USA > California > Contra Costa County > The history of Contra Costa County, California > Part 11
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HISTORY OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
from the Van Gorden pear orchard. In the great earthquake of 1868 the building mentioned was badly damaged, and was soon afterward torn down.
The ruin known as the Foster House is of historic interest. It was erected in 1857 by James Foster, of Maine, and the staunch timbers of which it is constructed were made from trees which grew in the Maine woods. The lumber for the house was sawed, shaped, and fitted, all ready to put together, then shipped around the Horn to its destined home. Mr. Foster was a wheelwright, and wagons, carriages, furniture, and even coffins, when occasion required, were turned out from his shop with a neatness and finish that would do credit to the present day.
In 1854 the first school in San Ramon Valley opened its doors in a little house which stood in the northern part of what is now the Ken- dall property, near the cemetery. Richard Webster was the first teacher. Soon after, a church (Cumberland Presbyterian) was built near the schoolhouse, on the lot which is now a driveway leading to the ceme- tery. For a while a school was conducted in a little house that stood on a bedrock knoll a short distance north of the point where the Southern Pacific Railroad crosses the county road between Alamo and Walnut Creek. This was known as the "Wall" schoolhouse, being near the home of Captain Wall, at that time the owner of the Foulds ranch.
In 1859 leading residents organized the Contra Costa Educational Association, and erected the Union Academy, a boarding and day school. The academy opened for instruction in June, 1860, with Rev. David McClure as its first principal, while Silas Stone, John M. Jones, and Robert Love comprised its first board of trustees. The Union Academy was a large three-story structure, centrally located between Alamo and Danville, on the west side of the county road, on land that is now a prune orchard belonging to Mr. E. B. Anderson. The fine locusts which grace the roadway at that spot were planted in the days of the academy, to adorn the entrance to its grounds. John H. Braly, in later years principal of the San Jose Normal School, succeeded Dr. McClure as principal. Mr. Braly's successor was Rev. Robert King, and in 1868, during his principalship, the academy was destroyed by fire, and was never rebuilt. The church building almost directly opposite the academy site afforded temporary school accommodations. In the meantime other towns had sprung up-Danville, Limerick (now San
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SAN RAMON VALLEY
Ramon), and Walnut Creek, situated at the junction of Walnut and San Ramon creeks. District schools were established at Alamo and at these younger towns.
In 1910, by popular vote of Danville, San Ramon, Alamo, Green Val- ley, and Sycamore districts, a high school was established at Danville, and named the San Ramon Valley Union High School. Although still in its infancy, it gives promise of becoming a power in the land.
In nothing does history show progress in greater degree than in modes of transportation. Beginning with that ox-team which "gee- hawed" its way through our valley in 1847, we may trace the means of travel next by the saddle-horse, then by carriages drawn by horses. Next came the steam railroad with the advent of the Southern Pacific in 1891 ; in more recent years scores of automobiles, and now since 1914 the Oakland, Antioch & Eastern Railway, land us in the metropo- lis in less than two hours.
Since the coming of our first American settlers in 1851, the years have brought many changes besides those of transportation. Many of the big ranches have been divided into smaller holdings. With the in- crease of population and more intensive farming, land has steadily in- creased in value, and, instead of being sold by the "league," it is meas- ured to the hundredth of an acre. Instead of the scattering farmhouses of the fifties, the valley and foothills are dotted with comfortable and attractive homes.
Better facilities for handling perishable products, have changed many grain-fields into orchards, and fruit from San Ramon Valley now commands the highest prices in the markets of Eastern cities.
CHAPTER XI
CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
NO PHRASES of speech can fitly portray the panorama of changes that have passed before this one narrow field of vision during the compara- tively brief period of time 'twixt then and now. An appreciable repre- sentation of these should be pictured by the genius of a Michael Angelo upon a furlong canvas. It is only by this means that the contrasting of then and now can be presented to the quick glance of comprehension. The very face of the landscape has been changed; the names and cus- toms and the very elements of society have changed. If real improve- ments and real progress are to be tested or measured by the compara- tive happiness of men and women, then there have been no improve- ments, no progress. It is only change. The old picture has been rudely effaced by social vandalism, and the canvas bedaubed with a new rep- resentation.
The features and the life of the landscape have been changed. Stand- ing upon the mountain-tops sixty years ago, in the beginning of the month of May, one there and then beheld the broad-spreading plains and the gracefully undulating hills all clothed in verdure and beautified, as if by special ornamentation, with scattered groves of evergreen oaks, and here and there the tortuous fringes and dense clusters of the willows, marking the course of the rivulets and the locations of the living springs. This was simple inanimate nature, but the life of the landscape were the cattle upon a thousand hills. Myriads of cattle, bovine cattle, all spotted cattle, were feeding and roaming without limit over all the land, over all the sides and summits of the green hills, and over all the green-covered valleys and plains-these valleys and hills around us here. And there note also the dashing, picturesque vaquero, with his swinging lariat, making his oft-repeated charges among those wild flocks, arousing headlong stampedes among them. No prim, prudish artificial fencing of unsightly posts and boards then disfigured the landscape. Property boundaries of territory were marked only by
L I Frish
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natural monuments. The mountain's crest, the meandering creek, the isolated boulder, the venerable oak, the living spring, the shore of the sea-these were the landmarks of the ranchero's wide domains. Nor was this pueblo of ours (Concord) thought worthy of artificial protec- tion ; whole bands of these wild cattle together would come charging down from the hills, and careering through the streets, would escape the fierce pursuit of a dozen vaqueros. No foolish artificial fencing then. Over all the land no vandal plow had ever scarred and mutilated the face of nature, over all the land no square miles of nature's green had been discolored to the dirty brown of tillage; but the whole earth, from the Sierras to the Pacific sea, was one limitless, universal pasture-land, resting beautiful and grand under the glorious brightness of a Cali- fornia sunshine.
The elements of society have changed. Sixty years ago the Spanish population was the elemental rule-all others were only the exception. There were the Alvarados, the Castros, the Martinez, the Sepulvedas, the Estudillos, the Moragas, the Briones, the Sunols, the Sotos, the Peraltas, the Altemeranos, the Amadors, the Mirandas, the Berryessas, the Pachecos, the Bacas, the Higueras, the Alvisos, the Naviagas-all these proud, grand old families, each under the benignant rule of its kind old patriarch. It was most delightful to be among them at their homes - these rich, extravagant, hospitable, confiding, simple-minded, old-fashioned people. There was no shoddyism discovered there; all their surroundings were old-fashioned, neat, and comfortable. Just think of that sumptuous dinner of Spanish cookery and those luxurious feather beds after the fatiguing hard day's ride on horseback. The young men of each household, although sometimes reckless and wild like other boys, were polite, sprightly, and handsome. The young women were beautiful and graceful, with manners most charming. One never will forget those social fandangos. Now the Spanish noun fandango is often used by stupid Americanos as an expression of contempt. But this comprehensive Spanish word has the same purport as the two English words "social party." Their beautiful dances were the very poetry of motion, and they were tastefully adopted by well-bred Ameri- can society.
There was another seemingly barbarous amusement which had been adopted hundreds of years before from the Moorish customs. We refer
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to the renowned Spanish bull-fight, which at one time was as popular as it was dangerous.
We have said the Spanish ranchero was extravagant in his mode of living. Well, why not? He could well afford to be extravagant, for he was rich, very rich. There were those dozen solid silver candlesticks; there were those solid silver salvers three feet long; there were those quaint old Mexican table sets of solid silver. The ladies of the house- hold were provided with sumptuous and most costly apparel. He had gold in abundance, the proceeds from the ready sale of his thousands of beef cattle. And what could he do with all this gold? He said, "Let us have sport with it," and so he and his neighboring rancheros had their regular gambling set-to every Sunday evening after church. His wide domain of square leagues more than equaled any German principality. That earthquake - proof adobe cottage, that vineyard, that bubbling spring of purest water, that sparkling living brook, that cool shade of waving willows, the soft breeze of a peculiar climate, that quiet seclu- sion from the striving world, made up his beautiful garden of para- dise. Conscious of his independence and wealth, of his thousands for him and for his for all coming time, he never dreamt of a reverse of fortune.
But a change came over the spirit of his dream. The unscrupulous Yankee finds his resting-place. A few thousand dollars in gold coin is temptingly exhibited; the wine circulates freely, with the oft-repeated "Buena salud"; conversation becomes interesting and animated, and the patriarch and his household are charmed with their new-found acquaintance, the artful and polished visitor. A loan of this money is most graciously tendered by this most liberal stranger ; a little more wine is taken for the stomach's sake, with another "Buena salud" all around, and the proffered loan is as graciously accepted, more to oblige the accomplished guest than for any possible need or use for the ready cash ; a promissory note, prepared beforehand, written in Eng- lish, and made payable one day after date, bearing interest at the rate of seven per cent a month, to be compounded monthly, is accepted, and the usual accompanying death-pledge upon that principality of square leagues, is mirthfully executed by the confiding, simple-minded, illiter- ate Spaniard as if it were a passing jest. So much droll ceremony with reference to that mere trifle of money was light comedy to him, in
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the amusing program of the day's entertainment. Time rolls on- months, years pass away. Where does that elegant gentleman keep him- self? Why does he not come and get his money? Surely he is a most indulgent creditor. The illiterate Spaniard has no conception of the cumulative effect of interest compounded. In the lapse of time the in- significant financial comedy is scarcely remembered. Eventually, a polite note is received, as coming from the court, with reference to that almost forgotten subject. Of course, there is nothing to be said by way of objection ; it is all right. Why, then, should he trouble himself with giving any heed to it? That little affair of a few thousand dollars can be refunded any day. Why does not the gentleman come and pay us a visit? That little matter of money is ready for him any day. He prom- ised to come and see us again.
More years have glided into the past, and that paltry item of interest has regularly and steadily compounded over a hundred times; the principal and interest have gradually rolled up to the immense amount of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars-a full quarter of a million ! In time the mortgage is foreclosed. Then comes the auction sale; and there the prowling agent of the relentless creditor, without competi- tion, bids in those many square miles of land for only a half of the enormous debt. It is then only that the credulous dreaming Spanish family is startled and awakened as by an earthquake shock! The busi- ness was complicated, and needed the deft handling of financial abil- ity. Redemption is impossible. The final judicial process is the closing act of the drama, and that splendid estate comes under the dominion of the stranger. The patriarch and his numerous household are exiled from their home forever, while indigence and wretched want attend them as they scatter and wander away.
EARLY SETTLEMENT
During the year 1828 the Rancho Monte del Diablo, comprising four leagues of land, was granted to Don Salvio Pacheco, a gentleman who was widely known throughout the department of California, and held many high offices in the gift of the Mexican Government. At that time he was a resident of the Pueblo de San José, and it was not until the year 1834 that he took actual possession and commenced stocking his vast property with cattle-for be it remembered that the early Cali-
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fornian was a stock-raiser rather than a farmer. Don Salvio died at his residence near Concord. This gentleman came to the rancho during a portion of each year. In 1845 he brought his family to the county and made his permanent home in Contra Costa. In the early days the Pache- cos owned fully five thousand head of cattle, while it may be stated, as showing that the rancho life was not always one of indolence, that it was usual to shut up for the night as many as one thousand calves.
Up until 1852 there was no accession to the foreign population of the township under consideration. In that year we learn that Asa Bowen settled on the place later occupied by Silverio Soto and Wil- liam C. Prince. In the same year Benjamin Shreve resided a short time in Ygnacio Valley, but afterward moved to Lafayette.
It should be mentioned that in 1850 valuable lime quarries were dis- covered at the foot of Mount Diablo by Frank Such, who at once com- menced the task of developing them. In company with W. E. Whitney, Such supplied vast quantities of the lime for the mortar that was first used in San Francisco, the material being shipped from the landing six miles from the mouth of Mount Diablo Creek. Excellent kilns, capable of burning four hundred and fifty barrels at a time, and yielding three thousand barrels per month, were there erected.
In November, 1852, Randolph H. Wight, for many years one of the Board of Supervisors of Contra Costa County, settled in the New York Valley, where he resided with his brother until 1857, when he moved to his own residence. On his arrival Mr. Wight found the Olmstead and Strode families settled here, the former living in a house built in 1850-the first dwelling in that portion of the township-where later stood the Stone House, first occupied by Joseph Anderson, and after- ward by Daniel Cunningham. In that year the first orchards were planted in New York Valley section of Township Number Three.
Our readers are all familiar with the stretch of territory forming the high land between Mount Diablo and Walnut Creek, then embraced in English and Kapp's property, comprising some three thousand acres in all, and usually called the Government Ranch. This name, however, is misleading. We are informed by reliable authority that the ranch was never the property of the Government, nor was it leased by them. It was purchased by two officers of the Quartermaster's Department of the United States Army, Majors Allen and Loring, in or about
Charles Fish
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1851. From the fact of the army mules being pastured there at one time, the public gave the tract the name of the Government Ranch. It was one league of the Pacheco grant, and was sold to Majors Allen and Loring for $12,500. There the two officers shortly after erected several buildings, but these have not been used for residence for years. These buildings, ready to be set up, were imported from Norway. They were constructed without nails, and, as all the parts were numbered, they were easily put together. Major Allen never lived on the ranch. On Loring's death, however, he acquired that gentleman's share and after- ward sold out to Doctor L. C. Frisbie, of Solano County, who dis- posed of it to Judge S. C. Hastings. One-half of it was bought by G. W. Colby from Judge Hastings, who gave the remaining moiety to his son, C. F. D. Hastings, who sold it to Barry Baldwin, and from him it passed to the hands of other owners.
We now come to that epoch when every available acre of the town- ship was taken up by squatters-not a quarter-section but had been taken possession of by those dispirited men from the mines.
Prominent among those to settle in Ygnacio Valley in 1851 was James T. Walker, the nephew of the renowned Captain Joe Walker. He built himself a beautiful home, and owned a large estate of hill and valley lands. His house commanded one of the most magnificent pros- pects conceivable, as it took in the fertile valley, dotted with umbrage- ous oaks, and blended in the blue distance with Suisun Bay and the hills beyond. In the same year Mr. Walker's companion, Frank McClellan, settled on the place where Lawrence Geary resided. Of the others who came in the year 1853 were "Jerry" Morgan, George Petwin, Penni- man, Seymour, Myron Gibson, Robert McPherson, Alonzo Plumley, the Smiths, Ben Hockabout, "Hank," Henry, and John Davis, and Van- dermark. Seymour settled near the section where W. C. Prince was lo- cated; Barnheisel occupied a point near Major's farm; Ed. Legrand had a forty-acre tract above the Lohse place, and known afterward as the Shannon tract; Morgan was located where J. F. S. Smith resided, his cabin being on the hill once occupied by the barn; Myron and John Gibson and James Toomey occupied a portion of the splendid ranch later owned by Munson Gregory, and as far as Bray's residence in Pine Cañon. In October, 1853, Doctor E. F. Hough, then of Martinez, located in Ygnacio Valley, entered upon the practice of his profession,
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HISTORY OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
and after some obstructiveness on the part of native Californians, es- tablished a lasting popularity. He also opened a store and house of en- tertainment, which he conducted until 1855, when, disposing of his interest, he removed to the county seat. This was the first store in the township. In 1853 Prince bargained with Asa Bowen for his farm; he found on the place a full crop of sweet potatoes of some fifteen to twenty acres in extent. It was in 1852 or 1853 that the first crop of wheat in this section was sown. On May 3, 1853, Samuel S. Bacon came to the Government Ranch, and in the fall built a stable for four- v teen mules, for Majors Allen and Loring of the United States Army. Of the very few names remembered, those of Bishop and Van Ryder may be mentioned ; they resided on the place now owned by Charles S. Lohse, where they cultivated a small patch of wheat in partnership. At that period there was not a semblance of a town in the county save at Martinez. F. L. Such was foreman for a San Francisco firm, and had the limekiln mentioned elsewhere; it was situated on the right bank of the branch of Mount Diablo Creek, where he established a landing. The creek was then sufficiently large for craft of nearly one hundred tons ; today it is almost filled up. The lime enterprise was continued un- til 1862; then it lay dormant for a time, and under the supervision of another firm was revived and worked until about the year 1870. In later years it was again taken up, and has continued to the present time a large and profitable industry.
In the New York Valley district in 1853 Charles L. Bird located on the land then owned by the Colby estate, C. J. Pramberg, and Hilshin and Johnson. Toward the end of the year Knight settled on what was later the Cunningham estate. In the spring of that year Charles N. Wight joined his brother in that section. Here, in 1853, the first land was plowed, and about seven acres sowed in wheat. An excellent crop was the out-turn, but, owing to the want of proper threshing facilities, not much good resulted.
The parents of S. P. Davis, of Brentwood, located in the Pacheco Valley, near Clayton, October 17, 1853, and with their son resided for many years in that region.
In the spring of 1854, William C. Prince, who came to his uncle, Elam Brown, in 1849, removed from Lafayette to his farm in Ygnacio Valley, which he purchased the year previous. In 1854, including squat-
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ters, there were fully twenty-five families settled in Ygnacio Valley, the produce of which was shipped from the embarcadero at Pacheco to San Francisco. Cultivation had become general and immense crops were raised. In that year came to Bay Point district, Newton Wood- ruff, accompanied by his brothers Asa, Philo, and Simeon, the last of whom remained some five or six years. The first school in the town- ship was established in that year in Ygnacio Valley.
Among the settlers of the township in 1855 was C. B. Porter, who served in both the upper and lower house in the State legislature, and was well known as the editor and proprietor of the Contra Costa Ga- zette.
In 1855 Ignacio Soto joined his brothers, who had preceded him to Contra Costa County, on the thousand-acre tract in the Ygnacio Val- ley. Here he resided until his death, which occurred June 15, 1882. In 1857 Munson Gregory acquired, and in 1858 settled on, his Ygnacio Valley ranch. In 1857 E. R. McPherson settled in the Ygnacio Valley, and on December 4th George P. Loucks took up his residence in the township. Mr. Loucks, besides having filled the office of county clerk, also held a seat on the Board of Supervisors of Contra Costa County. In 1858 David S. Woodruff settled at Bay Point and Syranus Standish in Pacheco. In 1859 J. A. Littlefield and Theodore Downing became residents of the township, and in 1860 Ludwig Anderson and D. G. Barnett each located in the town of Pacheco.
The reader will naturally remark that the foregoing gentlemen are not all of those that settled in the township, still they are the only names that are remembered by many of the oldest residents. We will now turn to a few remarks upon the villages in Township Number Three.
In 1845 the first abode of any kind to be erected in this vast country was made of skins of cattle, elk, bear, and deer, and was erected upon the bank of the lake in the vicinity of the Galindo homestead.
In the late forties and early fifties the present old adobe building, later the property of Mrs. Holler, was erected, and during the old days of Spanish grandeur was the scene of many notable weddings, as well as many state affairs and social functions. Today it remains intact, ex- cept that the tile roof has been replaced with shingles and weather- boards have been placed upon the outside to protect the sturdy walls from the ravages of time.
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HISTORY OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
There is a long porch on either side of the building, giving a com- manding view of the country for miles in every direction, a popular feature in the days when the roving herds of wild deer, elk, bear, and prowling Indians made life exciting for the early settler. It is hardly conceivable by the present generation that deer and elk were so thick in this section that they were lassoed. There are today choice specimens of horns preserved in many homes as relics of that bygone time.
CONCORD
In the year 1869, owing to the continued yearly flooding of the town of Pacheco, whereby the inhabitants were put to great expense for raising buildings, etc., Salvio Pacheco, Fernando Pacheco, and Francisco Ga- lindo, to whom belonged the land, offered to lay out a town some two miles east of Pacheco. The plot was surveyed by Lewis Castro and laid off into lots and streets. It contained twenty acres, divided into nineteen blocks and a plaza.
In the naming of the new town there was much variety of disputa- tion. At first the Spanish population and donors of the land wanted it to be named Todos Santos (All Saints), by which name it is recorded. The Americans had dubbed it Drunken Indian, with that genius that the early pioneers displayed for the science of nomenclature. But it was finally left to the public to give it the name of Concord, by which it is now officially known.
In 1870 a school was started in its precincts, first taught by Mrs. Henry Polley, née Carpenter. In 1873 a handsome Catholic church was erected, and was duly dedicated November 5, 1876.
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