History of Orange County, Ca. ebook

History of Orange County, Ca.

SAMUEL ARMOR

History of Orange County, S. Armor

Jazzybee Verlag Jürgen Beck

86450 Altenmünster, Loschberg 9

Deutschland

ISBN: 9783849649302

www.jazzybee-verlag.de

[email protected]

CONTENTS:

CHAPTER I - THE FORMATION AND DESCRIPTION OF ORANGE COUNTY   1

CHAPTER II - ORANGE COUNTY'S WATER SUPPLY AND WAY UTILIZED.. 6

CHAPTER III - THE CITY OF ANAHEIM... 13

CHAPTER IV - THE CITY OF BREA.. 20

CHAPTER V - THE CITY OF FULLERTON.. 21

CHAPTER VI. - THE CITY OF  HUNTINGTON BEACH.. 25

CHAPTER VII - THE CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH.. 28

CHAPTER VIII - THE CITY OF ORANGE.. 30

CHAPTER IX - THE CITY OF SANTA ANA.. 37

CHAPTER X - THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH.. 54

CHAPTER XI - THE CITY OF STANTON.. 56

CHAPTER XII - UNINCORPORATED TOWNS. 57

CHAPTER XIII - PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND SITES. 65

CHAPTER XIV - PLEASURE  DRIVES AND RESORTS. 70

CHAPTER XV - ORANGE  COUNTY'S GOOD ROADS. 76

CHAPTER XVI - THE  COUNTY'S TRAFFIC FACILITIES. 80

CHAPTER XVII - A CHAPTER OF TRAGEDIES. 84

CHAPTER XXVIII - THE OIL INDUSTRY.. 90

CHAPTER XIX - THE CITRUS INDUSTRY.. 96

CHAPTER XX - BEET SUGAR INDUSTRY.. 102

CHAPTER XXI - ORANGE COUNTY'S FRUITS, GRAINS AND VEGETABLES  111

CHAPTER XXII - ORANGE  COUNTY'S LIVESTOCK AND POULTRY.. 120

CHAPTER XXIII - THE BEE INDUSTRY.. 127

CHAPTER XXIII - SEMI-TROPIC  FRUITS IN ORANGE COUNTY.. 129

CHAPTER XXIV - FARM BUREAU REPORT.. 132

CHAPTER I - THE FORMATION AND DESCRIPTION OF ORANGE COUNTY

The state of California was created out of territory ceded to the United States by Mexico in the year 1848. It was admitted into the Union as a free state in 1850, with a population of 92,597. This population was located in a few little cities, with a small portion in the mining camps and scattered over the grazing lands adjacent to the water courses. The style of government inherited from Mexico might be characterized as feudal or patriarchal, each city or pueblo and the adjoining territory being governed by an alcalde or other officer appointed by the Mexican government. When the state was formed each of the principal towns with its tributary territory was created into a county; but, on account of the towns being far apart and the intervening territory sparsely settled, the area of the first counties was large and the population small. As the country settled up and other centers of population were formed efforts were made from time to time to form new counties by cutting off portions of the old ones; some of these efforts were successful and others failed.

With the growth of the communities in the southeastern part of Los Angeles County there sprang up the desire for a smaller county with a county seat nearer home. This feeling grew apace until finally an appeal was made to the legislature of 1889 for autonomy. The city of Santa Ana, which had outgrown the other cities in the proposed new county, took the lead in the struggle for county division. A lobby was maintained at Sacramento all winter at considerable expense, without being able to overcome the influence of Los Angeles against the bill for the new county. This bill was entitled "An Act to Create the County of Orange," the name Orange being selected partly on its own merits and partly to conciliate the city of that name, which also aspired to be county seat. Finally, late in the session, W. H. Spurgeon and James McFadden took up the matter in the legislature with better success. They found some members who were friendly to their project and others who were hostile to Los Angeles. There are sometimes a few members of the legislature who are looking for "Col. Mazuma" to come to the help or hindrance of much-desired legislation. Because the rich county of Los Angeles would not distribute a large defense fund among such members, they turned against that county. Then, too, San Francisco had begun to recognize in Los Angeles a possible rival, and was glad of the opportunity to deprive her of some of her territory. These various interests and antagonisms were so skillfully handled that the bill passed the legislature and was signed by Governor Waterman, March 11, 1889.

The struggle was then transferred to the territory involved. The first step in the formation of the new county was the appointment by the governor of a board of five commissioners to direct the work of organization. Following are the men who were appointed on this commission: J. W. Towner, of Santa Ana; J: H. Kellom, of Tustin; A. Cauldwell, of Orange; W. M. McFadden, of Placentia; and R. Q. Wickham, of Garden Grove. The commission organized March 22, by electing J. W. Towner president and R. Q. Wickham secretary.

An election was called for June 4th, to ratify or reject the action of the legislature, as provided for in the organic act. This provision was inserted in the bill to answer the objection urged, that a majority of the people in the proposed new county did not want to be set off from the old county. The most of the opposition to county division was at Anaheim, the people of that place contending that the line ought to have been located at the San Gabriel River instead of at Coyote Creek. They thought that if more territory had been taken in towards the west, Anaheim would have had a chance for the county seat; but notwithstanding this opposition, the election was carried in favor of county division by a vote of 2,509 to 500.

A second election was held on July 11, to decide the location of the county seat and to select the county officers, who would serve until the next regular election. Two cities contested for the county seat, Santa Ana and Orange. Anaheim, having no hope for herself, took little interest in the election; in fact, scores of people went to Los Angeles or elsewhere on election day to keep out of the way of the campaign workers. Orange, being thus deprived of some of the help she counted on, made rather a poor showing in the contest. On the other hand, the city of Santa Ana was not able to equal its county seat vote for six or eight years thereafter, notwithstanding it was growing all the time. The result of the election for county seat was 1,729 votes for Santa Ana and 775 for Orange.

There were three tickets in the field for county officers; a non-partisan ticket in the interest of Santa Ana for county seat, a non-partisan ticket in the interest of Orange for county seat, and a straight Republican ticket without reference to the county seat. All of the candidates of the Santa Ana non-partisan ticket were elected, except the candidate for supervisor of the Fourth District, who was defeated by a margin of four votes by the candidate on the other two tickets. The officers thus chosen were: Superior judge, J. W. Towner; district attorney, E. E. Edwards; county clerk, R. Q. Wickham; recorder and auditor, George E. Foster; sheriff and tax collector, R. T. Harris; treasurer, W. B. Wall; assessor, Fred C. Smythe; superintendent of schools, John P. Greeley; surveyor, S. O. Wood; coroner and public administrator, I. D. Mills; supervisors: first district, W. H. Spurgeon; second district, Jacob Ross; third district, Sheldon Littlefield, a holdover from Los Angeles; fourth district, Samuel Armor; fifth district, A. Guy Smith.

The supervisors organized August 5, 1889, by the election of W. H. Spurgeon as chairman of the board. Rooms for the county offices were furnished rent free for two years in the Billings and Congdon Blocks on East Fourth Street, by the residents in that vicinity. These rooms, with some changes, were retained by the county at a moderate rental until the new court house was ready for occupancy. The board of supervisors held frequent meetings during the first few months, getting the business of the new county properly started and adjusting the differences between the two counties. Los Angeles County resisted the separation in many ways. Some of her citizens brought suit against the new county on the ground that the organic act was unconstitutional, in that the legislature had delegated its powers to the people of the new county to decide whether they wanted county division or not. The supreme court sustained the constitutionality of the act. Meantime the two boards of supervisors appointed commissioners to adjust the differences between the counties and to determine the basis of settlement of claims for and against the new county. The two commissioners selected for Orange County were James McFadden and Richard Egan. These men by their shrewdness and tact secured a fair settlement with very little friction. The question of which county should be charged with the money spent in the new county, by the old, between the approval of the legislative act by the governor, March 11, and the organization of the new county, August 5, was left to the courts to determine. This money included the cost of the long bridge over the Santa Ana River at Olive, the expense of the justice courts, the care of the indigents and possibly other expenditures on behalf of Orange County. The courts held that this burden should be borne by the old county, since it voluntarily built the bridge after the Orange County bill was approved and it was its duty to keep the local government going until relieved by the new county.

The formative steps in the creation of Orange County having thus been narrated, the next thing in order is to describe the county; giving its area, boundaries, topography and general characteristics. As previously indicated the county was formed in the year 1889 by cutting off about forty miles in length from the southeastern portion of Los Angeles County, giving the new county about that length of coast line. The legislative act made Coyote Creek the dividing line between the two counties; but the surveyors commenced at the mouth of the creek and located the county line on the property lines, jogging over from time to time to keep near the channel, until they reached the southeast corner of section 13, township 3 south, range 11 west. From that point the line was run due north three miles to the township line and thence due east to the San Bernardino County line. The rest of the boundary line of the new county was left the same as that of the old county before division. The county is therefore bounded on the west, northwest and north by Los Angeles County j on the north and northeast by San Bernardino County; on the northeast and east by Riverside County; on the southeast and south by San Diego County; and on the south, southwest and west by the Pacific Ocean.

It is customary to speak of Orange County as one of the smallest counties in the state; but there are nine counties with less territory, forty-three with less population and forty-three with a smaller assessed valuation. Its area is given officially as 780 square miles; but the number of acres assessed (446,257) would indicate only 697 1/3 square miles. However, there may be sufficient government land within the county to make up the difference. Perhaps a third of this area is hilly and mountainous, while the remainder is comparatively level.

There is very little timber on the southern and western slopes of mountains exposed to many months of summer sun, like those in Orange County. Most of their surface, however, is covered with chaparral, sage brush, mesquite, manzanita and other hardy shrubs, which, with the cactus, provide food and shelter for considerable game and retard the run-off from the winter rains. In some of the ravines — especially those with a northern exposure — there are clumps of live oak trees; while in the canyons, near the water courses, there are groves of live oak, sycamore and other native trees of considerable size.

When the temperature cools off in the winter months, the mountains help to condense the moisture in the atmosphere and thereby increase the precipitation; they also act as a catchment-basin to collect the rainfall and drain it into the streams for use in the summer on the plains below. A considerable portion of the mountains and hills is adapted to grazing and bee culture. The hills on the north produce large quantities of oil, and oil has also been found under the hills along the coast. The hills and mountains on the east abound in minerals and. precious metals. Here, too, are extensive beds of coal of a fair quality.

The valleys and plains, which make up the larger part of the county, have a great variety of soils, among which may be mentioned the following: Adobe, alkali, clay, gravel, loam, peat, sand and perhaps others. Some of these soils are stronger than others, some are easier worked, some need irrigation and others need drainage, and some will retain the heat from the sun longer than others. When the latter kind of soil is found on the higher parts of the mesa near the foothills, it helps to make what is called "the frostless belt" in winter. Thus certain localities are better adapted to certain products than others are. For instance, the upper portion of the mesa near the foothills is suited to citrus and other semi-tropic fruits and winter vegetables; the lower portion of the mesa, bordering on the damp land, is adapted to deciduous fruits and walnuts; the damp land is favorable to the sugar beet and dairying; the peat land is almost synonymous with celery growing; while, with irrigation where needed and drainage where needed, all localities and kinds of soil are well adapted to general farming. Hence, as a whole, Orange County is well qualified to produce in merchantable quantities almost every kind of grain, grass, fruit, nut and vegetable grown in the temperate zones as well as many kinds indigenous to the torrid zone.

When the United States acquired possession of California by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo between this government and Mexico in 1848, it was stipulated in said treaty that Mexicans in the territory acquired by the United States should be allowed to retain their property in such territory or to dispose of it and remove the proceeds at their option. Thus were the titles of the many large ranches, which were originally granted by Spain, confirmed to their owners, who have since transferred them to their successors in interest. So far as can be learned the following are the principal grants, beginning at the lower end of the county:

Mission Viejo or La Paz, containing 46,432.65 acres; Trabuco, confirmed to Juan Forster and containing 22,184.47 acres; Boca de La Playa; El Sobrante; Niguel; Canada de Los Misos, confirmed to Jose Serrano and containing 10,668.81 acres; Lomas de Santiago, which is now included in the San Joaquin; San Joaquin, of which 48,803.16 was confirmed to J. Sepulveda; Santiago de Santa Ana, confirmed to B. Yorba et al. and containing 62,516.57 acres; Bolsa Chico, confirmed to Joaquin Ruiz and containing 8,107.40 acres; Las Bolsas, confirmed to Ramon Yorba et al. and containing 34,486.53 acres; part of Los Alamitos, confirmed to Abel Stearns and containing 17,789.79 acres; part of Los Coyotes, confirmed to A. Pico et al. and containing 56,979.72 acres; San Juan Cajon de Santa Ana, confirmed to B. Yorba et al. and containing 13,328.53 acres; part of La Brea, confirmed to A. Pico et al. and containing all told 6,698.57 acres.

Many of these ranches have been subdivided and more or less of the acreage sold off in small tracts to different people, thereby increasing the population and settling up the county. Thus the ranch lines become indistinguishable from other boundary lines and even the names of the ranchos are lost sight of, except in the deeds transferring the property. There is still considerable room for the work of subdivision to be done before the comity will have reached the limit of its capacity. Li fact, the natural resources of Orange County are such that, if properly developed, they will support a population of 500,000 people instead of 61,375, as reported in the last federal census.

There are nine incorporated cities in the county, viz., Anaheim, Brea, Fullerton, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Orange, Santa Ana, Seal Beach and Stanton. In addition to these nine cities there are about forty towns with a varied number of residences and some business houses in each. Further along in this work a chapter will be devoted to each of the incorporated cities, while the unincorporated towns will be grouped together in a single chapter.

CHAPTER II - ORANGE COUNTY'S WATER SUPPLY AND WAY UTILIZED

It is generally understood that the original source of water supply for any given territory is the rainfall precipitated upon the entire surface of such territory. In a dry climate the rainfall is regarded as an asset that may be recorded and proclaimed as one of the natural advantages of the locality. There is also an indirect benefit from the rainfall that surrounding sections derive from the underground waters which are percolating through the gravel on their way from the higher elevations to the sea. Such water may be brought to the surface by pumping, or, on the lowlands near the ocean, it may be forced to the surface by the pressure from the higher elevations, whenever a boring is made for an artesian well.

The average annual rainfall at Orange for a third of a century has been 13.87 inches, the extremes being 5.32 inches in the winter of 1897-98 and over three feet in the winter of 1883-84. This is probably as low an average as anywhere in the county, since Orange is situated in the middle of a plain near the center of the county and the rainfall in the hills and mountains is greater than on the plains below. In fact, the rainfall in the San Bernardino Mountains, where the Santa Ana River has its source, averages nearly three feet of water per year. During the violent or long continued storms in winter, vast quantities of water rush down the steep slopes of the hills and mountains into the canyons and valleys, and unite, forming streams that carry the surplus to the sea. It is estimated that fully fifty per cent of the rainfall is lost by evaporation and run-off. The other fifty per cent sinks into the ground and percolates slowly through the porous soil, fructifying it and replenishing the underground reservoirs formed by pockets or strata of gravel at various depths below the surface. Gradually the excess of this underground water oozes into the channels of the streams at lower levels, thus continuing their flow throughout the year and even through a period of two or three dry years, like the one from 1897 to 1900, when the rainfall was 5.32-6.64-8.86 inches, respectively.

The streams of Orange County, that carry more or less water to the ocean in times of floods, are: Coyote Creek; Santa Ana River, including Santiago Creek and its branches; Laguna Canyon; Aliso Creek, and its tributaries; Trabuco Creek, which receives the waters from a half dozen canyons northwest of Capistrano; and a number of arroyos and lagoons which drain the plains between the streams and the lowlands near the ocean. Coyote Creek, forming the boundary between Orange County and Los Angeles County, draws its water from the adjoining plains in both counties. The Santa Ana River takes its rise in the San Bernardino Mountains, from seventy-five to one hundred miles distant, and is one of the most important streams for irrigating purposes in Southern California. The rest of the streams mentioned are wholly within the confines of Orange County.

The area of the catchment-basin of the Santa Ana River has been estimated by J. B. Lippincott, former resident hydrographer of the Federal Government, as follows: mountain section, 557 square miles; hill section, 382 square miles; valley section, 525 square miles; making a total of 1,464 square miles. From records of observers as widely scattered as possible over this area, it has been found that the average annual rainfall for a long period of years has been 33.84 inches in the mountains, 20 inches in the hills and 14.98 inches in the valleys. Applying these figures to the three classes of territory involved and adding the result, we find the average annual rainfall in the basin of the Santa Ana River amounts to the enormous sum of 79,819,529,856 cubic feet of water. If three-quarters of the rainfall in the mountains, two-thirds of that in the hills and half of that in the valleys be discarded for evaporation and run-off, and if the remainder be drawn into running water and distributed over the entire year, there would be 41,201 inches of perennial water still left within the basin of the stream. Probably not much over a quarter of that amount is actually available in the irrigating season and four-fifths of that quarter is appropriated before the stream reaches Orange County. However, a considerable portion of the underflow of the river finds its way into the county, thereby adding its quota to the underground water which the county gets from its own rainfall.

All the water entering Orange County through the Santa Ana River is equally divided between the two sides of the stream; that for the northwest side is distributed to the users by the Anaheim Union Water Company, and that for the southeast side by the Santa Ana Valley Irrigation Company.

The Anaheim Union Water Company, as its name indicates. Was formed by the union of the Anaheim Water Company, the Cajon Irrigation Company, the North Anaheim Canal Company, and the Farmers' Ditch Company. The Anaheim Water Company was established in 1857, its water rights having been purchased in that year with the land on which Anaheim is located, from Juan Pacifico Ontiveras. The Cajon Irrigation Company was formed in 1877 to irrigate the Placentia and Fullerton sections. The other two companies were formed, or reorganized in 1882. These four companies consolidated under the name of the Anaheim Union Water Company in the year 1884. The capital stock of this company was fixed at $1,200,000, which was divided into 12,000 shares of a par value of $100 each. Two-thirds of this stock has been issued and the other one-third remains unsold in the. treasury. The use of the stock is confined to about 12,000 acres of land susceptible of irrigation by gravity from the company's ditches.

The facilities of the Anaheim Union Water Company for supplying its stockholders with water consist of a half interest in the waters of the Santa Ana River at the division-gate; many miles of ditches, of which over fifty are lined with cement concrete; five pumping plants, capable together of furnishing about 1,400 inches of water; and two reservoirs for storing night water for day use and winter water for summer use. The Tuffree reservoir will hold the entire flow of the main canal overnight, and the Yorba reservoir will store enough of the winter floods to furnish 300 miner's inches for three months in the irrigating season. In addition to the foregoing facilities, the company owns a half interest in nearly 2,400 acres of riparian land up the river, as well as several hundred acres in its own right. These lands strengthen and protect the company's rights in the river and give opportunity for further development, when needed. Oil has been found on some of this land and money enough is being received from leases to meet all the expenses of the company.

The Santa Ana Valley Irrigation Company, which distributes the waters of the Santa Ana River to the territory southeast of said river, like the Anaheim Union Water Company, is the outgrowth and legatee of previous efforts and organizations for the irrigation of the territory which it now serves. The right to use the waters of said river on the Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana is based on the appropriations of such waters by the early Spanish settlers as well as on the riparian character of the land itself. Col. John J. Warner, who died in Los Angeles a number of years ago, at an advanced age, testified, in the suit of the Anaheim Water Company vs. the Semi-Tropic Water Company, that he found Don Bernardo Yorba with a large retinue of servants, irrigating his ranch from the Santa Ana River in the year 1834. These water rights were handed down from owner to owner with the land, and in 1868 they were parceled out by the court, pro rata to the acreage, regardless of the distance of each subdivision from the river. The court also protected the exercise of these rights by granting to the holders of the lower allotments a right of way over the upper allotments for ditches to convey water to their respective holdings. In order to irrigate the portion of the Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, purchased by A. B. Chapman and Andrew Glassell, a ditch, called the Chapman ditch, was constructed during the winter of 1870-71, which delivered water as far down as the present site of Orange the following July. Two years later, May 24, 1873, these same persons incorporated the Semi-Tropic Water Company and transferred to it all the rights and interests of the Chapman ditch. As the land was subdivided and sold, stock in this water company was furnished to the purchasers, who thus came into possession and control of the company. In 1877 this company was superseded by a larger and stronger one in the name of the Santa Ana Valley Irrigation Company. The property and rights of the old company were purchased and transferred to the new, and all the water rights on the southeast side of the river below the intake were absorbed in exchange for equivalent rights in the new company. The capital stock of the Santa Ana Valley Irrigation Company was fixed at $100,000, divided into 20,000 shares of a par value of $5 each. This stock was made appurtenant to the land, one share to each acre, and is transferable only with the land which is described in the certificate. All the assessments, together with ten per cent interest, have been added to the par value of the stock until at the present writing the market value has reached $120, which amount must be paid for any new stock purchased for unstocked land. There are now in force 17,437 shares held by 2,231 stockholders, making an average of less than eight shares to each stockholder in the company. Over $500,000 has been spent on the canals, pipe lines, pumping plants and reservoirs; nearly another $100,000 has been paid for riparian lands and water rights, making about two-thirds of a million dollars invested in water facilities by this company, to say nothing about current expenses, etc. These large sums have been drawn gradually from the stockholders during the past fifty years in such low water rates and moderate assessments that the burden has scarcely been felt. In fact, this company has long enjoyed the reputation of being one of the least expensive of the large water companies of Southern California.

The facilities of the Santa Ana Valley Irrigation Company for supplying its stockholders with water are very similar to those of the Anaheim Union Water Company and consist of a half interest in the waters of the Santa Ana River at the division-gate; about 141 miles of ditches, of which 117 miles are pipe lines and the rest are lined with cement concrete; eight pumping plants capable together of furnishing about 1,520 inches of water; and one small reservoir at Olive for regulating the flow of the water in the ditches. In addition to the foregoing the company owns a half interest in nearly 2,400 acres of riparian land up the river, as well as several hundred acres in its own right. These lands strengthen and protect the company's rights in the river and give opportunity for further development, when needed.

The stream next in importance to the Santa Ana River for irrigation purposes is the Santiago Creek, which is a tributary of said river. This creek rises in the Trabuco National Forest Reserve in the eastern end of the county, flows in a northwesterly direction across the San Joaquin ranch to the mouth of the canyon and from there proceeds in a southwesterly direction to its junction with the Santa Ana River. The creek and its branches drain about 127 square miles on the western slope of the Santa Ana Mountains and the foothills adjacent. Assuming that the average annual rainfall within the drainage basin of this stream is fifteen inches, which is under rather than over the mark, the precipitation would aggregate 4,425,696,000 cubic feet of water per year, or one-eighteenth of the rainfall in the great catchment-basin of the Santa Ana River. Like most of the streams between the coast range and the sea, this creek carries off the greater part of the rainfall shortly after it is precipitated. However, a small per cent sinks into the soil and gradually percolates into the channel, thereby continuing the stream throughout the year. The quantity thus saved and utilized can be greatly increased by storage reservoirs and by spreading part of the storm water over waste lands to sink into the gravel beds and find its way into the stream later in the season. Some of this work has already been done and more is being planned for the future.

The parties who are interested in the waters of the Santiago Creek are the Irvine Company, owner of the San Joaquin ranch, and the settlers on the lands about the mouth of the canyon, above ditch A of the Santa Ana Valley Irrigation Company, who are represented by the Serrano Water Association on the north side of the creek and by the John T. Carpenter Water Company on the south side. Naturally, the Irvine Company would have large riparian rights in the stream on account of furnishing a large part of the catchment-basin and owning land on both sides of the stream for ten or eleven miles. These rights have never been adjudicated, although the attempt to take water over the water shed to other parts of the ranch was successfully resisted in the courts by the settlers. An agreement was finally reached whereby the water of the creek will be apportioned to the different parties in interest and an opportunity be given to increase such water by diminishing the run-off. The stipulations of this agreement were made the judgment of the court, thereby making them binding on all concerned.

By the terms of this agreement the two water companies, designated as the party of the first part, get practically all the water of the creek up to 600 inches during the five irrigating months, from June 20, to November 20, of each year; the Irvine Company, designated as the party of the second part, gets the next 50 inches, and all above the 650 inches will be divided equally between the two parties. For the rest of the year the party of the first part will have the first 60 inches and the party of the second part the next 60 inches; and all above the 120 inches will be equally divided. An easement to three tracts of land, aggregating about 500 acres, is granted for spreading the storm water, and also an option to build a dam across Fremont Canyon and impound water therein, together with rights of way for roads and ditches. The party of the first part covenant to spend not less than $14,000 during the next five years in spreading water on the two upper tracts, and may spend other large sums within the next ten years; the party of the second part agrees to refund one-third of all the money thus expended each year, up to a limit of $16,666.67 for the third, during the ten years. In return for the liberal concession of the Irvine Company, that company is permitted to take its share of the water over the watershed to other parts of the ranch. The time within which a dam might be built in Fremont Canyon having expired, it is understood that the option, with all its agreements and conditions, given by the Irvine Company for that purpose, has lapsed. The two water companies,designated the party of the first part in the agreement, together own the Barham ranch upon which they have constructed a shallow reservoir of considerable area. Below this ranch they built a bedrock dam across the creek in 1892, at a cost of $3,600, the deepest point being nineteen feet below the surface of the creek-bed. The water intercepted and raised to the surface by this dam is carried off in a 28-inch cement pipe 725 feet to the division-gate, where it is divided equally between the two companies.

The Serrano Water Company was organized in 1875 by the Lotspiech Brothers, J. W. Anderson, Dr. Worrell, Charles Tiebout and a few others. The association has no capital stock, but the water is distributed among the sixty-six owners according to the acreage of each, with the limitation that two-thirds of the association's water belongs to the 631 acres in the Lotspiech tract and the other one-third to the 672 acres in the Gray tract. To serve these owners the association has laid below the division-gate 6,288 feet of 20-inch pipe and 2,679 feet of 16-inch pipe, while individual members have laid three and one-half miles of from 10 to 16-inch pipe.

The John T. Carpenter Water Company is capitalized for $16,000, divided into 1,600 shares of $10 each. This stock is held by 115 owners, who use the water on 900 acres of land. The company has laid about four miles of 16 and 20-inch pipe and about eight miles of 10 and 12-inch pipe.

Trabuco Creek, with its tributaries, furnishes water for quite an area of land in the vicinity of Capistrano. The greater portion of the water from this stream is distributed by the Trabuco Water Company, which irrigates about 500 acres.

In addition to the irrigation from the three streams just described, there are a few farms that take out more or less water from Coyote Creek, Laguna Creek, Aliso Creek and other sources. Then, too, there are thousands of acres irrigated from wells, either artesian or pumped. As already described, large quantities of water from the rainfall sink into the ground and percolate through the gravel strata on their way from the higher elevations to the sea. This water may be found at various depths in nearly every part of the plains forming the major portion of the county; but it is particularly abundant about Anaheim and in the western part of the county, where it is undoubtedly supplied by the underflow of the Santa Ana River. According to the assessor's report there are 1,224 pumping plants in Orange County valued at $3,060,000. These raise from 25 to 125 inches of water each from a single well, while in a number of cases a large plant furnishes from 200 to 400 inches from a group of wells. The lower lands near the ocean are either damp enough or they are irrigated from artesian wells. The number of acres irrigated from wells, pumping or artesian, is about 12,000; the total number of acres irrigated from all sources in the county is approximately 50,000.

If anything further were needed to prove that Orange County is well watered, it might be found in the vast quantities of nearly every kind of grain, fruit, nut and vegetable grown in the temperate zone, as well as many kinds indigenous to the torrid zone, which are produced in this county and sent to market every year, not only supporting the farmers and fruit growers, but actually enriching them. Surely Orange County may take rank alongside of the land of Canaan as described by Moses in the following paragraph:

"For the Lord, thy God, bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains, and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates, a land of oil, olive, and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass. When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord, thy God, for the good land which he hath given thee."

CHAPTER III - THE CITY OF ANAHEIM

The city of Anaheim is the oldest city in Orange County and was founded and settled by some Germans who had been residents of San Francisco for some time. They were all citizens of the United States and were looking about for cheap land that would be suitable for the growing of grapes. They traveled about the state and especially turned their attention to the southern part, and soon decided that the section that is the present site of Anaheim was best suited to the growing of grapes and the making of wine.

This corporation was organized in 1857 by fifty men, among whom were the following: George Hansen, John Fisher, John Froelich, Charles Kohler, Utmar Caler, C. C. Kuchel, C. Biltsen, Henry Kroeger, H. Schenck, H. Bunnellman, Julius Weiser, John P. Zeyn, Benjamin Dreyfus, Hugo Currance, and others. Their organization was known as the Los Angeles Vineyard Company. Each man purchased a share, which was valued at $750. They bought about 1,200 acres of land, being a part of the Rancho San Juan Cajon de Santa Ana, and owned by Juan Pacifico Ontiveras, to whom they paid two dollars per acre. This tract was laid out in twenty-acre lots, and work was at once begun upon it under the management of George Hansen, who was selected for their superintendent. He began leveling, building fences, digging ditches, etc. Expenses were $216 per day, a considerable amount for that period. The tract was one and one-half miles long and one and a quarter wide, fenced in with 40,000 willow poles, six feet above the ground and one and one-half feet apart; these were strengthened by three horizontal poles. These poles eventually took root and soon the colony was surrounded by a living willow wall. The whole was defended by a ditch four feet deep, six feet wide at the top, sloping to one foot at the bottom. Streets were laid out through the tract, a gate constructed across the end of the main street and when this was closed it made the enclosure secure from invasion. Thousands of wild Spanish cattle and horses roamed the plains at that time and these would have devastated the growing vines and other crops unless so protected.