Knights Valley History

Knights Valley's original populace included Wappo Indians who inhabited the area for several decades until the early 1800's when the Spanish took control of the land. After persecution by the Spanish, this population of native California Indians dropped to nearly zero by 1873. After the Spanish rule, the Mexican government took control of this California territory and distributed parcels of land in an effort to promote cultivation and population growth in Northern California. The largest parcel of land was given to a Mexican named Jose de los Santos Berreyesn, and the first structure in Knights Valley, an adobe hunting lodge, was built for him. In 1846 American's took control of this California land in an insurgency now known as the 'Bear Flag Revot'. Jose de los Santos Berreyesn lost his land as a result of the Revolt, and the land was soon assumed by an American settler named Thomas Knight. Although Knight and his family lived and owned this land for only 21 years, his legacy, through his surname, remains an integral part of Knights Valley history.

In 1875, just four years after Thomas Knight's departure from the area, Knights Valley township was created by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. By the late 1800's much of Knights Valley's land was converted into wine vineyards, allowing local farmers to profit from growing wine grapes as well as growing wheat and raising sheep. Knights Valley businessmen campaigned for railway extensions to reach the area as part of the effort to establish a new town named Kellogg. The belief that a railway would bring business and leisure travelers to Kellogg was quashed by the challenges of actually developing and using such a railway. As a result, the town of Kellogg never did develop as anticipated by locals. Knights Valley was also home to a small stagecoach town named Fossville, which, like Kellogg, did not develop as planned.

Despite the failed effort to develop a thriving town, Knights Valley did assume significant recognition as the result of two events in the 1870's and 1880's. The first was author Robert Louis Stevenson's choice of location to write “Silverado Squatter's” in a cabin on Mount St. Helena overlooking Knights Valley. The second was the decision of renowned California artist Thomas Hill to paint Knights Valley.