Joseph A. Rowe

Rancho Santa Anita Owner 1854 - 1858 (American Period)

Joseph A. Rowe was born in Kingston, Lenoir County, North Carolina in 1819. At the age of eight he found himself an orphan and under the surveillance of a guardian who cared little for his welfare, neglecting his education and having no restraint on young Rowe, who was a full of tricks and antics.

In 1829, a circus company owned by Asa T. Smith came to town. Joseph had continued to be badly treated by his guardians and so applied to Mr. Smith for a job. This started his career in the circus business. He joined many circuses and traveled all over the country. He also traveled as far away as St. Thomas, West Indies and Caracas, Venezuela. Rowe and a partner, Perez, launched out for themselves, purchased a few horses, broke them and trained them for the ring. President of Venezuela, José Antonio Páez, rewarded Rowe with a beautifully embroidered purse containing sixty ounces of gold and letters to various dignitaries throughout the state, aiding them greatly in business matters.

Joseph decided to go to California and arrived in San Francisco on October 12, 1849 from Panama on the bark Tasso. On October 29, he introduced the first circus in the west under the name of Rowe’s Olympic Circus. His entertainment included his wife, Eliza, a trick rider; a horse back dancer; a ringmaster; many other trick riders; a clown and rope dancers. Rowe then took his troupe and traveled to Tahiti; the Sandwich and Society Islands; Auckland, New Zealand; Melbourne, Australia; Honolulu and Lahaina, Hawaii. In Honolulu, they had the privilege of entertaining King Kamehameha. He found great financial success on this tour. Now laden with over $100,000 in cash and numerous chests of treasure, he sailed from Melbourne in the early part of 1854 arriving in San Francisco the following spring.

Santa Anita

Rowe and his wife decided to retire from the circus business, desiring to live the remainder of their days in peace and quiet. After resting and settling their business affairs in San Francisco, they departed for Southern California to establish a permanent home. On May 30, 1854 they purchased the Santa Anita Rancho, which was considered one of southern California’s finest ranchos, from Henry and Guadalupe Dalton for the sum of $33,000. Joseph and Eliza made their home on Rancho Santa Anita living in a quiet and unassuming manner. The routine of plodding around a ranch from sunrise to sunset must have rejuvenated him so much so that he decided to dash back into the ring and again become a circus proprietor. Returning to San Francisco early in 1856, he opened his now famous California Pioneer Circus on March 8, 1856.

A wave of hard times suddenly engulfed the country. The six month tour of the Circus throughout the mountain counties in 1856 proved so disastrous financially that the proprietors were almost bankrupt by the time they got back to the city in the fall. Despite the bad conditions, they were forced to keep their payroll up to the previous standard of the good times, thereby aggravating the losses that were already overwhelming the enterprise. While Rowe and company were on a tour of the South Seas and Australia in 1858, Rowe sold Rancho Santa Anita to two businessmen of San Francisco, William H. Corbett and Albert Dibblee.

In 1864 Rowe became manager for Gilbert’s Menagerie and Museum on Market Street. He became extensively engaged in wood engraving for large display ads mainly for show business. He learned wood engraving while young and many of his own circus display ads (included here) were designed and engraved by him. Rowe continued in the circus business as a ringmaster and agent.

In around 1875, he made his final bow to the circus world after which he spent the remaining years of his life as a horse trainer. He died in San Francisco on November 3, 1887.

Information and images from

"California's Pioneer Circus"

Copyright 1926, Albert Dressler