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 22
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 22
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 22
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On September 21, 1886, the people of tlris section met and organized a Fair Association, the first in the county. It held its first an- nual fair in October, 1886, and the second on October 6, 7 and 8, 1887. Among the ex- hibits were :- a pear weighing 1 pound 14 ounces; a cabbage of 94 pounds, and several others from 50 to 80 pounds weight; pota- toes of 3 to 9 pounds each; carrots three feet long; a squash of 217 pounds weight; five others aggregating 822} pounds; a muskmelon weighing 20} pounds; an onion of 5 pounds 22 ounces; corn 15 feet high,
ears 2 inches in diameter, 13 inches long, solidly filled; five quinces weighing 6 pounds 15 ounces; 5 pears weighing 9 pounds 3 ounces; 5 fall pippins weighing 5 pounds 10 ounces, and many other remarkable products.
Arroyo Grande furnished all the exhibit from this county at the Mechanics' Institute Industrial Exhibition of 1887, receiving special silver medal for display, diploma for best potatoes, and silver medal for best ap- ples; and also the first premium at the Six- teenth District Agricultural Exhibition for best general display of fruits and vegetables.
As a general rule, no irrigation is required here, but occasionally the application of water saves a crop or economizes time in working the land. The water supply is de- rived from the Santa Maria River, Alamo, Huasna, Berros, Arroyo Grande, Pizmo, and Carrol de Piedra creeks, and numberless springs and brooks. Several of these streams are well stocked with trout, and salmon are caught often. There is never fear of a " dry year" here, and one of the most favorable features of this valley is its facility of irrigation.
The village of Arroyo Grande is pleasantly situated on the bank of the creek under a range of hills. It is but three miles from the famous Pizmo Beach, and almost every house in town commands a view of the val- ley and the ocean. The present population is about 600 in the village, 1,000 in the dis- trict, and 1,500 in the voting precinct. There are three churches, Catholic, Method- ist and Cumberland Presbyterian, each sup- plied with a minister, and the Methodist Episcopal Church South holds monthly ser- vice in a hall.
The school is the second largest in the county, having a fine large school-house with three teachers.
There are lodges of Masons, I. O. O. F.,
153
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
G. A. R., W. R. C., and a Good Samaritan Temperance order.
There are general merchandise stores, mechanics' shops and professional offices to the usual number to be found in settlements of this rank. A Woman's Relief Corps was organized here in October, 1886.
Arroyo Grande has a postoffice, telegraph office, express office, trains and mails daily (excepting Sunday), a newspaper, the Weekly Herald, a practicing physician, a pavilion and hall, a jeweler and photographer, a mil- linery store, a produce and commission mer- chant, two hotels, several general merchandise stores, and two butcher shops.
On September 2, 1890, the Catholic church and parsonage here were burned, the loss be- ing about $6,000. The fire at one time ap- peared to threaten the town, and the engine was called out from San Luis, but it was not sent out, as the call was countermanded.
NEWSOM'S HOT SULPHUR SPRINGS.
Newsom's Springs are situated in a pretty little natural park, at the base of a large, singularly formed hill of silici-calcareous rock, through whose summit runs a strong ledge of pure limestone, which it has been demonstrated is very valuable for making lime. The body of the hill is believed to be valuable for making cement. The hot sul- phur spring shows a temperature of 100 de- grees, and analysis of the water shows silica, sodium chloride, sodium sulphate, potassium sulphate, calcium carbonate, magnesium car- bonate, ferrous carbonate, alumina and sul- phate of magnesia, the combination showing the medicinal praperties. Considerable gas arises from the water, and arrangements have been made to utilize it for cooking and heat- ing purposes.
The owner of these springs has surveyed a plat of six acres near by, bordering the Ar- 10
royo Grande, which he designs to donate to the State, with water privileges, on condition of the establishment there of a technical school.
They are reached by rail to Arroyo Grande, thence by easy stage or drive from Nipomo. The altitude is about 400 feet. The grounds and springs are well kept. The ocean beach road affords a superb drive. There is always bathing, fishing and clamming. Hotel and cottages for guests.
The climate is almost perpetual sunshine. On the place are three principal springs, whose waters range in temperature from 40° F. to 100° F., flowing some 49,000 gallons per hour. The waters are salino sulphureted, and have considerable reputation in the treat- ment of old, chronic rheumatism, and gout, catarrhal affections of the bladder and bowels, skin diseases, etc. For uterine troubles thie hot sulphur douche has been of great benefit. There are warm and hot plunge and tnb bathing facilities. The following is the state- ment of an analysis made by Dr. Winslow Anderson, 1888:
Temperature, 100.5° F.
U. S. gallon contains-
Grains.
Sodium chloride.
4.10
6.
carbonate.
1.75
= sulphate 3.92
Potassium carbonate 15.00
sulphate. 2 90
Magnesium carbonate 6-41
"
sulphaie. 2.47
Calcium carbonate 8.25
sulphate .76
Ferrous carbonate
3.98
Alumina
.33
Silica.
2.03
Organic matter
.27
Total solids
37.32
Gases-
Cubic inches.
Free carbonic anhydride.
.14.90
sulphureted hydrogen 3.56
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SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
Four miles westward is the
PIZMO BEACH,
a stretch of twenty miles of sand along the ocean shore, popular as a drive and resort for bathing and pleasure. Near this is the sur- veyed route of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and along the beach have been laid out the towns of Pizmo and Grover, expecting to grow into prominence as coast watering places upon the completion of the railroad.
LOS BERROS
is a village of recent growth, being in a pretty and fertile valley of that name, on the Pacific Coast Railway, three miles from Arroyo Grande, and the same from Nipomo. The land was formerly the property of Mr. William G. Dana, and purchased of him by Messrs. C. R. Callender and J. W. Smith, who also purchased several thousand acres of the Nipomo rancho, laying ont the town site and subdividing the ranch into farming lots of various areas, which are offered for sale. These surveys have been made during the present year, and a village with several hand- some residences, a store of general merchan- dise, a postoffice and hotel are there, and re- cently an election was held which voted to expend $1,500 for building a school-house. A block of the village lands has been devoted for the purpose of the school. All the neigh- boring land is very fertile, and when occupied will afford ample support for a pleasant and thriving village.
NIPOMO
is a village of recent growth, on the line of the Pacific Coast Railway, nine miles south of Arroyo Grande. This is upon the Nipo- ino grant, made by the Mexican government to William G. Dana in 1838, and recently subdivided and in part sold by the grantee's heirs. The grant was one of the first made
in this county, and as may be presumed the first selection was an exceedingly choice tract. The village is but two years of age, and so rapidly is it growing that an estimate of its population is hardly likely to approach accu- racy, although it is estimated at 700. There are two hotels, two large stores, a newspaper, the Nipomo News, and many handsome resi- dences. The village is well supplied with water by a system of water-works, with reticu- lation pipes through all the houses.
THE EASTERN PORTION OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
East of the Santa Lucia Mountains is a large area comprising about three-fifths of the county, being included in the Salinas Township, which by the census of 1880 had a population of 1,209, and San José Town ship, which had 872; thus this district had 2,081, or about one person to the square mile, in a total county population of 9,142. Between the Carriso Plain, already described, and the Tulare Valley, extends the southern end of the Monte Diablo Range, a line of low sandstone mountains, generally treeless, trending northwest and southeast, which con- stitute the division line between this and Kern County. Westward a low ridge sepa- rates the plain from the San Juan Valley, and one of its branches, Carriso Valley; and on the northwest a like barrier lies between the plain and the main Estrella River. The streams are 200 or 300 feet below the general level of Carriso Plain.
The San Juan is the southern branch of the Estrella River, albeit the summer season finds only occasional pools in its broad, sandy channel. The rains convert this into a verit- able river, fifty to 100 yards wide, running through small valleys and hills softly rounded, clothed in a luxuriant growth of alfilaria,
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SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
wild oats, bunch-grass and flowering shrubs.
This section is a paradise to the stockman, being devoted almost entirely to pasturage. Nevertheless, its resources would suffice for varied industries. There is here much oak timber, the soil is very fertile, there are min- eral springs, ore-bearing rocks, and diverse elements to support a large population.
This valley may be considered as including the following tracts: That section between the San Jose Range and the Carriso Plain; the ranchos Las Chimeneas and Avenales in the southern part; La Panza and the mining district in the central part; and La Cometa or Comate, California, and San Juan Capis- trano in the north.
Among the old settlers were: John Gil- key, on the Comnate, murdered in 1858; Bara- tie and Borel, on the San Juan Capistrano, murdered in 1858; Philip Biddle, Robert G. Flint, James Mitchell, Joseph Zumwalt, D. W. James and John D. Thompson, all of whom located there twenty to thirty-five years since.
In the northern portion of this section is
SAN MIGUEL.
The Mission of San Miguel Arcangel was established July 25, 1797, being the sixteenth in order of date in Alta California. Its site was in the midst of wide reaches of grazing land, on the west, bank of the Salinas, just below where this river receives the Estrella. The two streams here run through broad valleys, where flourish willows, cottonwoods, sycamores, oaks and other trees.
This Mission is thirty-four miles north of the city of San Luis Obispo, and some four miles south of the county line between this and Monterey.
San Miguel, like most of the twenty-one mission establishments, is the site of a flour- ishing settlement of later times. This place
was never quite abandoned, and even during the unsettled times of the American occupa- tion a few Mexican settlers kept their abode in the decaying habitations of the mission buildings. Its position on the main-if not the only .- road, between the northern and the southern settlements, gave San Miguel a certain importance as a station, where an eating-house, etc., were established. The population was of course small for many years. On the vote upon the new constitu- tion, in 1879, San Miguel precinct cast thirty-four votes. About 1876 a certain de- gree of activity began here; the old mission buildings were fitted up for a hotel, and vari- ous shops and other enterprises were opened. In 1877 the population was reckoned at thirty, and there were fifteen buildings, in- cluding a school-house, postoffice, express office, store, blacksmith shop, carriage shop, and two saloons. This year was a "dry season," and two-thirds of the sheep and cattle from this grazing country either died or were driven away to inore favorable past- ures, and a brief revival of prosperity thie following year was followed by drouths again in 1879.
An excitement arose here in 1881, over the expectation of the immediate building of a portion of the Atlantic & Pacific Railway through the district.
Since the actual advent of a railroad, San Miguel, which is the most northerly town on the line in this county, has taken an import- ant rank hereabouts, standing as the second point in the county, before it fell behind Arroyo Grande. The population is now be- tween 400 and 500; there is a money-order postoffice, a $10,000 school-house, a news- paper-the Weekly Messenger-and a very full complement of business honses, stores, shops, professional men, etc.
The Bank of San Miguel, on October 26,
156
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
1889, reported its assets and its liabilities each as $87,966.51.
The Episcopal church at San Miguel, com- pleted in 1884, cost $1,200, and is a hand- some Gothic structure, with a seating capacity of 100. It is said to be the handsomest church bnilding in the county.
The Mission church still stands,-an im- mense structure, 230 feet long, forty-four wide, with a height to the eaves of forty-five feet, and walls seven feet thick of concrete. There remains a portion of the wing, once 400 feet long, and until about a year since there still existed the ruins of the former dwelling-houses of the neophytes, which covered an area of more than forty acres. The quaint old church on its adjacent ruins constitutes a very picturesque feature of the village, a vivid contrast of the medieval period with the present. The floor of the church is of brick, or tile, as is a broad front porch. The inner walls are plastered and frescoed, to represent a gallery with pillars, the colors now appearing as fresh as when newly painted. The sacred ornaments of this church have survived all the vicissitudes and spoliations which the venerable pile has suffered. Over the altar in the western end stands the patron saint, Michael the Arch- angel, life size and handsomely depicted, gorgeously arrayed in gold and crimson, hold- ing aloft his sword of light, beneath a broad banner on which is emblazoned the all-seeing eye from which radiate rays of light. To the right of the altar stands the brightly- painted statue of St. Joseph, holding the in- fant Jesus in one arm and bearing on the other the shepherd's staff. Opposite stands the statue of St. Francis de Assisi, the founder of the order of Franciscan monks, under whose charge were established the missions of California. Beside the altar is a painting of St. John the Evangelist, with
one foot resting upon a skull. There are also other paintings of various sacred sub. jects, generally in bright colors, and these, with the bright altar ornaments, form a vivid contrast with the neglect, decay and ruin seen elsewhere abont the old mission. The many small pictures hung on the walls are dimly seen in the faint light, and the thick- ness of the walls keeps the atmosphere gen- erally in a chilly, cellar-like condition; the windows are few, small and high ont of reach. Services are held fortnightly in this church.
THE PASO ROBLES HOT SPRINGS
take their naine from the rancho on which they are found, El Paso de Robles (the Pass of Oaks). They are about thirty miles north of San Luis Obispo and sixteen miles from the Pacific ocean, in the beautiful valley of the Salinas River, which the Santa Lucia range protects from the cold sea winds and fogs. For miles around the springs stretch level plains, now and then broken by low hills, and shaded by graceful groups of white and live oaks-a charmingly picturesque setting for the springs whose curative waters have become famous.
The missionaries and early Spanish pio- neers, and the Indians before them, knew the health-giving qualities of these waters and benefited by them. Prior to American occul- pation the principal spring had been rudely walled in with logs, the better to fit it for bathing purposes, this being done before the founding of San Miguel Mission. It is de- clared that even the wild beasts of the forest came to profit by these waters, and stories are told of an immense grizzly that was in the habit of plunging into the pool nightly, adding to the joys of his bath by swinging himself up and down by the low-growing branch of a great cottonwood that grew near by, extending its limbs over the water.
157
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
The Paso de Robles Rancho, including the springs, was purchased in 1857 by D. D. Blackburn, James H. Blackburn and Lazare Godchaux. The springs at that time were in the condition in which the missionaries liad left them, with no sign of improvements by the decaying logs of the old abutment placed there many years before, while the thickly- strewn bear-tracks added to the general air of desolation. From such a condition as this has grown the present settlement of 820 population, supplied with an excellent hotel and annex cottages, with postoffice, express and telegraph offices, billiard halls, etc.,-in short all the modern improvements for the convenience of visitors.
The chemical analysis of the principal Hot Spring, as made by Professors Price and Hewston, of San Francisco, is as follows :- Temperature, 110º Fahrenheit. One impe- rial gallon, of 7,000 grains, contains-
GRAINS.
Sulphureted Hydrogen Gas 4.45
Free Carbonic Acid Gas. 10.50
Sulphate of Lime 3.21
Sulphate of Potassa
.88
Peroxide of Iron .36
Alumina .22
Silica .. .44
Sulphate of Soda (Glauber's Salts). 7.85
Bi-Carbonate of Magnesia .92
Bi-Carbonate of Soda 50.74
Iodides and Bromides . Traces.
Organic Matter
1.64
93.44
The great and distinctive feature of Paso de Robles is the Mud Bath, whose analysis is as follows: Temperature, 140° Fahrenheit. One gallon, of 7,000 grains, contains-
GRAINS.
Sulphureted Hydrogen Gas. 3.28 Carbonic Acid Gas 47.84
Sulphate of Lime. 17.90
Sulphate of Potossa Traces
Sulphate of Soda 41.11
Silica
1.11
Carbonate of Magnesia
3.10
GRAINS.
Carbonate of Soda
5.21
Chloride of Sodium 96.48
Organic Matter 3.47
168.30
There are several other springs, such as the Sand Spring, the Soda, the White Sul- phur and the Iron or Chalybeate Spring.
Paso de Robles, the town, dates from 1886. The present population is rated at 820.
The Paso de Robles Rancho has been sub- divided, and its lots are now offered for sale by the West Coast Land Company.
Lots eighteen and nineteen of the subdi- vision were reserved and laid out for the town of
TEMPLETON.
These lots embrace 160 acres, of which 100 are on a level plateau, twenty or twenty-five feet against the Salinas River. This site is covered with oak timber, and is one of the most picturesque spots in the county. Pre- vious to the completion of the railroad to this point this region of country was but a vast cattle range. In March, 1886, the West Coast Land Company was formed with a cap- ital of $500,000, and purchased the Santa Ysabel and the Eureka ranchos, and portions of the Paso de Robles and the Huer-Huero ranchos, comprising a compact and contigu- ous body of 63,000 acres of land, equal to any in the State for cereals, fruits, vines, grasses or almost any product of California. This immense body of 500 square miles of territory was at once surveyed and subdivided into sınall tracts and the town laid off. It was at first called Crocker, which name was shortly changed to Templeton. Within ninety days after its foundation Templeton contained one extensive and two smaller but quite respectable hotels, three general mer chandise stores and two more in immediate
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SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
prospect, a handsome and well-stocked drug store, a very neat structure for the office of the West Coast Land Company, a well- supplied meat market, a shoeshop, two black- smith shops, five saloons, a billiard saloon, a large lumber yard, a sash and blind shop, several building and painting establishments, two barber-shops, a public hall, a postoffice with daily mail service and probably twenty- five to thirty dwelling houses. The intel- lectual and educational wants of the com- munity are provided for by a weekly newspaper with a good circulation and adver- tising patronage, and the Templeton Insti- tute, with a good pupilage in its primary department, and prepared to receive students in the higher and collegiate departments. The railroad buildings consist of a handsome depot and freight warehouse, a turn-table and round-house and other appointments of a first-class station, provided with telegraphic and express facilities. The religious want is attended to by an excellent Presbyterian clergyinan who, with his family, resides in the town, and a Sunday-school with a good attendance of scholars and teachers is held every Sunday in the building of the primary department of the Templeton Institute.
The establishment of a brickyard gives an added impetus to building, as clay of a very superior quality is abundant almost within the town limits, and wood is very cheap.
THE RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA
has been noted for its fertility since the days of its tillage by the Mission fathers. It con- sists of a tract perhaps eight or nine miles long by two wide, in the form of a valley- the bottom lands along the Salinas River. It was granted to Joaquin Estrada, and to him afterwards confirmed and patented. During the Mexican regime it was given up to graz- ing. The surroundings were very wild, and
bears were frequent visitors to the rancho houses.
The San José Valley, once called the Rancho San José, lies about twenty miles east from San Luis Obispo, and southeast of the Santa Margarita Rancho. It was sup- posed that Don Ynocente Garcia had a grant for the whole of the land in this valley, to the extent of five or six leagues. Later on, he decided to treat the place as Government land, and recorded possessory claims upon the best of the tract, finding that he had only applied for the grant, no action having been taken upon his petition. The land here is fertile, and the climate warmer than nearer the coast. Corn beans, etc., are raised un- irrigated. The cultivated land is of greater than a township area; the postoffice is Pozo (a hole or well), from the form of the valley.
On the headwaters of the Atascadero is the Eagle Rancho, purchased in 1876 by Mr. A. F. Benton, a settler in this county since '69. He raised here a great number of hogs, this industry being favored by the existence of marshy places and oak groves. The many grizzly bears, however, were a great obs acle to the entire success of this industry. The existence of this "big game" gave the rancho a great reputation amongst hunters. Among others, Baron Von Schroder was attracted thither, and, after a long sojourn amidst the game-infested mountains, he purchased the rancho, upon which he has since expended a good deal of money, to make of it a country resort for himself and his friends. The rancho comprises some 500 acres, extending through several small valleys, and command- ing an extensive range of pasturage, over adjoining public and railroad lands not de- sirable for cultivation. Upon a small knoll in the first valley is built a handsome dwell- ing, surrounded by drives and avenues lead ing to the neighboring falls and grottoes.
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SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
The water supply, difficult to secure at this altitude of 1,500 feet, was obtained through tunnels, tapping large springs from which an abundant supply is had. Perhaps the largest prune orchard in the world is that upon this rancho, which contains something over 200 acres, growing in a fine rich slate loam. Ten tons of dried fruit, grown on these young trees three years after planting, took the first preminin at the Mechanics' Institute Fair for 1889, in San Francisco, as the best French prunes raised in California. It is estimated that the yield of this orchard for 1890 will reach five tons to the acre, worth seven cents per pound, or $700 per acre, four years after planting. A short distance from this place are the Falls of the Atascadero, where the scenery is exceedingly wild and pictur- esque. The cañon is spanned by a massive dyke of serpentine and trachyte, over which leaps the stream to a fall of about forty feet, in several cascades, of which the highest is twenty feet. The stream iu very low water is about four feet wide, and three or four inches in depth. From below the falls the rocky banks rise perpendicularly to over 100 feet, clad in beautiful ferns and shrub- bery.
As the valley of the Salinas stretchies northward toward its junction with the Es- trella, the mountains sink into rolling hills, bearing groves and clumps of oaks, while the streams are fringed with willow, sycamore and cottonwood. On the left bank of the Salinas are the ranchos Asuncion, Atascadero, Paso de Robles, and ex-Mission of San Miguel, and on the right bank are the Eu- reka, Santa Ysabel and Huer-Hnero; the set- tlement of the Estrella is on the banks of that stream, and the Cholame Rancho is in the northeastern part of the county. On the western slope, opposite Von Schroder's, in Van Ness Cañon, Hon. Frank McCoppin, ex-
mayor of San Francisco, has a vineyard of over 30,000 choice vines, four or five years old, bearing heavily.
Farther south, on the western slope, on the headwaters of the Arroyo Grande, A. B. Has- bronck has a vineyard of over 30,000 vines, which produce an abundance of the most Inscious grapes from which most excellent wine is made. There are many other small vineyards and orchards throughout the range, but the above are mentioned as examples. In the many valleys and slopes of this grand range these vineyards and orchards may be multiplied indefinitely, and with a success challenging the most favored or noted region of the State, or of the world.
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