The first weekend of June proved to be busy, with the Elks Rodeo and Parade marking the culmination of fundraising activities for the Elk/s queen candidates. Karen, the kids and I attended the rodeo on Friday night and had a great time.

The same weekend, I attended a benefit for the California Rangeland Trust at historic Rancho San Julian on Highway 1 between Lompoc and Highway 101.

Rancho San Julian is celebrating its 170th year as a family ranching business.

The rancho, originally granted to Jose de la Guerra in 1837, is now being worked by seventh-generation descendants of the Dibblee and de la Guerra families.

A third of its original size, the 15,000-acre rancho runs 750 cows, dry-farms hay and beans, grows and distills lavender and grows vegetables, utilizing the latest in water-saving technology.

Guests were able to tour the adobe in small groups led by family members, some of whom could remember growing up when the rancho had up to 30 vaqueros helping with the various ranching activities.

As we toured the kitchen located on one end of the adobe, our tour guide had fond memories of the last Chinese cook who worked on the rancho when she was a young girl.

It was easy to be taken back in time as I stepped out onto the porch of the adobe and looked out at the barns and rolling oak-covered hills to the west.

I can remember my grandfather Sam telling me about the Chinese cook they had at Rancho La Vega when he was a young man. The cook/s name was Gin Kun.

There were quite a few Chinese immigrants in the area at that time, with many helping build the narrow-gauge railroad and working in local businesses and ranchos in the area.

When my grandfather was a small boy, his bedroom was right next to the kitchen, so he could see what the cook was making and was able to get a treat from the cook before the rest of the family came in to eat.

Gin Kun was a great tortilla maker, and my grandfather used to get more than his fair share of warm tortillas right off the grill.

Gin Kun would occasionally go to Santa Barbara to visit with other Chinese and catch up on the gossip throughout the Chinese community.

He also belonged to a tong. As I recall, a tong is a secret Chinese American society created for mutual support and protection, especially from other local ethnic groups hostile to the rapid Chinese immigration of that time.

Much like being a gang member today, tongs would have their own members and territories. Some were involved in criminal activities that would erupt into tong wars.

On one occasion, Gin Kun came back from Santa Barbara after spending time with his tong and told my grandfather that he was in great danger.

A rival tong had threatened to kill members of the tong Gin Kun belonged to and, in fact, were planning on coming to Rancho La Vega to find and kill him.

My grandfather/s family took that very seriously. I do not remember how they knew when the rival tong was planning on coming for Gin Kun, but they knew the night of the planned attack.

In the early evening, Gin Kun made his way to the small wine cellar, located just off of the dining room in the adobe at Rancho La Vega, where he hid for the night.

My grandfather and a vaquero from the rancho rode horseback all night around the perimeter of the adobe. They kept under the trees, armed with loaded rifles, waiting for the rival tong members to appear.

Early morning came along with no such appearance. Gin Kun was a nervous wreck in the small wine cellar, which was barely big enough for a grown person to go down into, and was very relieved to find that morning had arrived and he was still alive.

My grandfather told me they remained on a sort of alert for a couple of weeks, as they took the tong wars very seriously. Thankfully, the rival group must have decided the long trip from Santa Barbara to Buellton was not worth finding Gin Kun.

Kevin Merrill is a vineyard manager for Mesa Vineyard Management in Santa Maria. He is president of the Central Coast Wine Growers/ Association Foundation and a board member of the Santa Barbara County Farm Bureau. He can be reached at kmerrill@mesavineyard.com.