History of Alameda County, California : including its geology, topography, soil, and productions, Part 114

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

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PIEDMONT .- This place vicariously known as Piedmont Park or Piedmont Springs is situated in the foothills about three miles distant from the City Hall in Oakland. It occupies a plateau about three hundred feet above the bay and com- mands varied scenery of the utmost beauty. The Piedmont Land Company have laid out several hundred acres with such artistic regard to the topography of the ground that when all improvements are effected it will be one of the most delightful resorts in the neighborhood of Oakland. There is a fine hotel on the place, and several magnificent mansions adjacent to, the most notable of these being perhaps that of I. L. Requa.

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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.

G EOGRAPHY .- Washington Township is bounded on the north by Eden and Murray Townships; on the west by Murray Township; on the south by Santa Clara County; and on the east by the San Francisco Bay.

TOPOGRAPHY .- Like Eden Township the topography of Washington comprises a level valley backed by mountains. The area is about sixty-eight thousand acres, and with the single exception of Murray is the largest of Alameda's townships, its proportion of cultivable to mountainous land being also the greatest. On the shores of the bay there are salt-marshes, backed by the fruitful valley lands, broader here than anywhere, retreating gracefully, with many a soft undulation until culminating in Mission Peak two thousand two hundred and seventy-five feet above the level of the sea, the highest point of the Contra Costa Range.

VALLEYS .- The Alameda Cañon is the only valley in the. township, although there may be several other gorges in the foot-hills that could hardly be dignified by such a name. Up the steep ascent of the Alameda Cañon the Central (formerly Western) Pacific Railroad winds its tortuous way, passing through scenery than which there is none more romantic in the State, and finally arrives on the level plain of the Liver- more Valley at Pleasanton. On either side the way is lined with high precipitous rocks several feet in the sheer, while at their base rushes the purling, prattling brook from whence the cañon takes its name.

STREAMS .- Chief among the flowing water-ways of the county is the Alameda Creek, from which it takes its name. Having its source in the lagoons of Suñol and Livermore Valleys, and fed by mountain brooks on every hand, it wends its turbulent way through the romantic cañon to which it gives its name, and after becoming a peaceful sleepy stream as it feeds the fertile acres through which it meanders until it is claimed by the larger volume of the bay of San Francisco, where it becomes known as the Union City Slough. The coast line of the township is indented, however, with several of these estuaries, that may be described as Coyote Hill Slough, on which is Alviso's Landing; Beard's Slough, with Mayhew's Landing; Mowry's Slough with the landing of the veteran pioneer of that name; a little distance north is Green Point, or Dumbarton Landing, the next to it being the Warm Springs Landing. There are a few small mountain srreams, such as the Sanjon de los Alisis, the Segunda, or Dry, Creek, the Mission Creek, the Agua Caliente, the Agua Fria, the Calaveras and Lone Tree Creek.

CLIMATE .- Generally the climate of Washington Township resembles that of Eden, but in the vicinity of Mission San José have we the finest on the whole eastern side of the bay of San Francisco. It would be hard to find any spot in the world more favored, while it is within the influence of a warm belt where damaging frosts

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are unknown, and the extent of which is about two miles in width and nearly twelve in length. This belt commences usually at an altitude of about four hundred feet* above the level of the valley and extends sometimes to a considerably higher elevation. It is so distinctly defined that residents of the higher lands in riding up from the valley, in the night-time, when the air is still, can tell within a few rods where they will enter the warmer currents. This immunity from frosts makes some species of tropical fruits produce well, such as the orange, lemon, citron, palm, prickly pear, etc., and here does the grape attain the highest perfection, while nowhere else in California does the "good red wine" obtain so truly rosy a tint.

SOIL .- For the most part the soil is similar to that of the other townships bor- dering on the bay, that in the vicinity of Mission San José being adobe of about four feet in thickness, resting upon a gravelly stratum similar to the bed of a stream composed of sand and gravel, which induces to a perfect natural drainage, a fact that renders it so eminently suited to the culture of the vine and fruits generally.

PRODUCTS .- The good Fathers who founded the Mission San José were the first testers of the soil of Washington Township, their prime efforts being in orchards and vineyards.

From the days that immediately succeeded the flood we have accounts of vine- yards and wine-using. In the book of Genesis 9: 20 we read: " And Noah began to be a husbandman, and planted a vineyard, and drank of the wine." It is reasonable to suppose that if Noah knew how to manufacture wine after the flood, he also knew how to do it before that event occurred, and so did his fathers before him. To make and drink some kind of fermented and intoxicating beverage seems to be the common impulse of humanity, wheresoever dispersed around the globe. No nation was ever yet so highly civilized that it outgrew that taste, and no tribe is so primitive but that it has attained it. Almost everything that grows has been brought into requisition for the manufacture of spirits. Grapes make wine and brandy; wheat, barley, rye, and maize produce whisky; sugar-cane, rum; apples, cider; palm-trees, atole; cacti, aguadienti; barley and hops, beer and ale; the leaves and bark of the spruce-tree are often brought into requisition for the same purpose; and then there is blackberry, raspberry, elderberry, currant, rhubarb and et id genus omne kinds of wine. Whether or not this natural desire for these beverages is one of the taints that came upon the race through Adam, is not our province here to speculate. In all things we must deal with mankind as we find it, letting the mooted question stand aside for the consid- eration of others.

It is the abuse of the good things of life that has led the human family into dis- aster, and not the use of them. The intemperate use, which is the vilest of abuse of our greatest blessings, entails the greatest woes upon us. Both sacred and profane history is full of references to both the good and bad results which flow from the use of wine. Babylon, the Mighty City, fell into the hands of the enemy while the king and chief officers were in a drunken revel. "Wine is a mocker and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." "Look not upon the wine when it is red, when it giv-

*The Mission San José is 450 feet higher than the bay of San Francisco.

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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

eth its color in the cup; for at last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder." " Who hath woe? Who hath contentions? Who hath wounds' without a cause ? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine." Such and kin- dred passages can be found in the Bible; yet, when the Divine Master, Jesus, came into the world, his very first miracle was to make wine at the marriage feast in Cana of Galilea. And Paul, the great expounder of Christ's teachings, tells Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach's sake.

The moral phases which this question of wine-making presents, are of the great- est importance, and deserve to be considered first of all. " What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" is a very pertinent question just at this point. Of what avail if the coffers of the world are emptied into Alameda County, if the succeeding generations grow up to be a race of drunkards? Then comes at once the question, " Is there any danger of such being the case?" To this question we can give no answer, nor anyone of to-day. Only time can demonstrate what the ultimate effect will be on generations yet unborn. For parallels, however, we can go to the wine-producing countries of Europe, where more than ten genera- tions have passed by since the advent of wine-making as an industry, and see what the effect has been there. T. Hart Hyatt, author of a volume entitled " Grape Cult- ure," and a man of vast experience and extended observation, having traveled all over the world almost, says in the introduction to his able work :-

"To the question, 'Does the production and use of wine necessarily tend to induce or encourage intemperance ?' we answer most emphatically and understand- ingly, No! In all our experience and observation in the wine districts of Europe, and among all classes of Europeans where cheap, pure wines were abundant and the common beverage of the people, we remarked it then, and have reflected upon it since, and all these observations and reflections have left upon our mind the full and clear impres- sion and belief, that there was far less intemperance among the people of those vine- growing and wine-making countries than in our own where all kinds of foul, poisoned, adulterated stuff, under the name of whisky, brandy, rum, gin, etc., is drunk by our people for the want of a purer, more nourishing, and harmless beverage, like that of the pure juice of the grape, now made by all honest viniculturalists in our own coun- try. * *

* In Spain, where pure, cheap wines are almost as commonly used as water, we do not recollect to have scarcely ever met with an intoxicated man.

" Pure cheap wines are, in our opinion, better temperance missionaries, and will do more to expel from our midst the accursed fire-water that has done so much to demoralize and debase its victims in our land, than can all the overzealous crusades against wine-growing and wine-drinking that are set forth by our temperance organi- zations, no doubt from good but mistaken motives of philanthropy.

"It is contended by some that the taste for wine produces a taste for other and stronger kinds of ardent spirits. We do not believe it; it is against our own observa- tion and experience. It might as well be said that the babe should not imbibe the milk from its mother's breast, for fear it would give it a hankering after milk punch! For there is quite as much similarity or affinity between these two beverages as between the pure juice of the grape that cheers, enlivens, strengthens, and makes healthy its recipients, and the vile, drugged, poisoned liquors which make their vic- tims mad, drunk, and their ' steps to take hold on hell.'"

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We would state in this connection that the above testimony is corroborated by all who have traveled in those countries; and also another fact which we have observed in our visits among the citizens of Alameda County who are engaged in the industry of wine-making, namely, the charge of being a drunkard cannot be laid at the door of one of them. They drink wine as a beverage in its fullest sense, and it is used in most of their families, yet not one of them has developed into a confirmed drunkard,'nor do they show any tendencies in that direction. Surely the intelligence, good sense, and due regard for their own and their families' welfare will keep the citi- zens of this fair valley from degenerating into drunkards-nor will their children's children. No fears need be entertained upon that score.

In considering the subject of viniculture, it will not be without interest to our readers to give a cursory glance at the general history and condition of the industry in the State of California. The first permanent settlers who came to California from civilized countries were the Jesuit Fathers, or padres. They came mostly from Spain, a great grape-growing and wine-making country, and nothing was more natural than for them to bring with them this favorite fruit, also the source from which came their favorite beverage, and engraft it into the California soil. Hence the term "Mission" as applied to the black common grape found growing in the vineyards of California when the Americans first came to the country. These old padres located upon the very cream of the land, selected the most favored spots, both as to soil and water for the missions. Here they planted the grapevines they had borne over so many leagues of water and barren wastes, and in a short time the fruit of the vine, both as grapes and wine, became quite common.

As a matter of interest we will describe the method of grape-culture and wine- making in those primeval days. A choice spot of rich ground was selected, which could also be easily irrigated, for they had no idea that anything could be produced without the free use of water. The usual method of plowing of those days was pur- sued, and the ground having been thus rudely upturned and afterwards harrowed with the branch of a tree, the vines were then planted, and the water turned on. They grew rapidly and strongly, and in the course of about three years began to bear quite thriftily. As in the days of Solomon so then, they literally trod the wine-press. The grapes were put into troughs made for the purpose, and the Indians then trod upon them with their bare feet until the whole mass was a pomace. This was then removed and placed in cow-skins, so suspended that they would retain the greatest possible amount of it. These were their fermenting-tanks, and here the pomace remained during that process. When this was accomplished a hole was cut in the skin, and they drew the wine off and put it into casks to await further processes.

And that is the way they made what they called wine in those days. It was sour, unpalatable, and dreggy stuff, yet it answered the purpose, and was relished by those accustomed to its use from youth to old age. In these days of advancement, when the soils best adapted to the growth of the grape is sought out, when the ground is as thoroughly tilled as it is possible to have it, when the crushing is done by steam-power with a patented machine, when the process of fermentation is conducted in pure, sweet casks holding hundreds of gallons, when the entire process of wine- making is conducted in the best light of the age, we who live now look back upon

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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

the primitive wine-makers of our State with feelings almost akin to pity, thinking how great the opportunity and how meagerly it was embraced.

When the first Americans came to the country they followed much in the steps of the Spaniards in regard to wine-making. It was something entirely new to them, and they had no information on the subject at all. Rich lands were sought in which to plant the vines, and much water was applied to make them grow. The Mission variety, with its large seeds and but little juice or pulp, was still in vogue. Finally, in 1856, a new era in wine-making in California began to dawn. All the old settlers will remember Col. Agoston Haraszthy, the founder of the Buena Vista vineyard in Sonoma County. He was a Hungarian noble, of court lineage, who was expatriated for taking a prominent part in a political crisis in his native land. After residing in Wisconsin for a while, he came to California in 1849, and to Sonoma County in 1856, and from that time on he devoted his entire attention to the advancement of the wine and vine interests of his adopted State. Up to that time there were no foreign vines in California. He founded a horticultural society, and began the importation of for- eign varieties at once. He believed that vines would thrive without irrigation, and carried out his faith by planting a large vineyard. . He thus at once put himself at the head of the wine industry in California, and may with propriety be denominated the father of viniculture in this State.

It will probably always remain a mooted question as to who brought the first foreign varieties of vines into California. It is known that a Mr. Stock of San José had several varieties growing on his place as early as 1858 or 1859, which he had received from his father who resided in Germany. In 1861 Doctor Crane of St. Helena purchased cuttings from the Stock vineyard at the rate of forty dollars per thousand. There was one variety which had no label, and Mr. Stock sold the cuttings at half-price, and they proved to be the now celebrated Riesling.

In 1861 Colonel Haraszthy was appointed by the Governor of the State as a Commissioner to visit the wine-growing countries of Europe, in the interests of that industry of California. The result of this visit to the old countries, was the importa- tion of some three hundred different varieties of vines, many of which are yet great favorites with the vineyardists of the State, and from which are made the most valu- able wines now produced. Upon the return of Colonel Haraszthy from Europe, in 1862, he was chosen President of the State Agricultural Society. In 1863 he orga- nized the Buena Vista Vinicultural Society, to which he conveyed his four hundred acres of land in Sonoma.

About this time, he wrote a treatise on the culture of the vine and the manufac- ture of wine, which was published by the State for gratuitous distribution. This pub- lication, thus generally circulated, called the attention, not only of the citizens of the State, but the people of the world to California, as a wine-producing country, and gave to that interest its first impulse. He had now given the matter a thorough test, and had proved beyond a doubt that wine-making could and would be made a success, and had demonstrated that he knew more than any other citizen of the county about the subject, and took more interest in it than any one.

In the winter of 1858, Colonel Haraszthy planted about eighty thousand vines in a high tract of land east of the town of Sonoma, since known as Buena Vista Vine-

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yard, and the'growth and progress of this venture were very closely watched by all interested in viniculture. The experiment succeeded beyond. the most sanguine expectations of all, and was the beginning of a new epoch in the culture of grapes in California.

Some idea of the immense progress of this industry may be had, when it is stated that in 1866 the estimated wine product of the whole State was only two mil- lion gallons, while at the present time it is estimated that there are twenty million acres of grape lands in the State, which if producing the maximum amount would yield annually twenty billion gallons. That this yield will never be reached is doubt- less true, but it will be very great indeed.

The cultivation of the grape in Washington Township is coeval with the Spanish settlement of the district. The first foreigners to embark upon it were Messrs. Beard, Ellsworth, and Palmer. It is said that in 1852, Mr. Palmer purchased the Peak vineyard and commenced with ten thousand vines, from cuttings received from France, Spain, etc., but his vines increased so rapidly, that in 1874 he had one hundred and forty thousand vines in all and only ten thousand of the Mission variety. Indeed, it may be said that every inch of ground lying between Niles and the Santa Clara County line, along the foot-hills, is suited for the cultivation of the vine.

At Mission San José is the most marvelous vineyard in the State. Upon acquir- ing the old Beard homestead, Señor Juan Gallegos at once set to work to beautify the locality. What was already a garden he has turned into a paradise, while he has planted a vineyard covering no less an area than five hundred acres. As one stands on the heights, and looks down the gentle slope towards Washington Corners, one sees what a five hundred acre vineyard means. It means that an amount of land equal to what would make two good sized farms in the Eastern States is here devoted to one especial staple: it means that it requires a princely fortune to keep these grounds in order, and that it needs vast wealth to be able to wait until the vines begin to yield. The day is not far distant when this vineyard will be among the greatest of California's wonders, and will attract the attention of the vine-growers of Europe more than any other has yet done.

Grain is grown generally all over the township, the uplands being the principal locality for wheat and the lower lying grounds devoted to barley, oats, etc. Corn and hops are also grown to a considerable extent, while sugar-beets, onions, and potatoes produce good crops, indeed, some of the potato stories almost equal the proverbial "fish yarns." Messrs. Beard and Horner, after their purchase of the Alvarado ranch, entered largely into the cultivation of tubers, which subsequently became a drug upon the market. It is said that potatoes weighing from three to five pounds each, were by no means uncommon, while Doctor Willey tells in The Pacific, that on one occasion, in 1852, at Mr. Beard's, he aided at the sacrifice of one weighing four pounds, which served as a meal for nine persons at the table and three to follow. In that year his yield of potatoes was sixty thousand bushels, averaging, for the most part, three hun- dred and thirty bushels to the acre.

In the year 1852 Mr. Beard had six hundred and forty acres of grain that yielded on the average, fifty-six bushels to the acre.

The neighborhood of Warm Springs is favorable to the growth of early fruits and

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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

vegetables, while the grain crop in this portion of the township is yearly improving. In the mountains to the back of Warm Springs and the Mission, the country is very rough and is a good deal used for sheep pasture, and several persons about the mis- sion are extensively engaged in sheep-raising.

Washington figures conspicuously in the nursery business also, while its salt lands and beet-sugar manufactory need not receive more than a passing mention here. Indeed, the products of Washington Township may be put down as follows: Ist, Agri- cultural; 2d, Horticultural; 3d, stock-raising; 4th, sheep-raising; 5th, salt-making; 6th, manufacturing; 7th, wine-making; 8th, storing and forwarding; 9th, mercantile; Ioth, fruit-preserving.

MEXICAN GRANTS .- The following are the original Mexican grants in Washing- ton Township. On October 13, 1836, the Rancho del Agua Caliente of two leagues was granted to Antonio Suñol, and by him transferred to Fulgencio Higuerra. The Rancho Arroyo del Alameda was granted by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to José Jesus Vallejo. Before this that gentleman had obtained a grant of one thousand varas square. In 1842 Augustin Alviso, who had been a mayor-domo at the mission,. set- tled upon the Rancho Potrero de los Cerritos, and in conjunction with Tomas Pacheco, obtained the above grant consisting of three square leagues. The last grant in the county was made in 1846, of thirty thousand acres of the mission lands to Alvarado and Pico; but this grant was rejected and in December, 1867, United States patents were issued to a large number of men who had settled upon it.

EARLY SETTLEMENT .- Washington Township was the earliest settled portion of what is now Alameda County, and for which we may ascribe two reasons : first, its proximity to the Pueblo de San José, whither all foreigners found their way on first coming to the central portion of California, and, second, its nearness to the Mission of San José, surrounding which there were leagues of well-watered lands.

The first actual settlers were the priests of the Mission and their followers who held sway over the district extending far into what is Murray Township, and as far as San Leandro. Then came the Mexicans who afterwards received the grants, for it was their custom to occupy the lands they had afterwards conceded to them long ere application had been made therefor. The Higuerra family had settled on the Warm Spring Ranch, on what is now the property of Henry Curtner; they built their adobe, which at the time of the American occupation was occupied by Valentine Higuerra, while Fulgencio Higuerra dwelt in another adobe residence, now occupied by his son, Salvio, about a mile to the northward of the store of George W. Peacock. In the original instance there were two buildings at this point, but one of them succumbed to the earthquake of October 21, 1868.

By this time Augustin Alviso had successfully grown quantities of grain, which he disposed of to the Russians at Fort Ross and Bodega, upon his ranch near Centreville, while Don Jesus Vallejo had his mansion, which still stands, in Mission San José at the corner of the road to Washington Corners. These men were all wealthy, counting their cattle by thousands and their lands by leagues. .

With the year 1846 came the famous ship Brooklyn with her passengers who

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formed the earliest permanent settlers of the State. The fair, fertile lands of Wash- ington Township soon attracted their attention, and on the gentle slopes not far from the base of the Contra Costa Range did John M. Horner pitch his tent and there resided until his death. When he took up his residence near what is now known as Washington Corners there was not a single American resident between the Mission and the Contra Costa County line, while there were not five men of the Anglo-Saxon race to the north of the bay of San Francisco. In 1847 Perry Morrison cast his lot in the township, and that same spring Earl Marshall, who too had come out in the Brooklyn, arrived at the Mission and embarked in the dairying business. Then came the year of '48 and the discovery of gold, but none settled here then, the mines were too attractive for people to settle down to the humdrum life of farmers; but, in 1849, came the late E. L. Beard, who needs something more than a passing notice at our hands.

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History of Alameda County, California : including its geology, topography, soil, and productions, Part 114

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