Contra Costa County CA Archives History - Books .....Early History And Settlement- Part 4 1882
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Book Title: History Of Contra Costa County, California

   We will now attempt to give the names of those gentlemen who settled in
Contra Costa, for with the discovery of gold the whole world turned towards the
mines to seek their fortunes, and as health gave way from exposure there, or
fatigue caused the wish for a less wearying life to arise, they hied themselves
unto the valleys whose fertility was now fully established, there to make homes
and till farms, finer than which no country in the world can claim. Of course
many names are omitted, not from any fault on our part, but rather from the fact
that treacherous memory remembers them not; the dates are not so much those of
their actual settlement, but as they were found by the parties with whom we have
conversed. 

   1847-—Elam Brown, Nathaniel Jones, Robinson N. Jones, Napoleon B. Smith.

   1848.—Thomas A. Brown, Warren Brown, S. J. Tennent.

   1849.—Joseph H. Smith, W. W. Smith, M. K Barber, Alexander Boss, David Boss,
William C. Prince, William  Slusher, Capt. R. E. Borden, John Beemer, Henry F. Toy.

   1850.—From the list of voters in Martinez at the first election, besides a
few of those mentioned above, we find the names of F. M. Warmcastle, Juan D.
Silvas, Albert G. Robb, Thomas Allen, W. H. Popple, J. F. Williams, Martine
Berryessa, Absolom Peak, Leonard Eddy, John A. Piercall, Daniel Hunsaker, Thomas
S. Dana, J. C. Booram, Angel Soto, Josiah Gorham, John Carnes, William
Hendricks, James F. Quin, Jose Galindo, Charles J. McIlvaine, Ira B. Stebbins,
P. S. Brownell, Elijah Darling, R. S. Thomas, William T. Hendricks, H. A.
Overbeck, A. T. C. Debast, Napoleon Degalon, Nicholas Hunsaker, James C.
Hunsaker, Jos. Swanson, A. V. H. Ellis, William H. Smith, Vicente Martinez, Jose
de J. Martinez, Theodore Kohler, Lyman A. Hastings, Joseph Rothenhausler, Howard
Havens, Wm. K. Leavitt, B. R. Holliday, H. M. Holliday, William Allen, Francisco
Berryessa. From other sources we hear of Leo Norris, William H. Norris, William
Lynch, Howard Nichols, David Glass, John F. S. Smith, Erastus Ford, Oliver F.
James, Josiah Sturges, B. Hoffman, Capt. Harding, Dr. George Lawrence, Samuel
Russel, H. H. Hartley, the Bodfish family, J. C. McMaster, Capt. George W.
Kimball, S. P. Kimball, Mr. Marshal and son, Mr. Dennison, Deacon John Pulsifer,
Dr. Joseph Pulsifer, O. A. Olmstead, Dr. H. M. Smith.

   1851.—John Davis, Daniel Seeley, John P. Chrisman, Samuel Moore, William E.
Whitney, Samuel Hodges, John Johnston, John R. Boyd, Abner Pearson, the Gillett
Brothers, Mr. Sweetzer, Francisco Otoya, Alexander Moore, Henry Moore, J. D.
Allen, Mr. Evans, John C. O'Brien, Mr. Swain.

   1852.—Joel Harlan, Antonio P. Silva, Robert R. Fuller, J. W. Gann, Mark
Elliott, Randolph Wight, R. O. Baldwin, August Hemme, William Meese, Wilson
Coats, William M. Wells, Benjamin Shreve, Orris Fales, D. P. Smith, Benjamin
Hodges, Felix Coats, Farmer Sanford and parents, William Hook, Philip Betz,
Manuel Machado, Josiah Shafer, James Bell, William Comstock, Zelotus Reed,
Carroll W. Ish, John Smith, William Chick, Henry Russell, William Mendenhall,
Wade Hayes, Francis Matteson, Dr. Watts, Sylvester Degan, Isaac Russell, George
W. Hammett, James H. Gorham, Edward Taynton, Mr. Kirker, Asa Bowen, Frank
Lightson, Frank Such, the Strode family.

   1853.—Milo J. Hough, James T. Walker, John L. Labaree, Cornelius Garely,
George W. Yoakum, Dr. Samuel Adams, Solomon P. Davis, Charles V. Smith, Richard
Mills, David F. McClellan, Isaac Smith, Charles N. Wight, Charles J. Pramberg,
Jeremiah Morgan, John Baker, William W. Cox, William Z. Stone, Samuel S. Bacon,
Richard R. Hall, George S. Potwin, Hiram P. Hardy, John W. Jones, Smith Ashley,
Frederick Babbe, Robert G. Dean, Alonzo Plumley, James Stewart, Henry M.
Hollenbeck, Edwin W. Hiller, B. F. Merle, John B. Smith, David P. Mahan,
Lawrence Geary, Socrates Huff, L. C. Wittenmyer, B. Alcorn, Jones, Lane and
Beemer, David Hodge, Isaac Hunsaker, Wesley Bradley, Ira True, Dr. Turner,
Richard Ferguson, Andrew Inman, Daniel Inman, Isaac N. B. Mitchell, John
Mitchell, James M. Thomson, John McDonald, H. Lock, James Henderson, Frank
Somers, Ezra Clark, George Clark, Charles Clark, G. W. Brown, Mr. Wescott, Dr.
E. F. Hough, Mr. Penniman, Mr. Seymour, Myron and John Gibson, Robert McPherson,
the Smith family, Mr. Marble, Ben. Hockabout, Hank, Henry and John Davis, Mr.
Vandermark, Mr. Barnheisel, Ed. Legrand, Ambrose and James Toomey, Majors Allen
and Loring, Quartermaster's Department, U. S. A., on what was called the
Government Ranch, Mr. Bishop, Mr. Van Ryder, Mr. Hilshin, J. H. Johnson, Charles
L. Bird, G. L. Walrath.

   1854-—Gardner M. Bryant, Manuel G. Aguiar, Jesse H. Williams, Bernardo
Fernandez, Joshua Bollinger, M. Cohen, James M. Stone, Martin Woolbert, Calisto
Navas, Theodore Downing, John H. Haseltine, Solomon Newberger, H. C. F. Dohrman,
Francisco Galindo, Col. W. W. Gift, William Southard, Ellis Flynn, Jackson Gann,
Wilson Gann, John Courter, Jack Allen, Edward Curry, George and David Meacham,
John Merrill, William Brown (a preacher), Samuel Hilstrom, Newton, Asa, Simeon
and Philo Woodruff, John Serf, M. Wertheimer, Mr. Knowles, John and Robert
Kennedy, Capt. James Gill, Timothy Ingles, Mr. Isham, Major and William Dowling,
Ira Graver, Walter Mills, Captain Black.

   1855.—Thomas Flournoy, William B. Rogers, William B. May, George W.
Hauxhurst, Munson Gregory, Barnes Holloway, Austin Dorman, James Curry, Edwin
Morgan, Simon Blum, W. A. J. Gift, Franklin Hostetter, David Carrick, Philip
Sage, John Johnston, James McNeil, Joshua Marsh, John H. Weber, T. C. Finney,
James Clark, Henry and Peleg Briggs, David Goodale, Henry Benson, John Wilcox,
Mr Peck, John Galvin.

   1856.—Peter Lynch, Martin Homburg, Nicholas Kirkwood, M. W. Hall, D. N.
Sherburne, Charles E. and Nathaniel S. Howard, Albert Sherburne, Thomas Z.
Witten, Justin M. Goodale, Homer S. Shuey, Alpheus Richardson, William Morgan,
Michael Lawless, Mathew Mulcahy, James McHarry, Azro Rumrill, Dr. Carothers,
Charles Rhine, the Stranahan Brothers.

   1857.—Andrew Abrott, John Nicholl, William R. Forman, Walter Renwick, James
Gay, Daniel S. Carpenter, William H. Dukes, Joseph Wiley, John Larkey, Thomas
Johnson, Thomas Litchfield, Commodore B. Nottingham, George P. Loucks, James
Foster, Daniel R. McPherson, R. B. Hathaway, George Betz, Augustine Barrao,
Michael Kearny, Phillip Hermann, William H. Martin, Weatherby & Poole, John
Proviso.

   1858.—John C. Peterson, Charles Close, Frederick L. Hamburg, Albert W. Stone,
Syranus Standish, Thomas W. Sturges, George Cople, Ferdinand Hoffman, John
Sproll, M. B. Ivory, James F. Harding, Frank Webb, David S. Woodruff, Joseph
Boyd, Michael Kirsch, William Ellis, John G. Chase, Christian Hoffman, Andrew
Portman.

   1859.—Daniel Clancy, William Newman, G. H. Scammon, John A. Shuey, Thomas B.
Jenkins, George M. Frazer, Seeley J. Bennett, Peter Thomson, S. W. Johnson (who
passed through the county in 1846), Henry M. Hale, J. A. Littlefield, Henry
Blume, William Krieger, Rev. David McClure, Ransome Woods, Solomon Perkins, John
Gibson, Christian Leeming.

   1860.—James M. Stow, Henry Polley, David G. Bartnett, William Rice, William
Gilchrist, John S. Moore, Ludwig Anderson, Frederick Wolf, Thos. P. Tormey.

  The first town to be laid out within what are now the confines of Contra Costa
county was that of Martinez, the second was New York of the Pacific. Histories
of both these places will be found within these pages, therefore it will not be
necessary to enter into the details of their foundation here; suffice it to say
that they were both surveyed in the year 1849. Let us rather proceed at once to
the year 1858, when the Contra Costa Gazette was established, and from its pages
cull what matters of interest there may be which do not especially belong to the
history of any of the townships into which the county is now divided.

   On September 18, 1858, the first number of that periodical was issued with
the promise that it should be published every Saturday morning in the village of
Martinez, the proprietors being W. B. Soule & Co. In the portions devoted to
advertisements we find that E. H. Bryan, L. H. Hastings, A. Hersey, J. W.
Sanborn, S. Blum & Brother, and E. Lasar were all established in business on
Main street; the Alhambra Hotel and Restaurant flourished at Park place, and was
then, as it is now, conducted by Josiah Sturges. A livery stable was run by
James C. Hunsaker and John M. Rountree, while Charles A. Ruggles, M. D.,
signified his desire to see patients at the office of Captain Sylvanus Swain.
The Morgan House was at that time in possession of George F. Worth, while Dr.
John Tennent had his drug store between Main street Bridge and the Alhambra
Hotel. It will thus be inferred that Martinez in the first ten years of its
existence had become a place of some pretensions, while, from the report of the
Superintendent of Schools, published in the month of December, we learn there
were twelve hundred and ninety-one children in the county, but only three
hundred and fifty-eight of them attended the public schools.

   The knowledge of the existence of the baser metals was possessed by the
pioneers of California, while the wonderful wealth which has transformed the
wilderness into a garden and decaying pueblos into commercial cities, was
sleeping in our hills and ravines. But with this knowledge there existed a great
anxiety lest the mineral upon which the value of all the others depended should
not be found in our soil.

   Without coal it was perceived by the early founders of the State, the rich
and extensive mines of iron, lead and copper which they knew abounded in our
mountains, would be next to valueless. Accordingly, while the earliest
adventurers after precious metals were following up the search, which began on
the discovery of gold at Coloma, the more practical and really far-seeing
explorers were looking for ledges on our Coast Range. Though they were rewarded
by the most hopeful signs, and in more than one instance, by actual
demonstration, that their search had been successful, it was reserved for a
period when the discovery of coal could be turned practically to advantage, to
make known the value and abundance of its supply; and it will be remembered in
after years as among the earliest fruits of the geological survey of the State,
that it developed the existence of coal-beds in our mountain-ranges, the
importance of which can scarcely be estimated.

   In the Contra Costa Gazette of December 11, 1858, we find that Messrs.
Rountree, Walker and Dickson discovered coal on  November 24, 1858,
about half way between the base of Mount Diablo and Antioch, and distant from
the River San Joaquin about five miles. This was situated nearly two miles from
the vein discovered by Mr. Israel. It would thus appear that this discovery of
Mr. W. C. Israel was made during that year, and the manner of his finding the
vein was while cleaning out a spring on his land at Horse Haven, six miles south
of Antioch. In connection with his father and brother George, he opened the vein
for a short distance, but not having capital to work it, they disposed of their
interest to James T. Watkins and ______ Noyes, who, either from want of
knowledge or capital, failed in opening the vein so as to make the working of it
successful. They abandoned the mine in 1861, since when it has not been opened.
On December 22, 1859, about three miles and a half from Horse Haven, Frank
Somers and James T. Cruikshank discovered the vein of coal which has since
become so well known as the Black Diamond vein. Somers, Cruikshank and their
associates, H. S. Hauxhurst and Samuel Adams, located the lands which were
afterwards known as the Manhattan and Eureka Coal Mines. George Hauxhurst,
George H. P. and William Henderson, in company with Frank Somers, opened the
cropping of the same vein, on what was afterwards known as the Black Diamond and
Cumberland mines; but, believing that the expense of making roads was beyond
their means, they made no attempt to secure title. The Black Diamond Mine was
shortly after located by Noah Norton, and the Cumberland then went into the
hands of Frank Such and others. Those lands, with others adjoining, have since
become noted as the Black Diamond Coal Mines. Frank Such disposed of his
interest in the Cumberland Mine to C. T. Cutler, Asher Tyler, Josiah Sturges and
L. C. Wittenmyer, all of Martinez. It was from their efforts and means that the
Cumberland Mine was successfully opened and worked, and roads constructed from
it to the town of Clayton and New York Landing. They also assisted Noah Norton
to open the Black Diamond Mines. The Pittsburg Mine, east of the Eureka, and
towards Horse Haven, was located by George H. P. Henderson, who entered into a
contract with Ezra Clark to open the mine, in the opening of which the vein of
coal known as the Clark vein was discovered. The Central Coal Mine, east of the
Pittsburg, was located by John E. Wright. The year following, William B. Stewart
became connected with it. The Union Mine, north of the Manhattan, was located by
George Hauxhurst. The Independence Mine, north of the Eureka, was purchased from
Major Richard Charnock by Greenhood and Newbauer. The Empire Company opened in
1876. They have a magnificent vein of coal. It is six miles south of Antioch,
and within three-fourths of a mile of the first opening made on the coal veins
by the Israels. Openings on the veins from that mine to the Brentwood Coal
Company's works, on the Marsh Grant, show an abundance of fuel, enough to last
for many generations.

   The coal mining interest is one of the most important in Contra Costa county,
and has already built up the towns of Somersville, Nortonville, Black Diamond
(New York), and Pittsburg Landing. It has added greatly to the importance of
Antioch, as well made the little towns of Judsonville and Stewartsville.

   The Gazette thus describes a visit to these mines: "The tunnels of all these
mines are high enough for an ordinary-sized man to stand erect, and about five
feet in width. They generally run horizontally into the earth, and cars loaded
can be pushed by hand to the mouth of the tunnel, where they are collected into
a train and taken by rail to shipping points, which are now as follows: Antioch,
New York Landing and Pittsburg Landing.

   "The whole scene of mining operations, as it shows itself below the ground to
a stranger entering these tunnels for the first time, is singular and
interesting, not to say startling. The solid veins of black coal which are seen
alternately above on one side and below on the other, sparkling under the
guide's dim light, the distant lamps fastened to the caps of the miners at their
work, and the ever-changing glimpses had of these moving glow-worms, while the
pick-ax is steadily sending forth its clicking noise, and the heavy rail-car
with coal comes rumbling towards, or goes retreating from one, or stands giving
up its dull, coffin-like sound, as the broken fragments of coal fall slowly into
it from the dark descending passages on the sides of the tunnel, all combine to
give a weird and wonderful aspect to the entire view of the unaccustomed
visitor. If he goes still farther into the innermost recesses of the mines, by
climbing out of the tunnel up through one of the many chutes or side openings
down which the coal is made to slide into the carrying cars, and enters into the
'breasts,' as they are called, of mother earth, whence is first drawn the black
fire-food for consumption; the view of the narrow entrance and of the narrow
space between the floor and the ceiling of the wide series of rooms into which
he enters, and the jagged rocks overhead, everywhere propped up by firm, short
posts, just as fast as the coal is hammered out, and the further view of the
many miners here, who, although unable to stand or sit upright, yet, in a
reclining posture, and by the light of their feeble head-lamps, still cease not
to handle the never-tiring pick-ax; all these views will strike the beholder
with a still further sense of wonder and amazement, not to say of awe and
mystery. And if, while crawling along on hands and knees through these low but
long and wide warehouses, where nature has for ages stored her treasure-beds of
coal, he happens to think what a shaking of things a little earthquake might
cause down there, his feelings of awe and sense of mystery may easily be
deepened into an unquiet restlessness not far removed from a semi-sentiment of
fear."

   While on the matter of mining it must be mentioned, although the subject is a
thing of the past, that in the year 1863 a great excitement was created by the
discovery of copper in Contra Costa county, and one really worthy of the "good
times" in mining districts. All at once, nobody could tell why, a grand copper
excitement arose, which permeated the whole community. It was reported by
various parties that the mountains were full of the ores of copper, of untold,
because of unknown, richness. Simultaneously with this grand discovery every
unemployed man turned prospector. Blankets and bacon, beans and hard bread, rose
to a premium, and the hills were lighted up at night with hundreds of camp
fires. Hammers and picks were in great demand, and there is ocular evidence even
to this day that not a boulder nor projecting rock escaped the notice of the
prospectors. It was a question of probabilities, which were bound soon to harden
into certainties. Indeed, it was only a short time before copper prospects were
possessed of a defined value. Claims were opened, companies formed, and stock
issued on the most liberal scale. Everything was couleur de rose. As usual upon
similar occasions, there was a great strife about claims. Some were "jumped" on
the ground of some informality, twice in twenty-four hours. Heavy prices were
paid for "choice" ground, and it is quite safe to say that old Mount Diablo's
sides and summit have never since borne such an enormous valuation. It seemed as
though the whole community had been bitten by the mining tarantula.

   The excitement lasted for several weeks, and grew hotter and hotter. Scores
of men, laden with specimens, thronged the hotels and saloons, and nothing was
talked of but "big strikes" and "astounding developments."

   Clayton was the center of these mining operations, and town lots sold at high
prices. The ruling prices, for "Pioneer" was $4, "Eureka" $3.50, etc. Hundreds
of companies were formed, and each had hosts of advocates. Shafts were sunk, and
some ore obtained, and, according to one assay,"there was $48.33 in gold and
$243 in silver to the ton!!" The first shipment of ore to San Francisco was in
September, 1863, of one ton from the Pioneer claim. Smelting works were erected
at Antioch, and the following prices offered: For copper of 8% in quality, $15
per ton; for 12% quality, $25 per ton.

   Men of experience and practical skill partook of the illusion. All at once
the bubble burst. The millionaires of the day left their rude camps in the
mountains, and, with ragged breeches, and boots out at the toes, subsided at
once into despondency and less exciting employment. The saloon and hotel
keepers, saying nothing of the editors, proceeded to disencumber their premises
of accumulated tons of specimens of all kinds of "shiny rocks" to be found
within an area of thirty miles square—making a considerable contribution to the
paving material of the streets.

   In the month of March, 1860, L. H. Hastings discovered silver on the east
side of Mount Diablo. As soon as the story got wind, symptoms of excitement were
developed and a party of twenty or thirty individuals quickly started for the
new diggings, where claims were located covering some twenty-seven thousand feet
of ground. Besides, regulations were adopted for the government of the mines,
and an assessment levied for the purpose of further prospecting in the hope that
a lead would be found which might be profitably worked. It has yet to be found.

   Several varieties of the pigments necessary for use in art, some of which
have always been imported from Europe, were in the year 1862 ascertained to
exist in the ledges of the deposits of native paint. The volcanic character of
the geological formation of the portion of California now under notice would
naturally lead to the anticipation that the same earth found in Sicily and
Italy, near Mount Etna and Mount Vesuvius, might probably be found in the
country at the foot of Mount Diablo. These anticipations were verified in part
by the discovery of such deposits by Doctor E. F. Hough of Martinez. He spent
much time in testing and examining the various deposits he had found in the
earth; at considerable expense he persevered in his investigations and was so
far partially rewarded. The paint deposits discovered were situated about two
miles from the town of Martinez on the bank of the El Hambre creek, at the foot
of a high hill, between the houses of Doctor J. Strentzel and M. R. Barber, and
on the land of the latter gentleman. They were found lying in ledges extending
into the earth under the hill, the out-croppings of which alone are visible on
the surface of the ground near the aforesaid creek. They varied from ten to
twenty feet in width, and of unknown length and depth. At least four of the
principal colors were found, viz: red, yellow, green and blue. In March, 1863,
the machinery for a grinding-mill was procured, but the industry was never fully
prosecuted.

   In the latter part of the year 1862, petroleum was discovered near Antioch,
and several claims taken up. Coal oil was also found in 1868 on the ranch of
Doctor Carothers, about two miles west of Pacheco. Oil wells were discovered
about three miles from San Pablo, and not less than twenty-five thousand dollars
were spent in experiments, fixtures, oil tanks, retorts, distilleries, etc., but
from all these discoveries oil in paying quantities could not be obtained.

   During the latter part of 1862, the hot salt springs near Byron were brought
to the notice of the public, though the discovery had been made many years
previously. A company was formed to make salt therefrom, but we do not learn
that any real work was ever done.

   As long ago as the year 1850 a very productive lime quarry was discovered
about one mile from Pacheco and six from the mouth of Mount Diablo creek. They
were the first found in the State, and were very profitable. They were long the
property of F. L. Such & Co., but are now unoperated.

   On January 1, 1859, a meeting of the citizens of Contra Costa county was
convened at Lafayette, when the Contra Costa Agricultural Society was formed,
and a committee appointed to draft a constitution, rules, etc., the gentlemen
serving being: C. T. Cutler, Martinez; J. W. Venable, Lafayette; W. J. Caldwell,
Ygnacio Valley; John O'Brien, Antioch; John Galvin, San Pablo; Jesse Bowles, San
Ramon; Samuel Shuey, Moraga Valley; Mr. Penniman, Pacheco Valley; Mr. Fassett,
Pacheco. The President of the meeting was Nathaniel Jones, and Charles Bonnard,
Secretary. The rules and constitution were adopted at a meeting held January
15th, at the Walnut Creek House, and the following officers of the society
elected: President, L. I. Fish, Martinez; Vice-Presidents, Daniel Small,
Lafayette; Corn. T. Cutler, Martinez; E. H. Cox, Alamo; George P. Loucks,
Pacheco; William J. Caldwell, Ygnacio; John O'Brien, Antioch; Samuel Shuey,
Moraga; J. D. Allen, Diablo; Samuel Tennent, Pinole; William O'Connell, San
Pablo. Recording Secretary, H. H. Fassett of Pacheco; Corresponding Secretary,
L. M. Brown of Lafayette; Treasurer, John M. Jones of Alamo. The first county
fair under the auspices of the society was inaugurated October 11, 1859, when an
excellent exhibition took place, and handsome premiums were awarded in every
department. On the 12th a lengthy and eloquent address was delivered by Hiram
Mills, Esq., in the Court-house. The society nourished apace, and on September
19, 1861, built the pavilion at Pacheco, its dimensions being sixty by forty feet.

   There died and was buried, January 26, 1859, County Treasurer R. E. Borden,
aged fifty-one years. He was one of the pioneers of the county, and had filled
his office acceptably to the citizens.

   In the year 1860 the tunneling of the range of hills between Oakland and
Moraga Valley, to afford communication between the two points without going over
the mountainous road, was mooted by residents of Alameda and Contra Costa
counties. To effect the purpose in view it was proposed to form a joint stock
company, to be called the San Antonio and Alamo Turnpike Company. For ten years
the subject would appear to have remained in abeyance, but in 1871 the
enterprise once more commenced to attract attention—but let us explain to our
readers the outline of the scheme: Starting from the city of Oakland, Alameda
County, Broadway is followed out to the foot-hills, thence turning to the right
and near the residence of the late J. Ross Browne, over slightly rising ground,
the tunnel road proper should commence, running through the summit. Five hundred
feet of excavation would bring the enterprise out at the other side, in Contra
Costa county, and thence the road would continue down San Pablo creek, emerging
from the canon not far from the village of Lafayette. We believe this matter is
still being urged. The main purpose of the road is to bring the trade of a large
and productive portion of Contra Costa to Oakland. Were the road in operation,
it is contended that that city would be the nearest point at which the farmers
of the county could reach tide-water, instead of going to Martinez, or climbing
the mountains between the Bay and the center of Contra Costa. The route was
first discovered and the enterprise projected by Captain Card, who, by dint of
much talking, persuaded some of his wealthy neighbors to look into the project,
which seemed impracticable. A franchise for a toll-road was granted to Messrs.
Card, J. B. Mason and Socrates Huff, but afterwards these parties surrendered
their right to Messrs. Potter, Weston, McLean, Durant and others. Though the
scheme is still being pressed we fear the line of the San Francisco and Nevada
Railroad, which is to tap the district desired by Oakland, will interfere
considerably with the views of the Tunnel Company.

   The year 1861 saw two more of Contra Costa's most prominent citizens pass the
Dark River. The Gazette of February 20th states that the funeral of the deceased
Captain Hiram Fogg was one of the most imposing ever witnessed in the county. It
continues its remarks on that gentleman as follows: "Respected and esteemed by
all who knew him in life, and missed and mourned in death, Captain Fogg has
passed to 'the undiscovered country, from whose bourne no traveler returns.' May
he rest there in peace! Few men have won a higher place in the estimation of
their fellows, few have left behind them a clearer record, and doubtless in that
great and solemn day, when the grave shall give up its dead and the Book of Life
be opened,, his name will be found inscribed in living characters on the blazing
scroll of immortality." He was born in Massachusetts in the year 1816; served
with credit during the Mexican war as Lieutenant and Captain, in the
Massachusetts regiment; removed to California in 1849, and in the following year
settled in Martinez, where he passed the remainder of his life. He was twice
elected to the office of County Treasurer, which, together with the office of
Postmaster, he held at the time of his death. On March 1, 1861, died A. R.
Meloney. This gentleman represented Contra Costa county in both branches of the
State Legislature, and in 1858 was elected to the high position of State
Controller.

   Most of the residents of the county will long remember the floods of 1862. On
Sunday, January 4th, it commenced raining and culminated on the 11th in a flood
exceeding in depth the traditionary one of 1852. The destructive inundation of
the above date was the most severe and wide-spread of any ever witnessed in the
State since its occupation by Americans, and brought untold distress into many
sections hitherto wholly exempt from such calamitous visitation. In describing
the havoc done the Gazette says: "Not only the valleys and farming regions, but
the hills and mountains and the mining districts have suffered immensely. The
flumes and aqueducts and structures of different kinds, indispensable to success
in mining, have been swept away in the sudden rush of waters. Often, too, the
dwelling places of the miners, no less than the bridges of the mountain streams
and the roads that cross the mountains, are sadly injured, even when not totally
destroyed. But the valley lands have been the scene of the greatest devastation.
The damage everywhere in the county has been great and distressing, while in the
vicinity of the coal mines snow fell to a depth of six inches, and enormous land
slides took place in their neighborhood." Ten years later—in 1871—the San Ramon,
Pacheco, Alamo, and other valleys were much damaged by another devastating
flood; happily the third decade brought none. We have now a long list of deaths
of public men to recount; a sad duty, but one which we should not flinch from in
a work that purports to be a County History.

  On Wednesday, June 25, 1863, James B. Abbott, an old resident and Surveyor of
the county in the years 1860 and 1861, was on his way from the Redwoods in a
wagon, with a companion, en route to Pacheco. Before arriving at that village,
Mr. Abbott was seen to fall backwards suddenly, and, upon the team being stopped
and his condition examined, he was found to be lifeless. Mr. Abbott is described
as a man of quiet deportment, unpretending in his manner, and much esteemed by
those who were on terms of intimacy with him. He was a native of Orange county,
Vermont. On January 16, 1864, there died the Rev. Wm. L. Shepard, father of
County Judge Mark Shepard, who came to California in 1850, but it was not till
ten years later that he arrived in Contra Costa county. His health had been
feeble, and he died, aged sixty-five years. On Saturday, September 17, 1864,
there died John G. Tilton, a gentleman much respected in the county. Of his
demise, and its immediate cause, the Gazette remarks: "It seems that a large
party of ladies and gentlemen, among whom were the deceased and his family, were
on a pleasure excursion in Pine Canon, on the 15th instant. In traversing a
rugged and broken portion of their route they encountered a deep ravine, over
which they wished to pass their wagon. For this purpose a rope was attached to
the vehicle, and the united strength of several persons was applied to ease it
down the bank. As the wagon struck the bottom, the jar discharged a loaded rifle
which it contained, and the ball, after passing through the seat and  some
articles of clothing, struck Mr. Tilton, who stood on the bank some fifteen feet
distant, and with others was holding on to the rope. The handle of his watch and
a portion of the case were torn off, and the ball thence passed into his
bowels." As the nature of the wound did not admit of his removal, he was made as
comfortable as possible by his companions, and surgical aid summoned
immediately, but after a full examination it was decided that from the direction
the ball had taken its extraction was impossible, and there was little or no
hope of his recovery. The spot where the accident occurred was far from his
home, and two miles from any practicable road; any attempt at removal was
therefore deemed certain to hasten the approach of death; consequently, a tent
was erected over his prostrate form, and there, in that wild spot, in the
presence of his devoted family and faithful friends, he met his fate, in the
full possession of his faculties, conversing freely with all until the Grim
Reaper claimed him.

   The event of greatest moment that occurred in the year 1865 was,
unquestionably, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in Ford's Theater,
Washington, District of Columbia, by John Wilkes Booth, on the evening of the
14th April. Sixteen years later, July 2, 1881, another and more atrocious deed
of the blackened heart of the assassin called one more President of the Union to
cross the Dark River. In Abraham Lincoln and James A. Garfield civilization lost
two of its chiefest ornaments. Perhaps no such dual calamity had ever occurred
before to any nation; is it a wonder then that the whole land was twice flooded
with tears, and each mourned as if for a father! In Contra Costa the
intelligence of these deeds were received with every public demonstration of
grief, while appropriate resolutions were passed, and ceremonies observed.

   The following beautiful lines on the death of President Lincoln from the
gifted pen of Sister Annie Fitzgerald, of the Convent of Notre Dame, San Jose,
would appear to be equally fitted to that other dastardly deed, and may
appropriately find a place here:

Has he fallen, our Country's Ruler?
  Has he fallen, our Country's Chief? 
'Mid the gloom of a Nation's mourning,
  And the wail of a Nation's grief.

Has he fallen, our Country's Ruler?
  0 hearts that have bled and must bleed,
Has he fallen in the hour of his triumph,
  And the hour of our sorest need?

Has he fallen, whose hand hath guided
  Our ship through the raging waves,
Till the roar of the battle's tempest
  Died low o'er its mound of graves;

Till the clouds from our skies seemed sweeping,
  And the seething billows to cease,
And the light of a happier future
  Dawned bright on the shores of peace?

Has he fallen, our Country's Chieftain?—
  Aye, Patriot souls, to-day, 
The heart in his generous bosom
  Lies cold as the pulseless clay.

Oh! the ban of a Nation's hatred,
  And the blight of a Nation's woe,
And the curse of a Nation's vengeance
  On the hand that has laid him low.

On the hand with its fiend-like malice,
  On the heart that the crime hath nursed,
On the life of the base assassin,
  Let the lowering tempest burst.

Shame, shame on the soul and manhood
  Of even his veriest foe, 
That grudges his deadliest scorning
  To the dastard that dealt the blow.

Aye, the wrath of a widowed Nation
  Be poured on the guilty head;—
But shame not the name of the millions
  With the blot of a crime so dread.

With the blot of so dark a murder,
  With the curse of the hearts that bleed.
Nay, even the cheek of treason
  Must blush at so foul a deed.

Droop lower, 0 sacred banner!
  Droop lower thy folds to-day;— 
For the crimson blood of our Chieftain
  Hath hidden thy stars away.

Droop lower, O mourning banner!
  Droop low o'er our Country's breast;— 
O'er the North in its widowed glory,
  And the orphaned East and West.

Droop low o'er the wrongs and sorrows,
  And the hopes that are passing away;—
Toll drearily, bells, your sad dirges.
  Toll drearily, bells, to-day.

Pour out the deep voice of your tidings,
  0 sonorous cannon's deep mouth!
Weep, weep o'er our loss and thy future,
  Thy bitterest tears, 0 South.

For never a kindlier foeman,
  And never a truer chief, 
Hath passed from a Nation's anguish
  'Mid the wails of a Nation's grief.

Weep, North, in thy widowed glory,
  For the heart that hath loved thee best,
And wail o'er your martyred father,
  0, orphaned East and West.

Wail, wail for the clouds that gather
  So dark o'er our stormy way;— 
He has fallen, our Country's Ruler,
  He has fallen, our Country's Stay.

   The last demise we have to notice at this time is that of ex-Sheriff J. C.
Hunsaker, who was lost in the ill-fated steamer Brother Jonathan off the coast
of Oregon, July 10, 1865.

   We find that on September 22, 1865, a fine and efficient body of cavalry,
known as the Contra Costa Guards, commanded by Capt. Tewksbury, paraded at the
County Fair to the perfect satisfaction of those present.

   Francisco Caravantes, who, some fifteen months before, had escaped from the
county jail at Martinez, where he was awaiting sentence under two charges of
grand larceny, was captured by under-Sheriff Swain and Deputy McGrath, on
September 30, 1866, fifty miles beyond Firebaugh's Ferry on the San Joaquin. He
was again lodged in jail on the 10th of October. This man Caravantes was a
cunning, shrewd, courageous fellow, and was the "brains" of the honorable
company of "free agents" that infested the hills of the Contra Costa for so long
a time. So did he manage to cover up his tracks after breaking jail, that not
the least clue to his place of refuge was discovered for several months.

   About three weeks before his capture a hint was passed that Caravantes might
be found somewhere near the head-waters of the San Joaquin river, about three
hundred miles from Martinez. An overland expedition for pursuit was thereupon
fitted out under the direction of under-Sheriff George A. Swain, accompanied by
John McGrath. This party proceeded for several days, traversing the lonely
region of country lying to the westward of the San Joaquin, until they arrived
at the old Frebold's Ferry in Fresno county. At this place they ascertained that
they had gone beyond their game some seventy or eighty miles; they therefore
crossed to the east side of the river and came down into Merced county, where
they ascertained that Caravantes and five or six of his companions were encamped
at a short distance, and near the Mariposa creek. The party then proceeded on
foot, cautiously, until they came, unseen and unsuspected, within a few rods of
the "agencies" encampment, when Swain and McGrath both leveled their repeaters
at short range upon the "agency," Swain calling out to Caravantes by name to
surrender; whereupon came the reply: "Don't shoot, George, you can have us!"
Caravantes was thereupon taken, shackled and brought to Martinez. He was tried
before Judge Shepard, October 24, 1866, and sentenced to five years in all, in
the State Prison.

   The ever-to-be-remembered earthquake of October 21, 1868, was felt severely
in all portions of the county except Antioch. The heavy tower of the Marsh
"Stone House" was partially destroyed, breaking down the portico in its fall. At
Somersville, Nortonville and Clayton, chimneys were thrown down and household
goods generally much damaged. At Walnut Creek, Alamo, Danville and San Ramon the
shock was particularly severe. The upper front and rear walls of the two story
brick building at Alamo, owned by the Masonic Lodge, was thrown down, while the
one story brick store belonging to Mr. Peel at Danville lost a portion of its
front wall. At Martinez and Pacheco, the damage was also very extensive.

   There died at Martinez, January 23, 1869, Marshall S. Chase, aged forty-six
years. Mr. Chase was born in Maine, and graduated at one of the colleges of that
State; he afterwards went through the course of study at the Harvard Law School,
graduating with distinction, and entered with fine prestige and promise upon the
practice of his profession in Boston. About 1852-53 he came to California, and
after practicing a while in San Francisco, finally settled in Martinez, where he
died. Of Mr. Chase the Contra Costa Gazette says: "It is not with ordinary
feelings that we undertake the duty which devolves upon us of noticing the
demise of the friend and fellow-citizen, who, during a residence of fourteen
years in this county has commanded recognition of all, as the man among us of
finest intellectual gifts and attainments. Such gifts and attainments as
qualified him not only for high rank in the legal profession of which he was a
conspicuous member, and for honorable distinction in any sphere of private or
public duty, but also for most instructive and interesting companionship. And
none who have enjoyed a companionship that brought them into intimate contact
with the best thought and life of the now silent friend can fail to cherish the
memory of such a privilege to allow themselves to believe that they have seen
the best, that is to be, of life and thought." On April 30, 1869, during the
session of the Fifteenth District Court, Hon. S. H. Dwinelle, Judge, the
following resolutions, moved by Thomas A. Brown Esq., were unanimously adopted
and spread upon the minutes of the Court:

   "WHEREAS, It has pleased the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, by the
dispensation of his providence, to remove, by death, from our midst, MARSHALL
SPRING CHASE, ESQ., a member of this Bar; and,

   "WHEREAS, As a member of this Bar, he held a high position among his
brethren, and among the citizens was esteemed for his high sense of honor and
gentlemanly bearing with all men; and as a lawyer, stood in rank among his
professional brethren first for his legal learning and ability, and at the Bar
for eloquence unequaled by few and surpassed by none. Therefore,

   " Resolved, That we deplore the sad event, not only as an individual
bereavement, but as a general loss to this community.

   " Resolved, That in his decease this Bar has lost one of its brightest
ornaments, and the law one of its ablest and most eloquent exponents.

   " Resolved, That in the early departure of one whose ripening gifts of
intellect and knowledge of the law gave promise of such advancement in the
future, the cause of learning and the true appreciation of the law has sustained
a heavy blow.

   " Resolved, That we sympathize with the widow of our late deceased brother,
in the loss of a kind and amiable husband.

   " Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be presented to the bereaved
widow and relatives of our deceased brother, and that they be spread upon the
minutes of this Court."

   Judge Dwinelle responded feelingly to the remarks with which the resolutions
were offered, granting the motion for their entry upon the minutes, and for the
adjournment of the Court in respect to the memory of the deceased brother,
Marshall Spring Chase.

   On April 17, 1869, we notice the appointment of Felix A. Mathews, County
Assessor for Contra Costa, to the position of Consul for the United States at
Tangier, in the Empire of Morocco. Having been born in that country, and
speaking its language, Mr. Mathews was deemed well-fitted for the position to
which he was specially recommended by Admiral Farragut, under whom he had seen
service on the Mediterranean station.

   Andrew J. Markley, called by the suffrages of his fellow-citizens to the
duties of an important official position, upon the discharge of which he entered
only about two months before his death, removing then from his former residence
at Somersville to the county seat, died at Martinez, May 2, 1869, after a
painful and final struggle with a fatal disease.

   On Sunday, April 30, 1871, a serious affray occurred in Moraga Valley, that
resulted in the arrest of James Steele and George Yoakum on the charge of
assault with firearms upon several members of the Moraga family. It is reported
that some fifteen or twenty rifle shots were fired by the assaulting party,
three of the shots taking effect upon and killing a horse ridden by one of the
Moragas. The affray is understood to have arisen from a dispute as to the
rightful possession of lands originally owned and until a short time previously
occupied by the Moragas, but claimed by Carpentier and Yoakum under judicial
decrees. This was followed on November 23rd by another disturbance between John
Prairie, a man employed by the Carrick Brothers, and another man on the ranch of
Daniel McGlynn, about some stock, during which a pistol was fired at the first
named individual, the offender decamping immediately after the affair. With
these displays of temper, however, the troubles ceased not. On April 27, 1872,
the dispute was renewed, when Isaac Yoakum was shot, though not killed. Happily,
these unpleasantnesses are all now settled, and the war-hatchet been forever
buried.

   During the early months of the year 1872 a scheme was concocted whereby a new
county should be formed from the section of country lying east of Bay Point,
along the San Joaquin River, together with Sherman Island, thereby threatening
to deprive Contra Costa county of a large share of her territory. Of this motion
the Contra Costa Gazette somewhat tersely observes: "When all the cost of
maintaining a separate county government are calculated, even with the Sherman
Island territory included, we apprehend that the tax-payers of the section
specified would decline assuming the responsibilities. Contra Costa, in area of
territory, is one of the smallest counties in the State. Of the fifty or more,
there are but four or five of as small extent, and it ranks only as the
eighteenth in population. Any division would consequently be deemed, upon
impartial consideration, unwise, regarded either as a measure of State or local
policy. It is true a half day's journey is involved in reaching the county seat
from the most distant localities; but there are not half a dozen counties in the
State a large portion of whose people are not more than an easy day's ride
removed from their county seat, and, in this respect, subjected to far greater
hardship than are any within the narrow limits of our county lines. Besides,
with the completion of the railroad, now in process of construction, Antioch and
San Pablo will be brought within less than an hour's ride of the county seat,
and the most distant residents in the eastern extremity of the county will be
able to reach Martinez from their homes in two hours, or less time. It is
difficult, therefore, to imagine the 'valid and substantial reasons that might
be assigned' for any division of the county, unless they may be found in a
duplication of the chances of official emolument." Although no positive action
was taken in the matter, the question was not allowed to die, but was
periodically brought to light, and assumed in 1874 almost a palpable shape. The
Antioch Ledger was the arch instigator in the scheme, and went so far as to
suggest that the new county should be named "Montezuma "—an euphonious name
enough—and should be made up of three hundred and eighteen square miles of
Contra Costa; twenty-eight and a half square miles of Alameda; fifty square
miles of Sacramento; one hundred and seventeen square miles of San Joaquin, and
one hundred and twelve square miles of Solano counties—an extensive depletion of
one's neighbors, which fortunately has not been countenanced.

   The year 1873 commenced with the attention of the public being directed to
the project of a narrow-gauge railroad from deep water at Martinez to the Amador
valley, by parties able to furnish a considerable portion of the capital of the
enterprise. It was calculated that the construction and equipment of thirty
miles of road on the proposed line would not exceed three hundred and twenty
thousand dollars, while it was thought that such a line would undoubtedly pay a
good interest on its cost. Such a line it was contended would afford the farmers
of the San Ramon and adjacent districts with ample facilities for putting their
produce on ship-board at a minimum cost; it would enable them to store their
grain in neighboring warehouses by the roadside, and to sell and deliver it when
the market afforded the best price; it would bring competing buyers to their
doors and give them as good facilities for advantageously disposing of their
crops as if they attended the meetings of the Corn Exchange daily with their
samples. "Twas a consummation devoutly to be wished!" On January 13th, the
Contra Costa Farmers' Club discussed the project in all its phases. On February
1st, a meeting of citizens was held at Walnut Creek to consider the enterprise,
when was demonstrated the fact that there was sufficient interest in the scheme
to insure a considerable subscription for any feasible project that would
furnish the required facilities., though the preference of those present was for
a line to terminate at Oakland. Another meeting was had at the same place on
February 15th, when the subject was fully argued and the following resolutions
adopted: First—"Resolved, That it is the sense of this meeting that it is for
the interest of Contra Costa county to connect itself with tide-water in the
most direct route possible, at Oakland, by a narrow-gauge railroad;" and second,
"Resolved, That N. Jones, A. W. Hammitt, Thos. J. Murphy, Franklin Warner, and
Col. C. H. Wood, be appointed an executive committee on preliminary organization
of the the people to take measures for the construction of a narrow-gauge
railroad to connect Contra Costa county with tide-water."

   To show that the promoters of the scheme to bring the road to Martinez were
not willing to permit the grass to grow beneath their feet, on the evening of
the meeting, the Martinez representatives held a conference to determine what
course of action should be taken to obtain a survey and secure the construction
of a narrow-gauge railroad from the best deep-water point in the Straits of
Carquinez into the Amador valley. It was estimated that the cost of the survey
would not exceed six or seven hundred dollars, about one-half of which amount
was at once subscribed by those present, and the remainder readily obtained on
the following Monday from citizens not present at the conference.

   The survey for the road from deep water on the Straits, through Pacheco and
San Ramon, to Amador Valley, was commenced at a point near Bull's Head, on the
morning of Friday, February 21st, by George K. Peterson, a competent civil
engineer of large experience in railroad surveying. The survey for the Oakland
route was commenced on the 27th. On March 1st another meeting assembled at
Walnut Creek, and mare arguments ensued in regard to the routes chosen by the
contending parties, but the surveys being incomplete, not much actual business
was transacted. In due time Mr. Peterson's survey was completed, and his report
made to the Committee, composed of R. O. Baldwin, C. B. Porter, Barry Baldwin,
George McCanley. The survey was started at the town of Martinez, and terminated
in San Ramon valley at the village of Limerick, a distance of twenty-one miles.
It was estimated then that the total cost of the road would be two hundred and
forty thousand dollars, while its working expenses would be sixty thousand
dollars per annum. This report was presented to the meeting held at Walnut
Creek, March 22d, as was also that of Mr. Boardman on the route to Oakland. This
gentleman placed the cost of construction of a line along his survey at fifteen
thousand dollars per mile, with forty thousand dollars for a tunnel through the
mountains. The project was not allowed to lag, for another meeting was had on
March 29th, at Danville, for further discussion of the subject, after which the
scheme was held in abeyance, although periodical meetings were held to canvass
its feasibility and ultimate accomplishment.

   We next find the narrow-gauge topic being discussed at a meeting held at
Danville on October 31, 1874, when the following Committee was appointed to
prepare plans of organization and subscription for a proposed railroad: L. I.
Fish, Martinez; Paul Shirley, Martinez; Barry Baldwin, Pacheco; Francisco
Galindo, Concord; John Larkey, Walnut Creek; James Foster, Alamo; R. 0. Baldwin,
Danville; Charles Wood, Sycamore valley; David Glass, Amador; J. W. Dougherty,
Dublin; Daniel Inman, Livermore. These gentlemen made their report at a meeting
held at Walnut Creek, November 19th, and presented an elaborate document,
containing recommendations as to organization.

   We hear no more of railroads until the month of November, 1875, when a
periodical then published, called the Oakland News, states that the articles of
incorporation had been filed for the construction of a broad-gauge line from
Oakland to Alamo, a distance of fifteen miles. The line of road described is
that which had for some time been talked of as a wagon road-While these
negotiations were in progress, the Central Pacific Railroad Company resumed work
on the line between Oakland and Banta, in connection with the Western Pacific
and San Joaquin Valley road, via Martinez and Antioch; while on April 28, 1876,
the depot at the first named place was located, the right of way having been
obtained from Messrs. Shirley and Mizner.

   This road, as we all know, has been completed; the narrow-gauge line spoken
of above fell through. In 1881 another line was started, called the San
Francisco and Nevada Railroad, and after grading several miles of road within
the limits of the county, work came to a stand still, although the matter has
been by no means abandoned.

   In the month of July, 1873, J. S. Hill, a former proprietor of the Mount
Washington Hotel, in the White Mountains, New Hampshire, contemplated the
erection of a hotel on Mount Diablo, the sight chosen being near Moses' Rock,
while the plan included a carriage road to the summit. On October 30th a meeting
to consider the matter of organizing an incorporated company to build and
maintain such a road from the county highway at the mouth of Pine Canon, was
held under the chairmanship of Nathaniel Jones. J. S. Hill, the projector of the
undertaking and the proposer of building a hotel near the summit, gave an
outline of the plan, and thought that a good, safe thoroughfare could be
constructed for twelve thousand dollars. The subject was then fully discussed,
and the following resolution carried: "Resolved, That J. S. Hill, W. W. Camron,
S. W. Johnson, John Slitz and Nathaniel Jones be authorized to incorporate the
Mount Diablo Summit Road Company, and to take any other necessary steps for
advancing the enterprise, and calling an early meeting of the subscribers to the
preliminary agreement and such others as it may be desired to interest in the
undertaking." Throughout the meeting a good disposition was manifested by those
present to aid the work by subscriptions for the stock of the road company,
while it was firmly believed that the people of the county generally would
cheerfully co-operate in aiding so laudable and promising an enterprise. The
articles of incorporation were duly filed in the office of the County Clerk,
November 4th, the capital stock being twenty-five thousand dollars, divided into
two thousand five hundred shares of ten dollars each. The first Directors were:
J. S. Hill, N. Jones, S. W. Johnson, W. W. Camron and John Slitz; Messrs. Hill,
Camron and Slitz being subsequently elected President, Treasurer and Secretary
respectively.

   A certificate of incorporation was filed February 18, 1874, of the Green
Valley and the Mount Diablo Summit Road Company, with Thomas A. Brown, L. C.
Wittenmyer, W. W. Camron, S. J. Bennett, and Barry Baldwin as incorporators. The
object of this association was the construction and maintenance of a turnpike
road from a point on the Green Valley public road to a junction with the Mount
Diablo Summit Road. The capital stock was five thousand dollars, in five hundred
shares of ten dollars each.

   In the month of April, 1874, the stage arrangements for the two roads to the
summit of Mount Diablo were completed, the Martinez and Pine Canon line being
stocked and run by Seeley J. Bennett of Martinez, whose name is a guarantee of
excellence in all that pertains to road outfits, while the Hay wards and Green
Valley route was in the hands of W. S. Law, formerly of the Eagle Hotel,
Pacheco. These stages are now discontinued, but Mr. Bennett is still at
Martinez, and his skill in "handling the lines" or the excellence of his
appointments has in no wise deteriorated.

   On January 16, 1873, the Hon. C. W. Lander died suddenly. The Judge is
described as a man of many honorable traits that entitled him to respect.

   It may not be unforgotten that in 1876 a contest was being carried on before
the Courts for possession of the Auditor's office. In the month of May of that
year Judge Dwinelle decided the case, declaring that the original orders of the
Board of Supervisors consolidating the offices of Recorder and Auditor remain in
force, and that the Recorder is ex-officio Auditor, thus declaring V. Russell
entitled to the office, and M. A. Bailhache an intruder therein—although fairly
and upon good understanding elected thereto by the people. The case was further
tried and in December, 1877, decided in favor of Bailhache.

   At his residence near Concord, there died, August 9, 1876, at the age of
eighty-five years, Don Salvio Pacheco. He was born near San Diego, and his
entire life was passed in California. For a number of years he was Alcalde of
the Pueblo de San Jose and also several times a member of the Departmental
Assembly, earning an honorable reputation in the discharge of public duties. The
Grant of Monte del Diablo, embracing four leagues of land, was made to him by
Governor Micheltorena in 1834, but it was some ten or a dozen years later that
he established his residence on the property, on where he continued up till the
time of his death.

   On February 17, 1877, intelligence of the death of Judge S. F. Reynolds,
formerly of the Fourth District, when Contra Costa county was included in it,
was received; and on April 28th the following resolutions of respect to his
memory, reported by the Committee of the County Court, were ordered by Judge
Dwinelle to be engrossed upon the minutes of the Court:

   "WHEREAS, It has pleased the Supreme Ruler of the Universe to summon from
this life to his Eternal Home our late brother, the Honorable Samuel F.
Reynolds, formerly Judge of this Court, and for many years past an able, active
and honored member of the Bar, engaged in the active practice of his profession,
and almost invariably in attendance at the terms of this Court; and,

   "WHEREAS, Although our late brother resided and had his home in the city of
San Francisco, he was seldom absent from this Court during its stated terms
during a period of nearly twenty years, during which time we were associated
with him, and came to regard him as our senior and always honored brother.
Courtly and dignified in manner, and in his practice actuated by strict
integrity of purpose, he had endeared himself to all. Therefore,

   "Resolved, We are deeply impressed with the great loss the Bar and community
has sustained in the death of our brother, the late Honorable Samuel F.
Reynolds, and we will always cherish his memory as that of a good citizen, an
honest, upright man, an able jurist, and a sincere and devoted friend.

   "Resolved, That these resolutions be spread upon the minutes of the Court,
and that the Court do now adjourn as a mark of respect to the deceased brother.

                                     "THOS. A. BROWN,
                                     "H. MILLS,"
                                     "OLIVER WOLCOTT, 
                                               Committee"

   And yet another death have we to record. On August 1, 1877, Lawrence M.
Brown, the youngest son of Hon. Elam Brown, who came with his father to Contra
Costa county in 1847, died. Of the deceased the Gazette said: "He has lived with
the people of this county, to nearly all of whom he was personally known, and
they will long cherish a remembrance of his gentle and amiable qualities of
character."

   On December 23, 1879, after the conclusion of the business of the District
Court at its November term, and it being about to adjourn, H. Mills, Esq., read
and offered a paper signed by members of the Bar and many citizens of the
county, testifying to their respect for the retiring Judge, Hon. S. H. Dwinelle,
and requesting it spread upon the minutes of the Court, as follows: "Since the
New Organic Law of the State, which goes into effect on the first day of
January, 1880, abolished the District Courts, and your functions as Judge of the
Fifteenth Judicial District cease upon that day, the undersigned members of the
Bar and citizens of Contra Costa county wish to express to you their regrets in
parting with you as the Judge of said Court. You have been with us in that
official relation for sixteen years, during which time your actions as a jurist,
an impartial and upright judge, have won our respect and admiration. In taking
leave of the Bench be assured that you take with you our best wishes for your
welfare and prosperity in the future relations and duties of life." Judge
Dwinelle replied in appropriate and feeling terms, and directed, in accordance
with the wishes of the subscribers, that the foregoing be spread upon the
minutes of the Court.

   The following local reminiscences of "Twenty-one years ago," from the pen of
the late Horace Allen of Martinez, and published in the Contra Costa Gazette of
November 1, 1873, we reproduce in order that our older readers may have an
opportunity of refreshing their memories in matters, the recollection of which
should not be allowed to die. It is ever well to keep green in our minds the
story of the early settlement of a county, and this may only be done by
presenting such "local reminiscences" as the following, in convenient form for
reference. The paper was penned by the author with the purpose of its serving
for an "evening reading." May not we hope that the younger of our readers will,
even at this late date, enjoy it as such:—

   "No phrases of speech can fitly portray the panorama of changes that have
passed before this one narrow field of vision, during the comparatively brief
period of time 'twixt now and then. An appreciable representation of these
should be pictured by the genius of a Michael Angelo upon a furlong of canvas.
It is only by this means that the contrasting of now and then can be presented
to the quick glance of comprehension. The very face of the landscape has been
changed; the names and customs and the very elements of society have been
changed. If real improvements and real progress are to be tested or measured by
the comparative happiness of men and women, then there have been no
improvements, no progress. It is only change. The old picture has been rudely
effaced by social vandalism, and the canvas bedaubed with a new representation.

   "The features and the life of the landscape have been changed. Standing upon
the mountain-tops twenty-one years ago, in the beginning of the month of May, we
there and then beheld the broad-spreading plains, and the gracefully undulating
hills all clothed in verdure and beautified as if by especial ornamentation,
with scattered groves of the evergreen oaks, and here and there the tortuous
fringes and dense clusters of the willows, marking the courses of the rivulets
and the locations of the living springs. This was simple, inanimate nature. But
the life of the landscape was 'the cattle upon a thousand hills.' Myriads of
cattle, bovine cattle, all spotted cattle, were feeding and roaming without
limit all over the land, all over the sides and summits of the green hills, and
over all the green-covered valleys and plains—these valleys and hills around us
here. And there note, also, the dashing picturesque vaquero, with his swinging
lariat, making his oft-repeated charges among those wild flocks, arousing
headlong stampedes among them. No prim, prudish, artificial fencing of unsightly
posts and boards then disfigured the landscape. Property boundaries of territory
were only marked by natural monuments. The mountain's crest; the meandering
creek; the isolated boulder; the venerable oak; the living spring; the shore of
the sea; were the landmarks of the ranchero's wide domains. Nor was this Pueblo
of ours (Martinez) thought worthy of artificial protection; whole bands of these
wild cattle together would come charging down from the hills, and careering
through the streets to escape the fierce pursuit of a dozen vaqueros. No foolish
artificial fencing then. Over all the land no vandal plow had ever scarred and
mutilated the face of nature; over all the land no square miles of nature's
green had been discolored to the dirty brown of tillage; but the whole earth,
from the Sierras to the Pacific sea, was one limitless, universal pasture land,
resting beautiful and grand under the glorious brightness of a California sunshine.

   "The elements of society have been changed. Twenty-one years ago the Spanish
population was the elemental rule—all others were only the exception. There were
the Alvarados, the Castros, the Martinez, the Sepulvedas, the Estudillos, the
Moragas, the Briones, the Sunols, the Sotos, the Peraltas, the Altemeranos, the
Amadors, the Mirandas, the Berryessas, the Pachecos, the Bacas, the Higueras,
the Alvisos, the Naviagas—all these proud, grand old families, each family under
the benignant rule of their kind old Patriarch. It was most delightful to be
among them at their homes—those rich, extravagant, hospitable, confiding,
simple-minded, old-fashioned people. There was no shoddyism discovered there;
all their surroundings were old-fashioned, neat and comfortable. Just think of
that sumptuous dinner of Spanish, cookery, and those luxurious feather beds,
after the fatiguing hard day's ride on horseback! The young men of each
household, although sometimes reckless and wild like other boys, were polite,
sprightly and handsome. The young women were beautiful and graceful, with
manners most charming. We never shall forget those social fandangos. Now the
Spanish noun fandango is often used by stupid Americanos as an expression of
contempt. But this comprehensive Spanish word has the same purport as the two
English words "social party." And their beautiful dances are the very poetry of
motion, and they are tastefully adopted by the most genteel American society.
There was another seemingly more barbarous amusement, which had been imported
three hundred and fifty years agone from the Moorish customs of old Granada and
Seville. I refer to the renowned Spanish bull-fights. The first time I ever had
the pleasure of witnessing that national amusement was in the month of October,
in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and fifty-two. It was on the hilarious
occasion of a wedding at the residence of Don Vicente Martinez, in old Pinole.
Let me say once and for all that no one should be offended if I am kindly and
respectfully personal, in order to illustrate these pleasant reminiscences of
the olden time. I say that merry wedding and that bull-fight were at the
residence of Don Vicente Martinez, and the cabal-leros who took part in the
fight were Don Wm. M. Smith, Don Pedro Higuera, and Don Samuel J. Tennent. These
were all gay young gentlemen then. Everybody was there—everybody from all the
country fifty miles around was there; and everybody danced and dined and wined
to his heart's content. But speaking of the bull-fight, I observed that nobody
got hurt, and the secret of this I found out afterwards. They had nicely and
smoothly sawed off the sharp tips of the animal's horns, and when he made his
tremendous lunges at any one of these wary caballeros, the sagacious horse would
jump entirely across the line of danger, while the great weight and momentum of
the infuriated beast would always drive him away forward headlong at a tangent
of about sixty degrees away from his object of attack. If, however, there
happened to be sometimes an awkward strike, it was as harmless as a merely good
solid punch in the ribs. Nobody was killed, nobody was hurt. We had read in
romances about the bloody bullfights in Spain, and of course we Yankees there
were very much disappointed.

   "I have said the Spanish ranchero was extravagant in his mode of living.
Well, why not? He could well afford to be extravagant, for he was rich—very
rich. There were those dozen solid silver candlesticks; there were those solid
silver salvers, three feet long; there were those quaint old Mexican table sets
of solid silver. The ladies of the household are provided with sumptuous and
most costly apparel. He had gold in abundance, the proceeds from the ready sale
of his thousands of beef cattle. And what could he do with all this gold? He
said: 'Let us have sport with it.' And so he and his neighboring rancheros had
their regular gambling set-to every Sunday evening after church. His wide domain
of square leagues more than equaled any German principality. That
earthquake-proof adobe cottage, that vineyard, that bubbling spring of purest
water, that sparkling living brook, that cool shade of waving willows, the soft
breezes of a peculiar climate, that quiet seclusion from the striving world,
were his beautiful garden of paradise. Conscious of his independence and wealth,
of his thousands for him and for his for all coming time, he never dreamt of a
reverse of fortune.

   "But a change came o'er the spirit of his dream. The unscrupulous Yankee
finds his resting-place. A couple of thousands in gold coin are temptingly
exhibited; the wine circulates freely, with the oft-repeated 'bueno salud;'
conversation becomes interesting and animated, the patriarch and his household
are charmed with their new-found acquaintance, and artful and polished visitor.
A loan of this couple of thousands is most graciously proffered by this most
liberal stranger; a little more wine is taken for the stomach's sake, with
another 'bueno salud' all round; the proffered loan is as graciously accepted,
more to oblige the accomplished guest than for any possible need or use for the
ready cash; a promissory note written in English and already prepared
beforehand, and made payable one day after date, and to bear interest at the
rate of seven per cent, per month, to be compounded monthly, together with the
usual accompanying death pledge upon that principality of square leagues, are
mirthfully executed by the confiding, simple-minded, illiterate Spaniard, as if
it were a passing jest! So much droll ceremony with reference to that mere
trifle of money is light comedy to him, in the amusing programme of the day's
entertainment.—Time passes. Many months, and several years pass away. Where does
that elegant gentleman keep himself? Why does he not come and get his money?
Surely he is a most indulgent creditor! The illiterate Spaniard has no
conception of the cumulative effect of interest compounded! Month after month
pass away, and that insignificant financial comedy is scarcely remembered.
Nearly four years have rolled away, and just now a polite notice is received, as
coming from the Court, with reference to that forgotten subject. Of course,
there is nothing to be said by way of objection. It is all right. Why then
should he trouble himself with giving any heed to it! That little affair of a
couple of thousand dollars can be refunded any day. “Why does not the gentleman
come and pay us another visit?' 'Of course, that little matter of money is ready
for him any day.' 'He promised to come and see us again.' Time passes. Nine
years have gone round, and that paltry item of interest has regularly and
steadily compounded one hundred and eight times, and that principal and interest
have steadily rolled up to the immense amount of two hundred and fifty thousand
dollars, a full quarter of a million! Then comes the auction sale. And there the
prowling agent of the relentless creditor bids in those thirty-six square miles
of land, without competition, for only one-half the enormous debt. And only now,
that happily dreaming Spanish family are startled and awakened as by an
earthquake shock! The business is complicated, and needs the deft handling of
financial ability. Redemption is impossible. And now, a judicial final process
is the closing act of the drama, and that splendid fortune of real estate comes
under the dominion of the stranger. The patriarch and his numerous household are
exiled from their home forever, while indigence and wretched want attend them as
they scatter and wander away. This, surely, is a most shocking change to them—a
solemn, grievous change. The places that knew them well know them no more.

   "Thus, the once material element of California society has been eradicated,
to be replaced by other nationalities of people. Let other men debate the
question whether such a change has been for the better! Let the casuist render
judgment whether such change has been effectuated by the divine rule of right!
Let the candid soul and heart respond to the question whether it has been done
by the square of honesty and honor.

   "Perhaps we need search no further than the legislation of any State that has
ever lived and fallen within the limit of the historic ages of the world in
order to learn and well understand the peculiar characteristics of the
prevailing contemporary manners of that community of men. Legislative enactments
and established legal customs are the sure and certain types of the moral temper
of any people. We need to travel backward no further along the path of time than
several hundred years, to find many illustrations of this truth. The rigorous
and cruel English laws against the smallest deviations from the rules of an
established church had their origin in the blind zeal and cruel bigotry of the
whole people of the English nation. Sumptuary laws regulating what we shall eat,
and what we shall drink, and in what manner and style withal we shall be
clothed, and what manner of music we shall hear, have always originated from a
popular censoriousness of temper, which was only represented in the particular
legislative department. And the course, and character, and subject matter of any
system of legislation bespeak the wants, and wishes, and prejudices, and
conditions, and misfortunes, and selfish propensities, and tastes of the ruling
majority, and the consequent legislative department of the State. When the
ruling majority is composed of the wealthy and independent classes, legislation
is then directed favorably to the side of the Shylocks, and other affluent
creditors in the community. But the reverse of this obtains when wealth has not
the directing of the legislative enactments.

   "From the foregoing hypothesis we may safely infer that 'the Legislature of a
thousand drinks,' in session at the city of San Jose, must have represented
hundreds of unfortunate debtors, and hosts of sporting gentlemen, throughout all
parts of our State. Legislation was pointedly directed to the aid and comfort of
all those gentlemen who did not wish to be troubled about the payment of their
debts; their debts at home, or those coming from abroad. And consequently we
find as monuments of that work of legislation: 1st, the insolvency act by which
one can shake off his debts as easily as he can shake the dust off his coat.
There is the homestead law; one need only go somewhere and get married, and then
declare a homestead on five thousand dollars worth of real estate, and bid
defiance to all the frowning creditors forever after, so far as that homestead
is concerned. And there, also, is the sole trader's law. The wife is permitted
to carry on business in her own name as sole trader—any kind of business with
the round capital of another five thousand dollars, given to her by the husband,
he acting as the wife's agent all the time in the sole trader business. But no
creditor's process against the husband can reach one dime of the sole trader's
capital. Surely that unfortunate debtor is in good luck after all; he has a
secure seat in the santuary of upper-tendom, high above the ' rich man's
contumely, the proud man's scorn;' and what is the best of all, he is safely
perched entirely out of reach of the sheriffs officers.

   "And moreover, also, deep-laid behind these singular enactments of that
renowned 'Legislature of a thousand drinks,' is that strange clause of our State
Constitution: 'All property, both real and personal, of the wife, owned ,or
claimed by her before marriage, and that acquired afterwards, by gift, devise or
descent, shall be her separate property.' Now, we Americans, descendants of
Englishmen, and educated to the maxims and customs of our ancestors, quite
naturally experience an awkwardness under the entanglements of that strange
clause, which so binds up the finances of the matrimonial partnership. It was
once the ambition of every impecunious youth to marry a young lady having wealth
in her own right, either in actual possession or expectancy. All her personal
goods and chattels, her costly diamonds and jewelry, her valuable carriage
equipages, her gold and silver plate, and all her ready cash—all these were ipso
facto, and forthwith transferred, by operation of law, to the absolute dominion
and control of the newly-married gentleman, as his individual, separate
property. Now all this available wealth afforded him the luxuries of life and
gave him the respectability and the dignity of the gentleman of fortune. There
were no family jars then. The marriage relation was peaceful and comfortable and
happy, the married gentleman being recognized as the real head of his own
household—as he ought to be. It is true these goods and chattels might be made
liable for the payment of that gentleman's individual debts, and hence, in
pursuing our line of argument, we may safely infer that the strange,
revolutionary clause aforementioned, in our State Constitution, was incorporated
there by an outside pressure from the main part of the then California community
of insolvent debtors.

  "This new arrangement concerning the finances of the matrimonial partnership
must have considerably clouded the real happiness of that time-honored
institution, and we would remember this also. The availableness of all the
wife's goods and chattels is rendered unwieldy and perplexing. There can be no
really private arrangements made for turning the wife's chattel-barter into
ready cash for domestic uses. The inquisitorial attorney, and conveyancer, and
notary, and witnesses, must all be invited in order to legally effect and
perfect the written sale or transfer of the smallest item of her separate
personal as well as real property. The married gentleman has very little to say
or do with regard to the business of the family partnership concern. His dignity
or importance there is quite equivocal, and only at sufferance, and by acquired
habit, he in due time learns to know his place as the obscure and silent partner
of the family concern. He is only known, in case of any curious inquiry as 'Mrs.
Smith's husband.' He may, however, appreciate the quieting consolation that he
may eat, and drink—and be merry if he can,—with no harassing creditors to molest
him or make him afraid. He feels the abiding and soothing consciousness that he
may stupidly partake of those creature comforts, while the sources of his
enjoyments constitute an unfailing fund that is always execution proof.

   "There is another monument of peculiar legislation, the handiwork of that
most industrious 'Legislature of a thousand drinks.' Each Board of Supervisors
was empowered to license any number of gambling institutions in every county of
the State. This piece of legislation was enacted as a special favor to the
sporting gentlemen of that day. These sporting gentlemen, scornfully styled
gamblers, were a kind of fraternity, and generally and thoroughly infused among
the whole population of the State, and they constituted a material and powerful
element in the political and social commonwealth. Truly that sporting fraternity
were a great political power in the land, and their representatives in the
legislative body were counted as legion, and also as the law-givers of the
highest ability. As might be expected, due care was taken this fraternity should
be well represented in each county Board, and consequently, as of course,
licenses were freely given out to these institutions in every city and town and
hamlet. There was a gambling saloon everywhere; not in by-ways, and in obscure
places —why should it be? Why; surely it had legislative tolerance; it was made
respectable by the force of law. The saloon was located on the public
thoroughfares and conspicuous places of the most Convenient access. The saloon
was a splendid drawing-room parlor, fitted up and decorated in gorgeous
glittering style. There were large and finely finished lascivious paintings.
There were the enticements of sweetest music; beautiful women were there
employed as dealers at the various tables, and were enthroned as the attractive
goddesses of chance. And there, within the doors of this temple, and heaped in
hillocks on the tables all around, were tens of thousands of coined and uncoined
gold. This was the sporting gentlemen's paradise.

   "We have mentioned the sporting gentlemen as a fraternity. Now there was an
aristocratic class par excellence in this same fraternity—that is, professional
gentlemen, to be explicit we will say gamblers by profession. It was as
legitimate and high-toned nineteen years ago as the profession of M. D., and
higher-toned than that even. Why, Professor Whitney, or Professor Silkman, or
the high-toned Professor Aggassiz, would scarcely rank with the high-toned
professor of cards. Why not? Why, that aristocratic class of the fraternity,
aforesaid, had been recognized by the 'Legislature of a thousand drinks,' as a
high school of the fine arts. No person of ordinary caution would dare question
their supremacy. They occupied all the cushioned seats in all the synagogues,
whether social, theological or political. They were irrepressible; they were
respectable, and their respectability was legal. They were formidable, and they
must be conciliated, socially and politically, and otherwise.

   "Your professor of cards was a 'handsome man'—so said the ladies, and he
fought for the ladies. And many a poor fellow bit the dust because of his
obtrusive interference with your aristocratic professor of cards, among the
ladies. Well, your professor of cards was of dashing appearance. Why, just
observe those patent leather, high-heeled boots, that costly diamond breast-pin.
Observe those dainty fingers of his, all sparkling with three thousand dollars
worth of diamond rings; and there is that incomparable Beau Brummel waistcoat,
and so forth, and so on. He was cordial, and bland, and fascinating. He was the
brilliant synosure of the social circle, and he was also really popular withal.
And why not? That countenance of his gave advertisement of intellectual power,
calm, reserved power; smooth and unruffled by the slightest tinge of sentiment.
There was no mercy there. There was keen sense, wanting sensibility. And he
surely crushed the senseless worm that crawled at evening in his pathway."

   Thus does Mr. Allen give a few of his early recollections in the first dawn
of the foreign occupation of California. Happily, many of the things touched
upon have been changed for the better. Unhappily, many of his remarks are too
true; still, they all are of interest and will be read with pleasure.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY,
CALIFORNIA,
INCLUDING ITS GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, TOPOGRAPHY, CLIMATOGRAPHY AND DESCRIPTION;
TOGETHER WITH A RECORD OF THE MEXICAN GRANTS; THE BEAR FLAG WAR; THE MOUNT
DIABLO COAL FIELDS; THE EARLY HISTORY AND SETTLEMENT, COMPILED FROM THE MOST
AUTHENTIC SOURCES; THE NAMES OF ORIGINAL SPANISH AND MEXICAN PIONEERS; FULL
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF THE COUNTY; SEPARATE HISTORY OF EACH TOWNSHIP, SHOWING
THE ADVANCE IN POPULATION AND AGRICULTURE;
ALSO,
Incidents of Pioneer Life; and Biographical Sketches
OF EARLY AND PROMINENT SETTLERS AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN;
AMD OF ITS TOWNS, VILLAGES, CHURCHES, SECRET SOCIETIES, ETC.
ILLUSTRATED.
SAN FRANCISCO: W. A. SLOCTUM & CO., PUBLISHERS
1882.


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