History of San Luis Obispo County, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 57

Author: Angel, Myron; Thompson & West
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Oakland, Calif. : Thompson & West
Number of Pages: 538

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HIS BADGE OF PIONEERSHIP.

In his long life as a hunter and pioneer of the West, Mr. Sparks had many thrilling adventures and narrow escapes. One of his adventures was a personal conflict with a grizzly bear, in which he received a blow that cost him an eye and nearly his life, but with the courage for which he was noted he triumphed over the savage ani- mal. In portraits painted of him and photographs taken this defect is observable, he refusing to have it concealed, for two reasons: first, that he should always be truthfully represented, no defect concealed nor virtue extenuated, and second, he maintained it as a badge of his pioneer- ship, the insignia of the grizzly bear, and the relic of a deadly encounter. He was quite tall, with slim, but well-formed frame, and was a man of fine, commanding appearance.

CHAPTER XXVI. AGRICULTURE CONTINUED.

The Drought of IS63-64-E. W. Steele Visits San Luis Obispo- A Backward County-A Newspaper Established-Wheat Cult- ure Advocated-Grist Mills-Statistics of Production-Expor- tation of Wheat-Large Crops-Dairying-When the Cows Come Home-A Newspaper's Notice of Dairying-Success in Dairying -- Excelsior Cheese Dairy - Dairy Cattle-Jersey Stock-The Origin of the Jerseys-The Formation of the Type -- Early Excellence-Action of the Royal Jersey Agricult- ural Society-Morgan Brians-P. O'Connor - Bean Culture- Fruit-Vegetable Products-Silk Culture-The Interest in San Luis Obispo-E. P. Bean-Large Land Holdings-Meas- urement of Land-Ilills in Area of an Acre.

HE two successive seasons of drought occurring in the years 1862-63 and 1863-64, mark an era in the condition of the southern counties of California. Anterior to those years the great rancheros were in the height of prosperity, their immense estates devoted to grazing, and their herds of cattle and horses numbered by thousands. In the cities and mining regions of the North and in Nevada their animals were in demand, and purchasers came to them for stock to supply the mar- kets with beef, paying remunerative prices for all the rancheros had to sell. In previous years those who had thought themselves exceedingly fortunate in obtaining generous grants of land had been subjected to expensive litigation to prove and maintain their title, but those dif- ficulties, in most cases, had been successfully passed, and

the land-owners saw a life of wealth and ease before them. How they should profit from their land, and how dispose of it was a matter of their own business and wishes, although holding it in large tracts for simply grazing purposes retarded the improvement of the coun- try and left only few opportunities for advancement to any but themselves.

The dry seasons, however, changed all that. In the season of 1862-63, there was sufficient rain fall to bring forth only a slight growth of grass in the southern coast region, leaving the grazing ground bare in the summer and autumn following, and in the succeeding season the fall was not enough to wet the soil. All forage was ut- terly exhausted, and where the grass usually waved in luxuriant growth the wind swept the dust as drifting sand on the desert. Fertile valleys were as bare as the well- trodden roads. Cattle starved, and lingered, and died, not in parts of herds, but in totals. The country was devastated as if Genghis Kahn, or Timour the Tartar, had passed over it with their hosts, and fulfilling their boast that they left no living thing behind nor any verdure in their path.

East of the Santa Lucia Range the destruction was not so complete. Messrs. James and Thompson, of the La Panza Rancho, and some others drove their stock to the marshes of the Tulare Valley and thus preserved the lives of a large portion of their herds. The great bands of Spanish cattle were the severest sufferers, and this race, as the leading stock of the country, passed out of existence.

From this result, and the effect of breaking up the large ranchos, some have said that the great drought was a blessing. But it was the blessing of a revolution, which crushes and destroys one class that another, or more numerous one, way rise in its stead. The blessing that such disaster, or revolution, confers upon the future is such a one as the victims cannot, appreciate. The Spanish stock of horses and cattle had been permitted to deteriorate so that it was greatly inferior to the im- proved breeds most desired by American farmers and consumers, and without such disaster long years would have been required to displace it. With the stock de- stroyed the resources of the rancheros were gone, and the land changed ownership for other purposes.

E. W. STEELE VISITS SAN LUIS OBISPO.

In 1866, Mr. E. W. Steele, who was then a successful dairyman in San Mateo, visited San Luis Obispo to ex- amine its resources for his business, and found the grass luxuriant and ungrazed. He immediately made the pur- chase of the Corral de Piedra Rancho and established dairies upon it, subsequently purchasing other ranchos and extending the business in connection with his brothers. Then the county possessed but few improve- ments that would place it among the class of American settlements. The great ranchos were unfenced, and, with the exception of a few small spots, were unculti- vated. The rich valley of the Arroyo Grande was then a swamp of matted underbrush without a channel for the stream of water. The estimated value of land was not

223

AGRICULTURE CONTINUED.

equal to the minimum price fixed by Government for the public lands. One dollar and ten cents per acre was the price paid for the ranchos Corral de Piedra, Balsa de Chemisal, Pismo and Arroyo Grande, the greater part of all of which are susceptible of cultivation and of unsurpassable fertility. Other lands were held at much less rates, and very little, if any, at higher rates. Farms on the Corral de Piedra were sold in 1882 at from $15.00 to $40.00 an acre, and in the valley of the Arroyo Grande are held at from $75.00 to $300 an acre.

A BACKWARD COUNTY.

The county was distant from the great markets by land, and it had been previously argued that only cattle could be produced with profit, as they could furnish their own transportation. Although there was a coast line of near seventy miles, there was said to be no har- bors; when, in fact, with a little enterprise a landing could be prepared, or effected, at such a number of points that, for the greater part of the year, the coast might be regarded as all harbor. Being off from the great lines of travel, the country was not brought under the observation of settlers, and no enterprise preceding the demand to build wharves and afford transportation, one lagging for the other, the progress of settlement and development was exceedingly slow. The coast line of stages passed through the county with mails and passen- gers each day during the decade of 1860-70, a steamer touched semi-monthly, and schooners occasionally, but there were no wharves and landings effected only in small boats and lighters, attended with difficulty, and sometimes with loss of life and goods. To carry on farming, or fruit culture, or dairying, or any of the ordi- nary classes of agriculture, under such circumstances, was a difficult problem. The Steele Brothers came with a large capital, experience in business, great enterprise, and unyielding energy, and were enabled to expend $20,- 000 a year in building fences, fitting up dairies, import- ing lumber and carrying on their business. The extraor- dinary wealth of the soil enabled them to make a cor- responding success in their business. Their marketable product was chiefly cheese, which they could ship at favorable opportunities. Their success was proof that the county was good for other purposes than raising cat- tle for beef, hides, and tallow.

A NEWSPAPER ESTABLISHED.

A clearer light dawns upon the benighted county in 1868, when Mr. Rome G. Vickers established The Pi- oneer, the first newspaper in San Luis Obispo. The editor turns his attention at once to advocating the de- velopment of the agricultural resources of the county. In the preceding chapter extracts are made from an arti- cle published, and reference is made to advocacy of the subject.

WHEAT CULTURE ADVOCATED.

At that time wheat was becoming a prominent article of California's exports, and the land-owners of San Luis Obispo were urged to try the experiment of wheat cult- ure, and bring the county forward as one of the pro-

ducers of the State. In his first paper, January 4, 1868, he says :-

Our county boasts a territory averaging fifty miles of latitude by sixty of longitude: all excellent grazing land, one-third of which is as good for agricultural purposes as any in the State. We have no more than our fair share of mountain, and no desert. We challenge the State to show another county that can exhibit, acre for acre, a greater capacity for the maintenance of population --- which is the true test of the value of land. A county thus favored as regards topography cannot long lack pop- ulation.

Originally settled previous to the Declaration of Inde- pendence (A. D. 1772), and being one of the first coun- ties instituted in the State, it may be a matter of surprise to some that our appreciation of its resources should have heretofore been unshared by the people of California. But it is not difficult to understand why San Luis Obispo County has not heretofore been utilized in accordance with its merits. Agricultural lands in the neighborhood of San Farncisco Bay were in sufficient abundance to supply the State with grain and other products; and little or no foreign market presented itself. Hence our county was used solely as a territory from which the more populous portions of the State drew their supplies of ani- mal food. In this category, as a "cow county" it has never been surpassed by any rival, in proportion to their respective acres.

The "dry year" (1864) demonstrated that stock-raising had heretofore been overdone in California, and that agriculture must necessarily assume a much larger pre- pondarence over the former pursuit, if the State at large was expected to prosper. Following that year came three years of plenty, culminating in the placing of the Golden State high in the list of the providers of bread-stuffs for the world's markets. This has led to the cultivation of all the spare lands in the counties heretofore known, par excellence, asagricultural, and the "swarming" from those counties of their best citizens, in search of cheaper agri- cultural land's in other sections.

The problem has been, to find that particular section of the State wherein the maximum quantity of grain could be produced at the minimum cost. We are glad to be able to say that of those who have (to use a Cali- fornia phrase) "prospected" for this purpose San Luis Obispo County has secured a very large share- so large as, in conjunction with her well-known eligibility for agri- cultural purposes, to ensure a further career of prosper- ity, perhaps exceeding that of any county of the State in a like period.

We have lands which sell at from $2.00 to$10.00 per acre, which in Santa Clara County would readily bring more than those sums per acre per annum, for mere rent; while our facilities for transportation are almost, if not quite, equal with that county. The bulk of the agricultural lands of our county are situated within fifteen miles from a good port, from whence transportation can be had to the State metropolis (as soon as the amount of freight offering warrants it) at as low rates as from Sacramento or Stock- ton.

The Pioneer continued the earnest advocate for the "experiment" of wheat production, assuring the people that small lots had been cultivated in that cercal from the earliest dates of the occupation of the country by the missionaries, and rancheros, giving instances of success- ful cultivation on the Nipomo in the extreme southern part of the county; the Arroyo Grande bottom where Branch had grown it; the Huasna, the Corral de Pie- dra, the Pismo, San Miguelito, and on the public lands

224

HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.

near the town of San Luis Obispo. "Here," it says, "in 1854-55 and 1856, Moses W. Perry and others sowed wheat and barley to the extent of from sixty to eighty acres, and never failed of raising a good crop, although always planting late. Their only drawback was smut which was caused by the grossest neglect in preparing the seed prop- erly. The seed in question was brought from San Fran- cisco, and before its introduction smut was unknown in the county."

GRIST-MILLS.

The production of wheat or other cereal, could not have been regarded as an experiment at that date, although advocated as such, and the fact that it was not exten- sively grown was due to the want of population and enter- prise. Many years previously Branch had built a grist- mill, in 1854, on the Arroyo Grande and ground the wheat from the southern ranchos, and Judge Bonilla had a mill on San Luis Creek which in early days received "grists" from El Chorro, Potrero de San Luis Obispo, Villa, San Bernardo, Morro, Cayucos, San Luisito, Santa Rosa, San Geronimo, Santa Margarita, and Piedra Blanca Ranchos, also from the Estrella and Paso Robles, some farmers bringing their grain a distance of forty miles. This was in Spanish times and the grists were for family use and to supply a limited local market. The mill-stones were of the country rock, and the grists were said to have been very "gritty."

Early in 1868 the Chorro mill was built by Messrs. Pollard, Childs & Sauer, and was regarded as an impor- tant enterprise and one promising great advantages to the farmer. The building was of frame, four stories in height, and 50x25 feet on the ground, the machinery consist- ing of three run of stone with the latest improvements, driven by a water-wheel forty feet in diameter: The water of El Chorro was sufficient to drive one run of stone the. entire year, and two or three run part of the time. With one run of stone the capacity of the mill was 480 bushels of wheat each twenty-four hours. This was intended to encourage wheat cultivation and to supply the home de- mand for bread-stuffs, which were then chiefly imported.

In 1872 Mr. William Leffingwell & Sons built a flour- ing-mill at Cambria which was run by steam power, hav- ing two run of stone and a capacity of grinding twenty- five barrels of flour per day. The mill cost $8,000. The Arroyo Grande mill, managed by Branch Bros., had been improved to a capacity of thirty barrels a day, the Chorro mill, then the property of Pollard & James, had a capacity of fifty barrels a day, and the Cuesta, or Bonilla, mill, which had become the property of S. Sumner, had a capacity of twenty-five barrels, as shown by the report of the Assessor in 1874. Of a more recent date is the Eagle Mill, in San Luis Obispo, owned by S. A. Pollard and D. W. James, who were also the owners of the Chorro mill. The Eagle is a powerful mill, running by steam, making flour and grinding barley for horses.

STATISTICS OF PRODUCTION.

Under the stimulus of urging by the press and the cer- tainty of a market, the production of wheat gradually in- creased in San Luis Obispo County, and with it other

farm products. In 1873, the Assessor reported 40,000 acres under cultivation, of which 5,000 were in wheat, producing 100,000 bushels; 30,000 acres were cultivated in barley, producing 750,000 bushels; 400 acres in rye produced 16,000 bushels; 100 acres of buckwheat pro- duced 400 bushels.

The dairy products were, in 1873, 300,000 pounds of butter and 500,000 pounds of cheese. Of wool, the yield was 1,281, 115 pounds.

Of fruit trees there were reported 6,000 apple trees; 10,- ooo peach trees; 4,000 pear trees; 3,000 plum trees; 800 cherry trees; 500 nectarine trees; 600 apricot trees; 400 fig trees; 200 lemon trees; 200 orange trees; 3,000 olive trees; 100 prune trees; 200 mulberry trees; 1,000 almond trees; 60,000 grapevines.

/ Of live stock there were reported 6,827 horses; 400 mules; 25 asses; 8,342 cows; 9,609 calves; 3, 152 beef cat- tle; 40 oxen; 37,908 neat cattle; 286,223 sheep; 1,096 Cashmere and Angora goats; 5,111 hogs.

In 1876 the Assessor reported the following produc- tions: wheat, 120,000 bushels; barley, 1,500,000 bushels; corn, 20,000 bushels; peas, 500 bushels; beans, 6,000 bushels; potatoes 2,400 tons; onions, 1,200 bushels; hay, 15,000 tons; sugar-beets, 90 tons; butter, 500,000 pounds; cheese, 600,000 pounds; wool, 1,500,000 pounds; honey, 2,000 pounds. The same year the following num- ber of trees and vines were returned to the Assessor: ap- ple, 6,000; peach 9,000; pear, 5,000; plum, 2,500; cherry, 1,500; nectarine, 1,000; quince, 500; apricot, 1,000; fig, 1,000; lemon, 100; orange, 150; olive, 3,000; prune, 500; mulberry, 200; almond, 1,000; walnut, 700; and grapevines, 80,000.

The following live stock was also reported the same year: horses, 5,700; mules, 325; cows, 19,000; calves, 18,- 000; beef cattle, 4,000; oxen, 22; sheep, 200,000; lambs, 90,000; Cashmere and Angora goats, 1,200; hogs, 8,000; and 600 hives of bees.

In 1879 the Assessor of San Luis Obispo reported the number of acres of land inclosed 300,000; and 60,000 cultivated, of which 7,000 was in wheat, 40,000 in barley, 500 in oats, 250 in beans, 700 in potatoes, 25 in onions, and 500 in corn. The bean crop at that time had begun to assume some proportions, the product being 6,500 bushels. Yolo County then led the column in producing beans, the yield being 51,010 bushels, and Los Angeles 28,500; the whole product of the State being 163,705 bushels.

For the years 1881-82 the report was 215,600 acres of land inclosed and 74,363 cultivated; 36,384 being in wheat, producing 508,263 bushels; 8,454 acres in barley, producing 128,373 bushels; 2,932 in oats, producing 72,- 864 bushels; 3, 145 in rye, producing 52,320 bushels; 2,622 in corn, producing 104,880 bushels; 75 in buckwheat, producing 602 bushels; 40 in peas, producing 817 bush- els: 4,685 in beans, producing 87,784 bushels; 3 in pea- nuts, producing 2,200 pounds; 950 in potatoes, produc- ing 3,828 tons; 22 in sweet potatoes, producing 23 tons; 12 in onions, producing 425 bushels; 9,420 in hay, pro- ducing 18,735 tons; 2,832 in flax, producing 3, 115,200 pounds of seed; 2 acres in tobacco, producing 1,500

225

pounds, and 5 acres in sugar-beets, producing 86 tons.

The product of butter was 1,331, 160 pounds; cheese 872,362 pounds; wool, 933,668 pounds, and honey 65,- 440 pounds.

The number of bearing fruit trees reported in 1882 was; lemon, 42; orange, 65: olive, 86; apple, 4,286; pear, 1,692; fig, 830; plum, 526; peach, 4,484; quince, 381; and 52 acres of grapevines, producing 2,120 gallons of wine. The value of the fruit crop was $9,897.

/ Of live stock there were in 1882, 6,137 horses; 155 mules; 44,699 horned cattle; 122,143 sheep, and 7,990 hogs. There were three flouring-mills, two of which were run by water power, and one by steam, making 13,143 barrels of flour in the year.

For the year 1882 and 1883 the Assessor reported in July, 1883, the following :---

Land inclosed, acres 222,050

Land cultivated, acres 75,900

Acres in wheat. .

35,250

Bushels,

513,350

Acres in barley

10,550

184,050

Acres in oats

2,580

55,845

Acres in rye.

2,200

35,240

Acres in corn.

2,980

66 106,200

Acres in beans

6,530

132,570

Acres in hay.

9,876

Tons,

17,970

Flax

Pounds, 2,688,260

Butter

1,567,100

Cheese

985,420

Honey

40,266

Wool

725,680

Fruit trees in bearing are enumerated as follows: Lemon, 50; orange, 75; olive, 80; apple, 5,750; pear, 1,900; fig-trees, 800; plum, 725; peach trees, 6,870; quince, 400; grapevines, 85 acres.

Mills are enumerated as follows :-

Steam power grist-mills

Run of stone_

Water power grist-mills

Run of stone_

Product of flour in barrels

15,260

Bushels of corn ground.

5,150

Saw-mills, steam power

Number of feet sawed.

125,000

Completing the summary of the report we find the value of-

Real estate

$3,686,823

Improvements on same

354,908

City and town lots.

325,007

Improvements on same.

290,285

Mining property 775

Improvements not assessed to owner 42,091

Telegraph lines

5,060

Total realty.

4,704,949

Personal property

1,895,509

Total of all property $6,600,458

The number of trust deeds and mortgages were 269 ; assessed value $660,546.

This shows an increase of $1,541,641 over the year 1882, as will be seen by reference to the report of that year in the chapter on the financial matters of the county.

By these successive reports the progress in agriculture can be seen at a glance, and the increased valuation of property shows the advancing prosperity of the people.

EXPORTATIONS OF WHEAT.

The advance of the State in agriculture is compara- tively shownin the statistics of wheat exportation, although the wool, wine, fruit, hops, beans, honey and other products of husbandry aggregate large amounts and might also be taken as examples. The exportation of wheat from Cal- ifornia may be said to have begun in 1862-63, following the wet year of 1861-62, when it was 1, 176,086 centals, valued at $1,948,646. In the following year the expor- tation fell to 435,221 centals, valued at $771,968, and in 1865, 416,595 centals, valued at $847,534. These low shipments were the result of the two dry years. In 1866, the shipment rose to 2,255,022 centals, valued at $4,- 185,598. In 1873 the shipment had risen to 9, 120, 110 centals, valued at $18,476,505, and in 1874, 8,279,380 centals were exported, bringing $14,094,346. The exports of 1879 were 17,927,785 centals or 29,879,810 bushels. In 1880 the spring rains continued through the month of April, producing what has since been called the "bonanza" crop, or 28,000,000 centals for export, of which 15,375,- 450 centals were exported before July, 1881, and the bal- lance carried over for want of shipping to carry it away. The value of the surplus crop was $37,500,000, being greatly reduced by the high rates of freight, which ranged from 3f ros. to 4£ 25. per ton of 2,240 pounds. In 1882 closing December, 31, the wheat exports aggregated 18,529,200 centals.

The rates of freight from San Francisco to England during a period of ten years have been as follows, the year ending June 30th:

LOWEST.

HIGHEST.

YEAR.

S. D.

1870-71-

1871-72-

I 19

1872-73

5 15 O

1873-74

1874-75

1875-76

1876-77

1877-78

O O

1878-79

1879-80

1880-81

3 IO

1882

The average rate of freight was £2 17s. 6d. per ton, and the average price in San Francisco was $2.00 per cental, ranging from $1.35 to $3.00, the highest in 1876- 77. The price in 1883 being about $1.75 per cental.

LARGE CROPS.

The season of 1882-83 opened with early rains in October, followed by light rains at intervals of about six weeks until the last of March, 1883, when a succession of heavy rains followed through April into May. Previ- ous to the rain of the last of March serious apprehen- sions of disaster were felt, the general appearance indicating not one-fourth of a crop, but after the rain the promise was that of a yield of twenty-five or thirty per

AGRICULTURE CONTINUED.

226

HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.

cent. greater than the previous year. As much as fifty bushels per acre was reported from farms of 400 acres, such being reported by the Tribune as the yield of 400 acres on the farm of Hon. Frank McCoppin near the town of San Luis Obispo. Mr. C. Fairbanks, on his farm near Morro, obtained 1,000 centals from forty acres, or at the rate of forty-one and two-thirds bushels per acre. Judge Steele, of the Corral de Piedra, reported forty bushels per acre. The report was general of a product exceeding twenty-five bushels per acre, and so of previ- ous years, but the official reports of the Assessor make an average yield of much less. Large fields of oats were reported as yielding from 50 to 125 bushels per acre.

DAIRYING.

The products of the dairy in San Luis Obispo County rank second in value to that of wheat, and in the econ- omy of resources, the adaptation of the country and devoting it to the best purposes, giving more permanent employment and necessitating and encouraging better cultivation and care of land, makes dairying the interest of paramount importance. As the county was proven the best for grazing in the State when cattle were grown for beef, hides, tallow, and horns alone, the same quali- ties render it, par excellence, the best dairying county of a more advanced period. San Luis Obispo was once in derision called the great "cow county" of California, and now it may boast of the title.

WIIEN THE COWS COME HOME.

With klingle, klangle, klingle, Far down the dusky dingle, The cows are coming home; Now sweet and clear, and faint and low The airy tingles come and go, Like chimings from a far-off tower,

Or patt'rings of an April shower That makes the claisies grow: Ko-ling, ko-lang, ko-lingle-lingle, Far down the darkening dingle, The cows come slowly home. And old-time friends, and twilight plays, And starry nights and sunny days, Come trooping up the misty ways, When the cows come home.

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History of San Luis Obispo County, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 57

Author: Angel, Myron; Thompson & West Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Oakland, Calif. : Thompson & West Number of Pages: 538

Author: Angel, Myron; Thompson & West
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Oakland, Calif. : Thompson & West
Number of Pages: 538