I summarized this information from a fascinating original manuscript entitled: “Grapes and Wine in California’s Alexander Valley: A History, Including diverse other aspects of the valley’s history dating from 1846” by William F. Heintz, with author’s permission. The information I am focusing on is the family history of Fred and Ruby Wasson, farming pioneers in the Alexander Valley:
Renown wine researcher William F. Heintz tells us that Cyrus Alexander, the valley’s founder, was an “odd combination of trapper, mountaineer and lover of the soil.” Leaving his home in Illinois at the age of 16, Alexander ended up six years later in San Diego where he met Captain Henry Fitch and agreed to oversee the ranch Fitch wanted built on his Sotoyome land grant in northern Sonoma County. The portion of this land that Alexander received for his work came to be called Alexander Valley.
Cyrus Alexander planted the valley’s first grape vines along with fruit tree seeds and sprouts probably obtained from employee Frank Bidwell’s journey to Fort Ross in 1843. By the mid 1860s visitors began coming into the valley to view the enormous geysers, often traveling through the newly formed town of Healdsburg (founded 1857). The Geysers became a much photographed and notable tourist attraction of this time. In the late 1860s the valley was divided into plots for about 20 large landholders and the first commercial enterprise, the Alexander Valley Store, was built in 1869, probably on what is now Highway 128.
By 1873 the valley claimed to have 100,000 grapevines and its inhabitants were beginning to get excited about winemaking. Charles Alexander (Cyrus’ nephew) was particularly prosperous. In 1874 the discovery of mercury (or quicksilver) in the hills put the Pine Flat area of Alexander Valley on the map and the valley prospered further with additional roads and new businesses.
By the mid to late 1870s it had become clear that the valley’s grape production (700 tons per year) merited building local wineries. And it was at this same time that Ruby Osborn Wasson’s parental grandfather, Shadrach L. Osborn, purchased 300 acres of land near Chalk Hill Road where property averaged about $10.35 per acre for undeveloped land. By the early 1880s the local viticulture boom was exploding with a wide range of varietals--mostly Zinfandel, followed by Riesling, Golden Chasselas and Crabb’s Burgundy. Immigrants were now pouring into the area which was continuing to grow in prosperity and population.
Shadrach Osborn, who owned the Soda Rock Ranch, and whose vineyards were contenders for the largest in the valley, began selling his grapes in Calistoga for $20.00 per ton, well over the going price. For a man who had arrived in the United States from England with “only ten cents in his pocket”, Shadrach vied with R.R. Givens for the title of “Squire of Alexander Valley”, and his ranch near the post office and the Soda Rock House (hotel) was at the very center of valley activity. By 1890 Shadrach owned two large farms in the lower end of the valley and was clearly one of the valley’s largest and most influential landowners and promoters. The Healdsburg Enterprise edition of October 24, 1891 read: “Osborn has the finest vineyards in northern Sonoma County.” His farm was Lone Pine Vineyard at Soda Rock and the winery he built was named Lone Pine Cellars.
It is most interesting to note that there seems to be some debate over which of Ruby’s grandfathers was ultimately responsible for the first winery in the valley. The July 31, 1889 Healdsburg Enterprise states that Shadrach was currently building his own large winery, but it appears that the first crush in that cellar did not take place until 1895.
Meanwhile, Horace Chase of Yountville in Napa Valley, sent Broder Frellson (Ruby’s maternal grandfather) in 1892 to supervise the winery that he had just built in the Alexander Valley--Chase’s Winery, also known as Stagg’s Leap Winery or Red Winery “because of the red coat of paint applied to it and all the auxiliary buildings.” Chase was an absentee landlord while Broder was in charge, and the first crush of the Red Winery appears to have been in 1893. So the competition depends on the criteria: who built the first winery structure (Shadrach) or who actually had the first crush (Chase and Broder).
