History of Santa Barbara county, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 19

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

USA > California > Santa Barbara County > History of Santa Barbara county, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 19

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).

CUSTOMS IN THE GOLDEN AGE.

The following, made up from the Santa Barbara Index of June 27, 1874, written by an eye-witness, will give a correet idea of Santa Barbara life among the natives after the discovery of gold.

"On the discovery of gold by Americans and the rush of American immigration the inhabitants of Santa Barbara Valley were living in a state of patri- archial simplicity. They were the owners of ranchos almost boundless in extent, and depended for sub- sistence on the profits of vast herds of cattle. The pueblo, or town, was little more than a trading post, to which the ranchero could bring his hides and tallow for sale and transportation, and when the coast trade could find a port for the disposal of bis wares. Its streets, or rather by-ways, between its houses, were strewn with refuse horns and hoof's from domestic beef slaughter, each family slaughtering its own animals, and were unpaved and wound up in cul de sacs and courts, and, together with long rows of adobe houses, were set at random with one another. The Spaniard who could count his cattle and sheep by the thousand, built himself a comfortable dwelling. It was of adobe, for this was the building common to Santa Barbara's rich as well as to her poor; but it was lighted with windows, had massive doors and broad corridors, and was finished in a manner with plaster and whitening. The number of these structures, however, was small. The house, characteristic of the town, was a low, one storied adobe with a roof of red. burnt clay tiles. The tiles were supported by poles or rafters, laid from the outer walls to a center beam, under the apex or comb of the roof. Between these poles or beams and the tiles was woven a matting of cane or bamboo. The dwelling was neither floored nor ceiled. It had no windows other than square

openings which were closed with wooden shutters, and, within and without, the walls were left to the roughness and brown of the adobe. Very few Cal- ifornians had stoves or chimneys. They built their fires in one corner of the room on the hard clay floor. A circle of stones was placed around it, and the smoke found its way through the doorway, windows, or crevices in the roof. A daily subjection to this sooty atmosphere deepened the gloomy hue of the abode. Scarcely any gloomier home can be con- ceived than within these dark and smoke-stained walls.

" After the discovery of gold by the Americans, the cattle of California, nearly worthless before, beeame of almost fabulous value, so that, as one writer said. every bullock of their herds was as a skinful of silver, and his marrow was as fine gold. But money came to the Californian as to a child. He knew nothing of the value of the wealth, which circumstances, not of his own creation, had thrust upon him, and he seems to have been dazed with the magnitude of his pros- perity, and at a loss for objeets within the range of his appreciation upon which to expend his wealth. Dress, furniture, horses, gambling, bullfights, cockfights, fes- tivities, and high living filled the sum of his existence. Mirth and vanity reigned over every other sentiment. In the poorest hovels, relies of those halcyon days of luxury are still displayed before the eyes of the curi- ous stranger. There are pieces of old-fashioned and worn furniture, high-topped bedsteads, hair-cloth sofas, high mahogany bureaus, and curious antique picture frames. Still more interesting are the luxu- rious bed curtains of lace and erimson damask; the pink-covered pillows with lace casings; the orna- mented sheets and coverlids, and the lace-covered, tucked, and frilled underwear. These were of the finest linen, and computed by the score. Señoras, we are told, in those years, never deigned to draw on a stocking less dainty than silk, and the clay floor was no stranger to the sweep of regal satin and snow-flecked gossamer. Purple and fine linen were every-day habiliments, and were worn regardless of time, place, occasion or occupation.

" Yet this gorgeous paraphernalia of pomp and van- ity was scarcely more at variance with the rude character of the habitations of old Santa Barbara than were the manners and mien of the people. Though the unlearned, uncultured, and the unambitions occu- pant of a dark, adobe hovel, the Californian has instinctively a gentle bearing. He has something of the dignity of the aboriginal American, with the poetry, the grace, and pleasure-loving sentiment of ancestors of old Spain; and enveloped in her Spanish shawl, many a señorita is as daintily graceful and as extravagantly hanghty as a dramatie queen.

" American and English gold, the miners and immi- grants demand for cattle, brought one long gala day to the inhabitants of Santa Barbara. They moved in gay cavalcades, silver-buttoned caballeros and sen- oritas, decked in Castilian splendor, rebosos of fine silk. On Sundays their gay processions from the tile-covered houses in the country, to kneel at the shrines of the mission church, made the country seem like the home of the gay scenes described by Sir Walter Scott. The aged rode in rude carts drawn by oxen. And when the slight penance, exacted for their small sins, was paid, the sweet voices of hope- ful, happy maidens mingling with the jingling of spurs and the clattering of hoofs echoed along the trails that led to their homes. The ruddy light of the evening fire cast its glow on the faces of young and old daneing to the sound of the guitar and violin, old.

HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY.

middle-aged, and young enjoying the amusement. There was food for all. No thoughts of want occu- pied their minds. The fashion of small families had not been established; in their present happy sim- plicity, could not be entertained. The tenth was as welcome as the first. The twentieth and even the thirtieth were matters of envy rather than commis- eration. Marriage festivities were prolonged for days, and even the funerals had little of that somber melancholy and despair characteristic of eolder tem- pered nations, for were not the departed objects of affection angels now ?"

RANCH LIFE .*

The following description of a rodeo at Den's Ranch will give an idea of the customs of the mixed families :-

RODEO AT DEN'S.

" Mr. Den points out to us the site of the Indian villages from which the rancho takes its name, " Dos Pueblos." From the mounds on this rancho the Wheeler expedition procured fine specimens of antique burial urns and many relies of a past age, and the Smithsonian Institute has acquired here antiquities of value. The rancho house is about seventy years old, and yet in good preservation. The Dos Pueblos rancho a few years ago contained 15.000 aeres, but has now been subdivided among heirs of the estate. Mr. Den has a Spanish mother and an English father, from whom he inherits blue eyes and blonde hair, while from his mother he gets his broad acres and the graceful nonchalance of the Spanish raee. He is seated upon a mustang that he has lassoed from a herd of horses a half hour ago, and yet he has him so well trained that the animal falls back on his haunches and stands motionless while the rider, dismounting, throws the rein loosely over his neek and leaves him standing alone while he brands a cow. Mr. Den is considered the best horseman and horse trainer in Southern California .; He boasts that it is impossible to unseat him, and he comes to this rodeo fresh from a great hurdle raee at Los Angeles, in which he won the prize, and which was contended for by English bloods, who were to ride only English horses. Just as all the high-toned arrangements were made, Mr. Den appeared, claimed the right of entry on account of English deseent, and rode his snowy English thoroughbred to victory. Many of the Spanish vaqueros are seated on saddles that are one flash of brilliants and gold lace. The . wealth and position of native Californians are deter- mined by the elegance of the saddle, and more of the same sort.

" At noon we were invited by Mr. Den to lunch with him at his rancho house. Attended by quite a body guard of Den brothers, all of them attired in handsome Spanish rodeo costumes, or fanciful hunt- ing suits, we turned our ponies toward the low-roofed rancho honse, and made quite a picture, could our friends have seen us, riding in state, surrounded by so gay a cavalcade of graceful riders.

"At the dwelling we were introduced by Mr. Den to his mother, who could not speak a word of Eng- lish, and his sister Maria, a beautiful girl, with the olive complexion, soft, dark eyes, and wealth of

purple-black hair that betokened her Castilian origin. She was dressed in white muslin, and her straight, black hair was eombed back from a broad, low fore- head, and fastened with a jeweled comb, from which it fell down her back nearly to her knees. Then Mr. Den introduced us to his baby sister, Rosita (little rose). She was a blushing, dimpled, pink-and- white beauty, with blonde, waving hair, and large, long-lashed blue eyes. She wore a blue lawn dress and blue ribbons, and was near sixteen years old. I never saw a greater contrast in personal appearance than was presented by these sisters, and one moment I was eharmed by the curving lips of little Rose, and the next moment decided her face was commonplace and faded beside the rich coloring of Senorita Maria. While waiting for lunch, Mr. Den entertained us with music on the piano. The old Spaniards will have no carpets on their floors, and often rich modern ornaments are seen in their old adobe houses, to which they cling with such love and tenacity, even when they have the means to build an elegant modern house."

BULL AND BEAR FIGHT.

The grizzlies often attacked the cattle and de- vonred them. Monteeito, from its vicinity to the (leep eañons of the mountains, suffered great losses in the early days. As late as 1868 a monster bear took a beef every three or four days, until he became such a nuisance that the people raised a purse of $300 for the man who should kill him. The following description of a contest between a bull and a bear, by one who was forced to climb a tree by a herd of wild cattle, is interesting :-

"While in this position, with the prospect of a weary night before me, and suffering the keenest physical anguish, a very singular circumstance oc- curred to relieve me of further apprehension respect- ing the cattle, though it suggested a new danger, for which I was equally unprepared. A fine young bull had descended to the bed of the creek in search of a water-hole. While pushing his way through the bushes he was suddenly attacked by a grizzly bear. The struggle was terrific. I could see the tops of the bushes sway violently to and fro, and hear the heavy erash of the drift as the two powerful animals writhed in their fieree embrace. A cloud of dust rose from the spot. It was not distant over a hun- dred yards from the tree in which I had taken refuge. Scarcely two minutes elapsed before the bull broke through the bushes. His head was covered with blood and great flakes of flesh hung from his fore-shoulders; but instead of manifesting signs of defeat he seemed to literally glow with defiant rage. lustinet had taught him to seek an open place. A more splendid speeimen of an animal I never saw; lithe and wiry, yet wonderfully massive about the shoulders, combining the rarest qualities of strength and symmetry. For a moment he stood glaring at the bushes, his head ereet, his eyes flashing, his nos- trils distended, and his whole form fixed and rigid. But scareely had I time to glance at him, when a huge bear, the largest and most formidable I ever saw in a wild State, broke through the opening.

" A trial of brute force that baffles description now ensued. Badly as I had been treated by the cattle, my sympathies were greatly in favor of the bull, which seemed to me to be much the nobler animal of the two. He did not wait to meet the charge, but,

"The date of this is uncertain. To place the occurrence in the early years of "The Golden Age," might gi e an undesirable antiquity to some of the ladies mentioned, who still have the bloom of youth on their cheeks. The events noted, however, were characteristic of all the years previous to 1865.

tDuring the Civil War 600 mustangs were taken East for cavalry purposes. Five hundred and forty of the number dismounted their riders within fifteen minutes.

THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD.

lowering his head. boldly rushed upon his savage adversary. The grizzly was active and wary. He no sooner got within reach of the bull's horns, than he seized them in his powerful grasp, keeping the head to the ground by main strength and the tre- mendous weight of his body, while he bit at his nose with his teeth and raked strips of flesh from his shoulders with his hind paws. The two animals must have been of very nearly equal weight. On the one side there was the advantage of superior agility and two sets of weapons, the teeth and the claws; but on the other, greater powers of endurance and the most inflexible courage. The position thus assumed was maintained for some time, the bull struggling desperately to free his head, while the blood streamed from his nostriis, the bear straining every nerve to drag him to the earth. No advantage seemed to be gained on either side. The result of the battle evidently depended on the merest acci- dent. As if by mutual consent, each had gradually ceased struggling, to regain breath. and as much as five minutes must have elapsed while they were locked in this motionless but terrible embrace. Sud- denly the bull, by one desperate effort, wrenched his head from the grasp of his adversary and retreated a few steps. The bear stood up to receive him. I now watched with breathless interest, for it was evi- dent that each animal had staked his life on the con- flict. The cattle from the surrounding bills had crowded in and stood moaning and bellowing around the combatants; but, as if withheld by terror, none seemed disposed to interfere. Rendered furious by his wounds, the bull now gathered up all his ener- gies and charged with such impetnous force and ferocity that the bear, despite the most terrific blows with his paws, rolled over in the dust, vainly strug- gling to defend himself. The lunges and thrusts of the former were perfectly furious. At length, by a sudden and well-directed motion of his head, he got one of his horns under the bear's belly and gave it a rip that brought out a clotted mass of entrails. It was apparent that the battle must end soon. Both were grievously wounded, and neither could last much longer. The ground was torn np and covered with blood for some distance around, and the pant- ing of the struggling animals became each moment heavier and quicker. Maimed and gory, they fought with the desperate certainty of death, the bear roll- ing over and over, vainly striking out to avoid the fatal horns of his adversary, the bull ripping and tearing with irresistible ferocity.

" At length, as if determined to end the conflict. the bull drew back, lowered his head, and made one tremendous charge; but blinded by the blood that trickled down his forehead, he missed his mark and rolled headlong on the ground. In an instant the bear whirled and was upon him. Thoroughly invigorated by the prospect of a speedy victory, he tore the flesh in masses from the ribs of his fallen foe. The two rolled over and over together in the terrible death struggle; nothing was now to be seen save a heav- ing, gory mass, dimly perceptible through the dust. A few minutes would certainly have terminated the bloody strife, so far as my favorite was concerned, when, to my astonishment, I saw the bear relax in his efforts, roll over from the body of his prostrate foe, and drag himself feebly a few yards from the spot. His entrails had burst entirely through the wound in his belly, and now lay in long strings over the ground.

" The next moment the bull was on his legs, erect and fierce as ever. Shaking the blood from his eyes,

he looked around, and seeing the reeking mass be- fore him lowered his head for the final and most desperate charge. In the death struggle that ensued both animals seemed endowed with supernatural strength. The grizzly struck out wildly, but with such destructive energy that the bull, upon drawing back his head, presented a horrible and ghastly spectacle; his tongue a mangled mass of shreds hanging from his mouth, his eyes torn completely from their sockets, and his whole face stripped to the bone. On the other hand, the bear was ripped completely open and writhing in his last agonies. Here it was that indomitable courage prevailed; for blinded and maimed as he was, the bull, after a momentary pause to regain his wind. dashed wildly at his adversary again, determined to be victorious even in death. A terrific roar escaped from the dying grizzly. With a last frantic effort he sought to make his escape, scrambling over and over in the dust. But his strength was gone. A few more thrusts from the savage victor and he lay stretched upon the sand, his muscles quivering convulsively. his huge body a resistless mass. A clutching motion of the claws, a groan, a gurgle, and he was dead.

"The bull now raised his bloody crest, uttered a deep, bellowing sound, shook his horns triumph- antly, and slowly walked off, not, however, without turning every few steps to renew the struggle, if necessary. But his last battle was fought. As the blood streamed from his wounds a death chill came over him. He stood for some time, unyielding to the last, bracing himself up, his legs apart, his head gradually drooping; then dropped on his fore-knees and lay down; soon his head rested upon the ground; his body became motionless; a groan, a few convul- sive respirations, and he, too, the noble victor, was dead."

During this strange and sanguinary struggle, the cattle, as I stated before, had gathered around the combatants. The most daring, as if drawn towards the spot by the smell of blood, or some irresistible fascination, formed a circle within twenty or thirty yards, and gazed at the murderous work that was going on with startled and terror-stricken eyes; but none dared to join in defense of their champion. No sooner was the battle ended, and the victor and the vanquished stretched dead upon the ground, than a panic seized upon the excited multitude, and by one accord they set up a wild bellowing, switched their tails in the air, and started off at full speed for the plains.

A SERIES OF MURDERS. .

Two persons, a Hessian and an Irishman, left the mines, in 1849, for the sea-board. When this side of Stockton they found two returning miners asleep under a tree, whom they murdered and robbed, and then continued across the mountains, passing through the Soledad Pass. Here they fell in with three deserters from the navy. The party, now consisting of five, organized for the purpose of plunder. The San Miguel Rancho was the first subject for prac- tice. Mr. Reade, the owner, was an Englishman, and hospitably entertained the whole party when they called upon him. The following night they returned and murdered the whole family, consisting

HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY.

of Mr. Reade, his wife, who was a native Califor- nian, three children, a kinswoman with four chil- dren, and two Indian domestics-twelve persons in all. Mr. Reade was known to have made $10,000 recently in the mines, and was supposed to have had the money in his honse, which was a mistake, however, as he had deposited it at Monterey on his way home. The party, after plundering the house, continued on their way past Santa Barbara, but the news was following and they were overtaken on the beach near the Ortega Hill. A desperate fight en- sued, in which one of the pursuing party, Rodriguez, of Santa Barbara, was killed, and one of the robbers wounded and drowned, the balance being taken prisoners and brought back to Santa Barbara. In the absence of eivil and military authority, a com- mission of three men, consisting of Luis T. Burton, Captain Robbins, and Henry Carnes, was chosen to try them. While the trial was in progress, Governor Mason sent General Ord down to quiet the excite- ment. He arrived while the men, having been found guilty, were under sentenee of death, but he did not think best to interfere with the course of justice. They were sentenced to be shot to death in military style, with three guns to each criminal and a fourth in reserve in case of accident. The place of execu- tion was a short distance north of Mrs. Shonpe's boarding-house. The men all fell at the first fire. The bodies were interred at the mission by the padres who attended them in their last moments. Governor Mason did not approve of the action, and thought of having the parties to the execution tried by court-martial, but the affair was dropped. This affair was exensed on the ground that there was no legal remedy, the Mexican authorities having ceased to aet, and the American law not having been estab- lished. It will be remembered that Don José de la Guerra y Noriega was appointed Judge of the First Instance, but it does not seem that he ever acted, or asserted his authority.

CHAPTER XVI. NEW ALLEGIANCE.

Trouble in U. S. Congress-Constitutional Convention-Fight over the Admission --- Organization of the County of Santa Barbara-Business Matters-Santa Barbara a Thrifty Town -Persons Engaged in Business-Laud Sales-County Offi- cers-Delinquent Tax Payers-The San Gabriel Affair- The Arroyo Burro Affair-Gambling-From Gambling to Highway Robbery-Solomon Pico's Gang-Jack Powers- Jack Powers' Horsemanship - Murder of the Basques- Anecdotes of Powers-Staying an Execution-Plan to Res- cue Dunn-Attempt to Murder Martin-Financial Matters -Notes from the Records of the Court of Sessions-First Assessment Roll (1850).

THE treaty of peace between Mexico and the United States was signed February 2, 1848, before the discovery of gold had made California valuable, or before it was generally known. The American

people early began to hold public meetings, and dis- cuss the questions of political organization. As early as June, 1849, a meeting was held at Monterey to consider the matter of a territorial organization, Walter Colton, the Alcalde, being called upon to draft a statement expressive of the sense of the meeting, which was that a convention, in which all the districts of the Territory should be represented, should be held in Monterey on February 27th, to frame a suitable constitution. These statements and recom- mendations were sent to all the principal towns, but a more careful consideration induced the movers to postpone it until after the action of Congress, which was then considering the matter of the Government of California. But Congress failed to come to any agreement in the matter, for the question of slavery, which ten years afterward divided the nation, was raising its hideous form to view, which would not down at the bidding of any man or any party. The question was argued and voted upon, until adjourn- ment, without coming to any agreement. The Pres- ident recommended the citizens to submit as to a Government de facto, until time and circumstances should favor the formation of something better. Colonel Benton, who had taken mueh interest in this coast, also issued a private manifesto, in which he denounced the military regulations as unsuitable for free, American citizens, and null and void, and recommended the people of California to hold a con- vention, form a constitution, and make application for admission as a State. He assured the people that by the treaty they were American citizens with a constitutional right to make laws for themselves. Senator Douglas also took especial interest in Cal- ifornia, and shortly after the meeting of Congress introduced a bill for the admission as a State of all the territory acquired from Mexico by treaty, re- serving the right of Congress to admit other States out of the territory east of the Sierra Nevada, when- ever the people should apply for it. These measures provoked much diseussion in which great men uttered the greatest absurdities. Mr. Dayton thought there were not men enongh, nor would be, to form a State. He classified the population as twelve or fifteen thousand, remnants of the old missions, retired officers, and soldiers, with crazy gold-diggers, who would have to be lassoed to bring them to a State convention; that more disappointed miners would come back than gold-dust. Mr. Webster thought a military govern- ment the best at present. Robert C. Sehenek pro- posed to return to Mexico all the land we had ac- quired, by treaty in consideration of $12,000,000 on account, or retain San Francisco and pay $9,000,- 000, which proposal actually received a majority of the House in committee, the vote being eighty-five yeas and eighty-one nays, though when it was re- ported to the House, it was rejected by 194 to 11. General Dix thought the people ought to pass through the stage of territorial action, and learn to govern themselves before being admitted as a State. The

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.

History of Santa Barbara county, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 19

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