USA > California > San Luis Obispo County > History of San Luis Obispo County and environs, California, with biographical sketches > Part 25
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS
twenty bushels of barley to the acre, but wheat does not succeed well. In the upper end, grain of all kinds is raised in great abundance.
In 1872, H. J. Laughlin started a store near the old adobe, and the town of Guadalupe was established. The Kaisers came two years later. In 1875. the first newspaper in the northern part of the county, entitled The Guadalupe Telegraph, was established, and was printed in the old adobe. Financial difficulties ensued, and the plant was purchased by H. J. Laughlin and con- veyed to the late De Witte Hubble, who published the paper many years.
Guadalupe was the starting-place of some men who have since become very prominent in their professions, among whom may be mentioned Judge B. F. Thomas of Santa Barbara and Dr. William T. Lucas of Santa Maria.
The most unique character that was ever about the rancho was Jose Chisito Olivera, a relative of the patentee. He remembered and told of the great dances or fandangoes that were held at the old adobe before the coming of the Gringos. He also said that until 1847 there was only a small stream of water there, and that in that year an earthquake occurred and the lagoon was formed. He claimed that Fremont stopped three days at the old adobe, and that a beautiful señorita fell in love with one of the officers and went south with him .* Jose was heir to one-twelfth of the Todos Santos rancho, and traded his entire interest for a saddle and a gallon of whiskey. When his friends told him that the rancho would sometime be very valuable, his reply was: "Yes, maybe, but I need the saddle now, and whiskey is always good."
The first Masonic lodge in northern Santa Barbara County was organ- ized in Guadalupe, on June 12, 1874, with the following officers : J. J. Eddle- man, W. M .; Russell Parkhurst, S. W .; John R. Norris, J. W .; and B. F. Thomas, Sec.
Dr. William T. Lucas, afterwards Master of this lodge, was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of California in 1896. From this lodge, Hesperian Lodge No. 264 was largely formed, in 1882, and for the next twelve or fifteen years the lodge languished. Following the building of the sugar factory at Betteravia the lodge sprang into a new lease of life, and in the last few years they have erected a splendid hall, in which they hold their meetings.
Guadalupe has two good hotels, a Catholic church, a school building of six rooms, and two large dry goods and grocery stores, with many smaller lines of business of all kinds. The town has had a varied history. Prosperous from its founding until, in 1882, the building of the Pacific Coast Railway ten miles farther up the valley gave an impetus to the little town of Santa Maria, then called Central City, Guadalupe then lost many of its prominent residents, who moved to the new center of trade. Guadalupe de- clined until the building of the Southern Pacific Railway through the town gave it advantages in shipping facilities, since which time it has been very prosperous. The present population is largely Swiss, with quite a number of Japanese and Chinese in the southern part. There is a Chinese Masonic lodge. but it is not recognized officially by the American lodges.
* Fremont's notes do not indicate that he was in Guadalupe; neither does Buckner's story.
.
102
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS
Rancho Punta de la Laguna
Ivince Past of Guadalupe rancho is the Rancho Punta de la Laguna, ten by seven miles in extent, but of irregular shape. The grant was made to Luis Arellanes and E. M. Ortega, Dec. 24, 1844, and originally was for 20,084 acres; but when confirmed by Congress it had grown to +4,000. The name of this rancho was derived from the irregular, but beautiful lake lying within its territory and called the Laguna. The vast watershed or territory embracing parts of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Kern and Ventura coun- tics, drained by the Cuyama and Sisquoc rivers, has its outlet in the Santa Maria valley." The territory drained by these rivers is almost as large as the state of Vermont. The lower river and the valley were named for an Indian named Mario, who roamed over this country before the occupancy 1 Americans. He was one of the early converts to Christianity at the Santa Ynez Mission and was thereafter called Santa Maria, the masculine termination of his name being changed to the feminine. These rivers are rushing torrents during rainy seasons; but in the spring the water sinks into the ground when it reaches the valley, and rises twenty miles below to form the lake.
The water in the valley is from thirty to one hundred twenty feet below the surface, and an abundance of water can be found by drilling or digging to those depths at almost any place. With the exception of the area cov- ered by the Laguna, all parts of the rancho are adapted to agriculture. In early days vast herds of cattle, horses and sheep grazed over the entire ranch. This was followed by dairying, which gave way to grain, and this, in turn, was superseded by beans and beets. Three large ranches, from the north- eastern portion of this rancho, were purchased prior to 1880 by W. S. Adam, John Shuman and John Rice, respectively. Grain was their principal crop; but each of them tried to develop fruit culture and walnuts. Fruits were a very poor success : and walnuts, on account of the cool, bleak winds, were an entire failure. Mr. Shuman made a second trial in 1894 with walnuts and apricots ; but meeting a second failure, he abandoned all efforts to raise fruits except a little for home use.
Land on any part of the rancho could have been purchased up to 1897 for from $30 to $50 per acre. The Union Sugar Company purchased the southeastern portion of the rancho at that date, and began the erection of a sugar factory on the bank of the north prong of the Laguna. They made con- tracts with the farmers throughout the valley to raise and deliver beets in 1408; but the great drought of 1897-98 made it an impossibility to raise beets DE all contracts were canceled. Believing it impossible to raise beets success- odly without irrigation, the company completed the plant in 1898 and began in erect a great irrigation system. This was begun first by artesian wells; later they drilled wells where they were needed, and lifted the water by im- This was the first real effort at irrigation in Santa Maria des In 1808, when it was so dry that virtually nothing was produced watnally 1 F. Goodwin erected a small plant on the bank of the Laguna and by irrigation raised a small crop of hay.
I rom the advent of the sugar factory a marked improvement in farming
Wit partof Te Santa Maria river above the junction with the Sisquoc always was, Wwwadd nova calle1 the Cuvama; and from the junction to the ocean, the Santa
19.
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS
began throughout the valley. The farmers had been using the Stockton gang-plow drawn by from four to eight horses, and only skimming the ground. The factory people introduced immense team or steam plows, and turned the earth from thirteen to twenty inches deep. The favorable result was quickly seen, shallow plowing became a thing of the past, and crops of all kinds were much increased. It has been found that the alkali land, that had been considered worthless, produced fair crops of beets when plowed deeply, and that the beets neutralized the alkali. J. W. Atkinson has had charge of the company from the time of first construction, and under his management it has been a success from the beginning. In 1908 the com- pany planted 11,116 acres in beets, besides what they purchased. The year 1913 was the banner season for production, the yield reaching the enormous amount of one hundred fifteen thousand tons. It was claimed by many wise ones that beets exhausted the soil, and that after a few years beet planting would cease. But with a skilful plan of rotation of crops, the yield is at this date equal to that of the virgin soil. For the first decade Ellis Nicholson was in charge of the agricultural department. He was succeeded by M. M. Purkiss, and to their ability much of the productive success is due.
A line of the Pacific Coast Railway was built to the factory when con- struction began, and later the Southern Pacific Railway built a branch of their road to the same point. A beautiful row of cottages border the lake and extend one block north. The company erected a commodious school- house at its own cost, and a new school district was formed. The company has deeded the schoolhouse and the site to the district. A general mer- chandise store, which contains almost everything, is operated by the com- pany. They have a non-denominational church building and a splendid club- house. Prior to the erection of the factory, vast swarms of geese and ducks covered the Laguna; but since that time there has been a great decrease in both ducks and geese. From the starting of improved culture, the land has rapidly advanced in value and is now held at from $150 to $300 per acre. The main crop is beans, on that part of the rancho not owned by the sugar company. The majority of the farmers are Portuguese, who hailed from the Azores. They have raised large and patriotic families in their adopted country.
Suey Rancho
The Suey rancho was granted to Ramona Carrillo de Wilson. The pat- ent was issued in 1865, and conveyed 48,234 acres. As the larger part of the grant is in San Luis Obispo County, and less than 2.000 acres in the Santa Maria valley, we shall merely say that the survey of the line in the valley was a marvel of ingenuity : instead of a straight or curving line, it right angles at every point where it was possible to include an extra piece of good land. The ranch is now owned by the Newhall family and is a great stock ranch ; but thousands of acres are cultivated in grain and beans.
Rancho Tepesquet
This rancho was granted to Manuel Olivera in 1842. W. D. Foxen, who married a daughter of Olivera, used it as a stock ranch from 1843 to 1855, when Pacifico Ontiveros, who had also married a daughter of Olivera, came from Los Angeles and took possession by virtue of gift. The occupancy by 12
194
SYN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS
the ! owens led to the erroneous belief in their ownership. The patent was isstied to Pacifico Ontiveros in 1868, and was for 8,900 acres extending from the range of low hills on the south of the Sisquoc river to the approaches of the San Rafael mountains lying to the eastward. The valley land is a rich sandy loam and produces enormous crops of grain or vegetables. The mesa lying between the river and the hills, called the Santa Maria Mesa, was for many years famous for its abundant crops and high quality of wheat. Con- -tant crops of wheat, with no rest or rotation. have had the inevitable result of lessening the yield, until wheat has ceased to be cultivated. The hill coun- try is rugged, and some of it very steep ; but it is a fine place for stock-raising. Tepesquet creek extends from the Sisquoc river through a narrow pass for about thirteen miles, a never-failing stream of pure, clear water, with abund- ant fall for irrigation or water power. The ranch passed into the possession of four sons of Pacifico: Patricio, Salvador, Juan D. and Abraham. Salvador died in 1890 and his interest was purchased by the others. Only a small portion of the original rancho is now owned by the Ontiveros family.
Sisquoc Rancho
The Sisquoc rancho, containing about thirty-five thousand five hundred acres lies just east of the valley of Santa Maria. For about two miles, it fronts on the valley, and then strikes north and east for ten miles. The Sisquoc river runs diagonally through it from east to west. Very little farm- ing is done, except for hay, stock-raising being the principal industry. The entire ranch is owned by the Sisquoc Land and Investment Co.
Rancho Tinaquaic
The grant of this rancho was made by the Mexican government to Victor Linares in 1837. The patent was issued to Wm. D. Foxen, who came into possession about 1840. It is rectangular in shape and is two and one-half miles by five and one-half, and contains 8,875 acres. The most of the land is hilly. and used for grazing; but both grain and beans are produced very successfully. Like the rest of the Spanish or Mexican grants, it has passed into the hands of others than the heirs of Foxen, and only a small portion now belongs to any of his descendants.
Rancho Los Alamos
This rancho is largely the southern boundary of that part of the Santa Maria valley where the public or government land is located. As very much of the great Santa Maria oil field is on this grant, it is entitled to be con- adlered in any history of the valley. The grant was made to Jose Antonio Carrillo in 1839, and it is said to be the only Mexican grant signed by Santa Vina. The grant was for 49,000 acres. It was patented by the United States mycinment on September 12, 1872. The survey called for 48,803.38 acres. Ham pers before the patent was issued, Carrillo sold a large tract of land off the gruit to Thomas Bell, who put John S. Bell in possession. When the minhE ... - ubsequently patented to Carrillo, the title was clouded, and a series of Law -nits, almost rivaling the great Mira Clark Gains trials, ensued, the case keening on intermittently for twenty-five years, until the Bell heirs finally won. In 1882 the rancho had 500 horses, 1,600 cattle and 60,000 sheep. Falle bog ih mand , cres is adapted to agriculture ; and when the Pacific
1
ADOBE ON THE TEPESQUET RANCHO FRECTED 1857-8
----
-------
195
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS
Coast Railway was built and a market for grain assured, the stock business rapidly declined and today no part of it is a stock ranch. The town of Los Alamos was located in 1877, though a store and blacksmith shop were there several years before. Some other portions of this ranch will be named in the chapter devoted to oil production.
Todos Santos Rancho
This ranch, granted to Salvador Osio, originally contained twenty- two thousand acres. In 1844 the grant was confirmed by Mexico to William Hartnell. The patent from the American government calls for only 10.722 acres. This grant contained a large amount of good farming land and all the remaining portion was splendid grazing land. . At one time it con- tained one hundred head of horses, three hundred cattle and three thousand five hundred sheep. The widely known La Graciosa pass, which gave the name to all the district, is on this grant. The greatest oil gusher ever struck in the Santa Maria oil fields is also on it. This well, known as Hartnell No. 2, was the wonder of the country for weeks-a mighty stream of oil rising 150 feet into the air, spreading out and falling in torrents, starting a veritable flood of oil down the narrow valley. A strong smell of gas per- meating the air told what was the mighty power below that gave the won- derful pressure. Great pools were hastily constructed into which poured thousands of barrels of oil daily. That well was photographed from every conceivable angle, and the pictures were sent all over the United States and even to Europe. It was months before it was properly capped and brought under control. The Hartnell heirs still own an interest in part of the rancho.
Town of Garey
In 1887, Thomas A. Garey organized a land company to operate in the eastern part of the valley. The large tract of land owned by Paul Bradley was nearly all bargained for, and the town of Garey located. Those were the days when fruit was thought to be the coming fortune-maker. Garey started a large nursery near the town, and orchards were planted by many people. The most extensive orchard was that of the Kaiser brothers, one hundred sixty acres, one mile cast of Garey. It was proposed to impound the water- shed south of the town and thus secure water for the irrigation of the entire valley. A hotel was built ; and a blacksmith shop, a store, and the inevitable saloon about completed the town. A school district was formed, and a post office secured with a route from Santa Maria. As with all other parts of the valley, the lack of irrigation and proper fertilization caused fruit to be a failure. The irrigation scheme was a delusion, and the great California boom of 1885 having exploded, the Garey company collapsed and the land returned to its original owners. The orchards have been destroyed, and that part of the valley is now devoted to the production of beans, alfalfa and grain.
Orcutt
Owners of land in the near-oil regions nearly all wisely sold their land to oil companies instead of speculating in oil chances. The town of Orcutt was laid out by the Union Oil Co. on the Pacific Coast Railroad at the north- east corner of the Todos Santos rancho, and was named Orcutt in honor of its founder. It was provided in the charter that there was never to be a saloon
SAN LIAS GRISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS
of the wrong Bnl "the Post-laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley." anal tlnyerhume vue (hw med by a man who owned land adjoining the town, y lax laffont w additiveun the north side with no provision against the saloon. Th : p allt was That fits saloons were started the first year. The founders 1 . wie ilingrwl wiof for a church building, and offered two hundred dol- bar in The wer denminibation that would organize a church and erect a bitte, The Moffa whats quickly accepted the proposition, and established Charm, mettite Takling wa- erected. Oil-supply companies at once moved 1par honliftarters from Santa Maria to Orcutt. Machine shops were also 100-hai, auf ge ben made rapid growth for three or four years. Then Palewhymenf ) Ak Cat canon oil fields drew the operations to that field,
Bor ise ha- good grammar school and a schoolhouse of two rooms, gay in use, pol emaffer room is being built for the coming school year. There are rien de, and a cement tennis court. The enrollment of pupils is forat joner, There is one large general merchandise store, two machine -hunte. a post office, Tootel and restaurant. The headquarters of the Standard OM Co, Tur flis deriet are located here. The oil development is returning Is thesa neMs, amf @ feutt may take on a new start in improvement. The Koen. Paid-Bon zol Pennsylvania companies are all large manufacturers greenlifey and the natural gas for the supply of Santa Maria, Betteravia. ( dinpet Ardgo Grande and San Luis Obispo is produced in this field. The Me phine is owned and managed by Santa Maria people and has proven Www poin_ investment.
CUYAMA VALLEY
We tive skesched each of the grants lying in or bordering on the public Como our government land lying in the valley of the Santa Maria. This, The post meresting and important part of the valley, covers about ninety Sumire inile- or 75,600 acres. No history of this section of country can be winnie without a description also of the great valley of the Cuyama- Hol so den li because it is a part of it or connected with it. but because it is Iam Traband has no direct connection with any place. This valley, while freine almost entirely in Santa Barbara County, has its starting point near the Toimit wirner of three counties, Ventura. Santa Barbara and San Luis Ofone, Then it spreads down the Cuyama river for thirty miles. Stretching -nuth You the river to the Sierra Madre del Sur, at one point forty miles, it une me trea greater than many entire counties of the Eastern states. Wins ponhe eren in this county, think the Cuyama rancho is the entire He The we've idea has been one of the deterrent reasons for the defeat holes lamd Teure to construct a good road from the Santa Maria valley to Luramme Lofil IK o the only way to reach the valley was by traveling "with an the river For many miles the river runs between bluffs on either 1. mon Qbaf was known as "The Narrows." Each concurrent flood in HOF Threw WE boulders into the roadway and obstructed travel. In 3901 06 01 YYO T W. da graded road built around the Narrows which of the year possible. Even with this improvement, 0- 100 The river thirty six times.
18aby Me ve Math made his way up the river and pre-empted a fale com & aos fogy south of the Caliente Spring. The Caliente is a pobre ole ario 8000, alex: 130 degrees Fahrenheit, that gushes out of the
19,
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS
side of a hill and winds its way to the river. During the next few years quite a little settlement had gathered, among whom were .H. C. Malory, C. Richards, C. W. Clarrton, Philip Kelly and two young school teachers, Min- nie Green and Sophia Fauntleroy. In 1894, a post office named Wasioja, with H. C. Malory as postmaster, was established, with a stage route from Santa Maria. The trip took two days each way, the carrier camping out at night. There was no dwelling at which to stop. The vehicle in which the mail was carried was a cart, on the hind part of which was bound a bundle of hay. The postmaster at Santa Maria was requested by the postal de- partment to "Describe the stages and stock used on this route and principal products." A few days before this a rattlesnake had been killed in Cuyama that had eighteen rattles, and the rattles given to the deputy postmaster. The postmaster, who knew about as much about Cuyama as a high-school girl does of Sanskrit, had a picture of the cart and horse taken, and enclosing the picture and rattles, wrote: "Route 68 miles. No settlements. Picture shows stage and stock. Rattles show principal products."
A school district called Wasioja was formed at this settlement in 1895, Miss Minnie Green, teacher. James Good and some others had taken elaims about six miles south of the Cuyama ranch house, and a school district was formed in 1895 called Cuyama. The terrible drought of 1897-98, which gave all of California a hard blow, was excessively bad for Cuyama. Nothing was raised, and stock could not be sold. Several years of partial drought followed, and nearly all the settlers left the valley. Some sold their farms for a pit- tance, others left them unoccupied ; and some who had not secured title aban- doned them. Both school districts lapsed for want of pupils. In 1908 some of the settlers returned. Some of the forsaken homes were purchased by new people and new claims were filed. In 1912-13-14, fairly good crops were obtained; but 1915 produced the banner wheat crop, the yield going in some eases to fifty bushels per acre. One school district was established in 1915, the old Cuyama ; and this year, 1917, Wasioja is renewed and two new districts have been built. An abundant supply of water is furnished them by the county line down the Cuyama, intersecting the Santa Maria valley at the mouth of Tepesquet creek. All the travel to and from the San Joaquin val- ley to the ocean would be by this route.
Cuyama Rancho
The grant of this immense tract of land was made to Gasper Orena and Jose Maria Rojo in 1843. It was patented by the United States to Maria Antonio de la Guerra and Cesario Lataillade in 1868, and called for 71,620.75 aeres. The Cuyama river divides the rancho into two about equal parts, and about 40,000 acres are in Santa Barbara county. The rancho at one time sus- tained three thousand cattle and six hundred horses, with twenty-five hun- dred sheep ; but they ranged all the land to the Sierra Madre del Sur. Only a few horses and about one thousand cattle are now kept. The old ranch house is far up the valley on Ranch No. 2. This part of the rancho is being subdivided to be sold to settlers, and a few miles south of the ranch house a site for a town has been located. On the lower part, or Ranch No. 1, an immense irrigating plant is being completed. There lovely homes and great barns have been formed. A highway or good road should be built from the Kern beautiful Caliente spring. Santa Barbara people, go and see Cuyama and you will vote bonds for the highway to it.
SAR LES MORAISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS
A TRAGEDY OF THE RANGE By Augustus Slack
to aar Flo- sketch, published in the Los Angeles Times Magazine. August " long er Sempresilly describes a thunderstorm in the Cuyama valley, and a not un- comenurragons prile days of the wild, long-horned Spanish cattle, that it is em- 1 ch in our memory Fingi Marre later became owner of a great tract of land near kol -mail roommed ne de cattle business until his death in 1983. His heirs still own lari mbibre menite mid stay with the range. To gather two thousand head of Tomebeers or 1809 ner the awful drought meant a visit to many and many a ranch w wollen Soy Low obispo ranges, for the cattle were gone from our hills, and Ihre fol clore have- whitened the floors of the valleys. Luigi Marre and other cattle- ( vi troront corton- Joytoz cattle irem the southern ranches and driving them to he more- Where prices as high as a dollar per pound were paid for beef at retail and Ho conte 43 % lol - le. Ahout thirty years ago. Augustus Slack took up a claim in
A Heroic Act of a Young Mexican of Long Ago
On The 22nd of May, 1868, two thousand and more fat, sleek, but tired, fransanswers were quietly resting. Some stood contentedly chewing their cuide, while many lay dozing in the rank alfilaria. on the great level mesa and daww-fregh the mouth of the Cañada Verdi out onto the broad flats that hy-Slime The river near the Cuyama valley. Only four days before they had bern erov hol into the mouth of the narrows of the Santa Maria river less than tlorzo five miles below, with much urging had been forced through, Jill had elinthed over the rocks of that fearful gorge.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.