Guadalupe Island Company
Guadalupe Island Company
In the News~
January 27, 1873 [SDU]: “Incorporation.—Articles of Incorporation of the Guadalupe Island Company, whose principal business is that of agriculture and stock raising, were filed in the office of the Secretary of State Saturday. Capital, $500,000, in shares of $50 each. Directors—Geo. W. Dent, Henry Delafield, Cassius C. Palmer, Wm. M. Landrum and James M. Rodgers. The principal place of business will be in San Francisco.”
February 1, 1873 [Weekly Alta California]: “ Incorporation. The Guadalupe Island Company filed a certificate of incorporation yesterday. The corporation is formed to carry on the business of agriculture and stock raising, and the improvement of the breed of domestic animals. Capital stock, $500,000 in shares of $50 each. Trustees: George N. Dent, Henry Delafield, Cassius O. Palmer, of San Francisco; Wm. M. Landrum, and James M. Rodgers, of Watsonville.”
February 8, 1873 [Pacific Rural Press]: “Guadalupe Island Company. Notice is hereby given to the Stockholders of the Guadalupe Island Company that a special meeting will be held at its office, 306 Pine Street, on February 22nd, 1873, at 3 o'clock P.M., for the purpose of adopting ByLaws. By order of Wm. M. Landrum, President. Arthur Rodgers, Secretary.”
March 20, 1873 [San Diego Union]: “The Angora Goat. The experiment about to be attempted by the Guadalupe Island Company to improve the common goat stock at present on the island by the introduction of pure blooded Angora bucks, has an important bearing upon the wool interests of the Pacific Coast. The men at the head of the enterprise—Messrs. Landrum of Watsonville, Santa Cruz county, and others, have demonstrated beyond question the feasibility of improving the grade of the common goat by judicious crossing with the Angora species, so as to make it like the latter fleece-bearing. The Angora goat which is a native of Asia Minor, takes kindly to the herbage and climate of Southern California. It is only twelve years since the first Angora buck was imported to this State by Mr. William M. Landrum, and yet there are now at least 70,000 graded fleece-bearing goats, besides several hundred pure-blooded. Flocks of Angora goats are to be found in all parts of the State, and stock raisers are paying considerable attention to their program. The efforts made to acclimatize the Angora goat in the Northern States have not been very successful, and the number there at present is very limited. In this State they multiply at the rate of over 100 percent per annum, while the mortality after the first year of all goats under ten years of age does not exceed one percent per annum...”
April 5, 1873 [Pacific Rural Press]: “San Diego Union, March 20: The Angora Goat.— The experiment about to be attempted by the Guadalupe Island Company to improve the common goat stock at present on the island by the introduction of pure blooded Angora bucks, has an important bearing upon the wool interests of the Pacific Coast. The men at the head of the enterprise — Messrs. Landrum of Watsonville, Santa Cruz county, and others, have demonstrated beyond question the feasibility of improving the grade of the common goat by judicious crossing with the Angora species, so as to make it like the latter fleece-bearing. The Angora goat, which is a native of Asia Minor, takes kindly to the herbage and climate of Southern California. The effort made to acclimatize the Angora goat in the Northern States have not been very successful, and the number there at present is limited. In this State they multiply at the rate of over 100 percent per annum, while the mortality after the first year of all goats under ten years of age does not exceed one percent per annum. Guadalupe Island, upon which the experiment of improving the common stock is about to be inaugurated on an extensive scale, is possessed of a climate similar in every respect to that of Asia Minor — the home of the Angora. The island has now 20,000 common goats grazing upon it. Selecting only 5,000 ewes wherewith to enter upon the experiment, it is calculated that at the end of ten years the number of graded ewes will have increased to 75,000, valued at $10 each, or an aggregate of $750,000. The amount to be derived from the sale of wethers and old ewes during that decade is estimated at $643,040. The quantity of wool or mohair to be sheared during that time will sum up to nearly 1,000,000 pounds, valued at about $900,000, being nearly an aggregate revenue, including the value of stock, of $2,300,000. The experiment will be watched with interest.”
April 10, 1873 [Daily Union and American]: “Nothing is truly Californian unless ti is very big. The latest "big thing" is the enterprise of converting Guadalupe Island, lying off the coast of Lower California, into one Angora goat ranch. The island has an area of 166,400 acres, and is the property of an incorporated company. It is mountainous, well-watered, and at present tenanted by an immense flock of wild goats, embracing, it is estimated, 200,000 head, the descendants of some goats placed on the island by the Jesuit Fathers 60 or 70 years ago. Of late years some 32,000 head have been killed for their skins and tallow. It is for the improvement of these goats—to make them fleece-bearing—the the Guadalupe Island Company has been organized. This is proposed to be done by judicious crossing with the fine fleeced Angora goat. The first installment of Angora bucks, 50 in number, has arrived at San Diego, and is perhaps already on the island. Four of these bucks are imported animals, valued at $250 each. The remainder are valued at $100 per head.”
September 27, 1873 [Weekly Alta California]: “The Guadalupe Island Company state, in their prospectus, that the value of the timber on the island, which lies two hundred miles from San Diego, may be estimated from the fact that it is fifty-two hours sail from that place, a point destitute of timber, and the destination extends 600 miles along the line of the proposed railroad.”
November 21, 1873 [Jamestown Journal]: “Harrison Gray Otis writes Forest and Stream. The Guadalupe Island Company was incorporated under the laws of California, Jan. 25th, 1873, and at once commenced active operations by putting on improvements and shipping to the island a band of fine Angora bucks to be used with the native ewes already there in breeding up future generations to a fleece-bearing standard. The number of common goats on the island at the time of its purchase was approximately twenty thousand. (There were some thirty-two thousand slaughtered on the island for their skins and tallow alone during the five years preceding its purchase by its present American owners.) One-half of this twenty thousand being males, are to be slaughtered in order to stop the propagation of this non-fleece-breeding race, while the remaining ten thousand, being females, are not to be killed off, but utilized as breeders by crossing them with pure and high grade Angora bucks. The offspring of the third cross (seven-eights Angora) is a fleece-bearing animal. To these five thousand native ewes (bring only one-half of the entire number now on Guadalupe Island) have already been added more than one thousand pure and high-grade Angora ewes. A large number of Angora bucks have also been sent on since the first shipment last spring. It will thus be seen that this enterprise is organized upon no narrow or unsafe basis. Commencing on such a broad foundation, having a vast range, comprising more than 166,000 acres of rich grazing land, affording ample natural food for at least seventy-five thousand goats, and producing the most prolific, hardy, cheaply-raised and profitable of all fleece-bearing animals. The projectors are not willing to admit that their enterprise is specious in its character, chimerical, visionary, impracticable, or their estimates exaggerated. Finally, the enterprise is no experiment. You say truly "that the Angora goat can be profitably raised in California admits of no doubt." There is no room for doubt on this point, when the manager of El Rancho Guadalupe himself, (Mr. Landrum) has successfully raised them in the State for twelve years past. He being the pioneer Angora breeder on the Pacific Coast, may be presumed to know whereof he affirms in regard to the wonderful prolificness, healthfulness and profitableness of this animal in that latitude and favoring climate. And of his integrity, good judgment and fair mindedness there can be no doubt. I think I have now given you enough facts to show the true state of the case with regard to this goat's paradise in the Pacific.”
November 21, 1873 [Jamestown Journal]: “Harrison Gray Otis writes Forest and Stream. The Guadalupe Island Company was incorporated under the laws of California, Jan. 25th, 1873, and at once commenced active operations by putting on improvements and shipping to the island a band of fine Angora bucks to be used with the native ewes already there in breeding up future generations to a fleece-bearing standard. The number of common goats on the island at the time of its purchase was approximately twenty thousand. (There were some thirty-two thousand slaughtered on the island for their skins and tallow alone during the five years preceding its purchase by its present American owners.) One-half of this twenty thousand being males, are to be slaughtered in order to stop the propagation of this non-fleece-breeding race, while the remaining ten thousand, being females, are not to be killed off, but utilized as breeders by crossing them with pure and high grade Angora bucks. The offspring of the third cross (seven-eights Angora) is a fleece-bearing animal. To these five thousand native ewes (bring only one-half of the entire number now on Guadalupe Island) have already been added more than one thousand pure and high-grade Angora ewes. A large number of Angora bucks have also been sent on since the first shipment last spring. It will thus be seen that this enterprise is organized upon no narrow or unsafe basis. Commencing on such a broad foundation, having a vast range, comprising more than 166,000 acres of rich grazing land, affording ample natural food for at least seventy-five thousand goats, and producing the most prolific, hardy, cheaply-raised and profitable of all fleece-bearing animals. The projectors are not willing to admit that their enterprise is specious in its character, chimerical, visionary, impracticable, or their estimates exaggerated. Finally, the enterprise is no experiment. You say truly "that the Angora goat can be profitably raised in California admits of no doubt." There is no room for doubt on this point, when the manager of El Rancho Guadalupe himself, (Mr. Landrum) has successfully raised them in the State for twelve years past. He being the pioneer Angora breeder on the Pacific Coast, may be presumed to know whereof he affirms in regard to the wonderful prolificness, healthfulness and profitableness of this animal in that latitude and favoring climate. And of his integrity, good judgment and fair mindedness there can be no doubt. I think I have now given you enough facts to show the true state of the case with regard to this goat's paradise in the Pacific.”
February 14, 1874 [Red Bluff Independent]: “...The most extensive enterprise in the way of Angora goat-raising in this country is probably that of the Guadalupe Island Company of California, which owns an entire island in the Pacific southwest of San Diego, comprising some 160,000 acres of grazing land, upon which the 20,000 or more goats subsist and thrive the year round without prepared food or artificial shelter. The leader of this colossal enterprise is William M. Landrum, "the pioneer goat man of the Pacific." they are not a grass-eating animal, and when kept on such in small enclosures soon become unhealthy. They are a browsing animal, and cannot stand being high fed with grain and grass.”
March 13, 1874 [LAH]: “Guadalupe Island. Mr. James M. Rodgers, of the Guadalupe Island Company, sailed for the island yesterday afternoon in the schooner Louisa Harker. He visits the island to make an inspection of affairs there, upon which he will report to the company. As our readers are aware, the object of this corporation is the propagation of the Angora goat. Thousands of wild goats are found upon the island, and it is proposed to cross them with the Angoras, bringing the stock in time to nearly full blood. Guadalupe Island is, however, valuable aside from the main purpose of its owners. The timber shipments thence will one day be important. The island is about 200 miles below San Diego, off the coast of Lower California, in 29 deg. north latitude; it is about thirty-two miles long, and its greatest width is twelve miles. The north end of the island is mountainous, the highest peak rising 3,900 feet above the sea. Considerable forests of sugar pine, cedar, palm and sycamore timber are found in this section. There are many copious springs, and good grass for grazing. Some fine valleys are found on the island, which could be cultivated. The island has two good bays, the largest on the south, being known as Baker's Bay; it is formed by a deep indentation in the shore, protected in front by a long rocky ledge; the entrance from the east, and the largest ships can safely anchor within. On the west Jack's Bay affords 25 fathoms of water 600 yards from the shore. [San Diego Union.]
April 7, 1874 [Daily National Republic]: “From Lower California. The Late Storm on the Pacific—Guadalupe Island, Its Bays, Harbors, Timer and Flocks. A private letter received in this city from Southern California contains the following intelligence: A gentleman who arrived at Watsonville, March 25, from a sea voyage along the coast, reports that the schooner Louisa Harker, on which he was a passenger, encountered a terrific gale off San Diego—"the worst storm that has visited that part of the coast for ten years"—lasting four days. The vessel put into Esparza Bay, Guadalupe Island, (lying two hundred miles southwest of San Diego,) the water in the bay being a smooth eddy, where she lay to for four days to escape the gale and heavy sea, she in the meantime having sprung a leak, her captain was compelled to return to San Diego for repairs. [This must have been the same storm that jeopardized the safety of the steamer Colima, as reported in The Republican's dispatches eight or ten days ago.] Mr Rodgers, the gentleman referred to, reported to the president of the Guadalupe Island Wool Growing [sic] Company (which owns that island) some encouraging facts that more than confirm the company's previous estimate of the value of their landed property for pastoral purposes. He believes the island to be worth double the sum—$300,000—at which it was estimated when purchased in January 1873. He sailed along side the island its full length, twenty-six miles, and could see, even from the deck of the schooner, a luxuriant carpet of living green—the grass growing "thick and beautiful from one end to the other", the land smoother than the hills at the north of the Pajaro Valley, on the main land, and showing better grazing, "more than double as good as reported previously." The company's men, who are permanently stationed on the island, were doing well. They report that they had taken, up to October last, 700 pelts from old goats of the common stock, and would get as many more before the heavy rains stopped operations. Another man, (not connected with the company,) who arrived from Guadalupe, reports that the young Angora goats were "shining white all over the island, the prettiest sight he ever saw." He asserts, after having seen all the Pacific coast islands, the "there is no other island that will compare in any way with Guadalupe. Her harbors are excellent, she has unlimited range for stock, and more timber than any of the other islands." These statements are fully borne out by other disinterested persons who have recently visited the island. Mr. Rodgers reports that he saw from the vessel's deck more grass than the large flocks already there can eat off in many years. He saw and learned enough to satisfy him that the owners of this splendid pastoral domain "have the bed rock for millions of dollars" if they but "push things," (as Grant said to Sheridan at Five Forks,) and utilize to proper advantage the abundant grass that covers the face of the island. This course is to be pursued. Mr. Landrum, the president of the company, who was to leave for the island about April 6, means business. His motto is, "Push things." He will, upon his return in May, bring a full report of the results of the kidding and shearing season.”
January 16, 1875 [Mariposa Gazette]: “The Watsonville Pajaronian, learns that E. R. Marsh, of San Francisco, has recently invested $27,000 in Angora goats; also William Hall, of San Jose, lately purchased a lot at $11,480; and C. S. Abbott, Flint, Baxby & Co., and B. Boswell have bought all the stock of the Guadalupe Island Company, except about 300 shares, and the stock held by Landrum & Rodgers. Those men represent several million dollars, and mean business in goat raising.”
January 28, 1875 [Marysville Daily Appeal]: “C. S. Abbott, Flint, Bixby & Co., and B. Boswell, have purchased most of the stock of the Guadalupe Island Company, and propose going extensively into the business of goat raising.”
January 31, 1875 [Marysville Daily Appeal]: “The schooner San Diego returned to San Diego from Guadalupe Island on Thursday, bringing H. G. Otis, President of the Guadalupe Island Company, who has been exploring that island for the past four or five weeks. He is very enthusiastic over its resources.”
January 8, 1876 [SBWP]: “...I have in my possession several samples of California-grown mohair, ranging from seven to twelve inches in length, according to grade, and of most beautiful luster; and one sample of a buck's fleece, grown by the Guadalupe Island Company of Lower California, which measures the extraordinary length of seventeen inches...”
January 15, 1877 [SBMP]: “One hundred and eighty-two shares of stock—par value—$50 each—in the Guadalupe Island Company of Lower California, are offered for sale at a bargain. No assessments to pay. Apply at the Press office.”
