Stanford University - Quad Yearbook (Palo Alto, CA)

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The Stanford Quad X-

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Volume 90— 1985 —X Opposite page Tht Stanfords' Nob Hill mansion. THIS PAGE. ABOVE: Tht Red Barn on tht Sloth Farm, about 1878; LEFT: A Curritr 6 It ts print of one of Stanford’s most famous trotters. Occident. 1885-198} 39

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Volume 90— 1985 cent that an observer of America’s major stock farms noted “It is easy to say that no two or three of them rolled into one would duplicate Palo Alto ... Governor Stanford is easily the first (place) trotting horse breeder in the world.” During the time that Stanford raised trotting horses at Palo Alto, the Stock Farm won a string of 19 world records. At first, the facilities on the farm were rather sparse, and Stanford’s unorthodox theories on breeding horses were the subject of some ridicule in the sport. But as time went on, people found it difficult to argue with success. Stanford iniated a variety of experiments at the facility, the center of which was the recently-restored Red Barn. In the area of campus now occupied by the driving range and Governor’s Corner, Leland Stanford became one of the world’s great horse breeders. Furthermore, it was at the Stock Farm that Eadweard Muybridge was directed by Stanford to conduct photographic research to prove that horses travel with all four feet off the ground at once, research which contributed considerably to the development of motion pictures. This was the setting for much of Leland Junior’s idyllic boyhood. The family added to the home which was already built at the time they purchased the property (located near what is now the intersection of Arboretum and Sand Hill Roads). A great avenue of eucalyptus trees connected the house to the farm, and Leland Junior had his own horses to travel about the estate. But his parents also wished to cultivate his knowledge of and interest in the culture of Europe, and the family began travelling extensively. THE DEATH OF LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR The family took its first trip to Europe in 1880, and set forth on its second voyage there in May of 1883. They spent the summer and autumn of 1883 in England, France, and Germany, and then travelled through Italy and Austria, ultimately reaching Constantinople in January. After a brief stay there, they headed back through Athens to Naples. The Stanfords remained in Naples for two weeks, at which time Leland Junior complained of feeling ill. Seeking a better climate, the family went to Florence, but there the boy was hit full force with the disease he had contracted — typhoid fever. In Florence, on the 13th of March 1884, he died. The first night after his son’s death, in a state of exhausted but troubled sleep brought about by the strain of the previous several weeks, Leland Stanford dreamed himself saying, “I have now nothing to live for.” But in answer to this he heard the voice of his son: “Papa, do not say that. You have a great deal to live for; live for humanity.” This dream brought forth an idea which had long been dormant in Leland Stanford’s mind — the use of his great fortune to found an institution for public benefaction. He announced to Jane, ’The children of California shall be our children.” The Stanfords arrived in New York in May, and had to remain there on railroad business until the following November. All popular notions to the contrary, Leland and Jane Stanford had decided to establish an independant university in California even before leaving Europe, as documented in Leland Stanford’s will drawn in Paris. While in the East, the Stanfords met with the presidents of Cornell and Harvard, but they never at any (Continued on paff 42) 1885-1985 41