USA > California > California gold book : first nugget, its discovery and discoverers, and some of the results proceeding therefrom > Part 15
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Toulumne's progress during the past year has been slow, but very substantial. There has been a general revival of interest in mining properties, which means prosperity and a general and direct benefit to the county and her people. Many mines are now being prospected and thoroughly examined by capitalists from abroad, with favorable outlook to speedy and more systematic working. The progress made in mining is necessarily slow, but still progressive, when the vast sums of money advanced in ascertaining and determining the character of mining properties are considered. As a notable instance of the progression in mining matters may be cited the Rawhide mine, situated seven miles west of Sonora, on the mother lode. On this mine during the past few months there has been erected a forty-stamp quartz mill, with all the necessary buildings for the proper handling of ores, causing the outlay of an enor- mous sum, which the character of the ore, and the excessive quantity fully justified. This mine being an approved success, greatly enhances the value of any adjoining claims, in which prominent men of San Francisco are interested, who are bound to realize handsomely on their properties by the progress and thorough development made on the Rawhide. Many mining properties abandoned because of mismanage- ment or lack of means to properly work them have been taken hold of by men of resources, and the spirit of progress is being exhibited to a degree not witnessed in these oamps for many years. The situation of the mining interests the past year has been bright indeed ; capital, energy and push are turning the wheel of fortune here, and a golden harvest is being garnered.
The Columbia Marble Works, which have been for
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many years idle, were reopened last year, and the justly celebrated marble, some of which appears prominently in the construction of the Palace Hotel in San Fran- cisco, is being removed from the extensive quarry in large quantities and shipped to the larger cities of the United States.
The people are interesting themselves to a greater extent than ever before in agricultural pursuits; Sonora now having a first-class flouring mill, which affords a market for the cereal produce, has given new life to the farming industry and more land than in any previous season is being brought under cultivation. That the people of this county are thriving, prospering and progressing is certainly an evident fact. The greatest sign of progress is improvement, and since last year the improvements are many and great, hence much progress. Many newly erected cottages throughout the county modestly speak of quiet prosperity.
ARIPOSA is another of the original subdivisions of the State, and it comprised, when formed, almost an entire third of California. The name is the Spanish for butterfly, and was bestowed upon the section by the great number of these insects of variegated colors seen there by the early settlers. In 1853 San Bernardino county was segregated, followed in 1855 by Merced county. The first county seat was Agua Fria, now depopulated and its place taken by the thriving town of Mariposa.
The region was first invaded by the miners in 1849, and one J. D. Savage established a trading-post there. General Fremont also settled there at an early date,
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and began quartz mining on the famous Mariposa grant. As long as the mines paid well Mariposa was prosperous, and thriving towns sprang up in various sections. Among these were Hornitos, Bear Valley, Princeton, and a great number of others, of which only the names remain.
The principal fame of Mariposa county since the decadence of the mines is derived from the presence within her boundaries of that great natural wonder, the Yosemite Valley. This valley was first visited by white men in the spring of 1851, in pursuit of hostile Indians. In December, 1850, and January, 1851, the Indians went on the war path and murdered the whites wherever found. A small force of militia took the field against them and soon subdued all except a large party, which took refuge in the depths of the mountains in a valley said to be inaccessible by whites. But the volunteers followed them to their retreat, pen- etrated the Yosemite Valley and captured the hostiles. The members of the invading party were struck with the magnificent scenery of the valley and told of it on their return, but it was ten years or more before any- thing was done toward opening the valley or drawing public attention to it.
Mariposa, although formerly thought to be princi- pally a mining county, has of late years shown a mer- itorious record as a fruit-producing region. The mild climate of the valleys and lower foot-hills renders it peculiarly adapted to the production of grapes, oranges, figs, peaches, apricots, prunes, olives and lemons, while the higher belts, with their mountainous soil and sharp frosts, produce apples and pears which command the highest prices paid in the city markets.
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An experiment in raisin-growing, made by C. L. Mast, of Horseshoe Bend, proved to be an unqualified suc- cess. He packed a good yield of white Muscats and seedless Sultanas in 1892, which, for size and richness, are equal to those produced anywhere in California. Olive oil of a clear, beautiful quality has been manu- factured in small quantities here for three years. Olive culture was at first deemed an uncertain experi- ment in this county, but it was found that the trees produced berries at an early age in these sheltered valleys. Oranges grown here are of a deep yellow color ; sweet, juicy, and very fine-fibered.
No important steps toward disposing of the magnifi- cent timber in this county have as yet been taken, but a railroad must soon pierce the valuable forests of sugar pine, cedar and yellow pine, which are not surpassed elsewhere in the State. A little work in the way of building dams for the storage of water has been under- taken in the last year, and unlimited benefit could be accomplished were more work in this line completed. The free wagon road from Mariposa to the Yosemite valley will undoubtedly be built during 1893. One or two other roads of importance will also be con- structed this year.
Mining has received a little impetus during the past year. In the northwest portion of the county the Red Cloud and Southerland mines are working steadily and yielding handsome profits, while a number of smaller mines in the same neighborhood are pay- ing well. Near Mariposa city only one mine of any importance is being worked, although many prospect- ors are making wages in the hills and gulches. The Alabama, owned by the Ward Brothers, is a valuable
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mine, and the tunnel, in now about 1,000 feet, shows an abundance of good ore. Several fine veins of good marble have been discovered recently. Altogether the prospects of Mariposa appear really better and on a more substantial basis than for many years past.
ANTA CRUZ COUNTY was organized in 1850, and the county seat located at Santa Cruz. In 1770 Father Juniperro Serra founded the mission of Monterey. Twenty-two years after that the mission of Santa Cruz was established by Fathers Salazar and Lopez. The missions at Santa Clara, San Francisco and Mon- terey, being the nearest, contributed help and provis- ions to the new church. The Carmel mission sent seven mules, and the San Francisco mission five pair of oxen. Other missions sent what seemed appropriate. There were a great many Indians about the country, and thousands of couverts were made. The cattle increased very rapidly until large herds roamed in the mountains roundabout. The Santa Cruz mission was very prosperous until about 1830, and a few years later when all of the work that the Catholics had done was destroyed by the Government. The Indians who were forced into the mission, and to adopt a different religion and habits, were like all other California natives, inas- much as they resented the innovation upon their rights and liberties. In the year 1812 they lured Father Quintana out into the orchard one night and hanged him. They then returned the body to his bed, where it was soon found. The perpetrators were not discovered for many years and were not punished then.
Santa Cruz has never had any mining excitement
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of her own. The first bituminous rock pavement in California was laid there, and from rock mined in her own quarries. The material was so good and abund- ant that it could be mined cheaply, and sold so low that that from other points had difficulty in competing with it. Large amounts have been used on San Francisco streets and side-walks and shipped to other points, even as far east as Denver. The supply seems to be unlimited.
The Watsonville beet sugar factory paid out $400,000 in 1892 for beets and wages, and the success of that enterprise is assured. The fruit interests of the county are prosperous, and more acres are being planted to fruits and vines. The leather, lime, wine and other industries are all successful. The State encampment of National Guards has heretofore been held at Santa Cruz, and this attracts great numbers of people. More are induced to visit the healthy city by the safe and pleasant surf bathing for which the place is noted. The little county is wealthy and promising.
ERCED COUNTY was formed from a part of Mariposa in 1855. Like nearly all the original subdivisions of the State, and all of the coun- ties created since, the county seat question was not settled without contest. So many places in each sub- division look upon the county seat as little less desir- able than a rich gold mine. The county takes its name from its principal river. Lieutenant Moraga, with a troop of Spanish soldiers, had been traveling over the arid plains until the tongues of men and animals were swollen, the eyesight blurred and the blood fevered.
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They thought they had been doomed to death, when they came upon this little stream, which was hidden by the tules on its bank. It was hailed as a gift from a merciful God, and became Mercy or Merced river. The contest in Merced was settled by the selection of the town of Merced, where it is almost certain to remain.
Merced has been the home of great grain fields. It is now blessed with about the best irrigating system in the country, and has started in on the money-making plan of dividing up the large ranches, and inducing thrifty settlers to try their fortunes at fruit growing. Already the Crocker-Huffman Land and Water Com- pany has three or four colonies well under way, and the grandest results are manifest. Merced being the nearest point to San Francisco where land with per- petual water rights is obtainable, the lands are being purchased for fruits. Figs, olives, oranges, lemons, apricots, peaches, pears, prunes, and indeed, all decidu- ous and citrus fruits grow here to perfection. When about ten times the profit can be obtained from an acre in fruit over an acre in wheat, it is not strange that the large ranches are being divided up. It is popula- tion in this country that produces the wealth, and the thrifty and industrious tiller of ten acres in fruit is as valuable to the community as the tiller of one hundred acres in grain. He is more so, because he is setting an example to those anxious for easy and comfortable lives.
ONTEREY COUNTY was one of the first described by metes and bounds by the legislature in 1850, and the county seat established
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at Monterey, which had been the capital of Alta California, under the Mexican regime, The name is composed of two words, monte and rey, and lit- erally translated means "king of the forest." The harbor and county were so named in honor of Count Monterey, who fitted out three small vessels, and put them in charge of Don Sebastian Vizcaino in 1599 with instructions to seize every point of interest and value on this coast in the name of Phillip III. of Spain. He visited various points, including San Diego, and on the 16th of December, 1602, sailed into the little harbor which he called Monterey, and cast anchor near the site of the present town. Vizcaino remained at Monterey until the 3d of the following January, when he sailed away. Then followed one hundred and sixty years of silence, during which time no record speaks of this region.
In 1773 a great zeal for missionary work was man- ifested among the Mexican Padres, and an earnest desire to civilize and Christianize the inhabitants of the regions north. Exploring and missionary parties were immediately fitted out, one going by land, and the other by sea. They arrived at San Diego nearly at the same time, and the first mission of California was founded on the 16th of July, 1769. But their zeal was too great to allow them to wait at the southern- most border of the promised land, and they soon started for the north. They had read of the discovery and naming of the bay Monterey by Vizcaino, and the long lost bay was their objective point. The expedition left San Diego July 14, 1769, and was composed of about eighty soldiers, several officers, fifteen Christian Indians and Fathers Crespi and
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Gomez. It was late in September when they reached the bay they were in search of, but they did not know it. The only excuse that can be offered for their not being able to recognize it from Vizcaino's description is that he wrote from the standpoint of one entering the harbor, while they were looking upon the bay from an inland point. The party moved northward and did not stop until they reached the Golden Gate itself. They walked along the shores of the bay and surveyed it from the top of the neighboring hills, and being taken with the spot, it was named after St. Francis de Assisi. They soon marched south again and repassed the bay of Monterey without knowing it to be the one they were in search of, and thinking that the harbor described by Vizcaino might be by this time filled with sand, they proceeded to San Diego, where they arrived on the 24th of January, 1770.
In the same year another search party was fitted out. It was in two divisions, one to go by water and the other by land. This time they were successful, both reaching and recognizing the bay about the same time. On the 3d of June, 1770, they again took possession of it in the name of the king of Spain. On the same day Father Junipero began his mission by erecting a cross, hanging bells from a tree, and saying mass under the same venerable rock where Vizcaino's party celebrated it in 1602, one hundred and sixty eight years before.
The missions were designed for the civilization and conversion of the Indians. The latter were instructed in the mysteries of religion (so far as they could comprehend them) and the arts of peace. The
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instruction of the savages in agriculture and manufact- ures, as well as prayers and elementary education, was the padre's business. The Indians were at first very shy of the newcomers, but after a time they began to cluster around the fathers and finally their old habits and manners of living were thrown off, and they contented themselves with the quiet life and somewhat laborious duties of the missions. It must be remembered that the civilization of the California Indian was no easy task. He had lived without labor and existed for naught save his ease and pleasure. His chief delight was the satisfying of his appetite and the best portions of his life were spent in sleeping and dancing, while in the temperate California climate wild fruits and nuts, on which he lived, grew in great abundance. But the benefits of civilization gradually dawned upon the homeless sav- age, and he soon took to the new life with surprising whole-heartedness, and in a short time the mission of San Carlos de Monterey was in a flourishing con- dition.
On July 14, 1771, the mission of San Antonio was established about twelve miles south of Soledad, in Monterey county. The buildings were closed in a square 1,200 feet on each side and walled with adobes. The stream on the banks of which the mission was located was conducted in paved trenches twenty miles for the purpose of irrigation, and large crops rewarded the husbandry of the Indians and the padres. In 1822, this mission owned 52,800 head of cattle, 1,800 tame horses, 3,000 mares, 500 yoke of working oxen, 600 mules, 48,000 sheep and 1,000 swine. This mission on its secularization fell into the hands of an administrator
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who neglected its farms, drove off its cattle and left the Indians to starve.
The mission of Soledad was founded October 9, 1791, and was exceedingly prosperous. In 1794, the mission of San Juan Bautista sprung into existence and did a great deal toward benefiting the poor savage. After all the good these holy fathers did they were destined to be driven, with their flocks, out of the homes they had founded and cherished. In 1813, by an act of the Spanish Cortez, and again in 1828, the extinction of the missions was ordered In 1833, the Mexican Congress sanctioned the order, and in 1845 the overthrow of the missions was complete.
The mining interests have received undivided atten- tion during the past year. Immense deposits of lime- stone have been opened on the California mountains. Gold and silver have been discovered in some of the canyons, and although gold is not found in paying quantities, a little research might develop results which would prove highly profitable. The Los Burros gold mines in the southwestern extremity of the county are rapidly coming into prominence, and alone will tend to prove that this county is not destitute of valu- able mineral deposits. In Cholame valley, in the southern part of the county, mines of asphaltum, cop- per and gypsum have been opened, and petroleum in large quantities, while abundant deposits of black oxide of manganese have been discovered. Coal mines have been opened in several portions of the county, the most important of these being that of the Carmelo Land and Coal Company, whose mines and works are located at Carmelo, five miles south of Monterey and two miles from deep water on Carmel bay. The com-
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pany, which is composed of San Francisco and local capitalists, have sunk two shafts of 800 and 500 feet depth respectively, built hoisting works with a capa- city of sixty tons per hour, with coal bunkers and chutes, and are shipping a grade of coal equal to Well- ington. The company is now preparing to run a 1,000- foot tunnel to crosscut a ledge of exceptionally good bituminous coal. With the completion of this tunnel, the output of the mine will be greatly increased. De- posits of bituminous rock have been discovered, and preparations are being made to handle the product of the extensive beds of that article, now greatly in demand for street paving.
An industry which gives promise of becoming far greater is that of shipping the pure white beach sand, which abounds in inexhaustible quantities near Monte- rey, to the glass factories of San Francisco. Carloads are shipped daily, and yet nature replenishes her stock quicker than the hand of man can diminish it.
Glancing back upon the changes wrought in the past twelve months, one will readily perceive that Monterey county has undergone a most radical change. The cities, towns, and county at large show a greater amount of improvement the past year than that which has characterized the preceding decade. New towns have risen where heretofore was but a barren waste; its cities have assumed metropolitan aspects, and what previously had been desolate mountain tracts, covered with well-nigh impenetrable timber and brush, are now cleared, and green fields and budding trees have taken the place of former desolation, while the tidy farm houses evince signs of prosperity and content- ment.
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AN BENITO COUNTY was not organized until 1874, when it was carved out of Monterey, with 200,000 acres additional from Merced county some time later. It owes its existence to the policy of cut- ting up large grants or ranches, which acknowledged only one lord and master, and making out of them fit homes for hundreds of families.
The soil of San Benito county claims the honor of having sustained the first American flag of conquest ever unfurled to a California breeze. The facts on which this claim is based are as follows: In March, 1846, General Fremont arrived at San Juan, after a long and tedious march from the Missouri river westward. He had received the consent of General Castro, the Mexican governor, to halt there and rest his weary troops. But General Castro, for some rea- son, suddenly revoked his permission and ordered Fre- mont to leave the territory at once. The answer was returned that the American army must have time to lay in a stock of provisions and make other prepara- tions, which would require some time, before leaving.
Castro at once organized a small band of mounted troops and proceeded to San Juan to drive out the audacious "pathfinder." Fremont heard of Castro's intentions and withdrew his army from the valley, taking up a position on Gabilan, or Fremont's peak, as it is often and more appropriately called, which over- looks the towns of Hollister and San Juan. Here he threw up fortifications, and, planting a flag-staff, defiantly raised the American flag in the latter part of March, 1846. Castro and his command manœuvred for some time at the foot of the mountain, but did not dare to attack Fremont's forces, which were safely
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ensconced near the top of the peak. The Mexicans were armed with riatas and lances, and knowing that these weapons were inferior to those of the Americans, Castro finally concluded to withdraw his command.
After Castro's withdrawal Fremont broke camp and marched through Bear and Panoche valleys toward the San Joaquin, intending to march to the Oregon line. On his way he received intelligence that a state of war had been declared between the United States and Mexico, and immediately returned and was soon taking an active part in the conquest of California.
At that time the inhabitants belonged to the various Indian tribes, the hills were infested with grizzlies and the valleys were full of antelope and deer. The old mission of San Juan, which had been founded in 1797, was the only vanguard of the advancing civilization. The value of our fertile valleys and productive hills was then unknown, and a sleepy race in somnolent ease took without question what nature unaided fur- nished.
San Benito now has a population of about 8,000. Although one of the youngest, it is one of the most prosperous counties in the State. The soil is marvel- lously fertile, while the excellence of the climate is proverbial. San Benito county is virtually a new and undeveloped country as compared with many of the other counties of the State, and offers splendid induce- ments to home seekers.
RESNO became a county by itself in 1856. It had theretofore been a part of Mariposa county. The earlier explorers and settlers in Fresno and the
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San Joaquin valley began to arrive about 1844. David Kelsey settled in that year at French Camp with his wife and two children. He had a swivel gun that General Sutter had given him, and he used to fire it every night at sunset to frighten off any prowling Indians who might be near. In April of 1844 Fremont visited Fresno's territory in his march of exploration. In 1851 Coarse Gold gulch, in what is now Fresno county, was a prominent camp. In October, 1851, Coarse Gold was almost deserted, owing to a war which the Indians threatened. In the spring of next year many returned and business prospered. Settlers flocked in at a lively rate in the next few succeeding years and many small towns were started.
The final boundaries between Fresno and surround- ing counties were not settled until 1873. The eastern boundary now is the main range of the Sierra Nevada mountains. At that place the Sierras reach their greatest altitude, culminating in Mount Whitney, the loftiest peak within the United States, not counting Alaska. On the west the boundary is in a spur of the coast range, in which mountains the famous New Idria quicksilver mine, one of the most valuable in the world, was discovered, in 1856.
Mining commenced in Fresno very soon after the great gold rush of 1849. Placer mining was engaged in extensively in what were called the Southern mines at an early date. Quartz mining for both gold and silver has brought in much money to miners all over Fresno. Coal and quicksilver also make valuable claims. Fresno counts considerably upon its natural wonders in several discoveries of fossil remains. Of the fossils, the remains of mammoths and whales are the most important.
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Remains of one mammoth were unearthed by miners as early as 1858. There are several petrified trees of large proportions; one of which seems to bear evidence of having been cut down with a sharp-edged tool before turning to stone.
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