Building a Town
When the railroad came through the Valley, Bernal son-in-law John Kottinger jumped at the chance to create a town on the route. Kottinger named it “Pleasanton” after a Civil War hero, and it became the Amador Valley’s local market center as smaller farms replaced big cattle ranches and businesses moved into town.
The community grew quickly, attracting newcomers from Europe and Asia as well as other parts of the United States. The changing political and economic environment favored immigrants of European descent, and the new town’s leading citizens came mostly from this group. The ranchero families sold land and lost some status, but they kept a toehold in the changing community, largely by marrying newcomers. Their former Native workers banded together in small communities of their own, on land held by the old rancheros or sympathetic newcomers, for mutual support and protection.
The community grew quickly, attracting newcomers from Europe and Asia as well as other parts of the United States. The changing political and economic environment favored immigrants of European descent, and the new town’s leading citizens came mostly from this group. The ranchero families sold land and lost some status, but they kept a toehold in the changing community, largely by marrying newcomers. Their former Native workers banded together in small communities of their own, on land held by the old rancheros or sympathetic newcomers, for mutual support and protection.
The Railroad Comes Through
In 1862 plans for a railroad through the Valley on the Transcontinental route were announced, and John Kottinger quickly began planning to develop Bernal land on the proposed route. After delays over financing, the rail line was finished in 1869, just as Kottinger and his neighbor Joshua Neal filed plans for available lots in the new town of Pleasanton.
The railroad gave farmers and manufacturers a way to ship their products to wider markets and brought more people into the Valley. The town's warehouses took in growing volumes of local grain, hops, sugar beets, bricks, and other products waiting for shipment by the next train.
The railroad gave farmers and manufacturers a way to ship their products to wider markets and brought more people into the Valley. The town's warehouses took in growing volumes of local grain, hops, sugar beets, bricks, and other products waiting for shipment by the next train.
New Citizens of a Young Town
Between 1870 and 1890 Pleasanton grew from 350 people to nearly a thousand. Communities of Danish, German, and Portuguese immigrants arrived, as well as Chinese who had mostly come as railroad workers. Names such as Kolb (German), Koopman (Danish), and Nevis (Portuguese) became prominent in Pleasanton’s social and political life. The rail-boosted economy brought more trade as well as more people, and houses sprang up as well as community institutions.
Places of Refuge
Most of the Anglo and European immigrants who came to California held deep prejudices against the Native people and pushed them to the margins of society. To survive, groups of Native people formed communities on the lands of tolerant landholders who needed their labor, such as ranchero families who still owned property. These communities were called rancherias.
One of these rancherias grew out of a community established around 1839, when Rancho El Valle de San José was granted, on land that would eventually become part of Pleasanton. It came to be called Alisal or the Pleasanton rancheria, and up to 1916, under various landowners, it served as a haven for former residents of Mission San Jose and their families. Working as hired labor for their landlords and other locals willing to hire them, the residents of the Alisal preserved their languages, ceremonial dances, and other aspects of their culture that had survived the mission experience--knowledge that they shared with scholars whose work would support a renaissance of Native culture.
One of these rancherias grew out of a community established around 1839, when Rancho El Valle de San José was granted, on land that would eventually become part of Pleasanton. It came to be called Alisal or the Pleasanton rancheria, and up to 1916, under various landowners, it served as a haven for former residents of Mission San Jose and their families. Working as hired labor for their landlords and other locals willing to hire them, the residents of the Alisal preserved their languages, ceremonial dances, and other aspects of their culture that had survived the mission experience--knowledge that they shared with scholars whose work would support a renaissance of Native culture.