USA > California > Tuolumne County > A history of Tuolumne County, California : compiled from the most authentic records > Part 19
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The schemes unfolded to accomplish the desirable result have been as various as the times in which they were broached. Sensible schemes and wildcat schemes; narrow- gauge railroads, broad-gauge railroads and one-track rail- roads; railroads starting from appropriate places and terminating in practicable localities; railroads starting anywhere fancy indicated aud terminating wherever imag- ination's freaks suggested; railroads whose prospectuses showed the authors' sound sense and business views, and railroads whose wild ideas told of the visionary specula- tor. But all the proposed roads were to pass through Sonora. That was the one point upon which all were unanimous.
The most of these schemes emanated from San Fran- cisco. Once or twice the citizens of Stocktou had the
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matter in hand; but not once have the inhabitants of Tuolumne County proposed to take upon their own shoul- ders the task of building and running their own rail- road, yet that is probably the only way in which the peo- ple's wishes will be gratified. It is not to be understood that the people of Tuolumne have not always offered aid to the various companies who have projected railways into their midst. On the contrary, every scheme thus far broached has met with a cordial reception, often beyond its deserts. Without pausing to consider the practical side, the people have, with open hands, welcomed even the most absurd projects, confident that if once the whistle of the locomotive were to resound in the foothills, the road's ter- mination, be where it might, could not diminish the bene- fits to accrue to Tuolumne. A trunk line to connect (on paper) the unknown and undiscovered system of narrow- gauge railways in Nevada with the Pacific shore, but to the reflecting mind only penetrating the deserts of the unin- habited tract of country in Southern Nevada, after a passage of the highest Sierra at an impracticable point, then passing through Tuolumne, and with its western terminus at some insignificant wayside station near the bay, nas of late been the most promising scheme which the speculativeness of railroad builders has presented.
Some indirect benefit has resulted from these various spasms. The people have become well acquainted with the resources of the section-a result of the earnest in- quiries into that subject. Ascertaining the cost of a pro- posed road, and comparing it with the resources of the County, and the probable business which would result, has led to the unavoidable conclusion that the County could support a road of the least expensive construction, if economically managed, by her own local business. In a series of able letters to the Tuolumne Independent, in 1875
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"Progress" stated the obvious advantages which must accrue from a railway, in a form which may be assumed to be correct at the present time. He said, suggestively, that besides the obvious saving of time in the transportation of passengers and goods, equal to three or four days on the latter, that the reduction of freights was estimated at fifty per cent. on down freight, and sixty-six per cent. on up freight; that express charges would decrease in like pro- portion, and fares equally. Seventy-five stores each ship from ten to sixty tons of freight yearly, exclusive of grain, flour, and vegetables. Twenty hotels receive from four to twenty tons; sixteen blacksmith shops average ten tons each; one foundry, one hundred and fifty tons; saloons, three hun- dred tons; while the quartz mills, flour mills, and other mills and manufactories ship a vast though uncounted amount. Sulphurets and rich ores for reduction in other places formed then, as now, a prominent item.
"It costs twenty cents per box to ship apples from So- nora to Oakdale; by rail it will be about five cents a box. One ranch of thirteen acres ships down two hundred tons yearly of cider, pickles, vinegar, etc."
"A railroad," said the writer, "will insure a market for everything." Fruit now goes to supply the home demand, barring inconsequential driblets Bodiewards, and other small exceptions. It should, doubled in production, be- come a massive export. ยท Alden dryers would fit it for the world's use. Raisins and figs, than which nothing is easier to produce, kind nature doing the work, even to drying them properly, being fifteen cents per pound in San Fran- cisco. "By rail, fruit goes quick and sure; they order to- day, to-morrow they receive, the third day the consumer regales himself, and on the fourth day you pocket the cash."
"Wheat, barley, potatoes, dairy products can hardly now get out of Tuolumne. We consume more than we produce.
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By rail they will come in cheaper, and if we ever ship, will bring a better profit. We should supply curselves and keep our money, and also sell outside to bring in money, unless we find some better product. Our grain is barter here; sent abroad, it is gold. Gold buys more goods than wheat, and we should pocket the gains of a cash trade."
"Pork, made of nuts, fruit, grain, pays better than wheat itself."
"Hay will always be in high demand here, so far removed from the plains, and its cultivation will pay better than that of grain. We will raise hay, and import wheat and barley, as by so doing we will net most cash."
"Sugar Pine is here $40 per M, but in Stockton it com- mands from $60 to $80. Yellow Pine brings $20 here, and $25 in Stockton."
"A RAILROAD WILL INCREASE OUR PRESENT BUSINESS "
"One lumberman saws two million feet per annnm, em- ploying thirty-five men. He will employ sixty, and make four millions of feet, within six months after the railroad is finished."
Here, in this last quoted sentence, is where "Progress" made his telling point. There is as good timber east of Sonora, approachable by a railroad, as there is on the Cen- tral Pacific Railroad where it crosses the Sierra; some say, better timber. Any way, the supply is abundant and ex- cellent. A railroad penetrating the belt of pine and cedar will have freight by the carload for years. In such forests, a hundred million feet-ten thousand loads for a broad- gauge car, sixteen thousand six hundred loads for a nar- row-gauge car-would not be missed. A billion feet is but a fraction of the whole. Unhampered by competing lines, Tuolumne's railway would transport to Sonora, to the mines, to the plains, and to Stockton, lumber enough to fence a county or to build a city. The Assessor's books
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say that the present amount of lumber cut within the County's limits is five and a half million feet, and that this is nearly all used at home. Only a little of it gets to the plains. This is so because freighting by team is too costly; but let a railroad be the carrier, and the whole consumption of pine lumber in the San Joaquin Valley could and would be supplied from these forests; for the mills at Truckee could not compete, the distance being too great. Puget Sound and the Redwood Belt still would contribute to Stockton, but in a less degree, and only where the rough, hard Oregon pine or the fragile redwood were better adapted to certain uses than the durable and easily worked lumber from the splendid pines of the Sierra.
Briefly stated, it is from the expansion of her lumber business that Tuolumne's railroad will derive most freight.
" Progress " proceeds: " Marble-1200 tons, at $5 per ton, (purchaser quarried and shipped it at his own cost,) this year was a trifle, when the company says, 'we will put 300 hands on the quarry and 150 or 200 dressing mar- ble as soon as the railroad opens.'"
Rather extravagant that, unless the demand for grave- stones is on the increase. Nevertheless, it might happen that when architectural graces become of account, when San Francisco rises from being a collection of wooden, dry- goods-box-like dwellings, to the dignity of a city possessing architectural adornments, marble will take its place as the best building material, and then it follows that another extensive industry will exist here in the extraction of that mineral.
New business, in the matter of putting up new buildings, barrel, box, chair, door and window-sash factories; shipping sulphurets, slate, soapstone, more marble quarries, lime, charcoal, plumbago, chrome iron, manganese ore, nurse- ries, fruit-dryers, wine and brandy making, beef and pork
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raising, and woolen manufacture, must result from the advent of a railroad. So concludes " Progress," and so must every one think, who ever observed the effects of a railroad.
" 1,000,000 cords of firewood around American Camp."
There is not much money in shipping firewood to any place. The inhabitants of the region through which the North Pacific Coast Railway runs (narrow gauge) attempted it, with a view of monopolizing the traffic; but, like all others, they failed lamentably. This fact will be ascer- tained: There is no money in shipping wood by rail. Converting it into charcoal may pay, but generally does not. It is, however, probable, that in case that blast fur- naces for the manufacture of iron from the excellent hema- tite ores found here, arise, that the consequent demand for charcoal will afford a profitable way of disposing of the superfluous vegetable growths.
These are the main points raised by the interesting writer, save certain remarks that follow as corollaries to the above, and these, it is to be observed, embrace nearly all that may be said, without detail, in favor of a railway. As to the negative side, it has not, as yet, been heard from.
Decidedly, then, Tuolumne needs, wants and deserves, a railway. Furthermore, she can support one. And, no doubt, the time is near when her citizens, without trusting to any ridiculous scheme for joining the Pacific Ocean to the deserts of Nevada, will put their shoulders to the wheel and, by dint of rustling, raise money and build a cheap, narrow-gauge road from Stockton to Sonora and Columbia (and thence a score of miles further east to the heart of the timber belt), for by so connecting with Stockton they will gain navigable water, thus keeping free of the influence and tyranny of the Central Pacific people, noted regulators of fares and freights.
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Sonora -Its Society and Business.
The corporate limits of the city of Sonora are section thirty-six of township two north, range fourteen east, Mount Diablo Meridian; containing six hundred and forty acres of surface, with a population of about nineteen hun- dred, and containing the following business houses and other establishments: Eight or nine grocery stores, five dry-goods stores, two furniture stores, four drug stores, one paint store, two millinery establishments, two hotels, four or five restaurants, a score of drinking-saloons, two wagon-makers' shops, five blacksmith shops, one harness shop, one paint shop, two tailor shops, a large number of dress-making establishments with uncounted dress-makers, three barber-shops with four barbers, three tin shops, five shoe-maker shops, one gunsmithy, four jeweler shops, two bakeries, one brewery, two undertakers, one photographic saloon, one Alden fruit dryer in a disabled condition, one foundry, one cider and pickle manufactory, two flouring mills, two planing mills, one lumber yard, one stone and marble working shop, two livery stables, two newspapers with printing offices, one post-office, one express office, two butcher shops, two slaughter houses, six lawyers and one law student, four physicians, one dentist, several music teachers, two brass bands, three and occasionally more clergymen, four churches, three Sunday schools, one public hall rather dilapidated, one skating rink now unused, one public school in excellent condition. taught by four teachers, two draymen, and two bootblacks.
Of such is the town of Sonora, and to these, as well as to the several gold mines within her limits, does she owe her continued existence and prosperity. Although the number of business houses has suffered a slight diminution, yet the value of trade has increased and the population
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risen perceptibly within the last few years. The very dull times succeeding the war having passed, and the natural resources, agricultural and mineral, having come to be properly appreciated, a new era of comparative prosperity would seem to dawn upon the town and upon the county at large. Unquestionably, immense resources for the sup- port of a happy and prosperous population exist within these foothills; and doubtless the work of succeeding de- cades will be to ascertain the character of these sources of wealth and adapt them to their proper uses.
To the tourist or the curiosity seeker of the present day Sonora, aside from its historical associations, rich beyond compare, presents no great attraction; but to the resident of many years, or to the transient guest who measures his stay by a few months, no town or city endows one with more pleasant recollections, nor leaves more fragrant memories. From a merely business point of view other places and other scenes furnish perhaps better inducements to the in- dustrious single man, or to the family which seeks merely the material prosperity of years, and the happiness which comes with the contemplation of worldly increase; but to those who look for a clime beneficent and congenial, the seeker for a modest competence, and blessed with health and sanctified by the graces of rural life, away from the toils, the temptations and the disappointments of the busy marts of the outer world, no land within mortal ken, no village however blessed, can bestow higher good than Tuolumne's capital. A town of modest pretensions, with- out classical elegance, without the airs and graces, the sum of modern improvements, Sonora yet unboastfully bears a crown of quiet refinement, yet breathes the charming in- cense of delicious repose, winning the regard alike of the world-sated traveller and the rural denizen.
Here have drifted the foreigner and the native born; the child of the tropics and the calmer sons and daughters of
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the temperate zone. Each State in the Union, and every clime known to civilized man throughout the world, have their representatives in this favored spot. Cosmopolitan in taste and in appearance, the town and with it the county offers as before an agreeable asylum where no one however remote be the place of his nativity, need deem himself alone.
Made up of such heterogeneous elements, such a variety of the families and races of men, it were no wonder that their intercourse proved the reverse of peaceful and am- icable; not so, however, rather does it result that the very difference of race, proves a cause of well-being. There are no preponderating elements, no race or family pre- dominating.
Since the wild, careless days of the Argonauts have passed into history and the great acts of the past linger only in the memories of the fast dwindling band of actors in those stirring times-times when religion was but as an idle word and religious observances found few to obey their rites-with the dawn and progress of the new time, new men, new pursuits, new habits, this land has taken on with its calmer and perhaps better ways, a holier aspect. Church edifices have risen, from whence the chimes of the bell invite all within the hearing of its tuneful voice to praise the Giver of all good, in his consecrated house. And the Sabbath school sends forth its pupils richer by the pious lessons of good will and righteousness, to lay deeper the foundations of loyalty to the Redeemer and truth and justice towards men.
Schools flourish, and the law is administered equably. By the one the youth become freighted with that which shall make their lives useful, and by the other their lives are protected from the harmful in such degree as may be. Earnest and suecessful teachers whose existence is given up
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to the undivided pursuit of instructing the tender mind, labor zealously to implant the seeds of the knowledge which have their sure result. The bar deserves well its past and present honors. Its memories will not shortly fade.
Not one only, nor two professions, or pursuits, are most highly favored. The earnest laborer, were his toils before the printing case, the bed of disease, at the knotty problems of legal uncertainties, in the pulpit, or in the domain of politics, literature or what not, in some way or in some guise, has earned for himself a name and so much of fame and this world's goods, as his deserts have entitled him to. Eminence has been the lot and the reward of many of Tuolumne's sons; and the common lot of humanity here seems to be not less, but rather more elevated than in other lands. Not many of wealth are here, nor do many languish in deep poverty. The fruits of the earth are the common property of whoever will put forth his hand; but to attain wealth would seem a toil of years. The golden mean, the midway lot between riches and poverty, holds the most. All of life's necessaries without life's elegancies, or in short the state that poets celebrate, and that man's best reason advocates, could seem to belong to this people.
With enough of comforts to content and to elevate, and without the luxuries to enervate, the active mind has become cultured, while the physical self, retaining its wonted powers, does not give over the life work which alone qualifies man or woman for a happy existence. Gath- ering refinements about themselves, many families of the later times furnish examples of true culture and morality which, without seeking acknowledgment, find only equals, certainly no superiors, in the celebrated abodes of art and polished grace. Born and bred in such a community, the rising generation, as regards intelligence, aptness and good morals, bids fair to excel in the amenities of life their pre-
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decessors, who, doubtless, will be most pleased should it be so.
In examining into the tangible evidences of refinement and mental excellence, the critic inquires later concerning literary powers and taste. He learns that two local news- papers are supported in the one county, and, to a great ex- tent, by the one town of Sonora. Furthermore, that liter- ary socities, two in number, exist, and that these are well attended by the intelligent and interested of both sexes, and of all ages, who do not hesitate at any labor which the course of exercises may cause to fall to their share. In times past, various alert writers have owned Tuolumne as their home, and the influence of these has no doubt done, and will continue to do, much good in molding the youth- ful mind to habits of reflection and expression. It may be confidently expected that the brains and imagination of yet to be celebrated writers may be nurtured here.
Another evidence of refinement may be seen in the extraordinary devotion to music of a large share of the population. Instrumental and vocal, brass bands and choral societies-all have their devotees, and all absorb the attention of the populace.
It were easy to predict the future of a land like this, inhabited by such people; but now, having told the story of what has been, and given utterance to these few words respecting the present, the author would fain take leave of the subject of Tuolumne's history, feeling that additional time would, perhaps, have enabled him to do the subject more justice, but still hoping that his work will meet the commendation of those for whom it is prepared, and believing that its accuracy will, in every point, remain unshaken, he would respectfully ask the thoughtful con- sideration of all to whom the topic may bear interest.
The task has been a pleasant one. Surrounded by active
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and intelligent minds, to many of whom the progress of the affairs herein narrated has been as an open book; aided by the suggestions and forwarded by the recollections of thoughtful men, it has been a pleasure to arrange and com- pile the matter presented. Circumstances have favored the progress of the work; files of newspapers have been brought from their almost forgotten repositories, and mem- ories have unloaded their stores of anecdote. Situated for the time in the midst of the people whose history he would narrate, the author has, by association, come to an absorbing interest in their past and present, while he con- fesses to a high regard for the charming hospitality that has made the months pass swiftly and pleasantly.
The old must forever give place to the new. New tasks succeed old labors, and the light of brighter days shines always on the future of men. So, with a feeling of relief from the old task, the writer lays down his pen, while breathing a wish for Tuolumne and her people that the brightness and prosperity of future times may be what merit deserves and what industry and energy win.
Chronology.
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CHRONOLOGY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
1849.
May -. Boyd murdered by Atkins, at Big Bar, on Sulli- van's Creek. On trial before Alcalde Frazier, the murderer was fined $500, and ordered to leave the district.
Nov. 7. Sonora's town organization effected.
Nov. 14. Fire in Sonora. Loss, $30,000 to $50,000.
1850.
June 1. The foreign miners' tax of $20 per month went into operation.
June 1. First term of Court of Sessions held in Sonora June 28. Ford, a native of Massachusetts, murdered and robbed at his tavern, near Keeler's Ferry.
July 4. The Sonora Herald made its first appearance J. White and J. G. Marvin, editors.
July 15. First sitting of the District Court in Sonora. C. M. Creaner, Judge; W. H. Ford, Clerk.
July 23. George Marshall shot, in self-defense, by Mc- Elroy, at Sonora.
San. 27. S. R. Elmendorff shot and killed at Hawkins Bar, by J. W. Seaman, for an assault on the latter's wife.
Nov. 9. E. L. Christman and Dr. L. C. Gunn became associate editors of the Sonora Herald.
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1851.
Jan. 25. Elander Boggs, from Baltimore, murdered by Bowen, at Curtisville, by shooting. The murderer was immediately hanged by the ex- asperated bystanders.
Aug. 25. Tindal Newby, aged 22, native of New York, murdered by A. J. Fuller, at Shaw's Flat, in consequence of a quarrel concerning house- hold articles. Fuller was tried and sentenced to nine months' imprisonment and a fine of $100.
Feb. 1. Kelly was murdered at Yorktown.
March 6. William Anderson, aged 25, from Tennessee, died from the effects of a gunshot wound re- ceived in a fight with William Mulligan, who escaped arrest.
March 13. The Holden Garden riot. One man-Leven Davis-killed and four wounded, one of whom, George Dangley by name, died a week later. April 18. George Palmer, a miner, in Sonora, shot and killed in cold blood by Wilson, alias Thorn- ley, who broke jail, but was recaptured in Los Angeles, tried and acquitted.
April 28. William Bowen, aged 22, from Rhode Island, stabbed to death by Mexicans, in a fandango house in Sonora. No arrests.
May 3. Dr. L. C. Gunn became sole editor and proprietor of the Sonora Herald.
May 23. O. A. Byam, from Maine, killed by a cave, near Columbia.
May 26. The Common Council of Sonora held their first meeting.
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June 10. Captain George W. Snow murdered at Dragoon Gulch, by three Mexicans, for purposes of robbery. Antonio Cruz and Patricio Janori, two of the assassins, were captured, tried in Shaw's Flat by a "People's Court," and hanged.
June 18. Marshal McFarlane shot and killed a Mexican, who resisted arrest and mortally wounded an- other. Sonora.
June 24. Corner-stone of Masonic Hall laid in Sonora. June 28. David (or James) Hill hanged in Sonora by a mob, for outrages committed at Campo Seco and elsewhere.
July 27. William Ford, of New York, killed by R. P. Cardwell, for an unprovoked assault. At the same time and place, Augustus Kaufmann was shot and killed by Officer Evans, while trying to evade arrest. Both Cardwell and Evans were honorably discharged. Sonora.
Oct. 11. Fire in Tuttletown. Store of George Graham burned. Loss, $5,000.
Oct. 24. The Columbia Star first appeared.
Dec. 4. Jose Corrales sentenced to death by Judge Crea- ner, for horse-stealing. Executed January 7, 1852.
Dec. 9. The Common Council abolished bull and bear fighting in Sonora.
1852. Feb. -. Thomas H. Dexter and Captain Daniels mur- dered and robbed at Spanish Bar.
March 11. Wilson, Hilliard and Callahan drowned in the Stanislaus, while attempting to cross during high water.
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May 22. W. Murray and J. O'Sullivan became editors and proprietors of the Sonora Herald.
June 18. Great fire in Sonora. The whole city burned. Loss, probably a million of dollars.
July. 7. Roney shot dead by Edward May, in self-de- fense, at Columbia.
July 7. First meeting of the Board of Supervisors of Tuolumne County.
July 9. Samuel Malcolmson found dead at Sullivan's Creek. Murdered, and probably robbed.
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