Kings County
History
History of Tulare and Kings Counties, California - History by Eugene L. Menefee and Fred A. Dodge - Historic Record Company - Los Angeles, California, 1913
CHAPTER XXIX
EVOLUTION OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
(An address by John G. Covert, Superior Judge of Kings County.
Before Members of the Supervisors' Convention.)
In speaking today of the evolution of the San Joaquin Valley I shall mean the industrial and social development, and I shall not use the word evolution in a technical sense, nor as a geologist would use it. I shall direct my remarks towards the unfolding of the potentialities of the valley and its development during the last half century. I shall further premise my remarks by briefly defining and outlining the territory which in my opinion it comprises :
Beginning at a point a few miles south of the city of Bakersfield. where the Tehachapi Mountains, a spur of the Sierra Nevada, join the Tejon Mountains, a spur of the Coast Range, and thence extending in a northwesterly direction a distance of about three hundred miles to a point just north of the city of Stockton, varying in width from forty to sixty-five miles, and containing approximately 7,500,000 acres, lies one of the most fertile and prosperous valleys in the world. and it constitutes and is known as the San Joaquin Valley.
So far as I am familiar with history, the San Joaquin Valley was first seen by the eyes of white men about March 30, 1772. A few days before that date an expedition had set out from the Mission Monterey headed by Pedro Fages and Father Crespi on a tour of exploration. Padre Junipero, the famous Franciscan missionary, was at that time in charge of the Mission Monterey, and it was at his instigation the expedition was undertaken. The small party headed by Pedro Fages and Father Crespi found their way without adventure to the waters of Suisun Bay, and then eastward along its southern border, until they reached a point near Mount Diablo, where the magnificent river and valley that was afterwards known as the San Joaquin was presented to their admiring view. At that time, doubtless in honor of the patron saint of the Franciscans, the river was called San Francisco, and it was not until several years later, probably sometime between 1796 and 1813, that the name of San Joaquin was given to this magnificent stream. The honor of bestowing this name upon the river, from which the valley subsequently took its name, is credited to Gabriel Moraga, a doughty Spanish soldier, who lead some troops into the northern end of this valley about that time in pursuit of hostile Indians. Just when the name San Joaquin was bestowed upon this river and valley and by whom is involved in uncertainty, but it is a fact that for over a hundred years this great valley and river have been known by that name.
Mount Diablo, by some supposed to be an extinct volcano, a peak in the Coast Range Mountains, stands sentinel like just off the southwestern extremity of the valley, and from its top, a height of about four thousand feet, may be obtained a most excellent view of the valley and river. This mountain has been adopted by the United States as a datum point for the purpose of sectionalization of the lands of the central part of the state, and there is hardly a deed or other written instrument affecting land in the San Joaquin Valley which does not bear the familiar legend "Mount Diablo Base and Meridian." The expedition sent out by Padre Junipero in 1772 seems to have been the last effort upon the part of the Franciscans to explore this territory, and so far as I know, no attempt was ever made to found a mission, although there were some Indians in the valley and in the Sierra Nevada Mountains on the east.
The San Joaquin Valley first began to attract the attention of the American people in the days of '49. The discovery of gold by John Marshall was a signal for a rush to the Pacific Coast by a class of energetic and daring men, whose efficiency as pioneers has never been excelled, if ever equalled. The lure of gold, stories of wonderful opportunities, and the appeal of a new country brought men to California by the thousands. Whatever may have been their intention about permanently residing here, when they set out upon their journey westward, once here, the charm of climate and scenery claimed them forever after. The men who came here in those days came to dig gold. They turned their faces towards the mines. A plodding agricultural pursuit would not satisfy them. Many of them had abandoned good farms and the occupations of their fathers for the fascination of gold digging, and nothing could divert them from this occupation. On their way to the mines many passed over the fertile lands of the valley, and its possibilities attracted their attention and appealed to them, even in their feverish rush to the gold diggings.
Years later when disappointment came, as it comes to so many who hunt fortune in mines, their thoughts turned back to the valley with its opportunities, and hundreds of the miners became farmers; some of their youth and strength was expended to be sure, but still full of energy and hope they determined to wrest from the bosom of the valley with the plow the fortune they could not dig from the bowels of the mountains with the spade. There was some farming done about Stockton in the early '50s. Farm produce commanded a big price and found a ready market among the miners.
The first great business or industry of the valley, however, was the cattle business, interspersed to some extent by sheep raising. The mild short winters, the abundance of grass that grew upon the plains, and the many streams of water made the San Joaquin Valley an ideal grazing country, and the plains at one time were covered from Stockton to Bakersfield with cattle. These were the days of cattle kings. Their herds roamed and grazed at will, save the occasional round-up or rodeo, when the calves were marked and branded and the cattle fit for beef were cut out and driven to the nearest shipping point or market. During the period when the cattle business was supreme in the San Joaquin Valley, Major Domo and his crew of vaqueros played a prominent part of the drama of life. Here in this valley were developed the most skillful am daring riders in the world; also the most expert men with the lasso or riata. These were still days of picturesque and romantic life in California. The vaquero with his beautifully decorated Mexican saddle, with its famous Visalia tree, that is now known in every cow country west of the Mississippi, his silver-mounted bridle and spurs, riding easily and gracefully, was an object of admiration and emulation. There were few boys in those days who did not intend to become vaqueros when they grew up. The horse and saddle called to them like the ship calls to the boy bred beside the sea. Before passing the vaquero I will say a word or two for his noble mount—the California mustang. There have been horses that could run faster but never a horse that could run further; never a horse that could live on less forage and pick it himself, often from pasture already closely cropped; never a horse with a nobler heart, nor that would respond more quickly to rein and spur than the tough, nervy little mustang that did the work on the cattle ranges and now has passed away in the process of evolution like his companion, the vaquero. Sheep grazing was an industry at about the same time, or a little later than when the cattle business was at its height. The same climatic conditions and fertile plains that attracted cattle men were equally inviting to sheep men. This was prosiac and far less attractive business than the cattle industry.
Sheep herding was done on foot and attending conditions were such that it generally was the last resort of the wage earner. However, as a business it probably paid as well or even better than the more attractive business of cattle raising. There was always some antipathy between cattle men and sheep men, which seems to be found in every place where those two industries come in contact upon the range, for it is a well-recognized fact among stock men that cattle will not graze upon a range over which sheep have been driven if they can avoid it. It appears that some odor from the wool or body of the sheep attaches to the grass which causes it to be offensive to the nostrils and palates of the bovine.
Wheat farming was the next great industry that appeared in the San Joaquin Valley. This business was the thin edge of the entering wedge that displaced the stock men and drove them back step by step until the only refuge left them was the remote and less desirable land for cultivation, also the Spanish grants, vast tracts of land which had during the time of Spanish sovereignty in this state been granted to certain Spanish settlers, and had been in turn recognized by Mexico and by the United States when California was finally ceded to our government. The humble yet powerful fence began to appear. It was no longer possible to travel in the direction which fancy or business suggested. Roads and trails began to turn at right angles, and fences marked a line over which one may no longer freely pass. Stock grazing, the first great industry of the valley, now had in a measure passed and in its place came wheat farming. In the earlier days in California it seemed everything took its size and character from the lofty mountains, great trees and valleys. The wheat farms were no exceptions. They were of great size and were operated upon a gigantic scale. Farms consisting of several thousand acres of land were not infrequent, and as might be supposed it required hundreds of horses and mules and scores of men to perform the necessary work in carrying on the business of those ranches. The plains with an average annual rainfall would produce great crops of grain yielding from fifteen to as high as seventy bushels per acre, the crops varying from year to year in accordance with the rainfall and climatic conditions. Some localities too were more productive of certain crops than others. Wheat raised in the San Joaquin Valley was generally of an excellent quality, and was considered to be among the best milling wheat in the world. The extensive fields, the level lands, the character of the soil and dry climate made possible cultivation and harvesting by methods more rapid and economical than thus far had ever been used in any other place. The cradle and the reaper and the single plow were too slow for farming in the San Joaquin Valley. Implements and machinery adapted to the necessity of the time were rapidly invented or introduced from other places and these were improved upon and perfected until a high degree of efficiency was reached; as evidenced by the great gang plows and combined harvesters and other machines of like nature now familiar to all farmers of this great valley.
For about thirty years wheat or grain farming held sway. Then the unceasing repetition of crops, together with indifferent cultivation, began to tell and grain raising no longer paid as it did in the earlier days. Summer fallowing and irrigation were resorted to. This was found to be of great aid in the production of crops; but even then the land would not yield as it had in former years, and the profits from wheat raising, as a general thing, steadily grew less. During all this time immigration had continued and the population of California, and incidentally the San Joaquin Valley, was rapidly growing. New men with new ideas appeared upon the scene. The depreciation of profits in grain raising caused farmers to consider other crops. Fruit and wine began to attract more attention. Bees and poultry were found to yield large profits on small investments and with little care. Alfalfa was introduced and that forage was found well adapted to the valley. The large farm no longer paid. The owners, with a few notable exceptions, began to divide and subdivide their holdings. The profits from trees and vines were found to be immense. Fruit orchards, vineyards and alfalfa pastures began rapidly to surplant grain fields. There followed a rapid development in the wine, raisin and cured fruit industry. The alfalfa pasture stimulated dairying and the live stock business. Experience, the best of all teachers, soon taught the farmers the variety of crops and fruit that was best adapted to his soil; the breed of cows best suited for the dairy; the kind of horses, hogs and poultry that made the best returns; and having learned, as rapidly as circumstances would permit, they began to weed out the less desirable and less profitable, and to replace them with the kind best suited to the valley. Now we had reached what we might call the third epoch or lap in the development of the industries of the San Joaquin Valley.
Blossoming trees and budding vines in the spring, followed by a bounteous crop in the summer, appeared where once wheat and barley had grown. The green fields of spring and the brown stubble fields of fall had given way to fragrant and gorgeous blooms, golden fruit and pleasing autumn tints. Along the foothills of the Sierras was found a warm protected region, generally referred to as the thermal belt, upon which oranges, lemons and kindred fruit grew luxuriantly and ripened early. The population was still increasing rapidly. Thousands of pretty and comfortable cottages and bungalows, with now and then large and commodious houses that might properly in many instances be called mansions, began to appear everywhere, affording happy and comfortable homes to the people of the valley. The cattle men and the wheat farmers, in many instances, had looked upon the San Joaquin Valley as a place for extensive business operations in their particular lines ; but gave little attention to it as a home for their families. The farmer now began to build with the intention of spending and ending his days upon the farm, and with a proud hope that when he passed away that his property would afford a home for his posterity. Accordingly he built with the design of procuring to his family all the advantages and comforts that his prosperous condition afforded.
As I stated before, the San Joaquin Valley comprises approximately 7,500,000 acres. Of this about 500,000 acres are planted to fruit trees, vines and alfalfa. This leaves over 7,000,000 acres of the valley yet devoted to wheat raising and grazing; and among this latter portion are found thousands of acres of the very best land of the valley. Lack of irrigation water from natural streams is the chief cause of the lack of development. This condition is now being rapidly overcome by means of pumping plants, of which I shall say a word later. Horses and mules, beef, pork, mutton, wool, honey and poultry are also industries that pay exceedingly well. Wine of recent years has grown to be one of the principal industries of the San Joaquin Valley, the annual yield or produce of this commodity being about 225,000 tons, and is worth approximately $2,250,000.
These respective industries not only yield magnificent incomes upon the investments and repays well the efforts and labor of the farmer, but they afford remunerative and congenial employment to thousands of men, women and children. The children of the valley are afforded unusual opportunities for finding light and paying occupation by reason of the fruit harvest coming in the summer during the school vacations. In order to take care of the annual fruit crops it has been necessary to establish in the different cities and towns and convenient shipping points great packing houses and canneries, which, when installed with machinery and facilities for properly curing and packing the fruit, afford one of the principal industries of the urbane life of the valley. All these years on the very edge of the San Joaquin Valley had been hidden away a treasure we little dreamed we had—petroleum oil. Though some hint of its presence had been given by seepage that appeared on the surface as tar springs or like manifestations, we never expected to find this ideal fuel in the great and paying quantities that we now have it. We were mostly farmers and we did not look deeper than the fertile surface for our opportunities. Again new men and new ideas made themselves known. Prospect wells were drilled and oil was struck. Almost like magic a forest of towers sprang upon the several districts where oil had been discovered. A fever of excitement almost as great as that caused by the discovery of gold now took hold of the people, and the development of the oil industry of this valley was so rapid that those who took an active part could scarcely realize the rapidity with which this business grew. The discovery of oil came at an opportune time. The population was growing, capital was accumulating, and there was need of some outlet for surplus energy. The fuel of the valley was growing scarce. Industries were growing rapidly. The steam and gas engine was coming more and more into use, and a cheap and plentiful fuel was the most necessary factor in the industrial situation, and its discovery solved what might have been a serious problem.
If the oil fields of the San Joaquin Valley should in the course of time become exhausted the people have learned a great lesson, and the lack of fuel will be provided against by planting forests of trees adapted to this purpose. This precaution, together with the great source of electric power in the Sierras will forever settle the question of fuel and power so far as we are concerned. The oil wells yield so abundantly that if the consumption was restricted to this valley we could not consume it in ages. But great pipe lines reaching from the oil fields of the valley across the Coast Range Mountains leading to Point Richmond, Monterey and Port Harford carry the oil night and day from the fields to those deep water ports, and huge steamers docked beside the wharf will load as conveniently and readily as the locomotive tender takes on water at a siding. In addition to the pipe lines great trains of cars carry oil daily to the many points that are eager to procure this most excellent fuel. The oil industry has added vastly to the wealth of the valley and provided employment for thousands, and has made many an enterprising man wealthy beyond the most ambitious dreams of his youth.
From that day in 1772 when the little expedition headed by Pedro Fages and Father Crespi set out from the Mission Monterey up to the present time, transportation has been an important factor in the development of the valley. All our progress and evolution especially in the beginning was not accomplished without hardship, and exertion. All the cattle men and most of the miners found their way across the valley on horse-back and their camp equipments were carried upon the backs of horses or mules. This means of transportation served for awhile, but increased population and development called for greater facilities. This was supplied by the stage and freight teams; augmented greatly by the navigation of the San Joaquin river and its tributaries. The stage lines at one time fairly well covered the valley, and one could reach by their means all the principal towns and mining districts south of Stockton. Along the same roads upon which the stages plied their traffic also traveled the great freight teams, that carried supplies and provisions to the mines and interior towns. These teams sometimes consisted of as many as twenty-four horses or mules, and as high as four or five wagons coupled in train. The stages and freighters found all they could do to handle the business of the day. The flat-bottomed stern-wheel river boats with huge barges in tow plied up and down the San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tuolumne rivers as far as they were navigable, and these crafts, too, found occupation for all their tonnage and passenger accommodations. Railroad companies were not slow in appreciating the opportunities of the Pacific coast, and they built and extended their lines into this state. With the appearance of railroads in the San Joaquin Valley transportation underwent a rapid evolution. The stage with its galloping horses and marvelously skilled drivers, together with the freight teams, were relegated to the mountain districts and less accessible regions. River navigation was gradually abandoned. The railroads covered their territory and competition under the attending conditions rendered the steamboat business unprofitable, consequently steamboat companies practically withdrew from all points of operation south of Stockton. The first railroad in the valley was down its center on the eastern side of the San Joaquin river. This line was built by the Central Pacific Railroad Company ,but was afterward taken up by the Southern Pacific Company, which has owned and operated it ever since, and after it entered into the valley it was rapidly pushed on over the Tehachapi Mountains, with many tunnels and its celebrated loop, until it reached Los Angeles, and thence turned eastward, connecting the San Joaquin with the northern and southern part of the state and with the eastern states.
From this pioneer line down the valley several short lines of feeders were constructed, which have proved highly valuable in the progress and development of the territory which they covered. Later a line was laid down the valley on the western side of the San Joaquin river, beginning at Tracy and connecting with the original line at Goshen Junction, and later on again at Fresno.
About 1893 there was constructed from San Francisco to Bakersfield what was known as the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley railroad. This was later on taken by the Santa Fe and has become a part of its great system. Of recent years the oil industry and the rapid development among the foothill regions have demanded greatly increased railroad and transportation facilities, and this measure has been met by spurs from the Southern Pacific and certain independent companies that have organized and built short accommodation railroads in different places in the valley. It is evident that the rapid growth and population and development of the San Joaquin Valley will not only afford, but will demand, greatly increased transportation facilities. Probably there is no place in the world where railroads can be built and operated as cheaply as here. Tracks may be laid in any district and to any point within this valley by practically following the contour of the earth. The general level of the plains is such as to require but very little grading, and few cuts and the constructing of the roadbed may be done by plows and scrapers operated by horses, and at a cost per mile that is as cheap and probably less than the same work can be done for at any other place in the United States, or the world for that matter. I venture to say that in building a railroad from Bakersfield to Stockton along any line within the confines of the San Joaquin Valley it will not be necessary to resort to drilling or blasting and it is a certainty that no tunneling would be required.
The Sierra Nevada Mountains on the east contain potentially millions of horsepower that may be converted into electricity, and by means of a slender wire suspended from poles or towers placed at intervals of eighty to two hundred yards apart conducted to all points where it may be desired to apply the power. I believe that for the purpose of operating railroad trains, electric power, if not too costly in the generation thereof, is considerably cheaper than steam or other motors. Beyond a question it is the most economical and best adapted power to railroading. Thus we have united two very important factors in railroad transportation that will be an estimable advantage; cheap fuel and cheap construction. As a result, in time the valley will be laced by electric lines, upon which will be operated highly efficient and rapidly moving trains. People living in the most remote parts will be put in easy reach of business centers and the coast, and San Francisco will be only about one-half day's journey away. Perishable produce, such as sweet cream and table fruits of a delicate nature, can readily be shipped to the markets of the cities and points on the coast.
Transportation by rail again can be augmented by transportation upon the rivers, if the state or the federal government should see fit to dredge the natural streams of the valley and remove the snags and other obstructions therefrom. More than that it would be an easy engineering feat to build a canal from Bakersfield, connecting with the navigable waters of the San Joaquin, and by a system of locks and reservoirs navigation could be had from the southern end of the valley to the waters of San Francisco bay. There would be some question as to the advisability of establishing navigation to this extent for this reason. The electric power that may be so readily developed and the facility with which railroads may be constructed in the valley will probably cause railroads to be so numerous and competition so sharp that the public would never resort to the necessarily slow and tedious transportation by water that would attend canal and river navigation.
A very cursory mention of the San Joaquin Valley requires some consideration of the mountains on either side and in the course of my remarks I have referred to them. But I desire to say a word or two more concerning the mountains, which are so closely related to this valley. Our warm, dry climate is a most important factor in this valley. Doubtless this condition is brought about largely by the Coast Range Mountains that stand on our west as a wind break and a barrier to the fogs and cold atmosphere of the coast. If it were not for this range probably our rainfall would he heavier, but the cold fogs and chilling winds of the Pacific would reach us and if they did several of our principal industries would be seriously affected if not entirely destroyed. The raisin and cured fruit industry could not successfully be carried on if it were not for the warm dry climate peculiar to the San Joaquin Valley and it is highly probable that alfalfa would not grow as luxuriantly as it does now. Again the climate is peculiarly adapted to stock-raising. These Coast Range Mountains beyond question were a wise provision of Providence, and have added special advantages in the way of climatic conditions, notwithstanding they increase the summer heat and lessen the winter rainfall. On the east lies what probably are the grandest mountains in the world, at least a Californian may be pardoned for so designating them. There we find the wonderland of California. Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the United States, surrounded with neighboring peaks, scarcely less in height, the Yosemite Valley with its unrivaled falls, the magnificent Kings River canyon, the great forests of pines and the celebrated giant redwoods or sequoias find their abode in the Sierras that skirt the eastern border of the valley, and are so closely related to it that without indulging in poetic license we may consider them, if not a part, an inseparable complement of the San Joaquin. These mountains constitute a gigantic and beautiful reservoir erected by a beneficent Providence for the purpose of moistening and fertilizing the plains of the valley. Great towering peaks and abysmal canyons covered with gigantic trees and thickly-matted brush and undergrowth gather and conserve the snows of winter. In the spring and summer comes the sun and beats alike upon the valley and the mountains and as the plains become parched and dried and as the growing trees and grass suck up the moisture from the soil and from the air the frozen snows of winter are released upon the mountainside and begin their journey through scenery the grandest and most beautiful imaginable, through forests of pines and redwoods, by flowers and delicate ferns, over rocks and through rills, uniting and ever uniting in rivulets and creeks, and in each union growing stronger until finally they rush in a mighty river upon the arid plains, carrying life and drink to thousands of thirsty acres.
These streams, deep and with precipitous banks, at first gradually approach the surface of the land so that it is frequently possible to divert water from them and spread it upon the land within two or three miles from the point of diversion. The loose loamy nature of the soil and comparatively level surface render ditch-building in this valley an easy task, and particularly well adapted to irrigation. Many of the pioneer irrigation ditches were built without the assistance of an engineer or even the use of a transit. Many of the farmers had had experience in hydraulic mining, which rendered them peculiarly qualified in the art of constructing dams and ditches, and often the only capital used was the daily labor of the farmers and their livestock, generously assisted by the business men of the valley towns who extended them credit for the necessities of life while engaged in this development. When the settlers of the valley began to go back from the streams to find homes, water was the first problem for them to solve, and like Jacob they dug wells. The first wells were almost entirely dug with the pick and shovel. They ranged in depth from twelve to as much as two hundred feet, depending on the location, and were surface wells, that it to say, the wells were only deepened to the first water. Near the streams and particularly on the east side of the San Joaquin river and the southern part of the valley surface water can generally be reached at a depth of twenty-five to thirty feet, while on the west side and especially near the foothills the depth of water was greatly increased, sometimes requiring a well of over a hundred feet in depth. There wells were dug with a shovel, and the earth excavated was hoisted to the surface by means of a barrel sawed in the middle to which a bale was affixed. To this was tied a rope of sufficient length, and the power used was either a windlass turned by a man on the surface or sometimes by hitching a horse to the end of rope. When the water was reached it was hoisted by the same crude methods. The half barrel that served the purpose of hoisting the earth and rocks was converted into a bucket for drawing water.
Since those days when wells were dug with spades there hay been great improvements made. They are no longer dug, but are bored or drilled with efficient machinery operated by steam or gasoline power, and are driven to a depth averaging from fifty to eighty feet, which results in a plentiful flow of pure water.
Artesian wells in most parts of the valley are readily developed and the natural flow from them furnishes an abundance of water for livestock and domestic purposes, and frequently will irrigate as many as from eighty to three hundred acres of land yearly. Electric power and gasoline engines have made irrigation by pumping feasible, and it has been discovered that subterranean streams are found in nearly all parts of the valley carrying water sufficient for the purpose of irrigating the surface of the lands under which they lie, and now hundreds of wells are being developed and pumping plants installed, which are an immense aid to the present system of irrigation and will cover thousands of acres that cannot be reached by water from the natural streams.
Step by step and hand in hand with cooperation and harmony, the urbane and rural evolution of this valley has progressed. The valley is dotted with many prosperous cities and towns, not so extensive in population, but energetic and progressive in the extreme. Paved streets, electric lights, gas plants, excellent water systems, magnificent public buildings and sanitary drainage are to be found in all of them. The amount of business transacted is startling as compared with cities of the same population of other places. A town of five thousand inhabitants will transact more business and the banks will represent more capital than in other places having a population of twenty-five thousand. While speaking upon the subject of towns and public improvements I desire to congratulate the entire people of the San Joaquin Valley upon the magnificent courthouse that has just been completed in the county of Kern. Its beautiful architectural lines, extensive proportions, light and airy rooms and great corridors are certainly a source of pride and pleasure to the people of this valley. I particularly congratulate the people of this county upon their magnificent building, which is a noble tribute to their energy and progressiveness and faith in their county, and a monument to the efficiency and ability of the board of supervisors who served the people so well in its construction.
I have said something of the evolution of the valley, made brief mention of the progress and development of the different industries, and in a poor way directed your attention to the wonderful opportunities and advantages that may be found here; and now I want to say a word for the actors, for the men and women who so well and faithfully played their part in this drama of evolution, and whose efforts brought about this great development and progress. Back in the days of "Forty-nine" and for a number of years thereafter there were two ways of reaching California, one was by water around Cape Horn, or by a shorter but equally as perilous way across the Isthmus and then up the coast to San Francisco, or the other was across the plains by means of the slow moving emigrant trains. Either of those routes was fraught with grave danger and many hardships and deprivations. The perils of a voyage in the old-time sailing vessels in their tedious ways around Cape Horn and then up the Pacific Coast to San Francisco were such as to cause the stoutest heart to pause. The shorter route by the Isthmus, while requiring less time, was almost equally as dangerous. What was missed in the perils and hardships of the sea by taking the Isthmian way was counterbalanced by the dangers entailed in crossing this tropical neck of land laden with the germs of many diseases to which the emigrant so readily fell a prey. The fever and dissentery of the Isthmus and the unwholesome quarters of the emigrant ships claimed many an ambitious and deserving man who had set out to find his fortune in the Golden West.
The overland route, crossing the Rocky Mountains, over the vast plains inhabited by hostile Indians, across the Platte with its treacherous sands, requiring from three to six months with the slow moving ox teams of the emigrant trains, that finally crossed the Sierras through Truckee Pass makes a story familiar to everyone. Like the tragedy that ended the glorious career of Julius Caesar, it is acted and re-enacted upon the stage and told and retold in stories even to this day. Therefore it is no wonder that only the young and active thought of venturing upon this perilous western journey. Of the young and active only those of ambitious and daring spirits would risk life and all that was most dear to them in order to reach the alluring shores of California.
We of today who sail in floating palaces with every luxury and convenience of the hour at hand, or who cross the vast plains and lofty mountains in comfortable, rapidly moving cars can hardly realize the dangers and hardships endured by the men and women who first came to California. These pioneers were a race of ambitious and courageous men and women that assembled in California on new grounds, far removed from the hampering conventionalities of society. Not many from any place—a few from every place—they rapidly adjusted themselves to conditions and necessities of the time. All classes, states and nationalities were represented, and from this cosmopolitan people was developed that noble, brave and hospitable race, the Pioneers of California, whose praises have been
often sung by the poet and told by the historian. They were all young and strong. When a boy my father came to the west with an emigrant train, driving an ox-team all of the way, and I have heard him say that a gray head was so rare that it excited attention and comment when found among the men of pioneer days.
Emigration after the gold rush was comparatively slow. The cost and inconvenience of transportation deterred travel westward.
Those who found their way here were rapidly absorbed. They were eager to become Californians and quickly fell into our ways customs. Later the railway service was greatly improved, cost of passage came more within the reach of the average person. The newspapers, magazines and histories constantly told of the glories and opportunities of this coast, and in consequence emigration grew by leaps and bounds. The population increased so rapidly now that we began to undergo a change of character. Entire colonies were often made up from the people of some particular state, and they looked towards their former homes for customs and precedent. In the near future without a doubt our emigration will increase far more rapidly than ever before. The great opportunities offered by increased irrigation facilities, more careful and diversified farming, the stimulus given to the manufacturing by the development of electric power and discovery of oil, the immense benefits that will follow the completion of the Panama Canal, and the attraction of the World's Fair will bring thousands here. The melting pot of which Zangwill speaks will be brought into play and on this coast from a cosmopolitan people will be recast a race as peculiar to California as the flowers and trees that adorn her valleys and mountains. Short winters, generous sunshine and fertile soil will develop a race of splendid men and women, hospitable and fun-loving, the happiest people in the world, and this will be the greatest achievement in the evolution of the San Joaquin Valley.
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.