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 92
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the Santa Lucia from Paso Robles, San Miguel, and the lower Salinas to Cambria and its shipping ports, which can hardly fail of the most beneficial results. That much-dreaded winter morass, the Stelle Lane, has been turnpiked and thoroughly graveled, and all the bridges rebuilt in its line or leading thereto. A new road has been laid out and is rapidly being graded between Arroyo Grande and the Huasna. A substantial bridge has been built over the Paso Robles Creek, thus assuring dry and safe passage of that winter torrent. Many other road improvements have been projected and are now in a rapid way to completion.
The foregoing are the more noticeable features of the year's progress, and we believe the showing is one that few counties in the State can excel. Notwithstanding the exceeding hard times caused by the monetary crisis of '75, but few foreclosures of mortgages have been made, and fewer suits for debts have been entered and passed to a legal conclusion; so considerate and forbearing a spirit has been manifested by our business men that com- paratively little suffering has been felt by the debtor class during the Centennial year, and we believe that our com- munity is to-day in a better financial condition than ever before known, and should the worst fears of a dry season be realized, by a continuation of the same considerate policy, our people will pass the trying ordeal with little suffering and complaint.
CONDITION IN 1883.
Having followed the growth of the pueblo, town, and city through its past history, we have come to the period when it has outgrown the proportions that can be indi- vidually described. The first vote of the county-all in the village of San Luis Obispo-was forty-eight, and as every male person of or about the age of twenty-one years was allowed the franchise, that number probably included all the men of the place and vicinity. In 1868, when the title to the town site was applied for, there were exactly 600 people within the mile-square limit. By the census of 1880 the township of San Luis Obispo had a popula- tion of 3,754, of which it was estimated that 2,500 were in the city limits. In 1883 the population of the city is es- timated at about 3,000. The chief public improvements were made previous to 1877; the San Luis Creek had been bridged at Mill, Court, Morro, Chorro, Nipomo, and Broad Streets, sidewalks constructed, trees planted, and all the appearance and conditions of an orderly and prosperous city were observed. The present condition is that of steady progress. Gas and water-works have been constructed, a fire department organized, a military company equipped, a fine brick city hall erected, three weekly and two daily papers are published, and the Pacific Coast Railway is completed from Port Harford to Los Alamos in Santa Barbara County, making San Luis Obispo the commercial center of the region. Numerous handsome private residences have been built in the style of ornamented villa cottages, and several business blocks, among which is the
GOLDTREE BLOCK,
On the northeast corner of Chorro and Higuerra Streets, fronting sixty feet on Higuerra and extending one hun- dred and ten feet on Chorro Street. The building is of brick, two lofty stories in height, and is entirely devoted to the great merchandise business of Goldtree Brothers,
one of the pioneer and wealthy firms of San Luis Obispo- A view of this fine block is given in this book. The building was occupied in June 1883.
BANK OF SAN LUIS OBISPO.
Messrs. H. M. Warden and C. H. Phillips, on the 13th of December, 1871, opened the Bank of San Luis Obispo, the first institution of the kind in the county. The rooms in which the bank was located were on the northwest side of Monterey Street, between Morro and Chorro Streets ; were of rather contracted dimensions, but elegantly fitted up and well prepared for business. Its establishment was a great convenience and advantage to the business of the town, and from its earliest date has continuously prospered. In 1873, October 15th, the Bank of San Luis Obispo became an incorporation with $200,000 capital, the corporators being H. M. Warden, C. H. Phillips, Geo. Steele, E. W. Steele, P. W. Murphy, J. P. Andrews, Hugh Isom, D. W. James, M. Gilbert, John Harford, Wm. L. Beebee, James H. Goodman and I. G. Wickersham. H. M. Warden was President, and C. H. Phillips, Cashier.
In 1881, the bank erected the large two-story brick building it now occupies on the northeast corner of Monterey and Court Streets, which is claimed as the handsomest bank building in California south of San Francisco. The capital stock is now $100,000. The officers are J. P. Andrews, President; W. E. Stewart, Cashier; Directors-J. P. Andrews, P. W. Murphy, D. Lowe, George Steele, and W. E. Stewart. Finance Committee, R. G. Flint and I. G. Wickersham. A large addition was made to the building in 1883, giving it a front of sixty feet on Monterey Street.
WATER WORKS.
In the year 1872, Dr. W. W. Hays, C. W. Dana, and M. A. Benrimo obtained a franchise to furnish the town of San Luis Obispo with water. For the first year but little was done beyond prospecting for a supply, making surveys and estimates of cost, etc., when A. M. Loomis and Alfred Walker purchased the franchise and went to work to carry the scheme forward. The water proposed to be brought into town was the San Luis Creek, which flows so sparkling and bright through the canon of the Cuesta road. A small reservoir on Murray Hill was con- structed, about one mile and a half from town, and a flume built in the cañon at a cost of about $5,000. At that stage the owners of the franchise sought aid to com- plete the enterprise, and in 1874 the San Luis Obispo Water Company was incorporated with a capital stock of $60,000. The Directors were P. W. Murphy, A. M. Loomis, E. W. Steele, C. H. Phillips, and McD. R. Ven- able, with General Murphy, President and A. M. Loomis, Secretary. The work was then carried forward with energy, heavy sheet-iron pipes were laid in the streets, and the water was introduced in November, 1874. In 1876 a larger reservoir was made in the valley of the creek, having a capacity of 1,250,000 gallons, supplied by a constant stream from the creek.
In 1883 the sheet-iron pipe was taken up and relaid
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HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
with cast-iron pipe seven inches in diameter, in the main streets, and seventeen fire plugs were placed at conven- ient localities for use in case of fire. The pressure is such as to throw a heavy stream from the fire hose over the highest building in the city, and over one hundred feet on level ground, and with an abundant supply which may be turned on in a few minutes' warning, the city is well protected from fire.
In preparing for the growth of the city an increased supply of water was sought for, and during the last few years a large reservoir has been constructed on the east fork of the San Luis Creek about half a mile above the lower reservoir. This is on a clear trout stream, fed by numerous springs and the great water-shed of the cañon. The dam is about 300 feet long, 25 feet in its greatest depth, 50 feet in breadth at the surface, and 150 feet through its base, with an escarpment of rock on the lower side, and an earthen slope of nearly 100 feet on the upper or water side. It has an ample waste-way so as to secure it against sudden freshets. This reservoir is capable of holding 20,000,000 gallons of water. In ad- dition to these reservoirs of water, the streams will run a partial supply during the lowest stage. The reservoir supply can be indefinitely enlarged as there are ample facilities for obtaining ten times the amount of water used at present in San Luis Obispo, which is a fine promise for the growing town. The water comes from springs or rainfall on a rocky and little occupied country, insuring it great purity and healthiness. During the spring of 1883, a heavy growth of fresh water algæ formed in the lower reservoir, which decaying on the bottom seri- ously injuried the potable quality of the water. This de- fect can be obviated by flushing the reservoir in the rainy season.
The rates of water to consumers in private residences are from $1.50 to $4.00 per month. The officers are P. W. Murphy, President; M. M. Egan, Secretary and Superintendent, and W. T. Stewart, Treasurer.
JAMES G. ABBOTT
Died at his residence in San Luis Obispo, February 23, 1882. A view of this pleasant home, one of the orna- ments of the city, is shown in this book. Of this gen- tleman the San Luis Obispo Tribune of February 25, 1882, says :--
On Thursday last this city lost one of its most re- spected citizens, in the person of Mr. James G. Abbott, who died at his residence after a brief illness. Deceased had resided in San Luis Obispo but a little more than one year, but in that time he had made a large number of friends who will deeply deplore his death. Mr. Abbott was born in Aurora, Erie County, New York, in 1827. In 1832 his father's family removed to Michigan, where he was raised. At the breaking out of the Mexican War Mr. Abbott, then a young man, residing in Illinois, en- listed and served through that war. He came to Califor- nia in 1852 and settledin Napa County, and subsequently removed to Nevada and Oregon, in both of which States he engaged in the cattle business. While residing in Winnemucca, Nevada, in the fall of 1878, he was way- laid and beaten in the streets of that town, and received injuries from which he never fully recovered, and which no doubt were the primary cause of his death. Three
men committed the outrage, and the object was robbery. In 1880 he came to this county and purchased several acres of land in the northern portion of the city, and planted-a large orchard, intending to engage extensively in the business of fruit-raising. Last fall he married Mrs. Nancy J. Wright of this city, and fitted up an elegant home which he was prepared to appreciate after success- fully passing through the vicissitudes of a busy and event- ful life. But he was not destined to long enjoy the com- forts which he had provided. On Saturday last he was taken with pneumonia, and on Thursday morning died. He leaves a widow and two brothers, S. H. and A. Abbott, who reside in this city, and two married sisters, one of whom lives at Ukiah in this State, and the other in Missouri. Mr. Abbott was buried yesterday, the funeral being conducted under the auspices of Chorro Lodge of Odd Fellows, of which he was a member.
FRANCISCO ESTEVAN QUINTANA
Was one of the early settlers of the region now em- braced in San Luis Obispo County, where he resided from 1843 until the time of his death, which occurred August 4, 1880, at the advanced age of eighty years. Señor Quintana was born in New Mexico, August 4, 1801, remaining in that country until he came to San Luis Obispo, as above stated. During his long life he was actively engaged in the business of stock-raising, both in New Mexico and California; and, being a careful " and skillful business man, amassed a fortune. Here he owned a rancho of 6,000 acres of land, and some of the finest improved property in the city of San Luis Obispo. His family consisted of wife and six children, of whom three were daughters and three sons.
At the time of his decease the Tribune published the following obituary notice :
Señor Quintana came to this country poor, but by industry, frugality, and good business habits, acquired a competency. For a number of his later years, Mr. Quintana was afflicted with a diseased leg, which in- capacitated him from active business, and two years before his death he had it amputated. His strong con- stitution and nerve enabled him to undergo the opera- tion, and during the last years of his life he was able to get about. The funeral took place from the Catholic Church.
PEDRO QUINTANA,
The son of Don Francisco Estevan Quintana, was born in New Mexico, January 29, 1883, and when ten years of age came with his parents to California, since which time he has lived in San Luis Obispo. He is the owner of 6,000 acres of land in the county, besides valuable property in the city of San Luis Obispo, and carries on the business of farming and stock-raising extensively. Mr. Quintana resides on one of his farms, situated nine miles northwest of the city, a view of it being published in this volume. He was married September 4, 1856, to Miss Luz Herrera de Quintana, and six children, five sons and one daughter, have been born to them.
STILLMAN F. BREED
Was born January 23, 1829, in Monroe County, New York. His father was Silas Breed, and his mother's maiden name was Nancy Bangs. In 1835-36 occurred the period of great excitement through New York and the New England States regarding the grassy prairies
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TOWNS AND LOCALITIES CONTINUED.
and "oak openings " of the Territory of Michigan, then struggling to be admitted as a State in the Union. The fertile lands of the embryo State offered the brightest opportunity that had ever opened to the people of the East, and a rapid emigration ensued. The parents of Mr. Breed joined in the movement, and when seven years of age he became a resident of the "Wolverine State." Being of a studious nature and of scholarly tastes, he acquired in the schools of Michigan an ex- cellent education, and at an early age entered the field as a teacher of youth, adopting that most honorable and worthy vocation as his profession. When twenty-four years of age he was elected County Clerk of Van Buren County, which position he held through two successive terms. While County Clerk he published a Republican paper in the town of Paw Paw. In 1858, after serving his second term of office, he sold his paper and printing establishment, and came to California, where he soon engaged as a teacher. For the following five years he taught school in the counties of Contra Costa, El Dorado, and Monterey, and in the latter county was, while teach- ing, interested in the business of sheep and wool-growing.
Mr. Breed returned to the East in 1864, remaining at his old home in Michigan for two years, going from there to Kansas, where he remained one year. In Kansas he resumed his editorial work, and published a real estate paper at Eureka. He then went to Texas and engaged in teaching in various places, teaching in the schools of Austin, where were five hundred students. From Texas he went to Springfield, Missouri, where he taught in a seminary for young ladies until 1874, when he returned to California. Remaining two years in San Francisco, he then came to San Luis Obispo, where he has since lived, engaged in farming. Mr. Breed's resi- dence and surroundings are the subject of a sketch illus- trated in this book.
CHRISTJAN HANSEN JESPERSEN
Is a native of Denmark, born March 10, 1836. His parents were Jorgen and Catherine (Hansen) Jespersen, who had two children, one son and one daughter, Christjan Hansen being the eldest. He remained in his native Denmark until he had reached the prime of manhood, passing his early years at the common schools of the country, and working on the farm, and when arrived at the proper age served an apprenticeship and engaged in the occupation of ship carpentering. After some years of labor at his trade and farming in the cold regions of northern Europe, he decided to seek that far western land where so many of his countrymen had gone before and prospered so well, and whence the reports returned of the long years of warm sunshine and bright flowers, so vividly in contrast to the dreary winters and scanty vegetation of his Scandinavian home. In 1867 he came to America and to California, first settling at Watsonville, Santa Cruz County, where he engaged in farming and in dealing in Inmber. At that pleasant village by the Pajaro he remained seven years, removing in 1874 to San Luis Obispo County. Here he pur- chased a fine farm of 180 acres on the Los Osos Grant, and upon this he continues to reside, a prosperous farmer.
His well cultivated fields and thrifty orchard and garden exhibit an industry and economical management that is the forerunner of wealth. His cottage home and its surroundings are shown on another page.
Mr. Jespersen was married February 27, 1862, while in his native land, to Miss Annie Batille Iversen, and they have seven children, five sons and two daughters.
CHAPTER XLIV.
TOWNS AND LOCALITIES CONTINUED.
East of the Santa Lucia-The Carrisa Plain-Valley of the San Juan -- San Jose Valley-Pozo -- Owners and Farms in 1877-80- Naming the Post-office-Don Ynocente Garcia-Santa Margar- ita-Seen by J. Ross Browne-Bear Catching-The Santa Lucia Range-The Eastern Valleys-Eagle Rancho-A Gal- lant Hunter-A Lovely Park-Falls of the Atascadero-J. Henry Baron von Schröder.
AST of the Santa Lucia Mountains is a large area comprising about three-fifths of the county. This is included in Salinas Township which had, at the census of 1880, a population of 1, 209, and San José Township, which had a population of 872, making a total of 2,081, the population of the county being 9,142. In all this eastern section of about 2,ooc square miles there is but an average of one person to the square mile. The settlements are at the La Panza gold mines, Pozo, or San José Valley, Paso de Robles, Hot Springs, the Estrella, San Miguel, and the scattered farms and ranchos. Post-offices are at Pozo, La Panza, and Carrisa, on the route through the valley of the Arroyo Grande, but no regular service is established between La Panza and Carrisa. In the north are post-offices at Paso Robles and San Miguel on the daily stage road, at Adelaida on the route between Paso Robles and Cambria, and at Cholame in the northeast without regular service.
THE CARRISA PLAIN.
In the extreme southeast is the Carissa Plain, formerly called the Estero, one of the most singular formations of the county. With the exception of a few huts, as camps for 'sheep herders, the only settlement in the section is that of Mr. Chester R. Brumley, near the famous painted rock, in the southwestern quarter of the valley. This gentleman and his accomplished family have made there a little oasis in the broad, treeless and desolate plain. A comfortable two-story house, surrounded by a broad, vine-clad veranda, amid a little grove of fruit, eucalyptus, and cotton-wood trees, presents a pleasing contrast to the usual style of buildings through the pastoral regions.
Water is obtained in wells at from twelve to twenty feet in depth, and is raised at the house by a hand pump, and at the barn for stock it is pumped by a windmill. Fruit trees, as cherry, apple, and peach, grow luxuriantly, but sometimes the fruit is blasted by a severe north wind. This may not be the fate generally, but it is thought that in most localities a wind-break of trees will be required. Some eucalyptus trees are growing thriftily, but others planted at the same time were killed by frost. Cotton- woods grow rapidly. Melons, tomatoes, and other deli-
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HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
cate garden vegetables grow well without irrigation. Wheat and barley have been grown successfully, though cut for hay, as the distance from market forbids the trans- portation of grain. These are the first and only experi- ments in agriculture on the Carissa Plains. These plains, or this valley, is about forty-five miles in length by from eight to twelve miles in width, and at a general elevation of 1,000 feet in the center, to 1,300 feet at the northwest and southeast extremes. The greatest depression is near the center, where all drainage is received. Thisreceptacle in the dry season is a vast bed of salt of from one to two miles in breadth and five miles in length; but in seasons of excessive rains, it is a lake of equal dimensions. Now it is a resort for the sheep and cattle-growers for twenty to thirty miles around to get their salt for stock and often for domestic purposes. By sinking about four feet in the bed intensely salt water is obtained. For a few miles north of the lake the soil contains some alkali; but generally throughout the plain it appears to be of excellent quality, requiring only water and seeding to make it as productive as the best of the coast valleys.
The land, as usual in California where the surveys went ahead of occupation, has been bought up by speculating capitalists of San Francisco, J. M. and R. H. McDonald owning near 50,000 acres, I. Glazier, 47,000, Schultz and Von Bargen, 21,800 acres, Haggin & Carr, and others also holding large tracts. It would seem to be the policy of these wealthy landholders to prospect their possessions with the artesian borer, as possibly they might obtain flowing water or find some valuable minerable substance beneath the surface. Or, they might experiment with fruit trees and grapevines or other tillage, and if success- ful their property would greatly enhance in value, and colonies of hundreds of families could be established. There are several wells where water is raised for sheep, and the water is excellent and abundant, the wells being only from twelve to twenty feet in depth.
This plain is separated from the Tulare Valley by the southern extreme of the Monte Diablo Range of mount- ains. This is a low and generally treeless, sandstone range, trending northwest and southeast, and constituting the dividing line between San Luis Obispo and Kern Counties. On the west is a low ridge separating it from the valley of the San Juan and the Carrisa Valley, which is an arm of the San Juan. On the northwest a similar divide separates it from the main Estrella River, these streams being two or three hundred feet lower than the general level of the Carissa Plain.
VALLEY OF THE SAN JUAN.
The San Juan River is the southern branch of the Estrella, but through most of its course is in summer but a broad channel of sand, water being found only in occa- sional pools. In seasons of heavy rain this channel becomes a river, in fact as well as name, from fifty to one hundred yards in width. In such seasons the many small valleys and the gently rounded hills that make up the country are clad in luxuriant herbage of alfileria, wild oats, bunch-grass, and flowering herbs, and grand
oaks scattered over hill and vale, making it a paradise to the stockman and a land of beauty to the traveler. But houses and improvements are rarely seen; although it is an old settled region. The valley may be considered as comprising that section between the San José Range and the Carrisa Plain, with the ranchos Los Chimeneas and Avenales in the southern part; La Panza and the mining region in the central part. La Cometa, or Comate, Cali- fornia and San Juan Capistrano in the northern part. These are spoken of in the early history of the county. The old settlers were John Gilkey on the Comate, mur- dered in 1858, Baratie and Borel on the San Juan Capis- trano, murdered in 1858, Phillip Biddle, Robert G. Flint, James Mitchell, Joseph Zumwalt, D. W. James, and John D. Thompson, being of those who located in that region more than twenty years ago.
The country is almost entirely devoted to pasturage, but the ore-bearing rocks, the mineral springs, the fertile soil, and the many great acorn-bearing oaks indicate capacities for the support of a large industrial population.
SAN JOSE VALLEV-POZO.
In the latter part of June, 1870, Walter Murray, then editor of the San Luis Obispo Tribune, visited San José Valley, and published of it the following historical and de- scriptive sketch :-
This valley lies about twenty miles east from San Luis Obispo to the southeast of the Santa Margarita Rancho. This place once bore the far more dignified title of "Rancho" instead of "Valley." We mean previous and up to the time of our arrival in this county (1853), and even afterwards. It was then supposed that Don Yno- cente Garcia had a grant for the whole of the land em- braced within the valley and its surroundings, to the ex- tent of five or six leagues. Early in 1854, however, this idea exploded, and the old gentleman and his sons treated the place as Government land, and recorded possessory claims upon the more favored portions of the tract. It turned out that he had only made application to the Mexican authorities for a grant to the premises, but that no action had ever been taken on the petition. We have all along believed that the land in question could not have been very valuable, or it would have been ex- ceedingly easy and obvious to have found, or made, a title to it, as has been done outside of our county in so many brilliant instances. After dne inspection, we must give our old friend and his friends great credit for honesty and integrity, that they did not contrive to gobble up the whole of the valley in this wise. It is well worth the trouble; and looking at the matter in the light or rather in the twilight of popular theology, we really see no reason for their not having done so, except the fear of a warm re- ception hereafter in that romantic region where blankets are supposed to be equally unknown and unnecessary.
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