Some San Joaquin County “Firsts” By David Stuart July 24, 2013 As an anthropologist, I’m not accustomed to thinking in terms of “firsts.” But I was asked by the members of the staff at Madden Library at California State University, Fresno to compile a list for San Joaquin County as part of their exhibition on “firsts” in the greater San Joaquin Valley. The task of compiling this list was fun. The results illustrate how significant our County has been in the history of California. Of course, it is far from complete because it is weighted toward areas of our history that I have recently researched. Please send corrections and additions to me at [email protected]. ca. 11000 B.C. or 13,000 years ago First human pioneers entered what is now SJC: ancient Native peoples, probably coming from the south—from the southern San Joaquin Valley and the Tulare Basin—because the Cascades and Sierra Nevada ranges were impassable due to Ice Age glaciers and snow. ca. 5000 B.C. or 7,000 years ago Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta first formed (northwest and west-central SJC): sea level rose about three hundred feet at the end of the Ice Age; water that had been locked up in ice caps and glaciers returned to the sea. ca. 3000 B.C. or 5,000 years ago First major immigration of additional Native peoples into what is now SJC: apparently coming from what is now northwest Nevada. These immigrants developed a unique culture and adaptation to the rivers and Delta in what is now SJC. They spread into the East Bay Area and north to present Sacramento. These were the ancestors of the historic Miwok-speaking Indian peoples. ca. A.D. 1 or 2,000 years ago First major expansion of Miwok-speaking Native peoples from their homeland into what is now SJC: into the areas that are now Marin and Sonoma Counties, and the central Sierra Nevada foothills, including the Yosemite region. ca. A.D. 1000 or 1,000 years ago:

2 Arrival of Yokuts-speaking Native peoples in what is now SJC (south SJC). 1772 First visual observation and description of what is now SJC by Europeans: Spanish Father Juan Crespi and Captain Pedro Fages, looking east from Mount Diablo. 1806 First physical exploration by Europeans of what is now SJC: Spanish led by Father Munoz and Lt. Gabriel Moraga (southern SJC). 1811 First baptism at Mission San Jose of Plains Miwok person from what is now SJC. Most Indians from what is now SJC were taken to by the Spanish to Missions San Jose and Santa Clara between 1820 and 1824. 1813 First armed conflict between Spanish soldiers and Plains Miwok Indians in what is now SJC (north SJC). 1826 First American trappers in what is now California and SJC: led by Jedediah Strong Smith. Camped for winter (southeast SJC) (Nov.). 1827 First non-Indian crossing of the Sierra Nevada range: Jedediah Smith and two other American trappers, crossing near present Ebbetts Pass (May). 1829 First military defeats of Spanish or Mexican forces and first successful use of European-style defensive works by Native freedom fighters in what is now California: led by Native leaders Estanislao and Cipriano. Mexican forces led by Sgt. Jose Antonio Sanchez and by Lt. Mariano G. Vallejo. (On lower Stanislaus River, south SJC.) (Early May and May 30) 1830 First non-Indian community in what is now SJC: “French Camp” (south-central SJC). It was occupied by multi-cultural trappers (and families) from the Hudson’s Bay Company, from Fort Vancouver in Oregon country. The seasonal community

3 of up to four hundred people was called by the Mexicans: Campo de los Franceses (Camp of the French). 1832-33 First major epidemic of European disease throughout the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, including what is now SJC: malaria introduced by the Hudson’s Bay Company trappers from Oregon country. 1839 First EuroAmerican “road” in what is now SJC: the New Helvetia (Sutter’s Fort, now Sacramento) to Mission San Jose “road” or trail (northeast to southwest SJC). Later became known as the “upper Sacramento road.” 1841 First party of American settlers to cross the Sierra Nevada and initiate the California Trail: the Bidwell-Bartleson party. The party traveled on foot down the Stanislaus River through what is now SJC (south SJC). Included was young Charles Weber, founder of Stockton and SJC. (Nov.) 1843 First significant alliance between an Indian leader and a EuroAmerican in what is now SJC: at Sutter’s Fort (now Sacramento), Charles Weber struck up a lasting agreement with Indian leader Jose Jesus. The agreement permitted the EuroAmerican settlement of Rancho del Campo de los Franceses. Jesus and his followers also assisted the Americans in the Bear Flag revolt Petition for first significant Spanish or Mexican land grant in what is now SJC: Charles Weber’s partner in San Jose businesses, William “Guillermo” Gulnac, petitioned the Mexican government for forty-eight thousand acres (central SJC), called Rancho del Campo de los Franceses (French Camp Ranch). Weber was not yet a Mexican citizen and was therefore ineligible. The land was granted to Gulnac on Jan. 13, 1844. Weber purchased it on April 3, 1845. (July 14) First Mexican land grants awarded in what is now SJC: El Pesadero and Paso del Pescadero (southwest SJC) 1844 First American mapping party to California and what is now SJC: led by John Charles Frémont (northeast through central to south SJC). The group first camped in what is now SJC on March 26, 1844. (Mar.)

4 First year-round EuroAmerican residential dwelling in what is now SJC: a tule house by Thomas Lindsay on Rancho del Campo de los Franceses (now downtown Stockton). (Aug.) First family of year-round EuroAmerican settlers in what is now SJC: David, Susan, and daughter America Kelsey (and other child[ren]?) built a tule house on Rancho del Campo de los Franceses (now French Camp, south-central SJC). (Aug.) 1846 First log cabin built in what is now SJC: Dr. C. L. Isbel built a log cabin on his ranch claim north of the Calaveras River, which was later the J.H. Dodge ranch (northcentral SJC). (Nov.) First American or European sailing vessel up the San Joaquin River: the Comet, which sailed to the Mormon agricultural colony of New Hope (south SJC). (Nov.) First Mormon agricultural colony in what is now California and SJC: New Hope (south SJC). It was settled by a portion of the first American emigrants to California to arrive by sea in the first civilian ship to round Cape Horn, the Brooklyn. These settlers, led by Sam Brannan, thought they were establishing the new Mormon Zion in the West, until church leader Brigham Young decided that the Great Salt Lake Valley was “the place.” (Nov.) First significant crop planted in what is now SJC: eighty acres of wheat at New Hope colony (south SJC); three hundred acres had been planted by June 1847. First sawmill in what is now SJC: New Hope colony (south SJC). 1846-1847 First city with an American name in what is now California: Stockton. 1847 First EuroAmerican child born in what is now SJC: William Gann, born to Nicholas and Ruth Gann, at Weber’s Point (now downtown Stockton). (Oct.) First land survey in what is now SJC: Weber commissioned Jasper O’Farrell and Walter Herron to survey and “sectionalize” Stockton and Rancho del Campo de los Franceses (Stockton and south-central SJC). (Fall) First EuroAmerican marriage in what is now SJC: Ned Robinson and Christina Patterson were wed on her ranch claim on Dry Creek (north SJC). (Winter) 1848

5 First ferry on the San Joaquin River: operated by Messrs. Doak and Bonsell (south SJC). First gold mining company in what is now California: Stockton Mining Company, organized by Charles Weber and partners. The company discovered the “southern mines” region of the Sierra Nevada foothills. Weber dissolved the company in September 1848 to focus on commerce in Stockton. (Mar.) First significant gold nugget found in the “southern mines” region: an eighty-ounce nugget recovered by Native miners working for the Stockton Mining Company. Purchased by a San Francisco firm and exhibited by the Bank of England, it confirmed the richness of the California gold fields and started the immigration of gold-seekers from Europe. (July) First wood-frame residence in what is now SJC: built by Charles Weber of imported coastal redwood on Weber’s Point (now downtown Stockton). (Preserved at the SJC Historical Museum.) (Fall) First store in what is now SJC: built by Charles Weber at “Weber’s (often ‘Weaver’s’) Embarcadero,” on the south bank of the channel across from Weber’s Point (now downtown Stockton). (Fall) First regular mail delivery between San Francisco and Stockton: aboard Charles Weber’s small sloop Maria. Weber purchased the sloop on September 20, 1848. (Fall) 1849 First livery and hay stable in what is now SJC: Heath, Emory, and G.G. Dixon (Stockton). (Spring) First formal Protestant church service in what is now SJC: Rev. Damon on the deck of a store-ship (Stockton). The first formal Catholic service also occurred in 1849, although as early as 1848 Catholics had assembled at Charles Weber’s house. (July 1) First steamboat to enter the Stockton Channel: the Merrimac. She was built in Newburyport, Massachusetts, disassembled, and shipped to San Francisco, then reassembled for service. (Aug.) First election in the San Joaquin Valley and what is now SJC: to select delegates to the Territorial Constitutional Convention. (Aug. 16) First regular steamboat service to Stockton: the John A. Sutter began regular service to/from San Francisco. By 1852, there were seven steamers daily from Stockton to San Francisco. (Nov. 15)

6 First significant domestic fire in what is now SJC: destroyed buildings in the center of Stockton, the block bounded by Center, Levee, El Dorado, and Main Streets. (Dec. 23): First iron foundry in what is now SJC: H.C. Shaw Plow Company (Stockton). Followed by Stockton Iron Foundry (1851), Globe Iron Works (1858), Stockton Iron Works (1868), Holt Manufacturing Company (1883), Star Foundry of Matteson and Williamson (1884), and so forth (all in Stockton). First blacksmith and wagon repair shop in what is now SJC: William H. Fairchilds, operated by the Owens brothers (Stockton). First manufacture of farming tools in what is now SJC: Paige and Webster (Stockton). First hotel in what is now SJC: The United States Hotel, first in a tent, later in a wood frame building (Stockton). Second was the Stockton House, later called the St. Charles Hotel, on El Dorado Street (Stockton). First lumber yard in what is now SJC: J. Doak (Stockton), supplied by a small schooner, the San Joaquin, which he built at the Doak and Bonsell Ferry (south SJC). 1850 First counties established in California, including San Joaquin County: the Territorial Legislature divided the territory into counties. The boundary lines of SJC were further explained on April 25, 1851. The U.S. Congress ratified California as a state and San Joaquin County as one of the original counties on September 9, 1850. (Feb. 18) First petition in SJC: regarding abandoned vessels in the Stockton Channel, which had become hazards to navigation and commerce (Stockton). (Feb. 23) First newspaper printed in SJC: Stockton Weekly Times (Stockton). (Mar. 16) First theatrical performance in SJC: a troupe from San Francisco performed at the Stockton House hotel (Stockton). (Mar. 30) First County election in SJC: officers elected were a judge, district attorney, sheriff, clerk, recorder, assessor, treasurer, surveyor, administrator, and a coroner. (Apr. 1) First steamboat up the upper San Joaquin River: the Georgianna (as far upriver as what is now Firebaugh, Fresno County). By 1871, there were regular runs to Watson’s Ferry, 250 miles up the San Joaquin River, near Fresno City. (May 1):

7 First church building dedicated in SJC: Presbyterian Church (Stockton). Catholic, Ebenezer African Methodist, Jewish Synagogue, and others soon followed. (May 5) First charitable fraternal organization in SJC: Masonic Lodge, Woodbridge Lodge No. 131 (north-central SJC). Followed by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Charity Lodge No. 6 (Stockton) in 1852. (May 10) First boatworks (boat building) company established in SJC: William Emerson launched a twelve-ton sloop, the Mary Mason (Stockton). (May 13) First stage line in SJC: by Sheriff R. P. Ashe, from Stockton to Mokelumne Hill. Later in 1850, John Smith started a stage line between Stockton and Sacramento via Staples’ Ferry and the “upper Sacramento road.” A Stockton-Mariposa line was also begun in 1850. (Spring) First city in SJC: Stockton was incorporated (a charter city more than a month before California became a state). (July 23) First regular city election in SJC: Stockton. The first city council meeting took place on Aug. 5, 1850. (Aug. 1) First free public school in SJC: The Academy (Stockton). Two years before the state provided public school funding First grapes planted in SJC: by Charles Weber (Stockton) and W.B. West (northcentral SJC). First brickyard in SJC: J. Doak (Stockton). Soon followed by the White House Brick-yard of Rood and Wallace, and yards by J. C. White and James Tallmadge. 1851 First fire engine unit organized in SJC: Weber Engine Company No. 1 (Stockton). (Jan.) First performance in a dedicated theater building in SJC: El Placer Theater (Stockton). (Feb. 11) First public hospital in SJC: State General and Asylum Hospital (Stockton). (Apr. 30) First legal execution in SJC (Stockton). (May) First Jewish cemetery in continuous use in California and west of the Rocky Mountains: Temple Israel Cemetery (Stockton)

8 First brewery in SJC: Philip Niestrath’s City Brewery (Stockton). Daniel Rothenbush’s El Dorado Brewing Company (Stockton), established in 1853, shipped Valley Brew beer throughout California and Nevada for 102 years. 1852 (Apr.) First telegraph lines in SJC: Stockton to San Francisco. (Spring) First major flour mill in SJC: A. Sperry and S. M. Baldwin (Stockton). First major vineyard in SJC: planted by George West (north-central SJC). First public rural or country school in SJC: Henderson School (north-central SJC). 1853 (July 1) First mental hospital in California and the West: The Insane Asylum of California at Stockton (later, Stockton Development Center), established to serve the many gold seekers who suffered from mental difficulties. First wagon works (wagon and carriage builder) in SJC: William P. Miller (Stockton). After 1869, M. P. Henderson of Stockton built stage coaches used throughout the West, as well as the famed Twenty Mule Team Borax wagons. First levees built for Delta farmland reclamation in SJC: James Crozier and W. L. Wright raised the natural levees of Rough and Ready Island (central SJC). First tannery in SJC: by J.C. Wagner and became the Pacific Tannery (Stockton). 1854 First gang plow: produced by the blacksmith shop of Perry Yaple and Wells Beardsley (Stockton). The Henry C. Shaw Company (Stockton) first commercially produced the Stockton Gang Plow in 1872. First wheat exported from SJC. 1855 First SJC Board of Supervisors: created by an act of the State legislature. The Board of Supervisors first met on May 21, 1855. (Mar. 20) First gas street lighting in SJC: Stockton. First ethnic culture organization in SJC: Stockton Turn-Verein (GermanAmericans); the related German American School Association was formed in 1865.

9 Turn-Verein, and followed on Feb. 18, 1877, by Compagnia Italiana de Bersaliera (Stockton Italian-Americans). (June 16) First county general hospital in SJC: now San Joaquin General Hospital, near French Camp (south-central SJC) since 1892. (Aug. 2) 1857 First coal mine in SJC: the Eureka Coal Mine, Carnegie (southwest SJC) First significant bridge built in SJC: by J.H. Woods, crossing the Mokelumne River at what was then Wood’s Ferry (now Woodbridge, north-central SJC). (July-Aug.) 1858 First winery in SJC: George West’s El Pinal Winery (north-central SJC). First commercial windmill manufacturer in SJC: John S. Davis (Stockton). Forerunner of the Davis Regulating Windmill Company. 1859 First written reference to Stockton as the “city of windmills:” J. M. Hutchings in Scenes in California. 1860 First major alteration of SJC boundary: Stanislaus County successfully lobbied California State Legislature to make the Oakdale-Knight’s Ferry area (about 140 square miles, southeast SJC) part of Stanislaus County. On Apr. 1, 1878, the 9,194-acre Staten Island in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (northwest SJC) was added to SJC. (Feb. 17) First San Joaquin Valley agricultural organization: The San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Society, which included the following counties: San Joaquin, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Stanislaus, Mariposa, Merced, Fresno, and Tulare. An exhibition ground was established near Stockton, at which annual fairs were held. (Mar.) 1862 First steam navigation up the Mokelumne River: to Woodbridge (north-central SJC) by the Fanny Anne. On April 5, 1862, the Pert steamed up to Lockeford (northeast SJC), initiating the Mokelumne River Steam Navigation Company. (Feb. 21) 1864

10 First combined grain harvester patent granted to a citizen of SJC: David J. Marvin (Waterloo, central SJC), for his “Harvester & Thresher.” Manufactured by Matteson and Williamson (Stockton), 1868-78. First natural gas well in SJC: at the site of the courthouse (downtown Stockton). 1867 First local bank formed in SJC: Stockton Savings and Loan Society (now Bank of Stockton). (Aug. 12) 1867 First college in SJC: Morris College in Collegeville (central-southeast SJC). In 1875, Stockton Business College, Telegraph Institute, and Normal School was established (Stockton). In 1879, San Joaquin Valley College was founded in Woodbridge (north-central SJC). First graveled toll roads built in SJC: Stockton-French Camp Road, StocktonCalaveras Road, Cherokee Lane Road, and Waterloo Road (central SJC). 1868 First soap factory in SJC: by E.J. Hamlet (Stockton), became Hamlet, Freeman and Company. 1869 First rail service to Stockton: Western Pacific. (Aug. 11) First completion of Transcontinental Railroad: bridge over the San Joaquin River completed the last link (south SJC). (Sept. 8) 1870 First woolen mill in SJC: the Stockton Woolen Mills (Stockton) 1871 First irrigation company in SJC: the Farmington Water Company, established by Messers Marsh, Wolf, Sperry, and Dunham to survey the feasibility of transporting Stanislaus River water to the Farmington area (east-central SJC). (June) 1873

11 First agricultural cooperative established in SJC: the Farmers’ Co-operative Union (local forerunner to the Grange), built several levee warehouses and had transactions totaling more than $1.5 million in 1878. (Mar. 24) First grange organized in SJC: the Stockton Grange. Others followed in Manteca, Ripon, Tracy, Lockeford, French Camp-Lathrop, Woodbridge, Lodi, and so forth. (Aug. 12) First incorporation of a historical organization in SJC: The San Joaquin Society of California Pioneers (Stockton). The Society was initially organized on Dec. 7, 1868. (Sept. 30) 1874 First horse- or mule-drawn streetcar service in SJC: Stockton. (Mar. 31) First use of alluvial material dredged from riverbed to build reclamation/floodcontrol levees in SJC: L.C. McAfee at Staten Island (northwest SJC). 1875 First assembly of large dipper dredges: the Samson and the Goliath, S.H. Davis Shipyards (Stockton.) 1876 First Catholic girls school in SJC: St. Agnes Academy for girls, which became St. Mary’s High School (Stockton); still operating. First steam navigation up the Stanislaus River: (south SJC) by the Tuolumne and Stanislaus Navigation Company and the stern-wheeler Tuolumne City. First successful use of hydraulic or suction dredge (later called a sand pump): at Union Island near Tracy (southeast SJC); manufactured by California Machine Works of San Francisco. 1877 First student newspaper printed in SJC: Stockton High School (Jan.) 1878 First private business telephone in SJC: connecting the Farmers’ Cooperative office and warehouse on the levee (Stockton). (Mar. 2)

12 First long-distance telephone connections in SJC: Stockton-Peters-OakdaleCopperopolis (central and east-central SJC and northwest Stanislaus County). (Apr. 26) First paper recycling in SJC: Stockton Paper Mills by California Paper Company (Stockton) manufactured newsprint from recycled rags, paper, and straw. 1879 First use of clamshell dredge to build levees: Bouldin Island (central-northwest SJC). 1881 First telephone company in SJC: Stockton Telephone Company (Stockton). (Nov. 1) 1882 First home for neglected and dependent children in SJC: Children’s Home of Stockton (Stockton); still operating 1883 Largest wheat crop in the world: 3,414,920 bushels produced by SJC, after completion of major Delta reclamation (also 1.2 million bushels of barley). 1884 First electric lights in SJC: Stockton Gas Company installed two arc dynamos in the P. A. Buel Planing Mill (Stockton). 1885 First chicory works in SJC: C. A. Bachman and Charles H. W. Brandt’s California Chicory Works in French Camp (south-central SJC) was the largest chicory supplier in the United States through 1911 1888 First paid fire department formed in SJC: Stockton. (Aug.) 1888

13 First tree nursery specializing in stone fruit and nut trees in SJC: Stuart’s Tree Nursery (Oakdale in Stanislaus County and Ripon, south SJC) and French Camp (south-central SJC); still operating. First large irrigation project in SJC: construction of a stone dam on the Mokelumne River (north-central SJC) 1890s First design and manufacture of “Stockton buckets” for clamshell dredges: W. B. Pless (built at Globe Iron Works, Stockton), John Hatch (built at Golden State and Miners Iron Works, San Francisco), and W. E. Tretheway (built at Stockton Iron Works, Stockton) (example exhibited at the SJC Historical Museum). 1891 First successful irrigation cooperative in SJC: the Woodbridge Canal and Irrigation Company (north-central SJC). The Mokelumne Ditch and Irrigation Company, formed in 1875, built a dam, but it was destroyed by floods before becoming active. First sidehill combined grain harvester (able to operate on a slope): Holt Manufacturing Company (Stockton). A landmark recognized by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. (two examples exhibited at the SJC Historical Museum). 1892 First electric streetcar service in SJC: Stockton. (July 15) First patent for a steam traction engine (forerunner to the tractor) in SJC: The Holt Manufacturing Company (Stockton). First commercial crop of asparagus in SJC: by Chinese farmers working in local partnerships on Bouldin Island (central-northwest SJC). 1895 First commercial orchard of cherries planted in SJC: by Italian immigrant farmer near Linden (east-central SJC). 1898 First commercial crop of dry beans in SJC: by Massimeno Pardini on Union Island (near Tracy, southwest SJC). 1902

14 First ethnic farmers “mutual benefit society” in SJC: the Societa Italiana dei Giardinieri (“Italian Gardeners’ Society,” which was the closest translation for “truck farmers”) (Stockton). 1904 First practical field trial of a track-type tractor (later known as the Caterpillar): Holt Manufacturing Company (Stockton). A landmark recognized by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. First successful gasoline engine-powered combined grain harvester (that is, first auxiliary motor-powered combine): Harris Manufacturing Company (Stockton). 1906 First commercial production of steam-powered track-type traction engines (tractors): (forerunner to the Caterpillar), Holt Manufacturing Company (Stockton.) First commercial production of gasoline-powered Caterpillar tractors (such as the Holt 75 Caterpillar Tractor): Holt Manufacturing Company (Stockton). (1919 Holt 75 Caterpillar tractor exhibited at SJC Historical museum.) 1907 First construction of macadamized (hard surface) roads in SJC: funded by SJC highway bond issue. 1909 First commercial orchard of walnuts in SJC: by W.W. Fitzgerald southeast of Lodi (central SJC). 1911 First gas-powered self-propelled combined grain harvester: Caterpillar Harvester by Holt Manufacturing Company (Stockton). 1912 First Sikh religious services and temple in the United States: Stockton. 1914 First San Joaquin County Farm Bureau, second farm bureau in California.

15 1917 First sugar beet processing plants in SJC: Holly Sugar Plant in Tracy (southwest SJC) and Spreckels Sugar Refinery in Manteca (south SJC). 1920 First scheduled airline service in the West: Charles McHenry Pond to/from Oakland-Stockton-Fresno-Bakersfield-Los Angeles. (Apr. 1) 1921 First broadcast radio station in SJC: KWG Radio (Portable Wireless Telegraph Company), (Stockton), second oldest commercial station in California (first was in San Jose). 1922 First earthmoving scraper to be operated by the tractor driver via electric motors: the Mountain Mover, by Robert G. LeTourneau (Stockton). A landmark recognized by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (exhibited at LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas). 1923 College of the Pacific founded in 1919 in Santa Clara (the oldest chartered institution of higher learning in California), moved to Stockton. 1923-27 First large luxury river steamboats built in SJC: boatbuilding dates back to 1850 in Stockton, but in 1923-27 Stockton shipyards built the superstructures of the famed Delta King (currently moored in Sacramento) and Delta Queen (which now cruises the Mississippi River). 1926 First carry-type earthmoving scraper with front apron: patented by Charles E. and Samuel H. Ball of Turlock (Stanislaus County). Commercial production of the Ball Wagon Grader later that year by William J. Adams and Charles E. Ball and the Builders’ Iron Works (Stockton). Patent later licensed to The LeTourneau Company and incorporated in all modern scrapers (1926 Wagon Grader exhibited at SJC Historical Museum). First commercial mechanical almond huller: Lee Miller (Atlanta, south-central SJC).

16 First symphony performance in SJC: Stockton Symphony Orchestra; continuing today—the third oldest, continuously performing orchestra in California, surpassed in longevity only by the San Francisco Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. (May) 1928 First motion picture shot in SJC: Steamboat Round the Bend,starring Will Rogers, using the Captain Weber steamboat and Delta waterways (Stockton and centralwest SJC). First chapters of the Future Farmers Association formed in SJC: Lodi (with prestigious California Chapter number one), Ripon (Chapter 15), and Manteca (Chapter 28). 1929 First earthmoving scraper to be operated by a Power Control Unit and cables: by Robert G. Letourneau (Stockton). The standard approach for decades. (1929 Highboy scraper exhibited at SJC Historical Museum). 1931 First commercial production of diesel-powered Caterpillar tractors, first application of diesel engines in mass-produced, mobile vehicles (not stationary or marine engines): Caterpillar Tractor Company (Stockton). (multiple examples exhibited at SJC Historical Museum). 1933 First inland seaport in California: Port of Stockton. 1934 First commercial production of mechanical walnut hullers: Barton Brothers (Escalon, south SJC). (exhibited at SJC Historical Museum). 1935 First successful tomato cannery in SJC: Tillie Lewis’s Flotill Corporation (Stockton). The Heinz Company built its largest tomato processing plant in Tracy (southwest SJC) in 1946—Heinz had been making its famous tomato ketchup since 1876. There were a number of other tomato canneries in SJC. 1942

17 First cable shaker to harvest walnuts: Robert Paul Barton (Escalon, south SJC). 1946 First successful scheduled airline service to/from SJC: United Airlines to/from Stockton Field (central SJC). (Aug. 1) 1950 First commercial production of pick-up machines for walnuts and almonds: by Ben Goodwin (Manteca, south SJC) 1954 First statewide crop cooperative headquartered in SJC: Diamond Walnut Growers: now Diamond Foods (Stockton). 1956 First mechanized cherry cutter and sizer: the O-G Sizer (Oneto-Gotelli), (central SJC). Revolutionized the processing of cherries worldwide. (exhibited at SJC Historical Museum). 1973 First monument in the United States memorializing the Vietnam War: dedicated by Stockton Junior Women’s Club (Stockton). 1986 First federally-designated American Viticulture Area in SJC: the Lodi appellation (central and north SJC). 2005 First third-party-certified sustainable winegrape growing program: the Lodi Rules for Sustainable Winegrowing (central and north SJC)