History of California, Volume XXII, Part 72

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 XXII > Part 72

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).

Benicia. At the end of 1846 M. G. Vallejo and Robert Semple devised the scheme of building a new city on the Strait of Carquines. For this pur-

671

BEGINNINGS AT BENICIA.

more ambitious career, of which full details from original sources are given in my note. General Vallejo gave five miles of land, on which Robert Semple, with Larkin as a partner, undertook to build a city at the Carquines Strait, which should be the Pacific metropolis. Two hundred lots were sold and

pose, on Dec. 22d V. deeded to S. an undivided half of a tract of 5 square miles of the Soscol rancho, the deed being put on record at Sonoma and S. F. The town was to be named Francisca, in honor of Vallejo's wife, Doña Francisca Benicia Carrillo. V.'s chief motive was to increase the value of his remaining lands, by promoting the settlement of the northern frontier; and he was willing to dispose of his interest in the proposed town. The carliest original record that I have found is a letter of May 4, 1847, in which Semple writes of Larkin's desire to bny the general's interest, and expresses his ap- proval if the change suits Vallejo. S. is closing up his business, and will move his newspaper to Francisca by Ang. at latest. Vallejo, Doc., MS., xii. 289. Accordingly, on May 18th at Sonoma, Semple deeded back his half of the property to Vallejo. Original in Bear Flag Pap., MS., 31. Next day, the 19th, Vallejo deeded whole property, reserving the right to some town lots, to Semple and Larkin for a nominal consideration of $100. Vallejo, Doc. Hist. Cal., MS., xii. 291; San Francisco Californian, July 3d. Semple transferred his paper in May, not to Francisca but to S. F .; and the issues of May 29th and June 5th 'contained notices of the proposed town, sale of lots, establishment of a ferry, etc. Meanwhile Semple had gone in person to Francisca to start his ferry and have the town site surveyed by Jasper O'Farrell. Doubtless the city founders had counted on deriving an ad- vantage from the resemblance of the name Francisca to San Francisco, against Yerba Buena, a name little known in the outside world. But the dwellers on the peninsula, as we have seen, had checkmated them by refusing in Jan. to permit Yerba Buena to supplant officially the original name. Ac- cordingly the speculators deemed it wise to yield; Semple writes on June 12th from 'Benicia,' and after a parting wail in the Californian of the 12th, the change to Benicia is announced in the issue of the 19th. In his letter of the 12th to Larkin, Semple says the plan is completed and the lots are num- bered; several have been selected by men who propose to build; two men are preparing to open stores; S. will have three frames ready for putting up in July; five men are getting ont lumber; 50,000 ft could be sold in 3 weeks; S. has bought 1,000 varas opposite (Martinez) for a ferry-house; plenty of coal at the point opposite Mare Island! 'Benicia is making quite a stir in the great city of S. F.' Larkin's Doc., MS., v. 159. On June 29th articles of agree- ment were signed at S. F. by Semple and Larkin. Lots of even number were to belong to L. and odd numbers to S .; wharves and all privileges equally divided; each to sell or convey his interest without interference by the other; each donates 4 squares for public uses; each gives a lot for ferries, and 4 lots in 100 for town use. Calif., July 25th. S. returned at once to the strait; and in July Larkin contracted with H. A. Green of Sonoma for lumber, and with Samuel Brown to build 2 two-story wooden houses for $600 and 2 miles of land at the Cotate rancho. Larkin's Doc., MS., v. 177, 179, 181, 202, 249. In Aug., as appears from Semple's letters, the doctor contracted for 50,000 feet of lumber at $40, opened a small store, wrote to the gov. to secure an alcaldeship (which the gov. declined, after consultation with Larkin, on Aug. 23d. Cal. & N. Mex. 1850, p. 389); Vallejo sent Indians to build him a house, Charles Heath was employed in boat-building, Stephen Smith agreed to establish a lumber-yard if the town continned to prosper, McClurg and Haight agreed for 16 lots to build a store and warehouse in which to keep a good supply of goods and lumber, Maj. Stephen Cooper decided to settle at

672

LOCAL ANNALS OF THE NORTH.

fifteen or twenty buildings erected before the gold excitement, which latter event was deemed extremely favorable to the prospects of the town. Francisca was the name at first selected, in the vain hope that the name of San Francisco would be permanently changed to Yerba Buena, but it was the new estab-

Benicia, a ditchi was dug, and a brilliant success became a matter of certainty! Larkin's Doc., MS., v. 200, 204-5, 210, 227. Meanwhile, and in Sept., as ap- pears from original corresp., there was a fair demand for lots abroad. V. Ben- nett, Jobn H. Brown, J. Hudspeth, A. J. Grayson, J. W. Eggleston, David W. Chandler, John C'ouzens, Samuel R. Palmer, H. Smith, Wm Gordon, Josiah Belden, C. W. Wooster, John W. IL. Drummond, and B. R. Buckelew sig- nified their willingness to take the lots assigned them. One of them writes that he has credited the price, as a matter of form, 'merely nominal of course.' /7., 238, 246, 254, 260, 276, 316. Wm I. Tustin, Recoll., MS., 5-8, says that he arrived early in the summer with his wife and child, just as O'Farrell was leparting, and while Semple was absent in quest of lumber. He therefore claims to have been the first resident, and to have built the first house. The 2d was built by Henry Crouch for Semple; the 3d by Wm (or Benj. ) McDon- ald, later Pfister's store; and the 4th for Cooper as a hotel. A similiar ac- eennt is given by S. C. Gray in Solano C'o. Hist., 149 et seq. Cooper, in S. F. Star, Apr. 1, 1848, tells us that the Ist house was begun on Aug. 27th. The original corresp. shows that Tustin's bouse and several others were occu- pied before Sept. 7th. In a letter of Nov. 11th, Semple, Bear Flag Pap., MS., 34-6, writes that there were 13 fine houses under cover, and several more in process of construction. On the 20th he sent a more detailed report, showing, as supplemented by earlier allusions, a total of 16 buildings, as follows: Wm I. Tustin's adobe 40 x 18 ft, Semple's adobe store 40 x 18, occupied by E. H. Von Pfister, Semple's wooden house 30 x 25, in which Stephen Cooper lives, Semple's 2-story wooden house 36 x 18, Cooper's 2-story adobe hotel 36 x 18, Landy Alford's house 18 x 16, Nathan Barbour's house 18 x 16, Briggs & Rus- sell's frame house 28 x 20, Forbagh's (Benj. Forbush ?) adobe house 18 x 20, Wm Bryant's frame house 24 x 12, 'elegantly built,' Henry (or Wm) Russell's frame house 24 x 12 (Bryant and Russell were partners), Charles L. Bene- dict's wooden house and grocery 18 x 16, Vallejo's building 130 x 36, intended to be raised to 2 stories the next year, blacksmith's (Fine, who died in 184S) adobe shop 18 x 17, and 2 houses 23 x 19 and IS x 16, built by Barbour for owners not named. Some of these were not quite furnished, even when occu- pied, and there were half a dozen other frames ready for shipment or erec- tion. The foundations for Larkin's two houses were ready, but Green and Brown were very slow about going on with the building. Meanwhile, and be- fore the end of the year, Semple had a canal 13 ft wide between Ist and 2d streets, and had made much progress on road and wharf; he had found plenty of chalk, quicksilver, and coal in the vicinity; and had many applica- tions for lots, the price of which was raised from $20 to $50. John S. Will- iams had selected lots and prepared to build; Henry Smith was mentioned as engaged in building; and Green made a new contract to put up Larkin's houses. The doctor was full of enthusiasm, was delighted at the success of vessels in reaching his port, and had no doubt that Benicia was to be the Pacific metrop- olis in spite of the lies told at the villages of S. F. and Sonoma. His great tronble was Larkin's lukewarmness in the cause. It required the most per- sistent urging to induce L. even to visit the place late in the autumn. That a man in his senses should look out for a few dimes at Monterey and neglect interests worth millions of dollars at Benicia seemed to Semple incomprehen- sible. Larkin's Doc., MS., v. 250, 258, 304, 315, 344, 351-2, 354. The doc- tor's marriage about Christmas to Maj. Cooper's daughter did not dampen his

673

THE CITY ON THE STRAIT.

lishment that had to change its name. Semple's faith and industry, like his disgust at the comparative luke- warmness of others, were unlimited. It is still be- lieved by many that opportune cooperation with a little good luck in 1848-9 might have made Benicia in reality a formidable rival to the city on the penin-

zeal. The Solano Co. Hist. names as present at the festivities, besides some that had been named above, David A. Davis, Charles S. Hand, Edward Hig- gins, F. S. Holland, Henry Matthews, George Stevens, and Wm Watson. At the end of Dec., 28 citizens petitioned the gov. for a new district to be set off from Sonoma under an alcalde. Unb. Doc., MS., 127-8; and on Jan. 3, 1848, the gov. granted the petition, appointing Stephen Cooper alcalde, and on the same day (!) consulting Alcalde Boggs at Sonoma as to the desirability of the proposed change. Cal. & N. Mex. 1850, p. 452-3. The boundaries of the Benicia district were: from mouth of Napa River up that stream to head of tide-water, east to top of ridge dividing Napa from Sac. valleys, northwards along that ridge to northern boundary of Sonoma district, east to Sac. River, and down that river and Suisun Bay to point of beginning. Early in 1848, E. H. Von Pfister began to act as Larkin's agent, and I have many of his original letters, as well as Semple's. There was much corresp. about lumber, contracts, and projected buildings; Higgins and Hand did some work on Lar- kin's foundations; Persifor F. Smith applied for lots for a residence and store; Faust dug a well; Hand did some work on a school; Green was always on the point of beginning to do something on Larkin's houses; R. L. Kilburn of Napa wished to settle here and make contracts for buildings; Cooper fenced Larkin's square and planted it with locust trees, projecting also a vineyard; Semple predicted that there would be 100 houses before the end of the season, meanwhile working day and night and economizing to pay his debts, also building or repairing with the aid of Wood a launch in addition to his old ferry - scow (Tustin says the scow was built in Napa Creek hy Chas Heath, and the sloop at Benicia, being painted green and called the Greenhorn), and mean- while dreaming of a horse-power ferry-boat; a gale blew down one of the doctor's frames and part of Pfister's store; Fine, the blacksmith, died; E. L. Stetson tried to form a partnership with Pfister or start a store of his own; Russell sold his house and left town; Davis and Fine opened a store at the ferry-house on the contra costa, which hurt von P.'s business, so that he thought of taking James Creighton as a partner; and Mr Brunt is named as a house-owner. Larkin's Doc., MS., vi. 28, 33, 35, 46-9, 61, 68, 72, 93, 97. In the Star of April 1st Maj. Cooper has a letter of March 22d, in which he says: 'There are now 14 honses of adobes and frame, the smallest IS ft by 16, and the largest 56 by 20 ft, 2-story. We have here S carpenters, one blacksmithi, and one wagon-maker, a tavern, and two stores. There has been upwards of 200 lots sold, averaging about $18 each, 60 or 70 of them sold on condition that the purchasers shall within the present year build a house to cover 600 sq. feet, many of which are in progress of erection.' He adds that the ferry has paid $150 a month, which has been donated, with lots, for the benefit of schools. But in May came the gold fever to interrupt for a time Benicia's progress toward greatness. On May 19th Semple wrote that in three days not more than two men would be left; on the same day Von Pfister an- nonneed that in two months his trade had been only $50, and that he was going to the Sacramento, leaving Larkin's business in charge of Cooper; and now H. A. Green came at last to work on Larkin's long-delayed houses, actu- ally completing one of them ! Semple remained, for his ferry and transporta- tion business hecame immensely profitable. Id., v. 121; vi. 112, 116. The doctor promptly realized that the discovery of gold, notwithstanding its tem- porary effects, was to be the making of Benicia and a death-blow to its rival, HIST. CAL., VOL. V. 43

674

LOCAL ANNALS OF THE NORTH.

sula. Stockton, under the efforts of Charles M. Weber, made a beginning as a town, and achieved a consider- able development during the early golden times as a centre of trade for the southern mines. New Hope, on the Stanislaus, was cut off in its infancy as a set- tlement by the resolution of the Mormon potentate to fix the 'new hope' of his people in the far interior.

S. Francisco. All that was needed was to establish a wholesale house, obtain for ships the privilege of discharging their cargoes, if not of paying duties, at the strait, and induce one or two prominent shippers to make use of the privilege. Scores of traders came to B. from the mines, anxious to buy there and avoid the dangers and delays of a trip to S. F. If Larkin would only see his opportunity ! But the Monterey capitalist was apathetic, blind to his opportunities as his partner thought. Exhortations, entreaties, and even threats seem to have had but little effect on him. Semple from July to Dec. tried to make him understand that he was years behind the times, that he was by no means the 'live go-ahead Yankee' for whom S. thought he had exchauged Vallejo, that he must wake up. On July 3Ist he threatened if L. did not come and go to work by Aug. 20th, to having nothing more to do with him. In Dec. his indignation knew no bounds, when he learned that L. was thinking of erecting a row of buildings in Yerba Buena ! This he declared the hardest blow yet aimed at Benicia, worse than all the lies that had been told, since it showed that the chief owner had no confidence in the new town. 'For God's sake, name a price at which you will sell out,' he writes, and offered $15,000 for Larkin's interest. Id., 150, 154, 244. Of act- ual progress in the last half of 1848 we have no definite information; but Bethuel Phelps finally became a partner with Semple and Larkin; and sev- eral years elapsed, as we shall see, before Benicia's dreams of metropolitan greatness came to an end. Many men of good judgment yet believe that could a beginning of wholesale trade have been made in 1847-8, Benicia would have been the great city; while others regard Semple's project as the baseless vision of an enthusiast. It should be added here that Vallejo's original title to the Soscol rancho was finally, and most unjustly, rejected by the U. S. supreme court; which caused the holders under Semple and Larkin much trouble uutil they were relieved by an act of congress. At Montezuma, J. Laird advertised his ferry from Feb. 1848 as affording the best crossing of the Sacramento for travellers from Sonoma and San José or Sutter's Fort. Star, Californian. Halo Chemuck or Chamo was the name of a new town on the river in the same region, projected by Bidwell, Reading, and Hoppe, and sey- eral cabins were built before the gold fever began to rage. Californian, Aug. 28, 1847. Star and Calif., Dec. 9, 1848.

Stockton. In 1844-5 C. M. Weber, through Wm Gulnac, had obtained the French Camp rancho. The first settlers, living in tule huts, were Thomas Lindsay, killed by the Indians, and David Kelsey, who died of small-pox. In 1846 Weher made efforts to induce immigrants to settle on his grant, but fear of Indians and the outbreak of the war prevented success. In Aug. 1847 Weber himself moved to the place from S. José, and besides attending to his business as a ranchero, laid out a site called Tuleburg as the nucleus of a town of the future. Except the captain's employees, however, the place can hardly be said to have had any inhabitants until the gold fever broke out in March-May. Then Tuleburg became the headquarters of a mining company organized by Weber to operate in different diggings. This company being dissolved, the captain gave his attention from Sept. to the town, resurveyed and renamed Stockton, where he built a store. Thus the town dates in real- ity from the gold excitement, and this slight mention is all that is called for

675

AFFAIRS AT NEW HELVETIA.

At New Helvetia, or Sutter's Fort, from the time of the settlers' revolt early in 1846 to the discovery of gold at the beginning of 1848, there was nothing in the course of events or development that requires

in this volume. See Gilbert's account in S. Joaquin Co. Hist .; and Tinkham's Hist. Stockton. The Mormon settlement of New Hope, on the Stanislaus, where several cabins were erected and other improvements made in 1846-7, has been mentioned in this vol., p. 552-3. In April 1847 a letter in the Star indicates 10 or 12 settlers, and 3 or 4 houses completed. In the Star from Oct. is advertised, in connection with the dissolution of the firm of Brannan & Co., the sale of all the improvements at New Hope, Robbins, Stark, and Glover being agents.

New Helvetia events. 1846. Jan .- April, visits of Fremont and Gillespie. This vol., p. 3, 22, 24, 29. Jan., Mr Trow preparing stakes to lay out a new town on the Sacramento. N. Helv. Diary, MS., 32. Survey by Hastings and Bidwell finished Feb. Id., 34. The new town is called Sutterville in Yolo Co. Hist., 30, and Nueva Helvetia in Bryant's What I Saw, 272. June, pre- liminaries of the settlers' revolt. This vol., p. 77 et seq. First operations: Taking of Arce's horses, 10th. Id., 105 et seq. June 16th, Vallejo and other prisoners from Sonoma; E. M. Kern in command at the fort; chronologic affairs to July 10th. Id., 120-9, 170. July, return of Fremont from Sonoma, 9th; missing U. S. flag, 11th; march of the battalion for Monterey. Id., 184- 6, 243-4, 246-7. Aug .- Oct., Kern and E. J. Sutter in command; release of Sonoma prisoners; Walla Walla Indian scare. Id., 298-302. Sept., John Sinclair elected alcalde. Unb. Doc., MS., 296; Mckinstry's Pap., MS., 9. Oct .- Nov., enlistment of immigrants for the battalion, also an Ind. garrison for the fort. This vol., p. 359. Arrival of immigrants. Id., 524 et seq. Measures for relief of Donner party, Oct .- Feb. Id., 537 et seq. 1847. Sin- clair still acting as alcalde for the district; Geo. Mckinstry sheriff. June- July, departure of Kearny, Fremont, and Stockton for the east. Id., 452-4. June-Sept., 25 N. Y. vol. under Licut Anderson garrison the fort. Id., 514. Aug., Mormons here on their return east. Id., 493. Arrival of immigrants. Id., 554-7. Arrival of the Ist steamer in Dec. Id., 578-9; N. Helv. Diary, MS., 143. Dec., statistics furnished by Sutter to govt: white pop. 289, half- breed, Hawaiian, and negro 16, tame Ind. or ex-ncophytes 479, gentiles 21,873 ! Sixty dwelling-houses at the fort; 6 mills in the district, and a tan- nery; no schools, but the new town will have one next year; 14,000 fan. wheat raised this season. Mckinstry's Pap., MS., 28; Unb. Doc., MS., 91-2, 296, 307. 1848. Sinclair alcalde and Mckinstry sheriff. An election of 4 subordinate alcaldes was ordered in Aug., and in Nov. Sinclair was reap- pointed by the gov. The discovery of gold was in January. Ind. affairs of 1846-8 are briefly mentioned in this vol., p. 566 et seq., and except numerous petty details too bulky for reproduction, nothing beyond this brief outline is obtainable.

Ranchos of the Sacramento and S. Joaquin valleys granted in 1846, most of the titles being finally pronounced invalid, were as follows: Cañada de Capay, Yolo co., 9 leagues, Santiago Nemesis and F. Berreyesa, Jasper O'Farrell claimant; * Moquelamo, Calaveras, 11 1., Andrés Pico, who was cl. ; *Sacramento, Colusa, 11 I., Manuel Diaz, who was cl .; ranchos not named, in Butte Co., to Dionisio and Máximo Fernandez, who was cl .; 11 I. to *Henry Cambuston, who was cl .; in S. Joaquin Co., 8 1. to A. B. Thompson, who was cl .; 11 1. to *José Castro, who was cl .; 11 1. to *José Castro, B. S. Lippincott cl .; 11 1. at junction of S. Joaquin and Stanislaus rivers to *John Rowland, who was cl. March 5, 1848, Gov. Mason refuses to recognize a lease of lands to Sutter and Marshall by the Indians. Cal. & N. Mex. 1850. p. 490.

576

LOCAL ANNALS OF THE NORTH.

fuller notice than is given in the appended note. John Sinclair acted as alcalde of the district under the American rule, and the population at the end of 1847 was estimated at nearly 300, besides Indians.

I append a plan of San Francisco in 1848, as prom- ised at the beginning of this chapter, with a long explanatory note.4

+ San Francisco and its buildings before the outbreak of the gold fever in May 1848. In these notes and the accompanying plan I have attempted to fix the location of the principal buildings of the town. Including shanties, there were standing about twice as many structures as I have indicated, but many of them were mere out-buildings connected with those located, and re- specting the sites of the rest there is no agreement among witnesses. I have also indicated the original 1 1 1 3 owners of the lots in cach block. The blocks von- tained six or fonr 50-vara lots each, which are re- 5 2 1 ferred to by number in this order. The numbers given to the blocks are arbitrary, for my own con- 3 6 venience and that of the reader. Buildings are referred to by letters on the plan. My special authori- ties, in addition to the many cited elsewhere in this and earlier local chapters on S. Francisco, are the following: official maps of S. F., showing blocks and lots; Wholer's Land Titles, showing the grantees of lots; advertisements and items in the Star and Californian of 1847-8; original corresp. of Leidesdorff, Ross, Sherman, and others, in Lar- kin's Doc .; Swasey's View of S. F. in 1840-7, published in 1584, founded on the recollections of Stevenson, Ilyde, and Vallejo, besides those of the author, and a work of considerable merit; A. D. Piper's recollections, in the Alta of Feb. 17, 1867; J. C. Ward's Diary, in the Argonaut; and the testi- mony of the following men, as given to me in interviews of ISS5: Wm H. Davis, Wm S. Clark, Charles V. Gillespie, Richard M. Sherman, and John H. Brown. Except Juana Briones' house, and perhaps one or two more in the North-Beach region, there were probably no buildings beyond the limits of my plan, though the limits of Vallejo, Powell, and Bush streets are arbi- trarily chosen, the survey, as elsewhere explained, extending considerably farther. My plan shows also the extent of water subsequently filled in and covered by the growing city. In no respect is more than approximate accu- racy claimed. All the buildings not otherwise removed, except two, were destroyed by the fires of 1849-51.

Block 1. Lot-owners, 1 John Travers 1847, 2 Josiah Belden (beach), 3 L. Everhart '48, 4 Henry Huber (beach). Block 2. Lot-owners, all in 1847, 1 Roland Gelston, 2 Wm H. Peterson, 3 J. M. Stanley, 4 Ed Bryant, 5 Ed Burgess, G Laz. Everhart.

Block 3. Lot-owners, all in 1847, 1 Jas. F. Reed, 2 Christian Russ, 3 Adolph Russ, 4 Robert Semple, 3 MeK. Beverley, G Charles Russ. Ward tells us that Semple gave his lot in '48 to J. C. Buchanan, probably to show his faith in Benicia. Buildings: a, the Russ brothers put on the corner lot a ship's caboose, building additions as required, and occupying the premises from 1847. Until after the gold fever this was the southern frontier of set- tlement. It was separated from the next buildings north, and hidden from view, by a high sand bank (not shown in Swasey's view) lying between Pine and C'al. streets. The lots have not changed owners, and are still in 1885 the site of the Russ House, a more pretentious structure than the original.

Block 4. Lot-owners, all in '47, 1 Benj. Kilburn, 2 James Barrett, 3 Philip Brown, 4 E. P. Jones, 5 Geo. McDougall, 6 Charles Docente. The

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677

PLAN OF SAN FRANCISCO.

POWELL

STREET

STOCKTON

STREET

DUPONT

STREET

200

D 25 €

PLAZA

STREET

Lission

KEARNY -

Trail

WASHINGTON

JACKSON

MONTGOMERY

USTREET

€ 18

¿ 18.

SANSOME

STREET

Yerba Buena Core Filtert n and built upin later

BATTERY

STREET-

F R

MARKET

B-

A Y

ycarx

STREET

Water Front ik lutes

SAN FRANCISCO IN 1848.

PACIFIC

BROADWAY

VALLEJO_| |

BUSH

CALIFORNIA

SACRAMENTO

CLAY

OPresidio

STREE

120

PINE

€

STREET

LOCAL ANNALS OF THE NORTH.

mission trail, or road, followed approximately the line of Kearny and Mis- sion streets to the mission, 3 miles south-westward. Block 5. Lot-owners, all in '47, 1, 2, 4, 5 C. L. Ross, 3 J. M. Curtis. 6 Jean Kleinshroth. Block 6. Lot-owners, 1, 4 not sold till '49, 2, 3, 5, 6 E. P. Jones in '48. Block 7. Beach-lots sold to B. S. Lippincott and C. L. Ross.

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History of California, Volume XXII, Part 72

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