IMAGES OF AMERICA: LOS GATOS

by Peggy Conaway, Arcadia Publishing

Review by Craig MacDonald

Peggy Conaway, former director of the Los Gatos Public Library, is not only an excellent historian but a wonderful wordsmith. She chooses the right word for the right place : "…disappeared in the mists of time;" "Thank you for your willingness to let me spread my wings;" "In Los Gatos, urbanism meets wilderness, mountain meets plain, foothills extend in every direction;" and "…the sea in the healing fogs coming over the coast."

She, and so many others, absolutely love the quaint, classy & historic town of Los Gatos, snuggled near the Santa Cruz Mountains, west of the largest city in Northern California, San Jose. It was named for Mountain Lions that shared the area with Grizzly Bears and Bobcats.

"It's a blend of nature & civilization," she writes. Before the local creek waters were dammed, "locals could walk to the stream and catch speckled trout (with their hands) for dinner."

The Hume Ranch had the largest prune orchard in the world, more than 350 acres, farmed by Japanese laborers. It was a place where apricot pits brought the Sewall Brown Company as much money per ton as the ripe fruit! The pits were sent to Europe to be used in the manufacturing of almond and apricot paste for cakes, candles and cookies.

Not only was it known for world-class agriculture, wine, poultry & beekeeping but for very inventive people. In 1900, Zephyr Macabee invented a gopher trap that's still used today! Neta Snook was a pioneer pilot, who gave Amelia Earhart her first flying lesson! John Steinbeck created the award-winning, Of Mice & Men and The Grapes of Wrath, while living in the area. In 1898, local women put together the first ladies band in the West.

In 1928, Inventor John Bean manufactured his own sprayers, pumps, engines & washing machines that were sold nationwide. His company would merge with another to form the Food Machinery Corporation, one of the most successful enterprises in the world!

Billy Jones, who worked for Southern Pacific Railroad for over 50 years, built his own "Wildcat Railroad" on his 10-acre orchard near Los Gatos. (I was fortunate enough to ride on it as a kid. So did Walt Disney, who loved the puffing, steam-driven train, and used it in his planning of the Disneyland Railroad! You can still ride Billy's iconic railroad, which was moved to Oak Meadow Park in Los Gatos!)

Local baseball player Frankie Crosetti ended up as one of the greatest New York Yankees ever—15 years as a player and 20 more as Third Base Coach. He got to play with Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio!

Sprinkled through this book are many tremendous photos of Actress Olivia de Havilland, a Los Gatos High School grad, who starred in the epic film, "Gone With the Wind" and President Benjamin Harrison speaking from a train in 1891.

He praised Los Gatos for its flourishing vineyards and orchards. The nation's chief was rewarded with a basket of Los Gatos Oranges. You'll see this rare picture of The Los Gatos Women's Temperance Union marching in pointed hats and carrying birdcages. They not only wanted to ban booze but attain women's suffrage and an 8-hour work week.
Other pictures show the railroad being built from Los Gatos, over the Santa Cruz Mountains, to Santa Cruz, 22 miles away. In 1880, Chinese workers helped build the railroad in extremely difficult and dangerous terrain. It cost many laborer's lives and over $110,000 a mile, the most expensive narrow gauge ever constructed at that time.

The Ming Quong Home of Los Gatos, came to the town from Oakland in 1935. It was an orphanage for needy children of all races. In 1874, it was founded in San Francisco to rescue Chinese slave girls from a life of prostitution. (My mother volunteered for years as a waitress in the Ming Quong Home of Los Gatos' public restaurant, to help raise funds. Today, it has evolved into Uplift Family Services, providing family mental health.)

Readers will see globally-famous Violinist Yehudi Menuhin, who grew up in Los Gatos. There's a pic of nearby Lexington, a whiskey stop for the rugged lumbermen going into the mountains to ply their trade.

As the author so aptly states, "The town continues to cast a spell," and is truly California Gold! Buy this book and definitely visit it, if you can. You'll have memories for a lifetime!