USA > California > Contra Costa County > History of Contra Costa County, California; with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 7
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New discoveries had followed in quick succession Marshall's find at Coloma until, by the close of 1848, gold placers had been located on all the principal tributaries of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. Some of the richest yields were obtained from what was known as "dry diggins." These were dry ravines from which pay dirt had to be packed to water for washing or the gold separated by dry washing, tossing the earth into the air until it was blown away by the wind, the gold, on account of its weight, remaining in the pan.
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A correspondent of the Californian, writing August 15, 1848, from what he designates as "Dry Diggins," gives this account of the richness of that gold field: "At the lower mines (Mormon Island) the miners count the success of the day in dollars; at the upper mines near the mill (Coloma ), in ounces; and here, in pounds. The only instrument used at first was a butcher knife, and the demand for that article was so great that $40 has been refused for one.
"The earth is taken out of the ravines which make out of the moun- tains and is carried in wagons or packed on horses from one to three miles to water and washed. Four hundred dollars is the average to the cart load. In one instance five loads yielded $16,000. Instances are known where men have carried the earth on their backs and collected from $800 to $1500 a day." .
The rapidity with which the country was explored by prospectors was truly remarkable. The editor of the Californian, who had suspended the publication of his paper on May 29 to visit the mines, returned and re- sumed it on July 15 (1848). In an editorial in that issue he gives his ob- servations : "The country from the Ajuba (Yuba) to the San Joaquin Rivers, a distance of one hundred twenty miles, and from the base toward the summit of the mountains as far as Snow Hill, about seventy miles, has been explored, and gold found in every part. There are probably three thousand men, including Indians, engaged in collecting gold. The amount collected by each man who works ranges from $10 to $350 per day. The publisher of this paper, while on a tour alone to the mining district, col- lected, with the aid of a shovel, pick and pan, from $44 to $128 a day, averaging about $100. The largest piece of gold known to be found weighed four pounds." Among other remarkable yields the Californian reports these: "One man dug $12,000 in six days, and three others ob- tained thirty-six pounds of pure metal in one day."
MAKING A STATE
Col. R. B. Mason, who had been the military governor of California since the departure of General Kearny in May, 1847, had grown weary of his task. He had been in the military service of his country thirty years, and wished to be relieved. His request was granted, and on the 12th of April, 1849, Brevet Brigadier General Bennett Riley, his successor, ar- rived at Monterey and the next day entered upon his duties as civil gov- ernor. Gen. Persifer F. Smith, who had been appointed commander of the Pacific division of the United States army, arrived at San Francisco February 26, 1849, and relieved Colonel Mason of his military command. A brigade of troops 650 strong had been sent to California for military service on the border and to maintain order. Most of these promptly de- serted as soon as opportunity offered, and found their way to the mines.
A year had passed since the treaty of peace with Mexico had been signed, which made California United States territory; but Congress had done nothing toward giving it a government. The people were becoming
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restive at the long delay. The Americanized Mexican laws and forms of government were unpopular, and it was humiliating to the conqueror to be governed by the laws of the people conquered. The question of calling a convention to form a provisional government was agitated by the news- papers and met a hearty response from the people. Meetings were held at San José, December 11, 1848; at San Francisco, December 21, and at Sacramento, January 6, 1849, to consider the question of establishing a provisional government. It was recommended by the San José meeting that a convention be held at that place on the second Monday of January. The San Francisco convention recommended the 5th of March; this the Monterey committee considered too early, as it would take the delegates from below fifteen days to reach the pueblo of San José. There was no regular mail and the roads in February (when the delegates would have to start) were impassable. The committee recommended May 1 as the earliest date for the meeting to consider the question of calling a con- vention. Sonoma, without waiting, took the initiative and elected ten delegates to a provisional government convention. There was no unanimity in regard to the time of meeting or as to what could be done if the con- vention met. It was finally agreed to postpone the time of meeting to the first Monday of August, when, if Congress had done nothing towards giving California some form of government better than that existing, the convention should meet and organize a provisional government.
The confusion constantly arising from the attempt to carry on a gov- ernment that was semi-military and semi-Mexican induced Governor Riley to order an election to be held August 1, to elect delegates to a conven- tion to meet in Monterey September 1, 1849, to form a State constitution or Territorial organization to be ratified by the people and submitted to Congress for its approval. Judges, prefects and alcaldes were to be elected at the same time in the principal municipal districts. The constitu- tional convention was to consist of thirty-seven delegates. Instead of thirty-seven delegates, as called for, forty-eight were elected and seated.
Of the forty-eight delegates elected twenty-two were natives of the Northern States; fifteen of the Slave States; four were of foreign birth, and seven were native Californians. Several of the latter neither spoke nor understood the English language and William E. P. Hartnell was appointed interpreter. Dr. Robert Semple, of Bear Flag fame, was elected president; William G. Marcy and J. Ross Browne, reporters.
Early in the session the slavery question was disposed of by the adop- tion of a section declaring that neither slavery or involuntary servitude, unless for the punishment of crimes, shall ever be tolerated in this State. The question of fixing the boundaries of the future State excited the most discussion. The present boundaries were established by a majority of two.
A committee had been appointed to receive propositions and designs for a State seal. Only one design was offered. It was presented by Caleb Lyon of Lyondale, as he usually signed his name, but was drawn by Major Robert S. Garnett, an army officer. It contained a figure of Minerva in
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the foreground, a grizzly bear feeding on a bunch of grapes ; a miner with an uplifted pick ; a gold rocker and a pan; a view of the Golden Gate with ships riding at anchor in the Bay of San Francisco; the peaks of the Sierra Nevadas in the distance ; a sheaf of wheat; thirty-one stars; and above all, the word "Eureka" (I have found it), which might apply either to the miner or the bear. The design seems to have been an attempt to adver- tise the resources of the State. General Vallejo wanted the bear taken out of the design, or if allowed to remain, that he be made fast by a lasso in the hands of a vaquero. This amendment was rejected, as was also one submitted by O. M. Wozencraft to strike out the figures of the gold dig- ger and the bear and introduce instead bales of merchandise and bags of gold. The original design was adopted with the addition of the words, "The Great Seal of the State of California." The convention voted to give Lyon $1000 as full compensation for engraving the seal and furnish- ing the press and all appendages.
The constitution was completed on the 11th of October and an election was called by Governor Riley to be held on the 13th of November to vote upon the adoption of the constitution and to elect State officers, a legis- lature and members of Congress.
At the election Peter H. Burnett, who had been quite active in urging the organization of a State government, was chosen Governor; John Mc- Dougall, lieutenant governor ; and George W. Wright and Edward Gilbert, Members of Congress. San José had been designated by the constitutional convention the capital of the State pro tem.
The people of San José had pledged themselves to provide a suitable building for the meeting of the legislature, in the hope that their town might be made the permanent capital. They were unable to complete the building designed for a State capital in time for the meeting. The un- comfortable quarters furnished created a great deal of dissatisfaction. The legislature consisted of sixteen Senators and thirty-six Assemblymen. There being no county organization, the members were elected by districts. The Senate and Assembly were organized on the 17th of December. The Governor and Lieutenant-governor were sworn in on the 20th. The State government being organized, the legislature elected John C. Fremont and William M. Gwin United State Senators.
On the 22nd the legislature elected the remaining State officers, viz. : Richard Roman, treasurer ; J. I. Houston, controller ; E. J. C. Kewen, at- torney-general; Charles J. Whiting, surveyor-general ; S. C. Hastings, chief justice ; Henry Lyons and Nathaniel Bennett, associate justices. The legislature continued in session until April 22, 1850. Although it was nicknamed the "Legislature of a Thousand Drinks," it did a vast amount of work and did most of it well. It was not made up of hard drinkers. The majority of its members were above the average legislator in intelli- gence, temperance and patriotism. The members were not there for pay of for political preferment. They were there for the good of their adopted State and labored conscientiously for its benefit.
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The State had set up housekeeping without a cent on hand to defray expenses. There was not a quire of paper, a pen, nor an inkstand belonging to the State, and no money to buy supplies. After wrestling with the financial problem some time, an act authorizing a loan of $200,000 for current expenses was passed. Later on in the session another act was passed authorizing the bonding of the State for $300,000 with interest at the rate of three per cent a month. The legislature divided the State into twenty-seven counties, created nine judicial districts, passed laws for the collection of revenue, taxing all real and personal property and imposing a poll tax of $5 on all male inhabitants over twenty-one and under fifty years of age.
California was a self-constituted State. It had organized a State government and put it into successful operation without the sanction of Congress. Officials, State, county and town, had been elected and had sworn to support the constitution of the State of California, and yet there was really no State of California. It had not been admitted into the Union.
On August 13th the bill for the admission of California finally came to a vote. It passed the Senate, thirty-four ayes to eighteen noes. In the House the bill passed by a vote of 150 ayes to fifty-six ultra Southern noes. It was approved and signed by President Fillmore September 9, 1850. On the 11th of September the California Senators and Congress- men presented themselves to be sworn in.
The news of the admission of California reached San Francisco on the morning of October 18, by the mail steamer Oregon, nearly six weeks after Congress had admitted it. Business was at once suspended, the courts were adjourned, and the people went wild with excitement. Messengers. mounted on fleet steeds, spread the news throughout the State. News- papers from the States containing an account of the proceedings of Con- gress at the time of admission sold for $5 each. It was decided to hold a formal celebration of the event on the 29th and preparations were begun for a grand demonstration.
At the plaza a flag of thirty-one stars was raised to the mast head. An oration was delivered by Judge Nathaniel Bennett, and Mrs. Wills recited an original ode of her own composition. The rejoicing over, the people settled down to business. Their unprecedented action in organizing a State government and putting it into operation without the sanction of Congress had been approved and legalized by that body.
Like the Goddess Minerva, represented on its great seal, who sprung full-grown from the brain of Jupiter, California was born a fully matured State. She passed through no territorial probation. No State had such a phenomenal growth in its infancy. No State before or since has met with such bitter opposition when it sought admission into the family of States. Never before was there such a medley of nationalities-Yankees, Mex- icans, English, Germans, French, Spaniards, Peruvians, Polynesians, Mon- golians-organized into a State and made a part of the body politic nolens volens.
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CHAPTER II
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY: GENERAL FEATURES
Contra Costa County will some day be called the "Hub" of California ; and rightly so, for its strategic location at the crossing of the trade routes from the fertile valleys of the interior of the State, and from the great Northwest, where the captains of commerce meet and barter with the rest of the world, will in the near future, much more than in the past, compel the recognition of its peculiar and paramount advantages.
In writing about the county, the difficulty lies not so much in finding topics for discussion as in selecting among so multitudinous and so varied an array of facts those which will give a clear and distinct appreciation of the region as a whole, without overcrowding and confusing the understand- ing. The writer has had an intimate acquaintance with nearly every county in the State for over a quarter of a century, during which time a careful study has been made of each for the purpose of describing and illustrating its advantages. While recognizing the varied claims of the different sections of our State, this one for climate, that one for scenery, another for wealth of lumber, or mineral resources, and others for specialized hor- ticultural, viticultural or agricultural opportunities, about which ample volumes might be written with justice to each, yet the writer feels that no- where else in California is there to be found such a gathering together of material advantages, such manifold chances for advancement, such fertility of soil, balminess of climate, and beauty of scenery; nor such large-hearted hospitality of the people, linked with kindred social graces and a wide-awake spirit of business enterprise which, at last awakened, is now welcoming the coming of the new day of larger undertakings, of wider views, and of broader developments. Ours then be the pleasant task of recording a few of the reasons why there has gatherd within the confines of Contra Costa County, one of the smaller among the fifty-eight counties of the State, a population of some 60,000 of the most alert, open-eyed and far-seeing of its people.
ADVANTAGES OF LOCATION
Contra Costa County contains 877 square miles of territory, or, to be more exact, 561,873 acres of land, over three-fourths of which is cultivated, and the balance utilized for grazing and pasturage. It is situated almost midway between the north and south boundaries of the State, and near the western border and the Pacific Ocean, being thus placed by nature at the very center of things. The southwestern end of the county is within seven miles in an air line of the Coast's great metropolis, San Francisco. Then right adjoining are the growing cities of Oakland and Berkeley, with
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almost a quarter of a million inhabitants, who are surging across the county line in throngs and rapidly building up the interval between the confines of Berkeley and Richmond, the banner city of the county, which possesses the brightest future of any of the towns that front on San Francisco Bay.
THE WATER FRONT
Beginning at Richmond, whose southern eminences are but eight miles across the water from San Francisco, is the first deep water adjacent to that city, and the beginning of what is probably the most incomparably valuable asset of the county, a water front of seventy miles extent, comprising by far the greatest amount of deep-water frontage on the Bay. Already this cir- cumstance has been taken advantage of by many manufacturing establish- ments in various parts of the country.
FRESH WATER ANCHORAGE
An item of especial interest in regard to this water front is the fact that in the upper portions, stretching from the Carquinez Straits, in increasing ratio, to Antioch and the eastern end of the county, on the San Joaquin River and its tributary channels, the waters are fresh, and as a consequence afford a cheap and easy means for ocean-going vessels to get rid of barnacles and other salt-water growths, which die in the fresh water and drop off, leaving the vessel's bottom clear, thereby saving the expense and delay of being dry-docked and scraped.
MOST VALUABLE RIVER TRAFFIC
The traffic of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers through the Delta District of Contra Costa County amounts to $108,000,000 annually, a larger traffic than that of any other river in the United States. Of this vast sum, $52,000,000 originates in the Delta, the remainder coming from points farther inland.
Included in the Delta are 525,000 acres-a small empire-where enterprising farmers and horticulturists are annually producing millions of dollars' worth of field and orchard products for the world's food supply.
Many companies receive their raw material by boat and ship out the manufactured product by steamer and rail. The main lines of the Southern Pacific, the Santa Fe, and the Sacramento-San Francisco Railroads traverse the county, the first two having tracks that follow the coast line, reaching all industrial centers.
There is regular ferry boat service from Contra Costa points. The largest ferry boat in the world plies between Port Costa and Benicia, carry- ing trains as well as passengers.
River shipping is another transportation convenience. Three hundred miles of navigable rivers terminate on the Contra Costa water front, placing a wide and prosperous interior within easy access of the shipper.
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FINE SYSTEM OF HIGHWAYS
The system of highways makes motor transportation to all parts of the county possible. Three transcontinental highways pass through Contra Costa County.
The county is the pioneer of the double track concrete highway, which adds comfort to motoring and makes collision accidents practically impossible.
A road test recently conducted in Contra Costa County by scientific experts was watched by road engineers from all over the country, who were interested in discovering the most durable materials and construction for heavy-traffic highways.
Auto trucks and stage lines offer convenient service when it is needed. It is a down hill haul from practically all the State to the Contra Costa water front.
UNSURPASSED CLIMATE
Contra Costa owes its favorable climate to its position and topography. Situated between the Golden Gate and the great San Joaquin Valley, it escapes the chill and fog that so often visit the former, and the high dry heat of the interior. The Contra Costa range of hills protects the county from the direct force of the constant trade winds, whose force proves unpleasant to all but the most rugged and robust. Deflected by this range, these winds blow up San Pablo Bay and, striking the northern shore of the Carquinez Straits, sweep eastward into the vast interior valleys. As a consequence, Contra Costa County receives the benefit of their cooling in- fluence without being subjected to the effects of their direct onslaught. The mean annual temperature, determined by observations extending over many years, ranges from 52 to 60 degrees, except in the eastern portion, where the average is from 60 to 68 degrees. Winter frosts are rare, and are light and of short duration.
Droughts are unknown in Contra Costa County; the abundant winter rains, the absence of the intense evaporating heat of the interior, and the ozone and moisture-laden breezes from the ocean furnish abundant sup- plies of watery vapor for all forms of vegetation, without the use of irri- gation.
Of course there are variations in the different sections of the county. The extreme western valleys fronting on San Francisco and San Pablo Bays are cooler and moister than the eastern, but both are equally well fitted, with some minor exceptions, for all classes of agriculture.
EASTERN CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
The eastern end of Contra Costa County is an empire of itself, a land of perennial richness and inexhaustible fertility. Its topography is varied. Along the northern and eastern portions, which lie on the San Joaquin and its channels, there is a level plain, which continues for its whole eastern face, fronted by a large area of tule delta lands, intersected by many
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creeks and sloughs. Its center, south and west, is extremely hilly, with fertile valleys lying between the ridges, while the canyons, through which flow smiling streams, gamboling on their way to the rivers, are shaded with a variety of fine trees and woods.
Lying in the northern foothills of Mount Diablo is the coal-producing region. From the mines opened here much mineral wealth has been extracted.
The plain lands of this section were formerly one of the most re- markable wheat and hay-raising districts of the State, but were partially cropped out. While hay is still a staple, the great reliance of this region is fruit, thousands of acres of which are just coming into bearing. These plains are in fact the commencement of the great valley of the San Joaquin, a country most fair to look upon. In time to come, when subdivided and intensively cultivated, these lands will, where properly watered, bear won- derful crops of grain, fruit, vegetables and other farm produce.
THE RICH VALLEYS
Back of this plain land open up the smaller valleys, the chief of which are the Marsh, the Briones, and the Deer Creek valleys. These valleys are now largely devoted to general farming, fruit and the cultivation of grapes. There is here much deep alluvial soil, on the hills as well as in the valleys, and also many broad acres of that reddish soil, impregnated with minerals, which makes such wonderful land for grapes and fruits. From Antioch east there is a region where table grapes are a very prof- itable crop.
THE SANDY LANDS
There is a strange region lying between Oakley and Brentwood. The soil is sandy and was originally covered with chaparral and scrub oak. Useless land, said many men who tried to farm it and made a failure. About 1887, however, James O'Hara came to the region. He bought some of this land and was laughed at. But he had ideas. He planted fruit trees on this sandy land and in doing so transformed the region. Nowhere else does the fruit ripen so early or prove so sure a crop.
THE TULE LANDS
The tule lands are the wonder of the world. As fertile as the dyked lands of Holland and as inexhaustible as the plains which receive the an- nual floods of the Nile, there is nothing that they will not grow. Barley, potatoes, beans, onions, vegetables fit to grace the tables of kings, are grown, often two crops in the year, and especially asparagus and celery. Fruit trees grow here too, and bear amazing crops, but vegetables pay better and bigger returns.
DAIRYING
Dairying is another industry that is coming rapidly to the front, and is yielding splendid returns for the investment. The milk and cream are
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usually sent to the cities, where there is a great demand. A sign of the times is the fact that these are all "sanitary" dairies, where especial pre- caution is taken to insure absolute cleanliness in every department.
MOUNT DIABLO
This mountain is a distinctive possession of our county. Lying very near the geographical center, it seems almost the pivot about which swings every interest of the region and, in a sense, of the whole middle and north- ern portions of the State. Its singularly commanding position makes it the observed of all observers, and its beauty, both of contour and of sur- roundings, deepens its charm on closer acquaintance.
About it gather most of the traditions of the Indian aborigines, to whom it was a terror-striking divinity, loved or feared according to its brighter or more threatening mood; and associated with it are many in- cidents of special historic interest. The Indians called the mountain "Pupunia," and often took shelter in its many caves.
Says the San Francisco Examiner :
"The country . . . dominated by Diablo was first revealed to white men on March 20, 1772, when Capt. Don Pedro Fagis, Fray Juan Crespi, twelve leatherjackets (soldiers), a muleteer, and a Lower Californian Indian, attending the pack train, set out from Monterey to reach the old Port of San Francisco. The old Port of San Francisco had been variously described by Drake (1579), Cermenon (1597), Carbrera Bueno (1734), Gaspar de Portola (1769). But the Bay of San Francisco, as we today know it, had not been seen by white men until Portola's soldiers fell upon its southern arm in 1769. It was not until 1775 that the old name was transferred from the old Port of San Francisco (Drake's Bay) to the present Bay of San Francisco.
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