History of San Joaquin County, California : with biographical sketches of leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Part 4

Author: Tinkham, George H. (George Henry), b. 1849
Publication date: 1923
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif. : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1660

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inches. Occasionally there is severe cold weather continuing for a week or more, and five times during the county's history there has been a light fall of snow. According to one writer 1848 was a very severe winter; he says, "It rained and continued to rain; the rivers rose until the whole country round about was covered with water. Stockton was completely surrounded by water for a time. In December the cold was intense. Snow fell all over the valley. The channel froze down to the river and a passage had to be cut to get a launch up to the land here." There was a spell of cold weather in 1854 and the San Francisco steamer plowed ice as she came up the channel. In 1878 there was a period of six weeks of cold weather; every morning the house pumps were frozen solid, McLeod's lake was frozen over and ice a quarter of an inch thick was formed on the watering troughs. There was another long cold spell in 1885, and ice was formed, but it melted before midday. A fall of snow is so rare that children have never seen it except upon the Sierras. In 1880, January 22, snow began falling and continued for several hours, but in the warm sun it quickly turned to water. The heaviest fall of snow ever recorded occurred January 31, 1882. The previous evening the weather was very cold and the following morning about eleven o'clock snow flakes began falling with increas- ing velocity until it lay two inches deep upon the earth. Sleds were hastily constructed and the boys and those from eastern homes en- joyed sleigh riding throughout the day. That evening a heavy rain soon melted the snow.

Varieties of Soil

The soil of the county as classified by Mackie is divided into ten different classes which may be condensed for all practical use to adobe or clay loam, sandy loam, gravelly soil and peat or tule land. The clay loam comprises a belt of land in the center of the county about eight miles in width and sixteen miles in length. It begins at Stockton and ends just beyond Lin- den. Some persons called it the black land, be- cause of its dark brown and black color. Mac- kie in describing it says, "The soil is of a close compact structure, polishingly highly upon the soil auger, is exceedingly tenacious and of a stiff, putty-like consistency when wet, checking at the surface in large blocks, by deep surface cracks upon exposure." In other words, the soil in summer time unless irrigated becomes very dry and cracks open into irregular blocks a foot or two in depth and a couple of inches wide. In winter the soil becomes solid by be- ing wet, holds water and is exceedingly adhes- ive. The ground contracts in summer and swells in winter, thus making it difficult to keep level streets or sidewalks. The soil is very fertile, although somewhat difficult to cul-

HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

tivate. On this belt grew the oak trees and it produces heavy crops of wheat, barley, hay and vegetables. The sandy loam lies upon the north and south side of the adobe belt. On the north it extends from the Calaveras River to the county line, and on the south from French Camp to Stanislaus County. For over thirty years it was considered of little value ex- cept for pasture land. Irrigation, however, has produced wonderful results. In the Lodi sec- tion grapes were planted and the land produces bountifully, with no irrigation but the rains.

The gravel or San Joaquin loam, as Lapham calls it, lies in the eastern part of the county. In describing it he says, "It forms the upland of the lower or first foothill slopes and extends to the margins of the nearly level plains below. These slopes or rolling hills are treeless and de- void of rock outcrop save the occasional ap- pearance of the underlying hardpan." This

section of the county comprises some 5,000 acres. Nature's last production is the western part of the county, the peat or tule land. Berk- eley, you remember, said

"Westward the Star of Empire takes its way; The first four acts already past,

The fifth shall close the drama with the day; Time's noblest offspring is the last."

And William H. Rhoads, the young Stock- ton pioneer, in a poem read at the fair of 1859 affirmed the Berkeley poem when he said in his closing lines,

"Where then in Eden; Ah, why should I tell What every eye and besom knows so well? Why name the land all other lands have blest And traced for ages to the distant west? Why seek in vain the historic page For Eden's Garden and the Golden Age?

Here, brothers, here, no further let us roam, Here is the Garden, Eden is our home."

CHAPTER II

THE FIRST LANDOWNERS

H AVING laid a broad foundation for the history of the county, who were the people placed here to enjoy its luxuriant and fertile soil, its delightful climate and the beautiful scenery of mountain, hill and valley ? Indians, just Indians, a race of people not much higher in intellect than the animals that roamed the plains. Strange that so much beauty and value of soil should be wasted for five hundred or more years, for the Indians have lived here man knows not how long. We know only this, that Christopher Columbus found Indians, when in 1492 he landed at Cuba. It was to him a new race of people. Believing that he had landed at India, he named them Indians. Hernando Cortez, sailing to Mexico, there found the same race, Indians. His sol- diers married the Indian women, from whence sprang the Mexican race. We will find many of them in Stockton. In 1542 Cabrillo, in sail- ing along the California coast, found Indians at every point of landing. When Sir Francis Drake landed in the bay that bears his name, the Indians crowded around him in great num- bers. The Franciscan fathers traveling up the coast found Indians in every valley, and they assisted the padres in building their missions. Lieutenant Gabriel Moraga, in 1812, crossing the mountains into the San Joaquin Valley, found hundreds of Indians in the Valley of the Tulare. So it seems upon this entire continent of North America the Indians were the land- owners and the sons of Nature.

Names and Location of Tribes

In San Joaquin county there were but five tribes of Indians according to Colonel F. T. Gilbert, who, in 1879, made a study of the county Indians. Three of these tribes, the Mok-el-kos, the La-las and the Ma-cha-cos lived on the Mokelumne River: the Cos-os on the Cosumnes River and the Ya-che-kos in the vicinity of the present site of Stockton. The Ma-cha-cos tribe occupied the territory from Athearn's Ferry to Campo Seco, the tribe claiming the land upon both sides of the river. The La-las were a small tribe later ab- sorbed by the powerful Mo-kel-kos. They in- habitated the land between what was known as Staples Ferry and Athearn's Ferry. The Cos-os lived on the Cosumnes River and they gave the river its name. The Mo-kel-kos were the land grabbers of that day. They were a large tribe, numbering some twelve rancherias of about 3,000 Indians, and they held undis- puted possession of all of the land between Lockeford and New Hope Dry creek and the Calaveras River. They had four chieftains, all brothers, and to hold this large tract of land, Sena-a-to lived at Staples Ferry, which was about four miles west of Lockeford; Lo- we-no at Woodbridge; An-to-nio on the Cala- veras, and Max-i-mo near Benedict's Ferry. The Ya-che-kos tribe were also a powerful tribe, probably the strongest tribe in the coun- ty; they lived in the vicinity of Stockton and owned all of the territory to French Camp. It

HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

was not a very large stretch of land, but it produced an abundance of food, and like the tramp of today, if the Indian could get plenty of food easily he was satisfied.

The high cost of living in no manner affect- ed the Indians, for Nature provides for its own. In case of a scarcity of food among the larger tribes, they would declare war upon a weaker tribe and capture their food supply. However, as it was, they had plenty of food. In the spring time they lived on a species of clover that grew abundantly on the plains; it was soft and contained sufficient nutriment to sustain life. When the clover had grown too rank for food, they substituted young tule roots; they also lived on seeds, bugs, frogs, non-poisonous snakes and grasshoppers. This insect was considered quite a delicacy, as they would roast them, mash them into a paste and mix with other edible foods. Their staple foods were fish, seeds and acorns; the latter they obtained in great abundance in the fall of the year. The acorns were ground to a pow- der in their mortars and made into bread. They obtained plenty of fish during low water, the streams abounding in salmon, perch and sturgeon; the last named fish were plentiful in the Mokelumne River and salmon in the San Joaquin. They shot these big fish with their bows and arrows, speared them with long, sharp-pointed poles, and were quite dex- terous in catching them by hand. Although as a rule too lazy to hunt for large game the braves would occasionally go out and kill rab- bits, birds and squirrels, and sometimes a deer or antelope, with their bows and arrows. They never molested a grizzly bear, says Carson, and at the sight of a bear they quickly hid from sight. When the fish and acorns were the most plentiful, namely in the fall of the year, they would have a big feast. It contin- ued for several days, during that time they would gorge themselves with food until they became torpid.

For some unknown reason the grizzly al- ways had it in for the Indian, says James A. Carson, from whom much information was obtained regarding the custom and habits of the tribes. When a bear was seen by a white man, if not wounded by a bullet, he would im- mediately run away. But when the grizzly met the Indian Mr. Lo would immediately turn and escape, if possible, for bruin invaria- bly followed after him. Hundreds of Indians have been killed by bears.

The Indian in his physical appearance, like the Chinese and Japanese, seemed to have no distinctive feature, to the average white man. They all looked alike, were scarcely more than five feet, eight inches in height and a man over six feet in height was a wonder. Ban- croft in describing them said they had "a low

retreating forehead, black, deep set eyes, thick bushy eyebrows, high cheek bones, a nose de- pressed at the roots, and wide-spread at the nostrils. They had a large mouth with pro- jecting lips, large white teeth, ears and hands and large, flat feet." They had great strength, according to a pioneer writer, and it was as- tonishing to see the loads they could carry without tiring.

Indian Wikiups

In this mild, equable climate of San Joaquin almost any kind of a shelter was sufficient during the winter months. One should re- member also, that the winter climate then was much milder than at the present time, for the thick forest of trees tempered the cold wintry blasts, and the warm weather was modified by the same means. During the summer, accord- ing to Carson, their wikiups were built of the flimsiest material and with the smallest amount of labor. They consisted of a number of long poles fastened together at the top with grapevines or willow branches and covered with grass or tules. In Winter the outside of the huts were plastered with wet, soft adobe which dried and hardened in the sun. A large hole was made in the top of the hut to permit the passage of smoke and then fires were built inside. In these habitations lived the entire family, until compelled to move out because of the filth and vermin. Then the wikiup was set on fire and burned to the ground and a new shelter constructed. So filthy and beastly were the Indians that the remains of food and other refuse was permitted to accumulate around their huts until the stench was some- thing horrible. Carson said, "They were in the scale of life so low, that there was but little difference between them and a grizzly bear, their superiority consisting in the fact that they could build a fire and talk." Other- wise they lived on the same kinds of food and their habits were similar to that of bruin.

The dress of the maids of the forest and the young braves was ever the same. No change of the fashion worried their minds nor the minds of their fathers as to their extravagance in costumes. The women wore a short apron suspended from their waist made of tule or grass. They were in the fashion of 1920, short below and short above. For additional warmth in winter they wore over their shoulders a short fur cape made of rabbit skins. The men during the summer months were naked and in winter they also wore a mantle of the skin of some fur-bearing animal. We may think that with so little clothing they suffered greatly with cold during the winter months, but such was not the case. They were the sons of Na- ture, hardened from birth to their surrounding conditions. There was much good sense in

HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

the reply of an Indian to General Marino Val- lejo on one occasion when the general asked a naked Indian, "Are you not cold?" "No," replied the brave. "Why are you not cold?" Said the Indian, "Is your face cold?". "Not at all," replied the General. And the Indian came back, "Indian all face."

Courtship and Marriage

Among the Indians there were no long days of courtship, or uncertainties and palpitating hearts. With the young brave, it was like many in the present generation, a matter of business. How much is she worth, not in money but as a laborer. When he wanted a wife, he watched her carefully and observed the young maiden who was the most indus- trious in gathering acorns or in digging edible roots; one also who could carry heavy loads. When the young Indian had made his selec- tion, he went to the chief and stated that he wanted the maiden for his "helpmate." The consent of the chief must always be obtained and seldom did he refuse to grant the "mar- riage permission." This was all the marriage ceremony necessary. The girl could refuse to live with the young man, but she was severely punished, because she became the common property of the tribe. Sometimes the buck desired the maid of another tribe, and if the chief would not give his consent, he would lie in ambush and kidnap the sweetheart of his desires. This was a cause of war between the two tribes. It is recorded that on one occa- sion, like the Trojans of old, the two tribes fought for twenty years over a dark-hued Helen. An Indian could divorce his wife; it required neither judge or a lawyer. It was just as easy as many of the divorces of to-day ; it was only necessary for the husband to drive his wife out of the wikiup. Adultery on the part of the woman was always a cause of di- vorce. The woman could have but one hus- band; the man could have as many wives as he could feed and shelter.

Supporting a wife was easy, for the position of the woman was one of degradation and drudgery, as they were nothing more than slaves. They were compelled to cook the food, gather all of the firewood, and carry heavy loads. There was no release from the household drudgery, even though the woman had a young baby to care for. The papoose she carried upon her back in a basket sus- pended from her head by deer thongs; and the master, what did he? He lay around the wikiup, mending his bows and arrows, nets and fish-hooks-a Herculean task.

Form of Government

The tribes were governed by chiefs and sub- chiefs, who had full control and authority re- specting their tribes. Each tribe had what

was known as a "captain chief" and each fam- ily and their relatives were under the author- ity of a sub-chief, he being subject to the cap- tain chief. The tepee of the captain chief was much larger than that of his tribe, and if the wikiups were erected in a circle his hut occu- pied the center of the circle. Considerable dignity was given to him and his family, they were treated with the greatest respect. After his death his widow and daughters were con- sidered as Indians of nobility, and they were not compelled to labor as were the women of the common people. A kind of aristocracy was prevalent even among the uncivilized race. The chieftaincy among the sub-chiefs was hereditary along the male line. At the father's death, the eldest son succeeded him. Sometimes, however, the son would be de- prived of his rightful authority, as the captain chief would appoint to the office some favorite son, because of some exploit or bravery in a horse-stealing expedition.

Famous Chiefs

In civilized life a man may be famous among his relatives and friends and yet be a nonentity to the general public. So was it among the Indian tribes. An Indian chief was famous in his tribe although he did nothing to win either fame or glory. The only. chiefs of any renown, so far as the writings show, were Estanislao and José Jesus. Two of the chiefs of the La-las tribe were named Ah-a-moon and Al-i-no; the tribe itself was so few in number that in 1879 three only were living, a mother, son and daughter. The chiefs of the Ya-che-kum-na. were many in number, for it was a large tribe. Their last big muck-a-muck was Mauries-to, and he was described by an Indian who knew him as a tall, powerfully- built man. His rancheria was near the pres- ent site of Stockton. Al-wi-no was the last big gun of the Ma-cha-kos tribe; he was said to be about six feet four inches and lived to be eighty years of age. The Mok-el-kos con- sidered their tribe as the aristocrats of the California tribes, because of the fact that a large number of them were christianized by the Franciscan fathers. Although calling themselves Christians or "gente de reason" (Indians of reason), "they kept up their monthly feasts and dances," says Gilbert, "and invoked the spirits to crown the seasons with plentiful crops of ground nuts, and an abundance of game. Their medicine men per- formed their incantations to pacify the evil spirits, ward off pestilence and disease and to heal the sick. Their prophets and seers orated on the traditions, past prowess and glories of the tribe, and forecast the horoscope of the future." Their last great prophet and seer, Mau-ritz, was said to have lived to be 115 years of age; he was seven feet in height and

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

at that age stalwart and imposing. A pioneer in speaking of this chief at the age of ninety years, says, "I thought him the most remark- able Indian I had ever seen-tall, handsome, graceful, and well-timed in his actions, with a well-formed head; he was the beau ideal, an impassioned orator, and he had a magical in- fluence over his hearers." The last chief of the Ya-che-kum-na tribe was old Manuel. L. C. Branch in writing of the old chief in 1881, said, "He was a large, fleshy Indian, had rather an intelligent look and when taken, all in all, was much superior to the average among his tribe. He had several wives and a pretty daughter. She decorated herself with feathers and beads, had a pleasant look, and always carried a plate which she passed around and took up a collection. By this device the In- dians were enabled to gather together enough money to buy whisky sufficient to keep them drunk for a week or two. They all drank, and when the law prohibited the selling of liquor to Indians and the whites refused to let them have it, they managed to procure it from the Chinese store keepers. When drunk they would fight amongst themselves and beat their women unmercifully."

Estanislao, the Warrior Chief

This chief was one of the historical figures of California, for after him was named the Stanislaus River, because of the fact that on that river he defeated and completely routed the Spanish soldiers in command of General Mariano Vallejo, he being the Government's best fighter. Estanislao had been one of the Indians at the San Jose Mission, had there been educated, was a man naturally bright and therefore far more intelligent than the average Indian. The Indians in all of the mis- sions were deprived of their freedom, and upon every opportunity they ran away and re- joined their native tribes. Estanislao succeed- ed in escaping and he became the chief of the Si-yak-um-nas. His confinement in the Mis- sion San Jose had not increased his admiration of the Spaniards nor the Mission fathers and he hated them with all of the hatred of an Indian.

The Indians loved good eating when they could get it, and they were especially fond of horse meat. Frequently they would make a raid on the mission stock and steal a band of horses. To stop these raids so far as possible, the Government sent out expeditions to pun- ish the thieves. All prisoners were driven into the missions and there attempts made to christianize them. In one of these expeditions, that of 1829, Lieutenant Alfred Sanchez was sent out with a company of forty men, well armed, to rout Estanislao. He found the In- dians fortified in a thick wood on the Stanis-

laus River. Sanchez made an attack but was defeated, with the loss of two soldiers killed and eight wounded. The Indians' loss was one killed and eleven wounded. Sanchez, unable to drive out the Indians from their stronghold. returned to San Jose.

The Government now concluded to send out their best general, who had just come back from a victorious battle, having routed and killed forty-eight "braves" in the "Valle de los. Tulares." Vallejo, marching from San Jose Mission, on arriving at the San Joaquin River, was immediately greeted with a shower of arrows from the Indians in their strong- hold. Crossing the river, Vallejo soon learned that he could not drive the Indians from their fort and he commanded his men to set the willows on fire. The Indians were driven out. several of them being killed, but the following day, from a heavily wooded thicket near the .Arroyo Seco, they again challenged Vallejo to fight. The General now tried to parley with them, but they would neither compromise nor surrender. The soldiers then made another attack bringing into action a small cannon which they had brought with them. The fight continued during the day, the Indians slowly retreating to a series of earth trenches they had thrown up. Before night the Indians had badly wounded eight more soldiers, and his ammunition giving out, Vallejo was com- pelled to cease fighting. The following morn- ing Vallejo returned to the Mission. As he had not accomplished the object of his expedi- tion, the defeat and the destruction of the tribe, his work was a complete failure due to the bravery of Estanislao. Now comes the result of this battle, unimportant as it may appear to the reader, the Indians fought so bravely they cowed the Spaniards, and from that time they dare not invade this section of the valley.

José Jesus, the White Man's Friend

After the death of Estanislao, José Jesus became the chief of the Si-yak-um-na tribe. He was an Indian over six feet in height, well built, clean in his person, proud and dignified in manner. He had been educated at the San Jose Mission and at one time was alcalde- the peace officer-of San Jose. He usually dressed in the gala-day attire of a Spanish grandee with a cotton shirt, and trousers, cal- zonazos, sash, serape and sombrero, and cre- ated quite a stunning appearance. He was a bitter enemy to the Spaniards, and never would he smoke the pipe of peace with them. He believed that he had been wronged by the mission fathers and on one occasion he made a raid on the mission stock and drove away over one thousand horses to his mountain home where they were killed for food. When

HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

Captain Weber located on the Campo de los Franceses he sent for José Jesus and made a treaty with his tribe to keep peace with the white men, and never afterward did José Jesus or any of his tribe violate that treaty. After the arrival of the "gold seekers" the chief, like many of the whites, would get on a glorious "jag." And on one occasion while at Knights Ferry, he engaged in a quarrel with a white man, who shot and badly wounded the chief. Captain Weber, learning of the wounding of his Indian friend, engaged Dr. William M. Ryer, a surgeon, to attend José Jesus. The Indian recovered and Captain Weber paid the surgeon $500 for his services. A few years later, in another fight, the chief was killed, however the tribe remained friend- ly to the whites because of the treaty and quite a number of. them were employed by Captain Weber as vaqueros.

The Indian's Religion

Going ahead of our story about ten years we will return to the Indians of San Joaquin as seen by the first arrivals in the valley. In regard to their religion, James H. Carson says they had "no idea of a Supreme Being, and when questioned upon that subject would grin and shake their heads." The only faith in which they believed was necromancy, and their medicine men performed incantations to ward off evil spirits and to heal the sick. They regarded any mysterious act as something su- pernatural. Their religious belief seems to have been different in different parts of the county for, says another writer, they had a belief that the good would inherit eternal life and the bad would forever die. They believed a good chief was especially honored in the happy hunting ground. After death "his heart went up among the stars, to enlighten the earth, and the heavens were ablaze with the hearts of departed good Indians."

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History of San Joaquin County, California : with biographical sketches of leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Part 4

Author: Tinkham, George H. (George Henry), b. 1849 Publication date: 1923 Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif. : Historic Record Co. Number of Pages: 1660

Author: Tinkham, George H. (George Henry), b. 1849
Publication date: 1923
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif. : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1660