University of California Berkeley Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley. California William Somers Mailliard THE MAILLIARDS OF CALIFORNIA, A FAMILY CHRONICLE, 1868-1990 Interviews Conducted by Gabrielle Morris in 1991 Copyright 1993 by The Regents of the University of California Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the Vest, and the Nation. Oral history is a modern research technique involving an interviewee and an informed interviewer in spontaneous conversation. The taped record is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The resulting manuscript is typed in final form, indexed, bound with photographs and illustrative materials, and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ************************************ All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and William Somers Mailliard dated February 19, 1991. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the Director of The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the Regional Oral History Office, 486 Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720, and should include identification of the specific passages to be quoted, anticipated use of the passages, and identification of the user. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: William Somers Mailliard, "The Mailliards of California, A Family Chronicle, 1868- 1990," an oral history conducted in 1991 by Gabrielle Morris, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 1993. Copy no. William S. Mailliard, 1974 Cataloging information MAILLIARD, William Sommers (1917-1992) Congressman The Mailliards of California. A Family Chronicle. 1968-1990. 1993, v, 278 PP- Four generations of Mailliard family in northern California: Page, Peterson, Somers, Ward, other relations, later descendants; horse, sheep, and timber ranching in Mendocino and Marin counties; Mailliard & Schmeidell food brokers and successors; Republican politics 1940s-1970s: San Francisco election campaigns, Earl Warren as governor, career as U.S .Representative and ambassador to Organization of American States; comments on numerous civic and cultural organizations including S.F. Academy of Science, Cow Palace, Opera, Police Commission, and Symphony. Includes an interview with Charlotte Mailliard Swig. Interviewed in 1991 by Gabrielle Morris. The Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. TABLE OF CONTENTS- -William Somers Mailliard A NOTE ON THE MAILLIARD FAMILY PAPERS --by William Roberts i INTERVIEW HISTORY- -by Gabrlelle Morris 11 I WASHINGTON, D.C. RECOLLECTIONS 1 Reference Materials Available 1 Fellow Congressman Philip Burton 2 Early District Office 4 II DISTINGUISHED FAMILY CONNECTIONS 5 Mailliard Brothers, the Wards, and the Bonapartes 5 The Page Family; Marriage of Marin and Sonoma Counties 9 Roofing Grace Cathedral in the 1960s; Bishop James Pike 11 The Pages in Chile 13 Ralston Relatives 15 The Wards of Newport, Rhode Island 17 III FROM FRANCE TO AMERICA, 1868 19 Adolph Mailliard Brings His Family to Vallejo 19 With Joseph Bonaparte at Bordentown, New Jersey 22 Adolph 's Gold Mine and Other Ventures 24 Louis Mailliard and Angelique Marguerite Redet 25 The First John Ward Mailliard, 1862-1936 27 Adolph 's San Geronimo Ranch 28 Ongoing East Coast Influences 31 IV FAMILY CIVIC AND BUSINESS INTERESTS 33 Federal/Local Transportation Matters in the 1940s and 1990s 33 Mailliard and Peterson Homes on Belvedere 34 Joseph Mailliard and the Academy of Sciences 35 The Mailliard and Schmeidell Company 37 Association with Mcllhenny's Tabasco 38 V J. WARD MAILLIARD, JR., 1891-1954 40 Lake Tahoe Trips; Belvedere -San Francisco Commute 40 The Cow Palace 42 At Taft School and Yale University 43 Developments in the Family Firm 44 Continued Support for the Academy of Sciences 48 Seventeen Civic Boards: Chamber of Commerce and the 1934 General Strike 51 Harry Bridges 53 Police Commission Problems 55 Childhood Sweetheart Kate Peterson; Family Fondness for Hunting 58 VI EARLY DAYS ON THE MENDOCINO RANCH 61 The Garcia [River] Gun Club 61 Building Log Cabins in the Twenties 62 Increasing the Property; Preserving Redwoods 64 Friends and Relatives Visit 66 Building and Rebuilding 67 Boyhood Pranks 68 VII SOS: SCOURING-PAD SUCCESS STORY 70 VIII KATE PETERSON MAILLIARD'S FOREBEARS 74 Coining from Denmark; From Friis to Peterson 74 The Red Salmon Canning Company 75 The Somers Family 79 Visits with the Elder Generation; Travels with the Wards 82 Vomen of Distinction: Louise Tharp, Julia Ward Howe and Maud Howe Elliott 84 South Park Section of San Francisco; 1906 Earthquake Stories 90 Family Insurance and Grocery Businesses 92 IX LIFE WITH KATE AND WARD MAILLIARD 93 Youth and Marriage in Belvedere 93 Kate's Poetry 96 Young Jack, Bill, and Jim; Public and Private Schools 96 Brothers at Yale, 1937-1941; Social Life; ROTC 98 Sheep Ranching in Mendocino 103 Ornbaum Springs and Spa; Kate's Sheepdogs 107 X IMPACT OF WORLD WAR II, 1940-1946 113 Letters from Home 113 Childhood Illnesses and Games 115 Brothers' Reunion in the Philippines, 1944 117 North China and Manchuria Skirmishes and Negotiations 120 Growing Up Fast in the Service; Visiting the Great Wall of China 125 XI FATHER AND SON'S INTEREST IN POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT 129 Remembering Governor Earl Warren 129 California Republicans in the 1940s; Bipartisan Congressional Efforts 131 Considering Appointments to Office 133 XII BILL MAILLIARD AS AMBASSADOR TO THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES, 1974-1976 140 Appointment Strategies 140 Foreign Relations Study Committee 142 Observations of Richard Nixon 144 Politics of Interamerican Relations 145 Governmental Structure 148 Free Trade, Panama Canal Considerations 150 Co- sponsor of the Peace Corps 153 XIII FAMILY STORIES AND SPECIAL EVENTS 155 Christmases and Weddings 155 Life at the Ranch 157 Learning to Hunt, Training Piglets, Tall Tales 160 Horses, Mules, and County Fairs 164 Ranch Camps Expand 167 Cowboy Jack; World's Fair Visits 170 Jack Hailliard Meets Charlotte Smith; Jack Shelley Runs for Mayor, 1964 173 Marlon-Leigh [Aunt Bayj's Scrapbook, 1962 178 Mendocino Landscape 180 XIV SAN FRANCISCO CAMPAIGNS AND ISSUES 187 Ward Mailliard's Love for the City 187 Running for Congress in the Fifties; Governor Varren's Health Insurance Proposals 188 Republican Finance Committee Then and Now 191 Election Nuts and Bolts; Mother's Interest 194 More on the 1964 Mayoral Race; Leading Democrats 195 Jack Mailliard in Politics; Bill Knowland's Ambitions 197 Conservation Concerns; Selective Logging 199 Jim Mailliard on the Board of Supervisors 202 XV CHANGING TIMES 204 The Mailliard Foundation 204 Republican Leadership in the 1960s 205 Opposing Extremism 208 Warren's Eightieth Birthday 209 Pierre Salinger, George Murphy, and the 1964 Senate Election 210 Origins of the Guardsmen 212 New Voices in Politics 213 Mailliards in the 1990s 214 XVI AN INTERVIEW WITH CHARLOTTE MAILLIARD 218 Jack Mailliard Continues Family Civic Responsibilities, 1965-1986 218 Changes at the Ranch 221 Police Commission Issues 222 Getting Along with the Burtons 223 Trail Rides and Practical Jokes 224 Getting to Know Kate Mailliard 226 The Next Generations; Future of the Ranch 229 Mendocino Neighbors; Family Gatherings 232 Creating Gala Civic Benefits; Guarantors and Media Support 234 Mailliard & Schmeidell Becomes Bromar 238 The Blyth-Zellerbach Committee, the Swigs, Later San Francisco Leadership 239 Volunteer Potential; San Francisco General Hospital Board and Chief of Protocol 242 Post Script 245 TAPE GUIDE 246 APPENDICES 247 A. "Adolph Mailliard," dictation made for Hubert Howe Bancroft, n.d. 248 B. "Mailliard," by Louise Marguerite Mailliard, n.d. 250 C. Letter from Meta McAllister to Lizzie Page Mailliard, December 5, 1937. 251 D. "Family History: the Page Family," Manuela Page Hellman to Elizabeth Skewes-Cox, January 1940. 252 E. Genealogy of John Vard Mailliard, n.d. 256 F. John Ward Mailliard-Lizzie Page family tree, prepared by Marion- Leigh Mailliard Baldwin Moore, ca. 1946. 257 G. "U.S. Woman Sheep-Breeder Here to Meet Merino Men," New Zealand Express, circa 1960. 258 H. "Kate Mailliard of Ornbaum Valley," Mendocino Robin, April 1966. 259 I. "How Tex Rounds up the Bucks," Blake Green, San Francisco Chronicle, May 15, 1987. 264 J. Excerpt from Fairhills, 125 Years of Marin Life, Michel G. 1990. 266 Rousselin, F.P.O.A., San Rafael , California, K. "Swig Cleaning Up this Dirty Old Town," Jerry Carroll, San Francisco Chronicle, February 17, 1992. 271 INDEX 272 A NOTE ON THE MAILLIARD FAMILY PAPERS- -by William Roberts For more