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 84
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 84
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It will thus be seen that this township is bordered on the south-east by Lower Lake Township, on the north-east by Upper Lake Township and on the west by Mendocino County. The principal streams in it are Scotts Creek and Kelsey Creek. There is more of Clear Lake included in the ter- ritory of this towhship than in any other in the county. Lakeport is the main center of navigation on the lake, hence the most of the description of the lake will occur in the history of this township.
TOPOGRAPHY .- If we begin at the south-west corner of the town- ship we find ourselves on the summit of the highest mountain in the county. Passing along the line we come to Cobb Valley, a sort of garden spot far away up amid the clouds on the mountain top. It is a lovely little valley less than one mile in width, and only a few in length. From that on north- ward it is all mountains to the rim of Big Valley. Uncle Sam Mountain is the culmination of the chain, and stands on the south shore of Clear Lake. Big Valley is the garden spot of Lake County, and from its great size, com- pared with the other valleys in the county, it well deserves to be called
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Big Valley. Beginning at the foot of Uncle Sam this valley extends in a circular course to the south-west, embracing Kelseyville and Highland Springs ; thence northerly to Lakeport.
West of Lakeport the hills are low and rolling for a distance of three or four miles, when another small, narrow valley is encountered which ex- tends for a distance of ten or twelve miles along the banks of Scotts Creek. The valley has the same name as the creek. The range of hills back of Lakeport extends well towards Upper Lake, and fully to the township line, but in some places they get pretty rugged and develop into peaks of some considerable height. West of Scotts Valley mountains extend to the county line, with here and there a very small valley of no special importance.
The exact height of Mount Cobb is not known, but that it is much higher than any other mountain in the county is made evident in the win- ter season by the amount of snow that falls upon it, and the length of time it remains on the mountain sides as compared with other peaks. Uncle Sam Mountain is about sixteen hundred feet above the lake; all the other peaks in the township are inferior in height to these two.
GEOLOGY .- The geology of this township is in general keeping with the entire county. Still there are some marked features. The greater por- tion of the rock formation is volcanic-trap and basalt being predominant here as elsewhere in the county. The great geological feature of this town- ship is the great amount of obsidian which is found in the south-eastern portion of it, the body of it seeming to extend from Uncle Sam Mountain in a south-westerly course to the foot of Cobb Mountain. Of course the body is not solid over all this territory, nor is it uniformly distributed. At some points it is found massive and in quarries as it were, and again it appears only as washed and worn boulders. At some points it is all as black as coal, and has much the appearance of anthracite. Again it is grayish and greenish, and is often found associated with trap and other volcanic rock. It also often has a stratified appearance. This rock will melt very readily, and has very much the appearance of bottle glass, and is generally known by the localism of " bottle-glass rock." It is evidently a sort of slag or tufa, formed far away down in the depths of the earth, out of silica and soda, but the properties were not just right for good tough glass. Large beds of this formation are found in Lower California and Mexico. In Lower California a bed of obsidian is lying on a level plain ; when it cooled off, of course it cracked through its entire body. A road has been made through this body for some distance, and the obsidian blocks were all removed clear down to the earth. So far no process has been discovered by which this material may be utilized.
Limestone of quite good quality has been found near Lakeport, but in no
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considerable quantities. There is but very little limestone on the Pacific Coast at best. Some shale and sandstone is found in this township. The former may be seen along the road-side in Scotts Valley, and the latter in a cut on the point of a hill a short distance south of Kelseyville. This formation is peculiar from the fact that it is comparatively very recent, having been formed since any eruptions have occurred there, as is testified by the regular and unbroken stratification ; and the formation is recent, as is also shown by the fact that the stone is very soft indeed, hardly being worthy the ap- pellation. Still, there are several feet of earth on top of it, so that several centuries have passed since the deposit was made. This is a very interesting subject, and might be studied with profit and pleasure.
Manganese occurs in this township also, as may be seen along the road- side towards the north end of Scotts Valley. We do not know as it occurs in any quantities, but its presence is readily detected.
The oxyd of iron is present in large quantities everywhere, as the red hill-sides will testify. In some places the red dust has settled upon the trees and fences in such quantities that the winter's rains fail to wash the stain off. The yellow, or protoxyd of iron, is seen in the hills also, and the yellow clay everywhere present.
SOIL .- The soil of this township is various, ranging from the richest loam to the poorest red clay on the mountain side. In Big and Scotts Valleys the soil is a rich loam, and is very productive indeed; in truth, no richer can be found in the State. In Cobb and the other mountain valleys the soil is more of an argillacious nature. There is also more or less of adobe soil in the township, which is mostly confined to the hill-sides, though it extends to the valleys to some extent.
PRODUCTS .- The products of this section are varied, the soil being well adapted to the growth of fruits, vegetables, cereals, grass and vines. All of Big Valley is excellently adapted to the growing of cereals, wheat, corn, oats, rye and barley, all thriving excellently there. All the vegetables do well in all the valleys, while fruit of superior quality and flavor is pro- duced in all of them. We have eaten as fine apples at Mr. Bassett's, in Cobb Valley, as can be found in the State of California. Small fruits and berries thrive here also, as do grapes. The future outlook for the grape- growing interest of this section is encouraging, truly, and the time is not far distant when it will be the chief industry of the whole of Lake County. The growing of sorghum is being looked upon also quite favorably as an industry ; and if it proves to be a success, of which there can hardly be a doubt, it will prove to be one of the greatest industries that can be intro- duced. Sugar beets have been cultivated to some extent in years gone by,
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and found to thrive excellently. Dairying, as a business, and stock raising, are two of the principal industries of the section, the excellent grass which grows there being well adpted to the feeding of cattle.
CLIMATE .- The climate of this section is quite changeable. In the winter season it sometimes gets quite cold, and snow falls to some extent in the valleys. On the 18th of January, 1868, there was a foot of snow on the level at Lakeport, and it remained on for several days. In December, 1873, even more than that fell, while every season more or less falls. The mountain tops are covered with it many times when it has only rained in the valleys, and there is seldom a rainstorm during the winter sea- son that snow does not whiten the summit of Mount Cobb. But it does not remain cold for any great length of time at once, and during the winter season there are many days of unalloyed beauty.
In the summer season is when the climate of this section is in its best mood. In the spring of the year the grass begins to spring to newness of life, and all over the face of the earth an emerald tapestry is spread that is fit for the dainty tread of a princess. The trees put forth their leaves, and myriads of wild flowers lend their glories to heighten the effect of the sub- limely grand view that is spread out upon all sides. The days have now become cloudless, and all day long the golden rays of the sun have shim- mered down through a film of mist, which serves to add immeasurably to the beauty of the scene by assuming, during the day, all the colors of the rainbow, and draping the mountain sides with a veil of such exquisitely colored hues that the brush of the painter is taxed to its utmost to repro- duce even a faint imitation of them.
At the noon-tide there is a solemn hush upon the world, and every sound is re-echoed from hill-side and mountain-side; the nerves are drawn to a superior tension, so that they are affected by all that they come in contact with to an undue degree; the mountains have a far away look, yet stand out boldly and distinctly in outline and detail; the lake is so placid that not a ruffle is seen on its glossy bosom. Truly, this is an hour for rest, for all nature is in a requiescent mood. The misty veil of the mountains is now a mellow purple, yea, a veritable amethyst.
Later in the day a breeze springs up from the west, and the bosom of the lake is stirred into gentle ripples, upon which the sunlight of the re- ceding day dances in a perfect revelry of delight. The sail that has been hanging limp at the mast for the past several hours begins to belly out before the freshening breeze, and the listless craft is driven through the limpid waters with ever increasing speed, as the day advances. "Tis evening now, and the day is dying. And what a day it has been ! Ah, indeed, what glorious days are they all now ! The last rays of the sinking sun are still
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resting on the eastern mountains, and the rose-tinted mist is casting over them a mantle of indescribable beauty. In the valley the shadows of the western mountains have cast a look of gloom over all objects. The glowing sunset is upon us at last, and words fail to describe the rare grace of the scene. To see it once were to approach very near to the gates of Paradise, for certainly the beyond can have but few charms to excel these. At last the sun has sunk below the western hills, and the cold steel-blue of early twilight has settled upon the mountains. Later still the night has come upon the world. A gentle breeze rustles the leaves, ruffles the bosom of the lake, and refreshes the world. The hum of insect life, and the chirp of bird is added to the sounds of human existence, and all combined make a song, the melody of which would lure one out from this busy world of cares far away into the mysterious and charmed land of dreams.
TIMBER .- The timber of this township does not vary in any material degree from other sections of the county. In the valleys there is a heavy growth of white oak, which gives the landscape, when seen in perspective, the appearance of a heavily-wooded tract. In all of these trees there are hosts of clusters of mistletoe, whose long verdant tendrils contrast finely with the barren limbs of the tree during the winter season. In the distance these cluinps look much like birds' nests of enormous proportions. As but little or no fog comes in here there is but little moss clinging to the limbs. On the mountains pine, fir and black and mountain oak are found, and also white cedar. This deserves special mention, as it is a rare tree in California, especially this section of it. Some sugar pine is also found, though no great bodies of it. Alder is found along the streams and coarse-grained pine on the spurs of the mountains.
EARLY SETTLEMENT .- To this township belongs the honor of having the first settlement in the county. It is not known now just when Salvador Vallejo did put in an appearance in this section of the country, but it was probably as early as 1840. In 1836 he is reported to have headed a military invasion of the country against the Indians, and that in consideration of this service a grant was ceded to him, from the Mexican government. He had a band of cattle here, erected a cabin or two, and constructed a corral for his stock, which was situated just north of the present town site of Kelseyville. In 1847 he sold his stock to Stone and Kelsey, and they then came in and took charge of the place. They proceeded at once to build an adobe house, and to construct a new and larger corral for their stock. The location they chose for their operations was just west of the present town of Kelseyville, and across the creek, on a little raise of ground. In the fall of 1849 these men were killed by the Indians,
11
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a full description of which will be found in the chapter on General History and Settlement.
There were no more settlers here until the fall of 1853, when Jefferson Worden built a house in Scotts Valley and located there. It is said that a man by the name of Scott had lived in the valley some time previously, but not much seems to be known of him, and his residence was temporary at the most. In the spring of 1854 the Hammack colony came in, consisting of Martin Hammack, his son Brice, and his son-in-law, Woods Crawford, all of whom had families. They located near the center of Big Valley, and during the summer constructed three houses for their use. Three days later they were followed by Elijah Reeves and family. Charles Goodwin, Daniel Giles, Dr. J. S. Downes, William Forbes, James Parrish, Dr. E. D. Boynton, George Tucker, George Brewington, B. Caldwell, A. J. Plate, A. Levy, and others, came in soon after.
Among the other early settlers in Big Valley may be named, Robert Gaddy, J. H. Huston, W. A. Thompson and family, Peter Clarke, J. B. Cook, W. S. Cook, Preston Rickabaugh, Seth Rickabaugh, B. F. Shawl, G. W. Gard, A. Kouns, H. Cohn, R. Kennedy, J. Ingram, S. F. Tucker, A. A. Slocum, C. A. Piner, J. M. Huston, P. M. Daley, E. B. Bole, J. C. Crigler, Hiram Allen, J. C. W. Ingram, J. T. McClintock, and J. H. Jamison. In Scotts Valley, Greenbury Hendricks, E. C. Riggs, William Gessner, John Lynch, J. M. Sleeper, J. Davis, A. F. Tate and J. H. Moore. In Cobb Valley, John Cobb, Simon Bassett and his son, William D. In Cold Valley, H. R. Bolter, and in Paradise Valley, Isaac Alter.
LAKEPORT .- This is the principal town in the township, and is also the seat of government of Lake County, and is located on the western shore of Clear Lake. The first business in this section of the county was not done at the present site of the town. In 1856 Dr. E. D. Boynton built a store at Rocky Point, where George Tucker now resides. He disposed of his business to Cyrus Smith, and he to George Brewington and Burr Cald- well. They moved the goods and built a new house on the mound south of Lakeport, on the A. J. Plate place, and shortly afterwards A. Levy became proprietor of the business, in 1858.
At the time of the organization of the county in 1861, commissioners were appointed to choose two eligible sites for the location of the county seat. Some little time previous to this, probably in 1859, William Forbes had pre-empted a claim of one hundred and sixty acres where the town of Lakeport now stands. He erected a small wooden " balloon " building, which was located on the south side of First street, and west of Forbes street, on what is known as the Armstrong plat of the town. When the commissioners began casting about for county-seat sites, Mr. Forbes made a
GREENE BARTLETT.
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proposition to them that if they would locate it upon his property, he would deed the county a tract of forty acres. They finally decided to accept his proposition, and when the vote was taken that place was chosen, and he then made out the necessary papers. Finally, when the grant claim was quashed the title was confirmed by the County Judge, in accordance with an Act of Congress, in such cases provided. As soon as the county seat was located here the town sprang into existence. James Parrish had a black- smith shop on the east of Main street and south of First, on the site of his present shop.
It is impossible to follow up the location of the different business enter- prises in the order of their opening here. In October, 1866, J. H. F. Farley established the Clear Lake Courier, and from its early issues we copy the following as the business directory of the place. This list is taken from the advertisements in the paper, and if any business is omitted it is because it was not advertised. The list is as follows: J. S. Downes, M. D .; S. K. Welch, attorney ; Woods Crawford, attorney ; S. Chapman, shoemaker; J. R. Mil- lett, dentist; J. Southard, barber ; J. T. Mathes, saloon ; H. Cohen, H. Charmark and A. Levy, general merchandise; and Colonel Lansing T. Mu- sick had a hotel here at this time also.
A photograph of the place taken about that time, shows the hotel, now Greene's Hotel, as a square, box-looking building, without the veranda and wings, which it now has. Across the street is a little old wooden building, occupied by Charmark & Levy, for mercantile purposes. To the south of that are three little wooden structures, two of which have since been burned, while the one on the corner still remains, and is used for saloon purposes. The livery stable stood then where it does now. To the north of Charmark & Levy's is a small building, and north of the hotel is the old store building occupied by H. Cohn & Son. The Court-house stood where the present one does, and James Parrish's blacksmith shop where it does now. A few dwellings completed the list of buildings in the place at that time.
In 1867 the county seat was moved to Lower Lake, and a long contest then began for its relocation at Lakeport, which finally resulted in favor of that place. During this time the town grew slowly, as the uncertainty of the contest worked disadvantageously to the town. In 1870 the county seat was moved back to Lakeport, and the place then took a new lease of life, and its growth has been steady and substantial ever since, until now it is the foremost town in the county. In 1870 the following sketch of the place appeared in the Courier :
" Lakeport, the county seat of Lake County, is beautifully situated on the west shore of Clear Lake, one of the most picturesque sheets of water in America. Clear Lake is about thirty-five miles in length, and from one- half to twelve miles in width. Lakeport is located about eight miles south
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and three miles west of the geographical center of the county. The county of Lake was organized in 1861 from a portion of Napa County. Lakeport, by a vote of the people, was chosen as the county seat. Two years later a vote was had, and Lakeport again received a majority. Two years later, and again was the county seat question submitted to the people. This time the county showed a small majority for the rival of Lakeport, Lower Lake. The people of Lakeport, suspecting fraud, contested the election, and the District Court of Napa found that Lakeport had received a legal majority of five votes. The matter was appealed to the Supreme Court. Pending the decision of this" tribunal, the Legislature passed an Act authorizing another vote. This election took place on Monday, May 2, 1870, and again, the fourth time, had Lakeport received a majority of all the votes cast. The county records, which had been taken to Lower Lake, were removed to Lakeport.
" The town contains four hundred inhabitants. It has two dry goods stores, one hardware store, one drug store, one blacksmith shop, one wagon shop, one harness and saddler's shop, one barber shop, one butcher shop, one boot and shoe shop, one cabinet shop, two carpenters' shops, two saloons, one livery stable, one hotel, three law offices, school-house, two church buildings, Masonic and Odd Fellows' Hall, two doctors, a justice's office, a newspaper and job printing office and several private residences. Lakeport is about one hundred miles from San Francisco, thirty miles from Cloverdale, thirty from Ukiah and forty-five from Calistoga. It has a tri-weekly mail from Cloverdale and also from Calistoga. The lake offers superior inducements to the seekers for boating and fishing in summer and shooting in winter. The town has in its vicinity Big Valley, Scotts Valley, Upper Lake and Bachelor Valley."
That a ready comparison may be made, and that the reader may com- prehend fully how much the business interests of Lakeport have progressed in the last decade, we append here a summarized statement of the business of the place at the present time: Hotels, three ; barber shop, one; black- smith shops, two; livery stable, one; stores, six ; meat market, one; shoe shops, three ; printing office, one ; drug stores, two; restaurant, one ; saloons, three ; jewelry store, one; tailors, two; banks, two; stationery and notion store, one ; hardware store, one ; harness shop, one ; gunsmith, one ; millinery, one ; mill, one; paint shops, two; lawyers, eight ; doctors, three.
To say that Lakeport is a lovely place but faintly expresses its sweet charms. We might dwell upon its rare beauties for pages and yet it would not-could not all be told. It is situated upon a series of terraced hills, one behind the others, and all overlooking the charming lake which lies at its very feet. Native oaks stand on all sides dispensing their grateful shade, and adding charms to the landscape no other object can do. The houses
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of the place play hide and seek amid their dense foliage. The air of sum- mer is balmy and soft, and laden with the perfume of fragrant flowers. From the hills of the western portion of the town, a lovely landscape spreads out before the eye. First comes the lake with its placid bosom with scarcely a ripple upon it, then the grand majestic mountains which border it away to the east. What glorious sunsets may be seen from these vantage grounds. The roseate hues of the sinking sun fall in glowing splendor upon the dis- tant mountains. Sometimes this mantle of sunlight is a sheen of gold and purple and mellow tinted blue.
To take a boat ride upon the waters of Clear Lake is to imagine that the road to bliss must lie along this way, and that the fields elysian cannot be far distant. Miss Frankie Jepson, a visitor there in 1880, writes of this boat ride as follows: " Clear Lake is an always breaking, never broken mirror of beauty, framed in with massive majesty. Trout revel joyously in the purple caverns, and all among this enchanted region there lurk deer, bears, panther and foxes.
" Looking back from the lake, Lakeport presents a rise and fall of roofs and green, sloping to the brimming edge, and turning steely blue in the swathing of distant misty glory. Looking forward, through the glass, the eastern mountains blossom out with pinks and violets. How far off the world seems, with its throbbing pulse-beats, as we float, poised between the gentle wings of sea and air, and the sweet benediction of the Sabbath rest- ing over all ! Fingers go trailing in the water, sea-birds flit in the air, the courtesying waves toss their white caps to the bending prow. Now the sun- set is kindling the little hills to masses of shredded, tangled emeralds, while the bay lies half gloomy, half smiling, dovetailed with night and day. A dash of red drips above Uncle Sam like a great bloody scar on the brow of a giant, and its reflection lines the wave-rings with dusk and crimson.
" Night is going to sleep with Venus on her breast as we bound home- ward, singing 'Homeward Bound.' The fluting winds, the silver-footed elves that follow us on the moon's deep path, the orgies of the flood, the darkening distances weave wizard spells around us. But the spirit of mis- chief has got on board somehow, and plays havoc with our voices. They are a mixture of a Bedlamite's treble-alto, tenor and bass. The goblins of discord hold high carnival in the air."
But all is not gold that glitters, and even gold can not glitter all the time. There are days when the sun does not shine even in the " Vale of Cashmere." Sometimes the weather is very disagreeable here, being too hot or too cold. And the ordinarily smooth and innocent-looking lake sometimes gets riled from its very fountains, and its placid bosom is lashed by the fury of the storm-king into a seething mass of white billows. The trident god some- times leaves his province of wider domain-the " vasty deep " -- and comes to
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this sequestered gem of beauty, nestled amid the adamantine hills, and causes man to feel his power. As the Galilee of old was at times the sport of the wind and the rush of the storm, so is this land-locked duplicate of the olden sea. Much indeed are they alike, and one is continually reminded, when on its shores or on its bosom, of the lake to whose troubled and roll- ing waves the Master once said, " Peace, be still." This lake is treacherous, and no one knows just when the chariot of old Neptune is going to pass that way. And in the town of Lakeport there is a scourge the like of which was never seen outside of Egypt of old. Reference is had to the white gnats which infest the place during some of the summer months. But with all this, it is a grandly beautiful and delightful place, and we feign would linger here in our work to review again and again its sweet loveliness. May the heart of man receive the grand benediction of divine blessings which are so bountifully shed abroad here with the radiant joy that must illumine the heart of the Munificent Giver, when such paradises as this are made by Him for the habitations of man !
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