History of Kern 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 9

Author: Morgan, Wallace Melvin, 1868- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company
Number of Pages: 1682

USA > California > Kern County > History of Kern 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 9

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).

HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

provided in an agreement between the supervisors, acting in the capacity of swamp land commissioners, and Thomas Baker, his associates and assigns.

According to this agreement, Baker and his associates were to construct a good and permanent improvement to turn from Kern river into the south fork water sufficient to irrigate district No. 1, to remove all timber and driftwood from the slough so that it would carry water, to build a guard gate to afford passage for water across the levee already constructed across said slough for reclamation purposes and to keep said gateway and levee in good repair so as to allow enough water to pass for irrigation but at the same time to prevent a flood. Baker was to begin the work within two years after Jan- mary 1, 1867, and was to be paid $6000 for the job, half of the amount as the work was finished, and the other half as afterward provided in the agreement.

Also, Baker was to build irrigating ditches and improve existing sloughs so that they would serve as channels to carry irrigation water, being paid therefor at the rate of 50 cents per yard for all dirt moved up to a total of $8000, half of the amount to be paid as the work was completed, which must be within four years from January 1, 1867. The payments were to be made in land scrip to be issued to Baker at the rate of $1 per acre in such denominations as Baker should elect. The agreement provided that Baker was not to be held liable for damage caused by any exceptional floods.

For the reclamation of district No. 2 Baker was to build a levee across Buena Vista slough in township 30-24 (a little north of Cole's levee of the present day) to improve the natural channels and build canals at the rate of 50 cents per cubic yard for the earth moved, up to a total of $26,000, payment to be made as in the case of district No. 1, in land scrip at the rate of $1 per acre, subject to location on even sections or fractions thereof, within the districts described. In the two districts the compensation would amount to $40,000 or 40,000 acres of land. The control of the water and distribution of the same for irrigation purposes was to remain in the hands of the super- visors.

The reader will recall that heretofore Baker and his associates had, under the Montgomery franchise, just completed the reclamation of all the swamp and overflowed lands in the two districts mentioned in the agreement and had put in their application for a patent for all the odd sections as com- pensation for their labors. At this time and a few years later there was no little protest against this action of the supervisors by people who pointed out that the state had given half the land for taking the water off, and now the county was giving the other half for putting the water back on the land. Against this contention, however, was presented the argument that while the swamps had been drained and now were as dry as tinder, they were no more suited to cultivation without water for irrigation than they had been when they were submerged. The argument was good, and prevailed.

Changes in Swamp Land Laws

Before Baker could complete his portion of the contract with the super- visors, the state legislature, which was having a large amount of trouble about that time in settling in its own mind what was the best policy to follow respecting the swamp lands, made another change in the law, in 1868, plac- ing the swamp lands back in the trust of the state, instead of the coun- ties, and removing all restrictions formerly in effect as to the amount of swamp land which any one person or corporation could acquire. The new law provided that purchasers of swamp land must deposit $1 per acre in the

HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

county treasury as a guarantee that the land would be reclaimed, or twenty per cent of the amount could be paid outright and the balance made up later. Each district was to make its own by-laws and regulations, but in the end, if the land was not reclaimed, the title remained in the state.

The change in the law made a change in the plans for reclamation, and under the new act, on December 24, 1870, Livermore & Chester, Thomas Baker, Julius Chester and Andrew R. Jackson filed with the supervisors a petition for the formation of a reclamation district including all the swamp and overflowed lands in townships 27-22, 28-22, 28-23, 29-22, 29-23, 29-24, 30-24, 31-25, 31-26, 32-26 and 32-27.

The story of the acquisition of the swamp lands forms a long and rather complicated chapter which would be of only casual interest to the average reader. What has been related so far gives a very good illustration of the manner in which all the swamp land in the county finally was acquired. The odd sections for the most part went to parties who had bought them from Baker or his assigns subsequent to the Montgomery patent, the purchasers being protected by a new act of the legislature when the Montgomery patent was annulled by the court in 1878. The even sections were purchased from the state for about the cost of completing their reclamation.

A Sheep Was Worth More Than an Acre of Land

Probably it will strike the present day reader that the moving of two cubic yards of earth from the center of a ditch to a ditch bank was a small amount of labor to give in exchange for an acre of the rich, Kern delta land, but the records of the supervisors, sitting as a board of equalization in the early days of the county throw an explanatory light on the subject of relative values. Nowadays nobody pays any attention to his assessments, whether they are high or low, but in the '60s and '70s the meetings of the equalizers were enlivened by a steady procession of taxpayers who wanted their assess- ments lowered or those of their neighbors raised. For example: In 1870 sheep were assessed at $2 per head, and the San Emidio grant was assessed at $1.25 per acre. The supervisors reduced sheep to $1.50 and the land in the grant to $1. In the same year the Western Union Telegraph Company's assessment was cut from $170.64 to $85.32. In 1868 three American horses belonging to Dave Lavers were raised from the assessor's figures to $300, and the next year the Joe Walker mine was chopped from $5000 to $500.

The First Mountain Roads

Nearly all the early roads through the mountains were built by private enterprise as toll roads. In the valley any traveller could lay out a new road for himself if he chose, and others who came after him soon wore it into a trail. But when he came to a stream he could not ford he had to pay tribute to the ferryman. J. M. Griffith, in 1868, built a toll road from Moore's station at the foot of Tehachapi mountain to Agua Caliente creek and was permitted to charge for its use, $2.50 for a wagon and twelve horses, $2.25 for a wagon and ten horses, $2 for a wagon and eight horses and down to seventy-five cents for a wagon and two horses, twenty-five cents for a horse and rider, five cents per head for loose cattle, two cents per head for sheep, and twenty-five cents for a pack animal.

Charges were fixed by the supervisors for the ferry operated in the same year by J. E. Stine at Telegraph crossing over Kern river near Bakers- field as follows: For a wagon and two horses, $2; for each extra span of 4

HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

horses, fifty cents ; for a horse and rider, fifty cents; for loose animals of all kinds, twenty-five cents each; for footman, twenty-five cents.

Rates for other toll roads and ferrie's were not far from these figures.

In 1868 James Cross built a ferry below the junction of South Fork (in the mountains). Cross, Morton & Company were given a permit to maintain a toll road from Havilah via Walker's basin to their mill. J. W. Sumner was given a permit to build a toll bridge across Kern river near Hot Springs valley. Thomas Baker a little later built the famous Baker toll road up the mountains between Bakersfield and Havilah. Eight or ten years later the county began buying in these toll roads, and there were numerous and spicy charges of graft and extravagance in connection with the different purchases.

(Throughout this history it is necessary to distinguish between the South Fork of Kern river, which is one of the two chief branches of the stream to- ward its source in the mountains, and the south fork channel which ran through the eastern part of Bakersfield in the early days. For the purpose of lessening the confusion of the dual use of the name I have arbitrarily chosen to give the mountain stream and the valley that bears its name the dignity of capital initials.)

CHAPTER VII Coming of the Capitalist

Dividing the history of Kern county into epochs from an industrial point of view, the years around 1870 mark the beginning of the influence of large capital in the county's development. Prior to 1860 the settlers in the valley were mainly small farmers or small stockmen, intent on getting what they could from the land and concerned but little or not at all in the permanent improvement or development of the country. In the mountains the placer miners and the first quartz miners were doing the same-getting money out of the ground, and putting little in. Following these came men like Colonel Baker, fully gifted with the ability and inclination to plan large developments and improvements for the future, but handicapped everywhere for want of money to carry out their plans. Nevertheless, Baker and others in the Kern delta began the construction of reclamation levees and irrigation ditches ; in the mountain valleys the sturdy pioneers, full of energy if short of cash, were improving their farms and beginning to accumulate their flocks and herds, and in the mineral sections the quartz miners were delving deeper in the ledges and developing shafts and tunnels that properly were entitled to the name of mines as distinguished from placers and prospect holes.

All these enterprises were carried on by men of modest means and modest ambitions. But before 1868 General Beale had acquired the Tejon ranch, and Beale & Baker were building up flocks of sheep aggregating as high as 100,000 to 125,000 head. In 1868 J. C. Crocker established head- quarters at the Temblor ranch and began buying the land and accumulating the herds that formed the nucleus of the immense Miller & Lux holdings. About the same time the Chesters were in Bakersfield, planning big enter- prises with the money of H. P. Livermore, a wealthy druggist of San Francisco, to back them. In 1875 Senator Jones bought the Big Blue mine and gave a new character to the search for Kern county gold. In 1872 Walter

HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

James came to make a report on the Gates tract, a big body of land lying south and west of Bakersfield which Isaac E. Gates of New York had acquired from the railroad and which was later purchased by J. B. Haggin and became the nucleus of the Kern County Land Company holdings. In 1873 came the Southern Pacific railroad. It is pertinent, therefore, to take account, roughly, of the county's stock about the year 1870.

Havilah was the most important town in the county, although there were not lacking men who could foresee that Bakersfield was soon to outstrip it in the race for supremacy. A. D. Jones, editor of the Havilah Courier, was one of these, and on December 22, 1869, he had moved to Bakersfield, changed the name of his paper to the Kern County Courier, and had gotten out the first issue. In the issue of January 18, 1870, the Courier describes the town :

Bakersfield as It Was in 1870

Bakersfield, laid out about four months previous to that date, contained the stores of Livermore & Chester and Caswell & Ellis, one telegraph office, a printing office (the Courier) the blacksmith and carriage shop of Fred Macking, a harness shop belonging to Philip Reinstein, Littlefield & Phelan's livery stable, John B. Tungate's saloon, a carpenter shop, a school house with fifty pupils, and two boarding houses. The professions were represented by Dr. L. S. Rogers and Attorney C. H. Veeder. A hotel and grist mill were in contemplation. The Baker toll road was in operation between Bakersfield and the county-seat; there were good wagon roads to Visalia and Los Angeles, and a grade up the mountains to Tehachapi was in progress of building.

The town was protected from flood by a levee built by Colonel Baker, and the whole country was supplied with fuel for a long time to come by the logs washed down by the flood of 1867-8. The editor cheerfully assures the world that the action of the elements is such as to warrant that other floods would wash down more driftwood before the then present supply ran out.

Of the lands on lower Kern river 129,625.34 acres had been entered under the state laws, and 40,000 had been patented for reclamation purposed by individuals. No reclamation districts had been formed under the new law, which provided for the appropriation of $1 per acre for the reclamation of swamp lands. This would make a fund of $129,625.34 available for the reclamation of lands in Kern county, an amount believed to be sufficient to accomplish the task and make nearly 200,000 acres of fine land available for cultivation. There were still some 275,000 acres of government land open to homestead and pre-emption, beside some 50,000 acres of railroad land in the Kern delta which was offered to settlers at government prices.

All this land was considered among the potential assets of Bakersfield. The town was just recovering from an epidemic of fever during the summer previous, and the cause of the fever having been ascribed to drinking water from shallow wells and irrigating ditches, an agitation for deeper wells was under way. Residents of the new town were looking forward to the building of the projected railroad up the valley and were worrying about how they were going to feed the great number of people who would come with the laying of the tracks. They even went to the length of organizing the Kern County Agricultural Society for the promotion of agriculture, so that a plenty of food would be assured the newcomers.

In March of 1870 the town was re-surveyed, and it was announced

HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

that shade trees were to be planted at each lot corner. Colonel Baker was building his saw mill, a saw mill at San Emidio had just put in new planing machinery, and Livermore & Chester's saw mill in the Tecuya valley was about to resume work. In 1870 a bill passed the legislature to change the county seat from Havilah to Bakersfield, but Governor Haight did not sign it, and it failed to become a law.

In the county there were five postoffices, the following being the post- masters: At Bakersfield, George B. Chester; at Havilah, H. H. Denker; at Kernville, G. Martel; at Linn's valley, John C. Reid; at Tehachapi, P. D. Green.

The surveyor general's report for 1867, published in 1870 showed that Kern county on the former date had 5,000 acres of land fenced, 2,398 acres under cultivation, 550 acres in wheat which produced 16,500 bushels, 906 acres in barley, which produced 27,180 bushels, 4,000 grape vines. The value of the real estate was placed at $+40,000; improvements, $40,000; per- sonal property, $866,500; total, $1,346,500. The estimated population was 1,400, and the number of registered voters was 766.

The Buena Vista Petroleum Company was working hopefully but not profitably at McKittrick, known in early days as Asphalto, almost due west of Bakersfield at the end of the Santa Maria valley.

Sources of Ready Cash

The Courier summed up five sources from which money flowed in greater or less streams, into the channels of Bakersfield's trade. Travellers brought some ; a few horses and mules were sold ; lumber, posts, etc., from Greenhorn mountain brought in a little ; the Jewett Brothers, the Troys, Gustav Sanger, Beale & Baker and others sent away sheep and wool and brought back large sums of gold. George Young, Launder, Tracy & Canfield and others sold beef cattle. Finally the mines, although not so profitable as formerly, were still worked with profit.

The whole population on the "Island" was estimated in 1870 at 600. Out- side the town of Bakersfield and scattered ranches there was only the Barnes settlement and the Mexican settlement at what is now Panama. The remainder of the people were in the mountains. Old Tehachapi was a thriving little village. gaining its support from the stock men who were getting well established in the fertile valleys round about, and from the early placer miners, who were working over the gravels of China hill. About forty men were working about the Kernville mines, for the most part on shares; they were just putting in new pumping machinery in the Joe Walker mine; Burdette & Tucker had opened a new lead in Long Tom; Sageland, Clara- ville and other mining camps through the mountains were enjoying fair to medium prosperity ; Havilah was passing its best days and looking forward to the time when it must fight for the retention of the county seat, which was coming to be almost as important to its existence as its mines.

The South Fork valley, Walker's basin, Linn's valley, Poso flat and less important valleys in the mountains were becoming centers of development and industry under the hands of the farmers and stockmen.

Early Captains of Industry

The new factors in the county's development took up the task with energy and enthusiasm. It is to be noted that in each instance the men who were supplying the capital for the carrying out of the resident managers'

HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

plans lived elsewhere, and except in the case of Henry Miller they appear to have given little personal attention to the details of their Kern county investments. In each case, however, the resident managers were capable of laying their own plans and of carrying them out, also, provided the money kept coming. Julius Chester was the active partner of the firm of Livermore & Chester. Livermore furnished the money, but he seldom came to Bakers- field. George Chester was less aggressive than his brother, and although he figured prominently in the early annals of the city, it was Julius that generally directed affairs in which the company was interested. Under his guidance Livermore & Chester branched out in all directions. They estab- lished the leading mercantile house in the county; as noted, they were active, in partnership with Colonel Baker and others, in the formation of reclamation districts and they began to acquire land in all available ways. They bought large tracts from Baker under the Montgomery patent, paying ridiculously small prices therefor. In June, 1870, Livermore & Chester were advertising 20,000 acres of farming land for sale at $2 to $10 per acre. In July, 1870, the Chesters, Livermore & Chester, Thomas Baker, A. R. Jack- son, B. Brundage, C. G. Jackson, John Howlett, H. A. Cross, Solomon Jewett and L. G. Barnes filed a petition for the formation of a reclamation district comprising 28,000 acres in townships 29-27, 29-28, 30-28, 31-28 and 32-28, which include the townsite of Bakersfield and the country south to beyond Kern lake. The district previously described lay mostly to the north of Buena Vista lake. On March 11, 1871, the first Bakersfield Club was organ- ized, with George Chester as president, John Howlett as vice president, J. Leopold as secretary and Julius Chester as treasurer. In July, 1871, the new livery stable of Livermore & Chester is described as one of the most imposing structures in the city. It was of adobe, 275 feet long, and 35 feet wide, and was used in connection with the long-distance teaming of those days, in which Livermore & Chester were largely interested directly.

Cotton Growers' Association Formed

In August, 1871, the California Cotton Growers' Association was organ- ized with Julius Chester as president and James Dale as secretary. Dale wrote that "Our vast plantation will be divided into cotton parks of 50 to 100 acres each, surrounded by hedges of mulberry which will be clipped regularly. At intervals in the hedge rows different varieties of fruit trees will be planted to furnish fruit and shade."

A later and fuller prospectus states that the California Cotton Growers and Manufacturers' Association was composed of Californians and English- men ; that after examining all the San Joaquin valley the association had se- lected the Kern River valley as the scene of its operations. It had purchased of Livermore & Chester 10,000 acres at $5 per acre and planned to plant 1000 acres of cotton the following spring. The sale from Livermore & Chester to the association also included, according to the statement, the townsite of Bakersfield, sixteen houses, a large brick store and warehouse, the motive power and privileges of the Kern Island Irrigation Company's canal. the new flour mill, the merchandising and transportation business of Livermore & Chester and an improved farm of 1000 acres with tools, teams, etc. The men composing the association were J. H. Redington, A. P. Brayton, C. J. Pillsbury, L. A. Bonestell, Horatio Stebbins, J. D. Johnson, H. C. Liver- more and C. Maddux.

In May of 1872, the Livermore saw mill twenty-five miles east of

HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

Bakersfield began operations. A little later Julius Chester was on a trip over the mountains to promote a road to the Owens river. All this will indicate briefly, the extent, variety and general character of the activities which Julius Chester directed, and the place which Livermore & Chester and their associates occupied in the enterprise and development of Kern county during this period. During this time the association was spending money freely in the advertising of the county's attractions, and conducting a campaign of general promotion that would have been a credit and advantage to a much older community. It is painful to record that Julius Chester's plans did not materialize financially. It cost more to run the business than the business brought in, and eventually Celsus Brower and S. J. Lansing, who had come to Bakersfield to look after the affairs of Livermore & Chester and the Cotton Growers' Association, found the business in such a badly muddled and unpromising condition that they sent for Livermore and the result was a change of management and a transfer of the property involved to J. H. Redington, a partner of Livermore, in the drug business, as trustee, for adjustment. Celsus Brower remained in charge for some years, un- tangling the accounts, selling land and town lots, leasing some of the ranches and generally getting what returns he could from the large investments of Livermore's money. Finally the Livermore and Redington interests were sold to Haggin and Carr, and became a part of the principality of which the latter dreamed and for which the former paid.

Kern County News of 1871-3

Detached items of news from the papers printed in 1871-3 will serve as well as a more extended description to give the reader an idea of the plans and ambitions, sorrows and entertainments, dreams and accomplishments of the people of the Kern delta during this interesting period.

February 25, 1871-R. Van Orman's horse lost in a 440-yard race to a nag belonging to Antonio Barreras, and $1000 changed hands on the result. On the same day the Bakersfield sports paid over $500 that they had wagered on Bob Withington's sorrel against Arujo's bay.

May 13, 1871-Public spirited citizens here subscribed $3200 to build a town hall with a lodge room upstairs for the Masons and Odd Fellows.

June 3d-Mr. Lucas is getting ready to again supply Bakersfield with ice from Cross' mountain.

May 27th-The first section of the Kern Island ditch is finished and ready to irrigate (so the paper says) 75,000 acres of land.

An effort is being made to raise money for a church building, and an express office is soon to be opened.

Tiburcio Vasquez, Bartola Sepulveda, Procopio Murietta, Pancho Go- linda and Juan Doe Bacinos have held up the stage near San Jose again.

September 9, 1871-The surveyors for the Southern Pacific railroad are in Bakersfield and the citizens are awakening to the fact that the road is going to miss the main portion of the town.

The third Sunday in October there was a camp meeting on Kern Island. Stage fare from San Francisco to Bakersfield is $30, and from Los Angeles to Bakersfield, $15. The latter stage is weekly and irregular.

Laborers get $40 to $60 per month, but save no money.

October, 1871-Bishop Amat and Father Dade call the Catholics to- gether to discuss the subject of building a church and school. Julius Chester, Pablo Galtes and Alexis Godey are appointed a committee to raise the funds.

HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

Alfalfa is proving a great success on the island.

Solomon Jewett is awarded a prize of $100 by the state agricultural society for the best paper on cotton growing based on actual experiment.

October, 1871-Havilah residents are beginning to come to Bakersfield, bringing their houses with them.

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 Kern 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 9

Author: Morgan, Wallace Melvin, 1868- [from old catalog] Publication date: 1914 Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company Number of Pages: 1682

Author: Morgan, Wallace Melvin, 1868- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company
Number of Pages: 1682