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 7
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 7
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However. Goshen did become the railroad center of the county and of the San Joaquin valley. Geographically, it is admirably situated, lying midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, within touching distance on. the one hand of Visalia and Exeter and on the other with Hanford and Coalinga. Surrounding it lie extensive tracts, suitable for fruit, vines or alfalfa. Several produc- tive and lucrative orchards and vineyards in the vicinity attest the adaptability of the soil.
Notwithstanding these apparent advantages, Goshen still re- mains a small village. The cause of this failure to grow lies no doubt in the fact that the soil surrounding the depot is alkaline in character and unfavorably impresses home-seekers looking from the windows of a car.
A few years ago Goshen was made a sub-station on the Asso- ciated Oil Company's pipe line. A number of neat cottages for the use of employes were erected and these, while situated in the question- able soil spoken of, are now surrounded by lawns and gardens creditable to any locality.
Within the last few years the exceedingly fertile character of Goshen lands has become known to many investors. Orchards and vineyards have been planted on a considerable scale and it is be- lieved that rapid and at the same time solid and substantial growth awaits the village kept so long dormant.
PAIGE
Paige is the name of a station on the Santa Fe, west from Tulare. It is the depot for the large settlement that is growing
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up on and around the great Paige & Morton ranch, which once claimed the largest vineyard in the world, besides having extensive orchards and grain lands. A considerable part of it has in the past few years been sold in small holdings. Thus an important settle- ment is being made there, and the surrounding country is rapidly becoming a great dairy section.
ANGIOLA
Angiola dates its history from the coming of the Santa Fe railroad. It is in the lake region on the main line of the railroad running south from Hanford to Bakersfield. It is an important place now for supplying the rapidly growing lake country. It is in the artesian belt, and the surrounding country is very fertile. The greater part of the soil is rich silt, capable of producing all kinds of crops. Grain and alfalfa predominate, although a considerable acre- age is being used for beet raising. The large sugar factory at Cor- coran is largely dependent upon the lake lands for the supply of beets.
YETTEM
Lying north of Visalia abont sixteen miles is a rich farming district formerly known as Churchill. It is along the base of the low foothills and has an exceptionally rich soil and comparative freedom from frosts. A few years ago a colony of Armenians bought property here and put ont vineyards and orchards. From the fine gardens and rapid growth of tree and vine the Armenians named the settlement Yettem, "Garden of Eden." There is now a general store, a school and a fine church as the nucleus of a town, lying about a mile east of the line of the Santa Fe. The station now called Yettem was formerly called Lowell.
PLANO
The town of Plano might well be called South Porterville, as it lies sonth of that town and just across the Tule river. The name was suggested by its location in the great, beautiful plain sweeping clown from the foothills of the Sierras and extending out westwardly. This plain is one of the fairest, and the elegant homes that have been made here and that still are being established receive an additional charm from the grand view of the snow-capped Sierras to the east.
Being on the main stage road leading from Visalia to Los Angeles, and to the Kern river and Owens valley mining districts, it was in early times a stage station. William Thompson was its first pioneer merchant and postmaster. Dr. F. A. Johnson was its earliest physician. Here it was that the first oranges in Tulare county were raised. As noted elsewhere, D. Gibbons here planted
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a few trees in his yard, and some of them are still bearing fruit. It is now grown to be a great orange center, with pleasant homes, schools, churches, etc. As a suburb of Porterville, the social ad vantages incident to populous communities are shared, while by its separation from the bustling city the charm of suburban life remains unimpaired.
THREE RIVERS
Twenty-eight miles east of Visalia at the junction of the forks of the Kaweah river in the foothills, lies the village of Three Rivers. The Three Rivers country may properly be considered to embrace the territory included in Three Rivers voting precinct, which extends southerly to Yokohl, westerly to Lemon Cove, northerly to Eshom and easterly to Inyo county, an area of twenty-one townships.
The first known white man to enter this section was Hale D. Tharpe, a stockman, who came in the fall of 1858. The Works family, William Swanson and family, John Lovelace and family, Joseph Palmer, A. Everton, Ira Blossom and family, followed soon after and were the pioneers of the settlement.
At the time of Mr. Tharpe's arrival Indians in the vicinity were very numerous, the population being estimated at two thou- sand. These tribes are now practically extinct, and in this vicinity not one remains. The progress of the settlement was very slow, there being practically no immigration until 1878, when the gold excitement at Mineral King took place. The mining activities at Mineral King and the construction of a road to that place caused a temporary influx of residents, but the mining excitement dying down, the population remained practically as before.
In 1886 the Kaweah Co-operative Colony made this their base of operations, establishing a village on the north fork of the Kaweah. These colonists commenced the construction of a road to the Giant Forest and completed about twenty miles of it. This project was abandoned in 1890, most of the colonists leaving the county. Quite a number, however, remained and have materially aided in the development of the district. Settlement has slowly but steadily increased until the present population numbers six hundred and fifteen.
In 1878 a postoffice was established at Three Rivers; in 1892 at Kaweah, on the north fork; in 1905 at Hammond, on the main river. and in 1907 at Ranger (Giant Forest).
Britten Brothers, in 1897, opened a general merchandise store and in 1910, the River Inn Company, in connection with a hotel situated at the junction of the north fork, installed another. In 1899 the Mt. Whitney Power Company put in a large power plant. in 1905 a second was installed and at the present writing a third and a
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fourth are in conrse of construction. There are two good schools, a public hall, two blacksmith shops. An extensive telephone system owned by the community unites the members of this widely scattered settlement.
In early days the sole industry of the section was stock raising, the foothill country furnishing an abundance of spring feed and the mountain ranges contributing the summer supply.
In the early '70s, Joe Palmer carried in on his back a few apple trees and became the pioneer of an industry that now adds a con- siderable quota to the prosperity of the region. Apples were found to do exceedingly well and numerous orchards now dot not only the river bottom lands of the lower sections, but are successfully grown as far up as the pine belt at an elevation of forty-five hundred feet.
The excellent fishing and hunting, the elimatie advantages and the scenie wonders of the higher Sierras, bring through Three Rivers each year an increasing number of tourists and sportsmen and ontfitting and catering to these has become an important branch of business here.
A TALE OF INDIAN TROUBLE AT THREE RIVERS IN EARLY DAYS.
In May, 1857, the Works and Pemberton families had sold a herd of cattle and had considerable money. A few days after the sale transaction a band of some eighty or ninety Indians came over from the Owens River valley and established camp just across the Kaweah river from the Works' house. Many of the Indians bore firearms, and amongst them was one man that had recently killed a white man on the Owens river without cause or provocation, and was wearing the dead man's clothes at the time. On the 25th of the month, when the men settlers were away looking after their stock, a portion of the Indians looted the premises of Pemberton and Works. When the men returned home and saw what had transpired. Joseph Palmer, II. Works and Pemberton immediately started ont for the camp of the Indians to adjust matters. While enroute to the Indian camp they met six Indians and told them of the depredations they had committed. Immediately the Indian that had killed the man at Owens river made an attempt to draw a pistol, wherenpon Joseph Palmer strnek the Indian upon the head with his gun, instantly killing him. Following, several shots were fired at close range from both sides in which three or four Indians were killed, and the whites not injured. The Indians all left the country the same evening, after which the dead Indians were all buried by the whites.
This was the first, last, and only trouble with the Indians.
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SPRINGVILLE
Among the hamlets which of recent years have attracted unusual attention among residents of the southern end of the county as well as among visiting prospective settlers is the town of Spring- ville, situated about sixteen miles eastward from Porterville at an elevation of 1072 feet.
The village lies near the Tale river, below the junction of the north fork with the main channel, and takes its name from a splendid soda spring found there, the waters of which are noted for their agreeable taste and for their curative properties. The town is frequently referred to as the "Gateway to the Sierras," as from it diverge roads and trails reaching many mountain points of interest. Its chief fame, however, rests upon the superb quality of apples grown in the neighborhood. These have taken prizes wherever exhibited and their production has become extensive. Oranges are also largely grown and with success, comparative freedom from frosts being enjoyed.
Originally the town was named Daunt, from William G. Daunt, a pioneer settler who opened a store during the '60s. The origin of the present village, however, dates from 1889, when A. M. Coburn, a lumberman operating a mill in the mountains, purchased a traet of land originally taken up by John Crabtree, and set aside eighteen acres as a townsite.
The prospective value of the springs was one of the inducements for purchasers of the lots, and the town to be was given the name Soda Springs. A school house and a building intended to be used as a sanitarium were the only structures on the land. The vision of a famous "spa" did not materialize, but as Mr. Coburn built a box factory and planing mill and sold lots and lumber on easy terms to his employees, a number of honses were built and a nuelens of a town started. The "sanitarinm" was converted into a hotel and later torn down for the erection of the present Springville hotel.
The postoffice was at Mr. Dannt's place, nearly a mile down the river. Originally mail had been brought from Visalia twice a week, Charles Lawless being the carrier. Later it was sent from Tulare by way of Woodville, Porterville and Plano. On the com- pletion of the railroad to Porterville a daily mail by stage from that place was established.
In 1890 Mr. Coburn bought ont Mr. Daunt's store and moved it and the postoffice to the present site. The name "Daunt" for the postoffice was continned for several years by reason of the fact that there was a Springville postoffice in Ventura county. This latter having lapsed, the name "Springville" applies now to the postoffice as well as the town.
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MINERAL KING
Sixty miles east of Visalia, reached via Lemon Cove and Three Rivers, at the source of the east fork of the Kaweah river, lies the mountain valley, Mineral King. Here, at an altitude of eight thou- sand feet, the summer climate is cool and invigorating, and this, together with the numerous nearby scenie attractions, the abundant wild feed, the good fishing and its position as the furthermost monn- tain point accessible to wagons, has caused it to become a resort visited in summer by multitudes of people.
Saw Tooth. a peak of thirteen thousand feet, towers directly above. From its summit a wonderful view of towering peaks, divides, declivities and nestling lakes are obtained. Monarch lake and Eagle lake lie close to camp and are readily visited. Soda and other mineral springs abound.
The valley heads at Farewell Gap, a pass of 10,600 feet elevation dividing the waters of the Kaweah from those of the Little Kern. Over it pass the trails leading to Tront Meadows, to Kern Lakes. to Mt. Whitney and to Inyo county. There are also trails leading from Mineral King to the Giant Forest over Timber Gap, to the Hockett Meadows over Tar Gap, as well as one leading directly to Kern Lakes.
Many people from the valley have built cabins and have a per manent summer camp here. There is a stable summer population of about two hundred, and the total number of visitors, yearly increasing, is over one thousand. There is a store, postoffice and a telephone line to the valley.
But time was when the activities here were of an entirely different nature. Gold was discovered here in the early '70s and hundreds of miners flocked to the scene. The Mineral King Mining District was formed and locations and transfers filed under the Federal laws. A town of about five hundred inhabitants sprung up and was named Beulah. Stamp and saw mills were erected. A road from Three Rivers, passing over a very difficult territory, was built at an expenditure of about $100,000. At one time daily stages from Visalia made the entire distance in one day.
A clear idea of the glory of Beulah in 1879, the year which marked its greatest prosperity, may be gained by the following, from the pen of Judge W. B. Wallace:
"Ex-Senator Fowler had purchased the Empire mine and with characteristic energy was completing the road, erecting a quartz mill and tramway, and driving a long tunnel into the mountain. Things were moving that year. A sawmill was in operation and cabins were going up in all directions. An assay office was estab- lished and mines were located by the hundreds. .
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"The N. E. Tunnel and Smelting Company was incorporated in 1875, another was organized in 1876, and the White Chief Gold and Silver Mining Company was called into being in 1880. But the year 1879 was the most fruitful in the production of these artificial persons for that camp. That year ten companies were organized with an aggregate capital stock which would put to shame that little kerosene side issue of the Standard Oil Company.
"At the general election held in 1879, the candidates for lieutenant governor and chief justice of the supreme court received one hundred thirty-seven votes for each office and the candidates for superior judge, assemblyman and district attorney received one hundred thirty-six votes in Mineral King.
"There were ten and perhaps twelve places where intoxicating liquors were sold, and events proved that the recorder, who received $5 for recording every location notice, and the saloon men worked the only paying mines. But there was very little riotousness and disorder. There were no such essentially bad men there as are usually found in new mining camps, with notched pistol handles and private burying grounds to which they could point with blood- curdling suggestions. There was but one shooting affray that I recall. It grew out of a dispute over the right to the possession of a small tract of land. One of the participants received a slight wound.
"There are but two graves in Mineral King. In the late '70s. early in the spring, one of the newcomers went to Redwood Meadow on foot, taking no provisions with him. A snow storm came on which fenced him in. In two or three days he started to return, crossed Timber Gap and struggled through the snow until within a quarter of a mile of the camp. He called for help and was heard. but his voice was not recognized as that of a human being and the next morning his frozen body was found where he had evidently sat down, exhausted, and after vainly calling had given up the struggle.
"When John Heinlen was prospecting the White Chief mine, two of his miners were carried down the mountainside and buried in an avalanche of snow. One was found and dug out alive, but the hody of the other was not recovered until the spring thaw.
"In the early days Orlando Barton was the Nestor of the camp, having the most extended and varied fund of knowledge. James Mankins and John Crabtree were perhaps the best prospectors. John Meadows was the most enthusiastic and confident of the early locators, rating his possessions worth a million dollars. He was a farmer, a stockraiser, a miner, a preacher, and a fighter, but withal a brave, honest and conscientious man.
"J. T. Tranger, who came in for the New England Company as
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its superintendent, and the last recorder of the district, was known to all and was a favorite in the district. His wife was for years the good angel of the camp, whose cheerful disposition, sterling qualities and strength of character won for her the respect and admiration of all the curiously assorted denizens of the district. The trail was never too rough, nor the night too dark to keep her from the bedside of the suffering miner whose ery of distress was heard, whether stricken by sickness, crushed in an avalanche of snow or mangled by an untimely blast.
"Politicians early discovered the necessity of winning the Mineral King voters, and several political meetings were held there when local orators avowed in various forms their willingness to forego many personal pleasures that they might serve the country.
"Itinerant ministers also preached to the assembled people, not from great cathedrals decorated with paintings of the old masters, nor accompanied by the music of grand organs, but in those groves which were God's first temples, where swaying pine and mountain streams made music, under a great dome painted by the Master's band, set with a thousand gems and softly lighted by the moon's pale beams, and where all nature joined in anthems of praise.
"Mineral King was a silver camp and many of the old pros- pectors were actually silverized. In white, seamless rock they would point out wire silver and horn silver. They named the lakes and the ledges silver and saw and admired the silver lining to every cloud. The very word had such a fascination for them that they talked in soft, silvery tones. They pricked up their ears when silver gray foxes were alluded to and stood at attention when the old bear hunters spoke of the silver-tipped grizzly, and as they lay down at night and gazed at the full orbed moon, they viewed it as the original of the silver dollar, having milled edges and a lettered flat surface, and wondered whether what they had looked at from infancy as the man in the moon might not after all be a mint im- pression of the American eagle."
But the mines proved but the graveyard of many fortunes. Nothing came of them but disaster and the little town was abon- cloned. Many of the homes were left and for years were used by people who went up into the valley for a summer onting, but the snows and the rains have destroyed them all.
TRAVER
Traver was founded April 8, 1884, or rather, that was the date when town lots were sold at anction. The town owes its origin entirely to the construction of the '76 canal and is the only place on the line of the Southern Pacific railroad not originally owned by that corporation. However, the Southern Pacific obtained an
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interest in the property before they would consent to the establish- ment of a depot there.
Traver is three miles south of Kings river. The bottom lands of the stream are exceedingly fertile and capable of producing every known product grown in California. It was named after Charles Traver, a capitalist of Sacramento, who was interested in the '76 canal enterprise. At the time of the sale of lots, excursions were run from San Francisco and from Los Angeles. The sales on April 8, 1884, aggregated $65,000. The only house then in Traver was a small structure that had been moved from Cross Creeks, and ocen- pied by Kitchener & Co. as a store. Buildings were soon erected and a thriving town ensned. Traver has suffered greatly from fires, but is still a thriving place, and center of a valuable farming, fruit raising and dairying section. Fine schools, lodges and churches are supplied.
HOCKETT MEADOWS
The Hoekett meadows, containing about one hundred sixty acres of land lying on the platean region near the head waters of the south fork of the Kaweah, are desirable camping places. The elevation is about eighty-five hundred feet and in consequence the climate during the summer is cool and bracing. There is the greatest abundance of feed, both here and in all the surrounding country. Lake Evelyn, one of the most beautiful of mountain lakes. is distant about three miles. There is excellent trout fishing in Hockett meadow creek, in Horse creek, one and one-half miles away, and in the waters of the south fork, two miles away.
The park line is distant but a mile and a half, so that hunting for deer, which are here numerous, is within easy reach. There are trails to Mineral King and to Little Kern river, each distant about eight miles.
REDBANKS
Redbanks, the terminal station of the Visalia electric road, is situated about fifteen miles northwest of Visalia, and takes its name from the properties of the Redbanks Orchard Company, which adjoin.
This orchard, one of the largest in the county and the only one devoted exclusively to the production of deciduous fruits for the eastern market, is located on the spur of hill known as Colvin's Point. Probably no part of Tulare county more vividly sets forth the rapid change from parched pasture lands to green gardens and productive orchards. This orchard venture of some thirteen hun- dred and fifty acres had its inception in 1904, when P. M. Baier, Dr. W. W. Squires and Charles Joannes purchased a considerable acre age, since adding to it. Mr. Baier, formerly manager for the Earl
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Fruit Company, and a man of the widest knowledge of deciduous fruit growing and marketing, had become convinced by observation of vegetable growth in the vicinity, that here was a remarkably early section, the products of which should bring extremely high prices in the eastern market.
No care or expense has been spared on the orchard and the result has exceeded expectations. Carloads of several varieties of fruits and table grapes are now shipped from here each season several days in advance of consignments forwarded from any other point in the state.
WHITE RIVER
White River, situated near the junction of the middle and south forks of White river, about twenty-six miles southeast of Plano, arrived at early fame through the discovery here by D. B. James, of gold. This was followed by a wild stampede of miners and a typical early day mining town called "Tailholt," sprang up at once. Stores and shops, saloons, dance halls, gambling houses, stage station, a quartz mill and a graveyard became necessary to supply the needs of the inhabitants and were provided.
Seven men were soon "planted" in the last mentioned place, all dying with their boots on. It appears that each of these was named Dan, but history is silent in regard to why the bearing of that name was of peculiar hazard.
In addition to the mining conducted in the vicinity, the town prospered by reason of being on the route to the Kern and Owens river mining districts. . It became the source of supplies to thou- sands of miners, and the principal town in the southern portion of the county.
In all these districts, however, while considerable gold was taken out, there appeared to be no large deposits of the precious metal. Pockets, while rich, soon petered out and the glory of the village lasted but a few years. A score or more miners remained to work claims at a small profit, a business which continues to this day.
At one time lumbering developed into quite an industry from the saw mills operated in the adjacent pineries.
Of recent years stockraising has been the principal source of revenue to the inhabitants of the district, although the citrus belt is extending to the neighborhood and the possibilities of apple culture afford prospective reasons for future development.
THE GIANT FOREST
This, the largest grove of giant sequoias in the park, and in the world, is situated at an altitude of from six to seven thousand five hundred feet, on a plateau iving between the middle and Marble
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