Madrone Was Morgan Hill’s Predecessor

City began in 1846 as a 20,000-acre ranch inhabited by
‘vaqueros’ or cowboys and Gold Rush pioneers
Editor’s Note: The following is the 11th installment in a series commemorating Morgan Hill’s 100th anniversary. The Morgan Hill Times is taking a trip back in time to 1906. From now through November, we will feature stories in Tuesday’s paper about the people, places and events instrumental in the founding of the city.

Morgan Hill – Before there was Morgan Hill, there was Madrone. The little agricultural village, now a northern district of the city, preceded the town by more than 50 years.

Madrone began in 1846 when sea captain William Fisher purchased a 20,000-acre Mexican land grant called Rancho Refugio de la Laguna Seca. Fisher hired Mexican vaqueros, or cowboys, to work the cattle on his immense estate. With their families they formed a community of adobe huts along the road to Monterey in the southern region of the ranch, according Beth Wyman’s “The History of Morgan Hill, California, from Indians to Incorporation.”

“The location was probably chosen because of the excellent springs that continue to emerge from the hills just west of present Monterey Highway,” she wrote.

In early 1850s, many Gold Rush pioneers left the rugged Sierras and came to the hospitable Santa Clara Valley where some of them started cattle ranches as well as wheat and fruit farms in the Madrone region. By the mid-1850s, the population had grown enough for several families to start a school. Land owner

J. J. Bowen donated three acres at the intersection of Burnett Avenue and Monterey Road, and on Oct. 10, 1855, Burnett School opened for its first day of class. It was the first school established in the Morgan Hill area.

Three years later, the Butterfield Overland Stage line, the route followed by horse-drawn coaches, began operation between St. Louis, Mo., and San Francisco. This enterprise took passengers through the Central Valley, over Pacheco Pass, and north along Monterey Road starting near what’s now Gilroy.

Because the horses and passengers needed to stop occasionally for rest and refreshment, stage stops sprung up at intervals along the route. One of these stops was located in what’s now Madrone. It was called simply “18 Mile House” to describe its distance from San Jose.

Soon, several other permanent buildings were constructed around the stage stop to service passengers. “The many enterprises that developed included a hotel, a livery stable, a butcher shop, a blacksmith shop, and a wagon shed,” Wyman wrote. “The settlement lay within the Burnett Township, a territory that had been designated by Santa Clara County in 1852.”

In 1867, a post office was established in 18 Mile House, and the little community was named “Sherman” after the famous Civil War general. Two years later, the Southern Pacific Railroad extended its line from San Jose to Gilroy (parallel to Monterey Road), and the little community of Sherman quickly became an important settlement for farmers to ship their cattle, grain and fruit to the rest of the nation. More farmers arrived in the area and planted apricot, orange, fig and prune trees as well as vineyards for table grapes and wine.

The next stage of the community’s evolution involved a mineral spring found several miles to the east in a mountain canyon on land that’s now Henry Coe State Park. “In earlier days, the Indians regarded the springs as ‘medicine water,’ and in 1866 Juan Moreno discovered the springs while on a hunting trip,” Wyman wrote.

The Ohlone Indian man filed for a homestead for the property. In 1874, the springs passed from Moreno’s hand to that of C.S. Adams of Gilroy who visited the springs for a cure. Adams developed the springs into a resort. Visitors often came down by train from San Francisco to partake of the waters and the natural ambiance of the Diablo mountain range.

“Guests were met at the train depot in Madrone by a horse-drawn stage,” wrote Teddy Goodrich in her book “Names on the Land: A History of Henry W. Coe State Park.”

“South of Madrone, the stage and its passengers turned onto Cochrane Road and passed through neatly kept orchards and vineyards,” he wrote.

In 1878, San Franciscans Louis J. Pinard and his wife came for a visit to the springs and, attracted by the rural beauty, moved to the South Valley area. “These newcomers began operating a hotel in the old 18 Mile House,” Wyman said. “They leased land … for $60 a month and for many years Louis J. Pinard served as a hotelier, postmaster, express agent restaurant operator, justice of the peace, railroad agent, and Wells Fargo express clerk.”

Many visitors who stepped off the train at the Sherman depot mistakenly called the community “Madrone” after the mineral springs. To end the confusion, the village officially changed its name to Madrone on March 13, 1882.

The little town continued for many years by serving the needs of the local ranches and farms. When the automobile became a popular means of transportation, the Madrone Springs resort became less of a special destination, and so few visitors got off the train in Madrone.

In 1934, to bring some business to the town, 16 local ranchers put in $100 each to form the Madrone Rodeo Association. This group wanted to put on each year a professional rodeo in the spring time at the J.W. Sheldon ranch along Hale Avenue. “Annual professional rodeos were held each year in May from 1934 to 1941 with professional cowboys coming from all over the country to the little town of Madrone,” Wyman wrote. “It was the event of the year with a queen contest, parade, dance and barbeque.”

After World War II, many veterans moved to Santa Clara Valley. However, the community of Madrone stayed small while the city of Morgan Hill a few miles to the south experienced a small population boom in the post-war years. In 1958, the much larger city of Morgan Hill officially annexed the community of Madrone as a district. Located just north of Cochrane Avenue along Monterey Highway, the area still retains some of the vestiges of its cowboy and farming days.

HISTORY OF MADRONE

Capt. William Fisher bought his Rancho Laguna Seca land at a sheriff’s auction for $6,000 in 1846. The original owner was Juan Alvirez, an official of the pueblo of San Jose who had fallen on hard times.

Madrone is occasionally called “Spanish Town” by old-timers because of the Mexican cowboys who first settled it.

The Morgan Hill area’s first Catholic Church was in Madrone. A tiny structure, the Sacred Heart Mission was built in 1864. Until 1909, it was the only Catholic outpost between San Jose and Gilroy. It was served irregularly by priests from St. Patrick’s Seminary in San Jose.

In the 1880s, the Madrone area had the largest French prune orchard in the world, with 19,000 trees covering 270 acres owned by Joel Ransom. The enterprising farmer started the trend in advertising the valley’s agricultural product across the nation, attaching flying streamers to railroad cars traveling east that proclaimed: “Prunes from the Santa Clara Valley!”

The water from Madrone Springs was made up of soda, iron and magnesia. Locals believes it helped for dyspepsia (indigestion), liver complaints, kidney diseases, and neurological afflictions.

No rodeos were held in Madrone during World War II. After 1945, the Veterans of Foreign Wars held two rodeo events in the community, but they were not successful. That ended the professional cowboy rodeo in Madrone.

THE CENTENNIAL SERIES

This Tuesday, the Morgan Hill Times

continues its centennial coverage taking a

look at the historical events, places and

people that played a major role in the

incorporation of Morgan Hill Nov. 10, 1906.

The series’ schedule:

Tuesday, Aug. 15: Martin Murphy, Sr.

Tuesday, Aug. 22: Mutsun Ohlone Indians

Tuesday, Aug. 29: Daniel Murphy

Tuesday, Sept. 5: Catherine O’Toole

Tuesday, Sept. 12: Charles Kellogg

Tuesday, Sept. 19: Senor Juan Hernandez

Tuesday, Sept. 26: Swedish Royalty

Tuesday, Oct. 3: Sada Sutcliffe Coe

Tuesday, Oct. 10: George A. Edes

Tuesday, Oct.17: Isola Kennedy

Tuesday, Oct.24: Madrone