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 57

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 57

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The most important industry is the Flick- inger Fruit Cannery. Only extras are packed. There are 250 acres in the tract and buildings of all kinds for handling the fruit. About 200 men and women are employed during the busy season. The business was started in 1886 by J. H. Flickinger. When he bought the land in 1880 for his orchard and cannery it was in pasture, grain and mustard, and honeycombed by squirrels and gophers. He immediately inaugurated a revolution. He planted his orchard, fought squirrels and go- phers, spent money lavishly until as a result of his efforts, in 1887, he turned out orchard products that sold for over $100,000. Mr. Flickinger died in 1898, and the establishment has since been conducted by the Flickinger family. L. F. Graham is the president and manager; Chas. T. Flickinger is treasurer ; Miss F. Flickinger is secretary, and W. R. Leland is superintendent. Of late years the equipment has been so improved that the can-

nery is able to perform more and better work than formerly. Cherries, apricots, peaches and tomatoes are handled.

For many years J. F. Pyle, a pioneer of 1846, conducted a cannery on his ranch of eighty-four acres at the corner of the King and Maybury roads. In 1907 the cannery business was removed to the corner of Fifth and Martha Streets, San Jose. About 300 people are employed during the busy season. The manager is Harry Pyle; superintendent, E. G. Pyle, both sons of J. F. Pyle,

In the month of December , 1877, the set- tlers in Berryessa were wrought up to the highest pitch of enthusiasm over the cheer- ing news from Washington that the suit in- volving the title to the lands they occupied had been finally dceided in their favor by the Supreme Court of the United States. The event was celebrated on December 22 by a grand barbecue in the school house enclosure. When the hour of noon arrived the place was thronged with people. Berryessa turned out every man, woman and child, while San Jose, Santa Clara, Mountain View, Mayfield, Mil- pitas, Alviso and Evergreen were represented by large delegations, the total number of par- ticipants exceeding 1500. Uncle Ike Bran- ham, assisted by the ladies of the village, su- perintended the arrangements for the barbe- cue proper. Besides all the attractive essen- tials of the meat feast, there was an array of succulent extras fit for a kingly epicure. The festivities opened with a mass meeting in the school house, which failed to accommodate more than one-third of those who desired to listen. Congratulatory addresses were deliv- ered by Hon. S. O. Houghton, Hon. C. T. Ryland, Judge Lawrence Archer, Hon. Thomas Bodley, J. R. Hall and J. H. M. Town- send, after which the attack on the tables commenced. After the feast Bronson & Dag- gett's band summoned the people to the school, where dancing was kept up until after midnight.

The history of the suit is as follows: The disputed tract, which covered the village of Berryessa, contained over 15,000 acres. In 1852 Nicolas Berryessa filed a claim on the land before the United States land commis- sioner, under a permit from the alcalde of San Jose. The evidence to support the claim was lacking and afterward an amended petition was filed. This petition set up a grant from the Mexican government, which, however, had been lost or mislaid. To support his claim Berryessa filed what in Spanish is called a diseno, which is a topographical sketch or chart, showing a tract of land comprising 15,000 acres. It was alleged that this chart

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

was attached to the petition upon which the grant was originally issued. In 1853 the claim was declared a fraud on its face. Many of the topographical features delineated had no existence prior to 1852, while the assertion was made that the grant was issued in 1835. But the most glaring defect was this: 1t

showed the Aguaze Creek as running from the hills straight to the Coyote, while, as a mat- ter of fact, the Aguaze turned to the north about half a mile east of the Coyote, the wat- ers finding their way through the willow thickets to form Penetencia Creek. This was prior to 1852.

In that year a settler dug a ditch and built fences, and in the fall the creek sent down its waters, which entered the ditch and contin- ued on, cutting a channel through which the waters were afterward discharged. Still an- other defect in the diseno was the representa- tion of a two-story house in the north corner of the rancho, known to have been built in 1850, while the diseno was alleged to have been made in 1835. In consequence of these defects the Berryessa claim was rejected by the land commissioners.

Afterwards Horace W. Carpentier, of Oak- land, acquired possession of nearly all of Ber- ryessa's claim and prosecuted it in the courts. He had been unable, however, to present any archive testimony. Similar cases had gone before the Supreme Court and the rule had been laid down that land claims could not be confirmed which did not have archive testi- mony in support of them. Defeated in all his proceedings, Carpentier, in 1865, suddenly al- leged that he had found a book of record in the surveyor general's office in which was a copy of a grant to Nicolas Berryessa. It was on a loose sheet of the book and subsequent investigations showed that it was not a part of the original record but had been placed in the book long after the original entries had been made. The claimants were routed again and no evidence has been found in either Mexican or California archives to show that such a grant ever existed.

The Berryessa settlers bought of the city of San Jose under the belief that Berryessa had no grant and that the territory was pueblo land. The Supreme Court of the United States at last confirmed their title and the long litigation was over. S. O. Houghton and Montgomery Blair argued the case for the set- tlers. E. R. Carpentier and Judge Phillips, of Washington, appeared for Carpentier.

Alma

Alma is beautifully situated in a grove of oaks on a bench beside the Los Gatos Creek, three miles above Los Gatos and twelve miles

from San Jose. The village is not large, con- taining a store, postoffice, blacksmith shop, a railway station and a number of pretty resi- dences. It is an important shipping point, as there are in the mountains above extensive fruit growing districts. The climate is very pleasant. Alma escapes the fogs which visit the coast slopes of the mountains to the west and as the elevation is 560 feet, the weather in the daytime is not so warm as in the valley. It is one of the choicest sections in the state for apiculture, as there are few other locali- ties which furnish so constant a supply of food and the honey is very white, has a deli- cious flavor and commands a ready sale.

On the Mount Pleasant road, up Cavanagh Creek, on the property of the San Jose Water Works, there is a strong soda spring, which contains iron and magnesia. The water flows from a small pool by the side of a stream which comes up in silvery bubbles through the clear water which is alive with ebullition. The sides of the spring have the familiar snuff-brown of oxydized iron. The water has gained quite a reputation for its medicinal qualities, which, of course, are confined to the minerals, the so-called soda taste being im- parted solely by the carbonic gas. The Moody Gulch oil wells, now used for the manufacture of gasoline, are situated but a short distance from Alma.

Wright's Station, though a small village, is an important shipping point, as it is the depot for the extensive fruit growing section in the surrounding mountains. It is located at the head of the Los Gatos Canyon, sixteen miles south of San Jose. Travelers on the cars re- ceive little intimation from what they see along the route to the station, concerning the rich and beautiful section which crowns the mountains above the heavy belt of timber which covers the hillside and reaches down into the stream rushing through the canyon. The roads which leave the little space of open ground by the depot to enter the leafy tunnels through the woods furnish no suggestion of the vine-clad slopes, the orchards, the tower- ing redwoods, the green fields and the cosy homes which adorn the great territory above and beyond. The beauty of this section can not adequately be described. Within the past decade people in search of sites for homes have climbed the mountain sides, searched out the springs and made winding roads around the knolls, up the canyon and to the very summit.

Ambrose Bierce, the noted satirist, critic and short story writer, resided for several years in the hills a few miles from Wright's. He went to Mexico in the fall of 1913 and

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

his fate was a mystery until James H. Wil- kins, a San Francisco Bulletin writer and for- iner state's prison director, visited the City of Mexico in March, 1920, and there learned what had befallen the eminent Californian. Wilkins knew Bierce and while in Mexico he talked with one of the members of a firing squad before whom Bierce stood in 1915 and died like a soldier. The story was verified by a picture of Bierce which the Mexican took from the dead American's body.

The story runs thus: Bierce and Melero (the Mexican) joined Carranza's forces, but later separated. In 1915, Melero, as a Villista, heard of the capture of a mule train which Bierce had commanded. The Villistas made the capture, but returned to headquarters with but two prisoners-a muleteer and a tall, white-haired American. After a peremptory court martial the two were sentenced to be shot.

"A one-eyed man would have known that the American was a man of distinction," said Melero. "The muleteer-an Indian -- dropped to his knees, prayed and motioned the Ameri- can to follow his example. The American hesitated a moment, then straightened, folded his arms and waited. There was no delay. An officer signaled, the shots rang out and the two prisoners fell forward. "Their effects were searched," continued Melero, "and I took this photograph in the hope that it might sometime identify the American."

Of Bierce's stories, Elbert Hubbard, who was one of the Lusitania's victims, once said : "Ambrose Bierce is the boss of us all. He can do without us, but we can't do without him and still have the sunshine and the shade. He knows life in its every phase. Owen Wister gave this opinion: "Some of the things that Bierce wrote are wonderful -- a work of genius, in fact." Joel Chandler Harris expressed this opinion : "If I were Santa Claus, I'd put into the hands of every intelligent man and woman in the United States an edition of Ambrose's Bierce's remarkable stories of soldiers and civilians." Arthur Brisbane said: "Ambrose Bierce is one of the best writers in America, perhaps the best."

When Bierce lived in the hills above Wright's, he made many bicycle trips to San Jose. On one of these trips his bike broke down and he went into a shop on Santa Clara Street for the necessary repairs. The young man in charge promised to have the job done in an hour and then said: "What name, please ?" "My name is Ambrose Bierce," said

the great satirist in his most dignified man- ner. "All right, Mr. Pierce, come back in an hour and your wheel will be ready for you." "Bierce is my name," snapped the author. "I get you, Steve," cherrily responded the re- pairer. "I won't forget." Bierce, somewhat mollified, went out. It may be said here that while not a vain man, Bierce was proud of his position in the world of letters and it was balm to his soul to think that his name was a household word in California. Praise never offended him, but detraction irritated him. As for crass ignorance he had no words with which to express his contempt and disgust. At the end of an hour he returned to the shop. The bicycle was ready for him and as the re- pairer took off the tag Bierce saw that the name written in pencil thereon was "Ambers Peerce." The satirist glared at the repairer, opened his mouth to speak, concluded not to, and went out, hardly comforted by the knowl- edge that there was one man in the state who had never heard of him.

Several years before this episode, Bierce, residing in San Francisco, made frequent vis- its to San Jose. On one of these visits his companion was Arthur McEwen, a brilliant journalist, whose written language was some- times as sharp and scintillant as that of Bierce. After seeing the sights of the city, Bierce sug- gested that they hunt up the late Charley Shortridge, then publisher of the Mercury, and take him for a hack ride. McEwen agreed to this and, learning that Shortridge was at home, the hack was driven to the place and Shortridge was invited to come out. The San Jose newspaper publisher showed himself at a second-story window and declined the invi- tation, asserting that he was tired and needed sleep. While Bierce was protesting, Short- ridge closed the wndow and returned to his bed. The entente cordiale heretofore existing between the two men was then and there broken never to be reestablished. Each said unkind things about the other and finally Bierce impaled and then embalmed Short- ridge in a couplet in "Black Beetles in Amber."

One of Bierce's early friends was that wit, politician and bon vivant, Paul Neumann, who for years was a member of the cabinet of King Kalakaua, of the Hawaiian Islands. He delivered a lecture in San Jose while the peo- ple were laughing over a rhyming clash be- tween him and Bierce. Both wrote for the Wasp and they frequently joshed each other.

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Bierce did not always get the best of it as the following will show :

"Neumann on debt emits his sparks Of wit, with wisdom by the ream ; All feel the weight of his remarks And he the burden of his theme. His words run off page after page On debt. What is it but the shout Of Sterne's poor starling in a cage? 'I can't get out, I can't get out.'" -Ambrose Bierce.

"Striking each tradesman and each friend Though none will trust and none will lend, Bierce works himself into a pet And clamors of the sin of debt. I thus translate his sturdy din,

'I can't get in. I can't get in.'" -Paul Neumann.

Patchen

Patchen, in the Santa Cruz Mountains, above Lexington, an old stage station, boasts of a postoffice and a few residences. It is on the old Mountain Charley road, about two miles from the Mountain Charley ranch. In the early days grizzly bears abounded in the Santa Cruz hills and Mountain Charley (Charles McKiernan) was a great bear hunter. For a while he killed deer for the San Fran- cisco market, making over $7,000 by the work. He kept a flock of sheep, but one night a Cali- fornia lion (cougar) got among them and killed seventy. After this misfortune McKier- nan sold his sheep and became one of the noted bear and lion hunters of the state.

Not long after he had parted with his sheep he was hunting about three miles from his home, when he discovered a large grizzly bear lying on her haunches with her head turned towards him. McKiernan approached to within ten steps of the bear, dismounted from his mule and shot the bear in the back of the head. Supposing he had killed her, he commenced reloading his gun. After he had put in the powder and was about to ram down the ball, the bear made a rush at him. Mc- Kiernan grabbed the pommel of his saddle and was about to mount when the mule jumped, jerked away from him, leaving him sprawling on the ground, and ran home. The bear in the meantime had returned to her nest where she had left her two cubs. But she did not stay there long. McKiernan had just got to his feet and was in the act of picking up his gun when the bear made for him. As there was no chance to shoot, McKiernan took to his heels. Next day he returned to the place to find the bear dead. The cubs were in the

nest and he took them home and kept them for four months. At the end of that time their penchant for killing hog's cost them their lives.

But Mountain Charley's great battle with a grizzly came later-on the afternoon of the eighth of May, 1854. He had been out hunt- ing all day with a friend named Taylor. They had killed five deer and were engaged in dragging two of them out of a gulch when they saw a male bear, about 400 vards below them. While in the act of getting around the bear-a very large one-the animal unbe- known to them, executed a similar maneuver, and as they were climbing to the top of a little mound, the bear suddenly met them. The surprise was mutual. The bear gave a snort and plunged at them. Taylor fired the first shot and missed, then made for a tree. Mountain Charley, armed with a rifle, fired quickly. The ball struck the bear over the eye and then Charley, now at close quarters struck the bear on the head with the rifle, breaking off the barrel. The blow felled the bear, but he immediately arose, and with his tremendous jaws wide open made a murder- ous snap at Charley catching him over the left eye and forehead, crushing the skull and tearing out a large section of it. The old mountaineer then threw up his arms, in a locked position, in front of his face, when the bear grappled at them, crushing down with his grinders upon one arm and terribly lacerating the flesh of the other. Evidently satisfied with what he had done, the bear left his enemy and was seen no more.

Taylor, who had left his tree and taken to his heels when the bear attacked his friend, returned some time after the battle with Shul- ties, a mountain rancher, who lived a short distance away. Mountain Charley was found in an unconscious state and carried to his home. One eye had been torn out, the nose and one side of his face were disfigured and there was a gaping wound in the skull. Drs. A. W. Bell and T. J. Ingersoll attended the sufferer, removed pieces of bone from the skull and put in a silver plate sufficiently large to cover the brain. About a year after- ward Mountain Charley came to San Jose and consulted Drs. Ingersoll and Spencer in re- gard to his condition. The wound in the head had not properly healed and an operation was performed. After this time the patient wore no plate and he lived in very good health for forty-six years, dying in San Jose in 1902. For many years prior to his death Mountain Char- ley was engaged in the lumber business in San Jose. He was highly respected and his death was a loss to the community.

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

In May, 1875, McKiernan, or Mountain Charley, as he was best known, was the lead- ing figure in another adventure. On April 1, the stage between his mountain ranch and Lexington was robbed and a month later the crime was repeated. Shortly after the last robbery Mountain Charley, who had killed a steer, was in the act of packing it when he saw two men near the road. Thinking they were neighbors, he hailed them, but as they came towards him he realized his mistake and also came to the conclusion that the men were the much-wanted stage robbers. Soon after this the sheriff of Santa Cruz County rode up and with Mountain Charley as guide went to find the two men. They were located at an old house about six miles off. As the house was being surrounded the two men showed fight and fired several shots at the sheriff and his posse. During the firing Mountain Charley entered the house and saw the men standing by the chimney in the main room. One of them was raising his gun to shoot when Charley fired twice with the inten- tion of crippling them. One shot passed through the arm of the man with the gun; the other grazed the eyebrow of the other man. Then they surrendered, were taken to San Jose, and each received a ten years' sen- tence.

Small Towns and Villages

Linda Vista district, on the Alum Rock road, is one of the most progressive, healthful and cultured sections in the county. The Alum Rock Improvement Club, maintained unanimously by its citizens, is a live active body, and irrespective of personal interests the members volunteer their services and their activities and have accomplished splendid re- sults. Linda Vista is a delightful section in the eastern foothills, largely in the frostless thermal belt, overlooking the entire valley, within twenty minutes' ride from San Jose.

Edenvale is a station on the Southern Pa- cific Railway and state highway, six miles south of San Jose. It is in the heart of a rich fruit section and is also the home of E. A. and J. O. Hayes, publishers of the San Jose Mercury. The grounds cover a large tract of land, and the ornamentation of the place, together with the large, costly and im- posing buildings have attracted sight-seers from far and wide. The grounds are free to the public. At Edenvale the Richmond-Chase 20

Company has a warehouse for the section's fruit, and a mile away there is a receiving station for dried fruits. It is one of the Ros- enberg Bros.' branches.

Six miles south of Edenvale and twelve miles from San Jose, on the line of the South- ern Pacific and on the state highway, is Coy- ote. In the center of a rich little valley, hemmed in by low ridges of rocky hills and with the creek flowing northward close by, this town is a trading and shipping point for the surrounding community. Here are lo- cated two stores and a large seed warehouse. The agricultural land in the valley is a river wash, rich and deep, but of no great area. It is devoted largely to prunes and to the seed industry. The prices for it range from $400 to $800 per acre, depending upon the improve- ments.

Five miles west of San Jose, on a good macadam road, is a little group of buildings called Meridian Corners. Here are located two stores, a blacksmith shop and a station on the electric road between San Jose and Saratoga. It is right in the heart of the fruit district, mostly prunes. Schools, churches, rural mail delivery, telephones and electric power are available to all farmers. Land is held from $500 to $1000 per acre.

Madrone is a shipping point, eighteen miles south of San Jose. It is located on the rail- road and State Highway, and has two stores and a winery.

San Martin is a small town of 250 people on the line of the Southern Pacific, six miles north of Gilroy. It is on the line of the Southern Pacific and the State Highway. Here are a store, a cannery, blacksmith shops, a lumber yard, a school and a Presbyterian Church. The recent sale of the great Lion ranch, near the town and the proposed cutting up of the tract into small ranches, will in- crease San Martin's population and commer- cial importance.

Other villages or stations are Lawrence, seven miles from San Jose and four miles from Santa Clara, with its hay and grain warehouse, two churches, a school and a de- pot; Lexington, formerly a stage station, ten miles above Los Gatos. Since the opening of the railroad to Santa Cruz, all the business has gone to Alma. And lastly, there is Monte Vista, a mile west of Cupertino, which is lit- tle more than a station on the Peninsular Railway.

CHAPTER XXXV.

Miscellaneous Items of Interest-Observations of a Weather Expert-Judge Belden and Mayor Pfister-An Auto Camp-Result of Presidential Elections in the County.

Dr. William Simpson, Santa Clara County's Health Officer and Assistant Collaborating Epidemiologist of the United States Public Health Services, gives his observations of twenty-nine years, inl the following notes : "Santa Clara County, or the Santa Clara Valley ; has two separate and distinct cli- mates, both ideal, but for different types of in- dividuals. The north portion of the county, the valley portion, skirting the bay, cooled and freshened in summer, and tempered in winter by the ozone bearing winds from the ocean offers to the strong and vigorous, the golfer, the tennis player and student, the home seeker and worker, just the stimulus needed to keep him in form and up to his work, but

ful and equally favorable location, and to all alike is offered a climate absolutely free from malaria and where cholera infantum, dysen- tery and the epidemic diarrhoeal diseases are so rare that they are practically unknown and never epidemic. The dreaded 'second summer' of the eastern and southern mother, the California born mother has never heard of, and the California baby cuts his eye and stom- ach teeth in ignorance of the troubles of his eastern cousin.

"For all water is pure, plenty and whole- some. Falling as snow in the Sierras or rain in the hills and valleys it is filtered through sand and gravel in natural filter beds many feet below the impervious strata which sep-

Weather Report The Weather Bureau of San Jose shows the following seasonal precipitation for that city :

Seasons

July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov.

Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June

1906-1907

0.13

0.01

0.98

6.39 3.65

4.61

1.88

7.75

0.46

0.08 0.42

22.71

1907-1908

0.06

0.98

0.13

2.63

2.46

1.14

0.23

0.67 0.01

11.96

1908-1909

0.09

0.19

1.11

1.54

7.69

4.87

2.77

0 0.05

18.31

1909-1910

0.75 0.09

0.72 0.20

1.27

5.41

2.31

0.68 12.38

0.83 2.03 0.30 0.09 3.94

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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 57

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