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 29

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

USA > California > Santa Clara County > 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 29

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In 1854 a district school was established, Freeman Gates, principal.

In 1855 the Know-Nothing party came into existence but held no convention. Its candi- dates were nominated by primary.

The Republican party was organized in 1856 and a convention was heldl the same year with J. H. Morgan, chairman; A. C. Erkson and M. Sawyer, vice-chairmen ; C. G. Thomas and R. Hutchinson, secretaries.

In 1857 San Jose was remapped.

In 1858 the Anti-Lecompton (Douglas- Democrat ) party convened at the city hall.

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

W. M. Lent, chairman, and Freeman Gates, Two large chimneys of the San Jose Institute secretary.

An ordinance authorizing the city to lay gas pipes was passed January 11, 1858. 1n July, 1860, James Hagan secured a franchise from the city for this purpose. The first lights were given on January 21, 1861. There were then only eighty-four consumers and seven street lights.

In 1861 Jasper D. Gunn, city marshal, ab- sconded, having embezzled $2,700 of the city's money. Gunn was acquitted of the criminal charge but his bondsmen were sued by the city and judgment obtained against them.

Donald Mackenzie, in May, 1864, was granted permission to lay water pipes in the streets of the city. This was the beginning of the San Jose Water Company.

In 1865 a bridge was built over Coyote Creek at Santa Clara Street. The same year the Mansion House, built in 1850, was burned.

In April, 1867, Abijah McCall, county treas- urer, absconded, being a defaulter in the large sum of $23,762.41. He was arrested and con- victed.

William Blanch, an Englishman, was mur- dered on May 16, 1860, while at labor in a field he was cultivating about a mile from San Jose. The murderer was an Indian named Salvador Garcia, who had been accused by the deceased of stealing a rope. Garcia was hanged.

In March, 186S, the Legislature granted to S. A. Bishop and others a franchise to con- struct a horse railroad along the Alameda. On August 31 work on the road was started and on November 1, the cars made their initial trip, running from First Street, San Jose, to Main Street in Santa Clara. In 1869 the line was extended eastward along Santa Clara Street to the Coyote Creek bridge On July 6. 1870, the board of supervisors granted the company permission to use steam, pony or pneumatic propelling power, and on Novem- ber 6, 1877, authority was granted to permit cars to run over the bridge to Mclaughlin Avenue.

On Wednesday, October 1, 186S, at eight o'clock in the morning a severe earthquake shook California. San Jose suffered consid- erably. The heavy brick cornice of Murphy's building, corner of Market and El Dorado Streets, fell to the ground. The Presbyterian Church on Second Street sustained great damage. All the brick turrets fell and large portions of the steeple were precipitated through the roof to the floor. The large water tank over the roof of Moody's flour mill fell through the roof, carrying destruction in its course. Their wooden storehouse, 100 feet in length, filled with grain, was totally wrecked.

were thrown down, one of them crashing through into the rooms below. A portion of the rear wall of Welch's livery stable fell. Otter's unfinished block at the corner of First and St. John Streets was severely damaged. There was not a brick building in the city that was not more or less injured.

The next winter San Jose was visited by a severe flood. The Los Gatos and Guadalupe Creeks overflowed their banks, flooding the lands adjacent thereto. The high grade of the horse railroad track dammed the water back south of Santa Clara Street, inundating the houses and yards. The water broke over the track flooding the low grounds between the College of Notre Dame and the Guadalupe. About a hundred feet of the railroad track was swept away. The main portion of the city from Third to Seventh Streets was under water to the depth of several inches.

In 1870 the population of San Jose was 9,118.

In 1871 Washington Square was granted to the state as a site for a Normal School. On April 3, 1871, Mayor Adolph Pfister sent a communication to the council stating that he had donated his salary for the year ($600) for the purpose of aiding in the establishment of a public library.

In December, 1871, another flood, caused by overflow from the Guadalupe and Los Ga- tos Creeks. On the east side of River Street seven small cottages floated down stream for a distance of a third of a mile. During the flood all communication with the outside world was suspended. Since that date the two creeks have been widened and improved so that now there is no danger of overflows.

On January 22, 1864, the Santa Clara Val- ley & Lumber Company was incorporated with a capital stock of $300,000. The directors were William P. Dougherty, W. H. Hall, Samuel McFarland, E. W. Haskell, W. W. Pratt, John Metcalf and G. W. Mclellan.

On January 5, in the District Court, Judge David Belden presiding, Tiburcio Vasquez, the notorious bandit and murderer, was placed on trial for the murder of Leander Davidson, hotel keeper at Tres Pinos, San Benito County. This was the most celebrated trial ever held in San Jose. Attorney General John Lord Love, assisted by N. C. Briggs and Hon. W. E. Lovett, of Hollister and Dis- trict Attorney Thomas Bodley of Santa Clara County, appeared for the prosecution. The night before, Judge C. B. Darwin, of San Francisco, to whom had been intrusted the principal management of the defense, with- drew from the case. Before the beginning of the trial, Judge W. H. Collins and Judge J. A. Moultrie were retained to assist P. B. Tully.

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of Gilroy, as attorneys for the prisoner. Every- thing being in readiness Vasquez was placed on trial. When the court adjourned in the afternoon, the following residents of Santa Clara County had been selected to serve as jurors: G. W. Reynolds, foreman, Tyler Brundage, Frank Hamilton, M. Dornberger, Noah Parr. M. Tobin, G. C. Fitzgerald, J. M. Moorehead, S. T. Woodson, M. Lubliner, C. S. Towle, Hugh O'Rourke. On Saturday, Jan- uary 9, a verdiet of guilty of murder in the first degree, was rendered and on March 19, the execution took place in the jail yard.

Vasquez' career was one long series of law- less acts. He was born in Monterey in 1835, was a wild, harum-scarum youngster, but he did not give the officers any trouble until just before he reached his sixteenth year. Before an occurrence which launched him into a career of crime, his associates were Mexi- can law-breakers. cattle thieves, mainly, whose operations became extensive soon after the occupation of California by the Ameri- cans. One night, in company with Anastacio Garcia, a Mexican desperado, he attended a fandango. A quarrel over a woman, the fatal shooting of the constable while trying to maintain order, the lynching of one of Vas- quez' associates and the formation of a vigi- lance committee sent Vasquez into hiding from which he emerged to ally himself with a band of horse thieves.

In 1857 he came to grief, but five years' sequestration in the state prison failed to pro- duce any change in his morals. One month after his discharge he was operating as a highway robber on the San Joaquin plains. Chased by officers into Contra Costa County, he sought and obtained refuge at the ranch of a Mexican who was the father of a pretty and impressionable daughter. She easily fell a victim to the seductive wiles of the handsome,

dashing young knight of the road. One morn- ing Anita and Vasquez were missing. With stern face the father of the girl mounted his fleetest mustang and started in pursuit. He overtook the lovers in the Livermore Valley. They were resting under a tree by the road- side. Vasquez saw Anita's father and sprang to his feet, but made no hostile demonstra- tion. His code of honor forbade an attack on the man he had wronged. A quick under- standing of the situation sent Anita to her lover's side. "If you kill him you must also kill me." she screamed. The father frowned. Vasquez, with hands folded, stood waiting. After some consideration the ranch owner said if Anita would return home her lover might go free. The girl consented and Vas- quez shrugged his shoulders as father and daughter rode away.

Transferring his field of operations to So- noma County, Vasquez prospered for awhile, but one day in attempting to drive off a band of stolen cattle, he was arrested and for the offense spent four years in San Quentin prison. Immediately upon his discharge in June, 1870, he laid plans for robbery on a much larger scale than he had before attempted. Selecting as his base the Cantua Canyon, a wild and al- most inaccessible retreat in the Mt. Diablo Range, formerly the camp and shelter of Joa- quin Murietta, he gathered about him a band of choice spirits and for four years carried on a warfare against organized society, the like of which California had never before experi- enced. Stages, stores, teams and individuals were held up in the counties of Central and Southern California, and though posse after posse took the field against him he succeeded in eluding capture. In the hills he was safe. White settlers were scarce and the Mexican population aided and befriended him, princi- pally through fear. Besides, his sweethearts. as he called them, were scattered throughout the hills of the Coast Range, from San Jose to Los Angeles. They kept him posted re- garding the movement of the officers and more than once he escaped capture through their vigilance and activity.

In the fall of 1871, after a daring stage rob- bery in San Benito County, Vasquez got word that one of his sweethearts would be at a dance in Hollister that night. He resolved to be in attendance. The dancing was at its height when he appeared. Becoming flushed with wine his caution deserted him and he re- mained until near the break of day. He was not molested and emboldened by a sense of security he went into the barroom and en- gaged in a game of cards with one of the women. Here he was seen and recognized by a law and order Mexican. The constable was notified, a posse was organized and a plan laid to pot Vasquez at the moment of his ap- pearance at either of the doors. A woman gave Vasquez warning of his danger, and dis- guised with her mantilla and skirt, the bandit went out of the dance hall, crossed in front of the approaching posse, found his horse, mounted it and was beyond the danger limit before the deception was discovered.

A few days later he stopped the stage from the New Idria mines. A woman's head showed at the door as Vasquez covered the driver with a rifle. She was the wife of one of the mine bosses, a man who had once be- friended the outlaw. "Don't do it. Tiburcio," she entreated. Vasquez looked at the grim faces of his followers, hesitated a moment, then lowered his rifle. "Drive on," was his curt command. The stage lumbered away and

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the bandit leader faced a situation that de- manded all his skill and nerve. That he suc- ceeded in placating his followers may be taken for granted for that same day the band robbed a store and then rode toward a hiding place in the Santa Cruz Range.

While the robbers rested, the sheriffs of three counties were searching for them. few miles above Santa Cruz the officers and the outlaws met. In the fight that ensued two of Vasquez's men were killed outright and Vasquez was shot in the breast. Though desperately wounded, he stood his ground, put the officers to rout and then rode sixty miles before he halted for friendly ministration. When able to stand on his feet he rode to the Cantua Canyon, where he found the remnant of his band.

There he planned a sensational fall cam- paign which opened by a raid on Firebaugh's' Ferry on the San Joaquin plains. The story of what occurred was afterward told to the historian by Vasquez, who said: "I took a watch from a man they called the captain. His wife saw the act, and running up to me threw her arms around my neck and begged me to return the watch to her husband, as he had given it to her during their courtship. I gave it back and then she went into another room and from behind a chimney took out another watch. 'Take it,' she said, but I wouldn't. 1 just kissed her and told her to keep the watch as a memento of our meeting."

Then came the robbery of the Twenty-One Mile House, in Santa Clara County, which was followed by a descent on Tres Pinos (now Paicines), a little village twelve miles south of Hollister, in San Benito County. This raid, because it resulted in a triple murder, aroused the entire state. Rewards for the capture of Vasquez, dead or alive, brought hundreds of man hunters into the field, but for nearly a year the cunning outlaw successfully defied his pursuers.

The Tres Pinos affair was the boldest Vas- quez had yet attempted. With four men- Abdon Leiva, Clodovio Chavez, Romulo Gonzalez and Teodoro Moreno-he rode into the village, robbed the store, the hotel, private houses and individuals, securing booty which required eight pack horses, stolen from the hotel stable, to carry away. The raid lasted three hours and the men killed were Bernard Bihury, a sheepherder: George Redford, a teamster, and Leander Davidson, the propriet- or of the hotel. Bihury came to the store while the robbery was going on and was or- dered to lie down. Not understanding either English or Spanish, he started to run and was shot and killed. While the robbers were at work Redford drove up to the hotel with a

load of pickets. Ile was attending to his horses when Vasquez approached and ordered him to lie down. Redford was afflicted with deafness and not understanding the order, but believing that his life was threatened, start- ed on a run for the stables. He had just reached the door when a bullet from Vasquez' rifle passed through his heart, killing him in- stantly.

All this time the front door of the hotel was open and Davidson was in the doorway. Leiva saw him and shouted, "Shut the door and keep inside and you won't be hurt." Da- vidson stepped back and was in the act of closing the door when Vasquez fired a rifle shot, the bullet passing through the door and piercing Davidson's heart. He fell back into the arms of his wife and died in a short time.

AA short distance from Tres Pinos the bandits divided the booty, each man being counseled by Vasquez to look out for himself. Leiva had left his wife at a friend's ranch, near Elizabeth Lake, Los Angeles County. Thither he rode to find that Vasquez had preceded him. As the days passed Leiva began to sus- pect that his chief had more than a platonic interest in the attractive Rosaria. He called Vasquez to account suggesting a duel. But Vasquez refused to draw a weapon against the man he had wronged. After some hot words matters were allowed to drop and for a few days all went smoothly. Then Vasquez asked Leiva to go to Elizabeth Lake for pro- visions. Leiva consented, but instead of car- rying out instructions he hunted up Sheriff Adams, of Santa Clara County, and surrend- ered, at the same time offering to appear as state's witness in the event of Vasquez' cap- ture and trial. Adams started at once for the bandit's retreat, but Vasquez was not there. He had been gone many hours and Mrs. Leiva had gone with him.

A month later Vasquez deserted the woman and fled northward. This step was induced by the number and activity of the officers. The Legislature had met and authorized the ex- penditure of $15,000 for a campaign against the daring and desperate fugitive. One sheriff (Harry Morse, of Alameda County) organ- ized a picked company of fifteen men and with provisions for a two months' outing started to explore thoroughly the mountain fastnesses of Southern and Central California. But so efficient was Vasquez' system of in- formation that every move made by the of- ficers became known to him. At last Morse gave up the hunt. Then the irrepressible Tiburcio made up for lost time. Robbery after robbery followed in quick succession. After holding up a number of stages, Vasquez en- tered the town of Kingston, Fresno County,

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and there made a rich haul. Stores were plun- dered, safes broken into, houses looted and provisions, clothing, money and jewelry taken away. The news of the raid spurred the of- ficers into renewed action. Soon there was a rush of determined men into Fresno County. But Vasquez could not be found. He had re- treated southward. Of his band of followers only Chavez was left. Gonzalez had fled to Mexico, Leiva was in jail and Moreno was in San Quentin, having been tried and given a life sentence.

A month after the Kingston raid, Vasquez and Chevez made a descent upon Coyote Holes, a station on the Los Angeles and Owens Lake stage road. The few residents were tied to trees, the station was robbed and the two bandits were about to depart when the stage appeared. After the passengers had been robbed and a goodly treasure taken from Wells-Fargo & Co.'s strong box, the horses were unharnessed, four more taken from the stables, and with bullion, money, jewelry and horses the lawless pair departed for the hills.

On the following day Vasquez and Chavez stopped the Los Angeles stage near Soledad and then dissolved partnership, Chavez to ride for the Mexican border, his California career forever closed, Vasquez to seek a favorite hid- ing place in the Sierra Madre hills. Here, se- cure from molestation, he remained two months, when word was brought to him that one of his sweethearts was staying at the house of Greek George, not many miles from Los Angeles. The place was in the zone of danger, but Vasquez resolved to go there. His intention in some way became known and word was sent to Sheriff Rowland at Los Angeles. A posse was quickly organized, and placed under charge of Under Sheriff John- son and the rendezvous was soon reached. Vasquez was there and in attempting to es- cape received eight bullets in his body. It was thought at first that he could not survive, but a strong constitution enabled him to pull through.

On May 25, 1874, eleven days after his cap- ture Vasquez was transferred to the county jail at Salinas, Monterey County. There he was closely guarded until July 26, when a court order was made transferring the trial to San Benito County. A second order sent Vasquez to the county jail at San Jose for safe keeping. On the afternoon of the same day Vasquez reached San Jose, to find himself in the custody of his old adversary, Sheriff Adams. Afterward the case was re-trans- ferred to Santa Clara County and in San Jose the trial took place, as has been stated. Leiva was the state's witness. The opportunity to square accounts with the man who had

wronged him had come at last. He swore that Vasquez not only fired the shot which killed Davidson, but also was responsible for the other murders committed during the Tres Pinos raid. His was the only positive testi- mony, but other and thoroughly reliable wit- nesses gave sufficient circumstantial corrober- ation to enable the jury to reach a verdict. The fatal day came and California's star bandit walked calmly to the scaffold and died with a smile upon his lips. After the execution Leiva went to Chile, remained there a few years, then returned to California. He died in Sacramento several years ago. Chavez was killed in Arizona in the fall of 1875 by an old enemy. The head was severed from the body and brought to San Juan.

On February 11, 1876, a franchise was grant- ed to C. T. Bird, Charles B. Hensley and oth- ers for a street railroad from Julian and Mar- ket Streets to Willow Street. Afterwards the road was extended along First street to the Southern Pacific Railroad depot and along Willow street to Lincoln avenue.

In 1877 one of the most remarkable cases of mistaken identity had its origin in San Jose. Although there came a revelation on a most essential point when no revelation was expect- ed, one mystery remained and that mystery has never been solved. John C. Arnold was a playwright for one of the variety theatres of San Francisco. He was well connected and a man of education but he had one beset- ting fault and that fault was overindulgence in strong drink. In the summer of 1877 his condition became such that grave fears for his reason were entertained by members of his family. A suggestion was made that a few months in the country would probably straighten him out, and as Fred Sprung, a pioneer minstrel and an old friend, was re- siding near San Jose, it was resolved to pack him off to the Santa Clara Valley.

Arnold reached San Jose in a shaky con- dition, but a few days of ozone breathing seemed to make a new man of him. One morning he left the Sprung residence on Mc- Laughlin Avenue and came to town. Here he met a Mexican and the twain hired a rig from the City Stables, now used as the Santa Clara Street Extension of Hart's Emporium. and drove in the direction of Los Gatos. The next morning in Neff's almond orchard, near the Gem City, a ghastly discovery was made. Lying under a tree, with a bullet hole in his temple, was the body of a dead man. The body was brought to San Jose and for twenty- four hours remained unidentified. Then a newspaper description brought to the city Fred Sprung, Mrs. Ned Buckley and Lockhart, an undertaker from San Francisco. Each posi-

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tively identified the body as that of John C. Arnold. The features were not disfigured and Sprung declared that without other evi- dence he was ready to swear that the body was that of his old friend. While visiting at the Sprung ranch Arnold wore shoes of cer- tain marked peculiarities. These shoes were on the feet of the dead man. Arnold wore a black broadcloth suit, much the worse for wear, one lapel having distinguishing marks. This suit covered the body of the corpse. Arnold carried a gold-headed cane .. This cane was found a short distance from the tree, un- der which the body was found. Upon one of the fingers of the dead man was a ring. When Mrs. Buckley saw it she declared that it was one she had presented to Arnold and that an inscription which she gave would be found on the inner side. The ring was removed and the inscription was there as described. At the inquest two physicians swore that it was a case of murder and the jury returned a ver- dict setting forth that John C. Arnold had met his death at the hands of some person unknown to them.

The body was taken to San Francisco and interred in the Arnold lot in Lone Hill Ceme- tery. Three months later John C. Arnold in the flesh and the picture of health reappeared in San Francisco. He had come by steamer from Santa Barbara and was amazed when he learned that he had been looked upon as dead. Although put through a gruelling ex- amination of Capt. I. W. Lees, then San Fran- cisco's chief of detectives, he could give no explanation of the mystery that surrounded the crime of the almond orchard. All he could say that he had gone toward Los Gatos, had had a number of drinks near that town and that he remembered nothing more until he awoke in a stage coach going toward Santa Barbara. He knew that he had changed clothes with someone and was sure he had been robbed but as to the identity of the man who looked like him and who wore his clothes, he had not the faintest notion. The Mexican who had accompanied Arnold to Los Gatos was never found and the name of the man buried in the Arnold plot has never been discovered. On account of his striking resemblance to the playwright Captain Lees thought he ought to be a relative but investigation on this line came to nothing. Arnold lived for several years after his reappearance in San Francisco.

In 1879 the Legislature passed an act an- thorizing the city to open Market Street through the Plaza, close San Jose and Guada- lupe Streets and sell the vacant lands adjoin- ing Market Street. There was so much op- position to this that the street commissioner saw fit to do his work in the dark. The peo-

ple awoke one morning to find the trees and shrubbery in the line of the street cut down and destroyed. The square remained in a di- lapidated condition for several years. In 1887 it was selected as the site for the city hall.

In 1879 former Sheriff John H. Adams and former County Clerk Cornelius Finley were murdered by bandits in Arizona. They were on their way to Tucson from their mine when they were shot and killed from ambush by Mexican bandits. Both of the murdered men held office at the court house in San Jose when Vasquez was tried. Adams was one of the bravest officers in the state and Finley was extremely popular on account of his courtesy and generosity.

In January, 1879, J. C. Keane was appoint- ed city clerk to fill the vacancy caused by the disappearance of W. N. Castle, a defaulter. Castle fled to Oregon and there ended his life with a pistol bullet.

In February, 1878, the city library was turned over to the city.

A systematic system for the improvement of St. James Square was adopted in 1869. The grounds were laid out with walks, grass, was planted and a superintendent was employed. The system was improved in the winter of 1887-88 and after a few years it was brought to its present beautiful condition.

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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 29

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