USA > California > San Joaquin County > An illustrated history of San Joaquin County, California. Containing a history of San Joaquin County from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its future prospects; > Part 2
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San Joaquin County, lying as it does between the Mount Diablo section of the Coast Range upon the west and the foot-hills of the Sierras upon the east, is naturally an agricultural county ; and were it not for the gas wells which have been developed within its borders during the last few years, one would be apt to overlook the fact of the dependence of the vegetable upon the mineral world, and consider San Joa- quin County as having very little to do with mineralogy. The mineral of chief importance in San Joaquin County is water, and perhaps it will be well to preface the county's mineral re- sources by a few words on that important con- stituent of natural economics. In the opinion of Jerome Haas, the veteran well-borer of the San Joaquin, artesian water can be struck throughout the greater part of San Joaquin County at a depth of about 1,000 feet; in fact, it nsually rises to the surface from any boring 700 feet in depth. Ordinary wells need not be deeper than eighty to 120 feet, to obtain good water. This surface water is always hard. Be- yond a depth of about 1,300 feet the water is usually brackishi, and nnfit for domestic use. Mr. Haas says that an artesian well, carring an eiglit-inchi pipe, 1,000 feet in depth, can be
20
HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
bored in most parts of San Joaquin County for about $1,800. The deepest borings in San Joaquin County, of which any accurate records are available, have failed to discover any rocky strata, unless the green sandstone met with in the boring of the Stockton court-house artesian well be regarded as such; it was probably a stratum of compact sand and clay that conld hardly be regarded as a rock.
The drill below a depth of 250 feet discloses nothing but alternate layers of variously colored sand and indurated clay. From the uniformity ot depth at which the various flows of water are found, and observations on the relative occur- rence of various strata of clays and sand that Mr. Haas has encountered in well-boring in San Joaquin County, he believes there has been but little disturbance of strata beneath a depth of 250 feet. As general stratigraphical features, lie lias observed that the further to the east in the val- ley the wells have been, the lower and more stony the soil has become; while further to the west it has been finer in character: that as a rule the deeper the boring the thicker are tlie beds of clay, and that the yellow clay is very seldom found after striking the blue. Mr. Haas considers that the best and most authentic ac- count of the stratigraphical formation on which the town of Stockton stands, is the record of the strata penetrated while boring the artesian well in the Stockton court-house square, in 1858. He also says that in the main it corresponds with the formation he has encountered while boring wells in other parts of the county. Samples of the various strata were formerly pre- served in the old Agricultural Hall. This build- ing was unfortunately damaged by fire, and the samples were burned, together with the original records. Happily a copy of the latter had been made by Major N. M. Orr, who was the pro . prietor and editor of the Stockton Independent, and published in his paper. It is worth pre- serving as the only authentic record extant of the stratigraphical formation underlying the town of Stockton, and probably the greater part of San Joaquin County. The water from this
well issnes at a temperature of 77º Fahrenheit, and was long nsed for the city supply.
Further notice of artesian wells and their de- velopments is given in a subsequent chapter of this work.
Brick clay is abundant and of good quality in the clayey portions of the county, especially about Stockton. It is forty feet deep at the yards of the San Joaquin Improvement Com- pany, upon the west bank of the San Joaquin River. The clay there gives the following analysis:
Insoluble matter 73.810
Soluble silica.
9.547
Potassa
.292
Soda.
Lime. .245
.844
Magnesia
1.174
Manganese oxide .044
Ferric oxide.
5.386
Alumina
5.184
Phosphoric acid
.312
Sulphuric acid
.061
Carbonic acid.
Trace.
Water and organic matter.
3.202
Total. 100.163
A deposit of manganese has been opened in Tulare Township, about twelve miles sontheast of Tracy.
Street gravel, which was formerly brought to Stockton from Milton, in Calaveras County, is now obtained in large quantities at Nightingale, abont two miles southeast from the city limits.
VEGETATION.
Like that of the Eastern States, the original vegetation of this valley had a charm that ling- eringly increases in the minds of the old settlers with the lapse of time. We can best introduce this subject by a quotation from the journal of Capt. John C. Fremont, giving a description of his first journey through this region in 1844, and the extract also makes other allusions of historical importance. Atter his first day's travel from Sacramento he camped at a place since known as the village of Liberty, on tlie south side of Dry creek, and with the next day's experiences the following journal begins:
21
HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
" March 25th -- We traveled for twenty-eiglit miles over the same delightful country as yes- terday, and lialted in a beautiful bottom at the ford of the Rio de los Mukelemues, receiving its name from another Indian tribe living on the river. The bottoms on the stream are broad, rich, and extremely fertile; and the uplands are shaded with oak groves. A showy Lupinus of extraordinary beauty, growing four or five feet in height, and covered with spikes in bloom, adorned the banks of the river, and filled the air with a light and grateful perfume.
"On the 26th we halted at the Arroyo de las Calaveras (Skull creek), a tributary to the San Joaquin-the previous two streams entering the bay between the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers. This place is beautiful, with open groves of oak, and a grassy sward beneath, with many plants in bloom ; some varieties of which seem to love the shade of the trees, and grow there in close small fields. Near the river, and replacing the grass, are great quantities of am- mole (soap plant), the leaves of which are used in California for making, among other things, mats for saddle cloths. A vine with a small white flower (melothria?) called here la yerba buena (thie good herb), and which from its abundance gives name to an island and town in the bay, was to-day very frequent on our road- sometimes running on the ground or elimbing the trees.
" March 27th .- To-day we traveled steadily and rapidly up the valley, for with our wild ani- mals, any other gait was impossible, and making about four miles an hour. During the earlier part of the day, our ride had been over a very level part of prairie, separated by lines and groves of oak timber, growing along dry gullies, which are filled with water in seasons of rain; and, perhaps, also by the melting snows. Over mnuch of this extent, the vegetation was sparse; the surface showing plainly the action of water, which, in the season of flood, the Joaqnin spreads over the valley. At one o'clock we came again among innumerable flowers; and a few miles further, fields of the beautiful blne-
flowering lupine, which seems to love the neigh- borhood of water, indicated that we were ap- proaching a stream. We have found this beau - tiful slirub in thickets, some of them being twelve feet in height. Occasionally three or four plants were clustered together, forming a grand bouquet about ninety feet in circumfer- ence and ten feet high, the whole summit covered withi spikes of flowers. the perfume of which is very sweet and grateful. A lover of natural beauty can imagine with what pleasure we rode among these flowering groves, which filled the air witli a light and delicate fragrance. We continued our road for about half a mile, interspersed through an open grove of live oaks, which, in form, were the most symmetrical and beautiful we had yet seen in the country. The ends of their branches rested on the ground, forming somewhat more than a half sphere of very full and regular figure, with leaves appar- ently smalier than usual. The California poppy, of a rich orange color, was numerous. To-day, elk and several bands of antelope made their appearance.
"Our road was now one continued enjoyment; and it was pleasant, riding among this assem- blage of green pastures with varied flowers and scattered groves, and out of the warm green spring to look at the rocky and snowy peaks, where lately we had suffered so much. Emerg- ing from the timber we came suddenly upon the Stanislaus River, where we hoped to find a ford, but the stream was flowing by, dark and deep, swollen by the mountain snows; its general breadth was about fifty yards.
" We traveled about five miles up the river, and encamped without being able to find a ford. Here we made a large corral, in order to be able to catch a sufficient number of our wild animals to relieve those previously packed.
" Under the shade of the oaks, along the river, I noticed Erodium cicutarium (altilaria or filaree) in bloom, eight or ten inches high, This is the plant which we had seen the squaws gathering on the Rio de los Americanos. By the inhabitants of the valley, it is highly es
22
HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
teemed for fattening cattle, which appear to be very fond of it. Here, where the soil begins to be sandy, it supplies to a considerable extent the want of grass.
" Desirious, as far as possible, without delay, to include in our examination the San Joaquin river, I returned this morning down the Stanis- laus for seventeen miles, and again encamped without having found a fording-place. After following it for eight miles further the next morning, and finding ourselves in the vicinity of the San Joaquin, encamped in a handsome oak grove, and, several cattle being killed, we ferried over our baggage in their skins. Here our Indian boy, who probably had not much idea of where he was going, and began to be alarmed at the many streams we were putting between him and the village, deserted.
" Thirteen head of cattle took a sudden fright, while we were driving them across the river, and galloped off. I remained a day in the en- deavor to recover them; but, finding they had taken the trail back to the fort, let them go without further effort. Here we had several days of warm and pleasant rain, which doubt- less saved the crops below."
Originally numerous oaks, appearing at a dis- tance like huge apple-trees, were characterist- ically spread over most portions of this valley. Along the water courses the trees and smaller plants were more varied, as well as more thrifty and luxuriant. In early days, grass, clover, alfilaria and wild oats grew in a thick matted mass three to four feet high, and in some local- ities on the Calaveras the grass is said to have grown higher than the head of a man on horse- back. It was thus the hiding place of the great jack-rabbit, squirrel, quail aud other small game which at the present time are the pests of the farmer. The Indians were accustomed to fire these plains for the purpose of collecting the game for their winter's supplies. Along the streams wild grapes were very abundant, -- so much so indeed along the Calaveras river that that stream once had the name of Wine river.
WILD ANIMALS.
In those days thousands of wild horses ranged over the plains on the west side of the San Joa- quin river and among the adjoining foot-hills. Herds of elk and antelope and deer and beaver were immerous, besides grizzly bears, as many as fifteen of which would be seen at one time by an observer. Fish and fowl were also plenti- ful.
METEOROLOGY.
It would of course be a superfluons task here to describe the climate of California and draw the usual contrasts between it and other parts of the world. It will be more interesting and profitable to confine our observations to the county.
First, as to temperature, there is of course a greater difference between winter and summer at this distance from the sea than there is di- rectly at the water's edge. Tables of figures are generally deficient in giving all the extremes and their duration. Averages for examples are generally misleading. Two points may lie upon the same isothermal line, each with a mean annual temperature of 50°. One may have a winter temperature of 20° and a summer tem- perature of 80°. The average and mean of these two perhaps is 50°. The other point may have a winter mnean of 45° and a summer aver- age of 55°; the annual mean of these two points is also 50°. In the former locality, only the hardy trees and shrubs of the north wonld snr- vive the winters and the land be buried most of the year in ice and snow, while in summer the tables would show frequent deaths by sunstroke. In the latter climate fuchsias and geraniums would bloom in the door-yards the year round and sunstroke would be unknown. The one is an equitable climate, the other, one of extremes.
To avoid a tedious comparison of month by month, a sufficiently accurate result may be obtained by giving in addition to the mean annual average, the means of the typical winter and the typical summer months. as Jannary and July. The following table gives, from the
23
HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
Signal Service reports, the temperature statis- tics of a unmber of well known points upon both sides of the continent.
JANUARY.
JULY.
Annual Mean.
A ver-
Duily
Aver-
Daily
age.
Range.
age.
Range.
New York
51.3
30.0
13.2
72.6
15.6
Salt Lake.
51.1
27.9
15.2
74.4
25.6
Sacramento
61.3
47.6
13.0
73.4
25.3
San Francisco.
55 7
49.3
8.1
58.8
12.7
Florida
72.7
60.7
15.5
83.3
14.0
New Orleans.
69.4
55.9
18.3
83.0
12.8
Yuma ...
72.0
32.8
29.1
91.4
29.4
Los Angeles ..
60.5
52.0
21.5
68.2
28.3
San Diego ...
60.5
53.8
19.0
66.9
14.6
From the last State Meteorological Report (1888) we quote the following observations:
" The following table, compiled from observa- tions taken by Ezra Fisk three miles south of Lodi, shows the mean temperature of San Joa- qnin Connty at sunrise, at 2 p. M. and at sunset for every month for five consecutive years, 1882-'86. Very few localities on the coast possess so eqnable and moderate a climate as these figures indicate."
From the table which follows in that report we see that during the winter montlis the tem- perature at sunrise was generally from three to nine degrees above freezing point, the very coldest (one morning only) being 32.78°, which is scarcely freezing; while during the summer months the temperature at 2. r. M., the hottest portion of the day, ranged from eighty-one to ninety degrees,-which is not severe,-the very hottest being abont ninety-one. The column denoting the temperature at sunset shows that even that degree of heat is not lasting, as it often is in the Eastern States even as far north as the Lake region.
Of conrse, as is evident to everyone, in the mountainous sections there are an infinite num- ber of limited variations from any table that may be compiled from observations taken from any given locality, while a plain like that of the San Joaquin valley will insure more uniformity to such tables.
The winter of 1848-'49 was very severe, the snow falling to the depth of several inches December 2. In December, 1850, another cold
spell occurred, the thermometer falling to 20° and ice half an inch in thickness was formed within dwellings. January 21, 1854, the Stock- ton slough was frozen over; and this occurred again in the winter of 1865. In 1874 snow fell to the depth of four inches, and in January, 1880, to a depth of over four inches.
But, notwithstanding all the extremes we have noticed, the following characteristic burst of eloquence from W. R. Ellis has sufficient cause for its fervor: "Stranger, compare the figures in the accompanying table with the an- tics of the mercury in the Eastern States. Did you ever talk with an old acclimated Californian who had spent a winter season "down east," after basking twenty years under the fair and balmy skies of the Pacific slope? If you have never met him, go hunt him up. Ask him gently how he enjoyed the old-fashioned winters of his boyhood. If he doesn't tell you that he would rather be a lamp-post in California all the year 'round than the mayor of the biggest town east of the Rocky Mountains in cold weather, he is probably a l-lawyer."
As to the amount of rainfall, we presume the following brief table will be as serviceable as a more extended one:
Average Precipitation in San Joaquin County.
January. ...
February ..
March .....
April
May .
June. . . .
July . ... ..
August .. .
September
October ...
November.
December ..
Ellis ..
2.03 1.56 1.12 0.61 0.20 0.05
none none 0.01 0.27 0.90 2.09
Farmington 2.33 2.25 2.70 2.77
0.88 0.27
none none 0.18 1.10 0.75 1.79
Lathrop.
2.21 2.28 2.00 2.03
0.81 0 17
none none 0.11 0.45 0.78 1.73
Stockton ...
2.82 2.64 2.09 1.50 0.63 0.18 0.01
none 0.05 0.49 1.37 3.12
Tracy
1.11 |1.39 1.82 1.40 0.51 0.41 none none 0.08 0.32 0.73 1-74
FLOODS.
The principal floods in this valley in modern times have been the following:
In the winter of 1846-'47 the water of the Stanislaus rose eight feet in one hour, and dur- ing the month of January it overflowed its banks, covering the country for miles ont. In the winter of 1849-'50 there was another flood, but not so great. In March, 1852, the water reached a higher point than at any time pre-
...
24
HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
viously. During that month the rainfall was measured in Sacramento as thirteen inches. No register was kept here at Stockton. During the month of December following the lands along the Calaveras were covered for about five weeks. On the 8th the water on the streets of Stockton reached a point twenty inches higher than ever had been known here before. The bridge over the channel was carried away, and with it the engine house, which was also used as an armory by Major R. P. Hammond's company of minute inen. It was during the winter of 1861-'62 that the Sacramento valley, including Sacra- mento city, had its most damaging deluge; and it was during the same winter that high waters again visited the low lands of this county. About the middle of January a freshet from the rains along the mountains was met by the back waters from the San Joaquin river in the west, and the whole country seemed for miles around to be an unbroken ocean, with a city in its cen- ter, like Venice, the "Mistress of the Seas." The Mokelumne river, higher by several feet than ever known by white men before, broke over its banks, inundating even the high land upon which Lodi now stands. Woodbridge was an island. Several citizens came to Stockton in a small boat from a distance of ten miles or more. R. C. Sargent was shipwrecked within forty rods of his own door in Union Township, when returning from Stockton with several per- sons and freight. A schooner anchored in ten feet of water on J. Brack's ranch. For five weeks the sun was not seen. Flour went up to $40 a barrel and hay sold for $50 per ton.
In 1874 the Mokelumne rose so high as to cover the streets of Woodbridge.
The winter of 1889-'90 was characterized by raining weather almost constant for many weeks, and many streets in Stockton were covered with water; but by this time the people had been so long drilled in fortifying themselves that the loss of property was not great.
Until leveeing shall have been completed, the
low grounds in unprotected sections will of course be subject to overflow, especially since hydraulic mining in former years filled up the streams with debris to a considerable extent.
HEATHFULNESS.
In regard to the healthfulness of the valley, to say nothing of the sanitary effects and rapid desiccation and curing of most of the spon- taneous vegetable productions when the dry sea- son commences, the daily atmospheric current is constantly sweeping away in their incipiency the miasmatic exhalations and pestilent fermen- tations which might otherwise incubate and brood undisturbed over the rich bottom land near the mouth of the tributary streams. In this un- avoidable purification, carried on and forever to continne in obedience to the preservative and unalterable laws of nature, we have the prom- ise of the future healthfulness of the increas- ing population. The experience of the past, too, may well inspire confidence. Carefully kept and scientifically- arranged necrological tables extending back more than ten years, show in Stockton a rate of mortality which compares favorably with the most healthy places on the globe, the ratio of mortality, exclusive of death from external canses or violence, being annually only one death to sixty-five of the population; while in Norway the ratio of the mortality is one in fifty-six; Sweden, one in forty-nine; Eng- land, one in forty-four; Prussia, one in thirty- six; Philadelphia, one in forty-six; Baltimore, one in forty-one; New York, one in thirty- eight; United States (as shown by correct esti- mates of the eighth census), one in forty-five. Epidemics and virulent infections have been rare and disinclined to spread, and more genial and mild temperature of the sheltered region tends to stay the development of pulmonary af- fections and disease of the respiratory system, while the chilling fogs and harsh winds on the coast are liable to provoke their dreaded at- tacks.
25
HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
+MEXICAN TIMES.
CHAPTER II.
EARLY DISCOVERIES.
ARLY in 1773, Father Crespi, who discov- ered San Francisco bay, started from Mon- terey with a few soldiers and volunteers, passed through what is now known as Santa Clara, moved up the east side of the bay, and reached a stream, March 30, at the place now called Anti- och. It was the river since named San Joaquin, Father Crespi being the first man, other than the Indians, that beheld its waters. IIe then returned to Monterey, passing by the base of Mt. Bolgon, named after a tribe of Indians who inhabited that part of the county. The Spaniards after- wards changed the name of the mountain to Diablo.
In after time, when the missions of Cali- fornia became strong, the Catholic fathers were in the habit of throwing military expeditions into the country northeast across the river first discovered by the pioneer Padre Crespi, captur- ing the Indians and taking them to the missions for the good of their souls. In 1826 an expe- dition of this kind from Santa Clara was de. feated on the Stanislaus river, losing thirty-four men, and immediately repeating the experiment they lost forty-one more, but succeeded in cap- turing forty-four Indians, mostly women and children.
INDIANS.
The rivers of and near the county of San Joa- quin, excepting the Calaveras and the Stanis-
laus, retain their ancient Indian names; the termination umná, signifying river, as in Cós. umná, Mókelumná, Tuôlumná, and Làkishumná. This last name was changed by the Spaniards to Stanislaus, because their combined forces, from San José and San Francisco, were defeated in 1829, on the banks of that river, by a chief called Estanislao.
At the death of Estanislao, José Jesus (pro- nounced ho-zay ha-soos), became chief of the tribe, the Sikayumna, with his rancheria (pro- nounced rancheree), at Knight's Ferry, called by the Indians Chapaircy. The range of his tribe was between the Stanislaus and French Camp creek. They were always friendly to the Americans, but were hostile to the native Cali- fornians. Jesus once made a raid upon San José, driving from the town a thousand horses away to his strong-hold in the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada, the Spanish people not being able to either resist or pursue him. He was an educated Indian, and at one time was an alcalde at San José, but believing his people were wronged, by being deprived of the herds which they had helped the " padres " to accumulate, he returned to San Joaquin and headed foraging expeditions against the missions, making a wholesale business of taking from them what he deemed to be his own. The present site of Stockton is said to be due to this fact. He was a man six feet high, dressed in the full holiday
26
HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
attire of the Spanish ranchero, with cotton shirt, and drawers, calzonazos, sash, serape and som- brero. Different from his followers, he was cleanly in his habits, proud and dignified in deportment. In 1849 he was unjustifiably wounded by an American in Stockton. Captain Weber, learning the fact, paid Dr. W. M. Ryer $500 for his services in attendance npon the wounded man, and thus saved the life of his friend. This separation between these two allies was final, as Jesus was never again heard of, and it is supposed that he died from the effects of that shot.
The Calaveras river, known to the Indians as the Yachekumna, was the north boundary line of the territory claimed by the Yacheko tribe, whose main village, or rancheria, was near where Stockton now stands. Wild grapes being numerous along the banks of the streams in this section, the Hudson Bay Company namned the Calaveras Wine creek; but at a later day a Spaniard named Jose Noriega camped on the bank of this stream, and in the morning was surprised to find that he had been stopping over night among numerous bones and skulls of men. He had chanced upon an ancient burial ground, where a conflict had taken place between the Yachekos and the Siyakumnas under Estanislao. Noriega therefore gave to the stream the name Calaveras, a Spanish word meaning skulls. The territory claimed by the Yachekos (or Yache- kumnas), lay between French Camp creek and the Calaveras. 'After the whites began to settle here the Indians began to scatter away, like the wild animals of the forest, to remote and obscure places. It was the custom of their chief, how- ever, after Mr. Weber settled here, to pay him an annual visit and give and receive presents; and Weber's reciprocation of kindness generated a respect toward him.
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