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 31
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On February 17, 1859, the township lines were changed' as follows: commencing at the east line of the county, on a line between sec- tion 24 and 25, township 3 north, range 9 east, thence directly west, to the northwest corner of scction 28, township 3 north, range 7 east; thence directly north to Dry creek; thence along Dry creek to northeast corner of county; thence southi along the line of county to the place of beginning.
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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
In 1861 Liberty Township was formed, taking from Elliott the strip one mile wide, extending from the Mokeluinne to Dry creek. In 1864, August 26, a further change was made, in which Elliott gained eight sections, namely, 25, 26, 27, 28, 33, 34, 35 and 36, in township 3 north, range 7 east. There have been several other slight changes between Liberty and Elliott townships. May 6, 1873, a one-mile strip on lier west border was added to Elkhorn township, it being the northeast township of the county.
The first settlement of the Mokelumne river was made by Thomas Pyle with his family, in November, 1846; he abandoned the same and was succeeded by one Smith in 1847, who petitioned the Mexican government for per- mission to establish a colony, with a grant of four square leagues of land, extending two leagnes east and two leagues west, of what be- came known as Staples' Ferry, where the trail between Sacramento and Stockton crossed the Mokeluinne.
Sınith transferred his claim to one McKin- stry, who in 1848 sold to John W. Laird and John F. Pyle. Pyle moved to Weldon, in Kern County. J. W. Laird with his family occupied the place seven months, when, in 1849, he transferred his rights to Staples, Weston & Co., and moved to Stanislaus, where he died in May, 1878. In February, 1850, the firm name was Staples, Nichols & Co., and the place was known as Staples' Ferry. The following per- sons settled there in 1849, viz. : D. J. Staples, J. F. Staples, W. H. Nichols, Mr. Weston, M. J. Ayres, D. Esterbrook, P. A. Haynes, Robert Coffey and George Thomason. Thomason died in 1874. James Talmadge and family located on the south bank of the Mokelumne, and C. L. Benedict on the north bank, about five miles below Staples. Benedict died in Central America in 1871.
Dr. Elliott, after whom Elliott Township is named, settled the same year on what has since been known as the Atlearn and Poppe place. At that time, and as late as 1850, settlers gen- erally claimed as a preëmption 640 acres, after
the Government grants in Oregon. In 1850, John Shelton, Leatherman and Christian settled on the the river, nearly opposite to Staples. Christian Megerle and family, Nathaniel Peck and family, and John Stryker settled on the Ranchiera bottom, about three miles east of Staples. Stryker died in 1852. C. Megerle's family of seven children consisted of C. H. (died in 1851), Caroline S. E., Henry J. (killed by an Indian in 1856), Ernest P., Lonis J. (died 1872), Philip L. and Fred C. Frederick and Henry Loring became partners of Dr. Elliott in 1850. A man by the name of Shelters also took up a ranch just east of them. Dan How- ard also came on to the river the same year. Marcus Cook, Dr. E. D. Walker and Swarzy settled in the winter of that year.
In December, 1850, a colony from Missis- sippi Bar, American river, was formed, consist- ing of G. C. Holman, E. H. Locke, D. J. Locke, Charles Marsack and D. Burton, who purchased of Staples, Nichols & Co., a part of the Smith grant, where they settled. Mrs. D. J. Staples and Mrs. M. J. Ayres arrived Janu- ary 8, 1851. Mrs. G. C. Holman and two chil- dren, Mary E. and George F. W., arrived in October of the same year. James Moore and Mr. Clements took up a ranch on Bear creek, one mile south of Lockeford. Edwin Whipple and Joseph Putnam located the New England ranch. Bernard Poppe, George Boofman, John Fitzgerald, Patrick Murphy, Charles Buttler, Josiah Mansfield, William Simpson and family, William Bramlett and family, B. F. Langford and James Skelton, all settled on the river at difierent points the same year; also Colonel Ira N. Holman and Richard Glen settled on Bear creek near the Calaveras County line.
Bear creek took its name from the large num- ber of grizzlies that made it a feeding ground in acorn time. It is related that in 1851 John Stryker and others on a hunt had killed some deer and hung them in a tree. On going the next morning to bring them to camp the ven- ison had disappeared-evidently had been taken by grizzlies, whose tracks were abundant. They
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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
concluded they would have their revenge, so hanging a quarter of beef in a tree, just at nightfall, they got into another with their rifles and awaited the sport. But the bears came in such numbers, like a drove of cattle, that our Nimrods did not dare to fire, and were obliged to remain on their perch all night. Bears were also numerous on the Mokel- umne bottoms, the thick undergrowth of wil- low and bramble affording a fine shelter. It was not unfrequent for onr early rancheros to erect platforms in the larger oaks, and sleep there, to be out of reach of the grizzlies. Vaqueros occasionally lassoed them on the plains. In 1850 and 1851 a hunter, known as " Bear Lewis," captured in the vicinity of Staples' ranch a number in a net trap. Antelope, elk, deer, wildcats, coyotes, etc., were also num- erous on the river bottoms and plains. At spawning time, the river was filled with salmon.
The first wagons ran on the trail between Stockton and Sacramento in 1844, on what was known as the Sutter's Fort and San Jose trail, when the emigrants from the States passed over this route, among them Captain Weber's father- in-law, Mr. Murphy, late of Santa Clara County. In 1846 Captain Charles Imus passed over this trail, on his way out from the States. He afterward settled on the ranch known as the McMullen and Trahern ranch. Imus sold to Scott, and he to McMullen and Trahern.
In the fall of 1850 Staples, Nichols & Co. erected a bridge across the Mokelumne at their place, at a cost of $3,500, probably the first in San Joaquin County. The first passenger across was a grizzly bear. A free passage with- out questions was accorded this tramp. It is probable that he was too high-toned to ask for anything to eat. A postoffice was established at Staples' Ferry in 1852, D. J. Staples, post- master. A saw-mill was built the same year, near Benedict's Ferry, left bank of the Mokel - umne, by Bramlett & Langford. It was re- moved to Hodge & Terry's ranclı in 1854, Hodge & Terry, proprietors. The following year a flour mill was attached. It was burned in 1856,
and rebuilt. Brady & Greene built a saw and flour inill in 1855. It was washed away by the flood of 1862. On the creation of Elliott Township, a voting precinct was established at Staples' in 1852.
There were several parties settled on the Cal- averas in 1850; H. H. Thursten, J. H. Dodge, L. S. and M. Hutchinson and Dr. Pierce, all of whom settled in the same vicinity. George Thompson kept a stage station on the ranch owned now by Barnhart. The Hutchinson Brothers were extensive stock dealers at that time; they were the parties that purchased the old Isbel ranch in the spring of 1850, and from them it passed into the hands of J. H. Dodge.
The last elk seen on the Calaveras was in the winter of 1851-'52; and the last antelope in 1855, a stray one that was seen in J. H. Dodge's field. It was late as 1856 before the plains be- tween the Mokelumne and Calaveras began to be settled to any great extent.
LIBERTY.
On the 3d day of June, 1861, Liberty first took a position among its sister townships.
Elkhorn and Elliott extended through to the north line of the county. The supervisors on that date carved out of them a new township, which they christened "Liberty," and gave it the following boundaries: Commencing where the Staples' ferry road to Scott's bridge crosses the section line, two miles north of the township line in township 4 north, range 7 east; thence fol- lowing said road to Dry creek; thence down said creek to the Mokelumne river; thence up said river to its intersection with the section line, two miles north of the township line, in township 4 north, range 6 east; thence east on said line to place of beginning.
John Schultz was appointed by the board a justice of the peace for the township, and W. A. H. Town received an appointment as con- stable.
August 19, 1862, a small part of Elliott and Elkhorn, lying on its south border, and north of
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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
the river, became a part of Liberty; but on the 6thi of August, 1864, Elkhorn re-acquired from Liberty all lying south of its original south line, and a fraction more on the west corner; but the gain to Elkhorn was short-lived, for in 1872, August 6, the river again became the dividing line between the two townships. In the mean- time its east line had been changed to a direct line, north and south, commencing in township 4 north, range 7 east, where the south corner of sections 27 and 28 come together, running thence due north to Dry creek.
Its boundary line is at the present time on the east as last above-described, and its nortlı, west, and south lines are Dry creek and the Mokelumne river.
In the early years of settlement of this county the land which presented the least obstacles to immediate cultivation was the first to be taken, consequently the clay soil along Dry creek, ex- tending through the township, being about one and one-half miles in width, was first located, as it was free from underbrnsh and had compara- tively few trees. The remainder of the county lying south of this to the Mokelumne river was deemed to be of very little account, and the farmers did not begin to settle upon it in earn- est until about 1856, when it began to be sur- mised that there might be an error in the minds of the people in regard to the "Live Oak lands." It has since been demonstrated that it will pro- duce, on an average, about four bushels of wheat to the acre more than the clay soil along Dry creek, that was first settled.
In those early days there was but little thought of agriculture. Stock-raising was the almost universal business of the ranchero. They believed that irrigation was the only sure means of growing grain, and frequent dry years, mnade the effort, with their meager knowledge of how to farm in such a climate, a discouraging one. Some of the old residents will remember that when Horace Greeley was lecturing on the Pa- cific slope he told the people of Sacramento " What he knew about farming," and one thing he said was, "Your valleys need cultivation
more than irrigation." Though few believed it then, all acknowledge now that the summer- fallowed soil retains the dampness that comes up from below, and makes, in San Joaquin County, a sure crop, whether the season is dry or wet.
The first settlers of this township were Daniel Devall, who took up land about one and one- half miles northwest of Woodbridge in the fall of 1850. He sold out in 1865, and moved to San Benito County, California, where he died in 1870. J. E. Perley settled near Woodbridge, on the north side of the river. He was elected to the State Legislature as representative in 1863, and to the State Senate in 1867.
In 1851 M. Wells settled in the Jack Able's Pocket. The same year Barnes came to the township; also R. Flint.
In 1852 Thomas Farris settled on Dry creek ; J. H. Smith in the Live Oaks. J. Wilson settled about one mile from Woodbridge; Judge C. P. Brown near Able's Pocket, and upon his land in 1854 was built the first school-house in the township. There had, previous to the building of that school-house, been a subscription school in the village of Liberty, with an attendance of some eight or ten scholars.
C. C. Fugitt came to the township in the fall of 1852, and became the founder of the now ex- tinct village of Liberty, which gave the town- ship its name.
The small village of Old Liberty dates its commencement from the fall of 1852. It was never a very lively place, having many natural disadvantages to contend with, and, probably, up to the time it was moved, in 1868, there had never been to exceed seventy-five inhabitants in the place at any one time. It owed its lo- cation at that point to the fact that a road crossed Dry creek, running from Stockton to Sacramento. This locality had been known pre- vious to that time as Davis' crossing.
There is no plat on file; but from a deed, dated October 26, 1861, the first deed to prop- erty in the village, it is evident that a plat of the town was made some time in that year, and
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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
several lots sold; the one above mentioned be- ing conveyed to William Allport for $200, aud described as north half of lot No. 9 on west side of Main street in Liberty.
In 1868 the people moved the town one mile south to a new site on the railroad, and the old town lived only in the memory of the past. The cause which led to its removal was a belief, or hope, of the citizens that the railroad company would give them a depot, and inasmuch as the mountain caine not to Mahomet, Maltomet moved to the mountain; yet it was of no avail. Galt, in Sacramento County, gained the coveted station, and New Liberty followed in the wake of the storin that had wrecked the old village.
Acampo is a railroad station and postoffice about three miles north of Lodi. The popula- tion there is probably about 100.
The following named gentlemen may be con- sidered as the ones who have been the main men in developing the value and fixing the status of Liberty Township: Theodore .Tracy, James Nolan, John Welch, P. Jahant, Victor Jahant, N. A. Knight, H. J. Keen, J. Driscol, B. A. Woodson, J. Schomp, W. H. Childs, J. Lower, W. R. Pearson, C. W. Hunting, L. Titus, J. B. Furnish, J. Rattan, W. D. Smith- son, H. C. Bell, J. Kenefick, J. J. Emsley, J. Van Volkenberg, J. F. Still, R. Owens, William Presbury, A. J. Woods, R. Hickman, W. M. Oliver, M. Peters, S. H. Pleas, H. G. Einmer- son, Dr. B. F. Slater, J. F. McCowley, J. S. Thursten, Dr. Ray, E. W. S. Woods and Jolin M. Woods.
TULARE
Township, the largest in the county, and in the southwestern part, was for a long time deemed of little value except as a "happy hunting- ground." In 1856 Hiram Hamilton and several others passed from the Mountain House, by way of Grayson, to Kern County, finding a forty-mile section of the road without a house, and antelope in droves of several hundred; and they were so tame that they would mix up pro- miscuously with the teams as they moved along. Game was abundant until 1864, when thic
droutli completed the work of extermination that the hunters and settlers had commenced. A few antelope, however, were found as late as 1870. There were also numerous bands of wild horses. To catch these the men wonld keep them from water for several days, and then permit them to drink to satisfaction, when they would fill themselves so full that they would be easily run down.
An interesting miscellaneous item, by the way, may be mentioned here. A portion of the remains of the hairy mammoth (Elephas primi- genius) was once discovered in this township, on section 21, township 3 south, and range 6 east, at a depth of fifty-two and a half feet. Some of the hair was still so well preserved and tenacious that a watch-chain mnade of it stood considerable wear.
The character of the land, etc., in Tulare Township has already been described in chap- ters I and VIII.
Tulare Township originally included all of the county west and south of the San Joaquin river. August 26, 1864, O'Neil encroached upon its north border, and that line became and has remained until the present a parallel one to the Mount Diablo base line, running two miles north of it; otherwise Tulare's boundaries re- main as they were established August 5, 1856.
In the wild times of those early days a tragedy, resulting in an execution, came hand- in-hand with the first effort at a settlement, in what is known as Tulare Township. John Doak and Jacob Bonsell, in November, 1848, came down from the mountains, where they had been mining, and established the Doak aud Bonsell Ferry, on the San Joaquin river, a few yards from where the Central Pacific Railroad now crosses that river. A boat to carry some- thing more than a man was necessary; conse- quently Mr. Doak left his partner at the ferry in command of a yawl, while he went to Corte de Madera creek, near where the penitentiary now stands, in Marin County, for the purpose of building a large boat. Mr. Bonsell was con- sequently left alone, and received considerable
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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
money in ferrying passengers, as tolls were very high, being $1 for each person set across the stream. It became generally known that money was accumulating, and that Mr. Bonsell was alone; and four men, former acquaintances of his, determined upon robbing him, and were so indiscreet as to mention their intention before leaving the mountains to execute their plan. The consequence was, that their proposed victim was warned of his danger, and when the parties arrived at the ferry they found the object of their attention fully npon his guard.
For days they hung around the neighbor- hood, watching their opportunity, fearing to at- tack him except at advantage, as Mr. Bonsell was a powerful man, with a will of iron and nerves of steel. Constant watching and lying out in the willows of a night to get sleep, where lie could not be surprised, began to tell on him, and he sent to the mountains for a man by the name of Hiram Brock, to come down and keep him company. Mr. Brock arrived one day pre- vious to the culmination of the event that marks the first tally on the list of murders for money written on the pages of crime committed in the county.
The day succeeding the arrival of Brock, two Germans came from the mountains, where they had been mining. on their way to San Jose; they crossed the river at Bonsell's, and after leaving the ferry some four miles, went into camp at or near the place then known as Four- Mile slough. While they were sitting by their camp-fire, after night had set in. unsnspicious of danger, they were fired upon by two inen, and one of the Germans instantly killed; the other, having an arm broken, fell, simulating death so effectually as to deceive the assailants, who proceeded to rob them of what gold-dust they had, some twenty-one pounds, worth nearly $4,000, and then left, supposing that the buz. zards would save any unnecessary trouble on their part in burying the victimns.
The German who had only been wounded made his way to Livermore, arriving there in the morning, and, after relating the tragedy, ac-
cused the man at the ferry (Mr. Bonsell), of laving committed the crime. There happened to be a listener to this accusation, by the name of Chauncy, who had crossed the plains with Bonsell's partner, Doak, in 1847, who did not believe that any man whom Mr. Doak would have for a partner could commit a crime. On this general proposition, believing in Doak, and through him, in Bonsell, he decided to act promptly and save an innocent man. Mounting his horse, he "sped " away, down the trail to the ferry, some thirty miles, when he arrived upon liis foam-flaked horse, to tell a man tu whom he was a stranger, that an accusation of murder and robbery had been laid at his door. Mr. Bonsell, believing he knew who the guilty parties were, inounted Mr. Brock on a fleet horse, and posted him away in hot haste to San Jose, to lay complaint against the parties that had been watching so long a time to get a chance to rob him. Arriving at his destination, Mr. Brock entered the Alcalde's office, and found that official making out the papers for Bonsell's arrest. He proceed to lay the whole matter be- fore this officer, and offered to return with the sheriff and help him arrest the parties he ac- cused as soon as he could get something to eat and feed his horse, which he proceeded to do; and, as he stepped out of the door, saw two men riding down the street, whom he at once recognized as two of the parties he wanted. The sheriff was promptly informed, and the outlaws were arrested while they were tying their horses, and, in reply to a demand for the cause of the arrest, they were informed by the sheriff that it was upon the charge of stealing horses. They were innocent of horse stealing, consequently had no fear of consequences, and never sus- pected what the real charge was until they were confronted by the man whom they supposed they had murdered, and their two associates who had shared with them the spoils, but re- fused to join in the murder.
That night the sheriff arrived at Doak & Bonsell's Ferry, and in two days the remaining two were captured. Confronted with one of
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their victims, and the confession of their two less guilty comrades, they were convicted and hung at San Jose. The two who had refused to assist in the killing were whipped and turned loose. Thus was baptized in blood the early settlement of Tulare Township, and, in the few first years that followed, it continued worthy of its christening.
When Mr. Doak had completed the ferry-boat at Corte de Madera creek he spread canvas and sailed it across the bay of San Francisco, and up through San Pablo and Suisun bays to the mouth of the San Joaquin river, up which it was towed by sending a small boat ahead with a line, which could be attached to trees upon the banks and the parties on the boat would pull upon the line and thus force the boat up the stream. The trip was made in this way in less than a week. After the boat was in position, the rates of ferriage were $3 for a man and horse, $8 for a wagon, and single persons $1 each. The travel across the river at this time was very great, as it was on the great thorough- fare leading from the mines to the sea coast. Mr. Doak remained at the ferry about a year from the fall of 1848.
During the summer of 1849 Messrs. Doak & Bonsell constructed the first sailing boat ever built on the waters of any of the streamns emptying into San Francisco bay. Oak trees were cut alongside the San Joaquin near the ferry, and sawed into lumber by whip saws, and from this lumber the hull of the vessel was con- structed. The masts were hauled from Calaveras County, at a point near where San Andreas now is, the two poles that were used for masts cost- ing those gentlemen $600 when delivered at the river. The vessel when completed was of about forty tons' burden, and was used for freighting between San Francisco and Stockton. The schooner was called the San Joaquin, and proved to be a staunch craft and a very good sailer, and plied on the bay of San Francisco for a number of years.
In 1850 E. B. Carroll, HI. P. Wright, of Massachusetts, William Breyton, of Brooklyn,
New York, and John A. Stockholm, of Orange County, New York, formed a co-partnership, and kept a hotel at the mouth of Corral Hollow. The hotel was a "zinc house," and was used principally for a saloon and eating house.
Wade Hampton settled in Tulare in 1850. John Laird lived in a tent near the zinc house at the mouth of Corral Hollow. Wickland, from whom the village of Wickland took its name, and Henry Bantas, after whom the village of Bantas was named, both came to Tulare Township in that year.
In 1852, L. R. Bradley, afterward Governor of Nevada, the Patterson brothers, Daniel Valen- tine, James Green and Jolin, Willianı and P. R. Fairchild, Johnson, after whom the ferry is named, Tom Payne, after whom the slough by which he settled was named, Thomas MeLaugh- lin, Robert Marney and Robert Dykeman, who lived with Tom Payne, were all residents of the township.
April 28, 1851, five Mexicans were hung near Bantas by the " Cow Vigilantes " for steal- ing cattle. One of them, a boy, was innocent ! It is a well anthenticated fact that two Mexicans were once required to dig a hole in the ground and then were placed in it, shot down and buried in the same ! Several other very ugly things are related in Thompson & West's History as having occurred in early day in Tulare Town- ship, but the crimes, lynching and all, were generally committed by non-residents.
In 1849 a hotel was built on the main road to Doak & Bonsell's ferry, about half a mile north of where Bantas now is, at which time the vicinity was thickly covered with timber. A. E. Henry and Dr. Hopkins kept the hotel, and sold to Chamberlain in 1853 or '54, who in turn sold to Bantas.
The Doak & Bonsell ferry, established in No- vember, 1848, passed in 1849 into the hands of Bonsell and Hiram Scott. The former died on his return trip to the States in 1852; his widow afterward married J. A. Shepherd, who ran the ferry several years and then sold it to Captain Moss in 1856. The next was Slocum's ferry,
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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
established in 1849, three miles below Doak & Bonsell. The Fiske (or Durham's) ferry, estab- lished by Titus and Manly in 1850, was the third one started on the river in this county, and was at or near the point where San Joaquin City is now located.
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