In 1879, with only fifty dollars in his pocket, Giacomo Peirano, a grape farmer from Genoa, Italy, immigrated to San Francisco, CA, in the hopes of fulfilling the American dream of striking it rich with gold during the historic Gold Rush age. Soon realizing the days of really collecting a big share were no longer in sight, he decided to take whatever he had left of his fifty dollars and moved to Lodi, CA.