Nevada County CA Archives History - Books .....Historical Sketch Of Nevada County 1867
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Book Title: Bean’s History And Directory Of Nevada County, California

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF NEVADA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
BY E. G. WAITE.

DECLARATORY,
  The part I am to contribute to the sketch of Nevada county makes no pretension
to the dignity of a history. The limited space and time by which I am
circumscribed, beside the scope and object of the work of which the sketch is to
form a part, would preclude the possibility of a complete history of Nevada
county, did no other obstacle prevent. Indeed, to write a full history of our
county would involve, in a great degree, the history of the State of California.
I am not called to so broad a field of enterprise. Yet I hope, in a humble way,
to aid the future historian by gathering up the scattered fragments of history
and placing them in a concise and presentable shape for his use.

  Although I see the moving events of a grand drama, which tells how a
mountainous wilderness was conquered in spite of its manifold obstacles, and
made to become, in a few brief years, the abode of civilization and refinement,
and to contribute more wealth to the nation than any like portion of its
territory; although the theme is inspiring and tempting to the pen, be mine the
lot to tell in the briefest way, the order of. the most prominent events as they
have occurred; give some account of the appearance of the country that man has
subdued from nature; collect such memorials as I may of the autochthons of the
soil; and, in short, present such facts bearing upon various subjects as may be
of interest to the general reader.

DESCRIPTION.

  Nevada county, California, extends from near the eastern edge of the
Sacramento valley to the top of the Sierra Nevada, and, in general terms, has
for its northern boundary the Middle Tuba, and its southern Bear river. Its area
is about 1,200 square miles, or about the size of the State of Rhode Island; and
few parts of the United States can compare with it for variety of scenery or
climate. Its highest elevation reaches to over 8,000 feet, while its lowest is
but a few feet above the level of the ocean. The-upper region is covered with
snow more than half the year, and at the foot hills snow or frost is
comparatively unknown. Several deep channels cut the county longitudinally, in
which flow the rivers and streams from the high Sierra. These, with their
tributary canons and gorges, are intervened by high and ofttimes precipitous
ridges, the main ones running at right-angles with the mountain chain. As is
natural, sheltered, sunny spots occur frequently among these ridges and deep
depressions where the productions of a warm climate are grown to perfection, and
the grape and the fig are cultivated generally on all exposures to an altitude
of two thousand five hundred feet.

  No large valleys of arable land are found in Nevada county. The largest do not
comprise above a few hundred acres, and even these are rare. The entire soil is
of a reddish ferruginous, ochre, or gray color, and consists of side-hill or
table land. It is, under favorable circumstances, however, highly productive,
and is yet to develop agricultural wealth equal to any other portion of the world.

  When first seen by Americans, Nevada county presented the appearance of a
rough mountain region, clothed in the upper part with forests of pine, oak,
spruce, fir, and other trees, intermixed with manzanita, chamiso, privet, and
several other varieties of shrubs in places. The timbered region extended from
the summit down to about an elevation of fifteen hundred feet, when the trees
became stunted, and new varieties of pine began to appear, while scrubby shrubs
became more prevalent. Occasionally a small valley of grass was seen among the
hills, and near the summit were many small lakes, clear and cold. It was a wild,
romantic region, the lowermost half inhabited by a few hundred Diggers, a
subsequent acquaintance with whom has shown to be a harmless and inoffensive
people in the lowest stage of development.

  Such was the general aspect of the country now comprised within the limits of
Nevada county, when the hordes of adventurous Americans, excited by the reports
of discoveries of gold in California, came pouring over the Sierra Nevada, and
swarmed along the rich streams and over the undeveloped hills of this region.

HISTORICAL.

  Probably the first settlement ever made within the boundaries of Nevada
-county was between the Anthony House and Bridgeport, and called Hose's Corral,
from the trader who built an adobe building there in the Summer of 1848. But, it
is probable mining was done to a limited extent shortly before that time low
down on the Yubas, and during the same Summer a few whites had penetrated as far
as the middle region of the county. In 1849, with the great influx of
population, came crowds of miners, who spread rapidly over the territory of
Nevada county, as far up as Washington, even as early as in the Spring. A few
men worked on the Middle Yuba, and on the South Tuba during the early part of
the Summer of 1849, and some with good success.

  A store was established in August, of the same year, on a point of land that
overlooks Bear river, near the mouth of Greenhorn, on the old TruCkee trail, by
an Oregonian named Findley. The object of establishing the post was to trade
with the emigrants, and for a time it was the only store between Bear river and
Salt Lake at which emigrants could obtain supplies. Here bacon was sold for two
dollars a pound, and shoe tacks at ten cents apiece. Brooks & Peasley became
successors to Findley, keeping up the store, and it may as well be observed, the
prices also.

  In September of 1849, David Bovyer established himself in Rough and Ready
township, at White Oak Springs, where he traded with the Indians, who dwelt
there in considerable numbers. They had learned to collect gold, which they
spent with an abandon scarcely excelled by the whites.

  During the same Summer, a party of Oregonians creviced for gold along the
South Yuba, or Juba, as it was called, as far up as Washington. The success of
this party, and of others who followed in their wake, was the means of bringing,
the nest Spring, a large crowd to the river from Jefferson, then called
Greenwood's Camp, from the leader of the Oregon party, up to Washington, then
named Indiana Camp, from a company of Indianians who pitched their tents there
first.

  It is not certain who first prospected the rich ravines about Nevada. A
gentleman who grazed his stock in the valley in which Grass Valley now stands,
and who came to the site of Nevada in August, 1849, saw three men at work on
Gold Run, near where the stone bridge now crosses it. There may have been others
working in the vicinity. About that time a few men were at work on Deer Creek,
somewhere in the neighborhood of Pleasant Flat. Dr. Caldwell had a store in that
vicinity, as early as September, and this fact goes to show there must have been
more parties at work in the region round about than at this time we can obtain
any information of.

  In the same month, or a little later, Captain John Pennington and party built
a cabin on Gold Run, and in October Dr. Caldwell built a store near the site of
the present High School building, in Nevada. The place was known for a time,
from this circumstance, as "Caldwell's Upper Store;" "Deer Creek Dry Diggings"
was another name by which the locality was called.

  A settlement was also effected in 1849 in Boston Ravine, and also on Badger
Hill, at Grass Valley, and in several of the ravines round about. A trading post
was started in the Fall of that year in Boston Ravine, by a Frenchman, Jules
Rosiere. The same year, in November, Judge Walsh and two brothers (Holt)
commenced building sawmills four miles below Grass Valley, from which it is
clear that there were a great many miners in the vicinity, creating a demand for
lumber, which up to that time had been obtained by whip-saws, and at extravagant
prices.

  A Captain Townsend and party built a cabin at Rough and Ready in September,
1849, and mined there successfully. Other parties followed, and quite a number
of miners passed the Winter of 1849-50 there. With the addition of French
Corral, the places before mentioned are the only ones that we can find which
date their settlement back to a period as early as the year 1849.

  The year following was one of uncommon discovery and activity. Towns were
built up at Nevada, Grass Valley, Rough and Ready, and Newtown, all of which yet
remain except the last, which has fallen to decay. Permanent camps were
established at Sweetlands, Cherokee, Kentucky Flat, and on several bars of the
Yubas. Hotels were opened at Nevada, Grass Valley and Rough and Ready. Sawmills
were put in operation in these places. A hall was opened in Nevada for dramatic
and other entertainments. A church was organized in the same place. The town
took a permanent name. The first discovery of gold in the old river beds of the
pliocene era was made in the hills above the town. The first ditches were
projected and constructed. The long-tom was brought into use and soon after the
sluice, superseding the rocker. Gold was discovered in quartz at Grass Valley
and a crushing mill erected there.

  The people of the region organized politically and put themselves within the
control of law by their own option, electing officers and providing for their
support. Gambling saloons arose in splendor and numbers, and were thronged.
Liquors were sold and fights were common. Claims were jumped; pistols and knives
were worn and drawn; murder was committed; lawyers came into use, and, in brief,
the whole paraphernalia of civilized life gradually came to be adopted. It was
not necessity alone that prompted the early settlers of California to place
themselves within the dominion of law. Self-government may be counted as one of
the instincts of the American people. Wherever a few of our countrymen come
together organization and order are sure to follow. Every American is a lawgiver
and a statesman, and must put his knowledge and theories into practice. Hence
new ideas, conflicts of opinion, new States; the growth and progress of our
great country.

  The year 1851 was marked by great changes. Nevada county was organized out of
Yuba, by an act of the Legislature of May 18th, of that year. A great fire
destroyed the town of Nevada on March 11th. More ditches were surveyed and dug.
Several quartz mills were erected in Grass Valley and about Nevada, and a career
of prosperity in that branch of industry begun at the former place. General laws
were better executed because the Courts were nearer at hand and the expense of
obtaining justice had been cheapened by a county organization. Local regulations
concerning quartz claims began to take shape, and a great impulse was given to
that branch of mining. A newspaper was started in Nevada. More churches were
organized and edifices erected. Families were added to the few who had taken up
their residence before. Children made their appearance in numbers sufficient to
justify employing teachers. Schools were opened. Comfortable residences began to
appear on the hills. The people had commenced to see the truth of the aphorism:
"a rolling stone gathers no moss," and began to cease "to fold up their tents,
like the Arabs, and as quietly steal away"—and to settle down into the habits of
fatherland. Up to this time as in the French there was no word in the California
vernacular with the exact meaning of "home," except as applied to the dear old
spot the miner had left behind him in the country far away.

  During the few succeeding years there were rapid strides made in social
progress, in improvements in mining, and in discoveries in various parts of the
county. Excitements, inseparable from the ruling occupation, were frequent;
hopes were often elevated and as often depressed. Brick buildings arose, gardens
were planted, orchards began, families gathered around them the comforts and
elegancies of, life, and a character of permanence became more and more
apparent. The failure of several adventures in quartz mining about Nevada in
1852 had a disheartening influence for a time, many predicting that flush times
had forever passed away; but confidence was soon restored, and the county
increased steadily in -population and wealth, although millions of dollars were
shipped away annually, or went to adjoining counties to develop new localities.

  In October 1858, Nevada county had for the first time telegraphic
communication with the cities below, and two years after with Downieville. Grass
Valley about this time took the lead of all the other quartz districts in the
State and has maintained her superiority to this day.

  As an evidence of the increase of population of the county, we may mention,
the vote at the first election in 1851 was twenty-nine hundred, while in 1856 it
was seven thousand three hundred, the city of Nevada alone casting of the number
two thousand and eighty-one.

  It was in the latter year that a terrible tragedy occurred at Nevada, in which
the Sheriff of the county and his deputy were killed by mistake. Sheriff W. W.
Wright, and Special Deputy David Johnson, went to Gold Flat on the night of the
3d of November to watch for some prisoners who broke jail the night previous.
Other parties were on the watch at the same place unknown to the Sheriffs party.
They came in contact, and each supposing the other to be the scoundrels for whom
they were lying in wait, resorted to their arms. Wright and Johnson were shot.

  The Fraser River excitement in 1857-58 had a telling effect upon the
population of our county as well as upon the valuation of property Hundreds sold
out their possessions for what they could get and hurried off to British
Columbia, to a cold and inhospitable region, not one of whom can we recall to
recollection who was gainer by the step. Many returned to their old haunts,
sadder if not wiser men; many are yet buffeting the waves of fortune in those
northern climes, and many are beyond the reach of excitements forevermore.

  Nevada has had her share of all the many excitements that have so often
stirred the people of the coast to abnormal action. But, that which carried away
more people and capital than any other was the Washoe or silver mania of 1859.
The first notice of the silver discovery near Virginia City was in the Nevada
Journal of July 1st of that year. That article announced the fact to the world,
and the first specimens of silver ore from the mines ever distributed in
California were by the editor of that paper.

  On the 24th of June, Mr. J. F. Stone, who had been living for a time beyond
the Sierra Nevada, brought a bag of specimens to the Journal office and related
the facts in connection with their discovery. About the same time pieces of the
ore had been left for assay with J. J. Ott of Nevada, and Mr. Attwood of Grass
Valley. The result of the assay created a sudden excitement. The specimens
brought by Stone, distributed about, served to highten the interest in the
discovery. Mr. Arthur Hagadorn, of the firm of Mulford & Hagadorn, bankers in
Nevada, without a moment's delay, proceeded to dispatch some one to the new
mines, and A. B. Head was selected for the enterprise. Judge Walsh and others
from Grass Valley made a simultaneous start, and the Nevada and Grass Valley
parties came together before crossing the Sierra. In a few days others were on
the route; more soon followed, and within two years, it is probable one-third of
the male adults of Nevada county had gone to the silver region, either to try
their fortunes or visit the scenes that had created so intense an excitement. It
is proper to add, that of the fortunate adventurers our county contributed a
very generous proportion.

  In the rovings of the Americans over the country in quest of more silver
lodes, they came in collision with the natives. A party, among whom was Henry
Meredith of Nevada, was ambushed by the Pi Uutes, routed and Meredith and many
others were slain. An alarm was created at Virginia City, which extended over
California, and nowhere was the excitement more intense than in Nevada county,
whose citizens by hundreds were supposed to be in peril on the other side of the
mountains. A large subscription was raised—larger than in any other county of
the State—and a company of men volunteered and were on their way over the
mountains to the relief of their friends with promptness and dispatch. The
company took part in the defeat of the Indians. Not many days after the
departure of the company, the citizens of the county were urged to do more. A
meeting was called and another body of men volunteered. It is related that an
ex-official, not being pleased with the smallness of the number of volunteers,
made a short speech in which he declared it was a disgrace to send such a
miserable squad. "Let us make up a company consistent with the pride of the
county and the danger to be encountered. Yes, gentlemen," said he, "let us at
least raise enough to make a respectable corpse!" It is said many of the company
did not like the ghastly allusion and abandoned the expedition.

  The silver developments on the eastern slope of the Sierra induced a
tremendous emigration to the new region, and called for large and long continued
supplies. Our county, occupying a central position, and almost on a line between
the Bay of San Francisco and Virginia City, and having one of the best natural
passes across the mountains, received a generous share of the travel to and from
the land of silver.

  I should not forget to mention that the silver discoveries gave an impulse to
the Pacific Railroad movement. The project of constructing a transcontinental
railway had long been a favorite theme among politicians of all parties. Sooner
or later the enterprise must have been undertaken. But, the enormous prices paid
for freight to the silver mines, and the grand prospect that seemed to be
opening for rich and extensive mines of silver all over a wide extended region
on the eastern border of California, held out a prize for railroad men quite as
tempting as the visionary carrying trade of the Indies. A railroad was deemed a
necessity to the people of Washoe, and a rich investment to the builders. To
obtain the trade of a region rich in silver, but poor in all other resources,
therefore, became an object, and hightened the zeal of men anxious to associate
their names with one of the greatest enterprises of modern times. A feasible
route for a railroad was discovered by Theodore D. Judah, in October, 1860,
which runs up the divide between Bear river and the American, through Placer and
entering Nevada county near the high Sierra. On this route a first-class
railroad has been built, at this time as far as Cisco, along the southern border
of the county, and thus rendering our mines and productions of easy access has
brought us into intimate connection with the men and the capital of the older
countries of the globe. The importance of the road to Nevada county, in this
regard, can scarcely be over estimated.

   I am now to approach one of those extraordinary events that live in the
annals of a community while time endures. The fitful fever after fortunes in
silver being over with the disappointed multitude, and reports being circulated
of many recent and rich discoveries of quartz in our county, hundreds of
desperate men came among us and highway and other robberies became common. On
the 15th of May, 1866, the stage from North San Juan to Nevada was stopped at 4
1/2 o'clock in the morning, near the top of the hill on the south side of the
South Yuba, above Black's Crossing, by three men in disguise, and $7,900 taken
from Wells, Fargo & Co.'s coin chest, which is a fixture in all the stages
wherever the company have a route. The passengers, seven in number, were ordered
to get out, and the driver commanded to take the horses from the wagon without
delay. As the robbers were armed with revolvers, there was no alternative but to
obey. The robbers then proceeded to blow open the chest with powder, with which
they came prepared. Their object was accomplished at the second attempt. The
coin was taken and the driver was ordered to drive on.

  The stage drove quickly into Nevada, a distance of five miles. The news was
made public. Sheriff R. B. Gentry rallied a posse and repaired in all haste to
the scene of the robbery. This posse consisted of Steve Venard, James H. Lee,
Albert Gentry, and A. W. Potter.

  An examination of the spot showed that the robbers had turned out of the road
and gone down the river on a line parallel with it. Venard and Lee got on the
trail of the robbers and followed it over the roughest of all imaginable ground
for the distance of a mile and a half. It was evident which way the robbers
went. Lee went back to take the horses around to the road of the crossing below;
the rest of the Sheriff's party having previously gone in that direction.
Venard, left alone, followed the trail. He came to Myers' Ravine, at its
debouchure into the Tuba. He saw that the pursued had gone up the ravine to a
crossing. He was alone in one of the wildest, and roughest of spots in that wild
and rugged region. The hills hung steep above. Rocks, trees, brush and logs
there were in profusion on every hand. Venard was armed with a Henry rifle. The
waters of the ravine came tumbling down its steep bed of bowlders, with a rush
and a noise which rendered no other sounds audible. The hero of the hour
proceeded with caution. A huge rock rose twenty feet in hight in the midst of
the muddy water; other smaller rocks surrounded it, altogether forming an
island. A tree or two grew upon the lower end of the island in the midst of the
rocks, their branches and foliage partially covering the rocky rampart above.
Below the island, at a few feet distance, was a precipice of fifteen feet or
more over which the waters of the ravine tumbled. Venard attempted to cross the
stream at the head of this fall. He walked on a short log to a rock. Above him
rose the huge mass of granite, buttressed in front by two smaller rocks. Between
these latter was an alley which led up to the base of the Titan. His position
was such as to look up this alley. At the base of the great rock Venard
discovered the object of his search. The leader of the gang was sitting on the
ground and in the act of drawing his revolver. Venard instantly leveled his
rifle upon the robber, who was not more than twenty feet distant. At the same
moment he saw another of the gang pointing a pistol at him over the edge of a
rock. There was no time to change his aim. He fired; the leader fell back shot
through the heart. The other robber attempted to shield himself farther behind a
rock, leaving the point of his pistol exposed over the top The exposure was
fatal; Venard covered the spot with his unerring Henry. No sooner did the head
of the robber peer above the rock to take aim than his brain was pierced with a
bullet. There was yet another, but he was not to be seen. His pistol might at
that moment be pointing at Venard. The latter, quick as thought, clambered up to
the lair to beard him in his den. He found the treasure, took the pistols from
the dead, covered quickly the former with earth and leaves, and proceeded to
hunt up the missing robber. Crossing the stream and ascending the steep mountain
beyond, he discovered the robber running up the acclivity sixty yards or more
ahead. Venard fired and the robber fell. Another bullet, and the last robber
rolled down the hill—dead.

  Venard now sought his companions. They all proceeded to the scene of the
tragedy, recovered the money, and by two o'clock of the same day the Sheriff's
party deposited the cash with Wells, Fargo & Co., in Nevada. If this be not an
example of summary justice and remarkable heroism I know not where one may be
found. After the Sheriff's party had left Nevada, Wells, Fargo & Co. offered a
reward of three thousand dollars, which was paid. The Company also presented
Steve Venard with a magnificent Henry rifle, gold mounted and beautifully
inscribed, and Governor Low appointed him on his staff with the rank of
Lieutenant Colonel, "for meritorious services in the field."

  The bodies of the robbers were brought to town, washed and fully identified.
Upon them was found property they had taken from the passengers in stages they
had stopped before. The names of the robbers were George Shanks, alias Jack
Williams, the leader, Bob Finn, alias Caton, and George W. Moore.

  I have thus far abstained from mentioning the various homicides that have
occurred in the county, from a feeling that too much prominence has been already
given to such events in the newspapers of the day. Such tragedies are
inseparable from life in California; or in any other country of great
excitements and disappointments. But, a murder of such atrocity as characterized
the butchery of Cooper and Kile, at the upper crossing of the South Yuba,
deserves special mention. On the evening of the 26th of November, 1866, J. L.
Cooper and Joseph Kile, the former a part owner of the bridge known as Cooper's,
were attacked by some person or persons unknown, with an ax, and both slain and
most horribly mangled. A safe was opened and a few hundred dollars taken. Trunks
were burst in with the bloody ax, but money and specimens in one were left
untouched. Kile was found the next morning inside the house, and Cooper was
lying on the bridge where he had been chopped down in his attempt at flight.
Governor Low offered a reward of one thousand dollars for the apprehension of
the murderers; the Board of Supervisors of the county added two thousand more,
and T. J. Manchester and James Patten, the former an owner in the bridge, and
the latter a relative of Cooper, also increased the amount to three thousand
five hundred dollars. The whole affair is shrouded in mystery.

  On the evening of the 27th December, 1866, a hurricane of great fury passed
Nevada, which broke down the strongest trees, unroofed buildings, blew down
chimneys, and left other proofs of its violence. Its course was from the
southwest to the northeast, and left its traces through Rough and Ready
township, and on to the summit of the mountains. Its track was not more than
five hundred feet wide, and luckily it passed where but little damage to
property could be done. Hailstones of great size fell along the track and for a
few miles on each side, alternating with torrents of rain. A gentleman who was
on the edge of the hurricane says It. was impossible to keep his feet, and that
while lying flat on the ground the current of air against the top of his head
was strong enough to push him lengthwise upon the ground-

  I have thus given a brief compilation of the historical events and their
dates—pertaining to the county at large—so far as the design of the work for
which this is written, will allow. Many other circumstances of interest will
appear in the sketches of towns; but many incidents of secondary importance will
have to go unnoticed, as beyond the limits and scope of the present sketch.
Other facts in connection with the history of Nevada county are related in
directories heretofore published, and still others may be found in other parts
of this work.

  Let it suffice, in closing this division of my subject, to remark, that a wild
and ragged region has, in less than two decades, been subjugated from nature;
that it has been made to yield more gold than any other spot of like extent on
the globe; that from a handful of people, without law, has grown a population of
probably more than twenty thousand souls, where the rights of the citizen are
maintained by as incorruptible a judiciary as can bless a people; that from a
roving, restless population, intent on filching the gold from the soil and
abandoning the country, we have settled down content in the belief that the
region is incomparable as a home, and have surrounded ourselves with the
comforts of a high civilization; that schools are established and a rising
generation are garnering up the pleasant incidents of youth, which, associated
with the scenes around us, will attach them to Nevada forever.

  Furthermore, that late developments are opening to us and the world the truth,
that the career of prosperity of Nevada county has but just begun. At this
writing new lodes of quartz are being worked in all parts of the county; capital
and enterprise are enlisted in earnest; and the year 1867 promises to be
extraordinary in happy results.

  In another branch of industry there are strong incentives to enterprise.
Experiments so far conducted show that a large share of the soil of the county
and the climate, are specially adapted to the production of the finest kinds of
table wines. Articles of the kind have been produced that sold' to good judges
at from $2 50 to $3 00 per gallon. An interest has been awakened in this branch
of culture, and ere long the sides of these mountains will flourish with the
vine, whose juice will rival the most generous productions of a foreign soil.
There is room for indefinite expansion.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

Bean’s History and Directory of Nevada County, California

CONTAINING A COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE COUNTY, WITH
SKETCHES OF THE VARIOUS TOWNS AND MINING
CAMPS, THE NAMES AND OCCUPATION OF
RESIDENTS; ALSO, FULL STATISTICS
OF MINING AND ALL OTHER
INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES.

COMPILED BY EDWIN F. BEAN.

PRINTED AT THE DAILY GAZETTE BOOK AND JOB OFFICE,
1867.


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