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"A Well Looking, Affable People... ":
The Ohlone of Aulintak/Santa Cruz
By MaryEllen Ryan
Introduction
For thousands of years until a mere one hundred fifty years ago, Santa Cruz and its surrounding lands were the
undisputed home of a people now popularly known as Ohlone. Their homelands reached from the tip of the
San Francisco peninsula, around the eastern shores of San Francisco Bay, along the coast and throughout the
Santa Cruz Mountains, beyond Monterey to Point Sur, and throughout the Santa Clara Valley eastward to the
Mount Hamilton Range. Throughout these lands their imprint remains. Huge mounds of ancient village
midden now blend with the gently rolling, oak studded foothill landscape. Traces of fishing camps are found
where salmon and steelhead were netted as they raced up countless streams in staggering numbers each
winter. Outcroppings of bedrock used for grinding the abundant harvest of acorns are now hidden beneath
grasses and brush where extensive groves of tanoak once grew. The people themselves lie in carefully planned
cemeteries beneath today's urban landscape, placed there with reverence and ceremony over the millennia.
The life the people led was very different from that of their descendants today, and seems even more
unfamiliar to the people whose lives and work now order changes upon the ancient landscape. The Ohlone
people, who once numbered 10,000 or more over their entire land and at least 600 in several villages in and
around Santa Cruz, were nearly annihilated under the impact of the expanding European population of the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Decimated by non-native diseases, parted from their extended families
during mission residence, often hunted for sport or vengeance, the survivors dispersed to the hinterlands of
their country. Many quietly accepted invisibility under the shield of a borrowed culture, while the elders
became the caretakers of the languages and traditional ways of their people.
What is known of the Ohlone has been extracted from the historical records of their observers and from
information shared by the Ohlone themselves. Hand-bound books of births, deaths, marriages and baptisms
kept by the Spanish era missions provide village place names and kinship records. The diaries and sketches of
botanists, artists, explorers and tradesmen of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries provide
descriptions of native and mission activities. The field notes of nineteenth and twentieth century
ethnographers record remnants of languages and lifeways collected for study in the new American
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�anthropological and ethnological institutions. Ohlone descendants today share knowledge inherited from their
grandmothers, providing insight to the harmonious interchange of natural, spiritual and human worlds.
Archaeologists have prepared reports from surveys and excavations of prehistoric Ohlone sites and those of
surrounding culture areas. The studies analyze and compare artifactual material, and plot the distribution of
related archaeological sites across the landscape. Their work seeks answers to questions concerning the
migratory origins of the people, the time depths of their village occupations, strategies the people used to
compensate for stresses of overpopulation, and their long term adaptation to climate changes that profoundly
affected their social and economic organization. A history compiled from all these sources is summarized here,
in order that the people of Santa Cruz today might obtain a clearer view of the ancient lifeways that left their
mark in the form of archaeological deposits. These archaeological sites have become our inheritance from a
people whose voices have been for the most part stilled.
Before the Ohlone Came
The earliest Californians are believed to have entered through mountain passes some thirty thousand years
ago. As bands of hunters followed migratory game close to the end of the last ice age, they traversed a now
submerged land bridge connecting the northernmost portion of the Asian and North American continents.
Their route carried them east and south through plains and mountain passages over a period of several
thousand years. Their camps were placed in close proximity to the lakes and marshlands that formed
important habitat for the large game they sought. These early hunters entered California through the Owens
Valley, reaching the southern California coast approximately 20,000 years ago. Coastal archaeological sites left
by the earliest arrivals are believed to lie beyond the present shoreline, where they were inundated as the
great continental ice sheets receded under the warming climate.
Archaeological sites dating from eight to twelve thousand years before the present date (B.P.) have been
found with more frequency, positively dated by carbon-14 and other laboratory methods. The stone and bone
tools and food remains contained in those deposits speak of a people whose survival depended on the ability
to disband and follow migratory large game and waterfowl They processed local seed-bearing plants by
grinding the hard seeds with handstones against a flat stone metate. These ground stone implements and
distinctively shaped spear points and knife blades now identify their campsites. A recently excavated
archaeological site in Scotts Valley produced material with a carbon-14 date of about 10,000 B.P., indicating
that these early hunter/gatherers preceded the better known Ohlone in the Santa Cruz area.
Information from other sources also support an early date for occupancy of the central coast. An Ohlone
spokesman in the San Francisco Bay area has related an ancestral oral tradition describing the course of his
people's settlement of that area. The tribal history recalls a cataclysmic inundation of San Francisco Bay,
separating the Ohlone from their native home among the Miwok of the Sierra Nevada foothills, where they
had planned to return with traded coastal goods. Linguistic analysis of the Ohlone language as it was recorded
in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries confirmed the close relationship between the geographically
separated Ohlone and Miwok languages. The language of the neighboring Eselen people below Carmel was
found to be not only unrelated to Ohlone, but far more ancient. Geologists have extracted core samples from
the floor of San Francisco Bay, which have confirmed through analysis of layered deposits that the bay was
once a wide, lush valley watered by flowing streams prior to the formation of the bay about 9000 to 12,000
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�years ago. These data all suggest the presence of an early hunter/gatherer culture in Santa Cruz County who
were eventually displaced to the outskirts of their territory. They were forced away by the imposed barriers of
geological changes combined with an influx of people from the central valley and Sierra foothills.
Archaeological sites from the following culture period, dated from 8000 to 4000 B.P., are found with even
greater frequency throughout California. These sites were left by people who settled in to specialize in the
processing and use of local plant and animal resources. Typically these sites are large, indicating a cohesive
village structure and establishment of food gathering and trade resource territories where they occur along
the coast, within inland valleys, and in mountain passes.
The ancestors of the Ohlone apparently co-existed alongside the earlier hunters of this area as they adapted
to the use of abundant marine resources along the stabilized shoreline. One continuous complex of sites has
been recorded along a stream just outside the Santa Cruz city limits which appears to date from this period, as
do others in the Pajaro Valley. The locations and contents of the midden deposits indicate that the people
moved from one established camp to another on a seasonal basis, taking advantage of both inland and coastal
products. They traded outside their territory for traditionally used materials this area lacked. Their preference
for campsite locations was repeated by later historic period settlers, who also selected the advantages of
adequate water, warm southern exposures, and relatively flat terrain for their initial settlement ventures.
Because of this selection process, it is probable that many archaeological sites of such antiquity were
obliterated in the process of nineteenth and twentieth century settlement of the city of Santa Cruz. Some of
the prehistoric middens remaining alongside no longer existing marshes and watercourses near downtown
Santa Cruz might be expected to provide evidence of these early marine adapted people.
The period of settling in and adapting to coastal resources was followed by one of tremendous population
increase throughout the state from 4000 to 1500 B.P. The population increase was apparently related to the
rapid diffusion of techniques for processing and storing acorns, which provided a high quality protein in an
easily stored form for a staple food. With the adaptation to efficient use and storage of acorns, permanent
villages were established for wintering over in the areas close to desirable food and trade resources.
The large, more sedentary population required a more complex tribal social organization than was necessary
for the earlier mobile bands, in order to deal with the increasing complexities of food distribution, marriage
alliances, trade and warfare. Some indication of the importance of particular individuals or lineages over other
villagers during this period is evidenced by the increase in decorative and useful grave goods accompanying
certain burials. The accumulation of goods for burial implies individual wealth and status, possible only with
the compliance of the larger group in the dedicated, time-consuming preparation of objects intended for
burial with the deceased. The internal arrangements of some larger cemeteries from this period have also
shown an emerging pattern of status differentiation. In these cemeteries, people of importance or power are
buried with a profusion of exotic grave goods in the cemetery center, while those with fewer grave goods
were placed in concentric circles or groupings outward from center.
People of the West
By 500 A.D., 1500 years before the present, the speakers of the eight Ohlone languages dominated
throughout the Ohlone territory, while speakers of the older Hokan languages had been displaced to the north
and south. The Ohlone rise to dominance and changing social organization may be reflected in the remaining
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�cemeteries that were partially destroyed in the process of construction of several Santa Cruz commercial and
residential projects in recent years. At least one of the larger Santa Cruz village sites, near the mouth of the
San Lorenzo River, is thought to have been established during this period of complicated political and
economic change.
The period from 500 A.D. to contact with European cultures in the eighteenth century is one for which there
are many records and inferences. During this period, the people who greeted the Spanish land expeditions and
were given the Spanish name "Costaños" (Coast People) by them, became politically organized into the tribal
units recognized and recorded by missionaries and later ethnographers. Early in this period, the people living
in and around Santa Cruz established themselves as a significant link in an intricate chain of exchange that
extended to Sonoma County, Santa Barbara County, and the eastern Sierra Nevada. The trade network
distributed coastal shell to the Sierra Miwok and Mono people, where it was worked into beads used as
markers of wealth and exchange value. Salt and dried abalone were valued by the inland Yokuts people,
whose territory had to be traversed and traders dealt with on journeys to the east. In return, obsidian for tools
and ceremonial objects, pinon nuts and other exotic foods, and highly valued magnesite and cinnabar ore
were brought to the coast villages. The Chumash of Santa Barbara were contacted for steatite (soapstone),
which was carved into bowls and ceremonial pieces. The Pomo of the interior coast ranges of Sonoma County
provided an alternative source for obsidian. The extent of this trade network, stretching as it did across
language boundaries and foreign territories, required a specialized trading language, a well developed clam
shell disc bead economy, and above all critical marriage and kin alliances in strategically located villages along
the trade routes.
The coastal people and their villages were described with interest by the Europeans who came into contact
with them. "A well looking, affable people," recalled a geographer on Vizcaino's 1602 visit to Monterey Bay
"and very ready to part with everything they have. They are also under some form of government..." More
than a century and a half later, Pedro Fages described their good features, light skin, and long moustaches.
"They are very clever at going out to fish in rafts of reeds," he added. A Franciscan priest observed their "...
comely elegance of figure, quite faultless countenance ... (their) hair kept arranged or in a closely woven small
net ... quick-witted, fond of trading, and tractable." They were sketched in skin capes and fiber skirts at their
daily work, sketched on the bay in their tule reed boats, sketched at play in games of skill and chance,
sketched partaking in their "peculiar habit" of daily bathing, and sketched in ceremonial dress of deeply
contrasting body paint, feather headdressings, and abalone shell pendants. What changes their organized
community lives and personal habits underwent as Europeans came to dominate their home places, their
abundant local foods, and their order of family, government and belief. When encountered after 1770 they
were sketched in woolen mission robes as they sat dispirited in small, quiet groups, appearing to their
observers as sullen, disagreeable, dark and filthy.
The native villages visited by early explorers were described as clusters of dome-shaped reed-covered houses
with an assortment of granary structures, work shelters, a large meeting house in the central tribal village, and
the always present temescal or sweathouse for daily bathing. The people were settled in large, organized
villages ranging from 50 to 500 in population, with a number of smaller, seasonally occupied special use sites
in association with the permanent village. In Santa Cruz, the largest village housed about 200 people. Special
use sites in Santa Cruz included quarries and workshops where the local stone tool resource, Monterey
banded chert, was extracted and worked into a variety of knives, arrow points, skin and fiber scrapers, and
drills for manufacturing beads. In the forests, hunting blinds of piled rock were placed near game trails, often
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�with pecked rock art nearby. Fishing camps were established along the streams, where nets and traps were
constructed and installed. Shellfish processing sites were established above the rocky shores where abalone,
mussels, clams and various tidepool resources were gathered.
Acorn processing was done within or near the groves of oak where well-located outcroppings of bedrock
provided a place for grinding mortars to be formed. The women also made use of portable hopper mortars,
which were shallow ground-stone bowls upon which an open bottom basket was cemented. Landmark shrines
were visited for observing astronomical events and religious ceremonies. A multitude of other activities left
few material traces: specially dedicated meadows where rabbits were driven and captured in the spring by the
entire village populace; hunting trails following ridges and canyons; particular tracts of land saved for the
gathering of special basketry materials; personal shrines and landmarks from which individual powers were
renewed; and ceremonial caves and shelters whose uses were kept secret from prying anthropologists eager
to interview the grown great-grandchildren of the 18th century Ohlone.
The Ohlone Landscape Today
It is difficult to observe the radically changed Santa Cruz landscape today and imagine the abundance of
water, wildlife and plant life that formed the Ohlone landscape. Neary Lagoon was surrounded by campsites
occupied by groups of families while useful plants and migratory waterfowl were gathered. Once captured
with the hunter's trickery of cunningly made decoys and mimicked calls, the birds were used not only for food,
but were transformed into feather capes and blankets, ceremonial costumes, bone whistles and flutes, and
bone basketry awls. The air would be dense with the rising and settling of waterfowl, while the now extinct
tule elk gathered in great herds around the shoreline. Thick stands of tule reed penetrated the lagoon, so
abundant and strong they were gathered and woven into mats for protective house coverings and cushioned
bedding, or were tied into long bundles for the construction of fishing and transport boats that plied Monterey
Bay.
A large village, probably the one called "Aulintak" in mission records and later ethnographies, commanded a
view of the lagoon, the bay, the San Lorenzo River, and several other villages to the north, east, and west from
its vantage point on Beach Hill. This village was fully occupied when Mission Santa Cruz was established
nearby in 1791, one mile upstream on the San Lorenzo River. The type of shell bead found in the
archaeological deposits of Aulintak may indicate that its antiquity reaches back 2000 years. The Westlake area,
with its abundant rushing streams and springs, was the site of an exceptionally large, activity zoned village,
possibly the one called "Chalumu" in later records. The people of Aulintak and Chalumu spoke one of the eight
Ohlone languages called Awaswas, in which they communicated with their neighbors at Hotochtak, believed
to be north of the present city, and at Sokel, Aptos, Sayant, Achistaca and Uypen. The names of today's
villages of Soquel, Aptos and Zayante communicate a far more ancient history than is evidenced by their
landmark wooden buildings dating to a century ago.
The Ohlone beyond Davenport spoke an entirely different language called Ramaytush. It was in Ramaytush
territory that the village of Olxon was located. The name "Ohlone" was taken from this place, which has now
come to be the preferred designation used to refer to all the groups that spoke the eight "Costanoan"
languages. The central valley Yokuts and the Sierra Miwok apparently referred to all the coastal traders as
Ohlone, which has been translated from Miwok as "people of the west".
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�Beyond the Awaswas speakers below Aptos, the Ohlone spoke another language called Mutsun. The Mutsun
speakers had their own name for the villages of Santa Cruz, calling them Hardeon. The Mutsun were living in a
central village at Kalenta-ruk on the Pajaro River in 1769, when they were given an unexplained, enormous
fright by the appearance of mounted Spanish soldiers of the Portola expedition. The people of Kalenta-ruk left
an extremely large stuffed bird totem at the site of their village when they fled, so impressing the Spanish that
they gave their own name for "bird" to the river at Kalenta-ruk. Below the Mutsun, the Rumsen of Monterey
spoke a dialect much more closely related to Awaswas than to their immediate Mutsun neighbors. This
puzzling bit of information may hint of recently active displacement of the coastal people in the Pajaro
Valley/Elkhorn Slough area.
The people of Aulintak and Chalumu followed a seasonal rhythm as they collected the bounty of their land.
The spring brought tender shoots of edible plants, along with a proliferation of young animals and edible
insects. The summer brought harvests of grasses for basketry and fiber, bulbs, roots, seeds, fruits and berries
from hundreds of edible and useful plants. Deer were hunted with sinew-backed bow and arrow in the tall
grass meadows, where the hunter brought the curious animals into breathtakingly close range by mimicry of
the deer's movements in deerskin decoys worn draped over the hunter's body. Autumn brought the acorn
harvest, which occupied the intense concentration of all the villagers in the gathering, preparation of pits for
leaching and baking, and for the ceremony that accompanied the yearly harvest. Wild geese and ducks were
captured in the lagoons, fish were harpooned or netted in the rivers, lagoons and bay, and sea mammals were
captured on and off shore. Shellfish were a staple as important as the acorn, and were regularly gathered.
Preparations for winter included the burning of great expanses of meadow and forest, to encourage the new
plant growth preferred by the Ohlone and the browsing animals they hunted. Winter rains brought the influx
of salmon and steelhead, and movement from the hills to more favorably located winter villages. Throughout
the winter the women worked on their exquisite basketry, which is now world renown for its beauty and
intricacy of design. Stores of acorns, dried fish and meat, seeds and nuts were tapped through the winter to
supplement the leaner diet. Within the communal houses, elders repeated tribal oral traditions, passing on
the accumulated wisdom of several thousand years of their world history. Ceremony, song, dance and fable
constantly reinforced the people's sense of their part in the rhythm of the universe, weaving them into the
fabric of sun, moon, stars, earth, water, and the earth's other living creatures. That rhythm was irreparably
broken with the onset of European cultural dominance over their lands.
We Share an Inheritance
Today the villages of Aulintak and Chalumu lie beneath the houses, streets, schools and businesses of Santa
Cruz. The descendants of the Ohlone care for their ancestral home in spirit, and more frequently now in anger
when carefully interred remains are wrenched from their graves in the unrelenting face of modern
development. Of the 230 Ohlone archaeological sites recorded in Santa Cruz County by mid-1980, fourteen
were found within the Santa Cruz city limits. These covered the range from large villages to small special use
sites. Of the fourteen recorded sites, five have been destroyed beyond nearly all scientific value, either by
natural erosion or construction throughout the entire site without benefit of archaeological investigation.
Eight have been disturbed in part by construction of houses or roads, or are partially eroded away, but appear
to contain intact portions either beneath surface disturbance or in areas adjacent to modern construction.
Portions of the Delaveaga area contain sites where chert tools were repaired and re-worked, leaving large
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�amounts of chipping waste in the midden soil. There also exist areas near UCSC that include small multiple use
campsites, areas of Seabright where shellfish were processed for food and ornaments, and areas of Westlake
associated with Chalumu where chert was worked from raw material into useful tools and projectile points. An
area near Pogonip exists where tools were reworked, and where diarists of Portola's expedition described
temescals, the sweathouses used for ritual and daily bathing. Areas around Neary Lagoon still contain portions
of much larger sites where any number of the marsh associated activities would have taken place.
Only one site has been recorded that remains free from modern disturbance, defined as a hunting camp from
its surface debris, where game was apparently butchered and distributed among the hunting party. Other sites
are likely to exist unrecorded, perhaps concealed under silty layers of alluvial wash, perhaps covered by
parking lots or suburban vegetation, or hidden in brushy canyons now made impenetrable by dense chaparral
the Ohlone would have burned away each fall. This fragile, depleted archaeological wealth is our inheritance
from the past. Preserved with care, and excavated with the integrity of explicitly scientific research, the sites
can be expected to provide answers to our remaining questions about the Ohlone and their predecessors.
These answers can arm us with knowledge for facing the future, when we can expect economic fluctuations,
population stresses, and climatic changes to act upon those of us who now live in Santa Cruz. We are the new
"people of the west", stewards of the past with the responsibility and power to preserve what remains for the
future.
Recommended Additional Readings
A summarization such as the preceding cannot begin to describe in any detail the richness and variety of
California Indian culture. The following are readily available sources for those wishing to further their
understanding of the Ohlone and other California Indians. Asterisk (*) indicates exceptional sources. All were
available in 1980, when the Archaeological Resources Protection Amendment was presented to the public.
Ballena Press, Box 1366, Socorro, New Mexico 87801
Publishers of scholarly writings on Calif., Southwest, and Great Basin ethnohistory. List available.
Bean, Lowell J. and Thomas Blackburn, authors
Native Californians: A Theoretical Retrospective. Ramona: Ballena Press. 1971. Collection of papers on
California Indian social organization.
Bean, Lowell John and Thomas F. King, authors*
Antap: California Indian Political and Economic Organization. Ramona: Ballena Press. 1974.
Anthropological descriptions of organizational systems employed by various tribal groups.
Coyote Press*, P.O. Box 3377, Salinas, CA 93912
Publishers of locally written manuscripts dealing with the archaeology and ethnohistory of the central
coast.
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�Davis, J.T.
Trade Routes and Economic Exchange among the Indians of California. Berkeley: U.C. Archaeological
Survey Reports. 1961. Details the incredible variety of exchange goods and extensive trade system of
prehistoric California.
Deetz, James
Invitation to Archaeology. Garden City: The Natural History Press. 1967. Explanation of the reasons for,
and results of, archaeological methods.
Fages, Pedro*
Expedition of Pedro Fages to the San Francisco Bay, 1770. H. E. Bolton, ed. San Francisco: Academy of
Pacific Coast History. 1911. Translated diary of early land expedition.
Gamman, John K.
The Ohlone Indians-People of the West: Their use of natural resources. Unpublished Senior Thesis at
Special Collections, UCSC McHenry Library. 1973. Study of seasonal food gathering by ecozones.
Gordon, Burton L.*
Monterey Bay Area: Natural History and Cultural Imprints. Pacific Grove: Boxwood Press. 1974.
Evolution of the Monterey Bay area landscape, detailing man's manipulation of natural resources.
More recent revised edition now available.
Heizer, Robert F. *
The Costanoan Indians. Local History Studies, Vol. 18. Cupertino: California History Center, De Anza
College. 1974. Thorough survey of Costanoan/Ohlone culture.
Heizer, Robert F., editor
They Were Only Diggers. Newspaper accounts of persecution against the California Indians in the 19th
century.
Heizer, R.F. and M.A. Whipple *
The California Indians: A Source Book. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press.
1971. Collection of papers on the material culture and social organization of all California tribes.
Jackson, Robert
An Introduction to the Historical Demography of Santa Cruz Mission and the Villa de Branciforte, 17911846. Unpublished Senior Thesis, Special Collections, UCSC McHenry Library. Includes reconstruction of
population patterns of local Ohlone and effects of missionization.
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�Kessler, Christina *
Ohlone: Native Americans of the San Francisco and Monterey Bay Areas. Unpublished Honors Senior
Thesis, Special Collections, UCSC McHenry Library. 1974. Carefully researched, well written paper
exploring the lifeways of the Ohlone and European impact on their culture.
Kroeber, A.L.
Handbook of the Indians of California. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. 1925. Classic California
Indians handbook, republished in paperback by Dover, New York, 1976.
Kroeber, Theodora
Ishi in Two Worlds. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1961. Detailed account of lifeways as
explained to anthropologists by last surviving Yahi, 1911-1916.
Levy, Richard
‘The Costanoan’, pp. 485-495 in Handbook of the North American Indians, Vol. 8, California.
Washington: Smithsonian Institution. 1978. Recent survey of Costanoan/Ohlone culture, synthesizing
recent work with emphasis on linguistic origins.
Lewis, Henry T.
Patterns of Indian Burning in California: Ecology and Ethnohistory. Ramona: Ballena Press. 1973.
References for burning as a method of agriculture.
Margolin, Malcolm *
The Ohlone Way. Indian Life in the San Francisco-Monterey Bay Area. Berkeley: Heyday Books. 1978. A
sensitive, beautifully written description of the Ohlone way of life, with excellent bibliography.
Palou, Fray
Francisco Historical Memoirs of New California. H.E. Bolton, ed. Berkeley: University of California Press.
1926. Translated journals of travels in Alta California.
Santa Cruz Archaeological Society *, 1305 East Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz 95062.
Publishers of SCAN, Santa Cruz Archaeological Notes; present films, speakers, activities related to the
preservation of archaeological sites in Santa Cruz County. Meetings third Thursday monthly, City
Natural History Museum.
Santa Cruz City Museum *, 1305 East Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz CA 95062.
Natural History museum in Seabright, with excellent display on California Indians and good bookstore.
Santa Maria, Fray Vicente *
The First Spanish Entry into San Francisco Bay. John Galvin, ed. San Francisco: J. Howell, Publisher.
Sensitive portrayal of Bay Area Ohlone before missionization.
9
�Smith, Charles R. *
‘In Harmony with the Earth: Heritage Significance among the Ohlone’, in Archaeological Evaluation of
CA-SCR-158 by J. Bergthold, G.S. Breschini, and T. Haversat. Salinas: Coyote Press, 1980. Examination of
attitudes held by Ohlone and other Native Americans towards the desecration of their sacred sites by
development and archaeologists.
Sources Consulted in the Preparation of this Manuscript
Personal Communications
Baker, Suzanne
Archaeological Consultants, San Francisco, CA. Personal communication regarding recent excavations at CASCR-12, the "Beach Hill" site. July 1980.
Cartier, Robert
Archaeological Resource Management, San Jose, CA. Personal communication regarding recent excavations in
Scotts Valley. July 1980.
Mathes, Eric
Consulting Artist, graphics and illustrations, Santa Cruz, CA. Personal communication regarding appearance of
Ohlone landscape. July, 1980.
Orozco, Patrick
Ohlone Indian Cultural Association, Watsonville, CA. Personal notes and communications, 1975 - 1978;
address to the Santa Cruz Archaeological Society, 1975.
Unpublished Papers and other collected manuscripts in public and private collections
Ball, Francine
"Mortuary Customs and Beliefs of the Costanoan Indians." Unpublished class paper, in possession of
Department of Special Collections, McHenry Library, University of California Santa Cruz. 1974.
Breschini, Gary S. and Trudy Haversat
"Archaeological Overview of the Central Coast Counties, Draft for Comment," in possession of Regional Office
of the California Archaeological Site Survey, Aptos CA. 1979.
Edwards, Robert L. and MaryEllen [Ryan] Farley
"Assessment of the Cultural Resources of the Lower Pajaro River Basin, California, with selected field study."
Contracted manuscript in possession of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, San Francisco, CA. 1974.
Gamman, John K.
"The Ohlone Indians - People of the West: Their Use of Natural Resources." Student Paper no. ES 144 N, in
possession of Department of Special Collections, McHenry Library, University of California Santa Cruz. 1973.
10
�Kessler, Christina
"Ohlone: Native Americans of the San Francisco and Monterey Bay Area." Honors Thesis, in possession of
Department of Special Collections, McHenry Library, University of California Santa Cruz. 1974.
Kessler, Christina Mary
"People of the West." Student paper, in possession of Department of Special Collections, McHenry Library,
University of California Santa Cruz. 1974.
Koster, George H.
"The San Lorenzo River, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow." Thesis, in possession of Department of Special
Collections, McHenry Library, University of California Santa Cruz. 1975.
Krumbein, William J.
"Natural Bridges State Beach History." Undated typescript in possession of Department of Special Collections,
McHenry Library, University of California Santa Cruz.
Morris, Joseph and Allan Lonnberg
"Santa Cruz County Prehistoric Settlement Pattern Analysis: A Preliminary Report." Student paper in
possession of Department of Special Collections, McHenry Library, University of California Santa Cruz. 1975.
Ryan Farley, MaryEllen
"California Indians of the Central Coast." Typescript for slide illustrated lecture program, in possession of Santa
Cruz City Museum. 1973.
Simmons, Terry
"The Status and Future of Archaeology in the Santa Cruz Region." Thesis, in possession of Department of
Special Collections, McHenry Library, University of California Santa Cruz. 1978.
Spencer, Lois
"The Costanoan Indians: Bibliography." Typescript in possession of Department of Special Collections,
McHenry Library, University of California Santa Cruz. 1971.
Swift, Carolyn
"A Sampler: Indians of Santa Cruz County." Student paper in possession of Library, Cabrillo College, Aptos CA.
1971.
Various authors and dates
Files and confidential records of the Regional Office of the Californian Archaeological Site Survey, Aptos, CA.
Used in this manuscript:
Santa Cruz County Archaeological Site Records, 3 volumes, including CA-SCR-12, -24, -25, -80, -87, -89, -93, -94,
-106, -114, -116, -142, -187, -189.
Santa Cruz County Archaeological Impact Evaluations: No. E-14, -21, -23, -32, -51, -64, -103, -159, -165, -174, 177, -178, -179, -200, -208, -211, -215, -218, -235, -243, -255, -275, -276, -298, -309, -313, -317, -331, -336, 342.
Weiner, Ann Lucy
"Mechanisms and Trends in the Decline of Costanoan Population." Thesis, in possession of Department of
Special Collections, McHenry Library, University of California Santa Cruz. 1979.
11
�Published Sources
Edwards, Rob
‘5400 Years on the Santa Cruz Coast’, article in Volume 3 Number 3, Santa Cruz Archaeological Notes.
Santa Cruz: Santa Cruz Archaeological Society.
Gordon, Burton L.
Monterey Bay Area: Natural History and Cultural Imprints. Pacific Grove: Boxwood Press. 1974.
Heizer, Robert F.
The Costanoan Indians. Local History Studies, Vol. 18. Cupertino: California History Center. 1974.
Heizer, R.F. and M.A. Whipple
The California Indians: A Source Book. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1971.
Kroeber, A.L.
Handbook of the Indians of California. Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. 1925.
Levy, Richard
‘The Costanoan’, pp. 485-495 in Handbook of the North American Indians, Vol. 8, California.
Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. 1978.
Margolin, Malcolm
The Ohlone Way: Indian Life in the San Francisco-Monterey Bay Area. Berkeley: Heyday Books. 1978.
Mathes, W. Michael
A Brief History of the Land of Calafia: The Californias 1533 - 1795. San Francisco: the author.
Nemeric, Jan
‘Edible Plants of Santa Cruz used by Aborigines’, article in Loganberry: A Santa Cruz Magazine, second
edition. Santa Cruz: UCSC Environmental Studies Department. 1973.
Smith, Charles R.
In Harmony with the Earth: Heritage Significance among the Ohlone, in Archaeological Evaluation of
CA-SCR-158 by J. Bergthold, G.S. Breschini, T. Haversat. Salinas: Coyote Press. 1980.
Source
Prepared as a narrative accompaniment to the Archaeological Resources Protection Amendment, Historic
Preservation Plan of the City of Santa Cruz. For the City of Santa Cruz Planning Department under provision of
P.O. No. 09894.
12
�MaryEllen Ryan
Historical Investigations
July 28, 1980
© Copyright MaryEllen Ryan. Reproduced with the permission of MaryEllen Ryan and the City of Santa Cruz.
It is the library’s intent to provide accurate information, however, it is not possible for the library to completely
verify the accuracy of all information. If you believe that factual statements in a local history article are
incorrect and can provide documentation, please contact the library.
13
�
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Copyright MaryEllen Ryan. Reproduced with the permission of MaryEllen Ryan and the City of Santa Cruz.
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Text
"Charole":
The Life of Branciforte Bandido Faustino Lorenzana
By Phil Reader
Part I
In 1885 a reporter for the Santa Cruz Sentinel asked ex-sheriff Charlie Lincoln who was the most notorious
character that he had encountered during his tenure in office. After a short pause the former "boy sheriff"
reached back into his memory and called forth
"...Faustino Lorenzana, he made a regular business out of horse stealing, but we could never catch
him"... "He and one of the Rodriguez boys were concerned in the killing of Jack Sloan. This was in
1865."
Indeed this was the case, because no sheriff's posse or vigilante mob could ever take Lorenzana, and any
number of them tried. He fought it out with four Santa Cruz sheriffs: John T. Porter, Ambrose Calderwood,
Albert Jones, and Charlie Lincoln.
Even Matt Tarpy and his hooded vigilance committee trailed him around the countryside but none could ever
lay a hand on him. Sometimes operating with the Rodriguez brothers and sometimes in the company of his
infamous cousin Tiburcio Vasquez, he roamed throughout central California doing just about whatever he
pleased.
To the staid "yankees" of Santa Cruz he was a horse thief and murderer - plain and simple. His depredations
were not to be tolerated. After the Sloan killing the State of California offered a $500 reward for his capture
and the County of Santa Cruz added another $300, making him the most sought after man in the history of the
County.
However across the San Lorenzo River, to the Spanish people of the Pueblo de Branciforte he was a son, a
brother, a cousin, a childhood friend, and a neighbor. They secreted him in their homes when he was in the
area, and brought food and other supplies up to his many mountain hideouts. He was called "Charole," said to
mean the "lantern that leads."
In time he achieved a certain degree of stature as a hero and legendary bandit to the people of old
Branciforte. Some of the Spaniards even named their children after him. He was a game fighter, loyal to his
friends, and in the end, like most legendary bandits, he died with his boots on.
1
�But just what was he really? A hero? Legend? A good boy gone bad? Or a cold blooded killer? The answer to
this question may never be known because what he was depends upon whom you ask.
Faustino de Jesus Lorenzana was born January 15, 1835 at his parents adobe at Branciforte. He was the
eleventh child of Macedonio Lorenzana and Romualda Lorenzana y Vasquez.
His father was a full-blooded Menteranea Indian who had been born at Mexico City in 1787 (?)]. Orphaned as
a child, he was raised at the famous Lorenzana Orphanage in Mexico City. Like all other foundlings he was
given the surname Lorenzana, a practice which was quite common at the time.
On June 2, 1800 he sailed, in the company of several other children, from San Blas for Alta California on the
frigate Concepcion. Upon arrival he was placed in the home of Francisco Castro, a resident of San Jose. While
still in his teens he joined the Spanish Army and was stationed at the garrison in San Francisco. On June 8,
1816 he married Maria Romualda Vasquez at Mission Santa Clara. She was the daughter of Antonio Vasquez
and Maria Leocadia, an Indian neophyte of the Mission.
In 1828 the Lorenzana family moved to Branciforte where Macedonio served the pueblo in various capacities,
including secretary in 1835 and 1839, a member of the council in 1838, and second alcalde in 1845 and 1846.
Before his death in 1863, he sired sixteen children by Romualda.
Their son Faustino spent his childhood years in the company of his many brothers and cousins prowling about
Branciforte. The pueblo was a sleepy little village which was the center of activities for the numerous ranchos
which were spread out around it. The only formal education he received was from the padres at the small
Mission school across the river from Branciforte. Even this was scant and of a religious nature.
His real education came at the hands of the vaqueros who tended the vast herds of cattle roaming across the
area. From them he learned horsemanship, the use of a pistol, a riata, a branding iron, and the many other
arts and sciences of the rodeo. When he was old enough, he went to work on his father's farm next to
Branciforte Creek and at the Rodriguez' Ranchos in the Live Oak district.
The 1830s and 1840s were a good time for a Spanish boy to grow up in California. Indeed there was plenty of
hard work to be done, but what young Lorenzana enjoyed most were the weekends in the pueblo. There were
bear and bull fights which were held in a special ring down on the flats between Branciforte Creek and the San
Lorenzo River, and scrub races along the main street of the pueblo. Gambling on these events was always
heavy.
The horse races attracted many of the young vaqueros from all around the central
coast. One who rode over from Monterey was Faustino's cousin Tiburcio Vasquez.
He was a superb horseman and always a popular rider during the matches.
Weekends at the pueblo would invariably feature a fandango complete with it's
music, dancing, drinking, gambling, and general rough-housing. It was a special
occasion filled with gaiety and merriment where quite often knives were drawn in
anger as two young men squared off during the course of an argument over a card
game or the attentions of a young lady. Pride played a great part in such quarrels.
Tiburcio Vasquez
The Lorenzanas, like most of the young men of Branciforte, were a rough and
tumble lot, excitable, sometimes quick to anger, and always seeking an adventure.
2
�But they were a close knit family who always watched one another's backs and protected their own. Most of
the boys found themselves in trouble with the law at sometime. Usually for some petty offense which they
received a small fine or a few days in jail. But the eldest Jose Jesus was arrested twice on assault charges,
Facundo, a talented musician, for grand larceny and assault, and Juan who served six years in San Quentin for
the murder of George Wise at the Refugio Rancho in 1862. But it was Faustino who was to really to make a
name for himself.
His first known brush with the law came in December of 1859, when he was 24 years of age. Sheriff John T.
Porter was called over to Branciforte to break up a drunken brawl which was taking place at a Saturday night
fandango. As he stepped in with his pistol at the ready, all of the belligerents backed down except Faustino,
who was cursing loudly in Spanish. It was necessary for Porter and his men to jump Lorenzana and drag him
bodily off to jail. This was to be the only time that he would ever submit to arrest.
At the time, the jail was a small wooden building located at the upper plaza near the old Mission. It consisted
of two cells made of timbers about one foot thick and lined with sheet iron. There were no windows and only
one door, fitted with a large lock. The County did not employ a jailor, so the key to the jail was in the
possession of a citizen who would take the prisoners out to a restaurant twice a day for their meals.
While awaiting trial, Faustino Lorenzana and two fellow prisoners managed to pick the lock to their cells and
make good their escape. After several days of freedom he returned to his family's home at Branciforte where
he was recaptured and brought back to jail.
Part II
When the grand jury convened in early February, 1860, an indictment for assault with a deadly weapon was
found against him. The Lorenzana family hired the redoubtable Joe Skirm to represent Faustino in court. The
flamboyant attorney picked apart the indictment, claiming that when it was drawn up the defendant's
Christian name was incorrectly given, the place where the crime was supposedly committed was not stated,
nor was the weapon used in the alleged assault described. After these technical points were raised, the court
had no other option but to dismiss the charges. Lorenzana was a free man and he would never again see the
inside of a jail.
He then joined a band of horse thieves and cattle rustlers who were working the Monterey Bay area. Their
number included his cousin Tiburcio Vasquez, who had recently emerged from San Quentin where he served a
term for grand larceny. They drove their herds of stolen stock down to the southern counties where they were
sold, and during the return trip they would steal horses and cattle along the way and peddle them here. This
was to become Lorenzana's trade mark.
The year 1864 found Faustino and Vasquez in the Santa Clara Valley trying their hand at gambling and other
petty crimes among the miners at the New Almaden mines. On the night of June 4, 1864, they sat in a saloon
playing cards when Joseph Pelligrini, a butcher doing business at the Enriquita Mine, walked into the place.
The two men could see that the Italian was flush, so when he left the place they followed him home.
It was about 11 o'clock, while Pelligrini was preparing to retire for the night when Lorenzana and Vasquez
broke into the house. A terrible struggle ensued during which the butcher was shot and stabbed several times.
They robbed him of $400 and hurriedly left.
3
�The following morning the murder was discovered and Santa Clara County Sheriff John Hicks Adams was called
in. Adams, a very competent lawman, called for an inquest. At the hearing he
found that he needed an interpreter because none of those to be questioned
could speak English. The only people around who were bi-lingual, were none
other than Faustino Lorenzana and Tiburcio Vasquez, who they were called upon
to interpret.
Needless to say the inquest found that "the deceased came to his death from a
pistol bullet fired by some person or persons unknown." A few days later, Sheriff
Adams received information which led him to the conclusion that the murder had
been committed by Lorenzana and Vasquez. But he did not deem the evidence
sufficient to warrant an arrest and by then Vasquez had moved on to Sonoma
County and Lorenzana returned to Santa Cruz.
John Hicks Adams
Back home, Faustino divided his time between Branciforte and Whisky Hill, getting by as best he could. On
Wednesday, February 8, 1865, a fandango was held at the Juan Perez adobe which was located at the end of
Garfield Street on the east bank of the San Lorenzo River (near the present site of the County Government
Center). Among those attending the festivities were the Lorenzana and Rodriguez boys from the pueblo. Also
there was 25 year old Juan Arana, who lived in the Live Oak district above the gulch which now bears the
family name.
During the evening a fight broke out between Lorenzana and Arana. The latter pulled out a knife and slashed
Faustino across the shoulder and arm. Being unarmed, he wisely withdrew vowing revenge upon Arana.
However, he did not have to wait very long to carry out his threat because on the evening of Saturday,
February 11, he and two other men - his nephew Pedro Lorenzana, and Jose Rodriguez, a neighbor - rode out
to Arana Gulch and stationed themselves in a grove of trees next to the bridge at the bottom of the gulch.
Their plan was to ambush Juan Arana as he returned home after working in the woods.
Pedro was the 18 year old son of Jose Jesus Lorenzana, Faustino's eldest brother. He was a luckless boy who
would blindly follow his uncle anywhere and on any adventure. At 15, he had stolen a neighbor's horse to
attend a dance at Monterey and was subsequently arrested for grand larceny. But Pedro was freed when the
neighbor refused to press charges.
The other man who rode with them that night was Jose Rodriguez, son of Facundo and Guadalupe Rodriguez
and a grandson of Don Alejandro Rodriguez of Rancho Encinalito. At 18 he was already a handsome, strapping
lad standing well over six feet tall and weighing about two hundred pounds. He was both strong and smart,
and in his belt he carried two pistols.
At sometime between 8 and 9 o'clock they heard the clatter of horses' hoofs starting across the wooden
bridge. Peering out from behind their shelter, they were disappointed to see that it was not Juan Arana, but
two yankees who were passing by. So they pulled back and waited. The two riders were John W. Towne,
County Supervisor from the Soquel district, and his brother-in-law, Jack Sloan. As they were crossing the
bridge their horses were startled upon glimpsing the men in the trees.
"Who the hell are you?,” Sloan demanded of the three men.
4
�At this Faustino emerged from the trees, drew his revolver, and fired a warning shot into the air. The report of
the pistol sent the American's horses galloping up the hill and out of the gulch.
The Californios, realizing that they had now missed their chance at revenge, started back towards Branciforte.
After they had ridden about one hundred and fifty yards they heard a horseman behind them. It was Jack
Sloan.
When Towne and Sloan had finally recovered control over their mounts, they were near the rim of the gulch
where the lower road to Soquel Landing branched off. Then quite unexpectedly, Jack Sloan, a veteran of the
Mexican War, who was unarmed, decided to return. Towne, knowing that his companion was a foul-tempered
man, tried to persuade him from doing such a rash thing. But Sloan could not be swayed and returned to the
gulch alone.
Upon seeing the three men moving along the bottom of the creek bed, Sloan rode up and demanded to know
who they were. Getting no response, he began beating them with a coiled lariat, demanding that they identify
themselves.
Finally Faustino turned around with his revolver drawn and replied,
"You son of a bitch, I'll kill you anyhow."
But Sloan grabbed his arm, preventing him from firing.
"Help me boys!", shouted Lorenzana.
Jose Rodriguez was the first one into action. He rode over and shot Sloan twice, once in the chest and once in
the arm. The American fell from his horse freeing Lorenzana, who immediately fired a bullet into Sloan's groin.
It was a mortal wound and within fifteen minutes he bled to death. The assailants dashed back up the hill
towards Branciforte.
Part III
Word of the killing spread quickly through Santa Cruz and before long there was a large posse in the saddle led
by Sheriff Ambrose Calderwood and his deputies Albert Jones and Charlie Lincoln. They went out to Arana
Gulch, located the body and sent it back to town while they questioned some of the Californios in the Live Oak
district. From a farmer living along the Soquel Road, they learned the names of Jose Rodriguez, Faustino
Lorenzana, and Pedro Lorenzana.
Ambrose Calderwood
In the darkness of night, the posse, by now over a hundred men strong - heavily
armed and carrying lanterns - rode through Branciforte and stopped at the Rodriguez
adobe. The angry group was met at the door by Guadalupe Rodriguez. Her husband
Facundo was away working in the Santa Clara Valley at the time. Behind her stood six
small children, including her three sons, Narciso, Garcia, and Philadelphia. She was
well known to the members of the posse. Her maiden name had been Robles. She
was a daughter of Jose Antonio Robles, one of the first settlers of Branciforte and
sister to Avelino and Fulgencio Robles, wild young men who had met their deaths at
the end of a gun during an earlier decade. She was a fiercely protective mother who
had always pampered her handsome son, Jose.
5
�She disliked "gringos" and on this night she made no attempt to hide it. When they pushed their way into her
home, she charged them screaming, swinging, and kicking. Her young children also joined in the assault.
Guadalupe was bound and carried away to be tried later for attempted murder. Jose, found hiding in the back
of the house, was also taken and placed in a cell with his mother. It was a sight that the other children would
long remember.
Then the posse went next door to the home of Bernarda Juarez y Lorenzana and searched the adobe for the
two Lorenzanas. Not able find them there, they arrested Bernarda's son Pedro Juarez on the charge of being
an accessory to murder, claiming that he had helped the men escape.
They then continued on up into Blackburn Gulch to the ranch of Mattias Lorenzana just off of Vine Hill Road.
Mattias, a brother of Faustino's, was married to Maria Concepcion Rodriguez, eldest daughter of Facundo and
Guadalupe Rodriguez. Both were also arrested and hauled away, leaving five small children unattended. But
no sign of the two killers was found so the posse went back to town.
Most of the mob was still milling around the plaza when word was received that Faustino and Pedro
Lorenzana had been seen heading out across country towards the beach at San Andreas. Within minutes
Calderwood and Jones with a dozen hand-picked men were galloping along the Soquel Road in pursuit.
A short time later they were following the Lorenzana's trail up the beach for about a mile until it veered
northward, striking out across the farmlands. It quickly became obvious that the pair were heading towards
Whiskey Hill, so the posse hurried on. Later that afternoon they found Pedro Lorenzana hiding in an old adobe
near Corralitos. He surrendered without a fight and made a full confession on the
spot. He was then handcuffed and taken back to Santa Cruz where he joined the
others in jail.
Deputy Jones was dispatched to Whiskey Hill in an attempt to apprehend the other
outlaw, but he received no cooperation from the residents of the village.
Meanwhile Faustino had stolen a another horse and on this fresh mount sped
further ahead of his pursuer, so all that Jones got for his trouble was a glimpse of
him as he made his escape into the Santa Cruz Mountains.
There were seven prisoners now crowding into the small wooden jail up on
Deputy Albert Jones
Mission Hill. Sheriff Calderwood began to hear all kinds of rumors. Some said that
an attempt would be made by the local Californios to free the prisoners, while
others claimed that the Americans were planning to march on the jail and lynch Rodriguez and Lorenzana. To
prevent either of these from occurring, the sheriff decided to separate the killers. Jose Rodriguez was sent
over to the Santa Clara County jail where he would remain until his trial.
For the next few months emotions ran high around Santa Cruz County. The local newspapers printed the usual
number of bigoted articles which only served to fan the flames of vigilantism by pointing the finger of
suspicion at all "greasers" and urging the citizens to do what was necessary to rid the community of
"undesirable" elements. A vigilance committee under the leadership of Watsonville resident Matt Tarpy
prowled unchecked about the area terrorizing any poor Spaniard who happened to fall into their hands.
One day they caught Juan Arana on the Soquel Road and hauled him off of his horse and surrounded him with
guns drawn.
6
�"You're a god damn horse thief!", growled Tarpy.
He looked around at his men and then continued,
"He don't look much like the fellow we're after, boys, but let's string him up on general principles
anyhow, so if anymore horses are stolen nobody can say that this greaser did it, an if he should steal a
horse after we let him go we'd be blamed for it. What d'ye say, boys?"
Arana got down on his knees and begged for his life. In the back of the crowd he spied a man he had known
from childhood. The man implored his fellows to spare the young Spaniard, reasoning that nothing would be
gained by taking his life. Finally the vigilantes agreed to let him go.
Lawmen from up and down the State were on the lookout for Faustino Lorenzana. On March 18, California
Governor Frederick Low authorized a $500 reward for his capture and the County of Santa Cruz upped the
ante by offering a $300 bounty of its own. The $800 total made him the most sought-after bandit in the State
at the time.
The Rodriguez and Lorenzana families languished in jail for almost three months before their trials were finally
held during the May Session of the County Court. The first action taken by the jury was to indict Faustino
Lorenzana, Jose Rodriguez, and Pedro Lorenzana for the murder of Jack Sloan. Then Guadalupe Rodriguez was
tried for assault with intent to commit murder. The Jury found her not guilty after being out for only fifteen
minutes. Next, Pedro Juarez, charged as an accessory to murder, was tried and acquitted, but an indictment
for grand larceny was lodged against him when he was unable to produce a bill of sale for a horse found in his
possession when arrested. The panel declared him guilty and he was sentenced to a term of three years at San
Quentin. Finally all of the indictments against Mattias and Concepcion Lorenzana were dismissed on a motion
by District Attorney Edmund Pew.
Meanwhile, Pedro Lorenzana sat in his cell and waited as his lawyers were granted one postponement after
another. On the night of June 1, 1865, he and another prisoner, a slippery character named "Jim Bones" Allen
escaped from jail by sawing through the bars on the door. Lorenzana escorted Allen safely to the San Jose
Road (Graham Hill Road) before he returned willingly to jail.
About two weeks later, the jailor who was sleeping in a small room attached to the jail, was awakened by
Pedro, who was heard rattling the door to his cell and shouting that the jail was on fire. Upon investigation, it
was found that indeed the building was burning and the deputy had just enough time to release the
frightened inmate before the flames completely consumed the old jail. Sheriff Calderwood suspected arson
although he was never able to find any evidence to support that belief.
Pedro, who was the only prisoner at the time, was locked up in a room on the second floor of the Hugo Hihn
flat-iron building which was then being used as a temporary courthouse, and an armed guard was posted in
front of his door. One of those who was stationed there was Uriah Sloan, brother of the murdered man.
A few nights later during Sloan's shift a group of hooded men surged up the stairs and overpowered the guard
- who put up no resistance. The mob broke into Lorenzana's makeshift cell and dragged him down Willow
Street to the wharf. They tied a weight to his legs and threw him into the Bay. It was a clean operation, no
witnesses and no body.
7
�Part IV
The action of the vigilantes may have put an end to Pedro Lorenzana's life, but it also effectively ended the
murder case against Jose Rodriguez. They had hushed up the prosecution's only witness so that when his trial
was held, the jury found Rodriguez not guilty of the charge of murder without even retiring for deliberations.
No witness, no case. But this was not the last that Santa Cruz County was to hear from Jose Rodriguez.
Following his escape from the posse, Faustino Lorenzana lit out for southern San Benito County where he
went into hiding near the Panoche Valley in an area known as Vallecitos. This was a favorite hang out for a
number of the Spanish bandido gangs. From there, they could safely raid the ranches on both sides of the
Coast Range and the San Joaquin Valley, for seldom would a lawman dare to venture into this rugged territory.
A decade earlier, Joaquin Murrieta had brought his horse gangs to this hideout, and now Tiburcio Vasquez was
a frequent visitor.
It was a common practice among these outlaws to assume a gang name or a nickname. So many of them were
wanted men that it was deemed unwise to use their real names for fear of discovery. The nickname given to
Lorenzana at this time was "Charole", said to mean "the lantern that leads."
He rode with Vasquez, Procopio, Juan Soto and others throughout the region stealing every head of livestock
which they could get their hands on. A favorite target of the gangs was the Miller and Lux ranch which lay at
the foot of the Coast Range. The spread was so large that they did not seem to miss the many dozen heads of
cattle that the rustlers ran off.
Even though there was a price on his head, "Charole" would sneak back into Santa Cruz from time to time in
order to visit his family. On these occasions he would usually stay at the ranch of his brother Mattias. During
one such clandestine visit during the fall of 1865, he was holed up in an old cabin on the back side of the
ranch. Sheriff Ambrose Calderwood received an anonymous tip telling him where "Charole" could be found.
Wishing to collect the $800 in reward money, he rode up to the outlaw's lair.
It was dark by the time he arrived at the ranch and he found that the cabin was not lighted. Calderwood tied
his horse to a nearby tree and proceeded to edge his way across the porch. Drawing his pistol, he cautiously
entered the building. Suddenly Lorenzana pounced on him from out of the darkness and a fierce hand to hand
struggle occurred.
The sheriff squeezed off one shot before being struck repeatedly with a large knife. The bullet took effect as
"Charole" staggered during the attack. Unable to pull the trigger again, Calderwood swung the barrel again
and again making contact with his assailant. But the wounded outlaw completely overpowered him, knocking
him to the floor, and jamming the knife once more into his shoulder. By the time the lawman got to his feet,
Lorenzana was gone.
Defeated, Sheriff Calderwood made his way back to town with blood flowing from three deep knife wounds in
his body. It would be more than a month before he could get back on the job. The desperate encounter also
left him partially blind in one eye.
"Charole" remained in hiding up in the Santa Cruz Mountains while he recovered from the bullet wound in his
upper arm. His friends and family brought him food and ammunition, and kept him well supplied with
information on the latest movements by the local law enforcement officers. He let his hair grow long and
8
�disguised himself with a heavy beard. He made an occasional trip down to Vallecitos to sell the horses that he
would steal during his raids on the ranches around Santa Cruz and in the Pajaro Valley.
On the night of May 17, 1866, he corralled several horses and mules from the residence of the Widow Shearer
near Waddell Creek and drove them to his mountain camp above the Laguna district, north of Santa Cruz.
Upon getting a report of the crime, newly-elected sheriff Albert Jones, who knew Lorenzana by sight, decided
to try his hand at collecting the reward.
He rode up the coast and tracked the bandit for a couple of miles back into the hills. Upon rounding a sharp
turn in the narrow trail, he was taken by surprise when "Charole" suddenly stepped into the path, covering
him with a pistol. He ordered the sheriff to throw down his weapon and dismount.
The lawman hastily complied with the demands as Lorenzana continued to point the pistol in his direction.
Growling that he knew the sheriff was out to get him for the reward money, the desperado warned him never
to attempt it again.
"It is not my intention to be captured!" he said,
at the same time acknowledging that he had indeed shot and killed Jack Sloan. Then gathering up the
discarded arms, he brazenly mounted the sheriff's horse and rode away leaving the fortunate, and highly
embarrassed Al Jones to walk most of the way back to Santa Cruz.
During the summer of 1869, "Charole" was leading a gang of horse thieves and cutthroats in the Santa Clara
Valley. One day while driving a herd of stolen horses near the Alviso farm of John O'Hara, he spotted Mrs.
O'Hara standing in front of the house. On an impulse, he rode up, threw a lasso around her waist, and began
to drag the hapless woman down the road.
She probably would have died except for the fact that her cries for help were heard by her husband who
happened to be working in a nearby field. He swiftly jumped on his horse and dashed after them firing as he
rode. One of the bullets struck Lorenzana in the chest, causing him to drop the rope.
"Charole" beat a hasty retreat down to the Panoche Valley where he quickly recovered from the wound, the
pistol ball lodging under the skin near the breast bone. He moved his operations to Santa Barbara County and
went right back to work stealing livestock.
These activities quickly gained him the animosity of all the neighboring ranchers, especially that of Juan
Rodrigues of Rancho La Carpenteria. The two men quarreled loudly whenever they met. Lorenzana boasted
that he was going to catch Rodrigues alone sometime and kill him.
During the first week of August, 1870, "Charole" made one last trip up to the Santa Clara Valley. He returned
driving about twenty head of the finest horses he could siphon from herds in the area. However, he didn't
know that he was being followed back to Santa Barbara by a detective from San Jose.
The lawmen went to the court of Justice Cooley and had a warrant issued for the arrest of Faustino Lorenzana
on a charge of grand larceny. It was then given to Deputy O. N. Ames to attempt to make the arrest.
Early in the morning of August 29, 1870, Deputy Ames gathered together a posse of eight men, who armed
themselves and set out after their quarry. They had been informed by one of the vaqueros from La
Carpenteria that the desperado had attended an all night fandango at Montecito about three miles south of
9
�Santa Barbara. After drinking heavily, he had gone up to a ravine near a ranch known as the "Grape Vine" and
passed out under a tree.
When the posse arrived at the spot he was still asleep, but upon their approach he bolted upright and drew
the two pistols that he carried in his belt. A running gun battle ensued as "Charole" backed up the ravine for
about two hundred yards while exchanging shots with his pursuers. Just as he reached the bushes, he was hit
squarely in the head with a bullet and fell over dead.
Later when the coroner examined the lifeless body, he found that the outlaw had been hit no less then sixteen
times. He was covered with scars from numerous old knife fights and bullet wounds. "Charole" was then
buried in an unmarked grave on the very spot where he had fallen. So it was that Faustino Lorenzana, the
greatest of Los Bandidos de Branciforte, died with his boots on, fulfilling his pledge not to be taken alive.
But the Lorenzana story does not end here. There is a strange epilogue to this tale which occurred almost
thirty years after the killing of Jack Sloan at Arana Gulch.
On the morning of July 17, 1895, a lady and her daughter, residents of the Live Oak district, were driving their
buggy into town. While they were crossing the bridge at the bottom of Arana Gulch they witnessed the
apparition of a man walk across the road and then disappear. Mother and daughter were startled and pale
with excitement when they arrived in Santa Cruz and told their story.
Among those listening to them describe the man that they had seen and the clothes that he wore was Thomas
A.Sweeney. Mr. Sweeney had been a member of the Coroner's Jury which had investigated the slaying of Jack
Sloan on February 11, 1865. From their description, he recognized the apparition as the ghost of Jack Sloan.
The local newspapers picked up on the story and ran a whole series of front page articles which included
interviews with old timers who remembered Sloan and his three killers. It was in one of these articles that "a
pioneer" told, for the first time, how the vigilantes had disposed of Pedro Lorenzana.
Over the intervening years, as the century turned and one generation of Santa Cruzans replaced another, the
memories of those exciting events became obscured by the passage of time.
Source
It Is Not My Intention to Be Captured. Copyright 1991 Phil Reader. Reproduced with the permission of Phil
Reader. Photographs courtesy of Phil Reader.
It is the library’s intent to provide accurate information, however, it is not possible for the library to completely
verify the accuracy of all information. If you believe that factual statements in a local history article are
incorrect and can provide documentation, please contact the library.
10
�
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Santa Cruz History Articles
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Original articles by library staff and by local authors and material from historical books.
Articles on Santa Cruz County history, many with illustrations, are available here.
The Santa Cruz Public Libraries is grateful to our local historians and their publishers for giving permission to include their articles. The content of the articles is the responsibility of the individual authors.
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AR-193
Title
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"Charole": The Life of Branciforte Bandido Faustino Lorenzana
Subject
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Faustino, Lorenzana
Branciforte
Vasquez, Tiburcio
Crime and Criminals-Vigilantism
Sheriffs
Trials
Murder
Crime and Criminals-Burglary, Robbery, Larceny
Creator
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Reader, Phil
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It Is Not My Intention to be Captured. Phil Reader, 1991.
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Santa Cruz Public Libraries
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1991
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Santa Cruz (County)
1860s
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En
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Copyright 1991 Phil Reader. Reproduced with the permission of Phil Reader. Photographs courtesy of Phil Reader.
Crime and Criminals
Law Enforcement
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796a2854c0566aa98629ed97fbd3fb23
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"Oh, No!"—A Close Call at the Boulder Creek Library
By Fred Ulrich
I was sitting at my desk in the Boulder Creek Library talking on the phone with another member of the staff,
Gary, who was the Central Library. It was a phone with an extra-long cord, so I stood up and paced away from
the desk while still talking. I heard the rumble and soon found myself under the doorway leading to the
circulation desk. I have no recollection of this, but Gary tells me that the last thing he heard before the phone
line went dead is me saying "Oh no!"
In one of the first tremendous lurches and from my point of "safety" I saw an entire range (15 feet long and 8
feet high) of books and bound National Geographics crash down on my desk--where I had been sitting a few
seconds before. It didn't slump or slide or cascade or tumble. The entire range slammed down in one
thunderous motion. I would not have fared well if I hadn't had that long phone cord. Yet, I distinctly
remember observing the event in a calm and open manner, as if the forces were so immense my personal
endangerment was somehow inconsequential.
I saw another staff member, Suzette, dive under a protective shelf, I looked through the dust at the groaning
ceiling and just held on. After about 10 seconds I knew this was big and wondered if this was IT, the BIG ONE. I
seemed likely that the roof would give way at any moment. I also thought that the redwoods on our deck
could crash down on us. Still, I remember being more awestruck than fearful. The event was so dramatic that I
saw it with fascination and an odd nuance of delight.
When the shaking subsided I called out to ask if anyone was hurt. There was no reply. I called "Suzette, are
you there?" Suzette emerged from her sheltered ledge saying she was o.k. I started to walk into the stacks and
a strong aftershock made the floor feel like a boat at sea. There were only 2 patrons in the library at the time,
both unhurt and relatively unfazed!
We evacuated the building but then I remembered that my keys were on my desk under the formidable rubble
of the collapsed shelving. I gingerly returned to the building and, laying on the exposed side of the shelf which
was at a 45 degree angle and resting on my desk, I reached through the shelving and began clearing away the
debris to get to my keys. Of course, along came another strong aftershock and this time I did feel fear.
Scurrying to the protective doorway until the aftershock subsided, I returned to my digging and found my
keys.
1
�Before leaving I took a quick tour of the library to make sure no one else was there. There wasn't but I noticed
something amazing. The goldfish bowl on top of the young people's desk was still sitting there with goldfish
swimming merrily about!
After returning to our parking lot where Suzette sat cross-legged on the asphalt, I noticed the restaurant
chimney across the way had collapsed on to a car breaking its windshield. Two teenage girls had been on their
way to the library and joined us in the parking lot. We all sat in there with aftershocks coming every few
minutes. It's a strange sensation when the wave travels right out of the ground and into one's body.
After delivering the young people to their home, I drove cautiously down Highway 9 which was strewn with
boulders large and small. Coming into Santa Cruz, I saw the fire and dust from downtown but headed to my
home which was partially off its foundation. My family slept that night and the next few in our VW camper.
The following day the maintenance man and I climbed atop the Boulder Creek Library's very pitched roof to
reattach the woodstove chimney which had broken loose. As we crawled slowing along the topmost ridge we
defused the tension with dark humor about our prospects up there. But all went well and we're both still here
today.
It is the library’s intent to provide accurate information, however, it is not possible for the library to completely
verify the accuracy of all information. If you believe that factual statements in a local history article are
incorrect and can provide documentation, please contact the library.
2
�
Dublin Core
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Santa Cruz History Articles
Description
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Original articles by library staff and by local authors and material from historical books.
Articles on Santa Cruz County history, many with illustrations, are available here.
The Santa Cruz Public Libraries is grateful to our local historians and their publishers for giving permission to include their articles. The content of the articles is the responsibility of the individual authors.
It is the library's intent to provide accurate information. However, it is not possible to completely verify the accuracy of individual articles obtained from a variety of sources. If you believe that factual statements in an article are incorrect and can provide documentation, please contact the library.
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AR-137
Title
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"Oh, No!" - A Close Call at the Boulder Creek Library
Subject
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Boulder Creek Branch Library
Earthquake-1989
Santa Cruz Public Libraries
Creator
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Ulrich, Fred
Publisher
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Santa Cruz Public Libraries
Date
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1989
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Santa Cruz (City)
1980s
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Text
Language
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En
Type
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ARTICLE
Disasters and Accidents
Libraries
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01d3e08b04de9a512b4ef7508735e672
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Text
1001 Stagnaros
By Geoffrey Dunn
One of Robert "Big Boy" Stagnaro's earliest childhood memories is of a small hole next to his father's fish market on the
Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf. Through it he could see the sparkling blue and green waters of Monterey Bay and a patch
of weathered wharf pilings covered with mussels, barnacles, starfish and long clumps of seaweed swaying with the tides.
"My life began at the edge of that hole," says Big Boy, the magic of the memory lingering in his eyes.
Big Boy was four years old then, and his father had cut out the hole so that his youngest son could fish through it while
the rest of the family carried out the duties of running a fish business. "He made sure it was small enough so that I
couldn't fall in," Big Boy remembers, "but it was large enough for me to pull fish up. And believe me, I used to catch a lot
of fish through that hole."
A few years later, Big Boy was set loose from his tiny fishing grounds and given free reign of the entire wharf. He would
scamper from fishing boat to fishing boat, listening to the old Italian fishermen speak in their native dialects about the
day's weather and their catches.
Whenever he got into trouble with one of the fishermen, Big Boy would hurry off to an old Model T truck parked across
the street from the wharf's fish houses. Inside was his grandfather, Cottardo Peter Stagnaro I, who had a special
fondness for his last grandson, given the name Big Boy at birth because he had weighed only one pound and had nearly
died in a pool of blood.
Cottardo I was in his seventies and permanently injured, the victim of a boating accident years earlier, but there was still
a fierceness to his presence as he watched the final days of his life through the windshield of the fish truck.
"I was his pet. Nobody could touch me when I was with him," says Big Boy. "He couldn't walk anymore, but he seemed
somehow larger than life. I always knew that as long as I was with him, I was safe. Nobody—and I mean nobody—ever
crossed him."
The man nobody ever crossed was born in Riva Trigoso, Italy in 1859. By the time he was 10, he was a veteran seaman
on merchant ships sailing along the Mediterranean Coast. By the time he was 15, he had crossed the Atlantic three
times. In 1874, while his vessel was unloading cargo on the old Santa Cruz Railroad Wharf, he jumped ship and decided
to call Santa Cruz his new home.
The young sailor had four sisters in Riva Trigoso, and in the ensuing decades he traveled back and forth between Italy
and America, eventually bringing three of his sisters, their husbands and nearly 60 other families from Riva to the west
side banks of Santa Cruz. For over 40 years, "La Barranca," as it was called, hosted a thriving Italian fishing colony—and
Cottardo I was the recognized patriarch.
1
�Maria Zolezzi Stagnaro, Cottardo's wife, immigrated to the United States in 1898, bringing along with her an adolescent
son, Cottardo II. In 1900, at the family home on Bay Street, she gave birth to another son, Malio, and a waterfront
dynasty was born.
In the next half-century, Cottardo I and II, Malio and Cottardo II's children fashioned a mini-wharf empire, the C.
Stagnaro Fishing Corporation, which would come to include two restaurants, coffee shops, a dozen fishing vessels, three
speed boats, a fish market and a marine fuel station.
"There were so many of us," says Big Boy, "we had to expand. We didn't have any choice. During the Depression, our
business actually grew because of all the hard work we put into it and all the hungry mouths we had to feed. That's
when the family got the nickname the '1001 Stagnaros.'
"The wharf was always exciting back then," he emphasizes. "I couldn't wait for the school bell to ring so that I could go
down there and work. I lived for that every day.
"The amount of fish brought in when I was young was incredible. Tons of salmon, sea bass, rock cod, sole and sable fish.
There were 75 to 100 boats unloading their catches on any given day, and as soon as the boats were emptied, the men
were back at work mending their nets and baiting their lines."
When it was built in 1914, the cast side of the wharf was lined with a series of davits, small hand cranes that hoisted the
fishing fleet to the dock whenever rough weather was imminent. The building of the small craft harbor in the 1960s
brought about the demise of the davits and their departure changed the wharf forever. "The wharf lost its color then,"
says Big Boy. "We'll never bring those days back."
Big Boy is not the only Stagnaro nostalgic about the wharf's colorful past. If her younger brother's first memories are of
fishing, Gilda Stagnaro's are of truck rides with her Uncle Malio and five-cent ice cream cones. "I remember my father
buying us ice cream and of listening to the beautiful Italian language of the fishermen," she reminisces. "It was music to
my ears, like a serenade or an aria all the time."
While Big Boy and the rest of her brothers worked daily on the boats and in the fish market, Gilda's initial destiny
appeared to be far away from the wharf. She was an honors student in languages at Santa Cruz High and had dreams of
serving in the diplomatic corps as a translator. Her first job was with the Chamber of Commerce in 1941, but by the end
of World War II she was back working full time at the wharf with the rest of her family.
"I filled in everywhere at first—in the coffee shop, the market, handling fish and game tags," she says smiling. "But after
a while, I wound up running the coffee shop. You might say I found my niche."
In 1972 the Stagnaros renovated their Sports Fishers Coffee Shop into a full, 134-seat seafood restaurant--Gilda's--and
the lady after whom the restaurant was named found herself putting in 18-hour-and-over days, but never time to marry.
"I ran myself pretty hard," she acknowledges in a characteristic understatement, "but the family needed me, so I was
there."
In the 1980s, Gilda's restaurant is the last remaining holding of the original C. Stagnaro Corporation. A series of family
deaths, the decline of the local fisheries and difficult business conditions all contributed to the family releasing itself
from its various enterprises. Only Big Boy, Gilda, and Big Boy's children, Dino (recently brought in as a manager) and
Laura, remain working in the family enterprise.
"It gets harder and harder each year to make it," declares Big Boy. "Increase in food and labor costs, insurance and rents
have all added to our problems. Plus, with all the new businesses on the wharf, parking isn't adequate out here during
peak periods. We don't get the kind of overflow crowds in the restaurant as often as we used to."
According to Gilda, the city-sponsored expansion on the wharf has been a mixed blessing.
2
�"I feel we were ready for a facelift, but there was a lack of forethought in respect to business conditions. The increase in
the number of businesses—with all their additional employees, never mind their customers—greatly exceeds the
increase in parking."
In spite of the business demands placed upon them by the modern era, the Stagnaros still manage to bring a little of the
cherished old days into their restaurant.
"We don't know everyone like we used to," says Gilda, "but our forte here is still the personal touch.
"You know, this hustle-and-bustle today never stops me from recognizing how fortunate we are to live here in Santa
Cruz. I always take time to look out the windows and marvel at the sunsets. I used to want to go out and see the world,
but now the world comes to me. Visitors from all over the globe walk in each day, and we always try to make them feel
at home."
Indeed, it is a lot like the old days, and even if her spaghetti sauce isn't quite as good as her mother's used to be, her
smile is just as warm, and the lines around her and her brother's eyes have such rich stories to tell.
Sources
This article is a chapter from: Santa Cruz is in the Heart, by Geoffrey Dunn. Capitola Book Company. Copyright
1985 Geoffrey Dunn. Reproduced with the permission of the author.
The content of this article is the responsibility of the individual author. It is the Library's intent to provide accurate local history
information. However, it is not possible for the Library to completely verify the accuracy of individual articles obtained from a
variety of sources. If you believe that factual statements in a local history article are incorrect and can provide documentation,
please contact the Webmaster.
3
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Santa Cruz History Articles
Description
An account of the resource
Original articles by library staff and by local authors and material from historical books.
Articles on Santa Cruz County history, many with illustrations, are available here.
The Santa Cruz Public Libraries is grateful to our local historians and their publishers for giving permission to include their articles. The content of the articles is the responsibility of the individual authors.
It is the library's intent to provide accurate information. However, it is not possible to completely verify the accuracy of individual articles obtained from a variety of sources. If you believe that factual statements in an article are incorrect and can provide documentation, please contact the library.
Publisher
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Santa Cruz Public Libraries
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Identifier
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AR-073
Title
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1001 Stagnaros
Creator
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Dunn, Geoffrey
Source
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This article is a chapter from: <i>Santa Cruz is in the Heart</i>, by Geoffrey Dunn. Capitola Book Company, 1985.
Publisher
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Santa Cruz Public Libraries
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1985
Format
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Text
Language
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En
Type
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ARTICLE
Rights
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Copyright 1985 Geoffrey Dunn. Reproduced with the permission of the author.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Stagnaro Family
Italian American Community
Fish and Fishing
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Santa Cruz (City)
Biography
Business
Industries
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0200cde36413ec0670e1e5bdcfe1f776
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Text
140 Years of Railroading in Santa Cruz County
By Rick Hamman
Introduction
To describe the last 140 years of area railroading in 4,000 words, or two articles, seems a reasonable task.
After all, how much railroad history could there be in such a small county?
In the summer of 1856 Davis & Jordon opened their horse powered railroad to haul lime from the Rancho
Canada Del Rincon to their wharf in Santa Cruz. Today, the Santa Cruz, Big Trees & Pacific Railway continues to
carry freight and passengers through those same Rancho lands to Santa Cruz. Between the time span of these
two companies there has been no less than 37 different railroads operating at one time or another within
Santa Cruz County. From these various lines has already come sufficient history to fill at least eight books and
numerous historical articles. Many of these writings are available in your local library.
As we begin this piece the author hopes to give the reader an overview and insight into what railroads have
meant for Santa Cruz County, what they provide today, and what their relevance could be for tomorrow.
Before There Were Railroads
As people first moved west in search of gold, and later found reason to remain, Santa Cruz County offered
many inducements. It was already well known because of its proximity to the former Alta California capital at
Monterey, its Mission at Santa Cruz and its excellent weather. Further, within its boundaries were vast mineral
deposits in the form of limestone and aggregates, rich alluvial farming soils and fertile orchard lands, and
billions of standing board feet of uncut pine and redwood lumber to supply the construction of the San
Francisco and Monterey bay areas. All that was needed was a way to transport people and materials. Thus, as
the area entered the early 1860's, local stage and freight lines were found in operation, wharves had been
established around Monterey Bay at Santa Cruz, Soquel, Aptos, Pajaro, Moss Landing and Monterey, and local
sloops, schooners, sailing ships and small steamships plied the deep waters.
Early local stage transportation was usually provided by McLaughlin's daily Concord Coaches. A typical trip to
San Francisco left Santa Cruz at 5:00 A.M. and stopped at points like Soquel, Aptos and Watsonville on the way
to San Juan (Bautista). Usually that stage met the Monterey to San Jose stage at 1:00 P.M. in San Juan for the
1
�final leg of the trip via Gilroy. The next morning you were on William Hall's stage to Alviso where you made
connections with the steamship Sophie McLane for the 9:00 A .M., four-hour trip to San Francisco. If you were
a more hearty soul you took McLaughlin's stage from San Jose up the Peninsula to San Francisco for a second
full day's travel. The cost, not including the overnight in San Jose, was $2.00 each way.
Famed team handler Charley Parkhurst (found to be a woman at death) was one of the excellent whip's for
McLaughlin. In later years when Hall operated the stage line, the "Incomparable Henry Whinnery" was usually
the driver. Likewise, early famous whips turned proprietors; Ward & Colgrove, were offering an exhilarating,
short-cut ride over the mountains by the late 1860's. It was a great trip on warm summer days, but terrible
during the winter. If you were more inclined to comfortable passage in your own stateroom, and could pay the
fare of $5.00 to $9.00 each way, you could go by steamship. Davis & Jordoti's Santa Cruz and Queen of the
West left the wharf at 9:00 P.M. and had you in San Francisco the following morning by 5:00 AM. After a full
day of business you could reboard at 2:00 PM and be back in Santa Cruz by 10:00 PM that same night. The 157
ton steamship, Salinas, under captain Robert Sudden's watchful eye, provided similar service from Brennan's
Landing up Elkhorn Slough (later Port Watsonville), Moss Landing and Soquel.
Railroad Links Whispered
After almost fifteen years of planning, reorganization, and sporadic construction, the San Francisco and San
Jose Railroad was completed in January of 1864 between the same named cities. While it greatly reduced
travel times for local and long distance travelers, its high cost kept other services in operation. In 1865 the
Southern Pacific Railroad Company was incorporated to build that portion of the Atlantic & Pacific
transcontinental line between San Francisco and the Southern California/Arizona Territory border at the
Colorado River. The original map indicated the line would be routed along the coast to Santa Cruz, on to
Aptos, over to Watsonville and then south down the Salinas Valley.
By 1868 the hopes for a railroad in Santa Cruz County had been dashed. The Southern Pacific had been taken
over by Central Pacific interests (Crocker,Hunington, Hopkins and Stanford) and had purchased the San
Francisco & San Jose. Their planned route were now south from San Jose to Gilroy, on to Hollister and then
Bakersfield.
Connections Everywhere
The Southern Pacific plans, however, were far greater than any imagined. They incorporated the Western
Pacific to build from the Central Pacific at Sacramento, to Stockton, Tracy and San Jose. They went north into
Oregon, and south down the San Joaquin Valley. Later to be known as the "Octopus", they laid out lines
everywhere. One of those lines, the 45 mile California Southern, was set up to build from Gilroy via Pajaro to
Salinas. On November 21st, 1871 the first scheduled train left Pajaro for San Francisco.
During the years from 1865 to1871 much talk and planning had gone on by local folks regarding the need for a
railroad into Santa Cruz County to get the wheels of industry and commerce moving. Lead by Fred Hihn, a
railroad committee had been formed in 1869 to pursue such a railroad. After much discussion, debate and an
approved ballot measure, the County came out in support of the Santa Cruz & Watsonville Railroad around
2
�the time service to Pajaro began. The plan: the County would finance it, the Southern Pacific would take it
over.
To shorten a very complicated piece of important history, suffice it to say that a nationwide finanial panic
found the Southern Pacific over-extended in 1873. Its plans to build south beyond Hollister were put on hold.
Other plans to be part of the Santa Cruz to Watsonville Railroad were canceled.
This left the County of Santa Cruz again without a railroad. Undaunted, Fred Hihn convinced the local folks to
build the railroad themselves. Rather than building it as a standard gauge line like the Southern Pacific (4 ft, 8
inches between the rails) he opted to make the line narrow gauge (3 ft. between the rails). This meant the line
could be built for much less because the cars and engines were lighter and the track and structures required
underneath them were much less substantial.
On May 16th, 1875 the first revenue train in the county ran from Santa Cruz to Aptos. Starting on the weekend
of May 22nd, fifty cent excursion service between the same points began. It was hoped that full service to
Watsonville and Pajaro would be in effect by January1st of 1876. Unfortunately, one very bad rainy season
later, the first through train finally did happen on May 7th, 1876. Thus, the Santa Cruz Railroad, as it had come
to be known, was a reality.
At the same time the 21 mile Santa Cruz Railroad was under construction, another 7 mile narrow gauge
railroad from Santa Cruz to Felton was also being built. The Santa Cruz & Felton as it was known had already
begun its service between the same named communities in mid October of 1875. In addition to the railroad, a
1378 ft. wharf had been built at Santa Cruz along with an eight mile flume from Felton to the Cunningham Mill
above Boulder Creek. By the time the Santa Cruz Railroad began its operations, lumber had been going from
the Cunningham Mill to waiting ships at the wharf in Santa Cruz, over the SC&F, for many months.
While the Santa Cruz Railroad seemed like a good idea, several factors would cause its downfall. First, being a
different gauge than the Southern Pacific at Pajaro meant that cars were not interchangeable and all freight
and passengers had to be transferred to different trains at Pajaro. Likewise, the Pacific Coast Steamship
Company, a major California coastal water carrier, was offering better freight rates at the wharf in Santa Cruz
than was any joint rate offered by the Santa Cruz/Southern Pacific combination. Therefore, it saw very little
freight business. Finally, a bad storm in 1881 and poor financial conditions forced the Santa Cruz Railroad to
sell to the Southern Pacific at a loss. It should be noted that a similar narrow gauge railroad, the Monterey &
Salinas Valley, was built between the Southern Pacific at Salinas and the wharf at Monterey on the opposite
side of the Bay at about the same time. It suffered the same fate for the same reasons.
Big Money Comes to Town
As soon as the Southern Pacific took over the lines around Monterey Bay they pumped in lots of capital.
Replacing the rails with standard gauge made both lines more competitive. Through freight and passenger
trains serving Santa Cruz, Soquel/Camp Capitola, Aptos and Watsonville were in operation to San Francisco by
November of 1883. At last, Santa Cruz County had its primary connection. Actually, they had two such
connections.
Comstock millionaires James Flood and James Fair became well aware of the wealth of Santa Cruz County as
they planned for a narrow gauge railroad to Colorado back in 1876. Thus, it was decided that rather than end
3
�their railroad in San Francisco, they would extend it from Alameda, down the east side of San Francisco Bay to
Santa Clara, west to Los Gatos and then through the Santa Cruz Mountains to Santa Cruz. Rather than build
unnecessary new lines, they would take over the Santa Cruz & Felton. Fair knew, because of his mining
engineer experience, he could put in 12,000 feet of tunnels, keep the summit down to 900 feet and cut 40 rail
miles out to Santa Cruz, Suffice it to say the line, the South Pacific Coast, was in place by May of 1880. For a
two year period it was actually possible to ship a narrow gauge carload all the way from Watsonville to San
Francisco via the Santa Cruz and South Pacific Coast railroads.
With two railroads and the Pacific Coast Steamship Company providing local freight and passenger
competition for many years, the economy of Santa Cruz County was that much better off. The multiple
service, forcing freight rates lower, allowed local shippers to compete effectively with their counterparts from
other areas and markets within California.
Growth and Expansion
Once good rail service had been established into and out of Santa Cruz County the resources therein were
accessible for the tremendous growth and expansion taking place within the state. There was black powder
from the California Powder Works on the San Lorenzo, lime from Davis & Cowell and the Santa Cruz Lime
Company, and clay for bricks from the Santa Clara Valley Mill & Lumber Company. And of course there was
lumber.
While there were several small independent lumber companies, the Dougherty Brothers of San Jose (Santa
Clara Valley Mill & Lumber Company) had a basic lock on the Northern Santa Cruz Mountains. From 1881 to
1887 their mill at Zayante fed 20 to 40 carloads a day to the South Pacific Coast. From 1887 until 1914, after
the South Pacific Coast extended their line seven miles from Felton to Boulder Creek, the SCVM&Co. harvested
most of the first growth trees in the San Lorenzo Basin. During this time they built their own six mile line
known as the Boulder Creek & Pescadero to service that cutting. The Dougherty's also had the ear of Timothy
Hopkins and the Southern Pacific interests regarding the southern mountains. In 1883, the seven mile long
Aptos Creek Canyon lay basically virgin. Under the name of the Loma Prieta Lumber Company and the Loma
Prieta Railroad, they started out of Aptos and for the next fifteen years harvested the Canyon. Likewise Fred
Hihn & Co. were harvesting the Valencia Creek Canyon, or the adjacent ridge. Hihn built his own railroad
(narrow gauge) from the mill into downtown Aptos. These two operations put Aptos on the map as a
significant freight junction.
Fred Hihn would also harvest the majority of the upper Soquel out of his Laurel mill and the Gold Gulch
Canyon at Felton. Both locations had their own railroads.
A historical note should be made here. Many ecologists of today cry clear cutting ruined the forests. For the
most part, the local forests were not clear-cut. When a mill was constructed, economies dictated a mill be
constructed to cut large trees or small trees. For the big companies it was the large trees. Once these were cut
the forest floor was opened up to light that their branches had hidden. This made all the small trees grow.
Today, there are three times as many full growth trees as there used to be, albeit a lot smaller.
4
�Freight, of course, was not the only business. The attraction of the beaches and the surrounding forests was a
natural passenger draw. Camp Capitola, Spreckel's Aptos Hotel, the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, the Big Trees, all
kept the passenger trains loaded.
By the turn of the century, Southern Pacific had taken over the South Pacific Coast and Santa Cruz County
would see nothing but continued growth.
As Santa Cruz County turned the page to a new century, the year 1900 promised nothing but continued
growth and expansion for the Central Coast Region. The primary mode of modern transportation was the
railroad and the local area was well represented. The Southern Pacific already had outstanding standard gauge
freight and passenger service around Monterey Bay. Through connecting service to San Jose, San Francisco,
Oakland and all points east was being provided by passenger trains with all steel cars, pulled by high wheeled,
fast-stepping, American type steam locomotives. Such trains were routinely seen charging down the track at
the break neck speed of 60 miles per hour. In just a short three decades, travel time from Santa Cruz County to
San Francisco had been reduced from days to hours. Likewise, the economic wheels of commerce and industry
moved ever faster and in larger capacity.
In addition to standard gauge via the Salinas, Pajaro and Santa Clara Valleys, the Southern Pacific was also
operating the pristine narrow gauge through the Santa Cruz Mountains. Daily trains were crewed by well
known locals like Engineer Bill Dow; Fireman Fred Reynolds; Baggage man Brick Roy and Conductor Daisy
Holienback. Holienback, who used to wear a daisy in his coat lapel, was so well known that the Santa Cruz
Sentinel and the Boulder Creek Mountain Echo used to routinely refer to his train as the Daisy Flyer.
Imagine, there was local train service available to most of the major population centers in the county. In
addition, frequent stops included forgotten places such as Hatchery, Brackney, Quail Hollow and Siesta on the
Boulder Creek Branch. What about Clem's, Dougherty's, Eccles or Rincon on the hill line. Then, of course, there
was Branciforte, Ellicott, and San Andreas on the coast run via Aptos. Lastly, let's not forget Molino and Ready
on the Aptos Creek Branch.
The impact of the bus, truck and automobile was 20 years away. Anybody who was on top of the technology
of the day knew about trains. Boys dreamed of being engineers. Girls dreamed of the places where these
ornate conveyances could take them. People in general viewed trains as part of the community. They saw
them as the logical way to move large quantities of people and freight long distances, for a reasonable
investment. Trains represented growth, a better economy and a burgeoning country on the move.
The Octopus Grows
As the first years of the new century began an ever expanding network of railroads was continuing to follow
westward growth and development. This was especially true of Santa Cruz County.
On March 31, 1901 the Southern Pacific completed the extension of their Salinas line to Los Angeles, and the
first through train from the City of Angels to San Francisco, via Watsonville Junction (Pajaro), took place.
Out of Watsonville, Claus Spreckels' narrow gauge Pajaro Valley Railroad had begun. The "PV", as it was
affectionately called, was providing mixed service (freight and passenger in one train) to the huge Pacific Coast
Steamship facility at Moss Landing to Salinas and the largest sugar plant in the world at Spreckels. Likewise,
5
�the Watsonville Transportation Company had constructed an electric line from downtown out to a new wharf
at Port Rogers (later Port Watsonville when Rogers got caught with his fingers in the till). The company even
had its own steamship, the F.A. Kilburn. Over in the eastern corner of the county the little community of
Chittenden had been established. From there the San Juan Pacific Railway was operating a seven mile line, the
Mission Route, to San Juan Bautista. They planned on expanding their line to Salinas, Hollister and
Watsonville.
On a much larger scale, Santa Cruz County was looking forward to its second transcontinental connection by
1905. Jay Gould was pushing his Western Pacific from Salt Lake City to Oakland. A branch line was being laid
out from the main line at Stockton to Turlock and over Pacheco Pass into Gilroy. At the same time the Ocean
Shore had started building down the Coast from San Francisco and up from Santa Cruz. In addition, they had
incorporated the Ocean Shore & Eastern to run from Santa Cruz to Watsonville, where it would connect with
the San Juan Pacific Railway. It was obvious to everyone that the Western Pacific was going to gain access to
the Salinas Valley and San Francisco via Pacheco Pass, the San Juan Pacific Railway and the Ocean Shore.
To attempt to block all this action, the Southern Pacific had incorporated the Coast Line Railway and had even
begun construction right next to the Ocean Shore from Santa Cruz to the new cement Plant under
construction at Davenport. They started standard gauging the mountain line north from Santa Cruz and south
from Los Gatos to further compete with the Ocean Shore. They built the Bayshore Cutoff across San Francisco
Bay and the Los Gatos cutoff from South Palo Alto. When all this was completed the Southern Pacific would be
able to offer service from San Francisco to Santa Cruz in two hours and forty minutes. That just happened to
be the same planned travel time for the Ocean Shore. Because the Santa Cruz area and the mountain route
were such popular tourist draws, the famed Sunset Limited and other name trains were to be rerouted via
Aptos, Santa Cruz and Los Gatos at Watsonville.
During this period the Southern Pacific also surveyed branches up Soquel Creek Canyon to connect with the
hill line at Laurel and from Boulder Creek to Pescadero to connect with their new Coast Line Railway. Based on
all the other ongoing local activity, it looked like construction of both was iniminent.
Fate and Ma Nature See It Otherwise
April 18, 1906 was to be a page turner for California. That was especially true for local Santa Cruz County
railroads. By the time the earth had stopped shaking the future course of local railroading had been changed
forever. First, the 6207 ft. summit tunnel on the hill route had collapsed. It would be three years before it
would be repaired and the hill route reopened to a new standard gauge service. Second, the majority of the
Ocean Shore contractors construction equipment would fall into the sea at Devil's Slide. Also, the fire in San
Francisco would financially wipe out the majority of many local backers. The Ocean Shore would never be
more than two branch lines. One, which would operate from San Francisco to just south of Half Moon Bay;
and the other from Santa Cruz to Swanton, where the San Vicente Lumber Company would build its own ninemile railroad to log the north coast mountains.
During 1907, just when everything was starting to look up, a small financial panic occurred across the United
States. While the rest of the Country was able to recover rather quickly, its effect, coupled with those of the
earthquake, brought railroad construction to a standstill in California.
6
�The final blow came in 1908 when one of the worst rainstorms ever recorded hit California. By the time the
sun came out, many railroads were looking at unbelievable maintenance costs just to reopen their lines. With
the beginning of 1909 there would be no more major railroad construction in California. Most of those that
were in process, like the Western Pacific to Gilroy, were cancelled.
The Golden Era for Local Railroads
The period from 1910 to 1920 was a great time for railroads. All the branch lines and private lines were active.
The line over the Santa Cruz Mountains had been reopened as a standard gauge and six daily trains made the
run to San Francisco via the cutoffs. The track along the coast was upgraded. Even the Ocean Shore saw a
margin of success. Although they never completed their line, they did put on a Stanley Steamer bus between
the two branches to offer a sort of through service.
As of 1918 there were 18 passenger and six freight trains a day arriving and departing Santa Cruz. Among the
many was the popular Scenic Local which operated from San Francisco to Monterey via Los Gatos, Santa Cruz,
Aptos and Watsonville. Also, there were the San Francisco and Santa Cruz Limiteds. For a while there were
even through trains to and from Sacramento and Bakersfield.
Trains were heavily traveled by high school students among others. Most such students in the northern part of
the county went to school in either Santa Cruz or Boulder Creek. As a result, riding the train weekdays to
school was the accepted way of travel.
Changes in Technologies, Life Styles and Markets
By 1920, the automobile, bus and truck were beginning to replace the train for many local and not so local
trips. More and more government was supporting the new transportation with better and a larger number of
roads. Likewise, people found greater convenience in being able to go from origin to destination in the same
vehicle. Furthermore, busses offered greater economies when transporting fewer people than could fill a one
car train with a crew of four. Finally, larger communities demanded better light delivery of products and goods
in shorter times. Thus, truck service quickly replaced the train in the transport of small goods and express.
Because the railroads were privately funded, they could not compete on a practical or financial level when
motor vehicles via highways were being subsidized by government.
As the 1920's progressed, most of the first growth forested land would be logged off and the lumber industry
would wind down to almost nothing. In addition, changes in construction would see freight shipments shift
from wood products to sand and gravel.
The arrival of the depression was the beginning of the end for passenger service and some freight lines. By
1930, the Aptos Branch of the Southern Pacific was gone altogether and the Boulder Creek and Davenport
branches saw only freight service. Everything that operated out of Watsonville came to an end during the
1920 to 1930 period. This would include the PV line, the San Juan Pacific and the Watsonville Transportation
Company. On the North Coast, the Ocean Shore ceased service in 1920. It was taken over by the San Vicente
Lumber Company and run for two more years and then it and the company's nine mile logging line was
abandoned. One bright spot in an otherwise sour time was the Suntan Special.
7
�In 1927 The Southern Pacific decided to begin a train on Sundays, during the summer, over the hill from San
Jose to Santa Cruz, using its unneeded weekday commute coaches. They reasoned that a more relaxed
recreation trip through the mountains to places like the Big Trees Grove and the Beach/Boardwalk might do
the trick. It was an immediate success. Before long they were running two sections just to handle the
ridership. Soon, third and fourth sections were added from Oakland and San Francisco. It was not uncommon
for 5,000 people a day to be riding the Suntans.
On February 8th, 1938 the crew at Watsonville Junction hooked up the old combination baggage/coach to
Engine 2920 and the last passenger run was made to Santa Cruz via Aptos and Capitola.
In late January of 1940 it began to rain in the Santa Cruz Mountains. By the time it had stopped major portions
of the line had been washed out. Because of the competition of the new highway over the hill, a faster bus
service, and freight trains being rerouted via Watsonville in 1939, the line was never reopened. Thus,
passenger service in Santa Cruz County was over.
Source
Copyright 1996 Aptos Times. This article was first published in two segments in the March 1996 and April 1,
1996 issues of the Aptos Times. It is reproduced here by generous permission of the publisher of the Aptos
Times and the author, Rick Hamman.
It is the library’s intent to provide accurate information, however, it is not possible for the library to completely
verify the accuracy of all information. If you believe that factual statements in a local history article are
incorrect and can provide documentation, please contact the library.
8
�
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140 Years of Railroading in Santa Cruz County
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Pajaro Valley Railroad
South Pacific Coast Railroad
Santa Cruz Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
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Hamman, Rick
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Aptos Times, in March 1996 and April 1, 1996 issues.
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Text
A Brief History of the Pajaro Property Protective Society:
Vigilantism in the Pajaro Valley During 19th Century
By Phil Reader
PART I
INTRODUCTION
"No arrests: for nobody cares."
"Horse Stealing - Hardly a night passes in Pajaro that horse thieves do not visit the ranches around and carry
off horses. Saturday night last about sixty head were stolen, from various ranches - a band of forty from one.
The thieves turned loose the colts and poorer horses, and decamped with the balance. No arrests; for nobody
cares." So lamented the Pajaro Times during the spring of 1864.
On another occasion a reporter for the Times wrote, "On the same night four horses were stolen in this
neighborhood - two from Mr. Millard and two from William F. White. The telegraph wires were cut that night,
and its fair to presume by the thieves" .... "There can be no doubt of the existence of a fearless and ingenious
band of horse thieves in this vicinity. One thing is certain, should any of these rascals be caught, the citizens of
this place will not want for the punishment inflicted by the tardy course of law."
On September 22, 1866 in the Times again, "HORSE THIEVES - The last few weeks there had been a perfect
feast of horse stealing throughout Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. No arrests have yet been made, and no
jury will ever have a chance to try such culprits when arrested."
And again, "The Pajaro Valley the past week has been the theater of robberies and murder - almost every day
brings to light some new crime" .... "In this town we have two constables and two night watchmen; and the
people demand of them vigilance. Such a thing as an arrest for crime is almost unheard of here."
And so it went throughout the 1850s and 1860s.
On September 3, 1866, the strangled body of William Roach, controversial ex-sheriff of Monterey county was
found stuffed into a well near his ranch at Corralitos. Then on the night of September 25, 1869, Alex Wilkins, a
popular Negro barber from Watsonville, was robbed and murdered as he rode home from a Fandango hall at
Whisky Hill.
1
�Upon reporting the Wilkins killing, the Watsonville Pajaronian remarked, "The officers know well who the
assassins are, and they will probably be caught. We are informed that there are at present quite a number of
desperate characters at Whisky Hill and in the settlement at the willows, on the San Jose road. Some means
should be taken to break up that settlement and Whisky Hill as well." In spite of the sensational nature of the
crimes, the prominence of the victims, and the ready assurances of the newspaper reporter, no action was
ever taken by the authorities on either of these murders. No arrests were made, no trials held, and no justice
meted out.
The above quotes quite readily attest to the ineptness of local law enforcement during the crucial early
decades following the advent of statehood in 1850. The codification of statutes and the systems of
jurisprudence were still in their formative stages as was the jurisdictional boundaries of municipalities. The
elective office of County Sheriff was considered one of political patronage, a plum doled out by the patriarchal
leaders of the currently reigning political party. A background in law enforcement was seldom a prerequisite
for nomination to the office. The duties of the sheriff, at the time, included those of tax collector. While the
salary was minimal, it could be augmented by the collection of taxes and fees of varying types of which the
officer was allowed to keep a percentage. This percentage, in some circumstances, ranged upwards to 50%.
While reporting and auditing procedures were limited or non-existent.
In the foothill counties of California where various mining taxes, including the infamous Foreign Miner's Tax,
were levied, the "collector's fees" reached staggering proportion. It was a system ripe for plunder and the
foundation of many a fortune was laid by these early sheriffs. Santa Cruz and Monterey counties were no
exception. The quality of men who filled the position here can be assessed by the fact that no less than eight
former sheriffs from these two counties would be either jailed or substantially fined as a result of cases
stemming from malfeasance while in office.
When the occasional man possessing the double virtues of honesty and bravery did manage to find his way
into the sheriffalty, he was quite often rendered ineffective by a shortage of manpower to assist him in
accomplishing his duties. He was usually allowed but one part-time deputy and had to rely on a volunteer
citizenry to make up the posses which had to be formed from time to time. This, in addition to the wide
ranging geographical isolation of the region, did indeed make the establishment of a peaceful and orderly
community a practical impossibility.
Nowhere was the absence of law and order more acutely felt than in the Pajaro Valley. Distant as it was from
the county seats of Santa Cruz and Monterey, it sat unprotected from the marauding bands of outlaws and
horse thieves who plied their trade along a broad corridor which ran down the coast between Alameda and
Santa Barbara counties. As they passed through San Juan Bautista driving their herds of stolen stock before
them, it was quite easy to sneak over the hills into Pajaro and pick up a few more prized horses or cattle from
the ranches there. Another attraction in the valley was the village of Whisky Hill (now Freedom) where the
fandango halls and brothels always welcomed these bandits.
During this time, Watsonville was a divided community. In the town itself, the commercial and business
district was experiencing a period of rapid growth. Its American born constituency was at odds with the
foreign born farmers, ranchers, and stockmen that lived in the outlying areas of the valley. The division was
not only cultural, but also political and religious. The farmers for the most part, were Irish Catholics, who
voted Democratic as a block; while the business element was both Protestant and Republican.
2
�The two groups took their politics quite seriously. Elections, whether local or national, were hard fought
emotionally charged affairs. The Civil War years, in particular, brought a number of extremely volatile issues to
the forefront - including those of states rights and slavery - and once again, the community was polarized. The
majority of the townspeople supported the Union while the Irish and southern-born farmers sided with the
Confederacy. Time after time these two forces clashed for control over the reins of government and, on
occasion, they stood on the brink of open warfare.
THE POLITICS OF DIVISION
Abraham Lincoln carried the presidential elections of 1860 and 1864 for the newly formed Republican Party
and the ensuing great Civil War appeared to vindicate his platform assuring that party's domination of the
American political landscape for the next generation. These events left the Democrats hopelessly splintered,
thoroughly demoralized, and bearing a taint of disloyalty. With Lincoln's assassination in 1865, reconstruction
of the nation was left to the radical Republicans in the legislature who moved quickly to consolidate their
power.
On a local level, the war years saw a similar shift in power. Up to this point, Santa Cruz county had been solidly
Democratic, but the 1856 election marked the beginning of the erosion of its influence. With the ranker of the
early 1860s, party membership was sent into a tailspin; reaching an all-time low following the war. Yet a cadre
of politically active old-line Democrats continued to wield a tremendous amount of power over local voters.
Perhaps the most controversial election held in Santa Cruz during the 19th century was the poll that was taken
on November 5, 1869. At issue was the presidential race between General Ulysses S. Grant, hero of the late
war, nominee of the Republican Party and former New York Governor Horatio Seymour, who ran under the
Democratic banner. Strategist for the Seymour campaign knew that their only hope for victory was to focus
public attention on the question of money and repayment of the war debt.
During the war, Lincoln's government had issued well over $400 million in greenbacks and, at the war's end,
much of this "new" currency was withdrawn from circulation. The Democrats now proposed the reissuing the
notes, thereby encouraging inflation. This idea held great appeal for farmers and ranchers with long-term
mortgages, who would likely to benefit from this "softening" of money. For their part, the Republicans worked
to keep the passions of war alive. In a savage campaign, they waved the "bloody shirt" alleging wartime
treason by all who had supported the Democratic Party.
The local press - consisting of the Santa Cruz Sentinel, the Santa Cruz Weekly Times, and the Watsonville
Pajaronian - were all staunch Republican periodicals and, in a rare display of unity, they launched a series of
scathing, well-orchestrated, emotionally based attacks upon the character of all local, state, and national
Democratic candidates. One common ploy was to call into question the patriotism and loyalty of anyone
supporting the opposition. These personal antagonisms bordered on slander and were the cause of a number
of violent incidents, the foremost of which took place August 28, 1868 on Main Street in Watsonville.
For several months, Charles Cottle, editor of the Pajaronian, had been taking editorial pot-shots at Rev. O.P.
Fitzgerald, the popular Democratic State Schools Superintendent. In mid-August, Fitzgerald arrived at
Watsonville to attend the Teacher's Institute. At the conclusion of the meeting, "Old Fitz" adjoined to a nearby
saloon for a round of drinks before catching a late train. Upon hearing of the superintendent's "indiscretion",
3
�Cottle dashed off an editorial accusing Fitzgerald of "provoking the contempt of every decent man" for going
"into a certain rum-hole in this town with a crowd of men and with them drink at the bar!" ... "this for a
Methodist minister and a man who holds the position he does in our educational department."
"Think of this man, who has the education of the children of this great State in charge, lending his influence to
the side of drunkenness, gambling, and of everything which whisky leads to! Spot him, good men! Watch him,
fathers! Keep a firm eye on him, mothers! Pray for him, Christian associations!" the editor concluded his
mocking treatise.
The "rum-hole" to which he was referring was the Temple Saloon, located in the Hildreth building on the
corner of Main and Maple streets; its owner was Charlie O'Neal, a long time Watsonville resident and a
functionary in the Democratic Party. O'Neal took great exception to the way Mr. Cottle had characterized his
establishment, as well as the personal smears upon Fitzgerald.
A few days later, he caught the unsuspecting editor out on Main Street and decided to treat the miscreant to a
dose of his own medicine - southern style. The barkeep administered such a sound thrashing to the wayward
journalist that it became necessary for him to spend a few days in bed, far away from the rigorous demands of
his lofty editorial post. This incident was, of course, widely reported and was most frequently alluded to as the
extreme to which a Democrat would go to "force his mongrel political ideals upon his fellow man."
Another strategy employed by the Republicans on the local as well as national level was to accuse the
Democrats of the wholesale issuing of forged naturalization papers to many of the new Irish and German
immigrants who were flooding into the country during this time period. These bogus documents would allow
the newcomers to register to vote in the presidential election. And, in spite of the fact that Grant and the
Republicans were swept into office during the November balloting, many states and counties pressed on with
their investigations into the alleged voter frauds. In Santa Cruz, twenty-three people were indicted by the
Grand Jury on charges of naturalization fraud. One of these was Matt Tarpy, a rancher, and another leader in
the local Democratic Party.
Their trials were held during the month of February, 1869, at the United States District Court in San Francisco
with Judge Ogden Hoffman presiding. Tarpy's hearing became a show trial which made headlines all across the
nation. Testimony, which the prosecution attempted to suppress, brought out the fact that a "a $5,000 fund
had been collected by prominent Watsonville Republicans to insure that Tarpy was convicted." One witness,
Mr. Thomas Monahan, stated under oath that he had been offered money to change his testimony.
The next day, the jury returned a verdict of innocent in the Tarpy case, this very same judgement would be
rendered in all of the subsequent hearings. The one exception being the case against Isidore Morris, who was
found guilty. But even that verdict was overturned upon appeal.
In all, the 1868 election, marked as it was with violence, bitterness, and deception, only served to heighten the
division that already existed between the two groups. The Democrats emerged from another defeat, smarting
and resentful of the vicious tactics which had been employed against them. And in the Pajaro Valley the
farmers and stockmen, now led by Matt Tarpy, still faced the almost nightly onslaught of horse thieves and
cattle rustlers. Alienated as they felt they were from the established legal and governmental resources, and
disillusioned by the ineptness and corruption of law enforcement officials, they decided to take matters into
their own hands.
4
�PART II
MATT TARPY AND THE FOUNDING OF THE PAJARO PROPERTY PROTECTIVE SOCIETY
Matt Tarpy was born in 1826 to Patrick and Bridget Tarpy in the poverty-stricken bogs of County Mayo,
Ireland. The great famine of the late 1840s left young Tarpy with no other choice but to abandon his homeland
in favor of the gold fields of California. In the company of three of his brothers - Martin, David and John - he
arrived in San Francisco during the fall of 1851 amid the excitement caused by the newly created Committee
of Vigilance. The vigilantes were in the process of ridding the city of two organized gangs of hooligans known
as the "Hounds", made up almost entirely of retired solders of Stevenson's New York Battalion, and the
"Sidney Ducks", a band of criminals recently deported from Australia. This type of concerted action, in the face
of an inept and anemic police department, made a lasting impression on the young Irishman.
After a few months in the northern mines, during which he managed to accumulate a small stake, Tarpy
returned to San Francisco where he spent the following year as a produce broker in the Market Street district.
In 1854, the brothers moved south to Santa Cruz county where they took up a pre-emption claim of 160 acres
of land that was a part of the Rincon Rancho. They set up a lime quarrying operation which proved to be
extremely successful, but trouble was quick to plague the Tarpy boys.
Their title to the land was challenged in a law suit which was to languish in the courts until July of 1875, when
in a landmark decision, the judge ruled against the Tarpys. His finding nullified their pre-emption in favor of a
claim filed by the former owners of the land who had been granted the rancho during the Mexican era. About
the same time, an unfortunate shooting incident occurred at the quarry in which John and David Tarpy killed a
tough ex-convict named William O'Hara in a gunfight. In spite of the fact that they were acquitted of any
wrongdoing, this, and the loss of their land sent three of the brothers back to San Francisco. Only Matt was to
remain in Santa Cruz county.
Undaunted, he began to buy up land in Rancho Carneros along the San Juan Road near San Miguel Canyon in
the hills above the Pajaro Valley, where he established a large farm and cattle ranch. He then married Winifred
Conway, also an Irish immigrant, whom he had met during his San Francisco days. Soon he had a family
consisting of a wife and three young daughters. Tarpy, always politically active, involved himself in community
affairs and gained a reputation as a well-known and fiery supporter of the Democratic Party.
Because his spread and those of his neighbors were so isolated, they became a favorite target for the gangs of
horse thieves and cattle rustlers who infested the area, bivouacking in the nearby mountains. This harassment
became so constant that the County Sheriff and Township Constables seldom bothered to investigate the
steady stream of crime reports which flowed into their offices. Some of the ranchers began to accept the
presence of these outlaws on the fringes of their land as an unavoidable evil which they would have to
endure; but not so Matt Tarpy.
Boisterously decrying the incompetency of local law enforcement agents, he would outfit himself and brazenly
follow these desperados into their mountain hideouts. His rate of success in retrieving stolen cattle and horses
was so high that his fellow ranchers began to turn to him for protection in lieu of more legal authority. The
local press, especially the Pajaro Times, praised him warmly for his efforts on behalf of the beleaguered
ranchers.
5
�In 1863, it was Tarpy, not the sheriff, who captured the two Indians who had brutally murdered Frank
Williams, the landlord of the Mariposa House in Watsonville. When the Minor Gang rode into town and
peddled a string of stolen horses to local farmers and businessmen, it was he and school teacher Seneca
Carroll, who trailed them to Santa Clara county where they finally ran them to the ground. He captured the
horse thief Francis Hedden and refused to accept the reward which was offered for his apprehension.
And so it went through the years, time and time again, Tarpy put his life on the line to protect himself and his
neighbors from chicanery. Even a rough and tumble lawman like Sheriff Charlie Lincoln had to give Tarpy the
due for his courage and bravery.
On the morning of February 10, 1870, Matt Tarpy awakened to find that during the night his remuda had been
raided and several of his finest horses stolen. Within a matter of a few minutes, he armed himself and was on
the trail of the missing animals, while their tracks were still fresh. This was by no means the first time that he
had lost stock to horse thieves and it was certainly not the first time that he had set out in pursuit.
He followed the trail south through San Juan and Hollister, where at Paicines it joined the road to the New
Idria Quicksilver Mine in southern San Benito county. It was a road that Tarpy knew well, for it led to the
isolated Panoche and Vallecitos region where the outlaw gangs maintained their headquarters.
Upon reaching the Panoche, he came across the horses tied up in front of a small adobe near Panoche Creek.
Several Mexicans, who sat quietly on the porch, bolted upright when Tarpy rode into view. They scattered into
the rocks nearby and began shooting at him. He dove from his horse and opened fire with his Henry rifle.
During the melee that followed one of the thieves was killed and two wounded. Several others succeeded in
making their escape.
Tarpy, who emerged unscathed in the fight, gathered up all of the horses and rode back to Hollister bringing
with him the body of the dead bandit. While relating his adventures to a gathered crowd, he recognized one
among them as a member of the gang of horse thieves from the shoot-out. He went before a local Justice of
the Peace, swore out a warrant for the fellows arrest and took his prisoner back to Pajaro for trial. Much to
Tarpy's chagrin, the outlaw was released the following day for lack of evidence.
Cursing the state of affairs as they existed in the area, he rode into Watsonville to seek the counsel of his
friend Justice Lucius Holbrook. The two men adjourned to the Temple Saloon and held an impromptu
conference with owner Charlie O'Neal, who also had a ranch in the Pajaro Valley. It was decided that since
they could no longer count on the Sheriff or the courts for protection against the lawlessness that prevailed in
the region, it was high time for the farmers and stockmen to take some action of their own.
They placed a note in the Pajaronian advising the citizenry of a public meeting to be held on February 26, 1870
in the office of Justice Holbrook for the purpose of discussing the best means of assuring security against
depredations which were becoming so commonplace. Much to everyone's surprise, upwards to one hundred
people attended the meeting and even the newspapers sent reporters to cover the event.
It was decided by the majority present that a society for mutual protection and safety be founded to "restore
peace and tranquility to this section of the state." It was to be called The Pajaro Property Protective Society. A
Preamble stating the given purpose of the society was written as was a Constitution and By-laws.
Officers of the organization were to consist of a President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Door-keeper. There were
sections in the by-laws dealing with membership eligibility which insisted as a prerequisite a potential member
6
�be"reputed of good moral character, sober of habits, and a honorable calling or profession to obtain a living."
Another article stated that any member suspected of being a spy for friend of the thieves "may be summarily
dealt with."
Of the utmost importance was Section 4, detailing the "outside officers" of the association. This group
consisted of a Captain and four Lieutenants, whose duty it was to capture, if possible, all persons stealing
stock from any member of the society. It was these men who would voluntarily go into the field and, in the
name of the society, do the actual fighting. Naturally enough, Matt Tarpy was appointed Captain and among
his Lieutenants were Charlie O'Neal and Seneca Carroll, whose parents owned a large farm in San Miguel
Canyon.
In all, eighty-three members were enrolled into the Society at this initial meeting. They included most of the
farmers in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. Paramount among them were the Driscoll brothers, the Sheehy
brothers, Edward Breen, William Casey, William F. White, Fred Therwachter, the Bothwell brothers, J.B.H.
Cooper and Danny McCusker. This list proved that the farmer/rancher block in both counties were in solid
support of the action taken by the society.
The Watsonville Pajaronian published a formal announcement of the creation of the society as well as
excerpts from the constitution and by-laws. In reporting on the meeting, the editor issued a challenge to all
community residents to become involved in the association stating that "we have reason to believe and
expect that this is no wild mob, who will disgrace themselves and this locality by their accesses." Also
published in the same issue was a long letter written by Matt Tarpy, as a member of the society, giving a
history of the vigilante movement in California and stating the reasons for the creation of such an organization
in the Monterey Bay region.
Reaction to the establishment of the Pajaro Property Protective Society was swift in coming. The local
businessmen of the community clamored for the sheriff to take some action against Tarpy and the farmers
before something "scandalous" happened. From north county, the editor of the Santa Cruz Sentinel loudly
lamented the fact that its neighbor to the south would deem it necessary to take such potentially illegal action
in the name of self-protection. Meanwhile, around the bay at Monterey, the Monterey Republican chastised
the people of the Pajaro Valley for allowing mob rule. Tarpy responded quickly to the condemnation, retorting
that in the light of recent history, it was difficult for the Pajaro Property Protective Society to understand all of
the criticism that was being leveled at them. He dismissed their critics as "as a bunch of hypocrites" and, in a
long rambling letter to the editor of the Castroville Argus, he described the history of a number of movements
which he labeled "precursors" of the Property Protection Society.
EARLY VIGILANTE ACTIVITIES IN THE MONTEREY BAY AREA
The cities existing along the shores of the Bay of Monterey had a long, although somewhat dubious, flirtation
with vigilantism which dated back to the advent of American rule. Under Spain and Mexico, the region was
nearly crime free. Murder was almost unheard of, with the obvious exception of the killing of Padre Andreas
Quintana by a group of Indians in 1812; and even this was a reaction to the friar's innate cruelty. The
gregarious and open lifestyle of the leisure-loving peoples of Alta California so typified by the code of
hospitality almost eliminated crimes against person and property, although there was the occasional theft of a
horse or steer.
7
�With the arrival of Americans and Europeans, the instances of violence and other forms of criminality
suddenly soared. After statehood, homicide, robbery, and grand larceny became quite commonplace.
Between 1850 and 1853, there were more than forty unsolved murders in the area and this fact alone should
be enough to exemplify the hapless state of affairs which existed locally. But when you add to this the fact
that the first two sheriffs and one former county judge were indicted by the Grand Jury for crimes ranging
from robbery to grand larceny, the situation reaches a critical stage. This set of circumstances gave rise to a
vigilance committee which pre-dates, by a few months, the much publicized committee in San Francisco.
By the spring of 1851, organized gangs of horse thieves and cattle rustlers had stationed themselves in the
hills around Monterey and the bordering Salinas Valley. They were carrying off almost one hundred head of
stock per night and were never reticent about robbing and killing a traveler in this isolated region. The
predicament was such that the citizenry petitioned the California legislature to take some action to relieve
them from this virtual state of siege.
To this end, the government authorized $9,000 to mount and arm a company of men to clean out the nests of
these desperados. Selim E. Woodworth, former State Senator from Monterey was appointed as commander
of the group which was called the California Guards. In early April, 1851, they took to the field on a march that
carried them north as far as Martinez and to Tulare Lake in the south. But their adventure proved worthless,
resulting in only three arrests and one conviction. The company was quickly disbanded amid accusations that
Woodworth had managed to pocket most of the state's money.
During this time, however, robberies and killings continued on at the same unabated pace. On June 8, 1851,
John Caldwell, the highly esteemed mail rider, who carried the express between Monterey and Los Angeles,
was brutally murdered at a point in the lower Salinas Valley. The nature of the crime so infuriated the citizenry
that a party of volunteers set out in pursuit of the murderers, who were believed to be part of a gang who had
been terrorizing the region. Near San Luis Obispo, they captured a group of desperados that included Solomon
Pico, brother of Andreas Pico, Domingo Hernandez, Cecilia Masa, and William Otis Hall, an American.
They were tried at a "people's court" and were sentenced to be hung. However, before the wishes of the court
could be carried out, the civil authorities came forward and rescued the prisoners. Masa was discharged, and
Pico, because of his brother's standing in the community, was freed on bail and quickly fled the country.
Domingo Hernandez was released upon the intersession of a priest, so that only Otis Hall remained in custody.
The actions of the authorities so angered the people, that on the night of August 9th, a group of them,
wearing masks and cloaks, broke into the jail, bound up the jailer and proceeded to drag the prisoner from his
cell. They tied a rope around his neck and looped the end of it around the bars of the jailhouse door. Pulling
up on the rope, they drew him hard up to the door until he died of strangulation. In this manner, William Otis
Hall became the first known victim of a lynch mob in the central coast region.
A flurry of such activities was quick to follow, including, in 1856, the hanging of three Indians who were
suspects in the murders of Francois Picart and A. Mellon in the Carmel Valley. Also in 1856, two brothers, Juan
and Jose Alvitre, both hard cases who had served time at San Quentin, died at the hands of the vigilance
committee in Monterey. The following year, the infamous Anastacio Garcia was found hanging from the
beams in the same cell where Otis Hall had met his fate five years earlier. The lynchings continued on into the
next decade with the executions of Carmel Indian Gregoria, who admitted shooting John Martin in the valley
8
�on January 6, 1864, and Juan Valenzuela for the murder of Natividad store keeper Frank Johnson during the
month of September, 1866.
Meanwhile, the people of Santa Cruz were busy enforcing the code of "Judge Lynch" in that once placid
community. The first to fall to the vigilante's rope was none other then Domingo Hernandez, the bandido who
had managed to escape a similar fate in Monterey. Hernandez and a notorious character named Capistrano
Lopez, together with a third Mexican, were caught in the possession of stolen horses and clapped into the jail
on Mission Hill. On the night of July 20, 1852, a group of thirty men took them from their hapless jailer and
hung them up before an approving citizenry.
The vigilance committee next marched on the afternoon of August 17, 1853. Their victim on this occasion was
John Clare, who admitted ambushing Hungarian fisherman Andrew Cracovich the previous day in petty
dispute over ownership of some fishing nets. Once again the mob smashed their way into the jail and
unceremoniously lynched Clare on a makeshift gallows which they had hastily built on the very spot where the
murder had occurred.
Sometime later a group ambiguously labeling itself the "Settlers' League" sprang into existence. Among its
leaders were William Blackburn and Andrew Jackson Sloan, both known to have been active participants in the
Santa Cruz lynchings. Although the group vehemently denied being a vigilance committee, there were those,
including law enforcement officials, who expressed grave doubts as to the veracity of their claim.
After this the center of vigilante activities shifted to Watsonville, a community already racked by dissension
and division. Tension between the native Spanish and the newly arrived Americans had always ran high and
the presence of the bandido stronghold at Whisky Hill just two miles from the center of town kept both sides
on edge. Into this star-crossed scene came a shadowy figure by the name of Arnold Theilheaver and following
in his wake was violence and death.
Theilheaver, a native of Georgia, appeared in Watsonville in 1853 from El Dorado County, where he had taken
part in numerous lynchings around the northern mines. He was an avowed racist who had developed a
particular hatred for "greasers and Indians." Upon arriving in the Pajaro Valley, he opened a saloon and
trading goods store on Main Street (then called Pajaro Street). He managed to get himself appointed
postmaster and immediately got into trouble with the postal department by destroying all abolitionist
literature and newspapers that crossed his desk. His saloon became the gathering place for a group of
transient toughs which formed the nucleus of a local vigilance committee.
They began their work on the night of June 14, 1856 with an unnamed Indian who was accused of killing a
Mexican during a drunken fight in a dive on the Monterey side of the river. The terrified prisoner was dragged
out of the hotel room where he was being kept and within minutes, the mob left his lifeless body hanging
from a strut on the old Pajaro bridge.
At the time, the village of Pajaro consisted of a motley collection of makeshift shacks located among the
willows on the sandy banks of the river. In reality they were saloons and brothels which pandered to the
Indians of the Pajaro rancheria and the vaqueros from the Bolsa and Carneros ranchos.
Living in one of these hovels was a ruffian named Juan Salazar, who was formerly a member of the outlaw
gang led by the legendary Joaquin Murrieta, the scourge of the mother lode. Salazar was not the leader of his
own band of horse thieves who, when they were not out on the trail, could be found drinking and gambling in
9
�the taverns of Pajaro and Whisky Hill. On July 6, 1856, a row took place between a group Indians and Salazar's
gang. During the fighting, no less than six or seven of the combatants were injured, and one, Sacramento
Valenzuela, died of stab wounds inflected by Juan Salazar. By the time word of the melee reached Watsonville
and Theilheaver could assemble his hooligans to march on Pajaro, Salazar and his band were safely hidden
away in a camp further up the river.
The rest of the summer passed quietly enough as an uneasy peace settled over the valley, broken only
occasionally by the report of a stray pistol shot resounding from Whisky Hill. The only cause for excitement
was in politics with a hotly contested presidential race between Buchanan, Fremont, and Fillmore which
featured the rise of the American Party. The "Know-Nothings", as they were called, found willing converts
among the whites in Watsonville, including Theilheaver and his group. But in October, just a few days before
the election, all hell broke loose and there occurred one of the most violent incidents in the history of
Watsonville.
It began on October 7th, when a number of horses were plundered from the ranch of Isaac and Charles
Williams which was located on the Pajaro. Rounding up a number of others, including vigilante leader
Theilheaver, they set out in pursuit, following a trail that the outlaws left behind in the mud. Upon arriving at a
ranch beyond San Luis Obispo, they found the horses in the possession of a farmer, who said that he had
bought them from a party of Spaniards led by none other than Juan Salazar.
After taking possession of the stock, they turned homeward, stopping for the night at Soledad. In the morning,
they were informed that the Salazar gang had stolen some horses in that vicinity and were last seen heading
up the road to Pajaro. Back in Watsonville, they met a group of men who were on their way to round up a
group of horse thieves who were seen sneaking into the valley earlier that day.
Joining forces, the men rode out to the bandit's camp which was located on the river a couple of miles south
of town. It was 2 o'clock in the morning when they arrived at the camp and quickly surrounded the cabin
where the outlaws were holed up. Upon entering, they found three men hiding therein, on of them was Juan
Salazar. All three were taken prisoner and marched back toward Watsonville. As they were crossing the river,
one of the men broke away and made a dash for the willows. The vigilantes opened fire on him and heard him
splash in the water - taking him for dead, they pressed on. A little further along, near the Harrison ranch, a
second prisoner, Juan Salazar, made a break for freedom by dropping into a patch of mustard weed and
scurried away. He, too, was shot down.
Fearing a third attempted escape, they lashed the remaining captive to his saddle and blindfolded him while
one of the vigilantes led his horse. In this manner, they continued on until they reached the outskirts of town
where the group stopped to water their horses. While doing so, the third man loosened his bonds and slid into
the water in an escape attempt. He was immediately caught in a deadly hail of gunfire and floated off down
the river. Afterwards, the mob proceeded to Watsonville and set up a temporary headquarters at the Bowling
Alley where they spent the remainder of the night.
About six o'clock, the following morning a lookout spotted a number of Spanish Californios riding through
town, passing along Main Street. The Americans surrounded them with guns drawn and ordered them to stop.
Suddenly a running battle broke out between the two groups with a couple of dozen shots being exchanged.
The Californians split up, with some retreating back into Pajaro, while others, including a couple who were
wounded, galloped on down the road leading to Santa Cruz. The vigilantes mounted up and followed after
10
�those who had fled across the river in the direction of Monterey. After an unsuccessful chase of several miles,
they turned back to Watsonville empty handed.
Along the way, they met three Spaniards and, considering them suspicious looking, placed them under arrest
and brought them into town under guard. After a close examination, the three were released because no one
would prefer charges against them.
The mob now turned their attention toward the two Californios who had taken the Santa Cruz road. A couple
of miles out of town, they came to a small shanty at the edge of a gully on the San Andreas ranch. Tied to a
tree out front was a horse still saddled up and slick with sweat. The animal was bleeding from a would near
the top of its neck.
Drawing their firearms, the men surrounded the house and broke through the front door. Inside, they found a
lone man crouching in the shadow of the fireplace. He was tied up securely and the shack was searched for
weapons. A pistol and a knife were discovered hidden under a pile of blankets. Upon examination, it was
found that the revolver had recently been fired. When questioned, the prisoner, who gave his name as Castro,
said that he had spent three shots from the weapon while out hunting for game earlier that morning. A rope
was knotted around the man's neck and he was forced to march to Watsonville. When they arrived, the
prisoner was taken to the plaza, bound to the liberty pole, and word was sent out for a number of citizens to
be impaneled as a jury.
The "trial" was convened in a room at the Bowling Alley and as the proceedings went on, a group of prominent
local Spaniards came in to observe the hearing. Suddenly Dr. H. G. Whitlock, a visitor from San Juan Bautista,
stood up and assailed the "court", calling the whole trial a farce. He questioned the jury's ability to try the case
in an impartial manner and began to argue with the mob leaders. One of the town constables, who had been
standing in the back of the room, took advantage of the interruption and seized Castro, marching him away to
jail.
The following morning, he was released because no proof could be offered tying him to any crime. But the
mob, which was still milling around the streets of Watsonville, captured him again and quickly convened
another trial. Upon hearing this, a group of Spaniards assembled in front of the Bowling Alley and threatened
action.
All of the sudden, Castro bolted from the room and ran out into a field where the Spaniards stood. The
Americans followed after him with their guns drawn. During the ensuing pitched battle, over one hundred
shots were exchanged by the two opposing groups as they surged back and forth across the field, grappling for
the prisoner. Finally, the Americans managed to recapture Castro and hustled him down to the river. After
allowing him a minute to smoke a cigarette, the tied a noose around his neck and hanged him from a branch
of a nearby tree as a deputy sheriff and two constables looked on.
In spite of the fact that the names of the leaders were well known, no action was ever taken against any
member of the lynch mob. Such was the temper of the times.
For the next several months, the vigilantes continued their stranglehold over the valley and proceeded to bully
and terrorize any Californio or Indian who happened to blunder into their sights, and it appears that they did
so with the tacit approval of the law. But in the spring of 1857, Arnold Theilheaver and his mob crossed over
the line of acceptance by lynching an American.
11
�It had long been a practice of the poor Spaniards of Pajaro village to do their laundry by setting up a washing
platform among the rocks in the swift running river. Afterwards, they would stretch their clean clothing on
drying lines attached to posts which were placed in the side of the sandy embankment. Each family staked out
its section of the stream and was expected to honor the territory of his neighbors.
That spring, there appeared a new face among the inhabitants of the little shantytown. He was and American
and was known simply as Dean. It was said that he was the rebel son of a well-known preacher in the Los
Angeles area and he brought with him an Indian squaw, who lived with him as his wife. In due time, Dean set
up a washing platform for her amid those of the others.
On May 14, 1857, the woman set out to do her laundry. Upon reaching the river, she noticed that someone
had placed their clothing on her line to dry. She carefully folded the intruder's washing and set them aside in a
pile. Before long, the owner of the clothing, Mrs. Manuel Pombar, returned and a quarrel ensued. As fate
would have it, both women appealed to their husbands and friends to help decide the dispute.
The following morning Dean met with a party of four or five Spaniards from the Pombar family and angry
words quickly turned into violence. One of the Pombars attempted to lasso Dean, who managed to escape. He
went into town and borrowed a shotgun vowing to "clean out the Greasers."
The next morning found him back down at the river attempting to parley with the elder members of the clan.
Once again he was attacked with a lariat in the hands of Manuel Pombar. Both men were armed and both
went for their guns. Several shots were exchanged with one passing through Pombar's body, while Dean was
hit in the arm and side. The American's wounds were superficial, while Pombar's was more serious and for a
time it, was not known whether he would survive.
Dean retreated to Watsonville where he was later arrested and placed in jail, pending an investigation. At a
hearing on the incident, a coroner's jury bound Dean over for trial on a charge of assault to commit murder,
while they kept an eye on Pombar's condition.
Meanwhile, a group of Spaniards taunted Theilheaver and his men, saying that if it was one of their
countrymen who had shot an American, the vigilantes would have immediately lynched the miscreant, but
since it was a yankee who did the shooting, they let him go.
The haranguing had the desired effect because that night around midnight, about twenty men, masked and
fully armed, broke open the room where Dean was being held and took him from the Constables who were on
guard. They dragged the poor wretch down Main Street and hung him from a sign post which extended across
the alley from Theilheaver's saloon.
The death of young Dean disgusted the majority of the townspeople and they loudly repudiated the action.
The next day it was learned that Manuel Pombar's wound was not as serious as first thought and the doctors
attending him stated that his recovery should be quick.
This development made the rash act of the vigilantes even more revolting, and coupling this with the fact that
it was an American who had been lynched prompted the citizenry into taking action themselves. A large body
of men marched on Theilheaver's barroom, put it to the torch and stood by watching as it burned to the
ground, all the while preventing anyone from attempting to extinguish the flames. Declaring that it was time
to "clean out the nest of varmints," they sent word to Theilheaver that he was no longer welcome in the
Pajaro Valley.
12
�Quick to take a hint, the Georgian sifted through the ashes of his ruined business, loaded up what little
remained, and disappeared from California. He would later surface as a line officer with a Confederate cavalry
unit during the Civil War.
For a short time, peace reigned in the valley, but by the early 1860s, the marauding bands of rustlers and
horse thieves had returned to plague the ranchers and farmers of the area. It is estimated that no less then
$20,000 worth of stock had been pilfered during the first three years of the decade. The local press began to
call for the organization of a self-protection society to do battle with these outlaws.
In December of 1863, such a society was formed, adopting the motto, "The rifle the judge, the ball the
decision", but it died abornin' and took no action to stop the depredations. The following February, farmer
Peter Zills and shopkeeper Moses Morris organized the "Whisky Hill Citizens Protection Committee" in an
attempt to uphold law and order in that beleaguered community, but it too came to naught.
Following the Civil War crimes continued unabated and homicide became quite commonplace. Although the
murders of William Roach and Alex Wilkins shocked the community to its foundations, the law proved unable,
and on some occasions, unwilling to effectively deal with the situation. The mountains around the Pajaro
Valley were again infested with horse thieves and no one dared enter Whisky Hill unless they were heavily
armed. Since the residents of the outlying areas lived beyond the reach of the law, they faced the same old
predicament of having to go it alone.
PART III
THE ACTIONS OF THE PAJARO PROPERTY PROTECTIVE SOCIETY
The advent of the Pajaro Property Protective Society on February 26, 1870, marked the beginning of a year
long frenzy of vigilante activity, which was to shock and outrage that section of the citizenry which dwelt in the
town of Watsonville. But to the hardworking ranchers and stockmen of the valley, it gave the cause for
rejoicing because it relieved them of the constant fear for their safety, the safety of their families, and that of
their livestock. For Matt Tarpy, Charlie O'Neal and the others, however, it was a troubled time that found
them tired and weary from untold hours in the saddle defending the interests of the society's members from
the depredations of one outlaw or another. Both men proved themselves worthy of the trust which had been
placed in them and exhibited nothing but bravery and valor under fire.
It began interestingly enough on the very night that most of the farmers were in Watsonville attending the
organizational meeting. While they voted on the constitution and by-laws of the protective society, a bandido
named Francisco Redondo was busily helping himself to several prize horses from the corral on a small spread
in the southern end of the valley. As it turned out the ranch belonged to none other than Charlie O'Neal, who
would emerge as one of the Lieutenants under Matt Tarpy, who was charged with apprehending those
desperados who ventured into the area.
Redondo, who had already served a term at San Quentin for rustling cattle in Tuolumne county, took three
horses from O'Neal's and several from other ranches and drove them down to San Luis Obispo where he sold
them off. The rancher who had bought them became suspicious of the transaction and wired Watsonville with
a description of the animals. Before long O'Neal, Tarpy and four other men were on their way south to reclaim
13
�the horses. They got a detailed description of the miscreant and set off back to Watsonville scouring the hills
along the way.
The party overtook Redondo at an isolated spot in San Miguel Canyon and ordered him to dismount. Matt
Tarpy rode up to take hold of the reins on the Mexican's horse, but as he did so, the thief drew his revolver
and aimed it at his head. Tarpy was able to deflect the shot, but took the full force of the gun's stock on the
side of his head and was knocked to the ground. Redondo turned his horse and attempted to escape only to
be cut down by fire from the rest of his pursuers.
After returning the stolen horses to their rightful owners, the vigilantes took the body of the slain outlaw to
the office of Justice T. S. Roberts, where it lay on exhibit until an inquest could be held the following day. A
coroner's jury found that Redondo had been killed in self-defense.
Two weeks later, on March 15, 1870, Tarpy and O'Neal were called on again to trail a horse thief, this time up
the Pajaro River and into the Gilroy area. They found the missing stock in a crudely constructed corral near the
summit of Pacheco Pass. They captured a Mexican who was camped nearby and brought him to Watsonville
where they gave him over to the custody of Constable Dick Barham. Barham brought the suspect before
Justice Roberts who bound him over for trial on a charge of grand larceny. Afterwards, he was put in the
calaboose over night for safe keeping before he was to be taken to Santa Cruz to await the next session of the
County Court.
However, this was not meant to be, because when Barham went to the jail the next morning to fetch his
prisoner, he found that the door had been broken open with a crow-bar and the Mexican gone. There were
various rumors circulating around town as to the manner of his departure, the most common of which was
that he had been taken out, lynched and the body buried. But no one seemed to know anything for certain.
Not even the name of the unfortunate man.
Removing a suspected horse thief by force from the the jail and quickly disposing of him was to become a
familiar pattern in Watsonville during the year of 1870. It was to be repeated no less then nine times. Tarpy
and his men would bring them in and turn them over to the law, then they would mysteriously disappear. Only
on two occasions would the bodies of these unfortunates be found and these cases were so sensational that
they made their way into newspapers columns all across the state.
The first occurred on the night of Tuesday, May 17. Several days earlier, the corpse of Antonio Guerrero,
commonly known as Indian Bill, was found in his cabin a few miles below town. His skull had been crushed,
and he had been both stabbed and shot. Suspicion for the crime pointed to a Mexican named Valentine
Varaga, who had been living with the murdered man. Constable Barham rode out to Whisky Hill, where Varaga
could usually be found and arrested him. He delivered the suspect for questioning at a Coronor's inquest.
Since his testimony was undisputed at the time, he was freed and allowed to return to Whisky Hill.
This action so incensed the people that they sent Justice Roberts to ask the Pajaro Property Protective Society
to look into the matter. The Society ordered Tarpy and his men into the field to investigate. After interviewing
several of Indian Bill's neighbors, suspicion again fell on Varaga who they said habitually quarreled with Bill.
When the vigilantes arrived at Whisky Hill, they learned that Varaga had just left, riding north towards Santa
Cruz. They overtook him near the five-mile house and brought him back to Watsonville for more extensive
interrogation.
14
�Tarpy was able to extract a confession of guilt from Varaga who admitted that he had participated in the
murder. He said that he had knocked the man down with the barrel of his pistol, but that it was two brothers,
Gregorio and Jesus Gomez who had finished the bloody work by stabbing and shooting the victim. He was
killed because he knew too much about a robbery which the three had committed, and they feared that he
might inform on them.
After the vigilantes deposited their prisoner with Constable Barham, they set out after the Gomez brothers
who Varaga had told them were hiding at the New Almaden Mines over in the mountains of Santa Clara
county. The New Almaden area was a wild untamed region inhabited by Mexican and Californio quicksilver
miners, who made it a practice to shelter the numerous bandidos of their own race who hid out in their midst.
Showing no fear, the group of Americans led by Matt Tarpy rode boldly into Spanishtown at New Almaden and
captured the brothers in the saloon where they were drinking. When back at Watsonville, they were turned
over to Barham and the saddle-weary vigilantes now returned to their prospective homes.
The following Monday, the three desperados were tried in the courtroom of Justice Roberts of Pajaro
Township. At the hearing, Valentine Varaga and Jesus Gomez admitted their guilt, implicating the other Gomez
brother who had steadfastly declared his innocence. The three were returned to their cells for safekeeping
and two armed guards were placed at the door, while Barham made arrangements for their transfer to Santa
Cruz.
That night about 12 o'clock, thirty or forty men made their appearance and compelled the guard to hand over
the keys to the jail. The prisoners were removed and the guard ordered into the cell. Then the mob
disappeared into the night with their captives in tow.
At daybreak the next morning, the citizens of Watsonville were treated to the revolting sight of the lifeless
bodies of Varaga and the Gomez brothers dangling from the top of the Pajaro bridge. Among those to glimpse
this scene was the sister of one of the men who stood on the bridge wailing aloud as the dead men were being
pulled up. She was so overcome with grief that when, at last, the onlookers succeeded in getting one of the
bodies up to the railing, she rushed upon it, almost knocking one of the workers over the side of the bridge.
This caused her forced removal from the area. Afterwards the gruesome task was done, the three bodies were
placed in a mortician's wagon and taken to Whisky Hill for burial.
When word of the lynchings found its way into print across the state, the citizens of Watsonville were
subjected to a constant bombardment of criticism from all sides. It became the thankless task of the
Watsonville Pajaronian to act as apologist for the city. And for this, they too, were taken to task in the most
virulent manner.
In reaction, citizen turned against citizen and group against group. The most vocal of which was a clique of
businessmen led by John T. Porter, who pointed the finger of suspicion at The Pajaro Property Protective
Society and most particularly at Matt Tarpy with whom he had a long-standing feud dating back to 1868 and
the fraudulent naturalization charge.
This attacked forced Tarpy to defend himself and the Protective Society in a long "open letter" which
appeared in the Pajaronian on May 27, 1870. In it, he disputed the accusations, deferring to the fact that it
was he and his men who had pursued and captured the desperados at their own expense and at great
personal risk; also they had voluntarily turned the prisoners over to the law. If they had wanted to lynch the
men, he said, they could have accomplished that long before returning them to Watsonville. Besides on the
15
�day of the hanging, he, himself was up in San Francisco on business. If anyone was to blame, he finished, it
was the town marshal and the constables, who had long and dismal recording of enforcing the law and
insuring the safety of the prisoners.
The last known lynching in the Pajaro Valley took place several months later on the night of Monday,
September 26, 1870, and it followed the same old pattern. Horse thief Sacramento Duarte, a three term
veteran of San Quentin prison, was caught at Whisky Hill with five stolen horses in his possession. He was tried
in Justice Lucius Holbrook's court and found guilty of Grand Larceny.
Constable Dick Barham lodged him in the Watsonville jail and sat up all night guarding the fellow. The
following morning, he was called away to San Juan in a vain attempt to capture a suspect in a murder case. He
returned to town dirty and tired after the all day chase. Because he had not slept in almost 36 hours, he
decided to just go home and sleep before checking in on this prisoner.
At dawn, the constable went to the calaboose and noticed that the door had been pulled off of its hinges.
Upon entering, he found what he had suspected, Duarte hanging by the neck. At a Coroner's inquest, the jury
rendered the standard verdict which was issued in these cases - "The prisoner died from strangulation, caused
by some person or persons unknown." This was the last time that the Watsonville jail was ever used.
For several days the usual amount of rumors flew around the valley as the townspeople and the ranchers
squared off again. Porter and his group blamed the Protective Society and Tarpy responded by condemning
the breakdown of law and order in the region. But soon the arguments died down and the year ended quietly
enough with a final body count of fourteen known lynchings.
Meanwhile, the outside committee of the Pajaro Property Protective Society, headed by Matt Tarpy, had been
quietly going about collecting intelligence on the outlaw gangs who were operating in the area. By now most
of them were fluent in Spanish and they were adroit in the use of various disguises. They traveled throughout
the district becoming familiar with the hideouts and routes used by these horse thieves. Some would actually
make their way into the bandits camps, and, through the use of deception and bribery, learn the names and
methods used by the desperados.
In a newspaper interview, Tarpy estimated that there were no less than three hundred men in the central
coast area who were in some way connected with the gangs. The committee compiled a "hit-list" containing
the names of thirty of the most daring law breakers. It included the infamous Tiburico Vasquez, "Charole"
Lorenzana, the Rodriguez brothers of Branciforte and from Monterey, the three Rankel brothers. They
published parts of the list in the Pajaronian together with a warning to the ranchers of the vicinity to keep a
watch out for them.
During the fall of 1871 after Vasquez and the Rodriguez brothers went on a larcenous spree in the San Juan
area, which included the holdup of the Visailia-bound stage and the robbery Protective Society member Tom
McMahon, the committee went back into the field again. They were so persistent in their pursuit of the
bandits, that even Vasquez himself, in a later newspaper interview, had to give Tarpy and his men credit for
their tenacity. In fact, it was their tip as to the location of the hiding place of the gang in the Santa Cruz
mountains which allowed Deputy Sheriff Charlie Lincoln to lead a sneak raid on the Lorenzana ranch which
eventually brought an end to their activities in the area.
16
�Also in 1871 and 1872, they helped solve the earlier murders of William Roach and Alex Wilkins. Tarpy turned
the names of those suspected of involvement in these crimes over the authorities in Watsonville. But in spite
of all of their hard work, it appears that no one ever acted upon these leads.
By the spring of 1872, Tiburcio Vasquez felt safe enough to go back into business. And so along with Jose
Castro and another road agent, he robbed the San Benito Stage near the Pinnacles Road and escaped with
several hundred dollars. One of the passengers on the coach recognized Castro as a member of the gang. A
few nights later, Castro was visited at his home by a vigilante mob, who hanged him from a tree in his own
front yard. This too was laid, by some, at the door of the Pajaro Property Protective Society.
There were those in Watsonville who had long waited for the opportunity to rid the area of the influence of
the farmer/rancher block, the Protective Society, and Matt Tarpy in particular. On March 15, 1873, Tarpy,
himself, handed them this opportunity. It was one of those exciting, controversial, and historically important
events which has become so confused that the genuine facts may never be known.
THE LYNCHING OF MATT TARPY
Over the years, Matt Tarpy had enlarged his holding in the mountains above the Pajaro Valley to well over
1500 acres. In 1868, he sold 400 of these acres to Murdock and Sarah Nicholson. The boundaries to this parcel
of land were never clearly defined and a dispute broke out between Tarpy and and the Nicholsons, with each
declaring that they were the true owners of a wooded section which lay along San Juan Road. Litigation was
filed with the court, but no action was taken on the case for a number of years.
Late in February, 1873, Tarpy began to harvest wood on the disputed land. Murdock Nicholson rode out to
protect his interest and an argument ensued during which both men threatened each other. A few weeks
later, Nicholson was called away to San Francisco on business and while he was gone, Tarpy moved a cabin
onto the property which he proceeded to rent to the hired man who tended his ranch.
On March 14, the man collected his belongings and began to move into the cabin, but upon arriving, he found
Sarah Nicholson and two young men, John O'Neil and John Smith, already therein. They said that they were
there at the advice of their lawyer and that they intended to stay. The hired man rode into Watsonville and
reported these events to his boss.
Tarpy immediately mounted up and headed off towards the cabin, carrying a pistol and his Henry rifle. When
he reached the ranch, it was already dark and he positioned himself across the road from the building. The
windows were lit up and voices could be heard coming from within. He fired several shots into the roof of the
cabin and ordered everyone out, shouting that they were trespassing on private property. The shots alarmed
Mrs. Nicholson and she and the two men fled out the back door under cover of the darkness.
The following morning, she returned to the cabin at first light to see what damage had been done. As she and
O'Neil approached, Tarpy emerged from the roadside and seeing that the man was armed, Tarpy leveled his
rifle. What happened next has been the subject of controversy for the last one hundred and twenty years.
There are two versions, one told by the Tarpy family which said that O'Neil went for his pistol and Tarpy fired
in self-defense. As he did so, Mrs. Nicholson stepped in between the two men to prevent any blood shed and
she took the full load of buckshot into her midsection. The Nicholson version had Tarpy killing the woman in
17
�cold blood after shouting, "I'll kill you, you God Damned bitch." No matter which account is correct, the results
were the same, Mrs. Sarah Nicholson lay dead in the middle of San Juan Road after one of the shots passed
completely through her heart.
O'Neil bolted and disappeared into the woods. Soon afterwards, Tarpy rode into Watsonville and surrendered
himself to Constable Schade of Pajaro. He was then taken to Salinas City and turned over to Sheriff Andrew
Wasson. The following day, Judge James Breen commenced a hearing on the matter after which Tarpy was
bound over to Superior Court for trial. Afterward, the lawmen took him to Monterey where he was placed in
the county jail.
Word of Mrs. Nicholsons killing swept like wildfire through the Pajaro Valley and the telegraphs hummed
carrying dispatches to every corner of the state. That night a large public meeting, under the direction of John
T. Porter, was held in Watsonville to discuss what should be done about the situation.
At this gathering, a resolution was passed condemning the shooting and demanding swift action be taken
against Tarpy. An angry mob milled around the streets all through the night and into the next day.
That afternoon, two men, Melvin Gilkey and George Slankard, both of whom were sworn enemies of Matt
Tarpy, led the mob, now over 250 strong, on a march to Monterey. As they proceeded along the route, their
number swelled to about 400. By the morning of the 17th, this unruly crowd reached their goal and surged
through town demanding Tarpy.
When the mob later reached the jailhouse, it was learned that Sheriff Wasson was on guard, so several of
them quickly captured and bound the Sheriff while others hammered their way into Tarpy's cell. When they
emerged with the hapless prisoner, they were greeted by a loud cheer after which he was placed on a wagon
and driven away.
As they wound their way through the old California capital, there occurred a most pathetic and heart
wrenching scene. Moving up the street in the direction of the jail were Tarpy's wife, Winifred, his aged mother
Bridget, and 7 year old daughter Mary, accompanied by Padre Angelo Casanova of Carmel Mission. The
women of the horrified little party pleaded for one last opportunity to embrace their loved one, but the angry
crowd rudely shoved them aside and continued on their way. They followed along behind wailing and
pleading, but were quickly out distanced.
About four miles south of town, near the site of the present airport, the mob came to a stop under a tall pine
tree. After allowing Tarpy a few minutes to speak, they quickly carried out the execution.
During the next few weeks, the Tarpy lynching was the subject of many lurid headlines across the state as
story after story rolled off of the presses. They soon became so exaggerated and distorted that Tarpy's friends
found it necessary to write a long "open letter" to Governor Newton Booth explaining their side of the story
and asking him to investigate the events surrounding the shooting and lynching. But for political reasons, their
request came to naught and no investigation into the death of Matt Tarpy was ever made. So in time, the
Nicholson version of the controversy became a part of local history.
In later years, the descendants of both Tarpy and Nicholson were locked in a legal battle over the disputed
land which was not resolved until 1916, when the courts ruled in favor of Murdock Nicholson. Winifred Tarpy
and her three daughters blamed the lynching on Tarpy's old enemy John T. Porter, saying that he had
organized and financed the mob in response to the fact that Tarpy had exposed Porter for some of his crooked
18
�dealings in the 1860s. There is some proof to substantiate this argument. But as time passed, the excitement
over the shooting and lynching faded slowly away.
With the death of Matt Tarpy, the history of the Pajaro Property Protective Society draws to a close. That it
was effective in achieving its published goals is beyond question. The gangs of rustlers and horse thieves which
for so long plagued the area were either broken up or forced to move their activities to other locations. Many
of their leaders were identified and killed outright or put in prison. The greatest of them all, Tiburcio Vasquez,
was on the run and would be captured and executed in 1874. Two of the Rodriguez boys were dead, as was
"Charole" Lorenzana. Jose Rodriguez was operating in San Mateo county and Ignacio Rankel sat in San Quentin
along with Procopio, the nephew of Joaquin Murrieta.
EPILOGUE
The very existence of the Protective Society pointed out the many weaknesses of local law enforcement
during this early period. The sheriff's office needed to fund the recruitment of more full-time deputies to be
stationed in the Watsonville area, and the power of city marshals and township constables needed to be
extended. The next few years would witness these changes as well as the realignment of the judicial system all
across California. This strengthening of legal recourse and procedures would in turn inspire more confidence
among the citizenry and they would be less likely to consider taking matters into their own hands. By 1880,
following years when Robert Orton and Elmer Dakan established themselves in the sheriffalty, law and order
was to come to the Pajaro Valley, and its citizens could, at last, go about their business without fear.
But the cost of bringing about these changes had been fearfully high in economic and human terms. It would
require the passing of a whole generation to eliminate the tensions, both racial and political, which had given
birth to the years of vigilante activities. The families of Matt Tarpy, Murdock Nicholson and the countless
Spanish and Indian victims of this "local inquisition" paid a staggering personal price too - the loss of a loved
one. In looking back on this era it is quite easy to romanticize these events and put them in the category of
"stories" and "tales". In the long run, however, it is perhaps where they best belong.
Source
Copyright 1995 Phil Reader. Originally published by Cliffside Publishing, 1995. Reproduced with the permission
of the author.
It is the library’s intent to provide accurate information, however, it is not possible for the library to completely
verify the accuracy of all information. If you believe that factual statements in a local history article are
incorrect and can provide documentation, please contact the library.
19
�
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Title
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Santa Cruz History Articles
Description
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Original articles by library staff and by local authors and material from historical books.
Articles on Santa Cruz County history, many with illustrations, are available here.
The Santa Cruz Public Libraries is grateful to our local historians and their publishers for giving permission to include their articles. The content of the articles is the responsibility of the individual authors.
It is the library's intent to provide accurate information. However, it is not possible to completely verify the accuracy of individual articles obtained from a variety of sources. If you believe that factual statements in an article are incorrect and can provide documentation, please contact the library.
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AR-190
Title
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A Brief History of the Pajaro Property Protective Society: Vigilantism in the Pajaro Valley During 19th Century
Subject
The topic of the resource
Pajaro Property Protective Society
Tarpy, Matt
Crime and Criminals-Vigilantism
Creator
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Reader, Phil
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Originally published by Cliffside Publishing, 1995.
Publisher
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Santa Cruz Public Libraries
Date
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1995
Coverage
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Pajaro Valley
1850s
1860s
1870s
Format
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Text
Language
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En
Type
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ARTICLE
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Copyright 1995 Phil Reader. Reproduced with permission of the author.
Crime and Criminals
Law Enforcement
-
https://history.santacruzpl.org/omeka/files/original/514b622808630435d69e3bd109535cec.pdf
6234c1ff81c7a88e7d4a0652ccdb2203
PDF Text
Text
A First in Hot Bathing—How a War and a Divorce
Figured in the Birth of the Boardwalk in 1868
By Ross Eric Gibson
Fred Swanton's boardwalk dates from 1904, but few know that he created his boardwalk on top of another, which
makes it the oldest boardwalk in the West. Had it not been for a war and a divorce, the beachfront resort facilities might
not have developed as early as they did.
Santa Cruz began as a major shipping port for raw materials and agricultural products. Then in 1862, the San Francisco
Bay Association held its convention in Santa Cruz to escape the hysteria of Civil War mobilization in the city. The
association returned with such glowing reports of scenic Santa Cruz that the city's resort potential was soon recognized.
The next year, Mary Liddell obtained a divorce from her husband, Capt. Timothy Dame, receiving custody of her younger
son, Alfred. Mary and Alfred moved in with her mother, Elizabeth, who had turned her Beach Hill home into a boarding
house after her husband's death in 1859.
The need for additional income led them to open the first hot saltwater baths west of the Mississippi in 1864, to serve
visitors who found the icy waters of the bay a little too invigorating. This one-story structure on the beach with a waistdeep pool was called the Long Branch Baths, and grew to suit its name when in 1866, long canvas-topped dressing wings
stretched out on either side. Other bathhouses that clustered around the river mouth had only bathtubs, but rented
suits, umbrellas and beach tents, like the Long Branch.
In the midst of this swimming fad, the Leibbrandts came to Santa Cruz in 1863 and bought Beach Flats and waterfront
lands. Johnnie Leibbrandt built the West's first hot saltwater plunge in 1868, on the waterfront east of today's
"Neptune's Kingdom." Johnnie and David Leibbrandt were prodigious swimmers, known for Santa Cruz to Capitola openwater contests. They named the plunge "Dolphin Baths," with a large main-floor pool, and a fine upstairs ballroom. The
steam generator that pumped and heated the saltwater also regaled bathers with steam-powered music from its
poolside calliope.
Beach Street didn't exist then, and carriages drove on the beach itself. The Leibbrandts built the original boardwalk
along the waterfront in 1868, for easier access to the baths. A gravel foundation for the 1876 railroad tracks was placed
on the sands, and later fill-dirt flanking the tracks became Beach Street.
When Easterner A.F. Wheaton toured Santa Cruz in early 1879, he was so enraptured that he bought a beach front site -where today's boardwalk casino stands -- and within a few months had erected palatial baths at a cost of $12,000.
Reflecting his sense of propriety, the men and women were given separate pools to swim in, shielded from one another
by a partition. Upstairs was a soda fountain and a large ballroom.
1
�The gender-segregated pools only lasted five years. Capt. Fred Miller bought out Wheaton and unified the pools. Fred
and his brothers, Ralph and Albert, were Santa Cruz natives and sons of a sea captain. Before building the bathhouse,
Fred followed in his father's footsteps, becoming the youngest captain to operate out of San Francisco. He planted
"California palms" (yuccas) and flowers around his baths.
The Leibbrandts kept abreast of the competition, buying up the
riverside bathhouses, building Dolphin Park across the street from
Dolphin Baths, and sponsoring the Dolphin baseball team. But in
1875 Johnnie Leibbrandt collapsed during a marathon swim, and
that marked the onset of debilitating arthritis, which left him
bedridden by 1887. And Miller was not adjusting as a landlubber. In
1889, he became captain of the steamer Maggie Ross, leaving his
brothers to manage the bathhouse.
With both baths deprived of their original directors, it was only a
month later that the Leibbrandts and Millers decided to consolidate
as a single enterprise. Business grew to such a degree that their two The Neptune Baths, circa. 1888-1892
bathhouses were not enough. In 1893, they received the backing of
San Francisco millionaire A.P. Hotaling, the builder of the St. George Hotel who bid them spare no expense in creating
the finest bathhouse possible. The new structure would stand halfway between the Dolphin and Neptune baths.
Local architect LeBaron Olive studied the best bathhouses on the coast and incorporated numerous features into his
$25,000 creation. The "Eastlake" palace had a wide, gingerbread-trimmed beach veranda and stained-glass doors
opening into the two-story plunge hall. A "horseshoe balcony" contained a bandstand and bleachers, where one could
observe swimmers on glass-lined slides, diving platforms or in gymnastic spectacles from ring and trapeze equipment
over the pool.
The steamy air and sunny multicolored skylight made perfect conditions for the palms, flowers, and vines, giving a
tropical ambiance. The pool was lighted with submerged colored lights, while a settling tank at one end produced a 5foot-tall waterfall over the restaurant's observation windows. The restaurant was dominated by an elegant fireplace and
had all the gingerbread and stained glass of a riverboat ballroom. A spiral staircase led to a rooftop, sea view
observatory.
Source
This article originally appeared in the San Jose Mercury News, July 13, 1993, p. 1B. Copyright 1993 Ross Eric Gibson.
Reprinted by permission of Ross Eric Gibson. Photograph from the Santa Cruz Public Libraries' collection.
It is the library’s intent to provide accurate information, however, it is not possible for the library to completely verify the
accuracy of all information. If you believe that factual statements in a local history article are incorrect and can provide
documentation, please contact the library.
2
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Santa Cruz History Articles
Description
An account of the resource
Original articles by library staff and by local authors and material from historical books.
Articles on Santa Cruz County history, many with illustrations, are available here.
The Santa Cruz Public Libraries is grateful to our local historians and their publishers for giving permission to include their articles. The content of the articles is the responsibility of the individual authors.
It is the library's intent to provide accurate information. However, it is not possible to completely verify the accuracy of individual articles obtained from a variety of sources. If you believe that factual statements in an article are incorrect and can provide documentation, please contact the library.
Publisher
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Santa Cruz Public Libraries
Document
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Original Format
If the image is of an object, state the type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Paper
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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AR-063
Title
A name given to the resource
A First in Hot Bathing: How a War and a Divorce Figured in the Birth of the Boardwalk in 1868
Subject
The topic of the resource
Boardwalk
Neptune Baths
Bath Houses
Creator
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Gibson, Ross Eric
Source
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San Jose Mercury News, July 13, 1993, p. 1B
Publisher
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Santa Cruz Public Libraries
Date
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7/13/1993
Coverage
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Santa Cruz (City)
1880s
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Text
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En
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ARTICLE
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Copyright 1993 Ross Eric Gibson. Reprinted by permission of Ross Eric Gibson. Photographs from the Santa Cruz Public Libraries' collection.
Tourist Attractions
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https://history.santacruzpl.org/omeka/files/original/9e6be005d0e6c9989be51e49ddd6e83d.pdf
6ebfd993798739214ff4780b4fa5a91a
PDF Text
Text
A Half-Century of Service:
The Watsonville Japanese–American Citizens League,
1934–1984
By Sandy Lydon
This short history of the Watsonville Japanese–American Citizens League has been prepared to commemorate the
fiftieth anniversary of the organization's founding in 1934. For fifty of the almost one hundred years that immigrants
from Japan and their descendants have lived and worked in the Pajaro Valley, the leadership of that community has
come from the American-born generation (Nisei), and their primary organization, the JACL. Though the name of the
organization changed over the years and it was inactive during the community's World War II internment in Arizona, the
Watsonville Japanese–American Citizens League played a vital role in the history of the Japanese community in the
Pajaro Valley.
Issei Pioneers in the Pajaro Valley
M Beginning with the first appearance of Chinese farm laborers in the Pajaro Valley in the summer of 1866, immigrants
from Asia played a major role in transforming the one-crop, wheat-dependent valley into the diversified farming region
it is today. From 1866 to 1890 the Chinese were the dominant labor force in the region. Following the 1882 Chinese
Exclusion Act which prohibited the continued immigration of Chinese laborers into the United States, the Chinese
population in the Pajaro Valley steadily declined as death and emigration whittled away at the Chinese community.
After Japan relaxed laws prohibiting emigration in 1885, Japanese farm laborers began to replace the aging Chinese in
the fields of Hawaii, California, Oregon and Washington. The number of Japanese living in the Pajaro Valley grew from a
handful in 1890 to over four hundred in 1900, and the young, energetic men soon filled the slots being vacated by
Chinese in agriculture as well as finding employment as domestics, laundrymen, wood choppers and railroad workers in
the Monterey Bay region.
Despite simmering anti-Japanese sentiment (particularly after Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905),
discriminatory laws, and the painful process of adjusting to a new land, the Issei [first-generation] pioneers carved a
tenuous niche in the economy of the Pajaro Valley. During their first two decades in the Pajaro Valley the Issei learned
that one of the keys to their survival in the less-than-hospitable valley was to form organizations for protection and
mutual aid.
Though farm labor contractor Sakuzo Kimura is often credited with being the first Japanese immigrant to live in the
Pajaro Valley, there is some evidence that he was preceded by a number of Japanese individuals. In 1887, the Santa Cruz
Sentinel reported that two Japanese nurserymen were taking care of a plantation of several thousand orange trees and
grape vines near Porter Gulch and in 1889, the Watsonville Pajaronian noted that a Japanese woman who dressed
1
�"American style and talks good English" was living in Watsonville's Chinatown (located on the Monterey County side of
the Pajaro River in Pajaro), but that she refused to be interviewed by reporters. By 1890, there were nineteen Japanese
living in Santa Cruz County with one living in Monterey County.
An agricultural revolution was under way in the Pajaro Valley when the Japanese arrived. Sugar beets were replacing
wheat as the valley's dominant crop, and in 1888 Claus Spreckels built a huge sugar manufacturing plant in Watsonville.
Chinese sugar beet contractors dominated the industry during the early years, but by the mid-1890s, Japanese
contractors were offering contract rates lower than the Chinese, and slowly but surely, the Japanese began to replace
the Chinese in the sugar beet fields in the Pajaro Valley. By the time Spreckels moved the plant to Salinas in 1898,
Japanese beet workers were doing the majority of the sugar beet crop in the Pajaro and Salinas Valleys.
The United States census taken in 1900 listed almost one thousand Japanese in the Monterey Bay Region (235 in Santa
Cruz County and 710 in Monterey County). The occupations listed—cooks, laundrymen, fishermen, missionaries, railroad
tie cutters, and woodchoppers—dispel the myth that early Japanese immigrants to the Monterey Bay Region were all
farmers or farm laborers. For example, Gennosuke Kodani, one of the early immigrants on the Monterey Peninsula, was
a trained marine biologist who had come to the central coast to develop the abalone diving and canning industry. Over
ninety percent of these early immigrants were male, a pattern followed by most immigrant groups to the United
States—the men came early, to create a base, and then the women were brought over to reunite the families.
A census of 135 Japanese families living in the Pajaro Valley in the 1920s listed the provinces in Japan from which each of
the Issei pioneers came. The following chart shows the provinces from which the majority came:
1) Yamaguchi 24%
2) Wakayama 16%
3) Fukuoka
12%
4) Hiroshima 12%
5) Kumamoto 12%
6) Okayama 4%
7) Fukui
3%
8) Kagoshima 2%
(The remaining 15% were scattered from different provinces.)
The first Japanese immigrants to the Pajaro Valley lived in Watsonville's Chinatown just across the river from the town,
but after several years, boarding houses sprang up at the north end of Main Street, on Brennan Street and on Lake
Avenue, while a small Japantown grew on the south end of Union Street. By 1902, the editor of the Watsonville
Pajaronian termed the movement of the Japanese an "invasion." "The ease with which the Japanese have moved in (to
Watsonville) is agitating some of the Chinese . . . such a movement should be discouraged." He concluded with the
observation that "the quarters of the Asiatics should be outside of our city's limits." Despite the editor's concerns,
Watsonville's Japantown grew steadily during the first decade of the twentieth century, and by 1910 the following
businesses and stores were located there: four Labor Clubs, two churches, one Japanese Association, three branches of
Japanese newspaper companies, four grocery and general merchandise stores, ten boarding houses, five ryoriya
(Japanese eating places), one restaurant, four barber shops, six pool halls, four Japanese bath houses, three watch repair
2
�shops, two photo studios, two taxis, two clothing stores, one laundry, one shoe shop, one tofu-ya (tofu store), two
bicycle shops, two candy stores and two medical doctors.
Religious and social organizations were formed by the pioneer immigrants during this period to help ease the difficulty
of adjustment in this new land. Westview Presbyterian Church had its beginnings in 1898 while the Buddhist Temple was
founded in 1906. However, it was the unusual legal status of the Japanese immigrants which led them to start a general
organization—the Nihonjinkai (Japan Society or, as sometimes translated, Japan Association).
The Watsonville Japan Society
According to United States immigration law dating back to 1790, immigrants from China and Japan were ineligible to
become naturalized citizens of the United States. Thus, though some of the Issei living in the Pajaro Valley had been
living in America since the late 1880s, they continued to be citizens of Japan. Children born to Issei couples in the United
States were American citizens, but the Issei were prevented from acquiring United States citizenship. As Japanese
citizens, the Issei continued to have obligations to the Japanese government, one of which was military service; during
the Sino-Japanese War (1895) and the Russo-Japanese War (1905), the Japanese government drafted many of the
overseas Japanese. A number of the Issei living in California returned to Japan to join the Japanese army, but some of
the older Issei who had already established families and acquired responsibilities in the United States were reluctant to
return to Japan. The process for deferring Japanese military service involved filing periodic applications with the
Japanese Consulate in San Francisco, and it was the need for legal assistance in matters involving the requirements of
Japanese citizenship which led the Issei to form the Japan Society in Watsonville around 1910. The Society's primary
purpose was as a legal aid organization, assisting the Issei not only with military matters but with matters of
immigration.
The Japan Society also performed important social and cultural duties for the largely single male Issei population,
holding picnics and providing a forum where the members could meet and discuss common problems. As the number of
children grew in the Japanese community, the Japan Society sponsored a Japanese language school.
As anti-Japanese legislation at both the federal and state levels increased, the Japan Society's importance grew in the
community. Following the restriction of Japanese immigration in the Gentlemen's Agreement (1907–1908), the Japan
Society assisted its members in acquiring the necessary documents to travel to and from Japan as well as assisting in the
entry of picture brides. Japan Societies throughout California lobbied (unsuccessfully) against passage of the California
Alien Land Law in 1913, and following the passage of the law, Watsonville's Japan Society found it necessary to put their
property in the name of one of the Nisei [second generation] as the Issei could no longer legally own property in the
Pajaro Valley.
Members of Watsonville's Japan Society also saw the importance of fostering good will among the white population of
the Pajaro Valley. During the period 1910–1920, the Japan Society began entering a float in Watsonville's Fourth of July
parade, a tradition which has continued in the Japanese community to this day. Following the 1920 parade, the editor of
the Watsonville Evening Pajaronian mused:
Seems strange does it not that it remained for the Japanese whom we are endeavoring to get stopped from coming here,
or owning lands in our midst to put on such a fine patriotic float as the "Birth of the Flag," in the parade on our Fourth of
July celebration. It was a very fine effort and showed much artistry.
When the Japan Society discovered that they had not been paying their fair share towards the education of their
children in the Watsonville public schools (due to the Alien Land Law), they donated several thousand cherry trees as a
gesture of thanks to the community.
Much has been written about the success of the Issei despite the persistent social and legal discrimination they faced in
the United States during the early years of the twentieth century. We all need to be reminded, however, that the
3
�success came at a very high price. Dozens of Issei suicides are recorded in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties before
World War II, attesting to the difficulties which faced the Issei pioneers in this strange and often hostile land. The Issei
knew better than anyone the difficulties which faced their Nisei children if they were to find a place in the American
mosaic, and it was this concern which inspired them to help their children organize the first Nisei organization in
Watsonville in the early 1930s.
The Watsonville Citizens League Formed (1934)
Nisei living in San Francisco had talked about forming an organization which would serve their particular needs as early
as 1919, but it was not until the late 1920s that the movement gained sufficient momentum and interest to sustain a
state-wide organization. In 1928, San Francisco Nisei formed the New American Citizens League in which it was stated
that "citizens of Japanese ancestry had many difficult problems confronting them which must be solved sooner or later."
The Nisei at that meeting agreed that they would still have to rely on the Issei for guidance, but "ultimately, the real
solution would have to be made by the second generation members." By the early 1930s, similar Nisei organizations
(though their names vary) were formed in Fresno, Seattle, San Jose, Salinas and Monterey.
In Watsonville, the impetus for a Nisei organization came from leaders of the Japan Society, and during the early 1930s,
Hatsusaburo Yagi, Ippatsu Jumura, Ennosuke Shikuma and Ennosuke Fukuba encouraged the younger Nisei to form an
organization similar to those being formed elsewhere in the state. Statewide Nisei leaders were invited to Watsonville in
1934, and after a meeting at which Dr. Thomas T. Yatabe, Walter Sakamoto and Susumu Togasaki came and explained
the purposes of such a Nisei organization, Watsonville's Nisei decided to organize. After some discussion about an
appropriate name for the organization, it was decided to call it the Watsonville Citizens League. Approximately 35
members were involved in the formation of the organization, and the first officers were Tom Matsuda, President; Bill
Shirachi, Treasurer; and Sam Hada, Secretary.
The Watsonville Citizens League (1934–1941)
During the first seven years, the organization was primarily a social club. The Japan Society passed the building of the
float to the Nisei organization. The floats emphasized patriotic themes, and using hundreds of fresh flowers, the Citizens
League designed floats involving George Washington, the Declaration of Independence and Commodore Matthew
Perry's opening of Japan.
Three short years following the formation of the organization, the Watsonville organization hosted the 2nd Biennial
Convention of the Northern California District Council of the Japanese American Citizens League. Held at the Resetar
Hotel in September, the convention was chaired by Dr. Harry Kita from Salinas, and twenty-four chapters gathered in
Watsonville to discuss topics ranging from the Science of Agriculture to Voting and Civic Participation. The highlight of
the convention was a trip to Seacliff Beach.
The activities of the Citizens League continued to be primarily social during the late 1930s, and the Japan Association
continued to provide the over-all leadership of Watsonville's Japanese community. Events developing in Asia and the
Pacific dramatically altered Watsonville's Japanese community; the younger Nisei found themselves suddenly thrust into
positions of leadership.
War
No one in the Watsonville Japanese community was prepared for the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor or the
events which quickly followed. Several days following the attack, Ichiji Motoki, Secretary for the Japan Association issued
a statement to the people of Watsonville pledging that the "local Japanese will give 100 percent support to any measure
which calls for loyalty and duty on the part of Americans." Despite those assurances, the FBI moved quickly to arrest and
imprison the Issei leadership. The first man arrested was Hatsusaburo Yagi, President of the Japan Association, and soon
4
�all the leaders of the Association were arrested except Motoki, who was determined to be a paid employee of the
organization and not an elected leader.
Through the remainder of December 1941 and into early 1942, as the United States government tried to decide what to
do about the Japanese communities on the west coast, a number of the Japanese families in Watsonville prepared to
move inland. Louis Waki remembered that the automobile wrecking yards were filled with members of the Japanese
community looking for parts with which to build trailers. Joe Morimoto began building a trailer to carry him and his
family's belongings to Fresno, but the trailer was never finished.
Several weeks following President Franklin Roosevelt's signing of Executive Order 9066 which gave the military
commander on the Pacific Coast the power to remove "any or all persons," General John DeWitt issued permission to
Japanese along the coast to move inland voluntarily. With their bank accounts frozen, few members of the Japanese
community along the coast had the resources to consider such a move, but when word of the voluntary evacuation plan
came to Watsonville in early March, 1942, the community met to consider moving inland.
They Almost Went to Idaho
With removal of the Issei leaders by the FBI, the Nisei leaders of the Watsonville Citizens League assumed leadership of
Watsonville's Japanese community. Faced with an uncertain and threatening future, the Watsonville Japanese met to
consider the government's offer to move voluntarily into the interior of the United States. Word had reached
Watsonville that a large apple orchard called the Mesa Orchard was for sale near Caldwell, Idaho. After a lengthy
discussion the Japanese community decided to investigate the apple orchard, and should it prove suitable, the entire
Japanese community would move there. Those community members able to afford it would put up what money they
could; those who did not have the cash would work off their obligation once the community resettled in Idaho.
A committee of several Nisei was commissioned to drive to Idaho and examine the property. Since Nisei were still able
to travel (Issei were restricted in their travel by that time), the men made the long trip to Idaho carrying with them the
responsibility for the future of the entire community. Meanwhile, the community began building trailers and wagons in
preparation for the move.
Mesa Orchard consisted of several hundred acres of apples, thirteen buildings including an apple dryer, packing house,
seven two-bedroom houses, and some old farming equipment and trucks. The soil, however, was much less than
suitable for apple production. Joe Morimoto recalls that "the soil was nothing but rocks, and you could see the roots of
the apple trees growing in and around them." A veteran apple packer, Joe Morimoto saw that the apple trees were
much smaller than those in the Pajaro Valley, and the prospects for a crop that would support the entire Watsonville
Japanese community were not good. The men drove back to Watsonville carrying the burden of the bad news about the
Mesa Orchard.
The community met to hear the report, and after hearing the description of the property, the Japanese community
decided not to purchase Mesa Orchard. A year later the community's good judgment was borne out as Morimoto heard
that the 1942 apple crop at Mesa Orchard was extremely small. "It was a good thing we decided not to go," says
Morimoto, "because that orchard would have killed us."
With the deadline for voluntary evacuation fast approaching (only 4,831 of the 114,222 persons of Japanese ancestry
migrated voluntarily), the Watsonville Japanese community under the leadership of the Watsonville Citizens League
decided to face whatever fate was in store for them from the federal Government. They did not have long to wait.
In April, 1942, General John DeWitt began issuing orders that all persons of Japanese ancestry were to be moved to
camps located in the interior. On April 27, 1942, the first group of Watsonville Japanese left for the Salinas Rodeo
Grounds where they would live until early July when the group was transferred to the permanent camp at Poston,
5
�Arizona. In all, 1,301 people of Japanese ancestry were removed from Santa Cruz County, the preponderant number
(71%) American citizens.
The Watsonville Citizens League was dispersed by the move to Arizona. With half the organization residing in Camp I and
the other half living three miles away in Camp II, the Citizens League ceased to meet. However, individual members of
the organization continued to provide service to the community wherever possible. Harry Yagi, War Relocation Authority
coordinator in Poston, returned to Watsonville in May, 1945, and opened an office to help returning evacuees find
housing and employment as they returned to the Pajaro Valley.
The national JACL was also weakened by the wartime incarceration. Many of its leaders were imprisoned in different
camps, and the Nisei community was divided over the policy of cooperation which the organization had adopted toward
the government's relocation policy. Despite a sizable decrease in national membership during the war years, the
national JACL continued to work tirelessly to end the wartime detention through lobbying, legal work, and the
publication of the organization's newspaper, the Pacific Citizen.
Return to Watsonville
The War Relocation Authority began closing the concentration camps in early 1945, and with the assistance of WRA staff
members such as Harry Yagi, the Japanese communities began to trickle slowly back to the Pacific Coast. By August
1945, seventy-seven Japanese had returned to Watsonville, but public sentiment was negative toward their return. In
September, 1945, the Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture did a survey in which it asked its members
their opinion about the return of the Japanese to the Pajaro Valley. In response to the question "Do you believe the
return of the Japanese may have harmful results both to the Japanese and to our own citizens, from a social
standpoint?" the membership voted three to one in the affirmative. When asked "Will local people employ persons of
the Japanese race?" the vote was five to one negative. Though the community at large may have had reservations about
the return of the Japanese, a number of individuals (T.S. MacQuiddy, Dr. O.C. Marshall and attorney John C. McCarthy,
for example) extended assistance to the Japanese community as it hesitantly returned to Watsonville in the fall of 1945.
For the next three years, the Japanese community tried to put the pieces of the community back together again, but it
was a difficult process. Families had been separated, leased farmland had been lost, belongings had been sold or
destroyed, and educational careers interrupted. It has been estimated that over one-third of the Japanese families living
in the Pajaro Valley in 1941 did not return to Watsonville. Thus, the community did not return intact and some of the
pre-war Watsonville Citizens League leadership had to be replaced. The first priority for the Japanese who returned to
the Pajaro Valley was to put together their shattered lives, so there was little thought immediately following the war
about resuming the Watsonville Citizens League.
The national JACL organization, however, roared out of the war years with tremendous vigor. In a convention held in
1945, the organization formulated a set of objectives which included pushing for naturalization rights for Issei,
reparations for losses incurred during the war, and repeal of the alien land laws. Under the leadership of Mike Masaoka,
the JACL began a campaign of lobbying in Washington to realize those goals.
Three years following their return, their lives beginning to return to some semblance of normalcy, a committee of
Watsonville Nisei held a meeting to consider the reorganization of the dormant Watsonville Citizens League.
The League Reorganized (1947–1948)
In the spring of 1947, a committee consisting of Cow Wada, Jimmy Izumizaki, Charlie Shikuma, Louis Waki, Walter
Hashimoto, Frank Uyeda, Harry Mayeda, Min Hamada, Hardy Tsuda, George Ura and Shig Hirano issued an invitation to
Watsonville's Nisei to form a "non-religious citizens organization" which would be a Nisei group to "carry on community
services." It was not until June, 1948, that a group met to discuss the reorganization of the Watsonville Citizens League.
6
�Like most Nisei following the war, the Watsonville Japanese Americans were still concentrating on resuming their lives,
which would explain why it took a year to gain enough interest to form an organization.
Chaired by Bill Fukuba, the newly-reorganized Watsonville Citizens League included Dr. Frank Ito, William Shirachi, Harry
Mayeda, Cow Wada, Min Hamada, John Ura, Bob Manabe, Louis Waki and Jean Oda. The first decision was something of
a symbolic one—to enter a decorated car in the Fourth of July parade, resuming a tradition begun by the Watsonville
Japan Society before the war. However, the committee also decided to purchase three subscriptions of the Pacific
Citizen and distribute them to the local community, as well as purchase a copy of Carey McWilliam's book, Prejudice, for
the Watsonville library. Though it may not appear momentous, the Watsonville Citizens League had begun one of its
most important tasks: that of providing information about the Japanese community to the general population of the
Pajaro Valley.
A second function performed by the WCL during 1948 and 1949 was to provide assistance to members of the
community wishing to file evacuee claims for losses sustained during the war. The League also investigated and
successfully allied itself with Blue Cross to provide health insurance for its members. Finally, the group assisted its
members in re-registering so they might vote in the 1948 elections.
The reorganized Watsonville Citizens League's activities marked a subtle but important departure from the pre-war
organization, as the group had expanded beyond its social-cultural concerns to political concerns. In February, 1949, the
organization authorized its President, Bill Fukuba, to write letters to Congressmen Anderson and Bramblett in support of
the bill to grant naturalization rights to Issei.
Though the Issei organization, the Japan Society, had not been active in Watsonville since the war, it was not until the
Society's property on Union Street was formally deeded over to the Watsonville Citizens League in April 1948 that the
leadership of the Watsonville Japanese community passed to the Nisei. The final vestige of the pre-war community
organization was dropped in November of 1949 when the Watsonville Citizens League formally became a chapter of the
Japanese American Citizens League (although legally the name of the Watsonville chapter remained Watsonville Citizens
League until 1964).
The Early 1950s—The Focus is Politics
During the early 1950s the concerns and activities of the Watsonville chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League
closely mirrored those of the national organization. The two primary concerns of the national organization were to
repeal the laws which continued to discriminate against the Issei (alien land laws, prohibition of naturalization) and to
assist returned evacuees in filing claims for property lost during the war.
The procedure established by the federal government for filing claims for property lost during the war was extremely
cumbersome and complicated. Though evacuees began filing claims soon after the war, the process was so long and
drawn out that the final claims were not settled until the mid-1960s. The national JACL worked diligently to streamline
the claim procedures and assist their local chapters. After successfully achieving what became known as the
"compromise" procedure (aimed at standardizing the estimating of property value), the national organization sent one
of its national officers, Saburo Kido, to Watsonville to explain the new procedures. In September, 1951, Kido spoke to
the assembled Watsonville Japanese community. Following Kido's visit, Bill Fukuba and Fred Nitta were appointed to
help claimants fill out the forms and send them on to Kido to be rechecked before they were filed with the federal
government. Though the exact extent of the losses suffered by the Japanese in the Pajaro Valley will never be known,
one government survey conducted by the Department of Agricultural Economics at the end of the war noted that 19 of
the 79 parcels of land owned by Japanese in Santa Cruz County had been sold to non-Japanese; the transfer amounted
to 20% of the total acreage owned by Japanese at the beginning of the war.
Next to the claims procedures, the most important issue facing the national JACL was the continued inability of Issei to
become naturalized citizens. Through the efforts of the JACL's Anti-Discrimination Committee, local chapters (including
7
�Watsonville) raised funds to assist the organization in its lobbying efforts to gain naturalization rights for all, irrespective
of race. In November, 1951, the Watsonville chapter raised $675 which it sent along to the national Anti-Discrimination
Committee. By early 1952, the Walter-McCarran Bill, a bill which included the naturalization rights for the Issei, was
making its way through the Congressional labyrinth, and the Watsonville JACL urged its members to write letters to
Congressman Jack Anderson urging him to support the bill. The bill was finally passed over President Truman's veto in
June, 1952, and represents one of the most important achievements of the JACL.
In a remarkable effort to measure the strength of its membership, the Watsonville chapter conducted a census of
Japanese and Japanese Americans in the Pajaro Valley in 1953, and that census provides a good measure for the
recovery of the population following the end of the war eight years earlier. The census counted 1,207 Japanese in the
Valley (compared to approximately 1,400 in the valley prior to the war); 23% were Issei, 45% Nisei, and 32% were Sansei
(third generation). Over 60% of the families counted were involved in agriculture, while 80% listed themselves as
Buddhist and the remaining 20% Christian.
Concern for the Issei and Sansei
Once the Issei were eligible for naturalization, the Watsonville chapter turned its attention to assisting those Issei
wishing to become citizens by setting up citizenship classes to prepare them for their citizenship examinations. As the
decade of the 1950s passed, however, the chapter became increasingly concerned for the well-being of the pioneer
generation which was steadily growing older. The Blue Cross health insurance plan was one of the ways the chapter
made certain that the health needs of the elderly would be taken care of. Efforts were also made to insure that the
contributions of the Issei pioneers would be preserved for future generations when, in 1962, the Watsonville chapter
collected over $3,000 towards the JACL Issei History project. Eventually, 47 biographies of local Issei were collected and
submitted to the national JACL for the project. Keiro dinners were sponsored by the JACL to honor the elderly Japanese
residents of the Pajaro Valley. In 1971 the chapter began looking for a place where Issei and older Nisei might have
meetings and gather socially. Tom Kizuka chaired the committee which looked for an appropriate site, and in July, 1971,
the Hayashi Boarding House on First Street was opened as a Senior Center. The local chapter made an annual payment
of $1,000 to the Senior Center besides paying the rent and utilities for the building. In the words of Fred Nitta, the center
and its activities were established to "show appreciation to the Japanese senior citizens in this valley who came to this
country many years ago as poor immigrants and have worked hard under unbearable conditions to lay a firm foundation
for their American-born children, Nisei, to enjoy today."
The Watsonville JACL also sponsored projects to encourage and assist the Sansei. Scholarships were established by the
Watsonville JACL at all the local high schools to recognize and assist Sansei as they went on to colleges and universities
throughout the country. A year-end barbecue honoring graduating seniors became a traditional way that the
Watsonville JACL said congratulations to the next generation of community leaders.
A Building for the JACL
Though the Watsonville JACL acquired the Japan Society's property on Union Street in the late 1940s, it was never
considered appropriate for holding meetings (the buildings were eventually demolished), and the JACL paid an annual
fee to the Watsonville Buddhist Church to hold their meetings there. During the mid-1970s, discussions began about
selling the property on Union Street and buying or building a JACL building in Watsonville. Eventually, the Assembly of
God Church on Blackburn Street was purchased for $55,000. Since the bank would not loan money to an organization
which had no income, it was necessary for the membership to pay cash for the building. On October 16, 1977, the goal
of $60,000 for the building was set and by April, 1978, a remarkable $71,195 had been pledged to cover the cost of the
new building. The building has served as a Japanese center and home for the JACL Senior Center.
Contributions to the Watsonville Community
8
�The Watsonville JACL did not limit its charitable concerns to the Japanese community, and the history of the
organization is filled with the contributions the organization made to community organizations and campaigns. The
Watsonville JACL's participation in the American Cancer Society fund-raising drives resulted in the organization receiving
the distinguished Order of the Golden Sword award in October, 1975. In 1967 the JACL contributed $628 to assist in the
restoration of the bandstand in Watsonville's downtown plaza. But, perhaps the most notable community fund-raising
drive came in 1965 during the establishment of Watsonville Community Hospital.
Watsonville desperately needed a new hospital, and a community-wide fund-raising campaign was carried out in 1965.
The Japanese American Citizens League spearheaded the fund-raising within the Japanese community, and when it was
finally tallied, 297 families of Japanese ancestry contributed over $40,000 to the hospital fund. On July 30, 1965, the
editor of the Watsonville Register-Pajaronian wrote a full-length editorial about those contributions and concluded,
"Our community is deeply in debt of these fine citizens." In recognition of the hospital fund-raising, as well as other
community-wide efforts, the Watsonville JACL was honored as 1968 Organization of the Year by the Watsonville
Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture. The public recognition of the JACL in 1968 was testimony to the hard work and
leadership provided by the Watsonville JACL, for it must be remembered that 23 years earlier the residents of the Pajaro
Valley had overwhelmingly opposed the return of the Japanese community from the concentration camps.
The Campaign for Redress
The wartime evacuation continued to occupy the attention of the national JACL. The organization successfully led the
fight to repeal the Internal Security Act passed in 1950 which empowered the government to arrest and imprison
American citizens without due process. In 1977 the national organization began pressing for redress and compensation
for the people of Japanese ancestry who had been torn from their homes and put into camps without due process.
Though the claims procedures had been concluded in the 1960s, the average settlement had been 10% of the amount
asked for based on the value of the dollar in 1941; the national JACL did not feel that either the compensation or the
legal justification made for relocation were sufficient.
The issue of redress did not have the unanimous support of the national JACL membership; some of the members felt
that the wartime evacuation issue had been laid to rest and should not be raised again. (A survey of the Watsonville
JACL membership overwhelmingly supported the redress movement.) Despite the disagreement, the national JACL went
forward to urge Congress to establish a commission to study the issue of redress. The commission was established by
President Jimmy Carter in July, 1980, and was formally titled The Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of
Civilians. The commission held hearings and thoroughly researched the events leading to the evacuation orders of 1942,
and in June, 1983, issued its report recommending that those evacuees still living be compensated and that the
government formally apologize for its actions during the war.
Opinions about the issue of redress differed, as some Watsonville JACL members felt that the subject of wartime
evacuation would better be left dormant. Despite this difference, however, the local chapter voted to support the
national JACL redress committee, and one of its members testified before the commission when it held its hearings in
San Francisco. Also, members' written testimonies were submitted to the commission. In one of its first public gestures
regarding relocation, the Watsonville JACL received a resolution commemorating the anniversary of President
Roosevelt's signing of Executive Order 9066 from State Senator Henry Mello.
In February, 1984, in partnership with JACL chapters from Salinas, Monterey, San Benito County and Gilroy, the
Watsonville JACL co-sponsored placement of a plaque at the Salinas Rodeo Grounds where the Japanese communities of
the Monterey Bay Region were detained before being taken to concentration camps in the summer of 1942. The
Watsonville chapter also sponsored a public presentation at Cabrillo College by Judge William Marutani; Judge Marutani
was one of the members of the federal commission and was in the area to help dedicate the Salinas Rodeo Ground
plaque. For the first time in the history of the Watsonville JACL, the organization had taken their story of the wartime
9
�evacuation before the Santa Cruz County public, and several hundred people listened intently as judge Marutani
described the hearings which had been held throughout the United States.
On June 12, 1984, the Watsonville City Council and subsequently on June 26, 1984, the Santa Cruz County Board of
Supervisors, passed a resolution endorsing the findings and recommendations of the U.S. Commission on Wartime
Relocation and Internment of Civilians, and urging the Congress of the United States to enact HR 4110 and S 2116.
Conclusions
It is too early to say whether the Days of Remembrance observances of 1983 and 1984 mark a new, more assertive era
in the history of the Watsonville JACL. The activities dedicated to the community's senior citizens and younger
generation continue apace, however, and the community-wide participation of the JACL also continues. Over the years
the local chapter has had to walk between demands of a national organization which reflects a more urban, politically
active national membership and the needs of a predominantly rural Pajaro Valley community. The Watsonville JACL has
been able to skillfully balance the two, often acting as a conduit bringing information to its membership and the wider
community while tempering some of the information for a rural audience. In doing so, the Watsonville JACL has steadily
helped raise the consciousness of the entire Pajaro Valley. From its beginnings in 1934 as a primarily social organization,
the Watsonville JACL has changed to reflect the changing political and social landscape, and with the health and vigor
provided by divergent viewpoints, the Watsonville JACL begins its second half-century, continuing to enrich the lives of
all the citizens of the Pajaro Valley.
Sources
Copyright 1984 Sandy Lydon. Used with the permission of the author.
The content of this article is the responsibility of the individual author. It is the Library's intent to provide accurate local history
information. However, it is not possible for the Library to completely verify the accuracy of individual articles obtained from a
variety of sources. If you believe that factual statements in a local history article are incorrect and can provide documentation,
please contact the Webmaster.
10
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Santa Cruz History Articles
Description
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Original articles by library staff and by local authors and material from historical books.
Articles on Santa Cruz County history, many with illustrations, are available here.
The Santa Cruz Public Libraries is grateful to our local historians and their publishers for giving permission to include their articles. The content of the articles is the responsibility of the individual authors.
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AR-085
Title
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A Half-Century of Service: The Watsonville Japanese-American Citizens League, 1934-1984
Creator
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Lydon, Sandy
Publisher
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Santa Cruz Public Libraries
Date
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1984
Format
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Text
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En
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ARTICLE
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Copyright 1984 Sandy Lydon. Used with the permission of the author.
Subject
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Japanese American Community
Watsonville Japanese-American Citizens League
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Pajaro Valley
Watsonville
Minority Groups
Organizations
-
https://history.santacruzpl.org/omeka/files/original/666e478f652b32c6df8c9312a7458644.pdf
05cde60fdb1eebabe68519328e46d91b
PDF Text
Text
A History of Wine Making in the Santa Cruz Mountains
By Ross Eric Gibson
Santa Cruz was the birthplace of California's temperance movement. But beyond the whiskey-induced revelries of the
county alcohol trade lies the more genteel history of the Santa Cruz County wine industry. Its saintly origin was the
mission church itself, which planted its vineyards between 1804 and 1807 in what is now the Harvey West Park area.
The fruits and vegetables imported by the mission were considered the best in the world, except for a variety called
"mission grapes," which was unsuited to the cool, coastal climate. It produced an inferior, bitter wine, to which the
padres added brandy, producing a very sweet "Angelica" wine.
Between 1850 and 1880, loggers stripped 18 million board feet of lumber from the Santa Cruz Mountains, leaving large
portions of cleared land. These were well-suited to fruit farmers, who favored grapes as the most adaptable to the
limitations of mountain agriculture.
Scotsman John Burns settled in the area in 1851, and in 1853 planted the first commercial vines in the county. Burns
named the mountain where his vineyard grew "Ben Lomond" (meaning Mount Lomond), which was the name of an old
wine district in Scotland.
Meanwhile, brothers John and George Jarvis established a vineyard above Scotts Valley, in a place they named "Vine
Hill." These became the two pillars of the county's wine industry, which by the turn of the century would emerge as
dominant in the state. Santa Cruz became a third area, when Pietro Monteverdi and Antonio Capelli from the Italian
wine district established the Italian Gardens as a vineyard district on what is now Pasatiempo Golf Course.
The 1870s saw a boom in the state's wine industry, with 16 vintners
in Santa Cruz County. But the industry was hurt by vintners who
rushed wine to market "before its time," and by a product made
mostly from mission grapes. Overproduction followed by a
depression brought hard times to the infant industry.
John Jarvis stayed at Vine Hill, but his brother sold his share, and
moved his "Jarvis Wine & Brandy Co." to Santa Clara. John Jarvis
expanded his operations to Branciforte Creek in 1878.
In 1879, Henry and Nellie Mel bought one of the Jarvis properties at
Vine Hill. And because their family's French name was "Mel de
Fontenay," they named the vineyard "Villa Fontenay."
1
Photograph of vineyards from Santa Cruz Venetian Water
Carnival, 1895.
�Henry Mel had a serious interest in quality grapes. His sister-in-law obtained and introduced the first California vines of
sauvignon blanc, semillon, sauvignon vert and muscadelle de bordelaise, and he later became county wine inspector.
By 1884, both Mel and Jarvis had won awards for their wines. As Santa Cruz County vineyards were held up as examples
to the rest of the state, vine acres increased fivefold in the Santa Cruz Mountains in the 1880s.
The most serious Santa Cruz County vintner was Dr. John A. Stewart, a Scot who came to Scotts Valley in 1883 and
established Etta Hill vineyard. He emulated the best French vineyards and achieved superior quality by blending wines in
the French manner—a practice new to California. Stewart became president of the Santa Cruz vintner's society and took
over for Mel as the county's local wine inspector. He also wrote articles on California winemaking.
Near the summit on Highland Ridge, German florist Emil Meyer established "Mare Vista" vineyard. That contained the
area's first resistant root stocks, which avoided the root-louse infestation that later devastated other grape-growers.
Meyer's success was in the longevity of his winery, which survived Prohibition, closing in 1939 when his son died.
The wineries of the Santa Cruz Mountains started to receive awards and recognition at the international level. Ben
Lomond Wine Co., operated by William Coope, and Stewart won prizes at World's Fairs in Paris in 1889, Chicago in 1893
and San Francisco in 1894.
Problems beset the wine industry just as it was seeing success. Industry leader John Jarvis died in 1892, and a bank
foreclosed on two wineries.
The survivors were Ben Lomond Wine Co. and Mare Vista. Then in 1899, a terrible forest fire ravaged the Santa Cruz
Mountains. It threatened the Mare Vista Winery, which firefighters fought to save. Then the water supply was lost. Emil
Meyer didn't want to stand by and watch it burn, so he ordered firefighters to hook up their hoses to the wine vats and
use wine to put out the fire. This they did and saved the day. But Los Gatos Creek ran red with claret, surprising many
residents with this river of blood.
Coope continued to win World's Fair medals, at Paris in 1900 and Buffalo in 1901. In August 1902, Coope got up
complaining of a sore throat and by sunset was dead of diphtheria at age 43. He had been the driving force behind
quality wines in Santa Cruz County, and no one with similar vision replaced him. Quality Santa Cruz Mountain wines
came from the Santa Clara County side as well, but Prohibition soon marked the end of California's first quality wine
district of international repute.
Sources
This article originally appeared in the San Jose Mercury News, June 29, 1993, p. 1B. Copyright 1993 Ross Eric
Gibson. Reprinted with the permission of Ross Eric Gibson. Photograph courtesy of the Santa Cruz Public
Libraries.
The content of this article is the responsibility of the individual author. It is the Library's intent to provide accurate local history
information. However, it is not possible for the Library to completely verify the accuracy of individual articles obtained from a
variety of sources. If you believe that factual statements in a local history article are incorrect and can provide documentation,
please contact the Webmaster.
2
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Santa Cruz History Articles
Description
An account of the resource
Original articles by library staff and by local authors and material from historical books.
Articles on Santa Cruz County history, many with illustrations, are available here.
The Santa Cruz Public Libraries is grateful to our local historians and their publishers for giving permission to include their articles. The content of the articles is the responsibility of the individual authors.
It is the library's intent to provide accurate information. However, it is not possible to completely verify the accuracy of individual articles obtained from a variety of sources. If you believe that factual statements in an article are incorrect and can provide documentation, please contact the library.
Publisher
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Santa Cruz Public Libraries
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Paper
Dublin Core
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Identifier
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AR-112
Title
A name given to the resource
A History of Wine Making in the Santa Cruz Mountains
Creator
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Gibson, Ross Eric
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<i>San Jose Mercury News</i>, June 29, 1993, p. 1B.
Publisher
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Santa Cruz Public Libraries
Date
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6/29/1993
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Text
Language
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En
Type
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ARTICLE
Rights
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Copyright 1993 Ross Eric Gibson. Reprinted with the permission of Ross Eric Gibson. Photograph courtesy of the Santa Cruz Public Libraries.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Wine and Winemaking
Santa Cruz Mountains
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Santa Cruz (County)
1870s
1880s
Agriculture
Industries
-
https://history.santacruzpl.org/omeka/files/original/9c4699c3e0dca921585f65bf6c910d51.pdf
ed845fb8c758bd33f5e39dbb11676381
PDF Text
Text
A Howling Wilderness:
Education in the Summit Road Area
By Stephen Payne
Citations in the text refer to the Selected Bibliography, Local History Article AR-219.
The devotion of the Summit settlers to their children's education was evidenced by the number
of school districts formed over this small area of the Santa Cruz Mountains. In all there were six
school districts on the mountain. The first district was Summit School, originally housed in a
private residence near the cross-roads of Summit Road and the Santa Cruz Highway in the
1870's. The school was near Schultheis Lagoon which "was a favorite spot in which to pass our
noon hour paddling around on half-submerged logs," recalled Mrs. E. H. (Loomis) Chase. The
school was finally located at a permanent location one-half mile down the Santa Cruz Highway
toward Patchen. This school house, built by Edward Martin, is now a private residence.
(40:1/2/1962; 38:/6/10/1935; 34:12/1927)
The second school on the mountain was also built in the 1870's. Lyman Burrell donated land
right on the boundaries of Santa Clara County and Santa Cruz County, for the school which
bears his name, Burrell School. In 1889 the Burrell School burned during a brush fire that
covered a large area of the mountains before finally being extinguished near the Highland
School. The Burrell School was rebuilt by local residents in 1890, and on July 4th of that year it
was given the first flag pole of any mountain school. The new school was also the first in the
mountains to have a school bell. The school is now a private residence, with the new owners
remodeling the building. (40:12 / 4 / 1961; 34:5 / 1910)
Little is known about the Wright's School, located at Wright's Station. The school served the
community of Wright's from the 1880's until 1929. The school was finally suspended
permanently in 1932 because of a general decline in the population of the Wright's area. (8)
In 1882, Miss Rose Merrill held classes in a little cottage in back of the depot building at Laurel.
The children were not subjected to tests or grades. What books that could be found were
supplied by the children. The average daily attendance was between six and fifteen students.
The teachers were paid between $55 in 1884 and $65 in 1906, but their living expenditures
�were minimal. The rent for the teacher's cottage was only $2.50 per month. The school was the
first teaching experience for many of the early teachers who were fresh out of San Jose Normal
School. In 1947 the school closed and the children were bused to Scotts Valley Union School.
(2:22-27, 33)
The first classes held at Highland School, 1881-1882 session, were held in an old Chinese ranchhand cabin. The next year Judge George Miller donated one-third acre for a new school
building. Local residents built the building and William Sears was the first teacher. In 1892 the
school census report shows twenty-two pupils in the Highland School. Of these, seven were
under five years of age, which leads one to believe that the school might have been used as a
baby-sitting service as well as an educational institution. In the 1890's faculty members from
Stanford University held summer seminars at Highland School in such subjects as economics,
history, and political science.
The April 18, 1906 earthquake damaged the school and The Realty chided the trustees for being
so slow in repairing the school. In 1914 a new school was built next to the original one. The old
school building was sold to the Farm Bureau and renamed Highland Hall. In 1971 the newer of
the two schools burned down. Presently the old school is being used as a residence.
(40:8/13/1959, 12/7/1961, 8/20/1959; 10; 34:6/1906; 44:125)
On December 1, 1906, a group of residents living in the lower section of the Highland School
District met in the home of R. S. Griffith, and Redwood Lodge Road. These neighbors were
concerned that their children had to walk a mile and a half in the rain up the hill to the Highland
School. Voting to form a new school district the parents sought the approval of the
Superintendent of Santa Cruz County Schools, C. S. Price. With Price's approval the parents built
a twenty-six by thirty-foot, one-room school costing $200. Miss C. Tempelten opened the new
Hester Creek School on September 1, 1906. (34:12/1906; 40:7/21/1959) In 1949, the Summit,
Burrell, Highland, and Hester Creek schools merged and formed a new school district, Loma
Prieta School District. Hester Creek School became the Hester Creek Community Church
(American Sunday School Union).
The constant problem facing the elected trustees of the various mountain school districts was
that the teachers did not stay long. Most of the teachers were women and for many of them
the mountain school was their first assignment. After teaching for a year or two, most went on
to other districts. In 1879, the average spent on education by each district was under $450 a
year. Figures from 1881 to 1882 reveal that the State of California's share in educating the
children of the Santa Cruz Mountains ranged between $33 and $100 annually per child, while
the County of Santa Clara apportioned $63.33 to $190 per school district. The pay for teachers
in 1892 was an average of $57.93 per month for female teachers while their male counterparts
received $96.36. Although the teacher turnover was quite high and the total spent on local
education quite low, the children were educated. Some of the former pupils continued their
education and returned to teach in the schools where they had once been students.
(34:9/1906; 46:205-206; 42;64; 33:9/3/1881)
�Source
Excerpted from Payne, Stephen Michael. A Howling Wilderness: a History of the Summit Road
Area of the Santa Cruz Mountains 1850-1906. Santa Cruz, CA: Loma Prieta Publishing, 1978.
Copyright 1978 Stephen Michael Payne. Reproduced with the permission of the author.
It is the library’s intent to provide accurate information, however, it is not possible for the
library to completely verify the accuracy of all information. If you believe that factual
statements in a local history article are incorrect and can provide documentation, please
contact the library.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Santa Cruz History Articles
Description
An account of the resource
Original articles by library staff and by local authors and material from historical books.
Articles on Santa Cruz County history, many with illustrations, are available here.
The Santa Cruz Public Libraries is grateful to our local historians and their publishers for giving permission to include their articles. The content of the articles is the responsibility of the individual authors.
It is the library's intent to provide accurate information. However, it is not possible to completely verify the accuracy of individual articles obtained from a variety of sources. If you believe that factual statements in an article are incorrect and can provide documentation, please contact the library.
Publisher
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Santa Cruz Public Libraries
Document
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Original Format
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Paper
Dublin Core
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Title
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A Howling Wilderness: Education in the Summit Road Area
Education in the Summit Road Area
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Payne, Stephen
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Santa Cruz Public Libraries
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1978
Format
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TEXT
Language
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EN
Type
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ARTICLE
Identifier
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AR-215
Coverage
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Santa Cruz (County)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Santa Cruz Mountains
Summit
Schools-Public
Highland School
Burrell School
Summit School
Wrights Station
Hester Creek School
Loma Prieta School District
Laurel School
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Excerpted from: Payne, Michael. "A Howling Wilderness: A History of the Summit Road Area of the Santa Cruz Mountains 1850-1906." Santa Cruz, CA: Loma Prieta Publishing, 1978.
Rights
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Copyright 1978 by Stephen Michael Payne. Reproduced with permission of the author.
Relation
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<a href="https://history.santacruzpl.org/omeka/items/show/134530#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0">Selected Bibliography</a>
Education