A History of the New California

Birds Eye View of Sacramento from Dome of Capitol

Herbert Spencer calls attention to the fact that all history is perverted, and aptly cites the remark of a French king who, wishing to consult some historical work, called to his librarian, “Bring me my liar!”

The incident illustrates a truth that is known to all who have had occasion to verify disputed points in either biography or general history. That it is almost always difficult, and sometimes impossible, to get at vital facts, is apparent to those who have ever taken pains to investigate epochs of history, or to search for the exact truth concerning contemporary events.

Often idle rumors have been repeated until public opinion has been firmly grounded in error, and often the reverse of the facts has been sent forth with the stamp of truth. Distortions of this character are to be looked for in all cases where deep religious feelings or bitter political contests are factors; but it may surprise the reader to learn that many errors have crept into the pages of histories that deal with facts about which there should be neither dispute nor ill-feeling.

The development of society in California here and there affords striking examples of controverted history, particularly with reference to the life and labors of Fremont and his men, the character and habits of the native Californians, and the work and purposes of the famous Vigilantes. These phases of history are likely to be disputed always.

The sole purpose of this work, where debated points have confronted the author, has been to sift the facts and reach the truth–but for the most part the annals of the state afford an interesting and consistent story of American life under picturesque circumstances.

This is a work in progress!

California’s Gift to Civilization
A careful survey of the people and their environments–The builders of the commonwealth and their achievements–honored names among the professions–What authors and thinkers have done for the great west
Northern California’s Climate
The truth about climate and resources is more wonderful than fiction could be made — Vast extent and variety of climate and soil — Importance of the Japan current — Climatology, scenery and general character of the land
Glimpses of Early California History
Glimpses of early history–Cortes and his successors–The great and the Franciscan Fathers–Discovery of San Francisco Bay by a land party–The founding of Santa Clara–San Jose the first town organized under civil government–Other facts of interest, including the first foreign visitors
Early Times in New California
Habits and amusements of the native Californians of early times–Americans before the conquest–Character of the early trappers and path-finders–Captain John A. Sutter and his achievements–The coming of Fremont–Ethics of the conquest, and other thoughts
The Discovery of Gold
Wonderful results of James Marshall’s accidental discovery at Sutter’s Mill on January 24, 1848–How towns and farms of California were depopulated–Great influx of pioneers from all parts of the world–The transformation of a wilderness into an empire was the romance of the nineteenth century
The Reign of Disorder
Antecedents of the vigilance committees of 1851 and 1856–How an organization known as the Hounds caused the organized forces of society to deal summary justice in pioneer days–The killing of James King “of William”–Preliminary study of facts that led to the dealing out of so-called popular justice
The Vigilance Committees
Interesting reminiscences of the son of the martyred editor of the old San Francisco Bulletin–How desperate men put the law aside and transformed San Francisco into a desperadoes’ paradise–Inside facts about the great uprising of citizens that improvised a committee to try and punish men for their crimes
Vigilance Committee Criticized
There was no call for the committee, because justice was obtainable in the courts–Cora much sinned against–How the committee shielded murderers–Other strictures
The Good Citizenship Movement
Just before the famous Vigilance Committee abandoned its organization a number of public-spirited citizens, many of whom had been a part of the Vigilance Committee, decided to organize an independent political party. Their purpose was, as they said, to “rescue the city of San Francisco from the clutch of irresponsible men.” The result of their deliberations was the People’s Reform Party.
Growth of Newspapers
From early times California has been a great country for newspapers and periodical literature of all varieties–Great boldness of early editors, who took large risks and made good profits by doing so–Printed matter that cost a small fortune each issue in the days when paper was worth fabulous prices–Extraordinary fertility of the journalistic field in early Sacramento–Modern papers and their methods, with a sketch of some of the leading journals of northern California
The Building of the Central Pacific Railroad
The Growth of the Idea–The Men for the Hour–The Battle with the Mountains–The Period of Consolidation–The Southern Pacific and California
Twenty Years of Irrigation in California
The story of the great fight for a system of irrigation to make lands valuable reads like a chapter from the Arabian Nights–Troubles in the way of those desiring to reclaim lands unfit for use because of lack of water–The problems of legislators–How the fight for a good law was won, but not until much bitterness and many appeals had been taken from lower courts
The Development of Viticulture
California the land of the vine–What the old padres did–Possibilities of wine-making–Markets for California wines–Purity of California wines–Exportation of California wines–How they should be used–Other interesting facts about grape-growing
Horticultural Development
No history of the California of the new time would be complete without more than a passing reference to the achievements of modern horticulture, led by Luther Burbank, known everywhere as the wizard of the vegetable world.
Manufacturing in California
Several circumstances have hastened the movement that is fast transforming California from a country of grazing, agriculture and primitive mining into a highly complex society of varied manufactures.
Growth of the New California
The Public School System
How the pioneers made early provision for a fund that would provide educational facilities on a generous scale–Government lands formed the basis for an extensive system of instruction, with libraries in every schoolhouse–San Francisco’s first schoolhouse and first school teacher–An outline of the evolution of the state’s plan of instruction–Normal schools
The State University
Preeminent among institutions of learning in California, and occupying a dignified place among the great universities of the United States, is the University of California, the principal buildings and headquarters of which are at Berkeley, in Alameda county, though the Lick Observatory, the Hastings Law College and other branches of the great work are not carried on at Berkeley.
Stanford University
Interesting facts about the great institution of learning founded by the late United States Senator Leland Stanford–Facts about the grounds, the curriculum, and the manner in which it is fulfilling its mission
Santa Clara College
Interesting facts concerning the early missionary educators and the great college of Santa Clara–The early Mexican policy–Romance of the old days–Some illustrious graduates of the old school–Heroic ambition of the founders–How skillful teachers direct their charges in a picturesque location–Facts about the passion play as produced by students–The surroundings a palm garden and olive trees–Facts about the buildings
Libraries of California
One of the marked features of social life in California is seen in the many public libraries of the state. Not in the cities alone, but throughout the rural areas, libraries abound. In striking contrast to many prevailing conceptions of it is a fact that California is not a country of Indians and untutored pioneers, for every school has a library, almost every village contains an organization of book-lovers.
Architecture in the West
It is usually in old countries that we look for striking developments in architecture, or, rather, for examples of the greatness of architecture, as exemplified in modern replicas of ancient masterpieces. California’s principal cities, however, are showing good examples of modern architecture, especially in the field devoted to commercial structures.
Some Scenic Wonders
Wherever the name of California is spoken visions of scenic glory fill the mind, for the climate of the far west is not more celebrated in song and story than are the wonders of Yosemite, the glory of the big trees, and the inspiration of peak and canyon. For these reasons a brief history and description of the wonderful valley are a proper part of the story of California, particularly as each year brings more visitors than the year previous to the wonderland of the west.

Alphabetical List of Biographies

Biographies of people who played a part in the history of new California. We have extracted and transcribed the biographies from both volumes and provide them to you in this alphabetical listing.

The Wonderful Story

In some aspects the early years of California’s history–after the discovery of gold in 1848–remind one of the simplicity of the ancient Greeks, Emerson’s description of the days of Hercules might well apply to pioneer life in California in the few years just following Marshall’s good fortune; for “the manners of that period were plain and fierce. The reverence exhibited is for personal qualities–courage, address, self-command, rude justice, strength, swiftness, a loud voice, a broad chest.”

Certainly there was even less luxury and elegance than in Homeric Greece, save that inventions here and there–matches, the improvements in clothing and houses, fire-arms, and like additions to human comfort–had lightened human toil in some degree.

“A sparse population and want,” says the Sage of Concord, “make every man his own valet, cook, butcher, and soldier, and the habit of supplying his own needs educates the body to wonderful performances.”

Such were the environments of Agamemnon and Diomed in Homer’s story, and such, too, were the conditions that confronted the rough and ready men of brawn who rounded the Horn, crossed the Isthmus of Panama, or made their way with oxen over the untrodden wilds that stretched from the Missouri to the hills of the Sacramento, where there was gold for the gathering.

Columbus needed a planet to shape his course upon, and Copernicus, Newton, LaPlace, and Galileo required the star-strewn depths of space to enable them to fulfill the bent and genius of their natures. The restless and aggressive American of 1848 and 1849 was ripe for the great fields of opportunity that lay in the rich mountains, the fertile valleys, and the sunset slopes of the Golden West. And in no other epoch of our country’s history, save, perhaps, in the days of the Revolution “that tried men’s souls,” were there ever such opportunities on the one hand and such hardships on the other as tested the strength and manhood of the actors in the days of the California Argonauts.

To write of the Mediterranean shores of America, as Charles Dudley Warner has aptly called California, is to tell of a country of wonders and unexplored possibilities, and to recount the story of the conquest and occupation of this fair land is to deal with one of the most romantic and striking eras of American history. Here and there shadows fall across the pages of that alluring story, as in the mistaken zeal of Fremont and his men, the brutality of some of the early settlers toward the inoffensive natives, the disregard of the rights of the original Californians by their conquerors, and the lawlessness and licentiousness of large parts of the population; but for the most part the narrative deals with rare powers of endurance, the inventiveness and good fortunes of brawny men, the trials and privations of the early mothers of the state, and the growth of an empire in a region destined to play a wonderful part in the history of the coming centuries.

There are elements of the poetic in almost every page of the story; and the activities of today, the cities and factories, the fields and workshops where new Californians now carry on their vocations, are not beyond the allurements of historic association. The pathfinders wrought not far from the present centers of population, the sound of old monastery bells rang forth centuries ago where steam whistles are heard today, and the romance of the Bonanza Kings was enacted on the very soil that is now dedicated to the uses of the new time. The charm of incident, the poetry of circumstance, the thrill of adventure in a brand-new land belong to the state with which this work deals, the wonderland of song and story made famous by Bret Harte, Mark Twain, and the Poet of the Sierras.

The San Francisco Call has truly said that the story of California is one of the most interesting in the annals of mankind. The writer who thus characterized the history of the state cleverly presents a picture that may well finish this introductory chapter:

Beginning as a tale of adventure on the part of the cavaliers and freebooters of Spain and of England, exemplified in the romantic personalities of Cabrillo and Drake, it is soon transformed into a story of missionary zeal, telling of the labors of Junipero Serra and his colleagues; then slowly changes into an idyll of pastoral life whose continuity is rudely broken, first by revolution, and then by a magic-working discovery of gold that brings the restless foot of American enterprise to the land, and begins an era that changes every existing institution and creates a new commonwealth.

With the change in the nature of its civilization a change comes over the story of the state, but it remains as interesting as ever. In place of the old records of adventurers, missionaries, and lordly rancheros, we have now the story of gold hunters, miners, merchants, railroad builders, founders of schools, churches and universities–men of every class and grade of the pioneer type. The story of the work of those men and of their sons constitutes the world’s greatest historic romance of modern times. In no other part of the globe, among anything like so limited a population, has been done so much during the last fifty years to advance human welfare. We have carried the industries of mining and of horticulture to a perfection unknown elsewhere. Our ship-builders have established themselves among the foremost of the age. In the application of electric energy to the needs of industry, not only in cities, but in rural districts, we lead the van of progress, and in many another department of industry we hold rank among the foremost.

Nor have the achievements of the Californians been confined to the attainment of material good. We have already furnished many a brilliant name to the list of scientists, poets, painters, singers, sculptors, musicians and orators whom the world honors. In short, the profuse fertility of the state has been almost as notable in the domain of the intellect as in that of the production of fruits and of gold.

Table of Contents:

Alphabetical List of Biographies

The Wonderful Story

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