Before the LA riots; before the internment of Japanese-Americans and the massacre of Chinese-Americans; before Slavery; before this land was ever conquered by Spain, Mexico, or the U. S.; before the genocide of Native Americans… millennia after the first humans arrived on the scene, overkilling large mammals to extinction… by the river, within the community of Yang-Na, a sapling sprouted. The sycamore would grow to become a 400-year-old local landmark, called, "El Aliso." Here, a French cooper hybridized the mission grapevine with cuttings from Bordeaux, and together with the terroir, cultivated a vineyard which gave birth to California's wine industry. Indigenous villages and immigrant orchards prepared the ground for what followed: a German brewery; a boxing arena; a mule market; an Edison Electric power station; an artist colony; a gym for indoor rock-climbing; the largest railroad passenger terminal in the Western United States… While the Aliso Tree is no longer standing, it continues to stand for Los Angeles, rooted in history.
LE TERROIR: Cultivation and Wine Production in California, by Getty Images and the Library of Congress
-Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, “Bufford’s fruit cards, no. 779-5 [grapes] / Bufford, Print shows two bunches of grapes with the arms, legs, and head of a man (red grapes) and a woman (white grapes); the red grapes are pressed against the white grapes in an embrace, with trees in the background,” by J. H. Bufford’s Sons Lith., copyright claimant, September 29, 1887
-Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, “Prize black Alicante grapes, Print shows a bunch of black grapes hanging from a string,” by L. Prang & Co., Boston, 1897
-Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, “Prize golden Hamburg grapes, Print shows a bunch of golden grapes hanging from a string,” by L. Prang & Co., Boston, 1897
-Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, “Liquer Cordial-Medoc, G. A. Jourde – Bordeaux / L. Cappiello, Poster showing a woman holding a bottle and grapes, against a background of grapes,” by Leonetto Cappiello, Paris : Imprimerie Publicite Etabits, Vercasson, 6. Rue Martel, between 1907 and 1909
-Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs DIvision, “Loading ‘gondola’ R.R. cars to haul grapes to winery to make sacramental and medicinal wines, Guasti, Calif. / photographed, copyrighted and sold by Philip Brigandi,” by Philip Brigandi, 1923
-Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, “Grapes grown in Kern County, California,” by Dorothea Lange, November 1936
-Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, “View of vineyards near Route 46 in the Central Valley of California,” by Carol M. Highsmith, 2012
-Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, “View of Vineyards from Route 46 in the Central Valley of California,” by Carol M. Highsmith, 2012
-Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, “Vineyards in Central California,” by Carol M. Highsmith, 2012
-Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, “Grapes at a California vineyard,” by Carol M. Highsmith, 2012
-Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, “Grapes on vine, California vineyards,” by Carol M. Highsmith, 2012
-Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, “Beautiful scenes along Route 46 in California,” by Carol M. Highsmith, 2012
-Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, “A carload of mammoth navel oranges from California, Postcard showing boy standing on an orchard rail car marked ‘S.P. 79265’ flanked by two larger-than-life size navel oranges,” by Edward H. Mitchell, May 6, 1909
-Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, “I’m sending you a lemon from …, Photomontage on exaggeration postcard shows Southern Pacific Railroad car carrying larger-than-life lemon with printed Chinese or Japanese characters translated as January 1, New Year,” by Edward H. Mitchell, May 6, 1909
-Images courtesy of Getty Images. (top) Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, “A carload of grapes from California, Postcard shows montage of farm workers in a vineyard standing inside a horse-drawn cart as a rail car marked ‘S.P.R.R. 81424’ rolls past carrying a gigantic bunch of grapes,” by Edward H. Mitchell, May 6, 1909
Roger Sherman, also of Connecticut, was known to have given one of the shortest speeches in history at a bridge dedication ceremony when he said, "I think it will hold up all right," while testing the strength of the bridge with one foot.
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Aliso Tree — Los Angeles, rooted in history. 