Butte-Statewide County CA Archives History - Books .....Butte County 1891
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Book Title: Memorial And Biographical History Of Northern California

BUTTE COUNTY.

OUTLINE OF HISTORY.

  By Jesse Wood, ex-Superintendent of Schools and editor of the Chico
Chronicle-Record.

  Note.—Items have been interspersed by the editor of this volume from other
sources.

   In company with Peter Lassen and James Benheim, General Bidwell made a trip
up the Sacramento Valley as far as Red Bluff, in pursuit of a party bound for
Oregon, to recover some stolen animals. After his return from this trip Mr.
Bidwell made a map from memory of the country passed over, showing its extent
and the streams flowing into the-Sacramento River.

  From this map various locations of land were made and grants obtained from the
Mexican Government. Peter Lassen selected his grant on Deer Creek, in what is
now Tehama County.

  In 1844 Edward A. Farwell and Thomas Fallon settled on the Farwell grant, on
which a part of the city of Chico now stands. Samuel Neal and David Dutton
settled on Butte Creek,, seven miles south of the present site of Chico. William
Dickey settled on the north side of Chico Creek, on the "Rancho del Arroyo
Chico," the present property of the above named John Bidwell. A number of other
locations were soon made in all parts of the great Sacramento Valley. These were
simply great cattle ranges, whose boundaries were denned by creeks, rivers and
mountains, and their extent estimated in leagues.

  The war with Mexico came on, and many, if not all of the above named settlers
were engaged in it. Then came the discovery of gold, which, occurred in January,
1848, at Sutter's sawmill, away up in the Sierras, east of Sutter's Fort or
Sacramento. It did not take long for the news to spread. In March, John Bidwell
went down from his Chico ranch to Sacramento, learned of the discovery and took
some specimens to San Francisco. They were pronounced genuine by Isaac Humphrey,
an experienced miner from Georgia, who at once went up to the place of
discovery, constructed rockers and went to-work, as did numerous others.

  Returning from San Francisco, Mr. Bidwell, whose title of Major, General and
Honorable have subsequently been won, visited the mill and satisfied himself
that all the gold of California was not at that one place. On his way home he
camped on Feather River, where the town of Hamilton afterward stood, three miles
east of the present town of Biggs, and there washed a few pans of sand obtained
from the margin of the stream. A few "colors" or scales of gold was the result,
harbinger of the vast fortunes of gold subsequently found in that stream.

  General Bidwell went home and immediately fitted out an expedition, composed
chiefly of Indians, and returned to the Feather River, twenty-five miles
distant. After prospecting at various places, finding gold everywhere, he
located at the place known as Bidwell's Bar, an extensive sand bar named after
him. The bend of the stream was found to be fabulously rich in gold. The
quantities of the precious metal which he and his Indians took away tradition
estimates only by the donkey load.

  The news of Bidwell's rich find soon spread to the various ranches in the
valley, and there was a general rush to the Feather River. Miners also came from
the lower counties. Thus, in 1848, mining camps were located at Bidwell's Bar,
Long's Bar, Thompson's Flat, Potter's Bar, Adamstown and other places. In 1849
the great tide of the Argonauts came on, and Feather River, with its numerous
branches, became the scene of great mining activity. Towns of from 1,000 to
3,000 population sprung up at Bidwell's Bar, Thompson's Flat, Long's Bar and
Oroville, while lesser towns were sprinkled along the various branches and
creeks. These mining towns have all since disappeared, only Oroville remaining,
as the present county-seat of Butte County and the center of a fruit-growing
district.

STATE AND COUNTY ORGANIZATION.

   Such was the state of things—large cattle-ranges in the valley and mining
camps along the streams in the mountains—when the organization of the State took
place. September 1, 1849, the Constitutional Convention assembled in Monterey.
This entire section of the State was allotted to have eight delegates, of which
John Bidwell was one, though he did not attend. When the Constitution
was-adopted and members of the Legislature chosen, General Bidwell was elected
to the Senate. During the session of the first Legislature, February 18, 1850,
the State was divided into counties. Butte County was laid off by boundary lines
extending from the mouth of Honcut Creek west to the Sacramento River, up the
river to Red Bluff, east to the State line, along the State line north to the
line of Yuba County, and westward to the point of beginning, embracing the
present counties of Butte and Plumas, and a portion of Tehama and Lassen.

  March 2, 1850, an act was passed providing that county elections should be
held on the first Monday in April, 1850. No formal notice of this came to the
miners along Feather River, but some of them at Long's Bar heard of it, held an
election, and elected a full set of county officers out of their own camp. Then
it was discovered that the first Monday happened to be April 1, and a witty
miner ("Old Dick Stuart") proclaimed it a "fool." It was accordingly so accepted
by the candidates, and no report of the election was forwarded to headquarters.

  Other counties made similar failures, and therefore another election was
ordered to be held on the 10th of June, 1850, at which officers for Butte County
were elected as follows: Sheriff, J. Q. Wilbur; County Attorney, J. M. Burt;
Recorder, T. J. Jenkins; Treasurer, J. M. Kerr; Assessor, J. C. Flint; County
Clerk, W. T. Sexton; District Attorney, J. W. McCorch; Coronor, E. Wallingford;
County Judge, Moses Bean. Total vote cast, 900.

  At this election Bidwell's Bar was chosen as the county-seat, and so, remained
until the following 28th of September, when another election was held and
Hamilton chosen as the county-seat.

  [Judge Bean filed a report which gave Hamilton the county-seat "by a large
majority." At that time the town had two taverns, one store and one blacksmith
shop. October 4, 1850, the Court of Sessions held its first term there, in an
old shake-house belonging to "Mother Nichols," a widow who lived in one corner
of it.]

  In 1853 Hamilton declined as a town, and Bidwell Bar was populous. By good or
bad management a bill was obtained from the Legislature removing the county-seat
of Butte again to Bidwell's Bar, and the final decree so removing it was made
August 3, 1853, by the Court of Sessions.

  In the winter of 1855-'56 an act was again passed in the Legislature providing
for an election in Butte County to permanently fix the county seat. The election
was held April 19, 1856, and Ophir, since called Oroville, was chosen. Since
then, in 1875, an attempt has been made to remove the county-seat to Chico, but
without success.

  In the first organization of the counties, the territory was so little known
that many queer boundary lines were decreed. From the Sacramento River to the
eastern line of the State was a frequent and most absurd boundary, thus cutting
up the valley into little patches and tacking each patch to the tail of a long
strip of mountainous country, and, curiously enough, making the tail wag the dog
by locating the county-seat in the valley portion and generally at the extreme
end. A little stream that scarcely floated a feather during the summer, as the
Honcut, between the Yuba and Butte, would separate the contiguous and easily
accessible sections of valley land, while within the limits of the county to
which each belonged were to be found high mountains whose deep snows almost
severed the one part from the other for months at a time.

  Butte County was among those that were awkwardly carved out by the Legislature
in the first act organizing the counties. It was at first a parallelogram about
the size of the States of Vermont and Delaware combined, and Colusa County was
attached to it for judicial purposes.

  By what was claimed as a mistake the three Buttes were placed within the
limits of Butte County in 1852, and they were restored to Sutter County in 1854.
In the latter year also Plumas County was carved out of Butte, taking fully
two-thirds of their territory; and Plumas then included the southern portion of
Lassen. The northern portion of Lassen and all of Modoc and Siskiyou were
originally a portion of Shasta County. Butte is a French word, signifying hill
or mound. The Marysville Buttes were named by a party of Hudson Bay trappers
under Michael La Frambeau, who visited the country in 1829. The county was named
after the peaks, which it was then supposed to contain, but which are really in
Sutter County.

  The first court-house was erected at a cost of $14,000, and in June, 1876, an
addition was made at an expense of nearly $14,000 more.

  The first county hospital was the Western Hotel at Lynchburg, bought for the
purpose in 1857, and Dr. T. J. Jenkins was the first resident physician. In
1877-'78 the old institution, was abandoned and a fine new two-story brick
structure was erected at Oroville for the "County Infirmary," as the legal term
became. The cost of this was $16,000.

  Bean, the first county judge, opened the first court at Chico, the disputed
county-seat, July 17, 1850, but only to adjourn to Bidwell's Bar. Bean had an
overweaning consciousness of power and dignity. At a session of his court a
question came up similar to one which had been decided by the superior court
adversely to his decision, on appeal. An attorney reminding him of the fact, he
ran his fingers through his hair and exclaimed, "Well, I know it; but if the
superior courts of this State see proper want to make fools of themselves that
is no reason that this court should. Mr. Clerk, enter up judgment."

  In, 1860 Butte County issued $200,000 in bonds in aid of the California
Northern Railroad.

  Judge W. S. Sherwood died at Alleghany, Sierra County, June 26, 1870. He was a
resident of Butte County until 1854, when he removed to, San Francisco, where he
practiced law for a time, and in 1868 removed to Sierra County.

  Judge Warren T. Sexton, an early-day county clerk and district attorney, was a
native of New Jersey, educated at Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the State University.
He died April 11, 1878.

  The Butte Record, the first newspaper in the county, was started at Bidwell's
Bar, November 12, 1853, by C. W. Stiles & Co. In 1856 it was moved to Oroville,
and in 1874 to Chico, and this year it started a daily edition.

  In 1866 C. G. Lincoln started the North Californian in Oroville. He added a
daily the next year, naming it the Butte Democrat; but after the ensuing
election it was absorbed by the Record. In July, 1859, the Butte Democrat
appeared in Oroville, with A. M. Wyman as editor and proprietor. In 1860 the
material was purchased by Mr. Wentworth, who changed the name to Oroville Weekly
Union. Mr. Langmore bought the material in 1863, moved it to Susanville and
published the Sage Brush.

  Edward Augustus Farwell, a Boston printer and sailor, came in 1842 from
Honolulu. In 1843 he was naturalized, and the next year obtained the grant of
Arroyo Chico rancho, Butte County. In 1845 he went East overland, seeking relief
for his weak eyes, returning in 1848, and next for a time was in charge of
Sutter's launch, running on the Sacramento. He died in San Francisco, in
January, 1849.

  The Mexican land grants for Butte County, which have been confirmed by the
United States, have been: Esquon, 22,194 acres, to Samuel Neal in, 1860; Farwell
rancho, 22,194 acres, to James Williams and others in 1863; Fernandez, 17,806
acres, to D. Z. Fernandez and others in 1867; Llano Seco, 17,767 acres, to C. J.
Brenham and others in 1860. In Butte and Sutter counties: Boga, 22,185 acres, to
T. O. Larkin in 1865. In Bntte and Tehama counties: Bosquejo, 22,206 acres, to
Peter Lassen in 1862.

  The Rancho del Arroyo Chico, of 22,000 acres, is the finest in the county. The
first house erected here was built in 1849 by John Bidwell, the present owner of
the place. It was burned in 1852, at which time the old adobe was built which
stood for many years. For a long time the land was used exclusively for
stock-raising on a large scale. In time the land became too valuable for
pasture, and then several thousand acres were sown to wheat and barley. An
average of forty bushels to the acre was not uncommon. Ordinary farm crops being
diminished, Bidwell began farming it on the Eastern plan, with satisfactory
results, having the most productive ranch in the State. In 1852 he set out the
first fruit-trees. The present elegant mansion was built in 1865—'68, at a cost
of $60,000. There are more than fifty-five buildings on the ranch, including
many barns and residences. The observatory and water-tower is 100 feet high. A
large fruit-drying establishment is on the estate. Most of the ground is now in
orchard and vineyard, and great attention is paid to the cultivation of flowers.

  August 14, 1859, Chauncey Wright, working at Dogtown for the hydraulic
company, consisting of Phineas Willard, Ira Wetherbee and Wyatt M. Smith, piped
out a chunk of gold weighing fifty-four pounds and .worth $10,690. The same day
$3,000 in smaller lumps were taken out by the same company. Placer mining of
gold has been the most useful perhaps of all in this part of California, much
more important than quartz mining. In May, 1864, a miner found three Cherokee
diamonds, named after Cherokee Flat, where they were found. Soon two more were
found. Value of the five diamonds, $375. About sixty have been found since, many
of them worth $50 to $75.

  Manoah Pence, on New Year's eve, 1851, hospitably entertained six or seven
Indians at his house, but with suspicions. Next morning he found the Indians
slipping away with all his cattle. Pursuing them, he succeeded in wounding the
chief, but not so as to disable him. Some time afterward the chief was caught
and hanged without process of law, in order to save Pence's life, which had been
threatened by that villainous savage.

  In 1853 the Tiger Indians stole cattle from Clark's ranch. The chief, "Express
Bill," was caught by a company of seven men, under Pence acting as Captain, and
hung. The company went on until they found a camp of about thirty warriors, and
heroically attacked them. The Indians had nothing but bows and arrows, and could
do but little damage. Fighting, behind trees, was continued during the forenoon,
and in the afternoon reinforcements arrived, and the whole band of Indians
captured. Twenty-five of the redskins were killed in this fight. During the fall
of the same year the Indians killed ten Chinamen on the west branch of Feather
River. Pence was again summoned and chosen as Captain of a company of thirty
whites and thirty Chinese. The Indians were found and from forty to sixty sent
to the "happy hunting-grounds." At various times since then many depredations
and even murders have been committed by the red savages.

  In 1863 an organization of white men was effected, under N. H. Wells, of
Yankee Hill, who proceeded to remove the Indians from Butte County to a
reservation; but in 1865 some of them returned and committed further
depredations. The principal raids by the Indians were headed by a brave named
Bigfoot.

PRESENT CONDITION OF THE COUNTY.

  Since 1850 to this date (May, 1890) a gradual change has been wrought in all
parts of the county. Tehama, Lassen and Plumas counties have been organized,
leaving Butte with an area of 1,764 square miles, about equally divided between
valley and mountain lands. Mining was the all-absorbing interest in 1850, but
now it is of third or fourth importance. The great stock ranges have been
transformed into grain fields and orchards. Along the foothills where the mines
were in 1850-'60, are small farms, orchards and vineyards. Higher up in the
mountains are large lumber mills. Mining yet continues in favored localities, of
placer, quartz and river-channel mining, ranging in importance from the lone
miner with his pick, shovel and rocker, to the immense company whose operations
run up to millions. Fruit-growing has within the last ten years become a leading
industry and is rapidly on the increase. On the Rancho Chico there are about
1,600 acres of orchard and vineyard of raisin grapes. Within a radius of five
miles around Chico there are perhaps 4,000 acres of orchard. Around Oroville and
along the Feather River, adjacent to Biggs and Gridley, extensive orchards are
being planted.

  Stock-raising has also made a great growth. From extensive cattle ranges and
sheep pastures the tendency is to the rearing of more select varieties. The
finest stocks of horses and cattle have been introduced. Alfalfa fields have
been planted, and stock-raising been elevated from a mere matter of herding to
the most thorough and scientific breeding.

MATERIAL RESOURCES.

  Butte County has been most abundantly blessed by nature with material
resources of every kind. The western half of the county is a vast agricultural
plain of rich alluvial soil, skirted by the Sacramento River, into which flow
the Feather River and numerous large creeks and smaller streams. The eastern
half is a gradual mountain slope, rising from the valley in gentle slopes and
spreading out a vast region of valuable forests, small farms and mines. Water
power is abundant, and facilities for irrigation are sufficient to accommodate
ten times the area. While nearly all the industries common to the Pacific coast
are already established here, there is unlimited opportunity for their increase
and further development. Estimating the present population at 25,000, there is
every reason to expect that the near future will bring a doubling and
quadrupling of that number, and yet have ample opportunity for growth and
increase. When people settle down to use nature's resources for the legitimate
purpose of "making a living," there will be universal prosperity; but so long as
all are striving to "get rich" there will be overreaching and oppression and
want. Nearly all the large "rancho" grants spoken of on a previous page remain
to this day unbroken, covering more than one-half of the richest agricultural
region of the county. Several of them have been somewhat subdivided by being
leased out to tenants; .but generally this is done in 500-acre and 1,000-acre
tracts. As population increases and the demand for small farms is made, there
will be subdivision. It is now desired, but cannot come until population demands
it. Land is plenty and resources of all kinds are plentiful; but it takes a
share of capital, with a degree of industry and intelligence, to use the
resources. Government lands are no more to be had. Cheap lands are not to be
found easily. Good lands are abundant.

  [The State Mineralogist says that Butte is the only county in the State
showing an almost equal importance in an agricultural and a mining point of
view, as nearly every branch of agriculture is here represented; so is every
kind of gold-mining successfully pursued,—quartz, hydraulic, drift, and river
bed operations being all successfully prosecuted, the latter on a large scale.

  The Big Bend Tunnel, constructed for draining the bed of the Feather River, is
not only the largest enterprise of the kind in California, but the largest
probably ever undertaken for a similar purpose. The operations of the Spring
Valley Hydraulic Company, at Cherokee, in this county, are also among the
largest now carried on in the State. In this locality, too, was picked up a
majority of the more valuable diamonds found in California. In Butte, the
pliocene river system, the principal sites of the drift mines, meets with its
greatest development. This county has in the past been a large producer of the
royal metal, and, to use a scriptural expression, "the gold of that land is
good," much of that obtained from the placer mines having ranged from 945 to 980
in fineness.

  Several of the useful minerals also occur in this county; some of them under
conditions that promise to render them of much economic value. Coal, claimed to
be of the Cannel variety, was discovered some years ago near Feather River.
Having been but little opened, neither the extent of this deposit nor its value
as a fuel has been ascertained. Near the same river has been found a bed of
marble of close texture and variegated hue, but it also remains unopened, with
not much known in regard to its value. Clays, suitable for making bricks, and
perhaps those of a finer kind, are plentiful in Butte.]

PRICES OF LANDS.

  These vary according to the quality of the land, distance from railroad and
character of improvements from $10 to $250 per acre. In the immediate vicinity
of Chico, where the land is sold in five-acre lots, almost the same as town
lots, and all of it very rich, the latter figure is obtained. No good land,
however, can be had for less than $25 an acre anywhere within twelve miles of
the railroad. But when it is considered what these lands will produce, and how
many advantages of climate and social conditions are attached, the lands in
Butte County are cheap at the above prices.

PRODUCTIONS.

  All the grains and all the fruits common to the Temperate zone grow in Butte
County in most luxuriant abundance. On Rancho Chico there is scarcely a fruit,
shrub or flower known amongst men which has not been propagated successfully.
The citrus fruits also are produced in great abundance, bearing heavy crops
every year. This industry, however, is yet in its infancy. The apricot, that
princess of early fruits, is one of our leading varieties, growing luxuriantly
and bearing abundantly. Cherries are grown in quantities and shipped to
Portland, Oregon, and eastward as far as New York. We have fresh fruits
continuously from the first of May, or sometimes earlier, until the last of
January, all of home production. It is a most remarkable fact that the apple,
which belongs in the north and the orange which belongs in the tropics, here
grow side by side.

  Butte County deserves special credit for having originated the citrus fair,
which has since been imitated in other parts of the State and even in Chicago.
The first citrus fair ever held in modern times was December 20, 1887, in an
orange grove near Oroville, which proved so great a success that intense
enthusiasm was aroused. Butte County proved herself a formidable rival of
Southern California in the production of fine oranges and lemons. One exhibit
was a beautiful palace so completely and symmetrically covered with oranges and
lemons as to appear to be built of them.

FACILITIES.

  Persons in the East must not think of Butte County, California, as a "new
country." The California & Oregon Railroad runs diagonally through her borders.
Her towns are already located and well established with all that makes towns and
embryo cities. They have telegraph and telephone lines everywhere. All lines of
business are fully represented. Should a wall be built around it, shutting it
out from the world, it would go on and prosper, scarcely realizing that anything
had happened. Forty years ago this was a new country; twenty years ago it was a
new country; but in the sense in which the term is commonly used, this is a "new
country" no longer. Those who are there find themselves in the midst of lively
competition. Yet there is abundant room for the development of new resources.

CITIES AND TOWNS.

  Chico, the metropolis of the county, is a young city of about 6,000
population, situated on the line of the California & Oregon Railroad, ninety-six
miles north of Sacramento, in the midst of a very rich agricultural and
fruit-growing region. The Sacramento River is six miles distant, and Chico
Creek, a bright stream, flows through. Here we have business houses of all
kinds, two well-established banks, six hotels, gas works, water works, electric
light works, a flouring mill, a foundry, extensive lumber yards, planing mills,
a brewery, a cannery, two daily and weekly newspapers, two large public school
buildings running fourteen departments, two private academies, a State Normal
School and seven churches, representing as many different denominations. No
interior city in the State is more flourishing, or has a brighter future.

  The history of Chico begins as far back as 1843, when Edward A. Farwell and
William Dickey obtained a grant here. The town site was laid out in 1860, by J:
S. Henning, County Surveyor, for John Bidwell. Richard Breeves built the first
house and E. B. Pond the first brick store. The first municipal election was
held February 5, 1872.

 The Bank of Chico.—-This bank is one of the most important financial
institutions of the Sacramento Valley, being ably managed and possessed of ample
capital for all its purposes. It was established in 1872, being incorporated
under the banking laws of California. Mr. John Conly, since deceased, was its
first president, and Mr. Alexander H. Crew the secretary and cashier, the latter
gentleman being in fact the head and active man. Upon the death of Mr. Conly, in
1883, Mr. W. D. Heath became president. After holding the office for less than a
year he died, when Mr. Orrin Gowell was chosen president, and still holds that
office.

  Mr. H. W. Heath, brother of the late W. D. Heath, is the vice-president. The
capital authorized in $500,000, of which $300,000 is paid up. They have a fine
substantial bank building, erected at a cost of $25,000, an ornament to the
town. We append an outline of the busy and useful life of the cashier, Mr.
Alexander H. Crew, which will be found of interest.

  Mr. Crew is a native of London, England, where he was born June 28,1835. He
received a good English education in the celebrated Queen Elizabeth Grammar
School in Bermondsey, near London Bridge, of which his father, William Crew, was
a trustee. In February, 1849, the family set out for Australia, but while on the
voyage they heard of the discovery of gold in California, and came here instead,
after being a tedious seven months on the water. In April, 1850, young Crew
landed from ship, board at a point where now is the corner of Washington and
Montgomery streets, San Francisco. Mr. William Crew entered mercantile business
there, which he continued until 1853, when he returned to London, dying in 1858.
His son, Alexander, found employment first in the office of the Daily Balance
newspaper, of which the celebrated Eugene Casserley was editor and proprietor.
Later on he entered the office of the Evening Journal, the late Governor
Washington Bartlett's paper, the beginning of the friendship recognized in later
days. In 1853 he went to Marysville, and in Adams & Co.'s express and banking
office was engaged in blowing gold dust for some time. In 1855 he went to La
Porte and opened the banking house of Everetts, Wilson & Co., he being the
company. A short time afterward he went into business for himself, in
partnership with George Eve, the firm name being Eve & Crew. Later on Mr. Eve
retired, whereupon the well-known John Conly and Mr. Grew established the
banking house of John Conly & Co., Mr. Crew being the company. Later Mr. Orrin
Gowell (now president of the Bank of Chico) came in and the Bank of La Porte,
which is still in existence, was incorporated. In 1872 was founded the Bank of
Chico, since which time Mr. Crew has resided in this place, and has been
intimately identified with its best interests, his object being to advance in
all proper ways the prosperity of the town and county. In matters of education
he has been an active worker, aiding more than a little the establishing of
normal schools in Chico, of which he is a trustee and a member of the executive
committee. He is also the president of the Chico Board of Trade, a body which
has effected much in the way of building up and beautifying the town and of
publishing to the world its great advantages as a home and business center.

  He is a trustee of the Chico Presbyterian church, an active worker for the
cause of Christianity and morality, an honored member of the Knights Templar,
having passed through all stages of the Masonic order, and also a member of the
I. O. O. F. He is one of Chico's foremost and enterprising citizens, identified
in all matters that tend to the public wealth, and has won a high place in the
esteem of his fellow-citizens. Mr. Crew has made his way almost unaided from the
day he landed, a lad of sixteen years, in San Francisco, until now when he is at
the head of one of the most important financial institutions in the northern
part of the State. Mr. W. D. Heath, a bright and talented young man, came to
assist in the bank in 1873; he was born in California in 1851. His keen business
ability and geniality soon caused his friends to prophesy for him marked success
among the business men of the day. Many important positions were intrusted to
him; but, in the midst of unusual success for one so young, death claimed him
for his own. His death was greatly deplored not only by the people of the town
but also of many other parts of the State.

  The accountant of the bank of Chico is Mr. Thomas N. Crew, a nephew of Mr. A.
H. Crew. He is a native of London, born in 1856, and educated in the public
schools of London. He was for some time engaged in the largest dry-goods house
in Cheltenham, in the west of England, but in 1875 he came to California. He is
a gentleman whose ability as an accountant is proven by the best of tests, that
namely of experience. He worthily assists his uncle in the bank.

OROVILLE,

the county-seat, and next to Chico the largest town in the county, is situated
on the Feather River, three miles below the junction of all its branches, just
where it ceases to be a rushing mountain torrent and calms into a deep steady
stream. Oroville well deserves the name which for many years has been applied to
it, the "Gem of the Foot-hills."

  Some time in October, 1849, the Long Brothers opened a store at the bar two
miles above the present site of Oroville, and from the place took its name. Long
Bar was for some time the most important mining camp in that region, as the
diggings were unusually rich. In November, J. M. Burt arrived with several loads
of provisions and opened another store. This town was originally called Ophir
City, until 1855, when the name had to be changed on account of there being
another Ophir in Placer County. In 1858 there were two or three disastrous
fires, one specially which nearly consumed the entire place.

  The town is now well, built, its hotels and business houses being of brick.
Its residences are commodious and handsome. It has a bank, and water and gas
works. Three churches, the large public school building and the county buildings
are prominent features. Not only a large retail trade, but an extensive
wholesale business is done, and a more energetic and intelligent company of
merchants than those of Oroville are nowhere to be found.

  Its situation is on the dividing line between the agricultural valley and the
mining and fruit-growing foot-hills. It is the terminal point of the California
Northern Railroad, running to it from Marysville, a distance of twenty-eight
miles. Stage lines, wagon roads, telegraph and telephone lines connect it with
all parts of Butte, Plumas and Sierra counties.

  Oroville, as its name implies, was in the early days a great mining center,
and until very recently numerous great mining enterprises were in active
progress in its immediate vicinity. A rich stratum of gold-bearing gravel is
known to underlie the entire site of the town, which has not been worked.

  The country surrounding Oroville is greatly varied. To the east, foot-hills
rapidly rising to the mountain slopes; to the south, foot-hills and gravel
plains sloping into rich agricultural valley lands; to the west, gravel plains
reaching many miles; and to the north, foot-hills and agricultural lands, rich
and varied. All these lands are now used for agriculture and grazing, but their
value for viticulture and horticulture has of late been very highly appreciated.

  As a location for the establishment of manufactures and mills of all kinds,
Oroville possesses great natural advantages. If it were desired to run machinery
by water power, there is sufficient to run mills and factories to any extent.
There is a large flour mill already in operation, and but recently capitalists
in Oakland have determined to erect a sash and door factory.

  The subdivision of lands and the planting of orchards of citrus and deciduous
fruits on all the lands around Oroville has been very active the last year.
Since it has been fully established that the country is fully adapted for olives
and oranges, great excitement has prevailed. About 1,200 acres of real estate
has changed hands within one year and a corresponding rise in value has been the
result. We hear of orange groves and olive orchards being planted in every
direction, and there is no telling to what extent the country may be developed
in that direction.

  Two large water ditches originally constructed for mining purposes terminate
at Oroville, and are now used to irrigate the orange groves, orchards and
vineyards. These supply ten times as much water as is now demanded, yet several
other large ditches are being constructed. Water is abundant and will always be
cheap. A person may take land anywhere around Oroville for orchard or garden
purposes with the assurance that water can be had, and at low rates.

  Besides the county buildings, which are large and commodious, Oroville is also
the seat of the county infirmary, a large establishment, situated in the midst
of an orange grove, and a great credit to our civilization.

OTHER TOWNS.

  Biggs and Gridley are towns of 1,000 inhabitants each, situated on the
railroad, in the midst of rich agricultural lands, with schools, churches, a
newspaper each, and an intelligent, thriving people.

  Numerous smaller towns and villages dot the county over, whose general
features are sufficiently described in the foregoing pages. Along the railroad
are Moore's Station, Nelson, Durham, Nord and Cana. In the interior are
Cherokee, Pentz, Magalia and Grainland. Magalia has also been known by the name
of Dogtown.

SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES.

  The people of Butte County believe in schools and churches. There is not a
neighborhood in the county which has not its school. The public schools,
supported by State and County moneys, run eight months in the year, and have
excellent teachers, .who are paid from $50 to $125 per month salary. The
buildings are all first-class and furnished with the best patent desks.

  The churches represent nearly all denominations and are elegant and
commodious. Ministers are paid from $1,000 to $1,800 salary.

  The State Normal School at Chico is one of the finest institutions in the
land. The building and furniture cost $90,000. The school is the pride of
Northern California.

STATE OF SOCIETY.

  The state of society in Butte County may be determined by the foregoing
statements concerning schools and churches. As everywhere in California, they
have a mixed population. People are there from all the continents; but they are
none of them savages. The population is principally American, all of it
civilized and nearly all highly enlightened. Probably no community in any
Eastern State is more law-abiding, peaceful, industrious or civil, though some
are decidedly more religious. A new comer soon finds his own class and
associates with it, whether it be low or high. If he frequents saloons they are
numerous. If he attends church he will find a full congregation with him. The
one class respect the rights of the others. There is an Indian village, or
rancheria, on the Rancho Chico, under the care of General and Mrs. Bidwell,
which has its school, church and Sunday-school.

POLITICS.

  The two great parties hold equal sway in Butte County, and have done so for
years. To illustrate this the county gave thirty-three majority for Hayes in
1876, twenty-nine majority for Hancock in 1880, upward of 100 majority for
Elaine in 1884, and upwards of 100 majority for Cleveland in 1888. The county
offices are always held by: members of the two parties, about half-and-half. At
present the superior judge, sheriff, recorder, assessor, collector and school
superintendent are Democrats; the county clerk and treasurer are Republicans.
The parties being thus evenly balanced, it is the rule that the best man for the
place wins the race. The county is greatly favored by having honest and
efficient public officials. The peace of the community is never disturbed by
political strife.

  The Representatives of Butte County in the State Assembly have been:

  Marion Biggs, 1869-'70; Max Brooks, 1877-'80; A. C. Buffum, 1863-'64; Philip
P. Caine, 1859; F. E. Cannon, 1859; J. B. Clark, 1873-'74; R. M. Cochran,
1867-'68; J. M. Cunnard, 1862; W. N. DeHaven, 1871-'72; John Dick, 1856; W. W.
Durham, 1880; S. Ewer, 1854; J. R. Fleming, 1883; C. B. Fowler, 1852; Leon D.
Freer, 1881; L. C. Granger, 1883-'87; J. C. Gray, 1873-'74; P. H. Harris, 1861;
Henry Allen, 1885-'87; James Kitchens, 1858; Richard Irwin, 1853-'54; J. T.
Jenkins, l875-'76; John Lambert, 1860; James L. Law, 1852; Charles G. Lincoln,
1855; J. S. Long, 1857; James C. Martin, 1869-'70; J. B. McGee, 1854; J. G.
Moore, 1863; H. J. Morrison, 1857; Nelson D. Morse, 1852; Gilbert H. Neally,
1877-'78; W. M. Ord, 1867-'68; George W. Printy, 1862; E. S. Ruggles, 1875-'76;
R. F. Saunders, 1851; F. M. Smith, 1863; George E. Smith, 1865-'66; George S.
Sumner, 1863-64; C. C. Thomas, 1853; William P. Tilden, 1861,1865-'66; J. N.
Turner, 1871-'72; J. M. Ward, 1885; Thomas Wells, 1853, 1855; Joseph C.
Wertsbaugher, 1881.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from

Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California.

Illustrated, Containing a History of this Important Section of the Pacific Coast
from the Earliest Period of its Occupancy to the Present Time, together with
Glimpses of its Prospective Future; Full-Page Steel Portraits of its most
Eminent Men, and Biographical Mention of many of its Pioneers and also of
Prominent Citizens of To-day.

"A people that takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will
never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote
descendents." – Macauley.

CHICAGO
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
1891.

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