George Pardee
Encyclopedia
George Cooper Pardee was an American doctor of medicine
and politician
. The 21st Governor of California
, holding office from January 7, 1903, to January 9, 1907, Pardee was the second native-born Californian to assume the governorship, after Romualdo Pacheco
, and the first governor born in California post-statehood.
, the only child
of Enoch H. Pardee
and Mary Pardee. The Pardee family was well known in the San Francisco Bay Area
. His father was a prominent oculist in San Francisco and Oakland
. Enoch's stature within the community helped him get elected to the California State Assembly
in the early 1870s, and later as the Mayor of Oakland for a single term from 1876 to 1878.
Raised in the Pardee Home
in Oakland, George Pardee closely followed in his father's medical background. He attended the nearby University of California, Berkeley
, then studied medicine at the Cooper Medical College in San Francisco. In 1885, Pardee traveled abroad to receive his medical degree at the University of Leipzig
in the German Empire
. After his return from Germany, Pardee joined his father's medical practice, specializing in eye and ear diseases.
Like his father, Enoch, Pardee also developed an early interest in politics. By the early 1890s, Pardee had become an active member of the Republican Party
, and was elected to the Oakland Board of Health and the Oakland City Council. In 1893, following a successful election, Pardee became the 29th Mayor of Oakland, serving a single two-year term until 1895. During his mayoralship, Pardee began a public battle with the Southern Pacific Railroad's
ownership of the Port of Oakland
. At one point, Pardee kicked down a piece of the port's fence erected by the Southern Pacific out of anger.
Pardee's quick rise in East Bay politics was noticed by the state Republican leadership in the 1902 general elections. Deeply embarrassed and financially hurt by the denials of an ongoing bubonic plague outbreak in San Francisco's Chinatown by Governor Henry Gage
, Republicans withdrew their support of Gage during the state convention. The party, divided by Railroad Republicans with the backing of the Southern Pacific Railroad
and Reform Republicans of the growing Progressive movement, nominated Pardee, due to his municipal and medical background, as a compromise candidate. Despite clashes in the past with their interests, Southern Pacific Republicans believed Pardee the better candidate against the Democratic
contender Franklin K. Lane, a San Francisco City Attorney and an ardent anti-Southern Pacific campaigner.
In the 1902 general elections, Pardee faced a four-way race between the Democrats' Lane, Socialist
Gideon Brower and Prohibitionist
Theodore Kanouse. Pardee barely edged over Lane, winning the governorship with a plurality of 0.9%. Less than 3,000 votes separated the two leading candidates.
outbreak. The plague had been present in the city since 1900, yet was institutionally denied by the previous administration of Henry Gage
. As both a medicial physician and politician, Pardee realized the dire consequences both to the city's population and the state's economy, now under threats of a nationwide boycott
. Pardee permitted state health officials and federal authorities of the Marine Hospital Service
to stamp out the plague. By the end of 1904, the plague had been brought under control. Nearly 200 deaths were attributed to the outbreak.
During his medical studies in the German Empire
, Pardee was greatly influenced by Germany's push for higher education and environmental conservation
during its rapid industrialization. Throughout his administration, Pardee strongly supported irrigation projects and waterworks throughout the Central Valley with the desire of increasing the state's agricultural output and providing safe drinking water from the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Pardee's progressive ideas regarding conservation and distrust of corporate monopolies quickly placed him as an ally of President Theodore Roosevelt
. Both the governor and President Roosevelt enjoyed a good working relationship during their respective terms of office on the state and federal levels. On a visit to California
in 1903, Pardee was asked by Roosevelt if he would be his running mate as Vice President
for the 1904 presidential election
. Pardee declined, instead continuing to take an active role in state politics. Both Pardee and Roosevelt remained political allies for the next decade.
Since 1901, proposals for a state agricultural school had undergone discussion within the California State Legislature
, yet no proposal had gained a serious following. Most agricultural studies in the state during the period were concentrated at UC Berkeley, but due to the climate of Berkeley
, most studies remained strictly limited to organic and soil chemistry study and analysis. In 1903, an agricultural bill sponsoring a state agricultural school to give first-hand experience for future farmers passed the Legislature. Pardee vetoed the bill, explaining that he was not hostile to the idea of an agricultural school, but wanted a less vague proposal.
The Legislature drafted a more detailed bill, the University Farm Bill, in 1905. In it, the bill specified that a future state agricultural school would need a location already irrigated, with provisions for ideal soil and climatic conditions, as well as water and land rights. Pardee agreed, and signed the bill into law. For the next year, an agricultural commission sponsored by Pardee investigated more than fifty sites from Glenn County
to Fresno
. In 1906, Pardee announced that he decided upon Davisville
in Yolo County
, located nearly fifteen miles southwest of the state capital of Sacramento
. Opened to students in 1908, the School of Agriculture quickly became one of the premier centers of agricultural study in the state. In 1959, the Regents of the University of California
granted the school campus autonomy, designating it UC Davis.
The state of California's forests also came under Pardee's agenda. Shortly after the beginning of his administration, Pardee, with the help of Gifford Pinchot
, ordered a joint state and federal commission to inspect and survey California's forests. In 1905, a State Forestry Act was passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor, creating a Board of Forestry to monitor and supervise logging
, land usage, and forest fires. The act, along with Pinchot's advocacy, helped influence President Roosevelt to transfer federal forest land over to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, later becoming the National Forest Service. Pardee's own Board of Forestry would later evolve into the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
.
, with an epicenter two miles (three km) from San Francisco, near Mussel Rock
in neighboring San Mateo County. While cities as spread as Santa Rosa, San Jose and Palo Alto suffered considerable damage, San Francisco remained hardest hit, with resulting fires destroying much of the central core of the city.
As telegraphed reports slowly filtered into the Governor's Office in Sacramento, Pardee mobilized the California Army National Guard
to be dispatched to San Francisco, though Pardee was unaware that federal troops of the U.S. Army, under the command Brigadier General Frederick Funston
, were already patrolling the streets.
Pardee sought to take command of the situation himself, traveling to his native Oakland in the later afternoon to oversee the state response to the disaster. Making his headquarters in Oakland Mayor Frank K. Mott's
office, Pardee worked twenty-hour days during the disaster, signing travel permission papers, coordinating state and federal relief funds and trains, and remaining in contact with the outside world through Oakland's undamaged telegraph lines. In addition, Pardee also visited other afflicted cities, such as San Jose and Santa Rosa, to tour and coordinate their own disaster responses.
, Pardee continued to have a strained relationship with the Southern Pacific Railroad
, one that had been ongoing since the 1890s while he was Mayor of Oakland. Pardee's role in the burgeoning Progressive movement which distrusted large corporate monopolies, as well as his efforts to conserve and protect state forests, remained a constant thorn for Southern Pacific executives. A lengthy bitter battle over the Port of Oakland
, which Pardee argued on behalf of Oakland that the port was a municipal rather than private corporation, dragged out for much of his governorship. The case was decided upon by the California Supreme Court in 1906, ruling in Oakland's favor. Pardee also encouraged creation of new railroad companies to break the Southern Pacific's monopolies.
At the state Republican
convention in Santa Cruz
to nominate the party's candidate for the governorship in the 1906 general elections, Railroad Republicans led by party machine boss Abe Ruef
, sought to strip Pardee of the nomination. Southern Pacific interests within the Republicans believed Pardee as too independent and troublesome. Writing in the San Francisco Chronicle
on September 1, 1906, Pardee commented that "[I]t is evident that the Railroad machine and [Abe] Ruef did not want me to be governor again, and as they were in control of the convention, what kick have I coming?"
Railroad Republicans, now dominating the Santa Cruz convention due to intense lobbying by Ruef, denied Pardee the nomination. Instead, Republicans and Southern Pacific supporters nominated U.S. House Representative James Gillett
, a pro-railroad supporter. Pardee's loss of the nomination sparked anger amongst many Progressive Republican circles, fueling desires for Progressives to reform the political nomination process or to break away from the Republicans altogether. In 1912, a party split occurred with the creation of the Bull Moose Party, led by Theodore Roosevelt
and California Governor Hiram Johnson
, who himself would lead Progressives to control the Legislature and Governor's Office throughout much of the 1910s.
In his farewell address to the California State Legislature
in January 1907, Pardee demanded that the Legislature take up calls for creating a direct primary law.
. In 1921, the Legislature passed the Municipal Utility District Act, and two years later, the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) was organized. Pardee would administer EBMUD from 1924 until shortly before his death in 1941.
In 1927, Oakland citizens awarded Pardee as a founding commissioner to the Port of Oakland
due to his lengthy battle to remove the Southern Pacific monopoly over the waterfront.
Pardee died in Oakland on September 1, 1941, at the age of 84.
in the 1870s, graduating together in 1875. Helen was a school teacher, photographer, and art collector.
The Pardees had four daughters, Florence, Caroline, Madeline and Helen. Florence Pardee was killed in a car accident in 1910. Caroline Pardee died from the Spanish Flu
in 1920. Surviving daughters Madeline and Helen would continue to own and live in the family's Pardee Home
until Helen Pardee's death in 1981. The Pardee Home opened as a public museum in 1991.
and his successor James Gillett
, Pardee's governorship has been generally well regarded amongst historians. His efforts of conservation and education have proved to be long standing, such as the creations of bodies that would later become UC Davis and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
. Despite their initial support of his nomination in 1902, Pardee's near-constant resistance to the Southern Pacific Railroad
has spared his reputation of criticism for being too close to rail monoplies. State historians from the California Secretary of State's
office wrote that between Gage, Pardee and Gillett, "only Pardee can be considered an honest earnest administrator."
Environmental historian Philip L. Fradkin
has cited Pardee as one of the unsung heroes of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
. "Pardee lacked a glamorous frontline role, and he was criticized for not dashing in the flame-licked streets. With a large staff imported from Sacramento, the governor was the expediter of paper; in every great disaster there needs to be at least one such competent bureaucrat."
Pardee was also the first governor to reside in the California Governor's Mansion. The mansion would continue to be lived in by the state executive until the governorship of Ronald Reagan
.
The Pardee Home
, located in downtown Oakland, remains a tourist attraction in the center of the city, hosting tours and speaking events.
The Pardee Dam
and the adjacent Pardee Reservoir along the Mokelumne River
are named after the governor.
The old Governor's Office within the California State Capitol
is refurbished to appear as it did during the time of George Pardee's governorship in 1906.
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. The 21st Governor of California
Governor of California
The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...
, holding office from January 7, 1903, to January 9, 1907, Pardee was the second native-born Californian to assume the governorship, after Romualdo Pacheco
Romualdo Pacheco
José Antonio Romualdo Pacheco Jr. was an American politician and diplomat. Involved in California state and federal politics, Pacheco was elected and appointed to various posts and offices throughout his more than thirty-year career, including the California State Senate, the 12th Governor of...
, and the first governor born in California post-statehood.
Biography
Pardee was born on July 25, 1857, in San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, the only child
Only child
An only child is a person with no siblings, either biological or adopted. In a family with multiple offspring, first-borns, may be briefly considered only children and have a similar early family environment, but the term only child is generally applied only to those individuals who never have...
of Enoch H. Pardee
Enoch H. Pardee
Enoch Homer Pardee was an American medical doctor and politician. Pardee served as the 18th Mayor of Oakland, California from 1876 to 1878.-Biography:...
and Mary Pardee. The Pardee family was well known in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
. His father was a prominent oculist in San Francisco and Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
. Enoch's stature within the community helped him get elected to the California State Assembly
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...
in the early 1870s, and later as the Mayor of Oakland for a single term from 1876 to 1878.
Raised in the Pardee Home
Pardee Home
The Pardee Home is a house in Oakland, California that was home to three generations of the Pardee family. It is now a non-profit museum, showing over 100 years of the life of a prominent California family...
in Oakland, George Pardee closely followed in his father's medical background. He attended the nearby University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, then studied medicine at the Cooper Medical College in San Francisco. In 1885, Pardee traveled abroad to receive his medical degree at the University of Leipzig
University of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
in the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
. After his return from Germany, Pardee joined his father's medical practice, specializing in eye and ear diseases.
Like his father, Enoch, Pardee also developed an early interest in politics. By the early 1890s, Pardee had become an active member of the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, and was elected to the Oakland Board of Health and the Oakland City Council. In 1893, following a successful election, Pardee became the 29th Mayor of Oakland, serving a single two-year term until 1895. During his mayoralship, Pardee began a public battle with the Southern Pacific Railroad's
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
ownership of the Port of Oakland
Port of Oakland
The Port of Oakland was the first major port on the Pacific Coast of the United States to build terminals for container ships. It is now the fifth busiest container port in the United States, behind Long Beach, Los Angeles, Newark, and Savannah...
. At one point, Pardee kicked down a piece of the port's fence erected by the Southern Pacific out of anger.
Pardee's quick rise in East Bay politics was noticed by the state Republican leadership in the 1902 general elections. Deeply embarrassed and financially hurt by the denials of an ongoing bubonic plague outbreak in San Francisco's Chinatown by Governor Henry Gage
Henry Gage
Henry Tifft Gage was an American lawyer, politician and diplomat. A Republican, Gage was elected to a single term as the 20th Governor of California from 1899 to 1903. Gage was also the U.S. Minister to Portugal for several months in 1910.-Biography:Gage was born on Christmas Day, 1852 in Geneva,...
, Republicans withdrew their support of Gage during the state convention. The party, divided by Railroad Republicans with the backing of the Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
and Reform Republicans of the growing Progressive movement, nominated Pardee, due to his municipal and medical background, as a compromise candidate. Despite clashes in the past with their interests, Southern Pacific Republicans believed Pardee the better candidate against the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
contender Franklin K. Lane, a San Francisco City Attorney and an ardent anti-Southern Pacific campaigner.
In the 1902 general elections, Pardee faced a four-way race between the Democrats' Lane, Socialist
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
Gideon Brower and Prohibitionist
Prohibition Party
The Prohibition Party is a political party in the United States best known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages. It is the oldest existing third party in the US. The party was an integral part of the temperance movement...
Theodore Kanouse. Pardee barely edged over Lane, winning the governorship with a plurality of 0.9%. Less than 3,000 votes separated the two leading candidates.
Governorship
Assuming the governorship on January 7, 1903, Pardee began an immediate program to eradicate San Francisco's bubonic plagueBubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
outbreak. The plague had been present in the city since 1900, yet was institutionally denied by the previous administration of Henry Gage
Henry Gage
Henry Tifft Gage was an American lawyer, politician and diplomat. A Republican, Gage was elected to a single term as the 20th Governor of California from 1899 to 1903. Gage was also the U.S. Minister to Portugal for several months in 1910.-Biography:Gage was born on Christmas Day, 1852 in Geneva,...
. As both a medicial physician and politician, Pardee realized the dire consequences both to the city's population and the state's economy, now under threats of a nationwide boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
. Pardee permitted state health officials and federal authorities of the Marine Hospital Service
Marine Hospital Service
The Marine-Hospital Service was an organization of Marine Hospitals dedicated to the care of ill and disabled seamen in the U.S. Merchant Marine, U.S. Coast Guard and other federal beneficiaries....
to stamp out the plague. By the end of 1904, the plague had been brought under control. Nearly 200 deaths were attributed to the outbreak.
Conservation and education
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
, Pardee was greatly influenced by Germany's push for higher education and environmental conservation
Conservation movement
The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental and a social movement that seeks to protect natural resources including animal, fungus and plant species as well as their habitat for the future....
during its rapid industrialization. Throughout his administration, Pardee strongly supported irrigation projects and waterworks throughout the Central Valley with the desire of increasing the state's agricultural output and providing safe drinking water from the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Pardee's progressive ideas regarding conservation and distrust of corporate monopolies quickly placed him as an ally of President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
. Both the governor and President Roosevelt enjoyed a good working relationship during their respective terms of office on the state and federal levels. On a visit to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 1903, Pardee was asked by Roosevelt if he would be his running mate as Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
for the 1904 presidential election
United States presidential election, 1904
The United States presidential election of 1904 held on November 8, 1904, resulted in the election to a full term for President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt had succeeded to the presidency upon the assassination of William McKinley. The Republican Party unanimously nominated him for president at...
. Pardee declined, instead continuing to take an active role in state politics. Both Pardee and Roosevelt remained political allies for the next decade.
Since 1901, proposals for a state agricultural school had undergone discussion within the California State Legislature
California State Legislature
The California State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of California. It is a bicameral body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members...
, yet no proposal had gained a serious following. Most agricultural studies in the state during the period were concentrated at UC Berkeley, but due to the climate of Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, most studies remained strictly limited to organic and soil chemistry study and analysis. In 1903, an agricultural bill sponsoring a state agricultural school to give first-hand experience for future farmers passed the Legislature. Pardee vetoed the bill, explaining that he was not hostile to the idea of an agricultural school, but wanted a less vague proposal.
The Legislature drafted a more detailed bill, the University Farm Bill, in 1905. In it, the bill specified that a future state agricultural school would need a location already irrigated, with provisions for ideal soil and climatic conditions, as well as water and land rights. Pardee agreed, and signed the bill into law. For the next year, an agricultural commission sponsored by Pardee investigated more than fifty sites from Glenn County
Glenn County, California
Glenn County is in the California Central Valley. As of 2010, it had a population of 28,122. The county seat is the city of Willows.-History:Glenn County was formed in 1891 from parts of Colusa County. It was named for Dr. Hugh J...
to Fresno
Fresno, California
Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...
. In 1906, Pardee announced that he decided upon Davisville
Davis, California
Davis is a city in Yolo County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area...
in Yolo County
Yolo County, California
Yolo County is a county located in the northern part of the U.S. state of California, bordered by the other counties of Sacramento, Solano, Napa, Lake, Colusa, and Sutter. The city of Woodland is its county seat, though Davis is its largest city....
, located nearly fifteen miles southwest of the state capital of Sacramento
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
. Opened to students in 1908, the School of Agriculture quickly became one of the premier centers of agricultural study in the state. In 1959, the Regents of the University of California
Regents of the University of California
The Regents of the University of California make up the governing board of the University of California. The Board has 26 full members:* The majority are appointed by the Governor of California for 12-year terms....
granted the school campus autonomy, designating it UC Davis.
The state of California's forests also came under Pardee's agenda. Shortly after the beginning of his administration, Pardee, with the help of Gifford Pinchot
Gifford Pinchot
Gifford Pinchot was the first Chief of the United States Forest Service and the 28th Governor of Pennsylvania...
, ordered a joint state and federal commission to inspect and survey California's forests. In 1905, a State Forestry Act was passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor, creating a Board of Forestry to monitor and supervise logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
, land usage, and forest fires. The act, along with Pinchot's advocacy, helped influence President Roosevelt to transfer federal forest land over to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, later becoming the National Forest Service. Pardee's own Board of Forestry would later evolve into the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection is the State of California's agency responsible for fire protection in State Responsibility Areas of California as well as the administration of the state's private and public forests. It is often referred to as The California Department of...
.
1906 San Francisco Earthquake
In the early morning hours of April 18, 1906, a magnitude 7.7 to 8.3 earthquake struck along the San Andreas FaultSan Andreas Fault
The San Andreas Fault is a continental strike-slip fault that runs a length of roughly through California in the United States. The fault's motion is right-lateral strike-slip...
, with an epicenter two miles (three km) from San Francisco, near Mussel Rock
Mussel Rock
right|thumb|Mussel Rock is a rock formation on the coast of San Mateo County, California, offshore from Daly City. It consists of one large and numerous smaller rocks of a type known as a stack, where a headland is eroded unevenly, leaving small islands....
in neighboring San Mateo County. While cities as spread as Santa Rosa, San Jose and Palo Alto suffered considerable damage, San Francisco remained hardest hit, with resulting fires destroying much of the central core of the city.
As telegraphed reports slowly filtered into the Governor's Office in Sacramento, Pardee mobilized the California Army National Guard
California Army National Guard
The California Army National Guard is the land force component of the California National Guard, one of the reserve component United States Army and is part of the United States National Guard. The California Army National Guard is composed of about 20,000 soldiers...
to be dispatched to San Francisco, though Pardee was unaware that federal troops of the U.S. Army, under the command Brigadier General Frederick Funston
Frederick Funston
Frederick N. Funston also known as Fred Funston, was a General in the United States Army, best known for his role in the Spanish-American War and the Philippine-American War...
, were already patrolling the streets.
Pardee sought to take command of the situation himself, traveling to his native Oakland in the later afternoon to oversee the state response to the disaster. Making his headquarters in Oakland Mayor Frank K. Mott's
Frank Kanning Mott
Frank Kanning Mott was the 35th mayor of Oakland, California.Mott was born in San Francisco on January 21, 1866, but his family moved to nearby Oakland when he was two years old. His father, who worked for the Central Pacific Railroad , died when he was 11...
office, Pardee worked twenty-hour days during the disaster, signing travel permission papers, coordinating state and federal relief funds and trains, and remaining in contact with the outside world through Oakland's undamaged telegraph lines. In addition, Pardee also visited other afflicted cities, such as San Jose and Santa Rosa, to tour and coordinate their own disaster responses.
Downfall
Despite having been heavily praised by the public for his handling of the state bureaucracy during the 1906 disaster1906 San Francisco earthquake
The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco, California, and the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude of 7.9; however, other...
, Pardee continued to have a strained relationship with the Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
, one that had been ongoing since the 1890s while he was Mayor of Oakland. Pardee's role in the burgeoning Progressive movement which distrusted large corporate monopolies, as well as his efforts to conserve and protect state forests, remained a constant thorn for Southern Pacific executives. A lengthy bitter battle over the Port of Oakland
Port of Oakland
The Port of Oakland was the first major port on the Pacific Coast of the United States to build terminals for container ships. It is now the fifth busiest container port in the United States, behind Long Beach, Los Angeles, Newark, and Savannah...
, which Pardee argued on behalf of Oakland that the port was a municipal rather than private corporation, dragged out for much of his governorship. The case was decided upon by the California Supreme Court in 1906, ruling in Oakland's favor. Pardee also encouraged creation of new railroad companies to break the Southern Pacific's monopolies.
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
convention in Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
to nominate the party's candidate for the governorship in the 1906 general elections, Railroad Republicans led by party machine boss Abe Ruef
Abe Ruef
Abraham Rueff , known as Abe Ruef, was an American lawyer and politician...
, sought to strip Pardee of the nomination. Southern Pacific interests within the Republicans believed Pardee as too independent and troublesome. Writing in the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
on September 1, 1906, Pardee commented that "[I]t is evident that the Railroad machine and [Abe] Ruef did not want me to be governor again, and as they were in control of the convention, what kick have I coming?"
Railroad Republicans, now dominating the Santa Cruz convention due to intense lobbying by Ruef, denied Pardee the nomination. Instead, Republicans and Southern Pacific supporters nominated U.S. House Representative James Gillett
James Gillett
James Norris Gillett was an American lawyer and politician. A Republican involved in federal and state politics, Gillett was elected both a member of the U.S...
, a pro-railroad supporter. Pardee's loss of the nomination sparked anger amongst many Progressive Republican circles, fueling desires for Progressives to reform the political nomination process or to break away from the Republicans altogether. In 1912, a party split occurred with the creation of the Bull Moose Party, led by Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
and California Governor Hiram Johnson
Hiram Johnson
Hiram Warren Johnson was a leading American progressive and later isolationist politician from California; he served as the 23rd Governor from 1911 to 1917, and as a United States Senator from 1917 to 1945.-Early life:...
, who himself would lead Progressives to control the Legislature and Governor's Office throughout much of the 1910s.
In his farewell address to the California State Legislature
California State Legislature
The California State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of California. It is a bicameral body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members...
in January 1907, Pardee demanded that the Legislature take up calls for creating a direct primary law.
Post-governorship
Leaving the governorship in 1907, Pardee remained publicly active, returning to his native Oakland to become a co-founder of the state Bull Moose Party in 1912. In 1920, he was invited to become Commodore of the Oakland Yacht Club, a position he would enjoy again from 1925 to 1928. In the years following his governorship, Pardee lobbied intensely for a water district specifically for the East BayEast Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)
The East Bay is a commonly used, informal term for the lands on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay, in the San Francisco Bay Area, in California, United States...
. In 1921, the Legislature passed the Municipal Utility District Act, and two years later, the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) was organized. Pardee would administer EBMUD from 1924 until shortly before his death in 1941.
In 1927, Oakland citizens awarded Pardee as a founding commissioner to the Port of Oakland
Port of Oakland
The Port of Oakland was the first major port on the Pacific Coast of the United States to build terminals for container ships. It is now the fifth busiest container port in the United States, behind Long Beach, Los Angeles, Newark, and Savannah...
due to his lengthy battle to remove the Southern Pacific monopoly over the waterfront.
Pardee died in Oakland on September 1, 1941, at the age of 84.
Family
Pardee met his future wife Helen N. Pardee at Oakland High SchoolOakland High School (California)
Oakland Senior High School is a public high school in California. Established in 1869, it is the oldest high school in Oakland, California and the sixth oldest high school in the state.-Background:...
in the 1870s, graduating together in 1875. Helen was a school teacher, photographer, and art collector.
The Pardees had four daughters, Florence, Caroline, Madeline and Helen. Florence Pardee was killed in a car accident in 1910. Caroline Pardee died from the Spanish Flu
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
in 1920. Surviving daughters Madeline and Helen would continue to own and live in the family's Pardee Home
Pardee Home
The Pardee Home is a house in Oakland, California that was home to three generations of the Pardee family. It is now a non-profit museum, showing over 100 years of the life of a prominent California family...
until Helen Pardee's death in 1981. The Pardee Home opened as a public museum in 1991.
Legacy
Unlike his predecessor Henry GageHenry Gage
Henry Tifft Gage was an American lawyer, politician and diplomat. A Republican, Gage was elected to a single term as the 20th Governor of California from 1899 to 1903. Gage was also the U.S. Minister to Portugal for several months in 1910.-Biography:Gage was born on Christmas Day, 1852 in Geneva,...
and his successor James Gillett
James Gillett
James Norris Gillett was an American lawyer and politician. A Republican involved in federal and state politics, Gillett was elected both a member of the U.S...
, Pardee's governorship has been generally well regarded amongst historians. His efforts of conservation and education have proved to be long standing, such as the creations of bodies that would later become UC Davis and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection is the State of California's agency responsible for fire protection in State Responsibility Areas of California as well as the administration of the state's private and public forests. It is often referred to as The California Department of...
. Despite their initial support of his nomination in 1902, Pardee's near-constant resistance to the Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
has spared his reputation of criticism for being too close to rail monoplies. State historians from the California Secretary of State's
California Secretary of State
The Secretary of State of California is the chief elections officer of that U.S. state. The Secretary of State is also responsible for the California State Archives, as well as chartering corporations. The Secretary of State is elected to four year terms, concurrent with the other constitutional...
office wrote that between Gage, Pardee and Gillett, "only Pardee can be considered an honest earnest administrator."
Environmental historian Philip L. Fradkin
Philip L. Fradkin
Philip L. Fradkin is an American environmentalist historian, journalist and author. Fradkin has authored books ranging from Alaska, California and Nevada, with topics ranging from water conservation, earthquakes, and nuclear weapons....
has cited Pardee as one of the unsung heroes of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco, California, and the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude of 7.9; however, other...
. "Pardee lacked a glamorous frontline role, and he was criticized for not dashing in the flame-licked streets. With a large staff imported from Sacramento, the governor was the expediter of paper; in every great disaster there needs to be at least one such competent bureaucrat."
Pardee was also the first governor to reside in the California Governor's Mansion. The mansion would continue to be lived in by the state executive until the governorship of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
.
The Pardee Home
Pardee Home
The Pardee Home is a house in Oakland, California that was home to three generations of the Pardee family. It is now a non-profit museum, showing over 100 years of the life of a prominent California family...
, located in downtown Oakland, remains a tourist attraction in the center of the city, hosting tours and speaking events.
The Pardee Dam
Pardee Dam
Pardee Dam is a -high structure across the Mokelumne River which marks the boundary between Amador and Calaveras Counties, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada approximately about northeast of Stockton....
and the adjacent Pardee Reservoir along the Mokelumne River
Mokelumne River
The Mokelumne River is a river in Northern California. The Upper Mokelumne River originates in the Sierra Nevada mountain range and flows into Pardee Reservoir and then Camanche Reservoir in the Sierra foothills. The Lower Mokelumne River refers to the portion of the river below Camanche Dam...
are named after the governor.
The old Governor's Office within the California State Capitol
California State Capitol
The California State Capitol is home to the government of California. The building houses the bicameral state legislature and the office of the governor....
is refurbished to appear as it did during the time of George Pardee's governorship in 1906.
External links
- The Pardee Home Museum
- The Pardee Governor's Office
- George Pardee biography from the California State LibraryCalifornia State LibraryThe California State Library collects, preserves, generates and disseminates a wide array of information. It was founded in 1850 by the California State Legislature. Today, it is the central reference and research library for state government and the Legislature. The California State Library...
- Guide to the George Pardee Papers at The Bancroft Library
- The Political Graveyard: Pardee\