USA > California > Contra Costa County > The history of Contra Costa County, California > Part 3
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"The Indians, then roaming in bands over the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, made a regular business of raiding upon the ranchos in the district north of San Jose and east of the Bay of San Francisco. The inhabitants of that district were forced to keep constant watch to prevent them from driving away all of their stock, and in their efforts to recover their animals from the Indians it frequently occurred that the latter would give battle to their pursuers, and sometimes were vic- torious, and in such cases they would get away with the stock.
"Until about 1847, and during the first ten years of his residence on his ranch, Doctor Marsh's neighbors, comprising all the people who then had lands and resided within the present limits of this county, were the Mesas, on the New York Rancho, Miranda and Higuera, on the Cañada de los Vaqueros, Salvio Pacheco, on the Monte del Diablo, Ygnacio Sibrian, on the San Miguel, all then considered to be adjoining ranchos, the haciendas, or dwelling-places, on each of them being from twelve to fifteen miles from his. His other neighbors, living from twen- ty to forty miles from him, were José Maria Amador, at the San Ramon Rancho, Pacheco and Castro, on the Rancho San Ramon, Ygnacio Martinez, at Pinole, Moraga, at the Redwoods, Valencia, at the Aca- lanes, the family of Francisco Castro, at San Pablo, and the vaqueros
MEXICAN LAND GRANTS-PEN-PICTURES OF EARLY DAYS 13
of Welch, on the Welch Ranch, the widow and family of Felipe Bri- ones, on the Briones Rancho.
"The ranch-owners usually had employed a few vaqueros to herd and care for their stock. These vaqueros were generally mission (or Christ- ianized) Indians. Such was the condition of the country here at the close of the war.
"Very little attention was given to agricultural pursuits further than that nearly every ranch-owner cultivated a few acres of beans and corn and a small potato patch, with a few other vegetables, and a few square rods planted in melons. This was about the extent of farming carried on at the different ranches. Also all of the rancheros, when locating their ranches, planted small vineyards and pear-trees. Many of these vineyards and trees bear fruit to this day.
"At the close of the war about forty-six leagues, embracing about three hundred and twenty square miles of land, was owned or held by persons named in this county. Previous to the settlement in this county by Americans and other foreigners, as they were called by the Califor- nians, but little improvements had been made by any of the Californi- ans, nor did they require much. An adobe house and a few corrals gen- erally comprised all the improvements necessary on a rancho.
"Soon after the close of the war American citizens and citizens of other countries began to settle in the county. During the year 1847 Elam Brown purchased the Acalanes Rancho and settled upon it near the village of Lafayette. In 1848 Colonel William M. Smith purchased from one of the Castros a portion of the place known as the sobrante of the San Pablo, and during the year 1849 quite a number of citizens of the United States and other countries came into the county. They lo- cated chiefly in the redwoods between Moraga Valley and San An- tonio, for the purpose of manufacturing lumber for market.
"In referring to the names of two of the ranchos, and to the location of the town of Martinez, we have mentioned Monte del Diablo as the name of the rancho of Salvio Pacheco, the Rancho el Pinole as that of Ygnacio Martinez, being located upon the Arroyo del Hambre. Doubtless persons have often inquired how they originated, or why these names were applied to these places. Upon one occasion it was asked of a native Californian, who was quite an old man, and he stated that the names were (as he had learned during his boyhood) given to these places dur-
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HISTORY OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
ing the beginning of the last century, and he related the facts substan- tially as follows : The Indians inhabiting the country north of San Jose Valley were very troublesome, so much so that small parties could not travel in the country north of San Jose with safety. The Mexican Gov- ernment sent a company of troops from Monterey to chastise the In- dians, and to correct the leaders of the most troublesome of them. The troops came upon a camp of Indians near the present location of Con- cord. The Indians retreated into a thicket of willows and undergrowth upon a piece of swamp land near where Fernando Pacheco lived. Night coming on, the troops did not pursue the Indians into the thicket, but divided into squads and partially surrounded the place, intending to make a finish of them in the morning. During the night the troops saw what they believed to be moving lights in different parts of the thicket ; the lights appeared to be moving, and they were confident that they had the Indians corralled. In the morning they closed in and charged upon the thicket, but found no Indians, neither had any of them stopped there during the night, as they found upon examination that they had pressed through the place and gone far beyond, and that there was not a human being in the thicket during the night. The troops were bewildered and frightened, being unable to account for the lights which they saw dur- ing the night, so they named the place the Devil's Thicket, or Monte del Diablo. The lights were probably produced by phosphorescence, which the troops did not understand and could not comprehend. They imme- diately left that place, and did not pursue these Indians farther, but im- mediately moved to the Straits of Carquinez, intending to cross over and go to the Mission of San Rafael. They were unable to cross by rea- son of high winds, and camped at the place near where the town of Martinez now is. Their provisions giving out, and being unable to se- cure any more, they were forced to abandon the camp. They called the place the Valley of Hunger (Cañada del Hambre). They started in the direction of San Francisco, intending to cross the straits, if possible. On their march they found a village of Indians who had corn from which they manufactured meal (pinole). That camp they named El Pinole. When Salvio Pacheco petitioned for his grant he gave it the name which the Mexican troops had given the thicket which grew there, and the names given the Cañada del Hambre and Pinole by that com- pany of Mexican troops have attached to these places ever since. The
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MEXICAN LAND GRANTS-PEN-PICTURES OF EARLY DAYS
mountain now called Monte Diablo formerly was called Sierra de los Golgones. Its present name originated with the Americans and other foreign people who came into the county at a comparatively recent date."
EARLY INHABITANTS
The following graphic description of early-day manners and customs was also written by Judge Thomas A. Brown, and was first published in the centennial edition of the Contra Costa Gazette in 1876:
"Since its organization, in February, 1850, the population of the county at large has slowly but steadily increased. There was but little increase in the eastern portion of the county until after the discovery of coal, about the year 1860, at Nortonville, since which time that portion of the county has grown rapidly in population, and in increased value of property.
"Many of our people will recollect the carts used in early days by the Californians. They usually traveled from place to place on horseback, but when the family desired to visit a neighbor or go to town the family coach was called into use. That vehicle consisted of two immense wood- en wheels, cut or sawed off a log, with holes as near the center as con- venient for the axletree, with a tongue lashed to the axle with rawhide thongs. Upon this a frame as wide as the wheels would permit, and from seven to twelve feet in length, was placed, upon which was se- curely fastened one or two rawhides, with the flesh side down, and a rude frame over the top, upon which to stretch an awning, with rawhide thongs wove around the sides to keep the children from tumbling out. The female portion of the family, with the small children, would seat themselves in the cart, to which was attached a pair of the best travel- ing oxen on the ranch. An Indian would drive, or rather lead, the oxen (for he usually walked ahead of them). In this simple, rude contrivance the family would travel twenty or thirty miles a day with as much com- fort apparently as people now take in riding in our modern vehicles. Sometimes several families would ride in a single cart, and visit their friends, go to town for the purpose of shopping, or to attend church."
WILD GAME
The excellent article on wild game which here follows was published in a historical work of 1878:
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HISTORY OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
"There is now, at proper seasons, an abundance of California quail, wild ducks, geese, and other game in this county. In fact, the wild geese along the borders of the rivers are a great nuisance to the farmers. Im- mense flocks of these light down on the green growing grain and eat it off close to the ground. Farmers sometimes employ hands who do noth- ing but ride on horseback about the grain-fields, and by use of the shot- gun succeed in keeping them off until the time for their departure to another clime arrives. Large flocks of pelicans, both white and gray, are common in the lagoons and tule swamps, as also are cranes and many other water-birds.
"Herds of elk roamed over the San Joaquin plains in early times. Captain Kimball, of Antioch, says on the first morning of his arrival there, in 1849, he saw eighty elk in one drove, feeding a mile south of his house, and shot a fine heifer weighing four hundred pounds. At the same time these plains were covered with wild cattle. These were slaughtered for their hides and tallow, which, at that day, constituted the only currency of the country. Much of the flesh meat in 1850-51 was dried elk. Large herds of them used to feed on the green tule lands and islands opposite Antioch. Their horns were such as to prevent them from running in large bodies. They were frequently lassooed by the va- queros of California.
"Deer were also thick in this county in early times, in spots not much frequented by horsemen, and were often seen feeding on the bunch- grass about Diablo. There are still a few to be found in the dense timber of the hills.
"Antelope were also numerous. These were fleet, pretty animals, as well as cunning in their habits. One, larger than the rest, by early set- tlers has often been seen watching while the main body of the kids were at water or on the bottom lands, feeding on green grass. The elk, deer, and antelope are all good swimmers, and frequently visited the islands of the San Joaquin for green food.
"The coyote, or fox, is well known to the Californian-a kind of link between the cat and dog-and is sometimes called prairie-dog, but is very different from the animal of that name found on the Western plains. They often followed the immigrant train to pick up the bones and crumbs that fell by the way. They would steal eggs and chickens
John Nichall
MEXICAN LAND GRANTS-PEN-PICTURES OF EARLY DAYS 17
from the roost, but were great cowards, and a small dog would drive them off.
"The California lion is not a roaring lion, like the African. The head is small, and much like the head of the tiger, being large between the eyes. The neck is without mane. It is said he seldom attacks human beings.
"Grizzly bears were thick in early times, so much so that Dr. Marsh used to say he could have one caught any time by the vaqueros. The bears often took his calves and colts. They would destroy elk, deer, and antelope. A young man was killed by one of them in the dense forest of chamisal, three or four miles from Antioch. This chamisal is a short growth of underbrush, so dense as to be impenetrable by man, and cov- ered about five thousand acres. Wildcats are occasionally seen in parts of Contra Costa County.
"The larger wild animals have probably disappeared forever from this county. It would be interesting to know just when and where the last of these noble animals met their inevitable fate."
Smaller game, however, has by no means disappeared from Contra Costa County. Today, nearly forty years after the above article was written, the sportsman may still find good hunting. At certain times of the year wild geese in abundance are found on the tule front in the eastern section of the county, and ducks and other water-fowls are plentiful along the water-front from Byron to Richmond.
In the valleys of the central section, and especially around the foot- hills of Mount Diablo, quails are plentiful. The shotgun adept will also find good dove-hunting in the vicinity of Marsh Creek and in Ygnacio Valley.
Deer are scarce now because of the army of hunters that slaughter them as fast as they appear in the foothills of Mount Diablo from the Livermore hills. That the deer increased rapidly when there was a closed season for hunting them is shown by the fact that forty-four fine bucks were brought in on the first day of the open season some years ago, after a long interval of restriction. It is the general opinion that deer would rapidly increase if the ban were again placed on the hunter for a few years.
Excellent fishing rewards the modern Izaak Waltons in the mountain
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HISTORY OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
streams and bay waters. Anglers derive great sport from fishing for striped bass, the gameness of which is celebrated. They are most plenti- ful in the bay waters off Selby and Rodeo, but are also to be found along the strip of water from Crockett to Richmond.
CHAPTER IV
PIONEER CITIZENS
ANTEDATING all other pioneers of Contra Costa County were Francisco Castro and Ignacio Martinez. They came in 1823, Castro settling at the present site of San Pablo, and Martinez at Pinole. They each acquired four leagues of land from the Mexican Government, and these ranchos they improved the following year by building adobe residences, plant- ing vineyards and orchards, and building corrals for their live-stock. The San Pablo rancho contained 19,394.40 acres, and the Pinole rancho extended over 17,786.49 acres. Both reared families whose descendants today rank high in the citizenship of Contra Costa County. Martinez, the county seat, was named for the Martinez family.
DOCTOR JOHN MARSH
The first American settler in Contra Costa was Doctor John Marsh. He achieved much distinction from his letters and descriptive articles, which gave a graphic portrayal of the primitive conditions as he found them. To his facile pen California historians, and Contra Costa County historians especially, are indebted for much of their data relating to the early period.
Doctor Marsh was descended from an old New England family, and was a graduate of Harvard College. Born in Danvers, Massachusetts, in 1799, he came west and conducted a mercantile business in St. Joseph, Missouri, from 1828 until 1835. During the latter year he started on horseback for the Far West, eventually becoming one of an exploring party which visited the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora, thence crossing the Gila River and entering California on the southern border.
Portions of the life history of Doctor Marsh read like a romance, as will be seen from an incident that occurred while on the journey west. Inadvertently wandering away from his party, he was captured on the plains by the Indians while they were in the midst of exorcising an evil
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HISTORY OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
spirit. They were determined to offer him as a sacrifice, and he was saved only by wooing and marrying the chief's pretty daughter, who in- terceded for him in much the same manner as did Pocahontas for Cap- tain John Smith. Some time afterward the band crossed the old Santa Fe trail and Doctor Marsh escaped, having the good fortune to fall in with a caravan which finally landed him in California.
For a while he resided in Los Angeles, but in 1837 he obtained from the Mexican Government a grant of land at the foot of Mount Diablo, now the center of Contra Costa County. Here he made his permanent home. He described his tract as being about twelve miles long and about ten miles broad. The Doctor first lived in an adobe building, but later he built the home which afterward became famous as the Stone House. It is situated about four miles from Brentwood. The following descrip- tion of the Marsh home is taken from the San Francisco Bulletin of July 19, 1856:
"The new and beautiful edifice, now nearly completed, is situated in the center of the plain. It is the intention of the proprietor to irrigate this plain by artificial means, using the water of the brook for that pur- pose. By this process the whole plain in front of the house may be en- ameled with flowers, or, in process of time, may be dotted with trees, and become a beautiful and extensive park, as the taste of the owner may determine. From a quarry which has been opened upon the estate, an abundant supply of stone for the building has been obtained. It is of the finest quality of freestone, of a beautiful drab or cream color, slight- ly variegated. The building is quite an architectural gem. The architect, Thomas Boyd, of San Francisco, with a true artistic perception of the beauty of the site, and of what was wanting in the building to make it harmonize with the surrounding scenery, has departed from the stereo- typed square box with a piazza running partly or entirely round it, called a house in California, and has adopted the old English domestic style of architecture-a pleasing and appropriate union of manor-house and castle. Thearched windows, the peaked roofs and gables, the project- ing eaves, the central tower, sixty-five feet in height, boldly springing from the midst and enabling the proprietor to overlook his extensive domain, must be acknowledged by every visitor to be a most felicitous deviation from the prevailing style of rural architecture. The material used is as easily wrought as the Benicia stone in use here, and, like it,
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PIONEER CITIZENS
hardens by exposure to the air. The corners of the building, as well as the door and window-jambs, sills, and caps, are elaborately wrought, the spaces between the openings being laid with rubble-stone, giving a pleas- ing variety to the whole exterior. The building has a ground base of sixty by forty feet, and is three stories in height, with three gable win- dows in the attic looking east, west, and south. On three sides of the building is a piazza, ten feet in width, supported by beautiful octagon pillars ; over this is a walk on a level with the second floor, inclosed by an elaborately finished balustrade. The interior arrangements are as carefully planned as possible to subserve the purposes of convenience, comfort, and beautiful finish. The whole cost of the building, it is un- derstood, will not exceed twenty thousand dollars."
The Stone House remained intact until 1868; it was partially de- stroyed by the great earthquake of that year. It was afterward restored, and stands today as one of Contra Costa County's most cherished his- toric monuments.
Doctor Marsh was eminently successful as a rancher. Great herds of cattle thrived on his broad acres and added to his prosperity. Al- though for some years he lived a solitary life-his nearest neighbors were from ten to forty miles away-doubtless, with his scholarly at- tainments he was not lonely. His keen mind and shrewd observation were busily gathering information, which was afterward to enrich the literature of the period. He was a cultivated French and Spanish schol- ar, and is said to have had a deeper insight into French and Spanish manners than any other person of the time. In appearance Doctor Marsh was tall and commanding. He was athletic as a young man, and he remained active and alert throughout his eventful life. Versatile and many-sided, his mind was as young as his body.
Doctor Marsh had passed the half-century mark without finding a mate. Then, in 1851, Romance claimed him for her own. After the briefest of courtships he was married to Miss Abbie Tuck, of Chelms- ford, Massachusetts. She had left her home in 1850, braving the dan- gers of a voyage to California, and came to Santa Clara. During the fol- lowing year, while visiting Contra Costa County, she met the Doctor, and they were married two weeks later.
On September 24, 1856, Doctor Marsh was foully and brutally mur- dered and robbed while driving in his buggy on the road from his
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HISTORY OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
ranch to Martinez, thirty miles distant. The next morning his horse and empty buggy were found in Martinez, and a few hours later his body was discovered in a ditch by the roadside. He had been stabbed in the left side, about the face and hands, and, as a crowning act of vicious- ness, his throat had been cut. Three Mexicans committed the crime, ac- cording to the confession of José Olivas, who admitted being one of the trio. The other two were Juan Garcia and Felipe Moreno, the latter a youth of only nineteen. Olivas maintained that the actual crime was committed by Moreno, and that he himself and Garcia were only ac- cessories. Olivas was captured the next day, and, after making a con- fession, escaped on the following day. It was ten years before he was recaptured. Moreno was equally successful in eluding the law, but was finally taken near Sacramento about the same time that Olivas was caught. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1867. Because of his staunch assertion that he had taken no part in the actual commission of the crime, Olivas received a lighter sentence. Juan Garcia was never found.
The following article, written by Doctor Marsh and published in the New Orleans Picayune in 1846, is so fine an example of his graphic style and is so replete with information of the period that it is well worth reproducing here in full :
"Messrs. Editors: Certain willful, malicious and ill-disposed neigh- bors of mine have entered into a conspiracy against me. They have, for some time past, instigated no doubt by their indolence and evil disposi- tions, been teasing me to write articles for newspapers in the United States. They represented to me that the people there are very desirous to have correct information relative to California, and that they cannot easily obtain it. That although several works on this country have re- cently been published they are not entitled to implicit confidence, either because the writers were hasty travelers, unacquainted with the lan- guage of the inhabitants, and not possessed of the requisite informa- tion, or that these works were published to answer a particular purpose, which was not exactly that of the naked truth. As I have heretofore thought it better to attend to my own business rather than undertake to enlighten the people of the United States about California, these same ill-disposed neighbors of mine have undertaken to place me under an interdict. They declare that unless I will write articles for the American
Andrewhalley
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PIONEER CITIZENS
newspapers none of the said newspapers shall reach me. Now, as these enemies of mine live in Monterey, where foreign intelligence first ar- rives, they have actually stopped my newspapers, and I am thus com- pelled to write, or not have the privilege of reading the news. You will perceive, therefore, that if my effusions are worthless the fault is not mine, but of those who have forced me to write against my will. I have hesitated to what journal to address my precious communications, but have finally selected the Picayune, because we consider it the best for Mexican and Texan news, in which we feel a deep interest, and partly because we have a sort of fellow-feeling for Mr. Kendall, on account of his romantic pilgrimage to New and Old Mexico.
"The European who first saw California was Grijalva, who com- manded a naval expedition fitted out by Cortez the Conqueror, in the year 1534. He discovered the southern part of Lower California, which he supposed to be an island, and this opinion was for a long time enter- tained by the Spaniards. Lower, or Old California, is for the most part an uninhabited and uninhabitable desert, as remarkable for its extent and sterility as Upper California is for its fertility and beauty. The country now known as Upper California was discovered by Juan Rod- riguez Cabrillo, in the year 1542. The first settlement of the Spaniards in the territory was begun at the port of San Diego, on the first of May, 1769. The first governor of Upper California was Don Gaspar de Por- tolá, a captain of dragoons in the Spanish army. The first attempts at settlements were made by founding missions, which were gradually ex- tended along the coast toward the north, wherever suitable situations could be found. The last of these missions that was attempted was at Sonoma, which was begun about twenty-five years ago. It was nipped in the bud by the revolutions that severed Mexico from the crown of Spain. These missions, as long as the Spanish power lasted, were in a most flourishing condition, possessed nearly all the good lands in the country, and were occupied by upward of twenty thousand converted Indians. Since the revolution these missions, like everything else in the Mexican territory, have gone rapidly to decay. At present most of them are entirely abolished, their immense wealth dissipated, and the lands apportioned out among private individuals. It has been usual to state the population of Upper California at five thousand persons of Spanish de- scent and twenty thousand Indians. This estimate may have been near
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