USA > California > History of California, Volume VI > Part 51
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454
CITY BUILDING.
120,000 cubic yards of earth were used for the embankment; cost, $175,000. Sac. Illust., 18; Culver's Direct., 80-1; S. F. Picayune, Sept. 16, Dec. 31, 1850; S. F. Herald, Oct. 16, 1850. Wages $75 a month. Sac. Transcript, Sept. 30, 1850.
After this came the squatter riot, long brewing under the direction of unprincipled men, who, on the assumption of a flaw in Sutter's title, sought to wrest unoccupied lots from him, and more especially from speculators. On the first bloody encounter, however, with the resolute citizens, in August 1850, the organization of squatters gave away. It had been unfortunate in its association with criminals, as well as with the lawless element, which during the autumn of 1849 had begun to rise, and which in 1851 provoked a purifying vigilance movement. Aside from the disorder and bloodshed, it injured the city by shaking confidence in titles, and the flood and increased taxation caused a depression in real estate, which fell from an inflated valua- tion of nearly $8,000,000 in 1850 to less than $5,000,000 in 1852. The con- sequent lapse of mortgages and effect of over-speculation precipitated in August and September 1850 the financial crisis involving the leading banks and merchants.
The revival of business in the spring had sustained values for a time, but as mortgage foreclosures followed one upon the other, embarrassment spread, till in Aug. and Sept. 1850 the chief bankers closed their doors, headed by Barton, Lee, Baker, & Co., who represented over a million, followed by Henley, McKnight, & Co., and Warbass & Co., and by a number of mer- chants. Sac. Transcript, May 29, 1850, names Hensley, Merrill, and King among the leading bankers. Notwithstanding the increasing expanse of the city, with more substantial buildings and a larger population, property assess- ments rose very slowly to somewhat over $7,000,000 in 1857, declining once more gradually to $4,400,000 in 1867, without just cause, for in 1872 they jumped to nearly $16,000,000.
The early days soon passed away when a man might leave his bag of gold anywhere with confidence, as Little, Stat., MS., 5-6, Barston, Stat., MS., 3, glowingly relate. In the autumn of 1849 an organized band of thieves was raiding in the city, and after this reports of robberies are frequent. Placer Times, Nov. 17, 24, 1849; Jan. 5, Feb. 16, Apr. 13, May 8, 26, 1850. A duel is recorded in Id., Oct. 13, 1849; Pac. News, May 3, 1850, etc.
On May 8th a night-watch of 10 men was ordered to be established. Sac. Transcript, June 29, 1850. There had been a prison brig and a military com- pany since Nov. 1849. Placer Times, Nov. 24, 1849; May 22, 1850; Sac. Direct., 1871, 65. The first trial, of C. E. Pickett, for justifiable homicide, took place Jan. 1849; the first criminal conviction of a thief, on the records, Nov. 8, 1849. The criminal court of the first instance was organized in Nov. 7, 1849, with W. E. Shannon for judge. Sac. Rec. Crim. Court. His appointment is dated Aug. Ist. The first civil suit was tried by a jury of six in Sept. 1849, before the first magistrate, J. S. Thomas, appointed on Sept. 21st. Sac. Rec. Proceed., 38; U. S. Gov. Doc., Cong. 31, Sess. 1, H. Ex. Doc., 17, p. 832-4 Grand jury reports in Placer Times, Jan. 19, May 17, Nov. 10, 1850. On May 6, 1850, Thomas opened the district court. By Oct. there were some 450 cases on the " docket. Sac. Transcript, Oct. 14, 1850. For the court of sessions Swift and
455
LAW AND GOVERNMENT.
C. E. Lockett were on May 18th elected associated justices, Willis presiding. Placer Times, May 20, 1850. Willis was county judge, and had opened his special court May 6, 1850, tending also the probate court of the same date. The charter of Feb. 1850 provided for a recorder's and police court to the exclusion of justices of the peace. These courts were influenced to greater activity by the vigilance committee of 1851, which in August compelled the hanging of two murderers, and itself lynched their respited partner. The first lynching had been effected here on Jan. 26th, of the murderer Roe. Criminal details for the year with account of prison brig, in Sac. Transcript, Feb. 25, 28, June 15, 1851; S. F. Picayune, Feb. 27, 1851; Alta Cal., Feb. 29, June 28, July 11, 1851; Sac. Illust., 20; S. F. Herald, Sept. 23, 1851; Cal. Courier, Nov. 3, 1851. List of crimes and executions in Sac. Record, May 30, 1879; Alta Cal., May 9, June 17-18, 1852; Jan. 27-30, Feb. 22, Apr. 21, May 1, Aug. 13, Sept. 1, 1853; and 1854-86, passim; Sac. Union, etc .; Hist. Sac. Co., 124 et seq. Sept. 1854 was marked by a Chinese war. Sac. Illust., 24. In 1856 the vigilance committee stirred the courts anew to promptness, and cleared the city of many disreputable characters. Popular Tribunals, this series, passim.
In April 1849 the aspirations of Sacramento soared above the simple alcalde government, emanating from the fort, to that of a code-forming capital for the valley. The legislators chosen to realize the pretension declared with landable good sense that the existing administration was sufficient, yet the gubernatorial order for local elections in August led then to the installation of an ayuntamiento, with Stout and subsequently Winn for prest, Thomas and Zabriskie being made Ist and 2d magistrates, and Crosby prefect. Crosby's Stat., MS., 55-9; Placer Times, Aug. 11, 1849, etc. In the autumn of 1848 Frank Bates and John S. Fowler had been chosen first and second alcaldes, at the fort, to replace Sinclair and Mckinstry. The following spring Fowler was succeeded by H. A. Schoolcraft, lately a soldier. Unbound Doc., 44, 81-2. On April 30, 1849, a movement was made by the district embraced between the Sacramento, the Sierra Nevada, and the Cosumnes to establish civil govern- ment after the American form. A mass meeting held at the embarcadero was followed by an election of a legislature of eleven members, empowered to enact laws for the city and district. The eleven elected and sworn in were John McDougal, Barton Lee, John S. Fowler, Peter Slater, Henny Cheever, James King of Wm, Samuel Brannan, M. M. Carver, Charles G. Southard, W. M. Carpenter, and William Pettit. Placer Times, May 5, 1849. Their declaration that no formal laws or increased staff of officials were wanted in that community was approved, and Henry A. Schoolcraft and A. M. Turner were chosen alcalde and sheriff respectively.
Still, this did not wholly conform to the American idea of the necessity of a growing population, and so a charter was adopted in October. The inestima- ble privilege of wider government thus conferred was promptly acted upon by the creation of a host of officials corresponding to the prospective greatness of the city, and the council duly impressed the acquisition by a heavy schedule of taxes to meet the lavish assignment of salaries. This application of civic honor was hardly expected, and a new charter was quickly draughted to check the ex- travagance; but the sweets of office proved too tempting. Instead of diminish-
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CITY BUILDING.
ing expenses, the new council increased salaries beyond the limits of the total taxation, and helped to create a debt of nearly $400,000. The lesson was not wasted, for a reincorporation took place in 1851, with more secure restrictions to promote economy! The exposed situation of Sac., and its fast growing im- portance, demanded extraordinary expenses for street improvements, levees, public buildings, fire department, and so forth, which despite a taxation of $5.35 per $100, of which more than half for local purposes besides heavy license rates, increased the debt to $1,400,000 by 1855, after which, however, the addition was slight.
The first charter had been defeated in Sept. by the gamblers' clique, but adopted with an amendment on Oct. 13th, by 809 votes against 513. Text of document in Unbound Doc., 338. The council then passed ordinances, Placer Times, Dec. 15, 1849, and created a host of officials at salaries ranging from $25 a day to $200 per month, not forgetting to allow their own members $100 per month, to which end a heavy schedule of taxes and licenses was issued, charging $50 per month to dealers, auctioneers, markets, hotels, gambling- tables, and lower rates for certain other businesses and entertainments. This feature tended to render the charter unpopular, and two others were draughted from the legislature on Feb. 27, 1850, embracing one favoring the popular party, which limited taxation to $100,000, and the total debt to the annual revenue. Yet the first step of the city fathers, with H. Bigelow as first elected mayor, was to assign for salaries alone $118,000, of which committeemen re- ceived $25 a day, councilmen double their former pay, the four chief officials $5,000 or $6,000 a year each. The sick-fund, the levee, and the squatter trouble each absorbed about $100,000 during the year. Details of election and acts in Placer Times, Feb .- Apr. 1850. Sac Transcript, started in April, came in time to record these doings. Upham's Notes, 278-99, is especially full on the subject. Also Crary's Stat., MS., 2. Text of charter in Cal. Statutes, 1850, 479. In March 1851 the city was reincorporated, Id., 1851, 554, under more secure limitations, which, with amendments in 1852, etc., Sac. Union, March 9, Apr. 10, 1855, continued in force till 1858, when the consolidation act com- bined the city and county governments. This failed to give satisfaction, and in 1863 the city was reincorporated substantially under the former charter. In 1874 the limits were reduced on the north. List of mayors in Sac. Record, June 3, 1885; acts concerning city in Hittell's Codes, ii. 1820; Alta Cal. and Sac. Union, passim. The council of 1851 found a debt of some $379,000, partly in unpaid interest at from 3 to 20 per cent a month, which was funded at one per cent per month. Salaries were reduced, but notwithstanding the tax rate aforesaid, whereof 22 for local purposes of $7,000,000, the debt had increased to fully $1,400,000 by May 1855, after which the addition was chiefly through unpaid interest. The act of 1872 to provide a sinking fund proved the best remedial measure for the low credit of the city, the bonds being frequently rated below 20 cents on the dollar. In ISSO the funded debt amounted to $1,560,000, plus $854,000 for accrued interest, etc. The county debt was somewhat over $600,000 at 6 per cent. See above journals; Sac. Directories, 1853, 1871, etc .; Hist. Sac. Co., 130 et seq .; Burnett's Rec., MS., ii. 283, etc. Early critical reviews of finances in Sac. Transcript, Feb. 1, 28, June 1, 1851; Placer Times, March 21, 28, 1852; Alta Cal., June 1, 1853; Sac. Union, Apr. 7, 1855; Jan. 3, Oct. 7, 1856, etc.
457
FIRE AND FLOOD.
So far the city had been spared the fire scourge, which devastated nearly every town in early days; but it came on Nov. 2, 1852; and as if to condone for previous forbearance, it swept away more than two thirds of the buildings, together with several lives, the loss being estimated at fully $5,000,000. California energy manifested itself as usual in rapid rebuilding, and the adoption of remedial measures, by giving prominence to brick walls, by erect- ing substantial water-works, which moreover provided a handsome revenue, and by increasing the efficiency of the fire department. So effectual were these precautions that the only subsequent conflagration of note, in July 1854, involved less than half a million of property. The suffering entailed by the great fire was augmented by a fresh inundation in Dec. and Jan., even more extensive than the former overflow, though less disastrous, owing to timely warning, and to the limited field for ravages left by the flames. The agricul- tural districts this time suffered, from Shasta to San Diego, with the loss of cattle, crops, and improvements mounting into the millions. Sacramento hastened to fortify her levees, but not until after the flood of 1861-2, involv- ing the destruction of about $3,000,000 worth of property, was it given a height and strength which, together with a gradual raising of the street grade, provided an effectual relief.
The fire damage prior to 1852 is scarcely worth the enumeration. The first was inflicted Sept. 13, 1849, on a hay stack. Placer Times, Sept. 15, 1849. On Apr. 4 and Nov. 9, 1850, respectively, about half a score of houses were consumed, valued together at $100,000. Id., Apr. 6, 1850; Pac. News, Nov. 13, 1850; Upham's Notes, 289-91. The Tehama theatre suffered a $20,000 loss on Aug. 13, 1851. Alta Cal., Aug. 15, 1851. This fortunate escape, however, was offset in the great fire of Nov. 2, 1852, when, as before mentioned, the estimated loss was some $5,000,000. Democ. States Jour., Nov. 15th, gives a list not quite complete aggregating this figure. The fire originated in a millinery store about 11 P. M., and was swiftly carried around by the strong wind prevailing. Only one church escaped, and very few of the noteworthy edifices. Fully six persons perished. Details in Sac. Union, Nov. 4, etc., 1852; Alta Cal., Herald, and Times, Nov., etc., 1852; Burnett's Rec., MS., ii. 283-4; Winans' Stat., MS., 22-3. Over 1,600 buildings were destroyed, Alta Cal., Nov. 12th; and this being at the beginning of the rainy season, the suffering was increased, especially as a severe flood followed, so that provisions became scarce. However, by Dec. 3d over 760 buildings were up. Sac. Illust., 21. More attention was given to brick structures, of which the city had in 1854 about 500, against 2,000 frame houses. Reconstruction was promoted by the shipment of buildings from S. F. Knight's Stat., MS., 12-13. An appropriation of $125,000 was made for water-works, which were completed on Apr. 1, 1854. By 1856 over 8 miles of pipes had been laid. Sac. Direct., 1856, 13-14. Mistakes and improve- ments raised the expenditure on this branch by 1880 to over half a million, but it gave revenue as well as safety. Appropriations, and subsequently loans, were made for the fire department, the first company of which had organ- ized on March 20, 1850, after six weeks of agitation. Placer Times, March 23, 1850. Its progress is exhibited in the directories. It did good service in checking many a threatening disaster, such as the fire on July 13, 1854,
458
CITY BUILDING.
which reduced 200 buildings, valued at over $400,000, Alta Cal., July 14-17, 1854; and on July 3, 1855, loss $75,000, chiefly among Chinese. After this no extensive fires took place till one in 1874-5, which did not destroy over $100,000.
Water here was worse than fire. On March 7, 1852, after two days of heavy rain, the levee gave way, trees, houses, and bridges were ingulfed, and the city was once more flooded. But the respite afforded by the levee gave time for removing property, and the rise was not equal to that of 1850, so that the damage during the four days of its duration proved comparatively small. Burnett's Rec., MS., ii. 283-7; Alta Cal., March 8-14, 1852; S. F. Herald, id. On Dec. 19th another break occurred, inundating the business section, but doing little injury. On Jan. 1, 1853, however, the heaviest flood of all took place. The rainfall for the season exceeded the 36 inches of 1850 by a frac- tion only, but the river rose 22 feet above low-water mark, and the waters stood 2 feet higher in the city, but it quickly receded and did far less dam- age, partly because the recent conflagration left little to raid upon. Details in Sac. Illust., 7, 20-2; Sac. Direct., of 1853 and 1871; Alta Cal., and S. F. Herald, Dec. 11, 1852, to Jan. 1853. Additional work was put upon the levee, and the necessity became apparent that the grade must be raised. Sac. Union, March 13, Oct. 27, 1855. Between 1854-61, the city escaped aquatic disasters, but the rainfall for 1861-2 came once more within a fraction of the dreaded 36 inches, and after a slight precursor on March 28th, the flood on Dec. 9, 1861, broke through the levee with such fury as to sacrifice several lives, and ravage the now built-up and beautified city in a hitherto unparalleled degree. Loss estimated at $3,000,000. On Jan. 9, 1862, there was a recurrence, and again in Feb., with a rise of waters fully equal to the highest; but the curse of waters proved of short duration in the now securely established capital. In 1878 the city was seriously threatened, but escaped with slight damage. See journals of the period. The constant improvement of the levee, and with a southern addition, left Sacramento finally securely intrenched within a tri- angle 12} miles long, 28 feet above the zero low-water mark, and in part above the high-water mark of 1867. In 1868 a canal changed the outlet of the American River, the most threatening, a mile northward, thus reducing the danger while extending the city limits. Cal. Jour. Sen., 1859, 932.
The double misfortune of 1852-3 shook the faith of many in the city, and several influential traders cast about for another site; but it was not easy to move a commercial centre once established, and the energy of the early re- builders shamed the wavering. This perseverance was in 1854 rewarded by the location here of the capital, for which Sacramento was well fitted by her central position and prominence. The legislature opened its sessions on March Ist, at the court-house, which served the purpose until the completion of the capitol in 1869.
For a long time the cities bordering on the bay held the advantage in legislative taste. The backward condition of Vallejo in 1852 brought the chambers to the more commodious Sacramento, Cal. Jour. Sen., 1852, 776, and her hopes ran high; but Benicia interposed, and only in 1854 were her offers of the court-house and a block of land accepted. The governor and officials arrived on Feb. 28th, the legislature opened on March Ist, and soon after the supreme court was obliged to acquiesce and leave San José, for which
459
GROWTH OF SACRAMENTO.
it held out. A part of the extravagant fund levies of 1850 had gone toward the court-house, which was completed in Dec. 1851. Burnt in July 1854, it was rebuilt, with jail attached, for nearly $200,000, and occupied by the legis- lature in 1855-6. View in Sac. Illust., 25. A special capitol building was agitated in 1856. S. F. Bulletin, Dec. 6, 17, 1856, properly begun in 1861, but completed only in 1869, at a cost greatly exceeding the original estimates, as usual, and as shown elsewhere.
The dignity of state capital gave new life to Sacramento, whose fortunes were still further advanced the following decade by the concentrating of the railroad system at this point. Her growth is instanced by the assessment on real estate, which rose from $5,400,000 in 1854, when 2,500 buildings were counted, to over $13,000,000 twenty years later. By 1880 the population had risen to 21,400.
In 1853 the business section was ordered to be fully planked and provided with sewers, a work which cost $185,000. Ten years later a drainage canal was added, which assisted to reclaim much swamp-land. Cal. Jour. Ass., 1865-6, 691-2. A large portion of the city was gradually raised to high grade, two feet above the highest water mark, thus affording double protec- tion against floods. In 1854 a gas company was formed, and the first street lamps were lighted a few days before the Christmas of 1855. S. F Bulletin, Dec. 15, 1855; Sac. Union, ad , etc. Projects for street railways began in 1861, and took actual though scarcely remunerative form in 1870. An omnibus ran to the fort in 1850. Placer Times, May 8, 1850. The grant of swamp-land assisted in procuring for the city the privileges of a railroad centre for the state. In social and industrial features lie further indications of a progress which by 1854 was marked by the existence of 2,500 buildings, and which in course of years practically absorbed outlying towns like Sutterville, and sites like Webster and Boston. The latter had been founded on the opposite American bank in 1848 by J. Halls, Lieut Ringgold, and H. Grimes, and lots were offered in Alta Cal., Dec. 15, 1849; Buffum's Six Mo, 153; Colton's Three Years, 417. It no longer exists, says Sac. Transcript, May 29, Sept. 30, 1850. Webster, near by, had faded by May. Id., May 29, 1850.
The churches of 1880 had grown from the unpretentious organization in 1849 of five leading sects. Religious services were first held in March 1849 by J. W. Douglass, and shortly after by Williams and Woodbridge, all pres- byterians. In May, Grove Deal, and subsequently Roberts, opened for the methodists, and Benton, in July, for the congregationalists, while Cook and subsequently O. C. Wheeler appeared to baptists. Denominational organi- zation began in the following month. The methodists provided the first regular service and house of worship, and the episcopalians claimed the first regular minister and church, the Grace dating from August, under Mines, the congregationalists following in Sept., the methodists organizing in Oct., and the baptists in Nov. After this, progress became substantial, with special temples and an increase of congregations African methodists began ser- vices in 1850, catholics the same year, Hebrews in 1852, disciples of Christ and German methodists in 1855, Lutherans and Mormons in 1865, unitarians in 1867, adventists in 1872, united brethren in Christ in 1876 Sunday- schools flourished early in 1850 Pac. News, Aug. 1, 1850; see, further, the
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CITY BUILDING.
chapter on churches. Hayes' Cal. Notes, i. 47, 60-1; Sac. Direct., 1853, 9, 1856, etc. Culver's Direct., 77-82, differs on the order of organization. Sac. Union, Dec. 16, 1862; Jan. 1, 1864, Jan. 29, 1878, etc .; Williams' Rec., MS., 12; Willey's Thirty Years, 39; Sac. Illust., 30-2; Placer Times, July 25, 1849.
In 1849 began likewise the teaching of children, but public schools were not opened until 1854, after which, however, they went rapidly forward. Notwithstanding state laws for establishing public schools, school commis- sioners were not created here until 1853, and only on Feb. 20, 1854, did they open the first public school, with a male and a female teacher, 50 boys and 40 girls attending, a number which fast increased beyond accommodation, so that more schools had to be opened. In July 1854 there were 261 pupils, the private schools claiming 250. The board of education, organized in Nov., made estimates for schools, $3,860 for rent, $9,600 for salaries, including county schools within the city. The first common-school house was dedi- cated Jan. 20, 1855. There were then 414 pupils, though 578 had applied for admission. In 1856 out of 970 registered children 494 attended; expenses $22,962. Colored and night schools were added in due time, and a high school since 1856, German being taught also in the grammar school. The private schools of 1849 were begun by C. T. H. Palmer in July, who was succeeded by Benton in Oct. or Dec. in Shepherd's building on I street. In 1850 several were opened. See further my chapter on education; Hayes' Cal. Notes, v. 60; Sac. Illust., 27; Placer Times, Oct. 13, 1849; Hist. Sac. Co., 111 et seq .; Sac. Direct., 1853, etc .; Sac. Union, 1854 et seq., passim, at end of terms.
Newspapers date their useful career from April 1849, with the Placer Times, and found in this political hot-bed a field so promising as to induce a most prolific issue of rivals, in rapid succession, though short-lived. The Placer Times was issued April 28, 1849, by E. C. Kemble & Co., at the fort, 13 by 18 inches, printed with old Alta type. It quickly rose from a weekly to a daily, and in June 1851 it consolidated with the Sacramento Transcript, which dates from Apr. 1, 1850. It moved to S. F. in 1852, and was soon absorbed by the Alta. On Oct. 30, 1850, the squatters started the Settlers and Miners Tribune, and on Dec. 23d appeared the Sac. Index, as an evening paper, both ephemeral. The strongest of all, the Sac. Union, was begun in March 1851 by striking printers, with the well-known Morse as editor. It was absorbed in 1875 by the Record. The Democratic State Jour- nal of Feb. 5, 1852, survived till 1858. A host of more or less successful jour- nals appeared after this, including by 1880 some 40 dailies, 2 dozen weeklies, and several others. See the chapter on literature; Sac. Co. Hist., 93 et seq .; Sac. Directories, etc. Of directories, the first appeared in January 1851, a thin 12mo pamphlet with little more than the names of residents. Collec- tions of books and newspapers are found among several societies.
A cognate and conspicuous feature is the state library, with its extensive collection, and the free library, which. in a measure reaches back to 1850, when the Mercantile Library Assoc. was formed with a nucleus of books; but it perished with the fire of 1852. In 1857 it was revived as the Sac. Lib. Assoc., whose collection in 1879 became the nucleus for a free library. Mean- while the Odd Fellows formed a library in 1855, and the state library rose to become a brilliant feature.
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