A memorial and biographical history of northern California, illustrated. Containing a history of this important section of the Pacific coast from the earliest period of its occupancy...and biographical mention of many of its most eminent pioneers and also of prominent citizens of today, Part 17

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1000

USA > California > A memorial and biographical history of northern California, illustrated. Containing a history of this important section of the Pacific coast from the earliest period of its occupancy...and biographical mention of many of its most eminent pioneers and also of prominent citizens of today > Part 17

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HISTORY OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.

tribes. The pits were covered with brush and dirt to conceal them.

Placerville was originally called Hangtown, and was so named from this circumstance: In Jannary, 1849, three men were in a saloon tent engaged in a game of poker. When the game broke up the proprietor was asleep, and the men robbed him at the point of the pistol. The next day they were arrested, tried, and sentenced to be flogged. After the punishment had been inflicted they were ordered to leave the camp. In a few days two of the men, when drunk around the camp, intimated that the parties who had been engaged in the trial were spotted, and would not live to flog another man. A meeting was called and the two men were arrested, tried, and hung to a tree. Pleasanton was at first called Alisal (cottonwood), bnt was afterward named by John W. Kotlinger in honor of Gen- eral Pleasanton, a cavalry officer in the Union army.

Red Bluff was established by M. L. Covert, and was at first called Covertsburg. Redding was originally called Reading, after Major P. B. Reading, the pioneer of Shasta County. The change to the present spelling was done in com- pliment to the late B. B. Redding. Red Dog Hill was so named because of its supposed resem- blance to a hill of that name in the lead district of Illinois. Redwood City was so called from its proximity to the vast forests of redwood tim- ber that formerly covered the slopes of the monntains. Rough and Ready was established in the fall of 1849, by the " Rough and Ready " company of immigrants, who had just arrived froin Wisconsin nuder the command of Captain Townsend. Routier was named after Hon. Joseph Routier. Scott River and Mountain were named from John W. Scott, who mined on Scott Bar in July, 1850. Sebastopol, So- noma County, was at first called Pine Grove. During the Crimean war, and at the time when Sebastopol was besieged, two men engaged in a fight in the town, and one retreated into the store and the proprietor refused to admit the victorions party. From this circumstance the

store was called Sebastopol, and the town was subsequently so named.

Shingle Springs was named from the fact that at the upper end of the town are several springs of water. At an early day, near the springs, a machine was erected and operated for the manu- facture of shingles. Hence the name.

Somerville was named from Francis Somers, an early resident. The mountain of St. Helena was named in honor of the Empress of Rus- sia, by the Russian naturalist, Wosnessemsky, who ascended it in 1841.

When the settlement of Stockton was started it was called and known everywhere as Weber's Settlement, or as French Camp -- the latter name being the better known. Captain C. M. Weber and his partner were undecided as to the name of the new town. New Albany was the choice of the partner, because of his birth in Albany, New York. Weber preferred either Tuleburg or Castoria. Tulebnrg was regarded as appro- priate because the tules grew thick and high in the vicinity. Castoria is a Spanish name, mean- ing beaver settlement. At that time beaver abounded in large numbers. Afterward Weber was taken prisoner by the Mexicans, and after his liberation met Commodore Robert F. Stock- ton, who promised to send out a government steamer for the use of the pioneers. At Weber's suggestion the name of the town was changed to Stockton, and it was first legally knowu by that name in a petition to the Court of Sessions, dated July 23, 1850. Suisun is an Indian word meaning " big expanse." Suñol was named after Antonio M. Suñol, an early resident who died March 18, 1865. Suscol was the name of an Indian chief. Sweetland was named after H. P. Sweetland, who settled there in 1850. Sutter Creek was named from the fact that in 1848 Captain Sutter came through that country with a retinne of Indians on an excursion to the mountains and camped on the spot where Sutter Creek now stands, which event gave the town its name.

The derivation of the word " Tahoe " has, per- haps, been more elaborately discussed than that

HISTORY OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.

of any other word of geographical designation in the State. The beantifnl lake, lying on the boundary line between this State and Nevada, has borne that name since aboriginal days. On February 10, 1870, an act of the Legislature was approved declaring the name of the lake to be " Bigler," in honor of the ex-Governor. In the debates in the Legislature the matter of the name of the lake became alinost a partizan issne. The Democrats favored the name Bigler, and the Republicams Tahoe. The Democrats claimed that the name Tahoe had been borne by a dis- reputable and vicious Indian chief who had mur- dered an American family named Rothrock on the Truckee River in early days. The Repub- licans contended that it was an Indian word, meaning " big water." A correspondent in the Sacramento Union of February 3, 1880, claimed that the word was a corruption of " Tejon " or badger, and that the lake had been so called by the half converted Indians who had fled to the mountains to escape servitude to the Spaniards, the region about the lake being prolific with badgers. The correspondent was no doubt in error. Tehachapi is an Indian word of unknown signification. Temescal is an Indian word, meaning " sweat-house." Tomales Bay was named after a tribe of Indians of that name who lived in that vicinity.

William Baldridge, a very early pioneer. writes the following account of the derivation of the word " Truckee:"

In 1845, James M. Harbin and a few others were on their way to California, via overland route, and on arriving at the sink of the Hum- boldt, they met with an Indian and employed him to pilot them across the desert. While en route Harbin noticed a resemblance in him to a Frenchman he had formerly known, and there- fore bestowed the name of the Frenehman (Truckee) on the Indian, and on arriving at the river (Truckee) they were greatly elated at their good fortune, and named it Truckee's River. " Truckee" and two of his brothers came to California with the emigrants in 1846, and served in Fremont's battalion until the end of the war.

The Reno Gazette, in 1880, published the following account of the same incident:

In 1844 a party of men left Council Bluffs, lowa, to go to Oregon. They came across the plains. and when they reached the hunting grounds of the Shoshonnes they procured an Indian guide named Truckee. This Indian ac- companied them as far as Sutter's fort. In traversing this region the Indian told them of a rapid river that flowed from one great lake to another. The party did not reach this river as soon as they expected, and they began to look mpon Truckee's river as a river of the mind, a flowing fiction. Truckee's river was, for a time, a frequent jest upon their lips, and when at last they reached the stream he described they had already named it.

Ukiah derives its name from the Eukio or Yukio tribe of Indians, who dwelt in the valley when it was first visited by the whites. Vallejo was founded by General M. G. Vallejo, from whom it received its name. It was for a short time the capital of the State. Visalia was named after Nat Vise, a bear hunter, who lived there in early days. Walloupa was named after an Indian chief. It is a corruption of Gnada- Inpe, the name which he had received from the missionaries. Washoe is the Indian name for the valley lying along the eastern base of the Sierra Nevadas. The word signifies " beanti- ful." Watsonville was named after J. H. Watson, who founded it in 1853; Weaverville was named after a miner named Weaver, who at an early period obtained a large quantity of gold from Weaver Creek. Winters was laid ont in 1875, and was named in honor of Theodore Winters, who owned an interest in the town site; and Woodbridge was named after its founder, J. H. Woods. Yeomet is an Indian name, signifying rocky falls, and was given to the forks of the Cosumnes River, in Amador County. Yosemite is a corruption of " Oo- soom-ite," an Indian word meaning, in the language of the tribe that inhabited the valley, " large grizzly bear." Yountville was named after George C. Yount, who died October 5, 1865. The town of Yreka was originally called Shasta Butte City, but as this was too much

HISTORY OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.

like Shasta City, the Indian name for Monnt Shasta, I-e-ka, (meaning white) was substituted, and the orthography was changed to Wyreka. In the course of time the " W " was dropped, and the present spelling adopted.

Appended are a few of those names bestowed on localities by the miners in early days. It is not necessary to trace their derivation, as they are sufficiently suggestive:

American Hollow, Barefoot Diggings, Bloom- er Hill, Blue Belly Ravine, Bob Ridley Flat, Bogus Thunder, Brandy Gulch, Coyote Hill, Centipede Hollow, Chicken Thief Flat, Chris- tian Flat, Chucklelead Diggings, Coon Hollow, Dead Man's Bar, Dead Mule Canon, Deadwood, Devil's Basin, Devil's Elbow, Gas Hill, Git up and Git, Gopher Flat, Gospel Gulch, Gouge Eye, Graveyard Canon, Greaser's Camp, Green- horn Cañon, Gridiron Bar, Wild Goose Flat, Whisky Bar, Grizzly Flat, Ground Hog Glory, Happy Valley, Hell's Delight, Hempback Slide, Hen Roost Camp, Hog's Diggings, Horsetown, Humbug Canon, Hungry Camp, Jackass Gulch, Jim Crow Canon, Last Chance, Lazy Man's Canon, Liberty Hill, Loafer Hill, Loafers' Retreat, Long Town, Lousy Ravine, Love Let- ter Camp, Mad Canon, Miller's Defeat, Mount Zion, Murderer's Bar, Nary Red, Nigger Hill, Nutcake Camp, One Eye, Paint-Pot Hill, Pan- cake Ravine, Paradise, Pepperbox Flat, Piety Hill, Pike Hill, Plughead Gulch, Poker Flat, Poodletown, Poor Man's Creek, Port Wine, Poverty Hill, Puppytown, Push Coach Hill, Qnack Hill, Ragtown, Rat-Trap Slide, Rattle- snake Bar, Seven-by-Nine Valley, Seven-up Ravine, Seventy-six, Shanghai Hill, Shinbone Peak, Shirt-tail Canon, Skinflint, Skunk Gulch, Slap-Jack Bar, Sluice Fork, Snow Point, Sugar- Loaf Hill, Swell-Head Diggings, Wild-Cat Bar, Yankee Doodle.

ALAMEDA COUNTY.

Alameda derives its name from the Spanish term " alameda," signifying a " grove of pop- lars," many trees of that kind having by the

original settlers been found growing along the streams.

Although doubtless visited at occasional intervals previously by emissaries of the mis- sions or the military posts in California, there seems to have been no settlement within the limits of what afterward became Alameda County until on Sunday, June 11, 1797, was founded the mission San Jose, with Fathers Barcevilla and Merino at its head. In the early gold-mining days this mission was an import- ant point. The first man to receive a grant of land within the county was Don Luis Maria Peralta, to whom was granted the Rancho San Antonio, of five leagnes, being the whole of the country west of the Contra Costa Hills between San Leandro Creek and the northern county line. On this are situated now the cities of Oakland, with its suburbs, Alameda and Berke- ley. Don Luis never resided here, his home be- ing at San José, but divided his princely domain up among his four sons. José Domingo re- ceived the northerly portion where Berkeley now is. To Vicente was given Encinal de Temescal, now the city of Oakland. To Antonio Maria, he gave the portion next southerly, now East Oakland and Alameda; while Ygnacio took the most southerly part. This division was made in 1842, the brothers having previously held the rancho in common. From this time on at intervals grants were inade to the heads of the following families, some few of which have representatives still residing in the county, -Higuera, Suñol, Vallejo, Alviso, Amador, Pacheco, Pico, Estudillo, Castro, Bernal, and Soto.

The complete list of Mexican land grants for Alameda County is: Mission San José, twenty- nine acres, patented to Bishop J. S. Alemany in 1858; Las Positas, 8,880 acres, patented to Livermore and Noriega in 1872; Potrero de los Cerritos, 10,610 acres, patented to Pacheco and Alviso in 1866; San Antonio, 9,416 acres to Ygnacio Peralta in 1858; 15,206 acres to A. N. M. Peralta in 1874, and 18,849 acres to V. and D. Peralta in 1877; Santa Rita, 8,894

HISTORY OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.

acres to Yonntz, administrator, in 1865; San Leandro, 6,829 acres to J. J. Estudillo in 1863; San Lorenzo, 6,686 acres to Barbara Soto and others, in 1877; and 26,722 acres to Guillermo Castro in 1865; Valle de San José, 48,436 acres to Suñol and Bernal in 1865. In Alameda and Contra Costa counties together: Cañada de los Baqueros, 17,760 acres, to Livermore and Noriega. In Alameda and San Joaquin counties: El Pescadero, 35,546 acres, to Pico and Nagle in 1865.

The first settler of English-speaking parentage was Robert Livermore, who in partnership with José Noriega, pinchased the Raneho Las Posi- tas from Don S. Pacheco and settled there in 1835. After him the town and valley of Liver- more receive their name. Livermore was prob- ably the first, after the mission fathers, to engage in grape, fruit and grain culture. In 1844 he set out a vineyard and planted orchards of pear and olive trees, also beginning to grow wheat. Livermore was a native of London, England, born 1799. He died on his home ranch in 1858.

From this time on till 1846, nothing of im- portance occurred within our limits. In that year, however, came the ship Brooklyn to San Francisco. One of her passengers, John M. Horner, pitched his tent on the fertile land where Washington Corners now is, there being at that time no other American within the county. In 1847 Perry Morrison and Earl Marshall, also Brooklyn passengers, came across the bay and both went to the Mission San José and engaged in dairying. In this same year, also, the redwood forests on the hillsides back of Oakland began to attract attention, aud some enterprising Yankees, among them Elam Brown, of Contra Costa County, were there whipsawing out lumber for the San Francisco market. In 1848 came the discovery of gold, with its rush of people and excitements. For the first year or so, the road to the mines was via the Mission San José and thence over the mountains. At this time old mission was an important place, and had many lively business honses. The dis-

covery of the advantages of the Sacramento River fonte scon put an erd to this prosperity, and for a little time nothing seems to have oc- curred more exciting than dick-shooting ex- peditions to the marshes to supply the San Fran- cisco market. It was thus that, in 1849, Thomas W. Mulford and other now well-known residents visited the county and discovered its richness. In 1850 the thee Patten brothers, in partnership with Moses Chase, leased 160 acres of land from A. M. Peralta where East Oakland is now and went to farming, increasing their holding by 300 acres the following year, when they planted all in grain. In 1850, Henry C. Smith, who was afterward prominent in the formation of the county, went to Mission San José, where there were already E. L. Beard, Jeremiah Fallon, Michael Murray, William Norris, William Tyson and many others.

The first actual settler in the city of Oakland was Moses Chase, already referred to, who pitched his tent at what is now the foot of Broadway, in the winter of 1849-'50, and com- menced hunting. Next came Colonel Henry S. Fitch and Colonel Whitney, and attempted, unsuccessfully, to purchase the tract of land. In the summer of 1850 appeared Edson Adams, H. W. Carpenter and A. J. Moon, a trio well known and much abused in the history of Oak- land. They squatted on the land. An attempt was made to oust them legally, but the upshot of the matter was that they were given a lease of a certain number of acres, laid out a city, sold lots and erected the first buildings, and are thus the actual founders of Oakland. In 1852 the "Town of Oakland " was formally incor- porated, and it has enjoyed alınost constant growth and prosperity since that date.

The first ferry across the Bay of San Fran- cisco was established in 1851, by Adams and Carpenter, the fare for single trip being one dollar.

Alameda County was organized in 1853, under act of March 25, that year, by being set off from Contra Costa, of which it had previ- onsly formed a part. Alvarado became the first

HISTORY OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.

seat of government, as it was the most central among the available settlements, and with a good shipping place, to which Mission San Jose and other points were tributary. But political influence gained the privilege soon afterward for San Leandro, a town with similar advantages but more attractive in site and ap- pearance, which had to surrender it twenty years later to its more powerful neighbor, Oak- land. The change to San Leandro was made by popular vote in the latter part of 1854, and the erection of county buildings immediately begun. These were completed in 1855 at a cost of about $1,200. Alvarado did not submit quietly to being deprived of its honors, and litigation was the result, and for a little while the county seat was ambulatory between the two points, being fixed in San Leandro only in 1856. In this and the following year new county buildings were erected, at a cost of $30,000. The erection of a county hospital at San Leandro was begun in 1869 and com- pleted in 1870, but, proving unsatisfactory, another building was erected later which, with additions, will accommodate about 200 patients. In 1873 the county-seat was removed to Oak- land, by popular vote, and the construction of a court house and jail, and building for hall of records, county clerk and treasurer's offices, on opposite sides of Broadway, was undertaken, at a cost of about $200,000.

OAKLAND,

a mention of whose earlier history has already been made, was incorporated as a town in 1852. In 1854 Oakland was made a city. Her prog- ress, notwithstanding long and serious litiga- tion over water front and other rights, has been one of uniforin and rapid advancement. A description of the city as it is to-day would fill a volume.

In many respects she occupiesla position with reference to the city of San Francisco analo- gous to that between Brooklyn and New York, only hers is superior, in that she is the terminus of an important transcontinental rail-

road, which has expended vast sums of money in the construction of repair and other works, in the construction of a mole and terminal facilities of a very complete order, and have afforded her a system of ferriage that lias no counterpart in America. This ferry system, one of Oakland's most valuable possessions, was founded in 1869. The city is also an important manufacturing center, many of the largest establishments of the coast being located here. Among these we may mention, iron works, nail mills, cotton, woolen and flouring mills, bridge works, soap works, potteries, canneries, jute factories, tanneries, and many score of others, some of them of large dimensions. Her pub- lic buildings are many and handsome, among which may be noted a fine new Young Men's Christian Association building just completed at a cost of $150,000. She is called, some- times, the "City of Churches," at others, the "Athens" of the Pacific coast on account of her many and fine public and private schools and colleges. She has hospitals, parks, recrea- tion grounds, etc.,-in fact, everything that a city of metropolitan importance may be ex- pected to possess, her system of cable roads and street cars being unexcelled.

A work of vast importance to Oakland now in course of progress, is the improvement of its harbor by the United States Government. This work, was begun in 1874, has already cost many millions, and before completion must cost many milions more. No city in California has before it a brighter future than Oakland.

At Berkeley, a charming town that lies ad- joining Oakland, and really a portion of it, is the University of California, a State institution that has attained a high reputation for scholar- ship. The buildings are handsome and appro- priate, some five in number and erected at a large expense. Its teaching staff, professors, assistants, tutors, etc., number about 200, although it should be stated that this total in- cludes the faculties of the Medical, Legal, Dental and Pharmaceutical departments which are located in San Francisco. The University

HISTORY OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.

was founded in 1868, when Berkeley may be said to have taken its rise. The first class to graduate was in 1873.

ALAMEDA (CITY)

was incorporated in 1872. It is situated on a long peninsula, soon to become an island, with the completion of the canal now in course of construction between Oakland Harbor and San Leandro Bay. Its first settlers were two Frenchmen, Depachier and Le Maitre, who went there in 1850 to cut fire-wood, others go- ing thither soon afterward. The city is, especially of late years, much favored as a place of residence by business men of San Francisco. It has equal rail and ferry privileges with Oak- land. Alameda has excellent swimming baths, and several important manufacturing establish- ments.

SAN LEANDRO

saw its beginning in the homestead of Don José Joaquin Estudillo, who received the region as a grant in 1842, and some of whose descend- ants reside there still. It made but little prog- ress till chosen the county-seat, when its advance was rapid, containing in 1850 only Estudillo's residence and a school. Agricult- ural and river traffic, however, gave it impulse, and it is to-day a thriving and beautiful town, with large and valuable orchards and gardens around about it. It assumed incorporation honors in 1872, partly to strengthen itself against Oakland's struggle for the county-seat. This dignity was lost, yet the town continues to prosper. It contains several very extensive agricultural implement manufactories, plow works, etc. In 1852-'53 a number of squatters gathered on Estudillo's rancho at a point called San Lorenzo, forming the so-called " Squatter- ville" of the Census report of 1852. The manufacture of farming implements was started with a few adjuncts in the shape of hotels aud shops, but the town has not prospered.

OTHIER TOWNS.

In 1851 W. Ilaywards settled at the place of that name and soon engaged in store and

hotel-keeping. G. Castro, owner of the San Lorenzo grant, laid out the town in 1854, ap- plying the name of his tract, which did not long prevail. The railroad gave it new life, and in 1876 it received a charter. It has two breweries, and is surrounded by a rich horticult- ural district. Many fine country houses are situated here.

Alvarado was laid out in 1851, as New Haven, by Hon. H. C. Sinith, who, as Assem- blyman, maneuvered the creation of the county and the seat, allowing the Lieutenant Governor to rename the place in honor of the Mexican ex-Governor. It grew, embraced Union City, and became the chief town of the southern section, with several factories. Here is located an extensive beet-sugar factory, but the town has not kept pace with the balance of the county.

Newark is the creation of the South Pacific Coast Railroad, the shops of the line being situated there.

Niles, which is but a few miles distant, is the point of junction of the San José branch of the Central Pacific Railroad with that from Livermore and Stockton. Large seed farms and nurseries are situated here. It was famous in the early days for the great flouring mills constructed by Don J. J. Vallejo in 1853. Be- tween the towns of Newark and Niles lies the town of Centreville, a good agricultural and fruit country, which has felt the opposition of its rivals injurionsly. Washington Corners, the supply place of Mission San Jose, Suñol. Pleasanton (first called Alisal), Dublin, Alta- mont, etc., are growing points on the line of railway. Pleasanton will be the point of june- tion of the branch road to Martinez, now being built. It lies at the head of San Ramon Val- ley, Contra Costa County, and is a good fruit region.

In the eastern end of the county Livermore owns the advantage. Alphonso Ladd settled there in 1865 and built a hotel which became the nucleus of Laddville; but the approach of the railroad caused W. Mendenhall to lay out Livermore at a half mile to the west. Liver-

HISTORY OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.

more gained the ascendency, being incorporated in 1876. Robert Livermore's old adobe stood a mile and a half north of it. Livermore is a most prosperous town, being surrounded by vineyards and orchards. Not far away are valuable deposits of coal and other minerals.

IN GENERAL.

Alameda County has made a marvelous growth, being helped in that by the fertility of her soil not less than by her proximity to San Francisco and her position on the bay. She ranks as one of the most productive agricultural counties on the coast, more of lier surface, pro- portionately to area, being cultivated than that of any other. The produce of her grain and hay fields is very large, but larger yet are the re- turns from the gardens, orchards and vineyards with which she is covered. Certain parts are noted for their cherries, apricots peaches, ete., as abont San Fernando and Haywards and the bay side of the county generally. About the Mission San José are immense vineyards and wineries, and the vegetable and small fruit gar- dens of the same parts, and especially of the lower lands, are noted far and wide. At the Mission San José is the winery of Juan Golle- gos, one of the largest in the State. Of late, the Liverinore Valley has become noted also for its wines, being reckoned hardly second to the Sonoma Valley or to Napa County. Its orchards of almost every variety of fruit are also now become very prominent. On the margin of the bay are extensive salt works, the salt being obtained entirely by evaporation. This is one of the leading industries of the county. In and about the city of Oakland manufacturing is largely engaged in, as lias been already noticed.

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A memorial and biographical history of northern California, illustrated. Containing a history of this important section of the Pacific coast from the earliest period of its occupancy...and biographical mention of many of its most eminent pioneers and also of prominent citizens of today, Part 17

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 1000

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1000