1871.

January 4, Colonel Cobb, of Antelope Valley, arrested as an accessory to the killing of McClain, Wells and Stewart . . Some queer scenes were occasionally witnessed in the justice of the peace courts. In Squire Weaver's court, some very hard names were bandied by opposing attorneys, one of whom was fined $10, but the fine was remitted on the offending lawyer promising to stand the treats for the crowd . . W.W. Greene disposed of his interest in the Eureka Hotel at Colusa . . Congressman Johnson introduced a bill establishing post routes from Colusa to Newville, and from Ingrim's, in Bear Valley, to Grindstone.

January 15, Hon. J.H. Craddock, of Sutter County, holds county court for Judge Spalding, on account of the latter's illness.

February 2, Germans of Colusa celebrate the surrender of Paris with bonfire and burning of powder.

February 18, John Arnold appointed town marshal of Colusa . . A human skeleton was plowed up on Kilgore's ranch, near the county seat . . A post-office established at Kanawha, formerly the adobe house, Levi Welch, postmaster . . Candidates for town marshal, John T. Arnold, Jonas Baer, Lyman Oatman and Marion Tate.

February 28, the dams placed in Sycamore Slough by the trustees of Reclamation District, No. 108, carried away by the flood. The dams cost the district $7,000 . . Elder Carpenter, of the Christian Church, and Elder C.W. Rees, of the Baptist denomination, active in church work at that period.

March 15, a lodge of A.O.U.W. organized at Colusa; O.S. Mason chosen Worthy Commander and Rev. L.E.V. Coon was appointed acting Past Worthy Commander.

April 19, a feud between two brothers-in-law resulted in a street affray in Colusa between Isaac A. Cleghorn and A.B. Hawkins, both of Antelope Valley . . Cleghorn drew a Remington five-shooter and Hawkins a Sharp four-shooter. Cleghorn was wounded in the right shoulder . . So thick had candidates become for the various county offices that thirty-five had already announced themselves as candidates before the Democratic Convention to fill the offices of county judge or State senator down to supervisor . . In a fit of despondency, Edwin Samuels drowns himself in the Sacramento River, near Colusa.

May 1, at the Colusa town local election, the interest of the day centered on the office of town marshal, John T. Arnold being elected. James McTurk found guilty of assault with a deadly weapon. School trustees of Colusa elected, Jack Hart, W.S. Green and J.W. Goad.

May 31, William Hamilton and Colonel A. Cobb, charged with the murder of Deputy Sheriff McClain in Antelope Valley, discharged in the District Court at Marysville.

June 6, two heavy shocks of earthquake felt in Bear Valley. T.J. Hart appointed town attorney. The remains of Dr. A.J. Johnson, an esteemed citizen of Colusa, brought home for interment from New York City. His funeral was remarkable for the respect and evidences of grief it elicited from the community.

July 5, at a saloon formerly known as the Webb Ranch, on Stony Creek, occupied by Tant Greene, an altercation occurred between the brothers Van and John McDaniels and Greene, in which Greene shot and killed Van McDaniels. Greene came to the county seat and gave himself up.

July 18, O.F. Cook, formerly of the Colusa Mill, leased for a term of years the Grand Island Flouring Mills.

August 7, Judge Frank Spalding, on account of ill health, resigns his place on the Democratic ticket as the nominee for county judge of Colusa County . . Governor Haight and Creed Haymond address the Democracy at Colusa.

August 28, a very large gathering at the court-house to hear the joint debate between Pearce and Coghlan, Democratic and Republican candidates respectively for Congress . . Dwelling-house of F.M. Rose, in Colusa, destroyed by fire, with a loss of nearly $3,000.

The county elections this fall were hotly contested. The Democratic ticket, consisting of the following candidates, was elected throughout by handsome majorities: For Joint Senator, John Boggs; for Assemblyman, Loomis Ward; County Judge, F.L. Hatch; Sheriff, J.B. Stanton; County Clerk, Giles G. Crandall; District Attorney, S.D. Wall; Treasurer, Harry Peyton; Assessor, W.N. Herd; Surveyor, James L. Long; Superintendent of Schools, E.J. Edwards; Coroner, F.X. McAtee; Supervisor (Second District), C. Kopf. The Republican candidates were: State Senator, C.J. Diefendorff; Assemblyman, Harry Collins; County Judge, J.J. Hicok; Sheriff, J.H. Liening, County Clerk, J.L. Howard; District Attorney, A.L. Hart; Treasurer, William P. Harrington; Assessor, J.C. Lovelace; Surveyor, J.H. Jones; Superintendent of Schools, E. Read; Coroner, Julius Weyand; Supervisor (Second District), C. Boardman.

October 18, Marsh Glasscock was killed in his saloon at Spring Valley by W.R. Mills, of the Ohio House. Coroner's jury rendered a verdict of justifiable homicide . . Colusa amateurs gave their first entertainment at Wood's Hall, appearing in the short plays of Madcap, Phantom and Family Jars . . Rev. E.K. Miller, of M.E. Church South, appointed to the pulpit of Colusa.

October 17, F.L. Hatch elected county judge over J.J. Hicok and Shephardson. The justices elected throughout the county were: Stony Creek, J. Heaton and S.N. Green; Monroe, S.A. Robinson and W. White; Colusa, John Dunlap and Samuel Baker; Colusa No. 2., J.T. Daley and J.H. Graham; Union, J.S. Black and John Cartwright; Grand Island, James Hern and H. Davis; Spring Valley, Godfrey Ingrim and J.B. Lucas; Indian Valley, J.W. Gaither and Julius Weyand.

November 2, County Assessor Herd in his report to the State authorities estimates the population of the county at nine thousand. The number of registered voters was at this time, two thousand seven hundred . . Daniel Blair, who had settled on Freshwater Creek as early as 1853, died in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, while visiting relatives . . Rev W.H. Hill, of Sacramento, occasionally visited Colusa at this period to minister to members of the Episcopal Church . . J.M. Lemon engaged with a force of two hundred men in building a levee around Grand Island, in Colusa and Yolo Counties. It is intended to reclaim seventy thousand acres of land owned by A.H. Rose, L.A. Garnett, W.C. Ralston, and others.

December 2, Snow was unusually heavy in the mountains the Coast Range having the appearance of a solid mountain of snow . . Jones and Gage began the erection of a flour-mill in Colusa.

1872.

January 1, death of Mrs. Stephen Cooper, who came to California as early as 1846 and located in Colusa County in 1854, on what is known as the Cooper Homestead, near the town of Colusa.

February 3, a large mass-meeting of the farmers of Colusa and Sutter Counties held in Colusa to oppose the levee or dam across Butte Slough and the mode of reclamation adopted by district No. 5. Jonas Spect presided and speeches made by A.L. Hart, J.H. Liening, W.H. De Jarnatt, T.J. Hart and others. John Grant and William Cullin, two former residents of Colusa, arrested for participating in the robbery of Wells, Fargo & Co.'s treasure-box on the Shasta stage during the previous summer.

February 27, Colonel Charles D. Semple, a prominent and much-respected pioneer, died at his residence in Colusa. He settled in the county in 1850. (See biography.) Three men, named Smith, Amadon and Ralph, drowned from a small scow-boat after leaving Eddy's landing . . Clark Hammerson by his skill in billiards wins the champion's cue in Colusa . . Advertisements published to engage school-teachers . . Complaint is made by the county board of examination, consisting of E.J. Edwards, G.W. Howard and E. Rousseau, that many of the applicants for teachers' certificates are singularly ignorant. One applicant being asked to parse "That he should refuse is not strange," learnedly told the board that "strange is in the objective case after the preposition not."

March 20, C. Kopf and E.W. Jones, Past Grands of Colusa Lodge, No. 133, I.O.O.F., elected representatives to the State Grand Lodge . . For more than a year past, a very strange object in human form, known as "Chaparral Joe," has been sojourning in the dense thicket near the line dividing Colusa and Yolo Counties. He lived, hermit-like, in the brush, and only sallied out when hunger drove him, with shot-gun on shoulder to ask for food from his terrified neighbors. He is a wild man and swears he will not be captured alive. Several parties were sent out to capture him but failed. He is the terror of the women and children in the neighborhood of his lair . . James Tevis, convicted, in 1868, in Colusa County, of murder and sentenced to thirty years' imprisonment in penitentiary, is pardoned by Governor Booth.

April 9, Al McGee, an old resident of the county, disappeared strangely, nearly a year previously. His remains found on an island in Mill Creek in Tehama. It was thought he had wandered off in a temporary fit of insanity . . One thousand head of sheep boldly stolen in the night from the corral of A.J. Scoggins on the plains a few miles from Colusa. Wild cats in great numbers are being shot and trapped in the foot-hills, and particularly in Stony Creek Valley.

June 3, G.W. Buchanan began running a line of tri-weekly stages between Colusa and Newville via Kanawha, and Sam L. Goulding a stage line, running tri-weekly from Colusa to Wilbur and Bartlett Springs.

May 25, William Ogden brought the first steam traction wagon into the county. Its appearance created quite a sensation . . Louis Doty attacked by twoo unknown men on the Catlin ranch near the Mountain House. His throat was cut, and windpipe severed, yet he survived six weeks.

June 5, the building covering the retorts of the Colusa Manufacturing Company at Colusa destroyed by fire. Loss, $1,000.

June 15, W. Lee Knox, an old resident of Colusa, dies.

June 15, the Democracy of the county met in convention in the court-house, when the following gentlemen were elected delegates to the State Convention: W.F. Goad, John Boggs, M. Davis, A. Wood, J.M. Steele, S.D. Wall. One of the resolutions of instruction to these delegates favored the "choice of delegates to the National Convention who will oppose the nomination or indorsement of any Republican to be our standard-bearer, and warmly, honestly and faithfully nominate some good and honest Democrat of the old Jefferson school." W.F. Goad afterwards sent from Colusa County as a delegate to the National Convention held at Baltimore.

July 4—To-day's celebration of the national holiday, at Colusa, one of the largest and most enthusiastic ever yet seen in the county. The Marysville band and that of the San Francisco circus furnished the music in a grand procession. George W. Kuhnert was marshal of the day; chaplain, E.K. Miller. The Declaration was read by M.L. Tindall and the oration was a finished effort by Colonel F.L. Hatch. These were followed by a barbecue and a grand ball given in the warehouse of E.W. Jones . . Lyman Oatman, a long-time resident and a man of generous impulses and progressiveness, dies . . James H. Riddle, an old and highly-esteemed citizen of the county, dies at Princeton . . A terrible catastrophe occurred at Reese's ranch, eight miles from Princeton, in which a white boy and two Chinamen were killed by the explosion of a steam cylinder to an engine carrying a separator to a threshing-machine. Many of the by-standers and harvest-hands were injured, and the harvest machinery burned . . S.T. Kirk elected City Attorney by the Board of Trustees . . John Glotzbach dies of wounds inflicted by the accidental discharge of a gun he was handling.

July 5, John Dempey, a young boy, was drowned in the Sacramento River at Princeton, while bathing . . It is now estimated that not less than one million sacks of grain will be shipped from the county during the season . . At the Democratic Convention to nominate a supervisor for the third district, held at the house of J.I. Steward, of Princeton, George M. Sutton, of Prairie, was made the nominee on the fourth ballot.

August 3, George Housman was found dead in his cabin on Knight's sheep ranch, in Antelope Valley. His death was caused by hard drinking . . Hon. John Boggs declines to be presented as a nominee for Congress. The trustees of the Colusa school district chose for the ensuing term the following teachers, and fixed their salaries: Principal, John Dooner, $125 per month; Jackson Hatch, $90; Florence Miller, $89; Mary Gill, $65.

August 8, four Chinamen enter a wash-house at Princeton, beat the inmates, and rob them of $253 in silver . . Colusa flouring-mill running night and day . . The Greeley-Grant presidential campaign at fever heat . . Eighteen hundred tons of wheat on the river bank at Colusa awaiting shipment.

August 20, Oriental Lodge, K. of P., of Colusa, sends nearly all its members to Marysville to participate in a banquet given by brother Knights . . Assessor's roll gives the amount of taxable property in the county, of all kinds, at $8,545,927.

August 25, E.H. Hildebrand, of Colusa, one of the oldest residents of the county, dies of lung fever . . Ladies of Colusa present an American flag to the Democratic Club . . Rufus A. Fellows, charged with the killing of Mayfield at Newville, acquitted in the district court.

September 4, Hon. John Boggs' horse "Jerome" took the purse of $450, at Marysville, in the trotting race . . A party of Bear Valley Indians, under the influence of liquor, stopped at the ranch of H.N. Yates and drove Mrs. Yates and her child to the stubble in order to escape the insults of the drunken party . . Benjamin Ball, of Butte Slough, claims the prize for the champion water-melon, weighing over seventy pounds.

September 25, Oscar Adams procured a horse at the Dexter Stable in order to proceed to Princeton. He was found dead the following morning in the road near the Seven Mile House. He had been thrown from the horse and had broken his neck.

October 4, Mrs. Harcourt begins the erection of a building at Colusa designed for a female academy. Elder Porter and Rev. E. Hoskin hold a series of services in the Christian Church.

October 16, four Indians, named Albert, Jeddo, Bill and Lopez, were working on John Culp's ranch, near Colusa. While intoxicated, three of them throw a lariat around the neck of Lopez and drag him until he dies.

October 23, Senator Cornelius Cole and other capitalists visit Colusa in the interests of a narrow-gauge railroad to run between Benicia and Red Bluff . . Indians from Clear Lake, Eel River, Shasta and Cortinez Valley gather at Hyde's rancheria, an Indian settlement on the river, four miles above Colusa, to indulge dances and "sweat-house" ceremonies generally . . Appointments of the M.E. Church South for the ensuing year in Colusa district are: Colusa District, T.C. Barton, P.E.; Colusa Station, E.K. Miller; Princeton Circuit, J.F. Campbell.

November 1, lively stage-line opposition between Colusa and Marysville, the fare only twenty-five cents, and no effort of horse-flesh spared by competing lines in endeavoring to arrive first at their home station.

November 5, at the Presidential election the Democratic majority was nearly nominal. Greeley carried the county by only nine majority. The vote was significant in showing the displeasure of the party throughout the county in not having presented to them an old-time, straight-out Democrat to receive their approval. Sutton's majority over Pratt for supervisor of third district was sixteen.

November 9, a barge in tow of the opposition steamer Clara Belle, loaded with grain, struck a snag and sank a few miles above Colusa . . Rev. Dudley Chase, of the Episcopal Church, holds services occasionally in the Methodist edifice, Colusa. Rev. Father Kelley appointed the Catholic pastorate of the county.

December 2, an old man, named William Martin, fell dead while driving in his vehicle at Colusa . . Myron Hainees, who had previously been supposed insane, commits suicide by drowning himself in a pond in Union township. J.K. Giles becomes sole proprietor of the Princeton flouring-mills. J.H. Liening discourses on spiritualism in many of the school-houses of the county. The matter touching the title of court-house property decided by the Supreme Court in favor of the county.

December 9, Asaph Gould, an old and highly-esteemed resident of Grand Island, dies in San Francisco.

December 17, George W. Howard, a respected citizen of Colusa, and at one time superintendent of public schools, dies . . Hon. James S. Long died at Newville. He had represented Butte County in the Legislature and had been surveyor of Colusa County.

December 16, a fire broke out in a barn on the Grupton division of the Glenn ranch; mules, harness, hay, etc., to the extent of $20,000 lost.

1873.

January 5, the Sunday law closing saloons and places of business went in force and was strictly observed in Colusa, except by a few Chinamen, who were arrested and fined by Justice Baker . . A company is organized to extend the telegraph line from Colusa to Princeton.

January 14.—During the previous month a company was organized at Colusa to build a suitable hall for public entertainments. The money was subscribed and M.B. Farris awarded the contract of construction . . Citizens of the county seat agitate the formation of a hook and ladder company, and the purchase of a new cemetery . . Mrs. L.H. Gruwell, wife of an old resident of the county, dies in Siskiyou County.

February 12, the Bartlett Springs and Bear Valley Toll Road Company organized to connect by toll road the two points named, and open an avenue of travel to the people of Lake and Colusa Counties. The trustees are: J.J. Hendricks, Matthew Johnson, Robert Johnson, Allison Johnson, Solomon Wilson.

February 17, a terrific hail-storm visited various portions of the county . . Farmers' Club organized at Bridgeport; J.C. Wilkins, chairman.

March 3, Colusa Brass Band organized under the leadership of Professor De Vall. Farmers' Club organized at Grand Island with William Ogden, President; J.C. Wilkins, Secretary; H, Davis, Treasurer. At this time clubs of this character began organizations all over the county as auxiliaries of the Farmers' Union . . Ten acres of ground were purchased on the ranch of Major Cooper, adjoining the corporate limits of Colusa, for cemetery purposes. A new steamboat line was put on the river by the California Pacific Railroad Company, connecting with the cars at Knight's Landing for Sacramento and San Francisco, and made semi-weekly trips.

March 7, Reaton & Pettis' store at Newville destroyed by fire. Loss on building and stock, $18,000, partially insured.

March 24, S.K. Abbe, an old resident of the county, died at San Jose . . Professor Martin, of Woodland, succeeds Professor Dooner as principal of the Webster Public School of Colusa.

April 7, Elder Porter, of the Christian Church, concluded a two weeks' revival, and baptized a number of converts in the river, the ceremony being witnessed by many . . At this period twenty-nine individuals in the county owned 5,000 acres and upwards, each. L.F. Moulton was the largest individual land-owner, holding 30,429 acres.

May 8, A.R. Weaver, while in a condition of temporary insanity, commits suicide. Deceased came to the county in 1853, and was one of the earliest justices of the peace . . An exciting town election took place. A ticket nominated at a citizens' meeting contained the following names for town trustees: George Hagar, Jackson Hart, J. Furth, W.S. Green, Waller Calmes. An opposition ticket was put forth with the names of A.P. Spaulding, J.D. Gage, J. Gilmour, W. Calmes, B. Wescott. J.H. Liening then appeared as an Independent candidate and received a splendid vote. The trustees elected were: Hagar, Green, Calmes, Hart, Liening. At this election, J.T. Arnold was chosen Marshal; J.H. Pope, Secretary, and J.B. De Jarnatt, Treasurer. Two hundred and thirty-nine votes were cast.

May 10, Thomas T. Cooke, nine-year-old son of J.B. Cooke, of Colusa, drowned in the river near his home . . A three-year-old son of Richard Robinson, residing on the Keefer ranch, near Colusa, fell into a tub of scalding water and died of his injuries . . Ten divorce cases on the District Court docket . . Odd Fellows Lodge No. 218 instituted at Stony Creek.

May 28, house of G.W. Hoag, on the Glenn ranch, destroyed by fire. Total loss, $3,000 . . County jail doors open for ventilation purposes and contains no inmates.

June 10, a grange of the Patrons of Husbandry organized at Sycamore, with J.J. Hicok, W.M.; Wm. Ogden, O.; J.F. Wilkins, Sec.; H. Davis, T.; P.A. Earp, S.; Wm. Ash, A.S.; M. Stinchfield, L.; W.H. Pollard, C. Lady officers; Mrs. Harover, L.S.; Mrs. Stinchfield, L.A.S.; Mrs. Welch, C.; Mrs. Davis, P.; Miss Pollard, F. . . Liberty pole 134 feet high, costing several hundred dollars, erected by the citizens of Colusa, in front of the court-house . . Steam saw-mill of Williams & Newman, on Stony Creek, destroyed by fire, with a loss of $6,000.

June 19, the Colusa theater dedicated by an oration from Colonel F.L. Hatch, and a grand ball. The Rosedale Company, playing such melo-dramas as "East Lynne" and "Hunted Down," gave the initial performance.

June 28, Democratic County Convention assembled, with Hon. C.L.N. Vaughan, Chairman, and R.R. Rush, Secretary. The ticket framed was: Assemblyman, H.W. Brown, of Tehama; County Clerk, S.M. Bishop; Sheriff, Maberry Davis; District Attorney, D. Shepardson; Treasurer, Harry Peyton; Surveyor, M.P. Ferguson; Superintendent of Schools, J.E. Putman; Coroner, S.H. Allen; Assessor, Peter Perdue.

July 6, death of Mrs. L.J. Treadway, an old and highly-esteemed resident of the county . . A call was issued for the calling of a convention to form an Independent People's party, and signed by J.F. Wilkins, Jonas Spect, C. Kopf, Stewart Harris, Lewis Cary and J.M. Banks. In pursuance of this call a convention met in the court-house, July 15, and was presided over by Stewart Harris. Its nominees consisted of: Clerk, Sullivan Osborn; Sheriff, J.L. Howard; Treasurer, M. Stinchfield; District Attorney, A.L. Hart; Superintendent of Schools, C.S. Jenkins; Assessor, W.N. Herd; Surveyor, J. Catlin; Coroner, P. Grinnel. J.H. Liening, who had previously announced himself a candidate for the sheriff's office, withdrew in favor of J.L. Howard. J. Catlin, nominee for surveyor, declines his nomination.

August 10, Wm. H. Cox, residing six miles west of Princeton, killed in being run over by a wagon . . Granges being instituted in various parts of the county. At Willows, J.M. Zumwalt, Master; at Union, M. Davis, Master; at Colusa, J.F. Wilkins, Master; Franklin, Spring Valley, D.H. Arnold, Master; Freshwater, J.H. Durham, Master; Stony Creek, F.C. Graves, Master; at Sycamore, J.J. Hicok, Master; Princeton, A.D. Logan, Master.

September 1, the county elections passed off amid much excitement, exhibiting the deep interest taken therein by the people generally. The Independents elected the Sheriff, J.L. Howard; Treasurer, M. Stinchfield; District Attorney, A.L. Hart, by average majorities of 140. The remainder of the ticket was carried by the Democracy, with majorities ranging from 14 up to 343 . . Elder Porter, of the Christian, and Father Kelley, of the Catholic Churches, preach their farewell sermons to their respective charges.

September 14, death of John W. Platt, in Union township. He came to the county in 1852 . . The store of Galland & Aaronson at Jacinto destroyed by fire, inflicting a loss of $25,000 . . Some excitement aroused and great expectations based upon the discovery of rich cinnabar rock in the ridge south of Wilbur Springs.

October 13, Sarshel Cooper found in an unconscious state in the road one mile from Colusa. The last seen of him before his body was discovered, was when he was riding in the evening, on his way home from church. He lingered several days after the accident, and was buried by the Patrons of Husbandry, the flags being at half-mast in Colusa . . Rev. Father Coffey appointed to the pastorate of the Catholic Church at Colusa . . A Grange instituted at Antelope Valley, with H.A. Logan, Master.

October 29, the General Greene Coleman Stables, at Colusa, destroyed by fire. The building was entirely consumed, together with a number of fine horses and mules belonging to the proprietor and others. Loss estimated at $12,000. Elder Thomas of Texas, holds a series of meetings at the Christian Church in Colusa.

November 1, E.C. Peart, whose store was some months previously burnt out in Bear Valley, again resumes business there on the Harl farm, at the same time conducting a large business in Colusa.

November 7, George F. Jones, one of the first settlers of Colusa County, dies at Chico. He served as sheriff in 1859-61, and again re-elected. His death was deeply mourned . . Death of Mrs. Louisa Simpson, wife of Noah Simpson, one of the pioneers of the northern end of the county . . Mrs. Margaret L.C. Wilson, one of the pioneer ladies of the county, dies at El Paso del Norte, Mexico.

November 21, Hook and Ladder Fire Company organized at Colusa, by electing J. Grover, Foreman; Mart. Dunlap, First Assistant; Fred Joscelyn, Second Assistant; J.H. Pope, Secretary, and Louis Cary, Treasurer. Five hundred dollars were contributed by the town trustees towards the purchase of necessary implements . . Barney McGibney and Sam Snyder arrested for shooting Charles Leaver, proprietor of the Five Mile House.

December 3, snow to the depth of twelve inches fell at Colusa, the deepest ever known there. Snow-balling was a rare sport for many, while snow-birds swarmed around the houses. On the plains the snow was from one foot to eighteen inches deep, and several hundred head of sheep perished.

December 25, Major Samuel D. Wall dies at Colusa. At the time of his death he was district attorney of the county . . A number of the farmers of Grand Island agree to form a joint stock company to carry on merchandising, blacksmithing and storing grain, and purchase the store of Jas. H. Goodhue, at Grimes Landing, and five acres of land from C. Grimes. The capital stock of the company is $100,000. The project is an inspiration of the Patrons of Husbandry. The trustees of this company for the first year were: Thos. Eddy, Wm. Ogden, L.D. Gleason, Isaac Howell, James Hearn, C. Grimes and D.H. Arnold.

1874.

January 1, on the Glenn ranch, George W. Hoag was cultivating eight thousand acres; Baylis, eight thousand acres; Gupton, eight thousand acres; Dr. Glenn, eleven thousand acres, and other tenants, six thousand acres. One hundred eight-mule teams were engaged in plowing.

January 5, James Hart appointed District Attorney to fill the remainder of the term of S.D. Wall, deceased.

January 8, officers of Colusa Grange installed. The ceremony was preceded by a procession in full uniform to the Christian Church, where Grand Lecturer Wright addressed the Patrons . . Total number of school-children in the county, one thousand six hundred and eighty-six. Amount of school fund apportionment for 1874, $15,966.42.

January 19, the Parks-Roberts dam gave way at the floodgatte on the east side of Butte Creek . . The levee at Bound's Slough, twenty miles above Colusa, was broken; so also was that on Squire Kopf's place, and the one in front of the brewery at Colusa . . The water at Colusa was on this day four inches higher than was ever before known.

January 26, James Sheppard is fired upon and seriously wounded by someone concealed in the brush as he was entering the house of Mrs. James Laird, in Indian Valley . . Spring Valley post-office discontinued.

February 1, jury disagreed and case continued in which Lem Lightner was charged with assault with attempt to murder J.L. Gandy . . Charles E. Price, a justice of the peace at Colusa and nephew of General Sterling Price, of Missouri, dies.

February 2, the store of Curtis & Hogan at Newville consumed by fire; building and goods valued at $15,500 . . Cotton culture in the county everywhere discussed. Col. F.L. Hatch and Colonel Strong offer to distribute seed free and W.S. Green promises a premium of $25 for the best bag of cotton raised in the county . . Snow fell heavier in the Coast Range Mountains than was ever before known, some parties using snow-shoes with which to reach outlying camps.

February 20, Henry Booksin, of Freshwater township, disposed of five thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight acres to H.A. Van Dorstan, C. Kopf and Henry Van Dorstan, for $70,303 . . Dr. H.J. Glenn purchased of A. Montgomery two thousand five hundred acres of land above Princeton, making him at this time the owner of about fifty thousand acres.

March 1, contract for a daily mail from Colusa to Marysville let to F.M. Rose, at $540 per annum . . A memorial was in circulation throughout the county to be presented to the Legislature protesting against the passage of a bill by which the county of Colusa was to issue bonds not exceeding $10,000, in favor of the construction of the "Colusa, Lake and Mendocino Telegraph Company."

March 10, death of Mrs. Nancy Harl, mother of Lee, James and John Harl, of Bear Valley, at the ripe old age of eighty . . The following officers were installed in the Deborah Rebekah Degree Lodge, No. 7., I.O.O.F. at Colusa; N.G., L.H. Dewey; V.G., Mrs. E. Fariss; R.S., Mrs. R. Mason; Treasurer, Mrs. M. Stanton; W.J., H. Jones; C., Mrs. M.J. Jones; Chap., M.B. Fariss; R.S.V.G., S.H. Jackson; L.S.V.G., John R. Samuel; I.G., L. Ford.

March 17, John F. Fouts proceeds to open up the springs discovered by him, since so justly celebrated for their curative properties, and known as Fouts' Springs.

April 7, United States Surveyor-General Stratton was in Colusa and remained several days investigating the character of the land segregated as swamp in townships sixteen and seventeen north, range two west, which lies immediately north of Colusa . . Half of the Excelsior quicksilver mine located on Sulphur Creek was "jumped," and its name changed to Elgin. The three richest mines in this vicinity were known as the Abbott, the Elgin and the Buckeye.

April 22, Elder Porter resumes ministerial charge of the Christian Church at Colusa . . Two white men and eleven Chinamen arrested in Union township on complaint of J.M. Allen for cutting timber on land of complainant . . Judge Hicok organized a grange at Newville.

April 29, a strange man was found dead, supposed to have died of intoxication, in the barn of John Bashore, in Spring Valley.

May 4, the quicksilver excitement continues to increase . . A stage line has been placed in regular operation between Colusa and Allen and Bartlett Springs by Kimball, Miller & Co. . . The Colusa town election resulted in the election of John T. Arnold, Marshal, over Robert Barnett; Secretary, J.H. Pope; Treasurer, J.F. Rich; Trustees, George Hagar, Waller Calmes, W.S. Green, J.H. Liening and J.D. Gage.

May 16, Michael Ryan, an industrious citizen of Colusa, sat upon and shot by a mob of Chinamen . . George Schemmer, a butcher in the employ of Says & Foreman, of Princeton, in attempting to cross a slough two miles above that place, was drowned . . Colusa a great stage center, with nine lines of stages running from the place in all directions . . J.H. Cain erects a hotel at the upper end of Bear Valley.

May 31, Rev. Mr. Haliday holding services at Colusa in the interest of the Presbyterian denomination . . Rev. Father Burchard closed a mission for the Catholics . . The hills and mountains west of Bear Valley are covered with men who were formerly farmers but who are now searching for quicksilver, and claims are being located with a rapidity which only an anxiety and confidence of getting suddenly rich could warrant.

June 3, Joseph H. Jones appointed postmaster of Colusa vice Chamberlain resigned . . The body of Andrew Nelson found in the river a short distance below the Grand Island mill . . Proclamations were issued announcing the holding of a special election on June 27 in Colusa, Monroe, Grand Island, Freshwater, Union and Spring Valley townships, to vote upon the question of selling liquor within the boundaries of these townships.

June 5, William Fugitt, a former resident of Colusa, charged with participation in the famous Shasta stage robbery, arrested in Arizona. He was tried, sentenced to the penitentiary, and after a brief period of imprisonment, pardoned by Governor Booth.

June 16, Hugh Murphy, a young lad, kicked to death by a mule, near Central school-house . . William Thomas drowned, while bathing in the Sacramento at Princeton.

June 27, election on local option took place, a contest which engendered some acerbity. The result was that the license party carried Colusa precinct by twenty-one majority and Grand Island township by eight majority, the no-license or temperance people being successful in Monroe, Freshwater and Union . . Post-offices were established at Spring Valley, David Harris postmaster; Leesville, E.C. Peart postmaster; and at Elk Creek, Thomas McGettrick postmaster.

July 1, death of Dr. Chinn Allen.

July 4, Sulphur Creek people celebrated this day most enjoyably at the Clark House. The orator of the day was Jackson Hatch . . Wells, Fargo & Co. establish express offices at Leesville and Munchville.

July 20, Frank Conn, of Colusa County, killed by Indians in Colorado . . The Farmers' Bank of Colusa opened for business . . In school statistics Colusa County is credited with forty-two districts, fifty teachers and one thousand six hundred and eighty-six school children . . A post-office established at Freshwater, with J.H. Durham postmaster.

August 2, Smith and Schellenger put on a line of stages betweeen Colusa and Chico via Princeton, Butte City, Jacinto and Dayton . . The wheat crop of the season was satisfactory. Dr. Glenn averaged twenty-five bushels to the acre on thirty thousand acres, while Joseph Billiou, at St. John, averaged forty-four bushels to the acre on a large area of land. Great efforts were made in many places in the county to provide room for the storage of grain. Judge Diefendorff had prepared a warehouse at his landing three hundred by forty feet. The Farmers' Company at Grimes Landing were erecting a warehouse two hundred by forty feet. At Colusa E.W. Jones & Co. had so added to their large house until they could store eight thousand tons. At Princeton Jesse Wail & Co. put up a very large warehouse, and at Jacinto Dr. Glenn was doing the same.

August 9, John R. Gifford, of Yolo County, committed suicide on the farm of John Toboben, on Big Stony Creek . . The assessment roll, after correction by the board of equalization, exhibits the wealth of the county thus: Value of land, $5,478,265; value of improvements on land, $519,581; value of town lots, $130,215; value of improvements on town lots, $241,180; amount of money, $121,845; value of personal property, $2,668,916; assessed value of all property, $9,163,002. But two agricultural counties in the State, San Joaquin and Santa Clara, showed a greater increase of wealth than Colusa County.

August 18, the new steamer Constance, Captain Pierce, entered the carrying trade between Colusa and San Francisco.

August 26, dwelling-house of W.H. Williams, eight miles southwest of Colusa, destroyed by fire . . James Driscol shot and instantly killed by Matthew Mury, the keeper of a saloon, five miles west of Jacinto. Murray was discharged on a preliminary examination before Squire Samuel.

September 2, Kopf re-elected supervisor for the third term . . M.B. Fariss awarded the contract for building addition to the new school-house in Colusa, for the sum of $2,995.

September 14, opening of Pierce Christian College.

September 16, Frank Sorsa, a Spaniard, frightfully stabbed in a saloon at Princeton by George Day and died a few days afterward from the effects of the cutting. Day had been let out on bail when the wounded man was expected to survive, and took leg bail, at which the Spaniards of the vicinity were quite exasperated.

September 23, Brigham & Crossan began running a daily stage line between Colusa and Wilbur Springs . . Jackson Hatch, of Princeton, appointed deputy district attorney . . Abe Musick, an old settler of the county, committed suicide at the State fair at Sacramento. He had lost heavily on a favorite horse, so he quietly wrote a note of farewell to his wife, saying, among other things, that he was "too old to work, too proud to beg and too honest to steal," and after closing his note destroyed himself. He was seventy years of age and noted for his genial ways and warm hospitality.

October 2, Mrs. J. Cheney and Mrs. Thurston are pushing a subscription list for the purpose of erecting a Presbyterian Church in Colusa . . Dick Woods, a regular lodger at the Colusa station-house, dies there from the effects of intoxication and exposure.

October 4, dedication of the M.E. Church South at Princeton, by Bishop Pierce, of Georgia . . Charles S. Jenkins, connected with the educational interests of Colusa as teacher and principal of the Webster School, dies . . Death of William Mawson, a highly-respected farmer, living near Butte Slough.

October 10, Methodist South Conference appointed, for the Colusa district, T.C. Barton, presiding elder; Colusa Station, E.K. Miller; Colusa Circuit, E.H. Robertson; W.H. Howard, Princeton . . E.C. Peart, of Bear Valley and Colusa, sells out his business in the former place to J.H. Clark . . Rev. J.H. Byers placed in charge of the Presbyterian Church at Colusa.

October 17, Judge Hatch grants an injunction against W.H. Parks & Co., restraining them from constructing their dam, commonly known as Parks' dam . . An unusually early snow set in in the western part of the county. The Coast Range was sheeted in white. It was a foot deep in some places in Bear Valley. At Colusa, heavy rains fell, the heaviest ever known in the month of October.

November 5, articles of incorporation of the First Presbyterian Church of Colusa filed, with the following persons as trustees of the church; J.D. Gage, C.W. Hansen, J. Cheney, E.B. Moore, S.F. French. At the same time arrangements were made for the erection of a church to cost $3,000, the contract being let to Van Dorstan & Warner.

November 25, the Colusa Fire Company elected the following officers: Foreman, J. Grover; First Assistant, B.M. Dunlap; Second Assistant, G.G. Brooks; Treasurer, L. Cary; Secretary, J.H. Pope . . The levee across the head of Wilkins' Slough broke; also at Semple Bend, five miles above Colusa, and at Scoggin's . . D.H. Arnold, Master of the Spring Valley Grange, commissioned State deputy for the district.

December 2, death of Dr. Frank Spalding at Benicia. Deceased came to Colusa as early as 1851, was county assessor in 1857; in 1863, county recorder; in 1867, county judge.

December 16, J.H. Jones re-appointed postmaster of Colusa . . One thousand shares in the Abbott Quicksilver Mining Company sold for $20,000. One-fourth interest in the Turneer quicksilver mine disposed of for $10,000.

December 21, Robert Duncan, an employe on the Reynolds ranch, thrown out of a wagon, run over and killed . . Dr. J.H. Clark appointed postmaster at Leesville and Martin C. Blanc at Sulphur Creek.

December 26, Colusa Grange gave a harvest feast.

1875.

January 3, the Methodist Church South, in Union township, dedicated by Rev. E.K. Miller. B.H. Russell, pastor . . Andrew Rutland, the pioneer in the county in cotton raising, figures out his profits on fifty acres of land on the east side of the river, planted in cotton, at $682. If his land had not been affected by the overflow, and had been favored with a couple of weeks more of pleasant weather, his profits would have been double as much . . Masonic officers of lodge No. 142, for the year, were: Richard Jones, W.M.; Jackson Hart, S.W.; W.K. Estill, J.W.; J.W. Goad, Treasurer; A. Montgomery, Secretary . . The Webster School Reporter, a journal issued by the scholars and teachers of Webster School, Colusa, edited by Miss Nellie M. Reed and Edward Swinford, made its first appearance . . The January apportionment of school moneys gave each district in the county, except Colusa and Stony Creek, $240; to Colusa, $960, and to Stony Creek, $60.

January 13, the National Hotel, of Colusa, sold to the Bonds, the consideration being $4,000.

January 18, the county visited by a heavy rain-storm and violent winds. Fears were entertained at Princeton that the Parks' dam would flood out the farmers east of that place, but the waters subsided after two days' downpour . . Two tons of tule roots shipped from Colusa to San Francisco, where the Chinamen use them as an article of food.

January 25, a meeting held at the court-house to relieve the people of Marysville, who had suffered so much by the flood. A committee was appointed to solicit subscriptions, and $1,554 were raised, $131 of which were contributed by Princeton.

February 1, death of Robert Tucker, familiarly called "Uncle Bobby," at the age of eighty-two years. He served through the War of 1812, and settled in Colusa County in 1852. Two old soldiers of the War of 1812, Major S. Cooper and B.H. McDow, were among those who attended his funeral . . The Sioc Social Club organized at Colusa; J. Grover, President; J.R. Samuel, Vice-President; J.C. Addington, Secretary; J. Furth, Treasurer.

February 14, John Waters, accompanied by his little daughter and infant nephew, started to cross the river three miles below Princeton, when the boat capsized. Waters succeeded in landing the little girl on a snag, but, endeavoring to save his nephew, he was seized with cramps and both were drowned.

February 26, the contract for building a school-house at Princeton, to cost $2,700, awarded to J. Chatterden . . Professor Wood, the blind musician, gave a series of concerts at College City.

March 1, a meeting of the miners and citizens generally of Munchville, Sulphur Creek, was held to petition the supervisors to make an appropriation for the purpose of opening the road from McMichael's ranch to the Sulphur Creek mines . . An Indian living on Elk Creek became drunk and stamped his baby's brains out, and then severely cut his wife, father, and sister.

March 8, Jack Saffle attempted suicide at Colusa, by shooting himself with a revolver . . A lodge of Odd Fellows instituted at Central. Officers elected were: Wm. Ash, N.G.; Jos. P. Kimbrell, V.G.; M.P. Hildreth, Secretary; W.H. Williams, Treasurer . . B. Seube, of Colusa, who was upset and injured in the stage between Colusa and Marysville, was awarded $500 damages by the jury.

March 17, St. Patrick's day, celebrated at Princeton by trotting races, and a ball in the evening under the auspices of the Grangers . . G.G. Greene completed his hotel at Sulphur Creek, and celebrated the event with a ball.

March 21, the Presbyterian Church at Colusa dedicated, Dr. Scott, of San Francisco, and Rev. J.H. Byers, the pastor, officiating . . Sufficient funds have been secured to erect a Presbyterian Church at Sycamore . . A fine Baptist Church, costing $4,000, completed at Grimes' Landing, Grand Island.

April 4, an infant child of Peter Siple, living west of Jacinto, was killed, its neck having been stamped upon by a horse.

April 5, an extremely light fall of snow at Colusa, which was entirely unprecendented at this time of the year . . Burglars rob the tailor store of A. Frank, in Colusa . . At a picnic given by the Red Men, of Marysville, Miss Estelle Salady, of Colusa, was, from among several competitors, voted the handsomest young lady.

May 1, M.E. Church South Sabbath-school given a May-day picnic. Miss Emma Dewey, as queen, was attended by Miss Prouse and Miss Murtie Weeks, as maids of honor.

May 9, the first sail-boat built on the upper Sacramento, the Katie Bryant, of twenty-five tons, arrived at Colusa . . The Abbott mine is taking out three flasks of quicksilver per day . . Dr. L. Robinson, of Colusa, elected president of the Northern Medical Society . . C.C. Crommer takes charge of the Colusa House.

May 16, Lewis C. Mendleson, a merchant of Princeton, while handing a letter from the shore to the clerk of a steamboat, fell into the river and was drowned . . Several cases of small-pox at Newville, A.W. Roderic, a blacksmith, dying of the malady . . The places of business of Jacob Knorsa and F.T. Mann, of Colusa, entered in broad day and robbed of valuables . . The severest wind-storm of many years passed over the plains, doing some damage to barns and out-houses in its course, and completely wrecking Giles' warehouse at Princeton . . An irrigation meeting was held at Colusa. It was called to order by Colonel Hagar, and presided over by Hon. John Boggs, with J.B. De Jarnatt as secretary. W.S. Green explained the object of the meeting. Addresses were made by Judge Diefendorff, Major Cooper, L.F. Moulton; John Boggs and J.H. Liening. The advantages of irrigation were admitted by all, but the sense of the meeting was opposed to the State lending its credit for the purpose of carrying out a system, and also against allowing trustees or commissioners to tax land for the purpose.

May 28, the Grand Master of the Ancient Order of Druids organized a lodge at Colusa . . A man was lost in the mountains near Fouts' Spring, wandering around for four days with nothing to eat, but finally brought up at the springs.

June 8, A Mr. Heuston, residing on Copp's place, on the Colusa and Yolo line, was burned to death in endeavoring to rescue his little child from his burning dwelling . . The Executive Committee of the People's Independent party, consisting of C. Kopf, S. Harris, J.F. Wilkins, F.C. Graves, E. Hunter, Wm. Ogden and J.D. Gage, issue a call for a mass-meeting to nominate county officers.

June 19, the "oldest inhabitant" had not witnessed such a rain as fell during the first four days of this week. It was more like the regular rain of winter; 1.31 inches of water fell.

June 20, death of Colonel J.W. Baum . . The body of an unknown man found in the river near the Grangers' warehouse.

June 24, the Democratic County Convention met at the Colusa theater, and called to order by Dr. Belton; Major Cooper presided, and P.N. Aaronson was chosen secretary. The ticket nominated was: Clerk, S.M. Bishop; Sheriff, D.H. Arnold; Assessor, W.T. Beville; District Attorney, Jackson Hatch; Treasurer, John Dunlap; Superintendent of Schools, Samuel Houchins; Surveyor, J.M. Doyle; Coroner, S.H. Allen; County Judge, L.W. Robinson. The candidate for Supervisor of Third District was Peter Garnet; Justice of the Peace for Colusa township, J.S. Jamison and I.H. Pearson; Constables, W.H. Brasfield and H.B. Mitchum.

June 30, at Hildreth's farm at the sinks of the Freshwater, a fire destroyed several stacks of grain, a new header and forty acres of standing grain. Loss, $1,500 . . Joseph Toot died of sunstroke, a few miles west of Jacinto . . Fire consumed the dwelling-house of Mr. Watt, six miles northwest of Colusa, and fifteen acres of standing grain.

July 3, the dwelling of Mrs. Vivian, in Colusa, destroyed by fire.

July 10, the People's Independent party convened at the court-house. Stewart Harris presided, with J.D. Gage secretary. This convention placed in nomination the following ticket: Sheriff, J.L. Howard; Clerk, G.G. Crandall; County Judge, J.F. Wilkins; District Attorney, A.L. Hart; Assessor, J.C. Wilkins; Treasurer, M. Stinchfield; Superintendent of Schools, W.H. Brown; Surveyor, T.R. Brooks; Coroner, P.H. Scott.

July 18, Elder Porter, after a lengthy pastorate of the Christian Church at Colusa, preached his farewell sermon.

July 19, a fire near St. John, on the Welsh farm, destroyed a large barn; and a son of Mr. Deering, one of the lessees of the ranch, and another boy, a son of Richard Green, residing south of the Willows, were burned to death. A Chinese cook who had, for some malignant reason, endeavored to poison the family living on the ranch, was suspected as being also the incendiary.

July 25, Thomas Polmanteer was killed by John Crews, at the place of the latter, on Stony Creek, a few miles south of the Black Buttes. After committing the deed, Crews fled to the mountains . . According to the report of Superintendent Putman, there were two thousand three hundred and sixty-three children in the county between the ages of five and seventeen years, and one thousand one hundred and ninety-three under five years.

August 1, two prisoners, Wm. Gray and George Burns, confined in the county jail, sawed and dug their way out and escaped . . Lions and catamounts quite numerous on the road to Bartlett Springs. Passengers on the stage from Colusa alighted to get a cool drink, but, finding the spring in possession of a thirsty mountain lion, they satiated their thirst further on.

August 11, an old man named Barber, who had made a vow never to cut his hair until Henry Clay became president, and who led for several years the life of a hermit, near the Stone corral, was found dead in his bed at Marysville . . The trustees of Webster School, Colusa, appointed the following teachers for the ensuing year: M.L. Weeks, principal; Miss Minnie Talmadge, Grammar Department; Miss Lucy Lovelace, First Intermediate; Miss Alice Parker, Second Intermediate; Miss Eddie Miller, First Primary, and Miss Carter, Second Primary.

August 16, Pierce Christian College, at College City, opened the scholastic year with one hundred and three pupils . . Board of trustees of Colusa town fixed the rate of taxation at ninety cents on the $100, on an assessment valuation of the town of $821,415.

August 30—This day being the eve of election, was devoted to speech-making, in various parts of the county, and to torch-light processions. An amusing incident of the last hours of this very earnest campaign was brought out in the procession of Democrats at Colusa. Two years before, when the Independents had elected three county officers and assemblyman, they made a coffin, labeled it the Democratic party, and, after marching through the streets, buried it with mock solemnity and much jubilation. The day afterwards, the Democrats of the town dug it up, painted a banner representing the resurrection, and exposed these articles on the street. On this evening they turned out in procession with the same coffin, with a jumping-jack five feet high, which was made to dance on it, and paraded through the town. In this election the Democrats elected every County candidate by majorities ranging from 264 to 729, and on the State ticket by majorities ranging from 506 to 659. The constables elected throughout the county were: For Grand Island township, Luke Nelson and L.S. Dunlap; for Spring Valley, N.F. Abshire and T.B. Jackson; for Freshwater township, W.S. McCoy and Richard Wilsey; for Monroe, J.P. Lackey and A. Duncan; for Stony Creek, N. Squires and W. Miller. Peter Garnett was chosen supervisor in the third district by a majority of three hundred and thirty-nine over Hemstreet.

September 5, B.C. Epperson, of Bear Valley, lost by fire a house occupied by hired men, and also a blacksmith shop . . A handsome gold cane was presented to Tartan Smith, at Colusa, by his Democratic friends.

September 11, a Grange harvest feast was given at Grand Island to a large gathering of farmers and their families.

September 25, the Abbott Quicksilver Mining Company began paying a dividend of fifty cents per share . . The dwelling of William Lux, seven miles north of Colusa, burned to the ground.

September 27, death of Judge James Hart, at Colusa. He was the father of Hon. A.L. Hart and T.J. Hart. He was a native of Ireland, and aged sixty years at the time of his death. The esteem in which he was held by the entire community was attested by the large concourse of people who attended his funeral.

October 3, James McConnie suicided in the river below Colusa . . The Sabbath-school of the Christian Church reorganized, with the following officers: J.W. Frazier, Superintendent; Jackson Hart, Assistant Superintendent; Frank Dewey, Librarian; J.B. De Jarnatt, Secretary; Miss Mattie Lovelace and Miss Sallie Miller, Organists.

October 5, W.A. Mathews, of Grand Island, issues an instructive pamphlet on the "Cultivation of the Eucalyptus Tree in Colusa County," showing that the tree is well adapted to flourish in the valley . . The safe of the Princeton Hotel burglarized and $500 in coin taken therefrom.

October 20, at the judicial election, the county was carried by the Democratic party by more than three hundred majority. L.W. Robinson was elected County Judge. The Justices of the Peace elected were: Colusa, J.H. Pearson, Sam Baker; Freshwater, J.H. Durham, J.S. Duncan; Indian Valley, J.W. Gaither and Julius Weyand; Butte Creek, James Heathcoat; Monroe, S.A. Robinson, R. Sandford; Stony Creek, E.B. Bainbridge, W.T. Anderson; Union, J.F. Garr, L.R. Stewart; Grand Island, J.L. Parr, S. Burtis; Spring Valley, T.C. King, G.C. Ingrim.

November 12, Elder Thomas Porter began a series of protracted meetings at the Christian Church, Colusa . . A ball was given at Colusa, by the Sioc Club, to the members of the Northern District Medical Society in session at the county seat.

November 17, Sam James was shot dead at a dance in Newville, by Nathaniel Squires . . E.C. Peart purchased the store and warerooms of the Grand Island Grange Company . . Colusa Base-ball Club meet the Intrepids, of Marysville, and are vanquished . . Colusa Hook and Ladder Company elected the following officers for the ensuing year: Foreman, J. Furth; First Assistant, G.G. Brooks; Second Assistant, W.L. Robinson; Secretary, J.H. Pope; Treasurer, Lewis Cary.

December 17, J.J. Lett, an orderly and peaceable citizen, and one of the pioneers of the county, was stabbed sixteen times, though not fatally, by Porter Ray.

December 24, the large barn of Turner & Van Winkle destroyed by fire. Loss, $3,000 . . The Sioc Social Club chose officers for the year, as follows: President, Jackson Hatch; Vice-President, L.E. Hamilton; Secretary, W.H. Miles; Treasurer, L.H. Dewey.

December 25—The Orientals of College City celebrated the day with a ball and banquet. Princeton enjoyed a turkey shoot on this day. Piper's Opera House Company treated the citizens of Colusa with theatrical amusements during the holidays. Rt. Rev. Bishop O'Connell said mass and preached at the Catholic Church of Colusa on this day.

1876.

January 2, the suit of Moulton vs. Parks, to enjoin defendant from the further maintenance of what is known as the Parks' dam, occupied the attention of the District Court for several days and attracted a large crowd. The case resulted in a perpetual injunction . . The residence of J.P. Rathbun, on Freshwater Creek, burned down.

January 5, a barn, containing six head of horses and a quantity of grain, belonging to W.W. Noble, of Antelope Valley, destroyed by fire . . Ex-Judge Hatch forms a law partnership with S.T. Kirk.

January 31, death of William Reynolds in San Francisco. The deceased settled in Colusa County as early as 1852, where he embarked in farming and stock-raising. He was much respected.

February 2, a bill authorizing the trustees of the town of Colusa to issue bonds for the construction of a railroad from Colusa to intersect the Northern Railway, passed the assembly.

February 9, Princeton submerged by the waters of the Sacramento. Sidewalks floating around, cellars are filled and communication between neighbors a few blocks away made by riding on horseback, all caused by the bursting of a levee about the ferry-cut.

February 17, D.R. Graves, of Colusa, shoots and kills a young man named Daniel Morgan, because of an insult offered by the latter to the wife of the former.

February 20, Thomas Cox killed by Edwin Harris near Newville . . W.H. Williams, after laying out the town of Williams, circulates nice-executed maps of the place. The lots are twenty-five by one hundred and fifty feet, with thirty-two in each block . . A meeting of the stockholders of the Farmers' Bank at Colusa held, and it was voted to disincorporate . . Death of John B. Turner, of Bear Valley, who came to the county in 1856.

February 28, leap-year ball given by the ladies of Colusa, who took their partners to the gay scene in great style, footed all the bills, and in many instances ordered carriages to convey their male guests and companions to their homes. Mrs. Dunlap, Miss Smith and Miss Anderson acted as floor managers . . An old shoemaker named Stevens, while laboring under an attack of deliruim tremens, wandered off on the plains near College City and was frozen to death.

February 29, Colusa Encampment, No. 55, of the I.O.O.F., organized by Albert Shepard, G.P., assisted by J. Winn and J.F. Miller, prominent members of the Grand Encampment of California. The principal officers chosen were: C. Kopf, C.P.; H. Mitchell, H.P.; E. Chapin, S.W.; O.S. Mason, Scribe, and M.B. Fariss, Treasurer.

March 6, John and Breck McCausland, two brothers, found dead in a canyon at the head of Sand Creek, near where they resided. They had been shot to death. A sheep-herder named Van Dyke was supposed to have committed the deed and parties went on the hunt after him . . A railroad meeting held at Colusa for the purpose of taking steps to place the town of Colusa in close connection with the Northern Railway. A committee, consisting of W.F. Goad, Jackson Hart, W.P. Harrington and George Hagar was appointed to confer with Governor Stanford on the subject.

March 9, Hon. John Boggs appointed one of the trustees of the Napa Insane Asylum.

March 13, Samuel Brown, a well-to-do colored man of Union township, dropped dead of heart disease, at Butte City . . Andrew Rutland and W.B. Reed make arrangements to plant together two hundred acres in cotton.

April 5, John Blum, who had been looking up a suitable place in the county to establish a business, had been missing several days. His body was found in the river, near Princeton . . Dan Smith, for many years a resident of Colusa, died at Marysville.

April 21, meeting of the Sacramento Presbytery held at the Presbyterian Church, Colusa . . Dr. L. Robinson, of Colusa, chosen a member of the State Board of Examiners by the State Medical Society.

April 22, the Republican party of the county reorganized. J.C. Diefendorff, M.L. Tindall, A.L. Hart and E.C. Hunter chosen delegates to the State Convention. Colonel George Hagar, A. Calden, S.W. Randall, William Ogden and J.L. Howard, elected a Central Committee for the ensuing year.

May 1, the first town election in Colusa under the new charter took place. Three hundred and thirty-five votes were polled. The trustees elected were: J.D. Gage, P.J. Welsh, E.W. Cameron, S.R. Murdock and Henry Wescott. The other town officers elected were: John T. Arnold, Marshal; Secretary, George A. Weitemeyer; Treasurer, P.L. Washburn. It was openly charged that at this election more than forty illegal votes were cast.

May 9, N. Squires, indicted for the murder of Sam James at Newville in June of the previous year, found guilty of murder in the second degree, and sentenced by Judge Keyser to a term of eighteen years in the State prison.

May 15, the track of the Northern Railway completed into the county, and the first locomotive to enter the county (the construction train's locomotive) came in on this date . . Arbuckle laid out, and the work of track laying to the place having been completed, a general jollification followed on the evening of May 25 . . Father Cassiday now ministering to the Catholics of the county . . John O'Brien, alias Whalebone Jack, arrested for mayhem at Princeton.

June 5, the board of supervisors having determined on building a county hospital, a tract of nine acres of land adjoining Goad's Extension to Colusa was purchased by them for a site, at a cost of $1,200.

June 14, George G. Reif, who was working in the harvest-field for Henry Ochs, fifteen miles west of Colusa, died from sun-stroke. A young man employed on L.F. Moulton's ranch also died of sun-stroke. A Chinaman at Grand Island died also from the same cause. The weather was so intensely hot that farmers felt compelled to suspend harvesting for brief intervals.

June 20, a man named Day, while intoxicated, shot and killed his five-year-old son at Olympo.

June 23, the first train of cars over the Northern Railway reached Williams. In celebrating the event a great quantity of powder was burned, flags were hoisted, bunting fluttered everywhere and the day closed with a dance.

June 27, Mrs. Theodore Peroux, of Funk Slough, was so badly burnt by the explosion of an oil can as to die of her injuries a few days afterward . . Tilden and Hendrick clubs being organized throughout the county.

July 4.—The Centennial celebration of this day at Colusa was unprecedented in the county for perfection of arrangements. A salute was fired at midnight of the third, and at sunrise, meridian and sunset, accompanied by ringing of bells. John H. Liening was grand marshal of an imposing procession and Hon. John Boggs, president of the day, with Hon. F.L. Hatch as orator, A.L. Hart, reader, and Rev. J.C. Hyden, chaplain. A dance at Jones & Co.'s warehouse concluded the day's festivities.

July 8, J.F. Fouts puts on a line of stages from Leesville to Fouts' Springs.

July 25, a boiler explosion occurred at Pike Gupton's ranch, near Jacinto, killing two persons instantly and wounding three others . . Death of Harry Peyton, who came to Colusa County in 1858. In 1869 he was elected county treasurer and served in that office for six years.

July 29, death of Joseph Marsh at Spring Valley, who was one of the first settlers in the county.

August 2, the trustees of Colusa employed the following teachers in the public school for the ensuing year: M.L. Weeks, principal; G.A. Kern, vice-principal; Miss Lucy Lovelace, Miss K.V. Parker, Miss L. Carter and Miss Eddie Miller, teachers.

August 10, Dominic Deveney, a "table man" on a threshing-machine being operated near Arbuckle, was struck by a derrick fork and thrown into the separator feet foremost. Both legs were torn off and Deveney died the following day . . Charles P. Robinson, indicted under the name of Charles Patten, sentenced to four years in the penitentiary for robbing the Princeton Hotel safe, and to one year for robbing Morrison Bryan at Princeton.

August 11, a fire on Deveney's farm, of the Walsh place, destroyed twenty-five stacks of grain belonging to Deveney and four hundred acres of standing grain belonging to Pike Gupton. The total loss was estimated at $9,000 . . One hundred and eighty-eight individuals and firms pay taxes on $10,000 and over . . The saloon adjoining Papst's store at St. John burned down.

August 21, the assessment roll of Colusa foots up $541,453 as against $821,143 of the previous year, the tax levied by the board being the same for both years, ninety cents on the $100. The decrease was caused by the exemption of solvent debts and mortgages . . Post-office established at Berlin, with F.A. Wholfrom, postmaster . . W.S. Wilsey puts on a stage line between Willows and Williams.

September 2, the dwelling of J.P. Connelly, near Stony Creek Buttes, destroyed by fire.

September 11, Benjamin Custer, a retired United States army officer and an old resident of the county, dies at the residence of U.S. Nye . . The town of Willows being laid out, town lots are selling rapidly . . Thomas W. Hill, an employe of James Balsdon, on Grand Island, strikes a Chinaman with a bottle in self-defense, from the effects of which he afterwards died . . A post-office established at Arbuckle, with T.R. Arbuckle, post-master.

October 9, the residence of Jasper Miller, in Spring Valley township, burned . . Bishop O'Connell administered confirmation in the Catholic Church of Colusa . . T.L. Musick, Sr., a pioneer of Colusa County in 1852, dies at San Luis Obispo.

November 7, at the elections the county returned a Democratic majority of seven hundred and fifty-two votes. It was the banner Tilden county of the State. B.B. Glasscock was elected supervisor of district No. 1, over Ogden. The total vote in the county was two thousand two hundred and thirty-three.

November 14, Dr. Glenn, of Jacinto, sold eighteen thousand tons of wheat raised on his place, to Isaac Friedlander, at $1.65 . . A.S. Hemstreet, one of the oldest pioneers of the county, dies at Princeton.

November 19, residence of G.W. Hoag, near the Willows, burned . . Equality Lodge, No. 240, F. and A.M., elected its officers for the ensuing year, as follows: W.D. Dean, W.M.; J. Grover, S.W.; J.L. Jackson, J.W.; E.W. Jones, Treasurer; J.H. Pierson, Secretary . . Death of Dr. William H. Pollard, of Spring Valley.

December 13, arrest of Henry Kiefer, charged with the killing of Laban Thraxter in the brewery at Colusa, the previous October, and for whom $500 reward had been offered.

December 25, an amusing time was had at Colusa in witnessing a road contest of the teams of Colonel Hagar and Dr. Robinson. Each drove the other's team. Dr. Robinson won and was presented in the evening with a jockey cap and plume taken from the Christmas-tree in the M.E. Church.

December 31, Charles Wilsey and N.J. Farren, while wrangling over a game of cards at Willows, came to blows, when Wilsey was shot through the mouth . . Mrs. Catherine Miller disposed of the Colusa Brewery to H.C. Stillinger & Co., $13,000.

1877.

January 1, the residence of Pat Wallace, on Sycamore Slough, consumed by fire . . Total number of children attending the public schoopls of the county at the beginning of 1877, two thousand four hundred and twenty-seven; average monthly wages of male teachers, $84; average monthly wages of female teachers, $69.75 . . Town marshal of Colusa, John T. Arnold, presented with a silver star.

January 5, Nickerson's restaurant at Williams destroyed by fire, threatening at one time the ruin of French's Hotel and other buildings.

January 9, the following officers of Central Lodge, I.O.O.F., at Williams, were installed; M.P. Hildreth, N.G.; J.S. Jones, V.G.; Sanford Simeral, Secretary; H. Husted, Treasurer.

January 20, Magill Berryessa killed at Elk Creek, by Tiburcio Martinez. The latter fled immediately after the murder, taking with him an Indian girl, about twelve years of age, dressed as a boy. Deputy Sheriff Bridgford, accompanied by Charles Goodrich, I.S. Vallandigham, Joseph McGrew, W.H. Cassiday and William Pullen, started in pursuit of the murderer, tracking him up the mountains to the snow line, when he fell back to the pine timber south, passing through Bear Valley, down Cache Creek and into Yolo County, when his pursuers overtook and arrested him in a cabin near Winters . . The Grand Jury recommend the immediate construction of a new county jail.

January 31, the body of a man was found floating in the river near Princeton. Supposed to be the body of William Rogers, who was lost from the steamer Varuna, at Princeton, the previous October.

February 4, Charles Quillott shot and killed at St. John, by John Wooleford.

February 7, Grimes' Hall, at Grimes' Landing, burns down . . R.A. Barney, of Sulphur Creek, arrested on the complaint of M.C. Blanck, for practicing medicine without a license. Barney then turns around and has several of his neighbors and their wives arrested for the same offense. The cases were afterwards all dropped.

February 24, Jesse Robert, a ten-year-old son of J.C. Stovall, killed by the premature discharge of a gun while hunting near Williams.

March 6, Mrs. Liversage, of Sacramento, while visiting her brother, Lewis Blodgett, residing five miles northeast of Butte City, is burned to death, together with her three children . . Bob McCormick shot by Jack McConnell, at Willows, inflicting a fatal wound, from the effects of which he died a month later.

March 10, Mrs. H.M. Reavis, at the Seven Mile House, on Grand Island, dies suddenly . . Putman & Cook constructing a hotel at Cook's Springs.

March 29, death of Samuel Baker, justice of the peace of Colusa township, and a resident of the county for a quarter of a century.

April 5, post-office established at Maxwell, with John McCoy as postmaster . . Articles filed for the incorporation of the First Baptist Church at Willows, with A.E. Duncan, P.R. Garnett, J. Brooks, A. Gunnison and W.A. Durham directors . . Wild geese were so plentiful as to do serious damage to the growing grain. L.F. Moulton determined to rid his lands of these pests, if possible. For this purpose he employed Paddy Lord, a noted fowl hunter, and some five other men, to herd the geese away from his wheat. During the winter these six men killed over seven thousand geese.

May 6, T.S. Gardner killed by Antoine Movine, in a saloon at Butte City . . At the Democratic primaries, the following persons were placed in nomination: For Sheriff, D.H. Arnold; County Clerk, J.B. De Jarnatt; Treasurer, P.L. Washburn; District Attorney, Jackson Hatch; Superintendent of Schools, Samuel Houchins; Coroner, L.P. Tooley; Surveyor, J.M. Doyle . . Capital stock of Colusa County Bank increased to $400,000.

May 12, "Shorty" Hayes run over by the cars and killed at Arbuckle . . Elder J.C. Keith appointed pastor of the Christian Churcch at Colusa.

May 30, death of Honorable L.W, Robinson, County Judge of the county, aged sixty-one years. The bar, of which he was an honored member, passed resolutions of respect, and his funeral was conducted under their auspices.

June 2, the Willows Journal weekly, made its first appearance, with A.J. Patrick, an old newspaper man, editor and proprietor. It announced itself as Democratic in politics, "so long as the timber selected by it is sound to the core, and no longer."

June 4, a fire in the wheat-fields of J.S. Gibson, on Freshwater, destroyed one hundred and fifty acres of fine wheat . . Governor Irwin commissioned Honorable F.L. Hatch, County Judge of the county, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge Robinson.

June 8, death of L.E. Hamilton, a respected citizen of Colusa . . Rev. Father Wallrath appointed pastor of the Catholic Church at Colusa, succeeding Father O'Donnell.

June 12, by the explosion of a lamp in the Odd Fellows' Hall at Williams, the building, the lower part of which was occupied by Hyman & Sussman, as a general store, was entirely destroyed. This building was owned by the Grangers' Hall Association. The fire spread across the street to Hudson & Boardman's livvery stable, N. Nelk's wagon shop, and J.H. Cole's blacksmith shop, when, by dint of severe exertions, the flames were arrested . . A Chinaman found dead in his cabin on the east side of the river below Colusa. A hatchet had done the deadly work.

June 22, the barn of P.K. Singleton, on Grand Island, destroyed by fire. A man named Matthew Sinnott and a boy were sleeping in the barn at the time of the fire. The latter escaped, but Sinnott was burned to death.

July 12, five houses occupied by Chinese, on the south side of Main Street, Colusa, burned down. One Chinaman was roasted to death. It was only with the utmost exertion that the flames were kept away from the National Hotel . . Elder J.C. Keith elected president of Pierce Christian College . . The body of Amos Richards, an employe on Mrs. Burns' place near Colusa, found in the river. His death was supposed to be the result of intoxication . . Dr. Thomas Porter appointed pastor of the Christian Church at Colusa . . The totals of the assessment roll of the county show an increase of $1,340,500 over that of the preceding year.

July 24, Republicans issue a call for a mass-meeting to be held on August 4, to nominate a county ticket . . A building in Colusa occupied by J. Anderson and owned by J. Felitz, of Princeton, destroyed by fire.

August 4, at the Republican County Convention, the following nominations were made: For Sheriff, J.L. Howard; County Clerk, D. Bentley; Treasurer, W.P. Harrington; District Attorney, M.L. Tindall; Coroner, Dr. J.H. Bundy; Surveyor, George H. Purkitt; Superintendent of Schools, I.S. Lewis. For Supervisor of Second District, C. Kopf, the Democratic nominee, was indorsed. Mr. Purkitt declined the nomination for surveyor, claiming that he was a Democrat and not entitled to or desirous of a place on the Republican ticket.

August 6, Griff Alvarez killed by George Hilton, in a saloon at Kanawha. The trouble grew out of a game of poker the two men were engaged in playing, just before the shooting . . Williams fires a salute to celebrate the election of J.W. Crutcher as Justice of the Peace, and Frank L. Weed, Constable; both were Democrats . . E.C. Hunter, a pioneer of Colusa County, nominated for the Assembly in the Republican Joint Convention . . A post-office established at Germantown.

August 7, Mrs. Alice McCoy, residing near Maxwell, commits suicide by taking poison while temporarily insane.

August 15, laying of the corner-stone of the M.E. Church South at Colusa. The ceremony was performed under the direction of the Masonic fraternity. The religious services were conducted by Rev. Mr. Sim, assisted by Dr. Fitzgerald, Rev. L.C. Renfro, Rev. J.C. Hyden and Rev. T.H.B. Anderson. The estimated cost of the edifice was $12,000.

August 27, Young Reno, an accomplished burglar, and who had broken from the Colusa County jail some weeks previously arrested and brought back. Since his departure he had stolen three horses and robbed two houses. He was captured at Elko, Nevada. After conviction, Reno was sentenced to ten years in State prison.

September 3, Webster Public School of Colusa opened with the following corps of teachers: G.A. Kern, Principal; R. Peele, Grammar Department; Miss Lou Carter, Intermediate Department; Mrs. K.V. Jackson, Second Intermediate; Miss M. Leech, Primary; Mrs. H. Miller, Second Primary . . Laying the first brick of the Odd Fellows' Hall at Williams . . The camp-meeting held at Cook's Springs, by Rev. M. McWhorter, dismissed, thirty-two persons having joined the church.

September 4, at the elections, the Democratic County ticket was carried by majorities ranging from 483 to 762. John T. Gill and W.H. Brassfield were chosen Constables of Colusa township, and Tart Smith, Road Superintendent.

September 15, the body of Thomas Brown was found on a farm adjoining John Garvey's, twelve miles northwest of Colusa. The coroner's verdict was death by shooting with suicidal intent. Brown was a hard-working farmer's hand, but had become despondent.

September 16, the fine residence of Mrs. Douville, on Butte Slough, destroyed by fire.

September 18, Wm. G. Chard was found dead in his bed on the ranch of Mrs. E.J. Lewis, his daughter, near Tehama. He was one of the first settlers of the Sacramento Valley, and on the organization of Colusa County, in 1851, was elected its first assessor . . The store of Galland, Aaronson & Co., at Jacinto, broken into and all the cutlery stolen, besides a pile of clothing was set on fire by the thieves.

September 24, a desperate shooting affray occurred at a stock ranch in Indian Valley, in which Jack Lett and his brother were killed by Peter Smith and John Hersey. The Lett brothers laid claim to a large mountain range and also to a small valley as meadow land on which Smith had located. Jack Lett came to Smith, carrying a Henry rifle, and ordered him off the ground in dispute. Smith pacified him apparently for the time being, but insisted that he, Smith, must vacate the land by the following Monday. Smith went to his brother's place some miles away to get someone to be present when Lett should come back. Hersey, a man in his brother's employ, agreed to accompany him. They both took revolvers and started for the debatable ground. On the following morning, the two Lett brothers came upon them, armed with rifles, cocked and presented, when shortly afterwards the shooting began, resulting in the killing of the Lett brothers. Hersey and Smith, without waiting to see whether their antagonists were dead or alive, hastened to surrender themselves to Squire Gaither, of Indian Valley.

October 1, James Turner left Williams with a team, and when about two miles away, the horses ran away, throwing him out, inflicting injuries, from which he died two days afterward.

October 8, Marshal Arnold, of Colusa, having ordered a suspicious character named McCabe to leave town, was fired upon by the latter, but without effect. The marshal then fired three shots, hitting his assailant each time, and injuring him very seriously. Then McCabe or someone else fired at the marshal, striking him very near the main artery of the thigh, and inflicting a painful wound. McCabe was locked up . . The Conference appointments of the M.E. Church South in Colusa County were: George Sinn, P.E., Colusa district; T.H.B. Anderson, Colusa Station; J.S. Clarke, Williams Circuit; J.S. Overton, Bear Valley Circuit; James Kelsay, Princeton Circuit; M. McWhorter, Willows Circuit . . Subscribers to the Colusa Stock Association elect the following officers: President, George Hagar; Vice-President, William Ash; Secretary, J. Grover; Treasurer, W.P. Harrington; Directors, J.C. Stovall, John Boggs, W.R. Merrill, Hugh A. Logan . . New brass band organized at Colusa, with the following gentlemen comprising it: L.M. Babcock, C.F. Burgess, James Bobst, Fred Watson, M.H. Redfield, O.B. Mason, George Watson, Charles Hendricks, A. Saulsbury, Craig Montgomery.

October 17, Colonel F.L. Hatch elected County Judge over E.A. Bridgford by a majority of two hundred and fifty-three. The Justices of the Peace chosen in the county were: Colusa, William Frazier, J.H. Liening; Freshwater, J.H. Durham, J.W. Crutcher; Indian Valley, Julius Weyand; Monroe, P.H. Scott, A. Caraloff; Union, J.F. Garr, F.M. Miller; Stony Creek, S. Osborn, D. Salisbury; Spring Valley, G.C. Ingrim, J.B. Lucas; Grand Island, J.C. Wilkins J.H. Williamson . . J. Hite establishes a tri-weekly stage between Colusa, Princeton and Willows.

November 6, Rev. W.P. Koutz officiating in the Presbyterian Church at Colusa . . The owners of the land in the basin between Colusa and Sycamore Slough building a levee from the Powell Slough south to the Sycamore. More than a hundred men employed . . Wm. Frazier appointed Deputy Superintendent of Schools, to reside at Colusa.

November 7, death of Connell Roberts, of College City . . Wild geese becoming so numerous and destructful throughout the county that poisoning them is resorted to to destroy them.

November 21, a bold and daring robbery in Williams, in which the store of A. Newman & Co. was entered and $1,000 worth of goods, jewelry, guns and pistols were stolen.

November 29, Thanksgiving celebrated at Willows by a grand ball at Stripling's Hotel, in which some eighty couples participated . . At Sycamore the ladies of the Christian Church held a festival for the benefit of their denomination . . At Colusa services were held in the M.E. Church, where the "Governor's Thanksgiving Proclamation" was read and the religious services were conducted by Rev. J.B. Clark, Dr. Porter, Rev. T.H.B. Anderson and Rev. W.P. Koutz, the latter preaching the sermon of the day.

December 2, death of Captain Hukely, an Indian chief of the Colus. He was the successor, as head of his dwindling tribe, of the wise Sioc, succeeding him in 1853. Hukely was respected by the whites. He always met his obligations, and his credit was good in any store in the county. He was buried in the middle of a big "sweat-house," amid the wailings and sincere grief of his people . . A petition in circulation in Colusa for the removal of the Chinese from the country . . Matthew Howard robbed of a small sum of money between Maxwell and Williams. The robbers gave him a kicking because he did not have more . . Some three years previously, Jonas Spect brought a band of sheep to Colusa and turned them loose on the common. The sheep were seized and sold under a town ordinance prohibiting stock from running at large. Spect sued the town for the sheep and the District Court gave judgment against him. The Supreme Court sent the case back for a new trial, and the Board of Trustees seek to compromise with him. Spect demanded $900.

December 5, the Board of Supervisors have concluded to build a jail and sheriff's office, and have the present jail and sheriff's office fitted up for the use of the other county officers, the outlay to be about $15,000.

September 16, dedication of Odd Fellows' Hall at Williams. The elegant hall was crowded with dancers in the evening, and supper served at the Williams Hotel.

December 16, thirty-six Chinese, found violating the Sunday law and engaged in gambling, arrested in Colusa . . A grain stack containing two hundred and fifty tons of wheat belonging to L.F. Moulton, was set on fire near his residence opposite Princeton. An unsuccessful attempt was also made to fire his granary . . Death of S.T. Kirk at Colusa. He was one of the ablest lawyers in the State, an eloquent advocate and conscientious counsel. The County Court adjourned out of respect to his memory, and prominent members of the bar were the pall-bearers at his funeral.

December 18, eight thousand acres of land near Willows disposed of by G.W. Colby, for the sum of $80,000. The buyers were G.W. Hoag, N.D. Rideout, J.E. Crook and Major George Cadwalader.

December 22, Peter Smith, of Stony Creek, indicted for murder in the killing of Jack Lett, found guilty of manslaughter.

December 23, Edward K. Dow, a conductor on the Northern Railway, killed while on the engine between Williams and Dunnigan, by the accidental discharge of a gun he held in his hand for the purpose of shooting geese.

December 26, death of Merrit A. Spicer at Spring Valley. He came to California in 1849, and was among the earliest settlers in Colusa County.

1878.

January 8, installation of officers of Central Lodge, No. 229, at Williams, consisting of the following: J.P.G., M.P.. Hildreth; N.G., Henry Husted; V.G., A.W. Rickey; Secretary, J. Steinburg; Treasurer, F.M. Boardman; Warden, A.S. Martin; Con., A. Rummelsburg; I.G., D.R. Matheson; O.G., Wm. Hildreth; R.S.N.G., W.W. Endicott; L.S.N.G., J.C. Stovall; R.S.S., L.H. Baker; L.S.S., J.C. Wilsey. The ceremonies of installation were followed by a supper prepared by the wives of the members, and a dance . . Death of Mrs. A.J. Patrick, wife of the proprietor of the Willows Journal.

January 13, a heavy rain-storm set in, which was almost unprecedented while it lasted. It continued for four nights and three days, showing a rain precipitation of ten and seventy-three hundredths inches. A large barn was being erected by L.G. Moulton, and was blown down. The river was so high during a portion of this time that the Marysville stage could not cross. Later on during the month, the rain-storm increased in violence. The river at Jacinto was higher than was known for years. The levee across the Bounds Slough, five miles above Princeton, broke, and a mighty stream followed. Dr. Glenn lost about two thousand five hundred head of sheep, and two hundred head of hogs drowned in the bends of the river. The river on the 19th inst. was two inches higher at Colusa than was ever before registered. The Northern Railway made but three trips from Williams during the storms, owing to breaks in the road. The total rainfall as recorded at Colusa between January 14 and the 31st of the same month, was twelve and sixty-five hundredths inches, being the greatest precipitation known in the history of the county during this month except in 1862.

January 28, a club of the Workingmen's party organized in Colusa, with G.B. Sullivan temporary President. On the 31st, at another meeting of the club, D. Shepardson was chosen President; P.D. Reed, Vice-President; John Gilmour, Secretary, and James Bond, Treasurer.

February 3, Assemblyman Hart introduces a bill in the Legislature giving S.M. Bishop, J.F. Wilkins and A. Wood, a franchise to build a bridge across the river at Colusa. The franchise is to run for fifty years, and the Supervisors to fix the rates of toll.

February 6, owing to a tie vote in the election of a Justice of the Peace of Indian Valley township, cast for F.M. Putman and Wm. Bliss, the Board of Supervisors appointed the latter to fill the office . . The Willows Journal advocates strongly the building of a narrow-gauge road from Willows to Princeton, estimating that it can be built and equipped for $7,000 per mile.

February 11, in a row over a gambling game at St. John, one McCommins stabbed "Dutch Jake," alias Jake Hamming, in the head and abdomen. McCommins escaped . . A.H. Rose, on Grand Island, perhaps sustained the largest loss by the flood of anyone in the county. He had in nearly five thousand acres of wheat, all of which has gone and will not permit of being replanted. A dwelling, barns and out-houses on the Byers Point, were almost swept away. Mr. Rose's loss is estimated at $65,000.

March 4, John T. Arnold, town marshal of Colusa, shot and almost instantly killed, by Dudley Shepardson. Shepardson was committed without bail, by Justice Liening. Applying on a writ of habeas corpus for relief, Judge Hatch admitted the prisoner to bail in the sum of $10,000. Before the bail bond was perfected, Justice Liening made out and delivered to the sheriff another commitment issued upon an order or judgment for contempt against Shepardson, whom it would seem had used certain language while Justice Liening was rendering his decision in a case, for which the justice considered Shepardson in contempt, and for which he was then fined $200, $100 for two several contempts. The commitment directed the sheriff to hold the prisoner for two hundred days—the imprisonment being at the rate of one day for each dollar of the fine. Shepardson now sued out a second writ of habeas corpus, and Judge Hatch ordered his discharge. The cause of the shooting originated in a state of bad feeling which had existed for some months between Arnold and Shepardson. A duel was agreed upon to settle the difficulty. On January 17, Arnold, in company with a surgeon and another friend, went to the home of defendant to fight the duel proposed, but no duel took place. The defendant said he would meet Arnold in town. Arnold met Shepardson on the 13th of February, in the bar of the Eureka Hotel, at Colusa, and Shepardson, either struck or pulled him. Arnold then struck at Shepardson, and, with the aid of Duncan, the bar-keeper, disarmed him and lodged him in the town prison. On the morning of March 4, Shepardson met Arnold, when the former, putting his hand on his pistol, said to the other, "Draw and defend yourself." Arnold replied that he "did not want to murder him, but that he could not be scared." Arnold then coolly crossed the street and shortly afterwards swore out a warrant against Shepardson, and, in company with F.P. Jones, deputy marshal, started to arrest Shepardson. Mutual friends endeavored to prevent any further difficulty. Arnold proceeded to the office of De Jarnatt & Rich, where Shepardson was sitting behind a store. Arnold was walking rapidly when Shepardson jumped up and the shooting began. Arnold dropped to the floor with four gun-shot wounds in the body. Arnold was thirty years of age at the time of his death. He was a fearless officer, recognized for his discretion and bravery all over the State, and was sincerely and deeply mourned by a community that always felt secure while he was the guardian of their lives and property.

March 11, the Workingmen's party placed in nomination the following town ticket in Colusa: Marshal, Richard Pattleton; Trustees, W.H. De Jarnatt, A.P. Spaulding, W.D. Dean, R. Jones, J.D. Gage; Recorder, O.S. Sallady; Secretary, W.T. Wright; Treasurer, James Bond. W.H. De Jarnatt declined the nomination for Trustee, as did also A.P. Spaulding.

April 6, a little son of Clarence C. Hicok drowned at Grand Island . . Board of Trustees of Colusa, under an act just passed authorizing the town to issue bonds for road purposes, appointed J. Furth, E.A. Harrington and W.S. Green, Road Commissioners.

April 14, at the election in Willows to determine the question of issuing $10,000 for the purpose of building a school-house, sixty-one votes were polled, all in favor of the measure. The contract for the erection of this edifice was let to Mr. Rathburn.

April 22, George Squires shot and killed, at Elk Creek, by Charles Kockdee.

May 5, Christian Mutschler killed by a mob at Germantown. Mutschler was a blacksmith at that place. He had had some difficulty with a man named Hageman and a man by the name of Holmes. John Kelley, of the same place, made a habit of abusing Hageman, who was a saloon keeper, to Mutschler. They prevailed on Mutschler to bring a sack of shavings to burn Hageman's saloon, they agreeing to touch the match. This Mutschler did, but on a signal from his confederates, some men in the saloon fired on him, wounding him in the leg. He was then taken before Justice Boardman, and, no witnesses appearing against him, he was discharged. He then left for Orland on foot, as the stage drivers were warned not to carry him. Kelley then swore out a warrant to have him arrested for threatening his life, and Mutschler was brought back to Germantown and bound over in the sum of $1,000 to keep the peace. He was placed in charge of Constable McLane until he could find bondsmen, and was kept during the night in McLane's saloon. A mob of men took him from there and shot him to death. He was not of strong mind, and he was prevailed upon by Kelley and Holmes to bring the shavings for firing Hageman's saloon. Kelley tried to justify his action by pleading that he was acting as a detective. Mutschler having been suspected of former incendiaries, John Kelley, Charles Hansen, Henry Holmes and C. Regensberger were arrested and taken to Willows, where they were examined and committed to the county jail, charged with murder. W. Hagaman and F. Todt, on the same charge, were taken to Colusa, where they were discharged on motion of the district attorney. The Governor shortly after this offered a reward of $500 for the first arrest and conviction of any of the mob, and $200 for each subsequent one. Those held over under charge of murder were later discharged in the District Court. The brother of the murdered man put a detective on the case, who was unable to get any clew of the murderers.

May 11, Dudley Shepardson acquitted of the murder of John T. Arnold.

June 4, the new town officers of Colusa installed, as follows: Marshal, Henry Wescott; Recorder, O. Salady; Treasurer, W.C. Atherden; Secretary, W.E. Norris.

June 19, election-day, to select delegates to the convention to prepare and submit a new constitution to the voters of the State. Only five hundred and thirteen votes were polled in the county, of which B.B. Glascock received four hundred and eighty-three. Of the delegates at large, the Non-Partisan ticket received from four hundred and eleven for W. Heustis to five hundred and thirty for H.H. Haight; the straight Democratic ticket received from seventy-five to one hundred and forty-one for John Boggs; the Workingmen's ticket polled from one hundred to one hundred and forty-three for Jonas Spect . . The body of an unknown man found floating in the river at the Riley Bend, below Jacinto. No clue to his identity attainable . . The wheat seems to have been generally blighted with rust throughout the county and State . . The telephone being introduced into the towns and villages of the county.

July 4.—The day was celebrated in splendid style at Colusa. An imposing procession in the morning opened the day's festivities. P.L. Washburn was Grand Marshal, with S.R. Murdock, Mayberry Davis, Wm. Johnson and A.A. Thayer as aids. Chaplain, Rev. James Kelsey; Orator, Honorable E.C. Marshall; Poet, Jackson Hatch. The Willows Brass Band, J.F. Dickson leader, headed the procession. Major S. Cooper and Jordan Fariss, veterans of the War of 1812, were the honored guests of the day, riding in a special carriage in the procession. A triumphal car carrying young misses representing all the States, with Flossie Brooks as the Goddess of Liberty, Claude Mitchum as George Washington, andd Neva Bridgford as Martha Washington, made a unique and artistic display. In the afternoon there was a tournament of Knights, in which William Ping won the first prize, of $40 and H.C. Beville the second prize, of a $10 ring. Base-ball, balloon ascension and burlesque procession followed these, which in turn were concluded by a dance. At Williams the day was celebrated with glee. So also at Fouts Springs, Orland, and other places in the county.

July 5, a destructive fire in the fields of J.O. Zumwalt near Williams. The whole town of Williams turned out to fight the fire. The fire originated in William Ash's field, burning up forty acres of grain in sack, for Mr. Ash. The wind was blowing hard, carrying the flames to Zumwalt's grain, destroying one hundred and fifty acres of it. A header and thresher were destroyed here. The fire spread further and attacked four hundred and fifty acres of A. Clark's grain, reducing it to ashes. At one time as many as five hundred men were engaged in staying the course of the devouring element . . Death of George A. Cook, of the Eureka Hotel, Colusa . . The Willows Jockey Club organized with J.B. Troxel, President, and W.H. Kelly, Secretary . . Death of Archey Kimball, an old and respected citizen of Princeton.

July 10, Colusa Amateurs organized. President, M.T. Gratz; Secretary, J.P. McManus; Treasurer, C.E. Lark; Stage Manager, Frank Hatch; Musical Director, D.B. Cohen . . A man supposed to be Sam Cox found dead near the railroad track, south of Williams. A half-gallon jug of whisky was by his side . . Work on the extension of the Northern Railway from Williams to Willows begun. Engineers are at work and preparations for grading made.

July 18, death of D. Grimes at Tulare. He had come with his brother Cleaton to Grand Island as early as 1850, and resided there many years . . Death of Robert Harris, a pioneer of the county, and one of the early supervisors.

August 2, the body of an unknown man found in the river on the Sutter County side, near Grimes' Landing. It was discovered on investigation that Ah Chow, a Chinaman, was believed by some of his countrymen to have killed an Italian and thrown his body in the river. Ah Chow was arrested.

August 12, a fire in Colusa, originating in C.A. Gove's jewelry store, destroyed about $25,000 worth of property, in which the principal sufferers were B. Probst, Mrs. J. McGrath, C.A. Gove, Jackson Hart, Ferris & Bobst, John T. Harrington, Colusa County Bank, and Thomas Bicknell. At one time during the conflagration, sparks caught in the dome of the courthouse, but they were promptly extinguished. The sheriff, meanwhile, fearing for the lives of the prisoners should the court-house get on fire, went into the jail, and, ironing the seventeen inmates together, took them out under guard, till the danger was past . . Dwelling of J.J. Hicok, in Grand Island, burned down . . New telegraph line being extended to Willows from Williams by the railroad company.

August 17, the heaviest and largest load of wheat ever brought to Colusa. It was drawn by eight mules belonging to W.R. Merrill, from his ranch at the Seven Mile House. The load consisted of one hundred and eighty-five sacks of wheat, weighing twenty-two thousand six hundred and thirty pounds . . The real estate and improvements thereon in the county assessed at $12,642,916; personal property of all kinds, at $1,777,392.

September 4, Fred Quint elected Supervisor of the Third District . . Colusa Amateurs give a performance for the benefit of the yellow fever sufferers. Colusa Lodge I.O.O.F., No. 133, sends $25 to these sufferers at Vicksburg . . Camp-meeting at Sycamore, of the M.E. Church, begins . . The county sends $506 to the Southern communities stricken with yellow fever.

September 22, a fire destroyed the barn of Thomas Perry near Newville, burning to death at the same time a four-year-old son of Perry, who was playing in the building when the flames broke out.

September 26, the railroad reaches Willows. The town was jubilant and crowded with people. Literary exercises were held in Palace Hall. Hon. John Boggs was President of the day and introduced the orator, Rev. T.H.B. Anderson. Rev. Mr. Park, of the Baptist Church, officiated as Chaplain. A harvest feast, which assumed the character of a banquet, was provided at the pavilion, where toasts were offered and responses made. Judge Caraloff spoke for the town of Willows; "Colusa County" responded to by George Sutton. "The Public School" was the brief theme of Mr. Dyer, principal of the Zumwalt school, and Rev. M. McWhorter paid a tribute to the churches of the county. After the feast came a tournament, and in the evening a masque ball.

October 12, new sheriff's office and county jail occupied . . E.C. Hart buys an interest in the Willows Journal.

October 21, a sheep-herder, named John Maginley, killed on Brim's ranch, Freshwater, by a Chinaman named Lang. The Chinaman first tried to use a hatchet on his victim, but was prevented by by-standers. He finally succeeded in plunging a knife into the heart of Maginley. The murderer then fled.

November 2, a block of buildings on the east side of the railroad track at Williams consumed by fire. The fire originated in Johnson's livery stable. Kimball's saloon and Tim Ready's blacksmith shop were also destroyed . . The Southern Methodists, at Arbuckle, building a church edifice to cost $2,500. Rice & Beach, of Colusa, contractors . . Fifty-four schools in the county, employing sixty teachers. Number of children attending public schools, two thousand and eight; attending private schools, two hundred and thirteen.

November 9, Perley Dunlap shot and fatally wounded, while shingling the roof of his store at Elk Creek, by N.L. Squires. There had been an old feud between them. Squires took his horse, rode home and then took to the mountains. The Governor offered a reward of $500 for his arrest.

November 10, Bishop Wightman, of South Carolina, preached in the Trinity M.E. Church South, at Colusa.

November 23, death of E.C. Hunter, a pioneer of the State and county, at Colusa . . A barn with its contents, valued at $5,000, belonging to William Ogden, of Sycamore Slough, destroyed by fire.

November 26, a Lodge of Workmen organized at Colusa by Deputy Burrows, of the Grand Lodge, A.O.U.W., of California, with twenty-three charter members. The following officers were installed: Past Master, J.M. Banks; Master, W.H. Belton; General Foreman, W.R. Pond; Corresponding Secretary, W. Wright; Recorder, W.A. Matthews; Receiver, B.A. Prior; Financier, W.T. Beville; Guide, D.V. Cohen; I.W., H. Wescott; O.W., A.B. Alderman. The title of the Lodge is Colusa Lodge, A.O.U.W., No. 66.

December 2, Board of Supervisors report a large deficiency in the books of County Treasurer Washburn. The latter was afterwards arrested on complaint of District Attorney Hatch, and held in bail of $2,000 for his appearance at court.

December 16, Silas R. Lewis appointed postmaster at Orland, and W.M. Tucker, postmaster at Leesville.

December 30, N.L. Squires, who had murdered Perley Dunlap, at Elk Creek, a few weeks before, and escaped, brought back to the Colusa County jail. He was captured at the house of a man named Simmons, near Shelter Cove, in Humboldt County, by Deputy Sheriff Rose, of this county, aided by a farmer named Hadley, between whom the $500 reward was shared . . The records in the clerk's office show ninety-seven marriages and seven divorces during this year just closed.

COLUSA COUNTY

ITS

HISTORY TRACED FROM A STATE OF NATURE

THROUGH THE EARLY PERIOD OF SET-

TLEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT,

TO THE PRESENT DAY

WITH A

DESCRIPTION OF ITS RESOURCES, STATISTICAL

TABLES, ETC.

ALSO

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PIONEERS AND

PROMINENT RESIDENTS

by Justus H. Rogers

Orland, California

1891

Page 89-262

Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 5/25/2009

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