USA > California > Contra Costa County > The history of Contra Costa County, California > Part 2
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Little effort was made toward constructing habitations. In the sum- mer a few boughs interwoven formed their shelter from the sun and occasional showers. In the winter they lived in their wickiups. The lat- ter, as described by Bancroft, "are sometimes erected on the level ground, but more frequently over an excavation three or four feet deep, and varying from ten to thirty feet in diameter. Round the brink of this hole willow poles are sunk upright in the ground and the tops drawn to- gether, forming a conical structure, or the upper ends are bent over and driven into the earth on the opposite side of the pit, thus giving the hut a semi-globular shape. Bushes or strips of bark are then piled up against the poles, and the whole is covered with a thick layer of earth or mud. In some instances the interstices of the frame are filled with twigs wov- en crosswise, over and under, between the poles, and the outside cover- ing is of tule reeds, instead of earth. A hole at the top gives egress to
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HISTORY OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
the smoke, and a small opening close to the ground admits the occu- pants. Each hut generally shelters a whole family of relations by blood and marriage, so that the dimensions of the habitation depend on the size of the family."
They were short of stature, sturdily built, with broad shoulders, and were possessed of great strength. Their complexions were swarthy, with less of the copper color of the Eastern Indians. Their features were flat, with none of the aquiline characteristics of the legendary In- dian. Their coarse, straight black hair they wore long and unkempt. They were generally beardless, although Dr. Marsh, in a letter to Lewis Cass in 1846, stated that "they are a hairy race, and some of them have beards that would do honor to a Turk."
Describing the Indians further, in the same letter, Dr. Marsh wrote : "In some individuals the hair grows quite down to the eyebrows, and they may be said to have no foreheads at all. Some few have that pecu- liar conformation of the eye so remarkable in the Chinese and Tartar races, and entirely different from the common American Indian or the Polynesian, and with this unpromising set of features, some have an an- imated and agreeable expression of countenance. The general expres- sion of the wild Indian has nothing of the proud and lofty bearing or the haughtiness and ferocity so often seen east of the mountains. It is more commonly indicative of timidity and stupidity."
As to food they were omnivorous, eating anything available, accord- ing to, the season. They ate various kinds of roots which they dug from the earth. Earthworms and grasshoppers formed a portion of their diet. They made a primitive sort of bread from the pounded kernel of the buckeye, and are said to have used a certain kind of fat worms for shortening.
It is interesting to note that the Indians inhabiting the San Francisco Bay region used no canoes, substituting therefor a rude, makeshift boat fashioned from bundles of tules firmly bound together. These were about ten feet long and pointed at both ends. Until the coming of the Jesuit Fathers the Bay Indians had no other crafts than these tule boats, which were in use as late as 1840. Bancroft offers this explanation : "The probable cause of the absence of boats in Central California, is the scarcity of suitable, favorably located timber. Doubtless if the banks of . the Sacramento and the shores of San Francisco Bay had been lined
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THE INDIANS
with large, straight fir trees, their waters would have been filled with canoes. Yet, after all, this is but a poor excuse ; for not only on the hills and mountains, at a little distance from the water, are forests of fine trees, and quantities of driftwood come floating down every stream dur- ing the rainy season, out of which surely sufficient material could be secured for some sort of boats."
The universal remedy prescribed by the Indians for all diseases was the sweat-bath. Every rancheria had its sweat-house or temescal, the latter name having been bestowed by the Franciscan Fathers. The pa- tient after perspiring in the temescal for several hours, to the point of exhaustion, completed the treatment by plunging into the cold waters of a near-by stream. The temescal was always built on the bank of a body of water, preferably a river. The following extract is taken from the account of a pioneer who underwent the ordeal :
"A sweat-house is of the shape of an inverted bowl, is generally about forty feet in diameter at the bottom, and is built of strong poles and branches of trees, covered with earth to prevent the escape of heat. There is a small hole near the ground, large enough for the Diggers to creep in one at a time, and another at the top to give out the smoke. When a dance is given, a large fire is kindled in the center of the edifice, and the crowd assembles, the white spectators crawling in and seating themselves anywhere out of the way. The apertures, above and below, are then closed, and the dancers take their positions.
"Four and twenty squaws, en dishabille, on one side of the fire, and as many hombres, in puris naturalibus, on the other. Simultaneously with the commencement of the dancing, which is a kind of shuffling hobble-de-hoy, the 'music' bursts forth. Yes, music fit to raise the dead. A whole legion of devils broke loose. Such screaming, shrieking, yell- ing, and roaring was never before heard since the foundation of the world. A thousand cross-cut saws filed by steam power-a multitude of tom-cats lashed together and flung over a clothes-line-innumerable pigs under a gate-all combined would produce a heavenly melody com- pared with it. Yet this uproar, deafening as it is, might possibly be en- dured, but another sense soon comes to be saluted. Talk of the thousand stinks of the City of Cologne! Here are at least forty thousand com- bined in one grand overwhelming stench."
He then relates how he was well-nigh overcome in the oppressive at-
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HISTORY OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
mosphere, from which there was no escape. After being literally "in durance vile" for several hours, the apertures were suddenly thrown open and the Indians rushed out with a whoop and plunged into the icy water, emerging therefrom to sink exhausted on the bank.
The Contra Costa Indians cremated their dead. This practice pre- vailed among all the Bay Indians. Farther south the Indians buried their dead. The mother or a near relative of the deceased was generally given the distinction of lighting the funeral pyre. All the possessions of the dead were piled around the body and were consumed in the flames. Af- terward the ashes were mixed with pitch and smeared on the faces of relatives as a badge of mourning.
They all believed in a continued existence after death, and in all probability, in common with most of the Indians on this continent, had a vague idea of a Great Spirit. They held certain rocks to be sacred, and paid veneration to the grizzly bear, whose flesh they would never eat.
The story of these Indians would not be complete without reference to their extreme docility. In the letter previously quoted, Dr. Marsh re- fers to them as a "race of infants."
"In many instances," he wrote, "when a family of white people have taken a farm in the vicinity of an Indian village, in a short time they would have the whole tribe for willing serfs. They submit to flagella- tion with more humility than the negroes. Nothing more is necessary for their complete subjugation but kindness in the beginning, and a little well-timed severity when manifestly deserved. It is common for the white man to ask the Indian, when the latter has committed any fault, how many lashes he thinks he deserves. The Indian, with a simplicity and humility almost inconceivable, replies ten or twenty, according to his opinion of the magnitude of the offense. The white man then orders another Indian to inflict the punishment, which is received without the least sign of resentment or discontent."
Dr. Marsh concludes his account with the observation that "through- out all California the Indians are the principal laborers ; without them the business of the country could hardly be carried on."
Where are the California Indians today ? It is doubtful if one could find a score in all of Contra Costa County, and throughout the State they have been decimated in similar proportion. With the coming of the
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THE INDIANS
white man came the plagues of civilization-diseases previously un- known among the Indians. The white man had as a heritage the stamina and resistance of millions of ancestors who had successfully battled with disease; the Indian had not, and Nature remorselessly swept him aside. Measles, smallpox, and cholera, sporadic among the white set- tlers, assumed the form of a pestilence among the Indians, and took toll of them by thousands.
That the Indians were numerous throughout the State in early times is attested by many explorers, including Kit Carson. He wrote that the valleys of California were full of Indians in 1829, but that when he vis- ited the State in 1859 they had disappeared to a surprising extent. Set- tlers in localities where Indians were once numerous stated that they knew nothing of the previous history of the Indians. They had un- doubtedly been exterminated by a pestilence. Beyond this nothing was known, as the California Indians kept no records. With possibly the sole exception of the Aztecs, the North American Indians were not given to writing memorials for the future historian. Here and there throughout the State, however, are a vast number of piles of stone and circles of earth which mark the sites of once populous rancherias. Near by are always found the remains of the indispensable sweat-house. These, with their burial-places, about which are always found a large quantity of beads, mortars, and arrow-heads of flint, are all that remain of a once numerous race.
CHAPTER II
EARLY HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA
BEFORE proceeding with the immediate history of Contra Costa County it might be well to give a brief outline of the early history of Califor- nia-California, whose shores Sir Francis Drake touched and Don Gas- par de Portola explored ! California, the land of sunshine and flowers! of romance and gold "in the days of '49"!
Surely it is a promising field ; but as this work is to be a history of a locality and not that of the State, the latter will be touched upon only in as far as is necessary to clear the way for what comes afterward-the story of Contra Costa County.
To go back to the very beginning, the discovery and settlement of California was made possible by that intrepid explorer, Vasco Nunez de Balboa. When he gazed out on the Pacific from the summit of a hill in Panama a new world was opened for discovery. He was followed by that ruthless adventurer, Hernando Cortez, who conquered Mexico in 1519, shamelessly butchering its people and devastating its wonderful cities.
The trend was steadily toward the north, but it was not until 1542 that a voyage of discovery was made along the California coast. Cap- tain Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo it was who sailed into what is now known as San Diego Bay on September 28, 1542. In 1602 Don Sebastian Vis- caino, who was sent out by Philip III of Spain, discovered Monterey Bay, and a party under him journeyed north as far as the Columbia River.
Then an English explorer and adventurer, Sir Francis Drake, on a marauding expedition, appeared on the scene. It has been a much dis- puted point with historians ever since as to whether it was in San Francisco Bay that Drake wintered in 1578. It is generally conceded now that it was not San Francisco Bay, but Drake's Bay, a few miles north of the former, and immediately under the lee of Point Reyes. Drake called the country New Albion, and took possession in the name
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EARLY HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA
of his sovereign, Queen Elizabeth. Little if any effort was made by the English to follow in the trail blazed by Drake.
Although the Spanish settled and colonized Lower California early in the sixteenth century, it was not until nearly two hundred years later that any progress was made toward permanently locating in Upper Cal- ifornia, as our State was then called. The first permanent settlement in California was made at San Diego in 1769. There, during the same year, the first mission was established.
From Lower California in 1769 an expedition set out under com- mand of Don Gaspar de Portola, first governor of California. This ex- pedition was destined to have a great influence on the later history of California, for it was Don Gaspar who discovered San Francisco Bay, following a journey of innumerable privations and hardships.
Then followed the era of missions in California. The impress of the missions, which formed so important a part in the early history of Cali- fornia, is felt to this day. They stand out as historic monuments to the piety and zeal of their great founder, Father Junipero Serra. Beginning with the mission at San Diego, which he founded in 1769, he estab- lished between that year and his death, in 1784, twenty-one missions in California. In founding the mission at Monterey he rediscovered Mon- terey Bay, the goal of explorers ever since its first discovery by Viscai- no, in 1602. Mission San Carlos de Monterey became his headquarters. Setting out from there, the other missions were established in rapid suc- cession in various parts of the country. He succeeded with the Indians as no one else ever did before or since. He possessed a character of great firmness, balanced by gentleness, kindness, and patience-one best calculated to deal with the Indians, thousands of whom he converted to his faith and who universally mourned his death.
The missions were generally quadrilateral, two stories high, and in- closed a courtyard embellished with fountains and trees. The sides of the quadrangle were usually about six hundred feet long, and the whole inclosed the church, storerooms, workshops, and living quarters.
Young Indian girls inhabited one portion of the mission. They were given careful training and instruction by skilled matrons. Those who showed exceptional talent were given vocal and instrumental training. None were permitted to leave until of a marriageable age, this with a view of preserving their morality. In the men's quarters the mechanical and agricultural arts were taught.
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HISTORY OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
Let us glance at the daily routine of the missions : All arose at sun- rise and proceeded to the church, where they took part in devotional exercises. After partaking of breakfast, they took up their various du- ties. Following the noonday meal, they enjoyed a siesta, or rest, until two o'clock, after which they resumed work until about an hour before sundown, when the chimes of the evening angelus were heard. From then until supper-time all participated in evening devotions at the church. After supper was the time for recreation, and all took part in dancing, in games, and in all manner of amusements. They did not lack for food, their diet consisting of plenty of the choicest beef and mut- ton, with vegetables, wheat cakes, and porridge. Such, in brief, was the life of the Indians at the missions.
We will pass rapidly over the next period, during which California belonged to Mexico, which acquired her independence from Spain in 1821, largely through the efforts of one Iturbide, who during the same year caused himself to be declared emperor of Mexico.
This was the time of great land grants. Any citizen of good character, by the payment of a small fee to the Mexican Government, could secure a grant of land of from one to eleven square leagues. These great do- mains were known as ranchos, and their owners were rancheros. Over their broad acres ranged thousands of cattle, since cattle-raising was the one and only industry. The rancheros, who formed the aristocracy of California prior to American occupation, were extremely hospitable, keeping open house the year round. They were fond of social pleasures, especially of music and dancing, and even their horses were taught to step in time to the guitar. Few, if any, could boast of pure Castilian de- scent, a varying admixture of Indian blood being the rule, yet many of the women were of notable beauty. Both sexes dressed in a striking and picturesque manner. The men wore wide pantaloons, laced with ribbons through eyelets from the waistband to the hips and fastened with im- mense silver buttons. For a cloak they wore a gaily colored serape, made from a blanket with a hole cut in the center, through which the head was inserted. The serape hung down to the knees. They were shod with highly polished boots, from which jangled heavy silver spurs, and a broad sombrero tilted back on their heads completed the spectacular costume. The señoritas were no less adept at decking themselves out to advantage, especially on a gala occasion. The favorite ballroom dress
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EARLY HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA
was a scarlet petticoat, softened in tone by being covered by a white lawn skirt, while a black velvet waist plentifully decked with spangles heightened the attractive costume. Their only head-dress was the man- tilla, or shawl. They were the personification of grace and were famous for their dancing.
The men were skilled equestrians, and spent a large part of their time in the saddle. One of their favorite amusements was to pick a silver dol- lar from the ground while riding by at a gallop. No less skilled were they with the riata, which formed a dangerous weapon in their hands, whether directed against a bull, a bear, or a human enemy.
They were all devout Catholics, their priests belonging to the Fran- ciscan order. Numerous were the saints' days which they kept, in addi- tion to Sundays, which made their working week often much shorter than that observed in this modern age of efficiency.
Their homes were built of adobe, a black clayey loam, which they made into sun-dried bricks, admirably adapted to primitive building conditions. Rough timbers with the bark removed were used for joists and beams, rushes and chaparral sufficing for a thatched roof. When whitewashed within and without the whole was beautiful in its sim- plicity ; nor were they lacking in durability, for many of them are in an excellent state of preservation to this day.
Beef and beans, well seasoned with chile peppers, formed the most important part of their diet, and these the señoras were capable of pre- paring in many dishes that were extremely appetizing. Their bread was made from maize ground between two stones, and was baked in the form of thin wafers, known as tortillas.
In 1846 the United States went to war with Mexico, after which, by the treaty of 1848, California became American territory. One year later, a date now famous, the era of the argonauts began. James W. Marshall discovered gold while digging a mill-race for Captain Sutter at Coloma, and in 1849 people began flocking to California from the ends of the earth. Round the Horn they came in clipper ships, or across the plains behind ox-teams. The golden halo of romance settled over California, adventurous spirits wooed Fortune at every turn and be- came wealthy over night. In 1850 California had sufficient population to admit her to the Union-and here we shall begin the history of Contra Costa County.
CHAPTER III
MEXICAN LAND GRANTS-PEN-PICTURES OF EARLY DAYS
THIS chapter deals with the period of great Mexican land grants, those vast dominions of California under the Mexican régime which stretched over thousands of acres of the most fertile lands and laid the founda- tion for the fortunes of numerous families.
Prior to the cession of California to the United States in 1848, it was possible for any citizen of good character to pay a nominal fee to the Mexican Government and receive a grant of land covering from one to eleven square leagues. Scores of these large grants were distributed over Contra Costa County. Throughout the central and southern part of California the Mexican Government gave away these grants with a lav- ish hand. When California became American territory the United States sent a representative, William Carey Jones, to California and Mexico to make a special study of land grants. This was done with a view of establishing a perfect title, wherever possible, so that no hard- ship might be experienced by the then residents of California through the change in governments. In most instances a bona fide title was granted by the United States without inconvenience to the original holders. In later years, however, partition suits were instituted by the heirs of these families, whose descendants were numbered by scores. These famous suits were carried on through the courts for years, until final decrees in partition were handed down, some of them of very re- cent date.
The most famous of the partition suits were those affecting the Welch ranch or Rancho las Juntas, the Rancho el Sobrante suit, settled in re- cent years, and the Marsh grant litigation, known as the suit of T. I. Bergin against Charles B. Sanford, finally partitioned in May, 1912. Much valuable information on early land grants is contained in a his- torical sketch written by Judge Thomas A. Brown and published in the Contra Costa Gazette in 1876, a portion of which follows:
"During the year 1823 Francisco Castro made application to the Mex-
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MEXICAN LAND GRANTS-PEN-PICTURES OF EARLY DAYS
ican authorities for the San Pablo Rancho, and Ignacio Martinez for the Pinole Rancho, to the extent of four leagues of land each. These men, who were the pioneer white settlers in our county, planted vine- yards and pear orchards at their ranchos more than half a century ago.1 They made little other improvements; each of them built an adobe house and a few corrals. Their neighbors then were the families of Per- alta, at San Antonio, and Castro, at San Lorenzo, until about the year 1826, when José Maria Amador settled upon the San Ramon Rancho, at Dublin, where he obtained a grant of four leagues of land. During the year 1828 Valencia occupied the Alcalanes Rancho, at Lafayette, Moraga the Lagunas Palos Colorados, or Redwood Rancho, and Felipe Briones the Briones Rancho. Each of these persons made application to the Government for a grant of land; Valencia for three-fourths of a league, and the others for three leagues each. Briones was soon after- ward killed by the Indians, near where the town of Clayton now is, while himself and some of his neighbors were attempting to recover some stock which had been stolen by the Indians, and which they were driving toward the San Joaquin plains. During the same year Silvio Pa- checo founded the Monte del Diablo Rancho, and settled where the village of Concord is situated, where he has ever since resided, and about the same time Juana Pacheco, a widow, made application for title to the San Miguel Rancho. At that time she resided at San Jose ; Ygna- cio Sibrian, her nephew, occupied the ranch for her, and built an adobe house near Walnut Creek. These persons afterward obtained grants of land of four square leagues each. During the year 1832 Mariano Cas- tro and Bartolo Pacheco settled upon and made application for the San Ramon Rancho. About the same time William Welch, a Scotchman by birth, petitioned for the tract known as the Welch Rancho, on which a portion of the town of Martinez is situated. Welch resided but a short time on the rancho, and, in consequence of the hostility of the Indians and the entire absence of security, he left the ranch in charge of a few vaqueros and removed his family to San Jose. Welch made his settle- ment at the place known as the Welch homestead, near Walnut Creek. Soon after, and about the years 1832 and 1833, the Romero brothers settled at the place known as Tice Valley, and made application for a grant to the sobrante or vacant land lying between the ranchos of San
1 Now nearly a century ago .- Editor.
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HISTORY OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
Ramon, Welch Rancho, Alcalanes, and Moraga. They occupied the place for many years, but their application for a grant was finally re- jected.
"About the year 1836 two brothers, José Miguel and Antonio Mesa, settled upon the New York Rancho, near the place known as Kirker's Pass, and made application to the Government for a grant of the place to the extent of two leagues, which was granted to them under the name of Los Medanos. During the same year Miranda Higuera and Alviso settled upon and made application for a grant for the place called Cañada de los Vaqueros, and José Noriega made application for the Rancho los Meganos, known as the Marsh Rancho, consisting of three square leagues of land. During the following year, 1837, Noriega sold the rancho to Doctor John Marsh, who settled upon it in the same year, and occupied it afterward until his death, which occurred in 1856. So the Doctor was the first native-born American citizen who ever resided permanently in this county or within its territorial limits as originally defined.
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