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 6
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1. That the governer should call together the neophytes of the following-named missions: San Rafael. Dolores, Soledad, San Miguel and La Purissima; and in case those missions were abandoned by their neophytes, that he should give them one month's notice, by proclamation, to return and cultivate said inissionx, which if they did not do, the missions should be de- clared abandoned, and the Assembly and governor dispose of them for the good of the Department.
2. That the missions of Carmel, San Juan Bautista, San Juan Capistrano and San Francisco Solano, should be consil- ered as pueblos, or villages, which was their present condition; anıl that the property which remained to them, the governor, after separating sufficient for the enrate's house, for churches and their pertinents, and for a municipal house, should sell at publie auction, the product to be applied, first to paying the dlebts of the establishments, and the remainder, if any, to the benefit of divine worship.
3. 'That the remainder of the missions to San Diego, inelu- sive, should be rented at the discretion of the governor.
SALK OF THE MISSIONS.
1845,-On the 28th of October of this year, Governor Pico gave publie notice for the sale to the highest bidder of five mnis- sions, viz: San Rafael, Dolores, Soledad, San Miguel and La Purissima; likewise for the sale of the remaining buildings in the pueblos (formerly missions) of San Luis Obispo, Car- mel, San Juan Bautista, and San Juan Capistrano, after separ- uting the churches and their appurtenanees, and a curate's, municipal and school house. The auctions were appointed to take place, those of San Luis Obispo, Purissima and San Juan Capistrano, the first four days of December following (1845); those of San Rafael, Dolores, San Juan Bautista, Carmel, Soledad and San Miguel, the 23d and 24th of Janu- ary, 1846; meanwhile, the Government would receive and take into consideration proposals in relation to said missions.
The final disposition of the missions at the date of 1846 will be seen in the following :-
TABLE SHOWING THE FINAL DISPOSITION OF MISSIONS.
How IHSPOSED OF BY THE GOVERNMENT.
No.
NAME OF MISSION.
Sold to Santiago Arguello, June 8, 1846.
San Diego.
Sold to Antonio Cot and Andres Pico, May 13, 1846.
9
San Lauris Rey
Pueblo, and romainder sold to John Fust.r and James
3
San Juan Capistrano ..
Mckinley, December 8, 1845.
f
San Fernando.
Sold to Julian Workman and Hugo Reid, June 18, 1846. Rented to Andres Pico, lor nine years from December, 1845, and sold to Juan Cells, June, 1846.
B
San Buenaventura
7
Santa Barbara ...
Rented to Joaquin Carrillo.
La Purisima San Luis Obispo.
11
San Miguel ...
San Antonio ...
13
Soledad ..
Carmel de Monterey
15
San Juan Bautista.
Vacant.
16
Santa Cruz.
In charge of priest.
17
Santa Clara
In charge of prlest.
18
San Joso
Pueblo.
Mission in charge of priest.
21
San Francisco Solano ..
Mission in charge of priest.
Industries of Early Times.
FARMING in California was in a very primitive state up to its occupation by the Americans. What farming the Californians did was of a very rude description; their plow was a primitive contrivance, their vehicles unwieldy. Sneh articles of hus- bandry as reapers, mowers and licaders had not entered their dreams, and they were perfectly independent of their advan- tages.
Grain was ent with a short, stumpy, sinooth-edged sickle; it was threshed by the tramping of horses. One of their few evils was the clepredations of the wild Indians, who would sometimes steal their horses, and then the cattle would have to perforin the work of separation. The cleaning of grain was performed by throwing it in the air with wooden shovels, and allowing the wind to earry off the chaff.
In a work published in London in 1839, by Alexander Forbes, are some interesting descriptions of the country abont the Bay of Monterey, and the condition of farming as witnessed by him in 1835.
PLOW USED BY CALIFORNIANS.
The plow used at that time must have been of great antiquity. It was composed of two principal pieces; one, called the main piece, was formed out of a crooked branch of timber, cut from a tree of such a natural shape. This plow had only one handle, and no mould-board or other contrivance for turning over the furrow, and was, therefore, only capable of making a simple cut, equal on both sides.
PLOW USED BY NATIVE CALIFORNIANS.
The only iron about the plow was a small pieee fitted to the point of the stile, and of the shape seen in the detached part of the engraving. The beam was of great length, so as to reach the yoke of the oxen. This beam was also composed of a natural piece of wood, cut from a tree of proper dimensions, and had no dressing, except taking off the bark. This beam was inserted into the upper part of the main piece, and connected with it by a small upright piece of wood, on which it slides, and is fixed by two wedges; by withdrawing these wedges the beam was elevated or lowered, and depth of furrow regulated.
Rented for nine years, Irom June 8, 1846, to Nich's Den.
Santa Ynes
Sold to Jobn Temple, December 6, 1845.
Pueblo.
Uncertain.
Vacant.
House and garden sold to Sobranes, January 4, 1846.
Pueblo.
14
l'ueblo.
19
Dolores. (San Francisco). ..
San Rafael ..
San Gabriel.
Sold to Joseph Arnaz.
The long beam passes between the two oxen, like the pole of a carriage, and no chain is used. A pin is put through the point of the beam, and the yoke is tied to that by thongs of rawhide. The plow-man goes at one side, holding the handle with his right hand, and managing the goad and cattle with his left. The manner of yoking the oxen was by putting the yoke (a straight stick of wood) on the top of the head, close
32
GOLDEN AGE OF NATIVE CALIFORNIANS.
behind the horns, and tied firmly to their roots and to the fore- head by thongs, so that, instead of drawing by the shoulders, as with us now, they drew by the roots of the horns and fore- head. They had no freedom to move their heads, and went with the nose turned up, and seemed to be in pain.
With this plow only a sort of a rut could be made, and the Boil was hroken by successive crossing and recrossing many times. Plowing could only he done after the rains came, and an immense number of plows had to he employed.
MODERN FARMING TOOLS UNKNOWN.
The harrow was totally unknown, and a bush was drawn over the field to cover in the seed; hut in some places a long, heavy log of wood was drawn over the field, something of the plan of a roller, but dragging without turning round, so as to carry a portion of the soil over the seed.
INDUSTRIES OF NATIVE CALIFORNIANS.
The Californians were not without their native manufactures, and they did not, as is generally supposed, rely altogether upon the slaughter of cattle and the sale of hides and tallow. The missionaries had taught them the cultivation of the grape and manufacture of wine. Hemp, flax, cotton and tohacco were grown in small quantities. Soap, leather, oil, brandy, wool, salt, soda, harness, saddles, wagons, blankets, etc., were manu- factured.
Of California it may he truly said, that hefore the admission of foreign settlers, neitber the potato nor green vegetables were cultivated as articles of food.
DAIRYING IN EARLY TIMES.
The management of the dairy was totally unknown. There was hardly any such thing in use as hutter and cheese. The hutter was an execrable compound of sour milk and cream mixed together; the hutter being made of the cream on top of the milk, and a large portion of the sour, heat up together hy hand, and without a churn. It was of a dirty gray color, and very disagreeahle flavor, and always rancid.
They had an awkward way of milking, as they thought it absolutely necessary to use the calf to induce the cow to give milk; so they let the calf suck for some time alone, and then lay hold of the teats as they could, while the calf was still suck- ing, and by a kind of stealth procured a portion of the milk.
The supercargo of a British ship from India, bound to the coast of Mexico, informed Alexander Forhes* in 1832, that on making the coast of California, they touched at the Russian set- tlement, called La Bodega (Sonoma County), and which borders on the Spanish territory-or rather of right helongs to it, and although the part which the Russians possess is sterile in com- parison to the fine plains occupied by the Spaniards, yet they found immediately on their arrival a present sent on hoard by the Russian Governor, of most excellent butter, fat mutton, and
good vegetables, all things most desirable to people arriving from a long voyage. They soon proceeded to Monterey, the capital of Spanish California, where they could find nothing but hull beef; neither bread, hutter, cheese, or vegetables could he procured. As late as 1834 Monterey was supplied with butter and cheese from the Russian settlement at Bodega.
PRIMITIVE THRESHING SCENE.
When the crops were ripe, they were cut with a sickle, or any other convenient weapon, and then it became necessary to thresh them. Now for the modus operandi. The floor of the corral into which it was customary to drive the horses and cattle in order to lasso them, from constant use had become hardened. Into this inclosure the grain would he piled, and upon it the manatha, or hand of mares, would be turned loose to tramp out the grain. The wildest horses would he turned adrift upon the pile of straw, when would ensue a scene of the wildest con- fusion; the excited animals heing driven, amidst the yelling of the vaqueros and the cracking of whips, here, there, and every- where, around, across, and lengthwise, until the whole was trampled, leaving naught hut the grain and chaff.
The most difficult part of the operation, however, was the separating of the grain from the chaff. Owing to the length of the dry season, there was no urgent haste to effect this; therefore when the wind was high enough, the Indians, who soon fell into the ways of the white pioneers, more especially where they were paid in kind and kindness, would toss the trampled mass into the air with large wooden forks, cut from the adjacent oaks, and the wind carried away the lighter chaff, leaving the heavier grain. With a favorable wind, several bushels of wheat could thus he winnowed in the course of one day.
How insignificant this scene appears when contrasted with a San Joaquin farmer's outfit of a 24-horse reaper and thresher coinhined, which is fally descrihed further on in this work, and represented in several engravings.
GOLDEN AGE OF NATIVE CALIFORNIANS.
Mr. William Halley says: From 1833 to 1850 may he set down as the golden age of the native Californians. Not till then did the settlement of the rancheros hecome general. The missions were breaking up, the presidios deserted, the popula- tion dispersed, and land could be had almost for the asking. Never hefore, and never since, did a people settle down under the blessings of more diverse advantages.
The country was lovely, the climate delightful; the valleys were filled with horses and cattle; wants were few, and no one dreaded dearth. There was meat for the pot and wine for the cup, and wild game in abundance. No one was in a hurry. " Bills payahle " or the state of the stocks troubled no one, and Arcadia seems to have temporarily made this her seat. The people did not, necessarily, even have to stir tho soil for a live- lihood, hecause the abundance of their stock furnished them
. Now a resident of Oakland. See Biography, page 31.
-
BELMORE HALL', HOME OF ROBERT W. ROBARTS, FERNDALE, HUMBOLDT CO.CAL.
ISLAND HOME OF F.Z. BOYNTON 4 MILES FROM FERNDALE, HUMBOLDT CO.CAL.
₹
35
INDUSTRIES OF THE NATIVE CALIFORNIANS.
with food and enough hides and tallow to procure money for every purpose. They had also the advantage of cheap and docile labor in the Indians, already trained to work at the missions. And had they looked in the earth for gold, they could have found it in abundance.
They were exceedingly hospitahle and sociable. Every guest was welcomed. The sparsity of the population made them rely on each other, and they had many occasions to bring theni together.
SCENES OF FESTIVITY AND GAYETY.
Church days, hull-fights, rodeos, were all oeeasions of festiv- ity. Horsemanship was practiced as it was never before out of Arabia; dancing found a ball-room in every house, and musie was not unknown. For a caballero to pick up a silver eoin from the ground at full gallop, was not considered a feat; and any native youth eould perform the mustang riding which was lately accomplished with such eredit by young Peralta, in New York. To fasten down a mad bull with a luriat, or even sub- due him single-handed in a corral, were every-day perform- anees. The hranding and seleeting of eattle in rodeos was a gala occasion.
While the young men found means to gratify their tastes for highly-wronght saddles and elegant bridles, the women had their fill of finery, furnished by the Yankee vessels that visited thom regularly for trade every year. Few schools were estab- lished, but the rudiments of education were given at home. The law was administered by Alcaldes, Prefeets, and Governor. Murder was very rare, suieide unknown, and San Franeiseo was without a jail.
FAVORITE NATIVE LIQUOR.
Wine was plentiful, and so was brandy. There was a native liquor in use, that was very intoxieating. It was a sort of cognac, which was very agreeable and very volatile, and went like a flash to the hrain. It was expensive, and those selling it inade a large profit. This liquor was known as aguadiente, and was the favorite tipple until supplanted hy the whisky of the Americanos. It was mostly made in Los Angeles, where the larger part of the grapes raised were used for it.
THE ADOBE RESIDENCES.
The walls were fashioned of large sun-dried bricks, made of that hlack loam known to settlers in the Golden State as adohe soil, mixed with straw, with no particularity as to species, measuring about eighteen inches square and three in thickness; these were eemented with mud, plastered within with the same suhstanee, and whitewashed when finished. The rafters and joists werc of rough timber, with the hark simply peeled off and placed in the requisite position ; while the residences of the wealthier classes were roofed with tiles of a convex shape, placed so that the one should overlap the other, and thus make a water-shed; or, later, with shingles, the poor contenting them- selves with a thatch of tule, fastened down with thongs of
hulloek's hide. The foriner modes of covering were expensive, and uone but the opulent could afford the luxury of tiles. When completed, however, these mud dwellings will stand the brunt aud wear and tear of many decades, as can be evidenced by the number which are still occupied.
There were occasional political troubles, but these did uot much interfere with the profound quiet into which the people had settled. The change from a monarchy into a republic scarcely produced a ripple. The invasions of the Americans did not stir them very profoundly. But they have received such a shock in their slurubers that they, too, like their predeces- sors, the Indians, are rapidly passing away.
SPANISH OX-CART.
The form of the ox-eart was as rude as that of the plow' The pole was of very heavy dimensions, and fastened to the yoke and oxen the same as the plow. The animals had to bear the weight of the load on their heads. This added greatly to the distress of the poor animals, as they felt every jerk and twist of the eart in the most sensitive manner; and as the roads were full of ruts and stones, it is a wonder that the animals' heads were not twisted off.
OLD FASHIONED SPANISH OX.CART.
The wheels of this eart were of the most singular eonstrue- tion. They had no spokes and were made of three pieces of timber. The middle piece was hewn out of a large tree, of size to form the nave and middle of the wheel, all in one. The other two pieces were made of timher bent and joined by keys of wood. There does not enter into the construction of this eart a partiele of iron, not even a nail, for the axle is of wood and the lynch-pin of the same material.
Walter Colton says: "The ox-cart of the Californian is quite unique and primitive. The wheels are eut transversely from the butt end of a tree, and have holes through the eenter for a huge wood axle, as seen in our engraving. The oxen draw by the head and horns instead of the chest; and they draw enormous loads.
"On gala days it was swept out and covered with mats: a deep hody put on, which is arched with hoop-poles, and over these a pair of sheets are extended for a covering. Into this the ladies are tumhled with the children, and they start ahead."
An old settler writes to us that "Many of our people will
34
THE RUSSIANS OCCUPY CALIFORNIA.
recollect the carts used in early days by the Californians. They usually traveled front place to place on horseback; hut when the family desired to visit a neighhor or go to town, the family coach was called into use. The vehicle consisted of two immense wooden wheels, cut or sawed off a log, with holes as near the center as convenient for the axle-tree, with a tongue lashed to the axle with rawhide thongs. Upon this a frame, as wide as the wheels would permit, and from seven to twelve feet in length, was placed, upon which was securely fastened one or two rawhides with the flesh side down, and a rude frame over the top, upon which to stretch an awning, with rawhide thongs woven around the sides to keep the children from tumbling out.
" The female portion of the family, with the small children, would seat themselves in the cart, to which was attached a pair of the best traveling oxen on the ranch. An Indian would drive, or rather lead the oxen (for he usually walked ahead of them). In this simple, rude contrivance the family would travel twenty or thirty miles in a day with as much comfort, appar- ently, as people now take in riding in our modern vehicles. Soinctimes several families would ride in a single cart, and visit their friends, go to town for the purpose of shopping, or to attend church, etc."
SPANISH GRIST-MILL.
Wheat and corn were generally ground or pounded in the common hand stone mortar; but in larger settlements horse- power was used in turning or rolling one large stone upon another, as shown in the engraviug on page 35.
Water-power mills for grinding flour in Upper California were but few, and of the most primitive description; hut none better are to he found in the other parts of Spanish America not even in Chili where wheat abounds. These mills consist of an upright axle, to the lower end of which is fixed a horizontal water-wheel placed under the building, and to the upper end of the mill-stone; and as there is no intermediate machinery to increase the velocity, it is evident that the mill-stone can make only the same number of revolutions as the water-wheel. This makes it necessary that the wheel should be of very small diameter, otherwise no power of water thrown upon it could make it go at a rate sufficient to give the mill-stone the requisite velocity. It is therefore made of very small dimensions, and is constructed in the following manner: A set of what is called cucharas (spoons) is stuck in the periphery of the wheel which serve in place of float-hoards; they are made of pieces of timber iu something of the shape of spoons, the handles heing inserted in mortises on the edge of the wheel, and the bowls of the spoons made to receive the water, which spouts on them laterally and forces the small wheel around with nearly the whole velocity of the water which impinges upon it. Of this style of mill even there were not more than three in all Califor- nia as late as 1835.
Russian Settlements in Sonoma.
1811 .- In January, 1811, Alexander Koskoff, took possession of the country ahout Bodega, Sonoma County, on the fragile pleas that he had heen refused a supply of water at Yerba Buena, and that he had obtained, hy right of purchase from the Indians, all the land lying hetween Point Reyes and Point Arena, and for a distance of three leagues inland. Here he remained for a while, and to Bodega gave the name of Roman- zoff, calling the stream now known as Russian River, Slavianka.
Although repeatedly ordered to depart by the King of Spain, who claimed all the territory north of Fuca Straits, they con- tinued to remain for a lengthened period, possessors of the land.
FIRST PIONEER SQUATTERS.
And as General Vallejo remarks: "As the new-comers came without permission from the Spanish Government, they may be termed the pioneer 'squatters' of California." So far indeed was it from the intention of the unwelcome Muscovite to move, that we find them extending their trapping expeditions along the coast, to the north and south, and for a considerable dis- tance inland.
At Fort Ross, in Sonoma County, they constructed a quadri- lateral stockade, which was deemed strong enough to resist the possible attacks of Spaniards or Indians. It had within its walls quarters for the commandant, officers, and men, an arsenal, store-houses, a Greek church, surmounted with a cross and provided with a chime of bells.
ONE OF THE FIRST ORCHARDS.
Ahout a mile distant from the fort there was an inclosure containing about five acres, which was inclosed by a fence about eight feet high, made of redwood slabs about two inches in thickness, these being driven into the ground, while the tops were nailed firmly to girders extending from post to post, set about ten feet apart. Within the inclosure there was an orchard, consisting of apple, prune, aud cherry trees. Of these, fifty of the first and nine of the last-named, moss-growu and gray with age, still remain, while it is said that all the old stock of Germau prunes in California came from seed produced there.
FIRST INDUSTRY NORTH OF SAN FRANCISCO.
We may safely assert, that to these Russiaus belongs the honor of erecting the first church in California, north of the Bay of San Francisco; but this is not all; to them belongs the credit of first planting fruit, raising graiu, and working in leather, wood and iron, within the limits of the same territory. With these industries in hand, there is not the remotest doubt that the Russians looked to a future permanent possession of northern California. At this time, too, they made consider- able annual shipments of grain to Sitka from Fort Ross aud Bodega.
35
INDUSTRY AND THRIFT OF THE RUSSIANS,
RUSSIANS LOCATE AND FORTIFY.
The location once chosen they set to work to prepare their new homes. A site was chosen for the stockade near the shore of the ocean, and in such a position as to protect all their ships lying in the little cove, and prevent any vessel inimical to them from landing. The plat of ground inclosed in this stock- adle was a parallelogram, 280 feet wide and 312 feet long, and containing about two acres. Its angles were placed very nearly upon the cardinal poiuts of the compass. At the north and south angle there was constructed an octagonal bastion, two stories high, and furnished with six pieces of artillery. These bastions were built exactly alike, and were about twenty-four feet in diameter.
The walls were forined of hewed logs, mortised together at the corners, and were about eight inches in thickness. The roof was conical shaped, having a small flag-staff at the apex. The stockade approached these towers in such a way that one- half of them was within the inclosure and the other half on the outside, the entrance to them being through small doors on the inside, while there were embrasures both on the inside and outside. They were thus arranged so as to protect those within from an outside enemy. All around the stockade there were embrasures suitable for the use of muskets or carronades, of which latter it is said, several were in the fortress.
RUSSIAN CHAPEL AT FORT ROSS.
On the northern side of the castern angle there was erected a chapel which it is said was used by the officers of the garri- son alone. It was 25x31 fect in dimensions, and strongly built, the outer wall forming part of the stockade, and the round port-holes for the use of carrouades, are peculiar looking open- ings in a house of worship. The entrance was on the inside of the fort, and consisted of a rude, heavy wooden door, held upon wooden hinges. There was a vestibule about 10x25 feet in size, thus leaving the auditorium 21x25 fect. From the ves- tibule a uarrow stair-way led to a low loft, while the building was surmounted with two domes, one of which was round and the other pentagonal in shape, in which it is said the Musco- vites had huug a chime of bells. The roof was made of long planks, either sawed or rove from redwood, likewise the side of the chapel in tbe fort.
The frame-work of all the buildings was made of very large, heavy timbers, many of them being twelve inches square. The rafters were all great, ponderous, round pine logs, a con- siderahle number of them being six inches in diameter.
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