Home | About | Archives | Links | Contact

Columns

• Solano. The Way It Was

  • 'Glasgow' pushed for Mare Island
  • 'Good old days' were not always good
  • 'Poorhouse' rich source of memories
  • 'Tapeworm ticket' hurts intestines of election
  • 1870s Vacaville courtship leads to marriage
  • A complex history
  • A dam across Carquinez Strait?
  • A fascinating history north of Rio Vista
  • A foray into the humor of 1884 Vacaville
  • A look into vanished world of Chinatown
  • A man of history, community service
  • A mid 1830s ride could be just plain dangerous
  • A perilous wagon-train trip west
  • A tale of gold buried at Rancho Solano
  • A taste of gold fever in Solano
  • Aging structures in county spotlight
  • Air base doubles Solano's Population
  • Album spurs school memories
  • An incident that became wild in Benicia
  • Annie Lizzie Gill: A pioneer in every sense
  • Area turned to eucalyptus tree
  • Armijo blazed an arm of the Old Spanish Trail
  • Army airfield construction fuels housing plans
  • As a boy, Vallejo attended a harsh school
  • As tide of World War II shifts, so does the fate of prisoners
  • Asistencia built near Rockville
  • Atlas portrayed 1870s county development
  • Atrocities at sea deemed necessary
  • Aussie tree changed Solano's landscape
  • Authors of atlas follow a map to funding
  • Basics, few comforts for internees
  • Bear gave Grizzly Island new name
  • Bells of Solano rang with enthusiasm
  • Benicia became Solano's first seat of justice
  • Benicia boasts long, colorful history
  • Benicia Tannery was one of the state's best
  • Benicia was known as the 'Athens of California'
  • Benicia-Martinez Bridge makes history
  • Birds Landing tavern shot full of memories
  • Bitter Miners Find Golden Harvests in Suisun
  • Bog was barrier between two cities
  • Book aimed to lure Easterners with fruit tales
  • Bridge's history spans nine decades
  • Bridgeport began with high hopes
  • Buck family enjoyed much success
  • Buckeye tree may be Chief Solano burial site
  • Building of interurban often sidetracked
  • Bungling burglars blast Bank of Vacaville vault
  • By 1880s, Solano crops went against the grain
  • California changed when gold was discovered
  • California's pioneer women first recognized in 1900
  • Calm, comotion alternated with arsenal
  • Capt. Ritchie battles for his land holdings
  • Capt. Wing steered Suisun City's early course
  • Captain steered profitable course
  • Captain Waterman finds his land legs
  • Captain Waterman sailed ahead
  • Car tales offer readers a ride into the past
  • Care of indigent patients had rude beginnings
  • Career with horses was more than a whisper
  • Cattle boom of 1850s short-lived in Solano
  • Cave unveils speculation
  • Center's dedication had a predecessor in 1914
  • Chautauqua lecturers, musicians filled tent
  • Cherries played vital role in orchards
  • Chief Solanos favorite wife tells her story
  • Chief Solanos statue didnt move easily
  • Childhood was busy in the 1880s
  • Chinese immigrants bring rich traditions
  • Chipping away at island's name
  • Choice of good land bears fruit
  • Cholera plagued wagon trains on trip west
  • Christmas customs of the past
  • Chronicling the trek west to Pleasants Valley
  • Church got its start in schoolhouse
  • Cities battled over location of county seat
  • City active in preserving the valley's history
  • City straddled Solano-Napa border
  • Cityhood of Suisun petitioned
  • Colorful adventurer worked the spectrum from druggist to a blockade runner
  • Community was railroaded into oblivion
  • Construction took off in building an Army airfield
  • Could schools of the past teach us something?
  • Council continues historic journey
  • Counterfeiter's secret Suisun cave
  • County library served 56 school districts
  • County's first fair boasted fairly ambitious fare
  • County's lost cemeteries, headstones
  • Course was spelled out for pupils 100 years ago
  • Culture clashes challenged Chinese
  • Currey found himself between squabblers
  • Cutting 'cots was a Vacaville tradition
  • Cutting cots was a Vacaville tradition
  • Daily 1855 life detailed in traveler's journey
  • Daring runs through Solano delivered
  • Delving into Winters story with Vacaville
  • Denverton was once known as Nurse's Landing
  • Devastating fire didn't destroy Goosen
  • Diaries chronicle a long road west
  • Diaries reveal a persistent courtship
  • Diary of 1873 tells of a smitten young man
  • Did rebels or heroes invade Vallejo's home?
  • Disaster strikes the Sophie McLane at Suisun
  • Disasters follow pioneer family
  • Discovery of gold powered steamboat river travel
  • Dixon was an elk horn 'graveyard'
  • Documents a prelude to life in Solano
  • Downpour made a memorable May Day
  • Drivers of today, 1926 much the same
  • Drying precious fruits of the harvest
  • Dusty memories and a castle on the hill
  • Early black residents contributed to county
  • Early California gold rush pioneer
  • Early depot town faded away
  • Early Fiesta a memorable celebration
  • Early grand jury focused on liquor permits
  • Early homes were made of adobe
  • Early pioneer's wandering spirit brought him here
  • Early schoolhouse couldn't manage to keep its name
  • Early settlers took golden side trip
  • Early Vallejo thirsted for fresh water
  • Early village's rural assets drew raves from many
  • Education put poet on the path
  • Efforts are poured into a record of Solano
  • Efforts bore fruit in helping quake victims
  • Eleanor Nelson - a Vacaville gem
  • Elmira church endures 125 years
  • Elmira sits on the edge of history
  • Even on land, Waterman a mystery
  • Events parallel those of 50 years ago
  • Exercising women's rights to change
  • Exploring a mansion's storied past
  • Exposition was to showcase county
  • Extravaganza in 1914 dedicated courthouse
  • Faded Evidence of Former Winery Exists
  • Fair had no trouble attracting volunteers
  • Family success literally grew on trees
  • Ferry changed bay transportation
  • Fighting pests all in a day's work
  • Finding buried, one-of-a-kind treasures
  • Fire in 1909 left Vacaville without a hotel
  • Fires and family life at the Water Works
  • Fires change the face of Vacaville
  • First gold, then a future brought Chinese to the area
  • First Rio Vista vanished on crest of new year
  • First Solano fair didn't fare well financially
  • Flood of 1849 forced residents to rooftops
  • Flood sweeps away investment
  • Forced to leave, few internees returned
  • Foreign labor lifeblood of agriculture
  • Found: A piece of Captain See's Library
  • Francisco Solano becomes a mission alcalde
  • Gen. Vallejo's travails in prison, upon release
  • Genealogy Society gets to the roots of census
  • Giant Orange squeezed slice of Americana
  • Glorious memories of the Nut Tree
  • Gold lured him West, and to Solano
  • Gold Rush lured family to California
  • Gold Rushed Vacaville's Beginning
  • Golden Bear II had a full and varied career
  • Golden Christmas memories of Sutter
  • Gomer School -100 years of learning
  • Goosen did well by the city of Fairfield
  • Grand plans for Solano City crumbled
  • Grant upstages Suisun City's incorporation
  • Great Depression caused hard times in Solano
  • Group focused on enriching women's lives
  • Harbison House saw the Nut Tree flourish
  • Hardship punctuates their long lives
  • Hardship, happiness accompanied family
  • Hastings' dream house became a nightmare
  • He created landmarks and a legacy
  • Helping to make their communities better
  • Helping to preserve Solano County's yore
  • Historic adobe slowly deteriorates
  • Historic sites hidden by a veil of the past
  • Historical society prepares for the future
  • Hopes of success spring eternal in Suisun
  • Hotel served travelers and club well
  • How 'Stonedene' grew to 25 rooms
  • How a courtship proceeded in the 1870s
  • How Harbisons built, lived in their home
  • How Jose Armijo got a land grant
  • How little Dickson became Dixon
  • How the Nut Tree grew to be a landmark
  • Humble beginnings for Vaca poet
  • Infamous Vallejos played big role in 1846 rebellion
  • Island ownership wasn't shipshape
  • It was a sign of the times in Fairfield
  • It was a taxing situation during the Depression
  • It was primitive, but settlers celebrated Fourth
  • It's been a fun ride, but I'm ready to explore the West
  • Japanese torn from area in WWII
  • Jewish family among Vaca's early setters
  • John Curry and the Vaca-Pena Land Grant Cases
  • Judge Currey became state's Chief Justice
  • Julia destroyed the Vallejo waterfront
  • Land squatters: Solano County's violent years
  • Law was passed closing saloons on election day to quell rioting
  • Lawyer lured by gold, stayed to become top judge
  • Legends, myths a part of Rockville
  • Leonard W. Buck a Vaca treasure
  • Lessons learned in 1911
  • Lessons, then and now
  • Library grows to bursting, then burns in blaze
  • Life flowed on at the Fairfield waterworks
  • Light shone on town history via lamppost
  • Local Copperheads lauded Lincoln's death
  • Local settlers traveled west with Donner Party
  • Local's legacy: lengthy land litigation
  • Lonely historic site awaits much-needed help
  • Luzena Wilson sold land to Buck family
  • Making a life in Vallejo wasn't easy for the Gills
  • Making history as female fruit rancher
  • Mare Island fostered many stories
  • Marsh provided fertile future
  • Mathew Turner Benicia's shipbuilder extraordinaire
  • May day tragedy haunted Mare Island
  • Memories of the Fairfield area
  • Mid-1800s were a roller coaster for Vallejo
  • Misfortune bedevils early Vaca family
  • Money grew on trees - for awhile
  • Montezuma hides in remote corner of Solano
  • Monticello's demolition aided farmers
  • More than 500 ships were launched
  • Murder in Pleasants Valley
  • Mysterious disaster befalls Benicia seminary
  • Mystery of his wealth outlives Armijo
  • Mystery surrounded the demise of jail
  • Mystery surrounds Solano County's golden trophy
  • Necessity planted seeds of diet
  • New century brought new freedoms
  • New library for Solano stacked up fairly well
  • News traveled slow, Doolittle didn't
  • Newspapers offered mish-mash of news briefs
  • No heavy damage in Solano from 1906 quake
  • No hurry in picking men, Gold Rush women told
  • Not-so-ancient history from Reporter's pages
  • Of ships passing in the night toward their fate
  • Old stone structure has Solano historians rocking
  • Ole Nelson's arduous trek to Solano
  • Once flourishing, town now echoes history
  • Opera house curtain rose early
  • Operation Chico was only a test
  • Orchardists and workers clash
  • Paddleboats provided floating luxury
  • Pageant showed panorama of early Solano
  • Painting a tale of pink houses, spiral staircases
  • Paper's first edition extols area's virtues
  • Part 2-Spanish Troops Marched In
  • Participation authors growth of library system
  • Patriotism skyrocketed in Vacaville July 4th, 1898
  • Patwin legend tells of smokehouse
  • Peaches occupy a sweet slice of history
  • Pena descendant was active in local affairs
  • Pioneer McMahan experienced risky times
  • Pioneer settler wanted land, not gold
  • Pioneer Swift persevered despite the odds
  • Pioneers took the road less traveled
  • Pittman handled life on her own well
  • Pittman purchased hotel for $225
  • Pony riders found Solano shortcut
  • Poor road conditions brought the citizenry together
  • Population lifted off after airfield built
  • Population takes off with a new air base
  • Port Chicago explosions revisited
  • Portrait of a young lady
  • Portrayals of students offered
  • Produce crops proved profitable for Solanoans
  • Prohibition's twists and turns
  • Pruners' Strike still evokes unease
  • Pruning key to a successful harvest
  • Publication showcased Vacaville to the rest of the world
  • Quake doesn't dim Vaca showcase
  • Quicksilver dominated Solano mining
  • Railroad fire changed face of Suisun in 1906
  • Recalling Chinatown life in early 1920s
  • Recalling USS California's tumultuous history
  • Recounting women's roles in early California
  • Remembering past Independence Days
  • Remembering some Christmas pasts
  • Rhyme and reason behind early Solano poet
  • Rifle's mystery hid a macabre tale
  • Rio Vista man survives war as a POW
  • Rio Vista man was a WWII prisoner
  • Roads and streets: a perpetual pain
  • Roadway was once a journey of endurance
  • Rotary dial phone connections took a toll
  • Rum-runners get caught in the delta
  • Rumors of big boxing match had area buzzing
  • Rush family helped agriculture thrive in local area
  • Sale of Mare Island complicated
  • Sallie Fox heads back to Albuquerque
  • Sallie Fox's 1858 move to California
  • Santa Eulalia find historically significant
  • Saturday Club galvanized Vacaville society
  • Saving the Lawler house was not easy
  • School's story is wreathed in summary of pupils
  • Scout movement still merits badge of honor
  • Sculptor vied for Chief Solano job
  • Sea captains end up ashore in Suisun area
  • Sea captains weighed their anchors in Solano
  • Semple was beaten to the punch in naming rights
  • Service grew with population
  • Settler's humor helped her cope in pioneer days
  • Settlers followed the Spanish Trail to Solano
  • Settlers relied on their own skills
  • Ship with cargo of sugar meets bitter end
  • Ship's bell tolls a memorable WW2 tale
  • Sink may be clue to Solano's oldest building
  • Skewered skunk, coyote on menu
  • Skipper's skill beat difficult straits
  • Slavery of Indians was common in California
  • Snapshots of an era
  • Solano agriculture was fruitful in early 1900s
  • Solano County jumps to help after quake
  • Solano setters were diverse from the start
  • Solano shows off at 1915 Panama Expo
  • Solano's first 'County School Day' a big success
  • Solano's library history is a story of steady growth
  • Solano's past heavily influenced by water, its uses
  • Solano: The town that never was
  • Some communities only existed on paper
  • Starting an orchard barely panned out for Gills
  • Story of Monticello Dam flows with water needs
  • Suisun City was a scene of bustling business
  • Suisun City's Early History full of Drama
  • Suisun club remains alive and well every day
  • Suisun Marsh - a local treasure
  • Suisun men helped oust Spanish troops
  • Suisun roared ahead in twenties
  • Suisun's early years ripe with growth, drama
  • Tale spans life of engineer, bridge and grower
  • Tanneries played important roles in early California
  • Teachers and pupils had some challenges
  • Temperance, taxes part of librarys past
  • That 'Ugly' Old Metal Building
  • The Armijo trail led from Santa Fe to L.A.
  • The communist invasion of Vacaville
  • The homes that the Neils built
  • The Monticello Steamship Company
  • The railroad ferry 'Solano' still lives
  • The Ramon had a tendency to roam
  • The rise and decline of Soscol City
  • The Vacas and Pena Land Holdings
  • The Vanden Station Train Wreck
  • The way it was: Poor road conditions in Solano
  • They dined royally at Vacaville hotel
  • Thievery, mutiny among captain's woes
  • Thirsty Vallejo suffered dam dilemma
  • Thomas Wilson led a varied life
  • Tide of history melded river, the gold rush.
  • Today's Vacaville varies widely from 1946 plan
  • Tolenas Springs excavated 7-ton stone
  • Town flourished, then faded on the river of time
  • Town Hall's roots go back to 1893
  • Town not untouched by war
  • Towns vanished when railroad passed them by
  • Township began with Mormon colony site
  • Traces of some early homes still survive
  • Tracing generations of owners
  • Tracing the origins of buildings on Suisun Rancho
  • Trains speed Elmira to S.F. trip in 1868
  • Transportation always a hot topic
  • Travails of a prisoner of the Japanese in war
  • Travel by auto sparks an unusual Christmas
  • Travel was not easy in the 1850s
  • Travelers bugged by strange bedfellows Lodgings harbored pesky critters and sleepless nights
  • Treasure other than gold lured immigrants
  • Trees sparse before eucalyptus arrived
  • Trek to California was arduous
  • Trevails of a desperate wagon train
  • Trial and error determined success of orchards
  • Troops defeated in search for artesian water
  • Twists and turns on the trail of bygone days
  • Two different towns of Cordelia
  • Unearthing fact and fiction in life of poet
  • Vaca settler's diary reveals busy days
  • Vaca settlers help raise a college
  • Vaca was bountiful fruit bowl in early 1900s
  • Vaca's and Pena's lengthy trek west
  • Vaca's downtown bustled in late 1800s
  • Vaca, Pena relationship turns to trouble
  • Vaca, Pena rift impacts both families
  • Vacans supported their troops overseas
  • Vacaville destroyed in year's second inferno
  • Vacaville in Ashes
  • Vacaville joins the electrical world
  • Vacaville saw weddings big and small
  • Vacaville settler tells of his travails
  • Vacaville women addressed the latest fashions
  • Vacaville's Shaky Beginning
  • Vacavillle went to blazes in 1800s
  • Vallejo had short-lived stint as state capital
  • Vallejo left a lasting impression
  • Vallejo's Annie Lizzie Gill was a pioneer activist
  • Vallejo's holdings dwindled as his life faded
  • Vallejo, others taken prisoner by rebellions
  • Voyage west was full of hardships
  • Wagon folks hoped for land of plenty
  • Wagon train finally reaches gold country
  • Wagon train reaches Pleasants Valley
  • Walnut orchards part of Solano since 1930s
  • Wanderlust strikes a son of early Vacaville
  • War gave men their fill of the Phi
  • War hit home in Solano
  • Wartime proclamation reflected somber mood
  • Waters muddied early location of state capital
  • Weddings bring two families closer
  • When the earth rocked Solano County
  • Where is the 'real' Vacaville?
  • Winters easily could have had another name
  • Woman used creativity to survive camps
  • Writer had mother of all trips to Mother Lode
  • WWI changed Solano's landscape
  • WWI took its share of local boys
  • Young girl's letters provide insight
  • Young Ladies' Seminary earned respect

<< Back to main

About

Jerry Bowen and Sabine Goerke-Shrode alternate ''Solano: The Way It Was,'' delving back about 150 years. This archive has been set up to preserve these articles.

Search

Advanced Search

Columns

• Solano, The Way It Was

• Solano In Retrospect

• James E. Kern

• Echos Of Solano's Past

• Around Vacaville

• Ernest Wichels

Monthly Archives

• August 2008
• July 2008
• June 2008
• May 2008
• April 2008
• March 2008
• February 2008
• January 2008
• December 2007
• November 2007
• October 2007
• September 2007
• Articles By Year
• List of All Articles

Most recent entries

• The way it was: Poor road conditions in Solano
• It’s been a fun ride, but I’m ready to explore the West
• Poor road conditions brought the citizenry together
• Annie Lizzie Gill: A pioneer in every sense
• It was primitive, but settlers celebrated Fourth
• Starting an orchard barely panned out for Gills
• Benicia Tannery was one of the state’s best
• Making a life in Vallejo wasn’t easy for the Gills