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The 14 prairie schooners from Bloomington, Iowa, crawling across the country in the summer of 1865, were mighty glad to welcome other small groups. The wagon train numbered about 100 when they entered the great Salt Lake valley. Most of the wagons were pulled by oxen, some by horses. Here they could get fresh fruit and vegetables and rest, before completing the trip. The Crawford P. Teague family, with three sons and four daughters, spent five months crossing the prairie before settling in the upper Sacramento valley. In 1878, David C. and Jasper N. Teague left the family and came to the San Gabriel valley and became part owners of the San Jose Tract where they farmed 3,000 acres and had many sheep roaming the hills. The rest of the family soon followed, and their farming efforts met with varying results. The winter of 78-79 was very dry and water had to be hauled in. The next year was extremely wet, at one time getting 4 inches of water in 12 hours. One year the wild ducks ate the seed as fast as it was planted. Another year the wheat was afflicted with ‘rust,’ so rust-proof seed was ordered from Russia. They struggled along, as farmers always have - keeping chickens, planting gardens, trading with each other. When the Teague family arrived in San Dimas, they found the chimney still standing from the Denis Clancy home, so built their first temporary home against this. Besides the wheat and hay, the Teagues tried growing several kinds of fruit that they had known “back home,” but none of these crops were very successful. Then in 1886, they planted their first orange trees on their ranch on West Cienega Ave. According to the 1929 San Dimas Press, these first seedling trees were shipped from Tahiti. The first crop ripened in 1891, but before it could be picked, was destroyed by a windstorm. So the first crop of oranges shipped from San Dimas by the D. C. Teague ranch was in 1892. Elmer had been born in 1881, and was the first American child to be born in San Dimas and to grow up there. Jasper owned acreage in Pomona, which he sold and moved his family to Los Angeles. There he grew mainly cauliflower, which was shipped to Eastern cities in such quantities that he was called the ‘Cauliflower King.’ David C. Teague who moved here in 1878 with his family, helped organize the Fruit Exchange and also the first San Dimas School District. Robert May Teague was the Nurseryman of the family. In 1901 he purchased 25 acres on Bonita Avenue, which was then a hay field, with no source of water. Robert piped in water, and set out nursery stock, bordered by palm trees. He also had 90 acres in La Habra Heights, where he grew oranges, lemons, pomelos, limes, as well as some sub-tropical trees - avocados, Cherimoya, Jujubes. |
R. M. built his home at Bonita & Iglesia, and conducted his nursery business from the adjacent R. M. Teague Nursery. At one time it was the largest Citrus Nursery in the world, with 30 to 150 employees. In 1912 he shipped 280,000 trees to places such as the Madeira Islands off the west coast of Africa, to Spain, and Brazil. The Nursery was sold to Lonnie Jones sometime before 1950, and the house was removed in 1960 when the new library building was built. The Teagues were most active in early San Dimas, being directors of both banks, the Orange Growers’ Association, the Lumber Co., members of the School Board . C. P. Teague in his will left a $10,000 legacy to start the building of the beautiful Christian Church. The Palms on San Dimas Avenue and on Bonita were planted by the Teague Nursery in 1911. The San Dimas Historical Society has planted a demonstration grove south of the Martin House in the Teague memory. “So here’s to the Teagues, Who farmed by leagues, The land now owned between us. And mowed their hay Where the Santa Fe Laid their tracks into San Dimas. ... We owe it to these, And the orange trees, For putting us on the map.” From Howard Hoover’s “Saga of the Rancho San Jose.” |
