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 89
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Mr. Langlois was married February 25, 1849, to Miss Susan Langlois, a native of the Isle of Guernsey. They have now seven children, three sons and four daughters, having lost one little boy by death, who was born in 1862.
JOHN GREENING.
Among the most interesting and picturesque illustra- tions in this book is that representing the residence of Mr. John Greening, and including a broad view of the Pacific Ocean, the Morro Rock, which rises from the water like one of the pyramids of Egypt, and the Carp Lake belonging to the property of Mr. Greening. This gentleman is a native of Canada, born May 9, 1827, he being the eldest child of three, and only son of John and Hester Greening, the mother's maiden name being Hester Brown. He remained in Canada during his youth and early manhood, there acquiring his education and engaging in business. Farming and lumbering occupied his attention in Canada until 1856, when he moved into the State of Michigan, where he remained as a farmer until 1862. In that year he crossed the plains to California, and established his home in Sonoma County. There he lived for twelve years, engaged in farming.
In 1873 Mr. Greening came to San Luis Obispo County, and purchased a ranch on Old Creek, and engaged in the business of farming and dairying, continuing in that locality for three years, when he disposed of his property. He had at that time been fourteen years absent from his former home in Michigan, and after so many years of hard work and prosperty, he and his wife resolved on a journey to their former homes in the East. Then the Pacific Railroad was completed, and instead of the tedious journey of four or five months they were com- pelled to make in coming to California, they were enabled to cross the continent in a week's time. After visiting in Michigan and Canada, they returned, having been three months on their Eastern tour. Upon their return to San Luis Obispo, Mr. Greening purchased his present home and ranch of 190 acres, which is situated at the mouth of Morro Creek. From the residence a grand panoramic view is obtained of the ocean, with the ships, steamers, and smaller vessels in the distance, and in the background of the picture is the singular Morro Rock, with its throngs of seals and flocks of sea- birds hovering around it.
Mr. Greening was married June 1, 1852, to Miss Frances Hunter, and they have five children living, three being sons and two daughters.
LEGEND OF MORRO CASTLE.
A "Passing Traveler" has gathered and written the following story of the old house near Morro, and of the romance attending it :---
Only ten or twelve miles from San Luis Obispo is Morro Bay, the estero of the old Spaniards, and laid down on the maps as Estero Bay. The curiosity I felt to see this place was not, I confess, so much due to what was told me of its importance as a bay and a point of geographical and commercial importance, as the bit of romance connected with a rock rising abruptly out of the midst of the harbor. For a harbor it would be well adapted, if but a single bank, the removal of which would involve an expense of perhaps one thousand dol- lars, were cleared out of the way. But the story which, to me, threw such a halo around Morro Rock, a cone- shaped, symmetrical mass of reddish color, lifting itself about two hundred feet out of the dashing waves, runs as follows: A Spaniard had conceived such a love for this lonely, sea-washed pile that he built himself a house a few miles inland, called it Morro Castle, and made a dy- ing request that his body should be carried to the top of the rock and buried among the jutting crags and scant vegetation. Truly the old Spaniard had grand ideas, for what monument could be raised to man more imperish- able than this rock, looming up so darkly from the bosom of the blue waters, where the sea-bird with its restless cry, and the winds with deep-rolling voice, could intone eternal requiems over him. Wherever his body may have been laid, his spirit seems not to have found rest; for it is said that strange noises are heard around the house he built, and slow, stealthy steps measure the length of the garret and seem to descend to the ground outside. It is a long, low-built adobe, with walls over three feet in thickness, and large, deep-set windows, grated and barred to hold out against the attacks of Indians and marauding Mexicans; for it was erected sometime between 18.30 and 1840. The cost is said to have been $40,000, and when we find that it is over two hundred feet long and finished off in splendid style, for that time, the surprise is that the cost was not greater. The plastering has fallen off in many places, though made of the gypsum found in the hills near by; but the square joists under the ceiling, rough-hewn in some rooms and planed off in others, are as strong as when first placed there, and the apart- ment used as a chapel still shows the mark where the altar stood. The largest hall measures eighty feet in length, with six windows looking out on the court- yard. What the court-yard had originally been could be conjectured from the elegant finish of the out-buildings forming one side of the square. The buildings on the third side have crumbled to pieces, and the fourth side seems always to have been open, which accounts for the windows looking on the court-yard being barred and grated. The stairway leading to the garret is on the out- side of the house, and the garret itself a weird-looking, dim-lighted hall, with a wall almost reaching to the roof running through the length of it and adding to the un- comfortable feeling one gets here from the desire to know what is on one side of the partition while you are on the other. The present owner assured us that he seldom entered this place, and that he had done nothing to have it cleared of the debris he found there. Moth-caten rem- nants of gay, rich Spanish costumes were lying in curious heaps on the floor, and old saddles, bridles, and spurs were slowly mouldering into dust; but I could well fancy how these garments resumed their former glitter when at midnight they clothed again the supple form of the proud Spaniard, and how his fiery steed found his way out of
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HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
the hills to carry his master in one mad gallop down to the Morro Rock.
Not far from Morro Castle, and visible from its veranda, is a remarkable mountain-the Cerro Alto. The side we saw from this point exhibits the form of a little boy, running so rapidly, to all appearance, that his coat-tails actually seem to flutter in the breeze. Tradition has it that he is running from the seal which we discovered near him. Why the seal should have left his native element to chase a little boy over the rough rocks I cannot imag- ine-unless he fired stones at him, after the manner of wicked little boys. I am also willing to believe that the expression of terror and distress on the face of the man above is owing to the proximity of the aquatic animal, but that break in his nose was never brought about by an agent so intimately related to the water as seals are sup- posed to be.
AVILA.
The San Miguelito Rancho, of 22,136 acres of land, borders on the bay of San Luis Obispo, and includes the most feasible natural landing place. This was granted by the Mexican Government to Don Miguel Avila, whose heirs still reside upon the old homestead and retain a goodly portion of the broad acres of the fine rancho. In 1867 Mr. John Harford built the "People's Wharf," which was subsequently extended to deep water and made available for steamers to fasten to and discharge and receive cargo. The town of Avila was then laid out by the Avila Brothers, and the prospect bid fair for the growth of a lively village. The site is very fine, the land rising gently from the water's edge, with a broad, smooth sand beach, and the placid bay and great ocean in front. Very busy times prevailed for a short period when two lines of steamers were contesting for the control of the trade, but the construction of the Railroad Wharf in 1873, and the transfer of the railroad terminus to it in 1875, deprived Avila of its business and its hopes of be- ing a commercial town. The fine beach, the pleasant climate, the grand scenery, and the health-giving airs of the Pacific, combine to give it unsurpassed attractions as a bathing and pleasure resort, and as such Avila has a bright promise.
DON MIGUEL AVILA.
Of this gentleman the Tribune, on the occasion of his death, published the following obituary notice :-
In the county of San Luis Obispo, at his Rancho San Miguelito, on February 24, 1874, Miguel Avila died, aged seventy-six years. The circumstances of his death were singular. He had been accustomed to reside at a house called the "Rancho Quemado," about a mile and a half distant from the rancho house of San Miguelito, of which rancho he was the grantee. Here of late he was accompanied by an old Mexican, who, on the morn- ing of the 24th last, left him in the act of going to the creek for the purpose of bathing. The Mexican returned dur- ing the day and found the old man absent, but thought nothing of it, as Don Miguel had previously informed him that he was going to town that day. Late in the evening the same man found the deceased at the regular watering place, near the house, quite dead, and nearly naked, and apparently as though many hours had elapsed since his decease. No marks of violence were found on his person. An inquest was held by Mr. George W. Barnes, acting Coroner, and the verdict was to the effect
that deceased died of causes to the jury unknown. Don Miguel Avila had been well known in this county since the American occupation. His rancho was immediate to the landing, and covered all the ground previously used for wharf purposes. He left a numerous family. Under the Spanish rule he was Alcalde of the pueblo of San Luis Obispo. He was a man of more than ordinary education in his own language, but failed to acquaint himself with the language or the ideas of the race which succeeded his own in the occupation of the country. He left a valuable inheritance to his children, and died highly respected by all.
PORT HARFORD.
The rise and progress of this important landing has been given in the chapter devoted more particularly to railroad, harbors, etc. The name was given by Dr. John O'Farrell, one of the owners and managers of the rail- road of which it is a part, in honor of Mr. John Harford, . the original owner of the wharf.
CHAPTER XLII. TOWNS AND LOCALITIES CONTINUED.
Arroyo Grande-William Henry Ryan-Progress of the Town- Pismo Wharf-Railroad-Daniel Henry-Henry Hess-The Vicinity-H. A. Vachell-Hasbrouck's Ranch.
ASSING southerly on the coast we reach the long extent of Pismo Beach, and the fertile valley of the Arroyo Grande. In the Centennial year of 1876, Mr. David F. Newsom delivered a lecture in which he gave the following interesting sketch of history :-
The Arroyo Grande Township was established in the year 1862, by the Board of Supervisors of San Luis Obispo County, and embraces all of the portion of the county situated between the Corral de Piedra Creek on the north, and Santa Barbara County on the south, the Santa Lucia Range of mountains on the east, and the Pacific Ocean on the west, containing over 300 square miles of territory, and over 1,000 inhabitants.
The priests of the mission of San Luis Obispo estab- lished a garden and plantation here, about the year 1780, on that portion of the Arroyo Grande bottom now owned by W. S. Jones. Here large quantities of corn, beans, potatoes, etc., etc., were raised to supply food for the mission.
The next settlement was the Rancho Bolsa de Chem- issal, containing 14,335 acres, granted to Francisco Onijada, May 11, 1837. Onijada and his heirs trans- ferred it to Lewis T. Burton, Burton to F. Z. Branch, Branch to Steele Brothers, who subdivided it in Septem- ber, 1873.
The Nipomo Rancho was granted to Capt. Wm. G. Dana, about the year 1838. It contained over 33,000 acres, and is now owned and occupied by his heirs at law.
The Santa Manuela Rancho was granted to Francisco Z. Branch, April 6, 1837, and August 22, 1842. It con- tains 16,954 acres, and is now owned by his heirs and others.
The Pismo Rancho, containing 8,838 acres, was granted to José Ortega, November 18, 1840. Ortega sold to Isaac J. Sparks, and Sparks sold to John M. Price and David P. Mallagh each one-half. Mallagh sold to F. Z. Branch, Branch to Steele Brothers and others.
The Corral de Piedra Rancho, granted to José Maria
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TOWNS AND LOCALITIES CONTINUED.
Villavicencia, May 14, 1841, for 8,876 acres, was extended May 28, 1846, by Pio Pico, Governor of California, to include "all lands included in map," viz., about 34,000 acres. This sweeping grant absorbed up the mission farm on the Arroyo Grande, and the lime works situated about four miles southeasterly from the mission church. The grant is now owned by Ramon J. Branch, W. S. Jones, John Corbit, Steele Brothers, and others.
The Arroyo Grande Rancho was granted to Zefarino Carlon, April 25, 1842, and by him transferred to F. Z. Branch. It contained 4,438 acres, and is now owned by Steele Brothers and Wittenberg Brothers, who are using it for dairying purposes.
The Huasna Rancho was granted to Isaac J. Sparks, December 8, 1843. It contains 22, 190 acres, and is now owned by the daughters of Mr. Sparks, viz., Mrs. Capt. Mark Harloe, Mrs. Amy Porter, and Mrs. Harkness.
The Suez Rancho, granted to Don Mariano Pacheco (father of ex-Governor Pacheco), contains eleven leagues of land, about one-third of which is in this township. The balance is in Santa Barbara County.
These vast grants of land covered almost every desir- able homestead in the township, only a few nooks here and there being public domain.
The United States surveys, the dry season of 1864, the Trespass Act, and the State Board of Equalization, have each been instruments in subdividing these immense domains, so that now the places of those eight patriarchs are filled by several hundred heads of families.
The climate is excellent, but diversified, many little valleys or cañons being almost without frost in winter or extreme heat in summer. The larger valleys are subject to late spring frosts, but exempt to a remarkable degree in the fall. The soil, like the climate, is diversified, there- fore the productions are varied. Wheat, barley, oats, corn, beans, peas, peanuts, tobacco, garden vegetables of all descriptions, also apples, peaches, plums, apricots, almonds, figs, olives, grapes, etc., etc., are grown to per- fection. The water supply is derived from the Santa Maria River, Alamo, Huasna, Berros, Arroyo Grande, Pismo, and Corral de Piedra Creek, and numberless springs and brooks. Several of these streams are well stocked with trout, and salmon are often caught.
Scores of asphaltum springs show that mountains and valleys of asphaltum are here awaiting the hand of man to realize them. The asphaltum mines belonging to S. P. McDougall, situated on the southeasten end of the Santa Manuela Grant, are considered the most extensive and pure on the Pacific Coast.
Many sulphur, iron, magnesia, and salt springs exist in this township, having supposed medicinal qualities; but none have been opened to public use except " Newsom's White Sulphur Springs," which are situated in a beautiful glen about two miles easterly from the town or village of Arroyo Grande. The amount of water from these springs is sufficient to bathe several hundred persons daily. The temperature is 100° F. The water contains large quantities of sulphur, iron, and magnesia. These waters have been thoroughly tested, and their qualities are highly recom- mended. A large garden, orchard, and vineyard add greatly to the attraction of the place.
The manufacturesc onsisted, in 1876, of the Arroyo Grande Flour-mills, with a capacity of thirty barrels of flour per day, in charge of Ramon J. Branch, trustee for the heirs of F. Z. Branch, deceased. A small circular saw for sawing shingles and small timbers was at times run by the water power of this mill. A steam mill was in process of erection by Messrs. Popp & Campbell, for the purpose of manufacturing flour, corn meal, etc. Newsom's Tannery, the Nipomo Lime Works, McDou- gall's Asphaltum Works, and Marsh's smith and carriage shop were in operation, and there were openings for a
beet sugar factory, powder mill, furniture factory, harness and saddle shop, and other industries.
The village of Arroyo Grande, situated on the north branch of the creek on the stage road leading from San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara, was brought into existence about 1867, by the building of a school house and black- smith shop. In 1876 it had two hotels, two stores well supplied with goods, two saloons, a wheel wright and blacksmith shop, post-office, a school house, butcher shop, laundry, livery and feed stable, and quite a number of private residences.
The proprietor of Ryan's Hotel at Arroyo Grande,
WILLIAM HENRY RYAN,
Is a native of Massachusetts, born at Amesbury, April 28, 1833. His father was Jeremiah Ryan, a native of County Tipperary, Ireland, who emigrated to America when young, and married Miss Betsy Glidden, a native of New Hampshire, from which union sprung the subject of this sketch. The Glidden's were an old New Hamp- shire family, a brother of Mrs. Ryan's being a soldier in the war of 1812. The schools of Amesbury were of ex- cellent repute, and in them young Ryan received his edu- cation and there remained until seventeen years of age, when, being a bold and self-reliant youth, he started out in the world to seek his fortune. It was in 1850, the beginning of the new era of adventure, of sudden acqui- sition of wealth, of travel and of the spread of civilization, surpassing in activity all recorded in the history of the world. The gold discoveries in California had aroused the enthusiasm of the people of all lands, and while but a boy young Ryan joined the throng for the Pacific Coast. Sailing on the brig Ark, in 1850, he made the passage around Cape Horn to San Francisco. Among the pas- sengers was A. J. Bryant, subsequently Mayor of San Francisco. Mr. Ryan at once engaged in business in the new city of rush and excitement, and was the owner of one of the first drays that ever came to San Francisco. In the profitable occupation of draying he continued for eighteen months. The discovery of gold in Austral a created a second mining excitement throughout the world, and Mr. Ryan was the first to feel its effects in San Fran- cisco. In 1853, then twenty years of age, he went with the rush for the gold fields of the island continent, and there again sought for the fortune he had journeyed to the antipodes to find. After tarrying in Australia one and a half years, he recrossed the Pacific to explore Peru for the hidden treasure. In South America he labored a twelvemonth, and then returned to California. Soon after his return to this State he made a visit to his former home in New England, remaining East until 1860, when he was again in California in time to be carried away by the Washoe silver excitement. Mr. Ryan naturally ac- companied the crowd over the Sierra, and went out with the prospectors where great discoveries were reported. Of the eastern slope mining camps of great promise, Sil- ver Mountain, in Alpine County, California, appeared the brightest, and there Mr. Ryan settled and built a large hotel, known as "Ryan's Exchange." The rich mines of Silver Mountain defied the skill of the workers of ore, and the place declined. In 1868 the discovery was
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HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
made of deposits of ore of unprecedented wealth at White Pine, in eastern Nevada, and the great White Pine excitement of 1868 and '69 followed. To this new field Mr. Ryan journeyed, but the "Eberhardt" and the "Hidden Treasure," and the "Aurora" and the "Ward Beecher," and many thousand other claims of the wildcat species were located before his arrival, and he soon traveled on to Arizona, where he believed he was to find the mine that would yield him the great fortune he sought. To the land of the cactus and Apache he made two trips; then, returning to California, located in San Luis Obispo, where he remained one year. In 1874 he came to Ar- royo Grande, where he has since remained, proprietor of the popular Ryan's Hotel, the only hotel of the village. Here, as host, and at his ease, he is accumulating that fortune for which he has braved the perils of many lands and seas, and spent years of time, hard labor, and dan- gerous exposure, finding at last that quiet business brings greater prosperity than misdirected energy.
PROGRESS OF THE TOWN.
The subsequent progress of the town was such as to maintain its reputation for enterprise and activity. Many families settled in the valley in 1877, entering upon agricultural pursuits. The school numbered roo chil- dren, the scions of the townsfolk and surrounding ranchers. Religious observances attracted a great deal . of attention, divine service being held each Sunday in the school house, where people of all denominations gathered. An irrigating ditch was proposed, by which the waters of the Arroyo were to be conducted upon the neighboring lands, that thus two crops each year might be possible.
The chief institutions within the town were the hotel, stores, post-office, etc. Mr. Ryan kept, and still keeps, the hotel. Mr. Hammerschlag, the pioneer merchant of the place, still kept up in 1877 the same retail store, while Meherin Brothers, of San Francisco and Arroyo Grande, dealt largely in various merchandise, maintained the Pismo Wharf for the purposes of trade, kept the post and express office, and dealt in lumber. Over their store was a large hall, owned by themselves, but occu- pied mostly by societies of whom the sixteen Odd Fel- lows comprising the Arroyo Grande Lodge met once a week, and the Good Samaritans, a temperance order, met also twice per week, having sixty members.
A traveler passing through, in 1878, pronounced Arroyo Grande a thriving place of from twelve to fifteen houses, it having besides two stores, two hotels, a saloon, feed and sale stable, and blacksmith shop.
With the advent of the railroad, Arroyo Grande took on new life. Even previous to its arriving, its beneficial effects were seen in the preparations for it. The new wharf at Pismo, which came into active use in the ship- ment of produce, has been an important factor in the local economy of the vicinity. The
PISMO WHARF
Was finished in September, 1881. It was the creation of several business men, more particularly of Meherin
Brothers, of San Francisco and Arroyo Grande. To D. J. Meherin belongs the credit of its inception, construc- tion, and maintenance more than to any other man. Previously this enterprising gentleman had proposed a steamship line to connect the county with San Francisco -a valuable and praiseworthy project, but which re- ceived cold water support from those who would have profited by it, and the project fell through. As a sort of modification of his original plan, Mr. Meherin proposed the wharf at Pismo, by means of which the products of the southern part of the county and more particularly of the Arroyo Grande region, could find shipment to the metropolis. Through the enterprise and vigor of the before-mentioned firm, assisted by a few other business men and residents, the present valuable and commo- dious structure was begun and carried out. Stock was issued, in 800 shares, of a par value of $20.00 each, and this stock was subscribed for by the farmers and land- owners of the neighborhood. This done, the wharf was commenced and run out to a sufficient depth, which was found, according to Mr. D. J. Meherin, at 1,600 feet from the shore, where the water is twenty-seven feet deep at low tide. The floor is twenty-two feet above low water, the tides rising six feet at that point.
The wharf company were enabled to proceed without embarrassment from lack of means, and when the work was completed, its advantages were immediately felt. In 1882 Mr. Meherin says the wharf saved $35,000 to the people of the county in decrease of freight rates as com- pared with those of the steamer line.
In 1882 thirty-eight vessels were loaded at the wharf, and an increase of traffic is confidently expected for suc- ceeding years. The contract price of the wharf was $14,200, but the total cost exceeded this by $413, mak- ing the sum of $14,613.
As a rival to the railroad and steamship company, this wharf is of vast utility to the farmers, and makes them in some measure independent. The carrying trade gives employment to schooners whose rates are low, and goods thus find transportation to San Francisco in but slightly increased time, with very moderate charges. The main transportation company met these movements with a large reduction in fares and freights, sufficient, as they thought, to break down all opposition, justifying their course with the argument that there is not sufficient trade to divide and leave a profit to the railroad and regular line of steamers.
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