The exact history of Sleepy Eye is as elusive as the man who first discovered it. In 1864, Captain James Van Druten set sail from his estate in Eden, Maine with ambitions to purchase land from the rancheros in Southern California, hoping to create a new shipping port from which he could introduce new and exciting exports to his isolated Northeastern town.
The early years of James Van Druten’s life are far better documented than the latter. Born in 1809, and eventually standing a solid 5 ft. 11 inches, Van Druten was a formidable sight, with an oak-like physique and thick sandy beard. The son of Jan Van Druten, a devout religious theologist, the Van Druten family had emigrated from the Netherlands and chosen a surprisingly underdeveloped location in Maine because of Jan’s unusually strong spiritual affinity with the land. Jan constructed his own congregation, the New Church, and hoped a community would naturally construct itself around the promise of progressive thought. Unfortunately, Jan’s ineptitude at self-promotion meant that little word was spread, and by 1833, Eden, Maine had only accumulated a population of 46.
A far sight more fiscally ambitious than his father, young James Van Druten had early success in business after investing in Edward ‘Black Hawk’ Robinson’s large whaling fleet based out of New Bedford, Mass., but soon desired to travel beyond the cold shores of New England to the mysterious realm of the Pacific. On scholarship in nearby Dartmouth, and in keeping with his father’s calling, James Van Druten had drawn fascinating – if tenuous – connections between trigonometry and early Christianity. James looked upon the pyramids as prophetic monuments to this inherent truth and theorized that triumvirates of spiritual power held the world in balance. In fact, during their voyage from Eden, Maine to Sleepy Eye, his wife Embeth Van Druten was forced to dissuade James from veering the boat towards Egypt on several occasions.
After considerable scouring of the Southern California coast for the natural contours of a port, James eventually settled on the secluded cove eventually to be known as Sleepy Eye, California. James arrived in Sleepy Eye on October 9th, 1864, with his wife and infant son, Hendrik Van Druten (born en route, somewhere around the Cape). Just as his father had felt towards Eden, James immediately felt a peculiarly strong attachment to the land. After purchasing the property (originally 219 acres) from exasperated landowner Julian Armijo, Van Druten instantly named the town Eden, and hoped to locate the third and final point of triumvirate energy somewhere in the Alaskan territory. But for reasons still unknown, this name was discouraged by his wife and lasted only eleven days. Julian Armijo left soon after this decision, and some have speculated at an attraction between Armijo and Embeth, although no evidence exists to support it.
Little is known about Embeth, though her influence over James was clearly far reaching. Also from Dutch stock, Embeth belonged to one of the only two families attracted to Jan Van Druten’s congregation in Eden, Maine. She was said to be a beautiful woman with hair uncharacteristically white for her age. Reportedly, she could recount the placement of every object in a room after a single glance.
Although abstract in his spiritual leanings, Van Druten, was inversely concentrated and exacting in his approach to business. Van Druten had initially hoped to find strange and exotic artifacts, perhaps from local native culture, to send back to his father in Maine. But that concept had not been entirely thought out, and therefore, out of necessity, Van Druten contracted workers from nearby settlements to quickly construct a pier and the first of three warehouses. Assembling a ranch in the nearby hills, Van Druten’s first exports were mostly derived from cattle: cheese, beef, hides, etc. However, the discovery of a soil rich in nutrients gave way to rolling hills of fruit, alfalfa, and beans, quickly providing Van Druten with a steady stream of income.
Shrouded in live oaks and prone to alternating waves of sunshine and fog, the landscape both frightened and enchanted Van Druten. In honor of his father, he erected a New Church on the cliffs above his pier. He also commissioned a statue in his father’s honor. Ever so slowly, Van Druten began to recede from daily involvement with town business. He was spotted on numerous occasions wandering down the beach or through the surrounding wilderness. He spoke often of ‘tremors’, a sensation he encountered while on these walks. Many assumed he was referring to earthquakes, which were not uncommon in the area, but Van Druten insisted the tremors were of a ‘finer and more significant strain of natural occurrence.’
But there was still a problem – the town remained nameless. In fact, ‘Nameless’ was serving as the area’s temporary title, because the local newspaper and post office could not accurately function without one. The ever-increasing population was growing impatient with Van Druten’s indecisiveness. Some blamed his single-minded attention to the town’s growth, while others pointed towards his meddling wife as the source of conflict - though they had no basis for that accusation. Whatever the reason, Van Druten continued to stall...
