South Bay Historical Society Bulletin November 2014 Issue No

South Bay Historical Society Bulletin November 2014 Issue No. 6 Henry Piper cuts barley on his Otay Mesa farm at the turn of the century. Otay Mesa clear and the air is sweet. Songbirds flit from The San Diego newspaper wrote in 1899: stalk to stalk of the barley and wheat growing "Much has been written and spoken of the on large tracts of agricultural land. Farm famed Otay mesa of this county, an elevated workers stoop to pick tomatoes, lop off celery plateau some 300 feet above the sea level. Girt tops and pluck lettuce from the rich, black in on every side by the everlasting hills, is a earth. This is the Otay Mesa, where elevated rolling tract that might be easily taken for an points offer a sweeping view from the mesa of Iowa prairie, with remarkable soil, the bright, blue Pacific. In the past few years, remarkable by reason of its marked ability to the area has been catapulted from a haven of retain moisture. Olives, almonds, apricots and tranquil farming ventures into the choicest bit other fruits are raised without irrigation." of real estate in San Diego County. The One hundred years later, the newspaper wrote rapidly developing mesa has been called the another glowing report: "The sky is clean and last, great frontier in San Diego County." 1 MY RECOLLECTIONS ON LIFE ON THE HOMESTEAD ON THE OTAY MESA by Pattie Frazer The Wolfe home on Otay Mesa near Cactus and Airway Road ca. 1940 My grandparents William and Lily Wolfe came to the Otay Mesa from Canada around 1910. At that time it was an overnight buckboard trip to San Diego from Otay Mesa. My mother Ella Ida Wolfe was the first child in the family born in California. There were 8 children in all, 2 boys and 6 girls. The last 4 were born in California. They all attended Alta School, a one-room schoolhouse on the Otay Mesa. In spite of the fact they had no running water and no electricity, everything was quite well organized. The stairs going to the attic were between the two small bedrooms. The attic was unfinished but adequate for additional sleeping space. Not much of anything was up there except two old trucks filled with old books. I spent quite a bit of time pouring through the books. The water was provided by the cistern which collected William and Lily Wolfe 2 The house was two story, and this is the floor plan on the first floor. the water from the eaves troves. I asked what beans were one of the most successful crops. they did when they had a drought condition. Considering it was all dry farming, they were They brought water in to the Alta School in somewhat limited. The soil up there was water wagons and everyone came with their interesting—adobe-like. When it was plowed, barrels to get their supply. There was a lined it remained in big chunks, which helps pit near the house with some sort of chemical conserve on the water. In the grainery where that produced a gas which was piped into the all crops were stored, there were scales, bags, house to provide gas lights in some of the etc. The barn was for the milk cows and their rooms. The cooking was all done on a large hay. The cattle were usually taken out to wood range with water storage, large oven pasture each day. The dogs were trained for and cooking space on top. The prep table for this. There were quite a few chickens to cooking was right by the wood range. At the provide eggs and meat. The house had a wire end of the prep table was a walk in pantry- fence around it. In the summer when it was cooler. hot, they slept outside and the wire fence kept They grew most of their own vegetables— the coyotes out. The outhouse worked and corn, tomatoes, carrots, etc. They did have a there were pots under the beds for night good sized vineyard, mostly Muskcat grapes, visits. Bathing was a community effort. They which they used to make wine in the winery. I had a large galvanized tub. More than one don't know how they justified that since they person used the water. Baths seemed to be in were Seventh Day Adventists and there was age order. I don't remember about washing Prohibition. Their main crops were wheat and clothes but that must have been a real beans. My grandfather did experimental crops production. It wasn't all work. I still for the University of California. Garbanzo remember the 4th of July celebrations at the Community Building (across the road from the 3 The outside in the immediate vicinity was also very well organized. Alta School). What a production—right up trees were still there and they had a well. My there with Christmas! It was an all day and grandfather had used a divining rod and most of the night affair. They had races with selected the place for the well—they did get prizes for all ages, 3-legged races, watermelon water. The second time about 2 years ago, I eating contests, greased pigs, baseball, went back and everything was gone—no trees, dancing and a huge feast. My grandfather sold nothing and even the small canyon that was the homestead at the end of World War II and close by was gone. The Otay Mesa has made a moved into a smaller place with more creature real transition from dry farming, starting in comforts, closer to San Ysidro. Their original the 1850s to today, with all the industrial property was right on the border. I often development in connection with Brown Field wondered who build the house and about the and the Tijuana Airport. acreage of the homestead. I've gone back there Below, photo of Grandmother Lily with her 6 two different times looking for the location. daughters Alice, Nellee, Ella, Lily, Mae, The house burned down and someone knocked Florence and Joanne. down and removed the stone entry walls. The 4 Map of Otay Mesa with numbered locations of historic sites. of historic numbered locations Map of Otay Mesa with 5 Historic Otay Mesa charged McCarthy with illegal smuggling and by 1895 he had lost his ranch and town. The post office by Steve Schoenherr was moved to a different location with the name of The following are descriptions of the historic sites Lemon, but it soon closed. A third border crossing numbered on the map above. and port of entry called Otay Mesa East is planned to 1. A large camp site at end of Otay Mesa Road was a open in 2017 where D. O. McCarthy's General Store Native-American village 7000 years ago, one of 220 had been located in 1890. Route 11 will be a new sites on Otay Mesa that showed widespread human four-lane highway connecting the crossing with SR habitation on the mesa during the Holocene era. 905, following the same route as the old road to Lower Mexico. 2. Wilson McCool was the earliest settler to live on Otay Mesa. He moved from Monterey in the 1870s 5. Christmas eve 1885 for the 10 families living on with his wife Elizabeth and children Alex, Evaline, Otay Mesa was held at the house of Henry Chester. John, George and Eugene. His oldest son, James The location of this house is not known, but it must McCool also came from Monterey with his wife have been near the road that became known as Emma. By 1880 they homesteaded a section of land, Chester Grade, the road down the ridge on the west 640 acres, with a house on the old road to Lower side of Otay Ranch to the Otay Valley, part of today's Mexico. Emma's father, John T. Farley, owned the Heritage Road. section of land on the north side of McCool in 1872, 6. Henry C. Tibbetts was the first owner of what later but did not live there. In 1896 Wilson McCool became the Kuebler Ranch, when he purchased 160 moved to Riverside with his second wife and died acres on the eastern Mesa in 1886. soon after in Los Angeles. James McCool and his brothers continued to live on the mesa. 3. The Wetmore family were early pioneers on the mesa soon after the McCools. George H. Wetmore had been a banker in Iowa but wanted to move west and become a pioneer. In 1885 he bought 640 acres of land that had been homesteaded, probably the Farley tract north of the McCools. Wetmore was a member of the Otay Horticultural Society and experimented with different crops, raising figs and walnuts and planting a wide variety of fruit trees. With his wife Mary Ann he raise 4 sons, Eugene, Charles, Frank, and George. Eugene’s daughter, Clella, married Claude Kuebler in 1910. 4. Daniel O. McCarthy was the third American to settle on the mesa. In 1883 he was operating a horse and cattle ranch on the old road to Lower California and in 1889 formally filed a homestead claim for the 160-acre ranch, having met the qualification of living 7. Alta School was a small one-room schoolhouse on the land for five years. By 1890 McCarthy had established in January 1886. The Alta School District developed the town of Siempreviva on his ranch at for the entire mesa operated until 1967. Lutheran the boundary line with Mexico, with a general store, church services were held there until 1889 when the post office, blacksmith shop, and oval track for horse German Lutherans planned and built their own racing.

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