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 7

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

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Gold-bearing gravel bars, which afterwards made the river famous, were then discovered. When these explorers visited the Sacramento river, the following August, they brought the news of the discovery of gold, and the famous rush for Trinity county began. The canyons and rivers of the country in the Trinity vicinity were then explored and a regular gold rush set in. The search for the mouth of the Trinity then began in real earnest, and there was a general opinion that the river discovered by Reading emptied its waters into Trinidad bay.

It was supposed that the best road to the mine would be by way of the river from the ocean. Many expeditions were fitted out to find the mouth of the Trinity river. The Cameo sailed up the coast in December, 1849, but had to return to San Francisco with the report that no such place

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

as Trinidad bay could be discovered. Soon after this many contradictory reports were received and the Cameo again sailed North, followed in quick succession by half a dozen or more steamers. In March, 1850, the harbor of Trinidad was discovered by the Cameo and was soon thereafter entered by the Laura Virginia, the James R. Whiting and the California. At San Francisco the news of the discovery of Trinidad was received with great enthusiasm, and much excitement followed. Soon thereafter a number of little cities sprang up in the vicinity of the supposed magical Trinidad bay.

The old historian tells us that the first townsite located on the bay was Humboldt City, named by the Laura Virginia Association in April, 1850. After this the towns of Bucksport, Union, and Eureka were established and when the survivors of the great Gregg party reached Sonoma, and after L. K. Wood had recovered from his injuries and sickness, thirty men started to return overland to Humboldt bay. On April 19, 1850, this party reached the bay, having occupied about twenty days in the trip from Sonoma. In Mr. Wood's narrative, published some years thereafter, he speaks of having seen the Laura Virginia inside and tells how Humboldt point was occupied by her party. In the month of April, 1850, Eureka was established on the south side of Humboldt bay, and Trinidad, which was first known as Warnerville, was located at Trinidad harbor. One of the ephemeral little towns of the time, born of mining excitement, was Klamath City. It did not last long, being of a mushroom character. Like some other little towns of the time, every evidence that it had ever existed has been wiped away.

CHAPTER VII.

Grant's Career in Humboldt County

Few persons beyond the borders of California, possibly few outside of Humboldt county, know that Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, afterwards president of the United States, spent a part of the years 1853 and 1854 at Fort Humboldt, in Humboldt county, then the most dreary and isolated billet, perhaps, in all the United States. D. L. Thornbury has looked into the Humboldt county career of the man who afterwards played so important a part in the history of his country, and so has Mrs. Clara McGeorge Shields. The author is indebted to the historic sketches of these painstaking investigators for most of the facts and for much of the narrative presented in this chapter. Old residents and their descendants have been consulted, however, but it has been discovered in almost every instance that some of the traditions affecting Grant's private life lack evidential corrob- oration, being based on ancient and shadowy rumor.

It is clear that there can be no error in the main facts concerning Grant in Humboldt, for the indisputable records of the war department give the bold facts unerringly. Thornbury thus summarizes the salient facts :

"During the fall of 1853 the war department promoted Lieut. Ulysses S. Grant to the grade of captain as a recognition of excellent service in the Mexican war, and assigned him to the station at Fort Humboldt, in California. He ar- rived about the end of October, 1853, and remained only five months. During his stay, there was a great deal of rainy weather which made him despondent ;

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

he was unable to agree with his superior officer at the Fort, and his wife and children were in the East. He left the county in 1854, having resigned from the army."

These being the conditions surrounding his career in the remotest section of the United States, Mrs. Shields is well justified in writing as follows :

"Grant's stay at Fort Humboldt was one which, in after years, the great general must have looked back upon as a nightmare that he would blot from life and memory. His memoirs make no mention of it, nor do any of his biographers give any account of the five months which he spent at dreary Fort Humboldt, the most western garrison of the United States, which was more remote and iso- lated in 1853 than the sealing stations of the Aleutian Islands are today. The fort itself has disappeared. About 1907 the last gray shingle was carried away by souvenir seekers and the parade ground was ploughed and platted into town lots.

"Grant returned to civil life after his services in the Mexican war, although retaining his commission as lieutenant. He was married to Julia Dent. One child had been born to him and another was expected, when he received orders to accompany his-regiment, the Fourth United States Infantry, to California, by way of the Isthmus of Panama, leaving New York in July, 1852.

"His financial affairs had not prospered; he had nothing but his lieutenant's pay on which to support his family, and in the uncertainty of the long separation, he was obliged to let his wife and child return to her father's home while he turned his face westward with every heart string pulling him from the path of duty.

"The future seemed dark. Before him yawned the grave of military am- bitions, for buried in an insignificant Pacific garrison, there was little hope of advancement or renown. Worse than time wasted seemed his years of prepara- tion at West Point and his term of service in the Mexican war. While his meager pay was insufficient for his needs, worse than that to him was the de- teriorating effect of a lonely garrison life which might stretch on indefinitely, the only escape being his resignation of his commission."

According to some of those who either knew him or knew the reputation he bore at this time, it is said that it was during this period that he sought consolation in the flowing bowl and seemed happy only when under the exhilara- „tion of a few drinks. That he was not an abstainer seems clear beyond dispute. There is grave doubt, however, whether he ever drank to the extent ascribed by some of the rumors that have been exaggerated during the last half century. A vast amount of cloudy tradition has grown up regarding his stay in Humboldt. Some old rumors give him a large family of half-breed Indian descendants, while others attribute to him impossible deeds.

Thornbury tells us that when in Humboldt county Grant was a stout, rugged young man about five feet eight or nine inches tall. His nose was large and straight, his eyes were firm and steady, and he wore a short, rough sandy beard. His face was ruddy and he looked rougher than the common West Point graduate of the time. When he had duty at the Fort as officer of the day or conducting the drills, he wore the regulation officer's uniform and performed his duty as a soldier should. When off duty he usually wore the private's clothes consisting of canvas trousers, canvas coat and an old straw hat. Socially he was sometimes a hail fellow well met, but he was a better listener than a talker, and generally a man of reserved habits and was not given to talking. He belonged to Company F of the Fourth United States Infantry. Fort Hum-

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

boldt was established in the winter of 1852-53 as a military post for the protection of the people of the county from the Indians. As Eureka was small and its location then wet and swampy, the fort was located back of the town of Bucks- port, which seemed to give promise of becoming the largest town on the bay. Fort Humboldt Heights, as the location was long called, is now within the city limits of Eureka. The street cars run past the spot, which enables one easily to visit it.

The position of the post is a sightly one, on a plateau thirty or forty feet above the sandy beach of Humboldt bay. It is naturally intended for a fortifica- tion and gives plenty of ground for parade and drill. The barracks and the officers' quarters were erected in 1852 in the usual quadrangular form around three sides of the parade grounds, leaving the west side open, and looking out toward the Pacific ocean and the bay.

Fort Humboldt consisted of about a dozen buildings. Three of them were of good size and were used as barracks, being two stories high. The smaller buildings were one story in height, with porches in front. Grant's quarters were the second on the left or north side-one of the smallest houses of all. The forests of redwood and fir in the rear made a background to the picture and furnished abundance of timber. The buildings were put up by the work of the soldiers in the command. Their plan was to build a frame, fill in with logs, then weatherboard and plaster inside. The first house was built in this manner, but it was found expensive and unnecessary in this climate. A good weather- board house, plastered inside, was sufficient protection for the coldest weather. Buildings of this latter type were easily worn out and blown down. By the year 1907 the elements had almost demolished the few ruins that remained, wind and rain having proved great destroyers during more than half a century of uninterrupted havoc. Eurekans did not realize the historic importance of the place nor the great value that the preservation of Fort Humboldt would have proved as a tourist asset. For a few years after 1906 one reconstructed building remained and was used as a warehouse. Around it were slabs and shingles from the ruins of other structures, but these monuments to community neglect were wholly obliterated about the year 1911.

The commanding officer during Grant's time was Colonel Buchanan, who was about the only cultivated and refined man there. Most of the soldiers located at Fort Humboldt were a rough looking set, and were not respected by the settlers.

Captain Grant reported for duty in October, 1853, and the post thus became the scene of one of the early military services of a man who was later to become a famous general and a Nation's hero.

Colonel Buchanan and Captain Grant did not get along very well, and there was considerable friction between them. This grew greater as time went on, and almost led to a courtmartial. This is probably one of the reasons that induced Grant to resign from the army service. It is only fair to say that the salary of a captain was low at that time. When the gold excitement was at its height, wages of the ordinary laborer were large and the price of food was great. The pay of the officer, while perhaps good in the East, was a mere pittance on the Pacific coast, so small in fact as to place the officers in the category of the very poor, whoni any hewer of wood and drawer of water might look upon as unfortunate. Tradition states that when he was leaving the county in order to avoid further trouble with the commanding officer, he said that they would hear from him

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

afterwards. During the Civil war, Grant. as superior officer met Buchanan, then his inferior. He assigned Buchanan some hard work in order to even up the scores contracted at old Humboldt.

The Indians gave no trouble, but were friendly, visiting the garrison and ex- changing meat and fruits for flour and hard tack.

No military expeditions away from Humboldt were undertaken while Grant was here. There were practically no roads, and when the soldiers went out, they had to cut their own trails. The privates did not have much to do, and the life there was rather monotonous. As Grant was an officer, his hours of duty were not as long drawn out as those of his subordinates. He made many trips to Eureka.

In those early days only a mule trail led from Fort Humboldt to Eureka, passing close to the marsh, which was then subject to tidal overflow, and along under the bluff to what is now South Park. From that place it became a partial road to the waterfront. Broadway and Summer streets are the modern repre- sentatives of this old road.

Eureka in 1854 experienced a depression in the lumbering and other lines of business and the population was considerably diminished. In all Eureka there were not more than four hundred people. The only streets were First, called Front, and Second, and these were but three or four blocks in length. The timber came down to the very edge of the water, but the trees near the shore were scraggly and wind blown. There were but two wharves and three saw- mills. The spruce and fir were the only kinds cut, as the redwoods were too large to handle. Its wood was not considered worth much. The people were engaged in lumbering and there were few women, hence no society to serve as a counter- acting attraction to the saloons. Of these there were three or four, the principal one being conducted by R. W. Brett, who started one on the bank of a little stream that flowed into the bay below the corner of First and F streets. There was but one church and one general store.

Grant usually hung around the saloons, and he is not to be blamed much for this, because they were practically the only places offering recreation, good lights, convivial company, and the opportunity for social converse among men. Here he would meet friends, sailors, and new arrivals. There were some billiard tables and he sometimes amused himself playing at that game. He cared nothing for the lower class of women ; the saloons and a game of cards with boon com- panions being seemingly his first and greatest love.

One evening he walked to Eureka, and at one place the road crossed a slough which used to run about where Fourth and E streets now are. A large log served as a bridge. Across this log for many years thereafter pedestrians walked in order to reach the vicinity of Christ Church, the old Episcopal house of worship which still exists and stands where it has stood since it was erected in 1869. When Grant started to cross the log, a drizzling rain was falling, so he slipped and fell into the slough. He at once went to Brett's saloon, ordered a drink, and quietly dried his clothing before a blazing log fire. Captain Grant was accustomed to ride a mule to Eureka and one night he failed to return to the Fort, whereupon a party went in search of him. They found him asleep in a thicket about where the alley alongside Christ church is now located. His favorite mule was browsing close at hand.

Mr. Thornbury adds: "These incidents, together with the fact that he frequented the saloons, have given rise to many false stories concerning Grant's

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

drinking. In order to have committed all the breaches of sobriety credited to him by the stories I have personally heard, he would have had to live here four years and do nothing else."

Mr. Thornbury thus concludes his narrative: "Grant was a frequent guest at the homes of Dr. Jonathan Clark, James T. Ryan, Captain Maloney and the Duffs. He made Duff's place a secondary headquarters, where he often slept. He bor- rowed their big roan horse to ride. This animal would just as soon run away as not, and that suited Grant. He would ride out into the woods and jump the horse over logs and obstructions. The usual course he took was along a corduroy road, which lead to a charcoal making camp. This was located at about Seventh and G streets, and the charcoal was for the use of the blacksmith shops.

"Grant also visited the points of interest in and near Bucksport. No doubt he went boat riding on the bay, for we are informed that all the officers had boats. At one time they took a walk to Buhne's Point and from there looked upon the beautiful scene spread out before them. To the north was the expanse of the main bay, shut off from the ocean by the low sand dunes of the north peninsula, which at that time did not extend so far south, thus leaving a wider entrance. To the south lay the lower bay, which is really a big lagoon almost entirely enclosed by the sand pits. Beyond the region, five miles away, was Table Bluff. To the rear and east were the spurs of the coast range covered with red- wood, of which Grant speaks in his memoirs as a 'species of red cedar of im- mense size.'

"Spread out in front to the west and northwest lay the beautiful blue expanse of the Pacific, which laps the shores of the peninsulas with its combers and white foam. Directly in front was the bar and entrance of Humboldt bay, marked by the long swelling breakers coming from two directions-over the south shoals and from the northwest. The exact spot upon which Grant stood while gazing upon this scene is not now in existence. The ceaseless lap of the tide and waves has worn Buhne's Point back for a distance of over two hundred "feet. The hero worshiper can only content himself by viewing the same scene.

"On a hill back of Bucksport still stands a low one-story house formerly occupied by the Heustis family. Captain Grant was a guest in this house and slept one night in the south room. A visit can be paid to it. The room is twelve feet long. ten feet wide and about eight feet high. The window to the south faces the Elk River valley. The window on the west overlooks the bay. There is the little closet where he may have hung his clothes."

It might be added that Grant and his regiment came to the Pacific coast by way of Aspinwall. Conditions on the Atlantic side, on the old steamer Ohio, were crowded and unsatisfactory, while the Aspinwall of that time was a spot of plague and abominations.

Andrew Foote, an old resident of Humboldt county, was the last survivor of those on duty at Fort Humboldt while Grant was there. He remembered for many years the chaos and terror of the Aspinwall-Pacific voyage.

No provisions had been made for the arrival of the troops or the journey which they must take to reach the Pacific coast. The Panama railroad was completed only a small part of the way to the point on the Chagres river from whence the passengers were conveyed in boats propelled by native . rowers to Gorgona, from which place they took mules to Panama. The government agent at Aspinwall had assured the army officials that mules had been secured for transportation of commissary supplies and baggage, but on arrival at Gorgona,

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

it was found that no such provision had been made. The price of mules had increased far beyond the government contract price and the contractor had failed to fill the quota.

Cholera had broken out at Aspinwall before the soldiers reached that port and some of the men had come down with the dread complaint even before reaching Gorgona, and during the delay which ensued before transferring to the steamer.

Mrs. Shields has gathered many interesting facts concerning the early stages of the voyage to Fort Humboldt. Her narrative is in part as follows :

"Jungle fever and cholera thinned the ranks terribly, and men and officers were panic stricken and demoralized. Amid this fear and suffering, Grant, acting quartermaster, was a tower of strength and resource. His superior officers gladly allowed him to assume their powers if he took the danger and risks incurred with them. He improvised temporary hospitals, placed the men under strin- gent rules regarding eating tropical fruits and exposing themselves to the fever fogs which arose from the jungle marshes at night. On his own responsibility he purchased mules to remove the sick, and, without orders, marched a division of inen from a death-camp where two-thirds of their number had died of cholera and fever, to a more sanitary station, and later to Panama. Mr. Foote asserted that many a time Grant took from his own slender purse the money to procure care and shelter for fever-stricken soldiers. Amid all this disorder and misman- agement Grant performed one kind of service which has never been accredited him. He took every means possible to keep a correct account of each death and the circumstances surrounding it, as far as could be obtained, and where the bodies were buried. These records were sent to the relatives of the dead men. That death trail across the Isthmus was studded with soldiers' graves, and relatives at home might never have known the fate of their loved ones had it not been for the patient thoughtfulness of the quiet quartermaster who kept his head when others did not.

"Soon after the settlement of Humboldt county, differences arose between the natives and the aggressive white settlers. A few sharp lessons from the guns of the latter impressed the Indian with a wholesome respect for the white man and his methods. There was little to fear from attacks on the settlements, but to the lone herder, hunter and rancher, the lurking savage was a constant menace. A heavy belt of redwood timber encircled Humboldt bay and back of this was a large area of grazing land, rolling hills and fertile valleys. Naturally cattle- raising became the chief industry of the settler and cattle-stealing a profitable em- ployment for the Indians. So great were the depredations that many hundreds of cattle were killed and not a few people murdered.

"In answer to an urgent appeal, the government at Washington established a small fort on Humboldt Heights and soon after the arrival of the troops at Benicia companies B and F were ordered to this post. The fort was built on a bluff overlooking the bay. Behind it stretched miles of unbroken forests of giant sequoias, the dense shade of which was never penetrated by any ray of sun- shine. The lofty tops were never at rest. Even in the calmest days of sum- mer they were swaying and sighing in dreary sadness, while under the stress of winter gales they would almost scream in madness. A dusty ribbon of road ran along the foot of the bluff and beyond it mud flats reached to the waters of the bay.

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

"The companies arrived at Fort Humboldt late in January, 1853, Col. R. C. Buchanan commanding. In August of that year the death of Captain Bliss caused a vacancy to fill which Lieutenant Grant was promoted to the rank of captain and ordered to Humboldt.

"In October, the beginning of the rainy season, Grant reached this outpost of civilization where, with leaden skies overhead, mud and flood under foot, the gray bay in front and the dismal forest behind, with ever the vision before him of the cruel miles between him and his loved ones, he took up the petty duties and spirit-killing routine of garrison life.

"Among Grant's associates at the fort were Quartermaster Rundell, Lieu- tenants Crook, Collins and Underwood. Underwood was accompanied by his wife, and a little son was born at the fort, who was about the age of Grant's second son, whom he had never seen."

Mrs. Shields often talked with Major Howard, an old resident of Hum- boldt, who died in 1904, regarding Grant's career in the county. The reminiscences are interesting because they throw a light on conditions then existing as well as by reason of the future career of Grant.

When asked for reminiscences, he said: "You must bear in mind that how- ever great he afterwards became, at the time of his residence here, he was com- paratively unknown except to his military associates. We had never heard of him and the only thing that may have attracted attention was the death of Cap- tain Bliss and the promotion of his successor.

"I lived, at that time, on a ranch two miles from the fort and was acquainted with all the officers and they frequently visited my house. The first time that I met Captain Grant was early one foggy morning soon after his arrival. Lieu- tenant Collins called at my home to borrow my gun to shoot ducks and he was accompanied by Captain Grant. Collins seemed to be showing the new comer around and making him acquainted with the limited sports of the country. They had driven down to the ranch and Grant sat in the buggy while Collins came in for the gun. I went out to the road and was introduced to Captain Grant. He was an ordinary looking man with firmly set mouth and deep, searching eyes that seemed to take me in at a glance and then turned indifferently away. He was a very quiet man, in strong contrast to the joking, fun-loving Collins. For all that Grant was so quiet himself, I think he enjoyed the lively company of Collins, as he seemed to favor his society more than that of any of the other officers.

"There were few amusements at the fort, but sometimes I would receive an invitation which read 'Come up to the post this evening to a gutta-percha ban- quet.' On account of my young family and their unprotected condition, I could not always accept these invitations, yet when I did, the entertainment was quite enjoyable. A 'gutta-percha' banquet was so called from the chief article of the refreshments, which was a delicacy consisting of small bay mussels pickled in vinegar and served in a widemouthed bottle from which they were harpooned with an iron fork.

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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 7

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