USA > California > Tuolumne County > A history of Tuolumne County, California : compiled from the most authentic records > Part 7
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In June an affair of considerable notoriety occurred in Sonora. This was a conflict which took place in a dis-
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HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
reputable portion of the town, and threatened to precipitate a general war between the American and the Mexican popu- lation of the city. The circumstances were these: a row occurred in a Spanish dwelling-house, in which one Con- treras took part, and was arrested, but the bystanders in- terfering, Marshal McFarlane was compelled to shoot one of them, a Chileno, who fell mortally wounded. Another of the same party was killed by Americans, who came up to assist the Marshal.
This affair-which, considering the time it occurred in, was certainly not of great moment-was made the subject of the most absurd exaggerations by the outside press, all of whom united in representing Sonora to be a center of violence and a hotbed of hostile feeling. Their corre- spondents in Sonora drew powerfully on their imaginations to picture the town surrounded by a cordon of armed men, who were only able to restrain the pent up and seething masses from breaking into open war through the persuasive appearance of cocked revolvers and drawn bowie knives. It was probably to this spirit of wild exaggeration that Tuolumne owed much of its character for the wild lawless- ness and terrible ferocity of its inhabitants. Certain papers published the intelligence that on the above occasion sev- eral hundred extra policemen were sworn in, and who patrolled the city constantly, repressing attempted uprisings of the foreign population. The Marshal, they said, was shot at repeatedly, the bullets taking the buttons from his coat!
Organization of Town Council, etc.
On May 26, 1851, the Common Council of the City of Sonora held their first meeting. The members, all of
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whom were present, were the Mayor, C. F. Dodge; H. W. Theall, I. P. Yaney, A. F. Chatfield, L. C. Gunn, H. T. Fuller, R. S. Gladwin, and Abraham Tuttle.
Their first business after organizing was the appointment to certain city offices, which were filled as follows: Recorder, Leander Quint; Treasurer, Daniel Sayre; Assessor, Ethan Allen; City Attorney, L. A. Besancon; Marshal, J. F. H. McFarlane; Clerk, A. W. Luckett.
These appointments were confirmed by an election held a few days subsequently, with the exception of the Assessor, E. Allen, who was beaten at the polls by J. W. Richardson.
Among the more important business transacted by this Board was the passage of Ordinances numbers Fourteen and Fifteen, relating to gambling. The former of these provides that " The game known as 'French Monte' or ' Three-card Game,' or the game of 'Loop' or 'String Game,' or the game known as 'Thimbles,' or the game known as ' Lottery,' or the game known as ' Chinese Puz- zle' or the 'Lock Game,' or any game having in its ten- dency deception or fraud, is hereby prohibited within the corporate limits of the Town of Sonora; and, on conviction of any person or persons of an infringement of this ordi- nance, the party so offending shall be fined in a sum not less than twenty-five or more than one hundred dollars, and imprisonment not more than ten days, or both fine and imprisonment, at the option of the Recorder.
" It shall be the duty of the Marshal, or any Police of- ficer, upon information coming to them of an infringement of this ordinance, to arrest the person or persons so offend- ing, and report the same to the Recorder.
" This ordinance to take effect from and after its passage.
" Passed Apr. 5th, 1852.
" CHAS. F. DODGE, Mayor."
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HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
ORDINANCE No. 15.
[Amending Section 12 of Ordinance No. 2.]
For every faro bank, monte bank, roulette, or other gaming table, or game of chance, the owner of each and every bank shall pay a license of fifty cents per day, and no banking game shall be opened without previously taking out a license for not less than one week; and any person opening, dealing, or taking charge of any game without said bank previously taking out said license, shall be deemed guilty of misdemeanor, and shall be fined not less than $25, nor more than $100, for each and every offence; and any owner or occupant of any house who shall allow any banking game to be opened without such license being taken out, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction before the Recorder shall be subject to a fine of not less than $25 nor more than $100 for each and every offence. But no license shall be issued to any person under the age of twenty-one years. * * Any person putting up goods or other valuables to be disposed of by raffle, or by other chance, shall previously pay a license of one per cent. upon the value of said goods or valuables; and any person or persons violating this provision shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $500 for each and every offence.
Ordinance No. 16 provided that all dancing saloons must pay a license of eighty dollars per month; and the previous resolutions closing such houses at midnight were by this ordinance repealed.
Ordinance 17 prohibited entertainments devoted to the display of the human form, particularly the exhibitions known as the " Model Artists," the penalty being a fine of not less than five hundred dollars.
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The foregoing extracts from the city ordinances will give to the critical mind as good an indication of the progress of refinement and morality as could pages of observations. Not alone in the science of government was the city, and with it the county, advancing. For the preceding twelve months Sonora had been steadily on the increase in point of numbers and influence. Additions, generally of the more industrious class, had been pouring in. The people of the town flattered themselves that the days when des- peradoes, with knife and pistol, ruled the streets, had passed forever.
Progress of the Town of Sonora.
At no time in its history were so many permanent struc- tures being erected. Vacant lots were built upon, and the sound of the hammer and saw were heard in all parts of the city.
One of the most notable structures built this season (the spring of 1852), was a large and substantial frame building at the corner of Taney and Washington streets, in which Messrs. Yaney and Bertine established themselves as bankers. Within the building was a very large safe- an article so ponderous as to require a very considerable outlay of time and money to transport from San Francisco. This safe was regarded as a nine days' wonder by the hardy gold-seekers.
Previous to the establishment of the house of Yaney & Bertine, three firms, Messrs. Reynolds, Todd & Co., Adams & Co., and Wm. Hammond & Co., existed. The former firm have the credit of being the original bankers and express men of Sonora, having commenced their operations in May, 1850, as Reynolds & Co. Their business had been
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HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
very extensive as early as the fall of 1850, when the firms of Reynolds & Co. and Todd & Co. were consolidated, and in 1852 the special deposits reached the amount of one hun- dred and eighty thousand dollars. The firm of Adams & Co. occupied, at the latter date, a neat building on Wash- ington street, in which was contained a large fire-proof vault, built of stone and cement, with double doors of boiler iron, and within this fire and thief-proof cavern were two large iron safes of the most approved construction. Dr. J. Steinberger remained as agent in charge until 1852, when he was succeeded in his duties by Mr. A. G. Rich- ardson.
Wm. Hammond & Co. began business in Sonora in No- vember or December, 1851, in general banking and the purchase of gold dust. Their office was in the first story of the adobe building known as Masonic Hall.
It may here be proper to remark that this building, cele- brated in the annals of Sonora, was commenced on June 24, 1851, the Masonic Order laying the corner stone with appropriate ceremonies. The occasion was one long remembered in Tuolumne. Among the Masons who took part in the observances of that day were Charles M. Rad- cliff (Master of Ceremonies,) Judge Tuttle, E. Linoberg, Mayor Dodge, A. F. Chatfield, Captain Tormey, William Perkins (Orator of the Day,) W. Vyse, Major Sullivan and others.
After a considerable delay, the building was finally com- pleted and occupied; but its life tenure was short. The inside was completely burned out by the fire of June 18. The rains of the following winter so acted upon the adobe walls remaining, that the whole structure became unsafe, and had to be propped up. After remaining in this empty and forlorn condition for some time, it finally fell in, and remained a wreck until the following July, when the
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county authorities gained control of it by lease, and en- tered into a contract with J. M. Huntington for its repair, at a cost not exceeding two thousand dollars. It was the intention to devote it to the use of the Courts, there being at that time no suitable rooms for that purpose. Whether the money was expended on the building does not ap- pear, but shortly after the Supervisors are found to have made other arrangements, and the presumption is that the contract with Mr. Huntington was not fulfilled. The building stood on the northeast corner of Church and Washington streets.
Great Fire in '52.
The fire of June 18, above referred to, was one of the most serious calamities to which Sonora was ever exposed. It began at one o'clock in the morning, in a building called the "Hotel de France," situated on the plaza, and facing up Washington street. It was occupied by Mme. Landreau. From thence it spread northwards, destroying the block situated in the center of Washington street, and beginning at a point about midway between the present lo- cations of O'Brien's store and Boyd's livery stable. The streets separated by this block were known as East Wash- ington and West Washington streets. The southernmost building which fell a prey to the flames was the Masonic Hall, already spoken of. The wind blowing northward, the fire steadily progressed in that direction, burning nearly every building on Washington street to its head, where the Episcopal Church now stands, and even here the flames were not stayed, but continued as far as the Bar- num House, in the northern part of the city, and fully a half mile from the starting point.
Thus nearly every building in town was burned, only
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HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
such scattered dwellings as were far removed from the fire having been saved. Many of the structures swept away cost from ten to twenty thousand dollars each, and the total loss was said to exceed three-quarters of a million dollars.
Among the buildings saved were the Rev. Mr. Deal's new Methodist Episcopal Church, and Rev. W. H. Long's Wes- leyan Chapel. The former was used for a short time after the fire as a Postoffice.
The loss of one life only is recorded. The unfortunate man was a Swiss, named Mollier, and he met his fate in the building in which the fire started.
Immediately following the extinguishment of the fire, a new source of trouble arose. This was the attempt of certain parties to "jump" the land on which the houses had stood; but the attempt was frustrated by the interposition of an armed guard, which was organized to meet such pro- ceedings.
Reliable estimates, published a week after the fire, when the excitement and consequent exaggeration had cooled, placed the loss at seven hundred and seventy-eight thousand dollars. Of this enormous sum, the following- named persons or companies lost the amounts set opposite their respective names:
Peter Mehen. $20,000
Leander Quint. 6,000
E. Richards 6,000
Judge Tuttle. 7,000
Theall, Perkins & Co 30,000
J. M. Huntington 23,000
L. C. Gunn 6,000
Bemis.
30,000
W. C. Bennett. 12,000
Street & Co 8,000
G. A. Johnson 8,000
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HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
Caruthers 12,000
Long Tom Saloon 15,000
F. G. Appleton & Co 5,000
Hotel de France. 3,000
G. Aitkin 5,000
Major Ball. 20,000
E. Linoberg 30,000
Heslep, Yaney & Co 20,000
Mintzer & Co 10,000
C. F. Dodge. 20,000
Joshua Holden
10,000
Alonzo Green
40,000
B. Ford & Co 10,000
M. Planel
10,000
J. H. Ward.
40,000
Masonic Hall
10,000
Lone Star
10,000
Huntington, Martin & Dwinelle. 11,000
M. Valleau. 9,000
French Restaurant. 4,000
The above were the principal losers only, the remainder of the gross amount being made up of losses ranging from a few hundreds to five thousand dollars.
The day following the fire, a public meeting was held in Sonora in reference to the calamity, at which Mr. S. H. Dwinelle was called to the chair, and a committee was or- ganized to draft resolutions, directed toward a better pro- tection of the city in case of a similar danger. This com- mittee, consisting of Messrs. Huntington, Yaney, Green, Gunn and C. F. Dodge, presented resolutions proclaiming the expediency of widening the streets and laying them out at right angles; also, that a police force be appointed in the temporary emergency.
These resolutions were acted upon by the authorities, and the center block, lying in the middle of Washington
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HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
street, was abolished, and that street widened to its full width of eighty feet. The citizens unanimously accepted the new order of things, and commenced the task of re- building in a most thorough manner. Brick became the favorite material for building, and the brickmakers began to ply their vocation actively. Real estate, it was said, had risen, within a few days, to a greater value than pre- vious to the fire. Mr. Linoberg received an offer of one hundred and twenty dollars per front foot for his lot, corner of Linoberg and Washington streets, and Mr. Holden refused five thousand dollars for his hotel site, pre- ferring to erect thereon a large frame hotel and saloon. Adams & Co., whose building was destroyed among the rest, built a much finer one on the same lot, containing a vault constructed of adobes, the walls of which were three feet in thickness, and the apartment within large enough to contain several safes.
The establishment of the first school in Sonora, and in fact the first in the county as far as is known, took place during the week in which the fire occurred. The precep- tress was a Miss Hawkhurst, a lady eminently adapted to the art of instructing the youthful mind, if the laudatory notices of the Herald may be taken as evidence. Possibly, however, the Herald man was susceptible, and the lady's charms were such as to obscure his judgment. Be that as it may, the school was quite a success, though its privileges were extended to but few at the beginning, the pupils num- bering but eighteen or twenty, the most of whom were Americans, and between the ages of four and ten.
It was mentioned that the new M. E. Church escaped destruction in the great fire. This building stood on Yaney street, in the rear of Yaney & Bertine's Banking House. It was decidedly the finest church building in the county, though costing but the comparatively small sum of thirty- three hundred dollars. The dimensions were thirty-five by
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HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
forty feet, and ninety feet from the ground to the top of the spire. The contractor, Mr. George Fairfield, com- pleted the work in twelve days.
A reference to the advertising columns of the Herald of that time, reveals many things that must be of interest. In one place Mrs. Sharp respectfully informs the parents and guardians of the Sonora youth that she intends opening a school for young ladies about the first of July. Having been engaged as governess in leading families in Europe, she flatters herself that she is competent to perform the task that she proposes. In addition, she will feel happy to form a class of grown-up ladies whose early education has been neglected, that they may become possessed of a portion of that multifarious learning that the reader must have supposed Madame Sharp imbued with. Her terms were eminently reasonable, board per month, with tuition in all the branches of a sound English education, being only twenty-five dollars, while, in addition, music, French, dancing, washing, and day scholars are taught or dealt with at correspondingly low rates. But whether unforseen circumstances prevented, or the good lady concluded that she was giving too much for a little money, the school, it is to be presumed, was never commenced, for there is no evidence to the contrary.
Three book stores-G. S, Wells', Mintzer & Co.'s, and B. R. Sweetland's (" Miners' Book Store "), advertise their wares. Messrs. Huntington, Martin & Dwinelle maintained an "ad." asserting their claims as attorneys at law, the latter member of the firm being also a Notary Public. They also advertised " Money to loan, in sums to suit borrowers."
Mr. C. A. Todd advertised that he had purchased the interest and good will of his former partners in Reynolds & Co.'s Express and Banking House, and would carry on the same without interruption, the office being removed to the old Tuolumne House.
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HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
The American Bath House, on Washington street, at the Plaza, and adjoining Theall, Perkins & Co.'s store; Plump's Coffee House, where ice-cream was to be had; William Stone's splendid circus, composed of the greatest living artists-in fact, the flower of the equestrian school; and numerous other individuals and institutions advertised themselves liberally in the Herald.
Six banking houses, including Adams & Co. and Todd & Co., did business in Sonora at that time-a fact that seems the more extraordinary when it is compared with the pres- ent state of finance. The contrast extends into all matters, of course, but in one particular is most noticeable to the eye of a newspaper man. No weekly four-page paper of limited circulation ever possessed a better advertising patronage than did the Sonora Herald. Its weekly receipts from that source could not have averaged much less than two hundred dollars. The Herald, by its respectable moral tone, by the fullness and completeness of its various de- partments, and by the vigor, energy and courage of its conductors, commanded success and achieved it. There was not at that time, nor has there since been, published in California a more respectable weekly newspaper. Its editorials were terse and vigorous, and always up with the times. They were such as to furnish an exponent of the feelings of society in general on all prominent topics. This is fully shown in the editor's comments on the Chinese question, in 1852, when that topic was for the first time agitated. It is surprising to the reader of the present day to observe how little progress has been made in considering that question. The subject remains, morally, in the same light in which it was then regarded. To prove this, let a few sentences be quoted:
* * * * " They prove convincingly, if proof were needed, that the Chinese have been hardly and harshly
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HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
treated. Coaxed and invited hither by one class of Ameri- cans, they have been driven about and maltreated by an- other class. Taxed by the Legislature, in return for that protection which it well knew it could not honestly guar- antee, they have been driven back by miners, whose voices spoke out long ago against any competition with inferior labor. * * Who, then, are to blame in this matter, the miners, or their would-be masters, the merchants ? *
The merchant clique of San Francisco * thus writes: 'The immigration of the Chinese to this country is productive of great profit to us, and we believe is of great benefit to the mining and agricultural interests of the State.' Granted, as far as the profit is concerned; granted by us, and very frankly avowed by those who profit by it. The merchant memorialists will pardon us poor miners if we presume to have our own ideas about our own peculiar in- terests. We have too long served as shuttlecocks, to be bandied about from side to side, the sport and prey of sharper legislators and reckless speculators; we have too long served as cat's paws, by which the merchants and bankers have drawn the golden store out of the fire. * *
" To say that the Chinese will permanently settle in, im- prove and populate this country, does not mend the matter. It is but a mere assertion, anyhow. That a country con- taining so immense a mass of human beings could speedily populate this country, none can doubt. But what we want is not mere population; this were worse than useless, if it were not a healthy increase. -X We want a perma- nent population; but we also want a free, intelligent, en- lightened one. We want a population that speaks our lan- guage, understands and appreciates our laws, sympathizes with the expansive spirit of our people, harmonizes with and readily assimilates to us. We want a population each one of whom is capable of sitting on a jury, of depositing
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HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
a ballot, of understanding the drift of a resolution, the prayer of a petition. Such a population the Chinese can not be. Why, then, should we commit political suicide, because our fathers made our country a refuge for the op- pressed ? In plainer and more unmistakable words, why should we ruin our rising country by diluting its already adulterated population with the admixture of a strange and an inferior race, merely because certain merchants find it productive of ' great profit to them ?? "
Never were more pointed words applied to this question, which has remained an unsettled problem to this day. The ideas above advanced contain all, or nearly all, of argument that has been promulgated on that side. Nor, on the other hand, have the supporters of Chinese immi- gration got beyond the idea of self-interest in their own arguments. So that the whole subject may be said to be in the same state in which it existed thirty years since.
Diversions of the Early Miner.
By this date, a noticeable progress in refinement over the rough and reckless previous years had become ap- parent. As already mentioned, Sonora had taken the initiative in establishing schools and places of worship. Contemporaneously with these came the institution of theatrical exhibitions, which at first were, as befitted the mixed tastes of the earlier inhabitants, not of the highest order. It has been seen that the Town Council of Sonora was impelled to prohibit, by ordinance, the lewd ex- hibtions called "model artist shows." Bull fights, intro- duced by the Mexican inhabitants, had previously been a recognized means of diversion-more particularly, it was
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HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
the regular source of amusement for beguiling the time on Sunday; but the sport, once popular, by the year 1852 had become degraded in the popular estimation, so much so that the newspapers published at that time refused to give their columns to its description. In consequence, there is difficulty in arriving at facts concerning this amusement. When it began, and to how late a date the practice continued, are details shrouded in obscurity. Good fortune has, notwithstanding, preserved this relation of a typical combat which occurred near the spot where Wolfling's slaughter-house now stands: In 1850, Captain Gridley had advertised himself as being in possession of two bears, which he proposed, on a certain day, to pit against a long-horned Mexican bull, or, more properly, a steer, that was owned by another party. This, of course, was not exactly a bull fight, but was a contest perhaps more to the taste of such as chose to pay their dollar to behold, than the real simon-pure bull fight would have been.
At the appointed hour, the corral was surrounded by an immense crowd, standing on tiptoe and craning their necks to view the promised sensation. The bears, being let into the enclosure, excited a feeling of disappointment from their diminutive size, and the outcome showed that they were utterly unable to cope with their active and pow- erful antagonist. On the first charge of the excited steer, goaded to desperation by the shouts of the bystanders, the smaller of his two antagonists was toppled over instantly, rolling under the legs of the steer. The other, daunted by the onset, sought to escape by climbing the fence, despite the chain by which he was fixed to a stake in the corral. The bystanders, giving ground before the array of teeth and claws, fell over each other in confusion. On order being restored, it was found that Bruin had been
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HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
shot and partially disabled. Thereon a quarrel arose with the proprietor, who insisted that the crowd should pay him for the damage done to his property. This was not acceded to, but a collection of a few dollars was made up on his promise to let the fight go on.
Three times more the animals were brought or driven in contact, each time resulting in a victorious charge by the hoofed quadruped that scattered his enemies in utter de- moralization, and then the fight was declared "off," the owner of the steer offering to match his animal against five grown-up grizzlies. As there were no takers, one must conclude that the doughty bovine had achieved a repu- tation as invincible, or that grizzly bears were not easily procurable in quantity.
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