USA > California > Los Angeles County > History of Los Angeles county, Volume I > Part 6
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57
"At one period of its history," says a former account of this mission, "there were nearly one and a half miles of buildings connected with this single mission, these including residences, work-shops, schools and store- houses all of which have long since been in ruins. The edifice erected espe- cially as an abode of the padres and reputed to be the finest of its kind in Alta California is (or was in 1889) still standing in a fair state of pres- ervation. It is principally interesting for having been the abode of the Mexican General, Andres Pico, and was his headquarters during the war of occupation. It is two story, nearly three hundred feet in length by eighty feet in width, inside measurements ; and the walls-of brick and adobe- are four feet thick. The rafters, after being cut in the mountain forests many miles away, were dragged here by Indians and oxen, each log being occasionally turned on the way, 'that all sides might be planed alike.' They were as smooth as though really planed. The long corridor of this building is paved with brick, and a heavy tile roof is supported by arches and columns of masonry. Many of the windows are protected by iron bars, giving it a somewhat prisonlike appearance.
"The church building-in all the tottering decrepitude of venerable decay-measures forty-five by one hundred and fifty feet within walls. It is entirely dismantled, and no service has been held therein for years.
"The general statistics of the San Fernando Mission from the date of its foundation in the year 1797 till its secularization in 1834, are as follows : Total number of baptisms, 2,839, of which 1,415 were Indian adults, 1,367 Indian children, 57 children derazon. Marriages 849, of which fifteen were gente derason. Deaths amounted to 2,028; 1,036 were Indian adults, 965 Indian children, twelve white adults and fifteen white children. The largest population was 1,080 in 1819. The sexes were nearly equal ; chil- dren from one-fourth to one-third. Largest number of cattle, 12,800 in 1819; horses, 1,320 in 1820; mules, 340 in 1812; sheep, 7,800 in 1819; goats, 600 in 1816; swine, 250 in 1814 ; all kinds, 21,745 animals in 1819. Total product of wheat, 119,000 bushels ; yield nineteen-fold; barley only raised six years, 3,070 bushels, fourteen-fold ; maize 27,750 bushels, eighty- three-fold; beans 3,624 bushels, fourteen-fold." It should be added that in 1835 this mission had 32,000 grape vines and 1,600 fruit trees.
FIRST AMERICAN SETTLEMENT
To one Captain Jedediah S. Smith must be credited the distinction of being the first white man other than those of Spanish blood to
HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
reach Los Angeles by the old Santa Fe trail, the date being recorded as 1826. There was much trade and travel between Santa Fe and Los Angeles over the old Spanish trail before the conquest of Cali- fornia. New Mexico sent forth many emigrants over this route. Among those who entered this county by this trail may be mentioned J J. Warner, William Wolfskill, the Rowland-Workman party, of forty-four persons in all; B. D. Wilson, D. W. Alexander, John Reed and Dr. John Marsh. Many immigrants reached Southern California by way of the Santa Fe trail to New Mexico, then across Arizona, following the Colorado River. In 1854 one historian claimed by actual count, there were 9,075 persons came by that route. In the winter of 1849-50 there was an emigrant train of five hundred wagons started from Salt Lake by an unexplored southern route for Southern Cali-
MOUNT BALDY
fornia and many were lost in Death Valley, but the greater part arrived in this county in the' month of January, 1850, making a trip they never wished to repeat.
The Mormon colony in San Bernardino County was organized in June, 1851 and then the Salt Lake route became a well-traveled road, which was used until the completion of the Union Pacific Railway in 1869. Many of the prominent families who settled in this county came in over that route. The Macys, Workmans, Hazards, Ander- sons, Ulyards and Montagues, each heads of families, were among the number who came that way and became well-known Los Angeles County citizens.
Another trail into this county was from Texas and other Southern States, laid out in 1849 and wended its way until it intercepted the old Sonora trail and then went through several of the Mexican states, finally winding up in Los Angeles County.
From 1800 on, San Pedro was the next entry-port in importance on this coast to that of San Francisco. Early in the '50s travel and trade up and down the coast came and went by sea only. There were
1
8
HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
no stage lines until after 1850 to speak of. From 1848 and on several years the only means of getting to Los Angeles was on horseback. A large number of horses were kept constantly on hand at Palos Verdes for this purpose. Early in the '50s, Temple and Alexander general dealers in merchandise at San Pedro, did a large forwarding business to Los Angeles by freight carts drawn by two or more yoke of oxen, yoked by their horns. A common freight train was composed of ten carts and forty yoke of oxen. The freight rates were twenty dollars a ton. In 1852 Banning and Alexander instituted a line of stages. Soon others started in the same line and competition grew very strong and rates dropped for transporting passengers, from ten dollars to one dollar and finally one firm agreed to carry passengers free of any charges whatever and for a time did so.
The first steamer entering the port at San Pedro was named the Gold Hunter and its time of entry was in 1849. The next boats were inclusive of the Sea Bird, Ohio, Southerner and Goliah in 1850-51. The rate between San Francisco and San Pedro was at that time $55. Hard bread, salt pork or beef, potatoes and coffee made up the menu on board. The freight charges were then $25 per ton. It cost ten dollars a barrel to send a barrel of flour from San Francisco to Los Angeles. There was but a small amount of fruit in the country at that early day and grapes sold usually at from twenty-five to fifty cents per pound. The few vineyards along the river were profitable to their owners.
Not until after the Civil war did this county advance in its settle- ment. Land was held in large tracts and cattle growing was the chief business. The Mormon colony at San Bernardino, raised corn in the '50s, also wheat and vegetables. One year in the late '50s they sold wheat at five dollars a bushel.
The real pioneers should never be underestimated-they builded better than they knew-but as a matter of fact the great strides in developing this county have been brought about by men and women who left their comfortable homes in some one of the Eastern and Central-west States, in the '80s and '90s, and came here to become true builders of what has come to be within two score years, almost an empire of itself. Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, Indiana and states farther toward the eastern seaboard, each and all furnished their share of the stalwart, progressive, thinking, acting men, ususally possessed of considerable means with which to carry out their plans. To such citizens this county is mostly indebted for its vast irrigation systems, its productive orchards of oranges, lemons, walnuts, prunes and grape vineyards. It is thought that no county in America has a better strain of blood in the veins of its people than Los Angeles County, California. The sons and daughters of those who have made this county what it is today, are the offspring of parents born and educated, largely according to true American principles, and dwell together as one happy, prosperous family, while the foreign born are welcome and honored when they become adopted citizens who love and defend Old Glory even as the native-born do.
CHAPTER II
COUNTY GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
Having treated, briefly, the discovery, settlement and organization of the county, it next comes in order to give an account of the more important acts in the government of the county from its organization to the present date. Los Angeles was one of the original twenty- seven counties comprising the state of California at the date of its formation as a commonwealth. Its literal meaning in English is "the angels." The original name, however being "Pueblo del Rio de Nuestra Senora La Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula" (the town of the river of Our Lady, Queen of the Angels). Hence it appears the county was really named for the Virgin Mary, commonly called "Our Lady of the Angels." This is the Spanish dialect.
The change from the Mexican government in California to that of the United States form of government was worked out gradually. Los Angeles was the last of Mexican strongholds to surrender, the date being January 10, 1847. It was not until June 24, 1850 that the true American municipal form of government by county officers superseded the Spanish and Mexican prefects and sindicos. The Cali- fornia Legislature had provided for the change by an act, February 18, 1850, calling for an election of county officers to be held the first Monday in April. It really occurred April 1st, when 377 votes were cast in the county and officers as follows were thereby elected : County judge, Augustin Olvera; county attorney, Benjamin Hays; clerk, B. D. Wilson; sheriff, G. Thompson Burrill; treasurer, Manuel Garfias; assessor, Antonio F. Coronel; recorder, Ignacio del Valle ; surveyor, J. R. Conway ; coroner, Charles B. Cullen.
How Los ANGELES COUNTY WAS NAMED
Only recently there was discovered in the papers of the Secretary of State, at Sacramento the origin of this county's name. In an almost priceless little volume the intimate details of the county's first his- tory and its naming, is found. It contains a report of a committee headed by General M. G. Vallejo, filed with the State Senate on April 15, 1850, in which is related just how the twenty-seven original counties of this state were named. Originally it was written in Spanish, but it was later translated into English. That part relating to Los Angeles County follows: "This county derives its name from the city of Los Angeles, which was founded in the latter part of the year 1781 by order of the viceroy of New Spain, Bailio Frey Antonio Bucareliy Ursua, and is situated on the right bank of the Porchinuncula River, which copiously waters the highly fertile plain wherein the city stands.
9
10
HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
"Invited by the general climate, the inhabitants have converted a large portion of this plain into a delightful garden, which is covered with all sorts of native fruit trees, but especially the vine, which is cultivated with care and extraordinary success.
"This beautiful and extensive valley, famous for its excellent wines and liquors, contains within its limits the Missions of Juan Capistrano, San Gabriel and San Fernando, which to within the last years consti- tuted the best and richest establishments of the kind. In 1832, includ- ing the environs, they numbered very nearly half a million head of cattle.
"From the reasons above mentioned, as well as from its extent and natural advantages, the County of Los Angeles is destined to become the most populous of any in the South, and doubtless many men of business, both public and mercantile, will retire there to enjoy a life of Angels."
It should be remembered, in order to appreciate the above, that it was written in 1850-seventy-two years ago, but how true even to the details, as is proven by modern Los Angeles County.
ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY
The original boundaries of Los Angeles County, as created by an act of the California Legislature February 18, 1850, did not contain by any means the same scope of territory that it does today. As first constituted, the boundaries were as follows: "Los Angeles county-beginning on the Pacific coast at the southern boundary of the farm called Trumfo, and run- ning thence along the summit of the ridge of hills called Santa Susana to the northwestern boundary of the farm called San Francisco; thence along the northern and northeastern boundary of said farm of San Fran- cisco to the farm called Piro; thence to a line running due northeast to the summit of the Coast Range; thence along the summit of said range to the western boundary of San Diego County ; thence in a due southerly direction along said boundary to the source of the creek San Mateo ; thence down said creek San Mateo to the coast and three English miles into the sea ; thence in a northwesterly direction parallel with the coast to a point three miles from land and opposite to the southern boundary of the farm called Trumfo ; and thence to the shore of said boundary which was the point of beginning, including the islands of Santa Catalina and San Clemente. The seat of justice shall be Los Angeles."
These original boundaries were very indefinite, but no conflict arose over these lines, for the whites settled the most of the disputes with the Indians by lead and powder rather than by any laws or public records. However, the second California legislature repealed the act by which these boundary lines had been fixed for the newly organized county. On April 25, 1851, the county was defined as conforming to the following lines: "Sec- tion 3, County of Los Angeles-Beginning on the coast of the Pacific, at a point parallel with the northern boundary of the rancho called Malaga; thence in a direction so as to include said rancho, to the northwest corner of the rancho known as Trumfo, running on the northerly line of the same to the northeast corner of the rancho; thence to the summit of the ridge of hills called Santa Susana; thence in a direct line to the rancho Casteyne
11
HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
(Castaic) and Jejon (El Tejon), and along the northern line to the north- eastern corners ; and thence in a northeast line to the eastern boundary of the state, and along said boundary line to the junction of the northern boundary of San Diego County with the Colorado; thence following said line to the Pacific Ocean and three miles therein; thence in a northwesterly direction parallel with the coast to a point three miles from land, and oppo- site to the southern boundary of the rancho called Malaga, and thence east to the place of beginning; including the islands of Catalina and San Clemente. The seat of justice shall be at Los Angeles."
The last named boundaries included what was subsequently known as San Bernardino County. This territory, taken from Los Angeles County, was the result of a settlement of Mormons and others from Salt Lake City,
CENTRAL PARK, LOS ANGELES
who in 1853 was instrumental in getting the legislature to create for their colony a new county to be styled San Bernardino. This act was approved April 26, 1853, and read as follows :
"The County of Los Angeles is hereby divided as follows: Beginning at a point where a due line south drawn from the highest peak of the Sierra de Santiago intercepts the northern boundary of San Diego County ; thence running along the summit of said Sierra to the Santa Ana river, between the rancho of Sierra to the residence of Bernardino Yorba, thence across the Santa Ana River along the summit of the range of hills that lie between the Coyotes and Chino (leaving the ranchos of Ontiveras and Ybarra to the west of this line), to the southeast corner of the rancho of San Jose; thence along the eastern boundaries of said rancho and of San Antonio, and the western and northern boundaries of Cucamonga ranch to the ravine of Cucamonga; thence up said ravine to its source in the coast
12
HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
range; thence due north to the northern boundary of Los Angeles county. "Section 4. The eastern portion of Los Angeles county, so cut off, shall be called San Bernardino County and the seat of justice thereof shall be at such a place as a majority of the voters shall determine at the first election, hereinafter provided to be held in said county and shall remain at the place designated until changed by the people, as provided by law."
By the creation of San Bernardino County, Los Angeles county lost from its original territory of 34,000 square miles, all but about 10,000 square miles, which still left a vast country, however, for one sub-division of a commonwealth. At first this county was a great empire, so to speak, extending from the wave-washed Pacific coast to the swift-flowing Colorado River on the east, a distance of two hundred and seventy miles, and one hundred and fifty miles in width from San Diego at the south to Santa Bar- bara and Mariposa counties on the north. Again, as originally constituted, Los Angeles County covered one-fifth of the domain of great California, a territory equal to all of the New England states except Maine.
The county of Kern was formed in 1866 from portions of Tulare and Los Angeles counties, which took from Los Angeles County about five thousand square miles, but it was largely desert-mountain lands, so the change met with but little opposition by the people of Los Angeles County.
After a heated contest lasting a score of years, from 1869 to 1889, the territory now embraced in Orange County was cut off and made a separate county, leaving Los Angeles a territory of 3,980 square miles.
Other attempts at creating counties from out the lands embraced in Los Angeles County, are recalled-what was to be styled Buena Vista County, between 1855 and 1860, which caused much excitement; it was also proposed to make it a part of a new state to be named Colorado; this was during the years 1855-59, but none of these attempts proved success- ful. Neither did the one in 1891 by which a county to be called Pomona was to be formed from portions of this county and San Bernardino.
Having thus outlined the various dates and changes made in the scope of territory in this county down to the present date, it will be the province of the historian to form a new chapter of this work in which will be treated the topic of "County Government."
COURT OF SESSIONS
Prior to 1853, when by an act of the California Legislature the system of county supervisors was created, a "court of sessions" had jurisdiction over the affairs of the county. The court consisted of a county judge and two justices of the peace. This court had jurisdiction over all criminal business, the forming of juries and appointing vacancies in offices, as late as 1865, when the court was discontinued throughout the state.
It was the province of this "Court of Sessions" to set in motion the first machinery of county government. It was on June 24, 1850, that the first meeting of this court was held, with Hon. Augustin Olvera as presiding judge ; Jonathan R. Scott and Luis Robideau being associate justices. The court's proceedings, as seen by the records, included the appearance of several county officers elect for the purpose of furnishing suitable bonds. It was at the June term that Samuel Whiting, jailer, was allowed seven
13
HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
dollars a day salary out of which he was to engage competent assistance ; he was also allowed fifty cents a piece per day "for feeding prisoners." It was stipulated that each prisoner was to receive an amount of bread to the value of twelve cents and a half, or its equivalent in rice or beans. The balance of the allowance was to be "in good meat."
The first coroner declined to qualify for the office to which he had been elected, and Dr. A. P. Hodges was appointed to act in his stead. He was also the first mayor of the city of Los Angeles. G. Thompson Burrill was appointed county interpreter for the court at a salary of fifty dollars per month. The county judge could not speak English and one of the associate justices could not speak Spanish. Mr. Burrill also was the county's first sheriff.
The Legislature, in 1852, created the office of county supervisor. The first persons elected to such office, which really took the place of Court of Sessions above mentioned as the ruling power in Los Angeles County : Jefferson Hunt, Julian Chavis, Francisco P. Temple, Manuel Requena and Samuel Arbuckle. Their first board meeting was held on the first Monday in July, 1852, at which time Mr. Arbuckle was elected chairman. All civil transactions came before the board of county supervisors.
JUDGES OF THE PLAINS
This office, really a Mexican-American office of emergency for the times in which it existed, lasted long after Mexican domination had ceased in the state. It was legally called jueces del campo, judge of the plains, and was an important office. It was this judge's duty to be present at the annual round-up of cattle and gathering in of horses, and give an accurate account of such stock, as nearly as possible for one to do. His office was in his saddle and his district and courtroom the surrounding country. All disputes over ownership of stock were finally settled by him. There was no written law for the guidance of this plains-rider-judge, but his word was final. Few of these men could read or write the English language. At a meeting of the court of sessions in July, 1850, the county attorney was ordered to "collect the various bandos and reglamentos heretofore made up in the district respecting the jueces del campo and give his opinion upon the same at the next term of this court." At the August session of court that year the county attorney reported a number of new regulations, the most important (to the judges) of which was the provision of allowing a salary of $100 per year to each judge, payable from the county treasury. Before that time, under pure Mexican rule, the judge served for the honor of it. The number of these judges of the plains was twelve. They had to be present at all yearly stock round-ups and see that all horses and cattle were fairly delivered to their rightful owners, according to their special brands.
COUNTY BUILDINGS
The first public building erected in the county was the old city and county jail structure. This was erected in 1853. The contract for the construction of a jail was let July 8, 1851, and John G. Nichols was
WEST ADAMS PARK, LOS ANGELES
15
HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
appointed at six dollars per day to superintend the work, but a misunder- standing arose between the interested parties and the job was never com- pleted. The first county jail was the adobe building in the rear of the present postoffice site used by the troops for guard-house purposes. This building was all in one room-no cells were ever provided in it. Indian prisoners were chained to logs outside the jail, possibly to give Poor Lo a chance to enjoy the delightful climate of the country. In 1853 the county and city built a jail at the northwest corner of Spring and Franklin streets, the jail mentioned being the first county building erected.
In July, 1850, it was ordered that the Town Council be permitted to work the county prisoners by paying the daily expense of fifty cents for each person's keeping. Here, as in most all California counties, the first public buildings were jails in which to safely keep law breakers. On July 11, 1850, commissioners were appointed by the city and county to obtain a site for a jail. Lots 1, 2, 3, 7, 8 and 9, in square No. 34, north of the Plaza church, were finally selected. The City Council wanted the county to furnish the lots and the county declined, so the matter was postponed about two years longer before a county jail was provided and then another location had to be selected.
The criminal element had increased in Los Angeles down to 1851, when a military company was organized to aid the sheriff in keeping order. In November of that year the sheriff, under order of the court, caused fifty good lances to be made for the use of the volunteer company. The old blacksmith, John Goller, made these lances for the sum of $87.50. He also made a branding-iron for the county in the shape of the letters L. A., the same being three inches in length. In January, 1852, a house occupied by Benjamin Hays, under lease, was sub-let by him to Los Angeles County to be used as a courthouse until 1853, the rental being $650. The present jail is a fine, modern structure situated just opposite the courthouse and was constructed twenty years ago-1902. It is, however, far too small for present needs.
VARIOUS COURTHOUSES
The first building used for a courthouse in this county was the old government building that Pio Pico bought from one Isaac Williams for the capitol. Pio had lived in it during his term as governor. After the conquest of Mexico two companies of dragoons were quartered in it. In February, 1859, the contract was let for the construction of a markethouse and City hall. The contractor was John Temple, who was to receive $30,000 for the building. Work was commenced in March and it was finished the following September. The records show that in September, 1861, the supervisors of the county were trying to rent the city markethouse, mentioned as having been built in 1859. This was finally brought about and the county paid the city $200 per month as rental.
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.