USA > California > San Benito County > History of San Benito County, California : with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, farms, residences, public buildings, factories, hotels, business houses, schools, churches, and mines : with biographical sketches of prominent citizens > Part 17
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General Castro manifested his patriotism by declining to for- swear his allegiauce to the Mexican Government, as he might have done under the provisions of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. As soon as California was officially recognized as American territory, he removed to Sonora, and was there hon- ored by his Government with the position of Military Governor of that territory. He died there by the hand of violence while in the performance of his official duties.
GENERAL CASTRO'S HOSPITABLE NATURE.
The reader is asked to judge for himself, as to the General's hospitable nature, when he is informed of a circumstance that ocenrred at San Juan in the year 1848. A family of imini- grants-part of the Donner party-came to San Juan early in the year 1848, seeking for a place to locate. They were with- out shelter or provisions, or the means of procuring them. As soon as the fact became known to General Castro, he vacated his own house, which was the best in the town, and insisted upon the immigrants taking possession until they could make other provision, and this without pay or any expectation of reward.
To fully appreciate this generous act, it should be borne in
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mind that General Castro was one of the most uncompromising opponents of the inva lers, and American aggression, as he understood it. In the field as a soldier, and in the ayuntamiento as a prefect, he was one of th . foremost men of his time. He received the heaviest blows, and sustained the most humiliating defeats from the invaders. And when peace was prochiuse. so bitter was his feeling that he, and another man of his name, were the solitary exceptions among all the Mexican subjects in California who, by a positive act and declaration, declined the proffer of American citizenship.
Under these eireminstances, it must have been a heart full of generous impulses and kind feelings that could prompt the man to pity the unfortunates of the alien, hated race, and so nobly minister to their wants. The writer of this was a member of that succored family, and he will always bear in kind remem- brance the name of General Don Jose Castro.
Modern San Juan.
THE town of San Juan is sometimes designated by the appel- lation South, in order to distinguish it from a town of the same name in Nevada couuty, in this State. This designation is unnecessary and improper. The two towns are officially known as San Juan and North San Juan ; they are so desig- nated in the post-office directory. If the mission is to be honored with a prefix, or suffix, it should be either San Juan Bautista, or San Juan Mission, the names it received from its founders, the Franciscan Friars.
It has already been remarked that San Juan has, to a very considerable degree, survived its days of prosperity. Its deca- dence is not attributable to a lack of natural advantages, but rather to artificial causes. The railroad is indirectly the cause of its lack of business and prosperity. Had the line of the Southern Pacific Railroad not liverged from its projected and surveyed route, in order to reach the rich and never-failing Pajaro valley, San Juan would to-day be one of the prosperous towns of central California.
It has advantages, both as to site and surroundings, that few towns in California can boast of. The founders of the California missions manifested rare judgment and taste in locating the missions. In this respect they mnade but one mis- take, and that was when they located San Francisco near the beach, instead of at the Mission Dolores, whither it was subse- quently removed.
SAN JUAN ADMIRABLY SITUATED.
The town of San Juan nestles on a mesa or plateau at the foot of a chain of mountains hy which it is completely sur- rounded, the only break in this chain being made by the San
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84
PIONEER SETTLERS AND FARMERS OF SAN JUAN.
Benito river for an entrance to, and exit from, the valley. The town overlooks every aere of the surrounding valley, the soil whereof is of the richest and most productive character. The prospeet from any point on the surrounding chain of mountains is most charming. General W. T. Sherman (who was at the time, 1848, a company Lieutenant stationel at Mouterey) gives in his recently published memoirs the impressions of his first visit to San Juan as follows :--
" We staid at Gomez's that night, sleeping, as all did, on the ground, and the next morning we erossed the hill by the bridle path to the old Mission of San Juan Bautista. The mission was in a beautiful valley, very level and bounded ou all sides by hills. The plain was covered by wild grasses and mustard, and had abundant water. Cattle and horses were seen in all dirce- tions, and it was manifest that the priests who first occupied the country, were good judges of land. It was Sunday, and all the people, ahout a hundred, had come to church from the country round ahout.
"Ord was somewhat of a Catholie, and eutered the church with his elanking spurs, and kneeled down, attracting the attention of all, for he had on the uniform of au American officer. As soon as church was ont, all rushed to the various sports. . . . The Mission of Sau Juan bore the marks of high prosperity at a former period, and had a good pear orchard under the plateau where stood the church."
PIONEERS OF SAN JUAN.
The English-speaking pioneers in business at San Juan were Judge Beehe, late County Judge of San Luis Obispo county ; McMahon & Griffin, and Daniel Harris, merchants.
Judge W. E. Lovett, well-known in San Benito county, and now assistant United States District Attorney in San Fran- cisco, was, I believe, the first to open a law office. The first hotel was opened hy Patrick Breen carly in the year 1849. The regular charge for entertaining a mau and his beast over night was five dollars, and this was considered to be a wonder- fully low price.
A FAMOUS HOTEL.
The " Inn," as it was called, and as was proclaimed by the words painted on the half-head of a barrel swung from the eaves of the huilding, was a famous caravansary iu the early days. The opening of the hotel was hardly a matter of choice with the proprietor. Soon after the discovery of gold at Sut- ter's Fort in 1848, the tide of immigration hegan to flow in a steady stream from Monterey (at that time the social and com- mercial enter of California) and from all points in southern California and Mexico to the New El Dorado, the "gold dig- gins." San Juan heing a day's journey from Monterey, aud a natural stopping-place for all travelers on that highway, and
Mr. Breen aud his family beiug the only English-speaking people in the town, it was to be expected that those who were not provided with means to eamp, (and that was the condition of a majority of the travelers) would ask for entertainment wherever it could be had. At first, no charge was made, but in time, it became, not a matter of entertaining an occasional traveler, but the stream of gold-hunters and curiosity-seekers grew, and swelled, and jostled each other on the road, like the atoms that go to make up the volumes of a river as it rushes to the sea.
This stream of human life was striking and characteristic. Although the population of California was not then as cosmo- politan as it is now, still it was sufficiently so to illustrate in a striking manner, that the pursuit (not the possession) of gold, is next to death, the great equalizer,-the great leveler of all distinctions.
The commissioned officer found his right of way disregarded, or contested hy the private soldier, who the day before would not have presumed to meet bim without a "salute," the peon and the moso, ignored the presence of the amo, in whose presence they would not have dared to stand with covered head before the hegira began.
The officer's straps and spurs, the private's regulation eap and trousers, the caballero's silver-mounted calsoneros and ricunin hat, the vaquero's broad-brimmed sombrero and jingling spurs, and the Sonoranian's sandaled fect were commingled, and for the tune being failed to indicate the wearer's position in the social scale. Under such cirenmstauces the opening of the "Inn" became quite as much a matter of self-protection, as it was au accommodation to the publie and a profit to the proprietor.
The "Inn " at once established for itself a reputation as a "first-class house." Perhaps the fact that it was the only pub- lic house in that section of country, had something to do with establishing its reputation. Be that as it may, guests were often heard to express astonishunent that they should be xo well entertained in what was then csteemed a wilderness. as far as the common comforts of life were concerned. There was at no time a lack of patronage, but there was often a scarcity of accommodation for the guests. This condition of things lasted until 1850-51, when the gold fever having meas- urably subsided, many of the newcomers hegan to turn their attention to other industries besides diggiug for gold, Black- smiths, wheelwrights, and carpenters who could earn from fifteen to twenty dollars a day were satisfied to stick to their tradles.
PIONEER SETTLERS AND FARMERS.
The choicest pieces of land in the lower end of San Juan val- ley was subject to pre-emption, and unoccupied save by the herds of cattle that roamed over it at will. Practical farmers soon availed themselves of the bounty of the Government. Among the first to settle in San Jnau valley, as cultivators of
LIVERYNO SALE STABLE
FASHION STABLE
FASHION LIVERY STABLE, FOURTH STREET. HOLLISTER,CAL,JAS.I.HODGES, PROPR
RESIDENCE OF CHARLES A.WOOD, NEAR SAN FELIPE , SAN BENITO CO. CAL.
EDITORIAL ROOM
THE PACIFIC COAST NEWSPAPER AND JOB PRINTING OFFICE, HOLLISTER, CAL.
ADVANCE OFFICE
JOEL WEDWAY PHOTOGRAPHEH
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' SAN BENITO "AOVANCE * OFFICE, HOLLISTER, CAL.SHAW AND BALOWIN, EDITORS,
85
BUSINESS HOUSES AND SCHOOLS OF SAN JUAN.
the soil, were John Salthouse, William Pre-cott, Mr. Edmund- son, R. W. C'anfickì, Silas Twitchell, and John Breen. With the exception of Mr. Edmundson, all the above named, or their descendants, are still living where they first located. From this time forward San Juan grew in business and prosperity until the advent of the railroadl, when it began to decline as already mentionedl.
But the reader must not infer that San Juan is a dead town. It has had to contend with many difficulties, but there is still vitality enough to support a population of four or five hundred persons, and its enterprising citizens hope for better things, if not for the return of the halcyon days.
BUSINESS HOUSES OF SAN JUAN.
The business of' San Juan in the various departments and industries is represented by the following: Dr. C. G. Cargill, a graduate in medicine of " old Dartmouth," is proprietor of a well appointed drug-store, in connection with which he prac- tices his profession with marked success. He is likewise post- master and agent for Wells, Fargo & Co's. express.
Mark Regan is a mail contractor, and proprietor of the Sun Juan, Hollister, and Sargent's Station line of stages. The people of San Juan are indebtedl to Mr. Regan more than to any other person in the town for their excellent mail service, and for the regular and close connections they can make with the daily trains running north and south.
E. W. Bowman & Sons conduct a blacksmith and wheel- wright business. This firm is composed of E. W. Bowman the father, and C. E. Bowman, W. E. Bowman, and W. H. Bow- inan, sons, all skilled mechanics. They have established for themselves the reputation of being able to manufacture vehi- cles that will withstand for a series of years the trying and drying climate of the upper San Joaquin valley; and any one who has ever had occasion to drive over that valley in the summer-time, need not he told that this is a crucial test of a wagon. W. H. Bowmiau, the painter and varnisher of the firm, is more than a painter, he is, though a young man, an artist of promisc. Some of his "small pieces " are said by judges to show marked ability.
J. R. Allen is a blacksmith and horseshoer.
John Nagle docs the house and sign-painting, and paper- hanging for the citizens."
Joseph Bowie, F. A. Bacher, M. Gardella, M. Filouchean, and B. Samit are the merchants of the town.
The " Plaza " and " National" hotels are respectively kept by A. Camours, and George Pullen.
John Anderson, tinsmith, stoves, and hardware.
Angelo Zanetta, livery stable.
J. Breithbarthı and H. Beger, keep boot and shoe stores.
S. Durin is a gun and locksmith and a pioneer, having established himself there in 1851.
J. G. Beutler is proprietor of a well-conducted brewery.
V. Gerbet manufactures native wines and brandies of a superior quality from grapes which grow in his vineyard in the town.
Jamies Stanley keeps a saddle and harness shop. Jean Lacoste keeps a bakery and fruit store.
C. Quersin is proprietor of the " French restaurant."
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS.
The public school has an average daily attendance of one hundred pupils, and is efficiently and satisfactorily con- dueted by Mr. W. H. Housch, principal, and Miss Housch, and Miss Pierpont, assistants. The school building is one of the best constructed and most conveniently arranged public school-houses in the county.
. St. John's Orphan Asylum is conducted by the Sisters of the order of the Immaculate Conception. The sisters likewise con- duct a day school for girls, but no " boarders " are received for tuition at the institution unless they be orphans or abandoned! children. The sisters occupy a three-story brick building sur- rounded hy spacious and well-improved grounds. At the pres- ent time the sisters have under their charge thirty-five orphans and abandoned children, ranging in age from two to twelve years. Sister Carmen Argelaga, a native of Spain, is the superior and lady in charge of the asylum; she has with her a corps of eight assistants, all of the same order, to care for the little ones.
The churches are, the Catholic, Rev. V. Closa parish priest, and the Congregational, Rev. L. H. Mead pastor.
The benevolent societies and orders are the following :-- F. & A. M .- Texas Lodge, No. 46, Thomas Flint, W. M.
Eastern Star-Ceanothus Chapter, No. 45, M. A. Flint, W. Matron.
I. O. O. F .- San Benito Lodge, No. 159, E. W. Bowman, N. G.
Good Templars-San Juan Lodge, No. 134, Mrs. E. L. Baker, W. C. T.
SAN JUAN AS A MILITARY POST.
During the last days of the war of the Rebellion, two out- laws named Mason and Henry, who claimed to be ex-Confed- erate soldiers, but who were, in fact, freebooters of the most unmitigated kind, took it into their heads to make war on the peaceable stock-men of the Panoche valley, and the San Benito and Tres Pinos country.
Their favorite range was from the New Idria Mines down the Panoche valley to where the town of Tres Pinos now stands, and thence up the Bitter Water and San Benito val- leys to the lieadwaters of the San Benito river. They boasted of several atrocious murders; but their favorite pastime was to cut off and slit the ears of such persons as they disliked.
36
PRIVATE LAND GRANTS IN SAN BENITO COUNTY.
Knowing that at the time feeling was running high between the two contending parties, they shrewdly proclaimed (hoping thereby to gain sympathy) that they were trying to recruit a company of soldiers for the Confederacy. This ruse did not succeed. But there was no cessation of " hostilities," on the part of the marauders; they continued to rob and plunder at will. The civil authorities were powerless to repress this law- lessness. The whole country south and east of San Juan was terrorized; the settlers and stock-men were compelled to seek refuge at San Juan, leaving their homes and flocks unprotected. Owing to this lawless condition, and to the vague rumors of attempts "to take California out of the Union," that were then frequently in circulation, the authorities determined to establish a military post in some part of Monterey county, as a measure of precaution against any possible attempt at secession, and to assist in repressing individual and unauthorized acts of violence.
San Juan was selected as the post. The National Hotel was hired by the Government to be nsed as a barracks; stores were accumulated, the post was named Camp Low, in honor of the then chief State executive officer of California ; and in the month of December, 1864, three military companies-two of infantry and one of cavalry-under the command of Major J. C. Cre- mony, marched into the town and bivouacked on the plaza. Thereafter San Juan put on " military airs." The reveille com- peted with the angelus; " dress parade " was a thing of daily occurrence on the plaza, and the " guard-house " never went beg- ging for a tenant. In the month of April, 1865, two or three of San Juan's citizens were guilty of some " indiscretion "-rejoic- ing at the death of President Lincoln, I believe. For this act they were arrested by order of the commander of the post, and incarcerated in the guard-house. The habeas corpus act being at the time inoperative in California, and these mirthful gen- tlemen having some business on the outside which required their attention, they unceremoniously departed through a hack window of the guard-house. The noise made by one of the pris- oners in dragging his chain after him aroused the sentry, who was enjoying the " sweetest sleep of the night just before day-hreak." The alarm was given, the "long roll " was sounded on the bugles, the whole garrison was under arms in a minute, and detachments of soldiers scoured the country, and demanded admittance to every suspected house, in the prosecution of the search for the fugitives. But they were not found. While prosecuting the search for the fugitives in the mountains, Lieu- tenant Lafferty and a squad of cavalry came upon Mason and Henry; shots were exchanged, and a running fight was kept np for several miles; but the outlaws cscaped to the mount- ains.
Soon after this, Major Cremony's command was ordered to Arizona to fight the Indians.
Mason and Henry were subsequently followed to Los Angeles county by a company of United States Volunteers, nnder com- mand of Captain Mellroy, of Paicines township, in this connty,
and killed while resisting arrest. And so peace caine once inore to San Juan and the people in its vicinity.
PRIVATE LAND GRANTS.
The following is a statement of private land grants in San Benito county, with the names of the confirmces, date of grant, and the number of acres in each :---
Aromitos y Agua Caliente; F. A. MacDongall, et al., con- firmees; granted in 1835 ; 8,659 acres.
Ausaymas y San Felipe ; F. P. Pacheco, confirmee ; granted in 1833; 11,744 acres.
Bolsa de San Felipe; F. P. Pacheco, confirmee ; granted in 1840; 6,795 acres.
Los Carneros; F. A. MacDougall, et al., confirmees; granted in 1842; 236 acres. (This rancho is partly situated in Monte- rey county.)
Cienega del Gabilan; J. D. Carr, confirmee; granted in 1843; 21,874 acres. (This rancho is partly situated in Monterey county.)
Cienega de los Paicines ; A. Castro, et al., confirmees; granted in 1842; 8,917 acres.
Llano del Teqnisquite; granted in 1835; heirs of Sanchez, confirinces ; 16,016 acres.
Lomerias Muertas; heirs of Sanchez, confirmees; granted in 1842; 6,660 acres.
Mission of San Juan Bautista, orchard and vineyard; date of foundation of mission, 1797; J. S. Alemany, Archbishop of Montercy and Los Angeles, confirmec; 55 acres.
Real de Las Aguilas; F. A. MacDongall, et ul., confirmces; granted in 1844; 31,052 acres.
San Joaquin; Cruz Cervantez, confirmee; granted in 1836; 7,425 acres.
San Antonio; Manuel Larios, confirmec; granted in 1846; 4,493 acres.
Tract near San Juan Mission ; P. Breen, confirmee; granted in 1839; 401 acres.
San Justo; F. P. Pacheco, confirmee; granted in 1839; 34,619 acres.
San Lorenzo; Rafael Sanchez, confirwiee ; granted in 1846; 23,843 acres. (This rancho is partly in Monterey county.)
Santa Ana and Quien Sabe; Manuel Larios and heirs of Anzar,
confirniees; granted in 1839; 48,822 acres in the aggregate.
Los Vergeles; James Stokes, confirmce ; granted in 1835;
2,085 acres. (This rancho is partly in Monterey couuty.)
Total area of San Benito county, 676,000 acres.
Total arca of private grants, 233,100 acres.
Total area of public land, 442,898 acres.
The foregoing data and information are in part obtained from the report of Hou. J. W. Shanklin, State Surveyor-General, for the year 1879-80.
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ACCOUNTS AND DATES OF THE FIRST MISSIONS.
SAN JUAN BAUTISTA MISSION.
The Mission of San Juan Bautista is perhaps, by reason of its comparative antiquity, its highly favored situation and picturesqueness, and the memories that eling around its decaying walls and silent cloisters, entitled to more than a passing notice. It seems to be a natural impulse of the human mind to revere age in man, and to be awed by the presence of ancient and crumbling ruins.
When we stand in the presence of crumbling ruins, unused and going to decay, but which, we know, were peopled in past ages by our own kind-by men who, like ourselves, were sub- jeet to the changes and chances of life; who were swayed by or mastered passions identical with ours; who had survived or were fostering life's ambitions as we are-we feel that we are standing on stepping-stones in the swift stream of ages, by which we may descend to the past, and again asceud from the past to the present, to commune-not with the actors, for they are long since dead, and we, perhaps, are standing on their very dust-but with their spirits, which in conceit, we think, may still come flitting around their former haunts.
Under such circumstances, and in sach a presence, we natur- ally and without effort, turn to Volney, dreaming amidst the ruins of Palmyra, and join in his invocation: " Hail, solitary ruins! holy sepulchres and silent walls! To you I address my invocation ! While your aspect averts with secret terror the vulgar regard, it excites in my heart the charm of delicious sentiments-sublime contemplations. What useful lessons ! what affecting and profound reflections yon suggest to him who knows how to consult you!"
He is indeed cold and indifferent, whose heart does not warm, and go out in sympathy aud admiration for the tribulations and triumphs of the early Franciscan Friars, the founders of the missions in Upper California, who were the architects and builders of those "mud temples " that dot the valleys of our California, from San Diego to Sonoma, many of which are ruins, scarcely distinguishable from the mounds that mark the habitations of the early inhabitants of this continent-the " mound buiklers," whose very name is lost to ns. But the majority of the missions are still standing, silent, but truth- ful and incorruptible witnesses to the energy, skill, and zeal of the friars of St. Francis.
FORBES' ACCOUNT OF THE MISSIONS.
Mr. Alexander Forbes, the first English historian of Califor- nia, who, as is well known, was not over friendly to the friars in California, either from a political or religious stand-point is constrained to speak of the early California missionaries as follows: "It is indeed impossible to read the accounts of the settlement of the two Californias, by the Spanish missionaries, without feeling the greatest admiration and reverence for the
: bold and pious men wlfo undertook and accomplished the most arduous task of civilizing and Christianizing these savage coun- tries. It may be true that the means they adopted to aecomu- plish their ends, were not always the wisest; that the Chris- tianity they planted, was often more of form than substance, and the civilization in some respects, an equivocal good; still it cannot be denied, that the motives of these excellent men, were most pure; their benevolence, their industry, zeal, and courage, indefatigable and invincible."
Something more than ordinary zeal and self-denial, was necessary to prompt those men, reared in monasteries, and unused to manual toil, to forego the comforts of civilization, even as the comforts were found in the cloister, and plung into a wilderness to " preach the word," aud spiritually subjugate the savages of California. Before speaking of the Mission of San Juan Bautista and its founders, it will not be out of place to glance hastily at the social and political history of California, from the time of the first settlement down to the time when the missions were secularized.
DATE OF FIRST MISSIONS.
The priests of the Jesuit order, were the first to establish missions in what is now known as Arizona and Lower Califor- nia. This was as early as 1697. Before their labors were com- pleted, they were, by royal edict, banished from the Spanish dominions, and the care of the missions was transferred to the Franciscan Friars. The Jesuits were expelled from Lower California in 1767. In the following year Junipero Serra, a Franciscan Friar of great zeal and learning, and whose labors and life are interwoven into the history of the California mis- sions, was appointed missionary president of the Californias.
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