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 87
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SANTA ROSA VALLEY.
This valley is about six miles in length, and from half a mile to a mile wide. The Santa Rosa Creek meanders through the center, a living stream of pure water. The valley is quite thickly settled.
Mr. C. D. Moss, and his sons John and William, have pleasant homes and well-kept farms along the road. To the right and across the creek, half a mile from the road, is the residence of Mr. William De Nise, nestling among the trees.
Further along we pass the elegant residence of J. C. Baker. The owner has a fine farm, and is devoted largely to fruit-raising. Back among the foot-hills one catches a glimpse of the ranch of Supervisor McFerson, which is two or three miles north of Mr. Baker's.
There are a number of other attractive homes in the valley, notably those of Mr. Ernest Ivens, M. B. Martin, O. P. McFadden, James Woods, Levi Blunt, deceased, and Reuben Phillips.
Nearly every one of those places has an extensive
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RANCH AND RESIDENCE OF O. P. Mc FADDIN, SANTA ROSA CREEK, SAN LUIS OBISPO CO. CAL.
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CAYUCOS LANDING
AGRICULTURAL INATMENTS-
ARE
CAYUCOS LANDING, JAMES CASS & CO. PROPR., CAYUCOS, SAN LUIS OBISPO CO.CAL.
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TOWNS AND LOCALITIES CONTINUED.
orchard, and the houses, barns, and out-buildings are large and commodious. These are signs of prosperity which few farming communities in California display so extensively. The rich, alluvial soil of Santa Rosa Valley appears to be adapted to the growth of every kind of grain, fruit, and vegetable. The valley is at times a per- fect sea of waving grain, interspersed with orchards and farm buildings, which stand forth like islands from the bosom of the deep.
MAMMOTH ROCK.
At the head of the valley stands Mammoth Rock, a rocky promontory with perpendicular sides, 200 feet in height. It is separated by the hills on the north side of the valley by a narrow pass through which the Santa Rosa Creek runs into the valley below. It seems as though some tremendous force had torn the rocky wall asunder to make a passage for the little brook which runs at the base of this mountain of granite. Through this pass the county road proceeds. Further up the creek are the houses of George Archer, J. Buffum, L. Utley, and other prominent and well-to-do citizens, all pleasantly situated.
TIMOTHY MURPHY,
A view of whose dairy farm and residence is given on another page, was born in County Cork, Ireland, and when quite young was brought by his mother to America, settling in Lawrence, Massachusetts. There he passed his childhood years, attending school and working as he was able. In 1859 he came to California, first locating at Benicia, but tarried there only two months. He af- terwards resided two years in San Mateo County, engaged in farming, then went to Marin County, where he re- mained, as dairyman, for about ten years, coming to San Luis Obispo in 1874. Here he purchased a finely located ranch of 850 acres, lying between Cayucos and Cambria, where he milks 100 cows and carries on the business of dairying extensively.
Mr. Murphy, in 1878, married Miss Johanna McCarty, and the happy couple reside in the pleasant home shown in the engraving.
JULIAN, ESTRADA
Was born in Monterey, California, in 1813, and there he lived through all the peaceful years that so blessed his native country until the Americans came to disturb its repose. Through the years of Mexican control Señor Estrada lived the life of a ranchero. In 1849 he left his native home in Monterey for his rancho in San Luis Obispo County, he having then a grant of three leagues of land obtained from the Mexican Government. This is known as the Santa Rosa Rancho, and is located on Santa Rosa Creek, near the village of Cambria. Here he engaged largely in stock raising, at times having as many as 3,000 head of cattle on his rancho, driving and selling to the San Francisco market. For many years this was a most lucrative business, producing an enor- mous revenue to the landed and stock proprietors. Señor Estrada was married in 1842 to Señorita Nicolasa Gajiola. This lady was born in Monterey, California,
September 10, 1820. There were eight children by this marriage, three sons and five daughters, all of whom are living, the father of the family dying December 27, 1872, in the town of San Luis Obispo. Three of the children, two daughters and one son, still reside with the mother on the ranch, occupying the old adobe building first erected by Señor Estrada in 1849, a view of which may be found in this volume. Doña Nicolasa is now upwards of sixty-two years of age, and the ranch is managed by Mariano Estrada and her other children.
CHAPTER XL. TOWNS AND LOCALITIES CONTINUED.
Leffingwell's Wharf-Cayucos-Capt. James Cass-Cass' Wharf- Jeremiah Francis Muir-Business at Cayucos-Town Laid Out -Dairying Interest-Emil Royass Freeman-G. A. Freeman -George T. Shipp-Joseph Muscio-Abramo Muscio-Ales- sandro Tomasini-James Badasci-Charles Mabel-Thomas S. Mabel-James Quincy Buffington-David C. Powell-Samuel Kingery-Cayucos in ISSo.
ASSING down the coast from San Simeon Bay, the traveler comes to Leffingwell's Wharf, a landing place some six miles south of San Simeon. Here is a short wharf used mainly for unloading lumber, and for schooner trade generally. Small vessels find no difficulty in dis- charging at this point in good weather, and no impedi- ments exist in its approach. The neighborhood is fur- nished with lumber from this wharf and ships from it at times some of the native products.
CAYUCOS.
The next landing place or harbor toward the south is the well-known port of Cayucos. This is an entrepôt of considerable importance commercially, and possesses certain advantages in the way of anchorage and approaches to the landing which constitute it a valuable harbor.
Early in the history of the county public attention was directed to the place on account of its facilities as a port, and some effort was made to build up a suitable landing; but it was not until the advent of
CAPT. JAMES CASS
That permanent improvements began to be effected.
Captain Cass is one of the thorough-going business men who make their mark in any country fortunate enough to secure them as residents. He is of English birth, now in the fifty-eighth year of his age, and as a sea-faring man in his early years has seen much of the world. California has been his home since July 8, 1849, he residing some years in Sacramento County, as merchant and miner in that region. In 1867 the opportunity of business at Cayucos Landing brought him to San Luis Obispo. There he engaged in trade and in landing and shipping merchandise and the products of the country. Cayucos is a Spanish word, equivalent to canoe, or light boat, and many years ago boats made of skins were then used in visiting the vessels that came into the harbor, hence the name applied to the rancho and the town.
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HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
Captain Cass engaged in lightering, but improved on the skin boats of the Spaniards and natives. The hardships and dangers of such business were numerous, he suffer- ing many a douche of salt water in his combat with the surf. He soon saw the necessity of a wharf, and believed in the practicability of its construction.
CASS' WHARF.
Through his enterprise and exertions the commodious wharf and warehouse at Cayucos have been built, a view of which is given in these pages. The artist has vividly pictured the scene with its active business and grand surroundings.
Business at Cayucos is concentrated within a very small space which consequently assumes a bustling aspect. Teams stand awaiting their loads of lumber or merchandise or have been disburdened of their custom- ary lading of butter and cheese. The store in the main building is thronged with the substantial and liberal busi- ness men and agriculturists of the neighborhood. It is "steamer day," and the staunch Los Angeles is approach- ing the extremity of the wharf to receive the accumulated freight which awaits her. Altogether the scene is one of unusual activity and business-like energy. Such is Cayucos Landing.
What there is in Cayucos and whatever there may be in the immediate future is due almost solely to Captain Cass. Others there are whose position or enterprise deserves due credit, but these are in some degree subor- dinate to Mr. Cass.
In 1875, Cayucos was composed of Captain Cass' store, warehouse, private dwelling, and a wharf; in the distance stood a ranch house, these buildings com prising all of the visible town. The wharf was but 380 feet long, and afforded imperfect facilities for commerce. Within fifteen months after there had been a complete transformation in affairs. Captain Cass had entered into partnership with several influential gentlemen of the county-WVm. L. Beebee, John Harford, and L. Schwartz -and completely metamorphosed affairs at Cayucos.
The extent of trade at Cayucos Wharf is shown in the following :-
Total cost of wharf. $10,840.26
Amount subsequently expended . 4,377.25
Total $15,217.51
Expenses for year ending November 1, 1880 $3,240.25
Amount received for tolls of that year 3,170.48
Dockage. 659.00
Total receipts $3,829.48
There were received and conveyed over the wharf during that year 5,790 packages of butter, 1,481 sacks potatoes, 20,207 sacks wheat, 809 sacks barley, 46 sacks corn, 1,525 sacks beans, 4,729 hogs, 56 bales wool, and miscellaneous, 335 tons.
Under the firm name of J. Cass & Co., the new partnership flourished and conferred benefits upon the surrounding country. An extension to the wharf . was projected, and shortly carried out. The old structure, as mentioned, was 380 feet long. The wharf as finished
was 940 feet long, the outer end being in twenty-one feet of water. The seaward extremity is enlarged to forty feet width for sixty-four feet, while the remainder is fourteen feet wide. The piles are of Cambria pine, from thirty-five to sixty feet long, and about two feet in diam- eter. The cost of these piles delivered at Cayucos was about $7.00 each. The planking is heavy, the fenders and braces of the strongest description, and the floor is thirteen feet above high water mark.
Near the wharf and connected therewith by a railway for the easy transmission of goods stands the warehouse, a durable and substantial structure ninety-two by fifty feet in size, with fourteen-foot walls. A portion, fifty by twenty feet, is partitioned off for a store, which contains a large and varied stock of goods suited to country trade. The steamship and telegraph companies' officers are also contained in the building.
Here touch the coastwise steamers at regular intervals, leaving their supplies of imported goods, and taking on the country produce of the rich and fertile region around Cayucos. At present the steamer service is satisfactory, but the time has been when it was far from being so. The steamers which had been accustomed to call at the wharf, for some time neglected to do so and for months the butter, eggs, and other perishable products were left awaiting them. Indignant at such treatment the settlers of the neighborhood held meetings and passed manful resolutions against the disobliging steamship proprietors, and endeavored to obtain the services of a rival line; but without avail. Among those who thus manifested their righteous indignation was the subject of the following sketch :-
JEREMIAH FRANCIS MUIR
Was born in Missouri, April 11, 1846, his parents being Presley Thomas Muir and Mahala (Floyd) Muir. The family were among the first American pioneers of the West, the father of Presley Thomas Muir being a soldier of the Black Hawk War, which opened the fertile region of the northern Mississippi Valley to the peaceful settle- ment of the white race. Mr. Muir grew to the age of eighteen in his native State, attending the public schools of the country and performing the work incident to a farmer boy's life. In 1864 he left Missouri for California, taking the route across the plains, and was six months making the toilsome journey. His first location in this State was in Sonoma County, where he resided three years, and then removed to Mendocino County. In 1870 he came to San Luis Obispo County, where he has since dwelt. Here he is engaged in farming and dairying. His farm is located on Willow Creek, four miles from Cayucos, and comprises 320 acres of excellent land for . his purposes. He milks upwards of forty cows, and is constantly increasing his herd. A view of the ranch is given in this book.
Mr. Muir was married August 16, 1870, to Miss Emma English, a native of Missouri. He is a highly respected member of society, and belongs to the Order of Free- masons. In politics he acts with the Democratic Party and takes great interest in public affairs, and in wha :-
SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC L .? "
DAIRY RANCH AND RESIDENCE OF J. F. MUIR, WILLOW CREEK, SAN LUIS OBISPO CO. CAL.
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RANCH, RESIDENCE AND DAIRY OF E.R. FREEMAN, TORO. CREEK, SAN LUIS OBISPO CO.CAL.
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TOWNS AND LOCALITIES CONTINUED.
ever measures he regards as of benefit to the public and to the community in which he lives.
BUSINESS AT CAYUCOS.
Besides the firm of Cass & Co., another, that of Dunn, McMillan & Co., existed in 1875, or thereabouts, occu- pying a large building near the first-mentioned firm. This building was erected by Mr. Dunn, who, taking a partner, soon after sold out to the partner-McMillan- in 1876. Later still, the firm of Grant, Lull & Co., of Cambria, purchased an interest, which they still retain.
Cayucos boasted of a hotel-that of Messrs. Morganti & Signorini-two Swiss gentlemen, who keep a good house.
The Rev. A. B. Spooner, the divine, engaged in boat-building and repairing at Cayucos, but met a la- mented death from his own favorite element. He was drowned during a gale several years since.
TOWN LAID OUT.
In 1875 the town of Cayucos was surveyed and marked out. Its streets were to be of good width-roo feet for the principal ones; 80 feet for. cross streets. The beautiful belt of land reaching to Morro, and lying between the beach and the foot of the hills, was surveyed into lots of from five to ten acres each, to be occupied as homesteads and made accessible by a road along the beautiful beach.
DAIRYING INTERESTS.
It is unnecessary to remark to those familiar with the county that the region about Cayucos, known as the Morro y Cayucos Rancho, is one of the most fertile and productive tracts in California. Its ease of access is a great point in its favor, and it possesses enormous natural advantages in the way of climate and water which enable it easily to excel almost every other locality in dairying and mixed farming. There are on this ranch of 8,000 acres some of the best dairies in the entire county and coast. Many people, Swiss and Americans, have accu- mulated respectable competences in dairying, with the exercise of a few years' industry and economy. Among those who have distinguished themselves in this branch of industry may be mentioned
EMIL ROYASS FREEMAN,
Who was born June 2, 1851, in McHenry County, Illinois. He is the eldest of the family of twelve chil- dren of Wm. Darius and Mary (Holstead) Freeman, there being nine sons and three daughters, all of whom are living. The parents are natives of Ohio. Mr. Freeman came to California with his parents in 1857, settling in Volcano, Amador County, where they remained until 1860, when they removed to Marin County. There he attended school and received a good business education. He made Marin and Sonoma Counties his home until 1877, when he removed to San Luis Obispo County, locating on Toro Creek, near Cayucos, where he has a ranch of 475 acres devoted to grazing and dairy purposes. His farm supports seventy-five fine milch cows, from which he makes a large amount of butter, and is one of the prosperous men of the county.
Mr. Freeman was married September 17, 1871, to Miss May Alice Murray, a native of New York. Their home is shown in an illustration in this volume. He has re- cently purchased another fine ranch of 777 acres, paying therefor $22,000.
G. A. FREEMAN.
The opportunities which the dairying region of San Luis Obispo offers, when supplemented by industry, energy, and good management, are shown in the success of the gentleman whose name heads this paragraph. George Adelbert Freeman, brother of Emil R. Freeman, was born in McHenry County, Illinois, July 6, 1852. His parents removed to California when he was but a child, and he therefore retains but little recollection of the " Prairie State," nor of the hardships of the over- land journey by teams, which was the mode of travel at that time. A light wagon, one yoke of oxen, and twenty- five cents in cash was all that remained of the overland outfit when the family located in the mines of Amador County. Mining and prospecting constituted the elder Freeman's occupation for several years, and not finding the fortune hoped for in the gold region, sought the more reliable field of agriculture, removing to Tomales, in Marin County, in 1860, where he now lives, a prosper- ous and respected farmer, the owner of 216 acres of ex- cellent land, with a fine house and first-class improve- ments. There George A. attended school, assisted his father on the farm, until at the age of nineteen years he started out in the world to work his own way to fortune. The dairying interests in San Luis Obispo were attracting attention as second in importance to that of Marin, and to this county he came in 1871, obtaining employment on the dairy farm of Mr. A. C. Buffington. For this gentleman he worked one year and twenty days, and in all the time never missed a milking nor any of the duties assigned him. He then went to Salinas, and worked for Kellogg & Laird there until he had accumulated $350, when he went to Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, to attend school at the Christian and Pacific Methodist Colleges, where he remained eight months, during which time he studied as hard as he had worked, and, as he says, " learned more than in all the schools I had ever attended in my life."
With the education and the experience in business he had obtained in such labor, he felt capable of entering into and managing business for himself, and upon the invitation of his former employer, Buffington, took the dairy on shares. During the first ten months, he had a partner in the business, and in that time each cleared $679; then buying his partner's interest, in the succeeding year he cleared $1,560. With the capital he had accu- mulated, he purchased, in 1875, the place he now occu- pies on Toro Creek, near Cayucos, and there has suc- cessfully carried on the business of farming and dairying, and has so improved the place that in 1883 he was offered $12,000 for it, without the stock. This fine home has all been made through the energy and well directed industry of Mr. Freeman. He has planted fruit trees of many varieties, and now has growing oranges, lemons, almonds, Japanese persimmons, peaches,
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HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
pears, apples, and others suited to the climate. It is a home, founded on the natural advantages of good soil, genial climate, grand scenery, and facilities for transpor- tation, and so improved by industry as to give a comfort- able life competence, and a grand independence, for which the struggling professional, the selfish monopolist, or the ambitious politician may sigh in vain.
Mr. Freeman was married August 11, 1874, to Miss Sarah C. Cass, daughter of Capt. James Cass, of Cayu- cos. This lady is a native of California, born at Michi- gan Bar, Sacramento County, March 7, 1855. They have five children, Eva Dell, born July 2, 1875; Arthur Patterson, born May 20, 1877; Ida May, born May 26, 1879; Sarah Nathalie, born September 10, 1881; and Harry Cass, born July 26, 1883.
Mr. Freeman is one of the active, public-spirited men of Cayucos and vicinity. He is a member of the Masonic Order and of the Order of Chosen Friends. In politics he is a firm Republican, not for offices as he has never sought any, but has held the office of School Trustee for some years, and is the present Clerk of the Board.
Another of Cayucos' valued citizens was
GEORGE T. SHIPP,
Recently deceased. Mr. Shipp was born in Mississippi, in February, 1820, where he spent the early years of his life, growing to man's estate, marrying, and rearing a large family. When in the prime of life, he removed to Texas, and finally, in 1865, made the farther removal to the Pacific Coast, settling near Cayucos, in San Luis Obispo County, where he engaged in stock-raising, con- tinuing the business with success until his death, which occurred July 27, 1881. Mr. Shipp was twice married, his first wife leaving him eleven children. His second marriage was consummated July 3, 1874, to Mrs. Harriet R. Powell, a native of Tennessee, who then had a, fam- ily of eleven children. Mrs. Shipp still resides on the ranch where her husband died. A view of the place is given in this volume.
In the large dairies around Cayucos, there are fre- quently 400 or more cows in milk at once, the shipments of butter averaging for a part of the year from one to two pounds per cow. Signor Tognazzi, one of the chief dairymen, has milked over 400 during the season. The Muscio Brothers, A. Tomasini, and J. Badasci are also extensively engaged in dairying, and short sketches of their careers are appended, as types of the Swiss dairy- men who have succeeded so well in this foreign land.
JOSEPH MUSCIO
Is the eldest in a family of nine children of Theodore and Eugenia (Righetti) Muscio. He was born in Switz- erland, March 30, 1847, where he lived until seventeen years of age, when he set out to seek his fortune on the Pacific Coast, many thousand miles from his parental home. Arriving in California in 1864, he at once located in Marin County, and engaged in the business of dairy- ing. There he remained eight years, and then removed to San Luis Obispo County, engaging in business at San Simeon. In 1873 he settled upon his present ranch on
Villa Creek, six miles from the village of Cayucos. The ranch contains 1,250 acres, and Mr. Muscio milks about 175 cows, making butter wholly. He takes pride in the neatness and completeness of his place, his fine lot of cows, and especially in his superior stock of horses.
Mr. Muscio was married July 12, 1875, to Miss Ade- line Stone, a native of California, and has four children, three boys and one daughter.
A view of the home and dairy farm is given on an- other page.
. ABRAMO MUSCIO
First saw the light of day in the mountain Republic of Switzerland, the European land that reaches its snow- crowned peaks nearest to the heavens, the land that stands as the bulwark of human liberty amid surrounding despotisms, the land of rich cream and Schweitzer kase. He was born March 12, 1849. In his native Switzerland he passed his early years, attending school and to such labors as the youth of the country are called on to per- form. In 1866 he departed for that land of greater op- portunities which was to be his future home, coming to California direct. His object was, like that of many of his countrymen, to pursue the avocation of dairyman, with which he had become familiar in the land of his nativity, and for this purpose sought employment in the dairies of Marin County. There he remained in the business until 1876, a period of ten years, when he re- moved to San Luis Obispo County, where he has since continued to reside. Here he conducts two dairy farms, on one he milks 150 cows and on the other 140. His ranch contains 1,370 acres, lying in Green Valley, about nine miles from Cayucos. A view of his place has been engraved for this book, showing a characteristic scene in San Luis Obispo County.
Mr. Muscio was married, June 25, 1871, to Miss As- sonta Righetti, a native of Switzerland, and seven children, of whom four are boys and three girls, are the fruits of the marriage.
ALESSANDRO TOMASINI,
Was born in Switzerland, October 14, 1850, where he lived until sixteen years of age; was educated and trained to those habits of industry so characteristic of his coun- trymen, and which have so aided them to become a wealthy class in the State so many of them have selected for a home. In 1866 he left his native land for California, seeking a home in the dairy region of Marin County, where he obtained employment and remained nine years. At the end of that period he removed to San Luis Obispo County, and continued in his congenial work, at which long practice had rendered him skillful. From 1875 to 1881 he was engaged on a dairy farm near Cambria, but in the latter year he bought a ranch of 367 acres of fine grazing land, one-quarter of a mile from Cayucos, where he has since carried on the business of dairying, milking from fifty to seventy-five cows.
Mr. Tomasini was married, December 16, 1876, to Miss Dominica Parinoni, and three children have been born to them, two boys and one girl. The home of this family constitutes a subject of illustration in this book.
DAIRY RANCH AND RESIDENCE OF G. A. FREEMAN, TORRO CREEK. SAN LUIS OBISPO CO. CAL.
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