USA > California > Santa Cruz County > History of Santa Cruz County, California with Biographical Sketches > Part 2
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Santa Cruz passed ordinances providing for the survey of said lands and for the issuance of deeds to those entitled thereto and have upon application and due proof deeds issued to such parties. Before this the titles to lands within the city of Santa Cruz (afterwards incorporated by that name) were very much unsettled, also in other portions of the county lands were held by squatters on Spanish grants and much litigation ensued before land titles were finally settled.
An ayuntamiento corresponded somewhat to our common council or board of supervisors; these people were saved from any such infliction, perhaps if this institution had been thrust upon them they might have progressed but it is ex- ceedingly doubtful. They belonged to the land of "Mañana" and "pocotiempo," they lived not only the simple life but a primitive one and stood in no fear of any game warden or fish commission; they were never urged to make improve- ments, no bridges to build, no roads to keep in order; if they desired to extend their travels outside of their territory there were mountain trails over which no wagon had ever been hauled. This scribe made his entry into Santa Cruz over a mountain trail in 1851 and he retains a painful recollection
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HISTORY OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
of the same. In some places the trail was hardly wide enough for horses in single file to pass. John Gilroy gave some reminiscences of the habits and customs of the people of those days to the Alta Californian in 1865. "What little wealth there was in the county was in the hands of the padres; the Missions contained all the wealth of the county, the friars supplied the government and supplied the troops with food from the products of the neophyte's labor. The needs of the common people were easily satisfied; they were not used to luxuries nor were they accustomed to what we would call necessities." Gilroy further stated that at the time of his arrival "there was not a saw mill nor a spoked wheel in California; such lumber as was used was cut with an axe. Plates were rare," and he might have added "knives and forks." Frijoles, tortillas and jerked dried beef were the principal articles of diet among the common people. The late Judge Peckham, once a county judge of this county, informed me that he stopped at Gilroy's house some time in the 40's and was invited to dine; he, with the rest, was sup- plied with a tortilla and directed to dig into a pot containing a mess of stewed beef and chile; he had to use his fingers, no forks being in sight.
Branciforte came very near being adopted as the name of this county instead of Santa Cruz. In the first session of the legislature held at San Jose in 1850 the name of Branciforte was suggested and reported on. A. A. Hecox and one hun- dred and forty-one citizens of Santa Cruz forwarded a peti- tion to the legislature protesting against the attaching to or being included in Monterey, the district of Santa Cruz, and praying that a county may be granted them known and styled as the county of Santa Cruz, which petition was read and referred to the committee on county boundaries. This was on January 16, 1850. So it seems there were "kickers" in
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HISTORY OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
those days as well as the present time. Had not this protest been received, very likely the county seat would have been Branciforte instead of being located as the city of the "Holy Cross." The village of Branciforte became a part of the county government and was controlled by the board of super- visors until it was annexed to and became a part and parcel of the city of Santa Cruz. The people of the pueblo of Bran- ciforte never applied to the authorities of Monterey to have commons set off to them or a public square or plaza. It was the custom of the Spanish, likewise the Mexican, government to assign certain lands for the use of the people. The woods in the forests were also deemed to be the property of the public under certain restrictions. Water was also common and to be used by the inhabitants. No corporation could "gobble" up all the water rights; as water rights did not cut much figure in those days, no one thought of appropriat- ing the water of the several streams or rivers. At the pres- ent time water is quite a valuable asset of the land, for irri- gation purposes and for supplying power for electric and other machinery.
The pabladores, inhabitants of the pueblo of Branciforte, were not oppressed by a complicated form of government; there were alcaldes to take cognizance of offenses against the laws of the land. In 1828 Branciforte is described as bounded by the bay of Monterey on the west, by Amesti rancho on the south, by Santa Cruz and the Sierra on the north and on the east by Santa Clara creek. Guadalupe Castro, who died a few years ago, one of the descendants of Joaquin Castro, used to amuse himself by writing letters to the authorities at Washington, D. C., in support of his claim to the whole of Branciforte territory. He died in penury and want, his "castles in the air" never materialized. The following were alcaldes of Branciforte at different periods : Jose Joaquin
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HISTORY OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
Buelna in 1826, Serafin Pinto in 1827, C. Boronda in 1838, Francisco Roderiguez in 1830, Jose Bolcoff in 1834, William Blackburn in 1847 and A. A. Abbott. Before the state gov- ernment was fully established, the alcaldes exercised con- siderable authority; Blackburn made several alcalde grants of lands in Santa Cruz during his term in office; these grants were not subsequently confirmed, hence the grants were not considered instruments of title. Blackburn also exercised the functions of justice of the peace and disposed of civil and criminal cases; some of his decisions are matters of history and are interesting as his dictum seemed to be law from which there was no appeal. A noted case that he decided was that of a man charged with killing his wife; having been found guilty he was sentenced to be shot. The prisoner was taken out and the sentence was duly carried out. There were no delays tolerated by this alcalde, no attorneys were allowed to prolong a trial by technicalities. "It was an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." There seems to have been a town council for the town of Santa Cruz at this period, prob- ably similar to the witenagemote of the English, where the people were given a chance to air their grievances. The members of the council in 1848 were president, Eli Moore, Griffith P. Jenkins, W. H. Hardy and secretary James Boucher. There is among the alcalde records a copy of a letter from Governor Riley, dated May 26, 1849, approving the election of J. L. Majors as alcalde, also stating that the town council will, until further orders, confine themselves by attending to the internal police of the town and district ac- cording to ancient custom and usage. The names of Walter Colton and Col. J. D. Stevenson appear frequently in the alcaldes' records as having received grants of land and made transfers of the same to other parties. The town council
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appears to have left no records of its proceedings, hence their contribution to the history of the county is lost.
The first election under the United States government was held in Santa Cruz on the first Monday in April of 1850; there were 313 votes cast at this election; A. C. Campbell was elected district attorney; Peter Tracy county clerk; for county judge William Blackburn, formerly alcalde; for county attorney Abram Long; sheriff, Francisco Alzina; county re- corder, C. P. Stevenson; for assessor, J. Hammond; for treasurer, L. Majors; and for county coroner, Henry Speels. The town councilmen were L. B. Clements, C. Schulte; for member of the assembly T. Per Lee; he was also assembly- man in the first session of the legislature from the district of Monterey. John H. Watson was appointed judge of the third district court in 1850, comprising at that time the coun- ties of Santa Cruz, Monterey, Alameda and Contra Costa. Watson served until the April term of court in 1851, being succeeded by C. P. Hester, who held office until 1859. Judge Blackburn, county and probate judge, took his seat April 6, 1850. The first probate case was that of Dennis Bennett; Mary Bennett applied for letters of administration on the estate of Dennis Bennett and she was appointed adminis- tratrix of said estate. The county court was also designated as a court of sessions presided over by the county judge and two associate justices. George Parsons and Felipe Armas were elected as such associates. At this period this court took charge of the affairs of the county court, levied taxes, issued licenses and generally performed the functions of a board of supervisors until the latter were chosen and held their first meeting July 5, 1852. September 31, 1850, the tax on bowling alleys was reduced to $16 per month and they to be closed at 10 o'clock P. M. At this time Judge Blackburn
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resigned his office as county judge and the Hon. T. Per Lee became the presiding judge in October of that year.
Manuel Jimeno presented two petitions for reduction of taxes. At a special term of court, July, 1851, a tax of fifty cents on each $100 worth of real and personal property was levied. At the August term, 1851, the court orders that the valuation of the Bolsa del Pajaro be increased to $50,000; Amesti Rancho raised to $58,227.50; Aptos Rancho to $23,- 000; the upper ranch of Martina Castro raised to $28,000; rancho of Sebastian Rodriguez reduced to $34,430; Jose Bol- coff's rancho be reduced to $45,000; the rancho of Manuel Jimeno be increased to $81,142. These figures are given to show the valuation of property at that period. The as- sessor went around with a book carried under his arm and as there were no subdivisions of ranches or city lots to as- sess, his work was not laborious and involved but a few days time to complete the assessment and he was paid $432 for his labors. Twenty-seven days at $16 per diem, no cor- porations, no franchises, no mortgages to be assessed.
During the term of the court of sessions the law seems to have been administered in an impartial manner, cases were tried promptly and with very little delay, several promi- nent citizens of that period were arrested for selling liquor to Indians, some pleaded guilty and were fined $25 and costs, another stood trial, was found guilty and had to pay $225. Judge Per Lee was succeeded by Henry Rice in June, 1854. The court of sessions was relieved of its duties in the supervision of financial affairs of the county by the organi- zation of the board of supervisors. The board of supervisors organized July 5, 1852, consisted of Elihu Anthony, John Daubenbiss, John Haines, Eli Moore and Moses A. Meader; Anthony was elected chairman. In August, 1852, the claims allowed amounted to $52, salaries of officers not included. In
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HISTORY OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
1854 the board consisted of only three members-George Parsons, Jesse D. Carr and Montgomery B. Shackleford, with Parsons chairman. In 1860 the board directed the clerk of the board to advertise for a suitable piece of land for the erection of county buildings. F. A. Hihn was elected a mem- ber of the board in 1861. The building on Pacific Avenue generally known as the "flatiron edifice" was used for county purposes prior to the erection of a court house. In 1866 Lynch and Gragg were awarded the contract to build a court house for $20,000. The same year the late R. C. Kirby offered to sell to the county a lot near the upper plaza for $400; this offer was accepted and afterwards rescinded. The advocates of the "hill" were outgeneraled by those on the "flat." A court house was eventually built which, at the time of its erection, was considered a wonderful structure, but it was totally inadequate even at that time for the busi- ness of the county.
In April, 1866, the Cooper Brothers and T. W. Moore made a deed to the county of Santa Cruz of a lot on Cooper Street, 110 feet square, on conditions precedent that said county should, within a reasonable time, cause to be erected a court house in which shall be held the courts of record of said county and which said court house shall face the north- erly side of Cooper street and shall have suitable accom- modations for county officials ; unless said court house should be erected as thus designated no interest or estate whatever shall vest in the county of Santa Cruz, but shall revert to the grantors. This proved to be an expensive donation as will be seen hereafter.
The spirit of mañana was very much in evidence, the habits of the native Californians seem to have permeated among their successors. In trying to be economical the supervisors were in a measure extravagant. The future of the county,
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HISTORY OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
that it might some day increase in population and that the requirements would exceed the wants of the present, seem to have been entirely overlooked. At one time a petition was presented to the board by several citizens suggesting that more land would be needed for county purposes, that it would not be wise to allow other buildings to be erected near the court house, that it would be better to obtain the prop- erty now than to await advances in the value of adjacent lands. The board said mañana, time enough to consider this proposition at some future date. It is easy at the present time to perceive what should have been done, but we must remember that in the earlier years of this county not much progress was made and if any enterprises were proposed more opposition than encouragement was strenuously put forth.
To many persons, the site of the city should have been chosen on Mission hill, where a few business houses were started in 1850, but in common with many other places the level or flat portion seems to have been invariably chosen for town sites. At the time of the fight over the location of a county building on the upper plaza the Catholic clergy raised a strong opposition to such location, but a jail was built adjoining the Catholic church without any opposition. It was not only a jail, but a veritable dungeon. This jail cost a little over $8,000 and was a source of trouble for sev- eral years. The grand jury made several reports designat- ing this building as unfit for any person to be placed in; it was dangerous to the health of the inmates and taken al- together was considered a disgrace to humanity. Persons that were confined in this place for any length of time came out with the mark of a jail bird; they had no color whatever and were generally very much weakened by their confine- ment. During their incarceration in this prison house (which
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was equal to old Newgate jail in London) the prisoners were paraded through the streets on their way to the court house to be tried for their offenses and returned to prison in the same manner.
In July, 1894, a deal was consummated whereby the county acquired a piece of land adjoining the court house lot for $16,000, after due notice was given that the board of super- visors intended to purchase the same for county purposes; no objections were made by anyone and the deed passed, securing to the county more room. At the present time there is a court house, hall of records and a jail on the land owned by the county, too much congestion in case of fire. An entire square could have been purchased for a very trifling sum where there would have been less danger from fire. It was not done and it is idle to dwell on what ought to have been done or grieve over the mistakes of the past.
A disastrous fire occurred in 1894, by which not only the court house was destroyed, but all the buildings on the op- posite side of the street as far as the Simpson block on Pa- cific avenue. The destruction of the court house compelled the building of another edifice. An examination of the Cooper deed made it necessary, or at least it was so held by the county authorities, that a small wooden building be erected in the grounds adjacent to the ruins of the court house for the purpose of holding the title to the lot acquired from Coopers et al. It had also to be taken into considera- tion, in adopting the plans and specifications for a new build- ing, that the entrance should be on Cooper street; this in- volved a sacrifice and changes in the original plans and spec- ifications and also in additional work being ordered. In April, 1906, the great earthquake that caused so much dam- age and disturbance in San Francisco, also included the city of Santa Cruz. The tower of the court house tumbled through
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the superior court room floor into the supervisors' chambers, knocked the county clerk's office into "pi" and raised a rumpus generally with the various offices. Previous to the rebuilding the county rented offices in different parts of the city; other buildings suffered damage, the F. A. Hihn Co.'s building, the Leonard building and the Pilot building. In Watsonville the Pajaro Valley bank building, the Catholic church and the I. O. O. F. building suffered from the same temblor. Altogether the county escaped luckily compared with other counties.
In several parts of the county landslides occurred, at Hinckley Gulch Mill, operated by the Loma Prieta Lumber Company, a regular avalanche buried the mill and cabins out of sight and killed nine persons. Above Boulder Creek two persons were killed. The Southern Pacific Railroad suffered extensively by the caving in of the tunnel on the narrow gauge road over the mountains between Glenwood and Laurel ; this tunnel was rendered impassable for trains for three years, much to the detriment of travel. During the inter- regnum the road was changed to a broad gauge and a change made by a cut-off from Los Gatos to Mayfield, reducing the time to San Francisco and other places. There was a very heavy earthquake in 1868, but as there were but few large buildings at that time the damage done to property was not excessive. It may be that the earthquake of 1906 was a blessing in disguise, prior to that period we had boasted largely of what we could show in the way of big trees, big crops and other big assets; to all this the eastern people said we belonged to the Ananias club, but the catastrophe of 1906 showed conclusively that on short notice we created quite a sensation when the news of the temblor reached the outside world. It convinced other people that we were not braggarts
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of what California had done in the past, in the language of the day "we were keeping up our lick".
Locomotion and means of travel in the old days were for several years by means of horseback riding. A stage line was established in 1854 between Santa Cruz and San Jose via San Juan. It took two days to reach San Francisco, a stop over at San Jose and by boat from Alviso next morning. The roads were horrible, mud in winter and suffocating dust in the summer; in winter the passengers were obliged to leave the stage and assist in extracting the mud-wagon from being mired down. A route was established via Soquel and over the mountains to Watsonville. Another route was estab- lished over the Pajaro turnpike mountain road to San Jose from Watsonville. When the railroad was built from San Jose to Gilroy the stage route terminated at the latter town, this lessened the weary drive through dust and mud. In 1871 the railroad was extended to Pajaro, in Monterey county, and Santa Cruz was dependent on a stage line until a narrow gauge railroad was built from Santa Cruz to Watsonville. This road was built mainly through the efforts of F. A. Hihn and was granted a subsidy, the road was opened for travel in 1876. Much opposition was encountered in the construction of this road, rights of way over the route were obtained only in several instances by condemnation suits. The county of Santa Cruz issued bonds by way of a subsidy to this road to the amount of $100,000; this was done under the act of the legislature authorizing counties to vote subsidies for aid of railroads. An election was held December 11, 1871, submit- ting the question of this subsidy to the people of the county. The election was carried by a majority of 602, there were only seven election precincts in the county at that period. In 1880 a railroad eighty-one miles in length was completed from Oakland to Santa Cruz over the mountain road via Felton
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and Big Trees. This was considered quite an undertaking; predictions were made that it would not be safe to build a road over the mountain route; the road was built by Isaac N. Davis without any subsidy. It was afterwards transferred to the Southern Pacific Coast Railroad Company and sub- sequently to the Southern Pacific. The first train to Santa Cruz met with bad luck by an accident, the train ran off the track on the grade just before it reached Santa Cruz. By this disaster fifteen persons were killed and more received severe injuries. The company incurred heavy damages, which were settled without recourse to the courts. It is supposed that the road was not sufficiently ballasted and possibly the road was used before it was in a proper condition for travel. There have been no serious accidents since the one mentioned. Excursion trains were run over this road in 1909, carrying a large number of passengers without any injury whatever, much to the advantage of Santa Cruz and other stations.
The people seemed to have changed their views on sub- sidies to the railroads, when the Watsonville and Santa Cruz railroad was proposed. Before this they were decidedly in favor of granting aid in this direction, were clamoring and crying for better and speedier transportation. There was considerable delay in work being started in constructing the proposed road from Watsonville to Santa Cruz. However, the first installment of bonds was directed to be issued on the first six miles of the road being completed. In 1882 the county conventions of both the Democrats and Republicans passed resolutions directing the nominees for supervisors to withhold further payment on the bonds issued, declaring that the road had not been built according to the provisions of the act of the legislature, that the road should have been ex- tended up the coast, whereas it was only built from Wat- sonville to Santa Cruz and ended at the latter place. As a
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consequence the treasurer of the county declined to pay any more bonds or coupons to the Nevada Bank of San Francisco, which had possession of the bonds. A suit was commenced by said bank and an appeal made to the supreme court of the state. The bank obtained judgment. A writ of error was granted to the supreme court of the United States and pro- ceedings terminated there, nothing further being done.
The county in 1865 had other bonds out for bridges which were refunded at a less rate of interest. Total amount of bonds at that time was $190,000, which have all been taken up and the county itself has no bonded indebtedness at this time except school bonds of several school districts. This is not written to revive old grievances, but is simply a state- ment of the history of transactions concerning the construc- tion of this particular road. It was eventually absorbed by, the Southern Pacific Railroad and made a broad gauge line. Prior to the construction of any railroad, several schemes were projected at public meetings, but none ever materialized until outside capitalists furnished the necessary funds. For many years a railroad to San Francisco from Santa Cruz on the coast line was agitated. We were regaled with news- paper reports at different times that such a road would sure- ly be built, that capitalists had examined the territory over which a road could be constructed and great expectations were indulged in that we would soon have a competing road. Not until the Ocean Shore Railroad Company was incorpor- ated was any move made towards constructing a road up the coast. The Southern Pacific had a survey made several years ago but nothing had been done by this corporation until the Ocean Shore people commenced operations. This latter cor- poration has completed the road to Davenport and are run- ning trains regularly to that place from Santa Cruz. In November, 1909, some trouble occurred which caused sus-
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HISTORY OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
pension of work; money was very much needed to further prosecute the work, and a movement was put on foot to re- organize and issue new bonds. J. Downey Harvey is the president of this line and with associates used every effort to secure sufficient funds to finish the construction of the Ocean Shore line. The Southern Pacific has also built a line to the Cement Company's plant at Davenport; surmises are plenty that this corporation will absorb the Ocean Shore road. The ways of railroad people are past finding out. The Southern Pacific has trains running to Boulder Creek and a road into the Big Basin is also contemplated.
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