History of Alameda County, California : including its geology, topography, soil, and productions, Part 11

Author: Munro-Fraser, J. P
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Oakland, Calif. : M.W. Wood
Number of Pages: 1206

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Nicolas Galindo, mestizo, Durango, 42.

Majio Chavoya, City of Mexico, 34; wife, a Bernal.

Miguel Pacheco, 36; wife, a Sanchez.

Luis Maria Peralta, Spaniard, Sonora, 32; wife, Maria Loretta Alviso, 19. Justa Altamarino, mulatto, Sonora, 45.

Ygnacio Limaxes, Sonora, 49; wife, Maria Gertruda Rivas, Spaniard, 38. Ygnacio Soto, 41; wife, Barbara Espinoza.

Juan Bernal, mestizo, Sonora, 53; wife, Maxima I de Soto.

Jph. Maria Martinez, Sonora, 35; wife, Maria Garcia, mulatto, 18. Salvador Iguera, L. C., 38; wife, Alexa Marinda, Sonora, 38.

Nicolas Berryessa, mestizo, 25; wife, Maria Gertrudis Peralta; 24. Pedro Peralta, Sonora, 26; wife, Maria Carmen Grisalva, 19.

Ygnacio Pacheco, Sonora, 30; wife, Maria Dolores Cantua, mestizo, age 16. Francisco Bernal, Sinaloa, 27; wife, Maria Petrona, Indian, 29. 6

HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

Bartolo Pacheco, Sonora, 25; wife, Maria Francisco Soto, 18.

Apolinario Bernal, Sonora, 25.

Joaquin Bernal, Sonora, 28; wife, Josefa Sanchez, 21.

Josef Aceva, Durango, 26.

Manuel Boranda, Guadalaxara, 40; wife, Gertrudis Higuera, 13.

Francisco Valencia, Sonora, 22; wife, Maria Victoria Higuera, 15.

Josef Antonio Sanchez, Guadalaxara, 39; wife, Maria Dolora Moxales, 34. Josef Ortez, Guadalaxara, 23.

Josef Aguil, Guadalaxara, 22; wife, Conellaria Remixa, 14.

Alexandro Avisto, Durango, 23.

Juan Josef Higuera, Sonora, 20.

Francisco Flores, Guadalaxara, 20.

Josef Maria Castilla, Guadalaxara, 19.

Ygnacio Higuera, Sonora; wife, Maria Micaelo Borjorques, 28.

Ramon Linare, Sonora, 19.

Josef Miguel, Saens, Sonora, 18.

Carto Serviente, San Diego, Indian, 60.

Augustin Xirviento, L. C., 20.

Nicolas Presidairo, Indian, 40.

Gabriel Peralta, invalid, Sonora.

Manuel Vutron, invalid, Indian.

Ramon Borjorques, invalid, 98.

Francisco Romero, invalid, 52.

A recapitulation shows that the inmates of the presidio consisted altogether of one hundred and forty-four persons, including, men, women, and children, soldiers, and civilians. There were thirty-eight soldiers, and three laborers, of these one was an European other than Spanish, seventy-eight Spaniards, five Indians, two mulattos, and forty-four of other castes. .

An inventory of the rich men of the presidio, bearing date 1793, was discovered some years since, showing that Pedro Amador was the proprietor of thirteen head of stock and fifty-two sheep; Nicolas Galindo, ten head of stock; Luis Peralta, two head of stock; Manuel Boranda, three head of stock; Juan Bernal, twenty-three head of stock and two hundred and forty-six sheep; Salvador Youere, three head of stock; Aleso Miranda, fifteen head of stock; Pedro Peralta, two head of stock; Francisco Bernal, sixteen head of stock; Bartol Pacheco, seven head of stock; Joaquin Bernal, eight head of stock; Francisco Valencia, two head of stock; Berancia Galindo, six head of stock; Hermenes Sal (who appears to have been a secretary, or something besides a soldier), five head of stock and three mares. Computing these, we find the total amount of stock owned by these men was one hundred and fifteen cattle, two hundred and ninety-eight sheep, and seventeen mares-the parent stem from which sprung the hundreds of thousands of head of stock which afterwards roamed over the Californian mountains and valleys.

We have thus far dwelt chiefly upon the establishment of the missions; let us now briefly take into consideration the attempt made by another European nation to get a foothold on the coast of California.

EARLY HISTORY AND SETTLEMENT.

The Russians, to whom then belonged all that territory now known as Alaska, had found their country of almost perpetual cold, without facilities for the cultivation of those fruits and cereals which go a great way towards maintaining life; therefore ships were dispatched along the coast in quest of a spot where a station might be established, and those wants supplied. In a voyage of this nature, the port of Bodega, in Sonoma County, was visited in January, 1811, by Alexander Koskoff, who took possession of the place on the fragile pleas that he had been refused a supply of water at Yerba Buena (San Francisco), and that he had obtained, by right of purchase from the Indians, the land lying between Point Reyes and Point Arena (Mendocino County), and for a distance of three leagues inland. Here he remained for a while, and to Bodega gave the name of Romanzoff, calling the stream now known as Russian River, Slavianka.

The king of Spain, it should be remembered, claimed all territory north to Fuca Straits; therefore, on Governor Arguello receiving the intelligence of the Russian occupation of Bodega, he reported the circumstance to the Viceroy, Revilla Gigedo, who returned dispatches ordering the Muscovite intruder to depart. The only answer received to this communication was a verbal message, saying that the orders of the Viceroy of Spain had been received and transmitted to St. Petersburg for the action of the Czar. Here, however, the matter did not rest. There arrived in the harbor of San Francisco, in 1816, in the Russian brig Rurick, a scientific expedition under the command of Otto von Kotzebue. In accordance with instructions received from the Spanish authorities, Governor Sola proceeded to San Francisco, visited Kotzebue, and, as directed by his Government, offered aid in furtherance of the endeavors to advance scientific research on the coast. At the same time he complained of Koskoff; informed him of the action taken on either side, and laid particular emphasis on the fact that the Russians had been occupiers of Spanish territory for five years. Upon this complaint Don Gervasio Arguello was dispatched to Bodega as the bearer of a message from Kotzebue to Koskoff, requiring his presence in San Francisco. This messenger was the first to bring a definite report of the Russian settlement there, which then consisted of twenty-five Russians and eighty Kodiac Indians. On October 28th, a conference was held on board the Rurick, in the harbor of San Fran- cisco, between Arguello, Kotzebue and Koskoff; there being also present José Maria Estudillo, Luis Antonio Arguello, and a naturalist named Chamisso, who acted as interpreter. No new development was made at this interview, for Koskoff claimed that he was acting in strict conformity with instructions from the Governor of Sitka; therefore Kotzebue declined to take any action in the matter, contenting himself with the simple promise that the entire affair should be submitted to St. Petersburg to await the instructions of the Emperor of Russia. Thus the matter then rested. Com- munications subsequently made produced a like unsatisfactory result, and the Russians were permitted to remain for a lengthened period possessors of the land they had so arbitrarily appropriated.

In Bodega, the Russians, however, went to work with a will, whether they had a right to the soil or not. They proceeded into the country about six miles and there established a settlement, houses being built, fields fenced, and agricultural pursuits vigorously engaged in. As soon as the first crop had matured and was ready for

HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

shipment, it became necessary for them to have a warehouse at the bay where their vessels could be loaded, which was done, it being used for the storage of grain or furs as necessity called for. It was not long before they found there was a strong oppo- sition to them, and that it would be necessary to build a fort for their protection if they would keep possession of their newly acquired domain. Open warfare was threatened, and the Russians had reason to believe that the threats would be carried out. Besides the Spaniards, there was another enemy to word against-the Indians -over whom the former, through the missions, had absolute control, and the Russians apprehended that this power would be used against them. Several expeditions were organized by the Spanish to march against the Russians, and while they all came to naught, yet they served to cause them to seek for some place of refuge in case of attack. This they did not care to look for at any point nearer the Bay of San Fran- cisco, for there they would be brought in closer proximity to the enemy, hence they went in an opposite direction. Doubtless the Muscovite would have been glad to have adopted a laissez faire policy towards the Spanish, and would have been well satisfied to have left them alone if they would only have retaliated in like manner; fearing, however, to trust the Spaniards, they proceeded to search for such a location as would afford them natural protection from their enemies.

In passing up the coast to the northward, they came to Fort Ross, where they found everything they desired. Vast meadows extended to the eastward affording pasture to flocks without number.

" This is the forest primeval; the murmuring pines and the hemlocks, Bearded with moss and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight, Stand like Druids of eld, with voices sad and prophetic, Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms. Loud from its rocky caverns, the deep-voiced neighboring ocean Speaks and in accents disconsolate, answers the wail of the forest."

There was a beautiful little cove in which vessels might lie in safety from the fury of northern storms; near at hand was an ample stretch of beach on which their rude, yet staunch, argosies could be constructed and easily launched upon the mighty deep; no more propitious place could have been found for the establishment of the Rus- sian headquarters. The location once fixed upon they set to work to prepare their new homes. A site was chosen for the stockade near the ocean's shore, in such a position as to command all ships lying in the little cove and prevent any hostile craft from effecting a landing. The ground inclosed in this stronghold was a par- allelogram two hundred and eighty feet wide, three hundred and twelve feet long,. and containing two acres, its corners being placed very nearly upon the cardinal points of the compass. At the north and south angles there was constructed an octagonal bastion, both built exactly alike, twenty-four feet in diameter, two stories. high, and each mounted with six pieces of artillery. The walls were formed of hewed logs, mortised together at the corners and of about eight inches in thick- ness, while the roof was conical in shape, with a small flag-staff at the apex. The stockade inclined towards these towers in such a way that one-half of them was within and the remaining portion without the inclosure, while the entrance to either was through small doors from the interior, and the embrasures overlooking both the inside and outside being thus arranged in order to protect those within from an out-

EARLY HISTORY AND SETTLEMENT.

side enemy, as well as to have all in the interior in range of the guns in case of an èmute. It is interesting to note the manner in which the stockade itself was con- structed. A trench was excavated two feet in depth and at every ten feet along the bottom a hole was dug one foot deep in which six by ten-inch posts were inserted, between which, and firmly empierced into them, was a strong girder fastened with a wooden pin. Slabs of varying width, but all about six inches in thickness, were then placed in an unright position between the first posts and resting on the girder in the ditch, being firmly fastened to them, while at a distance of twelve feet from the lower girder there was run another one, which, too, was fastened into the posts and clinched with wooden pins. These girders rested on the top of the slabs mentioned as being placed between the posts. The slabs were slotted at the tops, into which a piece of timber was passed, then huge wooden pins were thrust down through the girders and the piece in the slots and well into the body of the slabs. The main posts extended about three feet higher, and near the top a lighter girder was run along, and between the two last mentioned there was a row of light slabs two inches thick and four inches wide, pointed at the top like pickets. It may well be imagined that when the trench was filled up with tamped rock and dirt that this fortification was almost invulnerable, when we remember the implements of war likely to be brought against it in those days of rude weapons. All around the stockade there were embrasures suitable for the use of muskets or carronades, of which latter, it is said, there were several in the fortress.

On the northern side of the eastern angle there was erected a chapel, which was used. exclusively by the officers of the garrison. It was twenty-five by thirty-one feet in dimensions and strongly built, the outer wall forming a part of the stockade, the round port-holes being peculiar looking openings in a house of worship. The entrance was on the inside of the fort, and consisted of a rude, heavy wooden door held upon wooden hinges. There was a vestibule about ten by twenty-five feet in size, thus leaving the auditorium twenty-one by twenty-five feet, from which a narrow stairway led to a low loft, while the building was crowned with two domes, one of which was round and the other pentagonal in shape, in which, it is related, there had been hung a chime of bells. The roof was made of long planks, either sawed or rove from redwood, as was also the sides of the chapel in the fort. A considerable degree of carpenter's skill was displayed in the construction of the building, for a faint attempt at getting out mouldings for the inner door and window casings was made, a bead being worked around the outer edge of the casing and mitered at the corners.

On the west side of the northern angle there was a two-storied building, twenty- eight by eighty feet in dimensions, which was roughly constructed and doubtless used as the barracks for the men of the garrison. On the northern side of the western angle there was a one-story building, twenty-nine by fifty feet, constructed in a better style of workmanship and evidently used as officers' quarters. On the southern side of the western angle was a one-story building, twenty-five by seventy-five feet, which was presumably used for a work-house, as various branches of industry were prose- cuted within its walls; and on the eastern side of the southern angle there was a row of low shed buildings, used, it is thought, for the stabling of stock and storing of feed. The framework of all the buildings was made of very large and heavy timbers,

HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

many of them being twelve inches square. The rafters were all great, ponderous round pine logs, a considerable number of them being six inches in diameter. The above includes the stockade and all its interior buildings.

We will now draw attention to the exterior buildings, for be it known that there was, at one time, a colony numbering two hundred and fifty souls at Fort Ross. In 1845 there were the remains of a village of about twenty-five small dwelling-houses on the north side of the stockade, all of which were in keeping with those at Bodega. They were probably not over twelve by fourteen feet in size, and fashioned from rough slabs of redwood. These hardy Muscovites were so rugged and inured to the cold of the higher latitudes that they cared not for the few cracks that might admit the fresh, balmy air of the California winter mornings. Also, to the northward of, and near this village, situated on an eminence, was a wind-mill, which was the motor for driving a single run of burrs, and also for a stamping machine used for grinding tan-bark. The wind-mill produced all the flour used in that and the Bodega settle- ments, and probably a considerable amount was also sent with the annual shipment to Sitka. To the south of the stockade, and in a deep gulch at the dèbouchure of a small stream into the ocean, there stood a very large building, probably eighty by one hundred feet in size, the rear half of which was used as a tanning establish- ment. Here were six vats in all, constructed of heavy, rough redwood slabs, and each with a capacity of fifty barrels; there were also the usual appliances necessary for the conduct of a tannery, but these implements were rough and unwieldly in their make, still, with these, they were able to manufacture a good quality of leather in large quantities. The front half of the building, or that facing the ocean, was used as a workshop for shipwrights. Ways were constructed on a sand beach at this point, leading into deep water, and upon them were built a number of staunch vessels, and from here was launched the very first sea-going craft constructed in California. Still further to the south, and near the ocean shore, stood a building eighty by a hundred feet, which bore all the marks of having been used as a store-house; it was, however, unfortunately blown down by a storm on July 16, 1878, and soon there will be nothing to mark its site.

Tradition states that to the eastward of the fort, and across the gulch, there once stood a very large building, which was used as a church for the common people of the settlement, near which the cemetery was located. A French tourist once paid Fort Ross a visit, and, arriving after dark, asked permission to remain over night with the parties who at that time owned that portion of the Mexican grant on which the settlement was located. During the evening the conversation naturally drifted upon the old history of the place. The tourist displayed a familiarity with all the surroundings, which surprised his host and caused him to inquire if he had ever lived there with the Russians. He answered that he had not, but that he had a very warm friend in St. Petersburg who had passed thirty years of his life at Fort Ross as a priest in the Greek Church, and that he had made him a promise, upon his departure for California, about a year before, to pay a visit to the scenes of the holy labors of the priest, and it was in compliance with this promise that he was there at the time. Among the other things inquired about was the church close to the cemetery men- tioned above. All traces of this building had long since disappeared and the settlers

EARLY HISTORY AND SETTLEMENT.

were surprised to hear that it ever stood there. The tourist assured them that the priest had stated distinctly that such an edifice once occupied that site, and also that a num- ber of other buildings stood near it, which were used by the peasants as homes. Ernest Rufus, of Sonoma, who visited Fort Ross in 1845, has informed us that when the land lapsed into disuse after the Russians had left, wild oats grew very rank, often reaching the enormous height of ten feet, and the Indians being wont to set it on fire, during these conflagrations the fences and many of the smaller houses of the Rus- sians were consumed, while he well remembers there were a number of cabins near the cemetery, and that the blackened ruins of a very large building also remained, which the half-breed Russo-Indians told him had been used as a church. The tourist mentioned above stated that his friend, the priest, was greatly attached to the place, as had been all who had lived in the settlement. They found the climate genial, the soil productive, and the resources of the country great, and, all in all, it was a most desirable place to live in.

The Russians had farmed very extensively here, having at least two thousand acres inclosed, besides a great deal that was not. Their fences, which were chiefly of that kind known as rail and post, as stated before, nearly all perished in the wild fires. Their agricultural processes were as crude as any of their other work. Their plow was very similar to the old Spanish implement, so common in this country at that time and still extant in Mexico, with this exception, the Muscovite instrument pos- sessed a mold-board. Oxen and cows were employed as draft animals, the old Span- ish yoke being adjusted to their horns instead of to their necks. We have no account of any attempt to construct either a cart or a wagon, but it is probable they had vehicles like unto those described as being in use among the Californians at that time, while it is supposed they used to a great extent sleds for transporting their produce, when cut, to the threshing floor, which was constructed differently from those then common in the country, and was simply composed of heavy puncheons elevated from the ground into the interstices between which the grain fell to the floor as it was released from the head. The threshing was done in this wise: A layer of grain, in the straw, of a foot or two in depth, was placed upon the floor, over which oxen hitched to a log- into which were inserted rows of wooden pegs-were then driven. As the log revolved these pegs acted well the part of a flail, the straw being expeditiously relieved of its burden of grain. It was, doubtless, no difficult task to winnow the grain after it was threshed as the wind blows a stiff blast at that point during all of the summer months.

The Russians constructed a wharf at the northern side of the little cove and graded a road down the steep ocean shore to it, the line of which is still visible, for it passed much of its way through solid rock. This quay or jetty was made fast to the rocks on which it was built with long iron bolts, of which only a few that were driven into the hard surface now remain, while the wharf itself is gone, and mayhap its timbers drifted upon many a foreign shore.

These old Muscovites, probably, produced the first lumber with a saw ever made north of the San Francisco Bay, for they had both a pit and whip-saw, the former of which can be seen to this day. Judging from the number of stumps still standing, and the extent of territory over which they extended their logging operations, they evidently consumed large quantities of lumber. The timber was only about one mile

HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

distant from the ship-yard and landing, while the stumps of trees cut by them are still standing, and beside them from one to six shoots have sprung up, many of which have now reached a size sufficient for lumber purposes. This growth has been remark- able and goes to show that if proper care were taken, each half century would see a new crop of redwoods, sufficiently large for all practical purposes, while ten decades would develop gigantic trees.

As stated above, the cemetery lay to the eastward of the fort, about one-fourth of a mile, and across a very deep gulch, it being near the church for the peasants. There were never more than fifty graves in it, though all traces are obliterated now of not more than a dozen; most of those still remaining had some sort of a wooden struct- ure built over them. One manner of constructing these mausoleums was to make a series of rectangular frames of square timbers, about six inches in diameter, each frame a certain degree smaller than the one below it, which were placed one above another, until an apex was reached, the whole being surmounted with a cross. Another method was to erect a rectangular frame of heavy planking about one foot high and cover the top with two heavy planks placed so as to be roof-shaped; others had simply a rude cross; others, a cross on which some mechanical skill was displayed, while one has a large round post standing high above the adjacent crosses. The occupants of this silent city are presumably buried with their heads toward the west for the graves lie due east and west. From their size, several of them must hold the ashes of children, but no inscription remains to tell their story. Quietly are they sleeping in their far- away tombs where the eyes of those who knew and loved them in their earthly life can never rest again upon their little graves, and while the eternal roar of the mighty Pacific makes music in the midnight watches do they await the great day that shall restore them to their long-lost friends. Sleep on, brave hearts, and peaceful be thy slumbers.

In an easterly direction, and about one mile distant from the fort, there was an inclosure containing about five acres, surrounded by a fence about eight feet high, made of redwood slabs about two inches in thickness, these being driven into the ground, while the tops were nailed firmly to girders extending from post to post, set about ten feet apart. Within the inclosure there was an orchard consisting of apple, prune, and cherry trees. Of these, about fifty of the first and nine of the last- named, moss-grown and gray with age, still remain, while it is said that all the old stock of German prunes in California came from seed produced there.

The Russians had a small settlement at a place now known as Russian Gulch where they evidently grew wheat, for the remains of a warehouse are still to be seen.

There were several commanders who had charge of the Russian interests on the Pacific Coast, but the names of all save the first, Alexander Koskoff, and the last, Rotscheff, have been lost to tradition. Gen. William T. Sherman relates a pleas- ing incident in his " Memoirs " which is called to mind by the mention of the name of Rotscheff. While lying at anchor in a Mediterranean port, the vessel on which Sher- man was traveling was visited by the officers of a Russian naval vessel. During the exchange of courtesies and in the course of conversation, one of the Russian officers took occasion to remark that he was an American by birth, having been born in the Russian Colony in California, and that he was the son of one of the colonial

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History of Alameda County, California : including its geology, topography, soil, and productions, Part 11

Author: Munro-Fraser, J. P Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Oakland, Calif. : M.W. Wood Number of Pages: 1206

Author: Munro-Fraser, J. P
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Oakland, Calif. : M.W. Wood
Number of Pages: 1206