Editing Pixley, California (section)

==History==
The town began as a real-estate-speculation in 1884. The investors Darwin C. Allen, and William B. Bradbury knew their project would succeed only if the town was connected to the mainline of the [[Southern Pacific Transportation Company|Southern Pacific]]. They contacted [[Frank M. Pixley]]; a man whom they knew was a friend of [[Leland Stanford]]. In 1886, Pixley joined with the original investors as a partner in the Pixley Townsite Company. The company purchased additional land in the vicinity. When The Southern Pacific extended its tracks to the Townsite, the town prospered. The terms of sale for the land was 25% down, the rest to be carried back for three years by the owners at 8 percent interest. The partners made a handsome profit.
Special railroad fares were offered to people in other areas of California and as far away as [[Boston]] in order to bring potential customers to see the new lands and the investment possibilities near Pixley.  
The first house built in Pixley was for Emma, William Pixley's widow, the late brother of Frank Pixley. Her three sons and daughter lived in the home. Emma bought a quarter section of an adjoining piece of land where she farmed until they moved back to [[San Francisco]].
Frank Pixley advertised the town named after him in his biweekly journal ''[[The Argonaut]]''.<ref>John L Levinsohn, "Frank Morrison Pixley of The Argonaut" The Book Club of San Francisco, San Francisco, California, 1989.</ref>

In the early 1890s, [[Christopher Evans (outlaw)|Chris Evans]] and [[John Sontag]] robbed a [[Southern Pacific Transportation Company|Southern Pacific Railroad]] train at Pixley.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eshomvalley.com/sontag_evans.html|title=Sontag and Evans|publisher=eshomvalley.com|access-date=November 29, 2012}}</ref>

In 1933, Pixley was one of the towns in California involved in the [[San Joaquin cotton strike]], a labor action by agricultural workers seeking higher wages. A violent clash between strikers and growers left two workers dead and eight wounded. Five thousand workers gathered in [[Tulare, California|Tulare]] for the dead strikers' funerals, one of the largest agricultural demonstrations in California's history. Eight cotton growers were indicted in the violence against the workers, but were later acquitted.<ref name=Dreams>''Endangered Dreams'', [[Kevin Starr]], Oxford University Press, 1996, pp. 74-83</ref> The strike features in Steinbeck's novel, ''The Grapes of Wrath'', coinciding with the arrival of the Joad family from [[Oklahoma]].<ref name = Steinbeck>Steinbeck, John. (1939). ''The Grapes of Wrath''. Viking Press, New York City. {{ISBN|9780141394886}}</ref>