 million gallons. For Los Angeles County specifically, he estimated that 2 million gallons of red and white wine, a half million of sweet wines and 300,000 gallon of brandy were manufactured, leaving a million gallons total for other areas in southern California.
Noting that major manufacturers included himself and Stern, Benjamin Dreyfus of Anaheim, Mathew Keller and Kohler and Frohling in Los Angeles, and his near neighbor, James de Barth Shorb (son-in-law of the recently deceased Benjamin D. Wilson) of Lake Vineyard, Rose stated that about half of district vineyards were irrigated, though this was not required.
He did allow that irrigation made for larger crops and that vineyards were expected to last hundreds of years, though there was more work involved and non-irrigated lands were cheaper to buy (as low as $10 an acre compared to up to $100 for irrigated tracts). Overall profit was adjudged to be about $90 an acre with grapes fetching some $21 per ton and Rose calculated that the manufactured wine and brandy would sell for over a million dollars.
Despite these assurances, trouble was looming for Rose. His advertising for the sale of seed wheat, raised for the previous eight years at Sunny Slope, might have been an indication that he was needing additional revenue. During the summer, two of his colts died of distemper. In early November, John W. Mackay, one of the quartet of Bonanza or Silver Kings of the Comstock Lode of Virginia City, Nevada, along with James Fair, James Flood and William O’Brien, who amassed fabulous wealth, spent considerable time at the ranch.
The Herald of 10 November, likely fed the info from Rose, reported that Mackay recently became the owner of Rose’s remarkable filly, Sweetheart, which made quite a name for herself and her owner in racing circles and was sold to another racing figure, Ned Stokes, for $7,000, and heard that the rail tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt was interested in acquiring the horse. Mackay, however, did acquire an unidentified sister of Sweetheart for $5,000.
When it came to the financial situation at Sunny Slope, though, Mackay reportedly brought up a loan, to which Rose demurely suggested he hardly knew Mackay, but the mining magnate shrugged that off and offered $100,000. When Rose answered that he was looking to reassign an existing loan at a rate of 7%, Mackay rejoined that he could not afford that rate. The 2 December issue of the paper revealed that the $70,000 borrowed from Alexander Weill was at a rate of 10%, but the Silver King ordered his financial representative to transfer loan at just 6% and add $20,000 to it.
Tomorrow, we move to part five and the early 1880s, so check back with us then.
Mr. Rose’s remarkable versatility is truly impressive. His hands-on agricultural practices on his farmland spanned citrus groves and grape vineyards, establishing him as a vineyardist, orchardist, and horticulturist. Besides being a viniculturist, he was also a top salesperson of wine and brandy. His expertise in stock breeding was notable, ranging from colts and fillies to steeds and trotters. Additionally, he was a motivational speaker.
His four decades in Los Angeles were undoubtedly full of prodigious achievements. However, I believe the most valuable personal traits of Mr. Rose lie in his combination of down-to-earth practicality and boundless imagination.