USA > California > Napa County > History of Napa and Lake Counties, California : comprising their geography, geology, topography, climatography, springs and timber, together with a full and particular record of the Mexican Grants, also separate histories of all the townships and biographical sketches > Part 67
USA > California > Lake County > History of Napa and Lake Counties, California : comprising their geography, geology, topography, climatography, springs and timber, together with a full and particular record of the Mexican Grants, also separate histories of all the townships and biographical sketches > Part 67
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History of Napa and Lake Counties-NAPA.
Christie and P. A. Zeigenfuss, and then commenced to slaughter for the wholesale and retail trade. The firm is known as Zollner & Even, which has never been changed since they first went into business. Zollner and family are living in Napa City. The family now consists of John F. Zoll- ner; his wife Ruth; eldest daughter, Agnes, aged fifteen years; second daughter, Ada, aged twelve years; and youngest daughter, Mamie, aged eight years.
Rodney Of Hudson
HISTORY OF LAKE COUNTY,
CALIFORNIA.
Geographical Situation and Area - Derivation of Name-Topography- Geology -Climatography, Etc., Etc.
Lake County is bounded on the north-west by Mendocino County, on the south-west by Sonoma County, on the south by Napa County, and on the east by Yolo and Colusa Counties. The territory embraced within its limits is not so extensive as many of the neighboring counties, but it has many redeeming features which put it more on a par with them. In ex- treme length it is nearly one hundred miles, while in width it approximates fifty miles.
DERIVATION OF NAME .- When a name was sought for the new county, which was being organized from the territory separated from the northern portion of Napa County, no more appropriate title than Lake could be found, as in the very heart of the county there is the beautiful sheet of water well named " Clear Lake."
TOPOGRAPHY .- The topographical features of Lake County are quite varied, and yet they may be reduced to three general classes : Valleys, between which, of course, there are mountain ranges, with here and there prominent peaks, such as Cobb, Uncle Sam and others ; water courses and the general system of drainage; and lakes.
VALLEYS .- There are quite a number of small valleys in Lake County, but Big Valley is the only one that is of any great extent. We will give a summarized statement of the general outlines of each one. Beginning at the south-eastern corner of the county, we find first,
Morgan Valley .- This valley is distant about twelve miles from Lower Lake, and is about ten miles long and will average one mile in width. It is made up of a section of rolling country, and is only called a valley be- cause the general face of the country is far below the surrounding ranges of mountains. The stream which flows through it is called Hunting Creek, and it empties into Putah Creek.
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History of Napa and Lake Counties-LAKE.
Long Valley .- This is a truly long valley, being about nine miles long by one-half to one mile in width. It is located north-east of Lower Lake and east of East Lake. Its general trend is south-east and north-west, and Long Valley Creek is the stream that passes through it. It is a branch of Cache Creek, into which stream, of course, it empties.
Burns Valley .- This is a circular valley, lying north-east of Lower Lake and about three miles in diameter. The country is rolling and well adapted to grazing. It comes to the margin of Clear Lake, at the Lower Lake landing.
High Valley .- This valley is up in the mountains north of East Lake, and is about four miles long by half a mile in width. It runs almost parallel with Long Valley, lying on the west side of the western boundry ridge of the latter. There is a small stream running through it.
Jerusalem Valley .- This valley is about two miles long and perhaps a half mile wide, and is located south of Morgan Valley, and south-east of Lower Lake about fourteen miles. Jerusalem Creek runs through it.
Jericho Valley .- This is a small valley lying just west of the last named, and very near to it; so near in fact that that section of the county is always referred to under the union of the two titles-Jerusalem and Jericho.
Little High Valley .- This is a very small valley, located about four miles south of Lower Lake, and is perhaps one and a half miles long.and three-quarters of a mile wide.
Coyote Valley .- This is a beautiful valley lying along the banks of Putah Creek, south of Lower Lake about ten miles. It is about ten miles long and from one to six miles in width.
Copsey Valley .- This is a rolling, open country lying just south of Lower Lake, and is known as the Copsey settlement, although it is as justly entitled to the name of valley as many of the other sections which are denominated valleys.
Lower Lake Valley .- This is the title we have given to the open section of country immediately around the town of Lower Lake. It is not very extensive, but is fertile, being rich made land on the margin of the lake and Cache Creek.
Loconoma Valley .- This valley extends from the foot of St. Helena to the foot of Cobb Mountain, and is about ten miles long and from one and a half to five miles wide. St. Helena Creek is the only considerable stream in it, and the town of Middletown is near its center.
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Geography, Name, Topography, Geology, Etc.
Cobb Valley .- This is a charming little valley, which lies on the north side of Cobb Mountain, and is about four miles long and probably one-half a mile wide. The head waters of Kelsey Creek flow through it, known locally as Cobb Creek.
Big Valley .- This valley lies on the south-western margin of Clear Lake, and extends from Lakeport, in a south-westerly direction, a distance of nine miles. In width it ranges from one to seven miles. Adobe, Kelsey and Christie Creeks serve as avenues of escape for the water-shed of the valley. The soil is very rich, and well adapted to agricultural purposes.
Donovan Valley .- This is a small valley which lies up in the moun- tains just west of Big Valley, and is one and a half miles long by perhaps half a mile in width.
Scotts Valley .- This is a beautiful valley lying west of the western margin of Clear Lake, and running almost parallel with it. In length it is about ten miles, and ranges from one-half to three miles in width. Scotts Creek flows through its entire length.
Bachelor Valley .- This valley lies north-west of Upper Lake a few miles, and is five miles long and from one-half to three miles in width.
Upper Lake Valley .- This valley lies around the head of Clear Lake, and is eight miles long and from one to five miles wide.
Clover Valley .- This valley extends from Upper Lake Valley east- ward, at Clover Creek to the foot of the mountains, on the road to Bartlett Springs. It is about three miles long and half a mile wide.
Gravelly Valley .- This lies in the very north-west corner of Lake County, on the head waters of Eel River. It is four miles long and about one mile wide. It is well named, as the winter's rains overflow it almost entirely and leaves it entirely strewn with gravel and debris. It is a great place for salmon during the spawning season.
Squaw Valley .- This is a very small valley lying just east of Gravelly Valley.
Rice Valley .- This is a small valley lying adjacent to the last men- tioned.
Twin Valleys .- These are two small valleys which lie north of Bart- lett Springs.
Paradise Valley .- This is a small valley lying just across the narrows, north of Uncle Sam Mountain.
WATER-COURSES .-- There are no navigable streams in Lake County, and none of any great importance, except for purposes of drainage. Begin- ning at the south-east corner of the county we find the
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History of Napa and Lake Counties-LAKE.
Putah Creek, which, with its tributaries, serves for an outlet to all the water-shed of the south-eastern portion of the county. St. Helena Creek rises on the north-eastern slope of the mountain of that name, and as it passes by the town of Middletown, and thence into Putah, it assumes the broad proportions of the latter. Other head-streams of the Putah originate on the south-eastern slope of Cobb Mountain, and center near the head of Coyote Valley, whence the stream passes through the valley, and thence to the Sacramento River. Through the Coyote Valley the creek is very wide, being from three hundred to five hundred feet in width, and during the winter freshets it becomes a fearful mountain torrent, into which an enor- mous volume of water is precipitated in a very few hours.
Cache Creek .- Passing on to the north, we come next to Cache Creek, which is the outlet for the waters of Clear Lake. As it passes eastward towards the county line it receives several additions known as "forks" of the stream itself. The north and middle forks are the most prominent of them all. These rise in the mountains in the vicinity of Bartlett Springs, and one of them finds its way to the main stream through Long Valley. In this connection we would state that the entire water-shed of Lake County, makes its egress through these two channels-the Putah and Cache Creeks. The County of Lake is one vast basin, and its border lines are laid upon the rim formed by mountain ridges. Passing up along the north side of Coyote Valley, and extending to the summit of Cobb Mountain, is a low dividing ridge, which separates the waters from Cache and Putah. Along this ridge springs often come out of the ground, within a few feet of each other, that ultimately find their way to the Sacramento River in widely divergent channels.
Scotts Creek .- Beginning at the northern end of Clear Lake, this is the first stream that debouches into that body of water, and enters it near the town of Upper Lake. It rises some distance south-west from Lakeport, in the head of Scotts Valley, and flows in a northerly course through that valley, to the lower end of the Blue Lake Cañon, where it changes its course to easterly, and passes on to its mouth as above indicated. This stream runs almost parallel with Clear Lake, and within a few miles of it.
Clover Creek .- This stream rises in the mountains to the north-east of Upper Lake, and the road to Bartlett Springs passes along it to its sources. It empties into Scotts Creek, near the mouth of the latter.
Middle Creek .-- This is a small stream which flows out from Bachelor Valley and empties into Scotts Creek.
Adobe Creek .- This is the next stream that debouches into Clear Lake, and its mouth is a short distance south of Lakeport, while its head is in the southern portion of Big Valley, and the mountains that surround it.
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Geography, Name, Topography, Geology, Etc.
Kelsey Creek .- This stream rises properly in Cobb Mountain, on the north side, but as it passes through Cobb Valley it is called Cobb Creek. The fact of the water of this stream being the head waters of Kelsey Creek is a matter of artificial circumstance, the water being, some years since, diverted from its original channel into its present one. Kelsey Creek passes on down the mountains to the eastern side of Big Valley, and thence into Clear Lake near the foot of Uncle Sam Mountain. These streams are all beautiful, and the water in them is as clear as a crystal. Fish of many varieties, principally trout, however, abound in all of them, while to bathe in them at the proper season of the year is a luxury not found anywhere except on the sea-beach. Babbling brooks, singing cheerily as they dance and glint in the silvery sunlight, in their merry chase to the sea, is no poet's dream in Lake County, for they greet one on every hand.
LAKES .- There are several lakes in this county, and it is very appro- priately called Lake County. The chief of these is
Clear Lake .- This beautiful sheet of water is located near the geo- graphical center of Lake County, and is a most charming sight to behold. The water is as pure as a crystal, and in the early morning when the bright rays of a summer's sun come gliding over its rippling bosom it becomes a veritable sheen of silver. This lake is about one thousand five hundred feet above the level of the sea, and is about thirty-five miles long, and is from one mile to ten miles in width. It is divided into three sections, upper, lower and east lake. The upper portion extends from the narrows at the foot of Uncle Sam Mountain, northward to the head of the lake near the town of Upper Lake, and is by far the most considerable part of the entire body. Below the narrows there are two arms of the lake, divided by a projecting tongue of land, the northern arm extending to Sulphur Bank, and forming the east lake, while the southern part extends to or nearly to the town of Lower Lake, and forms the lower lake. The daily discharge of water through its outlet, Cache Creek, is estimated to be forty millions of gallons. In depth it varies from a few feet to about ninety, the deepest place being off Soda Bay, and thence through the narrows. The winter's rains will raise it usually about ten feet above low water. There are a host of mineral springs in its bottom and around its margin, and the water in the summer season is really not a very pleasant purgative. It gets quite warm, and affords fine bathing, and for rowing and sailing is unexcelled.
Blue Lakes .- The next lakes in importance in the county are a series known as Blue Lakes, which are situated in the north-western portion of the county. They lie on the road from Ukiah to Lakeport or Upper Lake, and are a great place of resort during the summer season. They derive their
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History of Napa and Lake Counties-LAKE.
name from the beautiful reflection that is seen of the sky on their limpid bosoms. There are three of them in reality, though they are spoken of as four, the upper one being divided into two sections by the narrows. The entire upper lake is about one mile and a half in length, and will average between one-fourth and one-half of a mile in width. The next one to the south is perhaps one-half of a mile long by one-fourth of a mile wide, and the last one is about one-fourth of a mile long by a few hundred yards wide. They are all beautiful sheets of water and abound in fish, and rowing upon them is a rare luxury. Their depth is unknown, but they are reported to be very deep in places.
Tule Lake .- This lake lies about midway between the Blue Lakes and the upper end of Clear Lake, and is formed by the widening out of Scotts Creek. It is about three miles long and three-fourths of a mile in width. It is called Tule Lake from the fact that vast quantities of this rush grows all over its surface. It is of no importance for any purpose, except that it affords a bountiful supply of tule roots for the sustenance of the Indians, who used to camp upon its borders in great numbers during the root-digging season.
Borax Lake .- These lakes lie one on either side of the lower portion of Clear Lake, the one on the eastern side being known as the Big Borax Lake and the other as the Little Borax Lake. The larger one is about one and one-half miles long by one-half mile wide, and the other is but a few hundred yards in diameter, being nearly circular. The principal character- istic of the water in these lakes is borax, hence the name, and they were both worked successfully for that substance some years ago by the California Borax Company.
Bogys Lake .- This is a small body of water lying on the road from Glenbrook to Kelseyville, on the margin of which Bogg's saw mill was at one time located. This lake is of no importance only as a curiosity, being located far up in the midst of the mountains.
Rices Lake .- This is a shallow sheet of water, lying adjacent to what is known as Rice's saw mill, on one of the roads leading from Lower Lake to Kelseyville, and at the north-western base of Siegler Mountain. It is of no importance except as a water supply for the engine of the mill.
A more extended description of all these lakes will be found further on in the body of this work, it being our object here to collect them all together into one general view, giving only a general outline of them in this con- nection. The same will apply to all streams, valleys, springs, etc., in this chapter.
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Geography, Name, Topography, Geology, Etc.
GEOLOGY .- Beginning at once with the special geological features of Lake County, we will name and describe the various minerals and metals to be found within its borders :
Gold .- Gold in quite large quantities has been found in this county, and from time to time there have been quite extensive mining excitements. This metal occurs in quartz, gravel and sulphurets, and possibly in solution in some of the mineral springs. There is a possibility that a time may come when the gold mines of this section will be worked to advantage, especially should any process be discovered whereby low grade ores and poor gravel could be made to yield enough to pay for the working of them.
Silver .- Argentiferous ores are common in all portions of the county, and mining for silver has been conducted quite successfully in several localities. As remarked above, whenever a process is developed by which low grade ores can be worked to advantage, it may be reasonable to suppose that the industry of silver mining will become quite prominent and suc- cessful.
Iron .- This useful metal is found all through the mountains of this county, the ores consisting mainly of chromic, hematite, magnetic, and titanic. No iron mines have, however, been worked to any extent in this county, from the fact that fuel is too scarce at home, and it is too high for to freight the ore to the metropolis. Vast bodies of this ore lie along the eastern borders of the county, and should there ever be a railroad constructed lead- ing to San Francisco directly from that section, it would probably be worked to great advantage.
Coal .- This useful article of economy has not been found in any great quantities in Lake County, yet there are here and there outcroppings of it. It is, however, similar to all the coal on this coast-lignitic or brown-and is not the genuine article at all. It is as one born out of due time; the days for the formation of true coals had gone by when this coast was devel- oped to the right conditions for the formation of a coal-field, hence the assertion that there is no true coal on the Pacific Coast in the full sense of the word. Moreover, the greater portion of the volcanic action of this sec- tion has evidently taken place far subsequent to the formation of the present lignitic coal measures, hence no continuous vein of it can be expected to exist within the radius of the influence of these convulsions. It is hardly probable that a rich vein of true coal underlies the upper formations, for if such were the case, in all of the upheavals and eruptions which have occurred in this section, some traces of it would have been revealed.
Petroleum .- This substance is not found in any quantities in the county, though there are indications of it on all sides. Some of the most famous springs in all this section are strongly impregnated with petroleum, the
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History of Napa and Lake Counties-LAKE.
Highlands being a very good example. It is not probable, however, that any great flow of this product will be found in the county, as the same con- ditions exist here to prevent it as elsewhere on this coast, viz: the broken up and convoluted condition of the earth's crust allows the body of the flow to become broken up and disconnected, so that no very strongly flowing wells have been found, as compared with those at the East, in the Appa- lachian range of mountains.
Quicksilver .- This metal has been found in large quantities in almost all portions of Lake County, and the ore is being very successfully reduced at the present time by the Sulphur Bank Quicksilver Mining Company, and at the Great Western Mine. This metal usually appears in the forni of cinnabar, which is, in its composition, 812 grains of quicksilver to 18} grains of sulphur. Hence, knowing that it abounded in the hills and mountains all through that section, it was nothing more than reason- able to expect to find it in connection with the Sulphur Bank at East Lake. When it occurs free from sulphur it is said to be native, and in this condi- tion it is found at the Sulphur Bank, but not in connection with the sulphur, but in a soft talcose rock which abounds in that vicinity.
Borax .- The chemical term for this is biborate of soda, and it is a salt formed by the combination of boracic acid with sodium. It was first dis- covered in and obtained from a lake in Thibet, and was sent to Europe under the name of tincal. It is of a white color, or sometimes grayish, or with a shade of blue and green. It is an excellent flux in many metallurgical operations, and useful in soldering iron and steel. There are two borax lakes in Lake County, one lying on the eastern side of the southern arm of Clear Lake, and just south of the Sulphur Bank, and the other directly west of the first, and across the lake, on the Buckingham place. In both of these lakes the water is very strongly impregnated with borax, and the California Borax Company prosecuted the industry of preparing it for the market very successfully, and for quite a term of years.
Umbers and Ochres .- These mineral substances, used extensively for painting purposes, occur frequently in this county, and in many places in quantities sufficient for working advantageously.
Petrifactions .- These may be considered the alphabet of geology, as it is by them that scientists are able to read, in a great measure, the record of the earth's existence and the upbuilding and formation of its crust. They occur here and there in Lake County, but as the formation of the rock is mostly igneous rather than aqueous, comparatively few petrifactions are found. A wonderful physical and chemical transformation occurs during the progress of lapidification, and it is well worthy the careful attention of any one to observe and study the transformation.
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Geography, Name, Topography, Geology, Etc.
Copper .- Copper has been found in several portions of the county, but not in any great bodies.
Sulphur .- This substance is to be found in all portions of Lake County in some form or other, extending through all the grades from native to union with almost every known substances for which it has an affinity. At the Sulphur Bank at East Lake there are acres of it in an almost native state, varying in depth from a few feet to fifty or more. Whence came this great volume of sulphur ? This is a question which puzzles the wisest of our scientific men. One theory, and it seems to us the more probable of the two, is that this great bed of sulphur is but the deposit of a host of thermal springs which at one time burst forth at that place. The other theory is that it was deposited there by some volcanic action in a body as it is found to-day. The first theory supposes the deposit to be an accretionary process covering perhaps centuries ; the other, a comparatively instantaneous work of perhaps a day, or even an hour. There is a crater, now extinct, just to the eastward of the place, and the rim of it is fractured upon the west side, and the lava flow can be traced to the water's edge; but the body of this flow is under the sulphur deposit, and only boulders of basalt and meta- morphic rock are to be found in the body of the deposit. A more extended discussion of this subject will be found in the body of this work, to which the reader is referred. There are a host of sulphur springs all over the county, both cold and thermal, a striking example of the former being found at the Pierson Springs, and of the latter at the Harbin Springs. In most cases it appears as yellow sulphur, but occasionally white sulphur is deposited by a spring. The first is its normal or natural color, and the latter is induced by its union with some other mineral substance, usually sodium or potassium.
Soda .- This substance is to be found in nearly all the waters of Lake County, and even Clear Lake is highly impregnated with it. It occurs mostly in the form of carbonates, sulphates and chlorides. As a carbonate, it occurs in all the soda springs in the county, and it is the carbonic acid gas which is always found with this water that gives to it the sparkle and the slightly acid taste. As a sulphate, its presence is often made known in the mineral springs by their cathartic tendency, the sulphate of soda being what is known in commerce as glauber salts, which are very much akin to epsom salts. As a chloride, it appears as common salt, and in much of the water the salty taste is very prominent. In none of the springs is the yield of soda enough to justify any attempt to manufacture it for the market.
Lime .- Sulphate of lime, (gypsum), carbonates and magnesian lime- stones are found in quite large quantities all over the county. At the southern end of Long Valley there is quite a mountain of limestone, which
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History of Napa and Lake Counties-LAKE.
has yielded a fair quality of lime, when burned, for economical purposes. Another quarry is in the vicinity of Lower Lake, and the lime made from it is a very fair article.
Alabaster .- This form of the sulphate of lime is found occasionally in very small quantities, and serve more for rare specimens than for any pur- pose of utility. Specimens of it have been found near Middletown.
Manganese .-- The peroxyd of manganese occurs in its massive form in several localities, and it could doubtless be worked to good advantage. There is quite a body of it in Scotts Valley.
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