Humboldt County, CA History Transcribed by Kathy Sedler This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://calarchives4u.com/ These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter. All persons donating to this site retain the rights to their own work. History of Humboldt County California - Historic Record Co., Los Angeles, 1915 CHAPTER V. Unique Early History Humboldt county's early history is unique in the annals of Californian counties in that it is without the slightest trace of Spanish influence. Junipero Serra, the Franciscans, the Jesuits, and all the romance that breathes throughout the pages of Southern California's history—these are as foreign to rugged Humboldt as if they had characterized ancient Spain or the Land of the Lotus Eaters. The galleons of Perez the Majorcan, the Santas and Sans, the comandantes and dons, the alcaldes and the missions —all these are realities undreamt of in the most altan parts of Alta California. Centuries passed in the North without one influence to disturb the solitude of her untrodden wilds. While missions for the conversion of the natives were being founded by the Spaniards of the South, those persistent colonizing bands that sought to Christianize the Indians, the wilds of Humboldt were given over to the deer, the antelope, the grizzly and their rude Indian foes. Elsewhere in California problems of religious, military and civil control were being solved generations before the hardy pioneers of Humboldt were born. Gaspar de Portola, the military and civil governor of California, and Junipero Serra, the illustrious father-president of the Franciscans, knew as little of Humboldt county as the people of Humboldt today know of the heart of Fiji. At the time when Crespi and his associates were founding missions dedicated to San Diego de Alcala, or planning campaigns for the conversion of the Indians, the Pacific thundered on Humboldt bar, hearing no sound save her own dashings. In a sense this is not strange, since the great activities of the Spanish in the South were at their full height long before the Declaration of Independence was written. Such sweet names as Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles (our lady of the Angels) and Santa Clara were spoken and known by the world long before the silence of the North was broken by the invasion of white men. How young Humboldt history seems when we hark back to Serra and his great work in the South—Serra, whose career lay between 1749 and 1784! For these reasons there is nothing in the story of Humboldt county's discovery and early development which can be explained by referring to the growth of other parts of the state. Humboldt was not settled until long after the Mexican war, and then only sparsely. Her pioneers were men of brawn, largely from Maine and Nova Scotia. The gigantic redwood forests demanded special treatment, so the pioneers were recruited from a timber country. The pioneers of Humboldt came for the most part from a land where almost half the men went to sea, the other half to the woods. It is for this reason that Humboldt county, much of which is still a picturesque wilderness of mountain streams and tangled wildwood, where bears, elk and deer abound, is a virgin field for the historian as well as for the writer of romance. Everywhere the background is unique and the story of man's ventures is interesting. From the rugged coast around Trinidad head to the peaceful horticultural areas around Etterville and Briceland, the country teems with the poetry of circumstance and the thrill of adventure. Much of the unwritten history of this part of the state clusters around great names, for scores of the early players in the theater of human achievement in Humboldt did not go to their last sleep before they had written their names on the scroll of fame. Humboldt was the scene of General Grant's early military services, the place where Bret Harte first dreamed of fame. For a long time it was a troubled arena of bloody Indian wars. While the sturdy pioneers were carving their fortunes from the primeval forests the red men were not strangers to the war dance and the poisoned arrow. Now that California's "uttermost west" is about to come into closer relations with the world, by reason of the approaching completion of the Panama canal, the Humboldt bay jetties, and the Northwestern Pacific railroad, Eureka, the largest city in the United States without a through railroad, will take on new importance. The many thriving little towns in the valleys, the hamlets in the mountains, and even the lonely cabins of hunters and trappers will develop new life and activities—but it will be the historian who will preserve the story of Humboldt's unique and romantic past. It will be the old residents of the county who will aid him to tell how the founders struggled through hardships during the noisy years of effort that have long ago become the silent years of history. The story of the sufferings and trials of the pioneers—the fascinating history of trade, transportation, hunting, trapping, lumbering, fishing, manufacturing, agriculture; an account of the development of schools, churches, courts, newspapers ; a description of the daily life of the people—these and scores of like interesting features of times long passed away, must prove interesting to the children of a later day. The resources of Humboldt county are unlimited, and great credit is due those who inaugurated the promotion movement that in this later day is but the beginning of the development of its wonderful possibilities. In leaps and bounds it has passed from a comparatively poor and sparsely settled territory to one of great productiveness and wealth. The future looms bright, and new conditions are at hand. In spite of this fact, the past should not be forgotten. The story of its hardships and conquests should be preserved. But before coming to a detailed discussion of the history of Humboldt county it may be well to take a birds-eye view of the state as it was less than one hundred and fifty years ago. The history of no county can be understood without some intelligent appreciation of the development of the state in which it is situated. Let it be understood at the outset, then, that prior to the discovery of gold by James W. Marshall, on January 24, 1848, only small portions of California had been visited by the descendants of the Celts, the Anglo-Saxons, and other white races. True, the padres had made history for the church of Rome, but their numbers were few and their work had lain among the Indians. It was the discovery of gold that changed the world's conception of California. Until then, even the name had no lure. It suggested something dreamy, unreal, and far away. In spite of slow methods of transportation and tedious delays of the mails the news of Marshall's discovery set the world afire. John Carr's "Pioneer Days" gives us the picture of the "gold fever." In the winter of '49 and '50 Carr was in Peoria, "ironing off California wagons intended to cross the plains the following summer." He adds that "at that time the whole West was in a blaze. Everybody had the California fever" and everybody who could obtain money sufficient for the journey "across the plains" was on his way for the West. It was then that California became known to all the world. A few years later the Trinity and Gold Bar excitement led to the discovery of Humboldt bay by the Gregg land party, as described by the late L. K. Wood in a previous chapter. During the five or six years following the land discovery of Humboldt bay there was a rapid settlement of the region contiguous, chiefly by mining men and soldiers of fortune. Among those who came were scores of the pioneer type—strong, brave men and women of character and ambition—the class too seldom seen in these softer times of lightness, ease, and luxury. Many of the homeseekers were not permanent in their plans, however. They were fond of excitement. Mining ventures, the dream of ingots and sudden fortune—these were the incentives that moved men. The great Eel river country, the stock-raising areas, and the bay shore settlements were undergoing slow changes from 1851 to 1854. There is fine material for romance in the annals of these faraway times. Some day a bold story­teller will invade this field and give the world a masterpiece. Attorney J. F. Coonan, of Eureka, is gathering material for such a tale. The wildernesses were being tamed very slowly, for mining activities occupied the attention of most of those who first came to the great regions in and above Humboldt county. It is for this reason that the transition period was one of considerable duration, and the process was far from a rapid one. Bledsoe tells us that gold mining was in the full tide of its ascendency and it was only in mining communities that the white people were assembled together in sufficient numbers for protection against the Indians, who were quite savage, and against the inclemency of the winter weather. It is evident that the agricultural population was very small. The farmers, being isolated, had to be content with difficulties which none but the boldest of pioneer spirits would dare to face. It is evident that villages were far apart and were separated from one another by high mountain ranges, great rivers, and impassable forests. The roads were merely trails, and the dangers that faced the pioneers on every hand were numerous. Every obstruction which the wildness of nature puts in the way of men who desire to tame it here abounded, and every danger attending the conflicts between the savages and the whites was in evidence to deter and discourage the early settler. Away back in those early days, however, Eureka, Trinidad, and the town of Union (now Arcata) were quite flourishing. They drew their population, which was one of an enterprising character, from the great army of men in search of riches in the mines. The mines, it has been said, were the great arteries through which the towns drew their sustenance. But Bledsoe tells us that many ships laden with articles for the use of miners crossed the bar of Humboldt bay or anchored in the roadstead of Trinidad. Long lines of heavily laden mules struggled over the mountains, valleys, and marsh lands, crossing rivers and making their way to the Trinity river mines. Gold excitement occasioned periodical seasons of rapid growth and feverish prosperity, and through it all the times were growing riper for a more sober and permanent settlement. We sometimes hear of jealousy and bitterness between towns in Humboldt and other counties, but the old days saw a great deal of this. Historians tell us that there were many seasons of bitter rivalry between the sundry towns of Humboldt county and adjacent counties. Trinidad, Crescent City, Union, Bucksport, and Eureka each laid claim to being the natural headquarters for supplies for miners and each contended that it would be the one great metropolis of the North. It is said that this jealousy was very bitter between the three towns of Union, Bucksport, and Eureka. Each felt that with impending greatness it should have more consideration than the other, and every one of these towns desired above all other things the dignity of being the county seat. The fight for the court house and jail was one of the bitterest of those days. In a general way it may be said that the county was organized in 1853, Union being then the county seat. Bucksport and Eureka did not give up their rivalry in their battle for the honor for a long time, and a contest was begun which resulted in two elections in 1854 to determine the relative claims of the three places. It is recalled by old-timers that there had never been so bitter a battle as that one. Union got the largest vote and was declared to be the county seat, but the agitation of the matter continued, the charge of fraud on the part of Union township being frequently and persistently asserted. The supervisors absolutely refused to build a court house in accordance with the wishes of the Union townspeople, and the controversy flamed high until it was finally decided by the Legislature of the state, when a law was passed at the session of 1855-56 removing the county seat to Eureka, where it has remained ever since. In these times the Indian population was greatly in excess of the white, though it was impossible, because of the unstable character of the white settlements along the river and gold bearing streams; to make a very close estimate of the number of the whites. The Indians had not yet received orders from white men to go away from their reservations, and their ranches presented somewhat of a permanent aspect. They certainly contained a more permanent population than could be found in any of the towns occupied by the pioneers. Their numbers had not been reduced by death and disease, and there were no restraints of their liberties and no restrictions on their method of living. The reservation system had not yet been enforced by the Government, nor had the military powers extended to them in even the remotest degree.