Humboldt County
History
History of Humboldt County California - Historic Record Co., Los Angeles, 1915
CHAPTER II.
The North Was Slow to Be Discovered
It should be borne in mind that the vaguest imaginable knowledge of the Humboldt country existed until within a few years of the beginning of the War of the Rebellion. A. J. Bledsoe tells us, in his Indian Wars of the Northwest, that as late as the year 1850 a coastline of seven hundred miles between Fort Ross and the mouth of the Columbia river was practically unknown to the world, except in a vague way. Topographical knowledge and information concerning climate and resources were almost nil. Even the most prominent headlines of the very rugged coast were without accurate designations, for marine charts were little more than guesses. The designated points had been uniformly named merely as signboards for the instruction of seafaring men. The shores were deemed thunderous and inapproachable. In an area of more than seven hundred miles of shore line there was not even one white settler. Indians and wild beasts were the sole tenants of the land. As a result, the entire field was one of open adventure, and it naturally drew a large and sturdy class of people. A mining population, consisting of a good many hundreds, already existed in Trinity and Siskiyou counties, but it was dependent on slow and interior routes of transportation, the sea being entirely useless for navigation by reason of the ignorance of the navigators concerning places for ports and suitable roadsteads for making connection with the land.
Bledsoe tells the story graphically as follows, on page 107 of his work: "It was believed that a coast route by water would make a diversion of this trade by land. San Francisco, of course, was to be the starting point for enterprises of this kind, and of the required capital to conduct them. Each of the several expeditions by sea sent out from San Francisco in the winter of 1849 and 1850 had for its leading inducement the hope of discovering coastwise communication with the mines in the mountains by some navigable stream, and, perhaps of founding new cities that should thereafter shine as brilliant settings of this remote rim of American territory.
"Among the first expeditions for the exploration by sea of the Northern coast was one made under the auspices of The Laura Virginia Association. The association was organized with two boards of trustees, one to reside in San Francisco, one to go with the expedition.
"The trustees residing in San Francisco were Capt. Joseph L. Folsom, U. S. A., president; Charles B. Young, secretary; C. B. Gallagher, and a Mr.
Simmons, whose first name is not known. The trustees accompanying the expedition were E. H. Howard, president ; W. H. Havens and Robert T. Lamott. The members of the Association, but recently arrived from the East and elsewhere, were adventurous in spirit and bold in enterprise, and they projected a voyage of general discovery, having special reference to the selection of some harbor as a depot for the distribution of merchandise to the mining districts of Northern California. The mines of the Trinity and the Klamath, far up those streams, were even then famous for their real and reputed wealth. They were isolated, and hemmed in by stupendous mountain chains. To reach them by way of the Sacramento valley and Shasta was to endure the perils and suffering of a long journey to an unsettled country. As yet no road had been blazed through the forest to the sea, nor had the Gregg party made known the results of their voyage of exploration. The Trinity was supposed to empty directly into the sea, as the Klamath did, and the mouths of neither had been located. Situated in the basin of the Trinity, ninety miles from the sea, was the mining camp of Weaverville, and still a little farther north and east were other regions rich in mineral wealth.
"To these remote localities the transportation of supplies was chiefly carried on by way of Red Bluff, the outlying settlement of the Sacramento Valley, and thence by pack mules over a succession of rugged mountains that swarmed with hostile Indians. To divert the extensive trade of that part of the state into a more economical channel, and to discover a landing place from the sea, was the primary object of the Laura Virginia Association. An ocean voyage, prompted in some degree by love of adventure, but more by love of gold, was to be the first visible effort of the Association to win renown."
The Laura Virginia was a seaworthy boat that had been built in Baltimore, a sturdy craft of one hundred and twenty tons burden. She then lay in San Francisco bay, where she was promptly chartered and made ready for her voyage to the North. The Association took its name from the ship.
Lieutenant Douglass Ottinger, of the United States Revenue Cutter Frolic, then on leave of absence, was induced to command the vessel. The expedition was off for its adventure late in March, 1850, the exact date being still in dispute. There were fifty passengers and the ship carried food for a fifty-day voyage. The party found no break in the coast line anywhere between San Francisco and Cape Mendocino. The voyage north of the Cape brought revelations of rugged mountains, with a sweeping curve to the northward.
It is interesting to recall the fact that Lieutenant Ottinger beheld the mouth of the Eel river, and anchored two miles off the bar. It is said that the next day three other vessels anchored not far away and a boat from the General Morgan crossed the bar and entered the river. The success of the Morgan's little boat emboldened Lieutenant Ottinger to launch two of the Laura Virginia's boats for the same purpose. He commanded one, Albert Swain the other.
Swain's boat was soon capsized in a heavy swell, whereupon Ottinger returned to the ship and told H. H. Buhne, the second officer, just what had occurred, and dispatched him to hasten with a crew to the aid of the capsized boat; to which the men were still clinging and struggling desperately for their lives. Incidentally, this same Buhne was the founder of the prominent Buhne family of Eureka and Humboldt county, business and social leaders of today. The intrepid second officer saved four of the five men, but J. S. Rowen was lost. Those saved were L. M. Burson, N. Duperu, and Albert Swain, and a man of the name Bell, the latter's given or Christian name having been lost to history.
Ottinger was discouraged, after which he soon headed his vessel to the North and gave up all hope of exploring Eel river. He saw the waters of the bay also, but could not discover any entrance thereto. It is believed that the heavy breakers on both the Northern and Southern spits had completely hid the channel from the view of the Laura Virginia party.
Sailing toward Trinidad and a point fifty miles farther north, Ottinger soon found himself in the roadstead about where Crescent City is now located. He found a vessel called the Cameo at anchor, and another, the Paragon, stranded on the beach. Dispatching a boat toward the shore, he learned that several little boats had been capsized while trying to make a landing several days before, and three or four persons had lost their lives. Searching the beach revealed the lifeless body of one member of the unfortunate party, Lieutenant R. Bache, who had been attached to the United States coast survey for several years. A funeral was at once arranged, and Lieutenant Ottinger read the ritual service of the Protestant Episcopal Church, burying his comrade in a plain wooden coffin. After a few days the lieutenant decided that he should make down the coast toward Trinidad. His crew noticed a fresh body of water making out from the land, and the lieutenant dispatched second officer Buhne to sound the bar, taking a small boat, but gave positive instructions that there should be no attempt to cross, owing to the great danger of loss of life. It was during this voyage that Buhne discovered the mouth of the Klamath river.
E. H. Howard, H. W. Havens, Samuel B. Tucker, Robert Lamott, S. W. Shaw and a Mr. Peebles were dispatched to explore on foot the coast line south to the bay and find out just what the country looked like, their points of view having been obtained from sighting while aboard the ship. After about four hours' marching the party came to the crossing of the Mad river, whose southern bank they saw was lined with canoes drawn up on dry land. In the background they saw a number of Indian inhabitants and heard yells ringing out from the rancheria when the white men appeared on the opposite shore.
A large number of excited natives came thronging to the water's edge. Women, commonly called squaws, with their papooses, scampered from their lodgings, and the warriors, who were very numerous, grasped their bows and arrows and assembled for a pow-wow on the bank. In the absence of the ability of either party to make the other understand it by spoken language, it was decided to resort to pantomimes or the old sign language. The white adventurers soon gave the Indians to understand that no harm was meant, their desire being merely to cross the rancheria and see what the country below looked like. The natives were much surprised at the appearance of the white men and their clothing, and great expressions of wonder marked the occasion.
For a long time the Indians refused to take the six white men across the river at one time in their canoes. They made known, however, that they desired them to go one at a time. This brought the white men to a puzzling problem, for they feared that to go one at a time might be to expose the first man to treachery and possibly to death by torture. After much parleying, however, the Indians reluctantly consented to do as the white men had requested. When the whites had crossed they were soon surrounded by men, women and children who looked closely at them, rubbed their clothing, and touched their bodies as much as to feel and ascertain whether they were looking upon the spirits of dead men returned to earth, or upon actual living creatures.
A surveyor's compass was here ingeniously used by the white men to impress the natives with the fact that the whites were a race possessing a strange amount of power. They sought to make the Indians believe that even six white men could besiege hundreds of Indians in battle, this by reason of supernatural powers and devices such as the little compass.
Bledsoe describes this interview entertainingly as follows :
"The compass is placed on the ground, and as the needle trembles and flutters on its pivot the Indians watch it with increasing wonder. The white medicine man takes his knife and moves the blade slowly around the disk of the compass. Slowly, with quivering stops like warning fingers pointing at individual braves, the needle follows the knife blade around the circle. Filled with a profound feeling of awe, the warriors see the knife withdrawn and the needle settled to its quiet rest.
"The white medicine man lifted the instrument to his ear, as if communicating with the Great Spirit. The Indians themselves draw nearer, eager to catch a stray whisper from the unseen world, although it be in an unknown tongue. The medicine man withdraws the instrument and gravely endeavors to make them understand that all their secret thoughts and purposes are revealed to him through its agency. The ruse is successful. The untutored mind of the savage, deriving from all nature continual additions to his superstitious lore, sees in the little mechanical instrument a revelation of wisdom and power.
"He regards the whites with an awe which is not unmixed with reverence."
Although one experiment might have been enough to keep the Indians from attacking the whites, it was believed advisable to give the Reds a few further exhibitions of the prowess of the whites, therefore a target was put up, and bullet after bullet was shot into it at a distance of about sixty yards. A flock of geese was seen flying over the company, and one of the best shots in the party directed his fowling piece toward the flying birds and brought one fluttering to the ground.
The Indians had become thoroughly convinced of the supernatural attributes of the whites, and showed no evidence whatever that they were the least bit hostile towards the visitors.
When the white men started south they were followed along the beach by a number of Indians, who eagerly watched them to see what would become of them, and they seemed to be so much excited over the disappearance of the whites that it was believed for a time that the Red men expected to see their visitors depart into the sky.
Late that afternoon the white men beheld the entrance to the bay. On the next day the adventurers anchored in the harbor and the ship's boat was sent to take the party on board. On the 9th day of April, 1850, second officer Buhne, who possessed all of the brave qualifications necessary to leadership, was appointed to command the boat and make an effort to cross the bar and bring the ship within the bay. It is well known that he was a good sailor and accustomed to the hardships of the sea, also that he was a man of great common sense. His selection as the leader to pioneer the boat over the bar was a wise and judicious proceeding. His feat is thus described by Bledsoe:
"Between ten and eleven o'clock on the morning of the 9th of April the boat was launched, and Buhne with William Broderson, James Baker, an Englishman named Palmer, and one other man, whose name has been lost to history, for his crew, started across the bar. Skillful seamanship carried the boat into the harbor. The crew landed at a point opposite the entrance, for many years known as Humboldt point, and now called Buhne's point, where they remained until one o'clock in the afternoon, when, taking advantage of high water, the boat was headed for the sea. Buhne made soundings on the bar and found four and one-half fathoms of water in a well defined channel. Going on board the ship he reported to Lieutenant Ottinger what he had seen and done, and it was decided that another trip should be made on the same day, this time with two boats loaded with passengers, tents, provisions, etc. The two boats, Buhne commanding the one in advance, then crossed the bar and landed on the north beach at half past seven o'clock. On the next morning the whole party went across to the point and pitched their tents.
"Here they all remained for three clays. On the twelfth a vessel was seen off the bar, and Buhne with his boat's crew went out to her, supposing that she was the Laura Virginia. It was not that vessel, but was the Whiting, sailing toward Eel river, and eager to be the first vessel to enter that stream. The captain of the Whiting, like the officers of a rival vessel, the J. M. Ryerson, believed that this river was the Trinity, and if they had observed the basin to the north with any interest, it was only indicative to them of a shallow lagoon or basin. It was late in the afternoon, and Buhne and his crew boarded the Whiting, remaining there all night. They were reticent of their own previous movements. It would not do for them to relate where they had been or what was their success. The members of every expedition then exploring the coast considered themselves morally bound to keep a profound secret of any discovery or location made by them. Precisely why this was so cannot be easily accounted for at the present day. A lively imagination can indeed surmise various reasons for secrecy. Each expedition was animated by a more or less envious jealousy of every other expedition, and every commander of a vessel was firmly convinced that the honor of first sailing into a bay or river ought to belong to him."
Further along in his account of this interesting adventure, Bledsoe says : "Wishing to come up with his own vessel as soon as he could, Buhne parted company with the Whiting and proceeded north in the small boat. In the afternoon the Laura Virginia came down from the north, took Buhne and his crew on board, and stood off to sea during the night. The tide and wind being favorable at noon of the next day, April 14, 1850, second officer Buhne took the wheel and guided the Laura Virginia into the bay, where she anchored near the point on which the tents of the passengers were plainly visible.
"The fourteenth of April was a proud day for the Laura Virginia Association. Captain Ottinger and every one of the officers and members of the expedition felt highly elated because of the success which had attended their voyage. What grand castles they built in the air is not for our generation to know ; and perhaps it is well that we draw not back too rudely the curtain of time that hides them from our view, for in the very act of exposing the unsubstantial glory of their hopes we might perchance uncover to the world some day dreams of our own. The company as a matter of course thought their fortunes were made, and they proceeded to take possession of sufficient land for the site of the city that was to be. After considerable discussion the bay was christened, likewise the city. Both were named Humboldt in honor of the distinguished naturalist of that name, at the earnest solicitation of a member of the expedition whose enthusiastic admiration for the illustrious Prussian was as boundless as the latter's knowledge. Afterwards the Association voted to give the Baron von Humboldt the choice lot in the city of his name, and a deed to the same was written and sent to him, with a full account of the adventures of the company, for which the Association in due season received his kind acknowledgement over his own signature."
A number of interesting events here occurred, but our space will not justify going into detail. Let it suffice to say that the first summer brought a great increase in the population of the bay and of Humboldt City. Those members of the Laura Virginia Association who remained did everything they could in the way of rational community development. Public works of various types were undertaken, and many obligations on the part of the members of the Association were entered into to pay for the work. The conclusion of the story is thus graphically told by Bledsoe :
"Humboldt City for a year or more kept in advance of any other town of the bay. Stores, pack trains, mechanics' shops and saloons gave unmistakable signs of business progress. But that could only last while the town could control the trade with the mines. The advantage of a newer route, and an Indian trail from the head of the bay that was practicable without costly improvement, settled the rivalry in favor of Union, now Arcata, as against Humboldt City. The castles in the air built by its founders soon tumbled down about them. Union and Eureka divided the business of the bay, the city that was to be faded from the visionary projects of the adventurers' dream. Humboldt City succumbed to the inexorable decrees of fate, and today the scene of its once bustling life is abandoned to its original pastoral simplicity."
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.