USA > California > Riverside County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume I > Part 8
USA > California > San Bernardino County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume I > Part 8
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THE SAN BERNARDINO GRANT. In 1842, the sons of Antonio Maria Lugo, Jose Maria, Jose del Carmen and Vicente, and Diego Sepulveda, came into possession of a property of nine square leagues, or 37,700 acres of land, known as Rancho de San Bernardino, under grant of Governor Alvarado. This grant comprised the greater part of the San Bernardino Valley and gave to this region its name. It is stated10 that Antonio Maria Lugo, one of the most prominent of the native Californians, had so much stock on his large grant, San Antonio, near Los Angeles, that he did not know what to do with it all and accordingly secured the San Bernardino grant for his sons and stocked it with cattle from his other property. There Jose Maria Lugo erected a dwelling, known as Homolla, about two miles south of the city and about twenty acres were put under cultivation. Jose del Carmen Lugo resided at the old San Bernardino Mission and probably occupied the old mission building as his home; while Vicente Lugo lived at Politana. Diego Sepulveda lived in Yucaipe Valley in an old adobe dwelling which had been built by Jose Bermudas, who had come from Los Angeles about 1836. In September, 1851, the San Bernardino Rancho was sold to the Mormons, and the Lugos, who had taken part in many of the incidents which went to make up the history of this period, returned to Los Angeles and vicinity, taking most of their stock.
EL CAJON DE MUSCUPIABE GRANT. A grant which caused much litigation in the courts for many years was that of El Cajon de Mus- cupiabe, which was made in 1843 to Michael White, Miguel White or Miguel Blanco, as he was variously known, with the condition that he occupy the land in question, consisting of one league, and prevent the Indians from coming through the Cajon Pass to the coast country. White, an Englishman, had come to the California Coast about 1817 and engaged in the coasting trade with the Sandwich Islands until 1828, in which year he took up his residence at Santa Barbara. He located at Los Angeles in 1830, where he was married a year later, and first secured a grant to a valuable tract of land near San Gabriel Mission, of which his mother-in-law, the famous Eulalie Perez, was so long matron in charge; and later to the Muscupiabe grant. For thirteen years White occupied this latter grant, but in 1856 sold a half interest to Isabel Granger and
10 H. D. Barrows.
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Charles Crittenden, and the other half was sold in 1857 to Henry Han- cock, a surveyor, who subsequently obtained the balance of the tract. The boundaries of this grant, like all other Mexican grants, were indef- inite, and White, who, although offered as much land as he chose to take in the Cajon Pass, had desired only one league at first, took the precaution of having his grant changed from one of quantity to one of boundaries. In 1867, Hancock, who then owned the grant, and who was deputy United States surveyor, surveyed and located the grant of El Cajon de Mus- cupiabe, which now included nearly eight leagues of land, and the grant thus surveyed was confirmed, and a patent issued by the Government in 1872. However, this patent was only given after a re-survey, inasmuch as there was much dissatisfaction among the people of the locality, and the question of its validity was so strongly agitated that in 1886 suit was commenced by the United States attorney to set aside the patent. This, however, was denied and the original patent fully confirmed. although other suits have been instituted from time to time. While the title has remained unshaken and the purchasers who received their title through the Hancock survey are secure in their rights, there has been considerable other litigation, this having to do with the water rights con- nected with the grant. In 1877 a suit was begun by the settlers located within the boundaries of the grant against the large number of settiers in the valley below who were using water from Lytle Creek, the grant occupants claiming the entire flow from this stream. The grant owners won their suit by decision of the Supreme Court in 1879, a decision which had an important bearing upon later irrigation litigation, in that the supremacy of riparian rights against appropriation was established and that it decided that "the statute of limitations" is impotent when the land title is in question and held in abeyance by the United States Government. This decision caused the organization of the Lytle Creek Water Company. with a capital stock of $75,000, the stockholders including nearly all of the water users. Of this company, an authority11 says: "Its purpose was to unify the interest of appropriators on the stream and to fight the grant owners. These latter had the law on their side, but the settlers had the water and were holding and using it. An injunction was granted in favor of the grant owners but was never enforced. The conflict was a long and bitter one. In the meantime the grant owners and others operating with them, quietly bought up the stock of the Lytle Creek Water Company, until enough to control it was secured and then sold out these rights to the Semi-Tropic Land & Water Company, with the riparian lands, which seems to have quieted the conflict. This practically ended the litigation concerning Muscupiabe grant."
THE SAN GORGONIO RANCH. The last of the Mexican governors, Pio Pico, gave a grant of three leagues in the San Gorgonio Pass to Powell, or "Pauline" Weaver, one of the earliest American settlers in the San Bernardino Valley, a pioneer, scout, trapper and Indian fighter, who had settled here probably as early as 1846. This grant, which was given him for services rendered the Californians, was never confirmed by the United States. Weaver frequently served as scout for the United States Army and was the man who met Colonel Cook and the Mormon Battalion at the Colorado River and guided them across the desert to San Diego. The following excerpts from the journal of Lieutenant Blake gives an interesting picture of the ranch house of San Gorgonio as it appeared in November, 1852: "November 12, 1852. After procuring
1: Irrigation in Southern California.
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several thousand pounds of barley (at Old San Bernardino Mission) we again traveled eastward. We encamped in a wide, grassy valley, with- out trees, within sight of a solitary house on a slight eminence, known as 'Young Weaver's.' November 13. Leaving the camp near the house of Mr. Weaver, Jr., we ascended the valley of a stream which has cut its way downwards below the general level of the slope. The ascent continued very gradual, at length a short hill brought us to the edge of a broad and gently sloping plain, upon which an adobe house is built. This, although partly in ruins, was occupied by Mr. Weaver, an experi- enced mountaineer. He is the claimant of a large rancho at this place. The presence of fruit trees and other evidences of cultivation showed that the rancho had been in use for many years and it is said that the inhabi- tants have been driven away several times by Indians. The situation of this rancho and of the house is such as one would least expect, being at the summit of the pass." San Gorgonio Rancho was sold in 1859 to Dr. William F. Edgar, a United States Army surgeon, who owned it for many years, the management thereof being placed in the hands of his brother, F. M. Edgar, a well-known citizen of San Bernardino.
ADDITIONAL GRANTS. Endless litigation was caused by the giving, in 1846, by Governor Pico of a grant to Senora don Maria del Rosario Estudillo de Aguirre of a tract of land known as Rancho San Jacinto Sobrante, which had been considered worthless and therefore left out of two other grants, but which was afterward surveyed to include the Temescal tin mines. The other grants, lying on either side, were San Jacinto Nuevoy Potrero, 48,861 acres, which was confirmed in 1872 to T. W. Sutherland, guardian of the minor children of Miguel Pedrodeno, lying in the extreme southern end of the county and running into San Diego County ; and San Jacinto Viejo, in the northern part of San Diego County and the southern part of San Bernardino County.
El Rincon, a grant of one league, lying below Jurupa, in the Santa Ana Valley, was granted to Don Bernardo Yorba. Of this grant, B. D. Wilson says: "While Anaheim was still unconceived of, Santa Ana at Teodosio Yorba's gave the earliest grapes in the county and up the river at Don Bernardo Yorba's, El Rincon presented a settlement of Cali- fornians, contented and happy. Their loss was great when the head and front of everything useful, or elegant among them, Don Bernardo, died. He died November 20, 1858, a very large number of children and grand- children surviving him. His estate, in part, consisted of 7,000 head of cattle, valued at $84,000, and his landed property was valued at $30,625, May 1, 1859."
Bernardo Yorba was also granted Rancho La Sierra, a property con- taining 17,774 acres, which lay between Jurupa and El Rincon, and which was confirmed to Vicente Sepulveda in 1872. It was sold in 1876 to Abel Stearns, and thereafter was known as the Stearns Rancho.
SOCIAL LIFE AND CUSTOMS. While the social life and customs of the Mexicans in San Bernardino County were fundamentally Spanish in character, they were necessarily different in that the pioneers in this coun- try had to meet existing conditions and to shape their lives according to their new environment. The proportion of Mexican families in this region over Americans and those of other races was, of course, large, but not so large as has been generally understood. As the Mexicans were almost wholly dependent upon themselves and those of their nationality, it was naturally evident that they must be intimately acquainted with each other. When a fiesta was decided upon, the men invariably traveled on Vol. I-3
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horseback, while the other members of the family made use of the oxen- drawn carreta, the only kind of wheeled vehicle in the country, a rude conveyance constructed entirely of wood, with two wooden wheels, a wooden axle and a wooden rack, manufactured mainly with an axe, an adze and coyundas.12 During the journey the men of the party would occasionally engage in a dart on a coleada of cows or steers.13 When evening arrived the party stopped at the home of an acquaintance, where they were always heartily welcomed and well-entertained, eating at the same table and sleeping beneath one roof, and to offer to pay the hospitable host for this kind of entertainment was equivalent to an insult.
Among the Mexicans, while intercourse between the families, whether near neighbors or not, was much the same all over the region, strict supervision was kept over the young people, who arrived at manhood and womanhood with the innocence of childhood combined with the health of ripening maturity. At social and religious gatherings and in mixed company, it was the invariable custom to keep the young people segre- gated, the young ladies being seated by themselves and the young gentle- men understanding that they were to approach the young ladies only when social right and privilege warranted. In their love affairs. the young people seldom went against the wishes of their parents. The young man would first notify his parents of his choice of a bride, and if they considered it a worthy one, he would write a courteous letter to the parents of the young lady, which would be delivered by the father of the prospective bridegroom to the father of the prospective bride. following which, eight days later, the latter parent would deliver his reply in person. The whole family of the young man's father would then visit the family of the young lady, taking with them the donas,14 and a sumptuous meal would be succeeded by all arrangements for the coming ceremony. This, sometimes held at a church and sometimes at the house of the bride or groom, would be largely attended, guests frequently com- ing from a distance of one hundred miles. The fiesta which followed, and which consisted of singing, music, dancing, and often a horse race. bull fight or a toreada, lasted from three to eight days.
A deep religious feeling permeated the early Mexican residents of this part of California and three religious holidays were especially observed, i. e., Corpus Christi, San Juan and Noche Buena. The first, according to the established rules of the church, comes on Thursday. sometimes in May and sometimes in June. San Juan day was celebrated on June 24 each year, and after high mass the day was devoted to some manner of sports. Noche Buena, or Christmas, was especially important. and three masses were held during the first twelve hours of the day, with appropriate and impressive ceremonies. The people had many religious observances aside from those mentioned.
Naturally a social people, the Mexicans were greatly fond of sport. and several of their pastimes were typically their own. Pelia de gallos, or cock fights, were greatly popular, and some person in nearly every hamlet or rancho was the possessor of fighting cocks. who were prepared for combat by a special trainer who had to have a comprehensive knowledge of his business if he hoped for success. Another popular sport with which fowls were associated was Corrida de gallos. In this, one or more roosters would be furnished, always by a person named Juan or Juana, and the fowl was buried alive in the ground with only the head pro-
12 Hide straps. 13 A "coleada" consisted in running at full speed, grasping a cow by its tail and throwing it to the ground.
14 Gifts, consisting of jewelry and money, which were given to the parents of the bride-elect.
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truding. The men, riding horse-back at full speed, would lean from their saddles and attempt to pull the rooster from the ground by grasping him by the head, and the successful one would thereupon be pursued by the whole party, who would attempt to get his prize away from him. He was justified in striking his opponents with the unfortunate bird, and it was a direct infringement of the rules for any of the contestants to show anger. Some persons have confused the bull fight and the capateada or toreada, whereas they were entirely different exhibitions. The former was a fight between a bull and a bear, which would be turned loose in an amphitheater composed of a place walled in by large adobes with seats built on top of the wall. The bull, no matter how ferocious, was almost invariably killed, but the bear frequently died of his injuries also. In "torear," "toreada" or "capateada," a wild bull would be turned loose in the corral, or amphitheater, and the men, experts of their kind, on well-trained horses, would tantalize the animal until it attacked, and then give an exhibition of how easy it was to avoid its maddened rushes. Among the sports, however, horse racing was the most popular and the most widely indulged in. While huge sums of money were frequently wagered, these wagers were made man against man and horse against horse, and the modern bookkeeper was not known, a disinterested party, with no wager on the race of his own, being chosen as stakeholder. The Mexicans had two methods of starting their races, one known as Santiago parado and the other as Santiago andando. The first method was a "standing" start, the other a start from a walk or short trot, with the real race begun at the starter's word "Santiago!"
A feature of the cattle ranges, which was a necessary part of the yearly business, was the rodeo, or round-up. In those days the country was one wide range, with no fences marking boundary lines, and it was natural that the cattle become mixed, whether they belonged to owners who had thousands of head or to the smaller stockmen with their "bunches" of forty to fifty. The rodeos were held during branding, marking and gelding time. Early in the morning of the day appointed, the men, in small parties, from all around the objective point, would drive the stock to the rodeo, and if there were found any cattle which did not belong to the owner of the ranch, same would be turned over to its proper possessor. The stock was then driven to a corral, where a few expert "Lazadores" (men who throw the riata) would lasso the animals, throw them to the ground and hold them while they were branded and gelded.
While this was not a farming community, the settlers raised suffi- cient produce for their own consumption, and corn, wheat, barley, potatoes, lentils, chic peas, sweet peas, haba, vegetables and garden prod- ucts for seasoning were cultivated, among the latter being included green peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes, coriander, majoram and saffron. The making of wine was common and understood by many, and Mission grapes were abundant.
It is an exploded idea that the early Mexicans did not know how to cook. While they had no stoves, this discrepancy was not allowed to interfere with the preparation of their meals, their fireplaces of mud and stones serving them perfectly. Bread was baked on "hornos" (ovens), built of bricks and mud, while tortillas were baked on large pieces of iron called "comales." In addition to tortillas, the dishes of the people consisted of tamales, enchilades, puchero, estofado, albondigas and colache. Of these latter dishes, Father Caballeria says: "To make puchero select pieces of meat were placed to boil until it made froth, when that was thrown out. Then to the meat and broth were added green
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corn, string beans, garlic, onions, cabbage, squash, carrots and a few of the spicy weeds, and all boiled until the vegetables were well cooked. To prepare estofado, some pieces of meat with lard were placed on the fire and after a time dry grapes were added and again placed on the fire for a short time. Albondigas were made from the sirloin of the beef. The meat was well ground on a metate, or otherwise; to it were added onions, black pepper, coriander and a species of mint known as yerba buena. All these were made into a dough or paste, and from this little balls were shaped and cooked in boiling water. Colache was a com- mon dish, wholesome and easily cooked. Some lard was thoroughly heated, and in that squash cut up fine, green corn, also cut up, some cheese and meat, all heing cooked together."
The early Mexicans held their word inviolate, and verbal agreements in business transactions were the rule rather than the exception. Written documents were little known; but that they sufficed for these people is evidence of their native virtue. Naturally, such agreements did not hold good in the eyes of the law in later years, and the constant litigation which came up in the courts, despoiling many of the rightful owners of their property, did much to alter the character of the people. Of the people of this period, Father Caballeria says: "In honor, honesty and true manliness the men of that day will stand comparison with the men of any nation ; the women were marvels of love, purity and devotion unsur- passed by those of any nation or clime. The time was one of primitive simplicity, hospitality and social equality. The people as a whole were happy and contented."
CHAPTER III DURING MORMON OCCUPATION
An important period in the history of San Bernardino County was that between September, 1851, when Elders Charles C. Rich and Amasa Lyman purchased the San Bernardino Rancho, and the winter of 1857-58 when the 'Mormons of this region were recalled to Zion to participate in the war which was then impending between the disciples of Joseph Smith and the United States Government. This Mormon period, as it may be called, was one of intense interest, fraught with incidents which had their direct bearing upon the development of the region and crowded with occurrences that have their place in history.
JOSEPH SMITH, founder of the Mormons, was born at Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont. December 23, 1805, his parents being noor farming people who, about 1815, moved to Palmyra, New York. Later they went to Manchester, in the same state. According to his own story regarding his earlier years, Joseph worked hard on his father's farm, but the "oldest settlers" reported that the family had an aversion to hard toil of any kind and seemed inclined to lead thriftless lives, spending much time in digging for possible hidden treasure. About 1820, Joseph claimed to be a constant witness of supernatural visions and to be gifted with superhuman sight. He declared that he received, in 1828, a divine revelation inscribed in mysterious hieroglyphics on golden plates, which were delivered to him by an angel, and that the "Book of Mormon." which he published in 1830, was translated therefrom. The translation was dictated to him, he said, while he sat behind a curtain as if in the society of mysterious spiritual companions. He gathered a number of converts, and as "prophet" went with them first to Kirtland, Ohio, and afterwards to Independence, Missouri. In 1838 Governor Boggs, of Missouri, issued an exterminating order against the Latter Day Saints, as they then had become known, and they were driven out of that state, going to Illinois, where, by 1840, near Commerce, Hancock County, they had founded the City of Nauvoo, over which Smith had extraor- dinary civil and military authority. In 1844 a discontented member of the church issued a newspaper at Nauvoo assailing the prophet and threatening to expose various immoralities and misdeeds. The city council of Nauvoo passed an ordinance declaring the printing office a nuisance and it was destroyed by the officers of the law. Smith was blamed for this and an order issued for his arrest, but before civil war actually broke out, the governor of the state induced Smith to surrender and go to Carthage. On June 27, 1844, a mob attacked the jail, over- powered the guards, killed Smith and his brother Hiram, and wounded others of the prophet's party.
BRIGHAM YOUNG. Smith was succeeded by Brigham Young, who early in 1846, left Nauvoo with others, and in the spring of 1847 a com- pany of 143 started through the wilderness, with the possible intention of reaching the Pacific Coast, then under Mexican government. On July 24, 1847, this company arrived at the Valley of Salt Lake, which Young declared was the promised land. The new leader was ambitious to occupy a large territory, and to establish a port on the Pacific Coast where converts from foreign countries might land. One party of Mor-
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mons had already reached California by way of Cape Horn and were settled at San Francisco, and the Mormon Battalion arrived at the coast in 1847.
THE MORMON BATTALION. When war was declared with Mexico, the followers of the Church of the Latter Day Saints offered the United States the services of a company to aid in the defeat of Mexico. In answer to this proposition, Congress authorized the recruiting of a Mormon company, in which 500 Mormons were enrolled, ostensibly as "Iowa volunteers," and among the officers of this body were Jesse Hunter, Andrew Lytle and Jefferson Hunt, all of whom were later to become prominent in the affairs of San Bernardino. Acting under instructions to proceed to California by way of Santa Fe and take posses- sion of the territory for the United States, the company, under command of Lieut .- Col. Philip St. George Cook, marched through Santa Fe and on to San Diego, in the meantime experiencing many losses and untold hardships. Their sacrifices were made for nothing, as when they arrived the conquest of California was practically complete, and after a short stay at San Diego, members of the battalion were sent to perform gar- rison duty at San Luis Rey and San Diego. Colonel Cook arrived with his men at Los Angeles, March 23, 1847. and shortly afterward they were set to work building Fort Moore, located on the hill above the Plaza. The command was mustered out of the service July 15th, but one company re-enlisted for six months and was assigned to garrison duty at San Diego. A number of the discharged Mormons stopped in the gold fields on their way to Utah by the northern route, and several of them took considerable gold with them when they at last started for Salt Lake City, to rejoin their families and brethren whom they had left at Fort Leavenworth.
According to D. Tyler, the following men were enlisted in the Mor- mon Battalion, who afterward became citizens of San Bernardino, although not all of them came through to California with the battalion, a number having been invalided and sent back before the troops set forth on the march from Santa Fe: Company A, Capt. Jefferson Hunt, First Corporal Gilbert Hunt, and privates Robert Egbert and Lafayette Shep- herd; Company B, Third Lieutenant Robert Clift and privates W. E. Beckstead, Abner Blackburn and James Clift; Company D. privates Lucas Hoagland and Montgomery Button; and Company E, Second Lieutenant Andrew Lytle, Third Sergeant Ebenezer Hanks and privates Luther Glazier and Albert Tanner.
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