Organized November i, 1883 Incorporated February 13, 1891
PUBLICATIONS
OF THE
Historical Society
OF
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
AND OF THE
Pioneers
ANGELES COUNTY
VOLUME v.
(ANNUAL PUBLICATIONS OF 1900-1901-1902)
LOS ANGELES, CAL.
t
CONTENTS OF VOLUME V.
PAGE
Officers of the Historical Society 1900-1901 4
Stores of Los Angeles in 1850 Laura Evertsen King. 5
Some Aboriginal Alphabets ( Part I ) J. D. Moody.
To California via Panama in the Early '6o's J. M. Guinn
Olden Time Holiday Festivities Wm. H. Workman.
Mexican Governors of California H. D. Barrows.
Fifty Years of California Politics Walter R. Bacon.
Side Lights on Old Los Angeles Mary E. Mooney.
Los Angeles Postmasters (1850 to 1900) H. D. Barrows.
Some Aboriginal Alphabets (Part II) J. D. Moody.
Historic Seaports of Los Angeles J. M. Guinn.
La Estrella, The Pioneer Newspaper of Los Angeles J. M. Guinn.
9
13
22
25
3»
43
49
56
60
7°
Don Antonio Coronel H. D. Barrows 78
Secretary's Report 83
Report of the Publication Committee 84
Treasurer s Report 84
Curator's Report 85
Olncers and Committees 01 tne bociety of Pioneers of Los Angeles
County, 1900-1901 86
In Memonam 87
Constitution and By- Law s 88
Biographical Sketches of Deceased Pioneers 91
Stephen C. Foster H. D. Barrows . 91
Francisco Sabichi Committee Report.
Robert Miller Town Committee Report.
Fred W. Wood Committee Report.
Joseph Bayer Committee Report.
Augustus Ulyard Los Angeles Daily Times.
Rev. A. M. Hough J. M. Guinn.
Henry M. Fleishman C. N. Wilson.
Frank Lecouvreur Committee Report.
91
92
93.
94
94
95
96
96
Daniel Scheick Los Angeles Daily Times. 96
Andrew Glassell Committee Report . 98
Roll of Members Admitted During 1900 99
Officers of the Historical Society 1901-1902 103
First Congregational Church, 1868 (Illustration) 104
Pioneer Physicians of Los Angeles H. D. Barrows . . 105
The Old Round House Geo. W. Hazard.. 109
Passing of the Old Pueblo J. M. Guinn 113
Marine Biological Laboratory at San Pedro
Mrs. M. Burton Williamson . . 121
Early Clericals of Los Angeles H. D. Barrows.. 127
The Original Father Junipero F. J. Policy. . i.vj
Camel Caravans of the American Deserts J. M. Guinn. . 146
Dilatory Settlement of California Walter R. Bacon.. 152
Officers and Committees of the Society of Pioneers of Los Angeles
County, 1901-1902 159
Constitution and By-Laws of the Society of Pioneers 160
Order of Business 164
Inaugural Address of the President H. D. Barrows. . 165
The Pony Express J. M. Guinn .. 168
Overland to California in 1850 J. M. Stewart. . 176
Early Days in Washoe Alfred James.. 186
PA.GE
Biographical Sketches of Deceased Pioneers 194
Thomas E. Rowan Committee Report.. 197
George Gephard Los Angeles Daily Times.. 199
Elizabeth Langley Ensign Committee Report . . 199
William F. Grosser Committee Report.. 200
Samuel Calvert Foy (Portrait) Committee Report.. 202
Charles Erode Committee Report.. 204
Frank A. Gibson Committee Report. . 206
In Memoriam >• 207
Roll of Members, Complete to January, 1902 208
Officers of the Historical Society, 1902-1903 214
Early Art in California W. L. Judson. . 215
Poetry of the Argonauts J. M. Guinn.. 217
Ethical Value of Social Organizations. . .Mrs. M. Burton Williamson.. 228
Medicinal and Edible Plants of So. California. . .Laura Evertsen King.. 237
Andrew A. Boyle H. D. Barrows. . 241
El Canon Perdido J. M. Guinn. . 245
Some Old Letters 251
Dr. John Marsh to Don Abel Stearns, 1837 251
Hon. Stephen C. Foster to Gen. B. Riley, 1849 252
The Palomares Family of California H. D. Barrows.. 254
Sister Scholastica Wm. H. Workman 256
Officers and Committees of the Society of Pioneers of Los Angeles
County, 1902-1903 259
Constitution and By-Laws 260
Order of Business 264
My First Procession in Los Angeles, March 16, 1847
Stephen C. Foster.. 265
Some Eccentric Characters of Early Los Angeles J. M. Guinn.. 273
Angel Pioneers Jesse . Yarnell . . 282
Trip to California via Nicaragua J. M. Stewart.. 283
Wm. Wolfskill, The Pioneer H. D. Barrows.. 287
Pioneer Ads and Advertisers J. M. Guinn.. 295
Biographical Sketches of Deceased Pioneers 300
Daniel Desmond Committee Report. . 300
Jessie Benton Fremont Committee Report.. 300
Caleb E. White Committee Report. . 301
John Caleb Salisbury Committee Report . . 303
Henry Kirke White Bent Committee Report. . 304
John Charles Dotter Committee Report. . 306
Anderson Rose -. Committee Report.. 307
John C. Anderson A. H. Johnson. . 308
Jerry Illich Los Angeles Daily Times.. 309
In Memoriam 310
Roll of Members, Complete, to January, 1903 u
ANTONIO F. CORONEL
CONTENTS.
Officers of the Historical Society, 19001901 4
Stores of Los Angeles in 1850 Laura Evcrtsen King 5
Some Aboriginal Alphabets (Part i) /. D. Moody 9
To California via Panama in the Early '6os. . . ./. M. Guinn 13
Olden Time Holiday Festivities Wm. H. Workman 22
Mexican Governors of California H. D. Barrows 25
Fifty Years of California Politics Walter R. Bacon 31
Side Lights on Old Los Angeles Mary E. Mooncy 43
Los Angeles Postmasters ( 1850 to 1900) H. D. Barrows 49
Some Aboriginal Alphabets (Part II) /. D. Moody 56
Historic Seaports of Los Angeles /. M. Giann 60
La Estrella — Pioneer Newspaper of Los Angeles. ./. M. Guinn 70
Don Antonio F. Coronel //. D. Barrows 78
Secertary's Report 83
Report of the Publication Committee 84
Treasurer's Report 84
Curator's Report 85
PIONEER REGISTER.
Officers and Committees of the Society of Pioneers of Los An-
geles County, 1900-1901 86
In Memoriam 87
Constitution and By-Laws 88
Stephen C. Foster 91
Francisco Sabichi 91
Robert Miller Town 92
Fred W. Wood 93
Joseph Bayer 94
Augustus Ulyard 94
Rev. A. M. Hough 95
Henry F. Fleishman 96
Frank Lecouvreur 96
Roll of Members Admitted since January, 1900 99
Daniel Scheick 96
Andrew Glassell 98
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY
1900
OFFICERS.
WALTER R. BACON President
J. D. MOODY First Vice-President
MRS. M. BURTON WILLIAMSON , . . . . Second Vice- President
EDWIN BAXTER '.Treasurer
J. M. GUINN Secretary and Curator
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
WALTER R. BACON, H. D. BARROWS,
A. C. VROMAN, EDWIN BAXTER,
J. M. GUINN, J. D. MOODY,
MRS. M. BURTON WILLIAMSON.
1901
/
OFFICERS (ELECT).
WALTER R. BACON President
A. C. VROMAN First Vice-President
MRS. M. BURTON WILLIAMSON Second Vice-President
EDWIN BAXTER Treasurer
J. M. GUINN Secretary and Curator
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
WALTER R. BACON, J D. MOODY,
H. D. BARROWS, EDWIN BAXTER,
J. M. GUINN, A. C. VROMAN,
MRS. M. BURTON WILLIAMSON.
Historical Society
-OF-
Southern California
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, 1900
THE STORES OF LOS ANGELES IN 1850
BY LAURA EVERTSEN KING.
(Read before the Pioneers, December, 1900.)
If a person walking down Broadway or Spring street, at the
present day, could turn "Time backward in his flight" fifty years,
how strange the contrast would seem. Where now stand blocks
of stately buildings, whose windows are aglow with all the beauties
of modern art, instead there would be two or three streets whose
business centered in a few "tiendas," or stores, decorated with
strings of "chilis" or jerked beef. The one window of each "tienda"
was barred with iron, the "tiendero" sitting in the doorway to pro-
tect his wares, or to watch for customers. Where red and yellow
brick buildings hold their heads proudly to the heavens now, fifty
years ago the soft hills slid down to the back doors of the adobe
dwelling and offered their wealth of flowers and wild herbs to the
botanist. Sidewalks were unknown, pedestrians marched single
file in the middle of the street, in winter to enjoy the sunshine,
in summer to escape the trickling tears of "brea" which, dropping
m the roofs, branded their linen or clogged their footsteps. Now
where the policeman "wends his weary way," the "vaquero," with
his lively "cuidado" (lookout) lassoed his wild steer, and dragging
him to the "mantanza" at the rear of his dwelling, offered him
on the altar of hospitality.
Among the most prominent stores in the '50*5 were those of
6 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF 80UTHEPN CALIFORNIA
Labat Bros., Foster & McDougal, afterward Foster & Wadhams,
of B. D. Wilson, Abel Stearns, S. Lazard's City of Paris, O. W.
Childs, Chas. Ducommon, J. G. Downey, Schumacher, Goller, Lew
Bow & Jayzinsky, etc. With the exception of O. W. Childs, Chas.
Ducommon, J. G. Downey, John Goller and Jayzinsky, all carried
general merchandise, which meant anything from a plow to a box
of sardines, or from a needle to an anchor. Some merchants sold
sugar and silks, others brogans and barrels of flour. Goller's was
a wagon and carriage shop. O. W. Childs first sign read "tins to
mend." Jayzinsky 's stock consisted principally of clocks, but as
the people of Southern California cared little for time, and only
recorded it like the Indians by the sun, he soon failed. Afterwards
he engaged in the hardware business with N. A. Potter. Jokes
were often played upon the storekeepers, to while away the time.
Thus one Christmas night, when the spirit of fun ran high, and
no policeman was on the scene, some young men, who felt them-
selves "sold" along with the articles purchased, effaced the first
syllable of Wadhams' name and substituted "old" in its place, mak-
ing it Oldhams, and thus avenging themselves. It was almost im-
possible to procure anything eatable from abroad that was not
not strong and lively enough to remove itself from one's presence
before cooking. It was not the fault of the vender, but of the dis-
tance and difficulty in transportation. Mr. Ducommon and Mr.
Downey arrived in Los Angeles together. Mr. Ducommon was a
watchmaker, and Mr. Downey, a druggist. Each had a small stock
in trade, which they packed in a "carreta" for transporation from
San Pedro to Los Angeles. On the journey the cart broke down,
and packing the most valuable of their possessions into carpet-
sacks, they walked the remaining distance. Mr. Ducommon soon
branched out in business, and his store became known as the most
reliable one in his line, keeping the best goods, although at enor-
mous prices. Neither Mr. Downey nor any other druggist could
have failed to make money in the early '5o's, when common Epson
salts retailed at the rate of five dollars per pound, and everything
else was in proportion. One deliberated long before sending for
a doctor in those days — fortunately, the climate was such that his
services were not often needed. Perhaps the most interesting
window display in the city in the early '50*5 was that of Don Abel
Stearns', wherein common candy jars filled with gold, from the
finest dust to "chispas," or nuggets, could be seen from the street
adorning the shelves. As gold and silver coin were scarce, the
natives working the placer mines in the adjoining mountains made
THE STORES OF LOS ANGELES IN 1850 7
their purchases with gold dust. Tied in a red silk handkerchief,
tucked into the waist-band of their trousers, would be their week's
earnings; this, poured carelessly into the scales and as carelessly
weighed, soon filled the jars. What dust remained was shaken
out of its folds, and the handerchief returned to its place. (No
wonder that the native became the victim of sharpers and money-
lenders; taking no thought of the morrow, he lived on, letting his
inheritance slip from his grasp.)
The pioneer second hand store of Los Angeles was kept by a man
named Yarrow, or old "Cuarto Ojos" (four eyes), as the natives
called him, because of the large spectacles he wore, and the habit
he had of loking over them, giving him the appearance of having
"four eyes." Probably, however, this sobriquet attached to him
because his glasses had four lenses, two in front, and one on each
side. His store was on the corner of Requena and Los Angeles
streets, in the rear of where the United States Hotel now stands.
The store-room was a long, low adobe building with the usual store
front of that day — a door and a narrow window. This left the
back part of the long store almost in utter darkness, which probably
gave rise to the uncanny tradition that certain portions of reputed
wealth but strangers to the town had been enticed into this dark
interior to their undoing, and that like the fly in the spider's den
they "ne'er come out again." This idle tale was all owing to his
spectacles — for in the early 503 all men who wore glasses were
under suspicion — the general opinion prevailing was that they were
worn to conceal one's motives and designs, which when hidden by
the masque of spectacles, were suspected to be murderers. In the
"tienda" of "Cuarto Ojos" were heaped together all sorts and
conditions of things, very much as they are now in second hand
stores, but the articles differed widely in kind and quality from
those found in such stores today. Old "Cuarto Ojos" combined
pawn broking and money lending with his other business. In close
contact with the highly-colored shawls, rebosos, gold necklaces,
silver mounted frenos and heavily embroidered muchillas, hung
treacherous looking machetes, silver-mounted revolvers and all the
trappings and paraphrenalia of the robber and the gambler out
of luck, and forced there to stand and deliver as collateral for
loans from old "Cuarto Ojos."
Coming up Requena street and crossing Main to the southwest
corner of Main and Court streets, one arrived at the pioneer auc-
tion house of 1850. Here George F. Lamson persauded the visitors
to his store into buying wares that at the present day would find
8 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OP SOUTHERN CADIFORNIA
their way to the rubbish heaps of the city. This story is told
of his sale of a decrepit bureau : "Ladies and gentlemen," — ladies
minus, and gentlemen scarce — said the genial auctioneer, "here is
the finest piece of mahogany ever brought across the plains or
around the Horn — four deep drawers and keys to all of them ; don't
lose this bargain; it is one in a thousand!" It was knocked down
to a personal friend of the auctioneer for the modest sum of $24.00.
After the sale the purchaser ventured to ask for the keys. "Why,"
said Lamson, "when I put up that article I never expected you
would be fool enough to buy it. There are no keys, and more than
that, there is no need of keys, for there are no locks to it."
On Los Angeles street in the same location where it stands to-
day and kept by the same proprietor, Sam C. Foy, stood and still
stands the pioneer saddlery of Los Angeles. Of the pioneer mer-
chants of the 'so's, Mr. Harris Newmark was the founder of a
house still in existence. If any youth of Los Angeles would see
for himself how honesty and strict attention to business commands
success, let him visit the establishment of Mr. Newmark and
his successors.
In the early '50*5 some merchants were accused of getting their
hands into their neighbors' pockets, or rather of charging exhorbi-
tant prices to the depletion of the contents of their neighbors'
purses. These same merchants never refused to go down into their
own pockets for sweet charity's sake. If a collection was to be
taken up for some charitable object, all that was necessary was
to make the round of the stores, and money was poured into the
hat without question of what was to be done with it. Now we
have the Associated Charties and all sorts of charitable institutions,
but for liberal and unquestioning giving, we take off our hats to
the "stores of 1850."
SOME ABORIGINAL ALPHABETS— A STUDY
PART I.
BY J. D. MOODY, D.D.S.
(Read before the Historical Society, May 3, 1900.)
The origin of alphabetical writing is lost in the mists of an-
tiquity. But this one fact is apparent : no matter how far back
we carry this study, the art of writing is found to be a develop-
ment. A pre-existent form can be logically supposed from which
every example yet known has grown. While in most cases, this
process has been a slow one, by patient study we can trace out
the steps one by one, until not only the relationship stands clearly
proven, but this slow process of evolutionary detail can be seen as
a whole. To this general rule there are among aboriginal people
some apparent exceptions, two of which we will study Jonight, as a
step towards a solution of a third.
These examples are the alphabet of the Vei tribes of Western
Africa, and the alphabet of the Cherokee Indians of our own coun-
try. These alphabets instead of being a growth of centuries, and
the product of innumerable minds, suddenly sprang into existence;
each the product of one mind, and each in its place bridging the
chasm between intellectual chaos and order.
The Cherokee alphabet was fully completed in 1826; that of the
Vei in 1834. The Cherokee alphabet is certainly known to have
been developed in one man's brain. Of the Vei alphabet, it is
known to have been largely the product of one mind, but in its
development assisted probably by a few contemporaries. In each
case the process of formation occupied but a few years, and, while
the work of one mind, it was the sight of written characters used
by foreigners that suggested the idea of an alphabet for them-
selves.
Africa is a great hive of humanity. In the earliest dawn
of history, in which we get only the faintest glimpses of these
human movements, we see the true blacks of Africa meeting, on
the sands of Egypt, the lighter colored Asiatic. There is a glimpse
of what is possibly a still earlier touch in that first great migration
10 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OP SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
from Central Europe, one wave of which reached the northern
shores of Africa. From these, probably, come all that diversity of
families and languages for which Africa is so famous. Here and
there, among these peoples, sometimes in fact in the very lowest
of them, are found evidences that the human soul, even in the black-
est skin, has been struggling to free itself fromj its environments,
and arise to that place of intelligence which is the inheritance of
the human race. But in every instance where these linguistic at-
tainments have been manifested, there is clearly seen the impress
of a more advanced people. Some families have reached a certain
stage, and then all further progress has stopped, as in the Hotten-
tots of the south. Others have inherited a capacity for improve-
ment, which, though languishing at times, has not entirely died
out, as in the Berbers of the north.
On the west coast of Africa there is found a tribe of natives,
the Vei, belonging to the great Mandingo family, who have shown
a capacity for advancement not found in the surrounding tribes.
They came from the western part of that great fertile region of
Africa called the Soudan. These people are lighter in color and
finer in form than those of other parts of Africa. Their intellect,
low as it is, has felt the impress of a higher intelligence, and shown
a capacity for development, by originating and using alphabetical
writing. Correspondence is carried on by means of it, and even
a history has been written in these characters. This alphabet is
said to have been evolved in 1834. There is some uncertainty
as to its origin. One statement is that a servant in an English
family, seeing the benefits of a written language, conceived the
idea of creating one for his people, the present Vei characters
being the result. There are some indications, however, tending to
show that it was a slower growth, and the work of more than
one individual. The initial impulse was probably caused by a sight
of Arab writing, and what it did for these masters of the Soudan.
A similar example is found among the Cherokee Indians of
our own country. I have here for your inspection two copies of an
old paper printed in these characters, in 1831, shortly after its in-
vention.
In the last century the Cherokee Indians occupied a good por-
ton of the Gulf States, what is now the State of Georgia being
their principal seat of residence. They were among the most ad-
vanced of the southern tribes. They had national traditions and
a folk lore carefully preserved by their prophets, but centuries had
failed to develop a writing to perpetuate them. These tribes were
30ME ABORIGINAL ALPHABETS — A STUDY 11
under the supervision of the general government, and white people
were not allowed, at this time, to enter their territory for pur-
poses of trade without first procuring a license. However, there
were not wanting contraband traders.
In 1768 one such, a German, George Gist or Guess, a peddler,
entered the Cherokee country with goods to trade for furs, and as
was the custom of these white traders, he took to himself an Indian
wife. She was the daughter of one of the principal chiefs. This
gave him a certain prestige among the Indians. In a little less than
a year he had converted all of his goods into furs, and, apparently
without the least remorse, left his Indian wife, never to return.
Shortly afterwards a child was born of this union. The deserted
wife remained true to her husband all her life. She educated her
boy according to the highest standard of Indian knowledge. She
lavished the love upon him that would have been given to the hus-
band had he remained. She called the the boy Se-quo-yah. He
inherited the cunning and taciturnity of the Indian and much of
the skill and mysticism of the German. He associated but little
with other Indian children, roamed the forest alone, or staid by
his mother. He early developed a remarkable mechanical genius,
and made dishes and implements for his mother. When he grew
up he became a silversmith, and later a blacksmith, and crowned it
all by learning to draw. He had noticed the trade marks on tools
sold by the peddlers, and understood their import. He got an Eng-
lish friend to write out his English name. He generally was known
by his father's name, George Guess. From this writing he made
a steel die and stamped the silver articles which he made. Some
of these articles are heirlooms in Cherokee families today. His
Indian countrymen were proud of him.
Missionaries had gone into the coutnry and founded schools.
His mind began to move. "White man write on paper, why not
Indian?" He thought and worked. The Indian language had
sounds that could not be made by the English alphabet. From
this point he lost the strictly alphabetical idea and evolved a sylla-
bic alphabet of eighty-five characters. It has been pronounced by
some eminent authorities as one of the most complete in existence.
He got an English spelling book from one of the teachers, and
from it copied a part of his characters; the others he invented him-
self.
Dr. D. G. Brinton, of the very highest authority on American
languages, says: "The deliberate analysis of a language back to
its phonetic elements, and the construction upon these of a series
12 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
of symbols, as was accomplished for the Cherokee by the half-breed
Se-quo-yah, has ever been the product of culture, not a process of
primitive evolution."
He showed his alphabet to the governor, who would not at first
believe that he had invented it. His daughter first learned it. No
roll of honor contains her name. He then taught it to his Indian
friends. They learned it readily and were proud of their achieve-
ment. It soon came into general use among them. At this time,
1826, a portion of the Cherokees had been transferred to their
new home beyond the Mississippi river. Filled with his ambitious
mission he journeyed thither to teach it to them. They learned it
readily and a correspondence was kept up between the two divisions
of the nation by means of the new characters. Books were printed,
and papers published in it. In a report to the Secretary of War,
in 1825, the Hon. T. L. McKenny says, about the Cherokee alpha-
bet : "It is composed of eighty-five characters, by which in a few
days the older Indians, who had despaired of deriving an education
by means of the schools * * * may read and correspond."
Agent Butler, in his annual report for 1845, savs : "The Chero-
kees who cannot speak English acquire their own alphabet -in twen-
ty-four hours."
In this case as in the African, given a genius, a fertile brain, a
suggestion from a superior mind, and you have as a result — an
alphabet.
STEPHEN C. FOSTER.
TO CALIFORNIA VIA PANAMA IN
THE EARLY '60s
BY J. M. GUINN.
(Read before the Pioneers, March, 1898.)
The reminiscences of the pioneers of a country have a unique
historical value. While they may be largely made up of the per-
sonal adventures of the narrators, even then, they reflect, as no
formal history can, phases of the social life of early times; and
they have this distinctive feature, they present views of historical
events from the standpoint of actual observation. The stories of
the Argonauts of '49 have an abiding interest for true Calif ornians.
Even though we may know that these returned seekers after the
golden fleece are drawing on their imagination to color some of
their adventures, yet we listen to their oft-told tales with admiration
for their heroism and kindly toleration for their romancing.
I can recall the intense interest with which I, when a boy, lis-
tened to the stories of returned Californians. How I longed to
be a man that I might emulate their daring deeds, and see the great
world as they had seen it. When I reached man's estate, Califor-
nia had lost its attraction for me. So many of the Argonauts re-
turned without the golden fleece — returned fleeced of all they had
possessed — penniless and with so poor an opinion of the country,
that I gave up my long cherished desire; gave it up to renew it
again, but from different motives and under widely different cir-
cumstances. The beginning of the Civil war found me completing
a college course in a western college. Five days after the fall of
Fort Sumter, one hundred of us students were enrolled and on our
way to suppress the Rebellion. After nearly three years of active
service, I returned to civil life, broken in health and all my plans
for life demoralized — the Rebellion had very nearly suppressed me.
And here allow me to digress briefly to make a few remarks
on the cost of war, not to the nation but to the individual. For the
past month war microbes have infested the atmosphere. The great
American people have been in a bellicose mood. How many of
those who talk so glibly of war have thought of what war may
14 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
mean to them — have counted the cost to the individual as well as
to the nation. The history of that student company well illustrates
the cost of war to the individual soldier. Of the one hundred
young men — their ages ranging from 18 to 25 — who marched forth
from the college halls on that April day in '61, four years later,
when the war closed, thirty-three were dead — killed in battle, died
of wounds,of disease or starved to death in southern prison pens.
More than one-half of the remainder returned home crippled by
wounds or broken by disease. Not one of those who did faithful
service to the country but what began the struggle for existence
after the close of the war handicapped for the remainder of his
days. But to return from this digression.
My physical delapidation precluded me from settling down to
any civil pursuit or of again entering the military service. A sea
voyage having been recommended as a remedial agent in restoring
my damaged constitution, my old desire to visit California returned
and was speedily acted upon. The overland railroad was then the
dream of enthusiasts, and its realization seemed to be distant, de-
cades in the future. The Indians on the "plains" were hostile, and
travel by the overland stage was extremely perilous. Nearly all
California travel then was by steamer. There were at that time
two lines of California steamships. One by the Panama and the other
by the Nicaragua route. The rates of fare were the same by the
different routes and were prohibitory to a person of small means —
first cabin, $350; second cabin, $225 to $250, and steerage $150.
Time, 26 to 30 days.
Arriving at New York, I repaired to the Nicaragua Steamship
Company's office, and was informed that owing to a revolution in
Central America the next steamer of that line would go by the
Panama route. I was still further discomfited to find every berth
in the cabins sold, and I had the alternative of going steerage or
of waiting fifteen days for the next steamer. Having during my
army life slept on almost everything, from a Virginia rail fence to
a picket post, and having subsisted on every form of subsistence,
from faith and hope to raw pumpkins, I thought the steerage of a
California steamer could present no form of discomfort I had not
experienced. One night between decks convinced me I was mis-
taken. The foul and feted atmosphere, crying children, quarreling
women, dirt and discomfort in every form were past my endurance.
Gathering up my blankets I fled to the upper deck, and for the re-
mainder of the voyage slept on the soft side of a plank by the smoke
stack.
TO CALIFORNIA VIA PANAMA IN THE EARLY '60S 15
The vessel was crowded far beyond her capacity. There were
a thousand passengers on board, about seven hundred of whom
were in the steerage. The draft riots had occurred in New York
about six months before, and another draft was impending. The
disloyal elements, both native and foreign born, were endeavoring
to escape enforced service to the country by emigrating to Cali-
fornia, where there had been no draft. After we had gotten beyond
the limits of the United States, and they had recovered from sea-
sickness, they spent their time cursing the government and abusing
Abe Lincoln and the Union soldiers. A little squad of eight or
ten of us, who had been Union soldiers, and were not afraid to show
our colors, were the especial targets of their abuse. On several
occasions their taunts and insults very nearly precipitated a riot.
The only thing that prevented an outbreak was the innate coward-
ice of the creatures, for although they were twenty to one of us,
they were afraid to attack us.
On the twelfth day out we cast anchor in the harbor of Aspin-
wall. The City of Aspinwall, or Colon, as it is now called, is the
Atlantic terminus of the Panama railroad. It has an excellent har-
bor and this is about its only virtue. It had a monopoly on the
vices. It was built in a mangrove swamp. Miasmatic vapors hang
over it and you breathe the malaria of its poisonous climate with
every breath. It had, at that time, a population of about 3,000. A
considerable number of the inhabitants were employees of the Pana-
ma Railroad and of the Pacific and the British steamship compa-
nies. In addition to its regular population there was at that time
a floating population, or rather a stranded population, for most of
it was made up of wrecks. These denizens of the tropical city
were the misfits of many nations. Many of them had left their
country for their country's good. Their leaving was not from
motives of patriotism, but more from motives of economy. They
left to save their governments the expense of hanging them. They
existed in a sort of cannibalistic way off the California travel, and
were ready for anything from stealing a grip-sack to cutting a
throat.
On account of the change of route our steamer on the Pacific
side failed to make close connections, and we were compelled to
remain in Aspinwall eight days. This gave us ample opportunity
to study its social, political and climatic conditions. Usually the
California traveler passes from the steamer to the rail cars and sees
but little of the town. One thing that struck us as very strange was
16 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
the social and political equality of the races. (This was before
the days of negro suffrage in the United States.) The chief of
police was a gigantic Jamaica negro, who promenaded the streets
dressed in a white linen suit and carrying a long cavalry saber —
his badge of office. The police force and the ayuntamiento, or
town council, were made up of bleached Caucasians, brown or un-
bleached natives and coal black negroes. They seemed to get along
harmoniously.
As the Panama railroad has often been described, I shall only
note a few of its most striking characteristics. It had one distinction
at that time that did not commend it to the California immigrant.
It charged the highest rate of fare of any railroad in the world.
Its length is forty-nine miles, and the fare over it was $25 — fifty
cents a mile. It is said that to build it cost a human life for every
tie of its forty-nine miles of track. The contractors at first at-
tempted to build the road by white labor. Men were inveigled to
work on it by the inducement of a free passage to California — for
one hundred days labor on the road. Very few of these survived
the deadly climate. A shipload of these recruits would be landed
and set at work — before the vessel returned with another 'load of
laborers the first were either under the ground or dying in the
hospital, destroyed by the deadly Chagres fever and exposure to the
tropical heat. When the evil reputation of the road and the coutnry
became known abroad, no more white men could be obtained. The
company then undertook to finish it with acclimated natives of the
tropics. Bands of Jamaica negroes were enlisted. These proved to
be so mutinous that the few white bosses were unable to control
them. Then some genius hit upon the idea of utilizing the feud
that existed from time immemorial between the Jamaica and Car-
thagenian negroes. These antagonistic elements were employed in
squads of about equal numbers. When the Jamaicans rebelled, the
Carthagenians were turned loose upon them, and vice versa. In the
fight that ensued their belligerent propensities were mutually grati-
fied and the survivors were satisfied to go to work and obey orders.
Such was the story told us at Colon. Maybe it was not true. The
town was not noted for veracity.
Our steamer on the Pacific side arrived at Panama and we were
hurried across the isthmus and on board the steamer — the old City
of Panama was indulging in one of its periodical epidemics. This
time it was small pox, and the natives were dying by the hundreds.
The old City of Panama has an interesting history, in fact two
histories, for there have been two cities of the same name; one dead
TO CALIFORNIA VIA PANAMA IN THE EARLY '60s 17
and buried two hundred and fifty years — killed by the famous Eng-
lish bucaneer, Sir Henry Morgan; the other not dead but in a
comatose state since the Panama riots of 1856, when sixty Califor-
nians were massacred by the natives. The steamship company's of-
ficers, since the massacre, have been very averse to passengers visit-
ing that city.
Five years later on my return from California by the same route
I availed myself of an opportunity to visit it. With your permis-
sion I will digress briefly to describe what I saw. On account
of the shallowness of the bay, the California steamers anchor four
miles out, and the passengers, baggage and freight are lightered
ashore. Finding that it would require six to eight hours to trans-
fer the fast freight and baggage (the passengers being kept on the
ship until these are landed), several of us determined to do the old
city. The officers did not prohibit our going, but they absolved
themselves of all responsibility for us. Four of us chartered a na-
tive and his row boat to take us ashore. Panama is a walled city —
the wall was built to keep the bold bad buccaneers out. After see-
ing the wall I confess I lost my respect for the buccaneers. Bad no
doubt they were; bold they could not have been to be kept out by
such a wall. One regiment of veteran soldiers of the late war
would have charged that wall and with a .push all together have
tumbled it over on its defenders and captured them all before they
could have crawled out of the debris.
The city stands on a tongue of land and the wall runs around
its sea face. As we approached the shore our boatman seemed un-
certain about landing. He kept beating off and on opposite a hole
in the city wall. We urged him to land us, but he persisted in
keeping too far from shore to allow of our jumping to it. His reason
for keeping us from landing soon became evident. We found that
his transportation line connected with a transfer company — said
transfer company consisting of half a dozen half-naked natives,
who expressed their willingness to carry us ashore for "dos reales"
each. As the natives were short and I was long, how to get
get ashore without wetting my feet worried me. Selecting the
tallest native, I mounted his shoulders and was safely landed. Our
squad of four proceeded up town. We had not gone far before we
found a military company drawn up to receive us This was an un-
locked for honor. To be treated to a review of the military forces of
the sovereign state of Darien in honor of our arrival was quite flat-
tering. The commanding officer, through an interpreter, questioned
us closely as to our business ashore — how long we intended to stay
18 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
etc. Honors were no longer easy. Dim visions of being stood
up before an adobe wall and shot full of "large, irregular holes"
floated before us. Our answers seemed to be satisfactory, and
with our best military salute to the comandante-general we were
allowed to depart.
From a French merchant in the town, whose acquaintance we
made, we learned the cause of our rather unusual reception. There
had been a revolution that morning before breakfast. A distin-
guished hidalgo having been insulted by the ruling governor, fired
off a fierce pronunciamiento reciting the high crimes and misde-
meanors of the governor, and calling upon the people to rise against
the tyrant. An exchange of pollysyllabic billinsgate followed.
The military rallied to the support of the hidalgo. The goberna-
dor and his staff rallied to a fish boat and sailed gaily away to
meet the incoming California steamer. A new government had
been inaugurated in time for a late breakfast. (From an economi-
cal standpoint this is a great improvement over our American way
of changing governors. It costs us about a quarter of a million in
time and money, to change governors. In Panama they do it for
about "six bits," and really get about as good an article as 'we do.)
Our prompt arrival from the steamer had excited the suspicions
of the new governor. We were suspected of being emissaries of
the deposed ruler, intent upon the overthrow of the new govern-
ment, hence our military reception.
The city of Panama is credited with a population of 15,000.
Its streets are narrow — only two being wide enough for wheeled
vehicles to pass. Its inhabitants are of all shades — black and tan
predominating. The city seems to be a case of arrested develop-
ment. It has the appearance of having been built two hundred
years ago and then forgotten.
But to resume our voyage. We found the ship, Moses Taylor,
better known to Californians as the "Rolling Moses," awaiting us.
It was a high and very narrow side wheel steamier, and navigated
the ocean with sort of a drunken roll that was very provocative of
sea sickness. As its capacity was a thousand tons less than the
vessel we had left, our discomfort was increased in a corresponding
ratio. The provisions were bad, many barrels of sea biscuit being
musty. These when the waiter's back was turned, went over the
vessel's side to feed the gulls, whose taste was not fastidious.
Slowly we rolled our way up the Coast, our miseries increased by
the knowledge that small pox had broken out on board the ship.
We reached Acapulco, Mexico, almost out of coal. Here, how-
TO CALIFORNIA VIA PANAMA IN THE EARLY '60S 19
ever, was a coal hulk with a plentiful supply. The captain em-
ployed about two hundred peons to carry the coal in sacks up the
side of the vessel on a rope ladder, and down into the hold — a pro-
cess of coaling that took 48 hours. The brown, half-naked natives,
with their long, sinewy arms and legs climbing up the ladder, looked
like a group of monkeys. Indeed both in looks and intelligence,
it seemed as if the work of evolution had been unfinished in their
case. The method of taking on cattle was as primitive as the coal-
ing. The cattle were lassoed on shore, dragged into the water and
lashed by the horns to the sides of the boat, their noses above the
water. In this way they were floated out to the steamer. A der-
rick was rigged upon deck, a line dropped from it around the horns
of the steer and he was hoisted, hanging pendent by the horns
forty or fifty feet in the air and then swung aboard. If his horns
broke off, as they sometimes did, he dropped into the water and
immediately pulled for the shore.
While the coaling process was going on, no tables were set for
the steerage passengers, and we were left to skirmish for our ra-
tions. After living on oranges and bananas for 24 hours, my
partner and I began to yearn for something more substantial.
Among our purchases from the natives was a bottle of mescal, a
firery untamed liquid with the bad qualities of all the intoxicating
liquors combined in one. One sip each had satisfied us. Mescal
is distilled from the maguey or century plant. It is vile stuff; a
single drink of it would mak* a man hate all his relatives. Accord-
ing to a certain California writer, it contains about fifty fights to
the quart, a pronunciamiento to the gallon, and a successful revolu-
tion to the barrel. In skirmishing around for something to eat we
found the negro cook on the coal ship, had a well supplied galley
and was willing to trade. For the consideration of a bottle of
something to drink, he would get us a dinner "good enough for a
commodore." The bottle of mescal was quickly transferred. Seiz-
ing it greedily, he told us we'd better not 'Met the cap'en see us
loafin' round dar." At the time appointed for the dinner we re-
paired to the galley. The negro cook was lying dead drunk on
the floor, and the hungry captain of the coal hulk was swearing
fearful oaths that if he could find the man that made that nigger
drunk he would put him in irons for forty-eight hours. It is
needless to say that we did not inform him we knew the man.
Our liberality to the sharks and gulls of the Lower Coast
reacted upon us. We ran short of provisions. When we reached
the California Coast we were on half rations. Our rations, the
20 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OP SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
last day of the voyage, were one slice of bread and a cup of tea.
We landed in San Francisco at midnight forty days from the time
we left New York. The gang plank was scarcely down before we
were ashore, and hunting for something to eat. We found a little
hotel on Beale street, stirred up the proprietor, the cook and the
waiters. The supply was limited to bread, butter,tea and coffee.
We soon exhausted the landlord's stock on hand and demolished
the contents of two bake shops before we were satisfied. Thanks
to the glorious climate of California, we survived that meal.
San Francisco, 34 years ago, although boasting of a popula-
tion of a hundred thousand, had not a street car line in it. It had
no free delivery of mail matter; if you had no box you stood in line
and got your mail if your patience held out. •
It was then in the midst of the Washoe mining boom. Every-
body was dabbling in stocks. There were seventeen hundred li-
censed stock brokers in San Francisco, and double that number of
unlicensed and unprincipled curb-stone operators, whose chief aim
was to sell wild-cat stocks in mines located in the sage brush of
Neveda, or more often, in the imagination of the brokers, to un-
sophisticated immigrants, as well as to old time residents.
The true story of the Washoe mining boom has never been
written. Ross Browne and Mark Twain have touched upon some
of its serio comic features, but the tragic side of it has never been
portrayed. The ruined homes, the impoverished individuals, the
suicides, the heart aches and wretchedness left in the wake of the
bonanza king's march to wealth, are subjects upon which the old
Californian does not care to dwell. With that cowardly truckling
to wealth, no matter how obtained, that so often characterizes the
press of the country, the tragedy of lost homes and ruined lives
has been crowded out by adulations of the vulgar display of the
ill-gotten wealth of the bonanza kings.
At the time of our arrival the frenzy of Washoe stock gambling
was raging. The man who did not own feet in some mine was
a financial pariah — a low caste individual. The prices were accom-
modating; they ranged from "four bits" a foot in the Roaring
Grizzly or the Root Hog or Die to $6,000 a foot in the Gould
and Curry. Everbody speculated; the boot black, the servant girl
and the day laborer invested their small savings in some ignis fatuus
mine in the wilds of Nevada. The minister, the merchant, the
mechanic and the farmer drew out their bank savings or mortgaged
their homes to speculate in Burning Moscow, Choller and Potosi
or Consolidated Virginia, While the then uncrowned bonanza
TO CALIFORNIA VIA PANAMA IN THE EARLY ,60s 21
kings got up corners on stocks and grew rich off the credulity or
their ruined dupes.
Our ship load of immigrants was fresh fish for the curb-stone
brokers, and soon every one of the new arrivals who had any money
to spare was happy in the possession of nicely engraved certificates
of stock — stock that paid Irish dividends-assessments, and certifi-
cates that might entitle the holder to a position in the school of
Experience where fools learn. Montgomery street was then the
principal street of the city. Market street below Fifth was lined
on either side by high sand banks. A pony engine and two cars
made a round trip between the wharf and the old Mission every
two hours; fare, round trip, "two bits." The site of San Fran-
cisco's five million-dollar city hall was then a graveyard. It is
still the graveyard of the peoples' money.
Oakland was a straggling village, scattered around among the
live oaks. It boasted of 1500 inhabitants. Stockton and Sacra-
mento were reached by steam boat and San Jose by boat to Alviso
at the head of the bay, and from there by stage. Los Angeles was
a Mexican town some where down South in the cow counties. Its
exact location, population and prospects were matters of such utter
indifference to the stock-speculating San Franciscan, that he had
never looked them up and "made a note on it." Even its inhabi-
tants seemed to have little faith in its future. The year of my
arrival in California the lot on the southeast corner of Spring and
Second streets, where the magnificent Wilcox block now stands
was sold for $37 or 30 cents a front foot. Without the building
it is now worth probably $2000 a front foot or about a quarter
million dollars. The same year all the site of East Los Angeles
was sold by the city council at the rate of 50 cents an acre, and
the purchaser was not proud of his bargain. The value of a front
foot in what is now the business center of Pasadena, nt th#.t time,
would have been so infinitesimally small that the smallest value
'n a currency table would not express it. Even an acre in the
Crown of the Valley would not have commanded the value of the
smallest circulating coin of California in the early '6o's — namely,
ten cents.
OLDEN TIME HOLIDAY FESTIVITIES
BY W. H. WORKMAN.
(Read before the Pioneers, June 2, 1900.)
Having been requested by your Literary Committee to present
you this evening some sketches of the holiday season in early Los
Angeles, I have taken occasion to note down a few episodes as they
recur to my memory.
Los Angeles, when I arrived in 1854, was a small town of
about 3,000 inhabitants, 2,500 of whom were natives of California,
and the remainder were estranjeros, as Americans and foreigners
were called. The people, especially the Americans and Europeans,
always observed the various holidays by characteristic festivities
and grand reunions.
On New Year's day almost all of the American element would
turn out to make calls, for New Year's calls were then the universal
custom. No friend was forgotten on that day, and pleasant were
the reunions of acquaintances and friends, and the making of new
friends. Nearly every family kept open house, and not infrequently
entertained hundreds of callers on this occasion. The custom was
so general that many of the prominent native Californians adopted
it in their hospitable homes and thereby delightfully increased New
Year's calling lists of the Los Angeles beaux. But alas, the picture
has its shadows, though my memory would linger only on its
brightness. At each place of visiting were prepared refreshments
of no mean proportions. These refreshments were of a liquid as
well as a solid nature, and if one did not partake heartily, it was
a breach of etiquette, which the fair hostess was loath to forgive
or forget.
Now, my friends, you can readily see that if each caller par-
took repeatedly of turkey and cranberry sauce, of plum pudding, of
mince meat pie, of egg nog, of wine, etc., and particularly of etc.,
he would be pretty full before closing time came round. As a par-
ticipant for many years in the ceremony, I can vouch for its cor-
rectness, and I can assure you that many a fellow did not care to
repeat the calling process before the year rolled around, or at least
OLDEN TIME HOLIDAY FESTIVITIES 23
until he had thoroughly digested all that he had eaten or imbibed.
I will give you a little story of two Christmas days in Los
Angeles. On the first of these Christmas days, I have reason to
believe, was held the first Christmas tree ever prepared in Southern
California In 1857 Los Angeles could boast of but a limited
residence section. The plaza formed the center of the city. North
of it were the adobe homes of the native Californians population,
while south of it were the few business houses of that date and the
homes of the American residents. Los Angeles street marked the
eastern boundary, and beyond large vineyards and orchards extend-
ed toward the Los Angeles river. First street, open only to Main,
marked the southern limit of population, except, perhaps, a few
homes just the other side of it.
On Main street, between First and Court, there was in those
days a long row of adobe houses occupied by many of the best
families of primitive Los Angeles. This neighborhood was often
designated "the row," and many are the pleasant memories which
yet linger in the minds and hearts of those who lived there in "good
old days" and who still occasionally meet an old time friend and
neighbor. In "the row" lived an Englishman and his wife — Carter
by name. Their musical ability was often a source of great delight
to those about them, and they possessed the faculty (well called
happy) of bringing to a successful issue matters pertaining to the
social entertainment of others. So it was that about the year 1857,
when it was proposed that a union Christmas tree be prepared.
Dr. Carter and his wife were prime movers in the affair.
\Yhere now stands the McDonald block was the home of Dr.
Carter, and it was there that many Los Angeles families enjoyed
in common the gaily decorated tree v/hich had been so lovingly pre-
pared by the many willing hands of friendly neighbors. The chil-
dren were, of course, the honored guests, for the thought of the
little ones had incited the work of preparation.
Los Angeles, into which no railroad came, was in those days
far away from the world, and the limited resources of the time
would restrict even Santa Claus' possibilities. But on that Christ-
mas eve no limitations were felt, for the true spirit of the Christmas-
time illuminated each and every heart. Dr. Carter officiated as
Santa Gaus, while music and songs, dancing and games and the
pleasant chatter of friends completed the evening's festivities. That
night the children of Los Angeles, than whom none of their suc-
cessors are happier, did not retire until the wee small hours of
Christmas day.
24 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Another Christmas was in 1861, and heavy rains had fallen for
one whole week previous to that Christmas day. The family of
Andrew Boyle, living on the high lands east of the Los Angeles
river, had accepted an invitation to dine at the home of Don Mateo
Keller, who lived on what is now Alameda street, near Aliso. The
rain fell heavily and persistently, and the river rose gradually
until it was impossible to ford the swollen stream. There were no
bridges in that day, and so when Christmas came and the storm
still continued, the dinner across the river was out of the question.
This might have been all, but it soon became evident in the family
of Mr. Boyle that there would be difficulty in securing a proper
repast at home, for, on account of the weather, they had been un-
able to replenish the larder, and there was not a bit of flour in the
house. The question was how to secure the necessary adjuncts of
culinary success. There were no stores east of the river, and but
a few scattered adobe homes. At length it was decided that a
serving man, Jesus, a strong, stalwart Sonorean, faithful and dis-
creet, could be sent upon this mission, for his life and training re-
duced all danger to a minimum1. He readily undertook the task.
A note of regret was addressed to Mr. Keller and entrusted to the
messenger.
It seems incredible, perhaps, to those who have seen year after
year the vast expanse of sand which we call a river, but on this
Christmas day it was a torrent. The Sonorean divested himself of
much of his apparel and swam to the opposite shore. He reached
the home of Mr. Keller, delivered his note and secured from the
grocery store the provisions which he needed. Mrs. Keller, in her
open-hearted hospitality, would not allow the messenger to depart
without a goodly share of the Christmas dinner. Jesus prepared
to return. He secured a board of sufficient surface. On it he placed
the goods, securely wrapped so as to protect them from the water,
and plunging into the water he swam across, pushing before him
the improvised raft with its cargo. He safely reached the opposite
shore and delivered unharmed the articles entrusted to his care.
You may be sure that the brave fellow enjoyed to the utmost his
well-earned Christmas dinner, and, though the rain fell as heavily
during the ensuing week, there was no lack of cheer in the home be-
yond the river.
MEXICAN GOVERNORS OF CALIFORNIA
H. D. BARROWS.
(Read before Historical Society, Oct. I, 1900.)
From the time of the achievement of independence by Mexico
in the year 1822, till 1846, July 7, when Alta California became
a territory of the United States, eleven persons served as governors,
or Gefes Politicos, of the Province; two of them serving two terms,
thus making thirteen administrations during the Mexican national
regime. All of these eleven governors, except Gov. de Sola and
Gov. Gutierrez, who were born in Spain, were natives of Mexico;
and four of them, namely : Governors Arguello, Pico, Castro and
Alvarado, were born in California. It is not known that any of
these officials is now living.
The first Mexican governor was Pablo Vicente de Sola, who was
in office when Mexico gained her independence in 1822; and his
term extended till 1823. He was a native of Spain, where
he received a good education; and he came to Mexico as a military
officer prior to 1805. At the time of his appointment by the Viceroy
as Governor of California, in 1815, he was a lieutenant-colonel of
the Mexican army. He arrived at Monterey August 30, 1815. He
filled the office of governor about seven years. Being elected a
deputy to the Mexican Congress he left Monterey November 22,
1823, and San Diego January 2, 1824, arriving in the City of Mex-
ico in the following June, where he soon after died.
Governor <le Sola was succeeded by Luis Antonio Arguello,
whose term extended to June 1825. Governor Arugello was born
at the Presidio of San Francisco, June 21, 1784. He died there
March 27, 1830, and was buried at the Mission by Father Estenega.
His widow, who was the daughter of Sergeant Jose Dolores Ortega,
was the owner of Las Pulgas Rancho. She died in 1874.
Governor Arguello was universally commended by the old-time
Californians and Americans as an able, amiable and honest citizen
and governor. The Arguellos of early times, and their descendants,
have been accounted among the first families of California.
Jose M. Echeandia was the next governor. Gov. Echeandia
26 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
was a native of Mexico; he was a lieutenant-colonel and director
of a college of engineers, at the time of his appointment as Gefe
Politico, y Comandante Militar, that is governor and military com-
mandant of the Californians. He came to Loreto, Lower California,
by way of San Bias, in June, 1825, where he remained till October,
re-organizing the political affairs of the Provinces. He arrived
at San Diego in November, and made that Presidio his official resi-
dence. He carefully studied the country's needs; and tentatively
tried some experiments to test the feelings of the friars and the
capacities of the Indians, as to the practicability of secularizing the
Missions, which Mexican statesmen already foresaw must be
brought about some time if California was ever to ha\e a future
as a civilized State. As it had been demonstrated that it was im-
possible to make self-governing citizens of the Indians, it became
apparent that the settlement of the country by Mexican citizens,
i. c., by gente de rason, must be encouraged, by making it possible
for them to acquire a permanent foothold. It was during the in-
cumbency of Gov. Echeandia that the law or reglamento of 1828,
relating to the granting of lands was passed by the Mexican Con-
gress. The Padres naturally distrusted him, because he repre-
sented, according to their views, the new republic, which they in-
stinctively felt was inimical to their interests.
The details of Gov. Echeandia's administration are full of in-
terest, and as I have not room to recount them here, I hope some-
time to present them in a separate paper, as I have already done
in the case of Gov. Pico and several other notable governors, whose
striking characteristics are worthy of separate treatment.
After administering the office of governor for nearly six years,
Gov. Echeandia sailed from San Diego in May, 1833, and returned
to the City of Mexico, 'where, as late as 1855-6, Mrs. Gen. Ord,
who knew him well in California, saw him frequently, and, at a
still later period, he died there at an advanced age.
Manuel Victoria, who, after Mexico had gained her independ-
ence, in the struggle for which he took part, was, in 1825, military
commandant at Acapulco, of which place he was probably a native;
and in 1820 he was comandante of Baja California; and in the latter
year he was appointed Gefe Politico or Civil Governor of Alta Cal-
ifornia, to succeed Gov. Echeandia. He arrived at Monterey, by
land from Loreto, and assumed the duties of governor on the 3 1st
of January, 1831, serving about one year or till January, 1832,
when the people arose in rebellion against his arbitrary rule, and
drove him out of the country.
MEXICAN GOVERNORS OF CALIFORNIA 27
Victoria was generally regarded more as a soldier than as a
civilian; and, while he was a man of much force of character, he
lacked tact, and sought to administer his civic duties by military
methods, and, naturally, he became a very unpopular official. More-
over, his high-handed refusal to convene the Departmental Assem-
bly (as was his duty), in order that the important and beneficent
land laws of 1824 and 1828 might be made effective in California,
so exasperated the people that they forced him to resign, which he
did at San Gabriel, after a hostile encounter between his forces
and the revolutionists at Cahuenga, and he was succeeded by Pio
Pico as the senior member of the Departmental Assembly.
How abundant the causes were which moved the people in their
summary action .may be learned from the Manifesto of the revolu-
tionists, of Nov. 29, 1831.
Gov. Pio Pico, the fifth Governor of California after Mexico
became an independent nation, was a native of the Privince. born
at the Mission of San Gabriel in 1801. He was twice governor —
in 1832. and again in 1845-6. he being incumbent of the guberna-
torial office at the time California came under the jurisdiction of
the United States.
As I have already presented to the Historical Society a bio-
graphical and character sketch of Gov. Pico (printed in the Socie-
ty's Annual for 1894). it is unnecessary to enlarge here on the
events and salient characteristics of his life. Our older members
remember him well. He died in this city September 11, 1894, at
the age of 93 years.
Of Gen. Jose Figueroa, one of the best and ablest Governors
of California, I here give only a brief sketch, hoping at some future
time to present a fuller account of his life.
Gov. Figueroa was one of the heroes of Mexico's long struggle
for independence. In 1824 he was appointed Comandante General
of Sonera and Sinoloa. He served as Governor and Military
Commandant of California from January 14. 1833. till shortly be-
fore his death at Monterey, September 29, 1835. During his ad-
ministration he did some very good work in organizing territorial
and local government. As a capable, patriotic statesman, he served
the people of California well, and won their respect and good will.
The older Californians — and there are still living some who remem-
ber him well — had nothing but praise f>r the character and acts of
Governor Jose Figueroa.
Gov. Jose Castro, the seventh Mexican Governor, was a native
of California, boni at Monterey in about the year 1810. where he
28 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
attended school from 1815 to 1820, or later. In 1828 he was sec-
retary of the Monterey Ayuntamiento. He took an active part with
other citzens in sending representatives to Mexico complaining of
Governor Victoria's refusal to convoke the Departmental Assembly
and of other arbitrary acts of that official.
In August, 1835, Gov. Figueroa, because of failng health, ap-
pointed Castro (he being then the senior member of the Depart-
mental Assembly), as Acting Gefe Politico or Governor. In ac-
cordance with the national law of May 6, 1822, Gov. Figueroa, just
before his death, ordered the separation of the civil and military
chieftainships, and directed that Jose Castro should succeed him as
Governor ad interim, and that Nicolas Gutierrez (as ranking of-
ficer), should become Comandante General. Castro served as Gov-
ernor till January, 1836, and later held numerous other official
positions.
Gov. Nicolas Gutierrez was a native of Spain, and came to Mex-
ico as a boy. He served with Figueroa in the Mexican revolution,
and came with him to California in 1833, as captain. He was pro-
moted to a lieutenant-colonelship in July of that year, and in 1834-6
he was commissioner for the secularization of the Mission of San
Gabriel. He was acting comandante-general from October 8,
1835, to January 2, 1836; and from the latter date till May 3, he
was governor and comandante. He was also military chief in the
south during the incumbency of Gov. Chico (who succeeded him as
Governor), or till July 31, and he was again Governor till his over-
throw by Alvarado, November 4, 1836. Gov. Gutirrez was arbitrary
in his methods, and treated the Departmental Assembly brusquely,
and in his intercourse with the people, he showed little tact ,and as
a natural result he became very unpopular. Both of his terms
as Governor were short, and his services to the Province were com-
paratively unimportant. In person he was of medium stature,
stout, with light complexion and reddish hair, and he had a squint
in his right eye, which gave him the nickname of "El Tuerto."
Gov. Juan Bautista Alvarado, whose term extended from De-
cember 7, 1836, to December 31, 1842, was a native of California,
born at Monterey, February 14, 1809. He was the son of Sergeant
Jose F. Alvarado and Maria Josefa Vallejo de Alvarado. He ac-
quired such rudiments of an education as were available in his time;
and his life was an eventful one, which should be of interest to us;
and possibly I may some time give our society a more detailed
sketch of his career, as a somewhat important factor in early Cali-
fornia history, of the later Mexican period. He filled numerous
MEXICAN GOVERNORS OP CALIFORNIA 29
official positions; and, being connected with prominent families,
and posessing some natural ability, he exerted considerable influence
in his time prior to the change of government. He was secretary
of the Departmental Assembly from 1827 to 1834; and in 1836,
having been elected a member of that body, he became its president.
Gov. Alvarado was elected to the Mexican Congress in 1845, but
he did not go to Mexico. He was grantee of several ranches, in-
cluding Las Mariposas. In 1839 he married Martina Castro,
daughter of Francisco Castro. They had several children. She
died in 1875. Gov. Alvarado died July 13, 1882, in his 74th year.
Those who knew him say he was a man of genial temperament,
courteous manners, and rare powers of winning friends. There
are many native Californians as well as Americans still living,
especially in the upper counties, who knew him well in his lifetime.
Gov. Manuel Micheltorena, the last Mexican Governor of Cali-
fornia but one, was appointed January 22, 1824; and he served as
both Governor and military commandant till his surrender to the
revolutionists, February 22, 1845. He was a native of Oajaca, of
good family and some eduction. As a political and military chief
he lacked sound judgment, though personally of amiable and courte-
ous manners. He was seriously handicapped by having brought
with him to California (under orders of the Mexican government,
pursuant to a miserable policy), a considerable number of convicts
as soldiers, whose lawlessness and brutality shocked decent citizens,
and tended strongly to make the Governor unpopular. Micheltorena
and his "cholos," as his ragamuffin, thievish soldiers were called,
became a bye- word with the Californians, and are still unpleasantly
remembered by the old timers. After Micheltorena's return to
Mexico, he was elected a member of congress, and later, in 1850,
he served as Comandante-General of Yucatan.
The following is a chronological list of Mexican Governors of
Alta or Upper California, which may prove convenient for refer-
ence:
MEXICAN GOVERNORS OF CALIFORNIA: 1822-1846.
Pablo Vicente de Sola. . .Sept. 16, to Nov. 22, 1822.
Luis Arguello Nov. 22, 1822, to June, 1825.
se M. Echeandia June, 1825, to Jan., 1831.
Manuel Victoria Jan., 1831, to Jan., 1832.
Pio Pico Jan., 1832, to Jan., 1833.
Jose Figueroa Jan., 1833, to Aug., 1835.
Jose Castro Aug., 1835, to Jan., 1836.
30 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Nicholas Gutierrez Jan., 1836, to May, 1836.
Marino Chico May, 1836, to July 31, 1836.
Nicolas Gutierrez July, 1836, to Nov., 1836.
Juan B. Alvarado Nov., 1336, to Dec. 31, 1842.
Manuel Micheltorena Dec., 1842, to Feb., i
Pio Pico Feb., 1845, to July, 1846.
FIFTY YEARS OF CALIFORNIA POLITICS
BY WALTER R. BACON.
(Read before the Historical Society Dec. 12, 1900.)
Fifty years of political conventions and presidential elections
in California may seem a subject from which little but idle statis-
tcs can be evolved, but a little study of these events discloses the
error of this conclusion. The period of ten years between the be-
ginning of the American conquest or occupation in 1846, and the
ending of the second vigilance committee in 1856, was a time of
trial, of intense excitement and kaleidoscopic changes; and every-
thing that has since happened in California, or will in the future
happen, must be considerably affected by the forces that took their
origin in that period. The political conventions, composed of dele-
gates straight from the people, of course, reflect many of the traits
of the people, and being public and of importance to large num-
bers, sufficient record of them has been kept to enable us to fairly
study them.
The American settlers of those days fairly represented the av-
erage American character, but nowhere else has the Amrican capa-
city for self-government been put to severer test. Absolutely
isolated from the central government ; a conquering people in a land
of untold possibilities, which was settled in by greater numbers
in a shorter time by more nationalities than any other community
of which we have knowledge; add to this the condition of moral
recklessness that seems to come so naturally to any large body of
men loosed from the restraint of wholesome family environments,
ami set down in a new country where gold is plentiful and to be
had for the finding, but where no code of laws existed at the incep-
tion of the occupation, and, afterward, only such as were adopted
by these -une peculiarly situated people, and you have an idea of
the task that devolved on such of these settlers as desired to build
from this community of divers possibilities a commonwealth thnt
should he a fairly American State, entitled of its own merit, to a
place in the list of States of the Union.
After the serio-comic meetings of the Bear Flag patriots at
Sonoma, the first real political convention was the Democratic mass
32 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
meeting held in San Francisco, October 25th, 1849. It was called
to consider the election to be held November I5th, following, to vote
on the State Constitution, and for the election of a Governor and
other State officers, and a State Legislature, and two members of
Congress.
John W. Geary, for whom Geary street in San Francisco was
named, presided, and the meeting was so large that the hall was
more than filled, and an adjournment to the public square was had.
They adopted some resolutions, and especially condemned those
who criticised the Mexican war, of which California was the fruit.
A nominating committee was appointed and the convention ad-
journed; met again October 27th, to receive the report of the com-
mittee at which time the committee reported that they had no
authority, from party usage to make nominations, and suggested a
party primary election of eleven delegates to name the ticket, but
there is no record of any further action being taken.
No attempt seems to have been made by any other political
party to nominate a ticket, local mass meetings were held, inde-
pendent nominations made and party lines were not drawn. The
constitution was adopted by a vote of 12,061 for, to 8n against,
and Peter H. Burnett, Democrat, was elected governor.
The legislature that was then elected passed an act providing
for the holding of an election of county officers and clerk of the
Supreme Court, and early in the year attempts were made to organ-
ize the Democratic and Whig parties. The first meetings by both
parties were held at San Jose, where the legislature was in session,
and soon the battle was on, that has ever since been waged with
varying fortune. These first California citizens made positive state-
ments. The Democrats in their resolution declaring "that no Whig
should hereafter receive a Democratic vote for any office in the gift
of the people," and the Whigs replied by inviting all Whigs "to
repel the assertion that a Whig is unworthy to possess the rights,
and incompetent to perform the duties of a freeman." They also
declared for federal aid in the improvement of rivers and harbors
and harshly criticised the Democratic president, James K. Polk,
for his veto on constitutional grounds, of the National River and
Harbor bill.
The first Democratic State convention of regularly elected del-
egates was held at Benicia, at the Episcopal Church, on Monday
May 19, 1851 John Bigler, Samuel Brannan and others were
candidates, but Bigler was nominated for governor. The Whig
convention of this year was held at San Francisco in a Methodist
FIFTY YEARS OF CALIFORNIA POLITICS 33
Church, and P. B. Reading was nominated for governor. In this
convention San Diego was represented by delegates, but Los An-
geles was not. Early in the campaign the people of this end of the
State manifested dissatisfaction with both tickets because the south
was not represented, and Captain Elisha Kane of the United States
army stationed in California, was nominated for Governor, but
later he withdrew, and at the election, Bigler, Democrat, was elected
by a small majority. Early in 1852 preparations for the first presi-
dential campaign in California were in full swing. There had been
enough friction to cause some heat, each party was anxious for
the prestige of carrying the State at the first presidential election.
The Democrats were early divided between adherents of Stephen
A. Douglas, and the friends of other candidates. The Whigs were
united; they held their convention at Sacramento February iQth,
1852, and nominated delegates to the National Convention. Four
days later the Democrats met at the same city. Neither convention
adopted resolutions of any kind, but after the national nominations
of both parties had been made, they both had conventions that
fairly reveled in platforms and resolutions; and for the first time
the Chinese question got into California politics by way of a resolu-
tion by the Democratic convention condemning "the attempt to
bring serfs or coolies to California to compete with white laborers,
the democracy and aristocracy at once, of the State." At the elec-
tion General Scott, Whig, received 34,971 votes, and Franklin
Pierce, Democrat, 39,965.
On June 2ist, 1853, at Benicia met the Democratic State Con-
vention which nominated John Bigler for Governor; their platform
was general in its statements. The Whigs, however, met in con-
vention at Sacramento on July 6th, 1853, nominated Wm. Waldo
for Governor, and proceeded to roast the Democratic party for al-
leged mismanagement and inefficiency in the conduct of public busi-
ness. Bigler was again successful, receiving 38,090 votes, to 37,545
for Waldo.
The Democratic convention of 1854 met in the First Baptist
Church at Sacramento on July i8th; it was a stormy one from the
start. D. C. Broderick then prominent and afterward killed in a
duel, was active in the struggle for the organization. Two chair-
men claimed election: both made announcements from the same
platform at the same time. They ran the turbulent meeting as a
double-header until about Q o'clock at night, and then quit business
and tried to sit each other out, with only one sickly candle on a
a side. The trustees of the church closed the show by closing the
34 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
building, but in the riots that had occurred the church had been
damaged, and one wing voluntarily assessed each of its delegates
$5.00 to repair it. The other wing took a collection of $400.00 for
the same purpose. They nominated two candidates for Congress,
Denver and Herbert.
The Whigs met in State Convention at Sacramento July 25th,
and nominated Geo. W. Bowie and Calhoun Benham for Congress,
but Denver and Herbert, Democrats, were elected. This year the
"Know Nothings" made their first appearance in politics; they
took no open part in State politics, but ran a local ticket in San
Francisco which succeeded, and before the end of the year they had
organizations in nearly every town and mining camp in the State.
The Know Nothings were a secret organization, strongly native
American in its feeling, organized for the purpose of acting politi-
cally with the intention of curtailing the political privileges of per-
sons of foreign birth or descent. The Whig party practically dis-
banded in 1855. And this secret American party toon its place.
It was called Know Nothing from the fact that its members were
required when questioned about the order to declare that they knew
nothing about it. The party had cut some figure in localities in
1854, but in 1855 it was deemed sufficiently formidable to be wor-
thy the steel of the great Democratic party, and the new party car-
ried so many of the spring municipal elections that most of the
thunder of the Democratic organs was turned against the secret
society. On March 5th, at a city election in Marysville, then a
prominent town, the American party elected every local officer, al-
though their ticket was not made public until election morning. On
April 2nd, at Sacramento, they had the same success as at Marys-
ville; and the Democratic organs began to demand of the divided
party reunion and a common cause against the new enemy. Their
party had been split in two, at the stormy convention of '54, and
they had since had two State conventions, each claiming to be reg-
ular. In the face of this new party, the two committees united in
one call for a convention which met at Sacramento on June 27th.
The first business proposed in the convention was a resolution re-
quiring each candidate to pledge himself that he was not a mem-
ber of the Know Nothing society. A substitute stronger than the
first was offered, both were referred to the committee on resolutions,
which afterward reported a platform containing sharp strictures up-
on that party, but holding out the olive branch to such as had inad-
vertantly strayed into it. John Bigler was renominated for gover-
nor, and a full State ticket was nominated.
FIFTY YEARS OF CALIFORNIA POLITICS 35
The American State convention met at Sacramento on August
7th. They adopted a platform of fifteen paragraphs on the first
day; the whole written platform would fill less than a quarter col-
umn of the average newspaper. J. Neeley Johnson was nomniated
for governor along with a full State ticket, which included David
S. Terry for Justice of the Supreme Court.
On June 2Oth a State Temperance Convention was held at Sac-
ramento which made no nominations; but another convention was
held by them August 22nd. They called themselves the Independ-
ent Democracy. Toward the close of August an effort was made
to reorganize the Whig party without success; the election was held
September 5th, and the American ticket was elected from top to
bottom, Johnson (Am.) receiving 50,948 votes, and Bigler (Dem.)
45,677. Judge Terry was elected to the Supreme Court by a vote
of 64,677 over Bryans' 46,892. The campaign had been a bitter
one and enmities were engendered that lasted out the lives of the
contestants. The State campaign for '55 had barely closed when,
on November I3th of that year, the American party commenced
their presidential campaign for 1856, by holding a secret largely at-
tended council, from which they sent out a long address and plat-
form, in which they dwelt largely on their party policy respecting
national issues. The Democratic papers, arguing from this plat-
form, charged Know Nothingism to be nothing but a Whig move-
ment. The Democrats met at Sacramento March 5th, 1856, to se-
lect delegates to the National Convention. The platform indorsed
Buchanan for President and instructed the delegates for him.
On the evening of April I9th, 1856, the first mass meeting of
Republicans in California was held at Sacramento. Mr. E. B.
Crocker, who had been a Whig, and who had presided at Non-
partisan State Temperance conventions, presided, and made an
opening statement to a fair hearing. The next speaker was not so
fortunate, Americans and Democrats cat-called and hooted so that
he could not be heard. Henry S. Foote made an appeal for order
and fair play, which was not heeded; and when the Republican
speakers again tried to talk, the crowd rushed the stand, overturned
it and broke up the meeting. But on April 3Oth, the first Repub-
lican convention met in Sacramento, and was called to order by
E. B. Crocker, who was also elected temporary chairman. The
slavery question was discussed and referred to in the platform with
moderation, and the caution of the convention is well illustrated
in the fact that a resolution offered by Mr. Crocker, to the effect
that the repeal of the Missouri Compromise absolved them from all
86 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
support of any compromise respecting slavery, and that therefore
they were opposed to the admission of any more slave States into
the Union, was after discussion withdrawn without coming to a •
vote.
An attempt to instruct the delegates to the National Conven-
tion for John C. Fremont was defeated. The campaign of 1856
was the hottest and most bitterly contested of any in the history
of the State. Some ideas of affairs may be had from the fact that
although Geo. C. Bates a Republican, in attempting to speak at
Sacramento in May, had been pelted with rotten eggs and the meet-
ing broken up by the use of fire-crackers, an American paper (the
Sacramento Tribune) next day declared that the mere fact that a
public discussion of the slavery question had been allowed, spoke
volumes in favor of public morals in Sacremanto, and that after the
Republican convention to nominate electors was held in Sacra-
mento August 2/th, the State Journal (Dem.), referring to it said,
among other things: "The convention of Negro Worshipers assem-
bled yesterday in this city, ecca signum. This is the first time this
dangerous fanaticism has dared to bare its breast before the people
of California; * * * a year ago no such scene would have
been tolerated or thought of; a year ago fanatics would have been
ashamed to acknowledge allegiance to a party founded by Hale,
Wilson, Chase, Sumner, etc."
The American State Convention met at Sacramento on Septem-
ber 2nd, 1856. After concluding the nominations a resolution was
handed to the secretary, but as soon as he had preceded far enough
with its reading to disclose its import, a stormy scene ensued, pan-
demonium reigned, cat-calls, hisses and protests were hurled at the
secretary, the reading was stopped and the document suppressed.
Ihis bombshell was a condemnatory resolution, leveled at the
vigilance committee of 1856 at San Francisco, and its reception
showed the convention to be heartily in sympathy with the work
of that anomalous body, whose fame has been heralded to all parts
he earth and whose acts and theories have been discussed by
istonans and political essayists in all the modern languages. Poli-
ikes as strange contretemps, as bedfellows. Judge Terry
had started his political career as a Democrat; had in '« been
nominated by the American party and elected to the Supreme
bench and at the time of this convention had barely returned^
^ a J-!dRe after SCVen Weeks' clement at San Fran?
by the vigilance committee. He had been a white elenhant
on the hands of the committee; but here was the place fo The con-
FIFTY YEARS OF CALIFORNIA POLITICS 37
demnation of the ways of the committee if they were ever to be
condemned; here was the 1855 idol of a great party, a Justice of
the Supreme Court, detained and held seven weeks by a self-ap-
pointed committee, for resisting by force, the unlawful process of
this unlawful committee, and at a convention in 1856 of the party
of this judge, within three weeks of his deliverance, a resolution
that does not even go far enough to mention the name of the com-
mittee, and only condemns it in the abstract, is hooted out of the
convention without even being read.
Another State Democratic convention met at Sacramento on
September gth, and nominated congressmen and other State officers.
Their platform was long and discussed the Union fully, advising
compromise for the sake of maintaining it. After the platform
had been reported, Mr. McConnell offered the following resolu-
tion: "That the writ of habeas corpus and the right of trial by
jury are sacred, and the Democracy of this State will ever guaran-
tee those sacred privileges to the humblest citizen." This was cer-
tainly impersonal, it stated plainly the organic law of the land. Its
moral tone was commendable, it was a good political statement,
from any point of view, for any party. But it was understood to
refer to the vigilance committee that had been ignoring, in fact
defying, these and similar statements taken from the Bill of Rights.
It received different treatment from that accorded the resolution
in the American convention a week before; it was debated for about
two hours, when the chairman announced that the trustees of the
church in which they were sitting would want the building at 2
c'clock. A motion to adopt the platform as reported was adopted
unanimously. No one demanded a vote on the simple resolution
and the convention adjourned.
Condemnation of the vigilance committee had failed in all polit-
ical conventions, although held at a time when feeling respecting
it was the highest. The doings of the committee were not defensi-
ble on legal or ethical grounds, but it had done good ; it had dem-
onstrated the fact that in every community, however reckless and
abandoned, there is enough latent virtue and manly love of decency
and order, if it can but once be aroused and centered, to clear the
moral atmosphere, intimidate or punish the criminal, and start his
weakly decent and wobbly apologist in the straight way, with
enough artificial stiffening for his spinal column to maintain him
fiT a time in an erect position and straight-forward way. I take
it that these refusals were conspicuous examples of leaving undone
those things that ought not to be done. For here was notice from
38 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
all the political parties of the State to every thief and thug, every
keeper of bawdy house and dead-fall, every pot house politician and
ward heeler, every law officer and judge, every peace officr and
sheriff, that the great mass of the people would not now, and hence
argumentatively, would not in the future, condemn an organiza-
tion, that although without legal authority had, with high purpose
and apparent justness, hung four murderers, pursued others to the
confines of the Union, banished others, and compelled civil servants
and law officers to do their duty. The full benefit of the good done
by the committee was preserved by wisely ignoring its critics in
high and influential places. And thus a period of ten years of strife
of parties, that had grown bitter almost beyond forbearance, and
a similar period of moral turbulence that had come to be an af-
front to all decency, came to an end in the same year, and California
started upon a new epoch in both moral and political methods that
have been totally unlike those going before.
At the election held November 4th, 1856, the Democrats elected
both the State and electoral tickets. Buchanan received 51,935
votes, Fillmore 35,113, and Fremont 20,339.
July 8th, 1857, the Republican State Convention met at Sacra-
mento in the Congregational Church. The platform condemned
Chief Justice Taney's Dred Scott decision. Edward Stanley was
nominated for Governor on the first ballot. The Democratic State
Convention met in the same place on July 4th. Weller was nom-
inated for Governor. Early in 1857 the idea of abandoning the
organization of the American party was discussed by prominent
members. Henry S. Foote, who had been their caucus nominee
for United States Senator in 1856, published a letter in which he
advised discontinuance of party organization; and offering alle-
giance to Buchanan and his administration; but after much discus-
sion, a State convention was called and met at Sacramento on
July 28th, and nominated Geo. W. Bowie for Governor, together
with a full State ticket. The election was held September 2nd, and
the full Democratic ticket was elected, Weller receiving 53,122
votes, Stanley 21,040, and Bowie 19,481.
The year 1858 marks the beginning of the period in which the
questions that led up to the Civil war were discussed at political
conventions, and voted on at elections. Kansas had been made a
territory in 1854, in 1857 the legislature of the territory provided
for a constitutional convention. The history of that struggle is
familiar to most of us, the two legislatures, the two constitutions
President Buchanan, in his annual message and in a
FIFTY YEARS OF CALIFORNIA POLITICS 39
special message of February 2nd, 1858, urged Congress to ratify
the Lecompton constitution. This would make Kansas a slave
State. Stephen A. Douglass took strong ground against it. This
was the beginning of the split in the Democratic party, which re-
sulted in two National Conventions in 1860. The feeling between
the champions and opponents of the President's policy ran high in
California; the Democratic party promptly split in two, one faction
known as Lecompton, the other as anti-Lecompton or Douglas
Democrats. Both held State Conventions, that of the administra-
tion wing at Sacramento, on August 4th, 1858, at which the plat-
form and resolutions were read by J. P. Hoge of the Committee;
immediately he moved their adoption, and then the previous ques-
tion on his first motion. The previous question was ordered by a
vote of 117 to 49, and the resolutions were adopted as read by a
vote of 287 to 2. Joseph G. Baldwin for Justice of the Supreme
Court and other nominations were made.
The Douglas Democrats also met on August 4th, in the Bap-
tist Church in Sacramento. John Curry was nominated for Su-
preme Judge. The Republican Convention met at Sacramento on
August 5th; it nominated Curry for judge (he had been nominated
the day before by the Douglas Democrats), and by resolution ap-
proved the course of U. S. Senator D. C. Broderick, who had been
elected a Democrat, but had taken issue with the President. This
convention also nominated L. C. Gunn for controller. At the elec-
tion Judge Baldwin (LeCompton Democrat) received 44,599
votes, Curry (Douglas Dem. and Rep.) 36,198, while Gunn, for con-
troller, standing on the Republican ticket, only received 7,481 votes
out of a total of 79,525, or not quite 10 per cent.
The gubernatorial contest of 1859 coming on, found the Re-
publicans without hope, but the Douglas Democrats were active.
The independent press advised the Republicans to unite with the
Douglas Democrats. The advice was rejected as they held a con-
vention at Sacramento on June 8th, and nominated Leland Stanford
for Governor. The Douglas Democrats' convention met in Sacra-
mento June 1 5th, and nominated John Curry for Governor, and the
LeCompton Democrats met at the same place on June 22nd, and
nominated Milton S. Latham for Governor. The election on Sep-
tember 5th resulted in a victory for the LeCompton Democrats,
Latham was elected by a vote of 62,255 to 31,298 for Curry, and
io.no for Stanford. Again the Republican vote was less than ten
per cent of the votes cast. There is not time in the limit of an arti-
cle for a meeting like this, to go into detail of the controlling canses
40 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
which manifested themselves in the action taken by succeeding- con-
ventions. The momentous year of 1860 came on. The two Demo-
cratic organizations held conventions; the Douglas wing denounced
what they termed the "Federal Heresies" of Buchanan,
ministration wing endorsed the President and commended the
Dred Scott decision as a peculiarly beautiful and true construction
of the law of the land. The news of the split in the Democratic
party at the National Convention, and the nominations of Doug-
las and Breckenridge was received in California on July isth.
Governor Downey immediately declared himself for Douglas and
Ex-Governor Weller declared for Breckenridge. Twenty-two
newspapers in the State were for Breckenridge and twenty-four
for Douglas.
News of the nomination of Lincoln and Hamlin was received
in California on June loth, 1860, and the Republican convention
to nominate electors met on June 2Oth at Sacramento; their plat-
form was short, merely indorsing the nominees, and not discussing
the slavery question in any phase. The Union party, supporting
Bell and Everett, held a convention and nominated • electors on
September 5th.
The Republicans and two Democratic organizations were active
and zealous in the campaign, but Bell and Everett men made little
stir. The election was held November 6th, and the official canvas
of the vote gave the heads of the various elctoral tickets the fol-
lowing vote: Lincoln 38,733, Douglas 37,999, Breckenridge 33,969,
Bell 9,111. With one exception the Democrats carried the State
annually for ten years; during that time the American secret society
party had carried one election and disappeared. The Republican
party had been organized and made four campaigns, and were now
successful in giving the electoral vote to the first Republican Presi-
dent. During '61 the two wings of the Democratic party kept their
organizations and nominated State tickets. The Republicans did
the same. At the election, Leland Stanford received 56,036 votes
against 30,944 for Conness (Douglas Dem.), and 32,751 for Mc-
Connell (Breckenridge Dem.).
After the election a number of southern sympathizers left the
State and joined the Confederate army, and numbers of other citi-
zens enlisted in the Federal army. In 1862 the Republicans put a
ticket in the field under the title of Union ticket. Both branches
of the Democrats did the same, the Union ticket was elected, and in
'63 the Union Republicans put up a ticket, and the Democrats con-
solidated. Low, Republican for Governor, received 64,293 votes, to
FIFTY YEARS OF CALIFORNIA POLITICS 41
44,622 for Downey, Democrat. Lincoln carried the State in 1864.
Sam Brannan, a former Democrat, headed the Republican electoral
ticket and received 62,053 votes, the highest vote for a Democratic
elector being that of 43,841 votes for Hamilton.
In 1865, the first serious division in the ranks of the Union
party occurred, and this split supplied our political vocabulary with
the two new terms, "Long Hairs" and "Short Hairs." The terms
originated in debate in the legislature on a bill to re-district San
Francisco, and the term "short haired" boys was used as syonymous
with roughs. The terms seemed expressive, and have been retained,
and even some of our respectable members who patronize barbers
freely are often referred to as long hairs. The division in the Union
party seems to have been on a hair-line, so to speak. At its coun-
ty convention in Sacramento on July 25th, 1865, two candidates
for chairman were put in nomination similtaneously and both
elected at the same time, in the rush to take the speaker's chair by
these two officers, a melee ensued, a mixture of long and short hairs
took place. Solid hickory canes, which seemed miracuously numer-
ous, were plied lustily; spittoons and ink bottles were used instead
of bombs and solid shot; chairs were used intact as missiles, and,
in some cases were broken up so that the legs could be used as
clubs. Victory rested with the short-hairs. Such of the long hairs
as could, got out of the doors, others took the window route, and
after the battle the destruction of everything fragile or portable in
the room seemed complete. The destruction wrought to church
property by rival Democratic factions at their convention a few years
before was inconsequential in comparison.
The Chinese question was first a serious issue in 1867, and the
Porter Primary law was first applied in the same year, and con-
tinued in force until 1896, and in that year (1867) Haight, (Dem-
ocrat) received 49,905 votes for Governor, and Gorham (Repub-
lican) 40,359. In 1868, however, Grant and Colfax carried the
State, the vote being very close: 54,588 against 54,069 for the
heads of the tickets.
In '69 the Democrats at the State election carried it, but the see-
saw went the other way in '71, and Newton Booth (Republican)
was elected over ex-Governor Haight by a vote of 62,581 to 57,520.
In '72 Horace Greeley was a candidate for President; his supporters
assumed the name of the Liberal party, and Greeley electors received
40,7 1 8 against 54,007 for the Republicans, and straight Democrats,
In 1*73 the Patrons of Husbandry, or Grangers, first attracted at-
tention as a political force; they called themselves Independents and
42 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
elected Judge McKinstry to the Supreme Court by a vote of 25,609
over Dwindle (Rep.) 14,380, and Ucker (Dem.) 19,962. The
Republicans carried the State for President in 1876 by an average
vote of 79,258 to 72,460.
On September 21, 1877, a meeting of unemployed men was held
in San Francisco. P. A. Roach was the first speaker and was fol-
lowed by Dennis Kearney. On Sunday afternoon following a sim-
ilar meeting was held in the open air opposite the new City Hall,
and from this location the gathering took the name of Sand Lot
meetings and the actors the name of Sand Lotters. The move-
ment grew to considerable proportions and as a result of agitation
commenced by them the Constitution of '79 was adopted. In the
same year Geo. C. Perkins (Rep.) was elected Governor by a plural-
ity of aobut 20,000 over the Democratic and Workingmen's candi-
dates.
In the Presidential election of 1880, Edgerton was the only Re-
publican elected. The vote was close, there being only about 200
difference, except on Democratic elector Terry, who ran about 600
behind his ticket. California cast five electoral votes for Hancock
and English, and one for Garfield and Arthur. James G. Elaine
carried the State in 1884, the average vote being about 102,369 for
Elaine to 89,214 for Cleveland. And Harrison and Arthur car-
ried it in 1888 by an average of 124,754 to 117,698 for Cleveland.
The Presidential election of 1892 was again a close contest.
Eight of the electors were Democrats and one Republican. Our
present U. S. Senator, Thomas R. Bard, was the only Republican
elected. McKinley got the electoral vote of California in 1896 by
a very small majority, and carried the State again in the present
year by a plurality of something like 39,000.
SIDE-LIGHTS ON OLD LOS ANGELES
BY MARY E. MOONEY.
(Read before the Historical Society, Dec. 12, 1900.)
The modern resident in the City of the Angels has seen in the
past fifteen years, the many and sweeping changes wrought by in-
dustry and capital and brains, which have transformed a sleepy little
Spanish-Mexican pueblo into our modern, bustling and up-to-date
metropolis. So that if a Fundador were to rise from his tomb,
under the floor of la Mission, Nuestra Senora la Reyna de los An-
geles, and take a pasear over the city, there would be few localities
his shade would recognize. The church and the Plaza, and a part
of what is now Chinatown, and old Sonoratown, and an occasional
ruined adobe — these would be all. He would look for his caballero
paisanos of the olden days, with their great white beaded som-
breros, the caballos decked out in "frenos de puro plata," and urged
on by sharp-pointed "espuellas" of the same white metal. And he
would look for them in vain, and in vain ! The Fundadores were
several poor families, brought from Mexico by the government to
found a town on the plains, westward three leagues from the Mis-
sion San Gabriel Arcangel. Though of poor and humble station in
their native land, they were courageous and cheerful, as befits pion-
eers of any race or clime to be. This paper does not pretend to treat
of the Spanish families of rank and wealth, which early settled in
and near the old pueblo; but only of the fortunes of some of the
original founders, and their descendants. Of the latter, was Caye-
tano Barelas, one of the earliest settlers in la calle Buena Vista.
His mother, born Anita Galinda y Pinta, came from Mexico, as a
Fundadores, with the original party. She was Ana Galinda y Pinta
when, in her native Sinaloa, she married Ignacio Barelas. At the
same time came the Abila family, Santa Ana Abila, and Ysabel Ur-
quidez de Abila, his wife. They came from a place called El Fuerte,
and were styled Fuertenos. They brought with them the following
children: Antonio Ignacio, Francisco, Jose Maria, Anastasio,
Bruno and Cornelio, all boys; and these girls — Alfonsa, Augustina,
and Ylaria, a nursing babe. Ylaria was the grandmother, on the
maternal side, of Dona Teresa Sepulveda de Labory, at present re-
44 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
siding on Boyle Heights. This lady was well known by the pob-
lanos of early clays, and is still hale and hearty despite her seventy-
three years, and the many vicissitudes of family and fortune, that
they have brought her. Her only son is a mining man, residing
in the city. He is married to an American lady and they have a
large family of sons and daughters. So here we have a direct and
unbroken chain, of two familiees of founders, down to the present
day. And Dona Teresa, who is a naturally bright woman, can
narrate off hand, all the events of importance in her family, on
both the Barelas and Abila sides. There were others who came
with these two families, and figured as founders. It is said that
these families brought grapes, tunas, grandas or pomegranates, and
other fruits, which they distributed at different missions on their
way to their destination, Santa Barbara. They removed from
there after a time, to the Pueblo, "Nuestra Senora la Reyna de Los
Angeles." The house of Cayitano Barelas stood in about the cen-
ter of the present old Catholic cemetery on Buena Vista street and
was of adobe. In the year 1825 it sheltered three generations of
the Barelas family, viz : Ignacio Barelas and his wife Ana, Caye-
tano and his wife and their children. Cayetano and his wife each
had many brothers and sisters, all of whom were married and had
from ten to twenty children in each family. The cactus and tunas
they brought from Mexico are still to be seen, in and near the old
missions. The indigenous cacti have a small red fruit, and attain
but to a scrubby growth. The Mexican or cultivated varieties
are tall and graceful, producing a red and yellowish pear, delicious
to the taste. The natives were very fond of the fruit, and besides,
the cacti when properly set out, made perfect corrals for the protec-
tion of the fine cattle of the missions.
Although the histories of those early times mention but few
names of Spanish settlers, tfie decendants of the pobladores stren-
uously declare, that soon after the founding, there were many
whole families of Spanish descent, in the pueblo, or settled on some
of the adjacent ranches. Almost the first thing they erected was
the capilla, or chapel, small, and of the old Dutch mudhouse style.
It stood on the side of the hill, just directly back of the present
mission church, (and the ruins of it were still to be seen in quite
recent years.) The roof was thatched with tule, and over that,
coarse grasses and mud, and it is just possible that it was topped
with a layer of brea, which was plentiful in certain localities.
There was a lack of hardware in finishing the "jacales" of those
days; also a lack of lumber. The small window had neither sash
SIDE-LIGHTS ON OLD LOS ANGELES 46
nor glass. The door often consisted of a dried hide hung over
the opening. Oftener it was made of willow, or elder branches,
laced together with thongs of leather or rabbit hide, and a leather
string was used to fasten it on the inside. Everything in the
house was necessarily of the most primitive sort. The table was a
rude board, supported by notched stakes, stuck into the earth floor.
Bancos, or benches, made in a similar way, served as seats. What-
ever was lacking in utility or elegance, was more than compensated
for in appetite and good cheer. The cooking utensils were of stone
and were brought from the Coast islands. Pots, ollas and metates
were made from the two kinds of stone, piedra-azul and mal-pais.
Vessels were made from piedra-azul were most highly prized for
their durability. They had also clay ollas and coras or baskets
brought from Mexico.
Speaking of furniture, the bed of those days consisted of sort
of rude stretcher, made of willow or elder saplings, set down in a
corner of the room, resting a couple of inches above the earth floor.
This was heaped with dry grasses, and covered over with a dry
hide. In some houses there were a few coarse blankets, the gifts of
the missions. Others boasted of a seat, called a pretil, which was
of adobe, built around the walls of the corridor or dining room.
In the year of 1825, the children of the poorer families played
around Buena Vista street, clad in a skirt, or tunico, to the knee,
and made of strips of tanned rabbit skin, sewn together. The
other sole garment was a camisa, of unbleached muslin. The food
of the time consisted of verdolade, (vulgarly called pig-weed),
made into a salad, frijoles, mais, lenteja, esquita, or parched corn,
cooked as a much. Atole was made from corn flour, by grinding
corn in a metate, then straining through a basket seive. It was
then cooked as a mush, and it is doubtful if the manufacturers of
modern cereal foods can produce anything to equal it in flavor or
quality. But came (beef) was the most relished, as well as the
most important, article of food. "Pulpa la carne meant cut and
dried beef. There were not wanting experts in the art of cooking
fresh meats. Rump steak was called pulpas. "Un tasajo de carne"
was a strip off the loin. There was tea (cha) brewed from- a native
wild herb. Also sugar and chocolate, but no coffee. Cabbages
were a favorite vegetable, and known in the vernacular as "las co-
las." (iarlic. and the firery chile (pepper), together with cavorjas
or onions and tomatoes, cut quite an important figure in the stew-
pots of those olden clays, and at the present time they have lost
little, if any. of their old-time popularity. The Fundadores were
46 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
treated with the greatest respect by their families and friends.
Grace was said before and after meals, and each child kissed the
grandfather's extended hand before taking his or her place, around
the board.
The marriage ceremony was most interesting. The novios
knelt side by side at the altar rail, upon which rested lighted
blessed candles. On either side knelt the padrino and the madrina,
or sponsors. The bride if a young girl, wore either a pink or blue
dress with white over-dress, and a long white veil. If a widow,
or in mourning, (enlutada), a black dress and veil of the same col-
or, was the correct thing. Marriage was solemnized in the churches,
in Quaresma, or lent, but in La Semane Santa (holy week), there
was no "belanda." So it was customary for couples married dur-
ing holy week to go to the church, some time during the following
week, and have that part of the ceremony performed. During the
marriage ceremony, a silver plate rested on the altar rail. In con-
tained the two wedding rings, which the priest blessed and placed
on the wedding finger of bride and groom. It also held the sarras
or money gift, from the groom to the bride, and was generally six
silver dollars, and sometimes twelve. A nuptial mass -followed
the marriage ceremony, through all of which the novios knelt, cov-
ered from shoulder to shoulder, with a large silk handerchief, which
the priest placed over them as a token of their union in matrimony.
The following is said to have been part of the form: Priest asks:
Anna, do you take Don J., here present, to be your husband and
companion? And to the groom: J. do you take this girl, Anna,
to be your wife and companion? It is related of a beuatiful
daughter of the Vilas family, that she replied no, father, at the crit-
ical moment, causing momentary consternation in the crowded
church. But her sister, who was the bridesmaid, came to the res-
cue by saying, "Well, if you won't take himi, I will." As the
groom was not lacking in gallantry, the ladies changed places and
the ceremony proceeded without further interruption. There were
BO church organs in the earliest days, but violins, guitaros and
other stringed instruments, furnished the choral music. As the
wedding party left the church, old muskets were fired off in salute,
and the people went dancing and singing along the road, to the
wedding festival, which was always as good as the times afforded,
and often lasted for a week. Altogether the Fundadores and their
descendents were a remarkably happy and cheerful people, and
made the most of the few diversions that came into their lives, in
those lonely, early days. They often made merry at the funerals
SIDE-LIGHTS ON OLD LOS ANGELES 47
of small children. For instance, a funeral going from Los Angeles
to San Gabriel Mission, while most of the people walked, a few
of the men rode horses, and at intervals, when tired walking, the
women and children rode in the carretas, drawn by oxen. At con-
venient points along the road, the bearers laid down their burden
and all rested. Then some of the merrier members of the party,
danced and sang the humorous "versos" of the period. At San
Gabriel a temporary brush house or ramada, was ready for the
beloria, or wake. Some of the people sang hymns and prayed
through the long hours of the night, while others were being en-
tertained by friends amongst the Gabrielenos. The next morning
the "Misa de Los Angeles" was chanted by priest and choir, and
after mass, followed the interment in the old churchyard. Next
the Angelenos were dined by the Gabrielenos, before starting back
for the Pueblo.
There is current a tradition of a great flood in 1826. It
is said to have rained at intervals for forty days. What was
at first a mild drizzle, toward the last became a heavy, steady
downpour, until the flood waters turned the city streets into a lake.
By this time the booming of the river so terrified the people, that
they took to the hills, where the high school is now. An awful
cloudburst above the Arroyo Seco added force and volume to the
already raging, roaring river, which, amidst blinding rain and
fearful thunder suddenly broke its banks and rushed around the
southeastern part of what is now the city, until it dashed against
the bluff, on which is now built the Hollenbeck Home. When the
waters had receded it was seen that the river's course had changed.
Its former channel was through Alameda and out Figueroa streets ,
but in that awful flood its bed filled with rocks and sand, and the
swift flowing currents soon were adjusted to other, and lower lev-
els. After this flood many of the people moved from the Pueblo
to the beautiful heights which they named el Paredon Blanco, or
the white bluff. The name was changed after the American occu-
pation, to that of Boyle Heights. It is said that Petra Rubio, y
Barelas, a great aunt of Dona Teresa Sepulveda de Labory, was
the first settler in el Paredon Blanco. She had some land from the
government and set it to vines. She made wine and sold it to the
missions. She was born Petra Barelas and was the daughter of
Anna Casimira, an original founder of the Pueblo de Los Angeles.
Another member of this family was a sort of Amazon. She cul-
tivated large fields of corn and grain near San Bernardino, and
brought her produce to Los Angeles, in the two-wheeled carretas,
48 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
drawn by "bueys." Petra built the first adobe house on Boyle
Heights. It had four large rooms and a corridor, supported by
large pillars of adobe. Around the halls of comedor and corridor,
ran the adobe pretil. Anna, the mother of Petra, died in 1836
in this house, and was given an imposing funeral. Her shroud
was a monk's habit of grey cloth, with a hood of the same, and
fastened around the waist with a grey cord. It had been sent her,
long before her death, from the mission of Santa Barbara, as a
mark of respect, and in recognition of her labors as a founder.
The priest and acolytes came to the house on the bluff to officiate.
Her body, wrapped in its shroud had laid on the bare earth all
night, with an adobe brick for a pillow. When services had been
held at the house, the funeral started, strong men carrying the
stretcher and corpse, aloft on their shoulders. Along the road
passed the procession, priest and people chanting and singing in
Spanish the Penitential psalms. Arrived at the church, solemn
mass for the dead was sung, and everything was in readiness for
the interment. The churchyard was at the left side of, and back
of the church Nuestra Senora la Reyna de los Angeles, and the
gate was just to the left of the front entrance. This was the "oldest
cemetery in the pueblo. But the ashes of Anna, the founder, were
destined for higher honor than a grave in the churchyard, for just
inside the baptistry they had dug her a deep, last resting place.
Her son received the body as it was lowered by means of riatas;
and lastly arranged it and covered the face with the monk's hood.
Then he ascended and helped to fill the grave. There were no cof-
fins or trappings, just "dust to dust," and Anna Casimira de Galinda
y Barelas was left to sleep her last sleep. She was the last lay per-
son buried under the church floors. And the scenes have changed.
The funeral cortege of today mostly wends its solemn way to the
Campo Santo, on the plains beyond El Paredon Blanco.
LOS ANGELES POSTMASTERS— (1850 to 1900)
BY H. D. BARROWS.
(Read before the Historical Society June n, 1900.)
Although California was declared by proclamation at Monterey
July 7, 1846, to be a part of the United States, and was ceded to
the United States by Mexico by formal treaty February 2, 1848, a
postoffice was not established at Los Angeles until April 9, 1850.
The following is a list of the postmasters from 1850 to 1900, every
one of whom, except the first, I knew personally, namely :
J. Pugh, appointed April 9, 1850.
Wm. T. B. Sanford, appointed November 6, 1851.
Dr. Wm. B. Osbourne, appointed October 12, 1853.
Jas. S. Waite, appointed November I, 1855.
John D. Woodworth, appointed May 19, 1858.
Dr. T. J. White, appointed Mar. 9, 1860.
Wm. G. Still, appointed June 8, 1861.
F. P. Ramirez, appointed October 22, 1864.
Russell Sackett, appointed May 5, 1865.
Geo. J. Clark, appointed January 25, 1866.
Geo. J. Clark, re-appointed March 2, 1870.
H. K. W. Bent, appointed February 14, 1873.
Col. I. R. Dunkelberger, appointed February 3, 1877.
Col. I. R. Dunkelberger, re-appointed 1881.
John W. Green, appointed 1885.
E. A. Preuss, appointed 1887.
J. W. Green, 2nd term, appointed 1890 (died July 31, '91).
Maj. H. J. Shoulters, acting postmaster about seven months,
August, 1891, to February, 1892.
H. V. Van Duseti, January 6, 1892.
Gen. Jno. R. Mathews, December 20, 1895.
Louis A. Groff, 1900.
Capt. W. T. B. Sanford, the second incumbent, was a well-
known and thorough-going business man, here and at San Pedro,
in the early '50*5. He was a brother of Gen. Banning' s first wife,
and was also engaged with him in the freighting business.
50 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Mr. J. M. Guinn, our secretary, has already furnished the so-
ciety with a sketch of versatile Dr. Wm. B. Osbourn.
James S. Waite was for some years the publisher (but not the
founder) of the pioneer newspaper of Los Angeles, "The Star."
Mr. J. D. Woodworth, who was appointed by President
Buchanan, was a native of Vermont, but he came from Des Moines
or Keokuck, Iowa, to Los Angeles. The office under his administra-
tion was located in the one-story adobe on the west side of Spring
street, nearly opposite the Bullard block. Wallace Woodworth, for
some years president of our county Board of Supervisors, was a
son of Mr. Woodworth; and he died about the time of his father's
death. The Woodworth family were relatives of Col. Isaac Will-
iams of El Chino rancho. Mr. Woodworth was a cousin of Samuel
Woodworth, author of "The Old Oaken Bucket." In the '6o's and
'7o's he lived near San Gabriel Mission, where he had an orchard
and vineyard, which, later he sold to Mr. L. H. Titus, who died
recently; and then bought the Dr. Hoover vineyard, adjoining the
Dr. White place, near the river, where he died September 30, 1883,
aged 70 years.
Dr. T. J. White was quite an eminent physician. I think he
came from St. Louis to Sacramento, which district he represented
in one of the first legislatures of California. Later he moved to
Los Angeles with his family. Col. E. J. C. Kewen married one of
his daughters, and Murray Morrison, at one time District Judge
here, married another daughter. All are now dead except a son
and daughter of Col. Kewen, and young T. Jeff White, the third of
that name. This young man is a grandson of the old doctor, Thos.
Jefferson White, the distinguished pioneer of Sacramento and Los
Angeles, whom many old-timeers will well remember.
Wm. G. Still was appointed postmaster by President Lincoln,
about the time of the commencement of the Civil war. The office
was located then in the one-story frame building, belonging to
Salizar, on the west side of Main street, between the Downey block
and Lafayette Hotel (now St. Elmo). Politcal excitement, I re-
member then ran high here; and a secessionist gambler tried to as-
sassinate Postmaster Still by firing a pistol ball at him through the
thin board partition of the office.
I remember that Still, Oscar Macey and myself were sent as
delegates from this county to the State Convention of the Union
party, held at Sacramento in 1862.
Mr. Still had been a Douglas Democrat, and he was a very in-
tense Union man; but I recollect that when the news first came that
LOS ANGELES POSTMASTERS 51
President Lincoln would issue an emancipation proclamation as "a
war measure/' he remarked to me somewhat excitely that the Pres-
ident "had better leave that slavery question alone." Later he
thought better of President Lincoln's wise action. I do not know
from what State Mr. Still came, or if he is still living.
Mr. Ramirez was a talented Californian, a native of Los An-
geles, who I think was educated by old Don Louis Vignes. He
spoke and wrote English and French, as well as Spanish ; he repre-
sented this county in the legislature, and edited and published for
several years, in French and Spanish, a paper called "El Clamor
Public.).'"
Russell Sackett, who was postmaster for a brief period, was an
attorney and justice of the peace. Whilst I knew him quite well, I
never happened to learn from what part of the country he came, or
anything about his antecedents. I think he has been dead a good
many years.
Captain George Johnstone Clarke was for many years a promi-
nent citzen of Los Angeles. He served two terms as postmaster
of this city, that is, from 1866 to 1873, and also for a long period
as notary, conveyancer, and as school trustee, etc. His first post-
master's commission is signed by Andrew Johnson, and is dated
January 25, 1866. and his second-term commission is signed by
U. S. Grant, and dated March 2, 1870.
At the commencement of his term the office was located on
Main street between the Downey block and the Lafayette, now the
St. Elmo Hotel, the same place where it had been admisintered
by his predecessor, Wm. G. Still; afterwards it was removed to
the Temple block, on the Spring stret side, near the middle of the
block, where it remained to the end of his incumbency, and till the
appointment of his successor, H. K. W. Bent.
Capt. Clarke, was a native of New Hampshire. He was born
on the 1 3th of July, 1817, at North wood. The family name of his
mother before marriage was Johnstone. Young Clarke went to
Australia in 1842, and came from there to California in 1850. Soon
after arrival in San Francisco he bought 160 acres of land in Hayes*
valley. He and Thomas Hayes, after whom the valley was named,
were intimate friends, and had close business relations. From San
Francisco he went to San Jose, and later to San Pablo and Russian
River. At one time he ran a small steamer belonging to Col.
Harasthy, between San Francsco and the Embarcadero on Sonoma
creek; and also to Petaluma, where he first met his future wife. Miss
Sarah Finley. to whom he was married in 1859. He came to Los
52 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Angeles county in 1862 and prospected for mines at Soledad. The
next year he brought his wife here; and a company was formed, of
which he was superintendent, for working the Soledad copper
mines. Afterwards he was interested with James Hayward, son
of Alvinza Hayward, in working the Eureka gold mine at Acton
in this county. If I mistake not, he served with Judge W. G. Dry-
den and the writer of these lines on the school board sometime in
the '6o's. I remember he built a fine two-story residence, where
he lived several years, on a lot which fronted on both Fort (Broad-
way) and Hill strets, on a portion of which the Slauson block, be-
low Fourth street, now stands. His house was then well out of
town, and was a sort of landmark, as there were comparatively few
residences in that neighborhood at that time.
During his later years he lived on lower Main street, near 2ist
street. In 1864 a convention of the Union party was held in this
city; and as a member of that convention, I remember very distinct-
ly that Captain Clarke, as delegate from the Soledad precinct, was
the first speaker to urge the renomination of Abraham Lincoln; and
that he was very urgent and outspoken in his advocacy of the im-
portance of such renomination as bearing on the prosecution of the
war for the preservation o fthe Union.
Capt. Clarke and Col. Charles H. Larrabee sent to China (and,
it is believed, were the first) to bring to California mandarin orange
trees (two kinds), which were widely propagated by budding, by
Mr. Garey and others. Col. Larrabee and Capt. Clarke also in-
troduced into California at the same time, Pomelo and Loquat
trees. Capt. Clarke was an ardent Republican, a faithful official and
good citizen. He was genial and what the Spanish call "corriente"
in his ways; he was easily accessible to all; and was generally well
liked.
Capt. Clarke died August 2, 1890. Mrs. Clarke is still a resi-
dent of this city. They had no children.
All of the foregoing are supposed to have deceased. All incum-
bents since Capt. Clarke, except Mr. Green, are still (June, 1900)
living.
Mr. Bent, who served as postmaster under President Grant's
administration, is a resident of Pasadena. He is a native of Wey-
mouth, Mass., where he was born October 29, 1831. He came to
Los Angeles in October, 1868.
I assume that the reputation of Mr. Bent and of the other in-
cumbents, his successors, who are still living, are generally well
known: and, therefore, it is hardly necessary for me to go very
LOS ANGELES POSTMASTERS 53
fully into details here concerning them. I believe Mr. Bent's ef-
ficiency as a public official was universally conceded by the com-
munity whom he served, from 1873 to 1877.
For many years the postoffice at Los Angeles has been one of
constantly growing importance, both because of the phenomenal
growth of the city in population and because this office has prac-
tically l>een a distributing office for Southern California and Ari-
zona. Before the railroad era the mails were largely carried over
stage routes, on which the mail matter could not be worked pre-
paratory to final distribution (as now can be done on postal cars),
thereby throwing an immense amount of work in the former period
on the local office. Under Mr. Bent's administration the efficiency
of the postal service which radiated from Los Angeles, was greatly
increased in many respects. Mr. Bent served one or two terms as
a member of the city Board of Education. He is at present a resi-
dent of Pasadena.
Col. Isaac R. Dunkelberger was appointed by President Grant
February 3, 1877. and re-appointed by President Hayes in 1881.
Col. Dunkelberger is a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1832. He
was one of the first, if not the first man, to enlist in that State in
the Civil war. His regiment, the First Penn. Volunteers, was or-
dered to Baltimore at the time of the attack on the Massachusetts
troops, and while there he received a commission as second lieu-
tenant in the First Dragons, afterwards the First U. S. Cavalry,
the same regiment which so distinguished itself in Cuba in the late
war between the United States and Spain. Col. Dunkelberger was
in thirty-six pitched battles, and in innumerable skirmishes. He
was twice wounded — once through the left shoulder and left lung,
his wound, at the time, being thought to have been mortal. His
sufferings from this terrible wound during the last thirty odd years,
from abcesses, which contiue to recur at intervals to this day, have
been most excruciating. His left arm is practically helpless.
After the close of the war he went to New Orleans with Gen.
Sheridan, who there relieved Gen. Butler. From thence he was
ordred to San Francisco, and from there to Arizona. In 1876 he
resigned his commission in the army, since when he has resided in
Angeles. Col. Dunkelberger married Miss Mary Mallard < f this
city. They have six children.
Of Mr. John W. Green's nativity and arrival in Calif* >rni.-i. T
have been unable to obtain information. He was first appointed
by President Arthur, in 1885. and served as postimster <>f '
Angeles till 1887. being succeeded by Mr. Pretiss; he was again ap-
54 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
pointed in 1890, and served till his death, which occurred July 31,
1891.
Edward Anthony Preuss was born in New Orleans June 7, 1850,
of German parentage. When he was three years old his family
moved to Louisville, Ky., where he lived till 1868, when he left, via
Panama, for California, arriving at San Francisco May 31, and at
Los Angeles soon after. He had learned the drug business with his
uncle, Dr. E. A. Preuss, in Louisville, and he came with him to
Los Angeles, remaining in his employ some time here and later in
the employ of Dr. C. F. Heinzeman. In 1876 he engaged in the
drug business on his own account. During this time, from 1876 to
to 1885, he had successively as partners, John H. Schumacher, the
pioneer, C. B. Pironi, and C. H. Hance. In 1885 he sold out his
interest to Capt. Hance.
Mr. Preuss was appointed postmaster by President Cleveland
in 1887, and served till July I, 1890, when President Harrison re-
apointed John W. Green, who had been the immediate predecessor
of Mr. Preuss. The postoffice during Mr. Preuss' incumbency was
located on the west side of North Main street, southwest of the
Plaza Catholic Church; and afterward, on S. Broadway, below
Sixth street, in the Dol block, now known as the Columbia hotel.
In 1877, Mr. Preuss was married to Miss Mary Schumacher. They
have one son, Kenneth, now a man grown.
Mr. Preuss gives some interesting statistics concerning the
phenomenal business of our local postoffice in the boom that culmi-
nated in 1887. From August i to December 31, of that year, a
period of five months, over 39,000 forwarding orders and changes
of address were received at the office, which handled the mail of
200.000 transients annually. He tells of the double rows of people
which, on the arrival of the mails, extended from the approaches of
the postoffice, nearly to the Catholic Church. He says it was very
difficult to get the department at Washington to furnish sufficient
xforce to handle the business of the office at that time.
On the death of Mr. Green, Maj. H. J. Shoulters became acting
postmaster in August, 1891, serving till February, 1892, or about
seven months. Maj. Shoulters, who is now assistant postmaster
under the present incumbent, Judge Groff, is a native of Montpelier,
Vt., born in '42. He came to Los Angeles in '84. He was in nu-
merous battles in the Civil war, including the Wilderness campaign,
where he had a leg smashed. He was elcted city treasurer in 1892
and served two years.
Henry Van Dusen was born in Albion, N. Y., July 15, 1842,
LOS ANGELES POSTMASTERS 55
and came to Los Angeles in 1885, and was appointed postmaster
by President Harrison, January 6, 1892, and served four years.
He enlisted in the nth U. S. regular infantry at the commence-
ment of the Civil war, was in five battles, and lost his left arm in the
battle of Games' Mills, January 27, 1862.
Gen. John R. Mathews was appointed postmaster of Los An-
geles December 20, 1895, by President Qeveland, and served some-
thing over four years. He is a native of St. Louis, born in 1848,
and came to California in 1883. Prior to his appointment as post-
master, he served as State Senator and Brigadier General; and in
each and every public position, he proved a very efficient official.
He labored diligently and successfully to improve the postal service
of this office and section. During his incumbency, full railway
postal service for Southern California was secured, and some twen-
ty-seven additional local and mounted carriers, clerks and station
men were ordered.
The present force of Los Angeles postoffice is: Clerks, 41;
carriers and collectors, 62; clerks at stations, 12; railway postal
clerks, 46 — total, 161.
The increase in business of the office in the four years of Gen.
Mathews' term, is indicated by the following brief showing: Re-
ceipts of the office, 1895, $177,911; receipts of the office, 1899,
$228,417 — Increase, $50,506.
Judge Louis A. Groff, the present incumbent of the Los An-
geles postoffice is a man of wide experience, having been Commis-
sioner of the General Land Office under the administration of
President Harrison, and he also served in other offices of trust and
responsibility. He was only lately appointed postmaster of our
local office by President McKinley. We have every reason to ex-
pect that he will maintain the high standard of efficiency which the
office had attained under his predecessors. Judge Groff, I believe,
is a native of Ohio.
SOME ABORIGINAL ALPHABETS— A STUDY
PART II.
BY J. D. MOODY, D.D.S.
(Read before the Historical Society Dec. 12, 1900.)
It will be remembered that I gave at the May meeting a short
account of two aboriginal alphabets — the Vei and the Cherokee. I
traced their origin and development with the intention of con-
trasting them, at a later time, with a still more singular one that
was found on Easter Island in the South Seas.
Easter Island is the most eastern point of inhabited land in
Polynesia. This island, a mere speck of volcanic land in the South
Pacific ocean, holds one of the human mysteries of the world.
It is about ten miles long and four broad ,and contains only about
thirty-two square miles of cultivable land, tl is over two thousand
miles from the nearest land towards the east, and five hundred from
its nearest neighbor on the west in that great archipelago. It stands
like a lonely sentinel over that waste of waters, as does the Sphynx
over Egypt's sands, and holds in its past as unfathomable a riddle.
When first discovered, as it was said to have contained two to five
thousand people, but as in every instance, contact with the Caucasion
has wrough havoc with their numbers. A century ago slave dealers
raided the island and carried numbers of the inhabitants into slavery.
Even less than one hundred years ago, the Peruvian government
carried away captive nearly the whole population to work in their
guano islands. Later, on returning a portion of these to their homes,
smallpox was introduced and the once populous island became a
graveyard. At the present time there are only about 150 of the
native population left. The island is now a dependency of Chili.
It is leased to a firm of sheepmen, and a resident manager, assisted
by a few of the natives, rules over its destinies. These natives be-
long to the great Polynesian family, and possess all the racial charac-
teristics common to this people. The routes of emigration, by
which the South Sea islands were peopled, and the relative time in
connection therewith, are, approximately, fairly well understood.
Everywhere they either displaced a pre-existent people, or found the
evidence of such having occupied the islands.
SOME ABORIGINAL ALPHABETS 57
In many of the islands scattered throughout these regions are
found cyclopean structures of stone, of the origin of which the pres-
ent islanders have no knowledge whatever. These structures con-
sist of pyramidal piles of stone, of walled enclosures, of vast plat-
forms, and of extensive roadways of the same material. These
stone structures were laid without the use of mortar; sometimes
they contained enclosed rooms; the true arch seems to have not
been known, but frequent examples of the overlapping arch are
seen. Sometimes these huge stones have been quarried nearby, in
other instances they have been dragged for many miles overland,
and in still others brought by water from distant parts of the island
on which they are found, or even from a distant island. Many of
these stones are so large that it would tax our mechanical ingenuity
to put them in place. These structures all present the appearance
of great age; covered with moss and earth, thrown down by earth-
quakes, and overgrown by dense forests. Their builders came, erect-
ed them, occupied them, and vanished, leaving not even a memory
behind. Common characteristics pertain to them all yet in some
isolated groups of islands they have features peculiar to themselves.
Thus Easter Island, though so remote from the others, and as we
would think, inaccessible, has more striking ruins than any other
South Sea island. In different parts of this island, there have been
erected great stone platforms, and on these platforms are set up
huge statues. These statues only represent the body from the hips
upward. The faces are long and striking in appearance. They are
not portraits, as they are all fashioned from one pattern, and for
the same reason they cannot be totems. If they represent gods,
their mythology must have had a strange sameness to it. On each
statue is an immense stone head dress.
But few rock carvings are found in the South Sea islands.
Those in Blaster Islands, while in few in number, are conventional
in form and present characteristics common to all undeveloped peo-
ples. On some of these scupltured rocks are figures of birds, which
in some respects recall those of our own northwest coast Indians.
All over Polynesia, modern emigration has been from west to east,
with lateral branchings to the north or south. But strange to say,
Easter Island traditions which are given with great minuteness,
claim their arrival from the east and from a tropical country.
Every Polynesian people preserved the geneology of their rulers
as sacredly as did the old Hebrews. Missionaries, scholars, and in-
telligent tradesmen who have spent a life time among them, all give
great credence to these lists. The Easter Islanders have a list of
58 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
57 kings, the first dating from their arrival in the country. Allow-
ing fifteen years to a reign, it would give 855 years, or about 1045
A. D., as the date of their arrival.
Some peculiarities pertaining to this people, seem to lend color
to this claim of a different origin. Circumcission was common to
the Polynesians, but unknown to the Easter Islanders.
A novel method in war with them, unknown elsewhere, only
among the old Romans, was the use of a large hand-net, which,
cast over an antagonist, rendered his capture or destruction easy.
With the sole exception of these Islanders, none of the Polynesian
race possessed the art of writing.
We possess many examples of their writing, but cannot read it.
These inscriptions are all on wooden tablets, varying in size from
four inches wide to six inches long to one seven inches wide and
five feet long.
The characters apparently have been cut with an obsedian tool,
and are peculiar in design, the human figure frequently appearing
in a conventionalized form.
"A casual glance at the Easter Island tablet is sufficient to note
the fact that they differ materially from other Kyriologic -writings.
The pictorial symbols are engraved in regular lines on depressed
channels, separated by slight ridges, intended to protect the hiero-
glyphics from injury by rubbing. * * * The symbols on each
line are alternately reversed; those on the first stand upright, and
those on the next line are upside down, and so on by regular alter-
nation. This unique plan makes it necessary for the reader to turn
the tablet and change its position at the end of every line. The
reading should commence at the lower left-hand corner. * * *
— (William J. Thomson, paymaster U. S. Navy, in Te Pi to Te
Henua, or Easter Island.)
I said "to read it." This, however, is only a surmise. In the
year 1886, the U. S. S.S. Mohican visited the island for the purpose
of exploration. A party remained on the island one month, and
made a very careful examination of every part of it. They succeeded
in collecting several of these tablets, and in getting photographs of
others in the hands of parties, who would not dispose of them. Prob-
ably no others will ever again be found on the islands. Paymaster
Thomson, who published the main report of the expedition, learned
that there was living an old man who was able to read these in-
scriptions. This was possibly a last chance to be by no means
neglected. This man was hunted up. The natives today are nomi-
nally Catholic. Unfortunately some former Catholic priest, having
SOME ABORIGINAL ALPHABETS 59
a mission there, had forbidden the natives to read these tablets, the
knowledge of which had been confined to a few privileged persons.
This man was asked to read the inscription, but for fear of his
salvation refused, and on being importuned, ran away and hid.
Science must not be balked. The exigency of the case made per-
missible extraordinary measures. On a rainy evening he was tracked
to his house. The explorers entered unceremoniously and took pos-
session. At first he was sullen and would not talk, but a little ca-
jollery and a subtrefuge along with the judicious use of a little
stimulant unloosed his tongue, and he began reading the inscrip-
tions for them. It was soon noticed that he was not following the
lines closely, and he was charged with fraud. This somewhat dis-
concerted him, but he maintained that while the signification of the
separate signs had been lost, that his translation was in the main
correct. This was the best they could do, and the reading was
carefully taken down as it proceeded. Afterwards another old man
was found who claimed to be able to read them. On being tested
he read the same way the first one did, and gave the same interpre-
tation to each different tablet. Evidently old traditions had been
carefully transmitted, and certain traditions unvaringly attached
to certain tablets. These translations relate to their national his-
tory and religion.
In all probability there is some foundation for the claim they
make. But whence came these characters? Did some Cadmus or
Se-quo-yah of that island world invent them? Reasoning from
my former standpoint, and one which seems borne out by the con-
ditions, they were not produced by an unaided native mind. They
came from without. From whence? Certainly not from the West.
Their traditions of a former home so minutely recorded, must have
a basis of fact. But characters like these are found nowhere else,
at least in connected lines. The nearest approach to them are rude
pictographs found on rocks in both South and North America. We
cannot reconcile their racial characteristics with their traditions of
an Eastern origin.
Are both correct? Who was the Se-quo-yah? Who will un-
ravel the mystery ?
HISTORIC SEAPORTS OF LOb ANGELES
BY J. M. GUINN.
(Read before the Historical Society, Oct. 5, 1900.)
Of the half a dozen or more ports through which at different
times the commerce of Los Angeles has passed, but two can be
classed as historic, namely San Pedro and Wilmington. Los An-
geles was not designed by its founder for a commercial town.
When brave old Felipe de Neve marked off the boundaries of the
historic plaza as the center from which should radiate the Pueblo
de Nuestra Senora La Rayna de Los Angeles, no vision of the fu-
ture city of broad streets, palatial business blocks and princely homes
climbing the brown hills above his little plaza and spreading over the
wide mesa below, passed before his mind's eye.
When the military and religious services of the founding were
ended and the governor gave the pobladores (colonists) a few part-
ing words of advice; admonishing them to be frugal and industri-
ous, to be faithful servants of God and the king; no suspicion that
the little germ of civilization that he had that day planted on the
banks of the Rio Porciuncula would ever need a seaport entered his
thoughts. The Spaniards, though the discoverers of the new world
and bold seamen withal, were not a commercial or trading people.
Their chief desire was to be let alone in their vast possessions.
Philip II once promulgated a decree pronouncing death upon any
foreigner who entered the Gulf of Mexico. Little did the pirates
and buccaneers of the Gulf care for Philip's decrees. They captured
Spanish ships in the Gulf and pillaged towns on the Spanish Main;
and Drake, the brave old sea king of Devon, sailed into the harbor
of Cadiz, with his little fleet and burned a hundred Spanish ships
right under Philip's nose — "singeing the king's beard," Drake called
it. Nor content with that exploit — down through the Straits of
Magellan, and up the South Sea coast sailed Francis Drake in the
Golden Hind, a vessel scarce larger than a fishing smack, spreading
consternation among the Spanish settlements of the South Pacific;
capturing great lumbering galleons freighted with the "riches of
Ormus and of Ind;" plundering towns and robbing churches of their
wealth of silver and gold — silver and gold that the wretched natives
under the lash of cruel task masters had wrung from the mines. It
HISTORIC SEAPORTS OF LOS ANGELES 61
was robber robbing robber, but no retribution for wrongs inflicted
reached down to the wretched native. Surfeited with plunder, and
his ship weighed down with the weight of silver and gold and costly
ornaments, Drake sailed more than a thousand leagues up the Cal-
ifornia coast, seeking the fabled Straits of Anian, by which he
might reach England with his spoils; for in the quaint language of
Chaplain Fletcher, who did preaching and praying on the Golden
Hind, when Sir Francis did not take the job out of his hands and
chain the chaplain up to the main mast, as he sometimes did : "Ye
governor thought it not good to return by ye Streights (of Ma-
gellan) lest the Spanirds should attend to him in great numbers."
So, for fear of the sea robbers, who hunted their shores, the
Spaniards built their principal cities in the new world back from
the coast, and their shipping ports were few and far between. It
never perhaps crossed the mind of Governor Felipe de Neve that
the new pueblo would need a seaport. It was founded to supply,
after it became self-supporting, the soldiers of the presidios with its
surplus agricultural products. The town was to have no com-
merce, why should it need a seaport? True, ten leagues away was
the Ensenada of San Pedro, and, as Spanish towns went, that was
near enough to a port.
But since that November day, one hundred and eighty years be-
fore, when the ships of Sebastian Viscaino had anchored in its
waters, and he had named it for St. Peter of Alexandria, down to
the founding of the pueblo, no ship's keel had cut the waters of San
Pedro bay. It is not strange that no vision of the future commercial
importance of the little pueblo of the Angelic Queen ever disturbed
*he dreams of brave old Felipe de Neve.
There is no record, or at least I have none, of when the mission
supply ships landed the first cargo at San Pedro. Before the end of
last century the port had become known as the embarcadero of San
Gabriel.
The narrow and prescriptive policy of Spain had limited the
commerce of its California colonies to the two supply ships sent
each year from Mexico with supplies for the presidios and mission*.
These supplies were exchanged for the hides and tallow produced
at the missions. San Pedro was the port of San Gabriel mission
for this exchange, and also of the Pueblo of Los Angeles.
It is not an easy matter to enforce arbitrary restrictions against
commerce, as Spain found to her cost. Men will trade under the
most adverse circumstances. Spain was a long way off and smug-
gling was not a very venal sin in the eyes of layman or churchman.
62 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
So a contraband trade grew up on the coast, and San Pedro had her
full share of it. Fast sailing vessels were fitted out in Boston for
illicit trade on the California coast. Watching their opportunities,
these vessels slipped into the bays along the coast. There was a
rapid exchange of Yankee notions for sea otter skins — the most
valued peltry of California — and the vessels were out to sea before
the revenue officers could intercept them. If successful in escaping
capture the profits of a smuggling voyage were enormous — rang-
ing from 500 to 1000 per cent above cost on the goods exchanged;
but the risks were great. The smuggler had no protection from the
law. He was an outlaw. He was the legitimate prey of the padres,
the people and the revenue officers. It is gratifying to our national
pride to know that the Yankee usually came out ahead. These ves-
sels were armed and when speed or strategem failed they fought
their way out of a scrape.
But it was not until the Mexican government, more liberal than
the Spanish, had partially lifted from foreign trade the restrictions
imposed by Spain that commerce began to seek the port. First
came the hide droghers from Boston with their department store
cargoes. Trading and shopping were done on board the vessel, and
the purchasers passed from ship to shore and back on the ship's
boats; while lumbering carretas creaked and groaned under the
weight of California bank notes, as the sailors called the hides that
were to pay for the purchases. As long as the ship lay at anchor,
and the bank notes held out, the shores of the bay were gay with
festive parties of shoppers and traders. Every one, old and young,
male and female of the native Californians, and even the untutored
Indian too, took a deep interest in the ship's cargo. The drogher's
display of "silks and satins new" was a revelation of riches on which
the rustic maiden's mind could revel long after the ship had gone on
her way.
Just when the first house was built at San Pedro,! have been
unable to ascertain definitely. In the proceedings of the Ayun-
tamineto for 1835, a house is sponken of as having been built there
"long ago" by the Mission Fathers of San Gabriel. Long ago for
past time is as indefinite as poco tiempo for future. I think the
house was built during the Spanish era, probably between 1815 and
1820. It was a warehouse for the storing of hides, and was located
on the bluff about half way between Point Firmin and Timm's
Point. The ruins are still extant. Dana, in his "Two Years Be-
fore the Mast," describes it as a building with one room containing
a fire place, cooking apparatus, and the rest of it unfurnished, and
HISTORIC SEAPORTS OF LOS ANGELES 63
used as a place to store goods. Dana was not favorably impressed
with San Pedro. He says : "I also learned, to my surprise, that the
desolate looking place we were in furnished more hides than any
other port on the coast. * * * We all agreed that it was the
worst place we had seen yet, especially for getting off of hides ; and
our lying off at so great a distance looked as though it was bad for
southeaster. "
This old warehouse was the clause of a bitter controversy that
split the population of the pueblo into factions. While the secular-
ization of the missions was in progress, during 1834 and 1835, Don
Abel Stearns bought the old building from the Mission Fathers of
San Gabriel. He obtained permission from Governor Figueroa to
bring water from a spring a league distant from the embarcadero,
and also to build additional buildings; his object being to found
a commercial settlement at the landing, and to enlarge the com-
merce of the port. His laudable efforts met with opposition from
the anti-expansionists of that day. They feared smuggling and
cited an old Spanish law that prohibited the building of a house
on the beach of any port where there was no custom house. The
Captain of the Port protested to the Governor against Steams' con-
templated improvements, and demanded that the warehouse be de-
molished. Ships, he said, would pass in the night from Santa
Catalina, where they lay hid in the day time, to San Pedro and load
and unload at Stearns' warehouse, and "skip out" before he, the
captain, could come down form his home at the pueblo, ten leagues
away, to collect the revenue. Then a number of calamity howlers
joined the Captain of the Port in bemoaning the ills that would
follow from the building of warehouses, and among other things
charged Stearns with buying and shipping .surreptitiously, stolen
hides. The Governor referred the matter to the Ayuntamiento, and
that municipal body appointed a committee of three sensible and
public spirited men to examine into the charges and reix)rt. The
committee reported that the interests of the community needed
a commercial settlement at the embarcadero; that if the Captain of
the Port feared smuggling, he should station a guard on the beach ;
ar.d finally, that the calamity howlers who. had charged Don Abel
with buying stolen hides should be compelled to prove their charge in
a court of justice, or retract their slanders. This settled the contro-
versy, and the calamity howlers, too, but Stearns built no more
warehouse at the embarcadero.
The first shipwreck in San Pedro bay was that of the brig
Danube of New York, on Christmas eve, 1828. In a fierce south-
64 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
eastern gale she dragged her anchors and was driven ashore a total
wreck. The crew and officers, twenty-eight in number, were all
saved. The news of the disaster reached Los Angeles, and a caval-
cade of caballeros quickly came to the assistance of the shipwrecked
mariners. The query was how to get the half drowned sailors to
the pueblo — thirty miles distant. The only conveyance at hand
was the backs of mustangs. Sailors are proverbial for their inca-
pacity to manage a horse, and those of the Danube were no ex-
ception to the rule. The friendly Californians would assist a sailor
to the upper deck of a mustang, and sailing directions given to the
rider, the craft would be headed towards the pueblo. First there
would be a lurch to port, then to starboard, then the prow of the
craft would dip toward China, and the rudder end bob up towards
the moon ; then the unfortunate sailor would go head foremost over
the bows into the sand.
The Californians became convinced that if they continued their
efforts to get the sailors to town on horesabck, they would have
several funerals on their hands — so they gathered up a number of
ox carts, and loading the marines into carretas, propelled- by long
horned oxen, the twice-wrecked sailors were safely landed in Los
Angeles.
Antonio Rocha was the owner of the largest house in the pueblo
— the adobe that stood on the northwest corner of N. Spring and
Franklin streets, and was used for many years after the American
occupation for a court house and city hall. Antonio's heart was as
big as his house, figuratively speaking — and he generously enter-
tained the whole shipwrecked crew. The fattest beeves were killed
— the huge beehive-shaped oven was soon lighted, and servants were
set to baking bread to feed the Christmas guests. Old man Lugo
furnished the wine. The sailors ate and drank bumpers to their en-
tertainer's health, and the horrors of shipwreck by sea and mustang
were forgotten.
San Pedro was the scene of the only case of marooning knovrn
to have occurred on the California coast. Marooning was a dia-
bolical custom or invention of the pirates of the Spanish Main. The
process was as simple as it was horrible. When some unfortunate
individual aboard the piratical craft had incurred the hatred of the
crew or the master, he was placed in a boat and rowed to some bar-
ren island or desolate coast of the main land, and forced ashore,
A bottle of water and a few biscuits were thrown him, the boat
rowed back to the ship, and left him to die of hunger and thirst, or
HISTORIC SEAPORTS OF LOS ANGELES 65
to rave out his existence under the maddening heat of a tropical
sun.
In January. i83J. a small brig entered the bay of San Pedro and
anchored. Next morning two passengers were landed from a boat
on the barren strand. They were given two bottles of water and
a few biscuit. The vessel sailed away leaving them to their fate.
There was no habitation within thirty miles of the landing. Ignor-
ant i.f the country, their fate might have been that of many another
victim of marooning. An Indian, searching for shells, discovered
them and conducted them to the Mission San Gabriel, where they
were cared for. They were two Catholic priests — Bachelot and
Short — who had been expelled from the Sandwich Islands on ac-
count of prejudice against their religion.
In the many-sided drama of life of which San Pedro has been
the theater. War has thrust his wrinkled front upon its stage. Its
brown hills have echoed the tread of advancing and retreating
armies, and its ocean cliffs have reverberated the boom of artillery.
Here Micheltorena, the last of the Mexican-born governors of Cal-
ifornia, after his defeat and abdication at Cahuenga, with his cholo
army, was shipped back to Mexico.
Here Commodore Stockton landed his sailors and marines when
in August, 1846, he came down the coast to capture Los Angeles.
From San Pedro his sailors and marines began their victorious
march, and, the conquest completed, they returned to their ships
in the bay to seek new fields of conquest.
To San Pedro came Gillespie's men, after their disastrous ex-
perience with a Mexican revolution. Commodore Stockton had left
Lieutenant Gillespie, with a garrison of fifty men to hold Los An-
geles. Gillespie, so it is said, undertook to fashion the manners
and customs of the Californians after a New England model. But
he had not obtained the "consent of the governed" to the change,
and they rebelled. Under the command of Flores and Vareles, three
hundred string, they beseiged Gillespie's force on Fort Hill, and
finally compelled the Americans to evacuate the city and retreat to
San Pedro, where they went aboard a merchant vessel, and remained
in the harbor. Down from Stockton's fleet came Mervine in the
frigate Savannah, with 300 sailors and marines, intent on the cap-
ture of the rebellious pueblo. Once again San Pedro beheld the on-
ward march of an army of conquest. But San Pedro saw another
sight, "when the drums beat at dead of night." That other sight
lie retreat of Mervine's men. They met the enemy at Domin-
were defeated, and retreated, the wounded borne on litters.
66 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OP SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
their dead on creaking carretas, and their flag left behind. Mervine
buried his dead, five in all, on the Isla de Los Muertos, and then —
if not before — it was an Island of Dead Men. Lieutenant Duvall,
in his log book of the Savannah, speaking of the burial of the dead
on Dead Man's Island, says it was "so named by us." Jn this he is
mistaken. Ten years before, Dana, in his "Two Years Before the
Mast," tells the story of the English sea captain, who died in the
port and was buried on this small, dreary looking island, the only
thing which broke the surface of the bay. Dana says : "It was the
only spot in California that impressed me with anything like a poetic
interest. Then, too, the man died far from home, without a friend
near him, and without proper funeral rites, the mate (as I was told)
glad to have him out of the way, hurrying him up the hill and into
the ground without a word or a prayer." Dana calls the isle, "Dead
Man's Island."
There are several legends told of how the island came by its
gruesome name. This is the story an old Californian, who had been
a sailor on a hide drogher, long before Dana's time, told, me thirty
odd years ago : Away back in the early years of the present cen-
tury some fishermen found the dead body of an unknown white
man on the island. There was evidence that he had reached it
alive, but probably too weak to attempt the crossing of the narrow
channel to the main land. He had clung to the desolate island, vain-
ly hoping for succor, until hunger, thirst and exposure ended his
existence. He was supposed to have fallen overboard at night from
some smuggler, and to have been carried in by the tide. From the
finding of the body on the island, the Spaniards named it Isla del
Muerto — the Island of the Dead, or the Isle of the Corpse. It is
to be regretted that the translating fiend has turned beautiful Span-
ish into gruesome English : Isla del Muerto, translated Dead Man's
Island.
There have been ten persons in all buried on the island — nine
men and one woman — namely: The lost sailor, the English sea
captain, six of the Savannah's crew, a passenger on a Panama ship
in 1851, and the last, a Mrs. Parker in 1855. Mrs. Parker was the
wife of Captain Parker of the schooner Laura Bevain. Once when
a fierce southeaster was threatening, and the harbor bar was moan-
ing, Captain Parker sailed out of San Pedro bay. His fate was
that of the "Three Fishers," who
"When sailing out into the west,
Out into the west as the sun went down.
***********
HISTORIC SEAPORTS OF LOS ANGELES 67
And the night rack came rolling up ragged and brown;
But men must work and women must weep,
Though storms be sudden and waters be deep;
And the harbor bar was moaning."
Nothing was ever seen or heard of the Laura Bevain from that
day to this. The ship and its crew lie at the bottom of the ocean. The
captain's wife was stopping at the landing. She was slowly dying
of consumption. Her husband's fate hastened her death. Rough
but kindly hands performed the last officers for her, and she was
buried on top of Dead Man's Island. The sea has not given up its
dead, but the land has. This vanishing island — slowly but surely
disappearing — has already exposed the bones of some of the dead
buried on it.
At the time of the American conquest of California, San Pedro
was a port of one house — no wharves stretched out over the waters
of the great bay, no boats swung with the tide; nature's works were
unchanged by the hand of man. Three hundred and five years be-
fore Cabrillo, the discoverer of California, sailed into the bay he
named Bahia de los Humos — the Bay of Smokes. Through all the
centuries of Spanish domination no change had come over San
Pedro. But with its new masters came new manners, new customs,
new men. Commerce drifted in upon its waters unrestricted. The
hide drogher gave place to the steamship, the carreta to the freight
wagon, and the mustang caballada to the Concord stage.
Banning, the man of expedients, did business on the bluff at
the old warehouse; Tomlinson, the man of iron nerve and will, had
his commercial establishment at the point below on the inner bay.
Banning and Tomlinson were rivals in staging, freighting, lighter-
ing, warehousing and indeed in everything that pertained to shipping
and transporation.
When stages were first put on in 1852, the fare between the
port and the city was $10.00; later it was reduced to $7.50; then to
$5.00. And when rivalry between Banning and Tomlinson was par-
ticularly keen, the fare went down to a dollar. Freight, from port to
pueblo, by Temple & Alexander's Mexican ox carts, was $20 per
ton — distance, thirty miles. Now it can be carried across the conti-
nent for that.
In 1858. partly in consequence of a severe storm that damaged
the wharf and partly through the desire of Banning to put a greater
distance between himself and his rival, Tomlinson, he abandoned old
San Pedro on the bluff, and built a wharf and warehouse at the
head of the San Pedro slough, six miles north of his former ship-
68 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
ping point, and that much nearer to Los Angeles. The first cargo
of goods was landed at this place October i, 1858. The event was
celebrated by an excursion from Los Angeles, and wine and wit
flowed freely.
The new town or port was named New San Pedro, a designa-
tion it bore for several years, then it settled down to be Wilming-
ton, named so after General Banning's birthplace, Wilmington,
Delaware; and the slough took the name of the town. That genial
humorist, the late J. Ross Browne, who visited Wilmington in
1864, thus portrays that historic seaport: "Banning — the active,
energetic, irrepressible Phineas Banning, has built a town on the
plain about six miles distant at the head of the slough. He calls
it Wilmington, in honor of his birthplace. In order to bring Wil-
mington and the steamer as close together as circumstances will
permit, he has built a small boat propelled by steam for the purpose
of carying passengers from steamer to Wilmington, and from Wil-
mington to steamer. Another small boat of a similar kind burst
its boiler a couple of years ago, and killed and scalded a number
of people, including Captain Seely, the popular and ever to be la-
mented commander of the Senator. The boiler of the present boat
is considered a model of safety. Passengers may lean against it with
perfect security. It is constructed after the pattern of a tea kettle, so
that when the pressure is unusually great, the cover will rise and
let off superabundant steam, and thus allow the crowd a chance to
swim ashore."
"Wilmington is an extensive city located at the head of a slough
in a pleasant neighborhood of sand banks and marshes. There are
not a great many houses in it as yet, but there is a great deal of
room for houses when the population gets ready to build them.
The streets are broad and beautifully paved with small sloughs,
ditches, bridges, lumber, dry goods boxes and the carcasses of dead
cattle. Ox bones and skulls of defunct cows, the legs and jaw-
bones of horses, dogs, sheep, swine and coyotes are the chief orna-
ments of a public character; and what the city lacks in the eleva-
tion of its site, it makes up in the elevation of its water lines, many
of them being higher than the surrounding objects. The city
fathers are all centered in Banning, who is mayor, councilman,
constable and watchman, all in one. He is the great progenitor
of Wilmington. Touch Wilmington and you touch Banning. It
is his specialty — the offspring of his genius. And a glorious genius
has Phineas B. in his way ! Who among the many thousand who
have sought health and recreation at Los Angeles within the past
HISTORIC SEAPORTS OP L03 ANGELES 69
ten years has not been the recipient of Banning's bounty in the way
of accommodations ? His stages are ever ready, his horses ever the
fastest. Long life to Banning; may his shadow grow larger and
larger every day! At all events I trust it may never grow less.
I retract all I said about Wilmington — or most of it. I admit
that it is a flourishing place compared with San Pedro. I am will-
ing to concede that the climate is sulubrious at certain seasons of
the year when the wind does not blow up sand; and at certain
other seasons when the rain does not cover the country with water;
and then again at other seasons when the earth is not parched by
drought and scorching suns."
During the Civil war the government established Camp Drum
and Drum Bannicks at Wilmington, and spent over a million dol-
lars in erecting buildings. A considerable force of soldiers was
stationed there and all the army supplies for the troops in Southern
California, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico passed through the
port. The Wilmingtonians waxed fat on government contracts
and their town put on metropolitan airs. It was the great seaport
of the south, the toll gatherer of the slough. After the railroad
from Los Angeles was completed to Wilmington in 1869, all the
trade and travel of the southwest passed through it and they paid
well for doing so. It cost the traveler a dollar and a half to get from
ship to shore on one of Banning's tugs and the lighterage charges
that prevailed throttled commerce with the tightening grasp of the
Old Man of the Sea.
In 1880, or thereabouts, the railroad was extended down to
San Pedro and wharves built there. Then commerce left the mud
flats of Wilmington and drifted back to its old moorings. The
town fell into a decline. Banning, its great progenitor, died, and
the memory of the olden time commercial importance of that once
historic seaport lingers only in the minds of the oldest inhabitants.
LA ESTRELLA
The Pioneer Newspaper of Los Angelas
BY J. M. GUINN.
In our American colonization of the "Great West," the news-
paper has kept pace with immigration. In the building up a new
town, the want of a newspaper seldom becomes long felt before it
is supplied.
It was not so in Spanish colonization; in it the newspaper came
late, if it came at all. There were none published in California dur-
ing the Spanish and Mexican eras. The first newspaper published
in California was issued at Monterey, August 15, 1846, — just thirty-
eight days after Commodore Sloat took possession of the territory
in the name of the United States. This paper was .called "The
Californian," and was published by Semple & Colton. The type and
press used had been brought from Mexico by Augustin V. Zamo-
rano in 1834, and by him sold to the territorial government; and it
had been used for printing bandos and pronunciamientos. The only
paper the publishers of The Californian could procure was that used
in making cigarettes which came in sheets a little larger than or-
dinary foolscap.
After the discovery of gold in 1848, newspapers in California
multiplied rapidly. By 1850, all the leading mining towns had their
newspapers, but Southern California, being a cow country and the
population mostly native Californians speaking the Spanish lang-
uage, no newspaper had been founded.
The first proposition to establish a newspaper in Los Angeles
was made to the City Council October 16, 1850. The minutes of the
meeting on that date contain this entry: Theodore Foster peti-
tions for a lot situated at he northerly corner of the jail for the
purpose of erecting thereon a house to be used as a printing estab-
lishment. The Council — taking in consideration the advantages
which a printing house offers to the advancement of public enlight-
enment, and there existing as yet no such establishment in this
city : Resolved, that for this once only a lot from amongst those that
are marked on the city map be given to Mr. Theodore Foster for
the purpose of establishing thereon a printing house; and the dona-
LA B8TRELLA 71
tion be made in his favor because he is the first to inaugurate this
public benefit ; subject, however, to the following conditions : First,
that the house and printing office be completed within one year from
today. Second, that the lot be selected from amongst those numbered
on the city map and not otherwise disposed of."
At the meeting of the Council, October 3Oth, 1850, the records
say : "Theodore Foster gave notice that he had selected a lot back
of Johnson's and fronting the canal as the one where he intended
establishing his printing house; and the council resolved that he be
granted forty varas each way."
The location of the printing house was on what is now Los
Angeles street, then called Calle Zanja Madre (Mother Ditch
street), and sometimes Canal street.
The site of Foster's printing office was opposite the Bell block,
which stood on the southeast corner of Aliso and Los Angeles
streets. On the lot granted by the Council Foster built a small two-
story frame building; the lower story was occupied by the printing
outfit, and the upper story was used as a living room by the printers
and proprietors of the paper. Over the door was the sign "Im-
prenta" (Printing Office). The first number of the pioneer paper
was issued May 17, 1851. It was named "La Estrella de Los An-
geles." The Star of Los Angeles. It was a four-page five column pa-
per; size of page, 12x18 inches. Two pages were printed in English
and two in Spanish. The subscription price was $10 a year, payable
in advance. Advertisements were inserted at the rate of $2.00 per
square for the first insertion and $1.00 for each subsequent inser-
tion. The publishers were John A. Lewis and John McElroy.
Foster had dropped out of the scheme, but when, I do not know.
Nor do I know anything of his subsequent history.
In July, William H. Rand bought an interest in the paper and
the firm became Lewis, McElroy and Rand. In November McElroy
sold his interest to Lewis & Rand. John A. Lewis edited the Eng-
lish pages and Manuel Clemente Rojo was editor of the Spanish col-
umns of the Star for sometime after its founding. The press was a
Washington Hoe of an ancient pattern. It came around the Horn
and was probably six or seven months of its journey. Even with this
antiquated specimen of the lever that moves the world, it was no
great task to work off the weekly edition of the Star. Its circula-
tion did not exceed 250 copies.
The first job of city work done by La Estrella (as it is always
called in the early records), was the printing of one hundred white
ribbon badges for the city police. The inscription on the badge,
72 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
which was printed both in English and Spanish, read "City Police,
organized by the Common Council of Los Angeles, July 12, 1851."
La Estrella's bill for the job was $25.00.
The burning political issue of the early '50*5 in Southern Califor-
nia was the division of the State. The Star, early in its career, took
sides in favor of division, but later on, under a different management,
opposed it. The scheme as promulgated fifty years ago was the
division of the State into two parts — the northern to retain the
State organization, the southern to be created into a territory. The
professed purpose of division was to reduce taxation, and to "eman-
cipate the south from its servile and abject dependence to the
north." The real purpose was the creation of a slave State out of
Southern California and thereby to increase the pro-slavery power in
Congress. Bills for division were introduced in successive legisla-
tures for eight or nine years; but all were promptly killed except one.
In 1859 under the Pico law the question came to a vote in the
southern counties and was carried. The Civil war and the emancipa-
tion of the slaves virtually put an end to State division. In July, 1853,
Wm. H. Rand transferred his interest in the Star to his partner John
A. Lewis. August ist, 1853, Lewis sold the paper to Jas. M.
McMeans. The obstacles to be overcome in the publication of a
pioneer newspaper in Southern California are graphically set forth
in John A. Lewis's valedictory in the Star of July 30, 1853 :
"It is," writes Lewis, "now two years and three months since
the Star was established in this city — and in 'taking leave of my
readers, in saying my last say, I may very properly be permitted to
look back through this period to see how accounts stand.
"The establishment of a newspaper in Los Angeles was consid-
ered something of an experiment, more particularly on account of
the isolation of the city. The sources of public news are sometimes
cut off for three or four weeks, and very frequently two weeks. San
Francisco, the nearest place where a newspaper is printed, is more
than five hundred miles distant, and the mail between that city
and Los Angeles takes an uncertain course, sometimes by sea and
sometimes by land occupying in its transmission from two to six
weeks, and in one instance fifty-two days. Therefore, I have had to
depend mainly upon local news to make the Star interesting. And
yet the more important events of the country have been recorded
as fully as the limits of the Star would permit The printing of a
paper one-half in the Spanish language was certainly an experiment
hitherto unattempted in the State. Having no exchanges with
papers in that language the main reliance has been upon translations,
LA ESTRELLA 73
and such contributions as several good friends have favored me with.
I leave others to judge whether the 'Estrella' has been well or ill
conducted."
Under Lewis's management the Star was non-partisan in politics.
He says, "I professed all along to print an independent newspaper,
and although my own preferences were with the Whig party, I
never could see enough either in the Whig or Democratic party to
make a newspaper of. I never could muster up fanaticism enough
to print a party paper."
McMeans went to the States shortly after assuming the manage-
ment of the paper. Wrn. A. Wallace conducted it during his ab-
sence. Early in 1854, it was sold to M. D. Brundige. Under
Brundige's proprietorship, Wallace edited the paper. It was still
published in the house built by Foster.
In the latter part of 1854, the Star was sold to J. S. Waite &
Co. The site donated to Foster by the council in 1850, on which
to establish a printing house for the advancement of public enlight-
enment seems not to have been a part of the Star outfit. A pros-
pectus on the Spanish page informs us that "Imprenta de la Es-
trella, Calle Principal, Casa de Temple," — that is, the Printing ofHce
of the Star is on Main street, in the House of Temple; where was
added, the finest typographical work will be done in Spanish, French
and English. Waite reduced the subscription price of the Star to
$6.00 a year payable in advance, or $9.00 at the end of the year.
Fifty per cent advance on a deferred payment looks like a high rate
of interest, but it was very reasonable in those days. Money, then,
commanded 5, 10 and even as high as 15 per cent a month, com-
pounded monthly; and yet the mines of California were turning
out $50,000,000 in gold every year. Here is a problem in the sup-
ply and demand of a circulating medium for some of our astute
financial theorists to solve.
Perusal of the pages of the Star of forty-six years ago gives
us occasional glimpses of the passing of the old life and the ringing
in of the new. An editorial on "The Holidays" in the issue of Jan-
uary 4th. 1855, says: "The Christmas and New Year's festivities
are passing away with the usual accompaniments; namely, bullfights,
bell ringing, firing of crackers, fiestas and fandangos. In the city,
cascarones commanded a premium and many were complimented
with them as a finishing touch to their head dress." Bull fights, fan-
dangos and cascarones are as obsolete in our city as the Olympic
games, but bell ringing and firing of crackers still usher in the
New Year. In June, 1855, El Clamor Publico — The Public Cry —
74 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
the first Spanish newspaper in Southern California was founded by
Francisco P. Ramirez. The Spanish pages of the Star were discon-
tinued and the advertising- in that department was transferred to
the Clamor. On the i;th of March, 1855, the Co. dropped from the
proprietorship of the Star and J. S. Waite became sole owner.
In the early '505 a Pacific railroad was a standing topic for editor-
ial comment by the press of California. The editor of the Star, "while
we are waiting and wishing for a railroad," advocates as an experi-
ment the introduction of camels and dromedaries for freighting
across the arid plains of the southwest. After descanting on the
merits of the "ship of the desert," he says : "We predict that in
a few years these extraordinary and useful animals will be browsing
upon our hills and valleys, and numerous caravans will be arriving
and departing daily. Let us have the incomparable dromedary,
with Adams & Co.'s expressmen arriving here triweekly, with letters
and packages in five or six days from Salt Lake and fifteen or
eighteen from the Missouri. Then the present grinding steamship
monopoly might be made to realize the fact that the hard-working
miner, the farmer and the mechanic were no longer completely in
their grasping power as at present. We might have an overland
dromedary express that would bring us the New York news in
fifteen to eighteen days. We hope some of our enterprsing capi-
talists or stock breeders will take this speculation in hand for we
have not much faith that Congress will do anything in the matter."
Notwithstanding our editor's poor opinion of Congress, that
recalcitrant body, a year or two later, possibly moved by the power
of the press, did introduce camels into the United States, and cara-
vans did arrive in Los Angeles. To the small boy of that day the
arrival of a caravan was a free circus. The grotesque attempts of the
western mule whacker to transform himself into an Oriental camel
driver were mirth provoking to the spectators, but agony long
drawn out to the camel puncher. Of all the impish, perverse and
profanity provoking beasts of burthen that ever trod the soil of
America, the meek, mild, soft-footed camel was the most exasperat-
ing. That prototype of perversity, the army mule, was almost
angelic in disposition compared to the hump-backed burden bearer
of the Orient.
In July, 1855, -the subscription price of the Star was reduced to
$5 a year. The publisher informed his patrons that he would re-
ceive subscriptions "payable in most kinds of produce after harvest-
corn, wheat, flour, wood, butter, eggs, etc., will be taken on old
subscriptions. Imagine, if you can, one of our city newspapers
LA ESTRELLA 75
today starting a department store of country produce in its editorial
rooms. Times have changed and we have changed with them. In
November, 1855, James S. Waite, the sole proprietor, publisher and
business manager of the Star, was appointed postmaster of Los An-
geles. He found it difficult to keep the Star shining, the mails
moving and his produce exchange running.
In the issue of February 2, 1856, he offers the "entire estab-
lishment of the Star for sale at $1,000 less than cost." In setting
forth its merits, he says : "To a young man of energy and ability
a rare chance is now offered to spread himself and peradventure
to realize a fortune." The young man, with expansive qualities was
found two months later in the person of Wm. A. Wallace, who had
been editor of the Star in 1854. He was the first principal of the
schoolhouse No. I, which stood on the northwest corner of Spring
and Second streets, where the Bryson block now stands. He laid
down the pedagogical birch to mount the editorial tripod. In his
salutatory he says : "The Star is an old favorite of mine, and I have
always wished to be its proprietor." The editorial tripod proved to
be as uneasy a seat for Wallace as the back of a bucking bronco; in
two months it landed him on his back, figuratively speaking.
It was hard times in the old pueblo. Money was scarce and
cattle were starving; for 1856 was a dry year. Thus Wallace solilo-
quizes: "Dull time! says the trader, the mechanic, the farmer — in-
deed, everybody echoes the dull sentiment. The teeth of the cattle this
year have been so dull that they have been scarcely able to save them-
selves from starvation; but buyers are nearly as plenty as cattle and
sharp in proportion to the prospect of starvation. Business is dull —
duller this week than it was last ; duller today than it was yesterday.
Expenses are scarcely realized and every hole where a dollar or two
has heretofore leaked out must IDC stopped. The flush times are past
— the days of large prices and full pockets are gone; picayunes, bad
liquor, rags and universal dullness — sometimes to dull to complain
of — have usurped the minds of men and a common obtuseness pre-
vails. Neither pistol shots nor dying groans have any effect; earth-
quakes hardly turn men in their beds. It is no use of talking —
business stepped out and the people are asleep. What is to be done?
Why the first thing of course is to stop off such things as can be
neither smoked or drank; and then wait for the carreta, and if we
don't get a ride, it will be because we have become too fastidious,
or too poor and are unable to pay this expense."
Henry Hamilton, the successor of Wallace, was an experienced
newspaper man. For five years previous to purchasing the Star
76 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
he had been proprietor of the Calaveras Chronicle. He was an editor
of the old school — the school that dealt out column editorials, and
gave scant space to locals. Hamilton's forte was political editorials.
He was a bitter partisan. When he fulminated a thunderbolt and
hurled it at a political opponent, it struck as if it came from the
hand of Jove, the god of thunder and lightning. He was an able
writer, yet with him there was but one side to a question, and
that was his side of it. He was a Scotch-Irishman, and had all the
pugnacity and pertinacity of that strenuous race. His vigorous
partisanship got him into trouble. During the Civil war he es-
posed the cause of the Southern Confederacy. For some severe
criticisms on Lincoln and other officers of the government, and his
outspoken sympathy for the Confederates, he was arrested. He took
the oalh of allegiance, and was released, but the Star went into an
eclipse. The last number, a single page, appeared October ist, 1864.
The press and type were sold to Phineas Banning, and were used
in the publication of the Wilmington Journal. The City of the Sloo
(Wilmington) was then the most prosperous seaport on the south-
ern coast. After the war when the soldiers had departed and Wil-
mington had fallen into a state of "innocuous desuetude" the Jour-
nal died of insufficient circulation, and was buried in the journalistic
graveyard of unfelt wants. The old pioneer press of the Star, after
doing duty for fifteen years, took a needed rest.
On Saturday, the i6th of May, 1868, the Star emerged from
obscurity. "Today," writes Hamilton, "we resume the publication
of the Los Angeles Star. Nearly four years have elapsed since our
last issue. The little 'onpleasantness,' which at that time existed
in the family, has been toned down considerably, and if perfect har-
mony does not yet prevade the circle, our hope is this brotherly feel-
ing will soon be consummated."
The paper was no longer the bitter partisan sheet that it had
been during the early '6os. Hamilton now seldom indulged in
political leaders of a column length, and when he did they were of
a mild type. The new Star was a seven column blanket sheet, and
was devoted to promoting the welfare of the county. It was ably
conducted, and was a model newspaper for a town of 5,000 inhabi-
tants. June ist, 1870, the first number of the Daily Star was pub-
lished by Hamilton and Barter. Barter retired from the firm in Sep-
tember and founded the Anaheim Gazette, the pioneer newspaper
of Orange county. He bought the old press and type of the Wil-
mington Journal — the first press of the Star — and again the old
press became a pioneer. When the Anaheim Gazette office burned
LA E8TRELLA 77
down in 1877, the old press perished in the flames. The last time
I saw it it was lying in a junk pile, crooked and twisted and warped
out of shape or semblance of a printing press. If the spirit of the
inanimate ever visits its former mundane haunts, the ghost of that
old press would search in vain for the half dozen or more office
buildings where in the body long ago it ground out weekly stents
of news.
After G. W. Barter sold out the Anaheim Gazette in 1872, he
leased the Daily Star from Hamilton. He ran it less than a year,
but that was long enough for him to take all the twinkle out of it.
It had almost sunk below the horizon when Mr. Hamilton resumed
its publication. In July, 1873, he leased it to Ben C. Truman. The
genial Ben. put sparkle in it. He made it interesting to his friends,
but more so to his enemies. Like Silas Wegg, he occasionally drop-
ped into poetry, and satirized some of his quondam adversaries at
"Sandy Ague' (San Diego), where he had recently published a
paper. When they felt the pricking of Ben's pungent pen, they
longed, no doubt, to annihilate time and space that they might be
near to him to take revenge when their wrath was hot. Truman
continued its publication until July, 1877, when it was sold to Payn-
ter & Co. Then it passed to Brown & Co. The Rev. Mr. Camp-
bell of the Methodist Church, south, conducted it for a time. In
the last year of its existence it had several different publishers and
editors. Its brilliancy steadily diminished until in the early part
of 1879, it sunk below the horizon, or, to discard metaphor and state
facts, the sheriff attached it for debt, and its publication was discon-
tinued. It remains were not buried in the graveyard of unfelt
wants. A more tragic fate awaited them, — they were cremated.
The plant and the files were stored in an outbuilding of Mr. Hollen-
beck's who was one of the principal creditors. His Chinese laborers
roomed in the lower part of the building. In some of their heathen
orgies they set fire to the house. For a few minutes La Estrella
blazed up into a star of the first magnitude then disappeared forever.
Such in brief is the story of La Estrella, the pioneer newspaper
of Los Angeles. Its files contain a quarter century's history of our
city and its environs. It is to be regretted that its early editors
deemed political essays of so much more importance than local hap-
penings. If these editors could crawl out of their graves and read
some of their political diatribes in the light of the Twentieth cen-
tury, they no doubt would be moved to exclaim, What blind leaders
of the blind were we !
ANTONIO F. CORONEL
BY H. D. BARROWS.
(Read May 7, 1894.)
In the death since our last meeting, to-wit, at midnight on the
1 7th- 1 8th of April, 1894, of our co-member and co-laborer, Don
Antonio Franco Coronel, this society has lost a good friend, and
this community and this State have lost a most valuable and useful
citizen.
Mr. Coronel, who had been a resident of Los Angeles for 60
years, was in many respects a remarkable man; and as, in the flight
of time, he recedes gradually into the distance of the past, he will,
I imagine, like numerous others of his predecessors and contempo-
raries of Spanish ancestry in the Californias of whom English-
speaking Californians of today have but partial knowledge, become
more and more a striking figure in the annals of the times in which
he lived.
Being an educated and enlightened man in his own language
and civilization — for he possessed only a limited knowledge of the
English tongue — and having taken an active interest in public
affairs during his long career, serving the community in many and
varied capacities, it is not an easy matter for us who survive him
who knew him well — probably it is yet too early — to rightly esti-
mate or measure the extent of the influence of his personality on
those with whom he associated.
Don Antonio was born in the City of Mexico in 1817, and he
came to California in 1834, while yet a boy, with his father, Don
Ygnacio F. Coronel, who accompanied by his family, came with
the celebrated Padres "Colonia," which arrived here that year from
Mexico. The elder Coronel, whom the writer knew, and who had
formerly been an officer under General Yturbide, established the
first school in Los Angeles, under the Lancastrian system. He
taught a public school in the block at the head of Los Angeles street,
as it formerly existed, just north of the line of Arcadia street, from
1844 till about 1856. He was an educated man and gave his chil-
dren a good Spanish education. He died in 1862.
ANTONIO F. COKONEL 79
His eldest son Antonio, because of his excellent school training
and because he showed capacity, soon attained prominence both as
a citizen and in official positions of responsibility. The list of
offices filled by him is a large one. In 1838 he was appointed assis-
tant secretary of tribunals of the city of Los Angeles. In 1843
he was made judge of the first instance (justice of the peace), and
in 1844 Governor Micheltorena appointed him inspector of the
Southern Missions. In 1845 he was made commissioner to treat
for peace between Gov. Micheltorena and Alvarado and Castro,
commanders of the revolutionary forces. In 1846 he served as
captain with his patriotic countrymen in their attempts by inade-
quate means, to defend themselves and their homes as best they
could against the invasion of the country by the Americans. He
took part in the battle of the 8th of October, 1846, on the San
Pedro rancho, in which the Californians were victorious. After-
wards he was appointed aid-de-camp of the commanding general and
took part in the battles at Paso dc Bartolo and la Mesa. As the
Americans then had superior numbers and resources, the Califor-
nians were compelled to fall back to the interior or to the moun-
tains, where, under General Flores, an attempt to continue the un-
equal contest was kept up, till finally, friends got word to Don
Antonio, urging on him the uselessness and hopelessness of the
fight; and he and others gave up and came in. But Gen. Flores
and a remnant of his command retired to Mexico. After peace
was declared, and Alta California became permanently a portion
of the United States territory, and its inhabitants became, if
they so elected, citizens of the United States, Mr. Coronel with the
great body of Californians, transferred their allegiance in good
faith to the nationality represented by the stars and stripes, to which
ever afterwards, or as long as they lived, they remained loyal and
true.
In 1847-48 Mr. Coronel was a member of the board of magis-
trates having in charge the regulation of irrigation. With this
very important question, which was new to Americans, he was both
theoretically and practically familiar. The whole theory of water
rights under the laws and customs of Spain and Mexico, and of
all dry countries where irrigation is a necessity, is radically different
from that of England and the United States, where, as a rule,
practical irrigation is unknown. The persistent though futile at-
tempts which Americans in California and other semi-arid States
and territories have made, and are still making, to apply the theories
relating to the use and ownership of water as evolved in wet coun-
80 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OP SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
tries, to dry countries, have caused a vast amount of confusion and
loss, and frequently bloodshed, the end of which is not yet.
The writer of these lines has often discussed this matter with
Don Antonio, who as often expressed his regret at the inaptitude or
self-sufficiency or disinclination to learn, what, in spite of all their
preconceived notions on this subject, they will perforce, have to
learn at last, for the simple reasons that the theories of non-irriga-
tion countries concerning water, are, in many fundamentally essen-
tial respects, utterly inapplicable in practical irrigation.
So of the rights of cities and pueblos to running streams under
the laws of Spain and Mexico; Mr. Coronel held that it was of
the utmost importance that the people and officials of this city
should know and assert to the last, all the rights to all the water
of the Los Angeles river, which this city inherited as successor to
the pueblo. In a conversation I had with him a short time before
his death, it seemed as though he could not impress on me strongly
enough his convictions concerning this important matter.
Mr. Coronel was assessor of Los Angeles county in 1850 and
'51, and in 1853 he was elected mayor of Los Angeles City. He
was a member of the city council, except during two years, from
1854 to 1866, when he was elected treasurer of the State of Cali-
fornia for four years. He also served at various periods, as super-
visor of the county, member of the State Horticultural society,
president of the Spanish-American Benevolent society of this city,
etc.
When the cause celebre, known as the "Limantour Claim," was
before the United States Courts in 1857, Mr. Coronel was sent on a
confidential mission to the City of Mexico to examine the archives
there and gather testimony ,etc., which his knowledge of the Span-
ish language and familiarity with Mexican land laws, and acquaint-
ance with public men in that capital, enabled him to do very effi-
ciently. His labors were facilitated by President Comonfort and
other high officials. The evidence he obtained was laid before the
United States Court, with the result that the claim was rejected
finally; and thus the title to thousands of homes in San Francisco
were cleared of a cloud that hung over them. Only those who were
cognizant at the time, of the excitment which was stirred up
throughout California by this case, can appreciate how intense that
excitment was. Limantour, who was a Frenchman, maintained
his colossal pretentions with the utmost vigor and by the most un-
scrupulous means, bringing witnesses from Mexico to swear to the
ANTONIO F. COBONEL 81
genuineness of his alleged grant, which, as already stated, the
Court finally rejected.
Mr. Coronel, in his lifetime, made a most honorable record as
a freind of the defenceless Mission Indians of Southern California.
Of this fact Mrs. Helen Hunt Jackson has borne warm testimony
in several national publications. When these simple, harmless chil-
dren of nature were imposed upon, and robbed of their lands and
of the waters in default of which those lands became comparatively
valueless, by greedy and unscrupulous American squatters, they
came to Don Antonio Coronel for advice, and he always befriended
them. He gave to Mrs. Jackson the materials of her story of "Ra-
mona," and aided her in many ways in acquiring a knowledge of the
customs and traditions of the people of the country, necessary to
give characteristic coloring to the story. He also gave her the out-
lines of another and more dramatic story, based on real life in the
olden time here in Southern California, the beautiful heroine of
which, Nacha, was well known by some of the best of the old Span-
ish families. If Mrs. Jackson had lived she was to have worked
them up as a companion story of "Ramona." He also gave her
the data of her account of Friar Junipero Serra, the vener-
able founder and first president of the California Missions. Mr.
Coronel took an active part with Father Casanova of Moneterey
in the restoration of the San Carlos Mission, and in the solemniza-
tion of the centennial, in 1884, of the death of Father Junipero.
In 1873, Mr. Coronel married Miss Mariana Williamson. In
1887, Mr. and Mrs. Coronel visited the City of Mexico, and in '93,
they went to the World's Fair at Chicago, where their stay was
cut short by his illness; and his health continued in a precarious
state from that time until his death, though he was not confined to
his house until within a few days prior thereto. Toward the end
he was fully aware that his hour was near, which he welcomed, only
regretting the parting with his beloved wife. Twice he fervently
embraced her, his last words being: "Querida! Ya me voy!"
(Dearest, I am goirg!) As she gently laid him on the pillow, he
peacefully closed his eyes and one of his attending physicians, who
held his wrist, said, "His pulse has ceased;" and thus he died with-
out a struggle. His good friend, Rev. Father Adam, vicar general
of the diocese, attended him daily and administered to him the con-
solations of the religion in whose communion he had been born,
and in which at last he died.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Coronel were active members of this Histori-
cal Society of Southern California from the time of its founding.
8£ HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
They had gathered, during the course of many years, the largest and
most valuable collection of historical materials relating to this sec-
tion and to this coast, in the country. Mr. Coronel ardently de-
sired to co-operate with other citizens of wealth and enlightened
public spirit in the establishment in this city of a museum, in con-
nection with the Historical Society and the Public Library, to which
he could donate his very valuable collection; and he made a liberal
offer of either money or land to assist in endowing such an institu-
tion. It is to be hoped that other public-spirited citizens of means
will be seized by the same desire, and thus show in a substantial
manner their willingness to aid in preserving and safely guarding
the materials of local history which they and their fathers and
mothers have helped to make, and at the same time manifest to the
world by their acts the fact that they recognize the obligations
they owe to the community in which and off of which they have
made their weatlh. In the many conversations which the writer of
this brief memeroial tribute to our departed friend has had with
him concerning the past history of California, and especially of the
part he took in it, I have been impressed with the vividness of
his recollections; and I have felt that a record merely of those per-
sonal recollections would, to a certain extent, constitute a history
of California.
Onr kind-hearted friend is gone, but his memory will remain.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY.
1900.
To the Officers and Members of the Historical Society of Southern California:
I beg leave to submit the following report :
Number of Meetings held 4
Number of Papers read 1C
Number of New Members elected £
TITLES TO PAPERS READ AND DATES OF READING.
FEBRUARY.
Inaugural Address of the President Walter R. Bacon
Visit to the Grand Canyon Mrs. M. Burton Williamson
Indians of the Los Angeles Valley J. M. Guinn
MARCH.
The Palomeres Family H. D. Barrows
The Stores of Los Angeles in 1850 ..Laura Evertsen King
California's Transition from Monarchy to Republicanism J. M. Gninn
MAY.
An Episode in the Life of a Pioneer H. D. Barrows
Aboriginal Alphabets (First Paper) J. D. Mood
7
JUNE.
Los Angeles Postmasters H. D. Barrows
The Passing of the Neophyte J. M. Guinn
Some Current Events Walter R. Bacon
OCTOBER.
The Mexican Governors H. D. Barrows
Historical Seaports of Los Angeles J. M. Guinn
DECEMBER.
Fifty Years of California Politics Walter R. Bacon
Side Lights on Old Los Angeles Mary E. Mooney
Aboriginal Alphabets (Second Paper) J. D. Moody
The meetings of the Society have been held at the residences of Member*
and have been well attended.
Respectfully submitted,
J. M. GUINN, Secretary.
REPORT OF THE PUBLICATION COMMITTEE
1900.
To the Officers and Members of the Historical Society of Southern California:
We, the undersigned, members of the Society's Committee on Publication,
do respectfully report that in accordance with the order of the Board of
Directors we have had printed six hundred copies of the Society's Annual for
1900. With this issue we begin Volume V. The Annual continues to bear the
double title adopted at the beginning of Volume IV, "Annual Publication of
the Historical Society of Southern California and Pioneer Register."
Papers for publication have been selected f rom the collections of both the
Historical and Pioneer Societies. These papers embrace a wide range of sub-
jects, but all pertain to some phase of history.
In this, as in all previous publications of the Society, it is understood that
the authors, and not the Society or the Committee, are responsible for the
slatements made in their papers, and for the views and opinions expressed.
Respectfully submilted,
J. M. QUINN,
H. D. BARROWS,
Committee.
TRBASURER'S REPORT.
YEAR 1900.
1900 RECEIPTS AND ASSETS.
Jany. 1 — Balance on hand as per last report $ 60 45
Feby. 2 — Received from Pioneei Society 50 00
Jan. 1 to ) Received dues of Members 57 85
Dec. 31 ' Received membership fees 8 00
Total Receipts $ 176 £0
1900 DISBURSMENTS.
Jany. 29 — Paid Secretary's bill — postage and sundries. 9 1 90
Feby. 28 — Paid Geo. Rice & Sons, printing Annual 125 00
Dec. 31— Paid Secretary's Bill— postage, express and sundries 11 75
Total Disbursments j 138 55
Balance in Treasury January 1, 1901 J 37 65
Respectfully submitted,
January 1, 1901. E. BAXTER,
Treasurer.
CURATOR'S REPORT.
1900.
To the Officer* and Members of the Historical Society of Southern California:
In the limited space allowed in our Annual it is impossible for me to make
a full report upon the condition of our library and collections. These, con-
sisting of books, pamphlets, magazines, newspaper files, curios, relics, pic-
tures, English and Spanish, manuscripts, maps, etc., are still stored in a room
in the Court House. On account of want of space much of our collection has
been boxed up and is therefore inaccessible for ready reference. We continue
adding to our collection hoping that possibly some wealthy donor may be
moved to give us even the limited amount necessary to procure better quarters
and to catalogue and classify our collections.
For nearly eighteen years a few public spirited men and women of limited
financial means have labored and spent their money to build up in Southern
California a Historical Society. In that time we have published four com-
plete volumes of history. These volumes are eagerly sought for by leading
Historical and Public Libraries of the United States, but such seems to be the
contempt of Californians for their local history that these books are almost
unknown in ihe locality where they are published.
Nearly all of the larger States of the Union and many of the smaller ones
have State Historical Societies supported by appropriations from the public
funds. California has none. There is not to my knowledge any Historical
Society now existing within her borders, except ours, which has made any col-
lection or published any historical papers.
Successive legislatures have gone on multiplying State schools and piling
up appropriations for our State University, but have ignored the necessity of
collecting and preserving our historical material. As a consequence of this
neglect a large amount of California's wealth of historical material has been
allowed to fall into the hands of relic collectors and literary pot hunters, who
sell it to eastern museums and libraries.
With less wealth and half a century less history than our State, the State
of Wisconsin has spent more than a million dollars on her Historical Library
and Museum and in erecting her magnificent Historical Society Building.
The recent legislature of Oregon appropriated $5,000 to aid her State Histori-
cal Society, and Montana, with a population about one-eighth the size of ours
and less than fifty years of history, spends $2.500 on hers. Recent California
legislatures have been more liberal in allowances for historical purposes than
past ones. Successive legislatures, in the past decade, have appropriated 9600
a year to pay the salary of the guardian of Sutler's New Fort, built of adobes
of the brand of 1890, and a similar yearly amount to the keeper of the bronze
monument of Marshall, who was not the first discoverer of gold in California.
It is to be regretted that none of our many rich men, who have made their
fortunes in California, have been moved to expend a portion of their wealth in
preserving the history of the State that has been so kind to them.
Respectfully submitted,
J. M. OUINN, Curator.
PIONEER REGISTER
Pioneers of Los Angeles County
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY
1900-1901.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
WM. H. WORKMAN, STEPHEN A. RENDALL,
Louis ROEDEH, R. R- HAINES,
BEN. S. EATON, J. M. GUINN,
MATHEW TEED.
OFFICERS.
.WM. H. WORKMAN ...President
R. R. HAINES First Vice-President
S. A. RENDALL Second Vice-President
Louis ROEDER Treasurer
J. M. GUINN Secretary
COMMITTEE ON MEMBERSHIP.
M. TEED, Louis ROEDEB, M. F. QUINN
COMMITTEE ON FINANCE.
H. D. BARROWS, C. N. WILSON, JOEL B. PARKER
COMMITTEE ON LITERARY EXERCISES.
WM. H. WORKMAN, B. S. EATON, H. D. BARROWS, J. M. GUINN
S. A. RENDAIX, M. F. QUINN, J. C. DOTTER.
COMMITTEE ON MUSIC.
Louis ROEDER, WM. GROSSER, B. S. EATON, R. R. HAINES
DR. K. D. WISE, M. KREMER, MRS. S. C. YABNELL.
COMMITTEE ON ENTERTAINMENT.
MRS. MARY FRANKLIN, MRS. ELLEK G. TEED, MRS. DORA BILDERBECK
MRS. J. G. NEWELL, MRS. ABBIE HILLER. MRS. EMILY W. DAVIS,
MBS. CECELIA A. KENDALL, OEORGB W. HAZARD, J. W. GILLETTE
JOHN L. SLAUGHTER.
In Memoriam.
Deceased Members off the Pioneers of Los Angeles
County.
James J. Ayers, -
Stephen C. Foster, -
Horace Hlller, -
John Strother Grlffln, -
Henry Clay Wiley, -
William Blackstonc Abernethy , -
Stephen W. La Dow,
Herman Raphael, - - -
Francis Baker, -
Leonard John Rose, -
E. N. McDonald, -
James Craig:, -
Palmer Hilton Scott,
Francisco Sablchi, -
Robert Miller Towne,
Fred W. Wood, -
Joseph Bayer, -
Augustus Ulyard -
A. M. Hough, ...
Henry F. Fleishman .-
Frank Lecouvreur,
Daniel Schelck, -
Andrew Glassell, -
- Died November 10, 1897
Died January 27, 1898
- Died May 23, 1898
- Died August 23, 1898
Died October 25, 1898
Died November 1, 1898
Died January 6, 1899
Died April 19, 1899
- Died May 17, 1899
Died May 17, 1899
- Died June 10, 1899
Died December 30, 1899
Died January 3, 1900
Died April 13, 1900
Died April 24, 1900
Died May 19, 1900
.-. , - Died July 27, 1900
- Died August 5, 1900
Died August 28, 1900
Died October 20, 1900
Died January 17, 1901
Died January 20, 1901
Died January 28, 1901
PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
CONSTITUTION
[Adopted September 4, 1897.]
ARTICLE I.
This society shall be known as The Pioneers of Los Angeles
County. Its objects are to cultivate social intercourse and friend-
ship among its members and to collect and preserve the early history
of Los Angeles county, and perpetuate the memory of those who,
by their honorable labors and heroism, helped to make that history.
ARTICLE II.
All persons of good moral character, thirty-five years of age
or over, who, at the date of their application, shall have resided at
least twenty-five years in Los Angeles county, shall be eligible to
membership; and also all persons of good moral character fifty
years of age or over, who have resided in the State forty years and
in the county ten years previous to their application, shall be eligible
to become members. Persons born in this State are not eligible
to membership, but those admitted before the adoption of this
amendment shall retain their membership. (Adopted September 4,
1900.)
ARTICLE III.
The officers of this society shall consist of a board of seven di-
rectors, to be elected annually at the annual meeting, by the mem-
bers of the society. Said directors when elected shall choose a
president, a first vice-president, a second vice-president, a secretary
and a treasurer. The secretary and treasurer may be elected from
the members outside the Board of Directors.
ARTICLE IV.
The annual meeting of this society shall be held on the fourth
day of September, that being the anniversary of the first civic set-
tlement in the southern portion of Alta California, to wit, the foun-
ing of the Pueblo of Los Angeles, September 4, 1781.
CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS 89
ARTICLE V.
Members guilty of misconduct may, upon conviction, after
proper investigation has been held, be expelled, suspended, fined or
reprimanded by a vote of two-thirds of the members present at any
stated meeting; provided, notice shall have been given to the society
at least one month prior to such intended action. Any officer of this
society may be removed by the Board of Directors for cause; pro-
vided, that such removal shall not become permanent or final until
approved by a majority of members of the society present at a stated
meeting and voting.
ARTICLE VI.
Amendments to this constitution may be made by submitting
the same in writing to the society at least one month prior to the
annual meeting. At said annual meeting said proposed amendments
shall be submitted to a vote of the society. And if two-thirds of all
the members present and voting shall vote in favor of adopting said
amendments then they shall be declared adopted. (Amended Sep-
tember 4, 1900.
BY-LAWS
[Adopted September 4, 1897.]
Section I. All members of this society who shall have signed
the constitution and by-laws, or who shall have been duly elected
to membership after the adoption of the constitution and by-laws
shall be entitled to vote at all meetings of the society.
Section 2. The annual dues of each member shall be one dollar,
payable in advance.
Section 3. Each person on admission to membership shall sign
the constitution and by-laws with his or her name in full, together
with his or her place of birth, age, residence, occupation and the
day, month and year of his or her arrival within the limits of Los
Angeles county.
Section 4. At the annual meeting, the president shall appoint
a committee of three on membership. He shall also at the same time
appoint a committee of three on finance. All applications for mem-
bership shall be referred to the Committee on Membership for exam-
ination.
Section 5. Every applicant for membership shall be recom-
mended by two members of the society in good standing. The appli-
cation shall state the applicant's full name, age, birthplace, place of
90 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
residence, ocupation and date of his or her arrival in the county of
Los Angeles.
Section 6. Each application must be accompanied by the annual
fee (one dollar), and shall lie over for one month, when a vote shall
be taken by ballot. Three negative votes shall cause the rejection
of the applicant.
Section 7. Any person eligible to membership may be elected
a life member of this society on the payment to the treasurer of $25.
Life members shall enjoy all the privileges of active members, but
shall not be required to pay annual dues.
Section 8. The Finance Committee shall examine all accounts
against the society, and no bill shall be paid by the treasurer unless
approved by a majority of the Finance Committee.
Section 9. Whenever a vacancy in any office of this society oc-
curs, the Board of Directors shall call a meeting of the society within
thirty days thereafter, when said vacancy shall be filled by election
for the remainder of the unexpired term.
Section 10. Whenever the Board of Directors shall be satisfied
that any worthy member of the society is unable for the time being
to pay the annual dues, as hereinbefore prescribed, it shall have the
power to remit the same.
Section n. The stated meetings of this society shall be held
on the first Tuesday of each month, except the month of September,
when the annual meeting shall take the place of the monthly meet-
ing. Special meetings may be called by the president, or by a ma-
jority of the Board of Directors, but no business sail be transacted at
such special meeting except that specified in the call.
Section 12. Changes and amendments of these by-laws may be
made by submitting the same in writing to the Board of Directors
at least one month prior to any stated meeting. Said proposed
amendments shall be submitted to a vote of the soceity. If said
amendments shall receive a two-thirds vote of all members present
and voting, the same shall be declared adopted.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
STEPHEN C. FOSTER.
Ex-Mayor Stephen C. Foster, whose portrait appears in this
issue of the Annual, died in this city, January 28, 1898; and a sketch
of his life appears in Volume IV, pp. 179-183, of the Historical So-
ciety's publications, from which a brief summary of the primary
facts of his life is condensed here.
Mr. Foster was born in Maine, December 17, 1820. He grad-
uated from Yale College in the class of 1840; later attending lectures
at the Louisiana Medical College, and afterwards practicing medi-
cine in Jackson county, Missouri. In 1845 ne started for Califor-
nia via Santa Fe, Chihuahua and Sonora. At Oposura he learned of
the breaking out of the Mexican war; and not being able to find
any party going to California, he returned in June, 1846, to Santa
Fe; and in October he was employed as interpreter of the "Mormon
Battalion," which, under the command of Col. Philip St. George
Cooke, set out for California, by way of Tucson, and the Pima Vil-
lages, arriving at San Diego January 20, 1847, an^ at Los Angeles,
March 16, 1847,
For more than fifty years, Mr. Foster was a prominent citizen
of Los Angeles. His familiarity with the Spanish language, in the
early days, enabled him to serve the community in many capacities.
Col. Mason, the then military Governor of the Territory, appointed
Mr. Foster as Alcalde of this city, January i, 1848. Mr. Foster
was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1849; he served
as State Senator during 1851-53, and he was twice elected Mayor
of Los Angeles. In 1848 he was married to Dona Maria Merced,
daughter of Don Antonio Maria Lugo and widow of Jose Perez.
She and their two sons still survive him.
FRANCISCO SABICHI.
Francisco Sabichi, a member of the Society of Los Angeles Pion-
eers, who died suddenly of heart disease on the I2th of April, 1900,
in the 59th year of his age, was a native of this city. He was born
October 4, 1842. His father, Matias Sabichi, was a native of Aus-
tria, or Austrain Italy, who came to Los Angeles at a very early
92 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
day; and his mother was Josef a, daughter of Don Ygnacio Coronel,
and sister of Antronio F. Coronel. Matias Sabichi in 1852, after the
death of his wife, took his two boys, Francisco and Matias, and set
out on his return to his native land, but he died on the way. His two
sons were taken in charge on their arrival in England by the Ameri-
can consul, Mr. Joseph Rodney Croskey, who became a true foster-
father to them, taking them into his own family and carefully
educating them. Frank was in the British navy three years. Matias
was a portion of the time at school in France. Both learned to
speak French, and of course English and Spanish, the latter being
their mother tongue. They returned to Los Angeles in 1860, hav-
ing been away about eight years. Matias Sabichi was accidentally
shot while on a hunting^ trip, from the effects of which he died not
long afterwards. Frank studied law and was admitted to the bar.
He was several times elected a member of the City Council in the
early 70*5 and also once in the 8o's. In 1865, he was married to
Magdalena, daughter of Wm. Wolfskill, the pioneer. She, with
their eight children survive him.
Mr. Sabichi was prominently identified with the "Sons of the
Golden West," being at the time of his death, a grand trustee of the
•rder for the State of California,
H. D. BARROWS,
Louis ROEDER,
K. D. WISE,
Committee.
ROBERT MILLER TOWNE.
Robert Miller Towne, a charter member of this society, who died
in this city April 21, 1900, was born in Batavia, Illinois, November
12, 1844. He came to Los Angeles in the fall of 1869. For some
years he engaged in sheep-raising. Afterwards he went to New
Mexico, where he did a freighting business between Las Vegas and
the mines.
In 1881 he married Miss Lillie M. Fisher, daughter of Judge
Fisher of this city, whom most of the members of this pioneer So-
ciety knew well. Two daughters were born to this union. They
with their mother survive Mr. Towne. After his marriage he and
his family resided for a time in Kansas. During the latter por-
tion of his life, and while suffering from tuberculosis, he lived on
FRANK LECOUVREUR.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 93
the desert. Mr. Towne was a man of much decision of character;
he was ever a good citizen, and was highly respected by all who
knew him. H. D. BARROWS,
Louis ROEDER,
K. D. WISE,
Committee.
FRED W. WOOD.
Fred W. Wood was born at Praire du Chien, Wisconsin, April
28, 1853. At the breaking out of the Civil war, his father enlisted
in the Union Army, and became colonel of the ijth Illinois Volun-
teer Infantry. He had two brothers in the service, and only his
youth prevented him from enlisting.
In 1868 the family removed to Kansas City, Mo., where Fred W.
attended the High School. He left school at the age of sixteen, and
for a year or more afterwards he was employed in the office of the
Kansas City Engineer. From Kansas City he went to Northern
Wisconsin, where he was engaged for three years in the construc-
tion of some of the lines of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad
system. In 1873 ne came to California and in March of the follow-
ing year he arrived in Los Angeles. After spending a few months
in various engineering, surveying and mining enterprises, he became
interested with Prudent Beaudry in the construction of the Los An-
geles city water works. For several years he was in the abstract
business as a member of the firm of Gillette, Gibson & Wood. His
next employment was the laying out and superintending the planting
of ]. De Barth Shorb's extensive vineyards at Alhambra and estab-
lishing the winery there. In 1889 he became identified with the
Temple Street Cable Railway line. He managed the business of
the Beaudry Brothers, Victor and Prudent, who were largly in-
terested in the Temple street road. After the death of the brothers
he was executor of their estates. In 1895 Mr. Wood became super-
intendent and general manager of the Los Angeles Street Railway
Company, the most extensive street railway system in the city. In
this service he continued until his death. In politics he was a Re-
publican and served as chairman of the County Republican Central
Committee from 1894 to 1896. He stood high in the Masonic and
Odd Fellows orders.
Seventeen year ago Mr. Wood married Miss Leona Pigne-Du-
puytren, who was born in California, and is grand niece of the re-
nowed Parisian physician Dr. Dupuytren. One son, Warren Du-
puytren, was born of this union.
Mr. Wood died in Los Angeles, May 19, 1900.
94 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
JOSEPH BAYER.
Joseph Bayer was born in Germany, November i, 1846. He
emigrated to the United States during his early boyhood. During
the Civil war he entered thte Union Army, enlisting in the Second
United States Infantry. He served three years. After the war he
went to St. Louis, where he engaged in business until 1868, when
he came to California. He arrived in Los Angeles July 4, 1870. He
engaged in business on the corner of Requena and Main street. In
1872 he went to Tucson, Arizona, where he remained two years
Returning to Los Angeles, he opened a wholesale liquor house on
North Main street. He built up an extensive business, dealing in im-
ported and domestic wines and brandies. He was one of the pioneer
oil producers of Southern California.
In 1875 Mr. Bayer married Miss K. B. Happ, a native of Buffalo,
N. Y. He died in this city July 27, 1900.
AUGUSTUS ULYARD.
(Los Angeles Daily Times.)
Augustus Ulyard, whose funeral was held yesterday afternoon
at his late residence, No. 809 South Flower street, died in his eighty-
fifth year. He has been a modest and model citizen during the half
century he lived in Los Angeles, and political honors were thrust
upon him but once in all that time, he having been a member of the
City Council in 1856.
Ulyard was born in Philadelphia on February 22, 1816, where
in his young manhood he learned the trade of a baker, and must
very soon after its completion have started west, for he enlisted and
served as a Texas Volunteer in the war with Mexico in 1837. In
1841 he went to St. Louis, opened a bakery, remained there until
1846, when he married Miss Mary Field, a native of England, who
survives him. With his new wife and worldly belongings he again
started west and next appears as a citizen of Council Bluffs, Iowa.
In 1852, in company with a large party of immigrants, Mr. and
Mrs. Ulyard set out from Council Bluffs for the Pacific golden
shores, traveling by wagon train. Their passage across the plains
would seem to have been uneventful. They profited by the horrible
catastrophe that befell the Donner party in 1846, and in order to
avoid spending the winter at Salt Lake, or taking the risk of the
cold passage over the Sierra Nevadas, they chose the southern route,
by way of the Cajon Pass and San Bernardino, and arrived at Los
Angeles on the last day of the year 1852.
At that time there were but five American women in Los An-
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 95
geles aside from Mrs. Ulyard. The town consisted of a small group
of adobe buildings in the neighborhood of the plaza, one of which
Mr. Ulyard succeeded in renting, and as behooves the thrifty citizen
at once set himself up in business as a baker. He baked the first
loaf of American bread ever cooked in Los Angeles, using yeast
brought across the plains by his wife. He soon sought a new loca-
tion on the outskirts of the pueblo, which is the site now occupied
by the Natick House, at First and Main streets. For twenty years
he continued to follow his vocation as a baker, but having ac-
cumulated a competency, he then retired. He owned the property on
the southwest corner of Fifth and Spring streets.
In 1856 he was quite active in politics and helped to organize
the first Republican League in California, in an old frame building
«>n Main street belonging to Capt. Alexander Bell. It was in the
Fremont campaign, and Ulyard was a member of the City Council,
which seems to have been the only office he ever held.
From the time of his arrival to the time of his death, on Sunday
last, Mr. Ulyard was a permanent resident of Los Angeles. No
children were born to him, but at different periods he adopted home-
less children until there were seven in all.
He died August 5, 1900.
REV. A. M. HOUGH.
Rev. A. M. Hough, a member of the Los Angeles Society of
Pioneers, who died Aug., 27, 1900, was a native of Greene county,
New York; born June 4, 1830. He received his education at the
New York Conference Seminary in Schohaire county. In 1864 Mr.
Hough went to Montana, then a territory, as Superintendent of Mis-
sions, and established the Methodist Episcopal Church there. In
1868, on account of his wife's failing health, he came with her to
California, driving his own team from Montana to Los Angeles,
where he arrived November 22. He served as pastor of various
churches, here, in San Franisco and in Sacramento, till 1875, when
the conference was divided and he became presiding elder of the
southern body, in which capacity he served four years. He retired
from active service as a pastor about 1885.
In 1854 Mr. Hough was married to Miss Anna Gould, a native
of New York, who survives him. Mr. Hough was a man of great
intellectual force, and yet of kindly, gentle manners, broad charity
and pure life; and as a sequence of these cardinal qualities he
exerted a wide influence for good in the community in which he
lived so many years.
96 HISTORICAL SOCIETYOF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
HENRY F. FLEISMAN.
Henry F. Fleishman was born at Charleston, S. C, in 1845; he
died in this city, where he had resided a number of years, on the
1 3th of October, 1900. He served in the Confederate army during
the Civil war, from beginning to end, participating in many of the
great battles, and surrendering with General Lee's command at Ap-
pomatox. Mr. Fleishman, at the time of his death, was a member
of several beneficent orders, in which, and in the community gen-
erally, he was universally respected.
FRANK LECOUVREUR.
Our society is called upon to mourn the death, which occurred
January 17, 1901, of our associate, Mr. Frank Lecouvreur. Mr.
Lecouvreur, who was a native of Ortelsburg, Prussia, born June 7,
1830, came via Cape Horn to California in 1851, and to Los An-
geles in 1855. He was by profession a civil engineer, and he served
as County Surveyor of Los Angeles for four years; he also, first
and last, surveyed many ranches for private parties. He at one time,
during the '6o's served as deputy county clerk, and later was cashier
and a director of the Farmers' and Merchants' bank. In June, 1877,
he was married to Miss Josephine R. Smith, who survives him.
The members of this society, and of this community, in which
he lived so many years, universally concede the sterling worth of our
brother, and sincerely mourn his death.
DANIEL SCHIECK.
(Los Angeles Daily Times.)
Daniel Schieck, a quaint old memento of the days when Los
Angeles was a half way Mexican town, has gone from the streets
forever. He lies dead in the home that he built half a cenury ago,
on the lonely outskirts of the hamlet and lived to see sucked into
the heart of a city. It is on Franklin street at the head of New
High.
It was one of the first plastered houses in the pueblo. Additions
and new fronts and changes have been made, but Schieck never
moved from the place all through the years. When he first moved
in, Mrs. Schieck was very lonely, because there would be days when
not a soul passed the house. For many years the little German and
his wife have been familiar figures driving about the city in their
phaeton. For twenty-five years since the city reached out and ab-
BIOGRAPHCIAL SKETCHES 97
sorbed his suburban place, Schieck has been living on his money in
placid ease.
He was the pioneer drayman of the city, anH for a time was its
Gunga Din, with a water-cart, peddling Adam's ale from house to
house.
He came here in 1852. He had come over from Baden in 1845
and made the trip across the plains in 1852. The journey was made
on horseback, and Schieck was once abandoned by his party to die.
About half way across the plains he was suddenly taken very ill,
and the party would not take him on. He was too far gone to travel
anyhow. They would have deserted him like a sick wolf, but he
made a bargain with one of the men, who, having no horse, was
walking. Schieck told him that he would buy him a good horse
and saddle and bridle if he would stay and nurse him through the
illness.
They put Schieck out under a tree by the side of the road and
the man fell out of the party to stay with him. He was a reasonably
faithful nurse for two days. Then one morning Schieck woke up to
find that the man had run away in the night with his saddle, horse
and outfit. He would probably have died from hunger and neglect
but that he was on the road to one of the Mormon trading posts.
The Mormon traders found and cared for him until he got well.
Just as soon as he could possibly travel, Schieck set out with a
new horse with a Teutonic determination to find that party that
deserted him. He paid the managers to take him out to Sacramento
and intended to get his money's worth. By hard riding he overtook
the party as it was crossing the borders of California.
They took him the rest of the way into Sacramento and gave
him one of the best pair of oxen in the caravan to atone for having
allowed him to make half the journey alone and without the accom-
modations due him.
He went to farming near Sacramento, but one of the oxen died
before long, and he wandered into the gold fields. He got rheuma-
tism, but no gold. Looking for a better climate, Schieck came
down the State into Southern California.
When he hit Los Angeles, the man who peddled water was about
to leave and Schieck took his place. For a little while he followed
this job, getting water every morning from the zanja and delivering
it around to the houses. He charged $2 a month for each of his
customers. This didn't pay and he went into the dray business.
He drove a funny, old-fashioned, two- wheeled dray cart and
had a mononoply. He used to meet the Banning coaches coming in
98 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
from San Pedro, and the other stage lines. He charged about what
he liked.
The little place that he bought on the outskirts of the city ran
along seventy-five feet on what is now Spring street, and the whole
length of Franklin street. It made him rich.
In the early days he cut quite a figure in affairs, and one of the
reminiscences that he liked to tell was of serving on the first vigi-
lance committee that introduced Judge Lynch to Los Angeles.
When he died Sunday night, January 20, 1901, he was aged
8 1 years, 3 months and 20 days. It was just old age that took him
off. About five weeks ago he was out driving with his wife and
became so dazed that he could scarcely drive home, narrowly es-
caping several accidents. He went to bed when he got home and
never was up again.
He leaves a widow, who was his second wife, and two children,
Mrs. S. E. Boecher and Mrs. C. E. Jenkins, besides a daughter-in-
law, Mrs. John Schieck.
ANDREW GLASSELL.
Andrew Glassell was born in Virginia, September 30, 1827.
When he was seven years old his parents moved to Alabama, where
his father engaged in cotton planting. Andrew was educated in
the University of Alabama, from which he graduated in 1848. Af-
ter graduating he studied law. In 1853 he came to California, and
the same year was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the
State. A friend of his being United States Attorney at San Fran-
cisco, Mr. Glassell received the appointment of Deputy United
States District Attorney, to assist in trying a large number of
accumulated land cases pending in the Federal District Court, and
was thus employed about three years. Then resuming his private
practice, he did a prosperous legal business till the Civil war broke
out. His sympathies were with the Confederates, but not caring to
take part by discussion or otherwise on either side, he quit the prac-
tice of law and engaged in the manufacture of lumber and staves
near Santa Cruz, employing a large force of men in a steam sawmill.
After the war he came to Los Angeles, and in partnership with
Alfred B. Chapman and George H. Smith, established the law firm
of Glassell, Chapman & Smith. In 1883 Mr. Glassell retired from
the practice of law, to devote his whole time to his private business.
Mr. Glassell was twice married. In 1855 he married a daughter
of Dr. H. H. Toland, an eminent phyiscian of San Francisco, by
whom he had nine children. She died in 1879. His second wife he
married in 1885. She was a daughter of Wm. C. Micou of New
Orleans. She died about two years since. Mr. Glassell died Jan-
uary 28, 1901.
List of Members Admitted Since Last Report,
January, 1900.
NAME
Alvarez, Ferdinand
AGE BIRTH
PLACE
00 Mo.
OCCUPATIOH
Butcher
AKR1V. HI BBS. Alt. IN
CO. STATE
May 1, 1872 047 S. Slchel 1872
Bragg, Ansel M.
Bright, Toney
Buffam, Wm. M.
70 Maine
47 Ohio
08 Mass.
Retired
Liveryman
Storekeeper
Nov., 1878 100 Hewitt 1807
Sept. 1874 218 Requena 1874
July 4, 1860 144 W. 12th
Cerelli, Sebastian
Compton, Geo. D.
Cowan, D. W. C.
Carter, Julius M.
56 Italy
80 Va.
70 Penn.
94 Vt.
Restauranteur
Retired
Farmer
Retired
Nov. 2, 1874 811 San Fernando 1874
May, 1807 828 W. Jefferson
June 1, 1808 824 W. Tenth 1840
Mar. 4, 1870 Pasadena 1876
Davis, John W.
Davis, Virginia W.
Delano, Thos. A.
40 Ind.
62 Ark.
70 N. H.
Publisher
Housewife
Farmer
Dec. 10, 1872 San Pedro 1872
Sept., 1862 San Pedro IH.VJ
April, 1860 Newhall I860
French, Chas. E.
60 Maine
Retired
April. 1871 141 H N. Broad'y 1800
Griffith, Jas. R.
Gephard, Geo.
Green, Morris M.
00 Mo.
70 Germ.
04 N. Y.
Stock Raiser
Retired
Retired
May, 1881 Glendale 1846
June, 1876 488 N. Grand 18KO
Nov., 1800 8017 Kingsley 1800
Hays, Wade
Haas, Sarefta S.
Hamilton, Ezra M.
Hewitt, Roscoe E.
02 Mo.
82 N. Y.
08 111.
00 Ohio
Miner
Housewife
Mint-r
Miner
Sept.. 1863 Colegrove 1868
April 7, I860 1610 W. Eighth I860
Sept. 20, 1876 810 Avenue 28 1868
Feb. 27, 1873 887 S. Olive l<>3
Kuhrts, Susan
King, Laura E.
Klockenbrink, Wm.
60 Germ.
68 Flor.
00 Germ.
Housewife
Housewife
Book-keeper
May, 1808 107 W. First 1802
Nov. 27, 1849 412 N. Breed 1840
Oct. 1870 Hewitt 1870
Ling. Robert A.
Lockhart, Thomas J.
Lockhart. Levi J.
Lockwood, James W.
47 Can.
02 Ind.
70 Ind.
08 N. Y.
Attorney
Real Estate
Coal Merchant
Plasterer
Sept., 1873 1101 Downey av 1871
May 1, 1878 1020 Lovelace av 1872
May 1,1878 1814 S. Grand av 1878
Apr. 1, 1876 Water st I860
Marxson, Dora
Meade, John
Moran, Samuel
MelTill. J. H.
Montague, Newell S.
McFarland, Silas R.
00 Germ.
07 Ire.
88 D. C.
64 Mass.
66 111.
61 Pa.
Housewife
Retired
Painter
Sec. Fid. Ab. Co.
Farmer
Livery
Nov. 14, 1878 212 E. 17th 1878
Sept 0, 1800 208 W. 18th INW
Mav 15, 1878 Colegrove i«
Aug., 1875 406 N. Beaudry av 1874
Oct. 2. 1860 122 E. 28th l<«>
Jan. 28, 1875 1834 W. Twelfth 1868
Proffltt, Green L.
08 Mo.
Retired
Nov., 1887 1512 W. Twelfth 1868
Russell, Wm. H.
Ruxton, Albert St. O.
60 N. Y.
48 Eng.
Fruit Grower
Surveyor
Apr 0, 1806 Whit tier
Sept., 1878 128 N. Main 1878
Smith. W. J. A.
Sentous, Jean
Shearer, Mrs. Tillie
64 Eng.
04 France
51 111.
Draughtsman
Retired
Housewife
Apr. 12, 1874 820 Linden 1874
April, I860 645 S. Grand av I860
July, 1876 1184 El Molino 1862
Thayer, John S.
48 N. Y.
Merchant
Oct. 25, 1874 147 W. 25th 1874
Vlgnolo. Ambrosio
Vuwu-r
Vawter, W. S.
71 Italy
61 Ind.
66 Ind.
Merchant
Florist
Farmer
Feb. 17. 1867 Los Angeles 1860
Apr. 12, 1875 Ocean Park 1K76
July 10. 1876 Santa Monica 1876
Wartenberg, Louis
Whisler, Isaac
60 Germ.
67 Ark.
Com. Trav.
Miner
Nov., 1868 1067 S. Grand av 1868
Aug., 1852 686 San Pedro st 1862
Organized November 1, 1883 Incorporated February 13, 1891
PART II. VOL. V.
ANNUAL PUBLICATION
OF THE
Historical Society
OF
Southern California
AND
PIONEER REGISTER
Los Angeles
IQO1
Published by the Society.
LOS ANGELES, CAL.
Geo. Rkt ft Son*
CONTENTS.
HISTORICAL SOCIETY PAPERS.
Officers of the Historical Society, 1901-1902 104
Pioneer Physicians of Los Angeles H. D. Barrows 105
The Old Round House George W. Hazard 109
Passing of the Old Pueblo /. M. Guinn 113
Marine Biological Labratory at San Pedro—
Mrs. M. Burton Williamson 121
Early Clericals of Los Angeles H. D. Barroivs 127
The Original Father Junipero F. J. Polley 134
Camel Caravans of the American Deserts. . . ./. M. Guinn 146
Dilatory Settlement of California Waiter R. Bacon 152
PIONEER REGISTER.
Officers and Committees of -the Society of Pioneers of Los
Angeles County, 1901-1902 159
Constitution and By-Laws 160
Order of Business 164
Inaugural Address of President H. D. Barrows 165
The Pony Express /. M. Guinn 168
Overland to California in 1850 J. M. Stewart 176
Early Days in Washoe Alfred James 186
BIOGRAPHICAL, SKETCHES.
Fred W. Wood M. F. Qunm 194
Thomas E. Rowan Committee Report 197
George Gephard L. A. Times 199
Elizabeth Langley Ensign Committee Report 199
William F. Grosser Committee Report 200
Samuel Calvert Foy (Portrait) Committee Report 202
Charles Brode Committee Report 204
Frank A. Gibson Committee Report 206
In Memoriam 207
Membership Roll 208
OFFICERS OF THE I STORICAL SOCIETY
1901
OFFICER.
WALTER R. BACON President
A. C. VROMAN First Vice-President
MRS. M. BURTON WILLIAMSON Second Vice-President
EDWIN BAXTER Treasurer
J. M. GUINN Secretary and Curator
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
WALTER R. BACON, J. D. MOODY,
H. D. BARROWS, EDWIN BAXTER, '
J. M. GUINN, A. C VROMAN,
MRS. M. BURTON WILLIAMSON.
1902
OFFICERS (ELECT).
WALTER R. BACON President
J. D. MOODY First Vice-President
MRS. M. BURTON WILLIAMSON Second Vice-President
EDWIN BAXTER Treasurer
J. M. GUINN Secretary and Curator
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
WALTER R. BACON, J. D. MOODY,
H. D. BARROWS, EDWIN BAXTER,
J. M. GUINN, GEORGE W. HAZARD,
MRS. M. BURTON WILLIAMSON.
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
KHECTED IN !»(>» ON NEW HIGH STREET, NORTH OK TK.MIM.K
Historical Society
-OF-
Southern California
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, 1901
PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF LOS ANGELES
BY H. D. BARROWS.
[Read Oct. 7, 1901.]
The first three educated physicians who practiced their pro-
fession in Los Angeles for longer or shorter periods, of whom
we have any record, were :
Dr. John Marsh, who came here in January 1836;
Dr. Richard S. Den, who arrived in California in 1843;
Dr. John S Griffin, assistant surgeon, U. S. A., who arrived
in 1846.
A brief account of each of these trained physicians and sur-
geons ought to be of interest to the present generation.
Dr. Marsh was a native of Massachusetts, and a graduate of
Harvard college, and also of its medical school. He came to
Los Angeles by way of Santa Fe. In the Archives of this city,
Translations, Vol. 2, p. 113, (session of the Ayuntamiento or
Town Council, of i8th February, 1836,) the following record
is found :
A petition from foreigner, Don Juan Marchet,
(John Marsh; the sound of sh at the ending of a word is un-
known to the Spanish tongue;) a native of United States of the
North, was read. He asks that this illustrious (honorable)
Ayuntamiento consider him as having appeared, he declaring
his intention of establishing (locating}" in this city, and also that
he is a physician and surgeon. The 111. Aynumiento decided,
IO6 HISTORICAL, SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
in conformity with the law of April 14, 1828, Art. 3, as follows:
Record and forward the certified copy, solicited, reminding said
Marchet (Marsh) that he cannot practice surgery until he has
obtained permission from this Ayuntamiento." . . . (Min-
utes of this meeting were signed:) "Manuel Requena, Pres.;
Tiburcio Tapia, Rafael Guirado, Basilic Valdez, Jose Ma. Her-
rera, Abel Stearns, Narcisco Botello." (Each with his proper
Rubric attached.)
At page 117 of Archives, (session of 25th February, 1836,)
this minute occurs: ... "A petition from Mr. Juan
Marchet (Marsh) asking to be permitted to practice his profes-
sion, was read. The 111. Body, decided to give him permission
to practice medicine, as he has submitted for inspection his di-
ploma, which was found to be correct, and also for the reason
that he would be very useful to the community."
His diploma being in Latin, it is said that, as no one could
be found in Los Angeles who understood that language, the
document had to be sent to San Gabriel for the Mission priest
to translate, and which, as noted, was found correct. Dr.
Marsh, however, only remained in Los Angeles about "a year,
when, early in 1837, he went north and settled finally on the
rancho Los Medanos, or New York ranch, near Monte Diablo,
of which he became the owner. Here he lived until his death in
1856, being murdered by natives. Dr. Marsh was naturalized as
a Mexican citizen in 1844.
Dr. R. S. Den was born in Ireland in 1821. After receiving
a thorough education as a physician, surgeon and obstetrician,
he was appointed surgeon of a passenger ship bound for Austra-
lia in 1842. From thence he came via Valparaiso to Mazatlan,
where he received with delight news from his brother, Nicolas,
from whom he had not heard for some years, and who was then
living at Santa Barbara. Resigning his position as surgeon, he
came to California, arriving at San Pedro, August 21, and at
Santa Barbara, September i, 1843, at the a£e °f 22 years.
In the winter of 1843-4, Dr. Den was called to Los Angeles
to perform some difficult surgical operations, when he received
a petition, signed by leading citizens, both native and foreign,
asking him to remain and practice his profession. And so, in
July, 1844, he returned to Los Angeles. From that time on, till
his death in 1895, he made his home here, with the exception of
a brief period in the mines, and about twelve years, from 1854
to 1866, in which he had to look after the interests of his stock
rancho of San Marcos, in Santa Barbara county.
PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF LOS ANGELES 107
A much fuller account of Dr. Den and his long and honora-
ble career in Southern California during the pioneer times, may
be found in the "Illustrated History of Los Angeles County,
published in 1889, pp. 197-200, which also contains a steel en-
graving and good likeness of Dr. Den.
In the Medical Directory of 1878 the following paragraph
appears: "It is of record that Dr. R. S. Den, in obedience to
the laws of Mexico relating to foreigners, did present his di-
plomas as physician and surgeon to the government of the coun-
try, March 14, 1844, and that he received special license to
practice from said government." The document here referred
to, Dr. Den, in the latter years of his life, showed to me. It was
signed by Gov. Micheltorena; and, as it was an interesting his-
torical document, I asked that he present it to the Historical
Society, which he promised to do. At his death, I took consid-
erable pains to have the paper hunted up, but without success.
His heirs, (the children of his brother Nicolas,) apparently had
but little idea of the historical value of such a document, and
therefore it probably has been lost.
Dr. John S. Griffin, who for nearly half a century was an
eminent citizen, and an eminent physician and surgeon of Los
Angeles, was a native of Virginia, born in 1816, and a graduate
of the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania,
After practicing his profession some three years in Louisville,
he entered the United States army as assistant surgeon, serving
under Gen. Worth in Florida and on the southwest frontier.
As I presented the Historical Society a condensed sketch of Dr.
Griffin's life on the occasion of his death, three years ago, (pub-
lished in the society's Annual of 1898, pp. 183-5,) I would here
refer members to that sketch ; and for further details, to the ac-
count that I wrote, taken down mainly from his own lips, for the
Illustrated History of this county of 1889, pp. 206-7, which lat-
ter is accompanied by an excellent stipple steel portrait of Dr.
Griffiin. There are many citizens of Los Angeles and, in fact,
of California, still living who knew Dr. Griffiin well and esteemed
him highly. His death occurred in this city, August 23, 1898.
Of other physicians and surgeons who practiced their pro-
fession in Los Angeles in early times, there were Doctors A. P.
Hodges, the first mayor of the city, (July 3, 1850, to May 15,
1851;) and A. W. Hope, who was the first State Senator, (1850-
51,) of the First Senatorial District, (San Diego and Los An-
geles;) and Doctors McFarlane, Downey, (afterwards Governor
of the State;) Thos. Foster, T. J. White, R. T. Hayes, Winston,
IO8 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Cullen, etc.; and during the fifties and sixties and later, many
others too numerous to mention, within the limits and scope of
this brief paper.
My friend, Mr. Elijah Moulton, who came to Los Angeles
in 1845, informs me that he knew two other doctors, who prac-
ticed here for a short time between '45 and '49 : one of them a
Frenchman, who went to San Diego with Dr. Griffiin to assist
him in treating the wounded soldiers, and who, Dr. Griffiin said,
was a first-cless surgeon; and an American named Keefe. The
Frenchman's name has been forgotten.
THE OLD ROUND HOUSE
BY GEO. W. HAZARD.
"In the years from 1854 to 1886, an odd-shaped building
stood on lots fronting 120 feet on Main street, Los Angeles,
and running through to Spring. The latter street was in the
earlier part of this time little more than a country road. The
building was a conspicuous landmark of the town, and was
universally known as the Round House, though within the mem-
ory of most American residents who were here then it was,
strictly speaking, an octagon in shape. Its exact location was
ninety-one and a half feet south of Third street, on the site of
the present Pridham and Pinney blocks. The old well, from
which water was drawn by a private arrangement, called a well
sweep, consisting of a long pole, resting in the middle on an up-
right forked timber, and a rope at one end, to which the bucket
was attached, and the other end weighted with rocks.
This land was granted by the Ayuntamiento of the pueblo of
Los Angeles to Juan Bouvette and Loreta Cota, his wife, Au-
gust 3 ist, 1847. On March 3rd, 1854, it was purchased by Re-
mundo Alexander and Maria Valdez, his wife. Mr. Alexander
was a native of France, and came to California as a sailor. In
Africa he had seen houses of stone built cylindrical in form. So
when he married Dona Maria, daughter of Senor Valdez, a
prominent citizen and native of California, though a grandson
of Spain, he varied the uniform style of building in Spanish-
American countries and fashioned the new adobe dwelling for
his bride after the architecture of Africa. The building was
two stories high, with an umbrella-shaped shingle roof, and cost
(Mrs. Alexander thinks), with the lawn, from fifteen to twenty
thousand dollars. On July 28th, 1856, it was sold to George
Lehman and his wife, Clara Snyder. In transferring the prop-
erty, the wording of the deed follows established custom, for in
Spanish countries a woman does not lose her maiden name.
After marriage that of her husband is affixed to her own with
the preposition de (of) between. Mr. Lehman was a native of
Germany, familiarly known to his fellow-citizens as "Dutch
George." He is described by those who knew him well, as a
110 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
good-natured, kind-hearted, well-meaning man, full of vagaries
and fantastic notions.
After Lehman came into possession of the Round House he
enlarged it by enclosing it in a frame extension about ten feet
deep, which on the exterior was an octagon, and in the interior
divided into additional rooms. Over the windows he painted
the names o fthe thirteen original States, with that of Cali-
fornia added. Mr. Lehman had a strange hallucination (excep-
tional in Californians) that he had found the garden of Eden,
and he set to work to make his grounds as nearly as possible
his conception of the dwelling place of our first parents. He
built a labyrinth of arbors, which in time were hidden under a
profusion of vines and roses. He planted fruit and ornamental
trees, shrubbery and plants, in quantity and variety, supposed
to have delighted the senses and sheltered the bodies of the pro-
genitors of the race.
The entrance to this modern Eden was not guarded by cher-
ubim and flaming sword, but by something probably more ef-
fective in excluding intruders; a row of "tunas" (cactus) ex-
tended across the Main and Spring streets sides that grew from
ten to fifteen feet high, with branches so closely interlaced that
they formed an impenetrable hedge. This garden became a
thicket of foliage and bloom, to which the owner charged a
small admission fee; and he sold beer and pretzels within its
shady recesses. It was embellished with cement statues repre-
senting Adam and Eve reclining under a tree, with the wily ser-
pent presumably alluring Mother Eve to take the initial step in
human progress that bequeathed her name to posterity as the
first woman who aspired to a higher education. Scattered about
under the trees were effigies in cement of the animals which
passed in review before Adam to receive their names.
For more than twenty years this garden was one of the re-
sorts of the town, and was used on public occasions, notably the
centennial celebration of July 4th, 1876. On March 6th, 1879,
it passed out of possession of Lehman, sold under foreclosure
of mortgage. The cactus hedge was cut down in July, 1886,
when the city ordered the laying of cement sidewalks.
The building was used as a school house after Lehman left
it; then as a lodging house, and in its last estate became a resort
for tramps. It disappeared before the march of progress in 1887.
An air of mystery in later years surrounded the unique structure
and strange stories were told of the eccentric owner, not sub-
stantiated by those who knew him best."
THE OLD ROUND HOUSE III
The foregoing is from the "Land of Sunshine" for August,
1897, written by Mary M. Bowman.
It was my pleasure to see the Round House built. It was
the wonder of the town; and when I first saw it, the foundation
was up about 18 inches. It was built of adobe. The exact num-
bers of the land it occupied are 311-313-315 and 317 South
Main street. The old cactus hedge was on Spring street, where
the Breed block now stands; and, to be exact, covered the space
now included in Nos. 308-310-312 and 314 South Spring street.
Mrs. Bowman says that Georgetown * (called after George Leh-
man) was at the corner of Broadway and Fifth streets; it should
read Sixth and Spring. There he built an addition of two
stories of brick to the old house of Jose Rais, which is still stand-
ing— No. 605 (now the Owl Bakery); also No. 607 South Spring
street, now known as "Bob's Place" lunch counter. That takes
you to the alley. He cut the corner and made it octagon; and
there today you can read "Georgetown Bakery." The Ralphs
painted over it in black, but it has peeled off, so you can see
the gold letters. Across the alley is the old house of Jose Lopez,
now the Le Long building. The Ralphs brothers bought it in
1870, tore down the adobe and built the present block on the
corner. Lehman, later, had a wine cellar on Sixth street, where
the Lindley Sanitarium now stands, between the Widney block
and the First Methodist church.
It is not true that Lehman gave the Sixth Street, or Central
Park to the city. Donations were asked for, trees and shrub-
bery, etc.; and he was the first to donate. And he did with his
own hands plant the first trees there; and he kept them watered
with his five-gallon cans from his Sixth Street house.
The following extract from the Los Angeles Star of October
2d, 1858, gives an account of the opening of the resort, which
was then well out in the country:
THE GARDEN OF PARADISE.
"The handsome grounds of the Round House in the South
part of Main street have lately been fitted up as a public garden,
*My wife and I were at the christening of Georgetown, which took place
at an adobe house on the East side of Spring street, south of Sixth street,
one afternoon when George Lehman brought a bottle or two of wine and some
baker's cookies and invited my wife and me to the christening; we were then
living in a house owned by him where the store long known as Ralphs'
grocery now stands. The native California girls who were there enjoyed it
very much. — A. G. Mappa.
112 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
under the above rather high sounding- title. In it are to be seen
elegantly portrayed the primeval family, Adam and Eve, Cain
and Abel ; also the old serpent and the golden apples, all accord-
ing to the record. There is beside a frame work containing
what are called flying horses, for the amusement of children. A
band of music stationed on the balcony of the house plays at in-
tervals. The garden is tastefully laid out and is much frequented
by citizens, especially on Sundays."
THE PASSING OF THE OLD PUEBLO
BY J. M. GUINN.
[Read December, 1901.]
No era of California history is so little known or understood
as that which may be called the transition period — the period in
which California was passing from a Mexican province to an
American state. This is due to the fact that the discovery of
gold, shortly after the conquest, directed the attention of the
world to the gold regions in Northern California, which were
uninhabited before the conquest, and where no transition took
place; while Southern California, where the population was cen-
tered under the Mexican regime, received but few accessons
from immigration and the native inhabitants were left to trans-
form themselves into American citizens as best they could.
The last Mexican stronghold, Los Angeles, surrendered to
Commodore Stockton, January 10, 1847. A semi-military,
semi-civil government was inaugurated and the inhabitants were
encouraged to continue their municipal government under the
Mexican laws of the Territory. The treaty of peace in 1848,
made all the native Californians who elected to remain in the
country, citizens of the United States nolens volens. For three
years and a half the anomalous condition existed of citizens of
the United States living in the United States governed by Mex-
ican laws administered by a mixed constituency of Mexican-
born and American-born officials.
Just what these laws were, it was difficult to find out. No
code commissioners had codified the laws and it sometimes hap-
pened that the judge made the law to suit the case. Under the
old regime the alcalde was often law-giver, judge, jury and ex-
ecutioner all in one. And it did not astonish the native to find
the American following Mexican precedents. That such a state
of affairs produced no serious difficulties was largely due to the
easy good nature of the native Californians. Had their adhesion
to the mother country, Mexico, been stronger there might have
been strenuous protests and even armed uprising against an
enforced allegiance to a government for which they could have
no love. But Mexico, at best, had been to them only a step-
114 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
mother, and their separation from her caused them no heart
aches.
Had they been given a choice, it is doubtful whether many
of them would have elected to become citizens of the United
States — a country whose inhabitants were alien to them in race,
religion and customs. The conditions under which they became
citizens were humiliating to their pride and were often made
more so by the arrogance of fellows of the baser sort who as-
sumed the airs of conquerors. To the credit of the native Cali-
fornian be it said that throughout the trying ordeal of transition
he bore himself as good citizen and a perfect gentleman.
The transition period (as I have said) from the rule of Mex-
ico to the introduction of American laws and the inauguration.
of American forms of local governments lasted three years and
a half. The Legislature of 1849-50 divided the State into 27
counties and provided for county, town and city governments.
The first election for city officers in Los Angeles under
American law was held July i, 1850, and on July 3, three days
later, the most Illustrious Ayuntamiento gave place to the hon-
orable Common Council. For nearly three score years and ten
under the rule of Spain and her descendant, Mexico, the Ayun-
tamiento had been the law-maker of the pueblo. Generations
had grown to manhood under its domination. Monarchy, em-
pire and republic had ruled the territory, had loosened their hold
and lost their power, but through all the Ayuntamiento had held
its sway. Now, too, it must go. Well might the old-time An-
geleno heave a sigh of regret at the downfall of that bulwark
of his liberty, Muy Illustre Ayuntamiento.
The first Common Council of Los Angeles was organized
July 3, 1850. The records say that Jonathan R. Scott, a justice
of the peace, administered the oath of office to the members-
elect, solemnly swearing them to support the constitution of the
State of California — and yet there was no State of California
and no legal constitution to support. The people of California,
tired of the anomalous condition in which they were held, had
rebelled against the delays of Congress and had elected State
officers, a legislature and congressmen, and had put into opera-
tion a state government before the territory had been admitted
into the Union. The legislature had made counties and in-
corporated cities, had appointed judges and provided for the
election of city and county officers and these when elected had
sworn to support the constitution of a state that did not exist.
The State of California, at this time, was a political nondescript
THE PASSING OF THE OLD PUEBLO 115
—a governmental paradox. It had divested itself of its terri-
torial condition, but it could not put on the toga viriles of state-
hood until Congress admitted it into the Union, and the slave-
holding faction in that body would not let it in. It was actu-
ally a state de facto nine months before it became a state de
jure.
The members of the first Council of Los Angeles were David
W. Alexander, Alexander Bell, Manuel Requena, Juan Temple,
Morris L. Goodman, Cristoval Aguilar and Julian Chavez. All
of these except Goodman, who was an Israelite, had been citi-
zens of Mexico — some by birth, others by naturalization.
The Legislature of 1849-50 passed an act, April 4, 1850, in-
corporating the city of Los Angeles. Fifteen years before, the
Mexican Congress had decreed it a ciudad. Twice by different
nations, it had been raised to the dignity of a city, and yet it was
not much of a city after all. There was not a sidewalk nor a
graded street within its bounds; not a street lamp nor a water-
pipe — not a school house nor a postoffice; not a printing press
nor a newspaper. It owned no municipal buildings — not even
a jail. It had a church and a graveyard, neither of which be-
longed to the city; and yet these were the only public improve-
ments (if a graveyard can be called a public improvement) that
seventy years of Ayuntamiento rule had produced. It was high
lime "to ring out the old — ring in the new."
The act of incorporation gave the city an area of four square
miles. Why the Legislature of a "Thousand Drinks" pared
clown its domain of four square leagues that for seventy years
under monarchy, empire and republic it had held without dis-
pute does not appear either in the act or in the city records.
As the members of that Legislature were mostly tenderfeet, re-
cently the plains across, they may not have known the dif-
ference between a Spanish league and an English mile, but the
most charitable conclusion is that they deemed four square miles
area enough for a city of sixteen hundred people. Why incor-
:te chaparral-covered hills and mustard-grown mesas inhab-
ited by coyotes, jackrabbits and ground squirrel?? So they
made its dimension a mile to each wind from the Plaza center;
;md the City of Los Angeles half a century ago ended at Fifth
street on the south; on the north at the Catholic cemetery; its
eastern boundary skirted the mesa beyond the river and its west-
ern was hopelessly lost in the hills. No one on that side knew
just where the city ended and the country began; and nobody
cared, for the land was considered worthless
Il6 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
The first Common Council of the city was patriotic and self-
denying. The first resolution passed read as follows: "It hav-
ing been observed that in other places the Council members
were drawing a salary, it was unanimously resolved that the
members of this Council shall receive neither salary nor fees of
whatsoever nature for discharging their duties as such." But
some of them wearied of serving an ungrateful public and taking
their pay in honors. Before sixty days passed, two of them had
resigned and at the end of the year only two of the original
members, David W. Alexander and Manuel Requena, were left.
There had been six resignations in eight months and the first
Council of seven had had thirteen different members during
its short existence. It might be remarked in passing that there
was no "solid six" in that Council.
The process of Americanizing the people was no easy under-
taking. The population of the city and the laws were in a chaotic
condition. It was an arduous task that these old-time municipal
legislators had to perform — that of evolving order out of the
chaos that had been brought about by the change of nations.
The native population neither understood the language nor the
customs of their new rulers, and the newcomers among the
Amercans had very little toleration for the slow-going Mexican
ways and methods they found prevailing in the city. To keep
peace between the factions required more tact than knowledge
of law in the legislator. Fortunately the first Council was made
up of level-headed men.
What to do with the Indian was the burning issue of that
day — not with the wild ones from the mountains who stole the
rancheros' horses and cattle. For them, when caught, like the
punishment provided in the code of that old Spartan code com-
missioner, Draco, there was but one penalty for all offenses and
that was death. The rancheros believed in the doctrine that
there is no good Indian but a dead Indian and with true mis-
sionary zeal they converted poor Lo so effectually that there was
no fear of his back-sliding. It was the tame Indians — the Chris-
tianized neophytes of the Missions that worried the city fathers.
The Mission Indians constituted the labor element of the city
and country. When sober they were harmless and were fairly
good laborers, but in their drunken orgies they became verita-
ble fiends, and the usual result of their Saturday night revels
was a dead Indian or two on Sunday morning. And all the
others, old and young, male and female, were dead drunk. They
were gathered up after a carousal and carted to a corral and
THE PASSING OF THE OLD PUEBLO
/
herded there until their day of judgment cam«, which was Mon-
day; then they were sentenced to hard labor. At first they were
worked in chain gangs on the streets, but the supply became too
great for city purposes. So the Council, August 16, 1850,
passed this ordinance :
"When the city has no work in which to employ the chain
gang, the Recorder shall, by means of notices conspicuously
posted, notify the public that such a number of prisoners will
be auctioned off to the highest bidder for private service; and
in that manner they shall be disposed of for a sum which shall
not be less than the amount of their fine for double the time
which they were to serve at hard labor." It would have been
a righteous retribution on the white wretches who sold the in-
toxicants to the Indians if they could have been sold into per-
petual slavery. Evidently auctioning off Indians to the high-
est bidders paid the city quite a revenue, for at a subsequent
meeting, the Recorder was authorized to pay the Indian alcaldes
or chiefs the sum of one real (i2l/2 cts.) out of every fine col-
lected from Indians the said alcaldes may bring to the Recorder
for trial. A month or so later the Recorder presented a bill
of $15.00, the amount of money he had paid the alcaldes out of
fines. At the rate of eight Indians to the dollar the alcaldes had
evidently gathered up a hundred and twenty poor Los.
Usually poor Lo paid a higher penalty for sinning than his
white brother, but there was one city ordinance which reversed
this custom — Article 14 — "For playing cards in the streets re-
gardless of the kind of game; likewise for playing any other
game of the kind as is played in houses that are paying a license
for the privilege, the offender shall be fined not less than $10 nor
more than $25, which shall be paid on the spot; otherwise he
shall be sent to the chain gang for ten days. If he be an Indian
then he shall be fined not less than $3 nor more than $5, or
sent to the chain gang for eight days."
At first glance this ordinance might seem to have been
drafted in the interests of morality, but a closer inspection shows
that it was for revenue only. The gambling houses paid a
license of $100 a month. So, for their benefit, the Council put
? protective tariff on all outside gambling.
The whipping post, too, was used to instil lessons of honesty
and morality into the Indian. One court record reads: Chino
Valencia (Indian) was fined $50 and twenty-five lashes for steal-
ing a pair of shears; the latter fine — the lashes — was paid
promptly in full; for the former he stands committed to the chain
Il8 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
gang for two months unless sooner paid." At the same session
of the court Vicente Guera, a white man, was fined $30 for sell-
ing liquor to the Indians — "fine paid and defendant discharged."
Drunkenness, immorality and epidemics, civilization's gifts to
the aborigines, settled the Indian question in Los Angeles —
settled by exterminating the Indian.
Under Spanish and Mexican rule in California there was no
municipal form of government corresponding to our county or-
ganizations. The Ayuntamientos exercised control over the
contiguous country districts, but there were no district boundary
lines. The Ayuntamiento of Los Angeles exercised jurisdiction
over territory now included in four counties and the old pueblo
was the seat of government for a district as large as the Emerald
Isle. The only drawback to the old town's greatness was the
lack of inhabitants in its back country. The first legislature
divided the State into counties beginning with San Diego. The
original county of Los Angeles was an empire in itself. It ex-
tended from the Pacific Ocean on the west to the Colorado
River on the east, and from San Diego County on the South
to Mariposa on the north. Its area was about 32,000 square
miles, or over one-fifth of the area of the entire State. It was
equal in size to the aggregate dimension of five New England
States, namely, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Ver-
mont and New Hampshire. In 1853, San Bernardino sliced off
from the eastern side of Los Angeles about 23,000 square miles.
In 1866 Kern County chipped off about 4000, and in 1889 Or-
ange County cut off nearly a thousand, leaving its present area
a little less than 4000 square miles. The county of Los Angeles
set up in business for itself June 24, 1850. The Court of Ses-
sions, an institution long relegated to oblivion, was the motive
power that started the county machinery running. The first
judge of that court was Augustin Olvera, one of the signers of
the treaty of Cahuenga. His house still stands on the north side
of the Plaza and a misspelled street name tries to perpetuate
his memory. The associate justices were Jonathan R. Scott and
Louis Roubideau. Roubideau was the owner of what is now the
site of Riverside, then an arid waste so barren and waterless that
the coyotes were compelled to carry haversacks and canteens
when they crossed it.
The first Mayor of the city, Dr. A. P. Hodges, was the first
County Coroner; and the first County Clerk, B. D. Wilson, was
the second Mayor. The Mayor took his pay in honors, but the
office of Coroner was exceedingly lucrative. It cost $100 to
THE PASSING OF THE OLD PUEBLO 1 19
hold an inquest on a dead Indian, and as violent deaths were of
almost daily or nightly occurrence the Coroner could afford to
serve the city as Mayor for the honor. Los Angeles, in the early
50', was an ungodly city, yet some of the verdicts of the Cor-
oner's juries showed remarkable familiarity with the decrees of
the deity. On a native Californian named Gamacio, found dead
in the street, the verdict was, "Death by the visitation of God."
Of a dead Indian found near the zanja the Los Angeles Star
says: "Justice Dryden and a jury sat on the body. The ver-
dict was 'Death from intoxication or by the visitation of God' —
the jury cannot decide which.' 'Bacilio (said the verdict) was
o Christian Indian and was confessed by the reverend padre yes-
terday afternoon."
Some one has sneeringly said that the first public buildings
the Americans erected in California were jails. The first county
jail in Los Angeles was an adobe building on the hill back of
the Downey Block. There were no cells in it. Staples were
driven into a heavy pine log that reached across the building and
short chains attached to the staples were fastened to the hand-
cuffs of the prisoners. Solitary confinement was out of the
question then. Indian prisoners, being considered unfit to as-
sociate with the high-toned white culprits inside, were chained
to logs outside of the jail where they could more fully enjoy the
glorious climate of Southern California. This building was
not built by the county, but in 1853 the city and county did
build a jail on the present site of the People's Store, and it was
the first public building erected in the county.
Even at this early day, before California had become a State,
there were what the native Californians called "Patriotas de
Bolsa" — patriots of the pocket — men who knew how to set a
high value on their public services. In the summer of 1850
an expedition under Gen. Joseph C. Morehead was sent against
the mountain Indians, who had been stealing horses from the
Los Angeles rancheros. In a skirmish with these Indian horse
thieves a militiaman named Wm. Carr was wounded. Gen.
Morehead sent him back to Los Angeles to be taken care of.
At a meeting of the Court of Session the medico who doctored
the wounded soldier presented a bill of $503; the patriotic Amer-
ican who boarded him demanded $120, and the man who lodged
him charged $45 for house rent. The native Californian who
nursed him was satisfied with $30, but then he was not a patriot;
he did not set high enough value on his services. The bills were
approved, but as the county treasury was as empty as the
rancheros' corrals after an Indian raid, the accounts were re-
I2O HISTORICAL, SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
ferred to the incoming Legislature for settlement. It is grati-
fying to know that this valuable soldier lived to fight another
day; but from motives of economy it is to be hoped he kept
out of reach of Indian arrows and "patriots of the pocket."
The transition from Mexican forms of municipal government
to American was completed in about three years and a half, but
the transformation of the old pueblo from a Mexican hamlet
to an American city continued through at least three decades
after the conquest. The Council proceedings for four years
after the organization of that body were recorded in the Span-
ish language because a majority of its members understood no
ether. The ordinances of the Council and the laws enacted by
each legislature were published in both Spanish and English
for a quarter of a century after the American occupation. Twen-
ty-five years after the organization of the county the Board of
Supervisors employed an interpreter at its sessions because two
of its members did not understand the English language.
The merchant of Los Angeles, if he wished to do business
with the native Californians, had to acquire a speaking knowl-
edge of the Spanish language, for the old time Angeleno, either
through pride or perversity, would not learn English.
The sign that we occasionally see on a show window:
Se habla Espanol aqui (Spanish is spoken here), would have
been a superfluity, if not an insult, half a century ago. If
the merchant then hablaed no Spanish he would have no trade.
The physical transformation of the old pueblo was as slow-
moving as its lingual. During the first decade of American oc-
cupation brick and wood began to supplant adobe in building —
the wooden and iron-barred windows were set with glass and
shingled roofs began to replace asphaltum covered thatch. Dur-
ing the second decade patches of sidewalk at intervals relieved
the pedestrian's bunions from contact with cobble-stones; and
ner its close, gas illuminated streets, that, for nearly a century,
had been lighted only by tallow dip lanterns which the house-
holders hung over their front doors at night.
•In the third decade the water cart gave place to the water
pipe and the street cars crowded the caballero with his jingling
spurs, his bucking mustang and swinging riata off the business
thoroughfares. In this decade the city began its migration
southward. The Plaza fronts of the proud old Dons became the
dens of the "Heathen Chinee" and the dragon flag of the Flow-
ery Kingdom floated over the olden time business center of the
old pueblo.
The passing of the old pueblo had been accomplished.
THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY
AT SAN PEDRO
BY MRS. M. BURTON WILLIAMSON. *
[Read November 4, 1901.]
As it is the aim of our Historical Society to collect and pre-
serve data in regard to any important event or undertaking in
Southern California, a brief sketch of the Marine Biological
Laboratory at San Pedro will be given. Of the necessity for
such a zoological station in Southern California there can hardly
be a doubt. Whether this beginning may be only a temporary
effort that cannot serve many summers, or whether it is the nu-
cleus of an immense zoological station, like the Stazione Zoo-
logica, that stands along the water front of the city of Naples,
who can tell?
That this is the desire of the founders of the marine labora-
tory, there is no doubt. The fulfillment depends upon monetary
considerations.
During the latter half of the past century scientific re-
searches added a new glory to the sea. Science had empha-
sized the fact that "Omne vivum ex vivo," "all life" came "from
life." but investigation added a new truth that has revolution-
ized the study of life. The evolution of life from a one-celled
form gives a new significance to the study of marine life. The
ocean as the first cradle of humanity assumes a new dignity.
The animals of the sea no longer remain as segregated forms,
having no close kinship, but are studied as possible links in
the chain of organic life. The study of comparative anatomy
?nd physiology has become a necessity, for these marine forms
show some of the variations that life assumed before man was
evolved from the earlier protoplasmic cell. Although the
morphology of oceanic life is of recent date the interest in sci-
entific research is becoming universal. At a comparatively short
time ago there was but one marine biological laboratory in the
United States. Now these zoological laboratories, or experi-
ment stations, are a marked feature in courses of study required
by universities.
122 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
On the Pacific shore the Leland Stanford, Jr., University
has its marine biological laboratory at Pacific Grove, and the
summer school of marine biology at San Pedro has been started
by the zoological department of the State University at
Berkeley.
An important undertaking represents the growth of an idea
expressed in action. Tentative trials often precede work of
greater significance. There are several links in the develop-
ment of the marine biological laboratory at San Pedro. One
link in the chain of events was begun in the summer of 1891
at Pacific Grove. In the summer of 1893 investigation was car-
ried on at Avalon for about one month. In the summer of
1895 a party was located at Timm's Point, in San Pedro Bay.
This preliminary work had been carried on under the super-
vision of Prof. William E. Ritter, now at the head of the Depart-
ment of Zoology at Berkeley. In the summer of 1899 Prof.
Ritter was with the Harriman party in Alaska and had charge of
the marine vertebrate work.
The undertaking at San Pedro is the expression of Prof.
Ritter's hope for a permanent station in Southern California.
On the I5th of May of this year (1901) the gasoline launch Elsie
was hired for the purpose of dredging. The Duffy bathhouse
on Terminal Island — locally known as East San Pedro — was
leased for the use of the laboratory. This bathhouse, situated on
the breakwater of San Pedro Bay, was prepared for the use of
the summer school, under the immediate supervision of Prof.
Ritter. In June the bathhouse was ready for occupancy. The
building, facing the inner harbor of the bay, stands a long,
white, one-story structure containing seven little rooms,, a smalt
room for laboratory stores and a long room for the use of
the summer classes. In this room each student had the use of
a window above the long tables, fitted out for the accommoda-
tion of about fifteen pupils. On the outside of these windows,
of which there are nine, on the channel side, each one is covered
with a white tent awning. The row of little rooms referred to
was for the use of Prof. Ritter and his corps of teachers, the
library, and for the use of specialists. Fresh water and water
from the bay was piped into the room.
The library and equipments were brought from the north.
The use of aquarium facilities, glassware, reagents, microscopes
and books were furnished the pupils, but not dissecting instru-
ments, paper, etc.
The following were in charge : Prof. Wm, E. Ritter, As-
THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY AT SAN PEDRO 123
sistant Professor W. J. Raymond, Hydrography; Assistant Pro-
fessor C. A. Kofoid, Zoology; Dr. F. W. Bancroft, Physiology,
and Mr. H. B. Torrey, Zoology. Among the specialists pres-
ent from Eastern colleges were Prof. Wesley Coe of Yale, Prof.
Samuel J. Holmes of Michigan University, and Prof. T. D. A.
Cockerell of the State Normal School at Los Vegas, New
Mexico.
Lectures were delivered on an average of about twice a week
during the term. They were given in the evening, and with
one exception, — when one of the ladies on the island gave the
use of her summer cottage, — they were delivered in the class
room of the school. The following list of topics will give an
idea of the scope of these lectures:
"The Ocean as a Habitat of Living Beings :" Prof. William
E. Ritter. (July 3.)
"A Sketch of the History and Methods of Marine Biolog-
ical Exploration :" Dr. C. A. Kofoid. (July 5).
"Geographical Distribution of Terrestrial Animals in the
West :" Prof. T. D. A. Cockerell. (July 12).
"The Habits of Amphepod Crustacea :" Dr. S. J. Holmes.
(July 12).
"Some Problems of Regeneration :" Mr. H. B. Torrey.
July 16).
"Locomotion of Marine Animals:" Dr. Frank W. Bancroft.
(July 18).
"Biological Exploration:" Prof. William E. Ritter.
26).
"The Study of Variation:" Dr. F. W. Bancroft. (Aug. i).
"Distribution of Mollusca on the Pacific Coast of North
America:" Dr. William H. Dall. (Aug. 5).
"Phototaxis:" Dr. S. J. Holmes. (Aug. 6).
One of the lecturers in this course was Dr. William H. Dall
of the Smithsonian Institution, who was a visitor at the Marine
Station for a few days.
Dr. F. W. Bancroft and Mr. H. B. Torrey, who had immedi-
ate supervision of the class work, were untiring in their efforts
to assist students in their departments. Five, and more often
six, days in each week, from June 27, to August 7, were covered
by the course of instruction. Occasionally students went out
with the dredging launch Elsie. Little parties also made early
morning excursions in quest of marine invertebrates for class
work.
As we all know, it was during the session of the school that
124 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
the wonderful phosphorescence appeared on our Southern wa-
ters. The presence of the peridinium, the cause of the luminos-
ity of the ocean, added to the interest of the class-room, and
caused thousands of persons to visit the various beaches.
On the evening of July n, 1901, Prof. W.R. Raymond asked
the writer if she had noticed a peculiar light, or phosphorescence,
in the bay on the ocean side. He had remarked its presence in
the channel. That evening the phosphorencence was plainly vis-
ible on the ocean side of the bay, and each evening after, for
several days the peculiar light was intensified in brilliancy, and
the illumination increased in area. During the rest of the month
of July and the first week in August this display of phosphores-
cence continued. During this *ime it was visible, with varying
degrees of luminosity, from Santa Barbara, Ventura, Santa
Monica, Redondo, San Pedro Bay, including Long Beach and
down the coast to Coronado and San Diego.
At the cove, on Terminal Island, when the waves dashed
high and immense breakers rolled in, each billow was capped
by a blaze of light that broke against the rocks or lost itself in
a spreading sheet of glimmering undulations. A pail of this
water gently stirred in a dark room was brilliantly starred with
tiny lights, and a scintillating mass of light followed a more vig-
orous agitation of the water. Any object, like a hand, immersed
in the pail was covered with little sparks, as of fire, when it was
removed from the water.
Rowing in a skiff over the water at night, one could plainly
see fishes darting away from their enemies, sharks and stingrays
in search of prey. The movemest of the boat caused a brilliant
display of phosphorescence on either side of it, and the splash
of the paddle was like playing with burning brimstone.
Over the ocean the crest of the waves shone with a brilliant
flame, and the light merged irrto a glistening, yellowish-green
illumination that died away in a fringe of red.
In the d'aytime the ocean was of a red or reddish-brown
color.
On Sunday morning, July 21, we were conscious that there
was some unusual condition of affairs on the beach at the cove.
The sea-gulls were flying in flocks, or quacking in groups on the
wet sand at the water's edge, and the beach was strewn with
squirming and flopping young stingrays, which the gulls eagerly
devoured. While on the sand, on the breakwater side, the beach
was covered by dead fish. In a short space of time Mr. Torrey
ami Miss Robertson of the laboratory had collected almost a
THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY AT SAN PEDRO 125
dozen different species of fish in a small area on tht sand. These
fishes included flat sharks, stingrays, edible fishes,' and several
devil-fish or octopi; hundreds of sea cucumbers and thousands
of small crabs were also lying lifeless on the wet sand.
Some of these were too far gone for laboratory use, but some
of them were opened to see what could be the cause of this
wholesale destruction of life. The gills of the fishes were studied
to see if they contained many of the peridiraum, — which were
now dying in immense quantities, — and the stomachs of the
fishes were dissected for the same purpose. When the peridi-
nums were dying and dead, the odor from the ocean was unbear-
able, and even enthusiasts, who are supposed to be oblivious of
rank odors, were annoyed and enervated by the rank odor wafted
by the sea breeze.
For days these little protozoas had been the subject of much
study in the laboratory. The peridinums appeared to keep to-
gether in flocks or colonies. In a glass tube these microscopic
animals could be seen moving as a flock of birds might move,
some leading, others following. Their appearance, as a whole,
was that of a light, yellow-brown gelatinous looking substance,
passing upward in a glass of water. Even in a tube, their grega-
rious nature was visible.
Although the season of the summer school at the Biological
Station was such a success, everyone knows this was only of sec-
ondary importance. The real object in locating the Biological
Station in San Pedro Bay was on account of the rich faunae of
the San Pedro region, Santa Catalina region and that of San
Diego Bay. To make hydrographic investigations, including a
study of the temperature and salinity of the waters, currents
and tides, exploring from 100 to 150 fathoms, and collecting
at various depths the rare and new specimens sure to be found
in these rich areas — these were of first importance. The results
more than equaled the expectation. Eighty-six stations were
dredged, and 157 hauls were made. Several (12) barrels of val-
uable material was secured for the University at Berkeley.
Common species were placed in the station for school use, but
the rarer specimens were reserved for the State University. The
dredging was under the supervision of Dr. C. A. Kofoid, re-
cently from Berkeley, but formerly from Champlain, 111. He
.-UK! his corps of assistants — Dr. C. A. Whiting of Los Angeles,
Mr. Cook of Whittier, and others — dredged in the vicinity of
San Diego for nearly three weeks. In the San Diego region
there is a deep depression or canon, and dredging in this deep
126 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
gorge descended to over 630 fathoms. The hydrography of
the Catalina and San Pedro regions was in charge of Prof. W.
R. Raymond, who had also the work of determining the mol-
luscan species. In this he was very ably assisted by Mrs. T. S.
Oldroyd. This meant the sorting out and classifying of im-
mense quantities of drift material, rich in molluscan life.
All material collected was, after sorting out species, or gen-
era, tied in little cheese-cloth bags, containing labels of the sta-
tion from which each specimen was collected, then these bags
were packed in barrels in alcohol. Small or very rare specimens
were placed in vials or bottles containing alcohol. Miss Rob-
ertson of Berkeley had charge of the material temporarily left
at the Biological Laboratory. Miss Gulilema R. Crocker sorted
and identified the echinoderms; Prof. Wesley R. Coe of Yale
had charge of the nemertina, (worms), making drawings and
naming a number of new species, and Dr. S. J. Holmes of Mich-
igan University had supervision of new forms of Crustacea. Be-
sides these, there were a number of persons engaged in special
study of various branches. Diatoms, Dr. W. C. Adler-Musch-
kowsky; Peridiniums, Mr. H. B. Torrey; Echinoderms in con-
nection with the reproduction of rays, Miss Monks; Bryozoa,
Miss Robertson; Ascidians, Dr. Bancroft; Enteropneusta, Prof.
Rtiter; Sea Slugs, Prof. Cockerell.
Although the university's endowment is capitalized at about
"eleven million dollars," and its yearly income is about "five
hundred thousand dollars," and it has received "private bene-
factions to the amount of four million dollars," there does not
seem to have been any adequate sum set apart for research in
Southern California. Capitalists in Los Angeles were appealed
to, and they responded, as the following note of acknowledge-
ment, issued in the University Bulletin of April, 1901, attests.
After this was issued, other friends of the enterprise in Los An-
geles responded. These are now added to the other names :
"The investigations here projected are made possible, finan-
cially by the co-operation with the university of Mr. H. W.
O'Melveny, Mr. J. A. Graves, Mr. Jacob Baruch, Mr. Wm. G.
Kerckhoff, Mr. Wm. R. Rowland, the Los Angeles Terminal
Railway, Mr. J. H. Shankland, Mr. Jno. E. Plater, and the
Banning Company," Mr. I. N. Van Nuys, Mr: C. M. Wright,
Mr. H. Newmark," Mr. H. Jevne, Miss M. M. Fette, Mr. H. H.
Kerckhoff, Mr. R. H. F. Variel, Mr. W. J. Variel, Mr. L. R.
Hewitt, Mr. Russ Avery, E. K. Wood Lumber Co., Standard
Oil Company, all of Los Angeles.
EARLY CLERICALS OF LOS ANGELES
BY H. D. BARROWS.
[Read before the Historical Society Dec. 2, 1901.]
As Alta California was settled by Spanish-speaking people
who tolerated no other form of religion except the Roman
Catholic, of course there were no churches except of that faith
in Los Angeles, from the time of the settlement of the ancient
pueblo, in the year 1781, until the change of government in
1846.
From and after the founding of the mission of San Gabriel,
in 1778, until, and after the completion of the old Plaza
church in the latter part of 1822, that mission became and
remained the center of industrial activity, as well as the head-
quarters of clerical authority for this portion of the province.
Fathers Salvadea, Sanchez, Boscana and Estenega managed
with zeal and great ability the extensive concerns, both spiritual
and temporal, of the mission, sending a priest occasionally to
the pueblo, or coming themselves, to say mass, at the capilla or
chapel which had been erected north and west of the present
church. After the latter was built, Father Boscana became the
first regular rector or pastor, serving till 1831. He was suc-
ceeded by Fathers Martinas, Sanchez, Bachelot, Estenega, Jim-
enez. Ordaz, Rosales, etc., who served as local pastors, for longer
or shorter periods, of the only church in the town, from 1831
to 1851.
The first priest, whom I knew of, but did not know person-
ally, was Padre Anacleto Lestrade, a native of France, who was
the incumbent from '51 to '56. Padre Bias Raho, who came
here in 1856, I knew well, and esteemed highly. He was broad-
minded and tolerant. He told me that he had lived sixteen years
in the Mississippi valley before he came to Los Angeles. He
was a native of Italy.
It was during his pastorate that the old church building
was greatly improved. It was frescoed inside and out, by a
Frenchman, Mr. H. Penelon, the pioneer photographer of Los
Angeles. The lettering on the front of the building as seen to-
day was done by Penelon, viz. : "Los Fieles de Esta Parroquia
128 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
A la Reina de Los Angeles, 1861;" and also on the marble
tablets :
Dios Te Salve, Maria Llena De Gratia,
El Senor Esta En Su Santo Templo: Calle La Tierra ante
su Acatamiento.
Habac. 2, 20.
Santa Maria Madre de Dios, Ruega por nosotros Pecadoros.
Padre Raho was the first Vicar General of the diocese, under
Bishop Amat.
Later, Padre Raho, who served his parish faithfully for a
number of years, and who was respected and revered by his par-
ishoners, fell sick and went to the Sisters' Hospital, which was
then located in the large two-story brick building which stood,
and I think still stands, to the east of the upper depot, and be-
tween the latter and the river, which the Sisters bought of
Mr. H. C. Cardwell, who built it.
I visited Padre Raho here during his last illness, at his re-
quest. He told me that he had not a cent of money (having
taken vows of poverty,) in the world; and that the good sisters
furnished him refuge, etc. The venerable Sister Ann, whom
many will remember, and who, I believe, is still living at an
advanced age, at the home of the order of Sisters of Charity,
at Emmettsburg, Pa., was at that time the superioress of the
order here.
Fathers Duran and Mora succeeded Father Raho. There
were other priests whom I did not know so well, who made
their home at different times at the parsonage adjoining the old
church. But none of these, so far as my acquaintance per-
mitted me to know, with the possible exception of Father Mora,
were as liberal as Father Raho. The bishop of the diocese dur-
ing these times was Tadeo Amat, who, though his jurisdiction
extended to Monterey, made his headquarters first for a time
at Santa Barbara, and then at this old church of "Nuesta Senora,
la Reyna de Los Angeles." Bishop Amat was succeeded by
Bishop (formerly Father) Mora, a gentle and scholarly prelate.
It was during the latter's administration (in 1874, I think,) that
the cathedral (and bishop's residence) was built, on Main street,
?nd the official headquarters of the diocese were removed
thither. Bishop Mora was succeeded by Bishop Montgomery,
the present head of the local church].
When Father Mora was made bishop, Father Peter Verda-
guer, who was a very eloquent Spanish orator, became pastor of
the old church. "Father Peter," as he was widely known, was
EARLY CLERICALS OF LOS ANGELES 129
made a bishop a few years ago, and he was succeeded by the
present rector, a young and talented priest, Father Liebana.
"Father Peter," now Bishop Verdaguer, presides over tht dio-
cese of Texas.
Bishop Mora, and genial, gentle Father Adam, long his
Vicar General, and long an honored and active member of
our Historical Society, both now reside with their relatives, in
retreat, during the closing years of their lives, at Barcelona,
Spain.
Of the early Protestant ministers who came to Los Angeles,
I knew personally nearly all of them, as they were comparatively
few in numbers; whilst of the many, many who now reside here,
I hardly know one, intimately.
One of the first to come here, I think, was Parson Adam
Bland, who had the reputation of being a smart preacher and
a shrewd horse-trader. But I heard — how truly I know not —
that after laboring here a year or two in the early '50*5, he
abandoned the field as hopeless, though in after years he came to
the county again, when he found the gospel vineyard vastly
more encouraging than during his former missionary labors.
Where Parson Bland is now located, or whether he is' still living,
I do not know.
When I came here in '54, there was only one church building
in town — that fronting the Plaza; and no regular Protestant
church edifice at all.
Rev. James Woods, a Presbyterian, was holding protestant
services then in the adobe that stood on the present site of the
"People's Store;" and he came to me and asked me to assist in
the music each Sunday, which I did. Just how long he preached
here, I cannot now recall. But I remember that when the bodies
of the four members of Sheriff Barton's party, who were killed
in January, 1857, by the Juan Flores bandits, were brought here
to town from San Juan for burial, there was no Protestant min-
ister here then to conduct funeral services. But, as it happened,
two of the murdered men were Masons, and that fraternal, semi-
religious order, whose organization extends throughout the civ-
ilized world, in sheer pity, turned aside, after decorously and
reverently burying their own two brethren, and read a portion
of the Masonic burial service over the bodies of the other two
men, who were not Masons. The alternative, which at that time
was imminent, of dumping those two bruised, dumb human be-
ings into the ground without any religious service whatever,
seemed to me then, and has seemed to me since, a ghastly one.
I3O HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Rev. J. W. Douglass, founder of the "Pacific" newspaper,
who taught a private school in the family of Wm. Wolfskill in
the forepart of 1854, was a minister, but I believe he never held
public religious services here. A Dr. Carter, and also W. H.
Shore, deputy county clerk, read the Episcopal service for brief
periods during the late 'SG'S; but with these exceptions, my im-
pression is that there was no resident Protestant clergyman,
or lay reader, who conducted religious services here from the
time Rev. Mr. Woods left, sometime in 1855, till 1858, or '59,
when Rev. Wm. E. Boardman, a Presbyterian clergyman, came
here and held regular Sunday services, sometimes in one place
and sometimes in another, until 1861 or '62, or until after the
commencement of the Civil War, when he went east and entered
the service of the "Christian Commission," an organization
which did a noble work, similar to that done by the Red Cross
Society in the late Spanish war.
Mr. Boardman was an able and eloquent preacher and writer,
and the author of a popular book, entitled "The Higher Chris-
tian Life." The want of a commodious place of meeting, stim-
ulated a movement to raise funds for the erection of a church
building; and, as good Benjamin D. Wilson had donated a lot, —
a portion of the hill on which the county court house now
stands — to the "First Protestant Society," which should build
a house of worship, people of various denominations, who. with-
out regard to sect, attended Mr. Boardman's ministrations,
formed an organization, under the name of "The First Protes-
tant Society of Los Angeles," and erected the walls and roof of a
church on the lot donated by Mr. Wilson. But this work came
to a standstill after Mr. Boardman left; and not until the arrival
of Rev. Mr. Birdsall, about Christmas, 1864, was any further
progress made in the erection of "The First Protestant
Church building in Los Angeles.
I do not pretend here to give a consecutive account of all
the Protestant ministers who, a quarter of a century or more
ago, helped to establish churches of the different denominations
here, much less to connect them chronologically with the many
churches of today; but rather to give some recollections of those
of the former epoch, whom I knew well, either personally or by
reputation.
Rev. J. H. Stump was a Methodist minister here in the '6o's.
Rev. A. M. Hough was another early preacher of the same de-
nomination, who came in 1868, and who, with the exception of
brief intervals, resided here till his death, in August, 1900. On
EARLY CLERICALS OF LOS ANGELES 13!
the establishment of the "Southern California Conference," Mr.
Hough became the Presiding Elder. Revs. Mr. Hendon and
Mr. Copeland were other local Methodist pastors of that period.
It is said that Rev. J. W. Brier preached the first sermon
ever preached in Los Angeles, in 1850; but I do not
think he stayed here long, as there were neither Methodist wor-
shippers nor a house of worship in Los Angeles at that early
period.
Rev. A. M. Campbell, now deceased, was the pastor of the
first "Methodist Church, South," established here in 1873. His
widow, daughter of Judge B. L. Peel, is now a missionary in
the peninsula of Corea.
Rev. Elias Birdsall, who came to Los Angeles in December,
1864, soon after his arrival organized an Episcopalian church,
of which he was the rector for many years. I knew Mr. Bird-
sall very well, and learned to admire and respect him as one of
the best men whom I ever knew. Although he was a zealous
churchman, he was in all respects an admirable citizen. He was
a logical thinker and a fine elocutionist. He believed — and most
laymen will certainly agree with him — that every person who
is to become a public speaker should make a special preparatory
study of elocution.
At the funeral services of President Lincoln, held in this
city, simultaneously with those held throughout the United
States on the I9th of April, 1865, Mr. Birdsall delivered an ad-
mirable oration before a large concourse of our citizens. Mr.
Birdsall died November 3, 1890.
Other rectors of the original Saint Athanasius Church of
Los Angeles (afterwards changed to Saint Paul's) were Dr. J.
J. Talbot, H. H. Messenger, C. F. Loop, Wm. H. Hill. J. B.
Gray, G. W. Burton, and again, subsequent to 1880, Mr. Bird-
sall. Dr. Talbot, who came here in 1868, from Lousiville, Ky.,
where he had had charge of a wealthy church at a salary of
$3.500 a year, was a very gifted and impassioned orator, and
he had withal a slight tinge of the sentimental or poetical in
his character, and his sermons were much admired, especially
by the ladies. His published address on the occasion of the
death of President Lincoln, delivered in the East before he
came to Los Angeles, was considered one of the best of the
many public orations delivered on that sorrowful theme. Dr.
Talbot, sad to say, however, was only another instance of a man
with brilliant talents who threw himself away and went to the
bad. He lived, in the main, an exemplary life here, at least up
to within a short time before he left.
132 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
To those who knew him intimately during his brief residence
in Los Angeles, he used sometimes — I remember it well — to
speak with tenderest regard of his dear children and his "wife,
Betty," in their pleasant home near Louisville. And to them,
i. e., his friends here — his last words, uttered at the very
threshold of death, as quoted by Major Ben. Truman in the
"Alta California," in 1884, are full of startling pathos and inex-
pressible sadness; indeed, I know of no sadder passage in all
literature :
"I had children — beautiful, to me at least, as a dream of
morning, and they had so entwined themselves around their
father's heart that no matter where he might wander, ever it
came back to them on the wings of a father's undying love.
The destoryer took their hands in his and led them away. I
had a wife whose charms of mind and person were such that
to 'see her was to remember; to know her, was to love.' 'T had
a mother, . . . and while her boy raged in his wild de-
lirium two thousand miles away, the pitying angels pushed the
golden gates ajar, and the mother of the drunkard entered into
rest. And thus I stand a clergyman without a church, a bar-
rister without a brief or business, a husband without a wife, a son
without a parent, a man with scarcely a friend, a soul without
hope- — all swallowed up in the maelstrom of drink!"
It seems that Dr. Talbot, after he left here, went back east,
and was put out of the ministry, became a lawyer, was again
permitted to resume his clerical functions, again fell, and again
was compelled to retire from his rectorship in 1879; shortly after
which he died as above, with the above pathetic words on his
lips.
Mr. Messenger, prior to his coming here, had been a mis-
sionary in Liberia, Africa. After his rectorship here, he, I think,
founded the Episcopal church of San Gabriel.
Mr. Messenger was a jovial, optimistic, but withal a zealous
servant of the church, possessing not a little of the missionary
spirit. Afterwards he went to Arizona.
There are many old-timers still living who well remember
Revs. Messrs. Loop, Hill and Gray. Mr. Loop, after serving
the parish here for a considerable period, moved to Pomona,
where he became a prominent, public-spirited citizen, and where
he died a year or two ago. Mr. Hill moved from here to San
Quentin, where, for some years, he was chaplain of the State
Penitentiary, and where, I understood, he became totally blind.
He died several years ago. Mr. Gray went from here to Ala-
EARLY CLERICALS OF LOS ANGELES 133
bama. I know not if he is still living. Mr. Burton is still a
resident of this city, where he has been for years connected
with the daily and weekly press.
The early ministers of the Congregational church in Los An-
geles were Revs. Alexander Parker, (1866-7); I- W- Atherton,
(i867-'7i); J. T. Wills, (1871-3); D. T. Packard, (1873-9); C.
J. Hutchins, (i879-'82); and A. J. Wells, (1882-87).
The first church building, erected under the ministration of
Mr. Parker, was on New High street, north of Temple, a photo-
graph of which I herewith present to the Historical Society.
Early Baptist clergymen were Revs. Messrs. Hobbs, Zahn
Fryer, Reed, etc., all of whom have deceased.
Rabbi A. W. Edelman organized the Hebrew congregation,
B'nai B'rith, in 1862. Rabbi Edelman is still a citizen of Los
Angeles.
I should mention that Drs. J. W. Ellis, A. F. White and W.
J. Chichester were comparatively early pastors of the Presby-
terian church; and also that Dr. M. M. Bovard was president of
the University of Southern California.
Dr. Eli Fay was the first Unitarian minister to hold public
religious services here. Dr. Fay was, intellectually, a very able
man, though somewhat aggressive and self-assertive. His ser-
mons, barring a rather rasping flavor of egotism, were models
of powerful reasoning. Before coming to Los Angeles, Dr.
Fay had been pastor of Unitarian congregations at Leominster,
Mass., and at Sheffield, England. In addition to his sacer-
dotal qualifications, Dr. Fay was a very good judge of the value
of real estate. Soon after he came here from Kansas City, he
bought what he called "choice pieces of property," on which it
was understood he afterwards made big money. Like many
other shrewd saints who came here from many countries, his
faith in Los Angeles real estate seemed to be only second to his
faith in the realty of the land of Canaan, or, in other words, in
"choice lots" in the "New Jerusalem."
I might recount many anecdotes concerning those ministers
and priests of Los Angeles of a former generation, of whom I
have spoken; for in those olden times, in this then small town,
everybody knew almost everybody. In a frontier town, — which
this then was, — there are always picturesque characters, among
clericals as well as among laymen.
THE ORIGINAL FATHER JUNIPERO
(Legends from the "Flowers of St. Francis.")
BY F. j. POLLEY.
We know little of Father Serra prior to his work in the New
World; yet he was then a man of mature years, with refined
powers of mind and a character so firm of purpose and a plan of
work so well considered that he seldom swerved from the ideals
of his youth.
It becomes an interesting problem to trace the growth of
this man's ideals, and, if possible, to ascertain who had an as-
cendency over him, and what influences helped him to shape his
life.
As time passes, I see more clearly that Father Serra was not
of the eighteenth century, but of those before. I see that he
was highly gifted in the spiritual sense, a devout churchman, one
highly susceptible to the influence of his order, and an admirer
of those in whose footsteps he forged to follow. But just here
arises the question, Who were his ideals?
Naturally, the modern mind turns to St. Francis as the chief
among those whose lives had influenced our priest. The litera-
ture of St. Francis and his times is abundant and accessible.
This we are entitled to use, having due regard for critical can-
ons in helping out the unknown history of Serra's formative
years; but yet the fact remains we are lacking in the main details
of Serra's growth.
That he had an ideal is well known. His assumption of the
name "Junipero" perhaps may have been influenced by the cur-
rent belief that nothing evil in animal life could live under the
shade of the juniper tree; so Serra had hoped by his labors to
route the Devil and like a juniper banish evil from the world.
Another mentions a certain Brother Juniper, a companion
and follower of the Holy St. Francis, and a man whose life ap-
pealed so strongly to Serra that he assumed the name in connec-
tion with his own. Father Palou says:
"At an early age Junipero was well instructed by his par-
ents in the rudiments of the Holy Catholic faith." Later he
pursues his studies at the Convent of Jesu. I now quote Palou :
THE ORIGINAL FATHER JUNIPERO 135
"During the year of his novitiate, Junipero studied carefully
the austere rules of the Franciscans, and read the lives of many
saints which that glorious order had given to the church; like
another, Ignatius of Loyola. This reading inflamed his heart
with love and zeal for souls. . . . The year of his proba-
tion being ended, Fr. Junipero was professed on the I5th of
September, 1731. On account of his great devotion to one of
the just confessions of St. Francis — Friar Juniper — he took that
name in his profession. Such was his spiritual joy on that sol-
emn day that each year he renewed his vows on the anni-
versary."
There is nothing scientifically accurate in thus retelling these
vague surmises; nor is there in what follows, yet it is of this
Friar Juniper I wish to speak. Such a man existed, and his life
was undoubtedly known to Father Serra. Beyond this it is
merely a question of inference.
You will find no mention of this old saint in the general
discussion of our local history, and yet, if we grant a grain of
truth back of the reason assigned for Serra's name Junipero, he
must have known and approved the main outlines of the life I
now present. I trust I shall not be misunderstood as claiming
either absolute truth for the old biography and collection of
monkish legends that I have drawn upon, nor as stating it to
be more than a reasonable hope that I may be correct when I
make my suggestion that in this collection lay one of the inspi-
rational sources of Serra's life.
Kdward Everett Hale has published a paper on the probabil-
ity of the name California having been borrowed from a romance
widely known in that period of discovery, and hence in the
minds of the men who first visited our coasts. The argument
of Dr. Hale is equally useful in my present inquiry, and I adopt
it in the main as applicable to my paper, i. e., a book existed
telling of the life of a certain Brother Juniper, and our Serra
had read and believed it all. Understand, then, that what fol-
lows is offered solely as a contribution towards the solution of
an interesting point in our local annals and nothing more.
First, as to the prevalance of monkish legends of the past.
You see from the quotation from Father Palou that Junipero
Serra was deeply read therein. They constitute an important
part of the early literature of the Romance nations. The col-
lections were widely known and extensively copied, were read,
discussed, used in sermons with a firm belief in their literal truth
by the mass of the people, though modern criticism can now
136 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
detect the symbolic nature of parts that once passed for truth
as sacred as lips could utter. I have spent days in the ancient
libraries of Europe, and the charm of these old records, with
their beautiful vellums and lovely lettering, grows greater as
each opportunity arises to examine them. It is impossible to
make one realize in California what tangible evidence these old
manuscripts offer of the loving care bestowed upon them and
how highly their contents were prized. Mr. Aldrich, in Friar
Jerome's Beautiful Book, has done more than tell a legend; he
has entered into the true spirit of the past. As printing arose,
the Golden Legend of Caxton, with its lives of saints, at once
testifies to the importance of these stories as material for books.
Not to be tedious on a non-debatable subject, think of the vast
later compilations known as Butler's Lives of the Saints and
their present importance. You will find full legends of our
Padre Juniper in a book entitled "TheFlowers of St. Francis,"
and long used by the common people of Italy.
The earliest dated manuscript is 1390. The book is almost
unknown to the Protestant people. It is accessible to the trans-
lators, by T. W. Arnold, printed by Dent & Co., of London."
In the Italian compilation known as the Flowers of St. Fran-
cis, the life of Padre Juniper is placed toward the latter part of
the book.
As to the book from which I have drawn these legends, it
is not my purpose to speak.
My paper is not critical, because the legends are not histor-
ically true as to facts; no one pretends they are, and my .aim
is simply to enforce this well-known fact to your minds that
they were immensely popular in the centuries succeeding St.
St. Francis' life and death. In the Italian our brother is known
as Borther Ginipero. It was the pun made by St. Francis that
converted the name into Junipero, or the Juniper tree.
Mrs. Alithaut retells a few legends in her work on St.
Francis, but Sabatier, in his great critical work on St. Francis,
p. 415, et seq., goes so fully into the authorities for these Ftoretti
that nothing more need be said in this paper except to copy a
couple of short extracts.
THE FIORETTI.
"With the Fioretti we enter definitely the domain of legend.
This literary gem relates the life of Francis, his companions and
disciples, as it appeared to the popular imagination at the begin-
ning of the fourteenth century. We have not to discuss the lit-
THE ORIGINAL FATHER JUNIPERO 137
erary value of this document, one of the most exquisite reli-
gious works of the Middle Ages, but it may be said that from
the historic point of view it does not deserve the neglect to
which it has been left.
"Yet that which gives those stories an inestimable worth is
what, for want of a better term, we may call their atmosphere.
They are legendary, worked over, exaggerated, false even, if you
please, but they give us, with a vivacity and intensity of color-
ing, something that we shall search for in vain elsewhere — the
surroundings in which St. Francis lived. More than any other
biography, the Fioretti transport us to Umbria, to the moun-
tains of the March of Ancon; they make us visit the hermitages,
and mingle with the life, half childish, half angelic, which was
that of their inhabitants.
"It is difficult to pronounce upon the name of the author.
His work was only that of gathering the flowers of his bouquet
from written and oral tradition. The question whether he wrote
in Latin or Italian has been much discussed, and appears to be
not yet settled; what is certain is that though this work may
be anterior to the Conformities, it is a little later than the Chron-
icle of the Tribulations, for it would be strange that it made no
mention of Angelo Clareno, if it was written after his death.
"The stories crowd one another in this book like flocks of
memories that come upon us pell-mell, and in which insignifi-
cant details occupy a larger place than the most important
events; our memory is, in fact, an overgrown child, and what
it retains of a man is generally a feature, a word, a gesture.
"It is easy to understand the success of the Fioretti. The
people fell in love with these stories, in which St. Francis and
bis companions appear both more human and more divine than
other legends; and they began very soon to feel the need of so
completing them as to form a veritable biography.
"The second, entitled Life of Brother Ginepro, is only indi-
rectly connected with St. Francis; yet it deserves to be studied,
for it offers the same kind of interest as the principal collection,
to which it is doubtless posterior. In these fourteen chapters
we find the principal features of the life of this Brother, whose
mad and saintly freaks still furnish material for conversation in
Umbrian monasteries. These unpretending pages discover to
us one aspect of the Franciscan heart. The official historians
have thought it their duty to keep silence upon this Brother,
who, to them, appeared to be a supremely indiscreet personage,
very much in the way of the good name of theOrder in the eyes
138 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OP SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
of the laics. They were right from their point of view, but we
owe a debt of gratitude to the Fioretti for having preserved for
us this personality, so blithe, so modest, and with so arch a
good nature. Certainly St. Francis was more like Ginipero than
like Brother Elias or St. Bonaventura." — Sabatier, p. 415.
I have drawn from the book alluded to by Sabatier the fol-
lowing legends of this Brother Ginipero, making my abstract
as brief as possible to economize time and space, though by so
doing the literary flavor of the original is hopelessly lost to you.
It certainly is "an exquisite religious work."
The narrative begins abruptly, as follows: "Brother Juni-
per was one of the most elect disciples and first companions of
St. Francis, a man of deep humility, of great fervor and great
charity, of whom St. Francis, speaking on a time with his holy
companions, said : 'He would be a good Brother Minor who
had conquered himself and the world like Brother Juniper.' '
This is all by way of prelude. The brother thus introduced
is taken rapidly through a series of episodes in his life that illus-
trate his character.
In the first legend he is visiting a sick man, and, all on fire
with love and compassion, he asked, "Can I do thee any serv-
ice?" The sick man replied, "Much comfort would it give me
if thou couldst get me a pig's trotter to eat."
Brother Junipero rushes to a forest, seizes a pig, severs its
foot, prepares the morsel and presents it to the sick man. But
while Brother Juniper, with "great glee for to glad the heart
of the sick man," is telling him the tale of its capture, a different
scene is being enacted: The owner who saw the mayhem of
his pig, reports to his lord, and from thence hurries to the house
of the brothers, whom he upbraids with a copious selection of
choice epithets as hypocrites, thieves, liars, rogues, knaves, etc.
St. Francis could not appease him, even though he offered the
man restitution, for he leaves in a rage, telling his woes to all
he meets upon the road.
St. Francis is shown as a student of human nature. He
keeps counsel and wonders if Brother Juniper be not the cul-
prit "in zeal too indiscreet," so, secretly calling, he asks him.
The brother, glorying in the deed, details the facts, and thinks
loo pigs could be similarly sacrificed and yet he would say "well
done." But St. Francis' level head, foreseeing the evil effect of
the owner's wrath, gently reprimands Brother Juniper, who now
goes forth charged to apologize until the man is pacified.
Juniper is .unable to understand the nature of his wrong, "for
THE ORIGINAL FATHER JUNIPERO 139
tt seemed to him these temporal things were naught save so
far as men of their charity shared them with their neighbors."
A doctrine certainly now objected to by the property owners
and governing classes of our age and by those of the past as well.
The man heaps abuse upon our brother, who cannot under-
stand why the owner should do so, for it seems to him a matter
of rejoicing rather than wrath; but yet he rejoiced to be "ill
spoken of."
Once again the incredulous brother retells his tale, and by
tears and caresses so works up the irate fellow that he capitu-
lates, and, conquered by the devotion and humility of Brother
Juniper, kills his pig, cooks i^ and serves it to St. Francis at St.
Mary of the Angels. The episode ends with the sentence that
I think lodged in Father Serra's memory and influenced his
life — "And St. Francis, pondering on the simplicity and the
patience of said holy Brther Juniper, in the hour of trial, said to
his companions and others standing around, "Would to God
my brothers that I had a whole forest of such Junipers."
It is not my intention to give a full analysis of this valuable
record, and I have given one chapter more in detail as a type of
the rest than for any special interest attached to it beyond the
closing sentence last quoted, and which is so pertinent to my
theme.
Of the remaining chapters it must suffice for the limits of my
paper to say that in each and every one Brother Juniper, out of
many adventures, emerges more holy and beloved by all. I
will now abstract a few narrations and anecdotes.
A man afflicted with demons had a rational moment, be-
cause, Juniper passing that way, the devils, by their own con-
fession, could not endure his holiness, and fled until he passed.
After this, when an afflicted man was brought him, St. Francis
would say, "If thou come not out of this creature straight away,
I will send for Brother Juniper to deal with thee." A most
efficacious threat, and far more sure of a cure than all the medi-
cal science in our modern asylums, if we are to believe this little
book.
The most detailed episode relates how this devil attempted
revenge by assuming the guise of a peasant, and then in this
form warning the tyrant Nicolas of a spy who will attempt his
Kfe. Says the wily devil : "He will come as a beggar, in gar-
ments torn and patched, his cowl hanging all tattered on his
shoulder, and he will bring with him an aul wherewith to kill
you, and a tinder box to set fire to your castle."
140 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Here we have a true picture of Brother Juniper, who is now
on his travels. Later he is assaulted by youths, noted by the
guards, and dragged before Nicolas. He testifies that he carried
the aul to mend his sandals; the tinder box was for his fire when
he slept alone in the lonely woods on chill nights.
The examination begins with torture, but he courts it, and,
entering into the spirit of the inquiry, and to increase the tort-
ure, says, "I am the worst of traitors," and as to killing and burn-
ing, "much worse things would I do if God permitted it."
Next we find him tied to the tail of a horse and dragged to
the place of execution, happy in his persecution, and saying,
"Blessed are ye when men shall revile you," etc.
His voice is recognized amid the hooting crowd. A friend
rushes to the tyrant, there is a. stay of proceedings, an investi-
gation, a pardon, an apology, and the tyrant does all in his
power to make amends for having tortured a brother, and even
though it appears he evidently wanted the persecution, yet for
the torture administered the tyrant knows he has lost favor with
God, "and God suffered it that a few days thereafter that tyrant,
Nicolas, ended his days with a cruel death;" (and this, mind you,
though Brother Juniper had at once before this event freely for-
given the tyrant) but the old chronicler must make his point,
and men who interfere with brothers must be warned. Having
made God cruel, all is ended. And Brother Juniper departed,
leaving all the people edified."
And, if I may add to such a dramatic little recital, "and the
modern reader much mystified" — at the morality of the entire
tale.
Brother Juniper was so accustomed to giving even his robe
and cowl to any one who chose to beg that his guardian for-
bade it.
Upon the next occasion, the brother repeats his guardian's
orders to the beggar, but adds that while he may not give it,
nor any part thereof, yet "if thou take it from my back, I will
not say thee nay." He spoke not to the deaf, and Brother Ju-
niper returned naked. When asked for details, he merely said,
"A good man took it from my back and went away with it."
Such quibbling as this evidently was not considered deceit-
ful or evasive of the truth, not to call it by the modern term of
downright lying, and it is practiced today by many a witness
who glibly repeats the solemn oath "to tell the truth, the whole
truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God," and then in-
variably holds back the "whole truth," and considers himself
THE ORIGINAL FATHER JUNIPERO 14!
clever just in proportion as he is able to baffle the opposing at-
torney who asks for it. It is a matter that can be relegated to
Hamlet's class of "things more honored in the breach than in
the observance," and we who live in glass houses ought to be
tender with Brother Juniper, with his quibbles and white lies.
Our Brother Juniper seems to have had no conception of
private ownership, giving away everything that came to his
hands, or, more properly, what his hands came to, for he levied
toll upon all until books, vestments and mantels were locked and
guarded from him.
The altar especially rich in decorations had a zealous guar-
dian, who took much pride in an altar piece fringed with gold
and set with silver bells of great price. While at the table, a
sudden fear of Brother Juniper, who was at solitary worship,
caused him to rush suddenly from the table. He was too late;
a woman had solicited alms, and the brother, meditatively say-
ing, "These things are a superfluity, had cut them from the
fringe and given them to the poor woman, "for pity's sake."
What follows is a delightful picture of a monastic tempest. We
have details of the sacristan's rage, his search throughout the
city for the fringe, the formal complaint to the Father General,
who severely alludes to the sacristan's stupidity, he well know-
ing Juniper's weakness, but he adds, "Nevertheless, I will correct
him well for this fault."
Juniper is summoned, and the Father General is so lovingly
true to his promise that eventually, from over-wrath, has to de-
sist from hoarseness and inability to scold more. The brother,
however, "cared little and well-nigh nothing for his words, for
he took delight in insults whenever he was well abused, but in
piety for the hoarseness of the General, he began to bethink him
of a remedy. '* Juniper wishes to cure the throat, so that he can
be cured at great length. Next we find the remedy in process —
a pottage of flour and butter. It is well into the morning hours
when Juniper knocks at the General's cell. They have another
scene, the irate General calling him scoundrel and caitiff for dis-
turbing him at that unseemly hour, for how can he eat in semi-
darkness? At last Juniper, in the simplicity of his heart, pro-
poses that the General hold the candle while he (the brother)
consumes the pottage, "that it be not wasted." This breaks the
General's wrath. He is reconciled, and together "they twain
eat the pottage of flour, by reason of his unfortunate charity, and
they were refreshed much more by devotion than by the food."
Devotional acts were not neglected, and another side of the
142 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
picture shows Juniper silent for six months — the first day for
love of God, the next for the Son, for the Holy Spirit, for the
Virgin, and then a saint for each succeeding day. Surely the
list of saints did not give out, but presumably the brother's the-
ory did, and he welcomed a change; else there might have been
eternal silence and no more tales to chronicle. Once to abase
himself, he made a bundle of his clothes and stood half naked
the day in the market place of Niterbo. The description of the
howling, taunting, mud-slinging, rock-casting mob is quite
vivid, as is also the fierce rage of his brothers, when they heard
of it. They said he was a madman and deserved jail and hanging
for the disgrace and ill repute brought upon the convent. And
"Brother Juniper, full of joy, replied in all humility, 'Well and
truly have you spoken, for these punishments am I worthy, and
of much more.' '
Upon another occasion, hearing of a festival to be held at
Assisi, he stripped himself to his breeches, and so made the jour-
ney to its convent. These brothers were for hanging him, and
when the General reproved him severely for the disgrace and
ill repute he brought upon them, all, until he knew not what
penance he could inflict, Juniper asked "That in the same man-
ner as I came hither, so for penance' sake I should return to the
place whence I started for to come to this festival."
Such an utterly silly and illogical request carries its own
commentary; yet apparently his reputation for sanctity grew
with each new episode.
When a friend and brother died, he wished to go to the
grave, disinter the body, sever the head and from it make two
porringers to use in his eating and drinking in memory of the
deceased. Only his certain knowledge of the rage of his broth-
ers at such an act prevented its accomplishment.
At his devotions he was wrapped in ecstacies. He saw a hand
in mid air and heard a voice say, "O, Brother Juniper, without
this hand thou canst do nothing;" and for days after he went
about repeating in a loud voice, " 'Tis true, indeed; 'tis true in-
deed."
One episode is partly comic, though the writer meant it as
a glorious recital. It is long, and I brief it baldly.
Visiting a monastery, Juniper is asked to prepare food for
the brothers' return. He plans to provide a week's rations at
one cooking that more time may be had for prayer. He begs
cooking pots, provisions and fuel and begins.
"Everything is thrown into the pots — flowls with their fea-
THE ORIGINAL FATHER JUNIPERO 143
thers on and eggs in their shells, and all the rest in like fashion."
The roaring fire burns him. He lashes a plank in front of his
body, and thus warded, skips and jumps from pot to pot in a fe-
ver of earnestness. Brothers return, peep in and are lost in won-
der. The summons comes for refreshment. Brother Juniper, all
heated and flushed, serves his stew, and says, eat quickly that we
may hasten to prayer. When the covers are lifted, the stew
gives forth such a frightful odor that not a pig in the land of
Rome could have eaten it.
The brothers rage over the waste of so much food, and
the guardian rebukes him for stupidity. When the evil is done,
Juniper begins to see the effects of his unthinking acts, and
with tears and lamentations begs that his eyes be put out or that
he be hung for the waste to the Order committed.
He hides for a day in shame. "Then, quoth the guardian,
my brothers dear, if only we had it, I would that every day this
brother spoiled as much as he hath today, if so we might be ed-
ified, for great simplicity and charity have made him do this
thing."
Upon a journey to Rome, our brother displayed another
trait. People crowded from Rome to welcome and escort him
to the convent of the Brothers Minor, but he wished to turn
their devotion to scorn, and so we are told that upon the road
"There were two children playing at see-saw, to wit, they had
put one log across another log and each sat at his own end and
so went up and down." Brother Juniper, displacing one child,
assumed its place upon the log. The people gather, salute and
wait.
"And Brother Juniper paid little heed to their salutations,
their reverence and their waiting for him, but took great pains
with his see-sawing." Some thought him mad; others more
devout than ever; but the crowd disperses and then Brother
Juniper remained altogether comforted, because he had seen
some folk that made a mock at him. So he went on his way and
entered Rome with all meekness and humility, and came to the
convent of the Brothers Minor."
And here, for the limitations of time, we must leave him,
and even forbear critical comment upon the strange episodes
enumerated. In this brief summary no attempt has been made
to reproduce the genuine charm of the child-like narrative.
As a guide for modern life, it may lapse into obscurity, but
as a naive, unconscious picture of the past, it is worth more than
a half contemptuous glance.
144 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Absurd as many of the acts enumerated are now, they were
the acts of so-called holy men, and the authors who wrote, and
the people who read, saw only the deeds of saintly persons, fit
to be held up for profitable imitation.
If we lose sight of the fact that such recitals formed the basis
and guide for preaching and practical living, and consider them
merely as literature, we miss the key that unlocks the inner
meaning of a past religion and life, just as surely as will the
future historian misunderstand our age who one day writes of
the nineteenth century Bible, considered purely as literature
and not as the religious guide of the century under his critical
discussion.
The vital question is not how we judge the tales, but how
Father Serra did. The problem of his life, to us, in the present
inquiry, lies in the sources from which he drew his inspiration.
He lived according to his light, for he was not great enough
like Wiclif to be a beacon for a waiting world. Father Serra was
no "morning star of a Reformation." He was a disciple, not a
creator — spiritual within his narrow credulities, but not an orig-
inator of his ideals. Through life until death he was zealous for
the interests intrusted to him, and within the lines of his trust
he brought such worthy characteristics into action that he was
then and now a man among men in the history of the West.
Yet in all this any sincere admirer of Serra sees his limita-
tions, and reasoning from the causes of early piety and inspira-
tions, can trace the effects of a highly developed belief in mira-
cles and special providences that are to be opportunely furnished
when unreasoning zeal had rendered a natural solution of diffi-
culties incurred almost an impossibility. The man with a call on
miracles does not have to look before he leaps, and the doctrine
and its effects are often serious for the world.
This book of tales must have proved a great comfort to one
of Serra's temperament. He could read of men wholly devoted
to their order — over-zealous, meek beyond reason ; almost sense-
less in the extreme to which their emotional instincts led them —
seeking martyrdom, assuming burdens, mocked at and generally
themselves inviting the occasion for trouble, yet, all in all .tri-
umphing in each and every case of wild folly of conduct; revered
by high and low, and at their death received among the saints
by miracles so taxing nature that the episodes of Christ's cruci-
fixion and resurrection seem to pale beside the reversal of natj
ural laws called out to do honor to these dead.
This, however, is dead issue with us, but when, in studying
THE ORIGINAL FATHER JUNIPERO 145
the development of our land and noting the part played by its
developers, the source of their seemingly strange beliefs often
becomes of interest; thus the acquisition of such a little guide
book and text of practical works as the one I have briefed for
the society, assumes an importance long lost to it, and this one
sentence in it deserves enrollment among the chance sayings
that have helped make history : "Would to God, my brothers,
that I had a whole forest of such Junipers."
CAMEL CARAVANS OF THE AMERICAN
DESERTS
BY J. M. GUINN.
[Read May 6, 1901]
The story of the experiment made nearly fifty years ago, to
utilize the Arabian camel as a beast of burden on the arid plains
of Arizona, New Mexico and the deserts of the Colorado is
one of the many unwritten chapters in the history of the South-
west. A few fugitive locals in the newspapers of that time and
the reminiscences of some of the camel drivers who survived the
experiment are about the only records of a scheme that its pro-
genitors had hoped would revolutionize travel and transporta-
tion over the American deserts. The originator and chief pro-
moter of the project was Jefferson Davis, late president of the
Southern Confederacy.
During the last days of the session of Congress in 1851,
when the army appropriation bill was under consideration, Mr.
Davis, then Senator from Mississippi, offered an amendment
providing for the purchase and introduction of 30 camels and
20 dromedaries, with ten Arab drivers and the necessary equi-
page.
In advocating his amendment, Mr. Davis alluded to the ex-
tent to which these animals are used in various countries in Asia
and Africa as beasts of burthen; and among other things stated
that they are used by the English in the East Indies in trans-
porting army supplies and often in carrying light guns upon
their backs; that camels were used by Napoleon in his Egyptian
campaigns in dealing with a race to which our wild Coman-
ches and Apaches bear a close resemblance. Mr. Davis thought
these animals might be used with effect against the Indians on
our Western frontier. Drinking enough water before they start
to last for one hundred miles; traveling continually without
rest at a rate of ten or fifteen miles an hour, they would over-
take these bands of Indians, which our cavalry cannot do.
They might be made to transport small pieces of ordnance
with great facility; and in fact do here all that they are capa-
CAMEL CARAVANS OF THE AMERICAN DESERTS 147
ble of doing in the East, where they are accustomed to eat the
hardiest shrubs and to drink the same kind of brackish water
which is stated to exist in some portions of our Western des-
erts. Ewing of Ohio expressed the opinion that our climate
was too cold for the camel. Mr. Rantoul of Massachusetts had
no doubt the camel might be useful, but thought $200 apiece
sufficient to pay for the animals.
The amendment was lost — 19 yeas and 24 nays. The ap-
propriation of $30,000 to buy camels with was a reckless extrav-
agance that the Senators could not sanction.
This was long before the days of billion dollar Congresses.
The total appropriations for all purposes by that Congress was
$41,900,000 — eight millions less than the appropriation of the
River and Harbor bill alone that Senator Carter of Montana
talked to death in the last Congress.
Then the newspapers of California took up the scheme, and
the more they agitated it, the mightier it became. They dem-
onstrated that it was possible to form a lightning dromedary ex-
press, to carry the fast mail and to bring eastern papers and let-
ters to California in 15 days.
It would be possible, too, if Congress could only be induced
to import camels and dromedaries to have fast camel passenger
trains from Missouri River points to the Pacific Coast. The
camel, loading up his internal water tank out of the Missouri
and striking straight across the country regardless of watering
places, and boarding himself on sage brush the plains across,
would take his next drink of the trip out of the Colorado River;
then after a quiet pasear across the desert he would land his pas-
sengers in the California coast towns in two weeks from the time
of starting. No more running the gauntlet of Panama fevers
and thieving natives on the isthmus. No more dying of thirst
on the deserts. No freeizng to death in the snows of the Sierras;
no more shipwrecks on the high seas. The double-decked camel
train would do away with all these and solve the transportation
problem until the Pacific railroad was built.
Although beaten in his first attempt at camel importation,
Jefferson Davis kept his scheme in view. While Secretr-ry of
War under President Pierce from 1853 to 1857 he obtained re-
ports from army officers stationed on the Southwestern frontier
in regard to the loss of animals on the plains — the cost of trans-
portation of army supplies and the possibility of utilizing the
camel in hunting Indians. These reports were laid before Con-
gress and that body authorized the sending out of a commission
148 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
from San Antonio, Texas, to Arizona to ascertain the military
uses to which camels could be put in the Southwest. The com-
mission made a favorable report and Congress in 1854 appropri-
ated $30,000 for the purchase and importation of camels.
In December, 1854, Major C. Wayne was sent to Egypt and
Arabia to buy seventy-five camels. He bought the first lot in
Cairo and taking these in the naval store ship "Supply," he
sailed to Smyrna, where thirty more of another kind were
bought. These had been used on the Arabian deserts. They
cost from seventy-five to three hundred dollars each, somewhat
more than had been paid for the Egyptian lot. The ship "Sup-
ply" with its load of camels reached Indianola, Texas, on the
Gulf of Mexico, Feb. 10, 1857. Three had died during the voy-
age, leaving seventy-two in the herd.
About half of these were taken to Albuquerque, New Mex-
ico, where an expedition was fitted out under command of Lieut.
Beale for Fort Tejon, California. The route lay along the 35th
parallel, crossing the Mojave desert. The expedition consisted
of 44 citizens, with an escort of 20 soldiers, the camels carrying
the baggage and water.
The expedition arrived safely at Tejon and the camel caravan
made several trips between Fort Tejon and Albuquerque. The
other half of the herd was employed in packing on the plains
of Texas and in the Gadsen Purchase, as Southern Arizona was
then called.
The first caravan to arrive in Los Angeles reached the city,
Jan. 8, 1858. The Star thus notes its arrival:
"A drove of fourteen camels under the management of Lieut.
Beale arrived in Los Angeles. They were on their way from
Fort Tejon to the Colorado River and the Mormon country, and
each animal was packed with one thousand pounds of provisions
and military stores. With this load they made from 30 to 40
miles per day, finding their own subsistance in even the most
barren country and going without water from six to ten days at
a time."
Again, the Star of July 21, 1858, makes note that "the
camels have come to town." It says: "The camels, eight in
number, came into town from Fort Tejon, after provisions
for that camp. The largest ones pack a ton and can travel six-
teen miles an hour."
It would seem that a beast of burden that could pack a ton,
travel sixteen miles an hour, subsist on sage brush and go from
six to ten days on one drink would have supplied most efTectu-
CAMEL CARAVANS OF THE AMERICAN DESERTS 149
ally the long-felt want of cheap and rapid transportation over
the desert plains of the Southwest. The promoters of the
scheme, to utilize the camel in America, made one fatal mis-
take. They figured only on his virtues; his vices were not
reckoned into the account.
Another mistake they made was in not importing Arab
drivers with the camels. From the very first meeting of the
camel and the American mule-whacker who was to be his driver
there developed between the two a mutual antipathy.
To be a successful camel driver, a man must be born to the
business. Indeed, he must come of a guild or trade union of
camel drivers at least a thousand years old; and, better still, if
it dates back to the days of Abraham and Isaac. The first disa-
greement between the two was in the matter of language. The
vigorous invective and fierce profanity of the quondam mule-
driver irritated the nerves and shocked the finer feelings of the
camel, who never in his life, perhaps, had heard anything more
strenuous than "Allah, el Allah" lisped in the softest Arabic.
At first the mild submissiveness of the camel provoked his
drivers. They could appreciate the vigorous kicking of an army
mule in his protest against abuse. But the spiritless dejection
and the mild-eyed pensiveness of the Arabian burden-bearer was
exasperating; but they soon learned that in pure meanness one
lone camel could discount a whole herd of mules. His sup-
posed virtues proved to be his worst vices. He could travel
1 6 miles an hour. Abstractly that was a virtue; but when camp
was struck in the evening and he was turned loose to sup off
the succulent sage brush, either to escape the noise and pro-
fanity of the camp or to view the country, he was always seized
with a desire to take a pasear of twenty-five or thirty miles
before supper. While this only took an hour or two of his
time, it involved upon his unfortunate driver the necessity of
spending half the night in camel chasing; for if he was not
rounded up there was a delay of half the next day in starting
the caravan. He could carry a ton — this was a commendable
virtue — but when two heavily laden "ships of the desert" col-
lided on a narrow trail, as they always did when an opportunity
offered, and tons of supplies were scattered over miles of plain
and the unfortunate camel pilots had to gather up the flotsam
of the wreck; it is not strange that the mariners of the arid
wastes anathmetized the whole camel race from the beast the
prophet rode, down to the smallest imp of Jefferson Davis's im-
portation.
150 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
The army horses and mules shared the antipathy of the
drivers for the Arabian desert trotters. Whenever one of the
humpbacked burden bearers of the Orient came trotting along
past a corral of horses and lifted his voice in an evening orison
to Mahommed or some other Turk, every horse of the caballada
was seized with fright and broke loose and stampeded over the
plains.
All of these little eccentricities did not endear the camel
to the soldiers of Uncle Sam's army. He was hated, despised
and often persecuted. In vain the officers urged the men to
give the camels a fair trial. No one wanted anything to do with
the misshapen beast. The teamsters when transformed into
camel drivers deserted and the troopers when detailed for such
a purpose fell back on their reserved rights and declared their
was nothing in army rules and regulations that could compel
American soldiers to become Arabian camel drivers. So because
there was no one to load and navigate these ships of the desert
their voyages became less and less frequent, until finally they
ceased altogether; and the desert ships were anchored at the
different forts in the Southwest.
It became evident to the army officers that the camel experi-
ment was a failure. Every attempt to organize a caravan re-
sulted in an incipient mutiny among the troopers and teamsters.
No attempt, so far as I know, was ever made to utilize the camel
for the purpose that Davis imported him — that of chasing the
Apache to his stronghold and shooting the Indian full of holes
from light artillery strapped on the back of a camel. Instead
of the camel hunting the Indian, the Indian hunted the camel.
In some way poor Lo's untutored appetite had learned to love
camel steaks and stews. So, whenever an opportunity offered,
the Apaches killed the camels; but the camel soon learned to
hate and avoid the Indian, as all living things learn to do. Some
were allowed to die of neglect by their drivers; others were sur-
reptitiously shot by the troopers sent to hunt them up when
they strayed away — the trooper claiming to have mistaken the
wooly tufts on the top of the twin humps of the camel as they
bobbed up and down in the tall sage brush, for the top-knot of
an Indian, and in self-defense to have sent a bullet crashing, not
into an Indian, but into the anatomy of a camel.
At the breaking out of the Civil War, some thirty-five or
forty of the camel band were herded at the United States forts —
Verde, El Paso, Yuma and some of the smaller posts in Texas.
When the Eastern forts were abandoned by the government
CAMEL CARAVANS OF THE AMERICAN DESERTS 15!
the camels were turned loose to take care of themselves. Those
at Yuma and Fort Tejon were taken to Benicia, condemned
and sold at auction to the highest bidder. They were bought
by two Frenchmen who took them to Reese River, Nevada,
where they were used in packing salt to Virginia City. After-
wards they were taken to Arizona and for some time they were
used in packing ore from the Silver King mine down the Gila
to Yuma. But even the Frenchmen's patience gave out at last.
Disgusted with their hunch-backed burden bearers, they turned
the whole herd loose upon the desert near Maricopa Wells.
Free now to go where they pleased, instead of straying away
beyond the reach of cruel man, the camels seemed posessed with
a desire Jo linger near the haunts of men. They stayed near the
line of the overland travel and did mischief. The apparition of
one of these ungainly beasts suddenly looming up before the
vision of a team of mules frightened the long-eared quadrupeds
out of all their senses; so they ran away, scattering freight and
drivers over the plains. The mule drivers, out of revenge, shot
the camels whenever they could get in range of them. In 1882
several wild camels were caught in Arizona and sold to a mena-
gerie, but a few have survived all enemies and still roam at large
in the desert regions of Southern Arizona and Sonora, Mex.
The International Boundary Commission that recently surveyed
the line between the United States and Mexico, reported see-
ing wild camels on the alkali plains amid sage brush and cactus.
These are probably descendants of the imported ones, as those
seen appeared to be in their prime. Occacionally the soldiers
in the garrisons of New Mexico and Arizona catch sight of
a few wild camels on the alkali plains. All reports agree that
the animals have grown white with age. Their hides have as-
sumed a hard leathery appearance and they are reported to have
hard prong hoofs, unlike the cushioned feet of the well-kept
camel. Whether these are some of the survivors of the original
importation brought into the country nearly fifty years ago,
or whether their d ascendents are gradually being evolved
to meet the conditions with which they are surrounded, I do
not know.
THE DILATORY SETTLEMENT OF CALIFORNIA
BY WALTER R. BACON.
(Read Nov. 4, 1901.)
We have read considerable of late about the influence of
the Japanese current upon our climate and of the possible ef-
fects from a. deflection of it from its accustomed course
One writer lately claims to have discovered that ow-
ing to seismic disturbances to the east and north of
Japan that the current is turned southward five hun-
dred miles from its usual path. This, of course, brings
it to our shores at a higher temperature than it would have,
had it flowed farther north to meet the cold currents (as it
usually does) that flow out of Behring sea, and being warmer
will cause more humidity in the atmosphere, more rain on land,
larger crops on the farms, more money in the pockets of the
people, making necessaries easier and luxuries possible, life bet-
ter and a higher civilization for all the people, all flowing from
a casual earthquake in the west Pacific Ocean. This may be
a fanciful conclusion, but if the earthquake did happen, and the
current was deflected, all these things are easily possible as a
result of that simple event.
The summer trade winds blowing shoreward from the north-
west, and they alone make this country comfortably habitable
during the summer. Next to the winter rains these winds are
the most valuable of our climatic assets, yet these same winds
were without doubt the most potent factor of delay in the set-
tlement of the country after its discovery and exploration by
the Spaniards.
California was known to the maritime nations more than
400 years ago. The Spanish, the Portuguese and the English
knew of its salubrity and many of its natural resources, and
that its settlement would be practically without opposition from
aborigines, yet the English planted their colonies in India, the
Spanish theirs on the west coast of South America and in the
tropical Philippines, the Dutch in Sumatra and Java, while
California, nearer to Spain via Mexico than any other of its
Pacific possessions, was left entirely at one side, and its settle-
THE DILATORY SETTLEMENT OP CALIFORNIA 153
ment never attempted — that is to say, the usual Spanish settle-
ment was not attempted; for the missionary invasion of 1769
was not for commercial aggrandizement nor for gold or trade,
for as long as the Missions existed trade was discouraged and
isolation courted. It can be demonstrated that the beneficent
Northwest summer trades had much to do with this state of af-
fairs. Just think of it, in 1578 Sir Francis Drake landed in
California just north of San Francisco; Raleigh had not yet
sailed on his first voyage to Virginia, and nine-tenths of the Pil-
grims who afterward landed on Plymouth Rock, had not yet
been born. But 36 years before this, in 1542, Cabrillo, the Span-
ish explorer, had discovered and named many bays and islands
including Cape Mendocino and the Farralone Islands. The
Monks in the Philippines were thrifty and soon developed a
large trade with Spain, a large part of which passed through
Mexico. Their westbound vessels left Acapulco and kept in a sea
lane between latitude 10° and 15° N., thus getting the benefit
of the westerly tropic breeze and returned at about latitude 35°
to 37° North to get the benefit of the northwest trades. They
thus sighted California near San Francisco, from whence they
coasted down to Acapulco. There the cargo was transferred
by mules to Vera Cruz and thence by sail to Spain. This
trade was of great magnitude, as evidenced by the fact that
Anson, an English commodore, in 1742 took one of the vessels
engaged in this trade and realized $1,500,000 in coin from the
single transaction. The vessels were half men-of-war and half
merchantman, but wholly lazy, as it usually took six months to
make one way of the voyage, and scurvy was almost invariably
present at the close of the trip. They were improvident, as wit-
nessed by their dependence for drinking water, upon catching
rain water en route.
This trade was carried on for centuries. The Spanish ves-
sels engaged in it and the British pirates that preyed upon it
drifted along our coasts for hundreds of miles and no doubt
prior to the Missions, the entrance of San Francisco Bay was in
view from the decks of more than a hundred of these vessels
that passed it lazily to the South.
The Count of Monterey, then Viceroy of Mexico, under the
direction of the King, sent out an expedition in charge of Se-
bastian Viscayno, that landed at Monterey and named the place,
on December i6th, 1602, and there is no record or tradition,
oral or written, that it was again visited by a white man for 168
years.
154 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
The vessels engaged in California exploration by the Span-
ish were mostly constructed at Acapulco, and the Northwest
trade wind seems to have been an almost insuperable obstacle
to their coasting north, as there was hardly a vessel so engaged,
however well equipped and provisioned, but that landed its men
in California in ill health and generally afflicted with scurvy.
Even the late expedition of Junipero Serra had much trouble
to get even as far north as San Diego, their first landing place
in Alta California.
In 1769 the history of white men in California began, and
in the expedition of the Franciscan friars of that year was wafted
to the shores of California the last ripple of the wave of Spanish
conquest that for two hundred years had rolled along the shores
of the Pacific. The story of their effort, the establishment and
decline of the Missions is familiar. Their efforts, as such, were
appreciated at their full worth, and the Mission buildings that
still remain are held in proper regard as interesting survivors of
a curious incident in our history, but the enterprise with all its
effort, had little influence upon civilization.
Sixteen years after the first voyage of Serra, La Perouse, a'
celebrated French explorer, came to Monterey in the month
of September, 1786, and made a ten days' stay; he was a Cath-
olic, and carried credentials that gained him the co-operation
of the Fathers in securing all possible information concerning
the country; of course, the Mission was the country. All their
methods were the most primitive and laborious, and he pre-
sented the Mission with a small hand-mill for grinding corn,
which was for many years the only mill of any kind in Cali-
fornia.
In November, 1792, George Vancouver dropped anchor in
San Francisco Bay. La Perouse and Vancouver, besides the
Mission Fathers, were the only recorded visitors to California
after Drake, and before the beginning of the I9th century.
Menzies, the celebrated naturalist, whose name is inseparably
interwoven in the nomenclature of California flora, accompanied
Vancouver.
They were hospitably received and given opportunity for
observation, and their narrative corroborates La Perouse as
to the primitive conditions that prevailed among the converts
at the Missions. Vancouver spent the following year explor-
ing the coast to the northward, and on his return was received
coldly, the haibtual jealousy of race overcoming the natural
hospitality of the Spanish fathers.
THE DILATORY SETTLEMENT OF CALIFORNIA 155
For fourteen years after this visit, the pious Franciscans of
San Francisco and Monterey saw no foreign ships. They had
no occasion for fear of invasion and contamination. Then in
March, 1806, the Russian ship Juno came to San Francisco for
supplies for the Russian settlement at Sitka, then in a starving
condition. LangsdorflF, an officer of the expedition, wrote the
best detailed account of California as it then existed that was
ever written. The jealousy of foreigners prevented their land-
ing for some time. The Spanish had notice that two Russian
vessels would call, and the authorities had been directed to re-
ceive them courteously, and the Russian commander of this
expedition with the usual Russian diplomacy, by shrewdly rep-
resenting that he came instead of the expected vessels, secured
for himself the courtesies reserved for them, and was allowed
to purchase provisions and make repairs. While their ship was
thus lying in the Bay, Langsdorff and two men tried to make
the San Jose Mission in a small boat; after many hardships they
got back to the ship, barely escaping death. Langsdorff says
that there was not a single Spanish boat on San Francisco Bay,
that they knew nothing at all of the North and East shore of
the bay from lack of facilities for crossing the bay. That part
of the country accessible on foot they never explored, and had
no knowledge of, except such as was derived from the excur-
sions of the soldiers who went into the interior hunting for
converts.
On these pious crusades the soldiers had penetrated to the
East and South as far as the San Joaquin River, which they dis-
covered.
These outposts of Spian were truly afar off — it took two
months by courier from Mexico, though the route and stations
for the entire distance were kept by the military, and the Euro-
pean news that the courier brought was six months old when
they started with it. Langsdorff comments on this isolation
and upon the filth, vermin and general misery with which the
converts were inflicted, he says that the monks complained of
the Indian converts, that as soon as one got sick he became
despondent, and was hard to do for. The only medicines pos-
sessed by the monks were emetics and cathartics, which they
reserved exclusively for themselves.
On October ist, 1816, Kotzebue, another distinguished Ris-
sian. entered San Francisco Bay and stayed a month for repairs.
He is authority for the statement that at that time trading ves-
sels were not allowed at the ports of San Francisco and Mon-
terey. He came again in 1824.
156 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Between his two visits, California, with Mexico, had de-
clared its independence of Spain, and from lack of support of
the imperial arm, the Mission Fathers had lost prestige, the con-
trol of the soldier's and many of their converts, all of which con-
tributed to one of those opera bouffe incidents that seem to
happen only in Spanish-ridden countries or in China. As
Kotzebue passed the fort, he noticed that all of the populace
were out, and that all of the military in full regimentals were
in attendance on the guns and under arms in battle array. In
their honor he fired a salute, which, to his amazement, was not
returned. Shortly a boat put off from the shore containing an
officer, who, being taken aboard, begged that he be supplied
with powder (of which the garrison had none) sufficient to re-
turn the salute. This incident fairly illustrates the comic opera
phase of military operations of that period, which is so strongly
characteristic of all the Spanish troops that were in California
from the foundation of the missions to the Mexican war.
Kotzebue observed and remarked the utter lack of people in
the country. He saw not a single canoe on this voyage; but
some of his remarks about the future of the country seem pro-
phetic. He says: "It has hitherto been the fate of these re-
gions, like modest merit or humble virtue, to remain unnoticed,
but posterity will do them justice. Towns and cities will here-
after flourish where all is now desert; the waters over which
scarcely a solitary boat is seen to glide will reflect the flags of
all nations, and a happy, prosperous people receiving with
thankfulness what prodigal nature bestows for their use, will
disperse her treasures over every part of the world." He also
speculated on what great use the country would be to Russia.
He landed on Goat Island, and claims (as he probably was) that
he was the first white man to set foot thereon. He went down
and examined the Santa Clara Mission, noted the convent where
the Indian girls were kept, how the girls were married off, and
generally condemned the missions as cruelly oppressing the
natives.
The Commandante of San Diego, Don Jose Maria Etsudillo,
and a small party went with him to the Russian settlement of
Bodega, and from there made the first recorded expedition into
Marin county's interior. He says that to the east of the Russian
settlement was a large valley known as White Man's Valley,
the Indians relating that years before a ship had been wrecked
and the survivors had gone into the interior, where they lived
for years at amity with the Indians. On this trip Estudillo
THE DILATORY SETTLEMENT OF CALIFORNIA 157
told him that the cavalry supplied the converts by going into
the mountains and capturing with a lasso such free heathen as
seemed lusty and worth keeping.
Kotzebue spent two months in San Francisco Bay. He
went up it as far as the Sacramento, and seems to have fully
appreciated the beauties and value of that wonderful sheet of
water. With this expedition was the botanist, Escholtz, after
whom the golden yellow California poppy was named.
After the Mexican revolution, California ports, instead of
repelling trade, invited it; but for years it seemed to have
been considered by Europeans and Americans living on the
Atlantic coast as the most distant and impossible of all coun-
tries. China, India and the South Sea islands were familiar
ground to Yankees compared with California as late as the war
of 1812, and to have been to California was a passport to won-
dering admiration in any community. In the years immedi-
ately following 1824, many adventurous spirits visited and ex-
plored California. The first of these was Jedidiah S. Smith,
who, commencing in 1825, made two trips into and through
California. In one of these he traversed the State from San
Gabriel to the Oregon.
Edmund Randolph, in an oration delivered to California
pioneers at San Francisco in 1860, spoke eloquently or Smith
and his accomplishments. He shortly afterward received a
letter from a Mr. Sprague, who then lived in Nevada, who said
he knew Smith; that although he had lived for many years on
the farthest frontier, he was a man of education, a linguist, a
man of sentiment, refinement and great force of character, and
that in 1825, in returning to Salt Lake from San Diego, Smith's
party had discovered fine placer gold deposits in California, at
what he thinks is now Inyo county. Smith was an adventur-
ous trapper and explorer, a close and scholarly observer. He
made copious notes, and many maps of the country he explored.
These he sent, as opportunity offered, to St. Louis, intending
to publish a narrative of his travels; but all this data was de-
stroyed by fire, and he was soon after killed by Indians. Many
lovers of the natural sciences came into the country after Smith.
David Douglas, a rare soul, by his gun, won his living from
the interior mountains and valleys of California for five years.
From 1826 to 1831, he explored the almost impenetrable fast-
nesses of its great Sierras, ranging from the Santa Lucias at
Monterey to the Columbia and its tributaries. He discovered
and classified many new plants and trees — Pinus-Sabiniana, and
158 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Pinus Grandus, among others, were contributed by him. Doug-
las, in all his wanderings in California, was accompanied by a
persistent little Scotch terrier. Taking his dog with him, he
started on his return to England via the Sandwich Islands.
There he strayed away from port one day and fell into a pit
that had been constructed by the natives to trap the native
wild cattle. Into this, before him, had fallen a wild bull. The
terrier, still his companion, by his distressed howling, discov-
ered Douglas to his friends. They found him in the pit, gored
and trampled out of all semblance to man by the infuriated bull.
In 1831, before leaving California, Douglas met Dr. Thomas
Coulter, who was in the country on the same errand, having
penetrated it from Central America.
Coulter traveled and explored California from the Sacra-
mento to the south line of the State. The pine bearing the
heaviest cone of all pines perpetuates his name.
In 1826 Beechy, in command of H. M. ship Blossom, visited
San Francisco Bay and surveyed it as far as Benicia. He was
struck with the beauty of the bay, and wrote such a favorable
and glowing account of it as to greatly excite British cupidity.
Sir Edward Belcher, who was with Beechy, in 1837 returned
in another British ship, and again attempted a survey of the
bay and the Sacramento river as far as the San Joaquin. Al-
though he had a soldier with him who had formerly hunted that
part of the country for converts, they did not find the San
Joaquin, and hence he would not believe it existed.
In 1841, Commodore Wilkes, with a U. S. squadron, came
to California. His report of that voyage is familiar to all stu-
dents of California history. The British, who had had an eye
on the country since 1824, called at Monterey in force in 1846;
but it had already fallen into the hands of America.
PIONEER REGISTER
Pioneers of Los Angeles County
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY
1901-1902
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
HENRY D. BARROWS, GEORGE W. HAZARD,
Louis ROEDER, WM. H. WORKMAN,
JAMES M. GUINN, J. W. GILLETTE.
M. F. QUINN,
OFFICERS.
HENRY D. BARROWS President
M. F. QUINN First Vice-President
GEORGE W. HAZARD Second Vice-President
Louis ROEDER Treasurer
J. M. GUINN Secretary
COMMITTEE ON MEMBERSHIP.
MATHKW TEED, ROBERT MCGARVIN, JERRY NEWELL.
COMMITTEE ON FINANCE.
WILL D. GOULD, J. M. STEWART, E. K. GREEN.
COMMITTEE ON LITERARY EXERCISES.
B. S. EATON, WM. H. WORKMAN, J. M. GUINN, H. D. BARROWS,
MRS. LAURA EVERTSEN KING.
COMMITTEE ON MUSIC.
Louis ROEDER, H. W. STOLL, J. C. DOTTER,
N. MERCADANTE, MRS. VIRGINIA WHISLER DAVIS.
COMMITTEE ON ENTERTAINMENT.
MRS. MARY FRANKLIN, MRS. DORA BILDERBECK, MRS. ELLEN G. TEED,
MRS. HARRIET S. PERRY, MRS. EMMA E. HERWIG, GEORGE W. HAZARD,
J. W. GILLETTE.
PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
CONSTITUTION
[Adopted September 4, 1897.]
ARTICLE I.
This society shall be known as The Pioneers of Los Angeles
County. Its objects are to cultivate social intercourse and
friendship among its members and to collect and preserve the
early history of Los Angeles county, and perpetuate the mem-
ory of those who, by their honorable labors and heroism, helped
to make that history.
ARTICLE II.
All persons of good moral character, thirty-five years of age
or over, who, at the date of their application, shall have resided
at least twenty-five years in Los Angeles county, shall be eligi-
ble to membership; and also all persons of good moral char-
acter fifty years of age or over, who have resided in the State
forty years and in the country ten years previous to their appli-
cation, shall be eligible to become members. Persons born in
this State are not eligible to membership, but those admitted
before the adoption of this amendment shall retain their mem-
bership. (Amended September 4, 1900.)
ARTICLE III.
The officers of this society shall consist of a board of seven
directors, to be elected annually at the annual meeting, by the
members of the society. Said directors when elected shall
choose a president, a first vice-president, a second vice-president,
a secretary and a treasurer. The secretary and treasurer may
be elected from the members outside the Board of Directors.
ARTICLE IV.
The annual meeting of this society shall be held on the first
Tuesday of September. The anniversary of the founding of
the society shall be the fourth day of September, that being the
anniversary of the first civic settlement in the southern portion
of Alta California, to wit, the founding of the Pueblo of Los
Angeles, September 4, 1781.
CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS l6l
ARTICLE V.
Members guilty of misconduct may, upon conviction after
proper investigation has been held, be expelled, suspended, fined
or reprimanded by a vote of two-thirds of the members present
at any stated meeting; provided, notice shall have been given to
the society at least one month prior to such intended action.
Any officer of this society may be removed by the Board of
Directors for cause; provided, that such removal shall not be-
come permanent or final until approved by a majority of mem-
bers of the society present at a stated meeting and voting.
ARTICLE VI.
Amendments to this constitution may be made by submit-
ting the same in writing to the society at least one month prior
to the annual meeting. At said annual meeting said proposed
amendments shall be submitted to a vote of the society. And
if two-thirds of all the members present and voting shall vote
in favor of adopting said amendments, then they shall be de-
clared adopted. (Amended September 4, 1900.
BY-LAWS
MEMBERSHIP.
[Adopted September 4, 1897; amended June 4, 1891.]
Section i. Applicants for membership in this society
shall be recommended by at least two members in good stand-
ing. The applicant shall give his or her full name, age, birth-
place, present residence, occupation, date of his or her arrival
in the State and in Los Angeles county. The application must
be accompanied by the admission fee of one dollar, which shall
also be payment in full for dues until the next annual meeting.
Section 2. Applications for admission to membership in
the society shall be referred to the committee on membership,
for investigation, and reported on at the next regular meeting
of the society. If the report is favorable, a ballot shall be taken
for the election of the candidate. Three negative votes shall
cause the rejection of the applicant.
Section 3. Each person, on admission to membership, shall
sign the Constitution and By-Laws.
Section 4. Any person eligible to membership may be
elected a life member of this society on the payment to the
treasurer of $25. Life members shall enjoy all the privileges
1 62 PIONEER REGISTER
of active members, but shall not be required to pay annual dues.
Section 5. A member may withdraw from the society by
giving notice to the society of his desire to do so, and paying
all dues charged against him up to the date of his withdrawal.
DUES.
Section 6. The annual dues of each member (except life
members) shall be one dollar, payable in advance, at the annual
meeting in September.
Section 7. Any member delinquent one year in dues shall
be notified by the secretary of said delinquency, and unless said
dues are paid within one month after said notice is given, then
said member shall stand suspended from the society. A mem-
ber may be reinstated on payment of all dues owing at the date
of his suspension.
DUTIES OF OFFICERS.
Section 8. The president shall preside, preserve order and
decorum during the meetings and see that the Constitution and
By- Laws and rules of the society are properly enforced; appoint
all committees not otherwise provided for; fill all vacancies tem-
porarily for the meeting. The president shall have power to
suspend any officer or member for cause, subject to the action
of the society at the next meeting.
Section 9. In the absence of the president, one of the vice-
presidents shall preside, with the same power as the president,
and if no president or vice-president be present, the society shall
elect any member to preside temporarily.
Section 10. The secretary shall keep a true record of all
the members of the society; and upon the death of a member
(when he shall have notice of such death) shall have published
in two daily papers of Los Angeles the time and place of the
funeral; and, in conjunction with the president and other officers
and members of the society, shall make such arrangements with
the approval of the relatives of the deceased as may be necessary
for the funeral of the deceased member. The secretary shall
collect all dues, giving his receipt therefor; and he shall turn
over to the treasurer all moneys collected, taking his receipt for
the same.
He shall make a full report at the annual meeting, setting
forth the condition of the society, its membership, receipts, dis-
bursements, etc.
He shall receive for his services such compensation as the
Board of Directors may allow.
CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS 163
Section n. The treasurer shall receive from the secretary
all moneys paid to the society and give his receipt for the same,
and shall pay out the money only upon the order of the society
upon a warrant signed by the secretary and president, and at the
end of his term shall pay over to his successor all moneys
remaining in his hands, and render a true and itemized account
to the society of all moneys received and paid out during his
term of office.
Section 12. It shall be the duty of the finance committee
to examine the books of the secretary and treasurer and any
other accounts of the society that may be referred o them, and
report the same to the society.
COMMITTEES.
Section 13. The president, vice-presidents, secretary and
treasurer shall constitute a relief committee, whose duty it shall
be to see that sick or destitute members are properly cared for.
In case of emergency, the committee shall be empowered to ex-
pend for immediate relief an amount from the funds of the soci-
ety not to exceed $20, without a vote of the society. Such expen-
diture, with a statement of the case and the necessity for the
expenditure shall be made to the society at its next regular
meeting.
Section 14. At the first meeting after the annual meeting
each year, the president shall appoint the following standing
committees: Three on membership; three on finance; five on
program; five on music; five on general good of the society, and
seven on entertainment.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Section 15. Whenever a vacancy in any office of this soci-
ety occurs, it shall be filled by election for the unexpired term.
Section 16. The stated meetings of this society shall be
held on the first Tuesday of each month, and the annual meeting
shall be held the first Tuesday of September. Special meetings
may be called by the president or by a majority of the Board
of Directors, but no business shall be transacted at such special
meetings except that specified in the call.
Section 17. These By-Laws and Rules may be temporarily
suspended at any regular meeting of the society by unanimous
vote of the members present.
Section 18. Whenever the Board of Directors shall be satis-
fied that any worthy member of this society is unable, for the
164 PIONEER REGISTER
time being, to pay the annual dues as hereinbefore prescribed,
it shall have power to remit the same.
Section 19. Changes and amendments of these By-Laws
and Rules may be made by submitting the same in writing to
the society at a stated meeting. Said amendment shall be read
at two stated meetings before it is submitted to a vote of the
society. If said amendment shall receive two-thirds of the
votes of all the members present and voting, then it shall be de-
clared adopted.
ORDER OF BUSINESS.
CALL TO ORDER.
Reading minutes of previous meeting.
Music.
Reports of committee on membership.
Election of new members.
Reading of applications for membership.
Music.
Reminiscences, lectures, addresses, etc.
Music or recitations.
Recess of 10 minutes for payment of dues.
Unfinished business.
New business.
Reports of committees.
Election of officers at the annual meeting or to fill vacancies.
Music.
Is any member in need of assistance?
Good of the society.
Receipts of the evening.
Adjournment.
INAUGURAL OF PRESIDENT BARROWS
[Tuesday, October i, 1901.]
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Pioneer Society:
In assuming the duties of president for the current year of
the society's existence, I desire, first of all, to express my thanks
and appreciation of the honor that has been conferred on me
by my election as the presiding officer of this honorable body.
For, I assure you, that, though the duties of the office, if
properly and faithfully performed, are somewhat onerous, and
would seem to require the services of a younger and more active
man than I am; nevertheless, the honor that attaches to the
position is one that any member might be justified in coveting.
And, in this connection, I cannot forbear remarking that, in
my opinion — in which I am sure you will all concur — much of
the prosperity and success of our society have been the result
of the faithful and active work of our associate, who, during
the last three years, has served as your presiding officer. If I
can serve you anywhere near as well, during the next one year,
I shall be content.
I have thought that the present is a fitting occasion on which
to offer some observations concerning the aim and scope of our
Pioneer Society, and to suggest the best means, so far as I may,
of realizing the same.
Our society has come to seem like one large family, bound
together by strong ties analogous to those which bind together
an ordinary family. Our bond of union extends back 25 years
or more — and in some cases, 30, 40 and 50 years — to times
when we were neighbors, and more or less intimate friends — of
perhaps even only distant acquaintances — in a community and
amidst surroundings in many respects vastly different from
those in which we now live. For, probably in few cities in the
United States, have such great changes occurred as in Los An-
geles during the same period of time.
When, as a large family of former neighbors, we meet; or
when we meet each other on the street or elsewhere, we in-
stinctively are reminded of former times and of a former world,
in which we — each one of us — were actors, and of scenes and
associations with companions and dear friends or near relatives,
1 66 PIONEER REGISTER
who long ago passed away, leaving to us, now reduced to a
comparatively small band, the privilege of cherishing their
memory, and of living over again a former life, which then was
in fact so real, but which now almost seems like a dream.
It is indeed a source of genuine pleasure, in these, our
monthly meetings, to renew and cultivate our acquaintanceship
of former years, and to learn to know each other better and
better as the end of life's drama for each of us draws near.
Only a few days ago I met an old friend (Col. I. E. Mess-
more), and an old man — though he is not a member of our so-
ciety— who stopped and saluted me, saying, "Whenever I see
you, I have a kindly feeling towards you and desire to extend a
friendly greeting." The cordial, and, as I believed, entirely sin-
cere manner in which he said this, gave me great pleasure; and
I instantly responded, and with perfect truth : "That's exactly
the way I feel towards you."
In the renewal, in this society, of our old acquaintanceship,
we have come to have, more and more, a "kindly feeling" for
each other. Let us, in every way we can, encourage and stimu-
late that friendly feeling.
And one of many ways in which this can be done is by giv-
ing more time at our monthly gatherings to informal social
intercourse. This can be done without changing the regular
time of 8 o'clock for our formal opening, by having it generally
understood that, if members will get together an hour earlier —
say at 7 o'clock — that much time can be devoted to social in-
tercourse, in talking over "old times" as well as present times,
and matters of present current interest, etc.; and then we can
commence the formal or regular business of the evening
promptly at 8 o'clock, and dispatch it without running far into
the night, which, I think, would be satisfactory to all our mem-
bers. This innovation can easily be adopted, as the evenings
in the winter season are long.
I am moved to offer this suggestion, as I have often noted
the great interest with which members engage in conversation
before each meeting, sometimes delaying the call to order from
one-half to three-quarters of an hour. Instead of repressing this
desire of members "to talk over old times" informally, I think
their wish in the matter is entirely commendable, and should
be encouraged, as it can be by the plan I suggest, and that
without interfering at all with our regular programs.
I desire to repeat tonight what I have often urged before,
namely, the desirability of this Pioneer Society's possessing, in
INAUGURAL OF PRESIDENT BARROWS 167
writing, either briefly or in extenso, a sketch of the life of every
one of its members. We have already a record in the "Pioneer
Register" of the dates of the births and coming to California
of each member. But those primary facts should be supple-
mented by some details, long or short, and in writing, for pres-
ervation for the benefit of those who come after us, of the life
of every member. Some members have recounted to us verb-
ally, stirring episodes of their lives, which were of exceeding
interest, but which, as they were not of record, will not be
available for their and our children, unless they shall yet be
written, out. The recorded story of the principal events of
every member of this society, if preserved, will be of inesti-
mable value. And I earnestly hope the society will yet, and
at no distant day, possess such a record, as it may, if each mem-
ber who has not already done so, will furnish the same, so far
as it refers to his own individual life.
The last half of the nineteenth century in Southern Califor-
nia— in Los Angeles county — was certainly, as we all of us well
know, an exceedingly interesting and eventful period. Let us
all contribute what we can to preserve the memory of the life
we have lived here in the olden times, and which we know more
intimately than any outsider can know.
THE PONY EXPRESS
BY J. M. GUINN.
[Read before the Pioneers, May 7, 1901.]
With our daily newspapers before breakfast, chronicling the
history of the whole world for the previous day, it is like going
back into the Dark Ages to take a retrospect of California as it
was fifty years ago.
Then Eastern State news a month old, and European dis-
patches that had voyaged on two oceans for 50 days or more,
were the latest, and, on the arrival of the steamer, the San Fran-
cisco papers got out extras, and prided themselves on their en-
terprise as news disseminators. When mail matter was sent out
from the metropolis of California to the mines in the north and
the cow counties in the south, it often took it another monti to
reach its destination.
It is of record that one mail from San Francisco for Los
Angeles, in 1851, was fifty-two days in reaching the old pueblo;
and four weeks was not uncommonly slow time. The Star of
October i, 1853, under the head of "Information Wanted,"
wants to know "what has become of the mail for this section of
the world." "Some four weeks since," says the editor, "the
mail actually did arrive; since then, two other mails are due,
but none have come."
Again, the Star of November 20, 1852, says the latest dates
from San Francisco are October 28, now 23 days old. Of the
results of the State election that took place three weeks ago,
we are in the most profound ignorance, having received returns
from no county in the State except Los Angeles. Think of the
protracted agony of a candidate still waiting three weeks after
the election to know his fate!
While the newsmongers, the merchants and the candidates
suffered from the mail's delay, how was it with the honest min-
ers, in the lonely mining camps? No novelist or sentimentalist
has written of the hope deferred that made the heart sick of
many an Argonaut — and all because of the mail's uncertainty.
Isolated from the world in mountain mining camps, where no
mail reached them, the miners of the early '50*5 were depend-
THE PONY EXPRESS 169
ent upon private carriers, who brought them at irregular inter-
vals the few letters that ran the gauntlet of ocean disasters,
careless postmasters and reckless stage drivers.
As the Argonaut, in most cases, was a young man, fresh
from home, who had left a girl behind him to await his return
with a fortune, the anxiety with which he watched for a letter
from home to know whether his girl was still waiting for him or
whether some other fellow was waiting on her, was truly pa-
thetic. Home-sickness killed many an Argonaut, and the defect-
ive mail system of the early '50*5 ought to have been indicted
for manslaughter. I know we laugh at a homesick individual,
but a genuine attack of the disease is no laughing matter. The
medical reports of the Union army during the Civil War attrib-
ute no less than 10,000 deaths to nostalgia, the medical name
for home-sickness.
As the population of the Pacific Coast increased, the de-
mand for quicker mail service became more imperative. The
scheme of importing camels and dromedaries and using them
in carrying the mail and express across the plains was agitated.
It was claimed that the camel, filling his internal water tank
out of the Missouri river, could strike straight across the water-
less wastes of New Mexico and Arizona, stopping occasionally
for a meal of sage brush, and taking a drink at the Colorado
river, he could trot across the Colorado desert and deliver the
mail in the California coast towns fifteen days from New York.
As some of you will recollect, the camels did come to the
coast in 1857, but they were not delivering mail; they were
carrying freight, and were not much of a success at that. The
Butterfield stage route was established in 1858. It was the
longest stage line in the world. Its western terminus was San
Francisco, and its eastern termini Memphis and St. Louis. It
brought the eastern news in 20 days. That was such an un-
precedented quick time that the Los Angeles Star rushed out
an extra edition and proposed a hundred guns for the overland
stage. But the people wanted faster time, and the Pony Ex-
press was established in 1860. I take the following graphic de-
scription of its first trip across the plains from the Kansas City
Star:
"An important event in the history of St. Joseph, Mo., was
the starting of the 'Pony Express' on April 3, 1860. The facts
and incidents connected with this ride of 2,000 miles to San
Francisco form a most interesting chapter in the story of early
western progress.
I/O PIONEER REGISTER
"In 1859 St. Joseph was the western terminus of railroad
communication. Beyond the Missouri river the stage coach,
the saddle horse and the ox trains were the only means of com-
merce and communication with the Rocky Mountains and the
Pacific Slope, across a space now traveled by a dozen vestibuled
trains daily.
."In the winter of 1860 a Wall street lobby was in Washing-
ton trying to get $5,000,000 for carrying the mails one year be-
tween New York and San Francisco. The proposition was
nothing more or less than an attempt to bunko the government.
William H. Russell, who was then interested largely in freight-
ing business on the plains, backed by the Secretary of War, re-
solved to give the lobby a cold shower bath. Russell offered to
wager $200,000 that he could put on a mail line between San
Francisco and St. Joseph that could make the distance, 1,950
miles, in ten days. The wager was accepted, and April 8, 1860,
was fixed upon as the date for starting.
"Mr. Russell summoned his partner and general manager
of business on the plains, A. B. Miller, for many years a prom-
ine citizen of Denver, told what he had done, and asked if" he
could perform the feat. Miller replied, 'Yes, I'll do it, and I'll
do it by pony express.'
"To accomplish this service, Miller bought 300 of the fleet-
est horses he could find in the West, and employed 125 brave
and hardy riders. These men were selected with reference to
their light weight and courage. It was highly essential that
the horses should be loaded as lightly as possible, because some
sections of the route had to be covered at the rate of 20 miles
an hour.
"The horses were stationed from 10 to 20 miles apart, and
each rider was required to ride 75 miles. For each change of
animals and the transfer of the United States mails two minutes
were allowed. Where there were no stage stations at proper
distances, tents capable of accommodating one man and two
horses were provided. Indians, it was supposed, would some-
times give chase, but their cayuse ponies could make only sorry
show in pursuit of Miller's thoroughbreds, many of which
could make a mile in i minute and 50 seconds.
"All arrangements being completed for this great under-
taking, a signal gun on a steamer at Sacramento* proclaimed
the meridian of April 8, 1860, the hour for starting. At that
signal Mr. Miller's private saddle horse, Border Ruffian, with a
brave rider in the saddle, bounded away toward the foothills
THE PONY EXPRESS \"J\
of the Sierra Nevadas. The first 20 miles were covered in 49
minutes, and this feat was repeated until the mountains were
reached. The snows were deep in the mountains, and one
rider was lost for several hours in a snow storm. After Salt
Lake Valley had been reached, additional speed became nec-
essary to reach St. Joseph in time. From there on, however,
all went well until the Platte river was to be crossed at Jules-
burg.
"The stream was1 WoffenWd' running rapidly, but the horse
plunged into the flood; Only, 'however, to mire in auT^k^a'rid
and drown. The c&urfer1 'succeeded in reaching ttile snfore with
his mail bag safe and' traveled &Wr railed "on foot to reach1 tHe
next relay. The journey from thi^ point to 'within 60 'miles
of St. Joseph was made quickly and without incident.'1
Johnny Fry, a popular rider of his" day, Was ' to make' t'hje
finish. He had 60 miles to ride, with six horses upkm which to
do it. When the last courier arrived at the 6o-mile post out
from St. Joseph, he was one hour behind time. A heavy rain
had set in and the roads were slippery.
"Fry had just 3 hours and 30 minutes, in which to win. 'It
was the finish of the longest race and largest stake ever nm
A
in America.
"When the time for Fry's arrival was nearly up, at leas't
5,000 people stood upon the river bank, with eyes turned to-
ward the 'woods from which the horse and. its rider should
emerge into the open country in'th'fe rear of Elwood, one mile
from the finish.
"'Tick, tick!' went hundreds of watches. The time, was
nearly up. Only seven minutes remained.
"Hark! ' ..."
" 'Hurrah !' A shout goes up from the assembled mufti-
tude. The courier comes! A noble little mare darts like an
arrow from the bdw and makes the run of the last mile in 1
minute and 50 seconds, landing upon the ferryboat off Francis
street with five minutes and a fraction to spare.
"The story of this remarkable feat is only a scrap of history
now. A few of the riders who participated in the great race
are still living, and hundreds of old timers recall the scenes and
incidents that marked the finish of the splendid contest against
time. Tt \vas a great event in the history of St. Joseph.
"ft was five days prior to the running' of the great race
the $200.000 wagiT that the first Pony Kxpfess left St! Joseph
for the west. At jhl's p: iri. on'Tties'day',' April 3. 1860, a rid'eV
PIONEER REGISTER
received at the United States Express office in St. Joseph his
light burden of dispatches, and amid the cheers and huzzas of
the vast throng assembled to witness the event darted off across
the plains of Kansas and on into the distant west. This event
created so much excitement in St. Joseph that the little pony
was almost robbed of his tail, the crowds of people assembled
at the starting point being desirous of preserving a memento
of the flying messenger."
The rider at the western end of the route, who reached Sac-
ramento April 13, 1860, was accorded even a more enthustic
reception, although no bet was pending on the time of his ar-
rival. The news of his coming was heralded with great enthu-
siasm, and both houses of the Legislature adjourned to wel-
come him. He came in time for the regular afternoon steam-
boat, and the horse and the rider, with the mail bag, just as
they had come into Sacramento, took passage on the boat and
arrived at the wharf in San Francisco at I o'clock on the morn-
ing of April I4th, with the mail, just 10^2 days from St. Joe.
They were met by an enthusiastic crowd with a band and
torches. A procession was formed; and with music and con-
tinuous cheers they were escorted to the postoffice. The
quickest time ever made between San Francisco and New York
by overland mail via the Buterfield route was 20 days. The
Pony Express shortened this time to 10 days.
The Pony Express was a semi-weekly service. Fifteen
pounds was the limit of the weight of the waterproof mail bag
and its contents that twice a week, from each end started on
its long journey.
The postage or charge was $5.00 a letter of half an ounce.
The line never paid. In fact, its owners operated it through-
out its existence at a loss. The high charges necessitated by
the cost of keeping up relays of men and horses prevented it
from being extensively patronized. It seldom carried over 200
letters, and sometimes not more than 20. It reduced the time
for letters from New York to San Francisco to 13 days, and
telegraphic dispatches to 9 days, at first; and later on to 8 days.
Messages were sent to Fort Kearny, the extreme western
station, and taken up by the rider as he came along. The mes-
sages were re-dispatched from Carson City, which was con-
nected by telegraph with San Francisco. Letters and mes-
sages were written on a tough page of tissue paper, very thin
and light, which was specially prepared for the express com-
pany. The stamp, now very rare, was embellished with a pic-
THE PONY EXPRESS 173
ture of a man on horseback spurring at a gallop across the
plains. During the exciting times at the breaking out of the
Civil War in 1861, the pony express was the sole reliance of
the whole Pacific Coast for the quickest news. The Indians
on the western end, and the Confederates on its eastern end
had destroyed the Butterfield stage line. It was to the Pony
Express that every one looked for the latest intelligence.
Although the enterprise failed to pay expenses, to the praise
of Russell and Majors, be it recorded, they kept it up
until the overland telegraph was completed, in November,
1861.
The Pony Express required to do its work nearly 500
horses, about 190 stations, 200 station keepers and 80 riders.
Each rider usually rode the horses on about 75 miles, though
tometimes much greater distances were made. One rider —
Robert H. Haslam — or Pony Bob, as he was usually called — on
one occasion made a continuous ride of 380 miles within a few
hours of schedule time. Another — Wm. F. Cody, now famous
as Buffalo Bill — rode in one continuous trip 384 miles without
stopping, except for meals and to change horses. The greatest
feat performed by the Pony Express was in carrying Presi-
dent Lincoln's inaugural message, in March, 1861. The time
on that trip from the Missouri river to Sacramento was 7 days
and 17 hours, which is perhaps the quickest time, considering
the distance, ever made on horseback.
Majors, the originator of the Pony Express, a veteran of
70 years' pioneering on the frontiers, died a few weeks ago.
He was a man who had done much for his fellow men. He
was a public benefactor. Yet a few lines in an obscure corner
of the daily newspapers told the story of his life — at least, it
told all the reporter or editor of the paper knew of it; and hun-
dreds who read it had no idea what the Pony Express was.
Most of the riders who forty years ago braved the perils of
mountain and desert and savage beast and more savage men,
in lonesome rides of the Pony Express have crossed the divide
between time and eternity.
The following graphic description of the pony rider on his
journey is taken from Mark Twain's "Roughing It." Mark
saw him in all his glory on his ride, when he (Twain) crossed
the plains in the overland stage in 1861 :
"In a little while all interest was taken up in stretching
our necks watching for the pony rider, the fleet messenger who
sped across the continent from St. Joe to Sacramento, carry-
174 PIONEER REGISTER
ing letters nineteen hundred miles in eight days! Think of
that for perishable horse and human flesh and blood to do ! The
pony rider was usually a little bit of a man, brimful of spirit
and endurance. No matter what time of the day or night his
watch came on, and no matter whether it was winter
or summer, raining, snowing, hailing or sleeting, or whether
his beat was a level, straight road or a crazy trail over
mountain crags and precipices, or whether it led through peace-
ful regions or regions that swarmed with hostile Indians, he
must be always ready to leap into the saddle and be off like
the wind. There was no idling time for a pony rider on duty.
He rode fifty miles without stopping by daylight, moonlight,
starlight, or through the blackness of darkness — just as it' hap-
pened. He rode a splendid horse that was born for a racer
and fed and lodged like a gentleman — kept him at his utmost
speed for ten miles, and then, as he came crashing up to the
station where stood two men holding fast a fresh, impatient
steed, the transfer of rider and mail-bag was made in the twink-
ling of an eye, and away flew the eager pair and were out of
sight before the spectator could get hardly the ghost of a look.
Both rider and horse went flying light. The rider's dress was
thin and fitted close; he wore a round'about and a skull cap,
and tucked his pantaloons into his boot-tops like a race rider.
He carrird no arms — he carried nothing that was not absolutely
necessary, for even the postage on his literary freight was worth
five dollars a letter.
"He got but little frivolous correspondence to carry — his
bag had business letters in it, mostly. His horse was stripped
of all unnecessary weight too. He wore a little wafer of a rac-
ing saddle, and no visible blanket. He wore light shoes or
none at all. The little flat mail packets strapped under the
rider's thighs would each hold about the bulk of a child's
primer. They held many and many an important business
chapter and newspaper letter, but these were written on paper
as airy and thin as gold leaf, nearly, and thus bulk and weight
were economized. The stage coach traveled about a hundred
to a hundred and twenty-five miles a day of 24 hours; the pony
rider about 250. There were eighty pony riders in thesaddle
all the time, night and day, stretching in a long, scattering pro-
cession from Missouri to California — forty flying eastward and
forty toward the west, and among them making four hundred
gallant horses earn a stirring livelihood and see a deal of
scenery every single day in a year.
THE PONY EXPRESS 175
"We had had a consuming desire, from the beginning to
see a pony rider, but somehow or other all that passed us,
and all that met us managed to streak by in the night, and so
we heard only a whiz and a hail, and the swift phantom of the
desert was gone before we could get our heads out of the win-
dows. But now we were expecting one along every moment,
and would see him in broad daylight. Presently the driver ex-
claims: 'HERE HE COMES!' Every neck is stretched fur-
ther, and every eye strained wider. Away across an endless,
dead level of the prairie, a black speck appears against the sky;
and it is plain that it moves. Well, I should think so! In a
second or two a horse and rider, rising and falling, rising and
falling, sweeping towards us, nearer and nearer, growing more
and more distinct, more and more sharply defined — nearer and
still nearer, and the flutter of the hoofs comes faintly to the ear
— another instant a whoop and a hurrah from our upper deck,
a wave of the rider's hand, but no reply, and man and horse
burst past our excited faces, and go winging away like a be-
"So sudden is it all, and so like a flash of unereal fancy that
lated fragment of a storm!
but for the flake of white foam left quivering and perishing on
our mail sack after the vision had flashed by and disappeared,
we might have doubted whether we had seen any actual horse
and man at all, may be."
OVERLAND TRIP TO CALIFORNIA IN 1850
BY J. M. STEWART.
[Read before the Los Angeles County Pioneers Sept. 3, 1901]
Fifty-one years ago, on the 22nd of March last, five young
men left their homes in Central Wisconsin on a trip overland
for the gold mines in California, of which we had been reading
some favorable accounts, yet knowing very little of what we
might expect on a joruney of 2,000 miles, mostly through a
country partially occupied by hostile Indians, with only one
settlement of white men between the Missouri river and the
western slopes of the Sierra Nevadas — that at Salt Lake; but as
others had successfully made the journey the previous year, we
felt equal to the undertaking.
I was the youngest of the party, being twenty-two years
old, the eldest twenty-seven. Our route through Wisconsin
and Iowa to Council Bluffs direct, was through a partially set-
tled community, but through Western Iowa, where are now
found large towns and cities, we saw the bare prairies only.
On the i Qth of April, 1850, we crossed the Missouri at the
Mormon winter quarters of three years before, and near where
is now the flourishing city of Omaha. Our route was the Mor-
mon road to their settlement in Utah. Like most other emi-
grants in those days, we thought the only safe way to travel
was in large companies for protection from the wily Indian.
So we joined a company of 150 men with 45 wagons, and
stuck together just three days.. As our outfit consisted of
eight American horses and two wagons, we did not wish to go
into camp after making only 15 or 20 miles, as many of the
ox teams did, but we wished to make the trip inside of three
months; and to do so> we must make an average of twenty
miles for every day, SO' when the ox-drivers commenced to un-
yoke, we kept on with a few companions for six or eight miles,
and encamped on the famous Platte. The bed of this stream
being composed largely of quicksand, renders it almost impos-
sible to ford, except in favorable places, and the water only a
few inches deep most of the way, is difficult to navigate with
boats. Had it been necessary to cross here, as we expected
OVERLAND TRIP TO CALIFORNIA IN 1850. 177
to do, the only way would have been to wade out a mile or
two to deep water, and there establish a ferry. But the animals
must not be allowed to stop even for a few minutes, or they
would sink out of sight. We kept the north side, and did not
have to cross till we reached Fort Laramie. Some one of our
company asked the question, "What was sucha river ever made
for?" But so far as I know, never got a satisfactory answorr.
Two days' travel from this point brought us to Loupe Fork,
a stream 600 feet wide, on April 26th. Like the Platte, this
was a difficult stream to cross, but after a hard day's work we
encamped on the right bank; saw a few friendly Indians, but
all they said or did was to beg for tobacco. About this time,
at the close of one of the warmest days we had, dark and heavy
columns begn to rise from the southwest, indicating a severe
storm. At sundown the wind commenced blowing, and soon
changing to the northwest, it blew a perfect gale for several
hours. We exerted our best skill and strength in attempting to
keep the tent over us, but all in vain. We crept into the wagon
to escape the fury of the blast "and wished for the day." For-
tunately for us, no rain fell during the night, but it was ex-
tremely cold. When the morning dawned we found that we
were not alone in our misery, for not a solitary tent was stand-
ing on the ground. For a week or ten days, commencing with
April 2£th, our road was through a territory burned over, or
the dry grass the n burning, the fires having been set by emi-
grants ahead of us through carelessness or neglect to put out
their camp fires. This was a great hardship, for our horses had
nothing to eat but a little grain from the wagon. On this
burned territory, black and dreary far as the eye could reach,
we met our first buffalo, many of them with hair completely
burned off, and entirely blind. We were obliged to kill eight
or ten to keep them from running into the teams. One nigrt
we heard the most unearthly noise you could imagine. It was
one entirely new to me, but some of the boys more used to
frontier life said "Prairie wolves," and that probably there were
not more than three or four of them, but I thought there must
be a thousand.
May 4th. We have succeeded in getting ahead of the fires,
but they are raging in the dry prairie grass behind us. to the
right, with inconceivable fury. Today we passed the grave of
a man from Iowa who died four clays ago; the first fresh grave
we have yet seen on our route, but have passed many bearing
date of '49, nearly all of whoch had been opened by the wolves,
178 PIONEER REGISTER
with occasionally a stray human bone lying about the opening,
the only exceptions being those which their friends had taken
the precaution to cover with large stones. The following day
was Sunday, and as there was dry grass for the horses, we
laid by to give them and ourselves a day of rest. Away to the
south and west was a beautiful valley, extending at least four
miles, to the very banks of the Platte, and over this vast area
were innumerable buffalo feeding leisurely all day long. It was
by far the largest herd we had seen, and by a careful estimate
there must have been at least 4,000, with wolves and antelope
in large numbers scattered here and there among them. One
of the latter was brought into camp by two of our expert hunt-
ers, and we enjoyed a royal feast. Choice steaks from a buffalo
calf were very acceptable and much sought for( but the meat
from the full grown animal was not to our liking, being too
tough and of an undesirable flavor. Some of these old fellows
are hard to kill, and one I saw die only after 18 rifle balls had
been shot into him, at short range. On the Qth we had rain,
the first since we crossed the Des Moines back in Iowa, nearly
six weeks ago. And here we found the first green grass of the
season. Saw many Indians of the Sioux tribe, all kind and
friendly. Passed "Chimney Rock" on the nth, situated on the
south side of the river, resembling a steeple or chimney, 200
feet high, and visible at the distance of 40 miles. This is one
of the main landmarks for the California-bound emigrant who
travels on either the north or the south side of the Platte.
On the 1 3th we came to timber, the first we have seen on
our side of the river, save one lone tree, for 200 miles.
Like all others who travel that road, we had to resort to
buffalo chips for fuel to -cook our daily meals, and they proved a
good substitute. The next day we reached Fort Laramie, after
crossing the Platte on a good ferry. It is 522 miles from the
Missouri river, and we were 22 days traveling this distance, av-
eraging 24 miles per day. After first striking the Platte our
route was an unbroken level as we followed along the river bot-
tom most of the way, but when the bluffs came down to the
river, as we found they often did, sometimes for miles together,
our only alternative was to pass over them, where the road was
invariably a deep, heavy sand. The valley is several miles in
width from the river bank to the sand hills, and has a rich
soil. Our grain being gone, we exchanged the heavy wagon at
the fort for a pack horse, and with the light wagon and two
horses packed with 300 pounds of flour, started on our journey
up the south side of the Platte.
OVERLAND TRIP TO CALIFORNIA IN 1850. 179
Our road lay during the day over high, steep bluffs and
. through deep ravines, as we are now ascending the foothills of
the Rocky Mountains. The night set in dark and rainy. To
add to our troubles, one of our men who had been ailing for
several days, was taken down with mountain fever. We nursed
him in the tent by night and carried him in the wagon by day.
Eleven days afterwards he was sufficiently recovered to surren-
der his couch to another who was attacked by the same fever.
Two days after leaving Fort Laramie, we re-crossed the Platte
on a ferry, and the first 20 miles was over heavy sand. A week
or so later, we passed the first alkali springs that we saw on
our journey, but they were not the last. On the 2 1st, we
reached the Sweetwater, a swift-running stream, but fordable,
which we followed to its very source in the Rocky Mountains.
\Ye met several ox teams from Salt Lake, bound for the States
to assist the Mormon immigration. We passed Independence
Rock, another celebrated landmark, noted for its great size.
It covers several acres, and rises to a great height, and is cov-
ered with the names of passing emigrants. Two mountain
sheep were killed and brought into camp, furnishing all with a
most delicious meal.
On the 23rd we passed Devil's Gate; the name is suggestive.
It is the passage of the Sweetwater through a deep cut in the
solid rock. The river is about 75 feet wide on an average,
but as it approaches the rocks which rise 400 feet, perpendicu-
largely, on each side, it is compressed into half that width, and
rushes through the narrow space a foaming cataract.
Sunday, May 26th, we encountered snow and sleet the whole
day, and traveling with overcoats was the most comfortable
way of spending the Sabbath. We were all the day traveling
far up in the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains.
When we reached the top, it did not seem as if we were on
the summit of the great divide between the Atlantic and the
Pacific Oceans, for we were in an extensive valley, nearly level,
several miles in width and thirty in length. Its altitude is
6085 feet. As we came out on the western side next morning,
where the waters run to the Pacific, and raised our eyes to the
lofty chain of mountains on the right and gazed on their sum-
mits, still thousands of feet above us, and the countless glaciers
sparkling in the sunbeams, the scene was grand beyond de-
scription. The first night after leaving the Pass, we reached
Pacific Springs. A pony turned out to graze with a halter about
its neck, became entangled and was cast; before morning the
l8o PIONEER REGISTER
wolves actually ate him alive. The next day we traveled 30
miles over a sandy desert all the way to Black Fork, a small
stream usually fordable, but now greatly swollen by the melt-
ing snow on the mountains. The Mormons had a small ferry
established here, but as many were already waiting for a pas-
sage, and the price was exorbitant, we thought best to establish
an opposition. So, calking one of our wagon boxes, we trans-
ported our loading, pulling our boat back and forth by a rope,
swam the horses and drew our wagon across by hand, all at the
expense of three hours' time. Others profiting by our example,
reduced somewhat the receipts of the Mormon ferry. Here we
found an encampment of friendly Indians, but we did not learn
to what tribe thy belonged. We were told by friends along the
road that a few days before a young man from a western State,
while camping here, made the acquaintance of these Indians to
such an extent that he married one of the good-looking young
squaws; at least the Indians so considered it as far as they were
concerned, and were well pleased with the idea of one of their
tribe being chosen by a pale-face. Next morning when his com-
pany was ready for a start, the young woman was on hand with
her dowry, consisting of a camp kettle, a skillet and some few
other traps suitable for Indian housekeeping, and insisted on
going with him to California. The indiscreet young man was in
a fix, and a bad one, too, for the Indians insisted that she was
his wife, according to their customs, and he must take her
along. That, of course, was impossible, for his company would
not consent to it, even if he was so disposed, which he was not.
To say the least, there was one fellow badly scared. To get
out of a bad scrape and pacify the Indians, cost him his riding
pony and all the money he had.
Our company, which numbered 45 wagons at the starting
point, and 15 when we left Fort Laramie, has continued to de-
crease, some going ahead, others falling behind, till now it is re-
duced to four.
June ist we met a large number of Snake Indians with a big
herd of cattle and horses. Passed Fort Bridger, and for two
days had a difficult road, following up a canyon crossing the
stream back and forth many times, the water frequently com-
ing to the top of our wagon box. On either side were bluffs,
300 to 400 feet high, in many places leaving us barely room for
a wagon road. Some emigrants had established a ferry, com-
posed of six cedar logs for a raft, and charged $3 to transport
each wagon and the men. We dared not to attempt to cross
OVERLAND TRIP TO CALIFORNIA IN 1850. l8l
in our frail boat, for the river was 150 feet wide, with a rapid
current. When in midstream, on account of not being prop-
erly balanced, one end of the raft began to sink, and before
reaching shore was a foot under water.
June 6th we reached Salt Lake City, where we remained
nearly two days. As no rain falls here during the summer
months, the farmers resort to irrigation. The city is located
three miles from the foot of the mountains on the river Jordan,
the outlet of Lake Utah, and 22 miles from Great Salt Lake.
It is handsomely and well laid out. Salt Lake is a beautiful
sheet of water, whose specific gravity is so great, being strongly
impregnated with salt as to buoy almost every object upon
its surface. It is almost impossible to sink in it, and it is
a great bathing resort. Vast quantities of saline matter are
cast upon the short every autumn, and the moisture retained
in the deposit evaporates during the next summer, leaving a
bank of the purest white salt, which may be shoveled up by the
ton. In the center of the lake is a large island that towers up
mountain high, and from its sides gush out the purest springs
of fresh water. There the Mormons have vast herds of fine
cattle, and this mountain island is the shepherd's home.
Just north of the city is a spring 60 feet in diameter, strongly
impregnated with salt and sulphur, said to contain medicinal
qualities, with a temperature above blood heat. The Mormons
are preparing to pipe it into the city. The weather is delightful,
so mild in winter that the cattle, which are suffered to run at
large, thrive well and are fat in the spring, and yet the moun-
tains, whose base is but three miles distant, have their summits
covered with perpetual snow.
We became acquainted with a young man by name of
Davis, from Wisconsin, who told us he had an uncle who moved
to Utah with his family three years before, when the Mormons
first settled here, but he was no polygamist, and he would like
very much to find his uncle and aunt. We met him again a
few weeks later, out on the desert. He said he called on his
uncle a few miles out of the city, and found him living in per-
fect happiness, apparently, with three wives. The distance
from Fort Laramie to this point is 509 miles, and 1031 from the
Missouri river, about one-half of our journey over.
Instead of finding the Black Hills and Rocky Mountains
covered with timber, as we expected, we found them entirely
destitute of trees of any kind. Greasewood served as fuel for
many miles. Having purchased a guide book describing the
1 82 PIONEER REGISTER
route to Sacramento, and tarried with the Mormons a day and
a half, we again started on our western journey, June 8th. We
found settlements along the road for 20 miles, and reached
the second crossing of Bear river on the i ith, swam our horses
and paid $5 for wagon on a Mormon ferry. For several days
nothing occurred worthy of note. Some days our road was
good, on others bad — very bad. Some days we found both
feed and water, other days we found neither.
On the 1 8th of June we were at Cold-Water Creek, in
Thousand-Spring Valley.
The prairie dog villages are a real curiosity. We have
passed through several of them, each covering several acres,
and each hole inhabited by a curious combination, consisting
of the dog and a small owl and a rattlesnake. We saw many
of the clogs and owls enter the holes together, but the rattle-
snakes did not show themselves. Sunday, the 23rd, we laid by,
and not less than a hundred wagons passed us, with five times
that number of men, from whose hearts "the root of all evil,"
or the love of it, had for the time being absorbed their love of
ease, of friends and even social comfort. The 27th, we en-
camped on the banks of the Humboldt, which stream we found
unusually high, being on an average 75 feet wide, 8 to 10 feet
deep, with a swift current. Crossed over in our wagon-box-
boat, swimming the horses. We found the bottom land adja-
cent to the river where the Mormon trail ran, overflowed to
such an extent we were compelled to keep along the bluffs on
higher ground. We had learned our route would be down the
Humboldt to the sink, where the river loses itself in the sands
of the desert. But of the distance we had little knowledge.
After a day's travel, we were told here was the place to pre-
pare our hay for crossing the desert, which we would reach
after 18 miles' travel. But, to our utter dismay, no grass was
to be found without wading into the marsh knee deep for nearly
half a mile. We had learned long before this that an overland
journey to California was not in all respects a pleasure excur-
sion, but, like every other means to the accomplishment of a
desirable end, it was attended with some labor and sacrifice.
So we spent the afternoon and the next day in cutting grass
with a scythe, when we could borrow one, otherwise with our
belt knives, packing it out on our backs, drying and sacking it
for an: early start the following morning. At 12 o'clock we
were roused by the guard, and in less than an hour were on
the move in high hopes of soon reaching and passing that 40
OVERLAND TRIP TO CALIFORNIA IN 1850. 183
miles of barren sand and no water, so much dreaded by all
emigrants. We goaded ourselves on after the first few hours,
till the sun had climbed into the mid-heavens, having traveled
25 miles, but no desert yet. During the afternoon we again
waded the marsh for fresh grass that the horses might eat dur-
ing the night. Next morning the rising sun found us ready
to resume our journey, expecting every hour to have a view of
the desert. Thus we passed on till 10 o'clock, when we found
a company preparing hay for the desert, who assured us it was
80 miles ahead. "Never fret" had been our motto, so now we
made up our minds to take it easy as circumstances would
permit. During the day we passed many dead horses and ten-
antless wagons; saw clothing, tools of every description and
many other articles too numerous to mention, strewn along the
road, which nobody wanted. At night those of our company
who could swim crossed the river and brought back grass on
their backs for the horses. We had all read about the "Jersey
Mosquitoes," but if they are larger, or more numerous, or blood-
thirsty than those we met on the Humboldt, I have no wish to
see them. They actually shut off the rays of the sun.
July 1st we had a general consultation as to the best method
of getting to the golden land. On leaving the Missouri, it
was supposed we had provisions for 100 days. Although we
added somewhat to our stock at Salt Lake, it was found that
what we had would not serve us more than ten days, and we are
300 miles from California, the worst part of our journey be-
fore us and our teams nearly exhausted. Shall we take our
wagon across the desert and over the mountains, consequently
protracting our journey several days, or shall we leave our
wagon and things we can best part with, and pack our horses
with what is essential, and make all possible dispatch? To the
latter proposition we all agreed, and it was done with the
greatest unanimity, because all our neighbors were reduced to
the same extremities with ourselves, and neither love nor money
could obtain provisions. Next day we came to the forks of
the road, the right being an old trail to Oregon, made by trap-
pers years ago. This was the road taken by so many unfortu-
nate emigrants last season, who perished in the mountains.
About loo teams, by mistake, took the same road this year,
and among them were some who left Missouri with us. After
traveling six or eight days across the desert and up into the
mountains, they discovered their mistake. Some returned al-
most famished; others struck out for a settlement in Oregon,
400 miles distant, with what success we never heard.
184 PIONEER REGISTER
The 4th of July was celebrated by our second attempt in
preparing for the desert crossing. It was a repetition of our
former effort — wading knee deep across the Humboldt bottoms,
cutting grass with our knives, and packing it on our backs
half a mile away. The next day we came in sight of the long
looked for desert, and the sink of the Humboldt. This river,
anlong whose banks we had been traveling for the last 300
miles, entirely disappears and is lost to sight, if not to memory.
The water was thoroughly saturated with alkali, and has proved
very destructive to stock, both cattle and horses. Here, too,
we found the "Sulphur Spring" spoken of in most of the guide
books, that has caused the death of so many horses, arid the
sickness of many emigrants. We had received warning of its
ill effects, and profited thereby.
Our stock is now reduced to four horses; the other four
having been left at different points along the road to the tender
mercies of the Indians. The big company to which we once
belonged has entirely vanished. At 4 o'clock p. m. we started
out across the desert for 1 5 miles, where we were to leave the
wagon. We had no difficulty in getting fuel to cook our last
meal with the wagon; by placing the camp-kettle on the hub
of one of the wheels and rilling in around it among the spokes
portion of the wagon box, we soon had a rousing fire. The
night was cool and pleasant, far more so than if we had crossed
in the day time. At sunrise we struck the heavy sand, where we
found water for sale at one dollar per gallon. The next ten
miles was through loose sand, ankle deep, to the Carson river.
Pure, cold water never looked better, and we all made good use
of a liberal portion. We passed many horses, both dead and
dying, and hundreds of wagons abandoned by owners. We
have been able to walk from 20 to 30 miles each day, and found
it no great hardship. Out of the nearly 2000 miles, we have
made at least 1500 on foot. No one rode but the driver and the
sick. But the hard part was standing guard at night, when one
wanted to sleep, but was not allowed to do so. One night I
went on at dusk, taking the horses a short distance where a
little bunch grass was found here and there, and was to be
relieved at 12 o'clock. I sat down by the side of a big rock,
in full view of the horses and the plains for a long distance, and
drew around me the blanket I had brought from home, for the
night was chilly. I had no thoughts of sleep, but alas! I did
fall asleep, and when I awoke 20 minutes later, not a horse was
in sight. I went direct to camp, told the boys the horses were
OVERLAND TRIP TO CALIFORNIA IN 1850.
185
all gone — for I supposed they had been stolen — told them to
charge it up to me, and I would settle, if ever able. But they
said, "We will help you find them," which they did in a half
hour's time, where they had found better feed. Any one who
has traveled "the plains across" will admit that on this trip is
a good place for the display of human nature. I saw many
wordy quarrels among the members of other private compa-
nies, but I will say for all five of us, we never had any disputes
or differences that were not settled on the spot at the time, and
to the satisfaction of all. At the base of the mountains was a
trading post recently established, where we replenished our
short stock of provisions with flour and sugar at $2 per pound
and fresh beef at $i. From the 9th to the I4th of July we were
crossing the Sierra Nevada mountains, which we found heavily
timbered. Snow covered both hill and valley for twenty miles,
with a few exceptions of the latter, and on the I3th we en-
camped in a deep mountain gorge; the frost was severe and the
water was frozen in our camp kettle. On the I5th we arrived
at Hangtown, now called Placerville, 83 days after leaving the
Missouri river, and our journey was at an end.
EARLY DAYS IN WASHOE
BY ALFRED JAMES.
[Read before the Pioneers, December, 1901.]
I will say as a prelude and introduction to what I may say
directly touching the discovery of the Comstock mine, that
prior to 1856 there was very little inter-communication be-
tween California and the country east of the Sierras, known as
Washoe, for the reason that the great Sierras presented a for-
midable barrier to travel — rendering such inter-communication
both difficult and expensive. Moreover, the country was
sparsely settled and but little known, there being up to this
time no mineral discoveries in the country worthy of mention,
and withal, it was regarded as very uninviting.
It therefore becomes a pertinent inquiry as to what should
primarily lead one to leave so attractive and prosperous a coun-
try as California to seek a home in this land of sage brush and
desert wastes; the sequel to which may not be uninteresting as
a scrap of unwritten history, even at this late period in the
history of this interesting country.
Along the eastern base of the Sierras, the summit of which
forms the coterminous boundary between California and Ne-
vada, as it did between Utah and California, there is a chain of
beautiful and comparatively fertile valleys, which even in their
primeval condition, were sufficiently inviting to attract thither
a number of settlers who established homes here and there
throughout these valleys. These settlers were nearly all dis-
ciples of Brigham Young. In 1857 the Saints were having a
little difficulty with Uncle Sam, on which occasion the Mormon
President called in all his disciples from these distant outlying
settlements. Most of them obeyed the call and returned to
Salt Lake City, whereupon a few adventurous spirits, citizens
of Downieville, near the border, consisting of J. J. Musser,
Abraham Curry, Benjamin Green, Frank Proctor and myself,
crossed over the mountains in July, 1858, to possess ourselves
of some of the vacated territory.
We did not contemplate the broad field for enterprise and
adventure which we were then entering, nor di dwe even dream
EARLY DAYS IN WASHOE. I
«
of the fact that we were upon the very threshold of the most
marvelous mineral discoveries known to the world's history.
Our ultimate object was to push the proposition of the organi-
zation of a new territory out of Western Utah.
With this object in view, after visiting nearly all the valleys
and becoming fully satisfied with the outlook, and considering
the probable outcome of the scheme in contemplation, as to
a beterment of chances financial, political and otherwise, I
returned to California. Here, having associated with me W. L.
Jernigan, a practical printer, then in an office in Downieville,
we issued a prospectus of the Territorial Enterprise.
Leaving Mr. Jernigal to complete details for the purchase
of press and office, I returned to Washoe, by way of Placerville,
leaving there on horseback the latter part of October. About
six miles out from Placerville I overtook Mr. Klauber, late of
the firm of Klauber & Levi, of San Diego, who, as he informed
me, was on his way to Carson Valley for the purpose of pur-
chasing a ranch. I also disclosed to him my purpose. We trav-
eled the entire distance in a merciless snow storm, and being
fellow sufferers as well as fellow travelers, we became confiden-
tial friends.
I digress to make mention of this incident, as I may make
mention of further co-relative circumstances of interest later on.
I had on my first visit determined to locate at the town of
Genoa, in Carson Valley, which, though a mere village of not
more than 50 inhabitants, was the largest and most important
settlement east of the Sierras and west of Salt Lake City. The
business houses consisted of two hotels, two stores, post office
and telegraph office, the latter established in November, 1858.
After the Mormon exodus, there were very few settlers left in
any of the valleys. In Eagle Valley, near the center of which
Carson City, the capital of the state is situated, there were not
at that time more than a dozen inhabitants, and not a single
house on the site of the present capital city. The subscription
list of the Enterprise embraced a wide territory, forty-five ol
them being in Salt Lake City. Forty of these subscribers
cancelled their subscriptions on the appearance of an article
which I wrote and published in the sixth number, criticising
the polygamous side of Mormonism, in view of the treasona-
ble and defiant attitude of the Mormons against the govern-
ment.
I felt fully justified in doing this, as the Enterprise was the
only gentile paper then published in the territory. All per;
l88 PIONEER REGISTER
sons in Utah at that time not members of the Mormon church
were called "gentiles."
The Enterprise was a success from its inception; but I must
concede that its long and prosperous career was largely due to
the unanticipated discovery of the great Comstock Lode, and
its marvelous consequences — an event which ended its labors
in its chosen field in a few months, when the territory of Nevada
was organized.
The discovery of the Comstock lode, with the coincident
and manifold results pertaining thereto, and resulting there-
from, comprises one of the most marvelous and noteworthy
mining events in the world's history; and therefore, any retro-
spective and reliable narrative, embracing its prehistoric con-
dition, its discovery, and the incidents and circumstances lead-
ing thereto, is both interesting and instructive.
In contemplating and passing over in review, the unwritten
history of the discovery and development of this great mine,
embracing the flush times of the early "Sixties," what tragic
and dramatic scenes are rehearsed! What tales of woe and dis-
appointed hopes are told! What an array of dissipation and
moral depravity, and what a pathetic record of the broken foun-
tains of domestic felici'ty, are unfolded — all of which leads one
to believe that, verily, as a sage has said, "Money is the root of
all evil."
I might present a pitiable array of disastrous effects in a
large percentage of instances, of sudden transition from poverty
to affluence which came under my personal observation during
the early days of the Comstock, consisting of broken domestic
ties, wreck, ruin and premature death, of many persons of my
personal acquaintance of the class herein referred to, many of
whom were young men of ability, with bright hopes, lead into
temptation, gambling and dissipation, either through personal
financial flush times, or through environment. But the picture
is a sad one, which awakens unpleasant memories, over which
ft is more pleasing to spread the mantle of charity and forget-
fulness.
The great vein of the Comstock is located on the eastern
slope of Mount Davidson, and passes southeasterly through
the divide between Virginia and Gold Hill, coming out on the
Gold Hill side, very nearly in the head of Gold Canon, the
length of which is about seven miles, and its course is south-
easterly. It contains gold its entire length, which was in paying
quantities at the time of my first visit some time previous to the
discovery at Gold Hill and in "Six-Mile Canon."
EARLY DAYS IN WASHOfi. 1 89
Six-Mile Canon virtually heads at the Comstock lode. It
is six miles long, and its course is very nearly east. Both of
these canons discharge into Carson river. It appears from an
item in the Enterprise of January 29th, 1859, that Comstock
and French discovered and located very rich diggings at the
head of Gold Canon, which created no little excitement, and
resulted in the location of the entire ground in the vicinity
within a few days.
These locations were the first made at Gold Hill, and were
subsequently found to be on the south or Gold Hill end of
the Comstock, in which gold largely predominated, while the
north or Virginia end of the vein, carries very little gold. A
few days prior to this discovery, the discovery was made in
Six-Mile Canon by Yount and Gould, where they obtained
gold in large quantities. This gold contained so large a per-
centage of silver that it sold for only $8.00 per ounce, while
that obtained at Gold Hill was worth $13.00.
The deposits of gold in both these canons doubtless resulted
from erosion and disintegration of ore from the great lode.
None of the miners in the vicinity being familiar with the quartz,
it was some months later before they realized the existence or
magnitude of the great vein.
In fact, the original discoverers and locators of this great
lode, with very few exceptions, entertained but the most limited
and crude conception of the great magnitude of the discovery,
and the enormous fortunes which they had within their grasp,
as manifested by the astonishing low figures at which they
parted with their holdings.
As to the all important fact in a historical point of view as
to who was the actual first discoverer of this great mineral won-
der, considering all the circumstances and facts which I have
been able to summarize in relation thereto, I find it a most diffi-
cult problem.
From the items which I gathered in the premises for the
Enterprise, and from personal information, I am satisfied that
at least Comstock and French made the first discovery of the
rich placers at Gold Hill, and which ultimately and in a very
short time, led to the ledge which made great fortunes for Sandy
Bowers and many others.
I remember also that Comstock was a prominent figure on
the north end or Virginia side, and was among the first locat-
ors on the lode on that side of the Gold Hill divide, and that by
19° PIONEER REGISTER
mutual consent, he was accredited with the honor of making the
discovery.
However, the miners working in Six-Mile Canon encoun-
tered great quantities of float from the croppings of the vein,
which would have led a modern prospector to the vein in twenty
minutes. This increased in quantity, in its metaliferous appear-
ance, and in weight, to such an extent, as they worked up the
canon, as to arouse a suspicion that possibly it might contain the
silver which so depreciated the value of their gold dust. None
of these miners were familiar with mineral ores or mineral veins
of any kind, and were especially unfamiliar with silver ore, or
the appearance of silver veins.
About this time two Mexicans made their appearance in the
camp, and being familiar with silver ore. on examination of this
float, pronounced it silver ore of probable high grade. Upon
this information, a quantity of the ore was sent over to Cali-
fornia for assay, and showed the astonishing result of $1500.00
per ton. This was about the later part of June or early in
July. 1859.
Conspicuous among the miners on the ground at that time
were Comstock. "Old Virginia." or James Finney: Peter
O'Reily. Patrick McLaughlin. Gould and Yount. and practi-
cally all of the eighteen whom I met at Johntown on my first
visit: many of whose names I do not remember now, who made
£ rush for the new diggings upon catching the first breeze of the
exciting news from Gold Hill.
And thus it was that this little band of miners, this van-
guard of wandering prospectors, in this desolate and apparently
almost worthless country, discovered, located and owned that
which has given business, commercial, political and social life
to a vast, trackless desert waste: peopled and changed the face
of a great inland empire, from the Rocky Mountains on the
east to the Sierra Nevada's on the west. "That which has pro-
duced hundreds of millions of dollars, inspired and hastened the
construction of the first great trans-continental railway,
stretched cables under the sea. built palaces, and. perhaps, had
modi to do with deciding the result of the mightiest war of mod-
ern times."
It is evident from the circumstances here related, that the
discover^- and many of the locations were practically made si-
multaneously. About this time, or to be more exact, on July
9th. 1859. an item was published in the Enterprise stating that
Bowers & Co., of Gold Hill, from one pan of rock, pounded up
EAJU,Y DAYS IN WASHOE.
in a mortar, obtained $100.00. This item is the first historical
or authentic mention of the recovery of gold or silver from
rock in place in the State of Nevada.
A correspondent of the Enterprise, writing from Gold Hill,
under date of July i6th, '59, says: that the hills are swarming
with prospectors and adventurers; that claims are changing
hands at from $1,000 to $5000, and that Rogers & Co., with a
run of three days, with two arastras cleaned up $776.00.
While these exciting discoveries were being made on the
Gold Hill or the south side, the discoveries on the north or
^Virginia side were equally sensational. These sensational items,
together with the $1500.00 assay, caused a rush from the neigh-
boring valleys, and from every village, town and city in Cali-
fornia came excited thousands. New conditions and exigencies
were presented and continually multiplied, and called for non-
existent remedies.
Silver mines were unknown in America and to Americans;
the metallurgy of silver was a sealed book. There were a few
Freyburgers in the country, notably Kuistell and Mosheimer,
who were familiar with the system in vogue in Germany for the
reduction of silver ores, and their services were invoked with
success in this emergency. This slow process, however, which
had been satisfactorily used in Germany for a century or more,
was unsatisfactory to American push and American genius. In
a few months the Freyburg process was supplanted and rendered
obsolete by the substitution of American machinery and Ameri-
can methods, since which time there has been but little demand
for Freyburgers in American reduction works.
Previous to the introduction of Freyburg reduction works,
claim owners having become fully informed by frequent and
numerous assays of the great value of the ore discovered, not
only in the cropping^, but of the float as well — which they had
been casting aside, commenced shipping to California: and as
the road over the summit of the mountains was not in condition
to admit of teaming, the ore was packed on mules to Placerville
at an expense of ten cents per pound. In this manner large
quantities of ore from the float and croppings was shipped.
Much carelessness was manifest in making locations of
claims. Interminable disputes arose and endless litigation en-
sued. Personal conflict with tragical consequences was of fre-
quent occurrence, and valuable ground, in some instances, was
fortified and held by force of arms. Xew laws had to be evolved
to meet the extraordinary circumstances, which had been so
suddenly and unexpectedly thrust upon the country.
192 PIONEER REGISTER
To meet this serious emergency, the people of Carson
County elected my brother, John C. James, a representative
to the Utah legislature, shortly to convene, to secure such legis-
lation as was imperatively demanded. Whether he was a good
Mormon during his stay with the "Saints" I cannot say, but
being the only Gentile member, he secured the passage of every
measure which he introduced.
Of all the great mining excitements, which have so often
convulsed the mining communities on the Pacific Coast," the
Washoe was, perhaps, in point of numbers and impetuosity, the
most extraordinary; and by the time these laws were in force,
the country was literally swarming with an excited, unrestrained
and restless people, and matters were becoming somewhat cha-
otic, which, however, assumed a normal condition when re-
straining and equitable laws were put in force.
I find that I am approaching a period presenting too broad
a field for eventful narrative for the present occasion, and I will
therefore, revert back to those whom I should be pleased to
designate, as the fortunate discoverers and owners of the most
wonderful and valuable mine in America, if not in the world.
But were they fortunate? Let the following events an-
swer:
Henry Page Comstock, who was an honest, confiding, rather
simple-minded man, with but little knowledge of the wicked
ways of the world, through a number of unfortunate and un-
businesslike transactions, (which I might mention: including
the sale, for a trifling consideration, of property which should
have made him a multi-millionaire), was soon divested of his
little fortune, became a roving prospector through Idaho and
Montana, and finally committed suicide in a small mining camp
in Montana.
McLaughlin, with his full claim on the Comstock — a princely
fortune, sold for $500 and died in penury in California. Peter
O'Reily held on to his claim until he received $50,000 for it,
which he lost in stocks and finally died in a mad-house. James
Finney was thrown from a mustang, or California horse, and
sustained injuries from which he died.
Sandy Bowers, one of the early locators, a conspicuous
operator at Gold Hill, recovered from his mines a considerable
fortune; built what is known as the "Bower's Mansion," in
Washoe Valley, in which the door knobs are all solid silver, and
died of consumption many years ago. His widow was left in
poverty and has made a precarious living practicing clairvoy-
ancy.
EARLY DAYS IN WASHOE 193
A. Klauber, whom I have heretofore mentioned in this nar-
rative as having been my companion in crossing the mountains
from Placerville, with the apparent business intuition of his
people, proceeded at once on his arrival in Carson Valley, to
buy the ranch which he had mentioned on the way, and from it
he cut a great quantity of hay. He also built a large store house
in Genoa and filled it with goods, the like of which, as to quan-
tity, had never been seen on the eastern slope, which was, under
all business and speculative conditions at that time, an appar-
ently doubtful business adventure. Yet, I paid him in the fol-
lowing spring $25 for a fifty-pound sack of flour, and at the rate
of $500 per ton for a considerable quantity of hay, under cir-
cumstances which I may hereafter relate.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
FRED W. WOOD.
Once more, we are called upon to chronicle the loss of
one of our most honored and brightest members, who, by his
skill and enterprise built for himself a lasting monument in the
hearts of the people of Los Angeles City.
Fred W. Wood was born in Prarie du Chien, Wisconsin,
April 28th, 1853, and died in Los Angeles, California, May I9th,
1900. His father, Dr. E. P. Wood, was a Colonel of the i/th
Illinois Infantry in the Civil War. Dr. E. P. Wood, father of
our subject) married Miss Miriam P. Cleaveland, July 3, 1836,
in Peoria, Illinois. She was the great-granddaughter of Gen.
Joseph Warren who was killed, June 17, 1775 at the battle of
Bunker Hill. When Gen. Washington heard of his death, he
knelt and said: "May God receive his soul in heaven. He
won the day, and fell." Thus Fred W. Wood was a descendant
of noble stock, of which he was justly proud. And it may well
be said, he has added lustre to his ancestry.
At the close of the Civil War, his father and family moved to
Kansas City, where young Fred entered the High School. He
remained in this school but a short time when he entered the
University of Michigan. His chief aim and specialty was to
complete his studies as civil engineer, which he chose as his pro-
fession. He remained at the University about two years, then
returned to Kansas City and entered the office of the city en-
gineer as draughtsman. The accuracy of his work and the skill
of his designs soon won for him the confidence of the head of
the department.
At the age of eighteen his efficiency became so well known
that he was offered and accepted a position in the civil engineer
department of the Chicago & Great Northwestern Railroad
service, where he, at nineteen, became Assistant Chief Engineer
in selecting and locating the lines of this enterprise. Endowed
by nature with an earnest, energetic and progressive spirit, he
soon rose to a position of prominence in his profession, and
gained the confidence of the great railroad magnates.
At the age of twenty, after two years service in this great
railroad company, he resigned and entered the University at
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Ann Arbor, Michigan, in order to polish his practical acquire-
ments, but he soon concluded that the University polish was
not of sufficient importance to justify the time required to com-
plete his studies, so he soon left the University.
He came to California in the fall of 1873, and in March, 1874,
came to Los Angeles. His ability as an engineer soon became
known. He suggested the scheme and became interested with
Mr. Prudent Beaudry in the construction of the Beaudry City
Water Works, which proved to be a great success in the de-
velopment in the hills west of old Los Angeles, supplying that
portion of the city with good, pure water. In this enterprise he
established his engineering ability, and his services were in
great demand.
He soon became affiliated in the development of the Lake
Vineyard Land & Water Company at Pasadena, of which he
was secretary for five years. In 1882 he was given charge of,
and became general manager of the laying out and planting
of the great San Gabriel vineyard, and building of the immense
San Gabriel winery and distillery, which, at that time, was con-
sidered the largest winery in the world. All of which was done
with so much skill and ability that Mr. Shorb, the principal
owner ajid president of the company said : "This man. Fred
Wood, is the genius of the age."
In 1886 he resigned management of the winery, and again
became identified with Mr. Prudent Beaudry in reconstructing
the Temple Street Cable Railway line in Los Angeles, which
proved a great benefit and success, and he soon became the
general manager of the business of Prudent Beaudry and Victor
Beaudry, and upon the death of Mr. Victor Beaudry, Mr. Wood
was appointed executor of his large estate, without bonds. He
managed this estate and settled it up to the full satisfaction
of all the parties interested.
In 1893 Mr. Prudent Beaudry died, he also leaving his
immense estate and the management of his business in the hands
of Mr. Wood, which he continued to look after and manage
until his death, at which time every part and parcel was found
by the heirs to be straight and satisfactory.
In 1895 Mr- Wood became the general manager of the Los
Angeles Street Railway Company which controls nearly all of
the most important street railways in Los Angeles City, the
system and service of which is equal to any large city in the
United States. Under the judicious supervision of Mr. Wood,
the general efficiency of the system was greatly improved and
placed on a paying basis.
196 PIONEER REGISTER
His greatest ambition, was the success of this railway sys-
tem and the upbuilding of the City of Los Angeles. He con-
tinued the general management of this street railway until his
death. When he was too feeble to leave his sick-bed, he had
his stenographer come and sit by his bedside while he dictated
instructions.
He was a member of the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers, The American Electrical Engineers, and the Ameri-
can Institute of Architects. He studied law at home in his
leisure moments and was admitted to the bar of the Supreme
Court in 1893; this knowledge of law assisted him greatly in the
management of his business affairs. During his earlier life he
was a great student and seldom found time for light amuse-
ments. He always kept a room fitted up as a laboratory where
he spent his leisure time studying — and even the late hours of
night often found him experimenting in chemistry, electricity or
engineering problems. He tried to learn everything he could
about the different methods and results of each. When he could
learn no more from others, he would form new ideas of his own
upon which he would practice until success would reward him
for his labor. He was a great admirer of Edison, to whom he
gave credit for the success of his business life.
He was a man of exceptionally good habits, temperate in- all
things. He had the fullest confidence and respect of all his
business associates. He had strong convictions of right and
wrong, paid strict attention to his own business; he was shrewd
and honest to the core; his heart was pure and tender as that of
a child. His influence and sympathy was always with the de-
serving and the weak. The writer once asked him why it was
he knew so little about ancient history; his reply was, "I have
never found time to read it; it takes all of my leisure time to read
and study modern science; this is an age of progress; there is
something new to learn every day that needs our attention."
He possessed a clear, logical mind, a capacity to compre-
hend details, a strong will power, with great perseverance and
industry. He knew how to handle men, so that they loved
him for his kindness and justice. Mr. Wood said to a friend
shortly before bis last illness, "Yes, I know I cannot live many
more years, but I would rather make my life a success and live
the remainder of my day? among successful business men, than
to give up an active career merely to live in idleness."
His mother said of him, "Fred was always a good, obedient
child; he never gave me any uneasiness. 'When he was about
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 197
fifteen years of age, I noticed him getting letters from men of
note, which he seemed to cherish. He would read them, then
store them away carefully. I asked him why he read them with
so much interest and of what use were they to him after he
read them. His reply was, "Mother, they may come handy
and be useful some day." And so they were. They were letters
from some of the greatest civil engineers in America, She
also said, "My advice to him was, let your life be such that the
world will be the better for your having lived in it, and when
you look in the glass you will look in the face of an honest
man."
Mr. Wood was married in Los Angeles, December, 1882,
to Miss Leona P. Dupuytren, a native of California, and a
grand niece of the celebrated French physician, Dr. Dupuytren.
Mrs. Wood is a highly educated lady of fine business ability.
She proved herself a good helpmeet. One son. Warren Du-
puytren Wood, born October I5th, 1885, is their only child.
He is a bright, vigorous young man of sixteen, the pride of
his mother. The mother, wife and son have a warm place in
the affections of this community, and in the hearts of all
pioneers.
Respectfully,
M. F. QUINN,
Committee.
Los Angeles, Cal., July 2nd, 1901.
IN MEMORIAM.
THOMAS E. ROWAN.
Los ANGELES, May 7, 1901.
To the Pioneers of Los Angeles County.
Brothers: We, your committee appointed to report a
memorial record of our departed member, Thomas E. Rowan,
respectfully submit the following:
Our brother, who, at the age of 59 years, passed behind the
vail that limits earthly vision, was born A. D. 1842, in the State
of New York, of honest parents, whose strong industrial traits
they transmitted undiminished to him. In 1858 the whole fam-
ily came to San Francisco, remaining in the upper part of this
State until 1860, when they came to Los Angeles. Here the
father started the American Bakery, which prospered until he
died. Thomas, with an eye on a business future, sought and
198 PIONEER REGISTER
obtained a position with I. W. Hellman (our now famous
banker), who had a general merchandise establishment on the
corner of Commercial and North Main, where is now the
Farmers & Merchants' Bank. This position was additionally
valuable to Mr. Rowan in fitting him for a useful business
career, for he learned of one who has shown what ability he
possessed by his marvelous success in finance. The Pacific
Union Express, a quasi-corporation doing a surety steamer
business between this city and San Francisco (with a branch to
Sacramento) then competed with Wells-Fargo, and I. W. Hell-
man was its first agent here; Mr. Rowan, assistant. Later Mr.
Hellman resigned the agency, and Mr. Rowan took his place.
In the year 1869, the Pacific Union suspended business, and
Wells, Fargo & Co. took over the property (all personal) of the
defunct corporation. It was not long till banks were organized,
and through each mutation Mr. Rowan accompanied Mr. Hell-
man till he became a prominent and trusted officer in the operat-
ing force of the Farmers & Merchants' Bank. Mr. Rowan
faithfully served there till called by his fellow citizens to public
life, filling the honored position of City Treasurer, Mayor,
County Treasurer, Under Sheriff, and Supervisor. In all these,
correctness, promptness, neatness and affability were dominant.
During his term as Supervisor, our noble court house was
mainly, by his insistence, decided necessary, and before he left
the board the magnificent structure was complete. There were
few who coincided with his views how necessary then to begin
what people have never adequately given him due praise for;
we having what, even in its greatness, is hardly commensurate
with our needs.
He has done with years, but he was one of those who
left in their steps for those to come, and so left carved in the
history of his field of action the imperishable record of a true
pioneer.
Of his domestic life, a loving wife and children hold sacred
memories. Friends he had in platoons, but we have only to
view him in the light of achievement, and that done, we can only
say, "Peace to thy ashes, good and faithful servant." His re-
ward is not only in our grateful remembrance, but with God,
who doeth all things well.
Respectfully,
J. W. GIIXETTE,
LOUIS ROEDER,
H. D. BARROWS,
Committee.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
IN MEMORIAM.
GEORGE GEPHARD.
George Gephard, a California pioneer of 1850, died April 12,
1901, at his residence, No. 238 North Grand avenue. He had
been in failing health for some time, but had been bed-ridden
for a little more than a week.
Mr. Gephard was born in Germany in 1830, but was brought
to America as a babe in the arms of his mother. His early
boyhood was spent in Pennsylvania, and he came across the
plains to California in 1850. He soon became engrossed in
mining and lumbering in Nevada county, Cal., and in his late
years spent in the northern part of the State, he owned a toll-
road from Grass Valley to Smart ville. In 1875 ne removed
to Los Angeles, and at once invested in real estate. When
he died he was the owner of valuable property on Broadway,
Hill. Fifth, Temple and other streets in this city.
He was always a modest and unassuming gentleman, with
the deepest interest in every public improvement. He had a
particular regard for the State Normal School, and when a
site was to be purchased, in order to get the appropriation for
the building, he personally assumed charge of the matter and
raised $8000 to buy the ground. He was an active member of
the Chamber of Commerce, was for one term a member of the
City Council, and at one time came within a few votes of being
elected County Treasurer, although the majority was strongly
against his party.
He leaves a widow and two daughters. One daughter is
the wife of Capt. J. J. Meyler of this city, and the other, Miss
Nettie Gephard, lives with her mother.
IN MEMORIAM.
ELIZABETH LANGLEY ENSIGN.
September 2Oth, 1901, another one of this society received
the summons to go forward, and quietly, peacefully passed to
the realm of eternal rest.
Mrs. Elizabeth Langley Ensign was born in Morgan county,
Missouri, April i6th, 1845. Her father, Mr. Shrewsbury,
brought his family to this State, November, 1860. Miss Bettie,
200 PIONEER REGISTER
the second daughter, became the wife of Mr. Samuel Ensign,
a teacher in the county public schools, in the fall of 1873. Two
children were born of this union, a son, Ralph, who died when
young life is so filled with promise, at the age of 17 years; a
daughter, Miss Olive L. Ensign, is a resident of this city, an
honored member of our schools.
Many of us present will recollect with pleasure the Miss
Bettie Shrewsbury (as her friends loved to call her) of thirty
years ago. Her charming personality, quiet wit and humor,
and her exalted consideration for others, made her a favorite in
the social circles of pioneer society. The Shrewsbury home
was a synonym for old-time Virginia hospitality, the family hav-
ing originally come from the State from which that article is
supposed to have originated. The presence of two young ladies
and several grown up sons added much, also, to the attraction
of the home. If we were privileged to lift the veil of years, and
disclose the struggle and trials of this life, we would discover
gold, tried in the furnace of affliction — womanhood, mother-
hood, widowhood, become consecrated, idealized.
Mrs. Ensign was a member of Bethany Presbyterian Church
in this city. At the memorial service, both pastor and people
gave earnest expressions to her work as a Christian, as well as
to her faithfulness as a teacher in the Sunday school.
In this brief chronicle of a beautiful life, we may not esti-
mate character or give its results, but all should know that
Elizabeth Shrewsbury Ensign's desires and efforts were for the
highest and noblest ideal in this life, which should prepare one
for a death that should be without fear.
"Some one has gone from this strange world of ours,
No more to gather its thorns with its flowers;
One more departed to heaven's bright shore;
Ring the bells softly, there's one gone before."
Respectfully,
VIRGINIA W. DAVIS,
M. F. QUINN,
Committee.
IN MEMORIAM.
WILLIAM F. GROSSER.
At his home, 622 South Spring street, on the I5th of April,
1901, died Wm. F. Grosser. Such is the brief record that tells
the end of a useful life.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 2OI
For more than a quarter of a century the people of Los
Angeles have known William F. Grosser as a business man, a
citizen, a scientist and an astronomer; and in every sphere of
life in which he has moved he has been respected and honored.
William F. Grosser was born at Potsdam, Prussia, Decem-
ber 16, 1835. When but n years of age he came with his
parents to New York City, where his father located and set up
in business. He was a skillful optician, and besides had devoted
his leisure time to the study of astronomy. His son William
learned his father's trade, and also acquired a knowledge of
astronomy. This knowledge he turned to practical use.
Equipped with a powerful telescope, he visited most of the
larger cities in the United States, giving astronomical lectures
and exhibitions.
March 15, 1862, Mr. Grosser, at Washington, D. C, was
married to Miss Eleanor Nipper, a native of Weimar, Germany.
The union proved a happy one, husband and wife being de-
voted to each other until death removed the former.
In October, 1873, Mr. Grosser came to California via Pan-
ama. Early in 1874, they located in Los Angeles. Here he
first engaged in the furniture business, his store being located
at the corner of Fifth and Main streets. He purchased a tract
of land on Vejar street, south of Fourteenth street, now known
as the Grosser tract. This was subdivided into lots during the
great real estate boom of 1887, and a portion of it sold.
He erected a three-story brick block on the corner of San
Julian and Fifth streets, where he and his sons established in
the grocery business.
After retiring from active business, he again devoted him-
self to his favorite study, astronomy. In addition to his knowl-
edge of astronomy, he was an expert microscopist. He was
always ready to give his services to the schools and scientific
societies of the city in the study of astronomy and kindred sub-
jects, with the aid of his telescope and microscope. He gave
public astronomical exhibitions, not so much for pecuniary re-
ward as for the pleasure he derived from giving instruction in
his favorite science.
He is survived by his widow and five children — three sons
and two daughters. William and Arthur are engaged in the
grocery business. George, the youngest, is an accomplished
musician. The elder daughter, Amelia, is a well-known and
highly accomplished vocalist, and the younger, Lenore, is an
instructor of painting in the art department of the University
202 PIONEER REGISTER
of Southern California, of which institution she is a graduate.
Mr. Grosser was a member of the Turnverein Germania of
Los Angeles, and had held almost every position of honor in
the gift of the order. He was a charter member of Los Angeles
Lodge, No. 55, A. O. U. W., and also a member of the Pioneers
of Los Angeles County.
Loving husband, kind father, faithful friend and brother
pioneer, thou art gone from among us, but thy memory shall
be treasured and thy name honored.
Resolved, That a copy of this memorial be sent to the
family of our deceased brother, and that one be preserved in
the archives of the society for publication in the Pioneer
Register.
Respectfully,
Louis ROEDER,
AUGUST SCHMIDT,
GEO. W. HAZARD,
Committee.
IN MEMORIAM.
SAMUEL CALVERT FOY.
Samuel Calvert Foy died in Los Angeles, California, April
24th, 1901. He was born September 23rd, 1830, in Washing-
ton, D. C. His father, Capt. John Foy, was born in the county
of Roscommon, Province of Connaught, Ireland, about 1783,
and emigrated to America when a young man, and settled in
the city of Washington. He was a graduate of Trinity College,
Dublin, and was a civil engineer. He laid out and superin-
tended the grounds of the White House and the Capitol, and
for many years had charge of the botanical gardens. Much
of his work there still remains as a monument to his taste and
skill. He died in Washington, July 23rd, 1833. He was the
sixteenth child of his parents. He was married about 1817 to
Miss Mary Calvert, of Lexington, Kentucky, daughter of Chris-
topher and Eliza Calvert, nee Cox, both of whom were natives
of Virginia. The Calverts of Virginia were of the Maryland
Calverts, well known in the history of those States. Capt. John
Foy and wife spent all of their married life in Washington,
where their children were born. After his death his widow,
with her three little boys, returned to her people in Kentucky,
where she married Mr. Rich of Covington. Mrs. Foy was a
,1
SAMTKL CALVKHT FOY
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 20$
woman of much force of character, and she took great pride in
the education of her children, training them for the proper pur-
suits of life.
Mr. Samuel C. Foy, the subject of our sketch, was educated
at the Burlington Academy, Kentucky. Among his teachers
were Prof. Ray, the author of Ray's Arithmetic; and Prof. Mc-
Guffey, author of McGuffey's Readers and Spelling Books.
After completing his education, he learned the harness trade
with Mr. Perkins of Cincinnati, who established the Perkins-
Campbell firm of Cincinnati, which firm is still in existence, and
Mr. Foy continued to order goods from them until his death.
After completing his trade, Mr. Foy went to Natchez, Miss.,
and worked at harness making. Like many others of his day,
he was "stricken with the California gold fever," and left for
California by way of Panama, and arrived in San Francisco
about January, 1852. He immediately left for the gold mines
in Calaveras county, where he joined his brothers, John and
James, who had preceded him. Not being very successful in
the mines, he concluded to return to his trade. In 1854 he pur-
chased a stock of goods in San Francisco and came to Los An-
geles and started the harness business. Later his brother John
came to Los Angeles, and they formed a co-partnership, which
continued until 1865. During this period they also engaged in
cattle raising, which business was managed by Mr. Samuel C.
Foy, having headquarters at San Juan, San Benito county, and
Stockton, San Joaquin county. The partnership was dissolved
in 1865, John M. Foy going to San Bernardino, and S. C. Foy
continuing the business at No. 315 North Los Angeles street,
where they had established themselves in 1861.
Mr. S. C. Foy was married to Lucinda Macy, daughter of
Dr. Obed Macy, in Los Angeles, by Rev. \Vm. E. Boaninian,
on October 7th, 1860. She came with her parents to California
in 1850, arriving at the Palomares Rancho. where North Po-
mona now stands, on New Year's Day, 1851. Dr. Macy set-
tled one-fourth mile east of the present town of El Monte,
where they lived until 1853, when he moved to Los Angeles,
and bought the Bella Union Hotel, now known as the St.
Charles. His death occurred in 1856. Mrs. Macy was a grand-
daughter of Charles Polk and Delilah Polk, nee Tyler, related
respectively to Presidents Polk and Tyler.
Mr. and Mrs. Foy had ten children — four sons and six
daughters — of whom one son, James Calvert, and five daugh-
ters— Mary E., Cora, Edna, Alma and Florence — arc living.
2O4 PIONEER REGISTER
James Calvert married Adell, daughter of the late H. K. S.
O'Melveny, and they live in this city. Alma married Thomas
Lee Woolwine, formerly of Nashville, Tenn., now of this city.
The other daughters are unmarried, and reside with their
mother at the old home on Figueroa street. The son for many
years assisted his father in the management of his business in-
terests, and he is well known throughout this State, being a
prominent member of the Native Sons. Mary has long been
identified with the educational interests of our city, and is at
present a teacher in the English department of the High School.
Cora is a reader of no mean ability. Edna is a violinist, whose
education was supplemented by three years' study in London.
Florence is a student in the senior class of the High School.
Mr. Foy was for many years a member of the Masonic order.
He took no active part in politics, although always a strong
Democrat. He was a careful business man, and the fever of
speculation never attacked him. His investments were made
with care, and the competency he left to his family was the
result of industry, economy and the natural increase in values
of real estate. Mr. Foy was a man of exceptionally good hab-
its, and was devoted to his home and family. He enjoyed the
fullest respect and confidence of all his business associates. His
long residence in Los Angeles and his straight forward, genial
manner brought around him many friends, who regret his death,
and will long cherish his memory. His fellow pioneers of Los
Angeles county extend to his bereaved family their warmest
friendship and deepest sympathy.
Respectfully,
M. F. QUINN,
J. M. GUINN,
J. M. STEWART,
Committee.
IN MEMORIAM.
CHARLES ERODE.
Charles Erode was born at Boreck, province of Posen, Prus-
sia, February 6, 1836. At the age of 19 he left his native land
for Australia, where he engaged in mining for seven years. At
the age of 26 he came to the United States, engaging in various
kinds of business in the territories of Montana, Idaho and Utah.
In 1868 he came to Los Angeles and engaged in grocery
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 2O5
business, which he followed for nearly twenty years. His store
was located on South Spring street, adjoining the Hollenbeck
Hotel. He acquired some other valuable property on Spring
street in early days, which he recently disposed of. His real
estate investments gave him a comfortable income. In 1890
he retired from the grocery business. He was a director of
the German-American Savings Bank at the time of his death.
He was a member of the Odd Fellows and the Turnverein Ger-
mania.
Charles Erode was one of the sterling, enterprising German
pioneers who formed so large an element of the early business
community of Los Angeles.
He was intelligent, progressive, public-spirited and pos-
sessed a high sense of justice which made him respected and
esteemed by his fellow citizens.
He died at his home in this city August, 13, 1901. He is
survived by a widow and six children — Mrs. Emma Friese, Mrs.
Louisa Bruning, A. C. Erode, W. C. Erode, Mrs. Oscar Lawler
and Leopold Erode. For 33 years he has lived among us and
has been identified with the city's growth and prosperity. A
man without reproach, honest and honorable in every trust that
he has held.
Respectfully,
JOHN OSBORNK,
J. D. YOUNG,
JOHN SHAFFE*,
Committee.
IN MEMORIAM.
FRANK A. GIBSON.
Los ANGELES, Nov. 30, 1901.
To the Honorable Pioneers of Los Angeles County:
Brothers and Sisters : We, the committee by you appointed
to submit a tribute to the memory of our late brother, F. A.
Gibson, respectfully present the following:
Mr. Gibson was born November 23, 1851, in Pittsburgh,
Iowa, and died in this city October 13, 1901, aged 49 years 10
months 28 days, leaving in the home a widow and son, with
whom we deeply sympathize, and to whom we would say. look
for strength to the Father of all, who has spared us all so long
on life's toilsome road.
2O6 PIONEER REGISTER
In the year 1866, the Rev. Hugh Gibson, a Methodist
clergyman, with his family — among them our late brother,
Francis Asbury Gibson — came to the San Joaquin Valley.. Cali-
fornia. The father was appointed agent of the Round Valley
Indian reservation, and the son served as his clerk. The father
was a man of impressive presence, noted for his integrity; the
mother, a model matron, noted for her active charity. In his
varied career in this city, where he arrived in 1872, Frank
showed these traits strongly in his daily life — his helpfulness
of others drawing not alone on his purse, but on his strength
of brain and body, and the time needed for rest was unself-
ishly given, till at last, tired nature could do no more, and he
fell in the harness — died at an age that shoudl have been his
prime. The death of his father in 1873 saw him the head and
support of the family, and his active talent led him through im-
portant undertakings to a high position where his word and
judgment were sought for.
His blessed mother went long years ago to her rest, where
the parents await the son. To use a pioneer expression, our
brother "over-drove" himself. True, he willingly did all. but
we lament the sacrifice.
His team outspanned and gone,
His camp deserted — lone;
Our brother Pioneer
Has reached the last frontier —
And that is Heaven.
Frank A. Gibson died in this city, October n, 1901.
Respectfully,
A. H. JUDSON
J. W. GILLETTE,
GEO. W. HAZARD,
Committee.
In Memoriam.
Deceased Members of the Pioneers of Los Angeles
County.
James J. Ayres Died November 10, 1897.
Stephen C. Foster Died January 27, 1898.
Horace Miller Died May 23, 1898.
John Strother Griffin Died August 23, 1898.
Henry Clay Wiley Died October 25, 1898.
William Blackstone Abernethy Died November 1, 1898.
Stephen W. La Dow Died January 6, 1899.
Herman Raphael Died April 19, 1899.
Francis Baker Died May 17, 1899.
Leonard John Rose Died May 17, 1899.
E. N. McDonald Died June 10. 1899.
James Craig Died December 30, 1899.
Palmer Milton Scott Died January 3, 1900.
Francisco Sabich! Died April 13, 1900.
Robert Miller Town Died April 24, 1900.
Fred W. Wood Died May 19, 1900.
Joseph Bayer Died July 27, 1900.
Augustus Ulyard Died August 5, 1900.
A. M. Hough Died August 28, 1900.
Henry F. Fleishman Died October 20, 1900.
Frank Lecouvreur Died January 17, 1900.
Daniel Shieck Died Jansuary 20, 1901.
Andrew Glassed Died January 28, 1901.
Thomas E. Rowan Died March 25. 1901.
Mary Ulyard pied April 5, 1901
George Gephard Died April 12. 1901.
William Frederick Grosser Died April 23, 1901.
Samuel Calvert Foy Died April 24, 1901.
Joseph Stoltenberg Died June 25, 1901.
Charles Brode Died August 13, 1901.
Joseph W. Junkins Died August, 1901.
Laura Gibson Abernethy Died May 16, 1901.
Elizabeth Langley Ensign Died September 20, 1901.
Frank A. Gibson Died October 11, 1901.
Godfrey Margin Died November 14, 1901.
MEMBERSHIP ROLL
OF THE
PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
Anderson, L>. M.
Anderson, Mrs. David
Austin, Henry C
Anderson, John C
Alvarez, Ferdinand
Barclay, John H.
Barrows. Henry D.
Barrows, James A
Bilderbeck, Mrs. Dora
Bent, Henry K. W.
Bixby, Jonathan
Bicknell, John D.
Bouton, Edward
Brossmer, Sig.
Bush, Charles H
Burns, James F
Butterfield, S. H.
Bell, Horace
Biles, Mrs. Elizabeth S.
Biles, Albert
Brossmer, Mrs. E.
Blanchard, James H.
Baldwin, Jeremiah
Barclay, Henry A.
Binford, Joseph B.
Barrows, Cornelia S.
Bragg, Ansel M.
Bright, Toney
Buffum, Wm. M.
Bar ham, Richard M.
Braly, John A.
Bales, Leonidas
Blumve, J. A.
Buffum, Rebecca E.
Bell, Akxander T.
Caswell. Wm. M.
Cerelli, Sebastian
Conkelman, Bernard
Cohn, Kaspare
Coronel, Mrs. M. W. De. Texas
Crimmins, John
Crawford, J. S.
BIRTH-
AR. IN
PLACS
OCCUPATION.
AERIV. IN
CO.
RES.
STATS
Pa.
Collector
July 4,
'73
Los Angeles
1873
Ky.
Housewife
Jan. i,
'S3
641 S. Grand av.
1852
Mass.
Attorney
Aug. 30,
'69
3118 Figueroa
-869
Ohio
Builder
May 29,
'73
Monrovia
1873
Mo.
Butcher
May i,
'73
647 S. Sichel
1872
Can.
Carpenter
Aug.,
'71
Fernando
1869
Conn.
Retired
Dec. 12,
'54
724 Beacon
1852
Conn.
Retired ,
May,
'68
236 \V. Jefferson
1868
Ky.
Dressmaker
Jan. 14,
'6 1
1009 E. Eighth
1861
Mass.
Reitred
Oct.
'98
Claremont
,,1858
Maine
Capitalist
June,
'66
Long Beach
1858
Vt
Attorney
May,
'?»
1115 W. Seventh
1860
N. Y.
Real Estate
Aug.,
'68
1314 Bond
1868
Germ.
Builder
Nov. aS.
'68
129 Wilmington
1867
Penn.
Jeweler
March,
'70
318 N. Main
1870
N. Y.
Agent
Nov. 18,
'S3
152 Wright
1853
Penn.
Farmer
Aug.,
'69
Los Angeles
1868
Ind.
Lawyer
Oct.,
'5*
1337 Figueroa
1850
Eng.
• Housewife
July,,
'73
141 N. Olive
1873
Eng.
Contractor
July,
'73
141 N. Olive
1873
Germ.
Housewife
May 16,
'68
1712 Brooklyn
,1865
Mich.
Attorney
April,
'7*
919 W. Second
1872
Ire.
Retired
April,
'74
721 Darwin
i859
Pa.
Attorney
Aug. i,
'74
1321 S. Main
1874
Mo.
Bank Teller
July 16,
'74
2502 E. First
1874
Conn.
Housewife
May,
'68
236 W. Jefferson
1868
Maine
Retired
Nov.,
'73
1 60 Hewitt
1867
Ohio
Liveryman
Sept,
'74
218 Requena
1874
Mass.
Storekeeper
July 4,
'59
144 W. Twelfth
111.
U. S. Gauger
Feb. 23,
'74
1143 W. Seventh
1849
Mo.
Banker
Feb.,
'91
Van Nuys
1849
Ohio
Farmer
'66
1492 Lambie
1847
N. J.
Merchant
Deo. 28,
'7S
2101 Hoover
1874
Pa.
Housewife
Sept 19,
•64
144 W. Twelfth
1850
Pa.
Saddler
Dec. 20,
'68
1059 S. Hill
1868
Cal.
Cashier
Aug. 3,
•67
1093 E. Washington
i857
Italy
Restauranteur
Nov. 24,
'74
811 San Fernando
1874
Germ.
Retired
Jan. 3,
•67
310 S. Los Angeles
1864
Germ.
Merchant
Dec.,
'59
2601 S. Grand
1859
Texas
Housewife
Feb.,
'59
701 Central avenue
1857
Ire.
Mast. Plumber
March,
'69
U7 W. Twenty-fifth
1869
N. Y.
Dentist
'66
Downey Block
1858
MEMBERSHIP ROLL.
209
KAMI
BIRTH-
Aft. IN
FLACX
OCCUPATION
AXKIV. IN CO.
IKS.
•TATS
Currier, A. T.
Maine
Fanner
July i, '69
Spadra
1861
Clark, Prank B.
Conn.
Farmer
Feb. 23, '69
Hyde Park
1869
Carter, N. C.
Mass.
Farmer
Nov., '71
Sierra Madre
1871
Conner, Mrs. Kate
Gcrat.
Housewife
June 22, '71
1054 S. Grand
Chapman, A. B.
Ala.
Attorney
April, '57
San Gabriel
•8SS
Cumraings, Geo.
Aus.
Stockman
March, '53
First street
1853
Cunningham, Robt. G.
Ind.
Dentist
Nov. 15, '73
1301 W. Second
i873
Clarke, N. J.
N. H.
Retired
'49
317 S. Hill
1849
Compton, Go. D
V*.
Retired
May. '67
828 W. Jefferson
—
Cowan. D. W. C.
Penn.
Farmer
June i, '68
624 W. Tenth
1849
Carter, Julius M.
Vt
Retired
March 4, '76
Pasadena
1875
Clarke, James A,
N. Y.
Lawyer
•83
113 W. Second
1853
Campbell, J. M.
Ire.
Clerk
'73
716 Bonnie Brae
1873
Cable, Jonathan T.
N. Y.
Farmer
April 10, '6 1
116 Wilhardt
1861
Culver. Francis P.
Vt.
Farmer
Nov., '76
Compton
1849
Dalton, W. T.
Ohio
Fruit Grower
's«
1900 Central avenue
1851
Davis, A. E.
N. Y.
Fruit Grower
Nov., '65
Glendora
»857
Dooner. P. W.
Can.
Lawyer
May i, '7*
848 S. Broadway
1872
Dohs, Fred
Germ.
Capitalist
Sept., '69
614 E. First
1858
Dotter, John C
Germ.
Merchant
June 20, '59
608 Temple
1859
Desmond, D
Ire.
Merchant
Sept a, '69
937 S. Hill
1868
Desmond, C C
Mass.
Merchant
Sept., '70
734 Corona do
1870
Dunkelberger, I. R.
Pa.
Retired
arm., '66
iai8 W. Ninth
1866
Dunlap. J. D.
N. H.
Miner
Nov., '59
Silverado
1850
Dry den, Win.
N. Y.
Farmer
May. '68
Los Angeles
1861
Durfee. Jas. D.
111.
Farmer
Sept. 15, '58
El Monte
1855
Davis, Emily W
III.
Housewife
•«s
Glendora
1856
Davis, John W.
Ind.
Publisher
Dec. 10, 1872
518 San Julian
1872
Davis, Virginia W.
Ark.
Housewife
Sept, 1852
518 San Julian
1852
Delano, Tbos. A.
N. H.
Farmer
April, '50
Newhall
1850
Davis, Phoebe
N. Y.
Housewife
Dec. 15, '53
797 E. Seventeenth
1863
Eaton, Benj. S.
Cu.in.
Hyd. engineer
'5i
433 Sherman
1850
Ebinger, Louis
Germ.
Merchant
Oct. 9- '7i
755 Maple
1866
Elliott. J. M.
S. C.
Banker
Nov., '70
Alhambra
1870
Evarts, Myron E.
N. Y.
Painter
Oct. 26, '58
Los Angeles
1852
Edelman, A. W.
Pol.
Rabbi
June, '62
1343 Flower
1859
Edgar, Mrs. W. P.
N. Y.
Retired
April 1 8, '65
514 E. Washington
1865
Purguson, Win.
Ark.
Retired
April, '69
303 S. Hill
1850
Furrey, Win. C
N. Y.
Merchant
Aug. *7J
1103 Ingreham
1865
French, I.oring W.
Ind.
Dentist
Oct. '68
837 Alvarado
1863
Franklin, Mrs. Mary
Ky.
Seamstress
Jan. i, 'S3
353 Avenue 32
1859
Fickett, Cbrarles R.
Miss
Farmer
July S. '73
El Monte
1860
Fisher. L. T.
Ky.
Publisher
Mar. 24, '74
Los Angeles
1873
Foy. Mrs. Lucinda M.
Ind.
Housewife
Dec. 34, '50
651 S. Figueroa
1850
French, Cas. E.
Maine
Retired
April, '71
141 i-j N. Broadway
1869
Flood. Edward
N. Y.
Cement worker
April, '59
1315 Palmer avenue
1859
Fogle, Lawrence
Mass.
Farmer
Dec.. '55
435 Avenue 22
185$
Foulks, Irving
Ohio
Fanner
Oct. 1 8. '70
404 Beaudry avenue
1852
Carey, Thomas A.
Ohio
Nurseryman
Oct. 14. 'S2
2%jx Maple avenue
185*
Garvey, Richard
Ire.
Farmer
Dec., '58
San Gabriel
1858
Gage, Henry T
N. Y.
Gov. State
Aug., '74
1146 W. Twenty -eighth
1874
Gillette, J. W.
N. Y.
Inspector
May, '62
322 Temple
1858
Gillette. Mrs. E. S.
Ml.
Housewife
Aug.. '68
322 Temple
1864
Gould. Will D.
Vt
Attorney
Feb. 28, "7*
Beaudry avenue
187*
210
PIONEER REGISTER
NAME
BIRTH-
OCCUPATION.
ARRIV. IN CO.
RES.
AR. IN
PLACE
STATg
Griffith, Jas. R.
Mo.
Stockraiser
May, '8 1
Glendale
1845
Green, Morris M.
N. Y.
Retired
Nov.. '69
3017 Kingsley
1869
Gollmer, Charles
Germ.
Merchant
'68
1520 Flower
1868
Griffith, J. M.
Md.
Retired
April, '6 1
Los Angeles
1852
Green, E. K.
N. Y.
Manufacturer
May, '72
W. Ninth
1872
Green, Floyd E.
I1L
Manufacturer
May, '72
W. Ninth
1873
Guinn, James M.
Ohio
Author
Oct. 1 8, '69
115 S. Grand avenue
1864
Goldsworthy, John
Eng.
Surveyor
Mar. 20, '69
107 N. Main
1852
Gilbert, Harlow
N. Y.
Fruit Gtrower
Nov. i, '69
Bell Station
1869
Gerkins, Jacob F.
Germ.
Farmer
Jan.. '54
Glendale
1854
Garrett, Robert L.
Ark.
Undertaker
Nov. 5, '62
701 N. Grand avenue
1862
Grebe, Christian
Germ.
Restauranteur
Jan. 2, '74
8n San Fernando
1868
Card, George E.
Ohio
Detc. agency
'66
488 San Joaquin
1859
Geller, Magaret F.
Mo.
Housekeeper
Nov., '60
Figueroa
1860
Greenbaum, Ephriam
Pol.
Merchant
'52
1817 Cherry
1851
Glidden, Edward C.
N. H.
Mfgr. agent
Feb., '70
756 Avenue 22
1868
Gower, George T.
H. I.
Farmer
Nov., '72
Colgrove
1868
Grosser, Eleanore
Germ.
Housewife
Jan., '74
662 S. Spring
1873
Golding, Thomas
Eng.
Contractor
'68
Los Angeles
1868
Glass, Henry
Germ.
Bookbinder
June 22, '75
W. Fourth street
Haines, Rufus R.
Maine
Telegrapher
June, '71
218 W. Twenty-seventh
1857
Harris, Emil
Prus.
Detective
April 9, '67
1026 W. Eighth
185?
Harper, C. F.
N. C.
Merchrant
May, '68
Laurel
1863
Hazard, Geo. W.
111.
Clerk
Dec. 25, '54
1307 S. Alvarado
1854
Hellman, Herman W.
Germ.
Banker
May 14, '59
954 Hill
1859
Heinzeman, C. F.
Germ.
Druggist
June 6. '68
620 S. Grand avenue
1868
Horgan, T.
Ire.
Plasterer
Sept. 1 8, '70
320 Jackson
1858
Hunter, Jane E.
N. Y.
Jan., '66
327 S. Broadway
_____
Huber, C. E.
Ky.
Agent
July, '59
836 S. Broadway
1859
Hamilton, A. N.
Mich.
Miner
Jan. 24, '72
611 Temple
1872
Holbrook, J. F.
Ind.
Manufacturer
May 20, '73
155 Vine
1873
Heimann, Gustave
Aust.
Banker
July, '71
727 California
1871
Hutton, Aurelius W.
Ala.
Attorney
Aug. 5, '69
Los Angeles
1869
Hiller, Mrs. Abbie
N. Y.
Housewife
Oct., '69
147 W. Twenty-thrird
1869
Herwig. Henry J.
Prus.
Farmer
Dec. 25, '53
729 Wall
1853
Hubbell, Stephen C.
N. Y.
Attorney
•69
1515 Pleasant avenue
1869
Hays, Wade
Mo.
Miner
Sept., '53
Colgrove
1853
Hass, Sarepta S.
N. Y.
Housewife
April 17, '56
1519 W. Eighrth. '
1856
Hamilton, Ezra M.
111.
Miner
Sept. 20, '75
310 Avenue 23
1853
Hewitt, Roscoe E.
Ohio
Miner
Feb. 27, '73
337 S. Olive
1853
Houghton, Sherman O.,
N. Y.
Lawyer
July i, '86
Bullard Block
1847
Houghton. Eliza P.
IlL
Housewife
July i, '86
Los Angeles
1846
Haskell, John C.
Me.
Farmer
Oct., '70
Fernando
Herwig, Emma E.
Australia
Housewife
Aug. '56
Florence
1856
Hunter, Asa
ni.
Farmer
'52
Los Angeles
1849
Hunter, Jesse
la
Farmer
'Si
Rivera
1849
Illich, Jerry
Aust.
Restauranteur
Dec., '74
1018 Hill
1870
Jacoby, Nathan
Prus.
Merchant
July, '6 1
739 Hope
1861
Jacoby, Morris
Prus.
Merchant
•65
Los Angeles
1865
James, Alfred
Ohio
Miner
April, '68
101 N. Bunker Hill ave.
1853
Jenkins, Charles M.
Ohio
Miner
Mar. 19, '51
1158 Santee
1851
Johnson, Charles R.
Mass.
Accountant
'Si
Los Angeles
1847
Juclson, A. H.
N. Y.
Attorney
May, '70
Pasadena avenue
1870
Jordon, Joseph
Aust.
Retired
June, '65
Los Angeles
1855
Johansen, Mrs. Cecilia
Germ.
Housewife
'74
Los Angeles
1874
MEMBERSHIP ROLL.
211
NAME
BIRTH-
MS.
AE. IN
PLACE
OCCUPATION.
ARRIV. IN CO.
STATE
Jenkins. Win. W.
Ohio
Miner
Mar. 10. '51
Newhall
l8$I
Johnson, Mica jab D.
Ohio.
Miner
May 31, '76
236 N'. Griffin avenue
1876
Jones, John J.
Germ.
Farmer
'75
Hollywood
I87S
Keyes, Chrarles G.
Vt
Clerk
Nov. 25, '68
309 N. Workman
1853
Kroner M.
France
Ins. agent
March, '53
754 Hope
l8$0
Kremer. Mrs. Matilda
N. Y.
Sept., '54
745 Hope
1853
Kuhrts, Jacob
Germ.
Merchant
May 10, '57
107 W. First
1848
Kurtz, Tuscph
Germ.
Physician
Feb. a, '68
361 Buena Vista
1867
Kysor, E- F.
N. Y.
Retired
April, '69
323 Ronnie Brae
1865
Kutz, Samuel
Pa.
Dept. Co. Clerk
Oct. 39, '74
-rr S. Soto
1874
Kuhrts, Susan
Gcrrn.
Housewife
May, 1863
107 W. First
1863
King, Laura E.
Flor.
Housewife
Nov. 37, '49
413 N. Breed
1849
Klockcnbrink, \Vm.
Germ.
Boo.-i.ee per
Oct.. '70
Hewitt
1870
Knigbten. Will A.
Ind.
Minister
Oct., '69
150 W. Thirty-first st
1849
Kiefcr, Peter P.
Germ.
Retired
Jan. 15, "82
340 X. Hope
1860
Kearney, John
Can.
Zanjero
Sept :8, '71
-728 E. Eighth
1871
Lam bourn, Fred
,,Eng.
Grocer
Dec., '59
840 Judson
1859
Lankershim, J. B.
Mo.
Capitalist
'72
950 S. Olive
1854
Lazard, Solomon
France
ixetired
'Si
607 Seventh
1851
Locb, Leon
France
Merchant
Feb., '66
1521 S.Hope
1866
Leek, Henry Vender
Cal.
Merchant
Dec. 14, '59
2309 Flower
1859
Lembecke. Charles M.
Germ.
Pickle works
Mar. so, '57
577 Los Angeles
1851
Levy, Michael
France
Merchant
Oct. '68
622 Kip
1851
Lyon, Lewis II.
Maine
Bookkeeper
Oct. '68
Xewhall
1868
Lechler. George W.
Pa.
Apiarist
Nov.. '58
Newhall
1858
Lenz. Edmund
Germ.
Insurance
June 17, '74
2907 S. Hope
l«ing, Robert A.
Can.
Attorney
Sept, '73
no i Downey avenue
1873
Lockhart, Thomas J.
Ind.
Real Estate
May i, '73
1929 Lovelace avenue
1873
Lockhart, Levi J.
Ind.
Coal Merchant
May i. '73
1814 S. Grand avenue
1873
Lockwood, James W.
N. Y.
Plasterer
April i, '75
Water street
1856
Lechler, Abbie J.
111.
Housewife
Dec., '53
Rich street
>8S3
Loosmore, James
Eng.
Farmer
Jan. 1 6, '75
i I2i Lafayette
Loyhcd, Mollie A.
Ill
Housewife
•86
Winfield
1853
Macy, Oscar
Ind.
Fanner
'So
Alhatnbra
1850
Mappa, Adam G.
N. Y.
Search, Rec.
Nov., '64
Los Angeles
1864
Mercadante, N.
Italy
Grocer
April 1 6, '69
429 San Pedro
1861
Mcsmcr, Joseph
Ohio
Mechant
Sept.. '59
1706 Manitou avenue
1859
Messer, K.
Germany
Retired
Feb., '54
226 ackson
1851
Meyer, Samuel
Germany
Merchant
April, '53
1337 S. Hope
1853
Melzer, Louis
Bohemia
Stationer
Apil i, '70
900 Figueroa
1868
Mitchell. Newell H.
Ohio
Hotel keeper
Sept. 26, '68
Pasadena
1863
Moore, Isaac N.
III
Retired
Nov., '69
Cal. Truck Co.
1869
Mullally. Joseph
Ohio
Retied
March 5, '$4
417 College
1850
McLain, Geo. P.
V«.
Merchant
Jan. a, '68
446 N. Grand ave.
1867
McLean. \Vm.
Scotland
Contractor
'69
561 S. Hope
1869
McMullin. W. G.
Canada
Farmer
Jan., '70
Station D
1867
Moulton, Elijah
Canada
Retired
May 13, .45
Los Angeles
I84S
McComas, Jos. E.
Va.
Retired
Oct, '73
Pomona
1853
Mott, Thomas D.
N. Y.
Retired
fs»
64$ S. Main
1849
Mellus, Jas. J.
Mass.
Ins.
* 'S3
157 W. Adams
I8S3
Miller, William
N. Y.
Carpenter
NOV. 32, '60
Santa Monica
—
Marxson, Dora
Germany
Housewife
Nov. 14, '73
313 E. I7tb
1873
Meade, John
Ireland
Retired
Sept 6, '69
303 W. 1 8th
.869
Moran. Samuel
D. C
Painter
May 15. '73
Colegrove
H7J
212
PIONEER REGISTER
NAME
BIRTH-
RES.
AR. IN
PLACE
OCCUPATION. ARRIV. IN CO.
STATK
Melvill, J. H.,
Mass.
Sec. Fid. Ab. Co.
Aug., '75
465 N. Beaudry avenue
1874
Montague, Newell S.
111.
Farmer
Oct. 2, '56
122 E. 28th
1856
McFarland, Silas R.
Pa.
Livery
Jan. 28, '75
1334 W. Twelfth
1853
Merz, Henry
Germany
Retired
Aug., '74
1 06 Jewett
Moody. Alexander C.
N. S.
Carpenter,
Jan. 9, '66
25 Avenue 25
Moore, Mary E-
N. Y.
1866
1467 E. 20th
Morgan, Octavins
England
Architect
May, '74
1819 West Lake avenue
1874
Moore, Alfred
England
Express
July 21, '74
708 S. Workman
1874
Morton, A. J.
Ireland
Machinist
1874
315 New High
Morris, Moritz
Germany
Retired
1853
336 S. Broadway
1853
McArthur, John
Canada
Miner
1869
1909 S. Figueroa
-AicArthur, Catherine
N. Y.
Housewife
1872
1909 S. Figueroa
McGarvin, Robert
Canada
Real Estate Agt.
April 5, '75
22oYi S. Spring
1875
McDonald, James
Tenn.
Engineer
Oct.. '57
1509 E 2oth street
1853
Norton, Isaac
Poland
Sec. Loan Assn.
Nov., '69
1364 Figueroa
1869
Newmark, Harris
Germany
Merchant
Oct. 22, '53
1051 Grand avenue
1853
Newmark, M. J.
N. Y.
Merchant
Sept., '54
1047 Grand avenue
1853
Newell, J. G.
Canada
Laborer
July 14, '58
2417 W gth
1850
Nichols, Thomas E.
Cal.
Co. Auditor
'SB
221 W. 3ISt
1858
Newell, Mrs. J. G.
Ind.
Housewife
June, '53
2417 W gth
1852
Nadeau, Geo. A.
Canada
Farmer
'68
Florence
Newmark, Mrs. H.
N. Y.
Sept. 1 6, '54
1051 S. Grand
1854
Orme, Henry S.
Ga.
Physician
July 4, '68
Douglas Block'
1868
Osborne, John
England
Retired
Nov. 14, '68
322 W. 3oth
1854
Osborn, Wm. M.
N. Y.
Livery
March, '58
973 W. 1 2th
i85S
O'Melveny, Henry W.
111.
Attorney
Nov.. '68
Baker Block
1869
Owen, Edward H.
Ala.
Clerk U. S. Court
Oct., '70
Garvanza
1870
Orr, Benjamin F.
Pa.
Undertaker
May, '75
1812 Bush
1858
Parker, Joel B
N. Y.
Farmer
April 20, '70
512 E. i2th
1870
Peschke. William
Germany
Retired
April 13, '65
538 Macy
1852
Pike, Geo. H.
Mass.
Retired
'67
Los Angeles
1858
Peck, Geo. H.
Vt.
Farmer
Dec., '68
El Monte
1849
Ponet, Victor
Belgium
Capitalist
Oct., '69
Sherman
1867
Pridham, Wm.
N. Y.
Supt. W. F. Co.
Aug. 28, '68
Baker Block
1854
Prager, Samuel
Prussia
Notary
Feb., '54
Los Angeles
i854
Proctor, A. A.
N. Y.
Blacksmith
Dec. 22, '72
1501 Maple avenue
1872
Pilkington, W. M.
England
Gardener
'73
218 N. Cummings
1873
Proffitt, Green L,.
Mo.
Retired
Nov., 1887
1512 W. I2th
1853
Perry. Harriet S.
Ohio
ixousewife
May 15, 1875
1723 Iowa
1875
Peschke, Emil
Germany
Merchant
Nov. 30, '75
940 Summit avenue
Pye, Thomas
England
Farmer
1877
Pasadena
1849
Quinn, Richard
Ireland.
Fanner
Jan., '6 1
El Monte
1861
Quinn, Michael F.
N. Y.
Farmer
March 3, '59
El Monte
i859
Raab, David M.
Germany
Dairyman
May 12, '69
South Pasadena
1866
Raynes, Frank
England
Lumberman
Aug., '71
Pomona
1871
Reicbard, Daniel
Ohio
Livery
'July, '68
459 Beaudry
1868
Riley, James M.
Mo.
Manufacturer
Dec.. '66
1105 S .Olive
J857
Richardson, E. W.
Ohio
Dairyman
Sept., 'yi
Tropico
1871
Richardson, W. C. B.
N. H.
Surveyor
•68
Tropico
1868
Roeder, Louis
Germany
Retired
Nov. 28, '56
319 Boyd
1856
Robinson, W. W.
N. S.
Clerk
Sept., '68
117 S. Olive
1851
Roberts, Henry C.
Pa.
Fruit Grower
'54
Azusa
1850
MEMBERSHIP ROLL,.
213
NAMB
BIKTH-
RB>.
AK. IN
PLACB
OCCUPATION
ARR'V. in CO.
BTAT3
Rinaldi, Carl A. R.
Germany
Horticulturist
April, '54
. Fernando
1854
Kendall, Stephen A.
England
Real Estate
May i, '66
905 Alvarado
1861
Reavis, Walter S.
Mo.
Collector
June 8, '69
1407 Sunset Boulevard
1859
Rogers, Alex H.
Md.
Retired
Aug.. '73
ii5a Wall
i8$a
Ready. Russell W.
Mo.
Attorney
Dec. j 8, '73
San Pedro street
1873
Ross, Ershkine M.
Va.
U. S. Judge
June 19, '68
Los Angeles
1868
:;. Win. H.
N. Y.
Fruit Grower
April 9, '66
Whittier
1866
Ruxton, Albert St. G.
Eng.
Surveyor
Sept, '73
1*8 N. Main
1873
Reavis, Win. E.
Mo.
Liveryman
April 22, '73
1405 Scott
1873
Rolston, Wm.
OL
Fanner
1872
El Monte
Schmidt, Gottfried
Denmark
Fanner
Aug., '64
Los Angeles
1864
Schmidt. August
Germany
Retired
May, '69
710 S. Olive
1869
Shaffer, John
Holland
Retired
March, '72
aoo Boyle avenue
1849
Shorb, A. S.
Ohio
Physician
June, '71
652 Adams
1871
Stoll, Simon
Ky.
Merchant
Aug., '69
Soa S. Broadway
1869
Stewart, J. M.
N. H.
Retired
May 14, '70
512 W. soth
1850
Stephens, Daniel G.
N. J.
Orchardist
April, '61
Sixth and Olive
1859
Stephens, Mrs. E. T.
Maine
'69
Sixth and Olive
1866
Smith, Isaac S.
N. Y.
Sec. Oil Co.
Nov., '71
am N. Olive
1856
Smith. W. J. A.
England
Draughtsman
April 12, '74
Sao Linden
1874
Scntous. Jean
France
Retired
April, '56
545 S. Grand avenue
1856
Shearer, Mrs. Tillic
III
Housewife
July, '75
1134 El Molino
1853
Strong, Robert
N. Y.
Broker
March, '72
Pasadena
1873
Snyder. Z. T.
Ind.
Farmer
April, '72
Tropico
1873
Slaughter, John I..
La,
Retired
Jan. 10, '61
614 N. Bunker Hill
1856
Scott, Mrs. Amanda W. Ohio
Housewife
Dec. 21, '59
589 Mission Road
1859
"Vitoll, H. W.
Germany
Manufacturer
Oct. i, '67
844 S. Hill
1867
Summer, C, A.
England
Broker
May 8, '73
1301 Orange
1873
Smith. Mrs. Sarah J.
111.
Housewife
Sept.. ';-•
temple street
1860
Starr, Joseph L.
Tex.
Dairyman
'7i
Los Angeles
1863
Schmidt. Frederick
Germany
Farmer
'73
Los Angeles
1873
Shelton, John
Tex.
Farmer
Sept. a8, '54
Azusa
1854
Salisbury, J. C.
N. Y.
Retired
May, '74
1311 S. Hill
1874
Spence, Mrs. E. F.
Ire.
Housewife
'70
445 S. Olive
1869
Smith, Simon B.
Conn.
Insurance
May 17, '76
132 X. Avenue 22
1876
Sharp, Robert L.
England
Funeral Director
May, '76
Los Angeles
1869
Shaffer, Cornelia R
Holland
Housewife
April, '72
aoo N. Boyle avenue
1853
Slaughter. Frank R.
N. Y.
Horticulturist
Nov., '74
Los Angeles
• 874
St.iuh, George
N. Y.
Farmer
'73
Los Angeles
1873
Toberman, J. R.
Va.
Farmer
April, '63
615 S. Figueroa
i«59
Teed. Mathew
England
Carpenter
Jan., '63
513 California
1854
Thorn, Cameron E.
Va.
Attorney
April, '54
118 E. 3rd
1849
Taft, Mrs. Mary II.
Mich.
Housewife
Dec. as, '54
Hollywood
• 854
Thomas, John M.
Ind.
Farmer
Dec. 7, '68
Monrovia
1859
Thurtnan, S. l>.
Tenn.
Farmer
Sept. 15, '52
El Monte
i853
Truman, Ben C.
R. I.
Author
Feb. i. '72
loot 2jd street
1806
Turner, Wm. P.
Ohio
Grocer
May, '58
608 N. Griffin
1858
Thaycr, John S.
N. Y.
Merchant
Oct as, '74
147 W. asth
1874
Udell, Joseph C.
Vt
Attorney
'60
St. George Hotel
1850
Vignolo, Ambrozio
Italy
Merchant
Sept. 26, '72
S3S S. Main
1850
Venable. Joseph W.
Ky.
Farmer
July, '69
Downey
• 849
Vogt. Henry
Germany
Builder
Jan. 4. '69
Castelar
1854
Vawter. E. J.
Ind.
norlsl
April 12, '7$
Ocean Park
1875
Vawtcr. W. S.
Ind.
Farmer
July 10. '75
Santa Monica
• 875
214
PIONEER REGISTER
NAME
BIRTH-
RES.
AR. IN
PLACE
OCCUPATION.
ARRIV. IN CO.
STATE
Workman. Win. H.
Mo.
City Treasurer
'54
375 Boyle avenue
1854
Workman, E. H.
Mo.
Real Estate
'54
1 20 Boyle avenue
1854
Wise, Kenneth D.
Ind.
Physician
Sept, '7 a
1351 S. Grand avenue
1872
Williamson, Geo. W.
Ill
Capitalist
*7i
Los Angeles
1871
Wevse, Rudolph G.
Cal
Bookkeeper
Jan. 29, '60
Thompson street
1860
Weyse, Mrs. A. W. B.
CaL
Housewife
July 1 6, '62
Santa Monica
1862
Wright, Charles M.
Vt.
Farmer
July, '59
Spadra
i859
White, Charles H.
Mass.
S. P. Co.
Nov., '73
1137 Ingraham
1852
Weid, Ivar A.
Denmark
Landlord
'7»
741 S Main
1864
Wilson, C. N.
Ohio
Lawyer
Jan. 9, '71
Fernando
1870
Ward. James F.
N. Y.
Farmer
Jan., 'ja
1 1 21 S. Grand
VVorkman, Alfred
England
Broker
Nov. 28, '68
212 Boyle avenue
White, Caleb E.
Mass.
Horticulturist
Dec. 24, '68
Pomona
1849
Woodhead, Chas. B.
Ohio
Dairyman
Feb. 21, '74
852 Buena Vista
1873
Wartenberg, Louis
Germarty
Com. Trav.
Nov., '58
1057 S. Grand avenue
1858
Whisler, Isaac
Ark.
Miner
Aug., '53
535 San Pedro street
1852
Worm, August W.
Germany
Retired
•85
910 W. nth
i859
Wright, Edward T.
111.
Surveyor
March, '75
226 S. Spring
1875
Wohlfarth, August
Germany
Saddler
Sept. '74
1604 Pleasant avenue
1870
White, J. P.
Ky.
Well-Borer
May, '70
989 E. 55th
1870
Yarnell, Jesse
Ohio
Printer
April, '67
1808 W. ist
1862
Young, John D.
Mo.
Farmer
Oct., '53
2607 Figueroa
1853
Yarnell, Mrs. S. C.
Wis.
Housewife
April, '67
1808 W. ist
1856
Organized November 1, 1883 Incorporated February 13. 1891
PART III. VOL. V.
ANNUAL PUBLICATION
OF THE
Historical Society
OF
Southern California
AND OF THE
Pioneers
OF
Los Angeles County
IQO2
LOS ANGELES, CAL.
Geo. Rice ft Sons
190 \
CONTENTS
HISTORICAL SOCIETY PAPERS.
Officers of the Historical Society, 1902-1903 214
Early Art in California W. L. Judson 215
Poetry of the Argonauts J. M. Guinn. . 217
Ethical Value of Social Organizations
Mrs. M. Burton Williamson . . 228
Some Medicinal and Edible Plants of Southern California
Laura Evertsen King 237
Andrew A. Boyle H. D. Barrows. . 241
El Canon Perdido J. M. Guinn. . 245
Some Old Letters: 251
Dr. John Marsh to Don Abel Stearns, 1837 251
Hon Stephen C. Foster to Gen. B. Riley, 1849 252
The Palomares Family of California H. D. Barrows. . 254
Sister Scholastica Wm. H. Workman . . 256
PIONEER SOCIETY PAPERS.
Officers and Committees of the Society of Pioneers of Los
Angeles County, 1902-1903 259
Constitution and By-Laws 260
Order of Business 264
My First Procession in Los Angeles — March 16, 1847
Stephen C. Foster . . 265
Some Eccentric Characters of Early Los Angeles
J. M. Guinn . . 273
Angel Pioneers Jesse Yarnell . . 282
Trip to California via Nicaragua J. M. Stewart. . 283
Wm. Wolfskill. The Pioneer H. D. Barrows. . 287
Pioneer Ads and Advertisers J. M. Guinn. . 295
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF DECEASED PIONEERS.
Daniel Desmond Committee Report . . 300
Jessie Benton Fremont Committee Report . . 300
Caleb E. White Committee Report . . 301
John Caleb Salisbury Committee Report. . 303
Henry Kirke White Bent Committee Report . . 304
John Charles Dotter Committee Report . . 306
Anderson Rose Committee Report . . 307
John C. Anderson A. H. Johnson . . 308
Jerry Illich Los Angeles Daily Times . . 309
In Memoriam 310
Roll of Members, Complete to January, 1903 311
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY
1902
i
OFFICERS.
WALTER R. BACON President
J. D. MOODY First Vice-President
MRS. M. BURTON WILLIAMSON Second Vice-President
EDWIN BAXTER Treasurer
J. M. GUINN Secretary and Curator
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
WALTER R. BACON, H. D. BARROWS,
J. D. MOODY, EDWIN BAXTER,
J. M. GUINN, GEORGE W. HAZARD,
MRS. M. BURTON WILLIAMSON.
1903
OFFICERS (ELECT).
WALTER R. BACON President
A. C. VROMAN First Vice-President
MRS. M. BURTON WILLIAMSON Second Vice-President
EDWIN BAXTER Treasurer
J. M. GUINN Secretary and Curator
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
A. C VROMAN, WALTER R. BACON,
H. D. BARROWS, J. M. GUINN,
J. D. MOODY, EDWIN BAXTER,
MRS. M. BURTON WILLIAMSON.
Historical Society
OF
Southern California
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, 1902
EARLY ART IN CALIFORNIA
BY W. L. JUDSON.
In the early art of California, when carefully examined, we
find evidences of a crude and primitive yet genuine art impulse
which must have been a measurable factor in the happiness of
bygone generations.
It is not necessary to go back to the barbaric hieroglyphs
of the Santa Catalina caves, or to retrace the theoretic voyages
of ancient South American peoples, whose frequent rock pic-
tures repeat the familiar outlines of Sugar Loaf rock in Avalon
bay. Theories point to an early international commerce and
an Aztec or Peruvian origin of the latent art talent of the coast
tribes. In the Santa Barbara cave pictures there is unmistak-
able evidence that a certain graphic talent did exist, whatever
its origin may have been. And in some of the native tribes
of today, notably with the Pimas, this pictorial and artistic in-
stinct is well illustrated in their basketry, which displays a degree
of aesthetic discernment far above that of the ordinary savage.
The crude work of some Indians of early mission times, both
in carving and painting, is very interesting. They strove with
inadequate materials, poor tools and awkward hands to imitate
what had doubtless impressed them deeply in the paintings and
architectural designs which had been brought out from Spain
by the mission fathers.
In the lumber room of the old Plaza church lie fourteen pic-
tures covered with dust and broken furniture. They are evi-
dently considered of no value, for they receive no care, except
2l6 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
the shelter of a roof, and yet they bear the potential of a very
great value in the future.
Considered as fine art, from the modern standpoint, they
are worthless, but as relics of the most interesting period in the
development of Southern California they become endowed with
great interest.
Who painted them? An Indian evidently. What was his
name? No one remembers it. When were they painted?
Probably in the days of mission building, when it was impos-
sible to obtain originals or even decent copies of originals with-
out delays of many months, perhaps years. They are painted
on a coarse linen cloth similar to that we know as butcher's
linen, glued in the orthodox way to preserve the fiber of the
cloth, heavily covered with oil paint as a ground and executed
with common earth pigments, probably ground by hand and
with a base of common white house paint.
There is something intensely pathetic in the work, which was
surely a labor of love. The sweetness and sincerity which are
evident, coupled with the unconscious simplicity, makes- even
such crude and imperfect work worth while.
There is no attempt at shading and very little at perspective
in these pictures, the drawing is childish and the execution as
rough and crude as can be imagined, and yet they tell the story
of the via crucis in a vivid and startling manner.
There are some remains of primitive frescoes at Pala mis-
sion and in the remaining half dome at San Juan Capistrano,
which ten years ago had some charm of color and story, but
they are rapidly fading out of existence.
There are also some evidences remaining that the pastoral
period of California life had its art. There were wandering
artists, portrait painters, who seem to have wandered from one
great estate to another, painting the dons and their ladies and
an occasional altar piece for the private chapel. In the Coronel
collection of relics of this picturesque period there is shown the
work of at least twio of these early artists, but their names have
been lost. Primitive as the work may be, it still shows an ad-
mirable sense of both beauty and character.
THE POETRY OF THE ARGONAUTS
BY J. M. GUINN.
Never before in the worlckhistory has there been a migration
similar to that which peopled California after the discovery of
gold. There have been greater outflows of population but they
have been slow-moving. The Aryan migration into Europe
went on for centuries. The Children of Israel wandered forty
years in the wilderness before they reached the promised land.
An Argonaut of '49 would have made the journey in forty days
with an ox team.
In the year 1849, it is estimated that 100,000 people found
their way into the land of gold. They came from almost every
country on the globe — from Europe, Asia, Africa, America and
the islands of the sea — all grades, castes and conditions of men
came — the good and the bad, the virtuous and the vicious — the
industrious, the idle and the profligate. Australia and Tasmania
sent their ex-convicts and ticket-of-leave men ; Mexico its vicious
peones ; Polynesia its reckless gamblers and the Flowery Kingdom
its "Heathen Chinee." They came by every known means of
conveyance and by every possible route — around Cape Horn
storm tossed and scurvy racked in floating charnel houses —
across the isthmus of Panama scourged by miasmatic fevers and
decimated by cholera — by the isthmus of Tehauntepec — around
the Cape of Good Hope and across the broad Pacific. Those
who came by land traveled the unpeopled and almost unknown
expanse between the Missouri and the Sierras by a dozen routes
unheard of before. They lost themselves by taking mythical
cut-offs and in their wanderings they penetrated mountain fast-
nesses and floated down unknown rivers. Ignorant of their
danger, they strayed into waterless deserts and perished alone,
uncoffined and unicnelled. Lured by the treacherous mirage they
entered valleys of death and lay down to die on their burning
sands haunted by visions of green fields and babbling brooks.
They climbed up into the eternal snows of the Sierras seeking a
gateway into the land of sunshine and perished of cold and
hunger on the very verge of warmth and plenty. Stricken by
that dread plague cholera, five thousand graves by the wayk-
side marked the line of their march from the Missouri to the
Sacramento.
2l8 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
The one bait that lured them all was Gold! Gold! Gold!
Their pilgrimage in the land of gold brought out the noblest
qualities and the meanest. It made and unmade men. There
they wore no masks. The inherent character of the man came
to the surface. The accretions that social standing at home had
thrown around a nature base born and sordid, gilding it into
respectability and high standing were often rudely torn away
by the rough life of the mines and the individual was shown up
in all his inherent baseness. The wild free life of the mines was
the crucible of character, separating the dross from the pure
gold.
There was enough of the heroic, enough of adventure in
the search of these modern Argonauts for the "Golden Fleece"
to have furnished material for an epic grander and more fasci-
nating than the Odessy of Homer but it has never been written.
There were poets among the Argonauts,' but it was seldom they
sang. Life was too strenuous and the battle for existence too
fierce for them to tune the lyre. Their occupation was not con-
ducive to wooing the muses. Gold digging, in early days, was
a socialistic leveler. The standard of merit was a man's capacity
to perform so much physical labor. The unlettered hind mi^ht
surpass the finished scholar. The ex-convict might labor beside
the judge who had sentenced him and be classed as the better
man. It was an anomolous condition of society. Under such
conditions and amid such surroundings it was not strange that
the bards but rarely tuned their harps, and when they did sing
it was not of California in
"The days of old,
The days of gold,
The days of '49."
"They sang of love and not of fame,
Forgot was Britain's glory:
Each heart recalled a different name,
But all sang Annie Laurie."
Unlike the soldiers of the Crimea on the eve of battle it
was not "Annie Laurie" the miners sang, but when they did sing
of home, like the soldiers before the "dark Redan,"
"Each heart recalled a different name."
There was one song of purely Argonautic composition that
has been sung around miners' camp fires from the Arctic circle
to the jungles of Panama; sung amid the eternal snows of the
THE POETRY OF THE ARGONAUTS 219
Sierras and on the burning sands of the Colorado. Although in
composition it was somewhat crude and homely, and its theme
an oft-told story, there was a sentiment in it that touched a re-
sponsive chord in the breast of many a miner. The ballad I
refer to bore the inexpressive title, "Ji°e Bowers of Pike." The
sentiment that made it popular among the Argonauts in the
early '50*5 you may possibly detect in the stanzas I quote :
"My name is Joe Bowers, I've got a brother Ike,
I came from Old Missouri, yes all the way from Pike.
I'll tell you why I left thar, and how I came to roam,
And leave my poor old mammy so far away from home.
I used to court a girl thar, her name was Sally Black.
I axed her if she'd marry me, she said it was a whack.
But then says she, "Joe Bowers, before we hitch for life
You ought to get a little home to keep yer little wife."
Oh Sally, dearest Sally! Oh Sally for your sake
I'll go to California and try to raise a stake.
Says she to me, "Joe Bowers, you'r the man to win ;
Here's a kiss to bind the bargain," and she hove a dozen in.
Right soon I went to the mines, put in my biggest licks,
Came down on the boulders jest like a thousand o' bricks.
I worked both late and early, in sun, in rain, in snow.
I was workin' for my Sally — 'twas all the same to Joe."
Joe continues to work in the mines, but he doesn't raise a
stake. Time passes and the denoument comes to Joe's little
romance in a letter from brother Ike which said "Sally has wed a
butcher whose hair is red." The bell rings, the curtain drops,
Joe's life drama is played out. From this point in the song the
singer was at liberty to improvise any continuation to the story
he pleased or rather that would please his auditors. One, that
I recollect, was that the auburn haired vendor of steaks and
prime roasts dies, Joe makes a raise in California, returns and
marries the widow and they live happily ever afterward. Who
was the author of the ballad? I do not know. It may not
have had an author, but, like Topsy, "just growed."
The Argonauts of California, and particularly those who
crossed the plains, were nearly all young men. Many of these,
like Mr. Joseph Bowers, had left girls behind them, whom thev
had promised to marry. Each hoped to pick up gold enough
in a few months, or a year at most, to get "a little home to keep
his little wife." In the language of a song popular in the days
of '49,
22O HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
"I soon shall be in Frisco
And then I'll look all round.
And when I see the gold lumps there
I'll pick 'em off the ground ;
I'll scrape the mountains clean, my boys,
I'll drain the rivers dry,
A pocket full of rocks bring home;
O! Susanna, don't you cry."
But the miner soon found gold was not be picked up in lumps.
Like Joe, he put in his biggest licks, he dammed creeks and turned
rivers, tunneled into mountains and ground-sluiced hills away,
joined in a wild rush to Gold Lake, to Silver Mountain, searched
for the Lost Cabin, the Padres Mine, the Wagon Tire Diggings
and other ignes fatui that have deluded honest miners, and came
back from his chase after phantoms rich in experience but poor
in gold. Meanwhile time was passing, and it kept doing so
with great regularity. He was growing old and Susanna, who
had ceased to cry, was growing impatient. Then the denoue-
ment comes in a letter from home — Susanna has wed a man who
had not learned to roam but who had a little home. Another
romance is ended. The miner curses his luck — perhaps he gets
drunk. He ceases to write home, he becomes driftwood on the
current of fate. In the homely ballad of Joe Bowers many a
miner has beheld his own life drama portrayed. Hence its olden
time popularity in the mines.
The earliest poem printed in a California periodical appeared
in the issue of the Calif ornian of October 3, 1846, and is en-
titled "On Leaving the United States for California." This was
followed in the next issue of the paper by a poetical effusion en-
titled "On Leaving California for the United States." Both are
anonymous. They were probably written by the same author.
In the Californian of October 3ist, 1846, is a poem bearing the
title, "To My Mother." It is signed A. D. F. R. All these
mentioned are sentimental and have but little local coloring. In
the Californian of November 14, 1846, is a poem on the con-
quest of Los Angeles. Commodore Stockton and Captain John
C. Fremont, with their united forces' — Stockton advancing from
San Pedro and Fremont from San Diego — entered Los Angeles,
August 13, 1846. Governor Pio Pico and General Jose Castro
had fled to Mexico at the approach of the American troops, and
the Californian soldiers disbanded and returned to their homes.
The gringo army under Stockton took possession of the city
without firing a shot. The "sounds of woe," "the blood-stained
earth," "the murd'rous arms" and "haggard eyes" in the poem
THE POETRY OF THE ARGONAUTS 221
are figments of the poet's imagination. Evidently his muse was
fooled with a fake report of the conquest.
In the first conquest of Los Angeles nobody was hurt, not
a hostile shot was fired. It was during the second, in January,
1847, ^at the battles of Paso de Bartolo and La Mesa were
fought. The poem is entitled "Angeles," and is signed W. G.
I give it in full.
ANGELES.
Soft o'er the vale of Angeles
The gale of peace was wont to blow
Till discord raised her direful horn
And filled the vale with sounds of woe.
The blood stained earth, the warlike bands,
The trembling natives saw with dread,
Dejected labor left her toil.
And summer's blithe enjoyments fled.
But soon the avenging sword was sheathed,
And mercy's voice by "Stockton" heard
How pleasant were the days which saw
Security and peace restored.
Ah think not yet your trials o'er;
From yonder mountain's hollow side,
The fierce banditti issue forth.
When darkness spreads her curtains wide.
With murd'rous arms, and haggard eyes,
The social joys away they fright;
Sad expectation clouds the day,
And sleep forsakes the fearful night.
Now martial troops protect the robbed,
At distance prowl the ruffian band;
Oh confidence! that dearer guard,
Why hast thou left this luckless land
We droop and mourn o'er many a joy,
O'er some dear friend to dust consigned,
But every comfort is not fled,
Behold another friend we find.
Lo "Stockton" comes to grace the plan,
And friendship claims the precious prize ;
He grants the claims nor does his heart
The children of the vale despise.
W. G.
In my researches, the earliest poem that I have found which
has a local coloring, is one entitled "Blowing Up the Wind." It
was written by Edward C. Kemble, editor of the California
Star, and published in that paper April 24, 1847. Kemble came
to the coast in 1846 and became editor of Sam Brannan's paper,
222 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
the California Star, in April, 1847. The Star was the first paper
published in San Francisco, or Yerba Buena, as the town was
then called. (The Calif ornian was established at Monterey and
afterwards removed to San Francisco.) Kemble was an Ar-
gonaut of the Argonauts. He visited the gold diggings shortly
after their discovery in 1848 — pronounced them a fake and ad-
vised people to stay at home. His subscribers all went to the
mines. He followed them, made a hundred dollars a day for
a few weeks, then came back and resurrected his newspaper.
Any one who, in early times before the streets of San Francisco
were paved, has wandered over its sand hills and had his face
rasped and his eyes blinded by the flying sand will appreciate the
blowing up that Kemble gives the winds of 'Frisco.
BLOWING UP THE WIND.
"Ever blowing, colder growing, sweeping madly through the town,
Never ceasing, ever teasing, never pleasing, never down;
Day or night, dark or light,
Sand a-flying, clapboards sighing,
Groaning, moaning, whistling shrill,
Shrieking wild and never still.
In September, in November, or December, ever so,
Even in August, will the raw gust, flying fine dust, roughly blow.
Doors are slamming, gates a-banging,
Shingles shivering, casements quivering,
Roaring, pouring, madly yelling,
Tales of storm and shipwreck telling.
In our bay, too, vessels lay to, but find
No shelter from the blast,
Whitecaps clashing, bright spray splashing,
Light foam flashing, dashing past.
Yards are creaking, blocks a squeaking,
Rudder rattling, ropes all clattering,
Lugging, tugging at the anchor,
Groaning spars and restless spanker.
Now the sun gleams, bright the day seems,
Hark ! he comes is heard the roar ;
Haste to dwelling, dread impelling, heap the fire,
Close the door.
Onward coming, humming, drumming,
Groaning, moaning, sighing, crying,
Shrieking, squeaking, (reader, 'tis so).
Thus bloweth the wind at 'Frisco."
Kemble's "Crow," a parody on Poe's "Raven," is another
pioneer poem antedating the discovery of gold. The city coun-
cil of San Francisco had passed an ordinance forbidding any-
one from killing the carrion fowl that frequented the streets of
THE POETRY OF THE ARGONAUTS 223
the city. The crows were the scavengers that removed the
garbage. One of these birds of ill omen flies into Kemble's
house and perched beneath the ceiling proceeds to help himself
from a side of bacon. The poet raises his gun to shoot, when
his eyes fall on the ordinance. I quote the closing stanzas :
"Then the thrilling and revealing of that crow still neath my ceiling,
Perching, pecking on that bacon which never may he devour
And that paper open spreading and that flashing Pica heading
Of that ordinance forbidding, ah I must deplore,
And my eyes from off that ordinance frowning, rustling on the floor
Shall be lifted nevermore.
And I reached me down my gun, charged with slugs half a score ;
Croaked he hoarsely, No, Senor."
The following poem, which Samuel C. Upham in his "Scenes
in El Dorado — 1849-50," says was the earliest poem written
and published in California, appeared in the Pacific News of
March 22, 1850. Mr. Upham, although good authority on the
clays of '49, is in error when he claims that it was the earliest.
I have shown that there were several published over three years
before this one. The poem in the News is anonymous. It is
entitled "A Rallying Song for the Gold Diggers." It consists
of eight stanzas and a repeat of the first. I omit two which
seem to be defective:
To the mines ! to the mines ! away to the mines,
Where the virgin gold in the crevice shines!
Where the shale and the slate and the quartz enfold,
In their stony arms the glittering gold.
Tis in vain that ye seek any longer to hide
Your treasures of gold in your rivers so wide.
In your gulches so deep, or your wild canon home,
For the Anglo-American race is come.
And the noise that ye hear is the sound of the spade,
The pick, the bar, and the bright shining spade,
Of the knife and the shovel, the cradle and pan,
Brave adjuncts of toil to the laboring man!
Far up in the mountains, all rugged and steep,
Far down in the canon, all foaming and deep,
In the bars of the river, the small mountain plains,
Lies the wealth that ye seek for, in numberless grains.
Turn the stream from its bed — search the bottom with care,
The largest, the richest, the finest is there;
Dig deep in the gulches, nor stop till the stone
Reveals there it's treasures, or tell there's none.
224 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Nor be thou disheartened, dismayed nor cast down,
If success should decline thy first efforts to crown;
Go ahead ! Go ahead ! Since Creation began,
"No wealth without toil" is the record to man.
To the mines ! to the mines ! away to the mines !
Where the virgin gold in the crevice shines !
Vhere the shale and the slate and the quartz enfold,
In their stony arms the glittering gold.
Of the anonymous poetical gems of Argonautic days this
one describing the inflowing human tide to the golden shores of
California is among the best :
From the sunny Southern Islands, from the Asiatic coast,
The Orient and the Occident are mingled in the host,
The glowing star of Empire has forever stayed its way,
And its western limb is resting o'er San Francisco Bay.
A hundred sails already swell to catch the willing breeze,
A hundred keels are cleaving through the blue Atlantic seas,
Full many a thousand leagues behind their tardy courses borne
For a hundred masts already strain beyond the stormy Horn.
Soon from the channel of St. George and from the Levant shore,
To swell the emigrating tide, anotner host shall pour
To that far land beyond the west where labor lords the soil,
And thankless tasks shall ne'er be done by unrequieted toil.
To banks of distant rivers whose flashing waves have rolled
For long and countless centuries above neglected gold,
Where nature holds a double gift within her lavish hand,
And teeming fields of yellow grain strike root in golden sand.
No state in its infancy could boast of so many talented men
as California. Among these there were none more gifted than
Col. Edward D. Baker. As an orator he had no superior; as a
statesman he towered above his compeers; as a warrior he won
fame on the bloody fields of Cerro Gordo and Buena Vista. He
was killed at the battle of Ball's Bluff. After his death the fol-
lowing beautiful poem from his pen was published. It was writ-
ten about 1850. It is entitled
TO A WAVE.
Dost thou seek a star, with thy swelling crest
O, wave, that lavest thy mother's breast?
Dost thou leap from the prisoned depths below
In scorn of their calm and constant flow?
Or art thou seeking some distant land
To die in murmurs upon the strand?
THE POETRY OF THE ARGONAUTS 22$
Hast thou tales to tell of pearl-lit deep,
Where the wave- whelmed mariner rocks in sleep?
Can'st thou speak of navies that sank in pride
Ere the roll of their thunder in echo died?
What trophies, what banners, are floating free
In the shadowy depths of that silent sea?
It were vain to ask, thou rollest afar,
Of banner, or mariner, ship or star;
It were vain to seek in thy stormy face
Some tale of the sorrowful past to trace.
Thou are swelling high, thou art flashing free,
How vain are the questions we ask of thee!
I, too, am a wave on a stormy sea ;
I, too, am a wanderer, driven like thee;
I, too, am seeking a distant land
To be lost and gone ere I reach the strand.
For the land I seek is a waveless shore,
And they who once reach it shall wander no more.
Among the versatile writers of California in the early 'so's
few rank higher than William H. Rhodes, better known by his
nom de plume, "Caxton." One of his best efforts is a short
poem on the death of James King of William.
In 1855-56 the criminal element of San Francisco had vir-
tually obtained control of the city. The officials were either too
weak or too corrupt to enforce the law. Many of them had se-
cured their offices through ballot box stuffing and violence, and
the thieves, incendiaries and murderers who had helped them
into office went unwhipt of justice. King, through his paper,
the Bulletin, exposed the prevailing corruption and poured out
invective on the corrupt officials. He was shot down on Mont-
gomery street by James P. Casey, a supervisor of the Twelfth
ward, whose state's prison record King had exposed. Casey
and Cora, another murderer, were hanged by the Vigilance Com-
mittee while the bells were tolling King's funeral. Caxton's
poem is entitled
"HE FELL AT HIS POST DOING DUTY."
The patriot sleeps in the land of his choice,
In the robe of a martyr, all gory,
And heeds not the tones of the world-waking voice,
That cover his ashes with glory.
What recks he of riches? What cares he for fame,
Or the world decked in grandeur or beauty?
If the marble shall speak that records his proud name,
"He died at his post, doing duty !"
The pilot that stood at the helm of pur bark,
Unmoved by the tempest's commotion,
Was swept from the deck in the storm and the dark,
226 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
And sank in the depths of the ocean.
But little he'll grieve for the life it has cost,
If our banner shall still float in beauty,
And emblaze on its fold, of the pilot we lost,
"He died at his post, doing duty !"
The warrior-chieftain has sunk to his rest —
The sod of Lone Mountain his pillow ;
For his bed, California has opened her breast ;
His dirge, the Pacific's sad billow!
As long as the ocean-wave weeps on our shore,
And our valleys bloom out in their beauty,
So long will our country her hero deplore,
Who fell at his post doing duty!
The Argonauts in their long voyages to California by way of
Cape Horn, which lasted all the way from six to ten months,
were put to their wits' ends to devise amusements to while away
the monotony of the voyage. One means quite popular was to
publish a newspaper aboard the vessel. These papers were writ-
ten out by hand (for this was long before the days of type-
writers) and often illustrated by pen and ink sketches of scenes
and incidents on board. The paper was read once a week and
furnished a source of amusement. It was my good fortune sev-
eral years since to secure for the Historical Society several copies
of the "Petrel," a paper published on the ship Duxbury, which
sailed from Boston via Cape Horn for San Francisco in 1849.
From its numerous poetical effusions I quote one entitled "Skin-
ning the Duff." Duff, as you know, is a kind of pudding popu-
lar with sailors. It is made of flour, tallow, raisins and other
ingredients and boiled in a bag. Skinning the duff consisted
in removing the cloth bag in which the pudding was boiled.
SKINNING THE DUFF.
Oh, 'tis pleasant to sail
Before the gale
As the wind pipes loud and free
And we dash away
Amid foam and spray
Across the dark blue sea,
And we feel the wrath
Of the tempest's breath,
As it fills our spreading sail,
And we shout with glee
As the foaming sea
Dashes high o'er the Duxbury's rail.
But a pleasanter sight
Than the tempest's night
As it roars in tones so gruff
Is to see e'er the larboard watch is called
The Steward skinning the duff.
THE POETRY OF THE ARGONAUTS 227
And 'tis pleasant to ride
O'er the swelling tide,
On the breast of the open sea,
To the waves' soft chime
In their low, sweet melody,
And 'tis pleasant to gaze
On the moon's mild rays,
Reflected wide o'er the deep,
While the evening star
Her vigils of love to keep.
But it is pleasanter far
Than moon or star,
Or wind so smooth or rough,
To see e'er the larboard watch is called
The Steward skinning the duff.
And 'tis pleasant at night
When day's rich light
Has faded away and gone;
And the crowd collects
Between the decks
To listen to story or song ;
And the full heart swells
And the eyes will fill,
As we talk of friends afar.
And our pulses bound
As the toast goes round,
God bless them wherever they are;
But a pleasanter sight
Than day's rich light
Or music or any such stuff
Is to see e'er the larboard watch is called
The Steward skinning the duff.
ETHICAL VALUE OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS
BY MRS. M. BURTON WILLIAMSON.
Social organizations have their rise in the social instinct.
And it will be my purpose this evening to sketch very briefly the
origin and development of this instinct, as well as to prove the
value of social organizations. By these terms I do not include
the purely social clubs, the rendezvous for eating, smoking and
lounging; nor any of the various secret societies. Strictly
speaking, a social organization would not come under the classi-
fication of a club formed for philanthropy, reform, or study
along social lines, although the social element is often so closely
allied with clubs organized for work of some kind that a strict
line of demarcation is difficult, unless the object of the club is
kept in mind.
What is its object? Has a social organization any ethical
value ?
Before attempting to answer these questions it will be nec-
essary to study the genesis of the social instinct and also the
intellectual development that has given rise to social organiza-
tions. We know the social instinct is inherent and can be traced
back through gradations of animal life. Not in the form which
we mean when we allude to social feelings, but in the more prim-
itive segregation of species into colonies, schools, flocks and
herds of animals. In invertebrate life the gregarious masses
are due to the immense quantities that are generated in certain
localities, and these only represent a part of the germs that fail
to survive. This gregariousness was illustrated in the little
pelagic,, miscroscopic peridiniums which were so abundant on
our coast at one time, summer before last. A vial filled with
sea water was seen to be alive with peridiniums. Not scattered
in haphazard fashion in the vial, but these tiny brown specks
were seen following each other in two moving streams, as a flock
of birds flying, some leading, others following. We cannot,
strictly speaking, call this a social instinct, yet in these gregari-
ous masses we might see the germs of a more advanced segre-
gation of animals. A tiny, one-celled animal cannot represent
much more than a possibility. The social instinct to be recog-
nized as such, must be evolved from a more complicated system
ETHICAL VALUE OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS 229
of nerve tissue than is found in any invertebrate represented by
a jelly fish, or an oyster. But in an insect, a bird or an animal,
scientists tell us the structural units or microscopical cells and
fibers are more or less similar, and that "mind has a physical
basis in the functions of the nervous system and that every men-
tal process has a corresponding equivalent in some neural pro-
cess."* With the evolution of the nervous system the social
instinct evolves.
Social instincts not only are shown in animals of the same
genera and species, but animals both wild and domesticated have
formed friendships. In domestic life the friendship of birds,
cats, dogs and horses for their owners or keepers is of common
occurrence. "Cats often like to associate with horses, and in
some cases with dogs, birds and rats." Anecdotes of this social
instinct are numerous. A pet minorca chicken raised by our
family showed a decided preference for one member of the
household. Dade knew his name and would run to his mis-
tress whenever she called him. Often he would perch for the
half hour on the arm of her chair if she were in the garden. For
a short time he had two or three hens under his supervision.
He always called them to eat first and would wait until they, the
greedy ones, had satisfied themselves before he would swallow a
mouthful, although he would pick up a grain of corn, then place
it in front of a hen. In going into the chicken yard of evening
it was always noticed that Dade called the hens, then when they
were in front of the gate, he would stand on one side with as
much grace as a cultured human, then pass in after the hens.
In Romanes' "Mental Evolution in Animals" he gives an il-
lustration of a dog's attachment for his mistress. The anecdote
was told by the author to show that dogs have an imagination,
but it also adds another illustration of a dog's fondness for hu-
man society. "I have." he says, "known a case in which a ter-
rier of my own household, on the sudden removal of his mis-
tress, refused all food for a number of days, so that it was
thought he must certainly die, and his life was only saved by
forcing him to eat raw eggs. Yet all his surroundings remained
unchanged, and every one was as kind to him as they always
had been. And that the cause of his pining was wholly due
to the absence of his beloved mistress was proved by the fact
that he remained permanently outside of her bedroom door (al-
though he knew that she was not inside), and could only be
*Romanes.
230 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
induced to go to sleep by giving him a dress of hers to sleep
upon."
The author just quoted from not only enumerates the social
feelings as one of the products of the emotional development
of animal life, but he lists among the products of the intellectual
development communication of ideas and w.hat he calls "indefi-
nite morality." That is, the morality that, in a psychogenetic
scale, would be equal to an infant of 15 months. Under this
category he lists dogs and anthropoid apes.
What is the impulse that has been the original source and
stimulus of organic activity? The struggle for existence, or,
in other words, the craving for food, the nutritive impulse.
Evans says: "Every expression of feeling, every exercise of
the will, every exhibition of intelligence in the lower animals
and in man can be traced to hunger as its fountain head. From
the pressure of hunger and the desire to prevent its occurrence
spring the love of acquisition, the systematic accumulation of
wealth, the idea of ownership in things, or the general concep-
tion of personal property, which is the strongest element of so-
cial and domestic life, codes of laws and system of morals, dis-
coveries, inventions, industrial and commercial enterprises, scien-
tific researches, and the highest achievement of culture and
civilization."
He further says : "It is true that as man arises in the scale
of intelligence, other and nobler incentives to activity come into
operation and act even more powerfully than the primal nutri-
tive impulse. The latter, however, always assert and insists
upon the priority of its claims, and not until these have been
satisfied and the stress of hunger relieved, and in some way per-
manently guarded against, does the individual think of devoting
his energies to higher pursuits."
This has been illustrated in the struggle for existence of pio-
neer life. Plowing, and hunting, for food, and a rude habita-
tion, were necessities. From the rough cabin, or shack, to the
palace, there is represented the evolution of man from primitive
labor to that of large commercial and industrial enterprises
where many men labor together in the interest of one man. He
rears a palace to adequately meet his social requirements that
must follow along the line and keep pace with his monetary
interests. Society, in its restricted sense, could only be possible
when the struggle for existence was not the dominant idea.
The social code, the particular attention to forms and the fre-
quent and punctilious occasions of social intercourse have no
ETHICAL VALUE OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS 23!
meaning to the man who is daily haunted with the impulse of
nutrition for himself and his family.
We have seen that with the social instinct inherent there
must still be certain conditions to influence the growth and pro-
gress of social development.
It is my aim to show that social organizations are due to the
growth of both mental and social development. Not either
alone, but together. The intellectual modified and influenced
by social customs and the social elevated by seeking pleasure in
a more rational manner than mere recreation as an excuse for
passing time. Living in a world of activity, yet trying to kill
time. This is the abuse of the social instinct.
It may be urged that the intellectual status represents tfie
highest intelligence, or capacity for the function of the intel-
lect, then how can it.be modified and influenced by society?
I would not be misunderstood ; there is nothing that should be
more valued than the intellect, the power to understand, but if
the intellectual person fails to adjust himself to his social en-
vironment, if his own personality is at war with the social judg-
ments of his times, his influence is circumscribed, his intellectual
attainments are not valued. He must care for the rights and
privileges of his fellow men.
Whatever faults or failings may be laid at the door of polite
society, it, in its best sense, is polite, seeking for the happiness
of individual members of it. In social relations the ethical must
necessarily be the groundwork of such relationships. The
"ought" and ought not of the individual in his relation to so-
ciety is ever present. Without this regard for the happiness of
others there could be no such thing as ethical culture, which
is only another name for refined altruism. Take, for instance,
a company of what we term ladies and gentlemen; what is their
characteristic in their relation to others? Politeness. No one
must be made unhappy; self must be secondary to the feelings
of others, and although this is often abused into a form of un-
truth, known as "white lies" or "fibbing," the exaggeration often
has its root in the desire to do, and say, things that give pleasure.
Politeness is not only the sesame to good society but is a strong
factor in making life easier in every avenue of life.
A lady was once trying to give her little grandchild a lesson
in politeness when the application of the lesson came home to
her in a way she had not anticipated. "G ," said she to the
child, who was visiting her, "if you want any one to do any-
thing for you, you must be polite, you must say 'please.' ' A
232 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
little while after that the child had made some paste in a tin-cup
and was busy on the floor pasting bits of paper together. The
grandmother after a while became tired of the litter and said :
"G! , you have played with that paste long enough; take the
cup out into the kitchen." The little five-year-old arose, straight-
ened herself erect, and said with much indignation, ''Where
is your polite?"
James Mark Baldwin, in a study in social Psychology, en-
titled, "Social and Ethical Interpretations," lays much stress
upon the ability of a person to conform to the social community.
We know there must be variation if there is growth, but he says
that, "The limits of individual variation must lie inside the possi-
ble attainment of the social heritage by each person. In the
•actual attainment of this ideal, any society finds itself embar-
rassed by refactory individuals."
He further says: "It is the duty of each individual to be
torn a man of social tendencies which his communal tradition
a man, then, as far as his variation goes, he is liable to be found
requires of him; if he persist in being born a different sort of
a criminal before the bar of public conscience and law, and to
be suppressed in an asylum or a reformatory, in Siberia or in
the Potter's field."
This refers, of course, to society in general, not to social
organizations, for in these there is a selection of the fittest, the
unfit is seldom invited or is soon socially suppressed. Not of
course by drastic measures such as general society advocates,
"but merely ignoring his personality — not rudely, but silently, yet
lione the less effectively. For social organizations must be com-
posed, for the most part, of individuals whose judgments are in
unison with the social judgments of the club. A man or woman
to be eligible to membership must be a clubable person. By this
is meant a person who respects the rights of others. One whose
attitude is aggressive, who is unmindful of others' rights, would
certainly be unsuitable to a social club.
Receptions to notable persons and monthly banquets or
luncheons, or cosy teas, combine two inherent instincts in life.
The instinct of nutrition, as has been said, is the first organic
emotion, and it is still a dominant factor in friendly intercourse.
Even the "Man of Sorrows" gathered his chosen twelve around
the social board when he broke the bread and drank the fruit of
the vine while he foretold the saddening future.
If social organizations have introduced more hospitable rela-
tions between the members than was practicable in a club formed
ETHICAL VALUE OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS
for work, they are also fine mediums for educating women to-
wards greater simplicity in entertaining. This question cannot
be discussed in society functions where discussion is strictly ta-
booed, but is a legitimate topic at the club, where anything that
is carried to extreme may be criticised in a general way. Articles
written upon such topics by persons who are conversant with
social abuses have, and do, popularize simplicity and grace, rather
than display that borders upon vulgarity. If there is one trait
of character that is the ruling passion in America, not of women
only, it is that of imitation. In business, if one man branches
out in a new line, he runs the risk of becoming bankrupt by com-
petition in this new line. Women imitate in dress, furnishings,
and style of living and entertaining — with the desire, however,
to do a little more, or add more elaborate features of display.
The social instinct would impel the victim even to the verge ofc
bankruptcy in money and nerve! Intellectual culture would seek
the happy medium. The social club, in this respect, can be a po-
tent factor.
In the intellectual activity of such a club, the discussion of
topics of general interest covers a wide field. The best talent,
both outside and inside of the club membership, is at its service.
Specialists along various lines readily use their talents for the
good of such a club.
This is,of itself, of great ethical value to the members. Sci-
ence is presented in a popular form ; philosophy is given in terms
less dillactic; the best fiction is reviewed; music is interpreted by
professionals; art is made more realistic, and educational meth-
ods are presented. All this is inspiring, uplifting and helpful
as social steps in the advance in life.
I would not be misunderstood1 — mental growth does not de-
pend upon clubs, nor, we may say, colleges, alone. With books
and free libraries for their dissemination, there is no lack of edu-
cational aids. But such clubs are useful to persons who are by
nature students. When one reads and studies alone, he sees only
one side of the author's meaning or intent. This may be correct,
and yet it is helpful to learn how other minds receive the same
information. Social expression of ideas is an adjunct to mental
growth. Growth is an ethical factor. When we think of de-
generation, we immediately form an image of something that
has been dwarfed for want of nutrition. This argument also
holds good in a study club, but in such a club the tendency is to
specialize; consequently there is not so much diversity in the
range of topics discussed before the same persons.
234 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
There is an inspiration in associating in club life with men
and women who have a broader insight into life, a finer concep-
tion of relative values, a more comprehensive vision of humanity
than one possesses.
The social club is a help in breaking down imaginary social
boundaries.
Genius is often the child of penury, and brains have been
rocked in a pine cradle. But when genius and brains come to
the front, social distinctions vanish.
Social organizations for women are often connecting links
between the mother and society. A club represents individual
home factors, held together by a common interest, yet diversified
by hereditary gifts and home environments. The social club
supplies a human want in the life of the mother. She may have
no time to study, with her young family clamoring for her atten-
tion; but she may possess her soul in peace for an occasional
half day in the club. The club demands less of her than society
would. It gives her ideal thinking for a time which is a refresh-
ing change from purely domestic, economic details. Surely it
needs no argument to prove that such a mother would be happier
because of her glimpse of the world outside her narrow horizon ;
nor that her home would also be benefited. As happiness is the
desideratum, if not the ultimatum, of human desires, any club
that tends towards the happiness of its members and of society
at large is of value.
The social organization is a medium through which reforms
can be disseminated. For a progressive club must discuss some
of the issues of the day. Clubs for philanthropy or reform have
taken their rise from such a club. As an instance, some years
ago a member of the Friday morning Club was in favor of hav-
ing a cooking school for girls in one of our poorer districts. A
graduate of a Boston cooking school was asked to present this
subject to the club. The need of such a school was discussed,
and the result was the formation — outside of the club — of such
a school. Through the liberality of another member an indus-
trial department was added, and the Stimson-Lafayette Indus-
trial Association was incorporated, and is now in a flourishing
condition.
While furnishing the impetus to organized activity, the ideal
social club commits itself to no restricted line of labor. In this
respect it shows its strength, for it is able to educate and send
out workers in many lines. Its sympathies are as broad as hu-
man wants.
ETHICAL VALUE OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS 235
In such clubs there must be neutrality in religious beliefs, and,
it naturally follows that this religious liberty cannot do other-
wise than have a reflex influence in general society. Without
the social elements in clubs and societies do you believe that the
Jewish women of our country could have been recognized and
given a place at the Jewish Congress during the World's Fair ?
It was said that never before in the history of Judaism had
a body of Jewish women come together for the purpose of pre-
senting their views, nor for any purpose but that of charity or
mutual aid; never in the representation of Judaism. The club
formed for social improvement draws no line between Jew and
Christian, Theosophist and Agnostic.
Is this too broad a platform? It may be for narrow secta-
rianism, but not for a belief in the brotherhood of man ! Not for
Christian ethics.
Social organizations, or clubs, are not usually organized for
the good of the public, but for the pleasure of its individual mem-
bers; but that does not invalidate the claim that such organiza-
tions are of ethical value.
In answer to a letter of inquiry regarding the Sunset Club,
which meets once a month, Mr. Charles Dwight Willard says :
"Usually about forty attend. The papers are on all classes of
subjects; and there is usually one principal paper, about twenty
minutes' long, and two short ones of five minutes each, after
which, in the discussion, five to twelve men usually participate.
Literary topics are infrequent, and economics occur most often.
I have generally found that sociological subjects are most satis-
factory to the general club membership."
A club like the Sunset Club, composed of a number of rep-
resentative men of the city, men who are identified with various
lines of activity as doctors, lawyers, ministers, bankers, archi-
tects, authors, merchants and men in other special fields of in-
dustry, must tend towards the ethical growth of the individual
members, and consequently influence society at large. If the
tendency is to "broaden those who are participants in the discus-
sions," then certainly the community is benefited. Public opin-
ion is something that changes; it never remains the same. Every
lecture, every public discussion, has some share in the growth
of ideas. The masses are led by the few. The discussion of so-
ciological subjects, questions that deal with the phenomena of
society, of the right relations of man to man, which include ques-
tions of "rightness" and "oughtness," might not seem to the sixty
members of any great benefit to persons outside of the club, but
236 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
no body of intellectual men could meet monthly to think and talk
over topics that are bound up in society at large without, in some
way, affecting the general public.
No life stands all alone, and it is the problem of social psy-
chology to ascertain to what extent the development of the indi-
vidual mind applies to the evolution of society and how far so-
ciety influences the individual.
No thought is useful to society while it remains merely in
the mind of the individual. Social organizations are excellent
mediums for the expression of ideas. Thoughts must have pub-
licity ; they cannot have any general value until they find expres-
sion and are available ; then they become alive, a part of the gen-
eral mind. If social organizations, composed of men or women
of intellectual abilities and culture, did nothing more than require
that all members should be persons who are known for their
moral character, persons whose influence is in an ethical direc-
tion, who would say that such a club was not of ethical value.
In chemistry we know by analysis the character of any substance,
and in the same way we judge of a society by its units, or indi-
viduals composing its membership. Moral growth must be
greater when societies are composed of individuals who aim to
act ethically, and who are indulging in ideal thinking. The
moral nature develops when the individual aspires to reach, in
himself, an ideal status. A combination of such individuals is
the ideal social organization.
SOME OF THE MEDICINAL AND EDIBLE
PLANTS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
BY LAURA EVERTSEN KING.
Three or four days succeeding the first rains of the season
there comes over the face of nature in Southern California a
marked and magical change — from a dry and apparently bar-
ren landscape, the sweet-scented "Pelio" with its musky odor
covers the earth with a mantle of vivid green. The early in-
habitants of this country, living very near to nature and believ-
ing that the spicy perfume of the fresh and tender grass was in-
vigorating and rejuvenating to the old and infirm, brought
them into the sunlight on their respective rawhide beds and left
them to doze and dream the day long. From the first rains and
through all the seasons of the year until the last dry days of
fall and early winter can be gathered herbs and plants, of va-
rieties too numerous to mention in this brief paper, for edible
and medicinal purposes. Their range is from the mountain tops
to the seashore. I say from the mountain tops, because the
melting snows of winter and the cloudbursts of spring and sum-
mer wash the seeds down the canons' sides into the valleys
below.
Seventy years or more ago, when physicians were like an-
gels' visits, "few and far between," each mother of a family con-
stituted herself ihe adviser of her family and friends, and in
every small village or "pueblo" there was the "Vieja," whom,
every one respected and consulted, and who dispensed with a
lavish hand her various herbs, which she had gathered, dried
and put into safe-keeping for future use. A call from a fever
patient hastened her with a package of "sauco," which she made
into tea and administered at stated intervals, until relief came in
the shape of a profuse perspiration. If her patient became too
weak or debilitated she administered "Paleo" as a tonic. For
cancer she made a poultice of the pounded leaves of "Totoache,"
which removed cancerous growths if applied in time. For in-
ducing an appetite a decoction of "Concha L'agua" was given,
until the patient was able to eat his accustomed allowance of
broiled beef and "Atole." If in the annual "rodeo" a vaquero
238 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
was thrown from his horse or otherwise bruised, he was removed
to his home and "Yerba del Golpe" applied to his contusions.
Then a bath of "Ramero" to rejuvenate his discolored flesh
was used and soon the rider was at work again among his cattle.
Week and inflamed eyes were cured by a wash made of "Rosa
de Castilla." A pomade of the same was used for tenderness
or chafing of the skin. "Yerba del Manso" and "Yerba del
Pasmo" were favorite remedies and used for almost every form
of disease.
There is a sweet smelling little flower of pure white called
"Selama," whose root of crimson furnished the young Indian
girls a paint to improve their complexions, which, unlike the
cosmetics of latter days, left no bad effects, remaining the same
day after day.
In the early morning when the dew was on the grass, the
old women gathered "Lanten" for boils and inflamed swellings.
The large leaves bruised and soaked in olive oil served to con-
centrate the inflammation. The leaves of the "Tunra" were used
for the same purpose. We all know how deliciously refreshing
the fruit of the Tuna is on a he ' summer day, and it formed one
of the principal items of an India s winter store — Tunas, ground
acorns, "Pinones," roasted "Mescal" and "Chia" made the Indian
wax fat and happy.
When a washerwoman wished her black clothes to look
bright and new, she sought the "Campo" for "Yerba" or
"Amole," which, pounded and soaked over night in water, made
a beautiful and cleansing suds. "Cichiquelite," a small seed for
edible purposes, was also beneficial as a gargle for sore throats.
"Petata" is a root eaten by the Indians before the introduction of
the potato — in fact, served the same purpose. In the "zanjas"
and pools along the rivers grows a plant which makes a salad
highly prized by the native Californians, called "Flor del Aqua."
It possesses a slightly bitter flavor, which is very appetizing.
There is another with the small name "Beno" also relished for
salads by "Paisanos."
Hair tonics and hair washes grow everywhere in both spring
and summer, "Caria" being one of the many. And every Cali-
fornian knows of the medicinal virtues of the different "Malvas,"
both black and white being used for congestions, and as a wash
for "Yedra" (or poison oak) it is healing and soothing. "Cardo"
and "Yuelite" are spring greens and may be eaten also as salads,
and hundreds of persons can speak of the "Mostassa," the best
spring vegetable of all.
MEDICAL AND EDIBLE PLANTS OF CALIFORNIA 239
Then there is the San Lucas plant for rheumatism and many
others, whose names are difficult to pronounce on account of
their Indian origin. Some of these medicinal herbs may be
found in various pharmacies under botanical names — these are
the native Californian and Indian names given here. But in the
surrounding country, where live Indians and natives, the old
women still administer their herbs under the well-known,
homely and suggestive names given in this paper. The early
pnysicians of Los Angeles could vouch for the efficacy of nu-
merous herbs used by them in their practice among the residents
if they were here to tell.
This has been writen to show that the lazniess of the Cali-
fornian is in a measure excusable. For what use had he for
work when everything grew at his hand — his food, his medicine,
his shelter. If his "adobe" house or "Ramada" required sweep-
ing, he had but to gather his "Escobita" or "Tules," tie them in
broom shape and sweep when necessary. Disinfectants in the
form of lovely flowers grew on the hills and on the plains. A
hundred pages could be writen of the herbs, edible and medicinal,
that are "born to bloom and blu*U< unseen and waste their sweet-
ness on the desert air."
In continuation, I should say that there were many plants
used by the Indians in wicked incantations, herbs used in con-
juring decoctions so powerful, that a small quantity adminis-
tered, crippled or blinded a subject for life. It could not have
been that his mind was wrought upon, for these herbs were given
unbeknown to the sufferer, and therefore affected him through
their poisonous influences. Except the few plants which the
native Californian has discovered for himself, the knowledge
of the medicinal and edible plants of Southern California has
been handed down to him through his Indian ancestors, who
subsisted on the roots and seeds of this country, gathering some
in the mountains and others in the valleys below, but always
busy in the different seasons of their growth and ripening.
After the founding of the missions the Indians had their
corn, beans and different edibles for consumption which were
introduced by the "padres," and under their subjection ceased
to gather seeds and herbs, but now and then there would be an
eld woman who still clung to tradition and believed that there
was nothing better than the old way of living, and consequently
lived and suffered under the "sobriquet" of "Chisera," or witch,
who was only visited in secret by the jealous husband, or sought
for love potions by the Indian maiden in the "dark of the moon."
24O HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
These old women crept about with packs upon their backs filled
with dried fruit, seeds and countless small and mysterious pack-
ages, which were the awe of the uninitiated. They lived in
small jacales or huts made of "tules" on the outskirts of the
mission and died of old age, true to their convictions.
There are also plants deleterious to animals, one in particular
— "Ramaloco" — which when eaten by horses causes them to be-
come dangerously mad, and while under its influence to endan-
ger the lives of human beings as well as other animals. There
is also "Bledo Cimaron," which when dry seems to have an
affinity for others, thus forming into immense rolling mounds
and skipping before the winds, terrorized and stampeded the
countless herds of cattle and horses that roamed the plains.
There is a weed which is deadly poison to sheep. In a little
wayside plant not unlike a tiny apple in looks and odor, called
"Mansanilla," we have a strong purgative, used to reduce the
temperature in fever. If you walk or ride with an old native
woman she will pick flowers and plants by the wayside and ex-
pound their virtues to you until you are convinced that you are
walking over untold treasures. Indeed, every creeping plant in
California has a meaning and a history.
ANDREW A. BOYLE
BY H. D. BARROWS.
In learning the life-story of many of the early English-
speaking settlers of Los Angeles, as recounted to me by them-
selves, I have been struck with the infinite variety of adven-
tures and dangers which they went through.
Many of the older members of this society, or those who
lived here in the sixties or fifties, or before (of these latter, how-
ever, very few remain), well remember Andrew A. Boyle, that
early Pioneer, after whom "Boyle Heights" was named. But
not all of you, I presume, are aware of the fact that Mr. Boyle
was one of the three or four men of Col. Fanning's unfortunate
band of more than 400 Texas soldiers who escaped slaughter in
the terrible tragedy at Goliad, Texas, in 1836.
Mr. Boyle was born in Ireland, county of Mayo, in 1818,
eighty-two years ago. At the age of 14 years he came to New
York. Two years later, he with his brothers and sisters went
to Texas with a colony, which settled at San Patricio, on the
Nueces river.
On the breaking out of the revolution, Texas then being a
province of Mexico, Mr. Boyle enlisted January 7, 1836, in West-
over's artillery of the Texan army, and his command was or-
dered to Goliad, where it was incorporated with the forces of
Col. Fanning, and after sundry engagements with greatly su-
perior numbers, the Texans were compelled to surrender. Mr.
Boyle, who had been wounded, expected to be shot, as nearly all
his comrades were, to the number of almost 400 men, notwith-
standing the fact that by the terms of their capitulation they
were guaranteed their lives. Mr. Boyle, who understood Span-
ish, learned that this was to be their fate, but before their exe-
cution an officer asked in English if there was any one among
their number named Boyle, to which he answered at once that
that was his name. He was immediately taken to the officers'
hospital to have his wound attended to, where he was kindly
treated by the officers.
A Mr. Brooks, aid to Col. Fanning, who was there at the
time with his thigh badly shattered, knew nothing of what had
242 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
happened, or what was to be their fate, and upon being in-
formed, he remarked, "I suppose it will be our turn next." In
less than five minutes, four Mexican soldiers carried him out,
cot and all, placed him in the street, not fifteen feet from the
door, where Mr. Boyle could not help seeing him, and there
shot him. His body was instantly rifled of a gold watch,
stripped and thrown into a pit at the side of the street.
A few hours after the murder of Mr. Brooks, the officer who
had previously inquired for Mr. Boyle, came into the hospital,
and, addressing him in English, said: "Make your mind easy,
sir; your life is spared."
Mr. Boyle responded, "May I inquire the name of the person
to whom I am indebted for my life?"
"Certainly; my name is General Francisco Garay, second in
command of General Urrea's division."
It seems that when Gen. Garay's forces had occupied San
Patricio that officer had been quartered at the house of the Boyle
family, and had been hospitably entertained. Mr. Boyle's
brother and sister had refused all remuneration from him-, only
asking that if their younger brother, then in the Texan army,
should ever fall into his hands he would treat him kindly. Af-
terward, by order of Gen. Garay, Mr. Boyle obtained a pass-
port, and went to San Patricio, where he remained.
After the battle of San Jacinto and the capture of Gen. Santa
Ana and the retreat of the Mexican forces, Gen. Garay, in pass-
ing through San Patricio, called to see Mr. Boyle, who, at the
General's request, accompanied the latter to Matamoras. The
General also invited Mr. Boyle to accompany him to the city
of Mexico, but this invitation he was compelled to decline; and
so he set out on foot for Brazos, Santiago, where he took passage
on a brig for New Orleans. Being out of money and in rags
on arriving at New Orleans, he engaged at $2.50 a day in paint-
ing St. Mary's market. Working long enough to buy some
clothes, he availed himself of the Texan Consul's offer of a free
passage to the mouth of the Brazos river, where Gen. Burnett,
the first President of the Republic of Texas, gave him a letter to
Gen. Rusk, at that time in command of the army on the river
Guadalupe.
Mr. Boyle walked to Gen. Rusk's camp, a distance of 150
miles. Gen. Rusk gave Mr. Boyle his discharge on account of
impaired health. After recovering from a severe sickness, he
went to Columbia, the seat of government of Texas, where he
obtained a passport for New Orleans.
ANDREW A. BOYLE 243
After his return to the latter city and the re-establishment
of his health, he engaged in merchandizing on the Red river
till about the year 1842.
In 1846 Mr. Boyle was married to Miss Elizabeth A. Christie
at New Orleans. Miss Christie was a native of British Guiana;
from whence, in 1838, her father brought his family to New
Orleans. One daughter was born to this marriage, who is now
the wife of Ex-Mayor William H. Workman. Mrs. Boyle died
in New Orleans, October 20, 1849. This daughter ( Mrs. Work-
man) was cared for and brought up by her great aunt, Char-
lotte Christie, who, at the age of over 80 years, died recently in
this city, at the home of her foster-daughter.
Returning from the Red river, Mr. Boyle went to Mexico,
where he engaged successfully in business till 1849, when he
set out for the United Staes with about $20,000 in Mexican sil-
ver dollars, which he had packed in a claret box. At the mouth
of the Rio Grande, in passing a sidewheel steamer in a small
skiff, his frail boat was upset, and his treasure sank to the
bottom, and was a total loss, and he himself came near losing
his life.
Mr. Boyle finally returned to his home in New Orleans, to
find that his wife, who was in delicate health, had died two
weeks before, from nervous shock and brain fever, caused by
hearing that he had been lost at the mouth of the Rio Grande.
From that time on, all his interest centered in his infant daugh-
ter, then a year and a half old.
The next year the family started for California via the isth-
mus, arriving in San Francisco in the early part of 1851. Here
Mr. Boyle engaged in the boot and shoe business, but he was
burned out by both of the fires that occurred that year.
In company with a Mr. Hobart, he then went into the whole-
sale boot and shoe business, and they built up a very large trade,
which extended to Los Angeles and other coast towns. Among
their customers in those years (1851-58) were Mr. Kremer, the
late Mr. Polaski and others.
Mr. Boyle made the acquaintance of Don Mateo Keller in
Texas and at Vera Cruz, Mexico, whither both went on trading
expeditions in the early 40*5. It was through the influence of
Mr. Keller that Mr. Boyle was induced to sell out his intrests
in San Francisco and come to Los Angeles, which he did in
1858. Here he bought a vineyard (planted in 1835 by Jose
Rubio) on the east side of the river, under the bluffs. Here
he made his home, and in 1862 or '63 he commenced making
244 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
wine, and dug a cellar in which to store it, just under the edge
of the bluff. Prior to 1862 he shipped his grapes to San Fran-
cisco, as did many other vineyardists here at that period, grapes
then bringing high prices in that market. In the '50*5 and
earlier, and before vineyards had been generally planted in the
upper country, and during the flush mining era, grapes and other
fruit commanded, at times, fabulous prices. Those who had
bearing vineyards in Los Angeles at that period had a better
thing than a gold mine or than oil wells.
Mr. Boyle was a valuable member of the City Council sev-
eral years during the '6o's. Mr. Boyle and Mr. George Dalton
were the only members who, on the final vote, cast their ballots
against the thirty years lease of the city's domestic water system
to a private company. Mr. Boyle made a strong minority
committee report against said lease, which we can now see, as we
look back, was a prophetic document. If the city had followed
Mr. Boyle's advice it would have saved millions of dollars and
no end of vexatious and costly litigation.
Mr. Boyle was of a very genial, social nature, and all who
visited his hospitable home were cordially received and enter-
tained. I have only pleasant memories of my visits to the Boyle
mansion during the lifetime of its former owner — as so many
others in later years have of their visits to the present hospitable
owners.
Down to the time of the death of Mr. Boyle, there were but
few houses on the east side of the river, either in that beautiful
suburb now known as "Boyle Heights" or in "East Los An-
geles." Mr. Clemente lived on the flat near the river; the old
John Behn place was south of Mr. Boyle, and the Bors mill and
the Julian Chaves and Elijah Moulton places were further up the
river, on the east side.
Perhaps I should add that General Garay, the savior of Mr.
Boyle's life at Goliad, had been educated in the United States
and that he spoke English perfectly, and that he keenly regretted
the barbarous butchery of the disarmed Texans at Goliad, which,
as he afterward told Mr. Boyle, would ever be looked upon as a
blot and a disgrace on the Mexican name.
EL CANON PERDIDO
BY J. M. GUINN.
The stranger strolling through the city of Santa Barbara
will be forcibly impressed by the Spanish nomenclature of its
streets. The famous men of the Spanish and Mexican eras of
California's history have been remembered in the naming of
the highways and byways of the channel city. Sola, Victoria,
Figueroa, Ortega, Carrillo, de La Guerra and many others have
their streets. Nor alone have the famous men, but also famous
and infamous deeds, too, have been immortalized in choice Cas-
tilian on the guide boards. Sandwiched in among the calles
named for bygone heroes the stroller will find one street name
that, if he is not up in his Spanish, will impress him with the
unpleasant sensation as he reads its name, — Canon Perdido," —
that he has entered upon the broad road that leads down to
perdition canon; and he will be on the qui vive for some tra-
dition of the days of the padres or the story of uncanny orgies
held in some lonely canon by the Indian worshipper of Chupu,
the channel god. If he should ask some Barbareno what the
street's name means, he will be informed that its name in Eng-
lish is "Lost Cannon street" — for canon is California Spanish
for a gun or a gulch, and perdido may mean in Castilian simply
"lost" or intensified — doomed to eternal perdition. Of the
deed, the legend or the tradition that gave the calle its queer
appelation, unless your informant is an old-timer, you will learn
but little and that little perhaps may be incorrect.
The episode that the street name commemorates occurred
away back in the closing years of the first half of the nineteenth
century. In the winter of 1847-48, the American brig Eliza-
beth was wrecked on the Santa Barbara coast. Among the
flotsam of the wreck was a brass cannon of uncertain caliber —
it might have been a six, a nine or a twelve-pounder. The ca-
pacity of its bore is unknown. Nor is it pertinent to my story
for the gun unloaded made more commotion in Santa Barbara
than it ever did when it belched forth shot and shell in battle.
The gun, after its rescue from a watery grave, lay for some
time on the beach devoid of a carriage and useless apparently
for offense or defense.
246 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
One dark night in the ides of March a little squad of native
Californians, possessed of a caretta and armed with riatas, stole
down to the beach and loaded the gun on the cart, and dragging
it to the estero, hid it in the sands. What their purpose was in
stealing the gun no one knows. Perhaps they did not know
themselves. It might come handy in a revolution. Or maybe
they only intended to play a joke on the gringos. Whatever
their object, the outcome of their prank1 must have astonished
them. The flag of our country had been bobbing around in
California for a year or more, but the constitution had not yet
arrived. The laws of the land were military regulations, Mexi-
can bandos and the Recopilacion de Indias. This conglomerate
jurisprudence was administered by American martinets, Mexican
alcaldes and native California ayuntamientos.
There was a company of Stevenson's regiment of New York
volunteers stationed at Santa Barbara under the command of a
Captain Lippitt. Lippitt was a fussy, meddling martinet. He
belonged to that class of men who always lose their heads in
an emergency and make trouble for themselves and others. In
the theft of the cannon he thought he had discovered a California
revolution in its incipient stages and determined to crush it in
its infancy. He sent post haste, at a cost of $400 to the govern-
ment, couriers bearing dispatches to Governor Mason at Mon-
terey, informing him of the prospective uprising of the natives
and the possible destruction of the troops at Santa Barbara by the
terrible gun that the enemy had stolen.
It was Lippitt's duty to have reported the theft to Col.
Stevenson at Los Angeles, to whose regiment he belonged. But
he hoped by reporting direct to the military governor of the
territory to obtain greater credit for his display of military
genius and promptitude in suppressing insurrections.
Col. Mason, relying on Captain Lippitt's report, and deter-
mining to give the natives a lesson that would teach them not
to meddle with guns or revolutions, issued the following order :
Order No. 36.
Headquarters of the loth Military Department,
Monterey, California, May 31, 1848.
A gun belonging to the wreck of the Elisabeth has been
stolen from the beach at Santa Barbara, and ample time having
been allowed for its citizens to discover and produce said gun,
it is ordered that the town be laid under a contribution of $500,
assessed in the following manner:
EL CANON PERDIDO 247
First, a capitation tax of $2.00 on all males over 20 years of
age ; the balance to be paid by the heads of families and property
holders in the proportion of the value of their respective real
and personal estate in the town of Santa Barbara and vicinity.
Second, Col. J. D. Stevenson, commander of the Southern-
Military District, will direct the appraisement of property and
the assessment of the contribution, and will repair to Santa Bar-
bara on or before the 25th of June next, when, if the missing*
gun is not produced, he will cause said contribution to be paid
before July 1st. When the whole is collected he will turn it over
to the acting Assistant Quartermaster of the post to be held for
further orders.
Third, Should any person fail to pay his capitation, enough
of his property will be seized and sold at public auction to realize
the amount of the contribution due by him and the cost of sale-
By order of Colonel R. B. Mason.
WM. T. SHERMAN,
First. Lieut. 3rd Art. & A. A. Adjt.-General.
The order was translated into Spanish and promulgated in
Santa Barbara.
Then there was indignation in the old pueblo, and curses,
not loud, but deep and withering in their bitterness, against the
perfidious gringos. To be taxed for a cannon used in their
own subjugation was bad enough, but to be charged with
stealing it was an insult too grievous to be borne, and the loudest
in their wail were the old-time American born residents of the
town. Had not their New England ancestors gone to war with
the mother country because of "taxation without representa-
tion?" and put British tea to steep in Boston harbor without the
consent of its owners? And here on the western side of the con-
tinent they were confronted with that odious principle. Why
should they be taxed? They had not a single representative
among the cannon thieves.
Col. Stevenson ordered Lippitt to make out a roll of those
subject to assessment. This order was issued June 15, and the
Colonel left Los Angeles for Santa Barbara, arriving there June
23d. Immediately on his arrival he held an interview with
Don Pablo de La Guerra, one of the most distinguished citizens
of Santa Barbara, and a man highly respected by both the na-
tives and the Americans.
Colonel Stevenson expressed his regret at the ridiculous
course of Captain Lippitt. Don Pablo was very indignant at
248 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
the treatment of the citizens and expressed his fear that the en-
forcement of the assessment might result in an outbreak. After
talking the matter over with Col. Stevenson, he became some-
what mollified, and asked the Colonel to make Santa Barbara his
headquarters. He inquired about the brass band at Colonel Ste-
venson's headquarters and suggested that the Californians were
very fond of music. Stevenson took the hint and sent for his
band. The band arrived at Carpinteria on the afternoon of the
3d of July. The 4th had been fixed upon as the day for the pay-
ment of the fines, doubtless with the idea of giving the Cali-
fornians a lesson in American patriotism and fair dealing.
Colonel Stevenson met the leader of the band and arranged with
him to serenade Don Pablo and his family with all the Spanish
airs in the band's repertoire. The musicians stole quietly into
town after night, reached the de La Guerra house and broke
the stillness of the night with their best Spanish airs. The
effect was magical. The family, who were at supper, rushed out
as if a temblor had broken loose. Don Pablo was so delighfed
that he shed tears and hugged Colonel Stevenson in the most
approved California style. The band serenaded all the dons of
note in the old pueblo and tooted until long after midnight.
Then started in next morning and kept it up until 10 o'clock, the
hour set for each man to contribute his dos pesos to the com-
mon fund. By that time every hombre on the list was so filled
with patriotism, wine and music that the greater portion of the
fine was handed over without protest.
Don Pablo insisted that Colonel Stevenson should deliver a
Fourth of July oration, all the same as they do in the United
States of the North. So Stevenson orated and Stephen C.
Foster translated it into Spanish. The day closed with a grand
ball. The beauty and chivalry of Santa Barbara danced to the
music of a gringo brass band and the brass cannon was for-
gotten for a time. But the memory of the city's ransom rankled
and although an American band played Spanish airs, American
injustice was still remembered. When the city's survey was
made in 1850 the nomenclature of three streets kept the canon
episode green in the memory of the Barbarenos, — Canon Per-
dido (Lost Cannon street), Qu-inientos (Five Hundred street),
and Mason street. It is needless to say that this last was not a
favorite thoroughfare nor a very prominent one.
When the pueblo by legislative act blossomed into a ciudad,
it became necessary to have a city seal. The municipal fathers
'pondered long over a design, and finally evolved this strange
EL CANON PERDIDO
249
device. In the center a cannon emblazoned, encircled with these
word "Vale Qui-ni-entos Pesos" — "worth five hundred dollars."
Or if you choose to give a Latin twist to the vale on the seal,
it might mean, "Good-bye; five hundred dollars," which is the
better interpretation, as the sequal to the story will show.
This seal was used from the incorporation of the city in 1850
to 1860, when another design was chosen.
After peace was declared, Colonel Mason sent the five hun-
dred dollars to the Prefect of Santa Barbara, with instruc-
tions to use it in building a city jail. And although there was
pressing need for a jail, no jail was built. The Prefect's needs
were pressing, too. The Gty Council, after a lapse of four or
five years, demanded that he should turn the money into the
city treasury, but he replied that the money had been entrusted
to him for a specific purpose, and he would trust no city treasury
with it. Then the City Council instructed the District Attorney
to begin legal proceedings against the ex-Prefect to recover
the money. As the Judge of Santa Barbara was a relative of
the ex-Prefect, the suit was transferred to San Francisco. The
papers in the case were unaccountably lost and the trustee of
the fund died insolvent. No new suit was ever begun, so it
was indeed, Vale (farewell), five hundred dollars.
Ten years passed and the episode of the lost cannon was
but the dimly remembered story of the olden time. The old gun
reposed peacefully in its grave of sand, and those who had
buried it there had forgotten the place of its interment. They
had not dared to reveal the place where it was hid at the time
when Mason stood up the city and compelled it to deliver, lest
the gringo comandante in his wrath should stand them up be-
.fore an adobe wall and shoot them full of holes. When peace
came and the constitution had arrived to keep company with
the flag, the shifting of the sands had so changed the contour
of the beach that they could not locate the hidden gun.
One stormy night in December, 1858, the estero cut a new
channel to the ocean. In the morning as some Barbarenos were
surveying the changes caused by the flood they saw the muzzle
of a large gun protruding from the cut in the bank. They
unearthed it, cleaned off the sand and discovered that it was El
Canon Perdido — the lost cannon. They loaded it on a cart and
hauled it up State street to de La Guerra, where they mounted
it on an improvised gun carriage and held a jubilation over it.
But the sight of it was a reminder to the Barbarenos of an un-
pleasant incident, and as the finders, claiming to be keepers, de-
250 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
manded the gun, it was adjudged to belong to them. They
sold it to a merchant for $80. He shipped it to San Francisco
and sold it at a handsome profit for old brass. And then it was
Vale (farewell) Canon Perdido!
The names of the five men who buried the gun were Jose
Garcia, Jose Antonio de La Guerra, Jose Lugo, Jose Dolores
Garcia and Pacifico Cota.
It was currently reported that the Prefect, believing that
Santa Barbara deserved a handsomer and more commodious
jail than $500 would build, risked the whole amount of the mili-
tary contribution on a card in a game of monte, hoping to
double it and thus benefit the city, but luck was against him, and
the dealer, with no patriotism in his soul, refusing to return it,
raked the coin into his coffers ; and the municipality had to worry
along several years without a jail.
Such is the true story of how Calle del Canon Perdido — the
Street of the Lost Cannon — came by its queer name.
SOME OLD LETTERS
The first letter published below was written by Dr. John
Marsh, a native of Massachusetts, the first American physician to
locate in Los Angeles. Dr. Marsh was a graduate of Harvard
College and also of its medical school. He came to California
in 1835 from Santa Fe, where he had lived several years. He
petitioned the Ayuntamiento to be allowed to practice medicine.
He was given permission. The proceedings of the Illustrious
Ayuntamiento for February 25, 1836, read: "The Illustrious
Body decided to give Juan Marchet (Marsh) permission to prac-
tice medicine, as he has submitted for inspection his diploma,
which was found to be correct; and also for the reason that he
would be very useful to the community."
He entered upon the practice of his profession, but as money
was an almost unknown quantity in the old pueblo, he had to
take his fees in horses, cattle and hides, a currency exceedingly
inconvenient to carry around. So early in 1837 he abandoned
the practice of medicine, quitted 'Los Angeles and went up north
to find a cattle range. Yerba Buena, now San Francisco, at the
time the letter was writen contained two houses. He located
on the Rancho Los Medanos, near Monte Diablo, where he lived
until he was murdered by a Mexican in 1856. A letter written
by him descriptive of California, and published in a Missouri
paper in 1840, was instrumental in causing the organization in
the spring of 1841 of the first immigrant train that crossed the
plains to California. J. M. GUINN.
YERBA BUENA, March 27, 1837.
Dear Sir: — I have been wandering about the country for
several weeks and gradually becoming acquainted both with it
and its inhabitants. This is the best part of the country, as you
very well know, and is in fact the only part that is at all adapted
to agriculturists from our country. Nothing more is wanted but
just and equal laws and a government — yes, any government that
can be permanent and combine the confidence and good will of
those who think. I have good hope, but not unmixed with doubt
and apprehension. News has just arrived that an army from
Sonora is on its march for the conquest and plunder of Cali-
fornia. Its force is variously stated from two to 600 men. This,
of course, keeps everything in a foment.
252 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
I have had a choice of two districts of land offered to me,
and in a few days I shall take one or the other. A brig of the H.
B. Co. (Hudson Bay Co.) is here from the Columbia with Capt.
Young (who has come to buy cattle) and other gentlemen of the
company. I have been at the head waters of the Sacramento and
met with near a hundred people from the Columbia; in fact,
they and the people here regard each other as neighbors. In-
deed, a kinder spirit exists here and less of prejudice and dis-
trust to foreigners than in the purlieus of the City of Angels.
It is my intention to undergo the ceremony of baptism in a
few days, and shall shortly need the certificate of my applica-
tion for letters of naturalization. My application was made to
the Most Illustrious Council of the City of Angeles, I think in
the month of January last year (1836). I wish you would do
me the favor to obtain a certificate in the requisite form and
direct it to me at Monterey to the care of Mr. Spence. Mr.
Spear is about to remove to this place. Capt. Steele's ship has
been damaged and is undergoing repairs which will soon be
completed. His barque is also here. I expect to be in the An-
gelic City some time in May.
Please give my respects to Messrs. Warner and William M.
Prior and all "enquiring friends."
Very respectfully,
Your ob't. servant,
JOHN MARSH.
A. Stearns, Esq., Angeles.
Los ANGELES, September 29, 1849.
To His Excellency, B. Riley, Brig.-Gen., U. 5". A., Governor of
California, Monterey —
Sir: — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your
appointment of myself as Prefect of the District of Los Angeles,
dated Sept. i, 1849. While thankful for confidence reposed in
me, I trust my poor services may prove acceptable to all con-
cerned.
As Prefect of said District of Los Angeles I beg leave to
state that this district is particularly exposed to the depredations
of Indian horse thieves — and other evil disposed persons, and at
present the inhabitants are badly armed and powder cannot be
obtained at any price. Under these cricumstances I would re-
spectfully request that you place at my disposal for the defense
of the lives and property of the citizens of said district, subject
SOME OLD LETTERS 253
to such conditions as you may deem proper, the following arms
and ammunition, viz. :
One hundred flint lock muskets with corresponding accoutre-
ments; ten thousand flint lock ball and buckshot cartridges; five
hundred musket flints.
Respectfully your ob't, serv't.,
STEPHEN C. FOSTER,
Prefect, Los Angeles.
THE PALOMARES FAMILY OF CALIFORNIA
BY H. D. BARROWS.
The ancestor of all the Palomares of Alta California was
Cristobal Palomares, a native of Spain, who came to Alamo,
Mexico, with his father. From there Cristobal came as a sol-
dier to Monterey in the early part of this century.
A daughter of this patriarch, the venerable Dona Josefa Palo-
mares de Arenas, now 85 years of age, is still (March, 1900)
a resident of this city. From her I have lately obtained inter-
esting data relating to the family, which is numerous, under the
same and other names, both here and in Santa Clara county; and
also concerning her somewhat romantic life.
Cristobal Palomares was married in Monterey to Benedita
'Sainz. Afterwards he moved to Santa Barbara, and later to
Los Angeles, where he resided till his death.
The following is a list of the children of Cristobal Palomares,
and of the persons to whom they were married, as given me by
Dona Josefa: (i)Barbara, married P. Alvarado; (2) Concepcion
married Antonio Lopez; (3) Rosaria, married Bernardo Hig-
uera; (4) Dolores, married Jose Ramirez; (5) Estefana, mar-
ried Yg. Machado; (6) Josefa (still living), married first to Jose
M. Abila, and second to Luis Arenas; (7) Pilar, died young;
(8) Maria de Jesus, married F. Figueroa; (9) Ygnacio, mar-
ried Concepcion Lopes; (10) Francisco, married Margarita Pa-
checo; (n) Luis; (12) Cristobal, born 1836.
Ygnacio, who lived many years on his rancho, San Jose,
which included the site of the present town of Pomona, and who
died there in '82, was one of Dona Josefa's brothers. He was
.also grantee of Azusa rancho.
Dona Josefa, who is a native of Los Angeles, was t>orn in
•1815. She was married when 15 years of age to Jose Maria
Abila (who in 1825 was Alcalde of Los Angeles), the chivalrous
young Californian whom Prof. Policy has not inaptly called a
modern "Alcibiades," and who was killed in the encounter be-
tween the forces of San Diego and Los Angeles with Gov. Vic-
toria at Cahuenga in 1831, when, at the same time, Captain Ro-
mualdo Pacheco (father of Gov. Romualdo Pacheco), was also
THE PALOMARES FAMILY OF CALIFORNIA 255
killed, both good and valuable citizens. The people of this part
of the territory, feeling that they had abundant cause to resist
the oppressive acts of Victoria, had risen in rebellion; and, as a
result of the hostile meeting at Cahuenga, Gov. Victoria was
driven out of the country.
Senora Palomares de Arenas retains a very vivid remem-
brance of the exciting events of that day, nearly 70 years ago,
when she, then only 16 years of age, lost within a few hours,
both her dashing, chivalrous husband, and her aged father; for
her father was at the time very ill, and the shock he received
from hearing, of the tragic end of his son-in-law, caused his
own death the same day.
Shortly, or two or three months after their death, the be-
reaved young widow gave birth to a posthumous child.
Gov. Victoria was seriously wounded at Cahuenga and he
retired to San Gabriel, where he voluntarily resigned his office
and left the country, and his tyranical administration of the af-
fairs of the territory came to an end; and thus, the revolution
was successful, Pio Pico becoming Victoria's successor.
Four years after the death of Senora Abila's first husband,
she married Luis Arenas.
The children of this second marriage are: Josefa, married
to J. M. Miller ; Amparo, married to L. Schiappa Pietra ; Luisa,
married to L. Stanchfield ; Amelia, married to Charles Ross.
Although Mrs. Abila-Arenas from advanced age is quite
infirm, as is natural, she is still a fine looking woman. She re-
tains the clear use of her mental faculties; her reminiscences of
the olden times of fifty, sixty and seventy years ago are exceed-
ingly interesting.
•r
SISTER SCHOLASTICA
BY W. H. WORKMAN.
I am to speak you tonight of Sister Scholastica Logsdon, a
pioneer of Los Angeles, who, at the age of 88, died, at the Los
Angeles Orphan Asylum, on September 3rd of this year. Of
jier long life, Sister Scholastica had spent 47 years in the city of
Los Angeles.
The life of Sister Scholastica was a retired one, but her days
and nights were filled with a noble devotion to the cause of hu-
manity. Her name did not appear in public periodicals, her
deeds were unrecorded, she cared not for worldly fame, but the
good work she did, so quietly and unostentatiously is living to-
day in the lives of countless women of Southern California and
radiating from their lives to the lives of their children and their
children's children. It is just, and it is good, that some one who
knew her, speak of her now that she is gone, for the lives of
noble men and women have a mighty influence on the lives of all.
In our age of selfishness it is good to dwell upon the life of one
who labored always for others, who, without material recompense
or even a desire for such reward, gave freely and lovingly of her
best effort for the cause of the orphan and the helpless, and for
the education of the young.
Sister Scholastica was born in Maryland in the March of
1814. In her girlhood she was associated with the family of our
late honored Pioneer, Hon. J. De Earth Shorb. In August of
1839, she became a member of the great order of Sisters of
Charity, who in every part of the civilized and uncivilized world,
carry on the work of devotion to the helpless, so characteristic
'of their society. Well did Sister Scholastica exemplify in her
life the ideals of her order. She labored first in Mississippi, was
called thence to important offices of trust in the Mother House
of the Sisters of Charity at Emmitsburg, Maryland, and was in
1855 named leader of a band of six Sisters who were appointed
to carry their gentle ministrations to far distant and newly in-
habited California.
It required a brave and faithful spirit to undertake this work,
and Sister Scholastica, Sister Ann and their associates were well
SISTER SCHOLASTICA 257
chosen. Every Pioneer knows how far away California seemed
in those days when no railway stretched connecting bands of
steel across the great American continent; when one heard
strange and vague reports of the primitive life of the far West;
when "Prairie Schooners" led one through the terrors of Indian
attack "across the plains," or a long voyage by steamer brought
one a wearisome journey via the Isthmus of Panama. I repeat,
it required a staunch heart to venture into this unknown world,
and, above all, it required a courage inspired by the faith of
Sister Scholastica, for women to undertake this journey that
they might minister to those in need. All honor to the noble
women Pioneers of California!
Sister Scholastica and her companions reached San Fran-
cisco on the steamer Sea Bird in January, 1856. By January
6th, they had arrived at San Pedro. General Banning's cele-
brated stage conveyed them to Los Angeles, the scene of their
future life work. Don Ignacio Del Valle, father of our Senator
Del Valle, with characteristic hospitality, gave the Sisters shel-
ter until a home had been secured for them at the corner of
Alameda and Macy streets. In this home the Sisters lived for
many years. The property, on which was a small frame house,
was bought from Hon. B. D. Wilson. The house, familiar to
all of you, had been brought in sections from New York via
Cape Horn. The sections were all marked to facilitate recon-
struction, but alas! there was no one in Los Angeles who could
be engaged by Mr. Wilson to join together that which had been
put asunder, for in those days, adobes were more popular than
frame buildings. A carpenter was brought from the East and
the house at last completed. As I said, it was this house which
afterward became the home of the Sisters. Soon the Sisters
gathered about them the orphans who have always been their
special care. In connection with their Asylum, they had a school
for children and young ladies and in this school it was that so
many of the prominent and worthy mothers and grandmothers
of Southern California received their education.
The people of Los Angeles welcomed the Sisters, and, re-
gardless of religious differences, gave them cordial assistance.
Gentle Sister Scholastica and genial Sister Ann were everybody's
friends and to this day are not forgotten, even by those who
have not seen them for many years. To need their help was
the only ticket of admission to their sympathy; color, race, or
creed did not enter at all into the consideration.
258 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
They always delighted to tell of how generous the people
were when they held their Fairs in the old Perry and Wood-
worth building or in the old Stearns' hall in the Arcadia block,
and how they received most valuable aid from Jewish and
Protestant, as well as from Catholic women. There were im-
portant considerations to decide the date of a Fair. It could not
be held except on "Steamer day," as there was no ice save that
which came from San Francisco, and it could not be held except
at the right time of moon as no one cared to grope about the
streets in Egyptian darkness. In spite of all, the generous wo-
men of Los Angeles aided the Sisters in their work, and the
Sisters of Charity do not forget their friends.
In 1889, on the 5Oth anniversary of Sister Scholastica's life
as a Sister of Charity, many of her friends gave her, as a sub-
stantial tribute of their esteem and love, the gift of a purse of
$3,000, which she at once devoted to the building fund for the
erection of a new and more commodious home for the rapidly in-
creasing number of orphans. On the 9th of February, 1890, was
laid the corner stone of the magnificent Orphanage now overlook-
ing the city. When the home was completed, the Sisters moved
thither, and here it was, surrounded by a family of nearly four
hundred orphans, that Sister Scholastica, whose life was all gen-
tleness and peace even in the midst of trials, folded her willing
hands in her last long sleep. She had lobored long and with
steadfast purpose, each day found her the same, faithful in all
things, ever kind, ever courageous. When her body failed
through age, she, whose life had been so pure and undeviating,
knew no physical ailment. She was just tired, she said, and un-
complainingly bore the gradual ebbing of her strength. Of the
band whose leader she was, but two survive her, Sister Ann, now
at Emmitsburg, and Sisters Angelita, at present in El Paso,
Texas.
Sister Scholastica's eulogy I cannot pronounce, for that can be
justly given only where she now receives her "hundred fold."
Pioneers of Los Angeles
County
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY
1902-1903
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
WM. H. WORKMAN, J. M. GUINN,
J. FRANK BURNS, MRS. MARY FRANKLIN,
Louis ROEDER, J. W. GILLETTE.
MATHEW TEED,
OFFICERS.
J. FRANK BURNS President
MRS. MARY FRANKLIN First Vice- President
J. W. GILLETTE Second Vice- President
Louis ROEDER Treasurer
J. M. GUINN Secretary
COMMITTEE ON MEMBERSHIP.
M. TEED, S. H. BUTTERFIELD,
J. W. GILLETTE,
COMMITTEE ON FINANCE.
W. H. WORKMAN, J. A. BARROWS.
JAS. F. WARD,
COMMITTEE ON PROGRAMME.
Louis ROEDER, MRS. J. G. NEWELL,
DR. K. D. WISE, MRS. VIRGINIA W. DAVIS,
H. W. STOLL, MRS. J. L. SLAUGHTER,
COMMITTEE ON GOOD OF THE SOCIETY.
J. W. GILLETTE, R. R. HAINES,
C N. WILSON, S. B. SMITH,
J. M. STEWART,
COMMITTEE ON ENTERTAINMENT.
MRS. K. D. WISE, MRS. DORA BILDERBECK,
S. H. BUTTERFIELD, W. H. WORKMAN,
E. K. GREEN, J. L. SLAUGHTER,
M. F. QUINN,
PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE I.
This society shall be known as The Pioneers of Los Angeles
County. Its objects are to cultivate social intercourse and
friendship among its members and to collect and preserve the
early history of Los Angeles county, and to perpetuate the
memory of those who, by their honorable labors and heroism,
helped to make that history.
ARTICLE II.
All persons of good moral character, thirty-five years of age
or over, who, at the date of their application, shall have resided
at least twenty-five years in Los Angeles county, shall -be eligi-
ble to membership; and also all persons of good moral char-
acter fifty years of age or over, who have resided in the State
forty years and in the country ten years previous to their appli-
cation, shall be eligible to become members. Persons born in
this State are not eligible to membership, but those admitted
before the adoption of this amendment shall retain their mem-
bership. (Amended September 4, 1900.)
ARTICLE III.
The officers of this society shall consist of a board of seven
directors, to be elected annually at the annual meeting, by the
members of the society. Said directors When elected shall
choose a president, a first vice-president, a second vice-presi-
dent, a secretary and a treasurer. The secretary and treasurer
may be elected from the members outside the Board of Di-
rectors.
ARTICLE IV.
The annual meeting of this society shall be held on the first
Tuesday of September. The anniversary of the founding of
the society shall be the fourth day of September, that being the
anniversary of the first civic settlement in the southern portion
CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS
26l
of Alta California, to wit : the founding of the Pueblo of Los
Angeles, September 4. 1781.
ARTICLE V.
Members guilty of misconduct may, upon conviction after
proper investigation has been held, be expelled, suspended, fined
or reprimanded by a vote of two-thirds of the members present
at any stated meeting; provided, notice shall have been given to
the society at least one month prior to such intended action.
Any officer of this society may be removed by the Board of
Directors for cause; provided, that such removal shall not be-
come permanent or final until approved by a majority of mem-
bers of the society present at a stated meeting and voting.
ARTICLE VI.
Amendments to this constitution .may be made by submit-
ting the same in writing to the society at least one month prior
to the annual meeting. At said annual meeting said proposed
amendments shall be submitted to a vote of the society. And
if two-thirds of all the members present and voting shall vote
in favor of adopting said amendments, then they shall be de-
clared adopted. (Amended September 4, 1900.)
BV-LAWS
MEMBERSHIP.
[Adopted September 4, 1897; amended June 4, 1901.]
Section i. Applicants for membership in this society
shall be recommended by at least two members in good stand-
ing. The applicant shall give his or her full name, age, birth-
place, present residence, occupation, date of his or her arrival
in the State and in Los Angeles county. The application must
be accompanied by the admission fee of one dollar, which shall
also be payment in full for dues until the next annual meeting.
Section 2. Applications for admission to membership in
the society shall be referred to the committee on membership,
for investigation, and reported on at the next regular meeting
of the society. If the report is favorable, a ballot shall be taken
for the election of the candidate. Three negative votes shall
cause the rejection of the applicant.
262 PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
Section 3. Each person, on admission to membership,
shall sign the Constitution and By-Laws.
Section 4. Any person eligible to membership may be
elected a life member of this society on the payment to the
treasurer of $25. Life members shall enjoy all the privileges
of active members, but shall not be required to pay annual dues.
Section 5. A member may withdraw from the society by
giving notice to the society of his desire to do so, and paying
all dues charged against him up to the date of his withdrawal.
DUES.
Section 6. The annual dues of each member (except life
members) shall be one dollar, payable in advance, at the annual
meeting in September.
Section 7. Any member delinquent one year in dues shall
be notified by the secretary of said delinquency, and unless said
dues are paid within one month after said notice is given, then
said member shall stand suspended from the society. A mem-
ber may be reinstated on payment of all dues owing at the date
of his suspension.
DUTIES OF OFFICERS.
Section 8. The president shall preside, preserve order and
clecorum during the meetings and see that the Constitution and
By- Laws and rules of the society are properly enforced; appoint
all committees not otherwise provided for; fill all vacancies tem-
porarily for the meeting. The president shall have power to
suspend any officer or member for cause, subject to the action
of the society at the next meeting.
Section 9. In the absence of the president, one of the vice-
presidents shall preside, with the same power as the president,
and if no president or vice-president be present, the society shall
elect any member to preside temporarily.
Section 10. The secretary shall keep a true record of all
the members of the society; and upon the death of a member
(when he shall have notice of such death) shall have published
in two daily papers of Los Angeles the time and place of the
funeral; and, in conjunction with the president and other offi-
cers and members of the society, shall make such arrangements
with the approval of the relatives of the deceased as may be
necessary for the funeral of the deceased member. The secre-
tary shall collect all dues, giving his receipt therefor; and he
CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS
263
shall turn over to the treasurer all moneys collected, taking his
receipt for the same.
He shall make a full report at the annual meeting, setting
forth the condition of the society, its membership, receipts,
disbursements, etc.
He shall receive for his services such compensation as the
Board of Directors may allow.
Section u. The treasurer shall receive from the secretary
all moneys paid to the society and give his receipt for the same,
and shall pay out the money only upon the order of the society
upon a warrant signed by the secretary and president, and at the
end of his term shall pay over to his successor all moneys
remaining in his hands, and render a true and itemized account
to the society of all moneys received and paid out during his
term of office.
Section 12. It shall be the duty of the finance committee
to examine the books of the secretary and treasurer and any
other accounts of the society that .may be referred to them, and
report the same to the society.
COMMITTEES.
Section 13. The president, vice-presidents, secretary and
treasurer shall constitute a relief committee, whose duty it shall
be to see that sick or destitute members are properly cared for.
In case of emergency, the committee shall be empowered to ex-
pend for immediate relief an amount from the funds of the so-
ciety not to exceed $20, without a vote of the society. Such
expenditure, with a statement of the case and the necessity for
the expenditure shall be made to the society at its next regular
meeting.
Section 14. At the first meeting after the annual meeting
each year, the president shall appoint the following standing
commtitees: Three on membership; three on finance; five on
program; five on music; five on general good of the society, and
seven on entertainment.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Section 15. Whenever a vacancy in any office of this so-
ciety occurs, it shall be filled by election for the unexpired
term.
Section 16. The stated meetings of this society shall be
264 PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
held on the first Tuesday of each month, and the annual meet-
ing shall be held the first Tuesday of September. Special meet-
ings may be called by the president or by a majority of the
Board of Directors, but no business shall be transacted at such
special meetings except that specified in the call.
Section 17. These By- Laws and Rules may be temporarily
suspended at any regular meeting of the society by unanimous
vote of the members present.
Section 18. Whenever the Board of Directors shall be
satisfied that any worthy member of this society is unable, for
the time being, to pay the annual dues as hereinbefore pre-
scribed, it shall have power to remit the same.
Section 19. Changes and amendments of these By-Laws
and Rules may be made by submitting the same in writing to
the society at a stated meeting. Said amendment shall be read
at two stated meetings before it is submitted to a vote of the
society. If said amendment shall receive two-thirds of the
votes of all the members present and voting, then it shall be
declared adopted.
ORDER OF BUSINESS.
CALL TO ORDER.
Reading minutes of previous meeting.
Music.
Reports of committee on membership.
Election of new members.
Reading of applications for membership.
Music.
Reminiscences, lectures, addresses, etc.
Music or recitations.
Recess of 10 minutes for payment of dues.
Unfinished business.
New business.
Reports of committees.
Election of officers at the annual meeting or to fill vacancies.
Music.
Is any member in need of assistance?
Good of the society.
Receipts of the evening.
Adjournment.
REMINISCENCES: MY FIRST PROCESSION
IN LOS ANGELES, MARCH 16, 1847
BY STEPHEN C. FOSTER.
(Read before Historical Society, 1887. Read before Pioneer
Society, 1902.) 4
The writer has witnessed forty celebrations of the 4th of July
in this city, commencing with 1847, when he read the Declara-
tion of Independence on Fort Hill, in Spanish, for the infor-
mation of our newly-made fellow-citizens, who spoke only the
Castilian tongue. As I marched in the procession the other
day (July 4, 1887), I recalled the appearance of the city when
I first knew it, so widely different from the present.
The outbreak of the Mexican War (May, 1846) found the
writer at Oposura, Sonora, which place he reached December,
1845 on his way to California, by the way of Santa Fe and El
Paso, from Missouri. The first news we had of the war was
of the capture of Capt. Thornton's command of U. S. Dragoons
by the Mexican cavalry, on the Rio Grande, and the people
rang the bells for joy. But shortly after, we got the news of
the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, and they did
not ring the bells then.
In June, 1846. arrived at Oposura. a small party of Ameri-
cans headed by James Kennedy, a machinist from Lowell,
Mass., who with his wife had come around Cape Horn, three
years before, to the cotton manufactory at Horcasitas. Sonora;
the husband to superintend the machinery, and the wife to
teach the Mexican girls the management of the looms and spin-
dles. As there was no chance to leave by sea, Kennedy had
made up a party to see him safe through the Apache range }o
Santa Fe. where he expected to secure passage in the traders'
wagons across the plains to Missouri, and I accompanied him;
and after a hard, hot trip, we reached Santa Fe safely in Jiuly.
'August 18, 1846. I witnessed the entry of the American
army, under General Kearney, into Santa Fe.
In 1845. the Mormons were driven out of Nauvoo. 111., and.
under the leadership of Brigham Young, took up their march
266 PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
westwardly. Their first intention was to reach California, then
occupied by a sparse Mexican population and a few hundred
American emigrants. They stopped one season at Council
Bluffs, to raise a crop and procure means for further progress.
When the call was made for volunteers in Missouri, for service
in New Mexico and California, none were willing to enlist as
infantry, to make such long marches afoot, and Capt. James
Allen, of the First U. S. Dragoons, was sent to Council Bluffs
to try and raise a battalion of infantry, enlisted for twelve
months, to be discharged in California. The order was given
by Brigham, and within forty-eight hours five full companies
(500 men) were raised and on their march to Fort Leavenworth.
The conditions were, that they were to choose their company
officers, but were to be commanded by an officer of the regu-
lar army, and were to receive army clothing at Fort Leaven-
worth. The Missouri troops furnished their own clothing, for
which the Government paid each man $29.50 a year.
So they started on their long march with their poorest
clothing. When they reached the Fort they learned that the
steamboat bringing their clothing and percussion muskets had
been snagged in the Missouri, and everything was lost. Their
commander, Capt. Allen, was taken sick and died. He had
their confidence, and they objected to serving under another
commander, and to start for California without the promised
clothing; but the order was imperative to march, and the cloth-
ing could not be replaced in less than a month. So they sent
to Brigham for advice, and he ordered them to push on, even
if they had to reach California barefooted and in their shirt-
tails. So, flint-lock muskets, of the pattern of 1820, were fur-
nished them, and they reached Santa Fe under the command
of Lieut. A. J. Smith, of the First Dragoons — the Maj. Gen.
A. J. Smith of the Civil War. On their arrival at Santa Fe,
Gen. Kearney ordered Capt. Cooke, of the ist Dragoons,
to command them, and Lieut. Smith went with them to Califor-
nia, to rejoin his company which had started a month before
with Gen. Kearney. Lieut, (now Gov.) Stoneman, who had
just graduated at West Point, also went with them.
Gen. Kearney had started with six companies of dragoons,
but on the Rio Grande he met Kit Carson with dispatches
for Washington, From Com. Stockton, announcing that Cal-
fornia had been taken possesion of, without resistance. So
Kearney only took two companies, mounted on mules, with
pack mules to convey their provisions, by way of the Gila River.
MY FIRST PROCESSION IN LOS ANGELES 267
At Santa Fe mules were scarce, and money scarcer with the
quartermaster, who also had to provide transportation for the
ist Missouri Cavarly, under Col. Doniphan, then starting on
their famous march through Northern Mexico to Camargo,
where their period of enlistment expired. But seventeen 6-
mule teams, hauling sixty days' rations, could be spared for
Cooke's command, and no wagon had ever crossed from the
Rio Grande to California; so, a road had to be found and made
as they went, after leaving the Rio Grande.
Kit Carson had accompanied Kearney as guide, and Pauline
Weaver, the pioneer of Arizona, who had come with Carson
from California, awaited Cooke. Five new Mexican guides
were hired, all under command of Joaquin Leroux, an old
trapper, who had trapped on every stream from the Yellowstone
to the Gila.
I was then clerking in a store, waiting for something to turn
up, when I was informed that an interpreter was wanted to ac-
company Cooke to California, and I went to Capt. McCusick,
the quartermaster, with my recommendations. Enoch Barnes,
who was killed in a drunken brawl at the Ballona, in this county,
some twenty years ago, who drove a wagon across the plains in
1845, in the same caravan as myself, was also an applicant.
McCusick was a prompt, stern man. and the competitive exami-
nation of the Yale graduate and the Missouri mule-whacker was
short, and turned on transportation and money. I had a good
mule, rifle and blanket, and as to money, I could wait until
Uncle Sam was able to pay me, as long as my wages were run-
ning on and I got my rations. Barnes was just off a spree.
in which he had drank and gambled off all his money, and
pawned his rifle, and it would have cost $100 to fit him out.
So I won the appointment, and the contract was quickly drawn,
that for $75 a month and rations I was to serve as interpreter
to California, furnish my own animal, clothing and arms. The
contract was made October. 1846, and I served under it until
May 1 7th. 1849, when the people of Los Angeles selected their
Ayuntamiento. and the garrison evacuated the place, and the
last seventeen months of my term I also acted as ist Alcalde
of the district of Los Angeles, without any extra compensation.
On leaving the Rio Grande, I volunteered to join the guides,
as there was nothing for me to do in camp, and we did not ex-
pect to pass through any Mexican settlements until we reached
the Pima villages, on the Gila. Leroux's party, ten in number,
started ahead, with six days' rations, on our riding animals, to
268 PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
find a practicable route for wagons, and wood, and water, at
such intervals as infantry could march — fifteen to twenty miles
a day, in one case forty miles, between camps; one man to be
sent back from each watering place to guide the command until
our rations were expended, and then all to return to the com-
mand. We thus found our way by the Guadalupe Canyon and
San Pedro River to Tucson, from which place there was a trail
to the Pima villages, and from there to California. Weaver had
just come over the road, and there was no difficulty in finding
our way. We ate our last flour, bacon, sugar and coffee by
January I4th, 1847, on ^ie desert, between the Colorado and
Warner's Pass. A supply of beef cattle met us at Carrizo Creek,
on the west side of the desert, and we lived on beef alone until
April, 1847, when supplies, brought from New York on the
ships that brought Col. Stevenson's regiment, reached us at
Los Angeles. At Gila Bend, we .met two Mexicans, who told
us of the outbreak that took place in Los Angeles, September,
1846; and at Indian Wells, on the desert, we met Leroux, who,
with most of the guides, had been sent ahead from Gila Bend,
to get assistance from the San Luis Indians, who had declared
for the Americans, and held all the ranchos on the frontier;
and he brought the news that Stockton and Kearney had
marched from San Diego to retake Los Angeles. We pushed
on by forced marches toward Los Angeles, and at Temecula
received a letter, stating that Los Angeles was taken, that
Kearney and Stockton had quarrelled about who was to com-
mand, and that Kearney had returned with his dragoons to San
Diego, to which place we were ordered to proceed. Arriving
there, together with the dragoons, we were ordered to San Luis
Rey, where, from the Rancho of Santa Margarita, we procured
beef, soap and candles, the only articles of rations the country
could furnish. In a few days, fifty of the men were attacked
with dysentery, and the surgeon said breadstuff of any kind
would be of more use to check the disease than all his medicine.
So the commissary and myself were ordered to Los Angeles,
to try and get some flour. We found the town garrisoned by
Fremont's Battalion, about 400 strong. They, too, had noth-
ing but beef served out to them, but as the people had corn and
beans for their own use, and by happening around at the houses
about meal-time, they could occasionally get a square meal of
tortillas y frijoles. Here we met Louis Roubideau, of the Ju-
rupa Ranch, wlho said he could spare us some 2,000 or 3.000
pounds of wheat, which we could grind at a little mill he had
MY FIRST PROCESSION IN LOS ANGELES 269
on the Santa Ana River. So, on our return, two wagons were
sent to Jiurupa, and they brought 1,700 pounds of unbolted
wheat flour and two sacks of beans, a small supply for 400 men.
I then messed with one of the captains, and we all agreed that
it was the sweetest bread we ever tasted.
March I2th, 1847, we received important news in six weeks
from Washington, overland. Stockton and Kearney had been
relieved, and ordered East, and Com. Shubrick and Col. R. B.
Mason were to take their places, and the military to command
on land, and what was of far more interest to us, that Steven-
son's ships were daily expected at San Francisco, and that we
should soon have bread, sugar and coffee again, and we were
ordered to Los Angeles to relieve Fremont's Battalion. So,
with beautiful weather, and in the best of spirits, we began our
march to the city of the Angels. Our last day's march was
only ten miles, and we camped on the San Gabriel, at the Pico
crossing, early, and all hands were soon busy preparing for
the grand entree on the morrow. Those who had a shirt —
and they were a minority — could be seen washing them, some
bathing, some mending their ragged clothes, and as there was
plenty of sand, all scouring their muskets till they shone again.
We made an early start the next morning, and when we forded
the Los Angeles River, at Old Aliso, now Macey street, there
was not a single straggler behind. The order of march was,
the dragoons in front. They had left Missouri before receiving
their annual supply of clothing, and they presented a most
dilapidated appearance, but their tattered caps and jackets gave
them a somewhat soldierly appearance. They had burned their
saddles and bridles after the fight at San Pascual, but a full
supply of horses to remount them had been purchased of the
late Don Juan Forster, and all the Mexican saddlers and black-
smiths in the country had been kept busy making saddles,
bridles and spurs for them. Their officers were Capt. A. J.
Smith, ist Lieut. J. B. Davidson, 2nd Lieut. George Stoneman;
then came four companies of the Iowa Infantry, Company B
having been left to garrison San Diego. In all we numbered
300 muskets and 80 sabres. The line of march was by Aliso
and Arcadia streets, to Main, and down Main to the Govern-
ment House, where the St. Charles now stands, where the dra-
goons dismounted and took up their quarters. The infantry
turned out of Main street past the house of John Temple, now
Downey Block, and pitched their tents in the rear, where they
remained until they were mustered out. June, 1847.
270 PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
I have described the appearance of the dragoons, but can-
not do justice to the infantry, only by saying it was Falstaff's
ragged company multiplied by ten. The officers had managed
to have each a decent suit of clothes, but they brought out in
stronger contrast the rags of the rank and file. On Los An-
geles street were some 300 or 400 Indians, the laborers in the
vineyards, who had taken a holiday to witness our entry, while
a group of about 100 women, with their heads covered by their
rebosos, who had met at the funeral of the mother of the late
Don Tomas Sanchez, ex-Sheriff of the county, stood looking
at the ragged gringos as they marched by. On Main street
were some thirty or forty Californians, well dressed in their
short jackets and breeches with silver buttons, open at the sides
showing the snow-wlhite linen beneath. I noticed they looked
with most interest at the dragoons, so many of whose comrades
had fallen before their lances at San Pascual that cold Decem-
ber morning, and lay buried in that long grave, or lay groaning
in the hospital at San Diego. We had no wavng flags, but
waving rags, and many a one; nor brass bands, only a solitary
snare drum and fife, played by a tall Vermont fifer, and a stout,
rosy-cheeked English drummer; and they struck up the "Star
Spangled Banner" as we passed the Government House, and
kept it up until orders were given to break ranks and stack
arms. And then came a loud hurrah from all that ragged sol-
diery. Their long and weary march over mountains, plain and
desert, of 2,200 miles, was over.
I will now describe two indviduals who marched in that
procession. One is the writer. 'Tis nearly forty years ago,
and I was a younger and a better-looking man than I am now.
I had left Santa Fe with only the cjothes on my back, and a
single change of under-clothing. I had been paid off at San
Lus Rey, and had $200 in my pocket, and I tried to find some
clothing in Los Angeles on my first visit, but could find none.
So, I rode to San Diego, and through the kindness of a friendly
man-of-war's man I got a sailor's blue blouse, a pair of marine's
pants and brogans, for which I paid $20. My place in the col-
umn, as interpreter, was with the colonel, at the head, and I
rode with my rifle slung across the saddle, powder-horn and
bullet-pouch slung about my shoulders. My beard rivaled in
length that of the old colonel by wihose side I rode, but mine
was as black as the raven's wing, and his was as grey as mine
is now. But if I was not the best-looking, nor the best-dressed
man, I was the best-mounted man on Main street that day.
MY FIRST PROCESSION IN LOS ANGELES 2/1
When the horses were delivered for the dragoons, a young
man named Ortega, a nephew of Don Pio Pico, rode an iron
grey horse, with flowing mane and tail, and splendid action.
I tried to buy him for the colonel, but he would not sell him.
The day we left San Luis, I had mounted my mule, and was
chatting with Ortega, admiring his horse, when he offered to
sell him, and I could fix the price. I gave him $25. The
dragoon horses cost $20 each. A few days after my arrival in
this city, Lieut. Stoneman was ordered to scout with a party of
dragoons towards San Bernardino, to look out for Indian horse
thieves, and I sold the horse to him; and well the Governor
remembers the gallant grey that bore him on many a long and
weary scout.
I have thus described my appearance at my first public
entry into this city, from no spirit of egotism, but only to give
my fellow-citizens some idea of the appearance of the former
Alcalde, Prefect, Mayor and Senator of Los Angeles.
But the most conspicuous man on Main street that day was
of a different type. On our march, December, 1846, we were
moving from the Black Water, just south of the present Mexi-
can line, towards the San Pedro River. The snow was falling
steadily, but it was not very cold. Our order of march was.
with an advance guard of twenty men, and twenty pioneers with
pick-axe and shovel, commanded by Capt. A. J. Smith, to re-
move any obstruction to our wagons. I was riding that day,
with the colonel and surgeon, when we overtook the advance
guard. The pioneers had been cutting down some mesquite
trees that obstructed our way, and had just finished as we over-
took them. Their officer gave the order "fall in, shoulder
arms," and they formed in ranks of four, so that for about fifty
yards we could not turn out to pass them. The right-hand
man in the rear rank was at least six and a quarter feet tall.
The crown of his hat was gone, and a shock of sandy hair, pow-
dered by the falling snow, stuck out above the dilapidated rim,
while a huge beard of the same color swept his breast. His
upper garment had been a citizen's swallow-tailed coat, but-
toned by a single button over his naked chest, but one of the
tails had been cut off and sttched to his waistband, where it
would do the most good, for decency's sake, and an old pair
of No. 12 brogans, encased with rawhide, protected his feet.
The right sleeve of the coat was gone, and his arm was bare
from wrist to elbow, and. by way of uniform, the left leg of the
pants was gone, leaving the leg bare from knee to ankle. His
272 PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
underclothing had long since disappeared. But the way he
marched and shouldered his musket, showed the drilled and vet-
eran soldier. That ragged scarecrow had seen fifteen years'
service in the British army, from the snows of Canada to the
jungles of Burmah. The contrast between the soldierly bear-
ing of the man and his dilapidated dress brought a smile to
every face. After we had passed, the colonel pulled his long
grey mustache, and said, "I never thought, when I left West
Point, that I should ever command such a set of ragamuffins
as these. But, poor fellows, it is not their fault; and better
material for soldiers I never commanded." And that day, when
I sat on my horse, where Ducommun's Block now rears its tall
front, to see my old comrades march by, in the front rank of
Company A, with cadenced step and martial .mien, as he had
marched in his younger days to the martial music of the regi-
mental band, dressed in the scarlet uniform of a British grena-
dier, strode the old ragged veteran.
SOHE ECCENTRIC CHARACTERS OF EARLY
LOS ANGELES
BY J. M. GUINN.
The early years in the history of the new towns of the West
were productive of eccentric characters — men who drifted in
from older civilizations and made a name for themselvse or
rather, as it frequently happened, had a name made for them by
their fellow men.
These local celebrities gained notoriety in their new homes
by their oddities, by their fads, their crankiness, or some other
characteristic that made them the subject of remark. With
some the eccentricity was natural; with others it was cultivated,
and yet again with others force of circumstances or some event
not of their own choosing made them cranks or oddities, and
gave them nick-names that stuck to them closer than a brother.
No country in the world was more productive of quaint
characters and odd geniuses than the mining camps of early
California. A man's history began with his advent in the
camp. His past was wiped out — was ancient history, not
worth making a note of. What is he now? What is he good
for? were the vital questions. Even his name was sometimes
wiped out, and he was re-christened — given some cognomen
entirely foreign to his well-known characteristics. It was the
Irony of Fate that stood sponsor at his baptism. "Pious Pete"
was the most profane man in the camp, and Pete was not his
front name. His profanity was so profuse, so impressive, that
it seemed an invocation, almost a prayer.
Deacon Sturgis was a professional gambler of malodorous
reputation, but of such a solemn face and dignified mien that
he often deceived the very elect. Sometimes these nick-names
were utilized in advertising. I recollect a sign over a livery
stable in the early mining days of Idaho, which informed the
public that the Pioneer Stables were kept by Jews Harp Jack
and Web-Foot Haley. On one corner of the sign was painted
an immense jews-harp ; on another corner was a massive foot
with webs between the toes. Haley came from Oregon, and
274 PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
as the legend goes, on account of the incessant rains in the big
Willamette Valley the inhabitants thero, from paddling around
in the water, grow webs between theii toes. Haley brought
his nick-name and his webs with him. How Jews Harp
Jack picked up h-is name I do not know. In a residence of
several years there I never heard any other name for the .man.
My first mining partner was known as Friday. Not one
in fifty of his acquaintance knew that his real name was William
Geddes. Years before in California he had owned in a claim
with a man named Robinson. Robinson was a man of many
expedients and make-shifts. Geddes was an imitator or echo
of his partner. The miners dubbed the first "Robinson Crusoe"
and the other "My Man Friday," a name that followed him
through a dozen mining camps, and over two thousand .miles
of territory. If he is still living I doubt whether he has outlived
that nick-name.
Bret Harte, in his "Outcasts of Poker Flat," has, in John
Oakhurst, pictured the refined and intelligent gambler. There
were very few of that class in the mines, and none that carried
around such an elegant and aristocratic name as Oakhurst. In
the Idaho mines, where I was initiated -into placer mining, the
professionals of the pasteboard fraternity, who wfere mostly old
Californians, had all been re-christened by their constituents
or patrons, and the new cognomen given each was usually more
expressive than elegant. Vinegar Bill, Cross Roads Jack,
Snapping Andy and Short-Card Pete are short-cut names of
real characters, who passed in their checks years ago; i. e., died
with their boots on. Each nick-name recalls some eccentricity
not complimentary to the bearer, but which lie had to bear with-
out wincing. It was one way in which their victimized patrons
tried to get even on the deal.
There was another class of eccentricities in the cities and
towns of California where life was less strenuous than in the
mining camps. These were men with whims or fads sometimes
sensible, sometimes half-insane, to which they devoted them-
selves until they became noted as notorious cranks.
San Francisco had its Philosopher Pickett, its Emperor
Norton and a host of others of like ilk. Los Angeles had
representatives of this class in its early days, but unfortunately
the memory of but few of them has been salted down in the
brine of history.
In delving recently among the rubbish of the past for scraps
of history, I came across a review of the first book printed in
SOME ECCENTRIC CHARACTERS 275
Los Angeles — the name of the book, its author and its pub-
lisher. But for that review, these would have been lost to
fame.
It is not probable that a copy of the book exists, and pos-
sibly no reader of that book is alive today — not that the book
was fatal to its readers; it had very few — but the readers were
fatal to the book; they did not preserve it. That book was the
product of an eccentric character. Some of you knew him.
His name was William Money, but he preferred to have the
accent placed on the last syllable, and was known as Money'.
Bancroft says of him : "A Scotchman, the date and manner of
whose coming are not known, was at Los Angeles in 1843."
I find from the old archives he was here as early as 1841. In
the winter of 1841-42 he made repairs on the Plaza Church
to the amount of $126.00. Bancroft, in his Pioneer Register,
states: "He is said to have come as the servant of a scientific
man, whose methods and ideas he adopted. His wife was a
handsome Sonorena. In '46 the couple started for Sonora
with Coronel, and were captured by Kearny's force. They
returned from the Colorado with the Mormon battalion. Mo-
ney became an eccentric doctor, artist and philosopher at San
Gabriel, where his house, in 1880, was filled with ponderous
tomes of his writings, and on the simple condition of buying
$1,000 worth of these I was offered his pioneer reminiscences.
He died a few years later. His wife, long divorced from him,
married a Frenchman. She was also living at Los Angeles
in '80. It was her daughter who killed Chico Forster."
Bancroft fails to enumerate all of Money's titles. He was
variously called Professor Money, Dr. Money and Bishop
Money. He was a self-constituted doctor, and a self-anointed
bishop. He aspired to found a great religious sect. He made
his own creed and ordained himself Bishop, Deacon and De-
fender of the Reformed New Testament Church of the Faith
of Jesus Christ. Dr. Money had the inherent love of a Scotch-
man for theological discussion. He was always ready to attack
a religious dogma or assail a creed. When not discussing the-
ological questions or practicing medicines, he dabbled in science
and made discoveries.
In Book II of Miscellaneous Records of Los Angeles
County, is a map or picture of a globe labeled, Wm. Money's
Discovery of the Ocean. Around the North Pole are a number
of convolving lines which purport to represent a "whirling
ocean." Passing down from the north pole to the south, like
2j6 PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
the vertebrae of a great fish, is a subterranean ocean. Beyond
this on each side are the exhaustless fiery regions, and outside
of this a rocky mountain chain that evidently keeps the earth
from bursting. At the South Pole gush out two currents a
mile wide marked the Kuro Siwo. There is no explanation
of the discovery and no statement of which ocean, the whirling
or the subterranean, that Dr. Money claimed to have discov-
ered. The record was made no doubt on the principle of pro-
tecting his discovery by a sort of patent right on the ocean he
found swirling around in the interior of the earth. The theory
of his discovery can only be inferred from the drawing. Evi-
dently a hole at the North Pole sucks in the waters of the whirl-
ing ocean, which pass down through the subterranean ocean and
are heated by the exhaustless fiery regions which border that
ocean; then these heated waters are spurted out into space at
the South Pole. What becomes of them afterwards the records
do not show. From some cause Dr. Money disliked the people
of San Francisco. In his scientific researches he made the dis-
covery that that part of the earth's crust on whicfi that city
stands was almost burnt through, and he prophesied that the
crust would soon break and the City of the Bay would drop down
into the exhaustless fiery regions and be wiped out like Sodom
and Gomorrah of old.
The review of Dr. Money's book, which I have mentioned,
was written by the genial Col. John O. Wheeler, then editor
of the Southern Californian, a paper that died and was buried
in the journalistic graveyard of unfelt wants, forty-eight years
ago. Colonel Wheeler was a walking library of local history.
He could tell a story well and had a fund of humorous ones,
but I could never persuade him to write out his reminiscences
for publication. He died, and his stories of the olden times
died with him, just as so many of the old pioneers will do, d-ie
and leave no record behind them.
Dr. Money's book was written and published in 1854. Colo-
nel Wheeler's review is quite lengthy, filling nearly two columns
of the Californian. I omit a considerable portion of it. The
review says: "We are in luck th-is week, having been the recip-
ients of a very interesting literary production entitled. Reform
of the New Testament Church, by Wm. Money, Bishop, Dea-
con and Defender of the Faith of Jesus Christ.
"The volume by Professor Money comes to us bound in the
beautiful coloring so much admired by the Woman in Scarlet
SOME ECCENTRIC CHARACTERS 2/7
who sits upon seven hills, and is finely gotten up and executed
at the Star office in this city. Its title denotes the general ob-
jects of the work which have been followed out in the peculiar
style of the well-known author, and in the emphatic language
of the Council General, Upper California, City of Los 'Angeles.
"We pronounce it a work worthy of all dignified admiration, a
reform which ecclesiastics and civil authorities have not been
able to comply with yet."
The work opens with an original letter from the aforesaid
Council General, which met August the 7th, 1854, near the
main zanja in this city; said letter was indited, signed, sealed
"by supplication of the small flock of Jjesus Christ" represented
by Ramon Tirado, president, and Francis Contreras, secretary,
and directed with many tears to the great defender of the new
faith, who, amid the quiet retreats with which the rural dis-
tricts abound, had pensively dwelt on the noble objects of his
mission, and, in fastings and prayer, concocted, this great work
of his life."
"The venerable prelate, in an elaborate prefix to his work,
informs the public that he was born, to the best of his recollec-
tion, about the year 1807, from which time up to the anniver-
sary of his seventh year, his mother brought him up by hand.
He says, by a singular circumstance (the particular circum-
stance is not mentioned), I was born with four teeth, and with
the likeness of a rainbow in my right eye."
It would seem that his early youth was marked by more
than ordinary capacity, as we find him at seven entering upon
the study of natural history; how far he proceeded, or if he
proceeded at all, is left for his readers to determine. At the
age of twelve, poverty compelled him to "bind himself to a
paper factory." Next year, being then thirteen years of age,
having made a raise, he commenced the studies of philosophy,
civil law, medicine, relation of cause and effect, philosophy of
sound in a conch shell, peculiar habits of the muskrat, and the
component parts of Swain's vermifuge. Thirsting for still fur-
ther knowledge, four years afterwards we find him entering
upon the study of theology; and as he says, "In this year (1829)
I commenced my travels in foreign countries," and the succeed-
ing year found him upon the shores of the United States, inde-
fatigable in body and mind; the closing of the same year found
him in Mexico, still following the sciences above mentioned,
but theology in particular.
278 PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
About this time he commenced those powerful discussions
with the Romish clergy in which our author launched forth
against the Old Church those terrible denunciations as effect-
ive as they were unanswerable, and which for thirty years he
has been hurling against her.
Perhaps the most memorable of all his efforts was the occa-
sion of the last arguments had with the Roman clergy concern-
ing abuses which came off in the Council of Pitaquitos, a small
town in Sonora, commencing on the 2Oth of October, 1835, and
which continued to May ist, 1840, a period of five years. This
convocation had consumed much time in its preparation, and
the clergy, aware of the powerful foe with whom they had to
deal, and probable great length of time which would elapse,
selected their most mighty champions; men, who in addition
to a glib tongue and subtle imagination, were celebrated for
their wonderful powers of endurance. There wiere seven skilled
disputants arrayed against Money, but he vanquished them
single-handed.
"The discussion opened on the following propositions : The
Bishop of Culiacan and he of Durango disputed that Wm. Mo-
ney believed that the Virgin Mary was the mother o! Jesus,
but not the mother of Christ. William Money makes his ap-
plication to God, but npt to the Virgin Mary."
These and other learned propositions were discussed and
re-discussed constantly for five years, during which writing
paper arose to such an enormous price that special enactments
were made, withdrawing the duties thereon. Time would not
admit of detailing the shadow of what transpired during the
session.
Suffice -it to say that through the indomitable faith and
energy of Mr. Money, his seven opponents were entirely over-
come; one sickened early in the second year and was constrained
to take a voyage by sea; two others died of hemorrhage of the
lungs; one went crazy; two became converted and left the coun-
cil in the year 1838 and were found by Mr. Money on the break-
ing up of the council to have entered into connubial bonds, and
were in the enjoyment of perfect happiness. The other two
strenuously held out to the year 1840, when, exhausted, sick
and dismayed, the council, in the language of the author, was
broken up by offering me money to give up my sword, the Word
of God, but I protested, saying, "God keep me from such treach-
erous men, and from becoming a traitor to my God."
SOME ECCENTRIC CHARACTERS 2J9
"Thus ended this famous disputation of which history fur-
nishes no parallel. From the foregoing our readers can form
an idea of this great work. It forms a volume of twenty-two
pages, printed in English and Spanish, with notes, etc.; price
not yet determined. We would advise all to procure a copy,
as there being no stereotype edition, the present few numbers
will end the supply."
This strenuous review brought forth a vigorous protest
from Dr. Money, and in the Star, over his many titles — Bishop,
Deacon and Defender of the Faith — he challenged the editor
to a discussion, but, warned by the fate of the friars at Pitaqui-
tos, the genial Colonel declined the combat.
Dr. Money seems to have considered his call to preach para-
mount to his call to practice. In a card to the public, published
in the Star of November 3, 1855, he says: "I am sorry to in-
form the public that since the Reformed New Testament church
has unanimously conferred on me the office of Bishop, Deacon
and Defender of the Faith of said apostolic church, it is at
present inconvenient for me any longer to practice my physical
system. My California Family Medical Instructor is now ready
for the press, containing my three physical systems, in about
200 pages and 50 plates of the human body. It will likewise
contain a list of about five thousand patients that I have had
under my ohysical treatment in the course of fifteen years'
practice, from the port of San Diego to that of San Francisco.
Out of this large number only four, to my knowledge, have died
while under my treatment. I do not publish this for the pur-
pose of getting into practice, but only to get out of it."
His Family Medical Instructor was probably the second
book written in Los Angeles, but whether it was ever published
I cannot say. Some twenty-five years ago, when the Public
Library was in the old Downey Bloqk, he had on file in it a
set of plates of the human body. They long since have dis-
appeared. He removed to San Gabriel, where he lived in a
curiously constructed adobe house. He died in 1890, at San
Gabriel. His books and papers were lost.
Another eccentric character of early days was Professor
Cain. Cain was a gentleman of color, aged and white-haired.
He towered up in the air at least six and a half feet, and by
taking thought had added at least half a cubit to his height in
the shape of a tall narrow-brimmed stove-pipe hat of the vintage
of the fall of '49 or spring of '50.
28O PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
Cain was a philosopher, and had original and rather start-
ling theories which he propounded from the steps of the old
Court House whenever he could get an audience.
A colored preacher, the Rev. John Jasper, of Richmond,
Va., made himself famous by a sermon that he was accustomed
to deliver from the text, "The sun do move." In that sermon
he demolished the theory that the earth moved around the
sun., "The sun does the movin', not the yearth. The good
book says that once, when Joshuar had a big killing of Anak-
elites on hand; he says 'sun stand still' till I get through with
the killin', and she stopped and stood still." Now, said the
Rev. Jasper, how could a thing stop if it wasn't going? How,
indeed! And the Rev. Jasper removed that theological stum-
bling block that has tripped over theologians for centuries.
Professor Cain's theory was more original and more start-
ling than Jasper's. It was that the original color of the human
race was black. Adam was the first Sambo, and Eve the primi-
tive Dinah. The white race were bleached-out blacks.
Cain's proof was conclusive, if you admit his premises. "The
good book, says Adam, was created out of the dust of the
yearth. Whar did the Lord get that dust? Cain was accus-
tomed to ask. "In the Garden of Eden. The soil of the garden
was a black soil, because -it was rich and produced all manner
of yarbs and trees. Now, if Adam was made from black dust
his color was black, wa'n't it? And Eve being made from Ad-
am's rib, the rib wfere black, and consequently Eve was black,
too."
As long as Adam's descendants remained in warm countries
they retained their primitive color, but after a time some of
them wandered off to cold countries and lived in the shade of
the woods, where the sun could not get at them. Then they
began to fade, just as a plant grown in the shade loses its orig-
inal color and turns white. Consequently, the Professor would
say, as he clinched his argument, "The white man is only a
faded-out niggah."
Some practical jokers induced the old philosopher to deliver
a lecture on his favorite theme. He secured the old Merced
Theater, which still stands up near the Pico House. He was to
charge an admittance fee, and he acted as his own door-keeper.
So popular was his lecture that before he could get through
making change with some of the first arrivals the boys had
come in a rush and filled the house. He had a full house, but
SOME ECCENTRIC CHARACTERS 28 1
the receipts were light. In knocking around the world he had
picked up a number of big words that he used indiscriminately.
He put them in because they sounded well. To give force to
his argument he would quote at length from some authority.
The quotations were manufactured; the Professor could not
read. He would preface a quotation by saying, "Thus says the
famous Sock-rats" (meaning Socrates), or "I find this in the
writings of the distinguished Hypocrits" (meaning Hippoc-
rates, the father of medicine). The lecture was as amusing as
a circus.
The old gentleman was very proud, and quite dignified. In
assemblages of the colored brethren, when they d-id not agree
with his views, he was accustomed to berate them as a pa'cel
of plantation niggahs. Consequently he was not popular with
his colored brethren.
There are some other eccentric characters of early days that
might come in for a notice but my paper is already too long.
ANGEL PIONEERS
BY JESSE YAKNBI.I.
We are angel pioneers,
As for five-and-twenty years,
With our wives, the pretty dears,
We have had the land of angels for a home ;
We came here long ago,
And we like the country so,
That we're going to stay you know,
For we never want to emigrate or roam.
Yes, we're angels without wings,
Without feathers and such things,
And each heart with rapture rings,
Thinking of the glorious country we have found ;
With our climate and our soil,
Bringing fruits with little toil,
Let us live without turmoil,
And let joy and peace and jollity abound.
We have seen our city grow,
With a pace that's far from slow,
And the country 'round us, too,
Where fruit and flowers bloom on every hand ;
But there's room enough for all,
Rich and poor and great and small,
And may pleasant places fall
To the tender-foot from each and every land.
Let them come, yes let them come —
And, you bet, they're coming some —
Don't you hear the car-wheels hum,
Bringing those who storm and blizzards wish to shun;
We extend a welcome true,
From our hearts we mean it, too,
For there's room for not a few,
To fill the places we leave when we are gone.
We will tell from whence we came —
How we got here, just the same —
And we're surely not to blame,
If we pass some resolutions when we die;
As our hair is turning gray,
We may not have long to stay,
When we have to go away,
Let us hope we'll find as good a place on high.
TRIP TO CALIFORNIA VIA NICARAGUA
BY J. M. STEWART.
[Read before the Los Angeles County Pioneers, Feb., 1902.]
It was on the morning of an October day in 1865, with my
wife and daughter, we took passage on the steamer Santiago
de Cuba, via the Nicaragua route for San Francisco. The sev-
eral forts at the entrance of New York harbor present a bold
and warlike appearance, as viewed from the deck of a passing
steamer. In less than two hours after leaving the dock a call
for tickets was made, and among the passengers was a young
lady who told her story in this wise: Said she came from
Massachusetts, expecting to meet a neighbor of hers, accom-
panied by his wife, with whom she had previously entrusted her
money. But not meeting them at the hotel as she expected,
had come on board the ship to look for them. Here she was,
without money or friends. The officers of the ship said they
would have taken her through and given her letters of recom-
mendation to officers on the Pacific side, if they could have be-
lieved her story. Shortly after, our boat stopped to discharge
the pilot, and this lady, whether worthy or otherwise, was com-
pelled to enter the small boat with him, when they were con-
veyed on board a steamer which was in waiting, and taken
directly back to New York.
Having now got outside the harbor, our boat glides more
n.nidly over the smooth surface of the water, and the distant
J^.sey shore, as it becomes more indistinct, with the high tow-
ers of the great city, the broad expanse of waters on either side,
together with the approach of a beautiful sunset, render the
scene worthy to be transferred to canvas.
Our course was a southwesterly direction, along the west-
erly coast of Cuba, only a few miles distant. How very differ-
ent were our feelings now as to safety from what they were a
year previous while traveling over these same waters, on our
way to New York by the Panama route! Then our beloved
country was in the throes of a mighty civil war. Privateers
were supposed to be at any point on the Atlantic waters, and
284 PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
the Panama steamers were known to carry large amounts of
treasure (for no overland road was then completed), and it was
feared these privateers might attack the steamers returning
from California. At any rate, as we were leaving the Caribean
sea on the afternoon of a southern summer day, a steamer was
sighted following in our track, and apparently gaining on us
rapidly. Our captain gave orders for all steam to be used that
could be done with safety, and it was easy to see our good ship
was goinp- at a more rapid rate than usual towards her destined
port. We had nothing to do but watch the craft, whatever
she might be, and speculate on what would be our fate if over-
taken. The summing-up of the opinions of the many passen-
gers was numerous and various. Soon as it became dark all
the lights above the water line were turned down, the course of
the sh-ip changed to nearly a right angle, and the evening spent
in utter darkness. The morning sun found us on our regular
course with no other ship in sight, and we all felt relieved. Now
the cruel war was over, and peace reigned throughout our bor-
ders.
Our captain had made the trip to and from Aspinwall many
times, but this was his first trip to GreytowH. By carefully
studying his charts he took us safely into port in eight days.
Here we were transferred to a small steamer, which was to take
us up the San Juan river to Lake Nicaragua. We were very
comfortably housed on the ocean steamer, but when you come
to put 600 passengers on a boat less than one-fourth the size
of the former, you can make your calculations there was not
much vacant space. A portion of the way along this river,
which is the outlet for the waters of Lake Nicaragua, is low
and marshy, but most of it, if properly cleared, looked like good
farming land.
The vegetation and scenery it would be hard to excel any-
where; and the climate is said to be very healthy. It -is no
more like the Isthmus of Panama than day is like night. Ban-
anas seem to grow spontaneously all along the river, but no doubt
would do much better by proper cultivation. Vines of various
kinds hang from the tall trees, making an impenetrable thicket,
and covered with bright flowers, with every color of the rain-
bow. During the day some of the passengers amused them-
selves and others by shooting alligators as they lay sunning
themselves in the sand on the banks.
The day passed quickly, for the country was so unlike any-
TRIP TO CALIFORNIA VIA NICARAGUA 285
thing we had ever before seen, it was very interesting. As
night came on, inquiry was made about sleeping accommoda-
tions, especially for the ladies. But it was self-evident that so
small a boat could not accommodate the number of passengers
she was carrying, except in an upright position. So a few of us
who haJ become acquainted while on the ocean steamer, got
together amidships for a sociol hour, more or less, which finally
led into story-telling, on any subject whatever; several gave
their experiences of hair-breadth escapes, or told us of
some love affair, whether true or false it mattered not, so
long as it amused and helped to pass away the time and keep
us wide awake.
The few who first gathered there, by 12 o'clock had in-
creased to hundreds, and better order was never observed in
any Quaker meetinp- than during the small hours of that night
on the San Juan river. One of these stories I remember in par-
ticular, and as it is short I will here relate it. It was told by a
middle-agfed man, a doctor of medicine, who, with h-is wife and
family, was making his first trip to California. He commenced
by saying his story was of ancient origin and would be on the
subject of political economy. He went on for several minutes
before he got down to the real story, causing us to believe we
were to hear something -instructive, if not amusing, for he was
known to be an educated gentleman. And this was his story:
Jack Spratt could eat no fat;
His wife could eat no lean;
Between them both they
Licked the platter clean.
Daylight found us still entertaining one another, when it
was announced we were nearing the greatest rapids on the river,
(the name of which I have forgotten). The company broke up*
to go and see how the boat could climb the rapid current. A
large cable was anchored on shore and attached to the engine.
In two hours' time we were in comparatively still water.
Here is where most of the locks will be required when the
Nicaragua canal is built, as we all hope it soon will be. After
one night and two days on the river we reached Lake Nicar-
agua, a beautiful sheet of water, surrounded by low rolling hills.
Crossed over by daylight on a steamer which accommodated all
our passengers without a murmur. Twelve miles bv stage took
us to San Juan del Sur on the Pacific.
286 PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
This was a most interesting ride over a good mountain road,
or what we in California would call foothills. The native pop-
ulation were numerous at certain points on the road, offering
their fruits, wares and curios for sale. Passed .many acres of
pineapple and bananas, apparently under a good state of culti-
vation, -in rows as straight as our orange orchards in Southern
California.
On our arrival at San Juan the connecting steamer had not
arrived, but next day she made her appearance, and we were
soon on board. On the following- day she was ready for her
departure north. As is known to many of you, we are in plain
view of the coast most of the way up; only at one point are
we out of sight of land — while crossing the Gulf of California.
When the ship's doctor was making his daily rounds on the
fourth day, he found a very sick man in the steerage, whose
disease he at once pronounced to be confluent smallpox. The
captain's cow was at once hustled out of her comfortable berth
and tied to a stanchion alongside the dining tables of the steer-
age passengers, and the poor unfortunate fellow placed therein.
But it was the safest place for him and the other pasengers, to
be found on board.
Five days later sometime during the night, he died, and
was buried at sea. Everything in the shape of bedding was
put into the furnace, and the room thoroughly fumigated. In
the morning the cow was back in her former pen, and the num-
ber of passengers was one less. Whether any one contracted
the disease or not, we never knew. There was also a birth on
board — a child was born, whose young life went out in a few
hours, when the captain ordered it to be buried, but out of re-
spect for the feelings of the mother, the little body was kept for
two days and buried on Mexican soil.
Fourteen days on the Pacific brought us into San Francisco,
making twenty-eight from New York.
WILLIAM WOLFSKILL, THE PIONEER
[Read June 23, 1902.]
BY H. D. BARROWS.
Of that, notable group of American pioneers who arrived in
Los Angeles about the year 1830, and who afterwards became
permanent and influential citizens of this then almost exclu-
sively Spanish-speaking province, I have already presented the
Historical Society with brief sketches of John Temple, Abel
Stearns and J. JH Warner; and I now propose to give some ac-
count of William Wolfskill. Mr. Wolfskill was born in Madi-
son county, Kentucky, March 20, 1798, and was reared from
the age of eleven to twenty-one, in what is now Howard county,
Missouri, but which then was in the heart of the Indian country.
The Indians of that region during the War of 1812 were so
bad that the settlers had to carry their fire-arms at the plow
and to be unceasingly on their guard, night and day.
After the war, in 1815, William went back to Kentucky to
attend school. In 1822, at the age of twenty-four, he started
out in the world on his own account to seek his fortune, to
penetrate still farther into the far West, and to find "a better
country" in which to settle.
With a party under a Captain Becknell, he went to Santa
Fe. New Mexico. He spent the summer of 1822, at Santa Fe.
and in the fall engaged in trapping beaver. He went down the
Rio Grande to El Paso del Norte in January, 1823.
He was accompanied on this trip by a single companion, a
New Mexican, who had trapped beaver with him the fall before.
They caught what beaver they could as they proceeded down
the river. The weather was cold, the ground being covered
with snow; and to protect themselves from the cold they built
a small brush house
Within this, with a fire in front, they could lie down and
keep warm. One night (the 27th of January, 1823) Mr. Wolf-
skill waked up and saw that the New Mexican had built a big
fire at the door; but he thought nothing of it. and dropped
asleep again. But some time after he was aroused to con-
sciousness by receiving a rifle ball in his breast. He jumped
288 PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
up and rushed outside, where he stumbled and fell, and although
it was moonlight he saw no one. He had first reached for his
rifle, which had been lying beside him, but that was gone, only
the shot-pouch remaining.
Supposing that marauding Indians had shot him and killed
his companion, who was missing, he thought it was all over
with him. At first he believed himself mortally wounded, which
doubtless he would have been had not the ball been retarded
by passing through his blankets and also through his right
arm and left hand, his arms having been folded across his breast
while asleep.
He was able to rise again, and he started back on foot for
the nearest Spanish settlement, called Valverde (Green Vailc"''
twenty or twenty-five miles distant, where a small military force
was stationed, and where he finally arrived late the next morn-
ing, well-nigh exhausted — cold, faint, and weak, from the loss
of blood. He went to the Alcalde, who made the matter known
to the guard.
Meantime, who should make his appearance but the New
Mexican, who reported that he had been attacked by Indians,
and that his partner (Mr. Wolfskill) wias killed. But he was
considerably astonished to learn that Mr. Wolfskill had got
in before him.
He was compelled to go back with the soldiers at once
(much against his will), and show them where Mr. Wolfskill
had been shot.
There they found, in the snow, the footprints of the two
trappers, and none others.
The New Mexican had told the soldiers that the Indians
shot Mr. Wolfskill and had taken the gun, etc., and that he (the
New Mexican) had shot several arrows at them. No signs of
Indians were discovered, and of the arrows he had been known
to have had beforehand, none were found missing.
They took him back to Valverde bound, and kept him con-
fined several days, where he came near being frozen. He fin-
ally promised to go, and did go, and show them where the gun
was hidden. He then pretended that he had shot Mr. Wolf-
skill accidentally, not being used to the hair-trigger of the rifle.
He got on his knees, and opening his shirt, bared his breast and
asked Mr. Wolfskill to take his life, if he had wronged him, etc.
But the evidence was too strong to be evaded, or to be
explained, except by his guilt.
He was examined by the Alcalde, who ordered him to be
WILLIAM WOLFSKILL, THE PIONEER 289
sent off to the Governor of New Mexico, at Santa Fe, for trial.
But Mexican fashion — is it not sometimes also an American
fashion? — his punishment was delayed, and he was kept going
back and forward, under escort, between Valverde and Santa
Fe; and at last, as Mr. Wolfskill afterwards learned, he was
turned loose — a denouement which in similar cases has been
known to happen in the United States.
What motive the New Mexican could have had for thus
shooting his companion, Mr. Wolfskill never could imagine,
unless possibly it was for the sake of the old rifle, for that was
about all Mr. Wolfskill had in the world, except a few old beaver
traps; and there existed no enmity between them. They had
never had any quarrel, or any cause for quarrel.
But an old Mexican — a good-hearted man, with whom they
had once stopped, up the river — had warned Mr. Wolfskill to
be on his guard against that man, "for," said he, "he is a bad
man."
For so little cause, or for no cause at all, other than the
instincts of a devilish heart, will some men attempt murder.
Mr. Wolfskill was of the opinion that the loss of blood, and
his nearly freezing in that long tramp to the settlement, saved
his life. The ball did not penetrate his breast-bone, and was
soon afterwards extracted. He bore the marks of the wounds
on his person to his dying day. In fact, it is a question if
they were not the remote origin of the (heart) disease of which
he died, although his death occurred many years after those
ghastly wounds were received.
If this society could gather the multitudinous and exciting
episodes of hair-breadth escapes of each one of the adventurous
pioneers who came to this distant land, either overland or by
water, the collection would be unique in variety and interest as
well as in permanent historical value.
Mr. Wolfskill returned to Santa Fe, and about Christmas
he went to Taos. In 1824 he, with others, fitted out a trapping
expedition for the head-waters of the Colorado, or the Rio
Grande of the West, as it was then called, returning to Taos
in June. Soon after, with a Captain Owens and party, he went
to Chihuahua to buy horses and mules to take to Louisiana.
\Yith many adventures, and with the loss of many of their ani-
mals by attacks of hostile Indians, Mr. Wolfskill finally returned
by way of the Mexican settlements, to avoid the Indians along
the Gulf, and up the Mississippi, to his father's home, where he
arrived in ill health, June, 1825. Thus ended his first expedi-
PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
tion westward, he having been gone something over three years,
and having penetrated as far as the tributaries of our great
Colorado River on the Pacific Slope.
He soon, however, left for Natchitoches, where Belcher had
promised to meet him on the Fourth of July of that year, with
the mules of Capt. Owens, who had been killed in an attack by
the Indians near the Presidio del Norte in November of the
previous year. These mules were to be taken East by Mr. Wolf-
skill and sold for the benefit of Capt. Owens' family. The latter
were near neighbors of his father and they had authorized him
to act as their agent. Not finding Belcher at Natchitoches at
the time agreed upon, he traveled on west to San Felipe, where
he found Belcher.
Mr. Wolfskill took charge of the mules, and proceeded with
them across Louisiana and Mississippi to Greenborough, Ala-
bama, where he wintered and sold the animals. In March, 1826,
he left by way of Mobile and New Orleans and the Mississippi
river, for his home in Missouri to make returns to the family of
Capt. Owens. Here he found Capt. Young with whom he first
went to Santa Fe, in 1822, and with whom he had trapped on
the Rio Pecos and the Rio Grande of the West, etc., and en-
gaged with him, after a brief stop at home, to go again to Santa
Fe. Arrived there. Young was taken sick, and he hired Mr.
Wolfskill to go with a party (Sublette, Peg-Leg Smith, etc.,
being of the number), that he. Young, had fitted out to trap on
the waters of the Rio Gila. The party being only eleven men
strong, was attacked by Indians and driven back to Taos.
Young soon after started out with about thirty men for the
same place, where he chastised the Indians, so that his party
were enabled to trap unmolested.
During the winter, 1826-7, in company with Wm. and Rob-
ert Carson, Talbot, and others, Mr. Wolfskill made a trip from
Santa Fe to Sonora, to buy work-mules, mares, etc., to take
back to Missouri. He was at Oposura, Arispe and other towns
in the northern part of that State. Talbot and himself gath-
ered about 200 animals and started back with them by way of
Taos; but they lost all but twenty-seven of them by the Indians.
With these they finally arrived at Independence a little before
Christmas. Most of this winter he spent at home, only making
a short visit to Kentucky on business for his father.
The next Spring, 1828, he left home finally — never after re-
turning thither. He bought a team and started with goods on
his own account for Santa Fe. There were about TOO wagons
WILLIAM WOLFSKILL, THE PIONEER 29!
(in two companies), which went out at the same time. On ar-
rival at Santa Fe he sold his goods to his old friend, Young,
wiho had returned from his Gila expedition. Some time after,
Young, with whom he had formed a co-partnership, made an-
other trip to the Gila, while Mr. Wolfskill went to Paso del
Norte after a lot of wines, brandy, panoche, etc., which he
brought up to Taos in the spring of 1829. He remained in Taos
the balance of this year, waiting the return of Young, who, it
seems, had come on into California.
In 1830, as soon as the trading companies from the States
got in, which was not till July, Mr. Wolfskill got ready himself
for an expedition to California to hunt beaver, expecting to find
Young somewhere in the country.
Of the company of twenty-two or twenty-three men, of
which Mr. Wolfskill was the leader, which started for California
at this time, Messrs. Branch, Burton, Yount, Shields, Ham and
Cooper remained west of the Rocky Mountains, whilst the bal-
ance, soon after their arrival in California, generally returned to
New Mexico or to the United States. Probably not one of th's
pioneer band is now living. Shields and Ham died soon after
arrival in the country, and the others all died now many years
ago: Yount in Napa, Branch in San Luis Obispo, Cooper in
Santa Barbara, and Young in Oregon.
The party had intended to reach the Tulare and Sacramento
valleys to make a winter and spring hunt. For this purpose
they obtained a license from the Governor of New Mexico.
Winter compelled them to turn south, and they reached Los An-
geles in February, 1831. Here the party broke up — being
mostly without means. Some members fitted out with what
guns, traps, etc., there were left, and went to hunting otter on
the coast. Very few of the disbanded party had any intention
of stopping in California permanently. But they must do some-
thing to enable them to get away.
Mr. Wolfskill with several others went to work and built a
schooner at San Pedro, with which to hunt otter among the
neighboring islands. The timber was cut in the mountains and
hauled a hundred miles or more to San Pedro. The schooner
was named the "Refugio," and was larger than some of the fleet
of Columbus.
At that time no one was permitted to hunt fine-furred ani-
mals within the jurisdiction of Mexico unless he held a license
from the Governor of a State or Territory. In New Mexico
the provincial name of beaver is nutria (otter). From ignorance,
292 PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
or more likely carelessness, on the part of the Governor or of
his secretary, the license of Mr. Wolfskill to hunt beaver (cas-
tor) was written nutria. By this inadvertence of the New Mexi-
can officers, Mr. Wolfskill was possessed of a license to hunt the
highly-prized sea otter, which license he could not have obtained
from the then Governor of California. A strong objection was
made by the officers here against the validity of a license given
by the Governor of New Mexico; but through the interposition
of Father Sanchez, who was at that time a power in the land,
the objections were overcome. With this schooner, the "Re-
fugio," Mr. Wolfskill and his party hunted along the coast of
Baja California as far south as Cerros or Ceclros Island. They
had indifferent luck, and this was about the only trip they made
with her; and they afterwards sold her to a Captain Hinkley,
who took her to the Sandwich Islands.
Mr. Wolfskill then directed his attention to vineyarding and
to general horticulture, which he followed with great success
till his death, which occurred October 3, 1866. It was not,
however, till some years after his arrival, that he finally made up
his mind to settle in the country. He bought and moved onto
his homestead vineyard (now known as the Wolfskill Orchard
Tract), in March, 1838, with his brother John, who came to
California the preceding year. The growth of the city compelled
the dividing up of his extensive orchards, situated as they were
near the heart of the city, some fourteen years since, and the
eld house which he built more than sixty years ago, and around
which, to so many persons, both living and dead (for he always
had a large number of people in his family), so many, many
pleasant associations and remembrances have clung, is now be-
ing demolished.
Mr. Wolfskill married Magdalena, daughter of Don Jose
Ygnacio Lugo and Dona Rafaela Romero Lugo, of Santa Bar-
bara, in January, 1841, by whom he had six children, three of
whom are still living, namely, Joseph W. Wolfskill, Mrs. Fran-
cisca W. de Shepherd, and Mrs. Magdalena W. de Sabichi.
Oi grandchildren there is a goodly number. Mrs. Wolfskill died
in 1862, the eledest daughter, Juana, in 1863, and Luis, the
youngest son, in 1884.
In the year 1841 Mr. Wolfskill planted an orange orchard,
the second in California, the first being planted by the Mission
Friars at San Gabriel.
In the same year (1841) he went to the upper country to
look for a ranch on the then public domain. He selected lands
WILLIAM WOLFSKILL, THE PIONEER 293
lying on both sides of Putah creek (now in Yolo and Solano
counties), and the next year he obtained a grant from Governor
Alvarado in his own name, of four square leagues. His brother
John took up stock to put on the rancho in 1842. The latter
lived on the rancho thereafter till his death, receiving one-half
of the same. Of the five brothers Wolfskill who as pioneers set-
tled in California, only one, Mr. Milton Wolfskill, is now living
in Los Angeles at an advanced age.
After the old Padres, William Wolfskill and Don Louis
Vignes may be called the pioneer growers of citrus fruits in
California, a business which is now worth many millions of dol-
lars to the people of California, and especially to the people of
Southern California.
William Wolfskill, who was of German-Irish ancestry, had
a strong physical constitution and an immense amount of vital
energy. During his long and useful life he saw a great deal
of the world and picked up not a little of hard, sound sense. He
was an extensive reader, and being possessed of a wonderfully
retentive memory, he gained a store of information on most
subjects of practical human interest that would not have shamed
those who have had a more liberal education, and who may have
passed their lives with books, instead of on the frontier.
He was a man of no mere professions: What he was, he
was, without any pretense.
In religion he believed in the teachings of the New Testa-
ment, and, at the last, he received the consolations of the Ro-
man Catholic church. But in all things he loved those prime
qualities of human character, simplicity and sincerity. He
was one of that large number, of whom there are some in all
churches, and more in the great church of outsiders, who be-
lieve that a loyal, honest heart and a good life, are the best
preparation for death. He was disposed, to as great an extent
as any man whom I ever knew, to always place a charitable
.construction on the acts and words and motives of others. He
believed (and acted as though he believed) that there is no room
in this world for malice.
William Wolfskill was one of the very few Americans or
foreigners, who came to California in early times, who never,
as I firmly believe, advised the native Californians to their hurt,
or took advantage of the lack of knowledge of the latter of
American law, or of the English language, to benefit themselves
at the expense of the Californians. As a consequence, the
fames of "Don Guillermo" Wolfskill and a very few other
294 PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
Americans of the olden time, were almost worshipped by the
former generation of "hijos del pais," who spoke only the Span-
ish language, and wiho, therefore, in many, many important
matters, needed honest and disinterested adv-ice.
Mr. Wolfskill was one of the most sociable of men. In his
intercourse with others he was direct, and sometimes blunt and
brusque; but in the language of Lamartine, "Bluntness is the
etiquette of sincerity."
In reality he had one of the kindest of hearts. Finally, in
honesty, and in most of the sterling qualities that are accounted
the base of true manhood, he had few superiors.
I should add that most of the above facts of Mr. Wolfskin's
life — and especially the account of the building of the first ves-
sel or schooner, the "Refugio," at San Pedro, about which con-
flicting versions have been promulgated — were derived directly
from his own lips in 1866; and therefore they may be depended
upon as authentic.
In conclusion I am permitted to quote the following com-
ments, in verse, on the foregoing paper, by Miss Gertrude Dar-
low, a talented member of the staff of the Los Angeles Public
Library :
I.
"It is from sturdy, stalwart sons like this
Our State has reared its splendid edifice;
Men who explored life's hard and dangerous ways,
Who 'scorned delights and lived laborious days.'
The stirring incidents of such careers,
Their toils and struggles, varying hopes and fears,
Tenacious courage, honesty and pride ; —
By all of these our past is glorified !
II.
"Now, on the ground their rugged virtues won,
'Tis ours to forward what was well begun.
Cities have risen where they planted trees.
Old land-marks vanish. But the names of these
Brave Pioneers, ah let us not forget :
Time cannot cancel, nor we pay the debt
We owe to lives so simple and sincere,
Whose memories we should cherish and revere."
PIONEERS ADS AND ADVERTISERS
BY J. M. GUINN.
About three thousand years ago, Solomon, King of Israel,
remarked that there is nothing new under the sun. Solomon
had the reputation of being a wise man. No doubt he was.
With 700 wives to keep him posted, he certainly ought to have
been "up to date." Our inordinate conceit -inclines us to be-
lieve Solomon somewhat of a back number and his sayings out
of date, just as the Native Sons are inclined to regard the Pio-
neers as a little slow and their old yarns ancient history.
Self conceit is perhaps the most dominant characteristic of
the present age. We pride ourselves on our wonderful achieve-
ments and draw -invidious comparisons between the progressive
present and the benighted past. And yet it .may be possible
that in the progress of the race for the past five or six thousand
years there may have been more arts and inventions lost than
we now possess.
Before the Christian era the Phoenicians made maleable
glass, yet with all our wonderful discoveries in chemistry we
have never yet been able to weld a broken pane. No modern
artist has ever been able to make such permanent or so bright
colors as the ancient painters used.
It is supposed that the original Argonaut, Jason, came
home from Ithica on a steamboat. His vessel had neither oars
nor sails to propel it. The remains of a railroad have been
found among the ruins of Thebes. The Panama ship canal is
just now one of the burning issues before Congress. An Isth-
mian canal is regarded as such a wonderful undertaking that it
has taken the progressive nations of the world fifty years to
talk about it before beginning to dig, yet Egypt, 5,000 years
ago, dug a canal deeper, broader and longer than the Panama
ditch wfill be when Congress gets through talking about it and
some country digs it.
The crime of '73 was perpetrated in Assyria four thousand
years before John Sherman or Wm. J. Bryan were born, and the
question of the demonitization of silver was fought over during
political campaigns in Babylon years before Nebuchadnezer was
turned out to grass.
296 PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
The discoveries that explorers are making among the buried
cities of Assyria, Egypt and Greece reveal to us that many of
our inventions are only the discovery of lost arts, and that Solo-
mon was about correct when he remarked that there was noth-
ing new under the sun.
It would not surprise me if some delver in Egyptian ruins
discovered that that wonderful invention, the telephone, was
known and used in the time of the Shepherd kings and that the
children of Israel got the start of Pharaoh because the wires
were crossed. It may be possible that some antiquarian .may
find hidden away in an Egyptian sarcophagus the mummy of a
hallo girl, and when the mummy cloth has been lifted from her
face she will sweetly lisp, "Line's busy; hang up, please."
Now all this may seem a little foreign to my subject, but I
have introduced it here to vindicate Solomon. A man who
could keep peace in a family as large as his was long enough to
write a book of proverbs deserves our respect.
My subject, "Pioneer Ads and Advertisers," relates to the
advertisers and advertisements in Los Angeles .more than half
a century ago. Recently in looking over some copies of the
Los Angeles Star of fifty years ago I was amused and inter-
ested by the quaint ways the advertisers of that day advertised
their wares and other things. Department stores are great ad-
vertisers and the pioneer department store of Los Angeles was
no exception. Its ad actually filled a half column of the old
Star, which was an astonishing display in type for those days.
It was not called a department store then, but I doubt whether
any of the great stores of Chicago or New York carry on so
many lines of business as did that general merchandise store that
was kept in the adobe house on the corner of Arcadia and North
Main street fifty years ago. The proprietors of that store were
our old pioneer friends, Wheeler & Johnson. The announce-
ment of what they had to sell was prefaced by the following
philosophical deductions which are as true and as applicable to
terrestrial affairs to day as they were half a century ago.
"Old things are passing away," says the ad; "behold all
things have become new. Passing events impress us with the
mutability of human affairs. The earth and its appurtenances
are constantly passing from one phase to another. Change and
consequent progress is the manifest law of destiny. The forms
and customs of the past are become obsolete and new and en-
larged ideas are silently but swiftly moulding terrestrial matters
on a scale of enhanced magnificence and utility.
PIONEER ADS AND ADVERTISERS 297
"Perhaps no greater proof of these propositions can be
adduced than the evident fact that the old mercantile system
heretofore pursued in this community with its 7x9 stores, its
exhorbitant prices, its immense profits, its miserable assortments
of shop-rotten goods that have descended from one defunct es-
tablishment to another through a series of years, greeting the
beholder at his every turn as if craving his pity by a display of
their forlorn, mouldy and dusty appearance. These rendered
venerable by age are now considered relics and types of the
past.
"The ever expanding mind of the public demands a new state
of things. It demands new goods, lower prices, better assort-
ments, and more accommodations. The people ask for a suit-
able consideration for their money and they shall have the same
at the new and magnificent establishment of
"WHEELER & JOHNSON,
"in the House of Don Abel Stearns on Main street, where they
have just received $50,000 worth of the best and most desirable
merchandise ever brought to the country."
\Yhen the customer had been sufficiently impressed by the
foregoing propositions and deductions they proceed to enu-
merate, and here are a few of the articles :
"Groceries, soap, oil, candles, tobacco, cigars, salt, pipes,
powder, shot, lead. Provisions, flour, bread, pork, hams, bacon,
sugar, coffee. Dry Goods, broadcloths, cassimeres, blankets,
alpacas, cambrics, lawns, ginghams, twist, silks, satins, colored
velvet, nets, crepe, scarlet bandas, bonnets, lace, collars, needles,
pins.
"Boots, shoes, hats, coats, pants, vests, suits, cravats, gloves,
hosiery.
"Furniture, crockery, glassware, mirrors, lamps, chandaliers,
agricultural implements, hardware, tools, cutlery, house-fur-
nishing goods, liquors, wines, cigars, wood and willow ware,
brushes, trunks, paints, oils, tinware and cooking stoves.
"Our object is to break down monopoly."
Evidently their method of breaking down monopoly was to
monopolize the whole business of the town.
When we recall the fact that all of this vast assortment was
stored in one room and sold over the same counter we must ad-
mire the dexterity of the salesman who could keep bacon and
lard from mixing with the silks and satins, or the paints and oils
from leaving their impress on the broadcloths and velvets.
298 PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
Ladies' bonnets were kept in stock. The sales-lady had not
yet made her appearance -in Los Angeles and the sales gentle-
man sold bonnets. Imagine him fresh from supplying a pur-
chaser with a side of bacon, fitting a bonnet on the head of a
lady customer — giving it the proper tilt and sticking the hat
pin into the coil of her hair and not into her cranium. Fortun-
ately for the salesman the bonnets of that day were capacious
affairs, modeled after the prairie schooner, and did not need
hat pins to hold them on.
The old time department store sales gentleman was a genius
in the mercantile line ; he could dispose of anything from a lady's
lace collar to a caballada of broncos.
Here is the quaint advertisement of our Pioneer barber.
The Pioneer barber of Los Angeles was Peter Biggs — a gentle-
man of color who came to the state as a slave with his master,
but attained his freedom shortly after his arrival. He set up a
hair cutting and shaving saloon. The price for hair cutting was
a dollar — shaving 50 cents. In the Star of 1853 he advertises
a reduction of 50 per cent. Hair cutting 50 cents, shampooing
50 cents, shaving 25 cents. In addition to his tonsorial services
he advertises that he blacks boots, waits on and tends parties,
runs errands, takes in clothes to wash, iron and mend; cuts,
splits and carries in wood; and in short performs any work,
honest and respectable, to earn a genteel living and accommo-
date his fellow creatures. For character he refers to all the
gentlemen in Los Angeles. Think of what a character he must
have had.
Among the quaint advertisements -in the old Star of the
early 505 is this one, signed by Stephen C. Foster:
"The undersigned offers himself as a candidate for the office
of Mayor in the election that will take place on the 25th inst.
"Confident that the motives which caused my resignation
are good, as also my conduct afterwards and approved by my
fellow citizens, I appeal to their judgment and let them manifest
it by their votes."
On its face this advertisement has an innocent and inoffen-
sive look, but between the lines old timers can read the story
of a deep tragedy.
The motives which caused Mayor Foster to resign were to
take part in a lynching. Two murderers, Brown, a native
American, and Alvitre, a native Californian, had been convicted
and sentenced to be hanged. Just before the day set for their
execution a reprieve came for Brown, but the poor Mexican
PIONEER ADS AND ADVERTISERS 299
was left to his fate. The people were indignant. A niob gath-
ered for the purpose of seeing that either both were reprieved
or both hanged. The sheriff proceeded with the execution of
Alvitre. The mob threatened to prevent it The military was
called out and a bloody riot was imminent. At this point Mayor
Foster harranged the people, advising that they allow the
sheriff to proceed with the execution of Alvitre according to
the forms of law. And when that was done he would resign
the office of Mayor, head the vigilantes and execute Brown.
He was as good as his word. The military was dismissed, their
arms stacked in the jail, the sheriff's posse discharged. Then
it was the vigilantes' chance. The Mayor resigned and joined
the lynchers. The jail door was broken down, the arms of the
n.ilitary guards seized, Brown was taken out and hanged from
a beam over the gate of a corral on Spring street, opposite
where now stands the People's store, within two hours after the
legal execution of Alvitre. A special election was called to fill
the vacancy in the office of Mayor. So thoroughly and com-
pletely did his fellow citizens approve of Foster's course that
he had no opposition and was the unanimous choice of the
people.
There is often both tragedy and comedy, as well as business,
mixed up in advertisements. In the Star of forty-eight years
ago appears the ad of a great prize lottery or gift enterprise.
It was called the Great Southern Distribution of Real Estate
and Personal Property, by Henry Dalton. The first prize was
an elegant modern-built dwelling house on the Plaza valued
at $11,000. There were 84,000 shares shares in the lottery,
valued at $1.00 each, and 432 first-class prizes to be drawn.
Among the prizes were 240 elegant lots in the town of Benton.
Who among you Pioneers can locate that lost and long since
forgotten metropolis of the Azusa? The City of Benton. For
some cause unknown to me the drawing never came off. A
distinguished Pioneer whom many of you know sued Dalton
for the value of one share that he (the Pioneer) held. The case
was carried from one court to another and fought out before
one legal tribunal after another with a vigor and a viciousness
unwarranted by the trivial amount involved. How it ended I
cannot say. I never traced it through the records to a finish.
Old ads are like old tombstones. They recall to us the
memory of the "has beens;" they recall to our minds actors who
have acted their little part in the comedy or tragedy of life and
passed behind the scenes, never again to tread the boards.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
DANIEL DESMOND.
Daniel Desmond, an honored member of this Society of
Pioneers, died on the 23rd of January, 1903, in the /oth year
of his age.
Mr. Desmond was born in County Cork, Ireland, October
9, 1833. Having- begun the trade of a hatter, at the age of 18
he came to Boston, completed his trade, and went into business
at Lawrence, Mass., as manager of the firm of Desmond Bros.,
in the manufacture of hats. The destruction of the factory by
fire compelled him to start new, and it was at that period in his
life he came to Los Angeles.
Mr. Desmond came to this city October 14, 1868, and has
resided here continuously ever since. Immediately upon his
arrival he opened an exclusive hat and gentlemen's furnishing
store, the first of the kind in the city. He continued in its active
management until a few years ago, after it had grown into a
large and flourishing establishment, when ill health compelled
him to relinquish in favor of his son, C. C. Desmond.
His widow and eight children survive him, all residents of
this city, except two married daughters. The children are C.
C. Desmond, D. J. Desmond; Misses Nellie, Nora, Kate and
Anna Desmond; Mrs. A. M. Shields of San Francisco, and Mrs.
C. D. Baker of Arizona.
Mr. Desmond was a man of probity and good repute and a
good citizen in all the relations of life. As a quiet, Christian
gentleman he commanded the sincere respect of all who knew
him. This society extends its heartfelt sympathy to his family
in their great bereavement.
H. D. BARROWS,
W. H. WORKMAN,
Committee.
JESSIE BENTON FREMONT.
This society of Los Angeles Pioneers, in common with all
Californians and all Americans, has sincere cause for mourning
on the occasion of the death, at the age of 78 years, of Mrs.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 3OI
General Fremont, which occurred at her home in this city De-
cember 27, 1902.
The names of both General and Mrs. Fremont, so intimately
and so romantically associated with early California history,
will always possess peculiar interest for us and for our children
and for our children's children.
Senator Thomas H. Benton, Mrs. Fremont's father, Gen.
John C. Fremont, her husband, and Jessie Benton Fremont her-
self, probably had more to do with the acquisition of Alta Cali-
fornia in 1846 by the United States, than any other three per-
sons who took part in the stirring events of that dramatic
period.
Jessie Benton Fremont was a noble woman of high intel-
lectuality and culture, and of amiable disposition, who, because
of the possession of these admirable qualities, and because of
her prominence in our early national and State history, may well
be classed, as doubtlessly she will be by the future historian,
alongside of Martha Washington and Dollie Madison, as one of
the grand dames of the republic.
Inasmuch as the Fremont family made their home -in Los
Angeles since December, 1887, they, and each of them, seem
especially dear to our people; and the warm affection we all
fr el for the father and mother will be continued with unabated
strength to the devoted daughter, whose loving solicitude and
care solaced the last years of both her parents, as the infirmities
of age undermined their health and strength; wherefore, it is
hereby
Resolved, by the Society of Pioneers of Los Angeles County,
that the heartfelt sympathies of the members of the Society are
respectfully tendered to the children and grandchildren of the
deceased in this, their great affliction.
H. D. BARROWS,
K. D. WISE,
Committee.
CALEB E. WHITE.
Caleb E. White, a California Pioneer of 1849, was born at
Holbrook, Mass., February 15, 1830. His father, Jonathan
White, was the son of a Revolutionary soldier. His mother,
Abigail Holbrook, was a descendant of the man after whom
the town of Holbrook was named. Caleb received h-is education
in the grammar and high school of his native town. When
3O2 PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
nineteen years of age he started to California, being one of a
party of fifteen who purchased the brig Arcadia which sailed
from Boston January 1849 f°r San Francisco via the Straits of
Magellan. After a tedious voyage of two hundred and sixty-
three days the vessel passed through the Golden Gate, October
29, 1849.
In 1850 Mr. White embarked in the general mercantile busi-
ness in Sacramento as a member of the firm of Haskell, White
& Co. This firm dissolved in a short time. ' Subsequently he
engaged in farming on a ranch on the American river. For
seventeen years he was a member of the firm of White & Hoi-
lister in the nursery business. December 24, 1868, he came to
Los Angeles and engaged with a partner in the sheep industry.
The firm was White & Denman, and the ranch was near Flor-
ence. In 1874 he became a member of the Los Angeles Immi-
gration and Land Co-operative Association. This association
was incorporated December 10, 1874, with a capital stock of
$250,000. Its first board of directors consisted of the following
named Pioneers : Thomas A. Garey, president; Caleb E. White,
vice-president; L. M. Holt, secretary; Milton Thomas,, man-
ager; R. M. Town, assistant manager; H. G. Crow, treasurer.
Only two of these, Garey and Holt, are living. The principal
object of the association was the purchase and subdivision of
large land holdings and the placing of these on the market in
small tracts. The association in 1874 purchased 2,500 acres of
fhe San Jose Rancho, subdivided it and founded the City of
Pomona.
In 1880 Mr. White took up his residence at Pomona and
engaged in fruit growing. He owned an orchard of sixty acres
just east of the city. He was active in advancing the growth
of the young city. He served on the board of town trustees
several terms. He was one of the organizers and for many years
vice-president of the People's Bank of Pomona, and was always
active in furthering any measure that would benefit the city and
aid in developing the resources of the district in which he lived.
In 1854 Mr. White was married to Miss Rebecca Holship
of St. Louis, Mo. Three children were born of this union —
Helen M., the wife of Hon. R. F. Del Valle of Los Angeles;
Annie C, wife of Charles L. Northcraft, also of Los Angeles,
and Harry R. of Pomona-
Mr. White died at his residence in Pomona September 2,
1902, at the age of 72 years. In the language of one of his old
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 303
time friends and associates, "Peace be to his ashes and honor to
his memory."
W. H. WORKMAN,
J. M. GUINN,
Committee.
IN MEMORIAM.
To the Officers and Members of the Society of Pioneers of Los
Angeles County, Cal.
Your committee on resolutions of respect to the memory of
our late Brother John Caleb Salisbury would respectfully re-
port :
That Brother Salisbury was born in Erieville, Madison
County, New York, July 6th, 1834, and died in Los Angeles,
California, July loth, 1902. Mr. Salisbury was in business in
Chicago at the time of the great fire in 1871. and three years
later came to Los Angeles and commenced business near the
old Los Angeles and San Pedro Depot, on Commercial street.
His fair dealing and business ability drew to him a great com-
pany of friends, who appreciated his honesty and integrity.
His zeal and fervency in any undertaking, together with his
financial ability and broad generosity, insured the success of
any enterprise that he was connected with. He was a leading
member of the First Presbyterian Church of this city; was for
twenty-six years superintendent of the Chinese Sunday School
of that church, and for many years was an elder and trustee
of that church: also a trustee of Occidental College, and gave
of his thousands to the equipment and support of that insti-
tution.
He was for many years a trustee of the Boys and Girls' Or-
phans' Home, and gave liberally to its support. He was as
prominent in the quiet, unostentatious work of the Masonic
Order as any man in Los Angeles County.
He was a member of Lincoln Park Lodge, No. 6n. F. &
A. M., Chicago, Illinois. He affiliated with Pentalpha Lodge,
202, of California. Los Angeles, August 2ist, 1876. and was
its Junior Deacon from 1877 to 1884, and occupied that sta-
tion for a length of years not often achieved. His brethren of
the Mystic tie loved him for his good examples, his boundless
charity, and earnest, consciencious work as a man and a Mason.
Brother Salisbury was twice married — first to Miss Smith,
3O4 PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
in Illinois, by whom he had one son, Fred A. Salisbury, now
residing in this city. He was married to Miss Ellen A. Graves
in, Merrill Lodge, Order of Good Templars, in this city, in 1876,
by whom he had one son, Howard G. Salisbury, also residing
in this city.
Brother John C. Salisbury was an honest member of the
Pioneers of Los Angeles County, many of whom attended his
funeral. He was buried with Masonic rites in Rosedale Ceme-
tery.
Respectfully,
J, M. STEWART,
C. N. WILSON,
J. L. SLAUGHTER,
Committee.
HENRY KIRK WHITE BENT.
Henry Kirk White Bent was born at Weymouth, Mass.,
October 29, 1831. He was educated at Williston Seminary
and Mason Academy, and was ready to enter Amherst when
measles prevented by seriously impairing his eyesight". He
then engaged in civil engineering on railroad construction in
Southern Wisconsin. In 1858 he came to California, worked
at mining for a year at French Corral, Nevada County; taught
school a year and a half at Downieville; was elected County
Surveyor in 1861, and later Public Administrator of Sierra
County. During the war he was chairman of the Republican
County Committee, and worked as mining engineer until 1866.
His health gave way, and he went to Boston, where he un-
derwent medical treatment for two years. Returning to Cali-
fornia in 1868, he located in Los Angeles, as an experiment,
with the result that he tarried in this section until his death.
Here he recovered his health almost completely, the climate,
in his opinion, doing more for him than all the medical treat-
ment he had tried. Soon he engaged in the real estate business,
taking the agency of the Santa Gertrudes Land Association,
and later he went into the sheep industry. With returning
health began his active and successful career in public works,
which he continued up to within but a few months ago.
Under Gen. Grant's second administration from 1873 to
1877, he was postmaster of Los Angeles.
In 1878 he was elected to the Los Angeles City Board of
Education, and was made president of that body. At this pe-
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 305
riod he was an active and powerful factor in many municipal
works; was one of the founders of the present Public Library
and for a number of years was vice-president and acting head of
the Horticultural Society. In the religious field he was a de-
voted worker for a lifetime. He was a charter member of the
First Congregational church of this city, and for many years
trustee and superintendent of the Sunday-school; also a charter
member of the North Congregational Church of Pasadena,
where he was trustee and deacon for the past fourteen years.
To education Mr. Bent devoted the best of his ability and
his unselfish record over a period of nearly a score of years, and
his work attained marked and lasting success. In 1888 he be-
came one of the original trustees of Pomona College, and re-
mained a member until within the past year, when failing health
compelled his retirement. For seven years he was president
of the board, often being re-elected when differing in judgment
from the majority of the members — a special tribute to his
honor and ability. Under his guidance the Claremont institu-
tion has passed through many dangerous crises and been placed
on an enlarged and permanent foundation.
Mr. Bent was a kind man. After the history of his life work
is related, that tells all the rest. Among the pioneers, business,
church and political associates he will be mourned by a host.
But it is among the student body which has within the past
decade gone forth into active life that his passing will be most
sincerely lamented. In his work in Los Angeles and at Clare-
mont he exerted a rare influence over the young people striving
for learning, and many were assisted to their desired ambition
through his kindly interest and substantial aid. Scores of the
younger generation in active life throughout Southern Califor-
nia owe their education and success to the encouragement or
assistance of Mr. Bent.
During most of his long life deceased combated disease in
some form, and for the past several months had been confined to
his bed with a lung affliction not at all like tuberculosis, but
which baffled cure, and the end has for some time been known
to be approaching rapidly and inevitably. He was twice mar-
ried, and all of his five children and widow survive him. In
1855 he married Miss Crawford of Oakham, Mass.. and the
children of this union are Mrs. Florence Halstead of Smarts-
ville, Arthur S. and H. Stanley Bent of this city. Mrs. Bent
died in 1876, and in 1878 he married Miss Mattie Fairman.
There are two sons by this union, Earnest F. and Charles E.
306 PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
Bent, the latter being city editor of the Pomona Daily Review.
The death of Mr. Bent removes a character that for over
thirty years has been a potential influence in the progress of
the educational, religious and political life of Southern Cali-
fornia.
Mr. Bent died at his home on Marengo avenue, Pasadena,
July 29, 1902, aged 70 years and 9 months.
J. M. GUINN,
J. W. GILLETTE,
Committee.
Chamber of the Pioneers of Los Angeles County,
Los Angeles, Cal., April i, 1902.
John Charles Dotter, a native of Lohr, Germany, was born
May 4th, 1837, and immigrated to the United States of Amer-
ica in A. D. 1852, working his way westerly across the continent
via the Great Salt Lake route to Los Angeles, California, arriv-
ing in 1856, and has ever since made this city his home.
He married Miss Elizabeth Kemy and the issue of said mar-
riage was George C, Corine Frances (the wife of Prof. Milton
Carlson), Idella and Charlotte, all of whom survive him.
His home life was exemplary as a loving and kind husband,
a devoted and affectionate father, and when, freed from business
requirements he spent his time with his devoted family and old
time friends.
He was a student of political economy and delighted in true
progress, advancement and civilization; was a truly assimilated
citizen of this republic, patriotic, and devoted to the principles
of our country and the cause of freedom.
He never failed to vote according to the dictates of his own
conscience and "principles," not men, was his motto.
In his diary under date of February 27, 1902, is found the
following: "Very dizzy; wonder what is the matter." On the
28th he remained at home, and the day following he kept his
bed. On Sunday, March 2nd, 1902, visited his office and enter-
tained a few friends. On Monday, March 3rd, at about 1 1 :oo
a. m., he was attacked with nausea, continuing until 3:00 p. m.,
when he passed into a quiet and unbroken sleep for three hours.
When awakened he complained of pains, which continued until
8:30 p. m., when, from a stroke of apoplexy, he passed to the
great beyond.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 307
Therefore, be it resolved by the Society of Pioneers of Los
Angeles County, State of California, in regular session con-
vened, that while we humbly bow to the inevitable, in the removal
from our midst of our esteemed and beloved brother, John
Charles Dotter, we deplore the loss, and sincerely sympathize with
his family and relatives in their bereavement and the irreparable
loss of a loving husband, a kind and devoted father of whose life
it can be said he was honest and conscientious through all
the walks of an upright 1-ife.
Quoting his own words when commenting on the death of
his numerous Pioneer friends who passed away, "Another good
man gone."
LOUIS ROEDER,
J. F. BURNS,
W. H. WORKMAN,
Committee.
To the Officers and Members of the Pioneer Society of Los An-
geles, California:
We, your committee appointed at your last meeting, Sep-
tember 8th, for the purpose of drafting resolutions of respect
to the memory of the late Anderson Rose, would respectfully
report that said Anderson Rose was born in Macon County,
Mo., February i/th, 1836, and in the year of 1852 he came to
California over the plains with an ox team, locating in El Dorado
County, where he resided with his parents until about 1867, at
which time he came to this county and located near the Ballona,
where he purchased large estates, and he has been a resident oi
this county ever since. Mr. Rose was a frugal, industrious man,
always attentive to his business, at the same time mindful of
the welfare of his fellow men, courteous to his friends, for they
were legion. He was a member of the Chamber of Commerce,
and took active part in advancing the interests of this section*
was a member of the Masonic Fraternity for thirty-five years.
He was married to Miss Annie E. Shirley in 1869. He departed
this life August 3Oth. 1902, leaving a wife, one son and two
daughters to mourn his untimely taking off.
And, Whereas, he who rules all things for the best has seen
fit to call him from among us, w«e deeply mourn our loss and
point to that particular portion of Scripture as our guiding star,
viz. : "Be ye also ready, for in such a time as you think not
the Son of man cometh."
308 PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
And, now therefore, be it resolved, by this society, that we
extend to the widow and family our heartfelt sympathy in this
their hour of grief.
And be it further resolved, that a copy of these resolutions
be forwarded to the family, and that a copy of said resolutions
be spread upon our minutes.
J. L. STARR,
Ji. G. NEWELL,
W. H. WORKMAN,
Committee.
JOHN C. ANDERSON.
John C. Anderson was born in Columbiana County, Ohio,
on June ist, 1844, and passed his youth and young manhood
there. In July, 1863, at the age of 19, he joined the Ohio Na-
tional Guard, and in May, 1864, in response to the call for one
hundred day men, he was mustered into the United States serv-
ice— I43rd Ohio Infantry, from which he was honorably dis-
charged as Corporal, in December of the same year, also re-
ceiving a Certificate of Thanks for Honorable Service, signed
by Abraham Lincoln and Edwin M. Stanton.
Mr. Anderson, from early manhood, was a member of the
Masonic Fraternity.
He learned the carpenter trade with his father, and worked
at it in his native state until 1873, when he came to Los Angeles,
California, and has followed his trade in this part of the State
ever since, having had charge of the construction of the Nadeau
Hotel and other large buildings. In the Fall of 1880 he re-
turned to his old home for a visit, returning to Los Angeles in
March, 1881. The following winter he again visited Ohio, and
was married to Miss Lizzie Lindersmith; and in March, 1882,
brought his wife to Los Angeles to reside. Two sons were born
to them, Louis H., in 1883, and George H., in 1886. In the
spring of 1887 he moved his family to Monrovia, and ever after
he made that city his home till his death.
He was elected and served one term in the Monrovia City
Council: was re-elected, but obliged to resign on account of fail-
ing health.
In the fall of 1899 his health began to fail, and he had to
give up work almost entirely. Being of an active, energetic
disposition, it was a great trial for him to keep quiet. He con-
tinued with light occupation up to within a few days of his death.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 3.
which occurred on the 25th day of January, 1902; and on Jan-
uary 27th he was buried in Live Oak Cemetery, at Monrovia,
California, with Masonic honors, assisted by members of the
G. A. R.
He leaves his family in comfortable circumstances. He was
a good soldier, a loving and devoted husband, a kind and in-
dulgent parent, a good neighbor, and a citizen whom we de-
lighted to honor.
A. H. JOHNSON.
JERRY ILLICH.
Jerry Illich is dead. After lying for many months on a bed
of suffering the well-known restaurateur passed away Dec. 5th,
at his home, No. 1018 South Hill street. The funeral will
be held at 2 o'clock Sunday afternoon at the Masonic Temple.
For twenty-five years the residence of Mr. Illich was in Los
Angeles, and during his closing years he was a prominent figure
in the life of the city, being a member of various fraternal or-
ganizations and owning considerable property in business and
residence sections. He is remembered principally for his good
fellowship and for his ability to provide good things to eat.
Starting in a modest way with a small chop-house on North
Main street in the late '705. his business expanded until he be-
came proprietor of the largest restaurant in the city. His con-
nection with the old Maison Doree on North Main street made
that resort popular with business and club men, and when he
moved into his own building on Third street in 1896 his patron-
age followed. "Jerry's" was headquarters for political and so-
cial banquets, and there's many a man in Los Angeles who still
has pleasant memories of the celebrated "paste" and other for-
eign dishes that \vere served at midday luncheon.
The ravages of Bright's disease laid Illich low several years
ago. causing his retirement from business to seek health in travel
and recreation. His demise was expected on many dates, but
his constant good cheer buoyed him up, and the end came only
when his constitution had become so undermined that his will
power was ineffective in retaining the spark of life.
Jerry Illich was born in 1850 in Dalmatia. Austria. From
the age of 13 until he was 20 he sailed the seas, finally leaving
his vessel at San Francisco and engaging in the restaurant busi-
ness. A widow and a young son and daughter survive him. —
Los Angeles Daily Times.
In Memoriam
Deceased Members of the Pioneers of Los Angeles
County.
James J. Ayres Died November 10, 1897.
Stephen C. Foster Died January 27, 1898.
Horace Hitler Died May 23, ; 898.
John Strother Griffin Died August 23, 1898.
Henry Clay Wiley Died October 25, 1898.
William Blackstone Abernethy. . .Died November 1, 1898.
Stephen W. La Dow Died January 6, 1899.
Herman Raphael Died April 19, 1899.
Francis Baker Died May 17, 1899.
Leonard John Rose Died May 17, 1899.
E. N. McDonald Died June 10, 1899.
James Craig Died December 30, 1899.
Palmer Milton Scott Died January 3, 1900.
Francisco Sabichi Died April 13, 1900.
Robert Miller Town Died April 24, 1900.
Fred W. Wood Died May 19, 1900.
Joseph Bayer Died July 27, 1900.
Augustus Ulyard Died August 5, 1900.
A. M. Hough Died August 28, 1900.
Henry F. Fleishman Died October 20, 1900.
Frank Lecouvreur Died January 17, 1901.
Daniel Shieck Died January 20, 1901.
Andrew Glassell Died January 28, 1901.
Thomas E. Rowan Died March 25, 1901.
Mary Ulyard Died April 5, 1901.
George Gephard Died April 12, 1901.
William Frederick Grosser Died April 23, 1901.
Samuel Calvert Foy Died April 24, 1901.
Joseph Stoltenberg Died June 25, 1901.
Charles Brode Died August 13, 1901.
Joseph W. Junkins Died August, 1901.
Laura Gibson Abernethy Died May 16, 1901.
Elizabeth Langley Ensign Died September 20, 1901.
Frank A. Gibson Died October 11, 1901.
Godfrey Hargitt Died November 14, 1901.
John C. Anderson Died January 25, 1902.
John Charles Dotter Died March 3, 1902.
John Caleb Salisbury Died July tO, 1902.
H. K. W. Bent Died July 29, 1902.
Anderson Rose Died August 30, 1902.
Caleb E. White Died September 2, 1902.
Jerry Illich Died December 5, 1902.
Daniel Desmond Died January 23, 1903.
MEMBERSHIP ROLL
OF THE
PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
B1»TH-
AB. IN
NAMK.
FLACX.
OCCUPATION.
AIBIV. IH CO.
US.
STATC
Anderson, L. If.
Pa.
Collector
July 4, '73
Los Angeles
•«7J
Anderson, Mrs. David
Ky.
Housewife
Jan. i, '53
641 S. Grand av.
185*
Austin, Henry C.
Mass.
Attorney
Aug. 30, '69
3118 Figueroa
1869
Alvarez, Ferdinand
Mo.
Butcher
May i, '71
647 S. Sichel
I87f
Adams, Julia A. T.
Ark.
Housewife
July 14. '88
Los Angeles
•843
Barclay, John H.
Can.
Carpenter
Aug., '71
Fernando
1869
Barrows, Henry D.
Conn.
Retired
Dec. la, '54
724 Beacon
185*
Barrows, James A.
Conn.
Retired
May, '68
236 W. Jefferson
1868
Bilderbeck, Mrs. Dora
Ky.
Dressmaker
Jan. 14. '6 1
1009 E. Eighth
l86l
Bixby, Jonathan
Maine
Capitalist
June, '66
Long Beach
185!
Bicknell, John D.
Vt.
Attorney
May, '72
1115 W. Seventh
1860
Bouton, Edward
N. Y.
Real Estate
Aug.. '68
1314 Bond
1 868
Brossmer, Sig.
Germ.
Builder
Nov. a8, '68
129 Wilmington
1867
Bosh. Charles H.
Penn.
Jeweler
March, '70
318 N. Main
i§7«
Burns, James F.
N. Y.
Agent
Nov. 18, '53
153 Wright
• 853
Butterfield, S. H.
Penn.
Farmer
Aug., '69
Los Angeles
1868
Bell. Horace
Ind.
Lawyer
Oct., 'sa
1337 Figueroa
1850
Biles, Mrs. Elizabeth S.
Eng.
Housewife
July, '73
141 N. Olive
• 873
Biles. Albert
Eng.
Contractor
July, '73
141 N. Olive
>«73
Brossmer, Mrs. E.
Germ.
House-wife
May 16, '68
171 a Brooklyn
1865
Blanchard, James H.
Mich.
Attorney
April, '72
919 W. Second
•»7«
Baldwin, Jeremiah
Ire.
Retired
April, '74
7ai Darwin
l8S»
Barclay, Henry A.
Pa.
Attorney
Aug. i, '74
1321 S. Main
••74
Binford, Joseph B.
Mo.
Bank Teller
July 16. '74
asoa E. First
i«74
Barrows, Cornelia S.
Conn.
Housewife
May, '68
336 W. Jefferson
1868
Bragg, Ansel M.
Maine
Retired
Nov., "73
1 60 Hewitt
1867
Bright, Toney
Ohio
Liveryman
Sept., '74
ai8 Requena
1*74
Huffum. Win. M.
Mass.
Storekeeper
July 4. '59
144 W. Twelfth
barham. Richard M.
111.
U. S. Gauger
F«b. 33. '74
1143 W. Seventh
1849
Braly, John A.
Mo.
Banker
Feb., '91
Van Xuys
1849
Bales, Leonid**
Ohio
Farmer
•66
I49a I.ambie
'•47
Blumve, J. A.
X. J.
Merchant
Dec. »8, '75
aioi Hoover
1874
Buffum, Rebecca E.
Pa.
Housewife
Sept. 19, '64
144 W. Twelfth
1850
Bell, Alexander T.
Pa.
Saddler
Dec. 10. '68
1059 S. Hill
1868
Baker, Edward L.
N. Y.
Miner
Dec., '66
101 S. Flower
1866
Baxter, William O.
Eng.
Broker
May. '47
Santa Monica
1847
Brousseau, Julius
N. Y.
Lawyer
Jan. 16. '77
2434 Hoover
i§77
Burke, Joseph H.
Tenn.
Farmer
April jj, 'S3
Rivera
''S3
Booth, Edward
Ohio
Salesman
'75
740 W. Seventeenth
1875
Caswell, Wm. U.
I'al.
Cashier
Aug. 3. '67
1093 E. Washington
••$7
Cerelli, Sebastian
Italy
Restaurateur
Nov. 24. '74
811 San Fernando
>l47
312
PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
BIRTH-
AR. IN
KAMI.
PLACE.
OCCUPATION.
AKRIV. IN CO.
RES.
STATE.
Conkelman, Bernard
Germ.
Retired
Jan. 3, '67
310 S. Los Angeles
1864
Cohn, Kaspare
Germ.
Merchant
Dec., '59
2601 S. Grand
1859
Coronel, Mrs. M. W.
De. Texas
Housewife
Feb., '59
Los Angeles
1857
Crimmins, John
Ire.
Mast. Plumber
March, '69
127 W. Twenty-fifth
1869
Crawford, J. S.
N. Y.
Dentist
'66
Downey Block
1858
Currier, A. T.
Maine
Farmer
July i, '69
Spadra
1861
Clark, Frank B.
Conn.
Farmer
Feb. 23, '69
Hyde Park
1869
Carter, N. C.
Mass.
Farmer
Nov., '71
Sierra Madre
1871
Conner, Mrs. Kate
Germ.
Housewife
June 22, '71
1054 S. Grand
Chapman, A. B.
Ala.
Attorney
April, '57
San Gabriel
1855
Cummings, Geo.
Aus.
Stockman
March, '53
First street
1853
Cunningham, Robt. G.
Ind.
Dentist
Nov. 15, '73
1301 W. Second
1873
Clarke, N. J.
N. H.
Retired
*49
317 S. Hill
1849
Compton, Geo. D.
Va.
Retired
May, '67
828 W. Jefferson
Cowan, D. W. C.
Penn.
Farmer
June i, '68
824 W. Tenth
1849
Carter, Julius M.
Vt.
Retired
March 4, '76
Pasadena
1875
Clarke, James A.
N. Y.
Lawyer
'83
113 W. Second
1853
•Campbell, J. M.
Ire.
Clerk
'73
716 Bonnie Brae
1873
Cable, Jonathan T.
N. Y.
Farmer
April 10, '6 1
116 Wilhardt
1861
Culver, Francis F.
Vt.
Farmer
Nov., '76
Compton
1849
Crane, W. H.
N. Y.
Architect
1886
738 W. Seventh
1859
Cook, Alonzo G.
Maine
Physician
1874
Long Beach
1874
Dalton, W. T.
Ohio
Fruit Grower
'Si
1900 Central avenue
1851
Davis, A. E.
N. Y.
Fruit Grower
Nov., '65
Glendora
1857
Dooner, P. W.
Can.
Lawyer
May i, '72
848 S. Broadway
1872
"Dohs, Fred
Germ.
Capitalist
Sept., '69
614 E. First
1858
Desmond, C. C.
Mass.
Merchant
Sept, '70
724 Coronado
1870
Dunkelberger, I. R.
Pa.
Retired
Jan., '66
1218 W. Ninth
1866
Dunlap, J. D.
N. H.
Miner
Nov., '59
Silverado
1850
Dryden, Wm
N. Y.
Farmer
May, '68
Los Angeles
1861
Durfee, Jas. D.
111.
Farmer
Sept. 15, '58
El Monte
1855
Davis, Emily W.
Ill
Housewife
•«s
Glendora
1856
Davis, John W.
Ind.
Publisher
Dec. 10, '72
518 San Julian
1872
Davis, Virginia W.
Ark.
Housewife
Sept., '52
518 San Julian
1832
Delano, Thos. A.
N. H.
Farmer
April, '50
Newhall
1850
Davis, Phoebe
N. Y.
Housewife
Dec. 15, 'S3
797 E. Seventeenth
1863
Davis, John
N. Y.
Carpenter
April, '72
University
1872
Dougherty, Omer R.
Ind.
Retired
March 31, '77
South Pasadena
1877
De Turk, Jas G.
Pa.
Farmer
April 14, '75
2418 Edwin street
1875
Dilley, Louis
Germ.
Carpenter
Dec., '75
1055 S. Figueroa
1875
Eaton, Benj. S.
Conn.
Hyd. Engineer
'Si
433 Sherman
1850
Ubinger, Louis
Germ.
Merchant
Oct. 9, '71
755 Maple
1866
Elliott, J. M.
S. C.
Banker
Nov., '70
914 W. Twenty-eighth
1852
Evarts, Myron E.
N. Y.
Painter
Oct. 26, '58
Los Angeles
•Edelman, A. W.
Pol.
Rabbi
June, '62
1343 Flower
>859
Edgar, Mrs. W. F.
N. Y.
Retired
April 18, '65
514 W. Washington
1865
Ellsworth, Daniel
N. Y.
Oil Producer
Sept., '75
629 S. Flower
1875
Eisen, Theodore A
Ohio
Architect
March, '87
2626 S. Figueroa
1853
Furguson, Wm.
Ark.
Retired
April, '69
303 S. Hill
1850
Surrey, Wm. C.
N. Y.
Merchant
Aug., '72
i 103 Ingraham
1865
Trench, Loring W.
Ind.
Dentist
Oct., '68
837 Alvarado
1863
Franklin, Mrs. Mary
Ky.
Seamstress
Jan. i, '53
253 Avenue 32
1852
tFickett, Charles R.
Miss.
Farmer
July 5. '73
El Monte
1860
MEMBERSHIP ROLL
BIBTll-
A*. IB?
NAMK.
FLACX.
OCCUPATION.
AXaiV 'N CO.
us.
STATS.
Fi«her, I.. T.
Ky.
Publisher
Mar. 24, '74
Los Angeles
:873
Fey, Mrs. Lucinda M.
Ind.
Housewife
Dec. 24, '50
651 S. Figueroa
1850
French, Cha«. E.
Maine
Retired
April, '•
141*4 N. Broadway
1869
Flood, Edward
N. Y.
Cement worker
April, '59
1315 Palmer avenue
iS$9
Fogle, Lawrence
Mass.
Farmer
Dec., 'ss
43$ Avenue 22
ISSS
Foulks, Irving
Ohio
Farmer
Oct. 1 8, '70
404 Beaudry avenue
1852
Franck, Adolph
Germ.
Janitor
May, '67
438 Colyton
>«S»
Frankel. Samuel
Germ.
Farmer
'65
818 S. Hope
i86S
Felix, L. Dennis
Can.
Gardener
May. '75
116 S. Grand avenue
1875
Carey, Thomas A.
Ohio
Nurseryman
Oct. 14, '32
2833 Maple avenue
1852
Garvey, Richard
Ire.
Fanner
Dec., '58
San Gabriel
i8$ft
Gage, Henry T.
N. Y.
Attorney
Aug., '74
1146 W. Twenty-eighth
1874
Gillette, J. W.
N. Y.
Inspector
May, '62
333 Temple
1858
Gillette, Mrs. E. S.
111.
Housewife
Aug., '68
333 Temple
1864
Gould, Will D.
Vt
Attorney
Feb. 38, '72
Beaudry avenue
187*
Griffith, Jas. R.
Mo.
Stockraiser
May, '8 1
Glendale
1845
Green, Morris M.
N. Y.
Retired
Nov., '69
3017 Kingsley
1869
Gollmer, Charles
Germ.
Merchant
•68
1530 Flower
1868
Griffith, J. M.
Md.
Retired
April, '61
Los Angeles
1853
Green, E. K.
N. Y.
Manufacturer
May. '72
W. Ninth
1873
Green, Floyd E.
111.
Manufacturer
May. '72
W. Ninth
187*
Guinn, James M.
Ohio
Author
Oct. 18, '60
115 S. Grand avenue
1864
Gold.«worthy, John
Eng.
Surveyor
Mar. 20, '69
107 N. Main
185*
Gilbert. Harlow
N. Y.
Fruit Grower
Nov. i, '60
Bell Station
i86>
Gerkins, Jacob F.
Germ.
Farmer
J»n.. '54
Glendale
1854
Garrett, Robert L.
Ark.
Undertaker
Nov. 5, '62
701 N. Grand avenue
1 86*
Grebe, Christian
Germ.
Restaurateur
Jan. 2, '74
811 San Fernando
1 86*
Card. George E.
Ohio
Detective agency
'66
488 San Joaquin
'859-
Geller, Margaret F.
Mo.
Housekeeper
Nov., '60
Figueroa .
1860
Greenbaum, Ephraim
Pol.
Merchant
'S*
1817 Cherry
1851
Glidden, Edward C.
N. H.
Mfr. agent
Feb., '70
756 Avenue 33
1868
Cower, George T.
H. I.
Farmer
Nov., '72
Colgrove
i86S
Grosser, Eleanore
Germ.
Housewife
Jan., '74
663 S. Spring
1873
Golding, Thomas
Eng.
Contractor
'68
Los Angeles
iS6t
Glass, Henry
Germ.
Bookbinder
June 22, '75
W. Fourth street
Gordon, John T.
D. C
Farmer,
'68
Azusa
1868
Grow, G. T.
Vt.
Contractor
'71
718 S. Rampart
1 86 a
Giese, Henry
Iowa
Merchant
'73
1944 Estrella
1»73>
Haines, Rufus R.
Maine
Telegrapher
June, '71
318 W. Twenty-seventh
•«sr
Harris, Emil
Prus.
Detective
April 9, '67
1036 W. Eighth
1857
Harper, C. F.
N. C.
Merchant
May, '68
Laurel
1863
Hazard, Geo. W.
I1L
Clerk
Dec. as, '54
1307 S. Alvarado
1854
Hazard, Henry T.
in.
Attorney
Dec. 35, '54
1826 S. Hope
1834
Hellman, Herman W.
Germ.
Banker
May 14. '59
9S4 Hill
1859.
Heinzeman, C. F.
Germ.
Druggist
June 6, '68
630 S. Grand avenue
186*
Hunter, Jane E.
N. Y.
Jan.. '66
337 S. Broadway
.
Huber, C. E.
Ky.
Agent
July. '59
836 S. Broadway
»»$»'
Hamilton, A. N.
Mich.
Miner
Jan. 24. '7*
6ti Temple
i»7»
Holbrook, J. F.
Ind.
Manufacturer
May 20, '73
155 Vine
i«7J
Heimann, Gustave
Aust.
Banker
July, '71
737 California
1871
Hutton, Aurelius W.
Ala.
Attorney
Au«. S, '69
Los Angeles
1869
Hiller. Mrs. Abbie
N. Y.
Housewife
Oct. '69
147 W. Twenty-third
1869
Herwig, Henry J.
Prus.
Fanner
Dec. as, '53
Florence
1853
Hubbell, Stephen C.
N. Y.
Attorney
'69
1515 Pleasant avenue
1869
3H
PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
BIRTH-
AR. IN
NAME.
PLACE-
OCCUPATION.
ARBIV. IN CO.
US.
STATE,
Hays. Wade
Mo.
Miner
Sept., '53
Colgrove
1853
Hass, Serepta S.
N. Y.
Housewife
April 17, '56
1519 W. Eighth
1856
Hamilton, Ezra M.
111.
Miner
Sept. 20, '75
310 Avenue 23
I8S3
Hewitt, Roscoe E.
Ohio
Miner
Feb. 27, '73
337 S. Olive
1853
Houghton, Sherman O.
N. Y.
Lawyer
July i, '86
Bullard Block
1847
Houghton, Eliza P.
111.
Housewife
July i, '86
Los Angeles
1846
Haskell, John C.
Me.
Farmer
Oct., '70
Fernando
Herwig, Emma E.
Australia
Housewife
Aug., '56
Florence
1856
Hunter, Asa
111.
Farmer
'52
Los Angeles
1849
Hunter, Jesse
Iowa
Farmer
'S*
Rivera
1849
Hauch, Isaac
Germ.
Tailor
April 14, '65
524 Temple
1865
Hall, Thomas W.
N. Y.
Farmer
Jan., '73
La Canada
1873
Hopkins, Susan Clisby
Mass.
Farmer
Jan., '73
Long Beach
l876
Hewitt, Leslie R.
Wash.
Attorney
March 21, '76
1212 S. Olive
1876
Hartnick, August
Germ.
Cooper
Aug., 'ya
748 Gladys avenue
1872
Herrick, John
Mass.
Hackman
Feb. 27, '59
621 Main
1859
Jacoby, Nathan
Prus.
Merchant
July, '6 1
739 Hope
1861
Jacoby, Morris
Prus.
Merchant
'65
Los Angeles
1865
James, Alfred
Ohio
Miner
April, '68
101 N. Bunker Hill ave
1853
Jenkins, Charles M.
Ohio
Miner
Mar. 19, '51
1158 Santee
1851
Johnson, Charles R.
Mass.
Accountant
'Si
Los Angeles
1847
Judson, A. H.
N. Y.
Attorney
May, '70
Pasadena avenue
1870
Jordon, Joseph
Aust.
Retired
June, '65
Los Angeles
1855
Johansen, Mrs. Cecilia
Germ.
Housewife
'74
Los Angeles
1874
Jenkins, Wm. W.
Ohio
Miner
Mar. 10, '51
Newhall
1851
Johnson, Micajah D.
Ohio
Miner
Mar. 31, '76
236 N. Griffin avenue
1876
Jones, John J.
Germ.
Farmer
'75
Hollywood
1875
Johnson, Edward P.
Ind.
Pres. L. A. Furn.
Co. June, '76
947 S. Hope
1876
Keyes, Charles G.
Vt.
County Clerk
Nov. 25, '68
209 N. Workman
1859
Kremer, M.
France
Ins. agent
March, '52
952 Lake street
1850
Kremer, Mrs. Matilda
N. Y.
SeOt '^4.
952 Lake street
18**
Kuhrts, Jacob
Germ.
Merchant
v-J^-lffc., 3*r
May 10, '57
107 W. First
* w J<5
I848
Kurtz, Joseph
Germ.
Physician
Feb. 2, '68
361 Buena Vista
1867
Kysor, E. F.
N. Y.
Retired
April, '69
323 Bonnie Brae
1865
Kutz, Samuel
Pa.
Dept. Co. Clerk
Oct. 29, "74
217 S. Soto
1874
Kuhrts, Susan
Germ.
Housewife
May, '63
107 W. First
1862
King, Laura E.
Flor.
Housewife
Nov. 27, '49
412 N. Breed
1849
Klockenbrink, Wm.
Germ.
Bookkeeper
Oct., '70
Hewitt
1870
Knighten, Will A.
Ind.
Minister
Oct., '69
150 W. Thirty-first
1849
Kiefer, Peter P.
Germ.
Retired
Jan. 15, '82
240 N. Hope
i860
Kearney, John
Can.
Zanjero
Sept. 18, "71
728 E. Eighth
IS?!
Kipp, Nicholas
Germ.
Hackman
'75
749 Banning
1862
Lynch, Joseph D.
Pa.
Editor and Pub.
Dec., '74
311 New High
1872
Lamb, Chas. C.
111.
Real Estate agent
'74
Pasadena.
1874
Lambourn, Fred
Eng.
Grocer
Dec., '59
840 Judson
t859
Lankershim, J. B
Mo.
Capitalist
'7*
950 S. Olive
1854
Lazard, Solomon
France
Retired
'Si
607 Seventh
l85I
Loeb, Leon
France
Merchant
Feb., '66
1521 Westtake avenue
1866
L«ck, Henry Vander
Cal.
Merchant
Dec. 14, '59
2309 Flower
1859
Lembecke, Charles M.
Germ.
Pickle works
Mar. 20, '57
577 Los Angeles
1851
Levy, Michael
France
Merchant
Oct., '68
622 Kip
l85I
Lyon, Lewis H.
Maine
Bookkeeper
Oct., '68
Newhall
1868
Lechler, George W.
Pa.
Apiarist
Nov., '58
Newhall
1858
MEMBERSHIP ROLL
315
BIRTH-
AB. IN
NAME.
PLACE
OCCUPATION.
AttlV. IK CO.
MS.
STATE.
Lenz, Edmund
Germ.
Insurance
June 17. '74
2907 S. Hope
Ling, Robert A.
Can.
Attorney
Sept.. '73
noi Downey avenue
1873
Lockhart, Thomas J.
Ind.
Real Estate
May i, '73
1999 Lovelace avenue
1872
Lockhart. Levi J.
Ind.
Coal merchant
May i. '73
1814 S. Grand avenue
1873
Lockwood, James W.
N. Y.
Plasterer
April i, '75
Water street
I8j6
Lechler, Abbie J.
111.
Housewife
Dec.. 'S3
Rich street
I8S3
Loosmore, James
Eng.
Farmer
Jan. 16, '75
1 1 2 1 Lafayette
Loyhcd, Mollic A.
in.
Housewife
•86
Winfield
1853
Lanning. Samuel W.
N. J.
Stair builder
Sept.. '86
750 S. Olive
1859
Lewis. Wm. Robert
Ala.
Contractor
Sept., '71
Los Angeles
1871
Macy, Oscar
Ind.
Farmer
'so
Alhambra
1850
Mappa, Adam G.
N. Y.
Search. Rec.
Nov.. .64
Los Angeles
1864
Mcrcadante, N.
Italy
Grocer
April 1 6, '69
439 San Pedro
1861
Mesmer, Joseph
Ohio
Merchant
Sept.. '59
1706 Manitou avenue
«8s9
Messer, K.
Germ.
Retired
Feb.. '54
236 Jackson
1851
Meyer, Samuel
Germ.
Merchant
April, '53
1337 S. Hope
1*53
Melzer, Louis
Bohemia
Stationer
April i, '70
900 Figueroa
1868
Mitchell. Newell H.
Ohio
Hotel keeper
Sept. »6. '68
Pasadena
1863
Moore, Isaac N.
III.
Retired
Nov.. '69
Cal. Truck Co.
1869
Mullally. Joseph
Ohio
Retired
March 5, '54
417 College
1850
Me Lain. Ceo. P.
Va,
Merchant
Jan. 3, '68
446 N. Grand avenue
1867
McLean. Wm.
Scotland
Contractor
*«9
561 S. Hope
1869
McMullin. \V. C.
Canada
Farmer
Jan.. '70
Station D
1867
Moulton. Klijah
Canada
Retired
May u. '45
Los Angeles
1845
McComas, Jos. E.
Va.
Retired
Oct.. '71
Pomona
1853
Mott, Thomas D.
N. Y.
Retired
*S*
645 S. Main
1849
Miller. William
N. Y.
Carpenter
NOV. 23, '60
Santa Monica
Marxson. Dora
Germ.
Housewife
Nov. 14. '73
2i> E. Seventeenth
187.1
Meade, John
Ire.
Retired
Sept. 6, '69
203 W. Eighteenth
1869
Moran, Samuel
D. C.
Painter
May 15. '73
Colegrove
1873
Mairr. Simon
Germ.
Butcher
'76
137 S. Grand
1876
Melvill. J. H..
M.. -
Sec. Fid. Ab. Co.
Aug.. '75
465 N. Beaudry avenue
1874
Montague, Newell S.
DL
Farmer
Oct. ». '56
122 E. Twenty-eghth
1856
McFarland. Silas R.
Pa.
I.ivery
Jan. 28. '75
1334 W. Twelfth
1853
Merz. Henry
Germ.
Retired
Aug., "74
1 06 Jewett
Moody, Alexander C.
N. S.
Carpenter
Jan. 9, '66
125 Avenue 25
Moore. Mary E.
N. Y.
'66
1467 E. Twentieth
Morgan, Octavius
Eng.
Architect
May. '74
1819 Westlake avenue
it74
Moore, Alfred
Eng.
Express
July ji, '74
708 S. Workman
1874
Morton, A. J.
Ire.
Machinist
'74
31$ New High
Morris. Moritz
Germ.
Retired
•M
336 S. Broadway
i«S3
Morton. John Jay
Mich.
Farmer
Aug.. '67
Compton
1867
Me Arthur, John
Can.
Miner
•69
1909 S. Figueroa
McArthur, Catherine
N. Y.
Housewife
'7*
1009 S. Figueroa
— —
McCarvin, Robert
Can.
Real Estate agent
April s. '75
220 Yi S. Spring
I87S
McDonald, James
Tenn.
Engineer
Oct. '57
1509 E. Twentieth
1853
McCreery, Mary B.
N. Y.
Housewife
Nov. 3. '69
911 S. Hope
—
McCrerry. Rufus K.
Md.
Retired
Nov. 3. "69
oti S. Hope
Mcllmoil, John
N. Y.
Capitalist
May 20. '80
Hines
1862
McCoye, Frank
N. Y.
Broker
May. '76
128 S. Broadway
1876
Norton, Isaac
Poland
Sec. Loan Assn.
Nov., '69
1364 Figueroa
i86«
Newmark, Harri*
Germ.
Merchant
Oct. 22. '53
1051 Grand avenue
>8sj
Newmark. M. J.
N. Y.
Merchant
Sept.. '54
1047 Grand avenue
1853
Newell. J. G.
Can.
Laborer
July 14. .5*
1417 W. Ninth
1850
3i6
PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
BIRTH-
AR. IN
NAME.
PLACE.
OCCUPATION.
ARRIV. IN CO.
RES.
STATE.
Nichols, Thomas E.
Cal.
County Auditor
'58
221 W. Thirty-first
i8s&
Newell, Mrs. J. G.
Ind.
Housewife
June, '53
2417 W. Ninth
1852
Nadeau, Geo. A.
Can.
Farmer
'68
Florence
Newmark, Mrs. H.
N. Y.
Sept. 1 6, '54
1051 S. Grand
1854
Nadeau Martha F.
N. H.
Housewife
Sept., '68
1501 Central avenue
1868
Nittenger, Edward
Conn.
Real Estate broker
Dec., '74
Fifth street
1874
Orme, Henry S.
Go.
Physician
July 4, '68
Douglas Block
1868
Osborne, John
Eng.
Retired
Nov. 14, '68
322 W. Thirtieth
1854
Osborn, Wm. M.
N. Y.
Livery
March, '58
973 W. Twelfth
1855
O'Melveny, Henry W.
111.
Attorney
Nov., '68
Baker Block
1869
Owen, Edward H.
Ala.
Clerk U. S. Court
Oct., '70
Garvanza
1870
Orr, Benjamin F.
Pa.
Undertaker
May, '75
1812 Bush
1858
Parker, Robert
Pa.
Printer
April 10, '75
230 S. Beaudry
1875
Parker, Joel B.
N. Y.
Farmer
April 20, '70
512 E. Twelfth
1870
Peschke, William
Germ.
Retired
April 13, '65
538 Macy
1852
Pike, Geo. H.
Mass.
Retired
'67
Los Angeles
1858
Peck, Geo. H.
Vt.
Farmer
Dec., '68
El Monte
1849
Ponet, Victor
Belgium
Capitalist
Oct., '69
Sherman
1867
Pridham, Wm.
N. Y.
Supt. W. F. Co.
Aug. 28, '68
Baker Block
1854
Prager, Samuel
Prussia
Notary
Feb., '^
Los Angeles
>854
Proctor, A. A.
N. Y.
Blacksmith
Dec. 22, '72
1501 Maple avenue
1872
Pilkington, W. M.
Eng.
Gardener
'73
218 N. Cummings
»873
Profit, Green L.
Mo.
Retired
Nov., '87
1512 W. Twelfth
1853
Perry, Harriet S.
Ohio
Housewife
May 15, '75
1723 Iowa
i875
Peschke, Emil
Germ.
Merchant
Nov. 30, '75
940 Summit avenue
Pye, Thomas
Eng.
Farmer
'77
Pasadena
1849
Preston, John E.
Eng.
Merchant
July 7, '76
819 Golding avenue
1876
Quinn, Richard
Ire.
Farmer
Jan. ,'6 1
El Monte
1861
Quinn, Michael F.
N. Y.
Farmer
March 3, '59
El Monte
1859
Raab, David M.
Germ.
Dairyman
May 12, '69
South Pasadena
1866
Raynes, Frank
Eng.
Lumberman
Aug., '71
Pomona
1871
Reichard, Daniel
Ohio
Livery
July, '68
459 Beaudry
1868
Riley, James M.
Mo.
Manufacturer
Dec., '66
1 1 05 S. Olive
i8S7
Richardson, E. W.
Ohio
Dairyman
Sept., '71
Tropico
1871
Richardson, W. C. B.
N. H.
Surveyor
'68
Tropico
1868
Roeder, Louis
Germ.
Retired
Nov. 28,'s6
319 Boyd
1856
Robinson, W. W.
N. S.
Clerk
Sept., '68
117 S. Olive
1851
Roberts, Henry C
Pa.
Fruit Grower
'54
Azusa
1850
Rinaldi, Carl A. R.
Germ.
Horticulturist
April, '54
Fernando
1854
Rendall, Stephen A.
Eng.
Real Estate
May i, '66
905 Alvarado
1861
Reavis, Walter S.
Mo.
Collector
June 8, '69
1407 Sunset Boulevard
1859
Rogers, Alex H.
Md.
Retired
Aug., '73
1152 Wall
1852
Ready, Russell W.
Mo.
Attorney
Dec. 18, '73
San Pedro street
1873
Ross, Erskine M.
Va.
U. S. Judge
June 19, '68
Los Angeles
1868
Russell, Wm. H.
N. Y.
Fruit Grower
April 9, '66
Whittier
1866
Ruxton, Albert St G.
Eng.
Surveyor
Sept., '73
128 N. Main
1873
Reavis, Wm. E.
Mo.
Liveryman
April 22, '73
1405 Scott
«873
Rolston, Wm
111.
Farmer
'?*
El Monte
Read, Jennie Sanderson
N. Y.
Vocal soloist
June 20, '76
1153 Lerdo
1868
Roques, A. C.
France
Clerk
Aug. 1 6, '70
City Hall
MEMBERSHIP ROLL
317
BUTll-
A*. IN
NAME.
PLACE.
OCCUPATION.
ABJUV. IK co.
«ES.
STATE.
Schmidt, Gottfried
Denmark
Farmer
Aug., "64
Los Angeles
1864
Schmidt, August
Germ.
Retired
May, '69
710 S. Olive
1869
Shaffer, John
Holland
Retired
March, '71
aoo N. Boyle avenue
1849
Shorb, A. S.
Ohio
Physician
June, '71
65* Adams
1871
Stoll, Simon
Ky.
Merchant
Aug., '69
8oa S. Broadway
1869
Stewart, J. M.
N. H.
Retired
May 14. '70
512 W. Thirtieth
1850
Stephens, Daniel G.
N. J.
Orchardist
April, '6 1
Sixth and Olive
1859
Stephens, Mr*. E. T.
Maine
'69
Sixth and Olive
1866
Smith, Isaac S.
N. Y.
Sec. Oil Co.
NOT., 'yi
210 N. Olive
1856
Smith, W. J. A.
Eng.
Draughtsman
April i a, '74
Bao Linden
1874
Sentous, Jean
France
Retired
April, '56
545 S. Grand avenue
1856
Shearer, Mrs. Tillie
III
Housewife
July. '75
1134 El Molino
1852
Strong, Robert
N. Y.
Broker
March, '72
Pasadena
1872
Snyder, Z. T.
Ind.
Farmer
April, '72
Tropico
1872
Slaughter, John L.
u.
Retired
Jan. 10, '6 1
614 N. Bunker Hill
1856
Scon. Mrs. Amanda
W. Ohio
Housewife
Dec. ai, '59
589 Mission Road
1859
Stoll, H. W.
Germ.
Manuafcturer
Oct i, '67
844 S. Hill
1867
Sumner, C A.
Eng.
Broker
May 8, '73
1301 Orange
1873
Smith. Mrs. Sarah J.
III.
Housewife
Sept, '7*
Temple street
1860
Starr, Joseph L.
Texas
Dairyman
•71
Los Angeles
1863
Schmidt, Frederick
Germ.
Fanner
•73
Los Angeles
1873
Spence, Mrs. Annie
Ire.
Housewife
'70
445 S. Olive
1869
Smith, Simon B.
Conn.
Insurance
May 17. '76
i ya N. Avenue at
1876
Sharp, Robert L.
Eng.
Funeral Director
May, '76
Los Angeles
1869
Shaffer. Cornelia R.
Holland
Housewife
April, '71
200 N. Boyle avenue
1853
Slaughter, Frank R.
N. Y.
Horticulturist
Nov., *74
Los Angeles
1874
Staub, George
N. Y.
Fanner
'73
Los Angeles
1873
Short, Cornelius R.
Del.
Farmer
Aug. 8. '69
1417 Mission Boulevard
1859
Staples, John F.
M'i.
Drover
March, '59
St Elmo Hotel
1849
Stewart, Melissa A.
N. Y.
Housewife
March, '71
Si a W. Thirtieth
1865
Steere, Robert
N. Y.
Retired
March. '75
260 S. Olive
1859
Tobennan, J. R.
Va.
Fanner
April. '63
615 S. Figueroa
1859
Teed, Mathew
Eng.
Carpenter
Jan.. '63
513 California
1854
Thorn, Cameron E.
Va.
Attorney
April, '54
118 E. Third
1849
Taft, Mrs. Mary H.
Mich.
Housewife
Dec. J5, '54
Hollywood
1854
Thomas, John M.
Ind.
Fanner
Dec. 7, '68
Monrovia
1859
Truman, Ben C.
R. I.
Author
Feb. i, 'ja
i oo i Twenty-third
1866
Turner, Wm. F.
Ohio
Grocer
May. '58
608 N. Griffin
1858
Thayer, John S.
N. Y.
Merchant
Oct as. '74
147 W. Twenty-fifth
"874
Tubbs, Geo. W.
Vt
Retired
Oct, '71
1643 Central
1869
Udell, Joseph C.
Vt
Attorney
•60
St. George Hotel
1850
Vifnolo, Ambrozio
Italy
Merchant
Sept. 26. '73
535 S. Main
1850
Venable, Joseph W.
Ky.
Farmer
July. '69
Downey
1849
Vogt, Henry
Germ.
Builder
Jan. 4. '69
Castelar
•«S4
Vawter, E. J.
Ind.
Florist
April i a, '75
Ocean Park
1875
Vawter, W. S.
Ind.
Farmer
July to, '75
Santa Monica
1875
Workman, Wm. H.
Mo.
City Treasurer
'54
375 Boyle avenue
1*54
Workman, K. H.
Mo.
Real Estate
'54
120 Boyle avenue
t«54
Wise, Kenneth D.
Ind.
Physician
Sept. 'ft
1351 S. Grand avenue
1871
Weyse. Rudolph G.
Cal.
Bookkeeper
Jan. »9. '60
Thompson street
1860
Weyse. Mrs. A. W.
B. Cal
Housewife
July 16, '62
822 Westlake avenue
1862
Wright, Charles M.
Vt
Farmer
July, 's»
Spadra
1859
PIONEERS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
BIRTH-
AR. IN
NAME.
PLACE.
OCCUPATION.
ARRIV. IN CO.
RES.
STATE.
White, Charles H.
Mass.
S. P. Co.
Nov.,
'72
1137 Ingraham
1852
Weid, Ivar A.
Denmark
Landlord
'72
741 S. Main
1864
Wilson, C. N.
Ohio
Lawyer
Jan. 9,
'7i
Fernando
1870
Ward, James F.
N. Y.
Farmer
Jan.,
'73
1 121 S. Grand
Workman, Alfred
Eng.
Broker
Nov. 28,
'68
212 Boyle avenue
Woodhead, Chas. B.
Ohio
Dairyman
Feb. 21,
'74
852 Buena Vista
'873
Wartenberg, Louis
Germ.
Com. Trav.
Nov.,
'58
1057 S. Grand avenue
1858
Whisler, Isaac
Ark.
Miner
Aug.,
*S2
535 San Pedro street
18 2
Worm, August W.
Germ.
Retired
'85
910 W. Eleventh
1859
Wright, Edward T.
111.
Surveyor
March,
'75
226 S. Spring
"8 -5
Wohlfarth, August
Germ.
Saddler
Sept.,
'74
1604 Pleasant avenue
187
White, J. P.
Ky.
Well-borer
May,
'70
989 E. Fifty-fifth
:8"^
Wyatt, Mary Thompson
Tex.
Housewife
Sept.,
'52
Downey
1852
Wyatt, J. Blackburn
Va.
Farmer
'49
Downey
1849
Wolf, George W.
Ind.
Farmer
Oct. s,
'73
4332 Vermont avenue
«873
Wolfskill, John
Mo.
Rancher
Dec. 12,
'54
1419 S. Grand avenue
1854
Yarnell, Jesse
Ohio
Printer
April,
•67
1808 W. First
1862
Young, John D.
Mo.
Farmer
Oct.,
'53
2607 Figueroa
1853
Yarnell, Mrs. S. C.
Wis.
Housewife
April,
'67
1808 W. First
1856
Young, Robert A.
Ire.
Miner
'66
Los Angeles
1866
F Historical Society of Southern
867 California, Los Angeles
H67 The Quarterly
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