CHAPTER XVIII.

CITY BUILDING.

1848-1888.

THE GREAT INTERIOR-RIVER AND PLAIN-SUTTERVILLE AND SACRAMENTOPLAN OF SURVEY-THE THRICE SIMPLE SWISS-BETTER FOR THE COUNTRY THAN A BETTER MAN-HEALTHY AND HEARTY COMPETITION-DevelOPMENT OF SACRAMENTO CITY-MARYSVILLE-STOCKTON-PLACERVILLE -SONORA-NEVADA-GRASS VALLEY-BENICIA-VALLEJO-MARTINEZ— OAKLAND AND VICINITY-NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN CITIES.

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IN illustration of the preceding observations, I pend a sketch of the early development of the principal and typical cities, and of each county in the state, particularly with reference to the birth of its towns, and to the general tendency of progress. Limited space forbids more than a brief consideration of the topical points; and I must refer the reader to the special chapters on politics, mining, agriculture, manufacture, commerce, society, education, and church, for further details touching the different sections. My information has been culled by systematic search through many original manuscripts, and through the newspapers of San Francisco, as well as those from every quarter of the state. I have also carefully consulted the reports of census officers, surveyors, and assessors, county histories, and directories, local archives of towns and counties, the Vallejo, Larkin, and Hayes documents, and scattered notes in books and pamphlets of a more or less general character, as indicated in the narrative, only the most pointed references being retained to affirm or illustrate special

statements.

SACRAMENTO AND SUTTERVILLE.

447

The best prospects for an interior city lay naturally along the Sacramento River, near the mouth of its last great tributary, the gate to the central and northern parts of the great valley. This advantage must have influenced the founder of Sutter's Fort; but the small extent of its hill site, surrounded by low-lying banks which were subject to overflow in very wet seasons, was inadequate for a city, and such a one being required, Sutterville was laid out on the rising ground three miles below, whence a dry wagon-road to the mountains could be constructed. It made slow progress, for the fort still retained the ascendency, by virtue of its ferry, supplies, stores, and workshops. The gold excitement, however, while assuring urban preeminence to this quarter, demanded quickly an expansion of site, and it was to be expected that the chosen spot, Sutterville, should become the centre. "Had I not been.snowed in at Coloma," said Sutter to me at Litiz, "Sacramento never, never, would have been built." But the Swiss potentate lacked business ability. He had vast resources and golden opportunities; but in his wide-reaching plans he had become heavily involved, and to escape his creditors he transferred his property to his son, John A. Sutter, a young man lately from school. This took place Oct. 14, 1848. Sutter's Per. Rem., MS., pp. 178–81; Placer Times, Dec. 15, 1849; Sac. Ill., p 8, Alta Cal, Feb 6, 1853; S. F. Herald, Feb. 9, 1853; Tuthill's Hist. Cal., p 297 For testimony, In re John C. Reiley vs A. Heisch et al., 1860, see Sac. Directory, 1871. As the interest in Sutterville had mostly passed out of his hands, Sutter permitted his son to lay out another town at the embarcadero, or landing, just below the fort, to which the name of the river was applied.

77;

The fort had frequently been called by that name, although Tehama was the Indian appellation. The survey was made by Wm H. Warner, of the U. S. topog. engineers. He was shot in 1849 by the Indians while surveying near the sources of Feather River. The fort formed the nucleus of his operations; thence down to the embarcadero and along the river bank he laid out streets. Those parallel with the stream were called First, Second, Third, etc.; those at right angles to it A, B, C, etc.; the avenue bordering on the river was called Front street. All were 80 feet wide except the centre street, M, which was made 100 feet. The blocks were 320 by 400 feet, divided by 20-foot alleys running east and west. The landing-place was in itself no small advantage in favor of Sacramento, while the slough at Sutterville, which required bridging, operated against the latter. Sutter's Pers. Rem., MS., 178-81; Placer Times, Dec 15, 1849; Sherman's Mem., i. 59, Burnett's Per. Rec., MS., ii. 1-2; Id., Rec, 287-8. Winans, Days of 1849, MS., 8, and Crosby, Events, MS., 27, differ on the date and surveyor. A year later Seton, Ord, and Sherman were employed to connect Warner's survey of Sacramento with Davidson's survey of Sutterville. An auction sale of lots to be held at Sutter's Fort on Jan. 8, 1849, was advertised under date of Dec. 2d, in the Star and Cal. of Dec. 23, 1848. The first sales were near the fort, but at the close of Jan. 1849 lots near the river came into demand. The purchase of more than four lots to one person was discouraged in order to promote settlement, which was also favored by time payments and uniform prices. P. H. Burnett became on Dec. 30th the attorney for Sutter, jr. He received one fourth of the proceeds, but becoming too rapidly rich, according

to Sutter's idea, the power was transferred to Peachy, who shared the sale with Schoolcraft. In less than six months Burnett sold half of his lots for $50,000. "Peachy made $80,000 out of me," says Sutter, Autobiog., 178-9. At the close of 1848 there were at the embarcadero only two houses, one a drinking-saloon, the other occupied by the Stewart family, and a dismantled ship, which G. McDougall and his partners, Blackburn, Parker, and Barton, had brought from San Francisco laden with goods, and moored as a store at the foot of I street. Burnett, Per. Rec., MS., ii. 14-16, calls both of the houses log cabins. Henshaw, Stat., MS., 2, designates only one as of logs, the other as a wooden building. Buffum, Six Mo., 32, differs somewhat; but changes were rapid in those days.

In January 1849 a frame building was placed at the corner of Front and I sts, by Hensley, Reading, and Company, followed by the cloth houses of Ingersoll on Front st, between J and K, and of Stewart on the river bank between I and J, the latter as a tavern. Sam Brannan completed a frame store at the corner of J and Front sts in February, about which time also Priest, Lee, & Co. moved from the fort to occupy new premises, of cloth, says Barnes, Or. and Cal., MS., 14. Gillespie and Carpenter erected log houses. Sac. Ill., 8, and others wrongly call Brannan's the first building in Sacramento. Crosby's Events, MS., 15; Taylor's Oreg., MS., 5. The original store of Brannan, associated with Mellus, Howard, Greene, & Stout, was a one-story adobe 50 yards east of the fort. Grimshaw's Narr., MS., 22–7; Morse, in Sac. Dir., 1853-4.

The first public sale of lots on January 8, 1849, was quickly followed by the erection of business houses and dwellings. Sutterville attempted under the direction of McDougall & Co. to gain the ascendency, but a lavish distribution of lots by Sutter thwarted her, and further judicious efforts tended to direct hither the inflowing migration by land and water. Vessels gathered along the bank, and midst the thickly sprinkled tents rose pretentious, if not substantial, canvas and frame buildings, which by June numbered 100, and lots which four months previously had sold for $250 commanded now as much as $3,000. Sacramento absorbed also the remnant of trade so far transacted at the fort, leaving New Helvetia a neglected suburban spot, and dealt at the same time an effective blow at the still struggling Sutterville.

McDougall & Co. had a large amount of money, and began to feel very strong. From Sutter they obtained a lease of the ferry privilege, near the outlet of Sutter Lake; on the strength of which they claimed the exclusive right to 400 yards of river bank. This being disallowed, they became angry, swore vengeance against young Sutter and his Sacramento town, and moved their hulk to Sutterville. They urged Priest, Lee, & Co. and Brannan to move to the better site below, offering them a gift of eighty lots in Sutterville. Seeing their advantage, these men manipulated Sutter so well as to get 500 Sacramento lots for remaining. See Winans' Days of 1849, MS., 7-8; Taylor's Oregonians, MS., 5; and Nar., MS., 10, by McChristian, who was a clerk of McDougall's.

In October the first brick house, the Anchor, was completed by G. Zins, the brick being made by him at Sutterville, where the first brick house in the state had already been erected from the first kiln of his brick-yard. Hist. Sac.

NOTABLE HOUSES AND FIRMS.

449.

Co., 50, 146. Harnett burnt one kiln this year at Sac., and in 1851 Carlish added brick-making to his building operations. Among other notable houses which rose during the autumn of 1849 were the zinc warehouse near the outlet of Lake Sutter; the zinc house, and the Empire saloon building on J street,, between Front and Second; Merritt's building on the corner of J and Second; the brick block on Front st, between N and O sts; the St Louis Exchange, kept by a brother of Commodore Garrison; and the theatre, a frail structure near the City hotel. For additional information, see McIlvaine's Sketches, 7, with view of town; Culver's Directory; Sac. Transcript, May 29, 1850, which rashly reduces the number of houses; Matthewson's Stat., MS., 1-2; Friend, Dec. 1, 1849; Richardson's Mining, MS., 13; the Stat., of Carpenter, who put up a doctor's shop on the corner of K and Second; Stat., of Brock, who opened a tinware shop; Armstrong's Exper., MS., 15. 'A town of tents,' says Coleman, Bus. Exp., MS., 141-4, with its 'future on paper,' adds Woods, Sixteen Mo., 47. At the end of June 1849 the embarcadero contained eleven wholesale houses, according to the Placer Times: Priest, Lee, & Co., with P. B. Cornwall as partner, Hensley, Reading, & Co., Brannan, Whitlock and Gibson, Samuel Norris, Gillespie, Ingersoll, Robinson, D. Hanna, R. Gelston, and Taber. Beside these were fourteen smaller stores. Mr Henshaw in his manuscript gives lengthy details of events, such as the wedding, on June 10th, of James H. Lappens and Ann Hitchcock. The Fourth of July was celebrated in a grove adjacent, and with fire-works. The second week in July the thermometer marked at noon 114°, and at night 82°. Z. Hubbard's obscene Round Tent for a time eclipsed all competitors. This was followed by the Gem, the Empire, the Mansion, the Humboldt, the Diana, and others. There was one called the Plains, with its walls adorned with scenic illustrations of the route across the continent. 'Building lots which four months previous had sold aț from $50 to $200,' writes Buffum in April, were now held by their owners at from $1,000 to $3,000.' Yet Morse assumes that the population at the fort, Sac., and Sutterville did not exceed 150 April 1st. Dir. Sac., 1853, 4. On June 20th, however, he estimates the number of houses at Sac. alone at 100, among which was rising the City hotel, erected from the material prepare 1 for Sutter's flouring mill, on Front st, between I and J, 35 by 55 feet, three stories in height, costing $100,000, and renting to Fowler and Fry a few months later for $5,000 a month. Placer Times, Feb. 16, 1850; Bayard Taylor's Eldorado, i. 220. Shortly after McCollum, Cal., 46, mentions the U. S. hotel as the best. The Sutter house rose on Front st, between K and L, and McKnight's American hotel on K st, between Second and Third.

In March Burnett visited S. F. to meet the incoming tide of gold-seekers and direct it to Sac. Meanwhile several vessels gathered along the banks, including the square-rigged Eliodora, Joven Guipuzcoana, and the bark Whiton, in April and May, some to serve for store-ships and wharves; and habitations rose in all directions, most of them frail and transient in character, of boards, canvas stretched on sticks, and common tents. April 28th the weekly Placer Times was issued by Ed. Kemble & Co. to trumpet the town. The embar cadero boasts 25 or 30 stores, it cries; the fort and its vicinity 8 or 10 more. There is a hotel, a printing-office, bakery, blacksmith-shop, tin-shop, billiardroom, bowling-alley, to say nothing of drinking-saloons, and houses of pros

HIST. CAL, VOL. VI. 29

titution. Though an exceedingly healthy place, as the editor affirmed, it should still have a hospital. Sacramento will become great. For if all these rising institutions were not enough, there was the inauguration of the game of monte in the famous Stinking Tent, kept by James Lee.

About June, Sutter, jr, reconveyed to the father his estates; titles for the sold lots were perfected, and with the changes of agents a spirit of rivalry sprang up between the fort and town. The former had so far retained a prominent position as mail station, as general point of arrival and departure, and as the site for numerous branch stores, all of which served to sustain a lively intercourse between the two places, so much so that three lines of stages were kept busy making each several trips daily. But Sutter, jr, quarrelled with Hensley and Reading, the leading firm, and retired May 1st from their partnership, J. R. Snyder taking his place; whereupon the firm withdrew from the fort, and concentrated their business at the more convenient landing. Others followed their example, giving a share to Sutterville, till the fort was deserted by traffic, and employed chiefly for hospital purposes. Sutterville seized the opportunity to strengthen itself, and the McDougall firm sought to attract trade by loudly offering to sell goods at cost; but the shrewd Sac. dealers combined to purchase them, and so thwarted the manœuvre. Nevertheless their prospects looked fair for a while. Geo. McKinstry opened a store; a hotel was begun and a ferry proposed, and a few vessels were staying there to land intended settlers. The latter received poor encouragement, however, for L. W. Hastings, who owned the central part of the town, could not be induced to sell at reasonable prices, despite the efforts of McDougall and McKinstry, the holders of the outskirts on either side. Finally the latter made matters worse by quarrelling. The quartering here of a U. S. garrison during 1849 served only momentarily to sustain the fast stagnating town. Sac. Transcript, May 29, Sept. 30, 1850; S. F. Daily Herald, Feb. 9, 1853; McChristian, in Pioneer Sketches, MS., 10; Sherman's Mem., i. 77; Brooks' Four Months, 27; Morse, in Sac. Directory, 1853-4; Sac. Illus. Hist., 8; Buffum's Six Months, 152-3; Frost's Hist. Cal., 113; Sherwood's Cal., 30; Burnett's Rec., MS., ii. 29; Sac. Directory, 1853-4, 9; Schmölder, Wegweiser, 78, with plan.

A feature of this progress was the rapid increase of river traffic, marked by the inauguration, in August, of steam service by the George Washington. Within three months half a dozen rivals appeared on the scene, including the commodious Senator. Sailing vessels also ascended the river to save the expense of transshipment, and to serve here for storing goods, and by May 1850 a fleet of 85 sea-going bottoms lay in the stream, with a tonnage of over 12,000, half of which was claimed for storage. The dignity of a port of entry, bestowed since April, was consequently well merited. It was a place surging with speculation and uproarious with traffic; profits reaching more than 100 per cent above the rates accepted at the city on the bay, and rents ruling as high as $5,000 a month for a building, while lots crept up to $30,000. Notwithstanding the flimsiness of the structures, their value toward the close of 1849 was estimated at $2,000,000.

On the 15th of August a scow was launched, and two days later the George Washington, the first river steamboat of California, arrived from Benicia. In