Plumas-Sierra County CA Archives History - Books .....Sierra Valley 1882
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Book Title: Illustrated History Of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra Counties

SIERRA VALLEY.

   Lying partly in Plumas and partly in Sierra county is the largest valley to
be found in the whole Sierra chain. With an altitude of 5,000 feet above the
level of the sea, its atmosphere is cool, clear, and healthful. Since 1853 it
has been settled by an agricultural population, and is now one of the most
prosperous sections of the state, containing six villages, Beckwourth, Summit,
Sierraville, Loyalton, Randolph, and Craycroft, the last four being in Sierra
county, in which the larger portion of the valley lies.

   The valley is entered at its north-eastern end through Beckwourth pass,
discovered by James P. Beckwourth, whose name was also applied in former years
to the valley. Beckwourth was an old "mountain man," or trapper, a story of
whose life, dictated by himself and written by Thomas D. Bonner, was published
in 1856 by Harper & Brothers of New York. The narrative abounds with the
exaggeration usual to the mountaineers in relating their adventures to auditors
who have no means of disproving them—an art in which Beckwourth excelled his
companions because of his long residence with the boastful savages. In fact, it
contains hundreds of what a miner characterized as "some of Jim Beckwourth's
lies." The book reveals the fact that the hero was born in Fredericksburg,
Virginia, February 26, 1798, from whence the family moved to Missouri a few
years later. When quite a young man he began his life on the plains and in the
mountains, accompanying General Ashley in his trapping expeditions. For years he
lived among the Crow Indians, of which tribe he claims to have been for a time
the head chief and ruler. He came to California in 1844, and remained until the
war with Mexico. His part in the struggle in this state consisted of stealing a
large band of horses (1,800 he says), and getting out of the country as rapidly
as possible with five valiant companions, leaving others to fight the battles.
In 1849 he again came back to California. We give the particulars of the
discovery of the pass and settlement in the valley as they appear in the book.
By following the chronology of the volume, the discovery is placed in the year
1850; but it will appear, as the narrative progresses, that it must have been in
1851. After speaking of a prospecting trip to Pit river, he says:

   "While on this excursion I discovered what is now known as Beckwourth's pass
in the Sierra Nevada. From some of the elevations over which we passed I
remarked a place far away to the southward that seemed lower than any other. I
made no mention of it to my companion, but thought that at some future time I
would examine into it further. I continued on to Shasta with my fellow-traveler,
and returned after a fruitless journey of eighteen days. After a short stay in
the American valley, I again started with a prospecting party of twelve men. We
killed a bullock before starting [there were no bullocks in American valley in
April, 1850], and dried the meat, in order to have provisions to last us during
the trip. We proceeded in an easterly direction, and all busied themselves in
searching for gold; but my errand was of a different character. I had come to
discover what I suspected to be a pass.

   "It was the latter end of April [it was impossible for him to have traveled
through this region as early as March, 1850, as he must have done to have gone
up to Pit river, then to Shasta, then made a stop in American valley, and
finally reach Sierra valley in the last of April, a month before the Gold-lakers
started; in the spring of 1851 it could have been done, and he could also then
get a "bullock" in American valley of the Turner brothers] when we entered upon
an extensive valley at the north-west extremity of the Sierra range. The valley
was already robed in freshest verdure, contrasting most delightfully with the
huge snow-clad masses of rock we had just left. Flowers of every variety and hue
spread their variegated charms before us; magpies were chattering, and
gorgeously-plumaged birds were carroling their delights of unmolested solitude.
Swarms of wild geese and ducks were swimming on the surface of the cool, crystal
stream, which was the central fork of the Rio de las Plumas, or sailed the air
in clouds over our heads. Deer and antelope filled the plains, and their
boldness was conclusive that the hunter's rifle was to them unknown. Nowhere
visible were any traces of the white man's approach, and it is probable that our
steps were the first that marked the spot. [Some of the searchers for Gold lake
had seen the valley from the mountains, in June, 1850.] We struck across this
beautiful valley to the waters of the Yuba, from thence to the waters of the
Truchy (Truckee), which latter flowed in an easterly direction, telling us we
were on the eastern slope of the mountain range. This I at once saw-would afford
the best wagon road into the American valley, approaching from the eastward; and
I imparted my views to three of my companions in whose judgment I placed the
most confidence. They thought highly of the discovery, and even proposed to
associate with me in opening the road. We also found gold, but not in sufficient
quantity to warrant our working it; and furthermore, the ground was too wet to
admit of our prospecting to any advantage.

   "On my return to the American valley, I made known my discovery to Mr.
Turner, proprietor of the American ranch [Turner brothers did not settle there
until late in the summer of 1850], who entered enthusiastically into my views;
it was a thing, he said, he had never dreamed of before. If I could but carry
out my plan, and divert travel into that road, he thought I should be a made man
for life. Thereupon he drew up a subscription list, setting forth the merits of
the project, and showing how the road could be made practicable to Bidwell's
bar, and thence to Marysville, which latter place would derive peculiar
advantages from the discovery. He headed the subscription with two hundred
dollars. "When I reached Bid well's bar and unfolded my project, the town was
seized with a perfect mania for the opening of the route. The subscriptions
toward the fund required for its accomplishment amounted to five hundred
dollars. I then proceeded to Marysville a place which would unquestionably
derive greater benefit from the newly discovered route than any other place on
the way, since this must be the entrepot or principal starting-place for
emigrants. I communicated with several of the most influential residents on the
subject in hand. They also spoke very encouragingly of my undertaking, and
referred me, before all others, to the mayor of the city. Accordingly I waited
upon that gentleman (a Mr. Miles), and brought the matter under his notice,
representing it as being a legitimate matter for his interference, and offering
substantial advantages to the commercial prosperity of the city. [Here the facts
show beyond dispute that this all occurred in 1851 instead of 1850. The city of
Marysville was incorporated by Act of February 5, 1851, and S. M. Miles was
elected mayor in March—the first mayor the city ever had.] The mayor entered
warmly into my views, and pronounced it as his opinion that the profits
resulting from the speculation could not be less than from six to ten thousand
dollars; and as the benefits accruing to the city would be incalculable, he
would insure my expenses while engaged upon it. I mentioned that I should prefer
some guaranty before entering upon my labors, to secure me against loss of what
money I might lay out. 'Leave that to me,' said the mayor; 'I will attend to the
whole affair. I feel confident that a subject of so great importance to our
interests will engage the earliest attention.'

   "I thereupon left the whole proceeding in his hands, and immediately setting
men to Murk upon the road, went out to the Truchy (Truckee) to turn emigration
into my newly discovered route. While thus busily engaged I was seized with
erysipelas, and abandoned all hopes of recovery; I was over one hundred miles
away from medical assistance, and my only shelter was a brush tent. I made my
will, and resigned myself to death. Life still lingered in me, however, and a
train of wagons came up and encamped near to where I lay. I was reduced to a
very low condition, but I saw the drivers, and acquainted them with the object
which had brought me out there. They offered to attempt the new road if I
thought myself sufficiently strong to guide them through it. The women, God
bless them! came to my assistance, and through their kind attentions and
excellent nursing I rapidly recovered from my lingering sickness, until I was
soon able to mount my horse and lead the first train, consisting of seventeen
wagons, through Beckwourth's pass. We reached the American valley without the
least accident, and the emigrants expressed entire satisfaction with the route.
I returned with the train through to Marysville, and upon the intelligence being
communicated of the practicability of my road, there was quite a public
rejoicing. A northern route had been discovered, and the city had received an
impetus that would advance her beyond all her sisters on the Pacific shore.
[Rather an exaggerated idea of the importance of the road.] I felt proud of my
achievement and was foolish enough to promise myself a substantial recognition
of my labors.

   "I was destined to disappointment, for that same night Marysville was laid in
ashes. [The first fire of consequence in Marysville occurred on the night of
August 31, 1851. This fact also fixes the year of the discovery of the pass.]
The mayor of the ruined town congratulated me upon bringing a train through. He
expressed great delight at my good fortune, but regretted that their recent
calamity had placed it entirely beyond his power to obtain for me any
substantial reward. With the exception of some two hundred dollars subscribed by
some liberal-minded citizens of Marysville, I have received no indemnification
for the money and labor I have expended upon my discovery. The city had been
greatly benefited by it, as all must acknowledge, for the emigrants that now
flock to Marysville would otherwise have gone to Sacramento....

   "In the spring of 1852 I established myself in Beckwourth valley, and finally
found myself transformed into a hotel-keeper and chief of a trading post. My
house is considered the emigrant's landing-place, as it is the first ranch he
arrives at in the golden state, and is the only house between this point and
Salt lake. Here is a valley two hundred and forty miles in circumference,
containing some of the choicest land in the world. Its yield of hay is
incalculable; the red and white clovers spring up spontaneously, and the grass
that covers its smooth surface is of the most nutritious nature. When the weary,
toil-worn emigrant reaches this valley, he feels himself secure; he can lay
himself down and taste refreshing repose, undisturbed by the fear of Indians.
His cattle can graze around him in pasture up to their eyes, without running any
danger of being driven off by the Arabs of the forest; and springs flow before
them, as pure as any that refresh this verdant earth."

   That Beckwourth discovered this pass in the spring of 1851, led a train of
emigrants through it that summer, and in the spring of 1852 established himself
in the valley on the route from the pass, took up a land claim, built a hotel,
and began trading with the emigrants, are facts beyond dispute, and to him
should be given all the credit due. His complaint about losing his time and
money in opening the road was not well founded; for at his ranch he reaped his
proper and ample reward in the profitable trade he carried on with the emigrants
who came over the new route. The supposition that this pass and route may have
been named after Lieutenant E. G. Beckwith is an erroneous one, for that
gentleman did not come through this pass; in 1854 he surveyed a railroad route
through Noble's pass from Honey lake to Ft. Reading [see history of Lassen
county], two years after Beckwourth settled in the valley.

   There were other eyes that gazed upon the valley before those of James P.
Beckwourth. In the month of June, 1850, the party in search of Gold lake reached
the head-waters of the middle fork of Feather river. Three of them, A. P.
Chapman, George F. Kent, and William E. Jones, went hunting one day, and from
the top of what was called Saddleback peak espied the valley lying to the
eastward. They went away with the others, but in October, 1851, Chapman returned
in company with Joseph Kirby, John Gardner, and I. K. McClannin. They stopped
first in Mohawk valley, but finding the land there all claimed, they went on to
the great valley they had seen the year before. They camped for the first night
amid a clump of pines on Chapman's present ranch, the trees being deemed by one
of their number as a safe retreat in the event of an attack by a grizzly. In the
morning there was a clear sky, and the valley looked so enchanting that they
immediately posted up notices claiming a strip straight across for four ranches.
They then returned to Downieville and reported what they had found, when a party
went out and located, but soon left. Later that fall Chapman again came to the
valley, and located claims for William C. and B. F. Lemmon. He went back again
to Downieville, but soon returned with Gardner, Kirby, and one other, and began
cutting timber for a house, but went back to Downieville when the storms set in.
Chapman went east that winter, and returned to California in the spring. On the
seventh of July, 1852, he again came to the valley with McClannin, and erected a
cabin of the timber that had been cut the fall before. It was on the same ground
now covered by Mr. Chapman's residence. That spring James P. Beckwourth had
located his trading post at the north end of the valley. The same year W. C. and
B. F. Lemmon and Ezra Culver built a house where Randolph now stands.

   During 1852 and 1853 many other locations were made, and during the few
succeeding years the settlers began to cultivate the ground to a considerable
extent. Year by year the ranches have been improved, until now Sierra valley
ranks among the finest agricultural regions of the state. The railroad
connection soon to be had with Reno will be of vast advantage to the residents
of the valley.

   The first lady in the valley was Mrs. T. Maddux, who came in the fall of
1852, and still resides here. Her oldest daughter, Laura, was the first white
child born in the valley, her birth occurring in the winter of 1853. The second
lady was Mrs. Ordelle C. Howk, who came with her husband, Corel Howk, in the
spring of 1853. They still reside at Loyalton.

   BECKWOURTH.—The first house in Beckwourth valley was built by James P.
Beckwourth in the spring of 1852. It stood on the side of a hill, in the village
of Beckwourth, west of Alexander Kirby's residence. The second one was in the
yard, and with the other was burned by Indians. The third is still standing, and
is used as an ice-house by Mr. Kirby. This little place is now-called the
village of Beckwourth, and has a post-office of that name, which was established
some distance away in 1866, but was moved here in 1869. Until 1869 the place was
called Jones Station, John Jones and Peter Parish being sole owners. Alexander
Kirby is now the proprietor of the old Beckwourth ranch. There is a graveyard
one hundred yards north of his house, in which a number of unfortunate emigrants
are buried.

   SUMMIT.—Near the highest point in the pass, on the road from the valley to
Reno, lies the little town of Summit. In 1859 C. T. Adams erected a hotel here,
which was destroyed by fire in 1866. A small store was opened in 1862 by a man
named Wilkinson. He was also the first postmaster. The present incumbent of that
office is Richard Martin, who does a general merchandising business, and deals
extensively in butter, handling 3,000 lbs. per week. William E. Jones, commonly
called Paul Jones, keeps an excellent hotel, the Summit House. A blacksmith shop
and shoe-maker's shop are also among the adjuncts of the town. A lodge of I. O.
O. F., recently removed from Loyalton, is located here. There is also a
cemetery, neatly fenced and kept in good order.

   LOYALTON.—That portion of Sierra valley in which the town of Loyalton now
stands was originally known as Smith's neck. It derived its appellation from a
party of miners who were associated together under the name of the Smith Mining
Company, and were engaged in fluming and mining on the north fork of the Yuba
river, above Downieville. In the spring of 1854, having more money than was
needed in carrying on their mining operations, they sent two of their number
east to purchase a large band of cattle, while others came into this valley to
take up a large section of land for grazing and agricultural purposes. These
latter gentlemen went to about the center of the east side, and laid claim to
five sections of land lying on either side of a fine stream, carrying about 500
inches of water, which empties into the middle fork of Feather river, and which
they called Smith creek. They built a house and corrals, and improved about five
acres of land, sowing it with wheat that fall. This was the first attempt to
raise this cereal in the valley. The men who had been sent east for cattle
failed to return, causing great disappointment to their associates. Those in the
valley had two yoke of cattle until about the first of November, when the Washoe
Indians killed one of the oxen. Fearing a general raid by the savages, the men
hastened to the nearest white settlement, fourteen miles away, about where the
town of Randolph now stands. That winter the Smith company failed, the Indians
burned the improvements on the ranch, and the men abandoned their location.
Before leaving they presented Mr. T. S. Battelle with their crop of wheat, and
the next July, being a settler in the valley himself, he harvested the grain.

   From the time it was abandoned by this company until the summer of 1857,
Smith's neck remained unoccupied. At that time Redmond & Rolands relocated the
claim, but did nothing to improve it, simply remaining on the property. In the
spring of 1858 Redmond went below for teams, seed, and supplies, and has never
been seen in this vicinity since. That terminated the settlement. In the spring
of 1859 Peter Duncan located a quarter section of the Smith's neck land, as did
also John Schroeder and Andrew Bodnoch. Of these Schroeder is the only one still
residing on his location. Bodnoch died at his ranch in 1872, and his place is
now known as the Pool ranch. Peter Duncan sold his place in 1860 to Rev. Adam G.
Doom, who built and opened a hotel the following year. In 1863 he was appointed
postmaster of a new office established at his place, and which, with the general
consent of his neighbors, he called Loyalton. Through his efforts a school-house
was built in 1865, and also a Baptist church was erected here in 1870, in the
upper story of which was a hall. In 1871 a M. E. church was erected by members
of that denomination.

   August 21, 1879, saw one of those fatal calamities visit Loyalton that have
been so destructive to the towns of California. By a fire which the people were
powerless to subdue, the whole town was laid in ashes, with the exception only
of Keyes' hotel and the M. E. church. The buildings were rapidly restored,
except the Baptist church, and a new school-house was erected. The town has now
a population of about 100, and contains two stores, one hotel, one church, one
school-house, one saloon, one blacksmith shop, one market, one livery stable,
and one town hall. The town is very prosperous, and is surrounded by a thriving
agricultural and dairy region that assures it a permanent and substantial trade.

   Craycroft is a little settlement in Craycroft neck, in the vicinity of
Loyalton, principally owned by Jacob Knuthsen and William Gibson. It was first
settled in 1852 by Finneman, William Hedges, Henry Davidson, and John Craycroft,
of Downieville.

   About five miles southwest of Loyalton is the Antelope mining district,
discovered in 1863 by Judge Davis, Joseph Dodge, Crum Brothers, Mark Hammond,
Abernethy, and others. There is a well-defined ledge, carrying gold, silver, and
copper. The locators did some work, but soon abandoned it. It has since been
worked a little by various parties. The present owners are J. A. Gleeson, W. J.
Patterson, J. L. Gwin, and B. F. Lemmon.

   SIERRAVILLE.—At the head of the valley lies the little town of Sierraville,
one mile from Randolph, and in a rich agricultural section. The first house was
built by John Lipscomb and John Mullen, in 1855, who had located a ranch the
year before. It was for a dwelling, and stood near the site of S. T. Burton's
store. They sold their property in 1857 to William Arms, who built a store near
the dwelling. This building bore the legend over its entrance, "Pioneer Store,"
being the first one opened, with the exception of Beckwourth's trading post at
the other end of the valley. A post-office was established in 1858, with the
name of Sierraville, and Mr. Arms was appointed postmaster. Midway between
Sierraville and Randolph stand a M. E. church and public school-house, erected
by the citizens of both places for their joint occupation.

   On the thirty-first of August, 1881, the whole business portion of the town,
except Darling's livery stable, was laid in ashes, including two hotels, two
stores, an I. O. O. F. hall and several other buildings. The loss was $46,500;
insurance 18,000. Rebuilding is rapidly going on, and the business of
Sierraville will soon recover from the shock. There is a population of about
150. Four lines of stages center here; one to Truckee, one to Sierra City, one
to Junction and Eureka Mills, and one to Loyalton and Summit.

   RANDOLPH.—At the upper end of the valley, and but one mile from Sierraville,
lies the little village of Randolph, containing about 100 people. The first
house built in the head of the valley was constructed of logs, in 1853, by W. C.
and B. F. Lemmon and Ezra Culver, and still stands in the town of Randolph,
which has grown up around it. In the spring of 1853, five acres, the first
ground broken in the valley, were planted to buckwheat by the Lemmons. A severe
frost late in August killed the buckwheat, as well as some of the vegetables, of
which quite a variety had been planted. This had a tendency to discourage grain
culture for several years. Silas Gates built a house in Randolph soon after,
near where Mr. Rowdon's planing mill now stands. Later he built the south
portion of the present Randolph Hotel, and opened it to the public. The large
building was afterwards added, and the present sign put up. It is now the
property of G. Q. Buxton, who also owes a livery stable, and runs a stage line
through Sierraville to Jamison and Plumas Eureka. Randolph contains one store,
one hotel and stable, one planing mill, one shingle mill, two saloons, one
blacksmith shop, one shoe-shop, one grist mill, and a number of pleasant
residences. A M. E. church and public school-house is situated half-way between
this place and Sierraville, built by the citizens of both towns.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

Illustrated History of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra Counties

San Francisco: Fariss & Smith
(1882)

File at: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ca/plumas/history/1882/illustra/sierrava128nms.txt

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