History of Amador County California - 1881


INTRODUCTION. 

CICERO says that, " it is the first law of history that the writer should neither dare to advance what is false nor suppress what is true; that he should relate the facts with strict impartiality, free from ill- will or favor; that his narrative should distinguish the order of time, and, when necessary, the description of places; that he should unfold the motives of men, and. in his account of the transactions, or the events, interpose his own judgment; should relate what was done, how it was done, and what share rashness, prudence, or judgment had in the issue; that he should give the character of the leading men, their weight and influence, their passions, principles, and conduct through life." 

A good history is a growth; the first attempts to collate the facts bearing on the settlement and development of a country are necessarily imperfect. Many things will creep in which were better left out, and others of importance are omitted. Some matters will receive undue importance, and few will be accurately related. Not until edition after edition has been brought before the public will the prominent events receive due notice, or the doubtful ones have justice done them. A thousand eyes will be sharpened to criticize the narrative. A thousand new witnesses will arise to contradict, affirm, or correct. The publishers hope that the public will make due allowance for errors unavoidable in the first attempt to collect the facts pertaining to the early history of the county. In many instances the testimony, even of eye-witnesses, is very conflicting. This is true of the affairs of August, 1855. Hardly any two agree in their narratives of the circumstances. In this, as in other matters, the most probable statements are recorded. Nothing has been set down in malice, and some things have been left out as being too much like tales told out of school; as far as possible con signing them to oblivion. 

Having resided over a quarter of a century in the county, and acted a part, though a humble one, in many of the circumstances narrated, the writer has drawn largely on his own memory for many of the incidents. 

The chapters on geology and mining, will, it is hoped, furnish interesting and profitable reading to all, especially those engaged in mining. The facts and theories are the result of years of observation, and many miles of travel, and are not retailed at second hand from Whitney or other scientists. The observations on mining have been compiled from the statements, opinions and experiences, of hundreds of intelligent miners. Thanks are due to all the superintendents, especially to those of the Amador Consolidated, the Keystone, the Oneida, the Empire, the Downs and the Zeile mines for valuable information on gold mining, and to Edward Johnson of the Newton mine, for statistics and methods of copper mining. 

The habits of the early miners will be read with interest. The writer hopes that some of the false impressions, produced by Bret Hart, Joaquin Miller, and other writers, regarding early Californians, will be dissipated by a true description thereof. The stories of the "Yuba Dam," "Tuolumne Debating Society" and others of that kind, have truth enough for a hint to a lively imagination arid no more; and those who, in after years, judge California by those things, will be wide of the mark. The writer, having been a resident of the State since 1850, has an interest in the good reputation of the pioneers, and is glad to enter his protest to such absurdities being recorded as history. With him, the work has been one of love, and a design to do justice to our countrymen, with no desire to hold them up to derision. 

The publishers intended to give statistics of the growth of the mining and agricultural industries, but found the published returns entirely worthless. In some instances, the estimations were utterly absurd. In 1877, the yield of wheat in Amador county was estimated at 236 bushels to the acre, this estimate being copied without remark into all the works on statistics. In 1866, the number of grape-vines was estimated at 557,773; in 1867, at 1,140,000; 1868, at 683,623. The estimates in many instances were mere guess work. The values of real and personal property as a basis for taxation, are the only estimates that approximate the truth. These have been given from year to year, in the continuous history of the county. 

The history of the Arroyo Seco Grant has been exhaustively treated. The facts in regard to this, the most important event in the history of the county, were fast sinking into obscurity, and it was deemed best to collect and preserve them, that our children might know the great wrong that was perpetrated under cover of the law. Valuable assistance in this was rendered by J. A. Forbes (now deceased), who was familiar with the whole history of the grant system. 

The chapter on the Colorado Canon will be found interesting, and worthy of being preserved with the other facts bearing on the discovery and settlement of California. C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Desktop\historic\Amador County -1881 The article on the Dead Rivers of California, copied from the Overland Monthly, is well worth preservation in connection with the geology of the county, and will be welcomed by all who are interested in the ancient river system. 

In making up this work, many authorities have been consulted; Forbes' History of California, written in 1835; Farnham's History of the Period of the Arroyo Seco Grant; Annals of San Francisco and California, by Frank Soule; Tuthill's History of California; History of the Pacific School System, by John Swett; Cronise's Natural "Wealth of California; Hittel's Resources of California; Bayard Taylor's El Dorado; Scenes in El Dorado in 1849-'50, by S. C. Upham; Raymond's work on the Mines of the Pacific Coast, and others too numerous to mention. The Odd Fellows' libraries of Oakland and San Francisco, the school library of Alameda county, and mercantile library of San Francisco, as well as private collections, have been frequently visited. The files of the Alta California; Spirit of the Times (M. D. Boruck's paper), and other city papers have often been consulted, as well as files of' the county papers, the Ledger, Sentinel, News and Dispatch. To the proprietor of the Dispatch especially, are many thanks due. The county papers published previous to August 23, 1862, were mostly destroyed in the great fire. The loss is irreparable, though it is said the hermit at the Gate, J. G. Farrar, has complete files of all the papers ever published in the county, but the author was unable to get access to them. 

To point out all the sources of information, or to name all the persons giving us valuable assistance would be impossible. It had to bo gathered from a thousand sources, and thousands of notes compared. Valuable assistance was rendered by Hon. H. A. Carter in matters of the Arroyo Seco Grant, Robert Reed, James Bagley, D. Stewart, H. F. Hall, Hon. R. B. Swift, Hon. L. Brusie, J. M. F. Johnson, Mrs. J. T. Henley, J. W. Surface, W. H. Fox, J. P. Martin, P. Scully, William Cook, John Fitzsimmons, Hon. I. B. Gregory, A. Thompson, Hon. J. W. D. Palmer, Isaac Waddell, Hon. William Waddell, William Maroon, J. C. Fithian, R. W. Palmer, George W. Porter, James M. Porter, Thomas Love, Louis Tellier, Ellis Evans, A. Askey, Mrs. Ellis Evans, J. D. Davis, James Meehan, George Durham, Hon. M. W. Gordon, Hon. John A. Eagon, Hon. A. C. Down, J. C. Shipman, Thomas Jones, William Lowry, John Vogan, H. Goldner, J. A. Butterfield, C. J. Nickerson, C. A. Purinton, P. N. Peck, Wilmer Palmer, William Pitt, E. R. Yates, J. E. Reaves, R. Robinson, J. T. Wheeler, A. P. Clough, Jacob Cook, J. C. Ham, Edmund Wise, S. Loree, James Henry, L. Ludikens, L. McLaine, D. S. Boydston, A. Petty, F. M. Whitmore, F. Mace, James Hall, J. A. Foster, W. Q. Mason, A. Jerome, S. Petty, R, Fry, Isaac E. Eastman (who was here in 1848), James Hall, E. Genochio, L. J. Fonten- rose, County Clerk, C. H. Turner, A. Cammetti, District Attorney, B. Ross, Hon. J. T. Farley, Thomas Frakes, C. Gossum, T. B. Greenhalgh, J. F. Gould, C.J. Garland, C. B. Goodrich, W. H. Harmon, W. E. Huey, Henry Kutchenthall, James Livermore, S. S. Mannon, James McCauley, I. G. Nute, I. N. Randolph, W. T. Wildman, William Jennings, J. C. Williams, Frank Henderson, S. B. Boardman, H. H. Towns, Superintendent of Amador Canal, James Morgan, J. O. Bartlett, R. T. Bisbee, Wm. O. Clark, M. B. Church, T. A. Chicizola, A. K. Dudley, Jacob Emminger, Dan. Worley, John Marchant, Wm. Moon, T. J. Phelps, A. S. Putnam, B. S. Sanborn, E. A. Smith, W.Southerland, Silas Tubbs, J. Northup, Leroy Worden, Hon. Chapman Warkins, and many others. 

Many old residents have been interviewed in San Francisco and Oakland, and valuable information gained: John Hanson first Sheriff of Calaveras, John Burke, Dr. Henry M. Fisk, Dr. W. Ayer, J. W. Paugh, J. G. Severance, J. A. Robinson, N. W. Spaulding, Dr. Louis Sober, Hon. E. D. Sawyer, A. J. Houghtaling, W. C. Pratt, (the last three being members of the Legislature at the time of the Act providing for the organization of the county), Hon. W. W. Cope, Hon. Wm. Higby, Hon. Wm. B. Ludlow, B. S. E. Williams, Hon. J. W. Bicknell, Alvinza Hayward, A. AV. Richardson, Hon. J. D. Stevenson (commander of the famous Stevenson regiment), J. Alexander Forbes, James Foley, who established Post-offices in Amador, and others names not recalled. 

The author may be permitted to say in conclusion that the labor has been a source of constant pleasure; that the memories of the many reunions with the pioneers will remain pleasant as long as life lasts. He hopes the patrons of the work will manifest the same good spirit in reading the work, passing lightly over the unavoidable imperfections, and remembering only that which is good. 





History of Amador County California - 1881: http://www.boitano.net/amador-county/history/1881/1881-ch-intro.html


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