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 88
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 88
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CLIMATE .- The climate of this township is much in keeping with the whole of the county. In the winter season there are many days of cold weather, and snow is not an uncommon visitor, especially in the upper alti- tudes of the mountains. It is, however, a remarkable fact that at a certain height upon the mountain side, known as the thermal belt, it is never as cold as it is either above or below it. Semi-tropical plants flourish at this point, while the hardy shrubs of a northern clime will suffer from frost in the valley below. It is, of course, in the winter season when the heavy storms occur, both of rain and snow.
It was our pleasure, for we very much enjoyed it, to experience a verit- able mountain storm while passing from Upper Lake to Bartlett Springs, and we will try to give the reader a faint idea of its beauty and grandeur. It is a subject on which the highest powers of the word painter might be lavished, and still justice would not be done to it. The sun came up from behind the eastern mountains, looking much like a ball of fire floating in a sea of flame, while nearer the zenith the color faded into gray, while far to the west the sky was overcast with cold, leaden-colored cumulo-stratus clouds, which floated up from the western horizon from behind the moun- tains, borne before the breeze like great argosies sailing up from the land of storm, laden with vast burdens of moisture. The wind blew in spiteful gusts, damp and cold, and all nature seemed to have a premonition that a storm was at hand.
Passing up Clover Creek we began the ascent of the grade. The wind increased in strength, the gusts being more frequent and lasting longer. The twittering birds were hovering under the lee of the bushes that grew by the wayside, and were chirping to each other in a subdued tone. A flock of sheep, without a shepherd, was descending the mountain side as fast as possible, mothers even leaving their over-wearied weaklings to perish by
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the wayside in their eager descent, and the continuous bleat of the hastening flock fell, with a mournful accent, upon the ear. From the valley below came floating up the lowing of kine, the crowing of cocks, and a thousand sounds made and uttered by the animal existence below us, and they reached our ears with such force that we were almost persuaded that the atmosphere around us was possessed of microphonic powers.
Up and up we went, and now and then a dash of falling rain warned us that the storm was about to burst upon us. The mail-carrier, whose long experience had taught him that a storm of more than ordinary severity was just about to hurl itself upon the mountains, was urging his jaded horse down the grade as fast as possible. Suddenly the ominous hush that always precedes the rush of the storm, like the recedence of water in the undertow of a steamer, fell upon us, Below us the lower scuds had banked up in the heads of the cañons, and were beginning to creep up the mountain side. The tops of the distant ridges were covered with the heavy gray clouds which had settled upon them, as if to rest a moment before making a dash at the next ridge. We were now up among the fir and pine trees. Far away we could hear the rush of the wind through the boughs of the sway- ing giants, sounding like the fall of waters over a mighty precipice.
Nearer and nearer it draws to us, until the first fitful gusts fan our bared forehead ; then comes the mighty avalanche of wind and rain, which, at our height, is one body of water, sweeping up the mountain side with mad fury, hiding everything that comes in its track beneath its sable folds. The grand old giants of the mountain forest sway and creak in their wrestle with the blast like the cordage of a vessel at sea. Deep gloom now settles upon all the mountain top. The valleys have all been filled with the drifting spray of the storm clouds, while the cloud itself is lashed in its fury against the mountain top about us. The rain, in a storm on the moun- tains, does not fall in drops, but is driven in volumes and sheets, forming, as it were, a spray looking much like the gray mist of the ocean. How beau- tifully grand it sweeps by us, rolling, swirling, convoluting and gyrating, being ever the sport of the gale that is driving it in such blinding sheets ! The trees now assume fantastic shapes, seen through the obscurity of the bank of cloud. The dim outlines of a grove some distance off look like a serried rank of giant soldiers, and the swaying tops can easily be imagined to be the plumes of the grand old warriors.
At length the summit is reached, and the height of the storm is en- countered at the same time. It surely seems that our carriage will be taken up in the strong arms of the winds and borne along as a waif, and the surg- ing, towering trees seem to be strained almost to the utmost tension, and that they do not snap and crash at our feet or upon our heads is our only wonder. We scarce can see the road three rods ahead of us, while the
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torrent is rushing down the mountain side in a thousand improvised rivulets and brooks. Wild, indeed, the scene, yet beautiful, grand, yea, sublime ! Man, in such a place, feels that he is near to God, near to the source of the majestic works of nature ! It is an hour for reverie, for communion with the inner consciousness. Truly
"God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform ; He plants His footsteps on the sea, And rides upon the storm."
But it is not always thus. In the lovely days of June, what can be more beautiful than a drive over this same route. Passing up the lovely valley, now dressed in a robe of green and redolent with sweet incense of the myriads of flowers which are blooming by the way side, we come to the foot of the grade. Here the stream that was rushing down in such frantic confusion when last we passed this way is now a bubbling brook, whose ripple and splash makes merry music through the long midnight watches, and chimes in melodiously with the hum and drum of the busy life of day.
On and on up the .grade until we near the summit, where we stop to drink in the lovely and picturesque view that is spread out before our en- raptured eyes. Behind us and at our very feet lies the little valley through which we have just passed. Beyond it and almost a part of it, is the Upper Lake Valley, with the little village of that name nestled amid the trees, in its center. Beyond this the two arms of Bachelor Valley may be easily traced, while the vista is closed up with range upon range of mountains far away to the Mendocino County line.
Looking southward, at our feet lies the beautiful blue waters of Clear Lake, basking in a flood of silver bars of light. It is too far away for the sparkling sheen of its wavelets to reach us, yet we can easily imagine the sweet beauty of its bosom upon such a lovely day as this. On the western margin of the lake the little city of Lakeport is seen playing hide and seek amid the native oaks upon its hill-sides. Truly, by the lake she sits, proud queen of them all ! Beyond this yet is the grand amphitheater-shaped country known as Big Valley, which is now in its loveliest mood. The lit- tle village of Kelseyville is seen nestled in the foliage which grows upon the banks of the adjacent creek, while the stream itself looks like a bright rib- bon of silver set upon a back-ground of emerald. Farther to the east is seen Soda Bay and Uncle Sam Mountain. Beyond this all is mountain and vale to the very horizon, with the two grand old peaks of Cobb and St. Helena piercing the blue ether of the June day far away toward the zenith.
We reach the summit, and far away, till the eye is wearied with the tension, is seen range upon range of mountains. They are now all robed in green, and the bare and rocky spots only serve to lighten their beauty by a fitting contrast. To the northward the outlook is similar to that at the
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east, the horizon closing with the lofty and glistening peaks of Snow Mountains, whose summits reach far above the line of perpetual snow. We have said that all this is beautiful ; yea, it is beyond the power of man to paint, either upon the canvas or upon the printed page, even a faint con- ception of the true loveliness of the scene. Who can describe the delicate tint of the robe of mist which the far away mountains wear most of the day, like a halo of purple glory from heaven ? And the radiant, life-giving, soul-inspiring air of that upper altitude ! To be there and to see and to breathe is to be in elysian fields such as the poets of old may have tried to portray, but such as they never could conceive even a shadowy outline of. Purple, emerald, crystalline ether, wine of the gods; yea, almost the very breath of immortality itself ! And yet it is not all told.
PRODUCTS .- The products of this township extend through the usual range of fruits, cereals and vinicultural products. Grain of all kinds do well and corn is grown to some extent. Fruits of every description thrive excellently and the apples of Lake County are proverbially excellent. Much attention is just now being attracted to the growing of wine grapes, and it is believed that all the mountain sides of this whole section is most excellently adapted to their culture. The Bank of Lake, under the super- vision of Judge S. C. Hastings, planted a large vineyard this present year (1881) on what is known as the Carson ranch, in this township, and the proprietors are enthusiastic over the flattering prospects of making a grand success of it. It is certainly to be hoped that they will, as it will add a great source of wealth to the county.
TIMBER .- The timber of Upper Lake Township ranges through all the grades common to the section. There is quite an amount of pine, sugar pine, and fir on the upper altitudes of the mountain ranges, which has been found very well adapted for lumber, and has been a source of wealth to the section. Lower down the mountain side is found the mountain, black, and live oak, all of which are good fuel woods, but of not much use otherwise. In the valleys the white oak grows in great numbers, but not much can be said in its favor for fuel or any other economic purposes. Alder, a fine light fuel wood, grows quite extensively along the banks of streams. Madroña thrives on the mountain sides, but it is useless for economical purposes. It is a beautiful tree, however, and has been aptly named by Bret Harte, “ har- lequin of the woods," and is one of the most striking objects of our forests. It is rarely found growing straight, the trunks being usually twisted into every conceivable shape. The peculiarity of the bark, which peels off in thin strips, and seems to consist of several layers, attracts the eye at once. It is smooth and yellow in young trees, but changes in the old to a deep madder red. This is the thin outside layer, and when that scales off
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the inside layer appears green on the tender shoots, and yellow on the older wood. The bark-shedding process occurs in the spring and early summer, and is a very marked peculiarity of the tree. The madroña bears a small red berry, which is a favorite food for the wild pigeon. The leaves are large and have a glossy green appearance fully as rich as the magnolia. There are several other species of tree and shrubs which thrive in this town- ship, but none are of any special importance.
EARLY SETTLEMENT. - The first permanent settlement made in Upper Lake Township dates back to 1854, and to Benjamin Dewell, one of the makers of the famous Bear Flag, belongs the honor of being the pioneer settler of this township, who came in and located on the place he still re- sides upon, in May of that year. He was followed in the fall of 1854 by his father-in-law, William B. Elliott, and his brother-in-law, Alburn Elliott. Mr. Dewell settled just north of the present site of the town of Upper Lake, and on the west side of Clover Creek. William B. Elliott settled on the east side of Clover Creek, and Alburn Elliott settled about three miles above Dewell's on the same side of the creek.
During the fall of 1854 Colonel Lansing T. Musick located on the east side of Clover Creek, and below where Upper Lake now stands. In the spring of 1855 another son of William B. Elliott, Commodore, came in and settled just above his father's place. All of these men had families.
The early settlers in Bachelor Valley were Richard Lawrence, Greene Catran, Daniel Giles and Benjamin Moore, all bachelors, hence the name.
In Long Valley Benjamin Knight and William E. Willis were the first permanent settlers. Before this there had been a large number of hunters located in the valley and they had cabins all through the valley. Knight and Willis were located on what is now known as the Kennedy ranch in 1854. There was about one thousand acres in their claim, and they disposed of it to a man by the name of Calder, and in 1859 James Kennedy and his son Hiram purchased it, and still remain upon it.
While Knight and Willis were still in possession of this claim, George M. Hanson, father of the Hanson brothers, so well and favorably known in that valley now, came in and began buying up the hunters' claims, cabins, etc., hoping thus to get undisputed possession of the entire valley for a stock range. He succeeded in securing all the claims except that of Knight and Willis, who had some stock there, and asked a good round sum for their interest. Shortly after this, Mr. Hanson and his sons, William P. and J. F., drove in a band of cattle, and began stock raising and dairying, which they followed for several years with great success. Daniel A. Hanson, another son, settled on the place below and adjoining the Kennedy ranch. In an early day the dividing lines between the ranches extended from one side
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of the valley to the other, and that custom has maintained to the present time. Other early settlers in this township were: J. M. Maxwell, J. B. Howard, M. Shepard, J. Gilbert, L. A. Young, J. M. Denison, J. F. Crabtree, Caspar Sweikert, G. A. Lyon, Sr., A. J. Alley, George Bucknell, T. P. Max- well, M. Waldfogal, S. N. Alley, C. C. Rice, D. V. Thompson, J. B. Robinson, R. C. Tallman, J. F. Burger, J. O. Sleeper, J. Pitney, and M. Sleeper.
Of the many brave pioneers of Lake County, none are more deserving of a place in a work of this character than William B. Elliott. The sub- joined sketch is taken from the Sonoma Democrat, and was published at the time of his death :
" William B. Elliott was born in Randolph County, North Carolina, in 1798, two and a half miles from New Salem, on Deep River. When eighteen years of age he went to Grayson County, Virginia, on New River, which flows from Grayson County through a gorge past the romantic Hawks Nest, first made famous by Thomas Jefferson, in his ' Notes of Vir- ginia,' takes the name of Kanawha, and mingles its waters with the Ohio. It is a wild, mountainous and beautiful region, which at that day offered a field for the sportsman worthy of Elliott's love of adventure, and the un- erring aim of his rifle.
" In 1821 he married Eliza Palton. After spending eight years in Gray- son County, he started in March, 1833, with his family, in search of a home still farther West, little dreaming that, after a few years in Missouri, he would push on in the vanguard of pioneers towards the sunset until he found a home within sound of the waves of the Pacific. He settled in Dade County, in South Missouri, thirty miles from Springfield, and had a farm there till the spring of 1845. On the 17th day of April of that year he left with a large company bound for Oregon. Of the party were John Grigsby, David and William Hudson, J. W. York and Joseph Wood. Ben- jamin Dewell, who was one of the Bear Flag party, joined the train, then a very young man, after leaving Independence.
" Mr. Elliott had with him a wife and seven children. At Fort Hall the party divided, part going to Oregon and part to California. They had, to that point, followed the emigrant overland trail by way of South Pass and Soda Springs. From Fort Hall the California party came to Humboldt, thence, by way of Donner Lake, across the Sierras, thence to Sutters Fort, and from that place to Younts, in Napa. On the plains Elliott was a leader. He did not know the meaning of the word fear. Armned, he did not care a snap for Indians, and would have toppled them over if they interfered with him with as little compunction as he formerly knocked gray squirrels out of a tall poplar or chestnut tree in the mountains of West Virginia.
" In California he soon became noted as a great bear hunter, and with his boys has probably killed more grizzlies than any other man in the State.
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On one of these bear hunts, shortly after he came to the State, he worked his way from the head of Napa to Loconoma Valley. There he met some Indians, who told him there were a great many bear over the mountains (pointing west). One of the Elliott boys was with the old man. They climbed to the top of the mountain and descended the divide between the forks of Big Sulphur Creek and the main stream. They noticed a strong smell of sulphur, which surprised them, and they determined to solve the mystery. As they went down the stream the smell of brimstone, to use the old man's words, increased, and they were still further amazed by coming in sight of a cloud of steam which seemed to rise from the bottomless pit itself. Elliott and his son had discovered the Geysers !
" While thinking of the probable difficulties ahead of them, they were suddenly confronted by an immediate and pressing one. Just as they en- tered the open space above where the bath-house now stands, they came suddenly upon a huge grizzly. The bear reared up on his haunches, as if astonished by the intrusion of the white man into his wild retreat. A quick shot from the old man's rifle doubled the animal up, and Ab. sent another leaden messenger. They signalized their discovery by killing the largest bear taken on the hunt.
" Elliott and his son thoroughly examined the wonderful canon, and re- turned to the log cabin, which stands to this day on Mark West Creek, near its junction with Porter Creek. It is the only old-fashioned log house with two apartments separated by an open space that we know of in Sonoma County. It stands on the Weaver place, and has long been unoccupied. This account was taken down as told by the old man, and does not come second-hand or by hearsay.
"Shortly after coming to the State, Elliott had purchased from one Berryessa an Alcalde's grant to a large amount of land on the head of *Mark West Creek, where the cabin stood. He moved there, with his son Com- Inodore, all his stock. His nearest neighbors were Moses Carson, on the Fitch grant, Frank Bedwell, Cyrus Alexander, in Alexander Valley, Captain Smith, Black and McIntosh, of Bodega, (to which may be added the settlers of Napa Valley).
" In the spring of 1846 he was at work with his ox-teams, hauling lumber from Smith's mill to Bodega Bay. He had three teams and three wagons.
* This is a slight mistake. This land being west of where Calistoga now stands, on the ridge which divides the two counties, the house occupied by the family was on the Napa Valley side of the ridge, hence could not have been on Mark West Creek. This we have from Mrs. Dewell, who was a young woman at the time, and she called our attention to this error in the statement made above. If the reader will refer to the course followed by the party going to the relief of Stone and Kelsey, it will be seen that they passed from Santa Rosa through the Rincon to Elliott's, and thence over St. Helena, thus locating Elliott in Napa Valley.
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While engaged there he heard whisperings among the Mexicans of trouble with the Americans in Sonoma. He became uneasy about his family and settled with Captain Smith and started with his teams for Sonoma. There was no road to Elliott's place with wagons except by way of Sonoma and Napa, and up Napa Valley, across the hills from Calistoga. He had no gun, and that did not suit Elliott, so he purchased one of a number of shot guns imported by Captain Smith from England.
" He was compelled to pass the old Petaluma house, but he tried to give it as wide a berth as possible, knowing that large numbers of Mexicans were always congregated there. They saw him, however, and came dashing out on horseback towards him. The old man acknowledged that there was one thing he was afraid of and that was the riatta of the Mexicans, when there were more of them than he could kill at one shot. The Mexicans came on at full speed and he thought his time was up. They reined up their horses in the usual style, and told him to come by the house as they wanted him to take a barrel of aguardiente on the wagon to Captain Barker in Sonoma. The last of the sentence relieved the old pioneer amazingly ; he headed the cattle peremptorily, and was the most polite American till he got out of that place ever before seen in the country.
· " He loaded up his freight and made his way with all possible speed to Sonoma, where he left the aguardiente with Barker and continued his journey to Napa. Three miles beyond Sonoma he met the Bear Flag party on their way to capture Sonoma. It was the eve of the first act in a drama, the exciting scenes of which were to follow in quick succession, its climax, the conquest of California. It needed no invitation to induce Elliott to join the band. He sent his wagons on, saddled a horse, shouldered his shot gun, and the polite carrier of aguardiente of yesterday was the revolutionist of to-day, brave as the bravest among them.
"The party entered the town about daylight, with a rousing yell. Some went to the barracks, and some to General Vallejo's quarters. Elliott went with the latter; Merritt was just ahead of him. Salvador Vallejo came out and surrendered himself to Captain Merritt. Merritt had been badly treated on a former occasion by Salvador, who wished now to make up. The former, from an impediment in his speech, was known as 'stuttering Merritt.' He replied to Vallejo: 'By g-d, th-th-this is go-go-government bu-bu-business, we will settle our difficulties hereafter.' Elliott went as one of the guards with the prisoners to Sutters Fort. He says: 'We had not arrested Jacob P. Leese, but he went along with the party. At Feather River we met an Indian with a note from Fremont, who told us to take care of the prisoners, especially one J. P. Leese. Two of us then rode quickly up, one on each side of Leese, with our guns across the saddles pointed towards him, closed in and informed him he was a prisoner. Mr. Leese expressed great surprise and indignation.'
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Upper Lake Township.
" After turning the prisoners over to the authorities at Sutters Fort, Elliott and Grigsby came through Pope Valley to Napa, went on to Yount's, and Elliott found his family there on their way to Sonoma for protection, and went on with them.
" The Bear Flag was made out of red flannel furnished to Benjamin Dewell by Mrs. Elliott, not a flannel petticoat, as has been erroneously stated, but a piece of new red flannel. Mrs. Elliott also furnished the needles and thread with which it was sewed together. Dewell got the materials from her and afterwards married a daughter of Elliott's. We have the facts from him. Elliott had enlisted for a short term. When Revere raised the American flag Elliott left, putting Benjamin Dewell in his place. Revere was anxious for Elliott to remain. He told the lieutenant that he had sons who had enlisted, and that if necessary for defense he and his wife would both take a rifle in hand.
" From Sonoma he went to the head of *Napa Valley, and harvested a crop of grain he had put in there, keeping his cattle on the Mark West ranch. In 1849 he kept a public house known as the 'Bear Flag House,' on the Wilson place, just beyond the reservoir on the old Sonoma road. In 1850 Frank Marryatt, a distinguished English author, stopped a while with Elliott, and in his work called ' Mountain and Mole-Hill,' gives an account of the skill and daring of his host, as a hunter and rifleman. In one of his hunting tours Elliott had seen Lake County in its virgin beauty. In the fall of 1854 he went there with his family, and settled upon a ranch and began farming near Upper Lake, where he lived till he died. He now sleeps quietly on a lovely spot on an eminence in the heart of Clover Val- ley, and near the scenes of the latter days of his most busy and eventful life."
Among the first schools established in Lake County was one located at Upper Lake, and among the early teachers employed to initiate the youth of that section into the mysteries of the three "r's " was Mr. J. W. Mackall, now a resident of Lakeport, and cashier in the Grangers' Bank.
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