EAST OF ALLEN

To recap, for near 100 years, it seems generally accepted around here that Gen. U.S. Grant visited the Sierra Madre Villa Hotel. That’s been the story, complete with newspaper headlines, local histories, and even real estate ads. There’s the special hotel register, from the LA Times no less.

I really like the story. But, I had this nagging suspicion it’s not true. I’ve seen the hotel registers from the library archives and I don’t quite buy the “special register” thing. So, I looked for more authority.

Let’s Ask ChatGPT

I asked ChatGPT — Did Gen. U.S. Grant stay at the Sierra Madre Villa Hotel? In response, I got a well documented AI-generated answer. And that answer was quite a surprise.

You see, ChatGPT responded that “According to a 2008 article from East of Allen, the hotel’s guest list reportedly included notable individuals such as Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, Gen. William Sherman, and Helen Hunt Jackson, among others.”

Yikes! ChatGPT says Grant was here and is tapping me as authority.

Now, I’m not alone in this thing. ChatGPT cited other sources too — eminent LA Times columnist, Jack Smith, the venerable Homestead Blog, Robert Di Dio’s fine post in the Lost Angeles group, and the prolific writer Terrence Butcher’s piece at You know you’re from Pasadena. Pretty good company.

There was more. To its credit, ChatGPT stated “there is no concrete evidence—such as hotel records or personal writings—that confirms a stay at the hotel.” It then contradicted itself by concluding there was “substantial evidence supporting Grant’s visit.” The substantial evidence? It’s this: “A 1931 edition of the Los Angeles Times featured an 1880s photograph of the hotel and reproduced signatures from its guest register, including those of Ulysses S. Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, and Phil Sheridan . This suggests that Grant did indeed stay at the hotel.”

So, there you have it! Mystery solved. We can all go back to imagining the great General reclining on the Villa’s veranda cigar and whiskey in hand.

Not so fast. Like I said, I just don’t buy the special register. And why can’t I find any newspaper articles saying Grant was here? Would have been quite a story, right? I was exasperated and my conscience would not let go.

So, I went to the doctor.

The U.S. Grant Presidential Library and Museum Has the Answer

Dr. Ryan Semmes is the Director of Research at the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library at Mississippi State University. The Library has about everything ever written by or about Gen. Grant and every known piece of Grant’s correspondence. Semmes is the library’s archivist and research director and wrote his dissertation on the Grant presidency. He’ll do as our expert on Gen. Grant’s whereabouts in the 1870’s and 80’s.

So, I asked Dr. Semmes two questions. First, I asked him if there was any record of correspondence between Gen. Grant and the Sierra Madre Villa founder, William F. Cogswell. Turns out there are at least two such documents and I’ll post on them at a later time. Both of the items predate the Sierra Madre Villa and have no bearing on whether Grant was ever at the Villa.

The second question I asked was whether Gen. Grant could have been a guest at the Sierra Madre Villa?

Dr. Semmes answer was a direct: No. “I cannot find any evidence to Grant ever visiting Pasadena.”

It all becomes clear when you look at the dates. The Sierra Madre Villa Hotel opened in 1877 and continued operations into the 1890’s. Gen. Grant served as president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. He died in 1885. So there’s an eight-year window (1877-85) within which Gen. Grant could have possibly visited southern California and the Villa.

But, Grant was never here. The Presidential Library has compiled a detailed chronology of Grant’s life that accounts for near every day of Grant’s presidency and his post-presidency years.

Grant did not visit California during his presidency. After his presidency, Grant was briefly in northern California, but never in southern California.

Grant left the presidency in March, 1877 and in May embarked from Philadelphia on a much-publicized world tour. He returned in September 1879, sailing into San Francisco. Grant’s return was marked by huge celebrations and his itinerary was closely followed. In the Bay area, Grant greeted veterans (from both armies), met with business tycoons and then travelled to see Yosemite. Then, he was off to Oregon.

From Dr. Semmes:

I have looked all through our chronology of his life and I do not see any time during his presidency that he was in California, and no time after his world tour that he was in Southern California.

So, what about the “special register” and the scribble under Grant’s signature? Most likely, he signed the paper before 1869, when he began serving as president. In any event, wherever and whenever Grant signed the paper, it wasn’t at the Sierra Madre Villa.

From Dr. Semmes:

I believe the inscription under Grant’s name is an abbreviation of the word General “Genl”. He often signed that under his name. In 1868 he made a trip with Sherman and Sheridan (the signature below Grant’s) to the west but as far as our records show and what newspapers reported he didn’t go further West than Denver …. In 1875 he made another trip out West going as far as Salt Lake City and, again, Denver.

Since the “special register” has the signatures of Sherman, Sheridan, and Grant AND Grant signed it as “Genl” it makes me think it was signed at a hotel somewhere in the West during the 1868 trip [and not after he was elected]. This is due to the fact that Grant tended to stop signing with the word “Genl” once he was elected president.

Mystery Solved

The guest list for the Villa is still an amazing collection of the rich and famous. It just does not include Gen. Grant.

So, no more fun yarns about the old general sipping whiskey and chomping a cigar on the veranda. And, reluctantly, very reluctantly, I will go back to my 2008 post and make the correction.

Also, let’s note that, though General Grant was not a guest at the Villa, members of Grant’s family may have been hotel guests. From Dr. Semmes:

His son, US Grant, Jr. most certainly did (visit Pasadena) and its possible the story is about him and not President Grant. His other son, Jesse Grant, and his Grandson, Chapman Grant, lived in the LA/Pasadena area. So the Grant family may have been at the Hotel but it was not president Grant.

I may do one more post on this. But, for now and evermore, this mystery is solved. Gen. Grant did not stay at the Sierra Madre Villa Hotel.

Acknowledgements

I am hardly the first to question whether Gen. Grant was at the Villa. To my knowledge, local historian Gregory McReynolds, was the first to call foul on the whole Grant was here story. He wrote a newsletter article (which I cannot find online) emphatically stating Grant was never here and he was right. That was a couple decades ago. Also, back in March, another local historian, John S. Fode left a comment to my Gen. Sherman post, in effect, raising a sly eyebrow and asking when Gen. Grant visited the Villa. I suspect he knew the answer. So, I am by no means a trailblazer here.

As we close this down, I want to tip my cap to William Lauren Rhoades. While it is true these posts have undone Mr. Rhoades’ report that Gen. Grant visited the Villa, Rhoades’ contributions to local history endure. He very willingly shared his knowledge and wrote it down. Today we benefit from his account of life around here in the 1870’s and 80’s and his insider’s view of the Sierra Madre Villa Hotel. So, a grateful thank you to Mr. Rhoades, his sister, Anita Rhoades, and cousin, Sarah Cogswell Diem, for preserving history of the Sierra Madre Villa Hotel that would otherwise be lost.