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The Gherini Family on Santa Cruz Island
 The Caire family and its
descendents spent the early part of the 1900s in court fighting over ownership
of the Island. The goal of the children and their spouses was to end the
Santa Cruz Island Company’s sole ownership of the island and to divide
it into inheritable shares between them. The complexities of these court
battles took twenty years to resolve - from 1912 to 1932, and were fought
bitterly by the family members who wanted to keep the Company intact.
Eventually, the Courts decided to create parcels that were then given
ownership by different family members. Many of these decided to sell to
Caire granddaughter, Maria Rossi who had married attorney Ambrose Gherini.
With all of these changes in ownership, the most unfortunate fact was that those who gained title had no experience in operating the ranch. Ambrose Gherini stepped in on an unpaid basis for several years to operate the ranch, and by 1926 the Rossi heirs - children of Caire’s only married daughter - began to operate their area of the island as the National Trading Company. This company had been in existence since 1916, and was involved in shipping green coffee from the America’s to Russia until the Russian Revolution hit in 1917 when the political upheaval in Russia made business impractical. The business became active again as the banner under which the Rossi/Gherini holdings on the island were managed beginning in 1926.
Maria Rossi Gherini then acquired more shares from her relatives until 1930-1932 when she became the owner of 2/3s of the east end parcels, and her husband Ambrose became owner of 1/3 of the same area in compensation for his services as an attorney during the court battles. Ambrose had invested twenty years of legal work during litigation over the island, and was determined to make it a working, profitable sheep ranch. They and their two sons, Pier and Francis, also attorneys, managed the Gherini Ranch from 1926 - 1984.
Sheep Ranching
The Gherini faced many of the same challenges that the Caires had in early ranching years. One additional hurdle was that their share of the island did not include a ship. To resolve this serious transportation problem, the Gherinis made arrangements with the Larco Fishing Company who provided transportation to and from the island for the Gherini supplies in exchange for fishing rights at four locations on the island. One of the Gherini’s first development projects was to build a pier at Scorpion Harbor made of eucalyptus trees. But even with this some what rickety pier in place, the task of getting the sheep to market was daunting.
The son of Pier Gherini, John, has written a book ‘Santa Cruz Island, a History of Conflict and Diversity’ published in 1997. In his book he describes the sheep loading and shipping operations -
" With a pier in place, ranch hands herded the sheep onto the rickety wharf, through wooden corrals, and into the loading chute which hung precariously over the side of the pier. The sheep often leaped from the chute onto the boat which frequently moved with the surging currents. The boat, loaded with sheep, sailed for Santa Barbara with deckhands moving among the packed sheep and lifting up the animals who had fallen to prevent them from suffocating. The trip ended at Sterns Wharf where the sheep were off-loaded. In later years, the boats cruised down channel to Port Hueneme in Ventura County which was better equipped to handle livestock. From the mainland ports, the sheep were moved into waiting trucks and driven to livestock yards and then slaughtered for meat."
The difficulties faced in sheep ranching lead the Gehrinis to consider other ventures on the island, such as raising cattle, developing a resort, and harvesting the old orchards of olives, but these never proved financially viable. The Gherinis did not believe there was a sufficient demand for a resort, and though it was a dream of Ambrose’s to establish a resort, it was a dream that went unrealized. Their ranch comprised 6,200 acres, and it was divided into seventeen pastures for their Rambouillet-Merino sheep.
The Gherini’s children, Marie Gherini Ringrose, Ilda Gherini McGinness, Pier Gherini, and Francis Gherini, were Justinian Caire’s great grandchildren and came to hold equal ¼ shares in the Gherini Ranch. The sons of Pier, Pier Jr., John, and Tom, joined their parents in working the ranch during summers, and the family kept the island traditions in tact until the recent sale of their share of the island to the National Park Service.
The Gherini family managed the island, and their crew of ranch hands and laborers kept alive a 19th century California ranching tradition until nearly the end of the 20th century. John Gherini recounts in his books the any colorful personalities of the ranch workers, and the amusing situation of ranch hands who, while on shore leave, run into problems with the law due to their exuberant shore stay. When brought to court for sentencing, they were at times brought in front to of Pier Gherini, a judge in Santa Barbara from 1946 to 1951, for sentencing. Their ‘punishment’ was "to the island for an extended tour’!
Resort Plans
In the early 1960s, the Gherini children began planning for an island resort.
They hired award winning architect George Vernon Russell to design a development plan that featured residential, commercial, and recreational uses on the island. According to John Gherini, the project was intended to include a marine with 150 boat slips, an airstrip, equestrian trails, hunting lodges, 500 residential lots 1-5 acres in size, a golf course, dams for an improved water system, and would support 3,000 residents.
Pier Gherini presented the proposed plans to the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission in 1965, and suddenly the issue of land use on Santa Cruz Island became a public issue for the first time in history. The presentation described small picturesque villages at Scorpion and Smugglers’ harbor, connected by roads, and using the existing adobe buildings as Mediterranean-style cafes.
Certainly the Gherinis never expected the public outcry regarding these plans. But it did soon come. The Los Padres Chapter of the Sierra Club " urged that the island’s agricultural and open space designation remain unchanged because there has been in recent time "… a persistent interest in the possibility of having the Channel Islands included in the National Park System." One of the Commissioners countered that he " …can’t see how somebody that owns land has to sit and wait for the federal government to come around and make up its mind to buy it … If they want to buy it, they can get off the dime and do it." ( quoted from Gherini’s book and the Commission transcripts ).
The Nature Conservancy response was " we are shocked and deeply hurt at the thought that private development will just run in ahead of the acquisition of the Channel Islands as a park."
But the Gherinis openly admitted knowing that the federal government " can take anything at any time they want. We know that and accept that, and we understand it " as Pier Gherini is quoted in his son John’s book as saying during this time of public statements. The National Park Service did express interest in the island rights during the hearing, commended the quality of the Gherini development plan, and noting the Park Service would also be looking at the development potential of the island should a national park be authorized. The main feature the park would not allow would be the residential development, but overnight lodging, nature, sailing, and horse riding activities would be of interest.
California Assemblyman Winfield Shoemaker as quoted from Commission transcripts in the Gherini book, stated the following before the Commission :
" The decision which you have to make is one that not only effects the Gherini family and Santa Barbara county and the State of California, but the entire nation. The question of these Channel Islands is one that is not purely local. The very nature of the islands makes them of national interest. "
In January 1966, the planning commission voted 6 to 2 to approve the plan, thereby changing the land use designation over the island. But the costs to actually begin and complete the development were beyond the Gherini holdings, and the project did not materialize. Yet, bringing the issue before public attention did accomplish something very important, it galvanized public appreciation for the islands as an important local and significant national treasure that was to become of increasing interest to the public.
Hunting and Tourism
During the 1970ss and early 1980s, the Gherinis hired a crew to manage the island ranch, and gave permission to a commercial company to operate a hunt club. Tensions grew between the sheep ranchers and the hunters. The ranch operations were then headed by a woman who had come to the island as a cook from England and fell in love with the island life, married the ranch manager who was shortly thereafter seriously injured in a plane crash, and as the sole manager of the sheep operation, she was fiercely protective of the traditional ranching way of life. One day she encountered heavily armed hunters out in the pastures and ordered them off the island, guns were drawn threateningly on both sides. The men backed down and left the island. This encounter lead to end the of the sheep business on the island, and ushered in a short era of hunting as the Gherinis turned towards a new agreement with " The Island Adventures Club".
The Island Adventures Club had already been operating on the island through the Stanton Ranch on the west end. The addition of land use rights on the Gherini Ranch allowed them to open bed and breakfast services at Smugglers’ and Scorpion, which enabled kayaking enthusiasts to enjoy water sports while hunters roamed the island shooting wild pigs and docile sheep. Helicopter tours and boat tours began offering access to the island to support public interest in the Adventures Club. The business proved highly profitable, bringing in over $1 million between 1984 and 1990. Unfortunately the prosperity of the operation lead to increased tension between the family of owners.
National Park
In 1980, federal legislation was passed authorizing the formation of the Channel Islands National Park. This enabled the National Park Service to make use of the federally owned Anacapa and San Miguel Islands as park sites, and to acquire property first on Santa Rosa and then on Santa Cruz for inclusion in the new Park. The Santa Rosa purchase took place in 1986, and next to be purchased was the Gherini shares of the east end of Santa Cruz Island. This procedure was complicated by their being four equal owners, each with an opinion about when to sell and for how much. Federal budget funding problems also slowed down the process. The children of Pier Gherini found themselves owing over 43 million in estate taxes upon his death in 1989, and entered into an agreement with the National Park Service to sell their ¼ portion as a means to pay off the estate tax debt. The Park was offering $4.5 million for each of the ¼ interests, but only then had funding to purchase one of the quarters. With an updated appraisal of the value of the remaining shares of the ranch given at $12 million, Congress appropriated the remaining $12 million to purchase all four shares of the ranch. All but Francis then has sold to the government, he holding on to his 25%share until an offer was made that he was in agreement with. Even with 75% ownership of the ranch, the Park could not operate as the other ¼ interest held by Francis Gherini allowed for hunting over the entire 100% of the property. He continued to thwart purchase of his share through elaborate legal means.
Finally, Congress stepped in and by proclamation took possession of the
remaining ¼ interest, with the agreement to pay the remaining owner a
fair price for his interest in the ranch. On January 14th, 1997, federal
and local law enforcement landed on the island in a Blackhawk helicopter,
and heavily armed, took possession of the island ranch. February 10th,
1997, the entire Gherini Ranch came into the possession of the National
Park Service. For more information on the history of the
formation of the Channel Islands National Park, click here.
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