Historical and biographical record of southern California; containing a history of southern California from its earliest settlement to the opening year of the twentieth century, Part 37

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman pub. co.
Number of Pages: 1366

USA > California > Historical and biographical record of southern California; containing a history of southern California from its earliest settlement to the opening year of the twentieth century > Part 37

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

ELSINORE, known as the "Lake City," is twenty-eight miles south of Riverside. The town is located between the hills and the shore of the lake or laguna. This laguna, which gives name to the rancho, is about five miles long by two wide. Its waters are slightly alkaline. In 1884 Graham, Collier & Heald bought the Laguna rancho, subdivided it and placed it on the market in small tracts. The town is famous for its hot springs. Within its limits there are over one hundred of these springs. The waters of these are efficacious in curing bronchial ail- ments, asthma, dyspepsia, rheumatism and de- rangements of the liver and kidneys. In the neighborhood of Elsinore is the most extensive coal mine in Southern California. The output of this mine is largely used in operating the fac- tories for manufacturing vitrified salt glazed sewer pipe. There is also near Elsinore one of the largest deposits of potter's clay in the state. The town is well supplied with schools and churches, and supports a good weekly news- paper, the Elsinore Press.

PERRIS, sixteen miles southeast of Riverside. is located at the junction of the San Jacinto and Temecula branches of the Santa Fé railroad. The town was laid out in 1882. In 1883 the Southern California railroad was completed to this point. The San Jacinto branch road was completed in 1888. Perris has an elevation of about 1,300 feet above the sea level. It is sur- rounded by a fine agricultural region. The failure of the Bear valley irrigation scheme was a serious drawback to Perris valley, but the dis- covery that the plain around it is a great artesian belt has more than recompensed for the loss of the Bear valley water rights. Near Perris is a government Indian school, where 150 boys and girls are being educated and trained in the indus- trial arts.

WINCHESTER is a small town on the San Jacin- to branch of the Santa Fe railroad, nine miles

20-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

westerly from San Jacinto. It is surrounded by a fine agricultural country, and is within the artesian belt.

LAKEVIEW is connected with the Santa Fe railroad system by a short branch road, of which the town is the terminus. It is twenty miles southeast of Riverside. It derives its name from its proximity to San Jacinto lake, or sink of the San Jacinto river. The Lakeview Town Com- pany, a Chicago association, controls about 10,000 acres of rich fertile mesa varying in ele- vation from 1,400 to 1,800 feet. The tract is irrigated from artesian wells.

HEMET is located on the foot hills of the San Jacinto mountains at an elevation of 1,600 feet. Its population in 1900 was 905. It has a mag- nificent water supply, the source of which is Lake Hemet, an artificial lake made by building a dam across the lower end of the Hemet valley at an elevation of 4,200 feet. The dam is con- structed of granite, and is 100 feet thick at the bottom and 30 feet at the top, and 122 feet high. The dam flows the water back nearly three miles. This water supply covers about 7,000 acres. Hemet has a fine hotel costing $35,000. It has the only flouring mill in Riverside county. Hemet is the starting point for Strawberry. Stages run to the valley during the summer.

SAN JACINTO CITY is the terminus of the San Jacinto branch of the Santa Fe railroad. It is the oldest town in the county. The nucleus of the San Jacinto settlement dates back into the Mexican cra. The rancho San Jacinto Viejo was granted to one of the Estudillos in the early '40s, and included some 36,000 acres of the choicest land in the valley. The lines of the grant were so run as to take in most of the San Jacinto river. This gave the rancho control of about all the pasture lands of the val- ley.

A syndicate of capitalists in the early '8os pur- chased 18,000 acres of this rancho, and laid out the town of San Jacinto. The town was incor- porated April 9, 1888. The corporate limits take in six sections of land. It is substantially built, most of the buildings being of brick. It was severely shaken by the earthquake of De- cember 25, 1899, but no lives were lost in the city. San Jacinto is an important shipping point, having about 200,000 acres of choice fruit and grain lands tributary to it.

STRAWBERRY VALLEY. an elevated plateau in the San Jacinto mountains, twenty-two miles from San Jacinto, has for many years been a popular summer resort. It has an elevation above the sea level of 5.200 feet. The valley is timbered with pine and oak, and has threc streams of running water and several springs. There were formerly two hotels in the valley,

the old hotel at Strawberry and a small one at Idylwild.

In the fall of 1899 a syndicate of Los Angeles physicians, of which Dr. F. T. Bicknell is presi- dent, bought the 120 acres on which the old hotel was located: and next they secured the Idylwild tract containing 160 acres. They have since purchased adjoining tracts, making in all 1,090 acres of mountain land. This corporation, known as the California Health Resort Company, is constructing a large central building of sixty rooms for a sanatorium. Besides the main build- ing there will be a number of cottages of from three to five rooms each, the occupants of which will take their meals in the dining hall of the main building. In addition to these improve- ments the association has laid off the village of Idylwild, where cottages will be built for rent. The creeks and springs afford a plentiful supply of pure mountain water.

BEAUMONT was formerly known as San Gor- gonia. It is a station on the Southern Pacific railroad, and is located on the divide or summit of the San Gorgonia Pass, at an elevation of 2,500 feet above the sea level. The town was laid out in 1887, and had for a time quite a rapid growth. It has at present two mercantile estab- lishments, one church (Presbyterian), a school- house of three departments and a hotel. It is surrounded by a grain-growing district.

BANNING, on the Yuma branch of the South- ern Pacific railroad, was laid out in 1882. A syndicate of Nevada capitalists purchased a tract of land, a small plat of which was divided into town lots and the remainder subdivided into farm lots. A cement ditch eight miles long was contructed up into Moore's cañon, and an abundant supply of water secured for the colony tract. Banning is most picturesquely located. In its immediate vicinity are Mount San Ber- nardino, Mount San Jacinto and Grayback, the three highest peaks in Southern California, and stretching out to the eastward lies the Colorado desert. The Banning district produces large quantities of excellent peaches.

THE CONCHILLA VALLEY.

That trite old metaphor, "the desert shall be made to blossom as the rose" has been literally verified in a desert section of Riverside county. While the roses blooming in the desert may not be very numerous, there are acres of melon blossoms. Fifty miles eastward from Riverside City lies the Conchilla (Little Shell) valley, a part of the Colorado desert. This valley extends forty miles from northwest to southeast, and is from five to fifteen miles in width. On three sides it is inclosed by mountain chains, and on the fourth it merges into an unbroken plain that

205

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

stretches to the Colorado river. Its bottom is from 120 to 250 feet below the sea level. Several years since the Southern Pacific managers pro- cured water at some of their desert stations, but the sinking of these wells was quite expensive. Early in the year 1900 the hydraulic process of well boring was introduced into the valley and proved quite successful. Bountiful supplies of fresh water were struck at depths varying from 350 to 600 feet.

As soon as it was known that an abundance of artesian water for irrigation could be obtained at a moderate cost there was a rush for claims .. Actual settlement did not begin until Septem- ber and October, 1900, and but few of the set- tlers had their wells bored and their land cleared for cultivation before February, 1901. The crop that seemed to assure the quickest returns and the most profit was melons. By the middle of June the farmers had harvested their grain crops and were shipping cantaloupes and watermelons to Chicago at the rate of a car load a day. There are now about fifty flowing wells in the valley, which will eventually form a fruitful oasis in the desert. The heat and the entire absence of fogs ripen fruits and melons from six weeks to two months earlier than any other part of the United States. As an example of the value at which land is held, an offer of $8,000 was refused for the relinquishment of a homestead claim of 160 acres, of which only fifty acres has been brought under cultivation.

SOME TWENTIETH CENTURY EVENTS.

Among the leading events that have agitated Riverside City and county the present year (1901) may be named the building of a city high school at a cost of $30,000, the purchase of the Chalmers block at a cost of $20,000 for a court house and county jail site, the donation of $20,000 by the millionaire philanthropist, An- drew Carnegie, to the city of Riverside for the crection of a free library building, the letting of a contract by the board of supervisors for the construction of a $35,000 county jail, and the laying of the corner stone of the Sherman Institute, an Indian school. The question of building a new jail called forth considerable discussion. Some invidious comparisons were made in regard to the policy of building a $30,- 000 high school for the accommodation of 300 high school pupils and the building of a $35.000 jail for the reception of a dozen or so hobos. The supervisors nevertheless decided to build the jail.

THE SHERMAN INSTITUTE.

Nearly fifty years ago Hon. B. D. Wilson, in an able report on the condition of the Southern

California Indians, their needs, their treatment by the whites, the laws enacted for their gov- ernment, and the cruelties to which they were subjected, sums up the Indian's status thus: "All punishment-no reform;" and such has been his fate under the rule of Spain, of Mexico and of the United States.

Though long delayed, for the remnants of the Southern California Indians happier days are coming. These wards of the nation are to be cared for and given a chance to reform. En- lightened statesmanship has taken away the gov- crnmental support formerly given to sectarian Indian schools, and has established instead sect- lar institutions for his intellectual and industrial training.

Nearly ten years ago the superintendent of Indians affairs under President Harrison recom- mended the establishing at some point on the Pacific slope a government school for the in- dustrial training of Indian youth, similar to the great school at Carlisle, Pa. During President McKinley's first term commissioners were sent to look over the field. They recommended the location of a school at some point south of Te- hachepi. The fifty-fifth congress appropriated $75,000 for the purchase of land and erection of buildings. The commissioners authorized to select a site recommended that offered by River- side, and congress ratified its purchase. This site consists of forty acres on Magnolia avenue, near Arlington. The present congress voted an additional appropriation for the erection of buildings and other improvements. The plans for twelve brick buildings, suitable for school rooms, dormitories, offices, laundry, mess hall, etc., were drawn by a government architect in accordance with suggestions made by Capt. A. C. Tonner, assistant superintendent of Indian affairs. A contract for the construction of these buildings was let to Lynn & Lewis of Redlands for $150,000, the buildings to be completed by March 1, 1902.

July 18, 1901, was a gala day for Riverside. It was the day designated for the laying of the cor- nerstone of the Sherman Institute, an institu- tion that is to be made the great Indian school of the west. Every portion of Southern Cali- fornia was represented and there were repre- sentative men from the northern and central parts of the state. United States Senator Per- kins presided and Hon. Will. A. Harris of Los Angeles delivered the oration of the day. A guitar and mandolin club of twenty girls from the Indian school at Perris and a brass band composed of twenty-six boys from the same school furnished the instrumental music for the occasion. Quartets of Indian boys and girls of the Perris school also ren-

206

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

dered vocal selections that were highly appre- ciated.

The school is named for Hon. James S. Sher- mian, congressman from the twenty-fifth con- gressional district of New York and chairman of the committee on Indian affairs of the present house of representatives. He has been active in securing the appropriation and in furthering the interests of the school.

It is estimated that there are about 600 In-

dian children in the various Indian reservations of Southern California without school facilities. If these are left to grow up on the reservations they will follow in the footsteps of their fathers. The only hope of "reform" for the Indians of Southern California is in the removal of the young from the evil environments of the reser- vations and an industrial training in schools such as the Sherman Institute is intended to be.

BIOGRAPHICAL

PREFACE.

The high standing of Southern California is due not alone to its ideal climate and the rare beauty of its scenery. Other regions, boasting an environment as attractive, have nevertheless remained unknown to the great world of commerce and of thought. When we study the progress made by the various cities and counties of Southern California, especially during the two last decades of the nineteenth century and the opening years of the twentieth century, we are led to the conclusion that the present gratifying condition is due to the enterprise of public-spirited citizens. They have not only developed commercial possibilities and horticultural resources, but they have also maintained a commendable interest in public affairs, and have given to their commonwealth some of its ablest statesmen. The prosperity of the past has been gratifying; and, with the build- ing of the canal to connect the Atlantic and the Pacific, with the increasing of railroad facilities, with the further development of local resources, there is every reason to believe that the twentieth century will witness the most marvelous growth this region has ever made.

The preceding pages have been devoted to a résumé of the history of Southern California, while in the following pages mention is made of many of the men who have contributed to the development and progress of this region,-not only capable business men of the present day, but also honored pioneers of years gone by. In the compilation of this work and the securing of neces- sary data, a number of writers have been engaged for many months. They have visited leading citizens and used every endeavor to produce a work accurate and trustworthy in every detail. Owing to the great care exercised, and to the fact that every opportunity was given to those rep- resented to secure accuracy in their biographies, the publishers believe they are giving to their read- ers a volume containing few errors of consequence. The biographies of a number of representa- tive citizens will be missed from the work. In some instances this was caused by their absence from home when our writers called, and in some instances was caused by a failure on the part of the men themselves to understand the scope of the work. The publishers, however. have done all within their power to make this work a representative one.

The value of the data herein presented will grow with the passing years. Posterity will pre- serve the volume with care, from the fact that it perpetuates biographical history that otherwise would be wholly lost. In those now far-distant days will be realized, to a greater extent than at the present time, the truth of Macaulay's statement, "The history of a country is best told in the lives of its people."

CHAPMAN PUBLISHING CO.,

Chicago.

"LET THE RECORD BE MADE OF THE MEN AND THINGS OF TODAY, LEST THEY PASS OUT OF MEMORY TOMORROW AND ARE LOST. THEN, PERPETUATE THEM NOT UPON WOOD OR STONE THAT CRUMBLE TO DUST, BUT UPON PAPER, CHRONICLED IN PICTURE AND IN WORDS THAT EN- DURE FOREVER."-Kirkland.

"A TRUJE DELINEATION OF THE SMALLEST MAN AND HIS SCENE OF PILGRIMAOE THROUGH LIFE IS CAPABLE OF INTERESTING THE GREAT- EST MAN. ALL MEN ARE TO AN UNMISTAKABLE DEGREE BROTHERS, EACH MAN'S LIFE A STRANGE EMBLEM OF EVERY MAN'S; AND HUMAN PORTRAITS, FAITHFULLY DRAWN, ARE, OF ALL PICTURES, THE WEL- COMEST ON HUMAN WALLS."-Thomas Carlyle.

Thomas R Bard

HON. THOMAS ROBERT BARD.

HON. THOMAS ROBERT BARD. The family of which United States Senator Bard is a distinguished member was founded in Amer- ica by Richard Bard, who, with his father, Archi- bald Bard, crossed the ocean in 1745 and settled In Pennsylvania. In common with other pio- necrs, Richard Bard experienced many trials and vicissitudes, not the least of which was the capture of himself and wife by the Indians, April 19, 1758. Five days later he effected his escape, after which he made constant efforts to secure the release of his wife. Finally, after more than a year of captivity, she was given up at Fort DuQuesne for a ransom of forty pounds sterling. A son of Richard Bard was Thomas Bard, a native of Franklin county, Pa. The lat- ter's son, Robert M., was born in that county in 1810 and died there in 1851. He married Eliza- beth S. Little, who was born at Mercersburg, Pa., in 1812, and died in 1880. She was a daugh- ter of Dr. P. W. Little, and granddaughter of Col. Robert Parker, a Revolutionary officer.

Into the family of Robert M. and Elizabeth S. Bard, a son, Thomas Robert, was born at Cham- bersburg, Pa., December 8, 1841. His education was secured principally in Chambersburg Acad- emy, from which he was graduated, with the honors of his class, at eighteen years of age. In 1859 he studied law under Hon. George Chambers, a retired supreme justice of the state of Pennsylvania; however, preferring an active life, he soon turned his attention to railroad and mining engineering, in which he received a practical training in the Allegheny mountains. Later he accepted a position in a forwarding and commission house at Hagerstown, Pa., and was there during the war period, when, owing to his pronounced Union sympathies, his life was more than once in peril. He was on the battlefield of Antietam during that great engagement and, though not a soldier, entered the lists and fought for the Union. About that time he rendered valuable services for the assistant secretary of war, Col. Thomas A. Scott, who, after the Con- federates in a raid had burned the residence of Mr. Bard's mother, at Chambersburg, induced him to go to California to take charge of the Colonel's business interests.

Early in 1865 Mr. Bard settled in Ventura

county, where he has since been a leading citi- zen. For a time he superintended the California Petroleum Company's affairs on Rancho Ojai, in which Colonel Scott was interested, but later he turned his attention to the management of the Colonel's property, consisting of the fol- lowing ranchos: Simi, 113,000 acres; Las Posas, 26,600; San Francisco, 48,000; Calleguas, 10,- 000; El Rio de Santa Clara, 45,000; Cañada Larga, 6,600; and Ojai, 16,000, besides his lands in Los Angeles and Humboldt counties, about 12,000 acres, making a total of 277,000 acres. The management of these vast interests required the greatest tact and energy, owing especially to disputes concerning titles which caused ill feeling; but the lands of which he disposed have been found to have perfect titles.

In 1871 Mr. Bard built the wharf at Hueneme and laid out the town. For years he has been president of the Hucneme Bank and the Huc- neme Wharf Company, also president of the Sespe Oil Company, which controls large areas of oil territory; president of the Torrey Cañon Oil Company; and president of the Mission Transfer Company, which owns the pipe lines and refineries at Santa Paula. After the incor- poration of the Bank of Ventura, he was chosen its president, which position he filled for fifteen years. He organized the Simi Land and Water Company and the Las Posas Land and Water Company. On the death of Colonel Scott in 1882, he was appointed administrator of his Cal- ifornia estate and disposed of the same in the interests of the heirs.

The homestead of Mr. Bard, known as "Beryl- wood," is one of unusual beauty. The grounds are attractively laid out, with long avenues of palmis and other ornamental and shade trees. The choicest plants and most beautiful flowers add to the artistic completeness of the scene. Indeed, floriculture may be said to be Senator Bard's hobby, and when he traveled abroad in 1899, his first quest was a study of the flora of different European countries. It has been his ambition to secure for his California home rare and choice plants, and he has propagated new varieties, having in this way secured the rose known as the "Beauty of Berylwood." The grounds at Berylwood resemble a great English

211

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

estate and are among the most beautiful in Southern California. In connection with the property there is an apricot orchard, from which a handsome income is assured.

Ever since coming west Mr. Bard has been one of the active workers in the Republican party. Several times he was elected supervisor of Santa Barbara county, before Ventura county was formed. In 1884 he served as a delegate to the Blaine convention at Chicago, and in 1892 was chosen to act as a presidential elector. The greatest honor of his life came to him February 8, 1900, when he was elected to the United States senate, being the unanimous choice of the Republican members of the state legislature. Since becoming senator, much of his time has necessarily been spent in Washington, and there he has guarded the interests of his constituents and proved himself to be a worthy representa- tive of the greatest state of the west. The trust reposed in him he has never violated; on the contrary, he has ever been watchful of the peo- ple's interests and has been a stanch advocate of measures calculated to promote California's development. From his youth he has been a keen judge of men, and this trait has proved helpful to him in the discharge of his many duties; indeed, it is said that his first impressions of men are seldom incorrect, and that he has seldom liad occasion to regret a confidence once reposed in another.

In 1876 Mr. Bard married Miss Mary Gerber- ding, who was born in California in 1858, being a daughter of E. O. Gerberding, the founder of the San Francisco Bulletin. Their marriage was solemnized at the family residence on Clay street, San Francisco, where Mrs. Gerberding still makes her home. Born to their union were eight children, seven of whom are living, viz .: Beryl, Mary L., Anna Greenwell, Thomas G., Elizabeth Parker, Richard and Bernard Philip. In order that the children may have the ad- vantages offered by the city schools, Mr. Bard purchased a residence on West Adams street, Los Angeles, and there the family spend the winters, returning to their country estate in Ventura county for the summer months. Senator Bard was reared in the Presbyterian faith, to which he has always adhered, but he is very liberal and broad in his views and thoroughly sympathizes with all movements and societies aiming to benefit mankind. He is one of the principal supporters of the Presbyterian Church in the Hueneme district and attends its services when at his country place.

Doubtless California has no citizen better known throughout the United States than is Senator Bard. The qualities that gave him prominence in his own state have also made him a notable addition to a body numbering among its members some of the most able and gifted men of our country, and it may be safely pre-

dicted that the eminence already attained by Southern California will be enhanced by the wise efforts of its representative in the U. S. Senate.

HON. STEPHEN MALLORY WHITE. Some lives, though short as we count the years, are nevertheless long when estimated by the amount accomplished in private business enter- prises or in public service. Of Stephen M. White it may be said that his life is "measured not by years, but by intensity." Into an exist- ence covering less than half a century he crowded experiences and secured results not often attained in a life that stretches beyond the allotted three score and ten. Only the posses- sion of extraordinary ability can account for his pre-eminence. Beginning his career as an office- holder of the state in 1886 and as a United States senator in 1893, in the comparatively short pe- riod that elapsed from these dates to the time of his death, he achieved a national reputation, and was a constant promoter of California's prosperity and commercial welfare.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Historical and biographical record of southern California; containing a history of southern California from its earliest settlement to the opening year of the twentieth century, Part 37

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918 Publication date: 1902 Publisher: Chicago, Chapman pub. co. Number of Pages: 1366

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman pub. co.
Number of Pages: 1366