Kern County

History

SOURCE:  Memorial and Biographical History of the counties of Fresno, Tulare and Kern, California - Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1892

KERN COUNTY

 

Early History

 
                  No satisfactory history could be written of Kern County without first reviewing the early settlements, a few incidents as well as first industrial enterprises undertaken prior to county organization, when the vast area of Kern County as it now is was a portion of the present large county of Tulare.

First Settlement

 
                  When the State was first formed into counties, the whole country extending from the Toulumne river to Walker's pass on the south, and from the Nevada State line on the east to the Coast Range on the west, was divided into two counties - Mariposa and Tulare. From these have since been formed the counties of Mariposa, Mono, Inyo, Merced, Fresno, Tulare, and Kern. This portion of the great San Joaquin valley, until about the year 1835, was almost a terra incognita, having been visited by the trappers only about the date mentioned. In June of that year Lieutenant Moraga and his companions, of the Mexican Army (then stationed at the presidio of San Francisco), crossed the San Joaquin, near the mouth of the Tuolumne, and traveled thence in a southeasterly direction to the Merced river, a distance of about forty miles, the whole of which had to be traversed without water. The weather being very hot, it is not strange that they in their thirst and famished condition called the river El Rio de la Merced, the river of mercy. After visiting King's river the expedition returned over the mountains to the west.
                   The first American known to have arrived in California overland was Captain Jedediah S. Smith, of New York, at the head of a trading expedition, which he accompanied from St. Louis. In the spring of 1826 Captain Smith, at the head of a party of twenty-five, left the winter-quarters of the company on the headwaters of the Missouri river, to make a spring and fall hunt. They crossed the mountains and entered the great San Joaquin valley, near its southeastern extremity, thus being the first party from the East or North to enter this magnificent valley, and the first to explore any of the rivers flowing into the bay of San Francisco. The counties of Kern and Inyo were formed in 1866. The discovery of gold in the territory now included in Kern County was made in 1854 by a party of emigrants on their way from Los Angeles County.
                  They had camped on a gulch in the Greenhorn mountains, one of the highest points of the lower Sierra, and there found a rich deposit of gold.
                  The news spread rapidly, but it was not until 1857 that the great rush known as the Kern river gold excitement took place. A report of rich mines then spread more rapidly, and fortune hunters headed in large numbers from various localities for the new "El Dorado."

EARLY MINING.

 
                  Soon many rich mines were located, among which may be mentioned French Gulch, Spanish Gulch, Bradshaw's, Whisky Flat, Keysville, and many others. These placers soon becoming exhausted, miners began the search for the source. This was soon found in numerous auriferous quartz ledges that showed themselves all through the mountains. One of the first discoveries of this character was the Big Blue, the great summer mine near Kernville. This was in 1860. Numerous small leads, and one large one called the Mammoth, were found near Keysville, where the first quartz mill was erected in the county in 1859. Keysville was the most prosperous mining camp in the county up to 1864. The Long Tom mines were discovered in 1863, from which near a half million of gold was extracted within eighteen months. The famous Joe Walker mine near Havilah was discovered in 1866. This was a valuable lead, but at the depth of 400 feet a great body of water was encountered, and thousands of dollars expended in an attempt to pump it out, but all machinery, pumps, etc., proved a failure; the volume of water was too great.
                  Soon there were many miners who decided that there were more promising features in tilling the soil, stock-raising, etc., than in the uncertain pursuit of mining. Up to the date named little attention had been given to agriculture. Some little hay and grain had been grown in the mountain regions about Walker's basin, Lynn's valley, Bear and Cumming's valleys, Tehachapi, and little flats along the Kern River. Before entering the valley and treating of its agricultural resources, developments, etc., a further ramble will be made in the mining regions.
                  The Clear Creek Mining District was discovered in July, 1864, by a prospecting party, consisting of Benjamin T. Mitchell, Alexander Reid, George McKay and Dr. C. De La Borde, more generally known as the "French Doctor." The district was organized in August of the same year, and comprised the whole region drained by Clear Creek and Copperas Branch, and bounded by the summit of the mountains surrounding this basin. George McKay was elected recorder of the company. The first lode discovered and recorded was the Havilah. The locaters of this were the gentlemen above named. Afterward this company, known as the Havilah Mining Company, located many other ledges, and soon after dissolved, and each continued prospecting alone. Soon afterward Dr. De La Borde, in connection with August Gouglat, discovered and located thirty-six ledges, among which were the Rhone, Rochefort, Eagle, Dijon, Nos. 1 and 2, Cape Horn, Navarre, Nievre, Alma, Nos. 1 and 2, Lyon, Marengo, and others. The famous Delphi-Tyrone and Lexington lodes were located by H. McKeadney. From this time on the mining interests were rapidly developed.
                  The first store opened in the mining district was by Alexander Reid, as also the first boarding-house, and to him much was due for his energy and successful efforts in bringing the mines to public notice, and his unceasing perseverance to make them a success. The first mill erected in this district was the "Pioneer," by Joseph H. Thomas. This mill he brought from the Coso district, formerly the property of the Willow Spring Mining Company. The first run of the mill was from the Dijon lode, which paid at the rate of $37 per ton. The next mill in operation was the four-stamp mill of Hon. J. W. Freeman, which was brought from Greenhorn, and commenced work in January, 1865. The first rock crushed by this mill in the new field was from the ledges of Nice-wander, Park & Co. The largest yield was had from this crushing of all mills in the same district of like amount of rock since, and perhaps more than from the same amount of unpicked rock in the State. The yield of twenty-seven tons of rock was over $5,000, the rock paying over $300 per ton. The gold was saved from the battery alone, there being no other mode for saving it at the mill. The Rochefort lode made a yield of $230, and the Delphi $180 per ton the same week, and it was believed that, considering the facilities for saving the precious metal at the time, the yield for like amount of rock in the State was unprecedented.
                  Nicewander, Park & Co., erected the fourth, a five-stamp mill, near their mines on the mountains.  Several other mills followed as the demand called for.
                  The New York and Clear Creek Company erected a ten-stamp mill, then not excelled by any in the State. Dr. De La Borde and Gouglat sold their entire interest in this district, in October, for $50,000. Sometime thereafter, Nicewander, Park & Co., sold their entire mining interests to Colonel Arnold A. Rand, realizing nearly double the cost to them.
                  The preceding review of early mining in Kern County is to show the immense deposit of the precious metal in this region, and gold is but one of many more valuable metallic deposits in the county - more valuable in the sense that they can be worked, and larger profits realized with less capital invested, and quicker returns. Antimony, quicksilver, copper, etc., are found in paying quantities, as also vast gypsum deposits, coal and oil, all of which will be a source of large revenue to the county when railroad facilities enable the men of enterprise and capital to ship these products; and the fact that such deposits of wealth-producing commodities exist in a country is an assurance that railroads will soon be constructed to them, and ere long Kern County will be in the midst of a hum of mineral development.

BEGINNINGS

 
                  Resuming the general history of the valley portion of the county, it is proper here to state that in 1861 the first white man camped and settled on what has since been designated as Kern Island. In 1862 two or three others followed, and in a short time were joined by the late Thomas Baker, better known as Colonel Baker, founder of Bakersfield, a man of foresight and good judgement. The only means of communication at that day with the outside world was by two stage lines, - one via Havilah to Los Angeles, the other via Havilah to Owen's river. From Havilah the road crossed Greenhorn mountains to Visalia.
                  Colonel Baker, with his usual energy, built at great expense a toll-road from the foot of the mountain, a distance of twenty-seven miles, to Havilah, and a desultory communication was established.

GOVERNMENTAL, ETC.

 
                   The act creating Kern County was approved April 2, 1866, with the following sections:
                   SEC. 1. - There shall be formed out of portions of Tulare and Los Angeles counties, a new county to be called Kern.
                   SEC. 2. - The boundaries of Kern County shall be as follows:
                   Commencing at a point on the western boundary line of Tulare County, two miles due south of the 6th standard south of the Mount Diablo base  line, thence due east to the western boundary of Inyo County; thence southerly and easterly following the western boundary of Inyo County and northern boundary of Los Angeles County to the northeast corner of Los Angeles County; thence south along the eastern boundary of said county to the line between townships 8 and 9, north of the San Bernardino base line; thence due west to the Tulare County line; thence southerly along the said Tulare County line to the southwest corner of Tulare County; thence northerly, following along the western boundary of said county to the place of beginning.
                   The first meeting of the Board of Supervisors was held at Havilah, the first county seat, August 1, 1866. Henry Hammell and J. J. Rhymes were present. Mr. Hammell was chosen chairman of the Board. This meeting was held "pursuant to the act of the Legislature creating the County of Kern, to define its boundaries and to provide for its organization." The act also provided for such organization by appointing the first crops of county officials. The Board at the meeting referred to proceeded to lay out, organize and define the boundary of townships Nos. 1, 2, and 3. The first tax levied by the Board was State and county, $2.61 on the $100 worth of property.
                  At the meeting of the Board of Supervisors, August 5, 1867, the new courthouse at Havilah, constructed as per contract for $2,200 was accepted.
                  It appears that about the time the new county was organized a news organ was also established. We find that the first number of a paper called the Courier, was issued in Havilah Saturday, August 18, 1866, by the Courier Publishing Company; C. W. Bush, editor; George A. Tiffany, printer. Politically this paper was Democratic, was a four page, six-column sheet, and was much above the average newspaper in a new field. The first number presented the following as a County Directory:
                                  
                                State Senator, J. W. Freeman
                                Member of Assembly, I. C. Brown
                                County Judge, Theron Reed
                                District Attorney, E. E. Calhoun
                                Sheriff, W. B. Ross
                                Clerk, Recorder, and Auditor, H. D. Bequette
                                Treasurer, D. A. Sinclair
                                Assessor, R. B. Sagely
                                Surveyor, Thomas Baker
                                Superintendent of Public Schools, J. R. Riley
                                Coroner and Public Administrator, Joseph Lively
                                Supervisors, Harry Hammell, S. A. Bishop and J. J. Rhymes
                               
                   B. Brundage, Thomas Lespeyre and E. E. Calhoun appear as advertisers in the legal profession in the first number of the Courier. The medical profession was represented in the same paper by the cards of J. A. Davidson and C. W. Bush. E. W. Doss, "Pioneer Druggist." Bridger & Howeth, proprietors of Sozarac Billiard Saloon; Clear Creek Exchange Hotel, by H. T. Miller. Bell Union Hotel, Hammel & Denke, proprietors. Mead & Clark's United States Mail Stage Line for Visalia; grocery and general store, by W. G. Mills; Clear Creek store, D. A. Sinclair, proprietor. Several others advertised in this issue.
                  The Courier of September 15, 1866, makes mention of the organization of a hook and ladder fire company in Havilah, but it seems they never owned a hook or a ladder. The same paper mentions L. F. Humiston as county judge, and quotes prices of produce, goods, etc., as follows: flour, per barrel, $12; butter, per pound, 50 cents; cheese, 37 cents; potatoes, 3 1/2 cents; beans, 8 cents; eggs, 62  cents per dozen; coal oil, $2.25 per gallon; candles, 37 cents per pound; crushed sugar, 30 cents; brown sugar, 20 to 25 cents; coffee, 37 to 50 cents. October 13th of that year the paper appeared in a new and much improved dress. The heading was, "Havilah Weekly Courier," J. K. Acklin, printer and business manager.
                   John M. Brite appears as County Supervisor, suceeding J. J. Rhymes. In December, mention is made of Theron Reed as district judge. Saturday, December 29, 1866, A. D. Jones appears as editor of the Courier. In November of that year, mention is made of F. W. Doss as superintendent of public schools, and that Henry Hammell, J.  J. Rhymes and John M. Brite comprised the County Board of Supervisors, having previously stated that Brite succeeded Rhyme.
                    The first regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors at Havilah, when all were present, was August 6, 1866. At the special meeting previously held, the clerk was instructed to advertise for proposals to build a county jail. At the regular meeting referred to proposals were received from four different bidders, and the contract was awarded to Thomas B. Stuart, for the sum of $1,600, to be completed in sixty days. The building to be constructed of one-foot square timber, 20 x 16 feet, and to contain three cells, the partitions of which were to be six inches thick, the doors to be of half-inch iron made as grating. The contract also included a sheriff's office, to be constructed over the jail. The building was to be erected on a lot containing two acres purchased by the Board for county purposes. At the same meeting the Board entered into a contract with Thomas Baker and his associates to make or construct irrigating ditches on Lower Kern river, by which many thousands of acres of land then valueless and belonging to the State and county would be made productive and of great value. Baker and his associates were to receive a portion of said lands in payment for their work.
                   The name Havilah is from the Old Testament, - Genesis II: "Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold." Havilah, the place of much gold, was the first county seat of Kern County, situated about 360 miles southeast of San Francisco, at an elevation of about 2,000 feet above ocean level, and about 110 miles inland on a direct line.
                   The first steam quartz mill erected at this place was by a Mr. Thomas of Visalia, in 1864, and was an eight-stamp mill. Havilah contained 500 inhabitants that year. Of that number there were twenty-five families; the balance were miners, prospectors, etc. There were 147 buildings or tenements of various kinds in the town, among which were four hotels, twelve mercantile establishments of various kinds, doing an extensive business, two drug stores, three boot and shoe stores, two livery stables, two breweries, three bakeries, two billiard saloons, two barber-shops, three fruit stores, two bath houses, one paint shop, three blacksmith and wagon shops, besides numerous saloons, bars, etc., four physicians, one surveyor and civil engineer. Some were rather expensive buildings. The Bell Union Hotel, built and run by Messrs. Hammell & Denker, cost $16,500.
                   January 1, 1868, there were three post offices in the county, viz.: Lynn's Valley, Havilah and Kernville.
                   This same month and year Philip T. Colby succeeded L. F. Humiston as county judge. H. D. Bequette appears as court commissioner in connection with his duties as county clerk, recorder and auditor. This year there were six townships in the county.
                   There being some dispute as to the boundary line between Kern and Los Angeles counties, a resurvey was made by George W. Orth on the part of Kern County, and William P. Reynolds on the part of Los Angeles County, and the following report was made by the Kern County surveyor: "The line having been located by act of legislature between townships 8 and 9 north, ranges 16 and 17 west of San Bernardino meridian, where a cedar post was set and marked L A on south side, and K on north side, and ran thence according to the true meridian west (the variation of the needle being 14 minutes, 41 seconds east) and at 480 chains set another and similar post, and with like letters thereon as before. Around this post was raised a mound of stones. Thence over rolling hills, and at 653 chains to the crest of the main range of mountains and at 843.35 chains attained the highest elevation along the line; thence, gradually descending, at 885 chains enter Canada los Encinos, passing across which at 1,120 chains; set cedar posts on each side of Fort Tejon and Los Angeles road; thence over bald hills, at 1,280.30 chains established the corner to Los Angeles, Kern and Santa Barbara counties, from which found by traverses Fort Tejon to bear north 17 degrees, 20 seconds east, 322 chains distant, and James Gorman's house to bear south 61 minutes east, 308 chains distant.
                   "May 27, commencing at the initial point and setting posts as previously described, at the initial point and settling posts as previously described, every six miles, ran according to the true meridian, the variation of the needle being 14 minutes, 41 seconds east, east through a dense growth of cactus trees, and at 1,370 chains set posts on each side of Willow Springs and Lake Elizabeth road; thence over open desert, at 1,471 chains. Set posts on each side of Clear Creek and Soledad road. Thence passing at times through the beds of dry lakes, composed of a hard, spongy clay, incapable of holding water, and again over open desert, to a point due north of Mt. San Antonio, distant from the initial point 4,564.35 chains, at which  was established the corner to Los Angeles, Kern and San Bernardino counties.
                   "By observation whilst on the meridian at 9:30 p. m. on May 16, 1869, at Cow Springs, variation of the needle was found to be 14 degrees, 41 seconds east.
                   "The line running west from the point last named passes for the first seven miles through an open, undulating plain, watered by numerous branches running from springs in the foothills, and susceptible of a high degree of cultivation; thence to the Canada los Encinos, over rugged mountains covered with scrub oak, cedar, fir, pine and manzanita; thence to the western corner, over bald hills, and crossing some good grazing land. The entire eastern line passes through an open desert almost destitute of vegetation, and rendered useless by the entire absence of water. The work on this end was rendered very disagreeable and expensive, inasmuch as all the water used by the party was transported in wagons, and during the latter portion of the time the men and stock suffered extremely, having hoped to find stock water by digging into the beds of dry lakes.
                   "During the seven days occupied on the western line the weather was very cold, with violent and constant winds; on May 22, 23 and 24, rain storms and at 8:46 p. m., May 27, an earthquake lasting ten seconds."
                   The files of the Courier are incomplete, having been destroyed by fire. April 13, 1872, the paper is headed Kern County Weekly Courier, Bakersfield. A five-column folio. June, 1872, mention is made of a new paper started at Havilah, called The Miner.
                   In 1872 the question of moving the county seat was agitated, and the new and promising town, Bakersfield, in the valley was the prospective location. February, 1873, an election was held as to said removal. Owing to some irregularities in the vote, three precincts were thrown out, but the court afterward instructed the Board to count them. Bakersfield won the county seat by a small majority. The result was hotly contested, much bad feeling engendered, as is generally the case on such occasions, and a year was consumed in costly and acrimonious litigation before the seat was finally located at Bakersfield. The injunction suit was commenced in the month of May, 1875. The county expended, by warrants on the treasury in conducting this suit, the sum of $2, 237.80. Pending the decision of the court as to said injunction was evidently held July 12, 1866, but no record of it can be found. Thomas Baker was at the time county surveyor, and E. W. Doss superintendent of schools.
                    The first deed recorded in Kern County was July 23, 1866, being for a lot in Havilah, from H. C. Harding to James R. Watson.
                    It will be seen that the act authorizing a county to be called Kern was passed in April, 1866. In August of that year the county was organized and boundaries defined, and in November of the same year the first grand jury was drawn, as follows: W. W. Hudson, foreman; Robert Palmer, W. T. Henderson, Thomas H. Bennix, J. P. Swearingen, B. T. Mitchell, W. H. Williams, M. H. Erskine, E. R. Burke, Solomon Jewett, Edward Tibbett, V. G. Thompson, Henry Pascoe, J. J. Murphy, J. S. Totty, Daniel Muncton, W.  D. Ward, T. W. Barnes, Stephen Chandler, and Isaac Lightner.
                   The Board of Supervisors reconstructed the civil townships of the county in 1873, with names as follows: South Fork, township No. 1; Havilah, township No. 2; Tehachapi, township No. 3; Tejon, township No. 4; Bakersfield, township No. 5; and Lynn's Valley, township No. 6.
                   The board also authorized A. R. Jackson to draw a map of the county, at a cost of $500.
                   The Courier seems to have had strong bearing toward Republican politics in 1873.
                   On election day, October, 1873, there occurred a triple tragedy at Sageland, near Havilah. Henry Watson killed Moss Gilman, and upon Robert Peppard attempting to arrest him, a struggle ensued, in the course of which they stabbed each other so fatally that they both died almost immediately. Watson and Gilman were very drunk and had quarreled the night before, and on the morning of the election. About noon Gilman went to bed, Watson sought him out and asked, "Have you voted?" "Yes." "Who for?" "Reed." With that he struck Gilman and went out. Being remonstrated with for having struck a man helplessly drunk, he said: "Then I will go back and kill him." He returned accordingly, and, finding Gilman still on his bed, fractured his skull in peices with his revolver, and slashed his body in many places with his knife.
                   Thomas Bridger (owner of the mill and mine) then went to arrest him; but he swore that he would not be arrested. At this stage of the proceedings, Peppard, who was with Bridger, attempted to seize him by the hand in which he held a large sheath knife, and was stabbed twice in the breast. He then closed with Watson, and in the struggle that ensued they fell together and rolled down a slight declevity. When they arose Peppard said to Watson: "You have cut me, and you shall die." Suiting his action to the word, he threw all his strength into a rapid and powerful thrust with his knife. The keen blade penetrated Watson's heart, and they both fell dead together!
                   It was near one year after the election to change the county seat from Havilah to Bakersfield before the matter was decided by the court. In January, 1874, the court in session at Visalia (Judge Deering presiding), decided that Bakersfield was duly chosen by a majority of the voters at the election in 1873. The first court held in Bakersfield was presided over by Judge Colby, beginning Monday, February 2, 1874, and continued three days. Some of the public records were transferred from Havilah in Saturday preceeding.
                   Plans for a courthouse and jail at Bakersfield were advertised for as early as July, 1874, and stipulated not to cost more than $25,000. A. A. Bennett's plans were accepted and the work of erection began at once. Although some bad feeling existed, the ceremonies of laying the corner stone were conducted in due form, the Masons and Odd Fellows participating with the insignia if their order, as follows:
                   B. Brundage, Master of the Bakersfield lodge of Masons was chosen master of ceremonies. When the orders had resumed their respective places the choir, composed of Mrs. Hunt, Mrs. Willow, Mrs. Condict, Mr. Olds, Dr. Ormsby and Mr. Johnson, opened the exercise with an appropriate song. The following souvenirs were deposited under the corner stone in accordance with custom: Copy of the Bible, history of the organization of Kern County; Impressions of the court and county seals; organization of the town of Bakersfield; organization of Kern lodge, No. 224, F. & A. M.; copy of the great register of Kern County; one copy each of the Kern County Weekly Courier, Southern Californian, San Francisco Daily Bulletin, San Francisco Alta Californian, San Francisco Morning Call, San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Chronicle, and Sacramento Weekly Record-Union; a copy of the original map of the town of Bakersfield, of the constitution and by-laws of Kern Lodge, I. O. O. F., and a package of miscellaneous coins.

County Statistics, Values, etc.

 
                   The Legislature passed an act in March, 1868, for adjusting the debt between the counties from which Kern was formed, and W. L. Kennedy, E. E. Calhoun and A. D. Green were allowed $750 for services in settling the debt due by Kern County to Tulare and Los Angeles counties. In August, 1869, George W. Orth was allowed $1,938 for services in running the boundary line in conjunction with the surveyor of Los Angeles County. The line at that time established between the two counties, by George W. Orth of Kern, and William P. Leonard for Los Angeles County, is the line of to-day. About 1867, when the cattle interest predominated, the county assessment roll showed a total of $1,500,000.
                   The following will enable the reader to form an idea of the growth of the various industries in the county for the decade of 1872 to 1882 inclusive:
                                                                                     
                                                                               1872                        1882
 
                                Acres of land inclosed..........     26,811                     47,210
                                Acres of land cultivated........       9,652                     32,880
                                Acres of land in wheat..........       2,244                     25,220
                                Bushels of wheat.................     38,433                    361,000
                                Acres in barley....................       2,363                       4,950
                                Bushels of barley.................       6,146                      99,200
                                Acres in corn.......................      1,039                        1,842
                                Bushels of corn....................     19,830                     52,600     
                                Acres in hay........................       2,952                     12,840
                                Tons of hay.........................        3,801                     18,320
                                Acres in cotton....................            40                           92
                                Pounds of cotton.................      20,000                      27,000
                                Number of sheep.................     127,020                    382,290
                                Pounds of wool...................   1,000,000                 2,293,740
                                Gristmills...........................               3                              7
                                Barrels of flour made...........         8,000                      12,000
                                Bushels of corn ground........        2,000                        5,800
                                Number of sawmills.............              5                              3
                                Feet of lumber sawed..........   4,000,000                 
                                Number of Quartzmills.........              15                             8
                                Improvements.....................  $  238,312               $    312,804
                                Personal Property...............      328,637                  1,599,838
                                Railroad, assessed by
                                             State Board...........                                   1,237,215
                                Total valuation in 1872 was..                                    2,958,676
                                Total valuation in 1882 was..                                    5,431,714
 
                   The total average assessed in 1882 was 1,117,421, at an average of $1.66 per acre; irrigating ditches at $74,681, and mining claims at $5,410.
                    The following is the number of stock in the county in 1882, and valuation:
 
                                                                               Head                      Value
                                    Cattle..........................      29,880                    $ 298,800
                                    Calves.........................        3,448                        19,635
                                    Cows, thoroughbred......           122                         3,800
                                    Cows, graded...............        1,599                        31,980
                                    Oxen...........................            50                          2,240
                                                                          _________               ____________
                                               Total................        35,099                     $347,455
 
 
                                    Horses, thoroughbreds..              17                   $     51,000
                                    Horses, graded.............         3,146                          80,135  
                                    Horses, American.........            296                          25,070
                                    Colts...........................          1,223                          18,893
                                    Jacks & Jennies...........             131                           2,356
                                    Mules..........................             489                           4,443
                                                                             __________            _____________
                                               Total.................          5,401                  $     135,997
 
                   The census of 1870 gives a population for the county of 2,727; that of 1880, 5,601, - an increase in ten years of 2,676. Population in 1890, 9,808.

Property Values

 
                   The following will give an idea of the increase of wealth in the county for one decade. The rate per $100 is given, and the total tax collected:
 
              Year            Rate                                                      Total Tax
             1880             $2.15 .................................................  $118,608.82
             1881              2.50 ..................................................    150,286.92
             1882              2.00 ..................................................    108,633.82
             1883              1.65 ..................................................      83,637.67
             1884              1.65 ..................................................      93,628.84
             1885              1.75 ..................................................    102,496.19
             1886              1.75 ..................................................      86,652.14
             1887              2.00 ..................................................     137,938.97
             1888              1.55 ..................................................     131,305.03
             1889              1.75 ...................................................    172,298.76
             1890              1.50 ...................................................    151,673.84
 
                   The figures given make an interesting study. It will be seen that the tax rate is lower than has been in any year during the decade. By the rate per $100, the assessed value of property in the county for each year will be found.
 
                                  Population By Townships in 1890
                                  White       Chinese       Indian    Colored    Japanese        Total
 
Bakersfield...............   2,824            646             4            87               2            3,163
Judic'l Tp. No. 4........      653              25                            1                                687
        "      No. 5........      439                1                                                              440
        "      No. 1........      695              39          265             2               1             1,002
        "      No. 5........    1,048            206             1             7                              1,262
        "      No. 2........    1,122              83            18            5                1            1,229
        "      No. 3........       140               1                                                              141
        "      No. 4........       429               1                             2                                432
        "      No. 2........       859              78          103             9               1             1,050
            Total.............    8,219          1,080         391          103              5              9,808

Public Schools

                   The public schools of the county are under the efficient management of County School Superintendent Alfred Harrell, Esq. The number of school districts in 1891 were forty-six, and others were being formed, so that during the year the total would probably reach fifty. Number of school buildings in the county, forty-six. Number of teachers, fifty-five: of these fourteen are males, and forty-one females. Male teachers receive $80 per month; females, $70. Average length of schools are eight months. Mr. Harrell was first elected to the office of County School Superintendent in 1886, and has been re-elected ever since. On assuming the duties of the office in 1886 he found little on record by his predecessors to guide him as to the future necessities, judging by past emergencies and how they had been met and disposed of. He had in a measure to begin anew. He had the ability and the will, and with him to will was to do, and he delayed not as to action; and his watchword all along the line was "Forward:" and to-day the grand results, rapid growth and efficiency of the schools in the county commend the management much more than can words.
                   In 1880 there were 1,036 census children in the county, and there were then twenty schools. In 1885 there were 1,264 children and thirty-three schools. In 1890 there were 1,997 children in the county between the ages of five and seventeen years.
                   Schools are now graded. Each teacher at the close of the school term is required to furnish to the county superintendent of schools a report showing the progress made by each pupil and their rating at close of school. This method enables the teacher on beginning a school to place each pupil where he properly belongs without a course of examination, as by application to the county superintendent the report of the teacher who had taught the school last would be furnished.
                   The city schools are under the same management as those of the county. Bakersfield has now the best school building in the county, costing $12,000. Delano has the second best, costing $10,000. Bonds have been voted to build an elegant as well as spacious school edifice in Bakersfield, to cost $30,000. The plans indicate a building which will be an ornament to the city and do great credit to the county.
                    Mr. Harrell is confident as to the advance that will be made in the educational interests of the county within a few years, and his aim is to bring his county up to the standard of the best in the State. He has the educational interests of his people at heart, is capable and energetic, and success will crown his efforts if sustained by the citizens , which they certainly will do. Kern County citizens are awake to the great possibilities for their section of the State, and will not permit any other people to surpass them in anything.

Kern County Officials

 
                   The following gentlemen have filled the several positions named since the county was organized. Senators are reckoned from the date of Tulare County's organization. The three counties included in this work have been continuously grouped together in Senatorial representation, and at times such has been the case in the Assembly.
                   Senators - J. W. Freeman, 1863-'68; Thomas Fowler, 1869-'72; Tipton Lindsey, 1873-'76; Thomas Fowler, 1877-'78; Chester Rowell, 1880-'81; Patrick Reddy, 1883-'85; John Roth, 1887-'89; G. Stockton Berry, 1890-'91.
                   Assemblymen - J. C. Brown, 1863-'68; E. W. Doss, 1869-'70; J. Buckhalter, 1871-'72; W. Canfield, 1873-'74; J. A. Patterson, 1875-'76; W. S. Adams, 1877-'78; A. B. De Brutz, 1881; A. J. Atwell, 1883; W. L. Morton, 1883; E. L. De Witt, 1885; M. J. Brooks, 1887; George W. Wear, 1888-'89; Thomas A. Rice, 1890-'91.
                    The first officials of Kern County were appointed when the act was passed creating the county, and were as follows: County Judge, Theron Reed; District Attorney, E. E. Calhoun; County Clerk, Recorder, etc., H. D. Bequette; Sheriff, W. B. Ross; Assessor, R. B. Sagely; Surveyor, Thomas Baker; Coroner, Joseph Lively; Superintendent of Schools, E. W. Doss; Treasurer, D. A. Sinclair; Supervisors - Henry Hammell, J. J. Rhymes, and S. A. Bishop.
                    At the election held in 1867 the following were elected: Sheriff, R. B. Sagely; Clerk, H. D. Bequette; District Attorney, Thomas Laspeyre; Treasurer, D. A. Sinclair; Assessor, James R. Watson; Surveyor, Thomas Baker; Coroner, A. D. Jones; Superintendent of Schools, E. W. Doss; Supervisors - D. W. Walser, District No. 1; J. J. Rhymes, District No. 2; and John M. Brite, District No. 3.
                    F. W. Craig was elected Supervisor for District No. 1 in October, 1868.
                    At the October election, 1869, the following were elected: Sheriff, William H. Coons; Clerk, T. J. Williams; Assessor, James R. Watson; Treasurer, D. A. Sinclair; District Attorney, Thomas Laspeyre; Surveyor, E. E. Calhoun; Coroner, Herman Hershfeld; Superintendent of Schools, J. H. Cornwall; Supervisor of District No. 2, C. T. White.
                    Elected in October, 1871: Sheriff, W. H. Coons; Clerk, A. A. Bermudez; District Attorney, A. C. Lawrence; Treasurer, D. A. Sinclair; Assessor, Benjamin F. Walker; Coroner, Jacob Asher; Surveyor, E. E. Calhoun; Superintendent of Schools, J. H. Cornwall; Supervisor of the 1st District, F. W. Craig.
                    Sol. Jewett was elected Supervisor District No. 2 in 1872.
                    At the October election, 1873, the following were elected: W. R. Bower, Sheriff; D. A. Sinclair, Treasurer; F. W. Craig, Clerk; A. C. Lawrence, District Attorney; B. F. Walker, Assessor; Walter James, Surveyor; L. A. Beardsley, Superintendent of Schools; J. P. Miller, Coroner; John Narboe, Supervisor of the 3rd District. At the meeting of the Board of Supervisors, October 21, 1873, A. H. Denker appears as chairman of the Board. No record of his election could be found.
                    In 1874 F. W. Goodale was elected Supervisor from District No. 1.
                    In the fall of 1875 the following were elected: M. P. Wells, Sheriff; J. W. Freeman, District Attorney; J. C. Pemberton, Treasurer; F. W. Craig, Clerk; R. R. Donnell, Assessor; W. A. Johnson, Surveyor; L. A. Beardsley, Superintendent of Schools; H. C. Dimock, Coroner; T. F. Kerr, Supervisor Second District. At this election P. T. Colby was elected county judge.
                    F. A. Tracy was elected supervisor from the Third District in November, 1876.
                    T. E. Harding appears among the Board of Supervisors. Canvassing the vote November 10, 1877, records fail to show when he was elected. Total vote cast at October election, 1877, was 1,214. The following were elected: W. R. Bower, Sheriff; J. C. Pemberton, Treasurer; J. W. Freeman, District Attorney; F. W. Craig, Clerk; F. E. Calhoun, Auditor; W. R. Macmurdo, Surveyor; A. A. Mix, Coroner; Wm. Lightner, Supervisor of the First District.
                    A complaint being entered that F. A. Tracy was not a resident of the Third district, he was retired, and the county judge appointed John M. Brite of said district to the position. Tracy is recorded as having met with the Board regularly, claiming his seat, at the same time the case was pending decision by the court, which finally decided in favor of John M. Brite.
                    In June, 1878, a special election was held to elect a delegate to the State Constitutional Convention, and V. A. Gregg was honored with that position.
                    In the fall of 1878, A. J. Halbert was elected Supervisor from the Second district.
                    There was a special meeting of the Board held August 23, 1879, at which the Board appointed A. P. Bernard County Treasurer, the office having been vacated by the death of Treasurer J. C. Pemberton.
                     At the general election held in the fall of 1879, B. Brundage was elected Superior Judge; A. T. Lightner, Clerk; W. R. Bower, Sheriff; T. E. Harding, Assessor; F. S. Wallace, Superintendent of Schools; A. P. Bernard, Treasurer; W. P. Wilkes, Auditor; G. V. Smith, District Attorney; W. R. Macmurdo, Surveyor; S. A. Burnap, Coroner; P. O. Hare, Supervisor of the Third District.
                     H. Hirshfield appears as one of the Board of Supervisors at their meeting April 7, 1880. The records do not show whether he was elected or appointed. November, 1880, A. Fay was elected Supervisor from the  First District, and in August, 1882, George H. Wheeler was appointed Supervisor for the Second District.
                     The new Constitution of 1879 changed the general election from odd to even years, and at the fall election of 1882 there were 1,328 votes polled, and the following elections were held:
                     A. P. Bernard, Treasurer; A. T. Lightner, Clerk; W. R. Bower, Sheriff; William Tyler, Auditor; T. E. Harding, Assessor; W. R. Macmurdo, Surveyor; J. W. Freeman, District Attorney; A. B. Macpherson, Superintendent of Schools; John T. Maio, Coroner; R. H. Evans, Supervisor of the First District. J. McKamy and L. Crusoe appear as members of the Board of Supervisors at their meeting January 8, 1883.
                    There were 1,424  votes cast at the November election in 1884, and the following officers elected: W. R. Bower, Sheriff; William Tyler, Auditor; J. F. Rowe, Tax Collector; N. R. Packard, Clerk and Recorder; J. W.  Freeman, District Attorney; A. P. Bernard, Treasurer; J. F. Maio, Coroner; W. R. Macmurdo, Surveyor; R. H. Evans, Supervisor District No. 1; John M. Brite, Supervisor District No. 2; J. M. McKamy, Supervisor District No. 3; L. Crusoe, Supervisor District No. 4; George C. Doherty, Supervisor District No. 5.
                    At the November election, 1886, there were 1,418 votes cast, and the following officers elected: Dallas McCord, Sheriff; N. R. Packard, Clerk and Recorder; H. P. Olds, Auditor; J. W. Freeman, District Attorney; W. T. Jameson, Treasurer; T. A. Baker, Tax Collector; T. E. Harding, Assessor; Alfred Harrell, Superintendent of Schools; F. Buckreus, Coroner and Public Administrator; W. L. Dixon, Surveyor; L. F. Gates, Supervisor Second District; J. M. McKamy, Supervisor Third District.
                  April 4, 1887, E. M. Roberta appears as one of the Board of Supervisors, supposed to have succeeded George C. Doherty. L. F. Gates, of the Second District, died in January, 1888, and on the 7th of February of that year Joseph Fountain was elected to fill the position.
                   At the general election November, 1888, the number of votes polled was 2,196, and officers elected were: W. J. Graham, Sheriff; N. R. Packard, Clerk and Recorder; W. A. Howell, Auditor; Alvin Fay, District Attorney; T. A. Baker, Tax Collector and Treasurer; F. Buckreus, Coroner and Public Administrator; W. R. Macmurdo, Surveyor; Charles F. Bennett, Supervisor First District; A. Morgan, Supervisor Fourth District; E. M. Roberts, Supervisor Fifth District.
                   County Clerk N. R. Packard, known as Judge Packard, is a Southern-bred gentleman of the highest type and very courteous to all. On the 26th day of March, 1891, a colored gentleman approached the Judge in his office and expressed a desire that the Judge issue him license to preach; when told by the Judge that it was not in his line of business to license servents of the Lord, the colonel citizen seemed much disappointed.
                   There were 2,640 votes east at the general election in November, 1890, and others elected as follows: H. L. Borgwardt, Sheriff; N. R. Packard, Clerk and Recorder; A. T. Lightner, Assessor; W. A. Howell, Auditor; T. A. Baker, Tax Collector and Treasurer; Alvin Fay, District Attorney; Alfred Harrell, Superintendent of Schools; F. Buckreus, Coroner and Public Administrator; W. R. Macmurdo, Surveyor; Joseph Fountain, Supervisor District, No. 1; E. A. McGee, Supervisor District, No. 2.
                   The Superior Judges have filled the position in the order as follows: B. Brundage; Rufus E. Arick (deceased); A. R. Conklin, present Judge, appointed by Governor Waterman to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge Arick.

Kern County As It Is

 
                   We have been rambling over Kern County as it was in early times, and will now survey it as it is, and try to get a glimpse of what it may and certainly will be twenty-five years hence at the rate of progress and development now being made.  There are few incidents of the past yet worthy of record, however, but we will in the main deal in the present, with the present, and for the future.
                    It will be of interest to those who may read these pages in 1925, after all wild animals have been exterminated, to know that even as late as 1867, there were many large bears in the county. In April, 1867, a Mr. Pettit, who was herding sheep for William and D. S. Lightmere at Allen's Camp, Walker's Basin, wrote to the Courier that he had a few days previously killed an immense bear by poisoning. He stated that the bear's estimated weight was 1,000 pounds. There were many in the county at that date and was very destructive to sheep. Near old Fort Tejon, on an oak tree about thirty inches in diameter, was found some years since the following transcription, then nearly grown over:

I. H. S.

 
                    Peter Lebeck killed by a bear October 17, 1837.
                    At the time the letters were carved, the tree was perhaps less than half its present size. Recently investigators found that the inscription had grown over, and on cutting in and removing the growth, they got an exact reprint on the portion removed, leaving the original plain in the tree. Further curiosity led them to excavate at the root of the tree, and to their surprise they found the remains of a man, perfect in all parts except one hand, which could not be found. The remains were evidently those of the man, Peter Lebeck, and the tree was a growing monument to the unfortunate pioneer.
                    While we desire to keep before our readers the enormous proportions of Kern County, we do not expect to impress you with half the facts connected with this wonderful region. We could write volumes, and make many seemingly unreasonable statements, and yet not tell the half. But to prepare the reader for some large stories, or stories of large products, we wish to call his attention to the fact that Kern is one of California's large counties, embracing 8,100 square miles, which is very near equal to the State of New Hampshire, with an area of 9,005 square miles, and a population of 375,827. Vermont has an area of 9,135 square miles and a population of 332,205. Massachusetts has an area of 8,040 square miles, a little less than that of Kern County. Massachusetts has a population of 2,233,407. Little Rhode Island has an area of only 1,085 square miles and sustains a population of 745,861. This will give an idea of what Kern County is capable of sustaining when her vast area is developed to the extent that it can and will be. One million of people can subsist in the county more comfortably than can the present population in the State of Massachusetts.
                   Kern is bounded on the north by Tulare and Inyo counties; on the east by San Bernardino; on the south by Los Angeles, and on the southwest and west by Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties. It occupies the extreme southern portion of the great San Joaquin valley, lying centrally in the State east and west, and is situated in the southern portion of Central California.

Its Topography

 
                   Its eastern boundary line extends a little over the summit of the Sierra, and the summit of the Coast Range may be said to form its western boundary. Nearly one-fourth is embraced in foothills, a large amount is mountain lands covering a portion of the immense lumber belt of the Sierra. The southeast corner covers a portion of the Mojave desert east of the Sierra. The remainder of the county, known locally as Kern valley, is without exception one of the richest sections of the State and not surpassed in the world. It embraces the principal portion of the agricultural lands of the county, extending from the northern limits of the county and the southern border of Tulare lake, to the amphitheater of mountains which surround it on the east, south and west. A small portion of Tulare lake dips into this county, but it has no natural boundary on the north, being simply a prolongation of the great valley of the San Joaquin. It is quite regular in its outline, being about forty miles wide east and west, by about fifty miles north and south. It is seen that here lie 2,000 square miles, or more than one and a quarter million acres of the most fertile lands to be found in this or any other country, so large an unbroken body of rich land.
                   In the central southern portion of Kern valley lie Kern and Buena Vista lakes. Kern lake is thirteen miles south of Bakersfield, and is about seven miles long east and west, with an average width of nearly three miles. About five miles west of this and connected therewith by a slough is Buena Vista lake, about the same length, and of an average width a little greater than that of the former. These lakes are connected with Tulare lake, distant about thirty-five miles, a little west of north, by Buena Vista slough. On the border of these lakes and sloughs, especially on the north side of Kern and Buena Vista, are swamp lands unreclaimed and exceedingly rich. About ten miles south of Tulare lake, and connected with the slough leading thereto, in the northwestern portion of Kern valley, is Goose lake, about two and a half miles in length by one in width. The irrigated, developed district or portion of this valley lies within about fifteen to twenty miles south and west and twenty-five to thirty northwest of Bakersfield. These lands, which are covered by as fine a system of irrigating canals and ditches as exists, slope from east to west, or have an incline to the west of four to seven feet to the mile, the average being about five feet. The irrigating features and water resources will be more fully presented elsewhere.

Products

 
                   This county will produce anything from the most delicate and sweet-scented flower to the mammoth Sequoia gigantea. Space here will not permit detail as regards each valuable product, but mere mention will be made of many of the most profitable products that have been tried in the county. Here grow and yield well nearly all the agricultural and horticultural products of the temperate zone, besides some of the semitropic. The agricultural list embraces wheat, barley, oats, rye, Indian and Egyptian corn, buckwheat, alfalfa, millet, canary seed, hops, sorghum, sugar-beets, cotton, tobacco, castor-bean, peanuts, flax, hemp, jute, ramie and liquorice-root. Some of the last named are not extensively cultivated, but from tests made it is ascertained that they can be successfully produced. Of these, alfalfa probably excels all others in its marvelous growth and bountiful yield. Garden vegetables of nearly every description grow to perfection. In this list are Irish and sweet potatoes, yams, beans, peas, cabbage, onions, cauliflower, tomatoes, celery, asparagus, turnips, carrots, parsnips, beets, radishes, pumpkins, squashes, water-melons, muskmelons, nutmegs, cantaloupes, egg-plant, artichokes, spinach, rhubarb citrons, Chili peppers, etc. Of these, sweet potatoes and melons excel. The horticultural products embrace all the deciduous fruits, some of the citrus fruits, fruit of nut-bearing trees, berries and fruit of the vine. Of these are the apple, pear, peach, plum, prune, apricot, nectarine and cherry. All varieties of berries; the blackberry and strawberry excel. Table, raisin and wine grapes do well. Of the fig, orange, lemon, lime and pomegranate; the fig excels. Of nuts, are walnuts of all varieties, hard and soft-shelled almonds and the pecan. Fruits attain enormous size.

Examples of Kern County Products

 
                    But few people who have never seen the wonderful products of California, are willing to believe facts when stated, but very naturally say that it is a California fabrication. The ordinary Eastener cannot get it within the scope of his reasoning faculties that 140 bushels of corn can be produced on one acre of land, yet such is the case: while it is not claimed that every acre of land planted to corn will make such yield, yet it has been grown in Kern County. Several years since, Captain Noble, a practical farmer, whose farm was situated near Bakersfield, noticed that his field of corn promised an abundant yield, and concluded to ascertain the exact amount per acre. He had a practical surveyor measure the ground. He then gathered an measured the corn, and found that the amount produced was 140 bushels per acre. Thinking perhaps that the statement might be doubted, he went before a justice of the peace and made oath to the amount.
                    Eastern people who are accustomed to consider sweet potatoes weighing two and three pounds as large, will not feel disposed to credit the statement that potatoes eight times as large have been grown in Kern County; yet such is true. Some years since Dr. Stockton produced a crop of potatoes near Bakersfield, and exhibited a number in town, the largest of which weighed twenty-three, and the smallest twenty pounds. When we ask why, if such are actual results, do not all engage growing corn and sweet potatoes, the answer we receive is that more can be realized from various other crops than can from the two named.
                    There can be grown on Kern County soil six crops of alfalfa in one year, each crop making one and a half tons of hay per acre, or nine tons per acre per year. One acre will pasture three head of horses or cattle. At the age of fifteen months a Kern County colt is as large as the average Eastern at three and four years.
                    Viewing the situation from this standpoint it will be seen that other products surpass those of corn and potatoes, even at such an enormous yield.
                    There is no better soil and no better climate for producing and preparing the raisin than is found in Kern County. The prune, the fig, the lemon, lime, olive and various other fruits will yield richer returns per acre than will corn and potatoes. Hence the cause why few attempt to grow those products for profit.

Resources

 
                    It is a difficult matter to compass within the limits of a sketch of this character anything like an adequate description of the all but illimitable resources of a county such as Kern, with its millions of acres of valley, hill and mountain, all replete with sources of the greatest wealth. At the outset considerable was said as to the agricultural wealth of the county, and that these statements were  no exaggeration it now becomes necessary to prove. With Bakersfield as a starting point let the visitor go in any direction and carefully note the salient features brought to his attention. The one most prominent feature will be the vast area devoted to the production of alfalfa. Thousands of acres are perennially green with this most valuable of forage plants. On every hand are great stacks containing hundreds of tons of well-cured hay,  while in the pasture fields are tens of thousands of horses, cattle and sheep, which are reared and fattened for market upon no other food than this. The alfalfa-fed beef and mutton of this valley is simply without a superior. This hay is cut and put in the stack at an average cost covering all expense of no more than $1 a ton, and no stock grower needs further information as to the possibilities of profit.
                   But there are other sources of wealth of superior value to this and we will continue the journey. Almost due south of Bakersfield some ten or a dozen miles we reach the Greenfield's ranch of several thousand acres, devoted largely to stock growing, but to grain, fruit, etc., as well. Here we learn that wheat is raised with irrigation which averages forty bushels to the acre, barley fifty bushels, and shelled corn sixty to seventy -five bushels. Sweet potatoes go 300 bushels to the acre, and other vegetables in proportion being kept growing the year round. Here is an orchard of apples, peaches, apricots, pears, prunes, nectarines, and other fruits, with ten acres of grape vines, while in the grounds about the house are orange, fig, pomegranate, pecan and other trees.  All of the fruits named are produced in large quantity and excellent quality, while from the grape are made raisins that are equal to the best. Almost everything in the way of ornamental shrub or flower grows luxuriantly, and the entire place is a scene of tropical verdue that is attractive to the utmost.
                    A return drive of a few miles brings us to the Stockdale ranch, where similar results have been accomplished in the production of grain, fruits, etc., by the aid of irrigation. Not far away is the Bellevue, which is the acme of what can be done in the delta lands. Here is a magnificent orchard of mature orange trees, bearing luscious fruit, while every fruit and nut that is cultivated in the State is represented and all growing with the greatest luxuriance and producing fruit of the most excellent quality.
                   And so we can go day after day, visiting ranch after ranch and finding that nothing in the wide range of cereal, fruit, vegetable and ordinary farm crop will not grow. Hops, cotton, tobacco, Egyptian corn and many other specialties have been successfully experimented with. From apples to oranges, every variety of fruit is produced. The vegetable garden is green the year round. Melons are almost a nuisance. Beets grow five or six feet deep. In fact, in all the wide range of products of the temperate and subtropical zones it would be impossible to select one that does not attain perfection here.
                    One of the specialties, however, for which Kern County is destined to become famous in her peaches. Every section has some two or three specialties, and the peach has so far attained the greatest success here. Space forbids going into too great detail, but a couple of notable instances of recent occurrence will suffice to show what has been accomplished and what may be expected. A couple of miles or so south of Bakersfield is a peach orchard belonging to S. A.  Wible. which has been planted just thirty months, and in which the trees average fully seventeen feet in height, with large trunks and a growth of limb that would be extraordinary in an orchard twice the age. This orchard covers twenty acres, though the trees if planted in the usual style of 108 to the acre would only occupy fifteen acres. Last year, when only eighteen months old, there were five tons of choice fruit taken from the trees. This year there were 7,731 boxes of fruit gathered and shipped to the East, where it was sold at auction in New York, bringing readily from $1.40 to $2 a box. The entire actual cost of gathering, boxing, shipping and selling was than 70 cents a box. There was thus left a profit of from 70 cents to $1.30 a box. Averaging it at $1, which is within bounds, and the net returns will be seen to have been $7,731, from which, of course, must be deducted the cost of cultivation, which, however, is small, since only one irrigation was given the orchard during the season.
                   In addition, however, to the 7,731 boxes of fresh fruit shipped to the East there were 3,000 pounds of dried peaches put up, worth at a low calculation $450, while an additional large quantity of fresh fruit was given away and sold directly from the orchard. Here, then, we have a twenty-acre orchard of peaches which at two and one-half years from planting returned a net profit of at least $7,000, or $350 an acre.
                    In another direction from town and on the road to the Rosedale colony is another famous peach orchard, the property of C. A. Maul. From twenty-three acres of trees which are six years old there were shipped to the East sixteen carloads of fresh fruit, besides which enough more was dried and otherwise disposed of to make three or four carloads more. For the fruit shipped the grower received $16,000, of which at least three-fourths, and probably a greater proportion, was net profit.
                    A feature of both these orchards was that from half to three-fourths of the fruit that set on the trees was thinned out while young. From some trees as many as 2,500 young peaches were picked, leaving only 300 or 400. The result was that the fruit that was left to mature attained an immense size. Large numbers of boxes were packed in which each peach weighed over a pound, while many specimens were weighed that were from twenty to twenty-four ounces in weight and measured from twelve to fifteen inches and more in circumference. The quality of this mammoth fruit, too, was most excellent. It withstood shipment well, arriving at the East in perfect order, and sold reality for the highest prices.
                    From what has been already accomplished it is no hazard to prophesy that the Kern delta will be noted in the future for at least three specialties. These will be the production of peaches, which will find a ready market either shipped fresh to the East, dried in the open air, or sold to canners, who will be able here to produce large supplies of the very choicest fruit. The raisin grape will be another specialty. Enough has been done in various portions of the county to show that the soil is emminently adapted to this fruit, while the climate is the best for drying purposes that can be found. The prune is another fruit that will be a favorite, while the apricot, fig, orange and other varieties will be largely and successfully cultivated.
                   In the lower foothills is a large area at a certain elevation which par-takes of the same general characteristics of climate as are found at a similar height all over the State, the danger from frost is at a minimum, and the orange and other tender growths thrive to perfection. At the famous Tejon ranch are splendid specimens of mature orange trees, while in many other localities in the valleys and foothills may a similar growth be seen. That the orange will be grown here on a scale of commercial importance, is believed by all who have taken the trouble to inquire into the existence of the requisites of soil, climate and water for the development of that most attractive and profitable industry.
                   Columns might be filled with detail of the remarkable success attending all agricultural experiments made here. But enough has been related to show that every claim made at the outset is abundantly substantiated.
                    There are other resources, however, which, while they have not reached the development that has been achieved by agriculture, nevertheless are bound to attain importance nearly equal thereto. That there are in the mountains large deposits of gold, silver, antimony and other valuable minerals has been shown from the earliest history of the county. Indeed, the mines about Havilah and Kernville were the cause of the first settlement of this region. Lack of ready means of transportation has been a serious drawback to the development of these deposits.
                   In the western and southwestern portions of the county are other mineral deposits which are also of great extent and value. There are thousands of acres of asphaltum, with immense springs from which a tremendous volume of that material is constantly poured forth in liquid form. There are natural gas deposits also in a number of widely separated localities, which will become of the greatest value for manufacturing and illuminating, and there are ledges of pure sulphur large enough to make matches for the world. Silver and gold there are, too, in the San Emigido range of mountains, with traces of workings which must have been operated a hundred or more years in the past.
                   In the mountains of Kern County are some of the largest areas of virgin forest left in the State. Great groves of stately redwood, pine, fir, cedar and other trees cover thousands  of acres which are practically untouched, their remoteness from the lines of travel having so far prevented them from being profitably worked. The opportunities for capital in this  direction are of the most promising character, since water power is abundant for the ready operation of mills, and the rapid growth of the county furnishes a home market for large quantities of lumber.
                    There is still another resource of this valley, which, while mentioned last, is destined to be by no means the least in the list of sources of wealth. No community is so prosperous as that which provides a home market for the bulk or at least a large share of its products. In those localities where manufacture of various kinds give employment to large numbers of various kinds give employment to large numbers of men, the farmers find a ready sale at good rates for nearly everything produced by them. Manufacturers go where raw material, transportation and motive power are the cheapest and most readily obtainable.
                   The sources of raw material in Kern County have been pretty well explained. Flax, cotton, ramie, wool, leather and other articles of manufacture can be produced here in any quantity at a minimum of cost. In the mountains are inexhaustible supplies of wood, while metals of various kinds are in abundance. The means of transportation have already been pointed out. There are already two competing transcontinental lines in the county, with the promise of even greater facilities in the immediate future.
                   The matter of motive power becomes the next consideration. The irrigation canals themselves afford an abundant supply, which has  already been utilized in a small way, showing what may easily be done whenever the time shall become ripe. But go to the mouth of the Kern river canon, a pleasant drive of two or three hours from town, and note the existent facts. There, within a short distance, the river plunges down falls and cataracts several hundred feet. Thousands of tons of water are falling with resistless force, as they have fallen for uncounted ages, beating and wearing the granite walls to dust, and carrying the decomposed material to the plains below. At a dozen points this tremendous power can be utilized for any purpose that may be desired. By a pipe line the water may be brought out on the mesa below the mouth of the canon, and while furnishing 200 feet or more of fall for the development of power, may at the same time provide water for the irrigation of thousands of acres of as fertile soil as the sun ever shone upon. Dynamos can be put in here and electricity generated, which can be conveyed to all parts of the valley and harnessed to machinery for manufactures of every variety. Such an opportunity for the development of the cheapest power in practically unlimited quantities has seldom been offered, and as one watches the great steam dashing over precipice and boiling over boulder he can but wonder that it should have been so long neglected.
                    But watchful eyes and active minds have taken in the situation, and it now seems altogether probable that before another twelvemonth shall have rolled around, decisive steps will have been taken for the development of this resource which is destined to become one of the most prominent avenues for wealth in this surpassingly endowed section.

Scenery

 
                     Before going further investigating the agricultural, horticultural and other resources of the county, we wish to make brief mention of Kern County scenery. The principal points of interest near the county has been so fully described elsewhere in this work that we will not go into detail here, only throw more light on what has been said.
                    The Sierras hold in their depths riches other than gold and silver. The student of nature can here find much that will sharpen his perception, and augment his knowledge, as well as impress him with the immensity of his ignorance. There is something ennobling in mountains. The mountain-climber obtains ideas of vastness, of intensity, and of sublimity, which the plains-man never realizes. And there is a fascination in his wild life, that when it has once laid hold on the individual, reluctantly loosens its grasp. He finds health, strength, quietude, and suggestive facts in his surroundings, and when fatigued by weary rambles he obtains comforting repose on a rock pillow, and lulled to sleep by falling waters and the sad but sweet music of swaying pines, he dreams dreams that come not to the plainsman.
                   The peculiar and beautiful sight of red snow is met with on the Sierra at an elevation of 12,000 feet. Mr. Frank Dusy of Fresno County says he has seen miles of it on these mountain ranges. When examined through a strong microscope these odd and pretty globules are discovered to be of the very small microscopic water plant (Protococcus nivalis) which gives to this snow its red or crimson color.
                    The Tehipitee and Paradise valleys have been described. We will add here a brief description of one of the most wonderful wonders in the Sierra yet discovered. No pens, be the wielder thereof ever so gifted, can do justice to the Kern River Canon. This is undoubtedly one of the greatest wonders in the world. The bottom of the valley is 8,000 feet above the sea, and its walls are nearly perpendicular, varying in height from 3,000 to 6,000 feet. This valley is much narrower than the YoSemite, varying from one-fourth to one mile in width, while the YoSemite has an average breadth of over two miles. This has the effect of making the valley's walls seem more lofty than do those of the YoSemite, which are somewhat disappointing to one unaccustomed to measuring such wonderful altitudes with the eye. Kern River Canon is also a much longer valley than the YoSemite, which is only seven miles long, while Kern is between thirty and forty miles in length, and for twenty miles of this distance horses can be taken into the valley only at one point.
                   Twelve miles due east of Paradise valley will be found the south end of the "Palisades," that grand range of perpendicular cliffs of comparatively recent volcanic formation, along the summit ridge of the Sierra, between Fresno and Mono Counties, which range from 13,000 to 14,000 feet in height. Mount Goddard, about twenty miles north-northeast, is 14,000 feet high; Mount Silliman, twenty-two miles south, is near 12,000 feet. Mount King and Mount Gardner, twelve miles away to the southeast, are estimated to be 14,000 feet high. Mount Brewer, still farther away in the same general direction, is of equal height, and is on a spur embraced by two branches of King's river. Near it ten peaks can be seen as high, and perhaps four are higher, according to the geological survey. Slightly east of south thirty-two miles is the lofty Kaweah Peak, one of the highest points seen from the San Joaquin valley, and estimated to be over 14,000 feet, though its exact height has not been ascertained. Southeast thirty miles are Mount Tyndall, 14,386 feet, and Mount Williamson, "an inaccessible bunch of needles" higher still and about two miles north of Tyndall. Thirty-eight miles southeast is the culminating point of all the Sierra Nevada, Mount Whitney, whose height is more than 15,000 feet, and whose slopes, canons and table lands form the immense watershed that is drained by Kern river and its numerous tributaries.
                    All these and hundreds of other less noted peaks can be seen from high points near Paradise valley. This grand canon of King's river, nestling thus in the midst of the most magnificent Alpine scenery of America which surrounds it within a radius of fifteen miles, is, in straight line, fifty-five miles slightly north of east from Fresno city, and about seventy-five miles southeast from YoSemite valley. A remarkable natural phenomenon of this valley is a double sunset every day, as seen from near Copper creek. Regularly at 1:30 p. m. the sun passes behind  a very high cliff and peak on the south side of the great canon. For about two hours it remains concealed from view, and then bursts forth again from beyond the western edge of Mount Capitan and just over the falls of the Roaring river. Then comes the second sunset about the time it occurs in the San Joaquin valley, the sun seeming to pass down the deep gorge to the westward, where King's river finds its exit toward the plains. Few, if any, other regions can boast of such a phenomenon.
                    Another natural fact worthy of mention is that, because of the dense shade of the high walls on the south side of this valley, the snow disappears, trees bud, and flowers bloom on the north side immediately under its perpendicular cliffs, which reflect the sun's rays down into the valley, in February, three months earlier than on the south side. In the latter region snow remains in the deep crevices and gorges until in June. Similar effects of the more or less direct rays of the sun are witnessed along all the southern or northern slopes, not only of the mountains of this coast but throughout the world. The wild flowers of this valley and the Kern river canon are much the same as those found in the YoSemite.
                   The upper or southern portion of the great San Joaquin valley closely resembles that of the Nile, yet vastly more capable of sustaining a much larger population. These comparisons are well worth a careful reading and study. There is no fancy or ideal pen-picture here  attempted; much more might truthfully be said; yet as there are so many who doubt and claim that such statements are mere braggadocio, we simply ask of you who do not believe to come and see, and you will be cordially welcomed by an hospitable people.

Kern Delta Compared With That of The Nile

 
                    The fabulous fertility of the delta of the Nile has been set forth in both Biblical and profane history for thousands of years. That fertility, due to the regenerative and recuperative power of the waters with which the land is periodically flooded, has for ages been regarded as the highest type of  its kind which the world has ever seen. It made of Egypt the garden spot of the world, to which even proud Rome was forced to look for the corn with which her citizens and soldiers were fed. It showed to the world that a comparatively small area, bordered by desert on every hand, could, by the magic power of the goddess Fluvia, be made to support millions - a more dense population in proportion to area than any other part of the world. It produced a civilization the highest if its era, the indelible traces of which remain until this day. To irrigation Egypt owed the fact that she became the granary of the world, the earliest mistress of civilization. To irrigation primarily were due the grand temples and the wealthy cities that lined the Nile for hundreds of miles. The waters of that river led captive over the adjacent valley were the mainspring of a wealth and prosperity such as no other part of the world ever saw.
                    It is something of a jump from the days of Jacob and the journeying of his sons into Egypt in search of corn during a year of famine (a dry year, in the California sense) to the Pacific coast of North America in these latter days of the nineteenth century. Yet we will take that jump, and in the search for a parallel to the Nile delta traverse the coast from north to south. Search well each valley and note the salient features; study the soil, the climate, the streams, the products, and when that search shall have been completed, what section will be found to most nearly resemble the famed valley of the Nile?
                    Without fear of contradiction, the answer undoubtedly must be, the upper or southern portion of the San Joaquin valley, - that vast region where the Coast Range and the Sierra Nevada sweep in a grand semicircle around from the west and the east, and form the lofty barrier which shuts out the desert from the fertile plains watered by the Kern and San Joaquin rivers and their tributaries. In a word, a closer approach to the natural conditions of the delta of the Nile will be found in the 5,000,000 acres embraced within the boundaries of the county of Kern than in any other part of this continent.
                    Let us look at these conditions and note the points of similarity. First, as to climate. The valley of the Nile is practically rainless. Rainstorms come so infrequently that the natural precipitation cuts no figure at all in the calculations of the tillers of the soil. So with the Kern delta: the rainfall is less than in any other part of the State - a fact which, while to some might appear a drawback, nevertheless, as will be shown, has overwhelming compensations and advantages. Nature deals ever in compensations, and as in Egypt she has provided the vast volume of the Nile to offset the lack of rainfall, so here in the Kern river and other streams are sources provided ample for the irrigation of the entire vast area. Indeed, kindly nature has been more bounteous in her treatment of the Kern delta than in that of the Nile. In Egypt that stream occasionally fails to bring down the floods necessary for the fructification of the soil, and then ensue seasons of famine and distress. The streams of the Ke