Aliso Tree — Los Angeles, rooted in history.
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.
"The California Indians had a drink, the pispibata, which was so strong and deleterious that the padres would not allow them use it. It was made of powdered calcined shells, wild tobacco juice and wild cherries, powdered, shaken and ground, water being added until its consistency was almost a solid. Sometimes maize or fruit of easy fermentation was used. It was a powerful decoction, equal to a mixture of rum, tobacco juice and opium — if one can imagine what that would be."
"Crespi who named the river after 'Our Lady Queen of the Angels,' so beloved of St. Francis, did not see the Pueblo founded. Nor did Rivera, who painted in vivid language the beauties of the valley to soldiers and settlers alike, witness these humble beginnings."
"There were no wine presses and the grapes were placed in huge shallow vats placed near the 'zanja' or water ditch. The Indians were made to bathe their feet in the zanja and then step into the vats where they trod rhythmically up and down in the grapes to press out the juice. The juice was drained off into larger vats where it was left to stand until fermentation. Then it was clarified, aged and bottled or barreled."
Aliso Tree — Los Angeles, rooted in history. 