USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > A souvenir of Pioneer and old settler's day, Panama-Pacific exposition, October 16, 1915 > Part 3
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On the 5th of July, 1875, our Order was founded to pre- serve the traditions of the Pioneers. The task threw us back upon an investigation of that tradition. The more we searched the more the wonder grew,-the broader became our outlook. Here was a land whose history was a recur- rence of Pioneers. Here were the Pioneer navigators, those heroes of the sea-Cabrillo, Viscaino, Drake, Vancouver, and all the rest-who up and down these coasts in that early day performed feats as valiant as anything accom- plished by the Norsemen in Iceland or the circumnavigators of the Cape of Good Hope. Here were the Pioneers of civi- lization on these shores, the brave Franciscan padres, whose sincere attempt to redeem a race from barbarism, whose fight for the souls of men beneath the standard of the cross, makes the story of their Missions stand out on the sky-line of our history, and has rendered immortal the name of Junipero Serra. Here were the Pioneer Spanish families, the graciousness of whose welcome in hacienda and presidio "before the Gringo" has created for California a tradition of hospitality that has survived to this very day. Here, above all, were the Pioneers who, across the plains and
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the desert, across the Isthmus, across Nicaragua, and around the Horn, crowded to these shores like a mighty army of conquest, and through their intelligence, their resourceful- ness, and their sterling worth laid deep and strong the foundation of a glorious Comonwealth. Here is the land of romance, here the land of high endeavor. Our organiza- tion is spending out of its own resources three thousand dollars a year to collect, preserve, and publish every serap of material relating to its history. We intend that Califor- nia shall have her proper proportionate place in the his- tory of the Nation. We intend that California shall have her "place in the sun". We intend that this story shall be known by all her sons and daughters, if we have to hoist a Bear Flag on every schoolhouse in California.
Of course, such a mission will not carry with it the crea- tive thrill. Our task will not be as heroie as your achieve- ment. Wendell Phillips used to say : "Men make history- scholars write it," and he spoke the truth. And in Califor- nia, especially, to men of our heredity. it is not always easy to be retrospective. If we are sometimes found busy with the day's work, you at least will not understand us-you at least will know the reason why. As there was here a re- currence of Pioneers in the past, so, now, we sometimes lay down the pen to scan the horizon. "Is it any wonder," I said the other day, "that we are distracted by the seenes and problems of the everlasting present: governmental problems, social problems, industrial problems, international problems, world problems. We see the canal finished be- fore our eyes. The seat of empire begins to shift from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The prophecy of William Henry Seward is being made a reality. The vision of Alex- ander von Humboldt is coming true. We cannot resist the call of the blood. Though we have a just pride in our for- bears and love our State's traditions, and wish to promote and perpetuate a knowledge of them, and though some of us call ourselves Native Sons of the Golden West, I have a feeling that in intelleet. in temperament, in environment. and, it may be, in opportunity, we are still-the Pioneers."
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" THE BUILDERS OF OUR STATE"
Words by A. J. Waterhouse
Music by Violet W. Rucker
Sung by Mr. Frederick Harrison, Jr. of Oakland
O'er the traekless heights of mountains and weary leagnes of plain,
Where the desert knew no fountain and the wilderness no rain ; Stalked by the painted savage, their lives a pledge to fate; They came, a peerles army, "The Builders of Our State."
Men of our days of valor Might from your might we drew ; No blood you shed, but our strength it fed, And tribute we pay to you.
'Tis but an army shattered- . A remnant trom times that are past.
Down stricken and broken and battered, By times ever conquering blast ;
A hand-full of worthy survivors, Of those who were mighty of yore; Yet they were the Builders, Creators, And theirs is our strength ever more.
They wait for the shades together, They wait for the peace untold- Past the earthly damps, where the stars are lamps, That shine in the City of Gold.
Ah! that was an army, splendid, As ever has led the van, Wherever the journey trended, In the ceaseless march of man.
Brawn of the East and sinew, All that we know as great. 'Twas given, and faith 'twas needed. To the Pioneers of our State.
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Dr. Margaret Mahoney
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Dr. Margaret Mahoney
ADDRESS
Exposition Valley. Its Past and Future
Chairman: No more interesting reminiscences are to be found than those of the Great Metropolis of the West-San Francisco. Dr. Margaret Mahoney will tell a story of the past, in her remarks on "Exposition Valley, Its Past and Future."
the D. sys d'49.
C°٣.١
IONE
PAN
ers is in session.
RIENDS, for Pioneers and Old Settlers are ever friends, I address you as the representative of "The Daughters of California Pioneers." I speak to you of Exposition Valley, where today we are holding the International Exposition and where this reunion of California's found-
The past comes back to me in memory, as it comes back to every member of the Society of Daughters of California Pioneers.
One of my earliest recollections is of bright Sunday mornings. I recall the oft-repeated picture of the hunter. I cannot tell now if the figure was always the same. There may have been many but to me he was only one. He was elad in eanvas of dark cream hue, mottled with stains. A game bag of open woven hemp with fringe of same hung at his side. A gun was over his shoulder. His dogs were always with him. The sight of that gun filled me with childish terror, but it had a fascination so that I never could remove my eyes until he disappeared from view. Perhaps he went out over the hills to licorice rock (far out on Pacifie Ave. that would be now) or perhaps he went down into the valley by way of the Presidio Road. The parting of those two roads was the limit of my vision.
He must have pushed his way through brush and tangled blackberry and chilicothe vines, if his destination was the
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hillside slopes where at present are the houses of our wealthy citizens. Linnets and California canaries had homes there. Chippies and humming birds were plentiful. These could not be what he sought. There must have been rabbits or quail to repay him for his exertion. If he turned his course towards the valley, the swamps near the Presidio must have afforded him quantities of duck. To me he was always go- ing out. I have no memory of ever having seen him return.
Sometimes a well dressed man would pass by carrying an umbrella under his arm. He was generally seeking a view of the Golden Gate. The children on such occasions always called to one another, "There goes an Englishman." An umbrella in summer, no matter how the weather seemed to threaten rain, was to us the sign of the stranger within our gate. That stranger was generally an English tourist, who had drifted in from the colonies.
The Presidio is an early fact in our history. It may be that there never was a pueblo of San Francisco, that is open to question, but the Presidio was founded in 1776.
In time dwellings sprang up in the valley close to it. Well-to-do, intelligent citizens settled there, among them Frank Pixley, Burr and Sage. Judge Woods and his fam- ily, Mrs. John F. Swift is one of his daughters, had their home in the neighborhood. Judge John Hunt must have lived in the 'vicinity. It was years later that Casebolt and Estee erected what were considered mansions.
In January, 1851, Col. Nevins procured a fifty-vara lot at Spring Valley on the Presidio Road and erected a public school. There was a grove of trees near by and numerous running springs for which the valley was called. The val- ley and the school have long since relinquished the name ; but the Spring Valley Water Company still bears it and is still a vital issue in the life of San Francisco.
Vegetable gardens spread over a large portion of the val- ley, and here and there hidden quietly away might be found small beds of Johnny-jumpups, just the same yellow blos- soms that under the name of pansies, carpet the court of
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flowers in this Exposition. Later there were large flower gardens down the Presidio Road direction.
Spring Valley School was the social center, where the May parties were held, in a time when there was not much talk of social centers.
Back to memory comes the blacksmith shop on the west side of the Presidio Road, where the ruling spirit was the wiry, old man whose light blue eyes looked as if they were being burned out by the heat and glare of the forge fire. Perchance he was not the ruling spirit, for his portly wife may have controlled affairs. Even now I can see the nas- turtiums that were fastened up to the side of the house and the large yellow sunflowers that grew beside the door. The flowers in the valley must have been all yellow, for the lupins out in the sand near the beach and the snap dragons that were on the side of the cliff above the road going to the fort were yellow also.
On the bluff nearly opposite the smithy was an old clap- boarded house, small gabled, and with shingled roof and windows boarded up. It was opened only occasionally when elections were held. There was a mystery about the place, for tradition had it that a man was hanged there once. Elections were not held every day then, but election day was always a stirring day. Especially was the excite- ment great just before sunset when the polls closed. Wagon- loads of singing, shouting men were hurried out to turn the tide of election at the last moment. There was no Australian ballot and very little secret about the ballots. After the above statement it might be considered partisan in these non-partisan days to say how that preeinet always went.
Off in the sand dunes near the bay was the home of Red Mike; Michael Higgins was the name, I think. It was said he was holding the land for Eugene Sullivan. Why he was called Red Mike I cannot say. Perhaps it was because his hair was red, perhaps because he wore a red shirt. We feared him for some vague reason and even boys did not dare to venture near his holding, although in extenuation of the undefined evil we thought of him, we always whis-
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pered that Red Mike was good to his mother. The Kanakas were settled at the lagune called Washerwoman's bay, which gave its name to the Laguna Survey. Not far away was the little Hebrew Cemetery, where many of the victims of San Francisco's early fires were buried. The octagon house stood then as it stands now on Gough near Union street. The lagune is gone, the Kanakas are gone, the ceme- tery is gone, but the octagon house is still there in fair con- dition. On the same side of the Presidio Road where the election booth stood were the brickyards. It was claimed that in the yellow clay used in the brick making was a wealth of aluminum, if there were only some process by which to separate it from impurities.
With change of time and change of interest Spring Valley changed its name. When the dairy interests dominated it became cow hollow.
Then years sped by. The milk ranches were banished. Real estate men bent on booming the valley called it Golden Gate to further their purpose with the aid of a pretty name. Next came the Panama Canal and the Exposition and Golden Gate Valley is now Exposition Valley. You have seen its beauty and you know its charm.
I pause to ask, "What is the destiny of this Valley?" I close my eyes and try to penetrate the future. Will the confused mass that is vouchsafed to my vision develop into docks that will rival the docks of Liverpool, the valley filled with warehouses, and factories, a hive of industry, a mart of trade or is the future dominated by the quiet ele- gance of grand homes, like those of New York's Riverside drive? This is a question of interest to you no matter from what part of our state you come for San Francisco is the port of California. The forces of nature and the minds of men are busy moulding the valley's future. I cannot see the result. But lo! The vision comes! Orange and pome- granate, yellow persimmons, pure gold and golden grain, golden poppies and buttercups; the grandeur and glory of the setting sun; the brightness and promise of the rising sun; a flood of light; a riot of color; a harmony of tone; a symphony in yellow; a future bright what e'er that future be, is the future of the valley that lies close to Harbor View.
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Mrs. Leila France McDermott
Composer of " Come to California " "' 49 " and "Old Glory Forever "
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A FEW OF THE OLD SETTLERS
Seen on the Platform Who Have Helped Make PIONEER HISTORY
There was exhibited a miner's old gold rocker, with a his- tory. Its owner was born near Folsom, 63 years ago, and the miners felt very badly because this baby did not have a cradle like they did when they were babies, so they donated a miner's rocker. In it they put a pillow and the miners took turns in rocking the baby to sleep. Mrs. Ella Sterling Mighels was that baby, and today she wore her mother's shawl that cost $500 in gold in San Francisco. We reproduce the rocker, decorated for this occasion.
Mrs. Mary Smith, of Livermore, California, widow of Henry C. Smith, 89 years old. Her husband was at the Battle of Santa Clara, under Capt. Fallon. She was married in 1846. She is the daughter of the late George Harlan, and came to California with him in 1846, then 20 years old. The party preceded the Donner Party. She is one of the oldest American women who landed in San Francisco, now living. They came down the river on Sutter's launch, stopping at San Francisco.
Mrs. Patsy Reed Lewis, the youngest survivor of the ill-fated Donner Party, who was a small child and who clung close to her little china doll through all the trials and hard- ships of that awful time and brought it out of the snow with her. Mrs. Lewis is devoted to the Pioneers and is ever ready to help the worthy in every way she can. Her grand- father lived along side of the Liberty Bell, so we give her picture taken with the bell.
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Samuel S. Butler was one of the Vigilance Committee, that purified the Social Atmosphere of San Francisco in such short order.
L. D. Stephen, the last survivor of the famous Death Valley Party, who suffered such hardships in crossing the Death Valley in 1849.
Mrs. Dora K. Crittenden, one of the Pioneer Teachers of California, now in her 80th year, still hale and hearty as a girl of 30.
Mr. J. Z. Anderson, Pioneer Fruit Packer and Shipper, and ex-President of the California Pioneers of Santa Clara County.
Mr. A. R. Woodhams, Pioneer of 1849, and one of the first farmers of California, also an ex-President of Santa Clara Pioneers.
Mrs. J. Ross Martin of San Francisco, who wore her father's Society of California sash and also his Vigilance Committee badge.
Mrs. Margaret Ogier, daughter of Isaac Branham, one of the Donner Party. Her father forged on ahead and escaped the party's awful fate.
Miss Kathryn L. Cole acted as Hostess of the Day. Her father came round the Horn in 1848. Many of the later day rich people worked for him and got their start in life.
Mrs. Lottie Hester Phelps, born in 1849, daughter of Judge Hester, one of the first Judges of this State.
Mrs. John Bidwell, widow of General Bidwell, a lady highly respected by all who know her.
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-
EUTST OF
SE
Mr. and Mrs. Wm. A. January
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Wm. A. January, the pioneer journalist who assisted in founding one of the first Democratic papers. The Mountain Democrat was the paper, and it is still alive, now the second oldest newspaper in California. Mr. January is in his 90th year. He has for thirty years or more been Tax Collector of Santa Clara County. Mr. January, while visiting the Liberty Bell mentioned the fact that the crack was made while tolling for the funeral of a relative-Chief Justice Marshall. He was shown extra courtesies by the guards.
Mrs. Virginia Reed Murphy, of the famous Donner Party that had much hardships, who went out in the night and snow to take her father his gun and some provisions, when he was banished from camp for defending his wife. She was but 12 years old. It was a heroic act.
H. C. Shattuck crossed the Plains in 1849, and has the wagon he came in from Michigan. We give the picture of him and his wagon.
Mrs. Margaret Lawry, aged 83, resident of Pacific Grove, whose husband burnt the first brick and built the first brick building in California. The building is now exhibited as a relic of old times in Monterey.
Judge A. L. Rhodes, age 96 years, who did his part as a Pioneer Jurist. He was late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California. His many friends hope he will round out his 100th anniversary.
Mrs. E. M. McCracken, a pioneer of 1846, the first Amer- ican woman married in San Jose. She wore one of the rich shawls of the olden times.
Mrs. Phoebe A. Hearst, widow of a Pioneer miner, and Senator from California, who has done much for education as well as charity. She is one of California's noblest women.
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Mrs. Riley Moultrie, pioneer of 1846, who was one of the Donner Party.
Fred F. Barss, pioneer jeweler of Placerville, who used to buy the miners' gold, now close on to 90 years of age.
Mrs. A. R. Gunnison, born in San Francisco in 1851. Her seven children were born there.
W. J. Pleasant who crossed the Plains twice and published a fine history of his California life.
Edwin G. Hall, 86 years old, the last of the '49ers who came in his party across the Plains.
E. Knickerbocker, of the famous Knickerbocker family of New York. He is the oldest business man in San Jose.
Mrs. Jennie Tarleton, whose father was the Chaplain of the first State Legislature, held in San Jose.
Chas. C. Reed, first American child born in San Jose, Cali- fornia.
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Fountain of Energy and Tower of Jewels
The Tower of Jewels
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Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915
THE WORLD'S GREATEST EXPOSITION
A Review of its History and Significant Achievements
HIE Panama-Pacific International Expo- e Days of Gold sition at San Francisco is a distinctly natural achievement, determined upon by the Congress of the United States, and designated by the President for the TEL, 1916 purpose of celebrating the opening of the Panama Canal, a national accom- plishment that importantly affects the entire world.
In assuming the burden and expense of this mammoth celebration in response to the call of the President and Congress, the people of California have discharged an im- portant public duty and executed a national trust, the ac- cruing benefits of which will be shared by every state in the Union and by the entire citizenship of the nation.
While this greater inter-hemisphere waterway is a na- tional project, it is, nevertheless, a world's asset, and the celebration of its opening is being participated in by many of the nations of the world. The Exposition constitutes an international concourse of tremendous significance in its effect upon the natural productivity and commercial activ- ity of all countries, and more especially of the United States of America.
In February, 1912, President William Howard Taft issued a proclamation announcing the holding of this great expo- sition and inviting the nations of the world to take part.
On October 14, 1911, in the presence of a great multitude President Taft turned the first spadeful of carth at San Francisco for the Exposition. The President, the Governor of California and the Mayor of San Francisco delivered ad- dresses. The vessels of the Pacific fleet in the harbor joined in the celebration, and there was an extended military parade in the streets.
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The citizens of San Francisco subscribed $7,000,000 for the Exposition, and later additional sums were pledged. The State of California appropriated $5,000,000 and the Municipal Government of San Francisco $5,000,000 to the general fund of the exposition management. The counties of California raised large sums for their individual rep- resentations which were undertaken upon an elaborate scale. Large sums were expended by the participating nations and by the States of the Union, while industrial and other concerns made unprecedented preparations for their private exhibits. The grand total constitutes an expendi- ture of approximately $50,000,000.
Visitors to the Exposition will gain their first impression of the magnificent enterprise from an entrancing view of its architectural features. Seen from the water approach over the Bay of San Francisco, or from the overhanging hills of the city in the background, the spectacle is a glorious one, inspiring both delight and wonder.
The site upon which the Exposition was built could not have been duplicated elsewhere on the globe. It combines to an extraordinary degree the qualities of scenic beauty with accessibility and convenience. It occupies a natural amphitheatre on the shore of the bay of San Francisco, just within the famous Golden Gate, with the wooded slope of Mount Tamalpais and the beautiful Marin hills opposite. Reaching from Fort Mason on the east to the United States Government presidio military reservation on the west, the north facade of the great "Walled City of the Orient" as it has been called, occupies its center, fronting on the Marina with its mile and a half wide lawn that reaches down to the water's edge. The Exposition grounds are with- in twenty minutes ride from the center of the city.
Chateau, castle and cathedral, of the old world, built of enduring stone, towering upon tall mountain, or gleaming white in sequestered vale, in wealth of carving in alluring contour, in tower and battlement and embrasured window and arched doorway, are the shrines of all travelers who love the beautiful in architecture and art.
The infinite labor bestowed upon their construction, the long years in building the genius lavished upon their adorn- ment, render their appeal constant and compelling.
But if one will consider the group of eight exhibit palaces as one edifice, which in reality they are. the structure must rank as one of the great buildings of the world, and so it will appear when its massive dignity and beauty of outline
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first greet the eye. Lacking in ornamental detail, the mental comparison will at once disclose the majesty of extent and the reposeful grandeur which render this creation one of the most notable architectural triumphs of this or any other age. For this central group of compacted palaces, this one mag- nificent edifice, is flanked on three sides by other great ex- hibit palaces, which with the pavilions of the nations and the states stretching away fan-shaped along the bay, empha- size and accent its size and splendor.
From the city's heights one looks down on a facade three- quarters of a mile long, dominated at its center by a lofty seven-storied tower, named the "Tower of Jewels"-432 feet in height, and broken on either side by an open court ornamented with lesser towers. As the eye rests upon the rectangular group, eight great domes claim the attention, distinguishing the location of an equal number of exhibit palaces; domes of sea-green color, pale against the intense blue of the sky and the bright red of the tiled roofs. One notes that avenues bisect the group at right angles, widen- ing along the lateral axis into three courts, that in the cen- ter are spacious and highly embellished.
And as the eye withdraws from the central group-build- ing, attracted by the two domed structures in the South Gar- dens, Festival Hall and the Palace of Horticulture. To the east rests the Palace of Machinery containing eight acres of floor space, of grave exterior and regular lines. To the west across the still lake, and curving to its shores, the arc of a circle, eleven hundred feet along its outer circumfer- ence, its facade a long colonnade embracing an ornate per- gola, stands the Palace of Fine Arts.
And then, involuntarily, the eye lifts and sweeping past the esplanade on the bay shore rests with delight upon the encircling mountains and marine views, a fit setting for this marvelous accomplishment.
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