Weather, especially rainfall, has been an important observation in the history of the United States. In fact, by 1849 the Smithsonian Institution supplied weather instruments to telegraph companies and helped to establish an extensive observation network. By the end of 1849, 150 volunteers throughout the United States were reporting weather observations to the Smithsonian regularly. In 1869, weather data was collected by the telegraph service in Cincinnati, Ohio and they produced weather charts.
A Joint Congressional Resolution requiring the Secretary of War “to provide for taking meteorological observations at the military stations…” was introduced and Congress passed the resolution on February 9, 1870. President Ulysses S. Grant signed it into law and the newly created weather service was born within the U.S. Army Signal Service’s Division of Telegrams and Reports for the Benefit of Commerce.
October 1, 1890, the weather service was identified by Congress as a civilian agency and at the request of President Benjamin Harrison passed an Act that transferred the meteorological duties to a newly created U.S. Weather Bureau in the Department of Agriculture.
By 1910, the Weather Bureau began issuing generalized weekly forecasts for agricultural planning; its River and Flood Division began assessment of water available each season for irrigating the West. In 1920, Meteorologists formed a professional organization, the American Meteorological Society, which is still active today.
Recently, reviewing some of the Wine History Project’s archival records, a table was discovered which has records of precipitation at Musik, California. This information was recorded by Madge Craighill Ditmas at the Hasbrouck Ranch known as St. Remy. The U.S. Engineer Corps also recorded this information. Musik was an area within southern San Luis Obispo County and the Arroyo Grande Valley. Musik had its own post office and A.B. Hasbrouck was the Postmaster. This was true also of the Adelaida area in the north part of San Luis Obispo County.
Originally the Steele Brothers sent Hasbrouck to the area to be a majordomo for their cattle at the Ranchita Arroyo Grande in 1869. By 1873, A.B. convinced the brothers to lease him the acreage for 10 years where he then built his own dairy and ranch. The historic area was originally established by Lanson Trigg Musick. After 1983, Hasbrouck worked at consolidating the holdings of his neighbors McLeod, Meacham, and Ransome families to form what he then named the St. Remy Ranch.
St. Remy refers to a historic ranch in the upper Arroyo Grande Valley which was established by Lanson Trigg Musick and later expanded by Abram Bruyn (A.B.) Hasbrouck. Hasbrouck eventually consolidated the holdings of his neighbors McLeod, Meacham, and Ransome families to form the St. Remy Ranch.
A Wine History Project of San Luis Obispo County Archival Record from St. Remy Ranch – Records originally provided by U.S. Engineer Corps and Madge C. Ditmas
Rainfall and the Importance of Keeping Records
Much information is provided in this one-page table including thirty-seven years of data regarding precipitation recorded in inches by month from January through December of each year, the precipitation amount of each season ending on June 30th of each year, the elevation of the recorded precipitation (750 feet), and the location at which these measurements were recorded (6 miles above Lopez Lake).
Charles Howard Shinn (1852-1924) a horticulturalist, author, inspector of California Experiment Stations, and forest ranger in California wrote an article for Sunset Magazine’s September 1901 edition entitled “A Study of San Luis Obispo County California” where he explains the importance of precipitation by stating “the most impressive fact that one learns in journeying over San Luis Obispo County is the pre-eminent importance of its mountains and of its water supplies”. He continues by stating, “Rainfall is the one serious problem of all regions in the semi-arid states. The average rainfall of this region is excellent, and the extremes are within safe limits.” Shinn goes on to say, “An average rainfall of twenty-one inches at the city of San Luis Obispo, ranging up and down in thirty years from forty-two inches in the wet year of 1883-4 to less than eight inches in the dry year of 1897-8. Is a significant official record”. Finally, he concludes with his description of San Luis Obispo as, “It is a land of gardens, vineyards, palm trees, mingled shade and sun”.
Another family who lived in the North Arroyo Grande Valley at the same time were the Ditmas family. They had purchased land in the 1860s and established a ranch. They also planted the first vineyard in the area by planting Zinfandel grapes where it was believed they received from Pierre Dalidet. Henry and Rosa Ditmas had a son Cecil Henry. Henry and Rosa Ditmas divorced in the 1880s and Rosa Ditmas eventually married Abram Bruyn Hasbrouck with Rosa’s son Cecil. Rosa and A.B. built a beautiful home and created a successful ranch. Cecil continued to live on that ranch even after he married Madge Craighill of Pozo Valley in April 1903. The couple lived at what was now known as St. Remy Ranch where Madge came to live as a young bride with her husband.
Madge assisted her step-father-in-law in keeping records of the ranch and when he learned of her interest in the past he shared his old day-by-day diaries with her. From these she became a writer of many articles of history for the local area’s paper. In 1983, the South County Historical Society published Madge’s old newspaper files (Herald Recorder) and articles into a book still cherished entitled, According to Madge: Early Times in South San Luis Obispo County and the Arroyo Grande Valley.
Madge Craighill Ditmas – Photo found, “According to Madge” book
In this book, Madge Ditmas’ article for the newspaper from 1929 appears “Brush Clearing Necessary”. In this article it mentions information which Mrs. Ditmas has obtained and analyzed from her table on Precipitation. Madge states, “Rainfall in California according to records appeared to be in cycles. 1883-1893 were years of plenty of rain. 1883-84 had 42.40 inches and 1889-90 had 33.93 inches. 1913 was a dry year with only 8.52 inches of rain where between 1901 and 1913 there was plenty of rain. Since 1914 the rainfall has been like that of the early 90’s”.
The “New” Ranchos Explained
Rancho Saucelito
Henry Ditmas came to California in 1872. He married Rosa C. Reaves (1850-1927) of England in 1874. They returned to California by way of Panama for their honeymoon. They had a son who they named Cecil Henry Ditmas (1875-1942) who was born November 7, 1875. In 1878, Henry Ditmas filed a claim for 560 acres adjoining Ranchita Arroyo Grande, which was then owned by the Steele Brothers. He names the land Rancho Saucelito. Henry planted a Zinfandel grape vineyard. The marriage fails and he divorces Rosa in 1886.
St. Remy
Abram Bruyn (A.B.) Hasbrouck (1845-1915) worked for the Steele Brothers who had offered him a job in their dairy business in 1866 as a vaquero. In 1869, A.B. convinced the Steele Brothers to work as a majordomo at the Ranchita Arroyo Grande. In 1873, Hasbrouck convinced the Steeles to lease him this land for 10 years. He raised cattle and developed his dairy and cheese business. A.B. buys the land from the Steeles along with neighbor’s lands and renames it St. Remy in 1883. Hasbrouck plants a 30-acre vineyard, builds a winery in 1885, and marries Rosa Ditmas in 1887.
Late 1700s – Early 1800s: Lands Of Arroyo Grande Valley And Southern San Luis Obispo County
Land grants were large settlements of land, primarily during the Spanish and Mexican periods (1784-1846) which were given to individuals for various purposes like ranching and farming. They were known as ranchos and played a significant role in shaping the economy, social structure, and landscape of California. These ranchos vary in size, but some were quite large encompassing thousands of acres.
There are historic hand-drawn maps, also known as diseños, that exist from the early days. Diseños are very interesting to see but because the collection of these are protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) they cannot be displayed here. The entire collection of California diseños can be found online at https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/hb8489p15p&brand=oac/ The records of the land claim cases, along with the maps were transferred to the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley in 1951 when the U.S. District Court, San Francisco ordered this to occur.
However, the Wine History Project of San Luis Obispo County has created a Rancho Land Grants map which illustrates the number of Ranchos that were at one time recognized in the county. The four Ranchos with asterisks are important to this discussion. They include: 1) Rancho Corral de Piedra; 2) Rancho Pismo; 3) Rancho Bolsa de Chemisal; and 4) Arroyo Grande Rancho. Visiting the County of San Luis Obispo website at https://www.slocounty.ca.gov/departments/public-works/forms-documents/maps-(county-surveyor)/rancho-maps will also provide a list of Rancho maps.
Land was granted to Francisco Quihada by the Mexican government on May 11, 1837. Quihada and his heirs, sold their grant known as Rancho Bolsa de Chemisal containing 14,335 acres to Lewis F. Burton. Burton sold the rancho to F.Z. Branch in the early 1840’s.
The Pismo Ranch, which was 8,838 acres, was granted to Jose Ortega on November 18, 1840. Ortega sold it to Isaac Sparks who then sold half to John M. Price and half to David P. Mallagh. Mallagh later sold this land to F.Z. Branch
Arroyo Grande township was established in 1862 by the Board of Supervisors of San Luis Obispo County, and it contained over 300 square miles of territory and over 1,000 inhabitants. During the “dry” years there was little to no rainfall, during a drought of 1862, 1863, and 1864 and F.Z. Branch lost thousands of head of cattle. George and Edgar Steele bought Corral de Piedra on December 12, 1866, from Jose Maria Villavicencio (family known as the Villas).
On April 18, 1868, F.Z. Branch also sold Bolsa de Chemisal Rancho, the Ranchita Arroyo Grande, and part of the Pismo Rancho to the Steele Brothers, friends of Mr. Branch, from the East Coast in earlier times. The Steele Brothers were known nationwide for their dairy business. They pioneered one of the first large-scale commercial cheese and dairy businesses in California. Isaac, George, and Edgar Willis (E.W.), along with their cousin Rensselaer became prominent figures in the history of San Mateo, Santa Cruz and San Luis Obispo Counties.
The above photo (with explanation) was discovered in an article “We Look Forward”, page 14 published on Wednesday, September 28, 1983, by the Five Cities Times-Press-Recorder, Arroyo Grande, California which explains the relationship of Madge C. Ditmas to the St. Remy property. As you can see in the description, Madge Ditmas was appointed Post Master by the Governor of California after the death of her step-father-in-law A.B. Hasbrouck.
Sources:
WHP Article by Libbie Agran dated December 12, 2023 Abram Bruyn Hasbrouck (1845-1915)
WHP Article by Libbie Agran dated January 27, 2024 Henry Ditmas (1845-1892)
The Cheese Stands Alone A.B. Habrouck’s diary WHP Article by Libbie Agran
Wine History By Decade: 1880s July 10, 2019
“Times Past: Cheesemaker’s Make Home Here” by Dan Krieger August 20, 2012 The Tribune
UCR California Digital Newspaper Collections at cdnc.ucr.edu
San Luis Obispo County’s website SanLuisObispo.gov where a list of the county rancho maps can be found
“A Study of San Luis Obispo County California” by Charles Howard Shinn
According to Madge: Early Times in South San Luis Obispo County and the Arroyo Grande Valley, published by the South County Historical Society, Arroyo Grande, California, 1983.
From the Wine History Project of San Luis Obispo County’s Archives:
Precipitation at Musick: a table of rainfall between 1883 and 1919
“We Look Forward”, p. 14, Five Cities Times-Press-Recorder Arroyo Grande, CA September 28, 1983
Rancho Land Grants San Luis Obispo County California Map created by Wine History Project of San Luis Obispo County, Aimee Avant
