USA > California > Santa Clara County > History of Santa Clara County, California : including its geography, geology, topography, climatography and description > Part 3
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" It must be borne in mind that these hills are yet almost in a state of nature They are sparsely settled, and but few improvements have yet been made -the settler preferring the valley lands at a much greater cost. At the same time the hills offer attractions and advantages for country homes that cannot be found in the valley. The lands are cheap, and the titles generally unquestionable. Their immunity from frosts will no doubt be taken advan- tage of, at no distant day, in the cultivation of the orange, lemon and many
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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
kinds of tropical fruits not entirely indigenous to the valleys. This region is also especially adapted to the culture of the English walnut, pecan nut, almond, etc., and possesses the natural soil and climate for the olive, the raisin grape, and fig."
Meun Temperature .- The following table shows the mean temperature at San Jose for the year ending May 31, 1851. The record was kept by Jack- son Lewis, and may be relied upon as accurate. We have no later record than this. It is, however, a fair sample of every year :-
MONTH.
Deg. 6 A. M. Deg. 12:30 P. M.
Deg. 6 P. M.
June.
.52:40
77:03
60:40
July
.55:32
S1:71
64:84
August
.53:16
83:74
64:87
September
55:63
79:17
65:10
October
46:48
74:68
63:06
November
34:40
59:77
52:30
December.
.36:61
53:68
45:26
January
.36:68
54:42
48:00
February
.38:93
58:32
48:61
March ..
.39:99
62:58
51:29
April
.50:37
69:23
54:00
May .
48:26
69:90
54:97
Rainfall .- The following table shows the exact amount of rain that has fallen from 1860 to 1880, inclusive :-
1860-61, 16.44 inches
1871-72, 17.88 inches
1861-62, 25-61
1872-73, 17.23
1862-63, 10.08
1873-74, 18.02
1863-64, 24.73 66
1874-75, 16.50
1864-65, 17.00
1875-76, 10.23
66
1865-66, 18.00
1876-77, 12.00
66
1866-67, 16.30
1877-78, 20.00
1868-69, 15.68 66
1878-79, 12.00
1869-70, 19.31
66
1879-80, 22.00 66
1870-71, 14.40
General Remarks .- In concluding our subject of the climatography of Santa Clara county, let us quote from Lieutenant Maury, that eminent scientist, whose fame is world-wide: He says : "The calm and trade-winds regions, or belts, move up and down the earth, annually, in latitude nearly a thousand miles. In July and August, the zone of equatorial calms is found between seven degrees north and twelve degrees north; sometimes higher; in March and April, between latitude five degrees south and two degrees north. With this fact, and these points of view, before us, it is easy to per- ceive why it is that we have a rainy season in Oregon, a rainy season and a dry season in California, another at Panama, two at Bogota, none in Peru, and one in Chili. In Oregon it rains every month, but about five times more in the Winter than in the Summer months. The Winter there is the Summer of the Southern hemisphere, when this steam engine is working with the greatest pressure. The vapor that is taken by the south-east trades is borne along over the region of north-east trades to latitude thirty-five or
29
GEOGRAPHY, NAME, POPULATION, TOPOGRAPHY, ETC.
forty degrees north, where it descends and appears on the surface with the south-east winds of those latitudes. Driving upon the high lands of the continent, this vapor is condensed and precipitated, during this part of the year, almost in constant showers, and to the depth of about thirty inches in three months. In the Winter, the calm belt of Cancer approaches the equator. This whole system of zones, viz .: of trades, calms, and westerly winds, follows the sun; and they of our hemisphere are nearer the equator in the Winter and Spring months than at any other scason. The south-east winds commence, at this season, to prevail as far down as the lower part of California. In Winter and Spring the land in California is cooler than the sea air, and is quite cold enough to extract moisture from it. But in Summer and Autumn the land is warmer, and cannot condense the vapors of water held by the air. So the same cause which made it rain in Oregon makes it rain in California. As the sun returns to the north, he brings the calm belt of Cancer and the north-east trades along with him; and now, at places where, six months before, the south-west winds were the prevailing winds, the north-east trades are found to blow. This is the case in the latitude of California. The prevailing winds, then, instead of going from a warmer to a cooler climate, as before, are going the opposite way. Consequently, if under these circumstances, they have the moisture in them to make rains of, they cannot precipitate it. Proof, if proof were wanting, that the prevailing winds in the latitude of California are from the west- ward, is obvious to all who cross the Rocky Mountains, or ascend the Sierra Madre."
It will thus be seen that the winds which have so genial an influence upon our climate come directly from the Pacific ocean; forces its way through the Golden Gate, and, striking the Contra Costa hills, is wafted into the Santa Clara valley.
EARTHQUAKES .- There is a sort of nameless terror about an earthquake to those who have never experienced one, and to many who have, the sensation is anything but pleasant. But they are trifles compared with the terrible thunder-storms and hurricanes that prevail on the other side of the conti- nent. Hundreds of people are killed by lightning there to every one that loses his life by earthquakes here. The thunder-storms and tornadoes have this advantage, however : they send their warning signals of gathering, skurrying clouds ahead, to prepare people for the dire disaster which may soon follow. The earthquake steals upon one when he least expects it. A sudden jarring of the earth, with perhaps a deep rumbling noise, followed by a quick oscillating motion, which dies away in a gentle, tremulous vibra- tion, and all is quiet. The shock seldom lasts longer than eight or ten sec- onds. Many months sometimes intervene between these earth shocks, and
30
HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
then again we have known several to occur in a single day. For the last three or four years they have been very rare.
"The heaviest shock in this valley, of which we have any recollection, occurred in 1868, when some brick buildings in San José were more or less injured-fire walls and chimneys were thrown down, plastering cracked, etc. The shock extended for several hundred miles along the coast, causing considerable damage to property in San Francisco and other places. It taught architects the necessity of improving their methods of building, by bracing and strengthening their walls in a more secure manner. In the construction of chimneys, also, galvanized iron has been substituted largely for brick. Wooden buildings are considered earthquake proof. They are seldom damaged to any considerable extent by the shocks.
" There are various theories concerning the cause of these disturbances, which at present, however, are mainly speculative. It is possible that scien- tific research may eventually fathom the cause, if not provide a remedy. The electric theory has many advocates. In other countries the equi- librium of the upper air currents of electricity and those of the earth is estab- lished and brought about through the medium of cloud conductors, as wit- nessed in the lightning's flash followed by the thunder peal. Here there are no cloud conductors during the Summer months. The earth, it is sup- posed, becomes overcharged with electricity which seeks an equilibrium with the upper air currents ; hence the disturbance. This theory is strengthened by the fact that earthquakes usually occur in the Fall of the year when the clouds begin to gather and the air becomes filled with moisture. "Good earthquake weather," is what old residents designate a warm, cloudy day preceding the Winter rains. The "internal fire" theory has also its advo- cates. But whatever may be the cause, we much prefer an occasional earth- quake to the frequent electrical disturbances that cause so much disaster to life and destruction to property in the Atlantic States."
DESCRIPTIVE .- Our poor pen is too feeble to do justice to so grand a theme as a description of Santa Clara valley. Better is it, therefore, that the lan- guage of the gifted traveler and author, Bayard Taylor, should tell the tale. Of this valley he writes, in his "Pictures of California:" "How shall I describe a landscape so unlike anything else in the world; with a beauty so new and dazzling, that all ordinary comparisons are worthless? A valley, ten miles wide, through the center of which winds the dry bed of a Winter stream, whose course is marked with groups of giant sycamores, their trunks gleaming like silver through masses of glossy foliage. Over the level floor of this valley, park-like groves of oaks, whose mingled grace and majesty can only be given by the pencil; in the distance, redwood, rising like towers; westward, a mountain chain, nearly four thousand feet in
31
GEOGRAPHY, NAME, POPULATION, TOPOGRAPHY, ETC.
height, showing through the blue haze dark green forests on the background of blazing gold. Eastward, another mountain chain, full-lighted by the sun, rose-color, touched with violet shadows, shining with marvelous transpar- ency, as if they were of glass, behind which shone another sun. Overhead, finally, a sky whose blue luster seemed to fall, mellowed, through an inter- vening veil of luminous vapor. No words can describe the fire and force of the coloring-the daring contrast, which the difference of half a tint changed from discord into harmony. Here the great artist seems to have taken a new palette, and painted his creation with hues unknown elsewhere. Driving along through these enchanting scenes, I indulged in a day-dream. It will not be long, I thought -- I may live to see it before my prime is over-until San Jose is but five days' journey from New York. Cars, which shall be, in fact, traveling hotels, will speed, on an unknown line of rail, from the Mississippi to the Pacific. Then let me purchase a few acres on the lowest slope of these mountains, overlooking the valley, and with a distant gleam of the Bay; let me build a cottage, embowered in acacia and eucalyptus, and the tall spires of the Italian cypress; let me leave home, when the Christmas holidays are over, and enjoy the balmy Januarys and Februarys, the heavenly Marches and Aprils, of my remaining years here, returning only when May shall have brought beauty to the Atlantic shore! There shall my roses outbloom those of Pæstum; there shall my nightingales sing, my orange blossoms sweeten the air, my children play, and my best poem be written. I had another and grander dream. One hundred years had passed, and I saw the valley, not as now, only partially tamed, and revel- ing in the wild magnificence of nature, but, from river-bed to mountain- summit, humming with human life. I saw the same oaks and sycamores, but their shadows fell on mansions, fair as temples, with their white fronts and long colonnades. I saw gardens refreshed by gleaming fountains, statues peeping from the bloom of laurel bowers; palaces built to enshrine the new Art, which will then have blossoms here; culture, plenty, peace, happiness, everywhere. I saw a more beautiful race in possession of this paradise-a race in which the lost symmetry and grace of the Greek was par- tially restored; the rough, harsh features of the Oriental type gone; milder manners, better regulated impulses, and a keen appreciation of the arts which enrich and embellish life. Was it only a dream."
Let us not disturb the poetic vision, but rather say, with the immortal Bard of Avon-
"Oh, if this were seen, The happiest youth-viewing his progress through, What perils past, what crosses to ensue- Would shut the book, and sit him down and die."
32
HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
THE MINES AND SPRINGS OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY.
THE NEW ALMADEN QUICKSILVER MINE-THE ENRIQUITA MINE-PACIFIC CONGRESS SPRINGS- MADRONE SPRINGS-GILROY HOT SPRINGS, ETC.
Mines-THE NEW ALMADEN .- It is usually supposed that the New Alma- den Mine was known to the Indians more than three-quarters of a century ago, as more than fifty years since, it was made known by them to the Robles family and Luis Chabolla. The ore, or cinnabar is a red sulphuret of mer- cury, which when pulverized and moistened forms a red pigment. This matter the Indians called Mohetka-red earth, and used as a paint where- with to color their faces and body.
In 1824 the existence of the mine was communicated to Don Antonio Suñol, by Robles, who worked it for a year believing that it contained silver, but not finding anything to repay their labor, Mr. Suñol abandoned the mine, and the four hundred dollars capital he had invested in it. They had no idea that it contained quicksilver, nor did their knowledge extend to the ore that contained such metal.
On November 12, 1845, there arrived from Sutter's Fort at the Mission of Santa Clara a Mexican officer named Andres Castillero, to whom was shown some specimens of the ore which he pronounced to be silver, with an intermixture of gold. While experimenting he, however, discovered quick- silver, and observed to those present, Father Real and Jacob P. Leese, that his fortune was made if it proved to be as rich as the quicksilver mines of Spain, for there was a standing reward of one hundred thousand dollars offered by the Government for the discovery of such a mine in the Republic of Mexico.
We are informed that according to the Spanish and Mexican mining laws, the foundation of the right to a mine is discovery ; but the right is lost, unless the discoverer makes known the fact before the judicial tribunal, authorized to receive such declarations. The proceedings are ex parte, and consist of a production of the ore, a description of the place where it was discovered and of the person of the discoverer. These facts being duly make known and recorded, the title passes by operation of law, unless within the time limited, some one having a better right, appears. Before he is entitled to a registry and juridical possession, the discoverer is required to perform two acts : First, he must appear with a written statement of the
FUBIRA RARY
T
ATTCX AND
33
MINES AND SPRINGS OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY.
facts necessary to be set forth ; and, Second, he must within ninety days thereafter, make a pit in the vein of his registry of the required dimensions. These performed, he may receive formal possession.
To the end that he should obtain a formal title to the mine, Castillero, on November 22, 1845, went before Pedro Chabolla, the Alcalde at San Jose and filed the following document :-
" Señor Alcalde of First Nomination-
" Andres Castillero, Captain of permanent Cavalry, and at present resi- dent in this Department, before your notorious justification makes repre- sentation, that, having discovered a vein of silver, with a ley of gold on the rancho pertaining to José Reyes Berreyessa, retired Sergeant of the Presidio Company of San Francisco, and wishing to work it in company, I request that in conformity with the ordinances on mining, you will be pleased to fix up notices in public places of the jurisdiction, in order to make sure of my right, when the time for the juridical possession may arrive, according to the laws on the matter. I pray you to provide in conformity, in which I will receive favor and justice ; admitting this on common paper, there be- ing none of the corresponding stamp.
" Pueblo of San José Guadalupe, November twenty-second, eighteen hun- dred and forty-five. ANDRES CASTILLERO."
On December 3d, another document is transmitted to the same Alcalde, wherein he states that apart from the silver with a ley of gold he had found liquid quicksilver, and this in the presence of several persons who could be summoned if necessary, therefore he wished this communication to be placed on record, and that he might be placed in possession according to law. Possession was given to him by First Alcalde Antonio Maria Pico, in the absence of a Professional Judge, December 30, 1845, in these terms : " I have granted three thousand yards (varas) of land in all directions, sub- ject to what the general ordinance of mines may direct, it being worked in company, to which I certify, the witnesses signing with ine." The certifi- cate was signed by Alcalde Pico, with Antonio Suñol and José Noriega, as assisting witnesses.
Having declared his intention of working the mine in company, Castillero formed a copartnership at the Santa Clara Mission, divided the mine into twenty-four shares; gave four shares to Rev. Father José Maria R. S. del Real ; four to Don José Castro ; four to the brothers Secundino and Teodero Robles ; and presumably kept the remainder for himself. He next employed an American named William G. Chard, from Columbia county, New York, who commenced the reduction of the ore and so continued for some weeks after the following primitive fashion described by Mr. Hall: He took a gun-barrel, charged it with pieces of ore, the size of a bean, stopped the vent with clay,
3
34
HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
put the muzzle in a vessel of water, and built a fire around the other end. The heat drove off the mercury in the form of vapor, which passing out at the muzzle, was condensed in the water, and precipitated itself to the bot- tom in the form of liquid metal. Three or four gun-barrels were used in this way at the same time.
In the meantime, what was termed "juridical possession" of the mine was given to Castillero, and a short time after Chard erected a furnace near the creek, whither he transported the ore to be reduced, but, owing to its faulti- ness, it proved of no use, and was abandoned. With commendable deter- mination and ingenuity Chard next essayed the following process: Obtain- ing six whaler's try-pots, capable of holding three or four tons of ore, he inverted three over the other three, and thus formed a furnace. By build- ing a fire around these, and having so arranged them that the mercurial vapor was conducted to the water, he succeeded in reducing about two thousand pounds of quicksilver. This primitive method of reduction was continued until August, 1846, when Chard and his Indian workmen left, and nothing further was done until the following Spring.
In 1845, the Governor of California received the information of the dis- covery of the mine, a specimen of the ore being, at the same time, sent to the authorities in Mexico. In 1846, Consul Thomas O. Larkin forwarded the like information to the United States' Government at Washington, and described the mode of acquiring title according to the Mexican law; and, that same year, the mine was visited by Fremont, who is reported to have estimated its value at about thirty thousand dollars.
During the Winter of 1846-7, Castillero disposed of certain of his shares to the firm of Barron, Forbes & Co., Tepic, Mexico, who appointed as their agent, Robert Walkinshaw. He and a man named Alden took possession of the mine, May 5, 1847. Nothing but "holding" the property would appear to have been done by these custodians, until the arrival, in November, of Alexander Forbes, one of the above-mentioned firm, with a corps of work- men, funds, and all the necessary appliances for the process of reduction. A searching examination was made, and the mine gave evidence of great promise. The works were therefore prosecuted with vigor. Retorts were quickly established, and used until 1850, when furnaces were constructed, and the metal produced in large quantities, under the superintendence of the late General H. W. Halleck.
Above we have given Mr. Hall's description of the primitive method of reduction adopted by W. G. Chard in 1846; let us now see what he says of that pursued under the late eminent soldier: "These furnaces (speaking of those erected in 1850), with the condensing chambers, are from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet long, and about ten feet high. The furnace proper is about fifteen feet long, and is divided into two compartments.
35
MINES AND SPRINGS OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY.
The first is for the fuel; the second for the ore, which is termed the ore-bed. The partition wall between the fire and ore-bed has several apertures, of the size of a brick, through which the heat reaches the ore. Next, and adjoin- ing the ore-bed, is a tower from twenty to thirty feet high, the top of which is bricked air-tight, and has a perpendicular brick partition. The wall of the tower adjoining the ore-bed is perforated with several holes of the size of two bricks. The partition wall of the tower, has, within a foot of the top, an aperture about a foot square. The long condensing chamber is next adjoining the tower. It is divided into various compartments. The second chamber of the tower connects with the first compartment of the condens- ing chamber by an aperture about the size of four bricks, which is within a foot of the top of the chamber. The various compartments are thus con- nected with like apertures, alternately, at the top and bottom of the cham- ber. At the farther end of the condensing chamber is a high chimney to carry off the smoke. Between the chimney and the long and large condens- ing chamber is a smaller chamber, over which water continually drips, for the more rapid condensation of the mercurial vapor. Along the whole length of the condensing chamber, is an exterior trough. At the bottom of all the compartments of the condensing chambers, are holes which lead to the trough. At the farther end of the trough, near the chimney, is an iron kettle which is the receiver of the quicksilver. For the purposes of reduc- tion, the ore is pounded into pieces of about the size of a hen's egg, then placed in the ore-bed. The fuel is then fired, and when the ore has received a suf- ficient degree of heat, through the apertures of the wall, the quicksilver, in the form of vapor, is emitted, and passes with the smoke into the first chamber of the tower, thence it rises to the aperture in the partition wall, through which it goes into the second chamber of the tower; thence down that chamber, through the the aperture near the bottom, into the first compartment of the long condensing chamber; thenee it rises again, and passes through the aperture near the top, into the second compartinent; and thus continues, rising and falling alternately, until it is condensed. By the time the smoke has reached the chimney, it is quite robbed of its mercurial companion. As the vapor passes from one compartment to the other, more or less of it is condensed and falls to the bottom, and oozes out of the holes that lead to the exterior trough; thence it runs into the iron kettle. Some of the smoke halts in its passage, and drops, in the form of soot, at the bottom and sides of the various compartments. The same is removed by means of small doors thereto attached for that special purpose. Undoubtedly, a small percentage of the metal is conducted with the smoke up the chimney; but the process of condensation is now so complete that the waste is inconsiderable."
Of the chemical analysis and character of the ore of this mine Professor
36
HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
J. D. Whitney, in his " Metallic Wealth of the United States," says. " The ore found in connection with sedimentary strata, composed of alter- nating beds of argillaceous strata and layers of flint, which are tilted up a high angle, and much flexed. They are considered by Mr. Black to be of Silurian age, but their position has not been determined with certainty. With these rocks the mercurial ores are mingled in a series of beds and lamina- tions of great number and extent, so that the whole workings are very irregular and contorted. The masses of ore are separated by intercalated strata of rock of variable thickness, which are themselves often filled with seams and bunches of the sulphuret. Numerous veins of carbonate of lime traverse the rock in different directions, cutting through the ore and dislocating the small veins ; and the same mineral lines cavities in the masses of cinnabar, being there finally crystalized, and sometimes containing bitu- men in minute globules. The sulphurets of iron and copper, and arsenical pyrites are associates of the ore, but they occur in very small quantities. An analysis of the ore by Professor Hoffman gave: Murcury, 67.25; Sul- phur, 10.33; silica, alumina, etc., 22.55=100.13."
The search for the metal has resulted in the expenditure of much money and labor. In the first four years of activity, 1846 to 1850, the amount of money paid out was nine hundred and seventy-eight thousand one hundred and fourteen dollars, while metal to the value of five hundred and thirty- five thousand five hundred and forty dollars was extracted, being four hun- dred and forty-two thousand five hundred and seventy-two dollars less than the amount expended. In the years 1850 and 1851 the expenses amounted to forty thousand dollars per month, while the amount of metal produced was seven thousand five hundred pounds, worth sixty-three thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars. During these years the number of men employed was about two hundred, composed of Mexicans and Indians. Now the men employed belong to all nationalities, but principally Mexicans and Cornishmen. The ore then was altogether transported from the mine to the furnaces on pack-mules ; these gave way to wagons; now it is carried on cars or slid down on incline planes.
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