TWHP


Gustave Niebaum, 1842-1908   

Few men can claim to have built a state and a couple of different industries, but that is Gustave Niebaum's legacy. Starting out as a cabin boy at the age of 16, the young Finn rose within the ranks of the Russian company controlling the Alaska seal-fur trade and became a captain by the age of 26. When the territory passed to American hands, he immediately attained a ship and bought and delivered to San Francisco the first cargo of furs under the new regime. Linking up with some of the most powerful men in San Francisco, the group founded the Alaska Commercial Company, got the American Government to establish a monoploy for 20 years and give it to the organization for a price. The company thrived under Niebaum's supervision--as did the seal population--and he concurrently established trading posts, mail service, schools and communities in the region, essentially creating its infrastructure. With his wealth, he bought an estate in the Napa Valley at Rutherford, eventually building perhaps the finest stone winery in the country. He not only went on to produce some of the best California wines to that date, but other would-be vintners hired his designer--a maritime engineer who'd worked for his company--to build their wineries too. The State of Alaska, California winemakers and architecture fans everywhere owe him the greatest debt.


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