History of Santa Barbara county, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 69

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 69

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Mr. Roberts married Miss Nancy Green, in 1851. They have no children.

The Colony lands are divided into six school dis- triets, each with an ample school building. A public park of five acres has been set apart from the lands, for the delectation of the whole colony. The popula- tion of the colony lands is 1,400.

The acreage of grain sown this year, expressed in per cent. of the various principal crops, was approx- imately as follows: Wheat, 36; barley, 36; mustard, 10; beans, 7; corn, 6; hay, 4; flax, ¿; potatoes, }.

AN EXPLOSION.

In April, 1881, the household of the Lompoc Hotel was scattered in consternation by the explosion in the

stove, of wood loaded with gunpowder. The motive for this act was never certainly known. On a previ- ous occasion, while under the proprietorship of G. Butchart, bombshells or torpedoes had been exploded on the premises, causing the owner to close up his liquor business and leave the town.

The Lompoc Record, in an article in May, 1881, says :-

" Citizens of Lompoc: Much as we hate to admit it, there is no disguising the fact that there is a little whisky saloon in our temperance colony. The evil consequences are painfully apparent. Drinking and drunkenness are becoming too common for the good of individuals, their families, and the community and the safety of property. Sheep-shearers will soon be here in considerable numbers, to receive and spend their wages. If much of it goes for whisky, as it nearly always does, we ought to have some special constables sworn in, a calaboose erected, and a night watchman employed. Harvest will be at hand shortly, and every one knows what a terror a rum- hole is at that season of the year.

"Other saloon men, and perhaps low-down, danger- ous fellows, will come in and open 'deadfalls' on va- rious corners. Then, on nights and Sundays, our for- merly quiet, orderly, respectable, temperance colony will be turned into a hell upon earth. A publie picnic is to be beld early next month, and many visitors from two counties, will be here, to see and report abroad our shame and disgrace. Will the people tamely submit to this great wrong? Shall it be per- mitted to grow to huge and uncontrollable propor- tions ? "

"Shall we, who came here because of the promised freedom from grog-shops and whisky-selling, be indifferent to the loafing, fights, accidents, and re- enslavements of good men, who came here to break from the fetters of appetite?

"Shall we, unmoved, witness the ruin of young men who will be enticed into drinking and gambling? Are we prepared to see and learn of the tears and sorrow and bitter disgrace of broken-hearted mothers, fathers, wives, and sisters ? Nor are saloons the only evil that whisky-selling entails on a community. Other houses, whose character it would not be decent to describe, but which are ruinous to morality, follow in the wake of towns no larger than ours. Or shall we, calmly, determinedly, and in the majesty of the moral sentiment of the great majority of the people of Lompoc, rise and demand the keeping of the con- tract not to sell liquor here, and so nip this iniquity in the bud ? History repeats itself. In various parts of the United States, even in California, in Ireland, and Great Britain, temperance settlements have been maintained, and Lompoe need be no exception."

The following report, as given in the Record, of a temperance meeting held at this time, will illustrate the mode of preliminary procedure against the com- mon enemy :-

"The assembly in the M. E. Church on Sunday afternoon was the finest representative gathering known to Lompoe for a long time. The town, each part of the valley, the Hondo, and Santa Rita were all represented. There was not seating room for nearly all. The enthusiasm for temperance, and the deep-set determination not to tolerate a saloon in our temperance colony, were unmistakable. Father Olinger was called to the chair; stirring music was

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HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY.

given by the choir, with a will, whenever called for; Miss Mayhew read very clearly, effectively, and beautifully the piece entitled "The Modern Cain," which clearly proved the modern rum-seller to be more responsible and deeper-dyed in sin than the first murderer. James Nash, W. S. McKay, Capt. N. Stansbury, J. Barker, G. W. Frick, and J. W. Webb, made brief but pointed addresses. But the speech of the day was that of Presiding Elder W. A. Knighten. Outspoken, direct, earnest, practical, and not without humor, it appealed forcibly to every one in the house, and commanded the deepest attention.

" By a unanimous vote it was resolved that ' liquor shall not be sold in Lompoc;' and as the same resolu- tion (once before passed in the same enthusiastic way) resulted in stopping one man from selling the vile stuff, and cansed him to leave the community, it is not doubted that this will be also effective for good.

" It was further resolved that the ladies who had visited the saloon-keeper and obtained his promise that he would think over the matter, be requested to call upon him again at an early day and learn his decision, and report at the next meeting, to-morrow week, at 2 o'clock.

" As the meeting dissolved, the general remark was, 'This means that liquor-selling will stop or be stopped.' That determination could be felt in the very atmosphere.

Upon the evening of May 20th, at a quarter past eleven, the usually quiet town of Lompoc was aroused by a loud report and a jar of houses. Some who were asleep thought it an earthquake, but those who had not retired said at once a bomb had been thrown into George Walker's saloon, and on going to the place this was found to be the case. It must have been a large bomb, for the building was completely demolished. The sides of the building were thrown ont, and the second floor and roof came down with a crash.

The Lompoc Record of the next Saturday, editori- ally commenting on the affair, had this to say :-

" Whether it was done by an earthquake, a nihil- ist from Russia, or whom, it is impossible to say, as no inquest has been held. As it was a detached building, no harm was done .to other property. Walker and wite have never lived in the building, and it was commonly known that a couple of men who sometimes slept there, when in town, are absent at this particular time. Consequently no one is killed, miss- ing, or wounded The general opinion prevails that this is not a healthy place for saloons. We are not an advocate of this way of dealing with the nuisance and curse, but candor compels us to add that we are shedding no tears over it. Any one looking for a location for a saloon had better not select a community founded on temperance principles, where the land is sold on the express condition that no liquor shall be made or sold thereon; where public sentiment is so nearly unanimous against saloons, and where earthquakes are so prevalent and de- structive."

MEETING OF THE K. OF P.

On May 9, 1881, a grand celebration of the eigh- teenth anniversary of the Knights of Pythias of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Lompoc, was held

at the latter place. The programme included a pro- cession, consisting of the Knights, Good Templars. and other societies and citizens, headed by the Santa Barbara Band; a picnic at Park Grove; literary exer- cises, a barbecue, and various amusements, ending with a grand ball at Dinwiddie's Hall in the evening, music by the Lompoc orchestra, B. F. Tucker leader. At the park a poem, entitled " The Rodeo," was read by DeWitt Hubbell, and an oration was deliv- ered by C. F. McGlashan, P. C. One thousand peo- ple were present at the picnic. All the exercises passed off most pleasantly, for which too much praise cannot be given the Committee of Arrangements- Messrs. J. Reed, W. H. Austin, Geo. Archer, H. A. Barker, R. Machin, and B. F. Tucker.

In May, 1881, Messrs. Shoultz & Johnston dis- posed of their place at Carpenteria and moved to Lompoc, buying 625 acres of Hondo land from Mr. Roberts, at $8.00 per acre. They proved an acquisi- tion, and exemplify how people were selling out in all directions in order to settle in this temperance colony.

THE FOURTH IN 1881.

The Fourth of July, 1881, was celebrated with great success at Lompoc, the temperance societies taking the initiative steps. A burlesque society paraded the streets, cansing much merriment. An oration was delivered by the Rev. S. S. Fisk. Fire- works and a ball in the evening terminated the fes- tivities.

PROSPERITY IN 1882.

In 1882 the evidences of prosperity are found on every hand. The extravagant prices bid for lands at auction had retarded the progress of the settle- ment, but through the liberal reduction made by the owners, and the great productiveness of the soil, many are acquiring title and beginning to improve their places with more earnestness. J. W. Downing has paid for 141 acres, at $12.00 per acre, in three years, from the proceeds of the farm, and supported a large family. The wheat crop has never failed him. He has had good, third volunteer wheat on the place.

The town is rapidly growing, while those who prefer more rural surroundings are rapidly occupy- ing such outlying tracts of land as are not yet appro- priated. The town is a model of a modern village where everything is fore-ordained at the very begin- ning by intelligent foresight. It is laid out in rect- angular blocks 300x500 feet, with streets 80 and 100 feet wide. These blocks are bisected by an alley 20 feet wide, and divided into lots 25x125 feet and 25x 140 feet, the market value of which varies from $5.00 to $250. Suburban lots, 340x540 feet, sell at the rate of $20 to $100 per acre. In the town one misses the glare and brawl caused by rum-shops and their auxiliaries, and a second glance is necessary to real- ize the large amount of business that is being trans- acted, as by some admirable machine wish no noise and little friction.

STOCK RANCH OF JESSE HILL & MISSION LA PURISSIMA, NEAR LOMPOC, SANTA BARBARA CO. CAL.

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THE WESTERN PART OF THE COUNTY.

The lands are of a rich, alluvial soil, and hence very productive. Although irrigation is not gener- ally considered necessary, wherever wished, arte ian wells furnish an ample supply of water.

Thirty-seven hundred pounds of beans have been raised upon a single acre. Barley has yielded 100 bushels to the acre, eighty bushels being not uncom- mon. Wild mustard grows so abundantly and large that men have made $2.50 a day cutting it for the market. The English yellow mustard is an import- ant crop. It is sown in May, harvested in July, and yields from twenty to twenty-five ninety-pound sacks per acre, worth from 2} to 3} cents per pound. Wheat, corn, rye, potatoes, English mustard, flax, and the various vegetables, succeed admirably. Bee- keeping is a profitable industry, and the honey pro- duct of the colony is no small item. The markets are readily reached by means of the several shipping points already mentioned. The southern portion of the lands, in which the noted

CANADA HONDO

Is situated, contains many thousand acres of the finest grazing land in the State. Being within the "moist belt," these lands have never failed from drought. The number of each kind of stock upon the colony lands March 1, 1881, was about as follows: Cattle, 950; horses, 500; sheep, 2,000. Butter and cheese are largely produced. There are numerous finely-watered valleys, supplied by mountain springs of pure, soft, cold water, and sheltered by the hills, where every variety of California fruit may be grown. In these favored localities there is scarcely frost enough to cause the trees to drop their leaves. Flowers bloom in the garden all the year.

The prices of valley lands range from $10 to $40 per acre; the grazing from fifty cents to $10 per acre.

Building material, such as lime, stone, and good brick clay are found upon the colony lands in ample abundance and of the very best quality. The ranchos are exceedingly well watered and wooded.

The health of the vicinity is not excelled by any portion of the State; chills and fevers are unknown. No miasma, no malaria. The ocean breeze purifies the atmosphere and regulates the temperature. The thermometer rarely rises above 80° or falls below 60° during the day. At night it seldom falls below 40° or rises above 60°.

The distances from Lompoc to prominent points and places are as follows: To College Rancho, eigh- teen miles; to Las Cruces, eighteen miles; to Gaviota, twenty-two miles; to Santa Barbara, sixty miles; to Los Alamos, fourteen miles; to Guadalupe, twenty- eight miles; to Port Harford, sixty miles; to San Luis Obispo, sixty miles; to La Graciosa, twenty-two miles; to Point Conception, fonrteen miles; to Point Purissima, thirteen miles; to Lompoc Wharf, twelve miles; and to Sudden Wharf, near Point Arguello, eleven miles.

LA PURISSIMA RANCHO

Was granted to Ramon Malo, December 6, 1845, and contained 14,927.62 acres .. The U. S. Patent calls for 34,012.56 acres. The decree of confirmation was issued December 31, 1855, and became final June 8, 1857. Its boundaries are: To the north, the Todos Santos and Los Alamos Ranchos; to the east, the Santa Rita Rancho; to the west, the Jesus Maria Rancho; and to the south, the Ranchos Lompoc and Mission Viejo de la Purissima, these two latter lying across the Santa Ynez River from the La Purissima. The Mission La Purissima Concepcion, erected soon after the destruction of the Mission Viejo, is upon this rancho, and is fast going to decay. Services are only held here once a year, the 8th of December. when mass is performed in commemoration of the anniversary of the old mission.

The rancho is composed of low, rolling hills, chicfiy grazing land, though containing extensive tracts well adapted to agriculture and fruit-growing. This rancho, and also the Santa Rita Rancho, of 12,000 acres, are owned by Christy & Wise, of San Fran- cisco, D. W. and A. P. Jones, Jesse Hill, Messrs. Craig, Blackburn, and others. It will soon be sub- divided and sold in tracts to suit purchasers, at prices ranging from $2.50 to $40 per acre. Mr. Jesse Hill, . the resident owner, farms about 1,000 acres and keeps 6,000 sheep. Some thirty families have settled upon the disputed portion of this ranch during the last few years, some of whom, having made consider- able improvements, anxiously awaited the decision of the Secretary of the Interior, since made. Their erops, consisting of wheat, barley, corn, beans, pota- toes, etc., have generally been quite satisfactory. The soil is a warm, sandy, fertile loam, the water good and easily obtained, and fuel abundant. The climate is healthy, free from malaria, and compara- tively protected from the cold ocean winds. Stock- raising on the 34,012.56 acres was represented on March 1, 1881, by fifty horses and 8,000 sheep.

JESSE HILL,

Son of Jesse and Margaret (Newell) Hill, is a native of Virginia, having been born in Mason County, August 3, 1820; he is, therefore, sixty-two years of age. His ancestors were natives of the Old World, and came to this country at an early day, his grand- fathers on both sides of the family having fought in the war of the Revolution. In 1850, having arrived at man's estate, he sought the exciting scenes of the Pacific, and crossed the plains, arriving in California in October, and located on the San Joaquin River at what is known as " Hill's Ferry," in Stanislaus County, the place having received its name from the subject of this sketch. Hill's Ferry, for thirty years, has been a noted crossing of the San Joaquin. When the great droves of cattle of Southern Califor- nia began to move towards the mines they came by this route, and Hill's Ferry became as noted as Hang-

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HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY,

town or Coloma. It has lost some of its compara- tive importance, but has grown to quite a town, having a post-office, express office, several stores, hotels, etc. He remained here, engaged in the mer- cantile business and conducting the ferry, for several years, when he sold out and embarked ins sheep husbandry in San Joaquin County, at which he con- tinued seven years.

In 1870 he removed to Santa Barbara, and in company with D. W. A. Jones, purchased an interest in the Ranchos Santa Rita and La Purissima, where he has been engaged in sheep-farming to the present time. A sketch of the rancho and residence of Mr. Hill, in connection with the Mission La Purissima, may be seen in this volume.

Mr. Hill is a member of the Masonic Lodge, and in politics is a Democrat, but has never held office, having no desire for official distinction. He was married January 1, 1856, at San Juan, San Benito County, to Miss Harriet Rhea, of French descent.

THE SANTA RITA RANCHO

Was granted to Don Ramon Malo by Governor Pio Pico, April 12, 1845. It specified three square leagues, "a little more or less." The patent was issued June 25, 1875, and called for 13,316.05 acres.

It is bounded on the west by the La Purissima Rancho, on the north by the Los Alamos Rancho, on the east by the Santa Rosa Rancho, and on the south by the ranchos Mission Vieja de la Purissima and Cañada de Salsipnides, separated from these latter by the Santa Ynez River.

The Santa Rita Valley breaks out from the Santa Ynez Valley in a northeasterly direction. It is in part a sobrante to the La Purissima Rancho. It is a pleasant dell, lying among low hills, and is from one to six miles wide and about twelve miles long. It is about eight miles from Lompoc.

In early times it was used exclusively for grazing, and at that time supported a small settlement, which was the scene of many a bloody encounter. A num- ber of settlers farm a portion of the land at present, which is very rich and productive. The society is good, and there is a school, preaching, and a Good Templars' Lodge. The stock-grazing interests on March 1, 1881, were represented by fifty cattle and 200 horses.

OUTRAGE AND HANGING,

On April 4, 1881, the Santa Rita Rancho was the scene of one of those outrages that sicken the heart and freeze the blood with horror. J. C. Sargent and wife had but recently settled on the rancho, where they were building up a home. Mrs. Sargent was scarcely twenty years of age, and in the prime of beauty. Hopeful and buoyant, with the love of a devoted husband and the esteem of neighbors and friends, the prospect was, indeed, a happy one. But grim Disaster has no heart and practices no discrimi- nation. On the afternoon of the 3d of April Mrs. Sargent left home, riding a gentle horse, to visit a

neighbor some three miles away, with the intention of returning before night to get her husband's supper. Not making her appearance as night came on, the husband became alarmed and started out to search for her. He met the horse leisurely grazing on the way back. Apprehensive of an accident, he hurried on to the house where his wife intended to go. To his horror he found she had not been there. Fears of some terrible fate having come to her took pos- session of the man, and the whole neighborhood was aroused and enlisted in a fruitless search, which con- tinned until midnight. At daylight again, still larger numbers were engaged. About eleven o'clock in the forenoon, traces of a bloody struggle and the appear- ance of a body having been dragged some distance through the brush, led the searchers to her remains, which were found buried in a dry ditch. The condi- tion of the body showed that she had probably been lassoed, pulled from the horse, outraged, beaten to death, and then dragged with the rope some 400 yards to the place where she was found. Suspi- cion fell upon a herder, Francisco Carminus, an In- dian boy. Blood was found on his clothing, and hair resembling that of the murdered woman, and blood on his riata. After some threats he was induced to show where the club was hidden with which the deed was perpetrated, also some articles of clothing which she had with her at the time. The Indian at first denied all knowledge of the transaction, but finally owned to having seen her killed by some per- son whom he did not know, and asserted that he had secreted the body lest he should be punished for the crime of another. The shoes he wore were found to fit the tracks made where the murder was committed. Other circumstances also fixed the crime on him. The officer having the Indian in charge was forced to yield him up to vengeance and justice, and the Indian soon paid the penalty of the crime, by being hung.

SANTA ROSA RANCHO.

East of the Santa Rita Rancho lies the Santa Rosa Rancho. It is bounded on the south by the Santa Ynez River and the Government lands on its southern bank, on the east by the rancho San Carlos de Jonata, and on the north by the Los Alamos Rancho. It was granted to Francisco Cota, July 30, 1839, and then consisted of 15,540 acres, three and a half leagues. An addition was made November 19, 1845. The United States Patent, issued April 30, 1872, calls for 16,525.55 acres.

It is a magnificent estate, well watered by the Santa Ynez River, and other streams and numerous springs, amply supplied with live-oak for fuel, afford- ing the richest pasturage, with a rich, deep soil, even on the highest hill-tops. Seventeen thousand sheep, seventy-eight head of cattle, and twenty horses were grazing upon it in 1881, and there is feed for several thousand more. All the stock is of the first order. Upwards of 5,000 acres of valley and foot-hill lands are arable. Twenty acres of wheat have yielded fifty-

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THE WESTERN PART OF THE COUNTY.

five bushels to the acre, and it is estimated that ten bushels per acre were lost in threshing. About 100 acres are farmed chiefly for hay. The wool clip of 1880 amounted to 120,000 pounds, worth 22} cents per pound. Thirty-five men are employed in shear- ing time, in April and September, and twelve during the remainder of the year. The shepherds live with their sheep, the manager packing them provisions every week on horseback. The store-house contains upwards of $2,000 worth of flour, groceries, boots, shoes, clothing, and other necessary ranch supplies. The coyotes have to be fought hard and earnestly. The ranch house is a capacions tile-roofed adobe of the better elass, improved and handsomely fitted up by the present proprietor. It occupies a command- ing position, and is supplied with good water forced through pipes from a spring below. A four-acre seven-year-old orchard of apples, pears, peaches, quinees, etc., occupies a warm, sheltered spot near by. It bore eight tons of fruit in 1880, many of the trees having to be supported with poles to prevent their breaking from the exeessive fruitage. This rancho is especially adapted to bee culture. The genial John Wilson, a pioneer of 1850, from Vermont, has been Major-domo of the rancho for thirteen years.

There is fine hunting on this rancho, deer being very numerous in the thickets along the river bottom, and in the sage-brush of the higher hills.

Negotiations were at one time pending for the sale of the rancho for colonization purposes, for $260,000.

J. W. COOPER.

It is pleasant to find one of the pioneers of Cali- fornia in eomfortable eireumstances. Though most of them have had, at some time or other. a good share of the golden fleece, few have managed to retain any considerable portion to gladden the after- noon of life. J. W. Cooper was born in the State of Kentucky in 1827, and crossed the plains to Califor- nia in 1850. He early beeame associated with Colo- nel Hollister and brother in their great farming oper- ations, and saw under their skillful management the small stock of sheep grow into large flocks and the real estate grow in extent, until the different firms could offer the right of way to a railroad company across their land for fifty miles. Eventually Mr. Cooper's land possessions crystallized into the splendid Santa Rosa Rancho described above. He married the daughter of Albert Hollister. He is a genial, warm-hearted man, who, like the family with whom he his allied by marriage, shrinks from no duties, social or political. When the question of compelling stock-raisers to herd or fence their stoek on penalty of damages for trespass, he raised his voiee in favor of the trespass law, and was influential in pro- curing the passage of the law that permitted small farmers to raise grain unmolested by the big herds. He has had the good taste to preserve the old ranch buildings, not only because of their utility, but for the traditions of the past, which cluster thiekly about

the venerable adobes, and give an ancient and digni- fied air to the place. Furthermore, it is still a debat- able question whether the Mexicans did not act wisely in erecting buildings which would last several life- times,instead of the pine shingle palaces which shrivel up in summer, and rot in the winter, lasting but a few years at best. Mr. Cooper has, however, utilized both civilizations, by preserving the old, and also adopting the new, for he has erected an elegant house in Santa Barbara, where he has all the privi- leges of modern civilization, reserving the ancient as a sort of recreation as well as profit.

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History of Santa Barbara county, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 69

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