Stevenson, a Scotsman, traveled to California in 1879 and spent the spring of 1880 living in the immediate area of St. Helena. The author's curiosity regarding the way people lived in this area, which he found to be as rugged and rural as any imagination of the American West could conjure up, yielded The Silverado Squatters.
These short vignettes provide us glimpses into Napa Valley before it developed into the wine center of the United States. Despite the early date, the beginnings of the wine industry in this area are evident in Stevenson's visit to producers such as Mr. Schrams.
The author captures the collision of settlement and nature in this area marked by varied agriculture, diverse immigrants, and wild stretches of land.
--Brent W.
“From its summit you have an excellent lesson of geography: seeing, to the south, San Francisco Bay, with Tamalpais on the one hand and Mounte Diablo on the other; to the west and thirty miles away, the open ocean; eastward, across the cornlands and thick tule swamps of Sacramento Valley, to where the Central Pacific Railroad begins to climb the sides of the Sierras; and northward, from what I know, the white head of Shasta looking down on Oregon.”
ReplyDeleteTo me this quote represents the reading in that the work discusses the areas of Napa, and the likes as they were before they were turned in the areas with the reputation they hold today. The quote actually continues on more but it was getting a bit long. To me this quote represents how untouched and still silent the area is, appreciating it more for its geographical features rather than its reputation as a wine production area. I believe that this quote really captures that feeling of innocence and calm so to speak. In terms of the entire reading I really like the description with which Robert Lewis Stevenson writes but also with his description does not sacrifice clarity of detail. It’s hard to agree or disagree with the author when I didn’t actually investigate his claims in the slightest and as I am not an authority on early Napa and the surrounding areas I am somewhat forced to simply trust the writer. The coolest part of the entire reading and I guess you could say the most provoking as well I believe was the first part where he describes what he sees as he stands on top of the mountain and looks down. I didn’t realize it at first but this was the segment used in class to depict the areas on google maps. It’s very interesting to be able to read something written by someone about some place with almost a poetic elegance in writing but at the same time have it used practically by actually having it be geographically correct.
Jameson F
"A Californian vineyard, one of man's outposts in the wilderness, has features of its own. There is nothing here to remind you of the Rhine or Rhone, of the low cote d'or or the infamous and scabby deserts of Champagne; but all is green, solitary, covert." (Stevenson, Robert Louis., 25)
ReplyDeleteThroughtout this reading Stevenson talks about the changes in California landscape and agriculture. He starts off long ago and goes through the different valleys and regions discussing the history behind the place. He even tells us how Calistoga got its name by the man who found it at a dinner party. He talks about the country side and how beautiful it was to him and also the wine regions and how the climate and fog plays a major roll in the system. He makes you want to go visit California because of the way that he describes the views.
- Brittany M.
“ Napa Valley has been long a seat of the wine-growing industry. It did not here begin, as it does too often, in the low valley lands along the river, but took at once to the rough foot-hills, where alone it can expect to prosper. A basking inclination, and stones, to be reservoir of the day’s heat, seem necessary to the soil for wine; the grossness of the earth must be evaporated, its marrow daily melted and refined for ages; until at length these clods that break below our footing, and to the eye appear but common earth, are truly and to the perceiving mind, a masterpiece or nature.” (Stevenson 136)
ReplyDeleteThis quote represents not only the readings but the topics which we have been studying in class for the last couple weeks. Stevenson colorfully describes the terroir of Napa Valley at the time of his visit and in doing so describes the essence of California as well. He talks of how the soil, the rocks, the moisture of the land and the air and how all these factors come together in nature and are now being harnessed to produce the beginnings of the California wine industry. He also is describing how the average person who came to California would be looking at the hot springs or the shipping industry or the new towns but the people who knew what they were looking at understood that the soil was perfect for producing great wines. The most interesting part about the reading I found was learning that Californian wines were, at first, not sold on the American wine market. I would think that the Europeans would have either scoffed at Californian wines or would have simply found them to be crude replicas of their wines at best. It seems more reasonable that Americans, even though the public had probably not developed very much of a taste for wine at the time, would drink American wine simply because it might have been cheaper.
Philip R.
"It is no place of pilgrimage for the summary globe-trotter; but to one who lives upon its sides, Mount Saint Helena soon becomes a centre of interest."
ReplyDeleteThe Silverado Squatters, Robert Louis Stevenson, 130
Stevenson is saying in this quote that Mount Saint Helena is a place of peace and a place that is not highly liked, in the sence of going for a vacation. This place that he travels to is a place that people want to live their lives in peace and quiet with a beautiful landscape to look at while they are living their life out. People that live there for a long time become the centre of interest because they are looked at like, wow your incredible for being able to live there. The landscape from the side of the mountain is a beatiful one, Stevenson States, because of its view of the Pacific Ocean to the west, the San Francisco Bay to the south, the Sacremnto Valley to the east, and Oregon to the north. This view is worth a million dollars because you are able to see so many different things by looking around at the top of Mount Saint Helena.
Alex C.