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 75
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 75
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98
NEW COURT-HOUSE .- When the matter of the location of the county seat was finally settled, the Board of Supervisors set about it at once to have the necessary county buildings erected. To their credit be it said, they had taken no hasty steps while the matter of county seat was being agitated, hence no unnecessary burden was imposed upon the county. It may be said by the disputing parties that if buildings had been erected at either place that would have settled the matter. This is doubtful.
The first step looking towards the erection of county buildings was to get an Act passed by the Legislature authorizing the issuing of sufficient bonds for that purpose. In this connection quite a good story is told, which is as follows: In the fall of 1868, while the county seat was at Lower Lake, and the matter was being contested in the Courts, the people of that place conceived the idea that if there were county buildings erected it would quiet the whole matter ; not that they doubted for a moment but that they would ultimately come out victorious in the matter. The people of Lakeport had got some clue which led them to think that there was yet hope for them ; so when the people of Lower Lake proposed a public meet- ing for the purpose of petitioning the Legislature to pass the enabling Act, of course the Lakeport people joined heartily in the movement, for if the county seat was to remain at Lower Lake they would want county build- ings, and if victory should perch upon their banners they wanted to have the traps all set ready to spring when the question was finally decided. This was probably the most amicable meeting ever had by the two factions. Everything worked to a charm. The officers of the meeting were about evenly distributed between the two localities. The petition was duly drawn up and forwarded to Sacramento, and affirmative action taken on it there. Then was the agony of suspense fairly begun ! The Board of Supervisors would take no steps in the matter till the question was settled, and if it went in favor of Lakeport the Act would enable them to proceed at once with the erection of the buildings. Thus were the good people of Lower Lake caught on the horns of a dilemma. Finally, the election came and Lakeport was victorious.
74
History of Napa and Lake Counties-LAKE.
The provisions of the bill mentioned above were that the Board of Su- pervisors could issue bonds to the amount of $20,000, in denominations of $250 each, to bear interest at the rate of twelve per cent. per annum, and to be payable in two, four and six years from the date of their issuance. The date of the approval of the Act was March 24, 1868. February 18, 1870, an amendment was passed extending the time of the payment of the bonds to ten, twelve and fourteen years.
The plans and specifications for the building set forth that it should be sixty-six feet long and forty-four feet wide, two stories high, be built of brick, and have a tin roof. It fronts the lake (east), and is located in center of a handsome plaza comprising a whole block. While the building is not at all showy, it is plain and tasty, and contains rooms for the county officers, and a commodious court-room. At its rear, and really a part of the build- ing, is a secure, substantial, comfortable and well-ventilated jail. Walks have been laid and the grounds tastefully designed, and if a good fence were put around it the place would compare favorably with any in the State.
The contract for erecting the buildings was let to A. P. Pettit, May 27, 1870, for the sum of $17,000, which would have left a small balance in the fund had the bonds sold for par. The bids for the bonds, which were sold in September, 1870, were as follows: J. H. Goodman & Co. 82 cents, and A. Levy 90 cents on the dollar.
THE CACHE CREEK DAM .- The subject of subjects that has inter- ested the people of Lake County has been the dam which was constructed some years ago across Cache Creek near the outlet of Clear Lake. This was a contest of might against right, of the people against monopoly, a recognizance of that higher law which justifies rebellion against tyranny, be it in the government under which a people live, or in the centralization of money power. The people were right, and they maintained their right. The demolition of the dam, which was a curse to the community, was not considered by the Courts at any time to be a violation of law-it was only the illegal appropriation of a few pounds of barley for horse feed, which was done thoughtlessly, not willfully, that put the burden on the shoulders of the people.
We will now proceed to give the full particulars of the affair, and we have spared no pains in trying to arrive at true and correct statements in regard to it. We will give the statements which appeared in the public prints at the time, and a version of the affair given to us by one of the principal actors in the coup d'etat which ended its existence. Beginning at the first, then : A man by the name of Orrin Simmons, as the agent for what was known as the Clear Lake Water Company, purchased the old
75
General History and Settlement.
Fowler mill, near Lower Lake, in the fall of 1865. During that winter this company got the following bill through the Legislature, it bearing date of approval of March 31, 1866 :
" SECTION 1. L. M. Curtis, W. G. Hunt, E. R. Lowe, J. D. Longhenour, S. N. Mewing, J. A. Hutton, G. W. Woodward, H. C. Yerby, Charles Traver, N. Wyckoff, R. Day, N. Coombs, J. D. Stephens, William Gordon and F. S. Freeman, and their associates, are hereby authorized to build and keep in repair a lock in Cache Creek, at or near the outlet of Clear Lake, in Lake County.
"SEC. 2. Said company, after they have incorporated under the provi- sions of the Act to provide for the formation of corporations and the con- struction of canals, approved May 14, 1862, shall have power, and they are hereby authorized to build and maintain said lock at any point in said Cache Creek, between Clear Lake and Fowler's mill on said stream; and they, and their heirs and assigns, shall have and enjoy all the rights, privi- liges and purchases thereof, together with the right of way, which is hereby ceded, for the period of thirty years.
"SEC. 3. Said company is hereby authorized to remove any and all ob- structions in said stream, and to excavate for the purpose of constructing said lock.
"SEC. 4. After the completion of said lock, said company shall have the right to open the same, so as to pass the water of the said lake down said stream, at such time and in such quantities as they may deem necessary, so as to furnish a supply of water in said stream below during the dry season ; provided, that said company shall not reduce the water in said lake by means of the lock during the months of July and August of each year more than one foot perpendicular measurement below a point where it usually stands in ordinary seasons in said months ; and, provided, further, that said company shall not be allowed to raise the water in said lake, by means of said lock, above a point where it usually stands.
"SEC. 5. Said company shall have the right to control all the water which may be supplied in said stream below by means of said lock, for irri- gating and other useful purposes ; provided, that any person may have the free use of the water where it flows in the stream, for stock-water, or any other domestic purpose."
With this to back them, they began operations, and the people soon saw that they had an elephant on their hands. The Act specified that the com- pany should not lower the water more than one foot. The people were not very much afraid of their lowering it any; but it was from the other side of the line that they anticipated trouble, and from which their ills all did finally come. Although the bill specified that the water should not be raised above its usual height, yet they put their dam in, and raised the
76
History of Napa and Lake Counties-LAKE.
water several feet above the highest water ever known there. Some say there were two extremely hard winters in succession, hence the flood. When the extra rainfall came, the less desirable it was to have any obstruc- tions in the only outlet to the lake. When the stranger is told that the water reached the level of Main street in Lakeport in the winter season, and that it only fell about two feet during the entire summer, he can have some adequate idea of the extreme height of the water. It was higher at extreme low water than it has since been at extreme high water. The re- sult of all this was, that farms were overflowed, orchards destroyed, houses vacated, and a general scene of desolation which beggars description pre- sented itself all around the margin of the lake.
Sickness prevailed to an alarming extent both of a malarial and mem- braneous character, one family losing seven children in less than that many weeks, from diphtheria. People were driven from their houses into their barns to live, and oftentimes away from their places altogether. The com- pany were entreated to stay their designs, as the damage to the people was far more than they could hope to reap from the enterprise. They were sued and several times declared by the Courts a nuisance, and yet in the face of all this, they still persisted in refusing to give heed to the demands made upon them. At last the people began to rise in their might and to threaten violence, but this they defied, as they had the letter of the law to protect them. They had the people in a box legally, from which there was no escape within the scope of the statutes, and the only way out of it was to take advantage of that higher law which always protects the right. This legal quandary was this : the people had sued for an injunction to stop the work, and to have it all abated as a nuisance. The technicalities of the law were such that they could not sue, except in their own Court, and no jury could be found in the county in which there were not men that the company could find sufficient cause for dismissal. The company would not ask for a change of venue, as they were content to let it rest where it was and the people were debarred and could not. So the matter stood, and the language of the Judge in stating these facts to the attorneys for the people, fairly implied just what he thought was the only true solution of the pro- blem, to loose the gordian knot it must be cut, and the people cut it this time, surely.
We will now proceed to tell how this was done, giving first a statement which was published in the San Francisco Bulletin at the time, entitled, " Mob in Lake County," and which is as follows :
"On Sunday the 15th of November, 1868, an armed mob of three hun- dred men from the upper portion of Clear Lake surprised the parties in charge of the extensive grist and lumber mill located two miles below the outlet of the lake, and took into custody the Sheriff and his deputies, Judge
77
General History and Settlement.
Holloway, the County Judge of Lake, the superintendent of the mill works, with other prominent citizens who might be thought friendly to law and order, and then deliberately fired the flour, planing and saw-mills, and destroyed the dam.
" The pretext for these high-handed proceedings is found in the follow- ing circumstances : In consequence of the excessive rainfall of the past two winters, the water in Clear Lake-a sheet some twenty miles long by from two to ten miles wide-has been very high, and the low land about the upper and wider part of the lake, which is occupied and more or less culti- vated by settlers, has been overflowed. The overflow has been attributed by the Upper Lake people to the dam of the mill company, which is located some two iniles below the outlet of the lake on Cache Creek. The mill folks contend that they have really increased the discharging capacity of the outlet by clearing it of logs and other obstacles, and that the overflow is wholly due to the excessive discharges from a watershed four hundred and fifty miles square, which must all find vent through the narrow outlet of the creek.
" The question at issue has been in Court, and the facts brought out showed that the dam was not the cause of the high water; thereupon the indictments brought were dismissed. This result seems to have exasperated the Upper Lake people who took the law into their own hands. The dam has been built fifteen years, and many of the persons who engaged in the outrage have settled in the county long since it was constructed. The flour mill was a very complete one, and one of the best in the State, having a capacity of twenty-four tons of wheat daily. The saw and planing mill was very complete, and capable of turning out twenty-four thousand feet of lumber daily. There was burned with the mill over one hundred tons of wheat, and a large quantity of flour.
" On the 16th, the day following the demolition of the dam, a requisition came to the Governor for two hundred troops to assist the authorities in maintaining the law and protecting the property. Unfortunately, before the troops could get there the work of destruction was done. The mills were owned in part by citizens of San Francisco. They were an important factor of the industry, business and taxable resources of Lake County, and their destruction at the hands of a mob is a serious blow to its reputation and development. The property was of great value, and under the law passed by the last Legislature, the county will be obliged to make good every dollar of the loss."
The above statement evidently emanated from the owners of the prop- erty, and the closing sentences are so maliciously false that we would not insult the people of Lake County by inserting them in the history of their county, and only give place to the above that both sides may be stated, and
78
History of Napa and Lake Counties-LAKE.
we give it first as we always like to have the best argument come last-it is apt to be longer remembered and to be more convincing. A few days after the above appeared in the Bulletin, the following version of the affair was published in that paper, which, it is stated, was written by an eye wit- ness to the whole transaction :
" Having occasion to cross the bridge over the outlet of Clear Lake, near Lower Lake, on Sunday last (November 15th) I was startled by an un- common commotion on the other side, and soon found out that the long threatened assault on the mill-dam was about to be carried into execution. A very inferior dam had been put up about eleven years ago, with, as was reported, the intention of eventually taking the Clear Lake waters down to San Francisco to supply the city with good water. The first eight years the dam, on account of its inferiority, did but little harm to the surrounding country, making the waters to raise but slightly.
"Then the property near the outlet and the right of the water was sold to a rich company, and now things had assumed a more energetic form. A high, strong stone dam was put up instead of the old one, and raised several feet higher than the first. Some people looked dubiously at it, but the generality did not fear anything. When the winter rains commenced the lake was raised to such a height that it overflowed and ruined all the rich land around it, and even fences and dwelling-houses ; and orchards of sev- eral years growth became nothing but a swamp. Farmers who had, by several years' labor, succeeded in fixing for themselves a comfortable place, now all of a sudden found themselves reduced to destitution. The wealth- ier ones whose homes were thus broken up, moved away and started life anew, but the poorer class had not the means to do so. They consequently went to the rich company and asked for compensation, but found no willing ear. Then all the principal inhabitants of Lake County leagued together, employed a lawyer, and gave the matter over into the hands of justice, but justice moves with a slow pace.
" Another rainy season set in and made matters worse than the first. Still the people suffered patiently. Many had now been reduced to utter privation ; but certainly justice would give them redress for their wrongs. Another summer passed away; fall set in, bringing in its train sickness, which had formerly been a stranger in the healthy and salubrious air of Lake County. But how could it be otherwise ? The stagnant waters must court disease. The Court was nearing its session, and excitement ran high about its decisions. The case occupied several days, and then the suit was put under the Act of outlawry, and all Lake County told to go home and submit to be drowned or killed by fever. The former they did, but not the latter.
" A number of prominent men traveled over the community, rousing the
79
General History and Settlement.
people to immediate action, and the consequence was that a crowd of three hundred men met on Sunday morning, November 15th, by daylight, at Lower Lake, secured all the officers of the place, and set at work systemati- cally, not wantonly to destroy property, but to redress their wrongs, which justice had refused to do. All the flour and machinery were removed from the mill to a safe place, and toward evening a red flame showed that the building itself had been sacrificed to the god of fire.
" The next day the number of men seemed to be double, all working as hard as possible in lowering the dam. If it had not been for the outposts not allowing anybody to pass without particular permission, and the martial appearance of the men-for every one was armed with a pistol, and many with a gun besides-you would have thought them some peaceable citizens very intent on some Government work, so quietly was everything conducted. All that day and the following night the destruction went on systematically, and by Tuesday noon the dam was lowered, a larger outlet provided for the lake, and the people, mounting their horses and wagons, quietly returned home, there to await the result of their labor."
We will now give a detailed statement made by one of the principal actors in the affair, which we took stenographically at the time of its re- cital, adding thereto such other facts as we were able to gather from the other participants. It is as follows :
" In the fall of 1865 Orrin Simmons, as the agent of the Clear Lake Water Company, bought the old Fowler mill, about one and a quarter miles below Lower Lake. In 1866 they placed some sand bags in the water to hold it so that they could construct the dam. This was placed within a few feet of where the road from Lower Lake to Burns Valley crossed the creek, and there was a bridge at that point before the dam was begun. The dam was constructed of stone, and on top of it cribs were built for the foundation of the mill, so that it was impossible to tear out the dam without destroying at least a portion of the mill. They had a flood- gate so arranged that the water could be raised thirteen feet above high water mark, and the top of the dam was just at high water mark in the lake. After the people found that their appeals were unheeded by the Water Company, a suit was begun by one of the citizens, Mr. Grigsby, for the pur- pose of testing the matter of redress for damages. The expense of this suit was borne by the citizens jointly, as its decision affected them all alike. He sued for $15,000 damages, and the trial was had in Mendocino County, and taken thence to the Supreme Court.
" While this suit was lying in that condition the dam was decided by the grand jury, three several times, to be a nuisance, and so indicted by them. When the matter would come up in Court it would be set aside from the fact that some member of the grand jury had been a land owner, hence
.
80
History of Napa and Lake Counties-LAKE.
was an interested party to the action. On the last indictment as a nuisance it was tried before Judge J. B. Southard at Lower Lake, and upon that oc- casion the Judge said : 'I see no redress for the injured parties around the margin of the Lake, in civil law ; but there is such a thing as a higher law.' (Brave and noble words to be uttered by a man hampered as he was by being one of the chief executors of the civil law !)
"This was said on Wednesday morning, November 11, 1868. The people comprehended fully the import of the Judge's words, and that their last hope for relief from the arm of the law had vanished, leaving them to rely on nothing but that 'higher law' spoken of by the Judge. Immediately their plans were concocted, and heralds were sent all over the upper end of the county, and the citizens were all notified that a move on the dam would be made on the following Saturday; the 14th. Accordingly, on that day the people began to assemble at Lakeport at an early hour, and by noon there were probably two hundred and fifty there. They came provided with arms, blankets, and provisions sufficient for at least a week's campaign. The rendezvous was at the Lost Spring Ranch, now known as the J. H. Jamison place, and when the main body arrived they found quite a number already present, and more continued to come, so that there were finally about three hundred and twenty-five in the crowd. Scouts were kept out all the time to see that no one went to Lower Lake to give the alarm.
" That night they elected officers to take charge of the expedition, which by this time had assumed quite pretentious proportions. Jacob Bowers and J. B. Robinson were selected to take charge of the removal of the dam, and J. W. Mackall was chosen military commander. From this time forward everything was done with perfect order and discipline.
" On the morning of Sunday, the 15th, Commander Mackall and ten picked men started very early for the town of Lower Lake, in advance of the main body of men, arriving there at exactly eight A. M. Lower Lake was the county seat at that time, and this vanguard proceeded to take charge of the following county officers : W. H. Manlove, Sheriff; F. Herrenden, Deputy Sheriff; J. B. Holloway, County Judge, and Sarshel Bynum, County Clerk. They also took possession of L. P. Nichols, superintendent of the Water Company. The main body arrived very shortly afterwards, and when in the center of the town a halt was called. Here at this time some amus- ing scenes occurred. The entire population of the town gathered around the imposing cavalcade with a look of surprise, wonderment, and curiosity. The county officers were in a great state of excitement, especially when they found out just what was the intention of the crowd. The Sheriff, to use a Californian phrase comprehending more force than elegance, 'bucked furi- ously.' He insisted on easing his conscience and sense of duty by reading the Riot Act. This privilege was accorded him, and he mounted a wagon
Gro. mr Hassan
81
General History and Settlement.
seat and proceeded, the 'mob,' as he designated them, standing demurely by and listening in an orderly manner. When he was through he was told to occupy the seat he was standing on, and not to vacate it either. He obeyed implicitly. The Judge was inclined to be obstreperous also, but his nerves were finally calmed down when he saw that he was powerless. The Clerk was very nervous, and declared he would not stand any such an imposition. He had been placed in the charge of an old hunter by the name of Jacob Welty, a resident of Scotts Valley, and an early settler of the county. Mr. Welty was upwards of eighty at that time, and as gray as a badger. He was very diminutive in stature, and had a very long-barrelled gun-one of the old-fashioned muzzle-loading flint-locks that were common a century or more ago. Mr. Bynum proceeded to make good his words, that he 'would not stand it any longer,' and started to move off. Old Mountaineer was not to be trifled with in that manner ; so, backing off till he could get the entire length of his gun barrel in a horizontal between him and Mr. Bynum, he leveled his old piece on him, and shouted out in stentorian tones: 'STAND, Sarshel, I SAY, STAND !' And Sarshel stood. For many years that was a ' catch phrase' all over the county, but it was always very repulsive to Mr. Bynum's ears, although he was forced to hear it very often in after years.
" All this only occupied half an hour, and at 8:30 the line of march was again taken up; and Mackall and the ten men preceded the main body as before, and upon arriving at the mill, took charge of the four men they found upon the premises. As soon as the crowd arrived, a regular patrol around the premises was established by Commander Mackall. The line of patrol was double, the inner one being about three hundred yards in diam- eter, and the outer one about fifty yards outside of that ; and there were forty men on duty in the two lines, twenty in each one. These guards were relieved every two hours, in regular military style, and were main- tained till the last. The men who had been in charge of the mill were taken off to one side about two hundred yards, and put under guard, but were finally given the liberty of the inside of the inner line of patrol. They were treated just as well as the men themselves, sharing their meals and beds.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.