Petaluma’s global community of 1905

Immigration was widely encouraged 111 years ago in Petaluma and the local community was made of immigrants from all over the world.|

The treks across the plains and the great gold rush were mere memories by 1905, as the railroad had joined east and west coasts forever. A smidgen of sophistication was setting in, and Petaluma took pride in it’s community, schools, churches, ranches and shops.

The telephone and steam-driven tractor were just two of the modern miracles to be held in awe in 1905. The automobile was just beginning to be seen here.

Petaluma was a community made of immigrants from all over the world. Unlike the current atmosphere in some circles, immigration was widely encouraged back then. These were hard working people who loved their new country and their community. And, they helped each other, when the need was there.

Some had arrived here with gold from the mines and streams, some had grown wealthy through trade as our town grew. Now and then, a Civil War veteran was still seen, his uniform faded, his step unsteady. That terrible conflict was never to be forgotten.

It was just months before the Great San Francisco Quake changed everything in California. In January of 1905, the momentous world news was from Russia. Tens of thousands of people were shot or sabered down as a great revolution toppled the Czar and the Russian masses were running amok. Little did we know then that these events would affect the world for more than 100 years.

In 1905, there were 80 million residents of the United States. Sixty percent of those lived in small rural towns like Petaluma. These folks’ lives revolved around the seasons for planting and harvesting. The days were filled with milking and feeding, and supper times were a welcome daily break for them.

If a family went on vacation away from Petaluma, it was usually, by steamer down creek to San Francisco for the theater, or to the Russian River or Saint Helena for the mineral baths. The horse was still the primary means of travel, and those trips were averaging about five miles an hour.

Hay rides were popular, as was horseback riding, of course. The woods and fields and creeks provided a splendid escape, as well as providing a living.

In Petaluma, one paid 10 cents for an ice cream soda and in the restaurants, roast beef cost 5 cents, and you paid another 5 cents for mashed potatoes and gravy. Add pie to that for another nickel.

The Petaluma Daily Courier advertised that: “You could save your daughter from monthly pain with Wine of Gardui.” It was, in fact, half alcohol and sold for a dollar a bottle. That was very expensive then, and a lot of daughters went unsaved, as it were.

Another hot selling remedy was Cascarets. “They work on your worms, as you sleep.” I don’t know how good sleep would be with something “working on worms” in your belly. Lots of gurgling going on, perhaps? And also for the ladies, this claim: “Lydia Pinkham’s Compound creates the vitality that makes work easy.” It created a lot of drunk women as well, as it was 80 percent alcohol.

Even though eggs sold for only 12 cents a dozen, and you could buy 100 pounds of salt for 20 cents, many folks wanted to live and work on a ranch. They wanted chickens and cattle of their own to raise and a horse to pull the plow and hitch to the buggy. In Petaluma, you could buy a 200-acre dairy ranch with a good solid house, barns, well and fencing for $11,000.

It was a great year for Northern California. Crops were excellent, the trains ran on time, the steamers still traveled the rivers and bay. Teddy Roosevelt was president, prosperity was afoot and that Russian Revolution was a whole world away. No worries. It was the calm before the storm.

No one could have possibly imagined that just a few months in the future, in April of 1906, a terrible tragedy awaited. The great City by the Bay would be totally destroyed and more than 700 lives lost.

In Marin and Sonoma counties, there was tremendous damage too. There were nearly 100 deaths in Santa Rosa alone. It would take nine years to rebuild San Francisco, five for Santa Rosa and there were hard lessons to be learned along the way about safe construction practices.

And yet, in Petaluma the only damage was, that a few chimneys had fallen. No deaths, no injuries. Was it fate? Could it have been divine power? Or, is our town sitting upon a magic shelf that moves very little?

Whatever the case, our community grew by leaps and bounds in the after-quake period, as families wanted to live where it was deemed to be safe. I guess that idea still has validity today. A quiet, safe place to live and work. That’s our town.

(Historian Skip Sommer is an Honorary Life Member of Heritage Homes and the Petaluma Historical Museum. Contact him at skipsommer@hotmail.com.)

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