USA > California > Marin County > History of Marin County, California also an historical sketch of the state of California > Part 14
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Judge Almy is one of those men of whom any community may be proud. From his own unaided exertions he has risen to the top of the tree. In the year 1865 he was appointed County Judge by Governor Low ; in 1867 he was elected County Judge of Marin under the Governorship of H. H. Haight; again in 1871 was the like honor conferred upon him, under the administration of Governor Newton Booth; and, once more, in 1875, was he called to the Bench, when Romualdo Pacheco filled the Guberna- torial Chair. This difficult position he occupied until the New Constitution was put into operation, and how well he did so, the following extract from the Marin County Journal, will best exemplify: "Judge Almy has presided as County and Probate Judge, about twelve years, and in all the responsible service of that time he has enjoyed the confidence and respect of the bar and the people to an extraordinary degree. A more conscientious and . upright man never sat in the office of Judge, and his decisions have been made with such care and acumen that they have been almost universally sustained."
In the year 1849, Bolinas was visited by Captain Morgan, and on the beach he was met by a peculiar looking man, with whom he entered into conversation and from whom he learned that his name was "The old Blacksmith." It would appear that this creature had made his appearance at the San Rafael mission somewhere about the year 1840; that for some years he had been given employment of various kinds there by Timothy Murphy, but that he had suddenly been lost sight of and drifted to Bolinas,
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GENERAL HISTORY AND SETTLEMENT.
where he had established himself in a cask on the beach, and there lived, a morose and hermitical life.
In the year 1849, Messrs. Bunker, Faudre, Forrester and a Spaniard named Pakito located in Point Reyes township. Frank Miller also came at that time as Mayor domo of the Osio Rancho, but he did not permanently locate for some years later. We find that S. W. Faudre was County Assessor for the year 1853-4.
To Tomales township there came in 1849 one Thomas Wood alias Tom Vaquero, who came to California in a whaling vessel from which he deserted in 1841, and after passing more or less of an adventurous life, as the follow- ing sketch taken from the Petaluma Argus will show, died in San Rafael, December 12, 1879:
By reference to the map of Marin county, it will be seen that on the north side of Tomales Bay there is a point of land designated as Wood's Point. Long previous to the discovery of gold in California, a man named Thomas Wood deserted from a whaling vessel that had touched on this coast and took up his residence at that point with a tribe of Tomales Indians. Wood took as a spouse a winsome mohala of that tribe, and the advent of the " gold seekers " in California found him as happy and content as afterward was the proverb in reference to " Swimley's Boarders."
The name " Thomas Wood," however, had been metamorphosed into that of "Tom Vaquero," and by the latter name he was universally known. To his marvelous skill in horsemanship and unerring precision in hurling the riata he was indebted for his name.
Away back in the early days of California, Tom Vaquero kept standing the offer to forfeit horse, saddle, bridle and spurs if he failed to ride the wildest mustang of the plains until it was conquered and docile, without losing from his stirrups two silver dollars, one to be placed under each foot at time of mounting the horse.
As a fearless and skilled vaquero, he certainly stood unrivalled in that whole region.
The Summer of 1854 we visited Tomales Bay, and spent several days in hunting, fishing and clamming. We camped on the beach near Tom Vaquero's rancheria, and heard him narrate many incidents and adventures worth being perpetuated in print. The first in order dated prior to the discovery of gold in California. At that time trading vessels touched at the various harbors along the coast for the purpose of buying hides and tallow and such other articles as might have commercial value. French traders, especially, bought all the abalone shells they could find. By the aid of his Indians Tom Vaquero gathered these shells in large quantities, and was driving a profitable trade with the small French coasters that put in at Tomales periodically.
On one occasion no vessel had arrived for several months, and Vaquero's
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HISTORY OF MARIN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
abalone shells had accumulated to a pile nearly as large as the sweat-house, an indispensable pre-requisite of every well-ordered rancheria.
A grand " fandango " at a distant ranch lured Vaquero from home for a period of several days. During his absence a French vessel came in, and, finding him away from home, plied his Indians with liquor, and for a few trinkets and gew-gaws got his whole stock in trade of shells. The wily Frenchmen had left enough liquor with the Indians to keep them blazing drunk for several days.
Vaquero returned in the night time and found the Indians carousing and frenzied. His mohala was the only faithful one among them. She got him inside of their substantial domicile before the other Indians were aware of his return, and by barricading the door and a free use of his trusty gun, he kept them at bay until the liquor was exhausted and they ceased to thirst for his blood. He said that that night seemed to him " a week in length."
At the date of our visit Tom Vaquero's house was a cross betwixt a cot- tage and a ship. It embraced a little of everything, from a state-room door up to the mast of a vessel. This nautical medley was accounted for by the appearance at low tide of the huil of a wrecked vessel about a mile out in the bay.
In reference to this wreck, Tom informed us that in 1849 he one day was astonished to see a large merchant vessel coming up the bay under full sail. Having been a sailor himself, and knowing as he did the soundings of the bay, he knew that a vessel of that size had no business there. On it came, however, and in plain view was dashed by a heavy swell upon the shallow bar with such force that her hull was crushed as if an egg-shell. The cap- tain, after this mishap, sent a boat ashore to ascertain whether or not he was in San Francisco Bay. In consequence of this slight mistake the tides of Tomales Bay continue to ebb and flow over the skeleton of the " Cambridge," once a first-class English merchant vessel.
We cannot better close this sketch than with Tom Vaquero's recital of his adventure with a grizzly bear.
Once while riding over the low, rolling sand-dunes skirting Tomales Bay, he discovered a large grizzly in a little valley or flat, quietly feeding upon the clover. With riata gyrating over his head, he swooped down upon bruin, and with unerring precision hurled the noose around the bear's neck. With the other end of the riata given a few turns around the horn of his saddle, and a horse that had been thoroughly trained as a lass animal, he considered himself entirely master of the situation, and concluded to take the bear home and picket him out. By sometimes driving, then again dragging, he had got the bear within half a mile of home, when the grizzly lost his temper and showed fight. As at every step the horse took he sank to his fetlocks in the sand, an hour's struggle with the bear had nearly exhausted him. The grizzly had now become the attacking party, and it required skillful
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GENERAL HISTORY AND SETTLEMENT.
manœuvering to keep out of his reach. In the excitement Vaquero's raw- hide riata got caught in a half-hitch around the horn of his saddle, and he could not cast it loose. The bear, as if realizing his advantage, sat down on his haunches and methodically commenced taking in the slack of the riata with his paws, as a man would a rope, hand-over-hand. He had already pulled in half of the fifty-foot riata, and Vaquero said he could see deliberate murder in the grizzly's eyes. The case was becoming desperate, when Vaquero bethought himself of his sheath-knife, and with it succeeded in severing the wiry raw-hide coil which had fouled on the horn of his saddle. Thus freed, he beat a hasty retreat, leaving the bear victor of the field and. winner of a riata worth at that time not less than ten dollars. -
Last in the list of arrivals to name for 1849 was that of Captain Leonard Story in Saucelito, who arrived there on Christmas Day.
Thus have we given, as far as it is within our power to accomplish, the most noteworthy arrivals during the eventful year of '49. It is that year above all others on which the pioneer loves to dwell, times were good, money was easily procurable for the minimum amount of labor, and though the prices of articles ranged high, still they were readily obtainable-everything had a rosy aspect.
In 1850 a few more made Marin their dwelling place. Among these were Timothy J. Mahon in San Rafael; John Greenwood in Bolinas; George Milewater, Charles Hill, and McCormack in Saucelito; a man named Machan in Point Reyes; and John Keys, Alexander Noble and Edward Clark, in Tomales township. To Messrs. Keys and Noble is the honor due of having opened out the fertile Tomales district, than which no more productive section is to be found on the Pacific shores. The story of their settlement is fully detailed with much minuteness in our history of that township, sufficient be it here to state, that after a stirring and useful life John Keys died August 14, 1873.
The year 1851 saw still more settlers arrive in the county. To Bolinas there came A. D. Easkoot, for many years County Surveyor; and Captain George Gavitt. At this time a man named Day settled on an island in Novato township which has since borne his name. To Saucelito, Captain Goodwin, Captain Charles Dickenson and E. T. Whittlesey ; to Tomales there arrived Honorable Sanborn Johnson, Member of Assembly, 1863- 1865 and Lowell Webber, who settled on the Hubbell Rancho, and John and Nathan Fletcher, and to Point Reyes three men named Sam. Robin . son, Bell and Lucas, a Spaniard.
This brings us to the year 1852, when the county received its first great impetus as a settling locality. The experience which had been learned from those who had gone before had been bruited abroad, and Marin was pro- nounced the first in the list of counties capable of producing the products of the dairy. Before entering into the details of these advantages, however,
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HISTORY OF MARIN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
we will here state the names of those settlers that came hither in 1852. To San Rafael there came Upton M. Gordon, the well known banker of that town, and John Lucas, the inheritor of a considerable share of the property of his uncle Don Timoteo Murphy. San Antonio township received Adolph Gerricky ; Bolinas, Thomas and William Johnson, David Robinson, Calvin E. Woodbury, James Brayton, and - Adams ; Tomales, George Bunn, Warren Dutton, a most prominent man of the county, W. Devery, Hugh Marshall, Doctor Workman, and Messrs. Goodman and Wheeler ; Saucelito, Wm. Cross- ley alias Horse-shoe Bill, and a man who was known by no other cognomen than " Bill the Cook ;" and Nicasio, Hiram and Noah Correy, William Dampier, the present County Treasurer, and Henry H. Butterfield.
In 1853 Samuel Clark, Henry Strain and Captain P. L. Bourne located in Bolinas; in Novato, Carl P. Rush, who was murdered June 7, 1876, and whose murderer goes unpunished by law; John Brink and Cap- tain Macey ; to San Antonio, Allen T. Wilson, a lawyer; while to the fruitful Tomales section there came S. A. Marshall, James Marshall, H. P. McCleave, J. L. Blake, Joseph Huntley, John Buchanan, John James, Thomas R. Cook, V. Vanorsdel, Louis Osgood, Joel Harvey, N. J. Prince and J. P. Whitaker.
In 1854 T. H. Hanson, a prominent lawyer, and for several years County Treasurer and District Attorney, and Edward Eden, the present County Coroner, arrived in San Rafael township; to Tomales there came Luke Fallon and T. Carruthers; and in Saucelito there settled Captain George Snow.
There settled in San Antonio township in the year 1855 Andrew De Mar- tin; in Bolinas, Post and Taylor, William Brown, deceased, and Elisha Light. This gentleman came to the county in 1853, but it was not until 1855 that he located in San Antonio; to Tomales came O. Hubbell, and to Point Reyes Messrs. Swain, Keatley, Williams, Lane and Robinson, the last two of whom built the very first vessel ever launched in Marin county.
In 1856 Charles Martin located in San Antonio township; Messrs. Sweet- ser and De Long in Novato, where they acquired a large tract of land and have a magnificent orchard; W. J. Dickson in Nicasio; in Point Reyes, the Steele Brothers, the pioneer dairymen of that township located, and to Bolinas there arrived John Conmer, William Johnson and John Garrison; to Tomales, R. Bailey, John Griffin, George Dillon, A. M. Turner and J. Irwin. In 1857 E. B. Mahon came to San Rafael; A. T. Wilson, a lawyer, located in Tomales in 1853, but removed to San Antonio in 1857; Hugh McKenna, John Nelson, William E. Randall, went to Bolinas; R. R. Magee to Nicasio, and to Tomales, James McCausland, W. D. Freeman, William Vanderbilt, the present County Assessor, and T. A. Thornley. In 1858 Banker Irwin arrived in San Rafael; J. C. Dickson in Nicasio; and James McDonald, W. McCausland, R. Norton, H. H. Guldager, and O. W. Turner in Tomales. In
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GENERAL HISTORY AND SETTLEMENT.
1859 A. J. Pierce, the famous dairyman of Point Reyes, settled in that township. To Novato there came J. W. Atherton, the Supervisor for Dis- trict No. 1, and to Tomales J. L. Fallon, Michael Kirk, who settled in San Rafael in 1851, but moved to Tomales in 1859, and Andrew Doyle, George W. Davis, the present County Clerk, came to San Rafael in 1860; to Bolinas there came David McMullin; to Nicasio Timothy G. Lamb ; and to Tomales O. N. Morton, A. W. Dutton, Reed Dutton and W. Rowland. Besides those mentioned above, the following, the dates of whose settlement we have been unable to trace, located at an early day : In Nicasio, Peter Irwin, John Nutter, Captain Henney, M. McNamara, C. Murray and Richard Magee; in San Antonio, Joshua Brackett, Pedro J. Vasquez, George N. Cromwell, Martin F. Grimsby, and others; and in Novato, John Knight, Childes, Captain James Hyatt, James Fairford, John Greenlaw, Robert Bain, Andrew Anderson, John Brink, Thomas Sweetzer, Peter Irwin, Ben- jamin Pleasants, Elias Crosby, G. F. Van Hallard, Henry Broker, and E. Hubbard.
Thus far it is our purpose to bring the reader as regards the early settle- ment, thinking that twenty years is fully within the recollection of most of our present residents.
In the year 1861, to which we will for the present confine ourselves, the. value of property in Marin county amounted to the sum of two millions two hundred and twenty-six thousand seven hundred and eighty-five dollars, while the population was estimated at three thousand three hundred and thirty-four souls, and according to a statement of the receipts and expenditures of the different funds of the county for the six months ending the seventh of May, it was found that the debt was six thousand three hun- dred and sixty-five dollars and forty-seven cents, a reduction from twenty- five thousand dollars, which had been effected by the judicious management of the Board of Supervisors in the course of two years.
The county had at one time earned a notoriety, unenviable in itself, as being a favorite ground whereon to settle affairs of honor. The county seat was thrown into a considerable state of excitement on May 24, 1861, on account of a duel. The affair arose out of some imaginary or real insult spoken on the floor of the Legislative Hall, and, as in the case of the famous Broderick-Terry duel, so in this of Piercy-Showalter. Marin county was chosen as the spot where insulted honor should be thus barbarously avenged. Of the affair under consideration the following account is taken from the Call of May 26, 1861 :-
" All preliminaries being settled, at a quarter to four o'clock P. M., the the parties interested, as well as those attending as spectators, started for the ' field of honor,' which was located about a quarter of a mile from the house, and completely embowered in an exuberant wood. It was a pleasant, romantic spot, altogether too lovely to be the scene of the tragedy subse-
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HISTORY OF MARIN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
quently enacted. Arrived on the field, the demeanor of the principals was cool and unconcerned. The ground was already staked off, arranged for the parties to face each other, looking north and south, so that the rays of the sun fell ·equally on the eyes of both. The ground was as level as a floor, and covered with a fair carpet of grass. The two leading seconds, Messrs. Watkins and Hayes, measured the distance marked out, walking arm in arm as they paced it off. The rifles were then examined a second time, loaded, and the principals brought to their positions. The seconds then advanced to meet each other mid-way between the positions assigned to the principals, and as they met, saluted each other with all due formality. Having selected the places they were to occupy a few paces from the center of the line of fire, and looking eastward, Mr. Watkins read the articles which were to govern the fight, concluding with the remark that if either principal violated the rule not to fire before the word 'fire,' or after the word 'stop,' he laid himself liable to the code which declares that the offender shall be shot down summarily by the second of his opponent. These matters all being . attented to with all due punctiliousness, preparations were made for the first fire.
" The principals were brought to their positions, and the weapons given them. Both held their rifles with the butts resting on their hips, with the muzzles pointing upwards at an angle of about sixty degrees, the right hand grasping the lock, and the left the barrel about midway. Col. Hayes asked, 'Gentlemen, are you ready ?'. Both responded, 'Ready.' He then gave the word 'Fire! one, two, three, stop!' The reports of both rifles were heard almost simultaneously-Showalter a little first-just at the commencement of the word 'two.' Neither party was hurt, though the ball from Piercy's rifle passed so near the face of Showalter as to cause him to feel its passage. As soon as it became evident that the fire had been harmless, Mr. Showalter exclaimed, 'Load the weapons again !' He being the challenged party, no other course was left to pursue, and soon the rifles were prepared for their second shot.
" The parties were placed, and the word given as before. Neither party was quite so quick with the trigger as at the first word, and spectators thought that both meant mischief. At the word 'two' both fired nearly together : Mr. Piercy gave a start, threw his hands back and fell heavily to the ground. On examination it was found that the ball from his adversary's rifle had struck him in the mouth and passed into his head. His physician immediately rushed to his assistance, but could afford none. He raised his head slightly, looked around, and in three minutes was dead. He did not utter a sound after being hit. And thus ended this unfortunate duel, with the life of one of its principals.«
" As soon as Mr. Showalter witnessed the fatal result of his shot, he beseechingly exclaimed to his physician, 'Dr. Hammond, will you render
4
WILLIAM BROWN.
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GENERAL HISTORY AND SETTLEMENT.
every possible assistance to that poor man ?' He seemed to be sensibly affected, and passed a eulogy on the courage and coolness displayed by the deceased. In company with his friends he immediately left the ground, but whither he proceeded is not known."
The body of the unfortunate Mr. Piercy was brought to San Rafael on the evening of the tragedy, and on the following day an inquest was held by the County Coroner, the jury rendering the following verdict: "Came to his death by a gun-shot wound inflicted by Daniel Showalter." It was the intention of the citizens of San Rafael to bury him there-everything had. been prepared for his interment, when some friends from San Francisco. arrived and took the remains to that city, it finding its final resting place in: Lone Mountain Cemetery, at the early age of six and twenty years.
The Treasurer's Report published early in 1862 shows the state of the: · county finances to have been :-
Balance in Treasury December 15, 1860, belonging to the various funds. $ 643,338 29
Total amount received from December 16, 1860, to
December 14, 1861. 1,095,020 0I
Total $1,738,358.30
Total amount disbursed during the above-named
period 1,248,573 82
Balance on hand December 14, 1861 $ 489,784 48:
Bonds of the State to the amount of one hundred and seventy-two thou- sand five hundred and sixty dollars had been redeemed, and the semi- annual interest was one hundred and thirty thousand four hundred and sixty-two dollars and fifty cents. The total amount of bonds issued under the Funding Act of 1860 was one hundred and ninety-eight thousand five hundred dollars. The amount of equitable claims still outstanding was seventeen thousand nine hundred and seventy-nine dollars and thirty-two cents, of which only one thousand five hundred dollars more could have been funded, had it been presented.
The following figures will show the cash value of real estate, and the improvements thereon, for the year 1861 was. $1,205,003 00
Personal Property .
599,192 00
Total Taxable Property $1,804,195 00
State Tax; sixty cents on the dollar
$ 10,818 55
County Tax; fifty cents on the dollar 9,015 60
Road Tax; five cents on the dollar. 899 42
· Redemption Fund Tax; ten cents on the dollar
1,901 32.
.
9
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HISTORY OF MARIN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
About this time other portions of the State had been visited by severe foods, but of Marin, the California Farmer informs us that the county seemed to be the one wholly exempted from the sweeping overflow. " It is one of the richest, most fertile, and best sheltered counties of the State, and yet but little known, save by its history as connected with the State Prison and Lime Point. That it has been woefully neglected by those in power is «certain, for it has little or no postal facilities, no public roads or bridges of -any account, and although she is free of debt, she is also free of all public buildings and public improvements. With almost unlimited means of wealth, the income of the county is only twenty thousand dollars when it should be a hundred thousand. For this the people are to blame, for the people elect their managers or rulers."
The apportionment of the School Fund on hand on January 22, 1862 was made as under :- -
Novato
37 children $ 89 814
San Rafael .
174 children
422 381
Corte Madera
74 children 179 63
Bolinas, No. 1.
57 children
138 363
Bolinas, No. 2.
59 children
143 22 .
Tomales, No. 1.
32 children
77 68
Tomales, No. 2.
30 children
72 822
American Valley
41 children
99 524
Chileno Valley
51 children
123 801
San Antonio
52 children
126 23
607 children $1,473 481
Once more the county seat was thrown into a state of the greatest excite- ment by the arrival on horseback on the morning of July 22, 1862, of a State Prison Guard with the astounding intelligence that the convicts at . San Quentin, to the number of four hundred, had made a " break," captured the cannon and small arms, and were marching towards San Rafael ..
In a few moments all the arms that were available were brought forth ready for use in case the prisoners should show themselves in the vicinity of the town. The story told by the guard was so extraordinary that it was doubted, but still the citizens were prepared to give them a warm reception should they attempt an approach. The residents, on consultation, deemed it advisable not to leave the town until further information had been received . a few, however, accompanied by the Sheriff-all well mounted -- proceeded across the hill to Ross' Embarcadero, where they found the main body of the prisoners had arrived, bearing with them Lieutenant-Governor Chellis. At this point they met with the first resistance since they had left the prison. They had crossed the creek, when some parties from Corte Madera, and those who
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GENERAL HISTORY AND SETTLEMENT.
had left San Rafael, came upon them and commanded them to stop, when they dropped the Lieutenant-Governor and fled into the brush, where they were surrounded until more force should arrive.
The escape was made in this wise: At half-past twelve o'clock, when about one hundred and thirty of the prisoners were going out of the lower gate to the brick yard, a portion of them, sixteen or seventeen in number separated from the main body, and ran along the wall to the left side of the prison when they were fired upon by the guard, but still pursued their way around to the main gate, and seizing the gate-keeper obtained the keys to the wicket, which they opened, and with a bar of iron burst the fastening of the inner gate, when the mass inside, to the number of about one hundred and fifty, rushed forth yelling and howling like infuriated demons. They then entered the Lieutenant-Governor's room and bore him off with them, making their way to the gun on the point, which, had they succeeded in capturing, would have altered the phase of affairs to their great advantage. The gunner, T. Watson, on seeing their intention fired the gun, after which, finding himself too closely pressed, spiked it just as they arrived, upon which they picked him up and threw him over the cliff and rolled the can- non after him; it is miraculous how Watson escaped, and he was indeed fortunate in not being killed by the falling of the gun ; as it was he escaped with a few bruises occasioned by the fall. From this point they proceeded around the walls in the direction of Fort McClellan-the Governor was now placed in front of the gang, and was obliged to signify to those in charge of the gun at this point not to fire as his life was in danger; they, however, managed to get one shot which took effect in the rear of the gang and led to a partial disbandment. The largest portion of them still kept on with Lieutenant-Governor Chellis, and took the road in a westerly direction up the Corte Madera creek. The other portion, numbering fifteen or twenty, ran down to the wharf, jumped on board of the Pike County, and cut the lines, but before they could get the boat under weigh she went aground, when the guards came down and they immediately surrendered. Report says two or three were killed at this juncture, but it is doubtful.
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