History of Riverside County, California, Part 21

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 21


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).


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term there were nearly 200 in the schools, and eight teachers were employed. It is a little known fact that in 1887 a site was laid out on Cherry Valley for the Presbyterian college, Occidental, but for some reason the plans which had provided for the establishment of the institution at Beaumont were never carried any farther.


The first religious service ever held in the town was in a little house which stood south of the track. This was conducted in 1884 by a Congregational minister, although no church of that denom- ination was ever established at Beaumont. In October, 1884, a few Presbyterians met together at the home of R. T. Jenkins and orga- nized the first church. Their building, which they erected in 1884, is still in use. Their first pastor was a Rev. Bransby. In 1887 the Methodists formed a church, erecting their building in that year. Rev. Hilbish was the first minister to serve this church. For a good many years the preachers of the Beaumont and Banning Methodist churches exchanged pulpits, although the latter church was not organized as soon as the former. In 1901 the United Presbyterians of the town, who had organized a few years pre- vious, obtained possession of the Methodist church building, and are at present using it. Their first pastor, who still occupies the pulpit of the church, was Rev. H. P. Espy. In 1909 the Catholics of Beaumont built a substantial church on Palm avenue, under the direction of Father Hahn of Banning, and Father Golden was the first priest put in charge of the new organization. A small group of members of the Christian church held meetings for a time in 1911, but never organized a church or had a regular pastor.


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There are at present two cemeteries in Beaumont, although for a good many years the old Beaumont Cemetery, which is situated south of the town, near the foothills, was the only one. In 1900 the Mountain View Cemetery was started, this being located in the northern part of the town.


During the '90s the population of Beaumont remained between three and four hundred, the fact that the townsite was not avail- able for subdivision holding back the community. Water was still scarce, and an idea which caused much injury to the place became prevalent about this time that no sufficient supply of water could be obtained, and possible investors, who came to investigate, were frightened from the prospect of buying a town without enough water. The trees which the first company had planted along


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the streets had made excellent growth, although they had received practically no attention, and the majority of the streets were not in use.


Into this "sleepy hollow" in 1907, just twenty years after the Southern California Investment Company had commenced opera- tions, came C. B. Eyer, a capitalist who had purchased the town- site from the bank, and who was not dismayed by the bugaboo of "no water," which had prevented other capitalists from invest- ing in Beaumont. The town yawned, stretched, and woke up. The Beaumont Land and Water Company, which was formed in Octo- ber, 1907, bought from the first purchaser his new property, and at once began the process of rejuvenating the town. The same year the domestic water company, the San Gorgonio Water Com- pany, of which K. R. Smoot is president, was formed. The first directors of the land company were Messrs. Stephens and Gates.


Going at once to the root of the matter the new owners began the work of developing water. At the same time they replatted the townsite and began the sale of the land in subdivisions, both town lots and acreage. The two companies own and control the water rights. The irrigating water is sold under a system which provides that purchasers of company lands can procure also cer- tificates which give them the privilege of buying water for those lands. The first attempt of the new water companies to obtain water was by sinking wells in the valley, but the location chosen proved barren of water and was immediately abandoned. A well was sunk in Edgar canyon and proved much more productive than was hoped, even by the sanguine directors of the company. A fine flow of water was obtained, but work did not stop with the first well, and at present the companies have six wells in the canyon. The theory which had prevailed for years that water could not be developed was done away with, and the town began a new lease of life, working on the more encouraging theory that water would be assured. The Edgar canyon water was at once piped in a new distributing system to the town, the Noble canyon stream also being used. The old reservoir in the latter canyon was used by the new company, and a small reservoir was built in Cherry valley. In 1911 a reservoir up in Edgar canyon was built, and the com- pany also uses power pumps in the canyon. With the new water supply, piped not only to the town, but to the valley where the


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subdivisions were laid out, the growth of the place commenced. The new water distributing system added about forty miles of steel and concrete pipe to the meager number which then existed.


In 1910, just three years after the company took charge, the population had reached over 1,100. Although a great many changes have occurred within the town, as it was formerly laid out, the most noticeable growth and development have been in the valley to the north. Here the lands, which were for many years occupied by grain fields, were subdivided, and investors built houses where there had never been a building before. Orchards of apples, cher- ries, pears and peaches were planted, and are at present making good growth. The fine fruits obtained from the orchards at Highland home, and at the Mellen ranch, where fruit so choice that it was awarded a prize in the World's Fair at Chicago in 1893, was raised, were examples to newcomers. It is estimated that there are now over a thousand acres of fruit trees planted in Beau- mont, exclusive of the old orchards, a great many of the new trees being varieties of apples. The greater part of this new acreage lies in the valley north of Beaumont, toward the foothills, in Cherry and Apple valleys, and in the neighborhood of the old Edgar rancho, where pioneers planted grapes. Although irrigating water is available, the majority of the ranchers do not often take advantage of this fact, preferring to depend upon the rainfall, to a great extent, and to the quality of the soil which holds the moisture. Some of the recent purchasers have sunk wells success- fully in the valley. Besides the orchards, a great many vegetables have recently been produced, and fine berries are raised. Hay and grain are still raised in quantities.


The residences in the town increased rapidly in numbers to ac- commodate the sudden growth of the population after 1907, and at present there are many comfortable homes in Beaumont of neat and attractive appearance. A special subdivision, which the pres ent company exploited, is on the hills overlooking the whole valley. north of the town, and is called La Mesa Miravilla. Here there are several residences of unusual beauty and value. It is inter- esting to note that this choice district was in the early days con- sidered of no value, and thirty years ago a man declaring that it would some day be a site for country homes would have been con- sidered insane. This is simply one instance of the present devel-


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opments in the pass which the earliest settlers never imagined in their highest dreams.


In the business section of Beaumont, which at present, as always, has been located for the most part north of the railroad track, very marked changes took place after the arrival of the new company. Before that date the railroad company had again built a round- house, this third building being a place of some pretensions. Whereas the company formerly obtained water for the tank which supplies engines, from a well, it is now connected with the water company's system. The business section gradually grew eastward, from the original center, and is much more extended than for- merly. There are four groceries, two hardware stores, two fur- niture stores, a dry goods store, bakery, two clothing stores, a drug store, two confectioneries, a meat market, a fruit and vegetable market, a livery stable, two garages, and a rolling mill for grain, besides other places of business and amusement.


The matter of incorporation of Beaumont was placed before the voters for the third time November 6, 1912, when the vote carried and Beaumont became a city of the sixth class. J. J. McCoy was chosen president of the first board of trustees of the city. Many years ago the last saloon went out of existence in Beaumont, as in the remainder of the San Gorgonio Pass, for when the valley became a part of Riverside county in 1893 it also became a prohibition section. A small "calaboose," built in 1909, is located south of the railroad track.


Among the important enterprises in Beaumont is the state bank, which was founded in 1910. A gas plant was also installed that year. In 1911 the present public library, which occupies a room in the Beaumont bank building, was established. There are few lodges in the place, the most active being the Odd Fellows, orga- nized in 1909, and the Rebekahs, which came into existence early in 1912. A Fraternal Brotherhood chapter also holds a charter in the town. The Odd Fellows own a fine building, in the second story of which they maintain their headquarters.


The business men of the town have a board of trade, and main- tain rooms on one of the main streets. The women of Beaumont have among other organizations a club called the San Gorgonio club, and a branch of the W. C. T. U. The latter recently installed a drinking fountain of good design on the corner by the postoffice


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for the benefit of Beaumont citizens. The importance of the place as a railroad town is shown from the fact that there is a branch of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen there.


Beaumont shares with the rest of the pass the advantage of its proximity to the mountains and desert, both from a standpoint of climate, and from the fact that the mountain resorts are easy of access. In the hills to the south is the Wolfskill ranch,. which in the early days was a part of a Spanish land grant, besides other ranches which have been maintained for many years. Recently a few homesteads have been taken up in the lower foothills south of Beaumont, where land has been cleared. The road to San Jacinto, now used as an automobile road, has been in existence since the early days of the town, and formerly a stage line between San Jacinto and San Gorgonio was run. A road was built this year to connect the town with the Yucaipe valley, and Beaumont avenue, which runs northward from the center of the town to the foothills, is extended into an automobile road into the hills. This road leads to Redlands, via a mountain resort known as Oak Glen, which al- though it is in San Bernardino county territory, has Beaumont as its postoffice. The road to Idyllwild, in the San Jacinto mountains, is also easily reached.


Beaumont is not quite old enough to have felt the effects of the lumbermen's desire to enjoy their "high jinks" in the valley, as did Banning in the old days, but, nevertheless, life in old San Gorgonio, and later in Beaumont, was not without its hardships and excitements. One story is told by an old settler, concerning a Mexican who was found one morning apparently "dead drunk." He lay for some time in the road where he had fallen, and then a party of his countrymen took him up, and without very much inves- tigation, assumed that he was really dead, and buried him. The people of Beaumont are today, in common with their neighbors in the pass, a sober, industrious people-good citizens in every respect.


THE TOWN OF CABAZON


The fact that the railroad, when it pushed its first track through the uplands of the San Gorgonio Pass, established at Cabazon a small depot, has already been noted. Cabazon received its name from old Chief Cabazon, who was one of the well-known Indians in the early days. 14


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The town is located about six miles east of Banning, and is 1,776 feet in elevation. The railroad, which between Cabazon and Ban- ning climbs a steep grade, drops from Cabazon to Whitewater, where there is a small depot and section house, to an elevation of about 1,100 feet in less than ten miles.


When Hall City was in existence Cabazon also assumed some importance, but later, until 1884, there was not much of moment in the place. In that year a company headed by Balfour-Guthrie, a Scotch firm, and known as the Cabazon Land and Water Company, bought the land from the railroad and state. They commenced to colonize the place, and sold some of the land, but later bought this in again and managed the property, as a whole, through a resident manager. They built a two-story house for the manager, probably about 1884 or 1885. A moderate acreage of grapes, apricots and almonds was set out, and these proved fruitful. Some of the earliest fruit in the San Gorgonio Pass is raised at Cabazon, and the quality is good. Water for the irrigation of the lands, and for domestic use, was brought in a five-mile stone ditch from the Millard canyon, north of the town. The railroad company then, as now, obtained a supply for the water tank from a tributary canyon, and at present maintains a caretaker in the canyon who has charge of the com- pany water system.


For many years the Scotch company carried on the fruit farm- ing through a manager, but in 1910 the townsite was bought by R. F. Garner of San Bernardino. He soon sold it to the Malone Water and Land Company of Los Angeles, and last year they commenced the subdivision and improvement of their property. About 2,400 acres, lying for the most part south of the railroad, were platted by this company, and in the neighborhood of 1,000 acres were soon sold. One of the largest purchasers was the Ange- lus Fruit Company, which bought the land with the idea of rais- ing olives, figs, peaches and apricots, with a preponderance of the first.


To date there has never been any town in a business sense at Cabazon. A number of the recent purchasers of land there have built homes for themselves, and the company in charge installed a distributing system for the water, laying about thirteen miles of pipe. The first postoffice was installed there early in the present year, with B. H. Votaw as postmaster, and bonds for a small


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schoolhouse have been voted. The residents have always been few in number, and at present the total is not large, in comparison with the other towns of the valley.


WHITEWATER


Whitewater, which is near the center of the valley, where the mountain ranges begin their gradual divergence, one from another, and the San Gorgonio Pass is lost in the Colorado desert, is only about 1,100 feet in elevation. The place takes its name from the river which flows across the valley from the San Bernardino moun- tains at a point east of the Whitewater ranch, and the river orig- inally received the appellation from the fact that the water carries with it an immense quantity of fine sand, causing it to have almost a milky appearance. Previous to 1860, when the Smiths located a station for the stage line, there was nothing whatever to mark the site of the present ranch. With the discontinuance of the stage traffic, Whitewater was the headquarters for a cattle ranch, and at present is used in that capacity, serving as central point for a winter cattle range. Although the present adobe house at the ranch is not the original one, some of the bricks which form its thick walls were used in the first adobe, built about 1862. The first residents of the place diverted water from the river by means of a ditch to the ranch, and this method is still in use. The huge cottonwood trees, which were planted by the Smiths to furnish shade to the barren spot, are still standing, and these, with the green alfalfa patches near the house make a welcome oasis for desert travelers. About a mile southeast from the ranch the rail- road maintains a small depot, water tank (which is supplied from the Snow creek, flowing down the steeps of San Jacinto) and a section house.


PALM SPRINGS


The little settlement of Palm Springs is not located in the San Gorgonio Pass, but is nestled close to the San Jacinto mountains, about five miles distant from the Palm Springs railroad station. Isolated as it is from the rest of the world, the town is in the midst of a region rich in historic lore and possessing unique features. . The town obviously takes its name from the warm spring which bubbles from the sand in the center of the village, and is sur- rounded by palm trees.


The old stage road passed through the place, which was then


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used only by the Indians as a village or camping site, and undoubt- edly the earlier emigrants pursued a similar route, to take advan- tage of the water in the canyons and springs thereabout. The wagon train of the party of topographical engineers who came through the San Gorgonio Pass in 1853 rested over night at the springs, and mention is made in the report of the trip of the fact that the Indians made the place "a favorite camping ground," and also of a young palm tree near the springs, the presence of which in the desert spot amazed the travelers. It is a fact not generally known that giant palms exist at many points on the desert, and nowhere do they grow in more stately or picturesque profusion than in Palm canyon, which lies seven miles from the town of Palm Springs. Although in former days many Indians made the place their home, at present there are about sixty-six of the race who live on the reservation which the government maintains for them. The famous springs are on reservation land, and the Indians call the place Agua Caliente.


About the middle of the '80s white people began to take interest in the possibilities of raising early fruits at the oasis, and about 1887 there were two places flourishing as rivals in the vicinity of Palm Springs. The present town was one, and the loser in the race was Palm Dale. This was about three miles east of Palm Springs, a company of Riverside capitalists gaining control of 160 acres and attempting to build there a town. They planted about 100 acres to oranges, obtaining water from the Whitewater river by means of an open stone ditch, but the trees died, and later grapes were planted. The company built a narrow-gauge railroad from the line of the Southern Pacific and erected a fine ranch house. The project gradually dwindled in importance, however, and the company eventually lost about $100,000 in the failure of their plans. At present there is very little at the spot to show that the place existed, as the trees and vines are dead, the house is gone, and nothing is left of the railroad but a faint line to mark its former course, a few ties, and two desolate old cars.


B. B. Barney of Riverside started a ranching project near Palm Springs about the same time, naming his place the Garden of Eden. The water for this ranch was from the Andreas canyon, but was finally adjudged as the property of the Indians, and was taken from the ranch, which was unsuccessful, and diverted to the


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Indian reservation, where it is now used. A few old trees mark the site of this ranch.


Palm Springs was for a time a place of some note because of its ability to produce the earliest grapes in the country for the Chicago markets, and other early fruits were also raised there. The water for the irrigation of the lands was brought to the town, until a few years ago, in an open ditch, which carried it fifteen miles from its intake at the Whitewater river, near a spur of the hills called Indian Point to Palm Springs. The cost of maintenance of this ditch proved more and more burdensome to the land owners, as the sand which was washed into it from the river was a con- stant source of trouble, and this made the fruit-raising project un- profitable. It gradually lost its importance, and although in the '90s about 350 acres of grapes, figs, apricots and oranges were in existence, most of the orchards and vineyards are now deserted, although a small quantity of fruit is yet raised. The abandonment of the fruit industry did not mean the entire abandonment of the town, for as the years went by the fame of the springs, and of the Palm Springs climate, for persons suffering from throat or lung diseases became wider, and at present the town is known widely as a health resort.


About 1893 the little oasis had, besides the homes of the ranch- ers, two stores, a postoffice, and a hotel, the Palm Springs Hotel, . which had been owned and managed for several years prior to that date by Dr. Wellwood Murray. A few years later a small church was built in the town, but was never supplied with a pastor regu- larly. About 1895 a school house was built, and is still maintained. Until the present year the hotel has been in operation, and it still forms one of the most picturesque spots in the town. Dr. Murray is the only one of the early-day residents to remain in Palm Springs. The town today has the postoffice, a telephone line to Palm Springs station, one store, two hotels, the Desert Inn and Blan- chard's hotel, besides a number of small homes. The water supply no longer comes from the river, but is furnished the white residents of the town from Chino and Tauquitz canyons. Although the hot springs are on government land, access to them is granted the residents of the town. Many large palms, peppers and cottonwoods, planted years ago, now beautify the place and add to the comfort of the inhabitants.


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CHAPTER XXI. THE SAN JACINTO VALLEY By Mrs. Frank H. Fowler


That portion of Riverside county, extending west from Mount San Jacinto, is replete with historic interest. There is peculiar fascination about the section that holds "old-timers" in a firm grip, while it charms the later arrivals until they, too, are ready to worship at the shrine of the old patron-Saint Hyacinth-San Jacinto. That vast scope of land, stretching away to the south and west from the foot of the old peak, that also bears the name of the saint, is known as the great San Jacinto valley; and of this valley, rich in Indian lore, Spanish legends, stirring deeds of the early pioneers, and the later achievements of a more modern civ- ilization, the following pages will treat. The people of a locality cannot get too much of its history. Its first days; its early steps toward settlement, should be the first lessons taught the youth of succeeding generations. As in the erection of a great building, the most interesting event is the laying of the cornerstone, so in the history of a community the most interesting chapter is that one which deals with the time when the hardy pioneers hewed their way into the newly-discovered region to carve out for themselves and their posterity pleasant homes, where before was wilderness and waste. Mount San Jacinto, that rears its snow-crowned head high on the eastern edge of the valley, is also rich in legendary lore. That rock-ribbed battlement that seems to guard the peaceful valley of the San Jacinto from the blistering heat and withering winds of a great desert, has stirred many a poet's pen to action, and its ever-changing face, leadened by drifting cloud, emblaz- oned by the sun's declining rays, has challenged, unconquered, the artist's skillful brush. Therefore it is mete and fitting that this great valley and the mighty mountain and peak should have a liberal chapter in a volume that deals with the history of River- side county.


Before the cession of California to the United States in 1848, by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the Mexican government was


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very liberal in giving away large grants of land. For about fifty- five years-from 1767 to 1822-California was under Spanish rule. In 1822 Mexico gained her independence from Spain, and Califor- nia passed to Mexican control. As late as 1846 the white population of California represented chiefly descendants of Spanish lineage. Many California families were of pure Castilian blood. Land was held in immense tracts called ranchos, not definitely located, but distinguished by name and bounded by natural landmarks.


The original San Jacinto rancho was a great Spanish grant, extending from a point near the foot of San Jacinto mountain on the east to Corona on the west. This immense Spanish grant was later divided-El Sobrante, the overplus-being granted to the wife of Don Jose Antonio Aguirre in May, 1846. The remainder of the grant is known as the San Jacinto Rancho Nuevo and San Jacinto Rancho Viejo. It is to these two ranches, embracing an Old World principality in extent, that this portion of our county's history is devoted. The great western half of the original grant contains nearly 50,000 acres, and was purchased a quarter of a century ago by an English syndicate for a million dollars. The Englishmen planned to develop the Temescal tin mines, that had been worked in a crude way by Mexicans for many years. The eastern portion of the grant, on which are now situated the towns of San Jacinto, Hemet, Valle Vista and Winchester, was granted Signor Estudillo, grandfather of Senator Miguel Estudillo, just before the territory was gained to Mexico. The original grant or rancho was an im mense body of land, consisting of twenty-four leagues. Signor Estudillo was of pure Castilian blood. He was the father of Jose Estudillo, who met a tragic death as a forest ranger twelve years ago in the mountains he had known so long and loved so well; also of Francisco Estudillo, now a resident of Los Angeles. This large tract of land included the whole of the valley, except nooks and corners at the mouths of canyons, as Webster canyon, Indian canyon, near Soboba, and others.




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