Humboldt County
History
History of Humboldt County California - Historic Record Co., Los Angeles, 1915
CHAPTER XXI
Humboldt's Bench and Bar.
The history of the bench and bar in California has always been regarded as romantic and unique, because the conditions which prevailed when justice first established herself in the crude surroundings of mining days were unlike those existing in any other state or territory on the American continent. Most of California had fallen under the jurisdiction of Spain, for which reason the Alcaldes and their times marked the administration of justice with singularities unknown throughout the United States.
Humboldt county, however, did not participate in the Spanish regime, for Humboldt county was and is in many particulars as unlike the Spanish parts of California as if it were located in some other part of the United States. The pioneers who settled Humboldt county were much unlike the pioneers of other parts of the state—men and women of courage, venturesome spirit, and great powers of endurance. The fact that many of the pioneers of Humboldt county came from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the New England states, gave this county a sterling class of early settlers. Most of the men were descended from woodsmen and sailors. Being strong, fearless, and for the most part honest, they injected a higher type of civic pride into their affairs than was common in some sections of the state where renegades now and then were in the ascendancy.
But it must be remembered that hard characters found their way to Humboldt, as well as elsewhere, and a rude form of justice sometimes asserted itself here as in the rest of the west. The fact that puritanical ideas prevailed among the ancestors of the early settlers here, coupled with their rigid schooling, made for honesty and good citizenship to a stronger extent than in many other parts of the state. Notwithstanding this fact there was lawlessness and there were many calls for the stern administration of justice. The development of the orderly processes of the law was rapid with the settlement of the country, and few counties in the state or in any other state can show a stronger background of law-abiding citizenship than that which sprang from the early days of Humboldt county.
W. K. Strong, official court reporter of Humboldt county for a long period of time—more than a generation—has given an entertaining account of some of the lawyers who participated in the early conflicts in the courts of Humboldt county. The following facts are either gleaned from his reminiscences as narrated on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of his becoming court reporter, or are directly quoted from his account of the men and the trials of the long ago. It appears that Mr. Strong was familiar with the "giants of those days" and their peculiarities. On the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of his career as official reporter he told the members of the bar that it had been his duty for almost a lifetime to listen to the stories of bench and bar as told by judges and lawyers. It was now his time to do the talking, and he thought his recollections of the achievements of men long prominent in the field of forensic conflict might prove interesting to future generations, for which reason his memoirs seem to have a logical historic purpose.
In 1876 he began his duties as official reporter of the District Court of the Eighth Judicial District, comprising the counties of Humboldt and Del Norte, "which Court was at that time and had been for many years ably presided over by the Honorable J. P. Haynes, and on the same day I was also appointed to a similar position in the County Court of the County, of which Hon. C. G. Stafford was then Judge, he having succeeded Hon. J. E. Wyman the month preceding. In the first place, and by way of preface, a few words about myself may not be out of place."
The veteran reporter told those assembled that he was thrown on his own resources much earlier than the average boy. He worked through high school and was ready to enter the University before be was old enough for legal admission. It was an accident that directed him into the shorthand business, and he marvels now that it became his life-work. He had worked in coal mines and on dairy ranches. The fact that he became one of the famous court reporters of California indicates something of the character of early times in Humboldt. By "early times" the year 1873 is meant. Compared with the pioneer days that was a late date, but 1873 is a far cry from the twentieth century.
It may be worth while to indicate that the man who became distinguished as a stenographer found himself alone for weeks at a time, with the exception of about twelve hundred sheep, which he was herding. Frequently he didn't see anybody for a month at a time, and then only the man in charge of the pack mule, who brought him his provisions. It might be worth while for young men to note the fact that the idleness and the sheep, which were the only companions to occupy his time, had much to do with his career. The long and hot summer days, during which he trailed after his woolly charges from daylight until dark, gave him the hint to use his brain. He had a Manual of Marsh's phonography within his reach, so he set himself seriously to work to learn shorthand, simply because he had nothing else of an intellectual character with which to occupy himself. By the beginning of winter he could make pothooks in a crude way, and he considered himself considerable of a stenographer. He says: "I came up to Oakland to brush up on my studies and get ready to enter the University the following summer, and I eked out a living by giving lessons to other would-be shorthanders, helping the court reporters in transcribing testimony, and by casual newspaper work; but I do not mind confessing that it was uphill work, and I often went to bed hungry."
In 1875 he was a college student at Berkeley, and he made his shorthand serve him well by transcribing passages from the lectures of professors. He sold these to students who were too indifferent or lazy to attend the lectures. He recalls the fact that the State University class of 1879, although small in numbers, contained more men who have made their mark in the affairs of California than any class before or since. From that class there came a governor, several justices of the Supreme Court, Superior Judges, and a number of leading members of the professions.
During the time when he was struggling to win his way through the University he had many shorthand pupils among the students and professors. Among others, Judge George D. Murray, of the Superior Court of Humboldt county, was one of those who learned something of shorthand from Mr. Strong.
It was through Mr. Murray, then a young man in the University, that Strong learned of a vacancy in the reportership of the Humboldt District Court. He immediately wrote to Judge Haynes, who afterwards became famous, and he soon received an encouraging letter from the Judge, coupled with the promise of appointment, if he could establish his competency by passing a proper examination. Here is the way Mr. Strong tells of the events that followed, during the crude days of 1873 in the Humboldt courts :
"Confidentially, the examination was the least of my troubles. Although I had never had a teacher, or taken a lesson, I had a profound confidence in my abilities, and if the position of secretary of state or premier of England or anything else had been offered me I should have accepted it with perfect faith that I would be able to discharge the duties to my own satisfaction.
"Shortly before this a bill had been introduced in the legislature providing for an official reporter for Humboldt county, and fixing his salary of $1000 a year in addition to his fees, and as the assemblyman was governed in the matter by the wishes of the bar, and as there was at that time no constitutional prohibition of special legislation, it went through the assembly with flying colors. However, Judge McGarvey of Mendocino was the senator from this district at that session, and he could not imagine what Humboldt wanted of a reporter when Mendocino had none, and through his opposition the bill met the fate of a great deal of other embryo legislation and found its way to the waste basket, much to my disappointment.
"At the time I made up my mind to inflict my budding talents on the good people of Humboldt, I remember that my entire cash capital amounted to the modest sum of $2.75 in current coin of the republic, and the problem of how to get to Humboldt was one that appeared almost impossible of solution unless I walked. But it happened that about that time W. J. Sweasey, I. R. Brown, Thomas Baird and others had just completed the first steamer Humboldt, which was afterwards wrecked at Point Gorda, and had placed her on the Humboldt run in opposition to the steamer Pelican, then operated by Ben Holliday. The result was a rate war, and when I was ready to make the trip the fare was placed at $1.50 in the saloon and $2 on deck, a sum entirely within my reach, and I need not add that I came on deck.
"We left San Francisco at 9 o'clock on April 10, 1876, and in the afternoon of the next day, as the old novelists have it, there might have been seen wending his way up Second street a long-legged, green and gawky youth, with a shabby valise in one hand and an equally shabby overcoat in the other, whose entire capital consisted of just six bits in money and that roseate future which is never so alluring as to youth and health.
"I planted myself, of course, in the best hotel in the town, which at that time as well as now was the Vance, and then started out to hunt up my appointment. I knew I had to pass the examination before receiving it, but that did not worry me a particle, and I am also free to confess that the thought of what would become of me and my seventy-five cents if I failed, never once entered my head. In fact, I had no intention of failing. The committee appointed to examine me consisted of S. M. Buck, J. J. De Haven, and J. G. Swinnerton, all of whom were leading members of the bar, and the speed required was one hundred and forty words a minute for five minutes, the matter to be transcribed accurately within a reasonable time thereafter. You must imagine that I was green at the business, for I allowed them to read me an editorial out of that morning's issue of the Times, with words in it as long as your hand, and a style of matter which would be difficult to one much more competent than I was.
"In reporting testimony, when you read the question you have something to go by as to what the answer is, and if you can read the answer the next question relates almost always to the last answer, but in a speech or an essay, this help is entirely wanting. In the former also the language is the simple everyday English used in conversation, while in the latter unusual words and phrases are the rule.
"I remember that on this occasion Mr. Buck did the reading, while the others held the watch. There was quite a crowd in the old court room on Second street, attracted by the novelty of the proceeding, and when we had concluded, on counting the words it was found that they had read at the rate of one hundred and forty-six a minute instead of one hundred and forty, but Mr. De Haven remarked that they would allow the extra six words for mistakes.
"I took my notes and retired to the old jury room upstairs to write them out, and at first went along swimmingly, but I soon came to a snag, a big word I would not even guess at, and would you believe it, I allowed myself to get rattled, and in the twinkling of an eye every bit of shorthand I ever knew took to its wings and left me. I could not read a word past the snag, and the harder I tried the more indecipherable a mess of pothooks it looked. In about half an hour the committee began to get impatient and started hurrying me up, which of course only added to my confusion, and after an hour and a half they adjourned until the next day. Now, you might imagine that I fingered my lonesome six bits in my pocket and went sadly to bed that night. Not a bit of it; I was not built that way. I never had a moment's doubt of how smart I was; in fact, I was like almost every other boy of my age, smarter then than I ever was afterwards, or ever will be again, God willing, and so I took in the town—what little there was to take in—and then went to bed early, got up the next morning at daylight, took a good walk, and turned up at the office of Chamberlain & De Haven on Third street at 9 o'clock as fresh as a pink.
"This time experience had made me wise, and I demanded testimony for test. The committee conceded this, and I passed the examination to their satisfaction, as I always knew I would. It happened that a jury was in attendance trying cases, and my appointment as official reporter of the County Court was immediately made by Judge Stafford, and at 10 o'clock on the morning of April 12th, 1876, I began the work which I have daily followed ever since. I was then a little past nineteen years of age, and the cut on the first page, which was made from a photograph taken within a month of that time shows about my personal appearance.
"I shall never forget that first case. It was that of a sailor who had stabbed the late Charles Richardson. George A. Knight, the then district attorney, prosecuted, and Chamberlain and De Haven defended, while Judge Stafford held the scales of justice. I sat up all that night to transcribe the testimony, because I realized that my official tenure in a large measure depended upon the completeness and accuracy of my first transcript, and the promptness with which it was furnished. In those days there were no typewriters, and manifolding was unknown. Every bit of transcript or legal writing had to be laboriously done with a pen. But I remember that I finished the entire day's proceedings just before breakfast the next morning and was complimented on its accuracy by the Court and attorneys, and when I take into consideration my lack of experience and the want of facilities for quickly doing the work, and the fact that I did it all alone in one night, I am free to admit, even now, that I deserved the compliment. The case was finished that day by the acquittal of the defendant, and I received $39 for my services, and when I had the money in my pocket, it is not at all strange that my original capital did not look nearly as lonesome, and I forthwith settled my hotel bill and sought cheaper quarters.
"In regard to this case I might add that the defendant's acquittal was secured by Mr. Richardson's not being able to positively identify him as his assailant. Chamberlain & De Haven were to receive $300 as their fee, and as the man had nothing, they secured him a place to work, and he was to devote a large part of his wages each month to paying the debt. When the verdict was rendered, Mr. Chamberlain jumped to his feet and holding his hand aloft said to the jury : 'Gentlemen, a righteous verdict if ever there was one.' But inside of a week the defendant skipped on an outgoing vessel, without paying a cent, and it was amusing to hear Mr. Chamberlain, when the news was communicated to him, calling the defendant everything that a large vocabulary and a practiced tongue could call him, and saying that he always knew he was guilty and that he ought to have been hung.
"But to come back to my story. My original intention of returning to Berkeley at the expiration of my leave of absence was soon forgotten. I have been in the harness ever since, and I do not mind confessing, confidentially, that I have a fixed and steadfast purpose to do so some more, and until the infirmities of advancing years compel me to cease, provided, always, that I am able to discharge my duties to the satisfaction of the bench and bar.
"I might add, in passing, that I have always endeavored to keep my work strictly up to date, and to this end have been continually on the watch for any new improvement that would tend to greater efficiency. I brought the first typewriter to Humboldt county, and was among the first in the State to adopt its use. I was also among the first to appreciate the advantages of the talking machine as a labor saver in getting out transcripts, and among the first to successfully use them on this coast. I brought the first graphophone to the county and was using it in my business even before many of the leading reporters of San Francisco adopted it.
"When I look around me now, and then look back over the years that have gone, I am indeed reminded of the mutability of all things earthly. There is not a lawyer practicing in the county, or a judge on the bench, who was a lawyer or practicing here when I began my official duties. There is not a single official, township or municipal, anywhere in the county who was in office when I began. Even our late lamented Sheriff, T. Brown, who came the nearest to me in length of official service, began his first term two years after I came here. I know of but one business firm in the county that was in existence at that time, and still operated by the same person. The firm name may be the same, but there are new people behind the counters. There is only one lumber firm that is operating under the same name, and though one of the partners is still alive, he has retired from its management and the other partner is long since dead.
"Eureka was then a struggling hamlet of about fifteen hundred inhabitants. Business was almost exclusively confined to First and Second streets. I do not remember a business house of any description above Second street, and most of the larger firms were on First street. The streets were not even graveled, and it was only the down town streets that had eight-foot board sidewalks.
"The Court House was an old wooden building where the Hodgson planing mill is now, and beside it was a one-story brick structure which was at that time the clerk and recorder's office, but now the detention hospital, while the site of our present magnificent Court House was a neglected square overgrown with bushes and a few straggling trees, and surrounded by a dilapidated picket fence. Only a portion of the county officers had offices in the Court House, the rest being scattered around town. As you doubtless remember, the old Court House was burned by the supervisors to get rid of it a number of years ago."
Mr. Strong's narrative is intensely interesting throughout. He gives many pen pictures of the men and institutions that were in the public eye during the early years of his labor as court reporter in Humboldt county. His story is worth liberal quoting and the following extracts from it are submitted :
"The Eighth Judicial District, as then organized, comprised the counties of Humboldt and Del Norte, a term of the Court being held every three months at Eureka and at Crescent City.
"The District Court had jurisdiction of all civil cases involving more than $300 and of cases of homicide. The County Court held its sessions every other month and had jurisdiction of civil cases on appeal from the justice's courts and of all cases of felony outside of murder cases, also all probate business. Of the two courts, the County Court had a great deal the most to do. The civil business did not amount to much, but the probate business was considerable, and there was hardly a term that we did not try from three to ten felony cases. There were no banks in those days, and as the woods camps shut down from November to March, the woodsmen, flocking in to Eureka with pockets full of money after their summer work, attracted here a large number of sports and bad characters generally, and the result was a jail full of criminals, nearly always, waiting trial. Even with the growth of the county in view, there were three criminal trials then to one now.
"There was no road to Crescent City, and the trail along the beach and over the hills near the ocean was long and lonely. I had to go there every three months. Sometimes I would accompany the judge on horseback, at other times I went on foot by myself, but it was always a hard and lonesome trip, and never very remunerative, and I was heartily glad when upon the adoption of the New Constitution, the Superior Court was organized and Del Norte county had a court of its own.
"In 1876 there were seven lawyers practicing in Eureka and one in Ferndale, and although the number was small, in legal ability the bar at that time ranked as high as any in the State, and would compare favorably with San Francisco itself. Practicing law in those days was a different thing from what it is today. There were no digests or encyclopedias, no West system of reports or annotated codes, no references or cross references, and none of the thousand and one laborsaving devices that we have today. There were a few volumes of our State reports, and these, with a few of the standard text books, constituted the modest library of the ordinary practitioner. If I remember right, the forty-ninth volume of California reports was just out when I began. Now we have just had the one hundred and forty-seventh.
"The codes had been adopted two years before, and the change of practice from the old practice act to the codes had not as yet become entirely settled, and many code questions were yet for future decision. If a lawyer had a case to prepare or a legal proposition to look up, he had four or five times the work to perform that a similar matter would entail nowadays, to say nothing of having to write out all his pleadings by hand with a pen, and often to make several copies of them in that laborious way.
"There were only two fairly well kept up libraries in town, those of S. M. Buck and Chamberlain & De Haven, and when any proposition was to be briefed, one of these libraries was used. Nowadays the pleadings in an action are entirely settled before the trial by demurrers, motions to strike out, etc., but then, those questions were disposed of as the trial progressed, and it was no uncommon thing to see a whole panel of jurors and two or three dozen witnesses airing themselves and swapping yarns on the steps of the old Court House, while the lawyers upstairs were pounding the table and threshing out some question of pleading or evidence, which would today be settled long before the case was set for trial.
"Of the bar the unquestioned leader, as well as the oldest member, was the late Hon. James Hanna. At the time I first met him he was bordering on his sixty-fifth year, a little, slight, white-haired old man, but withal a courteous, courtly, old-fashioned gentleman. He was equally at home either as a pleader or a trial lawyer. Educated in the technical schools of Pennsylvania, his knowledge of legal principles was most profound, and he had the faculty, more or less rare among attorneys, of being able almost instantly to correctly apply the law to the facts before him. As a trial lawyer I have never seen his equal. As a cross-examiner his keen, incisive questioning, his witty side remarks and sarcasm not only kept an adverse witness upon the anxious bench, but often turned what seemed certain defeat into a victory. I have seen him arguing a case when he had the whole audience, jury, bar and all, in tears, and whenever he was scheduled for the closing argument in any interesting case, the old court room would be crowded to the doors, long before the hour of opening court. He was an honest, honorable, upright citizen, his word was as good as his bond, and no antagonist ever asked a written stipulation from him when once his word was passed. I have often wondered what brought a trained and brilliant mind like his away from the courts of the East to settle in a little lumber town like Eureka in the early '60s, because he would have been an unquestioned leader anywhere. He has been dead for many years. Peace to his memory.
"Of the remaining lawyers, S. M. Buck and Hon. J. J. De Haven came next. They were both comparatively young men at that time, both able lawyers, and I hardly need to add generally on opposite sides of a case. Both were relentless fighters, and neither would yield an inch while there was a point to stand on. I remember one case in particular that they had which well illustrates these qualities. It was the case of Bohall vs. Dilla, involving the right to a homestead claim on Dow's Prairie, perhaps worth $1,000 when the fight began. Bohall located the claim and before completing his title leased it to Dilla, who promptly repudiated the lease and jumped the claim. They fought the case through the local land office and all the way up to the Secretary of the Interior, and then began in the District Court and tried and appealed it, reversed it and tried it again a number of times, with one or two criminal cases between whiles, growing out of assaults made by one party on the other, and it finally wound up in the United States Supreme Court sometime in the '80s, where the decision was in Judge De Haven's favor, and when it was ended both sides had paid more than the value of the place in costs, and the case had run its checkered course some fifteen years.
"The late S. M. Buck was as able a lawyer as we have had in this State. While he could not be called a brilliant orator, he had what we term a legal mind to a very marked degree, and he possessed the most untiring industry of any lawyer I ever met. He not only thoroughly briefed up his own case, but his adversary's, and I never knew him to be caught unprepared in Court. I have seen him frequently win cases which at the start seemed absolutely hopeless. His practice was largely along the lines of corporation work, and suits involving large interests, and he rarely bothered with small business. He was almost invariably on one side or the other of every important case.
"The firm of Chamberlain & De Haven, which then enjoyed probably the largest practice here, was dissolved shortly afterwards, and Judge De Haven practiced by himself for a few years, in the office now occupied by George D. Murray. He was then elected Superior Judge to succeed Hon. John P. Haynes, and before finishing the term was elected to Congress and resigned the bench, being succeeded in 1889 by Hon. G. W. Hunter, the present incumbent. He was afterward a Justice of the Supreme Court and now United States District Judge for the Northern District of California, but I doubt not that oftentimes his memory goes back with pleasure to the little old court room in the old Court House, the scene of so many of his early triumphs.
"J. D. H. Chamberlain's forte was as a trial lawyer, although as a pleader and brief writer he was well up in the first rank. As a jury lawyer his services were always in demand and he took a leading part in almost every important case in early days. He was gifted with a most wonderful command of language, which he had increased by wide and varied reading, and he delighted to show it whenever the occasion offered, either in Court or as a story teller. Warm hearted and impulsive, he would often say things in the heat of debate which he would regret and afterwards make amends for. During the latter years of his life he was in partnership with Frank McGowan and C. M. Wheeler, and afterwards practiced alone for several years.
"P. F. Hart was located at Ferndale, which was then a little town of a hundred people or so. The dairying industry which has so marvelously built up the Eel River Valley was not then developed, and as a rule the farmers were poor, but Mr. Hart ranked well up with the leaders of the bar in learning and ability and did nearly all the legal work in the valley. He was engaged in many important cases, civil and criminal, and was an antagonist not to be despised.
"All the leading civil business at that time was confined to the five I have named. George A. Knight was the District Attorney, and was just entering upon his second term. Although but a young man, he even then showed those qualities which have since made him one of the leading lawyers of the State. He was a magnetic orator and an able prosecutor and seldom lost a case. His practice, of course, was largely criminal, and he left here, if I remember correctly, in the early '80s. It was both interesting and amusing to see him try a criminal case with Buck and Hanna or Chamberlain & De Haven for the defense, and often throngs would be turned away from the court room through inability to enter, especially in the winter time, when the town was full of idle men.
"The list would not be complete without mentioning the late G. W. Tompkins. Mr. Tompkins' practice was largely in the Justice Courts, but he had more than he could attend to of that sort of business. Prior to taking up the law he had kept a saloon and filled the office of Justice of the Peace, and they used to say of him that he would load a man in his saloon and then fine him in his court for being drunk. He knew every man, woman and child in the county, and when any litigation was started that would require a jury trial he was the first man taken into the case on the side that could first secure his services. When it came to picking out a jury from a large panel, and then after court adjourned, marshaling them singly or in twos or threes up to some neighboring bar and between drinks gently insinuating the real facts of his client's case, without appearing to do so, there were none that could come anywhere near him. I can see him yet, a tall, powerfully built man, with a big cane hooked over his arm, the only plug hat in the county on his head, and his dog Schneider, like his master, a fighter from the ground up, following at his heels. He was of Irish descent, and, as I have intimated, a fighter both legally and physically. I think he had more personal altercations with the other attorneys than any one else, because once in a case his client's wrongs were his own, and he personally resented them. I remember once in the assessor's office in the old Court House he had a slight difference of opinion with a brother attorney, and to emphasize his argument he picked his adversary tip and threw him through the window, taking out sash and all. He died many years ago.
"Mr. Swinnerton, whom I have mentioned before, was a newcomer in Eureka, and a man of brilliant promise, but an unfortunate social entanglement handicapped him as a lawyer and he drifted into journalism. He was an able orator and much in demand in political campaigning. He afterwards went to Stockton to edit a paper, began practicing law there, and served a term as Superior Judge of San Joaquin county. He died in Oakland a number of years ago.
"Of the early lawyers I should also mention E. H. Howard, who probably was the earliest member of the bar to settle here, coming, I think, with the first party of white people that landed on this bay. He had retired from active practice before my time, but served as a Justice of the Peace until some time in the '80s. He was a graduate of Harvard, I believe, and had at one time been a partner of Justice Stephen J. Fields in San Francisco.
"During the later '70s and early '80s many new lawyers came to the county. Some stayed; others did not. Of those who first came, I might mention J. F. Steck, A. McKinstry, W. F. Jones, W. H. Brumfield, H. L. Smith, E. W. Risly and many others, but it would merely be a catalogue of names, for nearly all have either moved away or died years ago. Many who are at present leaders of the bar were admitted to practice long after my advent, and I can remember when every one of them first commenced their Blackstone. Of the earliest corners after me, I might mention J. H. G. Weaver and Hon. E. W. Wilson. Mr. Weaver, I think, came in the summer of 1876 and Judge Wilson in the early part of 1877.
"In 1895 an additional department of the Superior Court was created, and I then took Mrs. Strong into the business as the senior partner of the firm, a state of affairs which has continued ever since, and which I trust will continue while I occupy the office.
"In conclusion, I assure you that the past thirty years, although it slipped by so quickly, nevertheless, when I stop to look back at it, is a long time. Only two reporters in the State have ever held office as long, and today, so far as I know, I have the distinction of being the oldest reporter in length of service on the Pacific coast, still holding the same appointment.
"During the whole of my official tenure I have never kept the Court waiting but once, have never been incapacitated from personally attending to my duties by sickness but once, have never had a transcript questioned by a member of the bar, have never met with anything but kindness and courtesy from them, and am confident that each and every one is my friend.
"While no one realizes better than I that I am surely and certainly approaching the end of my official career, and that in a few years at most I must give way to others, still no matter what I do, or where I am, the memory of our old associations will linger with me long after the newer generation shall have forgotten, and I assure you that it is from the bottom of a grateful heart that I wish each and all of you peace and prosperity."
The bench and bar of today has well in hand the business of the bay cities, and the members of the fraternity stand high in popular esteem, and among the members of the bar elsewhere there is sincere respect for the learning and probity of the followers of the great forensic profession in Humboldt county.
Pioneer Days in Humboldt County
One of the daughters of the late W. J. Sweasey, a woman of prominence, writes as follows :
The party of which I was a member arrived in Humboldt county in August, 1855, coming overland from San Francisco, and being the first party that ever came across the mountains with wagons and families. About the last of May we left San Francisco county, crossed to Benicia and then passed through Napa county to Russian river. There was not a settlement between Russian river and Humboldt county. We traveled on to Round valley, a beautiful camping place where the families stayed while some of the men, including my father, W. J. Sweasey, and my brother, Toni Sweasey, went ahead to find a way across the mountains. They marked a trail by blazing the trees, then came back and reported we could make it, but it would be a very hard trip. We, all being young, did not mind hardships and were willing to undertake the journey.
The families residing here at the time of our arrival had come by water. We brought with us a band of cattle and were seeking good pasture. This we found in Eel river valley and so determined to settle there. We certainly realized that we were pioneers. There were no churches or school houses.
The families were so few they could easily be remembered. Several of them are now living in Eureka. They were Dr. and Mrs. Felt, Mr. and Mrs. Burnell, Mr. and Mrs. A. D. Sevier, Mr. and Mrs. Stringfield, Mr. and Mrs. S. Palmer, Mr. and Mrs. Huling, Mr. and Mrs. Myrick, Mr. Jameson and Mr. Showers. In the course of three years the number of families had considerably increased; all, however, coming by water.
In 1860 we concluded we must have a school house which could be used also for a church. So I took a paper and started out to see what I could get toward building the house, and was quite successful. Some donated lumber split from logs, others shingles, hand made, others money and not a few labor. In this way the first school house was built at the foot of the mountain where the town of Alton now is. Alton is built on part of the farm Mr. Axton and I owned at that time.
In 1858 a Methodist minister, Rev. Mr. Burton, with his family, arrived in Eel river valley. They took passage from San Francisco on a sailing vessel and were six weeks on the way. The vessel encountered such fierce storms that they were unable to cross Humboldt bar the first time they tried, and were compelled to return to San Francisco for provisions, and when they finally arrived here there was no church, so services were held in the private houses and all attended. We looked forward to these meetings with pleasure, as we met all our friends and the strangers who were always made welcome, although our accommodations were limited. Many a time I have made beds on the floor to try to make them comfortable and happy, while myself and family had no bed, but with some covers slept on a lounge or any place we could. In pioneer days nothing seemed impossible and even with sufferings and hardships there was much happiness and comfort, for the natural privations taught the lessons of charity, good will, and unselfishness, and after all the greatest happiness in life comes from helping others and in those days there were constant opportunities for helping each other.
At this time the Indians were giving the settlers much trouble. One case I remember as if it were yesterday, that was when the Indians attacked one of our neighbor's (Mrs. Johnston's) little girl and an Indian girl that the family had raised. They were picking blackberries a short distance from the house when the Indians began shooting arrows at them. The Indian girl ran away to the house, but the other little girl they knocked clown and dragged a long way. The news spread like wild fire, and in a short time every man was getting ready to pursue the Indians and find the little girl. The men started for the hunt well armed. We women, Mrs. Zane, and all the neighbors, went to Mrs. Johnston's home for safety, to care for one another and to provide for the men as they came in, as we were uncertain what condition they might be in. About daylight, after hunting all night, they found the child. The Indians had not shot her, but had struck her head with a rock and threw rocks on her and left her for dead. She had lain in that condition all night and was nearly dead. As soon as the men gave the signal and fired the gun she moved and Mr. Axton gave loud shouts of joy, in which many of the men joined, to think she was alive. They picked her up and carried her home. Then we found that we needed one another. We commenced bathing her with warm water, but she could not stand that, so we took cold water and kept rubbing her with warm flannels until the blood began to circulate. When we began she was purple and badly swollen. She got well, however, and is still living and I understand is married and living in Oregon.
The Indians got out of the way and did no more damage at that time.
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.