Alameda County, CA History

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Past and Present of Alameda County California
Joseph Baker, Editor, Volume I, Illustrated
Chicago, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company 1914 
 
CHAPTER III
THE AMERICAN SETTLERS
 
        In the spring of 1826 Jedediah S. Smith, of New York, and a party of 
American hunters crossed the Rocky Mountain system to the Green River valley 
which they followed down to the Colorado river, thence took a westerly course, 
crossed the Sierra Nevada range and reached the Great Central valley of 
California near its lower extremity. During the winter of 1826-7 the party spent 
the time near Tulare lake and in the valleys of the San Joaquin and Sacramento 
rivers, continuing until the summer of 1827. In May, 1827, Smith pitched camp in 
what is now Alameda county near the Mission San Jose to the surprise of Father 
Narcise Duran, who not knowing who they were and wishing to find out, made 
verbal inquiries with that object in view. He received the following reply in 
writing from Captain Smith.
        Reverend Father: I understand, through the medium of one of your 
Christian Indians, that you are anxious to know who we are, as some of the 
Indians have been at the mission and informed you that there were certain white 
people in the country. We are Americans on our journey to the River Columbia. We 
came in at the Mission San Gabriel in January last. I went to San Diego and saw 
the general, and got a passport from him to pass on to that place. I have made 
several efforts to cross the mountains, but the snows being so deep I could not 
succeed in getting over. I returned to this place (it being the only point to 
kill meat) to wait a few weeks till the snow melts so that I can go on. The 
Indians here also being friendly, I consider it the most safe point for me to 
remain until such time as I can cross the mountains with my horses, having lost 
a great many in attempting to cross ten or fifteen days since. I am a long ways 
from home, and am anxious to get there as soon as the nature of the case will 
admit. Our situation is quite unpleasant, being destitute of clothing and most 
of the necessaries of life, wild meat being our principal subsistence. I am, 
Reverend Father, your strange but real friend and Christian brother.
J. S. SMITH.
 
        No doubt this courteous letter satisfied the father. In all probability 
the Smith party while in this portion of the state in the spring of 1827 
explored the entire eastern coast line of the bay of San Francisco; and if so 
passed over the present site of Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda and their suburbs.
        In 1850 a small flour mill was built at Niles and was the property of J. 
J. Vallejo; three years later he built a much larger and better one on the same 
site—both run by water power. In 1852 a small flour mill was built at the 
Mission San Jose by E. L. Beard and H. G. Ellsworth; it was likewise operated by 
water power. In 1853 J. M. Homer built a steam flour mill at Alvarado. Mr. Homer 
raised large quantities of wheat, barley and potatoes which at certain times 
brought almost fabulous prices and at others nothing at all. Mr. Homer's mill at 
Alvarado was afterward bought by Calvin J. Stevens and moved to Livermore. John 
Boyle in 1853, built at San Lorenzo the first blacksmith shop in the county; it 
was the start of the big agricultural works there.
        Later in the thirties and early in the forties the Americans further 
east began to arrive in California. Dr. John Marsh said that in 1846 California 
had 7,000 persons of Spanish descent, 10,000 civilized or domesticated Indians 
and about seven hundred Americans, 100 English, Irish and Scotch and about fifty 
French, Germans, Italians and others. In addition there were immense numbers of 
wild naked brute Indians. He further said that the far-famed missions no longer 
existed—had nearly all been broken up and apportioned into farms.
        In 1843 Julius Martin, Winston Bennett and Thomas J. Shodden—Americans 
from the East—crossed the mountains and settled in the Contra Costa 
region—Contra Costa, Alameda and Santa Clara counties. In 1844 the Murphys 
located in Santa Clara valley. William M. Mendenhall, John M. Horner, Elaim 
Brown and others came to this region.
        A number of the Mormons who came with Samuel Brannan in July, 1846, to 
San Francisco on the bark, Brooklyn, crossed the bay and settled at Washington, 
a few miles from San Jose Mission, where they afterward erected a Mormon church. 
According to the statement of one of them, parties coming over from San 
Francisco to explore the Contra Costa region landed at the mouth of the Temescal 
creek, and first visited the house of Vicente Peralta, two or three miles 
inland, at whose hands they invariably had hospitable entertainment; then 
following the foothills they called on Antonio Peralta near Fruit Vale; thence 
on Ygnacio Peralta near San Leandro creek; from there they went to Estudillo's 
rancho on the south side of the creek, and thence to Guillermo Castro's on the 
present site of Haywards. The roads then lead to Amador's and Livermore's 
ranchos, eastward, and the Mission San Jose southward. San Antonio, now 
Brooklyn, and every other rancho had their embarcaderos on the bay shore, to 
which trading vessels used to send their boats for hides and tallow.
        With the discovery of the gold placers in 1848 Mission San Jose became 
an important trading center, where fortunes were rapidly made. Henry C. Smith, 
after a short visit to the mines opened a store at the mission, and made a great 
deal of money. A small town sprang up which was the nucleus of the first 
American settlement in Alameda county. There were no settlements beyond the 
ranchos. Oakland did not exist.
        Charles McLaughlin ran the stage from Oakland to San Jose in 1853-4. 
Duncan Cameron ran opposition to him, both lines passing through Alvarado and 
Centerville. Cameron used California bronchos for his stages and mud-wagons; he 
tamed and subdued them to a certain extent, but they were always wild and 
largely unmanageable. When they started, after being held until hitched, it was 
almost like a Roman chariot race to see them going at full speed through mud and 
water. Often for hours at a time the bronchos and the stage loaded with 
passengers would be mired down and incapable of moving until pried out. There 
were such mud holes between Centerville and Alvarado and between San Leandro and 
San Antonio. In the end Cameron got the mail contract from McLaughlin.
        In all about one hundred squatters located on the Vallejo rancho and at 
one time, 1854-5, Mr. Vallejo had about seventy suits pending against them. He 
tried one case and was defeated on the ground that he could not maintain 
ejectment on his Spanish title until he had secured a title from the United 
States. Vallejo's lawyers were W. H. Patterson of the firm Patterson, Wallace & 
Stowe, Gen. C. H. S. Williams and Noble Hamilton. The squatters employed Judge 
S. B. McKee, Judge Archer and Jeremiah Clark. As soon as Vallejo had secured his 
patent from the United States the squatters on 4,000 of his acres paid him $35 
per acre and the others who were unable to pay secured leases. Craven P. Hester 
was judge when the county seat was removed from Alvarado to San Leandro. At the 
time of the removal the Estudillo house in which court was being held was burned 
to the ground. The judge wishing to be technically exact and to comply with the 
statute held court in the still burning ruins as near the exact spot of the 
courtroom as the heat and smoke would admit. From this spot came the lawful 
authority for the construction of a rough redwood board building in which the 
court was afterward held until the brick courthouse was erected. The latter was 
destroyed by the earthquake of 1868; the walls fell out and the roof tumbled 
down upon the floor, the plastering raising a cloud of dust. In front of the 
courthouse were large, round, brick columns surmounted by iron girders carrying 
the brick front, all of which fell out with a crash, killing J. W. Josselyn, 
deputy county treasurer, who with Charles Palmer had rushed out from the back 
offices.
        Don Jose Vallejo contracted with William Garrison in 1853-4 to sell and 
deliver to him the following year, 1,000,000 pounds of potatoes at 1 ˝ or two 
cents a pound, and was paid $5,000 to bind the bargain. To meet his contract 
Vallejo planted about three hundred acres in potatoes on the Buena Vista rancho. 
He duly harvested the crop and piled it up, covered it and waited for the call 
to deliver. But potatoes fell in price so rapidly and completely that Mr. 
Garrison evaded the delivery until the time for completing the contract was 
nearly gone. Vallejo awoke just in time and set 300 men at work to place them on 
the wharf at San Francisco. But in spite of all this he was defeated by trickery 
and in the end lost from $20,000 to $30,000.
        In December, 1863, trouble with squatters commenced on the ranch of H. 
G. Ellsworth near the mission, but that gentleman got rid of them and ultimately 
obtained full possession of the property. At the January term, 1865, of the 
county court this case H. G. Ellsworth versus Elias Simpson and twenty others, 
for trespass as squatters on a portion of the Mission Ranch was tried, and, 
after several days in court, the plaintiff was awarded damages to the extent of 
$1,000. The legal talent on either side were: For plaintiff, Edward Tompkins, 
for defendants, W. H. Glascock, H. K. W. Clarke and Judge Collins.
        A large settlement around Alvarado came from Berrien county, Michigan, 
among whom were Henry C. Smith, A. M. Church, Socrates Huff, L. B. Huff, John S. 
Chipman, Ebenezer Farley, C. J. Stevens, Mario Liston, Ed Chancey and many 
others. Other early settlers there were William Patterson, Mr. Vesey, Joseph 
Coombs, Black Hook Coombs, Thomas Coombs, Judge A. M. Crane, W. C. Pease, 
lawyer, W. H. Chamberlain, Benjamin Williams, lawyer, Red Horner,
Joseph Ralph, Doctor Frans, P. E. Edmondson, Parker and Searing, J. A. Trefry, 
William Hayes, Capt. J. S. Sand, Benjamin Marston, R. S. Farrelly, Samuel Athey, 
George Simpson, Joseph Black, E. Munyan, Jeremiah Beedy, George Moore, Justin 
Moore, J. McCormick and James Dubois. John M. and William Y. Horner arrived in 
1851 or 1852 and their parents came in the fall of 1852 directly to Washington 
Corners (afterward Irvington). The father, Tracy Horner, built the first house 
in Centerville.
        Murray township received its name in the month of June, 1853, when the 
county of Alameda was created from that of Contra Costa, its sponsor being 
Michael Murray, one of its pioneer settlers. In 1826 Don Jose Maria Amador 
settled in the valley which afterwards received his name, and soon after 
constructed an adobe house on the site of the old residence of C. P. Dougherty. 
The earthquake of July 3, 1868, damaged it so that it was found necessary to 
abandon it. He lived to the great age of one hundred and six years. When he 
arrived he found the country wild in the extreme; neither habitation nor 
cultivation met the eye. The wild cattle of the Mission San Jose roamed at will 
over the mountains and valleys; the Indian held undisputed sway over the soil of 
which he was the primeval monarch; the mountains and gorges teemed with game, 
both feathered and four-footed. The next settlement within the borders of Murray 
township was by Robert Livermore. He was born in England, in 1799. In his youth 
he shipped as a cabin-boy on board a vessel and ultimately found himself in a 
Peruvian port. Here he joined the English fleet, but finding the discipline of 
the navy too taut, he deserted and made his way to Monterey in a hide-drogher. 
It was about the year 1820 that he came to California. In the course of time he 
arrived in the Pueblo de San Jose where he soon made friends, tarried for a 
space, worked on the ranch of Juan Alvarez and acquired the Spanish tongue. He 
finally went to the Rancho Agua Caliente or Warm Springs, and became acquainted 
with the family of Fulgencio Higuera whose daughter he subsequently married. 
While resident in San Jose he formed acquaintanceship with Jose Noriego, a 
Spaniard, and with him went to the valley which has since taken its name from 
the Sunol family, where he located, built a small house, entered upon the 
cultivation of the soil, and embarked in stock-raising. It is presumable that in 
his wanderings after his cattle or game he became familiar with the locality, 
and from the summit of one of the adjacent "lomas" first cast his eyes upon the 
vale which bears his name today, and whither he moved in the year 1839. From 
that period can be dated the first step toward the permanent settlement and 
development of the valley. Livermore at once devoted his attention, almost 
exclusively, to the raising of horned cattle, horses and sheep. For the first 
few years he was greatly harassed by Indians, who stole and slaughtered his 
cattle and even rendered it unsafe at times for himself and family to remain in 
their wilderness home. On such occasions they sought protection under the 
hospitable roof of Don Jose Maria Amador, which was rarely molested.
        In the year 1839 the Rancho Las Pocitas was granted to Don Salvio 
Pacheco, who also owned the Rancho Monte del Diablo. During the early part of 
1839 he transferred his interest to Livermore and Noriego who took possession 
thereof April 10, 1839. That same year they erected an abode house near the 
Pocitas creek, which stood until about the year 1875, when it was torn down. 
Here it was on this grant of two leagues of land that Livermore fixed his 
permanent abode and commenced a life that was truly patriarchial. In a few years 
his flocks and herds were counted by thousands, while they roamed about at will 
over a territory that vied in magnitude with many a principality. True, he was 
surrounded on every hand by frequent dangers, but these would appear to have 
added zest to his life. His eminent courage and infectious good-nature, however, 
soon made him friends among the families of the ranchos. In 1844 he planted a 
vineyard as well as a pear, apple and olive orchard on the flat near his house. 
He also raised wheat—the first produced in the valley—and by means of a ditch 
brought water from the Pocitas Springs for the purpose of irrigation. In 
addition to the occupation given to these enterprises, he killed his cattle for 
their hides and tallow; the meat not being saleable was left on the ground. When 
not engaged in this wise he turned his attention to the manufacture of bear's 
grease from grizzlies that fell victims to his unerring rifle. Thus he dwelt for 
nearly fifteen years in the splendid valley which bears his name, while his 
cattle roamed untamed from the Amador valley to the San Joaquin river. Here he 
brought up a family of sons and daughters and lived in peace with all men, 
unmolested and honored. On September 14, 1846, Livermore purchased the Canada de 
los Vaqueros grant, the greater portion of which lay within the boundaries of 
Contra Costa county. This rancho was originally granted in the year 1836 to 
Miranda Higuera and Francisco Alviso, and comprised three square leagues of 
land.
        Of the original grantees of land, J. D. Pacheco received in 1839 the 
Santa Rita Rancho, located between that of San Ramon and Las Pocitas, but he did 
not place any building of a permanent nature thereupon, although it was occupied 
in 1844 by Francisco Alviso as majordomo. About the same time, towards the east 
end of Livermore valley, grants' of land were made to Antonio Maria Pico, 
Antonio Sunol, and Augustin Bernal.
        During the gold excitement he extended an unstinting hospitality to all. 
The immigrants found him ever ready to hold out the right hand of fellowship, to 
fill their exhausted larders, and otherwise aid them with practical knowledge of 
an unknown country. This discovery of gold was also the means of bringing to him 
communication with people speaking his native tongue, and brought him forcibly 
back to his youthful days. The first structure of these days was erected in the 
year 1849, on the site of the Mountain House, not far from the spot where the 
three counties of Contra Costa, San Joaquin, and Alameda come to a point. It 
took the form of a "Blue Tent," and being on the direct road to the mines was 
opened and kept as a house of entertainment by Thomas Goodale (or Goodall). Here 
McLeod's stage from Stockton changed horses. For ten years it was a kind of 
special camp for stockmen, rancheros, and immigrants. Goodale subsequently 
constructed an adobe house, in the building of which he employed Indians, and 
this edifice Simon Zimmerman occupied for twenty-seven years. He added to it in 
1868 by putting a frame building in front, finally, however, pulling it and 
erecting a large residence on its site.
        In April, 1850, Augustin Bernal brought up his family from Santa Clara 
county, built an adobe house on the west side of Laguna creek, and there took up 
his residence. About the same time Michael Murray, after whom the township is 
named, located near where Dublin stands, built a house and planted an orchard. 
With him came one Jeremiah Fallon, who settled on a place in the Amador valley. 
Also in this year came four brothers named Patterson who located in what was 
known as Patterson Pass. One of them, Nathaniel Greene Patterson rented the 
Livermore adobe and started the first permanent house of entertainment in the 
district. In this year, too, Jose Sunol came up to reside on his father's 
possessions. There also dwelt here as majordomo an old Mexican named Diego 
Celaya. In this year also Joshua A. Neal was as a resident majordomo for Robert 
Livermore. In 1850 A. Bardellini, the subsequent proprietor of the Washington 
Hotel in Livermore, probably first cast his lot in the district.
        In 1851 the first frame building was erected within the boundary of the 
township by Robert Livermore, the lumber having been brought from one of the 
Atlantic states around the horn to San Francisco and thence transported with 
much difficulty to its future resting place. Seven hundred dollars was paid for 
its construction, the carpenter work being done by John Strickland and John 
Tierney. In time it became known as the "Old Livermore House." John W. Kottinger 
came to the township in August, 1851, and found located here an Englishman named 
Strickland who lived five miles from Pleasanton on the El Valle creek. Near him 
dwelt a trapper and hunter named Cook, and Francisco Alviso resided on the 
eastern bank of the Laguna creek. In this year also, Juan P. Bernal built a 
residence on the east side of Laguna creek and completed it in 1852. On the bank 
of the stream known as the Old San Joaquin, Thomas McLaughlin located in 1851. 
About that time Edward Carroll and a man named Wright took up a claim in the 
section known as Corral Hollow, where also in the same season Captain Jack 
O'Brien, commenced sheep raising. Alphonso Ladd and his family also settled in 
Sunol valley in 1851. He built a two-story frame building, which he occupied 
until removing to and founding Laddsville, the eastern portion of the town of 
Livermore. Mr. Kottinger built a frame building on the east side of Main street, 
in the village of Pleasanton. In 1852 J. W. Dougherty came to the township and 
bought the lands of Don Jose Maria Amador. Mr. Dougherty was a native of 
Tennessee, and occupied the original Amador adobe until it was rendered 
uninhabitable by an earthquake. In this year also the Senors Lorenzo and Juan 
Sunol moved up into the Sunol valley. These men were nephews of the grantee and 
resided there for only about four years.
        During 1853 Greene Patterson erected a frame house about two miles 
southeast from where the town of Livermore now stands, and about the same time 
R. W. Defrees built and opened a caravansary on the main road about one mile 
west from the residence of Mr. Livermore. In the same year Thomas Hart came to 
the district, was employed by Livermore for some time, and in 1854 bought the 
hostelry mentioned above and called it the Half-way House, it being popularly 
supposed to have been equidistant from Oakland, Stockton and San Jose. Here Hart 
resided until 1860, when he removed to the town of Livermore and there died in 
1871. Among the settlers who came to the township in 1853 was John Whitman, who 
with his family took up his residence on the west side of Laguna creek on land 
near Pleasanton.
        In 1854 Richard T. Pope came to the township, settled on part of the 
ranch now owned by J. P. Smith, and there engaged in stock-raising for eleven 
years. Messrs. Grover and Glascock occupied a portion of the same ranch. Ben 
Williams was also living there; John G. Griffith was a settler this year. In 
this year J. West Martin and others came to the section of country near 
Pleasanton and later were the first to embark in farming upon a considerable 
scale. In the spring of the year Simon Zimmerman located at the Mountain House 
on the Stockton road fourteen miles from Livermore. In 1855 Hiram Bailey, a 
carpenter, came to Livermore valley. Early in 1856, Frank Heare came to the 
place now known as Midway and settled in what was called the "Zinc House." F. W. 
Lucas it is said settled near Mr. Pope.
        At this period there were fully fifty thousand head of cattle and horses 
in the township, besides immense droves of sheep in the hills and mountains. Few 
attempts at agriculture were made, as it was generally believed that the soil 
would produce nothing but grass. At Livermore's place, Alisal (Pleasanton) and 
Amador's both grain and vegetables were raised, but in a very small way. 
Everybody in the valley was interested in stock-raising, and no other industry 
was in operation, nor hardly thought of. In the year 1856, however, the first 
blow toward the complete revolution of the industrial interests of the district 
was struck. Joseph Livermore had some time previously fenced a 160 acre field on 
the Pocitas grant, including a portion of another ranch, and that year sowed the 
field to wheat. This was the first field of small grain ever raised in the 
Livermore valley. In this year among the newcomers were Thomas Rafferty, J. L. 
Bangs and Michael McCollier.
        In 1857 Joseph Black and two brothers named Carrick began raising wheat 
in the west end of Livermore valley, the first-named putting in 400 acres on the 
ranch of Jeremiah Fallon and the brothers a like amount on the Dougherty estate 
adjoining. In the summer of 1857 Robert Livermore sank an artesian well near his 
residence. A depth of about seven hundred feet was reached at the time of Mr. 
Livermore's death when work was abandoned. At that sounding the water came 
within ten feet of the surface. A cross-pipe was put in and a flowing stream of 
water brought out on the hillside below the house. The cost of this well was not 
less than $5,000.
        In the fall of 1858 John Green came to the township. Near where Dublin 
now stands, Edward Horan lived and four miles to the eastward was William 
Murray. About the same time John Martin and his family came up from San Mateo 
county and located among the hills about a mile and a half from Dublin. Not long 
after James F. Kapp and Robert Graham settled in the township. Among those who 
arrived in 1859 was Adam Fath, who located on land about six miles from 
Livermore.
        In this year Lysander Stone and William Meek came to the township. In 
1860 the first town in Murray township was started. This was Dublin. In 1860 
Hiram Bailey sowed eighty acres of wheat on the Pocitas grant, three miles north 
of Livermore; the same year Joseph Black rented 400 acres from Dougherty in 
addition to what he was already farming on the Fallon Ranch. In that year, also, 
S. B. Martin, who had in 1854 purchased the Santa Rita rancho, increased his 
sowing area by several hundred acres.
        During 1861 the acreage of sowed land was increased 1,000 acres by 
Alexander Esdon. Hiram Bailey added to his farming operations. In 1862 Charles 
Hadsell came to the Sunol valley. The Argenti Hotel was then kept by a Frenchman 
named Bertrand. George Buttner was here. Samuel Bonner resided near where Sunol 
now is. Farther down the Laguna creek was Isaac Trough, and not far from him was 
a man named Higgins. In this year wheat-raising was in full progress in the west 
end of Livermore valley; fences sprung up everywhere, stock was crowded up 
towards the Livermore ranch (which was then thought unfit for agricultural 
purposes) and flour-producing grain became an established fact, the yield, in 
many instances, being enormous, while the general average was about a ton to the 
acre. The number of cattle was still on the increase, there being in that year 
no fewer than eight thousand head of calves branded on the rancho of the 
Bernals. In 1863 John Booken, Amos S. Bangs and Maas Lueders arrived.
        In 1863-64, that commonly known as the "dry year," two brothers named 
Bean farmed about four hundred acres of the Bernal grant, two miles southeast of 
the Livermore House, where the yield of grain was immense. Among those who 
arrived at this time and made their permanent homes within the limits of the 
township, were Dr. I. N. Mark, Frederick and Charles Rose, Martin Mendenhall, 
Hugh Dougherty and Peter McKeany. In 1864 W. M. Mendenhall settled near 
Livermore. Settlers now came in great numbers, and either by purchase or 
pre-emption located in the district in every direction. There was one 
drawback—the uncertainty of land titles. The chief cause of this was doubt 
regarding the boundaries of the Pocitas or Livermore grant.
        The United States patent, which was issued February 18, 1859, granted 
"two leagues, more or less," within certain boundaries. The limits described, 
however, contained upwards of eleven leagues, which amount was claimed by the 
heirs of Robert Livermore. On March 1, 1871, this matter was definitely settled 
by the approval of the second Dyer survey (two leagues) by the commissioner of 
the general land office at Washington, in accordance with a decision by the 
secretary of the interior, a decision which threw open for peaceable pre-emption 
a large extent of country, and, coming as it did immediately after the 
completion of the railroad through the valley, resulted in bringing in a large 
population. Towns sprung up as if by magic; every year widened the extent of the 
grain fields, and witnessed the building of new homes. The stock interests had 
given way to the plow, and the hut of the Mexican vaquero was supplanted by the 
cozy cottage of the tiller of the soil.
        S. Zimmerman was one of the first settlers of the county. His Mountain 
House was on the early highway between the Mission San Jose, Oakland and 
Stockton. To the westward the nearest habitation was that of the Livermores in 
the pass and valley. To the eastward, ten miles away, lived the Chamberlains. 
Zimmerman was not far from some of the strongholds of the Mexican bandit, 
Joaquin Murietta, Brusha Peak and Corral Hollow. Murietta and his band were road 
agents and the terror of this new country then. More than once they visited the 
Mountain House and carried their measures with a high and reckless hand.         
Zimmerman's family consisted of himself, wife and five children. This was in 
1863. On one occasion the sheriff of Alameda county arrested at Zimmerman's two 
road agents—one named Gibbons who had stolen two horses from Mr. Sweet of San 
Leandro. Two stage robbers were captured on the same visit and the stage driver 
found that one of them was his own brother. The four men were convicted and 
served out their sentences.
        On January 25, 1846, John C. Fremont and party passed across Alameda 
county; they crossed the hillside near the laguna between Sunol and Pleasanton. 
During the war of 1846-7 other armed bands crossed Alameda county to and from 
the active theatre of events. Fremont's party took nearly all of Amador's best 
tame horses and paid nothing for them. Amador was allowed to keep one mustang. 
Amador to the day of his death denounced Fremont as a "great scoundrel."
        The sandy peninsula of Oakland was covered with a dense growth of oak 
trees, which subsequently gave to the place its name, and beneath the trees were 
numerous thickets of chaparral and tangled underbrush. Some four miles to the 
north was the residence of Vicente Peralta, and around it were settled a few 
other native Californians. The only use made of the peninsula of Oakland was to 
obtain from it the necessary supplies of fuel.
        The first actual settler in what is the city of Oakland was Moses Chase, 
who pitched his tent at what became East Oakland in the winter of 1849-50, and 
commenced hunting. Here he was found by the Patten brothers on their arrival in 
February, 1850. Next came Col. Henry S. Fitch, and Colonel Whitney, who made an 
unsuccessful attempt to purchase the tract of land. In the summer of 1850 
appeared Moon, Carpentier and Adams, who squatted upon the land, holding that it 
belonged to the Government and not to Peralta, and erected a shanty near the 
foot of Broadway. The Spanish owner now made an attempt to oust these men and 
secured a writ of ejectment from the county court at Martinez, and a posse of 
men, under Deputy Sheriff Kelly, was sent to eject them, but Moon, Carpentier 
and Adams obtained a lease of a number of acres of land on certain conditions 
and laid out a town. The Patten brothers (Robert F., William and Edward) shortly 
after leased a tract of land from Peralta, and afterward went into partnership 
with Chase. They cleared 100 acres and planted it in barley and wheat. At the 
close of the litigation about the title to those lands, between the Peraltas and 
other, which the Peraltas won, 800 acres which had been leased by Mr. Chase, 
were deeded to C. B. Strode, as a part of the 6,000 acres given by them for his 
legal services. Strode deeded to Chase and the Pattens, 400 acres on their 
agreeing to survey the tract, and place it on the market in town lots. This they 
did, and founded the town of Clinton. In 1851, Edson Adams, A. J. Moon and 
Horace W. Carpentier, without paying the slightest regard to the rights of 
Peralta, the owner of the land, squatted on the Rancho San Antonio near the foot 
of the present Broadway street. They made no attempt to buy or lease any of the 
land, but seemed to have adopted the resolution of possessing themselves of it 
by other means than those of right and justice. They boldly assumed that it was 
Government land, and proceeded to parcel it out among themselves. They were soon 
followed by other squatters, and the lawful owners found themselves hemmed in on 
every side by the trespassers. The thousands of cattle belonging to Peralta, 
roaming among the oaks and feeding upon the plains, were stolen and killed. His 
timber was cut and carried away without being paid for. The courts at that time 
were unorganized and justice was tardy.
Vicente Peralta got a writ of ejectment from the county court at Martinez 
against Adams, Moon and Carpentier, and a party of well armed and mounted men 
under Deputy Sheriff Kelly was sent out to enforce it. Kelly's ten or twelve men 
were joined by about forty native Californians and on arriving at the shanty in 
the Encinal grove they found Moon alone in possession. He was calm and pretended 
to be much astonished at the proceeding. He protested that himself and his 
associates held Peralta in the highest regard, and that nothing could be farther 
from their intentions than to do him injury. Any thing that Peralta desired they 
would do. The smoothness of his tongue and the wiliness of his way were such 
that Peralta was disarmed, and he concluded to accept Moon's promises. A 
compromise was effected, and the land that the three squatters occupied was 
leased to them. While Moon was talking so smoothly there was a party of 
ruffians, headed by the notorious Billy Mulligan, ambushed close by, ready to 
dispute the possession if necessary.
        In 1850 men were sawing lumber in the redwoods of San Antonio, and 
between there and the Mission San Jose—a distance of over twenty miles—there 
were only two or three native Californian rancheros and their retainers. Jose 
Joaquin Estudillo's was the only residence at San Leandro. San Leandro was an 
Indian rancheria. Guillermo Castro had the whole site of the present Haywards. 
Jose Maria Amador had many broad acres in his rancho of San Ramon. Mount Eden 
was a wilderness. New Haven was the landing place of Mission San Jose, without a 
house in Centerville had in its vicinity a few settlers who had come there in 
1850. John M. Horner almost alone occupied Washington Corners. The mission town 
had some white settlers, and a considerable number of natives. Henry C. Smith, 
the storekeeper, was alcalde under appointment of Governor Riley. The virtues of 
the Agua Caliente, or Warm Springs, were known to only a few native Californians 
and Indians. The son of Antonio Sunol occupied the whole valley of his name. 
Augustin Bernal had settled at Alisal, now Pleasanton, in 1850, and together 
with Joseph Livermore, Jose Noriego, Francisco Alviso, and Jose Maria Amador 
possessed half of the county. Wild cattle roamed in thousands. The hills were 
covered with wild oats. Wild mustard was abundant and grew luxuriantly. Deer and 
all kinds of wild game were plentiful. Such was the condition of Alameda county 
in 1850-51.
        Mission San Jose and the settlers of the vicinity constantly were 
sufferers from Indian raiders. Expeditions were often organized to aid the 
troops in punishing the plunderers. In 1838 the ranchos as far as San Juan 
Bautista were assailed, and in 1839 thefts of horses and other stock became so 
frequent and alarming that several expeditions had to march against the 
depredators, many of whom were killed and others taken prisoners. In 1840 the 
Indians became still bolder, until Yoscolo, their leader, was slain, and his 
head stuck up on a pole in Santa Clara. His followers then made peace, promising 
good behavior. A regular patrol was finally established between San Jose and San 
Juan to guard the ranchos.
        In 1853 the squatters of the county formed an association for their 
mutual protection and interests under the name "The Pre-emptioner's League." One 
of the articles was as follows: "Every person, to become a member of this 
league, must be a settler within the county of Alameda, must pay five dollars 
into the treasury and subscribe to the following obligations, to-wit: We the 
undersigned do solemnly agree and by these presents bind ourselves each to the 
other and all to each one, that individually we will make us overtures to the 
land claimants for a settlement of our difficulties with them and will reject 
all such as may be made to us by them until such overtures shall have been 
submitted to and approved by this league; that we will contribute equally of 
money in support of this League and at all time hold ourselves in readiness to 
aid and assist each other to defend our homes and farms from the grasping 
service of land speculators."
        In what may be termed the pre-American days there was one belt of 
redwoods which was known by the name of San Antonio, where the production of 
lumber was carried on to a great extent. The redwoods were the only forest trees 
in the county, save the usual clusters of oaks that give a park-like appearance 
to the scenery. Brooklyn township was comprised entirely in the territory known 
as the Rancho San Antonio, granted to Don Luis Maria Peralta for meritorious 
services, the lands lying within its boundaries being those given to his two 
sons, Antonio Maria and Ygnacio Peralta. On the San Leandro creek, in what is 
Brooklyn township, the two brothers erected their adobe house, the first 
residence built within its borders. The San Antonio redwoods were early 
discovered, and in the summer of 1847 they were well known, and a trade with 
Yerba Buena (San Francisco) had sprung up. Here many of the earlier citizens 
gained their first Californian experience. Then came the discovery of gold in 
1848, and with it the rush of people to the Pacific coast. For the first year or 
two all went to the mines, but as they wearied, sickened, or lost heart, they 
tried fortune in the lower country, and many came to the redwood region of San 
Antonio to find employment in the manufacture of lumber and shingles. Steam was 
soon introduced.
        About the year 1849 a Frenchman commenced the erection of a mill in the 
redwoods, which was never completed, but, passing into the hands of Harry Meiggs 
in 1851, was by him sold to Volney D. Moody, president of the First National 
Bank of Oakland. In 1852, D. A. Plummer entered the employ of Mr. Moody, and the 
following year purchased the concern. In 1852 two more mills were erected by 
William and Thomas Prince, and a man named Brown. Subsequently Tupper and 
Hamilton put up another, as did also a man named Spicer, which last stood at the 
head of the canyon, its neighbor being Prince's mill, and lower down the Tupper 
and Hamilton place; Mr. Moody's stood about a mile on the Brooklyn side of the 
summit. In course of time, from its convenience to the rapidly increasing city 
of San Francisco, the timber was in a very few years completely sawed out, and 
the hundreds of laborers who there found work were compelled to depart.
        In August, 1849, three brothers, Robert F., William and Edward C. Patten 
crossed the bay to visit the giant redwoods of San Antonio, of which they had 
heard much. Procuring a whaleboat they made for Contra Costa, and landing near 
Seventh street, Oakland, found the country a vast undulating field of luxuriant 
grass, some ten inches in height.
        The native Californians at this time were bound by a solemn pledge not 
to sell, nor even give information in regard to lands. They said: "If we can't 
fight these heathens out, we can starve them; for we can keep them from a 
permanent settlement here." Undeterred by this fact the Pattens sought the 
advice of a Frenchman, who had pitched his tent not far from the San Antonio 
creek, and through him, entered into negotiations with Antonio Maria Peralta, at 
his house in Fruit Vale, which culminated in their leasing 160 acres, and, 
taking possession, became the first permanent American settlers in Brooklyn 
township.
        When they arrived, there was a shanty standing but by whom it was built 
is not known. Early in 1850 it was in charge of a man named Hoober, a 
Pennsylvania printer, but when the Pattens came it had been abandoned. The 
brothers also found, when they crossed the bay, Moses Chase, in ill health, 
attended by a friend, living in a tent about the foot of Broadway. Chase had 
determined to return to the eastern states, and had come to the Contra Costa to 
pass his time in hunting and recuperating during the mild Californian winter, 
ere going back to his home in the spring. The brothers taking a liking to him 
induced him to join them, which he did, and was afterwards invested with the 
like proprietary rights as themselves. In 1851 the Pattens leased an additional 
300 acres for a term of eight years. In 1850 they commenced farming, but on the 
extension of their territory they laid nearly the whole of their possessions 
under a crop consisting chiefly of barley and wheat. During the first year of 
their residence fifty tons of hay were cut on the site of Clinton, which netted 
$70 per ton, the market price being $80, but $10 of which were deducted for 
freight to San Francisco.
        Early in the year 1851 the superior advantages of this location became 
known to James B. Larue, who acquired some property from Antonio Maria Peralta, 
and determined to found the nucleus of a town. In 1851 he took up his residence 
in Brooklyn township, and there resided until the day of his death in 1872.
        His first establishment was a tent covered with hides and stood near 
what is now the junction of Twelfth street and Fifteenth avenue, and here he 
opened a store to supply the lumbermen in the redwoods with goods. He 
immediately commenced the construction of the Louis Winegard house, whither he 
transferred his goods from the tent, and took up his residence with his wife and 
his son Luke. He was joined, early in 1852, by Antonio Fonte. At that time 
besides the tent of Mr. Larue, a Mexican named Manuel Paracio had a corral 
standing at Twelfth and Fourteenth streets and Fourteenth and Sixteenth avenues, 
and a man named Parker had a "rum-mill" at East Twelfth street, between 
Fifteenth and Sixteenth avenues. This place was built some time previously by a 
man named Dean. A slaughter-house was here and at Twentieth street stood a large 
farmhouse occupied by Manuel Baragan, a Chileno, who farmed a large tract as far 
as the boundary line of Alameda township. The land to the west of Fourteenth 
avenue was farmed by the Patten brothers and their associate, Moses Chase. In 
1851 William C. Blackwood settled among the redwoods.
        But one foreigner anterior to 1849 attempted to locate permanently here. 
In the year 1845 James Alexander Forbes was authorized by Bezar Simons, at the 
time captain of the American ship Magnolia, to purchase a tract of land for him 
on the bay of San Francisco, and just before his departure from the port both 
men crossed the bay in a ship's boat to San Leandro to see if the purchase of 
the rancho could be effected from Estudillo, who, however, refused to sell. He 
declined the offer of $10,000 made by Simons, stating that he would not take 
double the sum, as he wanted it for his family. Subsequent to this, John B. 
Ward, who had married Melina Concepcion, eldest daughter of Don J. J. Estudillo, 
took up his abode in the township.
        Immense numbers of wild fowl then made the sloughs and marshes their 
home. They brought almost fabulous prices in the first and palmiest days of San 
Francisco markets. Many men who occupied their time during the summer months in 
the mines, turned their attention in winter to killing game for the city 
commission merchants, and many made more money in this way than they did at gold 
digging. It was in the search for game that the first settlers came to Eden 
township.
        In the month of December, 1849, there crossed the bay in a whale-boat, 
with baggage and guns, Thomas W. Mulford and Moses Wicks, A. R. Biggs of San 
Francisco, E. Minor Smith and W. C. Smith. They landed on the shore in the 
vicinity of the Estudillo mansion, there pitched their tent and commenced a war 
upon the feathered denizens of the marshes. At this date there were probably no 
permanent foreign settlers and no houses save those of the Spaniards mentioned 
above, an Indian hut where the graveyard at San Lorenzo stood and an Indian 
rancheria on the site later occupied by the county hospital. This party dwelt in 
a tent pitched on the shore, and in the spring of 1850 erected a "ten by twelve" 
cabin which was used as a cook-house, subsequently adding a chimney thereto of 
brick taken from a pile which had been thrown into the bay—the refuse of those 
used in the construction of the new Estudillo house. The cabin stood on the 
margin of the bay, but its site was later washed away by the rolling surf. In 
the spring of 1851 the dwelling tent gave place to a cabin, and there it 
remained on the original location until 1876. That winter another party located 
temporarily at the mouth of the San Leandro creek; they were Robert Smith, 
Stephen Smith, a Mr. Solomon, and several others. They did nothing more than 
hunt in the locality.
        In the spring of 1850 a field of wheat, about ten acres in extent, was 
put in by the Senor Estudillo and some Sonorians, which gladdened the eyes of 
the few Americans then roaming about the district. This green oasis amid the 
apparently sterile region was at the lower end of Lewelling's place near the 
Hayward road, where the Sonorians also had a dwelling. This was by no means the 
first cultivation of the cereals in Eden township, for the Spaniards sowed 
wheat, planted corn, and raised quantities to provide for their own households. 
In his will Don J. J. Estudillo says: "I declare that I leave at different 
places on the rancho three fields sown in barley, in company with Don Guillermo 
Davis—one with Mexicans, and another with Sonorians—of which contracts exist, 
written agreements, signed," etc. The industry of stock-raising was still 
prosecuted with energy, there being on the Estudillo rancho alone in 1850, 3,000 
head of cattle, more than that number of sheep, and fifty horses of all classes. 
In the month of October, 1850, Capt. William Roberts came to the township and 
established himself at Roberts' Landing, then known as Thompson's, whence he 
commenced freighting with small craft to different points along the bay. His 
settlement was soon after followed by that of Captain Chisholm.
        In the fall of 1851 William Hayward came to the township and first 
located on what he thought was land belonging to the Government in Polomares 
cańon, but which he was quickly informed was the property of Guillermo Castro, 
who, however, suggested his removal farther down the valley. This he did, and 
early in the following year, 1852, located on A street, Hayward, and there 
erected the first building in the flourishing town that bears his name.
        During 1852 the squatters took possession of the entire plain. What is 
now San Lorenzo was known as Squatterville. They found their chief attractions 
apparently on the Estudillo rancho, for it was to that portion of the township 
that their attentions were principally turned. The rancho was believed to be 
Government land, and it was not until after years of litigation that the 
squatters were disabused of this belief. Among those who took possession of part 
under such an idea was Franklin Ray. He erected a dwelling house in the vicinity 
of San Leandro and on being warned off, refused, when, on March 21, 1852, the 
owners of the rancho tore down the building, to recover the value of which, 
namely, $300, he brought suit. This was only one of many cases of the same 
nature. With this great influx of people came many of those whose names are now 
among the most honored in the county. There were Robert S. Farrelly, William C. 
Blackwood, Messrs. Crane, Kennedy, McMurtry, Campbell, Harlan and Johnson. They 
were followed by Fritz Boehmer, Charles Duerr, William Field, George Meyer, 
Alexander Patterson, Juel Russell, and John Johnson, who all settled in the 
vicinity of Mount Eden, which up to that time had been entirely unoccupied. In 
1852 also there are the names of Peter Olsen, John W. Jamison, Alexander Allen, 
and Liberty Perham. This year Eden township had its commencement. In 1856 Castro 
was compelled to mortgage his estate and then piece by piece the lands were 
brought to the hammer, and finally, in 1864, they passed entirely into the hands 
of Faxon D. Atherton who gave Castro $30,000 for them, with which amount he went 
into a self-inflicted exile in South America. Among the men who made their homes 
in Eden in 1853 are Henry Smyth, George S. Meyer, Tim. Hauschildt, David S. 
Smalley, Joseph De Mont, J. F. Elliott, John Huff, William Mahoney, E. D. Mann, 
Thomas W. Mulford, Moses Wicks, William Smith, E. Minor Smith and Emerson T. 
Crane.
        From this year onward the growth and prosperity of Eden township was 
wonderful. In the next decade the population increased many fold. The names of 
those arriving in 1855 were Richard Barron, Joseph Graham, Josiah G. Bickell; in 
1856 William Knox, Otis Hill, Frederick Wrede, John Wille, Conrad Liese, 
Ferdinand Schultz; in 1857 W. T. Lemon; in 1858 Maas Lueders, W. H. Miller; in 
1859 Watkin W. Wynn; in 1860 N. D. Dutcher, John W. Clark; in 1861 Frederick 
Brustgrun, A. P. Rose; in 1862 Duncan Sinclair, O. W. Owen, A. W. Schafer; in 
1865 E. B. Renshaw and hundreds of others.
        A rusty old six-pound cannon lay for years within twenty or thirty feet 
of the sidewalk on Washington Square, Oakland. The gun was known by the older 
inhabitants as the "Squatter Gun." The country for miles around was in 
possession of squatters at the commencement and warm times were experienced by 
them in their fight to hold their ground. The gun was purchased by the squatters 
from the captain of a vessel which came around the Horn, and was brought over to 
Oakland in 1852, to be used for giving an alarm to the occupants of the entire 
valley in the event of an attempt to forcibly eject any of the possessors of the 
land. It was at first proposed to procure a bell for that purpose, but the bell 
advocates agreed to the argument that the sound of a bell could not be heard as 
far as the report of a cannon, and so the squatter gun was procured.