while on my way to Calistoga today i noticed Mark West Springs Road, Mark West Quarry and Mark West Lodge….who was Mark West?
as it turns out there was indeed a Mark West and this is his story.
in 1834 Governor Figueroa of Mexico visited Sonoma County on a mission to establish a presidio which was to be named Santa Anna y Farias. he selected a site on Mark West Creek that later became the property of Henry Mizer near a well known redwood tree that was still standing in 1877.
this site was to be colonized by a group of Mexicans called the Cosmopolitan Company. the leaders of the Cosmopolitan Company arrived in Sonoma County, disagreed with the head of the government there, and left Sonoma County never to establish the presidio of Santa Anna y Farias.
the Mark West Area is only a small part of what made up Rancho San Miguel acquired by land grants from the Mexican Governor Alvardo in 1840 by William Marcus West. there were 23 land grants confirmed to original owners in Sonoma County. the men to whom land grants were given were Jacob P. Lesse, John Fitch, John Bautista Rogers Cooper, John Wilson, and Mark West. Cooper, Wilson and West were brothers-in-law to General Vallejo.
in 1840 Mark West acquired the Rancho San Miguel land grant which included 6,663 acres between the Mark West and Santa Rosa Creeks. it supposedly was the “richest body of land of the same number of acres in the state. there was not an acre of it that would not produce from seventy-five to one hundred bushels of wheat.”
on the Rancho San Miguel, Mark West built a great adobe hacienda and established a trading post and post office near the beautiful stream which now bears his name. in exchange for the land, Mark West agreed to furnish cattle skins to General Vallejo and cut trees to supply lumber for the Mexican government. unfortunately Mark West was a terrible businessman and so it is sad to note that in 1877 “none of his descendants owned a foot of his splendid estate which (at that time) was worth over half a million dollars.” Mark West did leave something of value behind though – his name. (Mark West lies buried on a stony point, up Mark West Springs Road.)
information courtesy of The Mark West Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Center
photo courtesy of The Sonoma Heritage Collection