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 82
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 82
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and huge beds of lava have rolled in between the ages. Granite appears so burned and scorched that its best friends do not recognize its face. Sand- stone is so badly charred that the savants themselves refuse to express a decided opinion as to its real character, stating that it looks like sandstone and may be for aught they know, but it may not be. Huge masses of serpentine meet one on every side, and red hills of decomposed oxyd of iron are common. Some of the finer stones are found, such as alabaster, fine grained serpentine, rose quartz, etc. Cinnabar abounds in almost all portions of the township, and has been mined for very successfully in several places, notably at the Sulphur Bank and the north-eastern slope of St. Helena Mountain. Much more might be said, in fact a whole book could be written on this subject and yet the theme would not be exhausted, hence we leave it here, hoping that some master hand may take it up in the near future and do it full justice. It is a pity that our State has not an extended and reliable geological survey. It has not even an outline that covers the entire area.
SOIL .- The soil of the valleys in this township is mostly sandy, with here and there a little adobe and loam. In Loconoma Valley it is especially of a sandy nature, but in Coyote Valley and around Lower Lake the adobe and loam are in the ascendancy. On the mountain sides it is gravelly and not very fertile. North of Lower Lake, towards East Lake, the soil is en- tirely adobe, and the condition of the roads in the winter season is far from delectable, but this soil is very fertile and productive, cereals especially thriving excellently on it.
PRODUCTS .- The products of this township are much the same as in the others of the county. Cereals, fruits, vegetables and small fruits thrive well in all sections, but as elsewhere in the county the climate is a little too rigorous for semi-tropical fruits or plants. Grapes do well indeed here, and much attention is just now being given to viniculture in this township. The Clear Lake Water Company have under contract the clearing off of some two hundred acres of land and fitting the same for grape planting in 1882, with choice varieties of foreign table and wine grapes as well as of the domestic varieties. This wealthy company intend putting out not less than four hundred acres into vines, and to fully test every part of the county as regards the adaptability for this great industry and source of wealth. The Water Company will, if successful in the cultivation of the vine, erect a large wine cellar, and not improbably a woolen mill and other useful branches of industries. Some attention is paid to dairying and stock raising. This portion of Lake County is not so far removed from market as the other sections, hence it is more of an object for the farmers of this
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section to produce something of an excess over their home necessities. If there were a railroad here, it would open out to the San Francisco market a very rich and productive country.
CLIMATE .- The climate of this section is just as lovely as any portion of Lake County, and that is saying very much for it indeed. In fact, it is a little more pleasant, for in the winter time it is not so cold, not being so elevated as the country further north, and in the summer season it is not quite so warm, on an average, as it is nearer the bay, and some vestiges of the trade winds float over the mountains and serve to reduce the temper- ature in a measure. In the valleys, in the mid-summer season, it is very warm during the middle of the day, however, but the nights are mostly cool and pleasant. The days are just as bright, the air just as sweet and balmy, the misty haze upon the mountains just as gloriously beautiful, the sun sheds its golden flood of beams from out the dome of just as blue an empyrean, and falls upon just as cheering a landscape as it ever entered the heart of man to conceive.
TIMBER .- There are no large bodies of timber in this township, and yet it is, perhaps, the best wooded of all in the county. Pine, fir, cedar, oak, alder, and several varieties abound, while not a few cypress trees are to be found on the sides of St. Helena Mountain. The pines, fir and cedar make good lumber, and there are several saw-mills within its borders busily engaged working these logs into a marketable shape. The other woods are more adapted to domestic purposes. Loconoma Valley is a vast wooded plain, the wide-spreading branches of the oak making it have the appear- ance, at a distance, of a great forest.
EARLY SETTLEMENT .- The first settlers of this township located at or near the present town site of Lower Lake, and Walter Anderson was probably the first man here with a family. Other early settlers here were I. B. Shreve, C. N. Copsey, L. W. Parkerson, Terrell Grigsby, J. Broome Smith, - Barber, - Parker, W. W. Hale, C. C. Copsey, Allen Copsey, O. J. Copsey, John C. Copsey, Thomas Copsey, Dr. William R. Mathews, W. C. Goldsmith, W. Slater, Charles Kiphart, Calvin Reams, A. Hill, A. S. Mc- Williams, N. Herndon, E. M. Day, O. U. Caldwell, E. Mitchell, - Chopson, Alexander Downey, Jarvis Cable, W. E. Willis, Jacob Bowers, - Burns, M. Craven, Robert Gaddy, S. J. Tucker, Charles Ferguson, William Graves (one of the Donner party), J. R. Hale, William Brown, S. A. Thompson, C. L. Wilson, Pleasant Smith, L. H. Gruwell, William Kesey, C. P. Scranton and J. M. Collins.
All the above were in and about the Lower Lake section, extending to the Copsey settlement and Siegler Valley. It is said that John Greenwood
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and Calvin C. Griffith were in Burns Valley as early as 1846, and spent a winter. In Coyote Valley, George Rock came in as agent for Jacob P. Leese as early as 1848, probably, and lived in a log house near the site of the stone house now on the north side of the valley. J. Broome Smith had a log house here in 1852. R. H. Sterling and Captain Steele built the stone house mentioned above in 1854. Sterling had a family with him, and his wife was the first woman in the valley. W. H. Manlove, T. Hall, Henry Bond, - Barnes, W. G. Cannon, L. B. Tremper, R. F. Miles and James S. Miles were old settlers in Coyote Valley.
In Loconoma Valley, W. L. Anderson settled as early as 1853, and built a house near where George E. Mckinley now lives. He had a drove of cattle. In 1857 Springston and Dickson went into Loconoma Valley from Cobb Valley, where they had first settled. . J. Conley and H. Warren were there also in 1857. Matt. Harbin had a band of stock in there quite early, and George Christman was the agent in charge. E. H. Smith, Douglas and Phillips settled on the east side of the creek from Middletown. A man by the name of Butts lived where David Hudson now resides, at that time. He or Springston had the first family in the valley. In 1858 Simon Bas- sett and two sons came into Loconoma Valley, and settled in the south- western portion of it. A man by the name of Marble lived there in an early day. George E. Mckinley came in in 1857. Charles Morgan settled in Morgan Valley in 1854, and Calvin Cox in 1856. Charles Stubbs was also an early settler in this township.
LOWER LAKE .- This is a lovely village of some four hundred and fifty inhabitants, located at the southern extremity of Clear Lake, but about three miles from the landing. The first house built in the town was erected by E. Mitchell in 1858, which was a dwelling-house. Messrs. Her- rick & Getz had a store there in 1860. The first hotel was opened by Dr. Bynum in 1865, the first saloon by C. N. Adams in 1861, and the first black- smith shop was conducted by L. B. Thompson in 1860. From the time of the location of the county seat at Lower Lake in 1867, until the present, the growth of the place has been steady, and at times quite rapid. It is very eligiby located, though not nearly so advantageously as its rival sister, Lake- port, and has a good country around it. Its business interests are at present represented as follows : Four stores, one drug store, three blacksmith shops, two wagon shops, one livery stable, one hotel, one restaurant, one flour mill, one barley and feed mill, one planing mill, one shoe shop, one barber shop, three saloons, one millinery, two meat markets, one printing office, one law- yer, two doctors, and one brewery. Lower Lake, among its business inter- ests, enjoys the distinguished novelty of having a lady druggist. Miss Della Walls, a young lady not yet in her twenties, has the honor of being
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one of the very few lady druggists on the Pacific Coast. She began at the age of fourteen, and in two years assumed full charge of the business, and now conducts it in her own right and title, giving eminent satisfaction in a place so fraught with responsibilities. There is also a post-office, Wells, Fargo & Co.'s express office, and a telegraph office in the place.
Lower Lake is connected with the outside world by two stage lines, one extending from East Lake to Calistoga, and the other from Lower Lake to Woodland. The mail service has been heretofore daily for some time, but is at present only tri-weekly. The Northern Telegraph Company have a branch line extending from Glenbrook to East Lake, which passes through this place. Lower Lake has been the sport of an adverse fate ever since its inception almost. The star of destiny was not in a fortuitous conjunction at its birth, and the shadow of disappointment has always hovered over it, and the sunshine of hope has always been shut out just before the eagerly sought for day of realization had any more than dawned upon her expectant inhabitants. Cruel indeed has been the decrees of that destiny which has ruled during the days of county seat contests.
In 1867 the fates seemed to be in a manner propitious to the place. The county seat question had just been decided in its favor, and the county officers had their headquarters in the place. Just about this time the Clear Lake Water Company began operations, and there were possibilities in the future for the place that the most sanguine hardly dared to dream of. This company proposed to erect a large factory there, where all the wool produced in Lake County should be manufactured into cloth. They were going to have an enormous mill, where all the grain grown in the county should be converted into flour and meal, and there was to be a saw and planing mill of monstrous proportions, where all the timber from every mountain side in the county was to be manipulated into lumber, just such as the people would have need for. How grand this gigantic project looked on paper. And the people of Lower Lake believed every word of it, and we have no reason to doubt that the company intended to build up a great enterprise there, provided they could make it pay. People must remember that capital will not remain long invested where there is no outcome, and where the profits of this enterprise were to accrue is beyond the ken of ordinary mor- tals. At that time all [these products had to be taken to tide water by teams, a distance of over one hundred miles, and how it was expected to make it pay is unknown. The farmers of Lake County, as of every other section, have only simple wants, and they could not take the manufactured article in return for the crude, and dispose of or use it themselves.
And so the hopes of the town were drawn to the highest tension. The company did construct quite an extensive building at the dam, and ma- chinery for a flouring, saw, and planing mill was put in. What more they
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would have done will never be known; for in a night as it were, all their improvements were swept away before the remorseless tide of the just in- dignation of a much abused and injured people. And with it, unfortunately, perished the grand scheme for making Lower Lake a great city, whose fame should go abroad throughout the land. It was a sorrowful day for that place when the people from above put in an appearance, prepared to carry out the provisions of that higher law which fears not might when right is involved, as is too often the case in our ordinary tribunals. There had been lively times there during the erection of the dam and the buildings, and much money had been left in the town.
Not content with destroying this grand stay and support of their pros- perity, the fates soon after decreed that the last beam of hope should perish, and the flickering lamp of prosperity should be extinguished almost entirely, by the removal of the county seat to Lakeport. This indeed proved the death-blow to all the brightest and fondest hopes of the unfortunate place ; and in that decision of the voice of the people of the county at large they saw their day star of prosperity sink forever behind the stygian clouds of ruthless adversity.
But the people of the place evinced their good sense and their pluck and determination by taking up the watchword, " Never say die !" and began at once to retrieve their losses. Industry and enterprise is visible on every side. The town is tidy, neat and really beautiful in appearance. The thrift of the place is manifested by the nicely painted cottages to be seen on all sides. Thrifty men have neat and beautiful homes as a rule, and there is no place where a man spends his money so willingly as in the adornment of his home. The streets of the town are wide, level and regularly laid off. There is a school-house in the town that speaks volumes for the enterprise and intel- ligence of the community. Truly it is a pity that such adverse circum- stances should have fallen upon the place, for the people are indeed worthy a much better fate. The town is growing steadily, and we bespeak for it a future yet that will show to the world of what sort of mettle the citizens of the place are made.
In the old days of county seat glory, the county offices were located in the double building just across the street from the hotel, and now occupied as a store. The Clear Lake Water Company still own large tracts of land in that vicinity and are now turning their attention to wine growing, and the time may come when Lower Lake will be the center of one of the most extensive and wealthy wine-producing sections in the State. In that event the dire decrees of fate will, in a great measure, be amended. May it be so !
INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD-FELLOWS .- Clear Lake Lodge, No. 130, I. O. O. F., was organized January 16, 1867, with the following charter mem- bers: W. P. Berry, D. M. Hanson, William Farmer, William Kesey, H.
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Allen, H. H. Nunnally and J. H. Berry. The first officers were : D. M. Hanson, N. G .; William Farmer, V. G .; W. P. Berry, Secretary, and William Kesey, Treasurer. The following named members have been honored with the position of Noble Grand : D. M. Hanson, William Farmer, W. C. Gold- smith, J. W. Everett, Joseph Getz, H. M. Trude, H. Allen, C. B. Hughes, J. B. Holloway, George N. Snow, J. R. Cook, J. D. Adams, M. Butler, John Smith, R. F. Miles, M. Getz, H. H. Wilson, R. H. Lawrence, J. M. Campbell, J. S. Miles, A. P. Joslyn, G. R. Lee, A. M. Atkins, J. B. Fitch, J. H. McFar-
ling, William Blann, C. C. Parker and S. H. Thompson. The present officers are, S. H. Thompson, N. G .; R. Hills, V. G .; D. L. Miller, Secretary, and I. B. Shreve, Treasurer. The present membership is seventy-four, and the lodge is in a most flourishing condition, being the strongest lodge in the county of Lake. They have a fine two-story building here, which was erected in 1868, and dedicated July 4th of that year. The hall is 45x22 feet, and is handsomely furnished. The Encampment was organized here, but afterwards taken to Lakeport.
FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS .- Clear Lake Lodge, No. 183, F. & A. M., was organized U. D. February 4, 1867, with the following charter members : L. B. Thurman, Charles Wormwood, C. Noble Copsey, W. R. Mathews, T. M. Harris, D. M. Hanson, J. D. Hendricks, W. W. Davis, J. C. Crigler, Z. C. Davee, J. D. Adams, Charles Stubbs, F. M. Herndon, William Chris- tianson, C. C. Rush, L. P. Nichols. The officers U. D. were, L. B. Thurman, W. M .; Charles Wormwood, S. W .; and C. N. Copsey, J. W. The charter was granted October 10, 1867, and the first officers under it were the same as U. D. The following members have filled the honorable position of Worshipful Master : L. B. Thurman, L. Willey, J. R. Cook, H. H. Wilson, J. W. Howard, W. H. Cunningham, R. K. Nichols,, L. H. Gruwell, Sol. Getz. The present officers are, W. H. Cunningham, W. M .; Solomon Getz, S. W .; H. H. Wilson, J. W .; M. Levy, Treasurer ; W. J. Masterson, Secretary; D. M. Hanson, S. D .; W. S. Snow, J. D .; J. W. Brown and F. M. Herndon, Stewards; J. E. Tucker, Chaplain ; L. H. Gruwell, Marshal; F. L. Castellan, Tyler. The present membership is thirty-eight, and the lodge is in a very prosper- ous condition indeed. They meet in the Odd-Fellow's Hall.
SCHOOLS .- To Lower Lake belongs the honor of having the finest school- house in the county by far, and the only one constructed of brick. In 1876 a move was made by the people looking toward a new school building, and on the 16th of March of that year the following bill was approved by the Governor : The Trustees of Lower Lake School District may levy a tax for the purposes of building a public school-house, as follows : In the year 1876, such a number of cents on each $100 of all the taxable property in the district, as will raise the sum of $1425; in the year 1877, as will raise the
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sum of $1576; in the year 1878, as will raise the sum of $1710; in the year 1879, as will raise the sum of $1879.
January 25, 1878, this proposition was changed somewhat by an Act of the Legislature, which contained the following provisions: The Trustees of Lower Lake School District may issue bonds, not to exceed $8000, payable in twelve years after their date, at a rate of interest of 10 per cent. per annum, payable annually.
The building was erected in 1877, and was of brick, two stories high, and had a French roof upon it, making a beautiful and stately looking structure. Just as it was completed a drunken man got into it some way, and attempted to light a pipe. The shavings ignited, and the whole build- ing except the walls was destroyed, entailing a loss of $3000, $1500 of which fell upon the contractor and $1500 on the district. The building was again rebuilt, and the roof changed from French to mansard. There are two reci- tation rooms below, and a public hall above. The school has two departments in it, and is well conducted in every particular.
LOWER LAKE BREWERY .- This enterprise was put on foot in 1870 by Messrs. Keitz & Co., and the building was erected about a mile north of town. Before any work had been done it was moved to its present site, just within the western town limits. The projectors sold the business to C. Hammer, and he to C. F. Linck in 1875, who is the present proprietor. A market is readily found for the product at the mines and neighboring towns.
LOWER LAKE FLOURING MILL .- This mill was built in 1869 by J. M. Everetts and William Davy, and they disposed of it to William Saywood in 1871. It is located on the west bank of Siegler Creek, and just in the western outskirts of the town. It is run by steam ; has two buhrs, one for flour and one for feed, and has a capacity of thirty barrels per day. The building is forty-two feet square and two and one-half stories high. M. N. Young is the lessee, and the mills have a wide and desirable reputation for making good flour under his management.
LOWER LAKE PLANING MILL .- This enterprise was put in operation in 1877 by S. H. Thompson, who is the present proprietor. The machinery consists of a planer, mortising machine, and several saws. He makes doors, sash, blinds, wagons, carriages, etc., in the general line of wood work. The building is 50x52 feet in size. The lumber used is secured from Rice's mill.
NEWSPAPERS .- But little of the early newspaper history of Lower Lake is known now. In 1866 the Observer was published there, but we do not know who was its editor or proprietor. During that year it died under the
10
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History of Napa and Lake Counties-LAKE.
management in charge, and in December following F. L. Beckwith took hold of the helm.
During 1866 the Lower Lake Sentinel was under the charge of D. M. Hanson. In April, 1877, it "climbed the golden stair," and laid its bones to rest upon the altar of proud but unrealized ambitions.
The Lower Lake Bulletin was started August 28, 1869, by L. P. Nichols. This paper is now published by J. B. Baccus, Jr., who is a very competent and able journalist, and his paper is always bright, newsy, reliable, and, what is best of all, has the interest of the community thoroughly at heart, and he stands up manfully in his advocacy of it.
LAKE COUNTY AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION .- This organi- zation was effected in December, 1879, and the incorporating gentlemen were, R. K. Nichols, J. B. Robinson, J. D. Mendenhall, D. M. Hanson and J. M. Hamilton. The officers for 1880 were : President, L. H. Gruwell ; Secre- tary, H. Winchester ; Treasurer, W. T. Young ; Directors-First Supervisor's District, D. M. Hanson, A. F. Morrell and J. Chrisman ; Second District, William Harris, W. T. Young, J. H. Renfro ; Third District, J. T. McClintock, R. G. Reynolds, A. E. Noel; at large, J. S. Mendenhall and L. H. Gruwell.
The officers for 1881 are, President, L. H. Gruwell ; First Vice-President, H. H. Wilson ; Second Vice-President, J. H. Renfro; Treasurer, R. K. Nich- ols ; Secretary, D. L. Miller ; Directors-First Supervisor's District, H. H. Wilson, L. H. Gruwell, H. Bond ; Second District, Thomas Morlan, William Harris, J. H. Renfro; Third District, P. Burtnett, L. G. Simmons, J. T. Mc- Clintock ; at large, R. D. Merritt and R. K. Nichols.
The first fair was held the 13th, 14th and 15th of October, 1880, at the Society's grounds, which lie in a little valley about one mile south of Lower Lake. The ground for the fair was donated by L. H. Gruwell, and a splen- did race-track has been prepared, judges' stands and stock sheds have been provided. The horticultural and textile departments werc displayed in buildings in town. The society, though young, is in a very prosperous con- dition, and much interest is being taken in it all over the county. And this is as it should be. There is nothing that will spur men to action so much as competition, and this is thoroughly brought out at these county fairs. Let every citizen of Lake take hold of this enterprise !
EAST LAKE .- This is the name that is latterly applied to the mining village which has sprung up at the Sulphur Bank, and is derived from that portion of the Clear Lake which puts out for the east just below the narrows. The town consists of the works and buildings of the Sulphur Bank Quick- silver Mining Company, a hotel, store and a few private residences. There is a store here, and a physician, a post and express office, and the place is
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connected with Lakeport by boat, and Lower Lake, Middletown and Calistoga by a tri-weekly stage which carries the mail and express. It is not proba- ble that the place will ever grow to a size or importance beyond its present status.
GUENOC .- This was the name of a little village in Coyote Valley, but nearly all traces of it have been obliterated, and all its business has long since disappeared. A firm by the name of Herrick & Getz had a store at the site of the stone house north of Guenoc, as early as 1860, and it was the first store in the south end of the county. In a year or two this store was moved to Lower Lake. Messrs. Strader & Clark built and opened the first store at the present site of Guenoc, in 1866, and O. Armstrong had a saloon there soon afterwards. An Odd-Fellows hall was built there, which was moved to Middletown in 1871. There was at one time quite a little village there, but when the village of Middletown sprung into existence the whole place picked up bag and baggage and posted off to the new town site. Why this was done it is hard to tell, except that the new place was at the junction of two main stage roads, and in closer proximity to the mines, from which any village in that section must hope to gain the most of its support. There are two or three dwelling houses still on the old town site, a store building, and the wreck of a blacksmith shop. The town site was just on the south bank of Putah Creek, and the bridge spanning the stream at this point is six hundred feet long, and was constructed at a cost of $5,000. The town site of Guenoc was not so nice as the one at Middletown in many respects, and in all probability the change was a wise one.
MIDDLETOWN .- This is a beautiful little village sequestered amid a forest of native oaks, in the center of Loconoma Valley. One does not know that he is near the town until he is in the midst of it, almost. J. H. Berry built the first house on the present town site in the fall of 1870. C. M. Young bought a half interest in the town site in 1871. O. Armstrong had a saloon here in 1870, and Berry kept a hotel. D. Lobre started the first store in the place in 1872. The street running north and south through the village is called Calistoga avenue, and the principal cross street is Main. The first business in the place was located at this crossing, Armstrong's ยท saloon being on the north-east corner, Berry's hotel on the south-west, the Odd-Fellows hall that was moved down from Guenoc, on the south-east, and a livery stable on the north-west. A fine brick hotel now stands on the site of the old one.
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