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Gc 979.401 Im7f 1714334
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01067 2308
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Binder: Please add call number to spine as shown in red on title page. Thank you-
F. C. Far
THE HISTORY
OF
IMPERIAL COUNTY
CALIFORNIA
EDITED BY F. C.FARR
OF
SEAL
EUREKA
THE
GREAT
STATE
THE
OF
CALIFORN
A
979.401 mit
IN ONE VOLUME ILLUSTRATED
Published by ELMS AND FRANKS BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA 1918
Printed by Taylor & Taylor, San Francisco
1714334
PREFACE
IT IS RELATED of Lord Byron that when a boy in school he, with his fellows, was required to write a paraphrase of the Biblical account of the miracle of turning water into wine; within a few moments he handed to his teacher this line: "The conscious water saw its God and blushed." Nothing could have been added which would have strength- ened or added beauty to the matchless setting.
May we not, in humble imitation of that great genius, say of Im- perial Valley : Its fruitful soil was caressed by the wasting water of an unregarded river and blossomed in perennial beauty? The magic touch of the life-giving water was not an accident. It followed the most intense and unremitting efforts of big brained, big souled men, who wrought under such difficulties and discouragements as would have daunted smaller men. What heroes they were, and how richly they deserve the crowns today so grudgingly bestowed, but which the future will surely bestow upon them.
And the pioneers who located the first ranches and planted the first crops-who can fitly write their heroic annals? Who tell of their pri- vations and sacrifices which resulted in making life within the magic borders of Imperial Valley the priceless heritage of man? Standing today by the grave of that infant civilization which blossomed, amid such hardships, upon a desert, we would fain lift the veil and see the unthought-of transformation which fifty years will bring. Even in infancy, a colossus, a giant, what will the years bring to this wonder land? It deserves a better, wiser, abler historian than any man alive today can be. F. C. FARR.
IN MEMORIAM
SCARCELY had Judge Finis C. Farr finished his work as editor of this history than death came unheralded to him with apoplexy.
He was a man whose character had borne the tes- timonial of public office alike in Missouri, his native state, and in Imperial County, where he had been a participant in public affairs from the earliest of pio- neer days. At the time of his death he was Register of the United States Land Office at El Centro.
He was a charter member of the Masonic Lodge at Imperial and an active member of the Imperial Coun- ty Bar Association, both of which organizations have been quick to spread upon their records testimonials to his ability and his character.
In a sense, then, this book, representing practically the last of his many works for the public good, will be a monument to his memory, and in the years to come will be evidence of the high type of men who consti- tuted the pioneers of Imperial Valley, and who under- took to shape its development to the lasting good of humanity.
CONTENTS
PART I
CHAPTER I
PAGE
History of Imperial County
CHAPTER II
I
Formation of the Colorado Desert
82
Early History of Imperial County
97
CHAPTER IV
154
Educational
CHAPTER VI
Religious
CHAPTER VII
177
Agriculture
CHAPTER IX
Horticulture
CHAPTER X
198
Medical History
CHAPTER XII
219
Transportation
CHAPTER XIII
224
Banking
CHAPTER XIV
227
CHAPTER XV
Chambers of Commerce
233
167
Library Development
CHAPTER VIII
184
192
Imperial County Farm Bureau
CHAPTER XI
209
Journalism
CHAPTER III
Irrigation
CHAPTER V
159
vi
CONTENTS
CHAPTER XVI
PAGE
Fraternal
CHAPTER XVII
Architecture
CHAPTER XVIII
Federation of Women's Clubs
246
CHAPTER XIX
Woman's Christian Temperance Union
CHAPTER XX
Imperial
CHAPTER XXI *
Calexico
CHAPTER XXII
Brawley
CHAPTER XXIII
Holtville
CHAPTER XXIV
El Centro
CHAPTER XXV
286
Calipatria and Niland
287
The Mud Volcanoes
29
Live-Stock
CHAPTER XXVIII
293
CHAPTER XXIX
The Northern District of Lower California
296
PART II
Biographical
. 3II
264
269
272
274
279
Seeley
CHAPTER XXVI
CHAPTER XXVII
..
238
243
257
HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
CHAPTER I
HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
T HE name California seems to have been derived from a Spanish romance published in 1510. The author there speaks of the "Great Island of California, where a great abundance of gold and precious stones are found." This story attained considerable pop- ularity about the time when the Cortez exploring expedition reached that undiscovered country. It is thought that some of the officers of that party who had read this romance were especially pleased with this name. It was euphonious and descriptive, as they had expected to find an Eldorado in that new region any way, because the early Span- ish discoverers had so promised.
But at that time this name was applied only to the lower Pacific coast and the adjacent territory. And it is interesting to note here that this San Diego section was on the border line of Mexico, being then a part of that nation. It was not until some years later that the name California was applied to the upper part of that country, and it grad- ually extended northward, with no very definite limits. These Spanish Americans divided the whole territory into upper and lower Califor- nia, as it has since been known. The lower coast was first discovered in 1534 by an expedition sent out by Cortez, who later found the Gulf of California. It was not until some six years later that the mouth of the Colorado River was discovered there. And it was not until 1602 that the Bay of San Diego was located.
As a matter of fact the physical geography of a very large portion of this great country was very imperfectly known. Few of the resi- dents were even qualified to make any scientific study of its topography and very little attention was given to the subject, especially that portion lying on the immediate coast between San Diego on the south and Fort Ross on the north, a narrow strip of land forty or fifty miles in width. In fact the entire California region was a very indefinite quantity for many years, and the eastern boundary was not fully located or deter-
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HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
mined. And this condition remained until 1850 when it passed into the ownership of the United States and became one of the states of the Union.
But this work is devoted to the southernmost point of the state known as Imperial County, which is the youngest and newest county of the great Pacific Commonwealth, having been formed in 1907 from the eastern portion of San Diego County.
This Imperial Valley lies between the coast range of mountains and the Colorado River, a section long known as the Colorado Desert, and for ages considered worthless and irreclaimable. North of this great desert is the eastern extension of the San Bernardino mountain range, dry, barren and worthless. On the west the Coast range rises to a height of from 3000 to 5000 feet, which, on the desert side, is also dry and barren. Through the eastern part of this desert is a range of sand-dunes which extends down across the international boundary line, terminating just below. Between these sand-dunes on the east and the Coast range on the west, there is a vast, level plain which, before its reclamation, was as dry and barren as the hills and sand-dunes themselves. Most of this plain is below sea level, and was originally an extension of the Cali- fornia Gulf.
Some sixty miles south of this Mexican boundary line the great Colo- rado River tumbles finally into the gulf. It is a very muddy stream which has poured into this gulf for untold ages. When the gulf reached the present site of Indio Station, the river poured into it about 150 miles southeast of that place. This gulf was then some 50 miles wide opposite the ancient mouth of the river. Gradually the Colorado formed a bar across the gulf. After a time this bar was raised several feet above high- water mark, and this cut off the upper portion of the gulf from the main body of water and formed an inland sea some 40 miles in width by 125 miles in length. It will be seen, therefore, that the flow of this river for ages has been in both directions, into the gulf and into this in- land sea. In this way large masses of sediment were deposited in both places not only, but a separating bar was raised 35 to 80 feet above sea level, an increase of about 60 miles in width from south to north.
Sometime after this the Colorado began to pour its regular flow into the gulf, and only in times of flood, during June and July, was the surplus water sent into the inland sea. Then finally, when the permanent
.
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HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
flow northward ceased, this inland sea gradually dried up, leaving what is known as the "Salton Basin," a tract 100 miles long and from 20 to 50 miles wide. And this vast area was all below the level of the sea. The bottom was a salt marsh 5 x 25 miles in extent, and 265 feet below the sea, while the surrounding land sloped gradually toward this depression.
Here in this sink the Salton Sea was formed in 1891 as a result of the long continued flood of the Colorado stream. It began with heavy rains in February and was afterward augmented by the regular annual flood in June and July, because of the melting snows at the headwaters of the stream in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado. About 150 square miles of this Salton Sea was so level that the water did not exceed 10 feet in depth at any point. All around this sea were a million acres of land be- low sea level, half of which is arable, irrigable, and especially fertile. In addition to this, there is a vast expanse of country south of the inter- national boundary line which extends to the Gulf of California on the east. Most of this is the most fertile and productive land in the world, and it covers about 800,000 acres. Of this vast tract, 300,000 acres are irrigable. A similar acreage is subject to the annual flood overflow and some 100,000 acres are of little value from other causes.
IRRIGATION
Here was a golden opportunity to test the value of irrigation on a colos- sal scale. It was destined to reclaim millions of acres of the most fertile land on the globe, from this vast California section which had been given up as a worthless desert since its first discovery. It took men of courage and indomitable persistence with a full knowledge of all the conditions and obstacles that might present themselves, even to begin this stupendous work. And yet with such a prize, with such glowing possibilities as the reward, history shows that the men for the task usu- ally have been found.
Thus it was that in 1856 Dr. Oliver M. Wozencraft of San Bernar- dino came to the front and applied to Congress for a land grant for him- self and his associates if they would reclaim the lands. The application was received with favor, and the Committee on Public Lands reported in favor of the concession.
But soon after this the Civil war broke out and threatened to disrupt the Union. There was no time to think of any new projects of this for-
4
HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
tuitous nature. The plan was abandoned, and Dr. Wozencraft died at his home with the pet scheme of his life in abeyance. Then for over thirty years this great project of such transcendent importance to the nation, and especially this California section, lay dormant.
This was partly due to the reconstruction period of the national life perhaps, but also because of the fact that no successor to Dr. Wozen- craft had been found. But the project was too great to die, and it came to the front again in 1891 with some show of success. Mr. C. R. Rock- wood was given charge of all the engineering problems, and he worked successfully for a time. But now the financial and business end of the enterprise was wrecked in the panic of 1893, and that organization was abandoned. But Mr. Rockwood still had faith in the scheme and did not propose to give it up. Thus in 1896, allying himself with a new element, the California Development Company was duly incorporated with a capital stock of $1,250,000. Among these incorporators were the late A. H. Heber, an experienced colonizer, who was chosen president; C. R. Rockwood, chief engineer ; Dr. W. T. Heffernan, and W. H. Blais- dell, both of Yuma. These men had an abiding faith in the enterprise and gave material assistance in the early work. Money was promptly raised and extensive surveys were made. And it should be stated here that Dr. Wozencraft originally planned to divert the water from the Colorado, using the channel of the Alamo River as a canal for that pur- pose. And this plan was now adopted by this company. One hundred thousand acres of land in Lower California, extending from the Colo- rado on the east to the mountains on the west, were purchased from Sr. G. Andrade, thus securing a right of way through this foreign terri- tory.
Then for three years this company was overtaken by new vicissi- tudes. The work of construction could not proceed for the lack of mon- ey. In 1899, however, S. W. Ferguson, of San Francisco, becoming in- terested in the company, was duly commissioned to finance the project among his friends on the Pacific Coast. As a result of an important in- terview with Mr. L. M. Holt in San Francisco, he came to Los Ange- les and was introduced to Mr. George Chaffey, one of the founders of Etiwanda and Ontario, who had recently returned from Australia, where he had been engaged in building the irrigation system of Mildura on the Murray River. A few days later these three gentlemen visited the
5
HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
desert and spent three weeks investigating the advisability of the scheme. Mr. Rockwood, who was then in New York City, was sent for and spent several weeks more with Mr. Chaffey in further investiga- tions. The latter, though much pleased with the enterprise, was not quite satisfied with the terms offered him, and he therefore declined to under- take the work. Mr. Rockwood was about to return to New York and give up the scheme. But Mr. Holt, being still sanguine of success, thought he could formulate a plan that would satisfy all parties inter- ested, and he was thereupon authorized to go ahead. After working some weeks on this proposition, which was finally submitted to Mr. Chaffey, he then consented to undertake the work on this basis. Dr. Heffernan, Mr. Blaisdell and Mr. Rockwood were consulted, and the result was that Mr. Chaffey was fully authorized to begin the work. He was given control of the California Development Company for five years, and a certain portion of the stock of that company if he suc- ceeded in constructing a successful irrigation system that would put water upon this desert land.
About this time the Imperial Land Company, the colonizing agency, was incorporated, of which Mr. Ferguson was made manager, holding one-fifth of the stock of that company. After beginning the work, how- ever, he was not entirely satisfied with his share of the bargain and sought a power of attorney from Mr. Holt that he might vote his one- fifth share of the stock of the company and thus gain control of the corporation, which he regarded necessary in order to make his work effective. With this stock of Mr. Holt he expected to secure enough more to give him the control he desired. But Mr .Holt declined this re- quest, and then Mr. Ferguson sought to retaliate by forcing him out of the company. In order to avoid any conflict at this stage of the enter- prise, Mr. Holt finally exchanged his stock in the Imperial Land Com- pany for that of the California Development Company. A few months later Mr. Ferguson's management became so undesirable that he was asked to resign. On his refusal to do this he was removed soon after- ward, and all his interests in the company passed into other hands.
MORE PRELIMINARY TROUBLES
Up to this time President Heber of the California Company had not seemed to take any active interest in its affairs. But now this new turn
6
HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
of affairs brought him to the front, and he took the position of manager to fill the vacancy.
Thus in February, 1902, Mr. Heber'and his associates purchased the stock of Mr. Chaffey, who thereupon retired from the company. Mr. Heber then became president and general manager of the California Company, and also of the Imperial Land Company, of which he made E. C. Paulin general manager.
Here is, therefore, a pretty full sketch of the men, capital, and vari- ous corporations that formed this combination for the reclamation and colonization of this desert land. And it is believed to be the most exten- sive project of the kind ever made in arid America up to this time. It involved so many problems which could only be solved by the expendi- ture of a vast sum of money under the direction of the most eminent and competent engineers in the country. And today it is claimed that there is no other place in America where these works can be duplicated, covering such a vast area to be reclaimed and so large a population to be served. The national government is now spending more money on smaller enterprises for the reclamation of much smaller areas, and for the benefit of a much smaller population. It is further claimed that no other place under the Stars and Stripes today has a single irrigation sys- tem that will irrigate so large an area and furnish homes for so many people. It is also believed that no other large area in the land can be re- claimed at such small cost per acre, or where the water can be perpetu- ally furnished to settlers at so small a cost per acre-foot, as is now being done by this Imperial Canal system in this wonderful Imperial Valley over the portion of this worthless Colorado Desert which has been res- cued by the hand of man from the vast sand-waste which the great Cre- ator seems to have forgotten to finish.
It is now very apparent, however, that He has called in the assistance of men in the reclamation and development of this vast territory, and that they have succeeded beyond all precedent, and under a smiling providence, this great valley is blossoming with an unparalleled degree of fertility and productiveness.
Back of all this, of course, is the subject of irrigation, an indispens- able prerequisite to the reclamation of arid lands. But for this, nearly half the area of this republic would be of small agricultural value today.
In Imperial Valley the system of irrigation in use is the most com-
7
HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
plete possible under the existing law of California. For over 25 years the whole question received most careful study by enterprising men in Southern California. As a result the mutual company plan was finally adopted for the ownership and management of the Imperial Canal sys- tem as far as that plan could be utilized. The first obstacle that arose was the magnitude of the enterprise. Five hundred thousand acres of land for 100,000 people under one company did not seem entirely fea- sible. It was therefore decided to restrict the area to 100,000 acres for a single irrigation system. And even this has since been thought too large. With 100 voters to elect a board of directors of a water com- pany, there is a much greater feeling of individual personal responsi- bility than would be possible if 1000 voters shared in the control. And if this tract was sub-divided into 40-acre holdings, there would be 2500 voters, which might not secure the best results.
In this Imperial Valley there are 538,000 acres now under the Impe- rial Canal system, while still barren land will raise the total to nearly a million. It was therefore decided to divide the Valley into districts, no one to exceed 100,000 irrigable acres ; such districts, as far as possible, to have natural boundary lines. Then it was thought best to have a sep- arate company for each of these districts, all such companies to be or- ganized on a similar basis, in order that the landowner in one company should have the same rights and responsibilities as the owner in each of the other companies. All these companies should have the same name and be designated only by number.
Under this plan, Imperial Water Company No. I was formed with 100,000 shares of stock to furnish water for 100,000 acres of land in a territory bounded on the west by New River, on the east by the Alamo River, on the south by the Mexican boundary line, and on the north by an arbitrary line running between two rows of sections. While this tract - exceeded the limit by some 50,000 acres, only 100,000 were regarded available for successful irrigation. And yet since then the actual irri- gable area is found to be much larger, and the disposition of this extra land has since been a problem with the company. Since then other com- panies of this kind have been formed and now reach 15 in number.
The next obstacle to present itself was the impossibility of all these going to the Colorado River, 60 miles away, to get their water supply. But this was finally overcome by the construction of a canal through
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HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
foreign territory, which, of course, added greatly to the cost, and made it almost prohibitory for a small company. But here the California De- velopment Company, which financed the plan for the construction of the canal system, and owned most of the canals through Lower Cali- fornia, agreed to such contracts as were necessary to deliver water to each of these several mutual companies. Under this agreement this par- ent company was to keep these main canals in repair and deliver the water in bulk, charging a uniform price of 50 cents an acre-foot. That is, 50 cents for enough water to cover an acre of land one foot in depth. This is practically two cents an inch for a 24 hours' flow. This parent company would thus construct a distributing system of canals for the mutual company and receive in payment the entire capital stock of such company. This stock would in turn be sold to settlers and the parent company would get its pay for the construction works and the mutual company would get its distributing system built and paid for in a way that would leave no indebtedness. The landowners would thus own and operate their own distributing system through each of these mutual companies. The water rates would be collected from the settlers in Jan- uary and July, paying the development company for all the water re- ceived during the preceding six months. Such contracts were made for the permanent delivery of water at a fixed price, and all settlers are served alike. In this way each settler pays 50 cents per acre for his water whether he uses it or not. It will be seen that this provision pre- cludes speculators from taking up land and buying water stock for the same and then wait for an advance in price to sell out at a handsome margin without improving the land at all. This wise provision has prov- en very popular. But for this requirement settlers might have found themselves surrounded with dry, desert lands with no neighbors.
Such was the plan at the beginning of development of the Valley, and it ran on for a series of years, but, as stated in a separate article herein, the time came when the people threw aside the private corpora- tion owning the irrigation system and acquired it for themselves through the organization of the Imperial Irrigation District, under the laws of the state.
SOME OF THE RESULTS
It will be of interest to record here what has really been done under
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HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
this great reclamation project in Imperial County thus far. Actual work upon the system was begun in April, 1900, and the first water was deliv- ered to the fields in June, 1901. In the following July there were about 6000 acres of land put into crops in order to feed the hundreds of teams working on the canal system. In 1902 this acreage of tillage was in- creased to 25,000, and the next year this was doubled. In 1904 this cul- tivated area was increased to 150,000 acres. And now something over 250,000 acres of government land has been filed upon and water rights secured for the same. In 1903 the California Development Company built about 600 miles of canals, some of which are 70 feet in depth at the bottom and carry water ten feet deep.
The permanent population of the Valley is now about 50,000, and other settlers are coming in rapidly. Of course, as the wonderful possi- bilities for agricultural development became apparent railway con- struction was promptly begun, and the iron horse of commercial prog- ress soon appeared upon the scene. The Southern Pacific Company built a branch line of 28 miles from Old Beach to Imperial, soon after ex- tended to Calexico, another 16 miles, and thence on Mexican soil to Yuma, Arizona. On this branch are the thriving towns of Niland, Cali- patria, Brawley, Imperial, El Centro, Heber and Calexico. A 12-mile cross line was built from El Centro to Holtville, which is being extend- ed westwardly to San Diego, now reaching the towns of Seeley and Dixieland. Another cross line has recently been constructed westwardly from Calipatria to Westmoreland.
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