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and was told he could only use one hand. On the appointed day, the
judges were gathered in Central Park as a supremely confident Underhill
drove up in a coach fully loaded with passengers.
It soon became apparent that it had been foolish to bet against him. The
author Welford Benton wrote, “Four times the Underhill thoroughbreds,
catching confidence telegraphed down the reins from that Masterly hand
on the box, trotted briskly as if on a straight road as they made perfect
eights….” and then straightened out without a change of pace to continue
the trip to Philadelphia as passengers and judges alike cheered.”
In 1896, Underhill published
Driving for Pleasure: The Harness Stable
and Its Appointments.
Complete with photographs, the book was well
received and became a standard in the field.
Caroline Astor counted him on her famous Four Hundred social
registry. He was also a member of other elite organizations such as the
Knickerbocker Union, the Society of Colonial Wars, the Sons of the
American Revolution, and the Union Club of New York. Underhill was
more than just a “swell,” however, and, probably influenced by friend and
neighbor Theodore Roosevelt, served as a captain in the Spanish American
War with a company of New York volunteers.
A Westerner at Heart
Francis Townsend Underhill first visited Santa Barbara in 1878 at age
17. Returning again and again, he found that the Western lifestyle with its
multitude of fresh opportunities appealed to him. He began dividing his
time between the civilized but prescribed life of the East and the relatively
untamed freedom of the West.
In the 1880s the Southern Pacific Railroad’s Coast Line was steadily
creeping south from San Francisco and north from Los Angeles, and
another railroad, the narrow gauge Pacific Coast Railway from San Luis
Obispo to the Santa Ynez Valley, was under construction. The opportunity
was ripe to invest in Western lands.
In late 1884, Underhill purchased the Ontare Ranch from Dixie
Thompson for $18,000. In January he chartered several rail cars and filled
them with sheep, Holstein cattle and thoroughbreds as well as equipment
and supplies. His family and staff traveled west with him. Reaching Los
Angeles, the entire entourage continued overland in wagons and carriages.
As they passed through Santa Barbara, the citizens stared in mute
amazement as his herd of fine blooded horses paraded down State Street.
Underhill left the ranch under the direction of his cousin, George
Townsend Cole, who supervised the construction of a two-story house
Spectators enjoy a polo match in the 1920s at Bartlett’s Polo Field on Middle Road in
Montecito; the Underhill-designed clubhouse stands in the background (photo Courtesy of
Santa Barbara Historical Museum)
Underhill designed the Alston Road estate of fellow horseman, C.K.G. Billings. The
stripped classical style was ornamented with elaborate wrought-iron work seen here
at a side entrance (photo courtesy of Santa Barbara Historical Museum).