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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01149 3068
A History of Calexico
- REPRINTED FROM THE ANNUAL PUBLICATION of the HISTORICAL SOCIETY of SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 1922 -
By MARGARET ROMER, M. A.
1183519
A HISTORY OF CALEXICO By Margaret Romer, M.A.
Chapter I.
The Valley before Settlement.
Tens of thousands of years ago, before man inhabited the earth, the Gulf of California extended inland almost to San Gorgonio Pass. Had Yuma been in existence then, it would have been on the eastern shore of the Gulf, while the mountains east of San Diego would have been on the western shore. The entire Imperial Valley was then under the waters of the Gulf of California.
The mighty Colorado River emptied into the Gulf on the eastern side. The Colorado is a powerful stream. Its drainage basin extends from the Gulf of California to the southern edge of Yellowstone National Park, an area of of over 260,000 square miles. Most of this region is moun- tainous and erosion is rapid. As a result, the Colorado carries in suspension tons and tons of solid matter. Even now this mighty stream carries some 160,000,000 tons of sediment past Yuma every year.
For centuries, this mass had been poured into the Gulf from the eastern side. It is little wonder then that it gradually built up a delta, which year by year crept west- ward until at last it reached the opposite shore.
Thus the Gulf acquired its present shore line, while the northern part was entirely cut off, leaving it an inland sea. The River chose the southeastern side of its delta and thus flowed into the Gulf. The inland sea evaporated at the rate of about six feet per year. In the course of time it dried completely, leaving an arid basin which later became known as the Salton Sink. Its deepest portions were cov- ered with a thick crust of salt.
How many centuries it remained so, no one knows. However, evidences clearly show that the Colorado again changed its course and again flowed into the Sink. In due time it refilled the inland sea and made of it a great fresh water lake. When it was full, it broke over the silt dam on the south-western side by the Cocopah Mountains and found its way to the Gulf by what is now called "Hardy's Colorado." During the years, perhaps centuries, that the Valley was submerged under the lake, the Colorado was
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dumping its millions of tons of sediment into it each year. This process continued until a depth of 1,000 feet of sedi- ment had accumulated. This was God's way of making the Valley ready for the coming of man. This was the process which made the Valley potentially one of the rich- est spots in the world.
The Colorado again changed its course, due to the shift- ing of its own delta, and again flowed into the Gulf, leav- ing the lake to dry in the sun. How many times the mighty river returned to the lake no man knows, but judging from its later caprices, it was probably several times.
The Valley has been practically dry since the advent of man. In 1540, Melchoir Diaz, a Spanish explorer in the service of Cortez, viewed the great Valley. It was then, and has every since been, a vast arid region. It is almost rain- less and the sun beats fiercely down the whole year through. Little wonder then that the inhabitants of this region were limited to horned toads and lesser animals, and vegetation to the sage-brush and an occasional mesquite tree. It was a land of sterile, parching plains and shifting sand hills. Here lay hundreds of square miles of the richest soil in the world, 1,000 feet deep, waiting silently, protected by the sun, waiting, waiting, through the centuries, until the need of man should spur the strongest on to bring the waters of the mighty Colorado again to the land and cause it to bear fruit to feed humanity.
The earliest record of the Valley having been crossed by white men, was in 1781. This was in connection with the founding of the pueblo, Los Angeles. Governor De Neve had put the work into the hands of Captain Rivera. Rivera had gathered his band of colonists at Loreto, Lower California, and had delegated the task of guiding them to the site of Los Angeles, to a lieutenant, while he led the supply train by way of Yuma. He lost his life on the great desert at the hands of the Indians.
The Valley was crossed several times by military parties in the war with Mexico in 1846. By the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the California-New Mexico territory passed into the possession of the United States for a con- sideration of $15,000,000. An army was sent to take pos- session of the territory.
In 1853, Professor William P. Blake made the first sur- vey of the Valley. He and his party were in the employ of the Government. The small remaining remnant of the old lake appears on the charts as "Blake's Sea." It was
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Professor Blake who first observed the old beach line and examined the shells, which observations revealed the geo- logical story of the Valley.
Many of the "Forty-niners" came to California via a trail over the desert through the great Sink. They crossed the Colorado River at the ford at Yuma and then crossed the Valley. Later, Dr. A. L. Lincoln, a relative of Abra- ham Lincoln, established a ferry across the Colorado at Yuma. A few years after this, seventy-four camels were imported from the Saharah to do service over the desert portion of the old trail. They were soon replaced by horses, however, as camels moved too slowly for Americans.
The road branched at Sunset Springs, one part going through San Gorgonio Pass to Los Angeles, the other going southwest over the Carriso Creek route to San Diego. It was over this latter route that the stage line was operated after 1858. The famous old stage driver, David Butter- field, of whom many tales of bravery have been told, carried the United States mail and passengers across the desert twice a month. When the Civil War broke out the service was increased to once a week.
The Eastern terminal of the stage line was at Yuma. The Confederacy claimed Arizona in its ranks and confis- cated Mr. Butterfield's property. Thus ended the old stage line.
There were three stage stations in the Valley. These were located, respectively, at Coyote Wells in the west, Indian Wells about the center, and at the southern limit of the east side chain of sand hills. These stations were situ- ated where there were springs. They consisted of an adobe waiting room and stables where fresh horses were kept for the stages. Perhaps the best known of these stations to- day is Coyote Wells, where the El Centro-San Diego stage still stops to permit the passengers to quench their thirst at the well, only that a garage has replaced the old adobe stable. The old adobe waiting room has been replaced by a little frame store and post office.
About this time also, the Valley was definitely studied with a view to reclamation, but nothing came of the effort. Considerable scientific interest in the Valley was evidenced in the seventies.
Dr. Oliver Meredith Wozencraft, a San Francisco physi- cian, came to the Valley in 1849. He was quiet, gentle, lovable, and a man with vision. He conceived the idea of reclaiming the Sink. His general plan was virtually the same as that which was followed later. He presented his
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ideas to the State Legislature and was sympathetically heard. In 1859, that body passed a bill proposing to cede to Dr. Wozencraft all state rights to the land on this desert, in consideration of his reclaiming it.
Government sanction was needed before this project could be begun. The bill was presented to Congress, but the country was on the verge of the great Civil War and had no time for the uninhabited desert valley in the West. The Doctor waited patiently until the war was over and again went to Washington with his plans. He made trips to the Capital year after year, each time waiting, waiting, months at a time, in the hope that his bill would get a hearing; but always more pressing matters of state caused it to be set aside. He died there on his mission, in 1887. He gave his life's work for the Valley but never achieved success. His is a sad but beautiful story of perseverance and devotion. His daughter, Mrs. Mary A. Streibrenner, of San Bernardino, said; "It was his own idea and no one's else. .My dear father lost a fortune on it. Everything went for the desert. Dear father was confident of success. He gave his very life to achieve its reclamation."! He has been called the "Father of the Imperial Valley."
The government made a partial re-survey in 1880. It was in this survey that New River was named. In 1886 the Southern Pacific Railroad crossed on its way from Los Angeles to Yuma.
It was also in the eighties that the New Liverpool Salt Company established an extensive plant at the northern end of what is now Salton Sea. The salt was scraped up and piled by means of a steam shovel. Only a minimum of refining was necessary as the salt was naturally white and pure. The plant operated profitably until 1906, when it was completely destroyed by the flood.
For several years in the nineties, the southwestern part of the Valley overflowed in the winter and early spring. This caused a luxuriant growth of grass. The cattle men of the eastern part of San Diego County were quick to take advantage of the feeding possibility and herded their cattle into the Valley by the thousands. When summertime came with its heat and dryness, the cattle were herded back to the mountains. Mr. Frank Thing and his brother first came to the Valley with their cattle in 1891. Mr. Thing spent several winters there and later, when settlement began, went to Calexico as one of the first permanent settlers.
1. Howe, "Story of the First Decade," 26.
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During one of his early winters in the Valley, Mr. Thing by chance ran across a great pile of human skeletons. There were hundreds of them. Whether they were the re- mains of white men or of Indians, he did not know. His duties did not take him back to the spot for many years. When he did return, he searched carefully for the bones but was unable to find them again. He also told many of his friends and a searching party tried vainly to re-discover the skeletons. They had undoubtedly been covered by the drifting sands. Unless by some miracle, the story of those bodies will remain a secret which the Great Desert will never reveal.
Chapter II.
C. R. Rockwood and the Beginnings of Reclamation 1892 to 1900
The man to whom the credit for the actual reclamation of the Salton Sink is chiefly due was Charles Robinson Rockwood. Mr. Rockwood was a man of vision, perse- verance, and indomitable courage. He was born in Michi- gan in 1860. He attended the University of that State, but did not graduate as he was forced to leave an unfinished course because of trouble with his eyes. Engineering was the profession of his choice, so he came West. He was in the service of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad for two years and then with the Southern Pacific for seven years. In 1889 he entered the United States Geological Survey. He was chief engineer in the Yakima Valley Reclamation project in Oregon, which was never completed because of the withdrawal of financial support.
John C. Beatty was a promoter of some prominence. He had learned of Mr. Rockwood's success and sent for him to investigate the possibility of irrigating a vast tract of land in Sonora, Mexico, from the Colorado River. Mr. Rockwood reported to Mr. Beatty that his project was im- practicable.
While in Yuma, Mr. Rockwood heard of the Salton Sink, and immediately investigated. He quickly saw the possi- bilities and made his reports to Mr. Beatty. The latter gave up the Sonora project and started the "Colorado River Ir- rigation Company" and began selling stock.
Mr. Rockwood began his survey of the Sink in the winter of 1892. He was assisted by his associate engineer, Mr. C. N. Perry. In the spring of 1893, they went to Den-
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ver to present to Mr. Beatty their field notes and their plan. Mr. Beatty was well pleased, but a financial panic was upon the country and it was quite impossible to proceed at that time. Mr. Beatty made a trip to New York to try to interest Eastern capital. He succeeded but slightly, and most of what he did get was merely paper. Messers. Rock- wood and Perry had become so imbued with the spirit of the great enterprise that they determined to put everything they had into it in order to realize their dream.
Another problem that presented itself was that of se- curing land rights in the Mexican part of the Valley. The land through which the main canal must be cut was owned by General Andrade, Mexican Consul in Los Angeles. The thing that complicated the situation was that a firm in Scot- land held an option on the land. Mr. Rockwood journeyed to Scotland in a vain attempt to interest the holders of the option.
On his return from Scotland, Mr. Rockwood met Mr. John C. Beatty in Providence, Rhode Island, surrounded by luxuries purchased, it is said, with the money from the stock he had sold .? Mr. Rockwood was too modest a man to tolerate that sort of proceedings, so he dropped Mr. Beatty forever. Mr. Rockwood, however, was an engineer and not a promoter. He needed assistance in the handling of the financial side of the project. He therefore looked for another associate. He soon decided that Mr. Samuel W. Ferguson was his man. Mr. Ferguson was the manager of the Kern River Land Company and formerly a land agent for the Southern Pacific Railroad. He was honest, depend- able, aggressive and experienced as a promoter. The two men became associated. Their first move was to borrow $5,000 from Dr. W. T. Heffernan, a Yuma physician, for an option on the Andrade land in Mexico, the Scotland option having expired.
An eccentric old character named Hal Hanlon owned the land where the heading would have to be placed. The land was practically valueless except for that one purpose, but Hanlon held onto it stubbornly, demanding $20,000. He would listen to neither pleas nor reason. Finally it was purchased by Mr. Rockwood and his associates, Messrs. Perry and Ferguson. They paid $2,000 down, which they had also borrowed from Dr. Heffernan, their Yuma friend.
Mr. Rockwood next interested Mr. Anthony H. Heber of Chicago. Mr. Heber was a promoter of some prom- inence. He left a good position to come West and enter
2. Howe, "Story of the First Decade;" also statements of early settlers.
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The Camp at Cameron Lake.
0
-- 1
Headquarters of the California Development Company
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the work with Mr. Rockwood. He also left his wife and four children, telling them he would not be gone more than six months. It was four years before he returned. Mr. Heber had enthusiasm, ambition, confidence and business ability. Messrs. Rockwood, Heber and Ferguson incorpo- rated under the laws of New Jersey, April 26, 1896. They called their firm the "California Development Company." They were capitalized for $1,250,000. Mr. Heber was made president.
In the summer of 1897, Mr. Rockwood endured a two- months illness in a Boston hospital. While in that city in the interest of his beloved Valley, he was taken with typhoid fever, and there he suffered alone among strangers. The illness was serious, but his life was spared for the work he had yet to do.
On his recovery, he made a second trip to Europe in search of capital. There were two men there whom he hoped to interest in his cause. When he arrived he learned that they had both died since he began his journey. He gained nothing by this second trip to Europe. Mr. Rock- wood was by this time weary and discouraged, but it never occurred to him to give up the struggle. He had the tenacity of a bulldog.
On his return, he interested Mr. Silas B. Dutcher, Presi- dent of the Hamilton Trust Company of Brooklyn. Mr. Dutcher agreed to finance the project. Mr. Heber was also in New York at the time. The two men were so elated over the success that they spent their last $2 on a dinner to celebrate the victory. The next morning the papers came out with the announcement that the "Maine" had been sunk in Havana Harbor! This created uncertainty in the financial situation in the country as a consequence of which Mr. Dutcher refused to carry out the agreement. War and financial depression followed. This meant hard times for the Company.
Suddenly Mr. Rockwood received word from Tyndall and Monk, an English firm, to come to London and close the deal. They would finance the project, they said. In almost uncontrollable joy, Mr. Rockwood journeyed to England for the third time. He was joined soon afterward by Mr. Heber. The deal was practically complete, and the two men hurried back to America to begin operations. Hardly had they reached this country, when the London company cabled that they could not complete the trans- action. They gave no reasons. It has ever since remained a mystery.
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The two men were now almost penniless. Mr. Rock- wood had wealthy friends in Detroit whom he thought he might interest, but he did not have the money to take him there. Mrs. Heber had some valuable jewelry which was pawned to provide the means of Mr. Rockwood's trip to Detroit. Mr. Rockwood did not know until many years afterward where Mr. Heber secured the money for that trip.
After all, it was useless. Mr. Rockwood was then stranded in Detroit. At this point he had to accept a po- sition with a Boston firm to go to Porto Rico and perform some expert services there. Mr. Heber was tired out; he returned to his family after four years of fruitless effort. Mr. Rockwood became president of the Company. He was not as elated over the honor as one might suppose, for it all looked so hopeless. Apparently every possible source of capital had been exhausted. Those most interested had also used up all their private resources. Mr. Rockwood was indeed discouraged. Could his fond dream ever be realized? The plans were complete. Every detail had been carefully thought out. All that was lacking was the money to carry out the work. The total liabilities of the California Development Company at this time were $1,365,- 000. There was nothing to show for it but the filing on the River and the camp and surveying equipment. Even the filing had to be renewed. The Attorney-General of New Jersey began suit to cancel the charter of the Company for non-payment of the annual tax to the state.
Mr. Ferguson was the man who at last found a capitalist to finance the project. He telegraphed to Mr. Rockwood and the latter lost no time in reaching Los Angeles to meet Mr. George Chaffey.
Mr. George Chaffey was born in Ontario, Canada, in 1848. He was forced to leave school at the age of fourteen because of ill health. For a while he worked for his uncle, who was a contracting engineer. Later he joined his father in the steamship business. He was captain of several ves- sels and had a first class engineer's certificate. In '78, he won recognition as a ship builder. In time, his parents moved to Riverside, California. He came to visit them and remained here.
In '81, he and his brother, W. B. Chaffey, founded Eti- wanda. He devised a mutual water company for that community, which became a model for all southern Cali- fornia. In '82, he designed a small power plant in con- nection with the Etiwanda irrigation system, to run a dy- namo, and thus operated the first electric light in southern
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California. The same year he installed in Los Angeles the first electric system in the world for street lighting. Also in the same year, he founded Ontario, California, and orig- inated and endowed Chaffey College there.
The government of Victoria, Australia, became so in- terested in his work that it sent for him. He went, and accomplished great desert reclamation work there, besides founding several colonies. He then returned to the United States. His attention was called to the Imperial Valley. He considered it the greatest opportunity ever presented for reclamation work. He saw only the physical side. He did not investigate the financial side; but plunged imme- diately into construction work. On April 3, 1900, Mr. Chaffey signed a contract which practically gave him com- plete control for five years.
Mr. Chaffey experienced considerable difficulty with the Mexican government in getting permission to run the canals through Mexican territory. He had to agree to colonize part of the country in return for the desired per- mission.
Mr. Chaffey was with the Company only twenty-two months. In that brief time he constructed 400 miles of canals and laterals. His prestige secured publicity through the New York Times, Tribune, and Post, the Philadelphia Press, and the Scientific American. These papers gave much news space and made editorial comments on the en- terprise.
Immediate colonization was the condition under which Mr. Chaffey joined the Company. The colonists were to take up land under the Desert Land Act. Accordingly, in March of 1900, the Imperial Land Company was organized. It was to be the colonizing agency. It was to receive 25% of the gross sales of water stock in the United States and of land sales in Mexico. It was to have all the town-site rights and was invested with all rights to power, light, telephone, railroad, and other similar franchises throughout the Valley.
Mr. Chaffey invested much money besides putting up his personal possessions as security for the Company. Los Angeles banks would not accept Valley securities. This curtailed the credit previously enjoyed by Mr. Chaffey and his brother. Mr. Chaffey brought the Company, from no assets but a camp and surveying equipment and liabilities to the amount of $1,365,000, up to a surplus of $342,687.16.
The actual work was begun by Mr. C. N. Perry at Flow- ing Wells in April, 1900. The first work on the canals
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was done in December of the same year. The camp was next moved to Cameron Lake, which was an enlargement of New River. It was a beauty spot, an oasis in the desert. It was named after Mr. Cameron, a San Diego rancher who grazed his cattle there. Fishing was excellent, but the water was too bad for drinking, so the camp was moved again to Silsbee.
Silsbee was situated on beautiful Blue Lake. Here the drinking water was better than at Cameron Lake, but still too bad for permanent use. It was here that the first Fourth of July celebration in the Valley was held, in 1900.
Mr. George Hunt located in the Valley that same year, and six months later established the California and Mexico Company. In this, he interested General H. G. Otis of the Los Angeles Times. The result was the purchase of a ranch consisting of some 700,000 acres, partly in the United States and partly in Mexico.
The Imperial Land Company began an extensive pub- licity campaign. Settlers began coming in great numbers. In the fall of 1900, there was one voting precinct in the Valley. Ten men voted there at the election that year.
Cameron Lake, being nearer the border, was a more convenient location for the camp than Silsbee. For this reason, the camp was moved back to Cameron Lake.
In the fall of 1900, the Imperial Land Company laid out the town-sites of Imperial, Calexico, Brawley, Heber, and Silsbee. Imperial was built up first. The Land Company did a flourishing business with headquarters there. A post office was established and Dr. Heffernan was made post master.
For convenience, the camp was again moved to the American side of the boundary line on the east side of New River on the town-site of Calexico. The history of Calexico itself begins at this point. However, the story that goes before is necessary to the intelligent understanding of what follows. Calexico is the outgrowth of the reclamation of the Colorado Desert, and its history would not be complete without an account of the great reclamation work which made it possible. The early history of the Imperial Valley and that of Calexico are one and the same, and so cannot possibly be separated.
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Chapter III.
Early Life in Calexico, 1901 to 1905
It is well at this point to present a resumé of the con- ditions under which these brave pioneers existed. The tem- perature varied between 100 and 120 degrees for a large part of the year. There was no ice and no shade save the "'ramada," which was always the first structure to be erected in a community. It consisted of four or more uprights sup- porting a frame which was roofed over with dry brush. There were frequent sand storms, the fury of which must be experienced to be realized. One of these storms, worse than the average, laid low every tent in the settlement. Water had to be hauled from Indian Wells, one mile south of Silsbee. It was brought in a barrel dragged on a sled by a mule.
Passengers coming to Calexico had to leave the train at Flowing Wells and journey by stage to Imperial and the remainder of the distance by wagon. Freight was brought from the railroad by regular "freighters." These were heavy wagons drawn by a long string of mules. This "freighter" took enough water for the round trip, when it started from Flowing Wells. At regular intervals it would drop off a barrel of water to provide for the water supply on the return trip.
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