California History

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Each Day is Closer to a Rainy Day …

No grass no water

“Each day is one day closer to a rainy day,” exclaims Connie Willems of Grieb Ranch in Arroyo Grande. She continues to be hopeful as we all pray for rain. “Any amount of rain is considered a blessing for this ranch. 2013 -14 were some of the driest years in our local history and the driest in 85 year-old Carl Grieb’s life-time. The state has declared SLO County a natural disaster area due to the horrific drought.”

“The current drought on the Central Coast has made a big impact on my life and family, “ continues Connie, “Last year with no affordable food for the cattle and no grass on the hills we shipped cattle to sell and also shipped a few to Oregon to put on pasture.” The 2015 feed year started out promising as local ranchers got rain before Thanksgiving to green up the hills; then the rains stopped. So once again in 2015, we are experiencing a severe drought.

Connie went on to explain how Grieb Ranch has coped, “This year we again reduced the numbers in our cow herds by selling all the older cows and the open (not pregnant) cows. We also weaned the calves early and put them on permanent pasture in a different area. We have a little feed, but water has been the bigger issue. The stock ponds strategically dispersed over the range to shorten the distances cattle walk to get water are now dry. To help with the drought we found a spring and then developed a delivery system to pipe water up a hill using a 1000 ft of pipe. Now the natural springs are slowing down and it is only April.”

Stock water ponds should be full.
Water troughs are consistently low.

In the article, Drought and Grazing by Royce Larsen, Area Watershed/Natural Resource Adviser through UC Cooperative Extension says, “There is no such thing as an average year, which makes management decisions very difficult. We have to live with wet years and dry years . . . Many refer to the average of an area for making management plans. However, the average rainfall in SLO County is not a very good indicator for planning ranch activities like forage production, cattle numbers and other agricultural crops. . . For more practical purposes, the years that are below the average determine what and how much forage can be produced on the ranch, and number of cattle that can be grazed on a sustainable basis.”

It will be interesting to see if this current drought is worse than the great drought of 1862-1865 that wreaked havoc on the state and the cattle industry. Half of the cattle in the state died as a result of that long drought, and large numbers of cattlemen were forced out of business – forever changing the way the ranching industry did business in California. There are stories of driving cattle over the cliffs into the ocean to save them from suffering. In other years, creative foraging was introduced. We understand that trees were cut down so the cattle could eat the leaves.

Royce Larsen also states, “We have had severe droughts eight times since 1869, or approximately once every 17 years. But none of these have lasted for three years in duration like the 1862-1865 drought did.” Royce goes on to say, “Based on 137 years of rainfall data, we can expect a drought that creates feed shortages about every six years on average.”

The current drought, 2013 -2015, mimics the great 1862-1865 drought. These conditions force modern ranchers to get creative and have permanently impacted California ranching for years to come.

“Since the water year is not yet over there is a small chance we could get more rain,” states Royce.

Cal Poly Rain Data

For more rain data information and for current data check out the following websites:
Dept. of Public Works , City of Paso Robles,
Cal Poly Irrigation Training and Research Center

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Grieb Boys

The Grieb Boys George, Fred, Henry

The Grieb Boys
George, Fred, Henry circa late 1880’s

Grieb Family History – The Start of the American Tree

Konrad and Katharina Grieb had a total of 12 children yet only 9 survived infancy. Five were born in Germany, three died in infancy, and the rest were born in America including two of the three living sons, George and Fred. Henry was born in Germany and was the youngest of the group that came to America after Konrad and Katharina settled in Edna Valley on the Central Coast of California in 1873.

George and Fred stayed in the Arroyo Grande Valley area and purchased part of the existing Grieb Ranch back in 1916 and 1917 for the sum of Ten Dollars, in Gold Coin of the United States of America. The sign over the entrance to Grieb Ranch reads established 1878 as that is the year Fred, who is the Grieb Ranch patriarch was born. Today six generations of Grieb Boys work, live or play at Grieb Ranch.

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A Shoot-out Moves the School, a Lynching and The Pacific Coast Railway in Arroyo Grande, CA. – Grieb Ranch History

Santa Manuela School House - a one-room school house built in 1901 in upper Arroyo Grande. Picture from http://www.arroyograndevillage.org/museums.shtml

Santa Manuela School House – a one-room school house built in 1901 located in upper Arroyo Grande. – now fully-restored and on display in the Village of Arroyo Grande.  Picture from http://www.arroyograndevillage.org/museums.shtml]

School Days

The boys would exit the school house through the windows, or so the story goes, of the very first school house built between San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria in 1867 by Francisco Branch, one of the first landowner in the Arroyo Grande, CA area.

Fred Grieb, father of Carl Grieb attended this school which was the first for the town site of Arroyo Grande. A three acre school site was deeded into the plan for the town of Arroyo Grande when the original 40,000 acres of the Santa Manuela-Arroyo Rancho land grant was divided.

Years later this school site was to be called, “un-safe” after a shoot-out occurred at a stable near the school where the stagecoaches changed horses. The school was then moved to an area which is now the corner of Traffic Way and Fair Oaks Avenue where the Ford dealership is today.

Carl Grieb started 1st grade at this school (where the Ford dealership is) until another elementary school was built off Orchard Street. Orchard school is now the 900 wing of Arroyo Grande High School. He attended Orchard school through 8th grade then went to the first High School, Crown Hill (built in 1906) which is now the current site of Paulding Middle school.

Paulding Middle School today - formerly Crown Hill High School where both Carl and Connie attended.

Paulding Middle School today – formerly Crown Hill High School where both Carl and Connie attended.

Connie went to Orchard for Jr. High for 6-8th grades then attended Crown Hill (now Paulding) for 9th grade. She returned as a teacher at Paulding Middle School and taught many students there from 1983 to 2010.

A Lynching

The railway bridge where two bodies hung from the trellis. Photo from South County Historical Society.

The railway bridge where two bodies hung from the trellis. Photo from South County Historical Society.

It was April Fool’s Day in 1886 and the school-kids were the first to report the event after a group of them ditched school and saw a site they would never forget . . . two bodies hanging from the Pacific Coast Railway bridge that crossed the Arroyo Grande Creek. Fred Grieb was one of these school kids.

The Hoosgow Jail in Arroyo Grande, CA.

The Hoosgow Jail in Arroyo Grande, CA.

In the wee hours of the morning a crowd of vigilantes broke into the Arroyo Grande jail where three people, a father and son plus a nephew, were being held for shooting and killing their neighbor due to a property squabble. The vigilantes hung the victims from the train trellis that crossed the Arroyo Grande creek just south of the old E.C. Loomis feed store off East Branch road in Arroyo Grande. The father and son were the two hanging; the nephew was seen running off with the rope still around his neck!

A marker describing the lynching can be found outside of the old E.C. Loomis Feed Store on East Branch Street in Arroyo Grande.

A marker describing the lynching can be found outside of the old E.C. Loomis Feed Store on East Branch Street in Arroyo Grande.

Pacific Coast Railway

Bck to school, a lynching and trains 2014-08-29 002

The Pacific Coast Narrow-Gauge Railway came through Arroyo Grande through this route.

The sound of the train coming always broke the peaceful quiet of Arroyo Grande as it made its way from Santa Maria to San Luis Obispo, stopping in Arroyo Grande near the E.C. Loomis feed store. The train really opened up the movement of goods up and down the coast increasing the market for animal feed, produce, animal hides and dry goods.

The train came from Santa Maria through Arroyo Grande running parallel to E. Cherry Lane then turning North onto what is now Pacific Coast Railway road continuing on over the Arroyo Grande Creek, across to the E.C. Loomis Feed store and then ran East down behind the neighborhood around Paulding Middle School and North up Corbett Canyon to San Luis Obispo. The train bridge was moved sometime ago due to flooding.

With the arrival of the railroad in October 1881 came the idea of travel for the people of Arroyo Grande. The narrow-gage train made it possible to ride in comfort up to San Luis Obispo. One of the train cars even had red-velvet covered seats and wrought-iron adornments. The people of the town lived by the time-table of the little train until the development of the highway brought its use to a close in 1942.

Pacific Coast Railway Marker found outside the old E.C. Loomis Feed Store on East Branch Street.

Pacific Coast Railway Marker found outside the old E.C. Loomis Feed Store on East Branch Street.

 

Unless otherwise noted, all pictures taken by Sharon Jantzen

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Beginning a Life Anew in the New World 1873: The Life of Konrad and Katharina

 

Konrad and Katharina Grieb originally migrated from Germany to Marysville, California in 1873. They traveled to the New World by ship just the two of them, leaving their 5 children behind in the care of Konrad’s sister and brother in Gumbach, Germany. 1873 was less than 100 years from the founding of America and only 23 years from California being admitted as a State in 1850. The voyage took them around the horn and back up the west coast of South America and then North America.

Konrad and Katharina were not settled in Marysville as the climate was unsatisfactory, the water supply was poor because the rivers were not controlled by dams and levees, and the land was not suitable for farming so Konrad began to investigate other California sites. Konrad corresponded with E.W. Steele a noted Dairyman living in the Edna Valley near San Luis Obispo, CA. Konrad inquired about the farming interests in San Luis Obispo County. Konrad and Katharina moved to Edna Valley and Konrad worked for Mr. Steele on his dairy while investigating farming interests for himself. Baby George was born during their stay with Mr. Steele.

DAC-Pacific-Coast-Steamship-13April1877

Pacific Coast Steamship Company Schedule 1877

steamship late 1800

Pacific Coast Steamship

To get from Marysville to Edna Valley they traveled by steamboat that was part of the Pacific Coast Steamship Company which served ports up and down the west coast. The steamship left San Francisco and landed at Cove Landing which is now known as Pirates Cove.  All passengers and freight traversed down rope ladders to small boats called lighters to get to shore, then cranes were used to unload the cargo up the steep banks. Harford Wharf was built in 1873 by John Harford. The wharf was in Avila Beach and he used horses to off-load and deliver cargo to San Luis Obispo and beyond. In the 1880’s he connected the wharf with a narrow gauge railway to move cargo and passengers.

Once settled on the Steele ranch Konrad left his wife and newborn son to return to Germany to bring back the rest of his family. His spinster sister Helga came to the New World on this trip to take care of the children. They all made it safely, although enduring a long and harrowing journey. The Grieb family lived on the Steele ranch for 2-3 years.

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Grieb Farmhouse: The Humble Beginning

Grieb Farmhouse

Grieb Farmhouse

The history of Grieb Ranch starts with the Grieb Farmhouse which was originally built in 1888 by Konrad and Katharina Grieb, German immigrants who settled the original farmstead in 1872 as part of a Spanish Land Grant of 1100 acres. The original home was a one-room shack with a dirt floor. Eventually, a two-story family home was built in 1888 (as seen in picture above) to handle the Grieb’s nine children. It contained 6 bedrooms upstairs and one downstairs with one outside bathroom.

George Grieb, son of Konrad and Katharina inherited the Grieb Farmhouse in 1925 upon his father’s death. The Farmhouse sat in the middle of walnut and apricot trees along with numerous, stately oak trees that were left standing with farm crops and livestock raised around them. George and brother, Fred, ran the ranch together which included acreage acquired in 1878 in the hills at the base of (now) Lopez Dam where they ran cattle. This acreage became the location of Grieb Ranch. Fred Grieb is the father of Carl Grieb who currently resides at Grieb Ranch.

George kept the Farmhouse property until approximately 1960 when he sold it and the remaining land to a family with 16 children. This family retained the property until the mid 1970’s and subsequently sold it to a building contractor who restored the house with a new foundation and updated the plumbing and electrical. Thankfully the deteriorating house was saved, but unfortunately, the remaining land was subdivided and sold.

In 1997, the Farmhouse was purchased and lovingly updated and remodeled to its current condition by a wonderful couple who had respect for the old house and its family history. In 2002, the Farmhouse was sold to the current owner, a Grieb family member, who reopened the home as a Bed and Breakfast in 2003. After 42 years, the Farmhouse is again in the hands of a Grieb family member. The home is a family treasure to the owner and innkeeper, who is the great-granddaughter of the original home builders. The Grieb Farmhouse still stands in Arroyo Grande, CA, off Todd Lane.