USA > California > San Luis Obispo County > A memorial and biographical history of the counties of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura, California Containing a history of this important section of the Pacific coast from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospective future; with full-page steel portraits of its most eminent men, and biographical mention of many of its pioneers and also of prominent citizens of to-day > Part 17
USA > California > Santa Barbara County > A memorial and biographical history of the counties of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura, California Containing a history of this important section of the Pacific coast from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospective future; with full-page steel portraits of its most eminent men, and biographical mention of many of its pioneers and also of prominent citizens of to-day > Part 17
USA > California > Ventura County > A memorial and biographical history of the counties of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura, California Containing a history of this important section of the Pacific coast from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospective future; with full-page steel portraits of its most eminent men, and biographical mention of many of its pioneers and also of prominent citizens of to-day > Part 17
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Nicolas, and assembled the Indians upon the beach, ready for embarking. One of the women then signified by signs that her child had been left behind, and she was allowed to go to fetch it. She delayed some time, and meanwhile a strong wind sprang np. The water about the island is quite shoal, and be- comes very rough in a storm, and there is no sheltering harbor, so that the schooner dared not tarry, but ran before the wind, leaving the woman behind. The vessel arrived safely at San Pedro, where the Indians were landed, some being taken to Los Angeles and some to the Mission of San Gabriel. The captain of the vessel designed to return to the island as soon as possible to fetch away the woman. But, being ordered to San Francisco, she cap- sized there, and, there being now no craft large enough to attempt the passage of the channel, no attempt was made to rescue the woman, and after some years it was generally believed that she must have perished.
In 1851 John Nidever, with a man named Tom Jeffries and a crew of Indians, had oc- casion to visit San Nicolas. Landing on the lower end of the island they shortly found on the bank near the beach the footprints of a human being, probably made during the preceding rainy season, as they were deeply impressed in the ground, now very hard and dry. The size of the tracks indicated they were made by a woman. After walking some distance, the men discovered on rising ground about 200 yards back from the beach three structures of human creation. Standing about a mile apart, these enclosures were circular in shape, six or seven feet in diameter, with brush-built walls, five or six feet from the ground, on stakes of driftwood stuck into the earth, pieces of dried blubber, apparently placed there a month or two before, and in good condition. Other than the meat there was no sign of recent occupation of the
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enclosures. A wind came on, which in creased to a gale shortly after the men had regained their vessel, and as soon as practi- cable, which was not for eight days, they left the vicinity of the island.
In the winter of 1852, Nidever, accom- panied by Charles Brown and a crew of Indians, made a second visit to the island, in quest of otter, of which he had seen great numbers on his former visit. Land- ing at the old place, they walked toward the head of the island, where the woman, if still alive, was likely to be found, as fish and seal are more plentiful, and water better and more abundant in that quarter. The huts were seen as before, the old blubber seeming to have been replaced by fresher. About half a mile from the head of the island and extending across it, was a flat, low and sandy ; and here, thought the men, the woman must be living, as the ground to the north and eastward was high and windswept. After searching for some time, without finding a trace of the woman, the men decided that she must have been devoured by wild dogs‹ of which they had seen a number, resem- bling the coyotes, but black and white in color. When just about to return, Nidever noticed in the crotch of a small tree a bas- ket, covered over with sealskin, which, on being examined, proved to contain a care- fully-folded dress made of the skins of slags, cut in square pieces and sewn together; a rope made of sinews, and divers small ar- ticles such as needles made of bone, abelone, fish-hooks, etc. Brown compassionately pro- posed to replace the basket where they had found it, but Nidever shrewdly preferred to scatter the articles about the spot, as their replacement on a future visit would prove the woman's existence and presence there. Accordingly this was done, and the men returned to their schooner. For some
days they were busy hunting, and then a gale forced them to make off without re- newing the search.
In July, 1853, Nidever once more re- turned to San Nicolas with Brown and four Mission Indians, this time with the inten- tion of making a thorough search for the missing woman. After selecting a camp, they followed the shore to the head of the island, which Brown rounded; and some dis- tance down the other side he found fresh tracks of the woman, which he followed up from the beach and over the bank, losing them on the ridge where the ground was covered with moss. The following day, going to the sandy flat before mentioned, they organized a regular search, for some time withont results. Brown followed the track he had found the previous evening, un - til he found a piece of driftwood, apparently dropped by the woman; and farther along the ridge he discovered three huts, made of brush, disposed over the ribs of a whale, set in the earth. These tenements were, however, open on all sides, and tall grass grew within them, proving the long time that had elapsed since their occupation. Ascending to one of the highest parts of the ridge he gazed about on all sides. Most of the searchers were in sight, and far away he could see moving a small black object which he at first took to be a crow. On walking toward it, he discovered that this was the Indian woman, whose head and shoulders just appeared above the rien of an enclosure like those already described. Close to her were two or three dogs like those the men had seen already. They growled at Brown's approach, whereupon the woman uttered a sort of yell, and they slunk out of sight. The woman was sitting cross-legged on some grass within the enclosure, which doubtless served her for a bed. She wore a sort of gown, made of shag-
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skins cut in squares and sewed together, with the feathers pointing downward. The gar- ment left her neck and shoulders bare, reach- ing to her ankles. Her hair was thickly matted upon her head, being yellowish-brown in color, probably from exposure to the weather The ends seemed to have rotted off. She was en- gaged in stripping the blubber from a piece of sealskin held across her knee, using a knife rudely fashioned from a piece of iron hoop. A fire was smouldering within the enclosure, and close by was a large heap of bones, which would denote that for a long time this had been her domicile.
The woman appeared much interested in the movements of the men who were scour- ing the flat below; every now and then she would shade her eyes with her hand and direct a long and steady gaze upon them. And all the while, from the time Brown first came within hearing distance, she kept up a continual talking to herself.
As the men drew near, Brown motioned to them to spread out in sach shape as to surronnd her and intercept her, should she attempt to escape; then, just before the others reached her little camp, Brown, whom she had not yet seen, stepped around in front and in sight of her. To his great surprise, instead of exhibiting signs of fear or distrust, she received him with an air of welcome, bowing and smiling with mingled cordial politeness and dignity. Her self-possession and case was considered by her discoverers remarkable. As each man came up he was greeted in the same manner, and she con- tinned to talk unceasingly. Bnt althonglı the Indians of the schooner's crew conld muster several native dialects, not a word of her speech understood they.
When the men were all seated npon the ground around her, she took from a grass- woven bag some of the bulbons roots called
by the Californians cacomites, and another species of root, and having first roasted them upon the fire, she offered thein to the men, who found them very palatable.
Wishing to convey her on board the schooner, the men tried to inform her by signs of their intentions; but while she seemed pleased with their company, and gave no reason to apprehend that she would try to escape, she seemed to not comprehend their intentions until they signified that she must gather up all her food stores. Then, indeed, she obeyed with the greatest alacrity, and seemed anxious to preserve everything capable of sustaining life, thus pathetically demonstrating the sharp experiences she had undoubtedly undergone during her eighteen years of solitude. Carefully she collected and placed in a large cora, or basket, such as was generally used by the Indians of this coast, the considerable quantity she possessed of the dried blubber of the seal and sea ele- phant. She even insisted upon carrying away a seal's head so decayed that the brains were oozing from it; and when all else was ready she took a burning stick from the camp-fire. The men distributed her effects for carriage, and all set forth toward the vessel. She trotted along at a good pace, and presently led them to a spring of good water which issued from beneath a shelving rock near the beach. Here were more pieces of dried blubber, hung on stakes beyond reach of the dogs and foxes; and here, too, further pathetic evidence of the privations she had suffered, in the shape of bones stored away in the crevices of the rocks. It was clear that when food was scarce, her resource was to come hither and suck the scanty nutriment remain- ing in these bones! All these matters were respected and preserved by the men, who thus gained the poor, deserted creature's con- fidence. Near the landing was another spring
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which the woman would seem to have used for bathing, as she stopped to wash her face and hands in it
She readily obeyed the signaled instruction to step into the boat, in whose bow she kneeled, holding to the sides; and on reach- ing the vessel she hovered in the vicinity of the stove, another indication of the hardships she had suffered on the island. From the first she preferred to her own the food given her by her rescuers.
Brown immediately contrived for her a petticoat of bed-ticking, which, with a man's shirt and necktie, composed a new wardrobe, of which she was very proud, continually calling to it the attention of her companions. While Brown was engaged upon her skirt she made signs that she wished to sew also; and being given a needle and thread, she could not understand, until she was taught, how the needle was threaded; but she used the needle deftly, mending with infinite patience the many rents in an old cape, very torn and tattered, which one of the men be- stowed upon her, and which she repaired into a garment quite serviceable in cold, rough weather. In sewing, she thrust the needle into the cloth with her right hand, pulling it through, and drawing the thread tight with her left hand.
The men on the next day moved ashore, where they remained for about a month, otter-hunting. They constructed for the wo- man, at a short distance from their camp, a shelter similar to their own; and here. she remained very well contented, evincing no disposition to leave them, but assisting in the work of the camp, bringing wood and water at need, and wandering about the island, talking and singing.
When the woman was found, she had in construction several vessels for carrying water, they being really unique. They were woven
of grass, in shape somewhat like a demijohn, although wider in the mouth, and lined with a thin coating of asphaltum, which she ap- plied with some ingenuity. Putting into the basket several pieces of the asphaltum, which was found along the beach in great quanti- ties, she threw upon them some heated peb- bles, and when these had melted the asphalt- um, she would distribute it evenly over the inside by giving the basket a rotary motion, throwing ont the surplus and the pebbles. These baskets were water-tight, and very en- during. She worked upon them fitfully, a few minutes at a time, putting one aside to take up another.
One rather touching trait of her character is illustrated by the following occurrence. The men one day killed a large female otter which was with young, and when they were about to throw it into the sea, as they usually did the bodies after skinning, the woman, in her mnte way, protested. She took out the young otter, which was nearly to be born and covered with fur, and when it had been stuffed it looked quite natural. Of this little creature the woman mnade a sort of doll, sus- pending it from the roof of her shelter, where for hours she would swing it, all the while talking to it in a kind of sing-song.
After about a month's successful hunt, Nidever's party embarked for Santa Barbara. Not long after they sailed there arose a furious gale, which threatened to engulf the little vessel. Then the woman made signs that she could calm the wind, and, kneeling down with her face toward the quarter whence it blew, she commenced to make prayers or incantations, which continued a long time, and were renewed at intervals during the storm When the wind abated and patches of clear sky appeared, she pointed in triumph to these tokens of good weather, as who should say, "See what I accomplished!"
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The shore was neared carly one morning, and it was evident that the woman had never seen this nor any of the ordinary appearances and sights of a settlement. It was hard to tell whether pleasure or wonder predominated in her when there passed on the sands a Spanish cart, drawn by an ox team. Every feature of it was delightful to her, and she imitated with curious gestures the rotary motion of the clumsy wheels, talking, laugh- ing and gesticulating, all at the same time. When landing had been made, she was much taken up with a horseman who came to the beach, and her courage was shown by her readiness to touch this great unknown, and to her doubtless fearful, creature. After touching both horse and man, she turned to her captors, and proved that she grasped the situation by straddling over her left thumb the first two fingers of her right hand, while she moved her hand to imitate the galloping of a horse, shouting the while with delight.
The woman was taken to Nidever's house, where his wife cared for her; and soon the news spread that the lost woman of San Nicolas Island was found. Her case had ex- cited great interest among the warm-hearted people of the region, who had discussed in the safety of their homes for many a year the possibilities of her still surviving on that desert sea-girt isle, with wild beasts for her only companions. And as the years went by, it was generally believed that she must surely be dead, devoured, in all likelihood, by the wild dogs. The padres of the mission had interested themselves for her, and had offered a reward of $200 for information that should lead to her recovery.
And now the lost was found, and was here within the limits of civilization. Hundreds flocked to Nidever's house to see her. Among others came the Fathers, Sanchez, Jimeno and Gonzalez, the latter of whom in particular
had earnestly insisted upon the probabilities of her survival. But none could communicate with her, save by the imperfect sign language, although the padres knew all the dialects of the coast. From Sauta Ynes, from Los Angeles, and from other places Indians were brought to see her, but they too found not one word in common with her. Every one showed her the greatest kindness. Nearly every one would give her a present of money, of clothing, or of trinkets, all of which she would at once give to her friends, or to the children who visited her. The Panama steamers were touching at Santa Barbara in those days, and the passengers were always eager to see this poor savage hervine. She would often put on her best dress of feathers, and for their gratification perform move- ments which might be called dancing. She soon became very expert in conversing by signs, and thus related the history of her adventures, relating that when she went back after the child, she wandered a long time without finding it; that when she concluded that the dogs had eaten the child, she lay down and cried for so long a time that she sickened, could not eat, and became too weak to walk; then, recovering somewhat, she began to walk about and to eat. Often she liad seen vessels upon the sea, but none ever came near to take her away, so that in time she became reconciled to her fate, and her monotonous life of hunger, cold and the fear of wild animals. She was supposed to have been abont fifty years old at the time of her rescue. Her face was smooth, although the skin on her body and limbs was badly wrinkled. It was gathered from her signs that at the time when she was left on the island she had two children, one a nursing babe, the other some years older.
The woman was much attached to the family of Mr. Nidever, who in turn were
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fond of her. Mr. Nidever repeatedly refused large sums which were offered him as an inducement to her public exhibition in San Francisco. It was only a short time before her death that her protectors succeeded in making her understand their wish to learn some words of her language, and the follow- ing comprise about all the terms they gathered from her: a hide, " tocalı;" man, " nachie;" the sky, " toy gwah;" the body, " pnoo-chay."
With regard to practical matters, she was like a child, and childish was her want of control over her appetite. Being excessively fond of fruit, she would eat it at all hazards, and this self indulgence produced a dysentery which terminated fatally, in spite of careful attendance and nursing. During her illness, it was thought that she might be relieved by a diet of seal's flesh, to which she had been so long accustomed; and accordingly some was procured and roasted for her. But she laughed and shook her head over it, passing her finger over her worn-out teeth, to indicate that they were too old and spent for such use. It was about four months after her rescue that she died. She was buried by the padres. Most of her trinkets, including the finer of her feather dresses, were sent to Rome.
It may be wondered that the woman should have been left so long for want of a boat to fetch her from the island; but it must be remembered that when the Boston ship Monsoon visited Santa Barbara in 1839, the captain of the port had no boat in which to make his official visit. Chagrined by the situation. he petitioned for a boat, which the government accordingly provided for him.
RESOURCES.
The resources of Santa Barbara county have been pretty thoroughly indicated in connection with the respective sections, save
in the directions set forth hereafter, as fol- lows:
HOGS.
With reference to hog-raising in this county, an estimate of the possibilities may be formed from the following extract from a paper by Mr. L. Babcock: "Hogs can be raised here with little trouble after yon are prepared, as we do not have any or but few storms during each year, and no fatal diseases such as cholera. Neither have we any tri- chinæ in the bacons on this coast. On May 19, 1881, I purchased 120 acres of land in the Lompoc Valley, all fenced and im- proved ready to go into the business of rais- ing and preparing hogs for the market. I also bought 600 head of hogs, big and little, and the growing crop, at a cost of $13,066. I raised grain on 100 acres of the ranch. On the last of August, 1881, sold to Sherman & Ealand, of Santa Barbara, 302 head of hogs. They received them on the ranch and paid me $1,962.50. In September, 1882, I shipped to San Francisco 323 head of hogs off the same ranch, and sold theni for $3,- 801.26, and after deducting all expenses of driving, shipping, commission, etc., I got a net return of $3,282.63. And I have 100 or more still on the ranch."
BEE-FARMING.
In 1860 or '61, a party named Miner-he who built the first frame honse in Santa Bar- bara-imported eight or ten swarms of bees, which sold readily for $50 per swarm. In December, 1873, Mr. Jefferson Archer brought hither some forty-five stands of bees, and went into apiculture exclusively. The industry increased to such an extent that at the close of the season of 1880 there were in the county about 3,300 stands of bees, yield- ing a product of over 128 tons or 256,000 pounds of extracted honey.
3
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While that portion of this county adapted to profitable honey-raising is small, com- pared with the territory devoted to this in- dustry in some other counties, the quality of honey produced is nnexcelled. The honey- producing plants are abundant; the mountain redwood, sumac, grease-wood, coffee berry and the various sages, all in their respective seasons, supply the raw material to the hum- ming, busy workers. This is an enterprise yielding large returns from limited capital; it is by no means uncommon to derive a profit of over 400 per cent. from single swarms, and almost as high a figure has been realized from an entire apiary. With a fair season, a good swarm will yield 150 to 250 pounds of extracted honey in a season, besides its increase of one or two swarms in a season, the increase not seldom reaching to five and even ten swarms in one season. One apiary of 400 stands in the county produced during the season of 1884 no less than 730,000 pounds of pure strained honey and 2,000 pounds of beeswax. Apiculture suffers oc- casional drawbacks; an insufficient rainfall lessens or cuts off altogether the honey yield, and a general drouth affects bees as it does cattle and other stock.
FISHERY.
Santa Barbara Channel and its adjacent waters are especially rich in good fishes. The ocean temperature here is particularly mild and eqnable, never falling below 60° nor rising above 66° F., thus resembling the Mediter- ranean, which produces many of the finest market fish in the world.
This temperature, the calinness of the waters, and the quantity of marine vegetation nourished therein, make these parts the natural home of the finest tribes.
In 1881 David S. Jordan and Charles H. Gilbert were sent by the United States Gov-
ernment to the Pacific coast to investigate the fish interests of this section. They found Santa Barbara Channel one of the richest points on the coast, and the results of their investigation surprised even those best ac- quainted with the wealth of these waters. In their report the following fishes are men- tioned as abundant in this locality:
Herring: chupea mirablis. Runs during the winter. Is like the Atlantic herring in size and general character. Is marketed, dried and salted.
Sardine: Clupea sagax. Two species-the larger " American " sardine, sometimes reach- ing a length of nine inches, and a smaller species, exactly the same as that of the Mediterranean.
Barracuda: Sphyræna argenta. The fa- vorite fish of this part of the coast. Runs four or five months during the summer. Averages under ten pounds' weight. When dried, is an excellent substitute for codfish.
Albacore : Orcynus alalonga. Average weight, twelve to fifteen pounds. Very good food fish.
Spanish mackerel: Sarda chilensis. Aver- age weight eight to ten pounds. Used for the most part dried and salted.
Pompano: Stromatiens simillimus. Aver- ages one-half pound weight; length eight inches. Scarce in winter.
Yellow-tail or white salınon: Seriola la- landi. Weight forty to fifty pounds. Length four to five feet.
Smelt: Atherinops affinis. About one'foot in length.
Flying fish : Exocetus californicus. Length about fifteen inches; weight about one and one-half pounds. Excellent food. Appear toward the middle of summer.
Mullet: Mugil albula. Fifteen inches long. Flesh coarse, but good food when taken in clear water.
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Rock cod: Serranus maculofasciatus. Fif- teen inches long; weighs two to three pounds.
Kelp salmon: Serranus clathratus. Eight- een inches long; weight five pounds.
White sea bass : Alroctoscium nobile. Length about four feet; weight under fifty pounds.
White-fish: Dekaya princeps. Length two feet; weight ten to fourteen pounds. When salted is excellent.
Conger eel: Muræena inordax. Length about five feet; weight fifteen to twenty pounds. Flesh very fat. Excellent food.
The local market for fish is not large, and a very few fishermen supply the local needs and such small exportations as have been made. But the fish interest could be made a source of important revenue by the develop- ment of some practical plan for exportation, for which purpose a number of the species named above are eminently suitable. The white-fish, the barracuda, and the herring are particularly adapted for preparation and ship- ment, and it must be noted, too, that the herring is here brought into natural contact with his regular post-mortem element, olive oil. Thus & sardine cannery hereabouts would seem to be an inevitable outgrowth of these natural provisions.
MINERALS.
(From the State Mineralogical Report.)
On the San Marcos Rancho there is said to be a lode that assays well in both gold and silver. Gold-bear- ing rock has also been found on the Buel Rancho, near Los Alamos. Placer claims have been worked at Pine Mountain, also at the headwaters of Zaca Creek, and at several places in the San Rafael Moun- tains. A very few colors of gold are occasionally found in the creeks running from the Santa Ynes Range. Gold-washing has also been carried on upon the seashore; the most successful operations were at Point Sal, in the north western corner of the county. Point Sal is situated upon the southern bank of the Santa Maria River. Gold-washing has been intermit- tently carried on here by the Point Sal Mining Com-
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