TOUR GUIDE TRAINING

Hearst Castle & Wine Tour Study Guide

Fill out the Hearst Castle & Wine tour study guide below.

For this tour you should have already completed and be familiar with the Wine Tour Study Guide
To pass, you must correctly answer at least 16 questions (80%).

California History

1. California was with about 300,000 natives (about 1/3 of the US population back in those days) the most densely populated area of what we now call the United States, how long do they think the natives populated this area before the Spanish arrived?
2. What year did the Spaniards arrive and claim California?
3. Why did the Spaniards wait over 200 years before they built the first mission in San Diego?
4. After the 10 year war of independence, Mexico won the war from Spain and California became part of Mexico, how long was California part of Mexico?
5. Why does the California flag have the lone star of Texas on it and says California Republic?
6. Due to the discovery of gold in 1848 at Sutters Mill near Coloma, the population in California grew exponentially, what was the nickname of these greedy drunk men?

Hearst Family

1. William Randolph Hearst’s father, George Hearst, was a typical 49-er, loved his alcohol and didn’t find a satisfying amount of gold, how did George Hearst make his fortune?
2. George and Phoebe Hearst had 1 child, born in 1863, William Randolph Hearst, back in the day the average life expectancy was about 40 years, how old did William Randolph get?
3. William Randolph was gifted a company by his father in 1887 when he was 23 years old, what company was this?
4. When William Randolph was 39 years old he married a 21-year-old chorus girl in 1903 and they had 5 sons, what was her name?
5. From about 1919 William Randolph started living openly with his mistress in California, while his wife stayed in New York city, what was her name?
6. Patricia “Patty” Hearst was kidnapped and then joined the Symbionese Liberation Army in 1974. She was charged with bank robbery and other crimes and was sentenced to 7 years in prison of which she served 2. Who was Patty Hearst?

Hearst Castle

1. George Hearst loved the whaling town of San Simeon, since the whaling industry in the 1860’s started to decline he managed to get a great deal and purchased a ranch in 1865, how many acres was this ranch originally, what was its approximate size at its peak and how many acres are still owned by Hearst Ranch after donating Hearst Castle to the state?
2. When William Randolph Hearst was in his 50’s he felt he was getting a little too old to sleep in a tent on his favorite campsite in San Simeon, what was his original idea with the ranch in San Simeon?
3. What was the main inspiration for Hearst Castle?
4. The architect that William Randolph picked for Hearst Castle was the first woman architect licensed in California and became famous for using reinforced-concrete for non-industrial use. What was her name?
5. The construction started in 1919 and due to William Randolph’s illness ended in 1947, Hearst Castle was never finished, partially because he kept changing his mind, what featured Hearst Castle?
6. When in 1954 the property became a state park (open to the public in 1958) Hearst Castle was the name the state came up with. What was the name William Randolph formally named the ranch?
7. Hearst had the biggest private zoo in the world, the dangerous animals he kept on Animal Hill, such as grizzly bears, lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, orangutans, monkeys, and an elephant. Others were allowed to roam around freely. The dismantling of the zoo began in 1937 when Hearst experienced great financial difficulty and was forced to curtail construction and cut other expenses at the ranch. Many animals were donated to public zoos or sold. Dispersal of the zoo animals extended over more than fifteen years, and it was never entirely completed. In 1958, when the Castle was given to the State, some animals were still roaming the hills, which exotic animals can you see often from route 1?
8. At many museums, most of their collection is in storage, not displayed for the public to view. At Hearst Castle, it's the other way around: Some 98% of all of the objects in the collection are on display. The other 2% is being conserved, stored, or loaned out to other institutions. The collection is incredible, for example, there are four original 16th-century tapestries from the Deeds of Scipio Africanus series hanging on the walls. Some of the same tapestries are in the Louvre in Paris -- but theirs are copies. Why was William Randolph able to purchase many items for a fraction of what we would expect to pay these days?