History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 29

Author: Sawyer, Eugene T
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1934

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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. A 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. I 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. He 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.

A 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 verdiet. 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 Me- 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. Arnokl 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 at- 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.

In May, 1879, the new constitution was adopted and in the fall of that year a Work- ingmen's party was organized. It was in ex- istence for two years.

San Jose had a sensation in 1881 when Dick Fellows, the champion lone-hand high- wayman of California, came to San Jose to put the officers on their mettle and furnish columns of scare-head matter for the daily newspapers. Fellows, whose real name was Geo. B. Lytle, was a school teacher and lec- turer before he became a lawbreaker. It was claimed in his behalf that he fell from grace in order that he might assist a near relative, a poverty-stricken widow. About forty years ago he robbed eleven stages within a space of three weeks, his operations extending from Santa Barbara to San Jose. When he en- tered Santa Clara County, the sheriffs of half a dozen counties and Wells-Fargo & Co.'s large force of detectives were at his heels. He was captured near Mayfield by Cornelius Van Buren, foreman of the Coutts ranch, a former constable and justice of the peace, and turned over to Constable E. E. Burke, of Santa Clara, so that he could be taken to the county jail at San Jose. On the way to the jail from the Market Street depot Fellows asked if he might be permitted to have a drink before becoming the inmate of a cell. Burke made a mistake in consenting to the request. They

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passed the court house and entered a saloon at the southwest corner of First and St. John Streets.

Fellows got his drink and then made a break for liberty. Ont of the door he went and dashed up St. John Street toward Market. Aft- er he turned the corner he was lost sight of. The escape occurred after dark and therefore the search was conducted under unfavorable conditions. A few days passed and then Fel- lows was recaptured in a cabin near the Guada- lupe mine by Chief-of-Police Dan Haskell and Juan E. Edson, a local detective officer. He was taken to Santa Barbara for trial on one of many charges. Conviction followed and a life sentence was imposed. After the trial he tried to escape, reached the street, mounted a horse and might have been successful in getting away if the horse had not bucked and thrown him from the saddle. After serving as a convict for twenty years he was released on parole. In 1917 Juan Edson was first tor- tured and then killed at his ranch near Tepic, Mexico, by a band of marauding Indians. Hon- est, brave and fearless Dan Haskell became shot gun messenger for Wells-Fargo & Co. in Shasta County after his term of chief of police had expired. In October. 1905, while in the performance of his duty he was shot and killed by a highwayman, who was attempting to hold up the Redding stage.

In 1882, Jan Wasielewski, a Pole, murdered his wife at Los Gatos. He had been but a short time out of prison where he had served a sentence for cattle stealing. In 1877 he mar- ried a pretty Mexican girl. After his convic- tion on the cattle stealing charge he told his wife that he would kill her if she obtained a divorce. The threat was unheeded and when Wasielewski came out of prison he found that she not only secured a divorce but had mar- ried again. Then he planned to kill her. In June, 1882, he went to her home in Los Gatos. met his wife out of doors and stabbed her thirteen times. Leaving her dying on the ground the murderer fled, to be captured in March, 1884, by Juan Edson and Sheriff Ben F. Branham, of Santa Clara County. Before he reached the county jail in San Jose the prisoner feigned insanity. He would not speak and would not eat only enough to keep him alive. After his trial he sent out a bulletin giving notice that a great meeting of the angels would come off in a few days, that it would last two weeks and that in all that time he would be "immortal to the world." The meeting came off, according to his state- ment, and for two weeks not a morsel of food passed his lips. He was tried in May, 1884, and his defense was insanity. A commission of medical experts refused to uphold this plea

and he was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. At the execution a novel feature was introduced in making a hair from the head of the murdered woman act as the last in- strument in the hanging. In former hangings a piece of chalk line attached to the rope was always used, but Sheriff Branham had tested the hair, found that it would work and this hair stood between Wasielewski and death 11n- til it was severed by the knife of the exe- cutioner.

In 1882 the Democratic State Convention was held in the California Theater on Second Street. The leading candidates for Governor were Gen. George Stoneman, a noted cavalry commander during the Civil War, and George Hearst, father of William Randolph Hearst, proprietor of many newspapers in California and the East. Stoneman was nominated and elected. At this convention W. A. January, of San Jose, was nominated for state treasurer. He also was elected. Another nomination was that of James H. Budd for congressman from the San Joaquin district. He was elected, served one term at Washington and was after- ward elected governor of the state. In the nominating convention he was opposed by Hon. B. D. Murphy, of San Jose. The con- test was very close.

One of the most sensational murders ever committed in California occurred in June, 1883. It brought into vicious prominence one Lloyd L. Majors, the most dangerous crimi- nal ever harbored by Santa Clara County. He had no love for newspapermen, though he tol- erated them when he thought he could use them. When he could not use them and found their pencils turned against him, he hated them with the hate of a coarse, lying. revengeful brute. During his life of forty- two years, much of it spent in San Jose, he had been wagon-maker, lumber dealer, lawyer, temperance lecturer and saloon keeper. He was not a handsome man; in truth he was positively ugly. He had a hideous disfigure- ment of the lower lip, his forehead was low. his eyes cold and snaky, and his face wore an habitual scowl. In the late '70s, while he lived in San Jose, several buildings owned and oc- cupied by him at different times, were burned. The public prejudice against him, caused by these burnings, caused him to leave the city and settle in Los Gatos. At this place he opened a saloon and to it came one Joseph Jewell, a good looking painter and grainer and recent arrival from the East. Majors quickly sized him up and when he suggested to Jewell a plan to rob and if necessary kill W. P. Re- nowden, an aged rancher living in the Santa Cruz hills, who was reported to have $20,000 hidden on his ranch, Jewell readily agreed to

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undertake the job. As assistant to Jewell Majors suggested John Showers, an illiterate ne'er-do-well, who had been doing odd jobs about town and whose favorite lounging place was Majors' saloon. Provided with imple- ments of torture to be used if Renowden un- der murderous pressure should refuse to dis- close the hiding place of his money, the pair left Los Gatos one night and proceeded to the ranch. Arrived there they found that Renow- den had a visitor, a friend from Glenwood named Archie McIntyre. Renowden was shot by Jewell and Showers killed McIntyre. Though mortally wounded Renowden refused to tell where his money could be found and was then subjected to a nameless torture. Even when suffering the keenest agony the old man stubbornly held his tongue. A sec- ond bullet ended his life and the murderers re- turned to Los Gatos and informed Majors that their mission of robbery had failed. They were supplied with money and horses and quickly rode out of town to escape arrest. Majors, fearing that he might be suspected of complicity in the murders, saddled a horse and rode to the Renowden ranch to cover up, if possible, all traces of the crime. At the time he supposed that both dead bodies were with- in the house, while, as a matter of fact, Re- nowden had been killed on the outside and at some distance from the building. Hurriedly, Majors applied the match and when he saw the flames leap up he remounted his horse and rode like the wind to his Los Gatos home. The ranch house burned to the ground and the next day the charred remains of McIntyre were found in the ashes and outside, un- touched by the fire, was the body of Re- nowden.

When Majors learned that his night ride had availed him nothing he tried, by lies and evasions to keep the officers from suspecting that he was the principal in the double crime. He talked freely to the historian and other press representatives, not thinking that much of what he said would be used against him at his trial. Showers was arrested at Gilroy and made a full confession. Then the hand of the law reached out and gathered in Majors. A few days later Jewell was arrested in Fresno County.

The three prisoners were lodged in the county jail at San Jose. In due time Jewell was tried, convicted and hanged. Showers, who was used as a state's witness, pleaded guilty to murder in the second degree, was given a life sentence. A few years later he was killed by a fellow convict. Majors was tried in San Jose for the murder of Renowden, convicted of murder in the second degree and sentenced to life imprisonment. District At-

torney Campbell was not satisfied with the verdict and so had Majors indicted for the murder of McIntyre. A change of venue to Alameda County was taken and after a lengthy trial Majors was convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to be hanged. The sentence was executed in May. 1884.

In 1886 a most important proposition was presented to the voters of San Jose. The rapid growth of the city created a demand for extra- ordinary expenses, which could not be met without a large increase in the rate of taxa- tion. The channels of the streams needed to be improved so as to prevent overflow. A sys- tem of up-to-date sewerage was necessary and there was a rapidly growing demand for in- creased school facilities. A tax sufficient to meet the requirements would have been a bur- den against which the people would have pro- tested. An attempt was made in 1874 to break the charter rule which forbade the council to create any debt. A resolution was adopted by the council directing the drafting of a bill to be presented to the Legislature, authorizing the city to issue bonds to the amount of $40,000, the proceeds to be used in the building of school houses. The bonds were to run twenty years and to bear eight per cent interest. Nothing further was done in the matter and it rested until 1880. At the city election held that year the matter of issu- ing bonds, in connection with other proposi- tions, was submitted to the people. The re- sult of the vote was as follows: To incur a debt to build a new city hall-for, 842; against, 1096. To open Second Street through St. James Square-for, 192; against, 1649. To establish a free public library-for, 1232; against, 605.

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History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 29

Author: Sawyer, Eugene T Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co. Number of Pages: 1934

Author: Sawyer, Eugene T
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1934