USA > California > Mendocino County > History of Mendocino County, California : comprising its geography, geology, topography, climatography, springs and timber > Part 26
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for they shut their eyes and never stir. Presently a vaquero, jndging the time by the sun, gets up and yawns, staggers lazily towards his horse, gathers up his riata and twists it about the horn of his saddle-the others, awakening, arise and do the same, all yawning with eyes half open, looking as lazy a set as ever were seen, as indeed they are when on foot. "Hupa! Anda!" and away they go in a cloud of dust, splashing through the river, waving their lassoes above their heads with a wild shout, and disappearing from sight almost as soon as they are mounted. The vaquero wants at all times to ride at a furious gait, and the eyes of the little horses are open wide enough before they receive the second prod from the iron rowels of their rider's spurs.
In the olden and balmy days of the Spanish-Mexican regime, the summa summarum of the dolce far niente style of life of that age could be found at this ranch. Cattle roamed at will over the hills and through the valleys, one of which was slaughtered daily to supply the demands of the estableci- miento. Horses in great numbers bore the ranch brand, and extensive flocks of sheep and herds of swine formed a part of the princely possessions of the Feliz estate. Looms and spinning wheels were brought into requisition, and the wool grown upon the sheep was washed, carded, spun and woven into cloth, beneath the shelter of the ranch houses. The hides of the cattle were tanned, and boots and shoes made of the leather. The seasons came and went unheeded, and life was to those old Spaniards a near approach to the Uto- pian's dream. A summer's sun, set in a bright ethereal empyrean, across whose rays not even a hand breadth's cloud ever passed to cast its shadow on the world, showered down a golden flood of radiant light to bless the happy days, while the winter's rains fell in copious showers, causing the grass to spring to luxuriant life over all the hills and dales, spreading as it were an emerald tapestry on every hand, full dainty enough for tread of fairy feet. But the dream ended, and sad indeed the awakening. From the lap of luxuriance they fell into the arms of poverty, dying sad and broken- hearted. Gone were their flocks and herds, and the land on which they had roamed. Life which had been to them a hey-day of sunshine and gladness was robbed of all that went to make it worth the living, and to many of them death was a welcome guest, lifting the burdens and cares which had gradually settled upon their shoulders.
Let us here introduce the following interesting resume of the experiences of the first of America's sons who visited California, which is abridged from an article that appeared in the Pioneer :-
" The first Americans that arrived in California, overland, were under the command of Jedediah S. Smith, of New York. Mr. Smith accompanied the first trapping and trading expedition, sent from St. Louis to the head waters of the Missouri by General Ashley. The ability and energy dis- played by him, as a leader of parties engaged in trapping beaver, were 15
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considered of so much importance by General Ashley that he soon proposed to admit him as a partner in the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. The proposal was accepted and the affairs of the concern were subsequently conducted by the firm of Ashley & Smith until 1828, when Mr. William L. Sublette and Mr. Jackson, who had been engaged in the same business in the mountains, associated themselves with Mr. Smith, and bought out General Ashley. They continued the business under the name of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company until the summer of 1830, when they retired from the mountains, disposing of their property and interest in the enterprise to Messrs. Fitzpatrick, Bridger, Solomon, Sublette, and Trapp. Mr. W. L. Sublette subsequently re-engaged in the business.
" In the spring of 1826 Mr. Smith, at the head of a party of about twenty- five inen, left the winter quarters of the company to make a spring and fall hunt. Traveling westerly he struck the source of the Green river, which he followed down to its junction with Grand river, where the two form the Colorado. He there left the river and, traveling westerly, approached the Sierra Nevada of California. When traveling in that direction in search of a favorable point to continue his exploration towards the ocean, he crossed the mountains and descended into the great valley of California near its south-eastern extremity; thus being not only the first American, but the first person who, from the east or north, had entered the magnificent valleys of the San Joaquin and Sacramento, or who had ever seen or explored any of the rivers falling into the Bay of San Francisco ..
" The following winter and spring he prosecuted with success the catching of beaver, on the streams flowing into the lakes of the Tulares, on the San Joaquin and tributaries, as also on some of the lower branches of the Sac- ramento. At the commencement of summer, the spring hunt having closed, he essayed to return, by following up the American river; but the height of the mountains, and other obstacles which he encountered, induced him to leave the party in the valley during the summer. He accordingly re- turned; and, having arranged their summer quarters on that river, near the present town of Brighton, prepared to make the journey, accompanied by a few well-tried and hardy hunters, to the summer rendezvous of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, on the eastern slope of the Rocky mountains. Selecting favorite and trusty horses and mules, Mr. Smith, with three com- panions, left camp to undertake one of the most arduous and dangerous journeys ever attempted. Ascending the Sierra Nevada, he crossed it at a point of elevation so great, that on the night of the 27th of June, most of his mules died from intense cold. He descended the eastern slope of the mountains, and entered upon the thirsty and sterile plains that were spread out before him in all their primitive nakedness ; but his horses were unable to accomplish the journey.
" Next to the Bedouin of the great African desert, if not equally with
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him, the trapper of the wilds of the American continent worships the noble horse, which not only proudly carries his owner up to the huge bison, when hunger presses the hunter, and swiftly flees from the overpowering horde of savages who seek his life; but while the solitary, benighted, and fatigued hunter snatches a few shreds of repose, stands a trusty sentinel, with ears erect and penetrating eye, to catch the first movement of every object within its view, or with distended nostril, to inhale the odor of the red man with which the passing breeze is impregnated, and arouse his affectionate master. What, then, were the feelings of these men, as they saw their favorite steeds, which had long been their companions, and had been selected for their noble bearing, reeling and faltering on those inhospitable plains. Still worse when they were compelled to sever the brittle thread of life, and dissolve all those attachments and vivid hopes of future com- panionship and usefulness by the use of the rifle, which, at other times, with unerring aim, would have sent death to the man who should attempt to deprive them of their beloved animals.
" They hastily cut from the lifeless bodies a few pieces of flesh, as the only means of sustaining their own existence; and in this manner they supported life until they passed the desert and arrived on foot at the rendezvous.
" A party was immediately organized, and, with such supplies as were required for the company, left for California, Mr. Smith hastening his departure. Traveling south, to avoid in some degree the snow and cold of winter, he descended and crossed Grand river, of the Colorado, and, contin- uing south-westerly, he approached the Colorado river from the east, near the camp of the Mohave Indians. In the attempt to transport his party, by means of rafts, over this river, in which he was aided by the Mohaves, who professed great friendship and hospitality, he was suddenly surprised by the treacherous Indians, who, upon a pre-concerted signal, simultaneously attacked the men who were on each bank of the river, and upon a raft then crossing, massacred the party, with the exception of two men and Mr. Smith, who escaped, and after great suffering arrived at the mission of San Gabriel, in California. They were immediately arrested by, the military officer at that place, because they had no passports. This functionary for- warded an account of the arrival and detention of the foreigners to the commandant of San Diego, who transmitted the same to General Echandia, then Governor and Commander-in-chief of California.
" After a harassing delay Mr. Smith was permitted to proceed to Monterey, and appear 'before the governor. Through the influence and pecuniary assistance of Captain John Cooper, an American, then resident of Monterey, he was liberated, and having procured such supplies as could be obtained in that place, partially on account of beaver-fur to be sent from the summer quarters on the Sacramento river, and partly on credit, he hired a few men and proceeded to the camp of the party which he had previously left in the
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Sacramento valley. After forwarding the fur to Montercy, he traveled up the Sacramento, making a most successful hunt up this river and its tributa- ries within the valley. Ascending the western sources of the Sacramento, he passed Shasta mountain, when he turned westerly and arrived on the coast, which he followed south to the Umpqua river. While Mr. Smith and two men were in a canoe, with two or three Indians, engaged in examining the river to find a crossing, his camp was unexpectedly surprised by the Indians, who had, up to this time, shown the most friendly disposition, and the entire party, with the exception of one man, were murdered. Mr. Smith and the men with him in the canoe, after wandering many days in the mountains, where they were obliged to secrete themselves by day and travel by night, to avoid the Indians, who were scouring the country in pursuit, succeeded in escaping from their vicinity, and arrived at Fort Vancouver, a post of the Hudson Bay Company, on the Columbia river. The man who escaped from the camp at the massacre of the party was badly wounded, and without arms to defend himself or procure food, succeeded in sustaining life and making his way through many vicissitudes for a period of thirty-eight days, when he reached Fort Vancouver. On his arrival there Mr. Smith con- tracted with the superintendent to sell him the large quantity of fur which had fallen into the hands of the Indians on the Umpqua, provided he would assist in recovering it, and to furnish a guide to lead a trapping party into the Sacramento valley. A company was fitted out under the command of Lieutenant McLeod, which proceeded to the scene of disaster, and after re- covering the fur, with which Mr. Smith returned to the fort, continued south, under the guidance of one of Smith's men, to the Sacramento valley, where a most valuable hunt was made. A large number of horses from California was also obtained, with which the party attempted to return in the fall of 1828. In crossing the mountains they were overtaken by a violent snow-storm, in which they lost all their horses. From the hasty and un- suitable manner in which they attempted to secrete their valuable stock of fur from the observation and discovery of the Indians or other body of trappers, it was found in a ruined state by a party sent to convey it to the fort in the following spring, and McLeod was discharged from the service of the company for his imprudence in attempting to cross the mountains so late in the fall.
" Another band was fitted out from Fort Vancouver, by the Hudson Bay Company under Captain Ogden, of New York, who for some time had been in the employ of that corporation, with which Mr. Smith left the fort on his final departure from the Pacific shore, for the rendezvous of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. This company traveled up Lewis river, in the direction of the South Pass, when Mr. Smith pursued his journey with a few men. Captain Ogden turned south, and traveling along the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada, entered the valley of the Tulares, on the trail which
LeAGO
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Smith had made in 1826. He arrived in the valley after McLeod had left on his ill-fated journey over the mountains, where he spent the winter of 1828-9, and the following summer returned to the Columbia river with a valuable hunt.
"One of the survivors of the massacre of Smith's party on the Rio Colorado remained in California. He was a blacksmith by trade, and obtained em- ployment at the missions of San Gabriel and San Luis Rey. His name was Galbraith, and while in the mountains previous to his advent to California, was recognized as the most fearless of that brave class of men with whom he was associated. His stature was commanding, and the Indians were awed by his athletic and powerful frame, while the display of his Herculean strength excited the surprise of all. Many were the incidents that occurred in California during his residence, of which he was the principal actor. On one occasion, while employed at the mission of San Luis Rey, he became riotous while under the exciting influence of aguadiente, and was warned that unless he conducted himself with greater propriety it would be necessary to confine him in the guard-house. This served to exasperate instead of to quiet his unruly passions. A corporal with two men were ordered to arrest Galbraith. On their arrival at the shop, they found the follower of Vulcan absorbed in anathemas, which he was pouring forth in rapid succession against the Reverend Father, soldiers, and neophytes. Having delivered himself he inquired what they wanted. On the corporal's replying that he had been sent to conduct him to the guard-house, Galbraith seized a sledge, and swaying it above his head rushed upon the soldiers, who, intimidated at the gigantic size of the blacksmith, whose broad and deep chest was swell- ing with infuriated passion, horror-stricken fled in dismay. With uplifted hammer he pursued them across the court of the mission, and to the guard- house in front of the mission, where the affrighted corporal and soldiers arrived among their comrades, closely followed by the terrific mountaineer, who, alike fearless of Spanish soldiers as he had ever been of Indians, drove the trembling forees, a sergeant and twelve men, to their quarters, where they were imprisoned. He then hastily loaded with grape-shot a fine piece of artillery which stood in front of the quarters, and directing its mouth towards the mission, and gathering up the arms which the soldiers in the confusion had abandoned, he prepared to act as exigencies might require. The priest, seeing the course events were taking, sent a messenger to open communications with the victor, who, from the sudden burst of passion and violent exercise had dispelled the effects of the brandy, and with its removal his choler had subsided.
" In the early part of 1839 a company was made up in St. Louis, Missouri, to cross the plains to California consisting of D. G. Johnson, Charles Klein, David D. Dutton and William Wiggins. Fearing the treachery of the Indians this little party determined to await the departure of a party of
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traders in the employ of the American Fur Company, on their annual tour to the Rocky Mountains. At Westport they were joined by Messrs. Wright, Gegger, a Doctor Wiselzenius and his German companion, and Peter Lassen ; two missionaries with their wives and hired man, bound for Oregon ; a lot of what were termed fur trappers, bound for the mountains, the entire company consisting of twenty-seven men and two women.
" The party proceeded on their journey and in due time arrived at the Platte river, but here their groceries and breadstuff gave out; happily the country was well stocked with food, the bill of fare consisting henceforward of buffalo, venison, cat-fish, suckers, trout, salmon, duck, pheasant, sage-fowl, beaver, hare, horse, grizzly bear, badger and dog. The historian of this expedi- tion thus describes this latter portion of the menu. 'As much misunderstand- ing seems to prevail in regard to the last animal alluded to, a particular description of it may not be uninteresting. It is, perhaps, somewhat larger than the ground squirrel of California, is subterranean and gregarious in its habits, living in " villages; " and from a supposed resemblance in the feet, as well as in the spinal termination, to that of the canine family, it is in popular language known as the prairie dog. But in the imposing technology of the mountain graduate it is styled the canus prairie cuss, because its cussed holes so often cause the hunter to be unhorsed when engaged in the chase.'
" After enduring a weary journey, accompanied by the necessary annoy- ances from treacherous and pilfering Sioux, hail-storms, sand-storms, rain and thunder-storms, our voyageurs arrived at Fort Hall, where they were disappointed at not being able to procure a guide to take them to California. This was almost a death-blow to the hopes of the intrepid travelers; but having learned of a settlement on the Willamette river, they concluded to proceed thither in the following spring, after passing the winter at this fort. Here Klein and Doctor Wiselzenius determined to retrace their steps; thus the party was now reduced to five in number-Johnson going ahead and leaving for the Sandwich Islands. In September, 1839, the party reached Oregon, and sojourned there during the winter of that year; but in May, 1840, a vessel arrived with missionaries from England, designing to touch at California on her return, Mr. William Wiggins, now of Monterey, the narrator of this expedition, and his three companions from Missouri, among whom was Mr. David D. Dutton, now a resident of Vacaville township, in Solano county, got on board; but Mr. W., not having a dollar, saw no hope to get away; as a last resort, he sent to one of the passengers, a compara- tive stranger, for the loan of sixty dollars, the passage-money, when, to his great joy and surprise, the money was furnished-a true example of the spontaneous generosity of those early days. There were three passengers from Oregon, and many others who were 'too poor to leave.' In June, they took passage in the Lausenne, and were three weeks in reaching
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Baker's bay, a distance of only ninety miles. On July 3d, they left the mouth of the Columbia, and after being out thirteen days, arrived at Bo- dega, now in Sonoma county, but then a harbor in possession of the Russians. Here a dilemma arose of quite a threatening character. The Mexican com- mandant sent a squad of soldiers to prevent the party from landing, as they wished to do, for the captain of the vessel had refused to take them farther on account of want of money. At this crisis the Russian governor arrived, and ordered the soldiers to leave, be shot down, or go to prison; they, there- fore, beat a retreat. Here were our travelers at a stand-still, with no means of proceeding on their journey, or of finding their way out of the inhospit- able country ; they, therefore, penned the following communication to the American consul, then stationed at Monterey :---
" PORT BODEGA, July 25, 1840.
" To the American Consul of California-
" DEAR SIR: We, the undersigned citizens of the United States, being desirous to land in the country, and having been refused a passport, and been opposed by the Government, we write to you, sir, for advice, and claim your protection. Being short of funds, we are not able to proceed further on the ship. We have concluded to land under the protection of the Rus- sians; we will remain there fifteen days, or until we receive an answer from you, which we hope will be as soon as the circumstances of the case will permit. We have been refused a passport from General Vallejo. Our ob- ject is to get to the settlements, or to obtain a pass to return to our own country. Should we receive no relief, we will take up our arms and travel, consider ourselves in an enemy's country, and defend ourselves with our guns.
" We subscribe ourselves, most respectfully, " DAVID DUTTON, " JOHN STEVENS, " PETER LASSEN, " WM. WIGGINS, " J. WRIGHT."
In the first five years of the decade commencing with 1840, there began to settle in the vast California valleys that intrepid band of pioneers who having scaled the Sierra Nevadas with their wagons, trains and cattle, be- gan the civilizing influences of progress on the Pacific coast. Many of them had left their homes in the Atlantic and Southern States with the avowed intention of proceeding direct to Oregon. On arrival at Fort Hall, however, they heard glowing accounts of the salubrity of the California climate and the fertility of its soil ; they, therefore, turned their heads southward and steered for the wished-for haven. At length, after weary days of toil and anxiety, fatigued and foot-sore, the promised land was gained. And what
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was it like ? The country, in what valley soever we wot, was an inter- minable grain-field ; mile upon mile, and acre after acre, wild oats grew in marvelous profusion, in many places to a prodigious height-one great, glo- rious green of wild waving corn-high over head of the wayfarer on foot, and shoulder high with the equestrian; wild flowers of every prismatic shade charmed the eye, while they vied with each other in the gorgeousness of their colors, and blended into dazzling splendor. One breath of wind, and the wide emerald expanse rippled itself into space, while with a heavier .breeze came a swell whose rolling waves beat against the mountain sides, and, being hurled back, were lost in the far-away horizon ; shadow pursued shadow in a long, merry chase. The air was filled with the hum of bees, the chirrup of birds, and an overpowering fragrance from the various plants weighted the air. The hill-sides, overrun as they were with a dense mass of tangled jungle, were hard to penetrate, while in some portions the deep, dark gloom of the forest trees lent relief to the eye. The almost boundless range was intersected throughout with divergent trails, whereby the traveler moved from point to point, progress being as it were in darkness on account of the height of the oats on either side, and rendered dangerous in the valleys by the bands of untamed cattle, sprung from the stock introduced by the mission fathers. These found food and shelter on the plains during the night; at dawn they repaired to the higher grounds to chew the cud and bask in the sunshine. At every yard coyotes sprang from beneath the feet of the voyageur. The hissing of snakes, the frightened rush of lizards, all tended to heighten the sense of danger, while the flight of quail and other birds, the nimble run of the rabbit, and the stampede of elk and antelope, which abounded in thousands, added to the charm, causing him, be he who- soever he may, pedestrian or equestrian, to feel the utter insignificance of inan, the " noblest work of God."
We now come to the settlement proper of Mendocino county by other than Spanish citizens. John Parker was unquestionably the first man after Fer- nando Feliz to have a habitation within the present limits of the county. He came into the Russian River valley with a band of cattle owned by James Black, of Marin county, in either 1850 or 1851, and built a block-house on the banks of what is now known as Wilson creek, south of Ukiah a few miles. We will now give the settlement of the county by year and town- ship up to 1860, as far as we have been able to glean it from the sources at our command :
1852 .- John Knight came into Sanel township and located on a portion of the Feliz grant. On the coast, in Big River township, Harry Meigs established the first saw-mill in the county, and there came with him J. E. Carlson, W. H. Kelley, J. B. Ford, and Captain D. F. Lansing, who became actual settlers. A man by the name of Kasten was living there at the time, and it is reported that he camne in 1850, and it is possible that he ante-
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dates John Parker, although there is no certainty about it. The following named gentlemen came into Big River township and located during this year also. William H. Kent, George Hagenmeyer, - Scharf, G, Hagen- meyer, J. C. Byrnes, Robert White, and J. C. Simpson ; Anderson, Walter Anderson, and J. D. Balls.
1853 .- Big River township, A. F. Mahlman; in Little Lake, Alfred E. Sherwood; Calpella, William Potter, and Moses C. Briggs.
1854 .- Big River, G. Canning Smith, L. L. Gray, James Nolan. The following settlers are known to have been located in the respective town- ships at this time, but the date of their location is unknown: Big River, Frank Farnier (known as Portuguese Frank), Britton B., William, Boggs, and James Greenwood, Charles Fletcher, Manuel Lawrence, Lloyd Bell, Sr., Samuel Bell, Captain Peter Thompson, Captain R. Rundle, and Samuel Watts; Little Lake, William Frazier.
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