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 21

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 21

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

When the Humboldt Promotion and Development Committee was started on October 19, 1912, Judge Rowe addressed the assembled delegates at a conven- tion of the federated commercial bodies of the county at the Chamber of Com- merce in Eureka. He said southern Humboldt was the only place he could name anywhere that would produce all of the highest grades of apples in per- fection of color, size, flavor and texture. He emphasized the fact that our cli- matic conditions are such as to render late shipments particularly profitable. After he had finished his second inspection of the apple bearing and other fruit lands of Humboldt county, particularly of southern Humboldt, Judge Rowe, writing on September 29, 1913, addressed the Humboldt Promotion Committee as follows regarding his opinion of the great fruit bearing sections in question :

"After having spent the month of September examining your valleys, hills, and table lands ; consulting with your oldest settlers, ranchers and fruit growers ; examining fruits in the old orchards and vineyards that have had but little care, I am even more optimistic than I was last year when I told you that Humboldt county was the most perfect garden spot in America, and that your soil and climate under proper direction would yield millions to future generations, where your redwoods have yielded thousands to the present.

"That is true and it might be stated even stronger, for the range of fruits and vegetables of the highest class that can be grown here at a good profit can not be equalled in any place in the world. Apples, pears, peaches, prunes, grapes, as well as the best small fruits and vegetables can not only be grown economically, but can be placed in the world's great markets to better advantage and at less actual cost than from most of the other fruit sections of the West.

"What has increased the value of your redwoods? Twenty years ago, and even less, they could be bought for from $6 to $12 per acre, while the same timber today is worth from $500 to $2000 per acre. The redwood is no better than it was twenty years ago, but men of genius and means have found a market and a way to put it on the market at a reasonable cost. Fifteen or twenty years ago your dairy lands were worth from $25 to $50 an acre. The land is no better today than then, but the land is worth today from $300 to $500 per acre. Why ?

"Because men who have made a study of the industry have found a way to produce the goods and find a market for dairy products at a large profit. What has been true of the dairy industry will also be true of the fruit industry in the hands of men who will put the same energy into the one that the other requires.

154

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

The successful development of any industry requires men with knowledge, coupled with ambition.

"Humboldt county has the soil, on its hills, table lands, and valleys, that is well adapted to dairying and fruit growing, and a climate that is equally adapted for the growing of the highest qualities of fruits.

"With the opening of the Panama Canal and the new railroad transportation, I look forward to the time when Humboldt county will boast thousands of happy, successful farm homes, where today there are but hundreds."

Continuing his discussion, Mr. Rowe said that the results would be wonder- ful when people begin to understand the cultivation of apples and other fruits along scientific lines. He thought the finest results possible anywhere on the globe would be obtained in southern Humboldt county. He said: "Here you can grow the very highest class of apples in the world, and this is the only spot I know of where every one of the highest class varieties will grow to perfection. The keeping qualities are also very fine. The varieties which will pay best and which I have particularly in mind are Spitzenbergs, Northern Spy, Canada Reds, McIntoshes, Jonathans, Kings, and Grimes Goldens.

"Now there are many places where two or three of these varieties will grow well, but southern Humboldt is unique in having an apple belt where all kinds of the best varieties do splendidly. Though you can also grow cheaper grades of apples, it would not be a business proposition to do so. It is not a good policy to produce the inferior apples, because you would come into competition with other sections of the country that grow inferior varieties and can grow nothing else. Your lands are worth more for the high grade apples than for other things. You might develop and grow here to command the market, or at least a great market at a late period in the season. This is of inestimable value."

Humboldters know that the elevated apple lands of this county will miss many of the pests that infest other sections. Apples that grow to the pink of perfection and are also exempt from these pests, are about all that the world might ask.

It is easy to paint a picture of many happy families and thrifty communities as a result of the development of the apple industry, which is sure to be one of the greatest activities of the next five or ten years in those parts of the county which are adapted for the growth of apples.

The building of a large number of evaporating plants and canneries for the products of our orchards will undoubtedly change the entire face of the country and the trend of industry. If we should be careful with regard to the class of immigrants whom we encourage to come this way, selecting the better European type and some of the more intelligent farmers and horticulturists from the East, we shall find great improvement in our social and civic life.

Albert E. Etter. Humboldt county's famous plant breeder and strawberry grower, predicts great things for the small fruits and berries. He sees many spots which are capable of being transformed into veritable gardens of Eden, this without any fear of frost or pests. Here is a fairly comprehensive list of the growing berries and fruits that are known to mature to perfection in the county : Apples, pears, prunes, peaches, cherries, apricots, plums, nectarines, quinces, raspberries, currants, strawberries, and loganberries. Almost anything that thrives in a mild climate will do well somewhere in Humboldt and beyond the coast region one may find prosperous vineyards, olive trees, walnuts, figs, almonds and other fruits and nuts that grow in warm zones where the soil is rich.

155

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

In the Eel river valley and out in the Briceland district as well as in countless other places, strawberries are excellent in size, color and flavor. Cherries grow any- where, but they thrive particularly in the Hydesville district, twenty-five miles from Eureka. Wild fruits almost anywhere testify to the warmth of the climate and the worth of the soil, berries and nuts being abundant. Wild huckleberries, blackberries, and strawberries are abundant.

Mr. Etter says that Humboldt county can grow several types of strawber- ries and other small fruits that will make her famous. A large industry in canned and preserved fruits would be the result, since the market for such products is not today well supplied with the right kind of products. Before the business had been gone into extensively he thinks it would be well to experiment with standard varieties and possibly develop those imported from England, because they are known to be excellent for the purposes of jam. Red currants and goose- berries would also thrive in all that part of the country which will grow them at all. Mr. Etter says that God could have made a better fruit than the Humboldt straw- berry, but he didn't do it. He says the same cool and uniform climate that gives us superb strawberries will also give us excellent currants, raspberries and celery, string beans, peas and cauliflower. Deep soil and the humidity of the air, with the comparatively cool days and nights, make a lower moisture content in the soil necessary for perfect development than where the temperatures are compara- tively high.

Strawberries grown in a hot, dry climate, require so much irrigation that they become mushy. Southern Humboldt has the proper conditions of temperature and air humidity for the production of the best small fruits in the world. These berries require a rich soil, a cool, humid atmosphere and either shade or a cloudy sky. The equivalent of these conditions throughout a large part of the county indicates the reasons for the remarkable berries and vegetables that are destined to give us a reputation the world over. It is not well to go fully into the question of pears, cherries and other forms of fruit, but all familiar with conditions know that a long list of valuable fruits and berries will thrive in this county.

Thus it will be seen that in drawing a picture of southern Humboldt we have possibilities that ramify into many directions. With better roads, more resorts and the establishing of centers for tourists, it will be impossible to tell what the future has in store for us.

While on the tourist question, it might be said that there are so many beautiful spots in southern Humboldt county that it seems impossible that the future will fail to give us a number of men and women engaged in catering to the great tourist trade. It is almost unnecessary to refer to the fact that Switzer- land lives on the tourist trade, as does Los Angeles, in our own state. In Los Angeles, for example. they built more than $34,000,000 worth of new structures in one year, largely as a result of the tourist traffic. Switzerland is a splendid exam- ple, and there a number of towns have hundreds of hotels, while two hundred and twenty thousand men and women are making a living from the tourist trade. There are eighteen thousand restaurants alone.

Why should not Humboldt county become in fact the playground of the West? Why should southern Humboldt not become one of the most attractive spots in all the world for those who enjoy great scenery, hunting, fishing, and that contact with the beauties of nature which this section alone affords?

156

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

CHAPTER XXI.

Humboldt's Bench and Bar.

The history of the bench and bar in California has always been regarded as romantic and unique, because the conditions which prevailed when justice first established herself in the crude surroundings of mining days were unlike those existing in any other state or territory on the American continent. Most of California had fallen under the jurisdiction of Spain, for which reason the Alcaldes and their times marked the administration of justice with singularities unknown throughout the United States.

Humboldt county, however, did not participate in the Spanish regime, for Humboldt county was and is in many particulars as unlike the Spanish parts of California as if it were located in some other part of the United States. The pioneers who settled Humboldt county were much unlike the pioneers of other parts of the state-men and women of courage, venturesome spirit, and great powers of endurance. The fact that many of the pioneers of Humboldt county came from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the New England states, gave this county a sterling class of early settlers. Most of the men were descended from woodsmen and sailors. Being strong, fearless, and for the most part honest, they injected a higher type of civic pride into their affairs than was common in some sections of the state where renegades now and then were in the ascendancy.

But it must be remembered that hard characters found their way to Hum- boldt, as well as elsewhere, and a rude form of justice sometimes asserted itself here as in the rest of the west. The fact that puritanical ideas prevailed among the ancestors of the early settlers here, coupled with their rigid schooling, made for honesty and good citizenship to a stronger extent than in many other parts of the state. Notwithstanding this fact there was lawlessness and there were many calls for the stern administration of justice. The development of the orderly processes of the law was rapid with the settlement of the country, and few counties in the state or in any other state can show a stronger background of law- abiding citizenship than that which sprang from the early days of Humboldt county.

W. K. Strong, official court reporter of Humboldt county for a long period of time-more than a generation-has given an entertaining account of some of the lawyers who participated in the early conflicts in the courts of Humboldt county. The following facts are either gleaned from his reminiscences as narrated on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of his becoming court reporter, or are directly quoted from his account of the men and the trials of the long ago. It appears that Mr. Strong was familiar with the "giants of those days" and their peculiarities. On the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of his career as official reporter he told the members of the bar that it had been his duty for almost a lifetime to listen to the stories of bench and bar as told by judges and lawyers. It was now his time to do the talking, and he thought his recollections of the achievements of men long prominent in the field of forensic conflict might prove interesting to future generations, for which reason his memoirs seem to have a logical historic purpose.

In 1876 he began his duties as official reporter of the District Court of the Eighth Judicial District, comprising the counties of Humboldt and Del Norte, "which Court was at that time and had been for many years ably presided over

157

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

by the Honorable J. P. Haynes, and on the same day I was also appointed to a similar position in the County Court of the County, of which Hon. C. G. Stafford was then Judge, he having succeeded Hon. J. E. Wyman the month preceding. In the first place, and by way of preface, a few words about myself may not be out of place."

The veteran reporter told those assembled that he was thrown on his own resources much earlier than the average boy. He worked through high school and was ready to enter the University before he was old enough for legal admission. It was an accident that directed him into the shorthand business, and he marvels now that it became his life-work. He had worked in coal mines and on dairy ranches. The fact that he became one of the famous court reporters of Cali- fornia indicates something of the character of early times in Humboldt. By "early times" the year 1873 is meant. Compared with the pioneer days that was a late date, but 1873 is a far cry from the twentieth century.

It may be worth while to indicate that the man who became distinguished as a stenographer found himself alone for weeks at a time, with the exception of about twelve hundred sheep, which he was herding. Frequently he didn't see anybody for a month at a time, and then only the man in charge of the pack mule, who brought him his provisions. It might be worth while for young men to note the fact that the idleness and the sheep, which were the only companions to occupy his time, had much to do with his career. The long and hot summer days, during which he trailed after his woolly charges from daylight until dark, gave him the hint to use his brain. He had a Manual of Marsh's phonography within his reach, so he set himself seriously to work to learn shorthand, simply because he had nothing else of an intellectual character with which to occupy himself. By the beginning of winter he could make pothooks in a crude way, and he considered himself considerable of a stenographer. He says: "I came up to Oakland to brush up on my studies and get ready to enter the University the following summer, and I eked out a living by giving lessons to other would-be short- handers, helping the court reporters in transcribing testimony, and by casual newspaper work; but I do not mind confessing that it was uphill work, and I often went to bed hungry."

In 1875 he was a college student at Berkeley, and he made his short- hand serve him well by transcribing passages from the lectures of professors. He sold these to students who were too indifferent or lazy to attend the lectures. He recalls the fact that the State University class of 1879, although small in numbers, contained more men who have made their mark in the affairs of California than any class before or since. From that class there came a governor, several justices of the Supreme Court, Superior Judges, and a number of leading members of the professions.

During the time when he was struggling to win his way through the Uni- versity he had many shorthand pupils among the students and professors. Among others, Judge George D. Murray, of the Superior Court of Humboldt county, was one of those who learned something of shorthand from Mr. Strong.

It was through Mr. Murray, then a young man in the University, that Strong learned of a vacancy in the reportership of the Humboldt District Court. He immediately wrote to Judge Haynes, who afterwards became famous, and he soon received an encouraging letter from the Judge, coupled with the promise of appointment, if he could establish his competency by passing a proper examina-

158

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

tion. Here is the way Mr. Strong tells of the events that followed, during the crude days of 1873 in the Humboldt courts :

"Confidentially, the examination was the least of my troubles. Although I had never had a teacher, or taken a lesson, I had a profound confidence in my abilities, and if the position of secretary of state or premier of England or any- thing else had been offered me I should have accepted it with perfect faith that I would be able to discharge the duties to my own satisfaction.

"Shortly before this a bill had been introduced in the legislature providing for an official reporter for Humboldt county, and fixing his salary of $1000 a year in addition to his fees, and as the assemblyman was governed in the matter by the wishes of the bar, and as there was at that time no constitutional pro- hibition of special legislation, it went through the assembly with flying colors. However, Judge McGarvey of Mendocino was the senator from this district at that session, and he could not imagine what Humboldt wanted of a reporter when Mendocino had none, and through his opposition the bill met the fate of a great deal of other embryo legislation and found its way to the waste basket, much to · my disappointment.

"At the time I made up my mind to inflict my budding talents on the good people of Humboldt, I remember that my entire cash capital amounted to the modest sum of $2.75 in current coin of the republic, and the problem of how to get to Humboldt was one that appeared almost impossible of solution unless I walked. But it happened that about that time W. J. Sweasey, I. R. Brown, Thomas Baird and others had just completed the first steamer Humboldt, which was afterwards wrecked at Point Gorda, and had placed her on the Humboldt run in opposition to the steamer Pelican, then operated by Ben Holliday. The result was a rate war, and when I was ready to make the trip the fare was placed at $1.50 in the saloon and $2 on deck, a sum entirely within my reach, and I need not add that I came on deck.

"We left San Francisco at 9 o'clock on April 10, 1876, and in the afternoon of the next day, as the old novelists have it, there might have been seen wending his way up Second street a long-legged, green and gawky youth, with a shabby valise in one hand and an equally shabby overcoat in the other, whose entire capital consisted of just six bits in money and that roseate future which is never so alluring as to youth and health.

"I planted myself, of course, in the best hotel in the town, which at that time as well as now was the Vance, and then started out to hunt up my appoint- ment. I knew I had to pass the examination before receiving it, but that did not worry me a particle, and I am also free to confess that the thought of what would become of me and my seventy-five cents if I failed, never once entered my head. In fact, I had no intention of failing. The committee appointed to examine me consisted of S. M. Buck, J. J. De Haven, and J. G. Swinnerton, all of whom were leading members of the bar, and the speed required was one hundred and forty words a minute for five minutes, the matter to be transcribed accurately within a reasonable time thereafter. You must imagine that I was green at the business, for I allowed them to read me an editorial out of that morning's issue of the Times, with words in it as long as your hand, and a style of matter which would be difficult to one much more competent than I was.

"In reporting testimony, when you read the question you have something to go by as to what the answer is, and if you can read the answer the next question relates almost always to the last answer, but in a speech or an essay,

159

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

this help is entirely wanting. In the former also the language is the simple every- day English used in conversation, while in the latter unusual words and phrases are the rule.

"I remember that on this occasion Mr. Buck did the reading, while the others held the watch. There was quite a crowd in the old court room on Second street, attracted by the novelty of the proceeding, and when we had concluded, on counting the words it was found that they had read at the rate of one hundred and forty-six a minute instead of one hundred and forty, but Mr. De Haven remarked that they would allow the extra six words for mistakes.

"I took my notes and retired to the old jury room upstairs to write them out, and at first went along swimmingly, but I soon came to a snag, a big word I would not even guess at, and would you believe it, I allowed myself to get rattled, and in the twinkling of an eye every bit of shorthand I ever knew took to its wings and left me. I could not read a word past the snag, and the harder I tried the more indecipherable a mess of pothooks it looked. In about half an hour the committee began to get impatient and started hurrying me up. which of course only added to my confusion, and after an hour and a half they ad- journed until the next day. Now, you might imagine that I fingered my lonesome six bits in my pocket and went sadly to bed that night. Not a bit of it; I was not built that way. I never had a moment's doubt of how smart I was; in fact, I was like almost every other boy of my age, smarter then than I ever was afterwards, or ever will be again, God willing, and so I took in the town-what little there was to take in-and then went to bed early, got up the next morning at daylight, took a good walk, and turned up at the office of Chamberlain & De Haven on Third street at 9 o'clock as fresh as a pink.

"This time experience had made me wise, and I demanded testimony for test. The committee conceded this, and I passed the examination to their satisfaction, as I always knew I would. It happened that a jury was in attendance trying cases, and my appointment as official reporter of the County Court was imme- diately made by Judge Stafford, and at 10 o'clock on the morning of April 12th, 1876, I began the work which I have daily followed ever since. I was then a little past nineteen years of age, and the cut on the first page, which was made from a photograph taken within a month of that time shows about my personal appearance.

"I shall never forget that first case. It was that of a sailor who had stabbed the late Charles Richardson. George A. Knight, the then district attorney, prose- cuted, and Chamberlain and De Haven defended, while Judge Stafford held the scales of justice. I sat up all that night to transcribe the testimony, because I realized that my official tenure in a large measure depended upon the complete- ness and accuracy of my first transcript, and the promptness with which it was furnished. In those days there were no typewriters, and manifolding was un- known. Every bit of transcript or legal writing had to be laboriously done with a pen. But I remember that I finished the entire day's proceedings just before breakfast the next morning and was complimented on its accuracy by the Court and attorneys, and when I take into consideration my lack of experience and the want of facilities for quickly doing the work, and the fact that I did it all alone in one night, I am free to admit, even now, that I deserved the compliment. The case was finished that day by the acquittal of the defendant, and I received $39 for my services, and when I had the money in my pocket, it is not at all strange

160

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

that my original capital did not look nearly as lonesome, and I forthwith settled my hotel bill and sought cheaper quarters.

"In regard to this case I might add that the defendant's acquittal was secured by Mr. Richardson's not being able to positively identify him as his assailant. Chamberlain & De Haven were to receive $300 as their fee, and as the man had nothing, they secured him a place to work, and he was to devote a large part of his wages each month to paying the debt. When the verdict was ren- dered, Mr. Chamberlain jumped to his feet and holding his hand aloft said to the jury : 'Gentlemen, a righteous verdict if ever there was one.' But inside of a week the defendant skipped on an outgoing vessel, without paying a cent, and it was amusing to hear Mr. Chamberlain, when the news was communicated to him, calling the defendant everything that a large vocabulary and a practiced tongue could call him, and saying that he always knew he was guilty and that he ought to have been hung.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 21

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