California (American History)

The Sutro Tunnel Company, 1866-1878

by Chip Schroeder

The story of the Sutro Tunnel Company is one that weaves together social, economic, and political forces in the... more The story of the Sutro Tunnel Company is one that weaves together social, economic, and political forces in the Western United States in the 1860s and 1870s. Beginning in 1865, Adolph Sutro began soliciting investment in a tunnel that would drain and ventilate mines along the Comstock Lode in Nevada. In the thirteen years from 1865 to 1878, Sutro journeyed from Nevada to San Francisco to Washington DC to Europe in search of political and financial support. As the project’s feasibility and potential profitability became clear in 1866, the Bank of California tried to obstruct Sutro’s plan, which sparked a great rhetorical battle with the Sutro Tunnel Company. The debate highlights a pervasive suspicion of fraudulent business plans, profiteering and monopoly. Sutro attempted to accuse the Bank of California of monopolization of the Comstock mining industry, and portray himself as the victim of their avarice. While the Bank of California was unscrupulous in their opposition to the Sutro tunnel, Sutro was not the honest and reliable CEO that he tried to hard to portray himself as for thirteen years. Sutro’s stock liquidation in the Sutro Tunnel Company soon after the tunnel’s completion proved him to be a profiteer who reaped the benefit of the hype he created over the future profitability of the company, which never materialized.

VISION ECONOMICA DE LA BAHIA DE SAN FRANCISCO: UN PUNTO DE VISTA MEXICANO POR BERNARDO MENDEZ LUGO

by Bernardo Mendez Lugo

Encounters of Production and Consumption in Viniculture: Identity Construction, Expert Knowledge, and Narrative Propagation

by Alyssa Khan

"draft only", "unpublished"

Encounters of Production and Consumption in Viniculture: Identity Construction, Expert Knowledge, and Narrative... more Encounters of Production and Consumption in Viniculture: Identity Construction, Expert Knowledge, and Narrative Propagation
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Wine is more than a commodity and has been given a life of its own, owing its survival and success to the millions of people who produce, purchase, consume and otherwise participate in its advancement. A quality wine is the product of centuries of inherited wisdom about grapes, microclimates, taste reception, and of trial and error on a massive scale. Here, I have looked at the ways that human encounter has shaped and been shaped by viniculture. I also ask whether trust in expert judgments of quality reflect accuracy or merely reflect economic motivations or market authorities of the wine market, and look at the ways that situated, local, and partial constructions of narratives have been harmful to Portuguese cork farmers. Employing methods of map, media, and interview analysis and making use of the theories of several outside scholars, I have aimed for a breakdown of the reticulation of knowledge, culture and environment as well as a look at the spectrum of actors that are involved in the formation of socioeconomic realities of viticulture. Importantly, what can be gained and concluded from this work is an understanding of the relationship between wine and those immersed in its culture as reciprocal. ______________________________________________________
KEY WORDS: viniculture; expert knowledge; narrative; discourse; identity; wine; cork; Californ

John of the Mines: Muir's Picturesque Rewrite of the Gold Rush

by Nicolas Witschi

Western American Literature 34.3 (Fall 1999): 316-43.