One of the fabled Channel Islands of Southern California, Santa
Cruz was once the largest privately owned island off the coast of
the continental United States. This multifaceted account traces the
island's history from its aboriginal Chumash population to its
acquisition by The Nature Conservancy at the end of the twentieth
century. The heart of the book, however, is a family saga: the
story of French emigre Justinian Caire and his descendants, who
owned and occupied the island for more than fifty years. The
author, descended from Caire, uses family archives unavailable to
earlier historians to recount the full, previously untold story.
"Justinian Caire and Santa Cruz Island" opens with Caire's early
life as a San Francisco businessman and his acquisition of Santa
Cruz Island, where he created a ranching kingdom based on sheep,
cattle, and wine. Frederic Caire Chiles examines the business
practices of the Justinian Caire and Santa Cruz Island companies,
documenting the island's economic ups and downs and the
environmental impact of ranching in those days. Above all, he looks
at the family's daily life on the island from the mid-nineteenth
into the twentieth century. This epic contains tragic elements, as
well. What began as a profitable ranch and an idyllic retreat ended
in the family divided by bitter litigation and the forced sale of
the island. Family diaries and letters enable Chiles to tell the
story of an intensely private clan and its struggle to hold an
island dynasty together.
The history of Santa Cruz Island has never been told so
thoroughly or so well. Replete with intimate portraits and high
drama, this California story will move readers as it informs
them.
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