Sonoma-Statewide County CA Archives History - Books .....Sonoma County 1891
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Book Title: Memorial And Biographical History Of Northern California

SONOMA COUNTY.

LOCATION AND TOPOGRAPHY.

  "Sonoma" is an Indian word, signifying valley of the moon, by which the
aborigines designated the valley of that name.

  Geographically considered Sonoma County occupies one of the most favored
positions of any county in the State. Her southern limb rests upon San Pablo
Bay, the connecting link between the Straits of Carquinez and the Bay of San
Francisco. Reaching inland there are two tidal streams, the Petaluma Creek and
Sonoma Creek, the former being navigable to steam and sailing crafts a distance
up from the bay of twelve miles. These arteries of water transportation are of
incalculable value to the agriculturists and dairymen of the surrounding
country, insuring to them for all time to come cheap transportation of their
products to San Francisco, the great metropolis of the Pacific coast, that is
only distant from the southern limits of the county about twenty miles. Along
these tidal streams are vast areas of marsh land, much of which has already, and
all of which in time will be, reclaimed and brought in subjection to profitable
cultivation. The meanderings of Petaluma Creek northward from San Pablo Bay to
within four miles of Petaluma is the boundary between Sonoma and Marin counties,
where the boundary line leaves tidal salt water and follows the serpentine
course of the San Antonio Creek northward about nine miles, to the Laguna San
Antonio (once a tule marsh but now drained and under cultivation), and thence in
a direct line to the head of the Estero Americano, near Valley Ford, a tidal
stream, that tending westerly debouches in the Pacific Ocean about six miles
distant from the latter place. From this point to the mouth of the Gualala
River, a distance of about thirty miles, Sonoma County has for her boundary the
broad Pacific. The boundary between Sonoma and Mendocino counties commences at
the mouth of the Gualala River and following its meanderings about two miles to
a point just above the confluence of South Gualala, takes a straight line
easterly over the mountains, about twenty-four miles to the summit of Redwood
Mountain, where, with a slight angle, but with a still easterly deflection, the
line continues on and across the Russian River canon at a point four miles
northward from Cloverdale, and in a straigth line about twelve miles to the Lake
County line ,on the summit of the Macuway Mountains. From this point, and at
almost right angles, the line of boundary between Sonoma County and Lake and
Napa counties it runs south in a straight line about forty-eight miles to the
intersection of the boundary line between Napa and Solano counties; and thence
the boundary between Sonoma and Solano counties runs westerly about six miles,
to San Pablo Bay. the place of beginning.

  The extreme length of Sonoma County from northwest to southeast is about
seventy miles, and the width twenty. Of course, like most newly organized
communities, the county has had contests over disputed territorial jurisdiction.
The present area is 1,550 square miles, being thus the seventh in the State in
point of extent. A large proportion of the land is rich and arable, and the
county is so favorably situated with reference to the surrounding communities
and ports that her highest development may be attained.

  The most important events of settlement and political goverment that have
taken place in this county were of such general relation to the history of
Northern California that we have treated of them at length on previous pages.

THE MEXICAN LAND GRANTS

made within the present limits of Sonoma County were: Bodega, 25,487 acres, to
M. T. Curtis and others in 1859; Cabeza de Santa Rosa, 336 acres, to F. Carrillo
de Castro in 1881, 1,668 acres to James Eldridge in 1880, 640 acres to John
Hendley in 1879, 256 acres to J. D. J. Mallega in 1879, and 1,485 acres to J. R.
Meyer, also in 1879; Canada de Jonive, 10,786 acres, to J. O'Farrell in 1858;
Canada de Pogolimi, 8,781 acres, to M. A. Cazares in 1858; Caslamayomi, 26,788
acres, to William Forbes in 1874; Cotate, 17,238 acres, to T. S. Page in 1858;
Estero Americano, 8,849 acres, to Jasper O'Farrell in 1858; German, 17,580
acres, to Charles Meyer and others in 1872; Los Guilicos, 18,834 acres, to Juan
Wilson in 1866; Lac, 176 acres, to J. P. Leese in 1872; Llano de Santa Rosa,
13,316 acres, to J. Carrillo in 1865; Mallacomes, 2,560 acres, to Cook & Ingalls
in 1859; Mission Sonoma, 14 acres, to Bishop J. S. Alemany in 1862; Los Molinos,
17,892 acres, to J. B. R. Cooper in 1858; Muniz, 17,761 acres, to M. Torres in
1860; Petaluma, 66,622 acres, to M. G. Vallejo in 1874; Rincon de Musulacom,
8,867 acres, to Johnson Horrell and others in 1866; Roblar de la Miseria, 16,887
acres, to Daniel Wright and others in 1858; San Miguel, 6,663 acres, to the
heirs of M. West in 1865; Pueblo Sonoma, 6,064 acres, to the city of Sonoma in
1880; four acres to M G. Vallejo in 1866, and 48,836 acres to the heirs of D. H.
Fitch in 1858; and Tzabaco, 15,439 acres, to the heirs of J. G. Pina in 1859.

  When the reader of the next century scans the above list and sees what these
pioneer colonists asked for and got land by the league, he will naturally
conclude that the first half of the nineteenth century must have been a period
of regal splendor here. But such was not the fact. The people were land and
stock poor. They had but few of either the comforts or conveniences of civilized
life, and could not stand the light of a higher civilization. Like the Indians,
they have passed on. Several claimed grants were made, as in most other parts of
the State, that were not confirmed by our Government, and therefore do not
appear in the above list. Imperfect descriptions also led to many vexatious and
tedious lawsuits.

GOVERNMENTAL.

  For the first two or three years after the close of the Mexican war, Sonoma
remained the head centre of the northern frontier; and when the gold fields of
California began to attract immigration, it became a place of great business
importance. As a military post it was honored with the presence of several
officers who afterward achieved national renown, notable among whom were
Fighting Joe Hooker, Phil Kearny, afterward killed at Antietam, General Stone,
General Stoneman, afterward Governor of California, and Derby, author of the
Squibob Papers.

  While General Riley was commandant on the Pacific coast in 1849, he had power
to appoint civil officers, and in August of that year he issued a commission to
Stephen Cooper as Judge of the first district, and appointed C. P. Wilkins
prefect of the district of Sonoma.

  As yet everything was in a chaotic formative state. The civil authority rested
upon the military, and yet the government seemed to be efficient and conducive
to good order and justice. The penalties imposed seemed to us of the present day
severe and sometimes cruel;' but it is the unanimous opinion of the living
pioneers that they were necessary for those times. The period of transition from
Mexican to American government was necessarily attended with many
irregularities. The whipping post as a punishment for petty crimes, and the
gallows as the punishment for grand larceny marks the dividing line between
California as a conquered province of Mexico and a star in the galaxy of the
United States of America.

  In the act of the Legislature, February 18, 1850, organizing the counties of
the State,.the seat of government of Sonoma County was fixed at the historic
village of Sonoma. The court-house being an old dilapidated adobe building, it
was condemned by the grand jury February 7, 1854, when naturally a contest arose
for a re-location of the county seat, Santa Rosa being the chief competitor. An
exciting campaign followed, and the election of September 6 following gave Santa
Rosa 715 votes and Sonoma 563. Accordingly the first meeting of the Board of
Supervisors was held there as early as the 20th of that month. A very small
building was made to serve the purpose of a court-house for four years, when it
was enlarged by additions. The cost and utility of these aroused anew a contest
for a better building, and therefore for a new locality for the seat of
government. An election for September 4, 1861, was ordered, resulting in giving
Santa Rosa 1,632, to 314 for removal. This settled the matter for twenty years.
In 1866 the jail was rebuilt and improvements made, at a cost of $9,000.

  In 1883, after the usual, amount of friction and sparring about the locality
of the county seat and the character and expense of the public buildings, it was
decided to rebuild, at Santa Rosa, structures worthy of the times. The contract
for erecting the court-house was awarded to Carle & Croley, of Sacramento, at
$80,000. The corner-stone was laid May 7, 1884, and the building completed next
year. It is indeed a tasteful structure and economically arranged.

  The following named gentlemen have represented Sonoma County in the State
Assembly: James Adams, 1880; Samuel I. Allen, 1885; J. B. Beeson, 1863; J. W.
Bennett, 1854; A. C. Bledsoe, 1865-'66; L. W. Boggs, 1852; J. E. Brackett,
1849-'50; John S. Bradford, 1849-'51; H. R. K. Brown, 1880; William Caldwell,
1867-'68, 1871-'72; John T. Campbell, 1883; C. H. Cooley, 1877-'78; James Dixon,
1873-'74; J. G. Dow, 1862; J. L. Downing, 1865-'66; E. F. Dunne, 1863; Uriah
Edwards, 1857-'58; W. A. Eliason, 1862; W. P. Ewing, 1853; Walter Ferrall,
1875-'76; John Field, 1883; William B. Hagans, 1854; R. Harrison, 1857; H. G.
Heald, 1856; Barclay Henley, 1869-'70; E. C. Hinshaw, 1871-'72,1875-'78, 1881;
O.H. Hoag, 1863-'66; W. J. Hotchkiss, 1887; T. W. Hudson, 1869-'70; J. M.
Hudspeth, 1852; James Hines, 1880; Joseph B. Lamar, 1859-'60; S. M. Martin,
1867-'68, 1883; James McDonnell, Jr., 1887; William T. Mears, 1885; G. W.
Morgan, 1887; B. B. Munday, 1869-'72; M. E. C. Munday, 1885. W. H. Northcutt,
1873-'74; J. S. Ormsby, 1858; J. S. Rathburn, 1856; G. W. Reed, 1862; W. M.
Rider, 1863; John S. Robberson, 1859; William Ross, 1861; James Samuels,
1875-'76, 1881; James Singley, 1855; J. Smith, 1863-'64; James S. Stewart, 1855;
Thomas M. Swan, 1860, 1875-'76; B. F. Tuttle, 1877-'78; J. B. Warfield,
l867-'68; M. Whallon, 1863-'64; E. L. Whipple, 1881; Charles P. Wilkins, 1860;
W. S. M. Wright, 1873-'74.

SOME OF THE EARLIEST PIONEERS.

  Salvador Vallejo, son of Ignacio, was born in 1814. In 1836 his brother,
General M. G., established him at Sonoma, where he ranked as captain of militia,
and afterward was a military man of this country. In 1838 he was grantee of the
Napa ranch; in 1839 of Salvador's, and in 1844 of Lupyomi. In 1846 he was a
prisoner of the Bears. Is said to have made a large amount of money in 1848-'49,
by the aid of the Indian miners. He died at Sonoma in 1876. He was a
hard-drinking, reckless man, though generous and hospitable.

  Jacob P, Leese, who figured largely in San Francisco and Northern California
in an early day, was born in Ohio in 1809, and first visited California in 1833.
In 1841 he was grantee of a rancho near San Francisco, and of the Huichica at
Sonoma; did business at Sonoma awhile; was alcalde there in 1844-'45, and had
serious quarrels with Victor Prudon. In 1846 he was a sort of sub-agent for
Larkin; he accompanied the Bears to Sacramento as interpreter, and was thrown
into prison with the Vallejos and Prudon, by Fremont. He was represented a few
years ago as still living, in Texas, a very poor man. He was uneducated but
intelligent, bold in business speculations and lost by such deals all his
property, besides that of his wife.

  Franklin Bedwell, a Tennesseean, was for many years a trapper in the Rocky
Mountains and great basin from the Yellowstone to Santa Fe; came to California
in 1840-'41, continuing as a trapper for several years and occasionally visiting
the settlements; was employed awhile in the Santa Clara redwoods; in 1843
settled on a Russian River rancho bought of Cyrus Alexander probably; joined the
Bear Flag Rebellion in 1846; went south with Fremont to Los Angeles; returned to
his rancho; went to the mines in 1848-'49, and finally settled permanently at
his Russian River home; was still living a few years ago.

  Cyrus Alexander, a tanner by trade, was born in Pennsylvania in 1805, and
moved with his parents to Illinois in 1810. In 1831 or earlier, after an
unprofitable experience in lead mining at Galena, he started for the West as a
trapper for the Sublette company, and came to California by way of Santa Fe,
about 1832 or '33. For seven or eight years he remained in the South, hunting,
fishing, trading, soap-making and stock-raising; was naturalized as an American
citizen in 1837; and about 1840 he came north and took charge on shares of Henry
D. Fitch's Sotoyome rancho, now Healdsburg, obtaining two leagues of the rancho
in 1847. In December, 1844, he was married by Sutter to Rufina Lucero, a sister
of William Gordon's wife, from New Mexico, but the marriage had to be confirmed
afterward by a priest. Though unlucky as a miner during the flush times,
Alexander became rich by the sale of rancho products and increase in the value
of his land. His name in many ways is prominently and honorably connected with
the history of Healdsburg. Unlike any other California ex-trapper, he became
pious and joined the Presbyterian church, and afterward the Methodist. He was a
liberal and charitable citizen. He died in 1872 after seven years of partial
paralysis, leaving a widow and four of his twelve children.

  James M. Hudspeth, a native of Alabama crossed the plains to Oregon in 1842,
and came to California in the Hastings party; worked for Stephen Smith at Bodega
for awhile, then as lumberman at Sauzalito and hunting in the Sacramento Valley;
in the spring of 1846 he went with Hastings and Clyman to aid in diverting
immigration, and prospective filibusters from Oregon to California; returning in
the autumn, he served as a lieutenant in the California Battalion in 1846-'47.
After the war he bought land in Sonoma, arid worked with O'Farrell as surveyor
at Benicia; was in the mines in 1849-'50; later a farmer in Sonoma County;
member of the Legislature in 1852-'55, and was still living a few years ago.

  Robert Ridley (name variously written), who in 1845 obtained the Sonoma
rancho, was a great drinker, held a number of offices in San Francisco, etc.,
and died in 1851.

  George Pearce, a native of Kentucky, came to California in 1846 as a member of
the United State Dragoons; became a trader at Stockton and Sonoma in 1849, also
lobbyist in the first Legislature; miner and trader in the northern counties in
1850; deputy sheriff at Sonoma in 1853—'55; and from 1855 a lawyer at Petaluma;
State Senator in 1863-'67; and since 1886 he has been district attorney at Santa
Rosa.

IMMIGRATION.

  Up to 1855 Sonoma County was in a condition of confused transition from almost
native wilds to permanent civilized occupancy. That year a tidal wave of
immigration occurred, suddenly occupying every nook and corner available for
farming or grazing; and within a few years all the features of an almost
finished civilization were visible. The county took first rank among the
grain-growing and dairying counties in the State. Towns and villages grew
rapidly. Petaluma became the most prominent shipping point; Santa Rosa grew
substantially; Healdsburg became a thriving village; Cloverdale began to show
evidence of its future destiny; Sonoma, ever famous as a center around which
clustered historic memories, became far-famed for her productive vineyards;
Bloomfield became the center of a populous and prosperous farming district, and
even old Bodega assumed a new phase of life. The main valleys through the center
of the county—Petaluma, Santa Rosa and Russian River—were until a comparatively
recent date devoted to the growing of grain. Russian River Valley in a very
early day proved its worth as a corn-producing region, but lately it has become
famous for the production of hops. Fruit-raising at present is taking the place
of general agriculture to some extent.

RAILROADS AND HIGHWAYS.

  The San Francisco & Northern Pacific Railroad has been the means of developing
the county of Sonoma. It has extended its southern terminus from Donahue to
Point Tiburon. Donahue, eight miles below Petaluma and thirty-four miles from
San Francisco, was named after Colonel Peter Donahue, the head of this railway
enterprise. The railroad shops have been removed from this place to Tiburon. The
road continues up through the principal towns of the county,—Petaluma, Santa
Rosa, Healdsburg and Cloverdale,—to Ukiah, the county-seat of Mendocino, the
next county north. A branch runs out to Guerneville, in the redwoods district,
sixteen miles from Fulton.

  The Sonoma Valley Railroad is a branch of the preceding, extending from
Pacheco station through old Sonoma to Glen Ellen, thus running through the heart
of the wine section. This is a great route for camping parties engaged in
fishing, hunting and general recreation.

  The Santa Rosa & Carquinez Railroad, completed in 1887 as a branch of the
Central Pacific, leaves the line at Napa Juction and runs through the whole
length of the Sonoma Valley to Glen Ellen, and on through the Guilicos Valley to
Santa Rosa.

  In the days of staging, the principal highway led from Petaluma to Santa Rosa,
Windsor, Healdsburg, Geyserville and Cloverdale. Large coaches drawn by six
horses made the trip daily. The stage-driver was then a consequential man,
courted and conciliated by those who had much traveling to do. A seat by his
side was considered one of honor.

  The next highway of importance led from Petaluma up the coast, by way of Two
Rock, Bloomfield, Valley Ford, Bodega Corners, Bodega Bay, Markham's Mills, Fort
Ross and Gualala. Its place is now taken mostly by the Narrow-Gauge Coast Line
Railroad. From near the mouth of Russian River northward this road is graded
along the cliffs overhanging the ocean.

  One of the oldest roads of the county, but not extensively traveled, is the
one leading from Petaluma to Sonoma, thence to Glen Ellen, and so on through
Guilicos Valley to Santa Rosa.

  The road from Petaluma to Sevastopol and thence to Green Valley, although an
old one in point of use, has not until lately been well improved.

  The rivers and water-courses of Sonoma County are peculiar. The Russian River
is the largest stream. The Petaluma and Sonoma creeks are estuaries of San Pablo
Bay, and, having a tidal rise of six feet, are used in navigation, thus keeping
down railroad freights to San Francisco. The next streams in importance are San
Antonio Creek, which forms the boundary line between Sonoma and Marin counties;
the Santa Rosa and Mark West creeks, abounding in trout; Sulphur Creek, draining
the Geyser group of mountains into the Russian. River north of Cloverdale; Dry
Creek, from the county north; Austin Creek, also in the northern part of the
county.

MINERALOGY.

  Sonoma County is pretty evenly divided between valley and mountain. The
valleys, formerly under the sea, are now covered with adobe and alluvium. The
soil of the eastern part of Sonoma Valley rests upon a hard-pan of secondary
formation. The sandy loam between Petaluma and the coast is modern alluvium. The
redwood forests near the coast belong to the second epoch of the tertiary
period. The soil of the Russian River Valley, largely formed through glacial
influence, belongs to the secondary period. The mountains are volcanic. Trap or
basalt is the leading rock. The mountain range of basalt dividing the Petaluma
and Sonoma valleys was poured out of the crater of St. Helena. The streets of
San Francisco are largely paved with this rock.

  Lignite that makes a tolerably good fuel is found cropping out at many
localities in this county. At a point two and a half miles southeast of Santa
Rosa, the Taylor Mountain Coal Mining Company has opened three seams of lignite,
which vary from four to eight feet in thickness. These seams are underlaid by
sandstone, having as a hanging-wall fire clay and shales, with sandstone above
them. John A. Hill has opened some excellent coal prospects on Mark West Creek.
On Rule's Ranch, between the mouth of Russian River and Russian Gulch, a small
seam of good lignite crops out.

  Petroleum, a sister product, also exists in the county.

  The minerals that have been found in paying quantities in Sonoma County, are
chromic iron, copper, quicksilver, red and yellow umber (terra de sienna),
argentiferous galena and limestone. Other minerals are borax, kaolin,
bloodstone, agate, gypsum, etc.

  The only quicksilver mine now being worked is four miles north of Guerneville.
The ore, mixed with a peculiar silicious rock and jasper, occurs in sheets often
100 feet long and ten to twenty feet wide.

  The "Geysers" are bubbling springs of sulphurous water and gas, so called by
way of distinction from less noted springs of the kind in the vicinity, and are
situated on Pluton Creek, sixteen miles east of Cloverdale, whence they are
reached by private conveyance. They are a great curiosity and are visited by
many lovers of nature. Through the entire formation, some acres in extent, jets
of hot water and steam are constantly escaping. It is stated that there has not
been any analysis made of the waters, but from the vicinity of the various blow
holes, melanterite, sulphur, alum, epsom salts, and cinnabar are found as
incrustations. The ground is white, and yellow, and gray, porous and rotten with
long and high heat. The air is also hot and sulphurous to an unpleasant degree.
All along the bottom of the ravine and up its sides the earth seems hollow and
full of boiling water. In frequent little cracks and pin-holes it finds vent,
and out of these it bubbles and emits streams like so many tiny teakettles at
high tide. In one place the earth yawns wide, and the "Witches' Cauldron,"
several feet in diameter, seethes and spouts a'black, inky water so hot as to
boil an egg, and capable of reducing the human body to pulp at short notice. Of
these springs, large and small, there are some 300 in number. Some are hot, some
are cold; some contain iron, some soda, some sulphur.

  The "Petrified Forest," sixteen miles from Santa Rosa on the stage road to
Calistoga, is another curious freak of nature. Several acres are thinly covered-
with petrified trunks of trees from seven feet in diameter down, lying at some
angle above a horizontal, five to thirty-five degrees, on the hillside. When
discovered they were almost covered with volcanic ashes and tufa, and the ground
sparkled with atoms of silica. This has been dug away, so that the trees can be
on exhibition.

LATER HISTORY OF THE COUNTY.

  In 1870 Sonoma County ranked next to the County of San Francisco in number of
school children. As one among the youngest counties of the State, she had thus
suddenly come to the very front in population and productiveness. Up to that
year she had been productive of more wealth to the State in cereals, potatoes,
butter and cheese than the three counties of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and San
Diego combined. This wealth of products gave to her land a fixed value, and
hence it was that lands came to be valued, even at that early day, at $50 to $75
an acre. Scarcely any irrigation was needed anywhere in the county.

  Nowadays, from Two Rock Valley to Bodega, once almost a continuous grain and
potato field, the country is almost entirely devoted to dairying and
stock-raising. In the southern end of the county grain has largely given place
to the growing of hay. The upper valleys of the central portion of the county
are largely de voted to grape and fruit-raising. The most marked development in
this direction is noticeable from Santa Rosa northward to Cloverdale. That
region begins to assume the appearance of what the whole county ought to
present, namely, small holdings, with cheerful home surroundings.

  The railroads, although at first damaging to a few, have been of great
advantage to the county, not only in pecuniary wealth but also in bringing the
people into easy civilizing contact with metropolitan influences and the world
generally.

  With the exception of the phylloxera devastation—which is now being
overcome—the entire county of Sonoma has since 1870 made slow but sure progress.
The introduction of fruit-canning has been a great aid. It is also claimed that
the county excels all the other sections of the State in the rearing of superior
horses.

  The county contains thirteen Methodist Episcopal churches, eight Methodist
Episcopal South, two German Methodist, nine Presbyterian with one mission, six
Catholic, seven Christian, three Congregational, three Baptist, three Episcopal
besides two in embryo, and six miscellaneous.

SANTA ROSA.

  This, the " City of Roses," is well entitled to the appellation, for it
certainly ranks next to San Jose and Santa Clara as a sylvan retreat. It was
founded in 1858 and became the county-seat of Sonoma County in 1854. The first
house, built in the town was erected by John Bailiff, for Julio Carrillo. A town
had already been started at what is now the junction of the Sonoma, Bodega &
Russian River roads, called Franklintown, but this was soon absorbed by Santa Rosa.

  Among the first residents were Obe Rippeto, Jim Williamson, J. M. Case, John
Ingram, Dr. Boyce, the late William Ross, Judge Temple, W. B. Atterbury, S. G.
and J. P. Clark and Charles W. White; and among the very first merchants were B.
Marks, now of Ukiah, and his partner, M. Rosenberg, still residing here.

  The growth of Santa Rosa was slow but steady for about fifteen years, when it
suddenly went forward with amazing rapidity, doubling its population in the
decade between 1860 and 1870; and from that time onward its progress has been
steady and substantial. In 1867 it was incorporated as a city. In 1869 it
secured the location there of the Pacific Methodist College that had long been
conducted at Vacaville, Solano County. In 1870 the Northern Pacific Railroad was
completed to that place, a great boon; and the completion of the Santa Rosa &
Carquinez Railroad to that place in 1887 has made it a fixed finality that Santa
Rosa is to grow into the magnitude of one of the most populous inland cities in
the State. A respectable number of manufacturing industries have sprung up
there, banks established, an agricultural park, and all the essentials and
accomplishments of a refining civilization.

PETALUMA.

  The word "Petaluma" is Indian, probably signifying duck hills or little hills.
The town is situated at the head of navigation on Petaluma Creek, a tide stream
that is an arm of San Pablo Bay. In 1836 General M. G. Vallejo built the first
house in Petaluma Valley, a large adobe structure, now fast crumbling into
ruins, standing in fair view three miles east. In 1851 or '52 the first move was
made in the direction of platting the town and offering lots for sale. The
increasing influx of immigration warranted the success of the enterprise, and
therefore the town has ever since had a steady and healthy growth, reaching a
population probably of about 5,000. It is, therefore, the principal shipping
point from a rich dairy, agricultural and horticultural district; and it has the
advantage of navigation to the outside world, which keeps the railroad tariff
down to a reasonable point. The town is beautifully situated, is healthy and a
desirable place of residence. The thermometer rarely falls below thirty-two
degrees .or rises above ninety, while the coast mountains throw the ocean fogs
high up into the sky. It is abundantly supplied with good, pure water from the
Sonoma Mountains. The business streets are paved with basalt-rock blocks, and
all the streets are liberally lighted with gas. A large tannery, woolen-mill,
flouring-mill, etc., do as good work as any institution of the kind on the
coast. The Masonic Temple is an imposing structure, costing about $40,000.

  The newspapers are the Weekly Argus, conducted by McNabb, Cassiday & Cottle;
the Weekly Courier, conducted by Woodbury & Ravencroft; the Daily Morning
Imprint, by J. W. Hoag; and a monthly, named The Orchard and farm, by Samuel E.
Watson.

  The usual number of local business and social organizations prosper well in
Petaluma.

HEALDSBURG

is the seat of a lively college, zealously conducted by the Seventh-Day
Adventists.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from

Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California.

Illustrated, Containing a History of this Important Section of the Pacific Coast
from the Earliest Period of its Occupancy to the Present Time, together with
Glimpses of its Prospective Future; Full-Page Steel Portraits of its most
Eminent Men, and Biographical Mention of many of its Pioneers and also of
Prominent Citizens of To-day.

"A people that takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will
never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote
descendents." – Macauley.

CHICAGO
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
1891.

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