Sonoma County CA Archives History - Books .....Early History 1877
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Book Title: Historical And Descriptive Sketch Of Sonoma County, California

EARLY HISTORY.

   Sonoma is an Indian word which means "Valley of the Moon," and was the name
originally given to the beautiful valley from which the county was afterwards
called. The tribe of Indians inhabiting the valley were called the Chocuyens. On
the arrival of the first expedition to establish a mission, the name Sonoma was
given to the chief by Jose Altimira, the priest in charge, and after that the
chief, the tribe and the valley they inhabited took the name Sonoma.

   In 1775 Lieutenant Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, a distinguished
navigator of the Spanish navy, in a vessel called the Sonora, entered and
explored Bodega bay on his return from a voyage to the northeast coast. The port
thenceforth took the name Bodega, from its discoverer. He was the first of the
old navigators, as far as the record shows, who touched on the coast of what is
now Sonoma county,—though Sir Francis Drake landed, in 1579, just below it; and,
in 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo had discovered Cape Mendocino, and had named it
in honor of the "illustrious Senor Antonio de Mendoza," the viceroy under whose
patronage the voyage had been undertaken.

   From this it will be seen that Cape Mendocino was baptized, and the coast of
Sonoma was seen, by European navigators, sixty years before there was any
settlement by the English on the eastern side of the continent of America. After
its discovery, however, the country lay for two hundred and thirty-five years in
the undisputed possession of the aborigines. There was no attempt made to occupy
it.

   Father Begart, a Jesuit, who lived many years in Lower California, is
authority for the statement that no white man ever lived in California before
1769, just one hundred and seven years ago.

   The first expedition made inland into Sonoma was the year after the discovery
of Bodega, for the purpose of finding out if there was not a connection between
the waters of San Francisco and Bodega bays. It must have been supposed by the
missionaries who had but recently occupied San Francisco that the peninsula now
included in the boundaries of Marin county, was an island. Captain Quiros made a
boat voyage up Petaluma creek, and proved there was no such connection as had
been supposed.

   The port of Bodega was occupied for a short time, in 1793, by a Spanish
garrison and four guns, which were soon removed, however, to Monterey, there
being no indication of the threatened English occupation which had caused the
alarm.

   We now come to the first permanent settlement of Europeans north of the bay
of San Francisco. In January, 1811, Alexander Kuskoff, in a Russian ship from
Alaska, occupied Bodega bay, under the pretext that he had been refused the
privilege of getting a supply of water in San Francisco. He claimed that he had
purchased a small tract of land on the bay from the natives. To the bay of
Bodega they gave the name of "Romanzoff," and called Russian river the
"Slavianka." Kuskoff, the commander of the Russians, had a wooden leg, and was
called by the Californians, "Pie de Palo." General Vallejo says, as the Russians
"came without invitation, and occupied land without permission, they may be
called the first 'squatters' of California."

   So soon as the permanent settlement was known to the authorities of
California, news of the event was forwarded to the seat of the supreme
government at Madrid. It may well be imagined that a long time was occupied in
sending this news and receiving a reply from the viceroy, which was an order
commanding the Russians to depart. The reply of the Northmen to this
communication was that the viceroy's orders had been forwarded to St Petersburg
for the Emperor's action.

   Four years later, in 1816, we find the Russian and Spanish authorities
debating the question of occupation, on board a Russian vessel in the waters of
San Francisco. Nothing came of the conference. The Russians continued to trap
for furs all along the coast, and in all the interior streams of Northern
California. They removed their settlement higher up the coast, and built a
stockade fort, called Ross; which was singularly well adapted for defence,—it
was, in fact, impregnable against any force which the Spanish government could
send against it

   The fort was a quadrilateral stockade. It contained houses for the director
and officers, an arsenal, a barrack for the men, store-houses, and a Greek
chapel, surmounted with a cross, and provided with a chime of bells. The
stockade was about ten feet high, pierced with embrasures, furnished with
carronades; at opposite corners were two bastions, two stories high, and
furnished with six pieces of artillery. The gardens were extensive, and the
work-shops were supplied with all the tools necessary for working in wood and
iron. The orchard was large, and some of the trees, now over fifty years old,
are still living, and bear fruit. The church above described was the first, not
only in Sonoma, but the first north of the bay of San Francisco; so, among other
things to the credit of Sonoma county, must be set down the fact that she can
boast of the first church north of San Francisco in what is now the State of
California.

   It is almost certain that the Russians did contemplate a permanent occupation
and possession of the country north of the bay of San Francisco, as they were
greatly in need of a grain-producing country to supply their fur hunters on the
bleak and sterile coast of Alaska. The promulgation of the doctrine by President
Monroe, in 1823, that the American continents were henceforth not to be
considered as subjects for foreign colonization by any European power, was a
damper on Russian aspirations in California.

   Nothing came of the conference in San Francisco, and the Russians remained,
continued to trap, and made annual shipments to Sitka of grain raised in and
around the fort, and at Bodega, where the town of Bodega now stands.

   It will be seen from this that Sonoma was also the first wheat-exporting
county on the coast of California.

   An extract from the journal of Captain John Hall, who visited this coast and
Bodega in 1822, will show the products of the fat pastures of Sonoma even at
that early day. Captain Hall entered the port of Bodega on the 8th of June, and
was visited by the Russian governor, who came from Ross. He brought with him,
"says Captain Hall," two fine fat sheep, a large tub of butter, and some milk,
which was very acceptable after a long voyage, and gave us proof at once of the
governor's hospitality, and of the abundance and cheapness of provisions. The
price of a bullock at that time was twelve dollars, and of a sheep two dollars;
vegetables were also plentiful, and in their proper season.

   The "dominion of Spain over the Californias" terminated in 1822, after fifty
years of peaceful prosperity for the country. Mexico having established her
independence in that year, California gave in her adherence, and declared the
northern possessions henceforth dependent alone on the government of Mexico. The
Federal constitution of 1824 was afterwards adopted, and California was governed
by a political chief, aided by a council known as the territorial deputation.

   Prior to this change in the government the authorities had commenced to fence
against the Russians, who, it was feared, intended to get a foot-hold on the bay
of San Francisco, coming south from Bodega. The mission of San Rafael had been
established. In June and July, 1823, Jose Altimira came with a military escort
from San Francisco to select a proper site for a new mission, to which it was
proposed to transfer the mission of San Francisca de Assis. Padre Altimira left
San Rafael on the 25th June, and passed, the following day, the point called by
the Indians, Chocuali, where Petaluma now stands, and encamped near the old
adobe house on the Petaluma plain. The following day they came to the valley of
Sonoma. The description of the pioneer, Padre Altimira, is so graphic that it
will bear quoting in full. "About 3 P.M., June 28th, 1823," says the Father,
"leaving our camp and our boat in the slough near by, we started to explore,
directing our course northwestward across the plain of Sonoma, until we reached
a stream (Sonoma river) of about five hundred plumas of water, crystaline, and
most pleasant to the taste, flowing through a grove of beautiful and useful
trees. The stream flows from hills which enclose the plain, and terminate it on
the north. We went on penetrating a broad grove of oaks, the trees were lofty
and robust, promising utility in the future for fuel and building purposes. This
grove was three leagues from ea9t to west, and a league and a-half from north to
south. No one can doubt the salubrity of the climate after noting the plains,
the lofty shade-trees, alder, ash, poplar, and laurel, and especially the
abundance and luxuriance of the wild grapes. We also observed that a launch may
come up the coast to where a settlement can be formed, truly a most convenient
circumstance. We see from these, and other facts, that Sonoma is a most
desirable site for a mission." The explorations were continued in various
directions until it was decided that the present site of the old town and
mission of Sonoma was the best place for settlement. So, on the fourth day of
July, 1823, Father Altimira planted a cross near the spot where .the Catholic
church now stands, and the second settlement, (the first having been made at
Ross,) was founded within the present limits of Sonoma county.

   The mission buildings were commenced that year. Altimira writes to Governor
Arguello at San Francisco, that he cut one hundred redwood beams for a granary
in four days, and that he was highly pleased with the site, and alleged that it
afforded more inducements than any other place between it and San Diego.

   The mission was destroyed in 1826, by the Indians. Padre Altimira escaped
with his life, and soon after left the country. In 1827 the mission was revived,
rebuilt, and flourished until the decree of secularization, (promulgated by the
Mexican government in 1833, and enforced in 1834), led to the overthrow of the
authority of the fathers, the liberation, and dispersion of the Indians, and to
the final partition of the mission lands and cattle; in short to a complete
revolution in the ecclesiastical government of California. Whatever may have
been the effect on the Mexican population, the result to the Indians was
disastrous.

   It is stated that some of the missions, which in 1834 had as many as one
thousand five hundred souls, numbered only a few hundred in 1842. The two
missions of San Rafael and Sonoma decreased in this time, the former from one
thousand two hundred and forty souls, to twenty; and the latter from one
thousand three hundred, to seventy. On the other hand, those who most favored
the* secularization scheme, contend that in this section at least the decrease
of the Indians was caused by the small-pox, which broke out among them in a
virulent form in the year 1837—contracted from a subordinate Mexican officer,
who caught the disease at Ross. The officer recovered, while sixty thousand
Indians are said to have perished from this scourge, in the territory now
included in the counties of Sonoma, Napa and Solano.

   In 1834, Governor Figueroa visited Sonoma, for the purpose of establishing a
presidio, which was to be named Santa Anna y Farias. The site selected was on
Mark West creek, on the land now owned by Henry Mizer, near to a well-known
red-wood tree, which is still standing. The future city was to be called after
the then President of Mexico, Santa Anna, and the Vice-President Farias. That
the city did not survive the infliction of such a name, is not surprising. It
was killed in its baptism. This town was intended to be colonized by a company
of Mexicans, known as the Cosmopolitan company, who came to California under the
command of one Hijas. The leaders of the scheme disagreed with the head of the
government here, and though they arrived in Sonoma, the whole party were
returned to San Francisco. The town on Mark West was abandoned, and the same
year General Vallejo laid out the town of Sonoma as it now exists, and
established his headquarters as the military commandant of California. General
Vallejo took command in 1835, and was ordered to extend the settlements in the
direction of Ross. For this purpose he sent three men, McIntosh, James Black,
and James Dawson, in that direction, and they settled on what was afterwards the
O'Farrel tract, near the present site of the town of Freestone. The three men
built a house there, and agreed, as we have heard the story told, to get a grant
of land. One of the party went to Monterey for that purpose, either Black or
McIntosh, and procured the grant in the name of the two, leaving out the name of
Dawson. Dawson was so incensed that he sawed off one-third of the frame house,
and moved it over the line of the grant which his companions had secured, and
applied for a grant in his own name adjoining them, which grant was afterwards
confirmed. Black and McIntosh continued to reside for some time on the Jonive
grant, and built a kind of mill there, the remains of which may-still be seen
near the residence of the late Hon. Jasper O'Farrel.

   The Russians were then occupying the tract afterwards known as the Bodega
ranch, but six miles from the new comers, and disputes soon arose, as it was
intended they should. The colonists, ever ready for a quarrel, and the Russians,
who were making up their minds to leave, gradually contracted their lines toward
Ross. They found the Anglo-Saxon, like all the race, stout in the maintenance of
the right they had acquired to the soil. Matters grew worse, and finally, in
1839, the Russians made arrangements to abandon the country. In 1840 they
disposed of their rights at Ross, including houses, stock and fixtures, and
embarked from San Francisco for Sitka-in all, men, women and children, about
four hundred souls.

   Some time during his administration, Rotscheff, the last commander at Ross,
with a party of Russians, crossed over to the highest peak of the Mayacmas
range, which looms up grand and beautiful from the high hills back of Ross; on
the summit of which he fixed a plate inscribed in his own language, and gave the
mountain the name it now bears, St. Helena, in honor of his wife the Princess de
Gagarin, said to have been a woman of rare attractions, both mental and
physical. But the Russians, who for thirty years had been a thorn in the side of
the Californian authorities had departed, and with them all fear from that quarter.

   The Russians were hardly out of sight before the rulers of the colony found
themselves face to face with a more formidable invader than those who had just
sailed quietly away. Between 1840 and 1845, a number of Americans had scaled the
Sierra, and, with their families, their wagons, teams and cattle, were settling
in the valleys of California. Many of these emigrants had started for Oregon,
and were turned hitherward from Fort Hall; attracted by the reports which
reached them of the salubrity of the climate, and rare fertility of the soil. No
dream of gold then in the hills of California. But the old trappers, many of
whom had crossed the mountains, reported it a fair and goodly land.

   Capt. Stephen Smith next obtained a grant of land at Bodega, which had
formerly been farmed by Russians. He purchased the buildings on the land from
Capt Sutter, who claimed them under his Russian purchase. In 1846, he arrived at
the port of Bodega, bringing with him a steam engine, the first ever seen in
California, and with it he run a steam saw mill. When all was ready he sent out
invitations to the rancheros and grandees to come and see it start J Among
others, Gen. Vallejo, then military commandant of California, was present, and
says he remembers having predicted on the occasion that before many years there
would be more steam engines than soldiers in California. While the native
Californians, the lords of the soil, are enjoying the hospitality of Capt Smith,
and admiring the novelty of the steam engine, we will take the opportunity to
tell our readers by what tenure and in what quantity they held their landed
estates.

   There were twenty-three land grants confirmed to original owners in Sonoma
county. The largest was the Petaluma grant, which included all the land between
Sonoma creek on the east, the bay of San Pablo on the south, and Petaluma creek
on the west It embraced within its far-reaching boundaries at least seventy-five
thousand acres of the finest and most fertile land in the State; every acre of
it was arable, and a fence of twelve miles along the north line from Sonoma to
Petaluma creek, would have enclosed the whole. This tract of land is now
assessed for not less than three millions of dollars.

   The foreigners to whom land was granted in this section were Jacob P. Leese,
John Fitch, Juan P. Cooper, John Wilson and Mark West. The three former were
brothers-in-law of General Vallejo. The site of the present town of Santa Rosa
was granted to Mrs. Carrillo, the mother of Julio Carrillo, and the country
between Santa Rosa and Sebastopol, to Joaquin Carrillo, a brother of Mrs.
Vallejo. Captain Stephen Smith was granted the Bodega ranch, which included
thirty-five thousand four hundred and eighty-seven acres. Captain Smith was a
remarkable man; he came to California from Chili, and was a fine type of the
pioneer, honest, hospitable and generous to a fault. Juan B. Cooper was another
old sea-captain; he owned the rancho "El Molino," translated the mill-ranch. He
had just gotten up his mill when a tremendous freshet came in 1840-41, and
washed it all away. The Ross ranch was granted to Manuel Torres. The German
ranch on the coast above Ross was granted to a number of Germans, and they gave
to the stream which flowed through their land the appropriate name of Valhalla.

   Jasper O'Farrel exchanged a ranch in Marin county for the Canada de Jonive,
and purchased of James McIntosh the Estero Americano. The reader will remember
that Black, McIntosh and Dawson were the very first English-speaking settlers in
Sonoma county. The home of Jasper O'Farrel, in Bodega, in the early history of
Sonoma county, was the seat of princely hospitality. From far and near it was
made a stopping place, and we have been told by old settlers, that a beef was
killed every day and consumed at his generous board. He possessed the genius,
the wit and the liberality which distinguish his race. He was afterwards a
member of the State senate, in which he ably represented Sonoma county.

   Mark West was a sailor, and a different type of man from those above
described. His grant included six thousand six hundred and sixty-three acres
between Mark West and Santa Rosa creeks, and was the richest body of land of the
same number of acres in the State. There was not an acre of it that would not
produce from seventy-five to one hundred bushels of wheat. He lies buried on a
stony point near the residence of H. C. Mizer, and none of his descendants own a
foot of his splendid estate, which is to-day worth over half a million of dollars.

   The total number of acres included in all the grants in the county was four
hundred thousand one hundred and forty-three, just less than one half its whole
area as now bounded, which is estimated at eight hundred and fifty thousand
acres. All of the valleys we have elsewhere described were covered by grants
without an exception. The public land all lay in the low hills on the border of
the valleys, and in the mountains. Fortunately for the future welfare of the
county, these grants were sub-divided and sold in small tracts at a very early
day. The titles to most of them were settled without much dispute or delay; and
the sub-divided lands were purchased by industrious and enterprising farmers,
who have since lived upon and improved them. They have converted the long-horned
worthless Spanish cattle into the short horn, and the mustang horse into the
thorough-bred, and the pastures of this worthless stock into homes of beauty and
teeming abundance. With one exception all the grants have been sold in small
tracts, and that is the Cotate ranch, on the plain between Petaltuna and Santa
Rosa. This tract belongs to an estate, and under the will cannot be divided
until the youngest child comes of age. This is the largest farm in the county,
the railroad passing through it for six miles. The dairy is supplied with the
milk from two hundred and fifty cows; there are five hundred head of cattle on
the place, and ten thousand head of sheep; each cow averages daily one pound and
a quarter of butter during the season, and the sheep shear an average of six
pounds of wool each.

   We brought the early history of the county up to about 1845, when the
twenty-three grants we have just described were held by their original owners,
who kept herds of cattle and horses upon them, and cultivated enough corn, beans
and peas, to supply the Spanish population, a light tax indeed upon the most
fertile of the rich agricultural valleys of California. In the early part of
1846, it was estimated that there were at least two thousand foreigners of all
ages and sexes, scattered over the territory of California.

   They were mainly in the Sacramento, Santa Clara and Napa valleys; a few had
drifted into Sonoma, among them Cyrus Alexander, for whom Alexander valley is
named,—and Mose Carson, a brother of Lindsay Carson, of Lake county,—and Frank
Bed well, the genial and sturdy old pioneer, who has resided in Sonoma ever
since he purchased his place of Mr. Alexander, which was in 1845. The venerable
Joel Walker, now a resident of the county, assisted in driving the cattle and
horses from Ross to Sutter's ranch, in the Sacramento valley. There are a number
of anti-territorial pioneers in the county, who did not reside here at the time
of which we write, among them Major Snyder, of Sonoma, the Marshals, James
Gregson and the McChristians, of Green valley, and doubtless others whose names
and date of arrival we do not know. Of those here, some came by sea and some by
land, none dreamed that they were the forerunners of a great tide which would
gather from all climes, and that their footfall on the unaccustomed path was but
"the first low plash of waves, where soon would roll a human sea."

   But we anticipate. Events in California in the early part of 1846 were
rapidly approaching a crisis. The United States and Mexico were at war. An
American fleet was on the coast; Fremont, with a small command of regular
soldiers, was hovering on the boundaries of California, ostensibly on a
topographical survey; England and France, through their representatives, were
watching with eager interest the turn of affairs, and were anxious and willing
to assume a protectorate, or to take forcible possession of the country. The
native Californians were comparatively few in numbers, were scattered over a
great space, were badly armed, and divided in council. The crisis was
approaching, and the town of Sonoma was destined to become the theatre of the
first act in the drama which ended with the acquisition of the territory of
California by the United States.

   On the morning of the 10th of June a company of thirty-three Americans from
Sutter's fort, Napa, and Sonoma vallies, marched into the town of Sonoma about
daylight, captured the garrison, and took General Vallejo, the commanding
general of the province of California, a prisoner. They garrisoned the town, and
a few days after the capture they sent General Vallejo, his brother Salvador,
Jacob P. Leese and Victor Prudon to Sutter's fort, on the Sacramento river. This
company of men had elected one of their number, named Merritt, captain; they
acted on their own responsibility, and committed no excess.

   They were not authorized to raise the American flag, and determined to make a
flag on their own account. Three men,—Ben Duell (now of Lake county), Todd and
Currie,—made the flag. Duell and Currie, as it happened, were both saddlers, and
did the sewing; Todd painted the stripes and the bear. The material of which the
stripes were made, was not, as has been stated, an old red-flannel petticoat,
but was new flannel and white cotton, which Duell got from Mrs. W. B. Elliott,
who had been brought to the town of Sonoma,— her husband, W. B. Elliott, being
one of the bear-flag party. Some blue domestic was found elsewhere, and used in
making the flag; the drawing was rudely done, and, when finished, the bear,—from
which the flag and party took their name,—resembled a pig as much as the object
for which it was intended. The idea of the bear was, that having entered into
the fight there was to be no back-down, or surrender, until the end in view was
accomplished. We have this account of the making of the bear-flag from Mr.
Duell, who was then a young man, and whose memory was perfect in the matter of
which he spoke. A few days after the making of the flag, Cowey and Fowler were
sent, or volunteered to go, to the Fitch ranch to get some powder from Mose
Carson. They were waylaid and killed, and their bodies mutilated. An Indian gave
the information; the bodies were found and buried where they lay, and their
graves may still be seen on the Catron ranch, next to the county farm, about
three miles from Santa Rosa. The graves are unmarked, and soon no trace of them
will be seen,—all but the names of these two daring pioneers will be lost forever.

   A man named Todd, while out looking for Fowler and Cowey, was captured by the
Californians and taken to an Indian ranch called Olompali, about eight miles
below Petaluma. They were pursued by a party of twenty-three bear-flag men,
under command of Granville Swift and Sam Kelsey. A fight ensued at Olompali, in
which seventy-three mounted Californians were forced to retreat, leaving their
prisoner Todd, who was rescued. Frank Bedwell was in this fight; a number of the
Californians were killed, but none of the Americans. Having recovered Todd, the
object of their search, the scouting party returned to Sonoma.

   A few days after, Fremont arrived in Sonoma and fitted out an expedition to
pursue the Californians. He took command and marched to San Rafael, meeting no
resistance; the enemy had crossed over to the San Francisco side of the bay.
Arriving at San Rafael, two men, non-combatants,—the Hanro brothers,—were
captured and shot by Fremont's orders. All the old bear-flag men, without
exception, condemn the killing of these men as cruel and unnecessary; no
resistance whatever having been made to the Americans, and the two men killed
were on a visit to their parents from another part of the country.

   The latter days of June and the first days of July, 1846, were destined to
become eventful in the history of California. While the events described were
occurring on the frontier,—as the Californians called Sonoma county,—Commodore
Sloat was enacting another important part in the work of conquest at the capitol
of Monterey. He arrived at that place from Mazatlan, in the frigate Savannah.
Five days after (on the 7th) he sent Captain Mervin and two hundred and fifty
marines and seamen on shore; took possession of and raised the American flag on
the capitol of Monterey. He was Justin time, for the Collingwood,—the flag-ship
of Rear-Admiral Sir George Seymour, of the British navy,—was speeding under full
sail for the port of Monterey, with the purpose of taking possession of it in
the name of his government.

   On the 10th of July Captain Montgomery, of the sloop-of-war Portsmouth, who
had taken possession of the port of San Francisco, dispatched Lieutenant Revere
with a detachment from his ship to Sonoma. Lieutenant Revere hauled down the
banner of the bear, and raised in its stead the American flag, which then first
swelled to the breeze in Sonoma county. This ended the conquest as far as this
portion of the State was concerned. Commodore Stockton succeeded Sloat, and the
further progress of events has no special local interest.

   The town of Sonoma was garrisoned from that time until 1851,—a number of
officers, since distinguished, having been stationed there. Among them, General
Hooker, Lieutenant Derby and General Sherman. The first civil officer was one
John Nash, who was commissioned by General Kearny as alcalde of Sonoma. Nash had
a very exalted idea of the dignity of his office; assumed ministerial as well as
judicial powers; signed himself "Chief Justice of California," and having been
removed by the military governor, he refused to recognize the authority and held
on to the office. Lieutenant Sherman,— now General Sherman,—captured him and
took him before Governor Mason, at Monterey, who reprimanded and released him.
This first civil officer of Sonoma,—"Chief Justice Nash" as he called himself,
and "'Squire Nash" as his neighbors called him,—was a good natured, illiterate
but honest man. When the rumors of gold reached Sonoma, 'Squire Nash was
employed by a number of persons to go to the mines, take observations and
report- This was in 1848; he returned with gold dust to the value of eight
hundred and thirty-seven dollars. He then went to Mormon Island with a party of
Sonoma miners, and died there that winter. Ex-Governor Boggs succeeded Nash to
the office of alcalde. The county remained under the control of military
governors from its conquest in 1846 up to the fall of 1849.

   In June, 1849, General Riley, who had succeeded General Mason, issued a
proclamation for the election of delegates to a general convention to form a
State constitution, and for filling the offices of judge of the superior court,
prefects and sub-prefects. These officers were to be voted for, and the
successful candidate was to be appointed by General Riley. A first alcalde, or
judge of the first instance, was also to be elected. The district of Sonoma
included all the territory between the Sacramento river and the ocean, and
Oregon and the bay of San Francisco. The election was held on the first day of
August, and that was the first general election in the State. The delegates
elected to the convention from Sonoma, were General Vallejo, Joel Walker, E.
Semple. L. W. Boggs was also elected but did not attend.

   In August, General Riley issued appointments to Stephen Cooper as judge of
first district, and to C. P. Wilkins as prefect of the district of Sonoma. The
convention to form a constitution for the future State of California, met in
Monterey on the first of September. R. Semple, one of the delegates from the
Sonoma district, was chosen president. The constitution was framed, was
submitted to the people, and on the 13th day of November was ratified by them.
At the same time Peter D. Burnett was elected the first civil governor. At this
election the district of Sonoma polled but five hundred and fifty-two votes, of
which four hundred and twenty-four were for Burnett, and one hundred and
twenty-eight were for Sherwood. One of the last civil appointments made by
General Riley before the adoption of the constitution, was that of Richard A.
Man pin, a well-remembered Sonoma pioneer, to be judge of the superior tribunal,
vice Lewis Dent, who had resigned. Jacob R. Snyder, now a resident of this
county, was a member of the constitutional convention from Sacramento district.

   The first legislature met in San Jose in January, 1850. General M. G. Vallejo
was a member of the senate from Sonoma. J. O. Bradford and J. E. Brackett were
members of the assembly. General Vallejo's seat was first given to Jonas Spect,
but on the 22d of December the committee reported that the official return from
Larkins ranch gave Spect but two votes instead of twenty-eight, a total of but
one hundred and eighty-one votes against General Vallejo's one hundred and
ninety-nine. Mr. Spect then gave up his seat to General Vallejo. At this session
of the legislature General Vallejo made his well-known report on the derivation
and definition of the names of the several counties of this State; a report
unequaled in its style and in the amount of interesting information crowded into
its small compass. In that report first appeared the explanation of the Indian
word Sonoma, signifying "Valley of the Moon." The Senator further said, the
tribe occupying Sonoma valley was called the Chocuyens, but, in 1824, on the
arrival of the first expedition to establish a mission, the name Sonoma having
been given the chief by Father Jose Altimira, the Chocuyens then adopted the
name, which they still retain. This tribe was subject to a great chief named
Marin de Licatiut, who made his headquarters near Petaluma.

   There was not much done at this session further than organizing the State and
county government. Assemblyman J. E. Brackett was elected major-general of the
second division of militia, and Robert -Hopkins was elected district judge. Mr.
Hopkins was a lawyer, living in Sonoma, and had been appointed, with the Hon.
George Pearce, a committee to visit San Jose, the then capital, and prevent the
establishment of a boundry line which would include the valley of Sonoma in the
county of Napa. Arriving, they found the question of appointing a district judge
for the Sonoma district coining up, and the only candidate was W. R. Turner, who
had never been in the district, or at all events did not reside there. Pearce
proposed to Hopkins to run for the office. Turner, who up to this time had, as
he thought, no opposition, and a sure thing, was beaten just as he was
stretching his hand for the prize. Hopkins got a unanimous vote, and Turner went
for some other district, and was appointed. Mr. Pearce who had gone to San Jose
for one purpose, very unexpectedly accomplished another, and Mr. Hopkins
returned as the district judge of Sonoma.

   On the 9th of September of that year, the State was admitted into the Union,
and the second legislature met at San Jose, January 6,1851,—Martin E. Cook,
representing the eleventh senatorial district, composed of the counties of
Sonoma, Solano, Napa, Marin, Colusa, Yolo and Trinity—in fine, all the territory
west of the Sacramento river. John S. Bradford and A. Stearns represented, in
the lower house, the counties of Napa, Sonoma, Marin, and Solano. A report of
the census agent to the legislature that year gave the population of the county
of Sonoma at five hundred and sixty-one souls. The State government this session
was fully organized, and the machinery of the county governments was set to work.

   On the first Wednesday in September, 1851, there was a county election, and
the local government vested in a court of sessions, presided over by the county
judge, and two associates chosen from the justices of the peace. A complete list
of the county judges, associates and supervisors will be found elsewhere. The
court of sessions assumed control of the affairs of the county, and divided it
into townships, naming Analy township after a sister of the Hon. Jasper
O'Farrell, a pioneer and large land-owner in that district.

   In November, 1851, the Hon. C. P. Wilkins succeeded H. A. Green as county
judge. Israel Brockman was sheriff) and the late Dr. John Hendley was county
clerk and recorder. A few people had gathered about the present site of the town
of Petaluma, which was becoming a shipping point for Bodega and Green Valley
produce. James McReynolds built that year for James Hudspeth a potato warehouse,
which was the first building erected there. There were a number of hunters for
the San Francisco market in the valley, and the place was mainly known for the
abundance and excellence of its game.

   In 1852 Sonoma county may be said to have first felt the impulse of the
coming Anglo-Saxon. A number of persons were then in Petaluma. Kent, Smith & Coe
had a store about opposite the site of the American hotel; the late Tom Baylis
had a sloop plying between that point and the city, and also built a warehouse
and hotel. At Sonoma, the county-seat, the year was signalized by the appearance
of the Sonoma Bulletin, the first paper published in this county, or north of
the Sacramento river. It was ably conducted by A. J. Cox, and we can truly say
that it was a creditable start for the county in the field of journalism. On
Monday, July 5, the first board of supervisors met, and took charge of the
affairs of the county—the members were D. O. Shat-tuck, who was selected
chairman; William A. Hereford, of Santa Rosa district; Leonard P. Hanson, and
James Singley. The Santa Rosa ranch, fifteen thousand seven hundred and
fifty-eight acres, was assessed at one dollar per acre. The Fitch grant was
assessed at the same rate, and so were the O'Farrell and Mark West grants. T. B.
Valentine, who claimed the site of Petaluma, was assessed on six thousand six
hundred and sixty-six dollars. At the Presidential election that fall, Pierce
received four hundred and seventy-five votes, and Scott two hundred and
sixty-seven, a majority of two hundred and eight. E. W. McKinstrey was elected
district judge; J. M. Hudspeth, senator; H. P. Ewing and James W. McKamy,
assemblymen.

   The steamer Georgians, Captain Hoenshield, ran three times a week between San
Francisco and Sonoma, and a line of stages left every Saturday for Bodega,
returning next day—Peter Peterson, proprietor.

   In 1853 the city of Sonoma stood still, if it did not retrograde, and
Petaluma gained in wealth and population. The great Central valley was filling
up, and the balance of population, wealth and political power was shifting to
the west side of Sonoma mountains. Sonoma had reached the high-water mark of its
prosperity, and the ebb set outward, very slowly, so slowly that those who
drifted were not conscious of it, but surely it was going down. At the meeting
of the board of supervisors in March of this year. Joe Hooker, "fighting Joe,"
was appointed road-overseer. Washington township was created this year, and in
the fall the polls were opened at the store of A. C. Godwin, where Geyserville
now stands. We noticed that oh the 23d of July wheat is quoted at four and
three-quarter cents in Sonoma, with a prospect of a rise, a good price in a
region with a virgin soil, capable at its best of producing eighty bushels of
grain to the acre.

   This year the Democratic convention met at Santa Rosa, and nominated Joe
Hooker and Lindsay Carson for the assembly, and a full county ticket. The
Settlers' convention met on the 6th of August, and nominated a full county
ticket, headed by James N. Bennett and Judge Robert Hopkins for the assembly.
The election came off on Wednesday, September 7; Carson was elected to the
legislature, and there was a tie vote between Bennett and Hooker. The question
of the removal of the county seat from Sonoma to Santa Rosa entered into the
first contest quietly, but was not openly discussed; the second race between
Bennett and Hooker hinged directly on this issue. The election came off on the
29th of October, and Bennett, who lived in Bennett valley, and for whom it is
named, beat Hooker, a resident of Sonoma valley, thirteen votes. Before the
legislature met, Lindsay Carson resigned, and there was another special election
on the 23d of December. W. B. Hagans was elected. This was a triangular fight
between W. B. Hagans, James Singley and Joseph W. Belden.

   When the legislature of 1854 met, nothing was said the first of the session
about the removal of the county seat by the Sonoma delegation. When the bill was
sprung, it was put through without delay, and before the drowsy Sonomians in the
historic old city knew what was going on, the bill submitting the question to a
vote of people, had passed. The Sonoma Bulletin, of April 8th, says: "The first
intimation we had of the peoples desire to move the county seat from Sonoma to
Santa Rosa was through the legislative proceedings of March 28, which inform us
that a bill had been introduced and passed for that purpose."

   The bill provided that at the fall election the vote of the people should be
taken on the question of removal. The election took place on the 6th of
September. We let the Sonoma Bulletin tell the result. In its issue of the 14th
of September, it says: "The county seat—that's a gone, or going case! The
up-county people worked furiously against us, and have come out victorious. What
majority the new seat got, we are not aware; but whatever it is, why it is as it
is, which incontestable truth consoles us." On Thursday, the 22d of September,
the archives were removed to the new county seat, and further interesting
details of the removal will be given elsewhere, in an account of the early
history of the town of Santa Rosa. In that year Roberson & Parsons put on the
first stage line between Sonoma and Petaluma, a straw which proves the growing
importance of the latter place, elsewhere set forth.

   From 1854 to 1860, the county progressed in wealth and population slowly,
when its great advantages are considered; still its growth was healthy. The most
rapid increase in wealth and population was in the city of Petaluma. Santa Rosa,
having gotten the county seat, went to sleep—making but little progress. The old
town of Sonoma stood still. From this time on the history of the county can best
be carried on with that of its leading towns, to which we will soon invite the
attention of the reader.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORICAL
AND
DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH
OF
SONOMA COUNTY,
CALIFORNIA,
BY
ROBERT A. THOMPSON,
EDITOR OF "THE SONOMA DEMOCRAT."
PHILADELPHIA:
L. H. EVERTS & CO. 
1877.


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