From a ‘desperate’ to ‘respectable’ town, Pleasanton’s mythologized Wild West history

Before it was home to the Alameda County Fairgrounds, Safeway headquarters and more than 80,000 Bay Area residents, the city of Pleasanton was a Gold Rush stopover rife with bandits and cattle, set amongst a grove of sycamore trees — it was then called Alisal, nicknamed “The Most Desperate Town in the West.”

Local historians say that may be a little dramatic.