USA > California > Lassen County > Illustrated history of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra counties, with California from 1513 to 1850 > Part 23
USA > California > Plumas County > Illustrated history of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra counties, with California from 1513 to 1850 > Part 23
USA > California > Sierra County > Illustrated history of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra counties, with California from 1513 to 1850 > Part 23
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SEC. 15. The county of Plumas shall set aside twenty per cent. of her annual county revenue, which shall be and remain an inviolable fund for the payment of the interest and principal of debt due to Butte county; and the same shall be paid annually to the treasurer of Butte county, and when paid shall be placed to the credit of the general fund for the liquidation of the indebtedness of Butte county.
SEC. 16. The people of Plumas county shall determine, by their vote at the next general election, at what place the county seat shall be permanently located; until such time, the tem- porary county seat of Plumas county shall be located in the American valley, at such place as the Court of Sessions shall direct. This Act shall take effect from and after the first day of April, 1854.
The three commissioners, H. J. Bradley, Wilson S. Dean, and John W. Thompson, met at the American ranch, in American valley, at the hotel of H. J. Bradley, and proceeded to discharge the duties assigned to them. The only townships that had been created in this section of Butte county had been set off by the court of sessions August 6, 1851, and embraced nearly all of Plumas county. They were townships of a generous size, as the following descriptions indicate :
" MINERAL TOWNSHIP .- Bounded as follows, to wit: Commencing at a point on the north fork of Feather river, at the mouth of the east branch on said fork; thence up the said north fork to its source ; thence south-east to the head-waters of the main branch of the middle fork; thence down the said middle fork to a point three miles below the mouth of Onion creek, it being on the north line of Oro township; thence north along said line to the place of beginning.
" QUARTZ TOWNSHIP .- Bounded as follows, to wit: Commencing at a point on the middle fork of Feather river, three miles below the mouth of Onion creek ; thence up said middle fork to its source; thence due east to the line of the county; thence along said line to Missouri ranch ; thence north along the upper line of Oro township to the place of beginning." It will be scen that these two townships comprised nearly all of Plumas county as it stands to-day, the Lassen county portion being at that time unsettled and almost unknown. Mineral embraced Indian and Plumas, and portions of Mineral, Seneca, Quartz, and Beckwourth townships; while Quartz embraced Goodwin (formerly Washington), and part of Quartz and Beckwourth.
Although the Act required the board of commissioners to keep a record of their proceedings and deposit it in the office of the county clerk, such record cannot be found among the files of that office, nor can an abstract of the election be found in the office of the secretary of state at Sacra- mento. It is therefore impossible to present the returns of the first county election, or the proceedings of the commissioners. In the absence of official documents we are compelled to rely upon oral testimony, and from that source learn that the election was duly held on the second Saturday in April, and resulted in selecting the following gentlemen for the first officers of Plumas county :
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COUNTY JUDGE
William T. Ward. | TREASURER
. Daniel R. Cate.
DISTRICT ATTORNEY Thomas Cox.
ASSESSOR John R. Buckbee.
COUNTY CLERK John Harbison.
SURVEYOR. Jobe T. Taylor.
SHERIFF George W. Sharpe.
CORONER.
These gentlemen qualified before the county judge, to whom the president of the board of commissioners had administered the oath of office, and commenced the discharge of their official duties. Temporary accommodations were made for them at the American ranch. [See County Seat and County Buildings.]
The opponent of Mr. Sharpe for the office of sheriff was William V. Kingsbury, and the election was very close. William Lint of Marysville went to the Plumas Eureka mines in the interest of Mr. Sharpe, and lived with the Mexicans there, sleeping and cating with them, and keeping them well supplied with tobacco and whisky. When election day came, he marched them up to the polls and cast one hundred and twelve votes for Mr. Sharpe. This decided the election in that gentleman's favor. When Mr. Kingsbury learned the cause of his defeat, he threatened to contest the election, on the ground that these were unnaturalized foreigners, and not entitled to vote. His friends, however, suggested that, by the treaty of peace between Mexico and the United States, all citizens of Mexico residing in California at the time of the conquest, who should elect to remain, were declared citizens of the United States, and that it could not be proved that these Mexican votes were not of this class. He decided not to waste his time and money in a hopeless contest.
Another incident connected with this initial election is very amusing, and illustrates the non- chalant spirit of the times. John R. Buckbee and Christopher Porter contested for the office of assessor, and were both surprised to find that the vote was a tie, and neither of them elected. In this exigency, the law provided that the county judge should make an appointment to fill the vacancy. Buckbee, the whig candidate, was a warm personal friend of Judge Ward, and was considered certain to receive the appointment. In this emergency the democratic friends of Porter, as the only hope left, prompted that gentleman to challenge Buckbee to play a game of seven-up for the office. The challenge was accepted, and the two aspirants sat down to a table at Bradley's hotel, surrounded by a crowd of interested spectators. The fates were against Porter to the last, and Buckbee arose from the table winner of the game and the office of assessor of Plumas county ; for it is needless to say that Judge Ward recognized this honorable and equitable settle- ment of the question, and appointed Buckbee accordingly. The thirsty crowd that witnessed the game must have reduced the net earnings of Buckbee's office considerably by their liberal potations at his expense; for that, too, was as much a point of honor as the action of Judge Ward.
Still one more incident of the election is related. Living on the cast branch of Feather river at that time was John Harbison, an extremely popular gentleman who had been a county clerk in Missouri before coming to the Golden West. He was a whig, but the delegates from that region to the democratic nominating convention were instructed to pledge the united support of both parties to John Harbison. They were successful, and he was nominated by the democrats and elected, though a whig in politics.
[Reference is made to the Courts and Judiciary, and the County Seat and Court-house, for fur- ther information in regard to the organization of the county.]
MAJOR JAMES H. WHITLOCK.
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OFFICIAL HISTORY OF PLUMAS COUNTY.
As has been stated, the records of Butte county disclose the formation in this section of but the two townships of Quartz and Mineral by the court of sessions of that county. Just when and by whom the original townships in the county of Plumas were set off the records fail to inform us, but it must have been done by the court of sessions soon after the organization of the county. The board of commissioners named in the organic Act were not empowered to divide the county into townships, but simply to designate election precincts; and therefore it must be assumed that this act was performed by the court of sessions whose function it was. The first justices of Washington and Plumas townships qualified in September, 1854, which is conclusive evidence that the townships were created that summer by the court of sessions. There were then five of these judicial divisions, Quartz, Washington, Plumas, Mineral, and Seneca. Quartz embraced the present township of that name and a portion of Beckwourth and of Lassen county ; Washington was the present township of Goodwin, exclusive of the La Porte district; Plumas contained its present territory, a portion of Indian and Beckwourth townships, and the larger part of what was afterwards set off to Lassen county; Mineral had nearly its present limits; Seneca contained, in addition to its present territory, a share of Indian township and of Lassen county.
The civil reign of the court of sessions in Plumas county was short. Since 1850 that body had exercised the functions now discharged by a board of supervisors in the state of California, and for a year all civil affairs of this county were regulated by that court. By the Act of March 20, 1855, boards of supervisors were created in the various counties to manage their civil affairs. By the provisions of the Act, the county clerk, assessor, and surveyor were appointed a special board for the purpose of dividing the county into supervisor districts, and giving notice of the election which was fixed by the statute for the ninth of April. The brief record left by the board thus created, which assembled in Quincy on the fourth of April, is as follows:
"In accordance with the provisions of an Act to create a board of supervisors in the counties of this state, and to define their duties and powers, the undersigned have divided the county of Plumas into three districts, as follows, to wit:
" 1st district, composed of the township of Quartz and the township of Washington. 2nd dis- triet, composed of Plumas township. 3rd district, composed of townships Mineral and Seneca. April 4, 1855.
JOHN HARBISON, Clerk. By R. I. BARNETT, Deputy. C. PORTER, Assessor. By M. R. STREETER, Deputy. J. C. CHURCH, County Surveyor."
The election resulted in the choice of John C. Lewis of Nelson creek for supervisor of district No 1; Thomas B. Shannon of Elizabethtown for district No. 2; and Joseph Winston of Meadow valley for district No. 3. These gentlemen qualified, organized the board, and assumed the helm of the county which is still grasped by the hands of their elected successors. They did not at once make a new subdivision of the county into townships, as was the case in many counties, but con- tented themselves with altering the boundary lines here and there, and creating new townships from time to time.
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The township of Plumas was divided September 22, 1855, by a line running on " the divid- ing ridge between the American and Indian valleys." The portion lying east or north-east of said line was created Indian township.
On the sixth of May, 1856, the board created the township of Fillmore, embracing that portion of the county lying south of the middle fork of Feather river, and west of Little Grass valley.
The next day Rich Bar township was created, embracing the north fork of Feather river from one mile cast of Kingsbury's ferry to the Butte county line, the line dividing it from Mineral township running one mile south of the river.
Jackson township was organized ont of Plumas and Quartz, November 13, 1856, "beginning at Poplar bar on the middle fork of the Feather river; - thence up the stream, including both banks, to the month of Jamison creek; thence across to Grizzly valley divide; thence with said divide to the line dividing Plumas and Quartz; thence south on said line to the beginning." This was a small township compared to most of the others. On the first of December the north-west corner was defined to be a point opposite the east end of Yeates' ranch, from which the line ran south to Poplar bar.
August 4, 1857, Honey Lake township was formed out of portions of Indian and Seneca townships, embracing territory now lying within the limits of Lassen county.
No change was made in townships until November 4, 1862, when Summit township was created, "to comprise the whole of Sierra valley, Beckwourth valley, and Long valley."
The reader is referred to the early history of Lassen county in another portion of this work for a full understanding of the causes that led to a dismemberment of Plumas, and the creation of the county of Lassen. The Act of April 1, 1864, creating that county, cut off from Plumas all the territory lying east and north-east of the following line: "Commencing on the boundary line dividing Sierra and Plumas counties, at a point on the summit of the ridge which crosses said boundary line, and which divides Long valley from Sierra valley ; thence following the summit of said ridge (north-westerly), which separates the waters of Feather river from those which flow into the Great Basin and Honey Lake valley, to a point due south from the town of Susanville ; thence dne south to the summit of the ridge separating the waters which flow into the east branch of the north fork of Feather river, running through Indian valley, from those which flow into the north fork of Feather river, running through the mountain meadows; thence following the summit of said ridge to a point due south from a point where the old and present traveled road from the Big Meadows, via Hamilton's ranch, first crosses the said north fork of Feather river; thence due north to the south boundary line of Shasta county." This included all of Honey Lake township and a portion of the new township of Summit; in short, all that portion of the county which lay on the eastern slope of the Sierra, giving to Lassen the territory drained by the waters of the Great Basin of Nevada, and leaving in Plumas the country whose waters flow down to the Sacramento valley. The Act also provided that Lassen county should pay Plumas the sum of $1,000 on the first of January, 1866, and $1,500 a year later. This region, which showed by the census of 1860 a population of 476 white people, must have contained at this time fully a thousand, and was a great loss to the county of Plumas. The winds soon shifted, however, and filled Plumas' sails to speed her on her way, by the addition of a strip of desirable territory.
For some time there had been great dissatisfaction felt by the people of the town of La Porte and vicinity, with their connection with Sierra county. The same natural barriers of mountain and snow separated them from their county seat as had been complained of by the people of this county when attached to Butte. In the winter season it was impossible to go from La Porte to Downie-
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ville except by a long and circuitous route to pass around the intervening ridge of mountains; and the inconvenience became so annoying that it was loudly complained of. Aside from this, there was but little community of interest between the two sections; they were upon different routes of travel, and in many things their interests were antagonistic. In view of these things, the citizens of La Porte sought for several years to sever their connection with Sierra county. They endeavored to have a new county established, to be composed of that portion of Sierra county contiguous to La Porte, and a part of the county of Plumas lying north of them. To this was given the ill-fated name of Alturas-a name that has brought defeat wherever it has been applied, as it has been to several prospective counties in the state, and has finally settled down upon a little town in Modoc county, where its power for harm is small. This movement was headed by Creed Haymond and James E. Johnson, both resident lawyers of Sierra county, who sought to make La Porte the seat of justice of the new county. Much money was used by both parties to this contest, and the result was a complete failure of the scheme. The matter was not allowed to drop. A movement was set on foot to annex La Porte to Plumas county. As a part of this scheme, it was designed to build a fine wagon road from Quincy to La Porte, to more closely connect the two sections [see La Porte Wagon Road], and give the farmers of Plumas county a new market for their produce. This would be an improvement upon the situation of La Porte at that time, but still it left them without a complete remedy for the evils they had complained of, as the snow on the mountains between La Porte and the new county seat, Quincy, so completely severs the two places in winter that commu- nication is only maintained for weeks at a time by means of snow-shoes. However, to be released from Sierra county, at whatever cost, was the desire of the La Porte people. Plumas county was represented in the assembly in the session of 1865-66 by John D. Goodwin, who introduced a bill to annex the La Porte region to Plumas county. F. M. Smith was then the senator from Plumas. To represent their interests in the lobby the people of La Porte sent John Conly, Creed Haymond, Dr. Brewster, and others to Sacramento. Sierra county was represented in the assembly by M. A. Singleton and G. Meredith, and in the senate by L. E. Pratt; but not content with these, the county authorities sent the county auditor, W. S. Day, to watch the legislature, and guard the interests of Sierra county. The legislature adjourned, and the Sierra county delegation returned to their homes to find themselves hanging in effigy. The knowledge of the loss of their territory by the passage of the Act entitled An Act to Amend an Act to Organize the County'of Plumas out of a Portion of the Territory of Butte County, approved March 18, 1854, was first made known to them on their arrival in Downieville, whither they had returned to render an account of their stewardship. The assessor and collector of Sierra county immediately set out to assess and collect the taxes of the lost territory, but were arrested in La Porte for usurpation, and gave bonds. The case went to the supreme court, and was decided in favor of Plumas county, and La Porte was jubilant.
The Act above referred to was approved on the thirty-first of March, 1866, and took effect im- mediately. The new boundaries given to Plumas county by it were as follows: "Commencing at the Buckeye House, on the line between Yuba and Butte, and running in a right line crossing the southern portion of Walker's plains and Feather river to the summit of the dividing ridge dividing the waters of the west branch. and the main Feather river; thence following said divide to the summit of the main divide separating the waters of the Sacramento and the main. North Feather; thence following said divide to the line of Shasta county dividing Shasta and Butte; thence along said dividing line between Shasta and Butte counties to the western boundary line of Lassen county ; thence along said western boundary line of Lassen county to the northern
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boundary line of Sierra county ; thence along said northern boundary line of Sierra county to a point on said lines (?) six miles in a north-easterly direction from the Lexington House; thence south five miles ; thence south-west five miles ; thence north three miles; thence in a direct line to said Buckeye House." It will be seen by comparing this description with the county maps that Yuba county also contributed a little territory to Plumas. The Act of March 28, 1868, restored to Sierra county a small portion : " All that portion of the territory of Plumas county lying south of Slate creek is reannexed to the county of Sierra, and hereby declared to be a part of Sierra county." This strip also embraced the portion that had been taken from Yuba, and it is to Sierra and not Plumas that Yuba county must look for its lost domain. The board of supervisors of this county, in honor of John D. Goodwin, the man to whom was chiefly due the acquisition of this valuable territory, created it into a new and separate township upon which they bestowed his name. Under this name it still exists, but has had the old township of Washington annexed to it.
On the ninth of August, 1866, a complete resubdivision of the county into eight townships was made, and the boundaries of each were fully defined. Goodwin and Washington embraced sub- stantially the territory now composing Goodwin township; Quartz township comprised the present one by that name and the lower half of Beckwourth; Plumas was nearly the same as at present ; Indian embraced the present township of Indian and the upper half of Beckwourth ; Seneca township was the same as at present; Rich Bar embraced the north-west and Mineral the south-east half of the present township of Mineral.
On the twenty-ninth of August, 1871, the board authorized the county surveyor, A. W. Keddie, to make a county map. He was engaged upon this work for more than two years, and on the fifth of May, 1874, it was accepted by the board, and three thousand dollars paid for it. The map is accurate, and a splendid specimen of drafting, and hangs in the supervisors' room at the court- house, as the official map of the county. On the same day on which the map was accepted, the board declared the boundaries of the townships as thereon shown defined as follows :
SENECA TOWNSHIP .- Beginning at the point on the county line between Plumas and Lassen counties, where the government range line between ranges 8 and 9 E., Mount Diablo meridian, would cross said county line, and running thence south on said range line to the south-west corner of T. 26 N., R. 9 E .; thence due west to the county line; thence northerly on county line to Lassen Butte; thence east and southerly, following the boundary of Plumas county, to the place of beginning.
RICH BAR TOWNSHIP .- Beginning at the south-west corner of Seneca township, on the county line between Plumas and Butte, and running thence south-westerly and south-easterly along said county line to a point three miles westerly from the Buckeye House, a station on the Oroville and Quincy wagon road; thence north-easterly in a direct line to the summit of Fale's hill; thence easterly to the summit of the divide between Spanish creek and the east branch of the north fork of Feather river, to a point where the government range line between ranges 8 and 9 east would cross said divide; thence north to the south boundary of Seneca township; thence westerly along the south boundary of Seneca township to the place of beginning.
MINERAL TOWNSHIP .- Beginning at the south corner of Rich Bar township, on the county line between Plumas and Butte, and running thence north-easterly and casterly along the boundary of Rich Bar township to the government range line between ranges 8 and 9 E .; thence due south on said range line to the middle fork of Feather river; thence down the said middle fork to the county line between Plumas and Butte; thence north-westerly along said county line to the place of beginning.
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GOODWIN TOWNSHIP .- Beginning at the south boundary of Mineral township, where the
middle fork of Feather river crosses the county line between Plumas and Butte, and running thence up the said middle fork to the government range line between ranges 10 and 11; thence south on said range line to the summit of the divide between Nelson creek and Poplar creek ; thence southerly on said divide to the county line between Plumas and Sierra; thence north-west- erly, south-westerly, and north-westerly on the south boundary line of Phunas county to the place of beginning.
QUARTZ TOWNSHIP .- Beginning at the south-east corner of Goodwin township, on the county line between Plumas and Sierra, and running thence easterly on said county line to the government range line between ranges 13 and 14 east ; thence northerly on said range line to the north-east corner of T. 23 N., R. 13 E .; thence west on government township line to the summit of the divide between the waters of the north and middle forks of Feather river; thence south-westerly along the summit of said divide to the government range line between ranges 10 and 11 east ; thence south to the summit of the divide between Nelson and Poplar creeks; thence southerly along the east boundary of Goodwin township to the place of beginning.
BECKWOURTH TOWNSHIP .- Beginning on the east line of Quartz township, at the south-west corner of T. 22 N., R. 14 E., Mount Diablo meridian, and running thence north along the east boundary of Quartz township to the north-east corner of T. 23 N., R. 13 E .; thence west along the north line of Quartz township to the north-west corner of T. 23 N., R. 13 E. ; thence north, following the government range line between ranges No. 12 and 13, east to the county line between Plumas and Lassen; thence south-easterly and southerly along said county line to the south-east corner of Plumas county; thence west along the county line between Plumas and Sierra to the place of beginning.
INDIAN TOWNSHIP .- Beginning at the north-west corner of Beckwourth township, on the county line between Plumas and Lassen, and running thence north-westerly, south-westerly, and westerly, along the county line to the east line of Seneca township; thence south on the said east line and east line of Rich Bar township, to the east branch of the north fork of Feather river ; thence up said east branch to the junction of Indian and Spanish creeks; thence easterly and south- easterly, following the summit of the ridge dividing the waters of Indian and Spanish creeks to the summit of the main divide between the waters of the north fork and middle fork of the Feather river, on the north boundary of Quartz township; thence north-easterly along said main divide and north boundary of Quartz township to the west line of Beckwourth township; thence northerly on said west line of Beckwourth township to the place of beginning.
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