History of Alameda County, California : including its geology, topography, soil, and productions, Part 67

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

USA > California > Alameda County > History of Alameda County, California : including its geology, topography, soil, and productions > Part 67

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All the coal strata in this vicinity dip to the north, at an angle of about forty- two degrees .. The coal, as throughout California, is of a bituminous nature; it is dis- tinguished from the majority of coals by its making a very hot fire with but little blaze or smoke. It is considered excellent for steam purposes.

These mines are in good working condition, with thousands of tons of clean, hard coal in sight, ready to be taken out at any time. At present, work is being carried forward on a scale sufficient for the supply of the towns of Livermore and Pleasanton but the principal mines are closed.

Their situation, however, but eight miles from the town of Livermore, and fifty- five from the city of San Francisco, together with the abundant and excellent quality of the coal, render these mines too valuable to remain idle for any great length of time. It is probable that they will within a few years be developed and worked on a large scale. But a little capital is needed to make this coal-field one of the most flourishing and prosperous on the Pacific Coast.

MIDWAY .- This is simply a station on the line of the Central Pacific Railroad sixty-three and one-half miles from San Francisco, and at present consists of about a dozen houses. It is located near the easterly boundary of the township on the slope to the San Joaquin Valley, and fourteen miles from Livermore. Here in 1855 or '56 Frank Heare put up and occupied what was known as the " Zinc House." The rail- road company have no resident agent at this point.

PLEASANTON .- The name of this beautiful village, once called Alisal (Cotton-

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wood), is derived, not from its pleasant situation, as many suppose, but was so named by John W. Kottinger, after General Pleasanton, a dashing cavalry officer, who served during the rebellion under General J. C. Fremont in his Missouri campaign; the popular idea, however, is most correct, as it has many beauties of climate and location-

The ground on which the town now stands was, in the year 1839, in common with thousands of acres, granted to Antonio Suñol, Antonio Maria Pico, Augustin Bernal, and Juan P. Bernal. Pico having disposed of his interest to Suñol; he in turn conveyed it to Juan P. Bernal in 1846. Augustin Bernal, however, maintained his residence in the Santa Clara Valley until the spring of 1850, only visiting his newly-acquired possessions once a year to rodéo his bands of cattle, the estate during the balance of the year being left in charge of his hirelings.

In 1849 a widow named Wilson who had several grown up sons, moved to the rancho of Juan P. Bernal, and made a contract with the proprietor whereby one of them should act as his major-domo. In 1850 Augustin Bernal took up his resi- dence in the vicinity, and built a house at the foot of the mountains, about a mile west of the present town. In August, 1851, there came to this section John W- Kottinger, a native of Austria, who at once erected a house, still standing, on a small eminence near the Arroyo Valle and commenced stock-raising. In September, 1852, Juan Pablo Bernal, brother to Augustin, built his adobe on the opposite side of the creek from Kottinger's, a portion of which is now in the occupation of Joseph F. Black, and thus matters rested until 1857, when Duerr & Nusbaumer opened a store in Kottinger's house, while, in 1859, Charles Garth waite opened another trading-post opposite the residence of Augustin Bernal, which he continued four years.

During the year 1863 Mr. Kottinger, who had become possessed of a consider- able portion of the Bernal estate by marriage, conceived the idea that a town might be established with advantage at Alisal, he- therefore put a few lots in the market, which were soon purchased by Jacob Teeters, a blacksmith, William Wittner, a carpenter, and Doctor Goucher, all of whom immediately constructed houses, that of the first being on the site now occupied by the wagon factory of J. A. Bilz, the second, where Doctor Mark now is, and the third, on the land belonging to Mrs Mclaughlin. That same year Joshua A. Neal, a native of New Hampshire, and a pioneer of '47, who had been several years major-domo to Robert Livermore, removed to Alisal, and, by marriage with a daughter of Augustin Bernal, acquired over five hundred acres of land, upon a portion of which is situated the present town of Pleasanton. He immediately erected a residence on an eminence overlooking the valley. In 1864 the first public school was opened under the tuition of a Mr. Powell, it being erected to the south of Mrs. McLaughlin's house, and has since been super- seded by the present commodious structure. In the following year Mr. Kottinger built the house on the creek bank now occupied by Jacob Johnson, and opened there a store and house of entertainment giving the latter the name of the " Farmer's Hotel." On the site of the Pleasanton Hotel, Anton Bardellini opened a hotel in the year 1867, which forms a portion of that caravansary, there being also a store opened within the building then.

In 1867 Mr. Kottinger made a survey of land in Alisal, with the idea of laying

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MURRAY TOWNSHIP.

out a town which he called Pleasanton, and in August, 1868, Mr. Neal, whose lands adjoined those of Mr. Kottinger, made a survey to supplement that of the latter, and began selling building lots on the county road, which is now known as Main Street. On September 20, 1869, Mr. Kottinger had a second survey made by Charles Duerr to agree with the line of the railroad, which was then being built through the valley; Neal also making a second survey, for the same purpose, in the month of December.

The growth of the town was very rapid during the years 1869 and 1870. The building of the railroad through the place and the location of a station there, gave assurance of its permanency, and induced settlers to come in rapidly. Since that time Pleasanton has continued to grow steadily, until it has reached a population of about seven hundred.

The public buildings consist of a large two-story school house, a neat church edifice, and a fine two-story building the property of the Odd Fellows. It also pos- sesses Rose's Hotel, than which there is no more finely-appointed house in the country. There are many fine residences in the town and in the suburbs, nearly all surrounded by well-kept grounds, while the streets are planted with rows of trees on either side forming a delightful shade, and rendering the place one of the most beautiful and attractive in the county.

As throughout the entire western portion of Murray Township, the country tributary to Pleasanton is held in large ranches, which of course is prejudicial to the interests of the town, and tends in a measure to arrest its growth. Several of these large tracts, however, are being gradually divided into small farms, and sold to set- tlers, a scheme which will go far towards increasing the prosperity of the town, and at the same time build up and improve the surrounding country.

While it was known as Alisal, the place was recognized as one of if not the most desperate in the county,but with all its lawlessness perhaps there was no scene enacted in it more exciting than that which we append below :-

On Wednesday, September 19, 1866, a desperate encounter took place in Pleas- anton, or Alisal, between Harry Morse, Sheriff of Alameda County, and the notori- ous highwayman and robber, Narcisco Bojorques, in which the latter was wounded. This brigand had long been the terror of the Suñol Valley, having committed both robberies and murders in that locality and throughout the State, causing his name to be feared and dreaded in every household. His rendezvous was in the mountains, from whence he frequently sallied forth into the valley, plundering indiscriminately, and retreating at pleasure to his hiding-place. He had been arrested at various times, but escaped the penalty of his crimes by his shrewdness in having witnesses put out of the way .. A short account of the career of this Dick Turpin may not be out of place.

In or about the year 1859 the murder of the Golding family-consisting of hus- band, wife, and child-occurred in Suñol Valley .. The dwelling-house was burned down and the bodies were consumed. A vaquero was found hanging to the limb of a tree at the same time. This quadruple murder was laid at the door of Bojorques, but when the trial came nothing could be proved against him, although he was uni- versally held to be the guilty party. Shortly afterwards, in company with another thief named Quarte about dividing the spoils, Narcisco was too quick for Quarte, the latter falling dead in the roadside at the fect of his chieftain.

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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

His next exploit was performed in connection with Procopio-cousin of the famous robber, Joaquin Murietta. They stole a band of cattle, and took them to Alvarado. Here a warrant was issued for their arrest, but before it could be served, Narcisco succeeded in escaping. Not so with his companion, however. Constable Wood, afterwards of San Leandro, was deputed to arrest Procopio. The latter, after shooting several times at the officer, escaped, and took refuge in the salt-marsh near Alvarado. Here he was surrounded by a party of armed men, who finally captured him. Procopio, for his part in the robbery, served a term of nine years in the peni- tentiary.

Mariposa County next was visited by Narciso. Here he committed a robbery, for which he was arrested, but finally discharged, after an incarceration of three months in jail; no witnesses appeared against him.

His latest robbery was that of the butcher Gunnel, near Alisal, about the month of August, 1866. It may be remembered that on that occasion Narcisco rode up alongside the butcher, and, after shooting him, dragged him from his horse, and plun- dered him of one hundred and twenty dollars in coin.

All these robberies were traced to Narciso. He knew that the people suspected him, and yet he appeared daily among them, reckless and defiant. Sheriff Morse, in order to get some legal foot-hold to arrest Narciso, corresponded during a month pre- viously with the Sheriffs of various counties, inquiring whether they had any charges against him. On Wednesday (September 19th), a warrant was received from a Justice of the Peace in Los Angeles County by the Sheriff, ordering him to arrest Narciso on a charge of grand larceny. The Sheriff started immediately for the Mission San José, where he got on the track of the robber. From the mission the Sheriff went to Foscalini's store in Alisal (Pleasanton), where he learned that Narcisco had passed up five minutes previously, mounted on a stout horse, and having an additional saddle- a new one-in his hand. The Sheriff suspecting that he would return that way, con- cealed himself in the rear of the store. Half an hour had scarcely elapsed before the robber returned, galloping his horse and whistling. Pulling up in front of the store, he was invited in. He refused, being evidently afraid of an arrest. The Sheriff see- ing that he would not dismount, went forward quickly, putting his left hand in his breast pocket to get out a pair of handcuffs. Narciso detected the officer at a glance. In a moment, and before Morse could lay his hands upon him, Narciso had him cov- vered with an eight-inch revolver, the distance between the parties, at this time, not being more than six feet. The robber's pistol fortunately missed fire, and before he could repeat, the officer's weapon had sent a shot at him, which failed to bring him to the ground. A second shot took effect in the robber's side, causing him to throw up his arm and give a loud groan. Dropping his pistol, the robber put spurs to his horse, and jumping the animal over a fence into an inclosure, started for the hills. Unable to jump over the fence on the opposite side of the field, the robber dis- mounted, and started for a ravine close by, followed by the Sheriff afoot. Climbing over the fence, the Sheriff could see the robber in the distance entering the cha- parral. Notwithstanding the woods were scoured all night, Narcisco managed to elude his pursuers. An unsuccessful search was also made the following morning by the Sheriff. Parties from the mission, who started out in the forenoon on the 20th of

Hiram Davis

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September, to hunt the robber, traced him fully a mile by drops of blood, until they reached a tree, where they discovered a pool of blood. Here the wounded man rested during the night, but was not captured at that time.

PLEASANTON LODGE, No. 225, I. O. O. F .- This lodge was organized January 17, 1877, by District Grand, H. J. Tilden, with the following charter members and officers: H. Morris, N. G .; John B. Hortenstine, V. G .; Herman Detjens, Sec .; R. J. Butts, I. G .; Dan. McCaw, Treasurer. The present membership is twenty-nine, and the officers for the current year are: James W. Hortenstine, N. G .; William T. Harris, V. G .; H. F. Grasse, Rec. Sec .; J. R. Palmer, Per. Sec .; Herman Detjens, Treas. The lodge is in a flourishing condition, and hold their meetings every Tuesday evening in Detjen's Hall.

CARRIAGE AND WAGON FACTORY OF J. A. BILZ .- In the Fall of the year 1865 Mr. Bilz came to Alisal, or Pleasanton, and started in a small building where his factory now stands. In 1868 he erected his present extensive premises, in dimensions one hundred by one hundred feet, where he manufactures wagons, carriages, buggies, etc. In August, 1882, he received a patent for Bilz Excelsior two-wheeled buggy. The firm also does general blacksmithing, while the factory is supplied with all the most improved machinery, engines, etc.

SUÑOL .- The village of Suñol and the valley in which it is situated derive their names from the family whose possessions, as we have elsewhere said, extended through- out this section of the country. It is situated on the line of the Central Pacific Rail- road, and is six miles west of Pleasanton. Here in 1865 a school was started under the tuition of Mrs. Sam. Brown, while the first store in the section was opened by George Foscalini, where what is at present known as Scott's store now stands. In 1862 the Argenti Hotel was kept by a Frenchman named Bertrand.

This village, like many others, sprang into existence at the time of building the railroad, and, owing to the fact that the entire region tributary to it is held in large ranches, by a few men, has grown little since. The Suñol Valley and adjacent foot- hills and cañons are much resorted to by camping parties during the summer months, on account of their wild and beautiful scenery and accessibility.

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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP.

G EOGRAPHY .- Oakland Township is bounded on the north and east by Con- tra Costa County ; on the south by Brooklyn and Alameda Townships ; and on the west by San Francisco Bay.

TOPOGRAPHY .- Like the other townships bordering upon the bay, that of Oakland is faced with a considerable area of marsh-lands, in the rear of which is a wide fertile stretch backed by undulating foot-hills which culminate in the summits of the Contra Costa Range.

VALLEYS, STREAMS, ETC .- Oakland Township does not boast of any valleys of consideration, although there are several delightfully situated cañons which have been utilized as sites for handsome residences and grounds. It has no water-way that could be dignified by the name of a stream, save the Temescal Creek, while on its confines are the estuary of San Antonio and Lake Merritt.

CLIMATE .- So much has been written about the climate of Oakland that little is left for us to say. The northern portion of the township has the full force of the summer winds as they come sweeping through the Golden Gate. That portion occupied by the city of Oakland is preferable. The death-rate is about one-half that of San Francisco-a fact that is of itself sufficient proof of the remarkable healthful- ness of the city. The afternoon winds that prevail in San Francisco during the sum- mer months reach Oakland with diminished force ; the close proximity of the hills in the rear of the city and the many large.and stately trees serve as a protection. There are other reasons perhaps difficult of comprehension, but the fact is well known that when the winds prevail in San Francisco with great violence, only moderate breezes are felt in Oakland. The sea fogs of summer which roll in from the ocean vanish from Oakland several hours before they cease to overshadow San Francisco. Pertect immunity from wind and fog can be found only in the interior, but intensely hot and scorching weather is an annoyance that far more than counterbalances the pleasure to be derived from a sky that is always clear, and freedom from the ocean mists.

SOIL AND PRODUCTS .- Like that of the other townships described the soil of Oakland is of wonderful fertility, producing to rapid maturity all manner of seeds or shoots that may be committed to its nurture.

TIMBER .- Save the oaks which gave it its name, and which unhappily, though nec- essarily, are fast disappearing, there is no indigenous timber in the township. With the settlement of the country its face has been entirely changed, and where trees were they have vanished, while where they were not extensive groves now show them- selves.

MEXICAN GRANTS .- Oakland Township is situated on the San Antonio Rancho

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OAKLAND TOWNSHIP-CITY OF OAKLAND.

granted to Don Luis Peralta by Don Pablo Vicente de Sala, August 16, 1820, and on that portion of it which was afterwards given to his sons Domingo and Vicente Peralta, the first-named receiving the portion on which Berkeley now stands, and the latter the site of the city of Oakland, who received a patent for 18,848.98 acres, Feb- ruary 10, 1877.

EARLY SETTLEMENT .- It will be unnecessary for us here to produce any remarks upon the early settlement of the township. Our space is too limited for such a gigantic affair. Suffice it to say that this has been carefully followed in our histories of the city of Oakland and town of Berkeley, and as these have been com- piled in chronological order the reader will have no difficulty in following the march of events. A history of Oakland City itself is a monstrous undertaking, but such as we have done we place before the reader with no fear of captious criticism.

CITY OF OAKLAND.

Cannot the reader bring before him with vivid distinctness the rapture with which Governor Portala looked down upon the noble bay of San Francisco on the morning of November 3, 1769. With the spirit which made the victorious Romans exclaim, "Ecce Roma! Ecce Tiber!" as they first saw a Scottish vale, with its undu- lating hills and wide-sweeping river, that reminded them of their beloved Rome, so also did these handful of travelers describe our beautiful harbor, as it was surveyed by them for the first time from the San Mateo Mountains, as another Mediterranean Sea. To the north and to the south it lay in placid sublimity at their feet, glisten- ing in the sunshine of that warm November morn. On the opposite coast-the Contra Costa-they beheld the sylvan shades of where is now the prosperous city of Oakland, and the wealth of foliage of the peninsula of Alameda, and Temescal. It was a scene to be enjoyed in deep silence and in great awe, for here the Divine Hand had outdone itself in producing a picture of the rarest excellence. The gran- deur of mountain scenery causes the soul to thrill and the pulse to quicken, but syl- van beauty brings with it a contentment to the heart that drives bitterness away and leaves a calm serenity.

It is chronicled that the voyagers rounded the bay, and it is asserted by no less an authority than Gen. M. G. Vallejo that Don Pedro Fages and Father Crespi led an expedition to the valley of the San Joaquin from Monterey by way of San Pablo and Martinez, and passed by the Oak Grove Encinal. Thus have we the first ascer- tained visit to the territory now comprised in the city of Oakland. From that date until the year 1820 we know nothing from absolute fact, but of this we may be assured, that the crews of those whalers and other sailing-vessels that visited the coves of Saucelito and Yerba Buena for water had many a time and oft gazed upon its wonderful loveliness, and mayhap have landed upon its tempting shores in quest of game.

And now came the first settler; let it be our task to introduce him to the reader.

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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

Four and twenty years before the present century had dawned there came to the Presidio of San Francisco, in the capacity of a soldier, Luis Maria Peralta, a native of Tubac, in Sonora, who was born about the year 1758, for we find it stated in a list of the soldiers connected with the presidio in the year 1790 that Luis Maria Peralta was a soldier, aged thirty-two, and his wife, Maria Loretta Alviso, was aged nineteen years. He again figures in an inventory of the rich inmates of the Presidio, taken in 1793, as being among the "warm" men of the time. He then owned two head of stock, the small beginning from which sprang his immense herds of the future. By his union with the Señora Alviso there were born to him ten children-five sons and five daughters, the names of the former being Cresanto, Ygnacio, Domingo, Anto- nio Maria, and Vicente, and of the latter, Teodora, Trinidad, Josefa, Guadalupe, and Maria Louisa. On August 16, 1820, on account of distinguished and meritorious services descending through a long series of years, forty in all, Don Luis Maria Peralta was granted a tract of land which would cast many a principality into the shade, as it was full five leagues in extent, and was bounded on one side by the "deep creek of San Leandro" to "a hill adjoining the sea-beach"-a shapely knoll near the San Pablo Road, and which is the extreme northwestern point of Alameda County. Let us attempt to explain what this grant meant. It meant that this obscure soldier suddenly was raised to a pinnacle of fame as one of the largest landed proprietors of Upper California; it meant that he had been instantly placed with wealth in his grasp; and it meant that he had, in the twinkling of an eye, become the owner of a domain the soil of which is not to be excelled in any portion of the world. Had his horoscope but been cast, and the knowledge of to-day been foretold, what vast wealth would have been his; yet, mayhap, the city of Oakland would not have been. Peralta himself never resided upon the Rancho de San Antonio, but maintained a domicile at the Pueblo de San José. He also had another grant in the Santa Clara Val- ley. Consequently, the district with which we are connected remained uninhabited for several years by any one save swarthy vaqueros and a few Indians. In the mean time-in 1842-he had divided the San Antonio Grant among his sons, and to Vicente and Antonio Maria fell the portion now comprised within the incorporated limits of the city of Oakland; each took possession of his estate and built houses of adobe, that of the former being situated a little north of Temescal, and that of the latter at Fruit Vale. There they dwelt, strong in the assurance that their broad acres would descend to their children's children.

"And now the greedy, blue-eyed Saxon came." Immigration had commenced, and longing eyes had been cast upon the fair lands of the rancheros, by the few. Next war broke out, and erelong the flowery standard was waving in triumph on the Californian coast. Then came the wild delirium consequent upon the discovery of gold, when the country was inundated with a vast population of every creed, tongue, and clime. These new-comers coveted the lands of the Peraltas; traps were laid, and, in due course of time, the original owners became strangers in the place.

When it had first been seen that a city must necessarily be built somewhere on the bay of San Francisco, a cursory examination was made of the Contra Costa shore. The village of Yerba Buena did not offer many flattering inducements to men seeking to found a city, because its steep hills came down to the water's edge,

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and the most casual observer could not fail to note the vast amount of labor that would be required to level off these hills and fill in the bay so as to make room for the thousands of buildings that must be quickly erected. But the temporary difficul- ties on the eastern side of the bay were still more grave. A flat extended out for a distance of two miles, timber suitable for the purposes of wharf-building was not easily obtained and commanded an enormous price, and no hope was entertained of building the metropolis on the present site of Oakland.

The sandy peninsula was covered by a dense growth of oak-trees, which sub- sequently gave to the place its name, and beneath the trees were numerous thickets of chaparral and tangled underbrush. Some four miles to the north was the residence of Vicente Peralta, and around it were settled a few other native Californians. The only use made of the peninsula of Oakland was to obtain from it the necessary sup- plies of fuel. At some remote period there had been Indian camps upon the northern bank of the San Antonio Creek, and the mounds, composed mainly of oyster-shells, are not yet entirely obliterated. San Pablo was a flourishing sub-mission, and San Antonio (Brooklyn) was a town before there was a solitary settler in Oakland. Indeed, for a year or two after the settlement of Oakland, San Antonio was in advance. It had been, as we have shown, an embarcadero, from which were shipped the lumber from the redwoods, and the hides and horns collected in the adjoining country.

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History of Alameda County, California : including its geology, topography, soil, and productions, Part 67

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