USA > California > Yolo County > The Western shore gazetteer and commercial directory for the state of California Yolo County : one volume being devoted to each county of the state, giving a brief history of each county. > Part 1
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55
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SOF URTARTAL
O/FALITW
ELERAR
THE
WESTERN SHORE GAZETTEER
AND
COMMERCIAL DIRECTORY,
For the State of California,
CONTAINING THE NAMES OF ALL THE ADULT MALE CITIZENS OF THE STATE, THEIR OCCUPATIONS AND PROFESSIONS ; THE AMOUNT OF CAPITAL INVESTED; VALUE OF PROPERTY, AS NEAR AS CAN BE ASCER- TAINED FROM THE MOST RELIABLE SOURCES; THE COUNTY, TOWN AND ELECTION PRECINCT IN WHICH EACH RESIDES, AND HIS POST-OFFICE ADDRESS.
YOLO COUNTY.
ONE VOLUME BEING DEVOTED TO
EACH COUNTY OF THE STATE.
GIVING A BRIEF HISTORY OF EACH COUNTY,
ITS ORGANIZATION; PAST AND PRESENT COUNTY, TOWN AND PRECINCT OFFICERS ; THE KIND AND VALUE OF ITS IMPORTS AND EXPORTS ; CONDITION OF ITS FINANCES ; ITS MINING, MANUFACTURING AND AGRI- CULTURAL RESOURCES, ETC., ETC.
The names as well as the business and profession of each individual arranged in alphabetical order, convenient for reference. Together with a copious index to all advertisements and business callings.
COMPILED AND PUBLISHED ANNUALLY BY
C. P. SPRAGUE & H. W. ATWELL, WOODLAND, YOLO COUNTY.
M
Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year Eighteen Hundred and Seventy, by SPRAGUE & ATWELL, .
.
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.
SAN FRANCISCO : PRESS OF BANCROFT AND COMPANY.
> 5
PREFACE.
CUSTOM renders it essential that we should write a preface to a work of this character, otherwise this GAZETTEER would be presented to the public without apology. The compila- tion of the work has been attended with great expense and no small amount of annoyance, yet our thanks are due to most of our county officials and the early settlers of the county for the very generous responses they have made to our inquiries, and for their assistance in gathering statistics. We also extend our acknowledgments to the county clerks of other counties who have furnished us with lists of their county and township officers, Had all thus responded those. lists would have been complete, and information would have been given of which our friends will be deprived.
GOWAN LIBRARY, 1936
. Our work contains more than we promised in our pros- pectus, yet is not in all respects precisely what we at first intended it should be. We did intend to give the incum- brances or legal liabilities upon property in the county; but abandoned the idea for certain reasons, some of which we may mention : We find many mortgages of record uncan- celled, which we have every reason to believe have been paid-the mortgagees having neglected to cancel them. We were not inclined, upon reflection, to risk giving offense by publishing what appears of record and, as a matter of fact, is public property. With this exception we have omitted nothing we suggested, but have added much useful informa- tion not proposed in our prospectus. The public are to be the jurors to determine its merits.
C. P. SPRAGUE, H. W. ATWELL, Publishers.
WOODLAND, November, 1870.
-
ERRATA .- On page 134, fourth line from bottom of page, for "2,743," read "112,744"; page 461, for "J. G. Stephens, " read "J. D. Stephens."
GENERAL INDEX.
Alfalfa
Arroyos, The. 85
Agricultural Ditches 97
Attorneys at Law, tables 495
Agent, tables ...
495
Arrests and Convictions
196
Bridges
45
Bullard's Farm 63
Buckeye Grain Lands . 67
Briggs' Farm
68
Bryte's Dairy
77
Babel Slough.
93
Buckeye Creek
99
Bank of Woodland. 119
Buckeye.
125
Baptist Church
134
Boot- and Shoe-Shops. 146
Bakeries.
147, 496
Breweries
147
Bear Flag.
13
Bar-keepers
497
Blacksmiths and Shops 497
Barbers
499
Boot- and Shoe-Makers.
.499
Boarding- and Lodging Houses. . 500
Breweries
500
Brick-Makers and Yards
150, 500
Butchers and Shops.
501
Business Directory
495
Buildings in Woodland.
117
Clear Lake Wagon-Road
44
Cottonwood Grain Lands. 69
Capay Valley. 72
Cache Creek Lands
73
Cave's Dairy
76
Choice Cows
77
Conrad's Farm 77
Carey's Dairy 78
Creeks and Sloughs 85
Cache Creek. .
96
Cottonwood Creek.
99
Cinnabar.
111
California Mine, The. 112
Churches .
117
Cacheville
124
Capay City
125
Cottonwood
125
81 | Churches and Church Organiza-
tions
131
Christian Church ..
132
Cumberland Presbyterians
133
Catholics.
133
Congregational Church.
134
Cacheville Flour Mills
139
Crouse's Mill.
140
Carpenters' Shops
146
Cabinet-Shops.
147
Capay Valley Winery
148
Craft's Brick-Yard. .
152
Cacheville Brick-Yard
151
Chiccory Garden and Manufac-
tory
152
Cattle.
172
Number of and Value
173
City Papers
178
Clanton's Farm
61
Capitalists
500
Clothing
500
Cattle for Sale 501
Carriage- and Wagon-Shops
142
Carriage- and Wagon-Makers
502
Carpenters
503
Cows for Sale.
506
Cabinet-Makers
.506
Contractors
506
Clerks
507
Caulkers
.505
County Finances
175
Climate. .
176
Carpet-Weavers.
505
California State Government. 539
Division 1
48
Division 2.
49
Division 3. 51
Division 4.
52
Division 5
52
Dairy Farms
74
Dairymen . .
508
Deep Arroyo
86
Dry Creek
100
Davisville
126
Dentists
508
Druggists
509
Draymen
509
| Dr. Ruddock's Farm
62
VI
GENERAL INDEX.
Dairies in Merritt Township 76 | Langville. 125
Ely's Farm.
Elk Slough 91
Eagle Flour Mills 138
Elliott's Carriage Manufactory. 142
Elliott's Brick-Yard 151
Exports. 157
Exporters 157
Emigrants, A Word to. 199
Editors. 509
Engineers ,509
Ferries. 46, 516
Freeport Ferry 47
Fisheries of Yolo 109
Fremont.
124
Flour-Mills. 138
Farms for Sale 510
Farms to Rent.
509
Farms, Large
512
Fishermen
516
Fremont. 16
Green's Ranch. 65
Green's Dairy. 75
Grand Island Dairies 78
Grazing, The. 79
Grand Island
95
Gold Mining.
111
Grape Culture.
170
Geographical Outlines. 1
Gordon, Wm .. 6
Gardens of Putah Creek. 98
General Description of Woodland.117
Glove-maker
517
Gunsmith.
.517
History of Yolo-1841 to 1870 .. 1 to 40
Hungry Hollow. 72
Hesperian College 115
Hotels. 117
Harness- and Saddlery-Shops 146
Hogs. 173
Number of. 173
Value of. 173
For Sale. .518
Horses ... 171
For Sale 517
Trainers.
,520
Hospital Fund. 175
Hotel-keepers 520
Hunters.
521
Islands 9.4
Imports 156
Importers 157
Justices of the Peace 521
Jacks and Jennies. 172, 521
Jewelers. 521
Knight's Landing 119
Lang's Brick-yard. 151
Laundries and Laundrymen 522
Levees.
50
Livery Stables 521
Lumber-dealers. 522
Merritt's Farm. 63
McFadyen's Farm. 71
Merritt's Island. . 97
Mines and Minerals 111
Meat-Markets 118
M. E. Church, The 131
MI. E. Church South, The. 133
Manufacturing Interests 137
Morals.
196
Marriages
178
Mules.
172
For Sale. 526
Manufacturers. 522
Masons and Brieklayers 522
Merchants. 523
Ministers of the Gospel 524
Machinists .. 525
Milliners and Dress-makers 525
Mill-men.
525
Millers. 525
Mill-wrights 525
Musicians 526
Mulberry Trees 527
Natural Divisions. 47
Newton's Mill. 140
Newspapers 176
Nurserymen.
526
Notaries Public. 526
Order of U. A. O. D. 127
Order of F. and A. M. 128
Order of I. O. O. F. 128
Order of I. O. G. T. 130
Order of C. of R. C. 131
Orchards, tables.
526
Orleans Hill Winery, The 149
Projected Railroads 43
Public Roads. 44
Plainfield 64
Prairie Lands
73
Putah Creek. 98
Peanuts. .
104
Public Buildings 115
Publie School-house 116
Plummer's Shop 145
Peters & Howard's Shop 145
Plainfield Farms
64 .
Poultry Dealers 528
Photographers and Galleries 527
Phonography 527
Plasterers
528
Physicians
528
Ferry 47 | Painters 528
VII
GENERAL INDEX.
Prospective Review
199
Surveyors
533
Sericulturists
535
Toll Roads
46
Tules, The ..
50
Tule House Dairy. 77
Timber.
101
Theater
117
Tailors
152
Teachers
.535
Tailors.
.536
Tinners
536
Toll Roads.
.536
Traders, General.
536
Telegraph Operators
536
United Brethren, The.
133
Value of Grazing Lands.
53
Vineyards.
537
Woodland Farms.
60
Willow Slongh Farms.
61
Willow Slough.
86
Water ..
100
Woodland.
113
Washington
122
Woodland Flour-Mills
120
Wagon and Blacksmithing
142
Woodland Brewery
147
Wineries
148
Woodland Winery, No. 2.
148
Woodland Winery, No. 1.
149
Wineries
537
Wagons For Sale
538
Wheelwrights.
.538
Well-Borers
538
Yolo County.
41
Yolo Brewery
147
Yolo Democrat.
176
Yolo Weekly Mail
177
ADVERTISEMENTS.
ATTORNEYS-
Alexander, Armstrong & Hink- 208 son .
Harry Dixon.
212
Daniel E. Alexander.
216
A. P. Catlin.
242
BAKER-
Schluer & Sieber.
22.4
BREWERIES-
Wirth & Co.
340
Scherley & Miller
360
.
AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS
Baker & Hamilton
214
A. Griffith & Co.
206
Gray & Wood.
384
ACADEMY OF MUSIC
278
BLACKSMITH
-
H. Perry
356
BOOT- AND SHOE-SHOP-
-
W. Keller
224
Burnett & Harper.
246
Edgerton & Poorman.
264
Frost & Bush.
336
James Johnson.
404
C. P. Sprague
599
BARBERS-
Scott & Reno
352
Theodore Schumacher.
264
BOOKS AND STATIONERY-
A. S. Hopkins.
204
Edwards & Co
394
Peddlers
.528
Recapitulation of Flour Trade. 141
Robertson's Shop.
145
Refinery ..
150
Recapitulation, General, of Man- ufactures .. 154
Recapitulation of Stock
174
Reclamation of Swamp Lands
51
Restaurants .
529
Recapitulation of Mills
141
Residents and Occupations
205
Smith's Ferry .
46
Sutterville Ferry
47
Sacramento River Land. 53
Scott's, G. M., Farm .. 70
Stephens', G. D., Farm. 71
Scott's Dairy.
79
Sycamore Slough
95
Sulphur Springs ..
101
Silk Culture
106
Schools
134
Seely's Mill
139
Sibley's Mill.
141
Smith's Mill
140
Sash and Doors
141
Schindler's Winery
149
Sales of Town Lots.
158
Sales of Land.
166
Sheep. ..
174
Swingle's Dairy
78
Saloons .
530
Saddlers and Harness-Makers
.532
Students
.532
Stair-Builders and Turners
533
Shepherds and Sheep-Owners
.533
Sheep for Sale
534
Stage Lines. . .
130
Stock Interest of Yolo.
171
VIII
GENERAL INDEX.
BRICK-MAKERS-
L. F. Craft 250
N. Elliott. 268
J. Lang 344
CARRIAGES- C. Elliott 424
COMMERCIAL COLLEGE ---
M. K. Lander. 296
DENTISTS-
Prather & Plomteaux.
216
DRUGGISTS-
Ben. Hastings 212
Ruggles & Machefert 221
DRESS-MAKING --
Mrs. McDonald.
264
DRY-GOODS-
Henry Aronson.
216
FURNITURE-
P. Krellenberg.
210
Smith & Brogan
400
FORWARDING AND COMMISSION
Laugenour & Brownell.
326
GROCERS-
Eaton & Lawson. 212
G. M. Eaton. . 404
GENERAL MERCHANDISE --
Huston, Goldman & Co
560
F. S. Freeman.
302
A. Griffith & Co
206
A. Hoffman ..
390
Flieshman & Kaufman
208
HARDWARE-
Gray & Wood. 384
Gillig, Mott & Co 220
Hawley & Co.
246
C. D. Morin
212
HARNESS --
L. Dietz
264
HATTERS-
Meussdorffer 242
HOTELS-
Orleans Hotel, A. Pollard. . . 562 Capitol Hotel, Furniss & Eaton. 218 Crescent City Hotel, J. M. Enos & Son 246
Lang's Hotel, J. Lang.
.344
Overland House, Dr. Hunter .. 404
INSURANCE- People's Fire and Marine. ..... 310 Phoenix and Home Fire Insur- ance Company. 362
JEWELER-
Eaton & Green.
224
LIVERY STABLES-
W. J. Roberts.
218
Breckenridge & Swain. 378
LUMBER DEALERS-
A. Powell.
212
P. C. Robertson.
242
A. Floyd.
208
Newton & Co.
.366
MUSIC STORE-
L. K. Hammer
216
MEAT-MARKET-
James Asberry.
254
MILLS-
Cacheville Flour Mill
296
Yolo Planing Mill.
220
NEWSPAPERS-
San Francisco Chronicle
334
Scientific Press.
.374
Yolo Democrat
.366
Yolo Mail.
356
PHYSICIANS-
Drs. Ray & Mehring.
302
Drs. Peirson & Jackson
284
Henry Jackson, M. D.
246
R. W. Murphy, M. D. 208
PAINTERS-
J. C. Smith
.352
M. Peterson
284
PRINTERS-
Bacon & Co.
222
Baneroft & Co.
On cover
PHOTOGRAPHER-
L. M. Rne
296
REAL ESTATE AGENTS-
G. D. Fiske.
316
Frost & Bush
356
RESTAURANT- Antelope Restaurant, Buckley & Breckenridge 330
RECTIFIER-
Wilcox & Rock
378
SALOON-
H. Stegall.
254
VEGETABLES AND FRUIT-
C. Goldman
400
WINERY-
Woodland Winery
390
HISTORY OF YOLO COUNTY.
I. Geographical Outlines.
Yolo County is bounded on the north by Colusa and Sutter counties; on the east by Sutter and Sacramento; on the south by Solano and Napa, and on the west by Napa and Lake counties. It is separated from Sacramento and Sutter counties by the Sacramento River; from Solano by Putah Creek, and from Lake and Napa by the summit of a spur of the coast range of mountains.
Upon the organization of the county by the Legislature, in 1850, the boundaries were not very minutely defined; but sufficiently designated to show that they have not been materially changed.
Whatever legislation there has been since the organiza- tion of the county upon the subject of its boundaries, has apparently been more for the purpose of explaining what was intended by the original Act, than for the purpose of making any material changes in its actual boundaries.
Although several Acts have been passed for that purpose, one of which was as late as the session of 1867-8, perhaps there are none more definite than the Act of March 26th, 1857, which is as follows: "The boundary line of Yolo County shall commence at a point in the middle of the Sacramento River, near the head of Merritt's on Steamboat Slough, at a point where the township line, between town- ship number five and township number six, north of the Mount Diablo base line intersects said river; thence run- ning due west with said township line to the range line,
2
THE WESTERN SHORE GAZETTEER.
between range number two and range number three, east of the meridian of Mount Diablo; thence due north with said range line to the south branch or old bed of Putah Creek; thence westerly up the middle of the old bed, as well as the main Putah Creek, to a point in the cañon where the highest ridge of mountains divides the valleys of Sacra- mento and Berryessa; thence along the highest ridge of said mountains, north to the outlet of Clear Lake, or until it intersects a line dividing the counties of Yolo and Colusa; thence east with said line to the middle of Sacramento River; thence south along the middle of said river to the place of beginning:"
That section of country thus bounded and embracing the County of Yolo, has its greatest length from northwest to southeast, measuring on an air line in that direction a distance of fifty-eight miles.
The county has been wholly surveyed and sectionized, from north to south, from Colusa County to Solano County line, a distance varying from twenty-seven to thirty-three miles. It has been surveyed due west from a point on the Sacramento River opposite Sacramento City, a distance of thirty-three miles, that being the greatest width of the surveyed portion of the county-there being an average width from east to west of about twenty-seven and a half miles, except that portion extending south of the sink of Putah Creek, as shown by the map.
The extent of the survey westward may, for all practical purposes, at least for agricultural and grazing purposes, be considered the western boundary of the county, for beyond that survey the mountains are rugged and rocky, and wholly unfit for cultivation or grazing. That portion of the coun- ty which has been segregated or sectionized, covers an area of about nine hundred and forty square miles, which, per- haps for average productiveness of soil, is nowhere sur- passed, and it may be considered capable of supporting as many inhabitants to the square mile as any portion of the country, and we will venture here to digress so far as to observe that, with a population as dense as an average of some of the Eastern States, the number of Yolo's inhabi- tants would exceed one hundred thousand.
3
HISTORY OF YOLO COUNTY.
Except for a distance of three or four miles along the western line of the surveyed portion of the county, the whole surface presents the appearance of a perfectly level plain, extending from Colusa County on the north to Solano on the south, from the Sacramento River on the east to the low hills at the foot of the mountains on the west, with a descent so gradual from the mountains to the river as not to be perceptable to the naked eye.
This plain is only broken by a few creeks and ravines, which are but trenches worn into the earth by the action of water as it has drained from the mountains during the rainy seasons, except Cache Creek, of which we shall presently speak. We should further state that it is broken by a low, gravelly ridge (which does not amount to the dignity of a hill), extending about half way through the county, north- west to southeast, and being from one to two miles in width.
Along the bank of the Sacramento River there is a strip of land varying in width from a few rods to one or two miles, of a rich, sandy loam, unsurpassed in its productive- ness of fruits and cereals. Adjoining this, and further from the river, is a strip of tule and salt-grass land, from half a mile to three or four miles in width, of a black, clayey soil, impregnated with alkali, unfit for cultivation and only used for grazing purposes. Then comes the great body of farm- ing lands of the county. The soil may be designated as a black, clayey loam, intermingled with a small proportion of sand, and it appears to be especially adapted to the growth of wheat and barley, whilst grapes and other fruits grow luxuriantly. Such is the soil of the great body of the county, though the low ridge we have mentioned is a red, gravelly clay, not so productive as the former, yet by no means a poor quality of land.
Cache Creek is the only stream of water of note in the county. West of the mountain spur forming the boundary line, and in the midst of the coast range, is a basin, in which is situated Lake County, and that beautiful sheet of water, some forty miles in length, known as Clear Lake, the outlet of which is Cache Creek, which appears to have marvelously cut its way through that high mountain range,
4
THE WESTERN SHORE GAZETTEER.
for the purpose of transporting alluvium to fertilize the soil of Yolo. As it has merged from the mountains in ages past, it appears to have washed away the hills on either side, and formed that beautiful and productive district of country now known as Capay Valley. It appears to have taken nearly a direct course to empty the waters of Clear . Lake into the Sacramento River; but, ere it reaches its apparent destination, its waters are spread out upon the surface of the soil, and are made to disappear by natural absorption and evaporation. The county for the most part may be said to be destitute of timber, yet there are belts of stately oaks along the borders of Cache Creek, on the banks of the Sacramento River, and on the low hills at the foot of the mountains, sufficient, with proper economy, to supply the county with fuel for a long series of years.
The pen would utterly fail to convey an adequate idea of the native beauty of that district of country, a brief geo- graphical outline of which we have given, especially to one whose travels have been confined to the States east of the Rocky Mountains. Imagination would hardly picture a country more attractive to the pioneer-a country whose soil is more productive of agricultural staples, whose cli- mate is more healthful, and whose native growths of vege- tation are more luxuriant.
Prior to the settlement of this section of country, it is said that the horseback traveler, whilst sitting upon his animal, might bend the tops of wild oats over his shoulders, the roots being still unsevered from the ground. Less than thirty years ago this country, possessing, if we may use the expression, such mines of agricultural wealth, was the abode only of wild beasts. Here the grizzly bear roamed in his majesty over the plains and upon the mountain side, undisturbed by the encroachment of man or beast, con- scious of his superior prowess and of the inability of all other animals to cope with him, he proclaimed himself lord of all he surveyed, and neither the native inhabitants nor brute animals of the country invited him to bend his course for their convenience. Here the elk, the deer and the antelope, congregated in droves of hundreds and thou- sands, grazed upon the rich fields of wild oats, or rumina-
5
HISTORY OF YOLO COUNTY.
ted in the shade of the stately oaks, bathed in the limpid waters of Cache Creek and of the Sacramento River, undis- turbed by the crack of the hunter's rifle, and unconscious of the dangers that awaited them. Here the prowling wolf came down from his mountain haunts in pursuit of his prey-the hare, ground-squirrel and, perhaps, occasionally a deer or an antelope; here worked the industrious beaver at the mouths of Cache Creek and Putah Creek and along the Sacramento River, undisturbed by the trapper and the hunter. In the district of country we are describing, there were two solitary camps of Indians-the one on Grand Island, toward the northern boundary of the county, and the other in a small valley over the first range of hills from Cache Creek Canon or Capay Valley. These were of the lowest order of native Americans, indolent and inactive, and in intelligence but little higher than the brutes; their food consisted of acorns, pine nuts, manzanita berries, clo- ver blossoms and grasshoppers, with such small game as they could kill with their arrows.
II. From 1841 to 1848.
What boy has not listened with pleasant emotions to tales of pioneer life as related by his grandfather, his father or other aged relatives or friends? What child's pulse has not quickened and eye moistened while listening to stories of privations and sorrows, toils and hardships, accidents and dangers, incident to the early settlement, of every coun- try ? Who, in maturer years, does not delight to dwell upon those themes with which he has become familiar by the oft- repeated tales of his sire or grandsire, and especially when they relate to the early settlement of one's native or adopted country ?
Even at this early day, doubtless, many items of interest in the history of this and other counties of the State have been lost to memory, and without the adoption of some means of preserving a record of the facts, in a few years more they would be entirely forgotten, or be known only in tradition.
6
THE WESTERN SHORE GAZETTEER.
The history of a county being inseparably connected with that of the State in which it is located, and with the lives and experiences of its inhabitants, it will be impracti- cal, if not impossible, to confine ourselves strictly to insti_ tutions wholly within the limits of the county, or to persons whose residences have been within its borders. Countries are usually settled by those whose love of adventure and attachment to the frontier, more than avarice, prompts them to press forward into regions uninhabited and compara- tively unexplored; such was the character and disposition of the carly settlers of Yolo County-the most conspicuous of whom was Mr. William Gordon, now a resident of Lake County, to whom we are indebted for many of the facts and incidents we are about to relate. Mr. Gordon may be con- sidered the first white settler of the county, who, so to speak, planted here the germ of civilization, who set ex- amples of industry and morality worthy of emulation by any people.
Before referring, however, to particulars regarding his settlement here, we will relate a tolerably well-authenti- cated story of one who settled here at a much earlier date: It is said, when Mr. Gordon and his party reached the bor- ders of Yolo County, there were at the head of Grand Island two or three half-breed Indians, who were the de- scendants of a Scotchman; that some thirty years prior to the arrival of the Gordon party, the Scotchman referred to was a sailor upon an English vessel who landed in the har- bor of what is now San Francisco; that he, either in fact or in his imagination, was maltreated by the officers of the ship, and so determined, rather than endure such usage, to leave the vessel and cast his destiny alone, in a country only inhabited by ferocious beasts and the lowest order of barbarians. Like Robinson Crusoe, upon the Island of Juan de Fernandes, he wandered forth in quest of associ- ates until he reached Grand Island, now a part of Yolo County, when he fell in with the tribe of Indians before referred to, took up his abode with them, and, after the In- dian style of marriage, took to himself a wife, with whom he lived several years (begat the half-breeds referred to, who, in 1841, were from twenty-five to thirty years of age),
7
HISTORY OF YOLO COUNTY.
and died without ever again visiting the sea-shore or being able to communicate his experience and destiny to his fel- low-sailors or to his relatives and friends in the Old World. Such is the story as we have learned it from one who in- forms us that the facts were communicated to him by said half-breed sons of the red-headed Scotchman. This story is corroborated to a certain extent from the following facts : In the year 1851, on the west bank of Feather River, a few miles distant from where these half-breeds resided, a stone was found of a reddish gray color, about ten inches in length, four inches in width and one inch thick, on which were en- graved the following letters and figures : "1818-Gold cave, in this M. Ship-Lodes, L. M." Whether the Scotchman referred to, in his rambles in that early day, placed the in- scription there after having discovered lodes of gold, hoping that at some future day it might be instrumental in making known his fate to his friends, will doubtless ever remain an unsolved mystery. The stone may be seen at any time at the rooms of the California Pioneer Association at San Francisco. Taking this circumstance in connection with the fact that the half-breeds were actually discovered as above related, we are inclined to the belief that there is something in the story. If but little truth, there is at least a good deal of romance. But to return to Mr. Gordon. He was born in Ohio in the year 1800, while that State was yet a Territory, and much of it a vast, uninhabited wilder- ness. In his earliest infancy, being thus accustomed to frontier life, love of adventure became his ruling passion, and now, at the age of threescore years and ten, he is never happier than when with his favorite rifle he is roaming over the mountains in pursuit of wild game, and but few young men are able to cope with him in the chase. At an early age he emigrated to the Territory of Missouri, and before he was twenty-three years of age he went to New Mexico, and became a citizen of that country, and though he relig- iously adhered to her laws and never uttered a disloyal sen- timent or cherished an unkind thought towards his adopted government, we shall see that the familiar couplet-
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