History of Santa Clara County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Part 14

Author: Sawyer, Eugene Taylor, 1846-
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1928

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

to await trial for a murder committed seven- teen years before. The historian saw him when he was in jail. He was then over sixty years of age, gray-haired and gray-bearded. He refused to discuss the crime of 1855 or to express any opinion on the action of Sebas- tiano Flores. At the trial Flores appeared as state's witness and the late Judge Francis E. Spencer defended the prisoner. In 1855 Blas Angelino had been convicted on both direct and circumstantial evidence. In 1872, on ac- count of the lapse of time, no circumstantial evidence to supplement the testimony of Flores was forthcoming. It was therefore Flores' word against the word of Garcia. This raised a doubt and the jury resolved the doubt in favor of the defendant and acquitted him. But this was not the end of the matter. A few months later Garcia and Flores met near the Mission of San Jose. There was a quarrel which resulted in the killing of Garcia. Flores surrendered himself to the officers and in due time was placed on trial for murder. The tes- timony showed that Garcia was the aggressor and Flores was found not guilty.

Francisco (Pancho) Soto lived for some time at the New Almaden mines. The his- torian saw him in the late '70s at the summit of Mt. Hamilton. He was then the cook for a gang of laborers at work on the buldings of the Lick Observatory. The old man-he was over sixty at the time-with his tall, robust figure, patriarchal locks, flowing beard, placid face and large, full eyes of black, gave no hint of the dare-devil highwayman of twenty years before. His career was an exciting one. He was born to the saddle and in his younger days was one of the best horsemen in the state. Open-hearted, but reckless, gifted with a strong sense of humor, he lived a wild, free life until circumstances made him an outlaw. As a bold highwayman of the Dick Turpin type his name became a household word in Central and Southern California. Quick in action, fertile in resource and with friends ga- lore among the Mexican-Spanish population, he managed for years to elude capture. Once he played a trick on pursuing officers that greatly increased his reputation. After the commission of a daring robbery the sheriffs of four counties started out to effect his capture. One night two of the pursuers stopped at a Mexican casa in the Livermore Valley. Soto came to the door. He was asked if he had seen Soto. The reply came quickly and with- out a change of countenance: "I expect him here tomorrow at daylight." The officers; who had never seen the outlaw, were over- joyed at this statement and prepared at once to stay overnight at the casa. That night, after they were asleep Soto relieved them of

their weapons, and stampeded their horses. They awoke to see their entertainer in the act of riding away. "I'm Soto," he shouted. "Buenos noches, senors," and off he went into the night.

It was in New Almaden that Soto first stained his hands in the blood of his fellow man. He asserted at Mt. Hamilton that the killing was done in self-defense, but at the trial it was his word against strong circum- stantial evidence and he was convicted and given a life sentence in San Quentin. The killing took place near the mine. Soto was pursued by Deputy Sheriff Patterson and on the Monterey road there was a running pistol fight and Patterson was shot in the leg so that amputation afterward became necessary. When Soto saw the officer fall he went to his assistance, bound up the wound, then rode to the Twenty-One Mile House and informed the proprietor that a man had been shot up the road and that there was urgent need of assist- ance. Soto was captured soon afterward. Through representations made by Patterson, who had not forgotten the outlaw's kindness, Governor Newton Booth first commuted the sentence and later issued a full pardon. Leav- ing San Quentin Soto returned to San Jose and engaged in peaceful pursuits up to the time of his death.

In 1885 Augustin C. Hall was murdered in his own house on the New Almaden road, not far from the Hacienda. There were several things surrounding the act that indicated on the part of the perpetrators the most diaboli- cal malignity. There were no signs outside of the house to indicate that a monstrous crime had been perpetrated. The horse of the murdered man grazed outside of the door and for days the neighbors, not suspecting any- thing wrong, passed and repassed the place. At last one of them opened the door and dis- covered the dead, mutilated body of Hall. At the inquest, held in San Jose, suspicion pointed to a resident of the city, but the trial, which lasted a week, resulted in his acquittal.

In the fall of that same year, at the house of Ignacio Berryessa, near the New Almaden mine, Santiago Berryessa killed Pedro Ara- vena, a native of Chile, under the following circumstances: Pedro had become enamored of the daughter of Ignacio, a young girl of fourteen years, but meeting with opposition from the girl's parents to a marriage, the pair went to Alviso and were joined in matrimony by a justice of the peace. In a short time the girl's parents became reconciled to the mar- riage and the married couple returned to Berryessa's house. One day Santiago Berry- essa, the girl's uncle, saw the girl and her hus- band sitting in the house and without warning

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

and with the utmost deliberation shot Aravena to death. The shot was fired through a win- dow. The murdered escaped and was never apprehended.

On Sunday, June 29, 1856, the brother of the overseer of Mexican miners at New Al- maden was killed by an Indian. The Indian was quarreling with an Irishman when the Mexican said to him: "Why do you abuse that man? He doesn't understand a word you say." Whereupon the Indian angrily an- swered, "Do you take it up?" and instantly plunged a knife into the body of the Mexican. The murderer was caught and hanged.

In November .. 1856, Francisco Berryessa was mortally stabbed at his home near the New Almaden mines by Calista Lanra, a Chileno. He died the next morning. Calista was on friendly terms with the Berryessa fam- ily and came to the house on the evening of the stabbing. After partaking of some cakes, Calista started as if he intended leaving the house, but in fact, he concealed himself under the bed occupied by Francisco Berryessa and wife. There were several women in the house, one of whom knew of Calista's concealment. Berryessa's wife also discovered him and an- nounced the fact to her husband. Berryessa ordered the Chileno to come out, and the or- der not being obeyed, Berryessa caught him by the hair of the head and pulled him out. On arising to his feet Calista drew a knife and stabbed Berryessa. The slayer escaped.

Samuel Phillips and his partner, a Mr. Nes- bitt, attempted to open a banking house at the Enrequita mines, near New Almaden, on the evening of Saturday, August 3, 1861, when a general row took place, knives and pistols be- ing freely used. A Spaniard was shot in the neck and killed instantly, and one or two oth- ers were seriously injured.

On the night of June 4, 1864, Joseph Pelle- grini, a butcher doing business near New Al- maden, was murdered in his room as he was in the act of retiring for the night. A butcher knife was used and he was stabbed to the heart. The house door was forced by break- ing a lock and there was every evidence in the room of a terrific struggle. Pellegrini was a quiet, inoffensive man and the supposition was that he was killed for his money. The murderer was never found.

On the morning of June 5, 1864, a Mexican named Julian Almanea, who had lost an arm and who was the owner of a "dead fall" at Enrequita, had some words with Juan Jose Rodriguez. Pistols were drawn and Rod- riguez was killed. Almanea fled but was ar- rested in Los Angeles in 1867.

In the early '80s Joe Ramirez killed a man at the New Almaden mines. He was tried in San Jose, convicted and hanged.

Mrs. Walter's description of the mines ends as follows :

"Now the visitor leaves the railway station two miles from the Hacienda, where are lo- cated the reduction works of the mine. Al- most the first thing to greet the eye is a pretty school house with its groups of neat, tidy children. Two teachers are employed and four at the school on the hill, three miles fur- ther on, for ten months in the year, the school being in the regular county school system. Along the single street for half a mile are clean, pretty cottages, the homes of the Ha- · cienda workmen, each cottage literally em- bowered in choice roses and other flowers. These houses are owned mostly by the com- pany, who lease them to the workmen at from two dollars to five dollars per month. Cut- tings are supplied free from the beautiful grounds of the manager, where are grown more varieties of roses than in any other place, perhaps, in the county. Along the street in front of the houses a stream of purest water is conducted in a channel for domestic purposes. The street is bordered with shade trees and a neat brick wall extends its entire length. Everywhere are seen signs of thrift and pros- perity ; the people look well kept and con- tented, while an all-pervading spirit of order and system extends to the remotest ramifica- tions of this important industry.

"Three miles up a steep but well-graded road brings one to the mine proper, where are the great shafts with their huge engines, in one of which, the engine of the Buena Vista shaft, is a piece of iron weighing twelve tons. The miners are principally Mexican and Cor- nish. Two pretty church edifices, a Methodist and a Catholic, located at the Hill settlement, were built almost entirely from contributions by the company and manager. A social or- ganization, called the 'Helping Hand,' for which the company erected and fitted up a club building, for the benefit of the workmen, has a fine library of nearly 500 volumes, be- sides a list of magazines and daily and weekly newspapers of the best published. There are held frequent entertainments, given by the members, and the society is a wonderful fac- tor in the promotion of sociability, general in- formation and mental culture.

"The miners' fund, to which each employe contributes one dollar per month, pays, among other expenditures for the good of the miners, the salary of a resident physician, whose serv- ices are gratuitous to the contributors. The value of this arrangement will be better un- derstood when it is known that a great ma-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

jority of the workmen are married men with families. The management encourages this class, feeling that, as a rule, it is more reliable and responsible that that composed of men with no domestic ties. The population of the settlement (1886) is about 1,400, of whom 600 are under twenty years of age."

In the late '70s Mary Hallock Foote, the artist and novelist, author of those charm- ingly written and popular mining camp stories, was a resident of New Almaden. Her husband, Arthur D. Foote, was the engineer of the mine. Mrs. Foote, having much time to spare out- side of her household duties, made, during her residence on the Hill, many sketches of scenery and native types, which an Eastern this line might not have proceeded much fur- ther if her husband had succeeded in securing the Democratic nomination for surveyor of Santa Clara County. That was a Democratic year and nomination was equivalent to elec- tion. The convention was held in Music Hall, First Street, San Jose, and Mr. Foote, resolv- ing to take a shy at politics in the hope that success might enable him to settle down, instead of having to move from one place to another in pursuit of his vocation as a mining engineer, announced himself as a candidate for the nomination. There was one other candi- date, John Coombe, who was later killed by mistake in an altercation in a First Street saloon. Coombe was well known throughout the county. He was a good mixer and had politics at his fingers' ends, while Foote, on the other hand, was hardly known outside of New Almaden, though he was a man of con- spicuous ability and unblemished reputation. Almost a stranger to the majority of the dele- gates and knowing little of the tricks of the political trade, his defeat by the ballot was not surprising. And yet the contest was close, for the fine impression created by his speech before the convention, together with his hand- some, manly appearance, brought him many votes which were not his when the delegates were called together. The action of the con- vention settled the place of residence. When Foote's contract at New Almaden was up he went into the mining regions of the Rocky Mountains. Mining camps became the homes of Foote and his talented wife, and in those Western scenes Mrs. Foote had abundant op- portunity for the cultivation of her literary and artistic gifts. All her stories-and she has written many-breathe the free, romantic western atmosphere, and all show a thorough acquaintance with western scenes and the habits, customs and mental attitude of the inhabitants.

At the present time (1922) the stockholders of the company have taken charge of the af- fairs of the mines. The shafts on the hill have not been worked for some time, but all the employes, over fifty in number, are working in a new mine, The Senator, situated about. half-way between Almaden-on-the-Hill and Guadalupe. The prospects are most encourag- ing. The superintendent is Edmond Tussen, whose home is in Berkeley.

The Guadalupe quicksilver mine is situated two miles north of Almaden on the eastern slope of the mountains, the fissures or canyons being near the juncture of the metamorphic rock and oil-bearing formation. The Guada- lupe Creek comes out of the Coast Range deposit into two parts, though the ore was found in a continuous body below the creek. Here are the white cottages of the workmen, a pretty residence for the superintendent and extensive reduction works. Owing to the low price of quicksilver, work was practically sus- pended for several years, but now, with the discovery of ore in a ridge never before worked and with prices better than usual, there is every prospect of successful operation.

magazine was glad to publish. Her work in . near this point, dividing the surface of the

The Enrequita mine, two miles to the south- west of New Almaden, is the property of the Almaden Company. It has been a small pro- ducer. South of the San Jose Cemetery is the Old Chapman mine. It was never a pay- ing proposition and many years ago work was stopped, never to be resumed.

Mineral Springs of the County

The mineral springs of Santa Clara County are noteworthy and valuable. One mile above Saratoga and northwest from it, on Campbell Creek, are situated the Pacific Congress Springs, so called because of their resemblance to the waters of the famous Congress Springs of Saratoga, N. Y. This is one of California's most picturesque and popular watering places and has always been in great favor as a winter resort. It is open the year round. There are at this place several springs. They are but a foot or two deep, being excavated from the sandstone, the lower one receiving the drain- age of the others. It sends off a stream about two inches in size. The waters from these springs are so nearly alike that the difference can hardly be determined by the taste. By analysis it is shown to contain 335.857 grains of solid matter to the gallon, composed as fol- lows: Chloride of sodium, 119.159; sulphate of soda, 12.140; carbonate of soda, 123.351; carbonate of iron, 14.030; carbonate of lime, 17.295 ; and silica alumina with a trace of mag- nesia, 49.882. It is considered a healthful and refreshing beverage and has gained much fa-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

vor with the public. The place is connected with Saratoga, Los Gatos and San Jose by the Peninsular Railroad.

The now well-known Madrone Mineral Springs are situated in Burnett Township, about twenty-five miles southeast of San Jose, in the Coast Range, at an altitude of 2,000 feet. The location is in a sheltered and pic- turesque canyon at the foot of Pine Ridge. The place is free from fogs, the atmosphere is pure and invigorating, and the temperature is mild and pleasant. The mountains are clothed with such trees as pine, oak, maple, laurel and madrone, while medicinal plants are found in profusion. The early traditions of the Ma- drone Springs state that they were known to the Indians and there is little doubt that they were the "medicine waters" of one of their tribes, for many relics in the shape of mor- tars, hatchets, arrowheads and the like have been, and are still being, turned up in all direc- tions. The springs are situated six miles north of the Gilroy Hot Springs, connecting with which there is a bridle path. There is a fine road to Madrone Station on the Southern Pacific Railway. The Springs contain one of natural soda water, the principal elements of which are soda, iron and magnesia. This has proved of great medicinal virtue in dys- pepsia, liver complaints, kidney diseases and neuralgic affections. Another is strongly im- pregnated with iron and arsenic, which for debility, skin diseases, asthma and other kin- dred affections has proved an excellent cura- tive. There is a white sulphur spring, which is also utilized, while guests may be supplied with hot and cold baths of natural soft water. The improvements made are extensive and up-to-date.

About twelve miles from Gilroy, in a small, rocky ravine in the Coyote Canyon near the headwaters of that creek, where the moun- tains, timber clad to their summits, rise several hundred feet on both sides of that stream, Francisco Cantua, a Mexican sheepherder, while hunting for some of his stray flock, dis- covered, in 1865, what are now these famous springs. He lost no time in filing a squatter's claim to the place, and for some years used it as a camping ground for himself and friends. It is not probable that the Indians were aware of the existence of the springs, for no remains have been found. Besides, the hills were in early days much infested by wild beasts, a fact that may account for their lack of knowl- edge on the subject. Cantua sold his interest to George Roop, who at once commenced the grading of a road to the springs, the erection of houses and the general clearing and adorn- ment of the locality. In addition to a large, commodious hotel, there are fifteen cottages

for families, garage, dancing pavilion, swim- ming tank, sixteen bathrooms, and other con- veniences of a first-class health resort; one hundred and fifty guests can be accommodated. The hot spring possesses remarkable medicinal qualities. It has a nearly uniform temperature of 118 degrees and contains in solution sul- phur, iron, soda, magnesia, baryta, arsenic (in small quantities) and alum in small quantities. It is pungent but by no means unpleasant to the taste. Within fifteen feet of the hot springs there are a dozen or more large springs of pure, cold water, while nearly three-fourths of a mile away from the hotel there is a ro- mantically situated garden, where everything from an orange to a turnip will flourish. The place is supplied with telegraph and telephone communication, and in 1873 a postoffice was there established. The site of the Gilroy Hot Springs is 1,240 feet above the sea level, in the very heart of the mountains, amidst groves of pine and oak, in which game abound, while near by the Coyote affords a harvest of trout to the angler. No more charming resort for the pleasure-seeker or the invalid is to be found on the Pacific Coast. W. J. McDonald is the manager.

There are other mineral springs in the county, not the least important of which are the springs in Alum Rock Canyon on the City Reservation, detailed reference to which will be given in another chapter devoted to a de- scription of San Jose's pleasure resorts.

The Oil Development

There is oil in Santa Clara County. Several spots have been developed to some extent; others have not. Near Sargent, at the south- ern end of the county, wells have been bored and oil extracted. In Moody's Gulch, a branch of the Los Gatos Canyon, several wells have been bored and for many years oil, with a paraffin base, has been extracted, most of the time in paying quantities. For the first ten years the output was over 80,000 gallons. The work was started by R. C. McPherson in 1873. The only fuel used was natural gas. Of late years the work has been intermittent, lack of funds often preventing development. The property is now (1922) owned by the Trigonia Oil Company, and extensive devel- opments are now in progress.

North of Los Gatos oil has been found, though there have not been any operations for several years. Indications of oil have also been found in Alum Rock Canyon and in other portions of the county. Some day, perhaps, when the country's supply of oil shows signs of giving out, other and more determined at- tempts to develop Santa Clara County's oil resources will be made.

CHAPTER VI.

Society Events in the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies-Rentiniscences of Pioneer Women-Mrs. Carroll's Interesting Record-Charles G. Ames and Judge William T. Wallace-Presidential Visits.

For much of the material relating to society affairs in the early days of San Jose, the his- torian is indebted to that entertaining, gossipy book written in 1903 by Mrs. Mary A. Carroll, since deceased. Mrs. Carroll was for many years the society editor of the "Mercury," and her opportunities for gathering old-time social news were unusually good.

"Society as found in San Jose before the days of '49 is graphically described by Mrs. Frances A. Sunol-Angus :

"'A great deal of it, some of it true, most of it colored with the light of other days, has been said and written of the stirring days of 1849, but no one has yet lifted the veil that dropped when the adventurer and the pros- pector, following the golden light, founded on the Pacific shores the realization of the visions conjured up by the magic name El Dorado- the veil that separates old California from the new, as invisible, yet as real, as any existing state line.

"'For the gold excitement, bringing in new energy and activity, brought also new disturb- ing elements, and where there had existed a boundless hospitality. with the incoming of the stranger the social limits contracted and formality and ceremony began to be observed.

"'I speak of the early forties; my own fath- er's boyhood days, and my grandfather, Don Antonio Sunol, and his family are a fair pic- ture of the chivalrous host and the warm- hearted hospitality of the times. The guest chamber was seldom untenanted, and seven or eight guests were welcomed and entertained for two or three successive weeks. English. Russian and American trading vessels made periodic visits to San Francisco and the mer- chandise was brought to San Jose on pack horses. When time permitted, the supercargo, captain and some of his officers, would accom- pany the caravan, and for weeks were royally entertained.

"'There being from fifty to one hundred Indian servants in the household, each guest was provided with his special one, who waited upon his every want during the entire visit. Horses, the very best in the stables, saddles, silver mounted or plated, and a guide were always at his command and a servant always on hand to clasp and unclasp each gentleman's

spurs, while another led his horse away. The host and his family devoted themselves to the entertainment of the guests and a series of festivities was gotten up in their honor. The homes of Don Salvis Pacheco, Don Dolores Pacheco, Don Jose Noriega, and Don Antonio Sunol were the scenes of many of these fes- tivities.

"'Can you guess how their invitations to a ball were sent ont? Some gay cavalier, who possessed a melodions voice and could thrum the light guitar, attired in a gay holiday cos- tume, with clinking silver spurs and mounted upon a spirited horse, pranced and curvetted through the plaza singing some ditty, and when he had arrested the attention of passers- by addressed them in friendly, courteous lan- guage, extending the invitation to all present, rich and poor, not low and high, for each man was as good as his neighbor, and wealth did not place a man upon a pedestal of honor. When pleasantries had been exchanged be- tween the messenger and the crowd, he passed on and stopping at the door of each house, re- peated his invitation, thus honoring all with a daylight serenade.

"'Young ladies attended balls and parties accompanied by their mothers, or, in the ab- sence of these, by some elderly female relative. The chaperon was known as the "duenna." Young men and maidens carried on their court- ship at these balls right under the unseeing eyes of the watchful (?) duenna. When this secret love-making had reached a successful issue between the pair, the youth acquainted his father with his hopes and aspirations, and he in turn sought the maiden's father. His consent gained, the bride's trousseau was im- mediately prepared, the wedding was an- nounced and in a few weeks the marriage bells were ringing. The festivities lasted a week or more, and, as at other times, everybody was welcomed and feasted. The bride's dower con- sisted of household furnishings, cattle and horses-quality in accordance with her father's means.

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History of Santa Clara County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Part 14

Author: Sawyer, Eugene Taylor, 1846- Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co. Number of Pages: 1928

Author: Sawyer, Eugene Taylor, 1846-
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1928