Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SILVERADO RESORT
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John Franklin Miller was born and raised in South Bend, Indiana in 1831. After receiving a law
degree in New York, he returned briefly to practice in Indiana before moving to Napa, California,
shortly after the start of the Gold Rush. A successful lawyer wherever he went, Miller served as the
county treasurer in Napa before returning to Indiana.
At home in both states, Miller was elected to the State Senate in California in 1860. The elec-
tion of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency later that year was the final straw for Southern states
intending to break away. After eleven states had seceded from the Union, the Governor of Indiana
appointed Miller as a colonel in command of the 29th Indiana Infantry. Serving under Buell's Army
of the Ohio, Miller's regiment saw action in the Battle of Shiloh and the Siege of Corinth.
After several engagements, Miller was both wounded and promoted. When the war ended, he
was a major general, but declined an appointment in the Regular Army. Accepting the position of
collector of customs for the Port of San Francisco, Miller returned to California.
In 1869, Miller turned to business interests. He took an interest in the booming fur industry
by becoming president of the Alaska Commercial Company, just two years after the United States
purchased Alaska from the Russians. With little cash available, the Alaskan stores specialized in
trading such things as fish, gold, and fur pelts for goods. Thriving during the Klondike Gold Rush,
these stores eventually became part of the Nordstrom chain.
Miller also began to acquire land in Napa Valley. Between 1869 and 1881, he assembled several
pieces of acreage, comprising the land that is the current site of the Silverado Country Club. Miller
named the property La Verge, after one of the battles he fought. Today, the mansion that he and
his wife built in the 1870s houses the registration facilities, the Royal Oak Restaurant, a lounge and
meeting space, and a terrace overlooking the golf courses and mountains to the east.
Miller went on to serve in the U.S. Senate representing California from 1881 until his death in
1886. When Miller's daughter, Mary Eudora Miller, inherited the property, she hosted a number
of distinguished guests, including President Theodore Roosevelt and General John J. Pershing. In
1932, the property was sold to private interests and was later acquired by the Silverado Land Com-
pany in 1953, who renamed the property.
The Silverado Resort is located in Napa Valley 50 miles northeast of San Francisco and 60 miles
southwest of Sacramento. Situated on 1,200 acres within easy driving distance of many of Napa
