THE END OF VASQUEZ
1874
Although a high school had been proposed for Los Angeles as early as
1860, it was not until 1873, during Dr. W. T. Lucky's superintendency
and under his teaching, that high-school courses were inaugurated
here. Then the more advanced students were accommodated in the
schoolhouse on Pound Cake Hill, where the Court-house now stands; and
from this humble beginning the present high-school system of Los
Angeles has been evolved. Later, under Dr. T. H. Rose's leadership,
the grammar departments were removed to the other school buildings and
the High School was conducted as an independent institution.
In 1874, S. Lazard & Company dissolved, Eugene and Constant Meyer
succeeding, on June 15th, under the firm name of Eugene Meyer &
Company or, as the store was better known, the City of Paris.
Charles H., or Charley White, long prominent in the passenger
department of the Southern Pacific, entered the service of the Los
Angeles & San Pedro Railroad in 1874, as John Milner's assistant, and
soon became the regular ticket-agent here. After forty years of
invaluable service, he is still with the Southern Pacific occupying
the important position of Chief Clerk of the General Passenger Office.
[Illustration: Vasquez and his Captors
(_Top_) D. K. Smith,
William R. Rowland,
Walter E. Rodgers.
(_Middle_) Albert Johnson,
Greek George's Home,
G. A. Beers.
(_Bottom_) Emil Harris,
Tibúrcio Vasquez,
J. S. Bryant.]
[Illustration: Greek George]
[Illustration: Nicolás Martinez]
George H. Peck, County Superintendent of Schools between 1874 and
1876, was a Vermonter who came in 1869 and bought five hundred acres
of land near El Monte. On his first visit to the Coast, Peck
handled hay in San Francisco when it was worth two hundred dollars a
ton; then he mined a little; and subsequently he opened the first
public school in Sacramento and the first industrial school in San
Francisco.
Andrew A. Weinschank, a veteran of the Battle of Vera Cruz who came to
Los Angeles in 1856, died on February 16th, 1874. For a while, he sold
home-made sauerkraut, pickles and condiments, and was one of a
well-known family in the German pioneer group here. Carrie, one of
Weinschank's daughters, married a circus man named Lee who made
periodical visits to Los Angeles, erecting a small tent, at first
somewhere in the neighborhood of the present _Times_ Building, in
which to conduct his show. Later, Polly Lee became a rider in the
circus and with her father electrified the youth of the town when Lee,
in the character of _Dick Turpin_, and mounted on his charger, _Black
Bess_, carried off the weeping Polly to his den of freebooters. A son,
Frank A. Weinschank, was a pioneer plumber.
In the early seventies, while the Southern Pacific Railway was
building from San Francisco to San José, some twelve or fifteen
bandits, carousing at a country dance in the Mexican settlement,
Panamá (about six miles south of Bakersfield) planned to cross the
mountains and hold up the pay-car. They were unsuccessful; whereupon,
they turned their attention to the village of Tres Pinos, robbed
several store-keepers and killed three or four men. They were next
heard of at little Kingston, in Tulare County, where they plundered
practically the whole town. Then they once more disappeared.
Presently various clues pointed to the identity of the chief _bandido_
as one Tibúrcio Vasquez, born in Monterey in the thirties, who had
taken to the life of an outlaw because, as he fantastically said, some
_Gringos_ had insolently danced off with the prettiest girls at
_fandangos_, among them being his sweetheart whom an American had
wronged. With the exception of his Lieutenant, Chavez, he trusted no
one, and when he moved from place to place, Chavez alone accompanied
him. In each new field he recruited a new gang, and he never slept in
camp with his followers.
Although trailed by several sheriffs, Vasquez escaped to Southern
California leading off the wife of one of his associates--a bit of
gallantry that contributed to his undoing, as the irate husband at
once gave the officers much information concerning Vasquez's life and
methods. One day in the spring of 1874, Vasquez and three of his
companions appeared at the ranch of Alessandro Repetto, nine miles
from town, disguised as sheep-shearers. The following morning, while
the inmates of the ranch-house were at breakfast, the highwaymen
entered the room and held up the defenceless household. Vasquez
informed Repetto that he was organizing a revolution in Lower
California and merely desired to borrow the trifling sum of eight
hundred dollars. Repetto replied that he had no money in the house;
but Vasquez compelled the old man to sign a check for the sum
demanded, and immediately dispatched to town a boy working for
Repetto, with the strict injunction that if he did not return with the
money alone, and soon, his master would be shot.
When the check was presented at the Temple & Workman Bank, Temple, who
happened to be there, became suspicious but could elicit from the
messenger no satisfactory response to his questions. The bank was but
a block from the Courthouse; and when Sheriff Rowland hurriedly came,
in answer to a summons, he was inclined to detain the lad. The boy,
however, pleaded so hard for Repetto's life that the Sheriff agreed to
the messenger's returning alone with the money. Soon after, Rowland
and several deputies started out along the same trail; but a lookout
sighted the approaching horsemen and gave the alarm. Vasquez and his
associates took to flight and were pursued as far as Tejunga Pass; but
as the cutthroats were mounted on fresh horses, they escaped. Even
while being pursued, Vasquez had the audacity to fleece a party of men
in the employ of the Los Angeles Water Company who were doing some
work near the Alhambra Tract. The well-known Angeleño and engineer in
charge, Charles E. Miles, was relieved of an expensive gold watch.
In April, 1874, Sheriff Rowland heard that Vasquez had visited the
home of "Greek George"--the Smyrniot camel-driver to whom I have
referred--and who was living about ten miles from Los Angeles, near
the present location of Hollywood. Rowland took into his confidence D.
K. Smith and persuaded him to stroll that way, ostensibly as a
farmer's hand seeking employment; and within two weeks Smith reported
to Rowland that the information as to Vasquez's whereabouts was
correct. Rowland then concluded to make up a _posse_, but inasmuch as
a certain element kept Vasquez posted regarding the Sheriff's
movements, Rowland had to use great precaution. Anticipating this
emergency, City Detective Emil Harris--four years later Chief of
Police--had been quietly transferred to the Sheriff's office; in
addition to whom, Rowland selected Albert Johnson, Under Sheriff; B.
F. Hartley, a local policeman; J. S. Bryant, City Constable; Major
Henry M. Mitchell, an attorney; D. K. Smith; Walter Rodgers,
proprietor of the Palace Saloon; and G. A. Beers, a correspondent of
the _San Francisco Chronicle_. All these were ordered to report, one
by one with their horses, shortly after midnight, at Jones's Corral on
Spring Street near Seventh. Arms and ammunition, carefully packed,
were likewise smuggled in. Whether true or not that Vasquez would
speedily be informed of the Sheriff's whereabouts, it is certain that,
in resolving not to leave his office, Rowland sacrificed, for the
public weal, such natural ambition that he cannot be too much
applauded; not even the later reward of eight thousand dollars really
compensating him for his disappointment.
By half-past one o'clock in the morning, the eight members of the
_posse_ were all in the saddle and silently following a circuitous
route. At about daybreak, in dense fog, they camped at the mouth of
Nichols's Canyon--two miles away from the house of Greek George--where
Charles Knowles, an American, was living. When the fog lifted,
Johnston, Mitchell, Smith and Bryant worked their way to a point
whence they could observe Greek George's farm; and Bryant, returning
to camp, reported that a couple of gray horses had been seen tied near
the ranch-house. Shortly thereafter, a four-horse empty wagon, driven
by two Mexicans, went by the _cañon_ and was immediately stopped and
brought in. The Mexicans were put in charge of an officer, and about
the same time Johnston came tearing down the ravine with the startling
statement that Vasquez was undoubtedly at Greek George's!
A quick consultation ensued and it was decided by the _posse_ to
approach their goal in the captured vehicle, leaving their own horses
in charge of Knowles; and having warned the Mexicans that they would
be shot if they proved treacherous, the deputies climbed into the
wagon and lay down out of sight. When a hundred yards from the house,
the officers stealthily scattered in various directions. Harris,
Rodgers and Johnston ran to the north side, and Hartley and Beers to
the west. Through an open door, Vasquez was seen at the breakfast
table, and Harris, followed by the others, made a quick dash for the
house. A woman waiting on Vasquez attempted to shut the officers out;
but Harris injected his rifle through the half-open door and prevented
her. During the excitement, Vasquez climbed through a little window,
and Harris, yelling, "There he goes!" raised his Henry rifle and shot
at him. By the time Harris had reached the other side of the house,
Vasquez was a hundred feet away and running like a deer toward his
horse. In the meantime, first Hartley and then the other officers used
their shotguns and slightly wounded him again. Vasquez then threw up
his hands, saying: "Boys, you've done well! but I've been a damned
fool, and it's my own fault!" The identity of the bandit thus far had
not been established; and when Harris asked his name, he answered,
"Alessandro Martinez."[32] In the meantime, captors and prisoner
entered the house; and Vasquez, who was weakened from his wounds, sat
down, while the young woman implored the officers not to kill him. At
closer range, a good view was obtained of the man who had so long
terrorized the State. He was about five feet six or seven inches in
height, sparely built, with small feet and hands--in that respect by
no means suggesting the desperado--with a low forehead, black, coarse
hair and mustache, and furtive, cunning eyes.
By this time, the entire _posse_, excepting Mitchell and Smith (who
had followed a man seen to leave Greek George's), proceeded to search
the house. The first door opened revealed a young fellow holding a
baby in his arms. He, the most youthful member of the organization,
had been placed on guard. There were no other men in the house,
although four rifles and six pistols, all loaded and ready for use,
were found. Fearing no such raid, the other outlaws were afield in the
neighborhood; and being warned by the firing, they escaped. One of
Vasquez's guns, by the way, has been long preserved by the family of
Francisco Ybarra and now rests secure in the County Museum.
Underneath one of the beds was found Vasquez's vest containing Charley
Miles's gold watch, which Harris at once recognized. The prisoner was
asked whether he was seriously hurt and he said that he expected to
die, at the same time admitting that he was Vasquez and asking Harris
to write down some of his bequests. He said that he was a single man,
although he had two children living at Elizabeth Lake; and he
exhibited portraits of them. He protested that he had never killed a
human being, and said that the murders at Tres Pinos were due to
Chavez's disobedience of orders.
The officers borrowed a wagon from Judge Thompson--who lived in the
neighborhood--into which they loaded Vasquez, the boy and the weapons,
and so proceeded on their way. When they arrived near town, Smith and
Mitchell caught up with them. Mitchell was then sent to give advance
notice of Vasquez's capture and to have medical help on hand; and by
the time the party arrived, the excitement was intense. The City
Fathers, then in session, rushed out pellmell and crowds surrounded
the Jail. Dr. K. D. Wise, Health Officer, and Dr. J. P. Widney, County
Physician, administered treatment to the captive. Vasquez, in irons,
pleaded that he was dying; but Dr. Widney, as soon as he had examined
the captive, warned the Sheriff that the prisoner, if he escaped,
would still be game for a long day's ride. Everybody who could,
visited him and I was no exception. I was disgusted, however, when I
found Vasquez's cell filled with flowers, sent by some white women of
Los Angeles who had been carried away by the picturesque career of the
_bandido_; but Sheriff Rowland soon stopped all such foolish
exuberance.
Vasquez admitted that he had frequently visited Mexicans in Los
Angeles, doing this against the advice of his lieutenant, Chavez, who
had warned him that Sheriff Rowland also had good friends among the
Mexicans.
Among those said to have been in confidential touch with Vasquez was
Mariano G. Santa Cruz, a prominent figure, in his way, in Sonora Town.
He kept a grocery about three hundred feet from the old Plaza Church,
on the east side of Upper Main Street, and had a curiously-assorted
household. There on many occasions, it is declared, Vasquez found a
safe refuge.
Five days after the capture, Signor Repetto called upon the prisoner,
who was in chains, and remarked: "I have come to say that, so far as
_I_ am concerned, you can settle that little account with God
Almighty!" Vasquez, with characteristic flourishes, thanked the
Italian and began to speak of repayment, when Repetto replied: "I do
not expect that. But I beg of you, if ever you resume operations,
never to visit _me_ again." Whereupon Vasquez, placing his hand
dramatically upon his breast, exclaimed: "Ah, Señor, I am a cavalier,
with a cavalier's heart!"--_¡Señor Repetto, yo soy un caballero, con
el corazón de un caballero!_
As soon as Vasquez's wounds were healed, he was taken by Sheriff
Rowland to Tres Pinos and there indicted for murder. Miller & Lux, the
great cattle owners, furnished the money, it was understood, for his
defense--supposedly as a matter of policy. His attorneys asked for,
and obtained, a change of venue, and Vasquez was removed to San José.
There he was promptly tried, found guilty and, in March, 1875, hanged.
Many good anecdotes were long told of Vasquez; one of which was that
he could size up a man quickly, as to whether he was a native son or
not, by the direction in which he would roll a cigarette--toward or
away from himself! As soon as the long-feared bandit was in captivity,
local wits began to joke at his expense. A burlesque on Vasquez was
staged late in May at the Merced Theater; and the day the outlaw was
captured, a merchant began his advertisement: "VASQUEZ says that
MENDEL MEYER has the Finest and Most Complete Stock of Dry Goods and
Clothing, etc."
In the spring of 1874, Charles Maclay, with whom were associated
George K. and F. B. Porter, purchased the San Fernando _rancho_ which
consisted of fifty-six thousand acres and embraced the old Spanish
Mission; and on April 20th, Maclay invited fifty of his friends to a
picnic on his newly-acquired possession. During the day some one
suggested founding a town there. The name of the new settlement was to
be decided by a vote of the participants, and almost unanimously they
selected the title of San Fernando. Within a couple of weeks, hundreds
of lots were sold and the well-known colony was soon on the way to
prosperity. Boring for petroleum commenced in the San Fernando
Mountains about that time, and the new town became the terminus of the
Southern Pacific until the long tunnel was completed. Maclay, who was
a native of Massachusetts, came to California at about the same time
as I did; he was at first a tanner in Santa Cruz, but later came south
and, entering into politics in addition to his other activities,
became State Senator, in which position he attained considerable local
prominence.
A charming home of the seventies was that of Dr. and Mrs. Shaw,
pioneers situated, as I recollect, on San Pedro Street perhaps as far
south as what is now Adams. They conducted a diversified nursery,
including some orange trees, to obtain which Shaw had journeyed all
the way to Nicaragua.
Toward the end of April, 1874, General E. F. Beale and Colonel R. S.
Baker, representing themselves and New York capitalists, sought
support for a new railroad project--a single-track line to run from
this city to Shoo-Fly Landing, located, I think, near the present
Playa del Rey and considerably north of San Pedro; where a town,
Truxton--doubtless named after the General's son--was to be founded.
The proposed railway was to be known as the Los Angeles & Truxton
Railroad, with a route from the western part of the city in the
direction of Ciénega and the Rincon de los Bueyes, and along a corner
of the Ballona. The estimated length of the line was fourteen miles,
and the projectors claimed that it would enable the Angeleño to reach
San Francisco within thirty hours, with but one night at sea, and so
add to the comfort, convenience and cheapness of passenger travel. A
new harbor and an additional pier stretching far into the ocean were
to be features of the enterprise; but for some reason or other,
nothing grew out of the movement. As late as the following September,
the promoters were still interviewing councilmen and ranch-owners; but
the Los Angeles & Truxton Railroad remained a mere fancy of the
financier and engineer.
For a resort that never came to be settled by a community, Truxton
acquired some fame in the early seventies, a rumor also being current
in the summer of 1874 that a fine sea-shore hotel was to be built
there. A clipping before me of the same date even says that "the roads
to Santa Monica, Truxton and Will Tell's are in splendid order--the
former being the finest natural highway on the Pacific Coast."
F. X. Eberle and wife, Marsetes, came here in 1874, bought six or
seven acres on the corner of San Pedro and the present Eighth streets,
and fitted up the City Gardens, with bowling alleys, swings, lawns and
bowers, erecting there also a picturesque windmill.
I have expressed the surprise that I felt, when, upon my return from
New York in 1868, I observed that the approaches to the hills were
dotted here and there with little homes. This extension of the
residence area, together with the general lack of street and sidewalk
improvements making travel to and from the town somewhat inconvenient,
suggested, I have no doubt, the need of the first street railroad
here. In 1869, Judge R. M. Widney, together with his associates,
obtained a fifty-year franchise; and by 1874, the little Spring and
Sixth Street line--in time bought by S. C. Hubbell and J. E.
Hollenbeck--had been built and was in operation. It is my recollection
that this line (partly paid for by subscriptions from property owners
along the selected route, each of whom contributed fifty cents per
running foot) began at the Plaza and extended as far out as Pearl and
Sixth streets by way of Main, Spring, First, Fort, Fourth, Hill, Fifth
and Olive; and that it was at the Sixth and Pearl Street terminus that
the almost miniature wooden barn was put up. For the convenience of
the traveling public, two bob-tailed, one-horse cars with a small
platform at each end were used over a single track approximately but
two and a half miles in length; and to permit these cars to pass each
other when they met halfway along the line, a turnout or side-track
was constructed. Many a time at such a siding have I wasted precious
minutes awaiting the arrival of the other, belated car; and the
annoyance of these delays was accentuated when, in winter, the cars
stuck in the mud and often required an hour or more to make the run
from one end of the line to the other. Indeed, the ties having been
laid almost on the surface of the streets, service in bad weather was
sometimes suspended altogether. Each car was in charge of a driver who
also acted as conductor and was permitted to stop as often as he
pleased to take on or let off passengers; and while the single horse
or mule jogged along slowly, the driver, having wound his reins around
the handle of the brake, would pass through the never-crowded vehicle
and take up the fares. Single rides cost ten cents; four tickets were
sold for two bits; and twenty tickets were given for a dollar. So
provincial was the whole enterprise that passengers were expected to
purchase their tickets either at W. J. Brodrick's book store or of Dr.
Fred. P. Howard, the druggist. At a later period, a metal box with a
glass front was installed, into which the passenger was required to
drop his coin or ticket.
In those modest days, small compensation in public utility
enterprises--if such they could be called--was quite acceptable; and
since the Spring and Sixth Street line had proven rather profitable,
it was not long before W. J. Brodrick, Governor Downey, O. W. Childs,
Dave Waldron, I. W. Hellman and others inaugurated a second
horse-railway. This was popularly known as the Main Street line and
extended straight down Main Street from Temple Block to Washington
Gardens. Much the same kind of equipment was used, one horse or mule
poking along with a bob-tailed car in tow, seating at most eight or
ten passengers; but the fare for adults was ten cents, and for
children five. At night, the motor power and the couple of cars were
housed in a barn at either Main or Washington Street.
Soon after this line was in running order, it was extended from
Washington south to Jefferson, out Jefferson to Wesley (now
University) Avenue, and thence to the race-track at Agricultural Park;
and there the shed for this section was erected. Still later, a branch
was built out Washington Street to Figueroa, and down Figueroa to
Jefferson, where it connected with the first extension. No formal
transfers were made, transfer-tickets first coming into vogue in Los
Angeles about 1889. Two routes for the cars were arranged, both
running between Temple Block and the race-track. The entire system was
controlled by the Main Street & Agricultural Park Railroad Company,
with which W. J. Brodrick was associated as its first President,
continuing in that office until his death in 1898. In 1877, Colonel
John O. Wheeler, the quondam journalist, was Manager. Later, E. M.
Loricke was Superintendent--the same Loricke who built the line
between Oakland and Berkeley, and was finally killed by one of his own
cars. James Gallagher, who went to work for the Main Street &
Agricultural Park Railroad Company in October, 1888, and who had
charge also of one of the first electric cars run here, is still a
street-car conductor pleasantly known, with the longest record for
service of any conductor in the city. As I have said, travel in winter
was anything but expeditious and agreeable; and it was not uncommon
for passengers, when a car left the track, to get out and assist in
the operation of putting it back. Notwithstanding these drawbacks,
however, the mule-car novelty became popular with some; and one
Spanish girl in particular, whose father amply supplied her with
pocket-money, was a frequent passenger, riding back and forth, from
hour to hour, for months. As late as 1887, there were no cars before
six o'clock in the morning or after ten o'clock at night; and in that
same year, serious complaint was made that, despite a city ordinance
forbidding any street railway company to carry more than forty persons
in a car drawn by a single horse, the ordinance was shamefully
disregarded. Another regulation then frequently disobeyed was supposed
to limit smoking to the rear end of street cars.
The same year, D. V. Waldron bought about thirty-five acres on the
southwest corner of Main and Washington streets, soon known as the
Washington Gardens, later Chute's Park. These Gardens, among the most
popular pleasure resorts here, were served by the Main Street cars
which ran direct to the gate. In addition to a Sunday afternoon
variety show that held forth in a small pavilion and secured most of
its talent from Wood's Opera House, there was also dancing for those
who wished to indulge. I may add that this so-called opera house was
nothing more than a typical Western song and dance resort, the gallery
being cut up into boxes where the actresses, between the acts, mingled
with the crowd. Patrons indulged in drinking and smoking; and the bar
in front did a thriving business. An insignificant collection of
animals--one of which, an escaping monkey, once badly bit
Waldron--attracted not only the children, but their elders as well;
and charmingly-arranged walks, amid trees and bowers, afforded
innocent and healthful means of recreation. Waldron later went to
Alaska, where a tragic death closed his career: alone and in want, he
was found, in May, 1911, dead in his hut.
Waldron and Eberle's prosperity may have influenced George Lehman's
fortunes; but however that was, he always maintained his popularity.
Many a joke was cracked at his expense; yet everybody had a good word
for him. Here is a newspaper note of '74:
Round House George is making great improvements in his
property at Fort and Sixth streets. He has already, at
great expense, _set out a post and whitewashed a cactus
plant_!
The popularity of the 38's Fire Company soon inspired a second group
of the good men of Los Angeles; and in 1874 or 1875, George Furman,
George E. Gard, Joe Manning, John R. Brierly, Bryce McClellan and
others started Confidence Engine Company No. 2, obtaining a steamer
known as an Amoskeag, which they installed in a building on Main
Street near First, on what was later the site of Childs' Opera House.
It soon developed, as in the days of the San Pedro stages when the
most important feature of the trip was the race to town, that a
conflagration was a matter of secondary importance, the mad dash, in
rivalry, by the two companies being the paramount object. This was
carried to such an extent that the day following a fire was largely
given to discussing the race, and the first thing that everybody
wished to know was, who got there first? Indeed, I believe that many
an alarm was sounded to afford the boys around town a good chance to
stake their bets! All this made the fire-laddies the most popular
groups in the pueblo; and in every public parade for years the
volunteer fire companies were the chief attraction. In 1876, Walter S.
Moore, an arrival of 1875, became the Confidence Engine Company's
Secretary, that being the commencement of his career as a builder of
the department. In 1877, Moore was elected President, occupying that
office till 1883 when he was made Chief Engineer of the Los Angeles
Fire Department.
On May 13th, 1874, the Los Angeles _Daily Star_ contained the
following reference to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Newmark and an event of
particular interest to me and my family:
Mr. Newmark, _père_ and wife, were among the passengers for
San Francisco by the _Senator_ yesterday. This well-known
and highly-esteemed couple go to attend the marriage of
their son, Judge M. J. Newmark, which event occurs on the
seventh proximo, as announced in the Star some time ago.
[Illustration: Benjamin S. Eaton]
[Illustration: Henry T. Hazard]
[Illustration: Fort Street Home, Harris Newmark, Site of Blanchard
Hall; Joseph Newmark at the Door]
[Illustration: Calle de los Negros (Nigger Alley), about 1870]
[Illustration: Second Street, Looking East from Hill Street, Early
Seventies]
Eugene Meyer and myself attended the wedding, leaving Los Angeles by
stage and completely surprising the merry company a few moments before
the groom's father performed the ceremony. The fair bride was Miss
Sophie Cahen, and the occasion proved one of the very agreeable
milestones in an interesting and successful career. The first-born of
this union, Henry M. Newmark, now of Morgan & Newmark, has attained
civic distinction, being President of the Library Board.
The reason we journeyed north by stage was to escape observation, for
since the steamer-service had been so considerably improved, most of
our friends were accustomed to travel by water. The Pacific Mail
Steamship Company at that time was running the _Senator_, the
_Pacific_, the _Orizaba_ and the _Mohongo_, the latter being the
gunboat sold by the Government at the end of the War and which
remained on the route until 1877; while the line controlled by
Goodall, Nelson & Perkins or Goodall, Nelson & Company had on their
list the _Constantine_, the _Kalorama_, the _Monterey_ and the _San
Luis_, sometimes also running the _California_, which made a specialty
of carrying combustibles. A year later, the _Ancon_ commenced to run
between San Francisco and San Diego, and excepting half a year when
she plied between the Golden Gate and Portland, was a familiar object
until 1884.
The Farmers & Merchants Bank, on June 15th, 1874, moved to their new
building on the west side of Main Street, opposite the Bella Union.
On July 25th, 1874, Conrad Jacoby commenced in the old Lanfranco
Building the weekly _Sued-Californische Post_; and for fifteen years
or more it remained the only German paper issued in Southern
California. Jacoby's brother, Philo, was the well-known sharpshooter.
Henry T. Payne, the early photographer, was probably the first to go
out of town to take views in suburbs then just beginning to attract
attention. Santa Monica was his favorite field, and a newspaper
clipping or two preserve the announcements by which the wet-plate
artist stimulated interest in his venture. One of these reads:
Mr. Payne will be at Santa Monica next Sunday, and take
photographic views of the camp, the ocean, the surrounding
scenery, and such groups of campers and visitors as may see
fit to arrange themselves for that purpose;
while another and rather contradictory notice is as follows:
To make photographs of _moving_ life, such as Mr. Payne's
bathing scenes at Santa Monica next Sunday, _it is
absolutely necessary that everybody should keep perfectly
still_ during the few seconds the plate is being exposed,
for the least move might completely spoil an otherwise
beautiful effect. Santa Monica, with its bathers in nice
costume, sporting in the surf, with here and there an
artistically-posed group basking in the sunshine, ought to
make a beautiful picture.
As late as 1874, Fort Street--not yet called Broadway--was almost a
plain, except for the presence of a few one-story adobe houses. J. M.
Griffith, the lumberman, put up the first two-story frame
dwelling-house between Second and Third streets, and Judge H. K. S.
O'Melveny the second; shortly after which Eugene Meyer and myself
built our homes in the same block. These were put upon the lots
formerly owned by Burns & Buffum. Within the next two or three years,
the west side of Fort Street between Second and Third was the choicest
residence neighborhood in the growing city, and there was certainly
not the remotest idea at that time that this street would ever be used
for business purposes. Sometime later however, as I was going home one
day, I met Griffith and we walked together from Spring Street down
First, talking about the new County Bank and its Cashier, J. M.
Elliott--whom Griffith had induced four years previously to come to
Los Angeles and take charge of Griffith, Lynch & Company's lumber yard
at Compton. We then spoke of the city's growth, and in the course of
the conversation he said: "Newmark, Fort Street is destined to be the
most important business thoroughfare in Los Angeles." I laughed at
him, but Time has shown the wisdom of Griffith's prophecy.
The construction of this Fort Street home I commenced in the spring,
contracting with E. F. Keysor as the architect, and with Skinner &
Small as the builders. In September, we moved in; and I shall never
forget a happy compliment paid us the first evening. We had already
retired when the sound of music and merriment made it unmistakable
that we were being serenaded. Upon opening the door, we saw a large
group of friends; and having invited them into the house, the
merrymakers remained with us until the early morning hours.
In July, 1874, the Los Angeles County Bank was started with a capital
of three hundred thousand dollars, its first directors being R. S.
Baker, Jotham Bixby, George S. Dodge, J. M. Griffith, Vincent A.
Hoover, Jonathan S. Slauson and H. B. Tichenor, with J. M. Elliott as
Cashier. Its first location was the room just rented by the Farmers &
Merchants Bank adjoining the Bella Union, the County Bank's step in
that direction being due, no doubt, to a benevolent desire to obtain
some of its predecessor's business; and in July, 1878, it moved into
the Temple & Workman banking-room, after the latter's failure. For a
while the County Bank did both a commercial and a savings business;
but later it forfeited the savings clause of its charter, and its
capital was reduced to one hundred thousand dollars. In time, John E.
Plater, a well-known Angeleño, became a controlling factor.
About the end of 1874, Edward F. Spence, who had come to California by
way of the Nicaragua route a year earlier than myself, reached Los
Angeles. In 1884, Spence was elected Mayor on the Republican ticket.
In the course of time, he withdrew somewhat from activity in Los
Angeles and became a heavy investor in property at Monrovia.
In 1874 or 1875, there appeared on the local scene a man who, like his
second cousin, United States Senator Mallory of Florida, was destined
to become a character of national renown; a man who as such could and,
as a matter of fact, did serve his constituents faithfully and well.
That man was Stephen M. White. He was born in San Francisco a few
weeks before I saw that harbor city, and was, therefore, a Native Son,
his parents having come to the Coast in 1849. While a youth, he was
sent to Santa Clara where, in June, 1871, he graduated from the
well-known college; he read law at Watsonville and later at Santa
Cruz; and having been admitted to the Bar in 1874, he shortly
afterward came to the Southland.
Arriving in Los Angeles, White studied law with John D. Bicknell, who
afterward took him into partnership; and he soon proved to be a
brilliant lawyer. He was also an orator of the first magnitude; and
this combination of talent made him not only prominent here, but
attracted great attention to him from beyond the confines of city and
county. Standing as a Democrat in 1882, he was elected District
Attorney by a large majority and in that capacity served with
distinction, in the end declining renomination. In 1886 he was elected
State Senator and soon became President of the Senate, and then acting
Lieutenant Governor. After a phenomenal career both in his profession
and in the public service--during which he was one of three counsel
elected by the California Legislature to maintain the Scott Exclusion
Act before the United States Supreme Court and thus conclude the
controversy in the Chae Chan Ping case--he was elected to the United
States Senate, and there, too, his integrity and ability shone
resplendent.
The zeal with which White so successfully entered the conflict against
C. P. Huntington in the selection of a harbor for Los Angeles was
indefatigable; and the tremendous expenditures of the Southern Pacific
in that competition, commanding the best of legal and scientific
service and the most powerful influence, are all well known.
Huntington built a wharf--four thousand six hundred feet long--at Port
Los Angeles, northwest of Santa Monica, after having obtained control
of the entire frontage; and it was to prevent a monopoly that White
made so hard a fight in Congress in behalf of San Pedro. The virility
of his repeated attacks, his freedom from all contaminating influence
and his honesty of purpose--these are some of the elements that
contributed so effectively to the final selection of San Pedro Harbor.
On February 21st, 1901, Senator White died. While at his funeral, I
remarked to General H. G. Otis, his friend and admirer, that a
suitable monument to White's memory ought to be erected; and on
December 11th, 1908, the statue in front of the County Courthouse was
unveiled.[33]
Hotel competition was lively in 1874. Charles Knowlton concluded his
advertisement of the Pico House with a large index-finger and the
following assurance:
The unpleasant odor of gas has entirely disappeared since
the building of the new sewer!
Hammel & Denker announced for the United States (commonly known as the
U. S.):
We have all _Spring Beds_ at this Hotel!
Fluhr & Gerson--the latter long a popular chap about town--claimed for
the Lafayette:
The Eating Department will be conducted with especial care;
and this was some of the bait displayed by the Clarendon, formerly the
Bella Union:
Carriages are kept standing at the door for the use of the
guests, and every effort is being made by COL. B. L. BEAL,
the Present Manager, to render the guests comfortable and
happy.
A couple of years later, the name of the Clarendon was changed to the
St. Charles; next to which, during the Centennial year, the Grand
Central, pretentious of name though small of dimension, opened with a
splurge. Hammel & Denker continued to manage the United States Hotel.
The Lafayette in time became, first the Cosmopolitan and then the St.
Elmo.
Octavius Morgan, a native of the old cathedral town of Canterbury,
England, came to Los Angeles in 1874 and associated himself with the
architect, E. F. Keysor, the two forming the firm of Keysor & Morgan.
They were charter members of the Southern California Architects
Association, and for many years Morgan and his associates have largely
influenced the architectural styles of Los Angeles.
A really picturesque old-timer even now at the age of nearly seventy,
and one who, having withstood the lure of the modern automobile, is
still daily driving a "one-hoss" buggy to the office of the Los
Angeles Soap Company, is J. A. Forthman. In 1874, he brought a small
stock of groceries from San Francisco and started a store at what is
now Sixth and Olive streets; but at the end of three months, having
sold out at a loss, he bought a quarter interest in a little soap
plant conducted by C. W. Gibson. Soon thereafter, vats and fat were
moved to their present site on First Street. In 1875, W. B. Bergin and
in 1879, Gideon Le Sage joined Forthman and Gibson; and in 1887, the
latter sold out to his associates. J. J., a brother of W. B. Bergin,
was added to the force in 1895. For many years the concern dealt in
hides, and this brought us into close business relations. I have
referred to the death of four children. Edith, a child of six, was
taken from us on October 15th, 1874.
While William F. Turner, son of the miller, was busy in his little
store near the Puente Mills about three miles from El Monte, on the
third of June, 1874, a Californian named Romo, who lived at Pio Pico's
_Ranchito_, entered and bought some goods, also asking to be shown a
pair of boots. Turner stooped to reach the articles, when the stranger
drew a pruning-knife across his throat. In defense, the storekeeper
caught hold of the sharp blade with both hands and thereby crippled
himself for the rest of his days.
Turner had been in the habit of closing before dark on account of the
rough element near by; and when he did not return home at the
accustomed hour, Mrs. Turner, taking with her a little five-shooter,
set out to find him and arrived in the midst of the murderous assault.
Her pistol missed fire, but she succeeded in seizing the assassin and
dragging him away from her husband; after which, the Mexican shot her
just as Turner, bleeding, fell in the road. The explosion aroused a
neighbor who reached the scene after Romo had fled with some
boots--mostly for one foot!--and seventy dollars in cash.
When the news passed from mouth to mouth in El Monte, a _posse_
started out to hunt for the Mexican; but after two days' unsuccessful
search, they gave up the job. Then Fred Lambourn, who had a share in
Turner's business, rushed in on Jake Schlesinger, shouting excitedly,
"By God, Jake, I know where the fellow is!" and Jake and others
responded by saddling their horses and hurrying to a rendezvous at
Durfee's farm. The party of nineteen, including John Broaded and Bill
Cooper, broke up into divisions of one or two and in time found
themselves wading in and out of the San Gabriel River and the Puente
Creek. Soon old Dodson spied their quarry floundering across stream;
and when Schlesinger took a pop at him, the culprit cried out, "Don't
shoot!" and agreed to come ashore. Of the money stolen, all but a few
dollars was found on the prisoner; nevertheless, the captors told him
that, as soon as Turner should identify him, he would be hung and that
there was not much time for foolishness. Romo said that he had
assaulted the storekeeper in order to get money with which, on the
following Sunday, to marry; that his immediate need was a cigar; and
that, if he must die, he would like to have his friends notified, that
they might bury him. Jake handed the doomed man his only weed; and
soon after, five or six masked men rode up and announced that they
would care for the criminal. Then they drove under a tree on the bank
of the river and there, in short order, the cutthroat was hanged.
Pio Pico soon heard of the lynching and sent Jake and the El Monte
boys word that he would come over and "kill the whole damned lot" of
them; in reply to which, El Monte forwarded to the last of the Mexican
governors a cordial invitation to come, at the same time pledging to
receive him in true California style--with due hospitality and warmth.
This was contemporaneous with the Vasquez excitement, and Romo was
probably bent on imitating the outlaw.
FOOTNOTES:
[32] Not the Spanish Alejandro; a variation doubtless suggested by the
Italian Repetto's forename.
[33] Executive Committee of the Memorial Fund: M. P. Snyder, Chairman;
Joseph Scott, Secretary; James C. Kays, Treasurer; F. W. Braun, A. B.
Cass, R. F. Del Valle, I. B. Dockweiler, W. J. Hunsaker, M. H. Newmark
and H. G. Otis.