HomeMy WebLinkAboutSLO What July 2016
HISTORY of SAN LUIS OBISPO
History of San Luis Obispo
Joseph A. Carotenuti
City Historian/Archivist
President McKinley’s Grand Tour 1901 would end in tragedy. Originally slated to end in Buffalo, New York on
June 13, instead, responding to his wife’s malady, McKinley postponed his appearance until the fall. While the
words on the Sandercock banner welcoming the President “We Will Never Look on His Like Again” was one of
admiration, it was also prophetic.
Rescheduling his appearance for September, he was shot in the chest at point blank range on the sixth. McKinley
survived but endured days of suffering and succumbed on the 14th. Would the assassin, Leon Czolgosz, have been
ready in early summer rather than in the fall? Was the delay caused by a seemingly minor cut developing into blood
poisoning evolving into a postponed function have resulted in the same tragic results? San Luis Obispo was but a
tiny increment leading to the tragedy. His death roused the community to plan – not a welcome – but a farewell.
However, within two years, another president promised a visit. In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt burst into
the community.
After the recent assassination of his predecessor, President Roosevelt’s planners were adamant: “No reception. No
handshaking.” Crowds were to keep their distance during the Chief Executives brief visit. There was to be no
disturbances in the carefully arranged 66 day tour. Precautions were wise as in 1912 an attempted assassination was
thwarted when a bullet to T. R.’s chest was stopped by his metal eyeglass case and a thick speech in his breast
pocket.
Fortunately, an enthusiastic crowd locally just wanted to see and hear him. After a short visit to the Mission, the
President described by Anne Morrison as having a “clean, manly, fearless life” was ready to greet the community.
Calling California “the West of the West,” Roosevelt was no stranger to the vast expanses of America. Possibly a
few residents knew of his heartbreak upon the death of his wife two days after giving birth to their daughter. Earlier
on the same day - in the same house - his mother also had died. He abandoned his political and personal life to
renovate his future on a North Dakota ranch, energizing both his body and soul. A new man was born. In an
extraordinary transformation from a privileged politician of the east to a rugged cowboy of the west, there emerged
a dynamic, unswerving Roosevelt. His advice: “Believe you can and you are halfway there.”
All his speeches on his innumerable California stops have been published and for us, he was sure to compliment
local agriculture noting the “largest pumpkin” came from here. There is a yearly reminder in the Mission Plaza that
they still do. With the newly founded California Polytechnic Institute, the Harvard graduate reminded everyone that
“farming is not only a practical, but a scientific pursuit.” Having embraced the land, he extolled “the earth tiller, the
soil tiller, the man of the farms, the man of the ranches… stands as the one citizen indispensable to the entire
community.” Farming fed – and still feeds - America.
More next month as an hour’s visit remains a community landmark.
Contact: jacarotenuti@gmail.com 7/2016