San Mateo County CA Archives History - Books .....Chapter II Early History 1893 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher cagwarchives@gmail.com January 12, 2007, 1:50 am Book Title: Memorial And Biographical History Of The Coast Counties Of Central California. CHAPTER II. EARLY HISTORY. ALTHOUGH the ocean coast, of what is now known as San Mateo county, was doubtless seen by the early navigators. Probably the first Europeans to set foot on its soil, were the Portala party, which in seeking and missing Monterey bay pursued their journey northward and passed up the peninsula to its terminus, in the month of October, 1769; and in the early part of November of the same year some of the soldiers of the party climbed the hills while hunting for deer, and saw for the first time the magnificent inland sea, since known to the world as the bay of San Francisco. The subsequent history of San Mateo, down to the American conquest of California, is somewhat meager. The Californians who had received land grants within the present limits of the county, pastured their stock on the same. The county was created in 1856. One of the first towns started was Belmont, which was made the county seat. Later, Redwood City became, and still remains, the county-seat. The latter place was laid out in 1854. The growth of the county was due to a considerable extent, first, to its nearness to San Francisco, and second, to the inexhaustible wealth of its redwood forests. The town of San Mateo was founded as a railway station in 1863. THE PASTORAL AGE. In the pastoral age of California, where hides and tallow were its chief exports, the country around the bay was the great center of traffic. Vast herds were pastured on the ranches bordering on the bay, in wild oats and clover of luxuriant growth, with nothing to disturb them except the riata and branding iron of the vaquero, or an occasional attack of a ferocious grizzly bear. SPANISH GRANTS. The land lying on the bay was, early in the history of the country, granted to Mexican citizens, in large tracts, for grazing purposes, under the very liberal land policy of the Mexican Government. These grants included "Burri Burri," "San Mateo," from which the county was named, "Las Pulgas," on part of which Redwood City is located, and "Corte Madera." These four ranches embrace about 70,000 acres, which is very nearly the extent of the level and foot-hill land lying along the shore of the bay of San Francisco, within San Mateo County. On the ocean side of the Sierra Morena mountains are the "Corral de Tierra," "San Pedro," "Miramontez," "Canada Verde," "San Gregorio," "Pescadero," "Buttano" and "New Year's Point" ranches. Much of the coast country is now under cultivation, or is used for dairy farms. Of the mountain land, at least one-third is tillable, and the remainder is suitable for grazing, or is even more valuable for its timber, which includes most of the useful varieties common to California. Besides this, there are other valleys of importance, among them the "Canada Raymundo," upper "San Gregorio" and "Pomponio," containing considerable areas of tillable land. It was the custom in the old Spanish or Mexican times to transport the hides from the ranchos, in huge wooden-wheel vans, to the heads of the sloughs running inland from the bay. When this could not be done, a vaquero would select a large hide, pile half a dozen or more other hides on it, attach one end of his riata to it, and the other to the pommel of his saddle, and drag the load over the dry grass to waiting boats at the head of the slough. In this way, the estuary, upon which Redwood City is now built, was first used for traffic. The hide business ceased on the coming of the Americans, and the estuary of the Pulgas rancho lost its primitive commerce, and for a long time the ebb and flow of the tides alone disturbed the quiet of its tule-sheltered shore. SAN MATEO UNDER AMERICAN RULE. In 1848, and the greater part of 1849, all the freight by water, for this section, was landed at the San Francisquito creek estuary. A road led from there to the Coppinger and other lumber camps in the redwoods on the mountains. The re-discovery and utilization of the redwood estuary was the result of an opportune error, and forms an episode in the history of San Mateo county of sufficient interest to entitle it to reproduction here, in detail. A PIONEER'S REMINISCENCES. Dr. R. O. Tripp, still an honored citizen of San Mateo county, arrived in San Francisco in May, 1849, from New York, having crossed Mexico from Vera Cruz to Tepic, and by sailing vessel from San Blas. After practicing his profession as a dentist awhile in San Francisco, charging four dollars for extracting a tooth, and eight dollars for plugging one, while his friend and competitor, Dr. Blankeman, had the face to charge a man six ounces of gold for drawing six teeth, he set out for the mines, but was "shipwrecked " in Suisun bay, and was compelled "to wade ashore," whereby he took cold, and on his return to San Francisco found himself quite ill. About this time he met Parkhurst and Ellis, of San Mateo, who had leased the right to cut timber on widow Coppinger's rancho, el Corte Madera; and on their advice he concluded to go down there and recuperate. He went from the city to the mission in a sail boat, landing in Mission slough near the present site of the sugar refinery. It was easier to go that way than over the sand-hills. He walked as far as el Puerto Suelo, now Ocean View, and sat down to rest. There was, at that time, no habitation of any kind in sight. A man passing with a team, offered to take him as far as the Sanchez rancho, now Millbrae, where the first house was encountered after leaving the mission. The teamster charged the doctor five dollars for the ride, and, after staying all night at the Sanchez house, offered to take him to the redwoods for ten dollars. They proceeded down the road to San Mateo, and crossed the creek at the old mission building, which was kept as a hotel by Nicholas de Peyster, and was called the "Half-Way House." From there they went on to San Francisquito creek, and up that creek to the Mountain Home ranch, where he staid a week as the guest of the owner, Andrews, who had just sold a large crop of onions at $16 an arroba,-twenty-five pounds, equal to sixty-four dollars a hundred; and who, from the proceeds, had supplied himself with champagne and other luxuries, not common then nor since in the redwoods. From there the doctor went to the camp of Parkhurst and Ellis, who had returned from San Francisco, and had commenced making shingles. As Ellis drank hard, Parkhurst bought him out and invited Tripp to become his partner, which he did January 1, 1850. And here we come to the incident which reopened the Redwood estuary, and gave it the name it now bears. RAFTING TIMBER. Parkhurst and Tripp entered into a contract with some San Francisco carpenters to get out square timber and piles, and float them with the tide to San Francisco. An old North river boatman was to manage rafting the lumber down the bay to the city. The San Francisco partners, Lloyd, Rider and Hayward, left San Francisco in a small boat in February, 1850, for a visit to the redwoods. They were directed to steer for the usual landing place for the San Mateo redwoods, at San Francisquito creek. By accident they entered the Redwoods estuary, instead, sailed up as far they could go, tied their boat to an oak tree, on what was afterward the Hawes farm, and struck out for the foot-hills. From an elevation they saw the smoke of the camp, and made for it. On questioning them, Mr. Tripp soon concluded that they had not come by the San Francisquito creek embarcadero. The next day he went with them, and found that the new route, which they had drifted into, was the nearest and best route from their camp. They set about building a road to it, and hauled out their square lumber and pile-logs that way that season. They launched these logs from the bank, where Chamberlain's store now stands. Their first raft contained 250 pieces of timber in six sections. They were shipped when the winds were highest, and three sections got away from them near Goat island, and were lost. They got the other three sections to the wharf, with the aid of a tug. They realized $82 per thousand for the square lumber, and for the piles eighty-two and a half cents a running foot. They hauled lumber to the landing all summer; but they did no more rafting till the high winds had subsided; after that they got the logs into San Francisco without loss. During the summer they received all their supplies by way of Redwood. And these were the first shipments to and from what is now Redwood City. They had all the hard ground from Chamberlain's store to the tannery crowded with lumber, which was hauled during the summer and shipped that fall. It was this redwood timber, strewn along the shore wherever hard ground was found, that gave the place the name of "Redwood Slough," afterward changed to Redwood City. Dr. Tripp says that he and his partner closed out for that year, and found that they had done fairly well, after having paid Andrews and Southard $1,300 stumpage. They received their first load of supplies by teams from San Francisco; and two loads came by way of San Francisquito creek; the latter costing them $75 a load, freight from the embarcadero to their camp. In the summer of 1850, when one of the loads of supplies arrived in a flat-bottomed boat at the slough, Dr. Tripp says he sent for the freight, but the man could not find either the slough or the freight, and he himself had to go down after it, but he had to pay the man $25 extra for the day he had lost in looking for it. But as he was out of provisions, he had to have them at any cost. They had a scow built that summer, and after that received all their supplies that way. A man named William Smith built the first house on the slough. Charles Livingston started the first store just back of Chamberlain's, in the old building used as a warehouse. This was in 1851. Smith built the brick warehouse now used by Hanson, and lived in a house opposite. He married one of the Voiget girls. Dr. Tripp was in fact the first regular merchant in the county. He left the lumber camp and built where he now lives, in 1851, and commenced merchandising. Park-hurst, who had been Tripp's partner, went to San Francisco, where he obtained a place in a hardware store. While there, he would buy goods for his old partner, and have them shipped to him. One day, in the fall of 1851, Dr. Tripp says a man came to his store and told him that he, Tripp, was running for supervisor, and wanted to know what his politics were; to which he replied that he had voted for General Taylor. The election was held at the Mountain House ranch. Some voters scratched his name, but he says he took no interest in the matter, and had almost forgotten the election when he received a letter requesting him to meet with the San Francisco supervisor, San Mateo being then a part of San Francisco county. After that he says he rode up to the city every Sunday and met with the board on Mondays. Dr. Tripp and his partner, for a considerable time, had the only store between the Mission Dolores and Santa Clara. They had trade from San Mateo, Halfmoon bay, and Pescadero. The coast trade was carried on pack-mules. The stock and outfit for the first store started in Pescadero was supplied by this firm. Dr. Tripp is fairly entitled to the distinction of being the first merchant and the first elected public officer in San Mateo county, and perhaps the only merchant in this State continually in business from 1850 down to he present date, occupying the same store, with some improvements, in which he commenced his mercantile life forty years ago. ADVENTURES OF OTHER PIONEERS. Among other early settlers of the peninsula now known as San Mateo county, were William Holder, Charles Ayres, and James Weeks, who gave some very interesting reminiscences to a local journal, from which a few extracts are here given: William Holder and William Cottam came here in 1850, and first settled at the place where Belmont is now located. In 1851 they put up a small building on the bank of the creek, and opened what was then called a fonda, where refreshments were offered for sale. The same year they bought the long boat of a vessel, which they converted into a sloop of about eighty tons' burthen, and engaged in carrying freight up and down the creek, and also in carrying fire-wood to San Francisco. About this time Charles Davidson appeared on the creek with the sloop Plumas of twenty tons' capacity; and Dennis Martin was running a sawmill by water power near Searsville. In 1852, Peter Becker brought the Julia on the creek, which some years after Charles Hanson and Peter Brown bought. A Mr. Shaw started the first store here in 1851. Of those who were prominent here from 1850 to 1854, was Captain Voiget, who had been here buying hides as early as 1836. In 1850 he lived on what is now the Polhemus place. Holder says Captain Voiget showed him a sketch in water colors of this section, drawn when he was here in 1836. W. C. R. Smith married a daughter of Captain Voiget. The first grand ball was given in his house on the 1st of January, 1854. In 1855, or soon after, Charles Livngston [sic] put up a brick store, where Price's hotel is. Having sold out to Langley, Price afterward bought out the latter, and took down the brick store to make room for his hotel. Charles Ayres came in 1852, and he and J. G. Pritchard, in the spring of that year, bought eighty acres of what is now known as the Selby tract, and engaged in farming with poor success, and so they came to Redwood City and put up a building for a bakery, part of which is still used as an office of the Tremont House. Mr. Ayres says he paid as high as $47 a barrel for flour while he was running the confectionery and bakery. In 1855 they bought more ground and built, and engaged regularly in the hotel business. Mr. Ayres says the first hotel which was opened, in April, 1853, in Redwood City, was built by a man named Harris. It was the original American Hotel, and stood where the Wahl building now is. The successive owners of this hotel were: Hancock, Thurber, Aid rich and Raymond. It was burned down in 1864. It was rebuilt in 1866, by Merrill, and again burned in 1878, but was not rebuilt. The building now owned by Claus Hadler, known as the Eureka corner, was opened as a hotel in 1854. It was built by Harry Morse, an early sheriff of Alameda county, but now the head of the well-known "Harry Morse Detective Bureau," and Daniel Balch, afterward a rioted assayer on the Comstock. It was kept as a hotel by Ayres & Pritchard for awhile, and after various changes came into the possession of its present owner and into its present uses. Additional Comments: Extracted from: Memorial and Biographical History of the Coast Counties of Central California. Illustrated. Containing a History of this Important Section of the Pacific Coast from the Earliest Period of its Discovery to the Present Time, together with Glimpses of its Auspicious Future; Illustrations and Full-Page Portraits of some of its Eminent Men, and Biographical Mention of many of its Pioneers, and Prominent Citizens of To-day. HENRY D. BARROWS, Editor of the Historical Department. LUTHER A. INGERSOLL, Editor of the Biographical Department. "A people that take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote descendants."-Macaulay. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/sanmateo/history/1893/memorial/chapteri204gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/cafiles/ File size: 16.1 Kb