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 2

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 2

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Still, Mrs. Susan 567

815

Stockel, Joseph

Stockhoff, Ulysses S. 935

Stone, Lewis J 683

Stouder, Fred 1157

Strand, Gustave A 655

Sullivan, Edward T

1285

Sullivan, Eugene

1050

Sutherland, Alexander R 1196

Swanson, Oliver. 750

Sweasey, Frank R 288

Sweasey, Richard

731

Sweasey, Thomas W 527

Sweet, George W.

530

Tamboury, Jack B 1245

Tanferani, Egidio 325

Teel, David W. 1036

Thogersen, Niels 1160

1155

Rasmussen, Jacob

Skinner, Robert W.

737

Smith, Mrs. Joseph E. H

1133

Soule, Charles P.

1127

Stephens, Rev. Thomas H

1096

Shedden, George S.

Quill, Jerry 652

Reynolds, George F.

Robinson, John S.

INDEX

Thompson, Cornelius

1051

Warner, Matt I 959

Thompson. Craig R

694

Warth, Samuel 1085

Thompson, James F

1012

Wasmuth, W. E. 732

Thompson, Robert

1059

Watson. George W 529

Way, Henry 380

Weaver, Hon. John H. G.

286

Tobin, Thomas M.

1011

Tomasini, Battiste.

1065

Weck, Frank A.

453

Tonini, Ferdinando M

1175

Weiss, Joseph J.

525

Toroni, Bert H

1116

Werner, Robert L.

656

Travis, J. A

1028

Wescott, Charles.

932

Trigg, John

401

Tristao, J. M

1104

Turner, Daniel J.

1077

Turner, Jasper N.

1219

Turner, William J

926

Tuttle, Frederick A

1264

Tuttle, Lucius C.

1014

Williams, James H

521

Wood. Charles W. 1254

887

Wood, Wilson.

972

Woodcock, George F.

1025

Worthington, James F

985

Woten, Claude S.

354

Wright, Charles H

177

Wrigley, George E.

1149

Wrigley, Winfield J.

1152

Wyatt, John A. T. 671

Wynn, Clark M

1199

Yermini, Mrs. Teresa 1123

Young, George R

999

Young, James A., M. D 1269

Waddington, Martin T 278

Waldner, Andrew S. 447

Waldner, Gustav A 451

Walker, Charles W 474

Zana, Antone. 1009

Zanone, Domingo 205

Zanone, Domingo A 206

Zanotti, John B. 990

Zehndner, Edward A 1188

War, William H. 1002

Zehndner, George. 213

Ward, William H

1242

Zehndner. John Jacob. 219

Underwood George

330

Underwood, James 667

Vance, John. 1167

Vance, John M

181

Vance, Thomas.

633

Vandusen, Frank L

1114

Van Duzen. Albert, Jr

600

Walker. George 470

Walker, Jesse. 462

Walker, Joseph \] 858

Wallace, William H., M. D 1145

221

Timmons, James W.

1193

Weber, Christopher J

1256

West, Wilbur P. 1260

White, Albert W 1242

Widnes, Carl W.

913

Williams, Frank G.

763

Williams, Hon. George. 615

Williams, George W 942

Wood, Lewis K.

Thomson, Ira B.

HISTORICAL

CHAPTER I.

The Origin of the Name California

Almost everybody knows that the discussion concerning the name California waxed warm for a number of years. Norton, the author of a recent book on California, tells us it is interesting to note that most school children are familiar with the discussion which has heretofore taken place as to the origin of the name. He says many people are familiar with its alleged formation from two Spanish or Latin words meaning a hot furnace; but unfortunately for the theory that this is the true derivation, it must be remembered that to the early Spaniards who first used the name in connection with the country, California was not a hot country, but in comparison with those through which they had to come to reach it, a cold one. The name first appeared in the written record as applied to Lower (Baja) California in Preciado's diary of Ulloa's trip down the coast of that peninsula in 1539. But it is used there as if it were already in common use. And it is probable that it was first given to the country by Cortes or some of his followers either at Santa Cruz or La Paz between 1535 and 1537.

In his History of the New California the author of the present work (Leigh H. Irvine) discusses the origin of the name somewhat at length. He says that Prof. Josiah Royce, of Harvard, Winfield Davis, and other historians, now accept Edward Everett Hale's conclusion that the name California was derived from an old romance and applied by Cortes to the peninsula he discovered in 1535.

Mr. Hale made his investigations in the year 1862, while reading the old romance entitled "Sergas de Esplandian," by Garcia Ordonez de Montalvo, the translator of Amidas. In this connection it is worth while to give some of the statements of the eminent Dr. Hale, for there have been a number of theories as to the origin of the name. He says: "Coming to the reference in this forgotten romance to the Island of California, very near to the Terrestrial Paradise, I saw at once that here was the origin of the name of the state of California, long sought for by the antiquaries of that state, but long forgotten, for the romance seems to have been published in 1510-the edition of 1521 is now in existence- while our California, even the peninsula of that name, was not discovered by the Spaniards until 1526, and was not named California until 1535."

Not long after this discovery Mr. Hale invited the American Antiquarian Society to examine the evidence, and in March, 1864, he translated for the Atiantic Monthly all the parts of the story that relate to the Queen of California (Califia), and in 1873 he published a small volume on the subject, in which he said :

"The name California was given by Cortes, who discovered the peninsula in 1535. For the statement that he named it we have the authority of Herrera. It is proved, I think, that the expedition of Mendoza, in 1532, did not see Cali- fornia; it is certain that they gave it no name. Humboldt saw, in the archives of Mexico, a statement in manuscript that it was discovered in 1526, but for this there is no other authority.

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

"It is certain that the name did not appear until 1535. No etymology of this name has been presented that is satisfactory to the historian. Venegas, the Jesuit historian of California, writing in 1758, sums up the matter in these words : 'The most ancient name is California, used by Bernal Diaz, limited to a single bay. I could wish to gratify the reader by the etymology of the word, but no etymology of the name has been presented that is satisfactory. In none of the dialects of the various natives could the missionaries find the least trace of such a name being given by them to the country, or even to any harbor, bay, or small part of it. Nor can I subscribe to the etymology of some writers, who supposed the name to have been given to it by the Spaniards because of their feeling an unusual heat at their first landing here; but they thence called the country California, compounding the two Latin words califa and fornax, a hot furnace. I believe few will think the adventurers could boast of so much literature.' Clavigero, in his history of California, after giving this etymology, offers as an alternative the following as the opinion of the learned Jesuit Giuseppe Compoi: He believes that the name is composed of the Spanish word cala, which means 'a little cove of the sea,' and the Latin fornix, which means 'the vault of a building.' He thinks these words are thus applied, because, within Cape St. Lucas there is a little cove of the sea, towards the western part of which rises a rock, so torn out that on the upper part of the hollow is seen a vault, as perfect as if made by art. Cortes, therefore, observing this cala or cove and this vault, probably called this port California or Cala fornix-speaking half in Spanish, and half in Latin. Clavigero suggests as an improvement on this somewhat wild etymology that Cortes may have said Cala Fornax, meaning cove furnace, speaking as in the Jesuit's suggestion, in two languages."

Towards the close of this romance of the Sergas de Esplandian the various Christian knights assemble to defend the Emperor of the Greeks and the city of Constantinople against the attack of the Turks and Infidels. In the romance the name appears with precisely our spelling in the following passage :

"Sergas Chapter 157: 'Know that, on the right hand of the Indies there is an island called California very near to the Terrestrial Paradise, which was peopled with black women, without any men among them, because they were accustomed to live after the fashion of Amazons. They were of strong and hardened bodies, of ardent courage, and of great force. The island was the strongest in the world, from its steep rocks and great cliffs. Their arms were all of gold; and so were the caparisons of the wild beasts which they rode, after having tamed them; for in all the Island there is no other metal. They lived in caves very well worked out; they had many ships, in which they sailed to other parts to carry on their forays."

The name appears in several distinct passages in the book. Mr. Hale adds: "This romance, as I have said, is believed to have been printed first in 1510. No copies of this edition, however, are extant. But of the edition of 1519 a copy is preserved ; and there are copies of successive editions of 1521, 1525 and 1526, in which last year two editions were published-one at Seville and the other at Burgos. All of these are Spanish. It follows, almost certainly, that Cortes and his followers, in 1535, must have been acquainted with the romance ; and after they sailed up the west side of Mexico, they supposed they were precisely at the place indicated, 'on the right hand of the Indies.' It will be remembered, also, that by sailing in the same direction, Columbus, in his letters to the sovereigns, says: 'He shall be sailing towards the Terrestrial Paradise.'

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

We need not suppose that Cortes believed the romance more than we do; though we do assert that he borrowed a name from it to indicate the peninsula which he found 'on the right side of the Indies, near to the Terrestrial paradise.' * * * In ascribing to the Esplandian the origin of the name California, I know that I furnished no etymology for that word. I have not found the word in any earlier romances. I will only suggest that the word Calif, the Spanish spelling for the sovereign of the Mussulman power of the time, was in the mind of the author as he invented these Amazon allies of the Infidel power."

It will be seen that there have been many discussions on the subject, and whether true or false the little romance is now accepted as the most likely explana- tion of the origin of the word.

CHAPTER II. The North Was Slow to Be Discovered

It should be borne in mind that the vaguest imaginable knowledge of the Humboldt country existed until within a few years of the beginning of the War of the Rebellion. A. J. Bledsoe tells us, in his Indian Wars of the Northwest, that as late as the year 1850 a coastline of seven hundred miles between Fort Ross and the mouth of the Columbia river was practically unknown to the world, except in a vague way. Topographical knowledge and information concerning climate and resources were almost nil. Even the most prominent headlines of the very rugged coast were without accurate designations, for marine charts were little more than guesses. The designated points had been uniformly named merely as signboards for the instruction of seafaring men. The shores were deemed thunderous and inapproachable. In an area of more than seven hundred miles of shore line there was not even one white settler. Indians and wild beasts were the sole tenants of the land. As a result, the entire_field was one of open adventure, and it naturally drew a large and sturdy class of people. A mining population, consisting of a good many hundreds, already existed in Trinity and Siskiyou counties, but it was dependent on slow and interior routes of transportation, the sea being entirely useless for navigation by reason of the ignorance of the navigators concerning places for ports and suitable roadsteads for making connection with the land.

Bledsoe tells the story graphically as follows, on page 107 of his work: "It was believed that a coast route by water would make a diversion of this trade by land. San Francisco, of course, was to be the starting point for enterprises of this kind, and of the required capital to conduct them. Each of the several expeditions by sea sent out from San Francisco in the winter of 1849 and 1850 had for its leading inducement the hope of discovering coastwise communication with the mines in the mountains by some navigable stream, and, perhaps of found- ing new cities that should thereafter shine as brilliant settings of this remote- rim of American territory.

'Among the first expeditions for the exploration by sea of the Northern coast was one made under the auspices of The Laura Virginia Association. The association was organized with two boards of trustees, one to reside in San Francisco, one to go with the expedition.

"The trustees residing in San Francisco were Capt. Joseph L. Folsom, U. S. A., president ; Charles B. Young, secretary ; C. B. Gallagher, and a Mr. .

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

Simmons, whose first name is not known. The trustees accompanying the expedi- tion were E. H. Howard, president ; W. H. Havens and Robert T. Lamott. The inembers of the Association, but recently arrived from the East and elsewhere, were adventurous in spirit and bold in enterprise, and they projected a voyage of general discovery, having special reference to the selection of some harbor as a depot for the distribution of merchandise to the mining districts of Northern California. The mines of the Trinity and the Klamath, far up those streams, were even then famous for their real and reputed wealth. They were isolated, and hemmed in by stupendous mountain chains. To reach them by way of the Sacramento valley and Shasta was to endure the perils and suffering of a long journey to an unsettled country. As yet no road had been blazed through the forest to the sea, nor had the Gregg party- made known the results of their voyage of exploration. The Trinity was supposed to empty directly into the sea, as the Klamath did, and the mouths of neither had been located., Situated in the basin of the Trinity, ninety miles from the sea, was the mining camp of -Weaverville, and still a little farther north and east were other regions rich in mineral wealth.

"To these remote localities the transportation of supplies was chiefly carried on by way of Red Bluff, the outlying settlement of the Sacramento Valley, and thence by pack mules over a succession of rugged mountains that swarmed with, hostile Indians. To divert the extensive trade of that part of the state into a more economical channel, and to discover a landing place from the sea, was the primary object of the Laura Virginia/ Association. An ocean voyage, prompted in some degree by love of adventure, but more by love of gold, was to be the first visible effort of the Association to win renown."

The Laura Virginia was a seaworthy boat that had been built in Baltimore, a sturdy craft of one hundred and twenty tons burden. She then lay in San Francisco bay, where she was promptly chartered and made ready for her voyage to the North. The Association took its name from the ship.

Lieutenant Douglass Ottinger, of the United States Revenue Cutter Frolic, then on leave of absence, was induced to command the vessel. The expedition was off for its adventure late in March, 1850, the exact date being still in dispute. There were fifty passengers and the ship carried food for a fifty-day voyage. The party found no break in the coast line anywhere between San Francisco and Cape Mendocino. The voyage north of the Cape brought revelations of rugged mountains, with a sweeping curve to the northward.

It is interesting to recall the fact that Lieutenant Ottinger beheld the mouth of the Eel river, and anchored two miles off the bar. It is said that the next day three other vessels anchored not far away and a boat from the General Morgan crossed the bar and entered the river. The success of the Morgan's little boat emboldened Lieutenant Ottinger to launch two of the Laura Virginia's boats for the same purpose. He commanded one, Albert Swain the other.

Swain's boat was soon capsized in a heavy swell, whereupon Ottinger returned to the ship and told H. H. Buhne, the second officer, just what had occurred, and dispatched him to hasten with a crew to the aid of the capsized boat, to which the men were still clinging and struggling desperately for their lives. Incidentally, this same Buhne was the founder of the prominent Buhne family of Eureka and Humboldt county, business and social leaders of today. The intrepid second . officer saved four of the five men, but J. S. Rowen was lost. Those saved were

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

L. M. Burson, N. Duperu, and Albert Swain, and a man of the name Bell, the latter's given or Christian name having been lost to history.

Ottinger was discouraged, after which he soon headed his vessel to the North and gave up all hope of exploring Eel river. He saw the waters of the bay also, but could not discover any entrance thereto. It is believed that the heavy breakers on both the Northern and Southern spits had completely hid the channel from the view of the Laura Virginia party.

Sailing toward Trinidad and a point fifty miles farther north, Ottinger soon found himself in the roadstead about where Crescent City is now located. He found a vessel called the Cameo at anchor, and another, the Paragon, stranded on the beach. Dispatching a boat toward the shore, he learned that several little boats had been capsized while trying to make a landing several days before, and three or four persons had lost their lives.' Searching the beach revealed the lifeless body of one member of the unfortunate party, Lieutenant R. Bache, who had-been attached to the United States coast survey for several years. A funeral was at once arranged, and Lieutenant Ottinger read the ritual service of the Protestant Episcopal Church, burying his comrade in a plain wooden coffin. After a few days the lieutenant decided that he should make down the coast toward Trinidad. His crew noticed a fresh body of water making out from the land, and the lieutenant dispatched second officer Buline to sound the bar, taking a small boat, but gave positive instructions that there should be no attempt to cross, owing to the great danger of loss of life. It was during this voyage that Buhne discovered the mouth of the Klamath river:

E. H. Howard, H. W. Havens, Samuel B. Tucker, Robert Lamott, S. W. Shaw and a Mr. Peebles were dispatched to explore on foot the coast line south to the bay and find out just what the country looked like, their points of view having been obtained from sighting while aboard the ship. After about four hours' marching the party came to the crossing of the Mad river, whose southern bank they saw was lined with canoes drawn up on dry land. In the background they saw a number of Indian inhabitants and heard yells ringing out from the rancheria when the white men appeared on the opposite shore.

A large number of excited natives came thronging to the water's edge. Women, commonly called squaws, with their papooses, scampered from their lodgings, and the warriors, who were very numerous, grasped their bows and arrows and assembled for a pow-wow on the bank. In the absence of the ability of either party to make the other understand it by spoken language, it was decided to resort to pantomimes or the old sign language. The white adven- turers soon gave the Indians to understand that no harm was meant, their desire being merely to-cross the rancheria and see what the country below looked like. The natives were much surprised at the appearance of the white men and their clothing, and great expressions of wonder marked the occasion.

For a long time the Indians refused to take the six white men across the river at one time in their canoes. They made known, however, that they desired them to go one at a time. This brought the white men to a puzzling problem, for they feared that to go one at a time might be to expose the first man to treachery and possibly to death by torture. After much parleying, however, the Indians reluctantly consented to do as the white men had requested. When the whites had crossed they were soon surrounded by men, women and children who looked closely at them, rubbed their clothing, and touched their bodies

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

as much as to feel and ascertain whether they were looking upon the spirits of dead men returned to earth, or upon actual living creatures.

A surveyor's compass was here ingeniously used by the white men to impress the natives with the fact that the whites were a race possessing a strange amount of power. They sought to make the Indians believe that even six white men could besiege hundreds of Indians in battle, this by reason of supernatural powers and devices such as the little compass.

Bledsoe describes this interview entertainingly as follows :

"The compass is placed on the ground, and as the needle trembles and flutters on its pivot the Indians watch it with increasing wonder. The white medicine man takes his knife and moves the blade slowly around the disk of the compass. Slowly, with quivering stops like warning fingers pointing at individual braves, the needle follows the knife blade around the circle. Filled with a profound feeling of awe, the warriors see the knife withdrawn and the needle settled to its quiet rest.

"The white medicine man lifted the instrument to his ear, as if com- municating with the Great Spirit. The Indians themselves draw nearer, eager to catch a stray whisper from the unseen world, although it be in an unknown tongue. The medicine man withdraws the instrument and gravely endeavors to make them understand that all their secret thoughts and purposes are revealed to him through its agency. The ruse is successful. The untutored mind of the savage, deriving from all nature continual additions to his superstitious lore, sees in the little mechanical instrument a revelation of wisdom and power:

"He regards the whites with an awe which is not unmixed with reverence."

Although one experiment might have been enough to keep the Indians from attacking the whites, it was believed advisable to give the Reds a few further exhibitions of the prowess of the whites, therefore a target was put up, and bullet after bullet was shot into it at a distance of about sixty yards. A flock of geese was seen flying over the company, and one of the best shots in the party directed his fowling piece toward the flying birds and brought one fluttering to the ground.

The Indians had become thoroughly convinced of the supernatural attributes of the whites, and showed no evidence whatever that they were the least bit hostile towards the visitors.

When the white men started south they were followed along the beach by a number of Indians, who eagerly watched them to see what would become of them, and they seemed to be so much excited over the disappearance of the whites that it was believed for a time that the Red men expected to see their visitors depart into the sky.

Late that afternoon the white men beheld the entrance to the bay. On the next day the adventurers anchored in the harbor and the ship's boat was sent to take the party on board. On the 9th day of April, 1850, second officer Buline, who possessed all of the brave qualifications necessary to leadership, was appointed to command the boat and make an effort to cross the bar and bring the ship within the bay. It is well known that he was a good sailor and accustomed to the hardships of the sea, also that he was a man of great common sense. His selection as the leader to pioneer the boat over the bar was a wise and judicious proceeding. His feat is thus described by Bledsoe :

"Between ten and eleven o'clock on the morning of the 9th of April the boat was launched, and Buhne with William Broderson, James Baker, an English-

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

man named Palmer, and one other man, whose name has been lost to history, for his crew, started across the bar. Skillful seamanship carried the boat into the harbor. The crew landed at a point opposite the entrance, for many years known as Humboldt point, and now called Buline's point, where they remained until one o'clock in the afternoon, when, taking advantage of high water, the boat was headed for the sea.7 Buhne made soundings on the bar and found four and one-half fathoms of water in a well defined channel. Going on board the ship he reported to Lieutenant Ottinger what he had seen and done, and it was decided that another trip should be made on the same day, this time with two boats loaded with passengers, tents, provisions, etc. The two boats, Buhne commanding the one in advance, then crossed the bar and landed on the north beach at half past seven o'clock. On the next morning the whole party went across to the point and pitched their tents.

"Here they all remained for three days. On the twelfth a vessel was seen off the bar, and Buhne with his boat's crew went out to her, supposing that she was the Laura Virginia. It was not that vessel, but was the Whiting, sailing toward Eel river, and eager to be the first vessel to enter that stream. The captain of the Whiting, like the officers of a rival vessel, the J. M. Ryerson, believed that this river was the Trinity, and if they had observed the basin to the north with any interest, it was only indicative to them of a shallow lagoon or basin. It was late in the afternoon, and Buhne and his crew boarded the Whiting, remaining there all night. They were reticent of their own previous movements. It would Bekend we do for them to relate where they had been or what was their success. The members of every expedition then exploring the coast considered themselves morally bound to keep a profound secret of any discovery or location made by them. Precisely why this was so cannot be easily accounted for at the present day. A lively imagination can indeed surmise various reasons for secrecy. Each expedition was animated by a more or less envious jealousy of every other expedition, and every commander of a vessel was firmly convinced that the honor of first sailing into a bay or river ought to belong to him."

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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 2

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