History of Riverside County, California, Part 14

Author: Holmes, Elmer Wallace, 1841-
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 845

USA > California > Riverside County > History of Riverside County, California > Part 14

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The assembly defeated Riverside's ambition in 1891, but many

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who were its opponents then became its advocates in 1893. Its obvious justice won friends, not only at Sacramento, but also in the section of San Diego county which it was proposed to incor- porate in the new county, and the efficient aid rendered by the people of this section overcame previous local indifference and opposition, and materially aided the final success.

The bill forming Riverside county was introduced in the senate by Senator Streeter of Riverside, and in the assembly by Assemblyman Barker of Banning, on the 9th of January, and on February 8th the bill passed the. senate, twenty-seven to twelve, and on the 25th of the same month it passed the assembly by a vote of sixty-two to fourteen. Governor Markham attached his signature to the bill on Saturday, March 11, 1893.

In accordance with its provisions, Governor Markham ap- pointed a commission of five to organize the new county. These were Bradford Morse of Riverside, D. G. Mitchell of Perris, John McLaren of San Jacinto, O. A. Smith of South Riverside (Corona), and Frank A. Miller of Riverside. The act required the approval of the people and the selection of a county seat, and at the election called by the commission the vote stood 2,277 in favor of a new county and 681 against, and the selection of a county seat was made by a vote of 2,140 for Riverside, 459 for Menifec and 70 scattering.

The new county started out with an assessed valuation of $12,309,250 and a tax rate of $1.85. The total valuation in 1912 is $31,532,687, and the rate $2.20.

The following named citizens have represented the territory now included in Riverside county in the state legislature and in the national congress: In the assembly, Henry M. Streeter of Riverside, Elmer W. Holmes of Riverside, C. O. Barker of Ban- ning, E. W. Freeman of Corona, F. T. Lindenberger of Win- chester, A. S. Milice of Riverside (two terms), Frank D. Lewis of Riverside, Miguel Estudillo of Riverside, E. B. Collier of Corona, George W. Freeman of Corona and W. H. Ellis of River- side. In the senate, A. P. Johnson, Henry M. Streeter, A. A. Caldwell and Miguel Estudillo, all of Riverside. In the national congress, Capt. M. J. Daniels of Riverside. How differently pro- gressive action appears today from what it did twenty years ago is shown by the fact that the first necessary expenditure of some

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RIVERSIDE COUNTY COURT HOUSE

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$12,000 to build a decent graded road through the Box Springs pass, to make communication easy between the county seat and the territory to the southward, was subsequently made the basis of a bitter campaign against the authorities on the ground of extrava- gance, while the expenditure of some $40,000 to improve this very strip of road has recently been the most effective argument in behalf of the candidate conspicuous in securing this generous appropriation. Now, aside from the district levy for road build- ing, the county appropriates some $80,000 annually from its gen- eral fund in aid of permanent road and bridge building.

Important duties fell upon this first board of supervisors in starting the machinery of the new county. John G. North and W. S. Wise were appointed to arrange a financial settlement with San Bernardino county, and A. H. Naftzger and Horace McPhee to perform the same duty with San Diego county. The Arlington Hotel was leased for a courthouse, which was used some ten years, until the acquirement of the block on Main street made possible the locating of a beautiful and convenient courthouse and the county jail upon it.

The county hospital for a time occupied a building near the Santa Fe station, and the first to have charge of it were Dr. E. H. Way, as county physician, and Z. T. Brown, as superintendent. Dr. R. D. Barber of Corona was made the first county health officer. The second board of supervisors moved the county. hos- pital to San Jacinto, where it was located until the building occu- pied was wrecked by an earthquake, when the county purchased a large tract of land on Magnolia avenue, below Arlington, and erected a group of buildings especially fitted for hospital use and the care of the indigent. In 1910, to comply with the require ments of a recent law, the county has located upon these grounds, facing on Garfield street, suitable buildings where, in a "deten- tion home," neglected children are suitably cared for.

Among the first of the appointments made was a board of horticultural commissioners to care for our important fruit inter- ests, Messrs. Judson House, George W. Van Kirk and Charles W. Godfrey being named for this duty. R. P. Cundiff has for years had the entire charge of this department.

The records of the meetings of the supervisors, held June 27, 1893, show that on that day an ordinance was adopted prohibiting

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the liquor traffic within the limits of the county of Riverside, a policy which has been permanently maintained.

The following is a list of the elective officers who have served the county since its organization, with the dates of their assump- tion of their duties: Superior judge, J. S. Noyes, 1893; F. E. Densmore, 1906. County clerk, A. J. Condee, 1893; W. W. Phelps, 1899; A. B. Pilch, 1907. County treasurer, D. G. Mitchell, 1893. County sheriff, Fred W. Swope, 1893; W. B. Johnson, 1895; P. M. Coburn, 1899; Frank P. Wilson, 1907. District attorney. John M. Anderson, 1893; Lafayette Gill, 1895; Lyman Evans, 1898. County auditor, George W. Fox, 1893; William B. Clancy, 1895; George H. Brown, 1905. County tax collector, A. B. McCormick, 1893; J. C. Woodard, 1895; Oscar J. Palmer, 1896; E. D. Crane, 1910; Charles R. Stibbens, July 24, 1912. County surveyor, George M. Pearson, 1893. County assessor, Bradford Morse, 1893; John T. Jarvis, 1895; W. F. Montague, 1899. County coroner, Dr. W. S. Ruby, 1893; Dr. C. C. Sherman, 1895; Dr. C. S. Dickson, 1899. Public administrator, George M. Frink, 1893; H. W. Bordwell, 1895; Warren Taylor, 1896; L. C. Russell, 1896; M. S. Bowman, 1900; W. H. Polkinghorn, 1911. County recorder, E. H. Gruwell, 1893; I. S. Logan, January 5, 1905. Superintendent of schools, Lyman Gregory, 1893; Edward Hyatt, 1895; Raymond Cree, 1907. County supervisors: First district, W. G. McVicar, 1893; Ambrose Comp- ton, 1895; Elwood Lilly, 1899; Thomas P. Drinkwater, 1902; J. T. Hamner, 1903. Second district: Martin Hoover, 1893; J. M. Edmiston, 1895; Dr. C. W. Craven, 1899; Elmer W. Holmes, June 6, 1904. Third district: Albert S. White, 1893; Fred M. Dunbar, 1897; Harry Bantz, 1905; Karl S. Carlton, 1909. Fourth district: S. A. Stewart, 1893; H. C. Thompson, 1895; A. T. Kimbell, 1899; James A. Crane, 1911. Fifth district: F .. T. Loveland, 1893; John Shaver, 1895.

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CHAPTER XVIII. THE PERRIS VALLEY By Mrs. W. H. Ellis

To study the history of Southern California, so full of legend and romance, one naturally asks the question, when he pauses to look into the history of Perris valley, does it have any legends; could a web of romance be woven into its early history? The writer of this article has been led to believe by some that it was here that Helen Hunt Jackson laid the scenes portrayed in the closing chapters of her famous book "Ramona." One good pioneer assured the writer he personally knew every character introduced into the story. Then there are the "doubting Thomases" who urge that no mention of the people or places described in the story are entwined in a true historical sketch of the Perris valley. But Helen Hunt Jackson was not alone among the literary lights who saw and appreciated the beauties of the hill-encircled Perris val- ley, for it was the gifted Mrs. Churchill who portrayed its sublime beauty in "Purple Ifills" that brought her fame and fortune; and Joaquin Miller has told in dreamy poetic fashion the story of the days of outlaw chivalry.

It is not the intention of the writer to enter into minute details, or paint a creation of fancy that would lead to erroneous ideas, but to record in a plain practical manner the story of "Brave Little Perris."

The Perris valley is actable land ranging from 1,300 to 1,500 feet above the level of the sea, while the city of Perris has an altitude of about 1,440 feet.

The valley is located in latitude thirty-four, being on the iden- tical parallel that passes through the sunny hills of Southern Spain. It is in the heart of that portion of Southern California called the "citrus belt," in Riverside county. It was in San Diego and San Bernardino counties until 1893, when Riverside county was formed, the dividing line being a little north of the Schneider school house. Perris is seventy-five miles southeast of Los Ange- les, one hundred miles north of San Diego, twenty-five miles south

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of San Bernardino, and seventeen miles from the orange groves of Riverside.

This valley was included in the San Jacinto Subranta grant, or was generally known in the early days as the San Jacinto plains, which term included all that level body of mesa or table land lying between Box Springs canyon and the Temecula valley, a territory about thirty miles square, which has since been given different names by settlers, such as Perris, Diamond, San Jacinto, Meni- fee, Pleasant, La Belle, Paloma and Los Alomas valleys, although properly speaking, the entire area of tillable land spreads out in a broad, level belt from the foot of Box Springs mountains, stretch- ing away to the southeast around the mountain spurs and ridges that form but slight geographical divisions. Many of the boun- daries are purely imaginary. The San Jacinto river runs in a southwesterly direction through the southern portion of the ter- ritory known as the Perris valley, which is from six to ten miles in width from foothill to foothill, and eighteen miles in length.

Commencing at the northwest corner of the valley, near Box Springs, the boundary between the Perris and the San Bernar- dino valleys is marked by a range of low, broken granite hills extending eastward until merged into the plateau known as Cajon pass, a natural gateway into this region lying between the snow- covered peaks of San Jacinto and Grayback. These peaks stand like Titanic sentinels guarding the less romantic and sublime works below. The valley proper extends for a distance of ten miles along the range of low hills, that portion lying farther to the east being called the San Jacinto valley. Another range of higher hills forms a natural division of these valleys and terminates in a lofty, rugged granite pile known as Twin mountain. To the southward it extends, together with the Menifee country and plains of Leon, to the crest of hills forming the walls of Temecula valley. On the west a low line of hills first breaks the level expanse, and after an abrupt rise of one hundred feet or thereabouts there is a mesa two miles or more in width, known as the Mountain Glen country, beyond which rise in rugged outline the picturesque Temescal mountains and gold-bearing hills of Gabilan.

Prior to the year 1880 the Perris valley, or San Jacinto plains, as it was then called, was a treeless desert; great bands of sheep roamed at will over the level country, and Mexican miners worked

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the rich gold deposits in surrounding hills. Before the plowshare had broken a foot of soil on the San Jacinto plains it was known as a mining country. Prospectors tramped over ridge and ravine and staked off claims in every direction. Fifty years ago a flour- ishing camp existed in the Gabilan country, and the Mexicans for many years made a living by mining, although their methods were primitive, and fully one-half of the precious metal was lost in its journey from the shining quartz bed to the sheepskin dust- bag of the miner.

Evidences of a prehistoric people exist, and Indian relics are numerous. Among the latter may be mentioned stone mills, almost identical with those described in the Bible, used by the Indians to pulverize maize. These are quite numerous and consist of shallow bowl-shaped depressions in the face of flat boulders, and smooth oblong rocks which were held in the hand; the mode of operation being similar to that now employed by apothecaries in compound- ing drugs with mortar and pestle.

In the year 1880 a pioneer named Copeland located a claim about three miles north of where the city of Perris is now located. About the same time the Frazees located on land near Twin moun- tain. These were the first families who made permanent settlements in the valley. A few settlers came the following year, J. H. Banks being among them.

Mining and "dry farming" now began to attract the outside world to this section, and people began to come in and settle on claims. In 1882 came Mr. and Mrs. Henry W. Aikin and settled on a 160-acre tract in Menifee. Mr. Aikin is a native of Wisconsin and Mrs. Aikin is a native daughter. They are the oldest pioneers living in the valley. When they staked their claim not a tree was to be seen growing in the valley. In November, 1882, they left their home in Los Angeles county for Menifee, the party consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Aikin, a year old babe, Mrs. Aikin's sister, Miss Mary Lee, and a young man by the name of Shoemaker. They traveled with a canvas-covered wagon, bringing what farming implements they could. They were two days making the trip, camping over night on the plains between Pomona and Riverside.

The next morning they drove a few miles to the river, where the horses were watered and the party breakfasted. While prepar- ing breakfast, Mrs. Aikin climbed up to get something out of the

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wagon, and in stepping backward to the ground she took hold of an iron rod and in some way her wedding ring was broken. No doubt this was taken by the young wife as a peculiar omen.

When they started on again, a hard north wind was blowing, so Mr. Aikin fastened the canvas curtain down in front of the wagon, and they saw nothing of the country through which they were passing until they reached the top of the Box Springs grade. The wind had cleased blowing, so the curtain was raised, and the San Jacinto plains stretched away before them, a barren plain with rocky hills. You can imagine the disappointment of the young wife, who had pictured a valley, surrounded by rolling hills, covered with live-oak trees. To her it seemed hardly fit for a sheep pasture.

When the party neared the Copeland ranch, a man came run- ning toward them beckoning. When they had driven near enough, he told them an old man had been killed in a well they had been dig- ging, a large bucket of rock and dirt having fallen on the old man while working down in the well. Mr. Aikin and Mr. Shoemaker went at once to his assistance. Mr. Aikin took half of the windlass rope and by means of it climbed down into the well, which was about forty feet deep. The old man, whose name was Abe Reed, was not killed, but very badly hurt. They brought him out of the well and put him on a moving machine, which Mr. Aikin was trailing behind his wagon, and after making him as comfortable as possible they took him to his own cabin a few miles farther on. He asked them to drive to Pinacate station and tell his sister-in-law, a Mrs. Reed, about his accident.

When they reached Pinacate they found the Hickey and Reynolds families celebrating the wedding of Prico Hickey and Miss Mattie Reynolds. Miss Mattie Reynolds was the sister of A. W. Reynolds, who still lives in the Perris valley. Leaving Pinacate they drove on a few miles farther south, and on the close of Thanksgiving Day reached the place that for many years was to be their home.

The writer can well imagine the loneliness of the days and nights that followed their coming into this seemingly desert land. No doubt the young wife bore it bravely, all for love's sweet sake-love for her husband and the baby boy. That baby now is a successful business man in Los Angeles-the city of his mother's birth.

In 1882 also came Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Nance, with their baby daughter Evelyn, natives of Tennessee. No history of Perris or

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Perris valley could well be written without frequent mention of J. W. Nance. Having lost his health in the Mississippi valley on account of malaria, he went to the mountains of his own state, but receiving no benefit, he came to San Diego, Cal., in June, 1882, and stayed there for three months without any improvement. He then went to Los Angeles and there found himself much worse. Then he traveled all over California, seeking a place that would benefit his health, when his physician, a Dr. Worthington of Los Angeles, suggested that he needed a dry climate and high altitude. Acting on this advice he came to Riverside, and in talking with a merchant there, J. R. New- berry, he was told that the place he was looking for was the San Jacinto plains, but that he didn't suppose he could live there, as nothing but a jackrabbit could. He came to this desert plain, where nothing but a jackrabbit could live, and when he saw the fair moun- tain valley he bought 200 acres of land, paying $1 and giving a mortgage back for $1,999 and went to farming. Was it not a brave and courageous wife who could come with a sick husband and a baby daughter of but a few months, into a treeless mountain valley, with a capital of $1 down? They went to farming, sowed the ranch to barley and harvested two and one-fourth tons of hay to the acre and sold it for $22.50 per ton, making $4,000 from the first crop. Their place was paid for, and in the years following they increased their holdings, and for many years they continued to live in Perris and were associated in nearly every enterprise for the upbuilding of the place.

In 1882 the California Southern Railway was built from San Diego to Colton, and it was then that the settlers began to dot the plains with cabins. The hopeful expectations from this road, how- ever, were doomed to disappointment. It had no direct eastern connection, and there was much opposition from other sections, so that travel over it was practically nil. As a climax, the winter of 1882 and '83 was a very dry one, and the crops failed on all unirri- gated lowlands. Finally, early in 1884, most of the railroad in Teme- cula canyon and Santa Margarita was washed out by a flood, having been built too low by eastern engineers who did not understand the requirements of the Pacific coast climate. It took something like nine months to replace the road and restore traffic, and even then very dull times continued. But even though the railroad was not a paying

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investment at that time, its coming through the Perris valley meant the beginning of permanent settlements there.

It was not long before the demand for a postoffice and general supply store became urgent, and in the winter of 1882 L. D. Reynolds, father of A. W. Reynolds of Perris, located a claim. He built a house 10x12 and bored a well 119 feet deep, hoping to secure artesian water, but bedrock was encountered at that depth and work ceased. He was appointed postmaster, and the new settlement was named Pinacate (Pin-a-car-tee), taking the name of the gold mines near by, which were then running night and day, and employing a force of twenty men. The California Southern railway had a box car on a side track, and dignified it by calling it the "station." The trade of the miners and increasing settlement led to the establishment of a store by Albion Smith, and a saloon was the next enterprise to be launched. Pinacate was now dignified by the title of "town," and bade fair to become a busy little city. A Texas surveyor, A. Jul. Mauermann, arrived about this time, and after securing land near the "station," laid out the town site.

The railroad company had put down a switch, a commodious hotel had been erected by Mr. Mauermann, trade was on the increase, and Pinacate was catching the first pulse-waves of the great South- ern California boom, when trouble arose over the title to the land upon which it was located. Albion Smith, the storekeeper, filed a contest on the land held by Postmaster Reynolds, which affected all property in the townsite except that owned by Mr. Mauermann. At this juncture several settlers in the central and northern part of the valley conceived the idea of starting a new town. Among these settlers were J. H. McCanna and F. H. Carpenter, and after some agitation, they succeeded in interesting a number of San Bernardino business men in the project. So it came about that Dr. I. W. Hazlett, Dr. S. G. Huff, W. R. Porter, J. P. Hight, James E. Mack, Frank Volk, T. J. Forthing and W. J. Guthrie, all of that city, made a proposition to the railroad company to donate a large number of lots, build a depot, and sink a well, if the railroad company would remove the sidetrack to a point two miles north of Pinacate. Fred T. Perris of San Bernardino, chief engineer of the railroad company, favored the proposition, which was soon accepted, and the new town was named in his honor. In the month of April, 1885, the switch was taken up and moved from Pinacate, and the new station was

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declared by the general manager of the California Southern Railroad to be the stopping place for all trains, and the history of Perris dates from that period.

The new town was mapped and platted by E. Dexter and sur- veyed into lots and blocks by George A. Doyle, in December, 1885, and January, 1886. J. H. McCanna, in 1886, built the first store, now owned and occupied by M. L. Mapes with his general merchan- dise stock. The Town Company gave Mrs. Albion Smith, a former resident of Pinacate, two lots, on which she built, in 1886, the Hotel Perris. The Perris Pharmacy, in the Sharpless Block, is now located on these lots. Mrs. Smith was appointed postmistress, with Frank H. Carpenter, deputy. Mr. Carpenter owned a general merchandise store; L. D. Reynolds moved from Pinacate to the new town, and James E. Mack and John H. Banks opened a real estate office. About this time J. W. Nance and George B. Knight opened a land office, and Charles E. Gyger, now of Los Angeles, E. E. Waters and O. G. McEuen embarked in the same business. Mrs. B. Bernasconi built the Southern Hotel in 1886, and has continued to run it ever since. J. A. Peron opened a hardware store, and for many years was engaged in that business. C. E. Gyger was the first telegraph oper- ator at the new station. Mr. McCanna opened his grocery store and business became lively. In November, 1886, H. Stephens Ehrman issued the first number of the Perris Valley Leader. One year later the paper was sold to Julius C. Rieger and Edmund L. Peebles. Mr. Rieger came to Perris in 1884 and took up 160 acres of govern- ment land, on which he built a house and barn and planted trees and shrubs and made other improvements. He stayed on the ranch a year, when he formed a partnership with Mr. Peebles and purchased the Perris Valley Leader. He published the paper for one year, when he sold out and afterward purchased an interest in the firm of Mapes & Coppel, which firm was then running a fine grocery and provision store, giving up one front corner to the postoffice.

During the fall and winter of 1887 and 1888 the town doubled in population. Drs. Perry and Sherwood opened a first-class drug store. Dr. Perry, now of Los Angeles, who was a descendant of Commodore Perry, came to Perris in 1887. He was a practicing physician in Chicago, but having serious throat trouble, came to California in December of 1887. He improved greatly in health and heartily recommends Perris valley as a very healthful place to live.

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F. M. Coppel, now a practicing physician in Illinois, and M. L. Mapes, in 1887, bought the store of F. H. Carpenter, Mr. Carpenter entering the real estate firm of C. E. Gyger & Company. Mr. Coppel was the second postmaster to be appointed in Perris, with Mr. Mapes as deputy. Mr. Mapes and Judge Vermason afterwards owned this postoffice store, while now Mr. Mapes is sole proprietor.

This same winter Hook Bros. & Oak built a large two-story brick and iron building and put in a complete line of general mer- chandise. In the fall of '87 Ora Oak was looking over Southern Cali- fornia for a place to engage in business. After considering the merits of the many new places that were starting in California at that time, he returned to Oakland most favorably impressed with San Jacinto. In San Francisco he met Joseph F. Hook, an old acquaint- ance, who was also desirous of exchanging city for country business, so they went to San Jacinto with the intention of going into business there, but real estate values were so high they came to Perris in- stead. Here they bought property in January, 1888. In February and March they built their store, and in April the Perris Valley Supply Company's general merchandise store was opened for busi- ness. In May, A. W. Hook came up from his ranch in Sierra Madre, and J. F. Hook returned from San Francisco, where he had gone to dispose of his business. In August of the same year they bought lot 2, block 3, which made them owners of all available land in the rail- road Y, thus securing valuable warehouse property. From the start they grasped the idea of what Perris needed in the way of a general supply store, and they were successful beyond their highest expec- tations. The men who made up the firm were hard working, pushing men, who do business on the live-and-let-live basis, and not only have their eyes open to their own interests, but also to the interests of the community in which they live. Ora Oak is now located in Col- ton, while J. F. and A. W. Hook still continue in the business, which has grown to such proportions that they now have a large department store besides the store in block 3.

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History of Riverside County, California, Part 14

Author: Holmes, Elmer Wallace, 1841- Publication date: 1912 Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co. Number of Pages: 845

Author: Holmes, Elmer Wallace, 1841-
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 845