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 77
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 77
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" Clear Lake, so called from the remarkable purity of its surrounding atmosphere, is one thousand five hundred feet above the level of the sea. It is an irregular sheet of water, thirty-five miles long, and varying in width from two to twelve miles, and covers an area of eighty-two square miles. It is divided by "the narrows" into upper and lower lake. Its depth is from twenty to a hundred and fifteen feet. The lake is surrounded by mountains except at its outlet, Cache Creek, a stream which empties into the Sacramento River. A number of picturesque islands dot the lake. The sunsets in this region are very fine, the reflection in the lake adding to the beauty of the display. At the narrows, Uncle Sam Mountain projects into the lake and rises almost perpendicularly to the height of two thousand seven hundred feet. Uncle Sam is an ugly name, and we will henceforth call it with the Indians, Konoctikanu (the big mountain). This curious mountain is a towering pile of immense bowlders, heaped upon each other in reckless profusion, and evidently the result of a volcanic eruption. It is entirely destitute of water, there being neither stream nor spring. Under the guidance of Mrs. Dunlap we followed the trail along the lake on horse- back. At a distance of two miles we reached the summer residence of T. H. Buckingham, of the well-known firm of Buckingham & Hecht, San Fran- cisco. His grounds are superbly laid out and the view to points is most
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beautiful. At our feet, deep, green and motionless, was a borax lake, named by the Indians Hatchen (Bitter Water). This remarkable lake is a mile in circumference and many feet deep. It holds in solution large quantities of borax, and its bed is supposed to be the crater of an extinct volcano. Be- side it stands the giant Konoctikanu, and directly across Clear Lake, Floyd or Red Mountain and adjacent spurs. It was a scene of indescribable splen- dor. While reposing beneath the shade of the oak and pine trees, there came a venerable Indian and we beguiled him into repeating the traditions of the mountains and the lakes.
"Our tawny bard first told of the mortal combat between two great Indian divinities, powerful Boronbega, keeper of the waters, and the mighty hunter, Boswellia, keeper of the forests. Ololocmake, the blushing doe, daughter of Boronbega, loved in secret the enemy of her father. In the retirement of her wigwam she buries her face amid the panther robes and awaits the result of the combat in anxious terror. Boswellia prepares for battle :
' All night long he piled the mighty bowlders, Heaped the rocks in wild, fantastic fashion ; Black obsidian and the gray, tongh granite- Piled them high with angry force and clamor.'
He had placed them there to hurl at his foe. Boronbega was not idle, and during the night time-
' Stretched himself along the broken ridges, Oft heard the sound of Boswellia's labor ; Smiled in quiet, grim derision- Fixed an arrow to his wondrous yew bow.'
Thus were the champions prepared for battle on either side of the Lup- Yomi (Clear Lake). When daylight came Boswellia hurled a huge bowlder, which, cleaving Boronbega's head, lodged on the mountain top and now forms the present crest. The life blood of the god dyed the sides of the mountain crimson, and it has since been called Nogometa (Red Mountain). But the fatal arrow of Boronbega had sped on its way and pierced the heart of Boswellia, and he fell dead beneath the shadow of his prowess, Konoctikanu. In the dreadful stillness that followed, Ololocmake crept from her lodge, kissed her dead father and hurried across the lake to her lover-
' Beside the corse of loved Boswellia, Knelt grim Boronbega's wailing daughter ; Wept until her maiden tears down raining Formed deep the lake of Bitter Water. After mourning many days and nights, Into still Lup-Yomi's bosom wide, Sprang the desolate Ololocmake ; And where she weeping sank, still restless flows The sobbing spring of Omarocharbe.'
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" At the foot of Floyd Mountain, on a triangular peninsula extending into the lake, is the handsome residence and farm of Captain Floyd. Fur- ther on is Paradise Valley, containing some of the oldest farms in the county. After being courteously entertained and dined by Mr. Buckingham and his accomplished wife, we returned to Soda Bay. Rowing out to Echo Cove, we tested its effects. The resonance is very powerful, and our saluta- tions came ringing back in tones clear as a bell. About the hotel, among the numerous oaks, nature has played many freaks. Limbs and trunks have grown and are twisted into really perfect resemblances as named. There is the big and the little harp, the Siamese twins, the lovers, the wrestlers, and the double cipher. The miniature steamship 'City of Lake- port,' modeled after the ' City of Peking,' puts in at the hotel wharf daily. She is capable of making nineteen miles an hour, and is the property of Captain Floyd. Boarding her we bid adieu to Soda Bay, and in due course of time made the pretty little town of Lakeport."
If the past of Lake County may be considered successful, how much more so must the future be ! Just now she is in the transition stage, and before her lies grand possibilities of wealth and prosperity. It is no longer an unsolved problem that wool growing and the cultivation of the wine grape, and its manufacture into wine will be two great and growing indus- tries of the beautiful county of Lake. Those two sources of wealth, in connection with the mining interests, and the invigorating waters and heal- ing properties of the medicinal springs, will invite capitalists in many ways to invest their surplus funds in the county. Harmony of interests and unity in action are vitally important to success, and we really can see no reason why, with all the elements of wealth which the county possesses, to stimulate enterprise and active industries, the citizens should fail to avail themselves of the opportunities constantly presenting themselves for their consideration and acceptance. Every foot of what are now termed waste lands may, by industry, be made available in contributing to the happiness and prosperity of many a landless family, by their proper cultivation in fruits and grain. Having a good and healthful climate, a rich and pro- ductive soil may be made by labor, which is, in fact, the source and fountain of wealth, to yield an untold harvest. We would invite the attention of capitalists as well as the landless to Lake County, with its undeveloped resources. Unrivalled in beauty of scenery, in the richness of its valley lands, in the adaptability of its mountain ranges for pasturage and vine- yards, and indeed the production of fruits equal to the best in this or any other State.
THE NEED OF THE HOUR .- A railroad is the greatest immediate want of Lake County; but we are sorry to record the fact that the pros- pect of getting an outlet of this kind in the near future is anything but
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flattering. Ever and anon excitements about railroads rise to fever heat, and the people can almost imagine that they hear the shrill whistle of the engine re-echoing through the valleys and mountains ; but the interest sub- sides, and all is as quiet as the grave on the subject. There are three plans: one up Cache Creek from Madison, one by way of Pope Valley from Napa, and one from the Ukiah Valley. Certainly, the one up Cache Creek is the most feasible, and the one most probable to be built. With reference to the Vaca Valley and Clear Lake Railroad, whose charter calls for the extension of the road to Clear Lake, the Superintendent, Mr. G. B. Stevenson, has gone over the plan in detail with the writer hereof, and we know that the extension of the road to the lake is one of his dearest projects. May cir- cumstances soon be such that from some source or other the good people of Lake County may be placed within easy and quick communication with the outside world. Such facilities of travel would not only give the resi- dents easy ingress and egress for themselves and their produce, but would relieve the trip to Lake County of much of its tediousness, and cause thous- ands of people to visit the many springs and other places of attraction, where now hundreds only come; and with travel of this kind always comes money.
TELEGRAPH LINE .- The Colusa, Lake and Mendocino Telegraph Company constructed their line in 1874. It extends from Colusa to Calis- toga via Williams, Bartlett Springs, Upper Lake, Lakeport, Kelseyville, Glenbrook, Middletown, Great Western Mines to Calistoga. From Glen- brook a branch line goes to Seigler Springs, Lower Lake and Sulphur Bank. The name of the company was changed in 1881 to the Northern Telegraph Company.
We will now close this part of our work, referring the reader to other chapters for information on special subjects. In this the outline of the county has been given ; in them the shading up and filling out has been done, having preferred not to make this too full to the detriment of the others.
In closing this chapter, which in its historical matter embraces the entire county, we would ask the reader to go in imagination with us to the top of Uncle Sam, and let us take one farewell look at the beautiful panorama of the whole county which spreads itself out before us. From our lofty height what a grand prospect opens to our view! Farms, herds, golden fields of grain, neat, tasty residences, abodes of wealth-comfort, contentment and happiness sit enthroned wherever the eye reaches. The beauty and grandeur of this scene cannot truthfully be touched by a poet's pen or a limner's pen- cil; but as best we can let us paint it in words. Far away to the eastward the mountains of the Sierra Nevada lift their snow-capped summits as if to meet the clouds and catch the drippings of heaven's dew ere it has been
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tainted by contact with lower and viler stratas of the atmosphere, or to kiss the rosy-mantled cheek of the golden charioted Aurora as she unbars the gate of light to let in the glorious mid-summer's day. In whatever direc- tion the eye is turned, the vista reaches far out and takes in range upon range of mountains and hills and valleys and timber and streams which, mantled with the mellow halo of an autumn day, presents a scene that would have coquetted with the fancies of the old masters, whose paintings have enlisted the enthusiastic admiration of art connoisseurs everywhere.
Beneath us the valleys teem with life, with homes of happiness, culture and refinement, handsome houses and well-kept gardens blooming with flowers that fill the air with perfume and richest incense ; golden fields of ripening grain, the wealth and support of the people; busy husbandmen ; smiling, contented matrons ; gleeful, hopeful maidens, and laughing, joyous children tripping along their way to school-America's sentinel-posts that dot the valley and hill-sides all over the county. Rivulets, creeks and rivers shimmer in the sunshine like ribbons of silver, and chassa along through the gorges of the mountain-pass, or the wider and peaceful valley, one ripple chasing another over the smoothly-worn gravel of their beds, or leaping time-worn rocks, rushing on to kiss the hem of Lup-Yomi. Anon, a church steeple points to the sky, the home of God and the city of golden-paved streets. Here and there nestles a village with its stores and shops and mills, and its busy sons and daughters of toil, whose strong arms and deft fingers fashion the useful and beautiful, and add to the wealth of the nation in which they live.
In the center of all this grand prospect stands the beautiful village of Lakeport, with a population of busy people, whose intelligence and wealth will bear favorable comparison with any place of its size in the State, and far outstrip many of greater pretensions. Her public and private schools, with their accomplished and experienced teachers, her numerous church edi- fices, large congregations and learned and devout ministers, bespeak a re- fined and desirable condition of society.
Turning to the westward the panorama is just as beautiful. Mountain range and beautiful valley follow each other in succession down to the very ocean. Streams innumerable have their sources in the mountains, and thread their silvery way down their course to the sea. Great redwood forests line their banks and spread out in one solid array of ever-vernal beauty, mantling all the hill and mountain sides in a robe of living green. And far beyond it all, extending to the horizon's limit, may be seen, upon a clear day, the grand blue of the old Pacific, on whose bosom is borne the argosies of the world. Skirting the horizon, vessels are passing to and from all the ports of earth, bearing in their holds the freight of nations. As they pass out of the Golden Gate, and "trim their sails" and "shape their
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courses," what a varied destiny and destination is theirs! Some seek the far-away north-west whaling grounds, where the snows and ice of centuries are to be encountered; others sail away to the tropics, where the spice- laden breezes of the Indus and Cathay will waft them over seas of silver; while others bear the great burdens of California's cereals to European ports, where they supply the wants of the moiling millions on the other side of the Atlantic.
To the north and east at our feet lies the beautiful Clear Lake, looking a very sheen of silver, on whose bosom a myriad of gentle ripples dance in a merry glee, from whose crests the silver shafts of light glance in a glorious profusion. Farther on abrupt mountains rear their heads, and chain after chain overlap each other, till the frosty polls of the exalted peaks of Snow range meets the vision. To the south mountains and valleys extend away to the horizon, with Cobb and St. Helena standing like mile-posts along the line of vision, and Diablo and Tamalpais standing like giant sentinels on some Titan fortress on the very outskirts of creation.
What a grand picture ! And yet the subject is scarcely touched. The pen is powerless and words are vain. It was the hand of the divine Archi- tect that unfolded this garden of beauty, that spread out these picturesque valleys, that fashioned the courses of the brooklets and streams and rivers, that hollowed the basin of the mighty Pacific, and supplies the never-failing fountains from which its depths of water are replenished. All this is the fruit of his superlative greatness and incomprehensible wisdom. "Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men !"
We cannot close this chapter more appropriately than to reproduce the following beautiful lines, dedicated to Lake County by their author, and published in the Bee, March 30, 1876:
Dear land of mountain, vale and stream, Of rocky glen and rushing torrent ; Thy charms surpass the poet's dream, And painters' raptures warrant.
Since modern song does thee forsake, And Uncle Sam's old charm refuses, I ask the Naiads of thy lake To be my gracious muses.
If from its mirror I may catch Some photographs of thy rare beauty, I'll challenge all the world to match Alike my themes and duty.
Less than a score of lovely leagues From north to south thy fair realm reaches, And wiles the eye with rare intrigues Of shades and sunlit reaches.
7
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History of Napa and Lake Counties-LAKE.
Here, dusky glens that hide the skies, And stop the paths in gloom uncertain ; There, knolls, whence glowing prospects rise As through a lifted curtain.
I cannot boast thy vales are wide --- Though wide I'd gladly sing their praises -- For jealous Nature on each side A serried bulwark raises.
O, thou art girt about with might, Like fair Jerusalem the olden!
From thy hills fall floods of light In roseate tints, and golden.
Sunrise and sunset both have been To me, in turn, Heaven's dazzling portal,
Till with sweet sorrow I have seen Their hues were only mortal.
Deep gorges scar thy crested hills With many a foaming torrent ringing,
Whose white wrath spent, the valley fills With the glad streamlet's singing.
A hundred hill-crests in my song (If detail were my song's intention),
Upon me fast would throng, With fitting meed of mention.
But Uncle Sam only of the host My lays with their best sheen shall blazon ;
Thy glory, Lake, and thy boast, And fit to lavish praise on!
The gray old monarch to the skies Lifts up the pilgrim's land the nearest ;
Supremest in our loyal eyes, And in our hearts the dearest.
In subtile splendor thy lakes lie, Fringed by the oak and pine tree's shadows --
Now nestling in the hill-clefts high, And now along the meadows.
How oft at sunset's witching hour I've scanned Clear Lake's blue expanses, Resigned my thought to Fancy's power, And woven old romances ---
Of painted braves and dusky maidens, The red men's sons and daughters,
Whose love-song woke the drowsy glade And thrilled the limpid waters-
Till on those dreams of bygone times Broke rippling peals of laughter, And wooed me back with their sweet chimes To like romances after.
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For now, as then, from drifting boat, Clear Lake hears the old, old story, As Lakeport's lovely maidens float In love's young dream and glory.
For many years the Clear Lake shore Has missed the trail of swarthy savage ; His wild song stirs the air no more With din of rout or ravage ;
His hunting grounds, beneath the plow, Smile with the golden bloom of gardens, Where, hear and panther banished now, The lowing herds roam, wardens.
The song of labor greets the sun, And higher swells the noontide splendor, Till twilight brings the shadows dun, And home joys sweet and tender.
Sweet rural homes by vale and hill, The arching oak and pine trees' shadow, Where sire and son in bounty till The upland and the meadow.
Nor rustic manners only rule, 'Mid simple and sequestered beauties- Where hardy folks from fashion's school Soon catch the social duties.
Ah ! Lake homes to Lake give Its strongest charm and spells most tender ; He who would gauge their depths must live Among their summer splendor.
To him the drear, alternate waste Of winter frosts o'er vale and mountains, Would touch to sharper edge his taste For draughts from June's sweet fountains.
And should the wine of summer spare His still unsated senses soher, Thy hills will spread a feast more fair With vintage of Octoher.
Great Master of all nation's songs, Forgive my trespass at thy fountains ; Only to Thee my theme helongs, Laureate of vales aud mountains ;
So little of my rhymes I boast, Thy heart of grace will grant them pardon, For I have blindly culled, at most, A few weeds from thy garden.
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History of Napa and Lake Counties -- LAKE.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF LAKE COUNTY.
Upon the organization of the State of California into counties in 1850, the following boundaries were established for Napa County :
Commencing in the Napa River at the mouth of Soscol Creek, and running up said creek to the point of said creek nearest to the range of mountains dividing Napa Valley from Suisun Valley ; thence in a direct line to the nearest point of said range ; thence along the summit of said range northwardly to its northern extremity; thence due north to the fortieth parallel of north latitude; thence west twenty miles ; thence south- wardly to the nearest point of the range of mountains dividing Napa Val- ley from Sonoma Valley ; thence southwardly along said range of mountains to its termination in Carnero Mountain; thence in a direct line to the near- est point of Carnero Creek ; thence down said creek to its junction with Napa River ; thence to the place of beginning.
It will thus be seen that the territory now embraced in the limits of Lake County, was at that time included in Napa County, or the greater portion of it at least. And so it remained until 1861, when, by an Act of the Legislature the county of Lake was established. May 20, 1861, an Act to define the boundaries and provide for the organization of Lake County, was approved by the Governor. This Act was as follows:
SECTION 1. Lake County is bounded as follows: Commencing at the south-eastern corner of Mendocino County ; thence running in an easterly direction along the dividing ridge between Russian River and Knights Val- leys on the west, and Clear Lake and Coyote Valleys on the east, to the highest peak of Mount St. Helena; thence easterly in a direct line to the point where the second standard line north, (United States survey) crosses the line dividing Yolo and Napa Counties ; thence along the line of Yolo County to the Mendocino County line ; thence along the Mendocino County line to the place of beginning.
SEC. 2. There shall be an election held for county officers and for the location of the county seat of Lake County, on the first Monday of June, 1861, at which election shall be chosen, by the qualified electors of the county, one County Judge, one District Attorney, one County Clerk, who shall be ex-oficio the Auditor, Recorder and Superintendent of Public In- struction in and for said county, one Sheriff, one County Surveyor, a
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County Treasurer, a County Assessor, a Coroner, three Supervisors, two Justices of the Peace, and two Constables for each township in the county.
SEC. 3. William Manlove, Alexander McLean, and Woods Crawford of Lake County, are hereby appointed commissioners to designate additional precincts to those already established, within the bounds of Lake County, at such places as may be deemed necessary for the convenience of the voters, with such powers as a Board of Supervisors are now clothed by law. Said commissioners shall appoint inspectors and judges of election for the various precincts of said county ; they shall also divide the various townships of said county into three distriots, to be known as districts number one, two and three, and one of the supervisors, whose election is herein provided for, shall be chosen from each of the said districts, by the qualified electors thereof. Said commissioners shall be a board of canvassers, who shall receive the returns of electors from the various precincts, and it shall be their duty, in this Act specified, to canvass or count the votes given for the different officers, with power to issue certificates of election to each person receiving the highest number of votes for each separate office ; they shall also canvass the votes cast for county seat of said county.
SEC. 4. Said commissioners shall meet at Major Cook's store in Big Valley, Clear Lake Township, on the second Monday in April, 1861, and, after being duly sworn by an officer qualified to administer oaths, to truly perform their duties, by this Act imposed upon them, shall designate pre- cincts, if, in their opinion, others than those already established are neces- sary to accommodate the voters of said county; and shall appoint one inspector and two judges of election for each precinct in the county. The commissioners shall choose one of their number as chairman and one as clerk, who shall keep a record of all their proceedings, which record shall be deposited in the County Clerk's office, as soon as a Clerk shall have entered upon the discharge of his duties. A majority of said commissioners shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
SEC. 5. The commissioners, after having designated places of voting, appointed inspectors and judges of election as required in section four of this Act, shall give public notice of said precincts established in said county, specifying in said notice the township in which each of them is located, also the time of holding the election, the number and name of each officer to be elected in the county, and in each district and township of the same, by notices posted at each precinct appointed, at least ten days previous to the day of election.
SEC. 6. The inspectors and judges of election of the several precincts shall conduct said election in the manner as required by the general election law of this State, and shall return the list and poll-book kept by each of them to the commissioners at Major Cook's store in Big Valley, Clear Lake
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Township, on or before the Monday following the day of election, and the said commissioners are hereby required to be at said place on said day for the purpose of receiving the same, and shall then and there open said re- turns, and canvass the votes as required by the third section of this Act ; they shall make a statement, in writing, showing the votes given at each precinct for each person voted for, and the office for which each person was voted to fill, and the person receiving the highest number of votes for each office shall be declared elected to the same, and the said commissioners shall issue to each person so elected a certificate of election, which shall be signed by the chairman and secretary.
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