History of Siskiyou County, California, Part 19

Author: Wells, Harry Laurenz, 1854-1940
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Oakland, Cal. : D. J. Stewart & Co.
Number of Pages: 440


USA > California > Siskiyou County > History of Siskiyou County, California > Part 19


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Delegate joint from Modoc and Siskiyou counties:


#Term increased to four years. § Resigned May 6, 1878. John B. Rohrer appointed.


*Shasta, Trinity, and Siskiyou counties.


* Siskiyou, Modoc, Shasta and Trinity counties.


+ Siskiyou and Modoc counties.


MANUEL PEREIRA.


MRS. MANUEL PEREIRA.


MANUEL WHITE.


INFANT CHILD OF MR. AND MRS. PEREIRA.


DAIRY RANCH OF JOSEPH GRAY, 2 MILES SOUTH OF FORT JONES, SISKIYOU CO., CAL.


77


HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.


*Jehu Berry, 290 votes; Elijah Steele, 31 votes ; scattering, 8.


GENERAL ELECTION, SEPTEMBER 4, 1878.


Supervisor Third District, W. J. Evans, 81 votes, one candidate. Total, 83.


SPECIAL ELECTION, MAY 7, 1879.


For the New Constitution, 1,169 votes. Against the New Constitution, 226 votes. Majority, 942 votes.


GENERAL ELECTION, SEPTEMBER 3, 1879.


*Senator Twenty-eighth District, A. B. Carloek, 822 votes, two candidates. Total 1,695.


+Assemblyman, J. R. Cook, 927 votes, two eandi- dates. Total, 1,680.


Superior Judge, Elijah Steele, 940 votes, two can- didates. Total, 1,683.


District Attorney, H. B. Gillis, 969 votes, two can - didates. Total, 1,677.


County Clerk, Joseph Rice, 1,097 votes, two can- didates. Total, 1,688.


Sheriff, D. N. Lash, 861 votes, two candidates. Total, 1,698.


Treasurer, A. H. Burrows, 873 votes, two candi- dates. Total, 1,687.


Assessor, Elisha De Witt, 1,089 votes, two candi- dates. Total, 1,693.


Surveyor, L. H. Varnum, 973 votes, two candi- dates. Total, 1,696.


Public Administrator and Coroner, William Cooley, 934 votes, two candidates. Total, 1,667.


School Superintendent, H. A. Morse, 1,034 votes, two candidates. Total, 1,701.


Supervisor, First District, John W. MeBride, 401 votes, two candidates. Total, 794.


For Chinese Immigration, 7.


Against Chinese Immigration, 1,692.


GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 4, 1880.


* Assemblyman, John Daggett, 890 votes, two candidates. Total, 1,688.


The officers of Siskiyou county, as at present organized, consist of :-


One judge of the Superior Court.


Three supervisors.


One county clerk, who is ex officio auditor, recor- der, clerk of the Superior Court, and clerk of the board of supervisors, board of equalization and board of canvassers.


One district attorney.


One sheriff, who is ex officio tax-collector.


One treasurer.


One publie administrator and coroner.


One superintendent of schools.


One assessor.


One State senator for Siskiyou, Modoc, Shasta and Trinity counties jointly.


One member of the assembly for Siskiyou and Modoe counties jointly.


It is not the design of this work to deal with the political history of the county so far as party poli-


* Elected.


* Siskiyou, Mod c, Shasta and Trinity counties.


+ Siskiyou aud Modoc counties.


- * Siskiyou and Modoc counties jointly.


ties are concerned, but the following table has been prepared to show the political complexion of the vote cast at all presidential and gubernatorial elections as well as on the chief questions that have at various times come before the people of the State. The name first written is that of the successful candidate or measure.


TABLE OF COUNTY VOTE SINCE 1852.


Year.


Election.


Candidates.


Party.


Vote.


Vote.


Total


1852 Presidential


Winfield Scott


Wh's


459


951


1853- Gubernatorial


William Waldo


Whig.


635 1454


1855- Gubernatorial


John Bigier.


Democrat


1368 3413


( JJames Bu chanan


Democrat


20:3


1856- Presidential


John C. Fremont


Republican


464


Millard Fillmore


American


1791 4323


John B. Weller.


Democrat


2425


1857- Gubernatorial


Edward Stanley


Republican


331


G. W. Bowie ..


American


1212 3869


1857- State Debt.


¿ Repudiate.


( M. S. Latham


Democrat


2159


1859 Gubernatorial


( Leland Stanford


Abraham Lincoln


Stephen A. Douglas


1860- Presidential


J. C. Breckenridge


John Bell


Const. Union. .


Republican


1168


1861 Gubernatorial


J. R. McConnell


( John Conness


Frederick F. Low


John G. Downey


Democrat


999 2052


Republican


925


18643


Presidential


George B. McCiellan


Democrat


95 1882


1867 - Gubernatorial .


{ George C. Gorham


Republican


744


{ Caleb T. Fay


Ind. Republican


Republican


835


1868 Presidential


Horatio Seymour


Democrat.


918 1753


18713 Gubernatorial


Heury H. Haight


Demo rat


1101 1973


18727 Presidential


Horace Greeley.


Charles O'Conor


Democrat


1372


1875.


Gubernatorial


T. G. Phelps


Republican


490


( John Bidwell.


Independent


Republican


718


1876 Presidential


Rutherford B. Hayes. Samuel J. Tilden


Democrat


$61 1579


( Constitutional


For ..


Against


For


1169


18795


( of Constitution. } Against


( George C. Perkins


Republican


666


1879- Gubernatorial


Hugh J Glenn


D m. & N. C. P.


917


{ William F. White


Workingmen ..


116 1699


( James A. Garfield


Republ can


799


1880 Presidential


Winfield S. Hancock


Democrat


S99


-


{ James B. Weaver


Greenback


18 1716


CHAPTER XI. FINANCIAL AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS.


FINANCIAL.


THE first orders issued by the county of Siskiyou were authorized by the Court of Sessions June 16, 1852. They were twelve in number and were issued to the commissioners appointed to organize the county, for their services and expenses while performing their duties. They amounted to each as follows :- Wilson T. Smith, $52; H. G. Ferris, $51; D. H. Lowry, $60; C. M. Tutt, $68; Theodore F. Rowe, $87. The total expense of organizing the county and holding the first election under the Aet of the Legislature was $1,178 15, for which warrants were issued by the Court of Sessions.


So expensive was everything used in the early days and so great were the fees allowed for official services, that not only the State but every county, also, ran badly into debt during the first few years of its existence. The amount of tangible taxable


872


( Ulysses S. Grant


Ropublican


709


663


( William Irwin


Democrat


886


1877- 2


Convention ..


10"


1418


Ratification


( Abraham Lincoln


( Henry H. Haight. .


Demoerat


760


516 3734


Leland Stanford,


Democrat


71


Union Democrat 1280 3165


Un'on


1053


1863- Gubernatorial


John Currey


A. L. Democrat 1303


Republican


43 3505


Republican


955


Ind. Democrat.


1503


Democrat


819


John B gler


Democrat.


Know-Nothing


2045


( J. Neely Johnson


Democrat


492


Franklin Pierce


Ulysses S. Grant


{ Newton Bwth


Republican


154 1530


131


22: 1395


Lib. and Dem


985


34 1763


( Pay


78


HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.


property was small, and the rate of tax at first imposed entirely inadequate to raise a sum sufficient to meet the current expenses of the county govern- ment. The population was of an active and ener- getic character, whose chief capital was enterprise and hope, and whose property consisted mainly of mining claims of a fleeting and indefinite value. The county had not been long enough settled to admit of the creation of valuable property to serve as a financial basis for a government, and yet the county government was run on a scale commensu- rate with the prodigality of the times, and with but little regard to the scarcity of its resources or the brevity of its assessment list. Services were per- formed and materials furnished at a high price, but there was not money enough in the treasury to meet a tithe of the warrants issued therefor. They rapidly accumulated until a great debt was piled up, when an application to the Legislature for a measure to relieve the county of the immediate burden of its obligations resulted in an Act providing for a fund- ing of the debt. The Act of April 29, 1857, con- stituted the chairman of the board of supervisors, auditor and treasurer a board of funding com- missioners, with power to issue bonds equal in amount to the total indebtedness of the county existing the first of January, 1858, after which date the board of supervisors were forbidden to create any debt of more than one thousand dollars in excess of the amount of money in the treasury subject to its pay- ment. The bonds were to be issued in amounts of five hundred and one hundred dollars, due January 1, 1869, and to bear interest at the rate of ten per cent. per annum. A special annual interest tax of thirty-five cents on the one hundred dollars of tax- able property was authorized to be levied, and the creation of a sinking fund was provided for.


County warrants and juror's certificates issued by order of the Court of Sessions and board of super- visors from the organization of the county until Jan- uary 1, 1858, and which were covered by the pro- visions of the Funding Act, amounted to $235,013.71. Of this sum about one hundred thousand dollars were paid by means of funds flowing into the treas- ury from taxes and licenses, while the remainder stood as a debt against the county to be funded under the provisions of this Act.


The bonds issued by the funding commissioners are shown in the succeeding table.


Of these bonds the first redemption was made in 1861, $1,100 being surrendered at fifty-three and one-half cents. This was the lowest figure at which Siskiyou county bonds were ever taken up, and annually, until they were refunded in 1869, a por- tion of the bonds were canceled at rates varying from that to ninety-nine and three-fourths cents, the average on the whole amount being $.738 on the dollar. The time for the redemption of these bonds drawing near, and the county being unable to provide for the payment in full, the Legislature, by Act of March 26, 1868, authorized the chairman of the board of supervisors and the county auditor to become funding commissioners, to issue bonds in amount equal to the bonds of the county outstand- ing Jannary 1, 1869, to run for ten years from that date and to bear interest at the rate of ten per cent. per annum; providing also for an interest tax and a


sinking fund for redeeming the new county bonds.


SISKIYOU COUNTY BONDS OF 1858.


WHEN ISSUED.


TO WHOM ISSUED,


NO. ISSUED.


AMOUNT OF BONDS.


Jan.


25 Holland Parker


5


$ 1,300


25 James D. Turner


2


600


26 J. P. Goodale


1


100


28 D. D. Colton


12


6,000


66


28 Eli H. Stone


10


3,400


66


29 Andrew Meier


2


1,000


Feb.


17 E. Wadsworth


34


17,000


18 E. Wadsworth


21


8,900


18 E. Wadsworth


2


1,000


66


18 Jonas W. Brown


19


9,100


19 Samuel P. Fair


38


18,200


11 E. Wadsworth


2


1.000


11 E. Wadsworth


2


1,000


11 D. D. Colton


1


500


11 Hoyt & Wicks


4


400


60


11 E. M. Stevens.


1


100


11 Thomas Masterson


3


300


11 John Cleland


3


300


=


11 Jonas W. Brown


1


500


=


11 H. Goldsmith


1


500


11 William Harding


18


1,800


11|W. D. Batterton


4


400


12 Greathouse & Bro


34


3,400


12 L. Livingston.


34


3,400


13 D. D. Colton.


2


600


13 Jerome Churchill


11


3,500


April


22 H. Goldsmith & Co


8


3,200


66 22/T. T. Cabaniss


6


1,400


23 E. Wadsworth


2


200


23 E. Wadsworth


4


1,200


23 Hugh Morgan


3


1,500


23 Charles Bibend


1


100


6 23 E. K. Phipps


2


1,000


23 Greathouse & Bro


1


500


23 E. Wadsworth


5


2,500


23 L. Livingston


3


700


23 W. D. Batterton


6


2.200


26 Greathouse & Bro


10


3.800


26 E. Wadsworth


5


1,300


26 John Loag


1


100


26 H. Goldsmith & Co


1


100


26 D. D. Colton


3


300


June


30 T. T. Cabaniss


1


100


30 Jonas W. Brown


1


500


30 Samuel P. Fair


2


200


30 Holland Parker


2


200


30 W. D. Batterton


2


200


30 L. Livingston


4


400


30 E. K. Phipps


1


100


66 30 John Justice


1


100


30 W. H. Gatliff


3


1,500


30 Lauer & Bro


4


800


30 11. T. Templeton


1


100


66 30 John Eldridge.


3


700


30 Greathouse & Bro


2


200


30 11. Parker


1


100


30 Jerome Churchill


2


200


Total.


465


$133,300


66


22 A. M. Rosborough


19


5,100


22 E. Wadsworth


21


8,900


23 E. Il. Stone


6


1,400


66


58


6,600


18 E. Wadsworth


3


1,500


March 10 H. Goldsmith


11 E. Wadsworth


66


=


66


79


HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.


The condition of the bonds at the time of refunding in 1869 was as follows :-


Total interest paid to date. $111,170 00


Total amount redeemed 69,500 00


Average rate of redemption 738


Total paid for redemption 51,291 00


Total outstanding bonds 63,800 00


This amount was negotiated by the commissioners with E. & H. Wadsworth as follows :-


105 bonds of $500 each $52,500


112 " $100


11,200


1 to Louis Heller 100


Total -- 218 bonds $63,800


The ensuing ten years saw but slight reduction in the amount of the funded indebtedness of the county, and the Legislature, by Act of March 28, 1878, provided for again refunding the debt, the chairman of the board of supervisors and the county auditor being constituted a board of funding commissioners for that purpose. The bonds were made payable in ten years from January 1, 1879, and to bear interest at seven per cent. An interest tax was provided for, and a sinking fund, to consist of the annual sur- plus in the general and interest funds. Whenever the sinking fund contained $1,000 the supervisors were authorized to advertise for the surrender of bonds upon a certain date, from which date interest upon such advertised bonds should cease.


At the date of refunding the following was the condition of the bonds of 1869 :-


Total interest paid. $55,920 00


Redeemed at $.995 8,200 00


Redeemed at par. 500 00


Amount paid for redemption . 8,659 00


Outstanding bonds 55,100 00


The new bonds were negotiated with E. & H. Wadsworth as follows :-


51 bonds of $100 each


5,100 00


100 bonds of $500 each 50,000 00


Total, 151 bonds. $55,100 00


The board, in accordance with the provisions of the Act, advertised for the surrender of bonds to the amount of $2,700, March 13, 1880, from which date interest ceased to run on them. Of these only $900 have been surrendered, leaving $1,800 still out, but bearing no interest. The condition of the bonds, February 1, 1881, was :-


Redeemed $900 00


Outstanding, bearing interest, $52,400 00


Outstanding, not bearing in-


terest . 1,800 00


Total outstanding $54,200 00


Total


$55,100 00


Total interest paid . 7,607 81


The following recapitulation of the above exhibits presents a startling array of figures for a county with the population and assessment valuation of Siskiyou. They should be carefully studied :-


Interest on bonds of 1858, $111,170 00


Interest on bonds of 1869, 55,920 00 Interest on bonds of 1879, 7,607 SI


Total interest paid . ...


.$174,697 81


Paid to redeem 1858 bonds, $51,291 00


Paid to redeem 1869 bonds, 8,659 00 Paid to redeem 1879 bonds, 900 00


Total paid for redemption 60,850 00


Outstanding, bearing inter- est. .$52,400 00


Outstanding, not bearing in-


terest


1,800 00


Total outstanding bonds


54,200 00


Total interest and bonds redeemed and outstanding $289,747 81


ASSESSMENT VALUATION FOR THE YEAR 1881, BY SCHOOL DISTRICTS.


Bogus $21,389


Butteville . 79,626


Berryvale 33,277


Black Bear 66,728


Cottonwood 105,901


Cottage Grove 14,115


Callahan's.


77,677


Cedar Park 99,369


Douglas 79,510


Etna 195,908


East Fork


24,984


Foot-hill


23,266


Franklin 106,282


Forks.


37,914


Greenhorn 40,823


Hawkinsville 61,531


Humbug


29,937


Hooper


39,182


Hamburg


10,489


Klamath . 38,808


Kidder .


35,142


Little Shasta


55,183


Meamber


45,591


Moffitt Creek 10,565


Oro Fino .. 62,169


Oak Grove.


23,674


Quartz Valley


35,596


Shasta Valley 76,969


Scott Valley. 213.908


Sawyer's Bar 65,390


Scott River


68,629


South Fork.


39,061


Sciad


11,037


Salmon 15,343


Table Rock. 291,656


Union .


83,292


Vineland


125,806


Washington


123,289


Willow Creek


88 189


Yreka


607,090


Total


$3,519,699


80


HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA,


ASSESSMENT VALUATIONS AND RATE OF TAX.


YEAR. .


Real Estate.


Personal. . . .


Total. .


Tax on $100.


Hosp.


and


Poll


State.


County


Tax.


1852


. .


$


36,557 $ 442,431 $


478,988


IS53. . .


190,613


726,577


917,190


$ 0 53


1854 ..


297.943


828,820


1,126,763


0 65


1855 ..


588,755


1,629,726


2,218,48] $ 0 60


1856. .


1857.


711,915


2,089,455


2,801,370


2,486,838


0 60


1 65


5 00


1860. ..


90,318


1,973,074


2,882,392


0 60


1 65


4 00


1861. ..


864,367


1,539,832


2,404,199


0 60


1 65


4 00


1862.


368,266


760,924


1,227,297


0 62


1 78


4 00


1863.


514,760


983,432


1,498,192


0 87


1 80


2 00


1864. .


310,285


729,131


1,039,416


1 25


2 06


2 00


1865.


455,524


1,020,600


1,476,124


1 15


1 85


2 00


1866.


472,562


1,045,447


1,518,009


1 47


2 00


1867.


277,845


721,500


999,345


1 13


1 27


2 00


1868. . .


624,368


1,236,776


1.861,144


1 00


1 27


1869. ..


586,023


1,365,809


1,951,832


0 97


1 28


1870. . .


707,933


1,446,277


2,154,210


0 865


1 40


1 75


1 10


1 25


*1874.


1,603,630


1,728,649


3,332,279


0 649


1 151


*1875.


1,651,179


1,571,715


3,222,894


0 605


1 145


*1876. ..


1,546,650


1,073,241


2,619,891


0 735


1 065


2 00


*1877 ..


1,530,403


1,107,633


2,638,036


0 63


1 17


2 00


*1878 ...


1,503,092


1,148,275


2,651,367


0 55


1 25


2 00


*1879 ...


1,504,734


1,157,478|


2,662,212


0 625


1 175


8 00


*1880. ..


2,034,002


1,681,555 3,715,557


0 64


0 86


4 00


* Full cash value.


PUBLIC BUILDINGS.


Unlike many of the counties of California, Siski- you has never suffered the loss of any of its public buildings by fire, nor have any of its important records been destroyed or damaged. They are, however, kept without any protection by safe or vault, and in case of fire would be totally lost.


The commissioners who organized the county held their meetings and canvassed the votes in the Ver- andah, the most popular saloon in Yreka, and seemed to give as good satisfaction as in the most elaborate temple of justice ever erected. The first court room was rented by the county and occupied the upper part of a building on Miner street near Main, where Duenkel's saloon now is. The county offices were below in the same building. The sheriff had an office in a log building where Herzog's market stands, until the fire of 1854 burned it to the ground. A brick building was then erected on the same site, and the sheriff's office occupied the front of the upper story, while the Yreka Union was in the rear. A new building was also built on Fourth street, in the rear of King's present store, in which was the Eclampus Vitus hall. This was occupied for a court room and clerk's office. A small wooden jail was built on the south-west cor- ner of the plaza, opposite Mr. Winckler's residence, which cost the county three thousand dollars. It was here that the Greenhorn riot occurred, and after that event a high board fence was built about the jail. The door of this old structure still closes upon poor unfortunates who get into the clutches of the officers, and is the portal through which City Marshal Halliek ushers his guests into the quarters prepared for them in the city calaboose.


Early in 1856 the board of supervisors advertised for bids for a brick court house, and on the first of


April accepted the bid of A. Witherall for $15,479. This gentleman assigned his bid to R. L. Westbrook and H. T. Shepard, to whom the contract was accord- ingly let. On the fourteenth of the same month the board ordered, "That the said court house shall be placed in the center of the public square, in Yreka City, Siskiyou county, California, at equal distances from the outsides, the ends or fronts of said building to face Fourth and Oregon streets, being at right angles with said square." The building was com- pleted the next spring and formally accepted April 18, 1857, thirteen hundred dollars being allowed for extras, making a total cost of $16,779. The struc- ture still serves the county as a court house, and forms one of the illustrations of this volume. It is two stories high, the lower floor being occupied by the offices of the county clerk, sheriff, district attorney and superior judge, while up stairs are the office of the assessor and a commodious court room. The plaza surrounding it is well covered with grass and ornamented with large locust trees, a splendid flag pole standing at the north-east corner.


In May, 1875, the county purchased for $350 a lot 65x160 feet on the north-west corner of Fourth and Lane streets, where the Catholic parsonage had stood previous to the fire of 1871. The contract for building a stone jail on this lot, according to the plans of the California Bridge and Building Company was let the same month to F. Stockslager, at $6,440. The structure was completed a year later. In the fall of 1877 a stone wall was built around the jail by W. B. Cantrell, for $2,550. The old wooden jail was torn down.


The first hospital for the care of the sick was a private institution kept by Dr. J. S. Cummins and A. M. C. Smith. It was in a large building where Red Men's Hall now stands, owned by Alvy Boles and Dr. Dane, in 1852. It was not a paying in- vestment, and was soon abandoned. Soon after the county authorities began to provide for the indigent sick, making contracts with physicians and others to care for them. In May, 1857, the supervisors purchased a county hospital from Dr. John Ridgly for $5,500. It was a building he had used for the purpose, while taking care of the sick under con- tract with the county. This served the purpose for a number of years, but in 1869 it was deemed too small, and steps were taken to sec re another and larger one. These resulted in the purchase in April, 1870, of the present hospital premises from Dr. Daniel Ream, for $3,353, and the old property was sold. Contracts are now made by the supervisors with some responsible individual to maintain the indigent of the county at the hospital, and also with some physician to give the requisite medical attend- ance. Dr. Daniel Ream has been the medical attendant for years, while W. A. B. Mills has charge of the institution.


CHAPTER XII.


THE COURTS AND JUDICIARY.


LAW, in its simplest form, was introduced into Alta California by the Caucasian race in 1769, when the mission of San Diego was founded by the Fran-


1871.


787,435


1,434,020


2,221,455


0 865


*1872. .


1,415,503


2,535,762


3,951,265


0 50


* 1873.


1,649,733


2,078,955


3,728,688


0 50


1 50


5 00


1858 ..


1859.


874,388


1,612,450


0 60


0 90


$3 00


0 70


0 80


6 00


0 70


0 65


il & Gillis


HUDSON. B. GILLIS.


The subject of this sketch, the second son of Ridg- way B. and Margaret Gillis, was born at Ridgway, Elk county, Pennsylvania, on the eighth of Novem- ber, 1842. He is of Scotch descent, his mother being a native of Scotland, and his father, though born in New York, of Scotch antecedents. His parents moved with him to Iowa in 1849. His boyhood and early manhood were spent in the Hawkeye State and in Illinois and Nebraska. In June, 1869, he graduated at the Iowa Wesleyan University of Mount Pleasant, having maintained himself by his own personal exertions during his course of study at that institution. The last two years of his collegiate life were principally devoted to the study of law, he having chosen the legal profession as his future vocation. In the fall of 1869 he came to California with the intention of making his permanent home on the coast. He continued his law studies for some time in the office of George Cadwallader, an attorney at Sacramento, and then moved to Yreka. Here he entered the office of Judge E. Steele, and still labored earnestly to perfect his knowledge of law, teaching school a portion of the time for his support. Mr. Gillis was admitted to the Siskiyou bar in 1871, when he commenced a very successful and lucrative practice. Having a strong ambition to reach the higher rounds in the ladder of his profession, and being determined to master and hold every step, he steadily rose in public esteem and confidence, until


in the fall of 1875 the people elected him to the office of district attorney, which he now holds, hav- ing been twice re-elected. He was married in the fall of 1871 to Miss Anna M. Reynolds, daughter of Isaac and Maria E. Reynolds, a lady of great mental attainments and intellectual vigor. The union has been one of singular and continued felicity. Mr. Gillis was one of the Siskiyou county commissioners to wind up the affairs of Klamath county in 1876. He is an honored and efficient member of How- ard Lodge, No. 96, of Free and Accepted Masons, and held the chair of worthy master for three years. He has taken an active part in every political cam- paign since he first came to the State. Being an able speaker he has stumped the county on several occasions in the interests of Democracy, and is con- sidered one of the best workers in the party. The Scotch character largely predominates in Mr. Gillis' personal appearance and in the bent of his mind. He is tall, bony and slender, possessing singularly penetrating powers of mind and brings untiring zeal and activity into whatever he undertakes. As a lawyer he is logical, searching and persistent, and seldom fails to win his point. His long residence on the frontier has given him an admirable insight into the western character, to which hardy, vigorous class he may be said to belong himself. As a public offi- cer he is faithful to the best interests of the people, and as a private citizen he has a circle of friends and well-wishers which only sterling worth and man- hood can create.


81


HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.


ciscan Friars under the leadership of Father Juni- pero Serro. At this and other missions soon after established, the padres had full control, administer- ing justice in the manner best calculated to further the interests of their religion and cement and per- petuate the feeble government they had set up among the simple natives they soon gathered about them. The military sent into the wilderness to uphold and protect the missions was entirely sub- servient to the authority of the padres. As the Caucasians increased and pueblos (towns) were established, justice was administered therein by an alcalde (judge), the padres still reigning supreme at the missions. The pueblos increased in size and the authority of the alcalde and other civil officers gradually encroached upon that of the padres, until when the missions were secularized by the Mexican government, the padres lost all temporal authority, and the civil power obtained supreme control. This authority was exercised along the whole coast and as far inland as the military arm had strength and energy enough to sustain it.




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