USA > California > Alameda County > History of Alameda County, California : including its geology, topography, soil, and productions > Part 74
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And also in relation to the force, validity, and effect of a certain other ordinance, passed by the Board of Trustees on the 30th day of December, A. D. 1852, entitled "An ordinance to approve the wharf at the foot of Main Street, and to extend the time for constructing the other wharves," which said ordinance was enrolled Janu- ary I, A. D. 1853, and signed by the said President and Clerk of the said Board of Trustees, wherein and whereby the said first-mentioned ordinance and the said deed of conveyance was recognized and approved.
And also in relation to the force, validity, and effect of a certain other ordinance entitled "An Ordinance concerning Wharves and the Water Front," passed on the 27th day of August, A. D. 1853, by the said Board of 'Trustees, which said ordinance was enrolled, dated August 27, 1853, and was signed by A. W. Burrell, President, and A. S. Hurlburt, Clerk of the said Board of Trustees, wherein and whereby the said first-mentioned ordinance was in all things satisfied and confirmed, and the said water front again granted, sold, and conveyed to the said Carpentier in fee simple forever :- are hereby compromised, settled, and adjusted, and the said above-mentioned ordinance and conveyance are made valid, binding, and ratified and confirmed, and all disputes, litigations, contro- versies, and claims in and to the franchises and property described in said ordinances and deed of conveyance, and every part thereof, are abandoned and released to the said city of Oakland, to the said Carpentier and his assigns, upon the following conditions, to wit :--
That the said Carpentier and his assigns shall convey, by proper and sufficient deeds of conveyance, all the property and franchises mentioned and described in said ordinances and deed of conveyance herein before referred to, to the Oakland Water Front Company, to be used and applied in accordance with the terms, conditions, stipula" tions, and agreement contained in certain contracts between the said Oakland Water Front Company and the Western Pacific Railroad Company, and other parties, bearing even date herewith, with the exceptions in the said agreement specified.
But nothing herein contained shall be deemed to affect any rights of the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company, derived under an ordinance of the city of Oakland, passed the 20th day of November, 1861.
Let us in this place produce the deed of Mr. Carpentier.
In pursuance of the foregoing ordinance the said Horace W. Carpentier executed and delivered to the said Water Front Company a deed of which the following is a copy :-
This Indenture, made the 31st day of March, 1868, between Horace W. Carpentier, party of the first part, and the Oakland Water Front Company, party of the second part, witnesseth: That the said party of the first part, in consideration of the sum of five hundred dollars to him paid by the said party of the second part, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, hereby gives, grants, sells, and conveys to the said party of the sec- ond part, its successors and assigns, the following described premises, to wit: All of the water front of the city of Oakland-that is to say, all the lands, and the lands covered with water, lying within the limits of the said city between high tide and ship channel, being the water-front lands within the boundaries described and granted in and defined by the Act entitled "An Act to Incorporate the Town of Oakland and to Provide for the Construction of Wharves thereat," approved May 4, 1852, and the Act entitled "An Act to Incorporate the City of Oakland," passed March 25, 1854, and repealing certain other Acts in relation to said city, approved April 24, 1862, together
527
OAKLAND TOWNSHIP-CITY OF OAKLAND.
with all the privileges and appurtenances, rights, and franchises thereunto appertaining and belonging, together with all rights to collect tolls, wharfage, and dockage thereon and therefrom, and all lands, rights, privileges, and franchises of every kind and nature which have been heretofore acquired by the party of the first part, from the town of Oakland and the city of Oakland or either of them, and all the rights to the above-mentioned lands, fran- chises, and privileges which he may hereafter acquire from the said city of Oakland, excepting therefrom, how- ever, so much of the said water front as lies between the middle of Washington Street and the middle of Franklin Street, and extending southerly to a line parallel to Front Street and two hundred feet southerly from the present wharf, according to the map of the city of Oakland, with the rights of wharfage, dockage, and tolls thereon, to have and to hold the aforesaid and aforegranted premises to the said party of the second part. its successors and assigns, to their use and behoof forever, in witness whereof the said party of the first part has hereunto set his hand and seal the day and year aforesaid.
[Signed]
H. W. CARPENTIER.
On the 1st day of April, 1868, the agreement and indentures, of which the fol- lowing' are copies, were made, executed, and delivered by and between the parties therein named, to wit :----
This indenture made the Ist day of April, 1868, between the Oakland Water Front Company, party of the first part; the Western Pacific Railroad Company party of the second part; the city of Oakland, party of the third part; Horace W. Carpentier, party of the fourth part: John B. Felton, party of the fifth part; and Leland Stanford, party of the sixth part. Whereas the said Horace W. Carpentier by deed bearing date March 31, 1868, conveyed to the said Oakland Water Front Company the water front of the city of Oakland, and certain rights, privileges, and franchises, as by reference to said deed will more fully appear; and whereas the said deed was executed and delivered to the said Oakland Water Front Company, upon the express trusts and subject to the covenants therein set forth. Now, know all men by these presents that the said Oakland Water Front Company, in con- sideration of the said conveyance, and the said premises, and in further consideration of the sum of one dollar to be paid by the other parties herein named, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, doth hereby declare and make known that it holds the said premises conveyed by the said deed upon the following express trusts, and subject to the following covenants and agreements, to wit: First: The said Western Pacific Railroad shall, with reasonable diligence, and within three months from this date, select from and locate on the premises described in said five hundred acres thereof, in one or two parcels in the form of squares or parallelograms with right, acute, or obtuse angles, but not so as to include an aggregate frontage on ship channel exceeding one-half mile in length; also to select and locate within said time, over the remainder of said premises, not exceeding two strips of land, each strip not to be more than one hundred feet wide, as grade for the track or tracks of its railroad from high- water mark to such parcel or parcels, and between the same; and the said Oakland Water Front Company hereby covenants and agrees with the said party of the second part that it will at any time after such selection and loca- tion, upon demand, convey by proper conveyance or conveyances the said five hundred acres and the exclusive right of way over the said strips of land thus selected and located, to the said party of the second part, which said conveyance or conveyances shall contain a covenant or agreement that if the said parcels or either of them shall be located out to a westerly water front of twenty-four feet depth of water at low tide, no land shall be sold west- erly therefrom, and no obstruction or impediment shall ever be placed or put in front or westerly of the same, or anything done to prevent the free and unobstructed approach and access of vessels to said parcels.
SECOND .- And the said party of the first part hereby further covenants and agrees that it shall and will, upon demand, convey to the city of Oakland so much of the said premises as lies between the middle of Franklin Street and the easterly line of Webster Street, and extending out to a line parallel with First Street, and two hundred feet southerly of the present wharf at the foot of Broadway in the city of Oakland,, according to the map of said city, with the right of dockage and wharfage and tolls thereon. And said party of the first part further covenants and agrees that it will, within a reasonable time, designate and dedicate, as a navigable water-course for public use, the channel of San Antonio Creek, from ship channel to the town of San Antonio, to a width of not less than two hundred feet, over the shallow water at the bar, and three hundred feet wide above that place, subject to, and reserving the right, however, to build bridges across said channel with suitable draws.
THIRD .- The said party of the first part hereby further covenants and agrees that it will issue to the said Horace W. Carpentier fifty one-hundredths, equal to twenty-five thousand shares of its capital stock, also issue to the said John B. Felton ten one-hundredths, equal to five thousand shares of its capital stock, and also issue to the said Leland Stanford the remaining forty one-hundredths, equal to twenty thousand shares of its capital stock.
FOURTH .- The said party of the first part hereby further covenants and agrees that it will and does hereby authorize the city of Oakland or other parties to construct a dam above the "Oakland Bridge " across the estuary
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
of San Antonio, which lies between Oakland and Clinton, so as to retain the water and keep the land above submerged to high-tide mark, for the use of the owners of the adjoining lands and the public.
[Signed]
Seal of the
Western Pacific Railroad Company.
THE OAKLAND WATER FRONT COMPANY, By HORACE W. CARPENTIER, President, LLOYD TEVIS, Secretary. THE WESTERN PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY, By LELAND STANFORD, President, E. H. MILLER, JR., Secretary. HORACE W. CARPENTIER, JOHN B. FELTON, LELAND STANFORD.
Articles of Agreement made this Ist day of April, 1868, between the Western Pacific Railroad Company, party of the first part, and Leland Stanford, party of the second part, and the Oakland Water Front Company, party of the third part.
WHEREAS, Horace W. Carpentier has by deed bearing date of March 31, 1868, conveyed the water front of the city of Oakland, and certain rights, privileges, and franchises to the said party of the third part. And, whereas, the said party of the third part has executed and delivered to the said party of the first part, bearing even date herewith an agreement to convey certain portions of said premises to the said party of the first part, which deed and agreement are hereby referred to for greater certainty.
Now, the said party of the first part hereby covenants and agrees in consideration of such conveyance of said premises, that, upon such conveyance or conveyances being made so as to vest a good title in fee simple in said premises in said party of the first part, and upon the performance and execution by the municipal authorities of the city of Oakland, of all instruments, ordinances, acts, and proceedings necessary to perfect, complete, and make good the title to said premises described in the said deed from the said Carpentier to the said Oakland Water Front Company, and which is to be done within a reasonable time from this date, it will, within eighteen months thereafter, and with reasonable dispatch proceed and construct or purchase and complete a railroad connection from its main line to the said parcel or parcels thus selected by it, or one of them, and will, within said time complete such connecting railroad thereto; and, further, will erect and construct on said selected parcels, or one of them, the necessary buildings and structures for a passenger and freight depot for the use of its said railroad, expending upon its said premises, within three years, not less than five hundred thousand dollars in gold coin, but not including therein the purchase of existing improvements thereon. And if the said party of the first part shall fail, neglect, and refuse to provide such connecting railroad, and to make such depot buildings, and expend the said sum of money within the said three years; the said five hundred acres thus conveyed shall be for- feited and the same shall be conveyed by said party of the first part to the city of Oakland.
And the said party of the first part further covenants and agrees that it will not convey to any person or corporation any portion of the said five hundred acres, at any time within two years from this date.
And the said party of the second part hereby covenants and agrees that the said party of the first part shall and will faithfully do and perform its said covenants and agreements herein set forth.
And the said party of the first part hereby further covenants and agrees that in constructing its bridges across that portion of the estuary of San Antonio which lies between Oakland and Clinton, between San Antonio Creek and the Oakland Bridge, it will leave a space under each of said bridges of not less than forty feet in width free and unobstructed by piers or otherwise, for the passage of flatboats, scows, barges, and vessels without masts, and will not place any obstructions in said estnary between said points, except what may be necessary for such bridges-such bridges to he without draws or openings.
[Signed]
Seal of the Western Pacific Railroad Company.
THE WESTERN PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY, By LELAND STANFORD, President. E. H. MILLER, JR., Secretary. LELAND STANFORD. THE OAKLAND WATER FRONT COMPANY, By HORACE W. CARPENTIER. President. LLOYD TEVIS, Secretary.
From the foregoing documents it will need no remarkable penetration to solve the riddle and find that the Oakland Water Front Company and the Western Pacific Railroad Company were one and the same in their interests. They put forth their
Hours Respect 1.13. Haines
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OAKLAND TOWNSHIP-CITY OF OAKLAND.
octopus arms and drew everything within their vise-like clutches. It mattered not whether it was marsh or tide lands, all must be held so that their position should be strengthened, while a line of demarkation was quietly but surely being drawn around the doomed city. The transparent transfers on record will expose the weakness they felt, as well as display the grasping greed that governed their actions.
Let us now return to the transactions of the City Council. On April 2, 1868, it was
Resolved, That it is the unanimous desire of the Council that Samuel Merritt, Esq., the Mayor of Oakland. accept the position of Trustee of the Oakland Water Front Company.
A resolution that was carried without a dissentient voice, while, on the same date an ordinance entitled "An Ordinance for the Settlement of Controversies and Disputes, concerning the Water Front of the City of Oakland, the Franchises thereof, and other Matters relating thereto, passed, and approved, April 1, 1868, was finally voted for and passed. This was followed by the passage of " An Ordinance Finally Settling, Adjusting, and Compromising the Question of the Water Front." This instrument was as follows :---
SECTION ONE .- It appearing to the satisfaction of the Council, that all the terms and conditions of a certain ordinance heretofore passed, entitled " An Ordinance for the Settlement of Controversies and Disputes concern- ing the Water Front of the City of Oakland, the Franchises thereof, and other Matters relating thereto" have been fully satisfied and complied with by Horace W. Carpentier and his assigns, all the ordinances and deeds therein mentioned and described are hereby finally ratified and confirmed, and all disputes, controversies, claims, demands, and causes of action heretofore existing between the city of Oakland on the one part and Horace W. Carpentier and his.assigns of the other part, relating to the force and validity of the said ordinances and deeds are hereby abandoned and released by the said city of Oakland to the said Carpentier and his assigns-Provided : That noth_ ing herein contained shall release the right of the city of Oakland to the reversion of the property, franchises, and rights released, as provided in the contract between the Western Pacific Railroad Company and the Oakland Water Front Company, in case said city of Oakland shall become entitled to the same under said contract.
About this time John B. Felton addressed the citizens of Oakland on the subject of the water front, and being possessed of a noble intellect and logical mind it was no difficult task for him to cast a halo around the subject, which they found out only after the compromise had been indorsed by them and the actions of the Council fully con- firmed.
At the meeting of the 6th April, Alderman Hobart introduced "An Ordinance to repeal the Ordinance granting to the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company the use of a portion of the Water Front," which was duly carried; after which it was
Resolved, That the City Clerk be instructed to return to A. A. Cohen, President of the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company, the sum of one hundred dollars, which amount was received by him from said Cohen, as rent of the portion of the water front lying below high-water mark between the easterly line of Franklin Street and the westerly line of Webster Street, extended, being three hundred feet in width and running into San Antonio Creek for a distance of three hundred and fifty feet.
On April 16th the following resolution was offered by Mr. Moody :---
Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to investigate the conflicting interests of the city and the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company to certain water-front rights between Webster and Franklin Streets, and to report at the next meeting of the Council some method of adjusting and compromising the same if possible. -
A. A. Cohen, who was present, then made some explanatory statements in regard to the subject, after which, on motion of Mr. Hobart, and some discussion, the resolu-
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
tion was finally passed with the emendation that all should be omitted after the word "Council." Messrs. Moody, Barnes, and Pendleton, of the Council, having been appointed such committee, through the first-named gentleman made the following report : "That in October last, the Council, with the approval of the Mayor, granted to the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company the use for fifty years of that portion of the water front lying between Franklin and Webster Streets, that in the settlement of the general water-front interests in the current month one only reserva- tion of four hundred and twenty feet was made upon the water front to give to the city at least one place for free egress and ingress : that this reservation includes the same property granted to the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company.
" Your Committee believes that if it was necessary to make a reservation for the benefit of the city, it is equally necessary to so protect that reservation as that no one shall enjoy any exclusive rights, but that the benefits of the reservation should be equally enjoyed by all. In particular your Committee believe that the ferry interests should be especially fostered, and that every ferry should be afforded the fullest accom- modation at the least possible cost, or, better still, free from all cost. That though the reservation is quite limited in extent, your Committee believe that with proper economy it will be found sufficient to protect our most important interests. With the view of giving the best possible facilities for a landing upon the creek and for space for a marine railway upon which to repair and clean boats, your Committee would recommend the adoption of some such plan as that accompanying this report by which the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company may obtain all the accommoda- tions required, and at the same time the same facilities may be afforded to any other ferry and to transient shipping.
" This recommendation is made under the supposition that the grant to the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company will not be confirmed, and that the prop- erty will not be disposed of by sale or lease to any other party; but that it will ever remain the property, and under the full control of the city; in which case it will be necessary for the city to make some arrangement for the control and improvement of the same.
"We would recommend that all ferries have slip and landing privileges free of all costs, and that the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company be granted the right to lay a marine railway between Franklin and Webster Streets upon the most equitable terms.
" The question as to the legality of the grant to the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company is one which properly belongs to the Court; the Council has already given its verdict in making the grant. But still we believe our true interests will be consulted, and all ferry interests be satisfied by the adoption of the plan pro- posed." The foregoing was the minority report: the majority, Messrs. Barnes and Pendleton, stated, " We believe that said Company has no right nor shadow of claim to one foot of the water front at the place described above, and your Committee believe it would not be good policy for the city to dispose of all the little outlet it has by water at this time, and when it is deemed proper by the Council to dispose of a part or the whole thereof, the sale or lease must conform to the statute and be sold or leased to the highest bidder; we therefore recommend that no portion of said water front be sold or leased at this time."
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OAKLAND TOWNSHIP-CITY OF OAKLAND.
In his message of March 15, 1869, Mayor Merritt says on this subject: " At the time of the organization of the Water Front Company, I was elected a Director, which position I accepted, the City Council having passed a resolution requesting me to do so. One share of the stock of the company was transferred to enable me to fill that position. Soon after the company was organized, Mr. Calvin Brown, an engineer of skill and reputation, was employed by the company to make a survey of the entire water front of Oakland and to report to that Board his views on the most advisable plan of improvements to be adopted. That gentleman entered upon his duties with zeal, made a hydrographical survey of the creek, the bar, and the entire water front, and presented a very elaborate and interesting report accompanied with a map. Not having that report at hand I can only state some facts which it establishes beyond controversy. I will allude to some of the more important. The water in the creek for miles in extent is of sufficient depth to accommodate vessels of ordinary size at any time of tide. To dredge the bar and convert the creek into a safe and commodi- ous harbor, will cost not exceeding two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. But little dredging will be required to keep the passage open, when the channel is once cut, as the constant flow of the tide will prevent considerable deposit, etc.
" I am informed that a suitable dredger has been purchased and is now about due from the Atlantic States, and will be put to work soon after its arrival.
"I know the policy which the Water Front Company designs to pursue is a lib- eral one, and will tend to encourage improvements on the water front, stimulate manufacturing business, and thereby add to the existing growth and prosperity of Oakland. The interests of the Water Front Company and the citizens of Oakland are so nicely blended that the two cannot be separated; the line of demarkation can- not be drawn; whatever promotes the interests of the one must reflect its advantages upon the other. It is not easy for any one to fully appreciate or comprehend the many advantages which Oakland will derive from the dredging of the bar, thereby converting the creek into a safe and commodious harbor for vessels; one of these which I regard as the most important to Oakland is the opening up of a new route by giving additional facilities of communication with San Francisco." Certainly the dredging of the creek and the bar at its mouth were highly important to the city of Oakland; but there was another matter of still more importance to it, namely, action to recover the entire water front, a subject which the worshipful Mayor has rather ingeniously burked in the above remarks.
On March 1, 1869, John B. Felton was elected Mayor of the city of Oakland. When put in nomination, the News, a periodical published in Oakland, says of Mr. Felton's candidature: "We were somewhat amused by a remark made by a 'sover- eign' in reply to a question as to how he liked the ticket headed by John B. Felton. ' Too much water front ! Too much water front !' said the voter, who, by the way, is a property-holder, who pays considerable taxes. We reflected a moment and our memory brought us back to the night when land-owner and laborer, mechanic and business man, crowded Shattuck & Hillegass' Hall to suffocation for the purpose of petitioning the Legislature to pass an enabling Act so that the title to the water front should be forever settled, and the terminus of the Pacific Railroad thus secured for Oakland. We do not recollect of seeing at that meeting the particular individual
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