by Paul R. Spitzzeri
With the 1870s being one of the three focus decades (the others are the 1840s and 1920s) during the Homestead’s interpretive period of 1830-1930, one of the best sources we have for understanding what transpired in greater Los Angeles are newspapers. The Museum’s collection has a decent sampling of such examples as the Express, Herald and the Star, the trio of English-language dailies that were easily the largest in the city, which underwent its first boom, albeit small compared to later ones, during the first half of the decade.
This latest “Read All About It” post features the 4 February 1875 edition of the Herald, the newest of the three having been established in October 1873 by Charles Storke, recently of Santa Barbara, though he was unable to keep the enterprise going for long and it became the property of The Los Angeles City and County Printing and Publishing Company. This incorporated, joint-stock company was headed by Prudent Beaudry, who owned large amounts of real estate in town and was elected its mayor in the December 1874 municipal election, while F.P.F. Temple, a banker and capitalist with a large portfolio of projects undertaken during the boom, was its treasurer.
It should come as little surprise that the first editorial peace on page two, where most of the news was found, along with the third page, was “Cheering Prospects” and concerned one of Temple’s most important enterprises during the era. The Herald remarked that,
The prospects of the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad are rapidly brightening, and the list of subscribers to the stock is lengthening daily. As our citizens realize the importance of this road, its great advantage to the valley and the numerous benefits which will result from it, they become enthusiastic in its support and promptly place their names on the subscription books.
The railroad was formed in April 1874 with Temple as president and the intention was to build a narrow-gauge line to the silver mining region of Inyo County in eastern California near Death Valley, where he was also heavily invested at Cerro Gordo, east of Owens Lake. Temple hired engineer James U. Crawford to conduct a survey and determine the best route, which included Cajon Pass (identified two decades before during the transcontinental railroad surveys as an important entry point into the region) and Crawford and his men only recently had planted their stakes at that location, just ahead of competitors from the powerful Southern Pacific, which had a monopoly on local railroading.
By early 1875, however, despite aggressive advertising and promotion, not enough local capital was subscribed, but United States Senator from Nevada, John P. Jones, who had a significant mining investment at Panamint, not far from Cerro Gordo, as well as a new seaside town west of Los Angeles called Santa Monica, soon took a majority interest in the L.A.& I. and insisted that a branch line to his coastal community be constructed first.
So, the prospects mentioned by the Herald were really driven by Jones’ infusion of cash, which meant that he assumed the presidency, while Temple shifted to being the treasurer. So, the paper assumed that the $300,000 in stock that was made available would soon be taken “and the certain building of the road rendered an established fact.” With this in mind, and hoping, clearly, to inspire more denizens of greater Los Angeles to invest, the Herald implored readers that,
The inevitable fact that unless the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad is built, we shall lose the greater portion of our interior trade should impel every citizen of Los Angeles valley to encourage and assist the work to the utmost extent. If we fail to build this road within less than one year from to-day, not a pound of freight either to or from the mines of Inyo county [this was being shipped by animal teams] will be shipped by way of Los Angeles, and we shall lose our entire trade with these mines. This is a fact that must be looked square in the face. It is railroad or no trade. We must build the road.
While the line to Santa Monica was completed by October, little progress was made elsewhere, save some grading and tunneling at Cajon, and, in the economic panic that broke out after the late summer, the L.A.&I. never got further than the branch route and even that was sold to the Southern Pacific in 1877.
Speaking of the economic environment, though the great crash at San Francisco took place in late August, the Herald devoted some substantial space to “A Little Pinch,” which reported that “stocks went down with a crash” at the Golden State’s financial center and it was understood that “many people of small means fell from the apex of fortune to the abyss of poverty.” It continued that “under the excitement created by the discovery of the great bonanza,” involving silver at Virginia City, Nevada, “laboring men and women invested their earnings in stocks and lost in an hour what years of toil had accumulated.”
What was not mentioned is that a major investor in the mines was Elias J. “Lucky” Baldwin, who, however, discerned that a stock bubble was soon to burst, so he wisely sold most of his shares, thereby precipitating a panic, though he walked away with millions—hence his nickname, which was heightened by the fact that he was prepared to sell sooner, but took the key to his strongbox with him and could not dispense with stock until returning from a trip, whereupon the prices climbed higher.
In a short time, Baldwin purchased the Rancho Santa Anita from Los Angeles merchant Harris Newmark for $200,000 and looked to expand his empire—a big break came when Temple and his father-in-law Workman became desperate for a loan to salvage their flailing bank. The result, however, was that the institution failed early in 1876, being the first big business failure in Angel City history, and, after allowing the interest to accumulate for three years, Baldwin foreclosed and took possession of thousands of acres of Temple and Workman lands put up as collateral.
Returning to the working and middle class folks involved in the “pinch,” the Herald commented that “gambling of any kind is dangerous to people of small fortunes” with stock investing particularly so and it predicted that “vast misery will come of this.” As it was, the rest of the nation was mired in a depression that burst forth in 1873 and which became the “Long Depression,” lasting through the rest of the decade. Moreover, the paper predicted “there will come other and more disastrous pinches” and it concluded, “into the crucible has been thrown the toil, honor and life of thousands” and it added with ominous dramatic overtones:
The compound was the philosopher’s stone that converted nothing into bright yellow gold, but it is gold stained with the widow’s tear and blighted with the orphan’s curse—in its sharp ring may be heard the maniac’s shriek.
A short editorial page piece concerned “Petroleum Gas” and a report that the Common (City) Council was pondering whether to light the streets of downtown with gas lamps and it was noted that a new unidentified firm was offering to undertake the work. Apparently, this even involved the promise that “the trial may be made without loss to the tax-payers of the city” and the paper continued that
The fact that the gas of this company is manufactured from crude petroleum and that we have thousands of barrels of this article running to waste in the San Fernando [Santa Susana] mountains makes the consideration of this plan one of importance to our people.
Another of Temple’s biggest development projects was the drilling for oil in canyons that are now on the west side of Interstate 5 as it heads north into Santa Clarita and he had a small steam-powered refinery there, as well. His financial collapse, however, brought an abrupt end to the work, though the Star Oil Company would, in 1876, bring in a significant producing well nearby. Some four decades later, on land Temple lost to Baldwin, his son Walter would realize a significant fortune when oil was discovered in the Montebello Hills by 9-year old Thomas, the eldest of Walter’s four children—a major result was the building of La Casa Nueva, now a centerpiece of the Museum.
Turning to third page and the “Local Brevities” column, it was reported that George Peck of El Monte (and namesake of a major north-south thoroughfare in that San Gabriel Valley city, a few miles west of the Homestead) received patented wheat and other grain seeds “which he will distribute gratis among our farmers.” A recent rain storm (we are looking forward to badly needed precipitation just now) caused a delay in the completion of an office for Mayor Beaudry in a brick building he leased at his own expense, he not wanting to keep his quarters in the old Rocha Adobe across Spring Street.
If the weather continued to be good as it was currently, continued the paper, “the Postoffice can be removed to its new quarters on the 1st of March,” this in a building on Spring Street constructed by F.P.F. Temple (Walter, too, would later erect post office structures in Alhambra, El Monte and San Gabriel, thinking that regular federally-paid revenue was a good strategy for his commercial building projects).
Another report was that Maurice Kremer, the city clerk, sold two municipally-owned lots created by the survey of Edward O.C. Ord a quarter century before, with one selling for $620 and the other for $550, these being near the French Hospital and considered good properties. If these prices sound remarkably low, the paper added that “two years ago this property could not have been sold for $50 a lot.”
With regard to land development, there was a brief note that excursions were being readied to take prospective purchasers to the new town of Artesia, southeast of Los Angeles and near the Anaheim branch line of the Southern Pacific, close to the Norwalk station. In a separate piece, the Herald quoted its rival, the Express regarding the promise of the project launched by the Los Angeles Immigration and Land Co-operative Association, which later in the year undertook the creation of Pomona.
Respecting railroads, a short article bemoaned the apparent attempt to sabotage the Southern Pacific line north of town, where an engineer stopped a slow-moving train and found “a large piece of timber about twelve feet long . . . placed diagonally across the track, securely wedged and the ends covered with rocks.” Yet, a little further north, where the Spadra branch heading east through the San Gabriel Valley and the Workman portion of Rancho La Puente before terminating at the village now part of Pomona, “another dead-fall was discovered, more cunningly devised and dangerous than the first.” The article concluded that “it was by a mere chance that this awful calamity was averted” and the paper remarked “we trust that the villains will be found and dealt with as they merit.”
An “Educational Column,” which was “edited by the Teachers of the Public Schools of Los Angeles county,” contained a report that, of just shy of $10 million of private donations to educational institutions, some 5/8ths went to colleges and universities and the rest to specific higher education schools for agriculture, medicine, law and theology, but none for public grammar and high schools. It was inquired,
In Los Angeles there are wealthy citizens who could gladden the hearts of hundreds of children, as well as add to the attractions of the city, by contributing of their abundance to purchase a fine telescope, or an improved microscope; or by increasing the library and museum. Who will be the pioneer in this good work?
F.P.F. Temple, actually, was known for paying the salaries of teachers, as well as having donated the land and serving as trustee for the La Puente School, situated just north of his house in the Whittier Narrows, the school site now being the Los Angeles District headquarters of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Concerning the growing movement for compulsory education, it was asserted that the idea “is a dead letter upon the statute books” and said to be “a complete failure” in Michigan, with no discernible increase in attendance and no prosecution for violating the law. This was said to be the case in Nevada and in New York it was averred that “the law can never be enforced.” With respect to California, the law was six months old and it was asked, “can its most enthusiastic friends point to any good results?” and “is there a county or school district in which any attempt has been made to enforce it?”
For monthly report cards, it was stated that the higher grade level students in Los Angeles schools were to receive theirs, but “it is feared some parents do not attach sufficient importance” to them, with one mother telling the unnamed writer of the piece “that she had never seen he daughter’s report.” This led to the assumption that, “if that daughter is not promoted” to the next level “the parents will express surprise; [and] perhaps blame the teacher.”
Separate from the column, the Herald remarked that “many parents are anxiously waiting to see what response the City Council will give to the petitions presented by the Board of Education” and it was felt that “a prompt and liberal response will carry joy to many households whose children are now deprived of the privileges of schools.” Any delay, of course, was to be attributed to inaction by the Council and, in a time of significant population growth in the Angel City, the need for new schools was certainly felt.
A short letter was received by the paper from Patrick Dooley of Nashville, who read of the Herald‘s New Year’s Day edition advocacy for a paper mill in town to which he offered, as the paper put in in the headline a “proproposition” in which he would transfer his experience from two mills in his city to Los Angeles “if some parties of capital would invest” as “I would like to have charge as I [am] sure it would be a success.”
Somewhat related was another letter, this one from a woman known only as “Sanguine” with the Anaheim resident inquiring “is it true that there are grapes in the Los Angeles market, and grapes as cheap as one and one-half to five cents per pound?” while she wanted to know if pears were to be had at 50 cents per hundred and apples at a dollar a box. She continued, “where are these luxuries to be bought?” and wondered if these figures were “for the benefit of Eastern eyes” who would “be led into delusion with regard to this country.”
The Herald cautioned that its weekly market reports, with pricing courtesy of an unnamed local grocery and produce business, showed that the prices for the tree fruit was double what she was led to believe while grapes were “even lower” than her figures as it commented that “any number of tons of the Mission grape could have been bought at three-quarters to one cent per pound.” It ended by understanding that “Sanguine” was “victimized by a corner fruit stand” and that she “says in her heart that all men are liars,” though “if she will purchase her fruits from first-class establishments,” the price would be more in line with what the paper quoted.
Lastly, there is a letter from Peter Victor Deuster, a Wisconsin newspaper publisher and politician, writing from Los Angeles on 6 January, who told a friend,
The city itself is not very angelic, as there are many Mexicans here, living in “dobey” houses, standing in such streets, of course, as are not very clean. This old Spanish town, over 100 years old, nicknamed Sonora, lies at one end near the Mission Church. Next to this [to the south] comes the business streets, and beyond this the American part of town . . . The climate is really beautiful—charming . . . In my opinion Los Angeles, the metropolis of Southern California, will remain the trade-center of this part of the State for all time to come.
Deuster added that there were some 13,000 people in the city, which was surrounded by orange groves and vineyards and he climbed the Elysian Hills each day, enjoying the view which “is a beautiful sight for the month of January.” He visited the home of Dr. John S. Griffin and was impressed with the garden and commented that “the town is crowded with stranger[s], invalids and pleasure-seekers from all parts of the United States,” so that he could not find a house to rent and took two rooms at a hotel for $50 monthly, “besides board.”
This issue of the Herald is packed with interesting material and we will continue to offer these “Read All About It” posts that will further show what transpired in 1870s Los Angeles, especially its boom years during the first half of the decade.