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A Chronological Survey Of Some Of The
Happenings In South Lake County And Its Surroundings By: Bill Wink © 2024 Page 2 Gives Birth To Middletown
John H. Berry built the first house in the fall of 1870. Oscar Anderson built the first
saloon on the corner of Main and Calistoga streets in 1870. Charles M.
Young built a livery stable on the north-west corner and Berry built a hotel
on the south-west corner. Charles M. Young bought out Berry the following year, 1871. The post office in
Middletown began in April 1871 under the name of Middleton, and the
name was changed to Middletown in July 1875. David Lobree
started the first store in the place in 1872 and the town was started.
<<<>>> Adams Springs 1871 Sonoma Democrat 10 June 1871 The Adams Springs, A correspondent from Lake county says: These springs
were discovered a few months since by C. M. Adams, and are situated two miles
east of Cobb Valley, celebrated for the fertility of its magnificent scenery.
The Adams Springs, bearing the name of their discoverer, are up in the
mountains, surrounded by towering pines, and the most beautiful and
picturesque scenery in the State. This county, justly celebrated for the
purity of its air and the mildness of its climate, renders it a popular
resort for invalids; the various mineral springs, possessing as they
generally do, life-giving powers, bold out to all who are afflicted with
rheumatic, chronic, and other diseases of local or organic character, the
assurance of health. Having visited these springs I speak from experience of
one month’s use of the water, I am free to say, and unhesitatingly say, that
I do not believe the Adams Springs are equaled here or elsewhere by any
medical springs. <<<>>> First Mountain Mill House before McNulty 1871 Morning Union, 15 July 1871 M. W. Curley,
of the Mountain Mill House, is constructing extensive trout ponds a
few miles from Calistoga, at the foot of Mount St. Helena. Sacramento Daily Union, 21 July 1871 The survey for the Mountain mill
site, St. Helena mountain, has just been completed by Moran, the plan of
which can be seen at this office. The capacity or the water-power is 125,000
gallons in twenty-four hours. The dam is 100 feet in length, and the flume
650 feet, with 15 feet head at the lowest stage of water The Mountain Mill
House fish-ponds are located adjoining the mill site, aid will soon be
stocked with fish, when anglers may enjoy themselves in a manner which can't
be beaten, by a dam site. Russian river flag 10/12/1871 The Calistoga Tribune gives an
account of the shooting of James M Finley, by Thomas Dye, at the Mountain
Mill House on St. Helena mountain, ten miles from Calistoga. The fracas was
the result of an old feud, Finley was shot in the thigh; amputation is necessary,
and the wound may prove fatal. <<<>>> McNulty’s Mountain Mill House 1873 According to 1960s reports from the Napa Valley Register
& the Oakland Tribune, Felix and Delia McNulty bought 157 acres in 1873,
at the intersection of the Old Lawley Toll Road with the Palisades and Oat
Hill Mine Road. They took title from the colorful Sam Brannan, who had bought
up thousands of acres in the area during the 1860s. The McNultys commenced building
in 1880, using redwood lumber brought from a mill on the Mendocino coast. The
wide boards were hand sawed, and transported by freight team over the coastal
mountain range, across the valley and up Mt. St Helena. The piers were
redwood resting on rock columns in lieu of a foundation. The house was two storied, with six bedrooms upstairs
(plus a bathroom of more recent vintage.) There is a huge kitchen, scene of
preparation and processing of vast quantities of food. The dining room is
large, with long tables where hungry drovers, coachmen and passengers were
fed. Later innovations include a large living room at the rear, and a bar. There are two downstairs bedrooms, both with fireplaces.
In one of these, Delia McNulty was brought to bed of a daughter, Lilly, in
1882. A few years make later a son, Willy, was born there.
McNultys, as Mountain Mill House was called
in its heyday, was a beehive of bustle and activity. Several stage lines
carried passengers over the mountain, most of them families seeking
relaxation at one of the lake resorts. Freight wagons creaked along the dusty
road, lifelines to cities and the coast. They carried the necessities of life
to resorts and families on the mountain and over into Lake County. Herds of sheep and cattle moved slowly along the road on
their way to market, kicking up clouds of thick yellow dust. McNulty's was a
favorite stop for the drovers on the way to Calistoga and the railroad. Stages leaving Calistoga had a three and a half hour trip
to the stop at Mountain Mill House. Tired horses were turned into the corral
there, or lodged in a barn which burned in the 1940s. It stood where the pond
is now. Weary drivers, sweaty and dusty, and their cramped and jolted
passengers, refreshed themselves at McNultys. They
drank thirstily of the cold spring water, or buttermilk fresh from the churn,
for there was no bar. Those who wanted something stronger got it at the Toll
House Inn at Silverado.
Delia and Lilly worked as pioneer women have always
worked unendingly, from daylight until long past dark. There was the garden to plant and tend, poultry and eggs to be raised and readied, cows to
milk, butter to churn, fruit and
vegetables to can, rooms to clean, beds to make, dishes to wash, clothing and
linen to wash and iron. It was all hard labor, and the hands were those of Delia and Lilly. 0n their part, Felix and Willy took care of stock,
cleaned stables, fed and watered, raised field crops, cut wood for the many
fireplaces, and worked three cinnabar mines on the place, none of these
produced much except hard, back-breaking toil. As the 20th Century crept into the second decade, the
Mountain Mill House changed. Horse and buggy days were going, with a
clip-clop of hoofs, and cars were coming over the mountain. Freight began to
move in trucks along the dusty road and in l925 the present Highway 29 was
started. By the time it was open to traffic in 1926, Felix and Delia were
dead, and so was the Mountain Mill House. Willy had been gone a long time.
Only Lilly was left. Independent, social, hardworking, she hung on to the spot
she loved. She rode a small black horse to various jobs of housework for
families over the mountain or in the valley. She lived in the big house
alone, as year followed year and no traveler had sought the McNulty
hospitality for a long, long time. Gray crept into her hair; her laughter was
stilled. The bustle and company that brought laughter was gone. During the
30's the property was sold, with Lilly reserving a three-acre patch. On this
patch she built a small cabin for her home. She no longer wanted to live in
the big house filled with ghosts of those long dead and echoes of laughter
long silent. She loved the mountain, the tall cedars, the sun on the meadow
by day, the sigh of the wind by night. A Mrs. Roberts of Los Angeles was the first buyer, but
the land came back to Lillie and she
then sold to Fred Sells, who in turn sold to Al Beacher who sold to Herb
Gordon. Later Gordon sold to Henry Brandenberg. After years of taking the
property back between owners, she sold it to the Girl Scout Council of
Oakland in 1958. This time she sold the entire acreage, including her own
home, retaining a lifetime tenancy. During her later, lonelier years, Mountain Mill House
occupied by strangers and old friends dropping away, Lilly developed a
fondness for wine. It gave warmth and comfort to a starved and lonely spirit,
and softened the rough edges of life for an old, tired and infirm woman. The
last few years of her life she spent winters in town, at the insistence of
friends. She came back with the first wildflowers, hungry for the sights,
sounds and smells of spring on her mountain. Her one wish was to die there,
where she was born. Late in March, 1965, Lilly left Santa Rosa where she had
wintered with friends and went back home for the last time. Her body was
frail now, but her spirit burned bright and unquenched. She died in her cabin
at Mountain Mill House, alone, as she had lived, three days after her return. <<<>>> Anderson Springs were discovered in 1873, when the Anderson family
took possession. They became a popular resort. As of 1914 they were owned by
Miss Barbara Anderson, who had a hotel that could accommodate more than 100
people. Eight of the springs were in active use. Pacific Rural Press, Volume 13, Number 16, 21 April 1877 Anderson Springs—A Correction. Editors Press: In your last issue is an article giving a
description of some important points of take county. I would like to invite
the writer to come to my place, and I would convince him he did not know what
he was writing about when he gave the description of Anderson springs. He
says: "Anderson springs are three miles west of Middletown, on one of
the head waters of Putah creek. They are little visited except by campers.
The waters are cold, and contain iron, Sulphur, soda and magnesia chiefly.
There arc no baths." The above in wrong from
beginning to end. Anderson springs are situated five miles from Middletown,
and six from the Little geysers, in Napa county, on Little Sulphur creek, in
the center of a beautiful grove of oak, pine and spruce timber. There are
some 12 springs in all eight cold and two hot. The temperature of the one
which supplies the baths of white Sulphur and iron is 130F. There are six
bath tubs of the latest approved pattern, and plenty of hot Sulphur water to
use in them. There is no magnesia in any of the waters of these springs, but
principally contain Sulphur, iron and soda; and one sour spring, which, in my
opinion, gets its acid taste from the presence of sulphureous acid. It is
true that it is very much frequented by campers, as there is here one of the
most beautiful camping grounds in the State, and finest drinking water; and I
will state here that campers are always welcome. The sick and ailing are not
always in circumstances to come to the hotel and pay their $12 per week. Last
summer, owing to litigation, we did not open; notwithstanding, we had a full
house; but now, as legal matters are at last finally settled, we propose to
open on the 1st of May, when there will be a stage line running to the place
from Middletown, and on to the Big Geysers; distance, nine miles. Board and
lodgings from $10 to $20 per week. I would like you to publish the above
facts as a contradiction to your correspondent's mistaken statements. A.
Anderson. Anderson Springs, Lake county, Apr. 13th. Healdsburg Tribune 1/15/1942 Pioneer Resort Owner Succumbs Miss Rose C. Anderson, who operated Anderson Springs in
Lake county for 50 years, died last week at the age of 90. She was the sister
of the late Dr. A. Anderson, Petaluma physician. Her father, the late Dr.
James W. Anderson, served under the Duke of Wellington at the Battle of
Waterloo in 1815 as royal surveyor and military draftsman. An investigation
conducted by a Los An glees newspaper eight years ago, revealed that Miss
Anderson was one of the two surviving daughters of veterans of the Hattie of
Waterloo. Birth of Son Louis C. "Uncle Lou" Patriquin,
son of Laban & Lexie (1873–1955) 18 Nov 1873 • VALLEJO, CALIFORNIA Residence 31 Aug 1875 • Middletown Calif Voter Registration, Lake Co, 1875 Age 32,
Carpenter. <<<>>> By this time, 1873, the Great Western Mine
was in production and was followed by several more. The mines needed all
kinds of laborers and they were from all-over and of every type. Add to the
roughneck miners a few saloons and altercations were frequent. One of the
participants was Thomas Kearney Dye. <<<>>> The Great
Western Sawmill Owned by
J. M. Davis and Mr. William Amesbury. It has a capacity of 8000 feet per day.
The mines purchase all the lumber they can produce. Lake Mining District will
undoubtedly be one of the most populous and wealthy in this whole region of
country.” SAWING UP
A LOG. How
Planks Are Cut in a Great Western Sawmill. W. S.
Harwood contributes “The Story of a Pine Board” to the St. Nicholas. After
telling of the cutting down of the tree, and its progress from the forest to
the mill, Mr. Harwood says: Up from the yellowish-brown depths of the
slow-moving river, flowing so steadily on its way to the sea, comes a huge,
dark-brown thing with a shining, dripping coat. It Is our log, entering upon
its last stage. It passes at once up a long incline called the “slit”—a
trench of wood about eight inches deep and two feet wide at the top, so
hollowed out that the largest log will lie in it securely as it is being
drawn up the incline by the stout chains with which the slit is equipped.
Projecting pieces of steel on this chain serve to keep the log steady, its
great weight causing it to sink upon these pieces of steel, which are like
sharp teeth. A workman, standing at the side of the slit, by means of a lever
throws up two powerful steel-pointed arms which lift the logs out of the slit
and throw them upon tables, from which they are rolled down to the carriage
which leads to the saws. When the log reaches the carriage it is thrown upon
the framework by the “rigger”—a long, ratcheted timber or piece of steel.
This framework is like a section of an ordinary flat-car running on a regular
railroad track. Two men stand on the moving carriage, and at a signal from
the head sawyer, who directs the cutting of the log, regulate the thickness
of the plank or board by the levers of the carriage. When the log has been
adjusted it rapidly advances to the saw, and in a very few seconds its
water-soaked sides have been trimmed by the sharp teeth. The carriage flies
back to the starting place with the swiftness of the wind; and It is enough
to make one shudder to see it go. You expect every instant that one of the
men will be thrown off and terribly injured. They learn to balance
themselves, however, though there are frequent accidents. One instant of
inattention on the part of the head sawyer, who regulates the speed of the
carriage by his lever, would send the carriage flying back to the end of the
mill with tremendous force, and probably kill both of the men. One of the men
on the carriage, called the “setter,” fixes the width of the board to be
sawed, on signal from the bead sawyer; the other
man is
the second sawyer. As I stood one day in one of these mills, watching the men
flying forth and back on the narrow carriage, and almost expecting that one
or both of them would be thrown off In the swiftness of their flight, I took
out my watch and timed them; and I found that they traveled on an average, on
this little railroad not more than twenty feet long, one hundred and
sixty-eight thousand feet a day, or about thirty-one miles. <<<>>> The
Bradford
1873 On November first 1873 Ed filed for a land patent
for 160 acres in township 10 north, section 7 west near the base of Mount
Saint Helena but still in Lake county with the intent of farming and building
a hotel. A year later on November 5, 1874 it was reported in the
Russian River Flag: “There were filed last Saturday articles of incorporation
of the Bradford Consolidated Quicksilver Mining Company; to operate in Lake
county. Capital, of 10,000, in shares of $100 each. Directors E. W. Bradford,
J. R. Deardorff, G. P. McCrea, Frank Saxe and C. E. Wilson. The principal
place of business will be in San Francisco.” By 1877 the Bradford Summer Resort is being advertised
and is entertaining many guests offering hunting, trout fishing, saddle
horses, a fine house with well-furnished large airy rooms, excellent fare and
good treatment only 12 miles from Calistoga on their newly acquired property
south of Middletown. On June 6, 1878 Edward W. Bradford died Leaving Isabella
to maintain the Resort, pursue the mine and raise the family. Charles P. was
26 years old, Edward J. was 24 and George F. was 16, plenty old enough to
help their mother, Isabella, run the businesses. <<<>>> Middletown
Builds School House 1874 Russian
River Flag, 25 June 1874 Five or
six new buildings, including a large school house, are being erected at
Middletown. Sonoma
Democrat, 15 August 1874 Middletown
Is Improving. Our school house Is almost completed, along with a bell to give
it tone, will open school in a few days, under the management of Miss
Anderson <<<>>> Telegraph Line 1874 From: History of Lake and Napa Counties 1881 Telegraph Line.—The Colusa, Lake and Mendocino Telegraph
Company constructed their line in 1874. It extends from Colusa to
Calistoga via Williams, Bartlett Springs, Upper Lake, Lakeport, Kelseyville,
Glenbrook, Middletown, Great Western Mines to Calistoga. From Glen-brook a branch line goes to
Seigler Springs, Lower Lake and Sulphur Bank. The name of the company was
changed in 1881 to the Northern Telegraph Company. <<<>>> Joseph L. Read
1874 1874,
since which year he has been a resident of Middletown. The History of Lake
and Mendocino Counties: “For forty years Joseph
L. Read has been one of the vital forces in the life of Middletown, Lake
County, where his efficient cooperation in the progress of the community has
gained him a place among its foremost citizens. He has filled the office of
postmaster, which he still holds, for over a quarter of a century, and in
that position and as founder and publisher of the Middletown Independent, the
first newspaper of the town, he has been one of its best known and most
influential residents. Mr. Read has lived in California since the early
1850s, and in his younger years went through the varied experiences of
pioneer times. Familiar with the history and development of this region
through actual participation in its events, and thoroughly public spirited in
his attitude toward the working out of the best interests of Lake County he
is a true Californian, and his part in the opening and advancement of his
adopted state and community has been highly creditable.” <<<>>> Ida Clayton and Great Western Turnpike Toll Road 1874 Sacramento Daily Union 11/3/1874 The length of the new road to be built between the Ida
Clayton mine road (a portion of which will be used in this new enterprise)
and the Great Western sawmill road, will be something over five miles, and of
a very easy grade. The survey baa already been made by Dewoody. The route is
spoken of as abounding in the finest landscape views in this portion of the
State, passing, as it does, up and over the northwesterly chain of the St.
Helena mountain, thence down into Loconoma valley, and there connecting with
the different roads in Lake county. We are also informed that it passes
through a fine timbered country, and also will be an outlet for all the
lumber that is to spare from the Great Western sawmill, near the summit of
the mountain over which the road passes. The proposed name is the Ida Clayton and Great Western Turnpike Toll Road Company.—Calistoga Free Press, October 31st. <<<>>> C M Young To Build Hotel 1875 SONOMA DEMOCRAT 2/6/1875 C, M. Young, one of your old friends, has planned and is
prepared to erect a brick hotel which will be second to none in its
proportions and equipment in this county. It is safe to say that a hotel such
as this will be when completed, under the management of Mr. Young and his
estimable lady, will prove a complete success and meet with the approval of
all who have heretofore and who may hereafter visit Middletown. <<<>>> We are, as a town, young yet, but in order to show you
the advancement we have made in the paths of civilization I would
respectfully refer you to the following statistics : We are about three years
old, and have 100 buildings and 500 inhabitants. We have two hotels, two
restaurants, two dry goods stores, one hardware store, one drug store, two
churches, one academy, four blacksmith shops, four carpenter shops, one wagon
shop, one cabinet shop, one lawyer, one dentist, three physicians, two
preachers, one public ball, and last, but not least, a calaboose. What do you
think of this for a town of only three years old? Are our future prospects
not flattering ? Have we not reason to he proud of
our growth and present prosperity? This is not all. While in the midst
of prosperity we enjoy ourselves. We
have singing schools, we have a debating society, and we frequently have
dances. <<<>>> The Odd Fellows of Middletown 1875 SONOMA DEMOCRAT 8/14/1875 are prospering finely. The Lodge has partly completed a new
hall. The building is a two-story frame, 26x58 feet; the lower floor is
designed to be used for a public hall; the walls are hard finished. The lodge
room on the second floor is 25x12 feet, 12 feet ceiling, hard finished and
well ventilated; the ante-rooms are 16x12 and 8X15. The building is
substantial and well built, and will cost about $2,500. The Brothers of
Friendship Lodge, No. 150, are deserving much credit for their energy and
enterprise in erecting such a building for Lodge purposes. It is expected
that a new Masonic Lodge will soon be started, and they with the Grangers
will occupy the hall, so that it will prove a profitable investment to the
Lodge. A new brick hotel is also about being completed for the accommodation
of the traveling public, by Bro. C. M. Young. It is a great improvement to
the town, and is to be kept as a first-class bouse. That part of the house
now completed, is 34x60, with a large kitchen in the rear. It has on the
ground floor a large parlor, reading room, and suite of rooms in the rear of
the parlor. On the upper floor, there are fourteen chambers, airy and well
ventilated; the whole to be newly furnished throughout. <<<>>> Shooting of ‘Uncle Mike Ready’ 1875 Early March 1875 Lucretia’s (English) husband O. J.
Newcomb got into an scuffle with Ben Marshall in Middletown. During the
quarrel, Marshall drew a four-shooter Deringer and shot Newcomb, the ball
penetrating the left cheek, near the mouth, and coming out the back of the
neck. It was ugly but not fatal. The Deringer was laying on the bar and several others in
the saloon had picked up Marshall’s Deringer and it failed to fire several
times. Newcomb’s brother-in-law, Eugene English, grabbed the Deringer and in
a playful manner aimed it at a local man known as ‘Uncle Mike Ready’ saying
something playful he then snapped the trigger. The Deringer fired killing
Ready instantly. English was not charged but folks were outraged. <<<>>> Lake County House 1875 On December 25th, 1875, the Sonoma Democrat
reported Charles Marsh Young had finished his hotel and was open for
business. The hotel, known as the “Lake County House” was described as
“being
34x60 feet, with a large kitchen in the rear. It has on the ground
floor a large parlor, reading room, and suite of rooms in the rear of the
parlor. On the upper floor, there are fourteen chambers, airy and well
ventilated; the whole newly furnished throughout.”
<<<>>> SONOMA DEMOCRAT 12/25/1875 A special
correspondent writes us from Middletown as follows: “Our village is still improving.
Buildings are going up every day; houses are occupied by new comers, as fast
as built; and we anticipate a large increase in population during the coming
season The mines in this vicinity are turning out well C. M. Young has
finished his new hotel and opened it to the public. If is the best house In
the county. <<<>>> Shoot Out In Middletown 1875 In 1876, prior to Buck English being sentenced to San
Quentin in October, a woman wrote a letter to the Sonoma Democrat about an
incident that happened on the main street of Middletown involving Buck. She
wrote: Last fall L.
B. Buck, “ English” as he is generally called, took a strong dislike to the
Good Templars of Middletown and vicinity. He was not as popular with the Good
Templar ladies as he desired. One night at a social dance in Middletown he in
company with some others broke the violin, fired off his six-shooter on the
steps of the house, simply because he had received no invitation to the
party. Soon after he had some trouble with one F. Prebble, because he was a
Good Templar; abused Prebble on every chance and finally one night as Prebble
was entering the Lake County House, Buck struck him from behind. Prebble
fired a shot which missed Buck. Buck was arrested, fined a small sum. Sunday,
be met John Good, a prominent Good Templar and against whom Buck bad made
some threats months ago but as they had never had any words or trouble, Good
held no grudge against him at all and when they met on the sidewalk in front
of Cassidy's saloon Good spoke friendly: “How are you Buck ?" Buck
answered with some insulting vulgarity, following it up with some personal
abuse and finally told Good that if he would walk back behind the saloon he
would whip him. Although Good is not quarrelsome neither is he cowardly, and
followed Buck back of the saloon, where Buck proceeded to dish out
considerable abuse which Good took, intending only to act on the defensive.
They soon separated, Good going down the street towards the residence of his
brother-in-law. Buck took a seat on the porch of Cassidy’s saloon, informing
the crowd that he was waiting for John Good to pass. About 7 o’clock p. m.,
only a short time after, Good started up the street. When Buck saw him coming
he ran back of the saloon, entered Harris’ saloon and advanced to the center
of the room and cocked his six-shooter. Then be walked to the door and leveled
his pistol at Good and asked, “ Are you ready?” At the same time he pulled
the trigger. Good stopped, drew his pistol, and coolly returned the fire.
Buck was partly concealed by the door, and it is said he sprang behind the
door when Good fired at him. At least he was not hit and fired a second shot
which took effect in Good’s right wrist, weakening it so much that he had to
hold his right hand up with the left at every shot be fired. Soon after he
was hit just above the left knee making a serious flesh wound, but breaking
no bones. As soon as Buck fired the second shot Joe Conway told him to go out
of his house. He then stepped out on the sidewalk and behind an oak tree to
which several horses were tied. During the shooting Buck’s pistol was shot out
of his hand and he placed his hand on his left breast. It is generally
supposed he was wounded, but his friends say not, however, when his pistol
fell, Charley his brother, handed him another. Good fired six shots. He is an
A No. 1 shot but owing to the shelter Buck took and it being pretty dark he
couldn’t get his man. Eye-witnesses say his courage will stand the test. As
soon as his pistol was empty he went across the street and got a room in the
Lake County House, where a physician dressed his wounds. “English” returned
with two pistols, one only partly emptied and the other loaded ; leaving one
on the porch floor, and jumping on a horse he rode off. No warrant is out yet
that we have heard of. Good is getting along as well as could be expected.” <<<>>> Andrew Rocca 1876 Born October 8, 1838, young Rocca left Genoa on his
fifteenth birthday, in 1853, bound for California with two people, one a boy
of sixteen and the other a man of thirty-one years. He never went back to his
native country, so never saw any member of his family after leaving home,
except one brother, Joseph B. Rocca, who settled in this State and engaged in
mining. Mr. Rocca landed in San Francisco in January, 1854. He
went to Bear valley, Mariposa, county, and engaged successfully in placer
mining, which he followed on Mr. Rocca's reputation aa a miner and a mine manager was
established and of very real importance to the directors of the Great Western
Quick-silver Mining Company, and his old friend Abraham Halsey, proposed his
election as Superintendent, entirely without Mr. Rocca's solicitation or
knowledge. H. M. Newhall was president o£ the
company, and the proposition met with approval and in September, 1876, Mr.
Rocca came to Lake county to assume his new duties, which he performed so
successfully that he held the position for the succeeding-twenty-four years,
resigning when the mine was really
exhausted. During that period more than $3,000,000 worth of quicksilver was
taken out. About 1900, Mr. Rocca bought the American quicksilver
mine property, seven miles from Middletown, and changed the name to the Helen mine. This property he mined and
managed successfully until he was forced to give up active business life on
account of his health. Aside from the mine property of forty one acres he owned
about 600 acres o£ agricultural and timber land adjoining, which he obtained
timber for his tunnels and mines. Mr. Rocca also did big things in other fields,
particularly the planning and installing of the water projects so especially
valuable to agricultural interests in the State. In 1887 he built what was
known as the Callayomi mill on Putah creek, and installed the water power by
which it was operated. He afterwards sold the property. George McKinley
assumed ownership in 1889. Mr. Rocca was well known and respected around the state
and was a highly respected member of the community. Because of this and his
involvement in the mining industry Mr. Rocca became very much involved in the
solving of the crime committed October 10, 1890 at Camper's Retreat and its
final outcome. But once those responsible for the raid were identified and
had had their futures determined, Mr. Rocca was also appointed to settle the
estate of the Thompsons, aka, the Riches the owners of Camper's Retreat..
On August 10th, 1891 Mr. Rocca wrote and sent a letter to
Helen Thompson’s mother, Mary Sherington in
England, informing her that he was settling the Thompson’s estate. He also
mentions in the letter that he had too informed C. Sherington
of Chicago of his responsibilities. So in 1891, we can still assume, young
Charles was still in Chicago. However, Mrs. Sherington never
saw Mr. Rocca’s letter as the shock of ‘Nellie’s’ murder was too great for
her and she passed August 6th, 1891. Mr. Rocca’s letter was penned just four
days later, August 10th. There was little, if any, of an estate to settle once
creditors were paid. The indebtedness of $1050.00 was paid. The assets listed
were the place, a piano, some old coins and Nellie’s jewelry. Mr. Rocca passed 7 Nov 1921 in Calistoga, Napa County,
California. He is resting alongside of his wife in the Middletown Cemetery. <<<>>> Thomas Kearney Dye 1878 On October 1st,
1878, a young blacksmith who hailed from New York, Charles Bates, and who was
employed at the Oat Hill mine east of town, was in Middletown. He was there
to attended the wedding of his sister-in-law Eliza Jean “Lyda” Dennis. Eliza
was the sister of Charles’s wife, Francis and she was marrying a local boy,
Louis John Barnett. At some point, probably in a
saloon, Charles Bates got into an altercation with William A. Barnes, who was
a 49er. Dye, who was a friend of Barnes, interfered. The parties separated,
and the quarrel was supposed to be over. Two hours afterward though, as Bates
was on his way to the stable, Dye stepped from behind a building and shot his
victim who died some hours later. This
reportedly happened in front of the Lake County House, the stable being just
across Main street from the hotel. Both Dye and Barnes were
indicted by the Lake county Grand Jury for murder and held for trial. Barnes
was tried and acquitted of the charge. Dye’s trial was delayed on legal
grounds and on March 7th, 1879 Dye escaped the Lake county jail. For an undetermined amount of
time, Tom Dye hid out in a naturally occurring cave in the face of a large
rock outcropping near St. Helena Mountain. Local folklore says folks around
Middletown, who were sympathetic toward Dye, provided him supplies. That rock
outcropping is in modern times known as Tom Dye Rock. Eventually Dye fled the area. A year later in March, 1880,
Lake county elected a new Sheriff named P. Burtnett. Burtnett had previously
been a Sheriff in Illinois for 13 years. The new Sheriff said he would have
Dye back in custody in six months, for this purpose he sent out several thousand
printed circulars and many photographs. Through these efforts a Deputy
Sheriff spotted, arrested and jailed Tom Dye in Reno, Nevada. August 1880 the Sheriff of
Lake county, California, obtained the necessary requisition from Governor
Kinkead, traveled to Reno and took custody of the captured murderer Thomas
Dye. He then took him to California. It was six months and seven days since
the Lake county Sheriff had proclaimed he would capture Dye in six months. Dye was tried, convicted of 2nd
degree murder and sentenced to San Quentin for fifteen years. He was admitted
to the prison on the 16th of December, 1880. In August 1892 we find Thomas
K Dye alive and registered to vote in Copperopolis, Calaveras, California.
When he died remains a question. <<<>>> 1880 In July 1879, Stevenson received word that his future
American wife's divorce was almost complete, but that she was seriously ill.
He left Scotland right away and travelled to meet her in Monterey,
California. Broken financially, suffering from a lifelong fibrinous
bronchitis condition, and with his writing career at a dead end, he was
nursed back to health by his doctor, his nurse, and his future wife, while
living briefly in Monterey, San Francisco, and Oakland. His father having
provided money to help, on May 19, 1880, he married the Indianapolis native,
whom he had first met in France in 1875. Still too weak to undertake the
journey back to Scotland, friends suggested Calistoga, in the upper Napa
Valley, with its healthy mountain air. The couple first went to the Hot Springs Hotel in
Calistoga, but unable to afford the 10 dollars a week fee, they spent an
unconventional honeymoon in an abandoned three-story bunkhouse at a derelict
mining camp called "Silverado" on the shoulder of Mount Saint
Helena in the Mayacamas Mountains. There they squatted for two months during
summer, putting up makeshift cloth windows and hauling water in by hand from
a nearby stream while dodging rattlesnakes and the occasional fog banks so
detrimental to Stevenson's health. In 1880, Stevenson and his new wife Fanny Vandegrift
Osbourne spent their honeymoon squatting at a played-out mine on Mt. St.
Helena along with Fanny's son Lloyd Osbourne. While there they made the acquaintance of Mary and Andrew
Rocca just recently married themselves. <<<>>> Theron Ink Builds Round Corrals 1880 Around 1880
the Inks built the Round Corrals. These corrals were on the ranch but
just into Napa County, in a flat land in Big Basin known as Dry Flat or Day
Flat, possibly after an early settler or squatter there. There
were no fences in the area and stock had to be corralled and branded
there. The larger of the two corrals
would hold between 1000 and 1200 head. Next to it, the smaller corral held
around 1000 head. The latter was built alongside Putah Creek and took in the
northern end of a possible Indian site, the village of Soyorm.
They were the only corrals anywhere in the area. The round
corrals were built from heavy upright oak posts. A round trench first was dug
about two feet deep. The fenceposts then were placed picket-fashioned endwise
into the ground, solidly together and standing about 6 feet above the ground
level. These then were held in place and made more secure by a single wire
around the tops, tying the posts together. At first
the Inks used the Round Corrals privately for their own stock. In 1902 A.B.
McCreery purchased most of the Ink holdings from Harriet Jane Ink. McCreery then invited the public to a
community round-up and rodeo with a free barbecue, bronco busting, calf
roping, marking and branding. In the early 1900s the corrals still were in
good shape and though they gradually deteriorated, they still were being used
for roundups in the 1930s. By 1953 the small corral was entirely gone and
only a part of the larger one remained. In the
1930s the Piper family lived on the Ink Ranch. Matt Piper was a lively cowboy
who worked the back part of the ranch for the Deterts.
The Ink Ranch is now headquarters for a hunting club. <<<>>> Diphtheria In The Middletown Area 1883 Thomas H. Habishaw was born
March 10, 1846 in Canada his wife Annie was born in Ontario in 1852, they
were living in Middletown at the time of the 1880 Census and at that time
they had five children; Mary J., 7; William H., 6; Edward G., 5; Jessie M., 3
and Bertrand J., 1. They went on to enlarge their family having six more
children. Archie born 1884; Charles born 1885; Walter Scott born 1888;
Charlotte Grace born 1890; Alma Ruth born 1892 and Isabel Kathryn born 1894. However tragedy struck in
the summer of 1883. Several people contracted diphtheria in the Middletown area. Diphtheria, a serious bacterial infection, affects the mucous
membranes of the throat and nose. Once infected, the bacteria release
dangerous substances called toxins. The toxins spread through the bloodstream
and often cause a thick, gray coating to form in your nose, throat, air-way
and on your tongue. It was so devastating it made the newspapers. Sonoma Democrat, 4 August 1883 Cases of Diphtheria. [Calistogian.] “Several days ago,
Mrs. Habishaw and child, living near the Gt.
Western Gate, in Lake county, were taken sick, and Mrs. Mary Vivian, of
Middletown, came down to take care of them bringing her seven children with
her. There were also six children at the Habishaw
house. Before Mrs. Habishaw and child fully
recovered diphtheria broke out among the children, and one of Mrs. Vivian’s
children died a week ago last Friday. The next case was one of Habishaw’s girls, (Jessie M) aged six years, who died
last week on Tuesday. Then followed the death of two more of her children
Saturday and Sunday last, at which time another member of Mrs. Vivian’s
family, a boy thirteen year of age, was sick and probably died on Monday. On
the day last mentioned four other children were sick, two of each family, and
it is probable, judging from the other cases, that they are all dead by this
time, or will soon die. We have obtained this information from a relative of
the people above referred to, who visited the premises this week, but was not
permitted to enter the house, though he conversed with persons there. He says
that two of Lake county's physicians had been in attendance, but could afford
little or no relief, and that a doctor from San Francisco had also visited
the house. He pronounced it malignant diphtheria. 'There is said to be a case
at Bradford’s, near the Gt. Eastern mine. At Middletown there are several
cases, and several deaths have occurred, including two children of Postmaster
J. L. Read’s family.” Untold in this newspaper article is the fact that Mary
Vivian was the younger sister of Annie Habishaw and
all the children were cousins. Mary Vivian was married to Henry D. Vivian who
was registered to vote in Middletown in 1876 but in the 1880 census he is not
listed and normally during this period in time Mary would have been referred
to as Mrs. Henry Vivian if he were still living. The four oldest Habishaw
children; Mary, William, Edward and Jessie all perished as a result of the
disease. But tragedy had not run its course in the Habishaw family, Thomas was killed on July 3rd,
1895, in an accident at the Mirabel mine leaving Annie a widow with seven
children, the oldest, Bertrand, would have been around sixteen. Bertrand served in the military during WWI and died in
France. Thomas and Bertrand are both buried in the Middletown
Cemetery. Thomas’s plot is unknown, Bert is buried in the Magnolia Section 24
Plot #3. Somehow Annie Habishaw acquired
part interest in the Bullion mine as she is named as a principal in the legal
settlement between the Bullion and the Mirabel in 1897. The Habishaws were friends with
their neighbor, Fred Bennett, who at one time owned one quarter interest in
the Bullion and another friend of the Habishaws who
owned an interest in the mine was B. F. Staley. Neither is listed as a
principal in the legal settlement, possibly Annie may have acquired their
interests. Annie (nee Milne) Habishaw died
in Alameda county, Ca. in 1947 <<<>>> Hoberg’s Resort 1885 While not
a mineral spring resort, no history would be complete without the addition of
the above named resort, which was closed to the public in the fall of 1971. This
famous resort was the largest privately owned in the state for many years,
and was run as a family enterprise, first being founded by Gustave and
Mathilda Hoberg and their 5 children who moved to Lake County from the Bay
Area in 1885 and purchased a 560 acre ranch. A short
time later an additional 160 acres of government land was secured, and the
family built a road from their holdings to connect with the road at
Cobb. This road was eventually taken into the county road system,
and a number of years later into the state highway system and is now a
portion of highway 175 today. The
resort business was first started when travelers would reach the Hoberg ranch
and stop over to rest their horses, and have a bountiful home-cooked dinner
prepared by Mathilda from the fruit and vegetable gardens and livestock and
poultry raised on their ranch. Soon the fame of the Hoberg's
hospitality spread, and in a short time it was made a regular stage
stop. Before long friends from the "city" wished to
spend a couple of weeks in the mountains, and several rooms were
built. As their fame spread, more and more persons visited
Hoberg's to vacation, and they were put up in tents, and eventually canvas
was stretched around four trees in the grove to accommodate the ever growing
public. A few
years after moving to Cobb Mountain, Gustav Hoberg suffered a fatal brain
hemorrhage, leaving Mathilda with a family of 6. Mathilda did all
the housework, cooking and canning, assisted by the younger children who
cleaned vegetables, washed dishes and kept occupied with numerous chores,
while the older boys worked on farms and in sawmills. The
resort, from the humble beginning grew and prospered and each year a number
of guests were turned away due to lack of facilities. A bowling alley,
swimming pool and social hall was erected where guests could dance to a three
piece orchestra. Cottages were constructed and eventually a large
hotel, dining room and attachments. Mathilda retired in 1917 and
her son Max and his wife Theresa took over the business. After
many more years of building and prospering, Max and Theresa retired and
turned the business over to their three sons, George, Paul and Frank, the
third generation of Hoberg’s. The Hoberg brothers, together with
Capt. Olsen and his son and daughter-in-law Ernest and Dorothy Olsen
purchased Seigler Springs, and with their combined efforts
rehabilitated and modernized this famous old mineral springs resort, until
like Hoberg’s, it was oversubscribed and turning away guests annually. For the
past 40 years Hoberg’s had a staff of 30 waitresses, 15 maids, 10 bartenders,
a 12 piece orchestra, 20 employees in the coffee shop—the huge Pine Bowl for
dancing under the stars, lawn ball park, 3 tiled heated swimming pools, a
swimming instructor, resident physician, barber and beauty shops and general
store. For years
they were known as the convention center of California, having facilities for
more than 1,000 persons under one roof. An airport was constructed
near Seigler Springs in 1940, and following the untimely death of
Paul Hoberg, the airport was dedicated in his honor. Upon the
death of father Max, the Masonic Lodge placed a plaque at the airport in
honor of both father and son. Frank Hoberg died of a heart attack in the
early 1960's and the last remaining brother George ran the resort in
cooperation with a cousin Frank Bleuss until
suffering a fatal heart attack in July 1971. The family suffered
reversals from time to time including expensive and wasteful lawsuits over
water rights, which were contested and brought to a satisfactory termination;
a disastrous fire in 1936 that destroyed 80 some cottages and over half the
beautiful grove of pine trees and the untimely death of family members, but
in spite of reversals, the resort always came back bigger and better and more
popular than ever. Following
the death of George Hoberg, his lovely widow Gertrude, and cousin Frank Bleuss ran the resort, and in the fall of 1971, this
great resort closed its doors, just 95 years after Gustav and Mathilda took
in their first paying guest. From the
POMO BULLETIN – May 1972 <<<>>> The Middletown Independent
was established in 1886 by P. B. Graham and J. L. Read. Read bought Graham's
interest in 1889 and later in the same year sold a half interest to W. C.
Pentecost. In 1895 Read again acquired full control, placed T. A. Read as
editor until 1899, and then Warren E. Read until 1904, when the paper was
sold to J- D. Kuykendall. The latter conducted it one year and sold it back
to J. L. Read, Warren Read again becoming editor. On October 11, 1906, the
paper passed to A. O. Stanley, who published it up to January 1, 1911, when
he leased it to his son, "Mort" Stanley. The Independent was
Republican in politics up to 1906, and independent since. Unfortunately, the fire of 1918 was the death nell
for the newspaper. "Mort" Stanley, editor and publisher, was unable
to save anything from his office and who had no insurance. He was quoted as
saying: "The only thing saved from my shop was the front door key and I
haven't a front door anymore". Unfortunately, the newspaper would soon
become a fatality of the fire. After trying to publish the paper from
Lakeport he issued the final paper March 16th, 1918. The Middletown
Independent was no more. <<<>>> Jim Davis 1886 Weekly
Calistogian 12/15/1886 Thursday
night last, in Middletown, Lake county, Wm. Krumdick,
who runs a freight wagon between Calistoga and Lakeport, was shot in his left
side, just below the shoulder, by “Jim" Davis, of Middletown. Davis had
called Krumdick a vile name an hour or two before
without cause, and received a good drubbing for it. After the trouble, Krumdick and another man were walking along the street,
when the former received a shot as stated. The bullet has been probed for,
but cannot be found. It probably lodged near the spine. Krumdick
is entirely paralyzed below the body, and will very likely die. Davis ran
away immediately after the shooting, and has not been found. In Suzanne D. Case’s book “Join Me In Paradise”
subtitled: The History of Guenoc Valley © 1982, published by Guenoc Winery,
on page 55 she addresses “Jim Davis Peak” She writes; Mr. Davis had a wife
and three children. His wife’s name was Nancy and the children were named
Jeff, Jim and Dixie. That he murdered a man named Thomas Crumpdick
over a gambling issue. And that he went to prison for many years. When
finally paroled he went to work for the Smythes on
the Detert Ranch and that he ended his life by committing suicide.
The following is what I found. The Jim Davis who homesteaded 130+ acres that
included “Jim Davis Peak” first showed up in the 1880 census in the Knoxville
district in the town of Monticello, Napa, county, California. There are no
records that I could find that identifies a wife or children belonging to Mr.
Davis, although he does imply he was married and newspaper reports speak of
his brother-in-law. Further, a George Davis of Monticello is identified as
his, Jim Davis’s, cousin in an article printed in the Napa Register February
11th, 1887. George’s father’s name was Jeff and his mother’s
name was Nancy and he had a brother named Richard Dixie who went by Dixie
Davis. Also Jeff, Nancy and Dixie all moved to Middletown. Jeff and Nancy are
both buried in the Middletown Cemetery. Jim Davis did indeed murder a man named William Krumdick but it was not over a gambling issue. Napa County Reporter April 29th, 1887 The jury in the case of the People vs. Jim Davis, which
was on trial all of last week at Lakeport, brought in a verdict of murder in
the second degree. Davis is a brother-in-law of William Williams. Napa Weekly Journal May 12th, 1887 Jim Davis, recently convicted of murder in the second
degree for the killing of William Krumdick in Lake
county, has been sentenced to San Quentin for seventeen years Davis is a brother-in-law of William Williams, recently
sent to San Quentin for life for the murder of Sidney Clark. In the 1900 census of Butte county a James Davis is
counted and he had the same history as the James Davis who owned Jim Davis
Peak. Plus Butte county was where Davis ran to when trying to avoid the law
in 1887. Since McCreery bought all the nearby property from Watson
and Lalanne he probably bought Jim Davis Peak as well. That would have been
around 1900. <<<>>> Lillie Langtry 1888 In May of
1888 Lillie Langtry purchased 4,000 acres
that had once been part of the Rancho Guenoc land grant. Her lover
Freddie Gebhard’s property was contiguous to hers. She visited her
purchase one time in 1888 for a week, never to return. The main purpose for
the purchase was to establish residence in Lake county so she could divorce
Edward Langtry, which was successfully achieved in 1897. June 17, 1891 "The Ranches of Lillie and
Freddy." "Up in Lake county there are two
ranches," says a newspaper correspondent. "One belongs to Mrs.
Langtry. On it everything is in a state of collapse. The fences are hardly able to stand alone.
The stock barns are patched with old boards; heaps of straw and refuse
everywhere. Wagons, plows, hay presses
and mowers are scattered about exposed to the sun and the rain, and piles of
old lumber, rusty iron and broken machinery complete the picture. The fence around the hay stack, tied with
bale rope, has vainly tried to maintain an upright position, but has lost
heart and now leans against the hay for support. Langtry's small private
cottage, painted in the old-fashioned style, white with green blinds, is
elegantly furnished, and an immense oak stands guard at the entrance. Around the cottage the fence is
white-washed and in good condition, but the driveway to the main road is full
of gullies, making it almost impossible to drive out. Mrs. Langtry has never
stayed there since the purchase, three years ago, though she was expected
September last. She owns 8,000 acres
in stock ranch, vineyard, poultry and dairy ranch, having paid $60,000 for
them. An old German, 'Yacob' and his
frau, have charge of the dairy and poultry, being hired by the month,
supplying the other ranchers with milk, butter, and eggs. The eighteen cows
are very ordinary stock, and the 600 inferior chickens are leghorns, brahmas,
cochins and what 'Yacob' calls 'barnyard fowls,' all running together. The adjoining ranch belongs to Fred
Gebhard. It contains 3,300 acres, which cost him $40,000. For years his
ambition has been to raise blooded horses. What Senator Stanford is
accomplishing with trotters Gebhard is attempting with runners, and for this
purpose he bought the ranch, inducing Langtry to secure that adjoining. What a contrast. Langtry's ranch,
dilapidated fences and buildings, innocent of paint or whitewash. Gebhard's, the buildings in thorough
repair and painted, wagons and tools under shelter; in fact neatness and
perfect order is met everywhere." In 1906
Lillie Langtry sold her holdings to George Henry Mastick and Ferdinand
Butterfield, Butterfield later surrendered his share to Mastick. Mastick
owned the ranch for 13 years. They hired Augustus “Gus” Lhiullier
as superintendent for many of those years. His wife,
Joanna Elizabeth Read and he, were residents of Middletown. Joanna was the
daughter of Joseph Lilburn Read, who with P. B. Graham, founded The
Middletown Independent newspaper in 1886. <<<>>> In 1889
William Good donated the land to the Odd Fellows Lodge to be used as the
Middletown Cemetery. The land was once part of the Reineke Family Ranch. Good was
the brother-in-law of John Reineke, and they both worked in the blacksmith
business which was across from Lobree. On June
4, 1894 bodies buried within the town limits of Middletown, were approved for
reburial elsewhere. One small cemetery was located at the Fiege Ranch, and
the bodies were transferred to the new Middletown Cemetery. Bodies were also
transferred from Middletown’s first cemetery, which was a flat area alongside
Rabbit Hill on the East side where the Standard Oil property was located, to
the new cemetery. In 1903,
John Good Jr. from the Spanish American War was buried here. Middletown
Cemetery District was formed in 1966 to provide and maintain a local
cemetery. The
Cemetery is limited in use to the burial of residents or taxpayers of the
District and their families. The District is north to Hofacker Lane, south to
the Napa County line, east out Butts Canyon Road to the Napa County line and
west to the Quonset hut on Highway 175, near Whispering Pines. The
District is composed of five (5) Board Members. The original members were:
Orval Brennen, Paul Montmarquet, Clarence Morin,
Reis Palmer and Roy Vines. All are deceased. The
cemetery's location is 16357 Butts Canyon Road on the southeast comer of
Butts Canyon Road and Highway 29. The
original cemetery was 3+ acres, and in 1991 the District acquired the
Catholic Cemetery that was 5+ acres. <<<>>> 1890 The California White Cap Murders 1890 Three
miles south of Middletown, Lake county, California, in the year 1890,
three people died as the result of a raid on a local saloon that was mostly
patronized by miners from the nearby cinnabar mines. All the
raiders were hooded and when the story broke it turned into “The California
White Cap Murders”. White cap
groups were notorious in the mid-west and southern United States after the
Civil War. The
movement started when white males began forming secret societies in order to
attempt to deliver what they considered justice on the frontier independent
from the state. These groups became known as the "White Caps". The
first White Cap operations were generally aimed at those who went against a
community's values. Men who neglected or abused their family, people who
showed excessive laziness, and women who had children out of wedlock, all
were likely targets. Generally,
the members of this society were disguised and always attacked at night.
Physical attacks could include such things as whipping, drowning, firing
shots into houses, arson and other brutalities, with whipping and threats
constituting the majority of the tactics used against victims. The White Caps
also used non-violent means of intimidation to force certain residents from
their homes. These included posting signs on doors of homes, as well as
cornering a target and verbally threatening them. If a resident or witness to
a crime did not abandon their home after being terrorized, White Caps
sometimes murdered them. These Whitecappers were a violent, lawless movement that
occurred specifically in the United States. Eventually its legal definition
became more general than the specific movement itself: "Whitecapping is the crime of threatening a person with
violence. Ordinarily, members of the minority groups are the victims of whitecapping." Whitecapping led to such insurgent groups as The Night Riders, Bald
Knobbers and the Ku Klux Klan. The
activities of all the White Cap groups were widely reported throughout the
nation in the newspapers, including small town local papers, so when the 1890
murderers in Middletown were identified as Whitecappers
the event and subsequent trials drew national attention. Newspapers around
the nation were picking up the story and several reporters covered the trials
being held in Lakeport of the accused Whitecappers. It was
after dark, the month of All Hallow’s Eve, Friday, October 10th,
the 283rd day of 1890 and Middletown was alive with political
festivities as this was the evening of the Candidate’s Ball. Attending
these lively festivities were; Lake County Sheriff, Gawn Moore; under
Sheriff, A. H. Spurr; Lake County District Attorney, M. S. Sayre; Constable,
J. W. Ransdell and Justice of the Peace, J. L. Read. Also enjoying the festivities were the
local doctor, Roland E. Hartley, M. D., the candidates vying for the seats up
for election and most of the local citizens of the area. But just
3 miles south of Middletown, in a saloon sitting just back from the road
which led to the Bradford Mine and then on to Calistoga, it was a different
story. The
saloon was very quiet inside as it seemed everyone was attending the
festivities taking place in nearby Middletown and those souls who were inside
had no sense that havoc would soon
rain down on them, so to pass the time, Mrs. Riche and Bennett played cards
as Mr. Riche observed. This
particular saloon was called the Camper’s Retreat and it was the intended destination of the
hooded marauders as Fred Bennett was their intended target. Their
faces and hands blackened with a mixture of grease, burnt cork and oil lamp
soot, their heads covered with hoods made from old pillow cases and flour
sacks with eye holes cut into them, their bodies and legs wrapped in burlap
and with mufflers on their feet, eleven men descended on the saloon, with
vengeance on their mind. They carried with them an old lard bucket now filled
with tar, a sack full of chicken feathers, a whip known as a
‘cat-of-nine-tails’ and an assortment of different firearms that included
pistols, rifles and shotguns. These eleven men had met several times and
planned on how they were going to take retribution against Fred Bennett, the
bartender-bouncer of this saloon, to satisfy their grievances. Although
Halloween costumed evil was afoot, this was all happening on a most wonderful
Indian Summer evening under a moonless, star-lite sky with a crispness in the
air. It was around 9pm when the eleven hooded men struck, bursting into the
saloon brandishing firearms and demanding Bennett, startling the occupants
inside. Was this
a robbery? Was it an early Halloween prank Riche wondered? Mrs.
Riche jumped up and jerked the hood off of the head of one of the invaders
and was startled to recognize him as a local miner and customer of the
saloon. A shot was fired. Bennett
soon figured out, as a bullet whizzed by him, they wanted him, they meant
business and this was no prank. He ran for the Riche’s bedroom. Mr. Riche
tried to stop what happened next but without success; Mrs. Riche was
struggling with one of the invaders but she was thrown to the floor, held
down and a volley of gun-shots rang out. Helen Matilda
Riche was shot at least four times and Steve Riche once. Bennett
was nowhere to be seen. In the
melee that followed, Mrs. Riche, severely wounded and bleeding, was hanging
onto William McGuire, a raider, as he was trying to leave. Mr. Riche pulled
her off of him and pushed McGuire out the door closing and locking it as he
did and as he was doing that, a shot from outside rang out, McGuire was dead,
but Riche did not know that fact. When the
shooting stopped, Bennett, who had bailed out of the window in the Riche’s
bedroom, returned and entered the saloon through the same window and blocked
the bedroom door until Riche identified himself and told Bennett he needed
help. Bennett helped Riche put his wounded wife in their bed and then Riche
told him to go for help. Bennett
first stopped at the neighbor’s house, the home of Thomas and Annie Habishaw and told them what had happened. Bennett then
asked Mrs. Habishaw to please go to the aid of Mrs.
Riche. The first
on scene, of course, were the neighbors who lived about a half mile away, the
Habishaws. Thomas found McGuire on the porch and
hailed Riche, who then let him in and Thomas told Steve that McGuire was dead
on the porch and inquired as to whether shots had been fired from within the
house. Surprised to hear that McGuire was dead, Steve said there were no
shots fired from within the house by himself, Helen or Bennett. Bennett
was on horseback and was soon able to raise the alarm in Middletown that had
plenty of law officers available due to the existing Candidates Ball. Dr.
Hartley grabbed his bag and immediately headed for the saloon as well. Upon
arrival they found one dead raider on the front porch of the saloon who was
immediately identified as McGuire. They found a blood trail, the bucket of
tar, the feathers and the cat of nine-tails and parts of disguises. Inside
the saloon everything was in disarray. There was blood, overturned furniture,
bullet holes and bloody weapons about. Under
inquiry by law enforcement, Bennett identified the miner, who Mrs. Riche had
exposed, as Henry Arkarro. Now two raiders identity
was known. Dr.
Hartley found Mrs. Riche in her bed, gravely wounded, having been shot at
least four times in the chest. He knew her wounds would bring her demise and
she seemed very depressed, struggling to breath. Unfortunately,
Nellie’s lungs had been ruined by the gunshots to her chest and she struggled
for four days before suffocating to death from her wounds. It was 8pm
Tuesday, October 14, 1890. Steve tried to carry-on, but losing Nellie to this
violence, just seven years after arriving in this new land, had an
irreversible impact on Steve. Steve died December 29, 1890 of apoplexy,
surely brought on by the recent events in his life making him a victim of the
crime as well. Now there
were three deaths resulting from the raid on the Camper’s Retreat. The
newspapers reported that Nellie’s funeral was the largest ever in Middletown
and everybody joined in the procession to the Middletown cemetery. <<<>>> The White House 21048 Calistoga Street C.1891 Jacob
Fickes was born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania January 26, 1822. He became a
schoolteacher. He married his first wife Susannah Imler on July 30th, 1848.
They had two sons while in Pennsylvania but moved to Sandusky County, Ohio
about 1854 where a third son Francis was born in 1856. Here in Ohio, Jacob
and sons lost their wife and mother, Susannah, when she died in April of 1856
after giving birth to son Francis. Son Benjamin, the second born, died an
infant just short of being three months old. On the
15th of February 1857 Jacob married his second wife Catherine Moses. Together
over the next thirteen years they would have six more children. On
October 1st, 1861, Jacob enlisted in the Army serving with the Union Forces.
He promoted to full Captain on January 10th, 1862, and joined with Company I,
Ohio 72nd Infantry Regiment on February 18th, 1862. He mustered out on
February 4th, 1863. This Regiment fought in many battles during the course of
the war. These included battles at Shiloh and Memphis Tennessee; and Corinth
and Vicksburg Mississippi. The Ohio 72nd fought in 36 named battles from its
inception through the end of the war. By 1870
Jacob and family were living in Missouri where their last child Carl Shurz Fickes was born. On
September 3rd, 1877 Jacob Fickes, now 55 years old, registered to vote in the
village of Guenoc, in Coyote Valley, California. Then on December 2nd, 1879
Jacob was appointed Postmaster for the village of Guenoc. There is no record
of just when the family relocated to Middletown, however, other family
related documents show it must have taken place in the late 1880s. First
born child of Jacob and his first wife Susannah, George Adam Fickes,
was a carpenter and builder in Middletown. He met and then married Susan
‘Susie’ Lincoln Read who was also a resident of Middletown. This event took
place November 27th, 1887. Susie was
the oldest child of Joseph L. and Margaret Read. J. L. Read and family
settled in Middletown in 1874, his Middletown resume lists; farmer, Justice
of the Peace, Postmaster and founder of the Middletown Independent. George
and Susie had two children, both boys. Archie, the oldest, followed in his
grandfather’s footsteps and became a school teacher. In June of 1916 Archie
became vice principal of the Vallejo elementary school. George
suffered a heart attack in 1933 and passed the following year on January
16th. His wife Susie died two years later on March 29th, 1936. Archie died a
young man of 47 years on January 31st, 1937.
Jacob and
Catherine Fickes, their sons; Francis and George Adam; and their
daughter-in-law, Susie are all resting in the Middletown Cemetery. <<<>>> San
Francisco Call Calistoga, Nov. 26, 1891 — “The Bradford quicksilver mine, together with the lands surrounding,
has been sold by the Bradford family and
associates in business to D. L. Mills of New York, J. B. Randol,
Superintendent of the New Almaden quicksilver mine in Santa Clara County, and
Thomas Bell, formerly interested in the New Idria
quicksilver mine. The price paid has not been made public, but is presumed to
be large.” At some point, the new owners, Mills, Randol and Bell, changed
the name of the mine from the Bradford to the Mirabel. Local folklore is;
they arrived at the new name by using
Mi from Mills, ra from Randol and bel from Bell and
named the mine the Mi-ra-bel. However, Mirabel is too a female name stemming
from the Latin word mirabilis, meaning “wondrous” or “of wondrous
beauty”. So you have to decide. <<<>>>
The Middletown Methodist Episcopal Church 1893 Articles of Incorporation. Sacramento Daily Union 7/31/1893 The following articles of incorporation have been filed
in the Secretary of State’s Office: The Middletown Methodist Episcopal Church
of Middletown, Lake County, with Miss A. F. Harkness of Oat Hill, Napa
County, and Albert E. Norton, Byrd A. Hunt, George A. Kicks ana Joseph L.
Read of Middletown as directors. <<<>>> Napa
Register Friday, May 17, 1895 “Early in the
afternoon of Tuesday a heavy three seated stage on the Calistoga and Clear
Lake line filled with tourists from San Francisco was stopped by two masked
robbers and all the valuables belonging to the passengers were taken by the
highwaymen.” Was born Lane Buchanan
English, 1855, in Polk County, Oregon Territory. The family moved to California
in 1861. Buck changed his name from
Lane to Lawrence. Father, B. F. English Sr.,
headed for the new county of Lake in California and in June of 1867 Benjamin
Sr. was registered to vote in Coyote Valley, Lake County. By 1871 brother Charles Henry
was registered to vote in Coyote Valley. Buck would have been about 16. In June of 1876 Buck was in a shootout
in Middletown. He was about 21. On July 7th, Buck was indicted
by a grand jury for the crime of “assault with a deadly weapon and instrument
with intent to commit murder” and he makes bail for $1,500. There are no
records showing any further action. Then in September he was
arrested along with William Turner for allegedly stealing two hogs from one
man and a steer from another. The duo are indicted for grand larceny. Buck was sentenced to San
Quentin on October 25, 1876, for 2 counts of grand larceny by the county of
Lake. That sentence was for 2 ½ years. He was discharged after 7 months on
May 31, 1877. James Winfield, Buck and
Eugene English were indicted by the grand jury of Lake County for highway
robbery perpetrated on Mr. Pyle. So, Lake County sent him back on January 29,
1878, for 7 years for robbery. L. B. English Age: 22 Birth Date: Abt 1858 Birthplace: Oregon Home in 1880: San Quentin,
Marin, California, USA In 1880 both Lawrence “Buck”
and Charley English were in San Quentin together. Daily Alta Cal
5/28/1880 "Buck "
English, serving in State Prison seven years for highway robbery in Lake
County, testified to hearing Smith on the morning of the murder ask his
brother Charley for his knife to kill Scotty. He advised his brother to warn
Scotty and understood that he had done so. Buck was discharged
October 29, 1882, just 3 months short of serving 4 years. After being
released, Buck remained in Lake County until 1885. December 26, 1883, B. F
English dies. The English estate was settled
by May 1885 and Buck moved his mother to Canada to live with his brother, her
son, Ben Jr. Buck stayed in Canada for a few years and worked as a scout for
the Canadian Army in the Riel Rebellion of 1885 in which he was seriously
wounded. He also worked as a cowboy, a whiskey smuggler, and a gambler. Eventually Buck moved in with
family in Roseburg, Oregon where he met his stagecoach robbing partner,
Richard N. Breckenridge. May 13th, 1895, they holdup the
stage near Troutdale Creek, Napa, County. Napa Register
Friday, May 17, 1895 “Early in the afternoon of Tuesday the 14th... When the shooting
was over it seems William’s first shot struck English in the arm and the
second shot hit his left side. Dr. Hennessey said Gardner, the stage driver,
was hit by 6 buckshot, two passed clear through his leg and he removed the
others. The left grip of Buck’s Mdl. 1873 Single Action Army Colt 45 appears to have been
struck by 6 buckshot. This tells me Buck was sitting to the left of the
driver with his left side exposed with his pistol on his left hip which
probably saved his life. Morning Union, 10
July 1895 Buck English Gets a Life Sentence. Sacramento Union, 22
January 1912 Old-Time Bandit Will
Leave Prison On Parole SAN QUENTIN. Jan.
21.—“The Lamplighter of San Quentin,” as “Buck” English, life-termer, 62
years old, has been familiarly known for years, will not be seen about the
penitentiary after February 1st. At that time he will become a paroled man,
after having served seventeen years of a life sentence for participation in a
daring hold-up of the Lake County stage near St. Helena twenty years ago.
English for years has held the position of lamplighter, making the rounds of
the prison grounds every night and seeing that all the lights were in trim. Lawrence Buchanan “Buck”
English died 14 Jan 1915 (aged 59–60) San Francisco, San Francisco County,
California.
<<<>>> |
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