An illustrated history of Sonoma County, California. Containing a history of the county of Sonoma from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, Part 14

Author: Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 786

USA > California > Sonoma County > An illustrated history of Sonoma County, California. Containing a history of the county of Sonoma from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time > Part 14

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With all onr vast resources scareely un- tonched, with great mines of wealth yet un- worked, thousands of aeres of fertile soil uneultivated, needing only the hand of man to cause it to spring forth and to blossom like the rose, we as a people are not faithful to the great charge entrusted to us, if we are satisfied with the glory of the past and content with the work done by our fathers. It is our sacred duty to go forward in the the path laid out for us by the pioneers, building up the prosperity and greatness of the grand heritage they have left us. Our task is much easier than was theirs; our lives have fallen in pleasant places; for them the weary months of toil over barren wastes and burning sands, the battle and the siege; for ns the pleasant groves and vineyards, the arts and civilization, and the seenrity of the law.

Shall we be less faithful, enjoying as we do the fruits of their labor, than were they with war and death on every side? I am sure 1 ean answer for you, my brothers, when I say that yon will use every possible means which you possess to establish stronger the bulwarks of our beloved State; that you will see to it that no act of yours will ever stain the fair shield of Califor- nia; that accepting from your fathers as a sacred trust the honor of your State, you will ever strive to perpetuate its glory through ail the Enture.

HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY.

The years that are crowding fast upon us are full of responsibilities. Whether we wish to or not there are grave questions which must be met. Every day sees some old pioneer gathered to his reward, and the vast majority of them have already passed over the divide and rest on the other shore. The future of our State for weal or woe is in our hands, and there are prob. lems to be solved which will require all our knowledge and eonrage.

Thongh we are proud, as only those can be who live upon their native soil, still there are elements within our State which must be checked if we desire to preserve untainted the liberty and equality which we have inherited.

One of the great evils that has grown np within our State is the vast power exercised by wealth. We are too prone in these latter days to worship the possessor of money, earing little by what means it has been obtained. Let us rather return to the principles of our fathers, believing with them that "an honest man is the noblest work of God;" for I fear they had a higher standard by which to judge these things, and I believe old ways are best.

With all our improvements in the past, with school-honses and churches on every hand, I do not know that we can boast of a higher tone of personal honor than that which existed among the rough and hardy pioneers who first landed on these shores. Then every man's word was his bond, and to impugn a man's truthfulness was cause enough for war. Now, I fear, we mistrust most men, and prone as the people are to be- lieve the worst, they find themselves too often gratified. It is our duty to try and change these things. Let us prove that the high traits for which our fathers were justly praised, yet live in ns, that honesty, integrity and manliness are not things of the past age, but exist now, and by our help will continue through all the future.

On an occasion of this kind, when our hearts are full of tender memories of the past, and our minds turn again to the golden days of boyhood, when life seemed all sunshine, and our

highest dreams and aspirations were so quickly gratified, ere we had learned the bitterness of defeat or the hollowness of victory-before we had drank of the enp of knowledge which brings sorrow, who of ns, turning again to the sweet past, has failed to look for one form dearer than all others, the pioneer mothers of our State. Would that I had the eloquence with which to pay a fitting tribute to their memory- coming as they did across the desert plains and over thousands of miles of ocean, leaving behind them without a murmur all the comfort and re- finements of civilization, content to take their plaee beside the one they loved, and snfler all for his sake. Their life work lies before ns in the homes that are within our borders.

Oh, firesides, dotting mountain, valley and plain, ye by your thousand voices bear testi- mony of the noble work and worth of the truest mothers of our State. May God bless them to their latest day.

Standing here to-day among the vine-clad hills of Sonoma, on ground rendered historic as being the place where the first blow was struck by Americans having for its object the conquest of this fair land, almost in sight of the spot where the famous bear Hag finttered in the breezes of that summer day thirty-nine years ago, we are more than impressed with the vast evidences of progress that meet our view on every hand. Where once the mountain and hillside were covered by mighty forests inhab- ited by savage beasts or still more savage men, now we have the vine and the fruit tree, under the shadow of which dwell the happy and con- tented husbandman.

The old pioneer, his life work almost finished, here rests and dreams of the stirring days of yore, happy in the knowledge that through his exertions this goodly heritage was seeured and that his children's children will rise up and call him blessed.

To the noble pioneers, California owes a debt of gratitude which can never be repaid. By their efforts has she been placed within a few short years in a position second to none in the

HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY.

sister-hood of States. Situated as we are, upon the ntmnost western border of the Republic, far from the center of Federal authority, we have not received the same amount of comfort and assistance from the general government that our sister States have enjoyed.

Yet our loyalty and love for our common country has never wavered in the past nor will it ever falter in the future. Each star in the flag is dear to our hearts and we are content to bide the time when we shall be better under- stood. Standing at the gateway of the East, with the manners, eustoms and civilization of an alien race, old when our world was born, menac- ing onr homes and institutions, we have been forced to bar the way to this servile flood, that we might proteet our own firesides. To the rest of the world California bids a most hearty welcome. On our great fertile plains is room for all, with enough of food to fill the hungry of other lands.

To those sitting in the darkness of a despot- ism kept alive by force in the old world, we offer all the blessings which liberty ever brings to its happy possessor.

Founded, as this State was by men of every clime under heaven, we have absolutely no prej- ndices, judging all by their works and making none responsible for the errors of his ancestors.

With these blessings on every hand and with the vast resources of our soil, there is practically no limit to our possibilities as a people. A grand destiny awaits our State. May each of ns be prepared to aet well his part with honor to himself and his fatherland.

To you, pioneer fathers, we turn this day with hearts full of gratitude for the blessings you by your valor have conferred upon us. To those who having passed over the divide, look down upon us from the heights of eternal bliss, guide, we pray you, the destiny of the State you loved so well.

To others who are still with us, we wish all of happiness and peace. May their last days be indeed their best ones, and when the sun, for them, shall for the last time shed his brilliant

rays upon the land they held so dear, may its declining light guide them safely into the eter- nal rest.

And now to thee, Oh, California, brightest and purest star in all the galaxy to ns, we, thy children, do on this day renew our fealty to thee. Loving thee as no other people can love thee, springing from thy bosom and nurtured on thy breast, we pledge our lives, our honors to the preservation of thy liberty in all its pristine strength !

May he be greatest among us who does the most for thee.

And through all the eyeles of the ages, God grant that thy fair shield shall shine far out over the western waters in all its radiant splen- dor.

At the close of this eloquent address, George Homer Meyer, the gifted Sonoma County poet, recited the following poem :

THE RAISING OF THE FLAGS.

With the flag of all others we love and revere. And whose stars float above us to-day,

Let us blend the worn folds of the brave pioneer, While we wreathe it with laurel and bay. With the names of our fathers its colors entwine, And no shadow its history mars, And to-day do we hold it as fitting to shine, By the side of the Stripes and the Stars.

Tho' all rugged and rude on that far-a-way morn Was the banner they lifted in air,

Yet the deed marked the day when an Empire was born,

For the voice of God's Freedom was there.

And the hands that decreed that that Freedom should be,

Were as rude with their labor-worn scars

As the ensign they raised-yet it floated as free, As the flag of the Stripes and the Stars.

And then far to the sonth where the swift breezes play O'er the wave-broken face of the tide,

O'er the crests of the seas with their wild locks ot spray,

Lo ! two stately sea-warriors ride.

And a banner blood-red from one lofty mast flows, With St. George's crossed, crimson-lined bars,

While aflame in the sunlight another there glows- The bright flag of the Stripes and the Stars.

But sweet tidings have come to the chiefs o'er the seas, A dark glow as of joy lights their eyes;

HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY.

Now like light is the canvas flung wide to the breeze, For a race, with an Empire the prize. And now strain every halliard and bend every sail, And this day prove the strength of your spars -- Shall the Cross and the Crown of proud England pre- vail,

Or the flag of the Stripes and the Stars ?

But one springs to the front -- like a shaft from the bow Does she cleave thro' the hillowy spray,

And the foam in her track, like the pathway of snow, ('er the wind driven sea marks her way.

The wild waves lash her sides till her masts bend and reel, And her mighty frame trembles and jars, But she rises erect on her iron-shod keel, And above floats the Stripes and the Stars.

And on, on ! ever on ! the wild sea rushes hy, While the Briton comes following fast-

And there, gleaming before them, the green valleys lie, For the wild race is ending at last. And now pause, ship of Britain, the contest is o'er, Lower down your vain canvas and spars,

For there, rising in triumph above the green shore, Floats the flag of the Stripes and the Stars.

And now speed the glad tidings away to the north, Let it fly on the winds of the air;

To that camp in the hills let the knowledge go forth, To the true hearts awaiting it there.

Let them lay their brave flag on the Altars of Fame, No dishonor its radiance mars,

For unconquered it yiekls without shadow of shame, To the flag of the Stripes and the Stars.

HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY.

MILITARY AND POLITICAL HISTORY.

CHAPTER IX.

SONOMA UNDER MILITARY RULE-GENERAL RILEY APPOINTS CIVIL OFFICERS-A SPECIMEN OF HOW JUSTICE WAS ADMINISTERED-A CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION SONOMA'S FIRST ELECTION-A CONTESTED SEAT IN THE STATE SENATE -- CALIFORNIA ADMITTED INTO THE UNION-THE MA- CHINERY OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT SET IN MOTION-ELECTIONS AND NUMBER OF VOTES POLLED IN SONOMA DISTRICT-BEGIN TO AGITATE COUNTY SEAT REMOVAL -- A VOTE TAKEN ON THE QUES_ TION IN 1854-SANTA ROSA DECLARED THE COUNTY SEAT-EARLY COURT ACCOMMODATIONS AT THE NEW COUNTY SEAT -- AN ATTEMPT TO REMOVE THE COUNTY SEAT FROM SANTA ROSA A FAILURE-COUNTY BUILDINGS, ETC.

S yet, California was under military rule and quite a garrison was maintained at Sonoma. It was the head center of the northern frontier, and when the gold fields of California began to attract immigration it be- came a place of much business importance. As a military post it was honored with the presence of several officers, who afterward achieved national renown, notable among whom were Joe Hooker, Phil Kearney, afterward killed at Antietam; General Stone, General Stoneman, afterward Governor of California; and Lienten- ant Derby, anthor of the Squibob Papers.

In 1849 General Riley was commandant on the l'acific coast, and appears to have had the power to appoint civil officers; for in Angust of that year he issned a commission to Stephen Cooper as judge of the first district, and appointed C. P. Wilkins prefect of the district of Sonoma. That the justice administered by the officers so appointed was both grim and

swift is evideneed by the first record in Stephen Cooper's court, which is as follows:

" The people of California Territory vs. George l'almer-And now comes the said people by right of their attorney, and the said defend- ant by Semple and ()'Melveny, and the prisoner having been arraigned on the indietment in this canse plead not guilty. Therefore a jury was chosen, selected and sworn, when, after hearing the evidence and arguments of counsel, returned into court the following verdict, to wit:

" The jurymen in the case of Palmer, defend- ant, and the State of California, plaintiff, have found a verdict of guilty on both counts of the indictment, and sentence him to receive the following punishment, to wit:

" On Saturday, the 24th day of November, to be conducted by the sheriff to some public place, and there receive on his bare baek seven- ty-five lashes, with such a weapon as the sheriff

HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY.

may deem fit, on each count respectively, and to be banished from the district of Sonoma within twelve hours after whipping, under the penalty of receiving the same number of lashes for each and every day he remains in the dis- triet after the first whipping.

" (Signed)

ALEXANDER RIDDLE, · Foreman.

"It is therefore ordered by the court, in ac- cordance with the above verdict that the forego- ing sentence be carried into effect."

It may seem strange to the reader that the jury passed sentence, but they could, and in ease of grand lareeny, a jury could pass sentence of death; as they did, vide Tanner vs. the people of the State of California, 2nd Col. Re- ports.

As yet everything was in a chaotic formative state. The civil authority related baek to mili- tary anthority. And yet the government seems to have been efficient and condueive to good order and justice. The penalties imposed may now seem severe and even ernel, but we must remember that in taking up civilization where Mexican ocenpancy ended and American ocen. paney began perfection in either eivil or erimi- nal practice would not be expected. There had to be a gradual shading up to a more advanced stage of civilization. In due time this came under the benign influence of American rule and the administration of American law. The whipping post as a punishment for petty crimes and the gallows.as the punishment for grand larceny marks the dividing line between Cali- fornia as a conquered province of Mexico, and a star in the galaxy of the States of the Union of the United States of America. If at first her justice was administered with a seemingly vigorous hand, it must be remembered that the civil and criminal authority related baek to the military that ruled with the sword, the keen edge of which did not allow the gordian knots of law to impede the ends of swift and sunmary punishment for infraetions of law. As seem- ingly severe as this administration of justice may seem to those of later days, it must be

borne in mind that the influx to California of a vast horde of gold-seekers, had precipitated upon this coast a people cosmopolitan in a degree never before concentrated upon God's footstool; and nothing short of the most vigorous methods of jurisprudence would meet the exigencies of the times. The interregnum between military and eivil rule in California was a period fraught with many dangers to the weal of California, and it is a subject of congratulation that it was tided over with so few mistakes and errors, But the military rule had filled its appointed office and the people came under the dominion of civil rule.

California was now under the peaceful fo kts of the stars and stripes. On February 2, 1845, a treaty of peace and friendship was formulated at Guadalupe Hidalgo; ratified by the President of the United States on March 16, 1848; ex- changed at Queretaro, May 30, and was finally promulgated on the 4th of July of the same year, by President Polk, and attested by Seere- tary of State, James Buchanan. In June, 1849, a proclamation was published calling an election to be held on the 1st of August, to elect dele- gates to a general convention to formulate a State constitution, and for filling the offices of judge of the superior court, prefects, sub- prefects, and first alealda as judge of the first instance, such appointments to be made by General Riley after being voted for. The Sonoma distriet elected as delegates to that eon- vention General Vallejo, Joel Walker, R. Semple and L. W. Boggs. The number of del- egates was fixed at thirty-seven, and they were to meet in convention at Monterey on the 1st of September, 1849.

The constitutional convention assembled at Monterey at the appointed time and R. Semple. delegate from the Sonoma distriet, was chosen chairman. The session lasted six weeks. It seems to have been conducted with ability and decorum. A seal of the State was adopted with the motto " Enreka;" a provision for the morals and education of the people of the State was made; the boundary question between Califor-

HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY.

nia and Mexico determined, and last, but not least, slavery was forever prohibited within the boundary of the State.

The constitution so framed, was submitted to the people for ratification at an election held on the 13th of November. At the same election State officers were to be elected. The vote for the constitution was 12,064 for, and eleven against its adoption. For State officers there were two tickets in the field, both called the peoples' ticket. The first was: for Governor. John A. Sutter; for Lientenant-Governor. John McDongall : for Representatives in Congress, William E. Shannon, Peter Halsted. The second was: Peter II. Burnett, for Governor; for Lientenant-Governer, John McDongall: for Representatives in Congress, Edward Gilbert and George W. Wright. The result of this election was: Peter Burnett, Governor; John McDougall, Lieutenant-Governor; and Edward Gilbert and George W. Wright sent to Congress. The total vote polled by Sonoma district in this election was 552 votes, of which 424 were for Burnett. For the State Senate the contest was between General M. G. Vallejo and Jonas Speet, a Meth- odist elergyman, afterward a resident of Two Roek Valley for many years. At first Jonas Spect was given his seat on the claim that he had received a majority of the votes cast at a precinct somewhere in the distriet ealled " Lar- kin's Raneho." But it seems that Spect had reckoned withont his host, for when authentie returns came in from Larkin's Ranch it proved that Vallejo had been elected by eighteen ma- jority, and Speet had to vacate his seat in favor of Vallejo. The duly elected Representatives to the Assembly from the district of Sonoma was J. E. Brackett and J. S. Bradford. On the 15th of December, 1849, this, the first legislative body convened under American rule, assembled at the Pueblo de San Jose, and the senate organ- ized with Mr. Camberlin as president pro tem., and John Bidwell as temporary secretary. The assembly organized with Mr. Walthall as chair- man pro tem., and Mr. Moorehead as clerk pro tem. The first session of the Legislature upon

which was devolved the task of setting in motion the wheels of civil government had a difficult and intricate task to perform. It dis- charged its duties as well as could be expected considering the multiform and intricate ques- tions pressed upon its consideration. At this session Robert Hopkins was appointed district judge of the district of which Sonoma County was a part, and JJ. E. Brackett Major-General of the second division of militia. Petaluma and Sonoma Creeks were also declared navigable streams. Throughout the proceedings of this first legislative body of California seems to have been harmonions, except that there was apparent some frietion over the character of memorial to be sent to Congress asking for ad- mission into the sisterhood of States. The bone of contention was that clause of the constitution prohibiting slavery. This led to much acri- monious discussion and resulted in the rejection of all the florid addresses intended as accom- paniments to the constitution, to be submitted to Congress for ratification.

The Legislature proceeded to divide the Ter- ritory into counties. The act sub-dividing into connties and establishing seats of justice therein was finally passed and confirmed on the 25th of April, 1851, fixing the boundaries of Sonoma County as follows:

" Beginning on the sea-coast, at the month of Russian River, and following up the middle of said river to its source in the range of moun- tains called Moyaemas; thence in a direct line to the northwestern corner of Napa County to its termination in Camero Mountains; thence in a direct line to the nearest point of Camero Creek; thenee down said creek to its entrance into Napa River; thence down the middle of Napa River to its month, excluding the island ealled Signor, or Mare Island; thence dne sonth to the north line of Contra Costa County; thence down the middle of said bay to the corner of Marin County; thence following the boundary of Marin County to Petaluma Creek; thence up said creek, following the boundary of Marin County to the ocean, and three miles therein;

HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY.

thenee in a northerly direction parallel with the coast to a point opposite the mouth of Russian River. and thence to said river, which was the place of beginning." If we take a map and follow the meanderings of this boundary we will find it very dissimilar to the present boun- daries of Sonoma County. Sonoma was desig- nated as the seat of county government. Pro- vision was made for a court consisting of a county judge, to be assisted in his deliberations by two justices of the peace, they to be chosen by their brother justices from out of the whole nuumber eleeted for the county. This court had great latitude of jurisdiction, for, aside from passing upon matters civil and criminal, it also discharged, substantially. all the functions now belonging to a county board of supervisors. The regular terms of this court were to com- menee on the second Monday of February, April, June, August, October and December, with quarterly sessions on the third Monday of February, May, August and November of each year.

On the 9th of September. 1850, California was admitted into the Union as a State. The first regular State Legislature assembled at San Jose on January 6, 1851. The Eleventh Sena- torial Distriet then embraced the counties of Sonoma, Solano, Napa, Marin, Colusa, Yolo, and Trinity, and was represented in the Senate by Martin E. Cook; while Sonoma, in eonjune- tion with Marin, Napa and Solano counties was represented in the Assembly by A. Stearns and John A. Bradford.

There had been established a court of sessions at Sonoma with A. A. Green as County Judge and Charles Hudspeth and l'eter Campbell as Associates. Judge Green died in 1851, and W. (). King was chosen to fill his place. In Novem- ber of that year C. P. Wilkins was elected County Judge. Israel Brockman was sheriff and Dr. John Hendley was county clerk and recorder.

In July of 1852 Peter Campbell and J. M. Miller were associate justices on the benel with Judge Wilkins: and on the 3d of October

they were superseded by A. C. Godwin and Phil. R. Thompson. The first Board of Super- visors for the county convened on July 5. 1852. at Sonoma. and took charge of county affairs not coming within the jurisdiction of the court of sessions. The members were D. O. Shat- tuck: William A. Hereford, of Santa Rosa Dis- triet, and Leonard P. Hansen and James Sing- ley of Petaluma District. D. O. Shattuck was made Chairman of the Board.

At the Presidential election, the fall of 1852, E. W. McKinstry was elected District Judge of this district, and J. M. Hudspeth, Senator, and H. S. Ewing and James MeKamy, assemblyinen. As an inspiration to the young men of Sonoma County of the future, not to despise the humble vocations of life, we here mention that Joe Hooker, the afterward celebrated .. Fighting Joe Hooker" of the civil war, was elected to and filled the position of road-master in Sonoma road district, in the year of grace, 1853.

In 1852 Sonoma County played so little of a conspicuous figure in polities that we find no record of its attitude on the great national ques- tions of the day. It was then Whig and Dem- ocrat, but we find nothing to show how the vote stood between Pierce and the hero of " Lundy's Lane," but judging from the complexion of the then population of Sonoma County, the vote was in favor of l'ieree.

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An illustrated history of Sonoma County, California. Containing a history of the county of Sonoma from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, Part 14

Author: Lewis Publishing Company Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 786

Author: Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 786