USA > California > Kings County > History of Tulare and Kings counties, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the counties who have been identified with their growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 13
USA > California > Tulare County > History of Tulare and Kings counties, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the counties who have been identified with their growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 13
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"A remarkable thing about the fight was that every man but one who fired a shot or was struck by a bullet was killed.
"This trouble was simply a legal fight on our part for our homes. I think and always shall think that the railroad had no legal right to the land, but that they acquired their title while we were fighting.
"While we were serving our time, a petition of forty-seven thou- sand names was sent to the President; the states of California and Nevada passed resolutions in our favor and there were numerous other petitions, etc. No one of them was listened to any more than if it had been a piece of blank brown paper.
"After we had served our time, the matter dragged on for about two years before it was finally settled. In my case, after being in the contest over nine years, I had to pay the railroad company $30.60 an acre for my land."
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CHAPTER XI
TIIE KAWEAII COLONY
One of the greatest community enterprises ever inaugurated in the United States had its inception in Tulare county in 1886.
This was the Kaweah Co-operative Commonwealth, which in spite of certain failures in forethought and some incompetence and perhaps some dishonesty in management. flourished until 1891, when it met the same heart-breaking dissolution that had been the fate of all its predecessors.
There is little doubt but that disruption would have occurred sooner or later, on account of the impossibility of harmonizing the discordant elements of which it was composed. There is also a grave question as to whether even if successful for a time in the acquisition of lands and timber, mills and other property, the prod- nets of the united labor of the colonists would not have been in large part alienated by some of its first officers. There seems, however, to be no doubt but that these colonists were treated by the United States government in a manner so outrageously unjust as to merit the severest condemnation.
J. J. Martin and B. F. Haskell of San Francisco, and (. F. Keller of Traver, Tulare county, were the chief early promoters. Martin and Haskell were in 1885 prominent members and office holders in different unions or workingmen's societies. Haskell was attorney for several of these, and coupled with a pleasing address. possessed unusual gifts of language and persuasion. He was the advocate of many more or less impractical schemes for the better- ment of the workingman's condition and had assisted in organizing the California Land Purchase and Colonization association, and the Fish Rock Terra Cotta Co-operative company. Keller was a mem- ber of several socialistic societies in San Francisco and conducted a small store in Traver.
In October of 1885, Martin informed members of the two asso ciations referred to and also others that their agent had found a large body of splendid timber land in Tulare county, and that an association would be formed to acquire it. The first plans were vague but seemed to be in the nature of a mutual company to get possession of this tract and hold it for speculative purposes. Between forty and fifty applications were at once filed on lands lying along the north fork of the Kaweah river, eastward across the Marble Fork and including what is now known as the Giant Forest. The govern ment price for these lands was $2.50 an acre, and as but few of the applicants were possessed of the requisito $400 to complete the
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purchase of a quarter section, a plan was in view to raise part of the money by hypothecating lands to which title had been secured. This, of course, would be a violation or evasion of the law, but was considered justifiable.
It was agreed by the applicants that one-half the proceeds of the first sales of timber be devoted to a fund for publicity and pro- paganda.
The Tulare Valley and Giant Forest railroad company was also organized and its stockholders assessed $60 each for the cost of a preliminary survey. Many were unable to pay this small sum, but the difficulty was met by some contributing more liberally. It will be seen that the undertaking, however profitable potentially, bade fair to be wrecked at the launching by reason of lack of capital.
Then another snag was struck. Land Commissioner Sparks became suspicious at the large number of entries made within three days for lands lying in one body, especially as seven of the appli- cants gave as their residence one San Francisco lodging house. He therefore suspended the lands from entry pending an investigation. Upon this action each of the applicants tendered to the receiver of the Visalia land office the sum of $2.50 per acre, which was of course rejected. This money was secured by using the same sum over and over again.
Undeterred by these difficulties, the enthusiastic colonists pro- ceeded. As to the action of the government, they believed that the report of the special agent sent to investigate would be favorable to them, that he would approve their claims and bear witness to their good faith so that they could soon claim title. As to finances, a co- operative plan was thought out by which some capital for immediate use could be obtained through membership fees of non-residents, and by the labor of those on the ground rapid results be secured in the way of getting salable goods to market.
The Kaweah Co-operative Commonwealth Colony was organized. Plans in great detail were elaborated. There were to be three di- visions under the control of managers; these subdivided into thirteen departments under superintendents and these again into fifty-eight bureaus under chiefs and the last into sections under foremen.
The grand divisions were those of production, distribution and commonweal, and in their ramifications these inchided almost every activity, whether mental or bodily, known to man. The purposes of the association, it was set forth, were to insure its members against want. to provide comfortable homes, to educate and to maintain har- mony, upon the principles of justice, fraternity and co-operation. It was the intention to place within the reach of all members "a cultured, a scientific, an artistic life." An idea of the high aspira- tions of the embryo colony can be obtained by the following extracts
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from an article by Haskell, which appeared in the official organ, "The Commonwealth."
"We shall have schools there-not for the children alone, but for youths and maidens, for the babes and for the men and women. We shall have songs and a hand and the music of tinkling guitars under summer stars by the rushing waters of. the white North Fork." * *
"It may well be that among us alone of all the people of the earth shall be taught courage as a creed, fidelity as a dogma, truth as a commandment, love as a law, and purity as a truth." " *
"We shall tell our children of the heroes of the world, not the butchers; of the moralists, not the priests." * * "The measured dances of Athenian days to teach them grace, the quaint ceremonials of the middle ages to teach them beanty, modern wonders of light and electricity to show them truth, the songs of old Sparta to move their hearts to valiant deeds; the cruelly pitiable histories of the modern wage slave to stir their hearts to heroic ire and bind their wills to freedom's cause and creed alone."
"We shall have painters and sculptors, I hope, in time, though it will be enough now for us all to be humble students." * * *
"Upon one of the flats by the river we shall build, out of the colored marble of Marble canyon, a temple and a theater for our- selves alone, and here also will we pursue the Beautiful, the True and the Good."
The membership fee in the colony was $500, $100 payable in cash and the remainder, if desired, in labor or material. C. F. Keller was made general manager, J. J. Martin, secretary, J. Wright, purchasing agent, and B. F. Haskell, legal adviser .. Besides these, J. H. Redstone, P. N. Kuss and H. T. Taylor were among the first on the ground.
About the last of 1886, work was commenced on a wagon road to the forest. and on March 1, 1887, articles of incorporation of the "Giant Forest Wagon and Toll Road" were filed. The plan was to pay the men in time checks at the rate of thirty cents per hour, or $2.40 per day, redeemable in such supplies or material as the asso- ciation had or in labor at the same rate. It was pointed out that while nominally working for a low wage, the workers, on account of sharing in the wealth created by the labor of all, would, in reality, be laying up fortunes. For example, the material for a house, valued in the outside world at $1,000, could be secured for time checks equal to the hours that had been consumed in felling the trees and sawing and hauling the lumber, which would not amount at the thirty-cent rate to over $200.
Plans of the propaganda were distributed throughout the country and many persons joined the colony. Some of these were workingmen socialists, others had wealth, culture, refinement. The beautiful pen
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pictures of Haskell served to throw such a glamour over the propo- sition, that statements as to lands owned were not investigated before the entrance fee was paid in. On the north fork of the Kaweah, abont three and one-half miles above Three Rivers, a town was started which grew until it contained upwards of one hundred dwellings. There was the company store, a blacksmith shop, planing mill, box factory, postoffice, newspaper, ete. Work on the road was actively prosecuted, and a survey made for the projected railroad.
There were brains and brawn and energy a plenty and excellent work resulted. Homes, too, were made on the level land, by the river, crops were sown, pastures fenced, orchards planted and barns built. Troubles, however, soon commenced. The laborers were insufficiently supplied with food, their diet at times being confined to flour, beans and coffee. There was a deficiency of clothes and supplies of all kinds at the company's store. Dissensions arose, and there was gen- eral dissatisfaction with the management. The commonest necessities of life were secured from outsiders in return for time cheeks ridien- lously discounted.
A number of disaffected members demanded to see the books and especially the membership rolls, but were refused by the officials in charge. The disgruntled ones considered that this was because they feared exposure to the non-resident members of the arbitrary, incompetent and perhaps dishonest way in which the affairs of the colony were being conducted. Martin was an exeentive of ability, energetic to a degree and his sincerity and honesty of purpose were questioned by hnt few. Haskell, however, was generally regarded as a slick raseal whose aim was to sell all the bites possible from the rosy apple before a sign of its rottenness reached the surface.
In spite of these troubles, the road had by 1890 been completed to a point abont twenty miles from the townsite of Kaweah and at an elevation of 5,400 feet had entered the pine belt. Here a little saw mill was erected, and a small quantity of lumber out. This road, passing through a difficult mountain region, had been solidly con- structed at a good grade and had cost approximately $100,000. Modern tools were not employed and powder was used sparingly. In places the grade traversed precipitous mountain sides, making long, high rock restraining walls necessary. No better evidence of the equal and good faith of the colonists is needed than the fact that most of these walls have stood without repair to this day.
In the meantime, land patents were still withheld, although B. F. Allen, the special agent sent here, had reported favorably. As late as 1891 Land Commissioner Groff recommended that the colonists should not be deprived of their lands, stating that they had com- plied faithfully with the law under which they had made filings; that they had expended over $100,000 in roads and improvements and had for five years guarded the giant trees, saving them from
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damage or destruction by fire, quoting details from Allen's report. However, the congress of 1890 had created the Sequoia National Park, which included these lands, and Secretary of the Interior Noble denied all claims of the colony, but expressed the opinion that the settlers should be reimbursed for the improvements they had made.
In addition to the internal dissensions mentioned, the officers quarreled among themselves and factions took sides in a row between Haskell and Martin. The former was accused of the misappropria tion of colony funds and was in '91 arrested on a charge of en- bezzlement preferred by Thomas Kennedy, but the case was dis- missed. The greater portion of the colonists perceived that the end was at hand and dishandment began.
Bitter hard it must have been, this giving up of home and friends and bright dreams of happy future after the sacrifice of former ties and after the giving of years of toil and devotion to a canse. How sickening the thoughts of what might have been! How bitter the thoughts of the false men who had betrayed their confidence and of the government that had unsernpulously confiscated to its own purposes the magnificent road they had bnilded !
Early in 1891 a troop of cavalry under Captain Dorst was des- patched to guard the park and these ejected the colonists from gov- ernment land. In April, Henry S. Hubbard, Henry T. Taylor, James J. Martin, B. F. Haskell and William Christie were tried in the United States district court at Los Angeles on a charge of entting timber on government land, and found guilty. On appeal the case was dismissed.
A few of the remaining colonists leased as a private enterprise a quarter section of land on the Mineral King road, from Isham Mullenix and started another sawmill. Work here was stopped by the soldiers, but when the Interior Department learned that it was on deeded land they were allowed to proceed.
Quite a number of the colonists remained in the vicinity of Kaweah, many having secured other land locations or perfected entries made on lands outside the park. These have all proven worthy, industrions citizens and now possess comfortable homes and a fair share of worklly goods.
S
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CHAPTER XII THE ABORIGINES
At the time of the entry of whites into the San Joaquin valley the territory comprising what later became Tulare county had a dense Indian population. These consisted of two distinct races, one called the Yokuts, more than twenty sub-tribes of which ranged the country between the Fresno river and the Tejon pass; the other a Pinte branch of several sub-tribes living on Mill creek and in Eshom valley.
Among the former were the Ta-chi (whence Laguna de Tache) in the Tulare lake district, the Ta-lum-ne, of Visalia, the Wik-tsum- ne, near Lemon Cove; other settlements were on Poso creek, Tnle river. Deer creek, one near Porterville, one near the forks of the Tule river and one on the present Indian reservation, others at Three rivers, Dry creek, Woodlake, the Yokohl valley, Outside creek, etc.
The Pinte tribes were the Wuk-sa-chi, of Eshom valley, the Wo-po-noich and the En-dim-bits. An idea of their numbers may be gained from the fact that the Wik-tsum-ne chief alone conld muster a thousand armed warriors from his own and other Yokut tribes of which he was the ruler. While the above roughly indicates the home locations of the larger Indian settlements, it must be under- stood that their residences were far from permanent. The hot sum- mer found them high in the Sierras stalking deer, eating straw- berries and enjoying the climate; in the fall, the harvest season for acorns, he was either in the foothills or in the oak belt of the plains. according to the crop; in the winter, dnek hunting by the lake furnished good sport.
The limits of this history prevent anything approaching a com- plete ontline of their manners, customs, habits, etc., but the follow- ing bits were chosen as interesting sidelights on a mode of life that has passed away forever.
TRADITIONS
Among these Indians no traditions of migrations existed. They believed themselves aborigines-the tradition as to their origin was that man was created by the joint effort of the wolf and the eagle, and brought forth from the mountain peaks-different tribes from different peaks. The Wutchummas point to Homer's Nose, on the south fork of the Kaweah, as the place of their origin, while the Kaweahs point to the foothill peak near Redbanks, called Colvin's Point, as the cradle of their tribe. These Indians believed that the cagle makes it his especial care to guard the welfare of the human race, and the eagle on our coin is accepted as evidence that the
.
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whites recognize the sacred character of the bird. The wolf is held to have repented the part he took in the production of man, and to be constantly seeking the destruction of the race.
ANOTHER CREATION MYTH OF THE YOKUTS
The following tradition was obtained by George W. Stewart in 1903, from Jim Herrington, an Indian then ill and now dead, of the Wukchamni or Wiktsumne tribe of the Yokuts. This tribe lived on the Kaweah river, in the vicinity of the present town of Lemon Cove :
"Long ago the whole world was rock and there was neither fire nor light. The coyote (kaiyu) sent his brother, the wolf (ewavet, iweyit), into the mountains, telling him: 'Go upward until you come to a large lake, where you will see fire. Then take some of it.' The wolf did as ordered by the coyote, and after some fighting, obtained a part of the fire. From this he made the moon and then the sun, and put them in the sky. Then it was light, and has been so ever since.
"The eagle (tsohit, djokhid) kept the coyote at work, and the latter made the panther (wuhuset, wohoshit) and the wolf help him. The coyote made the springs and streams. He worked very hard to do this. Then he and the eagle made people. They also made deer and elk and antelope and all game animals, and put fish into the water. They gave these animals to the people who went everywhere and killed the game for food.
"The coyote, the wolf and the panther said: 'In time there will be too many people and they will kill us.' Now the coyote was sorry that he had helped the eagle make the people. The panther said: 'They will kill us if we do not go away.' 'Then go up,' the eagle told him. The panther answered: 'I have no feathers, I cannot fly, I cannot go up.' 'Then go to the mountains,' said the eagle. To the wolf he said: 'Go to the hills,' and the coyote: 'Go to the plains.' The three went where they were told and have lived there ever since."
DIET
Acorns, of course, were the staple, but it is a mistake to suppose that the Indians' diet lacked variety. In addition to game of all kinds and fish, there were various kinds of seeds, nuts, berries, roots, and young shoots of the tule and clover.
Acorns were stored in harvest time in cribs made of woven withes, usually placed on the top of a large stone and securely roofed over with a rainproof mat to protect them from the elements. In making bread, these, after being shelled, were ground in a mortar and placed in water in a shallow bed of sand near a stream. The action of water running in and out of this depression removed the bitterness. Placed then in their water-tight baskets this gruel was
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cooked by means of hot rocks and formed a dish esteemed by whites as well as natives.
One of the rarer delicacies of the Indian's table was roast caterpillar. When the variety used-a kind of measuring worm- was not found near camp, long trips were made for the purpose of collecting them in quantities. A fire of fagots in a hole in the ground was allowed to burn down to coals. These removed and the hole nicely dusted of ashes, a few quarts of the juicy larvae were poured in, which, quickly erisping, were soon ready to serve.
INDIAN WEAPONS
The bow and arrow was the only weapon. The how was made of ash or mahogany, strengthened by the laying over it of the sinew taken from the backbone of the deer. Arrows were constructed in three different ways, according to the purpose for which they were to be used. For warfare and for large game they were flint-tipped. An intermediate weapon was made of button willow to which a hard- wood point was spliced. For birds and other small game, a peculiar construction was in use. These were about three feet long with a blunt point. About half an inch from the end four crossbars, each about an inch long, were fastened. Two of these were at right angles to the other two and four projecting points were thus formed, ren- dering accurate shooting less essential.
THE MEDICINE MAN
As with other tribes, the medicine man was a person of great importance, but woe unto him if he failed to effect a cure. A few instances of death following his treatment was cause for his summary execution.
A sojourn in the sweathouse was usually prescribed, but bleeding was also common. An incision was made, either at the temples or the forehead, and he sucked the blood and spat it out.
His dress was gorgeous. The foundation for the robe was a kind of netting made from the inner bark of trees. Through the meshes of this was interwoven the brightest colored feathers of many species of birds, together with topknots, fox and coyote tails, rabbit ears, etc.
At a death there were chants from dusk till dawn. The corpse was buried usually in a high, dry place in a round hole in a sitting posture, the ankles tied to the thighs. All personal belongings were placed with it. Members of the family of the dead smeared their faces black, in morning.
GATHERING SALT
In order to gather salt, a unique method was followed. In the mornings, when the salt grass was wet with dew, a squaw would go forth armed with a long smooth stick. This she would ply back
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and forth through the wet grass and wave in the air. The result was a deposit of salt a quarter of an inch thick on the stick, which was then scraped off.
CAPTURING WILD PIGEONS
Wild pigeons helped fill the Indian's larder and the methods which were employed in their capture are of great interest. It seems that the pigeons preferred mineral water, whether it be effervescent from soda, or salty, sulphurous or combining the tonic properties of iron and arsenic, to the ordinary spring water of the mountains. At all mineral springs pigeons came in flocks. The crafty buck who held first place among those who lay snares, taking ad- vantage of this trait, made his preparations accordingly.
In front of the spring a large smooth low mound was heapod. Next the mound, directly facing it, was dng a trench of the size and depth to accommodate a man lying down. The front end of this trench towards the mound was open, but screened with grasses; the top was covered. In this he lay in wait. An innocent brown willow stick, at its end a little noose of sinew, lay on the mound. When the pigeons congregated an unobserved motion of the wrist, a little raise of the stick sufficed to place this loop over the head of an unlucky hird. Silently the game was drawn to the trench, the head jerked off and shortly another and yet another fell victim until sufficient fresh pigeon meat for the band was secured. It is stated that, snared in this way the pigeon does not flutter or raise a dis- turbance-he merely, like a stubborn mule, pulls back. To insure another flight and alighting at the same place for the following day. should occasion require, a few of the birds are kept alive and picketed ont as decoys.
NOVEL FISHING
In the capture of fish, the use of the hook and line was unknown to the Indians. Three effective methods were in use. In the narrow streams, which were numerous in the valley, weirs were made by driving a row of willow sticks diagonally across the stream and in- terlacing the fence thus formed with tules. On the upper side of this structure, near one bank a semi-circular trap of like construction was built. The fish going down stream, finding their way blocked by this barrier, worked along it until they found their way into the trap through a small opening. A larger door which included this opening allowed the entrance of Mr. Indian to secure the spoil.
In the pools or sloughs or other places where water was con- fined to holes without an ontlet, balls of certain kind of weed were thrown, which exerted a stupefying effeet on the fish. They sickened and would rise to the surface, gasping, when they were easily cap- tured.
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In the fall of the year when the water in the main Kaweah river was low, and long still pools were formed having shallow outlets, still another method was employed. After damming the outlet, mullen weed was thrown in until the water was so roiled that the fish, unable to see, could be caught by hand. Seores of Indians, both bucks and squaws, would wade into these holes and grope for fish, attesting their success by loud shouts of laughter.
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