USA > California > Mendocino County > History of Mendocino County, California : comprising its geography, geology, topography, climatography, springs and timber > Part 45
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that should have been accompanied by burying-places. I therefore moved further inland, seeking a locality where the soil could be easily worked, where a good view of the surrounding country could be had, and where, above all, there was good fresh water-all of which requirements appear to have been regarded as necessary for the location of an important village. I soon recognized at a distance shell-heaps and bone-heaps, the former of which gets scarcer as one leaves the shore. Approaching these, on a spur of Point Sal upon which a pass opens through the coast hills, and on both sides of which are springs of fresh water, though I did not succeed, after a careful exam- ination, in distinguishing single houses, I believe I found the traces of a large settlement on a kind of saddle on the low ridge, where flint-chips, bones and shells lie in great quantities. Further search at last revealed to me in the thick chaparral a few scattered sandstone slabs, such as in that region were used for lining graves. Digging near these spots, I at last found the graves of this settlement-a settlement that the old Spanish residents called Kesmali.
" Here I brought to light about one hundred and fifty skeletons and various kinds of implements. The graves were constructed in the following man- ner: A large hole was made in the sandy soil to a depth of about five feet, then a fire was lit in it until a hard brick-like crust was burned to a depth of four or five inches into the surrounding earth. The whole excavation was then partitioned off into smaller spaces by sandstone slabs, about one and a half inches thick, one foot broad, and three feet long, in which smaller parti- tions the skeletons were. One of these slabs generally lay horizontally over the head of the corpse as a kind of protecting roof for the skull, just as I had found them at Checto river, although in the latter instance the graves were lined with split redwood boards instead of stones. Such careful burial is not, however, always met with, and must evidently be taken as the sign of the respectability or the wealth of the deceased; the more so, as in such graves I found usually many utensils, something not the case with the more carelessly formed tombs, which were only very slightly lined, and in which the heads of the dead were covered with a piece of rough stone or half a mortar. The slabs above mentioned were generally painted, and a piece which I car- ried off with me was divided lengthwise by a single straight, dark line, from which radiated on either side, at an angle of about sixty degrees, thirty-two other parallel red lines, sixteen on each side, like the bones of a fish from the vertebra. In most cases the inner side of the slab was painted a simple red.
" In these graves the skeletons lay on their backs with the knees drawn up, and the arms, in most cases, stretched out. No definite direction was observed in the placing of the bodies, which frequently lay in great disorder, the saving of room, having been apparently the prime consideration. Some skeletons, for example, lay opposite to each other, foot to foot, while adjoin- ing ones again were laid crosswise. The female skeletons have, instead of the protecting head-slab, a stone mortar placed on its edge so as to admit the
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skull, or a stone pot, which latter, if too narrow in the neck to admit the skull, is simply buried underneath it. Cups and ornaments, both in the case of men and women, lie principally about the head, while shell-beads are found in the mouth, the eye-sockets, and in the cavity of the brain, which latter is almost always filled with sand pressed in through the foramen magnum. The skeletons were in some cases packed in quite closely, one over another, so that the uppermost were only about three feet below the surface of the ground. The stain of poverty is very evident on these, except, perhaps, where they are females, as they are in the majority of cases. I cannot accept the hypothesis that these were the slaves of some rich man and buried with their master; for the lower skeletons were generally found to have been disturbed in a very singular manner, such as could only have been occasioned by a reopening of the grave after decomposition had set in. I found, for example, a lower jaw lying near its right place, but upside down, so that both the upper and the lower teeth pointed downward; in another case, the thigh- bones lay the wrong way, the knee-pans being turned toward the basin; and, in other instances, the bones were totally separated and mixed up-all going to show that the graves had been repeatedly opened for the burial of bodies at different times. Once I even found, upon piercing the bottom crust of one sepulcher, another lying deeper, which perhaps had been forgotten, as the bones therein were somewhat damaged by fire. Plenty of charcoal is found in these tombs, usually of redwood, rarely of pine; and I could not determine any third variety. Sometimes there were also discovered the remains of posts from three to six inches in diameter, and of split boards about two inches in thickness. These are probably the remains of the burned dwelling of the deceased, placed in his grave with all his other property, after a fashion I observed in Checto last year.
" I examined other graves resembling those described of Point Sal. These others are known by the name of Temeteti. They lie about fourteen miles north of the Point Sal graves, and are situated on the right bank of the Arroyo de los Berros, opposite to the traces of former settlements about seven miles inland. These tombs only differed from those of Kesmali in not being lined with the thick burnt, brick-like crust mentioned above, but with a thin, light-colored crust, slightly burned, and not more than a quarter of an inch thick.
" In company with the well-informed and industrions antiquaries, Doctor Hays and Judge Venabel, I explored another aboriginal settlement known by the name of Nipomo. It is situated on a large rancho of like name, and distant about a mile and a half from the Nipomo Ranch Honse, occupied by the hospitable Dana brothers. Lastly I examined the Walekhe settlement. About twenty-five miles from the month of the Santa Maria river, there empties into it the Alamo creek, bringing down rather a large amount of water. Following the wide bed of the Santa Maria for about seven miles
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farther up stream, one reaches a smooth elevation, which at this place rises about sixty feet above the bend of the creek, and which trends in a curve toward the mountains on the right bank. At the farthest end of this, at a place where a fine view over the whole valley is had, we find the traces of the ancient village now ;known as Walekhe. A short distance from the former dwellings on the highest point of the ridge, a small excavation marks the spot where once a house stood, probably that of a chief. And here, indeed, I voluntarily imagined that I saw with my bodily eyes the strange primeval race that once called this place home. I saw the mothers of the tribe, lying with children at their breasts, or bending above the wearying mortar, while the sweat rolled over their dusky skins, painted with the colors and decked with the pearls that we at this day find lying beside them in those silent graves whose secret we have caught. Under the neighboring oaks-old oaks now, but young enough then-I saw the squatted men smoking their strange stone pipes; while, in the creek below, the youth cooled their swarthy bodies, or dried themselves in the sun, lying sweltering on its sandy banks. I heard the cry of the sentinels, as they, ever watching warily for an approaching possible enemy, caught sight of the returning hunter, loaded with elk and rabbits. And now-their graves lie there.
" With regard to the general character of the domestic utensils, arms and ornaments which I found in the digging down to, and examining of, about three hundred skeletons in the graves of Kesmali, Temeteti, Nipomo and Walekhe, these things from the different localities named resemble each other very closely, seeming to show that all their possessors belonged to the same tribe. First of all, the large cooking-pots draw one's attention-hol- low globular or pear-shaped bodies, hollowed out of magnesian mica. The circular opening, having a small and narrow rim, measures only five inches in diameter in a pot with a diameter of eighteen inches. Near the edge of the opening, this vessel is only a quarter of an inch thick, but it thickens in a very regular manner toward the bottom, where it measures about one and a quarter inch through. Made of the same material, I found other pots of a different shape-namely, very wide across the opening, and narrowing as they grow toward the bottom. With these I have also now in my possession many different sizes of sandstone mortars of a general semi-globular shape, varying from three inches in diameter and an inch and a half in height, up to sixteen inches in diameter and thirteen inches in height-all external measurements -- with pestles of the same material to correspond. There were, further, quite an assortment of cups, measuring from one and a quarter to six inches in diameter, neatly worked out of polished serpentine. The smallest of these that I found was inclosed, as in a doubly covered dish, by three shells, and contained paint; traces of which, by the by, were found in all these cups, from which we may suppose that they were not in use for holding food.
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" Neither spoons nor knives were found in these graves. I got, however, three beautiful cigar-holder-like pipes of serpentine, much stronger than, but similar in shape to, those dug out in Oregon. But few arms were picked up here-only a few arrow-heads and spear-heads; these, however, mostly of exquisite workmanship. A spear-head of obsidian, five and a half inches long, was the only object I found of this material ; another lance point of chalcedony, nine and a half inches long, and one and a quarter inch wide, was beautifully shaped and carefully made.
" Many of these objects were found perfect, and those that were broken had been broken by the shifting and pressure of the soil, as could easily be seen from their position. It is, therefore, certain that the bulk of the prop- erty buried with a person was not purposely broken or destroyed-the same thing holding true in my investigations in Oregon. I even found mortars and pestles which had been repaired and cemented with asphaltum. The richer occupants of these graves had shell beads in great numbers, sickle- shaped ornaments of the abalone shell, and an ornament resembling the dentalium but made of a large clam-shell within or strewed about their heads-striving, though they brought nothing into the world, at least to carry something out."
CLIMATE .- There is but little variety in the climate in the different sec- tions of this township, as it all'lies on the western slope of the Coast Range mountains facing the ocean. The ordinary climate is foggy and cold, even in the heart of the summer season, but there are days of unparalleled beauty and brightness here, which are only the more appreciated on account of the contrast with the damp, sunless days which are so frequent. A writer from Mendocino City in 1866 thus graphically and beautifully describes the close of one of those delightful days :- " Just now the clouds are tinged with the lovliest crimson. The sun has set, leaving the pathway he has so lately traversed lined with heaven's varied hues. Sparkling beneath those golden clouds lies the ocean, its bosom now calm, as if subdued by the beauty of God's handiwork; as if, by one common impulse, all nature is sinking to repose.
" See the glowing sunset now Tinge the mountain's misty brow, Over field and meadow bright Spread a flood of golden light.
" Over vale and crystal stream, Shedding now its level beam, Soon the night, with sable wing, Rest to weary ones will bring."
But for pure, unadulterated sea air, full of fog and oxygen, charged with ozone, salubrious and salsuginous, invigorating and life-giving air, that will make the pulses leap and bring the roses to the cheek, one should go to
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Mendocino City, where it can be had at first hand, bereft of nothing. Every breeze that blows, except the east wind, is fraught with the odors of the sea; but the wind of all winds, the one which seems to come directly from the cave of Erebus, is the north-west breeze. It swoops down across this section with all the fury of old Boreas, but fortunately it is shorn of his icy breath; still, retaining enough of it to make one need flannels during all the days and nights of its reign. In short, the climate is very cool and invigorating during the summer months, and very pleasant and mild during the winter, and when one has become accustomed to the fogs and the winds it is hard to find a place which will suit better than here. The extremes both of heat and cold are unknown.
PRODUCTS .- The soil and climate of this township adapt it specially to the growth of vegetables, while the cereals and fruits thrive well, except that the fogs darken the grain, and mildew the fruits. The small fruits and berries are especially thrifty here, and the latter grow in large quan- tities wild in the woods, and afford ample opportunities for picnic excursions during the summer season. Of the vegetables grown here, it is evident that the potato is the most productive, and grows to the greatest advantage, of which large quantities are grown yearly and shipped to the city, affording an article of export, and yielding in the aggregate, a handsome return of golden dollars.
TIMBER .- Here, as all along the Mendocino coast, the prime conception of the idea of timber is redwood. There are great forests of this timber along the entire length and breadth of this township, and it is such an extensive industry, and so closely allied with the prosperity of the citizens of this section that it comes naturally first upon the catalogue in summing up and describing the timber of the township. It was here that the redwood forests first attracted attention; and here that the pioneer mill of Mendo- cino county was put in motion, and the hum of the first saw blended with the roar of the ocean to make harmonious melodies. These trees grow much larger in the deep cañons and along the streams putting back from the coast, where the fog has banked up amid their clustering foliage for ages during their growth; and right royally they have grown, so that now these grand old forests primeval are the peers of any of their congeners in the State, always excepting, of course, the "Big trees of Calaveras." On the ridges they grow more sparsely, and on the spurs of the mountains they hardly grow at all, but the few which did have the hardihood to spring up in such forbidding places, were stunted in their growth by the bleak winds from the north-west and warped into unseemly dwarfs of a monster race. Their leaves and limbs have long since succumbed to the fierce blasts of old Boreas and their trunks now stand mere bare poles, looking much like skeleton sentinels guarding the destinies of the race of men who have so fully sup-
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HISTORY OF MENDOCINO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
planted the people which knew and, perhaps, loved them in their quasi and quondam glory. Of the other woods the oak is the most plentiful, while fir, pine, and alder are common. The chestnut oak is the most profitable as its bark yields a handsome return, and its wood is good for burning.
EARLY SETTLEMENT .- It is impossible to fix the time now, when the first white men began going up and down the coast, and passing through and tarrying temporarily at least in this township. It is quite certain that Cap- tain William Richardson, of Saucelito, Marin county, was here as early as 1845 or 1846, for he applied to the Mexico-Californian Government for a grant to the tract of land known as the " Albion," before the surrendering of California to the United States by Mexico, and as the disseño is almost a perfect map of the country, it is evident that the old veteran passed over the ground himself and examined it thoroughly. It was not, however, till 1852 that any real settlement was made in the township, although previous to this, probably in 1850, a man by the name of William Kasten, had squat- ted upon the site of Mendocino City. This man was on his way up the coast in some sort of a sailing craft, and hard weather caused him to seek the shelter of a port, and chance brought him into this one. It is not known whether he had companions or not, or what became of his craft, or what in- duced him to remain on what must then have been a very bleak and inhos- pitable headland, so far removed from all association with his fellow-mortals. But be all this as it may, the fact still remains that he resided here from the time of his landing at the port until about 1854, when he went to Mexico and died there.
During the winter of 1851-2, a vessel laden with silk and tea from China and Japan to San Francisco, was driven ashore at the mouth of the Noyo river. Reports of this wreck extended down the coast till it reached the settlement at Bodega, whence a party went for the purpose of salvage. In passing up and down the coast the large and available redwood forests on Big river at- tacted attention, and wonderful reports concerning these woods, and their re- sources, were carried back to Bodega. At this time the price of lumber had declined so much more in proportion to the wages of the men, that availa- bility was one of the greatest factors to be considered in operating a saw-mill. The Bodega woods were never very accessible to the port, and were getting worse every year, while the Bolinas, San Rafael and Corte de Madera woods, had been well cut out, hence new fields of operation must be sought for by the mill men.
About this time the well-known and enterprising Harry Meigs, arrived on the coast with a full and complete saw-mill outfit, and began casting about for a place to put his mill in operation. Being at Bodega at the time the party returned from the silk vessel expedition, and hearing their goodly reports concerning the forests, and the eligibility of that place for the erec-
Martin Corbitte
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tion of a saw-mill, he determined to go at once to the place and take posses- sion of it. He accordingly went to San Francisco and purchased the brig On- tario, and placing his machinery on board of it, and putting it in charge of a competent crew of men, he dispatched it to Big river. The vessel passed over the bar at San Francisco on the 19th day of June, 1852, and after a cruise of thirty days, beating against heavy adverse winds and meeting other contin- gencies of a sea voyage, they dropped anchor on the 19th of July. Of those who came up on the brig on that trip, only John E. Carlson, and William H. Kelly, still reside in Mendocino City; Captain D. F. Lansing came up on the vessel and resided here till his death, which occurred in 1877, and his family still reside in Mendocino City; J. B. Ford came from Bodega, overland with eight yoke of oxen, and arrived ten days previous to the brig. William Kasten claimed the water front on the north side of the bay, and Meigs purchased his claim, from Big river to the ocean front. For this, in part payment, Meigs gave Kasten the lumber, with which was built the first dwelling-house of sawed lumber, ever erected in the township. This house is now located north of Albion street and on the east side of Kasten, Mendo- cino City, and is owned and occupied by William Heeser as a dwelling- house. It is not known what kind of a house Kasten had lived in, but probably in a rough log shanty, or possibly with the Indians who had a rancheria near by. What a life was this that this pioneer of pioneers must have led, so far removed from all associations with others of his kind. It is not probable that he saw a white man's face once a twelve-month, and per- haps not so often, for communication up and down the coast at that time was very difficult and dangerous, and was undertaken only by the hardiest and most daring adventurers, and only on occasions of importance by even them.
Old settlers who have had occasion to pass over the coast trail, will well remember the Mal Paso, and how well it deserved its name. Hence it can be readily comprehended, how completely this man was shut out from all connection with the civilized world. He, no doubt, had supposed that he had gotten beyond the pale of civilization and the influences of human associa- tion, and was content to sit down there on the shore of the grand old Pacific and eke out the remainder of his existence in that sequestered spot. To him, life was shorn of its obligations, and his days were spent cum otium, and we doubt not he was in a measure happy in his way. Long absence from home had broken off all ties and association with that sacred place, and when the love of home is lost, happiness is not found by association with men, but in solitude, and solitude supreme reigned here on this projecting point of land, extending far into the very heart of the ocean. Vessels skirted the west- ern horizon, going to and from the busy world, but little cared he for that.
No messages of love, no letters from home were on board those ships for him. Never again should he see the face of mother, sister, or wife, never
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hear the innocent prattle or gleeful laughter of children. All that was past -aye, dead in his memory! Of the future, he recked not, nor cared so long as he was left undisturbed. But a change came, and the waves from the human seas to the eastward began to dash against the adamantine walls of the Rocky mountains, just as the ceaseless surge of the mighty Pacific broke on reefs at his feet, and at length the crested waves began to dash over and fill the valleys below, and when the tide reached him, instead of being lapped up by the swelling surf and becoming a part of the great body politic, he vanished, seeking shelter in the fastnesses of the mountains of other lands. As it was with him, so has it been with almost all the pioneer pioneers. Whither they have gone, no one knows, no trace is left behind. and they have, probably, all gone to that undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler hath yet returned, "unwept, unhonored and unsung."
Of course, as soon as the mill was established at Mendocino City quite a settlement sprang up around it, and others were attracted to the section, until in 1854 there were settlers all along the coast of this township. Be- ginning at the southern line, we find their locale to be as follows: At Cuffy's Cove there was Frank Farnier, known in all the country round as " Portu- gee Frank;" also at this place were the Greenwood brothers, consisting of Britton B., William, Boggs and James. They lived in a square house con- structed of split redwood boards, which were riven on the top of one of the adjacent hills and brought down to the building site on the back of a horse. This was doubtless the first real house that was ever built in the township. Passing on up the coast the next settler was at Nevarra, and was that staunch old pioneer, Charles Fletcher. His house was on the south side of the river, about where his present residence now is. He had a ferry established there, and used an old " dug-out " canoe for the purposes of his business. At the Albion, Manuel Lawrence lived on the hill on the south side of the river. Lloyd Bell had a place just north of Little river, where William H. Kent now resides, and he was engaged in hunting game for the mill company. At Mendocino City, or Big River as it was then called, there were two mills, and all the men and buildings necessary to conduct that enterprise; there was also the house built by Kasten. On the northern side of Russian Gulch Messrs. Simpson & White, now of Cahto, had a log house. At Pine Grove Captain Peter Thompson had a house, and farmed and had a band of cattle there. On the north side of Caspar creek there was a man by the name of Caspar,-hence the name,-who had a small band of cattle and a few horses. At the Noyo river Captain Run- dell had located, just on the south side of the river, and above him, about one and a half miles, Samuel Watts had a claim and was living on it. This list of names has been kindly furnished us by that worthy pioneer G. Canning Smith, hence is perfectly reliable, and we are thus enabled to fasten upon the pages of history, ere the remembrance of them has
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faded away, a full and complete catalogue of the settlers along the coast of this township at that time, 1854, in which we must include Mr. Smith himself, as he had settled permanently in this township at this time, that being the year of his location here.
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