At the end of August each year, we commemorate the anniversary of Stevenson’s arrival in Monterey with a speaker presentation related to the time he spent on the Peninsula. On Saturday, August 26, at the Stevenson House, Lindy Perez will present her research on the true identity of the two goat ranchers who discovered the very ill Stevenson in Carmel Valley, brought him to their cabin, and may have saved his life. Jonathan Wright and Anson Smith were not retired sea captains as has been claimed, but quintessential American settlers of the Monterey area in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Their lives and their characters illustrate the kind of people Stevenson would have encountered in 1879 — tough, adventurous, resourceful, and decent — with fascinating stories of their own.
We invite you to celebrate the anniversary by learning about Stevenson’s goat ranch experience and its aftermath. The event begins at 4 p.m. in the sala of the Stevenson House.