History of California, Volume VI, Part 3

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe
Publication date: 1885-1890
Publisher: San Francisco, Calif. : The History Company, publishers
Number of Pages: 816

USA > California > History of California, Volume VI > Part 3

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

47 The present town of Rio Vista lies just below the site. Another version has it that the three families settled there were carried away by the gold- fever, and that 'halachummuck' was called out by Indians when they here killed a party of starving hunters.

48 Cal. Star, Oct. 23, 1847; Buffum's Four Months, 20

Here rose, later, e hamlet of Collinsville.

NAPA AND SONOMA VALLEYS.

superiority of the site for a metropolis is unequalled on the Pacific seaboard, and unsurpassed by any spot in the world, lying as it does at the junction of the valley outlet with the head of ocean navigation, with fine anchorage and land-locked harbor, easy ferriage across the bay, fine climate, smooth and slightly ris- ing ground, with a magnificent view over bays and isles, and the lovely valley of the contra costa nestling at the foot of Mount Diablo. And Benicia, as it was finally called, prospered under the energetic man- agement. Although less than a year old, it now boasted nearly a score of buildings, with two hundred lots sold, a serviceable ferry, and with prospects that, utterly eclipsing those of adjoining aspirants, were creating a flutter of alarm in the city at the Gate.49

Passing on the extreme right the Armijo rancho,50 and proceeding up the Napa Valley, now famed alike for its scenery and vineyards, we find a large number of settlers. Foremost among them is the veteran trapper, George Yount, who in 1836 built here the first American block-house of the country, as well as the first flour and saw mill, and extended warm hos- pitality to subsequent comers. North of him entered soon afterward J. B. Chiles and William Pope into the small valleys bearing their names, and E. T. Bale and John York.51 The Berreyesa brothers oc- cupy their large valley across the range, on the head- waters of Putah Creek; and on the site of the present Napa City, just about to be laid out, stand the two houses of Cayetano Juarez and Nicolás Higuera, who had settled on this spot in 1840, followed by Salvador Vallejo, and later by Joel P. Walker and Nathan

49 Stephen Cooper was alcalde. For other names, see preceding volume, v. 672 et seq.

50 Properly in Suisun Valley, near the present Fairfield, where bordered also the grants of Suisun and Suscol, the latter claimed by Vallejo, but which claim was rejected. Mare Island was used as a stock-range by V. Castro, its grantee.

51 At the present St Helena and Calistoga, respectively. With Yount was C. Hopper; with Pope, Barnett; and with Chiles, Baldridge. Below extended the Chimiles grant of J. I. Berreyesa.

CALIFORNIA JUST PRIOR TO THE GOLD DISCOVERY.

Coombs; ana by John Rose and J. C. Davis, who in 1846 built a schooner here, and were now erecting a mill for Vallejo. 52 Northward, in the region round Clear Lake, Stone and Kelsey occupy a stock-range, and George Rock holds the Guenoc rancho.53

The similar and parallel valley of Sonoma, signifying ' of the moon,' is even more thickly occupied under the auspices of M. G. Vallejo, the potentate of this region and ranking foremost among Hispano-Cal- ifornians. This town of Sonoma, founded as a pre- sidio thirteen years before, near the dilapidated mis- sion Solano, claims now a population of 260, under Alcalde Lilburn W. Boggs, with twoscore houses, among which the two-story adobe of the general is regarded as one of the most imposing in the country. The barrack is occupied by a company of New York volunteers under Captain Brackett, which adds greatly to the animation of the place. Several members of Vallejo's family occupy lands above and below on Sonoma Creek, as, for instance, Jacob P. Leese; west- ward on Petaluma Creek, Juan Miranda and family have settled; above are James Hudspeth, the large grant of the Carrillos,54 and the fertile ranchos of Mark West and John B. R. Cooper, the latter with mill and smithy. At Bodega, Stephen Smith had in 1846 established a saw-mill, worked by the first steam-engine in California, and obtained a vast grant,55 which embraced the former Russian settlement with its dismantled stockade fort. Edward M. McIntosh and James Dawson's widow hold the adjoining ran- chos of Jonive and Pogolomi, the latter having planted a vineyard on the Estero Americano. Above on the

52 There were a number of other settlers, nearly four score, by this time, and two saw-mills and two flour-mills. Cul. Star, Jan. 22, April 1, 1848.

53 Of 21,000 acres. J. P. Leese and the Vallejos had stock, the latter claim- ing the Lupyomi tract of 16 leagues, which was rejected, and Rob F Ridley that of Collayomi of 8,000 acres, which was confirmed.

5& Mrs Carrillo's covering the present Santa Rosa, and Joaquin Carrillo's that of Sebastopol.

55 Of 35,000 acres.

Both men had been sailors, the former from Scotland, the other from Erin.

THE NORTHERN SEABOARD.

coast are the tracts of William Benitz and Ernest Rufus, the latter with a grist-mill.56 Along Russian River stretches the Sotoyome grant of H. D. Fitch, with vineyards and mill.57 Cyrus Alexander, lately Fitch's agent, had occupied Alexander Valley, and below him now live Lindsay Carson and Louis Le- gendre.58

The hilly peninsula between the bay and ocean, named after the Indian chief Marin, is indebted for a comparatively compact occupation mainly to its posi- tion relative to other settlements, and to the impulse given by the now secularized and decaying mission establishment of San Rafael. This lovely spot was budding into a town, and contained several settlers,59 besides Timoteo Murphy, in charge of the mission es- tate. Above extend the tracts of Novato60 and Ni- casio, the latter owned by James Black,61 and adjoin- ing, those of Ramon Mesa and Bartolomé Bojorques. Rafael García and Gregorio Briones are located on the ranchos of Tomales and Bolinas, owning many cattle; and William A. Richardson holds that of Sau- zalito, which is already an anchorage and supply sta- tion,62 yet with aspirations cramped by the closely pressing hills, and overshadowed by the looming me- tropolis. 63

56 Erected by H. Hägler on Walhalla River, which is now usually called Gualala River.

51 Covering the present site of Healdsburg.

58 Among other settlers may be mentioned Frank Bedwell, Mose Carson, Fred. Starke, Hoeppner, Wilson, the Piñas, and the Gordons.

59 Among them Mrs Merriner and sons, Jacob and J. O. B .; Short and Mrs Miller near by. Ignacio Pacheco was justice of the peace.

60 Obtained by F. Fales in 1839 and transferred to Leese.

I Who had obtained it from J. O'Farrell, in exchange for his grant near Bodega.

62 The earliest settler here, since 1826, had been John J. Read, who subse- quently obtained the Corte de Madera rancho, where he planted orchards and erected a grist-mill, followed by a saw-mill in 1843, the year of his death. Angel Island was for a time occupied by A. M. Osio. Among other settlers were Martin and Tom Wood, the latter a famous vaquero.

63 On the map presented I mark with preference the names of settlers, giving the rancho only when the actnal holder is in doubt, as represented by proxy or tenant, or claiming merely by virtue of grant. The preceding mat- ter has been drawn from official documents, books, and manuscripts, with no small supplementing by the mouths of living men

CALIFORNIA JUST PRIOR TO THE GOLD DISCOVERY.

Such is the detail of the picture which I wish to present of central and northern California in Jan- uary 1848. I will complete it with some generalities of physical features and population, thus giving as a whole the inhabitants and their environment.

It is the dawn of history in these parts, presently to be followed by a golden sunlight flooding the whole western world. All along the centuries Cali- fornia had lain slumbering, wrapt in obscurity, and lulled by the monotone of ocean. The first fitful dreams of explorers in search of an ever-eluding strait, of cities stored with treasures, had subsided into pastoral scenes, with converts and settlers clus- tering round white-walled missions in the shadow of the cross. Then came the awakening, impelled by a ruder invasion of soldiers and land-greedy backwoods- men, the premonitory ripple of international interest and world-absorbing excitement.

Strewn lavishly about is what men most covet, those portions of nature's handiwork called wealth and wealth-making material, the acquisition of which is the great burden progressive men conventionally lay upon themselves as the price of their civilization. These resources reveal themselves in the long snow-clad uplands of the Sierra, with their timber and metals, in the northern foothills, revelling in perennial spring, and in the semi-tropic vegetation of the central and southern valleys. The extremes of heat and cold, of desert aridity and unhealthy rankness, are rare and of small extent, serving rather to illustrate as rem- nants the method and means of nature in producing one of her masterpieces. Such are the unsightly marshes in different localities; the Colorado desert bordering the river of that name, and its link along the eastern declivity of the Sierra Nevada with the great basin of the interior, which in the south is marked by a dismal stretch of bare ridges and inter- vening valleys of sand and volcanic scoria, with occa- sional muddy salt pools and cracked surfaces frosted

SOME PHYSICAL FEATURES.

with alkali, and in the south by a rugged lake basin. Yet even here the evil is superficial, for nature has left compensation in many valuable minerals; and art promises to continue her task of reclamation by means of palm-lined canals, health-bringing eucalyptus groves, and rain-inviting forests.

It is a terrane younger than the eastern seaboard, wrought not by the same slow and prosy process of ordinary strata formation, but in many a fit of pas- sion, with upheavals and burstings asunder, with surg- ing floods and scorching blasts. The soil yet quivers and is quick with electric force, and climatic moods are fitful as ever; here a gentle summer's holiday, there a winter of magnificent disorder; between, ex- hilarating spring, with buds and freshness, and beyond, a torrid fringe, parched and enervating. Side by side in close proximity are decided differences, with a partial subordination of latitude and season to local causes. Thus, on the peninsula of San Francisco winter appears in vernal warmth and vigor, and sum- mer as damp and chilly autumn, while under the shel- ter of some ridge, or farther from the ocean, summer is hot and arid, and winter cold and frosty.

While configuration permits surprises, it also tem- pers them, and as a rule the variations are not sud- den. The sea breezes are fairly constant whenever their refreshing presence is most needed, leaving rarely a night uncooled; and the seasons are marked enough within their mild extremes. At San Fran- cisco a snow-fall is almost unknown, and a thunder- storm or a hot night extremely rare. Indeed, the sweltering days number scarcely half a dozen during the year. The average temperature is about 56 de- grees Fahrenheit, which is the mean for spring. In summer and autumn this rises to 60 and 59, respect- ively, falling in winter to 51, while at Sacramento the average is 58 degrees, with 56°, 69°, 61°, and 45° for the four seasons respectively. At Humboldt Bay, in the north, the temperature varies from 43 degrees in

CALIFORNIA JUST PRIOR TO THE GOLD DISCOVERY.

the winter to 57° in the summer, averaging 512°; and at San Diego, in the south, it ranges as the extremes from 52 to 71 degrees,64 while the average of summer and winter and night and day does not vary over ten degrees.

In summer an equilibrium is approached; in winter the tiresome reserve is broken. By early autumn a wide-spread deadness obtains; the hills wear a bleached appearance, the smaller streams are empty, the plain is parched and dusty, the soil cracked in fissures from excessive dryness; green fields have turned sere and yellow, and the weeds snap like glass when trodden on. It is the period of nature's repose. The grass is not dead, but sleepeth. When the winter rains begin, in November, after a respite of six months, vegetal life revives; the softened soil puts on fresh garments; the arid waste blossoms into a garden. The cooler air of winter condenses the vapor-laden winds of ocean, which, during the preceding months, are sapped of their moisture by the hot and thirsty air. And all this is effected with only half the amount of rain fall- ing in the Atlantic states, the average at San Fran- cisco being little over twenty inches annually, at Sacramento one tenth less, and at San Diego one half; while in the farther north the fall is heavier and more evenly distributed.

In this dry, exhilarating atmosphere the effect of the sun is not so depressing as in moister regions, and with cool, refreshing nights, the hottest days are bear- able. It is one of the most vitalizing of climates for mind and body, ever stimulating to activity and en- joyment. Land and sea vie with each other in life- giving supremacy, while man steps in to enjoy the benefits. When the one rises in undue warmth, the other frowns it down; when one grows cold and sul- len, the other beams in happy sunshine. Winds and

64 Severe extremes are confined to a few torrid spots like Fort Yuma, and to the summits of the eastern ranges. Comprehensive data on climate in Hittell's Comm. and Indust., 62-81.

THE AWAKENING AT HAND.

currents, sun and configuration, the warm stream from ancient Cathay, and the dominating mountains, all aid in the equalization of differences.

Thus lay the valley of California a-dreaming, with visions of empire far down the vistas of time, when behold, the great awakening is already at hand! Even now noiseless bells are ringing the ingathering of the nations; for here is presently to be found that cold, impassive element which civilization accepts as its symbol of the Most Desirable, and for which accord- ingly all men perform pilgrimage and crusade, to toil and fight and die.

CHAPTER II.

THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD.

JANUARY, 1848.

SITUATION OF SUTTER-HIS NEED OF LUMBER-SEARCH FOR A MILL SITE IN THE MOUNTAINS-CULUMA-JAMES W. MARSHALL-THE BUILDING OF A SAW-MILL DETERMINED UPON-A PARTY SETS FORTH-ITS PERSONNEL -. CHARACTER OF MARSHALL-THE FINDING OF GOLD-WHAT MARSHALL AND HIS MEN THOUGHT OF IT-MARSHALL RIDES TO NEW HELVETIA AND INFORMS SUTTER-THE INTERVIEW-SUTTER VISITS THE MILL-ATTEMPT TO SECURE THE INDIAN TITLE TO THE LAND.

JOHN A. SUTTER was the potentate of the Sacra- mento, as we have seen. He had houses and lands, flocks and herds, mills and machinery; he counted his skilled artisans by the score, and his savage retainers by the hundred. He was, moreover, a man of prog- ress. Although he had come from cultured Europe, and had established himself in an American wilderness, he had no thought of drifting into savagism.

Among his more pressing wants at this moment was a saw-mill. A larger supply of lumber was needed for a multitude of purposes. Fencing was wanted. The flour-mills, then in course of construction at Brighton, would take a large quantity; the neighbors would buy some, and boards might profitably be sent to San Francisco, instead of bringing them from that direction.1 There were no good forest trees, with

1 Since 1845 Sutter had obtained lumber from the mountains, got out by whip-saws. Bidwell's Cal. 1841-8, MS., 226. The author of this most valu- able manuscript informs me further that Sutter had for years contemplated building a saw-mill in order to avoid the labor and cost of sawing lumber by hand in the redwoods on the coast, and bringing it round by the bay in his vessel. With this object he at various times sent exploring parties into the ( 26 )

CULUMA, BEAUTIFUL VALE.

the requisite water-power, nearer than the foothills of the mountains to the east. Just what point along this base line would prove most suitable, search would determine; and for some time past this search had been going on, until it was interrupted by the war of conquest. The war being over, explorations were renewed.

Twoscore miles above Sutter's Fort, a short dis- tance up the south branch of American River, the rocky gateway opens, and the mountains recede to the south, leaving in their wake softly rounded hills cov- ered with pine, balsam and oak, while on the north are somewhat abrupt and rocky slopes, patched with grease-wood and chemisal, and streaked with the deepening shades of narrow gulches. Between these bounds is a valley four miles in circumference, with red soil now covered by a thin verdure, shaded here and there by low bushes and stately groves. Culuma, ' beautiful vale,'2 the place was called. At times sunk in isolation, at times it was stirred by the presence of a tribe of savages bearing its name, whose several generations here cradled, after weary roaming, sought repose upon the banks of a useful, happy, and some- times frolicsome stream. Within the half-year civil- ization had penetrated these precincts, to break the periodic solitude with the sound of axe and rifle; for here the saw-mill men had come, marking their course by a tree-blazed route, presently to show the way to the place where was now to be played the first scene of a drama which had for its audience the world.

Among the retainers of the Swiss hacendado at this time was a native of New Jersey, James Wilson Marshall, a man of thirty-three years, who after drift- ing in the western states as carpenter and farmer,3

mountains. Bidwell himself, in company with Semple, was on one of these unsuccessful expeditions in 1846. Mrs Wimmer states that in June 1847 she made ready her household effects to go to Battle Creek, where a saw-mill was to be erected, but the men changed their plans and went to Coloma.

2 We of to-day write Coloma, and apply the name to the town risen there.

3 Born in 1812 in Hope township, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, where

THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD.

came hither by way of Oregon to California. In July 1845 he entered the service of Sutter, and was duly valued as a good mechanic. By and by he secured a grant of land on Butte Creek,4 on which he placed some live-stock, and went to work. During his ab- sence in the war southward, this was lost or stolen; and somewhat discouraged, he turned again to Sutter, and readily entered into his views for building a saw- mill.5

The old difficulty of finding a site still remained, and several exploring excursions were now made by Marshall, sometimes accompanied by Sutter, and by others in Sutter's service.6 On the 16th of May, 1847, Marshall set out on one of these journeys, accompanied by an Indian guide and two white men, Treador and Graves.7 On the 20th they were joined by one Gin- gery, who had been exploring with the same object on the Cosumnes. They travelled up the stream now called Weber Creek to its head, pushed on to the American River, discovered Culuma, and settled upon this place as the best they had found, uniting as it did the requisite water-power and timber, with a

his father had initiated him into his trade as wagon-builder. Shortly after his twenty-first birthday the prevailing westward current of migration carried him through Indiana and Illinois to Missouri. Here he took up a homestead land claim, and bid fair to prosper, when fever and ague brought him low, whereupon, in 1844, he sought the Pacific Coast. Parsons' Life of Marshall, 6-8. He started in May 1844, and crossed by way of Fort Hall to Oregon, where he wintered. He then joined the McMahon-Clyman party for Califor- nia. See Hist. Cal., iv. 731, this series.

4 Bought, says Parsons, from S. J. Hensley.

5 Marshall claims to have first proposed the scheme to Sutter. Hutchings' Mag., ii. 199. This is doubtful, as shown elsewhere, and is in any event immaterial.

6 Marshall says that while stocking the ploughs, three men, Gingery, Wim- mer, and MeLellan, who had heard of his contemplated trip, undertook one themselves, after obtaining what information and directions they could from Marshall. Wimmer found timber and a trail on what is now known as the Diamond Springs road, and the 13th of May he and Gingery began work some thirteen miles west of the place where the Shingle Springs house subsequently stood. Gingery was afterward with Marshall when the latter discovered the site of the Coloma mill.

7 Marshall implies that this was his first trip. Sutter states definitely, 'He went out several times to look for a site. I was with him twice on these occasions. I was not with him when he determined the site of the mill.' Sutter's Pers. Rem., MS., 160-1.

BUILDING THE MILL.

possible roadway to the fort.8 Sutter resolved to lose no time in erecting the mill, and invited Marshall to join him as partner.9 The agreement was signed in the latter part of August,10 and shortly afterward Marshall set out with his party, carrying tools and supplies on Mexican ox-carts, and driving a flock of sheep for food. A week was occupied by the journey.11 Shelter being the first thing required on arrival, a double log house was erected, with a passage-way between the two parts, distant a quarter of a mile or more from the mill site.12 Subsequently two other cabins were constructed nearer the site. By New- Year's day the mill frame had risen, and a fortnight

8 Marshall estimated that even then the lumber would have to be hauled 18 miles, and could be rafted the rest of the way. A mission Indian, the alcalde of the Cosumnes, is said to have been sent to solve some doubts con- cerning the site. Marshall must indeed have been well disciplined. Not many men of his temperament would have permitted an Indian to verify his doubted word.

9A contract was drawn up by John Bidwell, clerk, in which Sutter agreed to furnish the men and means, while Marshall was to superintend the con- struction, and conduct work at the mill after its completion. It is difficult to determine what the exact terms of this contract were. Sutter merely re- marks that he gave Marshall an interest in the mill. Pers. Rem., MS., 160. Bidwell says nothing more than that he drew np the agreement. Cal. 1841-8, MS., 228. Marshall, in his communication to Hutchings' Magazine, con- tents himself with saying that after returning from his second trip, the ‘co- partnership was completed.' Parsons, in his Life of Marshall, 79-80, is more explicit. 'The terms of this agreement,' he writes, 'were to the effect that Sutter should furnish the capital to build a mill on a site selected by Marshall, who was to be the active partner, and to run the mill, receiving certain com- pensation for so doing. A verbal agreement was also entered into between the parties, to the effect that if at the close of the Mexican war then pending California should belong to Mexico, Sutter as a citizen of that republic should possess the mill site, Marshall retaining his rights to mill privileges, and to cut timber, etc .; while if the country was ceded to the United States, Mar- shall as an American citizen should own the property.' In the same work, p. 177, is an affidavit of John Winters, which certifies that he, Winters, and Alden S. Bagley purchased, in Dec. 1848, John A. Sutter's interest in the Coloma mill-which interest was one half-for $6,000, and also a third of the interest of Marshall for $2,000, which implies that Marshall then owned the other half. Mrs Wimmer, in her narrative, says that Sutter and Marshall were equal partners. S. F. Bulletin, Dec. 19, 1874.

10 Marshall says Aug. 27th; Parsons, Aug. 19th; Bidwell, in a letter to the author, Aug. or Sept.

11 Mrs Wimmer makes the time a fortnight.

12 One part of the house was occupied by the men, and the other part by the Wimmers, Mrs Wimmer cooking for the company. About the close of the year, however, a dispute arose, whereupon the men built for themselves a cabin near the half-completed mill, and conducted their own culinary depart- ment. Their food was chiefly salt salmon and boiled wheat. Wimmer's young sons assisted with the teaming.

THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD.

later the brush dam was finished, although not till the fortitude of Marshall and his men had been tried by a flood which threatened to sweep away the whole structure.

Another trouble arose with the tail-race. In order to economize labor, a dry channel had been selected, forty or fifty rods long, which had to be deepened and widened. This involved some blasting at the upper end; but elsewhere it was found necessary merely to loosen the earth in the bed, throwing out the larger

1,200

FORK

GRAVEL BANK

Saw-mill

MER

+ Gold first found

Tail Race

Wright's Store

Marshall's

Road to Sutter's Fort

SCENE OF DISCOVERY.

stones, and let the water during the night pass through the sluice-gate to wash away the débris.

It was a busy scene presented at this advance post of civilization, at the foot of the towering Sierra, and it was fitly participated in by eight aboriginal lords of the soil, partly trained at New Helvetia. The half- score of white men were mostly Mormons of the dis- banded battalion, even now about to turn their faces toward the new Zion. A family was represented in the wife and children of Peter L. Wimmer,13 the as-

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of California, Volume VI, Part 3

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe Publication date: 1885-1890 Publisher: San Francisco, Calif. : The History Company, publishers Number of Pages: 816

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe
Publication date: 1885-1890
Publisher: San Francisco, Calif. : The History Company, publishers
Number of Pages: 816