USA > California > Sacramento County > History of Sacramento County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, 1913 > Part 41
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As the Cosumnes empties into the Mokelumne, and not into the San Joaquin, it is to be supposed that at that early day it was thought that the lower part of the Mokelumne was the Cosumnes, and was therefore so called.
August 14, 1854, Georgiana township was set off from the southern portion, and October 20, 1856, the supervisors established new bound- aries for Sutter township, making the boundary south of the city the Sacramento river as far as the line between townships 7 and 8 north, thence along said line to the southeast corner of section 33, and south- east corner of section 34, in township 8 north, range 5 east, and thence north and through the center of township 8 north, range 5 east, to the American river, and down the American river to the city limits, and then to the place of beginning.
In 1909 the supervisors carved Riverside township out of the portion of Sutter township joining the city on its southern boundary. The two townships are situated so directly around the city that their history is interwoven with its history and a part of it. The history of Sutterville in the early days has already been given, and its decay depicted. The suburban district recently annexed to Sacramento city, comprising Oak Park, Highland Park, a good sized slice from River- side township, East Sacramento and a large area of land running nearly to Brighton, has greatly curtailed the area of Sutter township and left it practically composed of farms, without any towns or vil- lages within its limits. A large portion of it is in reclamation districts and the remainder is what is known as plains land. The value of land holdings has greatly increased within the past ten years.
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RIVERSIDE TOWNSHIP
Riverside township was carved out of the portion of Sutter town- ship adjoining the city on the south, and the slice taken from it by annexation leaves it a very unimportant unit in the township system of the county.
Various interesting spots in the vicinity of Sacramento in the early days have fallen into decay, and have either vanished or are only remnants of their former splendor. Smith's Gardens is one of these. In December, 1849, A. P. Smith purchased from John A. Sutter fifty acres of land on the south bank of the American river, about three miles from Sacramento. He immediately began to im- prove it. At the time of its purchase the ground was considered high, and the only timber on it was the oaks and cottonwoods on the bank of the American. He commenced by raising vegetables, and at the same time planted such trees and seeds as he could procure. As fast as he was able, he imported choice varieties of fruit and shade trees, ornamental shrubbery and plants. He laid out the grounds with two miles of walks, and filled in the entire length of them with shells brought from San Francisco. By digging down through the debris on the place a few feet, these shells can still be found.
He laid out four acres into a flower garden, planting it with rare plants and flowers, and planted the rest of the place with all sorts of fruit trees, and it is stated that at the height of its glory, there were over one thousand varieties growing on the place. There was a drive through and about the grounds, and a winding avenue, nearly a mile in length, and shaded by trees on each side, ran up to his residence. Having discovered that irrigation was necessary, Mr. Smith imported a Worthington pump that would throw three hundred gallons a minute, and was capable of irrigating a place of three times the size. He laid down pipes and put in hydrants all over the place, at such intervals that it could all be watered by at- taching a hose.
But he was doomed to loss and disappointment. The flood of 1861 and 1862 flooded the place. The American river cut into the southern bank, washed away five hundred feet of the gardens, swept away the family residence, and covered the place with a deposit of sand and sediment from one to six feet deep. Smith estimated that his loss by the destruction of his beautiful place was $100,000. In 1862, when the new system for construction of levees was adopted, he made strenuous efforts to get his place included in the system, but failed to do so, and repeated floods have completed the destruc- tion of the gardens since then.
The Tivoli House was situated near where the Southern Pacific crosses the American river and was in its day a great place of re- sort. It was a pioneer place, where the Helvetia Rifle Club, the
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Turners, the Sharpshooters, and others used to hold their shoots and festivals, but its glory departed long since, and it has fallen into decay.
East Park, now known as McKinley Park, and owned by the city of Sacramento and used as a children's playground, was prior to that owned by private parties. It contains about thirty acres and is a popular place. Until the recent annexation of the suburbs, it was just outside of the city.
The Riverside Hotel and Turnpike company procured the pas- sage of an act by the legislature in 1872, making a toll road from the southern limits of the city to their hotel, about four miles be- low. The franchise expired many years ago, and the Riverside road became a very popular place for driving.
GRANITE TOWNSHIP
This township was created by the board of supervisors on Oc- tober 20, 1856. It was at first included within the boundaries of Mississippi township, of which it lies southeast. Nearly all the land in the township was included in the Leidesdorff grant, which was given to Leidesdorff by Governor Micheltorena in 1844. James I. Folsom bought the interest of the heirs of Leidesdorff, and through his executors, secured the confirmation of the grant in 1855. The grant runs from the Sutter grant up the American river, which is its northern boundary, the southern boundary running nearly parallel with the river at four or five miles distance. The land in the grant was mostly taken up by squatters, who were later compelled to buy the title to their possessions, or else vacate the land.
The land in the township is mostly mineral and the placers along the river and in the vicinity of Folsom were among the richest in the state, many millions being taken from them in the early days, both by prospectors and by hydraulic mining. At present the gold dredge has invaded the . township, and not only extracts the gold from the bars and banks of the river, but the big corporations have purchased thousands of acres of the land adjacent to the river, and are changing it from fertile vineyards and orchards to vast heaps of cobblestones. The Natoma Water and Mining Company early acquired water rights on the American river some distance above Folsom, and acquired a large amount of land, some of which they leased for mining, and the rest of which they planted to vines and trees. The great Natoma vineyard, at one time the largest in the world, with two thousand acres of vines in one hody, shipped many carloads of grapes annually, and manufactured a large amount of wine and brandy. The property has been purchased by the dredg- ing company and is being transformed rapidly into rock piles. This vineyard was irrigated by a canal sixteen miles long, dug in 1851 from the south fork of the American, above Salmon Falls.
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Negro Bar is properly a part of the history of Folsom, being the scene of mining before the latter place started, and there was a large mining camp at the Bar previously. A most interesting ac- count of its early settlement was kindly furnished to the author by Hon. W. A. Anderson, who resided at Folsom in the early days. Mr. Anderson writes as follows:
"A few memories of the town of Folsom might interest the present generation. The first settlement of that locality was at Negro Bar, which was between the present site of Folsom and the American river. In 1849 some negroes began to mine there, and from that circumstance the Bar took its name. Their success at mining caused a floeking of miners from all quarters, and in 1851 there were over seven hundred people there. Large quantities of gold have been taken out of the Bar. Ex-Supervisor James L. Mere- dith opened the first hotel and store, both in the same building, at the Bar, in April, 1850. William A. Davidson opened the second store, but shortly afterward sold out to A. A. Durfee and brother. A few months later Rowley & Richardson opened the third store, and these were the principal business houses until Folsom was lo- cated. The site of Negro Bar has been buried under sixty feet of cobbles and debris. At that time the American river was sixty feet beneath the present flow of the river.
"Folsom was laid out in 1855 by Theodore D. Judah, R. Chenery and Samnel C. Brnce, for Capt. Joseph L. Folsom. Town lots were sold January 17, 1856, at publie anetion in Sacramento by Col. J. B. Starr, auctioneer. All of the lots were disposed of at that sale, and the town grew rapidly. February 22, 1856, the Sacramento Val- ley railroad, the pioneer road of this state, was completed to Fol- som and opened, and free excursion trains were run there from Sac- ramento. At the opening of the road there were about one thousand people present at Folsom, including Governor J. Neely Johnson, Supreme Justices Murray and Terry, Henry S. Foote (ex-governor of Mississippi), and many other prominent men; also Mrs. T. D. Judah, Mrs. E. N. Robinson, Mrs. L. L. Robinson and the wives of the other visitors. The guests were wined and dined, and speeches were made by State Senator Wilson Flint, Col. J. C. Zabriskie. Governors Foote and Johnson, Capt. (later General) William T. Sherman,-one of the central characters of the Civil War,-and C. K. Garrison, president of the railroad company. A great ball was given in the evening, in a building erected expressly for that pur- pose, of dimensions thirty feet wide by nearly one hundred long. The floor managers were Judge A. C. Monson, H. P. Wakelee, Ferris Forman and George T. Bromley. The Sacramento guests started home on a special train at five o'clock in the morning. George T. Bromley was the first condnetor on the road. Hartford Anderson
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was the contractor who constructed the railroad from Alder Creek to Folsom.
"In 1857 a road was projected to run from Folsom to Marys- ville, by a company called the California Central, and of which Col. Charles L. Wilson, now of Nord, was the owner. In 1861 trains ran from Folsom to Lincoln. Afterwards the road was absorbed by the Central Pacific Company, and the track between Folsom and Rose- ville was torn up. That portion of the road from Roseville to Lin- coln is now a part of the California and Oregon overland road.
"During the mining era, Folsom was one of the most prosperous towns in the state, and was the distributing point for all the mining towns, including Washoe and Virginia City. After the decadence of mining, the town had a severe relapse, and a few years ago was visited by a very destructive fire. The burned district has, however, been rebuilt, and substantial bricks have taken the place of the former wooden structures. Of late years the town and surrounding country has entered on an era of substantial prosperity. In the line of fruit and grape raising the lands about Folsom are equal to any in the state, and near there is one of the most extensive vineyards in the world. Colonel Folsom, the projector of the town, died at the Mission San Jose, in Alameda county, July 19, 1855.
"When Folsom was located, in addition to the first named. sev- eral other large stores opened, Bradley & Seymour, J. & J. Spruance, S. Hanak. D. Woldenberg, M. Levy. A. D. Patterson opened the early hotel, a fashionable resort, known as Patterson's Hotel. Patterson was one of the early sheriffs of the county. Daniel Wellington, the proprietor of the stage line over the mountains, also established a large hotel called the Central hotel. Chris Ecklon conducted the first meat market. The Granite Journal, a lively newspaper, was the first paper, published by Dr. L. Bradley, and Sam Seabough was its editor. Later came Mooney's Express, and the Folsom Telegraph, P. J. Hopper, editor. The Telegraph still survives.
"A. A. Durfee built the first theatre, called 'Durfee's Theatre,' and some of the earliest actors held the boards. The famous Arte- mus Ward (Charles F. Browne) delivered the first lecture in this part of the state, in Durfee's Theatre,-'The Babes in the Wood' being his subject.
"J. H. Burnham, Alfred Spinks, M. M. Drew, sheriff, United States marshal and member of the board of equalization, Hartford Anderson, John Clarken, P. J. O'Neil, P. J. Hopper, editor and as- semblyman, B. N. Bugbey, later sheriff and tax collector, B. C. Quigley, John Shaw, A. G. Kinsey, H. A. Thompson, W. W. Dresser, William Timson, Charles Jolly, Jesse Crouch, supervisor, Mrs. Foster, mother of James Donnelly, our present supervisor, and many others were early residents of the old town of Folsom. Among some of the most prominent citizens of Folsom in its early history were A.
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P. Catlin, who was honored as assemblyman, state senator and supe- rior judge; Dr. A. C. Donaldson, C. T. H. Palmer, banker and agent for the Wells, Fargo Company; E. R. Sill, the famous poet, and later one of the professors of the University of California, who was at that time the cashier for Palmer's bank; Edward Stockton, who built the great flour mill which was swept away in the flood of 1861; C. G. W. French, later assemblyman and chief justice of Arizona; S. S. Montagne, later chief engineer of the Central Pacific Railroad Com- pany; Freeman McComber, public administrator, and H. B. Wad- dilove, agent of the Sacramento Valley Railroad Company; John McComber, Francis Clark, a wealthy mining man; W. A. Anderson, county auditor, assemblyman, assistant adjutant-general, supervisor of census, city attorney and police judge; Dr. B. F. Bates; E. R. Levy, merchant; E. D. Shirland, county clerk; Benjamin Welch; C. J. Turner (now a resident of this city); Dr. Joseph Powell, later assemblyman; John and Joseph Kinney, agents Sacramento Valley Railroad Company; John E. Benton, assemblyman and state sena- tor; W. C. Crossett, J. C. Kinkead, who first tried the experiment of raising tobacco at the town of Folsom. The late Jacob Hyman was a dry-goods clerk in those days; later he became a wealthy mer- chant.
"In the late '50s there was the Folsom Institute, a large brick structure on the hill above the town, noted as one of the first edu- cational colleges in the state, and which was patronized by students from all parts of the coast. Rev. S. V. Blakesley was the principal. Many of the students from this institute became famous in the state.
"In the halcyon days of Folsom it was not uncommon for twenty or thirty, eight or ten-mule teams to leave daily with freight, des- tined over the mountains. Six or eight stages daily left the depot in the morning, with passengers for the Virginia and Washoe mines. The famous Pony Express started over the continent from Folsom in the early war times. D. H. Taft had a beautiful garden just be- low the town, where the first strawberries were grown; also some of the finest peaches, grapes and other fruits were produced. Noth- ing now remains of this plot but a mass of mining debris.
"Just above Folsom. is Robbers' Ravine, which was the ren- dezvous of the desperate gang known as Tom Bell's gang, and the Bill Scott gang. They were the terror of Northern California. Ben Bugbey, then a constable, and officer Dan Gay of Sacramento, en- countered this band, and after a fierce battle, captured Bill Scott and several others. They were convicted and died in prison. Ben Bug- bey is with us yet to recount the story. In later years the branch state prison was established here; also the great electric plant. This can scarcely be called early history.
"It was a novel sight in the early days to see the miners coming into town with their sacks of gold each Saturday afternoon, and go-
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ing to the banking house of C. T. H. Palmer & Company, to exchange their dust for coin. Those sturdy miners were not of the class sometimes pictured by romance writers, and drunkenness or riotons condnet was exceedingly rare. They would make their purchase of 'grub' and then return to their cabins ready for the next week's cleanup.
"One of the first wire suspension bridges constructed in this state was by A. G. Kinsey and H. A. Thompson across the Ameri- can river just above the town, to enable traffic to be held with the mining towns and camps north and east.
"At the commencement of the Rebellion in 1861, one of the first companies was organized in the town of Folsom, by M. M. Drew and P. H. Sibley; it was enrolled with E. D. Shirland as captain, and enlisted into the United States service for duty on the southern bor- der, and did service in Arizona and New Mexico as the First Cali- fornia Cavalry. All the members were Folsomites, and Folsom was intensely loyal to the Union.
"Upon the completion of the Sacramento Valley railroad in 1856, the machine shops of the road were established at Folsom, and a full force of mechanics employed, including our old time friends, G. J. Turner and Benjamin Welch, both foremen."
The Folsom Water Power Company succeeded the Natoma Water and Mining Company. The latter had made two contracts with the state to build a dam across the American where the Folsom state prison now stands, the company agreeing to build the dam, the state to furnish convict labor to do the work, in return for land deeded to the state, and for a part of the water power, for use at the prison. Some disagreements arose, and after litigation, the com- pany abandoned the work, leaving the state without power to compel the company to complete the dam. The property and water rights were then transferred to the Folsom Water Power Company. The first work on the dam was done in the fall of 1866, but it was dis- continued when the dam was completed to low water mark in the river, and was not resumed again until 1888, when Captain Aull, war- den of the prison. induced Governor Waterman to take it up again, and it was finished about two years afterwards, as well as the canal leading down by the prison to the powerhouse at present owned by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company. In the meantime the state had received under its contract with the Folsom Water company four hundred eighty-three acres of land on which the state prison, farm and the state game farm now stand, at a cost of eleven thousand days' work of convict labor. The dam when finished was ninety feet high from the bed of the river and recently an efficient fish ladder has been constructed at the side of it, the former one having proved use- less. The canal leads the water to the powerhouse, the water power
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generating all the electric and other power used for lighting the grounds and for other purposes.
Coner's flouring mill was built in 1866 on the corner of Wool street, and closed in two years, B. N. Bugbey purchasing it for a wine cellar and renting the upper floor to the societies of Folsom. It was burned in 1871. The Natoma Mills were built by Edward Stockton in June, 1866, and discontinued later. The first brewery in Folsom was built by Chris Heiler in 1857, and destroyed by fire in 1868. In 1872 Peter Yager erected a brewery on the foundation of a large store destroyed by the destructive fire of 1870. It was burned in the fire of 1886.
The railroad bridge across the American river was built in 1858 on the line of the California Central railroad. It was ninety-two feet above the water, with a span of two hundred sixteen feet and cost $100,000. It was the only bridge left on the American river after the flood of 1862, its superior height saving it. It was con- demned in 1866, having sunk in the center and become unsafe. In 1854 a wooden bridge was built across the American, but was washed away by high water a few years later.
Thompson & Kinsey obtained a charter in 1861 for building a bridge across the American river at Folsom. It was a wire suspen- sion bridge, but the flood of 1862 carried it away on January 10th, and the rebuilding of it was begun in March. C. L. Ecklon pur- chased the bridge and franchise in 1871. It was condemned and an- other was constructed in 1893.
Folsom suffered greatly from fires at various times. May 8, 1866, a fire burned "Whiskey Row" and a number of buildings on Sutter and Decatur streets, including the office of the Folsom Tele- graph. The Hotel de France and other buildings were burned August 31, 1866. The Folsom Theatre was burned June 27, 1871, and in the same year fire destroyed Patterson's Ilotel, all of Chinatown and a part of Addison's lumber yard. May 6, 1872, a fire which broke ont in Smith, Campbell & Jolly's store, destroyed all the block except the Folsom Telegraph office, the loss being about $130,000. August 13, 1886, a fire broke out, destroying all the business property except three buildings, a loss of about $150,000.
The Folsom Hook and Ladder Company was organized March 3, 1857. The first officers were: H. B. Waddilove, foreman; Charles Plannet, first assistant foreman; Frank Wheeler, second assistant; J. M. Arbuckle, secretary; H. D. Rowley, treasurer. The company owns its own hall. Young America, No. 1, was organized in Sep- tember, 1861, and bought a hand engine costing $1800, but the en- thusiasm died out, and it disbanded in 1863.
The first public school in Folsom was established in 1857. the first teacher being I. M. Sibley. The first trustees were: E. P. Wil- lard, Dr. S. Palmer and J. S. Meredith. A school had, however, pre-
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viously been taught at Prairie City.
Natoma Lodge No. 64, F. and A. M., was organized in October, 1854, at Mormon island. It was chartered in 1855, and removed to Folsom. The first officers were: M. Wallace, W. M .; L. Bates, S. W .; A. O. Carr, J. W. The other charter members were: A. Spinks, G. W. Corey, S. Logan, H. A. Holcomb, D. McCall, B. H. Conroy, J. H. Berry, W. Sheldon, C. S. Bogar, W. K. Spencer, D. M. K. Campbell, J. Clark and M. Hatch. The records of the lodge were destroyed by the fire of 1871. Granite Lodge No. 62, I. O. O. F., was organized September 19, 1856, at the residence of Eli Nicholls, by David Kendall, D. D. G. M., assisted by C. C. Hayden, Samuel Cross, W. B. H. Dodson, George I. N. Monell, G. K. Van Heusen and George Nelson. The first officers were: J. E. Clark, N. G .; A. Mears, V. G .; W. A. MeClure, Rec. Sec .; H. A. Hill, Treas. The other charter members were: S. F. Marquis, A. W. Beals, B. Kos- minsky, L. Sampson, J. Crumberger, G. B. Hornish and E. A. Turner. Folsom Encampment No. 24, I. O. O. F., was organized June 28, 1864. Fedora Rebekah Lodge, I. O. O. F., was established February 16, 1891, with fifty-five charter members, and the number of mem- bers at present is one hundred eighteen. Excelsior Council, O. C. F., was organized February 20, 1882. Folsom Lodge No. 109, A. O. U. W., was established June 6, 1879. Granite Parlor No. 83, N. S. G. W., was organized April 9, 1886. Social Lodge No. 54, Order of the Golden Shore, was established February 18, 1889. The Young Men's Institute No. 69 was instituted in January, 1888.
The first church services held in Folsom were held in Hook and Ladder Company's hall in 1856, by the Rev. Dr. Hatch, an Episcopal minister of Sacramento. About this time Father Quinn, of the Cath- olie Church, held services at the house of P. J. O'Neill, about two miles from Folsom. St. John's Church (Catholic) was organized in 1856, and the church structure was erected in 1857, the church society in the meantime holding its meetings in the Clarken College, Rev. Father Quinn pastor. Trinity Church (Episcopal) was organized July 18, 1862, and the church building was erected the same year at the cost of about $4000 for a fine frame structure. The Congrega- tional Church was organized in 1860, and erected a brick building the same year. J. F. Benton was its first pastor. It ceased to exist many years ago.
Prairie City was located about two miles south of Folsom, on Alder creek, and mining began there in 1853, on the completion of the Natoma Water ditch. The miners flocked in, stores, hotels and residences were built, and it became the business town for a number of the surrounding mining camps. Early in 1854, the town num- bered over a thousand persons, and the miners were making from five to twenty dollars a day. The town began to die out in 1860, and all traces of it have long since vanished.
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Willow Springs Hill diggings were mined as early as 1851, and it is said that millions were taken out from these diggings. Texas Hill, Rhodes' Diggings, Beam's Bar, and other camps yielded well for a time.
The state prison is about a mile and a half east of Folsom on the American river. The site was selected in preference to Rock- lin, in 1868, on account of the water power available. Through delays of the contractors it was not finished ready for occupancy until 1880. It is built entirely of granite, as are the officers' houses and all other buildings, the rock being quarried on the grounds. There is a rock- crusher on the grounds, where the granite is crushed for road metal, supplying material for macadamizing the county roads and the streets of Sacramento. The prison was built to accommodate six hundred and fifty prisoners, but additions have been built and there are now about eighteen hundred prisoners confined there. The sanitary con- ditions are excellent.
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