History of Santa Barbara county, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 101

Author: Mason, Jesse D; Thompson & West. 4n
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Oakland, Cal., Thompson & West
Number of Pages: 758

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then. if the cupidity of the manufacturer has caused him to adulterate safe oils with naphtha. it is only necessary to place a quantity in a vessel on a stove. insert a thermometer, and apply heat. and when the temperature reaches 150 degrees, which may be taken as a safe limit, apply a lighted match near the surface. If the oil flames, it is dangerous and should be avoided. Oil that flames at 110 degrees is more dangerous than gunpowder. One hundred and forty degrees is the usual fire test. but is not sufficiently high.

LOCAL CHARACTER.

Professor Whitney, in his cursorary and scattered remarks on the geology of California. has presented several reflections on the oil deposits of this section; and has given utterance to views which seem to bear the stamp of probability in some respects. Concern- ing the adaptability of these deposits for producing kerosene, he spoke most decidedly in the negative. saying that he considered it a settled question that the asphaltum already in sight could never be used for the manufacture of burning or lubricating oils. Ile theu considered, in a guarded manner, the ques- tion if sufficient fluid deposits existed on the surface, which could be utilized for that purpose. In this, he also pronounced in the negative, though it would seem entirely without knowledge of thets, or the desire to obtain such.

He then proceeds: " Is it probable, then. that flowing wells will be struck by boring, as in the oil regions of Pennsylvania, and that these will deliver oil sufficient to make it pay in a large way?" Hle then devotes a page to answering the question in the negative, making the following assumptions to prove his view :-

The geological facts relating to the oil deposits in the State are verily as follows, barring local exceptions: The great bituminous slate formation, in which the oil is contained. extends through Cali- fornia, from Los Angeles to Cape Mendocino. No doubt, say the scientists, it contains enough bitu- minous matter to supply the world for an indefinite period, could it be utilized. But it will be observed that the strata of this formation, all through the region south of the bay of San Francisco, are turned up at a high angle, occupying. in this respect, a very different position from the oil-bearing strata of the Eastern States. There the strata in which oil is abundant, and in which the productive wells are sunk, are horizontal, or at least only slightly inclined. Nowhere is oil obtained in large quantity where the stratum in which it originates is exposed to the air by being turned up on edge, or is only covered by detritus. The reason for this view is evident. The oil is slowly elaborated or brought together in a certain bed or set of beds, and unless confined in some way. so that it cannot escape, it must be forced to the surface by capillary attraction, hydrostatic pressure, or the generation of gas, when the liquid is lost. To allow it to accumulate. there must be an impervious covering. For this reason a large natural flow of surface oil cannot be regarded as a favorable indica- tion of the existence of large oil deposits below, and heavy accumulations of asphaltum are a still Jess favorable indication."

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HISTORY OF VENTURA COUNTY.

Whitney says that in consequence there is a greater likelihood of striking flowing wells north of San Francisco than south, because in the north the bitu- minous shales are horizontal, or at least less disturbed than in the southern districts.

A nice question to be settled, if it has not already been settled by practice, is the similarity between the oils of Ventura and those of Pennsylvania. The pre- vailing opinion among scientific men who have exam- ined the subject is that the oils of California are far less valuable for distilling than the Eastern produe- tions. This is shown in some measure by the great specific gravity of the Ventura oils and their remark- able tendency to separate, the more volatile constitu- ents passing off into the air, while heavy asphaltum is left. This, however, does not at all decide the question adversely to the interests of this coast. Sufficient trial has been made to establish the fact of these oils making, by the processes of partial and fractional distillation, a good per cent. of illuminating oil.

The subject of petroleum has been noticed in Chap- ter XXI. of this work. in which the earlier history of the attempted utilization of the oil was given. The two Eastern companies, the California Oil Company and the Pennsylvania and California, are mentioned, as well as the principal details of the operations in the years succeeding 1865. The exertions of citizens of Ventura County were also mentioned in this eon- neetion, and the principal facts relating to the matter in its earliest development were stated. It now remains to continue the subject down to the present time. It has been mentioned that G. S. Gilbert was what may be ealled a pioneer in the business of utilizing the great oil deposits; accordingly, it may be interesting to consider the prominent phases of this gentleman's life before proceeding with the main subject.

GEORGE S. GILBERT

Traces his ancestry far back to the days when good Queen Elizabeth swayed the destinies of prond Eng- land. In the family line was William Gilbert, the most distinguished man of seience during the reign of the Virgin Queen. This great man flourished during the period from 1540 to 1603, dying on the 30th of November of the latter year. He was dis- tinguished as an author and inventor of seientifie instruments, his works being written and published in Latin, which was the language of scholars of that time. He was made Physician to the Queen, who settled a pension on him to enable him to pursue his scientifie studies. His great work was on magnet- ism, which Fuller, in his " Worthies of England," says, " will support the name of Gilbert to eternity."

George Shoobridge Gilbert. Sr., was born in the county of Kent, England, March 17, 1814, the eldest in a family of four children. The parents, both now deceased, were born in the same county, the father being John Gilbert and the mother's maiden name

Sarah Shoobridge. The family removed to America when George S. was five years of age. Three years later he was left an orphan by the death of his father. Mr. Gilbert passed his childhood and early manhood as a resident of Long Island, New York, and in early life engaged in the oil business in Brook- lyn. This he continued until 1851, through the many years when Brooklyn was growing from a small country village, a suburb of the great city of New York, into a city of the first class, the choice place of residence of the business men of the metrop- olis, and distinguished as the "City of Churches." In 1851 Mr. Gilbert transferred his capital and his energy to the Pacific Coast, and in San Francisco established his oil business, which he successfully carried on until 1860. The asphaltum in great abun- dance along the southern coast of the State had long attracted the attention of the studious and the curi- ous, and in 1860 still greater interest was given the matter by the developments of petroleum in Penn- sylvania, and the economieal uses made of the oil. To examine this substance and bring it into market, was the object of Mr. Gilbert's removal to San Buena- ventura in 1860. Here he then established himself and entered upon the development of this great resource, making the first burning oil from crude asphaltum. This business he continued for three or four years. In 1865 he engaged in the mercantile business at Ventura, under the firm name of Chaffce & Gilbert, in which he remained for five years. Retir- ing from business he settled upon his present farm, which is favorably loeated, one mile from the county seat, on the avenue leading to the Ojai Valley. This pleasant home is elsewhere illustrated.

Mr. Gilbert was married, March 12, 1859, to Miss Rachel Humphries, a native of Ireland, and by this marriage has five children. In society he stands prominent, being a member of several social orders, and of the Republican party, although not sneh a partisan as to prevent an accurate scrutiny of the ticket, and the selection of the best men nominated. In 1836, in Brooklyn, he was made an Odd Fellow, joining Lodge No. 26 of that Order. In 1852 he joined the Masonic Order, and maintains his position a worthy and respected member of society, contem- plating his long and useful life with satisfaction and his future with composure.

WONDERFUL SPRINGS.

The most fabulous stories of oil springs and oil creeks cannot equal the actual truth as witnessed in Ventura County. There are deep sluggish streams of oil which pour out of the mountain-sides, day after day, covering acres of land. Mixed with the soil and hardened by the elements, the crude petro- leum soon becomes hardened into a black asphaltum. which reminds one forcibly of concrete pavement. In many places where the streams cross the road, the highway will be literally paved with asphaltum for a distance of many yards. Oil springs in the

RESIDENGE OF GEO. S. GILBERT, SAN BUENAVENTURA, CAL.

RESIDENCE & RANCH OF W. A. HUGHES, SPRINGVILLE, VENTURA CO. CAL.

431

MURDER OF T. WALLACE MORE.

Sisa Canon, and on the head-waters of the Santa Paula, are the rule, and not the exception. Thou- sands of barrels of crude oil run to waste every day along these two mountain streams. There is no region in the world which possesses a greater num- ber of abundant, overflowing oil springs.

Aeres on acres of solid asphaltum mark the local- ity where the oil has flowed out and evaporated for thousands of years, leaving the solid residuum in mountains. In other places the oil is still oozing lazily out, and flowing for hundreds of yards, form- ing a dangerous locality for all kinds of stock, which, getting into the pools of the tarry matter, generally leave their bones as a warning for future explorers to avoid the place. The farmers in the vicinity regard the springs with the utmost abhorrence, and speak of "tar flat," "tar canon," " tar hill," as they would of a horse thief which had trespassed on their herds during the night, and carried off some of their best stock. They make it a point to burn the flow every year, which they do by making a wick of a handful of hay, which converts a portion of the oil into gas, when the whole soon takes fire, making a fierce blaze as high as a church.

Most of the strata containing it are highly inclined, and consist of elay shales alternating with sandstone. The latter, though black and saturated with oil at no great distance below the surface, becomes bleached where it is exposed to the atmosphere, and may be easily traced through the country. The fact that the oil is generally found oozing out of the ground in its vicinity leads many to believe that it is in a state of vapor some thousand feet down in the earth, and is seeking the surface, following the sandstone along its under side, becoming condensed to a fluid as it approaches a cooler temperature. The well-known fact, that the temperature of the earth increases at the rate of one degree for each sixty feet of descent, also that an increase of temperature to 130°, or 65° above the average temperature, would convert the larger portion of the oil into gas, gives this theory a plausibility. Multiplying the average temperature, 65° by sixty-five, the difference required. we have something over 4,000 feet as the depth for the sup- posed gaseous state. As the tertiary or marine for- mation is known to be 7,000 feet thick, this would leave the source of the oil still in the old, uplifted beds of the ocean.

More than a half million of dollars has been ex- pended in the search for oil, so far without satisfac- tory results. A movement is on foot to get Clarence King, or some other able geologist, to make a thorough examination of the oil region, and. if pos- sible, systematize the search and place the oil busi- ness on a paying basis, which it is far from being at present.

THE STANDARD OIL COMPANY.

There is next to be considered the machinations of the formidable organization which controls the entire

petroleum product of the United States The free use of unlimited capital, and the exercise of the high- est form of business talent on the part of its officers has caused within a few years the elevation of a firm, or more properly, ring, of oil refiners into the most complete and compact monopoly in the Western Hemisphere. These men began to make their influ- ence felt upon the oil industry of Ventura, through the leasing of various tracts of oil-bearing lands, and practically stopping the paying production of petro- Jeum, which was then in a fair way of speedy devel- opment. Through the influence of their wealth. and by reason of their understanding with the railway managers, they were enabled to sell, for a time. their Eastern oil at a price below that at which the same quality could be profitably produced in Ventura. Men of small means have been unable to engage in the extraction of oil on their own claims, because the market for the productions was destroyed, and the entire oil interest of the whole southern portion of California has been lett in a state of abeyance. Sup- posed agents of the great oil monopoly have made pretended attempts to open certain wells on leased lands, but the really encouraging appearance of things has been concealed, and every covert means has been employed to utterly prevent the production of oil.

The attempt of small agents of the Standard Oil Company to open wells at the Sespe has always been looked upon as a farce, and it now seems to be the general conclusion that until the breaking of the " ring", all legitimate work might as well cease.

In 1880 the following quantities of oil were shipped from San Buenaventura :-

Crude, 264 barrels; distillate, 128 barrels; refined, 235 barrels; refined, 538 cases; lubricating, 498 bar- rels; asphaltum, 405 barrels.

CHAPTER XLIII.

THE MURDER OF T. WALLACE MORE.

Libel Suit-Ill-Feeling-The Crime-Traces of the Murderers- Development of Facts- New Evidence-Trial of F. A. Sprague-Sentence-Jones' Defection-Great Excitement- Jones' Second Affidavit-Case Reviewed by the Governor- Resolutions of the Bar.

THE high position which the family of which he was a member held, and the preceding as well as the subsequent circumstances, take the case out of the category of common criminal affairs, and elevate it into publie importance as involving a large portion of the community in it, as moral accessories before or after the fact. The More family, as the reader of this volume has already observed, have been extensive purchasers of the old landed estates of the Spanish families. The Santa Rosa Island, the Patera or por- tion of the Hill estate, the Santa Paula y Saticoy, the Lompoc and Viejo Purissima and the Sespe came into

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HISTORY OF VENTURA COUNTY.

their hands. At one time the More brothers owned a tract on the Santa Clara River, thirty-two miles long. The land difficulty which terminated in one of the most horrible cold-blooded murders, commeneed on the Sespe, and about the Sespe lands. Some ac- eount of the grant, and the purchase of the land is necessary, to form any clear idea of the murder, or the causes which led to it.

On the 23d of May, 1829, Don Carlos Carrillo peti- tioned the Mexican Government for the grant of the Sespe tract, on the usual conditions as to settlement, etc .; on the 29th of Novemberfollowing the request was acceded to to the extent oftwo leagues (8,880 acres), and possibly to six leagues, as will be hereafter shown. The local government put him in possession of about six leagues. Whether two, or six, caused all the subsequent difficulty. This right was afterwards in 1854 purchased by T. Wallace More, who supposed that he was buying six leagues, the price that he paid, $18,000, being a full value for the larger named quantity. The title to the land was prosecuted by More, using the name of Carrillo as one of the parties in interest. The records of the courts show the following proceeding -:-

ADMINISTRATOR'S SALE.

IN PROBATE COURT,

Santa Barbara County. S

By order of the Probate Court of Santa Barbara County, I will sell at public auction, at the Court House door in Santa Barbara, on Wednesday, Novem- ber 8, 1854, between the hours of ten A. M. and two P. M., the undivided 13 of the Rancho San Cay- etano, being the whole of the right to said rancho of the late Josefa Castro de Carrillo, deceased.

This rancho is one of the most desirable places in California. It comprises six leagues of land (con firmed by the U. S. Land Commissioners) lying on both sides of the Santa Clara River, and covering the entire breadth of the valley. The mountains bonnding it are well wooded, and the supply of water from the river and its tributaries is ample, not only for irrigation, but for driving mills. Terms of sale fixed by the Court are: One-third cash on day of sale, and the remainder in one month.

R. M. WALLACE, Administrator of the Estate of Josefa Castro de Carrillo, deceased. Santa Barbara, September 29, 1854.

On the 18th of April, 1853, the Commissioners confirmed the grant title to "six leagues and no more." The United States, as the adverse party, appealed the ease to the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. When the dis- seño or grant was brought into court, it was observed for the first time that the numbers of the grant bad been tampered with, and that, probably, instead of six leagues, as was confirmed by the Commissioners, two had been erased and six substituted, though when this was done, if at all, it was impossible to tell, as the impression or belief of the old settlers was that the grant was made for six leagues. Judge

Ogier, before whom the case was to have been tried, died before the case was submitted, but Fletcher M. Haight was so much inclined to throw out the whole matter for fraud, that More's attorney was induced to waive all claim to more than two leagues, which quantity was then confirmed by the Court. The fol- lowing stipulation was filed by More's attorney, February 5, 1856:

Carlos Antonio Carrillo. et als., and Thomas W. More, Appellees, adverse to the United States, Appellants.

It is admitted by the claimants in the above entitled cause, that the grant of the land claimed in this case as originally delivered to Carlos Antonio Carrillo, was for two square leagues of land, the quantity as shown in the copy of the expediente on file in the case, and not for six square leagues. And it is further admitted by said claimants, that the said original grant was altered by erasure from two to six square leagues, after the time of its execution and delivery to said Carlos Antonio Carrillo, without the knowledge or consent of the Governors or other offi- cers of the late Mexican Government in California.

A. F. HINCHMAN, Attorney for Appellee.

March 14. 1872, a patent for two leagues was issued to More. In 1875, he made the effort to pur- chase the other four leagues. The law under which he made application was as follows, sec. 7-8, Codes of 1866 :-

"Where persons in good faith and for a valuable consideration, have purchased lands of a Mexican grantee or their assigns, which grants have subse- quently been rejected, or when the lands so con- firmed have been excluded from the final survey of any Mexican grant, and have been used, improved and continued in the actual possession of the same as according to the lines of the original purchase, and where no valid adverse title except that of the United States exists; such purchasers may purchase the same, etc .; provided that nothing in this act shall be construed so as in any way to interfere with the rights of any bona fide pre-emption claimants."

The settlers claimed that the claim had been con- firmed in full; that they had for years been settled on the land, and had pre-emption claims antedating this law, and appealed to the law of March 3. 1861, sec. 13, which declares that all lands, the elaims to which have been finally rejected by the Commission- ers in manner herein provided, or which shall finally be declared invalid by the District or Supreme Court, and of all lands, the claims to which have not been presented by said Commissioners within two years after the date of this act, shall be deemed held and considered as part of the domain of the United States. Mr. More's attorney had made application to the Register of the Land Office for permission to purchase. On that officer refusing the permission, the petition was lodged with the Commissioners at Washington, where it was pending at the time of the murder.

LIBEL SUIT.

During the several years which preceded the mur- der, there were often difficulties with the settlers,

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MURDER OF T. WALLACE MORE.

who, to the number of sixty, had settled on the ground which More claimed. Among the rest was Joseph Bartlett. While the matter was in dispute More had Bartlett dispossessed by the Sheriff, tore his cabin down, and burned the materials of which it was made. Not long after, some one who reoccupied the place was poisoned, whether accidentally or not is unknown. An account thereof was copied into the Bulletin at San Francisco, and commented on in such terms that More sued the Bulletin Company for $100,000 damage for libel. The case was tried in Santa Barbara, and is interesting as showing the animus of the people towards More at that time, and as explaining, somewhat, the results of the trials afterwards. The offensive article was as follows :-

[San Francisco Bulletin, February 17, 1871.]

"Some facts concerning an attempt to poison a set- tler on the Sespe Rancho, in Santa Barbara County, were copied into this paper yesterday from the Santa Barbara Press. The facts serve to illustrate some of the incidental evils of these unsettled Mexican grants. The Sespe Rancho was originally a Spanish grant for two leagues of land on the Santa Clara River, about twenty-five miles from the coast, in Santa Barbara County. After the grant was made, but at what time does not appear, the first rascality was discov- ered, in the erasure of dos (two) leagues, and the interlineation of seis (six) leagues. Long after this fraudulent change in quantity had been made, one T. Wallace More bought the grant, affirming, or pre- tending that he thought it was for six leagues instead of two; although an inspection clearly shows that a fraudulent alteration had been made. All the preliminary papers clearly set forth two leagues.

" These facts were so apparent that it was difficult to find any respectable lawyer to take up More's claim and push it for the larger quantity. The decree of confirmation we believe is for two leagues, and the survey was made to conform to the decree. The case is now pending on confirmation of the survey before the Land Commissioners at Washington. Sometime since the Commissioner wrote to the Surveyor-Gen- eral here, asking his opinion about these alterations. The latter did not hesitate to express his conviction that they were fraudulent, and that the grant was intended to cover but two leagues. The settlers knew all these facts, and have known them for years. They know that the man who is claiming six leagues is only entitled to two; and that more than 16,000 acres of land claimed under a fraudulent alteration of the grant, are really public land. They have settled upon this surplusage and of course wish to save their homesteads. More wishes to drive them off, and, perhaps justifies resort to means which, naturally enough, are the sequel of a fraud committed with respect to the title papers. One of the settlers a few years ago had his house burned down in the interest of the grant-holder. And recently it was attempted to take the same settler off by poison, which, failing to reach him. took effect on his tenant Of course the settlers bother the grant-holder. and they think probably under a fraudulent alteration of his grant he is trying to hold land to which he has no title. If the settlers could be poisoned like so many ground squirrels it might, in the estimation of the grant-holder be a cheap means of taking them off.

Probably within the next six months the grantce will be forced by the Government to curtail his limits to two leagues, and then the settlers may have peace, if it is not thought advisable to proceed any further with the poisoning business in the meantime. These transactions may not be worse than those which have grown out of some other grants, but they illustrate the degree of rascality which these grant abuses have engendered."

Jury in the case of More vs. S. F. Bulletin: M. II. Lane, R. F. Stevens, A. W. Hicock, A. M. Neal, W. S. Marris, C. W. Leach, HI. McCaffrey, Joseph Cline, George Smith, M. Fletcher. J. C. Higby and M. Stridl.

Joe Bartlett swore to being annoyed by the Sheriff seeking to put More in possession. that on returning to his home he found his house burned; that his cattle were afterwards run off. José Ortega testified to More threatening to burn the house; that he removed the grain, and that More set fire to it.

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History of Santa Barbara county, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 101

Author: Mason, Jesse D; Thompson & West. 4n Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Oakland, Cal., Thompson & West Number of Pages: 758

Author: Mason, Jesse D; Thompson & West. 4n
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Oakland, Cal., Thompson & West
Number of Pages: 758