My research started with the diaries of Juan Crespi and Miguel Constanso, who were with the Portola expedition of 1769. It was the Portola expedition that discovered Piru, and the valley, which Fray Juan Crespi, named the Santa Clara. The diaries which were in espanol, I had translated into modern day English, so I would have better idea of what the expedition saw when they entered into the Santa Clara Valley, and into the village of local Indians, which laid on the bank of the Piru Creek. The next step was gathering information about the founder David C. Cook, the ranchos, the agriculture, the residents, past and present, the development, and the art created by people of Piru.
This website will discuses the entries and the diaries, from the Portola expedition. The website will share with the readers, the journals and thoughts of Piru visitors, and local residents, and the first growers of agriculture in Piru. We will show and discuss the types of crops that the growers planted, and the process that they had to take to grow and sell their crops on the market. You will be able to compare the crops now and the crops then. We will show you the different crops that were grown in the town of Piru, and when the crops were replaced by other types of crops. This website will explore the different things that influenced the farmer and the type of crops that farmer would grow. This site will show and discuss the beginnings of the associations that the farmer used to sell there crops and the type of associations now used by the farmer. Growers will tell their stories and their father's father story, giving you a view point directly from them. This website will show what the growers received for their crops and the expenses taken to grow the crops.
This website is also created to give the reader an idea of what Piru was like, and what life was like in the Santa Clara Valley in the late 1800's. This website will give you the tales told by travelers, and what they saw, heard, and all they experienced while visiting this valley, and the town of Piru.
Visit the life’s of old-time Piru residents, and their families, past and present, from their beginnings in this valley and Piru, told by there relatives of today.
This website will show the development of the town today, by comparing photographs of Piru in late 1800's to photographs of Piru over the next 100 years. Photographs taken from the same locations but years apart showing the growth of housing, and the diminishing of agriculture, a current issue that the town of Piru faces today with the development of Piru.
This website will discuss how decisions are made today and the directions that Piru will take in the future.
This website has been in the making for a few years. Starting soon after the creation of the internet, I purchased the rights to the piruca.com domain name. The idea I had, was to use all the information and photographs that my grandparents and parents had taken and collected, along with others friends of Piru, and their collections, we might share a pictorial history of the town of Piru California, and it's people.
