USA > California > Tulare County > History of Tulare County, California with biographical sketches > Part 5
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Sold to John Temple, December 6, 1845.
San Antonio
Vacant.
House and garden sold to Sobranes, January 4, 1846. Pueblo.
20
Santa Ynes
Mckinley, December 6, 1×45.
32
GOLDEN AGE OF NATIVE CALIFORNIANS.
behind the horns, and tied firmly to their roots and to the fore- head by thongs, so that, instead of drawing by the shoulders, as with us now, they drew by the roots of the horns and fore- head. They had no freedom to move their heads, and went with the nose turned up, and seemed to be in pain.
With this plow only a sort of a rut could be made, and the soil was broken by successive crossing and recrossing many times. Plowing could only be done after the rains came, and an immense number of plows had to be employed.
MODERN FARMING TOOLS UNKNOWN.
The harrow was totally unknown, and a bush was drawn over the field to cover in the seed; but in some places a long, heavy log of wood was drawu over the field, something of the plan of a roller, but dragging without turning round, so as to carry a portion of the soil over the seed.
INDUSTRIES OF NATIVE CALIFORNIANS.
The Californians were not without their native manufactures, and they did not, as is generally supposed, rely altogether upon the slaughter of cattle and the sale of hides and tallow. The missionaries had taught them the cultivation of the grape and manufacture of wine. Hemp, flax, cotton and tobacco were grown in small quantities. Soap, leather, oil, brandy, wool, salt, soda, harness, saddles, wagons, blankets, etc., were manu- factured.
Of California it may be truly said, that before the admission of foreign settlers, neither the potato nor green vegetables were cultivated as articles of food.
DAIRYING IN EARLY TIMES.
The management of the dairy was totally unknown. There was hardly any such thing in usc as butter and cheese. The butter was an execrable compound of sour milk and cream mixed together; the butter being made of the cream on top of the milk, and a large portion of the sour, beat up together by hand, and without a churn. It was of a dirty gray color, and very disagreeable flavor, and always rancid.
They had an awkward way of milking, as they thought it absolutely necessary to use the calf to induce the cow to give milk; so they let the calf suck for some time alone, and then lay hold of the teats as they could, while the calf was still suck- ing, and by a kind of stealth procured a portion of the milk.
The supercargo of a British ship from India, bound to the coast of Mexico, informed Alexander Forbes* in 1832, that on making the coast of California, they touched at the Russian set- tlement, called La Bodega (Sonoma County), and which borders on the Spanish territory-or rather of right belongs to it, and although the part which the Russians possess is sterile in com- parison to the fine plains occupied by the Spaniards, yet they found immediately on their arrival a present sent on board by the Russian Governor, of most excellent butter, fat mutton, and
good vegetables, all things most desirable to people arriving from a long voyage. They soon procceded to Montercy, the capital of Spanish California, where they could find nothing but bull beef; neither bread, butter, chcese, or vegetables could be procured. As late as 1834 Montercy was supplied with butter and cheese from the Russian settlement at Bodega.
PRIMITIVE THRESHING SCENE.
When the crops were ripe, they were cut with a sickle, or any other convenient weapon, and then it became necessary to thresh them. Now for the modus operandi. The floor of the corral into which it was customary to drive the horses and cattle in order to lasso them, from constant use had become hardened. Into this inclosure the grain would be piled, and upon it the manatha, or band of mares, would be turned loose to tramp out the grain. The wildest horses would be turned adrift upon the pile of straw, when would ensue a scene of the wildest con- fusion; the excited animals being driven, amidst the yelling of the vaqueros and the cracking of whips, here, there, and every- where, around, across, and lengthwise, until the whole was trampled, leaving naught but the grain and chaff.
The most difficult part of the operation, however, was the separating of the grain from the chaff. Owing to the length of the dry season, there was no urgent haste to effect this; therefore when the wind was high enough, the Indians, who soon fell into the ways of the white pioneers, more especially where they were paid in kind and kindness, would toss the trampled mass into the air with large wooden forks, cut from the adjacent oaks, and the wind carried away the lighter chaff, leaving the heavier grain. With a favorable wind, several bushels of wheat could thus be winnowed in the course of one day.
How insignificant this scene appears when contrasted with a San Joaquin farmer's outfit of a 24-horse reaper and thresher combined, which is fally described further on in this work, and represented in several engravings.
GOLDEN AGE OF NATIVE CALIFORNIANS.
Mr. William Halley says: From 1833 to 1850 may be set down as the golden age of the native Californians. Not till then did the settlement of the rancheros become general. The missions were breaking up, the presidios deserted, the popula- tion dispersed, and land could be had almost for the asking. Never before, and never since, did a people settle down under the blessings of more diverse advantages.
The country was lovely, the climate delightful; the valleys were filled with horses and cattle; wants were few, and no one dreaded dearth. There was meat for the pot and wine for the cup, and wild game in abundance. No one was in a hurry. "Bills payable " or the state of the stocks troubled no one, and Arcadia seems to have temporarily made this her seat. The people did not, necessarily, even have to stir the soil for a live- lihood, because the abundance of their stock furnished them
* Now a resident of Oakland. See Biography, page 31.
EC
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"JULIAN FRUIT FARM" SOUTH OF GRANGEVILLE, GEORGE THYARKS. PROP.
ELLIOTT. LITH 421MONTS
ELLIOTT. LITH. MONT. ST.
RESIDENCE & RANCH OF C. RAILSBACK, WEST OF GRANGEVILLE, CAL.
33
INDUSTRIES OF THE NATIVE CALIFORNIANS.
with food and enough hides and tallow to procure money for every purpose. They had also the advantage of cheap and docile labor in the Indians, already trained to work at the missions. And had they looked in the earth for gold, they could have found it in abundance.
They were exceedingly hospitable and sociable. Every guest was welcomed. The sparsity of the population made them rely on each other, and they had many occasions to bring them together.
SCENES OF FESTIVITY AND GAYETY.
Church days, bull-fights, rodeos, were all occasions of festiv- ity. Horsemanship was practiced as it was never before out of Arabia; dancing found a ball-room in every house, and music was not unknown. For a caballero to pick up a silver coin from the ground at full gallop, was not considered a feat ; and any native youth could perform the mustang riding which was lately accomplished with such credit by young Peralta, in New York. To fasten down a mad bull with a lariat, or even sub- due him single-handed in a corral, were every-day perform- ances. The branding and selecting of cattle in rodeos was a gala occasion.
While the young men found means to gratify their tastes for highly-wrought saddles and elegant bridles, the women had their fill of finery, furnished by the Yankee vessels that visited them regularly for trade every year. Few schools were estab- lished, but the rudiments of education were given at home. The law was administered by Alcaldes, Prefects, and Governor. Murder was very rare, suicide unknown, and San Francisco was without a jail.
FAVORITE NATIVE LIQUOR.
Wine was plentiful, and so was brandy. There was a native liquor in use, that was very intoxicating. It was a sort of cognac, which was very agreeable and very volatile, and went like a flash to the brain. It was expensive, and those selling it made a large profit. This liquor was known as aguadiente, and was the favorite tipple until supplanted by the whisky of the Americanos. It was mostly made in Los Angeles, where the larger part of the grapes raised were used for it.
THE ADOBE RESIDENCES.
The walls were fashioned of large sun-dried bricks, made of that black loam known to settlers in the Golden State as adobe soil, inixed with straw, with no particularity as to species, incasuring about eighteen inches square and three in thickness; these were cemented with mud, plastered within with the same substance, and whitewashed when finished. The rafters and joists were of rough timber, with the bark simply peeled off and placed in the requisite position ; while the residences of the wealthier classes were roofed with tiles of a convex shape, placed so that the one should overlap the other, and thus make a water-shed; or, later, with shingles, the poor contenting them- selves with a thatch of tule, fastened down with thongs of
bullock's hide. The former modes of covering were expensive, and none but the opulent could afford the luxury of tiles. When completed, however, these mud dwellings will stand the brunt and wear and tear of many decades, as can be evidenced by the number which are still occupied.
There were occasional political troubles, but these did not much interfere with the profound quiet into which the people had settled. The change from a monarchy into a republic scarcely produced a ripple. The invasions of the Americans did not stir them very profoundly. But they have received such a shock in their slumbers that they, too, like their predeces- sors, the Indians, are rapidly passing away.
SPANISH OX-CART.
The form of the ox-cart was as rude as that of the plow. The pole was of very heavy dimensions, and fastened to the yoke and oxen the same as the plow. The animals had to bear the weight of the load on their heads. This added greatly to the distress of the poor animals, as they felt every jerk and twist of the cart in the most sensitive manner; and as the roads were full of ruts and stones, it is a wonder that the animals' heads were not twisted off.
OLD FASHIONED SPANISH OX-CART.
The wheels of this cart were of the most singular construc- tion. They had no spokes and were made of three pieces of timber. The middle piece was hewn out of a large tree, of size to form the nave and middle of the wheel, all in one. The other two pieces were made of timber bent and joined by keys of wood. There does not enter into the construction of this cart a particle of iron, not even a nail, for the axle is of wood and the lynch-pin of the same material.
Walter Colton says: "The ox-cart of the Californian is quite unique and primitive. The wheels are cut transversely from the butt end of a tree, and have holes through the center for a huge wood axle, as seen in our engraving. The oxen draw by the head and horns instead of the chest; and they draw enormous loads.
" On gala days it was swept out and covered with inats: a decp body put on, which is arched with hoop-poles, and over these a pair of sheets are extended for a covering. Into this the ladies are tumbled with the children, and they start ahead."
An old settler writes to us that "Many of our people will
34
THE RUSSIANS OCCUPY CALIFORNIA.
recollect the carts used in early days by the Californians. They usually traveled from place to place on horseback; but when the family desired to visit a neighbor or go to town, the family coach was called into use. The vehicle consisted of two immense wooden wheels, cut or sawed off a log, with holes as near the center as convenient for the axle-trce, with a tongue lashed to the axle with rawhide thongs. Upon this a frame, as wide as the wheels would permit, and from seven to twelve feet in length, was placed, upon which was securely fastened one or two rawhides with the flesh side down, and a rude frame over the top, upon which to stretch an awning, with rawhide thongs woven around the sides to keep the children from tumbling out.
"The female portion of the family, with the small children, would seat themselves in the cart, to which was attached a pair of the best traveling oxen on the ranch. An Indian would drive, or rather lead the oxen (for he usually walked ahead of them). In this simple, rude contrivance the family would travel twenty or thirty miles in a day with as much comfort, appar- ently, as people now take in riding in our modern vehicles. Sometimes several families would ride in a single cart, and visit their friends, go to town for the purpose of shopping, or to attend church, etc."
SPANISH GRIST-MILL.
Wheat and corn were generally ground or pounded in the common hand stone mortar; but in larger settlements horse- power was used in turning or rolling one large stone upon another, as shown in the engraving on page 35.
Water-power mills for grinding flour in Upper California were but few, and of the most primitive description; but none better are to be found in the other parts of Spanish America not even in Chili where wheat abounds. These mills consist of an upright axle, to the lower end of which is fixed a horizontal water-wheel placed under the building, and to the upper end of the mill-stone; and as there is no intermediate machinery to increase the velocity, it is evident that the mill-stone can make only the same number of revolutions as the water-wheel. This makes it necessary that the wheel should be of very small diameter, otherwise no power of water thrown upon it could make it go at a rate sufficient to give the mill-stone the requisite velocity. It is therefore made of very small dimensions, and is constructed in the following manner: A set of what is called cucharas (spoons) is stuck in the periphery of the wheel which serve in place of float-boards; they are made of pieces of timber in something of the shape of spoons, the handles being inserted in mortises on the edge of the wheel, and the bowls of the spoons made to receive the water, which spouts on them laterally and forces the small wheel around with nearly the whole velocity of the water which impinges upon it. Of this style of mill even there were not more than three in all Califor- nia as late as 1835.
Russian Settlements in Sonoma.
1811 .- In January, 1811, Alexander Koskoff, took possession of the country about Bodega, Sonoma County, on the fragile pleas that he had been refused a supply of water at Yerba Buena, and that he had obtained, by right of purchase from the Indians, all the land lying between Point Reyes and Point Arena, and for a distance of three leagues inland. Here he remained for a while, and to Bodega gave the name of Roman- zoff, calling the stream now known as Russian River, Slavianka.
Although repeatedly ordered to depart by the King of Spain, who claimed all the territory north of Fuca Straits, they con- tinued to remain for a lengthened period, possessors of the land.
FIRST PIONEER SQUATTERS.
And as General Vallejo remarks: "As the new-comers came without permission from the Spanish Government, they may be termed the pioneer 'squatters' of California." So far indeed was it from the intention of the un welcome Muscovite to move, that we find them extending their trapping expeditions along the coast, to the north and south, and for a considerable dis- tance inland.
At Fort Ross, in Sonoma County, they constructed a quadri- lateral stockade, which was deemed strong enough to resist the possible attacks of Spaniards or Indians. It had within its walls quarters for the commandant, officers, and men, an arsenal, store-houses, a Greek church, surmounted with a cross and provided with a chime of bells.
ONE OF THE FIRST ORCHARDS.
About a mile distant from the fort there was an inclosure containing about five acres, which was inclosed by a fence about eight feet high, made of redwood slabs about two inches in thickness, these being driven into the ground, while the tops were nailed firmly to girders extending from post to post, set about ten feet apart. Within the inclosure there was an orchard, consisting of apple, prune, and cherry trees. Of these, fifty of the first and nine of the last-named, moss-grown and gray with age, still remain, while it is said that all the old stock of German prunes in California came from seed produced there.
FIRST INDUSTRY NORTH OF SAN FRANCISCO.
We may safely assert, that to these Russians belongs the honor of erecting the first church in California, north of the Bay of San Francisco; but this is not all; to them belongs the credit of first planting fruit, raising grain, and working in leather, wood and iron, within the limits of the same territory. With these industries in hand, there is not the remotest doubt that the Russians looked to a future permanent possession of northern California. At this time, too, they made consider- able annual shipments of grain to Sitka from Fort Ross and Bodega.
35
INDUSTRY AND THRIFT OF THE RUSSIANS.
RUSSIANS LOCATE AND FORTIFY.
The location once chosen they set to work to prepare their new homes. A site was chosen for the stockade near the shore of the ocean, and in such a position as to protect all their ships lying in the little cove, and prevent any vessel inimical to them from landing. The plat of ground inelosed in this stock- ade was a parallelogram, 280 feet wide and 312 feet long, and containing about two aeres. Its angles were placed very nearly upon the cardinal points of the compass. At the north and south angle there was construeted an octagonal bastion, two stories high, and furnished with six pieces of artillery. These bastions were built exactly alike, and were about twenty-four feet in diameter.
The walls were formed of hewed logs, mortised together at the corners, and were about eight inches in thickness. The roof was conical shaped, having a small flag-staff at the apex. The stockade approached these towers in such a way that one- half of them was within the inclosure and the other half on the outside, the entrance to them being through small doors on the inside, while there were embrasures both on the inside and outside. They were thus arranged so as to protect those within from an outside enemy. All around the stockade there were embrasures suitable for the use of muskets or carronades, of which latter it is said, several were in the fortress.
RUSSIAN CHAPEL AT FORT ROSS.
On the northern side of the eastern angle there was erected a chapel which it is said was used by the officers of the garri- son alone. It was 25x31 feet in dimensions, and strongly built, the outer wall forming part of the stockade, and the round port-holes for the use of carronades, are peculiar looking open- ings in a house of worship. The entrance was on the inside of the fort, and consisted of a rude, heavy wooden door, held upon wooden hinges. There was a vestibule about 10x25 feet in size, thus leaving the auditorium 21x25 feet. From the ves- tibule a narrow stair-way led to a low loft, while the building was surmounted with two domes, one of which was round and the other pentagonal in shape, in which it is said the Museo- vites had hung a chime of bells. The roof was made of long planks, either sawed or rove from redwood, likewise the side of the chapel in the fort.
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The frame-work of all the buildings was made of very large, heavy timbers, many of them being twelve inches square. The rafters were all great, ponderous, round pine logs, a con- siderable number of them being six inches in diameter.
FIRST WINDMILL FOR GRINDING WHEAT.
To the northward of, and near the village, situated on an eminence, was a windmill, which was the motor for driving a single run of buhrs, and also for a stamping machine used for grinding tan-bark. The windmill produced all the flour used in that and the Bodega settlements, and probably a consid- erable amount was also sent with the annual shipment to Sitka.
FIRST TANNERY ERECTED.
To the south of the stockade, and in a deep gulch at the debouchure of a small stream into the ocean, there stood a very large building, probably 80x100 feet in size, the rear half of which was used for the purpose of tanning leather. Therc were six vats in all, constructed of heavy, rough redwood slabs, and each with a capacity of fifty barrels; there was also the usual appliances necessary to conduct a tannery, but these implements were large and rough in their make; still with these they were able to manufacture a good quality of leather in large quantities.
The front half of the building, or that fronting on the ocean, was used as a work-shop for the construction of ships. Ways were constructed on a sand beach at this point leading into deep water, and upon them were built a number of staunch vessels, and from here was launched the very first sea-going craft built in California. Still further to the south, and near the ocean shore, stood a building 80x100 feet, which bore all
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GRIST-MILL OF EARLY SETTLERS.
the marks of having been used as a store-house; it was, how- ever, unfortunately blown down by a storm on July 16, 1878, and before many years there will be nothing left to mark its former site.
THE RUSSIAN FARMERS.
The Russians had farmed very extensively at this place, having at least 2,000 acres under fence, besides a great deal that was not fenced. These fences were chiefly of that kind known as rail and post.
Their agricultural processes were as crude as any of their other work. Their plow was very similar to the old Spanish implement, described on page 31, so common in this country at that time, and still extant in Mexico, with the exception that the Museovite instrument possessed a mold-board. They em- ployed oxen and cows as draft animals, using the old Spanish yoke adjusted to their horns, instead of to their necks. We have no account of any attempt at constructing either cart or wagon by them, but it is probable that they had vehicles the same as those described heretofore, as being in use among the Californians at that timc.
36
THE RUSSIANS ABANDON CALIFORNIA.
THRESHING AS DONE BY RUSSIANS.
Threshing was done on a floor composed of heavy puncheons, circular in shape, and elevated somewhat above the ground. Between the puncheons were interstices through which the grain fell under the floor as it was released from the head. The threshing was done in this wise: A layer of grain, in the straw, of a foot or two in thickness, was placed upon the floor. Oxen were then driven over it, hitched to a log with rows of wooden pegs inserted into it. As the log revolved, these pegs acted well the part of a flail, and the straw was expeditiously relieved of its burden of grain. It was, doubt- less, no hard job to winnow the grain after it was threshed, as the wind blows a stiff breeze at that point during all the sum- mer months.
The Russians constructed a wharf at the northern side of the little cove, and graded a road down the steep ocean shore to it. Its line is still to be seen, as it passed much of the way through solid rock. This wharf was made fast to the rock on which it was constructed with long iron bolts, of which only a few that were driven into the hard surface now remain; the wharf itself is gone, hence we are unable to give its di- mensions, or further details concerning it.
FIRST LUMBER MADE NORTH OF SAN FRANCISCO.
1812-These old Muscovites, doubtless, produced the first lumber with a saw ever made north of San Francisco Bay, for they had both a pit and a whip-saw, the former of which can be seen to this day. Judging from the number of stumps still standing, and the extent of territory over which they extended their logging operations, they evidently consumed large quan- tities of lumber. The timber was only about one mile distant from the ship-yard and landing, while the stumps of trees cut by them are still standing, and beside them from one to six shoots have sprung up, many of which have now reached a size sufficient for lumber purposes. This growth has been remarkable, and goes to show that if proper care were taken, each half century would see a new crop of redwoods, suffi- ciently large for all practical purposes, while ten decades would see gigantic trees.
For more than a quarter of a century they continued to hold undisturbed possession of the disputed territory, and prosecuted their farming, stock-raising, hunting, trapping and ship-building enterprises, and whatever may have been the causes which led to it, there finally came a time when the Russian authorities had decided to withdraw the California colony.
RUSSIANS SELL OUT TO GENERAL SUTTER.
The proposition was made first by them to the government authorities at Monterey, to dispose of their interests at Bodega and Fort Ross, including their title to the land; but, as the authorities had never recognized their right or title, and did
not wish to do so at that late date, they refused to purchase. Application was next made to General M. J. Vallejo, but on the same grounds he refused to purchase.
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