History of San Luis Obispo County, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 90

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

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RAILROAD.

The coming of the railroad necessarily brought about many changes in the once quiet and sleepy village. Its fine geographical position was early noted, and prognos- tications were favorable to Arroyo Grande's sometime greatness. New improvements were projected on every hand, and Arroyo Grande began to be mentioned as one of the busiest and most progressive towns on the south- ern coast. During the latter part of 1881, the whole of 1882, and a portion of 1883 its growth was rapid. In the former year its population was stated as being about 200. A new warehouse for the storage of grain, etc.,

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W. H. RYAN'S HOTEL AND STABLE, ARROYO GRANDE SAN LUIS OBISPO CO. CAL.

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RANCHAND RESIDENCE OF HENRY HESS, ARROYO GRANDE, SAN LUIS OBISPO CO. CAL.

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was put up. Its size was 48x100 feet. W. B. Carman opened a drug store. Cohen had retired from business, selling stock and store to Phillips & Co., dealers in gen- eral merchandise, who became thoroughly established in trade; the latter firm built a large store, 40x80 feet, and transact a large business.

In 1882 the "Arroyo Grande Irrigating Company" possessed two ditches, whose capacity was equal to irri- gating 3,000 acres of land. The "Arroyo Grande Mill," a flouring and grist-mill, driven by water power, had, at about this time, fallen into the possession of Messrs. R. Orton & Co., who renovated it throughout, put in new machinery, and prepared to do custom work. It subse- quently flourished, and is a credit to the community.

A few matters of history remain to be told. In 1881 Ryan's stable was burned, and a man named James Lynch, who happened to be sleeping therein, was burned to death. Two horses also were destroyed. The loss to Mr. Ryan was $500.

In June, 1883, the firm of Meherin Brothers sold their store and merchandise to Messrs. Aaron & Alexander.

DANIEL HENRY,

A native of Scotland, was born near Glasgow, in Decem- ber, 1824. His father was Neil Henry, and his mother's maiden name was Margaret Bailey. In the family were five children, Daniel being the fourth. When but one and a half years of age his parents removed to Nova Scotia, where he grew to manhood, receiving his educa- tion in the common schools of the country. His early life was spent on a farm, and thus being inured and skilled in the cultivation of the soil has made that his business through life. When twenty-four years of age he went to Massachusetts, and for the following fifteen years made that State his home, coming to California in 1867. Upon arriving in the "Golden State" he chose Sonoma County for his residence, remaining there and farming until r869, when he came to San Luis Obispo County, where he has since lived. Mr. Henry was married September 9, 1850, to Miss Sabrina McKeen, a native of Nova Scotia, the family being members of the Presbyterian Church. Their home is located two miles from the village of Ar- royo Grande, where Mr. Henry owns a fine farm, of which he is justly proud.

HENRY HESS

Was born in Germany, September 8, 1842. His parents were John Hess and Louisa Pfeiffer, both natives of Germany; the family consisted of five children, all of whom were boys, Henry being the second. In his native land he grew to manhood, attending the public schools during his youth, and becoming familiar with the careful care of vine and grape growing, and the cultivation of the farm as practiced in the old country. In 1868, with his strict habits of industry and frugality well formed, he emigrated to America. June 7, 1868, soon after his arrival in New York, he married Miss Susan Schimpf, a native of Germany, and then, with his new family, he moved on to California, arriving in this State the same year. Mr. Hess selected Marysville, in

Yuba County, for his home, and in the vicinity of that city planted a vineyard and cultivated a farm. Upon that location he remained until 1873, when he removed to Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo County, where he has since resided as a vineyardist and farmer. The farm of Mr. Hess is situated about one mile from the town of Arroyo Grande, contains fifty acres, well improved, with vineyards and orchards. Here he now lives with his family, consisting of wife and three children living, of whom two are sons and one daughter.

THE VICINITY.

The region about Arroyo Grande is of the highest description of fertility. No portion of the Pacific Coast exceeds it in richness of soil, excellence of climate, or certainty of crops. The resources of this famed country are unending.

Stock-raising is carried on with profit. Horses, cattle, sheep, and Angora goats require but little shelter, and gather most of their sustenance from the natural grasses and herbage. Mares and cows commence breeding at two years old, sheep and goats at one year old. Hogs are very prolific, and, if not allowed to multiply ahead of the feed supply, add greatly to the profit of the farm. Bees and poultry are raised with great profit, and now every hollow tree has its store of sweets put there by the little honey bee. Chickens, turkeys, and ducks thrive and are raised in great numbers.

The dairy business is carried on extensively. Large quantities of butter and cheese are shipped; also, dairy- fed hogs. But the staple product of the valley is beans. Of this edible great quantities are grown, the soil and climate being peculiarly adapted to their growth. From 2,000 to 4,000 pounds per acre are grown, and some- times even these figures are exceeded. The beans of Arroyo Grande have become favorably known in the Chicago and New York markets, and the demand for them is increasing with very remunerative prices to the producers. The soil of the valley is a fine, dark loam, and so exceedingly fertile that all vegetation grows with the greatest luxuriance. Pumpkins, squashes, melons, cabbages, beets, carrots, and other vegetables grow to great size.

About one mile north of the village of Arroyo Grande is the "Tally-Ho Rancho," the property of

H. A. VACHELL.

The mountains which skirt the coast and shield the interior from the chilly winds of the ocean are here but gentle hills, sufficient, however, to furnish all the protec- tion needed, and are usually clad in forests of live-oak and thrifty bushes. In a pleasant vale on the eastern slope of the hills Mr. Vachell has selected his home, which he has given the name of Tally-Ho.

It is a quiet valley Set far from human ills, A sunny, sloping valley, Begirt with green, green hills.

This gently sloping valley, of a few hundred acres, pre- sents the appearance of a large amphitheater, set with vineyards, orchards, and gardens, with a handsome cot-

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HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.

tage residence in the foreground. The proprietor, Hor- ace Annesley Vachell, Esq., was born at Sydenham, Kent, England, October 30, 1861. Mr. Vachell is of one of the oldest families of England, his ancestors being of those who accompanied William the Conqueror in the invasion and conquest of that country. In Tyson's "Magna Britannica" the Vachell family is recorded as being the oldest family in Berkshire, and that in 1309 John Vachell was Knight of the Shire. They lived at Coley, near Reading, till the close of the eighteenth century, when the place was sold and the family moved to Copford Hall, where the father of the present subject was born. The records of the family are found in the "Harleian Manu- scripts," Tyson's "Magna Britannica," and in "Antiquities of Reading." The parents of Mr. Vachell were Richard Taufield Vachell and Georgina Lyttelton Vachell, eldest daughter of Arthur Lyttelton Annesley, late of Arley Castle, Shropshire. His uncle, Col. Lyttelton Annesley, Inte of the Eleventh Hussars, is at present Adjutant-Gen- cal . Bombay.

Mr. Vachell was educated at the celebrated school of Harrow, and passed the examination and entered the Royal Military College of Sandhurst, graduating in the class of 1881. Desiring to be consigned to a special regiment for which he would be required to wait a num- ber of years, he resigned his commission in the British Army to take a tour in America, and concluded to try his fortune as a farmer in the Golden State. He came to California in November, 1882, and in January, 1883, purchased the Tally-Ho farm, of 558 acres. On this he has planted a vineyard and a great variety of fruit trees. In the future he intends to breed fine stock horses, cattle, and poultry, and his improvements on the rancho are designed for such purpose. In April, 1883, he re- turned on a visit to his native home and to make the tour of Europe, ere he settles down to the business of farming and the active life of an American citizen, for which he expresses a desire.

HASBROUCK'S RANCH.

This magnificent ranch is located twenty-two miles from San Luis, the route being on the main southern road to E. W. Steele's, then over J. A. Brown's splendid farm -- lately known as the "Finney Dairy"-on the Santa Manuela Rancho, to the Arroyo Grande, and up that stream. For several miles the valley is yet a tangled thicket of willows, cottonwood, sycamore, alder, live and white oak, and brush, that flourish in a damp, rich soil. The Santa Manuela grant of 16,955 acres crosses and occupies a broad extent of this valley. Between it and the Arroyo Grande grant was a strip of a mile or more of Government land, now owned and occupied by well- to-do settlers.

THE RANCHITA,

The Arroyo Grande grant of about 4,500 acres, about 1,500 being arable, commonly known as the Ranchita, embraces the different branches of the stream, princi- pally the southern, for a distance of about four miles. This was formerly owned by Steele Bros., but leased to Mr. Hasbrouck, who has occupied it for the past nine

years, making the improvements and bringing a large area under cultivation, and purchasing the land in 1883 at the stated price of $27,000. This lease was the foundation of his fortune, and well did he improve the opportunity to his own profit as well as to the satisfaction of the gener- ous owners of the property, who now regard him as "of the salt of the earth." The valley through the Ranchita is from one-fourth to one mile in width, generally of green sward, with many springs running from the banks or rising through the sod, and the pretty brooklet of the Arroyo Grande always flowing through its entire length. Some 400 acres are now in cultivation, fenced in the old- fashioned manner of split rails with cross stakes and riders, at the expense of much labor and much timber. Centrally and very pleasantly located are the ranch houses, consisting of residence, office, dairy house, stables, barns, corrals, etc., all well fenced, supplied with gates and all improvements of convenience. From the hills in the rear of the house a large spring breaks forth, suffi- cient water being collected to supply the premises, to which it is led by iron pipes, a small fountain perpetually playing in the flower garden in front of the house. All was a wilderness, devoted only to a cattle range, when Mr. Hasbrouck took the place.

MUSICK.

In 1880, Mr. Hasbrouck bought of A. C. McLeod, the heirs of Mr. Musick and others, a large tract of ex- cellent pasturage, similar in character to the Ranchita, and upon this he has moved and made his home. Here a post-office is located, and named Musick, on the post route from San Luis Obispo to Pozo, in San Jose Valley, La Panza, in the mining region of the San Juan, and to Carrisa, on the broad plains of that name.

The first view of Mr. Hasbrouck's residence is one of the most pleasing surprises imaginable. From the sum- mit of a small ridge which protrudes into the valley, and over which the road passes, the visitor sees at his feet, in front, the bright green grass plats in circles and crescents and stars, threaded by light graveled carriage drives and walks, a sparkling fountain streaming high in the air, a rustic summer house of most tasty and unique construc- tion, broad plats in various shapes for flowers and shrub- bery, neatly built and painted buildings devoted to the dairy, boarding-house, office and residence of the owner; on the right long arbors leading from a small gate to the office and thence to the boarding-house, some gigantic sycamores with their bright green leaves and clean flesh- colored trunks and branching limbs, and broad spread- ing oaks in various places, with a vine-covered hill on the left, upon which is a tank-house whence comes the sup- ply of water for the fountain, for irrigation, and for domes- tic purposes, the whole constituting a scene more charm- ing and evidence of taste more æsthetic than is often found in the oldest settled localities, and is a pleasant surprise when observed amid the wild surroundings of the upper Arroyo Grande.

A MODEL DAIRY.

Mr. Hasbrouck has here a dairy building which is a model in construction, convenience, and neatness. The

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building is fifty feet in length by twenty-four in width, surrounded by a broad covered veranda which adds to its appearance as well as to protect the walls from the sun. It is of wood with double walls with iron gratings at top and bottom to cause ventilation. The dairy, as the house is called, is divided into four rooms, a furnace room, the milk vat room where the cheese is made, the cheese press room, and the storage and curing room. The dairy is devoted to cheese-making.

Two hundred and fifty cows are kept on the ranch, about one hundred and fifty being the average number milked, and from thirty to forty usually kept for sup- plying lacteal food for the large number of calves raised on the ranch. About one hundred pounds of cheese are made per day, and the product of each cow from its milk, increase, etc., is estimated at about $55.00 per annum.

MOUNT HASBROUCK.

Two miles north of Musick, rises one of the highest peaks of the Santa Lucia Range; a cone-like, bald mount- ain named Mount Hasbrouck. From the summit two- thirds of San Luis Obispo County and much of Santa Barbara can be seen, as well as the limitless view over the broad Pacific. Point Sal, though twenty miles dis- tant in the southwest, appears at the foot of the mount- ain. San Luis Obispo is in the west, with the ocean beyond, and in the east and north are the San Jose and Salinas Valleys, the latter vanishing in the distant haze, and many hills and vales and mountain ranges are seen in all directions. South are the great Huasna, Nipomo and Suez ranchos, extending to the border of Santa Bar- bara County in the valley of the Santa Maria.

CHAPTER XLIII. TOWNS AND LOCALITIES CONTIUED ..

City of the Olive Tree-San Luis Obispo-Collecting Toll-Town Survey-Pueblo of San Luis Obispo-Town Lands-Hon. Charles H. Johnson-Town Organization-City Incorporated -City Officers-City Finances-Town Improvements-Prog- ress in 1876-Condition in 1883-Goldtree Block-Bank of San Luis Obispo-Water-Works-James G. Abbott-Francisco Estevan Quintana-Pedro Quintana-Stillman F. Breed- Christjan Hansen Jespersen.

CITY OF THE OLIVE TREE. BY T. W.

Environed by the matchless hills, Whose rugged summits cleave the skies, Reflecting from their rocks and rills A thousand shifting tints and dies- Located in a verdant vale, The quaint old mission, fair to see,

With rustic wall and mossy tile, Fair city of the olive tree,

Thou stand'st. Amid a sea of green A thousand happy homes appear;

And life, and enterprise are seen On every hand, combining here

To force by skill and art the means For progress, steady, sure, and free;

To raise thee 'mid thy sister queens, O, city of the olive tree.

A century its years have rolled Their circling seasons to the past,

Since into being thou wast called, And with the Christian missions classed.

Thy infancy was long and slow, But blooming youth develops thee; Prosperity and peace shall know The city of the olive tree.

THE history of the mission of San Luis Obispo and of the organization of the county has been a history of the town of San Luis Obispo. The organization of the town and city, its political and financial gov- ernment, its long existence as an adobe settlement, the struggle over the pueblo title, the extension, improvements, progress of the business men, and the many incidents would of themselves make an interesting volnme, but in this can be only briefly referred to.

SAN LUIS OBISPO.

In the organization of the county San Luis Obispo was the only town within its limits, and consisted of a few adobe structures or huts irregularly located about the mission. One main road passed through from south- west to northeast, crossing the San Luis Creek about a half a mile below the mission, and following up the right bank with branch trails to the Chorro and other places where one wished to ride, as it was all an open country excepting the mission garden, or vineyard and olive grove, on the southeast side of the creek, and a garden di. . orchard on the north side. The main road has since become Monterey Street, with its bend after passing the mission, and the trail north of the mission is Chorro Street. . A few of the adobe huts with their tile roofs still stand as relics of the olden period. A two-story adobe near the mission forming the corner of Monterey and Chorro Streets, was a Spanish restaurant and dance hall, and was quite a pretentious building. North of this grew and still flourishes a large palm tree, and by it, fronting on Monterey Street, Captain Dana in 1850 erected a frame building of material brought from Chile. That was the first frame building in the county. It was soon followed by one erected by Capt. John Wilson, a short distance southwest of the mission, a two-story structure, the material ready for putting up being brought around Cape Horn. The building is in good preserva- tion and in use at the present time, as is also a portion of that erected by Captain Dana. Beebee & Pollard built the adobe store now occupied by Senshiemer Brothers; another adobe was built where the Lasar build- ing or Tribune office now stands, and the French Hotel is on the site of another; and such was the town of San Luis Obispo in 1850. In 1851 Captain Dana erected a large building on the lot now occupied by the Bank of San Luis Obispo. The walls were of adobe and the roof of sheet iron. The timbers used in it were hauled from Santa Rosa Creek by oxen, and the flooring and doors were brought from the Atlantic Coast. This was a grand structure for those days and bore the name of "Casa Grande." It was the first hotel in San Luis Obispo, and was the scene of many a revelry on the festal days of San Luis, Mexican Independence, and church days, and in the adjacent grounds were bull-fights, bear-baiting, and other sports. There was then much travel through the town, it being on the great thoroughfare used by

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HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.

drovers and the people of the south and from Mexico en route to the gold mines in the Sierra Nevada. The Casa Grande subsequently became the Court House, and so continued nntil 1870.

The following incident of travel and of judicial author- ity is related by C. H. Johnson, Esq .:-

COLLECTING TOLL.

Sonoranean migration to California gold placers com- menced in 1849. It culminated in 1852, and shortly after that period declined rapidly, until it ceased altogether in 1853. They traveled in bands numbering from fifty to two hundred, the men and many of the women and children on foot. But some of the women with small children were mounted, some on horses, others on burros (asses). Coming from a warmer climate than that of California, they were clad in light garments. The men wore cotton shirts, white pantaloons, and had sandals on their feet and carried machetes (long knives, the blades being two feet and a half in length), without scabbards. The men were called calzones blancos (white pantaloons), a decisive term applied to them by the native Californians. Their route to the mines was invariably through the coast counties. The Justice of the Peace of San Luis in 1852, who was termed the Alcalde by the people, was a shrewd, unscrupulous man, named Luna. His office was in the adobe building on the corner of Monterey and Chorro Streets, adjoining the church property. The Sonoraneans in passing the church, generally stopped a few moments to make the sign of the cross, and to invoke a blessing from the virgin on their patron saints. The Alcalde improved the opportunity by exacting from them a tribute of quarto reals (fifty cents) a head for the privi- lege of passing through San Luis. The parties yet in the rear, having received information of this exaction, endeavored to evade it, by passing east of the town by the Munoz place; but the Alcalde sent his Alguaciles (Constables) to warn them, that they would be imprisoned should they attempt to pass by that road, and thus forced them to return and pass in front of the church and by his office, where he collected the tribute. These so-called Alcaldes assumed most extraordinary powers. One of the successors of Luna decreed a divorce between a man and wife.

The Justice of the Peace of the above story has been often mentioned in this history, being Jesus Luna, the first Justice and Associate County Judge in 1850, and also in the account of the vigilance committee as the one whose partner so mysteriously disappeared, after which Señor Luna fled to his native home in New Mexico.

TOWN SURVEY.

In August, 1850, the court of sessions authorized Wm. R. Hutton to survey and lay out the town of San Luis Obispo, directing that the main street should be twenty yards wide and all the other streets should be fifteen yards wide, and that the town should extend to the limit of the lots. In February, 1862, Wm. C. Parker, civil engi- neer, made a map of the town, following Hutton's survey. The survey included the land northwest of the creek, and the streets nearly as at present. Southeast of the creek the land is marked, as the "Priests' Garden," "Corral," and " Marsh Land," and some cultivated land. No names were given to the different streets, and some years elapsed before any excepting the main ones were opened. The government of the town, and the customs

and business of the inhabitants have been given in pre- ceding chapters.

PUEBLO OF SAN LUIS OBISPO.

The question of the existence of a pueblo and the right to pueblo lands was a very important one in the early history of the town. In 1853 the pueblo claim was presented to the Land Commission and rejected in September, 1854. As the foundation of the claim Mr. C. H. Johnson writes :---

The object of secularization was to convert all the missions into pueblos. The municipal system of the Spanish was derived from the Romans. Under the Roman (civil), Gothic, Spanish and Mexican laws, municipal communities were never incorporated into artificial persons with a common seal, and perpetual suc- cession, as with us under English and American laws; consequently, under the former laws, communities in town held their lands in community or pro indiviso. The property did not belong to the town, but to the common -- del commun. The Roman law called it communalia; the Spanish del commun, communal or pro-communal.

When thirty families had located on a spot, the pueblo was accomplished. They were not incorporated, but formed a distinct community, and had the right to organ- ize a local Government by the election of an Alcalde and ayuntamiento (council). The instant the poblacion was formed it became entitled to the land within its proper territorium. That is to say, the pobladores (settlers) became entitled to the land to the extent of four leagues, and as the pobladores were not incorporated, they held it pro indiviso. But since the decree of the Spanish Cortez in 1813, it was subject to repartimientos, distri- butions or assignments by the local Governments. The town had no grant of the lands from the crown or from the Mexican Government. The title was simply a natural right which belonged to the towns ipso facto at de naturale jure. The action of the Government was only to give definite limits to an acknowledged right. The ejidos were lands immediately around the towns, kept open for common pasturage, or for the celebration of festivals or games. The origin of the law in regard to the ejidos was a military one, to prevent an enemy from approach- ing a town under cover of houses or gardens. These lands surrounded the town, and were in extent about six hundred varas in every direction, and were not reparted or assigned. Covarrubias defines the ejidos (Latin, exitus) as a field which is at the salida, going out of a place which they do not cultivate because it is for the orna- ment of the place and recreation of the inhabitants.

In 1834, Governor Figueroa received instructions from the Supreme Government to proceed with the reparti- mientos or distributions of mission lands to the Indians. and pobladores (white settlers), which was done in part by commissioners appointed by the Governor, and sub- sequently by the ayuntamientos of the different pueblos, or organized mission towns.

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History of San Luis Obispo County, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 90

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