CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE
DIFFUSION OF OLIVE CULTIVATION INTO CALIFORNIA II WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO T¥£ OLIVE INDUSTRY IN THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY
A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Geography by Jack LeRoy White
January, 1975 ~he thesis of Jack LeRoy White is approved•
California State University, Northridge December, 1974 DEDICATION
Ideally, a graduate student in geography should be a wealthy, erudite cosmographer, whose celibacy eliminates mundane obligations and permits a carefree meandering through the seemingly endless archives of academia in search of pertinent data for his thesis. Unfortunately, most graduate students operate on a meager income and possess only the roughly hewn intellectual tools fashioned (and only slightly polished) during the rapid pace sustained during the collegiate educational ex perience. This situation is far from ideal, but deemed adequate by the society into whose bosom we ultimately will attempt to locate a suitable vocational niche. It is upon the heads of these fledgling postgraduates that the onerous task of creating a thesis falls, and it is to these same colleagues that this thesis is respectfully dedicated.
iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
As with many vocations in this intricate terrestrial activity we term "life," the multidisciplinary search for data relevant to a particular thesis topic is truly an ex ercise in cooperation, coordination, discretion, and, at times, arrant futility. During the course of these aca demic investigations the graduate student contacts and of ten befriends many of those persons from whom he seeks assistance. Although the preparation of this thesis could not have been possible without the support of countless numbers of people in many different ways, there are a few individuals whose cooperation and sufferance merit special praise. First among those to be thanked is Dr. David A. Henderson, my thesis committee chairman, mentor and friend, whose knowledge, experience and compassion provided the light required to guide me along the path toward completion. Al so, I want to thank Dr. James Allen and Mr. Robert Hoff pauir, the other members of my committee, who gave so free ly of their time on my behalf. Chryl Soule and David Fuller of the California State University, Northridge, Geography Department Cartographic Laboratory provided both advice and assistance in the pre paration of the illustrations. A special note of thanks goes out to Mr. Gary Rees for his invaluable help in locating relevant maps and
iv aerial photographs, and to his wife, June, who did such a fine job of typing the manuscript. Thanks, too, is extended to all of my fellow graduate students, especially to Tom MacDannold, Margaret Zadney, Alan Bloomberg and Joe Eisenhut, who provided me with friendship, comaradarie, reassurance, and an abiding example of academic eminence throughout our association at the University. I want to give special thanks to my wife, Lyndon, whose tolerance with the situation that reversed traditional husband-wife roles assured a domestic environment conducive to postgraduate academic pursuits.
v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page _DEDICATION iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv LIST OF TABLES viii LIST OF FIGURES
LIST OF MAPS X ABSTRACT xii
Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION· • • • • • • • 1 The Problem 4 Intent 4 Structure of the Thesis 5 Research Sources 5 Physical Environment of the Olive 8 Climatic and Edaphic Requirements 8 for the Olive · Mediterranean Environment 9 Environment of the Study Area 10 Summary 13 2. THE PROBLEM OF ORIGIN AND DIFFUSION OF THE OLIVE WITHIN THE OLD WORLD• • • 17 Probable Origin 17 Notable Proposals 17 Wild Olives 19 Evidence for Incipient Cultivation 21 Early Diffusion in the Old World 21 Summary 25 3· DIFFUSION OF THE OLIVE_ WITHIN THE NEW WORLD • • • • • • • • • • 30 Diffusion Within the· New World 32 · Probable Route of Diffusion into California 36 Diffusion Through the Mexican Main- land 36
vi Agricultural Development in Baja California 43 From San Blas and Baja California to Alta California 50 Summary 54
4. PRELUDE TO CALIFORNIA OLIVE PRODUCTION· • 62 Early Expansion of Olive Cultivation in California 65 Growth of Mission Agriculture 66 Summary 68 5. CASE STUDYt THE OLIVE INDUSTRY IN THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY, 1800-1973• • • • • • 75 Production at the Mission, 1800-1846 75 Orientation and Progress, 1846-1875 77 Experimentation and Preliminary Com- mercial Production, 1875-1900 79
Modern Olive Industry Establishe~, 1900-1930 83 An Analysis of the Decline of the Olive Industry in the San Fernando Valley 89 Summary 99 6. CONTEMPORARY OLIVE PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA • 104 Distribution 104 Production 112 Uses of the Olive Fruit 114 Projection for Future Growth of the Olive Industry 11_6 Summary 117 7• SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS• • • • • • • • 120 BIBLIOGRAPHY 12Jt
vii LIST OF TABLES
Table Page 1 Average Monthly Temperatures and Precipitation for the City of Athens, Greece • • .. • • • 10 2 Average Monthly Temperatures and Precipitation for the City of San Fernando, California. • 12 3 Microanalysis of Adobe Bricks at Selected Missions in Baja California • • • • • • • 48 4 Compilation of Olive Orchard Sightings in Alta California, Circa 1800. • • • • • . 70 5 Membership of the California Olive Grower's Association in 1891, Active Producers. • • • 80 6 Summary of Land Use Changes in the Sylmar Olive District, 1928-1971. • • • • .. 95 7 Monthly Average Number of People Working on California Farms, By Type of Worker • • • 98 8 Leading Olive-Producing Counties in California, 1909-1969 • • • • • • • • • • • • 113 9 Disposition of California Olive Crops, 1951 to 1970. • • • • • • • • • • • • • 115 10 Projections of Future California Olive Harvests, · 1980 and 2000. • • • • • • • • • • 116
viii LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
1 Regional Distribution of Total California Olive Bearing Acreage, 1930 t~ 1967. • • 105
ix LIST OF MAPS
Map Page I. The San Fernando Valley. • • • • 2
II. California Missions 1769-1823. • • • • 3 III. The Expansion of Neolithic Peoples From the Near East • • • • • • • • • • • 22 IV. Suggested Routes for Diffusion of the Olive, Fig, and Grape Out of the Near Eastern Hearth Region • • • • • • • • • • • 24 v. Spanish Colonization in Middle America ( ND) • }1 VI. Spanish Conquest and Settlement of Mexico and Central America • • • • • • • 37 VII. Spanish Settlement in Northern New Spain • • 40 VIII. Advancing Frontier in Northwestern New Spain. 45
IX. Missions of Baja California • • • • • 47 x. The Diffusion of Olive Cultivation in Spanish Middle America. • • • • • • • • • 55
XI. Olive Distribution in California, c.1800 • • 69
XII. Olive Distribution in California in 1891 • • 82
XIII. Olive Distribution in California in 1909 • • 86 XIV. Study Areat Sylmar Olive District in 1928. • 90 XV. Study Areaa Sylmar Olive District in 1952. • 91 XVI. Study Areaa Sylmar Olive District in 1966. • 92
XVII. Study Areaa Sylmar Olive District in 1971. • 93 XVIII. Olive Distribution in California in 1920 • • 106 XIX. Olive Distribution in California in 1930 • • 107 xx. Olive Distribution in California in 1940 • • 108 XXI. Olive Distribution in California in 1950 • 109
X Map Page XXII. Olive Distribution in California in 1964. • • 110 XXIII. Olive Distribution in California in 1972. • • 111
xi ABSTRACT
DIFFUSION OF OLIVE CULTIVATION INTO CALIFORNIA WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE OLIVE INDUSTRY IN THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY by Jack LeRoy White Master of Arts in Geography January, 1975 Since the time when Neolithic Man first developed the olive (Olea europaea) as a cultigen in the eastern Mediter ranean region over 6000 years ago, the fruit has had a pro longed and significant influence on the pattern of man's habitation in both the Mediterranean world and in Spanish 'America. It has been hypothesized by many scholars that olive · cultivation originated somewhere within the eastern Mediter ranean region. From this point, olive cultivation diffused throughout the Mediterranean basin. It is· suggested that the fruit was first introduced into Spain by the Phoenicians around 1000 B.C. From Spain, the practice of ·olive culti vation was transmitted to the New World by Spanish agricul turalists who sailed to the West Indies with Christopher
xii Columbus--possibly as early as 1493· Olive cultivation then diffused within the New World, via the various Spanish settlements and missionary outposts, until it reached Cali fornia shortly after 1769. Olive cultivation diffused to most of the California Franciscan missions by 1800, and subsequently spread to the present-day production areas in the inland valleys of the State, where there are currently over 40,000 acres devoted to the cultivation of this crop. A study of the olive industry in the San Fernando Val ley--which was taken to be representative of the impact that olive cultivation had on areas adjacent to mission sites--revealed that the industry was not as successful as it was in the interior regions of the State. The combined pressure of four main factors over a period of years served to create a situation that was not conducive to the success of the olive industry in the Valleya (1) a steady in-flow of people whose demand for residential housing, and the associated commercial and industrial development, caused a persistent encroachment of urban activities into the olive growing district; (2) an increase in the valuation of or chard lands as the demand for new land for housing in.,·. creased; (J) the non-availability of low-wage labor upon the termination of the Bracero Program in 1964; and (4) the fact that a scientific study revealed that climatic condi tions in the Valley were never really conducive to quality. olive production in the first place.
xiii ,-. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
The San Fernando Valley (Map I) once supported what lI I was reported locally and enthusiastically to be the largest lolive grove in the world -- 2,000 acres and 140,000 trees. tl• i These trees were an outgrowth of the scheme of agriculture 1 established by Franciscan missionaries throughout their !chain of California missions (Map II). I The missionaries first introduced the olive (Olea - I europaea) into California through the mission at San Diego,! l I !the first of the California Franciscan missions, from cut- i 2 I /tings shipped from San Blas, Mexico. Although olives may i be found growing in dry, subtropical climates throughout the world, their native clime is the Mediterranean region. !since the coastal valleys of California which were chosen Ias mission sites exhibited a climatic regime which was s1m-1. I I ilar to that of the Mediterranean, the success of olive cul~ i tivation was almost instantaneous after introduction. j Today, olives are among the important tree fruits com-! I mercially produced in the state of California, however, the! !key olive production centers are located in the inland val-l
leys of the state. What has happened to cause the coastal I
valley of San Fernando to ,lose its predominant position as 1.1. the leading producer of California olives? And, specificall ly, what was the motivation for this historic shift? I Then, too, the fact that olives are not native to ~lifornia raises questions concerning the motivation for
1 , ""{ ...... LOCATION OF THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY - . ' ~ ~ 't I ' .... .--- ;// .. = ~ /~ ~ --::::::.- -:..-: ./... '// .. ::::- ...... :?' 71; -/I ·---.., ..--::: ~ ' ~~ ::: ' ... --- 11(1' ..._ ' j I , ' I; j •.•- .. ~--::::: =-:::::.--- "~' ' 1 'r11\l\v,;,._ )\\~ ·. 'J_,- .-://)\\~ ' HE: ~ALL . 7'/f1 r t' ~ /I fi; --:.:: ../ 1 1'·;/;{r(l/ J- ~ ., 1 ~:::..... i/lf(If 1r !1\\ \'' .. ,~!jJ!'///tl\ \ ~~ ' // --...:-_ -~ ' - -1'1 1 \\ \~"-;,;~...:::--~ J)/1? ~~' ----~...... /. .. ,/ !/, ""I -... ! ' )!
.::~- CANOGA PARK I -I Sherman :::-.. . ~$;~·Nr . ..::::<~, .· ~ I RESEDA ""0 VAN NUYS e '::I I Victor ..0 a, ~ 0 0"' 1.1_ ~ :::::-., "o ". : ~~~-"~om"'ot 1'~/IJVr~ 3 ·--·\\ (i'\\"·. . \\ WOODLAND HILLS Riverside Dr.
\\\II u· · · ENCINO
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MAP I N 3
124" 120" 116°
42~
CALIFORNIA MISSIONS 1769-1823
SAN FRANCISCO SOLANO 38"
SANTA CLARA eSANTA CRUZ eSAN JUAN BAUTISTA
•SOLEDAD eSAN ANTONIO
•sAN MIGUEL L.A. County eSAN LUIS OBISPO /.
.,------' --·I North SANTA BARBARA : SAN\BUENAV.ENTURA -t--·- • I ' 34" SANTA INES ,-" IJ)SAN !fERNANDO ':SAN GABRIEL
I SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO I}
0 100 200miles ~------~------~
124" 120° 116°
MAP II ~heir introdu~tion. The actual r~ute of diffusion f~om -the 1 lord World to the New is another point in need of research I and rumination.
The Problem
Thus, the crux of the problem to be investigated can ! I be stated in the form of a series of geographical questions 1· concerning the presence of an olive industry in the San I I I ernando Valley. Since Olea euroRaea is not indigenous to !California, how did it reach this part of the world? By
what means and when was it transported from its native en- i 1vironment to California and the San Fernando Valley? What factors were responsible for the development of this tree crop as a viable industry in the Valley? What is the pre
sent distribution of olive production, both in the San Fer- iI I nando Valley and throughout the state, and how has it changed since the introduction?
,Intent
It shall be the intent of this paper to develop a con- j tinuum1 that is to say, a chronolOgical sequence of events I connecting the existence of the olive in the Old World with' its establishment in the New World, and, specifically with , l plantings in the San Fernando Valley. In addition, it shall ! I be the aim of this paper to identify and assess the factors l which contributed to the decline of the olive industry in
the San Fernando Valley, and the subsequent expansion and I1 l Valleys Of ,,l ~oom of the industry in the central inland _j -·~-~----·------~--~<------.------California.
Structure of the Thesis After a preliminary chapter which treats the whole problem of origin and diffusion of olive cultivation in the.I Old World, subsequent chapters will be concerned with the actual route of diffusion of olive cultivation within the I New World. Chapter 3 traces the path of the early spread of olive cultivation in the West Indies, through the Mexican mainland and the Baja California peninsula, and eventually into California during the period between 1496 and 1769. Chapter 4 describes the assimilation of olive cultivation into the scheme of California agriculture es tablished during the 19th century. Chapter 5 is a case study of olive cultivation in the San Fernando Valley from i 1800 to 1973, and is presented to exemplify the impact thisj I cultural trait had on the coastal valleys and other early Franciscan Missionary settlements throughout the State. 1.1 Chapter 6 examines the present-day distribution of olive cultivation in the State of California, along with current ·~~ production statistics and projections for future growth of the olive industry in the State.
Research Sources Although description is fundamental to geographic un- ! derstanding, the essence of this paper is not solely de- scriptive, for this paper will also strive to interpret I b_ expla~~!._inso_far as-~~ i~ P_?ssib_l_e_. ____ _j -----. The data accumulation process was intensive and I . eclectic, ·and after a while it became apparent that there I is no body of literature, as such, which specifically deals
with early plant introduction into America. Although dif- I
fusion studies have traditionally been the concern of 1 geographers for many years (at least since Ratzel),4 it
seems as though the bulk of the literature pertains to the l,,l; diffusion of various innovations or cultural traits. How- ever, olive cultivation is scarcely mentioned. There are a:l few journal articles by geographers which appertain to plant diffusion, and a few more written by historians, I
1.' botanists and anthropologists; however, the total is by no 1 means cyclopedic. Of those journal articles which proved
to be helpful, George W. Hendry's ·~Source Literature of Early Plant Introduction into Spanish America, .. Donalds. Brand's "Origin and Early Distribution of New World Culti vated Plants," and Edward Whitaker's "Spanish Contribution to American Agriculture" proved to be the most illumina- ting. Of the few available books on the subject of domes- tic plant diffusion, Carl o. Sauer's Agricultural Origins l and Dispersals, Edgar Anderson's Plants, Man, and Life, Erich Isaac's Geogra'Qhy of Domestication ~nd Maurice i Holmes' From N~w S'Qain by Sea to California, 1512-1668 I I stand out as those which provided the most insight. l There is a fairly large and quite valuable collection! I of historical literature pertaining to Spanish America con~ I l LJ;~~Il~_Q._!!tth!~_!he. Arc hi vo Gen~ra~ __ <_i~-~-~:t-~~~- in ~:~ill~ __j rSpaiJ1~ and also with th~-Ar~hivo General-y-?Jbi~dela-~ i Naci6n in Mexico City. The "ultimate wealth of the Archivd
General de Indias is from J2,000,000 to 64,000,000 docu- I 116 ments, aggregating 160,000,000 pages
place in the sequence of Old World--New World chronology~ The main source of data pertinent to the research of this paper was the vast supply of secondary historical literature--little of which. addressed the problem of plant i I diffusion in any great detail. Thus, the research phase of: I the investigation basically. consisted of a perusal and I analysis of existing secondary literature, coupled with personal interviews and field observations. Libraries used in the course of research included thore located at California State.University, Northridge and the l University of California, Los Angeles. The Huntington Li brary in San Marino, the University of Cincinnati Library, the Downtown Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library System, and the Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley were also utilized, albeit not as extensively. ·------~- Physical Environment of tpe Olive -~ In studies of this type, where the focus in on a par- I ticular member of the biotic community, it is beneficial to! I the reader to become acquainted with the physical environ- I ment of the s.tudy area and the environmental requirements I of the species. The nature of the terrain surrounding a
particular crop site is of vital importance in determining I! the economic feasibility, and, indeed, the very viability I of that crop. In this respect, knowledge of the physical I environment is basic to real understanding of all the im- I I plications involved with the success or failure of a crop I in any given area. It is with this in mind that the fol- 1 lowing material is presented-~first a look at the optimun j I habitat and then an examination of the physical environment) around Athens, Greece (taken to be representative of the I olive-growing areas of the Mediterranean) and then of the study area in the San Fernando Valley.
Climatic anq Edaphic Requirements for the Olive8 I
To induce good flowering, the olive tree requires a 1 cool winter season, with temperatures falling below 40°F. I1 In general, however, temperatures below 14°F may cause in I jury to a mature tree, but a temperature of 16°F will not- I I be harmful. During the blossoming period (late spring to i early summer) some humidity is required to encourage good I·
fruit set. Olives will tolerate considerable drsmouaglhlt, and ll hig~--temper_atures because the structure of the l ______j 7
r-leithery leaves-slows the rate of transpiration-~~~ing--~
these periods. Water requirements of the olive are not I high, but irrigation results in increased yields, increased I fruit-set as well as fruit size and prevents shrivelled fruits. The olive tree will grow well in quite a wide range oft soil types and can be seen growing and bearing fruit on I poor, shallow, clayey or sandy soils, but, as with water I supply, the tree will produce· more fruit when grown within j I optimum conditions, that is, in sandy loam. The venerable i i olive is tolerant of soils where many other tree crops fai~ I but poor growth results when the edaphic environment be- 1 comes too wet or too alkaline (a pH of 8.5 or more).
!Mediterranean Environment I The eastern Mediterranean region, which is the natural, j habitat for Olea europaea, exhibits a distinct climatic pattern and has been classified as 11 Mediterranean" by I Wladimir K8ppen in his characterization of worldwide cli- I' ~ic regimes.10 The "Mediterr~e~" category is ch~- I acterized by a mild climate, with the coldest month ranging I between 32°F and 64.4°F and the warmest month exhibiting an 0 l average temperature above 50 F. Further, less than 10 per~ cent of the total annual precipitation falls during June, I July and August, the dry, summer season. This climatic type has been symbolically represented by the letters Csa and Csb. Athens, Greece, which exhibits a Csa climatic ______] ! ·pa_t_t_~·-r--n-,-i-s~l-o_c_a_t_e_d_a_w_a_y_f_r_o_m--th-e--i--mm---e-d_i_a--t--e-c_o_a_s_t__ a_n_d_h._a __ s __l l been chosen as being analogous to the climates of the coast.J. al valleys of California. The range of temperatures and 1,' annual rainfall are exhibited on the following charta I
TABLE I AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURES AND PRECIPITATION FOR THE CITY OF ATHENS. GREECE
Ave. 'l'empera Ave. Precipitation Month ture (in °F) (in inches)
January • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 48 2.2 February • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 49 t.6 March • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 53 1.4 April • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 59 0.8 May • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 68 0.8 June • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 76 0.6 July • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 81 0.2 August • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 81 0.4 September • • • • • • • • • • • • • 74 0.6 October .~ ...... 67 1.7 November • • • • • • • • • 0 • • • • 58 2.8 December • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 51 2.8 Annual Ave • • • • • 0 • 64 15.8 Ave. ann. total
Source& Patton, ~ al, Physical Geography, p.325.
Noncalcic brown soil is the major type found in the eastern Mediterranean region, and the natural vegetation consists of broadleaf evergreen forests with an admixture of conifer species, and bushy thickets known as maguis or garigue (called chaparral in California).
Environment of the Study Area The San Fernando Valley (Map I) is a mountain-enclosedi ______. ______j ~----·· - coastal basin located about 15 miies northwest ofdowntowni I Los Angeles. The northeastern section of the valley shall i
be of particular interest in this paper, for it is there I that most of the olive trees were commercially planted, and: this sector shall be termed the "study area ...
Climate. The climate of the study area is similar to that of the adjoining valleys to the east and southeast, the whole of which is popularly known as the Los Angeles Region. The summer months are dry with high temperatures. i Rain occurs most often in connection with large polar fron~ i that move down from the northwest in the winter months whenI
the circulation of air is most vigorous. Gusty winds are Ij most prominent in the San Fernando Valley during the months: of February and March, and from early September through I ! late October. The other months are subject to only occa- I sional windiness. The eastern San Fernando Valley suffers j from air pollution in varying intensities--depending on th~ weather on any particular day. Wind and rain keep pollu- I' j tion to a minimum, but without these forces, the polluted
air creeps in from the areas to the south and southeast. Il I Table 2 gives the average monthly temperatures and average i rainfall for the City of San Fernando, which can be con- ! , strued as representative of the study area.
___ .,....,..., TABLE 2 AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURES AND PRECIPITATION FOR THE CITY OF SAN FERNANDO
Ave. Tempera- Ave. Precipita--; Month ture (in OF) tion (in inches) i January ••••••••••••••• 53·5 ).14 February •••••••••••••• 54.0 ;.40 March ••••••••••••••••• 57.0 2.87 April •••••••••••••••o• 60.5 1·18 May ...... 64.0 0.44 June •••••••••••••••••• 68.0 0.09 July •••••••••••••••••• 73·5 0.02 August •••••••••••••••• 73·5 0.02 September ••••••••••••• 69.5 0.18 October ••••·•~•••••••• 66.5 o.6; November •••••••••••••• 61.0 1.20 I December ••••s••••••••• 55·0 2.92 I Annual Ave. • ••••• 63.1 16.06(total) ------~ Sources San Fernando Valle~ Voice, Vol. II, No. 3 (March, 1962). ·
The surface of the north- I eastern sector of the San Fernando Valley consists of al- I luvial fans constructed of the eroded materials from the l
San Gabriel Mountains to the north. This association pre- 1 I sents a topography which slopes gently toward the center l l l of the mountain-enclosed San Fernando Valley. The natural 1 slope quite easily carries the run-off into flood control systems developed in the Valley some years ago.
Soils and VegetatiQ.U• The soil is basically an allu- 1 vial brown, light-brown or light grayish brown, micaceous I sandy loam, which extends, in places, to a depth of six 1 I feet or more without change in the composition of the soil 1 ___. I ------·------·------l It ranges in texture typically from a light to ' medium-heavy sandy loam, and sometimes possesses a light brownish gray color. It also includes a pronounced and well-defined variation of a course, sandy sand to fine I I sandy loam. The subsoil is a little lighter in color than 1 the surface material, and is usually encountered at a depth;i of about 20 to 36 inches below the surface. I The natural vegetation of the area consists mainly of l grasses and various low-growing plants, particularly the I i sage species. The soil type is capable of ,supporting vine-i I yards, olives, citrus, walnuts, and grains, and in fact, I has supported all of these crops in the past.
Summary Olive cultivation a tiny strand of cultural contin-1 uity woven through the intricate fabric of time and space--1I i is only one of hundreds of cultural traits passed on by the,1 Spanish civilization from the Old World to the New, and a 1 paper of this sort could have focused on any one of these traits. Olive culture was chosen, in part, due to the facti I that the San Fernando Valley -- one-time home of the larg- I est contiguous olive grove in the world -- is also the homel of the author, and an early curiosity about the presence ofl I so many trees probably kindled the flame of interest in i ! olives. Also, the thought of attempting to trace the route: of diffusion from the place of origin to a point which is I I spatially and temporally so far-removed is challenging in : ·--····-J ji tself·. The literature (mostly historic~al) contains.per- --~ liodic references to olive cultivation, but, on the whole, the historical data is quite disjointed and required a great deal of assimilation before continuity began to de- velop. This probably would have been the case regardless !I of which cultural trait had been chosen. But, olive culti-~ vation is the focus of this study and will be traced from 1 I its apparent origin in the eastern Mediterranean and early 1 westerly diffusion along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea to its conveyance across the Atlantic Ocean into the West Indies and eventually to California and the San Fer nando Valley, via Mexico and Baja California. The paper will then relate how the introduction of this single cul tural trait spawned an important agricultural industry in the State of California, with special reference to the San Fernando Valley. FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER i ~
J. McGroarty, liistory of Los Ang~~~~~C~nt~ (Chicagoa i The American Historical Society, Inc., 1923), p.48o. ! 2. Robert W. Schery, Plants for Man (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.a Prentice-Hall, Inc., 195bT, P• 499· I About 37,9 50 acres of olives are farmed by over 2, 500 1 growers, and the average annual crop value for a ten- 1 year period which ended in 1969 was $11,568,844 (H.T. I Hartmann and K.W. Opitz, 9live.Prod~Qti~n_in Ca1iforni~ California Agricultural Experiment Station, Circular , 540 (Berkeley& University of California Press, 1966), i p.3). '
4. Ibid., P• 520. . I Frederick A. Ober~ Jn the Wake Qf ~9lumbu~ (Bostona D. i Lothrop Co., 1893J, P• 28. The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley has many of these ' old manuscripts recorded on microfilm. Charles Chapman has categorized and annotated all of the material per- ' taining to the Pacific Coast and the Southwest in Cata~ logue of Materials in the Archivo General de Indias for ~he History of the Pacific Coast and the American South west, edited by H. Morse Stephens and Herbert E. Bol ton. In addition, Bolton has published a guide to the Arch~y~~eu~~~l y Publ~Q de la Nacion in Mexico City, which also contains numerous documents pertaining to Spanish occupation of the New World. 6. Chapman, Catalogue of Materials, p. 5.
Carl 0. Sauer, The Earl~_?nanish· ~ (Berkeleya Univ- I ersity of California pp. 12-13. Press~, I 8. The information for this section was taken from Alan I, E. Simmons, Growi~nus~Fruit (N.Y.a Walker and Co., 1972), pp. 245-4g;-and Hartmann and Opitz, Olive Production in Ca!if~n~a, PP• 12, 33-34. 9. The information for this section was taken from Clyde P. Patton, Ph~~~eogra~h~ (Belmont, Calif.a Wads worth Publishing Co., Inc., 1970), pp. 324-26, 348.
10. KBppen (1846-1940) was a German botanish and climatolo~ gist whose finalized system of climatic classifications 11 appeared in noas geographische System der Klimate, : Handbuch der Klimatolrie, Vol. 1, Part c, eds. W. ! l ____ ~pen and R. Geiger·- Berlina ~ebrU~er Borntraeger• J 1 19:36). l 11. u.s. Department of Agriculture, Soil Surve~ of ~~San Fernando Valley Area, California, 1211 (Washington, 1 D.C.s u.s. Gov•t. Printing Office, 1917), P• )7. I
--· ------,_1I CHAPTER 2 THE PROBLEM OF ORIGIN AND DIFFUSION OF THE OLIVE WITHIN THE OLD WORLD
Probable Origin Notable Proposals Although there is some scholarly discord as to the ex act origin of the olive, as a cultigen, it is generally agreed that the probable origin was somewhere around the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. There have been several proposals regarding this matter by geographers, his torians, botanists, and agriculturalists, and among the more notable works are those of the geographer Carl o. Sauer, and the botanists N.I. Vavilov, Alphonse de Candolle and Edgar Anderson.
Sauer, in Agricultural Origins and DisR~~~. states that the olive is among the oldest cultigens in the eastern Mediterranean area, and may have originated either there or in southern Arabia; 1 presumably, horticultural techniques which diffused out of India were used in cultivating the olive.
In his book entitled The Orig~n, Var:iation,___ll]l@!lnitu and Breeding of Cultivated Plants, Vavilov is more empha tic--albeit less specific--about the probable origin of the olive, ·declaring that the Mediterranean region is "undoubt- ably" the native home. 2 Alphonse de Candolle, in his 1886 work, Origin o£: .9..£1. tivated Plants, concludes from evidence available to him at
17 that time that the domesticated olive originated in Syria, southern Anatolia, and the neighboring islands. The in habitants of this area, he said, have cultivated the olive for more than 4000 years.3 Candolle's view reinforces the suggestions advanced by both Sauer and Vavilov, and serves to support the assumption put forth by Edgar Anderson, who establishes Palestine as th e p 1 ace o f apparen t or1g1n.. . 4 An d erson observes that the " ••• wild form of the olive is widespread in the Mediterran- ean region and seems to be not merely the result of the cul tivated form having run wild.u5 Accordingly, the conjec~ tures of all four scholars seem to be mutually supportive with regard to the eastern Mediterranean region being a source area for olive cultivation. The Bible, too, provides hints as to the origin of the olive, for when the Hebrews entered the land of Canaan, (the region between the Dead Sea and the Coast of present-day Isreal) they found that the olive was growing as though it had been there from the very beginning, 6 although it was not stated whether or not the olive trees were wild or domesti- cated. Others who have theorized on the apparent origin of the olive include J.R. Magness, one-time Director of Horticul tural Research of the United States Department of Agricul- ture, Hans Halbaek, an archaeologist, and Alan E. Simmons, a botanist. Magness states thata 19
' . Today (1951) the wild olive, .Q__lea eurQpaea, is found from western India throughout southwestern Asia and all about the Mediterranean borders. It is not certain that it ii truly native through out that range. In some districts, especially about the edges of the present range, the trees may be escapes (sic) from cultivation. Language research i~dicates that the true center of the olive species was probably the area from Syria to Greece. 7 In a 1959 article entitled "Domestication of Food Plants in the Old World," Hans Halbaek alluded to an ear- lier, unpublished study in which he established evidence of olives growing in Palestine about the 4th milenium B.C. Ha~ baek failed to reveal the nature of his evidence, and also failed to state whether the olives were wild or domesti cated.8 In an encyclopedic volume entitled Unusual Fruit, Sim mons states generally that the Mediterranean region is the possible source region.9 He relates thats It has been suggested that a wild species of olive found growing in the region of the Egyptian/Sudan ese border is an ancestor of the common olive. But to fruit satisfactorily the olive requires a chilling period during the winter which means that the Mediterranean region rather than southern Egypt is a more likely habitat. If fact, wild olive trees are to be found growing in the Medi terranean area, but it is not possible to argue that these are the true ancestors of the culti vated tree because it could well be t£Bt they have simply escaped from cultivation •
.Y{_ild Oliy_e..§. The problem of locating a specific place of origin for the cultivated olive is complicated by the fact that there is a ubiquitous wild form of the plant common to the entire Mediterranean region. Vavilov terms this widespread form "oleaster'', and states that it has been gathered by botan ists and, for the most part, classified with the species Olea ~~ropaea. 11 According to L.H. Bailey, in his extensive taxonomical work The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticultu~, the Oleaster is a common name given to the Eleagrus augustifolia, a small deciduous tree, with fragrant flowers, having a resemblance to the olive. 12 Index ~ewensis, 1 3 which is a reknowned bibliographic source used to identify the origin of generic names for numerous plant species, shows Oleaster as a different genera from that of ~euroye~q· In addition, the Index Kewensis lists o. sativa as a lineal relative of p. euro£ae~. In as much as there are inherent problems in typification which have arisen from Carl Linnaeus' two-fold means of categor- izing varieties of plants, it would be extremely difficult at this point to state that 0. sativa is ubdoubtably the wild form of 0. europaea. The present-day distribution of 0. sativa ranges from Spain to Syria, along the northern coastal zone of the Medi terranean. In addition, 0. sativa is found along the north ern tip of the coastal provinces of Libya, Tunisi~, Algeria and Morocco. 14 A knowledge of the distribution of both the wild olive and cultivated varieties is important in determining the ex- act origin of o. europaea. Ideally, it would be desirable to delimit the distribution of cultivated and wild olive trees throughout history. Tracing olive distribution back through time would serve to examine effectively the spread of olive cultivation (in reverse). In this manner, the hearth of domestication would be more easily discerned.
Evidence of Incipient Olive ~ultivatiQn The earliest archaeological evidence of the olive in the Mediterranean region is apparently the olive stones un earthed at Teluliot Ghassul in Palestine. These stones were carbon dated back to the chalcolithic period, around 4000 B.C. It was not determined, however, whether these stones were from the wild or domesticated form of the olive. 15 In as much as there is archaeological evidence which establishes the presence of agricultural villages in the Levant by 7000 B.C., it seems likely that the notable pro posals set forth by Sauer, Candolle, Magness and others- which identifies the eastern end of the Mediterranean as the probable origin of incipient olive cultivation--are osten sibly correct.
Early Diffusion in the Old World There are still a number of points which need to be clarified before the nebulous path of diffusion can be traced back to its place of origin. Judging from the general diffusion pattern of Neolithic peoples in their expansion outward from the·Near East (Map III), it can be assumed that the olive, which had been in tegrated into the diet of these people, followed about the 0"
60"
50°
40°
HEH Before 2500 B.C. HUEH Before 4000 B.C.
w~'tt:t 8 f 8 C ~;,;;:;;J e ore r::or.oJ ul . .
Source: Edlin, r..1an anrl Plants, 1967 40° L-...... ,______r;o•:_~______~.. ___ ~::;====::1-- 20° --L------1- MAP Ill N N same path (Map IV). The olive played a large role in the domestic economy of the ancient inhabitants of the Mediter ranean.16 Although olive oil was used as a.dietary replace ment for butter throughout much of the eastern Mediterran ean region, perhaps the use of olive oil as the chief in gredient in the ointments and balms used to protect skin from the strong, dry summer winds was antecedent to culi nary useage. The oil also found early use as soap, for medicinal purposes, and as a source of fuel for illumina tion.17 While archaeological evidence has been found which es- tablishes the olive in Palestine by the fourth millennium B.C., Hans Halbaek has stated that it can be assumed that domestication took place at an even earlier d~te. 18 Western diffusion of the olive occurred along the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean. Based upon philological evidence given in Candolle's Origin of Cultivated Plants, diffusion along the southern shore is primarily attributed to the sea-going culture of the Semi tic-speaking Phoenicians. 19 It is thought by some scholars that the introduction of olive cultivation into Iberia was first carried out by the Phoenicians through their trading outposts along the southern coast of the Iberian peninsula- especially through Gadir (Cadiz), founded in 1000 B.C. and pre-dating early Greek settlements there by about 200 years. 20 Olive pits have been found among the archaeological 10- 40- 45•
4!?
,---35 ./ ·-~
35°
'' ' I .. , .;•
_, .... .,.., ... " vI _,- '
,------· ·. ·25,~ ' ', '-, I J ' I '···)··· I -· ,/ ) ____ ·· .. ·- I ' ' '·, .... " i------' ' ~ ...... ~ ' 'I ' -{--• I' SUGGESTED ROUTES for 01 FFUSION ,. ------/ of the OLIVE, FIG, and GRAPE out of the 15° NEAR EASTERN HEARTH REGION ,-· I 15° j Route of Diffusion ' '/··, / ( ', r;jjJ} Hearth Region ' ·, 0 300 miles 1qo Source: Sauer, .!}}lrj_r;_ultura!_~@!'.!i...'!!!!:!.2.l!P.!!..~ 1957 20o 40o j lw
MAP IV N ~ rubble of the Minoan Culture on the southern coast of Crete dating back to the Early Bronze Age (c.JOOO B.C.). 21 This is about the time when Egypt was developing a true civiliza tion across the Mediterranean to the south. It has been stated that although olive oil was undoubtably a basic food stuff of the Greek civilization, the olive was not a major crop in the southwestern region of the Peloponnese during 22 the Late Bronze Age (c. 1200 B.C.). The olive is purport ed to have been introduced to Olympia on the Peloponnesian peninsula by Herakles (an Idaean Dactyl) from cuttings taken somewhere in Crete. 23 Thus, it appears that the olive was taking on a wide distribution from very early times. There is no evidence of olive cultivation along the northern shores of the Mediterranean west of Greece until the first millennium B.c. 24 Westward diffusion of the olive seems to be due primarily to the spread of the Greco-Roman 2 civilization after about 1000 B.c. 5 After 800 B.C., the agricultural plants of Greece, especially olives, vines and certain grains, spread to all of the new Greek settlements- . from North Africa to southern Russia and from Spain to . 26 S yr1a.
Summary The general assumption by many scholars is that the eastern Mediterranean is the origin of olive cultivation. The fact that olive stones dating from the 4th millennium B.C. have been discovered in the Levant area of the eastern Mediterranean serve to reinforce the assumption that olive cultivation had its origin in the eastern Mediterranean. From that region, the practice of olive cultivation spread westward along the northern and southern shores of the Medi terranean until it reached the Iberian penninsula in about 1000 B.C. Although some scholars maintain that the olive was first introduced into Spain by the Greeks, 27 it seems more likely that the olive was first introduced by the Phoeni cians, for two reasonss (1) the Phoenicians arrived on the
Iberian peninsula before the Greeks, and (2) olive culture was long a part of the Phoenician genre ~ vie and, thus, would likely have been transported along with the rest of the cultural baggage carried by the Phoenician traders as they established settlements along the southern coast of Iberia. During the period when ·the imperialistic Holy Roman Empire ruled over the Mediterranean world, Spain came to the fore as the leading producer of olive oil, a position she still maintains in contemporary times. The Spaniards became 28 skilled in the art of cult1vat1ng. . and process1ng. th e o 1.1ve, and subsequently passed on this knowledge to the New World. FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER 2
1. Carl 0. Sauer, A ricultural Ori ins (Cambridge, Mass.t M.I.T. Press, 19 2. N.I. Vavilov, The Origin, Variation, Immunity, and Breeding of Cultivated Plants ~N.Y.c The Ronald Press Co., 1951), P• 37.
3· Alphonse de Candolle, Origin of Cul tivat~A J:'.~?:n_1q (N.Y.s Hafner Publishing Co., 1959) pp. 283 and 442. 4. Edgar Anderson, Plants, Man and Life (Berkeleyt Univer sity of California Press, 19b7T; p. 167. Ibid. Anderson infers that the present distribution of the wildolive evolved without the aid of man's agri cultural activities. 6. Alan E. Simmons, Unusual Fruit (N.Y.t Walker and Co., 1972), P• 241-t-. -~--~-----
J.R. Magness, "How Fruit Came to America," National ~~Qic ~~gazine, Vol. C, No. 3 (September;-1951), P• 348. 8. Hans Halbaek, "Domestication of Food Plants in the Old World," Sci§.Uq§., Vol• 130, No. 3372 (1959), P• 371.
Simmons, Unus~~l~1, p. 242. 10. Ibt_g_. 11. Vavilov, Origin, p. 461.
12. L.H. Bailey, The Standard Cyclo:Q.§._dig_ Q.f 1i£rt~c!:!~!g_r_g_, Vol. II, P• 2333· 13· B. Kaydon Jackson, Index Kewensis, Part III (Oxfords Clarendon Press, 1894), pp~-JJ7:)8. 14. I.E.'S. Edwards, C. J. Gadd and N. G.L. Hammond ( eds.) The Camp_ri<1g§.._~~11f:.ten!JU.§.tq!]!, Vol. I, Pt. 1, ProJ:.Q gomena and Prehist?£X; Jrd edition (London• Cambridge University Press, 1971), P• 42-43. 15. I.E.S• Edwards, C.J. Gadd and N.G.L. Hammond (eds.) The CaiYlQ.r_igg~_Jmc:..ie1liJ:!i§.toa, Vol. I, Pt. 2, ProlE?_ gomena a~d ~; 3rd edition (Londona Cambridge University Press, 1971), p. 226. c..u
16. Ellen Churchill Semple, "Ancient Mediterranean Agri culture," Agricultural Hi§!or,y, Vol. 2! No. 2 (April, 1928), p. 83. For additional facts concerning dietary habits in the early Mediterranean world, see Don and Patricia Brothwell's book entitled L~Od in Anti~uity (N.Y.a Fredrick A. Praeger, Inc., 19b9}.
17. P.C. Remondino, "Observations on ~he Uses of Pure Olive Oil as a Food and as a Medicine," California Olive In dustry, Proceedings of the Olive Growers~Convention- (San Francisco, July 8, 1891), p. 22. 18. Hans Halbaek, "Domestication of Food Plants in the Old World," Science, Vol. 130, No. 3372 (1959), p. 371. All along the Mediterranean coast of Africa and south ern Spain (Andalusia) the linguistic stock for the var ious names given to the olive are all derived from the Semetic word zeit. In Algiers, the Arabs call the cul tivated olive zi1g_lli} and they call olive oil zit. In southern Spain, the Andalusians call the cultivated olive aceytullQ• "Oil" in Spanish is al}eft§.• (Candolle, Origin~f Cultivated Plants, pp. 283-8 •
20. Ruth Way, A Geogragh_y o~ fP~itL§:Pd Po:r:_tl.!_gal (London& Methuen & Co., Ltd., 19 2 , p. 126. 21. Sinclair Hood, The M_l!lQ§!l§. (New Yorks Praeger Press, 1971), pp. 61 and 86; cited from Dan Stanislawski, "Dark Age Contributions to the Mediterranean Way of Life," Annals, Association of American Geographers, Vol. 63, No. -4rf5ecember,' 1973), p. 4o8:-- 22. Stanislawski, "Dark Ages," p. 408, n. 68.
23. R.W. Hutchinson, PrehiatQ~i~~rete (Baltimore& Penguin Books, 1962), PP• 42 and 242. 24. Halbaek, Domesticatio_n, P• 371. 25. Fritz M. Heichelheim, "Effects of Classical Antiquity on the Land," in Man' ~.B_q_!,~,~itLCha!}gip.g_!h~_Eace of the Earth, ed. by William L. Thomas, Jr. (Chicago& The University of Chicago Press, 1956), p. 166. 26. Carl 0. Sauer, "The Agency of Man on the Earth," in Man's Role in QhanginJLt~_J':.?:. At the close of the fifteenth century, Spain was fast-!' I becoming a militaristic leader among the nations of the Old' i World. She sponsored a series of exploratory voyages which' began with the voyage of Columbus in 1492. Within sixty I years after the first voyage of 6olumbus, the Spanish and I I Portuguese navigators had explored the area from Californi~ i New Mexico and the Atlantic seaboard of the United States I to the tip of South America. Colonies had been established' ' from northern Mexico to Chile and throughout the Caribbean,! and trade had become established between the major settle- l . 1 ments ( Map V) ... The first Columbian voyage from Spain carried cheap beads and trinkets which were to serve as trading material 1 i with the natives, and very little other cargo was carried.2i i Upon his return to Spain, Columbus related tales which I promised Spain the opportunity of extensive settlement and 1 riches. The second voyage, consisting of seventeen ships JO 1000 60° '\ ,h.· Moria 1767 .4 TLANTIC OCEAN ·\)s;\'"o~ ' ~·o 3on gn Rosolic , \onto 30° .)"'()·' \ ,; \.,.,, ...... '\·, Lo·~!""· • Cul'o~on 169;,' .. . 1531 ~'OJ) ·. ·... La Paz GULF of Mr.'XICO 1535 ·· P!f'!FIC OCF::1Y ·& 10o SP,L\f,JISH COLO!\!!ZATION IN rv'iiDDLE AMERiCA 0 4?0 800 Miles --' t____ :~~~::_: Wes ~-~:':_~ r;g~~· !_~Ji!!~!_r:_;J!!5,.?;:1:_ 1~6-·----·----' ·------qf~------1·---- ...._ ...t __ .. ______~P.~.------=· M/J,P V w ...... -----~-----·------.. ··----1 known. Even if olives ~ carried on this trip it is ! i highly unlikely that this trip resulted in a lasting intro~ I duction of any of the plants, because the period of starva~ I tion that beset the colonists of the second voyage resulted in the abandonment of all cultivation.4 Successful plant I introduction followed the founding of Santo Domingo, His- 1 I paniola in 1496,5 but the manner of introduction and the exact location of early plantings has, for the most part, 6 gone unrecorded. Thus, it is extremely difficult. to trace;i the eariy introduction and distribution of the olive in the i New World. The best clue to the actual route of olive dif_; I I l fusion within the New World comes through an examination of, i I the location of the various Spanish settlements, along with the chronology of their establishment. Diffusion Within th~Ne~gx±Q I When the Spaniards arrived in the new land, it was l quite natural for them to expect to see the vegetation to which they were accustomed in their own native land and, i upon not finding it, to attempt to introduce it. In bring-: I ing the seeds, roots, and cuttings from Spain, they encoun-! I tered many difficulties for methods of packing were quite crude and it was not uncommon for everything to become l drenched with sea water. 7 Then too, the intense tropical heat and humidity caused many of the seeds to rot. It is not known in all instances by whom introduction of plants I and animals were made, but supposedly most products were L ______JJ ? ' ~--,~----·---~-----: .••.. _.. ______., ______·------, 8 1 first taken to Isla Espanola (Hispaniola). This will j serve as a valuable check-point in future academic researc~ linto the matter of trans-Atlantic plant transfer. I . By 1502, the Spaniards found that many crops brought , l 1 from Spain such as olives, rice. date palms, oranges and j !sugar cane grew quite well in the new climate; however, I Icereal crops such as wheat and barley were not very succes-1 ! I jsful.9 This first agricultural foothold at Hispaniola ser-1 I ved as a base of operations which facilitated further ex- ,ploration and conquest by the Spaniards. Puerto Rico was I colonized in 1508, Jamaica was occupied in 1509, and Cuba i Iin 1514. In 1519, Hernan Cortes left Cuba with 600 men in I an attempt to secure control of Mexico, which he accom 10 jplished in 1521. I Specific examples of the introduction of the olive to the New Wo~ld may be found in George W. Hendry's article . 1 J- I entitled "i'he Source Literature of Early Plant Introduction I into Spanish America," in which he cites many little-known i authors from the sixteenth century onward. Among the in- I stances cited by Hendry area (1) the introduction (to an l ' I ~~ecified location) in 1520 of 250 living olive plants I I and 1, 200 slips from Olivares (near Seville) in the Aljar-~ ~ate district; (2) introduction of the olive in 1531 to Vera l Cruz and Mexico City; and (3) introduction of the plant in~ to Peru in 1560 by Don Antonio de Rivera. 11 It was on the mainland of Middle America (presen~ I Lday.. ..Mexico}__ .that__ a,g:ri_Q_\ll.i~!'~~---<:l~Y-~_~.QP!!!.~!:l:~~~~-~---~-~~-~-~-~X..... ___j )'+ · f~iio-;ed___ th~-o~"igj_nal p;tt~rn pract-iced by theSpania;d;----1 i in their Iberian homeland, for the plateaus and uplands of i Mexico resembled the physical geography of Spain far more closely than did the areas of Spanish·settlement in the !tropical islands of the West Indies.12 Generally, the windward sides of the West Indian is lands are wetter than the leeward sides due to orographic I precipitation. The windward northern and eastern shores of' l i these islands receive rain all year around; whereas, the I . . . . sou th ern and wes t ern s h ores are d ry, rece1v1ng summer ra1n-:I ! ! fall and some winter rainfall released from high pressure 1 I polar air moving down into the Caribbean during the period . from December to February. The windward sides of these is_l ' j lands are considered to have a tropical monsoon type cli matic regime:(KBppen's Am), and the climate of the leeward shores is cla.ssified as tropical wet and dry ( KBppen' s Aw) P ! The very nature of these climatic regimes precludes sue- I I cessful olive production on the basis that the high temper-1 I i atures (averaging above 64°F each month), and the high an-\ ! nual rainfall (about 80 inches for Am, and 40-60 inches. forI Aw) produces a humid, unfriendly environment for a plant I that normally requires a dry environment and some winter 1 I chilling. The plateaus and uplands of mainland Mexico, on ) i the other hand, more closely correspond to the milder Medi-1 I terranean climate natural to Olea europaea in that they ! I exhibit both a mesothermal climatic regime (KBppen's Cw), i having at least one month of the year that averages less 1 ·-~------. ·-·----·-·-..] J5 r···-··--·-·--·--c:f--·~·-····--·------·-·--··-·--···---··--·-·-··-····--··------·--····-·-····---·-· .. ··-·--·, Ithan 65 F and a total annual precipitation of 30-80 in- 1 ches,14 and a dry (K8ppen•s BSh) climatic regime, where al~ months of the year are warmer than 32°F and the annual pre~I cipitation ranges from 18-25 inches., • With the conquests by Cortes, Balboa, Pizzaro and I • I others on the mainland, the Spaniards were able to cont l.nue' l their efforts to transplant and propagate their Iberian j culturai:._ heritage to an even greater extent. Hernan~ Cortes,~ in a well-known letter written to Don I Carlos, the king of Spain, in 1524, begged that orders be I given to the Casa de Contratacirin of Seville (the House of Trade, established in 1503) not to let any ship sail to the, I1 Indies without bringing plants and seed in its cargo. 15 Iti I / II 1525, Cortes again wrote emperor Don Carlos, ·sayinga 1 And I can assure your Majesty that if plants and I seeds from Spain were to be had here, as I re quested in my last letter that your Majesty might be pleased to order to be dispatched, the natives of these parts show such industry in tilling land and planting trees that in very short time there would be great abundance from which I think no little profit would rebound to your Majesty's imperial crown, for by this means the fruitless ness of these parts would be secured and your Majesty would draw from them greater revenue and dominions than all those regions which in the name of our Lord your Majesty now possesses; for which reason your Majesty can be very certain that he will not find me lacking in such a scheme but rather that l will do everything in my power to I forward it. 1 It wasn't until 1532, however, that the order complying I I with the wishes of Cortes was finally issued. 17 I I ______· ______! L-·------·----··------·----·--- jb ~------·---P;~b-;b"i~--R oute o f-nif'ru~ion--in-tO-caiTfornia-···------~~ It is the contention of the author that the rate of jolive diffusion within the New World was directly tied to the rate and extent of conquest and colonization. I In his fervid campaigns to conquer and settle the New 1 World, the Spaniard, throughout most of his aggressive I globe-trotting, was quite orderly with respect to the tech-1 j niques he employed to achieve .. his ultimate goal of coloni- j i zation and exploitation. Spanish advancement into frontier! I regions was promoted through employment of three institu- I l tions a the mission (religious) . system, the .12resi_c!,ial ( mili-j l tary fortification) system, and the civic town system. 18 I The missions served as outposts--footholds--along the fron-: I tier, and actually assisted in the conquest of the untamed ! perimeter of Spanish America. The ~esidios served to en~ 1 I I sure the viability of both missionary activities and civilJ I ian colonization efforts, the latter of which produced bot~ ! agricultural and mining settlements. It was through this i . I system of frontier development that the colonial imperial- I ism of the Spanish Crown gained control over such a vast I! expanse of the New World. Diffusion Through the Mexican ~aipland The conquest and colonization of the regions outward 1 ! from the conquered Aztec nation of central Mexico occurred! I I I in two definite phases and in two distinct geographical 1· I areas (Map VI ). 19 The first phase saw a rapid and ,1_ l_.------.______j too• 900 80° .. v"" A ... , V•,. '/ ·(,.,); ' ~ ~ .. ~ ... ~ .;lo- - ·~· ·. ~ ··Q.·.· ·. . ~ (:)4--t' .~... :.··:, ··; . ••. r, ..... SPANISH CONQUEST AND SETTLEMENT OF MEXICO AI\JD CENTRAL AMERiCA CASTILLA DEL ORO 10° 0 500Miles Source: West and Augc!li, Mi_(/i;/!(! AfT~:!£'!! 1966 ______L___ 90° ______, "------~------·----· MAP VI w -....! 38 ·~--·-~-=---·--·-·------~------·---··------···--·-·--··"•·--1 relat1vely easy conquest of reg1ons south of the central i . I f highlands down to and including the northern one-third of l I Central America. The second phase was the slow conquest 1 . . I and settlement of the less-civilized Indian cultures to the . i north of the central highlands of Mexico {La Gran Chichi- i meca). The rate of conquest in northern Mexico was influenced 1 by three factorsa (1) the ruggedness of the physical ter rain; (2) the amount of Indian resistance encountered; and (J) the presence or promise of mineral wealth. The Span- iard, whose prime motivation for exploration was apparentl~ 1 1 the expectation of riches, wealth and fame, seemed empower-: ed to circumvent the first two factors mentioned if there \ I was evidence of the third. The discovery of riches was th~; apparent justification (both to himself and the Spanish Crown) for his pattern of exploration and exploitation. The advance of the Spanish conquistadors and mission- ! aries and, thus, the diffusion of the olive into northern 1 Mexico in the 1530's wa~ in fact, impeded, both by the ter~ I • l rain and Indian resistance without promising signs of r1ch~ I es--at least at first. In the MixtO'n War ( 1541), which 1 I took place just. north of Guadalajara, the Spaniards defeat~ Il ed a large Ind1an force and opened the way for further ll, I northward expansion of the New World Spanish Empire. In fact, this new route led to Zacatecas, where an extensive , I silver deposit was discovered in 1546. 20 This discovery ! L!l!.:~_!_- ac._~_ ··ror-:furti1er~e-xpan-5To·n-·1n-fo--the-Tan.Ci--or-th.e- hostiie---t1i2ifans-: 21 .I of northern Mexico. Map Vil shows the general routes of expansion and settlement in this region.· As the dates of settlement on Maps VI and VII indicate, I I the northwestern sector of New Spain was slow to be settle~ There are several reasons for this. In addition to the I I reasons already mentioned (i.e. resistance of hostile In- i I dians; rugged, forbidding terrain; and lack of mineraliza- ! Ition), the mere fact that northwestern New Spain was so I I distant from the central highlands, the origin of colonial 1 expansion, made it less sought after as a settlement site. l l This arid, unkind land which was avoided for so long by th~ i I I 1 brunt of the northerly colonial push, was to be the mission i • i I f1eld for Jesuit missionaries during the 17th and 18th cen~ turi.es. Actually, the role of the missionary in this epoch of!I Spanish empire-building cannot be stressed enough, for it j I was through religion that significant numbers of the New j . . I World's indigenous population was brought under subJugat1o~ i The cross and the sword were often carried side by side on! I various entradas (preliminary military expeditions into the I frontier region of New Spain), but when the sword could not i find its mark, the cross became the means for carrying out) the will of the Spanish Crown. This is not to demean the j work done by Spanish missionaries, for they were undoubt- I 105" 95° Tucson 1776 • Son Javier Boc 1700 . __ . ( ...... '·'-·-·-·l . •Paso de/ Rio 30° S. FemandoVeliclto s~Ao_,,\/ 1718 _...;..·~ ~·G I f-• / ~~· "'''''"' Laredo C/ Cuatro 1749 enagas ....._~ p.,ro.. \; ~l"RW;yo;~:· Satillo .. : .: 25° 25° MazoptloY o o Son F D e . ll568 Lina';l.es 1:· emando ,.. . '( i urcngo~... 1712 ''\·.r· . . L 0•Aguayo -~. ·.. ·. ..····.Zocotecos~~e o.cos .. · ... · •. 1573 ·; .. ·. ._)/ . .·. . s 0' ••• : ; on Lui~~ Poto · :• SPANiSH SETTLE~/lENT IN ~,JQRTHERN NEW SPAIN ; 1592 Sl ', 0 300Miles ~' ~! .-,).f"---...... r?.·· ...... ~------L------~------' 200 f$ Mroviro Citv Source: West and Augelli, Midcl!e Amarica, 1966 ·------...... t.....::::::;;:,:::::.:~::::::;::·-·- _____,_,_, cS MAP VII 41 < 'togain___ c_on·Fco r·-of-ar-ea"s-·that-- COtlld nof-""Ee"""co"erced---b·y·-·-·-···--.. -· .I Spanish military force. Regardless, various Catholic or- i I jders played an important role in Spanish frontiers through~ I out the New World. I I The Spanish Crown had supplied grants of land for the !Church, free transoceanic and intercolonial passage for I priests, and free wine and oil (presumably olive oil) for I 22 j th e monas t er1es.. Loca t e d on the fron t"1ers of the Empire,:' the missions came to represent the farthest outposts of I Spanish rule, and undoubtedly played an important role in i 1 I I extending the tradition of Spanish agriculture throughout the New World. It is from these Spanish missions that the first olive seeds and cuttings were gathered and taken to · I California, via Baja California in the 18th century. From almost the very beginning, however, there were certain restrictions placed on colonial agriculture which I served to greatly retard th~ immediate expansion of the few enterprises which did do well in the New World. The spanish court, acting under the influence of prevalent economic concepts and under the pressure of jealous agri- ! I culturalists at home, either discouraged or prohibited in- l I dulgence in the following enterprisesa (1) sheep-raising ! and the allied woolen industry; (2) the silk industry; and! 2 (J) the growth of vines and olive trees. 3 This all but l stifled the development of an olive industry in New Spain. The key to its continued dispersal throughout the New World I and, indeed, its ultimate success as a commercial crop is ! t~--~c---~~-·-··--·---~~~~----~------~------~------·------·------··----·-····~---··i 4.2 part of the scheme for conquest and colonization. Olive oil, a mainstay in the Spaniard's diet, was "scarce and expensiveee." in Sonora, according to Jesuit I missionary Ignaz Pfefferkorn. 24 The apparent scarcity may! have been the result of the restriction placed on olive I production, but it seems illogical that the frontiers--a l I region where successful agricultural practices ensured 1 I jbasic sustenance--should have fallen under such a restraint. /But, then, man's actions are not always ruled by logic I alone. I Actually, when Alexander von Humboldt visited the New! l I World in 1799 he noted that the olive tree was quite rare throughout all New Spain, stating that "there exists but a single olive plantation, the beautiful one of the Archbish~ op of Mexico, situated two leagues southeast from the capi-i 2 I tol (Mexico City) ." 5 Humboldt continued his description, 1 i stating that the Archbishop's plantation produced 200 arro~ i 26 1 bas (27.5 tons) of a "very good.quality" oi1. The size i' and apparent success of this plantation seemed to be no l I surprise to Humboldt, for he mentioned the fact that "the 1 l great analogy between the climate of the table-land of New i I i 1 Spain and that of Italy, Greece, and the south of France ought to invite the Mexicans to the cultivation of the I I olive. 112 7 Humboldt's travels throughout present-day Mexico were:l not that extensive. His sojourn through the Viceroyalty ------~-----~------~--~----~ ~--~------···-----~-----~--~---~--~----__....-~~-~ ~ .. i 4J ~~-f N~;·~Sp-~ln was , for th;-;;-~-tpa;-t--;-~-onf~;d.--to___ th;~~~-~----~ tral highlands region, and he did not journey into the I frontier region to the north of Mexico City; thus, his com~ merit about an observed scarcity of olive orchards in "all New Spain" must be regarded as indicative only of those areas he actually visited (i.e. the central highland re gion). The olive would have proved to be an ideal crop for I ! the arid subtropical outposts of New Spain, but statements i confirming its cultivation in these regions are scarcely I I found in the literature. In fact, a rather extensive re- view of the literature written by, or about, Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries; travelogues and personal narra- l tives by travelers in northern New Spain; and from other l books, articles, etc. depicting the geography, history, economy, etc. revealed that aboriculture, as such, was by no means extensively practiced in northern New Spain. Agrig_g]..tur~l DevelO..I2JlllUlt. in Baja Cal ifo.r..nl§1 The Spaniards had explored, colonized and developed : an extensive mission system quite early in most of Mexico l and Central America. Even the barren: peninsula of Baja I 1 California received i~s first attempt at colonization only) ; fourteen years after the conquest of Mexico City, which l occurred in 1521. The colony, which was established at Lai ! i ! Paz under the direction of Hernan Cort~s, quickly failed, I I for the land would not even provide a basic subsistence, l.: . ___) L--~-----· ______44 ,.. -a:na--a:Ir--a.-s-sr·s-:faiic eana-··suppT·re-s-~naa·--to-·oe··-or-oug11t--Tn..... '5y-··se-~ at enormous expense. Explorers, buccaneers, and pearl fishermen visited l various points along the shores of Baja California from thJ 1 1530 • s to the 1690 • s, but, due to the sterility of the lan9t the peninsula was not a region of primary interest until I late in the 17th century, when it became the concern of the J esu1. t m1ss1onar1es. . . . 28 !' 1 Nothing which resembled a significant step toward Alta California (the present-day State of California) occurred until January, 1683, when Padre Kino and Don Isidro de ! Atondo y Anillo~ (governor of Sinaloa) established a colon~ 2 \ at La Paz. 9 It was short-~ived, lasting only six or seven i months. In October of 1683, a colony was established at i I 1 San Bruno, about 15 miles north of Loreto, and was the most i I nearly successful of all the early efforts to colonize Baja i 30 ~ I California, lasting two years. Carbonel, Cordova, Porter I y Casanate, Ortega, Pinadero, and Lucenilla are names of I ! men who attempted to establish colonies in forbidding Baja i California during the 17th century--and failed.31 On October 19, 1697, permanent mission work among the l Indians in Baja California officially began with the estab-i l lishment of the mission at Loreto, on the eastern coast of i 2 the peninsula north of La Paz · (Map v.m )) The first seeds l: and plants of cultivated fruits and vegetables came to I Baja California about the same time, for there was a small: I l I garden and a few fruit trees observed to be at Loreto in ! I ------~----··-- ·" 45 35° 115° 35' Mexicali• • Benson .Bisbee r··- .. - -·· -··-·~ _:__ ... - •• ...l • Agua Prieta, 1686 ..~ THE ADVANCE OF THE SPANISH FRONTIER IN NORTHWESTERN NEW SPAIN 0 tOO miles· 25° Source: Dun bier, Sonoran Desert, 1970 - MAP VIII 46 r-liOl-~)3~-B·~t~--l-t;as d-;t~r~in~dth~t L;r~to -;as- unf-lt--f~;.. ···J horticulture, and so an expedition led by Padre Ugarte set! out to locate a more suitable location. 34 In 1699, Padre li, Ugarte founded a mission at San Xavier, and developed ag- i riculture on a small scale, obtaining the necessary live stock and seeds from the Sonoran missions.35 The olive, the date, the fig, lemons, and oranges wereI ! all brought to San Xavier by Ugarte, although cultivation of these crops was " not in sufficient quantity to supply II I the needs of the _gong_uistadores and natives ... 36 1 I I Jesuits continued to establish mission outposts on the\ I Baja California peninsula--some more successful than I I I I others--until, by the year 1767, a total of twenty missions ' 1 had been founded (Map Y.X). rrhere were vineyards at five of' l these missions, and, presumably, at least as many or more i ! j had gardens with fruit trees.37 In 1728, the Jesuit Father Luyando established the mission at San Ignacio, where he I planted 500 grape vines, olive trees, fig trees and sugar cane--all of which were said to have been successful.38 Olives were also cultivated at other missions. For instance, olives, wheat, corn, grapes, and pomegranates were grown at Mission Santa Rosalia in 1730; and, between 1752 and 1768, Mission Santa Gertrudis had orchards which produced olives, figs, pomegranates, and peaches, as well ~ as vineyards.39 Charles Nordhoff noted a 130-year old I olive tree at Santo Tomas (Map .IX) when he traveled through i i L.. !h.!3 __ .!'_~g~g_p.___ !_~---~-~~88. 40 In addition, olive trees were ! --~-·----·~----~·-y------~------~~·-·--~-----~·---·----~..JJ 47 114° 111• 1os• ,_,.San Diego D-·- j\o."scanso 1Stl · l '..<:. MISSIONS OF BAJA CALIFORNIA 33" :e;,.S. Miguel 1187 ·. AGuadalupe 1834' '-..., I ·.. ,t:;,.St,7. Catalina 1797 • '-..... '\ ...... -~ Sto. Domingo 1775 __ ~ D. L:!. S. Pedro Martin 179 7 -· 30°. ': ~,, I \ L:!. S. Fe;nando S. \ r E11 ;;;a~,~·o017?:'\. ~ SONORA 1 '· .. ~ ...... , Sta. Mari~'-.1~:\-~~. 30° \ •, ·... ·.. A ·, ·· .. · I S. Borja 1762 ·. " I A Sta. Gertrudis 1752 ·. ·... ·. A S. Ignacio 1728 27° \ \ 24° A A Dominican Mission La Paz 1720 Tod~A A Jesuit Mission Santos 1733 ~!..Santiago 1721 e Franciscan Mission 'WJose del Cabo 1730 0 200Miles Source: Gerhard and Gulick, Lower California Guidebook, 1970 MAP IX '+0 f"'repoi~-teir-to·---liaveb-een-8 e enat-the-Jesu:lt~-MTssron-Guad.aiup·e-1 I(of the south) in 1769.41 Franciscan Father Serra report- I I ed seeing "gnarled old olive trees which were grown from- I seeds by the Jesuits at Mission San Xavier.42 Additional evidence for the presence of the olive in Baja California comes from another source, George W. Hen- I dry's article "The Adobe Brick as a Historical Source," l I which concerns three sites not previously discussed.43 The i evidence presented by Hendry was derived from the micro- I analysis of adobe brick fragments obtained at decadent I 44 S pan1s. h M.1ss1on . s1•t es. Th.1s ana1 ys1s . revea 1 e d th e pre- l sence of olive pits embedded in the adobe bricks at the following sitesa TABLE 3 MICROANALYSIS OF ADOBE BRICKS AT SELECTED MISSIONS IN BAJA CALIFORNIA ·------=D-a~t-e--o~f~----- Building Foundation Locality San Fernando San Fernando, de Velicata 1769 B·;C., Mexico Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, 1775 B.c., Mexico San Vicente San Vicente, Ferrer 1780 B.C., Mexico Sourcea George W. Hendry, "The Adobe Brick as a Histori- cal Source," Agricultural History, Vol. 5, No. 3 1 r (July, 1931), P• 114. I I I ------~~------~----- _____ ] In 1767, the Jesuits were expelled from all of New Spain, and were replaced by the Franciscans, who, in 1773, were replaced in Baja California by the Dominicans. Mis- sion agriculture was never very extensive in Baja Califor nia, and rarely was it a permanent feature around any of the mission establishments (with the exception of the Jes uit missions at the southern tip of the peninsula and the Dominican missions located in the northwestern sector of Baja California), but it certainly had an important part in promoting the diffusion of the olive into Alta California. Livestock, seeds and cuttings were gathered from the mis sions of Baja California to be sent to the new mission field in Alta California.45 It doesn't seem logical that the Jesuit mission field in Baja California, a region which was almost totally de pendent upon mainland Mexico for its very sustenance, should be the source for all of the supplies necessary to start a mission program in Alta California, but there is evidence that, in fact, most of the first supplies ~ gathered from the Baja missions and from their main ware house in La Paz. Jose de G~lvez, Visitador-General of the King of Spain and organizer of the 1769 Alta California ex peditions, 11 decided to call upon each of the old establish ments for small donations of vestments, sacred vessels, and other church furnishings that could be spared ••• ; cattle and farm implements were to be considered as loans ••• ; (and) the missions were to make gifts of surplus food and graino"46 The supplies were then taken to Loreto to await the arrival of the packet boats from San Blas, which were to haul the cargo to San Diego. From San_Blas and Baj~ California to_Al~a California In 1769 there were four expeditions which set out for San Diego--two by land and two by sea. The first of the land expeditions, headed by Captain Rivera y Moncada and Franciscan Padre Juan Crespi, departed from Loreto, Baja California on March 9th and arrived in San Diego in the mid- dle of May. The other land expedition, headed by Gaspar de ,. Portola and Franciscan Padre Junipero Serra left from Loreto on May 11th and arrived in San Diego on July 1st. After having arrived in La Paz from San Blas in a state of ill-repair, the packet. ?_aJ1 Q?.rlos. underwent a thorough ' overhaul to ensure her integrity on the way to San Diego--a voyage which began on January 9th and terminated upon her arrival in San Diego on May 12th. The second packet, the San Antonio, departed from La Paz on February 9th and sail ed into the harbor at San Diego on April 11th, almost a month sooner than the San Carlo~, which experienced naviga tional problems. 47 A third packet, the San ~g~, was lost at sea sometime after its departure from La Paz in 1770. All of the packet boats which originated in San Blas had to be off-loaded and repaired in La Paz before continu- ing on to San Diego. The §an Carlos carried "church orna ments, agricultural tools, provisions, and sacks of seeds;" 51 whereas the §.?..n Antonio carried "blacksmiths, a carpenter, and a heavy cargo of supplies (presumably for the blacksmith and carpenter)."48 Another account, that of Franciscan Padre Francisco , Palau, confirms the fact that the ~ Carlos carried agri- cultural tools and seeds, stating that "the necessary imple ments for tilling the soil (were carried by the San Carlos, along with) ••• a supply of seeds of all kinds, from Old as well as New Spain, not forgetting to include the lesser items such as fruit tree cuttings, flower and flax seeds."49 Ainsworth, on the other hand, says that "a supply of beans, corn, lentils and other produce was shipped from the main land (of Mexico)" to supply the San Carlos on her voyage to San Diego.5° The items mentioned by Ainsworth were presum ably for the consumption of the crew of the San Car]..Q..§. on the way to San Diego since the word "produce" is mentioned in the same context. Even though it has been mentioned by various writers that the first olives arrived in California with the 1769 expeditions, this writer has found no substantive data to support that assertion. An examination of the official car go manifest signed by Captain Don Vicente Vila, cornmanding officer of the ~·carlos, revealed that she carried neither olive cuttings nor seeds in her cargo.51 Neither were olive seeds or cuttings included in the supplies carried by the two overland expeditions. In fact, there is no mention in Father Junipero Serra's diary of any intent to plant tree crops of any sort upon their arrival in San Diego.52 Thus, one of two things transpired& (1) the San Anton io carried olive cuttings or seeds; or (2) neither the San Antonio nor the San Carlos carried olive cuttings or seeds. It has been stated that the 11 humid climate and low yields of agriculture in San Blas would seem to indicate that the olive cuttings came from some other region to be shipped out of San Blas to San Diego."53 The 11 other region" prob ably refers to a location on the Mexican mainland, but the important point here is the fact that olive cuttings ~ "shipped out of San Blas to San Diego." Thus, if it is assumed that (1) the olive cuttings~ loaded on either the San Carlo~, the ~ Antonio or the ill~fated §~p ~ at San Blas; and (2) the cuttings never reached their des- tination; then it is logical to assume that they were among the cargo which perished with the ~B Jose~ However, the manifest of the San Jos: did not list olives among the car go she carriede Must it therefore be assumed that the cut tings were actually carried by the San Antonio (the only ship for which the author failed to find a cargo manifest)? Another point which serves to mystify the olive's act ual date of arrival in California is the fact that nowhere in the literature reviewed for this paper is there any men tion of the padres' actually planting olive trees at San Diego in the 1760's or 1770's. But perhaps the failure to mention olives growing at the mission was due to their rel~ tive unimportance during the early days of mission 53 establishment. There is no mention of tree crops of any kind growing at San Diego mission in any of the Annual Status Reports of the missions from 1777 to 1784.54 In fact, from 1785 to 1802 wheat, barley, corn, kidney beans, chickpeas, peas, lentils and beans were the only crops lis~ ed in the reports which gave the general state of the mis sions.55 A commentary by Padre Fermin Francisco de Lasutn in the Biennial Reports of 1?95-96, 1797-98, and 1799-1800 said that all of the missions were "engaged in raising ••• and cultivating different kinds of fruit trees."56 Olive trees were probably planted before 1790, for an olive grove was observed to be growing at Mission San Diego in 1794.57 In addition, the remains of olive pits were found embedded in the adobe bricks which once· formed the foundation for Mission Soledad in northern California--a structure whose foundation was layed in 1791.58 This evi dence clearly indicates the presence of olive seeds in California in 1791, and presumably is an indication that olive trees (old enough to bear fruit) were growing at the mission site at that time. It is believed by some, however, that no olives were planted before 1785-90, since screw presses and olive mills were not set up at the mission be- fore·1790-95· 59 When Father Palou arrived at Mission San Diego in 1773, he "observed that efforts to raise crops had failed disastrously ••• , the first crops (prior to 1773) had either been flooded out or destroyed by drought, and water for irrigation was completely lacking ... 60 54 So, in view of all of this, it seems that even if olive seeds did arrive in 1769 (which still remains to be proved) they were not successfully planted in San Diego at that time; furthermore, it does not appear that there is any substantive evidence to support the fact that olives were successfully introduced into California prior to 1774. 61 Summary From its cultivated origin on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea some six thousand years ago and its diffusion along the shoreline perimeter of that region, to its expansion across the Atlantic Ocean into the West Indiffi and eventually to California, the olive has had a prolonged and significant impact on the cultural, economic and agri cultural patterns of man's habitation--both in the Old and New Worlds. Early patterns of olive diffusion within the New World are not easily traced due to a scarcity of recorded infor mation on the manner of introduction and the exact location of early plantings. Thus, the best evidence of the actual route of olive diffusion in New Spain comes from an examin ation of the location of various Spanish settlements, along with the chronology of their establishment. With the aid of a few chronicles which bear witness to the presence of olives growing in certain locations at specific points in time, Map X has been prepared to show the probable routes of diffusion of olive culture within -·-----.--~- ··------7/;;--- ~' ·--.------~-~~;·-·;----r---·----~--·--·z~-;--l Moria 1767 sb ATL1YT!C OCF.l.\. -·fb~\ ·. ~ ocio ··) San lgn _ •. \. i JO 30° "'\. \~ ~ .~ 0 h Loreta•-l-99 f) 0 C~/'o.r.o,n ~ 7697 if.. \ ., )53{ GULF of MEXICO to~~ ~-~ ·•La Paz "\ '-.·" S '".::. \ Diego _,c,,."'}r~7535 '-'- ~\.-,', azot'\ '"'\ f. • e . . ~ /~ HWa~a 1769? ~..P~ '-., ' •Son Luis Potosi ~ s.;,"' mo;.. '"'' "'< \. ··- \11gb '·. " "" '. ~ Guadata;ara'Mexico• 1579, ,·- ·- 7531 ~.:..____ ~~-,~-~0------~~ \ -__.....,..~g....r-e:::::J. h~~--:~-/~::~, >1~ 0 om•n - ti -qc >(" :,\\:l~-· 14i6 go ;, " ~ /"_./ ' <:f 1527 ('~ ('! N/ !Iii!-'' ~· I\ SF t C?_::--'-' T. ':. ,;· -~ "'- P:t t'/ F/ (.' 0 ('/:".1.\' SantoMn~ta! )} i " ' , . 9 .,.~·. """ "' ro• - 1 5 13 ?'*' ' ' ' THE DIFFUSION OF OLIVE CULTIVATION •"'·~--·-"""""'~ -~-- · . > -~~,t~beloCorlo>q~na !:,_;3 Cc:•.·.l ,., ' ·-l_)...._; IN SPANISH MIDDLE AMERICA p"""'' ' ' .. c ------·-...... __ -:.~' 7/S Santo M.:JriO (1519) Founding date S\ 0 400 800 Miles •------·------l ·------' I Source: VilfiOUS -'----...... _ J 1000 80° I ·•------~~------~------·-----·'·------lJ1 MAP X lJ1 .)U New Spain--from the probable point of introduction in the West Indies during the 15th century to the historically significant (but chronologically disputable) introduction at San Diego, California some three centuries later. Prior to its introduction into Alta California, the olive never displayed the same popularity and omnipresence in New Spain that it had in the Old World homeland. This fact is manifested in the apparent scarcity of olive trees throughout the New World, a phenomenon quite opposite that of the Old World. 57 FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER 3 1. Donald S. Brand, "The Origin and Early Distribution of New World Cultivated Plants, 11 .~grig__~llilY:~ie_tq_r7, Vol. 13, No. 2 (April, 1939), p. 110. Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo and BartolomeFerrelo had navigated along the west coast of the United States as far north as Oregon during their voyage of 15li-2-43; the Coronado expedi tion had reached Santa Fe, New Mexico and as far in land as Kansas during the period from 1540-l-t2; the eastern seaboard of the United States was navigated by Francisco de Gordillo in 1521 and by Pedro de Quexos in 1524-25, the latter of whom reached as far north as the coast of New Jersey; Ferinand Magellan had succes sfully navigated his way through the treacherous straits at the tip of South America during his circum navigation of the globe in 1519-22. 2. F .R. Augier, et al, The Making_of the West Indies (7th ed.; Londona Lowe-andBrycione, 1967)~-:P:-··-~--- 3· carl 0. Sauer, The -~ar);;y_§l.J.lli,n1_J,=th,J'1§lin (Berkeley& Uni versity of California Press, 1966), p. 209. 4. .!QiQ;. Ibid .. 6. Ibid. James Robertson, "Some Notes on the Transfer by Spain of Plants and Animals to its Colonies Overseas," Studi~!.LJit.§~ Augier, Tlle Making, p. 12. The olive will g£QJJ, at tropical latitudes but will not bear fruit. 10. Jbid., p. 13; and Earl Parker Hanson (ed.), §outh ~ ~Main (n.p. t Delacorte Press, 1967), P• 89_- 11. George W. Hendry, "The Source Literature of Early Pla~ Introduction into Spanish America," Agriculturaf. His to~, Vol. 8, No. 2 (April, 1934), p. 66. 12. Arthur P. Whitaker, "The Spanish Contribution to American Agriculture," Agricul_tura1_ Histor;t:, Vol. 3, No.1 (January, 1929), p. 3· 58 1). Robert C. West and John P. Augelli, Middle Americ~, Its L~nds a~d Peonles (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.a Pren tice-Hall, Inc., 196b), pp. 44-48. 14. Ibi~., PP• 50-52. 15. Whitaker, "Spanish Contribution," P• 4. 16. Bayard F·. Morris (trans.) Hernan Corte's,~Five Le~~. 151~-1526 (N.Y.s Norton & Co., Inc., 1962), p. 271. 17. Whitaker, "Spanish Contribution, 11 p. 4. 18. Alan M. Bloomberg, "Sonoraa The Influence of the Presi dial System on the Settlement Pattern, 1650-1800, 11 (paper read at the Association of Pacific Coast Geo graphers convention, June 14-16, 1973, San Diego, California). West and Augelli, Niddle=~m£!1~, p. 257. Ibid., P• 262. 21. Ibid. 22., Augier, The ~~~ug, p. 20. 2J. Ibid., P• 10. 24. Ignaz Pfefferkorn, Sonor.§:.::.-A Qe~ti.2..!L2.f..-!h~~PJ:Q vince, trans. by Theodore E. Treutlein (Albuquerquea University of New Mexico Press, 1949), p. 49. Alexander von Humboldt, Pol,~§..~Y._Q]1-~he [email protected]! of New Suain, Vol. II, trans. by John Black (Londona T .. Davison,w1.811), PP• 517-18. 26. Ibid. 27. Ibid., P• 516. 28. Homer Aschmann (trans. and ed.), The Natural and Human Historv of Ba.ia California ( Pasadena&CaSti9"":Pre-ss,-- 196b)""';"-p:- -9. - . Maurice G. Holmes, Fro~_tlew SP-ain by_Sea t~the Ca]d f~rnias, 1513~§ {Glendalea The Arthur Clark Co., 1963), p. 218; Herbert E. Bolton, JS.ill_o's Histori~~l Memq_~L_qf Pimeri"'~ .Alt.~ (Berkeley a Uni.versi ty of Cali fornia Press, 1948), P• 37· )0. Holmes, From New_Spa~n. p. 218. 59 31. Bolton, Kino's Memoir, P• 37· 32e Edward J. Wickson, The_Q~~.if~ni~ErYih~pd How to Grow Them (San Francisco& Dewey & Co., 188~. 33· !bid. 34. Ibid. 35· Pablo L. Mart~ez, A Histor of Lower California, trans. by Ethyl Duffy Turner Mexico,D.F:a fffiprenta Laura, 1960), p. 170. 36. Jbid., P• 171. 37· Wickson, Californ~Fruitg, p. 61. 38. Peter Masten Dunne, lli.9.k~li2.9.ElLb!L.1Pwer Califo.rnia (Berkeley& University of California Press, 1952}, P• 227. 39. Ib~q., PP• 117, 379• 40. Charles Nordhoff, Peninsul~r~Q~lif~~~ (New York& Harper & Bros., 1888), P• 35. 41. Richard Pourade, !_he _CalJ-___ to CalJfornia {San Diego 1 Union-Tribune Pub. Co., 19lrsr:-p. 19. Katherine and Edward M. Ainsworth, In the Shade of the ~lli'J-er Tree (Garden city, N.Y. • Doubleday· & co. , Inc:, 1970 , P• 104. 43. George W. Hendry, "The Adobe Brick as a Historical Sourc.e," j\.grtc.J!l!ural His.1£.u, Vol. 5, No. 3 (July, 1931), pp. 110-2?. 44. The main problem with an analysis of this sort is that it systematically destroys the very structure it seeks to explain; thus, Hendry's methodology in all prob ability would only gain acceptance at sites where the structures are in an unrestorable state of decadence, and, accordingly, has limited application. Claude B. Hutchison, Calif.Q.tnia f:.gricul tgr..§. (Berkeley a University of California Press, 1946), p. 5· 46. Ains~orth~In the Shade, p. 113. 47. The foregoing information has been taken from Dunne, ~~~ck~obe§, p. 425. 60 48. John A. Berger, rrhe Franci!3can ..Mi§.§.iQ.XlLt.n.S~~~ {Garden City, N.Y.s Doubleday & Co., 1948), p. 29. Fra. Francisco Palou, Th§_Fo.u_ll~il}_g,_Q.f th,? First Cali fo:t:,ni~_I~-~. ed. by Douglas S e WatsorlTSan Fran cisco• Nueva California Press, 1934), p. 4J. so. Ainsworth, In the S~~' P• 114. 51. A list of the items included on the San Carlos manifest can be found in Ainsworth, Jn Ji..hELSh~,- p. fi's. 52. Fra. Junipero Serra, Dia£~~~~i£er~~F-~• O.F.M. (North Providence, R.I.s The Franciscan Mis sionaries of Mary,. n.d.). 53· Michael E. Thurmond, The J;~av.§tl Departm~ni_g~an Blas, Spain in the West Series, Vol. XI (Glendale, Calif.a The Arthur H. Clark Co., 1967), P• 35· 54. Finbar Kenneally (,trans. and ed.), y[ri tip..gs o;L.J:~rmll'! Fr~DQiS£.Q._~g~~-:Lasuen (Wash., D.C. 1 Academy of Francis can History, 1965), Vol. II, pp. 333-68. 55· 56. Ibid., P• 380 57· R., Louis Gentilcore, "Missions and Mission Lands of Alta California," Annals of the Association of American Geogr§:ILY\~.r..£., Vol. "51 {~farch, -f96iT;-p:=-72.- . ·- -- 58. Hendry, "Adobe Bricks," p. 114. 59. Ibi~., and E .B. Webb, Indi§d1.1:.1f~3i.~ t}l~ ~Q.tQ. Mis§.iilll§. "(tos Angeless NP, 1952), c.f. Gentilcore, "Missions," P• 72. 60. Berger, Franciscan Mi~si.Q!l§., P• 109. 61. It should be noted at this point that cultivation of the olive in the United States first began on the eastern seaboard--not in California. In 1755, Henry Laurens imported and raised olive trees at Charleston, South Carolina. In 1767, Andrew Trumbull established a colony of Greeks, Italians and Minorcans at New Smyrna, Florida and cultivated olives, grapes, figs, pomegranates and oranges. Later, Thomas Jefferson, who was an avid proponate of olive introduction, had a number of olive plants sent to him from France for planting in South Carolina and Florida in 1789-90. Still later, a group of French emigrants known as the Tombigbee Association settled at a site in Western 61 Alabama in 1819 to raise olives and grapes. The olive was not particularly successful in the east for two main reasons& (1) the trees required what was consi dered to be too long to come into a state of reasonable productivity whereby the investor might realize an economic return on invested capital; and (2) the cli mate was not conducive to commercial olive production (in most instances, the reoccurring winter frosts killed all but the roots). (Nelson Klose, America's Croi? Heri t~!e (Ames, Iowas The Iowa State cOilege Press, 1950 ~ PP• 10-91.) CHAPTER 4 PRELUDE TO CALIFORNIA OLIVE PRODUCTION There is little to support the statement by Sehery and others, who assert that olives were first introduced into California by the Franciscan padres through the San Diego Mission in the y€ar 1769. In 17TJ, Pedro Fages, who served as comandante of Cali- fornia's presidial establishments from July 9, 1770 to May 25, 1774, 1 made the following observation regarding the missionaries' attempts at.agriculture at the San Diego Mis- siont There are ponds, or pools, which contain a suf ficient supply of water for the use of the camp and for the mission during the entire year; but as it is not practicable to obtain irrigating water for the fields and tillable lands, life there will always be attended by the necessity of obtaining supplies for the maintenance of the people. Attempts have been made at sowing grain in season, but the first year the stream overflowed and car ried away the seed whi~h had been sowed at the right season. The following year the attempt was repeated, the grain then being sown farther back from the stream; but as the rains did not come in season it was possible to harvest only a little for seed. This seed it was planned to put into the ground (which indeed is not to be called ster ile) at some more suitable place upstream, where rainfall is said to be greater and more regular. Unless this proves to be the fact, it will be im possible for the mission to exist there long. Nor has there been found, even after great and painstaking search, any permanent water supply whereb~ sewing of irrigated crops might be under taken. Thus, the combination of an arid environment and the ephem- eral nature of the water supply caused the missionaries to relocate Mission San Diego to a more suitable upstream site 62 63 in 1774. 3 · San Diego was not the only mission that was forced to relocate because of an environment that was unamiable to agriculture. Mission San Gabriel, founded in 1771, changed locations in 1775 since the first year crops (1772) washed out and those of the following year were only moderately successful.4 The mission at San Carlos, too, changed loc~ tion one year following its establishment in June, 1770. The relocation of certain missions from sites which were deemed ill-suited for agriculture serves to point out the fact that a high priority was placed on suitable agri- cultural sites by the Franciscan missionaries. Then too, since the missionaries knew "practically nothing about the needs of the soil,"5 the first few years of agricultural efforts proved to be mostly trial and error to determine where and when various plants would thrive. The literature indicates that wheat, maize and beans were almost invariably the first crops to be planted, part- ly because they were hardy and partly because they produced large yields within a reasonable time and were capable of being stored for future use. Most tree crops, on the other hand, take many years before they bear fruit, and, thus, would only be planted after a reasonable agricultural base of other crops had been established to ensure that an ade quate supply of staple foodstuffs were available. In par ticular, the olive takes from 10 to 12 years to fruit when grown from a seed, 6 and about 3 to 5 years when grown from 64· a cutting--given present-day technology.? This brings up the point about the 11 Mission" variety of olive, which was the type developed at Mission San Diego from the first introduction of seeds (or cuttings}. The California Mission variety is botanically different from any other variety found growing in the Mediterranean region. It is possible that this difference resulted from propaga tion by seed at Mission San Diego. When propagation of the olive is accomplished by budding, grafting or another vege tative method, the resultant offspring is identical to that of the parent plant; however, the offspring are not purely 8 identical to their parents when propaged from seed. Thus, since the California Mission variety is a distinctive var- iety, it is contended that the first olive trees at San Diego were grown from seed. In the same vein, because of the considerable length of time (viz. 10~12 years) required before seed-planted trees are capable of bearing fruit, the very first time that olives could have been harvested would have been sometime between 1779 and 1781, given that the seeds had been sucessfully planted at the original San Diego Mission site in 1769. However, since the author failed to find any record of olives harvested before 1791, it is contended that, although the first olive trees at San Diego Mission were planted from seed, the plantings prob ably occurred sometime after 17?4. This original planting purportedly furnished the seeds and cuttings for all of the other California missions,9 and this original planting thrived until 1964, when the last two trees died. 10 Early Expansion of Olive Cultivation in California · By the end of the first decade of Spanish occupation in Alta California, there were eight missions (San Diego de Aleala, San Carlos Berremee de Carmelo, San Antonio de Padua, San Gabriel Arcangel, San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, San Francisco de Asls, San Juan Capistrano, and Santa Clara de Asls), three presidios (San Diego, Monterey, and San Fran cisco), and one pueblo (San Jose)--all demanding food and supplies from the Spanish Crown. 11 In view of the expense and uncertainty involved with shipping supplies to Alta California from San Blas, Mexico, the Spaniards realized that the missions, pueblos, and presidios must develop a feasible means of agricultural self-sufficiency or face the possibility of failure. To that end, and as early as June, 1776, it was proposed that wheat and maize be sown on an experimental basis at various mission locations throughout Alta California. And although these early experiments were for the most part, unsuccess ful, the stage was set for fUther agricultural expansion in later years. All of the mission orchards were quite small and some had only a few trees, but those trees played an important part in the horticultural history of California, for they laid the foundation for an important agricultural industry 66 by furnis~ing stocks for many groves. 12 There is little doubt that most of these primitive trees were grown from seed, for in almost every mission olive orchard there were distinctly different trees growing side by side. 13 Growth of ~ission Agriculture Even though almost nothing was done to develop the agricultural potential of the mission sites beyond the cir cumscribed needs of each settlement, each well-chosen site certainly possessed an inherent agricultural quality. Ex plicit instructions from the Spanish Crown directed the selection of mission sites (viz. ample tillable land, acces sible water supply, and a nearby Indian population). 14 In each case, the missions were located in the fertile valleys, alluvial fans, or coastal plains among California's coastal ranges. Generally, missions were situated in well-drained basins, valley floors or piedmont areas, which possess some of the best soils along the California coast. 15 Another promulgation of mission agriculture was con- ducted on mission ranches. Each mission had one or more ranches that were devoted to raising livestock and/or crops. One such ranch, San Antonio Pala (an agricultural extension of Mission San Luis Rey), is reported to have had in Decem- ber, 1827, a few fields of wheat, beans, corn and garbanzos, a vineyard, and irrigated groves of olive and fruit trees. 16 But, by far, livestock production (and cattle raising in particular) was the most important agricultural activity which took place on mission lands. Land devoted to 67 horticulture (which includes olive cultivation) was not nearly as extensive as the vast expanses over which live stock ranged. 17 After an initial period of agricultural instability, which lasted until about the time the Santa Barbara Channel missions were founded (San Buenaventura 1782 and Santa Bar bara in 1786), the mission system in Alta California re- vealed that it was indeed capable of self-sufficiency, pro ducing a surplus of wheat, maize and barley, and substan- tially increasing the size of its livestock herds. Horticulture was almost entirely confined to the mis- sions during the last few decades of the eighteenth century. Olive orchards and vineyards were certainly the most im- portant elements of these horticultural endeavors (although olive cultivation was not nearly as extensive as vinicul ture during this period). 18 For the most part there seems to be a paucity of re corded observations of olive groves, per g, in Alta Cali fornia during the sixty-five years generally recognized as the Mission Period (1769-1834). Observers generally made reference to sighting orchards at specific locations, but usually neglected to identify the particular species- whether through ignorance or plain disinterest. In addi tion, the mission fathers did not keep a statistical record of olive or vineyard acreages and yields. , In the Biennial Report for 1801-1802, Fray Ferm1n de Lasuln reported that a beginning had been made at culti- 68 vating the olive at San Juan Capistrano, San Gabriel, San Buenaventura, Santa Barbara, S,an Luis Obispo, Santa Clara, and San Jose, and a small quantity of olive oil was pur ported to have been produced at San Diego Mission. 19 An other report stated that by the end of the eighteenth cen tury San Diego Mission had an olive grove consisting of more 20 than 500 trees. Alexander von Humboldt, too, mentioned that he had heard of orchards planted at Santa Clara when he made his historic travels in the New World (1799-1804). 21 Table 4 is a compilation of all recorded sightings around the turn of the 19th century which were uncovered during the course of this investigation. It should provide a good indication of the actual distribution of the olive during these early years of California history. Likewise, Map XI is a pictorial display of the data compiled in Table 4, and will help to verify the information provided in this tabulation. 22 In 1802, only some of the missions had olive groves, but twenty years later it was observed that the olive was abundant everywhere throughout Alta California. 23 Thus, the Franciscan missionaries began controlled diffusion of the olive throughout Alta California--the in cipient threshold of an enterprise that would one-day be come a multi-million dollar industry in the State. Summary After its introduction into California through the 69 120" 42" DISTRIBUTION OF OLIVE CULTIVATION IN CALIFORNIA, c. 1800 • = 01 ive cultivation site JB• 0,__ ___._ ___ 1DOmiles__. 34° Source: various MAP XI TABLE 4 COMPILATION OF OLIVE ORCHARD SIGHTINGS IN ALTA CALIFORNIA, CIRCA 1800 ---rfate Date of Mission Foun Sources (5) Englehardt, San Luis Re_y, p. 59 (6) Ibi~., P• 66. (?) Hendry, "Adobe Brick," p. 114. ( 8) C .F. Loop, "Glance at the Olive Belt," ~roceedings of the Calif_g_rnia Olive Grower's Convention, 1892, P• 10. - . --.J.._.. 72 first Franciscan mission at San Diego, the olive was dif fused throughout the chain of twenty-one missions that were later established at selected sites in the fertile valleys and alluvial plains along the coastal mountain ranges of Alta California. Horticulture (and olive cultivation in particular) was never as extensively practiced as some other agricultural endeavors such as livestock raising and grain farming, but was, nevertheless, an integral part of agrarian activities which took place in the California mis sions. Even though there is a dearth of recorded observa tions of olive groves in the literature, a compilation of the more accessible data revealed that olive culture had diffused from San Siego to San Francisco by 1801 (Map XI) ... This was the early expansion of an agricultural industry that would eventually spread to its present-day home in the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys, via the southern and central coastal regions of the State, including an import and stopover in the San Fernando Valley. {./ FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER 4 1. Fages subsequently served as Governor of California from September, 1782 to April, 1791. 2. Herbert Ingram Priestly (trans.), A Historical, Poli~ ical, and Natural Description o~~~ia by P~dro Fages (Originally published in 1937; Ramona, Calif.a Ballena Press, 1972), p. 10. John A. Berger, The Franciscan Missions of California (Garden City, N.Y.a Doubleday & Co., 1948), P• l097-- 4. Ibid., P• 140 5· Ibid., P• 42. 6. J.V. Flamant, A Treatise on Olive P~l~iv~ (San Francisco& A. Roman & Co., 1887), p. 16. Hudson T. Hartmann and Karl W. Opitz, Oliv~.Pro!luction in Californ~a, California Agricultural Experiment Station, Circular 540 (Berkeleya University of Cali fornia Press, 1966), P• 5· 8. Ibid., P• 21. 9· State Board of Horticulture, California Olive Industry (Sacramentoa State Printing Office; l900), p. 7. 10. Personal interview with Mr. John Nelson, Assistant Curator of the Presidio Natural History Museum, San Diego, California, on September 2, 1971. Mr. Nelson explained that the trees died of lead poisoning. It seems· that the Spanish soldiers stationed at the Presidio garrison used the tree trunks as targets while idly firing their muskets, causing an earlier than natural death for the usually long-lived trees. 11. The annual expense to maintain these establishments was about $50,000 (Hubert H. Bancroft, "History of California, Vol. I, 1542-1800, 11 The Works of Hubert H. Bancroft, Vol. XVIII (San Francisco• A.L. Bancroft & Co., 1884), P• 332) • 12. State Board of Horticulture, California Olive Indust U• P• 7• 13. Ibid. 14. R. Louis Gentilcore, "Missions and Mission Lands of Alta California," Annals of the Association of Ameri- ('"t' can Geographers, Vol. 51 (March, 1961), p. 46. 15. Ibid., P• 52. 16. Ibid., P• 67. 17'1 Gentilcore, "Missions," p. 69. 18. ill£., P• 71. 19. Finbar Kenneally ~trans. and ed.), Writings of Fermfn Francisco de Lasuen, Vol. II (Wash. D.C.& Academy of Franciscan History, 1965), p. 392. 20. Andrew F. Rolle, California& A Histo~ (3rd ed.; New Yorka Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 19b5), P• 356. 21. Alexander von Humboldt, Political Essay on the Kingdom of Ne~Spain, Vol. II, trans. by John Black (Londona T. Davison, 1811), p. 342. 22. Gentilcore, "Missions," p. 72. 23. Vargas Rea, e~., Memoria y Proposiciones ~nor_poB Jose'San Mart1n Sabre las Californias con OcasiM de ·no Haber Jurado~ente"-1a Independel1~ Prepo.n.derencia de Aguellos ReliiO§.,QliJ1~:.sion8;rios L Mlxico, 182g (~T?xico, D.F.a Biblioteca Aportacion His td"rica, 1943), p. 11. CHAPTER 5 CASE STUDYt THE OLIVE INDUSTRY IN THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY, 1800-1973 The San Fernando Valley was chosen as a site for a case study for three reasons. First, and most important, the Valley was once the location of the largest single olive grove in the world. Second, the olive industry in the San Fernando Valley is a perfect example of an industry that was created out of the successful cultivation of the olive at Mission San Fernando Rey de Espa~a. ts such, it is a prime example of the influential effect the agricul tural preferences of the Franciscan missionaries had on the agricultural development of the State of California. Third, it is interesting to note how the successful imposition of a single cultural trait--olive cultivation--could create such an impact on the pattern of future growth in a given area. With these reasons in mind, the chronological develop- ment of the olive industry in the San Fernando Valley will be investigated, from its early introduction at Mission San Fernando Rey de Espan'a to its later success as a com mercial enterprise, and finally to its demise as a viable agricultural industry in the face of suburban encroachment and other factors. Production at the Mission, 1800-1846 Olive production was introduced into the San Fernando Valley through the Mission San Fernando Rey de Espana 75 "(0 sometime shortly after the year 1800. The mission, located in the northeastern sector of the valley, was founded in an attempt to close one of the gaps in the long chain of Cali fornia missions. 1 It was, therefore, not a pivotal link in the mission system, and the prime consideration in selecti~ the site was the outlook for future prosperity. 2 At the time, the site was part of a large rancho belonging to Fra~ cisco Reyes, and was only partially cultivated--mainly in maize, beans, and watermelon.J Olive orchards were planted at the mission sometime during the first two decades of the 19th century and were especially ··productive due to the fer tile, well-drained soil, and because of an irrigation sys tem employed by the padres to supplement the rather meager natural precipitation. As late as 1858 great quantities of olive oil were processed at the mission. An article in the San Francisco Alta California Daill (August 22, 1858) de clared the quality of the olives at San Fernando Mission to be equalled only by those of San Diego, and, for richness of flavor and delicate fiber, they were said to be far superior to even the famed Italian olive.4 Productivity was hampered in the early years when, in 18)4, a decree was issued by Jose'Figueroa, Mexican Governor of California, to secularize all of the missions. This de cree put the missions and all of their assets under the con trol of the Mexican Governor, who in turn appointed commis sioners to minister to the mission property. Then a series of changes in governorships caused an oscillating situation Tl whereby the missions were restored to the hands of the mis- sionaries one minute and were rented out the next. The padres strongly protested against the greed and ill-rule of the Mexican commissioners, and as soon as the padres were certain that secularzation would remove the missions from the control of the Church, the Franciscans began to destroy both crops and livestock.5 In 1846, the mission system was declared bankrupt, and Mission San Fernando was sold that year as Rancho Ex-Mis sion San Fernando, containing 116,858 acres. The orchards and vineyards at the mission were left without proper cul- tivation or irrigation, and whole groves of trees were in discriminantly felled and converted into fire wood. 6 Need less to say olive production in the San Fernando Valley was greatly retarded during the dozen years from the time of secularization until 1846, when the mission was sold. Since the mission was producing the vast majority of the olives. used in the Valley and the Los Angeles area, the years between 1846 and the early 1880's saw very little olive production in the San Fernando Valley. This is not to say that olive production came to a standstill, however, for the mission olive press was used to produce small quan tities of olive oil as late as 1875. 7 Orientation and Progress, 1846-1825 In 1850, when California became the 31st State to en- ter the Union, a major transition occurred throughout the 7'd State. The San Fernando Valley participated in this state wide trend, whereby the old ranchos were broken up into smaller holdings and much of the grazing land that once made up the bulk of mission lands was brought under culti vation by the new owners of the apportioned mission lands. For the most part, this newly cultivated land was planted mostly in seed crops. Small orchard plantings were to be found near missions and about the homesteads of old Spanish land grants. Most of the olive trees in the state were lo cated near Los Angeles at this time, especially at San Fer nando, San Gabriel, and San Juan Capistrano. 8 Up until 1875, the California olive industry had ex panded only slightly at best, growing outward from the old mission plantings. There was almost no fruit industry in the northern part of the State until 1858. The census of 1850 reported the value of orchard products for only two northern countiesa Sonoma, $13,000; and Marin, $1,200.9 The State Agricultural Society reported a total of 14,688 olive trees in California in 1875, Santa Barbara County having more than 3,000 trees and five other coastal count ies (including Los Angeles) having more than 1,000 trees each.10 Tulare and Butte counties, which would become the principal production centers in the twentieth century, had only 27 and 41 t rees, respec t 1ve. 1 Y• 11 Between 1848 and 1860, the population of California increased by almost 300,000 people, most of whom were ad venturous gold-seekers. The State was ill-prepared to meet 79 the mounting demand for food at the beginning of the in flux; and was forced to increase agricultural imports and production to cope with this new demand. As early as 1852 a rough and incomr'ete census had indicated large increases in all types of agricultural production which was induced in an attempt to provide an adequate food supply for the burgeoning State population. 12 In the San Fernando Valley, a transition from stock raising to grain farming was taking place, and acreage de voted strictly to olive production increased very slowly. The land use changeover finally became so complete in the Valley that by 1877 all new tillable land was devoted to grain production, and all other industries were compara tively negligible. 13 Experimentation and Preliminary Commercial Production, 1875-1900 The commercial olive industry seems to have had its beginning about 1875, when the idea was advanced that Cali fornia olive oil would find a large and profitable domestic market if the American market were protected against the impure imported product. 14 During the next twenty-five years, olive groves which had been entirely devoted to Mis sion variety olives were bolstered by more than one hundred and fifty varieties of oil-producing olive trees which were introduced into California from the Mediterranean region. Of these, fewer than half a dozen varieties (primarily Man zanillo, Sevillano, and Ascolano) are now commercially 80 important. By 1885, growers had learned that California olive oil was indeed equal in quality to the best European product, and that the quality and quantity of the Califor nia oil varied geographically--better .oils came from olives grown in the interior regions of the State. Consequently, a large-scale planting boom ensued. Although this increase in cultivation extended from San Diego County to Shasta County, the inland valleys of San Joaquin and Sacramento were the most intensively cultivated during this period. The number of olive trees in California had increased from fewer than 15,000 trees in 1875 to about 175,000 trees in 1890, 15 and by 1897 the State registered some Z,SOO,OOO trees. 16 A good indication of the statewide distribution of olive trees in the early 1890's can be gleaned from Table 5, which lists the members of the California Olive Grower's Association that were considered to be active producers in TABLE 5 MEMBERSHIP OF THE CALIFORNIA OLIVE GROWER'S ASSOCIATION IN 1891, ACTIVE PRODUCERS Member Location 1. John Bidwell Chico 2. Bowen & Goudge Pomona 3· Ellwood Cooper Santa Barbara 4. Juan Gallegos Mission San Jose 5· E.E. Goodman Santa Clara 6. John c. Gray Oroville 7• Harwood & Wood£ord Ontario 8. George F. Hooper Sonoma 9· Frank A. Kimball National City 10. Perveril Meigs Santa Barbara 81 TABLE 5--Continued Member Location 11. Emily Robinson Auburn 12. J.P. Smith Livermore 13. v.c. Smith Napa 14. C.A. Wetmore Livermore 15. J.R. Wolfskill Winters Source& California Olive Grower's Association, Proceed ings of the Olive Grower's Convention, 1san Fran cisco, July 8, 1891), p. 21. The assumption here, of course, is that, given the ineffi cient transportation of that era, the producers were com pelled to reside in close proximity to their groves; thus, it is assumed that the location given for each member is also the lG>cation of his olive trees. Map XII gives a pic torial display of the information presented in Table 5, and shows a marked increase in the statewide distribution of olive cultivation, when compared to Map XI in Chapter 4 (irrespective to the amount of acreage). Olive production had expanded in the north, but contracted in the south. The stimulus for large-scale planting and commercial ization within the San Fernando Valley itself seems to have come from a pamphlet written by Judge Robert M. Whidney in 1886 or 1887, a period during which real estate subdividers were first becoming aware of the great potentialities ex isting in the Valley. 17 The pamphlet described the fine possibilities of the foothill tract--a vast stretch of gently sloping acreage situated northeast of the San Fer nando Mission in the present-day town of Sylmar. In addi tion, the pamphlet stimulated enthusiasm among notable 82 120" lTG" 42" DISTRIBUTION OF MAJOR OLIVE ACREAGE IN CALIFORNIA, 1891 • = Location of actively producing member of the California Olive 1-.Js• Grower's Association I l 38° I1 i I I I l l 134° 0 100miles 34° I l.::ource: California Olive Grower's Association, California Olive Industry, 1893 MAP XII 83 entrepreneurs such as D.O. Miltmore, George L. Arnold, Charles Morell, and Colonel Butterfield, and prompted their founding of the Los Angeles Olive Growers Association. In 1893, the Association purchased 1,603 acres in the Sylmar foothill tract and developed it into the largest olive or chard in the world. This was the famous Sylmar Olive Or chard, a grove which, during the years of peak production around 1920, encompassed some 2,000 acres supported 140,000 trees, and had a normal season's output of 50,000 gallons of oil and 200,000 gallons of ripe olives. 18 The Associa tion's processing plant employed about 400 people during its heyday. 19 Modern Olive Industr~tablished, 1200-1930 By 1900, processers found through experience that pure olive oil could not be manufactured profitably and the in dustry was threatened with extinction. 20 Pure California olive oil, however high in quality, could not be produced cheaply enough to compete with the adulterated European product, nor with other vegetable oils and fats on the Am- er1.can• mar k e t • 21 At the same time, demand had increased measurably for the large-fruited ripe olive, and the City of Los Angeles was providing an excellent market for the olives locally produced in the Los Angeles County area. The same increase in demand occurred throughout the State, and, as a result, the olive industry wisely shifted its em- phasis from the growing of oil varieties to culinary var- 84 ieties (table olives), causing a contraction of the total olive-bearing acreage by more than one half. 22 This con traction was due to the fact that so many oil-bearing var ieties (such as the Nevadillo, Redding Picholine, Rubra, Pendulina, and Chemlali), introduced during the period of experimentation (which began in 1875), had to be top-graft ed by the large-fruited table varieties, such as the Sevil- lano, Manzanillo, Ascolano, and Barouni; thus, these trees did not come into bearing until the new graftings produced ' new fruit-bearing wood. For the most part, groves of Mis sion variety olives were left intact because the fruit is fairly easy to process and the high oil content of the fruit provided an alternative in years when the market de- manded the production of olive oil. In 1899, a research report by F.T. Bioletti and G.E. Colby of the Agricultural Experiment Station at the Univer sity of California showed that ripe processed fruit could be successfully preserved by packing the olives into jars or cans and then heating them to 176°F. The process pre served the olives indefinitely in hermetically sealed con tainers.23 By 1910, the pickling and canning processes had been perfected to the point where the product could be 24 shipped to distant markets without fear of spoilage. Thus, the whole character of the industry changed, and the growth of the industry since that time rests almost entire ly upon the sophistication of the canning process. Olive ; production increased on a statewide scale from the 2,002 85 to~s produced in 1899 to 8,000 tons~ produced in 1909. 25 Map~ shows olive distribution in the state i~ 1909. The modern industrialization of olive culture occurred on a statewide scale, but to obtain good yields of canning sized olives, growers found that irrigation comparable to that required by most other tree crops was essential. Al though the olive tree is physiologically adapted to toler ate prolonged periods of drought and high temperatures, good irrigation practices result in increased yields. Ir rigation produces new fruiting wood on the tree, and also increases fruit set and fruit size, and prevents shrivel- ling. In the San Fernando Valley, there is an insufficiency of perennial water resources, which created a serious de ficiency of irrigation water. This proved to be a definite hindrance to the development of the large-fruited ripe olives in the San Fernando Valley for the first decade of this century. Even as late as 1915, the scarcity of water was inhibiting the growth of the olive industry in the Val ley. A Federal Government soil survey taken in 1915 stated• An exceptionally large olive grove is located northwest of (the City of) San Fernando, and this grove and several others of relatively small size elsewhere in the valley constitutes (sic) about 1,500 acres of bearing trees. Most of the olives are grown without irrigation, and yields are somewhat variable. The olive industry does not seem to be increasing in the San Fernando Valley. Many of the present plantings are on very light-textured soils, where most other tree crops cannot be produced without irrigation. Lack of 86 ------~TI"'· I I DISTRIBUTION OF OLIVE ACREAGE IN CALIFORNIA, 1909 1 dot = 100 acres (Note: The location of dots w1thtn each county is based upon countv startlttcs and the distnbutton pattern deptcted tn Caltfornta Agocultural Expenment Sta· tion ExtensiOn Service Circular 540, De tober, 1966.) 38" !Vorth 1 I 1-34" I' 0 100miles 34° Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Agriculture, 1909-19t()! Vol. VI. 116° ------~------~ MAP XIII 87 irrigation water and the predominance of large land holdings have been the two principal factors ~n r~~arding the development of intensive farm ~ng. On November 5, 1913, however, the: Valley did receive its precious irrigation water. An aqueduct was constructed to import water from the Owens River Valley (located be tween the White Mountains and the eastern.slopes of the Sierra Nevada) to a thirsty, burgeoning Los Angeles. 27 .. Eventually, Los Angeles would have to look elsewhere to im port additional water, but for the time being the Owens River aqueduct provided an abundant supply of water for a multitude of uses. The annexation of the greater part of the San Fernando .Valley into the City of Los Angeles during the period from 1915 to 1923 made the new water supply available for irri gation purposes, and pipelines gradually laced their way through the valley floor. The availability of water creat ed a rapid shift in land use throughout the valley from grain farming to truck gardens, vineyards and orchards. Within a few years, the San Fernando Valley was trans formed from a grain-raising community dependent upon inter mittent rainfall to an empire of truck gardens and orchard~ thus, it became one of the richest agricultural regions in the world. 28 The following account was given in 19291 The Federal Census (of 1920) classified Los Angeles County, with $27,000,000 in farm products, as the richest county agriculturally in the United States ••• (the) San Fernando Valley produced $22,000,000 of that and, ~~nually, the average yield is over $20,000,000. 2 88 In 1917, 30,000 acres of agricultural lands were under ir- rigation in the valley, an increase of over 65 per cent in only three years.3° Fields that had been valued at ten dollars an acre be- fore the coming of the Owens River water were now valued at over one thousand dollars an acre.31 The crops became more and more diversified as citrus and olive trees were planted in and around the City of San Fernando, and peach, apricot and other deciduous fruit trees were planted near the pre sent-day sites of North Hollywood and Van Nuys. The town of San Fernando was sufficiently distant from Los Angeles to develop an independent economy,32 and was an agricultural trade center, with packing and shipping opera tions for olive, citrus, and truck crops. The City grew somewhat after adjacent farm lands received Owens River water, but not as rapidly as other Valley communities--par ticularly those in the southern portion of the valley, where developers were conducting heavy and profitable land promotional campaigns. A local entrepreneur, Leslie C. Brand (and his assoc iates), conducted a large selling campaign around 1920, whereby 16,000 acres of the property earlier acquired from the Porter Land & Water Company was subdivided and put up for sale. Between 1916 and 1923, orchards, cultivated fields and the homes of the new landowners created a pat tern of habitation never before imprinted on the Valley's ever-changing landscape. 0';1 An Analysis of the Decline of the Olive Industry in the San Fernando Valley It appears that there has been not one but a combina tion of factors contributing to the decline of the once flourishing olive industry in the Valley. The first factor is an increase of residential housing due to increased pop ulation, which has been alluded to in the previous section. Although the relatively small annual increases in popula tion appear to be almost insignificant, their cumulative effect over the forty-year period from 1920 to 1960 is quite significant indeed. The significance can best be seen by an examination of Maps XIV through Yll,' , which de limit the actual areas devoted to specific land-use activi ties (olive orchards, residential housing areas, and areas devoted to other uses), for selected years (1928-1971), and serve to illustrate the gradual but decided encroach ment of residential housing on the Sylmar olive district. Map XIV shows that, in 1928, the Sylmar area was com pletely devoid of tract-type residential housing, and about 52 per cent of the area was devoted to olive orchards; whereas, the other 48 per cent of the area was being util ized for other purposes, mostly agricultural.33 Although there were a few small industrial sites located along San Fernando Road in 1928, there were few other structures in the area, with the exception of an occasional farmhouse and related outlier buildings. Truly, the predominate char- acter of the landscape was agricultural. \ / l ...... /"'·· / ~-, I \ I ____ J,J\? /': { ~/ // ~ [\}1 Olive groves Residential area ,..,...E.. N l_._ .. ·· f •·••···••·•·•.· Other -t-+-1--+- Railroad _... ""(::· I ntarrnittent stream --- Paved road 1 ---- Secondary read STUDY AREA 1923 0 Y:zL. ____ _ 1 mile ~-···---~ -k·-·-l Scurcc: Fairchild Aerial Surveys, Inc.; fv!ay 1.928 ·------;~;~:-~~~---·---- -"·---~- ·-·---·· ...... ----·-·-···-·---·-····-···------.. -· \0 0 ', -, l ... / ' I ./"' -~ I ,.-- __ _t.J!/,:I _, , \ / ' , :•> ,.. I • • v . <·:· j ' "' • ~ ) ~"·~!... ,~~ ·.,., ::::: ,.... : ,: ' ~- ~ . . ~?~~~ .~.-:·.·.·.~--~ ... ·-· --..- M ... ,:,:,:.I ( .::'.'.'.~'-~'.·? . .\ .. ':·:: ''::::::·:.:: :.:.:.: =·='::-:: ' r. ::1::: r:~.c--- ·:: :: ''\Nh!w;,•:.:+tl '/>~: 1~ i\'k,''': •:~!!r] j: ~\, •" · ./.....·.·.· ~;•.•.· .... '·•:·s... .., ... .. • •. ·/.·.·.. ·.,h. ... ·.. o.· / ..... •·;, •. , ...··: ; ....,·,.;...·.;.y ····:·:. .. ,.,1,.,,~·-·l'!hi"'· • .•.•.. { ... ..] <·'·.· '·): :·.·.v,,.::·.·~> · .,.. ' .. if!·:·:··> c[(.-: • • '·fii•·.>J .·.-.;- :\, ~·(;;;::: ;:;• ;~·:·.·.··:· · :«~; ;.;s;;;•,oc;:.: ·; '"' .. ,.:: >ii'' \./ ~il;!:jft~::; :~,;:: ) } · •.• .... ·So.-~ 'f· ,,...... ,. ·"··"· ',.. '"'''-• ''.., .. ,.:'· ..,.,., ·.. ,# ·'lli< .).!:!·· . ....: :·:·:·.··:·:·:·:·.;:;.,., ·.· .... ·..... ·.. ·"''"¥F....i' .{C... ·.;. .• ,,,..· ...'· ;.:•. ..• •• "; ·• :::.. ,,l' •• ....,:.•••• -'·/, ••.• ,, : .·.'-'.,: " ...... • ,.,,•. •:-:;. ·.....•• ; ·• . .; ..:· ••...·:-:· .: :::::::;:;:;:; :;:;::,:,:,:,:.: .-.,. ;:; ·~= :,:,::,: ::•': :·: :·.:.C -~ ; ·::;:;::~,, .4.:::~ .{,fihi.l·,:::;::,:,:,:,:.:•x-::::;::· ./ · .. , ···:·:·:·.·.·.·-:·:···.·.·.·.· /...·. ··.·.·.· ·.:··t•'·if. ···.<·-"'.1 > th.'AW ·~::;.:-."filJ:: ;H]tt-:-:·.·4:0-~.:±1. ~ ~--_c..;,;.· .. " ".' I···:·.- ·-:.· ,·'*•.•:• .. : w: :, !IH•.,; .·:·:· •. \ •• ;•. ,,:·:·.·.· .• ·.;.; .•.,.·.;.;.;. 'e±,rn. i . • • I / •••• > •• ' ' • ' •• ·h· ~-".'·'· ++-~--<- Railroad ~ ... "(::· Intermittent stream <)0'')"-'~/ ,,: , : :iV "1~ Paved road Secondary road :~s~·,"-''.!i! ;_,.)/·~~~~ ~ STUDY AREA 1952 '<0 ·::7 "11-(.> s~· "' . <:.... ~ '\..0 ~' 0 ~ 1 mile ------~--1 ______..... I 8ource: Fairchilu ANial Sur;·eys, Inc., 11·4·52 .. .:..:.:~~:!"...::·~-·"-'"'~---.. '"=·-·----·~·-··--"·--·-----...... -·-·------... ------~-----""--...... _.. .,_..______. _____ ~----- M/\P XV \0 1-" '·. ~ Olive groves ~ [~8 Residential area N r~r-:1 Other ,j_;~lJ s'-· ...,._.._._.... o"o'O Railroad «;'-'?; ~--· ---<:::· ! nterrnittent stream ~\f,,.(rPk ... <.>(/ -:>,): ', ;:,;: Paved road 1 0 ".:;·~~-~·;·' ..y·.. y:,; <)\0. Secondary road -::.!--C:;'- '' ''. : i;:·!' "'J_'"J~.-, STUDY /\fiEA 19:36 ,.,o ., ·' o> ~ s'-·' . .._o~<~ ~', '(' Yz 1 rnilo a ------· ___ J______,._ Source: U.S. Dept of interior Geo/cgtcal Sur".'ey Sheet ,..,, ... _,..,.~·····.,..,..--·'-'·-· ...... ,__~-·--~------·-··--'-'····· -·---·· .. -~...... ,.. ..._.._., ____ =·-·-- MAP >CVI \.0 N \ -, l ... / , . -.t.., I' ./""" ,..- ___ j..l1/.·I ,I , \ I ~ / ' I I ~v ~ I . 1 1 · I Ol"e View \ ~ J 0~~ {I Ho•,prt<~l • 1- I ·: .. 1 -~'.l.fi~=:=··n 1jnr:F.'!:0··;zn.mtt:...t!!tt :tm!rrHfl . ·;:" . ::1::!11!! Ui;': :) 1 :·~:;·-:::" \:~ 1 H:;:~::·::;HHiP ,. ' 't\ll •y-:-: : .. :;~:·~··· ... :' ...... ,."''" :::··:: ~ ;_: :.:; F~ ~: .. '·~--- ...... ~ ~:tff~f~~ :::c:::::: :::~~~;~!: "'. ( . :..--:;~;:I: ~ ~,,,,; ·.;~·' "''"'"'· ~· ~~~i:: ;;~:: Olive groves ': ., ~ .. , ~ ...... o,.1· ~tm~~:1 ~ ' ~/,., Residential area 0 N "o: r-··-J.·• Other <.'>.-') !_ ...... :_:_ -1~,., ~ -+-+--"...--<- Railroad %» 00>1-,J' ------<:·· intermittent scream 6>1, 1 '-'<:~·... -.. __ .Y "0>% ----- S.~:condat'V road ::.) ': ': 7 J.-'1 STUDY ARE/\ '1971 <{o-- rvl/\P XVII \0 w An examination of subsequent maps reveals that a posi tive pattern of residential encroachment occurred between 1928 and 1952, a precursory indication of later develop ments. In 1952 (Map XV), residential encroachment had begun to acquire a secure foothold in the olive district, occupy ing about 18 per cent of the study area. At the same point in time, olive grove acreage had been reduced to about 45 per cent and about 37 per cent of the study area was still employed for uses other than residential housing or olive cultivation. The most dramatic change in land use occurred during the period between 1952 and 1966 (Map XVI ), when about 75 per cent of the remaining olive grove lands fell to resi dential encroachment. Whereas, in 1928, the area was al most exclusively agricultural in nature, the 1966 land use pattern shows a landscape which is predominately (60 per cent) high-density residential housing. The acreage occup ied by olive orchards had dwindled to about 12 per cent of the total area, and the acreage being employed for other uses had been reduced to about 28 per cent. The industrial concerns had, at this time, more or less concentrated in the general area bounded by Tyler Street and Rexford Street between Bradley Avenue and San Fernando Road, In 1971 (Map XVID, a field survey by the author re vealed a pattern of land use nearly the same as that of 1966, with olive grove acreage still holding at about 10 95 per cent, areas devoted to others uses being reduced by a slight margin to about 28 per cent, and the residential sprawl continuing to gain ground with a total of about 62 per cent. There are, at this time, many new housing tracts being constructed on the northern and eastern fringes of the study area. The solid residential areas are generally occupied by older homes, especially in the southern corner, where the first massive encroachment began in the 1930's. It is obvious from these maps that residential expan sion has caused the loss of considerable acreage which was formerly planted in olive trees,34 and Table 6 summarizes the land use changes which occurred in the study area be- tween 1928 and 1971· .TABLE 6 SUMMARY OF LAND USE CHANGES IN THE SYLMAR OLIVE DISTRICT, 1928-1971 Land Uses* Year Olive Groves Residential Other Uses** 1928 52% O% 48% 1938 51% 3% 46% 1949 49% 10% 41% 1952 45% 18% 37% 1966 12% 60% 28% 1971 10% 62% 28% * An estimation of the percentage of total area employed for specific uses. ** Includes all uses other than residential or olive grove properties. Sources• Dept. of Interior, u.s. Geological: Survey, Sy~ mar Quadrangle, 1tP 5 and 196.Q.; Fairchild Aerial Surveys, 1928, 19 9 and 1952; and personal field observations during May, 1971. 'jO The major factor contributing to the decline of the olive industry was that residential sprawl usually brings about a substantial boost in the value of adjacent land in the initial stage of expansion. If a given parcel of farm land is in the path of this expansion, the farmer/owner may consider it advisable, in a strictly economic sen~e, to sell the property. This would be especially true if the margin of profit was quite l~rge. And this is exactly what happened in the case of the San Fernando Valley. A case in point concerns Cristo Fusano and Sons, Inc. of Sylmar.35 In 1909, Cristo Fusano, an Italian immigrant, decided to break away from his employer (the Los Angeles Olive Growers Association) and begin his own olive proces sing plant--located directly across the railroad tracks from the plant operated by the Association on San Fernando Road. The new enterprise managed to weather the vieissi~ tudes of the agricultural business world and proved itself to be a vi.able venture. After World War II, increased ur- banization in the Valley caused the value of the acreage owned by Fusano and Sons to increase dramatically--along with the taxes. The cost of cultivating and sustaining the olive groves increased so much in fact, that in the late 1940's Fusano and Sons began to sell their acreage in the Valley and use the funds to purchase new acreage in the San Joaquin Valley, near Lindsay. Today, the firm owns approximately 230 acres in the San Joaquin Valley, and has totally divested itself of its 97 holdings in the San Fernando Valley, save for the proces sing plant located on San Fernando Road. It was found, in terestingly enough, that it was more profitable to truck the olives from their newly acquired northern groves down to their processing plant in the San Fernando Valley rather than construct a new plant nearer to the new groves. According to Mr. Ralph Fusano, the San Fernando Valley does not possess the "right environment" for prime olive production; in particular, he refers to the many controlled experiments performed by the Agricultural Experiment Sta tion at Davis, California which revealed that all olive varieties in California are unfruitful unless exposed to a certain amount of chilling during the winter months.36 Even though the San Fernando Valley has produced great quantities of olives throughout its agricultural past, the Davis experiments have shown that the valley is not as con ducive (climatically) as the San Joaquin Valley for the production of prime olive fruits. Still another important factor which led to the de cline of the olive industry in the San Fernando Valley was the decreasing availability of low-cost physical labor- primarily pickers. Table 7 emphasizes that, on a statewide basis, the physical labor aspect of California agriculture has absolutely declined since 1945. When the Mexican Na 11 tional (so-called "Bracero ) Program was terminated in 1964, inexpensive physical labor was almost nonexistent throughout the State. TABLE 7 MONTHLY AVERAGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WORKING ON CALIFORNIA FARMS, BY TYPE OF WORKER . Total Farmers and unpaid Hired Temporary Contract fore1gn Year Workers family workers year-round domestic workers # 1945 381,492* 134,583 90,250 120,458 25,817 1950 403,883 159.592 104,800 132,017 7,475 1955 473.542 169,850 121,158 142,425 40,108 1960 434,100 147,500 118,900 125,000 42,700 1961 420,700 142,000 117,500 126,200 35,000 1962 323,900 93,800 94,300 102,500 33,300 1963 315,800 94,000 93.700 100,100 28,000 1964 318,400 92,600 92,800 105,000_ 28,000 1965 305,100 90,900 92,300 119,100 2,800 1966 302,900 90,000 90,800 120,900 1,200 1967 294,400 88,400 91,400 114,100 500 * Total for 1945 includes prisoners of war and volunteers. # Almost entirely Mexican Nationals. Sources State of California, Department of Employment, California Annual Farm Labor Reports, annual reports. Cited from California Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 847, Pro"ections of California A riculture to 1 80 and ~ (Berkeleya Univ. of Calif. Pres~, 1970 , P• 53· ...0 . co 99 . All of these mutually reinforcing conditions led to the demise of the once-thriving olive industry in the San Fernando Valley. By the end of the 1950's, the Valley was finished as a significant agricultural region.37 The land scape had been transformed from rural-agricultural to a sprawling, intermingled hodge-podge of residential, indust rial and commercial uses. In the process of transformatio~ it had literally pushed the olive industry right out of the Valley. Summaa From a successful outgrowth of Franciscan mission ag riculture in the 18th century to its waning existence al- most two centuries later, the olive has indeed had an im- pact on the scheme of man • s pattern of habl tatTon--in.-~ne ______San Fernando Valley. An historical geographic approach has been employed to examine the olive industry in the San Fernando Valley in an attempt to delineate the mutual relationships which existed between the industry and the Valley throughout the period when olive production was considered a viable endeavor. The olive has obviously played an important role in the cultural and economic geography of the Valley, but, then too, the Valley itself was beset with a number of various conditions which have correspondingly affected the success of the olive industry in that region. In summary, the de~line of the olive industry was 100 basically.the result of four main factors. First, a steady in-flow of people whose demand for residential housing, and the associated commercial and industrial development, caus ed a persistent encroachment of urban activities into the olive district. The second condition which caused the de mise of the olive industry was an increase in the valuation of orchard lands a·s the demand for new land for housing in creased; thus, the growers were prompted to sell their holdings and realize handsome profits. A third reason for the demise was the non-availability of low-wage physical labor which disappeared when the Brac~ro Program was ter minated in 1964, a situation that considerably raised the growers' operating costs. The fourth factor involved a study at the agricultural experiment station·at Davis, California, where it was determined that the Valley posses sed a climatic regime which was never really conducive to quality olive growth in the first place. The combined pressure of these factors over the past several decades has certainly caused the deterioration of the once-flourishing olive industry in the San Fernando Valley. As a result, the geographic concentration of olive acreage has changed considerably from the 19th to the 20th century. Although important in earlier years, olive acre age has tended to become concentrated in those parts of California's inland valleys subject to winter chilling and warm, fog-free summers. 101 FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER 5 John A. Berger, The Franciscan Missi_gns of California (Garden City• Doubleday and Co., 1948), p. 169. . 2. Rev. Francis J. Weber, Mission San Fernando (Los Angelesa Westernlore Press, 1968), p. 2. Ibid. 4. Alta California Daily, San Francisco, August 22, 1858. Clifford M. Smith, "The History of the San Fernando Valley with Special Emphasis on the City of San Fer~ nando" (Unpublished Masters thesis, University of Southern California, 1930), pp. 63-64. 6. Col. J.J. Warner, Judge Benjamin Hayes and Dr. J.D. Widney, An Historical Sketch of Los Angeles CoM)t~, California (Los Angeles• o.w. Smith, Pub~, 1936 , p.14. Daughters of the American Revolution,' The Va1;ley ot:, ~ Fernando (n.p.t D.A.R. Publication, 1924), p. 55· 8. John S. Hi ttell,. The ~.esources of California (5th ed.; San Francisco• A. Roman & Co., 1869). p. 42. Claude B. Hutchinson (ed.), Cali~ornia~icu~ture (Berkeley• University of California Press, 1946), p. 41. Part of the census returns were lost. 10. The County Surveyor's Report of January 1, 1876 listed 2,170 olive trees. See John Steven McGroarty, Historx of Los ~ngeles Co~n!Y. (Chicago& The American Histori cal Society, Inc., 1923), p. 33 for more agricultural statistics during this period. 11. Hutchinson, California, p. 230. 12. Ibid., P• 33· 13· United States Department of Agriculture, "Soil Survey of the San Fernando Valley Area, California." 17th Re port, Fi~lq Opera~ions of the Bur~u.of Soils, 191~, edited by Milton Whitney (Wash., D.C.a G.P.O., 1917) p. 9; and Clifford Zierer, "San Fernando--A Type of Southern California Town, 11 Annals, Association of AmeiJ ican Geographe~~' Vol. XXIV, No. 1 (March, 1934), p. 24n. 14. It was found that oils derived from sesame, cotton seed, poppy and coconut, for example, were being added .LUG to the olive oil by the foreign exporters. 15. Ralph J. Fyoske, Everyman's Eden (N.Y.I The McMillan Co., 1968), p. 405; and Robert Glass Cleland and Os good Hardy, March of Industry, edited by John Russell McCarthy (Los Angeless Powell Publishing Co., 1929), P• 86. 16. As estimated by the county assessors (Hutchinson, California, p. 230). 17. D.A.R., Valley, P• 79· 18. McGroarty, History of L.A. County, p. 483. 19. D.A.R., Valley, P• 117. 20. M. Beauchamp (ed.), California Almanac and State Fact Book~ 1248-1942 (Los Angeles• California Almanac Co., 1947 , P• 149. 21. Today, no orchards are planted solely for the produc tion of olives for oil alone. Olive oil production in California is largely a salvage operation, utiliz ing small, cull, or frozen and shrivelled fruits. 22. Hutchinson, California, p. 231. 2). California Agricultural Experiment Station, A History of SubtroRical Fruits and Nuts in California-rBerke leya University of California Press, 1963), p. 22. 24. Cleland, March of Industry, p. 86. 25. the Re- , P• 195· 26. U.S. Dept. of Agri., Soil Survey, p. 16. 27. W.W. Robinson, The Story of the San Fernando Valley (Los Angeles• Title Insurance and Trust Co., 1961), p. 35· 28. Van Nuys Chamber of Commerce Reports, eited by Smith, San Fernando Valley, p. 163.· JO. David W. Lantis, California--Land of Contrast (Bel mont• Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1970), p. 184. 103 31· H.C. ·caldwell, 11 The Aqueduct and the San Fernando Val ley," The California Citrograph, Vol. 2 (August, 1916), PP• 11-12. 32. The City of San Fernando relied on its own economic base as a market center for agriculture and livestock produced in the San Fernando Valley; however, in the early 1960's, the 51st State Agricultural District (which included a portion of the valley) was abolishe~ and the City of San Fernando became a true suburb of the City of Los Angeles (Louis Guzman, "The San Fer nando Valley, 11 Da Tours• Geo ra hical Journe s in the Los Angeles Area, edited by Glenn Cunningham Palo Altoa Pacific Books, Pub., 1964), p. 64). 33· These percentages and those to follow are only esti mates by the author, for there is no agricultural cen sus data available which make this sort of delimita tion. Each land use type was cut out and weighed on a Mettler H31 analytical balance and then divided by the total weight of the individual pieces to determine the individual percentages. 34. Consult Richard E. Preston, "The Changing Landscape of the San Fernando Valley Between 1930 and 1964, 11 The California Geographer, Vol. VI (1965), pp. 59-72 for a more inclusive analysis of changes to the cultural landscape in the Valley from 1930 to 1964. 35· The author conducted a personal interview with Mr. Ralph Fusano of Fusano and Sons, Inc. on November 30, 1971. 36. See California Agricultural Experiment Station Circu lar 540, Olive Production in California, by Hudson T. Hartmann and Karl W. Opitz, pp. 33-50 for the results of these and o~her tests relating to California olive production. Also, H.T. Hartmann, "Effect of Winter Chilling on Fruitfulness and Vegetative Growth in the Olive, 11 Proceedings of the American S,gciej;y of Horti cultural Sciences, Vol. 62 {1953), pp. 184-90·1 and H.T. Hartmann and I. Porlingis, 11 Effect of Different Amounts of Winter-Chilling on Fruitfulness of Several Olive Varieties," Botanical Gazette, Vol. 119 (1958), PP• 102-104. 37· Preston, "Changing Landscape," p. 67. CHAPTER 6 CONTEMPORARY OLIVE PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA Venerable groves of olives still stand in the foothill region around Sylmar in the San Fernando Valley, serving as a living reminder of an important period in the Valley's agricultural past. Cristo Fusano & Son's olive packing and processing plant on San Fernando Road is the last evidence that the olive was ever of any commercial importance in the valley area. Olives have not been commercially harvested in the San Fernando Valley since 1967. 1 Olive production has moved out of the San Fernando Valley and into the in- land valleys of the State. Distribution Nowadays, the important olive producing areas are lo- cated in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, which, be- cause of relatively cold winters and warm, fog-free sum mers, are more suitable for olive production than the coast al plains and valleys of the State. Figure 1 depicts the relative change in geographic concentration of olive-bearing acreage in California from 1930 to 1967, a trend which still persists today. In addition, Maps XVIII through XXIII show the distribution of olive cultivation from 1920 to 1972. Currently, in the San Joaquin Valley, Tulare County alone accounts for about one-third of the State's total acreage, while Butte and Tehama County, both located in the 104 !U.J r ~-0------~------~------~------~,. ( I Percent I i I Northern ~ ; i Cali fo :rnia "X ,_.,.~-../ 40.0 _, ...... ,· I \ .... '""' ·-·-"". l "'--·-·-·-·-·-·-~ ~~~~{ I l California I 30.0~------+------~------r------~ I Percent of Total Bearing Acres 20.0 ~--, ...... _, ...._ __ ~ '-\--- ...., Percent ' Southern \....,, ...... , 1 o. 0 ~------+ California " \ \ \ \ \ \_ 1940 1950 1960 Year Source: California Department of Agriculture, Crop and Livestock Reporting Service, cited from California Agricultural Experiment Station, Giannini Foundation Research Report No. 304 (Davis: University of California Press, 1969), p. 8. Regional Distribution of Total California Olive Bearing Acreage, 1930-1967 Figure 1 106 I ~'0" 42" .. DISTRIBUTION OF OLIVE ACREAGE IN CALIFORNIA, 1920 1 dot = 100 acres :-3So (Note: The locatiOn of dots v;ithm each county is based upon county 5ta11Wcs and the d'st"buttOn pattern dep1cted m Caldorma Agnculrural Experdnent Sta tion Extension Serv1ce Circular 540, October, 1966.) 38° 0 TOO miles 34° 'j I lj_ Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 14th Census of the U.S.: 1920, Agriculture, Vol. il, Part'31Wash., D.C.; G.P. 0 .. 192::'! MAP XVIII 107 I··------ r·-- 1 ~ '' f ' J l ( 4/ .. j DISTRIBUTION OF OLIVE ACREAGE IN CALIFORNIA, 1930 1 dot= 100 acres :-Jso (Note: The location of dots w'thin each countv is based upon countv stiJIIStiCS and the distnbut,on pattern dep,cred 1r1 Caldornw Agncultural Expenrnenr Sta· tJon Extens1on Service Clfcular 540, October, 1966.} 38" 0 100miles 34° Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 1Jith Ce[!_SUS_ of the u~,_;_ 1930, , Agriculture, Vol. IJ, Part 3 (Wash., D.C.; G.P.O., 1932). 176° ~;·~·=·-.. --~ MAP XIX 108 r------(--~- J2[J' 1 ) ;r- 1/) DISTRIBUTION OF OLIVE ACREAGE IN CALIFORNiA, 1940 1 dot = 100 acres (Note: The location of dots w1thm each county is based upon county stat;stJCS and the d1stribut10n pdttern der)lct 38° North J l')40' _, i 0 100miles 34" Source: California Dept. of Agriculture, Crop and Livestock Flepcrting Service, ~creage Estimates of California Fruit i!.'2ti Nut Crops-By Coun~:J;;~, 116" MAP XX 109 /;-''}" I~ 4/' DISTRIBUTION OF OL'VE ACREAGE IN CALIFORNiA, 1950 1 dot = 100 acres l! I ! (Note: The location of dots W1tlun each I'"" county is based upon county stat,slics and the dlstnbut,on pattern dep,cted til Caldornia Ag,cultural Expenment Sta· tion ExtensiOn Service Circular 540, October, 1966.1 38° I I l North \ II I ~34° 0 100miles 34° Source: California Dept. of Agriculture, Crop and Livestock Reporting Service, ;j_creaqe Es_tjm -"--·------T------~-- .... ,_ /.'0, \ DISTRIBUTION OF OLIVE ACREAGE IN CALIFORNIA, 1964 1 dot = 100 acres i j--38° ' (Note: The location of dots w.thm ear:h county is based upon county st<~tl'iltcs and the d1Hnbut10n pattern deo,cted 1n Catdorn.a Agncultural E xpenment Sta tion Extens,on Service Clfcular 540, October, 1966.) 38" o 100mi/es ~------~------~ 34° i I' ! l L ~ource: u.~:.. Census Bureau, Cen_sus___~r~uf!~~-~·}[/6ti_(Wash., D.C.: G.P.O., 196-!J:·)· MAP XXII 111 r-----~·---- 1 ' DISTRIBUTION OF OLIVE ACREAGE IN CALIFORNIA, 1972 1 dot = 100 acres r-38° i (Note: The location of dots Witnlfl 1Jach '' county is based upon county stati\llc 38° 0..__ __...._ __ _.100miles 34° ! Source: California Dept. of Agriculture, Fruit and Nut Acreage, Bearing and Non-Bearing as of 1972 ISacramenco, 1972! - ··--~------.--:-=cc==.....---c=.--cc.- ---·-c:c=c.c·-.--.------MAP XXIII 112 Sacramento Valley region, contain another one-third. 2 Most of the remaining acreage is scattered throughout the Cen tral Valley region. Generally, total olive acreage (bearing and nonbear ing) in California has held fairly constant at around 30,000 acres since 1919; however, during the four-year per iod from 1969 to 1972 there were about 13,750 trees plant ed, and this should appreciably increase harvest yields by 1980.3 Production The yields from commercial olive harvests in Califor- nia have fluctuated widely throughout the past. In part, this is due to an inherent characteristic of olive trees to bear profusely in alternate (or near-alternate) years. Cl:l: mate is the other main factor controlling the variability of annual olive yields, with unseasonable frosts having the greatest effect on the size of the harvest. In 1972, for example, a year which was normally considered to be an off year in the alternate bearing cycle of olives, state-wide production was further hampered by unseasonable frosts in March and October, which trimmed the size of the harvest to about 24,000 tons--about one-half,the size of the 1971 har vestl4 Of the 58 counties in California, all but 19 are olive producers.5 Table 8 shows the five leading olive-producing counties in California for selected years from 1909 to TABLE 8 LEADING OLIVE-PRODUCING COUNTIES IN CALIFORNIA, 1909 TO 1969 Ranking ~Production in Tonsl Year 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 1909 San Diego Butte Los Angeles Riverside Santa Barbara (1,275 (1,121) ( 775) (641) (638) 1930 Tulare Butte Fresno Los Angeles Sacramento (7,519) (3.537) (1,934) ( 1, 827) (1,501) 1950 Tulare Butte Tehama Glenn Sacramento (9,870) (6,158) (4,281) ( 1,398) (1,380) 1954 Tulare Butte Tehama Fresno Glenn (12,422) (7,161) (4,529) ( 1,612) (1,163) 1959 Tulare Butte Madera Tehama Fresno (26,941) ( 8' 324) (5,007) ( 4, 32 7) (2,123) 1964 Tulare Tehama Butte Madera Glenn (26,810) (6,652) (5,383) (3,266) (2,056) 1969* Tulare Butte Tehama Glenn Kings •* Source gave only relative rankings for 1969--no production figures. Sourcess (1) u.s. Bureau of the Census, Thirteenth Census of the United States, Vol. VI, Agriculture, 1909-1910 (Wash., D.C.a G.P.O., 1912); (2) u.s. Bureau of the Cen sus, Fifteenth Census of the United States& 1 0, Vol. II, Part 3, Agriculture (Wash., D.C.s G.P.O., 1932 ; 3 U.S. Bureau of the Census, Census of Agricul ture, 1954, Vol. I, Part 33, California (Wash., D.C.a G.P.O., 1956); and (4) State of California, California Statistical Abstract, 1970 (Sacramento: State Printing Office, 1970). ...... \j.; 114- 6 . 1969. Tulare County, with 34 per cent of total statewide production, Butte County with 15 per cent, and Tehama Coun ty with 14 per cent are the leading olive-producing centers in California today.? Although olive production ranks ninth in bearing acre age among the many different crops raised in California, 8 the State's production accounts for less than one per cent of the total world productionf9 Uses of Olive Fruit California's commercial olive crop is processed in several different ways, but currently the industry is pri marily based upon the production of canned black-ripe and green-ripe olives, which represents about 75 per cent of the olives harvested (Table 9). No orchards are planted strictly for the production of olive oil at this time because California is still unable to produce oil as cheaply as Mediterranean countries (chie~ ly Spain and Italy). California supplies only about six per cent of the olive oil consumed in the United States. The other important type of olive commercially retail ed in the United States is the Spanish green. These are usually Manzanillo or Sevillano olives that have undergone a fermentation process which produces a sharp, vinegary taste. However, California supplies only about 10 per cent of the Spanish green olives consumed in this country--most of the remaining 90 per cent is imported from Spain. TABLE 9 DISPOSITION OF CALIFORNIA OLIVE CROPS, 1951 TO 1970 Crop .... Sici- § --· -· ---otfier* Year (in tons) Canning Oil Greeks+ lians Green Fresh Uses 1951 42,000 24,900 9,700 -r;4oo 1, 2oo 2,6oo 200 2,000 1952 64,000 33,300 22,400 1,300 1,300 3,300 600 1,800 1953 57,000 24,400 23,400 1,000 900 4,500 900 1,900 1954 28,000 16,900 5,200 900 300 2,100 400 2,200 1955 50,000 29,400 11,500 1,200 1,000 4,400 700 1,800 1956 36,000 26,700 3,900 400 400 2,700 200 1,700 1957 70,000 38,200 17,800 1,400 1,700 7,400 1,200 2,300 1958 37,000 25,900 3,100 700 1,000 3,800 300 2,200 1959 68,000+ 33,800 21,300 900 1,100 6,400 600 1,900 1960 27,000 20,400 2,300 600 400 1,500 200 1,600 1961 66,000 44,300 7, 8oo· 900 1,500 6,400 800 4,300 1962 44,000 26,100 7,800 700 1,000 6,000 700 1,700 1963 52,000 37,700 5,700 500 700 5,000 600 1,800 1964 57,000 39,100 7,500 700 1,700 4,600 600 2,800 1965 54,000 37,500 6,200 800 1,100 4,900 700 2,800 1966 50,000 37,800 3,800 400 1,000 3,100 700 3,200 1967 63,000 45,500 4,800 800 1,100 6,700 600 3,500 1968 14,000 10,230 1,470 140 270 800 200 890 1969 86,000 62,800 4,600 500 1,500 6,500 400 9,700 1970 70,000 51,700 5,200 600 1,500 6,600 400 4,000 * Includes chopped and other processes, and estimated tonnage used on farms where grown. + Includes 2,000 tons not harvested. *A Style of curing olives developed by the Greeks. ~ A style of curing olives developed by the Silcilians. Source& California Olive Association, Statistics Relating to the California Olive Indus- try,_1950-51 to 1969-ZQ (San Francisco& California Olive Associati6n, 1971) p. 22. ~ ~ l....n .1.1.0 Project~~o~_Eg~ure Growth of the Olive Industry Agricultural economists at the University of Californ~ at Davis have projected that in 1980 California olive pro duction will reach 62,000 tons per year and increase to 80,000 tons annually by the year 2000, which is a sizeable increase over the current annual average of roughly 51,000 tons. 1° Further projections of acreage, production and yields per acre for the years 1980 and 2000 appear in Table 10. TABLE 10 PROJECTIONS OF HARVESTED OLIVE ACREAGE IN CALIFORNIA, 1980 AND 2000 Produc- ~-----Acreage Yield per Acre Year tion Bearing Nonbearing Total (in tons) 1970 52,000 tons 27,590 10,J60 37,950 1.11 1980 62,000 tons 34,066 4,681 38,747 1,82 2000 80,000 tons 36,866 5,065 41,931 2,17 Sources G.W. Dean, et a!, "Projections of California Agri culture to 1980 and 2000," Cal~forni_e Agrj_£,ultural Ex:Qe~i.ment Station Bul_l?tin~zTBavis' University of California Press, 1970~pp. 12-13. The projection, then, is for continued growth of the California olive industry up to the year 2000, based upon the production of black- and green-ripe olives. In another vein, the author anticipates that the olive tree will continue to be incorporated into California land scaping themes, thus providing a picturesque cultural link between future patterns of habitation and those of the days 117 of early Spanish California, when olive culture was first· introduced by the Franciscan missionaries. Summar~ Contemporary commercial olive production in California is the outgrowth of 200 years of experimentation and refin~ ment of the harvesting, processing, preservation, and mar keting techniques employed in that industry. Sophistica tion of the canning process in 1910 can be cited as the single-most important technological advancement that con tributed to the ultimate success of the olive industry in the State. After a slow but impressive beginning of olive culture in the Franciscan missions situated among the plains and valleys of California's coastal ranges, the industry worked its way into the present-day production areas of the inland valleys of the State. The San Joaquin and Sacramento val leys presently produce the vast majority of olives commer cially harvested in the State. Olive bearing acreage and yields per acre have in creased in recent years, and it is projected by agricultur al economists that the olive industry will continue to ex• perience economic growth at least until the year 2000. This growth is primarily based upon the production of black- and green-ripe olives, which have proven to be quite popular with consumers throughout the nation since the turn of the twentieth century. 118 FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER 6 1. Interview with Mr. Ralph Fusano on November 30, 1971. It seems that the only reason that olives were harves ted in 1967 was because it was a lean year throughout the state; thus, it became economically feasible to harvest olives whereever they were available, for the reduced supply the following marketing year would com mand an increase in olive prices which would offset the added cost to harvest the fruits. 2. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Statistical Abstract, P• 574. 3. California Department o·f Agriculture, Crop and Live stock Reporting Service, California Fruit & Nut Acre ~ge, Sacramento, annual reportS; 1969-70. 4. Los Angeles Ti~, November 15, 1972; Part III, p. 16. 5. These 19 counties area Alpine, Del Norte, Humboldt, Imperial, Inyo, Lake, Lassen, Marin, Mariposa, Modoc, Mono, Monterey, Nevada, Plumas, San Benito, San Fran cisco, Sierra, Siskiyou, and Trinity (u.s. Bureau of the Census, Census of Agriculture, 1964, Statistics for the State and Counties, California (·Wash., D.C. a G.P.O., 1967)). Del Norte, Humboldt, Imperial, Lake, Marin, Mariposa, Monterey, Nevada, San Benito, Trin ity and Tuolomne County all have olive acreage, but did not contribute to the commercial harvest in 1964. 6. lt should be noted that changes in county boundaries which occurred between 1907 and 1919 tend to skew the county rankings during that time. Butte County, for example, annexed part of Glenn County in 1915. How ever, it is doubtful that these boundary changes would significantly affect the ranking of the top five oliv& producing counties. For further information regarding the boundary changes occurring between 1907 and 1919, consult U.S. Bureau of the Census, Fourteenth_~ens~~ of the__ United State~~~20, Vol. II, Part J, Califor nia {Wash., D.C.a G.P.O., 1922), P• 281. 7• W.E. Johnston and G.W. Dean, "California Crop Trendsa Yields, Acreages, and Production Areas, 11 Califor,~ Agri~~l1~£~1 Experim~nt Station Circular 5~l (Davis• University of California Press, 1969), p. 3· 8. Hudson T. Hartmann and Karl W. Opitz, "Olive Produc tion in California," Califo~~A~:r_~~~ tural Experi rnent_~tation Circular 540 (Davisa University of Cali fornia Press, 1966), p. J. 9· California produces more than 99 per cent of the olives grown in the United States, but the average yield of 56,600 tons produced between 1960 and 1964 accounted for only 0.7 per cent of world production (Ibid., pp. 4-5). 10. G.W. Dean, et al, "Projections of California Agricul ture to 1980 and 2000," California A ricultural Exper iment Station Bulleti~~ Davisa University of Cali fornia Press, 197~p. 12; and Don Roark, "The Cali fornia Olive Industrys Economic Environment, 1969, ·:Giannini Foundation Res~~rcll.Ji~q_rt No. 304 (Davis a University of California Press, 19ir9}, p. JJ. CHAPTER 7 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS The fact that the olive has been cultivated on a com mercial scale in the San Fernando Valley--a region where the olive tree is not indigenous--has provoked an extensive search for the actual path of diffusion of this fruit in an attempt to establish a chronological sequence of events which connect the olive industry in the San Fernando Valley with the place of origin in the eastern Mediterranean. A study of this type proves not only to be interesting, but provides us with a better understanding of the presence of certain vestigal elements in the contemporary cultural landscape. Using a chronological approach, the paper began with a discussion of notable proposals regarding the origin of olive cultivation. Several scholars have theorized that the eastern Mediterranean is the place of origin. Archaeologi cal evidence of olive stones in Palestine dating back to the 4th milennium B.C. and agricultural villages in the Levant dating back to the 7th milennium B.C. serve to reinforce the assumption that olive cultivation originated in the eastern Mediterranean. The author suggests that olive cultivation was carried to the mid-Mediterranean region as a part of the cultural baggage of Neolithic people diffusing out of the Near East ern agricultural hearth. Examination of the literature 120 written by geographers, historians, anthropologists and paleobotanists revealed that olive cultivation was probably diffused both along the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean during the third through. the first millennium B.C., and was finally introduced into the Iberian peninsula by the seafaring Phoenicians in about 1000 B.C. Olive cultivation became a viable and valuable econom ic resource for the inhabitants of Iberia, and in the fif teenth century this agricultural practice was transported to the New World by the agriculturalists who sailed with Columbus. A rather comprehensive perusal of the literature written about plant and animal diffusion in Spanish America gave only disjointed clues as to the actual route of diffu sion for olive cultivation in the New World. Thus, the best evidence of the actual diffusion route from the West Indies into California came through an examination of the many lo cations of Spanish settlements between these two points, along with the chronology of their establishment. This writer observed that, prior to its introduction into Cali fornia, the olive never displayed the same popularity and omnipresence in the New World as was the case throughout the Old World source area. Basically, this can be attributed to a climatic difference between the Mediterranean region and that of Middle America, but, in addition, there is also the fact that cultivation of the olive (and other tree crops for that matter) was of only secondary concern in the struggle for survival in this new land--grain farming and livestock raising received primary attention in the latter years of Spanish expansion through the northern Mexican mainland and Baja California. Although many scholars feel that the olive was intro duced into California in 1769 through the Franciscan mission at San Diego, the author failed to find any substantive data to support the fact that olives were successfully introduced into California prior to 1774, when the San Diego mission was relocated to its present position. The author feels that olive seeds from San Blas were planted at the new mis sion site in 1774, or shortly thereafter. By 1801, the practice of olive cultivation had diffused throughout the chain of Franciscan missions in California, which were established at selected sites among the fertile valleys and alluvial plains along the coastal mountain ranges of the State. One of these coastal valleys--the San Fernando Valley- was chosen by the author as a focus for a detailed case study to determine the impact olive cultivation had on the pattern of sequential habitation in this region. An his torical geographic approach was used to show the importance and distribution of this agricultural activity through time. The Sylmar Grove, locally proclaimed to be the largest olive grove in the world during the period from about 1910 to 1925, was probably, in reality, no larger than some of the contiguous Mediterranean groves. Although the San Fernando Valley supported the large l~) Sylmar Grove and a few allied packing houses to process the fruit, the industry was concentrated in the northeastern sector of the Valley and had only a minor influence upon the total agricultural production of this region. Olive production in. the San Fernando Valley never really approach ed the proportions attained in the inland valleys of the State. 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PERSONAL INTERVIEWS Mr. John Nelson, Assistant Curator, Presidio Museum of Na tural History, San Diego, California, September 2, 197~ Mr. Ralph Fusano, Cristo Fusano & Sons, Inc., November JO, 1971. Mr. Kemper, Agricultural Commissionets Office, San Fernando Valley, February 21, 197.3· Mr. John Griggs, Librarian, The Lloyd Library, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 14, 1974.