Contra Costa County History

It was on such a perfect day in June, 1847, that a canvas-covered wagon drawn by oxen slowly wound its way through a beautiful valley. This "prairie schooner" carried a little family of home-seekers, and as the oxen moved laboriously along, the scene which greeted the eye at every turn of the winding path called forth exclamations of admiration from the occupants of the wagon. At length the travelers halted the oxen, that they might better gaze and admire the picture of beauty and serenity that was spread before them. On every side, the valley and surrounding hills were covered with thick, velvety clover, and with wild oats standing waist high, waving and rippling in the summer breeze, like the bosom of a lake. The western hills were clumped with oaks, maples, and shrubs; willows and mottled-trunk sycamores fringed the little stream at their left; while the mountains which formed the eastern wall of the valley seemed ever at their side as they journeyed southward. Cattle grazing on the luxuriant grasses, the chirp and twitter of birds, and the drowsy hum of insects completed a picture of beauty, peace, and contentment. Save for the bridle path which was the only guide of our travelers, and for a tule-thatched hut near the stream, used as a rude shelter by Spanish vaqueros when night overtook them in this region, there was nothing to show the hand of man.

This was San Ramon Valley as it looked when first viewed by Americans, when they stopped their ox-team on that June day so long ago, just north of the spot where the village of Alamo now stands. No wonder that the head of that little family bared his brow, as he stood amid the wild oats and exclaimed half in prophecy, half in determination, "Some time we will have a home in this valley." This was before the discovery of gold in California, and this little family were home-seekers, not gold-hunters. But because of the Mexican war which was raging at that time, they sought a settlement for protection, and Pueblo (now San Jose) was their destination.

Some changes marked the valley during the four years that had passed, notably the building of adobe houses, which were homes of Spanish families. Viewed through the lapse of years, we associate the adobe with the romantic and the picturesque. Built of adobe bricks dried in the sun, their thick walls and deeply framed doorways and windows afforded warmth in winter and coolness in summer. Every adobe house was surrounded by a portico, about whose rude pillars clambered vines of the mission grape, and in every dooryard bloomed the fragrant Castilian rose of old Spain. The adobes call to mind tales of the gay, care-free life of the Spanish days in California. We think of the fandango, the soft music of the guitar, and the horsemen with their wide sombreros, their bright-colored serapes, their jingling spurs, and their horses no less gaily bedecked in silver-mounted bridles, and saddles with monstrous tapaderas.

Soon after the coming of the first American home-makers in 1851, others followed, and the fifties saw the arrival of many settlers in the valley. There followed a season of prosperity. Farms were improved with houses, barns, and granaries, a few fruit trees were set out, and gardens planted. The fertile land, little of which had ever known a plowshare, under American thrift was cultivated and made to produce abundantly.

In those days all were neighbors in the fullest sense of the word, helping one another by an exchange of work, all joining together in their few social affairs, and ready to aid when sickness or death entered a home. Doctors were far away, and trained nurses were unknown, but it was nothing unusual for a pioneer mother to ride miles on horseback, often with a baby in her arms, to care for a sick neighbor.

The first post-office in San Ramon Valley was established in 1853, and named "Alamo" - a Spanish word meaning poplar tree. The postoffice was given quarters at the home of John M. Jones, who lived in an adobe house that crowned the knoll of the O. J. Reis home-site just north of Alamo. Mr. Jones was the first postmaster, and his wife, Mrs. Mary A. Jones was his deputy. For many years Alamo was the only post-office between Martinez and Mission San Jose. The mail was carried between these two points by a man with a horse and cart, who made a round trip twice each week.

Alamo is the second oldest town in the county, Martinez being the oldest. The first house in the town of Alamo was built by a man named George Engelmeyer. He at first had a shoe-shop, but soon enlarged his shop to a general merchandise store, and did such a thriving business that in a short time he had to employ a clerk. Other shops soon followed - blacksmith, harness, and butcher shops, and a hotel. In 1858 the frame building still standing under the maples and walnuts on the west side of the street was built. The lower floor of this building was used as the general merchandise store of Lomax & Smart, while the upper floor was the Masonic lodge-room, Alamo Lodge No. 122, F & A. M., which now holds its meetings at Walnut Creek, was organized at Alamo in 1858, and this old building was its first home. In 1860 a two-story brick structure was erected on the west side of the street, on the property now owned by Mrs. George Smith. Wolfe and Cohen were the owners of the general merchandise store which occupied the lower story, while the Masonic lodge moved from its first location into the more commodious quarters of the upper story of the new brick building. The bricks of which this building was constructed, were made by G. W. Webster, who lived on what is now the Van Gorden place. The brick-kiln was situated on the Rancho el Rio, just across the creek from the Van Gorden pear orchard. In the great earthquake of 1868 the building mentioned was badly damaged, and was soon afterward torn down.

The ruin known as the Foster House is of historic interest. It was erected in 1857 by James Foster, of Maine, and the staunch timbers of which it is constructed were made from trees which grew in the Maine woods. The lumber for the house was sawed, shaped, and fitted, all ready to put together, then shipped around the Horn to its destined home. Mr. Foster was a wheelwright, and wagons, carriages, furniture, and even coffins, when occasion required, were turned out from his shop with a neatness and finish that would do credit to the present day.

In 1854 the first school in San Ramon Valley opened its doors in a little house which stood in the northern part of what is now the Kendall property, near the cemetery. Richard Webster was the first teacher. Soon after, a church (Cumberland Presbyterian) was built near the schoolhouse, on the lot which is now a driveway leading to the cemetery. For a while a school was conducted in a little house that stood on a bedrock knoll a short distance north of the point where the Southern Pacific Railroad crosses the county road between Alamo and Walnut Creek. This was known as the "Wall" schoolhouse, being near the home of Captain Wall, at the time the owner of the Foulds ranch.

In 1859 leading residents organized the Contra Costa Educational Association, and erected the Union Academy, a boarding and day school. The academy opened for instruction in June, 1860, with Rev. David McClure as its first principal, while Silas Stone, John M. Jones, and Robert Love comprised its first board of trustees. The Union Academy was a large three-story structure, centrally located between Alamo and Danville, on the west side of the county road, on land that is now a prune orchard belonging to Mr. E. B. Anderson. The fine locusts which grace the roadway at that spot were planted in the days of the academy, to adorn the entrance to its grounds. John H. Braly, in later years principal of the San Jose Normal School, succeeded Dr. McClure as principal. Mr. Braly's successor was Rev. Robert King, and in 1868, during his principalship, the academy was destroyed by fire, and was never rebuilt. The church building almost directly opposite the academy site afforded temporary school accommodations. In the meantime other towns had sprung up - Danville, Limerick (now San Ramon) and Walnut Creek, situated at the junction of Walnut and San Ramon creeks. District schools were established at Alamo and at these younger towns.

In nothing does history show progress in greater degree than in modes of transportation. Beginning with that ox-team which "gee-hawed" its way through our valley in 1847, we may trace the means of travel next by the saddle-horse, then by carriages drawn by horses. Next came the steam railroad with the advent of the Southern Pacific in 1891; in more recent years scores of automobiles, and now since 1914 the Oakland, Antioch & Eastern Railway, land us in the metropolis in less than two hours.

Since the coming of our first American settlers in 1851, the years have brought many changes besides those of transportation. Many of the big ranches have been divided into smaller holdings. With the increase of population and more intensive farming, land has steadily increased in value, and, instead of being sold by the "league," it is measured to the hundredth of an acre. Instead of scattering farmhouses of the fifties, the valley and foothills are dotted with comfortable and attractive homes.