Calistoga History

Calistoga was a healing place long before the first spa was ever built.Blessed with geothermal waters rich in magnesium and calcium that burst from the earth in powerful geysers or bubbled up gently into steaming pools and rivers, the Native Americans gathered here for detoxification and purification. An ancient volcano contributed huge deposits of volcanic ash found helpful for sore injured muscles and stiff joints. They called this land Coo-lay-no-maock, the oven place.By 1831 white settlers had begun to move into the valley. These early years of coexistence were usually friendly but as more and more homesteaders arrived the Native Americans grew to resent the white man and the changes he brought to their way of life.

It was 1852 when Samuel Brannan first visited the Napa Valley. Drawn by the stories of the healing hot springs and the natural beauty of the oven place,he would transform the small agricultural community into the spa resort town we now know as Calistoga.

Sam Brannan was a large figure in the pioneer days of California. He was an entrepreneur and schemer with tremendous energy and vision, who was not adverse to a little shady dealing, if necessary. He profitted from religion, gambling, newspapers, sugar plantations in Hawaii, real estate in San Joaquin and Sacramento, gold prospecting and merchandising .

When he saw the Indian hot springs, he envisioned a great spa, a health resort that would rival Saratoga Hot Springs of New York and the famed resorts of Europe. He would create the finest spa resort in the world right here in California and he knew he had the money and the connections to do it.

It would be another ten years before the resort opened in 1862 with it's lavish centerpiece the Hot Springs Hotel, twenty-five five room cottages, elaborately landscaped parks, bathing pavilions, a bathhouse, a huge skating rink, a dance pavilion and a tent shaped observatory atop Mt. Lincoln. The resort also included a large store, an express office, a swimming pool, goldfish pond and a forty acre complex with a mile long race track and stables. Sam had mapped out the town he needed to supply the resort and worked feverishly to attract people to build homes and start businesses here. He gave away more than eighty plots and donated land to build the Methodist-Episcopal church.

With the resort open and the town off to a good start Sam now had the time and energy for a new project. The wealthy, elite San Franciscans were very interested in the hot springs north of the city but the journey to Calistoga was long and often times uncomfortable. Also of concern were the spa resorts being developed down valley in Napa.

Sam ad a group of prominent business and civic leaders decided that the best solution was to build a railroad. They incorporated the Napa Valley Railroad Company on March 26, 1864 to spearhead the financing and building of the railroad from the bay area to Calistoga. The railroad met strong opposition from taxpayers who questioned how a train to the wilderness up-valley could pay for itself. Sam Brannan and others donated large sums of money and property. The state and county purchased railroad stock and the first bond issue was defeated. Undaunted, the Napa Valley Railroad Co. pushed through a second bond issue and by August 1868 the new railroad reached Calistoga.

The success of the railroad project marked a turning point in Sam's life. Where before everything he touched worked to increase his fortune now it seemed that all he could do was lose. A manager from the resort made off with a huge amount of cash and other valuables. His marriage, always troubled, ended taking one-half of all his property. To meet the settlement Sam had to liquidate nearly everything he had. By 1878 he knew his dream to own the best spa in the world was over but Calistoga was a vibrant growing town. Sam's resort changed hands many times and is known today as Indian Springs Resort. Calistoga is home to more than a dozen spas and resorts. Millions of visitors from around the world come to enjoy the healthful benefits of the Native American Coo-lay-no-maock, the oven place.