USA > California > Los Angeles County > Ingersoll's century history, Santa Monica Bay cities prefaced with a brief history of the state of California, a condensed history of Los Angeles County, 1542-1908 > Part 12
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Los Angeles was one of the twenty-seven counties created by act of the first California legislature, April 18th, 1850. Its boundaries as first indicated were very indefinite, extending from San Diego county on the south to Santa Barbara on the north and from the Pacific to "the top of the coast range." The second legislature amended the act by making the boundaries more exact and extending them to the castern state line. The area of the original county was about 34,000 square miles, almost as large as the state of Indiana. In 1851 the Mormon colony purchased the San Bernardino grant and established their colony of San Bernardino. In consequence San Bernardino county was set off from Los Angeles April 26th, 1853, taking an area of 20,055 square miles from the mother county. In 1866 Kern county was created, taking part of its territory from this county. After long discussion and dissension, Orange county was created, March LIth, 1889, taking 780 square miles, which leaves Los An- geles with a present area of 3957 square miles. Pomona county has been several times proposed and strong efforts have been made to secure its creation from Los Angeles and San Bernardino territory but, thus far, the movement has not been successful.
The first county election took place April Ist, 1850. The census for this year gives the county a population of 3530; 377 votes were cast and the officers chosen were: Judge, Augustin Olivera ; clerk, B. D. Wilson; attorney, Benjamin Hayes ; surveyor, J. R. Conway ; treasurer, Manuel Garfias; assessor, Antonio F. Coronel : recorder, Ignacio del Valle: sheriff, George T. Burrell ; coroner, Charles B. Cullen. August 7th, 1851, the county was divided into six townships, Los Angeles, San Gabriel, San José, San Bernardino, Santa Ana, San Juan Capistrano. The supervisors were not elected until June 14th, 1852, civil affairs in the meantime being administered by the "court of sessions ", appointed by the military governor. The first supervisors were Jefferson Hunt, Julian Chavez, F. P. F. Temple, Manuel Requena and Samuel Arbuckle ; the board was organ- ized with Arbuckle as chairman and B. D. Wilson, county clerk, clerk. The office of juez de campo, judge of the plains, was continued for a number of years after the American occupation, as late as 1872, although it was a part of the machinery of the Mexican administration. It was the duty of this officer to attend rodeos, settle all questions relating to brands and to the handling and
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division of stock. They were appointed to different districts and were given large jurisdiction.
One of the first important political questions discussed in the southern district was that of forming a separate state. In 1850, before California had been received into the union, a petition requesting that the southern district be left out of the state was prepared. It was felt that the rancheros of the south, thinly populated as it was, would receive but small favor from the north, which held the bulk of the population, and would have to pay an undue proportion of the expenses of state government. In 1859, an act was passed by the state legislature permitting a vote upon a proposal to divide the state; but it failed to go through. State division has been a topic for much discussion and news- paper wisdom since that time, a bill for division being introduced in 1888; but has never since become a serious issue.
The first state senator from this county was Dr. A. W. Hope, succeeded by Stephen C. Foster, one of the earliest and most prominent of American settlers. The first assemblymen were A. P. Crittenden and Montgomery Martin, who were succeeded by Don Abel Stearns and Ignacio del Valle. Los Angeles county and Southern California bore little part in the active government of the state during the first three or four decades of its existence. The first governor elected from the south was John G. Downey, inaug- urated January 14th, 1860. He was long one of the leading citizens of Los Angeles and had served as as- HON. JOHN G. DOWNEY. semblyman and lieutenant-governor also. Since that time this county has furnished three governors- George Stoneman, Henry H. Markham and Henry T. Gage. As United States senators, Cornelius Cole, Stephen M. White and Frank P. Flint have been resi- dents of Los Angeles county.
The discovery of gold brought wealth to Southern California, as well as to the north. J. J. Warner in his " Centennial History " says : " The discovery of the 'mines' in the year 1848 carried away many of the native population ; created a new demand for the horses and cattle which the southern rancheros could so easily supply ; brought a multitude of emigrants from Sonora, as well as from the United States ; left the people at home here (in Los Angeles) in a state of perpetual excitement and exultation. During the summer of 1849 and the year of 1850, Los Angeles was a thoroughfare of travel. With, or without means, the incomers crowded on ; seldom destitute, for their needs were supplied, when known, by generous hospitality from the Lugos of San Bernardino; Isaac Williams of Chino; Rowland and Workman at Puente and the liberality of native
7
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Californians. With the people of Los Angeles, 1850 was a year of enjoyment, rather than an earnest pursuit of riches. Money was abundant. All sought to make the most of the pleasures of life." A strong contrast here to the mad rush for gold in the placer mines. The prosperity of the rancheros continued for several years. In 1857 a drought retarded the progress; but the increased market for stock and the importation of stock from the states had greatly in- creased the wealth of the county. The population of the county was 11,333 in 1860. The floods and the long drought of the carly sixties; the disturbed condi- tion of the country and the cessation of immigration made the increase slow during the next ten years. The census of 1870 shows only 15.309 inhabitants.
The first court house of Los Angeles was the adobe house which had been used as a government building during the later days of the Mexican rule. In 1859 the offices were removed to the Temple building, which was known for many years as the "court house "; this was located on the block where the Bullock block now stands. During the sixties the county purchased the building and it was occu- pied until the erection of the present fine building in 1890, at a cost of $550,000.
The first school in Los Angeles, taught in the English language, was under the instruction of Rev. Dr. Wicks and J. G. Nichols, in 1850. In 1854 there were four schools in the county, two of "OLD" COURT HOUSE. them being taught in English. In 1855 there were three school districts, Los Angeles, San Gabriel and El Monte, with II9I school children. Antonio F. Coronel acted as first superintendent of schools, succeeded in 1855 by Dr. John S. Griffin. In 1856 there were seven schools, four of them being in the city. In 1866 the county had 12 school districts and in 1876 123 teachers with a total valuation of school property of $202,262. In 1906 the county had 1616 teachers and school property amounting to $4.715,015.
Many of the earlier settlers of the county were southern in sentiment and as the question of slavery began to threaten difficulties, there was much unrest and dissension. Another element of the population came from the mining dis- tricts of the north-mostly of those who had failed to find wealth. The spirit of lawlessness which prevailed in the state was not absent in this county. Crime
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was rampant and robbery and murders were every-day occurrences. The courts seemed unable to meet the situation and the best citizens were uneasy. The pro-slavery sentiment led to the attempt at state division in 1859; but on the breaking out of the war, the people generally rallied to the Union and there was no open disloyalty in this county. In 1861 a union club was organized and a regiment of volunteers was raised. Camps were maintained at Drum Bar- racks, Wilmington, and at Camp Latham on the Ballona grant, and troops were stationed in the city at times, and at Fort Tejon. The agitation against the Chinese was not as aggressive in this county as in the north, the celestials were too useful in the vineyards and orchards ; yet there was much discus- sion and public meetings were held to uphold the anti-Chinese movement. The terrible Chinese mas- sacre of October 24th, 1871, was not a direct result of feeling against the race ; but originated in a quar- rel between two Chinese factions over a woman. In an attempt to quell the disturbance an officer and two citizens were wounded by the Chinese. This aroused a mob, who rushed into the Chinese quarter and slaughtered right and left, without regard to ANTONIO F. CORONEL. right or mercy. Their houses were looted by the mob and nineteen deaths resulted from the affair. The population of the county more than doubled during the seventies, the census of 1880 showing 33,454 souls. The completion of transcontinental lines and the "boom " swelled the population to 101,381 in 1890, despite the 13,000 taken out by Orange county the previous year. Since that date Los Angeles county has rapidly advanced until now she stands second in the state, and is a power to be reckoned with in all political questions.
HON. PIO PICO
GUVERNØR JANUARY, 199 TO JANUARY, 183. FEBRUARY, 11145, TO AUGUST, 1840
CHAPTER II.
STOCK RAISING AND AGRICULTURE.
S TOCK raising, which was practically the only industry of Southern Califor- nia at the time the country passed into the hands of the United States, continued to be the chief source of wealth for Los Angeles county until the severe drought of 1863-4. According to the census report of 1850, the great county of Los Angeles had but 2648 acres of improved land and in 1860 but 20,000 acres was under cultivation. The great influx of gold-seekers provided a new market for cattle and horses, which largely increased prices, and the rancheros of Southern California were as " flush " as the miners of the north, for a time. The value of live stock steadily increased and in 1860 it is given as $1,451,000, although there had been heavy losses, many cattle dying of starvation during the drought of 1857. But the long dry spell, lasting two years and over, almost wrecked the business. Stock died, or was killed to save the hides, until almost none was left. After this time, the rancheros devoted more attention to sheep and the flocks were greatly increased, while cattle were handled in smaller bunches and improved stock was introduced by the Americans. The breaking up of the big ranchos began and a number of new settlements were made during the seventies. As early as 1844 José Palomares, owner of the San José rancho, where Pomona is now located, sold off a number of small tracts of land to Mex- icans, who took water from the San José creek and formed a prosperous little settlement. About the same time Juan Bandini induced a party of New Mex- icans to settle on his Jurupa grant, now the site of Riverside, and the village of Agua Mansa, with flourishing orchards and grain fields resulted. In 1851 the Mormon settlement of San Bernardino was begun and these industrious people soon demonstrated that sinall farms could be made profitable in this country. In 1851 a number of immigrants, mostly from the southern states, settled at El Monte. Here was a natural cienega and the low damp lands were especially adapted to the growing of corn and hogs. In 1860 this settlement had a population of over one thousand and was a noted place in the early history of the county. In 1874 it had a newspaper, the Observer, and a hotel. At Spadra, Ruebottom's hotel was a stopping point for all stages to the east and a noted hostelry in the sixties. This was also one of the earliest American set- tlements. About 1865 Governor Downey began to break up his Santa Gertrudes rancho and the settlement of Downey followed. Here, too, corn yielded mar- velous crops and the raising of hogs and of dairy cattle was profitable. Thus gradually small farms, with diversified farming, took the place of the old-time exclusive stock raising and Los Angeles county lost her distinction as a "cow " county ; although the raising of stock and dairying is still a profitable business.
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Much attention in later years has been given to the production of blooded stock, especially horses ; while the value of the dairy products for 1905, according to the state agricultural report, reached a million dollars.
In 1857 a party of Germans, mostly artisans resident in San Francisco, purchased a tract of land near the Santa Ana and established the settlement of Anaheim. At first most of the tract was set to vineyards and the colonists en- gaged extensively in wine making. This was the first horticultural settlement. Mission grapes had been set extensively during the sixties and seventies and wine-making became one of the most important resources of the county. In 1879 two million gallons were produced beside 50,000 gallons of brandy. There were then thirty distilleries in the county. The cultivation of the wine grape began with the "mother " vineyard at San Gabriel, which was planted from slips brought from Lower California. In 1831 Los Angeles city had over 100 acres of grapes and there were 50,000 vines growing on Los Nietos rancho. The Californians began early to manufacture wines and aguadiente and in 1850 the county is credited with 57,000 gallons of wine. This was shipped to San Francisco and brought good prices. In' 1855 Sansevaine brothers shipped the first California wine to New York city and by 1861 L. J. Rose, B. D. Wilson and the Sansevaines were making large shipments to the east. L. J. Rose, Don Mateo Keller, Kohler and Frohling, and others were among the earlier manu- facturers who spent much time and money in experimenting, introducing new varieties of grapes and improved methods of wine making. The cultivation of the white muscat grape for raisins began about 1877-78 and for a time this grape was planted very widely and raisins promised to become one of the greatest crops of the county, but the appearance of the vine disease about 1885 destroyed many vineyards and greatly discouraged both wine and raisin makers.
In the early seventies attention was turned to wheat raising on an extensive scale. J. B. Lankershim was one of the first growers, planting a large acreage on the San Fernando rancho. He was also one of the owners of the first large flour mill erected in the county. Dan Freeman was another large wheat grower, on the Centinela rancho. In 1879 Los Angeles county produced 752,000 bushels of wheat, from 22,000 acres of land, according to Bancroft. Corn was also largely cultivated and barley was raised for hay on a large scale. But as the possibilities of irrigation and horticulture developed, land became too valuable for wheat culture, as it had already advanced beyond the possibility of profitable use for grazing purposes.
During the eighties the chief feature of agricultural development was the extension of irrigation systems. Irrigation had been practiced to some extent since the first settlement of the country. The San Gabriel and San Fernando missions and the settlers of Los Angeles had irrigated considerable areas and built somewhat elaborate works. The waters of the San Gabriel and Los Angeles rivers had been utilized by means of open ditches for many years; but now
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began the formation of water companies who improved upon the old crude methods and developed water from unused sources. In 1867 the first artesian well was put down by Downey and Hellman about six miles from Wilmington. Artesian water was found to be available in many districts and has been devel- oped until now probably half, at least, of the water used for irrigation in this county comes from this source. In 1876 the land under irrigation in the county was estimated at 26,900 acres ; in 1890 70,164 acres were under irrigation, mostly devoted to citrus culture.
The mission fathers planted orange trees at San Gabriel soon after its establishment. In 1834 Louis Vignes, a Frenchman, who was one of the first foreigners to locate in Los Angeles, planted an orange garden on his place, known at that time as "El Aliso." This garden, surrounded by a high adobe wall, contained not only oranges, but all the fruits then known in the country. He also had a considerable vineyard and established a winery, under the great sycamore tree, which gave the name of "El Aliso" to the place. In 1841 Wil- liam Wolfskill set out two acres of oranges, procuring the stock from San Gabriel. These trees bore the first oranges that were ever put on the market in this state and yielded such large profits that in 1858 Mr. Wolfskill set out thirty acres on land lying between Alameda and San Pedro, Third and Seventh streets. In 1852 B. D. Wilson set a grove at San Gabriel; but in 1856 there were only 100 orange bearing trees in the country, these surrounded by walls to keep out wandering cattle. The total yield was 100,000 oranges, which were sold by the hundred and brought a net income of $100 per tree, so Mr. Wolfskill stated. . From this time the planting went on rapidly. About 1873 Thomas A. Garey, the pioneer nurseryman of the county, and L. J. Rose, B. D. Wilson and others began to introduce different varieties of citrus fruit, importing them from Europe, South America and Florida. The most valuable of these varieties proved to be the Mediterranean Sweet. About 1880 the Washington Navel was brought into the county from Riverside and its excellent qualities soon made it the favorite. Between 1880 and 1890 the planting of citrus fruit was at its height. Stimulated by the ready money and the exuberant hopes of boom times, large areas were put under irrigation and planted out. Pomona, Alhambra, Whittier, Sierra Madre and many other districts were thus started by people who looked forward to making an easy fortune from citrus culture. In 1874 there were 34,700 bearing orange trees in the county; in 1880, 192,000 bearing trees, and in 1892 1,500,000 trees were growing.
In 1857 scale made its first appearance ; but its inroads were not serious until the appearance of the cottony cushion scale about 1890. This especially affected trees near the coast and in a single year the crop in Los Angeles county fell from 2212 cars to 718 cars. But the introduction of the Australian " lady- bug " proved an effectual remedy and the groves were saved by this parasite. Many of the earliest seedling orchards have now passed out of existence, the
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land being used for town lots, or for alfalfa or truck farming. Yet Los Angeles county still leads in the production of citrus fruits, the value of the crop for 1906 being estimated at $4,000,000 and there being 1,738,213 bearing orange trees in the county.
The introduction of alfalfa from San Bernardino county in the later fifties gave a valuable crop for suitable lands and proved a great boon to the dairy farmer. The culture of the sugar beet was attempted about 1879 and in 1880 Messrs. Nadeau and Gemmert planned to build a sugar factory at Florence. This did not materialize, but later the location of sugar factories at Chino, Ala- mitos and Oxnard supplied a market and a considerable acreage is annually planted to beets. The growing of vegetables and small fruits has become an important branch of our agriculture and large quantities are raised for home use and for shipping.
Diversified farming and the small farm, intensively cultivated, is the rule in the vicinity of Los Angeles now. Oranges, lemons, walnuts, olives and decid- nous fruits are raised with profit in many districts ; grain and hay are produced on " dry " farms and the northern portion of the county still furnishes range for cattle and sheep. Los Angeles is now one of the leading agricultural counties in the state, her horticultural and garden products, in 1902, being valued at $10,307,290, and her cereals and hay at over $1,000,000, with dairy produces of equal value. And the possibilities are by no means exhausted. There is yet much valuable land which can be utilized and much room for increased produc- tion in lands already under cultivation.
CHAPTER III.
MINING AND MANUFACTURING.
A LTHOUGH the first gold discovered in California was found in this county, Los Angeles has never ranked high in gold production. In 1852 placer mines were found in the San Gabriel cañon and quite an excite- ment followed. Considerable gold dust was taken from these mines which con- tinned to yield for many years in paying quantities. Gold was found on the Santa Anita ranch in 1856 and there was a rush in that direction ; some mines were also located on Catalina island and gold mines have been claimed at some other points in the county. But the only paying claims were those of the San Gabriel. Silver and other minerals have been found at various points ; but no very rich mines have been uncovered.
The mineral wealth of the county is, however, large; it produces a large quantity of petroleum-which is quite as valuable, in its way, as gold. It is
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said that Andreas Pico used to supply the priests at San Fernando mission with oil from Pico cañon, and it was from this district that the first oil was taken. In 1859 the Pioneer Oil Co. was formed and wells were bored on the La Brea rancho and in other districts where brea or asphaltum indicated petroleum ; but no oil in merchantable quantity was found until about 1865, when wells were bored in Pico cañon and a considerable oil excitement prevailed. The first shipment of crude oil was made from these wells in 1867. But no very active progress was made until improved machinery for drilling and pumping came into use about 1877. Then the Pico and Newhall wells became large producers and the refinery at Newhall was built and, for a number of years, was successfully operated. The demand for the petroleum was not very active until about 1885, when a company was formed to foster its use as a fuel and produced a distillate which could be used for domestic and manufacturing pur- poses in a suitable burner. The Puente oil fields were exploited during the eighties ; but the pre-eminence of this county as an oil producer did not com- mence until the discovery of oil in Los Angeles city. In 1892, Messrs. Doheny and Conner drilled a well in the old West Second street park which proved to be a gusher. At once other wells were put down in this district and soon a forest of derricks had arisen. By 1895 over 300 wells were in operation in, or near, the city and their yield is put at 730,000 barrels. About this time an oil burner for use in locomotives was perfected and the Santa Fé road began to use crude oil as fuel. Manufacturing plants and steam vessels found oil from 30 to 60 per cent. cheaper than coal. This fuel also presented many other ad- vantages and rapidly grew in favor, so that in spite of the greatly increased output, the price rose. An oil " boom " naturally resulted. Oil companies were numerous and prospecting was done in all sorts of likely and unlikely districts. The Whittier field, the Sespe and other districts in Ventura county were devel- oped. There are now several refineries in the county and in 1905 over 1200 wells were yielding, their product reaching 4,000,000 barrels, valued at $1,755,000. The cheapness and abundance of oil has been one of the leading factors in the rapid progress of our county, giving a possibility of meeting eastern competition in manufacturing, and being a large element in the development of our electric railway systems and electrical power plants. Not its least benefit is in the in- provement of our public roads through the use of crude oil. We have now about 7000 miles of public roads in the county. These, when properly treated with oil, become almost dustless and as hard as macadamized roads, an advantage of incalculable benefit in this country.
Second in our list of mineral wealth comes the clay products of the county. Nearly all of the Californian dwellings and of the missions were built of un- burned brick. Tiling, ollas and clay utensils were made by the Indians and Mexicans. The first kiln-dried brick were made in Los Angeles in 1852 by
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Captain Jesse Hunter of the Mormon battalion, and used to build a house at the corner of Third and Main. In 1855 Mullaly, Porter and Ayer started a brick yard and in 1858 manufactured 2,000,000 brick. It was known that a number of valuable clay beds existed and several brick yards utilized the clay ; but it was not until the nineties that the business assumed large proportions. With the steadily growing demand for building material, not only brick, but artificial stone, concrete blocks and many other forms of manufactured clay products for building purposes have been devised. Water pipe was first made at Santa Monica in 1877. The manufacture of water and sewer pipe is now a large business. There are eighteen or twenty establishments manufacturing brick, pipe, pottery, concrete, and so on and their annual production runs into the millions. An art tile factory has lately been established at Tropico.
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