USA > California > San Luis Obispo County > History of San Luis Obispo County, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 79
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The dance went on. It was a Spanish waltz; the click- clack of the feet, in slow measured time, was very monot- onous, producing a dreamy effect. I sometimes closed my eyes and fancied it was all a strange dream. Visions of the beautiful country through which I had passed flitted before me-a country desecrated by the worst passions of human nature. Amidst the rarest charms of scenery and climate, what a combination of dark and deadly sins oppressed the mind ! What a cess-pool of wickedness was within these very walls!
Half an hour may have elapsed in this sort of dream- ing, when Griff, who had been so strangely repulsed by the dark señorita, came back and pushed his way through the crowd. This time I noticed that his face was flushed, and a gleam of desperation was in his eye. The wound in his temple had a purple hue, and looked as if it might burst out bleeding afresh. His motions were unsteady; he had evidently been drinking. Edging over toward the woman, he stood watching her until there was a pause in the dance. Her partner was a handsome young Mexican very gaily dressed, whom I had before noticed, and to whom she made herself peculiarly fascinating. She smiled when he spoke; laughed very musically at everything he said; leaned up toward him, and assumed a wonderfully sweet and confidential manner. The Mexi- can was perfectly infatuated. He made the most pas- sionate avowals, scarcely conscious what he was saying. I watched the tall Texan. The veins in his forehead were swollen; he strode to and fro restlessly, fixing fierce and deadly glances upon the loving couple. A terrible change had taken place in his facial expression, which ordinarily had something sweet and -pleasant in it. It was now dark, brutish, and malignant. Suddenly, as if by an ungovernable impulse, he rushed up close to where they stood, and drawing a large bowie-knife, said to the woman, in a quick, savage tone, .
" Dance with me now, or damn you, I'll cut your heart out !"
She turned to him haughtily, " Señor!"
" Dance with me or die !"
"Señor," said the woman unflinchingly, "you are drunk. Don't come so near me !"
The infuriated man made a motion as if to strike at her with his knife; but quick as lightning the young Mexican grasped his upraised arm, and the two clinched. I could not see what was done in the struggle. Those of the crowd who were nearest rushed in and the affray soon became general. Pistols and knives were drawn in every direction; but so sudden was the fight that nobody seemed to know where to aim or strike. In the midst of the confusion a man jumped upon one of the benches and shouted,
"Back with you! The man's stabbed! Let him out!"
The swaying mass parted, and the tall Texan struggled through, then fell on the floor. His shirt was covered with blood, and he breathed heavily. A moment after the woman uttered a low, wild cry, and dashing through the crowd, her long black hair streaming behind her, she cast herself down by the side of the wounded man and sobbed,
"O cara mio? O Dios ?" Is he dead? Is he dead? " Who did this? Who stabbed the man ?" demanded several voices fiercely.
"No matter!" answered the wounded man faintly. "It was my own fault. I deserved it!" and turning his smiling face toward the weeping woman, he said, smiling, " Don't cry; don't go on so !"
There was an ineffable tenderness in his voice, and something indescribably sweet in the expression of his face.
" O Dios!" cried the woman, kissing him passionately. " O cara mio! say you will not die. Tell me you will not
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CRIMES.
die !" And tearing her dress with frantic strength she tried to stanch the blood which was rapidly gathering in a pool about the wounded man.
The crowd meanwhile pressed so close that the wounded man suffered for want of air and begged to be removed. Several persons lent their aid in carrying him from the hall, and the more interested of the onlookers, among whom was the dark señorita, retired with the sufferer from the scene.
Order was restored, and the music and dancing went on as if nothing had happened.
I had no desire to see more of the amusements of the evening.
Next day I learned that the unfortunate man was dead. He was a stranger in San Luis, and refused to reveal his name, or make any disclosures regarding the affray. His last words were addressed to the woman, who clung to him with a devotion bordering on insanity. When she saw that he was doomed to die, the tears seemed to flow from her eyes, and she sat by his bedside with a wild, affrighted look, clutching his hand in hers, and ever and anon bathing her lips in the life-blood that oozed from his lips.
" I loved you-still love you better than my life !"
These were his last words. A gurgle, a quivering motion of the stalwart frame, and he was dead.
At an examination before the Alcalde it was proved that the stabbing must have occurred before the affray became general. It was also shown that the young Mex- ican was unarmed, and had no acquaintance with the murdered man.
Who could have done it ?
Was it the devil-woman? Was this a case of jealousy, and was the tall Texan the father of the murdered child ?
Upon these points I could get no information. The whole affair, with all its antecedent circumstances, was wrapped in a veil of impenetrable mystery. When the body was carried to the grave by a few strangers, includ- ing myself, the chief mourner was the half-breed woman -now a ghastly wreck. The last I saw of her, as we turned sadly away, she was sitting upon the grave motionless as a statue.
Next morning a passer-by noticed a shapeless mass lying upon the newly-spaded earth. It proved to be the body of the singular woman, horribly mutilated by the wolves. The clothes were torn from it, and the limbs presented a ghastly spectacle of fleshless bones. Whether she died by her own hand or was killed by wild animals during the night, none could tell. She was buried by the side of her lover.
Soon after these events, having completed my business in San Luis, I took passage in a small schooner for San Francisco, where I had the satisfaction of turning over to the Government the sum of $10,000.
I never afterward could obtain any information relating to the two men mentioned in the earlier part of my narra- tive-the Colonel and Jack. No steps were taken to arrest them. It is the usual fate of such men in Cali- fornia to fall into the hands of an avenging mob. Pos- sibly they met with a merited retribution.
Eleven years have passed since these events took place. Many changes have occurred in California. The gangs of desperadoes that infested the State have been broken up; many of the members have met their fate at the hands of justice; more have fallen victims to their own excesses. I have meanwhile traveled in many lands, and have had my full share of adventures. But still every incident in the "dangerous journey" which I have attempted to describe is as fresh in my mind as if it occurred but yesterday.
KILLING OF BONIFACIO MANCHEGO.
In September, 1868, three Americans passed through San Luis Obispo, having come from Watsonville. Their names were James Southerland, or Southerly, Benjamin Harris, and Charles Rolette. Soon after passing, news was received that these men had stolen horses from Wat- sonville, and had committed larceny at the house of F. Frankenheim and Robert G. Flint, on the Nacimiento, in this county, and warrants were issued for their arrest. The warrants were placed in the hands of the Deputy- Sheriff, Juan V. Avila, and he summoned Bonifacio Manchego and some others to assist in making the arrest. The thieves were followed to the Arroyo Grande by the officers, who intercepted them as they were wan- dering about, separated from each other. Harris sur- rendered at the command, but Rolette and Southerland fled. Shots were fired and Rolette wounded in the arm and captured. Southerland continued on, but was pursued by Manchego and commanded to stop. He did not halt, and was fired upon. He returned the fire, shooting Manchego through the stomach, from which he died the following day. The fugitive was soon captured, his horse being badly wounded. The prisoners and the wounded Manchego were brought to San Luis Obispo. Manchego died, and the wounded arm of Rolette was amputated. The killing of a citizen by a thief created great enmity against the prisoners, and threats were made to lynch them, but the Grand Jury being in session and the prospect of a speedy trial caused the people to await the action of the law. The prisoners were immediately indicted for grand larceny, to which they plead guilty, and were each sentenced by Judge Beebee to four years in State Prison, all within a week of the arrest. South- erland was also indicted for murder, tried by the District Court in October, defended by W. J. Graves, found guilty of murder in the second degree, and sentenced by Judge de la Guerra to sixteen years in the State Prison.
A BARBAROUS MURDER.
On Sunday, the 8th of August, 1869, the people of San Luis Obispo were startled by the report that Michael B. Ruick and his wife, Frances Newton Ruick, had been murdered the day before by N. C. Gilbert, at their resi- dence on the Osos Rancho, about ten miles from town. The cause given for the homicide was that Ruick had forbidden Gilbert hunting on the deceased's ranch, and that a feud of long standing existed between the parties. Gilbert endeavored to escape, but on the following 13th was arrested by Deputy-Sheriff Morriss, and lodged in jail.
The bodies of the two murdered persons were brought to the town of San Luis Obispo, and buried in the plot of ground that had been set apart by the trustees as a new cemetery.
Gilbert asked for a change of venue, for fear that if acquitted in San Luis Obispo he would be lynched. Ac- cordingly the case was transferred to Santa Barbara County.
On January 25, 1870, the trial of Gilbert commenced. It was shown in the testimony that Ruick had accused
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HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
Gilbert's boy of shooting his horse, and on one occasion Ruick pointed his gun at the boy. When Gilbert was told of this he went to Ruick to try and compromise matters. Some hard words followed, and Ruick called Gilbert a d-d liar and a s-b, and said he would put an end to him, at the same time catching up his gun. Gilbert then fired both barrels of his gun, killing Ruick and his wife. The case was given to the jury and they returned a verdict of murder in the second degree, and recom- mended the prisoner to the mercy of the Court. On January 29th Gilbert was sentenced to eleven years in the State Prison.
STRANGE MURDER.
On the 21st of June, in San Luis Obispo, one Zeno- bio Valenzuela was shot and killed, and a boy named Arcia, who happened to be passing by at the time, was struck by a stray bullet and badly hurt. Notwithstanding that it happened in broad daylight, and was witnessed by a number of people, mostly Mexicans, the criminal was allowed to escape. Justice J. J. Simmler, when notified, did everything in his power to get trace of the man, but was unsuccessful.
A STRANGE VERDICT.
January 21, 1871, one of the strangest verdicts per- haps that was ever rendered in San Luis Obispo County, was in the case of Vicente Arias. According to his own statement on the witness stand it was shown that he mur- dered a poor old man for the paltry booty of a saddle, pair of spurs, knife, pistol, belt, pair of pantaloons, and a coat. The victim was engaged in cooking his noon- day meal, and was shot from behind, after a friendly con- versation with the assassin.
Under these circumstances the jury found a verdict for "Murder in the Second Degree." As if to show con- clusively that the decision was of a compromise charac- ter, a recommendation was made to the Court to apply the highest sentence permitted by law, which the Judge very properly did. Arias went to San Quentin for the term of his natural life.
DOC. STEWART.
This man was one of the worst rascals that San Luis Obispo was unfortunate enough to have in its commu- nity. He claimed to be an M. D., and carried on an underhand business for some time, until he was at last captured and charged with grand larceny, and was placed in the county jail to await trial. Francisco Arias was a man detained in the jail as a witness, and was allowed every privilege, and also allowed to carry the keys to the jail, so much was he trusted. He and Stewart became friends; and one night Arias let Stewart out, and the two made their way to the rancho of Ra- mon Feliz, where they stole from the stable a couple of horses, and then made for the hills. Herc the Doc., with true judgment, informed his liberator that he had no further use for him. Arias dawdled about among the haunts of man, was seen, and captured. The Doc. got as far as Stockton where he was captured and brought back to San Luis Obispo. On the 18th of
March, 1871, Stewart was sentenced to three years in the State Prison.
WAYLAID AND KILLED.
On August 24, 1871, as Messrs. Caroll and Tanner were on the way from San Luis Obispo to the Santa Mar- garita Rancho, they discovered a man lying on his back, in the road, about 200 yards beyond the bridge, on the Bonilla Rancho. It proved to be one Francisco Guerra, who was on his way from town to his house, and had almost reached there, when he came to his end. A ball had entered his back, and passed through the breast. His horse was found near San Luis Obispo, and his sad- dle, with blood upon it, was found upon the fence of Mr. Walter Murray, about half a mile below where the body was found.
AN INDIAN MURDER.
April 13, 1874, Romualdo Dominguez, an Indian, was found guilty of murder in the second degree, with recommendation to mercy, and on. April 16, 1874, was sentenced to imprisonment in the State Prison for ten years.
A FIENDISH CRIME.
The town of San Luis Obispo, on the 19th of May, 1874, was aroused and horrified over the commission of a fiendish crime. About half past seven o'clock on the morning of the day named, a Mexican woman, of the name of Jesus Alibez, enraged, it is supposed, at the faithlessness of her paramour, administered strychnine to her three infant children, aged respectively six months, five, and seven years; then, after awaiting a sufficient time to see that its operations would be fatal, attempted to cap the climax of this inhuman act by swallowing a dose of the deadly drug herself. The news spread like wildfire, and in a short time a dense crowd had gath- ered at the scene of the terrible tragedy, which proved to be a small, dilapidated frame structure, at the corner of Morro and Palm Streets. Dr. W. W. Hays was summoned, and at once set himself to work to save the woman, which he finally did after seven hours of unre- mitting attention.
On the 2 1st of September, 1874, after a long trial, she was found guilty of murder in the first degree, and sentenced to State Prison for life.
A CHINESE ASSASSINATION.
On Sunday, 22d of August, 1875, a noted Chinaman of San Luis Obispo, Captain Jack, as he was called, was assassinate 1 between eight and nine o'clock in the evening. He was quietly seated in his own house, on Palm Street, when some person, unknown, quietly opened the door, and shot him in the neck, severing the jugular vein. It was the work of a moment, but brief as the time, the assassin had escaped, and no trace of him remained to guide the police in making arrests. Two Chinamen were arrested and lodged in jail, but owing to no commitments having been made, the County Judge discharged the prisoners. On January 28th, Ah Sing, Ah Him, Ah You, and Ah Kim were convicted of the crime, and sentenced to State Prison for life. A
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MAILS, ROADS, AND RAILROADS.
new trial was granted them. When the case was called on the 13th of September, 1876, Judge Fawcett dis- missed it from the calendar. This action met with the hearty indorsement of the people. They were convicted on purely circumstantial evidence, which would have been hard to re-produce, as many of the witnesses had left the county.
ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION.
On the 13th of July, 1876, between eight and nine o'clock, as Mr. H. M. Osgood was returning from his store to his home, he was waylaid and assaulted with a club, by a son-in-law of his, by name of Miller, who slipped up behind Mr. Osgood and struck him across the back of the head, felling him to the ground. Miller then walked away, but seeing his victim stagger to his feet, returned and gave him another blow, to complete his death-dealing work, and then took flight. Miller was afterwards captured, and on August 30, 1876, he was sentenced to two years in the State Prison.
AN UNKNOWN MURDER.
A murder was committed on the 8th of September, 1878, at the Paletta Rancho, belonging to A. Blockman & Co., situated in the southeast corner of San Luis Obispo County, upon Carles, an Indian herder, and his wife. The bodies were discovered lying on the floor of the cabin, by the foreman of the rancho. No clue to the murderers could be obtained.
ORDER PREVAILS.
The list could be much extended, but the records of many are lost, and the perpetrators of many were never discovered. The criminal period is of the past, and now it may be confidently asserted that life, and property, at home, on the road, or in the country, is as safe in San Luis Obispo County as in the most orderly in the State. Crime is rare, the laws are strictly enforced, and the best of order prevails in town and country.
CHAPTER XXXV. MAILS, ROADS, AND RAILROADS.
The Ancient System -- Regular Mail-A Post-office-Alexander Murray-Tri-Weekly Stage-Daily Stage-Coast Line Stage Company-Perils of the Flood-Upset in the Creek -- A Noble Red Man -- The Flood Abates-Not an Unusual Event-San Luis Obispo Post-office-J. J. Simmler-Postal Business- Business in San Luis Obispo-Cambria Stage-Cayucos and San Miguel Stage-Post-offices in San Luis Obispo County- Wagon Roads-Railroads-Pacific Railroad Survey-Southern Pacific Railroad-Southern Pacific Branch Railroad Company -San Luis Obispo Railroad Company-Opposition Wharves and Steamers-San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria Valley Rail- road-Pacific Coast Railway-J. M. Fillman.
HE mail system of the present day is so vastly dif- ferent from that of the last century, when civiliza- tion first extended its settlements along this coast, or even until within the last quarter of a century, that it may almost be regarded as a very modern institution. With the establishing of the missions the mail might be expected annually from Spain and Mexico, and in the
early part of this century was more frequent. The sys- tem was by courier on horseback, with a corporal's guard, or escolta, from mission to mission, or from presidio to presidio, carrying messages of the King or other Govern- ment officials. Way-bills of the couriers are now in the archives of the State. They show that upon leaving a station, or presidio, they received a certificate from the commanding officer, stating the hour of departure; this he presented to the commanding officer of the next post, who certified to the hour of arrival and the departure of the next, and so on from the presidio of San Francisco to La Paz at the extreme of the southern peninsula. The time from San Francisco to San Diego was five days. The courier was a gaily-dressed rider, and his horse the best that could be procured, and richly caparisoned as befitted a King's messenger.
The stirring events then transpiring in Europe, the French Revolution, the overthrow of the reigning dy- nasties, the rise of Napoleon, the changing of Kings of Spain, were not known in California until nearly a year after their occurrence, and were but little noted. Even as late as 1836, we see that the news of the great fire in New York in December, 1835, only reached Santa Bar- bara late the next spring, then coming by way of the Sand- wich Islands, and having quick dispatch. Correspond- ence from Boston was usually one year on the way.
REGULAR MAIL.
The system of horseback couriers, at irregular inter- vals, continued for some time after the Americans took possession of the country. The first regular mail estab- lished along the coast, or, in fact, in California, is noted in the following joyful announcement made in the Cali- fornia Star, of San Francisco, March 13, 1847 :-
Our readers will be pleased to learn that Governor Kearny has established a semi-monthly mail, to run regu- larly between San Francisco and San Diego. This mail is to be carried on horseback, by a party consisting of two soldiers, and is to commence on the 19th instant. Starting every other Monday from San Diego and San Francisco, the parties to meet at Captain Dana's rancho the next Sunday, to exchange mails; start back on their respective routes the next morning, and arrive at San Diego and San Francisco on the Sunday following, and so continuing. The mail will thus be carried once a fortnight from San Diego to San Francisco, and from San Francisco to San Diego.
Such is the opening of mail communication through California. Post-offices had not then been established, the system being rather a continuation of the Spanish courier, and chiefly for Government purposes. Henry M. Osgood, of the Stevenson Regiment, was one of the first of the mail carriers. He was succeeded by a man named Smith, in 1849, who made his headquarters at the store of S. A. Pollard in San Luis Obispo, and thus Pol- lard became the first Postmaster. The mail was changed at the store, and the rider accommodatingly waited while the people read the newspapers and honestly returned them to the mail-bag. Smith at last disappeared, being last seen on his route near Santa Ynez, and it was sup- posed he was murdered in that vicinity.
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HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
A POST-OFFICE.
This system continued until 1855, when a regular post- office was established at San Luis Obispo, and Alexander Murray was made Postmaster. Steamers and sailing ves- sels were plying on the coast between San Francisco and San Diego before this, touching semi-monthly at the port of San Luis Obispo, and these carried mail and express matter, the first as a favor, and were the chief means of transportation of passengers and freight, as at present.
With the establishing of a post-office in 1855 a con- tract was let for carrying the mail, Walter Murray being the contractor. A two-horse stage-wagon was run once a week between San Luis Obispo and Monterey, but from San Luis to Santa Barbara the mail was taken on horse- back by a servant of the contractor, once a week. The roads were as nature offered them, and the passengers, after paying a good round price for their ride, were ex- pected to work their way, pushing up the hills, holding the wagon from upsetting on the sidling places, and dig- ging it out of the mud. The first day's journey was to San Miguel, where the stage remained over night; the next to Jolon, and the third day to Monterey. Passen- gers not going to Monterey, but farther north, remained at Hill's Ferry on the Salinas until the stage from Mon- terey came the following day for San Juan, San José, and San Francisco, which crossed the river at the same place, and took them forward.
ALEXANDER MURRAY.
Mr. Murray was Postmaster until his death in 1870. He was a native of England, and brother of Judge Walter Murray. His obituary, published in the Tribune, giving a sketch of his life, is as follows ::
Alexander Murray died at San Miguel, San Luis Obispo County, May 16, 1870, of consumption, at the age of thirty-six years. The death of this gentleman was a public calamity. The place occupied by him in this community for the last sixteen years could not be filled by another. Mr. Murray was born in London in the year 1834. He came to California in the spring of 1850, and. soon after settled in Sonora, Tuolumne County. where for a time he was one of the publishers of the Sonora Herald. In November, 1854, he came to San Luis Obispo, where he resided uninterruptedly until the time of his death. In 1855 he was appointed Postmaster, and con- tinuously occupied the position up to the time of his death. From 1862 to 1866 he was County Superintend- ent of Public Schools. He has also been Deputy-Col- lector of United States Internal Revenue for San Luis Obispo County for several years. In all of these positions Mr. Murray proved himself to be an upright, conscien- tious, and reliable public servant. Never has there been left to his charge the slightest irregularity in the discharge of his duties in any of them. Always at his post, he was invariably polite, accommodating, and exact. He never seemed to forget that he was the servant of the public, and that the administration of office was a duty and not a privilege. Accordingly, all who had business with him learned to know and appreciate his many good qualities, and to accord to him the highest qualifications for the positions he filled. For six or seven years he was the agent of Wells, Fargo & Co. The duties of Post- master and express agent, combined, even in San Luis Obispo, have been for the last five years of his life sufficiently exacting and trying, and it is owing, in a
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