Yuba County
History
Chapter IX: Settlements in Yuba County to 1848
The bottom lands of Yuba and Sutter counties offered special inducements to settlers, on account of their fertility and contiguity to Sutter's settlements. Theodore Cordua, having obtained from Capt. Sutter, in the fall of 1842 a lease for nineteen years of the tract of land upon which Marysville is now located, erected at where is now the foot of D street, an adobe dwelling house, a store-house or trading room, culinary department and out-houses. The walls of the dwelling were thick, and well constructed for withstanding a siege. The spot was named "New Mecklenburg" by Capt. Sutter, in honor of the place of nativity of Cordua. It soon became known, however, as "Cordua's Ranch," the neighboring choosing the latter title in preference to the more European name. Many of the Indians in the vicinity gathered about Cordua, and he was able to utilize them in herding his animals, in tilling the soil and in gathering the products. Their village was located near where the railroad crosses the Yuba river. December 30, 1844, Cordua obtained from the Mexican Government a grant of land bounded on the north by the Feather river and Honcut creek, on the east by the Foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, on the south by the Yuba river and by the tract of land previously leased from Captain Sutter, and on the west by the same land and the Feather river, embracing about seven square leagues.
Cordua's house was located on the trail leading from the upper to the lower portions of the Sacramento valley, and as the country became more closely settled, travel on this route became more extensive, until finally, in 1846, Cordua conceived the idea of establishing a trading post at his adobe structure. Provisions and supplies were brought from Yerba Buena and the lower settlements in the valley, which with the products of his own land and flocks, enabled him to provide a suitable stock for his store. It is said that in 1847 and 1848, he exported to the Sandwich Islands a large quantity of the products from his farm. He soon found abundant opportunity to dispose of all he could produce in a nearer market - - a change brought about by the discovery of gold. In the summer of 1847, when Mr. Wm. G. Murphy arrived at the ranch, Cordua had in his employ fifteen or twenty Indians and white men, among whom was Mr. Charles Covillaud; who acted as mechanic and overseer. At that time Cordua had about ten or twelve thousand cattle and five hundred wild mares. The latter were used for raising colts, while their luxuriant manes and tails furnished material for "hair-ropes." The bottom lands near the buildings were cultivated to a small extent.
Theodore Sicard was a French sailor, and first came to California on a voyage in 1835. At a later period he remained in the country and worked for Captain Sutter, at one time, in 1842 and 1843, superintending the operations at Hock Farm in Sutter county. He petitioned for and obtained from the Mexican Government a grant of four Spanish leagues, extending from opposite the mouth of Dry creek ten miles up the south side of Bear river. His settlement was made in 1845, and was on the south bank of Bear river; about half a mile above Johnson's Crossing. In 1844, a Mexican, Don Pablo Gutteirez, who had been in the employ of Capt. Sutter; obtained a grant of five leagues on the north side of Bear river, now known as the Johnson grant. During this year, Gutteirez built a mud house at the place afterwards called Johnson's Crossing. Gutteirez was killed in the last of 1844, or first of 1845, and his grant and cattle were sold at auction by Capt. Sutter, as magistrate of the region, being purchased for one hundred and fifty dollars by William Johnson and Sebastian Kyser, who settled there the same year. Mr Johnson was a sailor and had made voyages to California quite early, and for several years previous to this purchase, had traded between the Sandwich Islands and Yerba Buena. Mr. Kyser had gone with Capt. Sutter from Missouri, accompanying him on his wandering tour from that State, through New Mexico and up to Oregon; here he remained while the Captain went on to the Sandwich Islands. When Sutter arrived in California, in 1839, Mr. Kyser came down from Oregon and again entered the service of his old employer. After the purchase, the grant was divided, Johnson taking the east half, and Kyser the west. In 1846, they built an adobe house a short distance below the crossing.
In 1845, George Patterson settled on the south side of the Yuba river, opposite Cordua's, under a lease from Capt. Sutter, and constructed an adobe house. He cultivated some land and dug a ditch, which at that period was a substitute for a fence. Jack Smith at one time lived with Patterson on this ranch. This was known as "Sutter's Garden," and the occupation of the tract was by his proxy, Patterson. The soil was cultivated only sufficiently to comply with the laws under those terms the land was held. During the year 1845, Charles Roether, a German, settled on the north side of Honcut creek, in Butte county, one half mile from the stream and about two miles from its mouth. Jack Smith, an old sailor who had been in Sutter's employ, obtained from that gentleman, in 1844, a grant of land on the south side of Yuba river, extending from the site of Linda three miles up the stream and one mile back. He settled there in 1845, and built a cabin on the location of the subsequent town of Linda. In 1846, Smith sold the center mile of his tract to George Patterson. The purchaser had come to California in 1841, in one of the ships belonging to the Hudson Bay Company. He escaped from the vessel at night and took refuge on Goat Island in San Francisco Bay. An attempt was made that night by John Rose to rescue him in a boat, but it was unsuccessful. Patterson found his way to this valley and entered the employ of Mr. Sutter. In 1847, Michael Nye purchased a portion of the Sutter grant adjoining Smith on the west. The tract was one mile in extent along the south bank of the stream, and one and one-half miles in depth. In the latter part of 1847; when Mr. Wm. G. Murphy moved from Cordua's ranch to Nye's place, Mr. Nye had seven hundred head of cattle, and Mr. Smith eight hundred; in partnership they owned one hundred and fifty wild horses. The house occupied by Mr. Smith was of a peculiar construction. Ends of stout poles were sunk into the ground, and willows interwoven horizontally, forming a sort of basket work; a heavy coating of soft clay was placed on both sides, and the roof thatched with tules brought from Nicholaus. The floor was constructed of sun-burned brick and earth pounded down firm and smooth. A coat of whitewash was the only covering of the bare and unsightly walls. Nye built his dwelling in 1847, making a more pretentious and commodious structure of two rooms. The walls were thick and constructed of adobe; the roof was covered with split shakes, brought from the river bottom opposite Cordua's ranch.
October 18, 1846, there arrived at Bear river, a company of emigrants, several members of which were to play important parts in the settlement and development of Yuba and Sutter counties; Claude Chana, who now resides in Wheatland, was one of the leading spirits. Born in the Department of the Rouen, France, in 1811, Claude Chana came to New Orleans, arriving March 7, 1839, where he worked as a cooper. He was one of the first settlers of the town of St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1841. While there, he heard from an old trapper who had been through the Sacramento valley, of the wonderful climate of California and of the flourishing settlement of John A. Sutter. In 1846 he sold his property in St. Joseph to this trapper and joined a train that was crossing the plains. This train consisted of five hundred wagons and over one thousand men. They crossed the Missouri river May 10, 1846. The train contained emigrants for Oregon, Utah, California, and other points. The emigrants organized into companies, according to the place of their destination. Mr. Chana being in what was called the California Company, and this party led the train. In 1846, Mr. Chas. Covillaud, who was a member of the same company, and Mr. Michael Nye, a member of General Bidwell's party, entered the employ of Cordua; Chana, who had bought his cooper's tools, went to work for Sutter, at the fort, making watertanks, barrels, churns, pails, etc., for settlers throughout the whole valley.
In 1847, Baptiste Rouelle, the discoverer of gold in the mountains near the Mission of San Fernando, settled near Sutter's Garden on the south bank of the Yuba river. During the spring of 1847, the survivors of the Donner Party arrived, many remaining at the settlements in this vicinity; among these were the members of the Murphy family.
The contiguity of Yuba and Sutter counties renders the records of their early settlement almost inseparable, and to fully appreciate the situation of affairs during that period, it is well to understand the relative locations in Sutter county. There were only two settlements of note in that county up to 1848, at Hock Farm and Nicholaus. At Hock Farm, after its location, Theodore Sicard and a man named Dupont lived. In the spring of 1843, John Bidwell went up to take charge of the farm. He built the house during the summer, the adobes being made on the place. Sicard and Dupont sawed boards for its construction out of the cottonwood trees. These were the only white men there until near the close of the year, when J.C. Bridges, from Kentucky, came; he died during the winter. On Hock Farm, Sutter had about five thousand head of cattle and twelve hundred horses. He employed about twenty-five Indian vaqueros in herding the animals and breaking horses. General Bidwell remained there fourteen months to the early part of the summer of 1844, and during that time planted some trees and otherwise improved the spot. William Bennitz then took charge and continued there for a year, to the summer of 1845. Major Hensley followed, remaining till the spring of 1846, when nearly all of Sutter's force went into the Mexican War, the farm being left in charge of Yankee Jim, a Kanaka, whom Captain Sutter had brought from the "Islands." It was not until the spring of 1850, after the discovery of gold, that Sutter moved to Hock Farm. His fort was so occupied with traders, that every available room was taken, and every suitable place was in demand for the numerous stores to supply the rush of miners into the districts. Peter H. Burnett was left as Sutter's agent for the sale of lots in Sacramento, and when the former was elected Governor, H.A. Schoolcraft was appointed in his place. Burnett received a commission of twenty-five per cent, for effecting sales and making deeds. Sutter fixed up the house on Hock Farm and built an iron structure. It was erected for a store house, and was bought from parties who had brought it around the Horn.
In 1842, the settlement of Nicholaus Allgeier was made at the location of the present town of Nicholaus. This gentleman was born in Freiberg, Germany, in 1807, and came to America about 1830. He went into the employ of the Hudson Bay Company as a trapper, and in that capacity spent a number of years in the wilds of British America. It was while in this service, in 1839 or 1840, that he came overland to California. A short time after his arrival here he left the employ of the company and engaged to work for Captain Sutter. He assisted in the construction of an adobe house, and one and a half miles below Hock Farm, in the winter of 1841-2. This was Sutter's first establishment in Sutter county, and the first settlement of any kind made in this vicinity. The plains between the Sacramento and Feather rivers were used by Sutter as a grazing range for immense bands of horses and cattle. The road from his establishment at New Helvetia to the one at Hock Farm crossed the river at Nicholaus, and Sutter desired some one stationed at that point with a ferry to assist in the transportation of men, cattle, horses, supplies, etc., across the stream. He therefore deeded to Allgeier a tract one mile square at that place, in consideration of the labor he had performed and of the services he should render in the future in the manner described, all valued at four hundred dollars. This land commenced four hundred yards above the old adobe house and extended one mile down the stream. When Allgeier first settled there in 1842, he built a small hut of poles covered with tule grass and dirt. In this he lived for several years until, in 1847, he constructed a small adobe house near the old ferry crossing, about one hundred and fifty yards above the present landing. A primitive ferry boat was constructed in 1843, which the Indians rowed across the river in transacting the business of the crossing.