USA > California > Amador County > History of Amador County, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 39
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INCIDENTS OF THE FRESHET.
The buildings taken away from the foot of Broad- way and Main streets, with their contents, went tearing and crashing down the canon, and for some weeks, broken doors, windows, counters, and all
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kinds of goods, were thrown ashore or fished out of the creek below. One day, Dr. Crawford and Sam Folger, the latter now in business in Jackson, were engaged with others in wrecking in Jackson valley. Now a door, which they recognized as coming from the Young America saloon, would come to land; then a window from the American Hotel; then a part of the outhouse of the Louisiana, the parties extracting a good deal of fun out of the work. A bottle of some kind of liquor, miraculously preserved from breaking, during its journey through the Devil's Mill, as the cañon was called, came rolling and bobbing along, and was fished out. Now the Young America had the reputation of keeping the best liquors in the county. If it should be some of Bristow's whisky, as Mrs. Toodles says, "it would come so handy;" but there were barbers' and doctors' shops carried away also, and it might be hair oil, or hair dye, or some other horrible stuff, and it naturally fell to the Doctor to try it. He smelled and tasted, and smelled and. tasted again, and ominously shook his head. "Better not touch it, Folger, it may be poison. Let me try it again;" taking a liberal sam- ple, again shaking his head, but the indescribable look of satisfaction over-spreading his countenance, induced Folger to test it also. It was some of Bris- tow's best, and a very acceptable find to the wet fishermen.
THE HANGING-TREE.
This tree which has become noted wherever the name of California is known, formerly stood near Louis Tellier's saloon, and was a live-oak, with sev- eral branching trunks. It was never very beautiful, but was a source of so much pride to the citizens, on account of its history, that its likeness was engraved on the county seal, so that its appearance is not likely to be forgotten.
Its use at first as a hanging-tree, was quite acci- dental; but in the course of time the tree was a terrible hint for the quick solution of a criminal case, and when the tree was injured by the great fire of August, 1862, so as to necessitate the cutting of it down, the feeling regarding its fate was not altogether sorrowful.
The first case was "Coyote Joe," an Indian, charged with killing a blacksmith at the Gate, for the purpose of getting his money. He was tried by a jury of miners, Dr. Pitt acting as foreman, and found guilty, as some of the specimens the black- smith was known to have, were found on the Indian's person. The trial was in a restaurant, not far from the tree, and he was soon hanging.
The second case was that of a Chileno, who stabbed a woman who was his cousin; he was tried by a jury of citizens, found guilty, and shortly hung.
In 1851, two Frenchmen were murdered in Squaw gulch near the Gate. One was stabbed with a long bowie-knife thirteen times, dying immediately; the other, though cut five or six times, lived for several days. Suspicions were fixed upon a young Mexican,
who was afterwards arrested by Waterman H. Nel- son, Sheriff of Calaveras county (this being before the organization of Amador) at Sacramento, and brought to Jackson handcuffed to another young Mexican who had been arrested for horse-stealing. The examination was before Bruce Husband, Justice of the Peace. The testimony was so positive that there was no doubt of the guilt of the accused, and as the atrocious details of the murder came out the French portion of the population became excited beyond all control, and they determined to hang the Mexican at all hazards, and so told the Sheriff, who determined that the prisoner should be taken to Mokelumne Hill for trial. The French armed them- selves with shot-guns, and the Americans with pistols, the latter with the intention of defending Nelson if he was assaulted. The murderer was still hand- cuffed to the other Mexican who was arrested for horse-stealing. How to get them apart was the question, and at one time it seemed as if both would be hanged together, but Martell, the blacksmith, finally cut the chain in two, releasing the horse-thief. Now commenced the exciting part of the affair. The Frenchmen had assured Nelson that they would not hurt him. The Americans looked on, admiring the pluck of the officer, caring little what became of the " greaser." It was remarked that if one shot-gun went off there would be fifty dead men in five min- utes. Twice the rope was placed around the fellow's neck, and twice it was eut by the Sheriff. Sompayrac, a French merchant, was asked to say something to allay the excitement, but he only shouted, "Hang him! hang him!" Nelson was finally overpowered and the Mexican was hanged. It may be a matter of doubt whether Nelson's apparent struggle to maintain the dignity of the law was not half, at least, in the interest of the mob, as no arms were used or exhibited by him.
The other prisoner got out of the crowd and went to the Union Hotel. The proprietor, Colonel Allen, remarked that the crowd would hang him also. " Did you steal a horse ?" asked Allen of him. "Yes, I took a horse and rode him." · (Allen.) " You sabe este camino?" pointing to a trail that led down the creek. "Si Señor." (Allen.) "Vamos," giving the Mexican a shove. IIe left, making excellent time as long as he was in sight, and thus escaped, for that day at least, a hanging.
Some accounts state that the two Mexicans were hanged, but the above statement seems to be the most authentic.
In 1853, a party of Mexicans, said to have been Joaquin's band, robbed some Chinamen, killing two of them and tying the others on the creek below the town. Joe Lake, a butcher, in his rounds to sell his meat, rode up to the camp at the time the robbery was going on, and was killed by the Mexicans. One Chinaman escaping, came to the town and gave infor- mation of the tragedy. A party was made up and the Mexicans were pursued and overtaken; in the
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running fight which ensued one was severely wounded and was afterwards arrested in Lancha Plana, taken to Jackson and hanged.
In 1854, in March or April, a Chileno living in Jackson, attempted to rob a China camp on Cook's gulch, west of Jackson. The Chinamen got the bet- ter of him, tied him and brought him to town, where he paid the penalty of his crime by hanging.
March 23, 1854, a Swede, name unknown, was hung at Jackson, for the stealing of a horse from Evans and Askey. As there has been much talk of this matter, a short account of the stealing of the horse and its subsequent recovery, and the capture of the man, may not be out of place: The horse, a valuable and noticeable one, was taken from the stable on the night of the 17th. Suspicion immedi- ately fixed itself on the person afterwards arrested, who had been camping in the vicinity, with no ostensible occupation. The camp was visited, but the man was gone. A blanket stolen at the same time, was found there, however, which served to confirm the suspicion with regard to the author of the theft. He was traced out of town towards the south; thence he turned north, making a wide cir- cuit, and got on the Drytown road. At the Cos- umnes ferry, the man and horse crossed early in the morning, both man and horse being identified, as they were subsequently at Mud Springs (El Dorado). Here they lost the trail for one day, but recovered it again on the Auburn road, both horse and man being in company. Here he offered to sell the horse, saying that he had sold the mate for three hundred dollars. He was eventually captured near Bridgeport, in Nevada county. The chain of evidence establishing his possession of the horse from the time of the stealing to his capture, seemed perfect. From these circumstances, no value what- ever was attached to the bill of sale which he pro- duced, which read as follows,-
"Sac. City, March 16, 154.
"Mr. C. Bennet Bot of C. Cuper, for one gray horse, Three Hundred & Forty Dollars. Title guar- anteed.
" W. Holman, Auctioneer. C. CUPER."
Nor of the story which he told of having purchased the horse from a traveler on the road, with the transfer of the bill of sale.
On the way back, hundreds recognized both man and horse, so there seems no possible doubt of the guilt of the man, whatever may be thought of the hanging. He had a trial of only a few minutes, on the steps of the Louisiana House, at sunrise, soon after coming to the town. A rope was put around his neck, and he was hurried to the tree, only a few people being present. He tried to explain away the charge against him, saying that he bought the horse of a traveler, who transferred the bill of sale with the horse. He could not speak English, and Levin- sky, whose store was near, interpreted for him. His body hung until noon before it was cut down.
There was a valuable ring on one of his fingers. A man, now living in Jackson, whose name does not deserve mention in this book, not being able to pull the ring off the swollen finger, cut it off; some say on a butcher's block, which was near by. It is also current that the several claimants to the ring played a game of cards, to see who should have it.
Public opinion was very much against the lynchers in this affair, and the next Grand Jury found bills for a high crime against several prominent citizens, who took an active part in the matter, and they found it convenient to be absent from the town, at several subsequent courts, to give color to the legal fiction that the parties named in the indictments could not be found.
In 1855, two Mexicans tried to rob a China camp, about four miles below Jackson. They met with unexpected resistance; one being stunned with a blow from a hatchet, the other making his escape. The Chinamen wound their prisoner with ropes from head to foot, so tightly that he could not bend, and then guyed him up liked a smoke-stack to a steam saw-mill, and sent to town for help to arrest him. When the whites got there they found him standing in the middle of the camp with ropes reaching out from him, all around, holding him to his place. He was brought to town and hung.
August 10, 1855, Manuel Garcia, one of the Ranch- eria banditti, was wounded in the running fight on the Calaveras river, taken and carried to Campo Seco, from which place he was taken to Jackson by Perry and Eichelberger. He was immediately hung by the people.
Soon after this, or about the 15th of August, two Mexicans were hung for complicity in the Rancheria murders. Manuel Escobar, of the same party was the tenth and last. The tree was injured in the great fire of 1862, and was cut down.
GRISWOLD MURDER.
On November 7, 1857, Martin Van Buren Griswold was murdered under circumstances that attracted the attention of the people, not only of the county, but also throughout the State. Griswold was a daring, self-possessed, and powerful man, who crossed the plains to Oregon in 1848. On his arrival in Oregon he learned of the discovery of gold in California, and, with his usual decision of character, he immediately turned toward that place. He arrived in San Francisco in April, '49, and went to Placerville, where he mined with rather indifferent success, but afterward struck it rich at Oregon Bar, "making his pile." After traveling about California awhile, he started for New York by way of the city of Mexico. While there he got out of coin and went to the mint to get his dust exchanged for gold, which they agreed to do, but afterward insisted upon his taking silver. He brought the mint officers to a sense of right by drawing his revolver upon them, and departed with the gold coin. He reached New
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York without farther mishap, New Year's day, 1850. After spending a few weeks with his family, he started again for the Golden State, this time by way of Milwaukee and the great North-West, the then terra incognita, but now the great wheat-field of the world. Passing down the Red River of the North to the Selkirk settlements, he swung away toward the MeKenzie and Copper Mine rivers to the out- posts of the fur companies, and from thence made his way to Oregon, which place he reached Christ- mas day, 1850, having been nearly a year in making the trip, passing through the territory of twenty different tribes of Indians without a mishap. For some years he oscillated between San Diego and Siskiyou, San Francisco and the Sandwich Islands; was a prisoner among the Klamath Indians, from whom he escaped after two years of imprisonment, during which time he experienced many desperate adventures. He finally settled down with Horace Kilham, an extensive mine and ditch owner near Jackson. Large quantities of gold-dust were bought and sold at this place, the safe having at times fifty thousand dollars or more in it, a great tempta- tion to Chinamen (several of whom worked about the place) who were in the habit of working for a mere pittance. One day he was missing; on examina- tion the gold in the safc was also gone. For a moment suspicion fell on Griswold, but his friends scouted the idea of Griswold playing the scoundrel. Foul play was certain. With a man of his active temperament it was difficult to tell where he might not have been waylaid.
Hundreds of men from the adjoining mines were soon there; every possible contingency was can- vassed. It was discovered that the China cook was also gone, and had been seen some miles away in company with other Chinamen. A thorough search of the premises was now made, but not until the next day was any eluc to the mystery found, when the body of Griswold was found under the China- man's bed. Death was produced by two fractures of the skull, apparently by a blow from the rear, by a blunt instrument, though it was apparent that after the infliction of these wounds he had been struck in the front by some sharp instrument, again breaking the skull. To make assurance doubly sure, the murderers had drawn a chord tightly around the neck; but this was needless, the work was thoroughly done. In the room was found a heavy club, also a slung-shot, which had been seen in the possession of the Chinaman some weeks before the murder. Large rewards were offered for the appre- hension of the China cook and his friends, who had been seen with him, the Chinese residents of Jack- son contributing largely. The whole State was on the watch. The parties were arrested in Marysville through the assistance of the Chinese residents, there. The kcy of the safe, some jewelry, and other articles known to have been in the safe, were found on their persons. They received a fair trial, had the
benefit of able counsel, and were found guilty. Three werc sentenced to be hung, and were executed on the sixteenth day of April, 1858. The fourth one indicted was given the benefit of a doubt, and his trial postponed; but be anticipated justice by com- mitting suicide in his cell. Fou Seen, the cook who is supposed to have planned the murder, and called . in the other parties to assist in the matter, was none of the simple "Heathen Chinee," but had been an extensive traveler, and was, in China, a desperado.
GREAT FIRE AUGUST 23, 1862.
So far fires at Jackson had been comparatively insignificant. Drytown had been swept as if by a whirlwind. The citizens of Jackson had looked across the river and seen Mokelumne Hill, their an- cient rival, blackened with the charred remains of their town. Jackson had, to some extent, provided for a fire, having two fire-engines and a hook-and- ladder company. Shortly after one o'clock the alarm of fire was raised, and smoke was seen issuing from an out-building in the rear of the assay office. The firemen' were quickly at their posts, and for a few minutes it seemed that the firemen had the better ofit. There are different accounts as to the cause of the failure to control it; some say that the water in the tank or cistern failed; others that the assist- ant engineer ordered another stream from the main engine to be turned on without increasing the supply hose, which so weakened the force of the streams that they would not reach the fire. Whatever may have been the fault, the fire spread, and in a few minutes was beyond all control. The houses, mostly of pine, shriveling in the hot sun, caught like powder and flashed the fire from one to another, until the only question was to save life-property was not to be thought of. The Court House being some dis- tance from the fire, permitted the saving of the records; but the house itself went like a pile of brush. In some instances people had to make their escape from beseiged houses with wet blankets over their heads. Iron bars, onc inch by three, used for the support of balconies, though on the outside of the buildings, were seen to melt and fall from their own weight. A phenomenon occurred here that is much disputed: the smoke, rolling along the ground in the narrow alleys, would become so intensely heated by the flames above as to take fire and explode like powder. The Union Hotel was built around three sides of a quadrangle, which was filled with bedding that the occupants had thrown out of the windows in hopes of saving it, but the flames lapped over the place, and in an instant the whole mass added new strength to the hungry clement. Colonel Allen, the proprietor, left with his music-box under his arm, that being the only thing saved. Stoves, hardware, church-bells, and glass, were melted into one con- glomeration. The fire swept everything on the road towards Sacramento, till it reached the wagon-shop near Trenchel's brewery, where it was stayed with
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the aid of a hose used in that establishnient. On the south side it was met by the fire department from Mokelnmne Hill. At night the town was a smoking ruin, the tall, ghostly chimneys keeping watch over the scething embers, while the inhab- itants were camped on the surrounding hills, honse- · less and supperless. Children, for the first time in their lives, went supperless to bed, and that bed the earth, and the sky for the coverlet. There was no despair, however; no wringing of hands and shedding of tears. Before darkness came, lumber was en- gaged to rebuild some of the houses, and in the morning was actually awaiting the cooling of the hotashes and cinders. Provisions came pouring in from the surrounding towus, and there was no suffering. As the people sat around the smouldering ruins of the town, many incidents were related, which, if recorded, would be interesting reading now. Hair- breadth escapes of children and women snatched from burning buildings which fell a moment after, were common enough. In some instances, women seemed to have been helpless from fright; in others, the love for home seemed to be stronger than the love for life, and they had to be carried out by force.
The fire department eame in for its share of the heroie. "Some eynical man had predicted that in case of a general fire, the boys would lose their engine. When the engines failed, and the flames were flash- ing from street to street, most of the men ran to save their families, leaving but a few to see to the machine, and for a time it looked as if the prediction was to be verified. Two or three men, however, commenced tugging at it, when the cloud of smoke which enveloped them, flashed like an explosion of gas, compelling the men to get under the truck for protection; in a moment the smoke and flame cleared away, and the boys rolled it out.
After the fire was over many a deed of heroism and devotion came to light; for misfortunes have the good effect to bring to light the jewels of charac- ter that otherwise might have never shone through the inerustations of selfishness. The savings of years of industry were gone, but the indomitable energy and perseveranee that had built up the town were not destroyed, and the people went to work. A hundred new buildings were ereeted before the rainy season set in, and in one year all marks of the fire were effaced.
It has been impossible to collect anything like a full list of the losses; a few may be mentioned :-
Levinsky, $20,000; H. W. Allen, $15,000; W. L. McKimm, $7,000; J. Samuels, $15,000; Tellier, $1,000; Harris, $3,000; Evans & Askey $5,000; A. C. Brown, $40,000; Steckler & Co., $10,000; M. Bruml, $5,000; H. Kress, $3,500; Moses Medina, $7,000.
The following, from the California Spirit of the Times, edited by Marcus D. Boruck, will give a lively idea of the fire :-
" LETTER FROM MOKELUMNE IIILL.
"MOKELUMNE HILL, August 25, 1862.
" You are probably aware, by this time, of the total destruction of the beautiful and flourishing city of Jackson, Amador county. On Friday last I passed through it at four o'clock, and everything betokened peace and security; but it is now no more, the lines of the city being scarcely perceptible. I visited the place yesterday morning, and a more des- olate and melancholy looking place I never saw; and seeing it a short time before in all its beauty, I could more keenly appreciate the destruction which surrounded me on all sides. But the people, with that wonderful elasticity which so far foreibly char- acterizes all Californians, were smiling and passing jokes on each other with scarcely a thought of what had passed. With the exception of three or four brick buildings on Main street, and a few private residences to the right as you enter the town from this place, the city has been totally destroyed. All the principal buildings, including the Court House, theater, Amador Ledger, and Amador Dispatch print- ing offices, the post-office, Colonel Allen's Union Hotel, and the Louisiana Hotel of Evans & Askey being in the wreck and ruin.
" The smoke of the fire was seen at this place at fifteen minutes of two o'clock (five minutes after it broke out) and there could not have been less than a dozen opinions as to its locality; every other place but the right one having entered into its discussion. At last, Mr. Moses, the telegraph operator, said he could not get the operator at Jackson, as the cireuit was broken; and then all became satisfied that it was Jackson. The fire, in the meantime, had mate- rially decreased; but all of a sudden the flame and smoke could be seen ascending from the hill-tops, and the conflagration inereased with alarming rapid- ity. A large number of people from this place started for the scene (many of them on foot), a dis- tance of six miles, over the roughest kind of a mount- ain road, and the thermometer -, as high as you please. They arrived at the scene, however, in timc to save the houses of Mr. Coney and Mr. Axtell, situated on either side of the road this side of the gulch, and thus prevented the further spread of the fire in that direction; all they could do in the town itself, was to save the Masonic building. The fire broke out at twenty minutes of two o'clock, and at five o'clock the destruction. of the town was com- plete. When the alarm was first sounded, there was not the remotest idea entertained that the place was doomed, the city being provided with an cffec- tive fire department, and full cisterns of water. The fire broke out on the right hand side of Main street, as you leave the town for Sacramento, a few doors from Court street, an avenue which led direct to the Court House, and in the rear of the Ledger office. When the fire was first discovered, it was about as big as a man's hat. The apparatus was promptly brought out, and taken to the eistern on High street, a few doors from the Court House; the fire- men, under the direction of Chief Engineer Wells, working admirably. There was a fatal mistake in getting to work, which consisted in not placing one of the engines on Main street, where there was an abundance of water (the cisterns being full to the brim when I saw them yesterday morning), thus preventing the fire from bursting through on to the front, it having commenced in the rear from hot ashes having been thrown into a barrel which stood against a frame building. Both engines being at
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the same cistern, and that a small onc, it soon became exhausted, and in a short time the firemen were horror-stricken to find they were .drawing nothing but air. It was at this point that the peo- ple of this place saw the fire decrease, and then as suddenly increase, for at one time the firemen had the fire entirely under their control, when the Chief Engineer was compelled to give the order to change position; and, in carrying it out, before it could be accomplished, the fire gained such headway on them that they could not master it, and spread three dif- ferent ways, barcly giving them time to save their apparatus, with a loss of four hundred and fifty feet of Button's patent coupling hose. It was then that no further reliance could be placed in the fire depart- ment, and the apparatus was abandoned, except by a few who removed it to a place of safety. The fire now spread with fearful strides, which, combined with the intense heat of the weather, added to the terror of the scene. The safety of women and chil- dren was looked to, and an effort made to save property, but it was useless. The fire swallowed up everything in its capacious maw, and when the sun went down on the disaster, the town, including all the provision in it, was turned to ashes.
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