History of San Luis Obispo County and environs, California, with biographical sketches, Part 7

Author: Morrison, Annie L. Stringfellow, 1860-; Haydon, John H., 1837-
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1070

USA > California > San Luis Obispo County > History of San Luis Obispo County and environs, California, with biographical sketches > Part 7

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Aboutt fifteen years ago the grandson and granddaughter of Jose Maria Villavicencio, known as Villa, found and homesteaded a piece of govern- ment land in the hills back of Nipomo. The granddaughter is a teacher in the county, a fine woman, who, with her brother, has for years made . a comfortable home for their mother. This mother as a girl dressed in silks and wore her satin dancing slippers. As a wife and mother she toiled on a little ranch to raise the family, and saw others grow rich and live in luxury on the lands of the Corral de Piedra that her father sold for so little. No wonder some of these Spanish women of the olden days refuse to speak the Imguage of the Americans. To them the Americans spelled ruin, and their girlhood memories were embittered because their Spanish fathers were not ull to cope with the keen Yankee business of the "Gringos."

OLD FAMILIES

John M. Price

john M1. Price came to California in 1830. He was born in Bristol, Eng- Mani, m 1810. From there he went to sea at the age of fifteen and before he de Gehteen was on a whaling vessel in the Pacific. With a companion he ro deay while on shore in western Mexico to escape the brutal treatment of In kapain. For six or seven years Mr. Price worked on the cattle ranches of the salinas valley, in what is now Monterey county. He then came down and Som to work on the Nipomo for William Dana, being paid fifteen dollars Alvarado, the Mexican governor, had made promises to an American. Isaac Graham, who had helped him win over Guiterrez as governor of the state. These promises Alvarado now refused to fulfil and determined to rid himself of Graham and all the other Americans. On one pretext or another he induced "the foreigners" to come by twos and threes to Monterey, when he arrested them and threw them into prison, until he had one hundred sixty prisoners. Hle placed them on a ship and started them to Mexico, stopping at Santa Barbara.

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SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

One day in May, 1840, a band of soldiers arrived at the Dana ranch and arrested Price. He was taken to Santa Barbara and placed with the other prisoners. At Monterey it was debated whether shooting the prisoners would not be best; but a vessel, the "Don Quixote," came into port, and the captain learned Alvarado's plan and induced him to send the captives to San Blas for trial. The "Don Quixote" followed the ship having on board the prisoners. At Santa Barbara, they were taken off the vessel and put in prison there, where one, an Englishman, died from the cruel treatment they were all subjected to. After a few days at Santa Barbara, the men were taken back to the ship and the vessels sailed for Tepic. Here an appeal was made to the American consul, who seemed to do nothing; then the English consul was asked to interfere. He got the prisoners released, and allowed $3.50 per week for rations.

The men now demanded compensation of the Mexican government and after months were offered $400.00 each, and all to be set free at San Blas. All but fifteen accepted these terms. Among the latter was Price. These men demanded to be returned to their homes and compensated in full for their losses and sufferings. They were settled with, and returned to Mon- terey after six months' absence. In 1846, Mr. Price lived in an old adobe near where the town of Arroyo Grande is. Fremont, on his way from San Luis Obispo to Los Angeles, stopped at the ranch, but after a short parley went on. "Uncle Johnnie Price" was the friend of all, and during his latter years dressed in a neat gray suit and silk hat. He was a familiar figure on the streets of Arroyo Grande, where the writer first met him in 1900, still hale and hearty. He owned 7,000 acres at Pismo and held many public offices which will be mentioned later. He died at his home, June 4, 1902, at the age of eighty-two. He is buried in the Catholic cemetery at Arroyo Grande.

William G. Dana

On the Nipomo lived William G. Dana and his family. Mr. Dana was born in Massachusetts in 1797. He came of a fine family, among them min- isters, statesmen, authors, poets and men of the sea. At the age of eighteen, he went to China on board his uncle's vessel. He determined to enter the trade with China and India and later we find him captain of the "Waverly." plying between this coast, the Sandwich islands and the Orient. In 1825 he estab- lished a store at Santa Barbara. The handsome young American fell in love With Dona Maria Josefa Carrillo, daughter of a wealthy Spanish family of Santa Barbara, and he applied to Mexico for citizenship. Things did not move fast enough to suit the ardent lover, so he applied to the governor of California for permission to marry the lady at once. The governor said he must wait five months, or until his papers of naturalization were forwarded. In August, 1828, the marriage was celebrated with great ceremony. The same year he built the first vessel ever launched in California. The place where it slipped into the sea still bears the name Goleta (schooner). In 1835 he secured the Nipomo (foot of the hill) grant and in 1839 came there to live. A big adobe house of thirteen rooms was built, and a lavish hos- pitality characterized the Dana home. Often marauding bands of Tulare Indians had to be driven off or suffered to drive off the cattle. Mr. Dana established a soap factory, furniture factory, looms for weaving and block

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

smith shops. He sold his goods to neighboring ranches, and to the Santa Ynez and La Purisima missions.

He brought home from his voyage quantities of sandal and other valuable woods. From these he made beautiful furniture, tables, bedsteads and ward- robes. Mr. Dana held the office of Prefecto under the Mexican rule. At the first election for state officers in 1849, he received a large vote for state senator ; but some informalities awarded the election to Don Pablo de la Guerra. In 1851 he was the first county treasurer elected. Twenty-one children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Dana. He died February 12, 1858, and is buried in the Catholic cemetery at San Luis Obispo, where a fine monument marks his resting-place.

Francis Ziba Branch

Francis Ziba Branch was born in New York, July 24, 1802. His father lied before he could remember him, and as soon as he was able the boy had to become self-supporting. He went to work on the Erie canal, then on the Great Lakes and Mississippi river boats. At St. Louis he joined a party of one hundred fifty men, with eighty-two ox-drawn wagons, bound for Santa Fe, N. M. Later Mr. Branch joined a party under William Wolfskill, bound for California. In this state Mr. Branch engaged in hunting the sea otter. He made enough capital to set up a store at Santa Barbara. In 1835 he married Doña Manuela Corlona. In 1837 he received his great land grants on the Arroyo and the Santa Manuela, amounting to almost 17,000 acres. Later he became owner of the Huer-Huero and Pismo grants. He came to live upon his Arroyo grant and built a large adobe house. To pro- tect his stock from Indians and bears, he kept his horses in a large corral. A bell was kept on one of the animals to warn him if they were disturbed. One night the steady tinkling of the bell aroused his suspicions. He went out and found an Indian steadily ringing the bell, while the corral was empty of horses. The rifle ball he sent after the thief missed, but soon Price, Sparks, Dana, Branch and others organized against the thieves, and more than one met his dues at the hands of the ranchers.

Bears were a great pest, killing the stock, and Mr. Branch related how, on one occasion, a bear killed a cow and partly ate the carcass. A pit was arranged, covered with brush, and in this Branch and a companion hid, hoping to get bruin the following night when he or she returned to finish the cow. It proved to be "she" and her cub. Branch shot the cub, and the cries of her child enraged the mother beyond telling. She tore around the dead body, leaping at the trees, tearing great strips of bark from them. Either of the men in the pit dared reload and fire, so they stayed till morn- Te. when the maddened creature left. On another occasion Mr. Branch said he saw nine bears at one time eating berries in the thickets on the hillside. fle lad his rifle and had gone out intending to shoot a bear if he saw one. To shoot nine was more than he wanted to tackle, so he quietly "got out."

Michael Daugherty, "Old Mike," was a valued servant on the place; and one time when a bear had killed a calf, he skinned the calf, put on the skin with head and horns attached, and "lay" for the bear. He also got it when it came back to finish the calf. In a copy of the San Luis Tribune, 1877, Hal Williams writes of a visit to the Branch estate. In the old adobe house one room was used for a school room ; and fifteen children, mostly scions of the Branch family, were being taught there. In another room Old Mike, now

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SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

blind and eighty years of age, was being cared for. He said one day, while talking to Williams, "I don't know where old man Branch has gone, but wherever he is, he wants Mike." A few months later, November 3, 1877, Old Mike went to his master.

Mr. Branch at one time was the wealthiest man in the county, owning 37,000 acres of land and great herds of cattle and horses; but the dry years of 1862-63-64 almost ruined him and many others. In the beginning of 1863 he had 20,000 head of large cattle; before the close of 1864 he could gather less than 800 alive. Early in 1863 a cattle buyer from the north offered him twenty-eight dollars a head for his cattle; Branch refused and the deal was off. By failing to sell at the price offered, he lost $96,000. He was a man well liked and was elected treasurer of the county and supervisor of his dis- trict. He died May 8, 1874, and is buried in the family burying ground on the Santa Manuela ranch. His descendants still live on portions of the old grants and in the towns of Arroyo Grande and San Luis Obispo.

Isaac J. Sparks

Mr. Sparks was born in Maine in 1804. With his father he went west and finally went to St. Louis, leaving there in 1831, with a party bound for Santa Fe. He had many adventures on the way, but finally reached California in February, getting into Los Angeles, February 10, 1832. Here trouble awaited him; for by the laws, no one without a passport was allowed, and he was made a prisoner. He soon escaped; and without a cent in his pocket, but still possessed of a gun, he started to reach the coast at San Pedro. He shot a sea otter and thus began a business that he followed for years, reaping a rich harvest from it. The business then often yielded from seventy to one hundred thirty otter skins a year to each hunter, and the skins sold for from twenty- five to forty-five dollars each. He had, by 1848, established a large business, and had his headquarters at Santa Barbara. He decided to go further north for otter and took four boats and twenty men to Cape Mendocino. Hostile Indians drove them off and they returned to Yerba Buena. Here the gold excitement demoralized his crew ; they sought the mines and Sparks returned to Santa Barbara and engaged in storekeeping. Ile was the first postmaster at that place under the United States government. He was a firm friend of the American cause in California, and of Fremont. Ile advanced $25,000 worth of supplies in cattle, horses and other things to the army, and appealed in vain to the government for payment. He erected the first fine brick build- ing in Santa Barbara. Mr. Sparks obtained from the Mexican government two grants, the Huasna and Pismo. The latter he sold to John M. Price and the Huasna he gave to his three daughters, as previously mentioned.

Francis E. Quintana

Francisco Estevan Quintana came here from Mexico in 1843. Ile pur- chased 6,000 acres of land, owned much town property and was one of the pioneer business men of San Luis Obispo. His son, Pedro Quintana, lives in a fine home in this city at the present time (1917). Francisco E. Quintana died in 1880, at the age of seventy-nine years.

In a previous chapter Captain John Wilson and family were mentioned. The members of those prominent early Spanish families that once lived here are now few and fast passing away. Mrs. Ramona Hillard, daughter

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SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

of Doña Ramona Carrillo Wilson, died in 1913, and is buried here. Mrs. Estafana Esquar, daughter of Governor Alvarado, and wife of E. Esquar, at one time superior judge of Monterey, died at her home in San Luis Obispo in September, 1916. Mrs. Esquar would tell of looking on with all the others at Monterey when the Mexican flag went down and the Stars and Stripes went up. She had resided here for sixty years and was eighty-four when she died. At her wedding the military band from the U. S. battleship "Savan- nah," lying in the harbor, came out in all their pomp of uniform and furnished music for the occasion. Officers in full regalia and all the grandees attended the ceremony.

CHAPTER VI Discovery of Gold, and Early History of the County

Kearny was recognized here as governor, but on November 7, 1846, Col. R. B. Mason was dispatched by General Scott, Commander-in-chief of the U. S. Army, with a letter to Kearny, dated November 3, 1846. Mason came by way of Panama, arriving in San Francisco, February 13, 1847. This letter charged Kearny to assure himself that all was quiet here, and then to turn over his authority to Colonel Mason, and to return with a proper escort of soldiers. The U. S. Dragoons that came with him were to remain here.

July 4, 1848, the peace proclamation and its terms ending the war with Mexico were officially signed and published.

Discovery of Gold

January 19, 1848, James W. Marshall discovered gold in the mill-race of Sutter's sawmill. Of all that followed, of the mad rush of gold-seekers, by wagon train and Panama or around the Horn, so much has been written, and so often, that we are not going to repeat it here. On February 28, 1849, the steamship "California" arrived in San Francisco bay, having on board Gen. Persifer F. Smith, who had come to take command of the department, relieving Mason.

Governor Riley and the First Constitution

The discovery of gold had brought a great number of people to Cali- Wirgia, and a hundred thousand more were expected during the summer. Timerate so far had been under military government and no civil government That lo en e tablished. The time had come when a suitable state constitution w gv. riment must be decided upon. On April 13, 1849, Brevet Brig. Gen. Brunall The i sued a proclamation as commander of the department and Surmenu of C', lifornia. No longer were the people willing to be governed Tay ( walters governor and alcalde. Therefore, on June 3, 1849, Riley issued a prop kann front recommending the forming of a state or territorial government. for filtrer- were named, San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Lit :- Corpo, Monterey, San Jose, Sonoma, San Francisco, San Joaquin and

The wuvention met in Colton's hall at Monterey, September 1, 1849. Son Las principa Cent Henry Amos Tefft and Jose M. Covarrubias to the con-

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

vention, which was in session six weeks, adjourning sine die October 13. The boundaries of the state were decided upon, and of course the discussion of slavery was introduced. There were seventy-three delegates to the con- vention. Of those American born, thirteen were from slave states. It was often reiterated, "This is a white man's government," and slavery or not for California was hotly discussed. William E. Shannon, a native of Ireland, was an ardent champion for a free state, and a free state California entered the Union, but with heavy restrictions upon the colored race.

The two great interests of the state at that time were mining and graz- ing, and there were "cow counties" and "mining counties." We were in the former class, and some folks still refer to us as "cow county." Long live the cow, for she has turned millions of dollars into our pockets, and we are plant- ing alfalfa for her, building good barns and toadying to Madam Cow generally ; but we do a few other things also, even mine a little. When taxes were dis- cussed, members from the cow counties saw to it that a clause went in read- ing: "All property shall be taxed according to its value." November 13, 1849, the people adopted the constitution by a vote of 12,064 to 811.

First State Election

The first state election was held November 12, 1849. State and legislative officers were both chosen at this election. The Constitution had divided the state into assembly and senatorial districts, and San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties formed one senatorial district. Don Pablo de la Guerra of Santa Barbara was chosen senator and Henry A. Tefft, assemblyman from San Luis Obispo County. Peter H. Burnett was chosen governor and John McDougal lieutenant governor; William Van Voorhies, secretary of state ; Richard Roman, state treasurer ; John I. Houston, comptroller ; E. J. C. Kewen, attorney general ; Charles'H. Whiting, surveyor general ; S. C. Hast- ings, chief justice ; J. A. Lyon and Nathaniel Bennett, associate justices of the supreme court. The constitution, if adopted, appointed December 15, 1849, for the opening of the assembly without waiting for the action of Congress. There were sixteen senators and thirty-seven assemblymen in the first Cali- fornia assembly which met at San Jose. E. Kirby Chamberlain was presi- dent pro tem and John Bigler, speaker. William M. Gwin and John C. Fre- mont were elected United States senators, and the congressmen were Gil- bert and Wright.

These four men were instructed to go at once to Washington and urge Congress to admit California to statehood. Considerable discussion took place in Congress when the men from California made their request. The okdl slavery and anti-slavery wrangle had to be gone over. Some insisted that California must be a territory before she could be a state. After a long ses- sion and some compromising, California was admitted to the Union as a free state, September 9, 1850.

A Jubilee

October 18, 1850, the steamship "Oregon" entered the port of San Fran- cisco firing repeated signals as she rounded Clark's Point, her masts literally covered with flags. A universal shout went up from the entire populace. which at the first firing of the signals had left homes and all places of business to hear the news they expected the ship was bringing. People were

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

crowded upon the wharves, the hills and house-tops, and the ships in the bay. From every throat leaped huzzas, flags of all nations were run up on the masts of the ships in the bay. An hour after the Oregon's arrival, the newsboys were crying the joyful tidings and selling papers for from one to five dollars each. The rejoicings continued all night. Cannons were fired, rockets hissed across the sky, bonfires blazed on the hills and it is safe to say no Fourth of July or Admission Day celebration since has ever equaled that celebration of October 18, 1850.

Counties Established

February 18, 1850, an act was passed by the assembly dividing the state into twenty-seven counties and fixing their boundaries. The boundaries of San Luis Obispo County are practically the same as those fixed at that time. A little change was made in the southern boundary line a few years later, making it what it is today. San Luis Obispo was named as the county seat. The topography of the county has been described. The area is 3,284.3 square miles ; its average length is sixty-two miles and average width sixty- four miles, though from the farthest eastern to its most western point is a istance of one hundred miles.

First County Elections

The first county elections were ordered held on the first Monday in April, 1850. The prefects of districts were to designate election precincts and name the officers of election. March 23, 1850, an act was passed pro- film., for general elections; the first Monday in October of each year state aml 5-trict officers were to be elected. County officers were to be elected the second Monday in April, 1852, and every two years thereafter. The onces of each county were to be : one county judge, clerk, attorney, treas- uret. Surveyor, sheriff, recorder, assessor and coroner. It was ordered to have printed in Spanish two hundred fifty copies of the act, and these were to be sent to the prefects of Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Bar- bara. Los Angeles and San Diego, and by them distributed at their dis-

March 16, 1850, the state was divided into nine judicial districts; San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties formed the second district. A wort of Sessions," consisting of the county judge and two justices of the pur. exercised the administrative and financial authority until 1852, when dos duties were passed over to the board of supervisors. The legislature adjourned April 2, 1850, and has come down in history as "The Legislature we Thousand Drinks," some say because all the members were so convivial ; pelwra way it was because on one occasion one member who felt very much The defpricing, exclaimed, "Come on, boys, let's take a thousand drinks." Druki or not, a pretty good job was accomplished, and some brilliant men sat in that first legi-lature.

All have passed to the "Great Beyond," but here is a list of some of Salem E. Woodworth, David F. Douglass, Elean Heyden- Delili. M. Ch Vallejo, Pablo de la Guerra, Thomas Vermeule, W. D. Fair, Elisha 1. Cra Wy, David C. Broderick, Dr. E. Kirby Chamberlain, John Bidwell, 1. C. B& bhon, Benjamin S. Lippincott. Assemblymen-Thomas J. White, Ilum Brown. J. s. K. Ogier, Dr. E. B. Bateman, Edmund Randolph, E. P.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Baldwin, A. P. Crittenden, Alfred Wheeler, James A. Gray, Joseph Aram, Joseph C. Morehead, Dr. Benjamin Cory, Thomas J. Henly, Jose M. Covar- rubias, Elisha W. McKinley, John B. Tingley, John S. Bradford and Henry A. Tefft.

The population of the county, in 1850, is given as three hundred thirty- six ; this did not include Indians, but there were not a great number of them. A few worked on the great ranches and several hundred probably lived in rancherias. Before 1850, William G. Dana had served as prefecto of this section. Victor Linares, Jose de Jesus Pico, John M. Price, Miguel Avila, Joaquin Estrada, Esteban Quintana, J. M. Bonilla and others had been al- caldes.

At the first election for county officers held April 14, 1850, the following were elected: J. Mariano Bonilla, judge ; Henry J. Dally, sheriff ; C. J. Free- man, clerk; Joaquin Estrada, recorder ; John Wilson, treasurer ; Joseph War- ren and Jesus Luna, justices of the peace. The court of sessions appointed Francis Z. Branch, assessor; William Hulon, county surveyor ; and William Stener, harbor-master. Gabriel Salazar was appointed "judge of the plains." This was an important office, for these judges had charge of all questions relating to cattle, had to supervise the driving, branding, killing and ownership of the cattle on the great stock ranges. San Luis Obispo County had several judges of the plains after it became a county. The office had first been created under Mexican rule, but it was an office needed much under American rule as well. All records were kept in little books, much like the blank books used by children in school for their written work, and in the Spanish language. The court passed sentence as it thought best. In the case of Pedro Mar- quez, recorded as "a criminal case between the state versus Marquez." the criminal was sentenced to three months imprisonment and $100.00 fine. The fine was evidently worked out on the ranches of "Juan" Price and "Guillermo" Dana, as there were certificates filed from these men stating the number of days he had worked for each.

First Courthouse

At the meeting of the court of sessions, August 20, 1850, the question of a courthouse and jail came up. Rooms in the Mission had been used for holding court and for confining prisoners. The chapel and adjoining rooms were under the control of the priest, by order of Secretary Halleck. John Wilson and his partner, Scott, claimed the rest of the buildings, and the pub- lic also claimed and had used for all sorts of purposes, rooms of the wings. If Wilson owned the property, he was ordered to make repairs. The court took upon itself a good many powers. It ordered the people to put the roads in repair and keep them so; closed to travel the road made by passengers from the entrance of the Cuesta to the Nipomo road, and a fine of ten dollars was imposed for each offense of disobeying; arranged for tavern licenses to be granted only to residents. A gambling license cost fifteen dollars a month, rules in Spanish and English to be placed on view in each gambling resort. It appointed a superintendent of water to look after the irrigation rights. The one farthest from the dam could irrigate first, the others in order, and cach "one hundred varas" of land could have water for forty-eight hours at a time. It allotted land in the town, where all cattle killed in the town must be slaughtered, and provided a penalty of two dollars fine for the

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History of San Luis Obispo County and environs, California, with biographical sketches, Part 7

Author: Morrison, Annie L. Stringfellow, 1860-; Haydon, John H., 1837- Publication date: 1917 Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company Number of Pages: 1070

Author: Morrison, Annie L. Stringfellow, 1860-; Haydon, John H., 1837-
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1070