The Book

Bob found a book in the library about the history of Harbin Hot Springs. It's called "Harbin Hot Springs, Healing Waters, Sacred Land." It's actually quite interesting.  Miwok Indians once lived on the land. They were hunter/gatherers and basket weavers who lived off deer, small game, fish and acorns. The hot springs was a revered place for them, a communal space where tribes from other areas sometimes traveled to gather at the sacred waters.

The Spanish came, saw and conquered. As usual, they enslaved or killed off the Indians with a combination of religion, hard work, and disease -- or so I gather. I don't know the grisly details because I skipped that chapter. I couldn't bear to read it.

After that, the first Americans arrived. Spanish land grants, avaricious speculators, shady real estate deals and ruthless property acquisitions abounded. The Gold Rush increased the number of settlers. There was a lot of wheeling and dealing, skullduggery and greed. California was a land of squatters and squabblers, impecunious adventurers and wealthy entrepreneurs.  Sometimes the wealthy entrepreneurs became impecunious or vice versa. It was not unusual for the rags-to-riches cycle to repeat several times in one man's life. Then again, a few men became tremendously wealthy and stayed that way. Those were the men that shaped the California that we know today.

Borax was discovered in Lake County and mining it became a major industry. A Welshman named Richard Williams ended up owning Harbin Hot Springs, which he developed into a resort. In time, it became a popular Victorian spa. Several large hotels were built on the property and people came up from San Francisco and Oakland to "take the waters." The mineral waters were supposed to cure rheumatism, dropsy, and all manner of other diseases.

It was a nine hour journey from San Francisco to Harbin so once arrived, a guest or a family of guests tended to stay for the whole season, which lasted from June to September. One drove one's buggy to the San Francisco wharf, took the ferry to Oakland, met the train to Vallejo Junction (now Crockett), took another ferry over the Carquinez Straight to the city of Vallejo, caught the Napa Valley train that traveled through the vineyards to Calistoga and from there traveled in (or on top of) a private stagecoach that climbed the steep narrow road to Harbin. I don't know how elderly people with rheumatism endured the trip. It sounds utterly exhausting.