{{Short description|British-born Californian physician, entrepreneur and ranchero}} '''Edward Turner Bale''' (1810 – October 9, 1849), later known by his Spanish name '''Don Eduardo A. Bale''',<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=jPVAAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22Jos%C3%ADas+belden%22&pg=PA32 Jimeno's and Hartnell's Indexes of Land Concessions, from 1830 to 1846]</ref><ref>[https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1017&context=hornbeck_usa_2_a Chronological Chronological List of Land Grants Made by Juan B. Alvarado (1938)]</ref> was a British-born Californian medical doctor, entrepreneur, and ranchero. He is known for having built the Bale Grist Mill in Napa County, California.
==Life== Bale arrived from England in Monterey, California in 1837 on the ''H.M.S. Harriet'', having served as the ship's surgeon. He soon became Surgeon-In-Chief of the Mexican Army under General Mariano Vallejo, and on March 21, 1839, married Vallejo's niece Maria Ignacia Soberanes. After becoming a citizen of Mexico in March 1841, in June, Bale was granted the Rancho Carne Humana, which comprised the land between what is now Rutherford and Calistoga, California.
Construction of the Bale Grist Mill located between St. Helena and Calistoga was completed in 1846, the same year the Bear Flag Revolt claimed independence from Mexico. Bale's connection to the Bear Flag Party is uncertain, but there is evidence that they met at his mill before the capture of Sonoma. Several of Bale's acquaintances were members of the Bear Flag Party.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090327123036/http://www.calarchives4u.com/history/history-napa.htm Article title]}} Napa History</ref>
During the California Gold Rush, Bale tried his hand at mining, and eventually caught a fever from which he never recovered. He died on October 9, 1849.
==Legacy== On December 26, 1860, his daughter Carolina married winemaker Charles Krug. Bale's wife made sure the daughter was protected in a prenuptial that allowed for her to keep {{convert|20|acre|km2|2}} of land north of St. Helena, California,{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} on which Krug planted a vineyard.
Bale, California is named for him.
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [http://www.cagenweb.com/napa/2napa_chron.htm Napa County Chronology], based on information from the book ''From Golden Fields to Purple Harvest'' * [https://web.archive.org/web/20050322030858/http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/wineday/1999/wd0199/wd010899.html WineDay: ''How to Start a Winery'' by Fred McMillin] * [http://www.pashnit.com/roads/cal/GristMill.htm reproduced at pashnit.com: Bale Grist Mill brochure] * Dean Albertson, 1949, ''Dr. Edward Turner Bale, Incorrigible Californio'', California Historical Society Quarterly, Vol. 28, No. 3 (Sep., 1949), pp. 259–269
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Bale, Edward Turner}} Category:19th-century English medical doctors Category:People of the Conquest of California
Category:American people of the Mexican–American War<!---Bear Flag Revolt---> Category:Mexican people of the Mexican–American War<!---Surgeon-In-Chief of the Mexican Army ---> Category:1810 births Category:1849 deaths Category:British emigrants to Mexico Category:People of Alta California Category:People from Napa County, California