Grist Mill 2024

In December we visited the Bale Grist Mill Historic State Monument where the 20 foot diameter grist mill that was built pre-1850 is still working, as you can see in the video below. It can mill corn or wheat into flour. Edward Bale was an English citizen who in 1839  married Maria Soberanes, the niece of Mariano Vallejo, commandant of the Mexican army. Bale was appointed surgeon-in-chief of the Northern Mexican army and in 1841 was granted "four leagues" of land in upper Napa Valley, amounting to 17,000 acres of indigenous Wappo territory. The Wappo population had been devastated by diseases such as small pox after the arrival of Spanish settlers. In 1843 Bale contracted to have a large grist mill built, paying for it with parcels of his land. The water that runs the mill is Mill Creek.