USA > California > Tulare County > History of Tulare County, California with biographical sketches > Part 42
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GENERAL BEALE'S LARGE PROPERTY.
The names of these grants are of Mexican or Indian origin, "El Tejon" signifying the badger; "Los Alamos," the elm trees, and "Los Liebres," the hare; while the "Castaac" is supposed to be of Indian derivation, and is of unknown signifi- cance. This magnificent estate is the property of Gen. E. F. Beale, late United States Minister to Austria. This great tract is composed exclusively of mountain and foot-hill lands, and their chief value is for grazing purposes. They are, no doubt, too, rich in various minerals, as the great chain which composes them is known to be, both north and south of the boundaries. The proprietor has never encouraged prospecting, however, on his property, and nothing of value has been devel- oped. It is not likely that if some accident were to reveal a valuable deposit of mineral on the grants, it would become known, for various reasons, for a long time.
There is a great body of fine timber on the Tejon, and Gen- eral Beale may boast of owning as fine and possibly as exten- sive hunting-grounds as there are on any private estate in the United States. There is very little arable land on the estate, and it is entirely devoted to stock-raising, for which purpose it has no superior in the State.
At the point of meeting of the two great chains, the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Range, the topography of the country presents a peculiar appearance, as of a long, rolling swell of the sea, suddenly intercepted and broken into confused and distracted fragments. Contrary to expectations, there are few precipitous places. On the western side the rise of the range is more abrupt, but on the eastern side the country falls away in dwindling hillocks until lost in the wide and weary wastes of the Mojave Desert. This is the great feeding-ground for stock. The very summits yield abundant and luxuriant grasses.
The Tejon Ranch is the residence of General Beale, when-
ever he is at home; and it is situated a few hours' ride from Bakersfield, at an elevation of 500 feet. A fine view of the valley is obtained from this location. All kinds of semi- tropical fruits grow here in great variety. Many settlers have found desirable locations near this ranch, both in this and Los Angeles County. Up the mountain are many nice farms in the small valleys, and further on are found fine forests. The old and noted Fort Tejon Stage Station is on one of Bcale's ranches.
Rivers and Lakes.
KERN RIVER.
THIS stream, from which the county derives its name, was formerly termed by the Mexicans Rio Bravo. It derived its present name from a Lieutenant Kern, formerly one of Fre- mont's exploring party. It is one of the largest of the Sierra Rivers, and gives to this region, in a system of interior lakes, a notoriety arising from so peculiar a characteristic. It traverses nearly the entire county, passing from east to west, entering it near Walker's Pass on the east, and emptying into Goose Lake at the base of the Coast Range on the west.
This magnificent stream that pours a constant, mighty flood of water into this capacious valley is, next to the Sacramento, the longest river in the State, and flows from sources that are as certain and never-failing as the recurring seasons. It takes its rise principally among the loftiest peaks of the Sierra Nevada, Mts. King, Tyndal, Williamson, and Whitney. Thence it pursues its way southward between ridges of the Sierras, in the direction of Walker's Pass, when it bends to the westward, and enters the alluvial part of the valley near Bakersfield.
Its size appears less than it really is, from the torrent-like rapidity of its course, which suggested its Spanish name, Rio Bravo, and which is kept up to the end, the fall from the foot- hills to the lakes being about ten feet to the mile. This, how- ever, together with low banks, adds to its value for irrigable purposes, making the diversion of water and its distribution over the country comparatively easy. As it takes its rise among the highest mountains on the continent, it is evident it must be principally supplied from the vast deposits of snow there accumulated. These feel the influence of the sun about the 1st of June, and from that time until the 20th of July, when it decreases, the volume of water which rolls into the valley, charged with sediment, is immense. The annual rise of Kern River is as opportune as that of the Nile.
SIZE OF KERN RIVER.
The meanderings of the stream make the length of the river from its source to the point at which it loses itself in Kern Lake a distance of over two hundred miles. One of its strongest affluents is fed by the glaciers of Mt. Whitney. The course of the stream is almost southward for a distance of about a
205
SIZE AND VALUE OF KERN RIVER.
hundred and fifty miles through the broken and irregular mountains of that part of the range, till it reaches a point nearly due east of Bakersfield, when it plunges precipitately through an inaccessible gorge or chasm in the mountain wall into the valley, and thence runs almost due west to the lakes. It has a vast water-shed to drain, and is sustained by the great deposits of snow in the mountains. It will be at once under- stood then that the supply of water is greatest long after the rainy season is over, when freshets and overflows prevail in other parts. Usually the real summer weather is deferred till the beginning or middle of June, and so the high water in Kern River follows the melting of the mountain snows.
It spreads into devious channels, making a large delta, which is called Kern Island. So capricious is the stream that a slight imperliment made it fly of on a tangent, a few years ago, cut- ting a new channel, whose mouth was fifty-five miles from that of its original bed. Kern and Buena Vista Lakes receive the ,water of the river, and, in turn, discharge it into Tulare Lake. Some of the most productive farms in all California have been made on Kern Island, within the past few years, where naught but grass and sage brush formerly grew. This has been accomplished by means of a liberal expenditure of cap- ital in the construction of irrigating canals, which now ramify all parts of the island. Without irrigation very little would be produced in Kern County. An ample supply of water is furnished by Kern River, which has a drainage area of 2,382 square miles. The annual rain-fall of the valley rarely exceeds three to four inches, which is insufficient to mature any kind of crops. There are a number of large ranches under cultivation and irrigation.
PERILOUS PASSAGE OF KERN RIVER GORGE.
The redeeming feature of Kern County is the noble river that heads in the mountain fastnesses of Tulare County, and breaks through the titanic hills down a steep precipitous gorge, descending many thousand feet in a few miles and rolling out upon the plains a life-giving flood. But one living man ever passed through this cañon.
We give the following graphic account of this trip taken from the Californian :-
"Mr. Warren Frazier last week performed a feat which in the annals of the country has never before been achieved by man-the passage of the gorge of Kern River. The Rio Bravo, which was the name bestowed upon it by our Spanish prede- cessors in the possession of the country-signifying bold and powerful-after passing its devious course among rugged and inaccessible mountains, deep and rocky cañons, plunges through a rift as it were in the main range of the Sierra and escapes into the great valley. Many attempts have been made to fol- low it through this dark and forbidding chasm, but without success. At its very entrance the raging water hissed and howled a fierce remonstrance, and from its dark, mysterious
recesses a warning thunder came that might well appall the rash adventurer who sought to penetrate its ominous depths. " Tradition tells of many unwilling and unfortunate victims who have been swept into its cavernous jaws, of whom no shred or sign has e'er come back to waiting comrades. The river is now at about its lowest, and the time for the attempted passage, therefore, was most propitious. Mr. Frazier has long contemplated the project, and had chosen the time with that vicw. Preparing himself with only a trusty staff and a short rope, he entered the gorge about thirteen miles above its mouth. Although this is not the entire length of it, Mr. Frazier believed it the only difficult portion to traverse. The water, confined to its narrow and rocky channel, is deep and dangerous, but in most places the water had receded sufficient to permit him to pass along the bottom. In some places he was confronted by perpendicular precipices hundreds of feet in height, when he was compelled to retreat and surmount by gradual approaches, finding equal difficulty again in descending. His rope did him good service for he was enabled to let himself down when his progress would have been effectually debarred without it.
"Having once embarked in the hazardous enterprise, retreat was impossible, and the conviction that he could hope for no human assistance-that he must accomplish the passage or perish-inspired him with renewed energy to overcome obstacles that seemed to multiply and grow more formidable at every step. Four times during the descent the walls of the cañon closed in on him so effectually that his only escape was by swimming the river.
"In places this was extremely perilous, as he was liable to be swept into rapids, over falls, or into eddies, and bruised or drowned before he could extricate himself. His only safety lay in the comparatively small volume of water in the river; and as it was he was most fortunate to escape without a serious mishap. In its passage through the cañon the river falls very fast, and the current therefore is very rapid. In several places there are perpendicular drops of ten or fifteen feet, while in others the river rolls its tumultuous and resistless torrent with a shock and roar of thunder. Finally after eight hours of. toil and danger, Mr. Frazier reached the mouth of the cañon, an exhausted but triumphant man. He frankly confesses that his curiosity is satisfied, and that if he had known what an undertaking he had before him, he should never have attempted the passage of the Kern River Gorge."
BUENA VISTA AND KERN LAKES.
The area of Kern Lake, at an elevation of about 287 or 288 fect, is 8,298 acres; and of Buena Vista Lake, 16,130 acres. Their present elevation is 282 to 284 feet, and their area one- fourth to one-third that given in the above figures. They are shallow, and fringed with a border of swamp lands, and are almost unapproachable on the south and west, on account of the deep, slimy ooze composing their banks and bottom. Their
206
THE AGRICULTURAL OUTLOOK.
present maximum depth is six to ten fect. The slough con- necting them is deep and tortuous, 100 to 150 feet wide, and twelve to thirteen miles long, with firm banks of tule sod three to five feet high. The lakes, occupying the lowest part of the valley, naturally receive the drainage of the irrigated lands of Kern Island, which furnishes a partial equivalent to the great loss resulting from evaporation. They have a natural high- water outlet, through Buena Vista Slough, toward Tulare Lake, but this outlet has been cut off by a levee thrown across the head of Buena Vista Lake, preventing the river from dis- charging into it, or any water escaping therefrom.
In the vicinity of Buena Vista Lake the land has the ap- pearance of being very fertile. It is very uniform in surface and slope, but is underlaid with a deposit of alkali, which, with irrigation, is brought to the surface as a thick, white efflorescence, destroying vegetation. With good drainage and skillful application of water, the alkali may ultimately be washed out. An experiment on an extensive scale, made a few years ago, proved a failure, after an expenditure of some $20,000 in ditching, preparation of land, etc., and it is possible that the soil is irreclaimable at reasonable cost.
OTHER RIVERS AND STREAMS.
There are several small streams flowing into Kern Valley on the east and south, which may be utilized for irrigation to a large extent, if the waters were properly collected, and the supply saved and developed.
The largest of these intermittent streams is Caliente Creek, which, however, is a torrent for a short period, and dry during the greater portion of the year.
TEJON PASS CREEK.
Tejon Pass Creek carries, in ordinary seasons, a considerable volume of water, until May or June each season. It discharges about seven and one-half cubic feet per second at the Tejon Res- ervation, where it is used for the irrigation of six acres of or- chard, and seventy-five acres of alfalfa and grain. A number of Tejon Indians have homes along the stream above the reser- vation, and use its waters for irrigating small patches of gar- den and grain, amounting to nearly fifty acres altogether.
Tejon Creek has about the same volume as the former, and is also used to some extent by the Indians for the irrigation of their small gardens. Both these streams are clear, beautiful mountain brooks, tumbling rapidly into the valley, and disap- pearing in their rocky beds as they emerge from the foot-hills.
OTHER MINOR STREAMS.
The Tecolla, Cañada de las Uvas, and the San Emidio Creeks are the three other most important mountain streams that drain into the basin of Kern Valley from the south, They are used to some extent for irrigation. The foot-hill lands which these streams can be made to supply, are well adapted for fruit growing, and have a salubrious climate.
·Agricultural Resources.
PROBABLY no part of the Pacific Coast is so apt to produce a favorable impression on the mind of the traveler of agricult- ural proclivities, as the delta of Kern River. A small part of it only is under cultivation, but the irrigating canals, having filled the soil with water to within a few fret of the surface, its latent fertility is developed, and the uncultivated portions are covered with a luxuriant growth of grass and vegetation, while the occasional fields of alfalfa that are met with, present- ing still ranker and more attractive expanses of verdure, give practical illustration of what the soil is capable, if the nat- ural promise were not sufficient. The growth of trees is par- ticularly strong and vigorous, and the number that have sprung up and attained to considerable size within a few years is remarkable.
Many parts of the delta have already assumed the appear- ance of well-wooded tracts, and doubtless, if there were noth- ing to check the natural process going on, they would soon become cotton wood forests. The soil is a friable loam-not the hard, stubborn adobe that prevails in many other valleys of the State; and the stranger sees nothing in present appear- ances, which have gradually come about by the filling of the soil with water, to indicate its fertility and capacity for pro- duction.
VALLEY IN NATIVE STATE.
It is within the memory of many now in Kern County, and comparatively only a few years ago, when vast herds of wild horses roamed over the San Joaquin Plains, in native freedom. Great droves of elk and antelope, too, at certain seasons, found their way to the rich pastures along the streams. Only a few years ago, deer were found in the thickets on Kern River, within a couple of miles of Bakersfield. But the wild horses and the elk have been driven from their domain by the en- croachments of man, the common enemy. The latter have left many evidences of recent tenancy, in the shape of splendid full-grown antlers of extraordinary size and symmetry. Ant- elopes are still to be found on the plains, but are rapidly dis- appearing.
But the native animals did not monopolize this great feed- ing ground. It was the old Spanish missionaries that intro- duced common horned cattle, as, indeed, they did also the horses. The missions were founded along the coast, and the locations selected betoken an accurate knowledge of the entire country, as well as a great deal of business craft and wisdom, as they have invariably been found to occupy the best and most eligible sites.
They turned their cattle loose and let them roam and multi- ply. They found their way through the Coast Range, and out into the great valley of the San Joaquin. Here they
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ELLIOTT LITH. 421MONT, ST.
RESIDENCE OF. A. C. MAUDE, COR. 21 ST. & CHESTER AVE, BAKERSFIED.
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ELLIOTT.LITH.42/MONT.ST.
JEWETT'S RANCH, PROPERTY OF S. JEWETT, BAKERSFIELD, KERN CO. CAL
207
STOCK-RAISING IN KERN COUNTY.
inereased with incredible rapidity, and we find the missions at their annual rodeo, branding their hundreds of thousands of cattle and horses. Sheep were of later introduction, but these did not constitute so great a source of wealth as eattle.
EARLY STOCK-RAISING.
Under the system of stoek-raising practiced in this State, and which had come down to us from the early Mexican times, the valley had become the feeding ground for hundreds of thousands of wild cattle. Once a year those who elaimed them would gather them in the general rodeo, brand their calves, and drive off what they wanted, while they turned the remainder loose to run another year, and inerease and multiply as they might. Their claimants and owners lived in adjacent, some of them in remote counties, paid little or no taxes in this county, and probably evaded it everywhere. The land belonged to the Government, and when the settler, seeking to make a home for himself and family, pre-empted his quarter- section and went to work to eultivate it, he found that he must dispute possession inch by ineh with hordes of predatory eattle. No fenee that he could ereet would proteet his scanty crops. An appeal to the owners to take their cattle away was met with derision, and mueh bad feeling between the stoek and agricultural interests was the result. The people sought relief in the shape of a trespass law known as the "No Fenee Law." Hon. T. Fowler, who was one of the chief of the cattle owners, managed to get returned as Senator from this Distriet, and became the champion of the eattle men in the Legislature, and so vigorously did he prosecute his designs that he success- fully resisted all efforts to obtain the passage of a relief law With the expiration of his term, however, though he desired to succeed himself and ran again, the people utterly repudiated him, and the result was that the next Legislature gave the mueh coveted and long-sought law.
In this manner the stoek-raising business originated, and the system then inaugurated has been perpetuated down to the present day, and is still largely practiced throughout the State. The land, however, heretofore oceupied by wild eattle, has been found to be more valuable for agricultural purposes by the enterprising yankee, and the cattle interest has had to seek other pastures. The Kern Valley was one of the last great agricultural traets in the State thus surrendered by the cattle men. They had enjoyed the undisturbed possession of the pasture so long that they thought they had acquired rights which were entitled to respect, and vigorously resisted any- thing that might interfere with them.
They had been accustomed to make a triumphal march through the county onee a year, gather their herds, brand their increase, and turn them loose to go on, driving off per- haps a few thousand of the finest to market to furnish them with pocket money. But the land was Government land, and the hardy settler seeking a home for himself and family saw
that this was the place to do it. When, after many struggles, he obtained an enaetment of the Legislature affording him some protection from the wild eattle, the general doom of the valley was foretold, and no doubt many honestly believed that the promotion of the agricultural interest involved the decadence of the cattle interest, and with that the general welfare.
PROTECTION OF STOCK
For the protection of the stock-raiser there has been formed the "Southern Californian Stock-Raisers Defense Asssoeia- tion."
"Second-The object of said association shall be to procure information that will lead to the eonvietion of persons engaged in killing, wounding, or stealing horses or cattle belonging to members of the association, and to proseeute all such per- sons to eonvietion, and for the purposes aforesaid we mutually agree to do our best endeavors to accomplish the object afore- said."
"Any person engaged in raising horses or eattle, within the counties of Kern, Tulare, or Los Angeles, may become a mem- ber hereof by letter indieating his desire to do so, and all per- sons at the time they become such members, and at such other times as the Committee may require, shall furnish to the Sec- retary the number of eattle or horses owned by them."
The original members were: J. B. Haggin, J. C. Crocker, W. Canfield, E. F. Beale, Miller & Lux, W. B. Carr, J. S. Ellis, Sol. Jewett.
At a meeting of the association held on the 11th day of November, 1882, Dr. G. F. Thornton was elected President, and A. C. Maude Secretary, and the following members were eleeted Executive Committee of said association, to wit: G. F. Thornton, J. C. Crocker, and R. M. Pogson.
The old long-horned Spanish cattle are giving way and gradually disappearing. Stoekmen have learned that it does not eost as much to feed gentle eattle of superior breed that will carry a thousand or twelve hundred pounds per head as it does to feed the big-boned Spanish cattle that will hardly kick the beam at the moiety of the former. There ean be no doubt that in a few years the Kern Valley will be the great stoek-breeding tract of the State.
The sheep business has been very profitably conducted here for many years. As long as there were vast tracts of Govern- ment lands to feed on and no rent to pay, there was large profit in it, but the sheep men had no real interest in the county, and did little or nothing for its development. But as the land became settled, the wild range became circumscribed and constantly diminished, and the tendency has been, of course, to reduce the number of the flocks, to breed up and improve the wool and the mutton so that the business would pay an interest on the lands cultivated as well as the capital employed in the stock. This has been successfully done by several, and others are preparing to follow them as rapidly as they ean.
208
PROGRESS OF KERN COUNTY
PROGRESS FOR TEN YEARS.
At the time the cattle interest predominated, the assessment roll, fifteen years ago, showed a total of $1,500,000; now it is nearly $7,000,000.
The following table gives the increase of resources of the county for one decade :-
Acres of land inclosed .
26,811
47,210
Acres of land cultivated
9,652
32,380
Acres of wheat. .
2,244
25,220
Bushels of wheat
38,433
361,000
Acres of barley
2,363
4,960
Bushels of barley
6,146
99,200
Acres of corn
1,039
1,842
Bushels of corn
19,830
52,600
Acres of hay
2,952
12,840
Tons of hay ..
3,801
18,320
Acres of cotton
40
92
Pounds of cotton.
20,000
27,600
Pounds of wool.
1,000,000
2,293,740
Number of sheep.
127,020
382,290
Number of grist mills
3
7
Barrels of flour made.
8,000
12,000
Bushels of corn ground .
2,000
5,800
Number of saw mills.
5
3
Feet of lumber sawed.
4,000,000
Shingles. .
40,000
400,000
Number of quartz mills.
15
S
Improvements .
$238,321
$312,804
Personal property
$1,328,637 $1,599,838
Railroad (assessed by State Board)
$1,237,215
Total valuation
$2,958,676 $5,431,714
The total acreage assessed in the county for 1882 is 1,117,421 acres, at an average of $1.66 per acre. Irrigating ditches' at $74,681, and mining claims at $5,410. The following is the number of stock and valuation for 1882 :-
Valued at
Number of cattle (stock). 29,880
$298,800
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calves .
3,448
10,635
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cows (thoroughbred)
122
3,800
(graded)
1,599
31,980
oxen ..
50
2,240
Total cattle of all kinds 35,099
$347,455
Number of horses (thoroughbred) 17
S 5,100
(graded)
3,146
80,135
(American)
396
25,070
(colts)
1,223
18,893
Jacks and Jennies.
131
2,356
mules.
488
4,443
Total number.
5,401
$135,997
Number of goats (common).
912
$912
The assessment roll for 1883 foots up $6,790,991, by putting the railroad taxes at the same rate as last year, and there is the assessment of the thirty-six miles of the branch railroad of the South Pacific extending from Mojave to the county line on the east, to be added, which has not yet been furnished by the State Board of Equalization.
INCREASE IN POPULATION FOR TEN YEARS.
By the general census of 1870 the population was 2,925, and that of 1880 gave a population of 5,601, an increase in ten years of 2,676, or in other words the county doubled its popu- lation in ten years. It is, however, very doubtful about the next ten years showing so great an increase.
THE WHEAT CROP.
The wheat grown in the Kern Valley is of the most supe- rior quality, and it yields abundantly. The ears are very long and full, and the berry is the fattest and plumpest that we have ever seen. Fifty bushels to the acre is no uncommon return, while in many instances the yield is in excess of that. Wheat flourishes best, too, on our alkali soils, that kind of soil appearing to furnish the peculiar salts that wheat requires, in an eminent degree.
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