USA > California > San Joaquin County > History of the State of California and biographical record of San Joaquin County; containing biographis of well-known citizens of the past and present. Volume I > Part 40
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47
islature of 1850 to grant the state one hundred and fifty-six acres of land and to donate and pay to the state within two years after the ac- ceptance of this proposition $370,000, to be used in the erection of public buildings. The legisla- ture accepted his proposition. The location of the state capital was submitted to a vote of the people at the election on October 7, 1850, and Vallejo received more votes than the aggre- gated vote of all its competitors. Buildings were begun, but never completed. The legisla- ture met there twice, but on account of insuffi- cient accommodations sought other places where they were better cared for. General Val- lejo's proposition at his own request was can- celled. In 1854 Mare Island, in front of Val- lejo, was purchased by the general government for a United States navy yard and naval depot. The government works gave employment to large numbers of men and involved the expendi- ture of millions of dollars. The town began to prosper and still continues to do so. Its popu- lation in 1890 was 6,343 ; in 1900, 7,965.
NEVADA CITY.
No mining town in California was so well and so favorably known in the early '50s as Nevada City. The first discovery of gold near it was made in September, 1849; and the first store and cabin erected. Rumors of rich strikes spread abroad and in the spring of 1850 the rush of gold-seekers came. In 1851 it was estimated that within a circuit of seven miles there was a population of 30,000. In 1856 the business sec- tion was destroyed by fire. It was then the third city in population in the state. It has had its periods of expansion and contraction, but still remains an important mining town. Its population in 1880 was 4,022; in 1890, 2,524; in 1900, 3,250.
GRASS VALLEY.
The first cabin in Grass Valley was erected in 1849. The discoveries of gold quartz raised great expectations. A quartz mill was erected in 1850, but this new form of mining not being understood, quartz mining was not a success ; but with improved machinery and better meth-
257
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
ods, it became the most important form of min- ing. Grass Valley prospered and surpassed its rival, Nevada City. Its population in 1900 was 4,719.
EUREKA.
In the two hundred years that Spain and Mex- ico held possession of California its northwest coast remained practically a terra incognita, but it did not remain so long after the discovery of gold. Gold was discovered on the head waters of the Trinity river in 1849 and parties of pros- pectors during 1849 and 1850 explored the country between the head waters of the Trinity and Klamath rivers and the coast. Rich mines were found and these discoveries led to the founding of a number of towns on the coast which aspired to be the entrepots for the sup- plies to the mines. The most successful of these proved to be Eureka, on Humboldt Bay. It was the best located for commerce and soon outstripped its rivals, Arcata and Bucksport. Humboldt county was formed in 1854, and Eu- reka, in 1856, became the county seat and was incorporated as a city. It is the largest ship- ping point for lumber on the coast. It is also the commercial center of a rich agricultural and dairying district. Its population in 1880 was 2,639 ; in 1890, 4,858: in 1900, 7,327.
MARYSVILLE.
The site on which Marysville stands was first known as New Mecklenburg and was a trading post of two houses. In October, 1848, M. C. Nye purchased the rancho and opened a store at New Mecklenburg. The place then became known as Nye's rancho. In 1849 a town was laid out and named Yubaville. The name was changed to Marysville in honor of the wife of the proprietor of the town Covilland. His wife was Mary Murphy, of the Donner party. Marys- ville, being at the head of navigation of the north fork of the Sacramento, became the en- trepot for mining supplies to the miners in the rich Yuba mines. After the decline of mining it became an agricultural center for the upper portion of the Sacramento. Its population in 1880 was 4,300; in 1890, 3,991; in 1900, 3,397. 17
REDDING.
The Placer Times of May 8, 1850, contains this notice of Reading, now changed to Rel- ding: "Reading was laid off early in 1850 by P. B. Reading at the headwaters of the Sacra- mento within forty-five miles of the Trinity diggings. Reading is located in the heart of a most extensive mining district, embracing as it does, Cottonwood, Clear, Salt, Dry, Middle anl Olney creeks, it is in close proximity to the Pitt and Trinity rivers. The pet steamer, Jack Hayes, leaves tomorrow morning (May 9, 1850) for Reading. It has been hitherto considered impossible to navigate the Sacramento to this height." The town grew rapidly at first, like all mining towns, and like most of such towns it was swept out of existence by fire. It was devastated by fire in December, 1852, and again in June, 1853. Its original name, Reading, got mixed with Fort Redding and it now appears on all railroad maps and guides as Redding. Its population in 1890 was 1,821 ; in 1900, 2,940.
PASADENA.
Pasadena is a child of the colony era of the early '70s. Its original name was the Indiana Colony. In 1873 a number of persons formed a company for the purchasing of a large tract of land and subdividing it among them. They in- corporated under the title of the San Gabriel Orange Grove Association and purchased four thousand acres in the San Pasqual rancho, it- uated about nine miles east of Los Angeles city. This was divided on the basis of one share uf stock being equivalent to fifteen acres. Each stockholder received in proportion to his invest- ment. The colonists turned their attention to the cultivation of vineyards and orange or- chards. In 1875 the name was changed to Pasa- dena, an Algonquin word meaning Crown of the Valley. The colony had become quite nofel for its production of orange -. In 188; the great real estate boom: struck it and the cr ss rmails village suddenly developed into a city. It lias become famous as a tourist winter resort. Its population in 1890 was 4.882; in 1900. 0.11;
258
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
POMONA.
Pomona was founded by the Los Angeles Im- migration and Land Co-Operative Association. This company bought twenty-seven hundred acres of the Rancho San José, lying along the eastern border of Los Angeles county. The town was laid off in the center of the tract. The remainder of the tract was divided into forty- acre lots. The town made a rapid growth at first, but disaster overtook it. First the dry season of 1876-77, and next a fire that swept it almost out of existence. In 1880 its popula- tion had dwindled to one hundred and eighty persons. In about 1881 it began to revive and it has made a steady growth ever since. It is the commercial center of a large orange grow- ing district. Its population in 1890 was 3,634; in 1900, 5,526.
SAN BERNARDINO.
San Bernardino was originally a Mormon col- ony. In 1851 one hundred and fifty families were sent from Salt Lake to found a colony or a stake of Zion. The object of locating a colony at this point was to keep open a line of commu- nication with some seaport. San Bernardino was near the old Spanish trail which let out through the Cajon pass. Goods could be transported to Salt Lake from San Pedro at all seasons of the year, which could not be done to Salt Lake over the central route westward or eastward during the winter. The leaders of the Mormon colony, Lyman and Rich, bought the San Ber- nardino rancho from the Lugos. A portion of the land was subdivided into small tracts and sold to the settlers. The Mormons devoted themselves to the cultivation of wheat, of which they raised a large crop the first year and re- ceived as high as $5 per bushel. The colony
prospered for a time, but in 1857 the settlers, or all of them that would obey the call, were called to Salt Lake by Brigham Young to take part in the threatened war with the United States. The faithful sold their lands for what- ever they could get and departed. The gentiles bought them and the character of the settlement changed. The city of San Bernardino has an extensive trade with the mining districts to the east of it. Its population in 1890 was 4,012; in 1900, 6,150.
RIVERSIDE.
Riverside had its origin in the colony era. It began its existence as the Southern California Colony Association. In 1870 an association, of which Judge John W. North and Dr. James Greves were leaders, purchased four thousand acres of the Roubidoux rancho and adjoining lands, aggregating in all about nine thousand acres. This was subdivided into small tracts and sold to settlers at a low price. A town was laid off and named Jurupa, but this being diffi- cult of pronunciation its name was changed to Riverside, which eventually became the name of the settlement as well. An extensive irrigating system was constructed and the cultivation of citrus fruits became the leading industry. The Bahia or Washington navel orange has made Riverside famous in orange culture. It was propagated by budding from two small trees sent by the Department of Agriculture to a citi- zen of Riverside. The city of Riverside in area is one of the largest cities of the state. Its boundaries include fifty-six square miles. Its corporate lines take in most of the orange groves of the settlement. By this means mu- nicipal regulations against insect pests can be better enforced. The population of Riverside in 1890 was 4,683: in 1900, 7,973.
Geo At Sinckham
SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
CHAPTER I.
THE FIRST INHABITANTS.
L ESS than a hundred years ago San Joa- quin county was as the forest primeval, a wild region unknown to man, save its original owners, the Indians. From Nature's hands it was a place fit for the gods. The soil was fertile, the climate warm and delightful, and the earth, watered by the winter rains, brought
forth each spring a heavy growth of grass and beautiful flowers. Streams of clear, cool waters ran from the Sierras to the sea; willows, shrubs, grape and blackberry vines grew on the river banks, and an immense forest of oaks covered the earth. Wild animals were plentiful; bands of elk and deer roamed the plains; doves and quail were in the brush; fish swam the waters; and ducks and geese fed in the low swamp lands.
Here for hundreds of years lived many tribes of Indians. The largest of these, known as the Yachicumenes, possessed the land round about Stockton. The Makelkos lived near the Moke- lumne river, and the Siyokos claimed all the territory south of French Camp. Each tribe was governed by a chief who held despotic rule, and at his death the authority passed to his eld- est son. He had the power to declare war or make peace, and he could give a maiden in mar- riage to a young brave without her consent. Although these people were of great strength, short and thick-set in stature, and of repulsive appearance with their thick lips, low, receding foreheads and flat noses, some of their chiefs were men of fine appearance. José Jesus was an In- dian over six feet in height, straight as an ar- row, and of considerable intelligence, having been educated at the Mission San Jose. An- tones, Loweno, Senato and Maxino, were chiefs
of large stature and of fine appearance; and the latter, the last of his tribe, died at the age of eighty-four years.
Their houses, or wick-ey-ups, located along the river banks, consisted of long poles, fastened at the top with grass or willow rope, and cov- ered with long grass or tules. In winter they were plastered with adobe. In a single room wick-ey-up the entire family lived until it be- came so filthy from vermin and dirt that they were compelled to abandon it. Then setting fire to the shack, they would build a new one. The women were the slaves of the men; they were compelled to cook the food, gather the fire- wood, acorns and berries, carrying at the same time their papoose strapped upon their back, and perform all the drudgery of their lord and master, while he sat around doing nothing ex- cept to mend his bows and arrows, fish hooks and nets. The food of these forest sons con- sisted of grass-hoppers, vermin, snakes, herbs, berries and roots; and "they not only dug for roots," says Ellen C. Weber, "but for ground- mice and worms, which they eagerly devoured." Acorns were their staple food. Wild game and fish were at hand, but they were too lazy to cap- ture it. Occasionally they would kill a deer, spear fish with a long pole sharpened with a barbed point, or trap small game in grass-made nets. The life of these native sons was not all happiness. Believing in the existence of good and evil spirits, they were constantly performing religious ceremonies to drive away the devil and please the good spirit. By nature they were ex- ceedingly superstitious, and in great fear dur ing a thunder storm or an eclipse of the sun or moon, as they believed the great spirit was
259
260
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
angry and to appease his wrath they threw dirt and sticks in the air; some danced and beat their wooden drums. They began their autum- nal harvest with dancing and feasting.
Disease frequently attacked them, and although they had their medicine men and sweat houses, it often became a pestilence, destroying thou- sands. Said De Mofras, "In 1824 twelve thou- sand of the Indians of Tulare died of cholera, and two years later eight thousand at Sacramento died of fever." "The same disease, a kind of intermittent fever, in 1833 attacked the Indians of Stockton," said J. J. Warner, the trapper, "and nearly depopulated the valley." "Camping here for a night," he declares, "the death angel was summoning a score of his victims to the land of Manitoa, and the cries of the dying, mingled with the wailings of the bereaved, made the night hideous in the veritable valley of death."
The tribes of San Joaquin buried their dead in the highest mounds of earth, placing the bodies in a sitting posture, facing the rising sun. When a warrior died, his bows, arrows and long sharp- pointed spear were placed in his grave by his side. "If the dead was a chief," writes Ellen Weber, "then the unmarried maidens, daubing their faces and breasts with a kind of grease made of ashes and pitch, day and night in wailing cadence howled 'Hoo ah hoo, hoo ah hoo.'" There were several large burial grounds in this vicinity, and some years ago James A. Barr and Edward Z. Hughes began a study of the Indians and a collection of relics. In these mounds they discovered some very interesting history; these relics are now in the rooms of the Chamber of Commerce.
The tribes were continually engaged in war, fighting for the possession of the best hunting and fishing grounds, and sometimes over the re- covery of a favorite maiden. In one of these battles along the banks of the Calaveras river so many were the slain (three thousand said one writer) that the Spaniards, seeing so many skulls years afterward, named it Calaveras, "place of skulls." The Indians also had many skirmishes with the Spaniards, sometimes to main- tain their freedom against capture and slavery in the mission; for the good padres sent out
the mission soldiers to drive in the Indians, that their souls might be saved and they converted to Christianity. The Mexicans sometimes at- tackcd the Indians as a punishment, for they were great horse and cattle thieves. But in their last battle, in 1823, on the San Joaquin river, the Indians under the command of Estanis- lao whipped the enemy so badly that General Vallejo and his soldiers dared not cross the river afterward. After this victorious chief the Stan- islaus river was named.
The tribes of this valley if treated humanely were quiet and peaceable, and because of this fact Captain Weber selected a grant of land in this locality. Following the plan pursued by Capt. John Sutter, he met the most powerful chief of this vicinity, an Indian named José Jesus, and made a treaty of peace. José Jesus remained throughout his life the white man's friend. Weber was much attached to him, so much in fact that he named a street after him, now Grant street, Stockton ; and on one occasion paid out $500 for medical services, a white man having shot José Jesus.
The incoming population after the gold dis- covery shamefully maltreated and abused the In- dians, driving them from place to place and often killing them in wanton sport. Abused on every hand, they finally sought refuge in the mountains, there to die from indulgence in fire water, contagious disease contracted from the white man, and from starvation. When the set- tlers first came the Indians numbered several thousand, and January 10, 1852, the San Joaquin Republican said: "Yesterday the remnant of this tribe appeared for the last time in front of Captain Weber's residence, a little band of ten families, all that remains of the once populous tribe of the Yachicumenes." The census of 1852 reported three hundred and seventy-nine men, women and children. The census of 1860 gave forty-one Indians; and in the census of the fol- lowing decade, only five San Joaquin Indians were found.
As the darkness of night quickly disappears before the morning dawn, so the Indian rapidly disappeared before the dawning civilization, her- alded by the trappers and hunters from the east.
261
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Crossing the Rocky mountains, these white men came down the slopes of the Sierra Nevadas, in search of that valuable little fur-bearing animal, the beaver. The streams of this county were alive with the little rodents, and Jedediah Smith trapped here from 1821 to 1837. Eweld Young was here until 1830, and then came La Fram- boise and John McLeod, of the Hudson Bay Company. This company had in their employ thousands of men, principally French Canadians, and over four hundred of these men for several trapping seasons camped at Castoria or Beaver settlement, as it was often called. The Mexicans designated the spot as El Campo de los Franceses, or the Camp of the Frenchmen, and by the Mexi- can name the Weber grant is officially known.
French Camp, as the settlers called it, is now a village of two hundred inhabitants, and the county hospital is near by. In early days it was a place of considerable commercial impor- tance. Because of the sandy nature of the soil, stages and freight teams could travel to the mines during the heavy winter months, hence it be- came a freight and passenger station, the freight being transported by steamer from Stockton, and the passengers in whale boats. As a home spot, the camp antedates Stockton by several years, the Kelsey family having lived there as early as 1844. In the previous year David Kelsey and his wife with three children crossed the con- tinent with the Applegate party. On arrival in California the immigrants met William Gulnac near the Cosumnes river, and the latter offered Kelsey a mile square of land if he would locate at French Camp. Kelsey accepting the offer, Gulnac gave him a swivel gun to fire each night. to frighten away the Indians. In August, 1844, the family removed to the grant, where Kelsey built a tule house, the only one in the valley ex- cept Lindsay's at Tuleberg, as Stockton was then known. Late in the fall the family returned to San Jose to obtain provisions, and remained in the pueblo three months. In the spring of 1845 Kelsey, his wife, son and daughter America re- turned to French Camp, leaving the two eldest girls in the pueblo. Soon afterward Kelsey was taken sick, and Mrs. Kelsey with her family started for Sutter's Fort for medical assistance.
Stopping at Stockton on their journey, James Lindsay urged Mrs. Kelsey to remain over night as he believed his partner, Jini Williams, could cure her husband. Williams gave a dose of pills to the patient, who the next morning was covered with smallpox, having caught the disease at San Jose while attending a sick Indian. In that day white men and Indians were in mortal fear of smallpox, and both Lindsay and Willians, together with the Indian vacqueros, fled from the place, leaving the family alone. Shortly after- ward the mother and son were stricken with the disease and the former became blind. Little America, then only eleven years of age, was compelled to attend the sick, and three weeks later the father died. Fortunately a party of herders passing along the trail camped that niglit near by, and George F. Wyman and two others assisted the daughter in burying her father. Lind- say, who so inhumanly deserted the family in their great trouble, returned to the camp in about two months, for he had been employed by Captain Weber as his major domo, to guard the captain's horses and cattle. It was dangerous to live alone, and the vacqueros not having re- turned, one day the Loc-lum-na Indians swept down the valley from Amador county, killed Lind- say, burned all the tule houses, and drove the stock to their mountain rancheria for their winter food.
In April, 1845, a party of settlers returning to Sutter's Fort from the Micheltorena war. searching for Lindsay, found his body pierced with six arrows, floating in the water. Burying the corpse upon the point that now bears his name, they went on to the fort, and reported the murder to Sutter, he being the magistrate or "prefecture of the first district." To punish the murderous Indians, a company of settlers was organized, and in the number were Ezekiel Mer- ritt, of Bear Flag fame, George Wyman, P. E. Redding, and the trapper. "Mountain Fallon." It was learned that the Polos were the principal criminals, and after a three-weeks' search, rifling principally at night, they found the enemy in their rancherias, near the upper waters of the Tuo- lumne river. Just before daylight the settlers made their attack. The three hundred warriors,
262
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
completely surprised, ran up the mountain side, firing arrows as they ran. Many Indians were killed, and their wick-ey-ups and food supplies destroyed.
The death of Lindsay terminated for a time the bright prospects of Captain Weber, who, realizing the fact that Tuleberg was a favorable spot for a future great city because of its ad- vantageous position at the head of tidewater, and the rich fertile soil behind it, resolved as early as 1841 to possess the land. He had that year arrived in California with the Barthelson party, and while making his way on horseback from San Jose to Sutter's Fort to obtain employ- ment, had crossed the soil. He remained one year at the fort, seeing there for the first time the lady who became his future wife, Mollie Murphy; and in 1843 we find him again in San Jose, engaged in a general merchandise business, having as a partner William Gulnac, who like many of the settlers was a free rover. Gulnac married a Mexican woman, thereby becoming a naturalized Mexican citizen, and therefore un- der the laws of Mexico passed in 1828, he could obtain a grant of land in any part of the territory by simply applying to the government. Weber, a naturalized American citizen of German birth, refused to renounce allegiance to his adopted country, even to obtain land, and so he requested Gulnac to make application for a grant near the Campo de los Franceses. Gulnac applied for the land, and in due time, June, 1844, Governor Micheltorena signed the patent granting to Gul- nac eleven leagues of land, forty-eight thousand, six hundred and seven acres. When in 1861 President Lincoln signed the United States patent he "thought it a pretty big farm." A little later the partnership between Weber and Gul- nac was dissolved. The later became a drunken, worthless sot, and owing Weber $60 for grocer- ies, gave him the grant in settlement of the bill. Mexico at that time was endeavoring to colonize the territory, and every grantee was re- quired within one year to settle twelve families upon his land. As a starter, Weber drove all of his stock to the new home, and James Lind- say was employed to take charge. Lindsay bought a tule house for himself, several shacks for the
Indian herders; and a cattle corral was built on the peninsula, now Weber's point.
After Lindsay's death Napoleon Schmidt was located here, but the Mexican war breaking out, he was compelled to seek the settlement. No further efforts were made to colonize the grant until 1847, at which time Joseph Bissell came, and later John Sirey. Captain Weber rode into the Sierras to meet the incoming immigration, and induce them to locate at Tuleberg, as the place was often called. As an inducement he offered to give each settler four hundred and eighty acres of land and a town lot. They laughed at the proposal, considering the land of no value, and John Doak afterward declared, "I would not have given $10 for all the land be- tween Stockton and Sacramento." The prospects of the land having any value were to Doak not encouraging, for in passing through Weberville he saw but one house, a mere shed on the banks of the river. There was also a tule hut on the peninsula inhabited by Indians, and Weber had large bands of cattle roaming on the plains. About the same time J. H. Carson speaks of "Joe Buzzel's log cabin with a tule roof." Buzzel had gathered other settlers around him and late in the fall of 1847 there were fifteen or twenty persons residing here, among them James Mc- Kee, Andy Baker, R. B. Thompson, John Sirey, George Frazer, Thomas Pyle, Eli Randall, a clerk for Weber, Harry T. Fanning, a sailor from the sloop of war Portsmouth, and William H. Fair- childs.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.