Italian Fountain
I knew of William Randolph Hearst as "the father of yellow journalism", a man who had created and run a publishing empire that specialized in the slanted story and the outrageous accusation. I did not understand -- had never really thought through -- the political and economic power that naturally accrued to the first man who forged a media empire that could mold public opinion all across our sprawling country. With no rules and no competitors, what could such a man not accomplish? And Mr. Hearst was not a shy or unassuming man.
His father was a solo hardscrabble prospector from Missouri who arrived too late in the Sierra Nevadas to participate in the '49 gold rush. He spent years scraping together a modest purse, then wasted it all on a 1/6 interest in a lead mine high in the mountains on the Nevada-California border. He convinced one of his partners to spend everything he had left on a pack train to carry some of the ore to San Francisco where it could be smelted and assayed. The mine was called Comstock; it was the richest silver mine in American history. Overnight Mr. Hearst senior became one of the wealthiest men in the world. He proved his business acumen was no fluke by leveraging his new wealth into a far-flung profitable mining empire. He also acquired a few old Spanish ranches just south of Big Sur. They spanned hundreds of square miles of rolling coastal territory, and included over 80 miles of coastline.