USA > California > Humboldt County > History of Humboldt County, California : with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, farms, residences, public buildings, factories, hotels, business houses, schools, churches, etc., from original drawings, including biographical sketches > Part 29
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THE LARGEST SHEEP RANCH.
The Fort Baker sheep ranch, owned by Russ, Porter & Han- son, is considered the largest in the county. When shearing time eomes it is said that Fort Baker is as lively as a village. In 1881, shearing eommeneed the 6th and ended the 17th of June. Among the number of men on the ranch, thirty-eight were shearers, one doctor to doctor sheep, three men to drive the
135
IMPORTANCE OF THE DAIRYING INTEREST.
sheep into the pens, two men to gather them up on the range, one man to herd horses for the shicarers, making a total of over fifty men. They sheared 14,000 sheep: the biggest ,lay's work was 3,000 head; the two men that balel wool put up sixty- two bales of wool that day, which is considered the biggest day's work ever done on any rauch in the county. The largest tally for any one man was 120 sheep in one day's sheering. Russ, Hanson & Porter had a good crop of wool, which was hard to beat for cleanliness and length of staple.
Like all other sheep-owners in the mountains, they keep a large number of dogs for the protection of the stack A well- trained hound that will lead the pack is worth $150. He must not only be trained to follow a bear or coyote persistently, but be taught to pay no heed to either sheep or deer. He is to wage war against destructive "varments" alone. These dogs are l'ed on cokl mush, without cream and sugar, with only an occasional feast of meat.
Other large sheep-raisers are mentioned elsewhere.
PRICES OF WOOL.
The lowest average price of wool for eleven years past was iu 1870, wbeu it was quoted at fourteen cents. The two highest years were 1871 and 1872, when the average price of California wool went up to twenty-six and one-half and twenty-niue cents. Wool brought a higher price in 1872 than it did during 1880. The largest wool clip ever known in California was in 1876, when it amounted to a total of 56,550,- 970 pounds, and although the clip was much larger that year thau in 1880 when it amounted to 46,074,154 pounds, or more than 10,000,000 pomuds differcuce, yet the money value of the crop of 1880 exceeded the total value of that of 1876 by nearly $2,000,000. The average price of wool during 1880 was twenty-two cents, and the total production of the State for the past cleven years amounted to 423,701,905 pounds, which produced in cash $78,632,830. The average price of California wool bas been steadily increasing.
The wool-growing interest in the county is comparatively of modern growth. Until within the last fifteen years it has assumed no proportions worthy of note.
STOCK-RAISING.
In earlier years grazing was a favorite business, and the rich pasture ranges in the eastern part of the county and an une- qualled climate invited large herds of cattle from the central and southern parts of the State; but the great losses sustained from Indian depredations in the first years of its settlement came to be a certain and serious factor in the calculation of profits. With the disappearance of the Indians came a revival of stock-raising-with its usual adjunct, dairying, both of which, under the improved conditions of management of late years, have become sure and steady sources of profit to owners.
A great deal of pasture land is used as ranges for stock cat-
the that will eventually he used for dairying purposes as the business expands From these hills are annually gatherel large bands of cattle, which are driven south to San Francisco and other markets.
THE DAIRYING BUSINESS.
Butter-making is fast becoming a leading enterprise in tho county. The grasses are especially alapted fur dairying, and grazing for cattle or sheep. The territory is large, tho grazing crop never fails, the climate is not severe on cattle, cows yield milk copiously, and we know of no more promising or inviting place for the intelligent dairyman to operate in than in this county.
Humboldt butter commands the highest rates, a large sec- tion of the country near Ferndale being devoted to that indus- try entirely. 'The country is hilly, but not particularly rough. Stock feeds on its highest hills almost the year round. Dairy products have reached a high figure at times, while the aver- age prices have afforded a good return for the labor, time and capital involved. Dairying in Humboldt County, says the Times, has become one of our leading industries, employing, as it docs, a large amount of capital and labor, and its chicf pro- (luct-butter-has established for itself a reputation second to none in the State. The climate of Humboldt is peculiarly adapted to dairying, especially along the coast belt-a strip say fifteen miles wide, and extending from Mendocino on the south to Del Norte on the north, a distance of one hundred miles. There are no extremes of heat or cold to which interior sections are subject, while the ranges are covered with nutri- tious grasses-native clover and fillaree, which are kept green and thrifty by the fogs and moist sea air well into the fall, ad- mitting of longer dairy season« than would otherwise be possi- blo.
There are still considerable tracts of good dairy land in Bear River aud Mattole sections-at least what will make good dairy land when cleared up wlld seeded with red clover, or Eng- lish white clover mixed with timothy or cheat grass. Some of this land lies in the hills bordering the Eel River Valley, south- east of Bear River.
THE LARGEST DAIRIES.
Hon. Joseph Russ owns thousands of acres which he has di- vided into suitable ranges, and he is still laying out new farius on Cape and Bear River ridges, where the largest dairies are situated.
Mr. Russ is fitting up a dairy in the heart of the Bear River country, which will be one of the largest in the county. All this country is well supplied with spring water for stock and dairy use.
Of the eighty-one dairies in the Bear River country, Mr. Russ owns twenty, nineteen of which are leased. On these eighty-one dairies, 4,580 cows are milked, being an average of a trifle over fifty-six cows to the dairy. These 4,580 cows
136
IMPORTANCE OF THE DAIRYING INTEREST.
yielded 732,800 pounds of butter for the season of 1881, being an average of 100 pouuds to the cow. The average price for which this butter was sold was twenty-eight cents per pound. This makes the product of each cow $44.80 for the season, which is a very fair return, considering that the cow would not cost more than one-half or two-thirds of that amount. The total sales of butter from this district for the past season amounted to $205,184. The great bulk of this but- ter is shipped to Eureka and San Francisco markets.
Capt. H. H. Buhne, at his ranch seven miles from this city, also has fine large buildings, and will be able, with the im- provements now making, to tie up nearly one hundred head of stock. He is breeding Jerseys aud Short Horns, with which he has been quite successful.
We make the following extracts from an article furnished us on the subject of butter-making by Richard Johnson of Capetown, one of the oldest dairymen of that section :-
" It is found out by experienced dairymen that the best but- ter is made from milk skimmed at the right time, which varies from thirty-six to forty-eight hours, entirely depending on the temperature at which, the milk is kept, which ought to be from 60° to 70º Fahrenheit. There is a great deal said in books about dairying, or rather the theory of dairying, which is not worth the paper it is written upon to the practi- cal man, Some of these book-writers say that it is essentially necessary to wash the cow's udder before milking, etc., in the winter time. It may be so occasionally, but not always; and then again 'that the milker ought to have his hands and face washed, hair combed and have a white apron on while he milks.' So far as his hands are concerned it is all well enough, but the other appendages are, to say the least, superfluous and im practi- cable, and if there was no other reason, the proprietor could not afford to pay thirty or forty dollars a month to keep his hired help in the shape of milkers dressed and cleaned with white aprons. It is right and proper to have everything around the dairy house clean and sweet as circuinstauces will permit, so as to be able to send a No. 1 article of butter to the market.
" My method of dairying is to have the cows milked clean in as short a time as possible. A good milker will milk twenty cows in two hours and a half, or three hours at the farthest. I have the milk strained into a hundred or more gallon vat which stauds in the dairy house, or on the porch of the dairy house, and have it strained by one man all the time, and into pans that will hold six or seven quarts, set on revolving racks. The milk stands from thirty-six to sixty hours, depending on the temperature. We churn every day by horse power, wash the butter thoroughly with water in the churn. We do not let the butter gather in a lump in the churn until it is washed. It is churned until it gets in little round lumps about the size of a pea, then draw off the buttermilk, put in plenty of water to keep it in that state until the buttermilk is all washed out
of it, then turn the churn round half a dozen or more times, which will gather it up in a lump fit to be taken out on to the butter table to be worked and salted, which ought to be done as quickly as possible, only just working it enough to inix the salt well through it, so that there will be no white streaks in it. It is either moulded into what is calledl two pound rolls, or put down solid. If put iuto rolls, there is about six pounds of salt put to the hundred pounds of butter. If put down solid, eight pounds of salt put to the one hundred pounds of butter."
DEFICIENCY IN WEIGHT OF BUTTER.
"I do earnestly hope that the time is not far distant when there will be a law passed that will make the two-pound roll of butter weigh two pounds. As it is now, the box of fifty rolls of butter which ought to weigh 100 pounds. ranges from ninety-thirec to ninety-seven pounds, which is all in favor of the retail dealer, at least so says the commission man.
"A dairy of 100 cows requires the labor of five muen for about five months, and four men for another month, and three men until the cows are dried up, except when they feed. The milk- ing season lasts in Humboldt County on Bear River, seven months. On the Mattole from five to six months. On the farming land in the valleys, longer.
"On Bear River, Mattole, and in some other places, we dairy altogether on the natural grasses, which are found to be very nutritious.
"Our present dairy region is not very extensive, but from all the information I can obtain from other places, we can keep more stock to the acre than any other county in the State. We milk now, in this county, about 5,000 cows, and on the increase every year, and in ten years from now I have no doubt there will be 10,000 dairy cows in the county. There is quite a difference now and when I came to the county in 1856. I do not think there were 200 cows, all told, dairied in the county then, and butter was made in a way that would not bring the highest market price. Then it was thought that if the buyers objected to a few hairs or a few specks of dirt, that they were getting too particular. One man, an acquaintance of mine, gave up the business on that account.
"There is one fact that every dairyman knows, that the longer we remain in the business the more proficient we become. 1 have dairied for nearly a quarter of a century, and I am still learning every year something more about it. As yet we have not the experience in feeding that they have in other places. We depend upon the natural grass, which will keep a cow in good condition the year round to every four acres. In some places it will require more, hut on most of the dairy ranches on Bear River, a cow can he kept on every four acres. The valley or farm land, which is a rich, alluvial deposit- when properly subdued, cultivated, and put down in tame grass, clover, alfalfa or lucern, can be made to keep a cow to the acre.
RANCH HOME OF THOMAS STEWART, ON BEAR RIVER,15 MILES FROM' FERNDALE, HUMBOLDT CO.CAL.
EXCELSIOR DAIRY RANCH, OF H.D. SMITH, BEAR RIVER, HUMBOLDT CO. CAL.
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137
PROGRESS OF THE LEADING INDUSTRIES.
ALFALFA FOR COWS.
" It is being found out that the valley land will produce alfalfa. I visited a fariner the other day that had abont an acre, and he told me that he had ent it three times, a couple of tons each time, and, although our climate is moist, he told me that the yield would he more if irrigated. If alfalfa can be suc- cessfully raised, our couuty is only in its infancy. Every year farmers become more convinced of the profits of dairy haus- bandry,
"The climate, soil, and surroundings are better adapted to this branch of farming than any other, as the facility for gutting bulky produce to market is very expensive, taking into consideration the expense of getting it to a shipping port and thence to San Francisco.
"By putting the products of the farm into butter and pork, for they both go together, his freigbt to and from a shipping point, is nothing in comparison to that of grain and potatoes. This is well known to every intelligent farmer in the county, aud I have not a doubt in my mind, but in the not distant future dairying will be one of our principal industries. There is a great need of a creamery and cheese factory, one or more in the Eel River Valley, which to my mind, for the small dairy farmer, would be a much cheaper way to convert their cream iuto butter, than by doing so at home.
" It takes a long time to get most of our farmers out of the old rut or way of getting along. The milk and beef qualities of our stock perhaps, are equal to any other dairy stock of a corumon quality, and, perhaps, it is not saying too much that they are equal to fancy stock in milk and butter qualifications. Iu a portion of the dairy season we can make from one and one- quarter to one and one-half pounds to the cow. To sum it all up, we can make as many pounds of butter to the cow, and of as good a quality as is made in any other part of the State or the United States."
PROGRESS FOR TWENTY YEARS.
The following statistics of the leading industries will show how the county has progressed in twenty years. It is not claimed these figures are entirely correct; but are as near as could be obtained at the time by the Assessors. The statistics of 1860 were reported by J. J. DeHaven, Assessor, and those of 1880 were furnished us by Geo. H. Shaw, Esq., present Couuty Assessor :--
EXPORTS FOR THE YEAR 1881.
Weight in Pounds.
Articles.
9,039,700
Potatoes.
7,735,650
Oats.
1,386,280
Wbeat.
560,840
Peas
869,550
Wool .
7,560
Barley
24,300
Apples.
5,830
Hides, dry .
85,100
Hides, salt
12,395
Deer skins
90,000
Bacon
36,100
Oats in acres.
15,723
Oats in bushels.
63
Corn in acres.
1,990
Corn in bushels
Peas in acres.
31.584
17,321
Peas in bushels
208
1,706
Potatoes in acres
56,632
$4.714
Potatoes in bushels.
3,890
Hay in acres.
1,233
7,724
Hay in tons. . .
34,400
96,750
Butter in pounds.
6,800
1,400
Cheese iu pounds.
15,888
10,457
Apple trees,
2,330
2,350
Peach trees
567
927
Pear trees.
508
1,223
l'lum trees.
LIVE STOCK.
1,638
4,014
Number of horses.
528
1,003
Number of mules.
19,205
26,623
Number of horned cattle
523
170,820
Number of sheep
18
372
Number of goats
8,194
7,267
Number of hogs
IMPROVEMENTS.
1860
1880
Grist-mills, steam
Grist-mills, water power.
4
Grist-mills, run of stone.
16,500-bbls. fr.3,000
Grain ground in bushels
7
18
Saw-mills, steam power
3
Saw-mills, water power
.9,575,000
32,349,000
Lumber sawed, feet
25,110,500
Shingles made
. $1,308,801
$6,239,452
Total assessed valuation.
PRODUCTIONS AND EXPORTS.
It has been the custom of the Times for several years past to furnish its readers with a statement of the productions and exports of the county, and from the valuable tables thus gath- ered we take the summary for the year. Humboldt has three recognized ports, namely, Trinidad, Humboldt Bay, and Eel River. Her shipping points that are directly available to deep water communication are Klamath River, Trinidad, which can accommodate tbe largest craft of the merchant marine, Arcata, Eureka, Fairhaven, Hookton, Southport, Port Kenyon and Shelter Cove.
1860
1880
105,347
10.975
Land enclosed.
3,547
Land cultivated ..
1,564
Wheat in acres
+0,564
Wheat in bushels
58
Barley in acres
1,991
54,418
Barley in bushels.
542
7,193
260,774
Pork
364
*Tons.
10,223
883
656
2
4
27,897
3.705
86,600
3,289
744
138
RAILROAD COMMUNICATION REQUIRED.
Lard .
24,400
Tallow
468,440
Butter
23,600
Leather
103,460
Bref.
85,200
Fish
191,800
Salmon, ¿ bbls.
277,900
Salmon, cases.
33,600
Tan Bark.
25,000
Charcoal .
8,710
Flax Seed.
21,110,915
Total its
Quantity.
Articles.
291
Poultry, 97 coops, av 3 doz.
39,030
Eggs, 1,301 boxes, av 30 doz.
3,658
Mouldings bdls.
4,061
Redwood doors.
3,114,000
Shakes.
9,410,000
Shingles.
230
Box material, bdls.
204
Starch, boxes
54
Horses
373
Calves
87
Sheep
153
Hogs.
25
Pelts, bdls.
91
Skins aud furs, bdls.
Lumber, in feet.
48,630,121
The export from the mills of the Trinidad Mill Co., Falk, Chandlor & Co., and the Milford Lumber Co., are not included in the report of the lumber shipments.
To show the increase of business in Humboldt County for the last five years we give from the Times a comparative table showing the shipments of 1877 and 1881.
Articles.
1877.
1881.
Potatoes.
. 3,189,620
9.039,700
Oats ..
4,232,185
7,735,650
Wheat.
413,412
560,840
Wool.
115,015
468,440
Butter.
140,600
85,200
Fish . . .
21,990
5,830
Hides, salt.
97,900
85,100
Salmon, ¿ bbls
276,300
191,800
Eggs, doz.
1,650
39,030
In the past year the county has made a good showing, take it all in all, and the present outlook for 1882 is most encourag- ing. Attention is being paid to every industry, and everytbing looks bright and prosperous.
The Standard gives the summary of exports for the entire county for 1881 as follows :-
In conclusion we have, of the items specified, the summary of exports for the county to be :-
Lumber, feet.
146,000,000
Shingles
13,648,000
Shakes.
5,644,000
Posts.
238,000
Wool, pounds.
1,015,000
Butter, pounds.
570,000
Tbe arrivals in port, 322, exclusive of steamers. The total tonnage, 92,450 tons.
Railroads of Humboldt.
WHAT Humboldt County needs is railroad communication with the rest of the world. But this is a question of time ouly. The large and increasing business will soou demand some step towards its construction.
FIRST RAILROADS IN THE STATE.
But it must not be supposed by the outside world that Hum- boldt has no railroads. The fact is the first railroads in this State were constructed here in 1854. At that date there were upwards of twenty miles of good, graderl, substantial roads built by loggers, and used to convey logs to the waters' edge. Siuce that date iron rails bave been laid and locomotives used ou most of tbem.
THE VANCE RAILROAD.
John Vance, one of the active and most enterprising citizens of the county, many years ago, asked the public for the right of way and a small subsidy, as a guarantee, and in return would construct and equip a road from Eureka up Eel River Valley. The offer was not accepted, many being diametrically opposed to granting subsidies, while others owning land along the route demanded nearly as much damages for the narrow strip of land necessary, as their whole property was worth. Of course, the project was abandoned.
He did not, however, abandon the idea of a railroad, but constructed one as a private enterprise. It extends from tide- water to his mills on Mad River. This road was commenced in 1874. Besides opening up a large section of fine farming land it bas made the fortunate proprietor altogether independ- ent of other sources of supply of logs for his mills, of which he has two. The road is five miles long and cost the propric- tor $15,000 per mile. Mr. Vance bas a Baldwin locomotive and about thirty truck cars, upon which are transported the im- mense redwood logs and large quantities of lumber. At the tide-water terminus of this road lighters receive the lumber and are floated with the outgoing tide to a point eight miles above Eureka, where vessels of a capacity of 300,000 feet re- ceive their loads, and are towed to the city wharves by Mr. Vance's steamer.
He recently made the road a public one and built a ware- house for the reception of freight. He will doubtless extend tbe road into the dense redwoods of Mad River and also nortb- westwardly to the valuable timber of Little River. This road crosses Mad River on a Howe Truss Bridge heretofore mentioned and illustrated.
H. B. AND L. RAILROAD.
In 1875, the South Bay Railroad Company bad a track laid from the marsh on South Bay, up Salmon Creck a distance of five miles. The road was built for logging purposes. The road was standard gauge, built of forty-pound T uon and cost,
65,500
1,386,280
Peas
1,551,880
869,550
Hides, dry
15,500
139
THIE RAILROADS OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY.
equipped, $15,000 per mile. It was operated by a tank engine, weighing'eighteen tons, built at the Baldwin Works, Philadel- phia, Eighteen truck cars of massive huild were used in working this road. A log thirty-six feet long and twelve fect in diameter, weighing twenty-five tous, was transported on two of the trucks. The grade of the road was very steep, some- times being as inuch as 200 fect to tho mile. The officers of the company were President, Calvin Page, of San Francisco ; Secretary, Charles Nelson ; Treasurer, John Kentfield ; Super- intendent, J. W. Ilendorson; Directors, C. Page, J. Page, Jno. Kentfield, Chas. Nelson, H. H. Buhne aud J. W. Henderson.
The body of timber up Salmon Creek was not so extensive as was supposed, and in the short time of three years the supply for railroad purposes was practically exhausted. The Directory proposed extending the road up the Ecl River Valley. From many they received encouragemont; hut others hield their land at a valuation far exceeding its real worth. Some were found who said that they had taken up their land iu early days, l'ought ludians aud high water, and now, just as they were get- ting fixed comfortably, and wanted to live in peace and quiet, a railroad was talked of, and they were asked to give or sell a right of way. They were opposed to a railroad, and would not do anything. Meeting with such a reception, the company gavo up tho idea of the Eel River Road, took up their track - moved all the appurtenanees, and invested their capital in the H. B. and L. Railroad.
This road has recently been built on Freshwater Creek, and reaches from tide-water on Humboldt Bay a distance of some four miles. The company own a Baldwin locomotive and a number of trucks.
ARCATA AND MAD RIVER RAILROAD.
Articles of incorporation wore filed July 22, 1881, of the Ar- cata and Mad Rivor Railroad Company. The purposes of the corporation are sot forthi to be tho construction of a single track narrow-gauge railroad to be operated by steam and horse power, tho same to be constructed from the main ship channel at the northerly end of Humboldt Bay, to the north fork of Mad River, passing through tho town of Arcata for the trans- portation of freight and passengers. The Directors for the first year were G. W. B. Yocom, R. M. Fernald, B. Deming, Austin Wiley and E. A. Deming. The capital stock is $60,- 000.
This road is an extension of the Arcata Transportation Com- pany's road, the initial point being Isaac Miner's Mill, on Mad River, three aud one-half miles beyond the Dolly Varden Mill. The company have extended this road a distance of fifteen miles up Mad River, where the new mill is built, right in the redwood timher country.
Their wharf is said to be the longest in the United States. The company's steamer makes connection from Arcata to Eu- reka, a distance of five miles. This road was to be completed,
the full length, by the first of March, 1882, for passengers, freight, Inmber, etc., Yocum & Fernald, proprietors.
JACOBY CREEK RAILROAD.
This road is about two miles in length, on Jacoby Creek, and will be extended as the timber is eut. The line of the railroad crosses the Arcata Road. This railroad is to be extended from tide-water up into the deuse forests that cover the slopes and fringe the hill-tops. The logs brought down by the railroad will be rafted to mill.
Dolheer & Carsou are constructing this road. It is built of standard gauge of T iron, with a grade which allows the loaded cars to reach tide-water by their own momentumu ; horses are then usul to return the cars to the upper end of the road. This constitutes the railroads in the vicinity of Humn- boldt Bay.
A large area of line redwood and spruce Ininher is tributary to this road which will be extended as occasion requires. About 2,000,000 feet of logs have been transported over the road this year. It has ample facilities for transporting six times the amount mentioned.
TRINIDAD MILL COMPANY RAILROAD.
The Trinidadl Mill Company is composed of Messrs. F. T. Hooper, J. A. Hooper and J. C. Sinith of San Francisco, and Josiah Bell of Triuidad, the latter being the Superintendent. They have extended their railroad into the redwoods at a cost of $15,000 a mile, including rolling stock, and will insure a supply of lumber to the mills for twenty years. The company own and control about 10,000 acres of first-class redwood land. It is claimed that there is a belt of redwood, spruce and pine forty miles in length, extending from Little River north to a considerable distance above Trinidad, which must necessarily find an outlet at Trinidad.
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