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 21
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 21
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In 1862, ineited by a squaw named "Hatcreek Lize," one of the Pitt River tribe, about thirty Indians made another raid into the Stony Creek Valley, this time killing William Watson, a Grindstone settler, and an Indian boy who was herding sheep for Mr. Darling, besides numberless head of cattle. Fully aroused by these audacious crimes, the settlers determined on vengeance.
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Fifteen men, led by Jack Lett of Stonyford, started in pursuit of the savages. On the way they were reinforced by an equal number of men under the leadership of Rufus Burrows, of Newville. The pursuing party followed the Indians for a day and a half, finally overtaking them where they had pitched camp to rest, believing themselves safe from pursuit by that time. A battle ensned, which lasted an hour and a half before the Indians retreated, leaving fifteen of their number dead. The pursuers had suffered two casualties during the engagement, S. W. Shannon and S. R. Ford both receiving mortal wounds.
The Legend of "Bloody Rock"
There is an interesting legend of how "Bloody Rock" re- ceived its name, which no doubt originated in this pursuit of the Indians by the settlers; and although there is nothing in history to authenticate it in any way, the story, on account of its appeal to the imagination, will probably continue to live, though the true facts of the case are forgotten. "Bloody Rock" is a preci- pice on the west bank of Eel River, near the western boundary of Glenn County. The slope of the mountain from the north is quite gradual, as of a low hill whose brow is comparatively level. Then, without warning, there is a sheer drop to the river bed three hundred feet below, as though the other half of the mountain had been sliced off with a great knife in prehistoric times. In early days, so the story runs, on account of some unusually daring crime, the settlers started out in pursuit of the Indians. Closing in on them from all sides, they drove some twenty or thirty Indians up this gradual ascent, until they were brought to bay at the brink of the cliff. Here they were given their choice by the settlers of being shot or going over the precipice. After a little parley among themselves, the chief, with a war-whoop, leaped over the edge, and was instantly fol- lowed by the rest of his party. As a result of this action, this spot has from that day to this borne the gruesome appellation of "Bloody Rock."
Attack at the Rancheria on the Millsaps Place
There was a little trouble later in 1862, with some local In- dians on the rancheria on the Millsaps place on Stony Creek. The Indians had plundered Mr. Wilson's home during his ab- sence; and when, on his return, he went to the rancheria to demand the return of his property, both squaws and bucks attacked him with stones and arrows. He was rescued by Mr. Millsaps, who heard the noise of the affray. Next morning, the settlers again arose in their wrath. Four of the Indians were
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killed during the fight that followed; and a day or so later, "Pete," who had wounded Mr. Wilson, was caught near the reservation and hanged by friendly Indians.
Snch summary punishment had a very salutary effect upon the Indians, instilling in them a wholesome respect for the lives and property of the white men. The settlers suffered no more from raids; and save for isolated cases where some buck grew quarrelsome and courageons under the influence of liquor, they had very little further trouble.
Results of Their Contact with Civilization
The Indians' primitive mode of living had ill fitted them to resist the encroachments of a more virile race, and it was inevi- table that the coming of the hardy pioneers should mark the beginning of their decline. At the close of the Mexican War, the United States government had not deemed it necessary to recognize the possessory rights of the peaceful California Indians to their hunting grounds, and took no more account of their tenancy than of the herds of wild game which pastured the ยท land. It is not surprising, therefore, with the example set by the government before them, that many of the more aggressive pioneers regarded the Indian as having few rights which a white man was bound to respect, and that these same pioneers settled without a qualm of conscience on land which the Indians had occupied for centuries.
Clinging to their tribal relationships and primitive manner of living, the Indians gradually receded before the advance of the settlers, seeking shelter and freedom in the valleys and can- yons in the hills. In the later fifties, when the stockmen began to settle in the hills, the Indians were a source of great annoyance to them; and the government then set apart a reservation for the Indians and persuaded many of them to move on to it. Those who remained in the county, when they worked at all, served as laborers for the early settlers; and where they were treated kindly, they often manifested a great deal of loyalty to their employers.
One of the laws passed by the first legislature of the state decreed that the Indians should clothe themselves, and that their labor should belong to any one who furnished them with cloth- ing, until all arrears were paid. While this law accomplished its purpose in making the Indians conform to the standards of civilization by wearing what the law required, it frequently placed them in an economic condition little better than invol- untary servitude. Born hedonists, the Indians spent the greater part of what they earned for beads and feathers, for personal
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adornment, or for "fire water" for inner refreshment; and this improvidence on their part rendered them easy subjects for exploitation by the unscrupulous.
From their contact with the whites, the Indians contracted the habit of intemperance. This, with its resultant vices, together with their inability to adapt themselves to changed economic con- ditions, spelled their doom. Of the many thousands who roamed the hills and plains upon the advent of the white men, there remain but a handful-some fifty or sixty, in a small rancheria upon Grindstone Creek. Too lazy and improvident to thrive, and too peaceful to struggle, the Indians as a race have passed away from the county, withont enriching the civilization which succeeded them by so much as the legacy of a single picturesque legend, song or story.
CHAPTER III
THE MISSIONS. CALIFORNIA WINS HER INDEPENDENCE
The Missions
The Spanish Californians, with the lack of ambition and enterprise born of a contented mind, never seemed to realize the vast possibilities of the great interior valley of Northern Cali- fornia; and it is doubtful if any Missions would ever have been established north of San Francisco Bay, had it not been for the activity of the Russians at Fort Ross, on the northern coast, which aroused the jealousy of Spain. The fear that the Russian colonists might further extend their occupation of the territory was largely responsible for the founding of the Mission at San Rafael, and of the one at Sonoma also. These Missions were regarded by Spain as having a strategic and military significance, as well as a religions purpose.
The Russians, however, were never very prosperons; and in 1839 they gave up their colony, and sold all their personal prop- erty, consisting of live stock, ordnance, and a vessel of twenty- five tons, to General John A. Sutter, who had just been granted an immense tract of land at the juncture of the Sacramento and American Rivers.
Sutter's Hospitality
General Sutter was a kind and generous-hearted man; and his open-handed hospitality soon made his colony a Mecca for all immigrants coming across the plains from the United States. Each year they came in increasing numbers, and each year more
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and more of them settled in the Sacramento Valley, under Sut- ter's protection, until in 1846 the settlements extended from Sutter's Fort northward to Peter Lassen's farm, at the head of Deer Creek, in the northeastern part of what is now Tehama County.
The native Californians viewed with increasing suspicion and alarm the growing power of the settlers from the United States. During the early forties there were vague, uneasy rumors afloat that the Californians were planning an uprising to drive out the land-grasping Gringos, as the Americans were called. In 1846, Captain John C. Fremont, who was sent out by the United States Government to explore the most direct routes to the Coast, and to do topographical work in California, made a surveying trip up the Sacramento Valley with sixty men and two hundred horses. Near the boundary line between Oregon and California, he was overtaken by Lieut. Archibald Gillespie, the bearer of secret despatches from Washington. What instructions these despatches contained has never been made public; but upon their receipt Fremont immediately turned back southward into the valley, and established camp near the Marysville Buttes. This unex- pected move on the part of Fremont excited wide-spread curiosity among the northern settlers, and convinced many of them that the rumors of an uprising against them were true. They flocked to Fremont's camp; but what they learned there appears to have been a bit conflicting and confusing, as very few had the same understanding of the situation. Some were told that the Cali- fornians were about to attack them; others, that it was necessary for them to make the first move.
The Capture of Arce's Horses
In speaking of Fremont's part in instigating the Bear Flag Revolt, John Bidwell says:
"It so happened that Castro had sent Lieutenant Arce to the north side of San Francisco Bay to collect scattered government horses. Arce had secured about a hundred and fifty, and was taking them to the south side of the Bay, via Sutter's Fort, and to the San Joaquin Valley. .. . Fremont, hearing that the horses were passing, sent a party . .. and captured them. This, of course, was done before he had orders or any positive news that war was declared. ... Thus, without giving the least notice to Sutter, the great friend of Americans, or to Ameri- cans in general, scattered and exposed as they were all over California, he precipitated the war."
. After the capture of Arce's horses, Merritt and his band proceeded to Sonoma, where they surrounded the home of Gen-
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eral Vallejo and declared the inmates prisoners. Vallejo was taken completely by surprise, and so offered no resistance. But when his wife asked to whom they were to surrender, the attack- ing party were thrown into confusion. No one seemed to have definite orders from Fremont, and each hesitated about taking upon himself the responsibility of interfering with the liberty of such an important personage as General Vallejo. Many were for giving up the enterprise entirely; but William B. Ide took command of the situation, declaring "that they must either be conquerors or they were robbers."
The Bear Flag Revolt
Sonoma was captured, and General Vallejo was taken first to Fremont's camp and then to Sutter's Fort for detention. Ide, with twenty-four of the men, remained at Sonoma and organ- ized the Republic of California. The men were divided into three companies, under the leadership of Henry L. Ford, Granville P. Swift, and Samuel J. Hensley; and the Bear Flag was designed and adopted as their emblem.
The importance of the part played by men of this vicinity in the Bear Flag Revolution will be readily seen when one remembers that three of the four officers of the Bear Flag Party were William B. Ide, Henry L. Ford, and Granville P. Swift, each of whom was elected an officer of Colusa County upon its formation in 1851.
After assuming leadership of the men at Sonoma, Ide drafted a proclamation of the Republic of California, which he had scat- tered broadcast. In this proclamation he stated that it was his object "to establish and perpetuate a just, liberal, and honorable government, which should secure to all civil and religious liberty ; insure security of life and property; detect and punish crime and injustice ; encourage virtue, industry and literature; foster agricul- ture and manufactures ; and guarantee freedom to commerce."
The Battle of Olampali
There was only one clash between the Californians and the Bear Flag men, known as the Battle of Olampali. Two men of the Bear Flag Party had been sent as messengers to the Coast with letters from Fremont, and had been captured by the Cali- fornians. Ford attempted to rescue them, and charged a ranch house where he thought they were confined. On arriving at the corral, however, the Americans were surprised to see fifty or sixty armed men near the house. They had accidentally stumbled on to one of General Castro's divisions, under the command of Joaquin de la Torre. Ford ordered the Bears to dismount, take refuge behind what shelter they could find, and await the attack
-
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by de la Torre's men. The Californians charged; but at the first volley of the Bears, one of their men was killed and another was seriously wounded. The rest retreated, keeping up a haphazard firing at long range for some time, without damaging any of the Bear Flag men. De la Torre retreated southward; and Ford, content with capturing some of his horses, made no attempt to follow him.
After a brief duration of twenty-six days, the Republic of California ended with the substitution of the Stars and Stripes for the Bear Flag at Sonoma, July 9, 1846. Historians differ in their opinions as to the advantage to the United States of the Bear Flag Revolution. Some of them claim that the leaders had no knowledge of the proximity of war between the United States and Mexico, and that in view of this fact a revolution on their part was ill-timed, as it might have led to English intervention, and thus have ultimately lost California to the Union. What would have happened had events been different, is, however, largely a matter of conjecture. Since the war did follow so closely, the work of conquest by United States forces was greatly sim- plified by the fact that the American settlers already controlled all of Northern California. The majority of the men in the Bear Flag Revolution were not mere adventurers in search of excite- ment, but men of property interests at that time, who were sin- cere in their belief that such a course was necessary to their own safety and that of other Americans in California. Nearly all of them joined the California Battalion, which was organized by Fremont at Sonoma on July 5, 1846, and which, by arriving at a critical time to join the forces of Stockton in the south, really brought the conquest to a successful end.
Granville P. Swift, and Others of the Bear Flag Party
After the war, the men of the Battalion dispersed and many of them returned north. Bryant, Ford, Ide and Swift settled in the northern part of what was later Colusa County, where for the next few years Swift was one of the most picturesque figures in the early history of the county. A tall, handsome native of the blue grass region, he inherited a goodly measure of the fighting blood of old Kentucky; and he was a leader in every controversy of any importance between the Americans and the Californians subsequent to his arrival with the Kelsey party from Oregon in 1843. In 1845, Swift served under Sutter in his campaign for Micheltorena against Alvarado. In 1846, he was one of the lead- ing spirits of the Bear Flag Revolt, which has just been epito- mized; and later in the same year he was Captain of Company C of the California Battalion under Fremont.
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At the close of hostilities in 1847, Granville P. Swift settled on Stony Creek, in Colusa County. During the next two years he made frequent trips to the mines on the Feather River, where le amassed a fortune by working the Indians, whom he ruled with an iron hand. Absolutely fearless, a crack shot, and a bitter hater of Mexicans, Swift supplies the peaceful annals of our agri- cultural community with a dash of the romance and adventure of
"The days of old, The days of gold, The days of forty-nine."
The following is a reminiscence of a deceased pioneer who was an eye-witness to the incident described.
In the palmy days of Monroeville, in the early fifties, the principal building was an old wooden hotel with the usual barroom attachments. Whenever a mail stage was expected, the men of the community congregated here to await its arrival. On one such occasion Swift was standing watching a game of cards, when a shadow fell across the doorway of the barroom. Instinctively he turned and, catching sight of the newcomers as he did so, shot from the hip with the deadly skill for which he was noted. The man was a Mexican vaquero who had had trouble with Swift, and had made threats to kill him on sight. The Mexican, with umer- ring accuracy, had thrown a knife with a weighted and balanced point ; and, but for the slight movement of Swift's body when he turned, it would have pierced his heart. As it was, the knife barely grazed his clothing and buried itself to half the length of its blade in the wall behind him. The men rolled the dead Mexican out of the doorway, and left the corpse waiting until the cool of the evening for burial; and the card game was resumed until the mail arrived.
After his mining operations, Swift next turned his attention to stock-raising, using the Indians for vaqueros. In 1849 he pur- chased the cattle and brand of J. S. Williams, who was leaving the Larkin Rancho; and for the next five years his vast herds grazed the plains for miles. Once a year they were rodeoed at three different points : at the old adobe on Stony Creek, north of Or- land; at the adobe on the Murdock ranch, west of Willows; and at the Stone Corral, west of Maxwell. Legends still exist in the county of money buried by Swift at these places. There were no banks in those days; and Swift, in common with many other men, had a habit of burying money on his home rancho, where several deposits were found by accident after he had forgotten them. In 1854 he moved to Sonoma County, and later to Solano, where he was accidentally killed in a mine in 1875. 12
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The two other officers of the Bear Flag Revolt, William B. Ide and Henry L. Ford, had ranchos in the northern part of the county, which was cut off and joined to Teliama County in 1855.
CHAPTER IV
ORGANIZATION OF STATE AND COUNTY
After the War with Mexico, the people of California hoped that Congress would provide them with an organized government, and that military rule would be at an end; but owing to the slavery agitation at that time, and the fear of upsetting the bal- ance of power in the Senate, Congress adjourned twice without taking cognizance of California's needs. In the meantime, the discovery of gold and the great inrush of miners in 1849 made some form of organized government imperative. After the second adjournment of Congress, General Bennett Riley, Military Governor of California, took matters into his own hands and called a convention to meet in Monterey on September 3, 1849, for the purpose of forming a state constitution.
Immediately after the adjournment of this convention, printed copies of the proposed constitution were spread broadcast over the state, and candidates for the offices created by it inaugn- rated an active campaign and made stump speeches in favor of its adoption and in support of their own candidacy. The election was held on November 13, 1849. The constitution was ratified almost nnanimously, and Peter H. Burnett was chosen as Gov- ernor. In December the Governor proclaimed the constitution to be "ordained and established as the constitution of the State of California." The newly elected senators and assemblymen met in San Jose, the new capital, on December 15, 1849. Thus, the state government was organized and in active operation almost nine months before California was admitted to the Union as a state, on September 9, 1850.
Among the acts of this first legislature, which met before Cali- fornia's admission to the Union, was one ontlining the boundaries of various counties. Colusa was one of these first counties formed, and its bonndaries were defined by the legislature as follows: "Beginning at a point on the summit of the Coast Range moun- tains dne west from the Red Bluffs, and running thence dne east to the said bluffs on the Sacramento River, thence down the middle of said river to the northwest corner of Sntter County, thence due west along the northern border of Yolo County to the summit of the Coast Range, thence in a northwesterly direction
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following the summit of said range to the point of beginning." The district thus defined was attached to Butte County for judicial purposes.
Location of the County Seat at Monroeville
No sooner had this been done than a lively controversy over the location of the county seat began. In all the expanse of terri- tory embraced by the proclamation there were about one hundred fifteen electors, and these were almost evenly divided between the adherents of Monroeville and those of Colusa-each place at that time a thriving village of one house. In 1850 the first legislature of the state passed an act providing for the organization of a county by the district judge upon petition of the electors of the county. U. P. Monroe, after whom Monroeville was named, was quick to take advantage of this act. But instead of applying to the district judge, he presented a petition to Judge Moses Bean, superior judge of Butte County, praying for the organization of "Colusi" County. Although he really had no authority to do so, Judge Bean issued a proclamation calling for an election to be held at Monroeville on January 10, 1851, for the organization of the county and the election of the county officers.
Early Elections
Of the men selected for officers at this election, only J. S. Holland, superior judge, and U. P. Monroe, county clerk, qualified and gave the requisite bonds; so that it was necessary to hold another election almost immediately. This was done on February 25, 1851, at which time W. G. Chard was chosen for assessor, Joseph C. Huls for surveyor, and Jolm F. Willis for sheriff. The court of sessions, whose duties corresponded to those of the board of supervisors, was organized with Newell Hall and William B. Ide as associate justices; and by it the county was divided into precinets, townships, road districts, etc., and the tax rate for the county was placed at twenty-five cents on the hundred dollars, of valuation, the highest rate allowed by law at that time.
On April 12, 1851, Judge Holland, who had been ill for some time, died. On May 3, another election was held to choose his successor, in which John T. Hughes received the majority of votes. Shortly afterwards, however, Hughes left the county; so that within eight months after the organization of the county a fourth election was held, on September 3, 1851. This was the first election of which there are any official records extant. The re- turns were as follows: For assemblyman: C. D. Semple, 23; H. L. Ford, 47; Newell Hall, 23; and S. Gwynn, 5. For county judge : William B. Ide, 40; L. H. Sanborn, 35. For county clerk :
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E. D. Wheatly, 74; James Yates, 11. For treasurer: G. P. Swift, 3; Ben Knight, 82. For sheriff: J. F. Willis, 84. For assessor: W. G. Chard, 21; W. H. Sheppard, 57.
The letters of William B. Ide, former leader of the Bear Flag Revolt, furnish the main source of information concerning the life and history of this period.
Transient Nature of the Population
The excitement of gold-mining on the Feather River was then at its height, and a considerable number of the men in the county were transient residents, going and coming back and forth from the mines as the excitement fluctuated. Ide appears to have had a very strong sense of civic responsibility, and endeav- ored to maintain a county government, in working order, by filling the various offices himself when other men deserted their posts or refused to qualify In reading of his conscientious at- tempts along this line, one is forcibly reminded of the predica- ment of the sole survivor of the Nancy Belle, when he says, in that bit of nonsense verse :
"O, I'm the crew and the captain bold, And the mate of the Nancy brig, And the bosun tight and the midship mite, And the crew of the captain's gig."
The following extract from one of Ide's letters to his brother may serve to heighten the picture of his manifold titles and duties :
"Monroeville, Colusi County, Cal., November 9, 1851. "Dear Brother:
"I am seated in the office of County Clerk of Colusi County, where I am at present, by virtue of the elective franchise, having been made Judge of the County Court, civil and criminal, presi- dent of the Commissioners' Court, or the Court of Sessions of said county, and Judge of Probate; and, by appointment duly recorded, I am made the County Clerk, Clerk of the District Court (Ninth District), and of the Court of Sessions, Clerk of the Probate Court, County Recorder and County Auditor. These several offices, at present, limit my official duties; but I suppose I shall, just to accommodate our floating population, be com- pelled to serve as Treasurer, Deputy Sheriff, Deputy County Surveyor, and very probably as Coroner and Justice of the Peace, and very probably as Deputy Notary Public.
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