USA > California > Glenn County > History of Colusa and Glenn counties, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the counties who have been identified with their growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 17
USA > California > Colusa County > History of Colusa and Glenn counties, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the counties who have been identified with their growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 17
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91
The Baptists have three active churches in the county : one at Grimes, one at Arbuckle, and one at Maxwell. The Grimes church, which cost four thousand dollars, was completed in 1875, and is the only church in the town. It is therefore more or less of a "community" church, as, indeed, many of the other churches in the small towns are and ought to be. Rev. Walter F. Grigg is the pastor at Grimes, and Rev. H. G. Jackson ministers to the congre- gations at Maxwell and Arbuckle. The Maxwell church was in- corporated in 1883, and the Arbuckle church in 1894. Both con- gregations are small.
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The Presbyterian Church in Colusa is the only one of that sect in the county. On Saturday, April 18, 1874, a small company of people met in the schoolhouse in Colusa and organized a Pres- byterian church with fourteen members. J. D. Gage, John Cheney, Dr. C. W. Hansen, E. B. Moore, and S. P. French were chosen trustees. The next day Rev. Thomas Fraser, who had been sent to oversee the organization of the church, preached to a great crowd in the Christian Church, which had been kindly loaned for the occasion, and a number of names were added to the member- ship roll. Rev. J. H. Byers was secured as pastor at a salary of twelve hundred dollars a year, and the Odd Fellows' Hall was secured for holding services. During the summer a building com- mittee was appointed, and it selected the lot at the corner of Fourth and Jay Streets as a site for the church. Col. George Hagar and Jonas Spect donated the site to the congregation; and in November, 1874, the contract for a three-thousand-dollar church building was let. The new building was dedicated on March 27, 1875, and before the end of the year was free of debt. A. Montgomery built the fence around the church lot at a cost of three hundred twenty-five dollars, and donated it to the congrega- tion; and in 1888 Mr. Montgomery gave the church five thousand dollars in cash.
The first wedding in the church was that of John Henry Row- land and Miss Nellie Reed, which took place on June 6, 1875. The first funeral was that of Mrs. John Cheney, who died on May 11, 1876. Mrs. Cheney was one of the most faithful among the found- ers of the church, and one of the best women it has known. The first pastor was followed in 1875 by H. B. McBride, who came at a salary of one thousand dollars a year. From 1876 to 1879 W. P. Koutz was the pastor; and then came James M. Smith, A. Fair- bairn, George A. Hutchinson, J. C. Eastman, George R. Bird, and H. H. Wintler. In 1900 H. T. Dobbins, one of the finest of earth's fine men, took the pastorate and held it till the end of 1917, when he resigned. His successor has not yet been selected.
There is now under construction an addition to the church that will add a Sunday school room, a choir loft, and a kitchen to the equipment, and, it is hoped, will add new life to the mem- bership. For many years Mrs. Florence Kirk, now Mrs. Florence Albery, was organist and had charge of the music of the church ; and later Miss Elizabeth Murdock, now Mrs. C. A. Poage, was organist. For the past fifteen years Mrs. Dobbins has been or- ganist and choir director, a position that she has filled most efficiently.
The Episcopal Church of Colusa, which is the only one of that faith in the county, was organized about twenty-five years ago.
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For a time the congregation met in Odd Fellows' Hall, and later in a small building on Main Street; but in 1894 they erected a church building. This is a missionary parish, the membership being very small, and it is combined with Willows; the rector, Rev. C. H. Lake, serving both parishes. A very comfortable rectory is part of the church equipment.
The African M. E. Zion Church was incorporated on Feb- ruary 10, 1894. It has a church building, but no pastor or reg- nlar services.
Lodges
One who wanders along the path of lodge history in Colusa County will find the way strewn with many wrecks. As a matter of fact, of all the lodges established, more have succumbed than have survived. Out of eighteen or twenty orders that have in- stituted lodges in the county, not more than six or eight now have lodges in active operation. The others have all fallen by the way or are in a comatose condition. The Masons, Eastern Star, Odd Fellows, Rebekahs, Workmen, Drnids, Native Sons, Native Daughters, Grand Army of the Republic, Women's Relief Corps, Confederate Veterans, Danghters of the Confederacy, Knights of Pythias, Moose, Foresters, Eagles, Knights of Honor, Federated Brotherhood, Sons of Temperance, Good Templars, and perhaps some others that I cannot now recall-for I am naming them from memory-have all been represented in the county at one time or another; but the Masons, Eastern Star, Odd Fellows, Rebekahs, Native Sons, Native Daughters, Knights of Pythias, Moose, and possibly the Eagles, are all that hold regular meetings at present. New orders are organized from time to time, and now and then old ones give up the struggle, keeping the number of active orders in the county about the same. The march of time accounts for the passing of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Confederate Veterans, and their allied associations, whose ranks could not be filled from the oncoming generations; but only the natural inertia and apathy of the human race, coupled with the fact that there are more lodges than are necessary, can account for the decline and decay of most of the benevolent orders that have passed away.
The Masonie fraternity, the first one to plant a lodge in the county, now has five active lodges here, one each at Colusa, Arbuckle, Williams, Maxwell and Stonyford, with a total mem- bership of two hundred sixty-six. These five lodges comprise the fifteenth district of the Jurisdiction of California; and Her- man Jacobson, of Colusa, is Inspector.
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Colusa Lodge, No. 142, Free and Accepted Masons, was or- ganized in Colusa on November 19, 1859, with seven charter members. In July, 1875, Equality Lodge was organized; and in 1880 each of these lodges had fifty-six members. On April 1, 1882, the two lodges were consolidated under the name of Colusa Lodge, with J. B. Cooke as Worthy Master, J. Furth as Senior Warden, W. N. Herd as Junior Warden, J. W. Goad as Treasurer, and W. T. Beville as Secretary. Mr. Beville has continued as Secretary ever since, with only one or two trifling breaks. He has been installed as Secretary thirty-eight times. The Masonic Temple, which stands at the corner of Fifth and Jay Streets, was begun in 1891, and was dedicated June 8, 1892. It is a frame structure, sixty-five by seventy feet in size, and cost ten thousand dollars. The lodge is in a flourishing condition, having at present eighty-five members. The officers for 1917 are W. L. Merrill, Master; W. T. Beville, Secretary; H. F. Osgood, Treas- urer; Joseph Baum, Senior Warden; MePherson Montgomery, Junior Warden; J. D. MeNary, Chaplain; C. J. Wescott, Senior Deacon; Frank L. Crayton, Junior Deacon; C. W. Young, Mar- shal; C. T. White, Senior Steward; Daryl DeJarnatt, Junior Steward; Leon F. Hicok, Tiler.
I do not have the dates of organization of the other Masonic lodges in the county, but they have all been in existence for many years. Meridian Lodge, No. 182, at Arbuckle, has fifty-one members and is officered by George C. Meckfessel, Master; S. A. Pendleton, Secretary; Donglas Cramer, Treasurer ; J. R. Lindsay, Senior Warden; Milton F. Struckmeyer, Junior Warden.
Tuscan Lodge, No. 261, at Williams, has fifty-seven members and the following officers: Leroy Schaad, Master; P. H. Northey, Secretary; G. E. Franke, Treasurer; E. J. Worsley, Senior War- den ; S. G. Linn, Junior Warden; G. W. Gibson, Senior Deacon; L. A. Mace, Junior Deacon; A. A. Entrican, Marshal; J. F. Abel, Senior Steward; S. S. Eakle, Junior Steward; B. F. Peters, Tiler.
Snow Mountain Lodge, No. 271, at Stonyford, has thirty-eight members and the following officers: G. L. Mason, Master; A. T. Welton, Secretary; D. J. Westapher, Treasurer; R. H. Yearnshaw, Senior Warden; Samuel E. Stites, Junior Warden; Roy L. Walkup, Senior Deacon; G. J. Westapher, Junior Deacon; W. J. Lovelady, Marshal; Charles Alexander, Senior Steward; F. M. Kesselring, Junior Steward; J. M. Morris, Tiler.
Maxwell Lodge, No. 288, at Maxwell, has thirty-five mem- bers; and the present officers are S. E. Crutcher, Master; A. J. Fouch, Secretary; F. H. Abel, Treasurer; H. J. Arvedson, Senior Warden; C. E. Brennir, Junior Warden; J. W. Marshall, Chap- lain; J. W. Danley, Senior Deacon; G. M. Clark, Junior Deacon;
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G. B. Harden, Marshal; W. H. Lovelace, Senior Steward; Horace Fisher, Junior Steward; M. Mathieson, Tiler.
In March, 1884, J. B. Cooke, J. B. DeJarnatt, C. E. de St. Maurice, and Rev. T. H. B. Anderson went to Marysville to obtain permission to establish a commandery of Knights Templar in Colusa; and the organization formed as a result of that visit is in existence today. The present membership is forty-five, and the officers are W. C. Blean, Commander; C. D. Stanton, Generalis- simo; B. H. Mitchell, Captain General; U. W. Brown, Prelate; Oscar Robinson, Senior Warden; Dr. E. S. Holloway, Junior Warden; F. J. Mendonsa, Warder; W. L. Merrill, Recorder; J. C. Mogk, Treasurer.
A chapter of Royal Arch Masons was also formed, and it has about forty-five members. The present officers are G. W. Moore, High Priest; F. J. Mendonsa, King; J. C. Mogk, Scribe; Oscar Robinson, Principal Sojourner; W. L. Merrill, Recorder; C. D. Stanton, Treasurer; W. C. Blean, Master of the Third Veil; U. W. Brown, Master of the Second Veil; Phil B. Arnold, Master of the First Veil.
Veritas Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, was organized at Colusa in 1884. It has always been an exceedingly active or- ganization. The present officers are Miss Myrtle Hicok, Worthy Matron; Herman Jacobson, Worthy Patron; Mrs. Robert Cosner, Secretary; Mrs. C. D. Stanton, Treasurer; Mrs. Lloyd Merrill, Conductress; Miss Orlean Herd, Associate Conductress.
Eowana Chapter, O. E. S., was instituted on May 30, 1914, at Stonyford, the chapter being named by Mrs. Mary Turman, daugh- ter of Dr. Robert Semple. The first officers were Mrs. Edith McGahan, Worthy Matron; D. J. Westapher, Worthy Patron; G. T. McGahan, Secretary ; J. M. Morris, Treasurer.
Loyal Chapter, of Williams, and Wild Rose Chapter, of Princeton, are also active organizations. The officers of Wild Rose Chapter are Mrs. Carrie Clapp, Worthy Matron ; Oscar Steele, Worthy Patron; Minnie Noe, Secretary; Mrs. C. M. Archer, Treas- urer. Mrs. Leroy Schaad is Worthy Matron of Loyal Chapter; Bert L. Fouch, Worthy Patron ; Ida Entrican, Secretary; Carrie I. Fouch, Treasurer.
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows has five lodges in the county; and there are also five lodges of the Daughters of Re- bekah. Colusa Lodge, No. 133, was organized May 2, 1867. At first it met in a room on Main Street; but later Chris Swank built a hall for the lodge on Market Street, opposite the court- house, and it was housed there till 1892, when the present build- ing was erected at Fifth and Market Streets. It was dedicated
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on December 16, 1892, with impressive ceremonies. The charter members of the lodge were Moses Stinchfield, W. F. Goad, A. S. Culp, T. G. Shelton, Jackson Hart, W. B. Pollard, John H. Byers, O. F. Cook and Charles Spaulding. The lodge now has ninety-five members and is exceedingly prosperous. It practically owns the building now, and will soon own it entirely. Recently it installed a handsome and expensive Edison phonograph for the pleasure of the members. The present elective officers are Algernon Butler, Noble Grand; Raymond Stewart, Vice-Grand; A. H. Walworth, Secretary; George H. Hall, Treasurer. Colusa Lodge had the reputation at one time of doing the best degree work in the Sacra- mento Valley. For nearly twenty years, under the management of W. D. Cook, the lodge ran a steamboat excursion each spring to the Odd Fellows' picnic at Grimes; but of late the growing use of automobiles cut down the patronage of the excursions so much that they were discontinued in 1916.
Princeton Lodge was organized at Princeton on January 15, 1877. It had thirty-five members at one time; but the membership later waned to such an extent that it was merged with Colusa Lodge, about twenty years ago.
Central Lodge was instituted at Williams on March 8, 1875, and for a time it was in a flourishing condition; but for the past fifteen years it has languished considerably. It has about seventy members, and the present elective officers are L. A. Manor, Noble Grand; J. H. Forsythe, Vice-Grand; Charles Haller, Secretary ; C. C. Welch, Treasurer. The Noble Grand and Vice-Grand were both called to the colors shortly after being installed, and the lodge lost a number of other members in the same way.
Probably the livest lodge in the county is Grand Island Lodge, No. 266, which was organized on October 10, 1877, at Grimes. It owns its own hall, gives a picnic once a year that is the great social event of the county, and sends out snappy, well-drilled degree teams. It has about one hundred five members, and the present elective officers are Robert Allison, Noble Grand; Chris Hoy, Jr., Vice-Grand; Edward Smith, Secretary; Peter Grimm, Treasurer.
Spring Valley Lodge was instituted at Arbuckle on September 4, 1884. This lodge is in a flourishing condition. The present elective officers are C. E. Arvedson, Noble Grand; W. T. Day, Vice-Grand; G. F. Weyand, Secretary ; W. D. Bradford, Treasurer.
Maxwell also has a flourishing lodge of Odd Fellows. On March 23, 1912, they dedicated a magnificent new hall that cost twenty thousand dollars. The elective officers are S. F. Watt, Noble Grand; Forest Danley, Vice-Grand; S. A. Hineline, Secre- tary ; J. P. Nelson, Treasurer.
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Colusa Encampment, I. O. O. F .. was organized in Colnsa in 1876; but it has long since lapsed.
Deborah Rebekah Lodge, of Colusa, was instituted in 1893, and has always been an institution in which its members take great pride. Its elective officers at present are Mrs. Raymond Manville, Noble Grand; Miss Lorena Newland, Vice-Grand; Miss Hattie Bell Caswell, Secretary; Miss Ladye Edith Cartmell, Treasurer.
Valley Rose Rebekah Lodge, of Grimes, was organized in 1909, and now has about eighty members. The present elective officers are Mrs. Peter Grimm, Noble Grand; Mrs. Andrew Clark, Vice- Grand; Miss Irene Brown, Secretary; Mrs. Henry Houchins, Treasurer.
There are also Rebekah lodges at Arbuckle, Williams and Maxwell. The officers of the Williams lodge are Viola Forsythe, Noble Grand; Kate Kissling, Vice-Grand; Ada Schaad, Secretary ; Mary Graser, Treasurer. The officers of the Maxwell lodge are Myrtle Hineline, Noble Grand; Irma Jacobson, Vice-Grand; Eliza- beth Nelson, Secretary; Elizabeth Nissen, Treasurer.
A parlor of Native Sons of the Golden West was organized in Colnsa on October 5, 1885, with forty-one charter members; but it failed to endure. Colnsa Parlor, No. 69, was organized in 1903, with J. W. Kaerth, President; Fred Watson, Past President ; Phil B. Arnold, First Vice-President; W. B. DeJarnatt, Second Vice-President ; Parker L. Jackson, Third Vice-President; J. M. Jones, Treasurer; W. C. Spaulding, Recording Secretary; J. S. O'Rourke, Financial Secretary. This lodge is still alive and healthy, and has done a number of things toward the improvement of the community, among them the restoration of the historic old stone corral in the foothills west of Maxwell. The present officers are J. Deter MeNary, Past President; Warren Davison, Presi- dent ; J. E. Roderick, First Vice-President ; Grover Power, Second Vice-President ; George Martin, Jr., Third Vice-President; Phil Hamburg, Jr., Marshal; M. W. Burrows, Recording Secretary ; George Fromhertz, Financial Secretary; G. L. Messick, Treasurer ; Bert Smith, Ben Ragain and Fred Muttersbach, Trustees; Wil- liam Duncan. Inside Sentinel; J. R. Manville, Outside Sentinel.
Williams Parlor, No. 164, of Native Sons was organized on November 4, 1907, with twenty-six charter members. Julian Levy is the President now.
The first parlor of Native Daughters of the Golden West was organized in Colusa on June 24, 1887; but it lapsed. On January 30, 1912, a second parlor was organized by District Deputy Grand President Mrs. Mae Hartsock, with the following officers: Past President, Mrs. W. J. King; President, Miss Revella Burrows; First Vice-President, Miss Loga Sartain; Second Vice-President,
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Miss Hazel Webber; Third Vice-President, Miss Florine Poirier; Marshal, Mrs. E. P. Jones; Inside Sentinel, Miss Genevieve Fanghnan; Outside Sentinel, Miss Lulu May Roche; Recording Secretary, Mrs. Alva King; Financial Secretary, Miss Mabel Kurtz; Treasurer, Mrs. W. S. Brooks; Trustees, Misses Rhetta Green, Kathryn Hankins and Ladye Edith Cartmell; Organist, Miss Eva Joseph. The present officers are Miss Eva Joseph, Past President ; Miss Elzie Lopez, President; Mrs. A. M. Hampton, First Vice-President; Mrs. Max South, Second Vice-President; Mrs. George St. Louis, Third Vice-President ; Miss Ladye Edith Cartmell, Treasurer; Miss Orlean Herd, Recording Secretary; Miss Loma Cartmell, Financial Secretary ; Mrs. Frank Fogalsang, Marshal; Miss Ruth St. Louis, Mrs. Alva King, and Miss Myrtle Davis, Trustees; Mrs. G. W. Hougland, Inside Sentinel ; Mrs. J. V. Stanton, Outside Sentinel; Mrs. E. P. Jones, Organist.
On December 1, 1869, a lodge of the Knights of Pythias was instituted in Colusa. This was Oriental Lodge, No. 10; and O. S. Mason, E. W. Jones, and A. P. Spaulding were among the first officers. It lapsed after some years; and the county was there- after without a Pythian lodge till October 9, 1909, when a second lodge was organized with twenty charter members. The present officers are George Mannee, Chancellor Commander; M. P. Mont- gomery, Vice-Chancellor; C. C. Johnson, Keeper of Records and Seals; A. P. Staple, Master of Finance; Val Carson, Master of the Exchequer; H. D. Braly, Master of Works; F. W. Farnsworth, Inside Guardian; John Hanlon, Outside Guardian.
The largest regular lodge ever started in the county was Colusa Lodge No. 834, Loyal Order of Moose, organized on December 13, 1911, with two hundred three members. Ninety were initiated in one night. The first officers were O. R. Mason, Past Dictator; F. W. Farnsworth, Dictator; F. M. Fogalsang, Vice-Dictator; W. E. Lewis, Prelate; Albert Farnsworth, Sergeant-at-Arms; W. S. Brooks, Secretary; J. O. Mason, Treasurer; H. D. Braly, Inside Guardian; George South, Outside Guardian; John Hanlon, J. T. Ward, and Fred Roche, Directors. This is the only Moose lodge in the county.
There is one lodge of the Fraternal Order of Eagles in the county. This is Colnsa Aerie, No. 675; and it was instituted in June, 1904, with fifty-one members. For a time the lodge was in a very apathetic condition, and on February 2, 1912, E. J. Sanford ar- rived here to revive it. His efforts were successful, and the lodge is still in existence, but not very active. The present officers are Emil St. Louis, President ; George St. Louis, Vice-President ; Percy J. Cooke, Secretary ; E. P. Jones, Treasurer.
Court Sioc, of the Independent Order of Foresters, was organ- ized in May, 1892, with J. D. MeNary as Chief Ranger and A. H.
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Caswell as Vice Chief Ranger. It was an insurance order, and greatly increased assessments drove many of the members out and worked a great hardship on those who stayed in. The present officers are G. W. Moore, Chief Ranger; J. P. Muttersbach, Vice Chief Ranger; C. C. Johnson, Secretary; J. F. Rich, Treasurer. The lodge does not hold regular meetings, and probably will soon be a matter of history.
The greatest fiasco in the lodge history of the county was fur- nished by the Ancient Order of United Workmen. This order, from 1871 to 1885, placed six lodges in the county ; but there isn't a vestige of one left. On March 15, 1871, a lodge was organized at Colusa ; but it lapsed. O. S. Mason was the Master. On November 26, 1878, a second lodge was organized at Colusa, with W. H. Belton as Master. In 1879 a lodge was organized at Grand Island; and in 1881 a lodge was organized at Princeton, with twenty-six members. Arbuckle got a lodge in 1885, and Maxwell also had a lodge. They are all gone. A Degree of Honor, the allied feminine order of the Workmen, was also organized at Colusa, in 1893; but it, too, has passed away.
General John A. Miller Post, Grand Army of the Republic, was organized in Colusa on March 31, 1886. A. E. Potter, A. B. Cooper, Ed Riley, W. G. Henneke, and W. F. Landers are about the only members of this organization left. The Women's Relief Corps, the affiliated organization, established a branch here in 1891. with Mrs. S. R. Murdock as president ; but most of its mem- bers have also passed away. The only ones living that I know of are Mrs. G. W. White, Mrs. G. G. Brooks, Mrs. Alphonsine Poirier, Mrs. A. B. Cooper and Mrs. A. E. Potter.
Camp Pap Price, of the Confederate Veterans, was organized in Colusa on August 6, 1901; and at one time it had fifty-five mem- bers, although not all of them were from Colusa County. Major J. B. Moore has been Commander ever since the camp was started, and W. T. Beville is Adjutant. John L. Jackson, John T. Har- rington, T. B. MeCollum, J. P. Smart, M. R. Blevins, and Luther Hoy are among the members of the camp who are still living. Winnie Davis Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy, also flourished at Colusa for a time; but death has greatly thinned the ranks of its members. Mrs. W. S. Green is the president; Mrs. H. M. Albery, vice-president ; and Mrs. C. O. Jordan, secretary.
A lodge of the Ancient Order of Druids was organized in Colusa on May 28, 1875; but it lapsed after a few years. The Knights of Honor went by the same route. The latter was organ- ized in Colusa in 1879. It was to pay the widow or orphans two thousand dollars upon the death of a member, an undertaking too big to be carried out. The Fraternal Brotherhood organized a
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were at all optimistic; but in November, 1864, a copious rain fell, and for several years thereafter the county was untroubled by drought. Of course there were seasons when a little more rainfall wouldn't have hurt, and other seasons when the rainfall was poorly distributed from the farmer's standpoint ; but since 1864 the county has suffered much more from floods than from droughts. In the twenty years following 1864 the driest one was the season of 1876- 1877, when the rainfall was a little over eleven inches; but it was so distributed that a good crop was raised. The rainfall for the season of 1850-1851 was 7.42 inches ; but the only season since which approaches that one in paucity of rainfall was the season of 1897- 1898, when 9.38 inches fell. The spring of 1913 was also dry; and the spring of 1917 gave promise of being a bad one for the farmers because of scarcity of rain, but the weather remained so cool till harvest time that an excellent crop was matured. The normal rainfall is eighteen inches. In the sixty-seven years since 1850 it has fallen short of this amount fifteen times and exceeded it fifty-two times.
On going through the newspaper files, one would be led to believe that the seasons had been growing increasingly wet ever since the foundation of the county. No less than a dozen times I ran across the statement, "Highest water ever known in the county," or "Rains the worst in history," or some similar state- ment. This can be accounted for partly by the license which the newspaper man sometimes takes with the facts, and partly also by the fact that as the river was more and more confined by levees it did rise higher and higher, and as improvements became more plentiful floods became more damaging. The average rainfall has not increased at all.
The heavy rainfall of the winter of 1867 made the roads of the county impassable for two or three months, and greatly de- creased the acreage of grain sown. On the night of December 10 of that year the river rose three and one half feet, and "Colusa and its environs became an island in a yellow waste of water. Between here and the Coast Range the county presented the ap- pearance of an inland sea." The spring of 1878 holds the record for heavy and continuons rainfall. Beginning Jannary 13 of that year, it rained 10.73 inches in three days and four nights; and from the 14th to the 30th the rainfall was 12.65 inches. Thousands of sheep were drowned and much other damage resulted. The "greatest flood ever known" occurred on February 5 and 6, 1881. The Feather River came across the valley past the Buttes, and rushed up Butte Slongh to its junction with the Sacramento River in such volume that the current was carried clear across the river and washed out the levee on the west side. In 1884 another
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