Yuba County

History

Chapter XI - Yuba County in 1849

The year 1849 opened with but little visible improvement in the future city, or many additions to its roll of inhabitants.  The whole current of travel was towards the mines on the upper parts of the rivers, and few considered it necessary to remain more than a day or two at the old ranch on the Yuba.  On the fourth of January, Cordua for twenty thousand dollars, sold to Michael C. Nye and William Foster his remaining one-half interest in the business and possessions of Cordua & Co., Charles Covillaud retaining the other half.  Nye and Foster also put into the partnership their previous possessions, in view of which they each were allotted a third interest in the joint business.  Nye managed the ranch and stock business, while Covillaud had a store at  Sicard Flat, and Foster one near Foster Bar.  The name of the main ranch was now changed to "Nye's Ranch".  The firm found a ready market for all their beef in the mines, or with travelers to and from the diggings.  In April, 1849, the estimated amount of stock on the ranch was five thousand head of cattle, six hundred horses, five hundred hogs, and a small collection of poultry.  Cordua, having sold his property, moved to the mines, opening a store at Cordua Bar; it was not long before he had spent all of the money paid him by Nye and Foster.  In the spring, Rose, Reynolds and Kinloch purchased the whole tract owned by Nye and Sicard on Yuba river.  George Kinloch's father was a Scotsman, who came to California about 1825; his mother was a native Californian.  George received his education in the Sandwich Islands under the tuition of the missionaries, there being no opportunities in California except in the mission schools of the Catholic friars.  He entered into partnership with Messrs. Rose and Reynolds shortly after they opened their store at Rose Bar in 1848.

During the spring a Board of Commissioners were elected at Sacramento to frame a code of laws for the district.  The following were the members:-Messrs. Brannan, Snyder, Slater, Hensley, King, Cheever, McCoover, McDougal, Barton Lee, Tetle, Southard, Fowler, and Dr. Carpenter.  The committee speedily prepared their report and calling the people together under the shade of an oak tree at the foot of I street, Sacramento city, submitted to them the result of their labors.  It provided for the election of one Alcalde and a Sheriff, with a jurisdiction extending from the Coast Range to the Sierra Nevada mountains, and throughout the Sacramento valley.  The report having been adopted, H.A. Schoolcraft was elected Alcalde, and A.M. Turner Sheriff.  These consituted the judiciary of Northern California up to the later part of 1849.  About the first of April, the town of Vernon, in Sutter county, on the east bank of the Sacramento river at its confluence with Feather river, was started.  The land comprising two sections had been purchased by Franklin Bates, E.O. Crosby, and B. Simons from Capt. J.A. Sutter, the latter retaining a quarter interest in the town.  Owing to the fact that it was considered to be the "head of navigation", its rise was very rapid.  Three or four wholesale stores were established in tents or in board structures.  Ox teams and pack trains were loaded here with supplies for the mining localities.  In a very short time there were opened several hotels and boarding houses, butcher shops, blacksmith shops, laundries, and even a law office and Alcalde's court.  Eight or ten saloons or gambling houses were started, and the town presented a busy appearance of the business men and firms were Capt. Savage, Bradbury & Co., and Williams  & Co.  Gilbert A. Grant was Alcalde and agent for the sale of lots.  George W. Crane was the attorney-at-law.  Jonas Spect had previously settled on the west bank of the Feather river and located the town of Fremont.  As soon as it was found that steamers and the larger sailing vessels could successfully reach the landing at Marysville, Vernon's fate was sealed and the town was soon nearly deserted.  It was at one time the County seat of Northern California, and that the limited confines of the first map would, in the rush of settlers, be insufficient for all the locations, an addition, called "South Vernon", was laid out, but only one house was constructed thereon.  April 28, a weekly paper printed upon paper of the size of foolscap, and called the Placer Times, issued its first number, at Sutter's Fort.  Mr. E.C. Kimble was its editor, type-setter, printer, and publisher, and was the "pioneer newspaper man" of the Valley.

Constitutional Convention

Congress during its session of 1848-49, discussed at length the state of affairs in the newly-acquired possessions, the main point being whether California should be admitted as a free or as a slave State.  The session closed without any final action being taken as to provide a system of government for the new country.  People were pouring in over the plains and mountains, and each successive steamer or sailing vessel landed its hundreds of passengers.  Of different nationalities and temperaments, these immigrants could not work in unity.  The existing laws of California were of Mexican origin, well adapted to the quiet life in the missions or around the ranchos, but not suitable to keep in check the crimes and turbulence among the host of adventurers.  Anticipating the action of Congress, the citizens of San Francisco, San Jose, Sonoma, and Monterey, met in their respective localities and discussed the situation.  They decided to elect delegates to a Constitutional Convention, but owing to a lack of unity, the project failed. Like other important and decisive movements, it required a leader, competent to assume authority and to direct the movements of the forces. Under the existing laws, the absence of a properly appointed civil Governor, the General in command of the Military Department was ex-officio, civil Governor.  This office was entirely separate and distinct from the military position, and he was the only personage exercising "authority by virtue of his military commission."  The government of California was vested in the following officers:  Governor, Secretary, Territorial or Departmental Legislature, Superior Court, consisting of four Judges and a Fiscal Prefect and Sub-Prefects for the execution of the laws, Judge of First Instance for each district, sometimes vested in the First Alcalde of the district, Alcaldes, local Justices of the Peace, Ayuntamientos or Town Councils.

By advice of the officials in Washington, General B. Riley, as Governor of California, issued a proclamation, dated at Monterey, June 3, 1849, "recommending the formation of a State Constitution, or a plan for Territorial Government."  The first day of August was set for the election of delegates to the proposed Convention, and for filling any vacancies existing in the offices.  One Judge of the Superior Court was to be voted for the districts of Sonoma, Sacramento and San Joaquin, and the persons chosen, if qualified, were to be appointed by the Governor, the office by law being filled by gubernatorial appointment.  The district of Sacramento was bounded on the north and west by the Sacramento river, on the south by the Cosumnes river, and on the east by the Sierra Nevada mountains.  To this district four delegates were allotted.  Those elected under this appointment were:  J.R. Snyder, W.E. Shannon, W.S. Sherwood and J.A. Sutter.  Governor Riley, in his proclamation, had given permission for any district to elect supernumeraries if it thought itself entitled to more representatives, and left the question of admitting these gentlemen to the decision of the Convention.  Under this authority, several supernumeraries were chosen.  The Convention was called to meet at Monterey, Saturday, September 1, 1849, but as there were not enough members present to form a quorum, an adjournment was made till the following Monday.  Considerable discussion followed in regard to the admission of those extra delegates.  In the afternoon Mr. Hill, of the Committee on Privileges and Elections, submitted a report recommending  that the whole number of delegates admissable from Sacramento district be eight, and named the following in addition to the four already mentioned: - L.W. Hastings, J.S. Fowler, J. Bidwell, M.M. McCarver.  This did not end the discussion, however.  Tuesday afternoon,  Mr. Shannon, of the Special Committee, reported in favor of allowing this district fifteen delegates, and of the admission of the following gentlemen, in addition to the four above-mentioned, as being entitled to seats:  John McDougal, E.O. Crosby, W. Blackburn, James Queen, R.M. Jones, W. Lacy, C.E. Pickett.  This report was adopted, and the gentlemen were admitted.  At the conclusion of their work, the delegates proceeded in a body to the house of General Riley, where Captain Sutter made a short address, to which the General briefly replied.  The accompanying table will show the representation from this district.  It will be seen that out of the fifteen delegates chosen and entitled to seats, only eight qualified and discharged the duties.

DELEGATES FROM SACRAMENTO DISTRICT TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, 1849

The Convention closed its labors Saturday, October 13th, and one month from that date, the election for the adoption or rejection of the Constitution and the selection of State officers under its provisions, was held.  The vote in favor of the Constitution was twelve thousand and sixty-four, and against it eight hundred and eleven.  Peter H. Burnett was elected Governor, receiving six thousand seven hundred and sixteen votes, General Sutter being among the defeated candidates, and receiving two thousand two hundred and one votes.

In September, the United States Government established a Military Post called Camp Far West, on the north side of Bear river, eight miles below the Nevada county line.  It was occupied by a detachment of the Second United States Infantry, usually one company, although frequently three or four companies were there.  The post was under the command of Captain Day, an old Army officer.  Major McKinstry and Captain (afterwards General) Lyon, who was killed at the battle of Wilson's Creek, Missouri, in 1861, occasionally visited the place.  The soldiers when off duty mined near the camp on Bear river, and could make five or six dollars a day.  Log houses were built for barracks and officers' quarters; a log fort  was also constructed.  The place was abandoned in May, 1852, and the troops, numbering about forty men of Company E, First Infantry, under command of Lieutenant Davis, were ordered to set out for the upper Sacramento, with the design of establishing a post in the neighborhood of Cottonwood, for the purpose of protecting the settlers from hostile Indians.  A public sale was held on the first day of May, of the extra stores.  Mr. Chana states that many of the soldiers were discharged, of these some going to the mines or working for settlers, others settling on lands, and the remainder going to their homes.

September 27, 1849, Messrs. Nye and Foster sold to Mr. Covillaud, for thirty thousand dollars, all their title and interest in the lands, improvements, etc., which had been conveyed to them by Cordua.  Mr. Covillaud was now the sole possessor of the ranch, but this was to be of but short duration.  October 1, 1849, Covillaud sold to J.M. Ramirez and J. Sampson, for twenty-three thousand three hundred dollars, an undivided one-half of his property, twelve thousand dollars to be paid down, and eleven thousand three hundred dollars to be paid July 1, 1850, and during the same month he disposed of one-fourth to Theodore Sicard for twelve thousand dollars, the firm name being Covillaud & Co.  On the twenty-fifth of October, a company landed in Marysville which was destined to become an important factor in the more close settlement of Yuba county.  This was a joint stock company, composed of twenty-six active, and ten home shareholders, organized in Gardiner, Maine, and called the Kennebec Company.  In March, 1849, the Company went to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where they bought a vessel and loaded a cargo.  The officers were: - C.N. Bodfish, President; C.M.N. Cooper, Captain; Leander Cox and one other, Directors.  The departure was made on the first of April, the extra accommodations being secured by passengers not members of the organization.  On the seventeenth of September, 1849, the ship arrived at  San Francisco, and was taken up to "New York of the Pacific",  the prospective metropolis on the lower rivers.  A house, which they had brought with them in sections, was erected at the town, and the vessel was sold.  After landing and making necessary preparations, the company started for the northern mining regions, making the voyage in six row-boats.  They landed at the site of Marysville, and remained on the night of October 25.  The next day they resumed the trip, passing up the Yuba two miles to Simpson's Crossing, where they pitched a tent and covered their provisions.  The journey was renewed, and after passing ten miles up the river they discovered and located Kennebec Bar, during the last days of October, 1849.

In November, the only buildings at Nye's Ranch were two adobe structures at the foot of D street, about two or three rods apart.  One was a boarding house, and the other as a lodging apartment to accommodate the local travel.  No furniture was placed in the latter room, the lodgers being required to furnish their own bedding.  The brightening prospects of the location, and the certainty that it would be the head of navigation, caused the proprietors  to have a survey made for a town in December.  The work was performed by August Le Plonjean, who segregated the tract into ranges, blocks, and lots.  The incipient city was called Yubaville, the name it bore till the beginning of the next year.  Mr. L.H. Babb states that it was a common rumor when he arrived in 1850, that the streets had been laid out and the lines run by the use of a ship's quadrant.  This, if true, accounts for the irregularities in direction and distance existing now.  The survey was speedily followed by  a lively real estate market; lots and blocks were disposed of at good round figures, and the attention of many who had heretofore thought that all the wealth of the State lay in the mines, was called to this new money-making investment.  There was one obstacle which prevented many careful speculators from purchasing lots in this new town, and that was, the validity of the title.  The tract had been secured from Captain Sutter by Cordua, through a lease for nineteen years, and at the end of that period the land would revert to its real owner.  During the next year this matter of title was settled, and the obstacle removed.  Although the generally accepted name at this time was Yubaville, there were those among the people who had other favorite titles, and who persisted in applying them to the new town.  The old adobe house was the nucleus about which were erected, near the close of the year, a number of shanties.  The general style of habitation was the tent made from canvas, cloth, or sacks.  There appeared to be no permanent population, everybody being on the move, all full of life.  A man named Osburne had a store on Front street, near the old adobe, and furnished the travelers and transient settlers.

During this year, there were a number of settlements made along Bear river.  The Johnson grant fell into the hands of Henry Robinson and Eugene Gillespie, who laid out a town at Johnson's Crossing, and gave it the name of Kearney, in compliment to General Kearney.  It did not prove much of an honor, as the place never became settled, and nothing is left to show its former greatness except the stakes that mark the corners of the lots.  At Johnson's house there lived a man named Hoyt, who was placed there by Gillespie and Robinson to look after their property.  Late in the year J.L. Burtis settled there and opened an hotel.  Mr. Chana bought two leagues of the Sicard grant, and laid out a field of about five hundred acres.  Baptiste
Rouelle sold his place on Feather river to a Frenchman named Monet.  Mr. Barham settled on the south side of Bear river at Barham's crossing.  Alexander Van Court, of St. Louis, located on some land near what is now known as McDonald's Mill, or Wire Bridge, about five miles from Johnson's Crossing.

In November, a saw-mill was built on Bear river, about five miles above Johnson's Crossing, by a man named John S. Moore, a Missourian, and was known as Moore's Mill.  This energetic individual was a counterfeiter, and had in is possession a large quantity of spurious Missouri bank bills.  With these he paid for the building of his mill, and remunerated his employes.  He established a broker's office, and exchanged his bills for gold dust with the returning miners, who were glad of an opportunity to have their heavy wealth converted into paper money.  So well executed were these bills, that thousands of dollars of them were taken by the Missouri banks before their true character was discovered.  When the real nature was found out, many miners who arrived in Missouri on their way home, thinking themselves to be rich, found that, notwithstanding the toil and dangers they had passed through, they were as poor as when they started.  When Moore heard of the discovery he decamped, but was afterwards apprehended in South America, although he was never brought back to this country for trial.

The year closed with little to fore-shadow the events and startling developments to take place within a few months.  The mining was being actively carried on in the mountains, and new discoveries and locations were constantly being made.

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