History of Humboldt 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 14

Author: Irvine, Leigh H. (Leigh Hadley), 1863-1942
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Los Angeles, Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1328

USA > California > Humboldt County > History of Humboldt 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 14

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The Methodists seem to have been in the ascendancy during those early years, for we read that the Methodist Episcopal church of Arcata was also organized in 1850. The Rev. Asa B. White, the pioneer minister, in fact, of California, pitched his tent of blue cloth in San Francisco, where his voice was heard in prayer, in song, and in sermons as early as 1849. This remarkable man began his labors in Arcata in the same old tent where afterwards stood Kirby's stables, and it was there that he organized the first church. Some years later the Rev. John B. Chisholm became a successful minister there.

Contrary to the popular impression, Christ church, of Eureka, was not organized in the old pioneer days, for it does not date earlier than June 1, 1870. Its services were held for a long time on every Sunday, and other services at the times appointed by the rector. On the evening of June 8, 1870, the members of the parish met and elected a vestry which organizd by the election of Thomas Walsh, senior warden, and Robert Searles, junior warden. The vestry then called the Rev. J. Gierlow to the rectorship of the parish. This church was consecrated on February 5, 1871, by Rt. Rev. W. I. Kip, D. D., who afterwards became famous in California. The Rev. J. S. Thomson became rector on January 1, 1872, and was followed by the Rev. J. H. Babcock and the Rev. W. L. Githens. The Rev. H. D. Lathrop, D. D., of the Church of the Advent, San Francisco, accepted a call and entered upon his duties at Christ Church on July 14, 1878, and remained there for some years. The church with the rectory occupies one-quarter of a block handsomely enclosed with attractive yard. An old resident once wrote : "A chime of five bells, the gift of Mayor T. Walsh, rings out from its pinnacled tower its weekly invitations to worship and in the surprise of the moment takes the stranger back beyond the tall redwoods and the mountains to his distant home where he has perhaps heard similar chimes before. The interior appointments of Christ church are still continued as in the old days and are in harmony with the surroundings of the structure. The value of the parsonage was said to be $7,500 even in the old days, and its value has appreciated since."

The United Brethren in Christ Church was situated at Rohnerville and the first minister sent there was Israel Sloan, who organized his first class on Eel river in 1862. The memory of this noble man's services is still dear to the old timers of Rohnerville, where he was buried in the old cemetery many years ago. In 1865 the first class was organized. The

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first minister was the Rev. J. B. Hamilton. The society had a comfortable church, a good parsonage, and two ample camp grounds. One was on Eel river and the other was about one mile north of Springville. The church was entirely free from debt soon after it was started. The membership remained at eighty-seven a long time and the Rev. D. F. Lane followed the founder of the congregation.

The Methodist Episcopal Church at Ferndale was established away back during the Indian troubles and planted in the midst of very great and baffling difficulties. The country was a forest and the circuit was very large and in a dangerous country, embracing Petrolia and Rohnerville. The minister in charge was frequently exposed to the dangers of savages and the crossing of swollen streams in the course of his urgent duties. Dr. Morrow organ- ized this church in the year 1860. The Rev. F. H. Woodward was long in charge with seventy-five members, about a third of that number usually being probationers. The church property in those days consisted of two lots, a church parsonage, and other equipments, also a camp-meeting ground. The value of the church was $400, and it was without any debt to harass those in charge of affairs.

The first Congregational Church in Eureka was organized on October 30, 1860, but no record is extant showing the names of those who first served as trustees. It is known that Dr. Jonathan Clark, father of the present Mayor of Eureka, was president. The church was in charge of the Rev. W. L. Jones, who was its first pastor. He was a man of great industry and wide acquaintance, and many of the old-timers still remember him as a speaker of considerable ability. He was followed by the Rev. T. A. Hunt- ington. The greatest number of members appearing on the official minutes of the church in the old days was sixty-three, but it grew to a much larger membership a little later. The building and parsonage were neat and at- tractive in general appearance and for their respective uses were well fur- nished, being situated at the corner of Fourth and D streets. The church property was valued at $6000 and as said before the congregation was pros- perous and out of debt.

The Ferndale Congregational Church was organized on March 17, 1876. The first meeting of the society was held in a hall and afterwards in a large church building. On January 24, 1881, the church was free from debt and was dedicated with fitting ceremonies. Dr. Warren preached the dedicatory sermon, and Mr. Strong, whose Christian name has been forgotten. gave a resumé of the work done by the society during the five or six years pre- ceding the meeting. The Hon. Joseph Russ aided the society very much during the early years by his donations. The church received from him the lumber for the building, also a splendid bell, and about one-sixth of the entire debt. The first pastor of the church was the Rev. E. O. Tade, and he was followed some years later by a prominent and popular man, by name Phillip Combe. The late A. Berding, Mrs. J. M. Lewis, and Dr. F. A. Alford were original and very active members of this church. The greatest mem- bership it had in those days was forty-one and the church property was said to be worth about $5000.

The Presbyterian Church of Arcata was organized on January 1, 1861. The Rev. Alexander Scott officiated as its first pastor and preached in the

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Methodist Episcopal Church for about sixteen months previous to the com- pletion of his own church building. The membership consisted at that time, strangely, of only three members, B. Wyman, George Danskin, and Sarah Nixon, the latter remaining a long time as an active member. The mem- bership soon grew, however, to fifty-five, and the church was dedicated on March 31, 1861. It and the parsonage were pleasantly located, occupying a quarter of a block under a neat inclosure and with attractive surroundings. There were two organs and a library of more than two hundred volumes valued at $2500.

The United Brethren in Christ Church met in its own house of worship regularly on every Sabbath for a number of years, being organized in 1877 with D. W. Burtner as pastor. Its membership long consisted of twenty- seven members and its property was a neat church and parsonage comfort- ably furnished, worth about $1500.

The Roman Catholic Church at Eureka was organized in 1858 with the Rev. Father Thomas Crinion as first priest in charge. He was followed some years thereafter by the Rev. Father C. M. Lynch, who was very popu- lar. The central policy of this denomination obtained for it a unity in its material as well as spiritual relations, which was unknown to the other churches of that time. The membership in Eureka attending administra- tions of the church in those days or soon after its founding approximated twelve hundred. The church building and parsonage were neat in appear- ance and were pleasantly located. The church afforded seats for about four hundred persons, and had a value of $5000. The building itself was con- structed in 1861. Besides the foregoing the Catholic churches in the county in the carly times were as follows: Ferndale Church, built in 1878, with a seating capacity of about two hundred; Table Bluff Church, built in 1869, had about a hundred and fifty members. The property was valued at about $500. The Rohnerville Church was built in 1871, with sittings for about a hundred and fifty. There were also churches at Arcata and Trinidad.

St. Joseph Convent of Mercy was situated in Eureka and occupied a block commanding one of the most diversified and beautiful views of the city and the bay as well as the farther landscape of the surrounding country. Its inclosures were adorned with whatever of foliage and shrubbery and flowers could be obtained for the charming retreat. The institute, in charge of the Sisters of Mercy, enjoyed a high reputation in the olden days for its care and service. The number of sisters was nine, and the pupils sixty. The value of the property was even then about $10.000. Since those old times every church has made great progress in the way of increasing mem- bership and making an improvement of the accessories of church life.

New sects, such as the Christian Scientists, have grown up since those far-away times, and there have been many church organizations to add to the activities of those who follow in the steps of the Lowly Nazarenc.

We might go into a detailed account of the work of the churches in more recent years, but that would be beside the purpose of a history such as this, which seeks to give the reader an idea of the beginning of things religious rather than an idea of the conditions which now exist.

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CHAPTER XVI.

Gold Mining in Humboldt County.

No history of industry would even approximate accuracy if it should omit some account of the early mining excitement and mining scenes in Humboldt county, which really got its first impetus from the mining industry along the Klamath river. It is interesting to hear the early settlers describe the old Gold Bluff excitement of 1852, a period when by all accounts even the ocean itself became a miner and washed up thousands of pounds of gold on the beach of Trinidad. The accounts of the gold found in those olden days read like a romantic story from the times of the Spanish conquest.

In those years it was generally said and quite commonly believed that almost any man of good enterprise and muscle, stirred by ambition, could take his hat and a wheelbarrow, and in about an hour gather up enough gold to last him for a year or two. But this excitement, bad as it was for some things, really led to the settlement of the county, although it did not lead to fortunes for those who followed it. It frequently made people dissatisfied with everyday affairs and created a gambling craze.

In the early days placer mining was followed with a considerable degree of success on the Klamath river, but the gold digging has always been of nominal importance when contrasted with lumbering and agriculture. Recent reports from the Government at Washington indicate that Humboldt county may have a new era of placer mining. especially if modern methods of looking for the black sand containing platinum are put into use.

It should be remembered that the Klamath river country north of the great redwood belt is possibly the most inaccessible part of the county, con- taining many mountains and rocky stretches of country. It is even yet unex- plored.

For a time quartz mining occupied considerable attention, and during the period of the quartz mining excitement a few very valuable mines were dis- covered. For a long period hydraulic mining was carried on to some extent, and at one time there were twenty-four miles of running ditches. During the year 1880 almost four thousand inches of water were used in mining operations each day. The hydraulic mining met with little or no embarrassment such as confronted it in the Sacramento Valley country where the bottom lands were practically destroyed by the hydraulic mining debris. Humboldt county has swift-flowing rivers and no bottom lands along their banks to be destroyed by hydraulic mining if it should be carried on in the north.

For a long time a bench flume at Big Bar, which was eight miles below Orleans, was successfully worked by the hydraulic process. It yielded dividends for about five years, and it was the opinion of Judge J. P. Haynes at one time that this process would revolutionize all mining in the Klamath region.

Prospecting was for a long time directed towards the high bars and benches on the Klamath which a number of persons believed would afford the best mining region in the state. The mining properties were owned very largely by private citizens, who pocketed their own dividends without consulting anybody else or any corporation.

Orleans bar, a famous place upon the Klamath, was known for many years to the old miners, because the gold belts which run transversely throughout

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the Western states from Colorado, seem to terminate here on the Pacific coast. Placer mining was prosperous and a large amount of capital was invested in that enterprise. The early dreams of the placer and quartz miners were doomed to disappointment, however, for they failed to bring forth as much as had been hoped for in the way of profits. The beauty of the property when it was worked was that the slickens, which is a very serious question in some other parts of California, did not injure anyone on the land below.

It should be said that gold has been found in almost every part of the county extending from Dobbyn's creek to the Trinity section and Scott's bar.

An old writer says that the starvation times on Salmon river formed an interesting chapter in the history of that important region. So great was the fear of wintering that not half a hundred men were to be found on the stream in December, 1850. These had provided themselves with a sufficient supply of provisions and passed the winter comfortably. As soon as it was believed that the more rigorous part of the winter had passed, miners began to flock in from Trinity river, Trinidad, and Humboldt, and some came up the Sacramento river and even through the famous Scott valley. This was late in January, and early in February, 1851. Many of those from Trinidad and Humboldt were unprovided with supplies, as they had expected to find them on the river, and knowing that there were pack-trains at those points preparing to bring in pro- visions, they were a little bit careless. The result was that although a few small trains arrived with supplies the provisions were soon eaten up and there was a crowd of several thousand men without anything to eat, and this is the reason that the name of "starvation camp" attached to the neighborhood. In the month of March a terrific snow storm set in, and blockaded the mountain trails so badly that it was impossible for pack trains to pass through to the relief of the unfortunate miners. One may still hear stories of the sufferings of those days when the miners were forced to live on mules, on sugar, and some- times got along half-starved, on almost nothing. The olden writers tell us that those who took their rifles and went hunting met with very poor success. We read of one man who killed two grouse and was offered $8 each for them, but he declined the sale, for he needed them himself. The extremity to which some of the men were reduced was very great and for more than a month not a pound of extra food beyond the scant provisions they had on hand came to their relief. At last the packers got as far as Orleans bar, and. men who had made a trail through the snow took small packs on their shoulders and carried them across the mountains to their starving friends. The records say that toward the last of April a train of mules made its way through to Salmon creek and found a hearty welcome among the half-starved miners. Hundreds of men who had been snowed in had made their way over the mountains, some to Orleans bar, others to Trinity, and others to Scott's bar, and the newly dis- covered mines at Yreka Flat. They suffered terrible hardships on the way, and reached those places almost famished.

Even in the olden days it was known that there were thousands of dollars to be made in the gold dust lying waste along the beaches of Humboldt county, but if it was a puzzle that could not be solved then, it is still a puzzle to capture the fleeting dust and flakes of gold from the sand. From Table Bluff to the Klamath river, over a distance of more than sixty miles, there is an almost unbroken gold-bearing sand beach exclusive of the Gold Bluff beach mining

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claims. The deposit is said to have accumulated from the crumbling debris of old gravel banks which came upon the beach and from the ample discharge of the waters of the Klamath river.

This process of erosion and dissolution is going on continuously, and there is said to be not a panfull of sand along the entire expanse that will not show golden colors, while in many places where the action of the water has been just right the sands appear yellow in golden streaks. There were more than ten thousand acres of this gold-bearing sand worked between Table Bluff and the Klamath river for a time, and there are thousands of acres that might be utilized under modern methods today if those modern methods were to capture the secrets of utilizing the fine gold.

The Gold Bluffs are located on the beach twenty-five miles north of Trinidad and nine miles south of the mouth of the Klamath river. In the days of the early gold excitement of California, Gold Bluff was one of the most notoriously rich of all the placers. After many years it still held a reputation as a steady paying proposition, but the amount of treasure taken out of its claims will never be exactly known. The gold-bearing gravel bluffs extend some eight miles on the beach, and in many places the beaches are a perpendicular wall of un- broken gravel three and even four hundred feet in height.

Some years ago a writer describing the conditions obtaining in this region spoke as follows: "Every winter, after the parching of summer has cracked the earth, the soaking rains of winter caused large slabs of earth and gravel to cave in and split off the perpendicular face of the bluff, millions of tons falling upon the beach. At high tide the noisy surfs washed to the base of the cliff, which is subjected to incalculable washing and swashing during heavy storms. The cakes of gravel become dissolved and are ground to pieces and carried about by the action of the water."

From time to time and during a long period of years efforts have been made and a great deal of money has been invested in the attempt to save the fine gold that could be found in large quantities along the beach from Crescent City to the inouth of Little river. As heretofore said, this gold is very fine, a mere scale, and to separate it from the sand is the problem that has baffled the skill of almost all inventors. It is known that a large number of machines have been put on the market, backed with claims that they would accomplish wonderful results, but as vet, the machine to do the work has not seen the light of day and most of the beaches which gave promise that they would make many men rich have been abandoned. It may be that some day the beach mines will be worked to advan- tage, but this can not be until great improvements have been made on the methods which now obtain.

Recent reports by various departments of the Federal government indicate that placer mining may reach a stage of perfection which will enable many of the tracts of gold-bearing sand in Humboldt county to be worked to advan- tage. It should be said in conclusion that the government reports indicate that Humboldt county's placer mines contain, probably, some of the richest platinum possibilities to be found anywhere in the United States. At any rate the Hum- boldt county placer mines are destined to receive a great deal more attention from mining men, engineers, and scientists than they have ever received in the past.

LOGGING IN THE REDWOODS

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CHAPTER XVII.

History of the Lumber Industry.

No history of Humboldt county would be truthful or at all complete without an exhaustive account of the great redwood forests and the lumber industry. Although the lure of gold first drew men to the wilds of this virgin region the lumbermen soon followed in the wake of the pioneer gold-hunter, and it was not many years before brawny men and women from the Atlantic seaboard-men acquainted with the logging business-began to see how they could lay the foundation for many fortunes by following the vocation which they and their forefathers had followed in the East. Some of the early settlers were much impressed with the great silence of the magnificent forests of gigantic trees which stretched over a vast expanse of lowland and hill from the northern to the southern limits of the county.

When men like Bret Harte first beheld these glorious forests they began to wonder how old they were. It was not many years before men of science told them that these trees had reached maturity long before the birth of Christ, They were old when Daniel was thrown into the pit, before Cicero was born-before Plato tried to solve the mystery of human life, before mighty Caesar ruled the earth. For more than sixty years white men have stood with uncovered heads in these ancient groves, and men of faith have looked toward the infinite. Every- body has always been impressed with the fact that California has no com- petitor in the redwood industry, for no other state has ever contained this monarch of all trees. Washington and Oregon may boast of their pines and firs, but the redwood belt ends at the Oregon line. It is a narrow belt, following the coast rather closely at broken intervals.

The durability of redwood was testified to by the fact that the cabins built by Captain Grant in the '50s were in good order, though they had stood the storms of the years between 1852 and 1885, since which they were gradually torn down by relic hunters and others. The walls were solid and sound, while both doors and windows had perfect joints. Strangely, too, the shingles gave unimpeachable evidence of the great inerit of redwood. They had neither rotted nor shrunk, and a number of them were on exhibition at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1892.

The history of the manufacture of lumber in Humboldt, the stages of progress made from the first saw log to the present time, is a most interesting page in the record of progress and development of Humboldt county, but the general merits, the adaptability of this timber to supply the demands of commerce and of structural work, at once involve the question of the area covered-the entire belt-as an available source of supply. This can be estimated only approximately, for two reasons: The redwood, even where it is the sole occupant of the land, varies exceedingly in density ; and, second, in many places it is inter- mingled with white fir, spruce and pine, in quantity sufficient to constitute nearly or quite one-quarter of the area and total stand in feet; that is to say, of the estimated acreage of original standing timber in Humboldt county 125,000 acres may be accepted as timber other than redwood. The same illustration will apply to the whole belt. Humboldt and Del Norte contain that portion of the belt which is held to be the best stand, clearest timber.

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George A. Kellogg, for many years secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, has made a careful study of the redwood industry and of the forests themselves. He has written many booklets and newspaper articles on this subject. From those articles the following facts and paragraphs, many of them in his own language, are gleaned: He calls attention to the fact that the most prominent and inter- esting physical feature of the land lies in her unparalleled forest of redwoods. Aside from their consideration as factors in the commercial and industrial world these forests fascinate every beholder. He who sees them in their primeval majesty for the first time is likely to gaze upon their gigantic trunks and tower- ing spires in wonder and admiration that find no tongue. Nothing can be more awe-inspiring and impressive to the visiting stranger than to pause in the very heart of a dense forest, where the trees reach upward from two hundred to four hundred feet, completely shutting out the yellow shafts of light of even the brightest day, and casting twilight shadows among the boles and trunks of the giants. These scenes remind one of Emerson's description of a forest as having the light and softness of perpetual morning. Like the sequoia gigantea, these immense trees now stand as the most remarkable monuments of vegetable growth on earth-gigantic in size, symmetrical and straight as an arrow, firmly planted and strongly rooted. No wonder they impress the observer as the unmoved and changeless sentinels of the passing centuries, except that they grow larger, taller, and more grandly majestic as the centuries slip like shadows into the past.

Aimost from the initial settlement of Humboldt county in 1850, its mag- nificent redwood forests, reaching down to the very shores of Humboldt bay, indicated by the near conjunction of exhaustless timber and navigable waters what the principal industry of this favored region was to be. Hardly had the first settlements been effected until enterprising spirits began to convert the endless forests into marketable lumber, and never since that time has the long procession of white winged sailing vessels, or their successors, the steam schoon- ers and the foreign tramp steamers, all laden with Humboldt redwood, ceased to dot the blue waters of the broad Pacific. Year in and year out this traffic has been maintained and increased, always holding sturdily its position as the main factor in the trade and commerce of Humboldt bay. And for many, many years to come will this pre-eminence be maintained.

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History of Humboldt 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 14

Author: Irvine, Leigh H. (Leigh Hadley), 1863-1942 Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Los Angeles, Historic Record Company Number of Pages: 1328

Author: Irvine, Leigh H. (Leigh Hadley), 1863-1942
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Los Angeles, Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1328