USA > California > Siskiyou County > History of Siskiyou County, California > Part 44
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The first movement in the direction of a wagon road was made by Col. James L. Freaner, the " Mus- tang" of Mexican war notoriety. With John Brando - - Jackson, -- Warren, and a Mexican known as Adobé John, he started out in June, 1852, to locate a wagon road, going by way of Sheep rock and Pit river. Nothing more was heard of this party until four years later the Indians disclosed the fact that they had murdered them on Pit river. Nothing further was done in the matter till A. M. Rosborough and Samuel Lockhart undertook to lay out a road on the same route in the spring of 1856. 21
Lockhart went over it with an ox-team, and then piloted a Mormon train of thirty-five wagons down to Red Bluff, which served to break quite a wagon trail. They established a ferry on Fall river with a toll license from Shasta county. In May, A. Bar- tol, of the California Stage Company, came over the road from Red Bluff in a buggy, and a meeting was held in Yreka on the twenty-second of that month, at which Mr. Bartol offered to put on a daily line of stages if the Yreka people would contribute $5,000 towards putting the road in a good condition. As it was known to be the intention of the stage com- pany to put on a line of stages at all events, the citizens did not see the necessity for making any con- tributions. The first freight teams came up from Red Bluff in June of that year, and from that time freight has been almost exclusively transported in wagons. Packing was carried on to some extent until the road was made over Scott and Siskiyou mountains in 1858, and then it ceased except from the valley into the Scott, Klamath and Salmon river mines.
Freight was at first seven cents from Shasta to Scott Bar, but has now been ent down to two and one-half cents. Freight to Yreka, Etna, and Fort Jones is two cents in summer and from three to four in winter, when, indeed, it can be had at all. The exigencies of the climate render teaming in winter both an expensive and a hazardous pursuit and men will not undertake it unless welf remul- nerated. Merchants lay in enough goods in the fall to last them until the following spring, and although before spring arrives the finding of certain classes of goods in the stores is a matter of considerable uncertainty, it, is something that cannot well be helped, and all bear the annoyance with a great deal of patience.
EXPRESS LINES.
One of the indispensable institutions of the early days was the mounted express. Withont it busi- ness could scarcely be carried on, so slow was com- munication by means of pack-trains. The express consisted chiefly of letters, papers, gold-dust, and small packages, all goods of any bulk or weight being carried by the packers. There was no post- office until 1853, and all mail was brought and carried by the express companies. At first the price for each letter was three dollars, and half that sum for a newspaper. In January, 1853, S. D. Brastow carried 600 letters on his back from Tower House to Callahan's, no one having been through for two weeks. The following estimate of the amount of mail carried was made in 1853, when the question of a post-office was being discussed :-
Number of States letters brought from Shasta each month 500, at two dollars each. Number of California letters 500, at one dollar. Number sent away 1,000, at fifty cents. At the same time one dollar was paid for a States paper and fifty cents for a California paper. The express com- panies carried regular lists of customers for whose mail they were to inquire at Shasta. During the year ending March 1, 1853, the office at Shasta, where Isaac Roop was postmaster, re- ceived for distribution 41,263 letters, of which 37,025 were delivered, 3,495 sent to the dead
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letter office, and 743 remained at that time uncalled for. The bulk of these went to the mines on Trin- ity, Salmon, Scott, and Klamath rivers, and to Yreka. In July, 1853, J. Lentell was appointed postmaster at Yreka, but so poor were the postal facilities that the express companies were still largely patronized. Even to the present time many people prefer to send their mail by Wells, Fargo & Co. to points to which they run, paying five eents for each letter, three of which go to the govern- ment. Many points are reached by this company to which no mail line is established by the postal department.
The first express ever introduced into the mines of this eounty was when A. E. Raynes began to run between Trinidad and Bestville in the spring of 1851. Before that the people had been completely isolated from the outside world. Occasionally a few letters were brought in by a paek-train and others carried out, but this was a precarious method of maintaining a correspondence. After suffering a great many hardships from inelement weather and hostile Indians, Mr. Raynes became a member of the firm of Cram, Rogers & Co., who opened in the fall of 1851 a regular express line from Shasta.
Prior to this Elijah Steele with Sloan, Briggs, and Tiernan, had established a freight and express line from Seott Bar, via Yreka, to Sacramento, Steele riding the express. This was discontinued early in the winter, the firm of Cram, Rogers & Co., having been formed in the fall of 1851, com- posed of F. A. Rogers, Robert Cram, Richard Dugan, and A. E. Raynes. Mr. Rogers went to Yreka and opened a regular banking and express business. Mr. Rogers attended to the business in Yreka, while the firm was represented at Shasta by Mr. Cram, at Weaverville by Edward Rowe, at Jacksonville by Mr. Dugan. Mr. Raynes carried the express from Shasta to Yreka.
In 1852, the firm of Rhodes & Lusk started an opposition line, connecting at Shasta with Wells, Fargo & Co., while Cram, Rogers & Co. connected with Adams & Co. The failure of Adams & Co., in the spring of 1855, was a death-blow to Cram, Rogers & Co., and Jaek Horsley and S. D. Brastow started a line to connect at Shasta with the Paeifie Express Company, organized by the old employees of Adams & Co. This had but a brief existenee. George, Henry and Ridge Greathouse then started an express, bank, and passenger business, in con- nection with Hugh Slicer. They ran stages to Callahan's, and then sent their express and passen- gers over the mountains on mules. The other com- pany became Rhodes & Co., then Rhodes & Whit- ney, and when the California Stage Company com- menced running to Yreka, in 1856, was succeeded by Wells, Fargo & Co., who have since handled the express business. They run on both stage routes, and all outside points are reached by private parties who own mail contraets and carry express. The agents of the company in this county are E. and H. Wadsworth, Yreka, C. E. Burrows, manager, and Joseph Sawtell, assistant; A. B. Carloek, Fort Jones; Abisha Swain, Etna; A. H. Denny, Calla- han's; Gilbert Lanphier, Berryvale; George Camp- bell, Soda Springs.
The old mounted express is a thing of the past
in California, and a few reminiscences will be found interesting.
Great rivalry always existed between the com- peting express companies, especially down in the Sacramento valley; and many a race was run by the messengers, and many a dollar was needlessly expended, or animal ruined, to keep up the reputa- tion of the rival companies for speed. It was a daily strife between the riders below; and in this county, when the messengers arrived near their destination, they broke into a wild gallop to see who could reach the office first. Frequently races were pre-arranged and run long distances at great expense. One of these was the raee with the Presi- dent's message, in the spring of 1853.
The contestants were Adams & Co., from Saera- mento to Shasta, and Cram, Rogers & Co., from Shasta to Weaverville and Yreka, against Wells, Fargo & Co. and Rhodes & Co., for the same distances. The finest horses the four companies owned were stationed along the route at inter- vals of ten miles, held saddled and bridled for two days, ready for the messenger to spring from the back of one jaded animal upon the back of another fresh one, and be out of sight in a twink- ling. Receiving the message together at Sacra- mento, the first two riders dashed spur into their animals and went whirling away towards Marys- ville, where a message was tossed to the agent, and on went the rider. Either by superior horses, rid- ing, or arrangement of details, the riders for Adams & Co. so far outstripped their competitors that they landed the message in Shasta the night before it came by Wells, Fargo & Co. Here it was taken by the messengers for Cram, Rogers & Co., and whisked over to Weaverville and up to Yreka as fast as horse-flesh would take it. This little race ecst Adams & Co. $1,500, and Wells, Fargo & Co. probably as much.
At another time it was arranged between Rhodes & Co., and Cram, Rogers & Co., that they would race from Shasta to Weaverville and Yreka, with the Shasta Courier. The riders on this occasion were Jack Horsley to Weaverville, and A. E. Raynes to Yreka, for Cram, Rogers & Co., and Parker to Weaverville, and George Terry to Yreka, for Rhodes & Co. Over two hundred people assembled on the hill at Shasta to see them start. Receiving their papers together, away they went at the top of their speed, mounted on the finest horses they could obtain. Before they reached the Tower House, all four had been thrown from their horses by some accident on the rugged trail. Here they separated, Horsley and Parker branching off to Weaverville, losing the trail in the thiek brush, and finally arriv- ing at their destination, Horsley winning the race. Up the trail towards Yreka thundered Raynes and Terry, a race of over one hundred miles; a question of endurance and horses, decided in favor of Raynes, who distaneed his competitor, and at the foot of Trinity mountain handed his package of papers to S. D. Brastow, who dashed up to the office in Yreka and threw them down, with the glow of heat and pride struggling on his cheek for the mastery.
Hundreds of such raees were run, sometimes being won by this company, and sometimes by that. It was a daring, reckless way to traverse
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HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
those rough mountain trails, dangerous both to life and limb; but those riders were bold, devil-may- care fellows, and dared anything to win. Gen- erally the two messengers rode together, both for the sake of company, and for mutual safety and protection. Their revolvers, which they carried on their right hip, with the handles exposed so as to be grasped as quickly as thought, were their reliance for defense, and well did they know how to use them. More skillful riders were not to be found in the mountains, and the way they would dash down the trail of a steep mountain side, was enough to make an observer hold his breath with astonish- ment and fear. They could throw themselves over the side of their animals and ride at a racing speed, shielded thus from the bullets of any robbers that inight undertake to stop them. By their bold rid- ing or quick use of the revolver, they many times escaped the clutches of the gentlemen of the road, while they occasionally fell vietims to the superior advantages of men posted behind trees with guns in their hands.
The quickest time ever made between Yreka and Shasta was in 1854, when Mr. Raynes carried the news of the great fire in twelve and one-half hours. There was then but a rough mountain trail, no roads having yet been made, and the messenger went tearing along over rocks and stones, up long hills and down steep declivities, the whole 120 miles. Since that time the wagon roads have con- siderably shortened the distance as well as evened the grades, and the building of the telegraph has rendered such a journey now unnecessary. That break-neck ride will probably never be repeated.
In the summer of 1854, the two messengers, Raynes and Parker, were riding to Shasta, each having some $6,000 and a pack-mule, and nar- rowly escaped being robbed. It was customary to stay the first night at Callahan's, and the second at the ferry at the foot of Trinity mount- ain, taking dinner midway at the New York House. At a creek some five miles above the last place, a negro, who was but a little way in advance of the expressmen, met six men. He observed that they were well armed with guns and revolvers, and had knives sticking in the leggings of their boots. With a "Good-day, gentlemen," he passed along, and had proceeded but a few steps when one of them shot at him, the bullet passing through the roll of blank- ets on his back, and lodged in the back of his neck. He sprang into a run and was quickly followed by another bullet, that ploughed from his elbow to the wrist, and served only to accelerate his speed. He soon came upon a pack-train that was going up the road, and the approach of these frightened the rob- bers away, so that when, a few moments later, the two expressmen came up, the highwaymen had dis- appeared up the creek. The shooting of the negro, whose only crime was that he had seen the robbers, and would be able to recognize them again, is an illustration of how dangerous it is to be a witness.
At another time the two men were riding together on Trinity mountain, and just as they came up a steep hill upon a level bench, they found themselves face to face with four or five men, who were riding leisurely along with their rifles lying across the saddle in front of them. These men separated to
either side of the trail, while the expressmen, simul- taneously and without exchanging a word, whipped out their revolvers, cocked them and rode between the open ranks of the highwaymen with their pistols elevated in front of them. Turning in their saddles as they passed, they kept the men covered with the revolvers, until just beyond, they struck the top of a steep descent, and dashing spur into their mules, were soon beyond the reach of the rifles they had passed. Their quickness of action had saved them, for the robbers saw that the messengers "had the drop on them," and dared not make a move.
One day, in the fall of 1851, Mr. Raynes was coming up the south fork of Salmon river with a pack-mule, when three Indians came down the hill upon the trail. One of them took the mule by the head and motioned for Raynes to go ahead. Instead of doing this, he presented his gun and motioned for them to move on. Knowing that if the gun went off one of them would die, they aban- doned the attempt for the time being, but soon came back, and the programme was repeated. For half an hour they thus followed and annoyed him, and then disappeared. That night he went into camp all alone, fearing an attack by the Indians. After cooking his supper, he lay down by the fire for a while, and then crawled out of his blankets and lay in the brush outside the camp. He had little sleep that night, for the rustle of every leaf was magnified into the footstep of a blood-thirsty savage, and every moment he expected an arrow to be buried in the roll of blankets he had left by the fire. The night passed away, and in the morning he had the melancholy satisfaction of learning that a large pack-train was in camp but a short distance up the trail, with whom he might have spent the night in peaceful slumber.
One dark night, Raynes was riding leisurely through the forest upon a mule that the snapping of a stick or the click of a revolver spring would set upon the keen run. Just as he came to the top of a hill, his ever vigilant eye saw a gun appear from behind a tree. Not stopping to see if a man was behind it, he snatched his revolver from his belt and cocked it. No sooner did the mule hear the click of the lock, than he started down the hill at a headlong pace, and before the astonished high- wayman could realize what had happened, his victim was beyond the reach of a bullet. For half a mile Raynes went tearing down the hill, his knees tightly clasped against the sides of the fleeing mule, before he could stop the animal and return the revolver to his belt.
EXPRESS ROBBERY IN 1856.
On Monday, the tenth of March, 1856, Rhodes & Whitney's express left Yreka for Shasta, with about $17,000 in gold-dust, in charge of the messenger, S. D. Brastow, now assistant super- intendent of Wells, Fargo & Co., in San Fran- cisco. Accompanying him were Mr. Hickman, of the firm of Batterton & Hickman, Yreka; Will- iam F. Somercamp, now of Silver City, Idaho; and Larry Delass, a packer between Shasta and the country lying north of it, now a resident of Nova Scotia. Mr. Hickman also had $4,000 in dust, and the others several hundred dollars cach. The
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HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
treasure was carried in large, heavy leathern bags, which were lashed to a pack-mule, and the mule driven ahead.
As far as Callahan's there was an apology for a wagon road, used by Greathouse & Co.'s stages, but beyond that point there was but a mountain trail. The party stopped on the night of the eleventh at Trinity, or Gibbs' ferry, seven miles below Trinity Center. Before daylight Wednesday morning they resumed their journey, arriving at the foot of the mountain just at daybreak. The ascent was com- menced with the pack-mule in the lead, Delass fol- lowing, then Brastow, Somercamp, and Hiekman, Brastow walking beside his mule. About a mile and one-half from the foot of the mountain they were suddenly halted by disguised men, one of whom sprang in behind the pack-mule, and the others stood within ten feet of the trail on the left. They were armed with double barrel shot-guns and a yager, and Delass, who saw them first, called out, "Don't shoot!" They had on skull-caps made of red blanket, and black silk handkerchief's sewed to them and tied about the neck, with holes cut for their eyes. Their red shirts were worn outside of their pants, fastened with a belt around the waist, in which were two six-shooters and an ugly bowie- knife. They said nothing, but it was very evident what they wanted. Brastow tried to secure hs revolvers from their holsters on the saddle, but his mule was frightened by the grotesque figures before him, and jumped about so that it was impossible to do so. One of the robbers said, "Stop that! We don't want to kill you, but we must have your money." He stopped. They all stopped. One of them said afterwards that the gun-barrel he looked into had a hole in it as big as a hogshead.
One of the robbers laid down his gun and made the messenger tie his mule to a tree, and then he tied the messenger's hands behind his back. The others were all treated in the same way. Brastow told them it was pretty hard to be treated in that way, and one of them said Adams & Co. had robbed him of $20,000 and he was trying to get even. They were then conducted down the north side of the ridge about 600 yards, and each one was firmly lashed with his back to a tree. The robbers then searched them and got considerable money, and watches from Somcreamp and Hickman. Brastow asked them to let him keep his pocket change as they had enough from him. They asked him how much he had, and he said, "Forty odd dollars ; " said the leader, " All right, Brastow, you can keep it." As they were about to leave, they were assured they would be followed if possible, when the leader turned and said, "You might as well hunt for a coyote."
They had not gone far when Hickman whispered, "Boys, I'm loose, hold on till they get off a little way and I will unfasten you." This was good news for they had expected to be kept there a long time. Soon all were free and started diagonally up the ridge towards the summit. As they neared the top they heard the clatter of hoofs, and secreted themselves just in time to see the robbers ride by on their mules, their disguises thrown off. They were riding at a rapid pace, the treasure mule being driven ahead.
The news soon reached Shasta and Yreka, and a party started from each place in pursuit, the Yreka party under Sheriff S. P. Fair going down the Sac- ramento. The Shasta posse followed the trail of the robbers to Clear creek, near its head, where it was discovered that the handits had left the mules, divided the plunder and separated. Their trail was lost and the party returned to Shasta after searching in vain for two days. Po-ters were then printed, giving a good deser ption of the men and offering a reward. A gentleman in Chico secing one of these and know- ing a rendezvous for bad characters, established a surveillance over the place, and was rewarded one evening while looking through the chinks of the eabin to see one of the robbers showing some gold- dust to the inmates. The next day this man and one of the others started for Marysville on horse- back, followed by the Chico gentleman, who ro le around them and reached Marysville in advance. The authorities there were posted, and a party went to the Feather river bridge and lay in wait for the two travelers, who were surrounded on the bridge and captured. Hickman's watch was found on one of them, whose name was William Carter. This mau "squealed," and told who his companions had been and where they could probably be found. They were George Walker, Adolph Newton, a Swe le, Domingo, a Mexican, Nicanora Rodriguez, a Chileno. They were a branch of the celebrated Tom Bell gang that ro uned through Butte, Sierra, Yuba, Nevada, Placer, and Sacramento counties. The headquarters of this particular gang was near Folsom, in Sacramento county. With them, though not engaged in this robbery, was the well-known Bill Gristy, Tom Bell's right hand-man, also Cip Walker, brother of George.
On separating, Walker, Carter, and Rodriguez had buried their share of the plunder, each in a different spot, near the head of Clear creek. Carter was taken there two or three times by Sheriff Nunnally, of Shasta, and finally found all three of the places, yielding about fourteen thousand dol- lars. The search for other members of the gang proved futile for a long time. Detectives Robert Harrison and Daniel C. Gay were detailed from the Sacramento force to work up the case. They eap- tured one of the gang named Woodruff, alias Tom Brown, who was induced to betray his companions. He was so long in working up the case, that Gay gave it up and went East. Finally Walker, Gristy, Rodriguez, and Newton were found together at Folsom, and Brown reported that all was ready. Harrison, accompanied by Chief A. J. Buckley, Officer Anderson, and a butcher from Marysville, went to Folsom with Brown. Newton was quietly captured in the town and sent to the "prison brig" at Sacramento. The officers then went to the tent where Walker, Gristy, and Rodriguez werc. Cip Walker was then in jail at Auburn. It was arranged that Brown should throw open the tent door, and Harrison and Anderson rush in with their shot-guns and cover the robbers. If a shot was fired, those on the outside were to fire into the tent. This was done. The two officers sprang in and demanded a surrender. Several six-shooters lay on a table, before which Walker stood arranging his necktie. Shouting, "No, never!" he seized one of
FARM OF JOHN P. WOOD, 320 ACRES 3 MILES WEST OF FORT JONES, SISKIYOU CO.CAL.
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HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
these and fired, the ball passing between the heads of the two officers. These then shot at him, and he fell dead. The men on the outside commenced to fire into the tent when they heard the first shot, and Gristy stooped down and lifted up the edge of the tent, firing over his shoulder as he crawled out. A load of buckshot was sent after him, but he escaped with only a flesh wound. Rodriguez went out the same hole, but was wounded and captured. Gristy was caught soon after. The body of Dom- ingo was found near Cottonwood, Shasta county, and it was supposed that be had been killed by Newton in a quarrel about their plunder.
Newton, Carter, Rodriguez and Gristy were all sentenced to San Quentin. Brown reformed and is now living an upright life in Placer county. Gristy also reformed when he was released, and is now liv- ing honorably in Sacramento county. Rodriguez was pardoned after being in prison one year. Carter was pardoned before his term expired, and Newton served out his term. Pending the trial, Newton was taken to where he and Domingo had buried their plunder, but could not find it. After his release from prison he made two unsuccessful trips on the same errand. Rodriguez told Mr. Brastow in 1872 that he accompanied him, and their theory was that some one living at the Mountain House must have found and dug it up. Carter is now dead. Newton was a wood-driver on the Carson river a few years since. Rodriguez found his way back to San Quen- tin, and when his term was out went to Nevada. After a long career of crime, he broke jail in Pioche. A man who escaped with him was soon after found dead in Utah, and Rodriguez was next heard of as robbing a stage in New Mexico; next as an officer in the Mexican army; next at Prescott, Arizona, where grave crimes were laid at his door. Hc recently escaped from jail in Santa Fé, New Mexico,
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