Cover Page of the book
HISTORY OF
MERCED COUNTY
CALIFORNIA
WITH A
Biographical Review
OF
The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been
Identified with Its Growth and Development
from the Early Days to the Present
HISTORY BY JOHN OUTCALT
ILLUSTRATED COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME
HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
1925
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Page 243
CHAPTER XIV
THE COMING OF THE RAILROAD AND THE FOUNDING OF MERCED
By the fall of 1869 the new grain-raisers who had for the past year or more
been flocking into the plains country had tried transportation by water and
had convincingly demonstrated some of its uncertainties, or rather the
certainty that there could be none for a long enough period after their crops
were harvested to enable them to get the grain to market. We have seen how
great quantities of grain were left on the growers' hands during the winter
of 1869 and 1870, either on their own farms or at the most no nearer to
market than in warehouses on the river banks, as at Dover and Hill's Ferry.
The summer of 1869 may perhaps have been an unusually favorable year for
river transportation at that; at any rate Mrs. Stevinson recalls that it
was only for one year that steamboats attempted to make a serious business
of getting up the San Joaquin higher than the mouth of the Merced. It is
interesting to note in this connection that the pictures in the old 1881
history showing steamboats in the Merced River at the Stevinson and the
W. C. Turner ranches were not drawn from imagination, but from "life."
A young man who was one of those engaged in the work on the 1881 history
was stormbound at the Stevinson Ranch for a week. and made the sketch of
that place, steamer and all, while he was there, and the boats actually did
go as far up as the Turner Ranch.
Dover, shortest-lived of all the county's towns, had been begun in July,
1869, Steele tells us. During the summer of 1869 it had its short boom, and
after the winter of 1869 and 1870 the Argus does not have much of anything
to say about the town. Steele tells of visiting both Dover and Hill's Ferry
in March, 1870, and he speaks of their appearance of prosperity; but in his
account of the same trip he tells us that the prospects are that the grain
crop on the West Side will be a total failure for want of rain, and we are
left with the impression that he was deceived about the prosperity, or
perhaps he was unwilling to admit that his earlier prophecies of a
permanent growth for the place had so soon proved wrong.
In the Argus of October 23, 1869, appeared the following:
"Railroad.-Railroad is the principal topic in many localities throughout
the State, each particular place having a favorite line. The line in which
the people of the San Joaquin Valley are most interested,
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and the only one that could possibly aid them by supplying transportation
facilities for their produce
commensurate with their wants, is a 'dead beat' so far as the people of Stockton
and the S. J. V. R. R Co. is
concerned. The little bid of three hundred thousand dollars has excited the
cupidity of the professional
land-grabbing association, and they retard the commencement of operation by
bringing in claims on the part
of the Copperopolis Railroad. We, here, have no right to grumble about the manner
in which the people of
Stockton invest their money, and have no objections to their building a road to
Meader's copper mine if they
desire to do so; but we do object to their holding out the idea to the public
that their intention is to build a road
to secure the trade of this valley when their real design is to run out a few miles
into the country for the sole
purpose of gobbling the unsettled land in the foothills. While this valley offers
greater inducements than any
other section of the State to capitalists to invest in railroad building, the
country at the same time would be more
benefited by such an enterprise, as it would enable the people to settle upon and
cultivate millions of acres of rich
land which now lie fallow because of. the impossibility of farmers obtaining
supplies or transporting their produce
to market. Though opposed to monopolies, we believe the only hope and salvation
of this section of the State
is in relying upon the Central and Western Pacific Companies, and offering to
them inducements that will ensure
the building and stocking of a road through this valley within a year or two.
Direct trade with San Francisco for the
people of the San Joaquin Valley will in all probability be the result of the
policy now pursued by the Stockton
people, and that city will find when too late to avert its doom that the people
to the southward of it can get along
without it, and ignore its very existence so far as trade is concerned. Instead
of throwing obstacles in the way of
improvement of the transportation facilities between this city and the country,
Stocktonians should vie with
each other in studying out plans to aid any enterprise set on foot to connect
that point with the great
wheat-growing section south of the Tuolumne River, where now all enterprise
languishes simply for want of
means of transportation commensurate with the requirements of the settlers.
The winter season is now setting
in, and the people see no means offered them for getting to market the large
quantities of grain which their lands
are capable of producing, and therefore they will not be likely to plant as
largely as they would do were there a
prospect for the completion of the railroad through the valley within the next
twelve months. The mutton, pork,
beef, and grain sent annually from this valley to San Francisco amounts to an
immense trade, which could be
increased ten-fold in a short space of time if improvement of transportation
facilities could be kept up with the
demands of the country."
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In the issue of November 6, 1869, the Argus prints a communication from a
writer who masks his identity under the name of "Hampden"-not dauntless
enough, apparently, to disclose his real name-which says that the
Honorable William M. Stewart, United States Senator from Nevada, has been in
Snelling on a trip through the valley in behalf of the Western Pacific
Railroad, and that he is inviting the counties to donate $10,000 a mile to
help build the railroad "from Shepherd's Ferry to Visalia." Already, we are
told, Senator Stewart has secured donations of 50,000 acres of land
conditioned on the building of the road to Sycamore Poineby September
15, 1871. According to the letter, the road contemplates crossing the
Tuolumne near Empire City, and the Merced near McConnell's Ranch. Hampden
points out that such a line would run for about thirty miles
through Merced County, and the county would thus have to donate about
$300,000 if it accepted Senator Stewart's invitation. Hampden is in favor
of having the county do this, and argues that it is estimated that the
assessed valuation for ten miles on each side of the road would be increased
$10 an acre, a total increase of $3,840,000, which he says is more than the
county's total assessed valuation, and that the county would make money by
the donation. Steele comments editorially and counsels going slow on
Hampden's proposition. The files of the paper later show that an attempt
to get a big donation from 'the county failed.
An advertisement of a sawmill for sale in the same issue providentially
gives us the location of Sycamore Point. The steam sawmill is at Sycamore
Point, San Joaquin River, and those interested are directed to apply to
James Helm, Firebaugh's Ferry.
The issue of December 18, 1869, contains this: "Stockton and Her Railroad
Projects.-Within the past year, numerous railroad projects have been sprung
in Stockton, all of which have been killed, or failed for want of enterprise
on the part of the people along the lines of the respective proposed roads.
The Stockton and Tulare Railroad proved a fizzle; the Stockton and
Copperopolis Railroad ditto; the Ship Canal likewise ; but now it seems that
the pertinacity with which the Stocktonians have stuck to their intention to
build a railroad up the valley of the San Joaquin is about to be rewarded.
The 'Stockton and Visalia Railroad' is the latest proposition, and it ought
to succeed. The need of a railroad up the valley has been plainly seen for
years; but the sparseness of population, combined with other obstacles, has
prevented its construction. The Stockton Independent says: 'At a meeting of
the Board of Directors of the Stockton and Visalia Railroad Company held at
Pioneer Hall on Saturday evening last, James A. Jackson was elected
President; Frank Stewart, Treasurer; and Austin Sperry, Secretary. There
is
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at present $191,000 subscribed to the stock of the company, and ten per
centum of the same has been paid into the treasury. It is the intention
of the company to fully complete its organization, immediately after
which books for further subscriptions will be opened. The prospects of
a speedy commencement of the work are very encouraging, as the company
can now safely calculate upon securing funds sufficient to construct
the road from Stockton to a point near Empire City.' "
On March 5,1870, appears the following on "Railroad Building," which the
Argus quotes with brief comment from the San Joaquin. Republican:
"From I. M. Hubbard, Superintendent of construction on the San Joaquin
and Tulare Railroad, we learn that the railroad is now completed to the
north bank of the Stanislaus River, a distance of eleven miles from
Wilson's Station, the point of connection with the Western Pacific road.
Some little delay will take place, occasioned by the unfinished bridge
across the river; but as soon as this is completed the road will, we are
informed, be pushed forward rapidly in the direction of Tulare Lake.
It is not contemplated to run the road to Visalia, but to leave that
place somewhere twelve or fourteen miles to the eastward. If the
company can manage to keep itself to the sticking point, the people
of the Valley will soon be able to hear the whistle of Crocker's steam
wagons and will ride on a railroad-if they have money enough. Only ten
cents a mile, and board your-self."
From Stockton to the Stanislaus bridge, says the Argus, is about
twenty-three miles.
Some little light on transportation conditions in the part of Merced
County towards which this railroad is advancing may be gained from
three notices published in the Argus in December and January, 1869
and 1870, to the effect that the board of supervisors will be asked
at the meeting on February 7, 1870, to layout and locate three new
roads. The notices are signed by Neill McSwain, W. P. Fowler,
and H. W. French. The first road was to be about twenty-three
miles in length, and was to extend from J. M. Montgomery's Ranch,
the present Wolfsen Ranch, down the north side of Bear Creek to
somewhere near where Merced now is; then to leave the creek a
little and run out to where Sections 18 and 19 corner on the
westerly line of Township 7 South, Range Thirteen East; thence
south two miles to join and include an existing private road
to Dover. The second was to be about seventeen miles in length,
and to extend from the Lone Tree vicinity to join the Snelling
and Mariposa Creek road near Montgomery's ranch. The third was
to be about thirteen miles in length, and was to extend from the
southeast corner of Section 16, Township 7 South, Range 13 East,
on the lands of Dr. R.
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P. Ashe (Fergus vicinity, and apparently connecting with the road from
Montgomery's Ranch to Dover), northwesterly to McSwain's Ferry across
the Merced River in Section 9, Township 6 South, Range 12 East.
Owners of land crossed by the first road are given as J. M. Montgomery,
Ray & Hines, W. P. Fowler, Job Wheat, and Joseph F. Goodale, to a point
on Bear Creek in Section 22, Township 7 South, Range 13 East ... ,
Isaac Friedlander, S. B. Dillion, J. c. Rogers, Neill McSwain, R. P.
Ashe, J. B. Cocanour, G. W. Kidd, J. W. Mitchell, A. C. Hill and
H. P. Jolly, P. R. Tarr, F. G. Anderson, Thomas Pletts, George
Drumbald, and J. M. Soaper. By the second, Isaac Friedlander, W. Mitchell,
Joseph G. Morrison, Warner Oliver, J. M. Montgomery, Joseph F. Goodale
(Goodale, probably), P. Carroll\ Frank Stewart, Stockwell & Guernsey,
Timothy Page, W. K. Knight, and L. Howard. By the third, R. P. Ashe,
Neill McSwain, John Archibald, Thomas Bevans, Thos. J. A. Chambers,
A. S. Chase, E. S. Holden, Stewart & Newell, C. J. Cressey, Theodore
Lee, A. Hoenshell, Neill Brothers, and Joshua Griffith.
Back in the issue of the Argus for September 25, 1869, we get a clue to
the $300,000 referred to in the story about the railroad talked about
from Stockton to Copperopolis, when we read that Leland Stanford,
president of the S. J. V. R. R., had entered into an agreement with
the Mayor and Common Council of Stockton whereby he was to build
seventy-five miles of railroad south from Stockton, and the city
to donate the right of way within its limits and on completion of
the seventy-five miles to contribute $300,000.
Back in the Herald of September 19, 1868, is a little item about "Improved
Mail Facilities." It says that Congress has established a new mail route
from Stockton to Millerton, by way of French Camp, Tuolumne City, Paradise,
Empire City, Hopetown, Snelling, P. Y. Welch's store on Mariposa Creek,
Appling's store on the Chowchilla, and so to Millerton. Possibly Uncle
Sam had something to do with the dropping of the old name of "Forlorn
Hope," and "Hopetown" easily dropped the "w." It is also interesting to
note that there does not yet appear to be any Plainsburg.
Plainsburg, by name, first emerges, so far as we find by the newspaper
files, on October 9, 1869. This is the story:
"New Hotel at Plainsburg.-Mr. A. B. Farley has recently opened a neat and
commodious hotel in the new and rapidly growing little village of
Plainsburg, in the southern portion of this county, where he is prepared
to give the traveling public the very best accommodation to be had in the
country. In addition to the hotel business, Mr. Farley is purchasing
cattle, sheep, and hogs for 'the San Francisco and Stockton markets, and
pays the highest prices in cash for them. Give Mr. Farley a call. You will
find him a well-informed, public-
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spirited gentleman, and justly regarded as a valuable acquisition to our
county." And we are referred to his ad.
On December 25,1869: "New Paper.-We are informed that parties contemplate
publishing a paper at Plainsburg, in this county. Mr. Wickham, at one time
one of the publishers of the Herald in this place, is to be the editor.
Plainsburg must have improved greatly in the past few weeks to induce any
prudent business man to establish a newspaper with reasonable hope of
profit."
On January 29, 1870, we read that Mr. Andrew Lauder of Plainsburg proposes
to put up a mill for the grinding of feed and the manufacture of pearl
barley, etc., provided he can get others to take stock in the enterprise.
On March 5,1870: "Plainsburg.-We paid a visit to this thriving village
this week and could not but be pleased at the improvements since we were
there six months ago. The place now boasts two hotels, two blacksmith shops,
one store, a large billiard saloon, a barber shop, a boot and shoe shop,
a wagon shop, one good doctor, and a number of other professionals.
While there we learned that A. J. W. Albeck was moving his 'Pioneer Store'
from the old stand to the village, and before this notice is seen by the
public the place will have two large mercantile establishments instead of one."
In the spring of 1870 there was talk of forming a separate county out of the
portions of Merced and Stanislaus west of the San Joaquin. The editor tells
us he heard such talk on his visit to Hill's Ferry in March of that year.
In the next issue, on the 26th, he says; "We have been informed that the
petition for the new county of Jefferson from parts of Stanislaus and
Merced has made its appearance at Sacramento." He is quoting the Tuolumne
City News, which goes on to say that they claim 700 resident citizens and
taxpayers as signers of the petition. The Argus joins the News in denying
that the move is backed by any appreciable number of persons on the East
Side (it is the only instance we have found where the two papers agree),
and the Argus asserts that they can't have any such number of signers as
they claim, and that the West Side is not then able to support a county
government-which contention, considering the crop failure, was probably
sound. This early instance of the appearance of a more or less perennial
subject of discussion is interesting as having progressed far enough so
that the proposed county had a name. On the score of nomenclature alone,
and without any desire to withhold honor from the illustrious founder of
the Democrats party, we may rejoice that these enthusiasts did not succeed in
interjecting "Jefferson" among our distinctive California county names.
In the issue of April 23, 1870, we read that there has been an election in
San Joaquin County resulting in favor of granting the Stockton and Visalia
Railroad a subsidy. In the same issue there
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is a communication, anonymous, from "a gentleman of intelligence,
observation, and experience in business," in favor of Merced County's
donating $5000 a mile to the road.
In June the Argus quotes a Marysville dispatch to a Sacramento paper
saying that plans are under way to build a railroad to Oregon and also to
"put a heavy constructing force on the San Joaquin Valley
road .. .. Work is progressing on the San Joaquin Valley road near
the Stanislaus River. The Argus expects the road to reach the
confines of Merced County in a few months.
In the next issue there is a story of a favorable. report made by Mark Howell
on a wagon-road project across the San Joaquin River bottom in the vicinity
of Dover "to the high lands west of Salt Slough." The Argus advocates the
road and says that next to the railroad it is the most important project for
the permanent benefit of the county and the people now in contemplation.
On July 9, we read that freight trains are now running from the north bank
of the Stanislaus to Wilson's Station, and the freight has been a good deal
reduced, so that grain is being shipped from Murphy's to San Francisco for
$2.70 a ton. The story is quoted from the San Joaquin Republican, and the
Argus regrets that there is no report on progress southward.
In the same issue are notices that applications will be made to the
supervisors at the August meeting to establish two new county roads,
one from Dover to the San Luis Ranch, and the other from the Stanislaus
County line to connect with the Westport road and come by way of McSwain's
Ferry to Plainsburg.
On the 16th the Argus says editorially, "It seems to us that the San Joaquin
Valley Railroad Co.'s reticence in regard to future operations on the road
is in pursuance of a very bad policy." On August 27 the editor says he has
heard a rumor that the San Joaquin Valley Railroad Company have a force on
the south side of the Stanislaus and that the work of grading and preparing
for the constructing forces is going on. He complains of lack of definite
information, and says that without assurances that the road will be pushed
forward, rapid development of the southern portion of the county cannot be
expected. On September 10 he publishes a letter dated August 28, from a
correspondent at "Stanislaus Depot, Murphy's Ferry":
"There is today some 20 or 30 men at work on the Stanislaus bridge,
and a corps of engineers are setting the grade stakes towards the
Tuolumne River; and I am informed by prominent members of the company
that it is their intention to push the work forward as speedily as
possible to the Merced River, So you need not be surprised to hear of the
citizens of Merced having a general stampede in about two months, at the
rattle of the wheels and the snort of the iron horse."
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Two weeks later Steele is still feeling discouraged. "We were informed
yesterday by reliable authority," he says, "that not to exceed forty men
(Chinamen) were employed grading, and that not three miles of the road,
as yet, had been graded; also that considerably less than that number of
carpenters were employed in building the bridge. It is quite certain that
residents in this section of the valley have been building castles in the
air.
On October 1, however, he reports that he has visited the scene of the work,
and found it "progressing rapidly and satisfactorily. A heavy force is
employed upon the construction of the bridge across the Stanislaus, and a
large force is employed in grading the road to the southward. We also
observed considerable activity among the people of Paradise and Tuolumne
cities, and in a few weeks expect to see the foundation laid for the
building of a large town a few miles from Paradise on the line of the road.
The people are only waiting for the location of the depot between the
Stanislaus and the Tuolumne to commence the work of building, and the
removal of their stores and workshops to the new Paradise. We are assured
by men who say they speak by the card that the road will be pushed forward
with the greatest rapidity to. the Alabama settlement, which point is
expected to be reached by July or August of next year. This will open all
of Merced County south of this place up to settlement and cultivation and
will bring the farmers of our county in direct communication with San
Francisco and Stockton."
On October 8 appears a proclamation by the board of supervisors of Merced
County of an election to be held on November 5 to vote on the proposition
of bonding the county to the extent of $5000 a mile, or a total of $150,000,
and donate the bonds to the Central Pacific Railroad, under an act which
the legislature had recently passed authorizing counties to do this. Steele
runs editorials for two successive weeks arguing against issuing the bonds.
The matter did not come to a vote, however, for on October 27 the order
calling the election was rescinded by the board at the request of Leland
Stanford, president of the Central Pacific Company, on account of
insufficiency of the notice which had been given. At least that was the
reason assigned.
On November 19: "We are informed that a heavy force is engaged at work upon
the railroad bridge near Paradise, on the Tuolumne River, and that only a
short time will elapse before the structure will be completed. It is also
rumored that the railroad company will commence hauling timbers across to
the Merced and commence the erection of a bridge there as soon as the cars
can cross the Tuolumne."
The next issue quotes a story from the Tuolumne City News entitled
"The Rival Towns." The News man becomes almost lyri-
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cal over the mushroom river towns which are about to become one with
Ninevah and Tyre: "Still the work of dismantling-so to speak -the once
flourishing towns of Tuolumne and Paradise continues. It is hard to tell
which of the two places now wears the most gloomy and dismal appearance.
Once they were rivals, struggling for the lead in trade and wealth;
now each is only a shadow of its former self .... The greater portion of
their inhabitants, and even buildings, now swell the numbers of the new
town of Modesto." This is the first mention of that name for the new town
we have seen. The News man goes on and prophesies-which seems to be the
besetting sin of editors-that Tuolumne City will still last a long time.
It didn't.
Tuolumne City and Paradise were near enough to Modesto to go there, as we
may say, in one step. Dover, as ephemeral, or even more so than they, was
considerably further from where Merced was soon to be, and the moving was
limited, and part of it may be said to have been in two steps. When Dover
proved too dry in summer and too wet in winter, M. Goldman moved his store
from there up onto Bear Creek, about the Meadowbrook Farm. It is probably
his store that Steele refers to in the following, in the issue of January
14, 1871:
"Town Started.-We were surprised last week to find on Bear Creek a new
town started. A store, saloon, and blacksmith shop have been established,
giving to the place-which was recently but a wilderness-quite the air of a
town. During our stay of a couple of hours quite a number of people called
in to purchase goods, get blacksmithing done, or transact other business.
We obtained several new subscribers while there, and went our way."
On May 20 we read that the junction point of the San Joaquin Valley road
with the main trunk line from San Francisco to Omaha has been named Lathrop,
and that the railroad company has built a splendid hotel there, "as the
passengers on the up trains for this section take dinner there."
On June 3 there are two short railroad items-one to the effect that the
chief engineer and assistant of the Copperopolis Railroad
have been in Snelling the previous Monday, viewing out a line
for the Stockton & Visalia Railroad, and that they "inform us that the
road
will be built from the contemplated junction point-Peters'-to the Merced
River during the present year," the other to the effect that
"a correspondent writing us from Modesto informs us that a heavy
force of men, accompanied by a construction train of thirty cars,
loaded with bridging material, iron, ties, etc., arrived at that point
and commenced operations on the Tuolumne bridge, on Monday last."
June 10: "The movements being made now in railroad circles assure us that
one or more lines of railroad will be completed through
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Merced County the present year." And the Argus prophesies big development.
June 17: "The work on the Tuolumne bridge ... will be completed within a
week. The two rival companies seem to be in dead earnest, and our citizens
may look for the 'iron horse' to be traversing our plains at the rate of
thirty miles on hour on two lines of road before the expiration of the
present year." June 24:
"The Stockton papers report large quantities of railroad material being
sent forward to Peters for the Stockton & Visalia Railroad. The San
Joaquin Valley Railroad is being pressed forward towards the Merced River
from Modesto with considerable rapidity, and in a few weeks we will have
the locomotive puffing and snorting over the plains to the rich valley
of the Merced."
On July 1, under the title "The Railroad Approaching," we read:
"The San Joaquin Valley Railroad Company are grading on the line of their
survey south of the Tuolumne, and, we are informed, are hauling timbers
to the Merced to commence operations upon the bridge across that stream.
We have not learned the number of hands engaged upon the work south of
the Tuolumne, but gentlemen direct from there say that the work is
progressing very rapidly, and that the roadbed will be ready for the
iron and ties to the Merced as soon as trains can cross over the bridge
at the Tuolumne."
Two towns had destructive fires the latter part of this July. At Plainsburg
the fire destroyed Henry Jacobs' saloon and the grocery and stables of
Simon, Jacobs & Company. We are told that it was only through the
extraordinary exertions of the citizens that the town was saved. The
Argus understands that Mr. Jacobs will resume business. The fire in
Snelling occurred about 10 o'clock on the night of July 22, 1871. It
started from a new lamp in the residence of George W. Halstead, Jr. He
and his wife were out; their three small children were in the care of
Miss Belle Mann, fifteen, who saved them one by one. Miss Mann and the
baby were considerably burned. The citizens fought the fire, with
windmills and hand pumps supplying water to buckets and various vessels.
Andrew Casaccia's force-pump saved his saloon. The losses were:
G. W. Halstead, Jr., house and furniture, $800; Shaver and Halstead,
blacksmith shop, tools, damage to stock, $2000; N. Breen, wagon maker's
shop, stock and tools, $1400; A. J. Meany, carpenter's shop and four other
buildings, stock, tools, etc., $3000; Marsh & Brooks, painters, stock and
tools, loss not ascertained; A. B. Anderson, agricultural implements,
$1000; twenty buildings in Chinatown, of which three were stores, one
butcher's shop, and two restaurants, $10,000. No insurance except N.
Breen, $1000.
On July 29 we read: "Thursday evening of last week the construction
train of the San Joaquin Valley Railroad passed over the
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Tuolumne River bridge near Modesto, and have since been extending their
works south towards the Merced River. We visited the scene of operations
on the road on Tuesday and found the iron and ties laid for a distance of
about a mile south of the river. Though the company is not pushing the
work with much vigor upon this line, we are impressed with the belief that
in the course of four weeks the line will be completed to the Merced
River. It is probable that the line will not be completed to Bear Creek
much before the middle of November, when we expect to see a large town rise
upon the plain almost in a day, hundreds of people holding themselves in
readiness to rush to the ground and commence building as soon as a town
is laid off and lots can be purchased. It is the general belief that upon
Bear Creek will be built the large town of the valley, and many are in a
high state of excitement, eagerly watching the movements of the company to
ascertain, if possible, where the town will be located, that they may
commence to buy up land to build upon or for speculative purposes. The
section of Merced County south of the Merced River is capable of affording
trade sufficient to build up a large and important town, and when the
railroad is completed to a central point, improvements will be made with
greater rapidity than was ever before known in this section of the State.
The land is considered as first quality and capable of supporting a dense
population, and with such transportation facilities as the railroad will
afford, it being necessarily the terminus of travel by rail on the Yosemite
route, the growth of the embryo town cannot but be rapid and permanent."
Along through this fall we read the "ad." of N. A. Cody, Snelling Drug Store,
and a little later that Mr. Cody has become postmaster and has moved the
post office to his drug store. There is an item that A. B. Anderson has
put out poison on his farm and collected a two-horse wagon load of squirrels
and rabbits. There are a number of news items and "ads." about a new county
directory which Frank H. Farrar is planning to issue, and on which he seems
to have done a considerable amount of work; the last we see about it is that
owing to the fact that the new town of Merced is about to be built, it will
be postponed until the town is under way. This is early the next year.
There is an election proclamation which indicates that Merced, Mariposa,
and Stanislaus together elect one State Senator, and that,
Mariposa elects one Assemblyman, and the two other counties together elect
one. There is a table of the vote for Governor, giving the vote in nine out
of thirteen precincts. For Haight and Booth respectively, Plainsburg cast
39 and 18 votes; Los Banos, 13 and 0; Snelling, 185 and 67; Cottonwood,
24 and 7; Hopeton 52 and 2; Penter's, 19 and 3; Neill's 19 and 6; McSwain's,
29 and 17; and Merced Falls, 8 and 11. Total for the nine, 358 for Haight
and 131 for Booth.
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There is a story in the issue of September 9, 1871: "The Big Ditch.-Mr.
Dehart, just over from the west side of the San Joaquin River, informs us
that work on the great irrigating canal continues to be prosecuted
vigorously, the company making progress at the rate of three-fourths of a
mile a day .... "
The next week we read: "The Artesian Well.-The railroad company have
commenced boring an artesian well at the new town
site, on Bear Creek, and we learn are progressing with it rapidly and
satisfactorily. It seems to be the unanimous opinion of the people that the
Bear Creek town is destined to become the principal business point in the
valley, and that a grand rush will take place to it as soon as the company
announces the opening of the sale of lots. It is a central point in the
valley, and will command the trade and travel for a large and rich section
of country. It will also be the point where the Yo Semite travel by rail
will connect with the stages for the Yo Semite Valley."
In the same issue: "Progress of the Railroad.-The San Joaquin Valley
Railroad is now being pushed forward towards Bear Creek, and it is announced
that the cars will be running to the new town site on that stream by the
15th of November. The cars are now running to a point within a short
distance of the bank of the Merced River, and a large force are engaged in
grading the road on the south side of that river."
On October 21: "The railroad company is making good headway in the
construction of the bridge across the Merced, and also in grading from that
point towards Bear Creek .... "; and on November 4 the railroad bridge is
near completion.
Merced as the name for the new town first appears in the issue of
November 18: "Laying Out the Town.-We are informed that a corps of surveyors
have been engaged this week in laying off the new town of 'Merced,' on
Bear Creek. The time for the opening of the sale of lots has not yet been
set; but we presume the company will give due notice of the day and terms by
notice in the papers. There will be a grand rush for the new town as soon
as building lots can be procured." In the same issue we read that the
bridge across the Merced has been completed.
Serving to remind us that these were still pretty early times, are an item
that an Indian war is feared in Alpine County,·n the issue of September
30, 1871, and another on November 25 that the Mariposa Gazette quotes
J. J . Westfall as predicting trouble from the Piute and Digger Indians
in Mariposa County.
In the issue of December 23, 1871, an editorial explanation and an "ad."
throw some light on the transportation situation of the day. The editorial
is by way of excuse. It reads: "Mail Failures. -Up to the time of going
to press with our paper this week (Friday,
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3 o'clock P. M.), the mail from Modesto, which was due here at noon on
Thursday, has failed to arrive. It is all owing to Doust not being able
to cross the Merced at Murray's Ferry, on Tuesday evening, on his way
to Hornitos. Such things are exceedingly annoying, but the rains will come
and raise the rivers, and 'that's what's the matter.' "
The "ad." reads: "Morley's Ferry, at the crossing of the Tuolumne River on
the main thoroughfare from Snelling, Mariposa, Millerton, and Visalia to
Stockton. The most direct route and U. S., mail route from Stockton to the
places above named. The road is kept in good order and is the best one to
travel with either light or heavy teams anywhere on the route to said
places. The landings are not excelled for safety and easy crossing by any
other in the country. The boat is large-84 feet long-and is well prepared
with high and strong railing for crossing loose stock.
"J. W. Morley."
Several other "ads." are interesting. A. J. Meany announces that he is agent
for Geo. W. Hobron's mills and will be constantly supplied with sawed and
split lumber at reasonable prices. There are lawyers' professional cards of
P. D. Wigginton, S. H. P. Ross, and James W. Robertson, of Snelling, and
H. A. Gehr, of Modesto; doctors' cards of Drs. Fitzhugh & McLean, Dr. J. M.
Dulin, Dr. H. S. Brockway, Snelling, and Dr. V. H. Cox, Plainsburg; and the
card of A. J. Meany, architect, contractor and builder, and that of W. J.
Beers, architect. Blacksmiths are H. Shaw, Front Street, Dover; Peter
Shaver and George W. Halstead, Jr., Snelling; and Humphreys & Bradford,
Plainsburg. Joseph Ludesher does tailoring, Leeson and Bart. Ahren are boot
and shoe makers (Bart. Ahren having purchased the interest of P. H. Martin),
and Lindley & Co. advertise a marble works. There is sheep range to rent on
reasonable terms in Merced and Fresno Counties; apply to Simon, Jacobs &
Co., Plainsburg, or to M. Smythe, Lone Oak, Mariposa Creek. And Smith &
McDonald, Blacksmiths, Bear Creek, fly their shingle from that young
settlement.
In the issue of December 30, there is a story about a proposed new post
office near Pacheco Pass, and the Argus says "a post office at that point
would accommodate about three or four hundred people." With the beginning of
1872 things moved rapidly with the railroad and the new town. In the issue
of January 6 we read:
"The Railroad.We are informed by a gentleman from the Bear Creek Station,
that the iron and ties are laid some three miles beyond the site of the new
town, and that the grading is finished to the crossing of Mariposa Creek.
The late storm did considerable damage to the road between the Merced and
Bear Creek, and a
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force has been employed for a week past in repairing damages. Up to this
time no building has been done at the new town, though the R. R. Co. is
getting lumber on the ground and will commence the erection of a depot
building and a hotel as soon as the weather will permit. Our informant
states that a large portion of the flat country on Bear Creek is overflowed."
On January 13 we find: "Turlock.-A new town on the railroad, near the
confines of this county, named as above, has recently been started ...."
In the same issue: "Bear Creek.-We observe a little movement towards Bear
Creek among some of our mechanics who are anxious to get the first jobs or
contracts that may be let. Several went out to the new town yesterday
prospecting, and we expect considerable excitement among carpenters,
painters, brick layers, paper hangers, etc., in a few days. There is but
little building going on here now, and consequently many working men are
wanting to engage jobs for the spring and summer." We observe that Steele
makes a mental reservation that the exodus is only temporary. In the next
issue there is an editorial entitled "An Opposition Paper." The editor has
learned that "a certain party" plans to start a new paper at Bear Creek,
and the roast which he gives this prospective trespasser on his
stamping-ground may fairly be regarded as the first gun in the bitter fight
which not quite three years later ended in the shooting of Edward Madden by
Steele's stepson, Harry Granice.
On January 20: "Merced City, the new railroad town on Bear
Creek, is said to be springing up like magic this week. On Tuesday, a heavy
corps of workmen in the employ of the Railroad Company was sent up from
below to erect temporary buildings for a depot and hotel, and parties who
have come in from there since state that those buildings are rising rapidly,
and will be ready for the purposes intended within a few days. An eating
house and a saloon are already in operation, and large crowds of people are
flocking to the place, seeking locations for buildings."
In the same issue is the following also: "The Lot Sale. -While at Modesto
this week we were informed that the sale of lots in the new town of Merced
would commence on the 8th of February next. The sales will be by auction,
and it is the opinion of many that lots will be sold at high figures in
choice locations. The excitement runs high, and doubtless the crowd will be
immense at the time of the sales."
In the same issue also the editor acknowledges the receipt of the initial
copy of the "Southern Californian," the publication of which has just
started at Bakersfield by Selwyn Brittain. The paper is Democratic, gives
promise, and the editor wishes it success. The next week he states that Mr.
C. B. Woods has been in the county during
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the week making a survey and arrangements to start a new paper in Merced.
On January 27: "The New Town.-Merced, the new town on the railroad near
the crossing of Bear Creek, we understand is being built up quite rapidly.
Mr. McClenathan, of Modesto, is putting up a large livery stable; McReady
& Washburn, of Mariposa, are also erecting a livery stable; the railroad
company are erecting a hotel and a depot building; several saloons, two or
three eating houses, and two butcher stalls, are being put up, all of which
are designed to be in readiness for use by the time the sale of lots shall
commence. The carpenters and brick masons of this place are all making
preparations to move to the new town, where they hope to reap a rich
harvest the present season. There is no doubt but that Merced will be built
up rapidly and in the space of a few months become a large inland town,
eclipsing any town now in this section of the State."
On January 27 also the Argus tells us that freighting has been resumed, and
that three large freight teams are in Snelling from Modesto. On February 3
there is an announcement that Mr. E. A. Manning has established a factory
in Snelling to make boots ana shoes f0r ladies, misses, and children, by
machinery, "with surprising celerity."
Also on February 3: "The Town of Merced.-We were at the new town of Merced
on Monday last, and found all astir, everyone being busily engaged in
building and preparing for the great day to come, Thursday next, when the
sale of the lots is to take place. The Railroad Company have a temporary
hotel in operation, and Mr. Charles S. Evans has a restaurant and lodging
house, those being the only houses of entertainment at that time open in the
place. Messrs. Washlburn & McReady were erecting sheds to serve as a
livery stable; and Mr. McClenathan, of Modesto, was also putting up a
livery stable, which was going up at a rapid rate. George Powell, Esq.,
who used to handle the ribbons so cleverly and make regular trips from
Hornitos to Modesto, has opened a neat drinking saloon, and appeared to be
master of the situation. An enterprising man has started a meat market, and
we were informed that A. M. Hicks would also open a meat market in the place
in the course of a week. Besides the buildings above mentioned there were a
number of tents and board sheds, put up for the accommodation of carpenters,
and other workmen, giving the place very much the appearance of new mining
camps in early days. The site of the new town is a beautiful level plain,
though rather low for wet weather, and when the place is built up with
permanent buildings, will make a sightly town, and convenient of access
for a great extent of country surrounding it. The land in the immediate
vicinity of the town is of the richest
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quality, making it one of the most desirable places to locate that we know
of in the valley. The place is also within a few miles of the geographical
center of the county, and already the question of removal of the county seat
is being discussed pro and con by the people of all sections of the county.
It is certainly a handsome site for a town, and when built up and properly
established will be entitled to lay claims to become the seat of justice of
our prosperous county. We hope, however, that proper time will be given for
preparation to be made for so important an event, and that it may not be
accomplished before proper arrangements are made for the accommodation of
those who might be called there to transact business or attend upon the
courts. Here we have a good court house, good hotels and livery stables,
and
everything requisite to make visitors comfortable; therefore it would not
be well to make hurried arrangements for removal, but wait until a court
house and offices can be prepared before it can be accomplished. Railroads
build up a country through which they are extended, and they likewise change
the current of business affairs, breaking down old established towns and
building up new ones; and we have no expectation of a change being made in
our case only in so far as the country surrounding Snelling, being capable
of supporting and maintaining a large local trade which cannot be diverted
from it, and which will increase and become more and more important year
after year."
In the same issue is the following: "Public Roads.-While on a visit to the
southern portion of our county recently, we observed that the people were
making great complaint in consequence of a general want of public roads.
Though the county has been to a great expense in providing bridges over some
of the creeks, yet the people say there are no public roads leading to them,
no work is dome by overseers, and land-owners turn the temporary roads to
suit their own convenience or whims. We know not who are to blame for the
sad condition of road matters about Plainsburg; but we do know that some of
the people are grumbling audibly because travel has been turned away from
their village in consequence of the closing up by the farmers of the various
neighborhood and private roads leading to the place. The matter should be
looked to by those whose business it is to attend to such things."
The long-waited sale of lots occurred on February 8, and the Argus of the
10th thus reports it:
"Lot Sales at Merced.-We attended the lot sales at the new
town of Merced on Thursday last, and could not but be surprised at the large
number of lots sold and the high prices at which they were knocked off to
the purchasers. The lots were subdivided, the choice half of the choice
corner lot of each block being first offered. The first sale was made to
John C. Smith, of this town, for $575.00; and
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the second was the other half of the lot to Silas I Simon for $495.00,
making $1070.00 for one lot of 50x150 feet. The remainder of the lots sold
brought less prices, yet all went at very high figures for a new town on
the
plains. A very large crowd of people attended the sales, there being a
great many from San Francisco, Sacramento, Stockton, Modesto, and other
towns and cities below, in addition to heavy delegations from Mariposa,
Hornitos, Snelling, Millerton, and Visalia. We heard of a large number of
contracts being made for the erection of buildings in the town, some of
which are designed to be quite extensive edifices. The railroad company has
reserved an entire block for a hotel, a building four stories in height and
to contain one hundred and seventy-five rooms. With such a magnificent
structure as a starter, it will not be at all wonderful if the growth of
the
town should be unprecedented in rapidity. Many of the buildings projected
are of a permanent character, and there will be employment for a great many
men for a long time. The country for many miles surrounding the town is a
level plain, the soil of which is of the richest quality; and if it were
cut up into small farms instead of being held by monopolists, would make it
one of the most desirable places to locate in anywhere in the State."
According to the practice of the journalism of the times, Steele does not
tell us many things which we should be glad to know; glittering
generalities come in after he has told us who bought the first lot, and we
do not learn who bought any others or how many were sold.
Two weeks later appears the following: "Merced.-Buildings at the new town of
Merced are springing up as if by magic. Since the sale of lots, two weeks
ago, some fifteen or twenty buildings have 'been started, some of which are
rapidly approaching completion, and yet we hear of a number of others to be
commenced as soon as workmen and materials can be obtained. The basement of
a large hotel-being erected for the railroad company-is going up rapidly,
and in the course of three months the town will be able to boast of one of
the largest and finest hotels in the southern part of the State. We are
informed that it is to be a four-story building-the basement of brick-and
when finished to contain one hundred and seventy-five rooms. As Merced is
to be the terminus of railroad travel for Yosemite tourists, a large
well-furnished hotel will be necessary for their accommodation, and the
railroad company is not inclined to permit them to lack for suitable
accommodations at so important a point as the line of travel." The story
then goes on to say that the valley around the town at this season presents
a pretty scene, an unbroken plain carpeted with green.
We may close this chapter with the following from the editorial page of the
short-lived "Merced People," which Harry Granice
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edited for fourteen issues during the spring of 1872 in the new town-a move,
we may guess, which was an unsuccessful attempt by Steele and his family to
hold the newspaper field of the county against outsiders. In his tenth
issue, on May 25, 1872, Granice had the following:
"Our Town.-Some idea may be gained of the rapid growth of our town when we
state that it now contains more business houses than any other place in
this or any adjoining county, and its progress is constantly upward, and
ere long it will be the largest and most flourishing place between Stockton
and Los Angeles. Merced dates its existence back to the 8th of February
last, and where now stands a prosperous and constantly growing town,
previous to that time was the 'stamping ground' of numerous herds of wild
cattle and mustang horses. That our town is bound to prosper must be plain
to all for these reasons: It is situated in the center of a fine
agricultural region, the land of which is unsurpassed for its extraordinary
richness and grain raising qualities, and the location of the town is a
remarkably healthy one. Chills and fever and other malarious diseases never
make their appearance in this locality as they do in other portions of our
county during the summer months. It has railroad connections with all the
principal marts of the world, rendering travel and transportation
expeditious, and if the proposed competitive railroad between San Francisco
and St. Louis is built, we will be enabled to say cheap. But at present the
freight rates and fares established by the Central Pacific Railroad, to and
from this place, are exorbitant, and as a consequence Our town and county
will not settle up as rapidly as they would if the tariff of charges on the
C. P. R. R. were something like reasonable. But in spite of this our town
continues to increase in size and importance, and the surrounding country,
from which the town derives its chief support, keeps pace with it in
improvement.
"To those who are looking out for a suitable business location we will say
that Merced offers superior inducements to business men of whatever
profession or trade, and we have no hesitancy in stating that there is room
for all in our town."
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