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1169819
.GENEALOGY C0L.LECT10N
3 1833 01067 2084
HISTORY OF
Colusa and Glenn Counties
CALIFORNIA
WITH
Biographical Sketches
OF
The Leading- Men and Women of the Counties Who have
been Identified with their Growth and
Developtnent from the Early
Days to the Present
HISTORY BY
Charles Davis McCo mish and Mrs. Rebecca T. Lambert
ILLUSTRATED
COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME
HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
1918
CONTENTS— HISTORICAL
HISTORY OF COLUSA COUNTY
By Charles Davis McComish
1169815^;?
Foreword 1 1
Former histories of Colusa County: History by Will S. Green, pub-
lished in 18S0. exhaustive in detail and copiously illustrated; history
by Justus H. Rogers, published in 1891, a complete and valuable work
for its period — Purpose and field of the present history.
CHAPTER I
Early History of Califorxia 18
Legends and stories of the coming of one Manuelo, a Spanish sailor,
to San Francisco Bay— The voyage of Cabrillo, in 1542— Conditions in
California before the coming of the white men — Sir Francis Drake
reaches California in 1579, on his trip around the world — Visits of
Spanish vessels from 1579 to 1602 — Father Junipero Serra establishes
the first of the Spanish missions, at San Diego, in 1769 — Growth and
prosperity of the missions, 1769 to 1833 — Restrictions upon the mis-
sions under Spanish rule, 1769 to 1824 — Russian fur-trading post estab-
lished at Fort Ross in 1812 — Arrival of American and English adven-
turers — Jedediah S. Smith, the first white man to cross the Sierra
Nevada Mountains, 1825 — Chapman marries the daughter of Captain
Ortega, the discoverer of San Francisco Bay — Conditions in California
under Mexican rule — Decline and secularization of the missions — The
Indians dispossessed — Capt. John Sutter arrives, 1839 — John Bidwell
and party, 1841 — First wave of the great flood of immigration — The
Bear Flag army — California passes from Mexican to American dom-
ination — Discovery of gold by James W. Marshall, 1848, and the coming
of the forty-niners — Admission of California to statehood, 1850.
CHAPTER ir
Early Explorations and First Settlers 22
Early Explorations: Colusa County as organized in 1851 — Transfer
of territory to Tehama County in 1855 — County division, and formation
of Glenn County, in 1891 — Present boundaries of the county — First
visited by white men in 1843 — General Bidwell's narrative of the trip
of these first authenticated explorers of the county — Location of the
Larkin's Childrens' Grant by General Bidwell, 1844 — Canoe trip
through Colusa County by Edward A. Farwell and Thomas Fallon —
Visit of a party of trappers under Jack Myers — Manufacture of grind-
stones on Grindstone Creek, in 1845, by Lassen, Moon, and Merritt —
Exploration of the valley by Dr. Robert Semple, in 1847. The Fie.st
Settlers: John S. Williams, sent from Monterey by Thomas O. Larkin,
in 1S47. to settle on the Larkin grant — Williams succeeded by Charles
B. Sterling in 1S4S — William B. Ide settles on the east side of the river
— Watt Anderson locates at the present site of Sycamore — These three
settlements the only ones within the present boundaries of Colusa
County when the first of the forty-niners came.
CHAPTER III
Geography, and Flora and Fauna 28
Geography: Topography of the Sacramento Valley roughly Illustrated
— General slope of the land — The Trough — Natural drainage features —
General description of the surface — The "plains" — Distances and loca-
CONTENTS— HISTORICAL
tion. Vegetation: Marked effect of seasonal changes on the appear-
ance of the country in the early days— Luxuriance of the vegetation
in the spring or early summer— Timber lands along the river— The
"tule lands" — Vegetation of the foothill country— Timber lands along
the western boundary— The profusion of wild flowers— The alkali lands
and "goose lands." The Wild AxniALs of the County: Colusa County
abundantlv stocked with wild animals when the white man came —
These quickly exterminated by the early settlers— Tragic fate of the
vast herds of antelope and elk— The passing of the grizzly— The black
Ijear- The mountain lion— The short-tailed wildcat— The crafty coyote
—Raccoons, foxes, and skunks — Will S. Green, on the destruction of
the elk and the antelope— The kindlier fate of the deer— The rabbit:
Cottontails and jack-rabbits— The rodents: Rats and mice, ground-
squirrels and gophers— The wild goose; numbers and depredations—
The wild duck: Canvasback, mallard, sprig, teal, widgeon; numbers
and depredations— The quail— The dove— Other birds: The swan,
crane, mud hen, turkey buzzard, blackbird, meadow lark, hawks, owls,
linnets, sparrows, woodpeckers, robin, blue jay, magpie, and chaparral
cock— Yellow jackets and mosquitoes in the early days.
CHAPTER IV
The Indians 37
Attitude of the early settlers toward the Indians characterized by in-
justice and cruelty— Bidwell's estimate of the number of Indians in
the county— Green's estimate of the number of Colus Indians — Effect
of the epidemic of 1832 or 1833— The Indian villages— Origin of the
name Colus — The chief village of the Colus Indians — No Indian villages
on the plains — The foothill Indians the nearest neighbors on the west
to the river Indians — The chief tribe of the foothill Indians located
along Cortina Creek — Numerous settlements along Bear Creek, Stony
Creek, and other streams — Migration of the foothill Indians in the dry
season of 1S44 — Forage treaties of the Indians — The mountain tribes —
Appearance of the Colusa Indians — Their dress — Their love of orna-
ments — Their customs in this respect somewhat different from those
of the Indians of the East — Not essentially a warlike people — Develop-
ment of their constructive faculty limited by climatic conditions — The
villages intended for shelter during the wet season — Construction of
their houses and sweat-houses — Manner of sleeping — Food of the In-
dian — Pish the great food staple, particularly of the river Indians —
Manner of catching and drying salmon — The acorn; manner of gath-
ering and storing, and method of preparation — Failure of the acorn
crop a serious matter — Other articles of diet — Gathering of the oat
crop — Manner of cooking grasshoppers and grubs — Capture of a large
game animal an occasion for intemperate feasting — Inveterate improvi-
dence of the Indian — Each tribe governed by a chief — Power of the
chief — Wise and just government of the Colus Indians under Chief
Sioc — Personality and character of Sioc — Organization of the Indian
community — Marital relations — Religious beliefs but feebly developed
— Various superstitious customs — Sickness; its cause and cure — The
sweat-cure and its results — Funeral rites and burial customs — Other
structures and articles constructed by the Indians, and their uses —
Method employed in killing a deer— Capture of game birds— Evidence
of the Indians' friendly attitude towards the whites — Attitude of the
whites towards the Indians— Death of Chief Sioc— Factors that accel-
erated the rapid decline of the race — Uprisings and reprisals — Captain
Hukely, successor of Sioc — The government takes a hand — Text of a
treaty with the Colusa Indians, drawn up and signed in 1851, and
transmitted to the United States Senate for ratification — The treaty
pigeon-holed through political intrigue until 1905 — Patient watching
and waiting of the fast-dwindling tribes for the fulfillment of their
deferred hope — Government provision for the Indians in 1907 — Aid also
extended by private subscription — Indian school founded through
county appropriation— Present population and condition of the ranch-
eria north of Colusa — The other Indians of the county.
CONTENTS— HISTORICAL
CHAPTER V
The Early Settlers 49
But three settlements within the present boundaries of Colusa County
when the first forty-niners came — John S. Williams — William B. Ide —
Watt Anderson — Charles B. Sterling — Sterling's cache — The gold rush,
and its effect on the settlement of the county — 1850: Admission of
California to statehood, and authorization by the legislature for the
organization of Colusa County — Robert Scrapie's trip up the Sacra-
mento Valley, and his choice of a location for Col. Charles D. Semple
at "Salmon Bend" — By mistake. Colonel Semple establishes his camp
at Powell Slough — Trip of the Colusa — Colonel Semple relocates his
town — Semple & Green's store building — Keeps and Hale's hotel —
Sheppard — Semple & Green add hotel accommodations to their store
building — The hotel department leased — The first white woman to
live in Colusa — William Vincent and family — The first child born in
Colusa — Population of Colusa in 1851 — Settlement of lands along the
river by cattle men and farmers in 1850 and 1851 — Establishment of
"hotels" — Competition between boatmen and teamsters, and between
the two routes of passenger travel to the northern mines — Colusa be-
comes a shipping center and center for stage lines — Line of settlements
established along the river, by 1851. from the northern boundary of
the county to Wilkins' Slough— Hiram Willits, and the Seventeen-Mile
House — J. M. Arnett, and the Sixteen-Mile House — J. P. J. Helphenstine
— Sterling's Ranch — Thomas Parton. and the Eleven-Mile House —
Charles Brooks and Ben Payne — L. H. Helphenstine. and the Ten-Mile
House — Henry Russell Helphenstine — S. H. Cooper, and the Nine-Mile
House — Robert Payne and James Hill, and the Seven-Mile House —
Obed DeLong, and the Five-Mile House — Mysterious disappearance of
Robert N. Parkhill — Farmers and stockmen located in the immediate
vicinity of Colusa abouf 1851: J. T. Marr. White Brothers, Abbe
Brothers, James Keefer, John Rogers, and Marion Tate — O. C. Berkey,
George Carhart, and Silas Howard — The Gibson brothers — Jack Long
—John Fitch and Joe Parnsworth — The Grimes brothers — E. R. Gra-
ham and Richard Welsh — Colusa County's first plow — The Graham
family — J. C. Johnson, and the Ohio House — The east side of the
river, the plains, and the foothills practically uninhabited in 1851 —
Similar settlements along the river in what is now Glenn County, but
none on the plains — U. P. Monroe — Rivalry of Colusa and Monroeville
• — Settlement of the county rapid after 1851 — Active settlement of the
east side of the river begins in 1852- Henry Ahlf— Nick Laux — J. W.
Jones — W. F. Goad — Frank Steele — Col. L. F. Moulton — Joseph Mc-
Connell. Clinton and Joseph McVay, Thomas Williams, and Jefferson
Tate — The foothills settled next after the river district — Stock ranches
located in Spring Valley in 1852 and 1853— John Sites and others settle
in Antelope Valley — Mrs. Spear — Settlement of Bear Valley, as de-
scribed by Godfrey C. Ingrim in 1877 — Settlement of the Stonyford
section — Lands about Williams, Arbuckle, and College City settled
earlier than those about Maxwell and Delevan — Southern part of the
plains settled earlier than the northern— E. B. McDow and W. S. Green
on settlement of the plains — Semple and Green's ranch on Freshwater
Creek, 1853— Joseph S. Gibson, 1854— W. H. Williams— Andrew Pierce
— Julius and Gustav Weyand— J. W. Brim — William Kaerth— Joseph P.
Sherer- J. C. Stovall, 1858- Conditions within Colusa County at the
beginning of the Civil War.
CHAPTER VI
Orgaxizatiox of the County 59
Distribution of population. 1851 — Rivalry of Colusa and Monroeville —
Origin of the name "Colusa" — Boundaries of the county defined by state
legislature — Name of county "Colusi" until 1854 — Monroeville's peti-
tion — Election of January 10, 1851 — County government established at
Monroeville — Establishment of the seat of justice at Colusa — Monroe-
ville again petitions — Election of July 11, 1851 — Colusa secures the
county seat, 1853 — Contract let for new courthouse — Text of Judge Ide's
report to the state treasurer, 1851 — William B. Ide's unique place in
CONTENTS— HISTORICAL
the early government of the county — The first county "jail" — Location
of the old courthouse — The old court of sessions — Influence of U. P.
Monroe in the early government of the county — Growth of the popula-
tion — Bill introduced in state Senate, in 1852, providing for county
division.
CHAPTER VII
Colusa County Politically 68
Political conditions in the county at the time of its organization, and
after the removal of the county seat to Colusa — The slavery question —
The presidential election of 1864 — Colusa the "banner Democratic
county of the state" — The waning of partisanship with the passage
of non-partisan laws — Southern sympathizers' plan to celebrate Presi-
dent Lincoln's assassination — The plan frustrated by John H. Liening
in true Western style — Arrest and imprisonment of the leaders — In-
dictment of Captain Starr, Mr. Liening, and others — The cases dis-
missed— "Camp Pap Rice" and John Miller Post— Colusa County, as
at first laid out — The two centers of population— Territory transferred
to Tehama County in 1855— Attempt to transfer territory from Colusa
County to Lake County, 1864— Attempt to transfer territory to Butte
County, 1866 — Railroad completed to Willows, 1878— Willows begins
agitation for county division — Public meeting in Orland, 1882 — Bill
introduced in 1887, providing for county division — County division in
the campaign of 1888 — Bill for county division passes both houses in
1889, but is vetoed by the Governor — The election of 1890 — Arrests for
ballot-box stuffing — The cases dismissed — The election of May 5, 1891
— County division wins — Glenn County named after Dr. H. J. Glenn —
The town of Princeton and Senator John Boggs' ranch transferred from
Glenn County to Colusa County in 1893 — Status of the liquor question
in the county — Effect of the Progressive movement on the Republican
party in the county — The Grange movement — People's Independent
party, 1873 — The Constitution party, 1879— Dr. H. J. Glenn Democratic
nominee for Governor. 1S79— Rise and growth of anti-Chinese senti-
ment, 1880-1890- Delegates appointed to the anti-Chinese convention
in Sacramento, 1888 — Passage liy Congress of Chinese exclusion bill —
Present relations of the two races — Some exceptions to Democratic
success at the polls — The liquor question as a political issue — The
county at first on a "wide-open" basis — The saloon long a power in
politics — The Good Templars organize opposition to the saloons — J. D.
McNary, Peter Earp, and Stewart Harris — First Good Templars lodge in
Colusa, 1868; Col. J. F. Wilkins and O. S. Mason among its officers —
Results of election called by temperance people, 1874 — Organization of
the Union Temperance Sunday School under J. D, McNary, Judge E. A.
Bridgeford. and Charles B. Whiting. 1892 — County license ordinance
providing for precinct option introduced before the board of super-
visors. December 10, 1908 — Result of the vote by precincts, November
8, 1910— Passage of the Wylie local option law. 1911 — All the districts
outside the incorporated town of Colusa go dry, November 5, 1912 —
Results of recent votes.
CHAPTER VIII
Transportation _ 75
Importance of transportation facilities — Colusa County long content to
be a "cow county" — Improvements in transportation during the last
decade — Improvements to come. Steajikk Transportation: Condi-
tions favorable to making Colusa a steamboat terminal and distributing
point — Obstacles that bad to be overcome — Five boats go to Colusa or
higher in 1850— The Martha Jane, 1851— The Benicia, 1851- The Orient
establishes regular steamboat service to Colusa — Growth of steamboat-
ing on the Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Feather Rivers — Combination
of boat owners— Effect of the railroads on the steamboat traffic- The
steamboat company sells out to the railroad company, 1876— Organiza-
of the Sacramento Wood Company, 1860 — This becomes the Sacra-
mento Transportation Company and absorbs the railroad company's
steamboat business north of Sacramento — Organization of the Farmers'
CONTENTS— HISTORICAL
Transportation Company, 1901 — The Valletta — Service of the Sacra-
mento Transportation Company and the Farmers' Transportation
Company between Colusa and San Francisco and Sacramento — Agree-
ment between the two companies, 1917 — Effect of the railroads on the
passenger traffic of the boats — The California-Pacific Railroad's line of
boats, 1873-1876— Freight rates in the days of the Orient— Present
freight rates by boat. Railroads: The -"Colusa, Marysville and Ne-
vada Railroad" projected, but never built — The Northern Railway en-
ters the county. May 15. 1876- Celebrations at Arbuckle and Williams
— The road continued to Willows in 1878— Colusa loses the main line
— Colusa authorized to issue bonds for a connecting line, 1876 — Circu-
lation of subscription papers — Officers elected, and articles of incorpora-
tion of the Colusa Railroad Company filed — Determination of the loca-
tion — First passenger train between Colusa and Colusa Junction, April
30, 1886 — Company name changed to Colusa & Lake Railroad Company
— Road extended to Sites, September 29, 1886— First locomotive arrives
by barge in Colusa, November 30, 1885— George Ogden the first en-
gineer — E. A. Harrington the first superintendent, succeeded by M. E.
Burrows — The road operated for over twenty-nine years — The fare
between Colusa and the Junction — Development of interurban electric
roads — Agents of the Northern Electric secure land in Colusa for ter-
minal purposes, 1906 — Progress of the road — OflBcials of the road
secure franchise on Market Street — The "Shasta Southern," and its
activities in Colusa and Princeton — Activities of Southern Pacific rep-
resentatives — The Northern Electric surveyors begin running lines in
town for their road, December 31. 1906 — The Shasta Southern's opera-
tions discontinued — The Northern Electric applies to the trustees of
Colusa for an exclusive franchise along the river front — Verses by Mrs,
R. M. Liening — Water-front franchise granted, but not exclusive —
Terms of the first franchise — Delays — Offer made by the railroad
people in 1911 — Bonds placed with the people of the county — Articles
of incorporation filed, Nov. 14. 1911 — Contract signed for erection of
the Meridian bridge — Contracts placed for grading the road — Progress
of the work — First car to cross the bridge, and first train to arrive in
Colusa — First outbound and first inbound freight — The carnival, June
13 and 14, 1913 — First passenger train into Colusa — Regular passenger
service established, June 16, 1913— The flood of February 3, 1915 —
Traffic resumed, October 15. 1915 — Other roads projected — Cooperation
of the Sacramento Valley Sugar Company with the Colusa & Hamilton,
projected by the Southern Pacific — The proposed route announced —
Progress of construction — Delay in ballasting — The road's first passen-
ger train into Colusa — Freight service to Princeton established, Sep-
tember 1, 1914 — Damage by the flood of February, 1915 — Freight
service resumed and improved — Freight rates — The West Side Electric
— The meeting at Willows, March 27, 1911 — Work of the committee,
and progress of construction — Work suspended on account of financial
difficulties — Proposed route — Railroad between Colusa and Chico advo-
cated by W. S. Green — Surveys for the road made by Green and Moul-
ton in 1875 — Fruitless efforts made to interest the electric power
line in 1900. Highways: The first "highway" — Roads laid out along
section lines — Character of the early roads — Bond issue of 1868, for
roads and bridges — Character of the gravel roads^Experiments with
oiled roads and macadamized road — The state issues $18,000,000 worth
of bonds for concrete highways — County bond issue defeated — Efforts
to bring the state highway up the river and through Princeton — State
aid dependent on the raising of One per cent, interest — Mass meetings
at Williams and Colusa — $452,000 bond issue carried, March 17, 1914 —
Purposes of the bond Issue— Construction begins— The lateral from
Williams to Colusa completed. 1916 — Main line completed through the
county from north to south — Plans for extension of the system — •
Wooden bridges replaced by concrete structures, 1914-1916. Stage
Lines: Early mail and passenger service by stage — Baxter & Company
and a Mr. Johnson operate rival lines between Colusa and Shasta —
Most of the travel diverted from the Marysville to the Colusa route —
Tri-weekly service between Colusa and Princeton, 1869 — Opposition
stage line between Colusa and Marysville — Reduction of fares — Organ-
ization of the Bartlett Springs & Bear Valley Toll Road Company,
CONTENTS— HISTORICAL
and opening of the stage line between Colusa and Bartlett and Allen
Springs, 1873 — Increase of passenger traffic over the route— Stage lines
established between Colusa and Chico and Colusa and Wilbur Springs,
1S74 — Nine stage lines out of Colusa in 1874 — Line opened between
Leesville and Fonts Springs, 1876— Tri-weekly service between Colusa
and Willows, via Princeton, 1877— Effect of the coming of the railroads
on the stage lines — Horse stages displaced by auto stages — Lines still
in service. The ArToiioBiLE ix Coli'sa County: The first velocipede —
The first steam "traction wagon" — Dr. W. T. Rathbun's steam Loco-
mobile proves to be the chief feature of the county fair at Colusa in
1S9S — M. C. Dillman brings in the first gasoline car — Other early cars
— Trip of Will S. Green's Locomobile from Sacramento to Colusa, 1900
— Rapid increase in the number of automobiles in the county — The
Ford in Colusa County — Introduction of the auto hearse — Auto trucks
and tractors fast supplanting horse power. The Aeiioplane: Various
flights planned — Flight at the Odd Fellows' picnic at Grimes, 1917.
CHAPTER IX
Irrigation and Reclamation
Reclamatiox: District 67: Formed in 1867— Construction of the
levee across the south end of Mormon Basin — District reorganized as
District 479— Present trustees. District 108: Formed in 1870— Terri-
tory embraced— The district divided, and District 729 formed, 1902 —
The district as reorganized in 1911— First trustees— The river levee-
Reorganization and construction work under Jesse Poundstone and
Charles de St. Maurice — The back levee— The pumping plants— Cost
of the improvements — Present trustees. District 124: Formed in 1871
— Territory embraced— First trustees— The levee— Later trustees —
Lapse of the district. Other Projects: Reclamation work on Col. L.
F. Moulton's ranch— J. W. Parks' dam— Crocker Estate Company's
levee — Sacramento and San Joaquin Drainage District; scope of the
plans, and authorized cost of the project— Sacramento Valley West Side
Levee District; scope of the project, and plan of assessment — The Iron
Canyon Project. -Iekigatiox: Will S. Green's advocacy of irrigation—
His connection with the Central Irrigation District — Lines run and
route established for a canal through Colusa and Yolo Counties, to
utilize the waters of the Sacramento River — Failure of the plan — Cor-
poration formed and money raised to utilize the waters of Stony
Creek— The project defeated by the owners of riparian rights— Green's
advocacy of the district plan as against the plan of appropriators —
Passage of the Wright Act, and organization of Central District— Text
of Frank Adams' historical account of the district — The meetings of
March 26 and April 22, at Maxwell, and the committees appointed —
Mistakes made — The Central Canal and Irrigation Company extends
the river branch to Princeton — Decision of the Supreme Court in 1915,
and formation of a new district at Princeton— Construction of Central
Canal, and installation of pumping plant — Financial straits of the Sac-
ramento Valley Irrigation Company, and sale of its lands — Failure of
attempts to form irrigation districts at Arbuckle and College City —
Formation and operations of the Amos Roberts Ditch Company —
Directors of the company — System of the Colusa Irrigation Company
— Directors of the company— Irrigation systems on Stony Creek, near
Stonyford— Colonel Moulton's pumping plant, and the work of the
barge Merritt — Private pumps installed along the river — Operations of
the Moulton Irrigated Lands Company and their successors, the Colusa
Delta Lands Company, in the irrigation of rice lands — Operations of
Mallon & Blevins — The Cheney Slough Irrigation Company's opera-
tions—Directors of the company — Establishment of numerous small
rice-growing projects — Meeting held at Maxwell, October 15, 1881, in
the interest of tests for artesian water — Irrigation from artesian wells
on the Melone ranch.
CHAPTER X
Agriculture
GRAIN-RA1.S1NG IN CoLusA CouNTY : Wheat and barley long the chief
agricultural products of the county — Colusa County once the greatest
CONTENTS— HISTORICAL
wheat-raising and barley-raising county in the world. Wheat: Two
per cent, of nation's crop in ISSO produced in what was then Colusa
County — Dr. H. J. Glenn's wheat ranch the greatest in the world —
Production on the Glenn ranch in 1876 — Present extensive operations
in grain-raising — The beginning of grain-raising in the county — Effect
of the dry years on the industry — Growth of the industry after the
rains of 1864 — Wheat becomes the leading crop — Increase of production
from 1864 to 1884—10,000.000 bushels of wheat in 1889. Barley: De-
cline of wheat-raising and growth of barley-raising — Barley the more
profitable crop in Colusa County — Effect of seasons on yield of plains
lands and tule lands — Varying yield — Crops and prices in 1917 — Inroads
of other crops on the barley acreage. Rice: Rise and growth of the
rice industry — Early experiments by Colonel Moulton — Government
experiments at Chico — Operations of W. K. Brown on the lands of the
Moulton ranch — Production of rice on the Moulton ranch in 1914 —
Operations of Mallon & Blevins — Rice acreage of the county in 1915 —
Increase in land values — Introduction of the early-maturing Italian
rice — Production of rice in 1915 by the Moulton Irrigated Lands Com-
pany and the California Rice Company — Operations of Mallon &
Blevins from 1915 to date — The Cheney Slough Irrigation Company —
Directors of the company — Growth of the industry at Maxwell — Rice
acreage in the county in 1917 — Demand for rice lands. Alf-\i,fa: In-
troduction and growth of alfalfa culture — Production on irrigated
lands, and on unirrigated lands — Crop returns — Importance of the
alfalfa crop. Corn: Four kinds grown — Sorghum first grown in the
fifties — Indian corn grown to some extent along the river — Egyptian
corn grown on the overflow lands; a summer crop — Broom corn grown
on the overflow lands; present prices and profits; operations of George
F. McKenzie in 1914, and subsequent growth of the broom corn industry.
Bean.s: At first grown for home consumption — The bean lands —
Yield per acre — Center of the bean industry of the county — Increased
demand for bean lands — Varieties grown, and prices. Beets: Efforts
to introduce the sugar beet — John Boggs — Sugar factory offered by the
Spreckels Sugar Company in 1896— Project for a factory in 1905—
Project formed in 1911 for the building of the Colusa and Hamilton
Railroad — The required acreage subscribed — The road not finished —
Crops grown by the sugar company — Present prospects for the growth
of the industry. Other Crop.s: Potatoes grown in limited quantities —
Cotton: W. S. Green's attempt to introduce cotton-growing; experi-
ments by Andrew Rutland and J. W. Bowden — Sweet potatoes and pea-
nuts grown on the sandy lands along the river — Grandelia robusta. or
rosin weed, gathered from the lowlands along the Trough; prices and
shipments.
CHAPTER XI
FIORTICULTURE 113
Scope of horticulture in Colusa County. Fruit-growing for Domestic
Purposes: The wide variety of fruits grown — Conditions that have
prevented the general introduction of fruit-growing. Gr.\pes: Pioneer
work of I. N. Cain in the raisin industry at College City— William
Calmes' vineyard — Growth in vineyard acreage during the eighties —
Colonel Moulton's vineyard— The Brim vineyard— Growth of the raisin
industry during the last decade — Wine grapes — Table grapes — Crops
and crop returns — Outlook for development. Prunes: Early prune
orchardists: J. B. Dejarnatt, A. S. McWilliams, Colonel Moulton, P.
V. Berkey. Henry Ahlf. D. H. Arnold, Richard Bayne, Dr. Gray, John
Boggs, Poirier — Organization of the Colusa County Horticultural So-
ciety, and appointment of a board of horticultural commissioners —
Operations of P. V. Berkey, J. W. Bowden, J. C. Bedell, and Joseph
Boedefeld in 1894 — The Boedefeld orchard — Production and returns —
Growth of the industry during the past four years. Almoxds: Ar-
huckle as an almond center — C. H. Locke's almond orchard — Growth of
the almond industry from 1892 to 1907 — Subdivision of the Reddington
ranch in 1907, and beginning of the almond boom — Organization of the
Superior California Fruit Lands Company and the Arbuckle Almond
Growers' Association — Growth of the industry in the Arbuckle district
— A. M. Newland the pioneer almond-grower of the county — The New-
CONTENTS— HISTORICAL
land orchard— The Eureka almond— A. Fendt's orchard. Oranges:
John T. Harrington's orchard; production and quality — Alva A. King's
orchard. Lejio.xs: Operations of James Mills, near Maxwell — The
Mills orchard. Peaches and Apricots: W. L. Cotter's orchard, near
Arbuckle — Acreage planted in the Arbuckle district — A. S. McWilliams
the pioneer apricot orchardist ahout Colusa — Growth and decline ot the
industry. Pears: The pear boom along the river in the eighties —
Yields and returns — The epidemic of pear blight — The Boedefeld
orchard — The Ahlf orchard; yield and returns — Orchards of W. G.
Henneke and P. B. Pryor. Walnuts: Operations of J. C. Westfall —
The Hugh L. Dobbins walnut nursery in Colusa — The walnut orchard
at Arbuckle. Figs, PLr:MS, and Apples; The flg orchards of Richard
Bayne and W. C. Roberts — The Ahlf brothers' plum orchard— Apple
orchards in the western part of the countv.
CHAPTER XII
Mixing axd Quarrying 122
Mixing: Colusa County not a mining county — Minerals produced —
Early activities (as outlined in the Rogers history) in the discovery
and mining of copper, coal, gold and silver, quicksilver, sulphur, petro-
leum, chrome ore, and limestone — The oil excitement on Bear Creek
in 1900 and 1901— Operations of the Williams Oil Company— Discovery
of mineral paint deposit on Little Stony Creek in 1909, and organiza-
tion of the Ruby King Mining, Townsite & Improvement Company —
The cinnabar mines of Sulphur Creek— The Manzanlta and Cherry
Mines. Quarrying: Building stone quarry opened at Sites in 1892, and
operated by the Colusa Sandstone Company — A second quarry opened
by John D. McGilvray — Shipments to San Francisco — Buildings erected
of Colusa sandstone— Quality of the stone — Production in 1905 — Sus-
pension of operations.
CHAPTER XIII
ilANUFACTURING - 128
Local Economic Conditions Unfavorable to Manufacturing: Various
attempts made to establish manufactures — Farming much more profit-
able than manufacturing in Colusa County — Relative returns as illus-
trated by the rice business. Sawmills and Flouring Mills: Morri-
son's mill at Sycamore, 1852; manufacture of lumber and flour — Dun-
lap & Turner's mill at Colusa, 1853— Quality of the flour— Later his-
tory of the mill — The flour mill at Princeton — John L. Smith's mill
at Smithville — The Stony Creek Improvement Company — The Williams
Flouring Mill— The Sunset Flouring Mills— The Colusa Milling Com-
pany — The Colusa Milling & Grain Company — The Williams Milling
Company. Manufacture of Salt: The salt lake north of Sites —
Salt Lake Ranch — Early operations — Operations of J. P. Rathbun — The
Antelope Crystal Salt Company. Projects for a Sugar Factory:
Early attempts to establish a factory — $100,000 subscribed toward a
factory in 1905 — Loss of the factory to Hamilton City. Canning and
Packing: The Colusa Canning, Drying and Packing Company — Opera-
tions of the company — The Colusa Dried Fruit Company. Creameries:
Activities of the Pacific Creamery Company and the Colusa Cream
Association, and incorporation of the Colusa Creamery Company —
Erection and operation of the factory — The Colusa Butter Company —
Sale of the creamery to the Western Creameries Company — Purchase
and operation of the plant by M. A. Sickels — The Stonyford Cream-
ery — Erection and operation of the factory. Stea^i L.«'ndries: J. R.
Phillips' steam laundry in Colusa — Organization of the Colusa Steam
Laundry Association — Purchase and operation of the plant by W. H.
Graham — Madam Hordes' French steam laundry. Ice Plants: Manu-
facture of ice by J. B. Cooke— The Colusa Meat & Cold Storage Com-
pany — Erection and operation of the plant — Lease of the plant to
the Union Ice Company. Iron and Steel Manufactures: The Wil-
liams Foundry and Machine Shop — The Colusa Agricultural Works —
Operation under Gessner & Skinner, J. Grover, and Wulff & Lage
— Operation as the Colusa Foundry and Machine Shop under Frank
CONTENTS— HISTORICAL
Wulff — Later changes in proprietorship. The Brewery: The old
building — Erection of the brick building — Operation under proprietor-
ship of G. Kammerer — Sold at sheriff's sale. Light, Power, &
Water Companies: The Colusa Gas Company — Purchase and opera-
tion of the plant by the Pacific Gas & Electric Company— The Wil-
liams Water & Electric Company. MANrFACTURE of Broojis: Attempts
of William Prater and J. W. Van Winkle to establish a broom factory
in Colusa — Van Winkle's factory moved to Sacramento. Maxufac-
ture of Poultry Supplies: The Rogers Manufacturing Company,
at Williams — Removal to Sacramento. Other Project.s: Agitation
for a rice mill; issuance and revocation of permit to sell stock — The
Felts Electric Light & Power Company— The Western Acetylene Gas
Company — The Snow Mountain Electric Power Company.
CHAPTER XIV
Newspapers 136
Colusa: The Colusa Sun: Founded January 1, 1S62 — Publication
under Charles R. Street, T. J. Andus, and Will S. Green and the
Addingtons — Publication and changes under the Colusa Sun Pub-
lishing Company — Influence of the Sun in the affairs of Colusa County.
The Colusa Independent: Founded in 1873— Published from 1873 to
1877. The Colusa Herald: Founded in July, 1886, by Jacobs & King —
Later owners — Transferred to a stock company in 1900 — Changes
under John L. Allison — Purchase and publication by C. D. McComish —
Purchase and publication by Tompkins & Harriss. The Colusa Daily
Gazette: Founded in 1889— Publication under E. I. Fuller, from
1889 to 1904. WiLLiAii.s: The Central News, of Williams: Founded
in 1882 — Edited by G. B. Henderson. The Williams Farmer: Founded
in 1887— Publication and changes under S. H. Callen— Published
under various lessees since 1911. The Williams Enterprise: Founded,
and published for a few months, in 1911. by R. R. Kingsley. Arbuckle:
The Arbuckle Autocrat: Founded by J. S. Taylor in 1890— Name
changed to New Era — Leased in 1899 to J. H. Hudson, founder of the
Arbuckle Independent— Acquired by W. W. Felts in 1902, and name
changed to Arbuckle Planter— Purchased by J. P. Hall in 1909, and
name changed to Arbuckle American — Publication and influence under
Mr. Hall. Maxwell: The Maxwell Star: Purchased by W. W.
Felts and James H. Hodgen in 1884 — Publication suspended. The
Maxwell Mercury: Founded in ISSS — ^Publication under John G. and
Charles C. Overshlner. The Maxwell Tribune: Founded in 1912,
by Harden & Hardwicke — Publication under George B. Harden — Now
leased to L. H. Bowen, and printed at the Williams Farmer office.
Grimes: The Grimes Record: Founded in 1911— Published by J. P.
Hall and printed at the Arbuckle American office. The Grimes Inde-
pendent: Founded in 1917 — Published and printed by L. H. Bowen at
the Williams Farmer office. Prixcetox: The Princeton New Era:
Founded in 1905 by Joel H. Ford— Printed at the Colusa Sun office.
The Princeton Journal: A few numbers issued from the Colusa Herald
office by Seth Bailey, in 1914. County Editorial Association: Meeting
of the county editors at Maxwell, September 28, 1SS9, and organization
of an association — Renewed attempt to establish an association in 1914.
CHAPTER XV
Schools, Churches, and Lodges 139
Schools: General excellence of school system — Effect of large land-
holdings on rural schools — First school established in 1855 in Colusa —
First schoolhouse built in 1861 — Subsequent buildings and projected
improvements — Growth of the school system from 1861 to the present
time — Five high schools at present — Colusa High School — Pierce Joint
Union High School— Williams High School— Princeton Joint Union
High School— Maxwell High School— St. Aloysius Convent School —
Mrs. Clark's Select School for Young Ladies— Mrs. Lowery's kinder-
garten — Pierce Christian College — Its founder, Andrew Pierce — Its
place in the educational history of the county — Father Wallrath, and
CONTENTS— HISTORICAL
the founding of the convent school in Colusa. Churches: Churches
of the county not in a thriving condition. The Methodist Episcopal
Church, South: History of the Colusa congregation, prepared by J. W.
Goad for the semi-centennial of Trinity Church — Preachers in charge
since 1910 — The churches at Arbuckle, Williams, Maxwell. Sites,
Princeton, Stonyford, and Leesville. The Christian Church: The
church in Colusa — Buildings erected — List of ministers — The churches
at Williams, College City, Sycamore, Maxwell, and Grand Island.
The Catholic Church: First church built in the county begun at
Colusa under Father Crinnian, and completed by Father Wallrath—
Influence of Father Wallrath — The churches at Maxwell, Stonyford,
Williams, and Arbuckle— Funeral of Father Wallrath. The Baptist
Church: The churches at Grimes, Arbuckle, and Maxwell. The Pres-
byterian Church: Organization of the congregation, and erection of
the church, at Colusa, the only one in the county — First wedding
and first funeral in the church — List of pastors — Improvements now
being made — List of organists. The Episcopal Church: Organization
of the church in Colusa, the only one in the county — Buildings erected.
The African M. E. Zion Church: Incorporated in 1S94 — At present
without pastor or regular services. Lodges: Of the many orders
organized in the county, only a few now represented by active lodges —
The various orders organized, and those now active. The Masons:
Colusa Lodge, No. 142, F. & A. M. — Equality Lodge consolidated with
Colusa Lodge, No. 142, to form Colusa Lodge, No. 240 — Meridian Lodge,
No. 182, at Arbuckle — Tuscan Lodge, No. 261, at Williams — Snow Moun-
tain Lodge, No. 271, at Stonyford — Maxwell Lodge. No. 2SS — Knights
Templar Commandery and Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, at Colusa —
Veritas Chapter, O. E. S., at Colusa— Eowana Chapter, O. E. S.. at
Stonyford— Loyal Chapter. 0. E. S.. at Williams— Wild Rose Chapter,
O. E. S.. at Princeton. The Odd Fellows: Colusa Lodge. No. 133—
Princeton Lodge consolidated with Colusa Lodge — Central Lodge, at
Williams — Grand Island Lodge, No. 266, at Grimes — Spring Valley
Lodge, at Arbuckle — Maxwell Lodge — Colusa Encampment — Deborah
Rebekah Lodge, at Colusa — Valley Rose Rebekah Lodge, at Grimes —
Rebekah lodges at Arbuckle, Williams, and Maxwell. Native Sons
and Native Daughters: Colusa Parlor, No. 69 — Williams Parlor, No.
164— Colusa Parlor, N. D. G. W. Knights of Pythias: Oriental Lodge,
No. 10, and successor, at Colusa. Loyal Order of Moose: Colusa Lodge,
No. 834. Fraternal Order of Eagles: Colusa Aerie, No. 675. Inde-
pendent Order of Foresters: Court Sioc, at Colusa. Ancient Order
of United Workmen: Lapsed lodges at Colusa, Grand Island, Prince-
ton, and Maxwell — Degree of Honor, at Colusa. Grand Army of the
Republic: General John A. Miller Post, at Colusa — Women's Relief
Corps. Confederate Veterans: Camp Pap Price, at Colusa — Winnie
Davis Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy, at Colusa. Other
orders: Ancient Order of Druids, at Colusa — Knights of Honor, at
Colusa — Fraternal Brotherhood, at Colusa and Meridian — Good Tem-
plars, at Colusa, Sycamore, Grand Island, Arbuckle, Princeton, College
City, Williams, Maxwell, and Lodoga — Sons of Temperance, at Colusa
and Williams — The Williams Temperance Advocate — Antlers Club
of the Elks— The I. D. E. S.— Colusa Lodge, No. 6, E. Clampus Vitus.
CHAPTER XVI
The We.vther 156
Is the cimate changing? — The two seasons — The summer of 1844 —
General review of the seasons from 1849 to 1917 — Various periods of
high water— The floods of February, 1915— The hot spell of 1879 —
Two respects in which the climate has changed — Modifying effect of
increasing vegetation — The cold spell of January, 1888 — General
characteristics of the normal climate of the county — Some variations
from type: Late rains, accompanied by thunder and lightning; va-
rious hail-storms; snow-storms; earthquakes — Weather in the moun-
tains.
CONTENTS— HISTORICAL
CHAPTER XYII
Miscellaneous Facts : 161
Picnics, celebrations, and public gatherings — Public works and pub-
lic buildings — Public utilities — Postal dates and postal data — Com-
panies and corporations — Various organizations — Resorts — Personals
— Facts and figures.
CHAPTER XVIII
Colusa County Today 168
General Featuhes: A land of broad expanses, sparsely populated
— Distribution of industries — One incorporated city — Unincorporated
towns and villages. General Statlstks: Area — Farms — Agricul-
tural lands and grazing lands — Roads — Irrigation — Valuation — As-
sessed live stock. County Offkial.s: Present officers — List of jus-
tices of the peace. Cousa: Location and population — Established
in 1850 — Incorporated in 1876 — Growth and public improvements —
List of business places. Willia:ms: Population — Laid out in 1876
— Public improvements — List of business places. Arbuckle: Laid
out in 187.5 — Population — Public improvements — List of business
places — Prospect of growth through almond and raisin industries.
Maxwell: Laid out in 1S7S. and called Occident — Change of name
— Population — Public improvements — List of business places. Prince-
ton: A road house in 18.51 — Population — Public improvements — List
of business places. GRniEs: A road house in 1851 — Origin of name
— Population — Public improvements — List of business places — Center
of sugar-beet industry — Subscriptions to Y. M. C. A. war fund.
College City: The founding of Pierce Christian College — A com-
munity of high ideals — Present population — Public improvements and
places of business. Stonyford: Only important mountain town in
county — Originally called Smithville — Change of name — Present pop-
ulation — Public improvements and places of business. In Con-
cllision: Limitations and purpose of the work.
HISTORY OF GLENN COUNTY
By Airs. Rebecca T. Lambert
PAGE
Introduction 1^7
Topographic and Gexerai, Industrial Features: Location and boun-
daries of Glenn County — Stony Creek and Stony Creek Valley — Willow,
Walker, and Hambrig'ht Creeks— The "Trough"— Area of the county-
Character of the surface, and distribution of industries — Economic his-
tory of the county concerned chiefly with the industries of the plains.
CHAPTER I
The Pathfinders l'?8
Hunters and trappers the first pathfinders— Jedediah S. Smith the first
man to make the trip overland to California from the United States —
His trips from Great Salt Lake to and through California, 1826-182S—
Party sent out by Hudson Bay Company, under McLeod, who makes a
successful hunting trip down the Sacramento Valley — Ogden follows
McLeod's trail — Trip of Ewing Young and 'J. J. Warner — Sutter's
activities and influence — Extract from John Bidwell's journal— Far-
reaching influence of Thomas O. Larkin— Bidwell's exploration.
CHAPTER II
The Indians 183
Their number and origin — Characteristics of the Digger Indians — Their
mode of living — Manners and Customs — Tradition of a flood — Their
morals — Attitude toward the whites — Removal to the Noma Lacka
Reservation — Later depredations — The legend of "Bloody Rock"— At-
tack at the rancheria on the Millsaps place — Results of their contact
with civilization.
CHAPTER III
The Missions. California Wins Her Independence 189
The Missions: The Spanish fail to realize the possibilities of the
Sacramento Valley— Russian settlement at Fort Ross, followed by the
founding of Spanish missions at San Rafael and Sonoma. California
Wins Her Independence: Gen. John A. Sutter's grant— Sutter's hos-
pitality—Growing power of the American settlers— Fremont's survey-
ing trip up the Sacramento Valley — The capture of Arce's horses — Cap-
ture of General Vallejo — The Bear Flag Revolt— The Battle of Olampali
— Granville P. Swift, and others of the Bear Flag Party.
CHAPTER IV
Organization of State and County 194
California under military rule — State constitutional convention at Mon-
terey, September 3. 1849— Constitution ratified and proclaimed— First
legislature meets at San Jose, December 15, 1849 — California admitted
to statehood, September 9, 1850 — Boundaries of Colusa County defined
— Location of the county seat at Monroeville— Early elections — Tran-
sient nature of the population — Extract from a letter of William B.
Ide— Anecdote of Ide— Transportation in the early days— Early grain-
growers- Valuation and population in 1S52— First legal execution, and
first county jail — Removal of the county seat to Colusa.
CONTENTS— HISTORICAL
CHAPTER V
Origin of Place Names. The Coming of the Stockmen 200
Origix of Place Names: Pioneers whose descendants still live In the
county: A. S. C. Cleek, Martin Reager. Robert Hambrlght, Elijah Mc-
Danlel, and Mayberry Davis — Manufacture of grindstones on Stony
and Grindstone Creeks, 1S45 — Pioneers whose names are perpetuated
in the place names of the county: R. B. Ord, R. J. Walsh, A. C. St.
John, Granville P. Swift, L. H. Mcintosh, Robert Hambrlght, Watt
Briscoe, James Clark, Jeff Walker. The CoiriNG of the Stockmen:
The forty-niners turn from mining to stock-raising — Residents and land-
owners along the Sacramento River before 1858: Mayberry Davis,
Elijah M.cDaniel, Joseph McVay, Bounds and Picknell, H. C. Nelson,
Frank Steele. Levi Jefferson McDanlel, J. J. Winkler, John Price,
Isaac Sparks, Watkins, George C. Pratt, R. B. Ord. U. P. Monroe.
Richard Walsh, L. H. Mcintosh. Joseph and Michael Billlou, Martin
A. Reager and S. C. Cleek, James Ewlng Mitchell, and Jubal Weston
— Claims laid out along the courses of the streams — Improvement of
the stock — Prominent sheep-raisers of the early days: James Ewing
Mitchell, Jeff Walker, U. S. Nye, A. S. McWlUlams, James Talbot. Pat-
rick O'Brien, W. W. Marshall, Laban Scearce, William Murdock and
Milton French. Settlement of the Foothills: First settlements made
during 1855 — Early settlers: A. D. Logan. "Zink" Garnett, James and
Thomas Talbot, Oscar Stiles, James and S. D. Young, J. R. Tiffee,
Robert Eggleston, Abe Muslck, Jerry Schooling, Charley Brooks, U. S.
Nye, Patrick O'Brien, Milton French, J. C. and S. P. Wilson, W. W.
Marshall, Jeff Walker, H. B. Julian, I. W. Brownell, Laban Scearce.
Noah Simpson, and Robert Hambrlght — Pioneers of the vicinity of
Newville: James Flood, J. B. and Joseph James, M. Kendrick, James
Kilgore, Lysander V. Cushman. Rufus G. Burrows, John Masterson,
B. N. Scribner. James A. Shelton and George W. Millsaps — Joseph Mill-
saps — Pioneers of Stony Creek Valley, between Elk Creek and Stony-
ford: L. L. Felkner, Robert Anderson, Watt Briscoe, Wilcox, Parrish,
Bowman, J. S. B. West. Jack and Dave Lett, W. E. Green and W. W.
and Alfred Green. The Drought of 1864: The drought state-wide—
Widespread loss of herds and flocks — Effect upon the introduction of
grain-growing.
CHAPTER VI
The Era of the Grain-grower 207
FiusT Attempts at Graix-growixg: Wheat and barley first planted in
1851 — Squatter claims abandoned on the plains on account of drought
and grasshoppers — Settlement of the plains fostered by the govern-
ment — Dawning of the new era. Ixflux of Settlers: Grain-growers
come in from Solano County — Grain farmers who settled in Glenn
County from 1868 to 1873: Dr. Hugh J. Glenn, I. V. Devenpeck, Ad.
Duncan, H. A. Greenwood, Henry W. Steuben, P. B. Lacroix. W. T.
Troxel, Daniel Zumwalt, G. D. Mecum, Chris. Jasper and J. A. Smith.
Growth axd Decline of the Inihstry: Yield in Colusa and Glenn
Counties increased to a million sacks by 1872 — Some farmers go back
to sheep-raising — Dr. H. J. Glenn's operations — Increased acreage sown
to grain — Damage by rust — Depredations of wild geese and ducks —
1880 a banner year of the grain-growers; Dr. Glenn produces almost a
million bags of wheat — Other large growers of 1880: George Hoag.
William Murdock, Pierre Barceloux. P. B. Lacroix. Charles Merrill,
I. V. Devenpeck, Ad. Duncan, Laban Scearce, H. B. Julian, Patrick
O'Brien, Joseph Billiou and C. S. Chambers — Eight million bushels of
grain produced in 1885 — The "norther" of 1886 — Advent of the com-
bined harvester, 1887 — Introduction of the steam tractor, 1889 — Exhaus-
tion of the soil and decrease in crop yields in the early nineties — Intro-
duction of summer-fallowing, and association of grain-growing with
stock-raising. Grain-growing on the Grant: Dr. Hugh J. Glenn at
one time the largest grain farmer in the United States — His early
operations in the state, in mining, freighting, and the live-stock busi-
ness — He begins farming in Yolo County with Major Briggs in 1865 —
The Glenn ranch at Jacinto — Dr. Glenn's holdings increased until they
CONTENTS— HISTORICAL
comprised about fifty-five thousand acres — About forty-five thousand
acres farmed to wheat and barley — Pacts and statistics showing the ex-
tensive operations carried on by Dr. Glenn — Death of Dr. Glenn and
subdivision of the great ranch— The Glenn home site at Jacinto, owned
by Mrs. Ella Glenn Leonard— The estate of Charles H. Glenn — "Glen-
nair," the home of Frank Buckner Glenn.
CHAPTER VII
County Division, and Organization of the New County 212
Location of county seat at Colusa inconvenient for residents of the
northern portion of the county — Revenues of the county not equitably
expended— The "Courthouse Ring"— Discontent in the north — Prank
Freeman, editor of the Orland Times, espouses the cause of county
division, ISSO — The first plan for county division— Agitation renewed
in 1882, and a bill introduced providing for the creation of a new
county to be called "Glenn" — Circulation of petition — The bill defeated
— Activities of the Divisionists and Anti-divisionists during the session
of 188S-1S89 — Act creating the new county passed by Legislature, but
not signed by Governor Waterman — Third bill introduced in 1890-1891,
■ passed by both houses, and signed by Governor Markham — Commis-
sioners appointed and election called to determine whether the new
county should be organized— The election of May 5, 1891- Election
canvassed by the commissioners. May 11, 1891, and act declared ratified
— List of officers elected— Suit brought in the Superior Court of Sacra-
mento County, praying for an order of court against the division of
the county — Action decided in favor of division — Appeal made to the
Supreme Court, and decision of lower court sustained — Suits instituted
at Marysville, but finally dropped — The cause of county division cham-
pioned by Prank Freeman from 1880 to 1891— The Hon. K. E. Kelley.
CHAPTER VIII
The Tears Immediately Following County Division 216
Pactions created by county division — The panic of 1893 — Construction
of county roads, bridges and buildings — Laying of the corner stone of
the courthouse — Organization and service of Company G — Agricultural
Association and the races— Famous trials— New enterprises— List of
county officers, 1892-1916.
CHAPTER IX
The Era of Irrigation 225
Irrigation meeting of May, 1875, and the filing and location of private
water rights — Early irrigation— Irrigation district projects — Will S.
Green, and tjie Central Irrigation District— Orland Irrigation Project
— Late canal irrigation development— Well and pumping-plant irriga-
tion development.
CHAPTER X
Willows 234
Origin of the name— Early settlers and selection of the town site — The
Southern Pacific enters Willows— Growth of the town— Early confla-
grations — Organization for protection against fire — The solar eclipse
of 1889— Musical organizations — Clubs— The period of growth — The
passing of the saloon— The churches— Secret organizations — The
schools— The library— Sheridan Park— The State High-syay- The Fed-
eral Building — Stability and growth.
CHAPTER XI
Orland 245
Choice of the name— Settlement and early development — The college
at Orland— The Bank of Orland— A patriotic event— Irrigation and
development— The schools— The Orland Joint Union High School— The
churches — Fraternal and civic organizations — The saloons — Industries
— Appearance of the town — A list of the business places — The profes-
sions—The Glenn County Livestock and Agricultural Association.
INDEX— BIO GRAPHICAL
A
Abel, George Lambert 817
Abel, John P..., SIS
Addington, Mrs Eliz.ibeth 423
Addington, Stephen 420
Ajax, Thomas G S35
Alexander, Chark'b 8S8
Anderson. Thomas Talbot 689
Annand, John.. 263
Applegate, William J 994
Arbuckle, Tacitus R 4S5
Arvedson. Charles Adolphus 956
Ash, Louis 683
Ash, Capt. William 930
Ash, William H 626
Austin, C. L 307
Austin, Prank Joseph 1063
B
Ballard, Leander S 614
Ballard, Robert Bruce 610
Bane, Paul Davis 9S5
Bank of Princeton 102S
Bank of Willows 368
Barceloux Ernest J .1051
Barceloux, Pierre 523
Barham, William 918
Bartlett, Clifford 982
Beckwith, Byron D 569
Bedford, John Archibald 827
Beeck, John 589
Beguhl & Belieu 1001
Behr, Ernst E 1012
Belieu, W. T 844
Bell, Merton 988
Berens, Peter V. and Johannes J... 803
Berger, George A 625
Beville, William Thomas 463
Bickford, Octavius Freeland 917
Billion, Joseph 448
Birch, Tlieodore B 775
Blake, Charles S 1049
Blichteldt, Henry W 853
Blichfeldt, John 854
Blondin, Mrs. Mae 738
Boardman, Frank Dayton 898
Boardman, Wilbur Warren 806
Boedefeld, Luke R 556
Bondurant, Jesse L 713
Boggs, Hon. John 260
Boren, Emil 770
Bostrom, C. N 763
Boyd. James 296
Branham, Henry V 1001
Brim, Elbert A 820
Brough, John H 989
Brown, David 391
Brown, George Lorenzo 617
Brown, Uriah Waverly 561
Brown, William Wallace 535
Brownell, Irving Woodbridge 434
Briiggmann, Jochim 904
Brys, Cyprien 847
Buckner, George M 810
Burger, Jerry Alexander 433
Burrows, Rufus G 381
Burton. Benjamin Howell 608
Butler, Charles A 696
Butler, Eugene Thompson 657
Butte City Ranch 1045
C
Cain, John Edgar 652
Calvert. Benjamin F 796
Carpenter. William Gordon 831
Chaney, William 743
Clark, Andrew Jackson 815
Clark, Willard 970
Cockerill, Mrs. Charles W 543
Colusa County Bank 583
Colusa County Free Library 826
Conklin, Marcus L 686
Cowan, David C 1009
Cramer, Douglas 393
Crane, Jefferson Davis 295
Crutcher, James Wilson 376
Crystal Baths and Amusement Park 951
Culver, A. Holly 786
Curry, John J 866
D
Davis, Mayberry 409
Deacon, Arthur P., D. D. S 938
DeGaa, Harrison Darrough 300
Delpapa, John. 729
De Thier, David 1067
Dickson, Walter 1070
Dodd, William 703
Domonoske, Henry 908
Donohoe, Charles L 342
Douville, Mrs. Belle 959
Drew, Leland Stanford 784
Drew, Willis 386
Dunlap, Herman 871
Dunning, Robert Bruce 995
Durbrow, William 1015
Durham, John F 895
Durham, Oscar Minton 525
E
Earp, Peter Asbury 492
Elbe, Pacific Ord 257
El Rio Rancho 1016
Erickson, Arthur 1050
Eubank, Joseph C . 671
INDEX— BIOGRAPHICAL
r, ..-1048
Fallon. James P ^ g^Q
Farnham, Lindley P- ■ „
Felts. Christopher Columbus.. 416
pfrst National Bank and First
savings Bank of Colusa 609
Fitch, Lucius Hubbard i^^*
Flanagan. Ed ^25
Flood. John ^25
Flood, Mrs. Mary ^^^g
Ford, Henry .^ ^^^
French, Curry M ggs
French. Milton .„
Fruchtenicht, Jacob "
6
Garnett. Hugh ^- y-- IqT
Garnett. James Richard *!^^
Garnett. Peter R ■- „iq
Garnett. Mrs. Ruth A^ McCune 319
Gatliff. William W., M. D 55b
Gattsch, John Henry ^^^^
Gelston. A. M - „„„
Gibson. William Wallace «»'
Gillaspy. George Richard a^*
Girard, Alcid D ..
Glenn, Hugh James
Gobel. Frank Leslie ^^^
Gobel. Obadiah g^g
Golden. Edward J ^^r^
Golden, Michael .----■ •--••; .^
Graves, Fountain Columbus if
Grealy, Rev. Father P. A ^-0
Green, Edward E ^^^
Green. Parley H..-^ „-.
Green, Mrs. Sallie B
Green. Will Semple ^■
Greenwood, Hiram A ^°
Greenwood, Willis A '"
Grenfell. Roy W °g^
Grey. John H - •- .,„„q
Grieve. Lundy Lloyd. i"^^
Gritfin, Thomas David ^^^
Griffith, Jonathan ^^^
Grimes, Cleaton
Grimm, Peter Henry
Guenon, Gustave """"
Guilford, William ■^"*'
Guilford. William Sumner
529
1060
.1044
H
Hale. Edward F.
Halterman. John W.. fj'
Hamann. Jochim Frederick lOb*
Hamilton, John C.
262
Hancock, Arthur Raymond 974
Hansen. Charles «"9
Hanson, George M f^
Hanson, Nicholas Wilson 39S
Hanson, William P 398
Harbison, James C *»"
Harbison & Kitchin ^d*
Harden, George B 0^'
Harder. August F »■*"
Harder. Hans Henry 9^7
Harelson, Adelbert James -. vbu
Harelson, Charles M ^59
Harelson, Ellsworth C 664
Harlan, Thomas Helm 51*
Harlan, Thomas William -^ 51»
Harlan. William P.. M. D., D. 35b
Harrington, John Curry 968
Harrington, Tennent 454
Harrington, Hon. William Pierce.. 353
Harrison, Jasper M 774
Harrold, Herbert F 1073
Hart, Fred 940
Haskell, Hardy J ^"*
Hassig, Jacob °*^
Hastings, George Washington 646
Haugh, Patrick Henry 577
Hawortb, Thomas Eugene 10^7
Hazelton, John B 957
Heathcote, Edward ^b»
Held, Fred M !"•"
Henning, August ... ^**
Henning, Walter M 60^
Hicks, Proctor Knott 744
Hicks, Thomas Jefferson 7^^
High, Mr. and Mrs. G H 652
Hine, Benjamin oil
Hochheimer, Hon. Amiel ^^1
Hochheimer, Ira .. 332
Hochheimer, Moses ^^"
Hoever, Mrs. John H 451
Houchins, Henry Lewis 6^5
Houchins, Samuel 6db
Hudson, Lindsey .. »^^
Huffmaster, Leonard 8»5
Hulen. John Thomas 580
Hurlburt, Frank C »»"
Husted, Henry ' »9
Huttmann, Elmer J ^'^^
Hynes, Rev. Father M J
1043
Jacobsen, Richard
James, Joseph
Jctnsen, Claus F...
Jasper, Carl Henry
Jellison, Miller H.
Johnson, Albert Henry
Johnson, Paul D.
Johnson, William
Jones, Mrs. Mary G.
Jones, P. G
Jones, Ralph T
1040
578
602
555
551
960
1068
573
1058
804
Kaerth, Jacob William 701
Kaiser, Amiel ^Sd
Kauffman, Bert P 1"^5
Keegan, Mathew J »"»
Keim, William Henry lOOfa
Kelly. John ■.■-,■;■•.- IJi
Kesselring, Francis Marion »9l
Kibby, Eli J 996
Kidd, William T 975
King, Charles Bmmett 9ld
Kirkpatrlck, Margaret Ashurst 457
INDEX— BIOGRAPHICAL
Kirkpatrick, Thomas J 457
Kirkup, William 870
Kissling, Jean 1072
Kissling, John 1071
Kissling, Peter SB'S
Kitchin, Allen. r)6S
Klewe, William P 84^
Knight, John E 445
Knock, Bayard t>79
Knock, Thomas L '.29
Krohn, Peter... 5 !7
Kronsbein, Arthur F 1000
Kuhlmey, Henry 504
L
Lacroix. Paschal B 1004
Lambirth. Charles Leroy S79
Larsson, Siegfried A 981
Laustau, John 1061
Laux, Frederick 927
Leachman, Ord L.. 753
Leake, Mrs. Sarah 572
Leonard, John M 1029
Logan, Hugh A 279
Logan, John Stephen 347
Lovelace, Charles William 647
Lovelace, John H 661
Lovelady, William J 848
Lowe, Samuel James 397
Lucas, James LeRoy 934
Luce, Alonzo 567
Luce, Alonzo, Sr 564
Luce, Zachariah 685
Ludy, William Wirt 935
Lundeen, Jonas 943
lie
McComish, Charles Davis 471
McCune, John 469
McDaniel, Elijah 273
McDaniel, J. E 282
McDaniel, Levi Jefferson 378
McEnespy, Frank Chapman 942
McGahan, Mrs. Edith Morris 925
McGowan, Henry W 1008
McGrath, Rev. Father C. C 538
McLouth, Charles M 1055
McMath, Henry K 990
McVay, Irwin Nelson 1020
McVay, Joseph Edwin 723
McVay, William Nelson 924
Macoun, David B 767
Mallon, James F 1026
Manor, Alexander B 944
Manor, Harry W 9,?9
Manzanita & Cherrv Mines, The 307
Markham, George W 452
Maroney, Thomas E 8.^7
Marshall, Hubbard F 72n
Marshall, William W '..! !
Martens, Hans H 792
Martinelli, A. L. 896
Mason, George Lemuel 893
Masterson, Dennis Hugh 418
Masterson, Edward Kendrick 769
Masterson, James ... 581
Maxey, Roy 1031
Mehl. John 367
Mehrens, Albert 802
Mellor, George 680
Merrill, Morris A 549
Miller, William Frank 362
Milligan, Henry 690
Minton, Perry William 961
Minton, Silas D 955
Mitchell, James Ewing 668
Mitchell, Leo Arthur 793
Moline, Peter E 950
Monroe, Daniel P 323
Monroe. John William 613
Moore, Allen T 731
Moore, Dick 881
Morey, Amos James 1018
Morris, John M 857
Morrissey, James Byron 429
Morrissey. William Henry 749
Muller, Mrs. Caroline 841
Myers, Lucinda A 966
Myhre, Chris 477
N
Nason, Fred Arthur 869
Nelson, Dorr S 822
Nelson, Edward 1057
Nelson, John 259
Newland, Joel Francis 413
Newman. Mrs. Mary 301
Newsom, Thomas H 667
Nichols, Leslie A 717
Nichols, Richard Henry 842
Nichols. Mrs. Willie Bell 773
Nordyke. Joseph 905
O'Brien. James Patrick 322
O'Hair. Michael 562
Osgood. Harry P 616
Ossenbriiggen. Matthias 308
O'Sullivan Brothers 859
O'Sullivan, Jeremiah 860
Otterson, William Harvey 310
Overholtzer, J 718
P
Packer. Mrs. Clara C 648
Papst, William H 430
Paulson. John 1052
Peake. Edwin Henry 874
Pearson, Charles E 663
Pence, George B 658
Pence. Marvin Earl 876
Peterich, John Henry 986
Petersen. William J 348
Peterson, Vincent A 503
Phelps, Robert Evermont 902
Pieper, Amiel D 678
Pinney, William M 949
Pleau, Louis 1062
INDEX— BIOGRAPHICAL
Pleck, John ob4
Polrler, Chester G 633
Potts, George Monroe and Martha
Jane '^36
Price, John '^26
Prlne, David 508
Provence, Harvey Edward 972
Province, Nathan 533
Pryor, Benjamin Pollard 875
Purliitt, Hon. Claude F 439
Purkitt, George Henry 337
Purkitt, Mrs. Theodora Tiffee, M.D. 359
Quigley, Patrick S 919
Quint, Herman 408
R
Rademacher. Anthony 989
Rahm. Roscoe 863
Rasmusson, Julian Martin 741
Rathbun, William T., M. D 607
Rawlins. Henry Grove 672
Rawlins, Thomas Franklin 587
Reager, Frank S 470
Reager. Louis M 392
Reed, Henry E 920
Rees, J. S., D. D. S 929
Rehse. Hans Henry 795
Rehse, Henry Edward 852
Reidy, Timothy 593
Renaud, Andre 1059
Retterath. George 780
Rice, Martin Luther 552
Rice, Thomas A 546
Rider, Charles A 1007
Roebuck, Francis H 1003
Ryan, Francis J 571
Ryan, James H 707
Ryan, John Andrew 623
Ryan, John P 684
s
St. Louis, Antwine T 692
St. Louis, George E 410
St. Louis, Henry B 436
St. Louis, Raymond E 952
Sale, Joseph S : 584
Sanderson, Joseph Virgil 926
Sanford, Charles P 1027
Schillig, Frank 1039
Schmidt, Christian Friedrich 590
Schmidt, Prank K 708
Schohr, Max Paul 620
Sears, David Price 1069
Seaver Brothers 619
Sehorn, Andrew Wallace 483
Sehorn, Cathy M :. 349
Sehorn, Edward Marion 447
Sheldon, Charles C 1019
Shellooe, Daniel 460
Shellooe, Daniel A 461
Sickels, M. A 735
Sidener, Flint W 998
Sievers, Hans 574
Simpson, Preston L 967
Sites, John 510
Sites, William Franklin 639
Slocum, H. P. & Son 1013
Smith, Eugene P 987
Smith, John Andrew 415
Smith, Capt. Thomas Alexander.... 714
Snowden, George Washington 305
Snowden, James William 327
Soeth, John William 833
Somers, Charles Hugh 339
Spalding Ranch, The 1013
Sparrow Brothers 947
Speier, Leon 811
Spencer, Mrs. Maud 1034
Stahl Brothers 791
Stahl, Christopher 791
Stahl, John 791
Stanley, John 1041.
Stanton, Claude D 751
Stanton, Seth W 979
Stillwell, Stephen A 873
Stinchfield, Moses 498
Stinson, Rocsoe 1024
Stormer, Samuel Isaac 406
Stovall, Charles Edwin 764
Stovall, Jesse Curl 372
Sutton, Joseph A 464
Sweet, Charles K 976
Talbot, James Robinson 467
Taylor, George Newton 880
Teal, Franklin Pierce ; 1011
Templeton, Charles A 858
Tennant, Robert L 846
Tenney, Joseph G 708
Tenney & Schmidt 708
Terrill, John Roach and Amanda.. 628
Thayer, Albert Austin 519
Thomas, John 954
Thompson, John Stickney 911
Thompson, Leonard 394
Tiffee, John R 275
Tolley, James B 937
Tremblay, Francis X., M. D 355
Trexler, John Wesley 540
Triplett, Eli 630
Troxel, Frank W 757
Troxel, George W. 697
Troy Laundry . 978
Tucker, David C 604
Turman, Hosea B. 395
Tuttle, Lewis Edmund, D V S 742
Twede, Lars Hansen 674
Vanderford, George 932
Van Scyoc, Jackson 691
Van Syckle, Henry Weaver 494
Vestner, Charles A 1005
von Renner, Rev. Herman J 836
INDEX— BIOGRAPHICAL
w
Walker. John 486
Walter, Karl E 962
Ward, John C 654
Ware. George A 361
Waugh. Oscar 662
Weast. John Kyle 747
Webb, Joseph H 777
Welton. Arthur T 882
West, Alfred L 838
West, Hiram Leroy 427
West. Richard Franklin, D. D. S 941
Weyand, Hon. Ernest 473
Weyand. Julius 479
Wheeler, William Walter 992
White. James Albert and Edna 799
Whitsett, Charles A 1054
Whyler, Edward Henry 805
Whyler, Frederick William 805
Wickes, Clarence R 762
Wilderman, Joseph 997
Williams, Andrew 276
Williams. Mrs. Sarah W. Gary 375
Williams. Solomon Hasbrook 1022
Williams, William Henry 288
Wren. C. Hugh 1010
Wright. George E 594
Wright, Eddie L 768
Wright, Robert Mills 778
Wright, William Tolles 512
Y
Yarbrough, Robert 660
Yer.xa. Woodford A 963
Young. Robert Harvey 706
Zornig, Julius August
Zumwalt, Joseph .
Zumwalt, William R.
1066
404
673
HISTORICAL
HISTORICAL
HISTORY OF COLUSA COUNTY
By Charles Davis McCouiish
FOREWORD
It ocenrs to me that possibly a history of Colusa County ought
to begin with a history of the histories of Colusa County. For
the present work is not by any means the first of its kind. At
least two volumes have preceded it, devoted exclusively to a his-
tory of this county.
The first was a most complete and interesting work written
by the late Will S. Green and pubished in 1880. It was exhaust-
ive in its detail, was copiously illustrated, and forms an exceed-
ingly valuable contribution to local historical literature, because
much of the material contained in it was drawn from the author's
personal experiences in the very earh' days of this county.
The second of the two histories of the county was written
by Justus H. Eogers, a newspaper man of Orland, and was pub-
lished in 1891. It, too, is a complete and valuable work, one
whose interest and value will increase as time passes.
Besides the books above mentioned, Colusa County has had
chapters in numerous histories of the state, histories of the
Sacramento Valley, and the like, that have been published from
time to time, but were more or less incomplete because of the
wide fields they covered.
As thirty-seven years have elapsed since the Green history
was published, and twenty-six years since the publication' of the
Eogers history, and as history is made with exceeding rapidity
in a comparatively new community, it has been deemed wise to
undertake once again the recording of the events that have made
the history of the county, bringing the account down to date
and leaving the facts on record, so that future historians may
take up the story and carry it along, in order that it may be
kept continuous. For one of the chief differences between civil-
ized and savage peoples is this, that the latter leave no written
records of their activities.
The existence of the two works mentioned above, and the
completeness with which they have gone into the early history
of this county, will influence the present author to touch those
18 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
early events comparatively lightly and to lay more stress npon
the events of the period elapsing since the publication of the
former histories of the county — events that as yet are not per-
manently recorded. For the current events of today will be the
history of tomorrow, and it will be read by the student of the
future with just as mucii interest and profit as will the records
of the beginnings of our county.
CHAPTER I
Eaely History of Califorxia
A history of Colusa County naturally should be prefaced with
a brief history of the state, in order to "lead up to the subject"
properly. In the present case the preliminary recital of events
will l)e very brief, merely enough to connect up the work in
hand with the general events of the time, in order that as much
time and space as possible may be devoted to the happenings with-
in the county' itself.
When the year 1542, A. D., dawned, the eye of a white man,
so far as we know, had never looked upon the empire we now
call California. There are legends and stories extant to the
effect that one Manuelo, a Spanish sailor, had been left for dead
on the shores of San Francisco Bay by his companions, who had
come ashore from their vessel for fresh water and got into a
fight with the Indians. This is said to have been between 1535
and 1540, and Manuelo is said to have recovered and lived with
the Indians for several years before he found his way back to
civilization; but the story is so hazy aud improbable that it is
hardly worthy of belief. The voyage of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo,
one of the lieutenants of Cortez, up the coast from Mexico, where
the Spaniards had a number of strong colonies, is the first visit to
California by the whites, of which we have any definite record.
This was in September of 1542, just fifty years after Columbus dis-
covered America, and three hundred seventy-five years ago. For
far the greater part of that three hundred seventy-five years,
California was little disturbed by glances from the eyes of white
men. It lay and slept in its mellow sunshine, walled off from the
rest of the world by almost impenetrable mountains on one side
and the almost boundless ocean on the other. Year after year the
trees budded in the spring and shed their leaves in the fall; the
grasses flourished and died away as the seasons passed over
them ; rabbits, antelope, elk and other herbiverous animals roamed
the plains and valleys in countless numbers ; the Indians fought or
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 19
comi^romised with the grizzly bear and the mountain lion ; the
seasons rolled on — and the great state slept in its silent isolation.
It was thirty-seven years after Cabrillo explored San Diego
Bay and died on the shores of California, that Sir Francis Drake,
the Englishman, reached California, in 1579, on the memorable
trip that took him around the world. He of course found no trace
of any previous explorations or settlements, and believed that he
was the first white man to reach these shores. He landed, and
as was the custom of Englishmen, took possession of everything
in sight — and everything that touched anything in sight — in the
name of his sovereign. Then he headed across the Pacific for
home.
During the twenty-three years following Drake's visit to
California, three or four Spanish vessels visited the coast; but in
each instance their stay was brief, and they accomplished nothing
of permanence or value. The last of them came in 1602 ; and then
again, for one hundred sixty-seven years, California was allowed
to sleep absolutely unmolested by white men.
This brings us to the year 1769, when Father Junipero Serra
established the mission at San Diego, the first permanent settle-
ment in California, and the first of the famous California mis-
sions, the last of which was established in 1823.
The period from 1769 to 1833 marked the growth and pros-
perity of the missions in California. There were twenty-one of
them, all told, extending in a line along or near the coast from
San Diego to Sonoma. Most of them were prosperous, and some
of them were exceedingly rich in lauds, live stock, fruits and
grains. Each had a pojjulation of from five hundred to two
thousand people, most of whom were converted Indians. Of San
Luis Eey, the largest of the missions, it has been said that "at
one time it had a baptized Indian population of several thousand,
owned twenty-four thousand cattle, ten thousand horses, and one
hundred thousand sheep, and harvested fourteen thousand bushels
of grain a year."
From 1769, when the establishment of the missions began,
till 1824, when Mexico achieved her independence from Spain, the
missions were subservient to the latter country; and it was the
strictness of the Spanish laws governing commerce that kept them
from becoming more of a power in the commercial world. They
were allowed to trade only with Spain, and in Spanish ships;
and as grapes, fruits, nuts, and wines were produced also in
Spain, the only things Spain needed to buy of them were hides and
tallow, which came to be the chief articles of commerce. Of
course their commercial activities were thus greatly impeded and
their isolation promoted.
20 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
When Mexico shook off the yoke of Spain in 1824, California,
because of the great distance from Spain, cast in her lot with
Mexico, although the sympathies of the people of the missions
and of the large ranchos surrounding them were largely with the
mother country. At this time practically all of the white people
of the state were Spaniards connected with the missions, the
presidios or forts guarding the missions, and the ranchos in the
neighborhood of the missions, the only exception worthy of note
being a colony of Russians who established a fur-trading post at
Fort Eoss, in Marin County, in 1812.
But about this time American and British wanderers began
to drift into the state, most of them being hunters and trappers.
One of these was Jedediah S. Smith, a trapper who arrived in
1825 and was said to have been the first white man to cross the
Sierra Nevada Mountains. A few of these adventurers settled
down, married into the Spanish families, and made permanent
homes here. Prominent among these early American settlers was
one Chapman, who deserted from a pirate ship that had come 'up
from the coast of South America and plundered some of the mis-
sions and ranchos during the troublous times of the Mexican-
Spanish War. Chapman, it seems, was a sort of genius in mechan-
ical and other ways, and he proved to be a great help to the
padres of the missions in imj^roving many of their domestic
processes and operations. He finally fell in love with and mar-
ried the daughter of Captain Ortega, the discoverer of San Fran-
cisco Bay, and lived a long, contented and useful life in the state.
Conditions of life were extremely pleasant in those days, and it
was easy to drift into a condition of dreamy contentment and
luxury. Many a modern man, tired of the busy bustle of today,
has wished devoutly that his lot might have been cast with the
gay and care-free inhabitants of California before the ' ' Gringos ' '
came.
But the days of the missions were fast passing. As soon as
Mexico had gained her independence, she staged the first of that
series of internal revolutions that has lasted till this day. Mexico,
from the beginning, has been a Ijusy country, governmentally ; and
naturally she had little time to give to the government of her
colony, California. Most of the governors she sent up were poli-
ticians of the worst type ; and their task was not lightened by the
fact that most of the Spanish population preferred Spanish to
Mexican rule, while a large element of the people hoped to see
California one of the United States.
Mexico, as soon as she had upon her hands the responsibil-
ities of a self-governing country, ceased to send funds for the
support of the government in California, having, no doubt,
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 21
abuiulaut use at home for all the funds she could raise. The
local officials, in their need, turned to the missions, and for several
years nearly all the governmental expenses of the colony were
supplied by the padres.
When, in 1810, Mexico began lier revolution against Spain,
the Spanish authorities apparently believed that the California
missions would take sides with, or at least would be a great help
to, Mexico, and ordered that the missions be abolished. Spain
did not have the power to have the order carried out, however,
and the missions continued to exist for about twenty years. But,
dei)rived of the protection of the mother country, and neglected
and plundered by Mexico, the once prosperous missions came upon
evil days. Their prosperity and happiness waned, and in 1833
the Mexican government completed their destruction by an order
that they be completely secularized, that their lands be divided
among the converted Indians, and the padres be sent to other
fields.
The decay of the mission settlements and the disappearance
of the peaceful pastoral life about them was rapid. The Indians
were unable to take care of themselves without the guidance of the
padres ; and they were speedily stripped of tli^ir lands, cattle and
other possessions. During the period between 1833 and 1842,
hunters, trappers and other adventurers were coming into the
state with great frequency, and a new order in California was
beginning. Captain John Sutter, the Swiss pioneer, arrived in
1839, and John Bidwell and party in 1811. By 1842 the fame of
California's lands and climate had spread throughout the LTnited
States, and that year there occurred the first wave of the great
flood of immigration to California. Hundreds of people came
across the plains to see or settle in the wonderful new land.
By 1846 the new order was fairly well established. The
Americans in the state were so numerous and so confident that
they organized the Bear Flag army of some thirty-three men —
several of whom afterwards became citizens of Colusa County —
waged the Bear Flag war for the overthrow of Mexican rule, took
General Vallejo prisoner, and cooperated with Commodore John
D. Sloat, who had arrived about that time with two vessels and
had captured Monterey, in the complete taking over of the gov-
ernment of California from Mexican to American domination and
government.
In 1848 gold was discovered by James W. Marshall in the
race of a sawmill he was building for Captain Sutter, forty miles
east of Sacramento ; and a few months later the crest of the great
flood of newcomers had struck the state. Of course many of the
gold-seekers were disappointed; and this, together with the ad-
22 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
mission of California as a state in 1850, led to the rapid explo-
ration and settlement of all parts of the state — which brings us
directly to the history of Colusa County.
CHAPTER II
Early Explorations and First Settlers
Early Explorations
Colusa County as we know it today (1918) is not the Colusa
County that was organized in 1851. The county as first organized
comprised all of what is now Colusa and Glenn Counties, and part
of what is now Tehama County. But in 1855 the state legislature
passed a bill cutting off, and adding to Tehama County, all that
part of Colusa County lying north of township 22, the present
northern boundary of Glenn County. The part taken away was
six townships, or thirty-six miles, wide, and included the city
of Red Bluff. In 1891 the county was again diyided and Glenn
County was formed, the line of diyision being drawn through
township 18, north; and thus Colusa County lost another strip
of territory, this one being about twenty-eight miles wide.
The present County of Colusa lias its northwest corner on
the summit of the Coast Range Mountains, in township 18, north,
range 8, west, from the Mount Diablo base and meridian. The
northern boundary runs i)arallel with, and a mile and a half north
of, the line dividing townshii)s 17 and 18, and is a straight line
except near Princeton, where a section of it about six miles long is
moved about two miles north. The intersection of this north
boundary and Butte Creek constitutes the northeast corner of the
county, and the east boundary is composed of Butte Creek and
the Sacramento River. The south boundary is the line between
townships 12 and 13, and the west boundary runs along the sum-
mit of the Coast Range Mountains to the northwest corner, the
"place of beginning," as the land descriptions say. It is about
thirty-one and a half miles in a straight line through the county
from north to south, and alwut forty-eight miles from east to
west at the widest point.
Having thus tixed the limits of the territory we are dealing
with, we shall see that this history must differ with earlier his-
tories of the county in that it takes in a great deal less territory
For at the time those earlier works were written, Colusa County
included what is now Glenn County, the historical record of
which will be found in a separate department of this volume. The
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 23
narrative that is to follow herein will deal only with what is now
Colusa County.
Three hundred years i)assed after Cabrillo landed in Cali-
fornia, and still the land that is called Colusa County remained
unseen by white man. If you, dear reader, had happened along
here only seventy-five years ago, you would have owned the first
white man's eyes to gaze upon the broad expanse of your county.
Possibly your eyes were not in seeing condition seventy-five years
ago, but your father or mother might well have done so — so short
is the time it has taken this county to emerge out of the wilder-
ness and evolve into the highly civilized community that it is
today! At the beginning of 18-1:3, this part of the world lay ex-
actly as it had been created by Nature. No white man had ever
set foot upon it, although it may be that this statement requires
some qualification. We have some rather hazy accounts of a band
or two of trappers who passed up and down the San Joaquin and
Sacramento ^"alleys ; but there is no record of their route through
this valley, and as they were on the east side of the San Joaquin,
they no doubt kept the east side of the Sacramento and of Butte
Creek, and thus missed Colusa County altogether.
The first whites of whose entry upon Colusa County soil there
is definite record are told of by Gen. John Bidwell. They were
a party that had come from the Eastern States to Oregon in
1842, and in 1843 made the trip overland from Oregon down
through the Sacramento Valley to Sutter's ranch, where Sacra-
mento now stands. Their conduct seems to have been of such a
nature as to inspire anything but pride in their achievements. Gen-
eral Bidwell tells rather fully of their journey through the valley;
and as they were the first authenticated exi)lorers of this county,
and the story of their treatment of the Indians explains quite
comprehensively why the Indian has not been able to withstand the
advance of "civilization," I quote at some length from General
Bidwell's narrative:
"This party had with them men. two at least, who might
be st.vled 'Indian killers,' and on the way very frequentl}' fired
at Indians seen in the distance. The better portion tried to dis-
suade them from this uncalled-for conduct, with, however, only
partial success. On arriving at the present site of Red Bluff,
the company camped early in the day, intending to remain dur-
ing the night, but broke up camp hastily owing to the following
incident: One of the 'Indian killers,' seeing an Indian on the
opposite side of the river, swam over, carrying a butcher-knife in
his mouth. The Indian allowed him to approach till he came
very close, but at last ran away. The man with the knife pur-
sued him, threw a stone, and, crippling the Indian, completed
24 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
his bai-l>arous work by Idlliug him with his kuife. The party
iu camp, now fearing Indian retaliation, concluded to travel on.
After a few miles an Indian was observed following them, no
doubt out of curiosity and not because he had heard of the kill-
ing of a member of his tribe a few hours previously. One of
the 'Indian killers,' seeing the opportunity for another murder,
hid iu the brush till the Indian came up, and shot him. The
company continued to travel on the west side of the Sacramento
Eiver with more than ordinary haste, feeling very insecure lest
the Indians, who were very numerous in the valley at that time,
should exhibit hostility on account of what had occurred. One
of the encampments, I remember, was near the river, below
what is now called Stony Creek, then Capay Eiver, in Colusa
County. The Indians, however, came near in considerable num-
bers, and hence evidently had not heard of the shooting and
kniving just mentioned. In the morning, as they were packing
up to leave camp, one of the 'Indian killers' missed his bridle
and swore the 'damned Indians' had stolen it — a most unrea-
sonable thing, since the Indians had no horses and never had.
In his rage he fired at an Indian who stood by a tree about one
hundred yards distant. The Indian fell back into the brush,
while the rest of his frightened companions fled in great haste.
The company was again rendered ]ianicky by the blood-thirsty
imprudence of the 'Indian killer,' hastened on their journey,
and found the missing bridle in a few minutes under a pile of
blankets.
"All that day the Indians on the east side of the river mani-
fested great excitement as the company moved along down on
the west side. For more than forty miles there was at that
time no place where water could be found for the horses to
drink, the banks being so steep or so grown up with jungle and
grape-vine as to be unapproachable. The day following, how-
ever, the company encamped on the spot where Colusa now
stands. The excitement among the Indians had now preceded
them, and consequently numbers of them swarmed on the oppo-
site side of the river. When the horses were led down to get
water, in an almost famished condition, the Indians fired at them
with their arrows, but no one was hit or hurt.
"The immigrants told their story at Sutter's place, and some
here thought that the Indians where the shooting was done were
hostile; but most of them, and the best-informed as I thought,
did not blame the Indians, in view of previous occurrences. Sut-
ter, however, concluded to punish them, and went, with about
fifty men, and attacked the Indian camp at daylight. His forces
were divided, a part of them going above and crossing on the
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 25
Indian bridge. They were ready to begin a simultaneous attack
at daybreak. The Indians tied and mostly jumped into the
river, where they were tired on, and great numbers of them killed,
after which the Indians in that part of the valley were never
known to exhibit any i.uri)ose of hostility. I do not believe
there was sutficient reason to consider them hostile before. At
any rate, I remember no offensive act on their part, having
occasion to go among tliem almost a year afterward, twice at
least, and once with only five men with me, when we camped all
night near a village without any molestation. Two years later,
in 1846, I went from Sacramento during the prevalence of a
great flood, passing not up the river but over the plains, which
were like a sea of waters, and arriving in a canoe near the place
where the Indians were killed in 184.3, to trade for Indian twine,
with which to make seines for taking salmon. No white man
was with me, only two Indians to paddle the canoe, and I found
the natives perfectly friendly."
The above accoi;nt of the first visit of white men to Colusa
does not constitute a particularly brilliant or satisfying chapter
in the county's history; but as General Bidwell was a most intelli-
gent observer, and a man of the highest character, we must
accept the story as it is, although the reading of it should make
a decent white man blush for his race.
It may be stated here, for the sake of clearness and ac-
curacy, that although General Bidwell states in his writings
that he passed through what afterward became Colusa County
on his trip to the Red Bluffs in March of 1843, the route that he
gives of that trip leads to the conviction that he did not pass
through any part of what we of today know as Colusa County;
for it must be remembered that the Colusa County of the present
is nmch smaller than the original county.
But the next year, 1844, General Bidwell, executing a commis-
sion to locate a grant of land for the children of Thomas 0.
Larkin, merchant and United States consul at Monterey, did
visit the county, and explored it rather thoroughly. Accompanied
by an Indian, he came u]) the west side of the valley to a point
west of where Colusa now stands, camped over night, and the
next morning headed westward across the plains to see what
sort of country lay between him and the Coast Range Mountains,
which he could see in the distance. He struck the Stony Creek
Valley, followed the^creek down to its confluence with the Sacra-
mento River, and there met Edward A. Farwell and Thomas
Fallon, who had come up the river in a canoe to settle on a grant
that they had oljtained further up the .river. These men must
also have passed, though by water, through Colusa County.
26 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
General Bidwell fulfilled his mission by mapping out and
locating a large body of land lying west of the river in the
vicinity of the present town of Princeton; and this territory is
known to this day as the Larkin's Children's Eancho, although
many years have passed since any of the Larkin children had
anything to do with it. Then the explorer returned to Sutter's
and told what he had seen.
Bidwell's story so interested a trapper named Jack Myers
that he organized a party of trappers and came up to the scene of
Bidwell's explorations to catch beaver, which were very plentiful.
But these men had much less intelligence, humanity and patience
than Bidwell, and were soon in a quarrel with the Indians, the
result being the death of several of the Indians and the hasty
withdrawal of the trappers. But they saw the future Colusa
County, and are mentioned to make the list complete.
Peter Lassen, for whom Lassen County and Mount Lassen
were named, with William C. Moon and a man named Merritt,
came up to Stony Creek in 1845, and on a branch of that stream,
now called Grindstone Creek, made a canoe load of grindstones,
which they took down the river for sale at Sutter's and San
Francisco. These men also passed through and saw the domain
that was to be Colusa County, although there is no record of
their being particularly impressed with it.
The exploration that was to bear immediate and lasting fruit
in the way of colonization and settlement was made in 1847 by
Dr. Robert Semple, a Kentuckian, who had been residing for
some years at Benicia. Dr. Semple had occasion, in the year
mentioned, to visit some friends who were located near where
Red Bluff now stands. He made the trip up the valley on horse-
back, and was deeply impressed with the beauty and fertility of
the land through which he passed. The luxuriance of the vege-
tation in the vicinity of the Colus Indian village convinced him
that here would be a good place for a settlement. When he had
finished his visit at the northern end of the valley, he determined
to return by water and explore the course of the river thoroughly,
to see whether it was navigable or not. Accordingly he made a
raft of logs and floated all the way down to Sacramento, or Sut-
ter's Fort, as it was then called, making careful observations, fre-
quent soundings and many notes. He found navigation rather
precarious till he reached the Indian village above mentioned,
after which the channel was broader and deeper, and, in the
explorer's opinion, capable of sustaining navigation the year
round. This confirmed him in his belief that the site of the
Colus village was an ideal location for a city, and he kept these
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 27
facts in mind. AVbeu, two years later, his brother, C. D. Semple,
arrived from Kentucky to settle in California, the Doctor had a
location already chosen for him, and easily persuaded him to take
it; and the result was the founding of the city and county of
Colusa. Had it not been for the visit of Dr. Semple up the valley
in 1847, the course of empire, as far as Colusa County is con-
cerned, might, indeed would, have taken a vastly different way.
The First Settlers
This ends the list of travelers and explorers, so far as they
are known, and brings us to the days of the actual settlers. And
of these, a man named John S. Williams has the honor of being
the first. In addition to being the first settler in the county, Mr.
Williams built the first house ever erected in the county, and his
wife was the first white woman who ever lived here.
John S. Williams was sent from Monterey by Thomas 0.
Larkin to settle upon and conduct as a cattle ranch the grant of
land the Mexican government had given to the Larkin children,
Larkin furnishing the cattle to Williams on shares. Williams, in the
summer of 1847, brought his wife and his cattle up the valley to
the Larkin grant, and selected as his lieadquarters a spot on
the John Boggs ranch, where W. A. Yerxa now lives, a mile and
a half south of Princeton on the west side of the river. Here he
built himself a comfortable adobe house, and established the first
home in Colusa County. The live-stock business prospered, and
the Larkin stock soon covered the plains by thousands, where
formerly herds of elk and antelope had been.
The live-stock business, though eminently successful, was not
sufficiently attractive to counteract the lure of the gold fields,
once Marshall's great discovery became known; and in 1848 Mr.
Williams went over to the Feather River to pick up a fortune in
nuggets. Charles B. Sterling was sent up to take Williams'
place on the ranch, and became the second settler of Colusa
County, although as yet there was only one settlement. He
stayed for several years at this location, which became well known
up and down the valley as "Sterling's Eanch."
Besides the settlement at Sterling's Ranch, there were only
two other homes established in the county before the gold rush
began. One of these was located on the east side of the river,
about opposite where the Packer schoolhouse now stands, and was
the home of William B. Ide, a man who took a very prominent
part in the affairs of his time. He was one of the leaders of the
Bear Flag army. Upon the organization of Colusa County, be
was selected as one of the judges of the courts, and abandoned
28 COLUSA AND GLENN CHJUNTIES
his home ou the east side. The other settlement was where Syca-
more is now located, and was the home of a man named Watt
Anderson, whom Will S. Green describes as one who "had been
all of his life a pioneer ; and while he liked neighbors, he said he
did not like to be crowded, and when settlers got within five or
six miles of him he left for the mountains of Mendocino County."
Thus, if we have an idea of Colusa County in its primitive
state, it is not hard to form a mental picture of the country as the
first of the forty-niners saw it : one lone habitation a mile and a
half below Princeton, on what is now the W. A. Yerxa place;
another across the river, and two or three miles below this first
one; and a third-where the village of Sycamore now stands. The
rest of the county had much the same aspect as before Columbus
discovered America, except that a few hundred cattle and horses
were roaming the plains and mingling with the many herds of
deer that fed on the rich grasses. And this would probably be
the best place to diverge and give a brief description of the
geography, the flora and fauna, the natives, and the general
appearance of the county as the white men found it.
CHAPTER III
Geography, and Flora and Fauna
Geography
Something has already been said of the location and bound-
aries of Colusa County, but something further should be said
of the topography of the county. The Sacramento Valley might
be represented by taking a piece of cloth, tacking it to two
parallel pieces of wood, allowing it to sag slightly between them,
and then placing a crooked wire under the middle of the sagging
cloth and raising it slightly. The cloth represents the floor of
the Sacramento Valley ; the pieces of wood, the mountain ranges
on either side of the valley; and the crooked wire, the river,
which comes clown the middle of the valley ou a ridge which it
has built for itself out of the sediment that it brings along with
it from further up in its course. This ridge, on the crest of
which the river runs, forms a broad, shallow depression, or
"trough," on each side of it. The surface of Colusa Coimty,
then, roughly speaking, is a shallow trough, with its western side
tipped up very high and resting on the top of the Coast Eange
Mountains, and its eastern side formed by the low ridge of the
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 29
river, with a small piece extending- across the river and sloping-
down to Butte Creek. The lowest part of this great trough lies
about four miles west of the river, and is localh' known as the
' ' Trough. ' ' Into the Trough all the foothill and mountain streams
of the county pour their waters, for be it known that south of
Stony Creek no stream from the west side finds its way into
the Sacramento Eiver— not even Cache Creek, the outlet of the
great Clear Lake of Lake County. The waters of all of them
are lost, in summer time, in the great plains they must cross; and
in winter time they flow to the lowest land, which is the Trough.
The overflow of the river also goes into the Trough, with the
result that in a wet winter there is a great deal more water to be
seen in the Trough than in the river.
I do not mean to say that the surface of the county is as
regular as a piece of cloth hung between two sticks. It is far
from that. About half of it is foothill and mountain country, in
places fextremely rough and rugged. The other half lies in the
floor of the valley; but its surface is cut by low ridges putting
out from the foothills with each stream, these smaller streams
building for themselves ridges upon which to run, just as the
river does. But the slope from the Trough to the foothills is so
gradual, and the ridges of the small streams are so far apart
and so low (probably fifteen to twenty feet high at the highest),
that the general appearance of the valley part of the county is
that of a great plain. The average distance from the river to
the foothills, which is also the width of this plain, is about twenty
miles. But the term "plains" is generally applied only to that
part of it lying west of the Trough.
At its western edge this great plain runs into a range of
hills or low mountains, the advance guard of the Coast Eauge.
Back of these hills are a number of small valleys drained by the
small creeks mentioned above; and then come the mountains
proper, upon which the western boundary of the county rests.
Colusa County is seventy-eight miles north of San Francisco,
and twenty-four miles north of Sacramento. The thirty-ninth
parallel, north latitude, and the one hundred and twenty-second
meridian, west longitude, pass through the county. The Mount
Diablo meridian also passes through it, near the eastern border.
The distance from the western border of the county to the Pacific
Ocean, in a straight line, is fifty-four miles; and the distance
from the eastern border to the base of the Sierra Nevada Moun-
tains is about thirty miles. So much for the location of the
countv.
30 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Vegetation
How the couutry looked when the white man first came
depended very much upon the season of the year. If he came
in winter, after a wet spell, he may well have concluded that the
Sacramento Valley was a vast inland sea, for he might have
traveled for miles in any direction in a boat. Indeed, some of
the early explorers did traverse a good deal of the county's sur-
face by boat. In those daj^s, it must be remembered, there were
no levees, and it did not take much of a flood to send the waters
of the river out over the adjacent land. If the early explorer
came in the late summer time, he would have been justified in
concluding that moisture never touched a large part of this
fruitful county; for one old pioneer testifies that he traveled
from near the river to the foothills without seeing "a spear of
vegetation." He says the north winds had blown the plains as
dry and bare as Sahara Desert, and it was not till he struck the
protecting projections of the foothills that he found grasses and
other herbage. His experience seems to have been an extreme
one, yet there is no doubt that this territory must have looked
rather forbidding to those who saw it at such a time. The
plains still get rather hot and dry by the latter part of August,
although conditions have greatly improved since 1843. It was
the travelers who landed in the spring or early summer who
saw the country at its best. Then it looked like a perfect' para-
dise. Wild grasses, especially wild oats and burr clover, were so
thick and tall that an antelope fawn could hide in them, so that
it couldn't be found. A man riding on horseback could tie the
tops of the oats over his horse's withers, and in many places the
early adventurers found difficulty in forcing their saddle horses
through the heavy growth.
Along the river there was a strip of timber about a mile
wide, and in some spots the trees were so interlaced with wild
grape-vines and other vines as to form an almost impenetrable
jungle. On the higher lands were oak trees, while on the lower,
wetter lands there were willows, and some sycamores and others.
The overflowed, swampy lands were covered with a rank growth
of "tule," a species of huge bulrush about as thick as a man's
finger, and sometimes eight or ten feet high. These "tule lands"
were often hundreds of acres in extent, but much of their area
is now drained and farmed. They have been, in their time, a
paradise for duck-hunters.
The foothill country in the western part of the county was
covered, more or less densely, with a growth of scrub oak,
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 31
cbamisal aud manzanita ; and iu the extreme southern part of the
county this growth extended well down toward the Trough, the
oak trees in this section attaining such size as to make the land
very valuable to the early settlers for the wood it supplied. The
extreme western edge of the count}', which lies near the summit
of the mountains, was, and still is, covered with a magnificent
growth of pine, which to the present date has escaped the lum-
berman because of its inaccessibility.
EverjTvhere, especially in the spring and early summer,
there was a profusion of wild flowers. Great patches of color —
blue, purple, white, yellow — often acres in extent, were set in the
green carpet of the valley. The most famous of these blossoms,
possibly the only really famous one, is, of course, the California
poppy, which makes the fields gay in some sections of the county.
But there are other varieties that make almost as brilliant a
showing in their season.
I do not mean to say that the early explorers and settlers
found this verdant "carpet," of which I have spoken, entirely
unbroken. The fact is, that there were many holes in it — spots
where a superabundance of alkali or an excess of moisture hin-
dered or entirely prevented vegetable growth. Other areas pro-
duced only a sparse growth of small weeds ; and these areas later
came to be known as "goose lands." Most of these barren spots
occurred in the vicinity of the Trough, nearly all of the river,
l^lain and foothill land being extremely fertile and productive,
and covered with an abundant wild vegetable growth.
The Wild Ani)nals of the County
Colusa County, in common with the rest of California, was
abundantly stocked with wild animals, both carnivorous and her-
bivorous, when the wliite man came. There was no lack of game ;
and it was well for the newcomers that it was so, for oftentimes
game was the only food obtainable. And here again the white
man did what he has so often done in other times, and other
places, and other circumstances: he acted like an irresponsible,
thoughtless, viciously spoiled child; and instead of conserving
this beneficent gift of nature, he hastened with all speed to destroy
it and put an end to it. Undoubtedly not all of the pioneers were
offenders in this respect, but many of them seemed to be unable
to resist the temptation to take a shot at any wild thing that
crossed their path, with the result that thousands of game animals
were slaughtered for the mere fun of killing. Even so sane and
well-balanced a man as John Bidwell confesses that he chased
a grizzly bear till it plunged into the river and swam across,
32 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
and then shot it as it elaml^ered up the opposite l:)auk. leaving
the huge cai'cass. and liide to be eaten by coyotes or to rot in
the tangle of undergrowth. General Bidwell, apparently feeling
that he had done the only logical thing, thus naively describes
the incident: "I shot, and the blood flew out of his nostrils two
or three feet high, when he bounded off a hundred yards and
fell dead. These scenes were a common occurrence; in fact,
almost of hourly occurrence." These "common occurrences"
had their inevitalile effect. In less than ten years after the first
white man set foot within the borders of the county, the chief
game animals had almost entirely disappeared. Antelope, which
at first were almost as common as cattle are today, and almost
as tame, could not be found; elk had vanished completely; and
deer had retreated to the brushy fastnesses of foothill and moun-
tain. There is probably not a person in the county today who
ever saw an elk or an ant.elope here, so quick and complete was
the white man's slaughter. I trust that the race may rapidly
advance to a point where even the ordinary reader may find it
hard to believe the story of his ancestors' treatment of the Indians
and animals they found here — so foolish was it in its short-sighted
cruelty.
Of the carnivorous animals, the grizzly bear was the most
important and among the most plentiful. The reason for his
numbers is easy to see. No other animal could match him in
fighting power; the Indians did not have weapons or courage to
vanquish him; and therefore, when he wanted to shufiie off this
mortal coil he had to die a natural death or commit suicide. He
seems to have been averse to the suicide route; so he "lived till
he died." General Bidwell says, "The grizzly bear was an hourly
sight. In the vicinity of streams it was not imcommon to see
thirty or forty in a day. ... In the spring of the year the
bears chiefly lived on clover, which grew luxuriantly on the plains,
especially in the little depressions on the plains. "VVe first saw
one, which made for the timber two or three miles away; soon
another, then more, all liounding away to the creek. At one time
there were sixteen in the drove." Of course, the settlers had
some excuse for annihilating the bears; for they were a menace
to young stock, and would turn on a man if closely cornered. So
the grizzly quickly disappeared from the open, accessible jjarts
of the valley. He had found his match at last. A few remained
in the thick brush and timber along the river for a few years,
but today the grizzly has lieen banished from even the deepest
mountain fastnesses.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 33
Black bears also abounded iu the timber along the river, f^ud
there were a few in the mountains. Those along the I'iver
•fiuickly succumbed; and the mountain l)ears have been compelled
to follow suit, although more slowly. It is doubtful whether there
is now a bear within the limits of the county.
The mountain lion has never been so plentiful as the numer-
ous stories of his cunning and ferocity might lead one to think.
A very few have been killed in the mountains in the extreme
western part of the county, but the great majority of the settlers
never came 'in contact with a mountain lion.
The smaller, short-tailed wildcats were also rare; but one
has been found occasionally. They are shy and hard to get sight
of, and it may be that a few of the tribe still make their home
in the brushy canyons of the western mountains.
The coyote was, and still is, the most common and the most
annoying of the predatory animals. In the early days of the
county the coyote was wideh' distributed, not only infesting the
broken hill sections, but also being very numerous on the plains
and along the river. He was never dangerous to human life,
but was a constant pest, sneaking into camps and stealing sup-
plies, and working havoc among the calves, lambs, pigs . and
poultry of the settlers. He was bold and impudent in those early
days, before he had come to know the white man thoroughly;
and the stories of his escapades are almost unbelievable. It is
said that he would come into camp and steal meat from under
a man's pillow at night. Naturally the white man resented such
familiarities, and made life hard for Bi'e'r Coyote. Today he
exists in the foothills, only by the exercise of a cunning and fieet-
ness that seem positively uncanny. The ordinary traveler never
sees one; and to the practiced eye he appears merely as a gray
shadow disappearing around a hillside, or into a ravine or thicket
of brush, at a great distance. The hunter or trapper who can
catch a coyote is entitled to the credit of being a clever person.
A liberal bounty paid by the county supervisors for coyote scalps
stiumlates pursuit of them, but as j^et they seem to be in no
danger of extinction. No man who admires pluck and persever-
ance in the face of odds can fail to feel like taking otf his hat
to the coyote.
Eaccoons and foxes were also here before the days of gold;
and they are here yet, as they probably are everywhere in the
United States. They are not plentiful because they both steal
chickens; and, furthermore, there is a bounty on foxes, so their
numbers are kept down by hunters. Another jiredatory pest is
34 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
the skiiuk, but Lis depredations have never been serious enough
to be ^vorth mentioning.
Mention has ah-eady been made of the game animals of the
county and the rapidity with which they disappeared after the
white man came. The largest of these was the elk, which,
although fairly plentiful in the beginning, was the first to suc-
cumb to the white man's onslaughts. He was too easy a mark to
last long; and by 1853, or four years after the gold rush began,
he was a matter of history. Will S. Green says, "They were
mercilessly killed by hunters, killed not for their flesh, but for
the fun of the killing."
The antelope also furnished an easy mark for the hunter ; and
although the first comers found thousands of them in the county,
they were exterminated almost as soon as the elk. It wasn't
much more of a job to shoot one of them than it would be to go
out and shoot a cow nowadays. Will S. Green says, "When we
kept the hotel in 1850-1851, we had a contract with a man by
the name of Sneath to furnish one antelope a day for his board.
He would go out and shoot down two, give one to an Indian for
bringing the other in, and come home. He was hardly ever gone
over an hour." Thus it can be seen that the great bands of ante-
lope that roamed over the Sacramento Valley would have been
a most valuable food asset to the settlers for many years if they
had been protected and conserved ; but no such thought seems to
have entered the minds of the early comers here. The truth is,
they were too busy with other things — things, to them, far more
important. And so, although they sometimes caught and tamed
an antelope fawn, and found it an exceedingly docile and gentle
pet, they never withheld the rifle when there was an antelope
in sight. To say that there were no individual exceptions to this
rule would be erroneous ; but it was a rule so faithfully followed
that the Sacramento Valley antelope melted away like a Sacra-
mento Valley snow, and were gone.
Deer were plentiful in the county in early days ; and though
they have been driven to the rougher parts of the mountains, they
still survive. Moreover, because of increasingly stringent game
laws and more watchful enforcement of them by state game
wardens, the deer bid fair to survive indefinitely. As they are
the only- big game left in any numbers, sportsmen all over the
state have united in having them protected. At present about
a hundred of them are killed in the mountains in the western
part of the county each season. The season has been shortened
to about two months in the late summer and early fall, and only
bucks older than yearlings or "spikes" can be killed. Each
COLUSA AND GLEXX COUNTIES 35
liunter is limited to two deer a season. Under these restrictions
the deer have increased rather than diminished in numbers during
the past few years.
The natural game animal for boy-hunters in this county,
as in other parts of the United States, is the rabbit. Cottontails
are plentiful in the brush along the river and the sloughs, and
by most people are said to be "better than chicken." Oftentimes,
when the low lands are covered by a flood, men and boys go along
the levees or row to knolls of high land, or even bunches of
willows and other brush, and catch as many cottontails as they
can carry. Quails are very easily shot under these circumstances,
too. The jack-rabbit, a larger, skinnier, longer-legged species of
the genus, is more widely distributed than the cottontail, and is
in less danger of extinction because he is not so highly prized
for food. He is considered a pest rather than a game animal,
especially by orchardists and gardeners, for he eats young trees,
vines and vegetable growth of every kind. In the days of the
Indians, jack-rabbits were present in droves, but the activities
of farmers and horticulturists have greatly reduced their num-
bers. However, there are still enough of them left for all prac-
tical purposes, in the opinion of those who raise young plants.
Of the rodents, aside from rats and mice, ground-squirrels
and gophers are the only common ones. Both live in the ground,
and both are pests. Gophers are probably as common as they
were in the beginning; but the numbers of ground-squirrels have
been greatly decreased by persistent slaughter, chiefly by poison-
ing. The cooperation of state and county authorities in furnish-
ing poisoned grain and instructions for its use has helped in the
campaign against the squirrels. A few years ago local scientists
discovered that ground-squirrels were carriers of bubonic plague,
and this discovery gave a great impetus to the war against them.
In closing this chapter, let me mention briefly the winged
creatures of the county. The "national bird" of Colusa County
is undoubtedly the wild goose. In the early days literally millions
of these birds covered the lowlands at certain seasons of the
year ; and in their flight they made the sky dark over large areas.
The encroachments of farming operations upon their resorts, to-
gether with constant slaughter (for until recently no game laws
included the goose in their protection), have made great inroads
upon their numbers. Market hunters, by soldering two double-
barreled shotguns together and discharging all four barrels at
the same time, or nearly the same time, have been known to kill
one hundred ninety-six geese at one "shot" — if such a bombard-
ment could be called one shot. But let it not be understood that
1169819
36 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
the goose is uearing extinction in Colusa County. In spite of the
hundreds of thousands of birds that have been killed and shipped
to the city markets, or otherwise disposed of, geese are yet so
plentiful as to be a pest to the grain farmers, who must hire
herders each winter to keep them off the young grain. As late
as 1906 they were so plentiful as to extend in a broad, unbroken
ribbon across the sky from one side of the horizon to the other,
in their flight. Although their numbers are thinning each year,
it will be many years before persons who like goose- will have
to go without game, especially since the law now throws some
protection around them.
More toothsome and more eagerly sought after than the goose
is the wild duck, which, although not so numerous as the goose,
comes here in great number and variety during the fall and win-
ter seasons. Canvasback, mallard, sprig, teal, widgeon, and others
are all well represented in the bags brought in from the hunting
grounds of this county, to which hunters come from all over the
state and from other states. They are not nearly so plentiful as
they were a few years ago; but hunters frequently succeed in
getting twenty-five in one day, the limit allowed by law. Ducks
are proving a nuisance to the newly established rice industry in
this county, and the laws protecting them will probably be mod-
ified within the next few years. At present it can be truthfully
said that Colusa County is a paradise for goose and duck hunters.
The dove and the quail rank next in importance to the goose
and the duck as game birds, in Colusa County. Quails, which
were quite plentiful in the early days, are found in limited num-
bers in the brush along the river and the sloughs, and among the
foothills. Civilization has been hard on them, and they are des-
tined to become still scarcer as time goes on, in spite of the
protective legislation they have enjoyed for years. The dove
tribe seems to be more hardy in the face of its enemies, and these
swift -fljdng birds are widely and thickly distribiited over plain and
foothill country. Legal protection has helped them greatly, and
they seem to be diminishing little, if any, in numbers.
Bird life was particularly abundant in the Sacramento Valley
when the white man came, and most of the species have survived.
Among the birds that the early settlers found here, and that yet
may be found here, are the swan, the crane, the mud hen and a
few other water birds, the turkey buzzard, the blackbird, the
meadow lark, several kinds of hawks, owls, linnets, sparrows and
woodpeckers, the robin, the lilue jay, the magpie, and the chaparral
cock, or road runner.
COLUSA AND GLEXN COUNTIES 37
A list of the "winged creatures" of the county ouglit to iu-
chide two which, in the early days, were an almost unbearable
pest, but which, happily, have so decreased in numbers as to
be of little importance today. These are the yellow jacket and
the mosquito. In 1850, yellow jackets were as thick along the
river as flies are today, and no meat or fruit could be left out-
doors unprotected without being quickly eaten by these voracious
insects. Mosquitoes were unbelievably fierce and troublesome in
the brush along the river. James Yates, who came to Colusa in
1850, before there was a house in the town, used to tell of his
experience with mosquitoes when he was hauling wood at the
Seven-Mile House, above Colusa. He said it was absolutely im-
possible to bring the horses to the river, even to water them,
because of the fierce attacks of the mosquitoes. So he had to
leave his team outside the timber line, two miles back from the
river, and carry water to them. This he accomplished by tilling
two buckets with water, running with them as long as he could
stand the mosquitoes, and then setting them down and fighting
off the bloodthirsty insects. This operation was repeated till
the horses were reached, beyond the brush and timber line.
Today one gives scarcely a thought to mosquitoes, although some
still exist. The introduction of rice-growing, however, may again
bring a mosquito problem.
CHAPTER IV
The Indians
There is little in the history of the Indians of this county,
and the record of their experiences with the whites, to give either
the writer or the reader cause for pride. Indeed, the contact of
the two races is so marked by thoughtlessness and callousness
at the best, and by injustice and cruelty at the worst, that it
makes a rather sordid tale. The quotation from General Bid-
well's story of the early explorations of the county, given in an
earlier cha])ter of this work, serves to show how the Indians
were regarded, and consequently treated, by many of the white
men. Little further along that line need be said, for it is now
too late to make any fit reparation or restitution, the Indians of
the county being reduced to fewer than one hundred in number.
Of course not all the white men were unjust or cruel in their
treatment of the Indians. On the contrary, many of them were
the consistent benefactors of their guileless red brethren. But
38 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
there are in every commuuity a certain number of men with little
or no regard for the rights of others; and as this condition was
greatly aggravated in the unorganized communities of the early
days, the Indian suffered correspondingly. Possibly one should
not blame those whose natures led them to prey upon weaker
fellow men, any more than one should blame a hog for being a
hog; but it seems to me that the United States government is
extremely blameworthy for its failure to meet the problem that
the Indians presented.
Nobody knows how many Indians there were in this county
when the white man came. Nobody ever did know — any more
than we of today know how many ground-squirrels or jack-rabbits
there are in the count}- — for nobody had time or sufficient interest
in the matter to count the Indians, even if they had been rounded
up and had stood still long enough to be counted. General Bid-
well says there must have been ten thousand in the county when
he first saw it ; but that estimate includes what is now Glenn
Count}', and part of Tehama County. General Green says there
were about a thousand of the Colus Indians, as nearly as he could
estimate the number. These estimates of two of the most intelli-
gent observers of the time are all the information available on
the subject. About 1832 or 1833 an epidemic, probably of small-
pox, swept over the valley, greatly reducing the numbers of the
Indians, so that the first explorers and settlers of Colusa County
undoubtedly found the population of the Indian villages at a low
ebb. It is entirely possible that before the epidemic Colusa
County contained more people than it does today.
"When the white man came, he found Indian villages every
few miles along the river. Some of them were hardly pretentious
enough to be called villages, but they seemed to be more or less
independent settlements, or even to belong to different tribes.
There were about a dozen of these groups or settlements between
Princeton and Sycamore, and several more between Sycamore and
the southern boundary of the county. All the groups between
Sycamore and Princeton belonged to a tribe that called themselves
the Corn Indians. The natives pronounced the name more as
a German than as an American would pronounce it, giving the
"r" a rolling sound; and the whites, finding the name hard to
get as the Indians gave it, corrupted it into "Coin," a corrup-
tion which the Indians seem to have adopted along with many
other customs and practices of the white man.
The chief village of the Colus Indians was located about
where the Municipal AVater Works of Colusa now stands. It had
apparently been quite a populous center, containing the residence
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 39
of the chief and the seat of goverument for the entire tribe; but
the epidemic of 1832, above referred to, had evidently made it
an undesirable place to live, and when the first white men came
they found that the chief, Sioc, had taken his lares and penates,
his people, and all his earthly possessions across the river and
established a new capital there. There were no Indian villages
on the plains, because of the lack of water, and probably also
because of the lack of shelter. To the west, the nearest neigh-
bors the river Indians had were located in the foothills, the
chief tribe of these living along Cortina Creek, near its entrance
into the valley. There were numerous settlements along Bear
Creek, Stony Creek, and the other streams of the mountains and
foothills. General Bidwell found that in 1844, which was a very
dry year, the foothill Indians had all migrated to the valley of
Stony Creek, thousands of them having temporary habitations
along that stream. The river and foothill Indians had, by tacit
consent, divided the plains between them, so that the former
never foraged west of a line about where the railroad now runs,
and the latter never came east of that line, without permission
of the other. Sometimes the hill tribes asked for and obtained
leave to forage in the territory of the river Indians, and vice
versa. A reciprocal agreement like this was often very necessary,
owing to the failure of the food supply in a particular section
of the country.
A third division of the tribes was found ))ack in the high
mountains, among the timber. They were not very numerous,
and are now gone — without leaving a trace of their former
existence.
In appearance, the Colusa Indians were not exactly, true to
type as laid down in the story l>ooks. Instead of being tall,
sinewy, alert and active, as were the Indians that Daniel Boone
tracked and slew, these aborigines were indolent, quiet, peace-
able, and inclined to be fat. In size they ranked about with
the white men. They had the true Indian hue of dark-brown
copper; coarse, black hair in abundance; and small, beady black
eyes. Their dress will not take long to describe. For the men
it was absolutely nothing, save perhaps an antelope skin thrown
over their shoulders when the weather was particularly cold. The
women's garb consisted of a bunch of tule or wild hemp sus-
pended from a cord around the waist, and hanging down in front
to the knees or thereabouts. This garment was called a tunica;
and it was not worn by very small girls. But although they had
very few clothes, they had imbedded within them a great love
for dress and ornament. As soon as the whites came, and they
40 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
had oi)poituiiity to obtain colored beads, cloth aud ornaments,
they were not slow to decorate themselves in what they con-
sidered the most beautiful style. Before the advent of the white
man, shells, feathers, carved bones and strings of bright-colored
berries served as ornaments, and, with the exception of the
tunicas of the squaws, as the entire wardrobe of the people.
The California Indians did not use paints to make their faces
hideous, as did the Indians of the Eastern States, nor did their
chiefs go to the elaborate lengths of decoration of their hair with
feathers, furs and other things, that characterized the chiefs of
the Atlantic Coast. In fact, they seem to have had no "war togs,'*
although they sometimes went to war. But war was not their
principal business, as it was that of the Eastern Indians, and
California Indians are never referred to as "warriors" or
"braves." Their chief end in life was, not war and conquest,
but a lazy enjoyment of the advantages of climate and other con-
ditions of life among which fate had cast them.
Their dwellings and other structures were of the most ephem-
eral character. As they had to keep constantly moving about to
follow the food supjily, they found it, of course, inconvenient to
have 23ermaneut dwellings. So in summer they lived in camps;
in the spring, near the berry and clover patches; in the fishing
season, under the trees along the river; and in acorn time, in
the oak groves, their only shelter being brush or a few vines
gathered together, under which to crawl when they slept. But
in winter, or the wet season, they retired to their permanent
villages, where they constructed houses of a somewhat more sub-
stantial nature. These were made by setting poles fifteen or
twenty feet long in the ground in a circle, and then bending the
tops together and fastening them to make a framework, which
was covered with brush, sticks, leaves and, finally, dirt. An
opening was left at one side for a door, and a hole at the top
allowed the smoke to pass out. Those who have been in them
say that; with a fire burning in the center of them, these houses
were too warm rather than too cold. Besides the dwellings,
the only building of the village was the sweat-house, which
was similar in structure to the residences, only larger.
Elevated bedsteads or bunks, even of the crudest character,
were not attempted, the entire family sleeping on tules or grass
laid on the ground. They did not even have piles of skins, as
the Eastern Indians did, l)ecause such things were not necessary
in California.
In the matter of food, the Indians could and did get about the
same kinds and variety as the bears did. Indeed, the bear and
COLUSA AXD GLENN COUNTIES 41
the Indian were very much alike in their food habits. Fish was
the great food staple, of the river Indians at least; and salmon
was the standard fish. The explorer who passed up the valley
in 1832, before the great epidemic, relates that the huts of the
Indians were red with drying salmon. In the spring of the year,
when the salmon were running up the river, and again in the
fall, when they were going down, the Indians lived on the river
banks and caught immense numbers of them, which they dried
for use throughout the year. The salmon were caught by a weir
l)uilt across the river when the water was low. This weir was
made of poles driven into the sand at the bottom of the river
and interlaced witli willow withes. This made a sort of rough
netting, through' which the larger fish could not go. One of the
most complete and successful of these weirs was located near
where the Municipal Water Works now stands, and for that
reason the site of the future county seat was long known as
Salmon Bend.
Next to salmon in importance, and heading the list of vege-
table foods, was the acorn. This took the place, with the Indian,
of all of our cereals. In the fall of the year the squaws gathered
liushels of acorns in wicker-work baskets, and stored them on
high rocks or in trees, covering them over with thatches of tules
and grass to keep them safe for future use. The acorns were
shelled, and in a stone mortar were ground into a coarse flour,
which was taken to the river bank and spread out in a shallow
basin made in the sand. Water was then allowed to percolate
through it, and this washed the bitterness out of the flour, which
was then carefully taken up and made into a mush or gruel that
is said to have been quite palatable. When the acorn crop failed
in one section of the country, long pilgrimages were made to
other sections to gather the nuts. Permission thus to engage
in foreign commerce had to be obtained from some other tribe,
either by diplomacy or by war.
Acorns and fish, although the staples of the Indians' diet,
did not by any means exhaust the list. Game of all kinds —
sometimes caught in most ingenious ways — wild oats, berries,
the tender shoots of clover and other early spring plants, succu-
lent roots, and even worms and grasshoi^pers, were used to add
variety to their fare. The oat crop, which was generally boun-
tiful in the Sacramento Valley, was gathered by swinging baskets
against the tops of the oats, thus causing some of the grains to
fall into the baskets. The method of harvesting was not partic-
ularly economical of grain, but it can be said that the Indian
got a good return for the money he had invested in the crop.
42 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Grasshoppers and grubs were cooked by building a fire in a hole
in the ground, letting it burn down to a bed of coals, scraping
out the coals and putting the food in and covering it up for a
few minutes, when it came out crisp, brown and delicious.
At its best, the life of the Indians was an alternate feasting
and fasting, for he made absolutely no effort to cultivate any
plant or domesticate any animal. When a deer, elk, antelope
or other large animal fell into the clutches of a village, there
was a period of intemperate gorging, followed possibly by a long-
period of slim fare; and when the acorn or salmon supply for
any reason failed, there was destitution, and sometimes actual
starvation, in the tribe. Hundreds of years of experience with
such conditions, however, failed to impress their lesson; and
the white man found the Indians, as I have said above, little
more provident than the bears.
Each Indian tribe was governed by a chief, whose authority
was absolutely supreme. The chief had the power of life and
death over his subjects; and as there was no appeal from his
edicts, his subjects were thoroughly, if not wisely, governed.
But in the case of the Coins Indians, at least, the government
was remarkably wise and just; for their chief, Sioc, was a man
of more than ordinary capability. Sioc was over six feet tall,
and as straight as the spear he carried; and he dressed exactly
as nature garbed him. He was kind and just, both to his own
people and to the white man, whose coming, with the consequent
degeneration of his people, added such a burden to his life that
he died two years after Colusa was founded.
The Indian community was organized much as all savage
communities are. The women did the work. It was the squaws
who collected the oats, gathered the acorns, cured the fish, cooked
the meals, and, when moving, carried the baggage. Sometimes
the bucks took a hand at catching fish or trapping game, but
ordinarily they lay around and ate. When a young man took
a wife, the chief qualification he required of her was that she
be able to keep him supplied with plenty of food. It can be said
in their favor that each man had only one wife, and stuck to
her as long as she was willing and able to keep him supplied
with food; but just what was entailed in their marriage vows
is hard to determine. The bride was bought from her parents
with offerings of shells, food or anything else of value, much
as an American business man buys a European "noble" for his
daughter; and any breach of fealty to her husband by the bride
was severely punished, even with death. There is no record of
such severity toward the husband; and indeed it does not seem
COLUSA AND GLEXN COUNTIES 43
to have been necessary, for there was apparently little tendency
for husbands to roam, matrimonially. Young folks, when thrown
together, were not apt to remain continent; much self-restraint
could hardly be expected of them. But fear of the chief and the
inexorable rules laid down for their guidance kept the women
remarkably chaste. They marriecl young, and the hardships they
endured in providing for their families soon aged them, so that
the squaws were not usually attractive in appearance. Occa-
sionally one of them lived to a great age, but the average life
of the Indian was not great. He was like the rabbit; there
were too many things against him.
Religious belief was but feebly developed among the Indians
of this county; and consequently religious ceremonies were few.
They apparently believed in a hereafter; for they buried the
weapons and other personal belongings of the dead in the grave
with the body, in order that these things might be on hand for
use in the future life. An evil spirit to be propitiated was the
central theme of their religion, rather than a good spirit to be
pleased or served. As they would not eat the flesh of the grizzly
bear because they believed it had once been a person, they must
have believed in a sort of transmigration of souls. Just how far
they had developed this belief no one seems to have taken the
trouble to find out, if, indeed, it could have been found out. One
thing, however, is certain, and that is that religion and religious
ceremonies played no great part in the lives of the Colusa In-
dians. They lived along, in an indolent, dreamy animal life, with
no regrets for the past, little hope or fear for the futiire, and
no great concern for the present. Their regard for the grizzly
was not so much a feeling of reverence or worship as it was a
wholesome fear of his physical prowess; and all of their super-
stitions were of this childishly primitive Sort, hardly rising to
the dignity of a religion.
Sickness was, as with all savages, attributed to the evil
machinations of some enemy, and was, of course, eured by in-
cantations principally, although at times the sweat-house and
bleeding played some part in the cure. The sweat-house was
like the dwellings, only larger, and was the center of the cere-
monial life of the village. In taking the sweat-cure, the sweat-
house was filled with Indians, and a fire was kept going in it till it
was baking hot and the inmates were streaming with perspiration,
when they would rush out and plunge into the river till they
cooled off, after which the process was repeated. This treatment,
while possibly beneficial in some diseases, was sure death in
others; but the Indians did not seem to be able to differentiate
44 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
between one disease and another, and so hundreds of them per-
ished every time an epidemic came along.
When an Indian died, a doleful mourning was kept up for
a couple of days, especially by the women. The squaws would
dance around the grave and wail most mournfully. The body
was prepared for burial by doubling it up, with the head between
the knees and the ankles up against the thighs, and wrapi^ing it
tightly in this shape with cords of bark or fiber. A small child
was always buried alive with its mother if she died, because
none of the other members of the tribe cared to be burdened
with providing for it.
I have mentioned "other structures" of the Indians in addi-
tion to their houses. These other structures were not many,
nor very complicated. Besides the sweat-house, already men-
tioned, and the fish dam across the river, about the only things
the Colusa Indians made were a rude bridge across the river,
constructed much like the fish dam; crude rafts of brush and
tule; bows and arrows and spears, their only weapons; a few
rough mats of tule; and the wicker baskets for holding food.
The rafts were used for taking food across the river, although
any Indian in the tribe, man, woman or child, could swim across
with almost as much as he could carry on land. They could all
swim as well, almost, as seals, from childhood up. Their weapons
were not very effective against large game. When hunger drove
an Indian to kill a deer, it is said that he would stalk it till he
had approached within very short range, when he would shoot it
in the groin and then follow it till the pain caused it to lie down
to rest. Then he would again sneak up and shoot an arrow into
it, repeating the maneuver till loss of blood gave him the ])rize.
This process oftentimes took all day. It is also said that the
bucks were very ingenious in snaring ducks, geese, and other
birds, and added much to their larders in this way.
From the beginning the Indians were tolerant of the white
man and friendly to him. General Bidwell says that when he
first came among the Stony Creek Indians, they hastened to
bring him baskets of food and other presents, till he was entirely
surrounded with gifts; and at no time was he the object of any
violence or ill will. The ignorant natives ap]iarently regarded him
as a kind of god come among them, and tliey treated liim with the
greatest respect. Their acquaintance with white men did not go
miicli further, however, till they found tliat the treatment accorded
them in return was far from godlike. Enough has been said
in a previous chapter to indicate the attitude the newcomers took
toward the red men. The great majority of whites regarded the
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 45
Indians as little better than beasts, to be preyed upon at pleasure.
They paid absolutely no attention to the property rights of the
guileless savages, and took their land without compunction of
conscience or even serious thought. They even commandeered the
services of the men, paying them when and what they chose.
But worst of all, they dragged the women into a "white slavery"
which, historians tell us, soon made a race of syphilitics of the
entire population. Will S. Green says that his friend. Chief Sioc,
died in 1852 of a broken heart, liecause of the loss of virtue in his
people.
Nature was often unkind to the Indian, pelting him with
storms and failing to supply him with food. To the unkindness
of Nature the Indian added a great burden to himself and his
race when he destroyed his own children or attempted to cure his
bodily ills with superstitious ceremonies. The additional handicap
of the white man's unkindness was more than the race could bear,
and the red men perished like flies after the white man came.
In 1880, thirty years after the county was first settled, the ten
thousand Indians in Colusa County (including what is now Glenn
County) had dwindled to five hundred, or five per cent, of the
whole. Nine thousand five hundred of them, or ninety-five per
cent., had succumbed. Today, sixty-seven years after the settle-
ment of the county, there are less than one hundred Indians with-
in its boundaries. The more intelligent Indians saw from the
beginning that the white man was destined to inherit the land ; but
they knew no way to stop it, and submitted stoically. There was
no Indian war in Colusa County worthy the name. On two or
three occasions, after Indians had committed minor depredations,
bands of white men went after them and killed a few of them, a
procedure which the victims apparently took as a matter of
course. These disturbances invariably took place in the moun-
tains or hills, no conflict of any kind with the river Indians being
recorded after the brutal and unjust punishment inflicted upon
them b}' General Sutter in 1843.
Captain Hukely was the successor, and a worthy one, of Sioc
as chief of the Coins Indians. He was a man of the highest
character and standing, not only among his own people, but also
among the settlers. It was said of- him that his "credit was good
at any store in the county. ' ' He died on December 2, 1877, after
having ruled over his fast-dwindling tribe for twenty-five years.
The more just and considerate settlers realized from the
beginning that the Indians were not getting a square deal; and
the United States had no sooner got control of the country than
steps were taken to give the red man his dues, in part at least.
Intelligent Indian agents were sent out by the government to
46 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
investigate the claims made in belialf of the Indians and arrange
that justice he done them. The result was that the following
treaty was drawn up with the Colusa Indians, which, accom-
panied by strong recommendations from the United States Com-
missioner of Indian Affairs and the Superintendent of Indian
Affairs for California that the treaty be ratified, was sent to
President Millard Fillmore, who transmitted it to the United
States Senate for ratification:
A treaty of peace and friendship made and concluded at Camp
Coins, on the Sacramento Eiver, California, between the
United States Indian Agent, 0. M. Wozencraft, of one part,
and the chiefs, captains and head men of the following tribes
or bands, \dz. : Coins, Willays, Co-ha-na, Tat-nah, Cha, Doc-
Duc, Cham-net-co, Toc-de.
Article 1. The several tribes or bands above mentioned do
acknowledge the United States to be the sole and absolute sover-
eign of all the soil and territory ceded to them by a treaty of
peace made between them and the republic of Mexico.
Article 2. The said tribes or bands acknowledge themselves,
jointly and severally, under the exclusive jurisdiction, authority
and protection of the United States, and hereby bind themselves
hereafter to refrain from the commission of all acts of hostility
and aggression towards the government or citizens thereof, and to
live on terms of peace and friendship among themselves, and all
other Indians which are now or may come under the protection
of the United States.
Article 3. To promote the settlement and improvement of
said tribes or bands, it is hereby stipulated and agreed that the
following district of country in the State of California shall be
and is hereby set apart forever, for the use and occupancy of the
aforesaid tribes or bands, to-wit : Commencing on the east bank
of the Sacramento River, at a point where the northern line of
Sutter's claim is said to strike said river, running out in said
line in an easterly direction three miles ; thence in a southeasterly
direction fifteen miles to a point within three miles of the Sacra-
mento River; from said point in a line due west to the Sacra-
mento River; and from said- point up said river to the point of
beginning. It is furthermore understood and agreed upon by
both parties that the tribes or bands of Indians living upon the adja-
cent Coast Range, on the Sacramento River, from the mouth of
Stone Creek to the junction of Feather and Sacramento Rivers, and
on Feather River to the mouth of Yuba River, shall be included in
the said reservation; and should said bands not come in, then
the provisions, etc., as set apart in this treaty, to be reduced in a
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 47
ratio commensurate mth the numbers signing the treaty. Pro-
vided, That there is reserved to the United States government the
right of way over any portion of said territory, and the right
to establish and maintain any military post, public building,
schoolhouse, houses for agents, teachers,' and such others as they
may deem necessary, for their use in the protection of the Indians.
The said tribes or bands, and each of them, hereby engage that
they will never claim any other land within the boundaries of the
United States, nor ever disturb the people of the United States
in the free use and enjoyment thereof.
Article 4. To aid the said trilies or bands in their subsist-
ence while removing to and making allotments upon the said
reservation, the United States, in addition to the few presents
made to them at this council, will furnish them, free of charge,
with two hundred and tifty (250) head of beef-cattle, to average
in weight five hundred (500) pounds, seventy-five (75) sacks flour,
one hundred (100) pounds each, within the term of two years
from the date of this treaty.
Article 5. As early as convenient after the ratification of
this treaty by the President and Senate, in consideration of the
premises and with a sincere desire to encourage said tribes in
acquiring the arts and habits of civilized life, the United States
will also furnish them with the following articles, (to be divided
among them by the agent according to their respective numbers
and wants,) during each of the two years succeeding the said
ratification, viz. : one pair strong pantaloons and one red flannel
shirt for each man and boy; one linsey gown for each woman and
girl; one thousand yards calico, and two hundred and fifty yards
brown sheeting; ten pounds Scotch thread and five hundred
needles, three dozen thimbles and one dozen pairs of scissors;
one two and a half point Mackinaw blanket for each man and
woman over fifteen years of age; five hundred pounds iron and
fifty pounds steel; and in like manner, in the first year, for the
permanent use of said tribes, and as their joint property, viz.:
forty brood mares and three stallions, one himdred and fifty milch
cows and eight bulls, two yoke of work cattle with yokes and
chains, five work mules or horses, eleven ploughs assorted sizes,
fortj'-five garden or corn hoes, thirteen spades, and two grind-
stones. Of the stock enumerated above, and the product thereof,
no part or portion shall be killed, exchanged, sold or otherwise
parted with, without the consent and direction of the agent.
Article 6. The United States will also supply and settle
among said tribes, at or near their towns or settlements, one
practical farmer, who shall superintend all agricultural opera-
tions, with two assistants, men of practical knowledge and indus-
48 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
trious habits; one carpenter, one wheelwright, one blacksmith,
one principal school teacher and as many assistant teachers as the
President may deem proper to instruct said tribes, in reading,
writing, etc., and in the domestic arts upon the manual labor sys-
tem; all the above named workmen and teachers to be main-
tained and paid by the United States for the period of five years,
and as long thereafter as the President shall deem advisable. The
United States will also erect suitable schoolhouses, shops and
dwellings for the acconimodatiou of the schools, teachers and
mechanics above mentioned, and for the protection of the public
property.
In testimony whereof, the parties have hereunto signed their
names and affixed their seals, this ninth day of September, in the
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
0. M. Wozencraft,
United States Indian Agent.
For and in behalf of the Coins:
Sci-Oac, his X mark.
For and in behalf of the Willays:
Ho-Oak, his X mark.
For and in behalf of the Co-ha-na :
Louis, his X mark.
For and in behalf of the Tat-nah:
Hoo-Ka-Ta, his X mark.
For and in behalf of the Cha :
La-Look, his X mark.
For and in behalf of the Doc-Duc:
Mi-Ka-La, his X mark.
For and in behalf of the Cham-net-co:
Wi-Te-Bus, his X mark.
For and in behalf of the Toc-de :
Co-Ne, his X mark.
Signed, sealed and delivered, after being fully explained, in
presence of
Thomas Wright, Second Lieutenant, 2nd Infantry,
Couunanding escort.
C. D. Semple.
Politics in tlie meantime had gotten in its fine work, and this
treaty was never ratified. It lay in the secret files of the Senate
until 1905, when the injunction of secrecy was removed and the
terms of the treaty were made known. This, however, was after
all those connectecl with the treaty had been long in their graves.
The Indians of Colusa waited and watched patiently for the ful-
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 49
fillment of the treaty, and most of them died in the hope that it
would some day be fulfilled.
In 1907 the government bought forty acres of laud on the
west side of the river, four miles north of Colusa, and all the
river Indians in the county, aliout sixty, were moved there. With
the aid of private subscriptions they were established in fairly
comfortable cabins, and a little later the county supervisors made
an appropriation for a school among them. Rev. and Mrs. F. G.
Collett, who had been indefatigable in their efforts in behalf of the
Indians, were the first teachers ; and they have a worthy successor
in the person of Dr. H. E. Burbauk, who still has a flourishiug
school at the rancheria.
The population of the rancheria north of town is at present
about fifty. They are under the leadership of Captain Thomas
Odock, a man of fine character. They raise some fruit and vege-
tables, but most of their living is made by laboring on the neigh-
boring ranches. The women have not gained any great degree
of skill in the arts of civilization, especially the caring for their
children; and the tribe seems destined to disappear utterly.
Of the other Indians in the county, about thirty-five live on
Cortina Creek, and eight or ten in the neighborhood of Stonyford.
These are dying off very rapidh', and in a few years will be gone.
CHAPTER V
The Early Settlers
The day of the gold rush to California dawned with only
three settlements in what is now called Colusa County, as we
have seen. The first of these was made by John S. Williams, who
had settled the Larkin's Children's Grant at what is now the W. A.
Yerxa place. It is interesting to note that Mr. Williams came
from Missouri; and that state has continued to hold her pre-
eminence as a source of population for Colusa County. Mr.
Williams died in 1849, and never saw the great development which
the county exijerieuced in the next year or two. His only sou
moved back to Missouri to live.
One of the other settlers was William B. Ide, of whom men-
tion will be made further on. He was a Massachusetts Yankee,
and was probably the most prominent man in the organization
of the county. He was stricken with smallpox in December
of 1852, while holding the office of county treasurer at Monroe-
ville, and died on the twentieth of that month, leaving a wife
3
50 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
and nine children. His is one. of the most stirring and eventful
careers among the pioneers of California — and I am moved here
to remark that his wife's job was no sinecure, for this daring
adventurer had accumulated little property, and what money he
had was stolen from the county safe l)y means of the key taken
from under the sick man's pillow by the man who nursed him during
his last illness. The women of those early days could probably
tell tales of far more interest than anything that will appear in
this volume, and it is a pity that they have left such meager
records of their privations and sufferings.
The third settler, Watt Anderson, who lived where Sycamore
now is, was a bear-hunter, who boasted that he ate no meat but
bear meat. He had a wife and family, and apparently preferred
their society to that of other white people, for he kept well in
advance of the van of civilization. "When Colusa was laid out, he
considered the country too crowded, and moved westward into the
mountains where there was more room.
Charles B. Sterling, who came up from Monterey to take John
S. AVilliams' place on the Larkin ranch when Mr. Williams went to
the mines to dig gold, was a native of Louisiana who had come to
California as purser on a United States war-ship and was secre-
tary to Thomas 0. Larkin at this time. He proved to be a capable
man, and ' ' Sterling's Ranch" become known the length and breadth
of the Sacramento Valley. Will S. Green tells us of Sterling that
"in the spring of 1849 he wanted to go over to the mines on
Feather River, and not liking to bury his money around home
for fear of being watched, he put several thousand dollars in a
square gin bottle and carried it with him to the bank of a slough,
in a direct line from his place to French Crossing on Butte Creek,
and there buried it, marking the place by a bunch of weeds he
would know again. He stayed over there longer than he expected,
and when he came back the weeds had been burned, and he could
not find the place ; and so that bottle with its treasure lies buried
there yet." Young man, there is your opportunity to dig for
gold.
All those whose names are mentioned above were pioneers
in the truest sense of the word. They came to the great, unknown
West because they loved the wideness and the solitude, and be-
cause the spirit of adventure was strong within them; and they
remained here because they saw the possibilities of this county as
an agricultural community and a place for homes. Most of those
who came to the county after this period were lured to California
by the hope of gold in great abundance, had tried their liauds at
mining and had been disappointed, and then had turned to farm-
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 51
iug or to the other pursuits iu which they had been engaged in
their Eastern homes.
In 1849 the great gold riish to CaHforuia began. The next
year, 1850, the settlement of Colusa County began in earnest.
That was the year California was admitted as a state and Colusa
County was authorized by the state legislature, neither of which
events, however, had any particular influence on the settlement
of the county. The time had come when these rich lands were to
be sought after ; and their acquisition by settlers would have taken
place just when it did, even if the state had not been admitted
and no county had been formed by the legislature.
In the year 1847, Eobert Semple was a doctor living in
Beuicia, Cal., to which place he had come from Kentucky. That
year he took his horseback trip up the Sacramento A'alley, and was
so greatly impressed with the beauty and fertility of the lands about
the Colus Indian village that he made a note of the matter and
kept it for future reference. When, in 1849, his brother. Col.
Charles D. Semple, came out from Kentucky to look for a location
in California, the doctor told him of the Sacramento Valley loca-
tion and advised him to try to obtain some of the land and settle
it. Colonel Semple took his brother's advice; and that was the
first step in the founding of the town of Colusa, which was the
first town in Colusa County as at present bounded.
Colonel Semple found that John Bidwell, who had also been
impressed with this wonderfully fertile land, had obtained a grant
of two scjuare leagues of land surrounding the Colus Indian viL
lage, just where the colonel wanted to settle. He bought the grant
from Bidwell, and in the spring of 1850 came up the valley to
locate his new town, which was to be placed on the site of the old
Indian village at "Salmon Bend." But he missed the place and
went instead to where Powell Slough puts out from the river,
seven miles above Colusa, and later the location of the old Seven-
Mile House. He had mistaken a temporary Indian camp for the
place he was looking for, and did not discover his mistake till he
had laid out a town there and established a camp of men, who
were set to clearing off the land round about, and cutting cord-
wood for the steamship line that was soon to be established.
In the meantime Dr. Semple, at Benieia, had been laying the
foundations for this same steamship line. He had been building a
steamer, which was finished in June and was named the "Colusa"
in honor of the town between which and the outside world she was
to ply. About the first of July, 1850, she started on her first and
last trip up the river, having on board Will S. Green, then a youth
of eighteen, a stock of goods which Green and Colonel Semple
52 COLUSA AXD GLENN COUNTIES
owned in partnership, and enougli Inmlier to Imild a store to house
the goods. The Colnsa made good progress till it struck the bend
just above the town's present location, when rapids, snags and
short turns in the river so harassed the little boat that one of
the engines gave out, and it took several days to make the remain-
ing seven miles to her destination.
The cargo of the Itoat had hardly been unloaded and she had
]3roceeded back to Benicia, when Colonel Semple discovered the
mistake he had made in the location of his town. He proceeded
at once to move it to its jjresent and proper location. Green had
brought up a carpenter named Hicks on the boat to build the new
store; and while Semple hauled the goods to the new location,
Hicks began the erection of the Imilding and Green stayed at the
old location to watch the remaining property till all was safely
hauled. As soon as they had their store up, Semple and Green
laid out the town and proceeded to make a metropolis of it. That
it isn't a city of a million people is no fault of theirs; for they
both spent their lives, and died, booming it.
Semple & Green's store building was a story and a half high,
and was located on Levee Street, between Fifth and Sixth. The
river has so encroached upon the laud that the levee now covers
the site. This was not the first building in the town. By the time
Colonel Semple reached his permanent location, he found that
two men, named Heeps and Hale, had started a little shanty on
what is now Fifth Street, between the Biverside Hotel and the
river. . In this they opened up a hotel, remained for a few weeks,
and then departed. A man named Sheppard had also started a
log cabin at what is now Sixth and Main Streets, where the Eagle
Stable now stands ; Imt Sheppard abandoned his building before it
was finished.
After Heeps & Hale abandoned their hotel, Semple & Green
had to add a hotel department to their store. This they did by
installing a bar in the store and building on an addition in the
rear for a kitchen and dining room. Business was good, for there
was a great deal of travel up and down the valley, between the
.mines of Shasta and the bay; and the new landlords found that
there were quite a number of hunters, trappers, homeseekers,
prospectors, teamsters and other travelers to be cared for, even
at that early elate. After conducting their combined store and
hotel through the winter, Semple & Green leased the hotel depart-
ment early in 1851 to two men named Hendricks, and a little later
to Mr. and Mrs. Davis. Mrs. Davis was the first white woman to
live in Colusa. She didn't stay long, however, and for most of the
summer of 1851 the town did not have the lieneficent presence of
woman to cheer it. But in September, 1851, William Vincent
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 53
arrived by boat with his wife and little daiighter; and from that
time ou, Colusa was never without women folks. The Vincents
were the first permanent family in Colusa ; and they resided in the
town for many years, Mr. Vincent being at one time county
treasurer. The little daughter giew up and married a later
county treasurer. A son was born to the 'Vincents in November,
1851 ; and he was the first child born in the town.
During the year 1851 Colusa grew to be a town of about
twenty people, and nearly that many business establishments; for
almost every man in the town was the proprietor of his own busi-
ness. The country round about, especially up and down the river,
also began to be taken up and settled in 1850 and 1851 quite exten-
sively. The cattle men were naturally the first to come; but
because of floods and droughts the cattle business was a more or
less jirecarious enterprise, and many stockmen later turned their
attention to farming. A great impetus was given to farming
operations by the heavy demand for hay and barley to feed
the teams engaged in hauling supplies up the valley to the
mines. To meet this demand, rather than to establish homes, a
number of men began farming in the county during the two
years mentioned. A number of others established "hotels" at
various points along the route to the mines, also with a view to
aiding the teaming business, which had by this time grown to
great proportions.
Even at this early date, Colusa County was the scene of two
earnest, though rather (juiet, competitions. One was between the
men who were interested in boat traffic and those who moved
goods by team; and the other was between the two routes of
passenger travel to the northern mines, one up along the eastern
foothills of the valley, via Marysville and Chico, and the other
up the middle of the valley, along the riA-er, via Colusa. Colonel
Semple's dream, when he located his town at the head of deep-
water navigation, was that it should become a great steamboat
terminus and distributing point ; but, in the first place, steamboat-
ing required a large outlay of capital, and, in the second place,
it was a hazardous business because of the many snags and shoals
in the river. So, while Colonel Semple was struggling to get a
permanent line of steamers established between Sacramento and
Colusa, hundreds of tons of supplies were being taken north
through Colusa to the mines by wagon; and after he did get the
Orient and her successors to going regularly, Colusa became, not
only a transfer and shipping center for freight, as he had hoped,
but also a busy center of stage lines. At this time there were
sometimes as many as fifty great freight wagons loaded and
started from the town in a single day.
54 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
It can be readily seen that all this activity created an urgent
demand for horse feed, a demand that the alert prospectors and
travelers through the county were not slow to see and appreciate.
As a consequence, farming operations commenced and were stim-
ulated. No complete list of those who settled at that time within
the present limits of the county can be given; but the names of
some of them are known, and they will be found below. From
these the reader may obtain a fair idea of how populous the county
was when it considered itself ready to be organized as a county.
Beginning at the present north line of the county, we find that
in 1850 and 1851 a continuous line of settlements had been made
down the river to Wilkins' Slough, which is below Grimes. The
iirst one to occupy our attention is the Seventeen-Mile House,
which Hiram Willitts established for the entertainment of the
traveling public. After wagon traffic to the mines fell off, Mr.
Willits left Colusa County and went to Mendocino County, where
he founded the town that now bears his name. The house got its
name from the fact that it'was seventeen miles from Colusa. The
other "mile houses" were named for a similar reason. A mile
down the river from Willitts' was the Sixteen-Mile House, estab-
lished by J. M. Arnett, who remained but a short time and was suc-
ceeded by J. P. J. Helphenstine. Princeton is now situated upon
the location of the Sixteen-Mile House. About two miles below
Princeton was Sterling's Ranch, the first settlement in the county;
and a mile below that was the Eleven-Mile House, established by
Thomas Parton. (It will be seen that the figures given do not
tally; but the early settlers did not try to be particularly accu-
rate.) Two stockmen and ranchers, Charles Brooks and Ben
Payne, had settled near Parton 's place, on what was later called
the Hubbard ranch, and which was recently the scene of the
"Thousand Acres" fiasco. A mile further down, the Ten-Mile
House had been established by L. H. Helphenstine. His son,
Henry Russell Helphenstine, still lives there. This is the only
place between Princeton and Colusa, and almost the only place in
the county, along the river, that still remains in the name of the
original founder. The Helphenstine place has been the Helphen-
stine place for sixtj^-seven years, and bids fair to remain so for at
least that many years to come. The present owner was born
there in 1858, and is one of the oldest citizens, in point of resi-
dence, in the county. A mile below Helphenstine 's, S. H. Cooper
established the Nine-Mile House; and two miles further down,
Robert Payne and James Hill were running the Seven-Mile
House. This was located a few hundred feet south of where the
county road crosses the railroad, near Tony Wohlfrom's resi-
dence. It was the original location of the town of Colusa. Two
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES §5
miles below the Seven-Mile House, Obed DeLong had the Five-
Mile House. This is where the Maxwell road leaves the river
road, and it is now known as the Seavers place. Eobert N. Park-
hill, a refined and educated man, one of the first election officials
in the county and a member of the first grand jury, took up a
"wood ranch" on the east side, three miles above Colusa, in 1851,
and was active in the county's affairs till 1855, when he disap-
peared from his cabin, leaving money and all his effects undis-
turbed. He was never seen or heard from again; and his dis-
pearance was a mystery that was widely speculated upon at the
time, but that has never been solved.
Below Colusa, almost on the outskirts of the town, J. T.
Marr, White Brothers, Abbe Brothers, James Keefer, John
Eogers, and Marion Tate had come in and were doing a little
farming or were herding bands of stock. A little further down
the river, 0. C. Berkey, father of Supervisor P. Y. Berkey, had
established a stock ranch in partnership with George Carhart and
Silas Howard; and four brothers named Gibson had located in
the bend of the river above the present town of Meridian. Jack
Long had a big cattle ranch aliout where Sycamore station on the
Northern Electric now is ; while John Fitch and Joe Farnsworth
had settled just south of Sycamore Slough, where the town of
Sycamore now stands. Mr. Farnsworth was one of the few pio-
neers who "stuck," and he became cpiite prosperous. Mrs.
Farnsworth still lives a couple of miles below Sycamore, on the
ranch her husband took up. They reared a family of sturdy
children; and one of their sons, George, is a member of the
Colusa County Exemption Board, whose duties are so important
in forming the national army that is to go to Europe to take part
in the great war.
In 1851, the Grimes brothers came up the river and settled
at what is now the town of Grimes. Within one hundred yards
of where he Irailt his first cabin, Cleaton Grimes continued to
reside till he was ninety-four years old, dying in 1909. When the
Grimes brothers arrived, they found E. E. Graham and Eiehard
Welsh already located near by, doing a prosperous farming busi-
ness. These neighbors, with the help of a Sacramento blacksmith,
made the first plow ever brought to Colusa County. Mr. Grahaiu
afterward became the father of E. E. Graham, the present county
treasurer, and two other sons, and also of five daughters. One of
these married E. C. Peart; another, W. H. Cross; a third, C. G.
Stinson; a fourth, E. L. AYelch; and the fifth, J. W. Eustis.
The above are most of the settlers along the river prior to
1852. There was one settlement out on the plains, J. C. Johnson
having established the Ohio House south of where College City
56 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
now stauds. "When the county was mapped out by the legislature
in 1850, and organized in 1851, the east side of the river, the
plains and the foothills were practically uninhabited. In that
part of the county which is now Glenn County, there were similar
settlements along the river, but none out on the plains. U. P.
Monroe had started a town that he called Monroeville, and natu-
rally the settlers up that way gave their allegiance to the town
nearest them; so when the county government came to be organ-
ized, there was a strong contest between Colusa and Monroeville
as to which should be the county seat. The particulars in this con-
test will be given in the chapter on the organization of the county.
Settlers came in so fast, after 1851, that no particular mention
of them can be made in a work of this scope. In examining the
list of names given above, it will be noticed that there are very
few mentioned who remained permanently or left families to
perpetuate their names. In the years 1852 and 1853, and those
immediately following, however, quite a number of settlers came
whose names are well known in the county today. Active settle-
ment of the east side of the river began in 1852, about a dozen men
settling there that year and as many more the year following;
but the names of nearly all of these have disappeared from the
community, only about half a dozen of them having left any trace
of their existence, so far as present population is concerned —
certainly a pertinent commentary on the transitory nature of
human life.
Of those whose names are still known, there was Henry Ahlf,
who settled two or three miles above Colusa in 1853. He was the
father of George, John, Herman, Adolphus and Miss Emma Ahlf.
Nick Laux tirst settled on the McConnell place, but afterwards
sold it and moved to a place near by. J. W. Jones, grandfather
of J. Morris Jones, of Colusa, settled on a ranch up the river in
1853, as did also W. P. Goad, brother of J. W. Goad, now of
Colusa. Mr. Goad was one of the organizers of the Colusa County
Bank, and was its first president. Frank Steele's grandchildren
now reside on the place he settled upon in 1853. Col. L. F.
Moulton also arrived about 1853. Colonel Moulton impressed
himself most decidedly upon the future life of his county. He was
one of the most courageous, liberal, and persistent experimenters
along reclamation and general agricultural lines that the state has
known. To his energy and initiative is due much of our knowl-
edge of the possibilities of Colusa County from an agricultural
standpoint. Joseph McConnell, Clinton and Joseph McVay,
Thomas Williams, and Jefferson Tate all settled on the east side
about 1853 or 1854, and reared families there; and some of their
descendants still survive.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 57
After the river district, the next section of the county to be
settled was the foothills, l)ecanse water could be obtained there
more easily than on the plains. Two or three men located stock
ranches in Spring Valley in 1852, but most of the early settlers in
the foothill region arrived in 1853 and thereafter. Spring Valley
received two or three new settlers tliat year. Antelope Valley
was settled by at least four men, one of whom was John Sites;
and a Mrs. Spear, with her two sons, had settled at Stone Corral,
but later moved to Antelope Valley.
The settlement of Bear Valley is best described in the words
of one of the pioneers, Godfrey C. Ingrim, in the Colusa Sun of
January 6, 1877. This, in part, is what Mr. Ingi-im says :
"In the fall of 1853, in company with old man Beers and
J. M. Blanchard, I left Sacramento City for Bear Valley (then
nearly unknown). On our way we stopped one night at the Ohio
House, kept by Ike Rice; and the next night we stopped at Jo.
Bowies', in Spring Valley, who, with M. A. Britton, had just
settled in that pretty little valley. One thing I noticed on enter-
ing Spring Valley was the wild oats. They were as tall as a
horse's back and as thick as they could stand on the ground.
From Spring Valley we went up Salt Canyon to Antelope Valley.
T. A. Botts and Dr. William V. Henry had settled there. Tlie
latter still resides in the valley, but not in the same place. From
Antelope we went across the mountains to Bear Valley, entering
the valley on what is the Turner ranch now. I found clover in
the valley that was seven feet long by measurement. There were
plenty of deer, antelope, bear, and some elk at that time. I ex-
plored the valley and picked out my jaresent place. I then thought
this a beautiful and healthy place, and after twenty-two years'
residence I am of the same opinion.
"On the 20th of January, 1854, in company with John H.
Clark, I settled where I now reside. This valley received its
name from a bear that was killed just below my house, at the old
crossing, by a party from Colusa, in 1852, two of whom were Dr.
Spaulding and Horace Pike. At the time I came into the valley
there were no settlers, nor for six months after. John Royce and
A. T. Noyes came next, and settled in the lower end of the vallej'.
J. M. Blanchard, old man Beers, and Hull — the man that was
killed on Hull's Mountain by a grizzly, and after whom it takes its
name — were the next. Stephen Reese, Stewart Harris, Fielding
and Waller Calmes next came in. William Robertson came about
the same time. Reese, the Robertson family, and myself are all
that remain of the old settlers in the valley.
"... Four miles from Bear Valley are what are called
Wilbur's Springs; but the right name for them is Cantrall
58 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Springs, for Joshua Cantrall is the man who took those springs
up, and lived there until he died. Gil Roberts then bought them.
They passed into the hands of Simmons and went by his name
until he died. Then Wilbur came into possession, and the springs
took his name and retained it."
Three or four years after Bear Valley was first settled, the
Stonyford country began to receive the attention of settlers; but
those who first located there passed on, leaving the country to
new people.
There was a peculiarity about the settlement of the plains
that is hard to account for. The lands in the vicinity of where
Williams, Arbuckle and College City now are began to attract
settlers in 1853, or shortly thereafter, especially along the sloughs
and creeks; while in the vicinity of Maxwell and Delevan the
lands lay, for ten or twelve years longer, absolutely untouched for
farming purposes. When the southern part of the county, on the
plains, was "thickly settled," as settlements went in those days,
the northern part was a great, uninhabited stretch of "no man's
land." Why this was the case is hard to tell, because some of the
finest land in the county is in that section. E. B. McDow, who
came from Iowa and settled on Funk Slough in the fall of 1861,
says: "When I first came here to live, William Campbell, in the
hills four miles from me, was my nearest neighbor on the west;
Joseph Gibson, nine miles, and F. Calmes, seven or eight miles,
south and southwest; the Willows ranch nearly fourteen miles
north ; and nine miles to any settlement on the river east. ' ' Will
S. Green says: "North of a due west line from Colusa there were
no settlements on the plains, for agricultural purposes, until
about 1868. ' ' He ascribes the slowness with which the plains were
settled to the fact that the secret of raising grain by the summer-
fallow method had not then been discovered.
One of the first ranches to be taken up on the plains was that
located by Dr. Robert Semple, of Benicia, and W. S. Green, of
Colusa, on Freshwater Creek ; but it could hardly be called a set-
tlement, for both the owners were non-residents. That was in
1853. The next year Joseph S. Gibson came in and laid the
foundations for the great estate of the present J. S. Gibson Com-
pany, which is among the foremost breeders of blooded stock in
the state, or in the world. Between 1853 and 1857 the plains
country received a number of settlers who were destined later to
become closely connected with the county's development and his-
tory. Among them were W. H. Williams, who tried a small crop
of wheat and barlej' in Spring ^"allej' in 1853, and made a similar
experiment in 1854 near where he afterward founded the town
that bears his name. Andrew Pierce, the founder of Pierce Chris-
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 59
tian College, settled near the site of College City in 1855. The
same year Julius Weyand, father of Superior Judge Ernest
Weyand, settled, with his brother, Gustav, near Arbuckle. J. W.
Brim came in 1856, and located west of Williams. William
Kaerth located northeast of Arbuckle in 1857; and Joseph P.
Sherer settled north of College City about the same time. J. C.
Stovall, one of the founders of the Stovall-Wilcoxson Company,
which now owns thirty-five thousand eight hundred acres of land
in the county, came in 1858 and settled six miles west of Williams,
on what is now a part of the great Stovall-Wilcoxson ranch.
There were others who came about this time, or a little later; but
obvioush' the list cannot be continued indefinitely. Those named
found the land untouched in their several localities when they
came, and they proceeded to hew homes out of the wilderness.
They succeeded even beyond their dreams ; and as a result of their
foresight and energy, the descendants and successors of these
pioneers now cultivate broad, fertile fields, live in fine houses, and
drive powerful motor cars over improved highways, where once
there was but a silent waste.
The settlement of the county was substantial and rapid after
this time. The mines became less and less able to furnish
profitable employment to all who came into the state ; river trans-
portation had become fairly regular and dependable; stage lines
were being extended in all directions ; implements were more easily
obtainable ; the demand for farm products was steady and strong ;
and last, but by no means least, wives and sweethearts were com-
ing to make home something more than a camping place, so that
by the time of the Civil AVar Colusa County was a well-established
and highly organized community.
CHAPTER VI
Okgaxizatiox of the County
There was in 1851, as we have seen, a fringe of settlers along
the Sacramento Eiver from the mouth of Stony Creek, on the
north, to Wilkius' Slough, below Grimes, on the south. Most of
them were keepers of "road houses," institutions that in those
days served a purpose different from that which they serve today.
There were also two very small, but very ambitious, towns along
the river: Colusa, Colonel Semple's town; and Monroeville,
founded by U. P. Monroe south of the mouth of Stony Creek, in
what is now Glenn County. Each wanted and expected to be the
60 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
county seat of the new county; and tins question was not settled
till after a spirited factional fight, the first of several that have
disturbed the calm of the county's political existence.
When Colonel Semjjle came up the river to lay out his town,
the first state legislature was in session, and he had it define
the boundaries of the county and give it the same name as the
town. Semple and Green formed the name by adding an "a" to
"Coins," the name of the Indians as the white man understood it.
Mr. Green says this "gave a very euphonious name." But the
legislature had a committee on the 'names of counties (General
Vallejo was one of the committee), and this committee reported
the name as "Colusi," although the founders of the town insisted
on its being "Colusa"; and when the statute defining the boun-
daries of the county was adopted, it read as follows:
"Section 22. County of Colusi. Beginning at a point on the
summit of the Coast Eange due west from the Eed Blut¥s, and
running thence due east to said bluffs on the Sacramento Eiver;
thence down the middle of said river to the northwest corner of
Sutter County; thence due west along the northern boundary of
Yolo County to the summit of the Coast Range ; thence in a north-
westerly direction, following the summit of said range to the
point of beginning. This county shall be attached, for judicial
purposes, to Butte County, until a county government shall be
organized for the same in the manner to be prescribed by law. ' '
Thus the county was created "Colusi"; and thus it remained,
officially, till 1854, when it was changed to conform with the
name of the town. It will be seen that the legislature had pro-
vided boundaries and a name for the new county, but no county
seat. Colonel Semple had evidently overlooked this jjoint; or
more probably he took it for granted that the county seat of
Colusa County would, as a matter of course, be Colusa town. He
was not to carry away the honor so easily, however.
The same legislature that defined the limits of the county
passed a statute providing that counties in which a county gov-
ernment had not yet been organized might organize by petitioning
the district judge, the state at the time being divided into judicial
districts. The people living in the vicinity of Monroeville, headed
by U. P. Monroe, got up a petition and presented it to Judge
Bean, county judge of Butte County, instead of district judge,
asking him to call an election for the purpose of electing officers
and organizing Colusi County. The people of Monroeville were
perhaps excusable for ignorance of the law or a superabundance
of enthusiasm in the matter, but his Honor should have known his
limitations. Nevertheless he called an election for January 10,
1851, for the imrpose of electing "one County Judge, Clerk, Sher-
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 61
iff, Assessor, Recorder, Treasurer, Surveyor, Coroner and County
Attorney." The judge seems to have formulated his election
proclamation on instructions from Monroeville; for he named
U. P. Monroe as inspector of the election, and designated "Mon-
roe's ranch" as the place at which it was to be held, naming no
other election officials or polling places. Evidently, though, he
intended that there should be other voting places ; for the procla-
mation says, "It is the duty of the first Inspector to cany the
returns to Sterling's ranch by Wednesday, the 15th day of Jan-
uary, and with the Inspectors of the other polls held within the
county, to canvass the returns of all the votes, and prepare certifi-
cates of election for the candidates having the highest number of
votes within the county." Apparently the court of Butte County
was not aware of the existence of Colusa, for no mention is made of
it in the election proclamation, although it was a thriving city
of one house and half a dozen people; but the records of dis-
bursements of the county treasurer show that J. C. Hicks, the
carpenter who built the one house in the city, received pay for
services on the election board that day, as did also Robert N.
Parkhill, a Colusa settler mentioned heretofore in these pages,
which would tend to show that the citizens of Colusa had an op-
portunity to vote at this first election. Apparently they took little
interest in it, however; for W. S. Green does not remember it at
all, and Colonel Semple is not mentioned at all, in any connection.
Under the circumstances, it is not a hard matter to forecast the
result of the election. Monroeville carried the day and elected
the only two officers who quahfied. They were J. S. Holland,
county judge, and U. P. Monroe, clerk and recorder, both of Mon-
roeville. Naturally they preferred Monroeville as a county seat ;
and without further ceremony they established the county gov-
ernment there. Colonel Semple, seeing that local events were
working the defeat of his cherished ambition to have the county
seat at Colusa, took another tack. He went before the legislature,
which was in session at the time, and had the. act defining the
boundaries of the county amended by adding the words, "the seat
of justice shall be at the Town of Colusa." The next step in the
controversy was the following petition, circulated in the early
part of June, 1851, by the adherents of Monroeville :
"To the County Judge: The undersigned, electors of the
County of Colusi, and State of California, being dissatisfied with
the location of the seat of justice of this county, as fixed by the
late Act of the Legislature, pray your honor for the removal,
and that an election be held to determine to what place it shall
be removed."
62 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
The election, as above petitioned for, was lield on July 11,
1851 ; and once again Monroeville was victorious. In spite of the
act of the legislature, the county seat continued to remain there
for nearly three years. At the general election in the fall of 1853
the county seat question was again voted upon, and this time the
result was in Colusa's favor by three hundred ten votes to Mon-
roeville 's fifty-two. A short time later the records were removed
to Colusa; and on June 6, 1854, a contract was let for a new
courthouse at the new seat of justice, the contract price being
three thousand dollars.
The best record to be found of the events connected with the
organization of the new county is the report of Judge Ide, who
was also county treasurer, to the state treasurer; and it is here
given in full :
Monroeville, Colusi County,
State of California,
December 10, 1851.
Statement of the Treasurer of Colusi County to the State Treas-
urer:
On the 1st day of December, instant, the present Treasurer
of Colusi County was appointed to the office by the Court of
Sessions of said county, to supply and fill the vacancy of Gr. P.
Swift, Treasurer, resigned October 21st ; bond filed 6th of Decem-
ber, instant, which was justified instead of being accepted by the
County Judge, by reason that said Judge was personally inter-
ested, and the said Treasurer this day enters upon the discharge
of the duties of said office, by complying as far as practicable
with the requirements of Section 49, in the latter clause; and to
guard against the penalty imposed by the fifty-second section of
the Revenue Act. Owing to the peculiar circumstances in which
this county has existed during the six months past, relative to
services rendered by its officers, our officers (present) will be de-
tained somewhat (if not in some essential cases wholly impeded)
in the collection of the state and county tax for 1851. Only
$93.07 has been collected and paid into the treasury. Of this
$11,971/2 is for court house; $25.95 for county purposes; and
$55,141/2 for State and State loan on interest tax. The tax list
was delivered to the Sheriff, or to the Under-Sheriff, J. C. Huls,
who, as near as I can learn from information derived from un-
official sources, has collected some $401.46, exclusive of his own
fees, and has resigned without making payment thereof either to
the treasury or to his principal, December 8th. December 10th
H. P. Bemis was appointed Under-Sheriff, and is proceeding to
give notices as the law directs, except as to time, and will, it is
expected, make a vigorous effort to collect the said taxes, which
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 63
amount in the aggregate to $5,1-17.25, of which $1,838,301/. is for
State purposes; $551.49 is interest on public State loan tax;
$1,383,301/0 is for county purposes; and $918.15 for court house
and jail. Further, there are 101 polls assessed at $3— $202 for
State purposes, and $101 for county purposes. The State Comp-
troller has received the Auditor's duplicate, together with a very
brief statement of some of the difficulties under which we labor.
Some of the principal taxpayers (or who should be tax-paying
persons) positively refuse to pay any tax. There was collected by
former Treasurer, G. P. Swift, some $600 or $700 of poll and other
tax on personal property. Of this I cannot specify, as the said
ex-Treasurer has not, as yet, although ordered so to do by the
County Judge, delivered over the money and papers pertaining to
the office of Treasurer of Colusi County. It is expected that most
of the tax will be collected within thirty or forty days from this
time, although it will be, and is probable that a considerable por-
tion of our tax for this year will remain delinquent, from the fact
that many persons have removed from the county, and some from
the state. I am unwilling to trouble you with so long a communi-
cation, but it may be essential to the welfare of the interests of
our county, in this manner and at this time, that I, their County
Judge and Treasurer, at present should explain.
This county, as you probably know, was organized under an
order obtained by the petition of its legal voters, of Judge Bean,
of the adjoining Butte County — election 10th of January, 1851.
J. S. Holland was elected County Judge, and U. P. Monroe was
elected Clerk and Eecorder. The other officers elected either
did not qualify or failed to give bonds according to law. At an
election called and held on the 25th of February, other officers
were elected ; of these, William G. Chard and Joseph C. Huls, the
former Assessor and the latter County Surveyor, and John F.
Willis, Sheriff, qualified and gave bonds, which were accepted by
Judge Holland. The Court of Sessions was organized on the
8th of March, by the election of William B. Ide and Newell Hall
to the office of Associate Justices, being the only Justices of the
Peace qualified to vote at said election. Judge Holland was then
quite unwell, and only able to superintend the said organization,
which completed, he, being quite sick, left the newly elected Jias-
tices (a lawful quorum) to proceed in the county business. The
said court divided the county into precincts, townships, road dis-
tricts, etc., and ordered that the taxes for county purposes the
year ensuing should be the highest rate allowed by law, which
was then twenty-five cents to each $100, this county then not
being in debt subsequent to the present year. Judge Holland
lingered in an inconvalescent state and died on the 12th of April.
64 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
An election was called on the 3rd of May, when John T. Hughes
received a majority of the votes cast for County Judge. Newell
Hall, Esq., removed from the township in which he was elected,
and the office of Junior Associate Justice became vacant, and
there was no other qualified Justice within the county except the
Senior Associate. An election was called, and Justices called to
supply vacancies. One Justice, viz., J. C. Huls, qualified and
gave bonds ; and he became in due time a member of the Court
of Sessions. Judge Hughes held one term of the Court of Ses-
sions in Colusi only, and the only business brought before 'that
session was the appointment of a road-viewing committee. On
the second Monday of August, the Associate Justices met in
accordance with the old law (Judge Hughes being absent from the
county), when for the first time was ]irfs('iit('d William G. Chard's
Assessor's list — so indefinitely expressed that it was utterly im-
possible to equalize the said list, and the said Chard and his
assistants were all absent from the county ; moreover, at this time
we received the scattered fragments of the new Acts of legisla-
tion, by which we learned that since May 1st our acts were not in
accordance with the supreme law of the land.
We had no longer any evidence, by the letter of the law, that
we, the Associate Justices, constituted a legal quorum to do busi-
ness ; that we are not lawfully, by any provision of the said new
law, convened, not being called b}- order of the Judge for special
term, nor yet convened in general term-time, and further, we
are of the opinion that there existed on the 1st day of May, 1851,
a vacancy in the office of County Judge of Colusi County. And
having the Acts of the Legislature of California for our guide, we
conclude that if a vacancy did exist on the said first day of May,
it could only be filled by an appointment of the Governor. An
opinion prevailed in the minds of said Court, that if an officer
be illegal, all his acts, official, are illegal also; and if so, the
Court has become disorganized by lack of a legal quorum. In
conformity with this opinion, the Junior Justice refused to act,
and the Court dissolved without adjournment. In this state the
business of the county was suspended until the first Monday in
October last, when, in accordance with the law, I, having been
elected at the general election to the office of County Judge, and
being duly sworn, convened three Justices of the Peace, being all
the qualified Justices resident in said county, and organized again
the Court of Sessions, which was engaged four days in the trans-
action of criminal business, when the Junior Associate was ab-
sent, and the other, after one day's further attendance, left also.
A called session was ordered expressly for the purpose of hearing
complaints and for the piirpose of equalizing the assessment roll.
COLUSA AND ULENN COUNTIES 65
and five notices were posted in the several precincts. On or about
the first of October the Assessor returned to the county, and was
ordered to go over his assessment again, or to appear and give
such information as would enable the Court to equalize the list
or assessment roll. On the 17th, one of the Associate Justices only
aijpeared, and the vacancy could not be filled, and the Assessor
being sick did not attend, nor did he procure and return to the
Court any description of the personal projoerty of the taxpayers,
whereby the Court could be informed, in any wise, of the impar-
tiality of the assessment, the amount of the personal property
being given in the sum total, expressed by figures ; and it does
not appear that any oath was required, or of what the amount of
personal property consisted. The Court not being able to come
to any decision on the subject of equalization of the assessment
roll, the Court was adjourned to the 4th of November following.
On the 3rd of November I repaired to the county seat for the
purpose of holding the first County Court since the first organiza-
tion, and having discovered on the 27th of October that the Pro-
bate Court had previously no record of its existence, I now dis-
covered .that the County Court and Court of Sessions were in the
same condition, as also was the District Court, except such minutes
as I myself, as a member of the Court of Sessions, had taken, and
excepting the minutes signed by Judge Sherwood, of the District
Court, Ninth District.
Thinking that these interests might suffer from such scattered
condition of the only legal e\'idence of the existence of these
Courts, I issued a special order to U. P. Monroe, County Clerk,
ordering him to perform these several duties of the County Clerk
himself, or to cause them to be duly performed by some one duly
appointed and sworn as his deputy. And, there being no person
willing to devote his whole time in keeping the office open, accord-
ing as the law requires, at the county seat, and who was able to
23rocure the requisite bonds, as I was bound in compliance with
my official duties to be at the county seat to attend twenty-four
distinct sessions of various courts per anniim, and considering I
should save 2,000 miles of travel, I rented out my rancho and
accepted the service as Deputy County Clerk, and am become my
own Clerk, in accordance with the old maxim, "If you would have a
good servant and one you like, serve yourself." But to resume
more particularly this long narration, of our county affairs in
relation to taxes ; the said Court of Sessions, being on the 17th of
October, adjourned to the 4th of November, and from the said
4th of November from day to day, until one of the Associate Jus-
tices was in attendance, at which time the equalization of the
assessment roll was again attempted but again laid over to the
66 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
regular term in December, first Monday, in consequence of the
inal)ility of the presiding Judge legally to act in deciding a ques-
tion in which himself and children were interested. During the
interim, the County Assessor, being recovered of his sickness,
appeared at my office and made some explanations in the manner
of the assessments, also some corrections, and signed his assess-
ment roll, officially, which was not done before. November 24th I
received an answer from the Comptroller of State to a statement
I had made in relation to abstract of taxable property in Colusi.
I came to the conclusion that I had better jjroceed at once to
make the Auditor's tax lists, and have them ready to be accepted
or rejected by the Court of Sessions at its December term. I did
so and made up the books (duplicates) on a basis of equalization
proposed and signed by the only Associate Justice hitherto in
attendance. On the first day of the December term. Dr. H. P.
Bemis being appointed Clerk for the term, I called up the deferred
business of equalization, and it was passed by the vote of both
Associate Justices, and was so entered by the Clerk on the min-
utes. The aforementioned tax duplicates were examined and an
order issued for their delivery to the Sheriff and Treasurer,
with the order and execution on the backs thereof, for collection,
duly executed and signed by the Clerk and presiding Judge.
The above represents our true state in relation to the past ;
what it will be, in future, a little time will tell; the taxed swear
they will not pay, and threaten combination to prevent the sale
of property.
I shall be pleased to receive any advice or direction in the
matter and shall conform to the requisition of the law as far as
practicable.
Your verv obedient servant,
Wm. B. Ide,
Treasurer of Colusi County, Cal.
From the above it will be seen that for the first year of its
existence the government of Colusa County was William B. Ide,
County Judge, Treasurer and DejDuty County Clerk, and unoffi-
cially performing such duties of the other offices as were per-
formed. Judge Ide seems to have been the only official who took
office-holding seriously, and to him must go whatever thanks
are owing by posterity for the fact that the county got going
as a county in 1851. Apparently he held himself personally
responsible for the proper performance of all county official
duties, and did many things that could not have been expected
of one man, even in those unsettled and unorganized days.
Among the unusual services he performed for the county was
COLUSA AND GLEXN COUNTIES 67
the constnietion of a cage, or iron cell, for the safe-keepiug of
prisoners. There was no county jail, and it was a problem with
the court how to safeguard prisoners while the processes of law
were being gone through with. The difficulty was solved by
Judge Ide, who sent to San Francisco for some bar iron, and
with his own hands cut the bars into proper lengths, drilled the
holes, and constructed the "jail," which served its purpose ad-
mirably. While the county seat was at Monroeville, this "jail"
remained out under a tree, where the whole town could take a
hand in seeing that the prisoners did not escape; and when the
seat of government was transferred to Colusa, the jail went along
with it and was installed in the new courthouse, where it served
its original purpose for a number of years. The "new court-
house" will be remembered by many people as the old house
that stood just east of the Colusa Theater and was used by
Judge J. B. Moore as a residence before he built the house he
now lives in.
The court of sessions, mentioned by Judge Ide, was abolished
many years ago. It was composed of the county judge and two
associate justices chosen by the justices of the peace of the county
from among their number. Its tirst sessions in this county were
rather imsatisfactory, as will be noted from Judge Ide's report,
and caused him a good deal of worry.
Although Judge Ide appears from the foregoing to have
been the most prominent, and certainly the most painstaking,
man connected with the organization of the county, Will S. Green,
in his history of the county, intimates that Ide was under the
control of U. P. Monroe; for he administers a neat slap to the
Judge by saying that Monroe disappeared "after running the
county government for some time."
By the end of 1852 .county affairs were running quite
smoothly, and ever since that time there has been no lack of
men to fill the offices. As an evidence of the growth of popu-
lation, it might be stated that the United States census gave
the entire population of the county as one hundred fifteen in
1850; while in 1852 there were two hundred seventy-six men
who paid poll tax, and of course a great niaqy others who didn't.
In the latter year a bill was presented in the state Senate pro-
viding for the division of the county into two counties, to be
called Leco and Avena. The bill was referred to the proper
committee, and the committee reported that there was not pop-
ulation enough for two counties, and county division was post-
poned for fort}^ years.
68 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
CHAPTER VII
CoLTSA County Politically
Colusa County was born in a warm time, politically. Wlien
the infant county first opened its eyes, it belield a spirited
"scrap" in progress over the location of the county seat — a
"scrap" that lasted for four years, and was finally settled when
the county records and the county jail were brought from Mon-
roeville to Colusa. Ever since those early days, moreover, the
political pot has occasionally been the scene of violent ebulli-
tions — contests that have not at all indicated that the people
are of a disputatious nature, but rather that they are alive and
awake to political questions. It will be a sad day for the coun-
try when the people cease to take an active interest in politics,
local and national.
For several years after the removal of the seat of govern-
ment from Monroeville to Colusa, the political life of the new
county flowed along smoothly. Men were too busy developing
the land to take much time for politics. There was no news-
paper to unite the people in a common bond of public senti-
ment. The county offices were not particularly desirable; and
no local question arose to create especial interest.
But the slavery question, which was looming up more and
more portentously each year in the East, was beginning to throw
its shadow across California and Colusa County. The founders
of the town of Colusa were Southern men, as were many of the
early settlers. Naturally they wrote back to their friends and
relatives of the beauties and advantages of the new country,
and induced many of them to settle here. And the casual
settler, looking over the state for a home, naturally chose the
location where there was a nucleus of his own people. The
result was, that when the great storm broke in 1861 this county
had a preponderance of Southern people and Southern sentiment.
This was partially offset by the fact that the state remained
loyal to the LTnion, and that upon one or two occasions United
States troops were sent here during the war to temper the
enthusiasm for the South; so that it is fairly accurate to say that
Northern and Southern sentiment were equally divided, or at
least equally influential, during the unpleasantness.
Of course there could not help being some display of j^arti-
sanship at a time when there was so much at stake on both
sides ; but there were remarkably few scenes of violence during
the entire period of the war. The Presidential election of 1864,
COLUSA AND GLEXX COUNTIES 69
between Lincoln and McClellan, was a fierce contest in this
county, neither side leaving anything undone to insure victor^".
McClellan carried the county, of course, for this was then the
"banner Democratic county of the state"; and it has borne
that title ever since. It also used to be said that the "left wing
of Pap Price's army had settled in Colusa County "^a saying
that may be taken as an indication of the number of ex-Confed-
erate soldiers who located in the county after the war. So the
county came by its Democracy honestly enough, and has main-
tained it uninterruptedly from those days till this, although in
recent years much more moderately than in the days immediately
following the war. In some of the counties of the high-taritf,
rock-ribbed protection state of Pennsylvania, it used to be said
that you could hunt all day with a shotgun without finding enough
Democrats to make a mess. A similar statement might have
been made of the Republicans of Colusa County many years ago.
Timid Eepublicans kept their politics .under cover, lest their
taking sides with the minority party might "hurt business."
One Colusa business man told me that he lived in the town for
seven years before anyl)ody knew that he was a Republican.
Today fierce partisanship is one of the things that were, and
are not. The final chapter in its passing was written when the
state legislature passed a law making county, school and judicial
offices non-partisan. Where the newspapers used to record after
each election that "The entire Democratic ticket was elected
by a large majority," we now find the county offices filled by
men from both parties; and there are probably dozens of
people in the county who don't know what party the various
officers belong to, and don't care. People and jiapers who once
worked night and day "for the good of the party," now work
equally hard, I hope, for the good of the country — and the two
jobs are sometimes vastly different.
In 1865 came the close of the Civil "War and the abnormal
conditions attending it, and shortly thereafter came the announce-
ment of Lincoln's assassination. At this time, when there was
every reason to begin to forget the old animosities, the flames
of partisanship burst out more fiercely than they had ever done
before in the county. Some of the more hot-headed of the South-
ern sjnnpathizers announced that they intended to fire an "anvil
salute" in celebration of Lincoln's death. The blacksmith shop
and the anvil were located across Fifth Street from the River-
side Hotel; and the story goes that John H. Lieniug, proprietor
of the hotel, a man of German birth but a rabid Union man,
who is said to have feared neither man nor devil, took his Win-
chester rifle and, repairing to the upper balcony of the hotel,
70 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
announced that lie would shoot any man who tried to fire the
anvil. No firing was done, but the matter did not end there.
Someone reported to Captain Starr, commander of the troops
stationed in Colusa, that certain citizens had been guilty of dis-
loyal utterances ; and the result was that the commander had
eight prominent men arrested and taken to the Federal military
prison on Alcatraz Island, where they were confined at hard
labor for about two months. Captain Starr, Mr. Liening, J. C.
Treadway and H. Hadley were a few months later indicted by
the grand jury for kidnapping, the jury holding them responsible
for the arrest of the eight citizens. After one jury had dis-
agreed in Liening 's case, the second acquitted him, and after
one disagreement in Treadway 's case, the cases were all dis-
missed. After that the sectional feeling engendered by the war
was allowed to slumber till it gradually died out. Today there
is scarcely a trace of it left. To be sure, the old Confederate
soldiers of the county fo^-med "Camp Pap Price," of the United
Confederate Veterans, and the old Union soldiers formed Gen-
eral John Miller Post, G. A. E. ; but the two organizations have,
for many years, united in decorating the graves of their dead
on Memorial Day. They will hold only a few more such reunions,
however, for there are scarcely half a dozen members of both
organizations left in the county. The annals of the Civil War
will soon have been written, as far as its active participants
are concerned.
The work of plotting out the counties of the state in 1850
was largely a matter of guesswork on the part of the legislature,
inasmuch as the state had never been surveyed; moreover, there
were large areas with almost no population, and there was no
way of telling where the centers of population would be. Colusa
County, as at first laid out, was almost a hundred miles long
from north to south, extending from the present southern bound-
ary of the county to a point north of Bed Bluff. Two centers
of population at once sprang up, one at the southern end of the
county, and one about Red Bluff; and for the sake of conven-
ience it was deemed wise to cut off a strip of territory thirty-six
miles wide from the northern end and add it to Tehama County.
This was done in 1855, and met with no objection.
In 1864 a bill passed the Assembly fixing the boundary be-
tween Lake and Colusa Counties east of Bear Valley, thus putting-
Bear Valley and the Stonyford country in Lake County. This
arrangement met with fierce opposition from Colusa County
23eople, and the bill was killed in the Senate. Two years later,
in 1866, the Senate passed a bill adding to Butte County all the
territory lying east of the river. A big remonstrance against
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 71
this bill was circulated aud signed, and it was also killed.
Eternal vigilance seems to have been the price of territory, and
there were times when even that failed.
After the completion of tlie railroad to Willows, in 187S,
that village soon became a town — some of her citizens thought — •
with all the qualifications of a county seat except the county;
and it was proposed to furnish that by dividing Colusa County.
As early as 1882 the discussion had progressed so far that a
public meeting was held at Orland to consider the matter; but
the agitation was dropped at that time for want of support.
The Willows people were anxious for a county of their own,
however; and in January, 1887, a bill was introduced in the
Assembly iiroviding for county division. It passed the Assembly
after a hot tight, but was defeated in the Senate by one vote.
The next year county division was made the chief issue in the
campaign for Assemblyman from this county; aud the Demo-
cratic candidate, who was outspoken against division, was de-
feated by his Republican opponent, who put the soft pedal on
the county division issue. In the matter of being downed,
Banquo's ghost had nothing at all on the county division ques-
tion. It simply would not be downed, much as the people of
Colusa and the southern i^art of the county generally wished
it to be. It rent the people of this county as no political ques-
tion had ever done before or has ever done since. In 1889 it
was up before the state legislature again ; and this time it passed
both the Assembly and the Senate, but the Governor vetoed it.
Senator John Boggs and Assemblyman J. C. Campbell, of this
county, both ojaposed it; but their opposition was ineffective.
Open and vigorous charges were made that money had been
used to influence the legislature, and on the whole more ill feel-
ing was engendered than was necessary in the settling of even
so important a question.
Still the county division question would not down. In the
election of 1890 it was the chief issue in the fight between J. C.
Campbell and H. P. Eakle for the Assembly, a fight which re-
sulted in the arrest of several Willows citizens for ballot-box
stuffing. These cases were taken to Marysville to be tried, and
occupied the attention of the courts there for some time; but as
no convictions were secured, they were dismissed on June 17,
1892. The advocates of county division finally won out in the
legislature; and on May 5, 1891, an election was held to deter-
mine the question. Division carried, and from that time on,
Colusa County was twenty-eight miles shorter from north to
south. The new county was called Glenn County, in honor of
its largest landowner and leading citizen. Dr. H. J. Glenn. The
72 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
town of Princeton and a large part of the rancli of Senator John
Boggs were in Glenn County, as at first created; but Senator
Boggs induced the legislature of 1893 to change the boundary
line between the two counties so as to throw his ranch and the
town into Colusa County. This ended the county division matter,
and left Colusa County as it is today, as regards its boundaries.
Since the settlement of the county division question there
has been no great contest of a political nature to divide the
people into factions. To be sure, the liquor question has been
ever present, with the anti-saloon forces gradually driving the
liquor traffic to the wall; and the Progressive movement, in the
years following 1910, badly disrupted the Republican party in
this coimty as well as all over the nation; but such fluctuations
in the political current of a self-governing people must be ex-
pected. In 1873 the Grange movement was at its height, and
created considerable discussion in the county. In that year the
People's Independent party put a county ticket into the field and
succeeded in electing its candidates for sheriff, district attorney
and treasurer. In 1879, this element of unrest, of protest against
the existing order of things, called itself the Constitution party
and put a ticket into the field. The Constitution i^arty endorsed
the Democratic nominee for Governor that year, Dr. H. J. Glenn,
of Colusa County, which is as near as this county ever came
to furnishing a Governor for the state.
The decade from 1880 to 1890 witnessed the rise and growth
of the anti-Chinese sentiment in the state and county. Tens of
thousands of Oriental laborers had been brought into the state
to help build the railroads and to assist in other great enter-
prises. When the work for which they were imported was fin-
ished, they spread over the state and threatened to supplant
white labor in nearly all lines. Colusa County had received her
share of them, and the sentiment against them was growing-
very bitter. On the 5th of April, 1882, a great mass meeting
was held at Colusa "for the encouragement of American and
European immigration," and a little later the American and
European Labor Association was formed. The association and
its object were purely anti-Chinese; but instead of stating its
object bluntly as "Down with the Chinese!" the association used
more diplomatic language and said it was to "bring domestic
help, hired girls, from the crowded cities of the East and secure
employment for them as cooks and house servants," intending
thus to relieve the county of its pestiferous and insolent Mongo-
lian colony, who had now assumed to dictate the wages at which
their countrymen should be employed. Branches of the anti-
Chinese league were organized in all the towns of the county,
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 73
aud in 1888 the supervisors appointed six delegates to tlie anti-
Chinese convention in Sacramento. After Congress had passed
the Chinese exchision bill, the antipathy to the Mongolians in
this county subsided; and today the two races live together on
the most friendly terms.
It has been intimated in the foregoing pages that the Demo-
cratic party was invariably successful at the polls, which is true
as a general statement. But there were a number of notable
exceptions to the rule. Prominent among these was the election
of 1873, when the Independent Peoj^le's party elected their can-
didates for sheriff, treasurer and district attorney; the election
(if 1890, when E. W. Jones, the Republican nominee, was elected
county treasurer, although the rest of the ticket went Democratic
by as liigh as 1182 votes; the election of 1892, when Ernest
AVeyand, Republican, was elected district attorney, and W. A. Vann
was elected to the Assembly on tlie People's party ticket; and
tinally, the election of 1914, when Hiram W. Johnson, great
apostle of Progressiveism, beat the Democratic nominee for Gov-
ernor, John B. Curtin, by a vote in this county of 1229 to 1208,
and William Kent for Congress beat his Democratic opponent
1764 to 751. The great size of the vote is accounted for by the
fact that women had been given the ballot, but the flop from
rock-ribbed Democracy to Progressiveism can be accounted for
only on the theory of a growing political intelligence of the
electorate, one of the evidences of which was a breaking away
from the old party-above-everything-else fetich, a fetich to which
some of the earlier politicians of the county seem to have dedi-
cated their lives — at least their political lives.
Other exceptions to the general rule of Democratic success at
the polls are found in the cases where a special requirement for
the office limited the number of possible candidates, as in the
case of J. D. McNary, who, as a Republican, has held the office
of coroner and public administrator for nineteen years, and
J. W. Kaerth and Charles de St. Maurice, who were repeatedly
elected county surveyor on the Republican ticket. These excep-
tions were few aud far between in the "good old Democratic
days," but of recent years they have been more common. The
Democratic majoritj^ was strong enough, however, to make a
nomination by that party almost as good as an election, clear
down to the day the non-partisan law went into effect. In this
connection it is interesting to note that the Democrats of this
county were so dissatisfied with Horace Greeley's nomination for
president, in 1872, that the great editor's lead over General Grant
in this county was only nine votes.
74 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Finally, we come to the liquor question as a political issue in
the county. This question, while one of the most persistent ones
that the voters of the county have had to deal with, has never
aroused the Ijitterness that some other questions have, probably
because it has never become a sectional issue. To be a first-class
trouble breeder a political question must be of such a nature that
the people of one community or section can take one side of it
and the people of a different section the other. A question, both
sides of which are upheld in the same community by people who
must do business with each other, cannot long divide the people.
And so the liquor question has been up in many a spirited cam-
paign, but has left no permanent animosities. By successive steps
the county has gone from very wet to almost totally dry; and
the people have accepted the changes as they came, quickly for-
getting what the old order was like.
In common with other parts of California, Colusa County
started out on a "wide-open" basis. The license fee for saloons
was so low as to be merely nominal, and little or no regulation was
attempted. The saloon was the common meeting place, and
therefore came to be more and more of a power in politics.
For nearly twenty years after the organization of the county
there was no organized opposition to the saloon. But in the
late sixties lodges of the Good Templars, an anti-liquor order,
began to spring up over the county; and in 1882 the County
Central Committee of this order put a partial county ticket into
the field. The candidates on this ticket were: Assemblyman,
Warren Green; sheriff, John M. Pugh; assessor, W. J. Ford;
county clerk, Julius Weyand; superintendent of schools, W. H.
Reardon; coroner, Joseph M. "Walkup; surveyor, A. T. Welton.
They polled a good vote, but were defeated, of course.
One of the notable figures in the anti-liquor movement in this
county has been J. D. McNary, who joined the Good Templars in
Kentucky in May, 1867. Shortly after coming to California in
1877, Mr. McNary identified himself with the Good Templars
here; and for forty years he has been a consistent and effective
battler in the cause of sobriety. Two other leaders of the temper-
ance forces in the early days were Peter Earp and Stewart Harris,
both of whom did much to organize and keep alive the sentiment
against the liquor traffic.
The first Good Templars lodge was organized in Colusa in
1868; and among the officers of this lodge were Col. J. F. Wilkins,
father of Mrs. Richard Bayne, and 0. S. Mason, father of 0. R.
Mason, of Colusa. By 187-1 the temperance people were strong
enough to call an election in the six townships which then com-
prised the county, namely, Colusa, Monroe, Grand Island, Fresh-
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 75
water, Union and Sprina,- Valley Townships; and all of tliem
went dry except Colusa Township, which went wet by twenty-one
votes, and Grand Island, which went wet by eight votes. But
those that went dry didn't stay dry.
On February 14, 1892, a Union Temperance Sunday School
was organized in Colusa for the study of the temperance question.
The men at the head of this organization were J. D. McNary,
Judge E. A. Bridgeford, and Charles B. Whiting; and it was
influential in shaping public opinion.
On December 10, 1908, a county license ordinance was intro-
duced before the board of supervisors by Supervisor J. F.
Campbell, and seconded by Supervisor W. A. Vann. It provided
for precinct option; that is, that the people might vote on the
liquor question by precincts. On November 8, 1910, they did so
vote; and Stonyford, Sites, Maxwell, Goads, Butte Creek, College
City, Cooper, Cortina, Grand Island, Newland, Washington, and
Williams No. 2 went dry, while Arbuckle, Fouts Springs, Fresh-
water, Leesville, Princeton, Sulphur Creek, Sycamore, Venado,
and Williams No. 1 went wet. The legislature of 1911 passed the
Wylie local option law, making the supervisoral district the unit
on the liquor question; and on November 5, 1912, Colusa County,
all but the incorporated town of Colusa, again voted, and every
district went dry. Since then a number of votes have been taken
in the various districts, but they have always gone drier than
they did the first time. Several votes have also been taken in
Colusa; but it has always gone wet, once by a majority as low
as sixteen votes.
CHAPTER VIII
Teanspoetatiox
As the transportation facilities of a community are, so is the
community. A community without water transportation, with
inadequate facilities for railroad traffic, and with bad roads
cannot hope to be prosperous and progressive in any great degree ;
and the possession of these advantages goes a great way toward
counteracting the lack of others.
Colusa County has for many years known the truth of the
above principle, but it is only recently that she has acted upon
her knowledge. For years she was content to be known as a
"cow county," because the natural advantages of the country
were sufficient to insure comfort and prosperity to those who had
settled here, and they didn't care whether the county kept pace
76 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
in gi'owtli and improvements with the rest of the state or not.
Indeed many of them were so well satisfied with existing condi-
tions that they were openly hostile to any change, or any measures
that would bring in new settlers who might disturb the old order.
Within the past decade, however, sentiment on the transporta-
tion question has undegone a great change. During that time
an electric railroad giving excellent service has penetrated the
county; a second electric road, part of which was actually built,
was projected across the county from north to south; a branch
steam railroad has been laid across the county along the river;
forty miles of substantial concrete highway have been built;
plans for seventy miles more are under way; and dozens of per-
manent concrete bridges have been built, some of them hundreds
of feet in length. The next decade will witness a wonderful im-
provement in the road system of the county, and probably a con-
siderable extension of its railroad facilities. The one department
of transportation over which no change has come is steamboating ;
and as it was the first one in operation, I shall take it up first,
for I want to tell briefly of all the different modes of transporta-
tion in the county.
Steaiiier Traiisport(itio)t
"When Colonel Semple located his town, he had visions, as I
have said, of its becoming a great steamboat terminal and dis-
tributing point for the northern part of the state. The navigabil-
ity of the river from Colusa to its mouth had been established,
the northern mines were using immense quantities of supplies, and
there were no roads or railroads. But there were many obstacles
in the way.
AVhile there was plenty of water in the river, there were
more than plenty of snags, sandbars, and sharp turns, which
proved disastrous to the early pilots, who, of course, were un-
familiar with the channel. The consequence was that it took a
hard struggle to get a permanent and regular line of boats estab-
lished to the new town. But Colonel Semple persisted and finally
had the satisfaction of seeing Colusa and San Francisco con-
nected with a dependable and satisfactory line of river trans-
portation — with cheap freight rates, too, which was a material
factor in the upbuilding of the town and county.
As early as the spring of 1850 two small steamers had come
up the river as far as Colusa, probably more for exploring pur-
poses than anything else, for there was no town north of Sacra-
mento with which they could trade. In July of 1850 the Colusa,
Dr. Eobert Semple 's home-made boat, came up from Benicia,
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 77
having as pilot Will S. Green, and as cargo the lumher and other
material for the beginnings of Colusa City. The Colusa made
only that one trip ; for upon her return she went to San Francisco,
where she was tied up till she rotted at the wharf.
Two other boats were persuaded to make the trip up the river
in the late summer of 1850. One of tliem went up to Chico Laud-
ing, where she struck a snag and sank. Her timliers were used to
build a hotel at Mouroeville. The second boat was captained by
James Yates ; but she was so slow that wlien near Grimes, on the
way up, she ran out of provisions, and some of the crew had to
walk to Colusa to renew the supply. This made five boats to
Colusa or higher in 1850, Imt they made only one trip each.
The next boat to reach the town was the Martha Jane, which
came up in the early spring of 1851. She was the first boat to
make more than one trip. She made several, but also struck a
snag and was wrecked. As the Martha Jane had made most of her
trips with little or no freight, shippers not having learned to use
the river. Colonel Semple was getting desperate. He started out
to find a boat to make regular trips to Colusa, and to find cargoes
for it. He found both. In August of 1851 he loaded a steamer
called the Benicia with goods for a Shasta merchant, and started
up from Sacramento, bound for Colusa, where the goods were
to be transferred to wagons and hauled to Shasta. Near Knights
Landing the Benicia struck a snag and went down. Colonel
Semi>le and the owner of the goods hurried back to Sacramento to
get a boat to take the cargo off and bring it on up to Colusa.
They got the Orient, whicli had just come out from Maine;
and with her they established the first regular steamboat line to
Colusa. She made many trips during the next three years, often
going as far north as Red Bluff; and although she struck snags
or stuck on sandbars several times, she made money for her
owners and demonstrated the navigability of the upper Sacra-
mento Eiver.
After the Orient's success a great number of boats ruslied
into the Colusa trade; and as the same conditions existed on the
San Joaquin and Feather Eivers, a number of the leading boat
owners formed a combination or trust, which for many years
controlled the steamer trade to Colusa. At first the boats ran
regularly to Red Bluff; but when the railroad was completed up
the east side of the valley in 1872, the boats quit going further
than Chico Landing, except at time of high water or on other
special occasions. "When the railroad was completed through
Colusa County in 1876, it took away most of the passenger traffic
and some of the freight from the boats, and the steamboat com-
pany sold out to the railroad companj*.
78 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
lu 1860 tlie Sacramento Wood Company was formed for the
purpose of supplying Sacramento and San Francisco with wood
from v;p the river. It later became the Sacramento Transporta-
tion Company, and went into a general river transportation busi-
ness against the railroad company's boats, with the result that
the Sacramento Transportation Company absorbed the railroad
company's business north of Sacramento, and for years was the
only important boat line to operate into Colusa. Of course there
was spasmodic competition; but none of it succeeded in gaining
a foothold until 1901, when a number of ranchers and business
men, chiefly from about Grimes, headed by J. M. Miller, organized
the Farmers' Transportation Company and put on the steamer
A^alletta, a boat that differed from those of the Sacramento Trans-
portation Company in that it towed no barges, but carried its
cargo on its own decks, while the other boats were all towboats.
Since 1901, both the Sacramento Transportation Company
and the Farmers' Transportation Company have run a line of
boats regularly to Colusa from San Francisco and Sacramento,
the former company having a twice-a-week service and the latter
a weekly service for most of the time. About two years ago, each
company put on a fine, new boat of larger capacity than any of
the older boats, and for several months both companies ran a
twiee-a-week service; but in the spring of 1917 they reached an
agreement whereby they each took one boat off the service, and
the Farmers' Transportation Company went back to a weekly
service.
In the early days the boats carried passengers, and made
lively competition for the stage lines ; but the advent of the rail-
road put an end to the passenger traffic of the boats. In 1873 the
California-Pacific Railroad established a line of boats between
Colusa and Knights Landing, connecting at the latter place with
the recently completed railroad for Sacramento and San Fran-
cisco, and furnished a fairly rapid and satisfactory service; but
when the Northern Railroad was completed through the county in
1876, this line became obsolete and passed out of existence. At
present the only persons who travel as passengers on the boats
are those occasional ones who want to see the river and spend a
few days on the water.
In the days of the Orient the freight rates were one hundred
dollars a ton between Sacramento and Red Bluff, and correspond-
ingly high to Colusa. Today the rate to Colusa, on rough freight,
such as coal or lumber, is twentj^-three cents a hundred pounds
from Sacramento, and twenty-nine cents from San Francisco. The
highest rate, which applies to furniture and other bulky or easily
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 79
damaged goods, is forty-six cents a hundred from Sacramento, and
fifty-seven cents from San Francisco. This low rate modifies, of
course, all freight rates in the county, and has been of inestimable
benefit to the people in keeping down rates.
Railroads
In the year 1870, what is now the Southern Pacific Kailroad
was being built from Roseville up the east side of the Sacramento
Valley toward Portland, Ore. It passed twenty-eight miles east
of Colusa County; but some of the leading spirits of the county
at once saw the possibility of securing railroad connections, and
in that year a bill was introduced into the state Senate providing
for the incorporation of the "Colusa, Marysville and Nevada
Railroad Company," one of the provisions of the bill being that
Colusa County was to put up ten thousand dollars in cash as soon
as the road had entered its boundaries. This road was never built,
because six years after it was promoted the county got a road
from another direction.
It was in 1876 that this county saw its first iron horse. The
Northern Railway, now the Southern Pacific, was building a line
from Davis up the west side of the valley; and on May 15 of
that year the rails were laid across the southern boundary line
and the first locomotive entered the county. Ten days later the
road reached Arbuckle, and that town held a celebration in honor
of the event ; and on June 23, 1876, Williams held a celebration in
honor of the completion of the road to that town. Williams was
the terminus of the road till 1878, when it was continued to
Willows.
The people of Colusa at once began to plan for a connection
between their town and the new road. They had been offered the
main line itself, on condition that they grant some concessions as
a reimbursement to the railroad for building its line across the
Trough; but some of the most influential of the town's people
felt sure that the road would come through Colusa anyway, and
so they refused to grant the concessions — and the road kept on its
way up the almost uninhabited plains west of the Trough, leaving
Colusa isolated, and up against the problem of getting a rail con-
nection with the new line. In 1876 a bill passed the Assembly
authorizing Colusa to issue bonds for a railroad to connect the
town with the Northern Railway; but nothing of practical value
was done for ten years. In" June, 1885, subscription papers were
circulated in Colusa to raise money to build the connecting road.
The business men of the town subscribed so liberally that the road
was assured, and the subscribers met and elected E. A. Harrina--
80 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
ton, W. P. Harrington, E. W. Jones, J. B. Cooke, and AV. D. Dean
directors, and B. H. Burton treasurer. They also tendered a vote
of tlianks to E. A. Harrington for Ins work in promoting tlie road.
There were one hundred fifty stockholders, with subscriptions
aggregating $41,200; and on July 17, 1885, articles of incorpora-
tion of the Colusa Railroad Company were filed.
Work was started on the road at once. At first it was in-
tended to connect with the Northern Railway at Williams; but
the citizens of that town did not "come through" with the finan-
cial assistance the promoters of the road expected, and they deter-
mined to take it to a point due west of Colusa, where J. W. Potts
had donated a tract of forty acres of land for a town site. The
location of the road was partially determined by the fact that, a
few years before, the town had built directl}^ west a grade for a
wagon road, which it donated to the new railroad, thus obviating
the necessity of much grading.
On April 30, 1886, the first passenger train was run between
Colusa and Colusa Junction; and Colusa County had her second
railroad. The event was marked by a free excursion and a big
celebration. On June 8, 1886, the name of the company was changed
from Colusa Railroad Company to Colusa & Lake Railroad Com-
pany, and steps were taken to continue the road to Sites, which was
accomplished on September 29 of that year.
The road was a narrow-gauge, and on November 30, 1885, a
barge arrived in Colusa carrying the first locomotive for the
service, and the first locomotive ever seen in Colusa. George
Ogden, a native of the county, was the first engineer employed
by the company. The first superintendent was E. A. Harring-
ton, who served till his death and was succeeded, on December
1, 1903, by M. E. Burrows. Mr. Burrows served as superin-
tendent till May 21, 1915, the day the road made its last freight
run, passenger service having been discontinued on August 5, 1914.
It had been operated for over twenty-nine years, and in all that
time had missed only one run, and had never killed or seriously
injured a passenger. The coming of the Northern Electric and the
encroachments of the automobile finally took away so much of
its traffic that it had to quit. It served its purpose well, but was
never a paying enterprise financially ; for the company never paid
a dividend, although the fare was eighty cents between Colusa and
the Junction, a distance of less than ten miles.
The end of the nineteenth century witnessed a great develop-
ment in interurban electric roads in California. Among the roads
promoted about this time was the Northern Electric, connecting
Sacramento, Marysville and Chico. In 1906 agents for the North-
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 81
ern Electric came quietly into Colusa and Iwuglit a lilock or two
of land for terminal purposes ; and as soon as this became known,
there were many rumors of an immediate construction of the
road. On December 3 of that year the main line was finished, and
trains were started ou a regular schedule from Chico and Oroville
to Marysville; and it was announced that eighty per cent, of the
road from Marysville to Sacramento was finished. On that same
day, December 3, officials of the company appeared before the
town trustees of Colusa and asked for a franchise for the road for
the full length of Market Street. Three days later the franchise
was granted, and there was a great deal of quiet excitement and
elation in the town, manifested chiefly in a perceptible quickening
of real estate values.
The excitement was certainly i)ardonable, for the Northern
Electric wasn't the only road that had Ijeen flirting with the town
that year. An electric road called the "Shasta Southern" had
been promoted earlier in the year, and on March 19 had dug up
Main Street, between Fifth and Sixth, and laid a couple of rails
to hold a franchise. It had also laid some rails in Princeton for a
similar purpose. The Shasta Southern was to connect Hamilton
City with Colusa, Grimes, Woodland and the Bay ; and the Pacific
Sugar Construction Company had guaranteed that it would be
built at once as far as Colusa, provided that fifteen hundred acres
of sugar beets were pledged lietween Colusa and Princeton. Its
chief purpose was to supply the sugar factory at Hamilton City
with beets. In December of 1906 it established offices in Colusa,
and had a force of fourteen men running lines between Colusa
and Princeton. With two electric lines knocking at the door,
Colusa's excitement was only natural, especially as Southern
Pacific representatives were looking over the ground with a view
to running a road from the main line, in the vicinity of Arbuckle
or Harrington, through Colusa and on up to Hamilton. On the
last day of 1906, Northern Electric surveyors started running lines
in town for their road; and four days later the Shasta Southern
engineers reached the borders of the town with their line. Colusa
considered itself a very busy railroad center just then; but not
long after that rumors began to fly that, owing to inalnlity to get
rails and ties, the Shasta Southern would be delayed for a year —
and that was the last of the Shasta Southern.
On January 7, 1907, the Northern Electric applied to the
trustees of Colusa for an exclusive franchise along the river front,
and thus precipitated a discussion that crowded out all other topics
for a time. The trustees didn't want to make the franchise exclu-
sive, to the detriment of any other road that might come along ; but
the Northern Electric insisted that it be exclusive, and many of the
82 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
citizens feared that the road wouldn't come at all if its request
were not granted. The following verses are part of a poem that
was written by Mrs. E. M. Liening and published as part of the
discussion :
"0 Town Trustees! City Dads!
This whole round world is full of fads,
And old Colus' hain't had her share;
Therefore we hope you '11 do and dare,
"And give us these electric roads,
To run on down by Jimmy Goad's,
And way on out to everywhere.
Town Trustees, do make a dare!
"Oh! do run down our streets them keers,
If every horse in town it skeers;
If one is now and then killed off,
You know there still will be enough.
' ' Oh, how we '11 love to see 'em go !
We've been so used to travelin' slow,
The people will come flockin' roun'
To see them keers come into town.
"I s'pose no woman '11 wash a dish.
Or care much whether meat or fish
Gets fried a bit too much that day.
For every man will be away.
' ' The 'lectric will bring some things in
That we have hankered for like sin ;
And some things that we do not like
Will get a move on them and hike
"To other fields and pastures new.
We're sure we do not care. Do you?
1 tell you it will just be grand
When City Dads take such a stand.
" Oh, don't you hear that big bell ring?
Oh, don't you hear them children sing?
Oh, don't you hear the big brass band!
Oh, can 't you see the big glad hand f
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 83
" 'Tis stretched to you from East and West.
Of all the lands, we love this best,
Where we have lived for many a year.
Where we have many a friend, and dear,
"And where we know we sure will die.
Town Trustees, again we cry,
Do let old Coins' have her share.
City Dads, do make a dare!"
The town trustees finally granted the water front franchise,
but did not make it exchisive ; and during the subsequent delay in
the coming of the road they were subjected to much unfair and
unjust criticism for not acceding to the wishes of the railroad
people.
The first franchise granted the Northern Electric provided
that work must be begun within ninety days. 'Wlien the ninety days
were up, no work had been done, and the railroad people appeared
and asked for an extension of one hundred eighty days, which
was granted. Wlien this time had expired, they asked for ninety
days more; and finally it was announced that there would be no
road to Colusa in 1907, because the bridge couldn't be finished.
Interest in the road then died out, and was not renewed till 1911,
when the railroad people offered to spend $1,250,000 to bring the
road from Marysville to Colusa if the people on the west side of
the river would buy bonds to the amount of $200,000. In August
of that year, J. F. Campbell and Eobert D. Hunter were sent out
to place the bonds with the people of Colusa County ; and although
the response was anything but hearty, such progress was made
that articles of incorporation of the Marysville-Colusa Branch
of the Northern Electric Railway were filed on November 14, 1911.
Just a week later, representatives of the company bought from
J. W. Goad fifty acres of land adjoining Colusa on the east,
thus giving the road easy access to the town with its right of way.
From that time on, progress on the new road was rapid. On
January 3, 1912, the officials of the road and the county super-
visors took up the matter of building a joint bridge across the
river at Meridian, the expense to be borne in equal shares by the
railroad company, Colusa County, and Sutter County. The details
of the bridge were settled on January 11, and the contract was
signed on February 4, by which the railroad company was to build
the bridge for $240,000. The railroad tracks were to be in the middle
of the bridge, and a wagon road on each side. The contract for the
grading from Marysville to Colusa was let to Maney Brothers on
84 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
March 13, 1912, and tliey at once sublet the different portions of
it, Harlan Brothers, of Williams, getting the contract for that part
of the road lying in Colusa County. The work of laying the tracks
on the streets of Colusa began on December 9, 1912, and at once
there arose an animated discussion among the people of the town
as to whether the poles for the trolley wires should be in the
middle of the street or along the curb. The original franchise had
provided that they be in the middle of the street, but public senti-
ment had so changed that when they were finally set they were
placed along the curb.
Work on the track and on the Meridian bridge proceeded
rapidly; and on April 1, 1913, at 5:30 o'clock in the evening, the
first car crossed the bridge into Colusa County. On May 14 the
first train, a work train, came into Colusa, and just a week later
the first carload of freight went out. It consisted of three trans-
formers from the Pacific Gas & Electric Company's substation.
On May 30 Colusa received its first carload of incoming freight,
a carload of ice for the Union Ice Company. A two-day carnival
celebration was held on June 13 and 14, 1913, to celebrate the
advent of the road ; and the first passenger train into Colusa was.
an excursion train to the carnival. It arrived on Friday, June
13, 1913, a fortuitous combination that may or may not be respon-
sible for the fact that the road was, not long after, forced to sus-
pend operations into Colusa for many months. Regular passenger
service began on Monday, June 16, 1913, and consisted of nine
trains each way daily. Colusa County then had her third railroad,
and to the people it sei'ved it was extremely satisfactory. This
satisfaction lasted, however, only a little over a year and a half;
for on February 3, 1915, the worst floods in the history of the
valley washed away a concrete pier and the west approach to the
Meridian bridge, together with a mile of roadbed and track be-
tween Colusa and Meridian, the result being that traffic to Colusa
over the Northern Electric was completely suspended till October
15, 1915. On that date it was resumed, however, and has been
uninterrupted ever since. This break in the service of the North-
ern Electric was the most inconvenient interruption of traffic
that Colusa had suffered since 1894, when a strike on the Southern
Pacific had shut the county off from mail for two weeks.
The Northern Electric did not have the undivided attention
of the public, by any means, during the time that it was building
into Colusa County. At least two other roads, besides the Shasta
Southern, were headed this way at that time. One was the Colusa
& Hamilton, or "Beet Line," as it was called, and the other was
the Sacramento Valley West Side Electric. They were both pro-
COLUSA AXD GLENN COUNTIES 85
inotetl iu 1911, stimulated, no doi;l)t, by tlie activities of the North-
ern Electric. A prerequisite for the beet road was a pledge that
at least three thousand acres of sugar beets would be raised
along its line in Colusa County ; and on January 31, 1911, repre-
sentatives of the Sacramento Vallev Sugar Company met with
some of the leading Colusa County landowners and business men,
to take steps to have the farmers jiledge this acreage. The Soutli-
ern Pacific officials had said that they would build from Hamilton
to Colusa as soon as this acreage was pledged, and would probalily
build later to a point on the main line in the vicinity of Arbuckle.
The result of the above-mentioned meeting was that in June the
announcement was made that the road would be built as far as
Colusa ; surveys for the line were begun in August ; and in October
the announcement was made that the road would be continued
through Colusa, Grimes, and College City, striking the main line
at Harrington, and that it would be 60.5 miles long. With the
beginning of 1912, work on the road was being actively pushed,
five grading camps being established and in operation between
Colusa and Princeton in February. But after grading and track-
laying were finished, the road lay for many months unballasted, the
reason given being that Orland gravel was to be used, and it could
not be obtained conveniently till the Glenn condemnation suit was
settled and the road was pushed through to its northern terminus.
The first, and to date the last, passenger train came over the road
to Colusa on August 10, 1913. It was a baseball excursion from
Woodland, and had to run very slowly because the road had not
been ballasted and was very rough. A regular freight sei-\'ice as far
north as Princeton was put on September 1, 1914. The flood of
February, 1915. washed out a great deal of the grade between
College City and Grimes, between Grimes and Colusa, and between
Colusa and Princeton, and for many months the road lay unused.
In the summer of 1916, however, a twice-a-week freight service
was resumed between Harrington and Princeton, and this summer
(1917) it was increased to a daily service; but as yet no passenger
service has been established, although there are occasional rumors
that there will soon be a regular passenger schedule on Colusa
County's fourth railroad.
The freight service was really put on before the road was
ready for it, the idea being to give the farmers along the route
a chance to market their grain. The rates fixed on grain to Port
Costa were: From Grimes, $2.00 per ton: points from Grimes to
and including Colusa, $2.25 per ton ; points to and including Prince-
ton, $2.50 per ton; points north of Princeton, $2.75 per ton.
86 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
The AVest Side Electric, whose lines have yet to be built into
the county, had its beginnings, so far as Colusa County is con-
cerned, in a meeting held at Willows on March 27, 1911, at which
Charles L. Donohoe explained that for $1,000,000 an electric road
could be built down the west side of the valley from Redding to
Woodland, and that each of the counties interested should raise
$5,000 by voluntary subscription for preliminary work upon the
road. J. F. Campbell J. H. Balsdon, J. W. Forgeus, and J. M.
Stovall were appointed at the meeting as a committee to raise
the preliminary expense fund ; and they were given power to add
to the committee a member from Arbuckle. The $5,000 was
raised and the surveys were made, and about eleven miles of the
road were actually built between Dixon and a point on the Oak-
land, Antioch & Eastern; but the road got into financial difficul-
ties and never reached Colusa County. It was to have crossed the
county from north to south, keeping west of Arbuckle, Williams
and Maxwell.
The West Side Electric wasn't the only road that almost
reached the county. All of his life that king of boosters, W. S.
Green, had been advocating a railroad connecting Colusa and
Chico ; and on March 17, 1875, he and Col. L. F. Moulton began the
survey for such a road. After running the lines, they were more
enthusiastic than ever; but capital was shy, and the scheme had
to be abandoned for the time being. In 1900, however, when the
electric power line was being built across the country into Colusa,
these men tried to interest the power company in an electric road,
but to no avail; and so the road was never built. So much for
the railroads of the county.
Highuays
We now come to the highways as a means of transportation.
The highway system of Colusa County had its beginning in 1851,
when Will S. Green dragged a brush across the plains to mark
out a road over which to haul lumber from Dogtown, now Magalia,
to Colusa. That road, of course, never became a permanent one,
nor did any of the early roads on the plains ; for when the county
was laid off into townships and sections, the roads were made
to follow the section lines, as a usual thing, a practice that is
responsible for many miles of extra travel. Of the early roads
there is little to say. They were of dirt, very dusty in the summer
and absolutely bottomless in the winter. On many of them no
attempt was made to travel during the worst part of the season;
yet it must be said that the people as a whole made no great
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 87
efforts to improve them, despite the constant agitation of the
matter by Mr. Green and others. Then came the era of gravel
roads, an era that is not yet passed, although the dawn of the
concrete era seems to be at hand.
Away back in the early days the practice of hauling gravel
upon the roads began; and although they were of a more or less
temporary character, it was not a bad practice. In 1868 a bond
issue of $50,000 was voted for roads and bridges, the roads made
being all of gravel. There have been, and are, in Colusa County,
some very fine roads made of gravel ; but the quality of the roads
could have been very materially improved if care had been taken
to use only coarse, screened gravel. The chief trouble with the
gravel roads of this county, however, was that most of the gravel
was sand, and the surface did not hold up during the wet season.
As a result, the roads were sometimes fearful to contemplate.
No historian will ever be able to tell the trouble, labor, isolation,
expense and general dreariness that have been caused by bad
roads in this county, although this county is no worse in that
regard than the average.
About fifteen years ago the oiled-roads fad was on, and Colusa
tried the then popular method of road-building, notably on the
road leading from Colusa to Princeton. But time proved that
oiled roads would not stand the heat of summer in this climate,
and neither would they hold up through wet weather; so the
road between Colusa and Princeton has since been graveled.
About ten years ago some rather expensive machinery was bought,
and a half mile of experimental macadamized road was built
west of Williams; but it was so expensive that the machinery
was laid away, and no more road was built.
It was in 1910 that modern road-building got its first boost,
and it is chiefly of that period that this chapter is to tell. In
1910, and the years following, a great awakening or regeneration
swept over California, a wave of moral and political reform that
reached clear down to road-building. I do not want to deprive the
automobile of its just share in bringing about better roads. It
was undoubtedly an important factor; but the most important,
it seems to me, was the spirit of improvement that swept over the
people and resulted in the issue of $18,000,000 worth of bonds for
coilcrete highways throughout the state. Colusa County people
can't take any great amount of credit for the bond issue, because
on February 8, 1910, they voted on an issue by the county of
$600,000 worth of bonds for good roads, and it was defeated by a
hea\7' majority. Nevertheless, when the state made first-class
roads available, the people of this county took steps at once to
88 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
set their share, even though it cost thousands of dollars. As
soon as it was announced that one line of the state highway was
to go up the Sacramento Valley, the people of Princeton, headed
l)y ^\. A. Yerxa, inaugurated a movement to have it go up the
river and through Princeton; and on February 2, 1912, they met
with members of the Colusa County Chamber of Commerce to
further their plans. The state authorities decided, however, to
have the highway go up along the Southern Pacific main line;
and Princeton is yet without a highway, although in high hopes
of one soon.
The state fixed the interest on the highway bonds at four
per cent.; but when the time came to market the bonds, it was
found that investors would not take them at less than five per
cent. The state therefore issued notice that the counties which
wanted highway would have to make up the difference between
four and five per cent, on the amount of money that was to be
spent in the county. On January 19, 1914, the citizens of Colusa
Coimty held a mass meeting at Williams to consider the matter
of making up this difference of one per cent, on the bonds that
were to be used in building that part of the state highway which
ran through this county. On March 7 another meeting was held
in Colusa, where several other bonding propositions were dis-
cussed, and the result was that on March 17, 1914, the voters of
the county carried a bond issue of $452,000, to be used for the
following purposes: For a new Hall of Records, $60,000; for
interest on the highway bonds, rights of way for the highway, and
bridges and culverts, $290,000; for Colusa County's half of the
cost of the Princeton river bridge, $57,000; for Colusa County's
half of the Grimes river bridge, $45,000. That was a great day
for the good-roads movement in Colusa County. The state high-
way officials ])romptly got the work imder way, and before the
year was out the county had several miles of concrete highway.
The most important piece of highway to be built in the county, in
the estimation of many people, was the lateral from Williams to
Colusa; and as the preparations for this seemed to be lagging,
a meeting was held in Colusa on July 15, and Dr. F. Z. Pirkey,
L. L. Hicok, J. C. Mogk, J. H. Balsdon, and M. J. Boggs were
appointed a committee to see the highwav commission at Sacra-
mento and, if possible, have the lateral built at once. A week later
a delegation of about fifty citizens of the county went to Sacra-
mento to urge that the Colusa-Williams lateral be built without
delay. The highway commission promised to do all it could in
the matter; but it was 1915 before the work on the lateral was
started, and 1916 before it was finished. In the meantime the
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 89
main line bad been completed tlirongli tbe county from uortb to
south; so tbat, early in 1916, Colusa, Arbuckle, Williams and
Maxwell were all connected by concrete highway — the beginning,
it is earnestly hoped, of a system that will unite all sections of
the county. Plans for an extension of the system, to connect
Princeton, Grimes, and all the towns of the county, are even now
under way.
During the years 1914, 1915 and 1916, many of tbe wooden
bridges of the -county were replaced with modern concrete struc-
tures, the largest and most imi)ortant of these being the bridges
across the Trough on the Colusa-Maxwell, Colusa-Williams, and
Grimes-Arbuckle roads.
Stage Lines
We have seen tbat tbe founders of Colusa intended that it
should be a steamboat terminus and distributing point for North-
ern California, and that for a few years after they got a line of
boats running regularly their hopes were realized and a great
deal of merchandise passed through the town. Naturally, as the
surrounding country became populated, stage lines were estab-
lished for the carrying of mail and passengers. Baxter & Com-
pany operated the first and leading stage line out of Colusa, but
a man named Johnson soon put on an opposition line. They ran
from Colusa to Shasta, and made the trip in one day. The rivalry
between them was fierce, and very hard on horse flesh; but the
speed they made soon diverted most of the travel to and from
the northern mines from the Marysville to the Colusa route. In
1869 a tri-weekly express service was put on between Colusa and
Princeton, and tbat year also an opposition stage line was put on
between Colusa and Marysville, with the result that the fare was
reduced to two dollars. In November of 1872 the Marysville
stages reduced the fare to twenty-five cents; and the daily trips
became horse races, so fierce was the competition. On February
12, 1873, B. C. Epperson succeeded in having his Bartlett Springs
& Bear Valley Toll Road Company organized ; and the same year
a stage line was put on between Colusa and Bartlett and Allen
Springs. This line carried six hundred passengers that first sea-
son. The next year another line or two began business, and over
two thousand passengers were hauled. On August 7, 1874, a stage
line from Colusa to Chico was started; and on September 23 of
that year a line was established between Colusa and Wilbur
Springs. Altogether, in 1874 there were nine stage lines running
out of Colusa. In 1876 a line was established between Leesville
and Fonts Springs; and the next year a tri-weekly service was
90 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
put on between Colusa and Willows, via Princeton. The coming
of the railroad in 1876 did away, of course, with the stages be-
tween Colusa and the mountains ; but communication is still main-
tained between Williams and the various springs resorts, the
auto stage having taken the place of the old horse stage. The
coming of the Northern Electric killed the stage line to Marys-
ville; but there are still three stage lines out of Colusa, all of
them auto stages. One of them runs to Chico via Princeton;
another runs to Arbuckle via Grimes, Grand Island, and College
City ; and the most important one connects Colusa with the South-
ern Pacific at Williams. All of these will probably pass out of
existence when a regular passenger service is established on the
Colusa & Hamilton Railroad.
The Automobile
Let me close this chapter on transportation with a brief his-
tory of the automobile in Colusa County; for the auto is having
a decided effect on the history of the county. The first horseless
vehicle, outside of the wheelbarrow, ever seen in the county was
a velocipede, which arrived in Colusa on March 13, 1869, and
drew great crowds of spectators. William Ogden brought the
first steam "traction wagon" to the county on May 25, 1872. But
the first real automobile ever seen in the county, and the fifth
machine in the state, belonged to Dr. W. T. Rathbun, although we
would hardly call it a real automobile today. It was a little steam
Locomobile, of the type later referred to as a "road louse," but
it was considered a wonderful machine in its day. That was in
1898. Dr. Rathbun then lived in College City, and his first trip
to Colusa in his new machine was made on a visit to the county
fair, which was being held here. As he and Dr. Gray drove into
the fair grounds, the people lost all interest in the races and
the rest of the fair, and crowded around to have a look at the
"horseless carriage," the first one most of them had ever seen.
In order that the crowd might see it perform, the management
of the fair had Dr. Rathbun drive it around the track a few
times ; and this proved to be the great feature of the fair.
M. C. Dillman, now of Grimes, but in those days running a
machine shop in Colusa, claims the honor of having the first
gasoline car in the county. Not long after Dr. Rathbun 's steamer
appeared, Mr. Dillman got an Oldsmobile, a four-horse-power
machine of one cylinder. It was also the object of much inspec-
tion and many remarks.
Just who got the next machine I have been unable to learn
definitely. About that time Frank Wulff built a car, and also got
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 91
a Eambler from the factory; and George Showier and several
others got cars. In 1900, Will S. Green, having carefully investi-
gated Dr. Eathbun's machine, got one just like it for the use
of the Colusa Sun. It was a four-horse-power steam Locomobile,
and W. K. DeJarnatt received it at Sacramento and drove it home.
It made the trip of seventy-five miles in five hours, fifteen miles
an hour, and so pleased the owner that he gave it nearly a half-
column write-up in the Sun. A modern machine would have
reached Colusa about the time the Sun's Locomobile reached
Woodland, but fifteen miles an hour was so much better than
horses could do that the elation of the editor was entirely natural
and pardonable.
Automobiles came very rapidly in this county as elsewhere,
once they were introduced; and in 1905 there were twenty-seven
machines in the county. In 1906 there were thirty machines in
Colusa and its immediate vicinity, and after that the number in-
creased so rapidly that they could not be kept track of. Today
Colusa County has a larger number of automobiles in pro])or-
tion to its population than any other county in the state, the total
number being in the neighborhood of seven hundred — seven hun-
dred twenty-eight, to be exact.
An interesting feature of the development of the use of autos
in this county was the reluctance displayed in accepting the
Ford. Arbuckle was the pioneer in the discovery of the Ford.
In 1912, when Frank L. Crayton took the agency for the Ford in
Colusa, there were onlj^ two ears of that make in the town. Sev-
eral traveling representatives had been here and tried to estab-
lish an agency, but without success, although at the time, in other
parts of the state, about half the cars sold were Fords. Finally
the people of the county began to discover that the Ford was in
a class by itself, but this county still has a greater proportion
of the higher-priced cars than any other place I have visited.
The first auto hearse was brought to the county on June 24,
1914, by J. D. McNary; and today one seldom sees a horse-drawn
funeral procession.
Within the past two or three years auto trucks have verj^
largely supplanted teams for hauling on the roads, especially long-
distance hauling. Cooks water and Bartlett water are now hauled
by auto truck instead of the great ten- and twelve-mule freight
teams, with their two or three wagons and jingling bells. Ninety
per cent, of the rice crop, and a great deal of the barley crop, are
hauled to the warehouses liy auto trucks. The big machines
havC' entirely supplanted teams for hauling between towns, as
when a family moves from one town to another; and as tractors
9:] COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
are verj' geuerally supplanting liorse power in fanning opera-
tions, the long-looked-for holiday of the horse seems to have about
arrived. We are fast passing into the age of gasoline, as far as
local transportation is concerned. The change has brought many
advantages ; so let it he complete !
The Aeroplane
The hum of the aeroplane is as yet little known in this county.
A number of exhibition flights have been planned; but for some
reason or other they have all fallen through, with the exception
of the one at the Grimes Odd Fellows' picnic in 1917. The
aviator in that case unloaded his machine at Arbuckle, flew to
Grimes, gave an exhibition, and flew back to Arbuckle to take
the train.
CHAPTEE IX
Ieeigatiox axd Reclamation
Nobody knows just when a householder in Colusa County first
took a shovel and threw up a few shovelfuls of earth to keep the
water from his front door or out of his corrals ; neither does any-
body know just when the first bucketful of water was put around
a cabbage plant or rose bush. So this chapter will not attempt
to tell of the many private plans of individuals who have tried
irrigation and reclamation on a small scale in this county, but
will deal with the organized efforts of considerable magnitude.
District 67
To begin with reclamation, the first reclamation district in
the county was composed of what is known as "Mormon Basin,"
the land between , Sycamore and Dry Sloughs. Dry Slough
branches off from Sycamore Slough near where Sycamore Slough
branches off from the river, somewhat in the shape of a wishbone ;
and as each slough had, in ages past, built itself uji upon a broad,
flat levee, the land between them was by nature fairly well pro-
tected, except at the lower end, where the sloughs empty into the
"Lower Basin." In 1867, the owners of the land in Mormon
Basin, seeing that the water could be kept off their land at com-
paratively little expense, combined and formed a reclamation dis-
trict which was called District 67. The chief work that they had to
do was to build a levee across the south end of the district, between
the two sloughs, which they did ; and although this levee has broken
on several occasions^ the land in Mormon Basin has been compara-
tively free from flood troubles. After a few years. District 67
lapsed ; but it was later renewed as District 479, which is alive and
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 93
active today. The present trustees of the district are J. H. Balsdon,
president; F. W. Schutz, secretary; and J. J. Morris. Some of the
best land in the county is in this district.
District 108
Tlie greatest reclamation district in the county, although it is
not entirely within the county, is District 108. It is also one of the
greatest reclamation districts in the state, or in any state. It was
formed in 1870, and as first organized embraced the land between
the Sacramento River and the Trough from a point near Grimes
southward to Knights Landing. About ten miles south of the
northern boundary of the district a point of high land, called
Howell Point, runs out from the river toward the Trough. In
1902 it was thought advisable to divide District 108 at Howell
Point, forming the southern part into a new district called District
729. In 1911, District 108 was reorganized, taking in District 729
again, with the exception of the Great Fair Ranch near Knights
Landing, which in the meantime had lieen formed into a district of
its own. The original district contained a little over seventy-four
thousand acres; the district as reorganized in 1911 contained about
fifty thousand acres. Since then some additions have been made
to it, so that it now contains about fifty-five thousand acres. The
first trustees of the district were A. H. Rose, Charles F. Reed, and
L. A. Garnett. Mr. Reed superintended the work of the district
till 1879, when Robert Cosner took his place, which he held for
many years.
Apparently the original intention of the organizers of the dis-
trict was to gain protection from the river only; they built a levee
along the river from Knights Landing to Sycamore Slough, pay-
ing little or no attention to the back water. For the first ten years
the district was greatly troubled by breaks in the river levee or by
back water, and in 1879 a party of men from Sutter County
crossed the river and cut the levee at the mouth of Wilkins Slough,
claiming that to dam the slough threw the water over on their
lands. The levee was quickly repaired; and two weeks after the
act was committed twenty-seven men were arrested for it and
bound over for trial. The history of the district from that time to
1910 was one of alternating good and bad years. When the levees
held, the lands produced a wonderful crop. When they didn't hold,
which was about every other year, the crop was drowned out, and
the landowners went down into their i)ockets for another assess-
ment. The total sum spent in reclaiming District 108 now amounts
to millions.
In 1910 plans were made for an enlargement and reorganiza-
tion of the district, and for extensive protection works. Charles de
94 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
St. Maurice was the engineer in charge, and the business manage-
ment of the enterprise was in the hands of Jesse Poundstone,
whose name, for many years past, has been synonymous with the
name of District 108. One of the chief things planned was an im-
mense back levee, twenty-eight miles long, two hundred feet wide
at the base, twenty feet wide on the crown, and twenty-two feet
high. Night and day for nearly three years, beginning in 1912,
from two to five monster dredgers worked on this levee, some of the
dredgers, the Monterey and the Argyle, having booms one hundred
eighty-five feet long and buckets weighing ten tons. It was also
planned to have this levee faced with concrete, but that has not
yet been done.
Another important feature of the work done on the district at
this time was the pumping plant at Rough and Eeady Bend.
This plant consists of five fifty-inch pumps, and was at that time
the largest in the world. It is capable of throwing one million five
hundred thousand gallons a minute when all of its five three-hun-
dred-horse-power motors are going. The district already had at
Howell Point a pumping plant consisting of one forty-inch and one
thirty-six-inch pump, the former driven by a three-hundred-horse-
power electric motor and the latter driven by steam. These pumps
are so arranged that in a dry year water can be pimiped or
siphoned backwards through them, and be distributed over the dis-
trict by a system of canals that diverge from the pumps. The
yield of barley has been greatly increased in this way.
The improvements of 1911 and the years following cost over
a million dollars. Some of the individual landowners in the dis-
trict put up ten thousand dollars a month for six months at a
stretch to keep the work going. Now they have an empire worth
many millions, and producing each year as much as it cost. The
present ti'ustees are Jesse Poimdstone, J. H. Balsdon, and J. W.
Browning.
District 124
The year following the organization of District 108, District
124 was organized. That was in 1871. It embraced fourteen thou-
sand acres north of Sycamore Slough, in what is known as the
"Upper Basin." It included what is now known as the Davis tule.
The first trustees were E. A. Harris, Moses Stinchfield, and A. H.
Eose. They leveed the river from Sycamore Slough to the mouth
of Powell Slough. In 1880 A. H. Rose, T. C. King, and Howell
Davis were elected trustees. Some years later the district
and it is now a thing of the past.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 95
Other Projects
One of the most active advocates of irrigation and reclama-
tion in the early days was Colonel L. F. Moulton, who owned most
of what is now Colusa Coimty east of the river. His ranch com-
prised twenty-two thousand acres, most of it overflow land, and he
spent several princely fortunes on levees, ditches, and other more
or less experimental work. His land lay between Butte Creek and
the river, and overflowed very readily ; and when District 70 built
its levees to the south of him, forcing the flood waters to pass to
the east and go down Butte Slough between the district and the
Buttes, Colonel Moulton 's troubles were multiplied. But the final
and worst blow came when J. W. Parks, a large landowner in the
Sutter Basin, built a levee or dam across the slough from District
70 to the Buttes. Mr. Parks' intention was to stop the flow of the
water through Butte Slouglx, force it to go back into the river at
the mouth of the slough, and thus protect his lands below the dam.
The effect of the dam was to put Colonel Moulton and his east side
neighbors on the bottom of a great artificial lake. The result of
all these circumstances was a stormy career for the dam while it
lasted. Meetings of protest were held, resolutions against it were
passed, the legislature was invoked, the dam was washed out by
floods several times, and on several occasions it was surrepti-
tiously cut at periods of high water. It was first built in 1871, and
in 1876 Colonel Moulton secured from the state supreme court an
injunction restraining Mr. Parks from maintaining the dam.
In 1905 the Crocker Estate Company, a party of San Fran-
cisco capitalists, bought most of the Moulton ranch. They at once
put three hundred men and one thousand head of stock to building
a great levee around that part of the ranch just south of the Moul-
ton "break." The waves from the back water washed much of the
new levee away the following winter, and no good was ever gotten
from it, although it had cost over one hundred thousand dollars.
In 1913, following an act of the state legislature, the Sacra-
mento and San Joaquin Drainage District was promulgated. It
was a comprehensive scheme for draining the flood waters from
the entire Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, one of the fea-
tures of the scheme being a great drainage canal to follow the
Trough down through the Colusa and Yolo Basins to the Bay, a
plan that had been dreamed and talked of for years by reclama-
tionists. Another feature of the scheme was a similar canal be-
ginning at the Moulton break, about twelve miles above Colusa
on the east side, and following the low land of the east side down
to the Feather Eiver. The preliminary work on this latter canal
has been authorized, the cost to be fifteen million dollars. The
96 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
lands of the entire district, reaching as far north as Chico, were to
be assessed to pay the cost of these canals and the other works
necessary for the district ; and at once a nnmber of landowners
of Colusa County, especially the northern part of it, protested
against having to pay for draining the swamp lands farther down
the valley. A meeting was held in Colusa on March 19, 1913, to
organize the opposition; and the result was that the original plan
of the district was modified, and lands that could not be benefited
by the district were left out of it.
In 1915 the Sacramento Valley West Side Levee District was
created by the legislature, its object being to form the west side of
the valley, from the river on the east to the Trough on the west,
and from Colusa on the north to Knights Landing on the south,
into a great protection district which should have charge of and
keep up the levee on the west side of the river from Knights Land-
ing to Colusa. At first it was provided that all lands in this dis-
trict should be assessed alike ; but this aroused so much opposition
from those whose lands would receive little or no benefit from the
district, that a new plan of assessment had to be adopted, namely,
that of assessing the lauds in proportion to benefits received.
This district includes District 108, and will hereafter have charge
of the river levee of the latter district.
If this chapter were to include all the reclamation plans and
projects that have been promulgated l)ut have never materialized,
it would fill the entire book. One of these projects, however, is of
sufficient importance to Colusa County to deserve mention here.
I refer to the Iron Canyon Project, which is a scheme, i^artially
fostered by the state and the United States government, to dam
the Sacramento Eiver at Iron Canyon, seven miles above Eed
Bluff, collect the flood waters during the rainy season in an
immense reservoir there, and allow them to escape gradually
into the channel or into irrigating canals in the summer. This
scheme, if it works, will keep the river from getting too high in
winter and too low in summer, two consummations devoutly to be
wished. So much for reclamation, which I have taken up ahead
of irrigation because the people of the county did the same.
Irrigation
This is not a personal history of Will S. Green; but he was
so intimately connected with many of the earlj' affairs of the
county, that one cannot investigate them far without encountering
his influence. Irrigation was the great hobby of Will S. Green.
As long as the breath of life was in him he talked irrigation, wrote
irrigation, urged irrigation, and worked for irrigation. He hoped
to see every level acre in the county under irrigation; but such is
COLUSA AXD GLEXN COUNTIES 97
the irony of fate that, when he was called to his reward in 1905,
only a few acres had heen irrigated, while, in the twelve years
since, thousands upon thousands of acres have been brought under
water. The project to which Mr. Green devoted much of his time,
for many years, was the Central Irrigation District, by far the
most important attempt at irrigation made in this county, and one
of the most important ever made anywhere.
In 1864, Mr. Green made an examination of the river with a
view to locating the intake of a canal that would irrigate the great
plains of Colusa County. He was convinced that such a canal was
feasible; and, securing the services of a competent engineer, he
ran lines and established a route for a canal through Colusa and
Yolo Counties. But l)y tlu' time the canal was fully laid out, it had
developed into a great sliippin- canal one hundred feet wide at the
bottom, which would cost twelve million dollars to complete ; so it
was dropped, although the legislature in 1866 appropriated eight
thousand dollars to pay the expenses of the survey.
Mr. Green was undaunted by this first failure, and kept talk-
ing irrigation for twenty years more. In 1883, he met at Willows
with H. B. Julian, N. D. Eideout, and John Boggs, to see what could
be done with the waters of Stony Creek. They found that there
was water enough in that stream to irrigate nearly the whole Sac-
ramento Valley, and a corporation was formed and the money
raised to develop the project ; but the opposition of men who al-
ready had riparian rights in the stream defeated the enterprise.
This second failure had no chilling effect on Mr. Green's enthu-
siasm, for he was a natural-born booster and promoter.
Up to this time all irrigation had been done by "riparian
owners" or "appropriators," who secured the right to take a cer-
tain amount of water from a stream at a certain point, and then
sold it or distributed it over the land. Mr. Green had been advo-
cating the district plan as against the plan of appropriators, and
at the Fresno Irrigation Congress he succeeded in getting a com-
mittee appointed to go before the state legislature and advocate a
law providing for the formation of irrigation districts. The com-
mittee was not successful in having such a law passed; but the
next legislature, the session of 1887, passed what was known as the
Wright Act, which gave farming communities the right to form a
district with powers similar to those of a municipalit}'. The
Wright Act was approved March 7, 1887, and Central District was
the fourth district to organize under it. The following history of
the district, written by Frank Adams, Irrigation Manager for the
United States Department of Agriculture, and published as part
of a bulletin, "Irrigation Districts of California," by the State
98 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Department of Engineering, is so brief and clear that it is here
given in fnll :
"The district was organized November 22, 1887. Entirely-
feasible physically, it was still a disastrous failure because of the
legal and financial troubles that beset all of the districts in the
early nineties, but most of all because the forced irrigation of the
great holdings included, averaging 870 acres for the entire dis-
trict, and with forty owners holding an average of 2,225 acres
each, could not possibly succeed under settlement conditions exist-
ing then or even now.
' ' The petition for the formation of Central Irrigation District
was signed by sixty-four (supposed) freeholders, and was accom-
panied by the objections of nine non-resident landowners whose
attitude in a way seems now to have forecasted the failure of
the undertaking. Still engaged in the 'bonanza' grain-growing
of the earlier and more remunerative period, when both yields and
prices were higher, they conjured up visions of ruin with the
bringing in of irrigation water. Irrigation would be bad for fruit,
they said. It would even produce chills and would be a detriment
to alkali lands. And besides, the irrigation of wheat and barley
was not a success, anyway. All of the lands included, they
averred, were not irrigable from the same source ; the boundaries
of the district were improperly described ; and the Wright Act was
unconstitutional. Further, these objectors intended in the near
future to include their lands in an irrigation district of their own,
which would include their residences, so that they would have a
voice in the proceedings. When election time came, the opposition
mustered only 51 votes out of 322, and organization prevailed.
"Unlike many of the Wright districts. Central Irrigation Dis-
trict started with a relatively complete engineering outline. The
estimated cost was $638,900 ; and to meet this cost a bond issue of
$750,000 was authorized by a vote of 189 to 36. In 1891 the esti-
mated cost was raised by the consulting engineer to $940,364, and
an additional bond issue of $250,000 recommended. The justifica-
tion for this increase was said to lie in the omission of allowances
for organization, rights of way, and litigation in connection with
construction, the three items amounting to $181,000 ; in an increase
in the cost of excavation from 8.5 and 8.75 cents per cubic yard un-
der the first contracts to 13.5 and 15.5 cents in 1891 ; and in unex-
pected and excessive costs of rights of way, in one case reaching
as high as $212 per acre, with the usual rates $50 to $70 per acre.
Bonds to the amount of $150,000 are said to have been sold for
cash, and for a time the district had ample funds with which to
meet contract installments. The market for bonds, however, soon
became sluggish, and there were no buyers. Therefore, outside of
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 99
small blocks given for eugineering and legal services, rights of
way, and preliminary purposes, the balance of the issue was
mainly turned over to the superintendent of construction by nom-
inal sale, and by him disposed of to contractors on the best terms
he could get. In these various ways a total of about $570,000 of
the bonds were put out. While the method of financing construc-
tion that was adopted carried the work forward for a few years,
the time came when contractors woiald no longer accept the bonds,
and in order to bolster up the market a special report on the pro-
ject was made in 1891 by a consulting engineer of wide reputation,
who was then largely engaged in reporting favorably on Cali-
fornia irrigation districts. The district still remained, however,
in financial distress, the opposition continuing their fight against
it. In October, 1893, in order to clear up legal uncertainties and
thus to stimulate bond sales, the district board brought confirma-
tion proceedings under the then recently enacted statute permit-
ting such proceedings. The superior court granted the confirma-
tion sought by the directors ; but the old opposition, now ninety-
one strong, appealed to the supreme court and finally succeeded
in obtaining a decision that the organization proceedings of the
district were illegal and null and void. In a previous case. Central
Irrigation District had been upheld, but on other grounds, the
correctness of which was not questioned in the later case. The
main points of the later decision were that the organization peti-
tion of 1887 was not properly signed, and that the signers of an
organization petition must be bona fide owners of agricultural
lands desiring to improve their lands by irrigation, and not merely
the owners of town property and lots, as was the case with many
of the signers of the Central Irrigation District petition. While
holding that bond sales made subsequent to this decision would be
null and void, the validity of bonds already issued was not consid-
ered. In conformity with the decision, the matter went back to the
lower court; and the new decree of the lower court, rendered
March 1, 1902, was never appealed.
"The adverse decision of the supreme court above cited put
an end for all time to any thought of continuing the old undertak-
ing; and outside of a brief formal activity in 1902 and 1903, for
the purpose of leasing Central Canal, no effort has been made to
revive the old organization. Work on the system had practically
ceased by 1891. At that time, while about forty miles out of a
total of sixty-one and thirty-five hundredths miles of main canal
planned had been built, the system was not continuous, and so
could not be utilized ; nor had any headworks been constructed,
thus preventing the running of water in the portion of the canal
that was ready to receive it. The leasing of Central Canal, Jan-
100 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
nary 6, 1903, had for its purpose the placing of the old district
system iu the hands of interests that proposed to utilize a portion
of it for conveying water to lands along Sacramento River wholly
or largely lying outside of the old district. This lease was made
to W. M. Sheldon, and was for a term of fifty years. Some years
previously, hut after the failure of the district, B. D. Beckwith had
made filings on Sacramento River, and had planned to utilize a
portion of Central Canal in connection with his appropriation.
Lacking capital, he interested Sheldon; and these two, after the
execution of the lease of the canal, formed the Sacramento Canal
Company, which later was taken over hy the Central Canal and
Irrigation Company, and finally by the Sacramento Valley Irri-
gation Company. From this point forward the history of Central
Irrigation District becomes merged with the history of the Sacra-
mento Valley Irrigation Company and of its subsidiary, the Sac-
ramento Valley West Side Canal Company. When these com-
panies were organized, it was supposed that Central Irrigation
District was finally entirely eliminated, in so far as its legal exist-
ence was concerned. The Sacramento Valley Irrigation Company
gathered up most of the widely scattered bonds at a cost to it of
thirty-five cents on the dollar, including accrued interest; and as
one of the conditions of options secured on a large acreage of land
in the old district, it agreed to guarantee lands not purchased un-
der such options against any lien for these bonds. Later, a com-
promise was sought to be entered into with the landowners by
which certain concessions should be made to the company in rights
of way and certain other matters, in return for the destruction
by the company of all of the old bonds held by it. Litigation
brought on by those opposing this compromise, however, has en-
tirely upset previous theories as to the existence of the old district
and as to obligations incurred by the new company in taking over
the old Sheldon lease from the district and a Congressional grant
of a I'ight to divert nine hundred cubic feet of water per second
from the Sacramento River, obtained by the Central Canal and
Irrigation ComiDany, April 16, 1906. The final decision in this
litigation, rendered by the supreme court, April 29, 1915, held
among other things that lands within the old Central Irrigation
District constitute the primary territory to which the original pub-
lic use contemplated by the district and by the grant of Congress
extends and continues, and that when- demanded such lands must
be served with water from the new system before it can lawfully
be taken for use on outside lands. Through the agency of these
two companies. Central Canal has been reconstructed and ex-
tended, water has been made available to approximately one hun-
dred thousand acres of land, and^ considerable irrigation devel-
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 101
opmeut, includiug- irrigatiou by pninping from wells, has taken
place. Thus, at this late date the old district comes in to compli-
cate operations of the new companies that were organized on the
theory that the old district was no longer of moment, and could
not in any way limit the delivery of water to the lands outside of
it, purchased, and later largely sold, by the various companies suc-
ceeding Sheldon and Beckwith. An even later decision of the
California Railroad Commission, rendered June 14, 1915, that
holds the Sacramento Valley West Side Canal Company to be en-
gaged in public service, while not in any way affecting the old dis-
trict, so changes the basis of water distribution by the new com-
panies that ultimate entire reorganization, probably under one or
more new districts, now seems altogether probable."
From the above history of Central District, it will be seen that
this perfectly justifiable and praiseworthy attempt to better the
condition of the farmers of the plains resulted chiefly in litigation,
bitterness and strife that lasted for twenty-five years. It may be
said that no one was to blame. Some of the men who had to do
with the project may have been mistaken, but the chief difficulty
was in getting all who were interested to cooperate. Another dis-
advantage was the newness of the law under which the district
was formed. The Wright Act was approved on March 7, 1887;
and on March 26, 1887, a meeting was held at Maxwell to discuss
the formation of a district under it. George M. Sutton was chair-
man of that meeting and H. P. Plakle, J. P. Rathbun and R. De-
Lappe were appointed a committee to get the sentiment of the
people affectecl. The sentiment seemed to be favorable; and on
April 22 a second meeting was held at Maxwell to take further
steps in the formation of a district. G. M. Sutton, H. P. Eakle,
P. R. Garnett, G. F. Packer, G. B. Harden, and W. P. Harrington
were appointed a committee to make arrangements for a survey
and the necessary petition to the supervisors. The vote, both on
the district and on the bonds, was decisive enough on the face of
it to warrant the further prosecution of the matter; but it was a
mistake to accept on the petition the names of those who did not
own agricultural lands, and probably also a mistake to allow them
to vote at the election. Moreover, a mistake in the mechanical
part of the work was made when the ditch itself was commenced
on some of its lower reaches instead of at the intake. Of course,
it is easy to point out mistakes in some other man's work; and
one of the troubles with Central District was that it had too many
people doing that.
One beneficent result of the Central District affair was the
bringing of water to Princeton. When the Central Canal and
102 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Irrigation Company took over the system in 1903, it extended the
river branch to a point three miles south of Princeton, with the
result that one of the very finest communities of small farmers in
the county gathered there. Incidentally, a great injustice was
done these people, for they bought their lands with a water right
included, and then, by the decision of the supreme court in 1915,
were deprived of the water right. They are now forming a dis-
trict of their own, and will pump water from the river.
The Central Canal itself is sixty feet wide on the bottom, and
is made to carry six feet of water. The original contractor was
the San Francisco Bridge Company, which had a special excavat-
ing machine built to dig the canal. The machine weighed two hun-
dred seventy-five tons and cost fifty thousand dollars. It worked
night and day, employing a crew of thirty men during the day and
twelve at night, and doing the work of four hundred men. In
twenty-two hours it excavated about four thousand cubic yards
of earth.
On September 26, 1906, the Central Canal and Irrigation
Company, having completed the canal to its intake, began to in-
stall a pump to put water into it. The capacity decided upon was
one hundred cubic feet a second, capable of irrigating twenty thou-
sand acres. The original district contained one hundred fifty-six
thousand five hundred acres.
For several years the Sacramento Valley Irrigation Company
has been in financial straits, and has been selling ot¥ its lands.
Thus the lands are passing back into the hands of individual own-
ers, where they should be, and the strife and turmoil caused by
the old Central Irrigation District are almost at an end.
In the year 1888, the year after the passage of the Wright
Act, two efforts were made to form districts under that act, in the
vicinity of Arbuckle and College City. Both attempts failed, and
Arbuckle and College City are yet without irrigation.
For over ten years after Central District was launched, the
question of irrigation lay dormant in this county; but in 1902 a
niimljer of farmers living just northwest of Colusa united and
formed the Amos Roberts Ditch Company. They put in a pump
and a system of ditches capable of irrigating the fifteen hundred
acres in the district. This district was not organized under the
Wright Act, but was a cooperative corjDoration, all profits being
absorbed in the shape of lower water rates. The moving spirit in
this enterprise, which has been eminently successful from the be-
ginning, was L. L. Hicok, who has been the president of the com-
pany since its organization. The first directors, besides Mr.
Hicok, were W. C. Roberts, A. E. Potter, W. R. Merrill, and J.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 103
Grover. The present directors are L. L. Hicok, A. E. Potter, J. C.
Mogk, George Stafford, and J. S. O'Rourke. Some of the tinest
fruit and alfalfa in the state are grown under irrigation from
this ditch, and the Roberts Ditch Company deserves great credit
for the improvement it has made in the appearance of the country
about Colusa.
On September 23, 1907, work was begun on the Colusa Irri-
gation Company's ditch, which is located on the east and south
of Colusa, just across the town from the Roberts ditch; and when
it was finished, Colusa was entirely surrounded by irrigated lands,
except on the north, where it fronts on the river. This system
covered at first one thousand acres ; but it has since been enlarged
to nearly twice that size, furnishing water last year for about five
hundred acres of rice southwest of the town. The company first
installed a twenty-inch pump, and claimed that it could put a foot
of water on an acre of land for thirty-two cents. The first direc-
tors were M. J. Boggs, J. W. Goad, J. C. Mogk, C. J. Wescott,
and J. R. Tennant. The present directors are C. J. Wescott, Phil
B. Arnold, U. W. Brown, George Ahlf, and J. C. Mogk.
Two or three small systems for using the waters of Stony
Creek for irrigation were installed about the year 1890 ; and they
make the region about Stonyford look like a paradise in summer,
with its beautiful green fields of alfalfa and its thrifty, wide-
spreading shade trees.
In 1890, Colonel Moulton ])ut in a ])umping plant ; and that year
the barge Merritt went up and down the river pumping water for
the farmers who wanted it. The charge was one hundred sixty
dollars for twenty-four hours, the farmer to furnish the fuel. The
outfit pumped twenty-three thousand gallons a minute, which
would cover eighty-eight acres a foot deep in twenty-four hours.
A number of private pumps had been installed along the river
by John Boggs, George F. Packer, J. B. DeJarnatt, J. W. Brown-
ing, and others; but no other irrigation districts were formed till
the introduction of rice-growing, about the year 1912. That year
the Moulton Irrigated Lands Company put seventy-five acres under
water, and the next year they increased it to eight hundred acres.
Their ditches, or rather the ditches of their successors, the Colusa
Delta Lands Company, now cover twelve thousand acres, with
al)out seventy-five users, or tenants.
In 1914, James F. Mallon and R. E. Blevins formed a part-
nership under the name of Mallon & Blevins, leased forty-four
hundred acres of the Compton and "VVohlfrom ranches near
Princeton, and put in a ditch system for the growing of rice.
They sublet the laud to the actual rice-growers, and the euterprise
proved to be eminently successful. They sold out this project, and
104 . COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
the next year leased fourteen liuudred acres of the Clara Packer
ranch and installed another ditch system for rice-growing. In
1916 they added twenty-one hundred acres to this system; and
they are now contemplating raising it to ten thousand acres.
In 1915, Phil B. Arnold promoted the Cheney Slough Irriga-
tion Company, and a ditch system was built to cover ten thousand
acres of rice land with water. The company installed one thirty-
six-inch and two twenty-six-inch pumps on the river at the north
line of the Mitchell ranch, and the first crop under this ditch was
raised in 1916. It was not entirely successful, because the ditch
was not ready in time for early planting; but this season (1917)
an immense crop was raised. The directors of the company are
W. H. Ash, president; Phil B. Arnold, secretary; E. M. Hardin,
J. P. 'Sullivan, and W. F. Klewe.
Numerous small projects have been established for rice-grow-
ing, and the industry is growing at such a rate that it is safe to
predict that all the Trough land and much of the other low land
in the county will be under irrigation within the next five years.
On October 15, 1881, a meeting was held at Maxwell to take
the preliminary steps in having the county tested for artesian
water. Canvassers were appointed to solicit funds, but little suc-
cess attended the venture. About 1914, however, a couple of
artesian wells were developed on the Melone, formerly the Knut-
zen, ranch on the Colusa-Williams road; pumps were placed in
sumps dug at the mouths of the wells; and about fifty acres of
rice was irrigated from them. The experiment was not wholly
successful, and has not been repeated. Well water is too cold
for rice.
CHAPTER X
Agriculture
Grain-raising in Colusa County
Agriculture has meant in Colusa County, during most of its
existence, the raising of grain, or, more specifically, the raising
of wheat and barley ; and the county has no reason to be ashamed
to base its claims for fame on its achievements along this line.
This is essentially an agricultural county. In fact, it is one of the
great "cow coimties" of the state. (For the benefit of future
generations, let me here explain that "cow counties" was the
name applied by the San Francisco delegation in the state legis-
lature a few years ago to the agricultural or rural counties, when
COLUSA AXD GLENX COUNTIES 105
said eouuties failed to line up with said delegation to put over
some particularly raw piece of pilfering. Those who knew the
San Francisco delegation in those days will understand that "cow
counties" is distinctly an appellation of honor.) This county
once held the honor of being the greatest wheat-raising county
of the world. It held a similar record for barley.
Wheat
In 1880 this county produced, with the help of what is now
Glenn County, two per cent, of all the wheat raised in the United
States. This county also had the honor of having the greatest
wheat ranch in the world, Dr. H. J. Glenn's tifty-eight-thousand-
acre ranch, which the vagaries of fate later gave to Glenu County.
Dr. Glenn made one sale of eighteen thousand tons of wheat in
1876 that brought him $594,000, and which, at present prices,
would have brought him $1,400,000. This county has one farmer
who raised lifty-seven thousand sacks of barley this year. This
county has been, and is, the sceue of so many stupendous farming
operations that they excite no comment here. For this is essen-
tially an agricultural county.
The cultivation of wheat and liarley began in 1851, the year
after the county was started, though in a small way. A year or
two later, however, as I have said before, the need of grain for the
freight teams that were hauling supplies to the mines gave a
great stimulus to agriculture, and the acreage sown to grain
increased very rapidly. But a number of dry years in the decade
ending in 1864 held farming back and discouraged many of the
settlers, so that they left the country. On November 25, 1864,
however, after two years of exceedingly dry weather, a two-
weeks rain began to fall, and the farmers went to work with
great energy. Only seventy-five hundred acres of wheat and
twenty thousand acres of barley had been sown the year before,
and it had been mostly lost; but that year the acreage was
quadrupled, and the farmers were well repaid, for it turned out to
lie a wonderful year. Many new warehouses had to be built, and
times were prosperous. In 1866 one Sacramento firm sold twenty
thousand dollars' worth of farming implements in the county.
Wheat was especially profitalile, and for many years it was the
leading crop.
Good and bad years followed along for ten years, till in
1874 another exceptionally big crop was harvested, and the ware-
houses had to be increased in size and number. The year 1878
was the best crop season the county had ever had up to that
time, and in 1879 the wheat crop was "sold for $3,000,000. In 1880
the north wind whipped out $1,000,000 worth of wheat ; yet the yield
106 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
was 2,900,000 sacks. lu 1884 there were uinety threshing machines
at work in the county, turning out an average of eight hundred
sacks per day each; and they continued to work from the liegin-
ning of harvest in June till the end of August. The yield of
wheat and barley that year was 11,000,000 bushels. The next
four years were also good for the grain farmer, but it was in
1889 that he reached the high-water mark of prosperity. In
that year the first harvester pulled by a tractor came to the
county, 403,008 acres were sown, and the yield of wheat was 10,000,-
000 bushels, the largest the county had ever seen. The next year
was also a fine one. Good rains, good crops and good prices,
owing to a scarcity in Europe, enabled many a farmer to lift the
mortgage on his ranch.
Bculeij
But the climax of wheat-growing had been reached. For
forty years the lands had been sown to this crop, and now the
yield began to fall off. As a consequence more and more barley
was sown, and less and less wheat, till it finally came to a time
when there was hardly a thousand acres of wheat in the whole
county. The war has stimulated the raising of wheat the past
two years, but barley is still the leading crop.
Barley, although not so high-priced a crop as wheat, is more
profitable in this county, because it produces more sacks per acre,
and is not so liable to damage by the north wind. There is never
a perfect crop, and, on the other hand, there is never an absolute
failure. There cannot be a perfect season for all parts of the
county; for a dry season is bad for the plains lands, and a wet
season is bad for the tule lands. Every season starts out either
too wet or too dry, too hot or too cold, or too something, accord-
ing to the prophets, and winds up "much better than expected";
and that will probably continue to be the program. In 1896 the
barley crop was good ; but on May 12, 1898, ten car loads of corn
arrived at Williams from Kansas "to distribute among needy
farmers," which shows that crops were not good that year. Most
years have been fairly good, however, and this year of 1917
capped the climax for good crops and high prices at the same
time. This has undoubtedly been the best year Colusa County
farmers have ever had. It started out too dry; but the weather
remained cool till the grain was matured, and then, as if ordered
by the farmers themselves, turned hot to make the barley harvest
well, mature the rice, and sweeten the prunes. War prices were
received for all products, and many farmers made a fortune this
single year. Barley, which has been sold here as low as eighty
cents, a hundredweight, went up to two dollars and fifty-five cents
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 107
this year, or possibly a little higher for small lots. I don't mean to
say that all the farmers got two dollars and fifty-iive cents or
more for their barley. Many of them were holding for three
cents, and held till they had to sell at about two cents. But they
all made money.
Orchards, vineyards, alfalfa, rice and other crops are making-
great inroads upon the barley acreage; and it is safe to say that
this crop, too, has reached its maximum limit in this county,
although it will 1>e many years liefore it will cease to be an im-
portant factor in the i^rosjierity of the people.
Rice
The sudden rise and marvelous growth of the rice industry
in this county reads like an Arabian Nights tale. Prior to 1911
there wasn't an acre of rice in the county. Years ago, Colonel
Moulton made some experiments with rice; and just prior to 1911
some exiierimeuts had been made at the government experiment
station at Chico, with the result that those in charge were con-
vinced that rice could be profitably raised in this climate. W. K.
Brown, of the Moulton Irrigated Lands Company, which had
bought the Moulton ranch from the Central California Investment
Company in 1907, was watching the experiments carefully, for the
Moulton ranch contained a great deal of land that was appar-
ently well adapted to rice, Init hadn't been of much use for any-
thing else up to that time. In 1911 Mr. Brown planted seventy-
five acres to rice, and to him and that seventy-five-acre patch
belongs the credit for bringing rice to Colusa County. It would
have come later, of course, if there had been no Brown; but it
wouldn 't have come when it did. and might not have . come for
many years. In 1912 Mr. Brown increased the acreage on the
Moulton lands to eight hundred acres, and this crop was so suc-
cessful as to leave no doubt as to the future of the industry. The
year 1913 saw an increased acreage on the Moulton ranch, and
an average crop of seventy-three and one-half sacks per acre, a
yield unheard of in the older rice-growing communities. In
1914 there were twenty-nine hundred forty acres in rice on the
Moulton ranch, and some of it yielded eighty sacks per acre. The
average yield was sixty-five sacks, and the price that year was
from one dollar and eighty cents to two dollars per hundredweight.
The total yield on the ranch that year was 150,000 sacks.
Mallon & Blevins started their first rice project in 1914.
They leased forty-four hundred acres west of I. L. Compton's
residence, put in a ditch system with the pumping plant on the
river bank just back of the Packer schoolhouse, and subleased
the land to rice-growers. That was the first rice project on the
108 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
west side of the river. In 1915 the rice acreage of the county had
increased to twelve thousand acres. On January 23 of that year
a tweniy-three-car train loaded with rice was sent out of Colusa,
with large banners on it announcing its identity; and it gave
the county great prominence as a rice-growing center. San Fran-
cisco and the rest of the state were greatly excited over the mar-
velous stories of rice profits, and dozens of men came every week
to Colusa to investigate the new industry. The Moulton people
had taken the rice prizes the year before at the Butte County
Rice Exposition at Gridley, and that fact had its effect. Land
that could have been bought the year before for fifteen or twenty
dollars an acre jumped to eighty dollars an acre, and today
there are many owners of "goose land" who wouldn't take one
hundred dollars an acre for land which they would have been
glad to sell in 1912 for eight dollars an acre.
The one great drawback in the rice business was the uncer-
tainty in getting the crop harvested ahead of the rains. LTp to
this time the varieties planted had been of a slow-maturing kind
that did not ripen till late in October or in November. The fall
rains in an ordinary season were apt to catch much of the rice
uncut. Efforts were being made to find or develop earlier varie-
ties; and in 1915, with this object in view, the Moulton people
planted one hundred acres of Italian rice. They finished har-
vesting it on September 23 that year; and there was much joy
among the rice men, for they felt that the industry would soon
be relieved of its greatest handicap, a late-maturing crop. Much
progress has been made along this line since then. A total of
450,000 bags of rice was produced by the Moulton Irrigated Lands
Company and the California Rice C'ompany in 1915. The latter
company had twenty-six hundred acres planted, and got from fifty
to sixty-five sacks per acre. In the fall of 1915 Mallon & Blevins
sold thirty- two hundred acres of their first project to the Rice
Land & Products Company for $250,000, and that winter devel-
oped a new project on fourteen hundred acres at the west end of
Mrs. Clara Packer's ranch. Last year they added twenty-one
hundred acres to this project, and now they are making prepara-
tions to add sixty-five hundred acres more to it, making it ten
thousand acres in all.
Another great rice project is that of the Cheney Slough
Irrigation Company, organized in Deceml)er, 1915, through the
efforts of Phil B. Arnold. This project covers ten thousand
acres, and is supplied with water by three pumps located at the
river, about six miles north of Colusa. The ditches extend to the
O'Hair ranch, south of the Colusa-Williams highway. The direc-
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 109
tors of the company are ^Y. H. Ash, Phil B. Arnold, E. M. Hardin,
J. P. O 'Sullivan and ^X. F. Klewe.
There were many smaller projects and many individual
growers in the county this year and last, but not all of these can
be mentioned. A considerable acreage under the Sacramento
Valley Irrigation Company's ditch in the vicinity of Maxwell
has been planted to rice during the past two years, and that little
town has become quite a rice center. The total acreage planted
in the county this year was aliout thirty thousand acres. Today
the demand for rice land is tremendous. One can hardly walk a
block on the street without being asked for rice land. Every
owner of suitable land has from a dozen to fifty applications for it.
Land that was rented for a dollar an acre three years ago now
brings ten dollars an acre. The industry seems to be only in its
embryonic state as yet. "What the future will bring, no man can
tell with accuracy.
Alfalfa
The great forage crop of this county is alfalfa. I have been
unable to learn definitely just when and how it got into the
county; but it came many years ago, at least forty years. The
acreage has kept steadily increasing since its introduction, so
that today there are about twenty' thousand acres in the county
devoted to alfalfa. The alfalfa fields of the county may be
divided into two classes : those under irrigation, which grow only
hay and pasture; and those not irrigated, which grow a crop
of seed each year, in addition to hay and pasture. Five or six
crops of alfalfa are cut from irrigated lands, each crop making
from a ton to a ton and a half per acre. Unirrigated lands
produce three or four crops, the last of these being threshed
for seed. It was reported that the alfalfa on the Sherer ranch
near College City produced two tons of hay and six hundred
pounds of seed per acre in 1912. The hay sold for eleven dollars
per ton, and the seed for sixteen cents per pound, making the
total returns one hundred eighteen dollars per acre. The hay
from this same ranch sold this year for twenty-seven dollars per
ton, which would make the income one hundred fifty dollars an
acre if other conditions were the same as in 1912. Most of the
alfalfa grown in the county is fed to dairy cows and other stock.
Up till the year 1912 irrigation meant alfalfa; but now rice
takes much more water in this county than alfalfa does, although
alfalfa will probably always be the main standby of the small
farmer and home-maker.
110 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Corn
Four kinds of corn are grown in the county, Indian corn,
Egyptian corn, broom corn and sorghum. There isn't enough
of the last-named, however, to bother about. It was tirst grown
in the fifties by a settler who wanted some syrup for his own
use, and it has been grown to about that extent ever since. Indian
corn has never been raised to any great extent either. The
plains are too dry for it, but it grows luxuriantly along the river.
Because it takes some rather tedious cultivating and hoeing by
hand, it has never become popular with the farmers of this county,
who like to spread their efforts over wide areas. Egyptian corn,
used for stock and poultry food, is grown principally on the over-
flow lands along the river. It is a summer crop; and where
irrigation can be had, it is sometimes planted after a crop of
barley has been harvested. Broom corn is also grown cliiefly on
overflow lands, and both it and Egyptian corn are largely grown
by Chinese and Japanese. There was a fortune in broom corn
this year; for the crop was good and the price went up to two
hundred seventy-five dollars a ton, whereas there is a good
profit in it at sixty-five dollars a ton, the usual price in the past.
In 1914, George F. McKenzie, a broom corn grower from Illinois,
came to this county, rented some land from the Moulton Irrigated
Lands Company, and put out a crop of corn. He cured it in the
shade instead of in the sun, and got one hundred seventy-five
dollars a ton for it instead of sixty-five dollars, as the Chinamen
had been getting. Since that time the quality of broom corn pro-
duced hereabouts has greatly improved, and the acreage has
more than doubled; but the industry is still largely in the hands
of Japanese and Chinamen.
BecDis
Beans follow the American wherever he goes, or, more prop-
erly, go with him. There probably wasn't an immigrant wagon
to C'alifornia without a liberal supply of beans among its stores.
My guess, therefore, is that beans first came to Colusa County
in 1850, the year the county was first settled, although their
coming was not recorded, because there was no newspaper in the
coimty at that time, nor for thirteen years thereafter, to record
the event. For years beans were grown in this county only for
home consumption; but after a time it was found that the sandy,
friable lands along the river were ideal bean lands, because they
were easily cultivated and because they held moisture remarkably
well. Overflow land that is of such character that it can be
worked into a fine mulch on toi? cannot be beaten for beans; and
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 111
thus laud that is useless for most other purposes becomes the
most valuable land in the county when devoted to this crop. In
Monterey County, from eight to ten sacks is regarded as a good
bean crop. There are hundreds of acres of bean land in this
county that produce forty sacks or more per acre. The center
of the bean industry in this county is on the lower end of the
Moulton ranch, where there are some of the most productive
bean fields in the world. AVlien beans were from two to five cents
a pound, their production made no great commotion in Colusa
County agricultural circles. But when, three or four years ago,
they went up to ten and fifteen cents a pound, bean land came
into great demand. Today hardly an acre of good beau land can
be had for love or money. A man told me a few days ago that he
had canvassed the territory along the river from Knights Land-
ing to Red Bluff, and he couldn't get a piece of bean land of any
kind. Of course this situation is natural, in view of the enor-
mous profits that have been made in the last three or four years.
Among the varieties most commonly planted in this county are the
Lady AYashington, or small white, the pink, and the blackeye.
In 191.3 Lady Washingtons were selling for three cents a pound,
pinks for two dollars and sixty-five cents a hundredweight, and
blackeyes for two dollars a hundredweight. In 1915 whites sold
for six dollars and seventy-five cents and pinks for four dollars
and seventy-five cents. Within the past year the small whites
have sold for fifteen cents a pound, wholesale, with the other
varieties two or three cents lower. Here again, as with corn, a
great deal of land is farmed by Orientals ; and thousands of dol-
lars of Colusa County's bean money are now in China and Japan.
Of course, prices cannot always stay up as they are now, making
fabulous profits possible ; but there will always be money in beans
along the Sacramento Eiver.
Beets
The sugar beet is not by any means a stranger to Colusa
County, but it has never succeeded in becoming a leading crop.
Many efforts have been made to get it established, but most of
them have failed. In 1895 an eflfort was made to establish a beet
sugar factory at Colusa, but it came to nothing. In April of
that year John Boggs planted forty acres to beets as an experi-
ment, and they did well, but not well enough to convince farmers
in sufficient numbers to supply a sugar factory with beets. The
next year the Spreckels Sugar Company agreed to erect a sugar
factory if the farmers would plant even one thousand acres to
beets. The farmers wouldn't, and Spreckels kept his factory or
112 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
put it somewhere else, and the matter rested for ten years. But
in 1905 another earnest, even desperate, effort was made to get
a sugar factory for Colusa. One hundred thousand dollars was
subscrihed toward the enterprise; but again the farmers were
reticent about the beets, and the factory eluded us. The next
move toward beets was made in 1911. On January 31 of that
year a group of men connected with the sugar factory at Ham-
ilton City met with a number of farmers in Colusa to try to
induce them to plant three thousand acres of beets, which, they
said, would insure the building of the Colusa & Hamilton Rail-
road. The required acreage was fully, or nearly, subscribed, and
work on the road was started a year or two later; but it isn't
finished yet, and the beet industry is still in a languishing con-
dition. The sugar company itself leased several hundred acres
from J. W. Browning at Grimes about that time, and has raised
several crops of beets on it ; but aside from that, not a great deal
has been done at growing beets. The delay in getting the Colusa
& Hamilton Eailroad into operation to Hamilton City and the
temporary suspension of activities at the sugar factory, said to
be due to tariff uncertainties, have conspired to retard the spread
of beet-growing in this county, but it seems to be about to take on
new life. An agent of the sugar company was in the county last
year signing up acreage, and the next few years will no doubt
find Colusa County with several thousands of acres of sugar beets.
Other Crops
Potatoes have, of course, been grown here since the begin-
ning, but never in sufficient quantities to disturb the potato mar-
kets of the world. In fact, most of the potatoes that are eaten
in the county today are shijjped in. Some of the lands along the
river are well adapted to potato-growing, when the season is
favorable; but small patches have been the rule, and not many
even of them. Twenty-four years ago D. H. Arnold raised fifty
tons of potatoes near Colusa, and that is the largest crop of which
I have found any record.
The year 1874 was a cotton year in Colusa County. A wide-
spread discussion of the merits and possibilities of the crop was
going on at that time. W. S. Green sent for fifty sacks of seed
to be distributed among the farmers, and offered a prize of
twenty-five dollars for the best bag of cotton raised in the county.
The most enthusiastic grower was Andrew Rutland, of the east
side. He brought in the first sample of cotton, grown on the
McConnell farm on the east side. He had fifty acres planted to
cotton, and figured his profits at six hundred eighty-two dollars.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 113
He said that if there had beeu no overflow and two weeks more
of good weather, his profits wonld have been doubled. For
two or three years more he experimented further with cotton,
but finally gave it up. About 1890, J. AY. Bowden was experi-
menting for several years with cotton. He finally came to the
conclusion that cotton could not be grown at a profit on land
worth one hundred dollars an acre; but that on low-priced land,
with cheap labor, it would pay about thirty dollars an acre, gross.
Apparently that wasn't enough profit to tempt the agricultural
fortune-hunters of Colusa County, for cotton-growing never got
beyond the infant stage.
Sweet potatoes and peanuts are both grown to a very limited
extent on the sandy lands along the river, but not in sufficient
quantity to supply the home demand.
A novel agricultural product has been furnished by the low-
lands along the Trough for several years past. It is grandelia
robusta, or rosin weed, which grows in a wild state, is cut and
baled like hay, and shipped to an Eastern drug-manufacturing
concern to be made into some sort of drug or medicine. It brings
the shipper thirty-five dollars a ton usually, and affords a good
profit at that price, as two men can gather a ton of the weed a
day. One firm ships from twenty-five to fifty tons of rosin weed
from Colusa each season.
I have made no attempt to make a complete list of the agri-
cultural products of the county, but have mentioned some of the
more important ones, and especially those that have had an
influence on the development of the county, and on the industrial
life of the people.
CHAPTER XI
HOETICULTTJEE
Horticulture, according to Webster, means the culture of gar-
dens and orchards. In Colusa County it means the growing of
fruits and nuts. Commercially, as applied to this county, its mean-
ing may be even more restricted ; it means the growing of prunes,
raisins and almonds, for these are the only fruits and nuts that
are grown in the county on such a scale as to be considered com-
mercial products. By that I do not mean to say that prunes,
raisins and almonds are the only Colusa County products that
those unfortunate enough not to live here ever have a chance to
taste. Not by any means! Oranges, lemons, apples, pears, figs,
7
114 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
plums, table grapes and walnuts are shipped to a very limited
extent; but tliere are less than a half dozen growers of each of
these products, so that they add no great burden to the channels
of commerce.
Fruit-growing for Domestic Purposes
Fruit-growing in this county began, of course, as a domestic
proposition, many of the settlers planting out orchards of many
varieties of fruits for family use. And what an opportunity for
variety they had! I am sure there isn't another section of the
whole wide world where the husbandman could have "his own vine
and fig tree" in so many different shapes and forms as here.
Oranges, lemons, grape fruit, limes, apples, peaches, pears, apri-
cots, phnns, prunes, nectarines, grapes of a dozen kinds, cherries,
figs, pomegranates, quinces, almonds, English and black walnuts,
pecans, olives and many kinds, of berries can be had in rich abund-
ance and with a minimum of effort. But notice that I said in the
first sentence of this paragraph that "many of the settlers" planted
orchards. That is true ; but it is also true, sad to say, that many
others did not. Many of the early settlers gave no time to the
minor comforts of life, and many of the later settlers have fol-
lowed closely in the footsteps of these improvident ones in this
respect, with the lamentable result that today there are not a few
ranches in the county without a fruit tree or a vine growing on
them. This class of farmers, raising barley, raised nothing but
barley ; raising wheat, they raised nothing but wheat ; raising hay,
they bought the vegetables for their tables; raising cattle, they
raised nothing but beef cattle, and bought their butter. Conse-
quently the people of the county ship in more fruit of many of
the varieties than they ship out. This is true of apples, grape
fruit, limes, peaches, apricots, cherries, pecans, olives and berries
of all kinds. But this chapter is concerned with fruit-growing as
a coiomercial industry rather than fruit-growing for home con-
sumption.
Gr
apes
College City has the honor of being the pioneer community
in the matter of producing fruit for shipment. College City spe-
cializes in raisin grapes, and did so from the beginning. It is
now one of the raisin centers of the state, with a raisin history
going back almost to 1874. In that year I. N. Cain, father of T.
D. Cain (present county clerk and recorder) and a pioneer who
had come to Grand Island in 1851, moved to College City, and
shortly thereafter set out one thousand Muscat grapevines. They
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 115
thrived and bore well, and became the nucleus of the raisin in-
dustry of College City. At first Mr. Cain had no idea of market-
ing them, but gave them away to all the neighbors for miles around.
This would have been a convenient way of disposing of them if
there had been enough neighbors; but there weren't, for one thou-
sand vines in the College City section will produce an amazing
quantity of grapes. So Mr. Cain was compelled to dry some of
them, making the first raisins in Colusa County. His neighbors
followed his example, and soon made the College City country
famous for its raisins. In 1891 William Calmes, of College City,
got fifty cents more per box for his raisins than any other man
in the state. His returns that year from a twenty-seven-acre vine-
yard were five thousand dollars. The same high quality has always
been maintained.
Throughout the eighties there was a steady growth in vine-
yard acreage, not only at College City but also in some other sec-
tions of the county. Colonel Moulton, for example, set out a vine-
yard, and on January 7, 1891, sold thirty thousand pounds of raisins
to J. K. Armsby. Vineyards were planted at Williams and Max-
well also. The industry has never made much headway at those
towns, although one of the finest vineyards in the county is the
Brim vineyard, located about six miles west of Williams. The
raisin industry has made a greater growth in the last ten years
than it did. in all the years of its existence before. The county
statistician gave the acreage for 1905 as three hundred fifty acres.
Today there are one thousand four hundred thirty acres in raisin
grapes, the greater part about College City. Most of the bearing
vineyards are in Muscats, but last year nearly everybody planted
the Thompson Seedless. There are also one himdred sixty acres
in wine grapes ; but this industry is not in a very flourishing con-
dition at iDresent, owing to the threatened destruction of the liquor
traffic in the state.
The Arbuckle-College City section also grows a few table
grapes, principally Tokays. Arbuckle has had the honor for the
past several years of sending East the first car load of Tokay
grapes to leave the state; but the territory planted to Tokays is
small, probably not over seventy acres in the whole county.
The net returns from raisins have averaged high. There
have been seasons, of course, when slender crops and sluggish
markets have reduced profits almost to the vanishing point; but
for the past two or three years it has been no uncommon thing
for growers to realize three hundred dollars an acre, gross, from
their grapes, especially the Thompson Seedless. One hundred and
fifty dollars an acre may be said to be a fair average return.
116 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
There are thousands of acres in the county now devoted to
barley that would make as fine grape land as there is in the state ;
and if prices remain high, as at present, there will be a great
development in grape-growing in the next few years.
Prunes
Prune-growing as an industry in Colusa County began in 1884,
when J. B. DeJaruatt set out a small prune orchard on his Brent-
wood farm north of Colusa. California was just finding itself as
a fruit-growing state, and the air was full of excitement over the
possibilities. Scattered trees in family orchards here and there
along the river had demonstrated that this valley is the natural
home for the prune, and a number of progressive farmers were
ready to try their luck growing the fruit. A. S. McWilliams,
who at that time owned the land adjoining Colusa on the north-
west, closely followed Mr. DeJarnatt with a small orchard. In
1888 Colonel Moulton set out the orchard at the north end of the
Colusa bridge; and therein he acted wisely, for that orchard has
returned many thousands of dollars to its owners since then. P.
V. Berkey, Henry Ahlf , D. H. Arnold, Eichard Ba^^le and Dr. Gray
were among the early prune orchardists ; and not long afterwards
John Boggs set out forty acres on his ranch south of Princeton.
The Poirier orchard, on the east side, was also among the early
ones set out.
In the ten years following 1884, there was great interest in
the county in fruit-growing in general, and in prune-growing in
particular. In 1888 the Colusa County Horticultural Society was
formed, with Colonel Moulton as president and Frank Willis as
secretary. A board of horticultural commissioners was appointed,
with J. E. Totman, Sr., as president and Frank Willis as secre-
tary. F. M. Johnson was the other member. These bodies were
both active, and in 1891 the horticultural society received a pre-
mium of five hundred dollars for its exhibit at the State Fair.
Many orchards and vineyards were set out in various parts of the
county, and many experiments were made along horticultural lines.
Prunes proved to be the most certain and the most profitable crop,
and they outdistanced all other fruits in acreage, as well as in
record of profits.
In the spring of 1894, P. V. Berkey, J. W. Bowden, J. C. Bedell
and Joseph Boedefeld set out forty thousand prune trees on the
east side of the river. Take the Boedefeld orchard as an example
of what these orchards have done and are doing. It consists of
forty acres situated on the overflow lands two miles back from
the river. It ordinarily produces about one hundred forty tons of
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 117
prunes, which this year sold for seven cents a pound, on an average,
or one hundred forty dollars a ton. The Berkey orchard did as
well or better. In 1911, W. C. Roberts got eight hundred eighty-five
dollars and five cents from two acres of prunes. The same year six
thousand three hundred eighty pounds of prunes from a half acre
on the Laux place on the east side sold for three hundred dollars.
Last year the Strickland prune orchard of six acres produced three
thousand one hundred dollars' worth of fruit, which explains why
the Strickland ten-acre ranch recently sold for eight thousand dol-
lars. These figures also explain why four hundred fifty thousand
prune trees have been set out in the county in the past four years.
In 1914, W. A. Yerxa imported two hundred fifty thousand young
prune trees from France, and had them all sold before they arrived.
The prune industry seems to have "arrived" in this county.
There are a number of orchards in the county containing from two
hundred to three hundred acres each.
Almonds
Of all of its horticultural products, Colusa Coimty is best
known for its almonds. And speaking of almonds, one thinks of
Arbuckle; not because Arbuckle produces all the almonds grown
in the county, or produced the first ones, but because it is an almond
center, and because it advertises. The way Arbuckle got started
in the almond business reads something like this: C. H. Locke
was a Montana miner transplanted to Arlnickle. His periscope and
other observation ajijiaratus being of good quality and in good
working order, he observed that the oak trees about Arbuckle
bore immense crops of nuts, sometimes known as acorns. From
this he reasoned that the Arbuckle country must be a good nut
country. In fact, it was he who discovered that Arbuckle is the
home of the nut, a discovery that his successors in interest have
made much of. In 1892, Mr. Locke, acting upon the above-men-
tioned theory, planted twenty-one acres to almonds, which grew
and thrived and bore heavily. Under such circumstances the neigh-
bors generally follow suit, sometimes so quickly that some of them
think the}' did it first, and claim the credit. But Mr. Locke's neigh-
Ijors didn't rush matters. In the next fifteen years after he showed
them how, they put out only seventy-five acres of trees, including
his twenty-one aexes. Then 1907 came, and the Reddington ranch
was subdivided and put on the market. The next year fifty acres
of trees were set out, and the almond boom was on. In 1910, D.
S. Nelson struck the town, and the almond boom at once increased
its speed. Mr. Nelson organized the Superior California Fruit
Lands Company, and jiroceeded to make almond history. The
118 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
H^Tnan tract was subdivided, and in 1911 forty thousand trees were
set out, besides a lot of vines. That same year the Arbuckle Al-
mond Growers' Association was organized, and the marketing end
of the business was put on a business basis. From that day to
this the industry has been steadily growing, and today there are
five thousand two hundred acres in almonds in the Arbuckle dis-
trict, with forty thousand trees, or eight hundred acres, to be
planted next spring.
A. M. Newland, residing three miles north of Colusa, was the
pioneer almond-grower of the county. Mr. Newland came to this
county as a small boy in 1853. Ten years later they set out a few
almond trees, and later added to these till there was quite an
orchard. In the course of time the trees got old and were dug up,
and the present orchard was planted in the year 1889. Mr. New-
land's orchard, being along the river, of course suffers considerably
from frost. In the twenty-eight years of its life, at least half of
the crops have been thus destroyed ; but Mr. Newland says that if
he gets a crop only once in every three or four years it pays better
than to sow the land to barley. The Newland orchard contains
forty acres; and when the frost does not catch it, the yield is
heavier than from any other orchard in the county.
Mr. Newland is the originator of the Eureka almond, a species
that has the size and flavor of the Jordan combined with a soft
shell. It has not been planted as widely as it deserves, because it
is not adapted to all conditions and has not been advertised; but
it bids fair to be one of the leading varieties of the state.
A. Fendt, whose land adjoins that of Mr. Newland, followed
the example of the latter and set out an orchard of almonds about
the year 1905; and the trees have made a wonderfully thrifty
growth. Being near the river, it, too, has suffered from frost;
but worse than that, it has been attacked by the root knot and
Mr. Fendt is digging up many of the trees.
Oranges
There is little more to be said of commercial fruit-growing in
the county, because there is little more fruit grown on a commercial
scale. There are two orange orchards of nine acres each, both on
the edge of Colusa, one belonging to Col. John T. Harrington and
the other to District Attorney Alva A. King. Part of Colonel
Harrington's trees are thirty-five years old, and he has a few seed-
lings forty years old, planted at the same time as those in the court-
house yard. From this orchard as many as two thousand boxes
of fruit have been taken in a year, some of the older trees produc-
ing four hundred boxes per acre. For many years Colonel Har-
rington's entire crop was taken by the Palace Hotel in San Fran-
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 119
cisco, because it was superior to auy other oranges produced in the
state. Another significant fact is, that Colusa County oranges
took the prize at the Midwinter Fair in San Francisco in 1894.
Mr. King's orchard, better known as the Cooke orchard, was
planted by the late J. B. Cooke about fifteen years ago. The trees
are hardly in full bearing yet, but have produced twenty-five hun-
dred boxes in a year. These are the only orchards in the county
that ship oranges ; and the present prospects are that they will be
the only orchards for some time, as there seems to be but little
interest in oranges just now.
Lemons
Although not known at all as a producer of lemons, Colusa
County is said to have the largest lemon orchard in the world. In
1912 James Mills, an extensive fruit-grower of the South, bought
the Houx ranch, four miles west of Maxwell, and proceeded to
establish a lemon principality. He had concrete pipe made on the
premises and laid so as to carry water to the tops of all the rolling
hills, of which the ranch is largely composed, leaving openings
at convenient points for bringing the water to the surface and eon-
ducting it through contour ditches to the roots of the trees. A
tract of four hundred acres was planted to lemons that first year,
and that acreage has been added to since, until there are seven
hundred twenty-four acres in all. The older trees have begun to
bear, and Colusa County has been, for the past year or two, a
shipper of a car load or two of lemons. The Mills orchard also
contains forty acres of oranges, two hundred forty acres of
almonds, and twenty acres of pomeloes, all non-bearing.
Peaches and Apricots
In the year 1880, W. L. Cotter planted four acres of peaches
and apricots on his ranch four miles south of Arbuckle. They
thrived wonderfully, and for a time created some excitement over
the fruit prospects in that neighborhood. For some reason or
other, however, Mr. Cotter's example was not widely followed,
and the Arbuckle district is not yet famous as a peach or apricot
district, although there are about fifty acres of the former and
about one hundred acres of the latter in the district at present.
A. S. McWilliams planted the first apricot orchard about
Colusa. That was in 1884, and for a time apricots were a "lead-
ing industry" about the county seat. But as the trees grew old
they did not do so well, and the orchard was dug up about ten
years ago. J. B. DeJarnatt, P. ^". Berkey, H. Alilf, and others also
tried apricots; and for man}' years it was a familiar sight on the
120 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
streets of Colusa iu apricot season to see a spring wagon loaded
with the best girls in town, bound for the apricot orchards to
"work in the fruit." But a change seemed to come over the
spirit of the people, and it became very hard to get girls to help
with the apricots ; so Mr. Berkey planned to pull up the last of his
apricot orchard, although the trees bore aliuudantly this year.
The Ahlfs, however, still dry a few apricots.
So the apricot perished from the earth, as far as production
commercially in most of Colusa County is concerned ; and the peach
has suffered the same fate. The most magniticent peaches on earth
can be grown here, but many of the peaches we use are brought
down from Glenn County or over from Sutter County. Why should
we worry with peaches, anyway, when we can put out a patch of
rice and in five months have several thousand dollars with whieli
to buy peaches?
Pears
The history of the Bartlett pear industry has been about the
same as that of ])eaches and apricots. Along in the eighties the
business had a boom along the river, where the land and the climate
are well adapted to pears. Henry Ahlf, Joseph Boedefeld, Hagar
& Tuttle, P. V. Berkey, J. B. DeJarnatt, John Boggs, T. C. Hub-
bard, Perry Wills, and others planted pears ; and for a time the
returns were all that anyone could wish. In those days pears were
only fifteen dollars to twenty dollars a ton, but the yields were so
abundant that the growers were well satisfied. Then came the
pear blight, which was epidemic in the state; and in spite of all
that the growers did, their orchards were practically ruined and
had to be dug up. The Ahlf, Hubbard and Boedefeld orchards
were the only ones that survived ; and one of those, the Hubbard
orchard, was dug up a couple of years ago by J. L. Langdon, who
had come into possession of it. This leaves only the Ahlf and
Boedefeld orchards today. The Boedefeld orchard is out on the
overflow lands and does not produce so well ; but the Ahlf orchard,
which is near the river, yields an average of three hundred boxes
of fruit per acre. As pears have been selling for from forty to
sixty dollars a ton, it will be seen that they are a profitable crop
to those who take care of them.
W. G. Henneke, who lives near Cooks Springs, has about ten
acres in pears and realizes well on them. F. B. Pryor has a small
orchard on Grapevine Creek, which produces well ; Imt like Mr.
Henneke 's orchard, it is so far back in the hills that marketing the
crop is expensive.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 121
Wdhiuts
J. C. Westfall is the wahmt king of this county. lu 1907 he
got a picture in his mind of a nice twelve-acre orchard of Euglisli
wahiuts that he hoped to have. Then he planted a black walnut
tree in each spot where an English walnut had been in the picture
in his mind. Two years later he grafted English walnut buds
on the black walnut trees ; and then he watched them grow. The
fiirst year the grafts grew thirteen feet. The second year the nuts
took a prize at the State Fair, and people began to ask Mr. "West-
fall how to grow walnuts. Four years after grafting, the twelve
acres produced tifty sacks of nuts that took all the prizes they were
entered for, and Mr. Westfall was recognized as an authority on
walnuts. In 1911, Mr. Westfall grafted two acres more ; and since
then he has added still further to his acreage.
Hugh L. Dobbins is about the only other man in the county
who is interested in the walnut as a commercial possibility. Mr.
Dobbins has conducted a small walnut nursery in Colusa for several
years past, and next spring will set out ten acres to walnuts on
the Swinford tract east of town. Some attempt was made a few
years ago to start an orchard at Arbuckle, but it never amounted
to much. There may have been other attempts, but there are no
other orchards. There are, however, many individual trees, or rows
of trees, the product of which is sold.
Figs, PJuiiis (Did Apples
There are two small fig orchards in the county. One of these is
an orchard of four or five acres a mile north of Colusa. This
orchard belongs to Richard Bayne, and is cultivated by Emil St.
Louis. It is an orchard of black figs, and it produces well and is
highly profitable. The trees were planted twenty-seven years ago,
and now yield in prodigal jjrofusion. W. C. Roberts also has one
acre of figs, from which he has taken four tons of fruit in a year.
Alilf brothers have about twenty acres in shipping plums on
their ranch on the east side ; and the success they have had has in-
terested a number of others, who will plant plum trees next spring.
The other fruits that I have mentioned, and possibly still
others, are grown in yards or family orchards throughout the
county, biTt are of no especial interest to the reader of history.
There are some small apple orchards in the hills in the western
]iart of the county, but very little of their product is marketed out-
side of the countv limits.
122 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
CHAPTER XII
Mining and Quarrying
Mining
Colusa County cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be
called a mining county. It has some mines, and it has had some
mining stampedes ; but it is luckj^ that it does not have to depend
entirely on the income from its mines for its wealth, for the
mining industry in this county has been more or less of a fizzle.
It is true that several compartments in the county recorder's
office are filled with the articles of incorporation of mining com-
panies; but mining companies are not mines. The fact of the
matter is, there has been much more money put into the mines
of this county than has ever lieen taken out of them, although
the same thing could be said, proliably, of mines in general.
Small quantities of copper, coal, quicksilver, gold, silver, oil,
sulphur, salt, limestone, and chrome ore have been produced in
the county; but none of these has been obtained in very profitable
amounts. No better history of the early mining activities in the
county could be given than that written by Julius Weyand and
published in the Rogers history some years ago ; and I reproduce
it here:
"Copper. — About November 1, 1863, the first discovery of
copper was made in township seventeen north, range six west,
on south side of Little Stony Creek, by F. M. Rice and J. B.
Turner, in finding a large nugget of native copper, and also
rock containing considerable copper, on the grounds located by
the discoverers and five of their friends as the Mary Union claim.
"The news brought within a few days many of the people
from Colusa and the county at large, and also people from other
parts of the state, to the locality.
"On November 4, 1863, the Commonwealth Mining District
was formed. The Mary Union lode was traced in southern and
northern course, and claims were located as follows : 1, Extension
Copper Hill; 2, Blue Hill; 3, Colusa; 1, Little Giant; 5, Sacra-
mento; all south of Mary Union. On the north were: 1, North
Star; 2, Indian Valley; 3, Grand Island; this comprised thirty-
seven thousand two hundred feet on that ledge or lode, or seven
miles long in distance by six hundred feet wide. Separate lodes
were found and claims located, as: The Eagle, the Blazing Star,
the Wyandotte, the Lion, the Settlers' Claim and the Pioneer. A
town was surveyed and laid out on the twenty-eighth section,
township seventeen north, range six west, by Judge H. "\V. Dun-
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 123
lap and others, named Ashton, east of Little Stony, situated on
lands now owned by Josh. C. Smith and Jonathan Ping, two
hotels, two stores, livery stable, blacksmith shop and mining offices
constituting the town.
"Further discoveries required the formation of districts as
follows :
"Stony Creek District, December 24, 1863; St. John District,
January 2, 1864; Snow Mountain District, January 5, 1864;
Pacific Mining District, February 6, 1864; Mountain District,
March 14, 1864; Lane District, also in March, 1864. In many of
these locations the principals were: W. M. Rice, T. M. Rice, J.
B. Turner, R. G. Burrows, James M. Berry, N. J. Greene, G. W.
Keys, J. L. Howard, C. Dixon, J. Hop. Woods, Harrv Pevton,
J. A. Rush, H. Fairchild, W. K. Estill, G. W. Ware, Amos
Roberts, J. K. Weast, J. W. Lane, Gil. Roberts, Judge H. W.
Dunlap, Fred Clay, Mart Gibson, H. A. Van Dorsten, A. d'Ar-
tenay, William Johnson, J. J. Lett, H. Mitchum, W. M. Gassu-
way, Dav. Lett, Henry McCausland, J. C. Johns, A. N. Greene,
Thomas Votaw, W. W. Greene, D. A. Greene, Jackson Hart,
L. H. Baker, Joseph Whitlock, J. W. Goad, Stewart Harris,
W. W. Noble, Charles Denmark, G. W. Noble, Joseph Ingrira,
Thomas Talbot, J. W. Brim, James Taggert, A. J. Slye, and
Julius Weyand, all of Colusa County, besides many persons from
adjoining counties and the state.
"The agents of Flood & O'Brien, of San Francisco, had
located a claim (the Ophir) running over and into the lines of
the Mary LTnion Company, and a dispute arose between the
parties, which was adjusted by a miners' meeting on February 4,
1864, deciding that Flood & O'Brien had to abandon their loca-
tion. The parties did do so at once, and left for San Francisco,
and, as appeared afterwards, to the injury of the further explora-
tion of the locality. Their instructions were to spend a large sum
of money before they should give up the work.
"The ores found in all this territory were native copper, red
and black oxides, blue carbonates or indigo copper, and gray ore,
the red oxides always carrying a tyace of gold, and the gray ore
a small per cent, of silver. Assays run as high as tliirty-three
per cent, copper.
' ' Strata of ore were found all over the country, claimed to be
well-defined ledges, and as such were locat|d, though hardly ever
worked to prove their value.
"All well-defined ledges ran from southeast to northwest.
"The most work was done on the Mary Union, Copper Hill,
the Colusa, the Sacramento, the Pacific, the Lion ; and all of them
undoubtedly will develop into mines of value if worked properly.
124 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
"Dui'iug the first excitenieut of. the new discovery, there were
incorporated the following claims:
Nov. 14, 1863, Mary Union Co., 1200 shares, at 10 $ 18,000
Dec. 17, 1863, Colusa Co., 345 shares, at 100 34,.500
Dec. 31, 1863, Pioneer Co., 3300 shares, at 5 16,500
Jan. 8, 1864, Copper Hill Co., 4500 shares, at 5 22,500
Jan. 25, 1864, North Star Co., 4500 shares, at 4 18,000
Jan. 25, 1864, Blazing Star Co., 3900 shares, at 10 39,000
Feb. 6, 1864, Pacific Co
March 7, 1864, Sacramento Co., 5400 shares, at 5 27,000
June 15, 1867, Lion Co., 5400 shares, at 20 108,000
"The work in 1864 shows the Mary Union shaft about fifty
feet and several cuts or short tunnels; the Copper Hill shaft,
ninety-five feet ; the North Star tunnel, sixty feet ; the Lion shaft,
forty-two feet, and incline about sixty-five feet. The quantity of
ore was small, the quality good. In the fall of 1864 the develop-
ment of the mines was not satisfactory to the stockholders, the
assessments became delinquent, and a great portion of the stock
had to be taken by the company, for the assessment. Outside
mining speculators and prospectors paid no more attention to our
mining region, from the date of the Flood & O'Brien agents leav-
ing the locality, and our home capitalists and stockholders only of-
fered to sell what they had, never offered to help develop the lodes.
"Work was suspended for the season, and several attempts
were made in 1865 to resume work; the only company continuing
work was the Lion, which took out some fine ore.
"A. d Artenay, the principal owner, had assays made on Lion
ore. These appearing satisfactory, he made preparations for
erection of smelting works near the mine. In 1866, when every
preparation for the enterprise was arranged, he died. His
brother, T. d 'Artenay, and Fred Schrieber, of Marysville, pro-
ceeded in behalf of the company. Professor Isenbeck erected a
fire-clay cupola furnace, steam engine for crushing ore and blast,
at a great expense of money. The taking out of ore, hauling to
smelt the ore and coal, and running the smelting works, were only
commenced when the furnace failed to do the work. A steady
flow of the molten mass could not be accomplished; several trials
were attempted, but all failed, and the furnace was declared unfit
to smelt this kind of ore. Coffee & Risdon, of San Francisco,
offered to put up a Haskell iron, water-lined furnace, warranting
the same to smelt the Lion ore profitably and satisfactorily. The
company agreed to their jiroposition, and the furnace was erected,
and put under the management of their agents, Messrs. Johnson
and Norcross, both being experienced smelters. They could run
out a few copper brick in good shape; but after one or two hours'
run, the metal would chill or freeze, and the furnace had to be.
cleared of the substance causing the failure. This proved to be
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 125
asbestos, wliidi does uot melt uor flow off, and, when completely
covering the surface of the furnace, will prevent its flow.
"Mr. Norcross gave his opinion that only a reverberatory
furnace of the Swansea pattern could successfully and profitably
smelt this quality of ore. The Haskell furnace was shipped back
to San Francisco, and other attempts to smelt this ore have not
been made since ; the trustees continued to develop their lode, and
as their ore, assayed by State Assayer Hanks, showed twenty-one
l^er cent, copper, they shipped several tons to San Francisco in
1876, but did not realize enough for cost of production. The
company has a quantity of ore on the dump, but cannot figure
out a profit to keep at work, and therefore have suspended.
"In 1877 J. W. Brim, Jackson Hart, George Heath and W.
K. Aldersley took several tons of ore from the Mary Union and
Copper Hill grounds and shipped it to San Francisco, but failed
to pay exi^enses and discontinued.
"In 1880, E. A. Frenzel, H. Gehrt, G. W. Hopkins, and James
W. Warwick relocated claims on the Mary Union and Copper Hill
grounds, working two seasons, finding new deposits, and running
a tunnel to main lode, but suspended work to await a better value
of copper.
"In 1883, J. L. Jordan, of Santa Eosa, and J. W. Cook, now
of Maxwell, relocated the grounds of the Colusa Company, work-
ing some time ; but they suspended, and since that time nothing
has been done in these mines.
"Coal was discovered in the foothills on the road between
McMichael's, in Antelope, and G. C. Ingrim's, in Bear Valley, in
the spring of 1855, by Isaac Howell and son; but no developments
were made.
"In 1865, J. B. Turner also found coal on the left bank of
Little Stony Creek, near Ashtou, of good quality, but never devel-
oped any of the seams.
"In 1882, E. S. Ashley, in Antelope Cafion, one half mile
east bi Sites, found coal of fine quality. A tunnel was started to
examine the extent of the deposit; but this not appearing satis-
factory, work was stopped.
"In 1887, John Arnett discovered a good vein on Little Stony
Creek, two miles southeast of Smithville. Not considering it
profitable, no further exploration was made by him. As coal
exists in many places in the western part of the county, the dis-
covery of large deposits will depend on the pospector of a future
day.
"Gold and Silver.— In 1864, J. W. Brim, J. K. Weast and
others found quartz containing both metals on Trout Creek, at
the foot of Snow Mountain, situated a few miles west of Fonts
126 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Springs. They put up an arrastra aud worked a few months ; but
returns not being satisfactory, they suspended.
' ' About the same time the Manzanita mine, at Sulphur Creek,
was worked by Woodruff Clark and William Cherry, for gold,
paying fairly well. There were other silver claims prospected,
namely, the Foolcatcher, by San Francisco parties, but only to a
very small extent.
"Quicksilver was discovered in 1865, in the western part of
Bear Valley, and across the line in Lake County.
"The Abbot mine for several years paid well. The Ingrim,
Buckeye and Sulphur Creek were developed and beginning to pay
a profit, when the price of the metal fell to fifty per cent, of for-
mer values, and the production was not profitable. J. Purth, J.
W. Brim, J. Hart, W. S. Green, G. C. Ingrim and others were
prominent in that industry. Their works were closed and have
never been reopened.
* "Sulphur exists in large deposits at Sulphur Creek, whence
Johnson, of Sulphur Creek, shipped a great quantity in 1866 and
1867. The shipment is now discontiniied.
"Petroleum was found in many places in Antelope and Bear
Valley in Fel)ruary, 1865. The Lane Mining District was organ-
ized at that time. Quite an excitement was created by the news,
and people came rushing to the hills to locate claims, and to bore
for oil. Louis Lewis bored with hand-drills, on what is known as
the Glotzbach place, on Freshwater, a well about four hundred
feet deep, the same now being a flowing well emitting a strong
inflammable gas, burning freely if conducted through a funnel and
set afire. The oil was not in sufficient quantity, and the gas could
not be used profitably ; so the place was deserted by Lewis.
"Hughes and Mrs. Warner, of Sacramento, used a steam en-
gine in boring for oil at Mr. Lane's, now McMichael's place.
They never succeeded in finding oil worth mentioning.
■ "Taylor, of Virginia City, bored at the Gilmore ranch, in
Bear Valley; and several others bored in different places in the
foothills. Not being successful, they suspended work, and no new
effort has been made since to prospect for oil.
"Chrome Ore. — This ore was discovered in township nineteen
north, range six west, on Big Stony Creek, by J. P. Rathbun,
William Needham and others, several years ago.
"Several shipments of the ore were made; its quality was
reported to be good, but the work was discontinued from some
cause not known. A mine is now being opened southwest of
Newville.
"Limestone was also found by Rathlmn Brothers, in town-
ship sixteen north, range five west, two miles north of Leesville,
THE STONE CORRAL
STON'E QUARRY AT SITES
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 127
on the ludiau Valley road, in 1878. They erected a limekiln and
burned lime of very good quality ; but the limited demand in the
vicinity was the cause for stopping further prosecution of work. ' '
It will be noticed that Mr. Weyand says that after the little
excitement of 1865 no new effort was made to prospect for oil.
Mr. Weyand's statement was made in 1890, and was true at that
time; but ten years later the western part of the county was in
the midst of one of the greatest oil excitements it had ever known.
In 1901 nineteen oil companies filed articles of incorporation with
the county clerk, and there were dozens of individual prospectors
and locators of claims. Somebody had found a little pool of oil
seeping through the groimd at the edge of Bear Creek, between
the lower end of Bear Valley and the mouth of Sulphur Creek.
At once the theory was developed that this was boiling up from
an immense reservoir of oil down beneath the surface of the earth,
and men made haste to be among those who would share in the
tapping of this great reservoir of oil and wealth. Borings were
made, not only in the viciuity of the first discovery, but as far
away as the Mountain House; and it took four or five years to
discourage the prospectors. One company kept on for nearly ten
years, but finally gave it up. This was the Williams Oil Com-
pany, which had between six hundred and seven hundred acres
of land leased, and drilled at least three wells.
A deposit of mineral paint was found on Little Stony Creek,
near Cooks Springs, in 1909, and the Ruby King Mining, Town-
site & Improvement Company was formed to develop it. Owing
to inadequate transportation facilities, the mine has never been
developed to any great extent ; but it may yet prove to be a pay-
ing investment.
When the war sent prices soaring in 1914, interest was re-
vived in the cinnabar mines of Sulphur Creek, and work was
resumed in some of the mines there. An account of the Manzanita
and Cherr}' mines will be found elsewhere in this volume.
Quarrying
In 1892, six years after the railroad was completed to Sites,
a quarry was opened up a half mile east of the town; and from
there some of the finest building stone ever seen in the state has
been shipped. The Colusa Sandstone Company was the first to
operate; but a few years later John D. McGilvray, the man who
put up the buildings at Stanford University, opened up a second
quarry and shipped hundreds of tons of Colusa sandstone to San
Francisco, where it was used in some of the finest buildings in
the city, or any citj\ The Ferry Building, the Spreckels Building,
128 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
the Emporium Building, and tlie Kohl Building are some of those
in which Colusa sandstone was used; and it was found at the time
of the great fire in 1906 that this stone resisted heat better than
any other stone used in the city.
In 1905 the quarries produced 118,051 cubic yards of sandstone,
worth $289,451. For some years before the Colusa & Lake Rail-
road suspended operations, the quarries had not been doing much,
as concrete had largely taken the place of stone in building; and
when the railroad quit, the quarries were of course put entirely
out of business.
CHAPTER XIII
Manufacturing
Local Ecop^mic Conditions Unfavorable to Manufacturing
This chapter will necessarily have to be short. I am not sure
but that it would have been more appropriately headed "Attempts
at Manufacturing"; for it must be admitted that Colusa is not a
manufacturing county. We produce immense cjuantities of raw
material; but it is shipped as raw material, and the finished
product is manufactured elsewhere. Continually we hear the
cry, "What this town needs is a pay roll"; and every town in the
county has answered the cry by establishing, or trying to estab-
lish, a factory of some sort. Most of the attempts made, however,
have met with failure. We have tried to turn our broom straw
into brooms, but a larger town took the factory out of the county.
We have tried to turn our timber into lumber, but the timber
supply gave out. We have tried to turn our water into ice, but
the trust gobbled us. We have tried to turn our paddy into rice,
but capital avoided us. We have tried to turn our beets into
sugar, our barley into beer, our fruit into cans; but something
always happened, and kept happening, to thwart our desires.
And so we've seen our fondest hopes decay, and again decay, with
apparently no economic formaldehyde at hand to prevent or check
the disintegration. A number of reasons might be cited in esijlan-
ation of tliis state of affairs; but one reason overshadows all the
rest: We haven't time to waste with manufacturing.
Let me explain. Manufacturing requires a constant and plen-
tiful supply of labor. Labor necessarily works for wages. But
how are you going to get a man to work for wages when he can
go to the edge of his home town, put in a crop, and for every grain
he sows get a hundred grains a few months later ? For I want to
submit this : Farming, under ideal conditions, is the most profit-
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 129
able legitimate business on earth — except manufacturing Ford
cars; and farming conditions, along many lines, are so nearly
ideal in Colusa County that uoljody wants to fool away time and
capital in a manufacturing concern that may, perhaps, pay six
per cent, a year, when he can put in a crop and make five hundred
per cent, on his investment in six months. To illustrate my point,
take the rice business. It costs about thirty dollars an acre to
plant and harvest a rice crop. An acre will i:)roduce, under good
conditions, and has produced in this county many a time, sixty
sacks of rice, worth at present three dollars per sack. That makes
one hundred eighty dollars per acre, or six hundred per cent, on
the investment. You have there the big reason why factories
haven't made much headway in this county. There aren't enough
poor people to work in them.
SaicDiills and Flouring Mills
The history of manufacturing in Colusa Co .ty goes back
to 1852, when a man named Morrison built a combination grist and
saw mill on the bank of the river about a mile below Sycamore.
The sawmill made lumber out of the oak trees that grew in the
neighborhood. But it wasn't good lumber; it warped badly, and
when dry was so hard that you couldn't drive a nail into it. More-
over, the oak trees were very hard to work; and as the supply
was limited, they had to be brought from an increasingly long
distance each year. So the sawmill part of the enterprise was
abandoned after two or three years. The grist-mill, Jiowever, con-
tinued to run for over thirty years ; but it now is also abandoned.
And now that I have begun the discussion of grist-mills, or
flouring mills, as they are more commonly called today, let me
treat the subject in detail. Colusa has the honor of having the
second flouring mill in the count3^ By the end of 1852 the lands
along the river had been pretty well settled up; and there soon
came to be a considerable production of wheat, as well as a growing-
demand for flour. Dunlap & Turner built a sawmill in Colusa in
1853 ; but, seeing that wheat was more plentiful than timber, and
was becoming more plentifiul while timber was becoming scarcer,
they soon took out the saws and changed their mill to a grist-mill.
They made a brand of flour that captured the premium at the
State Fair in 1867, and commanded a higher price than any
other flour in the Marysville or Sacramento markets. The mill
was often forced to run night and day to keep up with the
demand. Charles Spaulding operated this mill for many years,
but in 1874 J. D. Gage and Gil Jones bought it. Gage & Jones
erected a new building, put in new machinery, and increased the
already wide reputation of the Colusa mill; but the mill became
130 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
worn out and obsolete, competition from more modern mills in
neighboring towns pressed it closely, and it was finally abandoned
and torn down. The lot where it stood has gone down the river,
for it was located about one hundred feet northwest of the pres-
ent foot of Sixth Street, where the middle of the river now is.
Some time in the sixties, but just when, I have been unable
to learn, a flour mill was built at Princeton, which continued to
operate for over twenty years. It was run by steam and was
what was called a burr mill; that is, one in which the grain is
ground between revolving stones. By 1885 the old mill was
about worn out ; and as its business was being absorbed by more
modern mills, it was closed and later torn down.
In 1863 John L. Smith settled near the junction of Big Stony
Creek with Little Stony Creek, and laid out a town which he
called Smithville. Evidently Mr. Smith came to share the gen-
eral belief that every town needs a pay roll, for in 1878, fifteen
years after his town was born, he built a flour mill, which was
run by water from the Big Stony. This he operated till 1890,
when he sold it, with the rest of his holdings, to the Stony Creek
Improvement Comjiany. The company moved the mill to a
better location, rebuilt it, and put in modern machinery; but as
the boom they had planned for the town did not fully materialize,
the mill was closed down after a few years. Lack of wheat was
also responsible in part for the closing of the mill.
The next community to tackle the flouring-mill business was
"Williams. In 1879, a year after Mr. Smith built his mill at
Stonyford, a company was formed at Williams to build a flour-
ing mill. It was called the Williams Flouring Mill, and the capital
stock was twentv-five thousand dollars. The directors were J. C.
Stovall, H. P. Eakle, W. H. Williams, John Stanley and J. 0.
Zumwalt. The business was highly successful, and would no doubt
have continued to this day had not the mill burned down, leaving
W'illiams without a mill for many years.
The building of the Colusa & Lake Railroad in 1886 stimulated
business in Colusa, and in the fall of that year a second flouring
mill was begun in the town. It was. called "Sunset Flouring
Mills," and was ready for the installation of machinery in Janu-
ary, 1887. It turned out its first flour on April 5, 1887. On
August 1, 1889, the Colusa Milling Company was incorporated
with a capital stock of forty thousand dollars, and the Sunset
Mills were bought of W. E. Browning & Company. The ofiQcers
of the company were W. P. Harrington, president ; George Hagar,
vice-president; E. C. Barrell, secretary; and J. C. Bedell, superin-
tendent. The Colusa Milling Company continued to grow and
prosper for twenty-seven years. In 1916 they sold out to the
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 131
Colusa Milling tS: Grain Company, of which E. H. Weckbaugii is
president and general manager. The mill is doing a very pros-
perous business at present.
In 1916 Williams decided to try the milling business again.
The Williams Parmer had been repeatedly calling attention to
the fact that Williams, although in the center of a great wheat-
growing district, was buying its flour from outside. Finally the
Williams Milling Company was formed, and a mill was built ad-
joining the Southern Pacific tracks in the southeast part of town.
It is a modernly equipped mill, with every facility for doing good
work, and has established a good business. The directors who
launched the project were H. W. Wakefield, Roy Welch, B. L.
Fouch, W. W. Percival and W. C. Percival.
Manufacture of Salt
In the account of his exploring trip to Colusa County in 1844,
John Bidwell mentions a salt lake which he found in the hills north
of where the town of Sites now stands. The water was so salt
that neither men nor horses could drink it, although they were
almost famished for water. Peter Peterson afterward acquired
the land about there and called it "Salt Lake Ranch." The pos-
sibilities for making money from its saline water very early ex-
cited the imagination of those who saw the lake. Salt was made
there as early as 1860, but only in small quantity. In 1889
J. P. Rathbun took up the work in earnest, and made several
tons of salt; and the next year he made ten tons more. The
water contained from fifteen to forty per cent, salt, and Mr.
Rathbun was enthusiastic over the prospects. In 1892 the An-
telope Crystal Salt Company was formed with fifty thousand dol-
lars capital stock, and plans were made to manufacture salt on a
large scale. The directors of the company were J. P. Rathbun,
Peter Peterson, W. P. Harrington, W. S. Green, 6. B. Harden,
P. H. Graham and R. DeLappe. The company did not get very
far till it discovered that it could not make salt in competition
with ocean-water salt, and the enterprise was therefore aban-
doned.
Projects for a Sugar Factory
I have told something of the attempts to establish a sugar
factory in this county. The first attempt was made in 1895,
and tlie second in 1896. Then the matter rested till 1905, when
it was taken up with renewed vigor and one hundred thousand
dollars was subscribed toward building a factory ; but this attempt
also resulted in failure. After that the factory was built at Ham-
ilton Citv; and as it will furnish a market for all the Colusa
132 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
County beets that can be grown, this county will probably have to
do without a sugar factory.
Canning and Packing
Beginning with 1884, the fruit industry about Colusa boomed.
Many orchards of pears, peaches, prunes and apricots were
planted up and down the river. No provision had been made for
handling the fruit, however ; and there was much talk of a can-
ning factory. Several preliminary meetings were held; and in
April, 1889, the Colusa Canning, Drying and Packing Company
was incorporated, with W. P. Harrington, W. T. Seville, L. L.
liicok, E. A. Bridgford, J. B. DeJarnatt, F. W. Willis, and A. S.
McWilliams as directors. The enterprise was launched with great
enthusiasm; and that fall forty thousand five hundred sixty-six
pounds of raisins, prunes and canned fruits were shipped. On
August 15, 1891, the following aj^peared in a local paper concern-
ing the cannery :
"Twenty tons of fruit are now in the cannery,- and they
expect to have fifty tons more. About sixty hands are employed
at present, and one hundred more are wanted. The warehouse
just now contains about forty thousand cans of fruit, and fifteen
thousand cans have already been shipped East. The cannery peo-
ple expect to ship about two hundred thousand cans altogether this
season. They have finished with apricots and have just com-
menced with pears. About the nicest peaches they have gotten so
far came from the Henry Ahlf place on the east side of the
river. " '
Less than three years after the above was written, the can-
nery was a matter of history. It did not pay, and therefore
operations were suspended. The Colusa Dried Fruit Company
opened up for business in the brick building at Seventh and
Market Streets in 1900, where it was operated for a few years;
and then it, too, succumbed.
Creameries
So far as I know, there have been only three creameries in
the county to date, although every little town ought to have one.
On November 23, 1895, a representative of the Pacific Creamery
Company came to Colusa to interest the dairymen in a coopera-
tive creamery. He may have interested them, but he didn't
establish a creamery at that time. On January 6, 1897, the Colusa
Cream Association, headed by H. B. Turman, bought a lot on
which to establish a creamery ; and in March following, the Colusa
Creamery Company was incorporated with H. B. Turman, H.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 133
Morris. Frank "Wilkins, E. C. Peart, and U. W. Brown as directors.
A creamery was built, and was operated for a year or two; but
there weren't enough cows to keej) it going, and consequently it
failed. Its building was on the north side of Market Street, be-
tween Third and Fourth, and is now used as an ice house.
In 1903 the Colusa Butter Companv was incorporated with
L. L; Hicok, E. B. Vann, D. W. George," O. J. Kilgore, and J. H.
Kilgore as directors. This company built a creamery and under
the careful and skillful guidance of Mr. Hicok, operated it with
success and protit till 1909, when it was bought by the Western
Creameries Company and went into the great creamery trust that
was being organized at that time. The trust proved to be a failure,
"and in 1912 the Western Creameries Company sold its Colusa
plant to M. A. Sickels, one of the best creamery men in the state,
who is turning out every week about twelve thousand pounds of the
finest butter that can be produced, butter for which the consumer
has paid as high as sixty-two and a half cents a pound.
In 1913 the Stonyford Creamery was organized with A. T.
Welton, F. M. Kesselring, Bruce H. Sutlitf, W. E. Whitcher, and
G. T. McGahan as directors. They built a fine little creamery,
installed the latest machinery, and made a product that could not
be improved ui^on. This creamery shut down for a year or two,
but it has been reopened and is now in operation.
Steam Laundries
On March 20, 1895, J. E. Phillips opened a steam laundry in
Colusa ; but Chinese competition killed it, and it had to close for
lack of patronage and comi)eteut help.
In 1911 John C. Mogk jiromoted and organized the Colusa
Steam Laundry Association, with himself, G. A. Olson, Herman
Jacobson, Wilson Scarlett, and B. C. Maves as directors. The new
enterprise couldn't compete with the Orientals, however, and kept
running behind each month till December, 1913, when the plant
was sold to W. H. Graham. Mr. Graham has made a success of it,
in spite of Aory ]ioor support by people who ought to patronize it.
The assoriatidii assessed its members six dollars each to pay its
debts, and (lisliaiided.
Madam Bordes started a French steam laundry in 1911, but
it burned down a year or two later and was not rebuilt.
Ice Phmfs
Colusa has also tried the ice business. In January, 1880, J. B.
Cooke, of the Colusa Waterworks, began the manufacture of ice;
but the venture did not pay and was discontinued.
134 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
In January, 1907, Eybel & Webber bought a lot on Market
Street ; and in "l908 Mr. Eybel organized the Colusa Meat & Cold
Storage Company. W. C. Blean finished a ten-thousand-dollar
concrete building for the company on January 1, 1909 ; and at once
an ice and refrigerating plant was installed. The first ice was
turned out on May 4, 1909 ; and for two years the business was
apparently prosperous. Then the Union Ice Company came in,
and an ice war began on May 1, 1911. The result was that in
March of 1913 the Colusa Meat & Cold Storage Company leased
its ice plant to the Union Ice Company, which closed it down ; and
a perfectly good ice plant is now rusting in the basement of the
building. That was the end of homemade ice for us.
Irou and Steel Manufactures
Factories for working iron and steel have been practically
limited to the blacksmith shops. In 1882 the Williams Foundry
and Machine Shop was organized by J. C. Stovall, W. H. Williams,
Henry Husted, J. O. Zumwalt, J. G. Moyer, J. W. Woodland
and F. M. Boardman, and did a modest business.
In 1888 the people of Colusa were made to believe that their
town was the proper location for a great factory for the making
of farm machinery of all kinds. A firm named Gessner & Skinner
were ready to undertake such an enterprise, provided the proper
inducements were forthcoming. So the town got behind the project
to the extent of at least a site for the building; and on February
4, 1889, the Colusa Agricultural Works was put in operation for
the purpose of turning out plows, wagons, buggies, traction engines
and agricultural implements. Gessner & Skinner lasted about a
year, aud then J. Grover had to take charge of the remains. He
sold them in 1892 to Wulff & Lage ; and a short time later Frank
Wulff bought his partner out. For twenty-one years Mr. Wulff
conducted the Colusa Foundrv & Machine Shop. In 1914, after
Mr. Wulff 's death, Mrs. Wulff leased the works to T. E. Maroney
and H. S. Hern ; and they later bought it. Mr. Hern has retired
from the business, and Mr. Maroney is now the sole proprietor.
The Breuery
About the year 1870 a brewery was started in Colusa. The
first building was of wood, and was located near the corner of
Main and Eighth Streets. Some years later a new brick building
was erected at the corner of Main and Eighth. For many years,
under the proprietorship of G. Kammerer, this brewery supplied
much of the local demand for beer. It was sold in 1891 by the
sheriff, to satisfy a mortgage; and since that time Colusa people
have been compelled to drink imported beer if they drank any.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 135
Light, Poicer, and Water Companies
On March 31, 1886, the town of Cohisa emerged from the
coal-oil era and began the manufacture of gas. The Colusa Gas
Company was organized, and began operation under the following-
directors : J. W. Goad, D. H. Arnold, George Hagar, W. D. Dean,
A. Bond and E. W. Jones. This company sold out to the Pacitic
Gas & Electric Company when it came to Colusa in 1900, and the
town still uses gas made on the premises.
In 1909 C. K. Sweet launched the Williams Water & Electric
Company, and supplied the town of Williams with light, power
and water.
Manufacture of Brooms
There have been two attempts to establish a broom factory in
Colusa. The first attempt was made in 1893 by William Prater, of
Red Bluff; and the second, in 1909, when J. W. Van AVinkle made
broojns for a time in J. C. Mogk's warehouse, near the old Colusa
waterworks. After being here a few months, Mr. Van Winkle
moved his factory to Sacramento.
Manufacture of Poultry Supplies
In March of 1912, M. C. Rogers, George Ash, W. H. Ash, G. C.
Comstock, and A. H. Burns incorporated the Rogers Manufactur-
ing Company at Williams, for the manufacture of portable, sani-
tarj' chicken houses and other poultry supplies. The company was
moved to Sacramento last year, depriving this county of one of
its chief factories.
Other Projects
It would be practically impossible to mention all the factories
of various kinds that almost got going in the county. There were
dozens of them, and one of the most prominent was a rice mill for
Colusa. This project has been agitated two or three times since
the rice industry came; but the greatest effort was made in 1913,
when a permit was obtained from the state authorities to sell stock.
The response, however, was far from encouraging; and in 1915
the permit was revoked.
In 1895 W. W. Felts, E. F. Peart, G. F. Scott, J. K. Barthol-
omew, C. C. Felts, G. B. Harden, E. E. Scott, W. F. Ford, and
U. W. Brown organized the Felts Electric Light & Power Company,
for the purpose of making and putting on the market a wonderful
new electric battery that had been invented by Editor W. W. Felts.
The battery did not materialize as a commercial proposition.
In 1899 C. D. Stanton, H. H. Seaton, A. F. Shriver, G. F. Scott,
and U. W. Brown organized the Western Acetylene Gas Company,
136 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
principal place of business, Aiimekle, for tlie purpose of manu-
facturing and installing- acetylene gas plants. They did some
business, including the fitting out of the Golden Eagle Hotel in
Colusa with an acetylene plant, but not enough to keep the wolf
from the door.
In 1907 A. S. Lindstrom, C. H. Glenn, C. R. Wickes, B. H. Bur-
ton, Tennent Harrington, M. J. Boggs, and H. C. Stovall organized
the Snow Mountain Electric Power Company, for the purpose of
putting in an electric power plant just where the north fork of
Stony Creek enters the main stream. They built a fine mountain
road from Fouts Springs to the site of the power house, and then
abandoned the work.
This chapter will have to end somewhere, and it may as well
end here. Other corporations and enterprises, not of a manufac-
turing nature, will be mentioned in a later chapter, under head of
the various towns in which thev are located.
CHAPTER XIV
Newspapehs
Colusa
Colusa County worried along for twelve years, in the begin-
ning, without a newspaper. The Colusa Sun was the first paper
ever published in the county. It was founded on January 1, 1862,
bv Charles R. Street, who published it till some time in the summer
of 1863, when he sold it to T. J. Andus. On September 26, 1863, Mr.
Andus sold it to Will S. Green and John C. Addington; and in
1873 Stephen Addington bought half of his brother's half interest,
and thereafter edited the paper whenever Mr. Green chanced to be
away. In 1886 the Colusa Sun Publishing Company was formed,
and it has since published the paper. For many years the Sun
was a weekly paper ; but when in 1889 the Daily Gazette appeared,
the Sun was forced to meet the competition, and on November 1,
1889, its first daily edition appeared. It also issued a semi-weekly
in connection with the daily, and later changed the semi-weekly
to a tri-weekly, which, with the daily, it now issues. Will S. Green
was editor and guiding spirit of the paper until his death in 1905,
and since that time Mrs. Green has had editorial charge. Jack
McCune has been in charge of the mechanical department for the
past twenty-five years, and has made the paper mechanically one
of the best in the state. The Sun has had a decided influence on
the shaping of affairs in Colusa County in the last half century.
It has always been radically Democratic in politics.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 137
The Colusa ludepeudeut was established in 1873. It lived
almost four years, passing away in 1877.
The Colusa Herald was started as a Bepublican weekly in
July, 1886, by Jacobs & King. Mr. King sold out his interest to
Frank Eadcliffe, and the paper later passed to C. D. Radeliffe.
S. H. Callen owned it for a short time, but in 1897 John L. Allison
bought it. In 1900 the ownership was transferred to a stock com-
pany, of which J. L. Allison, G. A. Ware, James Balsdon, A. A.
Thayer and G. C. Comstock were directors. On July 25, 1900,
Mr. Allison made a daily of the Herald, and for a time Colusa had
three dailies. On January 1, 1905, the paper was changed back
to a weekly ; and on June 1 of that year it was sold to C. D.
McComish, who continued it as a weekly till May, 1910, when it
was changed to a semi-weekly. On February 1, 1916, Mr. McComish
sold the Herald to Tompkins & Harriss, who came from Lexington,
Ky., to take charge of it. They still own it, and have made a tri-
weekly of it, adding a telegraph news service.
The Colusa Daily Gazette was established in 1889, making
its first appearance on August 23. Its editor and publisher was
E. I. Fuller, and he led about as exciting a life as could be found
off the melodramatic stage. Mr. Fuller's literary forte was criti-
cism, sometimes of a very caustic nature. His wife kept a tamale
parlor; and his paper was generally, almost universally, called
the "Tamale Wrapper." The Herald referred to the Gazette as
E. I. Fooler's blacksmith shop; and although I have never seen
a copy of the Gazette, I could till the rest of my space with stories
of this eccentric editor's antics. The paper ceased publication
about 1901.
Williams
The first newspaper to be established in Williams was called
the Central News. It was first issued on February 20, 1882, and
was edited by G. B. Henderson. It was not well supported, and
didn't last long.
The Williams Farmer is the onlv paper that has ever made
a success of the publishing business in that town. It was started
by S. H. Callen on August 18, 1887, and at first was a sis-column
four-page paper. Later Mr. Callen got a cylinder press so small
that it wouldn't print a six-column paper; so he changed the
Farmer to a four-column eight-page paper. In 1890 he sold a half
interest to George W. Gay, but in 1892 bought it back again. Mr.
Callen died on July 24, 1911, since which time Mrs. Callen has leased
the paper to various parties. R. R. Kingsley, H. M. Keene, and
J. P. Hall are among those who have directed the destinies of the
138- COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Farmer at different times since 1911. Leo H. Bowen is the present
lessee. Under Mr. Callen the Farmer was a Democratic paper, but
of recent years it has been independent in politics.
The Williams Enterprise was established in 1911 by E. E.
Kingsley, who had been an employe on the Farmer. After a few
months of precarious existence, the Enterprise was throttled by
its owner, who leased the Farmer for a time, and then suddenly
left town. For a time afterwards there was a good deal of specu-
lation as to what had become of him, but he finally turned up
down about the bay cities.
Arhuckle
Arbuckle has had at least one newspaper ever since 1890. On
April 4 of that year J. S. Taylor first issued the Arbuckle Autocrat.
It was independent in politics; but in 1892 it supported the Pro-
hibition party. Mr. Taylor some time later changed the name of
the paper to the New Era ; and on January 1, 1899, he leased it to
J. H. Hudson, who had established the Arbuckle Independent.
W. W. Felts came into possession of the paper about 1902, and
changed the name to Arbuckle Planter. Mr. Felts continued as
proprietor till 1909, when he sold the paper to J. P. Hall. Mr.
Hall changed the name once more, this time to the Arbuckle Ameri-
can. He made it a very live and interesting paper, and is still
the editor and i:)ublisher. The American has had a big part in
making Arbuckle a widely known almond center.
Maxu-ell
Just when Maxwell's first paper was started I do not know ; but
it was some time prior to 1881, for in that year W. W. Felts, a
veteran newspaper man, and James H. Hodgen bought the Maxwell
Star. It continued publication only three or four years after the
change of ownership, and then passed away and left the field clear
for the Maxwell Mercury, which was first issued on July 14, 1888,
by John G. and Charles C. Overshiner. The Mercury struggled
along for a few years ; and then it, too, gave up the ghost, leaving
Maxwell without a paper till 1912. In January of that year
Harden & Hardwicke started the Maxwell Tribune, with George
B. Harden, prominent business man, capitalist and booster, in the
editorial chair. Mr. Hardwicke soon dropped out of the combina-
tion, and thereafter Mr. Harden ran the paper alone for several
years, making it one of the most interesting news sheets in the
valley. The patronage wasn't sufficient, however, to support the
kind of paper Mr. Harden was making, and the Tribune last year
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 139
suspended publication. L. H. Boweu, of the AVilliams Farmer,
leased the plant a few months ago, and has revived the Tribime,
doing the printing at the Williams Farmer office.
GriDies
Grimes has had two papers within the past seven years. On
March 3, 1911, the Grimes Record was first issued, the editor and
publisher being J. P. Hall, of the Arbuckle American, and the
printing being done in the American office. Mr. Hall, who liad also
established a paper at Meridian, soon decided that one country
newspaper can make all the trouble any ordinary mortal needs;
and so he discontinued all his papers except the American. About
six months ago, L. H. Bowen decided to try his hack in Grimes ; he
established the Grimes Independent, which is still being published,
the work being done at the office of the Williams Fai-mer.
Piinceto)i
Princeton has also had at least two newspapers. In March,
1905, the Princeton New Era was launched by Joel H. Ford. The
printing of the paper was done at the Colusa Sun office. After a
few months, however, the New Era died of inanition, and since
then Princeton has been without a paper, except that in 1914 Seth
Bailey issued, from the Colusa Herald office, a few numbers of the
Princeton Journal, and then gave up the attempt.
County Editorial Association
On September 28, 1889, the editors of the county met at Max-
well and formed a County Editorial Association. This did not last
long. About the year 1914, J. P. Hall again got the editors of the
county together; but the association formed at that time also
proved not to be permanent.
CHAPTER XV
Schools, Chubches, and Lodges
Schools
Their school system is one of the things in which the people
of this county take especial pride, and on which they spend money
freely. The result is, that they have the very best schools obtain-
able, both in material equipment and in teaching force. They pay
liberal salaries, ranging from seventy-live dollars a month for the
140 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
smaller country schools to sixteen hundred dollars a year for the
principalships of some of the town grammar schools ; and for the
high schools, from one thousand to twenty-one hundred dollars a
year. Moreover, some of the best school buildings in the state are
to be found in this county.
The one great drawback to the progress of the rural schools
of the county has been the immense size of the landholdings. F.or
many years there was a tendency for the ranchers to add to their
holdings rather than to cut up the ranches and sell them off to
small holders. This of course made farm homes few and far be-
tween ; and as a result the history of some of the rural school dis-
tracts has been a record of a constant series of lapses and re-
vivals, while others have lapsed and have never been revived. In
1891, according to Will S. Green, there was a stretch of territory
extending from Colusa north along the river for fifty-tive miles to
Tehama, containing two hundred seventy square miles,' in which
there were only three school children attached to the land — that
is, belonging to landowners. Similar conditions have obtained in
all parts of the county ever since the tirst settlement, and in some
sections will probably continue to exist for years to come. The
dislike that most people have for solitude, and the consequent
tendency to move to town, where the social advantages are
greater, have also been hard on the country schools. Take Bear
A^alley for example : For many years two flourishing schools were
maintained in the valley, one near Leesville and one at the lower
end of the valley. The school in the lower end lapsed about 1907,
and has never been revived; and today there are hardly children
enough in the entire valley to maintain the Leesville school. Many
other rural sections have suffered in the same way.
For ten years after Colusa County was organized there wasn't
a schoolhouse in the count}^, and for half that time there wasn't a
school. This is not at all to be wondered at, for the early comers
were grown-ups, and most of them were men. About 1855 enough
children to form a school had gathered in Colusa, and a school
was established in the courthouse, where it was held for five or six
years. In 1861 School Trustee John H. Liening raised eight hun-
dred dollars by public subscription, and a schoolhouse was built at
Fourth and Jay Streets, the first one in the county. It was of
brick, twenty-eight feet long and twenty feet wide, and served its
purpose till 1871, when a ten-thousand-dollar building was erected
on Webster Street, between Fourth and Fifth. This building,
with an addition erected in 1875, was the one torn down this year
to make room for the magnificent new building that is being
erected.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 141
During the ten years from 1861 to 1871 the number of school
children in the county grew from twentj'-nine to five hundred fifty-
nine, and the number of schoolhouses from one to eleven; but it
must be remembered that the county then included what is now
Glenn County. No figures for that time for the present Colusa
County are available. In 1879 the number of children was two
thousand seven hundred eighty-seven, and the number of schools
sixty-two. In the meantime the secret of farming the plains by
summer-fallowing had been discovered, the railroad had come, and
the wide stretches of territory had been peopled, at least sparsely.
In 1892, the year after the county was divided, there were
thirty-eight schools, fifty teachers, and two thousand ninety-eight
school children in the county; but since that time the number of
children has gradually but steadily decreased in the rural dis-
tricts, so that there are now over six hundred fewer children be-
tween the ages of five and seventeen in the county than there were
twenty-five years ago. Today there are fifty-three teachers in the
elementary schools, besides three special music teachers and
twentj'-five high school teachers; and the schools, under the en-
thusiastic and efificient leadership of Miss Perle Sanderson, county
superintendent, are keeping fully abreast of all progress in edu-
cational methods. There are one thousand two hundred sixty
pupils enrolled in the elementary schools, and two hundred thirty
in the high schools.
The county is particularly proud of its high schools. There
are five of them, one each at Colusa, College City, Williams, Max-
well and Princeton; and in physical equipment, personnel, and
character of work they rank with the very best in the state.
Colusa High School, which was established in 1893, has a teaching
force of six and an enrollment of seventy-nine. In 190.3 a fine
new building was erected, and since then manual training and
domestic science have been added to the curriculum. Pierce Joint
Union High School was established at College City in 1897, the
buildings of Pierce Christian College being used. It has a faculty
of five members and an enrollment of forty-four. Williams and
Princeton High Schools were both established in 1909. The school
at Williams has a faculty of five and an enrollment of forty-one.
The school at Princeton is a joint union school, the district taking
in part of Glenn County. It has a faculty of five and an enroll-
ment of fifty-two. Maxwell, the youngest high school in the
county, was established in 1912. Its teachers number four and its
students, forty-two. Maxwell, Princeton and Williams have beau-
tiful, modern buildings and thorough equipment. The Princeton
buildings cost forty-two thousand dollars and the Maxwell build-
ings, twenty-four thousand dollars.
U2 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
A number of private schools have been started in the county,
but none has survived uninterruptedly. Only one is in existence
now, St. Aloysius Convent School in Colusa. The first private
school to be established was "Mrs. Clark's Select School for
Young Ladies." In 1868 the first old brick school building in
Colusa had been so far outgrown that all the pupils could not
crowd into it. To meet the difficulty, Mrs. A. E. Clark organized
her school for girls. Being unable to find quarters for it, she
accepted the offer of the county supervisors to allow the use of
their room in the courthouse; and her school was conducted there
for two years, the supervisors holding their meetings in the
county clerk's office. In 1870 Mrs. Clark bought a lot at Seventh
and Jay Streets, and a building with accommodations for sixty
pupils was erected for her. After a busy year in the new building,
Mrs. Clark's health failed and she had to go East. The school
was closed, but was later reopened in a building at First and Oak
Streets, where it continued to run for ten or twelve years with
varying success, finally closing permanently.
Mrs. D. B. Lowery ojoened a kindergarten in the old Meth-
odist Church on Oak Street, Colusa, in September, 1879, and con-
tinued it for a few years, but finally gave it up and removed to
Sacramento.
The most famous private school the county has had was
Pierce Christian College, a sectarian college under the auspices of
the Christian denomination, at College City. The foimder of the
college was Andrew Pierce, a Massachusetts Yankee who came to
California in 1849. Mr. Pierce had been a shoemaker at home.
In California he at first drove a freight team; but in 1855, after
a trip back home, he settled down at the present site of College
City and raised sheep. He was thrifty and frugal and soon be-
came wealthy. In 1871, at the age of forty-eight, he died of con-
sumption, leaving the bulk of his property for the founding of a
college. Stejas were taken to carry out his i^lans ; and in Sep-
tember, 1874, classes were begun in the church, the first college
building being then under construction. In January, 1875, the
college was moved into the new building, and the next year an-
other larger building was completed. For many years the insti-
tution was prosperous, the attendance ranging from one hundred
to one hundred seventy-five students ; but after a time the attend-
ance began to fall off, and in 1894 the college closed its doors.
The College City High School now uses the larger of the college
buildings. Some of the most prominent men and women of the
Sacramento Vallev are alumni of Pierce Christian College, and it
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 143
is a matter of genuine regret that the institution could not con-
tinue to live.
In 1882 Father Michael Wallrath, the untiring builder of the
Catholic Churcli, secured a block of land in Colusa and began plan-
ning for a convent school. It was six years before the actual
l)uilding was begun; but in 1888 ground was broken for a beauti-
ful twenty-five-thousand-dollar building, and two years later it
was opened for educational work. Its work has not been unin-
terrupted from then till now. Several times lack of patronage or
lack of teachers has caused the convent school to suspend for a
time; but it has always reopened, and is in operation today, giv-
ing promise of a vigorous existence for many years. The teachers
are usually sisters or nuns of one of the various orders ; those at
present in charge are Sisters of the Humility of Mary. The at-
tendance this year is about one hundred.
Churches
Colusa County people cannot be charged with an overmaster-
ing fondness for church-going. They spread their activities over
a number of lines, and some of these they emphasize much more
than church attendance. Most of the churches of the county are
weak; but there are some that have stood for nearly sixty years,
pillars of defense in the cause of righteousness, and the story of
the struggles of this department of the county's activities should
find place here.
The Methodist Episcoi^al Church, South, has more church
buildings in the county than any other denomination, and of course
the chief congregation is to be found at Colusa. The following
history of the Colusa church was prepared by J. W. Goad for the
semi-centennial of the church in 1909 :
"My friends, we are here tonight to celebrate the fiftieth year
of our existence as a church, which was organized by Brother
James Kelsey in the year 1859. Rev. Moses Clampit was the first
presiding elder of what was then called the Marysville District;
and James Kelsey was the pastor of Colusa Circuit, which em-
braced Grand Island, Colusa, Princeton and Marvin Chapel, then
known as Davis schoolhouse.
"Brother Kelsey told me that, the first time he came to Co-
lusa, about a mile below the town he met a man in a wagon, and
he stopped him and inquired if he could tell him if there were
any Chi'istians in Colusa. The man looked at him apparently a
little surprised, and said, 'Mister, you are a stranger to me, but I
will bet you this jug of whiskey against five dollars that you can't
find a Christian in Colusa.'
144 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
"Brother Kelsey came on a little further, when he came to a
gallows where they had hanged a man a few days before. But the
sainted Kelsey did not let these things move nor discourage him;
he came on to town, and here he found a few faithful Christian
men and women — W. F. Goad, Mrs. George F. Jones, of Chico, J.
T. Marr and his good wife, and a few others. He then organized
this church, and preached here once a month in the old courthouse,
which was used for preaching at that time. It was the house
occupied by Judge Moore as a residence until a few years ago.
"A Sunday school was then organized, and W. F. Goad was
the first superintendent. In the year 1860, Rev. B. R. Johnson
was our presiding elder, and J. G. Shelton preacher in charge.
That year we built the parsonage now occupied by Brother Horn.
In 1861 T. C. Barton was presiding elder, and J. G. Johnson
preacher in charge. In 1862 0. Fisher was presiding elder, and
T. C. Barton preacher in charge. In 1863 0. Fisher was presiding
elder and I. G. Hopkins preacher in charge. We then had preach-
ing and all church services in the new courthouse. In 1864 T. C.
Barton was presiding elder, and T. S. Burnett was preacher in
charge. Brother Bui-nett was the brother of the first governor of
California. In 1865 T. C. Barton was presiding elder, and J. G.
Shelton was preacher in charge. That year the first church choir
was organized in Colusa by Mrs. Ella B. Wall. She had given a
concert and purchased an organ. The choir had met several times
for practice and were prepared to give good music. District court
had been in session for several days, and preaching was in the
court room. Judge Keyser and a number of distinguished attor-
neys from abroad were in the congregation. Brother Shelton
arose in the judge's stand and announced the first hymn, read the
first two lines, and turned to the choir and said, 'You may sing
it now, after a while, or not at all, just as you please.' One of
the choir said, 'We will sing it now'; and they did. This was the
beginning of choir singing in Colusa.
"In 1867-1868 P. 0. Clayton was presiding elder, and J. G.
Shelton was preacher in charge. During these years, the little
old church was built by Brother Shelton, and dedicated by Bishop
Marvin, and Coluga was changed from a circuit to a station.
"In 1868, at the conference in October, P. 0. Clayton was ap-
pointed presiding elder, and L. C. Renfro preacher in charge;
and they were here three years, until 1871.
"In 1871-1872 T. H. B. Anderson was presiding elder, and G.
W. Fleming and E. K. Miller preachers in charge. During 1873-
1875 T. C. Barton was presiding elder, and E. K. Miller preacher
in charge. In 1873 the Pacific Annual Conference was held in
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 145
Colusa by Bisliop Doggett. On Sunday morning Bisliop Doggett
preached in the theater; and Brother Hoss, now Bishop Hoss,
preached at night. In 1876 T. C. Barton was presiding elder, and
J. C. Heyden was preacher in charge. In October, 1876, Rev.
George Sim was appointed presiding elder, and T. H. B. Anderson
preacher in charge. During the pastorate of the latter, this Trinity
Church was built, the corner stone being laid on the 15th day of
August, 1877, under the auspices of the Grand Lodge of Free and
Accepted Masons of California. Hon. W. C. Belcher, of Marys-
ville, acted as Grand Master. The day was beautiful, and all
Masonic lodges in Colusa County were represented. Brothers Sim
and Anderson were here two years. James Kelsey was presiding
elder, and T. H. B. Anderson preacher in charge, from October,
1878, to October, 1879.
"The building committee that Imilt this church was T. H. B.
Anderson, chairman; J. W. Goad, secretary; W. E. Merrill, J. T.
Marr, C. C. Crommer, Jackson Hart, George Hagar and E. W.
Jones. J. B. Danner was the builder of the brick work. Rice and
Beach were tbe carpenters, and A. A. Cook, of Sacramento, archi-
tect. The cost of the building and furniture was $25,000, or there-
abouts. It was dedicated February 20, 1881.
' ' The preachers that have served this congregation since then
are as follows: In 1880, C. C. Chamberlain ; 1881 to 1883, T. A.
Atkinson; 1883 to 1887, T. H. B. Anderson; 1887 to 1890, J. C.
Simmons; 1890 to 1892, R. J. Briggs; 1892, E. A. Garrison; 1893,
C. E. W. Smith; 1894 to 1898, R. F. Allen; 1898 to 1900, C. M.
Davenport; 1900 to 1904, J. E. Squires; 1904 to 1906, W. P. Baird;
1906, J. R. Ward; 1907 to the present date, J. "W. Horn.
"This church has been a power for good in this community;
its influence cannot be estimated in this town and county. Among
the beautiful pictures that hang on my memory's wall is this
church and its membership. AVhen I think of Kelsey, Shelton,
Miller, Barton, Fisher, Chamberlain, Simmons, Garrison, Allen,
and a host of others that have labored here with us, and that have
gone on before and are now walking the golden streets, I almost
wish that I were there. When they meet, it may be that they
wonder why it is that we. Brother Anderson, tarry here so long.
My prayer is, that we may so live that when the summons comes
for us to join the innumeral>le company, we may hear the welcome
plaudit, 'Well done, good and faithful servants'."
The preachers since 1910 have been H. V. Moore, H. M.
Bruce, and J. W. Byrd, who is at present in charge. H. V. Moore,
as eloquent and elegant a gentleman as ever drew the breath of
hfe, was in charge when the present parsonage was erected. The
146 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
old one was located at Sixth and Oak Streets, and is now occupied
by Mrs. George Scott as a residence.
This denomination has churches at Arbuckle, "Williams, Max-
well, Sites and Princeton. The first Arbuckle church was built in
1878, and a fine new one was erected in 1913. The congregation
is now in charge of Rev. R. L. Sprinkle, as preacher. The Wil-
liams, Maxwell and Sites churches are combined in one charge,
and Rev. J. B. Needham is the preacher. The Williams church
was organized in 1880, and the Sites church in 1889. The Prince-
ton church is combined with the church at Marvin Chapel, in
Glenn County, and Rev. L. C. Smith is the preacher. The Meth-
odist Church, which is the only church in Princeton, was dedicated
on October 4, 1874. The Methodists also had churches at Stony-
ford and Leesville, but these have disintegrated.
The second Protestant denomination to have a church in Co-
lusa was the Christian Church, which ^built its first church in town
in 1869. The present structure was erected in 1881. The congre-
gation has been a strong one in years past, but has fallen off
recentlv. The ministers that have been in charge are J. C. Keith,
W. H. Martin, C. A. Young, W. P. Dorsey, G. T. Nesbit, Guy W.
Smith, H. G. Hartley, W. F. Reagor, E. W. Seawell, R. W. Tener,
W. L. Neal, H. J. Loken, J. K. Ballon and R. C. Davis. The
Christian Church at Williams was incorporated in July, 1881, and
for many years was a thriving institution; but since the departure
of Rev. J. A. Emrich, a few months ago, the church has had no
minister and no regular services. The only church in College City
is a Christian church, the pastor being Rev. A. A. Doak." This
church was dedicated in 1893, and has always been vigorous until
the past few years, during which the membership has fallen off.
A Christian church was organized at Sycamore in May, 1875, and
was served by the College City pastor for a number of years. The
membership was never large, and for many years there have been
no regular services in the church. A Christian church was built
in Maxwell in 1886. In June of that year, while the church was
under construction, a heavy wind blew it down, but it was later
completed and dedicated. No services have been held regularlj' in
it for many years. The youngest Christian church in the county
is the Grand Island church, located near Dry Slough, south of
Sycamore. This church was dedicated on November 11, 1900, and
must be regarded as a monument to the public spirit and energy
of Mrs. Maria Farnsworth, one of the early and finest pioneer
women of the county. The Grand Island church has no pastor,
but irregular services are held by the pastor at Colusa or others.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 147
The Catholic Church peoi)le liuilt the first church iu Colusa
County. That was at Colusa, and the dedication took place on
December 8, 1867. Up to this time all church services had been
held in the courthouse, in schoolhouses or in private homes. On May
27, 1866, Father Crinnian held services in Colusa, and eighteen
hundred dollars was subscribed for a church building; but a year
and a half passed before the building was ready for dedication.
Father F. C. Becker was the first resident priest. He remained
eighteen months; and then Father A. O'Donnell came for two
years, and Father Ed Kelly for eight monhs. After that came .
Fathers Coffee, Hagarty, Quigley, and Cassidy; and then, on
March 27, 1877, came an epoch in the church's life, the arrival of
Father Michael Wallrath. Father Wallrath found the church
building that had been begun in 1867 still unfinished. He quickly
finished it, and before he had been in charge for three years the
congregation had grown so much that they were planning a new
church. A little over ten years after' Father "Wallrath's adminis-
tration began, the ijresent fine brick building was finished. It was
dedicated on October 9, 1887. From the beginning of his pastorate
in 1877 to the day he was transferred to Woodland in 1911,
Father Wallrath was a potent influence in the atTairs of the Cath-
olic Church, not only in this county 1)ut also in the entire Sacra-
mento A^alley. He held frequent services in the towns throughout
the county, helped get a church in Maxwell in 1881, and built the
Mt. St. Zachary Church near Stonyford. This church was later
moved to Stonyford. It has never had a resident priest. Father
Michael Hynes, of Maxwell, serves the churches at Maxwell,
Stonyford, Williams and Arbnckle. Father C. C. McGrath, a
genial son of old Ireland, has been pastor of the Colusa church
since Father Wallrath left. Father Wallrath, who served the
Colusa congregation for thirty-four years, died iu 1917, and his
funeral was one of the largest and most impressive ever held in
the state; a special train was run from this county for the
occasion.
The Baptists have three active churches in the county : one at
Grimes, one at Arbuckle, and one at Maxwell. The Grimes church,
which cost four thousand dollars, was completed in 1875, and is
the only church in the town. It is therefore more or less of a
"commimity" church, as, indeed, many of the other churches in
the small towns are and ought to be. Rev. Walter F. Grigg is the
pastor at Grimes, and Rev. H. G. Jackson ministers to the congre-
gations at Maxwell and Arbuckle. The Maxwell church was in-
corporated in 188.3, and the Arbuckle church in 1894. Both con-
gregations are small.
148 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
The Presbyterian Church in Colusa is the only one of that
sect in the county. On Saturday, April 18, 1874:, a small company
of people met in the schoolhouse in Colusa and organized a Pres-
l)yterian church with fourteen members. J. D. Gage, John
Cheney, Dr. C. W. Hansen, E. B. Moore, and S. P. French were
chosen trustees. The next day Rev. Thomas Eraser, who had been
sent to oversee the organization of the church, preached to a great
crowd in the Christian Church, which had been kindly loaned for
the occasion, and a number of names were added to the member-
ship roll. Eev. J. H. Byers was secured as pastor at a salary of
twelve hundred dollars a year, and the Odd Fellows' Hall was
secured for holding services. During the summer a building com-
mittee was appointed, and it selected the lot at the corner of
Fourth and Jay Streets as a site for the church. Col. George
Hagar and Jonas Spect donated the site to the congregation ; and
in November, 1874, the contract for a three-thousand-dollar
church building was let. The new building was dedicated on
March 27, 1875, and before the end of the year was free of debt.
A. Montgomery built the fence around the church lot at a cost of
three hundred twenty-five dollars, and donated it to the congrega-
tion; and in 1888 Mr. Montgomery gave the church five thousand
dollars in cash.
The first wedding in the church was that of John Henry Row-
land and Miss Nellie Eeed, which took place on June 6, 1875. The
first funeral was that of Mrs. John Cheney, who died on May 11,
1876. Mrs. Cheney was one of the most faithful among the found-
ers of the church, and one of the best women it has known. The
first pastor was followed in 1875 by H. B. McBride, who came at
a salary of one thousand dollars a year. From 1876 to 1879 W.
P. Koutz was the pastor ; and then came James M. Smith, A. Fair-
bairn, George A. Hutchinson, J. C. Eastman, George E. Bird, and
H. H. Wintler. In 1900 H. T. Dobbins, one of the finest of earth's
fine men, took the pastorate and held it till the end of 1917, when
he resigned. His successor has not yet been selected.
There is now under construction an addition to the church
that will add a Sunday school room, a choir loft, and a kitchen
to the equipment, and, it is hoped, will add new life to the mem-
bership. For many years Mrs. Florence Kirk, now Mrs. Florence
Albery, was organist and had charge of the music of the church ;
and later Miss Elizabeth Murdock, now Mrs. C. A. Poage, was
organist. For the past fifteen years Mrs. Dobbins has been or-
ganist and choir director, a position that she has filled most
efficiently.
The Episcopal Church of Colusa, which is the only one of that
faith in the countv, was organized about twenty-five vears aa:o.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 149
For a time the congregatiou met in Odd Fellows' Hall, and later
in a small building on Main Street; but in 1894 they erected a
church building. This is a missionary parish, the membership
being very small, and it is combined with Willows; the rector,
Eev. C. H. Lake, serving both parishes. A very comfortable
rectory is part of the church equipment.
The African M. E. Zion Church was incorporated on Feb-
ruary 10, 1894. It has a church building, but no pastor or reg-
ular services.
Lodges
One who wanders along the path of lodge history in Colusa
County will tind the way strewn with many wrecks. As a matter
of fact, of all the lodges established, more have succumbed than
have sur\'ived. Out of eighteen or twenty orders that have in-
stituted lodges in the county, not more than sis or eight now
have lodges in active operation. The others have all fallen by
the way or are in a comatose condition. The Masons, Eastern
Star, Odd Fellows, Rebekabs, AVorkmen, Druids, Native Sons,
Native Daughters, Grand Army of the Republic, Women's Relief
Corps, Confederate Veterans, Daughters of the Confederacy,
Knights of Pythias, Moose, Foresters, Eagles, Knights of Honor,
Federated Brotherhood, Sons of Temperance, Good Templars, and
perhaps some others that I cannot now recall — for I am naming
them from memory — have all been represented in the county at
one time or another; but the Masons, Eastern Star, Odd Fellows,
Rebekahs, Native Sons, Native Daughters, Knights of Pythias,
Moose, and possibly the Eagles, are all that hold regular meetings
at present. New orders are organized from time to time, and now
and then old ones give up the struggle, keeping the number of
active orders in the county about the same. The march of time
accounts for the passing of the Grand Army of the Republic, the
Confederate Veterans, and their allied associations, whose ranks
could not be filled from the oncoming generations; but only the
natural inertia and apathy of the human race, coupled with the
fact that there are more lodges than are necessary, can account
for the decline and decay of most of the benevolent orders that
have passed away.
The Masonic fraternity, the first one to plant a lodge in
the county, now has five active lodges here, one each at Colusa,
Arbuckle, Williams, Maxwell and Stonyford, with a total mem-
bership of two hundred sixty-six. These five lodges comprise
the fifteenth district of the Jurisdiction of California; and Her-
man Jacobson, of Colusa, is Inspector.
150 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Colusa Lodge, No. 142, Free and Accepted Masons, was or-
ganized iu Colusa on November 19, 1859, with seven charter
members. In July, 1875, Equality Lodge was organized; and in
1880 each of these lodges had fifty-six members. On April 1,
1882, the two lodges were consolidated under the name of Colusa
Lodge, with J. B. Cooke as Worthy Master, J. Furtli as Senior
AVarden, "\V. N. Herd as Junior Warden, J. W. Goad as Treasurer,
and W. T. Beville as Secretary. Mr. Seville has continued as
Secretary ever since, with only one or two trifling breaks. He
has been installed as Secretary thirty-eight times. The Masonic
Temple, which stands at the corner of Fifth and Jay Streets,
was begun in 1891, and was dedicated June 8, 1892. It is a
frame structure, sixty-five by seventy feet in size, and cost ten
thousand dollars. The lodge is in a flourishing condition, having
at present eighty-five members. The officers for 1917 are W. L.
Merrill, Master; W. T. Beville, Secretary; H. F. Osgood, Treas-
urer; Joseph Baum, Senior AVarden; McPherson Montgomery,
Junior AVarden; J. D. McNary, Chaplain; C. J. AVescott, Senior
Deacon; Frank L. Crayton, Junior Deacon; C. AA^. Young, Mar-
shal; C. T. AA^hite, Senior Steward; Daryl DeJarnatt, Junior
Steward; Leon F. Hicok, Tiler.
I do not have the dates of organization of the other Masonic
lodges in the county, Init they have all been in existence for
many years. Meridian Lodge, No. 182, at Arbuckle, has fifty-one
members and is officered by George C. Meckfessel, Master; S. A.
Pendleton, Secretary; Douglas Cramer, Treasurer; J. E. Lindsay,
Senior AA'arden; Milton F. Struckmeyer, Junior AVarden.
Tuscan Lodge, No. 261, at AA^illiams, has fifty-seven members
and the following officers: Leroy Schaad, Master; P. H. Northey,
Secretary; G. E. Franke, Treasurer; E. J. AA'orsley, Senior AVar-
den; S. G. Linn, Junior AVarden; G. AV. Gibson, Senior Deacon;
L. A. Mace, Junior Deacon ; A. A. Entrican, Marshal ; J. F. Abel,
Senior Steward ; S. S. Eakle, Junior Steward ; B. F. Peters, Tiler.
Snow Mountain Lodge, No. 271, at Stonyford, has thirty-eight
members and the following officers: G. L. Mason, Master; A. T.
AVelton, Secretary ; D. J. AVestapher, Treasurer ; E. H. Yearushaw,
Senior AVarden; Samuel E. Stites, Junior AVarden; Eoy L.
AValkup, Senior Deacon; G. J. AA'estapher, Junior Deacon; AV. J.
Lovelady, Marshal; Charles Alexander, Senior Steward; F. M.
Kesselring, Junior Steward; J. M. Morris, Tiler.
Maxwell Lodge, No. 288, at Maxwell, has thirty-five mem-
bers; and the present officers are S. E. Crutcher, Master; A. J.
Fouch, Secretary ; F. H. Abel, Treasurer ; PI. J. Arvedson, Senior
AVarden; C. E. Brennir, Junior AA^arden; J. AA^. Marshall, Chap-
lain; J. AV. Danley, Senior Deacon; G. M. Clark, Junior Deacon;
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 151
G. B. Harden, Marshal ; W. H. Lovelace, Senior Steward ; Horace
Fisher, Junior Steward; M. Mathieson, Tiler.
In March, 1884, J. B. Cooke, J. B. DeJarnatt, C. E. de St.
Maurice, and Eev. T. H. B. Anderson went to Marysville to obtain
permission to establish a commandery of Knights Templar in
Colusa ; and the organization formed as a result of that visit is in
existence todaj'. The present membership is forty-five, and the
officers are W. C. Blean, Commander; C. D. Stanton, Generalis-
simo; B. H. Mitchell, Captain General; U. W. Brown, Prelate;
Oscar Eobinson, Senior Warden; Dr. E. S. Holloway, Junior
Warden; F. J. Mendonsa, Warder; W. L. Merrill, Eecorder; J. C.
Mogk, Treasurer.
A chapter of Royal Arch Masons was also formed, and it
has about forty-five members. The present officers are G. W.
Moore, High Priest; F. J. Mendonsa, King; J. C. Mogk, Scribe;
Oscar Robinson, Principal Sojourner; W. L. Merrill, Recorder;
C. D. Stanton, Treasurer; W. C. Blean, Master of the Third
Veil; U. W. Brown, Master- of the Second Veil; Phil B. Arnold,
Master of the First Veil.
Veritas Chapter, Order of the Elastern Star, was organized
at Colusa in 1884. It has always been an exceedingly active or-
ganization. The present officers are Miss Myrtle Hicok, Worthy
Matron; Herman Jacobson, Worthy Patron- Mrs. Robert Cosner,
Secretary; Mrs. C. D. Stanton, Treasurer; Mrs. Lloyd Merrill,
Conductress; Miss Orlean Herd, Associate Conductress.
Eowana Chapter, 0. E. S., was instituted on May 30, 1914, at
Stonyford, the chapter being named by Mrs. Mary Turman, daugh-
ter of Dr. Robert Semple. The first officers were Mrs. Edith
McGahan, Worthy Matron; D. J. Westapher, Worthy Patron;
G. T. McGahan, Secretary ; J. M. Morris, Treasurer.
Loyal Chapter, of Williams, and Wild Rose Chapter, of
Princeton, are also active organizations. The officers of Wild
Rose Chapter are Mrs. Carrie Clapp, Worthy Matron ; Oscar Steele,
Worthy Patron; Minnie Noe, Secretary; Mrs. C. M. Archer, Treas-
urer. Mrs. Leroy Schaad is Worthy Matron of Loyal Chapter;
Bert L. Fouch, Worthy Patron ; Ida Entrican, Secretary ; Carrie I.
Fouch, Treasurer.
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows has five lodges in the
county; and there are also five lodges of the Daughters of Re-
bekah. Colusa Lodge, No. 133, was organized May 2, 1867. At
first it met in a room on Main Street; but later Chris Swank
built a hall for the lodge on Market Street, opposite the court-
house, and it was hous'ed there till 1892, when the present build-
ing was erected at Fifth and Market Streets. It was dedicated
152 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
on December 16, 1892, with impressive ceremonies. The charter
members of the lodge were Moses Stinchfield, W. F. Goad, A. S.
Gulp, T. G. Shelton, Jackson Hart, W. B. Pollard, John H. Byers,
0. F. Cook and Charles Spaulding. The lodge now has ninety-five
members and is exceedingly prosperous. It practically owns the
building now, and will soon own it entirely. Recently it installed
a handsome and expensive Edison phonograph for the pleasure
of the members. The present elective officers are Algernon Butler,
Noble Grand; Raymond Stewart, Vice-Grand; A. H. Walworth,
Secretary; George H. Hall, Treasurer. Colusa Lodge had the
reputation at one time of doing the best degree work in the Sacra-
mento Valley. For nearly twenty years, under the management
of W. D. Cook, the lodge ran a steamboat excursion each spring
to the Odd Fellows' picnic at Grimes; but of late the growing
use of automobiles cut down the patronage of the excursions so
much that they were discontinued in 1916.
Princeton Lodge was organized at Princeton on January 15,
1877. It had thirty-five members at one time ; but the membership
later waned to such an extent that it was merged with Colusa
Lodge, about twenty years ago.
Central Lodge was instituted at Williams on March 8, 1875,
and for a time it was in a flourishing condition ; but for the past
fifteen years it has languished considerably. It has about seventy
members, and the present elective officers are L. A. Manor, Noble
Grand; J. H. Forsythe, Vice-Grand; Charles Haller, Secretary;
C. C. Welch, Treasurer. The Noble Grand and Vice-Grand were
both called to the colors shortly after being installed, and the
lodge lost a number of other members in the same way.
Probably the livest lodge in the county is Grand Island Lodge,
No. 266, which was organized on October 10, 1877, at Grimes. It
owns its own hall, gives a picnic once a year that is the great social
event of the county, and sends out snappy, well-drilled degree
teams. It has aljout one hundred five members, and the present
elective officers are Robert Allison, Noble Grand; Chris Hoy, Jr.,
Vice-Grand; Edward Smith, Secretary; Peter Grimm, Treasurer.
Spring Valley Lodge was instituted at Arbuckle on September
4, 1884. This lodge is in a flourishing condition. The present
elective officers are C. E. Arvedson, Noble Grand; W. T. Day,
Vice-Grand; G. F. Weyand, Secretary; W. D. Bradford, Treasurer.
Maxwell also has a flourishing lodge of Odd Fellows. On
March 23, 1912, they dedicated a magnificent new hall that cost
twenty thousand dollars. The elective officers are S. F. Watt,
Noble Grand; Forest Danley, Vice-Grand; S. A. Hineline, Secre-
tarv ; J. P. Nelson, Treasurer.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 153
Colusa Encampment, I. O. O. F.. was organized in Colusa in
1876 ; but it has long since lapsed.
Deborah Eebekah Lodge, of Colusa, was instituted in 1893,
and has always been an institution in which its members take great
pride. Its elective officers at iiresent are Mrs. Ra^Tiiond Manville,
Noble Grand; Miss Lorena Newlaud, Vice-Grand; Miss Hattie
Bell Caswell, Secretary ; Miss Ladye Edith Cartmell, Treasurer.
Valley Rose Eebekah Lodge, of Grimes, was organized in 1909,
and now has about eighty meniliers. The present elective officers
are Mrs. Peter Grimm, Noble Grand; Mrs. Andrew Clark, Vice-
Grand; Miss Irene Brown, Secretary; Mrs. Henry Houehins,
Treasurer.
There are also Reliekah lodges at Arbuckle, Williams and
Maxwell. The officers of the Williams lodge are Viola Forsythe,
Noble Grand ; Kate Kissling, Vice-Grand ; Ada Schaad, Secretary ;
Mary Graser, Treasurer. The officers of the Maxwell lodge are
Myrtle Hineline, Noble Grand ; Irma Jacobson, Vice-Grand ; Eliza-
beth Nelson, Secretary; Elizabeth Nissen, Treasurer.
A parlor of Native Sons of the Golden West was organized in
Colusa on October 5, 1885, with forty-one charter members ; but it
failed to endure. Colusa Parlor, No. 69, was organized in 1903,
with J. W. Kaerth, President; Fred Watson, Past President;
Phil B. Arnold, First Vice-President; W. B. DeJarnatt, Second
Vice-President; Parker L. Jackson, Third A^iee-President ; J. M.
Jones, Treasurer; W. C. Spaulding, Recording Secretary; J. S.
O'Rourke, Financial Secretary. This lodge is still alive and
healthy, and has done a number of things toward the improvement
of the community, among them the restoration of the historic old
stone corral in the foothills west of Maxwell. The present officers
are J. Deter McNary, Past President; Warren Davison, Presi-
dent ; J. E. Roderick, First Vice-President ; Grover Power, Second
Vice-President; George Martin, Jr., Third Vice-President; Phil
Humburg, Jr., Marshal; M. W. Burrows, Recording Secretary;
George Fromhertz, Financial Secretary ; G. L. Messick, Treasurer ;
Bert Smith, Ben Ragain and Fred Muttersbach, Trustees; Wil-
liam Duncan, Inside Sentinel ; J. R. Manville, Outside Sentinel.
Williams Parlor, No. 16-1, of Native Sons was organized on
November 1, 1907, with twenty-six charter members. Julian Levy
is the President now.
The first parlor of Native Daughters of the Golden West was
organized in Colusa on June 24, 1887 ; but it lapsed. On January
30, 1912, a second parlor was organized by District Deputy Grand
President Mrs. Mae Hartsock, with the following officers: Past
President, Mrs. W. J. King ; President, Miss Revella Burrows ;
First Vice-President, Miss Loga Sartain; Second Vice-President,
154 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Miss Hazel Webber; Third Vice-President, Miss Florine Poirier;
Marshal, Mrs. E. P. Jones; Inside Sentinel, Miss Genevieve
Faughnan; Outside Sentinel, Miss Lulu May Roche; Recording-
Secretary, Mrs. Alva King; Financial Secretary, Miss Mabel
Kurtz; Treasurer, Mrs. W. S. Brooks; Trustees, Misses Rhetta
Green, Kathryn Hankins and Ladye Edith Cartmell; Organist,
Miss Eva Joseph. The present officers are Miss Eva Joseph, Past
President; Miss Elzie Lopez, President; Mrs. A. M. Hampton,
First Vice-President; Mrs. Max South, Second Vice-President;
Mrs. George St. Louis, Third Vice-President; Miss Ladye Edith
Cartmell, Treasurer; Miss Orlean Herd, Recording Secretary;
Miss Loma Cartmell, Financial Secretary; Mrs. Frank Fogalsang,
Marshal; Miss Ruth St. Louis, Mrs. Alva King, and Miss ]\lyrtle
Davis, Trustees ; Mrs. G. W. Hougland, Inside Sentinel ; Mrs. J. V.
Stanton, Outside Sentinel ; Mrs. E. P. Jones, Organist.
On December 1, 1869, a lodge of the Knights of Pythias was
instituted in Colusa. This was Oriental Lodge, No. 10; and 0. S.
Mason, E. W. Jones, and A. P. Spaulding were among the first
officers. It lapsed after some years; and the county was there-
after without a Pythian lodge till October 9, 1909, when a second
lodge was organized with twenty charter members. The present
officers are George Mannee, Chancellor Commander; M. P. Mont-
gomery, Vice-Chancellor ; C. C. Johnson, Keeper of Records and
Seals ; A. P. Staple, Master of Finance ; Val Carson, Master of the
Exchequer; H. D. Braly, Master of Works; F. W. Farnsworth,
Inside Guardian ; John Hanlon, Outside Guardian.
The largest regular lodge ever started in the county was Colusa
Lodge No. 83-t, Loyal Order of Moose, organized on December
13, 1911, with two hundred three members. Ninety were initiated
in one night. The first officers were 0. R. Mason, Past Dictator;
F. W. Farnsworth, Dictator; F. M. Fogalsang, Vice-Dictator;
W. E. Lewis, Prelate ; Albert Farnsworth, Sergeant-at-Arms ; W. S.
Brooks, Secretary; J. O. Mason, Treasurer; H. D. Braly, Inside
Guardian; George South, Outside Guardian; John Hanlon, J. T.
Ward, and Freci Roche, Directors. This is the only Moose lodge
in the county.
There is one lodge of the Fraternal Order of Eagles in the
county. This is Colusa Aerie, No. 675; and it was instituted in
June, 1904, with fifty-one meml)ers. For a time the lodge was in a
very apathetic condition, and on February 2, 1912, E. J. Sanford ar-
rived here to revive it. His efforts were successful, and the lodge
is still in existence, but not very active. The present officers are
Emil St. Louis, President ; George St. Louis, Vice-President ; Percy
J. Cooke, Secretary; E. P. Jones, Treasurer.
Court Sioc, of the Independent Order of Foresters, was organ-
ized in May, 1892, with J. D. McNary as Chief Ranger and A. H.
COLUSA AXD GLENN COUNTIES 155
Caswell as Vice Chief Ranger. It was au insurance order, and
greatly increased assessments drove many of the members out
and worked a great hardship on those who stayed in. The present
officers are G. W. Moore, Chief Ranger; J. P. Muttersbach, Vice
Chief Ranger; C. C. Johnson, Secretary; J. F. Rich, Treasurer.
The lodge does not hold regular meetings, and probably will soon
be a matter of history.
The greatest fiasco in the lodge history of the county was fur-
nished by the Ancient Order of United Workmen. This order,
from 1871 to 1885, placed six lodges in tlie county; but there isn't
a vestige of one left. On March 15, 1871, a lodge was organized at
Colusa ; but it lapsed. O. S. Mason was the Master. On November
26, 1878, a second lodge was organized at Colusa, with W. H. Belton
as Master. In 1879 a lodge was organized at Grand Island; and in
1881 a lodge was organized at Princeton, with twenty-six members.
Arbuekle got a lodge in 1885, and Maxwell also had a lodge. They
are all gone. A Degree of Honor, the allied feminine order of the
Workmen, was also organized at Colusa, in 1893; but it, too, has
l^assed away.
General John A. Miller Post, Grand Army of the Republic,
was organized in Colusa on March 31, 1886. A. E. Potter, A. B.
Cooper, Ed Riley, W. G. Henneke, and W. F. Landers are about
the only members of this organization left. The Women's Relief
Corps, the affiliated organization, established a branch here in
1891. with Mrs. S. R. Murdock as president ; but most of its mem-
bers have also passed away. The only ones living that I know of
are Mrs. G. W. White, Mrs. G. G. Brooks, Mrs. Alphonsine Poirier,
Mrs. A. B. Cooper and Mrs. A. E. Potter.
Camp Pap Price, of the Confederate Veterans, was organized
in Colusa on August 6, 1901 ; and at one time it had tifty-five mem-
bers, although not all of them were from Colusa County. Major
J. B. Moore has been Commander ever since the camp was started,
and W. T. Beville is Adjutant. John L. Jackson, John T. Har-
rington, T. B. McCollum, J. P. Smart, M. R. Blevins, and Luther
Hoy are among the members of the camp who are still living.
Winnie Davis Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy, also
flourished at Colusa for a time ; but death has greatly thinned the
ranks of its members. Mrs. W. S. Green is the president; Mrs.
H. M. Albery, vice-president; and Mrs. C. 0. Jordan, secretary.
A lodge of the Ancient Order of Druids was organized in
Colusa on May 28, 1875; but it lapsed after a few years. The
Knights of Honor went by the same route. The latter was organ-
ized in Colusa in 1879. It was to pay the widow or orphans two
thousand dollars upon the death of a member, an undertaking too
big to be carried out. The Fraternal Bi'otherhood organized a
158 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
were at all optimistic ; but in November, 186-i, a copious rain fell,
and for several years thereafter the county was untroubled by
drought. Of course there were seasons when a little more rainfall
wouldn't have hurt, .and other seasons when the rainfall was poorly
distributed from the farmer's standpoint ; but since 1864 the county
has suffered much more from floods than from droughts. In the
twenty years following 1864: the driest one was the season of 1876-
1877, when the rainfall was a little over eleven inches ; but it was
so distributed that a good crop was raised. The rainfall for the
season of 1850-1851 was 7.42 inches ; hut tlie only season since which
approaches that one in paucity of rainfall was the season of 1897-
1898, when 9.38 inches fell. "The spring of 1913 was also dry;
and the spring of 1917 gave promise of being a bad one for the
farmers because of scarcity of rain, but the weather remained so
cool till harvest time that an excellent crop was matured. The
normal rainfall is eighteen inches. In the sixty-seven years since
1850 it has fallen short of this amount fifteen times and exceeded it
fifty-two times.
On going through the newspajier files, one would be led to
believe that the seasons had been growing increasingly wet evei'
since the foundation of the county. No less than a dozen times I
ran across the statement, "Highest water ever known in the
county," or "Eains the worst in history," or some similar state-
ment. This can be accounted for partly by the license which
the newspaper man sometimes takes with the facts, and partly
also by the fact that as the river was more and more confined
by levees it did rise higher and higher, and as improvements
became more plentiful floods became more damaging. The average
rainfall has not increased at all.
The heavy rainfall of the winter of 1867 made the roads of
the county impassalile for two or three months, and greatly de-
creased the acreage of grain sown. On the night of December 10
of that year the river rose three and one half feet, and "Colusa
and its environs became an island in a yellow waste of water.
Between here and the Coast Eange the county presented the ap-
pearance of an inland sea." The spring of 1878 holds the record
for heavy and continuous rainfall. Beginning January 13 of that
year, it rained 10.73 inches in three days and four nights; and
from the 14th to the 30th the rainfall was 12.65 inches. Thousands
of sheep were drowned and much other damage resulted. The
"greatest flood ever known" occurred on February 5 and 6, 1881.
The Feather River came across the valley past the Buttes, and
rushed up Butte Slough to its junction with the Sacramento River
in such volume that the current was carried clear across the
river and washed out the levee on the west side. In 1884 another
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 159
"highest water" came, breaking the levees in many places and
flooding thousands of acres of land. The year 1889 was another
flood year. On March 17, 1893, it rained an inch in four hours.
Heavy wind and heavy damage accompanied the rain. In 1894,
1895 and 1896 there were floods in January, and since then there
have been a number of floods that have broken the levees. On
March 6, 1911, it rained 3.12 inches, and on April 5, twenty-six
thousand acres of grain went under water in District 108. The
floods of February, 1915, were probably the most damaging in the
history of the county. The river levee on the west side broke
eight miles north of Colusa, two miles north, a mile south, at the
Meridian bridge, and a mile above Grimes. The Northern Electric
bridge at Meridian was wrecked, two miles of track between Colusa
and Meridian were washed away or damaged, several miles of
the Colusa and Hamilton Railroad were washed out, the power
lines were broken, and Colusa was for a time cut off from all
communication in any direction except by boat, and was without
light or power for a week. No serious flood has occurred since
then. Up to 1884, the latest date on which the heavy rains had
begun was January 13. That year no heavy rains came till Jan-
uary 26, but there were floods in Ajn-il.
The hottest spell the county ever knew was in 1879, when for
forty-four consecutive days the thermometer went above one hun-
dred degrees. The hottest summer of recent years was 1913,
which had twelve days, not consecutive, with the thermometer over
100. The past ten years haven't averaged five days on which the
temperature was over one hundred. There are two respects in
which the climate has changed, or been modified. One is in regard
to the heat of summer, and the other is in regard to north winds.
The summers are cooler and do not have the long periods of hot
north wind that used to be so disastrous. The change is due, no
doubt, to the increased planting of alfalfa, and rice, and trees, which
prevent the surface of the earth from becoming so hot. The most
disagreeable element in the climate is the north wind, scorcliing hot
in summer and cold in winter. In the early days the north wind
sonietimes blew for three weeks at a stretch, doing frightful dam-
age to the grain if it came at the right time. But as I have said,
orchards, alfalfa and rice seem to have moderated the wind, and
it is seldom, of recent years, that we get more than three days of it
at a time.
In the valley part of the county the thermometer has never
gone below twenty-two degrees above zero, and seldom as low as
that. In January, 1888, there Avas more suffering from cold than
at any other time on record. With the thermometer at twenty-two
above, a strong wind sprang up, and the people of the county had
158 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
were at c^ll optimistic; but iu November, 1864, a copious rain fell,
and for several years thereafter the county was untroubled by
drought. Of course there were seasons when a little more rainfall
wouldn't have hurt, and other seasons when the rainfall was poorly
distributed from the farmer's standpoint ; but since 1864 the county
has suffered much more from floods than from droughts. In the
twenty years following 1864 the driest one was the season of 1876-
1877, when the rainfall was a little over eleven inches; but it was
so distributed that a good crop was raised. The rainfall for the
season of 1850-1851 was 7.42 inches ; but the only season since which
a])proaches that one in paucity of rainfall was the season of 1897-
1898, when 9.38 inches fell. The spring of 1913 was also dry;
and the s])ring of 1917 gave promise of being a bad one for the
farmers because of scarcity of rain, but the weather remained so
cool till harvest time that an excellent crop was matured. The
normal rainfall is eighteen inches. In the sixty-seven years since
1850 it has fallen short of this amount fifteen times and exceeded it
fifty-two times.
On going through the newspaper tiles, one would be led to
believe that the seasons had been growing increasingly wet ever
since the foundation of the county. No less than a dozen times I
ran across the statement, "Highest water ever known in the
county," or "Eains the worst in history," or some similar state-
ment. This can be accounted for partly by the license which
the newspaper man sometimes takes with the facts, and partly
also by the fact that as the river was more and more coniined
by levees it did rise higher and higher, and as improvements
liecame more plentiful floods became more damaging. The average
rainfall has not increased at all.
The heavy rainfall of the winter of 1867 made the roads of
the county impassable for two or three months, and greatly de-
creased the acreage of grain sown. On the night of December 10
of that year the river rose three and one half feet, and "Colusa
and its environs became an island in a yellow waste of water.
Between here and the Coast Eange the county presented the ap-
pearance of an inland sea." The spring of 1878 holds the record
for heavy and continuous rainfall. Beginning January 13 of that
year, it rained 10.73 inches in three days and four nights; and
from the 14th to the 30th the rainfall was 12.65 inches. Thousands
of sheep were drowned and much other damage resulted. The
"greatest flood ever known" occurred on February 5 and 6, 1881.
The Feather River came across the valley past the Buttes, and
rushed uji Butte Slough to its junction with the Sacramento River
in such volume that the current was carried clear across the
river and washed out the levee on the west side. In 1884 another
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 159
"highest water" came, breaking the levees in many places and
flooding thousands of acres of land. The year 1889 was another
flood year. On March 17, 1893, it rained an inch in four hours.
Heavy wind and heavy damage accompanied the rain. In 1894,
1895 and 1896 there were floods in January, and since then there
have been a number of floods that have broken the levees. On
March 6, 1911, it rained 3.12 inches, and on April 5, twenty-six
thousand acres of grain went under water in District 108. The
floods of February, 1915, were probably the most damaging in the
history of the county. The river levee on the west side broke
eight miles north of Colusa, two miles north, a mile south, at the
Meridian bridge, and a mile above Grimes. The Northern Electric
bridge at Meridian was wrecked, two miles of track between Colusa
and Meridian were washed away or damaged, several miles of
the Colusa and Hamilton Eailroad were washed out, the power
lines were broken, and Colusa was for a time cut off from all
communication in any direction except by boat, and was without
light or power for a week. No serious flood has occurred since
then. Up to 1881, the latest date on which the heavy rains had
begun was January 13. That year no heaAy rains came till Jan-
uary 26, but there were floods in Ajjril.
The hottest spell the county ever knew was in 1879, when for
forty-four consecutive days the thermometer went above one hun-
dred degrees. The hottest summer of recent years was 1913,
which had twelve days, not consecutive, with the thermometer over
100. The past ten years haven't averaged five days on which the
temperature was over one hundred. There are two respects in
which the climate has changed, or been modified. One is in regard
to the heat of summer, and the other is in regard to north winds.
The summers are cooler and do not have the long periods of hot
north wind that used to be so disastrous. The change is due, no
doubt, to the increased planting of alfalfa, and rice, and trees, which
prevent the surface of the earth from becoming so hot. The most
disagreeable element in the climate is the north wind, scorching hot
in summer and cold in winter. In the early days the north wind
sonaetimes blew for three weeks at a stretch, doing frightful dam-
age to the grain if it came at the right time. But as I have said,
orchards, alfalfa and rice seem to have moderated the wind, and
it is seldom, of recent years, that we get more than three days of it
at a time.
In the valley part of the county the thermometer has never
gone below twenty-two degrees above zero, and seldom as low as
that. In January, 1888, there was more suffering from cold than
at any other time on record. With the thermometer at twenty-two
above, a strong wind sprang up, and the people of the county had
160 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
an experience that tliey have rememlaered. Eipe oranges were
frozen on the trees, an occurrence that is so rare as to be remark-
able. The fall of last year was also an exceptionally cold one, and
the orange trees were considerably damaged.
The normal climate of Colusa County is made up of three
months of ideal weather in March, April and May ; a warm June ;
fairly hot weather in July and August ; a mixture of warm weather
and cool, with jDossibly a little rain, in September; a beautiful
October, with some rain ; cool weather, and more rain, in November ;
colder weather, with occasional rain-storms, in December and Jan-
uary; and warmer weather, with showers, in February. Of course,
there are many variations of this program. There have to be, or
it would become monotonous. Sometimes there is rain in June or
July or August, when the schedule calls for absolutely clear
weather. For example, in four days, beginning June 12, 1875, it
rained 1.31 inches and did a great deal of damage. Lighter show-
ers have frequently come in the summer, always causing incon-
venience, if not damage. In June, 1905, it rained and hailed both.
Summer rain is generally accompanied by thunder and lightning,
another unusual weather phenomenon in the Sacramento Valley.
The county has been visited Ijy a number of hail-storms, notably
on March 16, 1861, when five inches of hail fell along Sycamore
Slough; on February 17, 1873, when a terrific fall of hail occurred;
and on June 21, 1890, when the "severest hail-storm ever seen"
passed over Sites, Maxwell and Colusa, and the hailstones were
"an inch in diameter and covered the ground a foot deep." On
April 13, 1895, a heavy hail-storm struck Maxwell, killing small
chickens and doing other damage. Other lighter hail-storms have
come, but they are rare.
Snow comes on an average of every four or five years. On
July 12, 1865, a little snow fell in Antelope Valley. On December .
3, 1873, a foot of it fell in Colusa, and from twelve to eighteen
inches on the plains, causing hundreds of sheep to die. On January
11, 1898, snow fell to the depth of four inches, and again in 1907
there was a heavy snow. About five inches fell on January 8,
1913; and on January 1 last year there were five inches of snow,
and on the 28th, four inches more, making Jiine inches for the
month. Anywhere from a trace to an inch or so has fallen on
nimaerous other occasions.
The county has also felt a number of earthquake shocks, but
none severe enough to do any damage or cause any alarm.
The foregoing discussion applies only to the valley part of the
coiTnty. In the mountains there are snow and cold weather every
winter.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 161
CHAPTER XVII
Miscellaneous Facts
I find, as I near the end of my work, that I have a large
assortment of notes on subjects that didn't seem to fit in anywliere
in the regular chapters of the history. I do not pretend that the
list is at all complete, and I have made no attempt to weave them
into a connected story; Init they are undoubtedly interesting, and
possibly valuable, and so I shall set some of them down here.
Picnics, Ceh'hiatious, and Public Gatherings
Colusa County has had several famous celebrations, some of
them in series. For twenty years or more it has been the custom
of tlie Grand Island Lodge, I. O. 0. F., to hold a picnic near
Grimes, to which practically the entire county goes. The event is
always held on some Friday in May.
Since 1910 College City has held an annual barbecue and old-
fashioned reunion about October 1.
Arbuckle has held an Almond Day annually for the past three
years, and has gotten much permanent good from these events.
Stonyford holds a picnic every year, and the entire mountain
population attends, together with hundreds of people from Colusa,
Willows, Maxwell, Williams, and other valley towns.
Princeton held a celebration on March 18, 1893, because Gov-
ernor Markham had signed the bill changing the boundary line so
as to throw the Boggs ranch and the town entirely within Colusa
County. Princeton also celebrated on April 30, 1910, the occasion
being the presentation to the town of a drinking fountain by the
widow and children of the famous pioneer, Hon. John Boggs. The
celebration took the form of a rose carnival and barbecue ; and the
rose carnival has been an annual event ever since, the one this
year being held at Williams in conjunction with the people of
that town.
Colusa held its first water carnival on June 18, 19 and 20, 1909.
The attendance was five thousand. The second was held on May
28, 29 and 30, 1910. The crowd was not so large and the carnival
was not so good as the first one, and those who hoped to see the
water carnival an annual event realized that two events of the
kind were all that would interest a Colusa County crowd.
The students of Colusa High School held a baking contest and
]3ure food show on April 11 and 12, 1913, in Colusa Theater. Mrs.
R. M. Liening captured three first prizes for bread.
162 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Colusa celebrated the coming of the Northern Electric with a
carnival on Jime 13 and 14, 1913. About three thousand guests
were present.
Colusa held its first, last and only municipal Christmas tree in
1911. Ernest Weyand acted as Santa Claus.
March 27, 1915, was Colusa County Daj^ at the Panama-Pacific
Exposition; and a special train was run from Maxwell to San
Francisco, carrying about one hundred people from Colusa and as
many more from other points in the county. The county donated
$17,000 to the exposition, and the commissioners to see that it was
spent properly were J. W. Kaerth, H. H. Schutz, J. J. Morris, G.
B. Harden and G. C. Comstock. The manager of Colusa County's
exhibit was F. B. Pryor.
Colusa County's first Chautauqua opened on June 6, 1915,
and has been an annual event since then.
Williams celebrated the coming of the state highway on May
6, 1916, and entertained an enormous crowd.
Colusa held her first goose stew on October 31, 1914, to cele-
brate the laying of the corner stone of the new Hall of Eecords.
Thirteen fifty-gallon kettles of stew, containing, among other
things, eight hundred sixty wild geese, were served in the park
to a crowd of three thousand people from all over the valley.
Public Works and Public Buildings
On March 16, 1883, a new Hall of Eecords was completed in
Colusa at a cost of $25,000. On May 6, 1914, the contract for the
present Hall of Records was let for $45,585.
A free reading room was opened in Colusa on July 3, 1890.
The new Carnegie Library at Sixth and Jay Streets was first
occupied on October 1, 1906.
The contract for a wooden bridge across the river at Colusa
was let on September 2, 1881, at a cost of $16,500. The bridge
was completed and accepted on December 28, 1881. A celebration
marked the event. The present iron bridge was built in 1900 at a
cost of $42,800, but the approaches and other extras brought the
total cost up to $50,000.
Public Utilities
The telephone was first introduced into the countj^ in 1878.
In 1901 the Home Telephone Company was organized to build a
line to Sycamore and Grimes. In 1906 the Colusa County Tele-
phone Company was organized with C. L. Schaad, Oscar Robinson,
W. T. Rathbun, P. R. Peterson and G. C. Comstock as directors;
and for two years the county suffered the inconvenience of two
telephone systems. In 1909 the two systems were combined.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 163
Telephone rates were raised in Colnsa County in 1911, and
many citizens signed a protest to tlie company, but without avail.
Grimes Lighting District was established in July, 1912;
Princeton Lighting District, in 1915.
Postal Dates and Postal Data
Colusa was made a money-order post office in 1866.
Colusa was connected with the postal telegraph system on
May 5, 1887, by a wire from the main line at Williams.
The largest mail that ever came to Colusa arrived on Decem-
ber 19, 1915, when fifty-nine sacks were unloaded.
In 1870 the people of Bear Valley, Sulphur Creek and Stony-
ford came to Colusa for their mail.
The post office at Arbuckle was established on September 11,
1876, with T. B. Arbuckle as postmaster. The post office at Max-
well was established on April 5, 1877.
Companies and Corporations
On February 3, 1894, the Colusa County Cooperative Com-
pany was formed for the purpose of attracting settlers to the
county.
The Sacramento Valley Development Association was organ-
ized on April 27, 1900, largely through the efforts of ^Y. S. Green.
The College City Eochdale Company was organized in 1901 ;
the Arbuckle and the Grimes Rochdale Companies in 1903; the
Colusa Eochdale Company in 1906; and the Maxwell Eochdale
Company in 1907. The Colusa Eochdale Company filed a petition
to be dissolved on December 11, 1911, after the shareholders had
been assessed heavily to pay up its debts.
The Central California Investment Company bought the
Moulton ranch on the east side in 1904, and sold it to the Moulton
Irrigated Lands Company in 1910. The Moulton Company, under
the direction of W. K. Brown, made some extensive improvements
and sold the ranch a few months ago to the Colusa Delta Lands
Company.
A party of ten Chicago business men bought the Hubbard
ranch, three miles south of Princeton, in 1911, and under the man-
agement of one of them, H. J. Stegemann, proceeded to lay oiit a
conmiunity settlement, which they called "Thousand Acres."
They devoted forty acres in the center of the tract to village pur-
poses, laying out a large oval around which their homes were to
be built, and each was to have a share of the rest of the laud as
his own property. After about eighty dollars an acre, in addition
to the cost of the land, had been spent in developing the land, the
members of the party became dissatisfied. Mr. Stegemann died
164 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
in 1913, and after liis death the laud of the settlement reverted to
the previous owners.
On March 11, 1912, the Yolo Laud Company bought thirteen
thousand five hundred acres of the Tubbs-Tuttle land south of
Grimes and began a colonization project.
The Colusa Count}' Bank was organized in 1870, and ever
since that time it has been one of the strongest financial institu-
tions in the state. Its building, which at first was a two-story one,
was remodeled in 1910 into its present form. B. H. Burton is now
president; and Tennent Harrington, cashier.
The Farmers Bank opened for business on July 20, 1874 ; but
it was not successful, and on February 20, 1876, the stockholders
voted to disincorporate.
The Fai'mers and Merchants Bank was organized in 1902.
Owing to the failure of its San Francisco correspondent, the Cali-
fornia Safe Deposit and Trust Company, and the defalcations of
J. Dalzell Brown, manager of the San Francisco bank and presi-
dent of the local bank, the latter was compelled to suspend busi-
ness on December 10, 1907. It reopened on March 2, 1908, and
prospered thereafter. It became a national bank in 1911, and
changed its name to The First National Bank of Colusa, organiz-
ing, at the same time a savings department. The First Savings
Bank of Colusa. In 1912 the two banks, which are under one man-
agement, moved from the Odd Fellows building to their own new
stone building across the street, where they do an immense busi-
ness. U. W. Brown is ^Ji'esident ; H. F. Osgood, cashier; and
Everett Bowes, assistant cashier.
The Colusa County Bank established a branch at Maxwell in
1911, one at Princeton in 1912, and one at Grimes in 1913.
Various Organizations
The enrollment of Company B, National Guard of California,
was com])leted on June 16, 1887. B. H. Mitchell was Captain; F.
C. Eadcliff, First Lieutenant; and James Moore, Second Lieu-
tenant. The company was called to Sacramento on July 20, 1894,
to help quell the railroad strike, and returned on August 4, 1894.
The company was also called out for the S]muish-American War
in 1898, but got only as far as Oakland. Interest in the company
waned, and it was mustered out on September 24, 1910.
The Colusa County Chamber of Commerce, better known as
the C. C. C. C, was organized in 1906, and hired John H. Hartog
as professional booster, at a salary of two hundred fifty dollars
a month.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 165
The Cohisa County liumaue Society was organized in 1911
under the presidency of Mrs. Tennent Harrington, who has lieeu
at the head of it ever since.
The Colusa Gun Club, owning one thousand acres of tule land
on Butte Creek, decided in 1893 to huild a boat-house on the creek.
The shares, or memberships in the club, with a par value of $100,
have been for many years worth $500, and recently advanced to
$],000 each.
The Trolley League of baseball clulis was first organized in
1913. It survived for three or four years, W. M. Harrington be-
ing its guiding star ; and then the Great War took its place in the
limelight.
It was in 1913 that the swimming craze struck Colusa. A
swimming club was formed; and everybody in town and the sur-
rounding country, that had any sporting blood at all, bought a
bathing suit and went down to the beach on the east side of the
river, below the bridge, every afternoon and evening, and swam
or tried to learn to swim. By the next siunmer the enthusiasm
had dwindled amazingly, and the third summer and thereafter
swimming was confined to the youngsters and a vei-y few enthu-
siasts. For the past year or two there has been great enthusiasm
for swimming at Arbuckle, where a fine bath house with swimming
tank has been erected by A. J. Strong.
Resorts
Fouts Springs was opened up on March 17, 1874, by John F.
Fonts. The resort has been owned for many years by Charles H.
Glenn, of Willows, who has spent thousands of dollars in im-
provements.
Cooks Springs resort was liought in 1899 by the Cooks
Springs Company, the present owners, who created a wide mar-
ket for the bottled water.
A. A. Gibson bought Wilbur Springs in 1907, and sold it to
J. W. Cuthbert and others in 1908. Mr. Cuthbert bought Jones'
Springs from J. A. Ryan in 1914, and consolidated the two resorts.
Personals
Cleaton Grimes, one of the county's first settlers, died in 1913,
at the age of ninety-seven years.
Sallie McGinley Greely, the first girl born in Colusa, died in
Vermilion, Mont., on January 16, 1890.
James Yates, one of the first men to settle in the county, died
September 1, 1907.
Col. L. F. Moultou died on December 8, 1906, as the result of
a runaway accident.
166 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
lu 1891 Hon. John Boggs offered to sell one thousand acres
of his best land along the river for forty dollars an acre.
W. S. Green ^vas appointed Surveyor-General of California on
March 24, 1894, by President Grover Cleveland.
On February 20, 1874, Henry Booksin, of Freshwater Town-
ship, sold 5,858 acres of land for $70,30.3.
In January, 1884, F. T. Mann and Ed Harrington presented
every widow in Colusa with a sack of flour. It took forty-
seven sacks.
On February 17, 1894, E. C. Peart and Andy Bond started
soliciting funds for a District Fair at Colusa. Thev raised
$2,385.50.
Miss Marcia Daly eloped with Bev. J. E. Ward on October 23,
1907, and, so far as the public knows, has never been heard
of since.
In the spring of 1890 Colonel Moulton gave everybody in Co-
lusa who wished them, walnut trees to replace the locust trees
along the streets.
The Sacramento Valley Irrigation Company in 1910 offered a
iive-hundred-dollar registered Holstein cow as a prize for the
most successful intensive farming. The prize was won by W. F.
Burt, of Princeton. Mr. Burt showed that he put $1,500 in the
bank each year from his seven-acre farm, besides educating a fam-
ily of five children. Mr. Burt's returns were received from the
following: Pears, $25; peaches, $105.15; apricots, $18.40; grapes,
$25.15; berries, including strawberries, blackberries, raspberries
and loganberries, $45.09 ; melons, $100.60 ; cows, $900 ; hogs, $200 ;
chickens and turkeys, $175; onions, $7.80; cabbage, $8.25; string
beans, $9; cucumbers, $8; sugar corn, $41.30; tomatoes, $69.84;
potatoes, $19..35; green peppers. $106.70; honey, $100; total,
$2,064.72. Besides the foregoing, Mr. Burt raised oranges, lemons,
pomeloes, figs, olives, phmis, prunes, alfalfa, bees and sheep.
A company of about fifty I. TV. W.'s struck Colusa County in
March, 1914. There was much excitement and some trepidation,
as they were reported to be desperate men, but they committed
no acts of violence. "Williams gave them their breakfast and sixty
dollars for cleaning up the cemetery; but Arbuckle and Colusa
gave them nothing but hostile looks and good advice. So they
went on over into Sutter County, where they disbanded.
John L. Jackson, 'V\\ A. Vann and George N. Farnsworth
were appointed by President Wilson in 1917 as Colusa County's
Exemption Board to handle the draft of soldiers for the war.
Colusa County's first quota of soldiers under the draft numbered
eighty-two; and they were sent to Camp Lewis, near Tacoma,
Wash., in four contingents.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 167
Facts and Figures
The Colusa Theater was dedicated on June 19, 1873.
A company was formed in Cohisa in 1866 to "o to Texas to
settle.
An epidemic of a sort of pneumonia in January and February
of 1868 carried oH many babies.
Colusa had its first movin.o- picture show in 1908. The Cri-
terion Theater was opened on April 1, of that year.
On July 8, 1893, Bowden & Berkey shipped one thousand
pounds of blackberries from Colusa to Williams and Arbuekle.
Three hundred and ninety-five oranges were picked from one
tree in Colusa on January 20, 1894.
Bert Manville caught thirty-seven swarms of bees in the
spring of 1914. One colony made seven dollars and fifty cents
worth of honey in a season.
A ton of fish a week was shipped from Colusa in February,
1913. They were mostly salmon, although there wei-e many bass
and catfish among them.
The first shad was put into the Sacramento Eiver on June 25,
1871. E. T. Niebliug brought some carp down from Julius AVey-
and's place near Stonyford in 1883 and put them in the river, but
these were probably not the first carp in the river.
In June, 1881, ten merchants and saloon-keepers of Maxwell
were arrested for keeping their places of business open on
Sunday.
In 1873 there were twenty-nine people in the county owning
over five thousand acres each. Col. L. F. Moulton was first, with
30,429 acres.
In 1850 the population of the county was 115 ; in 1860 it was
2,274; in 1870 it was 5,088; in 1880, 9,750; in 1890, 14,640; in 1900,
after county di\'ision, 7,364 ; and in 1910, 7,732.
The town of Sites was laid out on July 21, 1886. The shutting-
down of the quarries about 1910 hit it a lick that almost laid it
out again, and the decease of the Colusa & Lake Railroad in 1915
practically finished the job.
168 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
CHAPTER XVIII
Colusa County Today
General Features
Colusa County today is indeed a prosperous land. It is not
the closely populated territory, with a home on every twenty acres
and a village every three or four miles, that the early settlers who
had come from such conditions hack East thought it would he long
hefore this time. In some respects it is in certain sections much as
the pioneers found it, with broad expanses of level land, and a
house or a fence only here and there to break the view to the
horizon. Of course these great expanses now grow barley, where
once they grew wild flowers and wild oats; but the people who
inhabit them have much the same freedom as pioneers. The fact
that the county is not thickly populated makes more room and
more freedom and more wealth for those who are here, and
they like it.
Roughly speaking, the county today is a vast barley field, with
an orchard or a patch of alfalfa interspersed here and there, a
section of almonds and grapes about Arbuckle and College City,
a fringe of fruit trees and alfalfa along the river on the east, a
fringe of mountains on the west, and a streak of green rice fields
along the Trough and extending out onto the plains in the Maxwell
country. One incorporated city of the sixth class, Colusa, and
seven unincorporated towns or villages contain that part of the
population which is inclined to be urban in its tastes. These
towns are Princeton, Grimes, College City, Arbuckle, Williams,
Maxwell and Stonyford; and I shall take them up more in detail
a little later on. Sites, Lodoga, Leesville, Sulphur Creek, Venado,
Berlin, Colusa Junction, Delevan and Sycamore are very small
places, all of which, except Colusa Junction and Sulphur Creek,
have post offices, and most of winch were at one time more pros-
perous than they are today. The winds of fate, which blow busi-
ness and population from one town to another, and sometimes
play strange pranks with bustling communities, have left these
little places to one side of the current of life, where they dream
in quiet somnolence. This may not be altogether true at present
of Sulphur Creek, which is undergoing a boom just now, owing to
the greatly increased price of quicksilver.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 169
■ General Statistics
Colusa County contains 1080 square miles of territory, or
691,200 acres, divided into 750 farms averaging- 920 acres to a
farm. Of this land, 450,000 acres is well adapted to agriculture,
30,000 acres is rather rough foothill grain land, and the balance
is grazing or mountain land. There are 1140 miles of public road,
40 miles of which is paved with concrete. In 1905 there were six
miles of irrigating ditches watering 500 acres. Now there are 150
miles of ditches watering 35,000 acres.
The assessed valuation in the county is $15,594,796. There
are in the county 19,732 cattle, 12,744 hogs, 3,244 mules, 4,459
horses, 28,084 sheep, 147 goats, and 1,116 dozen poultry ; and there
are 34 veterans exempt from part of their taxes. (I am giving
the statistics as I find them on the assessor's rolls.) I have given
the statistics on the various industries in their proper chapters,
and they need not be repeated here.
County Officials
This county is blessed with as fine a set of county officers as
could be found anywhere. It is many years since we have had
any kind of scandal arising from malfeasance in office, and from
present appearances it will be many more years before we have
any. The present officers are Ernest Weyand, Superior Judge;
T.D. Cain, County Clerk and Recorder; C. D. Stanton, Sheriff;
E. R. Graham, Treasurer; J. F. Rich, Auditor; Adam Sutton,
Assessor; Miss Perle Sanderson, Superintendent of Schools; J.
W. Kaerth, Surveyor; Alva A. King, District Attorney; Ed. W.
Tennant, Tax Collector; J. D. McNary, Coroner and Public Ad-
ministrator; P. H. Northey, Sealer of Weights and Measures; C.
J. AVescott, P. V. Berkey, G. B. Pence, Roscoe Rahm and W. W.
Boardman, Supervisors; Dr. C. A. Poage, County Physician; Dr.
G. ~W. Desrosier, County Health Officer; Dr. Norman Neilson,
County Veterinarian; Luke R. Boedefeld, County Horticultural
Commissioner; Mrs. Edna White, Superintendent of the County
Hospital; Miss Louise Jamme, County Librarian; and S. J. Car-
penter, Deputy Game Warden.
The justices of the ])eace of the county are John B. Moore,
Colusa ; C. K. Atran, Arbuckle ; J. W. Crutcher, Williams ; J. H.
Lovelace, Maxwell; G. T. McGahan, Stonyford; Mrs. Edna
Keeran, Princeton; and 0. M. Durham, Grimes. The constables
are W. W. Walker, Colusa; Oscar Hoernlein, Arbuckle; H. A.
Christopher, Williams; W. J. Ortner, Maxwell; G. S. Mason,
Stonyford; C. M. Archer, Princeton; and George Ainger, Grimes.
170 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Colusa
Colusa, the coi;nty seat, is the ouly incorporated city iu the
county. It is situated on the river about midway of the eastern
border of the county, and has a population of 1,582, according to
the census of 1910; and it has grown but little since then. The
extensions, Goads and Coopers, one at either end of the town,
bring the population up to about 2,000.
Colusa was established in 1850, as we have seen in a preced-
ing chapter. It grew slowly but steadily for the first forty years
of its existence ; but more recently it has not grown much, having
added only about two hundred fifty to its population in the past
twenty-seven years. The town was incorporated in 1876, and got
electric lights in 1900; but there was no other marked change in
its existence till 1909, when it woke up and made progress in
strides that must have startled its old inhabitants. On August 31,
1909, the electors of the town voted bonds in the sum of $50,000
for a new water-works, and a like amount for a sewer system ; and
then the town got caught in the wave of progress that swept over
the state in 1910 and the years immediately following, and improve-
ments came so rapidly that it was hard to keep up with them.
The water-works and sewer system were finished in 1910 and
began operation; the steam laundry, which had been fighting shy
of the town because there was no sewer system, came in 1910, and
a second steam laundry came at about the same time; the Colusa
Business Men's Association was organized in 1910, and for a time
was very active; a second picture show, the Gem Theater, was
opened in 1910 ; and the Colusa County Bank remodeled its build-
ing that year. In 1911 the First National Bank building and the
O'Eourke building were put up, and the town trustees ordered
sidewalks down in all parts of town included in the ' ' fire limits. ' '
In 1912 the Gamewell fire alarm system was installed, and J. M.
Phillips began in June to sign up contracts for street paving.
Market Street was paved up as far as Eighth that fall, the work
beginning on October 23. The next year, 1913, the paving on
Market Street was completed, Fifth Street and parts of Sixth and
Jay were' paved, a swat-the-fly campaign and general sanitary
cleaning up was begun and vigorously carried on, and the old
Cooke water-works, built in 1870, was bought by the town and put
out of business. In 1914 electroliers were placed on Market and
Fifth Streets, and preliminary steps in the paving of Tenth Street
were taken. All this time sidewalks were being laid in different
parts of town, and moral conditions were being greatly improved,
so that by the time the five years from 1910 to 1915 were past,
COLUSA AND GLEXX COUNTIES 171
Colusa was a different town. In 1917 the people voted $65,000
bonds for a new grammar school, and then decided that that
wasn't enough and voted $20,000 more. Principally under the
direction of Dr. E. S. Holloway, one of the finest school buildings
in the state has been erected. This year the fire department got
a new auto chemical engine and placed itself in the ranks of the
best-equipped fire departments in the state.
Colusa today has three good banks, the Colusa County, the
First National and the First Savings; three general stores, J. J.
O'Eourke, H. D. Braly & Company, and Mrs. J. S. Malsbary; a
woman's store, the Scoggins-Sartain Company; three groceries,
the Haukins Estate, Stowe & Padgitt, and H. R. Putmau & Sous ;
two lumber companies, the Colusa Lumber Company and the Gren-
fell Lumber Company; .an art and china store, B. A. Pryor; a
harness store, the Colusa Harness Company, owned by Mrs. J. .
Mason; a furniture store, the Jacobsou Furniture Company; three
hardware stores, Messick & Kirkpatrick, G. W. Tibbetts, and B.
H. Mitchell ; a farm machinery agency, the Colusa Implement
Company; a men's clothing and furnishing store. Brown & Com-
pany, of Marysville; two drug stores, Oscar Robinson and J. R.
Cajaeob; a millinery store. Miss Hattie Boggs; three ice-cream
parlors and candy stores, George W. South, Miss Fannie Burrows,
and J. R. Joseph ; a stationery and candy store, George A. Finch ;
three cigar stores, G. J. Kammerer, Baum & Minasian, and Moore
& Severson ; a bakery, Montgomery & Walker ; a plumbing estab-
lishment, the James Roche Estate; an electric store, Doren Rus-
sell; two butcher shops. Comfort & Hougland and Johnsen &
Richter; a tailor, S. Edmands; fifteen saloons, E. P. Jones, J. H.
Busch, L. A. Moore, B. H. Probst, Milde & Class, Goldsmith &
Gurnsey, Fred Watson, Wing Sing & Company, Roche Bros.,
Tozai Company, J. L. Erisey, R. L. Welch, W. S. Brooks, John
Osterle, and James O'Leary; two second-hand stores, A. Weiss
and John Klein; seven garages, Merrifield & Preston, Westcamp
& Sparks, Colusa County Garage, Overland Garage, Frank L.
Crayton, the Service Garage, and Fred Martin ; six barber shops.
Ward & South, George St. Louis, J. D. Lopez, Moore & Severson,
Nick Chuvas, and Doc Cramer; six grain-buyers, John L. Jackson,
A. B. Jackson, H. H. Hicok & Son, H. G. Monsen, E. P. McNeal,
and Scott Bros.; one rice broker, J. W. Sperry; five real estate
dealers, F. B. Pryor, John C. Mogk, J. B. DeJarnatt, B. D. Beck-
with, and Campbell & Barlow; two groceterias, one kept by the
Scoggins-Sartain Company and the other by the bakery; a tamale
parlor, Mrs. A. Pinales; two pool-rooms, G. J. Kammerer and
Moore & Severson; a creamery, the Colusa Butter Company; a
172 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
soda works, Mrs. T. F. Phillips; two shoemakers, A. B. Cooper
and "\^. Maroviteh; three restaurants, Mrs. L. A. Moore, Kufolias
Bros., and the Colusa Cafe and Grill ; two cleaning works, H. S.
Saladin and J. R. Manville; two hotels, the Eiverside and the Na-
tioual-Eureka ; four rooming houses, the Commercial, the Eagle,
the Shasta, and the Cooper; a photographer, W. A. Gillett; a
foundry and machine shoi3, T. E. Maroney; a flouring mill, the
Colusa Milling and Grain Company; two undertakers, J. D. Mc-
Nary & Son and Sullivan Bros. ; four contractors, W. C. Blean,
Henry Von Dorsten, A. P. Staple, and L. S. Lewis ; two moving
picture shows, the Gem by C. C. Kaufman and the Star by Hilde-
brand &: Lucientes ; three warehouse companies, the Colusa Ware-
house Company, the Farmers Storage Company, and the Sacra-
mento River Warehouse Company; three blacksmiths, C. W.
Young, Anthony & Son, and Martin Thim ; two wagon-makers, J.
P. Muttersbach and J. R. Totman; a taxi service, AV. A. Gillett;
two painting firms, L. H. Fitch & Sous and White Bros. ; a bicycle
repair shop, Clifford D. Brown; two gasoline service stations, J.
C. Ohrt and Royal Kenny; a steam laundry, W. H. Graham; an
express and delivery service, Ed. Butler; four draying firms, Tot-
man & Cleveland, S. A. Ottenwalter, George Ross, and C. M. Jack-
son ; the Union Ice Company ; the Standard Oil Company and the
Union Oil Company ; two newspapers, the Sun and the Herald ;
three doctors. Dr. C. A. Poage, Dr. W. T. Rathbuu, and Dr. G. W.
Desrosier; an osteopath. Dr. F. H. McCormack; a veterinarian.
Dr. Norman Neilson ; four dentists, Dr. E. S. Holloway, Dr. F. Z.
Pirkey, Dr. P. J. Wilkins, and Dr. E. L. Hicok; an architect,
Robert L. Holt; ten lawyers, Thomas Rutledge, U. W. Brown,
Harmon Albery, W. J. King, A. A. King, Ben Ragain, I. G.
Zumwalt, Seth Millington, Sr., Seth Millington, Jr., and Clifford
Rutledge. There are also two lawyers who do not practice their
profession, John T. Harrington and Phil B. Arnold. The town
has schools, churches, and lodges, a Carnegie library, a telephone
system and telegraph connection. It had two livery stables, but
the encroachments of the auto caused both to quit business with-
in the past year.
WiUlaiii.<:
Williams is the second town in size in the county, having
about 1,000 people. It was laid out l^y W. H. Williams in 1876;
and as the railroad reached it shortly thereafter, it was soon a
thriving village. Its churches, lodges, schools and newspaper have
already been mentioned in these pages. In addition, it has a sub-
stantial bank, electric lights, a water-works, a modern high school,
more paved streets than any other town of its size in California,
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 173
a branch statiou of the Standai-d Oil Compauy, two blaeksmitbs,
and a frnit store.
One of the largest department stores in the connty is located
at Williams, that of the George C. Comstock Company, Incorpo-
rated. Entrican & George have a grocery; J. F. Fouch & Son, a
drug store; E. J. Worsley, a harness store; J. E. Mitchell, a
butcher shop; and T. G. Anson and Joe Lanouette, cigar stores.
Ed. Gimblin is a plumber ; the A. F. Webster Company handle real
estate; H. H. Rathbun and Mrs. R. Y. Lynch sell candy and soft
drinks ; Al. Hausman has a bakery ; and A. B. Levy is a graiu-
luiyer. There are three garages in town, Quigley's, the City Gar-
age, and the Central Garage. Its flouring mill was mentioned in
a former chapter. It has two doctors, Dr. A. W. Kimball and Dr.
Ney M. Salter.
Arbuckle
Arbuckle, ''the home of the almond," has been mentioned a
number of times in these pages. It was laid out in 1875 by T. R.
Arbuckle, who stimulated its growth by giving town lots to those
who would build on them. It is now the metropolis of the south-
ern part of the county, having a population of about 700. It is
the town that put the "am" in almond, and it reaps a lot of cash
from the transaction. It is the home of D. S. Nelson, the almond
king; but he is seldom at home, being generally "over at Es-
parto," "out in the orchard," or "gone to Hershey." It has
three blocks of paved streets and two blocks of paved sidewalks,
and is a "fine town for a dentist, but can't get any," according
to the report sent me.
Arbuckle has three general stores, two hardware stores, two
drug stores, two plumbers and tinners, two restaurants, two real
estate dealers, three garages, two grain-buyers, one lawyer, a
hotel, a bank, a harness store, a furniture store, a butcher shop,
a candy and soft-drink emporium, a bakery, a newspaper, an elec-
tric shop, a tailor shop, a feed and seed store, a jewelry store, a
lumber yard, a branch station of the Union Oil Company, and a
sanitarium. It is the only town in the county having a rural free
delivery mail route, an advantage due to the closely settled -com-
munity lying about the town. In other places the real estate men
do all the lying about the town. Owing to the great success of
the almond and raisin industries in its vicinity, Arbuckle will un-
doubtedly grow rapidly and substantially in the next few years.
Maxwell
Maxwell was started in 1878, about the time the railroad went
through that territory. It was first called Occident; but the name
174 COLUSA AXD GLENN COUNTIES
was afterward clianged to honor an early resident, George Max-
well. It has a population of 550. It has a fine new Odd Fellows'
hall, a modern town hall, a bank, a hotel, fine school buildings,
four blocks of paved streets, and nearly all the conveniences of
modern life. Benjamin Smith and the Eochdale Company have
general stores; Kaerth & Lausten, a hardware store; Arthur J.
Fouch, a drug store ; Dave Schwenk, a harness store ; Lee Brown,
a furniture store; ^Y. E. Yarbrough, a butcher shop; G. I. Stor-
mer, a cigar store; James H. Ellis, a creamery; Mrs. Susie Hall,
a millinery store; and J. A. Graham, a shoe shop. George L.
Harden is a real estate dealer; Henry Kraft and A. J. Beckers
are blacksmiths; J. A. Constable, a well-driller; and Lee Brown,
a building contractor. There are two garages in the town, con-
ducted by Eli Triplett and George B. Brown. The Tribune keeps
the people informed on the news of the day.
Princeton
Princeton was a road house in 1851, and if that could be called
the beginning of the town it is probably the second oldest town in
the county. Its population is 250, but it is destined to take a boom
as soon as the Colusa & Hamilton Eailroad gets well established.
It has river transportation and a railroad with a daily freight
service, but no passenger trains ; a ferry across the river ; a great
hope for a bridge, and a fixed determination to have one ; and four
daily auto stage lines. It has a good bank, housed in a fine build-
ing of its own, branches of the Standard Oil Company and Union
Oil Company, a public drinking fountain, a church, a good public
school, a fine high school with gymnasium and manual training-
shop, and a tireless booster for the town in the person of Mrs.
C. W. CockeriU.
Ed Barham and the Hocker-Cannon Company keep general
stores ; E. L. Hemstreet has a groceiy ; Johnsen & Eichter, a
butcher shop; D. S. Baker and W. A. Boyes, candy and soft
drinks; Melvin Weaver, a bakery; P. W. Feeny, a garage; and
D. A. Newton, a hotel. The Colusa Lumber Comi^any has a
branch at Princeton. Mallon & Blevins and L. L. Grieve deal in
real estate.
Grimes
Grimes is a strong competitor of Princeton for the honor of
lieing the second oldest town in the county — that is, if one house
could be called the beginnings of a town. Both towns trace their
origin back to 1851, but whether Helphenstine's house at Prince-
ton or Grimes' house at Grimes was built first I do not know.
Grimes, wliich was named for Cleatou Grimes and his brother,
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 175
who built on the site of the town in 1851, has a population of 250.
It has rail and river transportation; and as it is the center of a
very rich territory, it ships a great deal of produce. It has a
bank, telephone connection, two warehouse companies, Odd Fel-
lows and Eebekah lodges, a church, and schools.
General stores are kept by Smith & Company and George D.
Megonigal; a hardware store, by W. F. Howell; a drug store, by
L. V. Nanscawen; a harness store, by Peter Krohn; a butcher
shop, by H. L. Houchins & Son ; a cigar and candy store, by J. S.
Woods; and garages, by M. C. Dillman and Clipp Bros. J. M.
Dixon and A. A. Thayer, Jr., are grain-buyers ; and J. W. Ask is
a plumber and tinner; and there are two blacksmith shops, three
building contractors, the Florindale creamery, and the Grimes
bakery. Grimes is at present the center of the sugar-beet indus-
try in the county. The town leads all the other towns in the
county, and probably in the United States, in the amount of
money per capita that it put up for the Y. M. C. A. war fund,
having subscribed $5,339 in one evening, and considerable since
that meeting. Colusa raised $6,200 at its meeting for the same
purpose ; Arbuckle-College City, $4,200 ; and Williams, $4,000.
College City
College City had its beginning in 1871, when Andrew Pierce
died and left his land and money for the founding of Pierce
Christian College, from which the town takes its name. The first
college building was erected in 1874; and from that time on, for
about twenty years, College City was a very lively place. By
"lively" I do not mean what is usually meant when towns are
spoken of as lively ; namely, factories, and a pay roll with a lot of
it spent in carousing, bright lights and much noise at night, con-
stant shifting of the po])ulation, and that sort of thing. College
City had none of that. It had a life of its own. By the terms of
his will, Mr. Pierce had forbidden for all time the sale of liquor
on the premises ; and College City has never had a saloon. Con-
sequently it has never had the "life" that has flowed abundantly
in other communities ; but it was a community of high ideals, and
a place to which its people were devotedly attached. When the
college closed its doors, about 1894, the town suffered a severe
blow; but it has continued to exist, even with the handicap that
has killed so many towns : a railroad passing near by and bringing
a competing town. Today the population of College City is about
150. It has a good high school, a church, a general store, a har-
ness store, an ice-cream parlor, and a blacksmith shop. It is on
the Colusa & Hamilton branch of the Southern Pacific Eailroad,
and may take on new life when that road gets fully into operation.
176 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Stonyford
Stonyford is the only important mountain town in the county.
It was started by a man with the good old American name, John
Smith, and was called Smithville — an equally standard name. In
the summer of 1890 the Stony Creek Improvement Company
bought the town, moved it half a mile to higher ground, and
renamed it Stonyford. The town at that time consisted chiefly of
a good flouring mill and a commodious hotel, l)oth of which were
greatly improved by the company, which had visions of a great
metropolis in the little mountain valley with its enchanting sum-
mer climate and its magnificent views. The village now has a
population of about 90, and does a considerable business in sum-
mer with campers, hunters, fishermen and other pleasure-seekers.
It is surrounded by beautiful green alfalfa fields watered from
Big Stony Creek, and is an ideal sj^ot in summer. It has a town
hall, two churches, a Masonic hall, a hotel, and telephone com-
munication. D. J. Westapher and A. R. Bickford & Company
keep general stores, and the latter firm handles fresh meat. There
are a restaurant, a candy and soft drink establishment, a cream-
ery, a blacksmith shop, and a feed stable.
In Conclimon
To those who have had the patience to follow thus far the
story herein set down., let me say that no attempt has been made
to give this work any particular literary flavor. I have tried to
confine myself to a plain statement of facts, especially those facts
that would help the reader to understand the tendencies of the
times, and appreciate the changes that have taken place in the
past, and that are today taking place, in this county of ours. I
realize that this is only a fragmentary work. A dozen volumes
like this could not hold the history of Colusa County, if it were all
written. But I have tried to touch the "high spots," the im-
portant points, to the end that those who may in the future wish
to know how the foundations of their civilization were laid, and
who were the builders of the superstructure, may find some help
from the perusal of these pages.
HISTORY OF GLENN COUNTY
By Mrs. Rcbcccu T. Lambrrt
INTRODUCTION
Topographic and Gener.al Industrial Features
Glenn County lies in the heart of the great Sacramento Valley,
midway between San Francisco Bay on the south and Mt. Shasta
on the north. From the river westward there is a gradual slope
for a distance of twenty miles to the first low range of foothills.
For an equal distance the ascent then becomes more rapid, over
each succeeding range of hills, to the summit of the Coast Eauge
mauntains which form the western boundary of the county, ter-
minating at Mt. Hull on the north and Snow Mountain on the
south. The southern boundary follows the township line between
townships seventeen and eighteen; and the northern, the one
intersecting the river a short distance above its confluence with
Stony Creek. Stony Creek has its source in the Coast Range
mountains iu Colusa County, and flows in a general northerly
direction, increasing in volume as the drainage creeks, Briscoe, Elk
and Grindstone, enter from the west. Near the north line of the
county it breaks through the low range of foothills near the
Miller Buttes, west of Orland, and flows in an easterly direction
across the plains to its confluence with the Sacramento River.
Geologists claim that what is now Stony Creek Valley was, during
a recent era of world development, a lake having its outlet to the
south into Clear Lake in Lake County, and then through Cache
Creek to the Sacramento River. Stony Creek is the only stream
of any importance in California that flows for any great distance
in a direction opposite to the river whicji it finally joins. Willow,
Walker and Hambright Creeks have their sources in the foothills
separating Stony Creek Valley from the plains, and are only
drainage creeks carrying a flow of water during the winter and
spring months. Willow and Walker Creeks do not reach the river,
but empty their flood waters into a slight depression a few miles
west of the river, known as "the Trough."
Glenn County contains eight hundred fifty thousand acres of
land, approximately four hundred thousand acres of which is
level or valley land. Nearly all of this area is irrigable, either by
178 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
gravity flow from tlie Orland Project canal and the Central Canal,
or from pumping wells. Just west of the plains the low range
of foothills is mainly farmed to grain, and contains many wide
valleys of wonderful fertility. Continuing westward the hills
become steeper and slightly wooded, and the valleys much nar-
rower. This section of wooded hills contains about one hundred
fifty thousand acres, and forms the divide between the Stony
Creek Valley and the plains. Grazing is the chief industry here.
On the bottom lands of the Stony Creek Valley alfalfa is raised
extensively, and dairying is very profitable. Poultry, cattle, sheep
and hogs are raised in large numbers. From the creek bottom
the bench land or high plateau continues westward to the foot of
the Coast Eange mountains. Nestled close to the base of these
mountains is a narrow strip of land known as the Thermal Belt,
where severe frosts are unknown and both almonds and fruit do.
well. The Coast Eange mountains which form the western boun-
dary are covered with pine timber and form a great recreation
ground for the people of the county, as well as affording valuable
summer pasturage for stock. Lumbering is carried on on a small
scale, but the greater part of the district is included in the Cali-
fornia National Forest and is under the control of the Federal
government. This mountainous portion of the county contains
close to two hundred thousand acres. Since the time of the early
settlements, conditions in the hills have never undergone any
radical change. It is in the varying industries of the plains —
from the advent of the hunter and trapper, creeping stealthily
down the river, setting snares and pitfalls for the happy denizens
of the forests on its banks ; through the eras of the early stockmen,
whose countless herds roamed the plains at will, and the gTcat
grain farmers, with their thousands of acres of wheat and barley ;
to the vanishing of these before the conjuror. Water, by whose
wizard touch the plains were dotted with those garden spots, the
alfalfa fields and orchards of the intensive farmer — that the
economic historv of the countv is writ.
CHAPTER I
The Pathfinders
In the early times in California, all the traffic between San
Francisco and Oregon was by boat; and the only people who
attempted a trip on land were the hunters and trappers who fol-
lowed the hills and streams, where game was more abundant.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 179
The first trapper about whom there is any authentic iuformatiou
was Jedediah S. Smith, who was a pathfinder in reality, if not in
title, for he was the first man to make the journey to California
from the United States overland. From the post of a fur com-
pany on Great Salt Lake, Smith was sent out in 1826 on an
exploring trip for the mapping out of a future field of operations.
He traveled southward to the Colorado, came into California by
the Southern Pass, and crossed the Mojave Desert to San Gabriel.
In May, with only two companions, he returned to Salt Lake, ac-
complishing in this trip the first crossing of the Sierras. It is not
with the details of this trip that a history of this county is con-
cerned, as his activities were confined to the southern part of the
state. Soon after his return to Salt Lake, however, he started on
his second journey to California, arriving with eight companions in
October, 1827. Falling under the suspicion of the Mexican
authorities, who looked upon his comings and goings with great
disfavor, on issue of orders Smith was brought before them at
San Jose. Here he Avas released on a bond signed by his country-
man. Captain Cooper of Monterey, who became responsible with his
person and property for the good behavior of one Jedediah S.
Smith. Smith, with his party now increased to nineteen, left San
Francisco in the winter of 1827-1828 and proceeded northward by
a coast route. While fording the Umpqua River, they were
attacked by hostile Indians, who killed fifteen of the party and
stole all their belongings. Smith, Turner and two others escaped
to Fort Vancouver, one of the Hudson Bay Company's posts,
whence McLoughlin, the agent, despatched a party southward to
avenge the nuirder of Smith's companions and recover their
stolen goods. This party was under the command of a man named
McLeod, and, guided by Turner, not only recovered Smith's stolen
propertj' from the Indians but also had a most successful hunting-
trip down the Sacramento Valley. Thus, although Smith himself
never set foot in the Sacramento Valley, he was directly respon-
sible for its exploration by the trappers of the Hudson Bay Com-
pany, who, until this time, had always turned their attention
northward. McLeod, on his return to Fort Vancouver, was caught
in a hard snowstorm in the Pitt River country. He lost most of
his animals and was forced to leave his furs, which were ruined by
the melting snows. Tradition has it that the McCloud River
derives its appellation from a corruption of the name McLeod.
The next man sent out by the Hudson Bay Comjoany was
Ogden. He entered the Sacramento Valley about the time McLeod
left it. For eight months he trapped the length and breadth of the
valley, obtaining a great stock of furs, and finally returned north-
ward by McLeod 's trail.
180 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
In 1832 Ewing Young and J. J. Warner made a trip up the
valley to the head waters of the Sacramento Eiver, returning in
1833. Few details of this trip are obtainable except those con-
cerning the great i^estilence, which almost decimated the Indian
population of the valley. During the next decade permanent set-
tlements began to push their waj' northward along the paths
broken by the hunter and trapper. Sutter's colony at New
Helvetia was established ; and in 1839 Sutter was appointed repre-
sentative of the Mexican government on the Sacramento frontier,
with the official Mexican title of Encargado de justicia y repre-
sentante del gobierno en las fronteras del Kio del Sacramento, and
was given full authority to enforce justice among the settlers and
suppress insurrection by hostile Indians. By wise and careful
exercise of this power, he made friends of most of the Indians
and commanded the respect of the unfriendly tribes. His lieu-
tenants were frequently compelled to make long journeys north-
ward in the enforcement of his commands. It was on one such
trip, when trying to recover some stolen horses, that John Bid-
well, the most famous jjioneer of Butte County, first saw the land
on which he located the grant afterwards known as the Rancho
Chico. The following description, quoted from Bidwell's journal,
gives a vivid account of the impression produced upon him by
that portion of the Sacramento Valley, in its pristine loveliness :
"The plains were dotted with scattering groves of spreading
oaks; while the clover and wild grasses, three or four feet high,
weTe most luxuriant. The fertility of the soil was beyond ques-
tion. The water of Chico Creek was cold, clear and sparkling; tlie
mountains, flower-covered and lovely. In my chase for stolen
horses I had come across a country that was to me a revelation;
and as I proceeded up the valley, through what was later Colusa
County and beyond it, I was struck with wonder and delight at
this almost interminable land of promise."
Far-reaching Influence of Tliouias 0. Larkin
Probably few readers of the local press, when they see in the
daily paper items concerning the Larkin School, or Larkin Farm
Center, or find mention in the title records of Larkin 's Children's
Grant, realize the application of the name or connect it with that
of the first United States Consul in California. When thirty years
of age, Thomas 0. Larkin came out to California, in 1832, at the
request of his half-brother, Captain Cooper, who was a merchant
at Monterey. One of his fellow passengers on board the New-
castle, the vessel on which he made the trip, was Mrs. John C.
Holmes, the first American woman to come to California. She was
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 181
coming out to join her husband; but on her arrival, after a long
and tedious voyage by way of Honolulu, she found herself a
widow in a strange land. Captain Holmes had died soon after
she started on the voyage. The next year Mrs. Holmes was
married to Thomas 0. Larkin, the ceremony being performed by
Consul Jones of Honolulu on board the ship Volunteer, at Santa
Barbara. Six children were born of this union, the oldest son,
Thomas 0. Larkin, Jr., being the first child of American parentage
born in California. Larkin engaged in a general merchandise
business in Monterey, adding as side lines lumbering, flour milling,
and various other branches as time and occasion seemed to war-
rant, all of which prospered under his management. Lack of early
opportunity had deprived him of educational advantages ; but his
native ability, combined with tact and unimpeachable integrity,
gradually raised him to the position of one of the most influential
men in California at that period. He was unfailingly kind in help-
ing emigrants and his compatriots, but held himself aloof from
siding with any faction or set of filibusters. In 1843 he was ap-
pointed United States Consul at Monterey; and during 1845-46 he
acted as confidential agent for the United States in endeavoring
to forestall the efforts of those who wished to establish an
English protectorate over California. In fulfilling this mission,
Larkin was unselfishly devoted to the interests of his government,
turning his private business over to a subordinate and giving his
entire time to maintaining friendly relations witli the native I'ali-
fornians, and to overcoming as much as possible the bitterness
engendered by the premature activities of the Bear Flag leaders.
All historians of the i^eriod agree that Larkin was far superior in
statesmanship to most of the other actors in the drama of winning
California for the United States; and the closest scrutiny of all
his acts fails to reveal anything not in accord with the best ideals
of American diplomacy. Bancroft says of Larkin that he was a
man to whom nothing like just credit has been given for his ser-
vices during 1845-1846.
Bidicell 's Exploration
Larkin wished to obtain from the Mexican government a
grant of ten or twelve square leagues for his children, and engaged
John Bidwell to find a level tract for him suitable for that pur-
pose. In the summer of 1844 Bidwell set out on an exploring trip
up the west side of the Sacramento "\^alley. He took with him
only one man, an Indian, who was to act as interpreter. A
little way north of Colusa, wishing to know something of the soil
182 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
conditions, they turned west from the river to explore the plain.
That summer was a very hot one, following a dry winter, and in
their travels they observed many deserted Indian villages where
the springs had dried up. Not having found any drinking water
during the day, Bidwell decided to strike into the hills to the
west, feeling certain of finding water there sooner than by return-
ing to the river. The next morning they came in sight of Stony
Creek, or Capay, as the Indians called it. Large numbers of
Indians who were camped along the creek fled at their approach,
a white man being an unaccountable phenomenon to them. Grad-
ually, curiosity overcoming their fear, the Indians returned in
such numbers that Bidwell and his companion became alarmed;
but the savages manifested no hostile intentions, merely attempt-
ing to talk to him in a dialect which neither he nor his guide un-
derstood. Bidwell 's guide tried to explain to the Indians why
they were there; but only one very, very old Indian could make
out what the guide was trying to tell them.
Knowing that such a large stream must make its way to the
river, Bidwell decided to follow its course. To his great surprise
the number of Indians increased by many hundreds as he pro-
ceeded. Apparently the dry season had caused them to form
temporary villages along the creek. By nightfall the number of
Indians seemed so alarming that, believing discretion to be the
better part of valor, Bidwell pitched his camp on top of the high
hill just opposite the present town of Elk Creek, and made the
Indians understand as best he could that they must not approach
it after dark. Then, barricading the top with rocks, he and his
guide divided the watches of the night between them. The next-
day was July 4, 1844. During the day, Bidwell passed the largest
permanent Indian tillage be had yet seen. From his description
of its location this must have been on the Brownell ranch, west
of Orland. Here the Indians held a big dance attired in their
gayest regalia, consisting chiefly of beads and feathers. Finally,
on the sixth of the month, after making a complete circuit of the
present county of Glenn, Bidwell mapped out the Larkin's Chil-
dren's Grant, extending from Fairview schoolhouse on the west
to a point due east on the Sacramento Eiver, and thence south to
the south line of the Boggs ranch, in Colusa County. In 1846 the
grant was settled on by John S. Williams, who was employed by
Larkin for that purpose; and the place was stocked with cattle
and horses. "Williams is said to have built the first house in Colusa
Countv.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES . 183
CHAPTER II
The Indiaxs
Their Number and Their Origin
Owing to their nomadic habits, it was impossible to obtain
accurate information as to the number of Indians in Colusa County
at the time of its first settlement by white men. General John
Bidwell, who was probably more familiar with all the county
than any other man at that time, estimated the number in 1844
as somewhere near ten thousand. This estimate was for the ter-
ritory afterward embraced in the first proclamation of Colusa
County, when the northern boundary extended to Red Bluff.
Nature, so prodigal in her gifts of soil and climate to the valley,
proved a too indulgent mother to her children, for she robbed
them of all incentive to help themselves by supplying all their
needs Jierself.
The Digger Indians of the interior valleys of California lack
the picturesque qualities and noble bearing of the other red men
of North America ; and our interest centers around them and their
manners and customs chiefly because they were the immediate
predecessors of the pioneers in the possession of this beautiful
valley. • They were a lethargic race of people, whose chief vice
was laziness and — paradoxical as it may sound — most of whose
virtues were the result of that vice. Some ethnologists claim that
the Indians of North America are a branch of the yellow race,
and are of Asiatic origin; that centuries ago there was a land
connection across Behriug Strait between Asia and North America,
and that across this erstwhile isthmus, members of the yellow race
made their way to a new continent, where, amid different sur-
roundings, they gradually developed new racial characteristics.
Some corroboration of this theory might be found in the physical
appearance of the Diggers, whose broad faces and comparatively
flat noses would seem to indicate an Asiatic origin.
Their Mode of Living
The Diggers were the least advanced of any of the North
American Indians, their mode of living being extremely primitive.
Some of their food was cooked, as their cakes or tortillas, which
were made from acorn meal ; but by far the greater portion was
eaten directly from Nature's table. Fish, small game, insects,
acorns, and wild oats and various other seeds, formed their prin-
cipal diet. The seeds of a small blue flowering plant which grew
wild on the plains was considered an especial delicacy by them.
184 . COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
The squaws performed the harvesting and threshing in one opera-
tion, by shaking the seed-laden heads over the edge of a basket.
When the salmon were running plentifully during the spring
and fall, great numbers of tlie Indians camped along the river
near Colusa. Some miles north of Colusa, at the location of a
wide sand bar, after the spring floods were over, they constructed
a fish weir across the river by driving in willow poles close to-
gether, and in this way were able to catch large numbers of fish,
which would not return to salt water until after they had spawned.
In preparing the willow poles for the weir, they rounded and
sharpened them by burning. To these, cross sticks were lashed
with thongs of wild grape vine. The structure, when completed,
was not less than eight feet wide, and served also as a bridge
across the river. This is the only instance where the Indians
evinced any ingenuity, or put forth any effort to turn existing con-
ditions to their advantage.
Their game was such as could be easily captured by the
setting of snares and pitfalls, the indolent bucks preferring to
lie stretched out at ease while their quarry walked into their
traps, rather than to exert themselves in the more arduous and
exciting pleasure of the chase.
Maimers and Customs
The squaws generally wore short aprons made of tules or
rushes tied around the waist; but the men and children went
naked. In winter, the skin of a deer or antelope, thrown over
the shoulders, afforded some degree of protection against the
elements; and on very cold days this was supplemented by a
liberal coating of mud over the body, which was washed off
when the temperature changed. Shells and feathers, particularly
the feathers of the woodpecker and the eagle, were very highly
prized as ornaments by both sexes.
In winter the Indians lived in rude huts or shelters called
wikiups. These were conical-shaped structures about ten feet
in diameter, and were thatched with leaves, grass or rushes. A
number of wikiups together on the bank of a stream formed
what was called a rancheria.
There was no central or tribal government. Each rancheria
had its own chief, its own dialect, and its own burying ground.
Each rancheria had likewise one permanent building, called by
the white men a "sweat-house." This was also conical in shape,
the roof being formed of tree trunks ; and except for an outlet
in the center, for smoke, it was plastered over with mud and
dirt to make it air-tight. A low opening in the side gave egress
and ingress. In this house all their ceremonial dances were
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 185
held. The bucks formed a circle, leaping and dancing around
the fire in the center; while back of them the squaws stood shift-
ing their weight from one foot to the other, in time with the
weird, monotonous chant. Between them and the outer walls
the onlookers were crowded in, tlie more the merrier. When one
of the bucks became so overheated that he could endure the
dance no longer, he rushed from the building and plunged into
the waters of the creek or river, as the case might be; for the
sweat-house was alwaj'S built on the banks of some stream large
enough to afford a convenient plunge.
Opinions differ as to the significance of this custom, which
was common to all Indians of the Pacific Coast. Various theories
have been advanced, to the effect that it was a religious cere-
mony, a harvest festival, a species of recreation, or a sanitary
measure. If it was intended for the latter, it failed most woefully
of fulfilling its purpose, particularly during smallpox epidemics,
of which there were at least three, in the years 1829, 1833 and
1856 respectively. Ewing Young, a trapper, who made a trip
up and down this valley in 1833, said that he saw hundreds lying
dead in the larger rancherias, due, no doubt, to the rapid spread
of the contagion in the overheated air of the sweat-house.
Little is definitely known concerning the religious beliefs of
the Indians, as they had no written characters or symbols with
which to record them. The Mission Fathers were too zealous
in supplying the Southern Indians with a new creed to inquire
much into what they were replacing; and the pioneers were too
intent on their own affairs to bother their heads about what
moral or religious belief governed the conduct of the Indians,
so long as they were good Indians, from their point of view —
that is, refrained from stealing their property, and from going
on the warpath. A tradition of a flood in which only two crea-
tures survived was common among all the Indians of California,
the identity of these two varying according to locality. Some
held it was a hawk and a mud turtle, others a coyote and an
eagle, which, as the waters receded, created Indians to people
the hills and the valleys. Whether they believed in a future
state, or whether, in their view, rewards and punishments applied
to this present existence, is not known. In support of the latter
theory, may be cited their belief that grizzly bears were wicked
men turned into beasts as a punishment for a tendencj^ to eat
human flesh.
Until the advent of the white man, the Indians were a fairly
moral race of people. Chastity was greatly prized among them;
and although marriage was easily contracted and dissolved by
the mutual consent of both parties, they were faithful to its
186 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
bonds while it lasted. Having little ambition to accumulate
belongings, they were honest with each other. That they were
not avaricious or calculating is shown by their manner of dis-
posal of the effects of the dead, which were all buried with
the corpse. There are people now living in the county who can
remember plajdng as children on Stony Creek, north of Orland,
and there discovering beads and relies from what was once an
old Indian burying ground.
The valley Indians were never hostile to the whites. They
were too impassive even to attempt actively to resist the en-
croachment of the settlers. Some of the hill and mountain In-
dians, however, showed more spirit in this regard ; and as a
result there were two or three quite serious outbreaks.
Removal to the Noma Lacka Reservation
In 1854 the Government made a reservation of land near
Paskenta, called the Noma Lacka Reservation, for the Indians
who were scattered over the hills and mountains, and who had
been the source of considerable annoyance to the settlers. In
June, 1855, the task of collecting and removing the Indians
to the reservation began. Captain Williams and Joseph James
went to a rancheria on Salt Creek, west of Elk Creek, to try
to persuade the Indians there to move on to the reservation.
The Indians surrounded and attacked them with arrows, killing
Williams' mule and dangerously wounding James in the breast.
The two men fought for their lives and finally succeeded in escap-
ing, leaving several of their assailants dead on the field of battle.
Even after the Indians had been placed on the reservation, they
continued to make raids on the settlers.
Later Depredations
In I860, a baud of Indians from the reservation came over
into the Elk Creek country and killed stock belonging to William
Watson on Grindstone Creek. This offense was allowed to pass
without punishment, and the next spring they repeated their
raids, increasing their field of depredations. They robbed the
ranch of Anderson and Briscoe, and drove off the friendly
Indians who were working for them.
In 1862, incited by a squaw named "Hatcreek Lize, " one
of the Pitt River tribe, about thirty Indians made another raid
into the Stony Creek Valley, this time killing William Watson,
a Grindstone settler, and an Indian boy who was herding sheep
for Mr. Darling, besides numberless head of cattle. Fully aroused
by these audacious crimes, the settlers determined on vengeance.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 187
Fifteen men, led by Jack Lett of Stonyford, started in pursuit
of the savages. On the way they were reinforced by an equal
number of men under the leadership of Rufus Burrows, of
Newville. The pursuing party followed the Indians for a day
and a half, finally overtaking them where they had pitched
camp to rest, believing themselves safe from pursuit by that
time. A battle ensued, which lasted an hour and a half before
the Indians retreated, leaving fifteen of their number dead. The
pursuers had suffered two casualties during the engagement,
S. W. Shannon and S. E. Ford both receiving mortal wounds.
The Legend of ''Bloody Rock"
There is an interesting legend of how "Bloody Rock" re-
ceived its name, which no doubt originated in this pursuit of the
Indians bj^ the settlers ; and although there is nothing in history
to authenticate it in any way, the story, on accouut of its appeal
to the imagination, will probabh' continue to live, though the
true facts of the case are forgotten. "Bloody Rock" is a preci-
pice on the west bank of Eel River, near the western boundary
of Glenn County. The slope of the mountain from the north is
quite gradual, as of a low hill whose brow is comparatively
level. Then, without warning, there is a sheer drop to the river
bed three hundred feet below, as though the other half of the
mountain had been sliced off with a great knife in prehistoric
times. In early days, so the story runs, on account of some
unusually daring crime, the settlers started out in pursuit of
the Indians. Closing in on them from all sides, they drove
some twenty or thirty Indians up this gradual ascent, until they
were brought to bay at the brink of the cliff. Here they were
given their choice by the settlers of being shot or going over
the precipice. After a little parley among themselves, the chief,
with a war-whoop, leaped over the edge, and was instantly fol-
lowed by the rest of his party. As a result of this action, this
spot has from that day to this borne the gruesome appellation
of "Bloody Rock."
Attack at the Rancliey'ia on the Millsaps Place
There was a little trouble later in 1862, with some local In-
dians on the rancheria on the Millsaps place on Stony Creek.
The Indians had plundered Mr. Wilson's home during his ab-
sence; and when, on his return, he went to the rancheria to
demand the return of his property, both squaws and bucks
attacked him with stones and arrows. He was rescued bj' Mr.
Millsaps, who heard the noise of the affray. Next morning, the
settlers again arose in their wrath. Four of the Indians were
188 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
killed during the fight that followed; and a day or so later,
"Pete," who had wounded Mr. Wilson, was caught near the
reservation and hanged hy friendly Indians.
Such summary punishment had a very salutary effect upon
the Indians, instilling in them a wholesome respect for the lives
and property of the white men. The settlers suffered no more
from raids; and save for isolated cases where some buck grew
quarrelsome and courageous under the influence of liquor, they
had very little further trouble.
Results of Their Contact with Ciiulization
The Indians' primitive mode of living had ill fitted them to
resist the encroachments of a more virile race, and it was inevi-
table that the coming of the hardy pioneers should mark the
beginning of their decline. At the close of the Mexican "War,
the United States government had not deemed it necessary to
recognize the possessory rights of the peaceful California Indians
to their hunting grounds, and took no more account of their
tenancy than of the herds of wild game which pastured the
land. It is not surprising, therefore, with the example set by
the government before them, that many of the more aggressive
pioneers regarded the Indian as having few rights which a white
man was bound to respect, and that these same pioneers settled
without a qualm of conscience on land which the Indians had
occupied for centuries.
Clinging to their tribal relationships and primitive manner
of living, the Indians gradually receded before the advance of
the settlers, seeking shelter and freedom in the valleys and can-
yons in the hills. In the later fifties, when the stockmen began
to settle in the hills, the Indians were a source of great annoyance
to them; and the government then set apart a reservation for
the Indians and persuaded many of them to move on to it. Those
who remained in the county, when they worked at all, served
as laborers for the early settlers; and where they were treated
kindly, they often manifested a great deal of loyalty to their
employers.
One of the laws passed by the first legislature of the state
decreed that the Indians should clothe themselves, and that their
labor should belong to any one who furnished them with cloth-
ing, until all arrears were paid. While this law accomplished
its purpose in making the Indians conform to the standards of
civilization by wearing what the law required, it frequently
placed them in an economic condition little better than invol-
untary servitude. Born hedonists, the Indians spent the greater
part of what they earned for beads and feathers, for personal
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 189
adornment, or for "fire water" for inner refreshment; and
tliis improvidence on their part rendered them easy subjects
for exploitation by the unscrupulous.
From their contact with the whites, the Indians contracted
the habit of intemperance. This, with its resultant vices, together
with their inability to adapt themselves to changed economic con-
ditions, spelled their doom. Of the many thousands who roamed
the hills and plains upon the advent of the white men, there
remain but a handful — some fifty or sixty, in a small rancheria
upon Grindstone Creek. Too lazy and improvident to thrive,
and too peaceful to struggle, the Indians as a race have passed
away from the county, without enriching the civilization which
succeeded them by so much as the legacy of a single picturesque
legend, song or story.
CHAPTER III
The Missions. California Wins Her Independence
The Missions
The Spanish Californians, with the lack of ambition and
enterprise born of a contented mind, never seemed to realize the
vast possibilities of the great interior valley of Northern C^ali-
fornia; and it is doubtful if any Missions would ever have been
established north of San Francisco Bay, had it not been for the
activity of the Russians at Fort Ross, on the northern coast,
which aroused the jealousy of Spain. The fear that the Russian
colonists might further extend their occupation of the territory
was largely responsible for the founding of the Mission at San
Rafael, and of the one at Sonoma also. These Missions were
regarded by Spain as having a strategic and military significance,
as well as a religious purpose.
The Russians, however, were never very prosperous ; and in
1839 they gave up their colony, and sold all their personal prop-
erty, consisting of live stock, ordnance, and a vessel of twenty-
five tons, to General John A. Sutter, who had just been granted an
immense tract of land at the juncture of the Sacramento and
American Rivers.
Sutter's Hospitality
General Sutter was a kind and generous-hearted man; and
his open-handed hospitality soon made his colony a Mecca for all
immigrants coming across the plains from the United States.
Each year they came in increasing numbers, and each year more
190 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
and more of them settled in the Sacramento Valley, under Sut-
ter's protection, until in 1846 the settlements extended from
Sutter's Fort northward to Peter Lassen's farm, at the head of
Deer Creek, in the northeastern part of what is now Tehama
County.
The native Californians viewed with increasing suspicion and
alarm the growing power of the settlers from the United States.
During the early forties there were vague, uneasy rumors afloat
that the Californians were planning an uprising to drive out the
land-grasping Gringos, as the Americans were called. In 1846,
Captain John C. Fremont, who was sent out by the United States
Government to explore the most direct routes to the Coast, and
to do topographical work in California, made a surveying trip up
the Sacramento Valley with sixty men and two hundred horses.
Near the boundary line between Oregon and California, he was
overtaken by Lieut. Archibald Gillespie, the bearer of secret
despatches from Washington. What instructions these despatches
contained has never been made public; but upon their receipt
Fremont immediately turned back southward into the valley,
and established camp near the Marys%dlle Buttes. This unex-
pected move on the part of Fremont excited wide-spread curiosity
among the northern settlers, and convinced many of them that the
rumors of an uprising against them were true. They flocked to
Fremont's camp; but what they learned there appears to have
been a bit conflicting and confusing, as very few had the same
understanding of the situation. Some were told that the Cali-
fornians were about to attack them ; others, that it was necessary
for them to make the first move.
The Capture of Aire's Horses
In speaking of Fremont's part in instigating the Bear Flag
Eevolt, John Bidwell says :
"It so happened that Castro had sent Lieutenant Arce to the
north side of San Francisco Bay to collect scattered government
horses. Arce had secured about a hundred and fifty, and was
taking them to the south side of the Bay, via Sutter's Fort,
and to the San Joaquin Valley. . . . Fremont, hearing that the
horses were i^assing, sent a party . . . and captured them. This,
of course, was done before he had orders or any positive news
that war was declared. . . . Thus, without giving the least
notice to Sutter, the great friend of Americans, or to Ameri-
cans in general, scattered and exposed as they were all over
California, he precipitated the war."
. After the capture of Arce's horses, Merritt and his band
proceeded to Sonoma, where they surrounded the home of Gen-
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 191
eral Vallejo and declared the inmates prisoners. Vallejo was
taken completely by surprise, and so offered no resistance. But
when his wife asked to whom they were to surrender, the attack-
ing party were thrown into confusion. No one seemed to have
definite orders from Fremont, and each hesitated about taking
upon himself the responsibility of interfering with the liberty of
such an important personage as General Vallejo. Many were
for giving up the enterprise entirely; but William B. Ide took
command of the situation, declaring "that they must either be
conquerors or they were robbers."
The Bear Flag Revolt
Sonoma was captured, and General Vallejo was taken first
to Fremont's camp and then to Sutter's Fort for detention. Ide,
with twenty-four of the men, remained at Sonoma and organ-
ized the Eepublie of California. The men were divided into three
companies, under the leadership of Henry L. Ford, Granville P.
Swift, and Samuel J. Hensley; and the Bear Flag was designed
and adopted as their emblem.
The importance of the part played by men of this vicinity in
the Bear Flag Revolution will be readily seen when one remembers
that three of the four officers of the Bear Flag Party were William
B. Ide, Henry L. Ford, and Granville P. Swift, each of whom was
elected an officer of Colusa County upon its formation in 1851.
After assuming leadership of the men at Sonoma, Ide drafted
a proclamation of the Republic of California, which he had scat-
tered broadcast. Jn this proclamation he stated that it was his
object "to establish and perpetuate a just, liberal, and honorable
government, which shoulcl secure to all civil and religious liberty ;
insure security of life and property ; detect and punish crime and
injustice ; encourage virtue, industry and literature ; foster agricul-
ture and manufactures; and guarantee freedom to commerce."
The Battle of Olampali
There was only one clash between the Californians and the
Bear Flag men, known as the Battle of Olampali. Two men of
the Bear Flag Party had been sent as messengers to the Coast
with letters from Fremont, and had been captured by the Cali-
fornians. Ford attempted to rescue them, and charged a ranch
house where he thought they were confined. On arriving at the
corral, however, the Americans were surprised to see fifty or
sixty armed men near the house. They had accidentally stumbled
on to one of General Castro's divisions, under the command of
Joaquin de la Torre. Ford ordered the Bears to dismount, take
refuge behind what shelter they could find, and await the attack
192 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
by de la Torre's men. The Calif ornians charged; but at the first
volley of the Bears, one of their men was killed and another was
seriously wounded. The rest retreated, keeping up a haphazard
firing at long range for some time, without damaging any of the
Bear Flag men. De la Torre retreated southward; and Ford,
content with capturing some of his horses, made no attempt to
follow him.
After a brief duration of twenty-six daj's, the Republic of
California ended with the substitution of the Stars and Stripes
for the Bear Flag at Sonoma, July 9, 1846. Historians differ in
their opinions as to the advantage to the United States of the
Bear Flag Revolution. Some of them claim that the leaders had
no knowledge of the proximitj' of war between the LTnited States
and Mexico, and that in view of this fact a revolution on their
part was ill-timed, as it might have led to English intervention,
and thus have ultimately lost California to the Union. What
would have happened had events been different, is, however,
largely a matter of conjecture. Since the war did follow so closely,
the work of conquest by United States forces was greatly sim-
plified by the fact that the American settlers already controlled all
of Northern California. The majority of the men in the Bear
Flag Revolution were not mere adventurers in search of excite-
ment, but men of property interests at that time, who were sin-
cere in their belief that such a course was necessary to their own
safety and that of other Americans in California. Nearly all of
them joined the California Battalion, which was organized by
Fremont at Sonoma on July 5, 1846, and which, by arriving at a
critical time to join the forces of Stockton in the south, really
brought the conquest to a successful end.
Granville P. Swift, and Others of the Bear Flag Party
After the war, the men of the Battalion dispersed and many
of them returned north. Bryant, Ford, Ide and Swift settled in
the northern part of what was later Colusa County, where for the
next few years Swift was one of the most picturesque figures in
the early history of the county. A tall, handsome native of the
blue grass region, he inherited a goodly measure of the fighting
blood of old Kentucky; and he was a leader in every controversy
of any importance between the Americans and the Californians
subsequent to his arrival with the Kelsey party from Oregon in
1843. In 1845, Swift served under Sutter in his cam]iaign for
Micheltorena against Alvarado. In 1846, he was one of the lead-
ing spirits of the Bear Flag Revolt, which has just been epito-
mized ; and later in the same year he was Captain of Company C of
the California Battalion under Fremont.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 193
At the close of hostilities in 1847, Granville P. Swift settled
on Stony Creek, in Colusa County. During the nest two years
he made frequent trips to the mines on the Feather River, where
he amassed a fortune by working the Indians, whom he ruled with
an iron hand. Absolutely fearless, a crack shot, and a bitter
hater of Mexicans, Swift supplies the peaceful annals of our agri-
cultural community with a dash of the romance and adventure of
"The days of old,
The days of gold.
The days of forty-nine."
The following is a reminiscence of a deceased pioneer who was an
eye-witness to the incident described.
In the palmy days of Monroeville, in the early fifties, the
principal building was an old wooden hotel with the usual barroom
attachments. Whenever a mail stage was expected, the men of
the community congregated here to await its arrival. On one such
occasion Swift was standing watching a game of cards, when a
shadow fell across the doorway of the barroom. Instinctively
he turned and, catching sight of the newcomers as he did so, shot
from the hip with the deadly skill for which he was noted. The
man was a Mexican vaquero who had had trouble with Swift, and
had made threats to kill him on sight. The Mexican, with uner-
ring accuracy, had thrown a knife with a weighted and balanced
point; and, but for the slight movement of Swift's body when he
turned, it would have pierced his heart. As it was, the knife
barely grazed his clothing and buried itself to half the length of
its blade in the wall behind him. The men rolled the dead Mexican
out of the doorway, and left the corpse waiting until the cool of
the evening for burial; and the card game was resumed until the
mail arrived.
After his mining operations. Swift next turned his attention
to stock-raising, using the Indians for vaqueros. In 1849 he pur-
chased the cattle and brand of J. S. Williams, who was leaving the
Larkin Eancho ; and for the next five years his vast herds grazed
the plains for miles. Once a year they were rodeoed at three
different points: at the old adobe on Stony Creek, north of Or-
land; at the adobe on the Murdock ranch, west of Willows; and
at the Stone Corral, west of Maxwell. Legends still exist in the
county of money buried by Swift at these places. There were no
banks in those days ; and Swift, in common with many other men,
had a habit of burying money on his home rancho, where several
deposits were found by accident after he had forgotten them.
In 1854 he moved to Sonoma County, and later to Solano, where
he was accidentally killed in a mine in 1875.
194 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
The two other officers of the Bear Flag Revolt, AVilliam B.
Ide and Henry L. Ford, had ranches in the northern part of the
county, which was cut off and joined to Tehama County in 1855.
CHAPTER IV
Organization of State and County
After the War with Mexico, the people of California hoijed
that Congress would provide them with, an organized government,
and that military rule would be at an end; but owing to the
slavery agitation at that time, and the fear of upsetting the bal-
ance of power in the Senate, Congress adjourned twice without
taking cognizance of California's needs. In the meantime, the
discovery of gold and the great inrush of miners in 1849 made
some form of organized government imperative. After the
second adjournment of Congress, General Bennett Riley, Military
Governor of California, took matters into his own hands and
called a convention to meet in Monterey on September 3, 1849,
for the purpose of forming a state constitution.
Immediately after the adjournment of this convention, printed
copies of the proposed constitution were spread broadcast over
the state, and candidates for the offices created by it inaugu-
rated an active campaign and made stump speeches in favor of its
adoption and in support of their own candidacy. The election
was held on November 13, 1849. The constitution was ratified
almost unanimously, and Peter H. Burnett was chosen as Gov-
ernor. In December the Governor proclaimed the constitution to
be "ordained and established as the constitution of the State of
California." The newly elected senators and assemblymen met
in San Jose, tlie_ new capital, on December 15, 1849. Thus, the
state government was organized and in active operation almost
nine months before California was admitted to the Union as a
state, on September 9, 1850.
Among the acts of this first legislature, which met before Cali-
fornia's admission to the Union, was one outlining the boundaries
of various counties. Colusa was one of these first counties formed,
and its boundaries were defined by the legislature as follows :
"Beginning at a point on the summit of the Coast Range moun-
tains due west from the Red Bluffs, and running thence due
east to the said bluif s on the Sacramento River, thence down tbe
middle of said river to the northwest corner of Sutter County,
thence due west along the northern border of Yolo County to the
summit of the Coast Range, thence in a northwesterly direction
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 195
following the summit of said range to the point of beginning."
The district thus defined was attached to Butte County for
judicial purposes.
Location of the County Seat at Monroeville
No sooner had this been done than a lively controversy over
the location of the county seat began. In all the expanse of terri-
tory embraced by the proclamation there were about one hundred
fifteen electors, and these were almost evenly divided between the
adherents of Monroeville and those of Colusa — each place at that
time a thriving village of one house. In 1850 the first legislature
of the state passed an act providing for the organization of a
county by the district judge upon petition of the electors of the
county. JJ. P. Monroe, after whom Monroeville was named, was
quick to take advantage of this act. But instead of applying to
the district judge, he presented a petition to Judge Moses Bean,
superior judge of Butte County, praying for the organization of
"Colusi" County. Although he really had no authority to do so,
Judge Bean issued a proclamation calling for an election to be
held at Monroeville on January 10, 1851, for the organization of
the county and the election of the county officers.
Earhi Ejections
Of the men selected for officers at this election, only J. S.
Holland, superior judge, and U. P. Monroe, county clerk, qualified
and gave the requisite bonds; so that it was necessary to hold
another election almost immediately. This was done on February
25, 1851, at which time W. G. Chard was chosen for assessor,
Joseph C. Huls for surveyor, and John F. Willis for sheriff. The
court of sessions, whose duties corresponded to those of the board
of supervisors, was organized with Newell Hall and William B.
Ide as associate justices; and by it the county was divided into
precincts, townships, road districts, etc., and the tax rate for the
county was placed at twenty-five cents on the hundred dollars,
of valuation, the highest rate allowed by law at that time.
On April 12, 1851, Judge Holland, who had been ill for some
time. died. On May 3, another election was held to choose his
successor, in which John T. Hughes received the majority of votes.
Shortly afterwai'ds, however, Hughes left the county; so that
within eight months after the organization of the county a fourth
election was held, on September 3, 1851. This was the first
election of which there are any official records extant. The re-
turns were as follows: For assemblyman: C. D. Semple, 23;
H. L. Ford, 47; Newell Hall, 23; and's. Gwynn, 5. For county
judge: William B. Ide, 40; L. H. Sanborn, 35. For county clerk:
196 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
E. D. Wheatly, 74; James Yates, 11. For treasurer: G. P. Swift,
3; Ben KuigM, 82. For sheriff: J. F. Willis, 84. For assessor:
W. G. Chard, 21 ; W. H. Sheppard, 57.
The letters of William B.- Ide, former leader of the Bear
Flag Eevolt, furnish the main source of information concerning
the life and history of this period.
Transient Nature of the Population
The excitement of gold-mining on the Feather Eiver was then
at its height, and a considerable number of the men in the
county were transient residents, going and coming back and forth
from the mines as the excitement fluctuated. Ide appears to
have had a very strong sense of civic responsibility, and endeav-
ored to maintain a county government, in working order, by
filling the various offices himself when other men deserted their
posts or refused to qualify In reading of his conscientious at-
tempts along this line, one is forcibly reminded of the predica-
ment of the sole survivor of the Nancy Belle, when he says, in
that bit of nonsense verse :
"O, I'm the crew and the captain bold.
And the mate of the Nancy brig.
And the bosun tight and the midship mite.
And the crew of the captain's gig'."
The following extract from one of Ide's letters to his brother
may serve to heighten the picture of his manifold titles and
duties :
"Monroeville, Colusi County, Cal., November 9, 1851.
"Dear Brother:
"I am seated in the office of Coiinty Clerk of Colusi County,
where I am at present, by virtue of the elective franchise, having
been- made Judge of the County Court, civil and criminal, presi-
dent of the Commissioners' Court, or the Coui't of Sessions of
said county, and Judge of Probate; and, by appointment duly
recorded, I am made the County Clerk, Clerk of the District
Court (Ninth District), and of the Court of Sessions, Clerk of the
Probate Court, County Eecorder and County Auditor. These
several offices, at present, limit my official duties; but I suppose
I shall, just to accommodate our floating population, be com-
]3elled to serve as Treasurer, Deputy Sheriff, Dej^uty County
Surveyor, and very probably as Coroner and Justice of the
Peace, and very probably as Deputy Notary Public.
"This account may excite some surprise, but I will explain:
nine tenths of our population are here today, and tomorrow are
somewhere else. Our population is like birds of passage, except
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 197
that their migrations are not exactly periodical. All the circum-
stances which combine to make it difficult to obtain responsible
and permanent county officers combine to make these officers
necessary. At present ten individuals pay more than three fourths
of the taxes paid in the county, and comprise nearly all of its per-
manent residents. These men as a general thing reside on their
ranchos, to attend to their private atfairs, and are the only resi-
dents of the county who are able to give the requisite bonds. At
the polls the non-residents, wlien they imite, have the elections as
they please; and the result is that transient, irresponsible per-
sons are elected and bonds of a like character are tiled. Last
year the sovereign people elected as County Judge (who is the
acceptor or rejector of all official bonds) a dissipated lawyer,
who of course accepted such bonds as came to hand; and the
administration of public affairs, financially, went on swimmingly
for a few months — all the offices were prompth' tilled, bonds filed,
and gin, wine and brandy bottles and glasses occupied the places
of stationery. The records of the courts became unintelligible to
sober people. Not a court of any kind, except Justice of the
Peace Courts, was held within the county (except the Court of
Sessions, and that was uniformly conducted by the Senior Jus-
tice, while the presiding judge was otherwise employed).
"The property holders, as we are called here, refused to pay
their taxes on the ground of the insufficiency of official bonds.
. . . Judge resigned, and the election resulted in the
choice of one of the property owners, your brother. And a further
result was that legal bonds are required, which transient persons
cannot procure."
According to Green's History of Colusa County, J. C. Huls,
one of Ide's fellow officers during his term as judge, is authority
for the following anecdote, which illustrates the versatilitj' of
Ide in discharging the duties of several offices simultaneously.
When Ide was justice of the peace in Red Blutf, previous
to his election to the superior judgeship of Colusa County, a man
appeared before him charged with horse-stealing. After a short
preliminary hearing, Ide bound the man over to appear before the
Superior Court; but before the date set for the trial Ide had
been elected superior judge of Colusa County. When the isrisoner
was arraigned, I-de informed the accused of his right to coimsel,
and as there was no attorney nearer than eighty miles, volunteered
to act in that capacity himself. This combination of presiding
judge and counsel pleased the prisoner immensely, and he agreed
to the proposition, especially as there was no district attorney to
prosecute him. But Ide, it seems, in order that the sovereign
people of the County of Colusa might be represented, felt called
198 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
ui^on to act iu that capacity also. So the trial proceeded on that
basis. As the attorney for the people Ide submitted his case,
taking exceptions to the evidence in behalf of the defendant, and
then, resuming- his judgeship, decided the rulings. At the close of
the trial the jury were out an hour, when they returned a verdict
of guilty. Ide, as judge, then addressed the prisoner at the bar
in part as follows: "After a fair and impartial trial by a jury
of your peers, you have been found guilty of horse-stealing, for
which the penalty is death. I sentence you to- be hanged by the
neck until dead, dead, dead; and may God have mercy on your
soul." The prisoner was taken to Hamilton, Butte County, for
safe-keeping, there to await the day of execution. On the ap-
pointed date, Ide sent the sheriff after the condemned man; but
that worthy officer found only an empty cell. The Governor of
the state had pardoned the man without even notifying the
Colusa County officers.
TranspoitatloH in flir Eaiiij Days
With the great influx of gold-seekers to the mines, transpor-
tation of supplies for them became more lucrative in many in-
stances than mining, itself. The following extract from the auto-
biography of Eufus Burrows, one of the pioneer settlers in the
county, may be of interest, as it gives his experience in this line
of business as a boy while living in the vicinity of Sacramento
City. "While in this place, I made a trip with seven others for
Tanner and Fowler, all having ox teams with the exception of
Tanner, who was with us; and he had horses. Loaded with
freight, it took seventeen days to make a fifty-mile trip. Tanner
and Fowler got a dollar and a half per pound for hauling this
freight. On this trip we were mirecl down a good part of the
time, for the roads were awfully muddy. . . .
"My stepfather bought an ox team from an emigrant and
gave it to me. The best day's work I ever did in my life was with
this team. I hauled one load of flour to Mormon Island, on the
river just aliove Folsom, then a mining town. When I reached
Mormon Island the man paid me in gold dust. It was a little red
toy barrel level full. I had three yoke of oxen on this trip. W^hen
I started home I kept thinking about Indians, as two white men
had recently been killed by them. I was only a boy, and as dark-
ness came on I was afraid to camp on the road, so kept on going
until I got home, arriving there at midnight. . . .
"I afterwards took the gold dust I received for this trip
with me to New York, and had it coined. They gave me one
hundred fortv four dollars for it."
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 199
Early Grain-growers
The trausportation of supplies over rough, muddy roads, or
in many places over no roads at all, necessitated many head of
stock ; and the price of hay and barley soon soared to such allur-
ing figures that some of the early settlers in the county began to
experiment in the raising of grain. In 1851 Isaac Sparks, R. B.
Ord, George L. Pratt, AVatkins, Bounds, Nelson & McClanahan,
E. J. Walsh, Monroe & Williamson, Martin Reager, A. S. C. Cleek,
William Swift, and Granville P. Swift had each sown considerable
acreage to barley; and several of the above-mentioned men had
also tried smaller patches of wheat, thus starting an industry
which in the course of a few years supplanted all others and
became the main source of wealth in the county.
Valuation and Population in 1852
In 1852 the assessed valuation of the county was $547,837. It
may be interesting to note, in the light of present-day valuations,
the inverse ratio at that time of real estate to personal property.
The three largest grants, the Larkin's Children's, Jimeno, and
Ide's rancho, comprising 82,670 acres of finest river land, were
assessed at $1.25 per acre ; hay, at $15 per ton ; wild cattle, at $12
per head; wheat at $2 per bushel; and sheep, at $8 per head.
The number of poll taxes paid in 1852 was four hundred seventy-
six; but the next year there was a very marked decline in the
population, and only one hundred forty-three receipts were listed.
First Legal Execution, and First County Jail
The first legal execution in Colusa County occurred in the
spring of 1852. Nathaniel Bowman was convicted of murder in
the first degree for killing Levi Seigler by beating him over the
head with a bottle. There was no jail then, and during the trial
Bowman was placed under guard at Monroeville. ' After his con-
viction he nearly made good his escape. In some manner he
eluded the vigilance of his guard and, still shackled, hobbled to
the home of Jesse Sheppard, where he begged piteously to have
his irons filed off. Sheppard, however, took him back and turned
him over to the authorities at Monroeville, where he was executed
soon afterwards.
This episode clearly showed the necessity of having some safe
place of detention for prisoners. With his characteristic resource-
fulness in emergencies, William B. Ide met this situation also.
He obtained some bar iron and bolts from San Francisco and
fashioned a cage. This he placed in the shade of a great oak
in front of the hotel in Monroeville, which did duty at that time
200 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
as the county courthouse also. This simple expedient solved the
problem until the seat of government was transferred to Colusa
in 1854, whereupon Ide's cage was removed also, to continue duty
as a cell in the county jail in Colusa.
While performing his official duties at Monroeville, William
B. Ide contracted the smallpox, which terminated fatally on De-
cember 20, 1852. By his death the county was deprived of her
most public-spirited citizen, whose influence in behalf of law and
order could ill be spared in such a turbulent period.
Removal of the County Seat to Colusa
The adherents of the town of Colusa as the location of the
county seat drew first blood in the contest in 1851, when Charles
Semple had the County Proclamation amended by the legislature
by the insertion of the words ' ' and the seat of justice shall be the
town of Colusa." Nothing daunted, however, the Monroevilleites
proceeded with the work of staking out lots and planning the future
of their town. Monroe presented to the county judge a petition
sig-ned by ninety-five people asking that an election be held to
determine the location of the county seat. The election was held,
and Superior Judge Hughes signed an official document declaring
Monroe's ranch the county seat, as it had received a majority of
the votes cast. The Colusa faction then brought the matter up
again at the next general election in 1853, when the vote was
overwhelmingly in favor of Colusa. Monroeville was by that
time so far outnmnbered in population by Colusa that it ceased
to struggle to maintain its hold. Its inhabitants settled in other
localities, and the site of the town was afterwards merged into
the farm purchased by Jubal Weston, Jr., in 1868.
The government of the county was now fully organized with
proper ofQcers, and the records previously kept at Monroeville
were transferred to Colusa, where, during the summer of 1854,
a three-thousand-dollar frame building was erected for a court-
house.
CHAPTER V
Origin of Place Names. The Coming of the Stockmen
Origin of Place Names
Of all the men who were in the county, and were active in
its organization and early government prior to 1853, none have
left any descendants still living in the county except A. S. C.
Cleek, Mai-tin Reager, and Robert Hambright in the northern part
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 201
of the county, and Elijah McDaniel and Mayberry Davis from the
Afton district, on the east side of the river. Either the other set-
tlers left the county, or their children have scattered to other
parts of the state. The names of many places, valleys and
streams, however., still attest their primacy.
Stony and Grindstone Creeks both derived their names from
the first manufacturing industry in the county. According to
General John Bidwell, Moon, Merritt, and Peter Lassen made
grindstones on the Imnks of these creeks in 1845. The men
freighted their product to the river by pack-horses, loaded the
grindstones into a canoe, and peddled them at the different
ranchos along the banks of the river, disposing of all their output
before they reached Yerba Buena (San Francisco).
As the very earliest settlements were made along the river,
most of the places which bear the names of the early pioneers are
in that locality. Ord, or Ord Bend, was named from R. B. Ord,
who first settled in that vicinity. Before the organization of the
state government he was a Mexican alcalde, which corresponds to
our justice of the peace. Ord left the county later, and finally
located in Santa Barbara.
Walsh school district was so called because the site was for-
merly part of the Walsh Grant, owned by E. J. Walsh. In the
early fifties, W'alsh was a merchant in Shasta. He shipped his
supplies from San Francisco to Colusa by boat, from which point
they were freighted by pack train or ox team to Shasta along the
old Eed Bluff Road, which followed the river. For convenience
in his teaming, he established a ranch on the route, where his
stock might be relayed and so rested between trips. Shortly after
1851, he gave up the mercantile business and turned his attention
to the ranch and the raising of stock. Surrounding land and
claims were bought up, until his holdings comprised twenty' thou-
sand acres. He devoted his energies to improving the cattle of
that period, importing some thoroughbred shorthorn Durhams
from Kentucky for that purpose. Walsh died on April 30, 1866.
He had no children, and after his wife's death the property re-
verted to his sister, Mrs. Chambers, and her children.
St. John takes its name from A. C. St. John, one of the
early settlers in the county. He purchased a tract of land on
Stony Creek, near its mouth. After the collapse of Monroe-
ville's hopes of eminence by the removal of the county seat to
Colusa, one corner of this tract was set apart for a town site,
the post office was moved there from Monroeville, and the place
was named St. John. The first marriage ceremony performed
in Colusa Coimty was that which united A. C. St. John and Miss
Julia Griggsby at Princeton, in 1853. Two sons and two daugh-
202 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
ters were the fruit of this union. After several years the family
removed to San Jose, and the children are now living in San
Francisco.
Swift's Point, on the Sacramento Eiver near Hamilton City,
hears the name of Granville P. Swift, already mentioned in a
previous chapter. At this place the river was fordahle at low
water; and this crossing was much used in tlie early days in
travel between Bed Bluff and points on the east side of the
lower river.
The Mcintosh, school district, which has recently been estab-
lished, was named in honor of L. H. Mcintosh, a pioneer of 1852
and at one time owner of three thousand acres of land extending
from the river to a point five miles west, including the site of
the present school district.
Leaving the river district, and turning to the foothills, the
second belt of settlement in the county, the following places which
commemorate the names of pioneers are found. Hambright
Creek, which joins Stony Creek on the Greenwood place near
Orland, derives its name from Robert Hambright, a Mexican
War veteran. At the close of the war he came to California
and engaged in stock-raising, purchasing land along the creek
which still bears his name. His daughter Ida married Albert
Papst, and some of their children are still living in Orland.
Briscoe Creek, which rises in the Coast Range mountains and
flows into Stony Creek about half a mile south of the town of Elk
Creek, commemorates the name of another pioneer. Watt Briscoe
and Robert Anderson settled in Green Valley and engaged in
stock-raising in the later fifties. Briscoe had no descendants.
Clark's Valley, nestled among the hills south and east of the
town of Fruto, was so named because it was first settled by
James Clark. His family are all dead, with the exception of
one granddaughter, who is married and is living in the southern
part of the state. Rising in the foothills southwest of Orland,
and flowing into Willow Creek at a point two miles east of the
town of Willows, is Walker Creek,- named after Jeff Walker, who
in the early fifties ran thousands of sheep on the low foothills
and plains northwest of Germantown. Walker had one daughter,
Moll.y, whose present wliereabouts are unknown.
On account of the paucity of the county records, little can
be found as to the doings and places of abode of the numerous
other pioneers of the northern part of Colusa County prior to
1854. In this broad open country there was land enough for
every one. A man's claim was respected by every one whether
he followed the preemption law or not; and if any one wanted
the same piece of land more than the original settler, he bought
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 203
up bis claim and took possession with very little formality. Even
those who had proved up, and had government land patents to
their lands, were very careless about recording their titles with
the proper county officials; so that as late as 1868 a large per-
centage of the landholders in the county were assessed by what
was known as possessory titles.
The Com'mg of the Stockmen
By 1855 many men who had come to California during the
gold excitement of 1849 and 1850 had been disappointed in the
mines and turned their attention to agriculture and stock-raising,
the mild climate and luxuriant wild grasses of the country sup-
plying almost ideal conditions for the latter industry, which had
alwaj's formed the main dependence of the S]iauisli Californians.
Thousands of small wild cattle grazed on their vast ranches, but
these were slaughtered mainly for their hides. In fact, before
the discovery of gold, hides often formed the medium of ex-
change between the Californians and the outside world, as tobacco
did between the early colonists of Virginia. Several forty-niners,
who afterward settled in what is now Glenn County, returned
to Missouri and Kentucky and drove l)ack across the plains
enough fine stock to form the nucleus of their later herds. Once
in California with their stock, it was not so much the question
of pasturage as the finding of living water that decided their
location.
Nearly all the lands along the Sacramento River were claimed
either under Spanish grant or by purchase, previous to the year
1858. The following were some of the residents and landowners
along the river: Mayberry Davis, who settled near the' present
location of Afton; Elijah McDaniel, who located at Painters Land-
ing, on the river; Joseph McVay; Bounds and Picknell; II. C.
Nelson ; Frank Steele, whose family still own land and reside
on it at the river opposite Princeton; Levi Jefferson McDaniel,
whose ranch is now known as Carson Colony No. 1, or Baker
Colony, subdivided into small farm tracts by Mr. E. E. Baker
and associates ; J. J. Winkler, a veteran of the Mexican "War ;
John Price, still owning the land and residing at his original
location; Isaac Sparks, who located at Jacinto, later the home
of Dr. Hugh Glenn; Watkins, who settled near Jacinto in 1851;
George C. Pratt and R. B. Ord, who settled at the location on
the river known as Ord Bend ; U. P. Monroe, who located at Mon-
roeville, now the Weston Ranch; Richard Walsh, who lived on
the Walsh Grant, in the vicinity of St. John; L. H. Mcintosh,
who owned the Mcintosh Ranch ; and Joseph and Michael Billion,
who resided near the present site of Hamilton City. Martin A.
204 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Reager and S. C. Cleek operated a hotel near St. Jolm, on the
Eed Bhiff road, in 1850. Later they farmed near St. John, and
then took up their respective farms on Stony Creek, in the
vicinity of the present city of Orland. James Ewing Mitchell
located on the river, north of the present site of Hamilton City,
and engaged in sheep-raising. Jnbal Weston clerked in a hotel
or road honse at Monroeville, formerly the connty seat of Colusa
County, in the year 1854.
The search for water, as well as feed for their stock, led the
new settlers into the foothills along the creek valleys. Claims were '
laid out along the courses of streams, and the range controlled
by the water was fenced in by brush fences. Most of the foot-
hill settlers saved their home range for winter pasturage, turning
their stock out in the spring to roam the plains in common with
wild game, untended save for the annual rodeo in the fall. The
crossing of the imported stock, principally of Durham blood,
with the native cattle gradually improved the standard of all the
herds in the county. Stock-raising was the only industry of any
imi)ortance in the county prior to 1870. The early miners
derisively spoke of Colusa as one of the "cow counties" of the
state, which cognomen was justly earned, and was turned into
one of praise by her vast herds of improved stock.
Thousands of head of sheep were raised annually, but fewer
individuals were engaged in that branch of the stock industry.
Some of the most' prominent sheep-raisers were: James Ewing
Mitchell, Jeff Walker, U. S. Nye, A. S. McWilliams, James Tal-
bot, Patrick O'Brien, W. W. Marshall, Labau Scearce, William
Murdock and Milton French. The feeling between the cattle men
and sheep men, so bitter in many places in the West, never
attained any degree of rancor in this vicinity.
Setfleiiieut of the FoothiUs
The first settlements in the foothills were made during the
year 1855. A. D. Logan settled on the property which he after-
wards sold to "Zink" Garnett, and which is now owned by the
J. S. Garnett Company. Just west of the Garnett Ranch, James
and Thomas Talbot took up the land which is still known as the
Talbot Ranch. Oscar Stiles and James and S. D. Young settled
north of the Garnett Ranch, and were bought out by J. R. Titfee
in 1858. This ranch was afterwards divided between his two
daughters, Anna R. Safford and Theodora Tiffee Purkitt; and
the two places resulting from this division are now the property
of S. Stormer and W. Stormer respectively. Robert Eggleston
settled just west of the ranch owned by Tiffee, and sold his ranch
a few years later to a man by the name of Small, whose daughter
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 205
Mary married Levi "Welch, by whose uame the place was called
until it came into possession of the Nichols family. Nearly all
the Small family are buried in a private cemeterj' on the place.
Abe Musick, Jerry Schooling and Charley Brooks settled on the
land purchased by U. S. Nye in 1858 and held in the possession
of his family until 1916, when it was sold to H. M. Garnett. Just
north of the Nye Ranch, Patrick O'Brien settled, and accpiired a
holding of twelve thousand acres known as the O'Brien Ranch,
which is now in the possession of the Turman-Mitchell Company.
In 1855, Milton French settled on the ranch known as the French
Ranch, and there engaged in sheep-raising. French gradually
acquired more and more land, increased his flocks of sheep, and
later farmed a large acreage to grain, attaining prominence as
one of the largest ranch owners and most successful stockmen of
the county. J. C. and S. P. Wilson settled on the ranch known
as the Marshall Ranch in 1855. Later in the same year, W. W.
Marshall purchased the interests of the Wilsons and engaged
in sheep-raising and farming. He was widely known as a suc-
cessful farmer and owner of blooded stock. One of his race
horses, Stranger, won three out of five races in the Northern
Circuit in 1893. Jeff Walker settled on the ranch known as the
Butte Ranch, southwest of Orlaud, and was one of the largest
early sheep-raisers in the county. In 1858, H. B. Julian settled
on the ranch known as the Julian Ranch, on Stony Creek, north-
west of the present town of Fruto. Here he increased his holdings
until his ranch included over nine thousand acres, on which he
raised thousands of head of stock and also farmed a large acreage
to grain. In 1859, I. W. Brownell purchased an eighty-a-cre farm
on Stony Creek from the owner, Mr. Sparks. From this small
beginning Mr. Brownell, by thrift and good management, grad-
ually acquired the splendid property known as the Brownell
Ranch. Laban Scearce, a forty-niner, filed on government land on
Stony Creek, sis miles northwest of Orland, in 1856, and engaged
in stock-raising. The property, consisting of forty-six hundred
acres, is now owned by the Scearce Company. Noah Simpson
settled in African Valley on Stony Creek in 1853, near the
present site of Simpson Bridge, which spans Stony Creek on the
New^'ille-Orland road. Mr. Simpson was one of the prominent
stock-raisers of the county. Robert Hambright, who has been
previously mentioned, settled on the creek bearing his name, about
seven miles west of Orland, during the year 1853.
In the vicinity of the site of the present town of Newville,
James Flood, J. B. and Joseph James, M. Kendrick, James
Kilgore, Lysander V. Cushman, Rufus G. Burrows, John Mas-
terson, B. N. Scribner, James A. Shelton and George W. Millsaps
206 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIE>S
settled previous to 1858 and 1859. These men all acquired land
and became permanent settlers of that community. Their hold-
ings are today owned by their estates or families. In 1853, Joseph
Millsaps settled near the present site of the village of Chrome.
Beginning with a three-hundred-twenty-acre ranch, he prospered
in the stock-raising industry and finally became the owner of
over three thousand acres of land.
Before the year 1858, the following pioneers settled in Stony
Creek "S^alley, between the location of Elk Creek and vicinity and
Stonyford : L. L. Felkner, Eobert Anderson, AVatt Briscoe, Wilcox,
Farrish, Bowman, J. S. B. West, Jack and Dave Lett, W. E.
Green and sons, W. W. and Alfred. These pioneers engaged in
stock-raising. Later, through the division of their estates, these
ranches were separated into smaller farms, now as prosperous as
the larger ones of the early settlement days on Stony Creek.
Many of the pioneers of this period from 1854 to 1858 have
escaped mention in this connection, for only of those who settled
permanently in the county and possessed themselves of land are
records obtainable. Many worthy pioneers took up their resi-
dence in the county during this time; but other parts of the un-
settled West called them thither.
The Dy ought of 1864
After three of four seasons of less than normal rainfall, the
year 1864 opened with the ground as hard and dry as in August ;
nor were there any spring rains to alleviate this condition.
Stock suffered terribly. Whenever it was possible, the stockmen
had taken their herds out of the county to other pasturage; but
the drought was a state-wide condition, and relief was many miles
away. Hundreds of head of cattle died on the way to pasturage in
the mountains. By fall the conditions were much worse. The
rains held otf until the last of November, and thousands of head
of cattle and sheep died of starvation. Many settlers found
themselves on the verge of bankruptcy by the loss of so great a
portion of their herds. The year 1864 was a severe setback to
the stock-raising industry, and many realized for the first time
that other and diversified industries would be greatly to their
benefit and a further guarantee of success. It was the setback of
1864 that first interested the settlers in the possibilities of grain-
growing in connection with their stock-grazing, and perhaps had
much to do with the new era to follow in the late sixties and
earlv seA'enties.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 207
CHAPTER VI
The Era of the Grain-grower
First Attempts at Graui-grou-ing
The early settlers along Stony Creek and near the river, in
the vicinity of St. John, first planted wheat and barley in the
year 1851. The more venturesome pioneers who settled on the
plains for the purpose of growing grain were forced to abandon
their squatter claims by the excessively dry seasons of 1854-1855,
1855-1856, and 1856-1857. In addition to severe drought during
these years, a scourge of grasshoppers visited the plains in 1855
and completely devastated them of all vegetable life.
The government offered the lands on the plains for settle-
ment in 1856, and during the same year confirmed the Mexican
Grant land titles to those having ownership and possession of
lands under former grants. Beginning with 1856, the new settler
was offered every inducement to settle on the fertile jilains of Co-
lusa County. The previous years of drought, however, served to
dampen the ardor of the fanner settlers; and stock-raising was
still considered the only industry worthy of their energies. Be-
ginning with the year 1868 a new era dawned. The winter of 1868-
1869 was one blessed with bountiful rainfall. Those hardy settlers
who had again chanced a grain crop reaped a wonderful harvest
of wheat and barley. Prices were high, and many settlers
profited enough from their single crop to repay past losses and
leave them sufficient funds to plant a much larger acreage the
following year. In the A^ear 1869 about ten thousand acres of
virgin lands were broken, and sown to wheat and barley. The
fame of Colusa County, and particularly that portion of it which
is now Glenn County, as a county of wonderful crop harvests had
spread over the entire valley.
Infnx of Settlers
The year 1870 brought a great influx of settlers, seeking
homes and fortunes. During that year many of Glenn County's
solid citizens took up their homesteads, or purchased the rights
of others, and engaged in grain-growing on a scale never con-
templated by the early settlers. The larger number of the new
settlers of this year came from Solano County, where they had
had previous experience in grain-farming. The stories of Glenn
County's bountiful crops attracted them to what they consid-
ered a district offering superior farming opportunities.
208 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Mention is here made of a few of the grain farmers who
settled in Glenn County during the years 1868 to 1873. Dr. Hugh
J. Glenn settled at Jacinto in 1868, and I. V. Devenpeck settled
northwest of Willows in the same year. In 1869, Ad. Duncan
settled northwest of Willows on the property now owned by W. D.
Killebrew. H. A. Greenwood and Henry W. Steuben settled in
the vicinity of Orland in 1870. P. B. Lacroix, W. T. Troxel and
Daniel Zumwalt settled near Willows between 1871 and 1873.
During the same period, G. D. Mecum, Chris. Jasper and J. A.
Smith became residents of the Orland district.
Groivth and Decline of the Industry
By the season of 1872 the grain-growing industry had grown
to the almost unbelievable proportions of a million sacks of wheat
and barley. A close estimate of that year showed that about a
million bags of grain was grown in Colusa County, a great por-
tion of which was produced in the territory now making up the
valley portion of Glenn County.
During the year 1872 and 1873 a few farmers abandoned
grain-growing for sheep-raising. Wool sold for fifty cents per
pound in 1872 ; and this was the cause of their changing back to
grazing.
The years 1873 and 1874 were prosperous ones for the grain
farmers. Dr. H. J. Glenn harvested a crop from thirty thousand
acres, which yielded an average of twenty-five bushels of wheat
per acre. Large grain warehouses were constructed at Jacinto
and Princeton. The grain industry had come to stay, and shelter
for grain awaiting shii^ment was found necessary. During the
next three years large crops were grown. More land was sown
each year, adding greater wealth to the county, and enhancing
the prosperity of its settlers and home-builders. The crop of
1878, however, suffered greatly from rust everywhere in the state ;
and this resulted in no small loss to the farmer.
About this time another pest caused considerable loss to the
farmer. The wild geese and ducks became so plentiful that one
large grain-grower of that period, Levi Moulton, placed armed
guards, afterwards known as "goose herders," around his fields
of grain. During the first season his goose herders destroyed
over seven thousand wild geese. The following year the farmers
were compelled to resort to the poisoning of their fields, in order
more quickly to destroy the wild geese and ducks that were at-
tracted to the valley during the winter and early spring, and
which would often in a single night devastate a field of forty
acres of grain.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 209
The year 1880 stands out in the history of the county as
the banner crop year of the grain-growing industry. A larger
acreage was planted than theretofore, yields were far greater,
prices were above the average, and grain-growing became the
remunerative occupation of almost every one. Dr. Hugh Glenn
produced from his vast acreage, known as the Glenn Grant,
almost a million bags of wheat. Some other large growers of that
year were : Mr. George Hoag, William Murdock, Pierre Barcelous,
P. B. Lacroix, Charles Merrill, I. V. Devenpeck, Ad. Duncan,
Laban Scearce, H. B. Julian, Patrick O'Brien, Joseph Billion and
C. S. Chambers.
- The years 1881-1882 and 1882-1883 were average crop years.
The winter of 1884-1885 promised an exceedingly dry season, and
crops were supposed to have been lost through lack of rain; but
during the month of January, 1885, a four-and-one-half-inch rain
brought profit out of loss. Later rains followed, March being a
month of floods, and the harvest season returned a crop of over
eight million bushels of grain, an exceedingly large crop. The fol-
lowing year promised well for a bumper grain crop ; but on June
11, 1886, the most severe "norther" experienced in the county
caused a million bushels' loss of grain. Many fields were flattened,
and those which remained standing suffered greatly by being
stripped.
The year 1887 was chiefly distinguished as the year of the
advent of the combined harvester. Formerly all the grain had
been harvested by headers and threshers. The combined har-
vester, which cut the grain and threshed and sacked it with the
same operation, meant a considerable saving in the expense of
harvesting. The harvester revolutionized grain-farming in the
valley.
Previous to 1889, all grain-farming operations in the valley
had been carried on by horse and mule power; but in the sum-
mer of that year George Mudd, who was farming near German-
town, purchased and operated the first steam tractor in the
county. The Mudd tractor was used to operate a harvester, and
from that day the horse and mule began their decline in the
harvest field and in other farming operations in the county.
The constant farming of the lands of the plains for a period
of twenty-five years resulted in the inevitable exhaustion of the
soil's resources. The grain-grower was very improvident of the
soil's fertility, taking everything from the land and giving noth-
ing in return. During the early nineties, crop yields were light.
Many extensive grain-growers failed; and others turned large
portions of their acreage to pasture and engaged in stock-raising,
farming only so much land as was necessary to produce feed for
210 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
their stock. Under the summer-fallowing system, however, Grleun
County still produced fair and average crop yields. Grain-grow-
ing still maintained its place among the productiA^e industries of
the county, though the extensive grain ranches of the seventies
and eighties were abandoned. Farming was carried on by farm-
ers operating small acreages. Grain-growing in the county grad-
ually became closely identified with stock-raising ; and the farmer
of today depends also upon his herds of cattle, sheep, hogs, horses,
and mules for the guarantee of his livelihood.
Grain-groiving on, the Grant
The history of grain-growing in the county cannot be written
without directly mentioning in some detail the extensive farming
operations of Dr. Hugh J. Glenn, for whom Glenn County was
named, and who was at one time the largest grain farmer of the
United States, if not of the entire world.
Dr. Glenn came to California in 1849. After engaging in
mining, freighting and the livery business at Sacramento, he
returned to Missouri. In 1853, he again came to California and
engaged in the cattle business, with S. E. Wilson and Major
Briggs, of Yolo County, as partners. His first place of residence
in what is now Glenn County was at the mouth of Stony Creek, on
the Sacramento River. In 1856, he disposed of his California in-
terests and again returned to Missouri. The call of California,
however, could not be resisted; and during 1859 and the years
following he made several trips from Missouri and New Orleans
to California, with, droves of cattle, horses and mules. In 1865
he attempted farming in Yolo County, with Major Briggs as a
partner.
In 1867, attracted to the place of his first residence in what is
now Glenn County, because of the opportunities that district
offered for grain-farming. Dr. Glenn purchased a ranch at the
present site of Jacinto. This first ranch consisted of seven
thousand acres and was purchased for one dollar sixty cents per
acre. The following year, 1868, Jacinto became the residence of
the Glenn family.
After 1868, Dr. Glenn added to his holdings until, in 1874,
forty-one thousand acres was under plow, and a crop of wheat
with an average yield of twenty-five bushels per acre was har-
vested from thirty thousand acres. From the year 1874 to the
year of his death Dr. Glenn was known as the "AVheat King" of
the world. His ranch comprised about fifty-five thousand acres,
all tillable land, of which aliout forty-five thousand acres was
farmed to wheat and barley.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 211
In order to give an idea of the extensive operations carried
on by Dr. Glenn during these years, the following facts are pre-
sented. The pay roll for labor performed during the harvest
season averaged about thirty thousand dollars per month. Over
one hundred eight-mule teams were employed in putting in the
crop; and when the plowing season commenced, the plow teams
made one round only of their fields during their day's work. The
teams were accompanied by a cook house for the men, and a
feed and water wagon for the stock. This bare statement of the
method of operation will perhaps give the reader the best idea
of the extensive farming operations on the great ranch. In 1880,
a crop of almost a million bags of grain was grown upon this
ranch. Over twenty-seven thousand tons of wheat was exported
to England by Dr. Glenn under his own charter, for which he
received eight hundred thousand dollars. For convenience in
farming, the ranch was divided into seven fields, the largest of
which contained twelve thousand acres. The total fencing sur-
rounding these fields amounted to more than one hundred fifty
miles. At the height of the harvest season as many as six hundred
men were employed on the ranch. At Jacinto a small town
thrived. Jacinto had a hotel (still standing), saloon, blacksmith
shop, machine shops, store (still standing), post office, and ware-
house. During- the early years of his operation of the big ranch,
Dr. Glenn recognized tlie value of surface drains to care for tlie
surplus flood waters of the winter. Drains constructed at that
time by his orders are still in use, and serve their original pur-
pose. Water for stock on the plains liack from the river was
secured by scooping out large barrow pits, down to the depth of
surface water. These water holes can still be seen along the
Willows and Jacinto roads.
In February, 1883, Dr. Glenn was shot by his secretary,
Hurum Miller. For a time after his death the farm was operated
by the administrators ; but poor crop years and low prices finally
resulted in tlie sixbdivision of the great ranch, which was section-
ized and offered to the public at very low prices. With the com-
ing of irrigation and subdivision, a new era of settlement by the
small farmer and the home-seeker commenced. The Sacramento
Valley Irrigation Com^jany purchased tlie remaining holdings of
the estate in 1909, for the purpose of placing it under irrigation
and selling it, in forty-acre units, to the small farmer for inten-
sive cultivation. The fifty-five-thousand-acre wheat ranch of the
eighties is now the residence of many small farmers, who irrigate
their lands and intensively farm their small home plots.
The beautiful Glenn home site at Jacinto is owned and occu-
pied by Mrs. Ella Glenn Leonard, the only daughter of Dr. Glenn.
212 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
To the north, and adjoining the Jacinto place, Charles H. Glenn
owns about seven hundred acres, where he has erected a spacious
dwelling for his permanent home.
"Glennair," the home of Frank Buckner Glenn, is the site
of the old "Home Eanch," one of the subdivision ranches made
under the direction of Dr. Glenn for convenience in farming.
The grounds are beautifully parked, having been laid out by the
famous landscape gardener, McLaren, of Golden Gate Park. The
farm of several hundred acres is modern in every respect.
CHAPTER VII
County Division, and Oeganization of the New County
In 1850, when the State Legislature created Colusa County by
establishing its boundaries, little thought was given to the amount
of territory embraced. The location of Colusa, the county seat,
in the extreme southern part of the county, distant about fifty
miles from its northern boundary, was the cause of much incon-
venience and expense to the citizens in the northern portion of
the county. The immediate vicinity of the town of Colusa had
been receiving the lion's share of the attention of the officers
of the county, without due regard to the interests of the residents
of the north. A just proportion of the revenues of the county,
secured by taxes upon lands and i^ersonal property, had not been
equitably expended in the interests of that portion of the county
from which the revenue was derived. Colusa, because of its
larger population and its control of the offices of the county since
its organization, had formed a ring popularly termed the ' ' Court-
house Eing." These grievances and errors of county manage-
ment caused many of the thinking residents of the northern por-
tion of the county to cast about for a possible solution of the
difficulties they had experienced in their attempts to force proper
respect for the interests of their district. Roads had been neg-
lected, bridges were needed, and the tax rate was increasing each
year without benefits in return for the added costs. Mui-murings
and mutterings had been heard for several years; and in 1880
the editor of the Orland Times, Frank Freeman, then a hard-
ware merchant of that thriving city, openly espoused the cause
of dividing the county and creating a new commonwealth in
their own separate interests.
The first plan for county division, as proposed by the sup-
porters of the idea, specified as the territory of the new county
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 213
the northern part of Colusa County, beginning at the present south-
ern boundary of Glenn County, and that part of Tehama County
south of Thorns Creek, including the town of Scatterville — that is,
the present city of Corning — with Orland as the geographical
center of the new county and consequently the location of the
county seat. Some of the bolder champions of a new county ral-
lied to the support of Editor Freeman, but the older heads dis-
couraged action at that time and counseled delay.
The movement for creating a new county was again agitated
in 1882; and this was the real beginning of the struggle which
culminated four years later in the introduction of a bill, in the
Legislative Assembly of 1887, proposing the division of Colusa
County and the creation of a new county to be called "Glenn,"
and to embrace that portion of the County of Colusa north of the
township line between townships seventeen and eighteen. The
supporters of county division ' were in large majority in 1887.
Their action in introducing the bill was taken with as little pub-
licity as possible. A petition asking the Legislature to create the
new County of Glenn was circulated among the resident tax-
. payers of the proposed new county, and was signed by over eight
hundred petitioners.
The Colusa County political ring could ill afford to stand the
loss of the tax money of the northern district. The bill was bit-
terly opposed by them in the Legislature, and failed of passage
in the State Senate by a vote of twenty-one to twenty upon recon-
sideration, after having passed the Assembly by a constitutional
majority.
After the Legislature adjourned, the time was well employed
by the people of the northern district in marshaling their strength
for the next struggle, in the legislative session of 1888-1889.
During that session the Divisionists and Anti-divisionists arrayed
all the strength they could muster. Large delegations of citizens
— men, women and children — visited the Legislature in session,
lobbying for the passage of the bill creating the new County of
Glenn. Money was used freely by professional lobbyists on both
sides. Finally the Assembly and Senate, by the necessary con-
stitutional majority, passed the act creating the new county. The
signature of Governor Waterman was needed to the act to divide
the old and create the new county. The Governor failed to sign
the act. Thus, the Divisionists were defeated, and all the work
and energy expended by them had been lost. By his failure to
sign the act creating the new county, the Governor decreed that
the proponents of division must come again before the Legisla-
ture for the relief thev sought. This they did at its next session,
in 1890-1891.
214 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
In 1890-1891, the third bill was introduced in the Legislature,
2jroviding for the creation of Glenn County by a majority con-
current vote of the resident electors of the territory to be em-
braced within the boundaries of the new county. This bill, after
a fight more bitter than those of the preceding sessions, passed
both houses of the Legislature by a substantial majority and was
immediately signed by Governor Markham.
In accordance with the provisions of the act, the Governor
api^ointed five commissioners to determine all matters not pro-
vided for in the act creating the new county, and to call an elec-
tion of the electors residing therein for the purpose of determin-
ing by majority vote whether the county created by an act of
Legislature should be duly organized. The following were the
commissioners appointed by the Governor: George H. Purkitt,
chairman of the commission; J. N. Davis, of Afton; M. B. Scrib-
ner, of Orland ; J. R. Troxel and Milton French, of AYillows.
On May 5, 1891, a bitterly contested election was held. On
May 11, the commissioners met and canvassed the election, and
determined for all time the question of the creation of the County
of Glenn by declaring the act ratified by a majority vote of the
electors of the new county, and the following officers elected:
Judge of the Superior Court, Seth Millington; Sheriff, P. H.
Clark; Clerk, Wm. H. Sale; Assessor, Lawrence E. Stewart; Dis-
trict Attorney, Ben. F. Geis; Coroner, Dr. A. H. Martin; Public
Administrator, James O. Johnson ; County Surveyor, H. A. Hicks ;
Tax Collector, E. C. Kirkpatrick; County Treasurer, James M.
Millsaps ; Auditor, A. W. Sehorn ; Recorder, M. B. Sanders ;
Superintendent of Schools, W. M. Finch; Supervisor of District
No. 1, H. C. Hulett, Chairman ; Supervisor of District No. 2, J. F.
Pieper; Supervisor of District No. 3, N. B. Vanderford; Super-
visor of District No. 4, William M. Johnson ; Supervisor of Dis-
trict No. 5, Philander Stone.
The Anti-divisionists, or Colusa County faction, after the
election of May 5, 1891, shot their last bolt in their fight against
county division by bringing a suit in the Superior Court of Sacra-
mento County, praying for an order of court against the division
of the county upon the grounds of illegal voting, colonization of
voters, stuffing of ballot boxes, and the making of fraudulent re-
turns of election by election officers; and attacked the constitu-
tionality of the act of Legislature creating the new count}", and
the legality of all proceedings held thereunder. This action was
decided in favor of division; and on appeal made to the Supreme
Court, the decision of the lower court was sustained. Suits were
also instituted at Marysville, charging many individual electors
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 215
with illegal voting, stuffing of the ballot boxes, and fraudulent
actions of election officers. After considerable annoyance and
trouble to the persons charged in these spite suits, all action was
dropped and the question was closed permanently.
From the year 1882, when the Orland Times advocated for
the first time the division of Colusa County, until the fifth day of
May, 1891, the cause of division was ably supported by its orig-
inator, Frank Freeman. In 1887, Mr. Freeman moved his print-
ing press to Willows, consolidated his paper with the Willows
Journal, and founded the first daily paper of Colusa County,
styled the "Willows Daily Journal." In the legislative battle of
1890-1891, Mr. Freeman was actively in charge of the interests of
the Divisionists. For a period of eleven years he had consistently
fought for the assertion of the rights of the people of the northern
district of Colusa County.
The Honorable K. E. KeUcij
Mention has been made of the first demands of the Division-
ists of 1886. The general who planned the moves and strategy
of the long fight for county division was a former editor and
publisher of the Willows Journal, an ex-State Senator and an
attorney of ability, the Honorable K. E. Kelley.
The Honorable K. E. Kelley represented the Counties of
Yolo and Solano as State Senator in the twenty-fifth Legislative
Assembly, during the regular and special sessions of 1882. In
1885 Mr. Kelley came to Willows and purchased the Willows
Journal, which he edited and published, in connection with his
cousin, W. H. Kelley, for two years. Afterward he entered the
practice of law and became closely identified with the social and
political life of the county. His energy, shrewdness, persistence,
and knowledge of men and their motives, placed him in the front
as a leader of the forlorn hopes of the county Divisionists. In
all the later struggles for the division of Colusa County and the
formation of Glenn County, Mr. Kelley was acknowledged by the
opponents of that measure to be a most skilful, adroit and for-
midable adversary. To the Honorable K. PI Kelley, more than
to any other man, can be attributed the final success of the move-
ment for the formation of the count}'.
Later Mr. Kelley became interested in the development and
settlement of the county. Kelley 's Addition and Kelley 's Ex-
tension to the town of Willows recall his interest in the up-build-
ing of that city. The Kelley Grade Road from Fruto to Ander-
son A'alley, in which was located his former home, named by him
"The Retreat," was constructed at his suggestion and request.
216 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
CHAPTEE VIII
The Years Immediately Following County Division
Factious Created hy County Division
One of the most unfortunate results of the long struggle for
county division was the internal strife and dissension created
within the confines of the new county. The inhabitants of the
extreme northern portion of the county, although the first to
broach county di^dsion, were not in favor of it as enacted by the
Divisionists centered around Willows. They were in favor of
a plan whereby Orland would become the county seat; and one
of the most prominent residents of that vicinity brought suit to
test the validity of the act creating the new county. The suit
dragged through the courts until 1894, when the Supreme Court
handed down a decision in favor of Glenn County. Upon the
receipt of this decision, I. V. Devenpeck, A. A. Nordyke, S. P.
Sherfey, T. H. Newsom and A. W. Sehorn were released from a
bond which they had signed guaranteeing the expense of this
suit, and were also tendered a vote of thanks by the board
of supervisors for such a substantial evidence of their confidence
in and fealty to Glenn County in its hour of need.
The Panic of 1893
The period immediately following the formation of the county
was one of national financial depression known as the Panic of
1893. Although crop conditions were about normal, Glenn County
suffered acutely during this period of stringency, because the
prices of her principal staples, wheat and wool, touched bottom
at this time. The Willows Daily Journal of that year contains
the following illuminating item : " U. 'S. Nye, a prominent sheep
man of the county, is busily engaged in two occupations these
days, superintending the shearing of his sheep and figuring out
whether the clip will pay the cost of the shearing and the sacks."
The low prices of staple commodities made it impossible for the
farmers to pay interest on borrowed capital. Bankg were forced
to call the loans of many of the larger farmers, who were unable
to raise the money; and foreclosures were common. More peti-
tions in bankruptcy were filed in 1893 and 1891 than in any other
two years of the county's history. Work on the irrigation project
was stopped by litigation during this period also ; and the pros-
perity so hopefully prophesied by the proponents of the new
county was several years late in arriving.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 217
The transaction of the county business in Willows, and the
building of much-needed roads and Ijridges, alleviated conditions
a little by keeping in circulation the money collected as taxes.
Construction of County Roads, Bridges and Buildings
The first year after the organization of the county, the tax-
payers of the county began to realize what advantages a new
county held for them in the way of improved roads and bridges.
The policy of the first board of supervisors and its chairman,
Mr. H. C. Hulett, was to build the best possible public roads and
bridges consistent with good business management. This policy
has been consistently followed by successive boards of super-
visors, xmtil today Glenn Countj' is known throughout the state
for its good roads and its fine bridges. The county has erected
a steel bridge across the Sacramento Eiver at Butte City; and
at Hamilton City an electrically oijerated span steel bridge
costing three hundred thousand dollars was constructed in 1909,
by. direct taxation, at the joint expense of Butte and Glenn
Counties. Steel bridges have been erected at Elk Creek, Wins-
low, Grindstone Creek, on Kelley Road across Stony Creek,
at Rockville across Stony Creek, at the Simpson Ranch across
Stony Creek, and at St. John. Since the fall of 1912 the
county has adopted the policy of replacing all wooden bridges
and culverts with concrete structures or corrugated iron pipes,
thus doing away with the heavy annual maintenance costs.
Hundreds of miles of new roads have been constructed to ac-
commodate the new settlement on recently subdivided lands in
the Orland and Central Canal Irrigation Projects. In the year
1910 the people of the county voted bonds in the aggregate amount
of four hundred thousand dollars for roads and bridges. This
expenditure of bond money was necessarj- to raise the standard
of Glenn County's roads and bridges to the ever increasing
demands of the taxpayers and the traveling public.
The people had faith in the future of the community and
expressed it even in the midst of hard times by voting bonds
for the erection of county buildings. The first officials of the
County of Glenn had temporary offices in Odd Fellows Hall and
some of the buildings further north on Tehama Street; but in
1893 the grand jury recommended the erection of suitable quar-
ters for the county officials. Accordingly, bonds to the amount
of eighty thousand dollars were voted for that purpose, and
carried at a ratio of six to one. The next matter of absorbing-
interest was the selection of a proper site. Every one with prop-
erty to develop tried to secure the location of the county build-
ings on, or near, his interests. The present site was chosen from
218 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
seventeen competitive bids, and was purchased from Dr. J. A.
Eandolph for five thousand dollars. A contract for seventy-nine
thousand dollars for the construction of the courthouse and jail,
in accordance with the plans and specifications of John H. Cur-
tiss, was let to H. H. Burrell, of the California Bridge Company.
Work was commenced immediately, and the corner stone was
laid with great ceremony on February 17, 1894.
Laying of the Corner Stone of the Courthouse
The ceremonies began with a long parade from Tehama
Street to the site of the courthouse on Sycamore. Dr. L. P.
Tooley was grand marshal of the day. The parade formed on
Tehama Street in the following order: Silvey's Cornet Band,
followed by Company G, National Guard of California. The Mon-
roe Lodge of Odd Fellows formed the next unit; and then came
the Laurel Lodge of Masons, followed by citizens in carriages
and on foot. The parade marched to the courthouse, where a
temporary platform had been erected. Here H. C. Hulett, chair-
man of the board of supervisors, requested the Masonic Order
to proceed with the laying of the corner stone according to their
ritual. Deputy Grand Marshal J. B. Stevens, of Napa, i)ro-
ceeded with the ceremony. In the corner stone a copper box
was deposited which contained the following articles : A silver
dollar coined in 1882 (the year in which agitation for county
division was started) ; a list of the officers of Laurel Lodge,
F. & A. M., and also one of Monroe Lodge, I. 0. O. F. ; a copy
of the proceedings of the laying of the corner stone of the
Masonic Temple, San Francisco; a copy each of the Willows
Review, Orland News, Willows Daily Journal, Willows Weekly
Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, and San Francisco Examiner,
of the date of February 17, 1894; a bill head from Freeman's
Hardware Store; an aluminum Midwinter Fair souvenir key,
Mrs. J. H. Hoever; a silver pencil, J. H. Mitchell; a letter head
of Hochheimer & Company, with the autographs of Moses and
Amiel Hochheimer; and a souvenir World's Fair goblet, B. H.
Mooney. Judge Millington was the orator of the day, and made
a very impressive speech. The day's programme closed with a
dance at the Armory, under the auspices of Company G; and a
big banquet at the Crawford House, at which A. C. Burrell, the
courthouse contractor, acted as toastmaster.
Organization and Service of Company G
During 1893, Comiiany G of the California National Guards
was organized in Willows with the following members : William
H. Sale, Duncan P. McCallum, L. J. Stearn, George Q. Hoag,
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 219
G. W. Kopf, George Niswonger, L. E. Wickes, Benjamin C.
Eatliff, Arthur Wade, Eugene Duncan, Leland Johnson, Henry
Keeran, Frank Williams, William Niswonger, William Killebrew,
Herbert McCartney, Alston Ayer, Michael Kahn, Edgar 0.
Bailey, John H. Graves, J. O. Longmire, William Shearer,
Maurice Shea, Thomas Ajax, T. S. Daugherty, D. C. Andrews,
Cyrus McMath, Bert McMath, W. W. Woolf, Harry C. Compton,
Louis M. Reager, Tracy Crawford, William "\". Freeman, Frank
Bondurant, M. H. Lathrop, M. J. Keys, Charles F. Clark, A. E.
Eichler, F. L. Roberts, G. S. White, Max Gutfield, Ammon Daugh-
erty, S. A. Gibson, Frank Zumwalt, Simon Mclntyre, C. F. Parker,
Jesse W. Patton, Kirby Mclntyre, John J. West, Henry K.
McMath, Robert Wilson, Edgar Hunter, William M. Finch, Alfonso
J. Burgi, Marion W. Pratt, Warren Sutherland, Clarence R.
Wickes, Charles E. Studebaker, Amiel Peters, Henry Walker,
John F. Sersanous, Marion Pirkey, J. H. Ball, Charles McCanley,
Gilbert Whiting. The officers chosen were: Captain, Dr. M.
Pirkev; First Lieutenant, Prof. M. W. Pratt; Second Lieutenant.
H. W. Walker.
In the act of the Legislature authorizing the raising of ten
companies (of which Company G was one), monetary provision
was only made for tive ; and therefore the companies were forced
to do with half the usual amount of funds. This condition was
partially remedied by Company G by holding a three days' mili-
tary fair as a benefit for the company; and they were very gen-
erously supported in their endeavor by the jieople of the com-
munity.
During the strike in 1894, Company 6 was called to Sacra-
mento, and formed part of the Eighth Regiment stationed there
on guard duty. The boys were away five weeks. On their return
they were treated to a rousing demonstration, nearly all the pop-
ulation of the town being at the depot to welcome them and wit-
ness their march to the Armory, where they were dismissed by
Captain Pirkey in a very appropriate speech, commending them
for their courage and the excellent discipline maintained by them
while at their post of duty. The Sacramento Bee of that date
very highly praised the men of the Eighth Regiment, to which
Company G belonged, for their valor and honorable conduct while
in Sacramento.
Agricultural AssocUitio}i and the Races
Soon after the formation of the county, the Legislature made
appropriations for district agricultural associations to be formed
throughout the state for the purpose of fostering an interest in
the breeding of fine stock. Such an association was immediately
220 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
formed by the progressive men of Glenn County, and received
supi3ort from the state to the extent of three thousand dollars.
The first fair of the Glenn District Agricultural Association was
held in Agricultural Park (now Pittsburg Addition to the town
of Willows) in August, 1893. Much fine stock was exhibited and
twelve hundred dollars was distributed in premiums. There were
also good exhibits of agricultural and horticultural products in
the pavilion, as well as displays by the leading merchants and
business men of the county; but the chief interest of the fair
centered in the races. Several other counties had formed asso- •
ciations also; and by holding the fairs at different dates a rac-
ing circuit was formed in Northern California comprising the
towns of Chico, Marysville, Red Blutf, Woodland, Willows and
others. The stores and nearly all the attractions of the fair
closed in the afternoons, so that everj^ one might see the races;
and whenever the local favorite was pitted against a winner from
some other county the interest was intense. Some of the most
prominent owners and breeders of racing stock in and around
Willows at that time were: W. W. Marshall, Col. F. G. Craw-
ford, Dr. J. A. Eandolph, J. E. Troxel, and Charles and Will
Merrill. These fairs were annual events until 1897, when Gov-
ernor Budd vetoed the approj^riation and state support was with-
drawn. That year the Pacific Coast Trotting Horse Breeders'
Association stepped into the breach ; and upon each district asso-
ciation guaranteeing a purse of one thousand dollars, five days'
racing was held in each town in the circuit. The old local pride
and zest had departed, however, and so far as Glenn County
was concerned, racing soon became a sport of the past. For
many years Col. F. G. Crawford maintained his stables, in the
hope of better times in the racing world; but upon his death
the horses were all sold. In 1910 the Sacramento "^'alley Irriga-
tion Company bought Agricultural Park, tore down the old build-
ings, and subdivided the race track into town lots.
Famous Trials
The years following the Panic of 1893 were years of retro-
gression rather than of progress. Low prices and the shortage
of money caused a decline of all values in the county, but par-
ticularly of land values. The assessment roll decreased from
$12,135,640 in 1893 to $8,768,060 in 1897. Toward the latter
part of the decade, signs of returning prosperity began to mul-
tiply; and the next few years thereafter witnessed the inception
of many new enterprises. In the interim, however, the chief
interest of the people centered in the management of the new
county; and there were two very important trials in this connec-
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 221
tion. The first was the outcome of an action on the part of
Sheriff Clark, in wliich he exceeded his authority as sheriff ])y
taking possession of some property of Mr. Horan without first
qualifying as receiver. Mr. Horan immediately brought suit
against Sheriff Clark, and obtained judgment. At tlie next
meeting of the board of supervisors, there were seventeen appli-
cants for the office of sheriff; and from this number the board
appointed George Baker to the position. Clark protested that
no vacancy existed, and tried to maintain his hold on the posi-
tion. Finally, as a result of the action Thruston vs. Clark,
charging the sheriff with the collection of illegal fees, Judge
Millington of the Superior Court handed down a decision declar-
ing the office of sheriff vacant ; and Baker finished out the term.
He was a candidate for re-election, but was defeated by H. G.
Stanton.
The second trial arising from a controversy over county
management was the trial of H. C. Hulett, chairman of the board
of supervisors, for alleged extravagance and mismanagement of
the county funds in the matter of letting bridge contracts. The
grand jury brought five indictments -against Mr. Hulett on the
evidence of Johnson and Wilson; but by the time the case came
to trial Johnson had left the country and could not be located,
and the evidence given by Eobert Wilson was entirely circum-
stantial and failed to connect Hulett definitely with any of the
alleged transactions. At the close of the trial the jury was out
four hours, and stood nine to three in favor of acquittal, when
the judge dismissed, them. This hasty action on his part neces-
sitated a second trial, at great expense to the county. In the
end Hulett was acquitted.
There was another case tried in the Superior Court during
this period, which, although of a purely civil nature, was of even
greater interest to the people of the county generally, on account
of the array of legal talent on each side, the expert testimony
given, and the prominence of the parties to the suit. This was
the famous "Murdock Note Case." William Murdock was one
of the early pioneers -of the county, and had amassed a fortune.
Murdock had never married; and upon his demise he bequeathed
an estate valued at a cpiarter of a million dollars to his brothers
and sisters and their children. Shortly after his death, there
began to be rumors afloat of a hundred-thousand-dollar note
against the estate. When at last the note was presented, the
executors refused to allow it, and suit was instituted by the
owners, to force payment. The note was for one hundred thou-
sand dollars, bearing interest at one per cent, a month, and
purported to have been given to Mary Helen Murdock (Mrs.
222 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Gawn Murdoek), of Olympo, seventeen years before. At tlie time
of its presentation the note and accrued interest amounted to
$303,566.60, enougli to wipe out the interest of the other heirs
in the estate, if allowed. Suit was filed for the owners of the
note by Campbell, Metzon & Reddy, of San Francisco, but was
prosecuted in court by Frank Freeman and Grove L. Johnson.
F. C. Lusk, of Chico, attorney for the estate, was assisted in
the defense by Richard Bayne and Gen. W. H. L. Barnes, of
San Francisco. Theodore Kytka, the famous handwriting ex-
pert, was called upon to- testify to the authenticity of the signa-
ture, which the defense claimed to be a forgery. The trial con-
tinued for forty days; and the most intense interest was mani-
fested by the people of the community, the court room being
packed each day. The result was a hung jury, and the matter
was finally compromised out of court. By the compromise the
owners of the note received fifty thousand dollars, and the balance
of the estate was divided among the heirs mentioned in the will.
New Enterprises
In 1897 an agitation for creameries swept over the valley,
and many were established in neighboring counties. On April 12,
1897, a creamery association was formed in Glenn County, with
A. Hochheimer, chairman; W. H. Sale, secretary; and C. E.
Keeran, P. R. Garnett, A. D. Duncan, Henry Bielar and A.
Carttenberg, directors. Stock was subscribed; and B. F. Sweet,
the promoter of the enterprise, was given a contract to erect
a building and install the necessary equipment. After tentatively
selecting two or three different sites, the association finally
located their building just east of the railroad track on Wood
Street. An incident which happened in connection with the ac-
ceptance of this building from the contractor seemed a forebod-
ing of the fate of the new enterprise. Each of the parties to be
present at the final test evidently depended on someone else to
supply the necessary milk; and when the time came to try out
the machinery, there was no milk provided and the test had
to be made with water. It soon became evident that this inci-
dent was typical of conditions in the county. They had the build-
ing and equipment, but no milk ; that is, in commercial quantities.
It did not pay to milk cows on dry feed during the summer, and
the enterprise flagged. The backers of the creamery were just
ten years ahead of their time. They had the vision of the pos-
sibilities of the county in the way of development, but they were
not successful in imparting that confidence and enthusiasm to
the average farmer. Dr. F. X. Tremblay and his associates tried
to revive interest in the creamery situation again in 1903; but it
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 223
was not till after the completion of the river branch canal and
the subdivision of large holdings into intensive farms, in 1907,
that dairying became a firmly established industry in the county.
In 1903 great excitement spread over the county over the
prospect of striking oil. Many who claimed to be experts in
detecting oil-bearing strata examined the territory lying in the
foothill belt and gave out the most encouraging reports. Several
companies were formed, and selling shares of oil stock became
one of the most lucrative occupations of the time. Stockholders
had visions of "gushers," and imagined themselves rolling in
opulence in consequence. Three companies actually started wells,
but two became discouraged before going very deep. The AVash-
ington-California Oil Company, whose well was located on the
Nye Eanch, actually struck several small veins of oil — just
enough to keep them hoping — but after drilling over three thou-
sand feet without striking anything more satisfying than brack-
ish water with a slight oily scum on top, the well was finally
abandoned.
The county as a municipal corporation has from its very
beginning been ably managed in the interests of its taxpayers.
For reference, there is appended here a list of the county officers
and state legislative representatives of this district, from the date
of the formation of the county to the year 1917.
List of County Officers
1892
State Senator, J. H. Seawell; Assemblyman, AV. A. Vanu;
Superior Judge, Seth Millington; Sheriff, P. H. Clark; County
Clerk, W. H. Sale; County Auditor and Recorder, John H.
Graves; Treasurer, James M. Millsaps; Assessor, L. E. Stewart;
District Attorney, George Dudley; Count}^ Surveyor, T. L.
Knock; Coroner and Public Administrator, Dr. F. X. Tremblay;
Superintendent of Schools, William M. Finch ; Supervisors : First
District, H. C. Hulett; Second District, David Markham; Third
District, N. B. Vanderford ; Fourth District, P. R. Garnett ; Fifth
District, W. Frank Miller.
1894
Assemblyman, William Ash; Superior Judge, Frank Moody;
Sheriff, H. C. Stanton; County Clerk, W. H. Sale; Recorder and
Auditor, John Graves; Treasurer, J. F. Sersanous; Assessor, P.
0. Eibe; District Attorney, George Dudley; Coroner and Public
Administrator, J. 0. Johnson; County Surveyor, T. L. Knock;
Superintendent of Schools, William M. Finch; Supervisors: Sec-
ond District, Vincent Cleek; Fourth District, H. A. Logan.
224 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
1896
Assemblyman, A. E. Bridgeford; Supervisors, First District,
James Boyd; Third District, Asa M. Jackson; Fifth District, W.
Frank Miller.
1898
State Senator, John Boggs (died in office, 1899; succeeded by
J. W. Goad); Assemblyman, J. P. Glynn; Superior Judge, Oval
Pirkey; Sheriff, H. G. Stanton; County Clerk, W. H. Sale; Aud-
itor and Eecorder, John H. Graves ; District Attorney, R. A.
Long ; Assessor, P. 0. Elbe ; Treasurer, John F. Sersanous ; Super-
intendent of Schools, Frank S. Eeager; Coroner and Public
Administrator, John Franey; County Surveyor, J. F. Weston;
Supervisors: Second District, V. C. Cleek; Fourth District, P.
R. Garnett; Fifth District, J. W. Albery.
1900
Assemblyman, T. J. Sheridan; Supervisors: First District,
George C. Prentiss; Third District, Asa M. Jackson; Fifth Dis-
trict, W. H. Hodgson.
1902
State Senator, J. B. Sanford; Assemblyman, Benjamin H.
Howard; Sheriff and Tax Collector, J. A. Bailey; County Clerk,
W. H. Sale; Auditor and Recorder, John H. Graves; District
Attorney, R. L. Chfton; Assessor, W. H. Markham; Treasurer,
L. J. Klemmer ; Superintendent of Schools, F. S. Reager ; Coroner
and Public Administrator, L. R. Stewart ; County Surveyor, T. L.
Knock; Supervisors: Second District, David Brown; Fourth Dis-
trict, J. R. Troxel.
1901
AssembhTnan, Ernest Weyand; Superior Judge, William M.
Finch; Supervisors: First District, George C. Prentiss; Fourth
District, for the unexpired term of J. R. Troxel, deceased, Seth W.
Stanton; Third District, Asa M. Jackson; Fifth District, J. W.
Alberv.
1906
State Senator, J. B. Sanford; Assemblyman, F. H. Smyth;
Sheriff and Tax Collector, J. A. Bailey; County Clerk, William
H. Sale; Auditor and Recorder, M. Golden; District Attorney, C.
F. Purkitt; Assessor, W. H. Markham; Treasurer, L. J. Klem-
mer; Superintendent of Schools, S. M. Chaney; Coroner and
Public Administrator, Jos. M. Reidy; County Surveyor, Thomas
L. Knock; Supervisors: Second District, David Brown; Fourth
District, Seth W. Stanton.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 225
1908
Assemblyman, J. B. Mendenhall ; Supervisors : First District,
P. 0. Eibe; Third District, Frank C. Hurlburt; Fifth District,
H. D. Wvlie.
1910
State Senator, J. B. Sanford; Assemblyman, J. B. Menden-
hall ; Superior Judge, William M. Finch ; Sheriff and Tax Collec-
tor, J. A. Bailey; County Clerk, W. H. Sale; District Attorney,
Claude F. Purkitt; Auditor and Recorder, M. Golden; Treasurer,
J. W. Monroe; Assessor, W. H. Markham; Superintendent of
Schools, S. M. Chaney; Coroner and Public Administrator, Jos.
M. Reidy; County Surveyor, Luther C. Stiles; Supervisors: Sec-
ond District, W. L. Thompson; Fourth District, S. W. Stanton.
1912
Assembh-man, Harry Polslev; Supervisors: First District,
P. 0. Eibe; Third District, J. S. Sale; Fifth District, H. D. Wylie.
1914
State Senator, Claude F. Purkitt; Assemblyman, Elmer Sis-
son; Sheriff, J. A. Bailey; County Clerk, W. H. Sale; District
Attorney, Benjamin F. Geis; Auditor and Recorder, M. Golden;
Treasurer, J. W. Monroe; Assessor, E. C. Harelson; Tax Collec-
tor, Mrs. Mae Blondin; Coroner and Public Administrator, D. C.
Tucker; County Surveyor, Bayard Knock; Superintendent of
Schools, S. M. Chaney; Supervisors: Second District, David
Brown; Fourth District, Leon Speier.
1916
Assemblyman, Harry Polsley; Superior Judge, William M.
Finch; Supervisors: First District, P. O. Eibe (deceased; suc-
ceeded by Charles Lambert, appointed by Governor Stephens) ;
Third District, J. S. Sale; Fifth District, H. D. Wylie.
CHAPTER IX
The Era or Ieeigation
The need of irrigation of the lands of Glenn County was
recognized by the progressive men of the years 1875 and 1876.
In May, 1875, an irrigation meeting was held in Colusa, the county
seat of Colusa County, which at that time embraced the area
which is now Glenn County. Will S. Green, Honorable John
226 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Boggs, Colouel Hagar, J. B. DeJarnatt, L. F. Moulton and others
discussed the possibilities of irrigation, and were agreed as to tlie
many advantages ottered in the iise of water by that method.
Immediately following that meeting, many private water rights
were filed and located.
Early Irrigation
John Boggs, Greorge Packer, and others, constructed a ditch
from the river, at a point near Princeton, from which they irri-
gated their lands at time of high water. On Stony Creek, near
Smithville (now Stonyford), John L. Smith several years before
constructed a ditch for operating his fiour mill, and also for
irrigating his fields of alfalfa. Later, a company styled the
Stony Creek Improvement Company constructed a ditch higher
up Big Stony Creek, and irrigated a much larger area of land
for alfalfa. On the north side of Stony Creek the landowners
of that locality constructed a ditch for the irrigation of their
orchards and fields of alfalfa. During this same period a China-
man constructed a ditch from Stony Creek, a short distance below
the two ditches mentioned, and irrigated his garden and orchard.
Following the early construction of irrigation works near
the town site of Stonyford, other ditches were taken out along
the entire course of Stony Creek. In the vicinity of Elk Creek,
numerous i^rivate irrigation systems were constructed. The
Fruto Land and Improvement Company constructed a six-mile
ditch on the east side of Stony Creek, three miles south of Elk
Creek, for the irrigation of several hundred acres of vineyard,
orchard and alfalfa.
Irrigation District Projects
The years 1887 and 1888 were years of irrigation develop-
ment in Glenn County. The first irrigation district under the
Wright Law in Glenn Coimty was formed on September 10, 1887,
and was known as the Orland Irrigation District. The area of
the district formed was about fourteen thousand acres, lying in
what was then Colusa and Tehama Counties, and north of Stony
Creek. Opposition soon arose, forcing the abandonment of this
plan; and on August 20, 1888, the Kraft Irrigation District was
formed, cutting from the boundaries of the first district the lands
of those opposed to the plan, and including two thousand acres
belonging to the Krafts, which they wished to develop by means
of irrigation.
In 1888 the Stony Creek Irrigation Company was incorpo-
rated, with C. B. Ashurst, of Bed Bluff, G. W. Murdock, F. C.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 227
Graves, and T. J. Kirkpatrick as stockholders. A ditch taking
water from Stony Creek about nine miles northwest of Orland,
and running in a southeasterly direction for a distance of eight
miles, was constructed for the irrigation of the lands adjacent
to the canal.
On January 14, 1888, the Orland Southside Irrigation Dis-
trict was formed. This district, as formed, comprised an area
of approximately twenty-six thousand acres and included the
town of Orland. This district proceeded with its organization,
voted one hundred thousand dollars' worth of bonds for construc-
tion purposes, and then failed to carry their plans to completion
because of the opposition of certain landowners and the faulty
provisions of the Wright Law.
Will S. Green, and the Central Irrigation District
Will S. Green, the chairman of the tirst irrigation meet-
ing held in Colusa, in May, 1875, is known to this generation as
the father of irrigation in Glenn and Colusa Counties. In the
brain of that progressive man was first originated the plan of
diverting the waters of the Sacramento Eiver through a great
canal, for the irrigation of the lands on the west side of the
river in Glenn and Colusa Counties. From the time of the first
irrigation meeting, until November 22, 1887, Mr. Green constantly
bent his entire energies to the formation and completion of the
plan of watering the lands now embraced in what is generally
known as the Central Irrigation District. On November 22, 1887,
the dreams and plans of Mr. Green were fulfilled. On that date
the Central Irrigation District was formed by a vote of the
electors of the proposed district, in accordance with the Wright
Irrigation Act. The area of the district embraced one hundred
fifty-six thousand five hundred acres of land lying on the rich,
level plains of Glenn and Colusa Counties.
The formation of the irrigation district was an easy matter
for Mr. Green and his enthusiastic associates. Bonds amounting
to seven Imndred fifty thousand dollars were voted on the second
day of April, 1888, for the construction of the necessary canals
and irrigation works, by a vote of more than five to one. The
bonds were issued, dated July 1, 1888, bearing interest at six
per cent., payable semiannually, and redeemable in installments
at the end of the eleventh year and each succeeding year there-
after until final maturity. In October, 1889, contracts for canal
construction were let amounting to two hundred ninety thousand
dollars, and work was commenced immediately.
The canal, as originally planned, had its source from the
Sacramento Eiver at a point near the Tehama County line, at
228 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
which place proper water appropriations were made in behalf
of the district and for the benefit of those lands embraced within
the district boundaries. The canal, as proposed, covered the
lands from its source to about midway between Willows and
Arbuckle, where its outlet or discharge was provided for by a
connection with a foothill drainage creek.
The engineers' original estimates provided for a main canal
of sixty-tive feet bottom width for a distance of tliirty miles,
the balance of the distance to be reduced to twenty feet bottom
width. Lateral canals and subcauals were also included in this
original estimate.
Difficulties of a nature beyond the control of the first spon-
sors of the irrigation district arose, which proved to be the un-
doing of the district plans. After bonds were sold, prominent
owners of lands within the district resisted the bond lien upon
their lands. Suits were brought, and the entire irrigation plan
was thrown into chaos. Then followed years marked chiefly with
suits resisting the plans of the district, which resulted finally
in adverse court decisions as to the validity of the district and
its bond issue. Water was denied the canal in its imcompleted
condition, and the labors of a truly progressive irrigationist
were temporarily lost. To others fell the work of carrying on
the cause of irrigation in this district. Bridging the years from
1887 to 1903, progress in irrigation was estopped by litigation
in all the irrigation districts of tbe county.
Orland Irrigation Project
In 1893, John H. Graves, the auditor and recorder of Glenn
county, entered into a lease arrangement with the stockholders
of the Stony Creek Irrigation Company, the owners of the only
operative irrigation system of the county, for their canal system
serving water to the lands adjacent to their canal, from its intake
on Stony Creek to the east boundary of the Murdoch Eaneh, west
of Orland. Mr. Graves interested others in Ms plan to bring
water into the town of Orland, and in the fall of 1893, through
the efforts of the lessors of the Stony Creek Irrigation System,
the canal was extended and water was conducted to the lands of
Orland and immediate vicinity. The water supply thus furnished,
however, was found to be inadequate to the successful irrigation
of the lands of that area.
From 1893 to 1907 untiring efforts were put forward by
interested landowners to better irrigation conditions. Through
the direct efforts of the Sacramento Valley Development Associa-
tion and its first president. Will S. Green — aided by Frank Free-
man and Charles L. Donohoe, of Willows, and William and J. B.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 229
Morrissey, H. A. Greenwood, J. M. Scribner, Frank S. Reager,
David and Thomas Brown and others, of Orland — the Secretary
of the Interior, Mr. Garfield, and the Reclamation Service en-
gineers, investigated the possibilities and benefits of adequate
irrigation of the lands of Orland and vicinity, and accepted upon
behalf of the United States Government the responsibility of
solving the irrigation problem of the district.
In 1908, the Government reclamation engineers completed
their plans for the irrigation of an area of fourteen thousand
acres of land in the immediate vicinity of Orland. Work was
completed on a dam impounding water in a reservoir on the
head waters of Stony Creek, in Indian Valley, Colusa County,
in time for the irrigation season of 1910. Since the advent of
the Government in the irrigation affairs of Orland and vicinity,
the development of the resources of that district has steadily
progressed.
Laie Canal Inigaiioii Development
The year 1901 saw the beginning of the rehaltilitation of the
scheme of Will S. Green for the irrigation of the lands of the
Central Irrigation District, and in addition the rich sedimentary
lands along the Sacramento River in Glenn and Colusa Counties.
During the year 1901, Byron De la Beckwith of Colusa
conceived the idea of running water to the lands of the Central
Irrigation District by private enterprise. On November 30,
1901, water appropriations were made by him on the Sacramento
River at the present intake of the Central Canal. Immediately
Mr. Beckwith interested capitalists, among whom were Messrs.
Sheldon and Schuyler, in an enterprise having as its object
the lease of the Central Canal then constructed, and its comple-
tion to the river intake for the watering of lands of the district.
On September 20, 1902, the plans and efforts of Mr. Beckwith
resulted in a lease being obtained by Sheldon, Schuyler and
others upon the main canal of the Central Irrigation District
from its de facto board of directors, or trustees, for a period of
fifty years at merely a nominal annual rental. The Central Canal
and Irrigation Company was organized for the purpose of car-
rying out the plans for the irrigation of lands of the Central
Irrigation District, and also lands along the Sacramento River.
Construction work was commenced almost immediately, and was
carried on continuously for a period of several years, through
several changes of management of the company.
During this time the company was unable to secure the co-
operation of the landowners within the area to be watered by
their canal system. Crops had been good for several years, and
230 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
the landowners were not inclined to turn their attention to irri-
gation and intensive farming. This unexpected opposition on
the part of the lands to be served with water forced the irriga-
tion company to abandon the plan of selling water to the lands
of this area and, in order to assure the success of their enter-
prise, to assume the added responsibility of purchasing large
tracts of land and constructing the complete system of irrigation
works necessary for their irrigation, as a preliminary step to
sulidividing them and offering for sale small home tracts under
irrigation for intensive farming.
This added and unforeseen responsibility offered an oppor-
tunity to a man of large land-colonization experience. C. M.
Wooster, of San Francisco, closely identified for years with the
colonization of lands in California and other states, organized
the Sacramento Valley Land Company for the purpose of pur-
chasing lands, bringing them under canal irrigation, subdividing
them into small home tracts, and colonizing them with farmers
interested in intensive agriculture. Through the influence of Mr.
Wooster and Frank E. Robinson of Los Angeles, and associates,
the ownership of the Central Canal and Irrigation Company
passed to the owners of the Sacramento Valley Land Company.
At this time the irrigation system lost its identity as a canal
company for the irrigation of those lands originally included in
the plans of Messrs. Green, Beckwith and others, and became
the governing feature of a land-colonization scheme. In 1905
and 1906 the ranches of the Honorable John Boggs in Colusa
County, and of George F. Packer, and a portion of the Glenn
Ranch, were purchased by the Sacramento Valley Land Company.
Water was immediately brought to these lands, and the work
of colonizing commenced.
The year 1905 was a milestone in irrigation development in
this section of the county. Thirty years had passed since the
time when Mr. Green called the first irrigation meeting in Colusa ;
and eighteen years had passed since the time when the work
of that tireless irrigationist resulted in the formation of the
Central Irrigation District. Only the memory of that true friend
and energetic champion of irrigation was left to the people of
Glenn and Colusa Counties; but the final realization of his
dreams, denied him during his lifetime, was now an accomplished
fact. Others have carried on his work through many adversities,
still inspired by the memory of his energy and optimism.
During the next succeeding years, the operation of the canal
system was continued and extended under adverse conditions.
In 1908, capitalists from Pittsburgh, Pa., and from Southern
Idaho, purchased the control of the Central Canal and Irrigation
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 231
Company, and the Sacramento Valley Land Company, merging
both interests into the Sacramento Valley Irrigation Company.
This company purchased additional large areas of land, and made
extensive improvements and extensions of the canal and its lat-
erals, investing approximately nine millions of dollars in the
scheme. They immediately subdivided their immense holdings
into small tracts for purposes of colonization and intensive farm-
ing, and sold large areas to homeseekers from all states of the
Union. During this period Glenn and Colusa Counties were the
most progressive districts of the state in irrigation and colo-
nization affairs.
Again adversit}' blocked the ■wheels of progress. Through
the financial failure of Kulm Brothers, of Pittsburgh, the prin-
cipal owners of the Sacrameuto Valley Irrigation Company and
sponsors for the irrigation project, the years from 1913 to 1915
were years of retrogression. In the year 1916, however, a way
out of the unfortunate failure of 1912 was believed to have been
found. The jiresent owners of the canal system, through court
judgments and rulings of the Public Utilities Commission, have
learned that the waters of the canal are appropriated only for
the use of the public, and not for the furtherance of any par-
ticular private land-colonization enterprise organized and con-
ducted for its own benefit and profit; and that the plans of Mr.
Green, as originally made in the sovereign interests of the lands
of the irrigation district, are not to be interfered with, and water
is to be held available for the use of the entire district. It is
proposed to reorganize into an irrigation district, under the laws
of the state, that territory originally embraced in the old Central
Irrigation District founded by Mr. Green, thus completing after
twenty-nine years the plans and hopes of the original organizer
of the district.
On December 9, 1916, an irrigation district was formed under
the laws of the state for the irrigation of those lands south of
Sidds Landing on the Sacramento River, extending south into
Colusa County and west to the original boundaries of the old
Central Irrigation District. The canal and lateral systems are
already constructed in this district. All that remains to be accom-
plished by the district is the installation of proper pumping facil-
ities from the source of water supply, the Sacramento River, near
Sidds Landing and at Hart's Landing near Princeton, and the
purchase of the canal-operating system from its present owners.
A second district is at this time in process of formation for
the irrigation of those lands north of Sidds Landing on the
Sacramento River, east of the boundaries of the old Central
232 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Irrigation District, and between the Main Central Canal and
the Sacramento Eiver.
Well and Pumping-Plant Irrigation Bevelopment
As the early pioneer stockman songht water for domestic
purposes from rivers, creeks and springs, so the early pioneer
in irrigation sought water from the same sources. The abundant
underground water supply for irrigation purposes was overlooked
by those seeking water for their lands until Henry B. St. Ijouis,
a farmer west of Norman, investigated and found an abundant
water supply on his farm. In the spring of 1908, Mr. St. Louis
bored a well of large diameter and installed a five-inch centrifugal
pump driven by a gas engine, receiving for his trouble an abun-
dant supply of water for the irrigation of alfalfa. During years
past, others had installed small pumping plants. Artesian water
had been sought at great depths on the Eideout Eanch, later
known as the Spalding Eanch, in the vicinity of Norman. To
Mr. St. Louis and his industry, however, can correctly be cred-
ited the beginning of piimp irrigation in Glenn County.
Profiting by the experience of Mr. St. Louis, L. H. Twede
purchased land for the Twede Eanch and Land Company south-
east of Willows, and developed an adequate water supply for
general farm crops, and later for rice cultivation. The water
supply on the Twede Eanch is without equal in the valley. The
success of Mr. Twede inspired the owners of the Spalding Eanch
to undertake the development of their large acreage from pump-
ing wells. Messrs. Wickes and McCurdy installed the first large
pumping wells on the Fony Glenn Farm southeast of Willows,
which later proved to the subsequent owners of that farm that
water for irrigation could be had in abundant quantities by the
installation of pumping wells. In the vicinity of the Fony Glenn
Farm, H. M. Garnett developed an adequate supply of water
for a large acreage of alfalfa, as did also Mrs. Inez Garnett
Freed, Lloyd T. Lacy, and the Singletary Brothers.
In the immediate vicinity of Willows, water for irrigation
was first developed by William Leake, north of the county hos-
pital, and Charles Clarke, one mile west of Willows, on the
property now the residence of Charles Lambert. Later, the
Marshall and Lacroix Farms were sold in small farm units,
and water for irrigation was developed from wells. Other large
water-development areas are the Germain Eanch, Mills and
Brown Eanch Subdivision, and Kattenberg Tracts.
In the Germantown district, William M. Shaw, on his home
section south of Germantown, has developed water for the irri-
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 233
gation of about two hundred forty acres of alfalfa and sixty
acres of orchard. An artesian well, supplemented by a pump,
supplies water to a storage reservoir; and an underground con-
crete pipe system conveys water to the different fields without
loss. Through the demonstration of the abundance of under-
ground water supply by Mr. Shaw, the Central Forest Company
developed water for the irrigation of their alfalfa and eucalj-ptus
acreages.
Beginning with the first successful large pumping plant of
Mr. St. Louis in 1908, water development for irrigation from
wells has gone forward with astonishing rapidity. During a
period of eight years large areas of land have been brought
under irrigation that otherwise would have remained undeveloped
because of the lack of surface supply. The limit boundaries of
underground water-bearing strata are now well known. Water
for irrigation can be had from wells over almost the entire area
not covered by surface gravity supply. Only those lands in the
immediate vicinity of the low foothills are without abundant un-
derground water-bearing strata of economical pumping depth.
Water for irrigation in Glenn County, through the Govern-
ment Irrigation Project at Orland, the Great Central Canal Pro-
ject, and the many individual and corporate pumping plants of the
district not supplied with gravity flow, has added more than ten
millions of dollars in assessed valuation to the county's wealth.
During the years 1915 and 1916 a new cereal crop of unlimited
possibilities has proved a success in the county. Eice has created
a new demand for large quantities of water; and the Central
Canal, during the irrigation season of 1917, was filled to capacity
for the first time in its checkered history. Large individual pump-
ing plants have been installed for rice culture on the Charles H.
Glenn Farm and the Mudd Ranch, now the property of Faxon and
Montague. A second irrigation pumping plant is being installed
on the Sacramento River at Sidds Landing by P. B. Cross, an
Oakland capitalist, for the irrigation of ten thousand eight hun-
dred acres of rice land for the season of 1918.
Water is King. Its use and benefits are now fully utilized
and realized. The anti-irrigatiouist has given way to the progress
of the times. Water under the control of man has proved a
necessity. The present and future years will lie known as the
Irrigation Age of Glenn County.
234 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
CHAPTEE X
WiLLOJVS
Origin of the Name
Standing out in bold relief from the vast expanse of treeless
])lains, "the willows" were the only landmark in early days
between the settlements along the river and those in the foot-
hills. These trees bordered a group of springs oh Willow Creek,
one mile east of the present town of Willows. Travelers between
the foothills and Princeton guided their course by the willows,
and gradually the name was applied to the locality surrounding
the trees. The first store on the present site of the town was
known as the store at "the willows." In 1876, when the town
was formally laid out in lots, there was some talk of changing the
name to Venado or Zimiwalt, after the first pioneer of the town
and the man who was instrumental in getting the railroad to pass
through here at its i^resent location; but the force of habit was too
strong with the people of the surrounding territory, and the
place continued to be called "the AVillows." The Post Office
Department tried to distinguish it from a town in Southern Cali-
fornia by making the name "Willow"; but as everyone continued
to address letters by the popular name, even the Post Office De-
partment finally fell in line, and in 1916 the name was formally
changed to "Willows," in recognition of the popular wish.
Early Settlers and Selection of the Toirn Site
Willows, as a town, dates from June 11, 1876, when William
Johnson and Moses Hochheimer established a general merchan-
dise store on the present site of the Glenn County Lumber Com-
pany's yards. The first family to establish themselves on the
site of the present town of Willows was that of Daniel Zumwalt,
Sr., who had built a home on his farm property prior to the
lieginning of the town. It is related that the first sale from the
new store was a can of mustard, to Mrs. Zumwalt. Following
close after the store, came a hotel, hardware store, drug store,
blacksmith shop and saloon. J. 0. Johnson built the first house on
what is now Tehama Street. In the fall of 1877, the Southern
Pacific Company laid out the town site of Willows ; and develop-
ment was rapid from that time on.
The Southern Pacific Enters Willows
On September 26, 1878, the railroad was completed as far as
Willows; and the event was celebrated with great rejoicing by
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 235
the people of the town. The morning' exercises were given over to
speeches, music by the band, and the firing of anvils. Hon. John
Boggs introduced Rev. T. H. B. Anderson, the orator of the day,
who made a stirring address. After the speaking, the merry-
making commenced. All sorts of contests, including a fat man's
race, helped to keep the crowd in a good humor. This was fol-
lowed by a harvest banquet in the pavilion; and the program
closed with a masque ball in the evening.
Gi-OH-th of the Town
The phenomenal growth of the town in the first two years of
its existence may be seen from the following inventory of the busi-
ness interests of the town at the time of the coming of the rail-
road. There were then three general merchandise stores, two
hardware stores, three hotels, one grocery store, one drug store,
one jewelry store, one millinery store, two blacksmith shops, one
cigar store, one harness shop, three livery stables, one feed mill,
five sajoons, two barber shojis, and one weekly newspaper. Already
two physicians had begun practice in the town.
Early Conftagratious
Four times in her early history Willows was swept by disas-
trous fires — only to rise each time, like a phoenix, from the ashes,
through tlie indomitable will and i)ersistent courage of her citi-
zens. Probably the most destructive one of these fires was that
which occurred on May 30, 1882. The following description of the
fire, taken from Rogers' History of Colusa County, is interesting
both in itself and as indicating the caliber of the men to whom
"Willows is indebted for her solid foundation.
"May 30, a fire broke out at Willows at two o'clock in the
morning; and in a very short time the principal business portion
of that thriving, progressive place was in ashes. It was the most
calamitous event which had ever happened to any part of the
county. The fire originated in the Central Hotel, occupied by
Captain Williams ; and a strong north wind prevailing at the time,
the fire swept all the line of liuildings south, chiefly business
houses, consisting of stores, saloons, hotels and restaurants. The
fire was so rapid and so eager in its destructive work, that little
could be saved. In the hotel where the fire originated, the occu-
])ants had barely time to escape with their lives. There being no
water, nor any facilities for fighting the fire, the citizens were
compelled to stand by and see their property destroyed liy the
devouring element. . . . The following are the names of those
who were burned out: Weston's photograph gallery. Park &
236 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Duncan's law office, Slierfey & Nordyke's butcher sliop, Allen &
Callahan's saloon, Sehorn & Calder's store. Smith's barber shop,
Duncan's bakery, saloon of Wm. Bentz, saloon of Samuel Culver,
F. W. Stone's jewelry store, Hansen's drug store, J. A. Thomp-
son's grocery, the Gutiuan building, Bates' saloon building, the
Journal office, 0. E. Coghlan's law office, Hocliheimer & Com-
pany's general store, post office. Willows Hotel (F. G. Crawford,
lessee), Palace Hotel, Brooks' saloon, Isaacs' general merchandise
store, W. L. Eobinson & Company's hardware, Ketchum's saloon,
Mrs. Jones' house and millinery stock, I. A. Lawrence's under-
taking rooms, Mrs. E. P. Price's hotel, Clark's tailor shop, Central
Hotel, Kaminsky's jewelry store, Putnam's drug store, Mellor's
blacksmith shop and residence, and J. Kahn's clothing stock. The
total loss was estimated at over $200,000 — a serious if not irrep-
arable loss, one would be tempted to assert, for a young town
which had only four years before been a portion of a large cattle
range, were he not aware of the energy, pluck, perseverance and
confidence in the future of their town, which the people of Wil-
lows had always so manifested as to invoke the admiration of
every newspaper in the state. The loss was not, however, a
calamity at which despair was permitted to dolefully officiate. It
was a temporary affliction, involving discomforts and some finan-
cial inconvenience which could, with good judgment, be removed
or overcome. Willows had been tried with fire. She had now
passed her crucial period, her citizens claimed, with a feeling
almost of satisfaction. To become a leading town in Northern
California, this baptism of fire is a necessary process; for, argued
they, there is scarcely a city that has grown to prominence or
reached eminence in the West, but has gone through the same
ordeal. This destructive fire seemed to them both a precedent
and an augury of success; and so, before the ashes of their
burned business houses had cooled, telegrams flashed over the
wire for brick and lumber with which to rebuild. Mechanics were
sent for, and building contractors were making estimates before
the insurance adjusters had reached the scene of disaster. An
instance in point exemplifies the energy and confidence of these
people. When F. G. Crawford, the landlord of the Willows Hotel,
was burned out completely at two o'clock in the morning, he had
breakfast prepared for his guests in another building at seven
o'clock the same morning, while he was a few hours afterwards
engaged in selecting a spot on which to erect a new hotel. This
was only one of the many instances of never-faltering pluck and
unswerving devotion to their handsome, thrifty town. It is this
spirit of enterprise, of mutual cooperation of purpose, which
caused Willows to be rebuilt larger and more substantially than
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 237
before, with business houses imsurpassed in the county, and with
churches and schoolhouses and warehouses which some towns in
the state having five times her population cannot vie with."
On October 11, 1886, Willows suffered an experience of
striking similarity to the one just related. The fire originated in
about the same location, this time in a small stable back of the
Central Hotel. A strong north wind was blowing; and the entire
block, except the bank building, was completely destroyed. Prac-
tically the same people were losers, to the extent of $140,000, with
about sixty per cent, of this amount of insurance. Nothing
daunted by this second misfortune, they again rebuilt the town,
with the same pluck and energy which characterized their pre-
vious endeavor. Besides rebuilding the business portion of the
town, over tifty new homes were erected in the town of Willows
in the year 1886.
Organization for Protection against Fire
In 1887, the Willows Water and Light Company was incor-
porated, with Milton French, president ; B. H. Burton, vice-presi-
dent; P.*H. Green, secretary; and the Bank of Willows, treasurer.
With the installation of the pumps and tanks of the new com-
pany, the fire menace was materially reduced. The town organ-
ized two hose companies, with sixty members and the following
officers : Chief, Henry Bielar ; Foreman Hose Company No. 1,
J. F. Sersanous ; Foreman Hose Company No. 2, J. D. Crane.
Although serious conflagrations still occurred, they were com-
bated with so much zeal and energy on the part of the citizens
that Willows was never again sulijected to the scourge of fire to
any considerable extent.
The Solar Eclipse of 1889
The year 1889 was ushered in with a great deal of promi-
nence for Willows in the scientific world. A total eclipse of the
sun occurred on the first day of January of that year ; and scien-
tists had figured out that the obscurity of the sun's rays would
be greatest at Willows. Professor Pickering, of Harvard College,
Professor Roach, of Blue Hill University, and Professor Upton,
of Brown University, with their assistants, had erected an observ-
atory at Willows; and excursion trains were run from various
parts of the state. The eclipse began a little after eleven a. m. ;
and so dark did it grow that all the chickens went to roost. The
time from the beginning of the eclipse until the moon left the disc
of the sun was a little over two hours; and during this time the
temperature dropped six and one half degrees.
238 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Music a I rga ii iza tio >i s
An organization that wielded a beneficent influence on the
social life of the town during this early period was Silvey's
Cornet Band. The people of the town contributed funds for the
instruction of those who wished to join; and under the efficient
leadership of M. J. Silvey the band became one of the best in
Northern California. For many years the Saturday night open
air band concerts during the summer months were one of the
most cherished institutions of the town. John A. Apperson, editor
and proprietor of the Willows Eeview, gathered about him a
few kindred spirits and organized Apperson 's Orchestra. For
fifteen years, no local fair, celebration, dance or amateur theatrical
took place in which one or both of these organizations did not
take part.
Cluhs
During these times of busy material progress, the lighter side
of life was not neglected. Eealizing that "all work and no play
makes Jack a dull boy," the townspeople took the keenest interest
in sports. The Willows Jockey Club was organized, with J. E.
Troxel as president; and a track was laid out. This club was
finally merged with the Willows Agricultural Association, of which
mention has been made in a previous chapter. Many promising
colts were tried out on this track ; and a great stimulus was given
to the breeding of fine stock in the community, in consequence of
the friendly rivalry engendered on this course.
On January 16, 1890, the Willows Athletic Club was organ-
ized by the younger men of the town, and the keenest interest in
baseball was manifested by the citizens of the community. Eivalry
with neighboring towns was intense; and although some of the
scores seem ludicrous when comjjared with the more professional
games of today, whatever the players lacked in the way of skill
in the finer points of the game was more than compensated by
the increased enthusiasm and partisanship of the fans when
every player in the home team was a home boy.
The Period of Groivth
From 1891 to 1894 Willows experienced quite a Iniilding
boom, incident to becoming the county seat. Several Ijrick build-
ings were erected, among them the I. 0. 0. F. Hall, the Newman
Building, and the Crawford Hotel. The county courthouse was
erected during this period, and also the present grammar school
building. The hard times following the panic of 1893 put a stop
to this activity, and the business portion of the town remained
practically at a standstill until the coming of the Sacramento
Valley Irrigation Company in 1909.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 239
During- the three years which followed the reorganization of
the work of the irrigation project under the Sacramento Valley
Irrigation Company, the population of the town more than
doubled. The hotels were unable to accommodate the newcom-
ers. Buildings for rent sprang up everywhere. The Sacramento
Valley Irrigation Company bought Agricultural Park, subdivided
it into town lots, graded the streets, ])lanted street trees, and
commenced a lot-selling campaign in the Pittsburg Addition to
the Town of Willows, as their subdivision was called. Here they
built the Land Sales Office, Administration Building, Company
Mess Hall, Company Garage, Company Rooming House and six
bungalows on Sacramento Street. The Presbyterian and Epis-
copal Churches were both erected in this subdivision during this
time, and about twenty modern homes ranging in price from
twenty-five hundred to ten thousand dollars. In South Willows
even greater additions were made to the town. A section of four
blocks in width and three in depth was built up solidly with'
modern homes, set in the midst of lawns and flowers. In fact,
the town expanded in every direction, and fine homes were erected
on choice building sites throughout the town. New streets were
graded, and the town passed an ordinance requiring every one to
lay five-foot cement sidewalks in front of his jDroperty.
But the greatest improvement took place in the business sec-
tion of the to-rni, which was practically rebuilt during this time.
Beginning at Tehama and Willow Streets, brick buildings were
erected by P. B. Lacroix, M. J. Silvey and Frank Burgi. The din-
ing room and lobby of the Palace Hotel were remodeled. Klem-
mer Brothers put a new front on their store and an addition at
the back, which doubled their stock capacity. The brick store on
the corner of Walnut and Tehama was replaced by the present
handsome structure of the Bank of Willows. P. H. Green erected
the fine store building on the corner of Butte and Walnut which
is occupied by A. D. Pieper's general merchandise store. The
Wetzold Building, the Masonic Temple, and the City Hall were
all erected on this block during the same period. On Sycamore
Street, building activity was even greater than elsewhere. The
Purkitt Building, the Willows Opera House, the Glenn County
Savings Bank Building, the Barceloux Building, the Orr Build-
ing, and the Reidy Building are all substantial brick structures
which were erected between 1910 and 1912. The Crawford House
was remodeled along modern lines, and an addition was made
to it to house the First National Bank of Willows. Hochheimer
& Company remodeled their store and added to it, so that it is
now conceded to be one of the finest department stores north of
Sacramento.
240 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
The Passing of the Saloon
Where there is so much building and development going on,
there is bound to be a large floating population, some of whom
are more or less undesirable, or even desperate, characters; and
Willows was no exception to the rule. After two or three bad
shooting and stabbing affrays in the saloons, the more conserva-
tive element of the population decided that such a condition of
affairs must be remedied. Eegulation was tried, without pro-
ducing the desired results ; and in 1913 a bitter Avet and dry agita-
tion divided the town. All the odium attached to the acts of this
transient pojoulation fell on the saloon as an institution; and
many people who were not prohibitionists from principle voted to
close up the town as a relief from existing conditions. The first
measure tried was merely a blow at the licensed saloon. It was
a special ordinance drawn up by the attorneys of the town, allow-
ing liquor to be served in restaurants with a twenty-five cent
order, and i^ermitting the sale of bottled goods. This also was
unsatisfactory in effect; and jjeople claimed that it was unjust,
and discriminatory against the poor man. Finally, after much
agitation pro and con, the town was voted dry at the next election
under the Wylie Local Option Law. Whether because of our near-
ness to Orland or on account of the ease with which people who
will drink can obtain liquor lawfully, it is difficult to say; but at
any rate, the evils of blind-pigging which the Wets prophesied
would follow the abolition of the saloons have not materialized.
Some few cases there have been; but these have been prosecuted
so severely by the officers of the law, and have been meted out
such summary punishment by the courts, that if any still exist
they are so obscure that their influence is negligible.
After the election under the Wylie Local Option Law, the
block on Tehama Street between Walnut and Sycamore under-
went a complete transformation. Stores, restaurants, and two
soft-drink parlors occupy the block where formerly almost every
other door was a saloon.
The Churches
The spiritual, social, and intellectual needs of the community
are amply provided for. Seven religious denominations are rep-
resented, and are attended by large congregations. They are the
Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, Presbyterian, Christian and Epis-
copal Churches, and the Church of Christ, Scientist.
The Methodist Episcopal Church has the distinction of being
the pioneer church of Willows, . its congregation having been the
COLUSA AND GLENX COUNTIES 241
first to erect an edifice in the town, in 1879. Willows was then
a wide expanse of plain, with no trees and few houses to break
the force of the wind ; and on March 8, 1880, the new church was
hfted several inches off its foundation by a strong norther. This
condition was soon righted, and the building served the needs of
the congregation until its capacity was outgrown by the increased
membership during the boom, when the present handsome edifice
was erected. Back of the church, there is a neat and commodious
parsonage.
The Baptist Church was organized in 1879, with fourteen
constituent members; but for some years the growth of the con-
gregation was impeded by the lack of a house of worship. The
members first held services in a schoolhouse near I. V. Deven-
peck's place; and later, through the courtesy of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, ^the privilege of worshiping there was extended
to them. In 1886 the present church buildiug was erected. It
has been remodeled and enlarged several times, to keep pace with
the growing congregation. Next door to the church, there is a
comfortable two-story parsonage.
The first Catholic services in the town were held in the court-
room of the first justice of the peace, Judge Caroloff. The pres-
ent church, St. Monica's, is a substantial brick structure which
has recently been enlarged to accommodate the growing congrega-
tion. The old parish house has just been replaced by a fine mod-
ern building, which speaks more eloquently than words for the
number and liberality of the parishioners.
The Presbyterian Church, and the manse adjoining, were
built in 1910 on lots donated for that purpose by the Sacramento
Valley Irrigation Company. The church is an artistic building
of cream stucco, with a very attractive interior.
Although it numbers among its members some of the pioneer
settlers of the town, the Christian Church was not established
until 1886. The church is centrally located, and has a neat and
commodious building.
The Episcopal Church is an attractive building located in the
Pittsburg Addition to the Town of Willows. Services are held
there every second and fourth Sunday in the month. The church
and its furnishings are now free of debt, and the congregation
hopes soon to provide a rectory and have a resident minister.
The Church of Christ, Scientist, is probably the youngest re-
ligious organization in the town ; but it has an active and growing
membership. Services are held Wednesdays and Sundays in the
church building on Walnut Street.
242 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Secret Orgcniizations
The following secret organizations, each in a flourishing con-
dition, with a large and active membership, have lodges in the
town : The Masons, Laurel Lodge, No. 245, and the accompanying
Marshall Chapter, No. 86, 0. E. S. ; the Lidependent Order of
Odd Fellows, Monroe Lodge, No. 289, and the Daughters of Re-
bekah; the Woodmen of the World; the Native Daughters of the
Golden West; and E. Campus Vitus, No. 5, popularly known
as the "Clampers." This latter organization probably has a
membership equal to the other lodges combined. While it is
organized as a lodge, with initiation ceremonies, etc., for the good-
fellowship which these create among the men, the "Clampers"
are in reality a boost organization for all movements tending
toward the civic and economic betterment of the town. The lodge
maintains a brass band, which is making wonderful progress under
the leadership of E. N. Fenton. Any movement which the
Clampers back is sure to be put through with vim.
The Schools
Willows has always been proud of the high standard main-
tained by her schools, and has also been most liberal in their sup-
port. In 1878, when barely two years old, the town voted ten
thousand dollars in bonds to provide adequate school facilities.
In 1890, only twelve years later, bonds to the value of fifteen thou-
sand dollars were voted without a dissenting ballot, and the
present grammar school building was erected. This building is
now taxed to its full capacity; and unless the town receives some
severe setback, either the building will have to be replaced with
a larger one or an additional school must be built within the next
year or so. There are at present ten teachers in the grammar
school, all doing excellent work: Principal, H. G. Rawlins; vice-
principal, J. E. Birch; assistants. Miss Olive M. Farnham, Miss
Grace Bell, Miss Mabel Hunter, Miss Gladys Campbell, Miss
Gladys Parks, Miss Lulu West, Miss Donna Silvey, and Miss
Sadie F. Reidy. The parents as a whole speak with pride of the
progress made by the children.
In 1903 the first Glenn County High School building was
erected at a cost of six thousand six hundred fifty dollars.
Through the rapid increase in population of the town and sur-
rounding country from 1910 on, the building became so inade-
quate to the sudden extra demands made upon it for space, that a
large tent room was used in addition, while seventy-five thousand
dollars in bonds was being voted and the present splendid struc-
ture was under process of construction. So much interest in
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 243
the school is felt liy the people of the community, that the large
auditorium is completely filled and even standing room is at a
premium whenever the students give a play or an entertainment.
The Glenn County High School is an accredited institution, and
a large number of its graduates go on to college each year.
The Library
In 1904, a movement to provide a free reading room was
started by some of the pulilic-spirited women of the community.
Mrs. A. J. Burgi, Mrs. B. 0. Cobb, and Miss Inez Garnett were
appointed a committee to solicit and receive subscriptions for that
puriDose. They collected four hundred dollars. With this amount,
and donations of books and magazines, a free reading room was
established in the Newman Building on Walnut Street. On March
15, 1906, this reading room was taken over by the town. There-
after it was known as the Willows Free Public Library, and was
supported by taxation. Finally the Women's Improvement Club,
during the presidency of Mrs. Charles L. Douohoe, secured a
ten-thousand-dollar donation from the Carnegie Corporation ; and
the corner stone of the Carnegie Library, on the corner of Plumas
and Walnut, was laid with appropriate ceremonies on November
16, 1910.
Sheridan Park
Another civic improvement for which the Improvement Club
must be given credit, and one which added greatly to the esthetic
enjoyment of life in Willows, was the transformation wrought in
"Fox Tail Park," as it was popularly called from the only ver-
dure adorning it. The lot belongs to the Southern Pacific Railroad
Company, who seemed very much averse to having anything done
with it; but the Woman's Improvement Club, backed by the Busi-
ness Men's Association of the Town of Willows, succeeded in
having the lot parked. The park is maintained by the railroad
company, and is called Sheridan Park in honor of one of the
company officials.
The State Highivay
The State Highway runs through one of the main business
streets of the Town of Willows ; and for a distance of three blocks,
through the business portion of the town, the entire width of the
street is paved. The completion of this pavement in December,
1915, was celebrated with a huge municipal Christmas tree, put up
in the middle of the crossing of Sycamore and Tehama Streets.
Bands played on the corner, and crowds of people danced on the
pavement. The weather was perfect, being clear and just cold
enough to give zest and snap to the affair. The sidewalks were
244 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
througed with people, and everywhere the holiday spirit shone in
the faces of the dancers who made merry, and of the spectators
who exchanged the greetings of the season with friends on the
sidewalks.
The Federal Building
In the summer of 1917, work was commenced on a seventy-
five-thousand-dollar Federal Building located on the northwest
corner of Shasta and Sycamore Streets. The building will be
completed by the fall of 1918, at which time it will house the Post
Office, the Glenn County farm advisor's office, and the office and
headquarters of the supervisor of the California National Forest.
Stability and Growth
The latter part of the year 1913, together with the year 1914,
was a period of misgiving in Willows, due to the financial up-
heaval in the Sacramento Valley Irrigation Company. It was
rumored that water would be turned out of the canal, and that
the settlers would lose their equities in the land if the bondholders
took over the company; and grave fears were felt for the effect
of this on the business of the town. Many, frightened at the first
breath of adversity, predicted that the bottom would fall out of
prices, that the town was overbuilt, and that there would be a
general slump. A number of settlers did leave, preferring to start
in again to facing uncertainty; but those who braved defeat and
stuck to their land are now more prosperous than at any other
time since their advent to the community. Not only has water
continued to run in the canal, but on account of furnishing water
for rice, the new cereal crop, it has been run to the fullest capacity
and additional pumps have been installed near the headgate to
insure a greater supply.
The growth of Willows was very rapid, but it was not an
inflated boom. This is proved conclusively by the fact that the
town withstood the shock of the failure of the company to which
she owed her rapid growth, and that now, within two years after
that shock, there are no vacant houses in town, business is flour-
ishing, and the hotels are often unable to supply accommodations
for all who desire them. The prosperity of the town is rooted
deep in that of the county. Everywhere development has been
steadily going forward — more rapidly in some localities than in
others, it is true; but all over the county the march of progress
has been steady. That the farmers are more prosperous than ever
before is evidenced by the fact that Glenn County was the first
county in the United States to subscribe its maximum quota of
the second Liberty Loan of 1917, the greater portion of which
was taken through the banks of the town of Willows.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 245
CHAPTER XI
Oeland
Choice of the Name
Orland was settled about 1875, and was part of a farm owned
bj^ a man named Chamberlain. The following interesting incident
of how Orland received its name is copied from the Orland Regis-
ter, issue of January 10, 1917, commemorating the death of
Jonathan Griffith, one of the pioneer founders of the town :
"Most interesting of all is the story of the naming of the
town of Orland. Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. Griffith, assisted by
Mr. Brown, got together to petition for a post office, each suggest-
ing a name for the new town. Mr. Griffith suggested Leland,
after Leland Stanford ; while one of the others — Mr. Chamberlain,
it is understood — suggested Comstock. Mr. Brown stuck for
Orland, the name of the town of his birth in England.
"The deadlock could not be broken, each sticking for his
favorite. At last the names were written on slips of paper and
placed in a hat. Destiny, in the shape of an interested youth,
drew out the name of Orland; and Orland it has been, to
this day."
Settlement and Early Development
In 1875, Joseph James and T. H. Dodson located in Orland,
and the latter opened a hotel and store. Other settlers followed
rapidly, and in 1879 agitation was started to extend the railroad
to Orland.
Nearly all towns of rapid growth have suffered disastrous
fires; and Orland was no exception to the rule. On October 30,
1880, the town was laid in ashes, twenty-three buildings being
consumed, at a loss of forty thousand dollars.
In 1883, the first train was run through from Willows to Red
Bluflf ; and from that year development went on at a steady pace.
Schools and church buildings were erected, and many comfort-
able homes were established.
The College at Orland
In order that the young men and women of the town might
have higher educational advantages than those afforded by the
public school. Prof. J. B. Patch interested several of the
large landowners in the vicinity and the business men of the
town in establishing a college at Orland. The plan was to sell
stock to the value of a certain number of thousands of dollars.
246 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
to secure the price of the building material ; the professor was to
superintend the building and aid in its construction for his inter-
est, and the expense of maintenance was to be met by charging
the pupils tuition. A substantial two-story brick building was
erected, and the school was lilierally patronized liy the people of
the town.
Professor Patch was a very good instructor, Init he did not
have the necessary tact for managing an institution of that sort.
In fact he had a wonderful capacity for making enemies, and soon
found himself in very straitened circumstances as a result. The
following amusing incident in the professor's career is taken
from Rogers' History of Colusa County:
"It ai^pears that he [the professor] was indebted to Mr.
Lake and refused to pay. Lake, on January l-t, 1884, secured
judgment after bringing suit. Armed with an execution. Lake and
Constable Gifford proceeded to the college. But the professor
was prepared for them. Up in the belfry of the college he had
deposited a cart load of stones from the creek. When the con-
stable would approach, down would come a shower of cobble-
stones. . If the officer of the law attempted to parley with him,
the professor would ring the bell \dgorously. Then the constable
procured a warrant against him for resisting an officer. Eeturn-
ing with this document, the constable effected an entrance into
the second story, but there was the professor again in the bell
tower overhead, with the ladder pulled up. Then the besiegers
endeavored to capture the determined jjrofessor by means of
planks shoved into the scuttle hole, when down oiit of the airy
fortress came the muzzle of a gun with the doughty professor
behind it. A parley was held, the professor dictated his own
terms of surrender, and these were, that he was to be allowed
to carry his gun, was to be tried in Colusa and not in Orland, and
that no one should come within so many yards of him. The
besieged then came down from the tower, where he had been
exposed for hours to one of the coldest northers that had ever
visited the valley. He entered one of the school rooms, where
he drew a dead line with a piece of chalk, the constable being
placed on one side of it and the professor on the other, where
both spent a cheerless night."
Professor Patch was succeeded by Prof. William Henslee, who
conducted the school for four years in a highly successful man-
ner. He was followed in turn by Prof. A. P. Stone. The college
had never paid any dividends — in fact there was generally a
deticit — so the enterprise at length was abandoned. The old build-
ing stood vacant for many years, liut was finally razed to
the ground.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 247
The Bank of Oiiand
On March 7, 1887, tlie Bank of Orland was incorporated with
a capital stock of one hundred tliousand dollars. A. Bierman was
elected president; Laban Scearce, vice-president; and E. B. Mur-
dock, cashier. The directors were H. W. C. Nelson, L. Scearce..
A. Bierman, A. D. Logan, and W. C. Mnrdock.
.-1 Patriotic Event
On April 30, 1889, the one hundredth anniversary of the
inauguration of George Washington as President of the United
States was celebrated at Orland. Hon. Laban Scearce was presi-
dent of the day, and Gen. N. P. Chipman delivered the oration.
In the afternoon there was a general reunion of the pioneers of
the vicinity, and the celebration closed with a grand ball in the
evening.
Irrigation niul Development
Orland was the pioneer conununity of the county as regards
its interest in irrigation matters. It was the first section to
organize a district under the Wright Irrigation Act, in 1887; and
after struggling along for twenty years under faulty irrigation
laws and adverse conditions, it has the greater honor of being
tlie'first and only section of the county to have solved its irriga-
tion problems successfully. The period from 1887 to 1894 was
one of growth and development for Orland. Great interest was
felt in the possibilities of irrigation; and enough was done in
the way of development, during this period, to prove conclu-
sively that the soil and climate were suited to agricultural indus-
tries, particularly along horticultural lines, and that water, the
only lack, could be supplied if only enough capital could be in-
terested in the undertaking.
About 1894-1895, development was arrested. The supply of
water was found to be inadequate to carry out the plans of the
directors, the irrigation company became involved in litigation,
and from that time until the project was backed by the United
States government the growth of the town was very slow.
By the combined efforts of the prominent landowners and
business men of Orland and vicinity. Secretary of the Interior
Garfield was interested in the benefits which would accrue to
the community by the application of water to the land. Under his
orders engineers of the Government Reclamation Service were to
investigate conditions. The plan met with considerable op]5o-
sition, because this was the first instance where the government
had ever advanced the initial cost of irrigation works for the
benefit of privately owned lands. All other irrigation projects,
248 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
111) to this time, had been uudertaken for the i^urpose of bringing
water to arid government lauds, for the benefit of the actual
settlers. After a period of nerve-wracking suspense for the
people most vitally interested, the government accepted the re-
sponsibility of bringing water to a district comprising fourteen
thousand acres, including Orland and the immediate vicinity. The
property which, now constitutes the reservoir site on the head
waters of Stony Creek was secured; and work commenced on
the dam for impounding water to fill the reservoir which was
to be created. The dam is a massive concrete structure, over
ninety feet high, and serves the country below it in the dual
capacity of protector from drought and flood. The channel of
Stony Creek is utilized by the government for carrying the
irrigation water as far as the diversion dam a few miles west of
Orland. Here the water is diverted into a canal, and is thence
conducted to the lauds of the project. In 1914 a canal was con-
structed, greatly adding to the drainage area by which the reser-
voir is fed; and with this additional supply of water secured, the
territory affected by the project was increased to twenty thou-
sand acres.
As soon as the government signified its intention of com-
pleting the irrigation jiroject, Orland entered into an era of
prosperity; and from year to j-ear its growth and development
have steadily increased. The population of the town has more
than doubled. There are now over eighteen hundred people
residing within its corporate limits. As no sketch of Orland can
be written without combining it with the history of the irrigation
project, it would probably be fairer to say that the population
has quadrupled, for there are over thirty-five hundred people
residing in the project for whom Orland is the center, commer-
cially and educationally. During the last five years, many hand-
some business buildings have been added to the town. The largest
of these is the Masonic Temi)le liuilding, a fine three-story con-
crete structure.
The Schools
Perhaps no better indication of Orland 's increase in popula-
tion could be given than the growth of her schools. In 1910 the
district erected a thirty-thousaud-dollar grammar school build-
ing of the most approved type, providing, as the trustees then
thought, sufficient space for future expansion. The school has
now, within four years from that date, completely outgrown the
space allotted, and is using in addition the old high school build-
ing, which is just across the street. The average daily attend-
f^-
5
2^
iS^H^BE^
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 249
ance for 1915-1916 was three hundred twenty-seven, the largest of
any school in the county.
One of the finest things about the community life of Orland
is the splendid cooperation that exists between the teachers and
the parents. This is reflected in the school spirit of the children,
who believe the Orland schools to be not only the biggest but the
best in the county, and take pride in trying to keep them in
the lead.
The Orland Joint Union High School
This spirit is manifested also by the pupils of the Orland
Joint Union High School, which in point of attendance is the
largest high school in the county. The course of instruction
is eminently practical, and consistently and thoroughly followed
out. One year the boys of the manual training class built a bun-
galow. The next year they employed their time in the erection
of a large concrete gymnasium for the school. The demonstra-
tions of the other departments of the school work were among
the most interesting exhibits of the Counv Fair held in Orland
in October, 1917.
The Orland Joint Union High School is an accredited insti-
tution. The Imilding was erected at a cost of forty-five thousand
dollars, and is modern in every respect.
The Churches
Orland has excellent church facilities, nearly all the prin-
cipal religious denominations being represented. The Baptist,
Methodist and Catholic Churches are the pioneer churches of
Orland. In the case of each of these denominations, the church
building was erected in the eighties, before the rapid growth of
the town began. The Catholic congregation is still without a
resident i^riest, the priest at Willows di^'iding his time between the
church at Orland and his home congregation. The Presbyterian
and Swedish Lutheran Churches have been erected more recently,
since the division of the lands of the project brought in an influx
of settlers belonging to these denominations. The Episcopalians
maintain a mission, at which services are held once a month.
Fraternal and Civic Organizations
Some of the most prominent fraternal organizations of
Orland are the Masons, Eastern Star, Odd Fellows, Rebekahs,
Woodmen of the World, Women of Woodcraft, Fraternal Brother-
hood, and Independent Order of Foresters.
Orland has also a very active Women's Improvement Club, of
which Mrs. S. Albee is president, and Mrs. Gr. E. Rawlins, secre-
250 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
tary. Tliis organization lias strongly backed tlie movement for a
civic center, and has obtained from the Carnegie Corporation the
promise of eight thonsand dollars for a library building.
The Saloons
Orland is the only town in the county where the sale of
liquor is still licensed. There have been two heated controversies
and elections, in an endeavor to make the town dry. In these,
public opinion was about equally divided. The first election, in
1913, resulted in a tie vote; and as the law says "a majority"
vote is necessary, conditions remained the same. The matter was
brought up again at the next election; but this time the "Wets"
had made a distinct gain, and had a majority in their favor.
Orland however is a clean town morally. Eegulation is most
strictly enforced, not only by the officers, but also by the saloon-
keepers themselves, who realize that it would take very little to
turn the balance of public opinion against them. There has never
lieen in Orland any such violations of the law, nor any such
flagrant defiance of public opinion, as made the abolition of the
saloons in Willows a necessity.
lucJusfries
Business in Orland is flourishing. The country tributary to
it on the west is the center of one of the most profitable indus-
tries of this iDeriod, the raising of cattle and sheep. On the small
intensive farms of the project, dairying is carried on extensively.
The pay rolls of the two creameries in Orland aggregate many
thousands of dollars each month. Just outside the project in
each direction are extensive areas of de^'elopment from private
water supplj^ — pumping wells, etc. These areas are being planted
to fruits and nuts — oranges, olives and almonds being the favor-
ites. These young orchards have not yet come into bearing; but
the next two or three years will see, through them, wonderful
additions to the wealth of the community. Orland is now, and
will continue to be, the center of the most thickly populated dis-
trict in the county. One thing that augurs well for the future
of the Orland district is, that all the industries conducive to its
prosperity are such as are congenial to American settlers and
laborers.
Appearance of the Town
The town of Orland itself presents a somewhat scattering
appearance in some of its residential districts, but that is because
it is essentially a collection of homes. Rarely do you see more
than three houses to a block in Orland. Each home is set in a
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 251
wide yard, with flowers and trees, and a small garden patcli or
poultry yard. During the last five years, many fine residences
have been built in the town. There is no place of similar size
in Northern California where so large a percentage of the popu-
lation is housed in commodious homes equipped with all modern
conveniences. Probably this condition is due to the recent rapid
growth of the town.
A List of the Business Places
The following list of business places will show the number
and variety of the business interests in the town of Orland at
present :
Two banks: The Bank of Orland and the First National
Bank. Five grocery stores: Orland Mercantile, Hightower's Cash
Grocery, F. Lofgren, The New Grocery, and The Table Supply
Grocery, W. F. Beaulieu, proprietor. Two jewelry stores: R. A.
Beland and T. J. Green. Realty dealers : The California Farms
Company, Ehorn's Realty Office, Geo. E. Nygaard, and Spence &
Thompson. Confectionery stores: Wright's Confectionery; Kandy
Korner, Jos. Sperlich, i^roprietor; and T. J. Green. Lumber
yards: The Diamond Match and Hazelton Lumber Companies.
Hardware stores: G. M. Hickman and Hicks & Chaney. Saloons:
E. M. Ehorn, E. E. Green, and Gus Utz. Hotels: Hotel Orland
and Hotel Royal. General merchandise stores: Farmers' Cash
Store and The People's Store Company. Bakery: Home Bakery.
Garages: Fifth Street Garage, Johnson Bros., Mecum's Garage,
J. Michie & Son, and E. O. Mintou. Dry goods: A. Gattmann.
Drug stores: Harrington's Pharmacy, Orland Drug Store, and
Vinsonhaler & Snow. Butcher shops: City Market, J. Johansen,
and H. Sievers. Cyclery: C. A. King. Oil dealer: Minton
Bros. Dairy : J. Morrill. Feed and produce stores : Orland
Exchange, Orland Milling Company, C. H. Steere Company.
Restaurants: Ung Lee and Orland Cafe. Livery stable: W. R.
Tucker. Newspapers : The Orland Unit, and the Orland Register.
Other places of business are : The Orland Alfalfa Meal Mill, the
Orland Cheese Factory, the Orland Creamery, and the Orland
Steam Laundry. John Mehl, the pioneer shoe dealer of Orland,
is still proprietor of a shoe store on Fourth Street.
The Professions
The physicians of Orland are Dr. T. H. Brown, Dr. H. W.
Hand, Dr. S. Iglick, and Dr. Martin, the last-named being absent
at the front at the time of this writing. The attorneys are H. "W.
Blichfeldt and H. W. McGowan. The dentist is Dr. G. E. Rawlins.
252 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
The Glenn County Livestock and Agricultural Association
In 1917 the Glenn County Livestock and Agricultural Asso-
ciation was formed, with John J. Flaherty, president; Chris
Myhre, vice-president; E. A. Kirk, secretary; and H. M. Kingwell,
treasurer. It was decided to hold the first annual fair in Orland
on September 26-29, 1917. All through the summer the officers
and directors of the association worked tirelessly to perfect their
plans and arrangements. It seemed as though they had prepared
for every possible contingency; but alas, "The best laid plans o'
mice and men gang aft agley." On the Monday before the
Wednesday on which the fair was to open, disaster overtook its
promoters. The big tents had just been erected, and the booths
were being installed, when a strong "norther" brought all their
work to naught. At eleven o'clock on Monday, the big tents were
flat and the canvas a mass of flying ribbons. By one o'clock
the same day, the directors had had their meeting, had post-
poned the opening just one week, and had already started in to
notify exhibitors and repeat their advertising campaign. Seven
of the best sailmakers in San Francisco were imported to repair
what could be saved of the tent. Euined sections were com-
pletely replaced; and Wednesday morning, October the third,
found everything in readiness. The fair was an unqualified suc-
cess. Seventy-five hundred people passed through the gates the
first day. The courage and optimism of the directors, and their
quickness of decision, tireless energy and splendid cooperation,
had snatched victory from defeat. This incident of the fair is
given in such detail because it typifies the spirit prevailing among
the people of Orland, their freedom from faction and petty jeal-
ousy, and the whole-hearted cooperation with which they stand
shoulder to shoulder for anything tending toward the welfare
and advancement of their community.
BIOGRAPHICAL
'^O 6u^
BIOGRAPHICAL
PACIFIC ORD EIBE
From the time of settling in what is now Glenn County, in
1870, until his death, which occurred in February, 1917, Pacific
Ord Fibe was one of the most influential business men and citizens
of the county. Emphatically a man of work, he was never idle,
but continued to be one of the most enterprising and active men
of Willows. No enterprise was projected that failed to receive his
substantial encouragement, and every plan for the promotion of
the public welfare had the lieuefit of his keen judgment and wise
cooperation. A man of broad and charitable views, he aided every
movement for the advancement of education, morality or the well-
being of the county. "No man was held in higher esteem by the
people of this county, and they showed their love for him by
thrusting honor after honor upon him." Thus spoke one of the
leading county newspapers of Pacific Ord Elbe, at the time of his
death; and the sentiment unquestionably reflects the opinion of
thousands of his fellow citizens who, during his varied and useful
career, either knew him or knew about him.
Born at Pacific Springs, Utah, on June 29, 1854, the future
pioneer first saw the light when his parents, Matthew and Emily
(Zumwalt) Elbe, were crossing the plains to California. They
were members of a large train of emigrants drawn by ox teams,
and when they reached Pacific Springs many of their oxen so sick-
ened and died from poisoning that this delayed the parties at that
point for a number of weeks. While there a baby son was born;
and his parents, wishing to commemorate the event, gave him the
name Pacific after the place of his birth.
When the Elbe family arrived in the Golden State, they
settled for a time in Solano County, near Silveyville, where their
son, Pacific Ord, attended the common schools. Afterwards he
took a preparatory course in a business college at Berkeley, and
then worked at home until in 1870, when, with his brother, J. C.
Elbe, he took up his residence on what is today known as the Eibe
ranch, two miles west of Willows, Glenn County, where he farmed
to grain and raised stock successfully. In due time his fellow
citizens found in Pacific Ord Eibe the qualities necessary in a public
officer, and he entered upon his public career as a deputy under
Lon Stewart, county assessor of Glenn County upon its organiza-
16
258 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
tiou. For eight years Mr. Elbe served iu that capacity, and then
became a candidate for the office of assessor and was elected by a
handsome majority. At the end of his tirst term he was reelected
to the office through the will of the people, serving to the end of
his term with commendation from everybody.
Believing that it would be a good plan to let some one else
have a chance at the office, Mr. Elbe refused to be a candidate for
reelection and retired to business life for the following four years.
In partnership with I. J. Proulx, he carried on a very successful
and extensive real estate business. During this time, he was in-
strumental in having the great Glenn estate subdivided, and in
having thirty thousand out of the fifty thousand acres sold. In
1905, the community thought no better representative of Glenn
County could be selected for the Lewis and Clark Exposition at
Portland, and Mr. Elbe therefore went north on his official mission,
returning to his home after the duties of the position were ended.
In 1909 Mr. Elbe was induced to become a candidate for the
office of county supervisor from the First District in Glenn
County; and he was elected by an overwhelming majority. Four
years later he was reelected ; and still again the iieople, appreciat-
ing his honest and painstaking administration, invited him, at the
November election, 1916, to retain his portfolio. He worked for
and favored every project that would build up Glenn County. He
induced many to buy land and become settlers on the Glenn Tract,
when the land was cheap. Since that time the land has increased
five, and even six, times in value. He favored the building of good
schoolhouses and the maintaining of a high standard of education.
He named the Ord district ; gave to every church, no matter what
its denomination ; was a man of broad intelligence, keenly alive to
every opportunity offered in the county; and made and retained
friends wherever he went. It was while he was an incumbent in
office that he passed away, following a long period of illness. His
death was commemorated by the unfurling at half-mast of many
flags througliout the city and county. Thus passed a man who
held a clean record all through his career, which he left as a her-
itage to his dependents.
The first marriage of Pacific Ord Elbe took place in 1880,
in Solano County, when he was united with Miss Maud Emma
Abbott, and two children were born to brighten the home circle:
Ernest V. ; and Maud Emma, who died at the age of five months.
Ernest V. is living on the home place and assisting in its manage-
ment. Mrs. Elbe passed away on December 23, 1884 ; and on No-
vember 5, 1905, Mr. Elbe married Mrs. Belle (Quint) Barceloux,
who survives him, together with three of his brothers and a sister :
A. O. Eibe, of San Francisco; J. C. Elbe, of Sacramento; T. T.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 259
Elbe, of Dixon ; and Mrs. M. J. Parrish, of Napa. At the time of
her marriage to Mr. Eibe, Mrs.-Eibe was the widow of Ernest J.
Barceloiix, a son of Peter Barceloux, a pioneer of Glenn Connty.
Three children were born of her first marriage: P. Elmer, Leo
Vernon, and Ernest J., who are with their mother on the home
ranch. Of a very sociable nature, Mr. Eibe was a member of
Chico Lodge, No. 423, B. P. 0. Elks, and of Monroe Lodge No.
289, 1. O. 0. F., at Willows, of which lie was a charter member, and
in wliicli he passed through all the chairs. Shortly before his
death, he embraced the CathoUc faith of his own free will.
After her husband's death Mrs. Eibe took up the burden of
running the home ranch, assisted by Mr. Eibe's son, Ernest V.;
and here they raise fine Egyptian corn, barley, hogs and cattle.
On the place tliere are some two thousand prune trees, five years
old, besides cherries, apples, peaches and ajiricots. The place was
developed by Mr. and Mrs. Eibe after they took up their residence
there. Mrs. Eibe ever proved her wortli as a true helpmate to her
husband in all his business affairs. She made his home life happy,
and in his home he was always to be found after his business was
concluded, his happiest hours being spent in her society.
JOHN NELSON
Those men who have been far-sighted enough to engage in
the dairy industry in Colusa County are now reaping their re-
turns, and realize that intensive farming on a few acres will
bring a larger percentage of profit, in proportion to the expenses,
than the cultivation of a large acreage. John Nelson of Maxwell
is one of these men; for immediately upon his arrival in Cali-
fornia, in 1904, he came to Maxwell, bought sixty acres of land,
part of the Moak ranch, and began making improvements by
putting in alfalfa, preparatory to starting a dairy. He further
improved his place with a family orchard of almonds, pears, figs,
peaches, prunes and oranges; and he has eight and one half
acres in table and raisin grapes, from which he gathers from four
to six tons annually. Mr. Nelson sunk a well and installed a
pumping plant, run by electric motor, so that he has his own
irrigation system for his seventeen acres of fine- alfalfa, besides
his orchard and vineyard, and also has an ample supply of water
for domestic purposes. A dairy of fifteen cows yields a good
income ; and he also raises Duroc-Jersey hogs for the market.
John Nelson was born in Bylleberga, Skane, Sweden, March
18, 1866, and attended the home schools until he was fifteen, when
he came to America with the familv, and settled in Minnesota.
260 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
There the father bought an eighty-acre farm, which he improved,
and on which he raised wheat, oats and flax. He rented consider-
able land adjoining, and in connection with his other farming
operations also ran a dairy and raised cattle. When John Nelson
was twenty-one he bought the farm from his father, and continued
operating it along the same lines, raising the same products. He
worked hard, farming on a large scale for a number of years, and
making a success of his labors. When he had enough to make a
start in California, wishing to avoid the rigorous winters of Min-
nesota, he disposed of his interests and came to this state. What
he has accomplished here speaks for itself and is a splendid ex-
ample for the homeseeker to follow.
Mr. Nelson married Christina Pearson, also born in Sweden ;
and they have four children: W^arner, Delphin, Emma, and Wes-
ley. Wesley is a member of the Odd Fellows in Maxwell. Mrs.
Nelson died on March 23, 1905, at the age of thirty-seven years.
Mr. Nelson is quiet and reserved. He is a hard worker, a public-
spirited citizen, and a hospitable neighbor, and has made many
friends since settling in California.
HON. JOHN BOGGS
.The discovery of gold in California brought to the Coast
many of the most capable young men of the East, and gave to
our commonwealth its first impetus towards permanent pros-
l^erity. Of all those who came across the plains, perhaps none
possessed greater energy or keener powers of discrimination
than did John Boggs. From whatever standpoint his character
may be considered — as farmer, stock-raiser, landowner, state
official, citizen, or friend — it presents the elements of true man-
hood, so that those within the sphere of his influence counted it
a rare privilege to be numbered among his friends.
Descended from a prominent Southern family, John Boggs
was born at Potosi, Mo., July 2, 1829, a son of Robert W. and
Abigail (Carr) Boggs, natives of Virginia and Kentucky re-
spectively. At the completion of his common school education
in Howard County, he was sent to the college at Fayette. When
he was twenty, he joined a party of gold-seekers bound for the
West. After innumerable hardships the party arrived at Weber
Creek, from which point Mr. Boggs made his way to Sacramento,
where he was engaged as a chainman in the first survey of that
city. He bought some land on Cache Creek, and began trading
for broken-down horses and mules used by emigrants in crossing
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 261
the plains. Almost without exception they were anxious to ex-
change their stock for provisions and other necessities; and as a
consequence he had, at the end of a year, some four hundred
head grazing on his ranch. Though they cost him only a few
dollars each, at the end of the year he sold them for two hundred
dollars per head.
In 1854 Mr. Boggs came to Colusa County and bought six
thousand acres of the Larkin grant, and later bought other
tracts, which he held for a rise in values. In 1868 he embarked
in the sheep business. This proved profitable, as there was a
ready market for wool and mutton. A few miles from Princeton
stood his country home, one of the finest homesteads in the state
at the time. In recent years, the laud has been divided into
small tracts and sold.
The public career of Mr. Boggs began in 1859, when he be-
came a member of the first county board of supervisors. In this
capacity he served until 1866, and by his intelligent labors aided'
in giving system to the management of the aflfairs of the county.
One important improvement made during his period of service
was the erection of the courthouse. In 1866 be was elected to
the state senate, and in 1870 he was reelected. In 1877 he was
again returned to the upper house, as also in 1883, and once
more in 1898. He was a member of that body at the time of his
death. Senator Boggs was a stanch Democrat, and wielded a
strong influence in the party deliberations. He served as a
member of various conventions, county and state, and from 1871
until his death he was a member of the Democratic State Central
Committee. He made a losing fight against county division.
When the new maps came out, it was found that the county line
was placed so that the barn on the Boggs estate was in Glenn
Count}' and the balance in Colusa County; and it was only after
assiduous effort that the senator was able to have the line set
beyond the end of his barn. At the Palace Hotel in San Fran-
cisco, on January 30, 1899, Senator John Boggs passed away.
When the news of his passing flashed over the wires, there was
a universal feeling of sorrow in the state; and the press of the
state was unanimous in its verdict concerning the high quality
of his statesmanship.
In 1870 John Boggs was united in marriage with Miss Lou
Shackleford, of Georgia. Three children were born of this union :
Frank, Frederick and Alice. Senator Boggs was for years con-
nected with the State Agricultural Society as director and presi-
dent. Until his death he was a member of the board of trustees
of Stanford University; and at one time he was a regent of the
University of California. From 1876 to 1880 he was a director
262 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
of the Napa State Asylum. In 1885 he was appointed penology
commissioner, and about the same time he held the office of state
prison director. At one time he was on the board of commission-
ers of Yosemite Valley. He was one of the organizers of the
Colusa County Bank, and served as a director till his death. He
took a prominent part in the organization of the Bank of Wil-
lows, and was one of the directors ; and he was also a director in
the Bank of Haywards.
JOHN C. HAMILTON
A descendant of an old pioneer family of California, and
a native of Orland, Glenn County, John C. Hamilton is carrying
on the development work started by his father in this district
in the early sixties. Born on the home ranch, near Orland, March
10, 1874, he is a son of John C. and Cordelia (Springtun)
Hamilton. The father was a native of Missouri; and the mother
was born in Texas. Their living children are John C. ; James L.,
of Red Bluff ; and Mrs. L. M. Walters, of Berkeley. The father
crossed the plains to California by ox team, in 1859. Going to the
mines, he worked there for two years, after which he came to
Colusa County and worked on ranches for a time. His object,
however, was to own a ranch of his own; and accordingly he
homesteaded one hundred sixty acres of land five miles east of
Orland, later adding to his holdings until he owned three thou-
sand acres. He became one of the large grain-raisers of early
days in the state, when California was the leading state in the
Union in the iiroduction of grain. In 1884, he settled in Red
Bluff, where his death occurred on December 5, 1907. He had
retired from active imrsuits in the latter years of his life. Soon
after her husband's death, Mrs. Hamilton removed to Berkeley,
where she now makes her home.
John C. Hamilton attended school in Orland, and afterwards
moved with his parents to Red Blutf , where he finished his school-
ing and became assistant in the post office, for three years, under
Postmaster H. W. Brown. In the fall of 1900 he returned to the
home' ranch in Orland, and has since made this his home, taking
an active part in the uplniilding of the district, which has made
and is making such wonderful progress along agricultural lines.
Mr. Hamilton is bringing his property to a high state of
development, being decidedly a man of progress, with breadth of
mind to grasp new ideas and methods of cultivation. He farmed
the greater part of three thousand acres, on the old home jilace
and land near by. His home ranch comprises two hundred thirty
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 263
acres which he cultivates to grain. lu 1917, he set out eighty
acres to almonds; and he purposes gradually to increase the
acreage devoted to this branch of horticulture. He has ])ut the
land under a private irrigation plant, with cement pipes through
the orchard, which lies east of the home ranch proper ; and in
other respects also he is using strictly modern methods in his
horticultural work. The holdings of the family in Glenn County
now comprise some eleven hundred acres.
Being a native sou of Orland, Mr. Hamilton has watched
its growth with a keen interest. He has given his support and
active cooperation to all undertakings for the advancement and
development of his town and county; and personally he exerts
that forceful influence found only in men who have become
known for integrity and ability. He was one of the men who
financed the Orland College; and he has always been a friend of
education.
The marriage of Mr. Hamilton was celelirated in 1906, when
he was united with Haddassah Cleek, also a native of the valley,
born in Colusa County. Fraternally he is a Mason, a member of
Orland Lodge, No. 265, F. & A. M.; Chico Chapter, No. 42, R. A.
M.; and Chico Commandery, No. 12, K. T. With Mrs. Hamil-
ton, he belongs to Citrus Chapter, No. 208, 0. E. S., of Orland.
JOHN ANNAND
A native of Nova Scotia, John Annand was born on June 6,
1844, a son of David and Margaret (Taylor) Annand, large
farmers in that country. He spent the first twenty-two years of
his life near Halifax, where he received his education and learned
the trade of the blacksmith. He then came to the States and spent
two years in the mining districts of Nevada, after which, in the
late sixties, he came on to California and located at Butte City,
now in Glenn Count}'. Here he found employment at his trade
with Elijah McDaniel, three miles south of that village, where,
on June 5, 1871, he married Izilla McDaniel, a daughter of his
employer.
Soon Mr. Annand was able to buy land ; and his first inirchase
comprised iive hundred sixty acres five miles south of- Butte City.
Here he developed a good ranch, which he carried on until he was
called by death in 1908. His widow still owns the old home place,
and is living in the enjoyment of modern conveniences, surrounded
bv her familv and friends.
264 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Mr. Annand was a devout Christian and a prominent member
of the Methodist Church, South. As superintendent of the Sunday
school he exercised an elevating influence upon the young, in
whose welfare he took a dee^D interest. He was actively interested
in education, and served on the board of trustees of his school dis-
trict. He and his wife had four children: Mrs. George Kirkpat-
rick, of Colusa ; Elmer A., on the home place ; Emma, Mrs. Hugh
M. Garnett, of Willows ; and Earl, superintendent of the Hugh M.
Garnett ranch near "Willows.
WILL SEMPLE GBEEN
(By the late John P. Irish)
The debt of California to her American pioneers grows in
appreciation as they pass away. In the first group, composed of
those immortal in grateful memory, a stalwart figure is Will S.
Green. He was of pioneer lineage. His ancestors were on the
Virginia frontier. His parents settled in Kentucky when the land
had the A-irgin beauty that attracted Daniel Boone to its conquest.
There he was born, December 26, 1832. Financial reverses befell
his father while Wifrwas a child. This deprived him of any edu-
cation under teachers, except a brief attendance at an " Old Field
School"; and while a boy he assumed the burden of self-support
and the helping of others. It is said of him that such was his
energy that, though a boy, he commanded the -wages of a man.
While he worked he studied. To him may be applied the wise
characterization of the late President McKinley by John Hay:
"He belonged to a generation of boys who knew no want their
own labor could not satisfy, and who knew no superior and no in-
ferior. ' ' Those were the qualities of a pioneer generation.
Working and seeking knowledge, he felt the frontier impulse
and, following the call of his pioneer lineage, landed in California
in 1849, before he was seventeen. His mental and manual self-
training and his steady industry had prepared him to put hand
and head into any honest work. He ran the first steam ferry over
the straits of Carquinez, took the second mail contract let in the
state, and carried all the mail for Napa and Sonoma Counties in
his pocket. In July, 1850, he left his mail route and ferry and
piloted the new steamer Colusa up the Sacramento River to the
present town of Colusa. He landed in Colusa on July 6, 1850, and
there he was buried just fifty-five years later. For five years more
than a half century he was a citizen of that town, of which he first
saw the site from the pilot house of the pioneer steamer. He left
p..
^2aj-u^ f.
p
CJC^^^^^<^ c^i^
iS3i-^»-'0
COLUSA AXD GLENN COUNTIES 269
amougst his writings a description of that voyage up the Sacra-
mento that is a classic. There came to him then a clear conception
of the capacity of that valley to snpport a dense population
through agriculture. He caught a vision of a future wrought by
man upon those fertile phiins that equaled the prophet's vision of
the promised land, full of corn and wine and oil, and flowing with
milk and honey. While yet camping on the bank of the river, he
began preparing for his part in the history to be. Already self-
cultured to a degree of which many a college graduate would be
proud, he took up the study of civil engineering and fully equipped
himself for that profession. Perhaps no man in our company of
pioneer worthies had as little waste knowledge as he. Whatever
he applied himself to he thoroughly learned, and whatever he
learned was useful to the end of his long life. His service as cap-
tain of the Carquinez ferry boat, Lucy Long, gave him the pilot's
knowledge of the surface indications of channel and shoal water
that served him in steering the pioneer steamer Colusa in waters
strange to him and all her crew. His reading of the best books in
literature and science gave his style as a writer a grace, directness
and individuality, and a homely philosophy, such as Ben Franklin
had; and his knowledge of civil engineering made him the first,
and to the end the greatest, professional authority in the state on
the prolilems of irrigation and drainage.
A half century ago the physical characteristics of California
were but little known. Some of them are still the despair of the
climatologists. But, early in his experience in the Sacramento
Valley, Mr. Green saw that to reach their highest potency there
must be a drainage of the rich bottom lands, for protection against
floods, and irrigation of the rich plains for protection against the
normal drought of the dry season. He knew land, and he loved it.
He was California's first apostle of agTieulture, and land was the
text of all his epistles. As an engineer, he surveyed the land. As
a legislator, he drew the land code of the state. As surveyor gen-
eral of the LTnited States, he protected the public domain for the
settlers who would till it. As treasurer of the state, be conserved
and economized the taxes paid by the owners of the land. As the
foremost editorial writer of the state, he considered the land as
the first material object of Inniian iiitorcst. He developed the first
plans for irrigation and di'iiiiia.ui' nf the Sacramento Valley; and
though high-salarieil eiigiiiccrs have wiought upon the same prob-
lem, his plans stand unimpeached.
The foregoing is a me're circumference of his work. The vast-
ness of the great circle, and the infinite detail included, may be
conceived when it is known that he came to be the final authority
upon more things of vital concern to the state than any other man
270 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
iu California. In such a position he had to antagonize the opin-
ions of others. He often had to cliampion the many against the
few. He had to rebuke waste and ignorance, tliriftlessness and in-
temijerance. But so great was his spirit, and so full of i)ity and
charity, that his very relmkes made friends of those who received
them, and his antagonists were amongst his most ardent admirers.
As his life drew to its close, and the horizon no longer receded as
he approached it, his activities were greater than ever. In a high
sense he incorporated his views of the necessities of the Sacra-
mento Valley in organizing the Sacramento ^"alley Development
Association, of which he held the presidency until his death. In
that capacity was found his last public activity, in escorting the
Congressional committees on irrigation through the state. At the
close of the tour and the final meeting at the banquet at Eed Bluff,
he was introduced by Judge Ellson as "the Patriarch of Irriga-
tion in the Sacramento Valley." He rose with the splendors of
that valley of light Ijefore him, i)ut upon him was the somber tone
of the Valley of Shadows. Speaking briefly he said: "It is our
business to develop the Sacramento Valley, and in behalf of the
Association I wish to say that we will do this. I have a valuable
history of irrigation work since I have been in the great valley,
and the value of that work is incalculable ; I recognize its full force
when I hear these jaeople sp.eak of the vastness of the preparation
and the money they are spending in preparing their plans for this
work for the United States government. I undertook to do it all
individually, and to demonstrate what could be done. Doing my
own engineering and paying my own expenses, I located the pres-
ent Central Canal and prophesied this work, and now I find that
the United States will take years to go ahead, and feel how small
have been my efforts. But, gentlemen, my only hope, as I am on
the decline of life, is that some day I may stand on Pisgah and
see a Promised Land for God's joeople in this valley. Then I will
be ready to die."
The fact was, that, in every essential, in outline and in detail,
in its hydrography, agriculture, proper division of laudholdiugs,
transportation and economics, he had worked out the whole prob-
lem to a solution ; and those who follow will use his work or redis-
cover what was to him an open book of principles. That was his
last public utterance, and -the contrasts of the occasion gave the
full measure of his work. His footsteps had plodded over the
whole field, and then came the government, paying tens of thou-
sands only to follow him.
In his life he was singularly pure, as to speech, thought and
practice. But it was all without ostentation. He never abated his
view of principles to please friend or foe. Yet in discussion he
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 271
seemed rather an eager listener than a teacher, and by rare art
taught others by asking them to teach him. On his social side* he
was thoroughly lovable. As an editor he made his paper, The
Colusa Sun, the leading rural organ of the state. A collection of
his editorial writings, in essay form, would make a volume of per-
manent literature for the library. He was the last of the great
group of pioneers who sought to build a state not on the vanishing
mining industry, with its risk arid uncertainty, but upon the im-
perishable land and the unlu-oken promise of seed time and har-
vest ; and of that group he was the leader. He took his name and
blood pure and untarnished as his only heritage, and with a heart
as pure as his lips, transmitted them to his children.
Mr. Green was twice married. At his first marriage he was
united with Miss Josephine Davis, by whom he had five children,
who survive their parents. Some years after the death of their
mother, he married Miss Sallie Morgan, of Mississippi, a faithful
helpmate and affectionate companion, who also survives him.
MES. SALLIE B. GREEN
One of the representative women of the Sacramento Valley,
Mrs. Sallie B. Green, owner and editor of The Colusa Sun, has
been identified with Colusa for many years. She was born in
Clinton, Hinds County, Miss., a daughter of Dr. Jacob Bedinger
Morgan, owner of a plantation ten miles northwest of Jackson.
Her mother was Minerva (Fitz) Morgan, a daughter of Gideon
Fitz, at one time surveyor general of Mississippi, when it was a
territory. Grandfather Fitz was born in Monticello, Va., and
learned surveying under President Thomas Jefferson, then a sur-
veyor, and later received his appointment from him. He died in
Washington, Miss., and was buried at Jackson. Robert Williams,
a great-grandfather on the maternal side, was governor of Mis-
sissippi Territory. All of her forebears figured prominently in
the early history of Virginia and Mississippi. Thomas Jefferson,
President of the United States, was a warm friend of the Fitz
family.
Dr. Morgan was born in Virginia and, when a child of five,
was taken to Kentucky by his jjarents. He was educated in the
schools of Kentucky and at the Medical College of Lexington, Ky.,
from which he was graduated with the degree of M. D. He rode
a horse all the way back to Clinton, Miss., from Lexington, and,
settling there, became the leading physician of that section, the
owner of a large plantation, and a man of considerable means
and influence. Eight children were born to Dr. Morgan and his
272 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
wife: Mary, who married Hunter H. Sonthworth, and lived and
died in Mississippi; William Henry, a major, and later a colonel,
of the 3rd Mississippi Infantry during the Civil War, who died
in Mississippi in 1905; Fitz Robert, who was accidentally killed
while hunting, at the age of thirteen; Thomas, who died at the age
of three ; Sallie B., Mrs. Green ; Martha, who married W. G. Poin-
dexter ; Lewis S., who was killed while in the 3rd Mississippi Cav-
alry, at Collinsville, Tenn. ; and George, who died in Mississippi.
Sallie B. Morgan was tutored by a governess, at home, and
then attended a private school for girls, after which she went to a
convent at Nazareth, Ky., and later was graduated from a young
ladies' seminary at Nashville. Returning then to her home in
Jackson, she there became a social favorite. She met Will S.
Green, and in Salt Lake City, in 1891, was united in marriage with
him, and since that time has resided in Colusa. . Mr. Green died
on July 2, 1905. Mrs. Green never had any children of her own;
but she reared the two youngest of Mr. Green's children by his
first marriage, Rae, Mrs. Dr. J. J. Maloney of San Francisco, and
Donald R., now in the office of the state surveyor general at Sacra-
mento, who were fifteen and thirteen years old respectively at the
time of her marriage.
Mrs. Green is eligible to membership in the Daughters of the
Revolution. She is a Daughter of the Confederacy, and organized
and was president of the Confederate Monument Association,
which after five years succeeded in raising the funds for building
the monument that now stands in the old capitol yard at Jackson,
Miss., to commemorate the Confederate dead; and her name is
inscribed in the vestibule as president of the Association. She
organized the Colusa Woman's Improvement Club, and was active
in the organization of similar clubs in other cities in the valley,
afterwards serving as president of the Federated AVoman's Clubs
of the Sacramento Valley.
Having traveled considerably over the United States, and
even into Alaska, she had a desire to see some of the foreign coun-
tries; and on December 1, 1908, she started on a trip around the
world, leaving San Francisco on the steamship Mongolia. Cross-
ing the Pacific, she visited Hawaii, Japan, China, and the Philip-
pines, and from there sailed on through the Suez Canal into
Egypt, and on to Italy, at a time when Mt. Vesuvius was active,
and saw that wonderful volcano in action. After visiting France
and England, she came on to New York, reaching home in Decem-
ber, 1909, without having had an accident. She was more im-
]n-essed than ever with the greatness, grandeur, and beauty of her
native land, having seen nothing in her whole trip to equal her
own beloved country. From various places en route she sent a
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 273
series of letters giving a description of her travels, and of places
visited, which apjieared from time to time in The Colusa Sun, and
which received favorable comment.
Mrs. Green is to be found at her desk every day, guiding tlie
destinies of The Colusa Sun and wielding a strong influence for
the public good. She is active and progressive, and is looked upon
as one of the upbuilders of Colusa, where she is held in high
esteem. She is a member of the Methodist Church in Colusa.
ELIJAH McDANIEL
This Colusa County pioneer was born in Roane County,
Tenn., July 4, 1820, a son of Daniel McDaniel, captain of a com-
pany in the United States army, who served under General Jack-
sou during the war with the Creek Indians. After the war. Cap-
tain McDaniel married Mary Ann Buchanan and settled in East
Tennessee, remaining there until 1834, when he moved with his
family to Illinois.
Elijah McDaniel remained with his father on the farm until
his marriage in January, 1842, when he was united with Sarah
Ann Gore. The young people then went to Wayne County, 111.,
where they remained six years, operating a farm. During this
time two sons and two daughters were born to them. In 1848 he
moved into Schuyler County, the same state, where he rented land
and farmed until 1852. He was then seized with the "California
fever" and began making preparations for an early start the fol-
lowing spring. With iive children, his wife, and such effects as
would likely be needed for the long trip across the plains, he be-
gan the journey in an ox wagon, in 1853. Crossing the Mississippi
River at Warsaw, they made their way across Iowa through
storms of snow and sleet, and arrived at Council Bluffs in good
spirits, on the last day of March. Hearing that there was no grass
on the plains, they went into camp until it was grown sufficiently
to furnish feed for their stock. As their journey continued, they
fell in with California-bound travelers until their party numbered
eighteen men. A captain was elected by the party, George Gar-
ratt, one of their number, being chosen for this important position.
The weather continued bad as they passed up the Platte River, the
stock began to give out, and dissatisfaction was expressed with the
captain. At Pacific Springs, Mr. McDaniel and James Teal, with
their outfits, left the main train and struck out alone. Things
went better after that, and they finished the trip, although under
very trying conditions. On the fourth of August they crossed the
summit of the Sierras and entered the Golden State.
274 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
In Amerieau Valley Mr. McDaniel stopped for twenty days
and worked with his team, earning one hundred dollars. Here he
fell in with Mayberry Davis, Alexander Cooley and a man named
Painter, who told him of the Sacramento Valley and induced him
to come here; and September 1, 1853, they arrived at Painter's
landing. He went to work on a threshing machine ; but not being
used to the climate, he contracted chills and fever and was unable
to do any further work that fall. Just above the landing Mr. Mc-
Daniel biult a log house, and there, on October 1, 1853, a daughter,
Izilla, was born, the first white child born on the east side of the
river. Mr. Painter went back on every proposition he had made,
and Mr. McDaniel was forced to make other arrangements. He
leased land from James McDougal, above what is now Butte City,
put in one hundred acres of wheat, and got a good crop, but was
obliged to sell his cattle, except a cow, in order to get money to
harvest it. As the price of grain was only one and one half cents
per pound and it was necessary to haul it to Marysville, thirty
miles away, to have sold it would have left him in debt; so he
hauled it to the Buttes and put it in a warehouse. The price of
grain rose to three cents during the winter. He then sold it, re-
ceiving enough to pay his debts and some fifty dollars besides.
Having decided to take up a farm of his own, Mr. McDaniel
selected a place just above Butte City, where he put in fifty acres
of wheat. He got a good crop and received good prices, clearing
one thousand dollars, which he invested in cattle. He continued to
deal in cattle until 1862, when he disposed of part of his stock. In
1864 he sold ot¥ the balance; and thereafter he devoted his atten-
tion to grain-farming. In 1865 the crops were good throughout the
state. Foreign demand sprang uj? for the wheat raised in Califor-
nia, and every farmer began to enlarge his boundaries, Mr. Mc-
Daniel along with the rest. He bought up many squatters' claims,
until he held a large acreage.
While Mr. McDaniel was living on the east side of the river,
the territory there was a part of Butte County. Mr. McDaniel had
a petition circulated, requesting that this section be incorporated
in Colusa County. The petition was granted, and the territory on
the east side was made a part of Colusa County. He served as
county assessor two years, and as justice of the peace for sis
years. On September 8, 1889, Mrs. McDaniel passed away. On
July 3, 1891, Mr. McDaniel was married to Martha J. Anderson.
Both he and his wife were members of the Methodist Church, South.
In 1874 he erected Marvin Chapel, in the cemetery, in which both
himself and his first wife are buried. He died at his home on Jan-
uary 9, 1898, at the age of seventy-seven. He was the father of
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 275
ten cliildreu, of whom seven grew up, as follows : Henrietta, who
married A. S. Furnell ; Mary Ann, who became the wife of William
Luman ; Izilla, Mrs. John Annand ; and Isaac L., P. L., Henry E.,
and L. J. McDaniel.
JOHN E. TIFFEE
An early seeker after the precious metal, for which men
have sought since the beginning of time, and one who remained
in California after the first great excitement had subsided, and
turned his attention to other pursuits, was the late John R.
Tiffee. He was born in 1824, near Lexington, Ky. His early
life was spent in Missouri, whither his people had migrated when
that section was being developed. From that state he crossed
the plains to California with ox teams in 1849; and on his
arrival he went at once to the mines in Placer County, where he
spent two years as a miner. His luck was very uncertain, how-
ever, and he decided to look up some land and occupy his time
with stock-raising and farming. He went to Sonoma County and
found a suitable location near Petaluma, and there engaged in
ranching.
Seeing the need of a better grade of stock with which to build
up a profitable herd in this country, he returned East by way of
Panama and bought a band of thoroughbred roan shorthorn Dur-
ham cattle, and drove them back across the plains in 1858. He
arrived in what is now Glenn County, then embraced within the
boundaries of Colusa County,- and settled on land west of what is
now the town of Willows. Mr. Tiffee was the first man to bring
into this county thoroughbred roan Durham stock. Having bought
out the squatters in that part of the county, he entered upon
extensive oi^erations as a stock-raiser. In time he became a well-
known breeder of the best blooded stock in the Sacramento Valley ;
and ranchers and stockmen came many miles to inspect his herds
and to purchase. From this small beginning the improvement of
the stock in the valley was very marked. He added to his hold-
ings until he was owner of twenty-five hundred acres of land, upon
which he erected a handsome rural home, set out a family orchard,
and raised considerable grain. He later opened a general mer-
chandise store on his ranch, this being the only store within a
radius of twenty-five miles. He was honored with the office of
justice of the peace, and held the esteem of a widely settled com-
munity. He died in 1868, at the age of forty-four years.
By his marriage in Sacramento, in 1850, with Mrs. Rebecca
Terrill (Poage) Rowe, a native of Kentucky, Mr. Tiffee had three
276 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
children, to each of whom he gave the liest educatioual advan-
tages i30ssible. They were: Annie Rebecca, the wife of H. F.
Coffman, of Trinity County; Theodora T., of whom mention is
made elsewhere in this work; and John R. Tiffee, Jr., who died
at the age of twelve years.
ANDREW WILLIAMS
The late Andrew Williams was born in England in 1828, and
when six months old was brought with his family to the United
States. At first they settled in Indiana, and there he was reared
with his two brothers, James and John. In 1852, as one of the
members of an ox-team train, young Williams set out to cross the
plains to California ; and arriving here, he mined for a while in
Rough and Ready Camp, Yuba County. The next year, however,
he returned to Indiana to buy a herd of cattle. Having gathered
his band, he drove them across the plains in 1854, selling them on
his arrival in California. He then went to Colusa County and
worked on the ran'.'hes near what is now Willows, being employed
in particular on the Murdock and the John R. Tiffee farms. In
1865, he again returned to Indiana ; and while there, a couple of
years later, he married Miss Margaret Given, of Ireland. With
his wife, he turned his face anew to California, there to remain.
At tirst he farmed the Logan ranch, which he bought and owned.
Later, he sold this to John Johansen, and took up a homestead on
Stony Creek, where he farmed for a number of years. In the
end he sold this farm also, and to the same purchaser, John
Johansen.
When he came to Willows, Mr. Williams built a brick block on
Walnut Street, in which for many years he conducted a first-class
livery stable. This, too, he sold out, to permit his removal to the
Stony Creek district. Later, he took up his residence at Elk
Creek, where he managed a hotel, of which he was also proprietor.
His death occurred on September 22, 1911.
Among the children of Mr. Williams are Mrs. Susandrew
Mayfield, of Richmond, Cal. ; Dennis G. Williams, of Willows ; Mrs.
Mabel O'Brien, of Patton Apartments, Willows; William J.
Williams, of Willows; and Harry M. Williams, of Elk Creek.
Mrs. O'Brien, the third child in order of birth, is an active mem-
ber and a Past Noble Grand of the Rebekahs. She has one
daughter, Mrs. Phelieta Scyoc, of Winslow, who is the mother of a
daughter and a son.
,^-^'e^'^^ai^
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 279
HUGH A. LOGAN
A pioneer farmer and stockman of the Sacramento Valley,
especially of Colusa and Glenn Counties, the late Hugh A. Logan
held rank as one of the successful and prosperous ranchers of
Northern California. He located on a ranch in the foothills in the
vicinity of Norman, where he improved a fine place and lived in
comfort during the latter years of his life. He made a specialty
of raising sheep, and was one of the up-to-date men of the state
in that industry. He had modern equipment, pens, bath, and
shearing apparatus, as well as a circular bath for dipping the
animals. He gave to this enterprise the same careful considera-
tion that would be necessary for successful competition in the
commercial world. He was one of the upbuiklers of this section,
and was identified with the early history of Glenn County.
Mr. Logan was Ijorn in Montgomery Countj', Mo., September
6, 1830, a son of Henry and Sallie (Quick) Logan. Henry Logan
was a Kentuckian, a son of Hugh Logan, who emigrated from Ire-
land to the United States and settled in Kentucky, where he
passed the remainder of his life as a farmer. -He was a soldier
in the War of 1812, thus demonstrating his loyalty to the country
of his adoption. Henry Logan went to Missouri with Daniel
Boone, locating in Montgomery County, where he was engaged in
farming and as a tanner until 1870. He then started for Califor-
nia on the transcontinental train, his death occurring en route.
Mrs. Sallie Quick Logan was likewise a native of the Blue Grass"
State. She died in Missouri, leaving a family of seven children,
of whom Hugh was the fifth in order of birth. He was able to
get but a limited education in the schools of that period ; moreover,
he worked on his father's farm from early boyhood. In March,
1854, when in his twenty-fourth year, he started for California,
crossing the plains with ox teams. They left St. Joseph on April 1
and arrived at Deer Park six months later. They were successful
in bringing a bunch of cattle from his native state through to the
Coast. He later went to Sutter County and worked" with his
brother Anderson in the dairy business six miles south of Yuba
City. He remained in California until 1861, when he returned to
Missouri ; and the following year he enlisted under General Price,
serving under him six months.
In 186.3 Hugh Logan married and came again to this state,
making the trip this time by way of Panama. In Colusa County
he bought about a thousand acres of land, which formed a part of
the A. D. Logan ranch on Logan Creek ; for he was in partnership
280 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
at that time with his brotlier, A. D. Logan. They followed general
farming and the raising of cattle until 1868, when Hugh A. Logan
took up the property that remained his home for so many years.
He also entered land, owning at one time about sixteen thousand
acres, part of which was in Mendocino County. There were eight
thousand acres in the home place near Norman, three thou-
sand in a mountain ranch, and two thousand near the home place.
Mr. Logan started in the. sheep business by the purchase of
about five hundred head at seven dollars per head; and he in-
creased his bands until he owned or handled a flock of about six
thousand head. To add to his fortunes he raised large numbers
of cattle and planted a large acreage to wheat and barley, having
as high as four thousand acres planted to these cereals. He
erected a comfortable home in 1880, and suitable outbuildings to
protect his stock and implements. He witnessed many changes in
the country, for when he first located in the valley there was no
Glenn County and the post office was at Colusa. He lived to wit-
ness the rapid advancement along agricultviral lines, and the
dividing up of the large areas into small and productive farms.
About 1904 Hugh Logan incorporated all of his holdings as
the H. A. Logan Land and Stock Co., with himself as president,
and his immediate family and J. S. Logan as the other stockhold-
ers of the company.
Mr. Logan was twice married. His first wife was Jane Hud-
nell, a native of Missoiu'i, who died in California. Their only
child, Samuel, died in infancy. His second marriage united him
with Miss Sallie Ann Logan, a cousin, and a native of Missouri,
where the marriage was celebrated in 1866. She was a daughter
of Alexander and Elizabeth (Quick) Logan, pioneers of that state.
Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Logan had three children born to them : An-
derson, Stephen, deceased, and Lee. The latter married Miss Vic-
tor La Grande, a native daughter of Glenn County, born into the
family of Edward and Elizabeth (Portier) La Grande, natives of
Montreal, Canada, who became pioneers of Colusa County. Mr.
and Mrs. Lee Logan have three children: Lee Verden, Elsie
Marie, aijd Hugh Edward.
Hugh Logan was a Mason, a memlier of Colusa Lodge. He
was a member of Antelope Valley Grange, serving as Master five
terms. He was a stanch advocate of the principles of Democracy,
and served as a supervisor from his district in Glenn County one
term. At the time of his death he was counted one of the best-
known of the pioneers of Glenn County. He died in November,
1906, mourned by a large concourse of friends from far and near.
After his death, the large farming and stock-raising operations
of the company were continued under the following officers : Mrs.
COLUSA AND GLENX COUNTIES 281
Hugh A. Logau, president; Lee Logan, vice-president; Mrs. Lee
Logan, secretary, and J. S. Logan, treasurer. The same persons
also made up the directorate. Mrs. Logan died on July 8, 1917,
and was buried beside her husband in the family plot, in the ceme-
tery at Colusa.
CLEATON GRIMES
Born in Mason County, Ky., May 24, 1815, Cleaton Grimes
was the oldest of five children in the family of Henry and Nancy
(Bane) Grimes, and the last to pass over the great divide. He
was descended from Irish ancestors, and was reared and edu-
cated in his native state, attending the subscription schools and
Maysville Academy, where General Grant is said to have acquired
the rudiments of his education. Young Grimes learned the trade
of the tanner and currier, working at that calling in Aberdeen,
Ohio, where his father had bought a tannery. He later worked
at Georgetown for Jesse L. Grant, father of General Grant.
At Concord, Ky., Mr. Grimes ran a tannery of his own, which he
later traded for a store at Vanceburg, in the same state. While
living there, he married Martha Stevenson, who died in Kentucky,
as did three of their children.
In 1849 Mr. Grimes sold out his interests in Kentucky and
set out for California. He traveled by boat to St. Joseph,
Mo., where he was fortunate in the purchase of an outfit from
a man from Ohio, who was traveling with an emigrant com-
pany, but had grown impatient and wished to return home. In
this way Mr. Grimes was able to accompany the party to Cali-
fornia. His outfit consisted of a mule team and a wagon, into
which was loaded the necessary supplies. After an uneventful
journey, the party arrived at their destination over the Fremont
trail. Mr. Grimes went to Dry Creek, and there began mining
in association with a mining company; but later they moved to
Oregon Caiion above Georgetown. In the spring of the follow-
ing year they located on the north branch of American River;
and he also was interested in the first claim taken up on the
Middle Fork of that river. As it was late in the season, how-
ever, they did not remain to develop this claim. Mr. Grimes and
Captain Daniels went to Sacramento, bought a barge, and en-
gaged in transporting timljer to Marysville. This boat was
operated by three hands, and was pulled and poled to Marys-
ville, proving a good investment. In 1851-1852 they loaded their
boat with general merchandise and went as far up the Sacra-
mento River as Stony Creek. Here Mr. Grimes secured a team
282 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
and hauled the goods to Shasta, where they were sold, the boat
dropping back to Sacramento. In March, 1852, he went to Grand
Island, Colusa County, and engaged in cutting hay with a scythe.
This was hauled to Colusa and sold for fifty dollars a ton. That
same year he took up a thousand acres of what he supposed
was government land, but which later proved to be a grant.
After several years of litigation, he purchased the thousand
acres. He stocked his ranch, established Grimes Ferry, and
opened a wood yard at Grimes Landing. With these interests,
Mr. Grimes rose to a position of importance in the county. He
began with five head of sheep, and in time had some four thou-
sand head, which he sold. At the same time he carried on grain
farming, the rich lands along the river yielding bountiful har-
vests. In 1852 he established his home here, building a two-room
house. Deeply interested in the place, where he had laid the
foundation for a town, Mr. Grimes gave his best efforts towards
inducing settlers to locate here. He was interested in the Grange
movement, whose promoters established a store and warehouse
on land he donated ; and he also started the first livery stable in
the town. Up to the time when he was nearing his ninetieth mile-
stone, he was active in the management of his interests. He
sold otf all of his property but a quarter section, which he re-
tained as a home. In the early days of his settlement in the state,
his table was supplied with fresh meat brought down by his
rifle ; for elk, deer, bears and other wild animals then abounded.
In Sacramento, on September 28, 1869, Mr. Grimes was
united in marriage with Mrs. Ann E. (Tait) Rollins, born near
Richmond, Va., a daughter of Alexander Tait, who crossed the
plains to California in 1865. During this trip his wife, Elizabeth
Lockhart Tait, died. The first marriage of' Ann E. Tait united
her with Alfred Rollins, by whom she had four children. Mr.
Grimes was a member of the first board of supervisors of Colusa
County, and gave valuable aid in the deliberations of that body.
Politically, he was a Democrat. He was enterprising and influen-
tial, and lived to a ripe old age, passing away on January 19, 1913.
J. E. McDANIEL
The only son of Levi Jefferson McDaniel, J. E. McDaniel was
born on his father's ranch, October 25, 1884. He attended the
grammar school at Butte City, and finished his education at the
high school at Willows. After the death of his father, he took
charge of the home ranch and continued in its management until
c//^/c£//c4' ^^^-4^^^
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 285
1909, when the place was sold to the Carson colony, and was di-
vided into small tracts. Mr. McDaniel thereupon became associ-
ated with H. B. Tnrman and J. C. Mitchell, in the cattle business ;
and together they bought the Patrick O'Brien place of nine thou-
sand acres, west of Willows. They incorporated the Turman-
Mitchell Land & Title Co., which owns the land and cattle. Mr.
McDaniel was made secretary and manager of the company, with
a third interest in its holdings. This is the largest cattle company
in Glenn County, and one of the largest in Northern California.
It handles over five thousand cattle each year. The corporation
also owns a cattle ranch at Lakeview, Lake County, Ore., which
disposes of six thousand cattle annually. The ranch comprises
seventeen thousand acres of deeded land in an open range country,
devoted to the raising of cattle.
At Willows, in 1908, J. E. McDaniel married Miss Edith M.
Hannah, a native daughter of Glenn County, whose father, James
Hannah, one of the earliest settlers of the county, once kept a pop-
ular hotel at Willows. Two children, Gregg and Lemona, have
blessed their union. Mr. McDaniel was made a Mason in Laurel
Lodge, No. 245, F. & A. M., at Willows, and with his wife is a
member of the Eastern Star. He is also a member of the Inde-
pendent Order of Foresters; and nowhere are he and his charm-
ing wife more welcome than in the councils and at the festivities
of these organizations.
MILTON FRENCH
It is always a pleasure to the historian to commemorate the
life of a self-made man like Milton French. In this man's veins
flowed the blood of a race of pioneers, and with it he inherited the
adventurous spirit and sound principles that go to make up the
successful life in a new country. He was born in Callaway County,
Mo., January 23, 1833, the youngest child in a family of four sons
and two daughters born in the home of John French, a native of
Tennessee. John French lived through the pioneer days of Ten-
nessee and trained his family in the simple, straightforward ways
of those times, when conditions were such that sham and pretense
found no following. His wife was a Miss Clark, born in Ken-
tucky, the daughter of another pioneer family, for the Clarks
dated back to the days of Daniel Boone and were among the early
history-makers.
When Milton French was a year old, his mother died. After-
wards his father married again ; and of that union three children
were born, of whom Hugh French, of HoUister, Cal., is the only
286 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
survivor. Eight years after the death of his first wife, John
French passed away; and then came the lireaking up of the fam-
ily. Here is a lesson for the boys of today who hang on to "dad"
and never think they have had a square deal unless he has put
them through college and set them up in business. Milton French,
a boy twelve years old, homeless, without father or mother, but
already feeling the desire for honorable success which later won
for him a place among the wealthy and honored men of the state,
hired out to a man for thirty dollars a year and his lioard. Two
dollars and a half a month, young men, to do the hardest kind of
work and plenty of it. Probably three months of schooling in the
winter was all the boy got; but, to be sure, he was getting an edu-
cation every day he lived, for Milton French was one of those who
got their diploma from the "College of Hard Knocks."
In 1850, at the age of seventeen, he was crossing the plains,
bound for the mines of California. With him were two brothers,
Marion Bryman and John. They mined at Forbestown, and later
went to the mines on Trinity Eiver, meeting with a moderate de-
gree of success. Beef sold as high as a dollar per pound in the
mines. Only the long-horned, rangy Spanish cattle were to be
had; and most of these were driven from the ranges south of Mon-
terey County to the market at the mines in Northern California.
Young French saw a big opportunity in the luxuriant pastures of
the foothills, if they were stocked with the right kind of animals ; so
in 1856 he returned to Missouri by way of Panama, and the fol-
lowing year, 1857, found him driving a band of cattle across the
plains to the Sacramento Valley in California. In January, 1858,
after a short stay on the Sacramento Eiver, while his cattle recu-
perated from their long drive, he took up a government claim of
one hundred sixty acres in the foothills of Colusa County, as then
organized, but now included within the boundaries of Glenn
County. All about was open range; and he gradually increased
his holdings until he was the owner of ten thousand acres of land
in various parts of the county. He farmed thousands of acres to
wheat in the level valleys, and on the uplands pastured his herds
of cattle, together with droves of fine horses and mules, which he
raised, and of which he made a specialty. He became one of the
leading grain and stock men in the Sacramento Valley, and wealth
flowed into the hands of the man who, as a lad of twelve, had
worked for his board and thirty dollars a year. He erected a fine
home in Willows, and took a leading part in many enterprises, in
which he invested large sums of money. He was the owner of a
large warehouse in Germantown, and was vice-president of the
Bank of Willows, president of the Willows Water Works, and a
director in and president of the Willows Warehouse Association.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 287
Mr. French took an active part in the formation of Glenn
Connty when it was decided to divide Colusa County, and when
the northern half, containing the great Glenn ranch, became Glemi
County. The writer remembers driving across the Glenn ranch, in
1885, and riding for hours beside the great piles of wheat, sacked
and awaiting shipment.
Mr. French never forgot his own hard times when he
struggled for a start, and he gladly assisted more than one young
man — yes, and some old ones too — on the road to success, helping
them to help themselves. He liked to make money, not for its in-
trinsic value, but for what it would enable him to do for those he
loved, and for the furtherance of every worthy object. He was
especially interested in all projects for the upbuilding of the
county and state. He was just in his dealings, and rejoiced in the
prosperity of others; and when, on November 10, 1916, at his
ranch near A¥illows, Milton French passed to his "home in the
Beyond," a man "full of years and of good report," the whole
county mourned a good man gone. He was a man who never took
an unfair advantage of any person, and never stooped to do any-
thing that might be construed as dishonest; and while he aided
many unfortunates, he rarely let his benefactions become known
even to his family. No man has had more true friends than had
Milton French, to mourn his loss.
His wife, who sur\ives him, is carrying on the good work in
which he was so interested. In maidenhood Mrs. French was Miss
Elizabeth F. Williams, a native of Missoui'i and a daughter of
Nathaniel P. and Sarah Jane (Rice) "Williams. Her parents were
Kentuckians, who came to California in 1855, by way of the Isth-
mus of Panama, with their two daughters, now Mrs. Milton
French and Mrs. James Boyd, Sr., then aged two and a half years
and six months respectively. Upon their arrival in this state they
stopped for a time in Solano County, near Dixon. Later they
moved to Yolo County, and thence back to Solano County, where
Mr. Williams died at his home near Dixon, in 1898. His widow
survived him and made her home with her daughter, Mrs. French,
until 1910, when she also answered the final call. There were four
more children born in this family after they settled in California;
and of the six the following, are living: Mrs. Milton French, Mrs.
James Boyd, Sr., Mrs. Barbara McCune Lillard, and Nathanial P.
Williams.
Mrs. French was reared and educated in California. On May
14, 1871, she became the wife of Milton P^'reuch; and since that
date she has been a resident of Glenn County. Three children
were born to brighten the already happy home of Mr. and Mrs.
French. Curry Milton, the only son, is a landowner in his own
288 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
right, and is manager of the great rauclies and interests left by bis
fatber. He married Miss Lnln Louise Jacoby. Rita is tbe wife of
Judge Frank Moody, of Willows. Natalie is tbe widow of Eobevt
E. L. Eagle, and makes her bome with her motber. Mrs. Frencb
is an active member of the Baptist Church, which Mr. French also
attended, and to which he was a liberal contributor, as be was like-
wise to all other denominations, as well as to every worthy object
that was brought to bis attention.
WILLIAM HENRY WILLIAMS
Few men were more widely known or more highly honored
than this California pioneer of 1850, who was tbe founder of tbe
town in Colusa County that bears his name. W. H. Williams
came to this section in 1853, and, possessing a keen foresight, made
extensive investments in land when it was held at only a nominal
price. He also began in tbe sheep business, which in time grew
to large proportions, and which was admirably adapted to bring
prosperity to its followers during the early period of California
history. Laying the foundation of bis fortune by industry and
intelligent application, he enjoyed an increasing success and
accumulated sufficient means to enable him to retire, and to give
him a recognized standing among the successful and wealthy
men of tbe Sacramento Valley.
Especial interest attaches to the life history of one so suc-
cessful and so prominent in tbe annals of bis county. Genealogy
shows that tbe progenitor of the family in America was Rolsert
Williams of Wales, who established his home on a jilantation in
Maryland. A son and namesake of tbe original inunigrant, born
and reared in Maryland, learned the trade of tbe shoemaker, and
in 1828, together with bis family, and with his household goods
packed in a wagon, crossed the Alleghany mountains into Ohio and
settled in Pickaway County. Ten and one balf years later he took
bis family to Illinois and settled in Vermont, Fulton County,
where he died in 1853. He was married twice, and chose for his
second wife Margaret McCallister. She was born in Maryland,
and died in Ohio on February 2, 1848. Of their four sons and five
daughters, W. H. AVilliams was the seventh in order of birth, and
the only one to settle in California ; and he was the last of the
family.
AVilbam H. Williams was born in Cumberland, Md., April 7,
1828. He was taken to Ohio when a babe in arms, and when
eleven accompanied the family to Illinois, where he attended tbe
-%^ ,
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COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 293
village school at Vermont. The schoolhoiise was Imilt of logs, with
benches of slabs aud floor of puncheon; and the pens were made
of quills. However, notwithstanding these handicaps and the
irregular attendance necessitated on account of his being needed
to help till the farm, Mr. "Williams acquired a good education.
With a hopeful spirit, he endeavored, by self-culture, to make
the most of his environments; and he became in time a well-
informed man. He learned the shoemaker's trade with a brother
during the winter months, and cared for the stock and raised corn
in summer. When the news came of the discovery of gold in
California, he dissolved his partnership with his brother and
started out alone to make his way amid untried conditions. He
left the old Illinois home on March 18, 1850, and with three com-
panions started West in a wagon drawn by four yoke of oxen.
They crossed the Mississippi River at Quincy, and the Missouri
at St. Joseph; followed the ovei'land trail by way of Forts Kear-
ney and Laramie; and proceeding up the Sweetwater and down
the Humlioldt River, went thence by the Carson route into Cali-
fornia, arriving at Placerville on August 1, after being on the
road just ninety-six days. During their trip they made it a rule
to rest Sundays. When their oxen gave out they left them and,
having cooked enough provisions to carry them over the moun-
tains, started to walk with their blankets and supplies, getting
across in six days.
Mr. Williams spent four months in mining, and only made
seventy dollars; so he abandoned the work and went to Sacra-
mento. Here he was engaged as a cook in a hotel at seventy-five
dollars a month, and later became a clerk in a shoe store at one
hundred dollars a month. His next move took him into Solano
County, where, near Suisun, he was employed for a time in
mowing hay with a scythe. He then hired out as a teamster, and
later bought a team and engaged in freighting on his own account,
clearing two hundred eight dollars per month. In the fall of
1853 he sold the team, and, going to Sacramento, opened a board-
ing house, which he conducted for six months, until the town was
burned and drowned out. He next took up land in Spring Valley,
and raised stock and farmed for one year, after which he began
farming on the plains near the presenf site of the town of Wil-
liams. When the land came into the market, in 1858, he bought a
small place at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, and to
this he added from time to time until his possessions assumed
large proportions. He bought fine blooded sheep from the East
and made a specialty of raising luicks, being a pioneer in that
industry.
294 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Wlieu the railroad was prospected for the valley, Mr. Williams
gave the right of way through his laud aud au interest in two
hundred acres, which induced the company to establish a station
at Central. When the town was laid out, it was named Williams
in his honor; and ever since it has been an imi^ortant shipping-
point. In 1874 Mr. Williams built a substantial brick building;
in 1876 he erected the Williams Hotel; and in 1880 he put up a
warehouse one hundred twenty-one by two Imndred feet in dimen-
sions, so constructed that teams can drive through the building
and unload, as well as from the west side. In tlie latter part of
the seventies, with others, at a cost of fifty-six thousand dollars,
he built the steamer Enterprise, and a barge, to run from Colusa
to San Francisco. He owned two livery stables in the town, and
nine thousand acres of land near by, and was interested in the
steam flouring mill until it was destroyed by fire. Tlie Williams
Foundry also received his attention and support ; and with others
he built the Odd Fellows Hall. He was one of the charter mem-
bers of the Odd Fellows Lodge.
During the administration of President Lincoln, Mr. Williams
was appointed postmaster of the old office at Central; and the
office continued to be in his house until the railroad was built.
After the organization of the Republican party, he was a stanch
supporter of its men and measures, and frequently was a delegate
to state and county conventions. Though not a member of any
church, all the churches received his financial support.
Of the first marriage of Mr. Williams three children were
born, as follows: Mrs. Harriett May Moody; Lulu, wife of S. H.
Callen; and Ella, Mrs. H. W. Manor— all of this locality. His
second marriage united him with Mary E. McEvoy, a native of
Dublin, Ireland, and daughter of Thomas and Anna (Horace)
McEvoy. She came to California in 1877, and in 1880 was mar-
ried to Mr. Williams. Her deepest bereavement until her devoted
liusband passed away on May 15, 1909, was the death of four
of her children: Iris Cecelia and Inez Vashti (twins), Carmelita
Lucile, and William H., Jr. Two are still living: Belle, Mrs.
Stanley Moore, of Oakland; and Maurguerita, Mrs. R. L. Welch,
of Colusa.
Personally, Mr. Williams was a large, stalwart, handsome
gentleman of genial, companionable disposition, with a jovial
temperament that enabled him to see the bright side even of life's
shadows, and that won him the friendship of acquaintances. When
he died, the whole county mourned. In the annals of Colusa
County, his name is worthy of perpetuation, for the emulation of
the future generations who shall live and labor here.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 295
JEFFERSON DAVIS CRANE
How a town, of sturdy, thriviug liurgiiers honored itself in
electing as mayor its pioneer Ijlaeksmith, is shown in the story of
Willows and its choice of Jefferson Davis Crane as presiding
officer and chief executive. Jefferson D. Crane was born in
Sonoma County, September 7, 1861. His father, who crossed the
plains to California in 1849 in one of the conventional ox-team
trains, was James E. Crane, a native of Kentucky; while his
mother, whose maiden name was Lucy M. Beaver, was a native of
Ohio and came to California in 1851. On his arrival in this state,
James E. Crane went to the mines for a time. Later he farmed
near Santa Rosa, and afterwards near Salinas, in Monterey
County. In 1870 he came to Los Angeles County, in what is now
known as Orange County. There he died, aged seventy-six years.
Brought to Los Angeles County in his lioyhood, Jefferson
D. Crane attended the public schools there, and then went to
Bakersfield, where he learned the trade of the blacksmith. He
blew the bellows and swung the hammers like the ablest of those at
the forge ; and by 1880 he was ready to set up his shop in Bakers-
field, where he continued as a smith for four years. He then
moved to San Luis Obispo County, and for a year worked as a
blacksmith there. In 1885 he arrived at Willows. Here be became
associated with the Willows Foundry, with which he continued
for some time. In 1895, he opened up a blacksmith's shop of his
own, and this he conducted for three years. At the end of that
time he took into partnership C. S. Schmidt, whereupon the firm
became known as Crane &; Schmidt. Ever since, Mr. Crane has
had a hand in the manufacture of nearly all the iron and steel
work done in Willows.
In 1887, Jefferson Davis Crane was married to Miss Kate
Somers, a native of Placer County, and the daughter of Charles
R. Somers, a pioneer who came to California from Vermont, by
way of the Isthmus, in 1854. Mr. Somers farmed on two ranches
in Placer County, and in 1871 removed to Willows, where he
bought a hundred sixty acres of land, on a part of which the
southerly end of Willows now stands. While he farmed, he also
conducted a draying business. For thirty-five years he hauled
freight for Hochheimer & Co., in Willows. He died in 1908. His
wife's maiden name was Mary E. Cameron. She was a native of
Illinois, who crossed the plains in 1854 with an uncle. She saw
Willows grow from a wilderness to a prosperous community, with
a population of twenty-four hundred ; and she can remember when
296 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
the antelope and wild cattle roamed over the plains. Mrs. Crane
died in June, 1916, mourned by a large circle of friends, with
whom she was a social favorite. She is survived by a daughter.
Pearl C, Mrs. Terry McCaffrey, of McCloud, Cal., who is the
mother of one daughter, Tyrel.
Mr. Crane's public-spiritedness is finely displayed in his
record of twenty-one years as clerk of the Willows school board,
from which office he resigned in 1917; and in his sei'vice as town
trustee, to which he was elected in 1910. For four years he filled
the latter office; and from 1912 to 1914 he was chairman of the
town board, and thus performed the duties of acting mayor.
During this period the City Hall was built, sewers were laid, and
the fire department was improved by the accession of a modern
motor fire engine, the first combination pump and chemical engine
on the coast. Mr. Crane is a member of the Odd Fellows, a
Woodman of the World, an Elk, and a charter member of the
Eebekahs.
JAMES BOYD
A man who has risen from a subordinate position to that of
an influential landowner, and who is actively identified with the
agricultural interests of the county, is James Boyd, a native of
County Down, born near Belfast, Ireland, February 28, 1849. His
father was also named James, and was born at the same place.
Here, also, Hugh Boyd, the grandfather, was a well-to-do farmer,
a descendant of Scotch ancestors who fled from Scotland to the
North of Ireland at the time of the persecution of the Covenant-
ers. James Boyd, Sr., was also a farmer by occupation. He mar-
ried Eliza Patton, of Scotch descent, a daughter of John Patton.
She died at the age of forty-nine, in 1857, leaving eleven children,
of whom James, Jr., was the fourth youngest. The father reared
his family and lived to the age of eighty-four.
James Boyd, of this review, was educated in the common
schools of his native county and early learned the methods of
farming as it was carried on there. He had heard good reports
from California, and had made up his mind that he would prospect
the country for himself; and accordingly he crossed the ocean to
New York when he was nineteen, in 1868. He came on to Cali-
fornia by way of Panama, arriving in San Francisco on board the
steamship Sacramento in May of that year. He traveled on to
Yolo County, and then to Colusa, where he worked in a livery
stable for a month. He then came on to what is now Glenn
County, and found employment on the Patrick O'Brien ranch for
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COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 299
four years. Having made a little money, Mr. Boyd was willing to
take a chance, and with a friend bought a flock of sheep in 1873,
and drove them to Nevada, where he was engaged in the sheep
business for one year, when he sold out and returned to Willows.
He leased the Murdock ranch of nearly five thousand acres, and
for nine years raised grain. Next he rented eight thousand acres
of the Glide ranch, and continued the grain business for another
similar period, becoming in time one of the largest grain raisers
in this part of the Sacramento Valley.
Having made considerable money, and also saved some, Mr.
Boyd began to look about for land. He found and purchased a
quarter section, to which he added four hundred eighty acres, and
then twelve hundred acres ; and still later he Ijought an entire sec-
tion. He now owns some twentj^-eight hundred acres three miles
west from Willows. He erected a fine home and the usual barns
and oiatbuildings, and now has one of the best ranches in Glenn
County. On this place he has lived since 1899. Besides the home
ranch he owns twelve hundred acres on the Sacramento River,
near Butte City, the latter being rented, while the home ranch is
devQted to grain-raising and is operated by Mr. Boyd and his two
sons, who raise some fourteen hundred acres of grain on the place
each year, using the latest models of machinerj^ and implements.
In 1889, Mr. Boyd married Miss Clara M. Williams, of Dixon,
Cal., a daughter of Nathanial P. and Sarah Jane (Rice) Williams.
She was but three months old when her parents came to California
by way of Panama. She is a niece of the late Hon. Henry E. Mc-
Cune, i^rominent in public life in the state and for many years a
resident of Solano County. Two children have been born of this
marriage: James Boyd, Jr., who married Genevieve Nash and is
the father of one son, James Boyd, third; and Carleton Williams
Boyd, who married Miss Bruce Morgan, of Red Blutf , and is the
father of a son, Carleton Wilcox. Both sons have had a col-
lege education, and are well equipped for life's responsibilities.
Mr. Boyd is prominent in financial affairs as a director of the
Bank of Willows, and as a stockholder in the First National Bank
of Willows, the Bank of Colusa, the Bank of Princeton, and the
Willows Warehouse Association. He served as supervisor of his
district one term, being elected on the Democratic ticket. In fra-
ternal circles he is a Mason, a member of Laurel Lodge No. 245,
F. & A. M. ; the Colusa Chapter and Commandery; and Islam
Temple, A. A. 0. N. M. S., of San Francisco.
Mr. Boyd is a man of commanding appearance, six feet, six
and one quarter inches in height, a giant in stature; and in the
early days there were few men that surpassed him in strength and
activity. With all his vitality, energy and ambition, it is no won-
300 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
der that he was able to win success and accomplish the results that
have characterized his career. He landed in this state with only
about one hundred dollars ; but it did not take him long to see the
opportunities offered by this fertile country. Capitalizing his nat-
ural inheritance of thrift and foresight from his Scotch ancestry,
he began investing in lands when they were cheap ; and being ben-
etited by the rise in values, he has been enabled to live in comfort
in his latter years. Both he and his wife have endeared them-
selves to their friends, who are legion. They are public-spirited,
and are willing at all times to -assist- those less fortunate than
themselves.
HAREISON DARROUGH DeGAA
Born and educated in the Old World, Harrison D. DeGaa
came to America, as a young man, well equipped to take advan-
tage of the opportunities which the New World afforded, to forge
rapidly ahead in business, and to render valuable service in the
building up and developing of the communities in which he has
lived. Harrison DeGaa was born in Paris, France, May 6, 1843.
His parents were Joseph J. and Katherin (Wimmer) DeGaa, the
former of French birth, and the latter a member of a prominent
German family of the city of Karlsruhe. They were married in
1838, and in the following year came to America, settling in Ohio.
In 1848, the year of the German Rebellion, they returned to Ger-
many on a visit, and Mr. DeGaa took part in the Rebellion. He
became an officer, holding a commission as Colonel, and in com-
pany with Carl Schurz, General Siegel and others, had to flee the
country. Later he was arrested by the German government and
tried for treason ; but in the meantime he had become an American
citizen, and through the intervention of the home government
gained his freedom.
Harrison D. DeGaa began his education in the schools of
France, attending there until the age of twelve, when he was sent
to Baden-Baden, Germany. At the age of sixteen he entered the
University of Heidelberg, from which he graduated in 1864. He
at once left for America, where his parents had been residing dur-
ing his attendance at school.
After spending two years in the East and South, Mr. DeGaa
came to California, making the journey by way of the Isthmus.
He at first engaged in mining, but soon left that occupation and
took up the printer's trade, some knowledge of which he had
obtained at school. He has since followed this business in its
various branches, until at the present time he is the editor and
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 301
proprietor of the Glenn Transcrijjt, published at Willows, Cal.,
and established in 1902.
At North San Juan, Nevada County, Mr. DeGaa was united
in marriage, on November 24. 1889, with Miss Anna G. Smith, a
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Golden Smith. Their four
children are Joseph Darrough, Victor Golden, Hallet, and a
married daughter, Mrs. W. J. Canfield.
Ever since coming to California Mr. DeGaa has been promi-
nently identified with its growth and iMoinotion. For the past
quarter of a century he has held oflicc ;is i)icsident or secretary
of chambers of commerce and kindred associations. He was the
second president of the Glenn Club, and later became its fourth
president. He is today its only honorary member. He is the
president of the E. Clampus Vitus— an organization of boosters,
with a membership of over four hundred. He has always been
active in the Bepublican party, and has been intiuential in its
coimcils. In religion he is an Episcopalian.
MRS. MARY NEWMAN
A resident of California since 1870, and a woman of more
than ordinary business ability, Mrs. Mary Newman has contrib-
uted in no small degree to the upbuilding of the town of Willows.
Mrs. Newman was born at Hull, Wright County, in the Province
of Quebec, Canada. Her father, John Cook, was born in London,
England, and came to Canada when a young man, where he
married Georgianna Rule, who was born in Prince Edward Island.
They became successful farmers at Hull, about seven miles from
Ottawa, and resided there until their death. Of their eight chil-
dren, five are living, Mrs. Newman being the eldest and the only
one in California. Her childhood was spent on the home fai'm
and in the pursuit of her studies in the subscription or private
schools. About fifty years ago she was married at Aylmer, Can-
ada, to John McCallum, who was born at Guleburn, Ontario, the
son of Duncan and Ellen (Sloane) McCallum, natives of Scotland
and the North of Ireland respectively. His parents migrated to
Canada and were farmers at Guleburn. John McCallum followed
farming, but later sold his outfit and engaged in the hotel busi-
ness at North Wakefield.
About 1870, Mr. and Mrs. McCallum came to California.
After their arrival in this state, Mr. McCallum followed mining
at Smartsville, Yuba County, until his death a few years later,
which resulted from an attack of brain fever. Mrs. McCallum,
302 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
left with a familj- of children, proved equal to the emergency, and
immediately set about to make a living for the family, and rear
and educate her children. She engaged in the hotel business
at Smartsville, in which she met with success. While thus
engaged, she was again married, to John Mee, a native of the
North of Ireland, who followed mining at Smartsville. In 1882,
the family moved to Willows, then but a small burg. Here she
leased a large residence and ran it as a boarding house for five
years. It was about one year after locating here that Mr. Mee
passed away. At the end of five years, Mrs. Mee purchased a
residence on Shasta Street; but after residing there from August
until the following June, she again decided to engage in the hotel
business and leased a hotel building on Tehama Street, which she
named the Palace Hotel. Here she conducted a successful busi--
ness, giving such good service that the hotel became very popular.
In February, 1894, Mrs. Mee was united in marriage with
Charles Newman. Mr. Newman was born in Germany, and came
to California when sixteen years of age. He learned the mer-
chant's business, and became owner of a store at Eocklin, Cal.
Later he sold out and came to Willows, where he was one of the
pioneer merchants, and where he served as postmaster for several
years. Mr. Newman built the Palace Hotel, the Newinan Building,
and other buildings in Willows. After selling out his store here,
he lived retired till his death, which occurred in December, 1913.
Fraternally, Mr. Newman was a Mason. Previously to Mr. New-
man's death, the" old Palace Hotel had been sold to Mrs. Newman's
son, John 0. McCallum, who enlarged the hotel, of which he is still
proprietor.
By her first marriage, to Mr. McCallum, Mrs. Newman had
eight children: William J., deceased; Ellen, Mrs. Henning, of
Willows; John Arthur, deceased in infancy; Georgianua, de-
ceased; Christene, Mrs. W. D. Davis, of San Francisco; Duncan
C, court stenographer at Oroville; John 0., proprietor of the
Palace Hotel ; and George, who resides with his mother. By her
marriage to Mr. Mee, she had one child, Frances, the wife of F.
W. Sydell, D. D. S., of Chico. Mrs. Newman devotes her time to
looking after her varied interests. She owns the Newman block,
and other valuable business and residence property in Willows, as
well as her residence at 158 Twenty-seventh Street, in San Fran-
cisco. In 1915 she built the Tenney and Schmidt Garage, on the
corner of Tehama and Wood Streets, the finest and largest garage
in Willows. Mrs. Newman was reared in the Presbyterian
Church, and still adheres to that faith. In national politics, she
is a Republican.
^^.yv. ^^rrvcTunM/yi).
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 305
GEORGE WASHINGTON SNOWDEN
One of the most extensive grain farmers in Glenn County, a
man of such established and recognized business ability, honesty
and integrity that his advice was widely sought and generally fol-
lowed, and whose spoken word was considered as good as his
bond, was George W. Snowden, a native of Scott County, 111.,
where he was born near Naples, February 17, 1856. His father
was John P. Snowden, a Virginian, who emigrated to the Middle
West in early days, and became a successful farmer in Illinois. In
1867, he moved still further west into Missouri, and there engaged
in farming amid the fertile acres in Henry County. Still later
he returned to Illinois and located in Macoupin County ; and there,
in the fall of 1902, he died. George's mother had been Miss Sarah
A. Mills, a native of Scott County ; and she became the mother of
eleven children, seven of whom were girls.
The second oldest of the four sons, George received a good
education at the district schools in his native county, and early
began to farm with his father in Henry County, Mo. In 1877, he
came to California and located near Durham, Butte County, where
he went to work on a farm. His vigorous constitution and his
aptness in taking hold of the work, easily secured for him other
and more remunerative employment near Gridley. In 1879, he
worked for a time on the Glenn ranch, and then went to Eureka,
Nev., where he followed mining. When he returned to California,
he was appointed foreman of one of the Glenn ranches.
With modest but steadily accumulating means acquired dur-
ing the seven years in which he held this position, he began farm-
ing in 1889, and for eight years rented the Logan ranch of four
thousand acres, which he planted to wheat and barley. In 1897,
he bought the Killebrew ranch of nine hundred sixty acres, located
six and a half miles southwest of Willows, to which he later added
three hundred twenty acres adjoining; and there continued farm-
ing, also renting a full section near by.
With a brother, James W., he now began to extend these
operations, renting five thousand acres of the Boggs ranch near
Princeton, and later assumed added responsibility by renting
eight thousand acres of the Glenn ranch northeast of Willows.
Thus Snowden Bros., for the time being, became the largest grain-
growers in the valley, and were among the most successful. In
their farming operations they used about fifteen to eighteen eight-
mule teams for putting in the crops, and it took three combined
harvesters to gather and thresh the grain. Five or six big teams
306 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
were kept busy for months hauling the grain to the landing on the
Sacramento Biver and to Logandale on the Southern Pacitic for
shipment. Much of the success of George W. Snowden was due,
no doubt, to his tireless energy and perseverance. No task seemed
too large for him to surmount it. The success of his operations
may be ascribed, also, to his use of modern and up-to-date meth-
ods, through which he applied every talent that he possessed to
the task of each day and the solution of each new problem. In-
cluded in his home ranch he owned two sections of land which he
improved with a good residence and other buildings, setting out
orchards, and avenues of eucalyi^tus trees, which last were also
set around the ratch buildings. He was a lover of nature, and
found especial pleasure in beautifying his place ; and he stood for
permanent improvement.
On September 19, 1889, in Sacramento, Mr. Snowden was
married to Miss Elizabeth M. Woolf, a native of Clinton, Henry
County, Mo., and a daughter of James and Margaret E. (Patrick)
Woolf, natives respectively of Kentucky and Missouri. The father
served in the Confederate army during the Civil War, afterwards
engaging in farming until his death at the age of tifty years. At
a later date the widow, with her children, removed to Glenn
County, where the daughter, Elizabeth, lived until her marriage to
Mr. Snowden. Two sons, Eaymond and Herbert, were born to
Mr. and Mrs. Snowden. They were educated in the high school
in Willows and the Oakland Polytechnic. Eaymond married
Freda Lohse, and Herbert was united in marriage with Norma
Lohse. They became partners in large farming operations on the
home place, and on thirty-six hundred acres of the old Logan
ranch. Both are members of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to
Laurel Lodge, No. 245, F. & A. M., in Willows. The third child,
Lorene Margaret, who also attended the Glenn County High
School, finished her education in the San Jose Normal and the
University of California, making a specialty of music, after which
she taught music and art in the Willows school, resigning to be-
come the wife of Carl M. Lohse, of San Francisco.
At Willows, on May 28, 1907, Mr. Snowden passed away,
lamented by a very large circle of friends. He was a member of
Laurel Lodge, No. 245, F. & A. M., of Willows; Colusa Chapter,
No. 60, R. A. M. ; Colusa Commandery, No. 24, K. T. ; the Eastern
Star Chapter ; and Chico Lodge, No. 423, B. P. 0. Elks. He was
a lifelong Eepublican, a prominent leader in his district, and will
be missed from the councils of the party. After his death the
partnership with his brother James W. was dissolved. The mem-
bers of his immediate family own the estate and have since con-
tinued the farming operations he had begun. Mrs. Snowden
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 307
makes her home in Willows, enjoying the companionship of her
children and many friends, and places the fullest contidenee in the
ability of her sons to manage the large affairs left by her hus-
band. She is prominent in club life in Willows, and in the East-
ern Star, and in social circles is one of the highly respected and
honored leaders.
THE MANZANITA AND CHEREY MINES
Twenty-six miles west of Williams, on Sulphur Creek, are
located the old Mauzanita and Cherry Mines. Practically the
entire gold output for Colusa County has come from these two
mines. The Manzanita was located early in 1865 and has been
worked intermittently since that time, both for gold and for quick-
silver. This mine, according to the Geological Survey, has the
rare distinction of being the only quicksilver mine in the world
with a sufficient quantity of gold to work the ore for that metal.
These two mines, which were formerly one immense body of
slate and sand shale, have been separated by the cutting action of
Sulphur Creek. These slate beds, with their strata standing almost
perpendicular, rise several hundred feet above Sulphur Creek.
Both the gold and the quicksilver occur in the seams of the shale.
The mineralization is no doubt due to the hot springs of this
section, and is evidently very recent. In fact this process of
depositing mineral is now going on, and can be watched from week
to week. Prospect tunnels driven into this slate bed soon have
their walls coated over with mineral salts.
Both the Cherry and the Mauzanita were worked for gold in
the early days, and produced something over $104,000 of which
there is a record, and probably considerably more of which there
is no record. The ore from the Cherry was first milled in an old
Mexican arrastra which was driven by water power from the
waters of Sulphur Creek. According to local records, Mr. Cherry,
from whom the mine took its name, recovered in this crude way
something over thirty thousand dollars. Amalgamating the gold
with quicksilver was the only process for recovering the gold at
that time; and owing to an excess of free sulphur in the ore,
making the water strongly acid, both the gold and the quicksilver
were coated over. This prevented amalgamation, so that only a
small percentage of the gold was recovered. From time to time
various other processes were tried ; but these met with no l^etter
success than Cherry's.
The Manzanita was later opened up and operated for a num-
ber of years by Mr. J. R. Northey. He did considerable prospect-
ing and developing of the ore bodies, and also conducted some
308 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
very thorough and expensive tests for the recover^' of the gold by
various processes, but was never rewarded with any great measure
of success in the recovery of. gold. He was successful with his
quicksilver mining, however, and produced something over two
thousand flasks, or approximately 150,000 pounds, of the pure
metal.
In the fall of 1916, Chas. L. Austin, a young mining engineer,
undertook to solve the metalurgical problems of these mines.
After careful sampling and laboratory work, he set up a small
mill on the Cherry mine for testing purposes. After several
months of careful study, he worked out a combination process
of cyanide and amalgamation which was highly successful in
the recovery of the gold. In the spring of the year following
he organized a stock company among the ranchers and stock-
men of Glenn County. About the first of June active opera-
tions on a large scale were begun with the construction of a one-
hundred-fifty-ton mill. Owing to excessive cost of cyanide, due
to the war, it was decided to try some new amalgamating machinery
and avoid cyanide until costs became normal again. This plant
was completed, but had run only ten hours when it was completely
destroyed by fire. Unfortunately it did not run long enough to
try out the process. The plant was promptly rebuilt, however,
and was given a thorough test. While the various mineral salts,
which had formerly given so much trouble, were disposed of, it
was found that the gold was so finely divided that it was carried
off in suspension in the water and lost ; so the plan was given up,
and work was suspended until the price of cyanide should make
its use practicable.
Among those interested were Z. E. Simpson, John Scribner,
Col. A. Hochheimer, H. B. Turman, L. F. Turman, Ben Tiirman,
T. W. Harlan, and A. L. McLamore, all of Glenn County.
MATTHIAS OSSENBRIIGGEN
A successful rancher, and a man of affairs of the Sacra-
mento Valley, Matthias Ossenbriiggen was born near Hamburg,
Germany, on July 8, 1864. He is a son of Matthias and Annie
(Rove) Ossenbriiggen, who were prosperous farmers in his native
country. Young Matthias was reared to farming in his native
place, where he helped with the work on the home farm; and
there also he received his education. He had an older brother,
Peter, who had migrated to California in 1870 and was engaged
in ranching on Grand Island, Colusa County. The letters he
wrote back to the home land mentioned the opportunities that
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 309
here awaited young men of brawn and energy, and Matthias was
inspired to come to the Pacific Coast to cast in his lot with the
wonderful West so vividly described by his brother. In May,
1882, he arrived in California ; and on the 28th of that month he
was at Grand Island. Necessity demanded that he at once get
to work, and he therefore found employment for a time on
ranches in that section. Afterwards he was employed in Sutter
County for nine months, and then came back to Grand Island,
where for five years he was in the employ of W. F. Howell.
After this he assisted his brother Peter, working on his ranch
for another year.
Mr. Ossenbriiggen had now resided in the state about seven
years ; and in the meantime he had saved enough of his earnings
to enable him to go into business for himself. Accordingly, in
1889, with Adolph Fendt, he leased from Fred Monson his ranch
of four hundred eighty acres, for five years, and bought a ranch-
ing outfit, paying down twenty-two hundred fifty dollars, and
his partner fifteen hundred dollars, on the purchase price of sixty-
five himdred dollars. They gave their notes for the balance. The
partners put in their crop, and then went to work for others with
their teams. Mr. Ossenbriiggen remembers making eight hundred
dollars ; so that in spite of a flood that caused a total failure of
their crop, their work paid their expenses and the interest on
deferred payments. They stuck to their original plan, and were
finally successful, in the third year adding to their leasehold an-
other tract of four hundred eighty acres, which they farmed for
three years. At the end of six years, they dissolved their partner-
ship, dividing their equipment, stock and profits.
In the fall of 1895, Mr. Ossenbriiggen went to Glenn County,
and south of Butte City bought four hundred forty acres of laud,
going in debt for much of it. With the same tenacity of purpose
displayed in his earlier operations, he kept at work with his
teams when he was not working for himself on his own place.
He had a lot of timber on his place, and this he hired cut, and
sold it. All in all, he made a success of his work, and in four
years paid for his land and got out of debt. In 1905 he bought
another ranch of three hundred forty acres, north of Butte City,
and this he rented while he operated his own place. In 1908,
wishing to obtain better school advantages for his children, he
rented both of his places and moved to Chico, where he pur-
chased a comfortable residence on Sixth and Laburnum Streets,
Chico Vecino, where he has since made his home.
Mr. Ossenbriiggen was married at Grand Island to Miss
Amanda Fendt, who was born in Holstein. Four children have
310 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
blessed this union; George, who is farming the liome place;
Annie J., who graduated from the Chico State Normal and
taught school until her marriage to L. F. Cecil, with whom she
now lives in Sutter County ; D6ra M., who became Mrs. Crenshaw,
and lives in Colusa; and Harry H., wbo lives at home. In 1892
Mr. Ossenbriiggen became a citizen of the United States; and
ever since he has been a stanch adherent of the policies of the
Eepublican iDarty. He has served as a delegate to county con-
ventions, has done jury duty, and in every waj' has shown his
appreciation of the treatment accorded him in this country. He
is a firm believer in the principle of constitutional rights for eveiy
citizen. Mr. Ossenbriigg'en was made a Mason in Emanuel Lodge,
No. 318, F. & A. M., at Biggs. He was reared in the Lutheran
Church, and with his wife attends the church in Chico. By hard
work, good management, and perseverance he has accumulated
enough to enable him to live retired from hard work and enjoy
life with his wife at their home in Chico, where they have made
many friends. When they moved from their old home in Glenn
County, they left many friends, who felt their moving as a per-
sonal loss, but whom they still visit from time to time.
WILLIAM HAEVEY OTTERSON
An enterprising, efficient and prosperous rancher, William
Harvey Otterson is also a public-spirited citizen who looks beyond
the confines of his own interests and is ready to do anything pos-
sible for the public good and the advancement of the state. Mr.
Otterson is a native of Santa Clara County, born at Mayfield,
November 22, 1867, a son of James and Alice (Short) Otterson.
James Otterson was born in Canada, but came originally from a
pioneer family of New York State, who crossed the Isthmus of
Panama on their way to California in 1852. Grandfather James
Otterson crossed the plains in 1849, from Canada, where he was
engaged in the lumber business ; and after his arrival in California,
he settled in Santa Clara County and conducted a hotel at May-
field. He died in this state at the age of eighty-two j^ears. The
mother of W. H. Otterson, Alice Short, came with her father's
family to California in 1852, settling in Santa Clara County, where
she was married to Mr. Otterson. During the Civil War, Capt.
William Short, with James Otterson, father of our subject, organ-
ized a company at Mayfield. They were not sent to the front, how-
ever, but saw service in California until the close of the war.
Captain Short was a Mexican War veteran. When he found that
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 311
the comjiauy were not goino- to the front, he resigned and went
East, where he secured a commission in the regular army. He
served valiantly until the close of the war, and then went to Idaho,
where he passed his last days at the home of Mr. Otterson. James
Otterson, Jr., was a blacksmith by trade. He is living in Riverside,
retired from all activities, and is enjoying his declining days.
William Harvey Otterson was but four years old when his
parents moved to Oregon and settled in the vicinity of Eugene.
From there they went to the Palouse country in Idaho. Mr.
Otterson 's education was received in the public schools of Oregon
and Idaho. He led more or less of a roving life, living in various
places in Idaho for twenty years. Near what is now the site of
Gooding, in that state, he owned a ranch of one hundred sixty
acres, which he planted to alfalfa. He rode the range in that
country, and from there went to Arizona, where he engaged in
freighting, and was exjjosed more or less to tlie dangers of frontier
life in the early days. 'V\^ien he arrived in Kingninn, with a wife
and six children, he had but thirty-five doHars to his name; but he
soon found employment. He began freighting from the Needles
to the German-American camp, and in connection with this enter-
prise ran a stage line to Gold Roads. The Salt Lake Railroad was
then just beginning the extension of its lines through that section
of Nevada ; and with a partner, J. P. Parker, now of Los Angeles,
Mr. Otterson was engaged for about two and one half years in
construction work for the railroad company, with a gang of from
fifty to one hundred men and seventy-five to one hundred twenty
head of stock. He next began freighting from Las "^"egas to Bull-
frog, and then from Nipton to Searchlight, for about a year, after
which he located in Cima and freighted to the Standard mines,
hauling copper ore from there and other camps. We next find him
at Tacopa, on the edge of Death Valley, teaming to the railroad
with silver and lead ore. When the work opened up on the con-
struction of the Roosevelt Dam in Arizona, he went to Colton and
shipped his outfit to Mesa, and began work on that most important
piece of construction, becoming a teamster for the government.
One difficult contract undertaken by Mr. Otterson, and which he
successfully carried out, was the hauling of two boilers, of fifty-two
thousand pounds each, from Casa Grande to the Jack Rabbit
Mines. This he did with thirty-six head of stock, and wagons
built especially for the work. This was one of the largest contracts
of its kind executed. The next contract he undertook was hauling
for concrete construction on the El Paso and Southeastern Rail-
road. In all of his large undertakings, Mr. Otterson seldom had
an accident. He was careful to avoid unnecessary exposure to
312 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
danger for his men and stock, and carried out bis contracts to the
best of his ability, gaining the commendation of those by whom he
was employed.
After bis many years of experience in freighting and other
hard work in the mining country, Mr. Otterson decided he would
settle clown to a quiet life and enjoy the society of his family. He
saw in the Sunset Magazine an advertisement of the opening up of
the lauds in Glenn County, and in 1911 came to look the ground
over. When he found a satisfactory location, be made a purchase
of eighty acres; and in 1912 he brought his family to their new
place of abode. He planted every tree and shrub seen on the place,
built fences and outbuildings, and erected a comfortable home.
He built a silo of a hundred twenty tons capacity, one of the best
in this section of the county. A considerable acreage is now seeded
to alfalfa. The ranch maintains a fine dairy of about forty cows,
three quarters Holstein, with a registered Holstein bull at the head
of the herd. Mr. Otterson raised some fine Berkshire hogs, and
had some rare turkeys on his place. In August, 1917, he disposed
of this property and moved to Mark West Springs, Sonoma County.
In 1888, William Harvey Otterson was united in marriage
with Miss Edith L. Vader, a native of Illinois, of Holland descent.
She is a talented lady, and for some years was a school-teacher in
the state of her birth. Of this union seven children have been
born: Wilbert, residing in the Baj'liss district, who is married
and has two children; George, in Arizona; Olive; Drucilla, who
married Ralph Montz, of Fresno, and has one child; and Jack,
Leland, and Edith Lenore. Mr. Otterson is a Progressive Repub-
lican, and takes an active interest in public affairs. He is a mem-
ber of Damon Lodge, No. 19, K. of P., in Mesa, Ariz., and belongs
to the social organization of that order, the D. 0. K. K.
PETER R. GARNETT
The abiding influence and optimism of Peter R. Garnett, and
his wonderful power of perception, stimulated by visions of the
value and possibilities of Sacramento Valley lands in the future,
have never been more apparent than at the present day. The
keenness of mental vision which enabled him to foresee the pos-
sibilities of production, and the wise provisions for the welfare
and moral uplift of the community which he advocated during his
career in Colusa and Glenn Counties, are seen the better in the
light of present-day development. His advocacy of improvements
in irrigation, his loyal support of temperance and Christianity,
-^^^^l^-t^^^
d^/l'O^
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 317
and his honest, straightforward business methods, have born their
natnral fruit; and results have shown this man's breadth of out-,
look, and vindicated his prophecy of expansion, placing him in the
forefront of the iipbuilders of his generation in the community
where he lived so long and became so well and favorably known.
The late Peter E. Garnett belonged to an old and prominent
Southern family, being descended from '\"irginian forebears. He
was born in Ealls County, Mo., February 14, 1841, and died in
Glenn County, Cal., March 21, 1911. During the seventy years of
his life, he accomplished much good, and meanwhile accumulated
a comj^etency which was left to his descendants, along with th^
legacy of an untarnished name. His father, James Richard Gar-
nett, was born in Virginia, as was also the grandfather. James
R. Garnett was a farmer and miller by occupation. He removed
to Meade County, Ky., where he founded a town called Garnetts-
ville in his honor ; and there he built a flour mill, which he ran in
connection with his farm. In 1820 he settled in Pike County, Mo.
Here he engaged in farming, and also had a flour mill at Hannibal,
until his death. His wife, Elizabeth (Parker) Garnett, was also
a native of Virginia. Her demise occurred in Missouri in 1875,
at the age of seventy-three. Of the ten children born to this
pioneer couple, J. St. Clair and Mrs. Katie Garnett Davis were
the only ones, besides Peter R., that migrated to California.
Reared on the home farm until the age of seventeen, Peter E.
Garnett assisted diligently with the farm, work, meanwhile at-
tending the subscription schools, and then left home to seek better
educational advantages, in time matriculating at McGee College,
College Mound, Mo. Here he continued his studies until the
breaking out of the Civil War, when, at the age of twenty, he left
college and enlisted for service in the Second Missouri Regiment,
under Genei"al Price's command. He performed his duty faith-
fully, and was several times wounded in battle. At Grenada,
Miss., he was promoted and commissioned lieutenant, in recogni-
tion of meritorious services. After this his brigade was captured
at Mobile Bay, at which time Lieutenant Garnett and his com-
mand were sent to Jackson, Miss., where they were paroled.
After the war, Mr. Garnett taught school near Vicksburg,
meantime studying law, as he intended to follow the legal profes-
sion. He was duly admitted to the bar ; but the confinement nec-
essary to the practice of his profession proved injurious to his
health, and he therefore decided to give up the law and seek out-
of-door work. His brother, J. St. Clair Garnett, had come to
California in 1853, and was located on a farm near Dixon, Solano
County; so he determined to come to the Golden West. Making
318 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
the journey via Panama, he joined his lirother at Dixon, on June
15, 1868. His operations in ranching continued in that vicinity
until 1873, when he settled on a farm three miles southeast of Wil-
lows. Here he enlarged his operations, and was very successful
in raising wheat, barley, and stock. Having confidence in the pro-
ducing quality of the soil, he purchased land from time to time,
until he became the possessor of thousands of acres, and was one
of the largest owners of land in the Sacramento Valley. Fore-
seeing the great future in store for the rich lands of Glenn
County through the building of canals to tajj the Sacramento
Eiver, Mr. Garnett exerted his powerful influence in behalf of the
cause of irrigation, and never tired of emphasizing the increase
in land values, and the vast extension of the state's resources, that
must follow upon the wise conservation, and the liberal develop-
ment and distribution, of the waters from the Sacramento Eiver
and its tributaries. He was a director in the Central Irrigation
Company; and in recognition of his services and sincerity in the
cause of irrigation. Governor Pardee appointed him a member
of the International Irrigation Congress that met in^ Portland,
Ore., in 1905.
Mr. Garnett was always a Democrat ; and while not a radical,
he was always progressive in his i^olitical views. Before county
division, he was elected and served three years as a member of the
board of supervisors of Colusa County, and proved a worthy rep-
resentative of his district. After county division, he was elected
a member of the board of supervisors of Glenn County, in 1894,
and was reelected in 1898 ; ancl he took an active and conscientious
part in so guiding the destinies of the new county that it is found
today in the front rank, in financial standing, among the counties
of the state. The cause of education found in him a stanch friend
and supporter. He served for many years as a school trustee, and
was the prime mover in the organization and erection of the Wil-
lows High School, serving as a member and president of the
board. Always favoring religious movements, Mr. Garnett con-
tributed to all denominations in his locality, and aided in erecting
their charch buildings. For years he was a member and the
superintendent of the Sunday school of the Baptist Church. Fra-
ternally, he was a Mason, being a memljer of Laurel Lodge No.
245, F." & A. M., at Willows.
At Dixon, on October 21, 1873, Peter R. Garnett was united in
marriage with Ruth A. McCune, a daughter of the Honorable
Henry E. McCune, ex-state senator and prominent landowner and
financier of Dixon. Mrs. Garnett is a native daughter of Dixon;
she is represented more fully in a separate sketch on another page
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 319
of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Peter Garuett had three children.
Inez, a graduate of CaUfornia College, at Oakland, is the wife of
C. E. Freed; they are extensive farmers, and are also in charge
of the home ranch at AVillows. Eeha, who died in Oakland at the
home of Mrs. Garnett, December 19, 1916, was the wife of Eobert
Black. She left one son, Garnett Black, who makes his home with
Mrs. Garnett in Oakland. Hugh M. Garnett, the only son, is a
prominent stockman at Willows, of whom further mention is made
elsewhere in this work.
EverA' movement for reform found in Peter E. Garnett a
stanch assistant and supporter, and especially the temperance
cause, in which he took an active interest, working conscientiously
to bring about the "Dry Campaign" in the county. He was a
fluent writer, and contributed liberally to the press, particularly
the Willows Journal and the Colusa Sun. An advanced thinker
and student of history, he was well posted in the annals of our
country. Prior to his death he was compiling a book on the
"Causes of the Civil "War." This work, however, was never
finished.
JkffiS. EUTH A. McCUNE GAENETT
To the pioneer women of California, no less than to the pio-
neer men, are due the honor and respect of the generations that
have followed ; for without their loving sympathy, and support,
without their faithful devotion and toil, there had been no civili-
zation carved in the wilderness and no homes built in lonely places
where wild beasts prowled by day and night. They have borne
their full share in the making of a great commonwealth; and their
names are held in loving remembrance in the hearts of the chil-
dren of the Golden West, and will continue so to be through all
generations to come.
A prominent place among the women who have left their im-
press on the develojiment of Glenn County must be accorded to
Mrs. Euth A. McCune Garnett, wife of the late Peter E. Garnett,
one of the foremost men of the Sacramento ^^alley, and one whose
services to the county were of exceptional importance. In all the
activities of his active career, Mr. Garnett was ably assisted by his
able wife. Although her name did not appear on the iDublie roster,
she aided her husband, as only a faithful wife can, in the per-
formance of his public duties.
Before her marriage, Mrs. Garnett was Miss Euth A. Mc-
Cune, a daughter of Hon. Henry E. McCune. Mr. McCune was
born in Pike County, Mo., June 10, 1825, and received a good edu-
320 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
cation iu his native state. He was a veteran of the Mexican War,
having served eighteen months with the monnted volunteers ; and
at the close of his service he was honoral^ly discharged. Gifted
by nature with a spirit of adventure, he had a desire to see the
Pacific Coast; so in 1854, with E. K. Biggs, he drove one hundred
head of cattle across the plains to Solano County, Cal. On his ar-
rival, he seemed to visualize the great future of the Sacramento
Valley. He preempted one hundred sixty acres of land, and thus
began his career as a pioneer of the Far West — a step which re-
sulted in his becoming one of the largest farmers and stockmen of
his day in Solano County. As he prospered, he invested further in
lands, until he owned extensive areas in the Sacramento Valley.
He was very successful in raising grain and stock, from which
pursuit the greater part of his large fortune was made.
Henry E. McCune became prominent in politics. His political
career began in 1873, when he became a candidate for senator
from Solano and Yolo Counties. Although a Democrat, he was
elected on the People's ticket. He served two terms, taking an
active part in the various deliberations of the legislative body of
his state. He was greatly interested in the cause of education.
For twenty years he was president of the board of education, and
for thirty years he served as a trustee of California College ; and
for a time he was president of Dixon College. An active member
of the Baptist Church, he was instrumental in the building of the
church of that denomination at Silvey\dlle. Fraternally, he was
a Mason.
Senator McCune was married to Miss Barbara S. Rice, a
native of Kentucky, who proved an amiable and lovable helpmate.
Of this union eight children were born, of whom six grew to ma-
turity, as follows: MoUie, Mrs. James Hill, who died in Dixon;
Euth A., of whom we write; Eebecea, Mrs. Henry Silver, who re-
sides in Oakland; Joseph H., deceased; Jessie St. Clair, Mrs. Eice
of Oakland ; and Sarah, deceased, who was the wife of the late Dr.
Gardner, chief surgeon of the Southern Pacific Eailroad in San
Francisco.
Euth A. McCune Garnett is a native daughter, born at Dixon,
where she received her early education amid the refining influ-
ences of a cultured home. Her parents were people of education
and refinement ; and the environment surrounding her early years
is today reflected in her charming personality. Her education was
completed at Mrs. Perry's Seminary, in Sacramento, where she
was a classmate of Dr. Theodora T. Purkitt of Willows, as well as
of others who have become prominent socially and as women of
affairs, among them Mrs. Gus Hart of San Francisco and Mrs.
Ella Flournoy Hershey of Woodland. After her education was
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 321
completed, Miss McCune was mai-ried to Peter B. Garnett, the
ceremony taking place at her father's home on October 21, 1873.
Mr. Garnett was a prominent farmer and stockman, and one of the
builders of Colusa and Glenn Counties. His biography is pre-
sented on another page of this volume. Mrs. Garnett presided
over her household with grace and tact, and was ever watchful of
her husband's interests, meanwhile showering upon him her words
of encouragement and affection, and Ininging to bear, in many un-
obtrusive ways, an inspiring home influence that had much to do
with his success and popularity. Since Mr. Garnett 's death, Mrs.
Garnett has been looking after the large interests left her by her
husband, as well as her heritage from her father. Senator McCune.
In this task she is assisted by her loving and devoted daughter,
Mrs. Inez Garnett Freed, a splendid woman, of charming person-
ality, and by her son, Hugh M. Garnett, a prominent business man
and stockman. Through their assistance the mother is relieved
from all unnecessary care and worry. The home place is a very
valuable ranch, located two miles southeast of Willows. This
property is devoted to the raising of grain and stock. Mrs. Gar-
nett built a beautiful and comfortable residence at 5515 McMillan
Street, in one of the most attractive residential sections of Oak-
land ; and here she resides with her grandson, Garnett Black.
Having traveled considerably in different states besides those
of the Pacific Coast section, Mrs. Garnett had always cherished a
desire to visit Europe. In the spring of 1911 she realized her
ambition, when, accompanied by her daughter, Mrs. Inez Garnett
Freed, and her grandson, Garnett Black, she made a tour of Ger-
many, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France, and the British Isles,
visiting the places of interest in the various countries. They re-
turned to Boston on the Laconia, after which they visited the more
important cities of the East, among them New York, Washington
(and Mt. Vernon), Philadelphia, and Buffalo (with a trip to
Niagara Falls). They made a tour of the Southern states also,
via New Orleans and through Texas, to their home in the land of
sunshine and flowers.
Mrs. Garnett is a woman of culture and refinement, gifted
with an amiable disposition and a winsome personality, and en-
dowed with much native business ability. Her late husband gave
her no small degree of credit for laying the foundation of their
fortune. She is a very charitable woman, always .ready to aid
those who have been less fortunate than herself ; but all her deeds
of kindness, and all her acts of benevolence, are accomplished in a
quiet and imostentatious manner.
322 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
JAMES PATEICK O'BEIEN
Near Fruto, iu Glenn County, as that section was named
after its separation from Colusa County, is tlie large ranch that
was the home of one of the pioneers of the county, known by all
his intimate friends as Patrick O'Brien. He was born in Ireland,
and when a small child was brought to the United States by his
parents, who settled near St. Louis, Mo. He attended the district
schools of St. Louis County, and grew to young manhood on the
farm operated by his father. When the "news of the discovery
of gold in California was sent broadcast throughout the world,
this sturdy young man and a friend, J. W. Eobertson, decided to
try their fortunes in the mines. In 1850 they joined an emigrant
train, which reached this state five months later. The slow-going
ox teams ended their long journey in Nevada City, where Patrick
O'Brien and his friend began their mining experiences. They
were successful there, and later went to Downieville, with their
good fortune still following them. In 1852 they returned to Mis-
souri by way of Panama, and bought six thousand dollars' worth
of cattle, which they drove back over the plains. On arriving in
California with their two himdred eighty head of stock, they
settled on Bird Creek, in Yolo County.
In Yolo County, James Patrick O'Brien was united in mar-
riage with Miss Sarah Jane Musick, a native of Franklin County,
Mo. She was a daughter of William L. and Elizabeth (Pritchett)
Musick, native Missourians, who came to California across the
plains in 1853, settling near Woodland. In 1865 they removed to
what is now Glenn County and established their home near that
of their daughter, Mrs. 'Brien ; but twenty years later they moved
to Shasta County, where, at Millerville, Mr. Musick 's death
occurred in 1888. His good wife also died there. Mr. and Mrs.
O'Brien had nine children, one of whom died very young. The
others were: Mary, Mrs. Frederick Miller, and Frances, Mrs.
G. C. Prentice, both now deceased; Margaret, the wife of Dr.
Burnell, of San Francisco; Susan, Mrs. McLaughlin, deceased;
Thomas Edward, who married Mabel Williams in 1894, and died
in 1900; Phihp; Gertrude, Mrs. M. H. Diggs, of Orland; and
James P., of San Francisco.
In 1857 Mr. O'Brien took up a government claim of one
hundred sixt.y acres, located fourteen miles west of what is now
the town site of Willows. Here he improved a home place; and
as success rewarded his efforts, he kept adding to his property
until he owned some ten thousand acres of fine grazing and farm-
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 323
ing land. He made all the improvemeuts on the place. He
erected a good lionse, built barns, and fenced bis land; and in
time he had one of the best places in that part of the county.
There he made his home during the remainder of his life. He
died on May 2, 1893, at the age of sixty-eight years. His passing
was a loss to the community, where he had endeared himself to
all his neighbors and friends. He was well known throughout
Glenn County, and held the respect of his fellow citizens wherever
he was known. In national politics, he aligned himself with the
Democratic party. He was buried according to the rites of the
Roman Catholic Church, of which he was a devout member.
After the death of her husband, Mrs. O'Brien was assisted
in the management of the ranch by her son, Thomas Edward
O'Brien. He was a likely young man, born in Colusa County and
educated at the Brothers' School in San Mateo. His school days
over, he returned to the farm and worked with his father until
he passed away. He then assumed charge of the ranch, and
operated it until he, too, was called to join the great majority,
leaving a widow and one daughter, Phelieta Scyoc, to mourn his
death. After he died, Mrs. O'Brien made her home on the ranch
until 1913, when she moved to Willows, where she is now living.
The place is still devoted to the stock business and to the raising
of wheat and barley. Mrs. 'Brien is a member and Past Grand
of the Eebekahs.
DANIEL F. MONROE
A well-known citizen of Glenn County, who has made his
influence felt in the upbuilding of his locality, is Daniel F. Mon-
roe. He was born on Spencer Creek, Lane County, Ore., near the
town of Eugene, on May 27, 1854. His father was James Monroe,
born in Fort Hempstead, now in Howard County, Mo., October
8, 1814, who came by way of Panama, in 1849, to mine for gold
in California. James Monroe prospected about Hangtown, now
Placerville, for a time, but did not meet with the success he had
anticipated. While in Hangtown he was a member of the E.
Clampus Vitus organization, which cleaned up that mining camp
of undesirables. After his mining experience, he returned over
the same route he had come to this state, with the intention of
bringing his family West to make their home. The next year,
1852, he crossed the plains with his family in an ox-team train
numbering some one hundred wagons, of which he was selected as
captain, to guide them in safety on their long journey. After
passing the danger line for Indians, the train divided, some coming
324 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
on to California and the others going to Oregon. Mr. Monroe
was among the latter. On arriving in that state, he settled in
Lane County; and while living there he became well acquainted
with John Whittaker, who was elected the tirst governor of
Oregon. Mr. Monroe became influential in politics, as a promi-
nent Democrat. He served one term as county commissioner of
Lane Count.y and one term as assemblyman, and was twice elected
to serve in the state senate.
On May 13, 1865, the Monroe family left Oregon for Cali-
fornia, the father bringing a band of one hundred fifty horses,
which he drove down to Yolo County. These he sold, and pur-
chased land, on which he lived one year. The following year he
returned to Oregon, bought a band of cattle, and drove them into
California, grazing them on the open range in what was then a
part of Colusa County, but is now in Glenn County, on Stony
Creek; and for four years he was engaged in raising cattle with
success. In 1872 he bought government land in Clark's Valley,
and engaged in the sheep business until 1875, when he sold his
band and went to Lompoc, in Santa Barbara County, where he
made his home until 1884. He then moved back to Colusa County,
but soon thereafter met with an accidental death. A team ran over
him, causing an injury, from the effects of which he died, October
17, 1884 — another pioneer builder gone over the "Great Divide."
James Monroe was married to Cynthia Brashear, who was born
in Kentucky, near Roachport, March 21, 1816, of French descent,
and who bore all the trials of a pioneer's wife as bravely as any
who ever crossed the plains. Her death occurred at Newville,
Glenn County, March 10, 1892. She gave birth to nine children,
eight of them boys. James, George, Charles, and Lemuel died
of diphtheria in Oregon; while Isaac, Martha, William, John, and
Daniel F. lived in California. All are now numbered with the
"silent majority" with the exception of Daniel F. Monroe.
Daniel F. Monroe was taught by his mother until he was
eleven years old; and he first attended school in Yolo County.
He was reared on a farm, and worked as a farm hand when a
young man. On October 23, 1876, he was united in marriage with
Mary Vanlandingham, whose father crossed the plains to Cali-
■ fornia in 1860 from Missouri, and ranched for many years near
Elk Creek, Glenn County. In June, 1877, the young couple moved
to Lompoc, Santa Barbara County, where for seven years Mr.
Monroe worked at the carpenter's trade and farmed. While
there, he took an active interest in the public school question,
and helped to build the schoolhouse in the Stuart district, serving
as a trustee for four years. Coming back to what is now Glenn
County, he bought land two miles west of Newville ; and there the
r,>ii;r/ C!mpbi;llfimi.!:sn for Wstofic fi
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 327
family made their home mitil Mrs. Monroe's death, ou June 2,
1901. Here he also took an active part in building up the West
Side School, in the Newville district, hauling lumber and working
on the building, and served as a trustee for a number of rears.
While living at Newville he was constable for several terms, and
served as road overseer, helping to build the roads in the district.
Of the marriage of Daniel F. and Mary Monroe, five children
were born: John W., county treasurer of Glenn Coimtj^; James
S., of Orland ; Charles E., of Oakland ; Melissa Olive, who married
Enoch Knight, and died on June 9, 1906, aged twenty-two years;
and Mrs. G. E. Schwan, of Aptos, Santa Cruz County.
After the death of his wife, Mr. Monroe went to Elk Creek
and for three years did teaming and farmed. In 1904 he moved
to Orland, and continued to do teaming until 1908, when he came
to Willows and joined his son, John W., in contracting and build-
ing, erecting many houses in Willows and vicinity; and he has
lived in that city ever since. Mr. Monroe is of sturdy Scotch
stock. His grandfather, William Munro, as he spelled it, was a
Virginian who went into Missouri, and was associated with Daniel
Boone in the early days. Mr. Monroe is a member of the Willows
Lodge, No. 5, E. Clampus Vitus.
JAMES WILLIAM SNOWDEN
As a prominent factor in the upbuilding of Glenn County,
James W. Snowden occupied an important place among its repre-
sentative citizens. Descended from an old Eastern family, he was
born March 1, 1854, in Scott County, III, a son of John P. and
Sarah A. (Mills) Snowden, the former a Virginian and the latter
born in Scott County, 111. John P. Snowden moved to Scott
County at an early period and became a very successful farmer.
In 1867 he migrated to Missouri and continued to farm for a time,
eventually going back to Illinois, where, in Macoupin Coimty, he
lived until his death in 1902, aged seventy-seven years. Mrs.
Sarah Snowden lived at the old home until her death in 1915.
Eleven children, seven girls and four boys, were born to this
worthy couple.
James William Snowden was a student in the public schools
in Illinois. He was the eldest in the family, and assisted his
father on the home farm, which experience he found valuable in
after years. When he was thirteen, the family moved to Mis-
souri. When he was twenty-one, he struck out for himself, and
farmed near Sedalia, in Pettis County. He came to California in
328 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
1877; and after a year spent on Campbell and Spurgeon's ranch,
near St. John, he entered the employ of Dr. Hugh Glenn. Soon
his ability was recognized, and Dr. Glenn made him foreman of
the home ranch, where he remained in that capacity for twenty-
three years.
In partnership with his brother, George W. Snowden, he
leased eight thousand acres of the Glenn, ranch, which included
the home ranch, and farmed that i^roperty until it was divided
into smaller tracts. During this time the brothers leased the
Boggs ranch of five thousand acres, near Princeton, and raised
grain. They operated on a large scale, using eighteen eight-mule
teams to put in their crops, and harvesting with three combined
harvesters. At times they had as high as thirteen thousand acres
under lease, one half being sown to grain each year. They were
among the largest grain farmers in the valley. At the time of his
brother's death, in 1907, the property was divided and the part-
nership was dissolved. In 1900 he bought six hundred forty acres
eight miles southwest of Willows, and began making improve-
ments on it. He also leased the Garnett ranch for some years, and
also a part of the Logan property, the latter in partnership with
his two nephews, and raised large quantities of grain and some
good stock. Mr. Snowden believed in farming with the latest and
most modern machinery; and in 1911 he purchased a sixty-horse-
power caterpillar tractor, which did good service in facilitating his
extensive operations. He became interested in horticulture under
the firm name of Snowden, Graves & Wickes, which firm owned an
api^le orchard of ninety acres in AVatsonville, fifty acres already in
bearing condition, of the Newtown Pippin and Bellefleur varieties.
He was active up to the time of his death, which occurred on
March 18, 1916. He was buried with Masonic honors.
Mr. Snowden was a prominent Mason, a member of Laurel
Lodge No. 245, F. & A. M., at Willows. He belonged to the Chico
Chapter and Commandery, and to Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M.
S., in San Francisco, and also to Marshall Chapter No. 86, 0. E.
S. He was also a member of Chico Lodge No. 423, B. P. 0. Elks.
In politics he was a stanch Eepubliean, and was a member of the
County Central Committee for several years. At the time of the
county-division fight he was strongly in favor of the creation of
the new county.
Mr. Snowden was twice married. His first wife, whom he
married in Bates County, Mo., was Lovenia Jane Woolf ; and they
had a son, Herbert Asa. Mrs. Snowden and her son died in April,
1891. His second marriage united him with a native daughter of
California, Mrs. Adelia Charlotte (Gray) Brown, born near Lin-
coln, Placer County. They were married in San Francisco on Sep-
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 329
tember 5, 1904. Mrs. Snowden is a daughter of Benjamin F. and
Martha E. (Heryford) Gray, both born in Missouri, who crossed
the plains in pioneer days with ox teams and wagons, with their
respective parents. They met and were married in California,
and were farmers in Colusa County, but spent their last years in
Chico. They had eight children, seven of whom are living. Mrs.
Snowden was graduated from the Chico State Normal in 1895, and
followed educational work until her marriage with Mr. Snowden.
Since the death of Mr. Snowden, his widow has carried on the
ranching interests and looked after the large business affairs left
by her husband. She is accounted a good business manager.
Mr. Snowden was one of the largest stockholders in the Ma-
sonic Temple Association at Willows, and was largely instru-
mental in erecting the building. With him, Mrs. Snowden was in-
terested in building the Willows Creamery, and in the Glenn
County Garage; and she retains the interest he owned in the
Elmore Pharmacy at Eed Bluff. Mrs. Snowden is a member of
Marshall Chapter No. 86, 0. E. S., being Past Matron and Past
District Deputy. Mr. Snowden was one of the most lovable of
men, liberal and kind-hearted, helping the ambitious and needy
alike — a fast friend, a loyal American citizen, and a gentleman.
At his passing, Glenn County and the state .of California lost one
of their foremost citizens and upbuilders.
THOMAS L. KNOCK
A retired public official to whom the people of Glenn County
owe much — a debt, they willingly acknowledge — is Thomas L.
Knock, for many years county surveyor, and in 1891 an active ad-
vocate of county formation. He was born in New York City, Feb-
ruary 10, 1844, and was educated at the University of the City of
New York, where he took courses in navigation and geology. For
six years he was a member of the United States Merchant Marine.
He rose to second mate of a sailing ship, and visited nearly all of
the most interesting parts of the world. For a time, too, he mined
in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.
In 1869, Mr. Knock came to California, sailing on a ship from
Australia. He settled for a while in Colusa, and then went to the
mines in Nevada. Eeturning to California, he took up govern-
ment land, which he improved, and also bought some acreage
north of Orland. Eight hundred acres of his tract he farmed to
wheat. In 1891, however, he sold out and again took up engineer-
ing and surveying. The following year he became surveyor of
330 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Glenn Count}' ; and for twenty years be held that responsible office.
He surveyed all the roads in the county, laid out the county's
boundaries, built bridges, and acted as engineer for the construc-
tion of the Central Canal. In 1900 he took charge of the Spauld-
ing ranch, a vast area of eleven thousand acres, and somewhat
later began the development of the same.
In recent years, Mr. Knock has devoted himself to real estate
and business interests at Willows, assuming charge of three dif-
ferent estates in the county. In this enterprise he has established
an enviable reputation, handling with marked success the interests
entrusted to him.
Thomas L. Knock was united in marriage with Agnes M.
Pullman, a native of New Zealand, of English parentage. He is
the father of three sons and three daughters : Ada, in the Sand-
wich Islands ; Elma, well-known in insurance circles in Willows,
having the largest insurance business there; Thomas; Bayard, the
present county surveyor, a sketch of whose life will be found else-
where in this work; Malcolm, in the Sandwich Islands, assistant
manager of the Spaulding ranch; and Effie, of Willows. Mr.
Knock is an active Mason, and a director of the Masonic Temple
Association at Willows.
MOSES HOCHHEIMER
A man of great executive ability, Moses Hochheimer was a
moving spirit in the upbuilding of the well-known tirm of Hoch-
heimer & Company, with its successful branch stores at Bakerstield,
Orland and Germantown. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., and
when still very young came with his family to California, making
the trip by way of Panama. In early manhood he and his older
brother, Amiel (whose sketch appears in this book), laid the foun-
dation for their future success in the mercantile business' by
working in stores in old Silveyville, Solano County, and at Dixon.
In June, 1876, Mr. Hochheimer came to Willows and estab-
lished the first store, before the town was even surveyed. It occu-
pied a small building located on the present site of the Glenn
County Lumber Company. William Johnson was his partner, and
the name of the enterprising firm was Johnson & Hochheimer.
When, at the end of three years, his partner sold out his interest
to him, his brother Amiel moved to Willows and became a partner
in the business, from which has developed the present large cor-
poration.
Mr. Hochheimer married Miss Hattie Crawford, a daughter
of Colonel Crawford; and one daughter, Mrs. Lester Sheeline, of
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 331
Willows, blessed their union. Mr. ?Iodilieimer was a director of
the Bank of Willows. He was a brilliant man, and a scholar of
fine education, as well as a live business man ; and when his death
occurred, in 1911, his loss was deeply felt in social, educational
and business circles.
HON. AMIEL HOCHHEIMER
An enterprising merchant of prominence and a man of varied
interests and large affairs, Amiel Hochheimer has frequently
placed his valuable experience at the service of the community in
which he lives. He is a native of Pittsburgh, Pa. ; but when a small
boy he came to California, by way of Panama, with his parents'
family. His father, Simon Hochheimer, went to the Southern mines
in Calaveras County, and there had indifferent luck. The lad was
educated in schools at Stockton, and later went, with his younger
brother, Moses, to Solano County, where they got their first ex-
perience in the mercantile business, working in stores in old Sil-
veyville and Dixon.
In 1879 Mr. Hochheimer settled in Willows, where he has re-
sided ever since. His. brother Moses had preceded him in 1876,
and had already established the mercantile business which later
was to develop into the well-known firm of Hochheimer & Com-
pany. He became a partner, and is still the president of the com-
pany. The store stands on the corner of Tehama and Sycamore
Streets, where it has been since 1878. It is a large, modern, up-to-
date department store, doing the largest business of any concern
in Glenn Coimty, and possibly in the Sacramento Valley. Like
many other similar establishments, it is the outgrowth of a pro-
gressive evolution, for it has been enlarged and remodeled a num-
ber of times. The present building was erected in 1891, and was
remodeled and modernized in 1911. As a natural sequence of the
well-known Hochheimer enterprise, branch stores have been
opened and are now maintained at Bakersfield, Orland and Ger-
mantown. The Bakersfield store is one of the largest and best-
eqipped modern department stores in Central California, and is
under the able management of two of the sons, Ira and Monroe.
Mr. Hochheimer is one of the most prominent men in the Sac-
ramento Valley. He is a director of the Bank of Willows, and was
one of the organizers of the Sacramento Valley Bank & Trust
Company, of Sacramento. He is also a director in the California
Agricultural Credit Association of San Francisco. For twelve
years he was a member of the board of managers of the Mendo-
cino State Hospital of Ukiah, and for four years president of the
332 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
board. Politically, too, Mr. Hocliheimer lias lieen prominent. He
has been a delegate to three national Republican conventions (St.
Louis, 1896; Chicago, 1908; and Chicago, 1916), and for thirty
years has been a leading member of the Eepublican State Central
Committee. His years of experience in business and public life
have made him well qualified to hold the positions for which he has
been selected. He has accepted them, not because of profit to him-
self, but because he could thus better serve the people of the great
state in which he is so interested. He is a very magnetic and
fluent speaker, and holds the attention and interest of his audi-
ences. In addition, he is so thoroughly conversant with every por-
tion of the state and of its needs that his words have weight and
carry conviction.
In the real estate world Mr. Hochheimer has been identified
with a number of important deals, which include a subdivision in
East AVillows and the Hochheimer subdivision three miles north of
Willows, both of which properties have all been sold off. He is
one of the owners of the Lemon Home Colony Tract, located north
of Orland, under the government irrigation system. This valuable
property of one thousand acres has recentlv been subdivided, and
is being sold off in forty-acre farms. Mr. Hochheimer has also an
equity in a number of ranch properties in the county.
Amiel Hochheimer was united in marriage to Miss Bertha
Blum, a native of San Francisco. They have four children : Ira,
manager of the Bakersfield store; Monroe, assistant manager of
the Bakersfield store; Jack, of Willows; and Mrs. Elsie Brown-
stein, of Los Angeles.
IRA HOCHHEIMER
Guided by the example and experience of two such prominent
and successful men in the department store business as liis father,
Amiel Hochheimer, and his uncle, Moses Hochheimer (whose
sketches appear in this book), it is not surprising that Ira Hoch-
heimer, while still a young man, should become the successful man-
ager of the branch store of Hochheimer & Company, located at
Bakersfield. Mr. Hochheimer was born in San Francisco, August
6, 1876, and removed with his parents to Glenn County, where
he grew to manhood. After the usual course at the public schools,
he attended the University of California, from which he graduated
with honors in the spring of 1898. Immediately on finishing his
college course he returned to Willows, and became manager of
the Hochheimer store here; and on the death of M. H. Wangen-
heim, the manager of the Bakersfield establishment, he was trans-
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 333
f erred to that city and became Mr. Waugenlieim's successor.
How well he has fulfilled all expectations since, at the age of
twenty-six, he entered on the heavy responsibilities of his new
post, may be seen from the successful clevelopment and almost
phenomenal growth of the Bakersfield store.
The same superior qualities which have characterized Mr.
Hochheimer's mercantile activities, have manifested themselves
also in other fields. For some time he was on the staff of Colonel
Seymour, of the National Guard of California, and also on the
staff of Governor Gillett, with the rank of colonel. Popular so-
cially, he has belonged to the Bakersfield Club, the Army and
Navy CluTj of San Francisco, and the Argonaut Club of San
Francisco. He is a thirty-third degree Mason and a Shriner.
WILLIAM W. MARSHALL
In the roll of honor of those pioneers of California whose
lives, and work, and sacrifices are reflected in the present pros-
perity of the state, the name of William W. Marshall, now
deceased, will have an enviable place. Born in Macon County,
Mo., September 26, 1837, he crossed the plains in 1852 in com-
pany with J. C. Wilson, driving a herd of cattle all the way to
California. Once arrived here, and somewhat settled, he mined
for a while in Calaveras and Amador Counties, and then, iu 1857,
went to Colusa County, where he took up government land fifteen
miles northwest of W^illows. He engaged in cattle-raising and
sheep-raising, and meanwhile kept adding to his holdings, until
at one time he owned three thousand acres of land. At one time
he farmed about two thousand acres to wheat and barley. His
stock operations also included the raising of mules and high-class
trotting horses; and among the latter, his horse Stranger won
many races at the local fairs, and on the trotting courses of San
Francisco. Such was the quality, too, of his sheep and cattle
that they won for him numerous medals. The old home ranch,
consisting of twenty-two hundred acres, is still in the possession
of the family.
In 1862, Mr. Marshall married Miss Elmira Halley, a native
of Illinois, who crossed the plains in 1854 with her parents, from
Iowa, then their home, when she was only ten years old. Her
father was G. W. Halley, who settled in Colusa County, where he
bought government land, and for many years successfully engaged
in the raising of cattle and hogs. G. W. Halley married Miss
Jane Sherman, a native of Illinois. Besides Mrs. Marshall, they
334 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
had two other children: Oscar Halley, of Red Bluff; and Mrs.
M. E. Alvarado, of Mountain Yiew, Cal. Mrs. Marshall still
relates many interesting experiences of pioneer days. They came
into Colusa County with their ox teams ; and for some time there-
after they used the oxen for travel about the country. She remem-
bers very well the antelopes and the wild Spanish cattle roaming
everywhere about the plains at Colusa. Four children were born
to Mr. and Mrs. Marshall. The eldest, Mrs. Nellie Bressler, now
deceased, was the mother of three children: Mrs. J. E. Carter, of
Sebastopol ; Mrs. E. G. Callender, of Petaluma ; and Lyle Bressler,
now twenty-five years of age, who lives on the old home ranch of
his grandfather, of which he has charge, and on which he is meet-
ing with success. The other children of Mr. and Mrs. Marshall
are : Mrs. Leonora Neate, of Willows ; James Edward, deceased,
the father of one son, Leon W. Marshall, who is studying dentistry
in San Francisco ; and Roy Marshall, of Willows.
William W. Marshall died in 1911, and was buried with due
Masonic rites. In his death the community lost an exemplary
citizen and an enterprising builder of the state. He was one of
the largest grain farmers in the county. His greatness, liowever,
did not consist merely in his spirit of enterprise. It was rather
his high sense of personal honor, and the elevated principles which
actuated him, and which he applied in every transaction and
would have the commonwealth adopt as its own, that made him
conspicuous as a leader among his fellow men. Mrs. Marshall,
who survives her husband, is still an active and energetic business
woman. She is a charter member of Marshall Chapter, 0. E. S.,
of Willows, of which she is Past Matron. In her religious life she
is a consistent member of the Christian Church.
HARBISON & KITCHIN
The ranch of thirty-nine hundred acres known as the Harbison
& Kitehin Ranch, located in Colusa County, is an illustration of
what can be accomplished by hard work, good management, and
intelligent api^lication. Until 1916 the partners raised wheat,
barley and stock on this property and other tracts that they
leased. They kept fort^' head of brood mares, and raised horses
and mules, together with about fifty head .of cattle each year. To
carry on this large ranching project properly, it was necessary to
make use of the most modern methods. They employed modern
machinery and implements, including a forty-five horse-power
Holt caterpillar tractor and a Holt combined harvester. Three
db^Ai^ (^.aaJcua:
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 337
sets of buildings have been erected on different parts of the
property; and everything has been put in shape to facilitate the
work of the partners and their helpers.
In 1916 two hundred acres of the land was prepared for
irrigation and planted to rice under lease. It yielded a good crop,
and the partners determined to plant a large acreage to rice in
1917. They entered into an agreement with Mallon & Blevins to
line, check up, irrigate and plant to rice three thousand acres of
their land. This was a gigantic undertaking. When the work
is completed, Mallon & Blevins are to get a deed to about nine
hundred acres of the tract, and a two-year lease on the balance
of the land that is put in rice. Under the terms of the agree-
ment the owners of the property are to receive three dollars per
acre for all land planted to rice in 1917, and six dollars in 1918.
They have great faith in the project, and are aiding in every way
to make it a success.
After the decision to plant their land to rice had been made,
the partners purchased nine hundred sixty acres in the hills of the
county and moved their stock to new pastures. If the rice
project proves anywhere near as profitable as present prospects
indicate, the increased valuation of the large ranch will place
Messrs. Harbison & Kitchin on an independent basis, and amply
reward them for the many years of labor they have spent in
developing the land from its original condition. Separate men-
tion of both members of this firm will be found elsewhere in
this work.
GEORGE HENRY PURKITT
The story of the life of George Henry Purkitt is one of inter-
est; and, were he alive to narrate it, the scenes that he witnessed
during his active career in California, the hardships that he en-
dured, and the obstacles that he surmounted would make a large
volume. His biography dates from January 18, 1838, when he was
born at Griggsville, Pike County, 111., and closes with his death at
Willows, Cal., on September 14, 1915.
Mr. Purkitt came of good old Colonial stock on both sides of
his family. His paternal great-grandfather was Col. Henry Pur-
kitt, of Boston, Mass., who was a member of the Boston Tea
Party, and who later served with distinction throughout the Revo-
lutionary War. He is buried in the Boylston Street Cemeterj^
on the edge of Boston Common. The maternal- grandfather was
Frederick Prevost, a son of Sir George and Lady Theodosia Pre-
vost. Sir George was an officer in the English navy. Upon his
338 . COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
death, Mrs. Prevost remained a resident of America, and later be-
came the first wife of Aaron Burr.
George H. Purldtt's father, George Tuckerman Purkitt, came
west from Boston to Illinois in 1831. In that state he attended
Jacksonville College with Richard Yates, who later became the
famous war governor of Illinois. On November 24, 1836, George
T. Purkitt married Miss Henrietta Prevost, at the old Prevost
homestead, about fifteen miles southwest of Jacksonville, the
county seat of Morgan County. They spent their lives in that
vicinity, and are buried in Mt. Sterling Cemetery.
Like his father, George Henry Purkitt attended Jacksonville
College, selecting civil engineering as a profession; and also, like
him, lie responded to the call, "Westward ho!" He started for
California with an ox-team train, and arrived in Sacramento on
July 6, 1862. From the capital city he went to San Francisco to
visit an uncle, John H. Purkitt, who was then in the employ of the
government in the custom house. After a short visit he went to
Sierra County and followed hydraulic mining for a year, and then
went to Yuba County and there continued mining on the Rabbit
Creek road for six months. Not succeeding in finding the "elusive
yellow metal," he went to Brown's Valley, in that county, and was
employed in a general merchandise store for a time. On May 5,
1865, he located in Marysville, where he kept books in the whole-
sale grocery house of G. A. Polk & Co., until 1868. He then went
to Colusa, where, in 1869, he served as deputy sheriff under I. N.
Cain. From 1872 to 1874 he filled the office of county surveyor.
In Sacramento, April 27, 1873, George H. Purkitt was united
in marriage with Miss Theodora Tiffee, a daughter of John Rich-
ard and Rebecca (Terrill) Tiffee. After his term of office as
county surveyor was completed, in 1874, Mr. and Mrs. Purkitt re-
moved from Colusa to the northwest part of Colusa County, that
part now included in the boundaries of Glenn County, and took
charge of the Tiffee estate, a ranch located nine miles west of
Willows. There they lived and farmed until 1889, when they
moved to the town of Willows.
Mr. Purkitt was always a stanch Democrat, and took an active
part in political affairs. Together with B. N. Scribner of Orland,
Nelson Davis of Butte City, Milton French and Joe Troxel, both
of Willows, he was appointed by Governor Markham a commis-
sioner for the formation of Glenn County. This commission met
in executive session on May 11, 1891, complimenting Mr. Purkitt
with the chairmanship. As a result of their labors, Glenn County
came into being with its present boundaries, and with Willows as
its eountv seat.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 339
Mr. Purkitt was the father of six children, five of whom sur-
vive him. There are three grandchildren. Herbert Titfee Purkitt,
the oldest son, died on August 24, 1901. Those living are : Claude
Fouts Purkitt, of Willows; Theodore Tiffee Purkitt,' of Woodland,
who is the father of one daughter, Theodora; Edna Louisa, the
wife of J. E. Knight, of Willows, and the mother of two children,
John Eichard Tiffee and George Purkitt; Georgie Harriett, the
wife of Homer S. Henley, of San Francisco, Cal. ; and Eebecca
Terrill, the wife of Charles F. Lambert, of Willows. Mr. Purkitt
was a man of unquestioned integrity, and loyal to his friends to
a marked degree. His body rests beside that of his beloved son,
in the family liurial plot in the city cemetery, at Sacramento.
CHAELES HUGH SOMEES
The name Somers recalls the reader of history to the period
of the early days before there was such a town as Willows, and be-
fore there was a railroad running through the valley; and to the
time when cattle roamed at will over the broad expanse of the
plains and through the foothills into the mountainous country.
The Somers family is one of the oldest in this section. Charles
Somers, the father of Charles Hugh Somers, owned a part of the
land upon which Willows was laid out. His name was a familiar
one to the early settlers, for he was one of the Argonauts of fortj^-
nine. A native of Eutland, Vt., he busied himself in that state un-
til the discovery of gold in California lured him away from peace-
ful pursuits to chance a trip around the Horn to San Francisco on
a sailing vessel. On his arrival here he sought the mining dis-
tricts in Placer County, and tried his fortunes there ; but not find-
ing the bonanza he had expected, he took up freighting from Sac-
ramento, and also engaged in fai'ming.
In 1872 he removed to what was then Colusa County. Later,
when the division was made, his holdings were in Glenn County;
and he had land right where the bustling city of Willows now
stands. He improved his quarter section of land, built suitable
buildings for his family, and raised grain and stock with a fair re-
turn for his labor. He sold out about the time the railroad was
building through this section ; and the farm was later cut up into
town lots and built up with residences. Mr. Somers started the
first draying business, which he followed until his death. He mar-
ried Mary Cameron, a native of Jackson County, 111., who came
across the plains in 1854 with her uncle, Joe Zumwalt, in an ox-
team train of immigrants. Joe Zumwalt was a pioneer landowner
340 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
in what is now the Willows section of Glenn County. The family-
is still represented by a son, James Zumwalt. Mary Cameron
Somers is now residing on North Lassen Street, in Willows. She
is an interesting woman, who can relate many thrilling incidents
of pioneer days in the Sacramento Valley. Of the ten children
born to this pioneer woman, two are deceased : Katherine, Mrs. J.
D. Crane, and Arthur. The eight living are: Mrs. Brigman,
Charles, Jennie, Belle, Lottie, Abbie, William, and Dollie. All re-
side in Willows except Mrs. Brigman, who lives in Sacramento,
and Lottie, of San Francisco.
Charles Hugh Somers was born in Placer Couutj^, near Au-
burn, on November 13, 1862. He was reared and educated in Wil-
lows after he was ten years old. As a lad he helped his father on
the home ranch, where he remained until he was twenty-one, after
which he went to work for wages on neighboring ranches in the
valley. He saved money enough to start in the express business,
which he followed for a time. Later he ran a wood j'ard, imtil
1895, when he entered the employ of the Southern Pacific Eailroad
Company. Four years later, he was made foreman of the section
on the Fruto branch, a position he filled with satisfaction for ten
years. He was then transferred to the Willows section, on the
main line, where his entire time is taken up with his duties. Mr.
Somers was a member of the old parlor of the Native Sons of the
Golden West, until it was disbanded. He has always taken great
interest in all matters that pertain to the early days in the history
of the state.
FOUNTAIN COLUMBUS GRAVES
The late Fountain C. Graves, of the Stony Creek section of
Glenn County, was one of tlie most prominent and well-known men
of the Sacramento Valley, in which he had lived since 1861. In
March of that year, he came to what was then Colusa County,
and bought one hundred acres of land, to which he added from
time to time, as he prospered, until he owned a thousand acres.
Here he raised good crops of grain, having on an average from
five to six hundred acres. Besides this, he raised cattle, sheep
and hogs, together with such other stock as he needed to carry
on his ranch work properly. With the advent of modern machin-
ery, he always kept abreast of the times and was up-to-date. He
was born in Pulaski County, Ky., July 6, 1828, a son of Hiram T.
and Parmelia (Nunnelley) Graves, both natives of that same
state. Robert Graves, the grandfather, was born in North Caro-
lina. He crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains with Daniel Boone,
/
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 341
his wife ridiug a mule, with her child strapped to her back, and
settled in Kentucky. Robert Graves was closely related to many
prominent families of historical renown. He was a nephew of
John and William Hancock, and a cousin of Gov. Clayborn F.
Jackson, of Missouri. He died in Pulaski County. In 1832 Hiram
T. Graves left Kentucky and settled in Macon County, Mo., where
he farmed for seven years, returning then to Pulaski County, Ky.
Four years later he went back to Macon County, where he was
busily engaged in raising tobacco until his death. Here, also, his
wife passed away.
The oldest of eight children, Fountain C. Graves was but
four years old when his parents settled in Missouri. He returned
with his parents to Kentucky in 1839. As his services were needed
on the farm, to help support the large family, he found little
opportunity to go to school. When he was old enough to strike
out for himself, he learned the trade of the stone mason, which
he turned to good account in later years. He remained in Ken-
tucky until 1854, following his trade, and then moved to Missouri,
whither his parents had preceded him. There he continued at his
trade, and also raised grain and stock.
On April 29, 1861, Mr. Graves started from Macon, in com-
pany with a band of emigrants, comprising fourteen wagons
drawn by oxen, liound for California. En route the oxen were ex-
changed for mules. The party reached Red Bluff on September
25, that same year. Soon after, Mr. Graves came down to Colusa
County, locating in what is now Glenn County, and the following
year purchased the place that thereafter remained his home until
he died. He suffered a severe loss when his house burned down in
1903; but he afterwards erected a modern residence, where he
and the family lived in comfort. He was always interested in
progress, and was one of the organizers of Stony Creek Irriga-
tion Ditch. He served as one of the commissioners of the county.
He it was who circulated the i^etitions for the road from Newville
to the river, for the first voting precinct between Newville and St.
John, for the first school district north of Nye district, and for the
location of the first post office between Newville and St. John, of
which he was appointed postmaster. He located the Chamberlain
brothers on a quarter section where Orland now is, declaring that
it would be the town site. In pohtics, Mr. Graves was a Republi-
can. Fraternally, he was a Mason of the Knights Templar degree.
Mr. Graves was married in Missouri to Lavina Jane Ashurst,
who was born in Pulaski County, Ky. ; and eight children were
born to them: Fernando Cortez, now deceased, who married
Sadie Hughes; Col. Fremont Ashurst, who married Nellie Estes;
William Robert; Harry Francis, who married Jessie Gav; Eliza-
342 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
betli, Mrs. W. H. Bates; Amy Helen, who became the wife of W.
P. Gay; Annie Bidwell, who married William A. Glenn; and Mar-
garet Carrie, the wife of Edwin Neilsen. Mr. Graves died at his
home on January 30, 1915 ; and his widow passed away on July 24,
1916. Their lives were well rounded out with good deeds and with
years of usefulness. They lived to celebrate their sixty-first wed-
ding anniversary. With their passing the state lost two more of
its pioneers, and two who always did their share to build for
all time.
CHAELES L. DONOHOE
An authority on rice culture, and a man of large experience
in affairs involving broad surveys and energetic initiative, Charles
L. Donohoe has done much to advance the interests of California
agriculturists, especially in matters pertaining to irrigation. He
was born in Sutter County, Cal., October 24, 1868. His father,
John Donohoe, was born in Dublin, Ireland, and was a sailor be-
fore the mast for many years, finally arriving in San Francisco,
in 1851. Going at once to the mines, he followed the fortunes of a
miner for about eighteen months near the site of the present town
of Oroville, Butte County. Later, he settled on a farm which he
had purchased seven miles north of Yuba City, and there followed
farming and stock-raising until his death, which occurred on June
12, 1902, at the age of seventy-six years. He was united in mar-
riage with Susan Lunney, who was also a native of Ireland, born
in County Tyrone, and who, after a useful life, passed away on
June 15, 1900, when in her sixty-fourth year.
Charles L. Donohoe was reared on the farm in Sutter County,
and attended the public schools to secure an education. After he
had finished school, he began teaching, and for four years was
thus employed in the schools of San Joaquin, Calaveras and Sut-
ter Counties. He then took a course in the Stockton Business Col-
lege, after which he studied law. He was admitted to the bar on
November 11, 1889, and that same month opened an office in
Marysville, where he began his practice. In 1890 he was a candi-
date for the office of district attorney of Yuba County, against E.
A. Forbes, but was defeated at the election. Since then he has not
mingled in politics.
Upon the organization of Glenn County, Mr. Donohoe was at-
tracted to the new section, and in November, 1891, took up hia
residence at Willows. Ever since that date he has been actively
identified with the upbuilding and development of the county of
his adoption. In 1891, he was one of the organizers of the Stony
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 343
Creek Irrigating Company, the pioneer concern of its kind in
Glenn County; he served as its secretary and manager, and car-
ried on the project with his associates until 1907, when they sold
out to the United States Government in furtherance of the Orland
project. In 1895, Mr. Donohoe organized the Orland Real Estate
Association, which purchased five hundred acres of land in the
northeastern part of Glenn County and subdivided the same into
fifteen-acre and twenty-acre farms. These were advertised exten-
sively throughout the East, and eastern men have profited by
answering the call and settling here. The organization and suc-
cess of this enterprise in irrigation and land development in the
Orland district was what brought about the government project in
this section in 1907.
Mr. Donohoe was instrumental, likewise, in the organization
of the Central Canal and Irrigation Company, which took over the
original ditch, of fifty miles in length, taking water from the Sac-
ramento River, and started the development of the lands now un-
der the Sacramento River Canal; and he was also one of the or-
ganizers of the Sacramento Valley Land Company, which pur-
chased three thousand acres of the Glenn ranch, six thousand
acres of the Packer ranch, and all of the John Boggs ranch. This
land was subdivided into smaller tracts, and was sold for from
forty to fifty dollars per acre, with water rights. Mr. Donohoe is
still interested in the subdivision of large tracts of land in the
Sacramento Valley-, which include property in the Orland section
under the government irrigation project, and other holdings in the
valley. In 1917 he completed a large deal involving some nine
thousand acres of land.
Mr. Donohoe handled all the litigation for the landowners in
connection with the Water Irrigating System, and succeeded in
getting the water necessary to supply their demands. He won a
fight in the courts that was carried on for a number of years, thus
securing a victory in the people's interest. He is considered one
of the best-posted men on water rights, irrigation laws, and mat-
ters pertaining to real estate in the Sacramento Valley. It was
his reputation for expert knowledge along the lines indicated, that
led to his appointment by Governor Hiram Johnson as a member
of the Water Problems Conference Commission for the purpose of
revising the water laws of the state, which commission went out
of existence at the session of the state legislature in 1916-1917.
As one of the organizers and directors of the Pacific Rice
Growers' Association, Mr. Donohoe has taken an active interest
in rice cultivation in the valley. His company was the first to
utilize the alkali lands, known as "goose lands," for growing rice,
having put in eighty acres in 1914. The success of that venture
344 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
brought about the present development ; and in 1917 about twenty
thousand acres was seeded to rice, which will yield a revenue of
some two million five hundred thousand dollars — principally from
land that was formerly of no value except as pasture for sheep and
cattle. This company is a live organization. In 1916 it had some
eleven hundred acres in rice ; and in 1917 this had been increased
to over two thousand acres.
From the time of his arrival in Glenn Conty in 1891 until
1909, there were no important cases in litigation before the courts
that Mr. Douohoe was not associated with on one side or the other.
Since 1909, however, on account of ill health, he has turned his
attention entirely to the real estate interests of the county and
surrounding country. From the beginning of the Johnson admin-
istration he has been a stanch supporter of Progressive policies,
and has done much to further the movements of the party in the
northern part of the state. He is not a seeker after ofBce, but
always gives his influence to promote good government, moral
uplift, and county development along every line. He is a self-
made man in every sense of the word. With his brother, Thomas
J. Donohoe of Alaska, Mr. Donohoe owns the old home ranch in
Sutter County.
In 1896, on August 13, occurred the marriage of Charles L.
Donohoe and Miss Jessie Keith, a native of Missouri. They have
one daughter, Frances Louise Donohoe, a student in the San Jose
Normal School.
AUGUST HENNING
A pioneer of what is now Glenn County, August Henning
plowed the land and planted grain on the very spot which is now
the town site of Willows. He was born in Germany, in 1850, of
poor but deserving parents, who gave him such advantages for ob-
taining an education as they were able to afford. He could see no
promising future for himself in his native land, and being ambi-
tious to forge ahead, he counseled with his parents and decided
that the United States held the opportunities he was seeking. In
1870 he arrived in Grand Island, Nebr., a stranger in a strange
land, and unable to speak English; but he was willing to work,
and accepted the first opportunity offered, spending two years in
that city. His objective point, however, was California; and as
soon as he had saved money enough to pay his fare and expenses,
he started, in 1872, for the land of his desire. Arriving in what
was then Colusa County, he worked for two years for wages on
the Zumwalt ranch. His experience there gave him confidence;
jj x>-
^^o'ivri^
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 347
aud iu 1874 he leased two Imiulred forty acres in what is now the
eastern part of the town of AM Hows, where the county hosjiital
now stands, and with his brother Henry for a partner, began raid-
ing wheat. Success crowned his efforts, and in due time he bought
four hundred acres north of Germantown, besides which he leased
three hundred twenty acres of the Montgomery ranch. Here he
continued in the raising of grain, which had to be hauled to Prince-
ton and thence shipped by boat to the markets. In 1879, still hav-
ing his brother as a partner, he rented two thousand acres of the
J. R. Talbot ranch, west of Willows. Meeting with good success,
the brothers continued their farming operations together until
1882, when they dissolved partnership. That same year, August
Henning opened a liquor store in Willows, which he ran for some
time. In 1901 he bought three hundred acres on the Sacramento
Eiver, in Glenn County.
August Henning has been twice married. His first wife died
in 1882, leaving two children, Walter Henning and Mrs. Laura
Duncan. At his second marriage, which occurred in 1887, Miss
Ellen McCallum became his wife. Two daughters blessed their
union. Gussie is now the wife of Dr. L. E. Tuttle ; and Nellie mar-
ried William Dean. Mr. Henning served froin 1901 to 1905 as a
member of the board of trustees of the city of Willows. He has
always been a progressive, public-spirited citizen, giving of his
time and means to advance the interests of his coimty. During
the many years of his residence in Willows he has made a host of
friends, who speak only in the highest terms of his upright, moral
character, and high ideals of citizenship. Fraternally, he is a
member of the Knights of Pvthias and of the Odd Fellows, at
Willows.
JOHN STEPHEN LOGAN
In California, more than in any other state in the Union, the
vigorous prosperity of the state is directly traceable to those pio-
neers who came out of the East to help build up the West, leaving
behind them all the comforts' of an eiTete civilization to confront a
life of untiring effort, full of hardships and rough edges, but with
promise of rich rewards to spur them on with renewed energy
when they found their spirits flagging. Among those who chose
that portion of the state which is now Glenn County as the scene
of their activities, John Stephen Logan is worthy of mention as
having been identified with the development of this section. Born
in Warren County, Mo., October 28, 1843, be comes of an old
Scotch-Irish family who settled in Kentucky, and later in Mis-
348 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
soiui, being contemporaries of Daniel Boone. It was in Missouri
that Mr. Logan was reared and educated, a son of Alexander and
Elizabeth (Quick) Logan, natives of Lexington, Ky.
Feeling the call of the West, as his fathers had before him,
Mr. Logan came to California, in 1866, via Panama, and located in
what is now Glenn County, where he engaged in farming and
stock-raising with the late Hugh A. Logan, with whom he became
associated and financially interested in the operating of large
ranches and stock interests, an association in which they continued
in amicable and harmonious cooperation. They incorporated their
holdings as the Hugh A. Logan Land & Cattle Company, and he
has been director and treasurer of the company ever since, devot-
ing to the business his time and the practical knowledge which his
years of experience have given him.
Aside from the stock-raising business, Mr. Logan is much in-
terested in horticulture. He has set out an orchard of a large
variety of trees, having found that locality particularly suitable
for both deciduous and citrus fruits, as well as almonds and wal-
nuts. A man of keen intelligence and a close observer, well read
and well informed on current topics, he is an interesting conver-
sationalist. Like most pioneer Californians, he is very generous,
dispensing the old-time hospitality; and fortunate is the visitor
who has the pleasure of being entertained by him. Liberal and
kind-hearted, he is ever ready to help those who have been less
fortunate than himself. A great lover of children, he never tires
of doing for them ; and they, in turn, show their gratitude for his
kindness. Emphatically a man of energy, Mr. Logan has never
been idle, but has continued to be one of the most enterprising and
active men in Glenn County, giving substantial encouragement to
every plan for the promotion of the public welfare.
WILLIAM J. PETERSEN
William J. Petersen is the owner of eighty-four acres of fine
land, situated three and one-half miles northwest from Orland.
Mr. Petersen was born in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, April 8,
1886. He was a pupil in the grammar schools of his home place
until he was fifteen, when he decided to come to the United States.
California was his objective point, and he arrived in Sonoma
County in 1901. For some time he was employed on a ranch near
Sebastopol, learning the ways of the country and acquiring the
ability to speak English, thus equipping himself to conduct his
own business at some future time. The young man saved his
money; and when he had enough to make a start for himself, he
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 349
rented some land and bought the implements and machinery neces-
sary to operate it with success. He raised fruit, grapes and
chickens, and also conducted a dairy. To do this successfully
meant hard work ; but he was young and vigorous, and ambitious
to build a sure foundation for his future success.
On January 6, 1914, Mr. Petersen arrived in Orland with
money to invest in land if he could find what he wanted. The
place where he is now located seemed to fill the bill, and he there-
fore bought it and took possession. Since then he has given his
time to improving the property and making it what it is today.
He has a fine dairy of thirty cows, high-grade Jerseys, with a
registered Jersey bull at their head. Fifty-five acres of the land
is seeded to alfalfa, which averages six tons to the acre, yielding
five crops annually. Mr. Petersen is a stockholder and a director
in the Orland Cheese and Butter Co., a firm which very materially
furthers the interests of the dairymen in the Orland district.
William J. Petersen was united in marriage with Miss Keike
Matsen, one of his countrywomen, who has proven her worth in
every way as a faithful helpmate and counselor. They have two
bright children, lima and Lillian, to add comfort and cheer to their
home. Both Mr. and Mrs. Petersen have a wide circle of friends
in their new home locality, who predict much prosperity for them,
and admire their thrift and public spirit.
CATHY M. SEHORN
A man who was always working for the interests of his fellow
citizens, and who held the esteem and good-will of his community,
was the late Cathy M. Sehorn, of Willows. He was born in Wythe-
ville, Va., in 1851, a son of Marion and Eebecca Jane (Wallace)
Sehorn, both of whom represented prominent families of the
South. The Sehorns are of German ancestry. Grandfather Se-
horn was a major in the Revolutionary War; and the maternal
grandfather was Colonel Adam Wallace, who also distinguished
himself in the Revolution. A brother of Cathy M. Sehorn is An-
drew Wallace Sehorn, or "Wall" Sehorn, as he is best known by
his friends in Glenn County.
The education of Mr. Sehorn was obtained in the subscription
schools of Virginia ; and he shared the fortunes of the family until
he came to California. After his arrival in this state, he was en-
gaged in farming and stock-raising in Tehama County for several
years. In 1888 he sold out and moved down into Colusa County,
and in the Elk Creek district resumed his farming operations. In
350 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
1893 Mr. Seliorn moved to the vicinity of Willows, and three years
later purchased a quarter section of land near town, paying two
thousand two hundred dollars for the tract. It was a barley field;
and with the exception of some eucalyptus trees, there were no
improvements upon the place. Mr. Sehorn wove the wire fencing
for cross-fencing the property; and aided by his wife, he made
every improvement now seen on the ranch. He laid out a neat
farm and set out trees — lemons, oranges, figs, and English walnuts.
He was among the first to graft English walnuts ; and he did that
service for many of his friends and neighbors, for years. He sank
a well and developed an excellent water system on his land, being
one of the first men to put in a pumping plant in this section. He
put in about twenty acres of alfalfa, and did a general farming
and stock-raising business with a fair degree of success. He
erected the present family residence, with other suitable outbuild-
ings necessary to the conduct of the ranch.
• In the midst of his own prosperity, Mr. Sehorn gave some
thought to the comfort and well-being of his neighbors. He built
the first swimming-pool in the county, a cemented tank thirty-five
by sixty-four feet in size. This is used as a public swimming-
pool, and is largely patronized by the citizens of Willows during
the summer. A public-spirited man, with decidedly Democratic
preferences, Mr. Sehorn sought to accomplish all the good he
could during his life ; and when he died, in January, 1916, he was
mourned by every one. He was a man who loved his home and
family, and his happiest hours were those spent in their society.
In 1888, while living in the Elk Creek district, Mr. Sehorn was
united in marriage with Miss Nellie Keith, a native of California,
and a daughter of Richard Keith, who came to California by way
of the Isthmus of Panama, and on his arrival here went to the
mines for a time, afterwards settling on a farm near Madison,
Yolo County. In 1871 he came to what was old Colusa County,
bought some railroad land, and began developing a ranch; but
finding that he could not get title to the land, he then moved into
Tehama County, where he became a large grain-raiser. He finally
gave up farming, and made one or two trips back to Nebraska,
after which he came to Elk Creek and there made his home. His
last days were spent with his daughter, at whose home he died in
1913, at the age of eighty-one years. Mrs. Sehorn 's mother was
Ellen Hubbard Cook, a woman widely known among the pioneers
of Glenn and Colusa Counties for the many charitable and kindly
services rendered to her neighbors in time of trouble and sickness.
She was teaching school at the time of her marriage to Mr. Keith ;
and afterwards she acted as a correspondent to the local papers.
She passed away in 1888. Four children were born to Mr. and
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 353
Mrs. Seborn. Leslie is married and has one daughter; Marion is
Mrs. H. J. De Tray, and is the mother of one daughter ; Vivian is
the wife of Theodore Kreiberg; and Cathy M., Jr., is employed by
Klemuier Bros., in the hardware store at Willows.
It was about tive years prior to the time of Mr. Seborn 's
death that Mr. and Mrs. Sehorn began the dairy business, furnish-
ing milk to customers in Willows. Mrs. Sehorn has forty Holstein
and Jersey cows, of high grade and well cared for, which are
milked with automatic milking-machines. This dairy was the tirst
in this section to use clarifying processes, and also the first to sub-
mit to the tuberculin test. With the assistance of her son-in-law,
Mr. Kreiberg, Mrs. Sehorn is making a marked success of this
part of her ranching enterprise.
HON. WILLIAM PIERCE HARRINGTON
A California pioneer of 1849, the late W. P. Harrington was
the leading citizen of Colusa during the thirty-three years of his
residence there. He was the pioneer banker, merchant, and rail-
road builder, and was universally loved for his public spirit and
generosity of heart. He was born in Damariscotta, Maine, on
April 17, 1826, and received his education in Lincoln Academy at
New Castle, after which he hired out as a clerk in a store in Rock-
land. On March 4, 1849, when nearly twenty -three, Mr. Harring-
ton started for California by way of Panama, with a party of thir-
teen others. On reaching the Isthmus, they found that there were
fully four thousand persons waiting to get transportation to San
B^rancisco. His party separated, but he organized another which
was successful in getting through; and he arrived in San Fran-
cisco on August 1, of that year. He at once set out for the mines
at Big Bar, on the Consumnes River, and spent three months at
placer mining. He was soon convinced that his forte lay in some
other direction; so he went to Placerville, where he was given
management of a general merchandise store for a time. In the
fall of 1850 he opened a store for himself; but the excessive
drought that year caused a scarcity of water, and mining could not
be carried on except at heavy expense. So he quit business and
went to Marysville; and there he engaged in the mercantile busi-
ness under the name of Crockett and Co., the firm later becoming
Harrington and Hazelton.
In 1859 a larger field opened up in the mining regions of Ne-
vada; and with J. C. Fall, J. A. Paxton, Judge Mott and James
354 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Wilson, he chartered a stage and visited Carson City, Virginia
City, Gold Hill and other mining camps. All were impressed with
the magnitude of the mineral resources of these places; and a
partnershijD was formed by Mr. Harrington, under the name of J.
C. Fall & Co., and a general merchandise business was carried on
at Carson City, with considerable success. The firm later became
Kincaid & Harrington, and then Kincaid, Harrington & Co. Dur-
ing this time Mr. Harrington was a member of the first legislature
of Nevada Territory, which met in 1861.
After he retired from business in Nevada, Mr. Harrington
came to San Francisco and became a stock broker. His attention
was soon called to Colusa County, where the public lands were be-
ing taken up by capitalists; and in 1869, in behalf of Decker &
Jewett, he came to Colusa to view, grade and purchase lands. He
remained six weeks, and was so much impressed with the natural
resources of the county that he disposed of his business in San
Francisco and the next spring came to Colusa to make it his per-
manent home. He first engaged in the real estate business with
"\V. F. Goad, and during that summer sold about one hundred thou-
sand acres of land. On September 15, 1870, with others, he organ-
ized the Colusa County Bank. Without solicitation, he was tend-
ered the position of cashier ; and from that time until his death he
was one of the bank's principal factors, having been a director,
and its president at the time of his death. He also held the same
position in the Bank of Willows and in the Colusa and Lake Eail-
road, and was a director of the Colusa Gas Co., the Colusa Milling
Co., the Colusa Packing Co., and the Colusa AgriciTltural Associa-
tion. He was a member of the Pacific Union Club and of the So-
ciety of California Pioneers, being vice-president of the latter at
the time of his death, on November 30, 1903. No more fitting trib-
ute can be paid to his memory than the opinions of his associates
and friends, who unite in saying that he was a conservative
banker, one of the first men of Colusa County, and one of the up-
builders of the Sacramento Valley.
On May 1, 1861, W. P. Harrington was united in marriage
with Sallie H. Tennent, a daughter of John Tennent of Marysville,
and a native of Lancaster, Ohio. They had five children, one of
whom died in infancy. The others are: Tennent, born July 11,
1864; William Merrill, teller of the Colusa County Bank, born No-
vember 18, 1866 ; Mary Augusta, born April 7, 1869, the wife of
A. P. Niblack, captain in the United States Navy; and Louise T.,
born February 15, 1876, the wife of W. D. Leahy, lieutenant-com-
mander in the United States Navy.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 355
FEANCIS X. TEEMBLAY, M. D.
Among those who coutribiited no little to the welfare of Wil-
lows by helping to make and to keep people well and happy,
Dr. Francis X. Tremblay will always enjoy an honored place. A
native of Quebec, Canada, where he was born on June 12, 1856,
the son of one of Quebec's well-known laymen, John B. Tremblay,
Francis X. Tremblay was reared and educated in his home town,
where he concluded his studies in the State Normal, preparatory
to specializing at the Victoria Medical College, in Montreal, from
which he was graduated in 1885.
After receiving his diploma from that famous Canadian insti-
tution. Dr. Tremblay came direct to California, and at Willows be-
gan the practice of medicine. A close student, and energetic and
ambitious by nature, he has spared neither time nor effort to make
himself a recognized authority on medical subjects among his pro-
fessional brethren. He is a valued member of the Glenn County
Medical Society. His constantly increasing practice has taken him
into practically every section of Glemi County, as well as to parts
of Colusa and Tehama Counties. He has made a name for himself
as one of the most active and progressive members of the medical
profession in his section of the state. As a public officer he has
served a term in the office of county coroner and public adminis-
trator; two terms as one of the town trustees, being president of
the board one term; and also a term as health officer of Willows.
Soon after the arrival of Dr. Tremblay in Willows, he bought
a piece of land in the southern part of the town and erected for
himself a fine Ijrick and stone residence, around which he planted
a varied orchard of orange, lemon, olive and walnut trees. To
these he has given the most painstaking attention, testing each in
respect to its growth in this climate and soil. He was among the
very first to experiment with fruits of this character in this sec-
tion. Adjoining his home, also, he acquired an acre of ground
planted with eucalyptus trees ; and not far away on the hills he
has set out four hundred olive trees, this being the first attempt at
olive culture in Glenn County.
In addition to his professional activities, Dr. Tremblay has
participated to some extent in real estate development. He has
erected five houses in Wi-llows, all of which he has sold. He
was one of the owners and developers of a chrome mine between
Newville and Elk Creek, Glenn County, which was later sold. He
is now interested in a manganese mine located near Stonyford,
and also in very promising gold-mining claims in Plumas County.
356 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
In 1911, Dr. Tremblay retired to private life ou account of ill
health, caused by long rides in all kinds of weather to minister to
the sick, for he never gave a thought to self when so called. In-
stead of spending his time in his home and with his books, he
wanted to get next to nature, and in consequence gave his time to
prospecting the hills of this section with the result mentioned
above. When he recovers his health it is his intention to once
more take up his profession, but along different and broader lines.
Two daughters were born into the home of Dr. Tremblay.
One is Mrs. Theolesca Hedden, who resides in Napa, Cal. She has
three children, Theodore, Marie Wuellesca, and Francis. The
other daughter, Xavia Tremblay, is a resident of San Francisco.
Dr. Tremblay is a member of Chico Lodge, B. P. 0. Elks. He is
accorded a high place in the citizenship of his adopted city.
WILLIAM F. HARLAN, M. D., D. 0.
A man of wide knowledge in all branches of medical science,
and a graduate of several colleges in his pursuit of a thorough
preparation for his chosen profession, Dr. William F. Harlan, the
well-known physician and surgeon of Arbuckle, Colusa County, is
winning for himself a prominent place among the medical men of
the county. A native of Wetzel County, W. Va., where he was born
on November 12, 1875, Dr. Harlan was raised on a farm and
received his preliminary education in the local schools, after which
he clerked in a store at Littleton, the same state, until 1901.
It was at this stage in his career that he decided to prepare
himself for the medical profession and began the study of Oste-
opathy. Going to Kirksville, Mo., he took a course in the Ameri-
can School of Osteopathy, graduating in 1904 with the degree of
D. 0. Following his graduation he located in Grand Forks, N. D.,
and practiced there until 1911. While practicing in North Dakota,
he went, in 1906, to Battle Creek, Mich., and took a course under
Dr. Kellogg in Hydrotherapy ; and in 1908, he pursued a postgrad-
uate course at the American School of Osteopathy, his Alma Ma-
ter. In 1911 he came to Arbuckle, Colusa County, to retire from
active practice. Here Dr. Harlan purchased a twenty-acre ranch
south of town and engaged in horticulture. He set out almonds on
the acreage, built a home, and settled down to enjoy the peaceful
life of a rancher. But the lure of further study proved too great,
and in 1915 he went to Los Angeles and took a course at the Pa-
cific Medical College, graduating that same year with the degree
of M. D. He also took a postgraduate course at the Osteopathic
College of Physicians and Surgeons, in that city.
!l^^^^U^-,;>~~^C^r^-^^ / /^,^^^'^^^M^ Ut,
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 359
Completing his studies in Los Angeles, Dr. Harlan returned
to Arlnickle ; and in June, 1916, he opened his present offices in the
Ash Hotel. These are fully equipped, including an operating
room fitted up with all the modern conveniences for operating. Dr.
Harlan is specializing in ear, nose and throat troubles. He is
meeting with a success made possible by his recognized profes-
sional skill, and by his intimate knowledge of the most recent dis-
coveries in medical science, supplemented by years of searching
study along both general and special lines. His practice is not
confined to Colusa County, but extends into the different counties
of the Sacramento Valley.
While in North Dakota, Dr. Harlan was president of the State
Osteopathic Society for two years, and the next two years was a
memlier of the executive committee of that body. Fraternally, he
is an Elk, a member of Marysville Lodge, No. 783; and an Odd
Fellow, a member of the Grand Forks (N. D.) Lodge, No. 4, I. 0.
0. F., and of the Eucamjjment at Arlmckle.
Dr. "William F. Harlan was united in marriage with Leona
Yale, a native of North Dakota. They are the parents of three
children: Virgil, Gertrude, and Melvin V.
MRS. THEODORA TIFFEE PURKITT, M. D.
The native ability, tact and consequent enterprise and amlii-
tion of the Argonaut are reflected in the professional advance and
financial success made by Dr. T. T. Purkitt, a member of one of
the most prominent families of the state, and the daughter of John
R. Tiffee, of whom mention is made on another page of this volume.
Theodora Tiffee was born in Petaluma, Sonoma County, but was
reared in Glenn County, where she attended the public schools.
Later she took a course at the Sacramento Seminary. On April
28, 1873, she was imited in marriage with George H. Purkitt, a
civil engineer. He was a native of Illinois, and had come to Cali-
fornia as a young man, where he followed his profession and
served for several terms as surveyor of Colusa County.
Mrs. Purkitt had been reared on her father's ranch, and was
very much interested in the various branches of agriculture and
stock-raising. After her marriage she devoted some of her time
and attention to pioneer experiments in the raising of fruits, as
early as 1877, setting out an orchard of a variety of fruits, which
she cared for so well that the fruit from her trees was considered
the finest grown in the valley. Her experiments with deciduous
fruits in those early days were an aid to many in their suljsequent
choice for planting in their orchards.
360 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
After living on a ranch for several years, Mrs. Purkitt de-
cided to take up the study of medicine ; and having sold the ranch
she removed to Willows. Soon afterward, she entered the Cooper
Medical College, San Francisco, and in 1894 she was graduated
with the degree of M. D., receiving the highest honors. She began
her practice in Willows ; and here she has since resided, an hon-
ored member of the State Medical Association, and a contributor
to the State Medical Journal. Dr. Purkitt has the distinction of
being one of the first woman physicians in the Sacramento Valley.
While devoted to her profession, she has not lost her love of the
country life in which she was reared, but has kept her interest
in the raising of live stock, and in agriculture and horticulture,
on land she has purchased in the county. She has developed fine
fields of alfalfa and rice ; has set out fig trees, and eucalyptus trees ;
and raises high-grade Holstein and Jersey cattle, and Berk-
shire hogs that are prize-winners. She loves nature, and takes de-
light in seeing trees, vines and flowers grow and flourish, to beau-
tify the homes throughout city and country. Her home at 444
West Sycamore Street is one of -the most comfortable in the city,
the yard being replete with all kinds of trees and flowers. She is
liberal and enterprising, always willing to aid those less fortunate
than herself ; and many are the men and women who have received
benefactions at her hands, as well as encouragement to make an-
other attempt to overcome the obstacles that seem to confront
them in their road to success.
Dr. Purkitt is the mother of six children. Her eldest son,
Herbert T., is now deceased ; Claude F., a prominent attorney of
Willows, is State Senator from the Fourth District in California ;
Theodore T., who married Miss Minnie Hume, of Redding, is pro-
prietor of a pharmacy and lives in Woodland ; Edna Louisa is the
wife of J. E. Knight, of Willows; Georgie Harriett became the
wife of Homer Henley of San Francisco ; and Eebecca T. married
Charles Lambert, Jr., of Willows. Dr. Purkitt saw that her chil-
dren all received a good education; the daughters all graduated
from Mt. St. Gertrude's Academy at Rio Vista, and were popular
and successful teachers in the schools of Glenn County before
their marriage. All this has been the result of her personal
efforts; and she is proud of her children's standing in the county
where their lives have been spent. There has been no project ad-
vanced in the county for bettering the condition of the people, or
for the development of the county, with a view to making of it a
better place in which to live, that has not had the hearty coopera-
tion of Dr. Purkitt ; and she has often taken the lead in such move-
ments. There is no one in her community that is more imiversally
loved and respected than is she.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 361
GEORGE A. WARE
The Ware family is of New England stock, and became estab-
lished in California at an early period in the history of the state.
George W. Ware, who was born in Penfield, N. Y., in 1832, came to
California by way of Panama in 1852, and settled in Colusa. He
established a general merchandise store with his brother-in-law,
under the firm name of Case & Ware, of which he became sole
owner some years later. As his business grew, the demand for
more room necessitated his erecting a new building ; and he put up
the second brick building in the county, opposite the old Colusa
House. For more than thirty-one years he conducted business in
the town. During that time jieople came from all parts of the
county to trade with him ; for he was noted for his reliability and
honesty, and made warm friends among his customers. In 1868 he
began to buy land and devote it to grain and stock-raising, adding
to his first purchase until he had over four thousand acres. His
estate was the result of his own industry, for he had no assistance
in any way. Some years after locating in Colusa George W. Ware
married Mary A. Corwin, who was born in Quincy, 111., and came
across the plains to California in 1853, with her parents and other
members of their family. Her father, Elisha Corwin, settled in
Marysville and followed the carpenter's trade for several years,
later removing to Colusa, where he died. Of the marriage of Mr.
and Mrs. Ware six children were born, of whom three are living:
Mrs. Alice Bedell, of Redwood City; George A., of this review;
and Mrs. Mary E. Drake, of New York City. Mr. Ware died in
1884, while on a visit to San Francisco, at the age of fifty-three
years. After his death, his widow remained in Colusa until 1891,
when she went to San Francisco to make her home. She passed
away on June 6, 1917, at the age of eighty-two. Her remains were
laid beside those of her husband, at Colusa.
The only living son of his parents, George A. Ware was born
in Colusa, November 27, 1868. He attended the public schools of
the town; and when he was old enough, he went to work on the
home ranch. Later, with a partner, J. C. Bedell, he began opera-
tions on the Ware estate, southeast of Williams. In 1892 he
bought out his partner ; and ever since then he has been operating
alone. He has seven hundred acres in grain, and five hundred
acres seeded to alfalfa. He raises from seven to nine tons of al-
falfa to the acre without irrigation, making four or five cuttings
annually. He holds the record in the state for unirrigated alfalfa.
His srain land vields from fifteen to twenty-five sacks to the acre.
362 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
on au average. Mr. "Ware is breeding up a fine herd of thorough-
bred Holsteins, principally dairy cows. He makes a specialty of
raising mules ; and many valuable animals have been sold from his
ranch. He also raises some hogs. He is known all over Northern
California as a leading farmer and stockman. Mr. Ware has a
real estate office in Williams, where he is active in subdivision
work. He is selling off the Gauthier tract of six hundred forty
acres near Williams. He is identified, also, with the oil interests
of the state, as president of the Williams Oil Co.
Mr. Ware was married in Oakland, in 1891, to Miss Alexine G.
Fairbairn, who was born in Chico. Her father was Rev. Alexan-
der Fairbairu, a native of Scotland. He was a graduate of Prince-
ton University, and a Presbyterian divine. Her mother was Helen
M. Edwards, of New York, who died in Colusa, in 1884. The
father died in Williams. Mrs. Ware was a lady of culture and re-
finement. While raised in the Presbyterian Church, she was a
member of the Methodist Church with Mr. Ware and their family.
She died in Woodland, April 17, 1916, leaving three children:
Helen M., the wife of W. R. Meyer, of Redwood City; Alexiue
Gertrude; and George Fairbairn, who is with his father on the
ranch. Mr. Ware is public-spirited, actively supporting all meas-
ures for the good of his county, and is firmly convinced that there
is a great future in store for this section of the state when its pos-
sibilities have been fully made known. Politically, he is a stanch
supporter of Republican men and measures. Fraternally, he is a
member and Past Master of Tuscan Lodge, No. 261, F. & A. M.,
of Williams.
WILLIAM FRANK MILLER
When it conies to talking of the pioneer days of '49, then
William Frank Miller, the iiopular merchant of Butte City, Glenn
County, will have a story to tell, and one that is always worth
hearing. He was born in Anderson County, Ky., April 1.3, 1848,
the son of Marshall and Amanda (Walker) Miller, both natives of
the sunny South, who came to California in 1849, crossing the
plains with an ox-team train of emigrants. Soon after their
arrival the father began to operate a ferry between Fremont and
Vernon, and it was here that his good wife died. She is buried at
the latter place. After his wife's death the father then went to
Nevada County and became one of the pioneer merchants of that
county, being located at Nevada City, or in the vicinity of that
place, at a settlement known as Coyoteville. He died there in 1859.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 365
It was while living in Nevada City that W. Frank and his
brother, Merritt H. Miller, had a narrow escape from death. The
incident is worthy of record, for Providence certainly interceded
in behalf of the future merchant of Glenn County. The home of
the Miller family, for his father had married again, was one of
the ijioneer structures of that day in the mining camps. Near b}^
stood a large dead pine tree that threatened to fall and crush the
building. One night the parents heard a creaking of the tree dur-
ing a strong wind; and before the crash came that would have
crushed the two boys asleep in their bed, they dragged them away
from danger just as the tree fell across the bed where the boys
had been sleeping but a moment before.
W. Frank was in his twelfth year when his father died. He
was thus left to shift for himself at an age when most boys are
considered helpless and entirely dependent. His schooling was
very limited. His education has been acquired largely b.y elbow-
ing the rough edges of the world, and his diploma came from the
"College of Hard Knocks." He is a pioneer, and the. son of a
pioneer; and he had the usual experiences of the pioneer's off-
spring. Ever since he was twelve he has made his own way in the
world, so that whatever he has accomplished is due entirely to
his own indefatigable exertions in self-reliantly following a defi-
nite course.
He worked in the mines in Nevada County, and then went to
Virginia City, in Nevada, where he mined for a time, mingling
with men of every description. Afterwards he worked at various
kinds of employment to make a living. He returned to California,
and for a time was employed on ranches in Colusa County. In
1863, he settled in what is now a part of Glenn County, and there
farmed on his own responsibility until the public lands came into
the market, when he preempted a tract near the present site of
Butte City. Later, with his brother, Merritt H., for a partner, he
carried on a grain ranch southeast of that place and made a stake,
so that he was enabled to open a store. This was in 1873, when,
with a ijartner, he opened one of the first stores in the little settle-
ment. Starting on a very small scale and in a very small building,
the firm of Miller and Eyan began to do a flourishing business.
Ever since the opening of the establishment, Mr. Miller has been
connected with the business, although several partners have been
associated with him at various times. The name of W. Frank
Miller & Co. has long stood for reliability, and the business has
grown to large proportions with the settling up of the country
round about. Branch stores have been opened at Princeton and
at Glenn, and a large and varied general stock of merchandise is
alwavs to be found in their stores.
366 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
The pioneer spirit of this worthy man was again demon-
strated when he went to the Klondike at the time of the gold
excitement in Alaska; bnt he did not find it attractive enough to
stay longer than two years, at the end of which time he returned
to his California home. Ever since, he has been a familiar figure in
Colusa and Glenn Counties.
As might be expected of a man who has met with success in
his various undertakings, Mr. Miller has been prominent in public
life. He is a loyal Democrat, and has served as a member of the
County Central Committee for many years, and as a delegate to
both state and county conventions. He was a member of the
board of supervisors of Glenn County after the division was made,
filling the office two terms with satisfaction to all his friends, for
he served the whole people with impartiality. For twenty years
he was postmaster of Butte City, and for a like period was agent
for Wells-Fargo Express Co. He was one of the organizers of
the Butte City school district, and has been a member of the board
of trustees ever since its organization. No more public-spirited
man can be found in Glenn County than W. Frank Miller.
On September 29, 1869, William Frank Miller was united in
marriage with Miss Elizabeth Eantz, a native _ of Illinois, who
crossed the plains to California with her parents in 1850, behind
the slow-moving oxen. Of this marriage nine children were born,
six of whom are still living. The oldest daughter is Mrs. Effie
Frances Wylie, of Corning, and she has three children. Mrs. Lena
Barham is the second daughter, and she has two sons and a daugh-
ter. Mrs. Gloria May Bondurant has one daughter and two sons,
twins. Alice D. is the fourth daughter, and married Charles Han-
son ; and Mrs. Achsah Moler, of Sacramento, is next to the youngest.
Miss William Franklin Miller, Jr., or "Frankie," as she is known to
her friends, is the youngest member of the Miller household, and
her father's namesake. The other children died in infancy and
early childhood. Mrs. Miller passed away on September 11, 1914,
one day less than sixty-four years of age, mourned by her family
and a very large circle of friends. The family are members of the
Christian Church of Butte City. Mr. Miller is a Knight Templar
Mason, and belongs to the Independent Order of Foresters, being
a charter member of Butte City Lodge, in which he was the first
Past Chief Eanger. He is known far and wide throughout the
Sacramento Valley as a man whose word is as good as his bond, a
tribute paid to comparatively few men.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 367
JOHN MEHL
The pioneer shoe dealer of Orland is John Mehl, who has
been a resident of California since 1873, when he arrived in
Marysville, a youth of seventeen. He was born in Baden, Ger-
many, and ujD to the age of sixteen attended the schools of that
country, gaining a good knowledge of the common branches of
education. During his last year in his native land, it was arranged
that he should go to America to join Charles Mehl, an uncle,
located in California and engaged in the bakery business at
Marysville. Accordingly, he boarded a vessel for New York, and
on his arrival came direct to Marysville, where he worked about
a year for his uncle. He was very much dissatisfied with his
environments, however, and did not like the bakery business; so
he left there and went to Colusa. There he served a three-year
apprenticeship with Benjamin Bropst, learning the trade of shoe-
maker. After he had mastered the trade, he worked for one year
in Yuba City and three months in Red Bluff. He then came to
Williams, Colusa Count}', and worked one year for Samuel Wild.
Some time later he bought out Mr. Wild's business, forming a
partnershii) with Otto Lunz, and carried on a shoe shop with
growing success. They opened a branch store in Orland, in
August, 1882, when the railroad was built to that town; and
since then Mr. Mehl has been in the shoe business in Orland. His
partner died in 1883, and their interests were then divided.
There is not a man doing business in Orland today whose
connection with the commercial interests of the place dates back
to the time of Mr. Mehl's arrival. In point of service, therefore,
he is the oldest merchant in the town. The first year he had a
small shop on Fifth Street. He then moved to his present location
on Fourth Street, where he had a modern front jjut on his
original store. He carries a full line of both dress shoes and
serviceable shoes, in all sizes, for men, women and children, and
also does a general repair business. Besides his place of business,
he owns a comfortable home in Orland ; and he has taken an active
interest in every movement that has been put forward to build up
the town. There were only five stores in the town when he started
his establishment ; and all the development of this section has been
witnessed by this pioneer merchant.
Mr. Mehl has been twice married. His first wife was Esther
E. Birch, born in Illinois, by whom he had three children : Bern-
hard L., a graduate of the University of California and now a
368 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
civil eugiueer in Sau Francisco; Flora, the wife of W. H. New-
house; and Eoss B., wlio assists his fatlier in the store. His
second marriage united him with Emily Brooks, also born in
Illinois, and a lady of culture and refinement. Mrs. Mehl is a
prominent member of the Eebekahs. She has passed all the
chairs of the order, and attended the Grand Lodge in San Diego.
Mr. Mehl is a member of Stony Creek Lodge, No. 218, I. O. 0. F.,
of Orlaud. He has served as treasurer of the lodge for twenty
years ; and he attended the Grand Lodge in San Francisco. He is
a charter member of the Encamijment and also of the Eebekahs.
As a man and citizen, Mr. Mehl has a high standing in Orland,
where lie is looked to for cooperation with every public move-
ment for the betterment of the community. He is a member of
the Lutheran Church.
BANK OF WILLOWS
No one knows better than the merchant or farmer living in or
near a live, growing town, what an important and absolutely es-
sential part a bank plays, and must play, in the growth of the com-
munity — a fact likely to be quickly appreciated by any one who
will remain for a while at W^illows, and note the flow of commer-
cial and financial life through the daily transactions of the Bank
of Willows. In 1876, W. C. Murdock and B. Marshall established
a private bank under the firm name of W. C. Murdock & Co. ; and
on September 2, 1880, it was converted by Mr. Murdock and N. D.
Eideout into the incorporated Bank of Willows, with a capital of
two hundred thousand dollars. The president was Mr. Eideout;
the vice-president, A. A. Jackson; and the cashier, Mr. Murdock;
and in September, 1881, P. H. Green became assistant cashier.
In April, 1889, the controlling interest was sold to stockhold-
ers of Colusa County Bank, the new officers of which were William
P. Harrington, president; Milton French, vice-president; B. H.
Burton, cashier; and P. H. Green, assistant cashier. On January
1, 1904, Mr. Burton became president; Milton French, vice-presi*-
dent; and Mr. Green, cashier; while C. E. Wickes succeeded Mr.
Green as assistant cashier. The personnel of the bank has since
continued the same, except that, on the death of Milton French,
Frank Moody succeeded him as vice-president, in January, 1917.
The bank now has a commercial department with a paid-up
capital of three hundred thousand dollars and a surplus of two
hundred thousand dollars, and a newly established savings depart-
ment with a paid-up capital of fifty thousand dollars. The assets
of the bank have now reached a total of one million, three hundred
^^5^-^
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 371
twenty-six thousand, nine hundred sixty-four dollars. Thus, the
stability of the bank and the conservative policy of its officers have
gained the entire confidence of the people, to such an extent that it
has by far the largest deposits of any bank in the county. The
bank's old home was in their old building on the southwest corner
of Walnut and Tehama Streets until in 1911, when they moved
across the street into the present substantial modern fire-proof
building erected of granite and Utah white stone, one of the most
beautiful buildings that adorn the town.
PARLEY H. GREEN
In the life of this successful banker of Willows are illustrated
the results of perseverance and energy. He is a citizen of whom
any community might well feel proud, and the people of Glenn
County accord him a place in the foremost ranks of the represent-
ative business men. Identified with the history of Glenn County
from its beginning, he has witnessed its gradual growth, the devel-
opment of its commercial interests, and the increase of population
by the removal hither of men of enterprise, intelligence and high
standing. No better name could be selected to suggest the com-
mercial soundness and the financial stability of Willows than its
far-seeing and enterprising banker. Parley H. Green. He was
born at Fort Wayne, Ind., March 25, 1855, a son of Corydou and
Sarah (Huss) Green, both natives of Ohio and descended from old
New England stock. He is also a lineal descendant of Gen. Joseph
Warren, killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Corydon Green was
a grain buyer and a well-kuown business man of Fort Wayne.
It has meant a good deal to manj^ Americans to have been
born in the Hoosier State, and Parley H. Green made the most of
his boyhood there. He was educated in the grammar and high
schools of his native city, after which he chose as his profession
the work of an accountant. In 1877 he came to California, and for
a time was in the employ of the Sweepstake Plow Co., at San
Leandro. Two years later he removed to Colusa County, and here
entered the employ of his uncle, Warren Green, who was engaged
in the sheep business. Three years later he accepted a position as
an accountant in the Benicia Agricultural Works in Benicia, contin-
uing there until 1881, when he resigned to enter the Bank of Wil-
lows as assistant cashier.
When B. II. Burton was elected president of the bank in 1904,
Mr. Green was made cashier, a position he now holds. He is one
of the best-known bankers in Northern California, and his record
372 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
of more than thirty-six years in this one bank is something to be
proud of. He is now the oldest director of the bank, in point of
service, having been elected a director on January 15, 1885, and
having served continuously ever since. He is one of the directors
of the First National Bank of Willows, and of the Bank of Prince-
ton, which was organized by Colusa and Willows capitalists; and
he has been a director and secretary of the Willows Warehouse
Association since 1883. Besides these varied interests, Mr. Green
has been active in the affairs of the county and of Northern Cali-
fornia in general.
The agricultural interests of Mr. Green are large, including a
stock ranch of over eleven thousand acres in the foothills and
mountains west of Willows. His ranches support over eleven hun-
dred head of full-blooded and graded Durham cattle, which are
grazed on the mountain ranges in the summer, and in the fall are
brought down to the foothill and valley ranches. Those ready for
beef are marketed each spring.
Mr. Green chose for his partner in life Miss Mary Augusta
Knight, a native of Michigan. They were married in Sonoma
County in 1898. Mrs. Green is an active participant in social, re-
ligious and civic affairs in Willows; and like her husband she
has proven a positive factor in the welfare and progress of the
community.
JESSE CURL STOVALL
Two notable pioneer families are represented in the life story
of Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Curl Stovall. Mr. Stovall was born in
Rutherford County, Tenn., on January 19, 1822, a son of William
Preston Stovall, a farmer of that state, who removed to Missouri
and settled in Carroll County, where he prospered as an agricul-
turist imtil his death. William Stovall 's wife was Mary Drake,
before her marriage. She also passed away in Missouri. The old-
est in a family of two sons and two daughters, Jesse Stovall grew
up to manhood on his father's farm in Missouri, meanwhile re-
ceiving such instruction as was possible in private schools sup-
ported by his father and other neighbors. Until 1850, he was en-
gaged in farming and in running a flour mill at CarroUton, Mo.
That year, Mr. Stovall set out as a member of an ox-team train,
to cross the plains to the Pacific Coast. He imderwent the usual
hardships, braving the dangers incidental to that adventurous un-
dertaking, and arrived safely in Placer County. There he mined
for a year, and then threw aside the pickaxe and shovel because
failing health warned him of the necessity of a change. At Sacra-
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 373
mento lie took up freighting aud teaming ; but soon after, he went
to Cache Creek, Yolo County, where, with Jefferson Wilcoxson, be
began to raise sheep, cattle and horses. Experience showed, how-
ever, that their range was insufficient; and so they drove their
stock into Colusa County, where they bought government land,
and added as fast as possible to what herds they possessed. In
1858 they purchased one hundred sixtj' acres, long the old home
place of the Stovalls, situated some seven miles west of Williams ;
and this formed the beginning of the great area — a range of some
forty thousand acres — which the partners acquired and continued
to hold, their partnership lasting throughout their life. In 1890, .
the enterprising ranchmen incorporated their interests under the
firm name of the Stovall-Wilcoxson Co., of which Mr. Stovall be-
came president ; and for years the sheep-raising operations of this
company were among the most extensive on the Coast. They
sometimes owned as many as ten thousand head. Economic and
other conditions, however, operated to make the enterprise less
profitable than it had been; and the Stovall-Wilcoxson Co. then
sold most of their flocks, or exchanged them for cattle and hogs,
and went in for the raising of grain. The company also erected a
flour mill and put up warehouses at Williams, where they carried on
a live grain business.
Decidedly a prominent factor in the promotion aud upbuilding
of almost every worthy interest here, the late Mr. Stovall was the
organizer of the Bank of Williams, and served as its president
until his death, on November 19, 1902. His active participation in
the fraternal life of the Odd Fellows contributed to his popularity
in social circles; while his energetic support of Democratic doc-
trines and policies brought him before the public and enabled him
to extend his range of influence.
In the old town of Sonoma, the scene of the raising of the
"Bear Flag," Jesse Stovall was married on March 3, 1859, to
Miss Mary E. Moore, a native of Monroe County, Mo., and a
daughter of Eobert Moore, who was born in Kentucky. The fam-
ily was originally of Virginia, where the grandfather, Travis
Moore, was a farmer until his migration to the Blue Grass State,
and then to Missouri, where he was engaged as a farmer till his
death. Robert Moore also followed the life of a farmer, remaining
in Missouri imtil 1853, when he rigged up a comfortable prairie
schooner for his family, which then consisted of his wife and seven
children, and crossed the wide plains to California. Leaving home
on April 19, the train traveled along the Carson route to Eldorado
County, and on September 19 reached Gold Hill — historic ground,
for in that locality was the spot where gold was first discovered at
Colonel Sutter's mill. Although there was but a small party in
374 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
the train, loaded on to seven wagons, the emigrants had come
through safely after exactly five months of trying experiences on
the road. At Gold Hill, Mr. Moore stopped for a year to try his
luck at mining. He then located further down in the Sacramento
Valley, on the Norris grant, but later removed to Sonoma, where
he bought and improved a fine farm, engaging in both general
farming and horticulture. Later still, he removed to Hollister,
San Benito County; and there his death occurred at the age of
seventy-four years. He had been a consistent member of the Pres-
byterian Church, and was no less a faithful Odd Fellow.
Mrs. Moore was equally well connected. Before her marriage
she was known as Lucilla Sproul, a daughter of William Sproul,
who moved from Kentucky, where she was born, to Missouri, and
there farmed until his death. His wife was Sarah Davis, a cousin
of Jefferson Davis, Ex-President of the Confederacy. They, too,
were valued members of the Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Moore
died at Santa Ana, the mother of nine children, of whom four sons
and three daughters are still living. Among these is Mrs. Stovall,
who spent her thirteenth birthday on the plains, en route for
her new home in California, and who, during her first year in Cal-
ifornia, at Gold Hill, frequently visited the place where gold was
first discovered- by John Marshall, at Sutter's Fort. She was edu-
cated principally in the public schools at Sacramento and Sonoma,
and had the satisfaction of being married in her father's home.
When Mrs. Stovall settled on the ranch west of Williams with
her husband, in 1859, conditions were indeed primitive. Wild
cattle roamed the plains, for there were no fences. Colusa was the
nearest trading point. The old home place was a bare field, very
different from the acreage now covered with large shade trees.
For the first twelve years they lived in a small house. Later a
modern residence, of one and one-half stories, was erected; and,
little by little, orange and lemon trees, as well as other fruit trees
and bushes, were set out. Today, the largest orange, lemon and
fig trees in the countj' are to be found on the ranch. Mrs. Stovall
has thus been a witness to all the changes that have taken place.
Since the death of her husband in 1902, she has made her home
in Williams. She is a member of the Wednesday Club and the
Eed Cross Society of W^illiams, and a communicant of the Presby-
terian Church. She is a woman of sterling character and winsome
personality, who imparts to others some of the cheerfulness and
inspiration which have brightened her own life.
Among the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Stovall are Corde-
lia, who became the wife of Eeuben Clarke, and died near Wil-
liams ; Mary, who died at the age of thirteen years ; William Pres-.
ton, who died at the age of twenty-nine years ; Jesse, who accident-
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 375
ally shot himself while Imnting, at ten years of age; James M.,
cashier at the Bank of Williams ; H. Cnrl, manager of the Stovall-
AVilcoxson Co. ; Charles E., who was accidentally killed by being
thrown from his horse; and Mabel, the wife of E. A. Brim, a
rancher near Williams. Among the pioneers of California, Mr.
and Mrs. Jesse Curl Stovall well deserve a place.
MRS. SARAH W. CARY WILLIAMS
A native of Bucyrus, Ohio, Mrs. Sarah Cary Williams was
liorn on January 27, 1832, a daughter of Aaron and Phoebe
(Thompson) Cary. She was reared in the states of Ohio and In-
diana, her parents settling in the latter state, at Greenfield, La
Grange County, in her early childhood. She was the youngest of
a large family of children, and in 1858 came with her sister, Jane
W., to California, by way of the Isthmus of Panama. Upon their
arrival they at once located in Colusa, where, on March 13, 1860,
Sarah was united in marriage with W. H. Williams. He was a
native of Maryland, and was the founder of the town of Williams,
Colusa County, Cal. Thus, Mrs. Williams became the first lady of
the town, where she resided until the time of her demise. She was
one of the pioneers who shared the dangers and hardships which
accompany the founding of a new commonwealth ; and she gave to
the task the influence of her upright life, conscientious fulfillment
of duty and uncomplaining courage.
When Mrs. Williams and her husband first settled in Wil-
liams, they were surrounded by broad prairie lands. Their house
was the only one in the vicinity. This was destroyed by fire a
little later, and was rebuilt of brick hauled from Marysville, a dis-
tance of thirty-six miles. The new house served as a hotel until
another brick building was erected. Mrs. Williams could recall a
five-mile stretch of water which, during the early days before the
levees were built, lay between Williams and Colusa, a town ten
miles distant, and over which passage had to be made in a boat
during the time of high water. In July, 1876, the railroad was put
through, and the town of Williams was laid out and founded.
Although lacking in physical strength, Mrs. Sarah Williams
was gifted with an indomitable w^ill; and, like her ancestors, she
was noted for her steadfastness of purpose. Her main ambition
in life seemed to be to bring pleasure and comfort to those about
her, regardless of self ; and many are the lasting memories of her
unselfish kindness still held sacred in the hearts of those with
whom she came in contact. She was a great sutferer through life,
376 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
though she complained but little. On the morning of February 6,
1908, she passed away at her home, after only a few days' illness.
Her last words voiced her concern for the comfort of the watchers
about her bedside, and her death was painless and peaceful. Her
friends loved her for her estimable qualities of womanhood; and
her children cherish the memory of her unselfish motherhood.
Mrs. Williams was a descendant of a wonderful family. She
traced her ancestry back to the time of Edward the First; to
Adam Cary, who was Lord of Castle Cary in Somerset, England.
In America she traced her ancestry to John Cary, a native of
Somersetshire, England, who joined the Pljmiouth Colony in 1634.
His name was among the original proprietors of Duxbury and
Bridgewater. The Cary Memorials trace the descendants of John
Cary to the ninth' generation. Sarah W. was born of the sixth
generation. She was a cousin of the poetesses, Alice and Phoebe
Cary, also members of the sixth generation in this country.
Of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Williams four children were
born : Harriet May, who became the wife of J. R. Moody ; Laura,
who died at the age of four years ; Lulu, the wife of S. H. Callen ;
and Ella, Mrs. Harry W. Manor. Mrs. Williams was liberal in
her support of all worthy causes and benevolent undertakings, and
gave generously to the churches of her community.
From the pen of Phoebe Cary, under the head of ' ' Entering
Heaven," we copy the following lines:
Softly part away the tresses
From her forehead of white clay.
And across her snow-white bosom
Let her pale hands lightly lay:
Never idle in her lifetime
Were they folded thus away.
She hath lived a life of labor.
She hath done with toil and care ;
She hath lived a life of sorrow,
She hath nothing more to bear ;
And the lips that never murmured.
Nevermore shall move in prayer.
JAMES WILSON CRUTCHER
The history of many a notable American family is a story of
successive migrations. This is illustrated by the family of James
Wilson Crutcher, whose ancestors came from Virginia, where the
famih' was established in colonial days; removed to the frontiers
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 377
of Kentucky ; aud afterwards entered upon a timber claim in Mis-
souri. Here both the grandfather and his sons toiled at the heavy
task of clearing the land and preparing the soil for cultivation.
The grandfather lived to an advanced age, and in his later years
was surrounded by comforts, and even luxuries, where once there
was only a wilderness. Among his children was a son named
Samuel, who was born in Kentucky, and became an extensive
farmer in Montgomery County, Mo. Samuel Crutcher married Miss
Eliza Ann Holliday, a native of Kentucky, and a member of the
Virginia Hollidays, who came from England. Stephen Holliday
married Miss Annie Hickman, the daughter of James and Hannah
(Lewis) Hickman, who were also jjioneer Virginians. In Stephen's
family was a son, Elliot, who was born in Culpeper County,
Va., in 1786, and when two years old was taken by his parents to
Clark County, Ky. In 1810, he joined the Christian Church; and
he continued in that communion until his death. In 1812, he vol-
unteered in Captain John Martin's company at Winchester, Ky.,
and actively served against the Indians until the Eiver Raisin de-
feat, January 18-22, 181.3, when, after having maintained the brav-
est kind of fight for two days, he was taken prisoner by the sav-
ages, who subjected him to most cruel treatment and to intense
suffering by cold. After returning home, in April, 1813, he took
iip farm pursuits ; and the following year he married Miss Rachel
Johnson. She was born in Maryland in 1791, of Gernjan descent,
and died in 1874, having survived her husband five years. Among
their eleven children, the eldest, born in 1815, was Eliza Ann, who
was married to Samuel Crutcher. Samuel Crutcher and his wife
both died in Missouri, the former at the ripe age of seventy-three
years. In their family there were three sons and a daughter. The
sons came West. E. W. Crutcher settled in Idaho;. O'Bannon
Crutcher died in Nevada ; and James W. Crutcher is the suliject
of our sketch.
James Wilson Crutcher was the youngest of the family. He
was born in Montgomery County, Mo., on April 17, 1842, and
passed his boyhood days uneventfully on the home farm, attending
school in a log cabin. On April 15, 1863, or two days before at-
taining his majority, he joined a large party of emigrants with
mules and horses and set out for the long trip across the plains to
the Pacific Coast. He traveled by way of Omaha, along the north
side of the Platte River, across the Rockies, through South Pass
and on to Salt Lake, along the Reese River to Austin, and then to
Muddy Springs. He stopped for a time at Carson City, Nev., be-
fore coming on to California. Soon after reaching Sacramento, he
met Major Jeff Wilcoxsou, and took charge for him of his private
toll road in Placer County, a position he held for more than four
378 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
j^ears, collecting the tolls, and keeping the road in repair. In the
spring of 1868 he went to Sacramento, where he took up work in
Mr. Wilcoxson's office. About that time he entered and attended the
Pacific Business College, in San Francisco, after which he re-
turned to Sacramento and continued his office work for a couple
of years. He then went to Jacksonville, Ore., in 1870, as book-
keeper for Major J. T. Glenn ; and when he came back to Califor-
nia, in 1874, he was employed in the ranch store of Dr. H. J.
Glenn, at Jacinto, Colusa County.
While at Jacinto, in June, 1875, Mr. Crutcher was married, on
the Glenn ranch, to Miss Annie E. Houchins. She was born in
Monroe County, Mo., and about 1873 accompanied her father,
Samuel Houchins, and other members of his family, to California,
where they settled upon a farm at Jacinto. Nine children were
born to Mr. and Mrs. Crutcher : Clarence W., of Woodland ; Leona,
the wife of L. L. Wilson, of Madeira County : Sam. E., postmaster
at Maxwell ; Nellie, the wife of the Rev. Emrich, pastor of the
AVilliams Christian Church; and James C, Crawford, Harry H.,
Glenn, and Anna Belle, the wife of Otto Miller, of Williams.
In 1876, in partnership with Alec Manor, Mr. Crutcher opened
the second store at Williams, and there engaged in general mer-
cantile pursuits, continuing the same until 1878, when he was
elected justice of the peace. The store remained in his possession
until he was chosen by the people, in 1898, on the Democratic
ticket, as county clerk and recorder. He won the election by a
majority of eight hundred, and in January of 1899 took the oath
of office. In 1902 he was again elected, without opposition, to
serve until January, 1907. During that time he made his home at
Colusa. For the past six years he has been justice of the peace at
Williams, where he is now serving his second term. In early days
Mr. Crutcher was a school trustee, and he is still interested in the
cause of education. He is an active member of the Chamber of
Commerce of Williams. Fraternally, he is a charter member of
Tuscan Lodge, No. 261, of the Masons at Williams, of which he
was secretary for many years.
LEVI JEFFERSON McDANIEL
One who played a part in the right control of public atfairs in
Glenn County, where his memory is still held in reverence, was
Levi Jefferson McDaniel, born in that part of Colusa County
which is now Glenn County, August 8, 1858. He attended the pub-
lic schools, and later too.k a course at the Pacific Methodist College
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 381
at Santa Eosa, after which he settled ou the old home raueh of
thirteen hnndred acres near Butte City, and engaged in raising
grain, and stock. His father was Elijah McDaniel, a native of
Roane County, Tenn., where he was born on July 4, 1820. At the
age of fourteen Elijah McDaniel went with his father to Illinois,
where, in January, 184:2, he naarried Sarah Ann Gore. He settled
in Wayne County, and later removed to Schuyler County. In 1853,
with his wife and four children, he crossed the plains to California
in an ox-team train, and in the fall of that year settled in the Sac-
ramento Valley, where he built a log house at Painter's Landing;
and here, on October 4, was born a daughter, the first white child
born in the valley on the east side of the Sacramento River, who
later became Mrs. Annand. Mrs. McDaniel died on September
8, 1889.
In 1881, Levi McDaniel married Hattie Griggs, an estimable
woman, born in Santa Rosa, who proved her value as a true help-
mate. By her he had four children: J. E. McDaniel; Mrs. Ethel
Lane ancl Mrs. Elva Melville, both living at Oakland ; and Frank-
lin, who died in infancy. Politically, Mr. McDaniel was a Demo-
crat ; and he was active in the latter years of his life in the coun-
cils of the party. Fraternally, he was a Mason and a Forester, be-
ing Past Chief Ranger of the Butte City Lodge. He was an active
and consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South,
and was a steward of the church at the time of his death, on Jan-
uary 15, 1905. At his passing the state, and particularly Glenn
, County, lost a progressive citizen, and a man who commanded the
respect of all who knew him. After his death, Mrs. McDaniel took
over the management of the ranch, with the aid of her son, and
conducted it successfully until the property was sold.
RUFUS G. BURROWS
One of the earliest settlers in the Newville section of Glenn
Countj', who became a large landowner there, controlling thou-
sands of acres, and whose influence, always for the better things
in life, is still perceptible in that favored region of our state, is the
late Rufus G. Burrows, who was born at La Porte, Ind., April 8,
1834. His father was Arthur Burrows, a native of Pennsylvania,
who became an early settler in Indiana, removed to Illinois, later
went to Missouri, and still later located on the present town site
of Sidney, in Fremont County, Iowa. In 1845, he crossed the
plains to Oregon, and settled for a while in what is now Hillsboro,
Washington County. Then he removed to the Umpqua Valley,
382 COLUSA AND GLEXX COUNTIES
where his death occurred. His wife, who was formerly Nancy
Rice, a native of Ohio, married again, becoming the wife of Eufus
Hitchcock.
In 1848, Eufus Burrows, with his stepfather and his mother,
started across the plains for California. William Wambaugh was
the captain of the train, which consisted of fifty wagons, two
hundred emigrants, two hundred fifty head of oxen, two hundred
fifty head of stock cattle, and fifty head of saddle horses. They
arrived in Sacramento in August, of the same year, and reached
Sutter's Fort on September 10, 1848. There they leased the old
Sutter residence, and utilized it for a hotel until the following
spring, when they removed to Carson Creek, en route to the
southern mines. On account of the death of a daughter, they
returned to Sutter's Fort, after which they went to Green Springs,
Eldorado County, and there engaged in the hotel business. While
in that vicinity, both Mr. and Mrs. Hitchcock passed away.
Eufus Burrows was the fifth in a family of six children, and
was educated in the schools of the Middle West, coming to Cali-
fornia, as has been stated, in 1848. Later, he was sent back East
to Albany, N. Y., to attend school there; but the death of his
stepfather led to his being callel back to California. After the
death of his mother he went to Oregon, where he remained until
1857, when he settled at Newville. There he resided up to the
time of his death, which occurred on September 13, 1913. At that
time, he had some three thousand acres well stocked with cattle,
sheep and hogs, and devoted to the farming of grain. In the
later years of his life his two youngest sons became partners with
him on his ranch.
In Multnomah County, Ore., on May 24, 1854, Eufus Burrows
was married to Charlotte T. Hull, a native of Pike County, 111.,
who was born in 1841, and who is now living in Willows, the old
home ranch at Newville being rented. Her father, Cyrus B. Hull,
a native of New York, was a carpenter and millwright by trade,
who crossed the plains to Oregon with her and her mother in 1852,
and who met with a sad accident on the journey. He was shot by
his own gun, and although every relief possible was offered him he
never fully recovered from the wound. For a number of years he
resided in Oregon, and in 1863 settled at Newville near his daugh-
ter, where he engaged in sheep-raising. Notwithstanding the acci-
dent referred to, he lived to be seventy-six years old. He was
survived by the following children : Mrs. E. G. Burrows, of Wil-
lows ; Mrs. Electa Murphy, deceased ; Mrs. Mary Hooper, of Hum-
boldt County; Telemachus Hull, also of Humboldt County; John
J. Hull, farming in the Newville section; Daniel Hull, of Tehama
County; Charles Hull, deceased; Mrs. Aurora Marilla Millsaps,
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 383
of Corniug; Mrs. EUeu Metoalf, of Los Angeles; Cyrus B. Hull;
and Mrs. Emma Scribner, of Washington. The maiden name of
Mrs. Burrows' mother, who died many years ago, was Nancy
Shinn.
Several children blessed the family life of Mr. and Mrs. Bur-
rows. Orlando A., a merchant at Sites, is married and has a son
and a daughter. Isaac F. and Sylvester are both deceased. Mary
C. married William Millsaps of Glenn County, and has two sons.
Elo E. is the wife of John W. Millsaps of Ston^-ford, and is the
mother of two daughters and a son. Annie is the wife of William
Markham; she has two daughters and a son, and resides in
Willows. Ira Ancil, of New\-ille, has two daughters and one son;
and Aura C, also of Newville, has three sons. Mrs. Burrows has
fourteen great-grandchildren. Mr. Burrows was a Mason, and
• was Master of Newville Lodge, No. 205, F. & A. M., for thirteen
successive years, after which he missed one year, and was then
elected again and served until his resignation a few years before
his death.
Mr. Burrrows had a personality that made him a very inter-
esting companion, especially when he was induced to talk of the
historic past and his own relation to it. Having himself expe-
rienced much, he was able to portray graphically those scenes
which were typical of the early settler's life, describing vividly the
famous Sutter's Fort, the lawlessness of the times, and the con-
stant changes which impressed themselves upon his youthful mind.
As a pioneer, he began in an undeveloped wilderness, and with the
passing years added much, through his self-sacrificing efforts,
to the upbuilding and growth of the county.
On May 24, 1905, Mr. and Mrs. Burrows celebrated, with
their children, their golden wedding, and were the recipients of
congratulations and best wishes from a large circle of friends who
knew them more or less intimately. In April, 1916, Mrs. Bur-
rows moved to Willows, where she lives surrounded by every
comfort. She is the oldest woman settler of Glenn County
now living.
AMIEL KAISER
One of the largest stock-raisers and grain farmers of Glenn
County, Amiel Kaiser was born at Ploen, in Holstein, Germany,
May 12, 1879. His parents, Frederick and Katherina (Pries)
Kaiser, both were natives of Holstein, Germany. Of their family,
Emma was the tirst to come to California, where she married John
Pieper. They now reside in Oregon. The other children are:
384 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Henry, who died in Glenn Connty; William, a farmer near St.
John; Sophia, Mrs. Gattsch, of Oakland; Andrew, a farmer near
Gerniantown ; and Amiel, of this review. Several of the children
having- migrated to Glenn Connty, Frederick Kaiser, with his wife
and two youngest sous, Andrew and Amiel, voyaged to the United
States, locating at Willows, Glenn County, where they engaged in
farming. The father died in 1896, and six months later the
mother passed away.
Amiel Kaiser received some schooling in Germany, and fin-
ished his education in Willows and Germantown, Cal. His father's
death left him on his own resources at the early age of sixteen
years, when he started to earn his own way, going to school in
winter and doing farm work during the summer months. He
worked eighteen months for Herman Quint on his ranch east of
Germantown. His next employment was on the Kelly ranch,
where he remained four years. At the end of that time he began
working for his brother, Andrew Kaiser, later becoming foreman
for him, in charge of his large ranch interests.
After working for his brother nine years, Mr. Kaiser started
in to farm for himself. He rented the Western ranch, at St. John,
Glenn County, and engaged in grain farming, having seven hun-
dred acres under cultivation ; and one year he put in twelve hun-
dred acres. He next rented the Peter Garnett ranch for three
years, and farmed eleven hundred acres, two hundred acres of
which was pasture land. In all this extensive farming Mr. Kaiser
proved successful. He is now renting three sections, nineteen
hundred twenty acres, of the James Talbot ranch, eighteen miles
southwest of Willows. He has about twelve hundred acres under
plow, putting in about one half of it to grain each year, besides
which he raises cattle, hogs and mules. He specializes in the
Berkshire bxeed of hogs, keeping a registered boar, and raises
from two to three hundred hogs yearly. He carries one hundred
head of cattle of his own, and also a larger herd on shares. His
brand is the well-known Quarter-circle K.
Mr. Kaiser is in every sense of the word a self-made man, ow-
ing his success entirely to his own efforts. He is a man of untir-
ing industry, and is at the same time gifted with far-sightedness
and business ability. As a citizen, he is progressive and public-
spirited, always willing to do his share to further the good of the
many. His well-deserved prosperity is an example of what can be
accomplished by a young man of sixteen when thrown on his own
resources, if his efforts are accompanied by industry and natural
business ability, two qualities which make of obstacles but another
step in the ladder.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 385
Mr. Kaiser's marriage took place in Germantown, Septem-
ber 25, 1907, wlieu lie was miited with Miss Martha Hill, a native
daughter. She was born in Germantown, Cal., a daughter of Max
Hill, a native of Holstein, Germany, and one of the early settlers
of Germantown, Glenn County. He was married here on Septem-
ber 22, 1877, to Miss Wilhelmina Pries, also a native of Germany.
They were farmers at Germantown, where they owned and oper-
ated four hundred acres two and one half miles northeast of the
village. In 1915 Mr. Hill retired; and the home farm is now be-
ing operated by his son, Henry. Mr. Hill was twice married ; and
of the two children by his tirst marriage Henry is the only one
now living. Of his second marriage there was only one child,
Martha, now Mrs. Kaiser. Mr. and Mrs. Kaiser have had four
children born to them: Florence, Ernest, Bernhardt, and Hugh.
The family are members of the German Lutheran Church, and
have the respect and esteem of a wide circle of friends in their
communitv.
HIRAM A. GREENWOOD
Since an early date the Greenwood family has been identified
with the development of the agricultural and stock interests of
the Sacramento Valley. Especial mention is due to Hiram A.
Greenwood for the part he took in laying the foundation for the
present-day prosperity of the section about Orland, now within
the confines of Glenn County, but when he located here, in Colusa
County. A native of New York State, he was born on February
7, 1835, of a family long identified with the Atlantic States. He
received his education in the common schools of his native state,
remaining a resident there until 1864, when, desiring to explore
the Western country, he set out with horse teams to cross the
plains, desert and mountains, on the way to California. Mr.
Greenwood was chosen captain of the wagon train; and this duty
made it necessary for his wife to drive nearly all the way to
California. Many hardships were endured on the journey. In-
dians were encountered, and several fights ensued. Some of the
men of the party were killed, and many horses were stolen. The
eldest child of Mr. and Mrs. Greenwood was taken ill and died, and
was buried on the plains.
On arriving in this state Mr. Greenwood took his family to
Red Bluff, where he located them, and then began freighting be-
tween that city and Susanville. Rates were high; and during
the three years he was so engaged he was able to save enough
to start in farming. He then leased the Rawson ranch, near Red
386 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Bluff, and began bis operations as a grain-grower. In 1870 be
moved to tbe vicinity of St. Jobn, on tbe Sacramento Eiver,
and later to wbat became known as tbe Greenwood rancb, tbree
miles soutb of Orland. Witb tbe passing of tbe years be became
very well-to-do, adding to bis landed interests very materially
until, at tbe time of his death, he left one of tbe most valuable
properties in Glenn County. About 1885 he had moved to Stony
Creek; and there he passed away, on April 27, 1888. Public-
spirited in all things, Mr. Greenwood promoted all projects for
tbe public good. He was a liberal supporter of schools, churches,
and charitable organizations, and aided in the establishment of
public markets. In polities he was a strong Eepublican, and a
stanch advocate of good governinent. A man of strong person-
ality and kindly nature, he made and kept friends; and when
he died, he was mourned throughout tbe entire county.
On March 29, 1859, Mr. Greenwood was united in marriage
witb Harriett M. Harvey, in her native state of Illinois. Mrs.
Harvey survived her husband until January 25, 1905, at which
time she died on tbe ranch near Orland. They had four children,
three daughters and a son. The oldest child died while crossing
the plains; and a married daughter died on December 22, 1888.
Eva E. Behrens, of Redwood City, and Willis A., survive. Mr.
Greenwood was a member of tbe Baptist Church, and held mem-
bership with the Odd Fellows Lodge at Chico. His success was of
his own making ; and he was recognized as an important factor in
the development of tbe best interests of tbe Sacramento Valley.
WILLIS DREW
A highly respected resident of Glenn County, now living
retired in his comfortable home at Orland, Willis Drew is well
deserving of all the honor shown him. He was born on a farm in
Perry County, Ind., August 30, 1845, a son of Jonathan and
Elizabeth (Sampley) Drew. The father was born in Vermont
and was descended from an old New England family, while bis
wife was a native of Georgia. Jonathan Drew located in Perry
County and there engaged in farming and raising tobacco. Later
be moved across tbe river into Kentucky, where be continued in
tbe same occupation. In 1848 he became a settler, in Jones
County, Iowa, on tbe then western frontier, where he improved a
good farm and raised grain and stock until 1862, in which year
we find him crossing tbe plains to California. On bis arrival
here he located in Sutter County, and was there engaged in
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 387
raising grain and stock until his family had scattered and he and
his wife were once more alone. He then made his home with
his son Willis, imtil his death in 1902, at the age of ninety-two.
His wife also died at this son's home.
Third in order of birth in a family of ten children, Willis
Drew attended the common schools in Iowa, and at the age of
seventeen came with his parents to this state. He worked in the
mines for a time, and then went into the timber of the Sierras,
where, with a brother, he began taking contracts for getting out
logs. He was engaged in this enterprise for tive summers. Ee-
turning to Sutter County, he farmed there until 1872, finding
that a surer way to prosperity. Meanwhile, he began looking
about for some good land ; and this he found in Colusa County, in
the vicinity of Elk Creek, now in Glenn County, where he pur-
chased a half section and began its improvement, raising grain
and stock with profit. In 1880 he homesteaded one hundred sixty
acres, seven miles north of Elk Creek. In addition to farming, he
did a general teaming business ; and for one season he owned an
interest in the Oriental Sawmill. In 1889 he bought the property
that became known as the home place, which he improved by
erecting suitable buildings, and which has ever since been devoted
to grain and to stock-raising. He retired from active work in 1913.
In Sutter County, Willis Drew was united in marriage with
Martha Elizabeth Vanderford, who was born in Michigan, a
daughter of Napoleon B. and Martha (Silver) Vanderford. Mrs.
Vanderford was born in Toronto, Canada. Napoleon Vanderford
was born in Steuben County, N. Y., August 22, 1827, and was
taken by his parents to Ann Arbor, Mich., in early childhood. He
received his education in the common schools ; and in 1851 began
operations as a lumbermau and contractor. In 1858 he came to
California by way of Panama. Going to Sutter County, he took
up a quarter section of land, to which he added from time to time
until he owned four hundred eighty acres. In 1876 he sold out
and moved to the Elk Creek section of Colusa County. There he
bought two -thousand acres of land and was engaged in raising
sheep and cattle until 1903, when, upon the death of his wife, he
leased the ranch, and later sold it, and made his home with his
children. He was a stanch Eepublican, and was active in the
movement to organize Glenn County, serving on the board of
supervisors for twelve years. Mr. Vanderford was always a con-
sistent member of the Christian Church.
Of the marriage of Willis Drew and his wife, seven children
were born: Laura Elizabeth, who married E. F. Zumwalt; Sarah
Ellen ; William Walker, a rancher in Modoc County ; Napoleon B.,
388 COLUSA AND GLEXX COUNTIES
a teacher in the Sacramento High School; James Edison, of the
Elk Creek district; Leland Stanford, principal of the Orland
grammar school ; and Truman Willis. Mr. Drew is a Republican,
and a member. of the Christian Church.
EDWAED HEATHCOTE
A resident of Colusa County, living nine miles north of Colusa,
Edward Heathcote, now in the ninety-first year of his life, is
in point of years the oldest living white settler in the county. He
was born at Furness, England, sixteen miles from Manchester, on
March 14, 1827, a son of Joseph and Hannah (Bailey) Heathcote.
When he was sixteen years of age, in 1843, he came to Waukesha,
Wis. ; and seven years later, in 1850, he crossed the plains with ox
teams to California. For about five years he mined for gold at
Nevada City, Cal. Not meeting with the success he had expected,
he then turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. He came to
Colusa County in 1856, bought some land, and began farming. He
was successful in this venture, and kept adding to his land until he
became owner of seven hundred twenty acres, which he controlled
until 1912. He then sold out, and is now living retired with Mrs.
Mary G. Jones.
In the Heathcote family there were twelve children, seven of
whom grew up. George died in W^isconsin ; Hannah was married
in Winconsin to James Jones and came to Colusa County, where
she died, the mother of five children ; Edward is the subject of tbis
review; Joseph died in Wisconsin; Mrs. Mary Woodard died in
Iowa ; Mrs. Elizabeth Wright died at Red Bluff, Cal. ; and Samuel
died in Orland, in 1916. Mr. Heathcote has taken an active inter-
est in public affairs. He has served on grand juries, and has been
a member of the board of trustees of Butte Creek school district.
In polities he has usually aligned himself- with the Republicans.
He is a strong advocate of temperance. Now in the evening of a
long and busy life, Mr. Heathcote is still well preserved. He has
retained his faculties, and is an interesting conversationalist, dis-
coursing on events of the early days in the state in an entertain-
ing manner. He has lived a conservative and consistent life, and
has made a host of friends since be became a pioneer settler of
Colusa County.
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COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 391
DAVID BROWN
A life spent in successful private enterprise and faithful
public service, with nothing to mar its efficiency or cloud its
record, is an achievement worthy of mention in the biography of
California pioneers. David Brown has been a resident of Cali-
fornia since 1869. During the long period of his residence in
the state, he has watched its development and helped in its
advancement, with a keen perception of its resources and future
jDossibilities. Born in Ontario, Canada, on June 24, 1850, he
came to California when a youth of nineteen. Being entirely
dependent upon his own efforts, and eager to do any work that
would teach him the methods used in his new surroundings, he
worked for some years as a farm hand on ranches in Yolo, Merced
and Colusa Counties. It is from just such beginnings that many
of our prominent pioneers have sprung, who have made a name
and place for themselves in the annals of the state.
After working for wages for several years, Mr. Brown set-
tled in Orland, Glenn County, in 1877. In 1876, he and his brother
had first come to this section ; and at once seeing the possibilities
it afforded for irrigation, they thought it the place to put a stake
and build up with the country. Here Mr. Brown built a livery
stable, which he conducted for twenty-five years and eleven
months, continuously. For eight years his brother, Thomas
Brown, was his partner ; but after that time Mr. Brown was sole
owner of the business. He has met with deserved success in his
various undertakings, meanwliile finding time for the public posi-
tions he has held, and taking an active part in all projects for the
advancement of his section of the state. He is now serving
his fourth term as supervisor of Glenn County, making fourteen
consecutive years in office, during which he served for one term
as chairman of the board. He has proveTd himself a most able
county official; and his record for unswerving loyalty to the
county's best interests has gained for him the firm friendship
and support of his community. He has always been a great
advocate of good roads ; and the roads in his district are kept in
the best of condition. He has a thorough knowledg>e of conditions
throughout this entire section. Progress is his watchword; and
he gladly does his share in support of all movements for the
good of his county. He is a member of the Gknu County Farm
Bureau and a director in the Orland Creamery; he served as a
director in the Orland LTnit Water Users ' Association ; and in early
days he was a director in the Lemon Home Ditch Company.
392 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
The marriage of David Brown united him with Alzora
Harelson ; and they are the parents of seven children : Mabel, wife
of W. B. O'Hair; Arnold, connected with hospital work in Berke-
ley, Cal. ; Lena, wife of J. W. Eucker; Zozie, wife of W. E.
Carroll; and Opal, Ima, and David, Jr. The home ranch, two
and one half miles northwest of Orland, consists of three hundred
eighty acres, and is one of the most productive in the county.
Mr. Brown has seeded eighty acres of it to alfalfa, and the bal^
ance is devoted to grain and pasture land. He maintains a dairy
of forty blooded Jersey cows, and has one hundred twenty-five
head of cattle besides. With all the varied interests that have
occupied his attention since he made his residence here, Mr. Brown
has found time to be an important factor in the development of
his district; and he is today one of the best-known and best-liked
men in the county. Fraternally, he is a Mason, a member of
Orland Lodge, No." 285, F. & A. M.
LOUIS M. REAGER
A pioneer educator, and for more than ten years a member
of the county board of education of Glenn County, Louis M.
Reager has made his influence felt for good in his native county.
The son of Martin A. Reager, a forty-niner, whose sketch is given
elsewhere in this history, he was born in Colusa County, December
21, 1861 ; and practically his entire life has been passed within the
old county boundary lines. His schooling was obtained in the
common schools and in Pierce Christian College, at College City,
from which he was graduated in 1885. He at once secured a
school and began teaching; and during the years that have inter-
vened since then he has been following his chosen career. Today
he is recognized as one of the leading educators of Colusa and
Glenn Counties.
Mr. Reager has taught in Orland, where for seven years he
was principal of the high school, and for two years, of the gram-
mar school ; and in the Hamilton and Bayliss districts. In 1916-
1917 he was principal of the Bayliss school. So satisfactory have
been his services that he was chosen a member of the Glenn
County board of education. For more than ten years he has
served in that position, part of the time as president of the
board. By his service on the board he has aided materially in
bringing the public school system to its present high state of
efficiencv.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 393
Mr. Eeager lias wisely invested in city and country property.
He owns a fine dairy ranch of eighty-two acres east of Orland, a
part of the proi^erty once owned by his father, which was pur-
chased in 1860. He also owns thirteen acres west of town, and
has his fine home place of three and one half acres in the city. He
is a Mason, belonging to Orland Lodge, No.- 265, F. & A. M., of
which he is a Past Master.
On November 9, 1887, occurred the marriage of Louis M.
Reager with Miss Anna Durham. Mr. and Mrs. Reager have two
children, Orrin D. and Xavie. Xavie is a teacher in the Orland
grammar school.
DOUGLAS CRAMER
A "booster" for Arbuckle and Colusa County, as well as one
of the leading business men and the president of the Chamber of
Commerce of Arbuckle and College City, Mr. Cramer is making
a name for himself in the Sacramento Valley. He was born near
Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, on January 20, 1861. His
father, King Cramer, was born aboard a vessel three days before
it reached New York City while his parents were migrating from
Germany to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was reared and educated.
In 1852 he crossed the plains to California ; and there he followed
mining until 1855, when he returned to Cincinnati via Panama, and
there married Elizabeth Hildreth, a native of that city. They
followed farming there until the father's death. The mother
afterwards came to California, and resides in Arbuckle, aged
eighty-six years. She had two children, Charles and Douglas, both
residing in Arbuckle.
Douglas Cramer was educated in the common schools, and
was reared on the Ohio farm until he was eighteen years old.
In 1879 he came to California to begin life on his own responsi-
bility. He was willing to work at any honest labor. to gain expe-
rience of Western men and methods; and for three years he
worked as a rancher in Yolo County. In 1883 he engaged in the
butcher business at Yolo; and from there he went to Fresno,
where he continued in the same business in the shop of W. J.
Williams. After a time spent in Fresno, he returned to Y''olo
County, and for six years ran a shop of his own in Dunnigan.
In 1903 he came to Arbuckle and entered the employ of Houchins
& Mitchell. Four years later he purchased the interest of Mr.
Mitchell; and since then the firm has carried on business under
the firm name of Houchins & Cramer. They conduct an up-to-date
meat market, modern in all its appointments, owning and operat-
394 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
ing their own slaughter house, and draw patronage from a wide
section of country surrounding Arbuckle. Prompt service and
courteous treatment of all is the motto of this enterprising firm.
Mr. Cramer was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth C.
Bolander, who, with her husband, enjoys the esteem of a wide
circle of friends. Fraternally, Mr. Cramer was made a Mason in
Yolo Lodge, No. 81, in the year 1882, but is now a member of
Meridian Lodge, No. .182, F. & A. M., at Arbuckle, of which he is a
Past Master. He is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of
America. To the later-day development of Arbuckle, there is no
man who has lent his support more willingly, or with a freer
hand, than has Mr. Cramer.
LEONARD THOMPSON
A pioneer who will be long and gratefully remembered for
his uprightness of character and his rare personal qualities, and
for the influence of his example in the community in which he
lived, was Leonard Thompson, now deceased, who was born in
Ohio, in 1831. He was a son of Samuel Thompson, a Methodist
minister, who died at the home of his son, in Iowa. When Leonard
Thompson was only fifteen, he moved from the Buckeye State to
Henry County, Iowa; and there he was raised on a farm. In a
few years, with characteristic enterprise, he was tilling the soil
for himself; nor did he take his hand from the plow until he
had made his position secure among Iowa farmers.
In the fall of 1875, he came West, to California ; and arriving
in Orland, he bought a hundred forty acres of raw land, six miles
to the southeast of the town. At that time there were very few
settlers in the neighborhood. It was a difficult task to improve
the place and make of it a habitable home and a paying invest-
ment. However, he leveled the land, fenced it in, built a house
and barns, and planted trees ; and in the end the Thompson ranch
and ranch house were an attractive sight to all who saw the place.
The fig trees on the ranch are now among the largest to be found
anywhere in California. For many years, Mr. Thompson ran the
ranch, farming to grain; and when he gave up active life, his
sons carried on the work he had begun. Of late the place has been
managed by Frank W. Thompson, who lives two miles south of
Orland. The land is still being devoted to grain-raising.
Leonard Thompson was twice married. One son by the first
marriage, Thomas A. Thompson, is the father of one daughter,
Lucille. The second marriage occurred in 1856, when Mr. Thomp-
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 395
son was united with Miss Hannah Newby, a native of Henry
County, Ind., born in 1841, who moved to Henry County, Iowa, in
1852. W. Lawrence Thompson, a son horn of this union, is mar-
ried and has three sons, Verner, Lester and Ealph. For forty-two
years Mrs. Leonard Thompson has lived on the old home ranch;
and she recalls with interest the pioneer days in Cohisa County,
when all the trading was done in Chico, Butte County, some
twenty miles from the ranch, and at Jacinto. At that time Orland
was not on the map. Leonard Thompson was a man of fine
education. He was fond of books and had a well-stored mind,
having been for years a wide reader. In keei^ing with his natural
aptitudes, he early turned his attention to the field of education.
In every way possible he supported California schools; and for
years he served as a trustee in the Plaza district. When he died,
in 1908, California lost one of her most conscientious and efficient
citizens.
HOSEA B. TUBMAN
One of the leading cattle men of Colusa and Glenn Counties,
who has succeeded despite the many obstacles thrown in his way,
is Hosea B. Turman, who was Ijorn in Clark County, Ohio, Janu-
ary 24, 1846, the son of Isaac and Frances (Lowe) Turman, both
natives of Ohio. With the usual ox team and a drove of cattle,
his father crossed the plains in 1854, taking six months for the
journey, and shooting wild game, including the buffalo, for food.
The family settled near Petaluma, and engaged in stock-raising ;
and in 1866 the father retired from active business life.
Hosea Turman 's first independent ranching operations began
in 1866, when, with Tom Harlan, he leased three hundred acres of
land of the old Colonel Hagar ranch, four miles south of Colusa,
paying a hundred fifty dollars a year rental for the entire lot.
They had many exciting adventures with cattle thieves and horse
thieves in Colusa County in those days ; and notwithstanding their
unremitting vigilence, Mr. Turman lost many of his cattle and his
best horses. When he was able to do so, he drove a band of
cattle to Grass Valley, in Nevada County, continuing there in
cattle-raising; and he bought a large lot of land, in 1868, in Bear
Valley, from which he anticipated much profit. In 1870-1871,
however, he was farming near Williams, and the drought of that
season swept away nearly all that he owned. In the spring of
1872, Mr Turman settled in Ash Valley, Modoc Coimty; but after
a short time he went to Reno, Nev., for horse trading. The next
396 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
year he bought a lot of horses and mules at a dollar a head at
Santa Barbara, and took them to Ash Valley ; but again, through
the unprecedented snows that year, he lost all his stock.
In this brief recital of the early operations of this pioneer
stockman, is outlined a series of setbacks such as migiit easily
have discouraged the average man; but he was bound to succeed,
and so he kept at it, and his present prosperity was obtained
largely by hard work and unremitting perseverence. In October,
1874, he set up on a dairy ranch near Colusa, and for the long
period of thirty years he was active in dairying. During the latter
days of his residence there, he started in to buy and sell cattle;
and since then his efforts as a stockman have been attended with
marked success.
In 1900, Mr. Turman came to Willows ; and eight years later
he formed the Turman-Mitchell Land & Cattle Co., of which he
is the president. This company controls ten thousand acres of
grazing land on the hills west of AVillows, where their cattle range
and are fattened. This company also owns nearly a half interest
in the Lake County Land & Cattle Co., of Oregon, which possesses
six thousand cattle. In addition he is the president of the H. B.
Turman Co., which has another fifteen hundred head ranging and
grazing, and a ranch of four hundred eighty acres three miles
northwest of Willows. One hundred eighty acres of this ranch is
in alfalfa, and the rest is in grain. The company also rents graz-
ing land west of Willows. As a cue to Mr. Turman 's capacity for
enterprise, mention may be made of a big deal engineered by him
when he bought one thousand forty steers in Arizona, on which
he cleared forty thousand dollars six months later.
Mr. Turman has been married three times. On the first occa-
sion he was wedded to Miss Mary Semple, a native of Benicia,
Cal, the daughter of Dr. Robert Semple. AVith Will S. Green, Dr.
Semple founded the Alta California, at Benicia, the first news-
paper printed in this state. He was president of the committee
which framed the constitution of the state in assembly in Mon-
terey. Mrs. Turman was one of the first white girls to be born
in California. Three children of that imion are living, who assist
their father with his various stock and ranch operations : Joseph
Benton, Lewis Frank, and Robert Semple. The oldest child of
the family, Oscar B., is deceased. The second marriage united
Mr. Turman with Mrs. Susan H. Nye, also a native of California,
and a daughter of Dr. Lull, founder of the town of Princeton,
Colusa County. His third wife was Meta Stephens, a daughter
of Dr. L. P. Tooly, of Willows. Mr. Turman is a charter member
of Colusa Lodge, I. 0. 0. F., of which he is a Past Grand; and
he is also a member of the "Clampers," of Willows.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 397
Incidents related by this pioneer of the early days in this
section of California are very interesting. He recalls seeing as
many as iive thousand cattle grazing or lying about on the ground
near old "Willow Slough," where, in the fall of the year, was
found the only water nearer than the river. All were sleek and in
good condition. Another incident happened in 1867, at one of the
rodeos held one and one half miles east of what is now the site of
Willows. When rounding up the cattle, the vaqueros drove in a
herd of twenty-four antelope with the stock. When the band
passed Mr. Turman he threw a rope and caught one animal,
which they had for dinner that night. Many other thrilling inci-
dents of the pioneer life in this section, now fast passing from the
memory of the present jjopulation, are recounted in the interest-
ing conversation of this pioneer citizen.
SAMUEL JAMES LOWE
As a contracting carpenter and a man of affairs, the late
Samuel J. Lowe was both literally and figuratively one of the
builders of Willows. He was born in Maryland in 1833. When
twenty-one years of age he moved to Missouri, and at Paris, in
Monroe County, followed his trade as a carpenter. Wlien the Civil
War broke out, he espoused the cause of the Confederacy and en-
listed for service; and throughout the terrible conflict he fought
under the Confederate banner.
In 1885 Mr. Lowe settled in Willows and hung out his sign as
a contracting carpenter and builder. His tirst work here was done
on the old Baptist Church. Many of the buildings he erected are
still standing as monuments to the honesty of his workmanship.
Samuel J. Lowe was united in marriage with Miss Willie
Maupin, a native of Virginia; and of their union the following
children were born: Mrs. M. Hannah, of San Francisco; Henry
H., of Hamilton City; Samuel, now deceased; Leatha A, and Mrs.
Sadie Ajax, of Willows; Lemona, of San Francisco; and Clifton
0., a traveling hardware salesman in San Francisco. Mrs. Lowe
died in 1894, and Mr. Lowe passed away in 1904. Mr. Lowe was a
consistent member of the Methodist Church. His passing was felt
as a distinct loss to the community in which he lived.
Miss Leatha A. Lowe is the proprietor of the leading milli-
nery establishment in Willows. Her store was established in 1907,
and is recognized as the local headquarters for artistic millinery.
Miss Lowe specializes in the latest designs and styles. She has
built up a large trade, her patrons coming from all over Glenn
398 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Couuty. With her sister, Lemona, she is also interested in a mil-
linery establishment in the exclusive Geary Street district in San
Francisco.
NICHOLAS WILSON HANSON
The records of California show the birth of many men who
have attained to a prominent i^lace in the history of the various
counties, besides those of national repute. Of the men who have
taken hold with a zeal and a determination to perpetuate the deeds
of the forerunners of our civilization, Nicholas Wilson Hanson is
a worthy representative. He was born in Lake County, Septem-
ber 8, 1868, a son of William P. Hanson, a Kentuckian by birth,
but who was reared in Coles County, 111. William P. Hanson came
as a forty-niner to this state by way of Panama, accompanied by
his father, George M. Hanson. They located in Marysville; and
later William P. went to the mines on- Feather River for a time,
after which he returned to Marysville and with his father built the
tirst bridge across the Feather River between Yuba City and
Marysville, costing some $30,000. It was also one of the first
bridges built in this part of the state. They ran it as a toll bridge
for a year, when the flood waters washed it away. Grandfather
Hanson erected the first brick house in Yuba City, a two-story
structure, the material for which was shipped around the Horn.
This building is still standing, and is occupied as a residence.
The Indians from Lake County, Cal., went to the rancherias
along the Sacramento River to hunt and fish, sometimes visiting
Marysville. Their bartering attracted the attention of William
Hanson, and he found some Indians to act as guides, going with
them to LTpper Lake, in that county. They traveled l\y way of
Sulphur Creek, through Grizzly Canyon ; and when going through
the latter Mr. Hanson killed a large grizzly bear, giving the name
to the canyon, by which it has ever since been known. He was one
of the first white men to make the trip through by Sul^^hur Creek.
After he had explored the country in Lake County, he returned to
Marysville for his family. Mrs. Hanson traveled all the distance
on horseback, as no roads were in evidence at that date ; while her
two small children were carried on the saddles of her husband and
his father.
The grandfather, George M. Hanson, was born in Tazewell
Couuty, Va., March 13, 1799. He was married in Lebanon, Va., in
1819, to Miss Polly Ellington. They had seven sons and three
daughters, all of whom crossed the plains except two daughters,
Sidney "Elizabeth and Jerusha, who married in Illinois and died
^i^-'^^^g? /5r?^
>^
^
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 403
there. One daughter, Elizabeth, came to California. The sons
were William P., Nathan E., George M., James F., Daniel, Rufus,
and David M., who resides at Vallejo, the only one now living. In
1821 the grandfather moved to Kentucky and engaged in mercan-
tile business. He later emigrated to Clark County, 111., and for
twenty-five years was in public life in that state, twelve years in
the house and senate. In 1847 he visited Texas with the idea of
locating there, but returned home dissatisfied and outfitted for
Oregon Territory. Before he was ready to start, news of the dis-
covery of gold in California came aud he again changed his plans.
He left Coles County in April, 1849, with three ox teams and a
family carriage drawn by horses. They rendezvoused at Indepen-
dence, Mo., where they joined a train of thirty-five wagons and
teams and one hundred i^ersons, among whom were only three
women and a dozen children. John G. Allender was chosen cap-
tain to guide the train to -California. They arrived at Yuba City
in November, 1849. They were destitute, having lost everything
they had in the mountain fastnesses and the snows of the Sierras.
Mr. Hanson opened a hotel, and soon built up his fortunes in the
hotel business and by building a ferry, and later the toll bridge
mentioned. After it was destroyed he and John C. Fall built an-
other. He became prominent in politics and was a delegate to the
convention that nominated John C. Fremont. He was a warm
friend of Lincoln, and from him received a commission as Super-
intendent of Indian Affairs for the Northern District of Califor-
nia. He was a Mason for over fifty years. He died in Lake
County, August 1, 1879, after a long and useful life as a pioneer
frontiersman and a builder of our great commonwealth.
The father, William P. Hanson, took up farming and stock-
raising as a surer way to prosperity than mining. He began in
Lake County, and'later took up government land in Sutter County;
and in 1879 he located in what is now Glenn County, near the set-
tlement of Willows. Besides his own claim he leased land near by ;
and here he raised grain and stock until his death in 1889, when
he was accidentally killed by being run over by a train. At his
death the community lost one of its most efficient upbuilders. He
was a member of the Methodist Church. In politics he was a Ee-
publican. He married Lydia Wilson, a native of Maryland, who
located in Illinois at an early date, where she and Mr. Hanson
were married upon his return from California by way of Panama,
in 1853; and together they came across the plains with ox teams.
Eight children were born to this pioneer couple, of whom the old-
est and youngest are deceased. Those living are: Mrs. T. H.
Newsom, of Glenn; Mrs. Ella Stout, of Sacramento; Mrs. Clara
Miller, of Hammonton, Yuba County; George M., near Glenn;
404 COLUSA AXD GLENN COUNTIES
Nicholas W., of this review ; and Mrs. Lydia Huffmaster, of Lees-
ville. All were born, reared and educated in California. Mrs.
Lydia Hanson passed away at the home of her son, Nicholas W.,
on November 21, 1910.
Nicholas W. Hanson was the sixth child in order of birth in
his parents' family. His schooling -was obtained in the public
schools of Sutter and Glenn Counties. Meanwhile he worked on
his father's farm until the death, of the latter; and ever since he
has been following his chosen vocation in Glenn County. In 1902 he
came to the section where he now lives, purchased a ranch of three
hundred thirty acres of the Glenn estate and began making im-
provements by clearing the land and planting to grain and pro-
duce, also raising hogs and cattle. His ranch, as seen today,
shows what labor he has expended in getting it under cultivation
during the past fifteen years. In the beginning it was covered
with heavy timber and underbrush. He raises good corn on the
bottom land ; and produce of every description is grown in abund-
ance on his property, which is kei)t in a high state of cultivation
through his close personal supervision of the ranch work.
In 1897, on December 8, was celebrated the marriage of Nich-
olas W. Hanson and Miss Bertha A. Hull. She was born in Kan-
sas, and came to California with her parents in 1889. Both Mr.
and Mrg. Hanson are recognized as leaders in their social circle.
They are charitable and hospitable, and have a host of friends,
who admire them for their many fine qualities of mind and heart.
In 1916 Mr. Hanson built one of the most substantial and modern
houses in the county, the contract being executed by J. W. Halter-
man of Willows, who prepared the plans from ideas given by Mr.
and Mrs. Hanson. In this home the many friends of this worthy
couple are entertained in a fitting manner. Mr. Hanson counts
five generations of the family in this state, beginning with his
grandfather, George M. Hanson, and coming down to the Stout
family in Sacramento, who have children married and with fami-
lies. Like his father, he has made a name and place for himself in
the county. He is serving as one of the levee trustees of Levee
District No. 1. In politics he is a Republican. Fraternally, he is
a member of the Odd Fellows at Willows.
JOSEPH ZUMWALT
When Joseph Zumwalt crossed the "Great Divide" in 1892,
at the age of ninety-two years, another of the prominent upbuild-
ers of the state passed to his reward, after leaving the imprint of
his enterprising personality upon the various communities where
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 405
he had lived and labored. The Zumwalt family is of German de-
scent on the paternal side, one Jacob Zumwalt having immigrated
from that country with two brothers, George and Adam. The
former settled in Pennsylvania, and the brothers settled in Vir^
ginia. Jacob married Nancy Ann Spurgeon, who was of English
ancestry. They had a son, also named Jacob, who built the tirst
hewn log house north of the Missouri River, northwest of
'Fallon station.
Joseph Zumwalt was born in Ohio in 1800, and lived there
amidst pioneer conditions on the then frontier until 1829, when
he went to Indiana, meeting there with about the same conditions
as in the place of his birth. In 1833 he moved to Will County,
111., and settled on a farm. He cleared the place from the timber,
and engaged in farming among the Indians, who then inhabited a
considerable part of that section of the country. In Ohio he had
married Mary Ogle, likewise a native of that state. With her and
their nine children, he left their home in the late forties, and made
the long and dangerous trip across the plains to California, behind
the slow-moving ox teams. They arrived at their destination on
October 23, 1849, without mishap. Mr. Zumwalt at once located
his wife and children in Sacramento, and with three of his sons
went to the mines along the Yuba River, where he met with good
success for two years. In 1850 he had located his family at what
was known as Zumwalt Flat, so that they could be near where he
was mining.
So successful was he that in 1852 he decided he would go back
to Illinois, making the journey via Nicaragua. The following year
he returned to this state with some stock, which he sold in the
mines, and once more resumed mining himself. Two years later
he moved to Solano County, and in the vicinity of Silveyville be-
gan raising stock and grain. Seeing the advantage of having good
stock, instead of the long, rangy Spanish cattle, Mr. Zumwalt once
more made a trip back to Illinois and spent one year in gathering
a band of cattle and sheep, which he drove back to California, to
his ranch in Solano County. He continued the stock business
there until 1872, when he came to Colusa County, to that part now
included in the boundaries of Glenn County. Part of his land is
now the site of Willows. He erected the first frame house in the
place. After living here for ten years, he sold out and moved to,
Anderson, Shasta County, where he passed his last days. His
wife died in 1886, at the age of eighty-two years. Their children,
grandchildren and great-grandchildren are numerous in Colusa
and Glenn Counties, and are among the most highly respected citi-
zens of the valley. Many of them are occupying positions of
honor and trust throughout the state.
406 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
SAMUEL ISAAC STOEMEE
The late Samuel Isaac Stormer, of Colusa and Glenn Counties,
was one of the well-known pioneer citizens of the Sacramento Val-
ley, having been a resident of the section later embraced in Glenn
County from 1867 until his death, and much good was accom-
plished by his indomitable energy and enterprise in laying the
foundation for our present prosperity.
Mr. Stormer was born in Morgan County, 111., January 25,
1831, and was educated and reared to the life of a farmer in that
state. On March 3, 1853, in Schuyler County, 111., he was married
to Miss Luvica Jane Cartmell, who was born on September 6,
1834, in Eush County, that state. After their marriage, Mr. and
Mrs. Stormer took up their residence in Adams County until the
spring of 1864, when they outfitted with provisions, and with their
three children crossed the plains with mule teams, settling in Aus-
tin, Nev. In 1867 they finished their journey to the Coast, and
took up their abode in Colusa C-ounty, where Mr. Stormer engaged
in grain-raising, continuing that occupation for many years, and
in time acquiring thirteen hundred acres of land. He was a prom-
inent factor in the Grange movement in Colusa County, and was
counted a successful farmer.
After many years as a rancher in Colusa County, Mr. Stor-
mer moved to the Purkitt ranch of eleven hundred acres which he
had i^urchased in Glenn County, near Willows, and there farmed
for a time, finally retiring to a comfortable home in the little city,
where his last days were sjDent in the enjoyment of a well-earned
rest. He and his helpmate lived to celebrate their golden wed-
ding anniversary, which was held at the home of their daughter,
Mrs. Potts, on March 3, 1903. The children born to this couple,
and who grew to maturity, are : Martha Jane Potts, John Benton,
Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth Greene, Charlotte Ann (who died aged
twenty-one), Samuel Palmer, James Winslow, and Haydon Cas-
sius. The grandchildren are: Mrs. Cora F. "Wickes, Mrs. Maud
M. Lightner (now deceased), and Miss M. Monreo Potts; G. I.
Stormer ; James, Norene, and Barbara Stormer ; Mrs. Mattie Belle
Ames and Floyd A. Greene; and Sylvan I. and W^tiona Stormer.
The great-grandchildren are: Thelma J. and Elizabeth Wickes,
Howell and Mavis Lightner, and Lester, Elizabeth, Floyd L., and
Samuel T. Ames.
Mr. Stormer was never so happy as when surrounded by
those he loved ; and his home life was always cheered by the voices
and presence of his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchil-
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 407
dreu. At the time of his death, on March 15, 1909, he was deeply
mourned ; for he was a man whose whole life had been devoted to
the welfare of his fellow citizens and the upbuilding of his com-
munity. Mrs. Stormer lives in Colusa, still enjoying life at the
age of four score and three years.
JAMES RICHARD GARNETT
How fortunate it is to be well prepared when the time comes
to assume the responsibility for the management of important in-
terests, is shown in the case of James Richard Garnett, now in
charge of the Glenn County ranch property left by his father, who
in his time was a man of affairs. James Richard Garnett was
born near Dixon, Solano County, July 17, 1861. He is the son of
James St. Clair Garnett, who first saw the light near Hannibal,
Pike County, Mo., the town immortally associated with Mark
Twain. In 1853, when the great streams of humanity were flowing
toward the Pacific, James St. Clair Garnett crossed the plains to
California, driving a band of cattle, and after a laborious and dan-
gerous journey located near Dixon, where he took up land and en-
gaged in farming and stock-raising. At the time of his death, in
1908, his landholdings amounted to aljout thirty thousand acres,
which included a fine ranch of fifteen thousand acres, some twelve
miles southwest of Willows. In young manhood he was married
to Miss Elizabeth Marksbury, a native of Kentucky ; and when he
died, he left six children : William H. and J. N. Garnett, who have
charge of the old home ranch in Solano County; Mrs. H. P. Tate,
who resides at Vacaville; James Richard, the subject of this
sketch; Mrs. W. F. Chaney, of San Francisco; and Mrs. W. W.
Foster, who lives at Vallejo.
James Richard Garnett pursued his studies in private schools,
and particularly in a private school in Dixon and at the Oak
Mound School, in Napa. He then attended the California Baptist
College at Vacaville, Heald's Business College at San Francisco,
and the University of the Pacific at San Jose. For two years he
was on the old home ranch with his father. In 1882, he came to
Willows and took charge of his father's fifteen thousand acres
here. In early days wheat and barley were grown, eleven thou-
sand acres being operated at one time by means of thirteen eight-
mule teams of the ranch and ten eight-mule teams that were hired,
which, used to assist in carrying the grain to the warehouse in
Willows. What these operations meant may be gathered from the
fact that one vear the vield amounted to sixtv thousand sacks of
408 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
grain. In recent years grain farming lias been given up for sheep-
raising and cattle-raising; and now Mr. Garnett is the largest
sheep-raiser in Glenn County. He disposes, on an average, of ten
thousand sheep a year ; and at one time, counting both sheep and
lambs, there were twenty-four thousand head on his ranch. At the
present time, however, the average is ten thousand sheep. He has,
also, five hundred head of cattle ; and with these he is equally suc-
cessful. On his ranch, also, may be found an almond orchard of
ten acres, now eighteen years old, which, under the scientific care
of its owner, has never failed to produce a good crop.. Ten acres
are also devoted to raising grapes.
When Mr. Garnett married, he chose for his bride Miss
Minnie F. Messenger, a native of Ehode Island, by whom he has
had six children: James F., who married Bell Branham, by whom
he has two children ; Gladys B., the wife of Joseph Reidy, and the
mother of one child ; Rena B. ; John M. ; Eaymer St. Clair, who
married Pera Simpson, by whom he has three children ; and Mar-
garet M. Garnett. Mr. Garnett and his family attend and support
the Baptist Church. In politics Mr. Garnett is in sympathy with
Democratic principles and policies. As a citizen he is highly es-
teemed ; and he has always taken an active part in the building up
and development of the county.
HERMAN QUINT
A pioneer of the later period in California, who brought with
him to the Coast a record for positive accomplishment in other
parts of the country, and a ripe and valuable experience such as
has often contributed to the solution of problems here, is Herman
Quint, who was born in Cooper County, Mo., December 15, 1844, in
which state he was reared on a farm. In the fall of 1864, he came
to Illinois and located near Belleville, where he worked in a coal
mine. After that he farmed rented land; and still later he was
employed in the construction of a railroad bridge across the Mis-
souri River — a work extending through three years. Then he
went back to farming, wliich he continued i;util the beginning of
the eighties.
In August, 1880, Mr. Quint arrived at Willows and took up
Ms first work on a California farm, working on a threshing ma-
chine for his brother, Fred Quint. One year later, he rented land
on the Pratt grant, in Butte County, which he farmed to grain
for four years.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 409
When Mr. Quint settled at Jacinto, he bought eight hundred
eighty acres of the Glenn estate, eight miles northeast of Willowg.
He developed and improved the property, and in 1912 sold eight
hundred acres to the Sacramento "S'alley Irrigation Co., of Wil-
lows, retaining eighty acres for his home, where he now lives.
Thirty acres of this he planted to alfalfa, and in addition he laid
out a family orchard. He has a dairy with a herd of fourteen
Holstein cows, and also raises Berkshire hogs, keeping a thor-
oughbred boar.
In 1864 Mr. Quint married, choosing for his bride Miss Cath-
erine Cash, a native of Missouri, by whom he has had four chil-
dren : Catherine, Mrs. J. R. Vaughan ; Belle, Mrs. P. 0. Elbe ; Wil-
liam, living in Zion City, 111. ; and Henry, living in Princeton. Mr.
and Mrs. Quint have fifteen grandchildren. Mr. Quint is an Odd
Fellow, a member of the Willows Lodge.
MAYBERRY DAVIS
Mayberry Davis has been a i)ioneer of California since 1855.
That year he came to the state by way of Panama, from his home
in Clark County, 111., where he was born on November 18, 1839.
Since his arrival here, at sixteen years of age, he has been closely
identified with the development of the Sacramento Valley, and
especially of Butte, Colusa, and Glenn Counties. In the early
days, until the legislature established the boundary lines for each
county, there were no distinguishing features between Butte and
Colusa Counties, as far as the east side of the river section was
concerned, and the poll tax collector would get over the line into
Colusa and gather in the tax from her citizens. Mr. Davis worked
for wages on ranches in the first two counties named. In 1859 he
felt encouraged to strike out for himself, and rented land near
Butte City, devoting his time to the raising of grain, in which he
met with success. In 1861, Mr. Davis took up a government claim
near Butte City, proved up on it, and for some time farmed the
land. On February 26, 1866, he bought the present home ranch of
one hundred sixty acres, then raw and uncultivated ground. He
greatly improved the place,, erecting buildings, fencing the land,
and bringing it under cultivation; and here he carried on his
ranching activities until a few years ago, when he retired to pri-
vate life to enjoy the remaining years of his life in comfort
and plenty.
In March, 1861, Mayberry Davis was married to Mary Jane
Lycan, also a native of Illinois, and a playmate of his boyhood
410 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
days. Of this union one daiigbter was born, Carrie Alice, who
died at the age of twenty -five years. As a wheat and barley
grower, and cattle and hog raiser, Mr. Davis had no superior in
the county. A man of sterling qualities, he is beloved by all, and
is generous to a fault. Although not a politician, he has been
sought after to run for office ; but he has preferred to follow the
even tenor of his way. Once he was prevailed upon to act as dep-
uty assessor, which he did with satisfaction to all concerned. Mr.
Davis helped to build all the churches, school buildings, and roads
in his precinct. While he did not favor county division at the time
it was being agitated, he very soon came to the conclusion that it
was the very best thing for the counties. With Mrs. Davis, he at-
tends the Methodist Episcopal Church, South; and they enjoy the
confidence and esteem of all who know them.
GEORGE E. ST. LOUIS
Interesting and instructive is the history of such a pioneer
family as that of George E. St. Louis. He was born in Yolo
County, March 4, 1862, a son of Colbert St. Louis, an account of
whose life appears in another part of this work. When George
St. Louis was only thirteen years old, he came to Colusa County,
where he worked on the ranch of his brother, A. St. Louis, near
Norman. There he remained until he was twenty-one, after which
he farmed for two years on rented land near Colusa Junction. He
next leased land near Norman, and this he farmed to grain. After
that, he rented land near Willows, which he operated for three
years. He then returned to Norman, where he farmed a few
years, and then rented the Frank Thomas place. For ten years
he was here engaged in raising grain, getting excellent results.
In 1900, with his brother, he leased five thousand acres on the
grant, which they farmed to grain. He also bought his present
place of thirty acres on the river in the Glenn district, cleared
the land of brush and trees, fenced in the acreage, and built for
himself a home and barns. He set out an orchard containing a
thousand trees in all, including four hundred French prune trees,
two hundred peach trees, and orange and lemon trees. This place
has proved to be some of the richest land in the Sacramento Val-
ley. Such is the quality of his land that, with the use of water,
he raises two crops of some products each. year. He had a crop
of ball barley on two acres, which aggregated forty-one sacks in
all, which he sold for three cents a pound. On a portion of the
ranch he raises milo maize and corn, and ten acres has produced
J^ ^'-^^^>-^^KL<
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 413
as much as fifty-oue and a half sacks to the acre. His peaches are
the finest raised in the county, and he took prizes for the best ex-
hibits in that class at the recent San Francisco Exposition. He
also has fine late watermelons.
On January 1, 1884, George E. St. Louis and Sarah L. Bran-
ham were united in marriage. They are the parents of three chil-
dren: Eaymond, Grace Margaret, and Bennett Burton. Mr. St.
Louis was school trustee of Jacinto district one term, while living
on the Thomas place. Both he and his wife belong to the Baptist
Church of Glenn.
JOEL FEANCTS NEWLAND
A very successful agriculturist of the pioneer sort, whose fam-
ily has paid a price in privation and sacrifice which should always
entitle them to the respect and good-will of their fellow-Ameri-
cans, is Joel Francis Newland, who was born in Crawford County,
111., September 9, 18.38. On the paternal side, he is of Dutch de-
scent, in a line extending back to 1630 and associated with the
founding of the Carolinas. Grandfather Major Joel Newland was
killed in the War of 1812. On the maternal side he is of Scotch-
Irish descent. His maternal ancestors were among the first set-
tlers of Massachusetts, where members of the family served in the
Indian wars, as well as in the Revolution, and the War of 1812.
James Newland, Joel's father, was born in Bracken Count}",
Ky., and his mother, Mary Ann Morrow, was also born in that
state. In 1850, James Newland moved to St. Joseph, Mo., and
three years later he crossed the great plains with his family and
an ox team to California, arriving in Colusa County on October 7
of that year. Painful privation and thrilling adventures were the
lot of these sturdy American pioneers before they reached the
l^romised land. While crossing the desert their supply of water
was exhausted, and the family were left in wagons while the stock,
which accompanied the train, was driven to the Truckee River for
water. In the mountains the little party paid fifty cents per pound
for flour, and after arriving in Colusa County they bought flour
for twenty dollars and fifty cents per hundredweight at the
old mill operated by Mr. Wilson on Grand Island. Digger In-
dians and grizzly bears were encountered, and elk and antelope
abounded along the Sacramento River.
When somewhat settled, James Newland bought a swarm of
Italian bees for a hundred ten dollars per stand, and two Ameri-
can swarms for sixty dollars each; and with this outfit Joel F.
Newland and his brother, Alfred M., made their start in the bee
2.3
414 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
business, being among the first apiarists in Colusa County. The
home place of the Newland family was four miles north of Colusa ;
and there the two brothers, working harmoniously together,
farmed as partners for many years. They raised fruit, and had
an almond orchard, the first commercial orchard in the county,
and engaged in grain- and stock-raising and in bee culture. The
father had died on the farm, and the mother returned East on a
visit and died in Missouri.
With the excejotion of three years, Joel Newland farmed for
twenty-sis years in succession with his brother. During the three
years' interval he served as a soldier in the Civil War. In 1863,
with patriotic enthusiasm, he enlisted in Company H, First Cali-
fornia Cavalry, at Sacramento. In time he saw rough Indian
service in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, with the Apache and
Navajo Indians. The soldiers had many skirmishes with the Eed-
skins along the Eio Grande River, during which they lost a few
men and killed many Indians. After thus serving for three years
with valor and distinction in defense of his country, he was honor-
ably discharged and mustered out of service in Santa Fe, N. M., in
1866, and then returned to his home via New York City and Pan-
ama to San Francisco. After his return he resumed farming with
his brother.
In 1868 Mr. Newland bought sixty-four acres of land seven
miles southwest of Willows at five dollars per acre ; and thereafter
he kept adding to the place from time to time. In 1879, he moved
on to the place, which he had improved with house and farm build-
ings; and there for many years he has been a successful grain-
raiser. He now owns two and one half sections in his tract, and a
half section near Germantown, which he farmed to grain and
stock. In recent years the land has been farmed by renters, Mr.
Newland having retired after a long life of active and successful
enterprise.
Mr. Newland has a host of friends throughout Glenn County
and the Sacramento Valley. Although he was solicited to become
a candidate for county office, he has always refused to allow his
name to be presented for nomination, preferring to give his undi-
vided time to his business. As a citizen, he has lived a useful life;
and by all who know him he is much esteemed for his many kind
and charitable deeds towards those who have been less fortunate
than himself, for he has always lived by the Golden Rule.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 415
JOHN ANDREW SMITH
The forebears of the Smith family were noted for their patri-
otism; and when the call came for defenders of their country,
they were among the tirst to answer the call. For over two hun-
dred years the Smiths have figured as soldiers. William Smith,
the great-grandfather of the late John Andrew Smith, of Glenn
County, came from England i^rior to the Revolutionary War, in
which he served as a soldier in the Colonial army. After the war
he went to Tennessee, and there he died. He had a son named
John A., born in that state, whence he removed to Orange County,
Ind., and farmed until his death. He participated in the War of
1812, being mustered out of the service at Mussel Shoals. He
married, and reared a family in Indiana. One of his sons, James
M., removed to Illinois in 1864, where, in Clay County, he engaged
in farming until his death. He married Lucinda Norman, a native
of Pennsylvania, and they became the parents of the following
children: Louisa E., Henry A., John Andrew (of this review),
James, Marguerite, David, Martha, Mary E., Laura B., and Sarah.
A native of Indiana, John Andrew Smith first saw the light
of day in Orange County, December 8, 1844. He had just finished
his schooling in the common branches when, in July, 1862, when
nearly eighteen, fired with patriotism for his country, he enlisted
in Company A, Sixty-sixth Indiana Regiment, Second Division of
the Sixteenth Army Corps, and began service under General Mc-
Pherson. After General McPherson's death, the company was
transferred to the Fifteenth Army Corps ; and later they partici-
pated in a number of battles, among them being Taylorsville and
Richmond, Ky. ; Corinth and luka. Miss.; Lookout Mountain and
Chattanooga, Tenn. ; Altoona Pass ; Buzzard 's Roost ; Kingston
and Rome, Ga. ; and Kenesaw Mountain. On July 19, they took
part in the engagement at Peach Tree Creek; and the next day
they were in Atlanta. From there they marched with Sherman to
the sea, Mr. Smith acting as sharpshooter on the front and ad-
vance line. He came safely through the dangers of army life, and
was honorably discharged at Indianapolis, Ind., July 2, 1865. He
returned to the home of his parents in Illinois, whither they had
removed during his absence, and here again took up the life of a
civihan. He learned and followed the carpenter's trade, and at
the same time engaged in farming until 1872. He then came to
California and took up a soldier's grant of one hundred sixty
acres, where he continued in agricultural pursuits. As he suc-
ceeded he added to his holdings, increasing his acreage to five hun-
416 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
dred eighty acres, located three miles south of Orland. Here he
was engaged in raising grain nntil the time of his death.
In Louisville, 111., John Andrew Smith married Matilda Wood,
the ceremony being performed on May 20, 1866. She was born in
Waljash County, Incl., November 15, 1846, and was reared in Illi-
nois. Her father, William Spencer' Wood, a native of New York
State, was brought to Indiana by his parents at an early day; and
there he grew to manhood and farmed. He met an accidental
death in 1852. Of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Smith the fol-
lowing children were born: Lucy, the wife of Frank W. Thomp-
son; Ola; Eva, who married Lawrence Thompson and is the
mother of three children, Vernor, Ralph, and Lester; Eoy, living
in Oregon; John and Oren, both deceased; William, living at
home; Andrea, the wife of George Simpson, of Dixon, Cal., and
the mother of four children, William, Otho, Donald, and Eleanor ;
Ivy, Mrs. Alex Kraft, of Maxwell, who has one son, Lewllen ; and
Byron, who married Miss Leona Freeman, by whom he has two
children, Mildred and Byron, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Smith were con-
nected with the Baptist Church of Orland. In his political con-
victions Mr. Smith was a consistent Democrat. Always ready at
all times to do his full share towards the upbuilding of his com-
munity and the state, he was often called upon to aid movements
for that purpose, and never was found wanting. He helped or-
ganize Emigrant school district, and served as ti'ustee for years.
At the time of his death, in 1907, he was mourned by a wide circle
of very close friends and neighbors, and by a devoted family.
CHEISTOPHER COLUMBUS FELTS
During his long residence in California, since 1852, Chris-
topher C. Felts has had an excellent opportunity to witness the
growth of the state. Since 1871 he has lived on his ranch in Co-
lusa County, of which he has become one 'of the well-known and
influential citizens. A native of Georgia, he was born on January
16, 1837. When a child he was taken to Mississippi, where he
lived until 1852, when he was fifteen years of age. That year was
a momentous year to him, for he then left his home for the long
overland journey to California, behind the slow-going oxen. Af-
ter being on the road for six months, he arrived at his destination.
Misfortune came to the lad while he was en route to California,
and with it, added responsibility. His parents both died, leaving
a small family, of which he was the oldest. These orphan children
were brought on through to the coast by other people; but on ar-
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 417
riviug here, they found that they couldn't keep them, and so sent
word to Christopher C, who was then at Cohisa. He had to go
to Sacramento and get the children, and hring them back to Co-
lusa, where he found homes for them. He took it upon himself to
look after their welfare, until they were old enough to do for them-
selves. These children were : J. Monroe Felts, then thirteen
years old, who later became one of the prominent men of San Luis
Obispo ; Alivia, then eleven, who in time became Mrs. Evans, and
is now deceased; Marcus D., nine years of age, who grew up in
Colusa, and died there ; William W., a child of six at the time, who
is now an editor, well-known throughout California. Upon his ar-
rival here, a youth of but fifteen years, therefore, Christopher
Felts had to shoulder burdens that would have discouraged many
men of mature years and long experience. He turned his atten-
tion to farm work, finding employment in Yolo County for four
years, after which he went to Grand Island, Colusa County. He
continued to work for wages until he had saved enough money to
branch out for himself, and become his own master, and then
rented land on Grand Island, where he farmed until 1871. That
year he came to his present place of six hundred acres, the greater
])art of which he has brought under cultivation himself. He
erected every building on the place, set out all the trees, vines and
shrubbery with his own hands, put up fences, dug wells, and in
fact did everything he could to make life on the ranch as comfort-
able as possible. Part of this iiroperty he still owns, and ever
since coming to the place he has made it his home. Besides his
own land he leased from others, carrying on farming and stock-
raising with very good success, although, like others, he had his
troubles, through droughts and through low prices for produce.
He planted a good-sized vineyard ; but it did not pay, and he took
up most of the vines in 1905. He has sold off his land from time
to time, but still retains one hundred, sixty acres, upon which his
home stands.
In 1910 Mr. Felts began in the dairy business. He bought
some thoroughbred Jerseys, and from a small beginning has built
up a dairy of forty cows, with a fine registered Jersey bull at their
head. This animal has a world's record for cattle of the milk
strain, and is considered one of the best in the state. Mr. Felts
put up modern dairy barns and seeded one hundred acres to al-
falfa ; and he is finding this line of industry to be very profitable
and sure. He also has a four-acre almond orchard, which is very
promising and yields a good revenue. Two sides of Ms ranch are
planted with shade trees, some two miles' of them. Mr. Felts
keeps abreast of the times and uses every modern and up-to-date
appliance and method for getting the best results out of the soil.
418 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Throughout this section, where once tlie grain fields waved in the
winds and sheep roamed over the broad expanse of plain, the land
is now dotted with vineyards, and with orchards of almonds,
prunes, and apricots; and alfalfa covers broad fields, supporting-
large numbers of dairy cattle, that bring in good revenues to their
owners. Mr. Felts is nimibered among those progressive men who
have wrought this wonderful change.
In 1878 Mr. Felts was married to Emma Hodgen, born in
Georgia; and they have had seven children: Georgia, the wife of
William Corbin and the mother of three children ; Alice, who mar-
ried N. P. Pearson, and has three children; Virgil; Asa; Louisa,
who became the wife of E. C. Pearson, and has two children;
Edith, who married Homer Felts, a cousin ; and Amy, the young-
est. Mr. Felts is a Mason, belonging to Maxwell Lodge No. 298,
F. & A. M., and was a charter member of Maxwell Lodge No. 361,
I. 0. 0. F. Ever since becoming. a vQter, Mr. Felts has supported
Democratic candidates. His fellow citizens have elected him to
various offices of trust and responsibility. For eighteen years he
was supervisor of the fourth district of Colusa County, and part
of the time chairman of the board. For two years he filled the
office of county treasurer with perfect satisfaction to the people.
From time to time he has .served as a delegate to county and state
conventions, his advice always being sought in the interest of the
party. After having served his fellow citizens for twenty years,
he was presented with a token of their appreciation in the shape
of a gold-headed cane, neatly engraved, which he treasures highly.
He has been an advocate of good roads, and also a builder of
some, which will remain as a monument to his industry. It is the
hope of his many intimate friends that he be spared many more
years to enjoy the fruits of his labors.
DENNIS HUGH MASTEESON
An interesting place in the history of California agriculture is
held by the family of Dennis Hugh Masterson, who was born in
Jackson, Amador County, Cal., on October 5, 1854, the sou of James
Masterson, a native of Ireland, born in 1827. James Masterson
came to the United States about 1850, moving west to Missouri,
where he married Eliza James, a native of that state. In 1853, he
crossed the plains and came to Jackson, where he continued to live
from 1853 until 1858, working as a civil engineer, for which he had
been trained in the Old World. In 1858 he located on his home
place, which he had taken up as government land, on the Newville
COLUSA AND GLEXX COUNTIES 419
and Orland road in Tehama County. Here lie went in for stock-
raising and general farming. He also followed up surveying in
various counties, and was at one time county surveyor of Colusa
County. He was also surveyor while in Amador County. When he
died, in 1897, two years hefore the death of his wife, he owned four
hundred ninet.y acres in the home ranch, which is still possessed by
his children. James and Eliza (James) Master son were the par-
ents of the following children: Dennis H., James, Edward K., J.
G., Mary (who died, aged eleven), Mrs. Louise Hulen, and Mrs.
Julia Jewell.
Dennis Hugh Masterson attended the local Newville school
until he was fourteen years of age, and continued to live with his
father up to the time of the latter 's death. At fourteen, however, in
1868, he went into business for himself, taking up stock-raising in a
small way, one and a half miles south of the home place, and aiding
also on the latter, where he made his home. As he prospered, he
bought adjoining land from time to time. His ranch now includes
about three thousand five hundred fifty acres of land in one body, in
Colusa, Tehama and Glenn Counties, and is largely devoted to the
raising of sheep and to general farming. The ranch is sixteen miles
west of Orland, and is well watered by the north fork of Stony
Creek, Burrow's Creek, and numerous springs, which give ample
water for the stock.
On October 14, 1883, Dennis Hugh Masterson was married, ac-
cording to the rites of the Catholic Church, to Miss Ardell Price, a
native of Woodland, Yolo County, and the daughter of John A.
•Price, who was born in Green County, Ky., and married Miss
Frances M. Kelly, a native of Cooper County, ^lo. Mr. Price
crossed the plains with his father in 1849, ictnnu'il in 1850, and
again crossed the plains in 1854, with his family, taking six months
to make the journey. Here he took up stock-raising, locating in
Woodland, Yolo County, in 1854, and later coming, about 1871, to
the vicinity of New\'ille, Colusa County, where he settled on what
is now the Masterson place. Five children bless the union of Mr.
and Mrs. Masterson. These are : Jessie E., now Mrs. W. H. Coons,
of Maricopa ; Clara Anetta ; Carroll, also of Maricopa ; James Ken-
drick; and Francis Price. The two sons are associated with their
father in the stock business on the home place. As the son of ])io-
neers, who were among the first settlers to locate in this section,
Mr. Masterson has seen Glenn County develop from an almost unin-
habited waste to its present prosperous condition. During his long
residence here, no one has Ijeen more patriotically devoted to the
interests of the county than he, nor more ready to lend his aid to
the advancement of the public good.
420 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
STEPHEN ADDINGTON
In Stephen Addington the press of the Sacramento Valley
had a supporter who not only maintained a high standard of
newspaper work, but whose life and character had an uplifting
influence in the development of this part of the state. He was
particularly energetic in developing and maintaining the best
interests of Colusa, of which he was a resident for many years,
and where, in partnership with Will S. Green, he built up and
controlled the Colusa Sun. In 1887 he sold the Sun; but though
he lived for nine years in San Francisco, he returned repeatedly
to Colusa. His death occurred while on a visit to Sacramento,
May 4, 1902.
Stephen Addington was reared in an atmosphere of culture
and refinement, amid influences naturally inclining him to a lit-
erary life; and he probably never seriously thought of any occu-
pation other than the one he engaged in as a means of a liveli-
hood. His father, William B. Addington, founded the Fishkill
Standard, one of the most influential newspapers of Dutchess
County, N. Y. His grandfather was Dr. Stephen Addington, an
eminent physician of New Jersey, and a descendant of Henry
Addington, Lord Sydmouth, of England. W. R. Addington was
a man of scholarly attainments. A forceful writer, he produced
editorials widely quoted in the contemporaneous press. Stephen
Addington was born in New Jersey, but was reared in Fishkill-
on-the-Hudson. He had a natural aptitude for newspaper work,
and gradually worked his way into the office of the Standard.
In 1854 he brought his virile enthusiasm with him to the West,
coming to California via Panama, and soon afterwards settling
in Marysville. He had a genial and agreeable personality, and
a high estimate of the opportunities offered in journalism; and
he soon found himself on the staff of the Marysville Express, of
which he subsequently became sole owner. Later he was identified
with the San Francisco Bulletin; and after severing his relations
with that paper, he came to Colusa. Mr. Addington was con-
nected with the Colusa Sun for a longer period than with any
other paper during his active life. Under his guidance as local
editor, it became a reliable and successful publication, appealing
to the people by its faithful portrayal of existing conditions.
On November 24, 1872, Stephen Addington was united in mar-
riage with Elizabeth Hart, a native of Indiana, who is mentioned
at length on another page of this history. Since her husband's
ly'Z^^^l** '-^^Q^'Cf^^C^yCi^ .
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 423
death, Mrs. Addingtou divides her time hetween Colusa and San
Francisco, in both of which cities she has numerous friends.
The character of Stephen Addington is well portrayed in
the following tribute paid to his memory by Judge E. C. Hart,
in a letter sent to Mrs. Addington when her heart was heavy
with grief over the loss of her husband: "Few people, I think,
knew Steve and his heart better than I. God never made a nobler
character. His loyalty to his friends was so unusual that it was
really phenomenal. If he ever became involved in unpleasant
disputations with those whom he liked and loved, he possessed
the divine quality of forgiveness to that high degree that he
would soon forget the unpleasantness. His integrity was his
pride, and was known to all who had the honor of his acquaint-
ance. As Davy Crockett once said, speaking of a friend whose
characteristics he well knew, 'Doubtless God could have made a
better man than he, but doubtless God never did.' Our consola-
tion in his passing from us is in the fact that he fought the battles
of life honorably and well, and was universally beloved by his
extensive circle of acquaintances in California. Never heard a
man who knew Steve refer to him except in the most affectionate
and endearing terms. In the early prime of his life his presence
was always like a beautiful sunlight. His heart was warm, his
nature gentle and genial, and his intelligence broad, substantial
and helpful. May the sweet singers of the air ever chant their
sweetest melodies to his memorv."
MRS. ELIZABETH ADDINGTON
A prominent place among the women who have left their
impress on the development of Colusa must be accorded Mrs.
Elizabeth Addington, wife of the late Stephen Addington, one of
the foremost men of the Sacramento Valley, and one whose serv-
ices to the county were of exceptional importance, and who was
associated with the late AYill S. Green in the management of the
Colusa Sun. Mr. Addington, by his wise investments in property
in Colusa, did much to help develop a city from the barren plains.
He erected several houses, and a brick block at the corner of
Market and Fourth Streets ; and this property is still in the pos-
session of Mrs. Addington. In all of his activities Mr. Addington
always had the cooperation of his able wife.
Before her marriage Mrs. Addington was Miss Elizabeth Hart.
A native of Indiana, she came as a child to California, with her
parents ; and here she received her education at Mrs. Perry's Acad-
424 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
emy in Sacramento. Her father, James Hart, came to America at
the age of twelve years, and grew to manhood in this country. He
received a good education, and taught school in Indiana for some
time. In 1854 he located in California, having crossed the iDlains
with an ox team. He settled in Sutter County, and at Nicolaus
studied law and was admitted to the bar. In the town of his adop-
tion he served as a justice of the peace. He eventually removed
to Colusa, where he continued to practice his profession imtil a
short time before his demise, at the age of sixty-two years. Mr.
Hart was a Eepublican in politics ; and fraternally he was a Mason.
He was a student and a scholar, and was charitable and kind ; and
in his business and professional life his honesty and integrity were
never questioned.
By the first marriage of James Hart, a son, T. J. Hart, was
born. He became a prominent attorney at Colusa, and served two
terms as a representative from his county in the state assembly.
For liis second wife, Mr. Hart married Sallie Cavins, a daughter
of Samuel E. Cavins, a native of Kentucky, and a colonel in the
War of 1812. Mr. Cavins studied law when a young man, and
practiced it in Indiana, where he became a prominent judge of his
time. He died while rendering service to the Union cause in the
Civil War. In devoting his life to the service of his country, he
followed in the footsteps of his father, who carried a musket in the
Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. Two of Judge
Cavins' sons, Elijah and Adin, entered the army as colonels and
served with their commands during the Civil War, and later prac-
ticed law in Indiana. Mrs. Sallie Cavins Hart was reared in In-
diana, and died in San Francisco at the age of sixty-one years, in
1895, while visiting friends. She was a faithful member of the
Methodist Church. Besides Elizabeth, who was the second child,
she had eleven other children. Three sons died in youth or early
manhood. The others are : Antoinette, Mrs. Richard Jones of Sac-
ramento ; A. L., a man of remarkable endowments, who became at-
torney general of California, and practiced law in San Francisco,
where he died; E. C, who was founder of the Willows Journal,
and who afterwards was admitted to the bar, practiced in Sacra-
mento, and served as superior judge of Sacramento County until
he was elected to the appellate bench, where he is now serving his
second term as Judge of the Appellate Court of California; S.
Robert, who is also a prominent attorney at Sacramento ; W. Cur-
ran, who is a practicing dental surgeon in San Francisco ; Dr. Adin
C, who is a physician and surgeon of Sacramento, ranking with
the best surgeons on the Pacific Coast, and who served a number
of years as a member of the State Board of Health; and Miss
Margaret and Miss Lola, ))oth residents of San Francisco, the
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 425
former a well-known musician and a teacher of piano and voice,
and the latter an expert stenographer with the State Bank Com-
mission, and equaled by few in her work.
Since the death of her husband, Mrs. Addington divides her
time between Colusa and San Francisco, in both of which cities
she has numerous friends, drawn to her by virtue of her many
graces of mind and heart, and an unfailing sympathy and tact
which have made her a social favorite wherever her lot has been
cast. She was of great assistance to her gifted husband, was his
kindest yet severest critic, and rejoiced in the noble and influential
career he fashioned in the West. She is a member of the Woman's
Club in Colusa, and has always been active in its music and art
section. She continues her interest in music and art, and is devoted
to her piano, still keeping up her practice and giving pleasure to
her musical friends. Mrs. Addington is a member of the Episcopal
Church, and an active worker and treasurer of the Ladies' Guild.
She has always assisted with the music at the church, and was a
leader of the choir for years, rendering musical selections before
the congregation and before j^rivate audiences. In her political
affiliation, Mrs. Addington is a Eepublican. She is well-read, has
a retentive memory, and is a most interesting conversationalist.
MES. MARY FLOOD
The life-story of Mrs. Mary Flood, one of the long-honored
residents of Newv'ille, and the widow of the late John Flood, is
another reminder of the many and valuable contributions made
by the Irish and English to the settlement and successful develop-
ment of the Golden State. When about twenty-six years of age,
in the year 1849, John Flood, a patriotic son of the Emerald Isle,
came to the United. States and located for a while in St. Louis
County, Mo., where he took up the blacksmith's trade. In 1853
he crossed the plains to California, and located in Henleyville,
Tehama County, where he built the first cabin. He came with
John James, helping to drive his cattle, and afterwards -ran a
blacksmith shop for John Simpson in Tehama. After working in
that vicinity about two years, he came to what is now known as
Newville, Glenn (then Colusa) County, and opened the first black-
smith shop in that section. At the same time, he took up a claim
of one hundred sixty acres, where he built a house and a black-
smith shop, the first one in the district. In 1859 he moved over to
the north fork of Stony Creek, in the Newville district, and there
established his blacksmith shop, this time a mile and a half east
426 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
of the i^resent site of Newville. lu the early days he shod horses
from Sacramento to Red Bluff and Redding, along the old stage
road; he was an excellent blacksmith, a thorough workman, and
could make anything in the line of iron work.
In 1860, Mr. Flood came on the home place, taking up one
hundred sixty acres of land at first, and gradually adding to the
same by purchase, until today the ranch contains twelve hundred
forty-seven acres. He continued at the forge until 1866, when he
sold his blacksmith shop, and gave all his attention to his growing
agricultural and stock-raising interests, in which he was very suc-
cessful, and from which he acquired considerable wealth. Ripe
with the experience and accomplishments of seventy-five years, he
passed away, on November 22, 1898. He was a man who merited,
and enjoyed, the esteem of his fellow men. He was a faithful
member of the Roman Catholic Church. He was an active Demo-
crat; and his aid and counsel were highly prized in political
circles.
On Se}jtember 6, 1860, John Flood was united in marriage
with Miss Mary Williams, who was born in Liverpool, England,
on October 31, 1841, and came to the United States with her
parents. Her father was Thomas WiUiams, a native of AVales, and
a tailor by trade. Her mother was Alice Robertson, who was
born in Liverpool. For a while after his arrival in this country,
her father had a tailor shop in St. Louis ; but hearing the stories
of rich mining adventure, he crossed the plains, without his family,
in 1850, and tried his luck at mining in Nevada Citj^ Two years
later, he returned to Missouri; and in 1853 he again crossed the
plains, this time with his wife and three children. Two children
had died in Missouri. Mrs. Flood was the eldest of the three ; and
one son was born on the Platte River. They named him Louis
Platte. Mr. Williams and his family located six miles north of
Sacramento, on the American River, where he engaged in dairy-
ing. In 1858 he removed to Colusa County and settled three miles
north of the present site of Newville, in what is now Tehama
County, where he continued his dairy business, in connection with
general farming, until his death. Mr. and Mrs. Flood were the
parents of nine children: John Thomas, who with a brother
operates the home ranch; Jaines Mathew, ranching near the home
place; Alice Margaret, at home; Louis Vernon, also a rancher in
the vicinity; Grace, Mrs. J. W. Trexler, of Mills Holm; Owen
Ernest, who died in Jime, 1897; Mary Ellen, Mrs. Lundrof, of
Fruto ; Lester Henry, partner with his brother John Thomas ; and
Clara Genevieve, also at home. Since her husband's death, Mrs.
Flood continues to reside on the old home farm; and with the
aid of her children she is looking after the affairs left by him.
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES 427
HIBAM LEEOY WEST
One of the prominent ranchers of Glenn County is Hiram Le-
roy West, an extensive grain farmer, fruit grower and breeder of
tine horses, who resides in the vicinity of Hamilton City. He was
born in Bremer County, Iowa, on November 28, 1862. He attended
the public schools there until he was sixteen, and then, with an older
brother, Frank West, came to California and located in what is now
Glenn Countj^, in 1879. Upon his arrival here young West went to
work as a ranch hand, eager to learn the methods of farming as
done by the Westerners. He had been brought up on a farm in the
Middle AVest, and had become acquainted with the methods of suc-
cessful farming as it is carried on there ; and with that knowledge to
aid him, he was soon qualified to hold down any responsible position
along agricultural lines. He worked for various persons, and soon
became foreman on the Glenn ranch, which position he held for nine
years with credit to himself and satisfaction to the owners of the
property. He saved his earnings ; and when he was ready to engage
in an independent venture, he leased land and for three years raised
grain on a twelve-hundred-acre tract of the Glenn estate. Soon he
added to his leasehold, and was farming some three tliousand acres
of that estate. For two years he farmed two thousand acres of
the Walsh ranch. Each year saw his profits grow, as well as
the scope of his operations, until he had eight thousand acres of
this land under cultivation to grain. At one time he was farming
thirteen thousand acres, using the best methods then in vogue for
planting and harvesting his enormous crops, being recognized as
one of the largest grain men of the Sacramento Valley.
In 1913 Mr. West turned his attention to horticulture, setting
out seventy acres of almonds, one of the first orchards set out on
the Van Syckle tract. A comparison of the trees on that ranch,
now four years old, with trees of equal age in other sections of the
state, will show that the growth is far more rapid here. He rented
the entire Van Syckle tract until it was sold off in smaller tracts,
and raised fine crops of barley on the rich land. This section of
the county he considers the very best for fruit and alfalfa. With-
out irrigation, from a three-year-old stand of alfalfa, he cut thir-
teen and one half tons to the acre, on an eight-acre tract; and be-
tween trees, two and three quarters tons per acre at the first cut-
ting, and one and three quarters tons per acre at the second cut-
ting, all weighed when sold from the field. While well known as
a fruit grower, it is as a grain raiser that Mr. West is best known ;
he is still raising large crops on leased land.
428 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
For years Mr. West has given considerable attention to rais-
ing fine Belgian horses. He has sold fine animals throughout the
state, and has aided in raising the grade of stock thereby. He ex-
hibited nine head of horses at the State Fair in 1913, and took fif-
teen i^rizes. One mare, weighing two thousand three hundred sev-
enty pounds, has been exhibited five times, and has been given five
gold medals — two in California and three in the East. Mr. West
speciaUzes in Belgian stock, and has fourteen head of fine blooded
animals. He also has been successTul as a raiser of mules.
When Mr. West settled on his present place, it was a grain
field. He built the house, barns, and outbuildings, fenced and lev-
eled the land, planted alfalfa, and set out every tree and shrub
seen on the place today. He now has one of the show places in
Glenn County. He has traveled over the greater part of the
United States, mainly to see what other people were doing and
how they were doing it; has visited China and Japan; and has
also been in Alaska. After his journeys were ended, he came back
to the Hamilton district, well satisfied to make it his home the
remainder of his days.
On October 23, 1890, in Sacramento, Mr. West was united in
marriage with Miss Adah Longmire, born in Dixon, Solano
County, June 13, 1871, a daughter of Andrew J. Longmire. An-
drew J. Longmire crossed the plains in 1850 and settled in Solano
County, where he married Eliza Munion, who crossed the plains in
1851. They had six children, five of whom were sons, Mrs. West,
the oldest of the family, being the only daughter. The others are
Leonard, George, Harry (now deceased), Albert, and Elmer. All
the living children are residing in the vicinity of Hamilton City.
Mr. Longmire came to what is now Glenn County in 1874, and
farmed successfully for many years. He died in Hamilton City in
1913. Mrs. Longmire is still living in that place, at the age of
sixty-seven years. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. West two chil-
dren were born : Leona, the wife of Edwin Collins and the mother
of a son, Hiram, Jr. ; and Leroy West, who is assisting his father
on the ranch. Mrs. West has been an active worker in all good
movements for the upbuilding of the section of Glenn County
where they have resided for so many years. She was a member of
the first committee that was organized in Hamilton City to raise
funds for the Eed Cross; and the members riiised two hundred
eighty dollars in seven days' time, a record unsurpassed in the
county. She has been identified with the movement for the organ-
ization of the new union high school; was connected with the
Woman's Improvement Club for years; and is a member of Mar-
shall Chapter, 0. E. S., at Willows. Both she and her husband
have been liljeral supporters of all church work, and worthy char-
. COLUSA AND GLEXX COUNTIES 429
ities in the county; and they are counted among the most public-
spirited citizens in their section. Though engrossed with his nu-
merous ranch enterprises, Mr. West finds time to devote to social
and fraternal organizations. He is a Thirty-second-degree Mason,
belonging to the Blue Lodge at "Willows, the Chapter and Com-
mandery at Chico, and Islam Temple at San Francisco; and is
also a member of Chico Lodge, B. P. 0. Elks, and of the Odd Fel-
lows at Willows. Politically he is a stanch Kepublican.
JAMES BYEOX MOEEISSEY
Among the pioneers of Colusa and Glenn Counties, James
Byron Morrissey is worthy of special mention. He was born in
Janesville, Wis., April 22, 1856, a son of Thomas and Ella (Dunn)
Morrissey. The family moved to Allamakee County, Iowa; and
there he acquired the knowledge he has put to such good advan-
tage in later life. He was raised on a farm, and early learned the
lessons of industry and perseverance so necessary in order to be-
come a successful tiller of the soil.
When a lad of seventeen, James Morrissey set his face
towards the West. He arrived in California in 1873, and first
worked for wages on the Whyler ranch, near Princeton, Colusa
County. For four years thereafter, in partnership with his
brother, John Morrissey, he farmed a section of land, north of
Orland, to grain. In 1881 the partnership was dissolved, and Mr.
Morrissey then continued to farm the large acreage alone imtil
1885, when he purchased his present ranch of three hundred acres,
one and one half miles north of Orland. This ranch originally
contained four hundred eighty acres, but he sold one hundred
eighty acres of the property. Here he has a splendidly improved
place, which he has been several years in developing. He has one
hundred sixty acres in alfalfa ; and with his two eldest sons, he is
developing a seventy-acre almond orchard. In addition to his hor-
ticultural interests Mr. Morrissey devotes a portion of his ranch
to stock-raising. He was the first man to start development work
north of Stony Creek, in the Orland district, and his ranch is one
to which Glenn County can point with pride as an example of what
can be done in this section of the state with proper development
and management.
The marriage of Mr. Morrissey united him with Ellen 'Hair.
Fourteen children have blessed their union, twelve of whom are
living to carry on the work begun by their parents. They are as
follows: Rodney J.; Dora M., wife of Dr. H. E. Minor; and Ed-
430 COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
ward J., Clara E., Hazel C, Bernard F., Kenneth C, Jeremiah B.,
Melvin M., Howard P., Marjorie L., and Harold E. Both Mr.
Morrissey and his wife have been members of the school board
and have helped in all movements for bettering the educational ad-
vantages in their community, realizing that the future of the val-
ley lies with the rising generation. Mr. Morrissey has served as
a director of the Orland Unit Water Users' Association, giving
much time from his multiplied activities to this feature of the
county's development. All projects having for their object the
progress and advancement of the community have found in him
an ardent supporter. In this work he has had the able assistance
of his wife, who is herself an earnest worker for the betterment of
conditions, both socially and economically. Mrs. Morrissey is a
charter member of the Woman's Improvement Club of Orland.
Fraternally, Mr. Morrissey is a Mason, a member of Orland
Lodge, No. 265, F. & A. M., and has passed all the chairs of
the Order.
WILLIAM H. PAPST
The cordial communication and social relations existing be-
tween the people of Canada and the people, of the States have
often been the subject of pleasant comment; and no wonder, for
many of the Dominion's sons and daughters have crossed the line
to find still greater opportunities, and to bring with them their
wholesome native customs and their helpful spirit of enterprise.
One of these esteemed settlers is William H. Papst, a native of
Toronto, Upper Canada, where he was born on November 19, 1845,
and where he attended the Model School. His parents were Henry
G. and Ehzabeth (Burke) Papst, and both were natives of Can 
