USA > California > Tulare County > History of Tulare County, California with biographical sketches > Part 32
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46
He got a new sixty-horse-power engine to drive the follow- ing machinery: Two sixty-inch circular-saws, one twenty-four inch edger-saw, one cutoff-saw, one paling-saw, and a planer. He got this magnificent mill ready to start about the middle of July; and, surrounded by a fine forest, as it was, it bade fair to supply a need long felt-that of a superior quality of red wood and sugar-pine lumber.
Wagy & Co. determined not to be outdonc. With that spirit of rivalry which seldom leads to success, they bought out the Stephens brothers in what was called the Stephens Pinery, about four miles north of the Union Clipper, and began the erection of a mill calculated to equal if not excel that of J. H. Thomas.
FOUR MILLS RUNNING IN 1874.
Four lumber-mills began operations in 1874. The Thomas, or Phoenix Mill, was rented to a man by the name of E. D. Merritt, a lumberman of considerable experience on the coast. Mr. Merritt was to take the mill and cut 8,000,000 feet of lumber for Mr. Thomas, at a certain fixed price per thousand for cach different kind of lumber sawed. These prices were found to be less than what the lumber could be manufactured for .. Mr. Merritt had, at the start, taken in a partner named Osborn, a wharf-builder from San Francisco.
A LARGE MILL.
When the mill started, it was found to be of such a capac- ity-25,000 to 30,000 feet per day-that it was discovered to be alınost impossible to supply it with logs, and the facilities for removing the lumber were so inadequate that it was diffi- cult to keep the mill from getting blocked up, so that it took a large number of men to keep it running at its full capacity.
It was soon after leased to the Wallace brothers, but they soon retired from the mountains with a long list of liabilities, empty pockets, hearts of lead, and an invaluable stock of experience.
In 1875 the lumber business had reached its zenith. The Forest Mill, under the management of Barton & Campbell, made its best season's run. Early in the spring the Phoenix Mill changed hands. Mr. Thomas, after so many disasters, found himself so prostrated financially that he was forced to yield up his mill to his principal creditor, R. E. Hyde, now President of the bank of Visalia.
Joseph H. Thomas was a pioneer of 1850. In January, 1854, in company with a man by the name of Bodfish, he began the erection of a saw-mill in the coast redwoods near Gilroy, in Santa Clara County. He continued in this mill till 1857, when he sold out to his partner and came to Tulare and bought the saw-mill belonging to Smith & Hatch as first stated.
SWEETS' SAW-MILL.
About the first of May, 1881, Mr. Smith Comstock, a man of considerable experience in the lumber business, entered into a contract with S. Sweet & Co. to cut and saw into proper shape 3,000,000 feet of lumber at the old Wagy Mill. In pur- suance to the contract Mr. Comstock employed a large force of men to assist in the work, and continued to run the mill. There was about 2,700,000 feet of splendid lumber cut, one million of which was hauled into this county and nearly the same amount into Fresno County. It has cost Sweet & Co. about $30,000 to get this lumber cut, and none of the money went out of the county for freight.
A ROAD NEEDED.
If there was a good road made through the mountains to this lumber region, it would be a great benefit to both the lumber dealer and farmer. Lumber could be sold at reason- able prices in the valley, for the reason that it would not cost more than one-half as much to get it hauled as it does at the present time. There ought to be a good county road made up to this fine belt of timber.
OTHER MILLS CONSTRUCTED.
Green & Sharpton crected a steam mill in Crane Valley in 1872.
In 1854, L. Keeney started the Visalia Flouring Mill on Mill Creek, which runs through the village. This mill runs part of the season by water-power and the balance of the time by steam. The proprietors of the Tulare Flouring Mills are con- stantly shipping large quantities of flour to Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. They also receive large orders from points in the southern portion of this State, and all agree in pro- nouncing the flour bearing the Tulare Valley brand among the best in the market.
The Tulare City Flour Mill was burned in 1877. It was a fine mill, and cost $40,000.
The Grangeville Flouring Mill was started by A. Tyner in 1874. It has a Hoadley engine that was used in the mount- ains to run a lumber-mill.
160
THE MINES OF TULARE COUNTY.
The Mines of Tulare County.
LITTLE has been said of the mines in the mountains southeast of Visalia, sixty miles distant. This mining district is situ- ated in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, upon the waters of the South Kaweah River, the head-waters of the little Kern River, big Kern River, Tule River, South King River, and North Kaweah River, in between the point and ridges that separate these fine streams of water.
The district proper extends over a system of interior mount- ain ranges, being east and west of the main Sierra entirely in the State of California. These undulating ranges are quite peculiar, one will raise quite abruptly from the slopes, run con- siderable distanee, and sink again into an ordinary level, while another of still greater magnitude will rise sometimes nearly parallel, but more often at a moderate angle, overlapping the other at each end. The main course of the system of mount- ains runs in a southeast and northwest direction.
The highest peak of the Mineral King system is called " Half Potato Hill," and its estimated height is about 10,000 feet. The average of the town site above the level of the sea is from 6,000 to 7,000 feet. The mines are situated on the mountain-sides above the little town formerly ealled Beulah.
GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS.
The formations are composed of suceessive formations of limestone, slate, quarzite, and granite. For quite a distanee in ascending the cañon are eneountered what geologists call a voleanic formation. After that the eañon cuts down into the bowels of a lime and calcareous slate formation, intermixed so in alternate stratification that it is difficult to determine which is the underlying roek. These two formations appear to be independent strata thrown together by some violent throes of nature in ages gone by. At the upper side of the mineral belt there is a very prominent baekbone or ridge of what is commonly ealled granite. Geologists have erroneously named this formation of granite porphyry. This appears to have been the main upheaval when the convulsion took place which formed the mountain. The slate and lime strata which form the actual mineral belt are to the west of it, and appear to rest on the granite and pitch to the west of an angle of about 70°.
A number of canons run nearly east and west through the valley, and cut and separate these formations at nearly right angles.
These eanons are all very deep and remarkably well supplied with water the entire year, intersecting the main ravine and certainly cutting into the foundations of main walls of the mountain ridges on the north and south sides. The two ridges which are intersected by the main ravine are about
one mile apart. Numerous lodes of silver-bearing ores are met with in this district, of which argentiferous galenas are of the most frequent occurrence.
FIRST QUARTZ MILL ERECTED.
In 1878, Hon. Thos. Fowler embarked in the enterprise of mining. His perseverance and energy are worthy of public recognition. Fowler undertook the development of the Empire Mine that has proven so rich, and by his own means and that which his influence demanded through his own personal integ- rity invested nearly $150,000.
About 1875 this district was discovered, but not until 1879 had anything been systematieally done to develop the im- mense wealth deposited in this rock-ribbed and gigantic range of mountains.
EMPIRE MINE.
At the head of a branch of Kaweah River is the Empire Mine. It is in a bold mountain which seems to be nearly an entire mass of mineral, as " pay rock " ean be taken out at almost any place on it which is prospected for a few feet. About two-thirds of the way up the mountain is a natural shaft which descends somewhat over a hundred feet and opens into a vast eave. This cave was explored and was declared " to be lined, loaded, and filled with the richest kind of silver ore," with well-defined veins running north, south, east, and west, through which nature has run cross euts and drifts. A party who visited it in 1881 deseended into the cave by means of a windlass and rope, in the latter a stirrup for one foot to go into and the descent being through an aperture perfeetly straight, but so narrow as to squeeze a large man. The cave was explored for several hundred yards horizontally and reached " a depth altogether of about 200 feet, with every- where the strongest and richest evidenees of beautiful silver ore "
Mr. Fowler and his associates have spent a great deal of money in opening up the Empire Mine. The mine is really a eave mine, full of air chambers, which aid very mueh in de- veloping it. They have gone down in one shaft 700 feet, in another 800 feet, and run 1,500 feet of tunnels. They have a fifteen-stamp mill. The ore yields from one-tenth to one- quarter gold.
The following mines have been prospected and worked to some extent, viz .: The Empire, Silver Lake, White Chief, Maginnis, Crystal, and Pinnaele. Ore has been taken out of the Silver Lake Mine paying $200 to $300 per ton. This distriet yields milling quartz ore and smelting rock, also. There are many ledges yet not developed.
The town, or mining eamp, of Mineral King contains about fifty houses, including the Empire Stampand Reduction Works. At present, it is in a torpid condition.
WHITE RIVER MINES.
This mining district was discovered about the time of the
RES, & RANCH OF H. P. GRAY, EAST OF LEMORE, TULARE CO. CAL. 7.
-
"EVERGREEN FARM" RES. OF DANIEL RHOADS, N.W. OF LEMOORE, TULARE CO. CAL,
161
THE MINES OF TULARE COUNTY.
rush to Kern River, in 1834, by miners who prospected the gulches and the river as they stopped here to camp. The mines attracted but little attention until the renowned Jack Gordon discovered rieh diggings on a gulch that was named after him, and still is and always will be called Gordon's Gulch. Gordon after many hair-breadth eseapes, a year's imprisonment among the Apaches, encounters with desperadoes, Indians, bears, and everything else, suceumbed to the pressure of a double-bar- reled shot-gun in the hands of a cowardly little Polander, who shot him without provocation. But Jaek, true to his nature, after he received his death shot, drew his pistol and when he discovered who his assailant was, raised himself up and, in the agony of death, shot his murderer and kept shooting until his eyes were glazed in death. The little Polander received "two shots, but recovered. The encounter took place in L. Mitehel's store.
In 1855, there were several rich quartz veins discovered. One, known as the MeCullough and Bullock claim, was worked for years, and the ore averaged over $100 per ton. This vein has been lying neglected now for more than twenty years. There are a great many quartz lodes that are aban- doned, and will some day prove bonanzas.
This distriet is partly in Kern and partly in Tulare County, about twenty-five miles east of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and the nearest point on the railroad is Delano. The district embraces about fifteen miles square of mineral land. The elimate is as good as can be found anywhere. There is very little agricultural land here, and about all the land is good for is sheep and cattle.
There is a little village at the junetion of the main White River and south fork of the same, where there are two stores, hotel, school house, and several families. The town is owned by Mr. Levi Mitchel. He is truly the monarch of all he surveys. He has been there for many years, and is likely to stay much longer. The inhabitants of this place display a surprising emulation to see who can do the least, and they follow this up with great energy until they break down at it, and have to lay off to recuperate. Very little ever occurs here to break the monotony of every-day life, unless a stray copy of some newspaper gets blown in, or some one receives a last year's almanac around a pill box, which is earefully preserved to keep the run of the days of the week. Even then they some- times get Sunday in the middle of the week, but that makes little differenee.
The beds of the streams yield up monster bones and teeth of animals that inhabited this region thousands of years gone by. Williams has a tusk that he dug out of his elaim on Grizzly Gulch over twelve feet long and larger than a man's body, besides some very large teeth. There is a grand field here for the geologist and mineralogist. Thereare more varieties of bugs (some of them as large as a bird) than in any other place in
California-lizards, snakes, tarantulas, and other venomous reptiles too numerous to mention.
PROFITABLE MINES.
The Tailholt Mines on White River are now worked energet- ically and seem to pay well.
Deer Creek has its famous Delano inine-one of the best paying mines in the State.
In the vicinity of Tule has been discovered a mine, which will in the near future be a veritable bonanza to its owners. The mine in question is the one recently discovered by E. M. Bentley and S. Belden, and which they have named the Telephone. This mine is located on Middle Tule about one-half mile above the old Jordon trail leading to Owen's River, and about fifty miles distant from Visalia. Messrs. Bentley and Belden have a large force of men at work develop- ing the property, and work is being rapidly and vigorously pushed. The vein is about five feet wide, but the quartz is rich in both gold and silver. Messrs. Bentley and Belden are both old and experienced miners, and have had large practice in mining.
So much attention has of late been given to irrigation, and the agricultural developments of the county, that the valua- ble mining industries have been neglected and nearly forgotten. There are some good paying mines that continue to attraet attention. It is evident that before long the mines of Tulare County will be giving employment to thousands of men There are lots of good quartz mines in the Sierras that will soon be putting forth their golden treasures.
The mineral resources of the county are very great. The discovery of gold early brought the hardy miners to this re- gion; but outside of the early placer, but little has been done to develop the great mineral wealth of the county, or deter- mine the extent of the gold and silver quartz mines
THE SOUTHERN MINES.
The oldest interest in this section was mining, and to that was devoted the time, means, and energy, of the pioneers of the county. In the palmny days of '49 large deposits of free gold were found in the ereek and river channels of the lower Sierras. These placers constituted a conspicuous portion of what was called the "Southern Mines," in contradistinction to the first discovered "diggings," located east and north of Sac- ramento. Years before the organization of the county the hills and lower mountains of the Sierras were alive with miners who, in many instances, "struck it rich " and amassed immense fortunes in a short time. Gold-dust was the medium of circulation, rather than eoin, and the value of property was estimated in ounces of the pure metal, instead of in dollars and cents. Just how much actual wealth was thus extraeted from the soil, by means of panning, sluicing, and roeking, we have no means of even approximating, but it would certainly be reekoned as millions.
162
THE PROGRESS OF TULARE COUNTY.
Progress of Tulare County.
TULARE County was, in early days, the principal stock-rais- ing county of California. But the adoption of the fence law induced the application of a system of irrigation to the arid plains where formerly very little vegetation grew; and the re- sult is that almost with a single bound, the county takes a position foremost among the leading wheat-producing counties of the State. In threshing the wheat crop of 1882, more than thirty threshers were employed for an average of about seventy days. These turned out an estimated average of more than 800 sacks each, averaging 135 pounds to the sack. Thus about $5,000,000 worth of wheat, alone, was produced during the year.
The average annual precipitation of moisture for the valley may be reckoned at about ten inches per annum, while at an altitude of 9,000 feet it must be reckoned as high as thirty- five inches. There are numerous places in the county where orange and lemon trees have been cultivated successfully for the last twenty years, and it is highly probable that a thorough knowledge of the business would bring the cultivation of citrous fruit into prominence in the foot-hill region. The neglected red lands of the valley are best suited to the cultiva- tion of the apricot.
There are several large districts where slate and marble abound, and several dykes of dolemite limestone can be traced nearly across the county. The climate of course varies with the altitu le. Snow has not covered the valley more than three or four times in a quarter of a century; and the ther- mometer does not fall below twenty oftener than one winter in ten, except, indeed, where the atmosphere is rendered humid by excessive evaporation, as along the shores of Tulare Lake.
With less than one-twentieth of the soil of the county un- der cultivation, Tulare County produces the sustenance for a million of people; and when her resources become fully devel- oped, she can feed and furnish employment to three times that number.
FINANCIAL CONDITION.
The finances of Tulare County were never in better condi- tion than they are to-day. No department is behind, while the Hospital Fund has on hand a surplus of $3,000; and at the beginning of the fiscal year, the first of July, there will be a balance in the General Fund of from $8,000 to $10,000.
The affairs of the county have generally been carefully managed by all of its officers. Its record in that respect is equal to any.
Some thirty substantial bridges, reposing on piles of the most durable materials, span the streams at the different road crossings. These bridges are owned by the county and were
constructed at an aggregate cost of more than $100,000. The county has one of the finest Court Houses in the State, fully described elsewhere. The following is the tax levy for the last five years: For the year 1878, State purposes, 55 cents; county, $1.86; total $2.41. For the year 1879, State, 62} cents; county, $1.73}; total, $2.36. For the year 1880, State, 64 cents; county, $1.66; total, $2.30. For the year 1881, State, 65} cents; county, $1.34}; total, $2.00. For the year 1882, State, 59.6 cents; county, $1.30.4; total, $1.90. This shows a gradual decrease in the county levy, while the State levy las been increasing slightly.
PROSPERITY AND WEALTH.
Year by year the Assessor's reports show a marked increase in the assessed valuation of all property. Nor is this to be wondered at, when we mark the strides made by mechanical invention in perfecting the tools with which the farmer works. But thirty years have elapsed since the Mexican fastened the crooked branch of a tree to the horns of his ox (by thongs) and therewith lightly scratched the bosom of Mother Earth; then laboriously dropped the seed. one by one, in the tiny fur- rows he had made. See illustrations of these tools on page 31.
IMPROVED AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS.
Now, behold the mighty gang-plows, yoked to a score of snorting steeds and cutting a broad swath of brown mold across the green prairie, from horizon to horizon. Next the automatic seeder scatters the germs by millions; and where once was seen but the Mexican's tiny acre of scanty stalks, now waves a billowy ocean of yellow grain, far as the eye can reach. Not the slow sickle, or puny scythe must reap this harvest. The swift headers come, with waving wings and rat- tling blades, rejecting the treasured straw of the Eastern farmer, and daintily choosing only the golden heads. And last-no wooden flail with feeble beat, nor old-time fanning- mill, but the mighty steam separator, devouring heads by mill- ions, and making immediate return in hundreds of tons of clean, bright grain.
Note also the wonderful increase of schools, churches, and all those institutions calculated to elevate and benefit man- kind.
VALUATION OF PROPERTY.
We are indebted to Seth Smith, County Assessor, for the following statistics concerning Tulare County, as they appear on the Assessment Roll of 1882 :-
Total value of real estate other than city and town lots, $4,071,175; total value of improvements on the same, $413,- 120.
Total value of town lots, $166,780; total value of improve- ments on the same, $301,680.
Total value of improvements on homestead and possessory claims, $75,860.
163
THE PROGRESS OF TULARE COUNTY.
Total value of franchise, roadway, roadbed, rails, and roll- ing stock of railroads, $865,840.
Total value of real estate, and the improvements thereon, $5,905,880.
Total value of personal property, $2,094,596. Total value of all property, $8,000,476.
Total number of acres of land assessed, 1,166,579.
Total amount of bonds assessed, $10,491.
Total amount of money on hand assessed, $115,640.
Number of cattle assessed, 15,391; value of the same, $186,- 267.
Number of horses assessed, 9,999; value of the same, $314,- 719.
Number of hogs assessed, 20,451; value of the same, $+1,114. Number of mules assessed, 696; value of the same, $28,005.
Number of sheep assessed, 258,880; value of the same, $313,- 742.
Amount of Solvent Credits assessed, $128,452.
Number of wagons assessed, 2,666; value of the same, $128,- 878
Value of machinery assessed, $99,092.
Value of libraries, $3,905.
Value of sewing machines assessed, $13,096.
Value of watches assessed, $9,594.
Value of grain assessed, $327,111.
Value of furniture assessed, $45,066.
Value of musical instruments assessed, $15,291.
If the assessment of railroads had been the same as assessed by the State Board of Equalization for the year 1881, the assessment roll of 1882 would be $632,563 greater than it was for the year 1881. As it now stands the assessment roll is $159,483 over 1881.
PROGRESS OF FIFTEEN YEARS.
The following comparisons of a few items reported between 1867 and 1882 will show the increase during fifteen years :-
1867.
Assessed value of real estate.
$ 592,248
1882. $4,071,175
Assessed value of railroads
864,840
Total assessed value of all property .
5,171,872
8,000,476
Number of horses.
7,685
9,999
Number of sheep. 100,400
258,880
Number of hogs.
18,651
20,431
Acres of land cultivated .
6,310
115,240
Acres of wheat.
3,236
76,430
Acres of land irrigated.
100
25,000
Number of saw-mills. 3
G
VISALIA TWENTY YEARS AGO.
In 1863 Charles M. Vallee was Postmaster at Visalia; W. N. Stuben, agent for Wells, Fargo & Co .; Rev. D. F. Dade, Principal of the Academy of the Nativity. The following is a directory of the principal business firms and persons at that time, the population being three hundred :-
Attorneys: A. J. Atwill, S. W. Beckham, S. C. Brown, J. W. Freeman, Robert C. Redd, S. A. Sheppard, W. M. Stafford.
Clergymen: D. F. Dade, R. C .; Thomas Chivers, M. E .; G. M. Edwards, M. E.
Physicians: Martin Baker, L. G. Lyon, H. L. Matthews, J. R. Riley, W. A. Russell, James M. Webb.
Books: Charles M. Vallee, A. M. Rogers.
Drugs: M. G. Davenport, Horace Morrell.
Hardware: C. C. Strong.
General merchandise: Solomon Sweet & Co., D. R. Douglas & Co., I. Levy, J. M. Browne, M. Reinstein, D. Wallack, Will- iam Byrd, John B. Hockett, E. Jacobs.
KEYSVILLE .- Postmaster, Myron E. Harmon; ninety miles southeast of Visalia; Attorney, J. W. Freeman; physician, Charles de la Borde; general merchandise, W. Marsh & Co., J. S. Rothschild & Son, Harman & Williams, Adam Hamilton & Co.
LYNN'S VALLEY .- Postmaster, H. Owens; sixty-two miles southeast of Visalia.
PETERSBURG .- Postmaster, H. A. Rindge; seventy-eight miles southeast of Visalia.
TULE RIVER .- Postmaster, James Harrer; thirty miles south of Visalia; clergyman, John McKelvy.
SAN CARLOS .- Post-office applied for; agent Owen's River Express, Edward Kenson; seventy-eight miles due east of Visalia; population three hundred; physician, H. L. Mathews; assayers, H. G. Hanks, O. L. Mathews; general merchandise, Hiram Ayers, Lenlett & Matthews, Loomis Bros., H. P. Gar- land; San Carlos Quartz Mill, S. E. Sayles, Superintendent. WHITE RIVER .- Postmaster, John A. Keyes; fifty miles southeast of Visalia; general merchandise, Levy & Co.
District Court (Thirteenth Judicial District), Hon. J. M. Bondurant, Judge; sessions, fourth Monday in February, June, and October.
County Court, sessions first Monday in January, March May, July, September, and November.
Probate Court, sessions, see County Court.
Senator, Hon. J. W. Freeman, Visalia; Assemblyman, Hon. Joseph C. Brown, Visalia.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.