Marco Zalo was born in 1853 on the Dalmatian coast of the Adriatic, a fruit-growing region of Croatia. It was part of the Austrian Empire and became the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Compromise of 1867. Then, in 1868, the “Trinity Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia” was created within the empire, assuming internal autonomy. They were still under strict Hungarian control, allocating half of the collected taxes to them and obliging them to serve in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Zaro married Dominica Sapunor and had daughters Dodie and Hortense and sons Peter, George and Hortensia. In eight years he suffered four Austrian wars, and life became difficult. Especially compared to the 40,000 prosperous expatriates who settled in the Croatian colonies located in the Orchard Valleys of Santa Clara and Pajaro in California.
So Zarro set off with his family, sister-in-law, and brother Stephen, landing in San Francisco around 1875. Post reported) differed only from Croats as members of the Greek Orthodox faith instead of Roman Catholicism.
The Zaros settled south of Market Street. Marco established a “coffee salon” at 161 Stuart Street, and Stephen partnered with Peter his Mikoberovic at his East 11 Street restaurant. In 1878, Austro-Hungarian forces occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina to crush the independence movement, and Marco’s brothers George and Peter joined him in San Francisco, working as machinists.
santa cruz
Some of Zaro’s relatives settled in the “Garden City” of San Jose, then considered the nation’s premier quality fruit capital. In 1879, the Zalo brothers moved to Santa Cruz and opened the Garden City Restaurant & Bakery on Lower Plaza. The building was a one-story utilitarian hut, but the addition of a whitewashed front door and his two box-bay windows to let in natural light made it a popular venue. There was a women-only entrance and a private banquet hall through the door to the building next door. The ruts and puddles of the road weren’t always emphasized, so Zarro installed his own streetlights. in all styles.
The Zalo brothers loved their new country and its freedoms and quickly assimilated, shortened their names to Mark and Steve, and obtained American citizenship. Marco’s sister-in-law married Santa Cruz restaurateur Frank Zamrich (who later ran a restaurant in Capitola), and his daughter Dodi married Charles Missick of Watsonville. The Zarro brothers joined the Oddfellows Club, assisted businessmen, worked to improve the community, provided nursing homes in Saratoga, and Upper He provided burial services at the Oddfellows Cemetery on Ocean Street.
They were members of the local Slavic American club. They were also strong supporters of a dozen local fire companies. Hooks and Ladders, Alerts, Pilots When he won first prize at the Regional Firefighter Olympics in San Jose for Hose, Marco arranged a banquet for his three companies of 21 men. opened. Zaro said he never insured his restaurant because he trusted their response times so much. In addition to endless meals, toasts and speeches, there were songs by Henry and Charles Kelly, Ben Patterson, Sheriff Frank Algina, Con Crowley, and finally a song composed by him and Lulu Wolbach. I was. Sokel. The three-hour banquet didn’t end until 11:30 p.m.
Santa Cruz County had a rapidly growing population of Dalmatian exiles, with the Pajaro Valley having the largest population in the United States. The Dalmatians felt that the counties of Santa Cruz and Santa Clara were much better growing areas than the rocky soils of Dalmatia, and the Croats were looking to turn the Pajaro Valley into the apple-growing capital of America.
In Santa Cruz, the river plain between the Branciforte Creek and the San Lorenzo River is a water-rich basin with a high water table that is quickly planted in flowering orchards, nurseries, and flower gardens, known as the “flower basin.” ” came to be called. The Zalo brothers lived in Sandy Lane, a remnant of his bed on the creek that became Ocean Street. Here Marco grew apples and rented an orchard nearby.
legal trouble
Marco’s early passion for growing apples in bulk was demonstrated in his first lawsuit in Santa Cruz. In November 1883 Elmer Daken collected his 636 boxes of apples and sold them to Wm. F. Burns and the fruit grower Wm. Short, who lived in Ocean Crest (Ocean and Broadway). However, these were harvested from Zaro’s orchard, and he obtained a warrant of arrest by seizing the apples for five months, pending a trial to determine their value in the local market.
A turning point in fortunes began in 1887 when a lamppost in a restaurant exploded. The explosion rained hot oil and glass on passers-by, causing only a few cuts and minor burns to the woman’s face. Zaro was transporting goods from San Francisco to Santa Cruz on the freighter San Vicente, but Pigeon near his point the ship caught fire, burning to the waterline and causing a complete loss of the goods.
Marco hired 60-year-old swill hauler John Bice to dispose of the restaurant’s rubbish, and both Bice and Zarro were involved in Santa Cruz’s ‘Clean House’, which was intended to keep the rubbish out of the San Lorenzo River. Both men have never been arrested before and are determined to fight the charges. As Vice said, “‘Garbage’ means stinky stuff, and oyster shells don’t stink!” I have received a new contract to feed the prison.
Zarro’s brother George died of smallpox in San Francisco in 1882. In 1888, word arrived from Dalmatia that his father was dying. His younger brother Stephen returned and stayed in Dalmatia, caring for his elderly parents and managing a $20,000 estate. However, Marco put down roots on his cruise to Santa, and in 1889 he bought an orchard in Market Street from F.A. He bought “four bags of hair” for his $3 to make “horsehair plaster.” He soon expanded the orchard to his five lots on Market Street.
international trouble
In April 1890, Marco learned that Stephen had been exiled from Austria and needed cash to return to Santa Cruz. Marco sent him money, but Joseph Pulitzer’s “New York World” found that Austria forced Stephen into military service until he showed them that he was an American citizen with a US passport. They told him he would either join the Austrian army or leave the country in three days. Otherwise, he was to be imprisoned for three months and fined 50 rubles ($25). The American Consulate in Triest could not help him stay, and he only had enough cash left to go to New York.
Back in Santa Cruz, Stephen complained to the consulate. A friend of his told Surf reporters that this was not a special treatment by the Austrian government for returning foreigners. Last December, his M. Marinovich, proprietor of the “California Restaurant” on his Avenue in the Pacific, was arrested while visiting his parents in Dalmatia, despite becoming a naturalized American citizen. Instead, he was forced to serve in the Austrian army for three years. After three years of military service, he had to remain in Austria for a further nine years of military service. Most knew to keep a low profile and say nothing to the Austrian government. However, the local Dalmatians felt that Stephen was too Americanized, forgetting that free speech does not exist in Austria.
That August, Marco’s aunt from San Jose, Mrs. EM Grubetić, stayed at his new Market Street home and invited Zaros to live with him in San Jose. Steven did, but Marco loved Santa Cruz and renovated the restaurant until a fire left him $28 in debt. He raised his $3.67 by selling restaurant merchandise and ended up moving to San Jose to live with his brother. Stephen bought his aunt’s restaurant, Overland, his grill in 1895, America. I made a profit.
Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, and the Serbs were seeking liberation from Austro-Hungarian rule that started World War I. Together with Marco’s daughter Madeline, she was almost elected queen of the fair “Slavic Day”. The speech showed that the Dalmatians were proud of their heritage but loyal to the U.S. Marco’s wife died in 1905. Odd his Fellows in Saratoga, California, his home.
