Knave - Early Churches, Gamblers Built It, Brides From Germany, A Marriage Lottery, An Old Donner Trail, Culbertson Grade, Literary Treasures, Frank Norris Relics, Survived Two Fires, More About Scotty, Some Richmond History, The Castro Grant, A New Discoverer

Knave Some Richmond History shellmound Sun, Sep 15, 1940 – Page 17 · Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) · Newspapers.com

Knave - Early Churches, Gamblers Built It, Brides From Germany, A Marriage Lottery, An Old Donner Trail, Culbertson Grade, Literary Treasures, Frank Norris Relics, Survived Two Fires, More About Scotty, Some Richmond History, The Castro Grant, A New Discoverer

As you can see in the embedded, original page from the Sep 15, 1940 Oakland Tribune, this article was five print columns with headings. You could scan it left to right and pick a segment to read. In blog form, it's a top-to-bottom text, so the stuff at the top might get scanned, but the stuff below might not. This is the situation with Knave pages! I will start summarizing the headings as I have, here, so that you have a sense of what's worth skipping ahead, and in this case "Some Richmond History," "The Castro Grant," are worth skipping ahead, as is "An Old Donner Trail" and "A New Discoverer," Personally, I got to this Knave page by searching for "indian village."

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DISCUSSIONS of early churches in California - as led by the recognized authority, W. W. Ferrier of Berkeley - has brought to the Knave a number of inquiries and other communications. Seemingly there are many centers with claims to a "first” church in California. Some of the confusion arises in the fact many churches were organized a year or more before there was any building to house the congregations. Again, fire or age removed many edifices, and, while a community may boast a church among the oldest in our history, its building may be comparatively new. In a number of instances popular impressions and repeated legends that the church dates back to the days of gold discovery are disproved by research. But any church built in the '50's is a noble old-timer, and there are some notable ones still standing in California. For some additional records along this line I am indebted to Wade H. Wilson of Sonoma. When he cites a church erected in 1850 as being the oldest Protestant one west of the Rockies, remember he is speaking of the building. Church groups were organized in Monterey and San Francisco, and possibly elsewhere, before that. Says Wilson: "Mention of the old Congregational Church at Jacksonville, Oregon, reminded me of an incident in the history of churches at Weaverville, Trinity County, that may be of interest to some of the many thousands who read your worth-while page. But, first, let us refer to the old church at Jacksonville, Oregon, the first Protestant church west of the Rocky Mountains, according to historians. It was erected in 1850, I am told, and is being preserved. Much of the construction cost, I learned recently, came from one night's receipts of Jacksonville gambling houses.

Gamblers Built It

"It appears that the City Council of the old mining town appropriated the receipts of the gambling houses and turned the money over to a fund for the erection of a church - the first Protestant church on the Coast(?). Now for the Weaverville incident, which is similar, although illegal, gambling did not enter into the affair. During the early days of the Trinity County seat, there was no Protestant church. A Sunday school was organized, with no place to hold meetings except at various homes of the good people interested. Meetings were rotated between the homes that had ample room for such a gathering. But Weaverville had its public spirited men, among them a pioneer hotel-keeper, the late Pete Paulsen, father of C. A. Paulsen, superior judge of Trinity County, and of A. L. Paulsen, Mayor of Richmond a few years ago. Paulsen's hotel, like nearly all the old hostelries, had a bar, and, as the proprietor was one of the town's most popular men, businessmen and miners used to gather there on Sunday, discuss the events of the day, play cards and otherwise enjoy a little diversion. One Sunday forenoon, when the children were going home, one of the miners from out of town inquired what it was all about, and was told that the children had been at Sunday school. Then another man wanted to know where the Sabbath gatherings were held, receiving the reply that meetings were held in the homes of various townspeople. This brought out the remark from one of the businessmen that it was 'a shame that the Sunday school has no regular place of meeting, but has to depend upon the kindness and interest of the housewives of the town.' Remark followed remark, until at last one of the men, feeling quite liberal from partaking of stimulants at the bar, said: 'Let's start a subscription right here and now to build a meeting place for the Sunday school; what do you say, gentlemen?' Others agreed with him, including Pete Paulsen, who could count on a large following. A subscription paper was written out, with the regular 'we hereby subscribe,' etc., and man after man put his name down, with generous figures opposite. As drink after drink was consumed, liberality waxed stronger, the column of figures grew longer, and amounts larger. When night came, the total amount subscribed was almost sufficient to pay the bill for lumber and labor - for a Sunday school meeting place, which in time became a Congregational Church. The original structure was destroyed by fire September 3, 1890, but the energetic people of Weaverville erected another church on the ground. Thus it can be truly said that many good things have their origin among men who brush up against the rougher side of life and who would be condemned by some who believe themselves more righteous.”

Brides From Germany

The Knave has a follow-up today on a recent story of Villa Grove and Colorado in the 60's. J. H. Parsons of Berkeley, a man who was there, tells me that: In the early 1870's, a colony of Germans, settled on the fertile lands that stretched for miles down San Luis Creek, south of the Jack Hall Ranch. There were ten men in the group; no women. In 1881 the railroad extended its narrow gauge system as far as Villa Grove. The German colonists having got sufficiently established, held a meeting, and arranged for one of their number to go to Germany, and bring back a wife for every one of them. The women were to be guaranteed a free passage from Germany to Villa Grove, and, if any one of them, for any reason, could not immediately find a suitable husband, their return expenses would be given them. It is difficult to imagine the courage, and emotions of those young women, when they stepped off that funny little train onto the crude platform of the station, consisting of one small room, that would not hold twenty people. The place looked like a doll house in the shadow of the towering peaks of the Sangre de Christo range, which marked the end of a long journey that took more than a month. There, in a strange land, to choose their future husband from among ten men, all strangers, and in competition with nine other women. The situation must have been unique, and intriguing in many ways.

A Marriage Lottery

Each one of them found themselves face to face with a lottery, that demanded the surrender of their life and freedom to the perpetual company of a strange man, in a strange country, the language of which they were ignorant, and they were expected to make that man happy in a new existence which offered nothing but a battle with the vicissitudes of pioneer life. It meant nothing less than a competitive contest of instinct and good judgment, as against the chance of making a grave mistake. It was all over in a few hours, and let it be said to their credit, that they all evidently revealed excellent judgment, for they founded a community that proved a great asset to Saguache County. In all the succeeding years, the breath of scandal has found nothing to feed upon in that community. There was no time to preen, nor to advertise natural or acquired gifts. It was wholly a test of instinct, founded on wholesome bringing up. Two of the women failed to choose husbands, and were promptly given their return fares. The two men who failed to obtain wives, remained bachelors for the rest of their lives. One of them committed suicide in 1889, the other did likewise about ten years later. In many transactions with the men and women of that community, covering a long period of time, there was no need of drawing up a contract, for their word was always good. They were a type who preferred to live up to the spirit, rather than the letter of a deal. In fact, operating as a cattle buyer over most of the San Luis Valley, I have no recollection of ever having to make a signed contract. Every cattleman's word was good.

An Old Donner Trail

In accordance with a half-promise made a short time ago the Knave will undertake to include his readers on a trail-finding trip in the Sierra. The account is given me by Russell D. Daigle who represented Regional Forester S. B. Snow on the ride over the Old Donner Emigrant Trail between Bear Valley and the lower end of Steep Hollow. In co-operation with the Native Sons and Daughters of the Golden West, the trip was made. The Knave is sorry that space requirements force him to present the Daigle report piecemeal: Spent the night of July 27, 1940, in Nevada City and left early the next morning, Sunday, July 28, for Bear Valley with Supervisor Ellis, Leland Smith, Ranger Anselmo Lewis and Clyde Gwin. At Bear Valley we met Ranger Hodgson and Wendell Robie, lumberman and prominent civic worker. Others in the party, 21 in all, were Harry Noyes Pratt, director of the E. B. Crocker Art Museum at Sacramento; K. D. Robinson, Native Son, Auburn; Edward Moldeon, North Sacramento newspaperman; Dave Bowrin, Colfax author; W. A. Levey, old-timer of Lowell Hill; Jeanne Powell, Mrs. W. J. Lynch and Beryl Granholm with six youths from the Hidden Gold Camp for Boys near Colfax. We started out by fording the Bear River at the lower end of the Valley, a short distance from Highway 20. Beyond the crossing Hodgson planted a large wooden post and marker reading "Donner Emigrant Trail.” Thereafter to Mule Springs some 10 miles to the west Mr. Robie and Hodgson marked the trail with tin markers.

Culbertson Grade

We ascended Culbertson Grade, an old toll road which follows the original Emigrant Wagon Route out of Bear Valley. About two and one-half miles from our starting point the old trail veers off the deteriorated toll road and there Guide Levey undertook to find the old crossing, a section without any distinguishable trail that we could find and which leads from the slope along the south side of Bear River to a the opposite slope on the north. After considerable search the original crossing was located and marked and we started up the steep slope, frequently getting off the dimly marked route. The only signs to go by were parallel depressions in the ground worn by wagon wheels, an occasional indistinct blaze and deformed tree trunks, probably caused by wagon wheels rolling over seedlings 90 years ago. Now and then where reproduction was not heavy we could trace the course of the route by the height of the timber. The going up the north side of the river toward Lowell Hill Ridge was rather steep and in a generally western direction. At times we followed an old dry ditch which I understand is referred to as the South Yuba Canal. Near the top of the ridge, perhaps 1000 feet above Bear River we struck on old mining or logging road which followed the Emigrant Trail Route in a south westerly direction. It was along this old road under Nigger Jack Hill that we came across two large cedars on the right side. Directly across from them on the left is a large schoolmarm oak. The easternmost cedar marks the grave of an early-day miner.

Literary Treasures

Lovers of California literature, particularly those who possess collections of manuscripts and other reminders of our famous writers, have not yet recovered from the fright they were given by the fire which gutted the California Building on Treasure Island. While the valuable relics were saved, it seems certain now that not one of the many who loaned displays will be willing to place them again in an exhibit where the entire lot may be threatened. So if you were one who looked over the collection you had an experience not likely to be repeated. Earl V. Burke tells me that the display, except for one or two items, had never been publicly exhibited before and was loaned by authors' families, their friends and private collectors. As Charmian London put it, “This was the first time I have ever permitted these Jack London mementos to be away from the ranch home or out of my possession.” The manuscripts, inscribed first editions, unique photographs, personal letters and other items of Mark Twain, Bret Harte, Robert Louis Stevenson, Jack London, Mary Austin, Ina Coolbrith, Ambrose Bierce, Edward Rowland Sill and Edwin Markham, of course, could never be replaced. An extensive display of Stevensoniana included his first book and his last - the baby blanket in which he was christened, his baby book kept by his mother, and childhood pictures. His writing career began early. When Stevenson was only six years old, his Uncle David offered a prize to the child in the Stevenson clan who could write the best Biblical story. The prize-winner was "The History of Moses," submitted by little Robert Louis. Too young to write the story, he dictated the text to his mother, but drew his own illustrations. These reveal his powers of observation and realism even when a child. His colored frontispiece depicting the Children of Israel going out of Egypt has all the men wearing stovepipe hats, and several smoking pipes!

Frank Norris Relics

Frank Norris reversed the usual writers' procedure by beginning as an artist in Paris, Burke reminds us. He really started writing to get a satisfactory text for his pictures. Only one letter is known to exist today bearing Frank Norris' signature, as most of the Norris manuscripts and material were destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906. One of his only two remaining pictures shows a spirited Zulu war dance in South Africa, where he served as war correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle while covering the Boer War. The Charles G. Norris collection of 4x6 faded photos include scenes of actual San Francisco settings described in his brother's books - the dental offices of McTeague, the “car conductor's coffee' joint”, where McTeague ate, and Luna's Mexican restaurant used in “Blix.” In Luna's dining room the hero, undoubtedly Frank Norris himself, sent a note to the redheaded man, saying “All is discovered. Fly at once.” The red-headed man read it in an agitated manner, grabbed his hat and scrammed, proving Norris' psychology that almost any man found eating in a place like that had some past he wished kept hidden.

Survived Two Fires

A rare Frank Norris item is the manuscript for "Vandover and the Brute," which narrowly escaped destruction in the San Francisco Fire of 1906, as well as the California Building fire the other day. This book was not published until 12 years after the writer's death. The story was started when Norris was a post-graduate student at Harvard and strongly influenced by the realism of Zola, but publishers felt it was too grim for the reading public of that day. At the time of the San Francisco disaster, Mrs. Frank Norris was living on Leavenworth Street. She hurriedly placed some valuables including the Vandover manuscript, in a trunk which was heaved out of a window into a vacant lot next door. In the confusion after the fire the trunk became lost and finally reached a San Francisco warehouse where it remained unclaimed for about eight years. A title page of the manuscript had been lettered by Frank Norris and carried his signature. Somewhere in the trunk's wanderings a souvenir hunter found the manuscript and cut off the Norris signature, leaving nothing to denote its ownership. Eventually Charles G. Norris claimed the trunk by identifying the title page which he had remembered his brother making.

More About Scotty

Almost every time the Knave, or some other section of the paper, mentions Death Valley Scotty, there arrives from someone who knew the mysterious man of the desert some additional information or comment. Arthur Terry, one who knew Scotty well, was interested in a story the news had about the deal between Scotty and James W. Gerard, in which the latter was said to have grubbed the "desert rat" who proved to be Scotty. Says Terry: “Anyone who is familiar with staking prospectors knows that they are gambling on a find of mineral, either quartz or placer. To my personal knowledge, Scotty has never hauled a pound of quartz to a smelter or concentrator, and, as for placer, I have never known him to tender gold dust as payment of grub, clothes or drink. I know it to be a fact that Scotty has located more mineral ledges than Carter's got pills; in fact, I have located several with him. We have never done the assessment work on them - locating a claim is a long ways from having a producing mine. The understanding that he would give Gerard 22 1/2 per cent of what he discovered was fair enough, but the man has never discovered anything (that is, not in the way of mineral). A grubstake is for a lot of things, but I know personally that the one Gerard gave was purely mineral, because I was present at the time. In fact, I had some of the sow belly and beans that Scotty got with part of the money. I have seen Scotty with a pocketful of $20 gold pieces, and it's a fact that about half the tenderfeet who saw them believed that he mined them. Scotty worked one season with the Buffalo Bill show at the time I was with it. He was not a rider or roper. He was just a pickup man on the show, but he was a mighty good fellow just the same. I never will forget he picked me up one afternoon when a new bronc threw me so high my clothes were out of fashion when I came down. I have always thought all a man has got to do to get into trouble nowadays is to become successful. Sure as you're born, there will be somebody that will try to take it away from him."

Some Richmond History

In its special Thirtieth Anniversary Edition the Richmond Independent tells the story of its city not only from the days when it awakened from village life and started to achieve large things in the industrial picture, but from those days when the first white men moved toward San Pablo Bay. Chronicler of that story, A. S. Macdonald, possesses dual qualifications. He is regarded as the founder of the present city and recognized for historical research which he has made a hobby. Readers of the excellent special edition will find much of the present; naturally The Knave followed his habit of turning to the past. What follows - is from the research of the founder of a modern city: “Wending its way northward along the coast in 1769 the Portola expedition discovered the Bay of San Francisco and looking across the water wondered what was on the opposite shore (Contra Costa). A short reconnaissance was made by Sergeant Ortega, but it was not, however, until 1772 that a company was organized to investigate, and although led by Lieut. Pedro Fages has always been known as the 'Crespi Expedition,' named after the Rev. Father Crespi, historian of the exploration party. From Santa Clara they followed the east shoreline where they met with large herds of elk and deer, numerous bears and found water fowl plentiful. Crossing around Lake Merritt, Oakland, to the old Indian shell mound opposite the Golden Gate, where Rev. Crespi commented, it was a magnificent harbor big enough to accommodate the entire navy of the King of Spain.' Traveling northward they camped that night at a little creek which was christened El Cerrito, and enjoyed a feast of fresh bear meat. The following day they continued on in the region of the present site of Richmond and 'viewed the second arm of the sea, San Pablo Bay, which the diary stated, they "inferred that this bay is sufficiently deep for large vessels,” and observed whales sporting and spouting while the sloughs were alive with sea otters. Proceeding on their journey they passed Indian villages at San Pablo, Pinole and Martinez. Moving on beyond Antioch they discovered the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and returned via Alhambra, San Ramon and Sunol valleys, homeward to Monterey. Such briefly was the course of the first white men to penetrate our territory.

The Castro Grant

"On April the 5th, 1823, the Mexican Government granted to Francisco Maria Castro a tract of land in the Territory of Alta California, called by the name 'San Pablo' covering the present limits of Richmond. The earliest improvement made in the neighborhood was the Spanish adobe hacienda erected by Castro in 1829 and still standing on San Pablo Avenue at the county line, which, by the way, should be acquired and preserved for posterity. Much entertainment and many fiestas were held at this old mansion. The first ferry to San Francisco started from Pt. Isabelle and wharves for shipping from the Ellis Landing at the foot of Tenth Street, in 1849. While most of the property hereabouts was planted to grain with a few scattered farm houses there were several wealthy homes and among those who acquired ownership in the Rancho were Dr. Tewksbury and Henry F. Emeric. Both were men of culture and entertained extensively, as was the custom in those days. The Emeric place was specially known for its artistic garden, flowers, song birds and fish ponds. The story current is that these good neighbors had trouble over some trees growing on the fence line of their ranches and an endeavor to establish boundaries resulted in the famous law suit ‘Emeric vs. Alvarado' which was in the courts for over 30 years before it was settled. It involved title to the whole San Pablo Rancho."

A New Discoverer

According to recent historical research, as reported by Phil Townsend Hanna, editor of Westways, in the August number of that magazine, the Spanish sailor Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo is not the discoverer of California. The honor should go to a hitherto little known soldier named Hernando de Alarcon who followed up the Colorado River to somewhere in the vicinity of Boulder Dam in 1540, two years before Cabrillo set foot in California. It all started in 1539, says the account, when Friar Marcos de Niza came back from a visit to the village of Zuni, now in New Mexico, with a tale about treasures of gold and turquoise to be found there. This revived the previous and still more preposterous tale about the mythical Seven Cities of Cibola and the kingdom of gold and precious stones, a by-product of the conquest of Mexico in 1521 by Cortez. Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza immediately put Francisco V. de Coronado in charge of an exploring expedition to find this fabled land with instructions to proceed by land to the Zuni village specified by the monk. Alarcon was ordered to parallel the land force by sea with the idea of keeping in touch with it. But the two parties never met. Coronado left Compostela in February and in July reached the primitive Indian village where there was supposed to be riches galore. According to the record there were many heartfelt curses hurled at Friar Marcos. In the meantime Alarcon with two vessels, the San Pedro and the Santa Catalina, sailed directly up the Gulf of California to the mouth of the Colorado River. Here he took two small boats, Lieutenant Rodrigo Maldonado and 20 men and sailed up stream. He made presents to the Indians along the way and, as near as historians can decipher, landed on the soil of California not far below the junction of the Gila on August 26, 1540. The Indians who met Alarcon's party, like good modern Californians, regaled them with so many fanciful tales that they kept on for "a distance of 85 leagues." Then finding no trace of either Cibola or the Coronado expedition, Alarcon returned to the Gulf. At his most northern point he "caused a very high cross to be set up, whereon I engraved letters to signify that I was come hither." This was for the benefit of the Coronado party in case they came that way. This cross was found by the next earliest discoverer of California, Melchior Diaz, who was sent out by Coronado to find Alarcon after the Marcos de Niza trip went sour. It was during this trip that Coronado also sent out Pedro de Tovar to discover Tusayan, and Garcia Lopez de Cardenas to discover the Grand Canyon. So the story is that Alarcon and Diaz were in the Golden State two years before Cabrillo.

THE KNAVE.